Monday, October 27, 2008

Thursday, October 9, 2008

A serious matter...

I would like to direct your attention toward another blog today. Dudley Rutherford is the Senior Pastor of Shepherd of the Hills Christian Church in Porter Ranch, Ca, one of the fastest growing churches in the Independent Christian Church and Church of Christ movement. His most recent entries are a must read for all of us who carry the Name of Jesus and are contending for the Faith.

Many of you already know that I am from California. This is my great friend and mentor. I credit Dudley for turning my heart toward God's calling to preach and the burden to reach the masses with the gospel of Jesus Christ. I believe that my home church, as well as many others in California are living in an Epic time for the Kingdom of God! They need our prayers. We need to pray that they stand firm, and live courageously as they contend for the cause of Christ.

I believe that Christians have been silent too long. We have embraced our love of comfort with arms of complacency.

Not only do we need to consider the issues during this critical election, we need to consider where we stand with God and His Word.

Please take time to read his blog and feel free to write me your thoughts.
http://dudleyrutherford.blogspot.com/

David

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Pray for Proposition 8

On November 4 voters will go to the polls in California. One of the propositions on the ballot is Proposition 8 amending the California constitution to provide that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.

Back in 2000, 61% of Californians (52 of 58 counties) voted to preserve the traditional definition of marriage (the 6 counties that did not are all in the vicinity of San Francisco). But then the California Supreme Court, by a 4-3 vote, overruled the will of the people and the design of God by saying that marriage does not depend upon the individual’s sexual orientation.

One of the reasons we should be praying for the November 4 vote is because there are no residency requirements in the Golden State. Homosexual couples can travel to California, marry, and return to their home state that will then be forced to recognize their marriages or face legal challenges.

University of Pennsylvania constitutional law professor Kermit Roosevelt, quoted in the Los Angeles Times, said, “[M]ore states [will] follow California’s example and the U.S. Supreme Court [will] eventually rule in favor of same-sex marriage….That decision will come at the end of a process that is now just beginning.”

All the more reason to pray.

Reprinted with permission from: Knowlesletter, October 2008, Vol.16, No. 10

Monday, October 6, 2008

Declaration to Satan!

I shared this prayer that at the close of my sermon on Sunday. I obtained this prayer from a great friend and Pastor in CA, Dudley Rutherford. Many have asked for a copy of it, as I promised, I am posting it to the blog. May you continue to stand strong against the devil's schemes. This is no time to stand on the sidelines. Never stop praying against the devil. Remember that we who have put our faith in Jesus our victorious!

Pray! Pray! Pray!

Declaration to Satan
Satan, take note and listen well!
We are the Church of the Living God.
We are bought with blood, charged with power, married to Jesus,
indwelt with His Spirit, destined for victory, immune from destruction.

We’re part of the company of the committed,
the crowd of the covenant,
the congregation of the courageous.
We’re a fellowship of the faithful, a battalion of believers,
a regiment of the redeemed,
a division of the devoted, an army of the approved,
a team of the triumphant, and a platoon of the powerful.

Satan, you will not conquer me.
For I am blood-washed, daily-delivered, strongly-sanctified,
Spirit-soaked, in-Word, and indwelt.
You are wasting your energy on me.
My fate is set. My victory is assured.
I am linked with a sovereign and eternal power.

You are a deceiver, but you will not deceive me.
You are a roaring lion, but I am not devourable.
You are extremely subtle, but I am on to your ways.
You parade as an angel of light, but I walk in a stronger light.
Your days of deception are over with me.
I won’t be detoured, derailed, distracted, distorted, discouraged, or disillusioned by your schemes.

I am off limits to you now. My doors are closed and locked and I've thrown away the keys.

You won’t walk in, crawl in, slither in, sneak in, pry in, or barge into my life.
I have permanent and precious friend who lives inside of me, and He will not share this temple with anyone, especially you.

His name is Jesus.

He and I know that you know your time's almost up.

You may lie, lure, linger, lurch, and laugh, but you won’t get in.
Your days are numbered; your designs are dwindling; your evil is eroding; your devilishness is dissolving; your progress is poisoned; your success has been subverted.
So get off my property; get off my porch.
Get out of my sight.
For He who is in me is greater than he who is in the world.
Leave my family alone; leave my children alone; leave my church alone; and leave my friends alone.

God is on my side. Rather, I’m on God’s side.
I have the same power that delivered Jesus from temptation and sin.
I have the same power that raised Him from the grave.
I have been promised the victory, and I have claimed that victory.
You can summon all your hosts, but you will lose the battle!

We are the Church of the Living God! Blood-washed, Spirit-filled, battle-scarred, unrelenting and indestructible. And in the blessed words of Jesus Christ, the gates of hell will not prevail against us.

In Jesus’ name.
In Jesus' name.
In Jesus' name.

Are you listening?
In Jesus' name.

Amen and Amen!

Sunday, October 5, 2008

We are the Champions!

Hi there. This is Alana. You'll see my name over there to the side listed as a "contributor", although I haven't contributed much here on this blog, except for simply getting it started. I have been a member of what I call "blog world" for a little over a year and it has blessed me greatly. I think this blog has a lot of potential for helping us create more community within our church. Dave and I have been brainstorming ideas to spruce things up around here (the blog) as well as adding content that will leave you wanting to visit more and perhaps even join in the discussion.

One of the ideas we've spoken about is a forum type discussion on the sermon. Of course, in order to have a forum, we'll need you to get involved via the comment section. If you'd like to join in the discussion, simply leave a comment. In order to leave a comment, you must first create a google account with a username. Then at the end of the post, you simply click on "post a comment" and offer your thoughts.

I thought this week's sermon was a great place for us to start, so I will offer a few of my thoughts and then offer a couple of ways for you to enter the discussion, if you so choose.

The title of today's sermon was "Victory". Dave's starting thought was...

Don't forget: We are in a battle. (Ephesians 6:12)

I think as I mature in life and in spiritual life I am becoming more and more aware of this. I have started to recognize the areas that Satan targets me and have learned to resist him with scripture and calling on God to fight the battle for me. Because after all, we know in the end that He is the victor! This brings me great comfort and empowers me to fight instead of walking around in defeat. There are a couple of areas in my life that he has learned are easy targets. Although, by the grace of God, I see the targets getting smaller! For the sake of being transparent and in hopes of starting of the discussion, I will share a couple of them with you.

One area is in my desire to please men. I have always been a people pleaser, and although not all of you will relate to this, some of the darkest times in my life were when I had conflict with someone and was unable to resolve it. I'm also a peacemaker, so when there is unresolved conflict in my life it can take me to a dark place. A dark place where Satan is waiting and more than willing to "devour" me.

Another area is in my want for things. This manifests itself in different ways for me. One way is in regards to food and another way is with actual material things. I have bought into the lie for too long that these are needs and not wants and that I would not be "okay" without them. God has been teaching me lately that I can be more than okay without these things. In fact, I can be FREE without them. He has no desire for me to live in bondage.

Okay, it's your turn to enter the discussion. Here are a few questions to get you started...

1) Are you aware of the "battles" in your life?
2) In which battles have you found victory?
3) In which battles are you still struggling?
4) What are some of your favorite scriptures for "resisting" the Devil?

"...for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God."

1 John 5:4-5