Jas 2:5 Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?

I don't think that many of us fit into the category of "the poor" but so many people are slaves to debt that they feel "poor". The "poor" in America are rich compared to the poor in other countries.
Our problem is that we spend all we get and very few people save money for a rainy day. My wife's grandfather worked in a factory, didn't make much money but he was able to pay cash for everything; even a new car.
It just seems that the T.V. ad agencies are doing a great job in getting us to "need" everything. From movies, to restaurants , new cars, clothes and QVC products. There's always a new item we just can't live without. Remember the vacuum bag sealer that sucks the air out of your freezer bag and keeps food fresh forever. How many of you still use it? Not me. I'm too lazy to thaw out frozen food. I can't wait that long, I guess.
The Bible says that a fool and his money are soon parted. I will confess to all my St.'s today that I've played the fool for way too long. I am determined to save, and do without "things" that just end up filling up my garage and shed.
Jesus did say, "deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me." What have we denied ourselves?
I think America is in for a huge awakening as it relates to spending. With this economy in a recession, and maybe soon to be in a depression, we all need to be saving for a rainy day because the thunder is booming on the horizon and there is nothing I can see that is going to boost our national income.
I am very concerned at what I see and I hope for all our sakes that I'm totally off. But just in case I'm right don't you think we should all be more prudent with our spending and start saving?
My sermon this coming Sunday will deal more indepth with our spending and innabillity to be content with what we have. So bring a friend because I guarrantee you've never heard a sermon like the one I'm about to lay on you. Someone call Creflo Dollar and have him tune in.
Love yall and Jesus thinks your to die for.


Pastor Skipper

Php 2:3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.

One of the hardest things in life is to "consider others". We are so busy with our schedules and the routines of daily living that we rush through conversations with friends and acquaintances not stopping to consider if they need anything from us. We rarely try to read others body language or moods to see if something is weighing heavily upon them. The word used in this verse is "consider", ponder or think about "others". How often do we "consider others”? We mostly want our voices heard or our opinions to matter and it would probably do us good if we listened more and had sincere empathy for our friends.

Thinking about mans natural tendency toward selfishness makes me really value those friends who really are considerate of my feelings, concerns and desires. These people are jewels. They have trained themselves to listen first, and care about the person. That is a selfless person who has learned to humbly consider others better than themselves.

I don't think I've mastered that one yet. But I'm working on it. No one ever said following Christ would be easy. If pastors would preach more on this verse then I think we Christians would be more influential in our communities. At the very least we would have an abundance of friends. So it stands to reason that if you have many friends then you naturally have more influence.

Our men's group just put on a dinner for our ladies at the church and we did all the work. We wouldn't let them clean up, cook or watch the kids. It was "Lady's Night" it was fun to watch them chit chat, laugh and they even ended the meeting in a circle holding hands and praying. Wow, what an evening. I said to one of the men, "we have a great church." We really are working hard on this "considering other" stuff.

God bless all of you as we endeavor to love others as Christ loved us.

So, go with the King and be a blessing.

Pastor Skipper

How to Handle a “Flash Mob” the old school way

It’s a sad reality of our generation, not just in America, but around the world, that violence is all too common. Our youth are getting courser and more violent. Crime, when it is not dealt with severely and quickly will become commonplace and young hoodlums will run wild in the streets. We have watched Great Britain coddle their criminals and disarm their people and we have seen crime rates escalate. Being soft on crime only adds fuel to the fires of rebellion and anarchy.

When Rudolph Giuliani took over as Mayor of New York, Manhattan was a cesspool of crime and porn shops. He broke out the big stick and cleaned up that city making it the very lucrative tourist destination that it is today. It’s now a very delightful and safe place to visit.

If you read the Old Testament you’ll find that God was never soft on violence and lawbreakers. In fact when Elisha, the great prophet of the Northern kingdom of Israel, was heading up to the royal, religious center known as Bethel, he was accosted by a large gang of youths. They began to call him names and make fun of his bald head. Back in those days baldness was rare and people assumed that if you were bald then you had a curse from God. For a great prophet that would appear as though you possessed no power. The youths were saying, “Go on up, you baldhead!”

What do you think the proper response of a prophet of God should have been? Should Elisha have just taken it and moved on? Should he have filed a police report? Did he tell those youths he was going to pray for them? No, quite the opposite, he was very aggressive with the out of control hooligans. He called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord and two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of them.

Wow, that doesn’t sound too “loving”; "I thought God was a God of compassion and tender mercies?" That's just one side of Him. There are many sides to the Judeo/Christian God of the Old and New Testament and one very pronounced quality is his demand for justice. When youth are allowed to run wild they hurt many good and innocent people. And not just for a year or two. They spend their entire lives hurting, stealing, and abusing good people. All that mayhem can be stopped if good people will follow God's plan and be aggressive with criminals.

So wake up America and deal severely with these young pups before they become dangerous thugs and hurt a great deal of good people.

We are Transformers

Good Morning God's people,

I always like to say, "God loves you the way you are but He expects you to change." God is into change. Today our high temps are 10 or more degrees below what they were the other day; Praise the Lord. We have had a very hot summer. The Lord changes the seasons four times a year and he said he makes "all things new". He also said for us to sing a "new song" unto Him and when we are born again he says that we become "new creations in Christ Jesus, the old has gone and behold all things are New". The Bible teaches that we are being renewed day by day and transformed into the image of His son. Why then do we resist change so vigorously? Why do we eat the same meal every time we go to the same restaurant? Why do we complain about our fat bellies, lame jobs or lazy children and just live with it? Because it takes guts to change. And it’s so much easier to complain than to change.

Eli the prophet comes to mind. Remember big Eli? His sons were "hookin' up" with the church ladies in the temple and they were stealing the best meat from the sacrifices. Word had gotten around town and nothing was done by the leadership. i.e. discipline, correction. Eli was their dad and the High Priest and he did nothing about it. Eli new what needed to change but did nothing. He was not angry enough, strong enough and probably too scared of his sons to stop their wickedness. Don't worry, though, God took care of his sons and him. His sons were killed in battle, they lost the Ark of the Covenant and Eli fell off his chair, broke his neck and died. When things need to be delt with and changed we need to remember Eli and get things taken care of or God will do it for us. And His ways are usually painful.

I'm sure your not sinning like Eli and his sons but if we fail to grow (which means change) God will make it happen his way.

Heb 12:5 And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
Heb 12:6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."
Heb 12:7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?
Heb 12:8 If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.
Heb 12:9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live!
Heb 12:10 Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.
Heb 12:11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
Heb 12:12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.

Notice it said, v5 "word of encouragement" and then in v.7 endure hardships as discipline. Not all hardships are from the Devil, in fact if you think about the Devil you must consider a few things: a. he is not omni present b. you are probably not important enough for him to be spending time with you. He's at the White House or some world leader’s residence. This verse specifically says that God is doing it to us and we are to "endure" it.
And be encouraged because there is a purpose for this "pain" and it "produces a harvest of righteousness and peace".

So, my friends, pursue change, holiness and spiritual growth on your own or God will make it happen the old fashion way.

Love yall and be encouraged,

Pastor Skipper