Psalm 23 The Source

Take a minute and read psalm 23.  Then consider what it says, ponder the words and read it again.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (Psalm 23:1-6 ESV)

This is a great passage used often to comfort people in times of loss.  That is such a great use of Scripture, I highly recommend that we all practice using Gods Word to comfort others.  Yet today I want us to be reminded about the Source.  It is The Lord who is the Shepherd, the one who " makes", the one who "leads", the one who "restores", the one who is "with me", who's Rod and staff bring "comfort".  It is the Lord who brings a sense of power and authority to overcome enemies and who brings blessing to those He leads.  The Lord Jesus is the Source in this wonderful text.

As the Source, the Lord is the focus.  The follower experiences what the Source does for them but the follower is not the focus.  The opening line of this Psalm has a lot of depth.  The Lord is proclaimed to be the Shepherd, the one who leads, guides, cares for, feeds and protects the sheep.  This opening continues with the words "I shall not want".  This declares that the more you understand that the Lord God is your Shepherd then you will not be in want.  This does not mean you will not have needs, the rest of the Psalm talks of the Shepherd meeting many needs, so this is different.  To not be in want, means that the follower trusts the Shepherd to meet their true needs and that other wants or desires will not be part of their focus.  Let me paraphrase the line to help us understand this.  

The Lord Jesus is my Shepherd; I will find my true needs met in Him, I will cast off my own selfish desires and wants because I am not the focus, I am not the source, and so I state with commitment and conviction that I will not be found wanting, I shall not want.

There is no guarantee for an easy life with every blessing that you want.  No to the contrary it is about the Shepherd knowing what you really need and never leaving you to fend for yourself.  It is not all green pastures and still waters, it is also about righteousness, the shadow of death, evil and enemies and how regardless of the difficulty of life the Shepherd is with you through it all.

So today as you pray, remember the Source, the Good Shepherd, Jesus.  Be reminded that He is the focus and our wants are not the focus.

Pastor Bruce

Prayer during challenging times

It does not take much to see that we are in challenging times.  The whole world seems to be in some form of chaos.  Wars, terror, crime, abuse, human rights violations, oppression, hunger, racism, and corruption seem to be rampant problems.  So how do we pray?  When faced with so many problems how do we pray? Here are a few reminders that I have received lately regarding prayer that have helped and encouraged me.

Prayer is always a time of communion, conversation & commitment with God.  As you Pray be reminded of this even in the midst of horrid situations.

• Communion - The deep reality that prayer is relationship based.  It is a key part of your relationship with God, in fact it is essential.  To take time to spend with the One who is the most important relationship you have is essential to your Faith.  This should include taking time to praise God for who He is as well as what He has done and will do.  This is also a great opportunity to ponder some Scripture like a Psalm and spend time in quiet reflection as you "listen" for what God has to say to you.  Some people may think that this idea about prayer is too "mystical" or "over-spiritual" but I believe it is important because our prayer time is not about us, our problems, our fears, our issues or our agenda, instead it is about drawing near to God and taking time with Him as He draws near to you.
• Conversation - Part of prayer is the conversation.  This is where you interact with God about what is on your heart.  This is where you confess things that the Holy Spirit is convicting you of.  This is where you express your hopes, fears, concerns, desires, needs to the Almighty God who is the One who holds the answers.  This should also be a time where the concepts of communion continue, praise God as you express these things.  Take time to wait and listen between expressing your heart.  Fill your mind with the Scriptures as you meditate on what God is saying and doing in your life.
• Commitment - You might find it odd that I have included commitment in this note about prayer.  Yet I believe that it is often overlooked in modern prayer.  Sure we talk a lot about commitment when someone is praying to receive Christ or become a Christian.  But as a disciple of Jesus, as a follower of His, we are to be ever growing and repenting so that we are conformed to His image.  Part of that is found in our response.  As you Commune and Converse with God then Commit, make Commitments regarding the things that are being understood.  It could be in regards to a change you need to make in relation to sin.  It could be a need to improve in an area of how you live your faith, like loving others or sharing the Gospel.  It could be a Commitment about a lot of things but do not run from the Commitments you know you should be making.

There are many other elements that we could look at that can help your prayer life but I just wanted to share these three that have been used in my life lately.  So Commune, Conversation & Commitment.  You need not ignore the chaos that surrounds us but it was never intended to become our primary prayer focus.

Draw Near to God - Seek Him and you will find Him.

Pastor Bruce

Olympic Motivation?

We are well into the Winter Olympics as I write this.  I find myself pondering the reality of the life of many of these great athletes and how much they focus and train as well as the amount that they compete.  I find myself being challenged by this concept of their lifestyle.

Don't worry, sure I try to exercise and eat right but I am not going to be writing today about some new training kick I am on to become a great athlete.  Instead I have found myself being challenged about how we as Christians are to be like those athletes in our Faith.

We are to be training and equipping ourselves and one another to be able to walk well in our lives.  We are to receive strong Biblical instruction so that our minds are renewed and we are prepared to share the Truth of the Gospel to those we encounter.  We need to practice these things with others in the Church, fellowshipping well in the Love of Christ, sharing testimony of how the Gospel has changed us, praying with and for eachother.  We are also to compete, not against each other but with each other, it is a team event.  We compete together as we put this all into practice seeking to intentionally give the Gospel to the lost around us.  This means we need to apply our lives to this endeavor, it is not a simple religion or a one day a week go to church type of idea.  Instead this is a life commitment to be an active and radical disciple of Jesus.  

So I urge you to be one who truly loves Jesus as the Lord of your life, displaying that love in your obedience to Him and His Word.  Hold fast to the community of Faith, the local Church and serve the Lord together, not in a ritualistic and empty way, not in traditions that no longer have effect, but with a fresh view to engage the culture around us with the living Truth of the Gospel as taught in the Bible.  May we actively love others and serve one another as a display of what the Gospel does in our lives.  If Jesus died for your sins and mine, if we have repented of our sin and received forgiveness through His name and placed all our faith and trust in Him, then we are to live in thankful response to this great gift by following Him and His teaching.  Do what He says, read the Bible and go to a Bible teaching Church that holds to the True Gospel as its core.  Be a part of serving Him.  

For those who have made up their minds that they do not need to be a part of a local Bible believing Church and that they do not need to actively serve Jesus or talk about the Gospel.  Read John 14 and ask yourself "If Jesus said that those who love me will do as I have commanded" then do I really Love Jesus if I refuse to follow what He has said about His Church?  About His Mission for us to make Disciples to follow Him?  

May we take seriously the life we have been given and not loose heart but apply ourselves diligently to the task we have received.

Amen

Pastor Bruce

Optional Christian?

As I ponder many things this morning, one thing that has been brewing in me lately is this issue of how many "Christians" view so much of their faith as optional.  Let me try to briefly explain.

The first thing is that so often I have found in not only others but my own ministry that we treat the Gospel as optional.  We present it as a "you decide, take it or leave it" kind of message.  Yet I am troubled by such an approach.  God has not given us options.  The message is you must embrace the True Biblical Gospel of Jesus the Christ.  To refuse it is to accept your fate of utter destruction.  Really it is not some light, flippant, choice to make.  It is the one who is in the electric chair to be executed and they are told exactly what to do to avoid what comes next.  Sure they must choose but it is not an idea of choice that has equal weight or standing, to refuse God's wonderful Grace is the choice of the fool.  We need to take the urgency of the Gospel seriously.

The second is how so many "Christians" view different parts of how they are to live out their faith as optional.  We are to take all of Jesus teaching as something we are to follow, not teachings we may choose to follow.  Our Lord gave us His Apostles to continue that teaching to ensure we have understanding.  None of this instruction is intended to be optional.  So when the Word of God teaches us about marriage, family, sin, Church, etc... We are to follow ALL of its teaching as much as we are able.  And in any area where we seem to lack ability we are to rely on Him, through the Holy Spirit to provide the ability in us so that we can be obedient.  

Repenting of sin, not an option.  Going to Church, not an option. Getting baptized, not an option.  Humbly submitting yourself to Jesus, not an option.  Living to honour and glorify God putting death to selfishness, not an option.  These things are required of the disciple of Jesus.  This is not about earning favour with God or about some form of works based faith.  Rather it is about who you are called to be as a disciple, a follower of Jesus.  Our lives are to be an out flowing of the Sprit of God in us.  

So when we fin ourselves treating our Faith as optional, we need to humbly repent of our self centred ways.  We need to acknowledge the Truth we have been given in the Bible and whether we "like" it or not, we need to receive it and respond to it.

Let us walk together.

Pastor Bruce 

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Bruce Taylor

Optional Christian?

As I ponder many things this morning, one thing that has been brewing in me lately is this issue of how many "Christians" view so much of their faith as optional.  Let me try to briefly explain.

The first thing is that so often I have found in not only others but my own ministry that we treat the Gospel as optional.  We present it as a "you decide, take it or leave it" kind of message.  Yet I am troubled by such an approach.  God has not given us options.  The message is you must embrace the True Biblical Gospel of Jesus the Christ.  To refuse it is to accept your fate of utter destruction.  Really it is not some light, flippant, choice to make.  It is the one who is in the electric chair to be executed and they are told exactly what to do to avoid what comes next.  Sure they must choose but it is not an idea of choice that has equal weight or standing, to refuse God's wonderful Grace is the choice of the fool.  We need to take the urgency of the Gospel seriously.

The second is how so many "Christians" view different parts of how they are to live out their faith as optional.  We are to take all of Jesus teaching as something we are to follow, not teachings we may choose to follow.  Our Lord gave us His Apostles to continue that teaching to ensure we have understanding.  None of this instruction is intended to be optional.  So when the Word of God teaches us about marriage, family, sin, Church, etc... We are to follow ALL of its teaching as much as we are able.  And in any area where we seem to lack ability we are to rely on Him, through the Holy Spirit to provide the ability in us so that we can be obedient.  

Repenting of sin, not an option.  Going to Church, not an option. Getting baptized, not an option.  Humbly submitting yourself to Jesus, not an option.  Living to honour and glorify God putting death to selfishness, not an option.  These things are required of the disciple of Jesus.  This is not about earning favour with God or about some form of works based faith.  Rather it is about who you are called to be as a disciple, a follower of Jesus.  Our lives are to be an out flowing of the Sprit of God in us.  

So when we fin ourselves treating our Faith as optional, we need to humbly repent of our self centred ways.  We need to acknowledge the Truth we have been given in the Bible and whether we "like" it or not, we need to receive it and respond to it.

Let us walk together.

Pastor Bruce 

--
Bruce Taylor

Cessationist or charismatic .... Maybe there is a different answer?

With so much being discussed on the gifts of the Holy Spirit lately I have thought about what position I find myself in.   Many scholars that I enjoy and tend to agree with are sitting on either side of the discussion.   But like so many of these theological discourses it can become quickly a forming of camps and a piling of Bible verses.   I cannot in good conscience jump into either side.    So  where does this leave me?

Well I think the answer is that I will remain committed to teach the whole Bible and sick to what it says as the foundation for my belief in these matters.   This means that until I can receive a clear piece of the Scripture the speaks of the gifts ceasing  then I will seriously consider that position.   It also means that when I encounter those who talk of the miraculous gifts and works of the Spirit of God I will make sure it is fitting with the Bible before I accept it as being true.
We are not to base our belief  on experience or feeling  but on the Word and its Truth.  
So whether you have seen and experience the abuse of what some call gifts or  if you have felt that people have tried to quench the Spirit,  neither is to be how we find the Truth.
So I encourage you to stick with the Bible and what it clearly teaches.

Amen

Pastor
Bruce

Sunday a new day

Today as I ponder and prepare to teach, peach and encourage the people of God, I am reminded that no matter how prepared I feel I am still at the mercy of the Lord.   Though I study and train and pray yet I find myself often nervous with the weight of sharing God's Word.   But what ever yesterday was it is gone and today is here.

God has given us this day for His purposes and glory.   No matter if you feel prepared for it or not the day is here and it is His.   So we serve Him fully and without restraint.  

Once again I proclaim "not me, but the Love of Christ control me".  I pray that today He will be greater and I will be less.

Let us walk together today in the Love of Jesus Christ and in so doing live in humility giving glory to God.

Pastor Bruce

What compels you? What controls you?

Last Sunday I spoke about Mission and Vision for 2014 and we talked about 2 Corinthians 5:13-15.  I would encourage you to read that passage or the whole chapter and ponder the question of "what compels you?" or "what controls you?". 

The challenge we receive in this passage of the Scripture is that the "Love of Christ controls us".  As we digest this statement and how it should affect us it can be problematic if we are not careful.  While I will not take the time to be exhaustive in such a study in this write up, I do hope to share with you what God has been showing me and reminding me about in this portion of His Word.

First I want to expose some pitfalls that we need to avoid.  We must not read this or any other passage of the Bible and believe that we just need to try harder to be like Jesus.  That we need to work to show His Love better.  We must not enter into any such forms of legalism where our works become something of value in our salvation.  Always be reminded that the sacrifice of Jesus is not only sufficient for you to be saved but His righteousness is in every way superior to any form of righteousness you can do on your own.

So when we are challenged to let the Love of Christ control us, what is this to mean if it is not about works?  Well is it about works in a way but not in the way people usually think or talk about.  The works of righteousness are Jesus works.  The works of people are sinful.  If you are a Christian then the Love of Christ is to control you.  The Jesus that saved you has taken up residence inside you by the power and person of the Holy Spirit.  His Love controlling you means that He (Jesus) is working in and through you and as such you are NOT doing the works but He is.  The basic reality here is that if we are to live in submission to Jesus then we will be controlled by His Love and we will desire to live in obedience to Him and His Word.  It should be the natural state of the saved.

This is hard teaching when you think about it.  If sin and selfishness is in me and flowing out of me then it is me doing that and it is something I need to repent of.  If true righteousness is happening in me and flowing out of me, something that truly glorifies God, then it is Jesus Love controlling me through the Holy Spirit.  So when I sin, I need to quickly and with great humility repent.  Then I need to submit myself afresh to the Lord so that He and NOT me is controlling my life.

It really is all about whether we will live God centered in and through Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit or ...  we live for our own selfish selves.

At FFBC we repeated a phrase this week and I will share it here as something you can use to remind you of this Truth. 

Not me, but the Love of Jesus Christ control me!

We are called to walk together in this mission we are on under our Lord Jesus.  Let us walk on with the courage to submit to Him fully daily.

Amen

Pastor Bruce

New Year - Old Priorities

One of the things I read this morning was from Spurgeon's booklet called "Daily Help".  A great challenge and reminder of where our priorities are to be founded.

HE who lives without prayer—he who lives with little prayer—he who seldom reads the Word—he who seldom looks up to heaven for a fresh influence from on high—he will be the man whose heart will become dry and barren; but he who calls in secret on his God—who spends much time in holy retirement—who delights to meditate on the words of the Most High—whose soul is given up to Christ—such a man must have an overflowing heart; and as his heart is, such will his life be.  -  Charles Spurgeon from "Daily Help"

The "Tone" for our life should be set by our attitude and obedience in prayer and the Word.  When we with all humility seek the Lord Jesus to commune with us and grow us and use us based on our time with Him then He will by the power of the Holy Spirit flow out of us.  This is where the true beauty of the Christian life is found.

Sacrifice your sleep, your leisure and your hard work (yes even your hard work) and make your spiritual relationship with your Lord a priority.  If that foundation is in proper order then the rest of life will be easier to live in the Faith you have been called to.

Let us walk together

Pastor Bruce

Love and fear God

Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; make melody to our God on the lyre! He covers the heavens with clouds; he prepares rain for the earth; he makes grass grow on the hills. He gives to the beasts their food, and to the young ravens that cry. His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love. (Psalm 147:7-11 ESV)

What a wonderful text to close the year with this blog.  Give thanks to God, sing make melody.  The 

Lord God is over all things.  Yet it is not the strength or performance of His creation that gives Him pleasure, rather it is those who fear and love Him.  We who find our hope in The Lord and Hid steadfast love, they are His delight.

Such a great reminder from the psalms that our greatness is not what God delights in.  Our hard work, our striving and toiling do not give Him delight.  Our works can never bring delight to God.  Instead focus on fearing God, not in an improper way like you might fear an evil person.  But fear Him in a healthy way, as your creator, redeemer, judge, and executioner.  Probably this fear resemble a deep held respect, knowing that He holds your very life in His hand.  Know that this same God out of His love extends salvation to you, forgiveness for your sin and is willing to adopt you as His child.  So now that healthy respect based fear is still in the background but now you gave the great Hope of His sacrificial Love for you.  So we worship the one who saves us from His wrath by His own sacrifice taking our penalty on himself.  

Be someone who finishes 2013 with God delighting in you.

Blessings

Pastor Bruce 

Truly Love one another? What does it mean?

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."  -  John 13:34-35 (ESV)

We receive very direct teaching from Jesus here in John 13.  We are to Love one another like Jesus loved His disciples.  So what does this mean though for us today in practical terms?  How should we now live in this command?

The first thing I want to say is that Jesus had spent 3 years with His disciples.  He had spent his days and nights with them.  He had walked with them and taught them.  He had encouraged them and admonished them.  Jesus lead them and challenged them in their thinking and behavior.  Jesus pointed them toward the Father and His glory.  Jesus served them and sacrificed for them, eventually giving Himself up fully for them in His great sacrifice on the Cross.

If we are to truly love others like Jesus loved His disciples then we must first know Jesus.  If you do not know the source and learn from Him about how to love then you will not get this concept at all.  If we leave it at the simple statement of love one another then we will leave it to the person to decide what it really means.  Jesus instructs us that He is the example for how His followers are to treat "one another" and that how we treat one another is a testimony to His work in our life.

So I guess I am saying that we need to set our minds in a certain direction if we are to be obedient to Jesus instruction here.

1. The first is know Jesus.  Get to know Jesus according to the Bible.  This is first a personal relationship with Jesus as the Lord of your life.  The relationship begins when you repent of your sin and accept forgiveness through His name.  Read and understand who He is and what he did here during His walk on the planet.  See how He treated His followers.
   
2. The next is to embrace the hard changes of our natural attitudes, behaviors and responses, so that we more and more follow Jesus and His ways.  Jesus died and paid the price for your sin not only so that you can be with Him in Heaven eternally but also so that you can live a transformed life here on Earth serving Him.  If you, like me, have certain natural tendencies then you need to fight them and not give in to the lies of this world that tell you that who you are naturally in personality etc... cannot be changed.  Jesus calls us to be like Him, not to be like ourselves.  This is a hard road but it is the calling of the Christian.
   
3. Understand that Jesus entire relationship and all that He did with His followers, He did showing proper Love toward them.  When Jesus corrected them it was out of Love.  When Jesus challenged them and their thinking it was out of Love.  Truly loving one another like Jesus is not just about warm fuzzy encouragement.  Sure encouragement is nice and needed it is not the fullness of Jesus Love for them.  We must be prepared to become transparent and honest with our fellow believers, not to judge them harshly but so that we may truly walk together in our Faith.  We must be prepared to correct and challenge people in what they believe, we need to do it in a proper way and use the Bible to show the Truth but we must not feel that somehow these things bring division.  Division is already here and all around us just look at a family that is not honest and full of Truth, they are common to see, spouses fear what their counterpart will think of them if they were really transparent and open, parents and children seeking to fit the right mold instead of embracing true relationships.  Unity is found in real relationships, loving Christ centered, Biblical relationships, which must be whole and balanced.
4. The Love Jesus gave to His followers was conditionally unconditional.  What I mean by that is that Jesus treated His followers with this Love because they were "His Followers".  So Jesus unconditionally loves His followers the condition of being a part of that Love is that you become one of His followers.  So we learn from this that we are to love one another Like our Lord loves us.  We are to love other followers of Jesus selflessly and fully.  The world would tell you that some people need to earn the right to be loved by you because they have hurt you, they have let you down.  Jesus followers are imperfect and lacking in their ability to perfectly show love to Jesus.  We are flawed, it is no excuse for our bad behavior but we recognize we do not love our Lord like He loves us, yet it is this command we are given.  So while we see in ourselves a lack of proper love for Jesus and thank Him for loving us anyway, which is good for us to know.  Yet, we tend to think it horrible that other believers do not show us proper love all the time.  We get offended and defensive because someone else hurt us, yet we miss the opportunity to forgive and show grace, like Jesus shows us.  
5. We need to put away our excuses.  There is no excuse for our bad behavior toward other believers.  There is no excuse for the behavior of others either.  Almost all our mis-treatment and hurt of other believers is sin.  We are to see our sin condition and not only ask God to forgive us, but also the brothers and sisters we have hurt we need to seek to repair those relationships.  We need to seek to change our behavior, the natural person is not a good thing, it is where we have inherited our sin condition and as such it is founded on selfishness and pride.  We must understand that the lie in our culture of "that is who I am" is no excuse for our sin.  
6. See the Truth.  When you feel hurt by another believer, look at what has happened and prayerfully consider what the Truth of the matter is.  Consider if there is an element of the message you received that you need to accept.  We understand that even in the middle of a difficult conflict, there will most likely be some Truth we must embrace for us to grow.  The other person acting in a way that would seem to deny this charge to love one another needs to be overlooked to a degree because we who are conscious of this instruction must seek to follow it even in difficulty.
7. Deal with sin.  Deal with your sin.  First, before you seek to persecute someone for their poor behavior, do business with God on your sin, on your attitudes and behaviors.  Yes we still need to confront others in their sin, it is also and instruction we are to follow from the Bible.  But we need to be careful on how we do this.  The reason we need to check ourselves first is because we need to walk with humility as we approach others with correction.  If we instead approach them with a sense of self righteous pride then we will find ourselves contributing to the sin of the situation with our own.  We will become gasoline on the fire if we approach a fellow believer without a humble heart.  Our desire should be not to "correct" the other person so that they think or act like us, but rather we are to bring them to a Biblical restore point where we find ourselves re-focused on our Lord Jesus and find the unity He gives us.  
8. Cast off the things that would divide.  This is not about core Biblical teaching, but rather about the things which are not Biblical but may cause friction and irritation in the relationships.  Think of it this way, if you have Biblical grounds for what you see in someone else, then talk to them about the teaching you find in the Bible.  If your issue with someone else is not rooted in a Biblical Truth, then you may still need to talk about it, but you need to consider first if this is something that you need to cast off instead.  If I am upset, bothered or hurt because of a behavior or decision in your life that has no Biblical reason to be considered as sin then it should send off a flare inside me that maybe my expectation has more to do with what pleases me than what pleases God.  I had someone once very upset with me about my teaching on men and women and leadership in the Church.  They felt my views presented women as "second class" and they were noticeably upset about it.  After hearing from them for a bit, what I was being told was that my belief and the presentation of it was hurting the body and that I needed to change my view so that the body would be healthier and so that I would not be promoting bigotry.  I had to respond to this, but I could tell the person was hurting and upset.  I responded with a few passages of the Bible that talk directly about gender roles in leadership in the Church and calmly stated that no matter what view I hold that I hope that we use the Bible as the source for our beliefs and behaviors.  I had to explain that the instruction God gives us is for us to receive and act upon even if it does not "fit" our current cultures beliefs.  I explained that over the years my wife, whom I respect greatly as a student of the Word, has re-enforced to me the importance of the Biblical teaching on these matters.  We need to embrace what the Bible says, not add to it our own extras and not take away from it because it is easier for us.  This person needed to look at the Word of God and not our culture for how things should be, then seek to follow it and seek the assistance of fellow believers to walk with you in following God's Word.

This topic could go on and on because there is so much teaching in the Bible about how we are to treat each other.  I know that I have much growing yet to do in this area.  I am convinced that it is essential to a healthy faith life, that we learn and grow in how we love one another in the way Jesus taught us through the Bible.  I urge us all to grow in maturity of faith through the embracing of Biblical teaching, so that as we encounter other believers we may walk with greater grace and love for them because we understand more and more the Grace and Love we have received from God.

Let us walk together to be more and more the people God designed us to be.

Pastor Bruce

Obedience is Worship

Over the last few weeks I have been troubled.  Troubled by the ideas that some have presented me about the importance of worship.  I find myself quick to agree with them because the most important thing in our life should be to honor and glorify God.  Yet still I am troubled.  But I am troubled because of the way worship is defined.  Often people mean singing, music, prayer and some might include testimonies, scripture reading and preaching.  And I agree that all of this should be done in and as a part of our worship, yet I find it still lacking.

So here is where I have been brought to, here is where I find myself standing.  Obedience must be the deepest definition of what we are to do to worship, honor, glorify God.  Obedience would have us sing, play instruments, read the Bible, pray, testify, preach, etc...  but also should include everything Jesus directed us to do.  So if I set my focus on creating a "worship experience" I believe that I am missing the most important things.  In a worship through obedience we find ourselves worshiping when we are the husbands and fathers we are instructed to be in the Bible.  We find ourselves worshiping when we go and make disciples, baptizing them and teaching them all that Jesus commanded.  We find ourselves worshiping when we help people in need.  We find ourselves worshiping when we walk through life seeking to live with humility as we reflect the love and care of Jesus to this lost and dying world.  When we embrace a belief that for true worship our obedience is required, then our outlook about what is important for worship changes.

I can worship God where ever, whenever, with or with out, because worship begins with how I respond to God with an attitude of thanksgiving.

So I will remind myself to put my feelings aside, realizing that the emotions will come and go, but my obedience is not negotiable and is to be worship.

As for you, study, ponder and pray and ask yourself this question "What is it that I need in order to worship God properly?"  ...  My answer was Obedience

Pastor Bruce

The approval & acceptance of man

The desire that we have to be accepted is nothing new.  We have been seeking the approval of others since the disease of sin began in humanity.  As people we naturally seek to be liked and want the approval of others.  Yet so very often we do so while we disregard the most important acceptance and approval that exists, being accepted by God.

Here we have the example of this in the book of John, nothing new but plainly stated.  So often today people tell of how they need not be open to talk about Jesus and what He has done for them, because their life will show it.  I pray that is true for them, but most often this is used as an excuse by those who fear what people will do if they are open about their Faith.  In many ways this is a rather "faithless" reality for many.  

John 12:42, 43 ESV

"Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God."

http://bible.com/59/jhn.12.42.esv

We are not only to live a changed life because of Jesus but also we are to identify with Him first and not concern ourselves with the reality that the world will reject us.  Let us not be rejected because of our humanity, nor accepted because of it.  Rather let us be conformed to the image of our Lord Jesus and walk in fellowship with Him no matter what others think.

Will you identify yourself today with Jesus?

Preacherman

I could not find your sermons on youtube lately

What do you do when your technology fails?  Well I hope you continue on as best as you can.  Like at our Church FFBC in Brandon, the last few weeks the internet drops out often.  Now the techs are looking at it this week and hopefully it gets fixed.  But as the problem has been present it caused us to not have video feeds or recordings of the last few Sunday sermons.  Whether it is your internet, your IPAD, Laptop, Projector or Sound Board, if your technology dies your message must continue on.  The message is much greater than the technology we use.

God will use the message and like the many generations of Christians who preached and taught without such technology we too must be prepared to minister without them.  The message of the Gospel, the teaching of God's Word is not to be held back by our "program" crashing.

So all that being said for those of you who missed Church in the last few months we do have a link for you to access the audio files if you would like them.  I will post this same info in a few other places as we do not have the Church website updated yet with the files.

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0Bz69ajNSG55pRk1FV0ZXdkNrMXM&usp=sharing

It should be sorted in folders of year, then month and then the files should be named in dates on which they were recorded.

Lets us seek to grow together and not be restrained by our modern technology or lack of it.

Pastor Bruce

Deeper

Just when I find myself thinking that God has taken my faith to a deeper place, He shows me that I am no where near where I thought I was.  Then I am reminded that I am still one of little Faith.

And so the road continues. May we see to grow daily in our Faith.  Repenting of our sin, which includes lack of obedience to God;s Word.  Seeking to love and serve others as we share with them the words of life which are the Gospel of Jesus.  This is a life we are given as Disciples of Jesus.  A life of Worship and sacrifice for Him.

Too often I find myself in comfort instead of obedience.  Please join me in a commitment to love God more anything.  More than myself, more than my stuff, more than my money, my retirement, my job, my friends, my position, more than anything else.  If I truly love God first then I will treat everything else the way He wants me to.  How do I know this, you can fin the answers for how we are to live our Faith in the Bible.

Be a student of the Word of God and receive the challenges it holds, do not be one who acts like a non-believer and yet claims to believe.  Let us not shame the work of Christ.

I humbly ask you to join me in fresh decisions to be who Jesus planned for you to be, obedient to Him.

Cheers

Pastor Bruce

Link to my new blog
http://ffbcpastor.blogspot.ca/2013/04/what-about-sin.html

Of Great Concern

I saw an article today that told of the Ontario Minister of education telling the Catholic school board that they cannot teach pro-life, even though they are a religious based school and it is part of their faith.  Whether you like the catholics or not you have to see that this is a matter of great concern.  The idea that any religious group should be told by the government that they cannot teach their faith should concern us.  It would be different if this was a matter of a group that was teaching "hate" or "violence" but this is not related to teaching against the laws of our country.  

This is another evidence that these supposed laws like ones about "abortion" are actually now being used to restrict freedom and not to grant it.  So instead of such laws that are contrary to the Christian faith, allowing those who have a different belief to not be restricted in this area, instead now faith groups are going to be restricted unless they teach what the government says is ok.  This sounds really scary.  

Not only is this a poor precedent but this particular issue is of great importance.  The teaching of the sanctity of life and the precious gift of children is deeply rooted in the Bible.  Yet our society has decided that human life is not very important, it can be thrown away like trash.  Yet we have groups that seek to preserve and conserve the eggs of birds and their nests, we have scientists that look for signs of life in strange places and even on other planets, they would see the smallest microbe and proclaim life, yet a child that has not yet been born does not rate as life.  This is a sad state and a matter of great concern.

Our politicians went out on a limb to attempt to re-open this discussion and I applaud them.  Yet many groups claimed they did not respect women due to wanting to make sure life is properly defined.  But what about the unborn female?  Currently there is no protection for the unborn female in Canada.  A family with a background that puts greater value on male children can elect to have a female child aborted.  This is a horrible situation, that we would allow gender selection in our country is so very scary.

We need to be a people who really think these things through, the decisions of that past did not see the big picture and now we are in a situation that should give us Great Concern!

Please pray for our nation, that people would turn to God through Jesus Christ and see the error of our ways.

Preacherman

The Rest Principle

In the Bible, very early on in the book of Genesis we are called to take a day of rest.  God called it the 7th day a Sabbath and we as people are to rest.  So fast forward a few thousand years and you would meet Jesus, God in the flesh.  The Jewish people of the time had taken God's Sabbath and made it into something it was not meant to be, they had made it into an "idol".  Jesus when confronted about His actions on the Sabbath responded that mankind was not created for the Sabbath day, but rather the Sabbath day was created for mankind.  Jesus was not saying that the Sabbath was invalid but that it needs to kept in the right place and not placed above its purpose.

So fast forward another couple thousand years and today we have a variety of views.  Some believe we need to legalistically keep the Sabbath on Saturday, some on Sunday, and still others that we need not bother with any Sabbath.  I believe that Jesus completely fulfilled the law requirement for Christians and as such we are not bound to keep a specific Sabbath day.  However we are those who live under the Lordship of Jesus are called to follow Him and His Word.  So I have become convicted that we are to seek to live in the "principle" of Sabbath as Christians.  We are supposed to set aside a regular day of rest, to show that we do not rely on our own work, but on God.  It is also a lot healthier to take a regular day of rest.  

So is it Sunday?  Saturday?  Well I think the specific day is not so important.  There has been a lot of confusion over the day of corporate worship and the Sabbath.  In our day it is almost foolish to really believe Sunday is a day of rest for most Christians.  At least Pastors, Church workers and key volunteers, they all do not get a day of rest on Sunday.  And most of the rest of western Christianity does not really rest on Sunday either.  So I suggest that everyone pick a day of rest and a day of worship.  So I have corporate worship with my Church family on Sunday but my day of Sabbath is Monday.  What about you?  

Preacherman

A Prayer for today

Heavenly Father,
Thank you for your great patience with me
Thank you for the Grace that you extend to me through the work of Jesus
Thank you for providing forgiveness of my sins and victory over them through the power of the Holy Spirit
Thank you for the opportunities You are giving me to serve You today
Lord I ask that you will shape me and direct me so that I will be the man you created me to be
Please lord use me in the work of Your Kingdom
May my desires be Your desires
Help me to walk in humility as an example of your work in process here on earth
Give me the words and ability to accurately share the Truth of the Gospel to all who will hear them
Above all my prayer is that my life this day will bring honor and glory to You my God
I ask these Lord in the name of Jesus
Amen

Colossians 1:3-8 Prayer & Thanksgiving

3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints,5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel,6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth,7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit. - Col 1:3-8 (ESV)

Today my hope is that we would be reminded to pray with thanksgiving.  Not a mere thanking God for the things we have or the sustenance we have received, but being thankful for the Gospel.  The work of the Gospel, the power of the Gospel, the results of the Gospel, we should give thanks for what God is doing with His children.  Give thanks for your brothers and sister and How God has saved them, how He has helped them, how He has grown them and how He is using them.  

Sure be thankful to the Lord for all things, but lets remember the elements that Paul mentions here.  Give thanks for the ones whom the Lord is using to help you grow and mature in your faith.  We have so much to be thankful for, but lets not allow ourselves to fall into a distraction of thankfulness for every "thing" and neglect being thankful for every spiritual blessing we see and receive.

Let's continue every day in an attitude of thanksgiving ... AMEN!

Preacherman