Pastor's Corner

Danger Poison !

steveprice114 — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 05:39:57 +0000

Poison is a toxin that is meticulously concocted to kill the living. It is a toxic substance that when ingested is guaranteed to end your life. When ingested you develop symptoms that are tell tell signs you have been infected with the poison. One of the first signs is stomach pains, then hallucinations, then blacking out etc.
Bitterness can affect people the same way. Bitterness is a toxin that is meticulously concocted for another person, that we end up poisoning ourselves with. It begins with an offence done to us. Now when we find ourselves mulling over and over the offence, it’s the first sign that we have been poisoned. The toxins begin to really kick in as time goes on. Now the offence has angered us to the point of planning how to hurt or poison that other person. Time and plans are made to teach them a lesson. Now as we put those plans into effect, the full dose of poison we have made for that person has already taken its toll on us. This is one of the most dangerous aspects of bitterness. It’s been proven that if we let bitterness go on for over six months, there is over a 90% chance that we will never recover from it. Our enemy is counting on us getting to the six month period, because his work is all downhill from there.
There is only one cure for bitterness. It’s the antitoxin of forgiveness. Without it, we will die spiritually. Jesus said if we don’t forgive others, He cannot forgive us. And so we succumb to the bondage of a bitter spirit. It will cloud everything we do. It will turn your family against you. It will cloud your whole view of life into the negative. You will lose friends, you will lose family, but most of all you will lose the love of Jesus in your heart.
Is there something that you have been holding on too? Did you hear God in this script? If you did, it’s not too late for the anti toxin, it will still work. Jesus said come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Let it go. Let God take care of the other folks. He is the only one capable of changing any of us. Come back to the water, come be refreshed. Forgive and you will be forgiven.

So Why Did He Choose Fisherman?

steveprice114 — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 02:20:32 +0000

I believe Jesus chose mostly fisherman because they were everyday people just like you and me. They had the everyday cares of the world to deal with just like us. Jesus hung around with professionals too, CPAs and doctors, but mostly he hung with fisherman. They pretty much lived from day to day. If they didn’t catch any fish, they didn’t eat, so life could be stressful at times.
When life gets stressful you get very good at your job, that is, if you want to eat. So these fisherman were really good at what they did. I believe He chose fisherman because He said He was going to make them fishers of men. So what they learned on the water would easily transfer to the spiritual realm.
When you go fishing there a lot of things that come into play. You have to be aware of things like water temperatures, full moons. Some fish don’t bite after a full moon because they fed on the light of the moon. Some fish only bite in warm water. You have to watch the birds to see if they are working any parts of the water eating small bait, because there are usually big fish feeding on those smaller fish.
Life is not so different and Jesus knew it. He picked men that would know how to read the people. They knew where the people were gathering at the Synagogue and used the word of God for bait. They knew how to attract the fish by showing them how Jesus fulfilled all the scriptures about being the Messiah.
They went to the hurting people in the highways and byways. They seemed to know when people needed God’s grace, or a good case of God’s wrath. Whether they were healing the sick and applying God’s love, or telling Herod he was an adulterer, they seemed to know how to do it, because they knew how to fish.
These fisherman were the ones who had the heart to go to the lost. It became part of their makeup. They never went back to the Sea of Galilee, but they lived out their lives trying to keep people from entering the Lake of Fire.
How’s your fishing techniques? Do you know what attracts people to the gospel.
John 4:18 Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19And He said* to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. 21Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. 22Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

Why the ministry of the Holy Spirit is so Critical in our Lives.

steveprice114 — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 16:43:32 +0000

It all started with Jesus accomplishing his mission on earth. He paid for the sins of all mankind on the cross. After that He rose from the dead, to have his ministry with God the Father in heaven. Now, His mission is to pray for us 24/7 where there is a constant battle going on in heaven. Satan is there accusing the brethren and Jesus is there as our advocate to the Father.
Jesus didn’t want to leave us without that personal touch from God like the world had when he was here on earth the first time, so he said he was going to send us a helper.
In John 14:16 Jesus said “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.
18“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19“After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. 20“In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.

This is how God makes His relationship personal to us. It’s through the Spirit of God living in us. This is a special privilege for all of us in the church age. The Holy Spirit never lived in anyone in the Old Testament. Oh He would come and accomplish his mission in people like David and the prophets, but when His mission was accomplished, He would leave. Never in history has the Spirit of God actually lived in individuals until the church began in Acts chapter 2. When the church is raptured, the Spirit will no longer be indwelling people during the great tribulation. So as you can see, we happen to be living in one of the greatest times God ever developed for man. A time window where God the Holy Spirit will actually be living in all true believers.

There is only one caveat that mars this wonderful gift of God, it’s sin in the believer’s life. Sin doesn’t cause the Holy Spirit to leave the believer, but the bible says we grieve the Holy Spirit with our sin. What happens is, sin blocks God’s power from flowing through our lives. This is described as the believer living in the flesh. Oh we may try to do ministry, but we fall flat, because it’s void of God’s power.

This is why the ministry of the Spirit is critical to every believer. For example, the apostles all left Jesus the night he was on trial for His life. They ran away. Fear filled their hearts, their flesh gripped them, but after acts chapter two, all those apostles were baptized in the Spirit and were so filled with God’s power, they were willing to take the gospel out to the then known world, and they were all martyred accept the Apostle John who was boiled in oil, and because he wouldn’t die was imprisoned on the island of Patmos where he wrote the book of Revelation.

My question for all of us today is, Do we really understand the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Are you seeing His power, are you sharing the gospel? Do we have that drive to accomplish God’s will here in the calling He’s given us? Think about it, let me know what you think.

Why Moms Believe in Their Kids, It’s a Calling

steveprice114 — Mon, 10 May 2010 02:08:52 +0000

I had a lot of time to think about this mother’s day. This is the first mother’s day I’ve had since my mom died last year. When I think back to my mom, I think that what comes to me most, is how much she believed in me.
Oh when I was younger my mom had a big challenge looking for something positive in a teen ager on drugs, but she never gave up on me, no matter how bad it got.
What is it about mothers that look for the best in their kids? Is it just being in a state of denial when everything seems to be going wrong? No I don’t think so. I believe it’s a quality God puts in all moms. It’s that eternal optimism over those kids. That hope that will just not give up on praying for a kid in rebellion. In short, it’s the love of God. I Corinthians 13 tells us that love believes all things. Many times it’s only the moms that want to give the benefit of the doubt. This is something that God created women for, to be the encouragers when everyone else has given up. God made moms to be the ones that the kids really trust when she says, you can reach your dreams. I know you can do it. This is that other quality of love that is mentioned in I Corinthians 13, love hopes all things. The reason mothers are so believable is because of their consistency. They don’t just hope in us for a week, month, year, or until things go wrong. They hope in us for a life time. The reason mothers are so awesome, is because of the way they dispense this encouragement. I Corinthians 13 says that a moms love is patient, it’s kind, and most of all it never fails.
Man, what I would give to be able to call my mom tonight on mother’s day and just tell her one more time, “Mom thanks so much, I love you.

What Works Better, Being Macho or Prayer

steveprice114 — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:17:36 +0000

That new Lab with my friends daughter

Yesterday I was coming home from skeet shooting with two good friends. As we were driving home on the 15 Fry one of the men got a call on his phone. The dog he has been waiting for in the dog pound was going to be given to someone else because he didn’t show up in time to pick it up. Well the dog pound told him not to call, that they would call him. Well they didn’t. He was expressing how that was just not right. Well we all got a little incensed because we wanted him and his family to get that Golden Lab. Now all of us have shotguns, and we all have pick ups, but this friend didn’t have his dog yet, and we were getting a little heated. So we decided to go directly to the dog pound the three of us. On our way my friend got another call, now they said the owner decided to call after 11 days and wanted his dog back, but the owner only gets 10 days, so they said. Well my friend hung up the phone and we began to get the macho juices flowing. One friend who is a foreigner to this country said, “Hey I’ve only been here for 8 years, but there’s one thing I’ve learned about this country, this is America, and you have the right to sue them. My friend who was getting the dog is a cop, so I pipe up and say hey did you bring your badge? Well put it on man! Wear it on your belt like Haratio Cain does on CSI Miami. When you walk in, inform her that you are a Police officer and this is breaking a code, and you will have to talk to her director. We actually thought about walking in with our shotguns, but we decided that that might be a little mellow dramatic.
So we get to the dog pound and the lady tells us that the owner called and if he gets here by 4:00 PM he gets the dog. If not, we get the dog. So we finally come to our senses and said hey you guys, we haven’t prayed yet. So we began to pray together in the dog pound. I think people thought we were nuts. But we were praying Lord please if you want an accident on the freeway, now might be a good time to make it happen etc. But the guy showed up at 3:30. We were disheartened. We let my friend go and talk to the owner and me and my foreign friend began to pray some more like this. Lord can you change this man’s heart to give this beautiful golden lab to my friend? But we continued on, “if not we know that this is your ultimate choice and will, and we are good with your will. We don’t know every thing about this dog and we know you do. Maybe if my friend gets the dog he will get Parvo and die tomorrow. We know you know all Father, so just do your will Amen.”
My friend talked to the owner for 45 minuets and the owner just couldn’t give that beautiful lab up. She is an awesome dog. Well trained, good tempered. So the owner said I just can’t let her go. So my friend said, “Well I understand that, she’s beautiful. I just wanted to let you know that we’ve been praying for you before we got here and we knew it would be in God’s hands. Then the owner said you prayed for me? Man, that’s the kind of owner I have been looking for. Some body that would really care for and love my dog. Are you a Christian, and my friend said yes, and the owner said so am I, and you know what? God just moved my heart and I’m going to give you the dog. What an incredible act of love on the owner’s part. He knew deep in his heart he couldn’t take care of the dog because he was always gone and the dog kept running away because of it. But God touched his heart and did his own personal miracle. It was all done with out an unkind word. It was all done in love, all the way around. It was an incredible witness to the staff in the dog pound. They said we love when things go down like this. We very rarely see it. This made my day.
So you see, God really doesn’t need all our macho tendencies. Rather then that, He uses the Spirit of God to change men’s hearts. So the bottom line is, you gotta ask yourself, does God answer prayer? Ya dog gone right he does!

Let’s do an Attitude Check (Unknown Author)

steveprice114 — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:52:53 +0000

John is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, ‘If I were any better, I would be twins!’

He was a natural motivator.

If an employee was having a bad day, John was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked him, ‘I don’t get it!’

‘You can’t be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?’

He replied, ‘Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or…you can choose to be in a bad mood.

I choose to be in a good mood.’

Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or…I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.

Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or…I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.

‘Yeah, right, it’s not that easy,’ I protested..

‘Yes, it is,’ he said. ‘Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood.

You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It’s your choice how you live your life.’

I reflected on what he said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back..

I saw him about six months after the accident.

When I asked him how he was, he replied, ‘If I were any better, I’d be twins…Wanna see my scars?’

I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.

‘The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter,’ he replied. ‘Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or…I could choose to die. I chose to live.’

‘Weren’t you scared? Did you lose consciousness?’ I asked.

He continued, ‘….the paramedics were great.

They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read ‘he’s a dead man’. I knew I needed to take action.’

‘What did you do?’ I asked.

‘Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me,’ said John. ‘She asked if I was allergic to anything ‘Yes, I replied.’ The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, ‘Gravity”

Over their laughter, I told them, ‘I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.’

He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude…I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.

Attitude, after all, is everything.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.’ Matthew 6:34.

After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

God’s Love vs The World’s Love

steveprice114 — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:24:04 +0000

The world cries that love is “get”. The bible says love is give with out expecting in return. The Beatles said “All’s you need is love.” The bible says, “All’s you need is Jesus”. The world says that marriage is 50%-50%. God’s word tells us that marriage is an unconditional sacrificial giving of one’s self to help meet the needs of the other. Ephesians 5:25 says Men love your wives like Christ loves the church and gave himself up for her. Ephesians 5:21 says that the man and the women should be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.
The world says love is having some one who meets your needs. The bible says love is meeting that other persons needs. We need to ask our selves a series of questions if we think we understand love. Are you impatient? love isn’t. Do you get rude? Love is kind. Do you get jealous easy? Love doesn’t. Do you ever get a little arrogant and proud. Love doesn’t. Do you act off the wall at times? Love doesn’t. Do you ever start worrying about yourself? Love doesn’t. Do you ever feel like you need to get even? Love doesn’t. Do you get provoked easy? Love doesn’t. Do you ever laugh when some body gets what’s coming to them? Love doesn’t. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.
So the bottom line is, we have to ask ourselves, “What do we want?” Some short term self centered narcissistic pleasure? Or to become a mature man or woman of God and be a blessing to others.

Why Do We Have Wives?

steveprice114 — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 03:06:35 +0000

We have wives because when God made man in Genesis 2:18 He said it is not good for man to be alone. All the animals had a mate but man didn’t. I believe God put a longing in us to want to be connected to somebody when times are good or bad. Any one can find a fare weathered friend that hangs out when the times are good but is some how missing when things go south.
Proverbs 12:4 says an excellent wife is the crown of her husband. Just knowing that some one is committed to you when you fall on your face or lose your job is worth more then a single person will ever know. He didn’t create our wifes for us to take advantage of or abuse, no they are a gift to us, and if we respect God at all, we will take good care of the most precious gift we will ever receive. This gift was made dynamically. She can feel what’s going on with out you saying a word. She has a sensitivity for those who hurt. I believe this gift should have been marked fragile because the word of God says she is the weaker vessel. This doesn’t mean that she is weak minded. There are many women, doctors and scientists that could run circles around a lot of men intellectually. But those professional women need good husbands to come home too so they can unload the cares of their jobs and the world. Women weren’t made to handle the same stress load that men were. We were made to take more heat. We were made to face the battle by ourselves if need be, but the woman was made to be a help mate for man. There is just something about a wifes touch that can calm a husbands nerves after a long stressful day. Proverbs says finding a good wife actually brings God’s favor into our lives. That means God will not only guard your life more, but will bring blessings into your life you would have never had. No wonder Solomon said, “An excellent wife who can find? For her worth is far above jewels!!! Solomon was right. I have been married for 34 years and every one knows I have an excellent wife. She has supported me through the good and the bad. I can’t imagine being in ministry or just living this life with out her. I can relate with God when he said man was not meant to be alone. When my wife goes on trips to Washington DC for her history classes I find myself longing for her to return home. I don’t like eating alone. I miss that special one to talk to when I need to unload. I miss the only one who I can really share my successes with and we can rejoice together. My wife and I stick up for each other. We watch out for each other. We pray for each other. We love each other. I don’t think I could ever ask why do we have wifes. A better question would be, How could God even think up such and incredible gift? I can’t believe she was given to me!!!

Why Can’t People See The Things Of God?

steveprice114 — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 18:39:16 +0000

I don’t know how many times I’ve been asked that question as a pastor. Why can’t my husband see what I’m talking about when I’m telling him about God? Or why can’t my parents understand when I mention things about where they will spend eternity? Why can’t the people I work with see a one world government ready to take over this world?

The only way to understand that problem is to go to the bible itself. The bible tells us that this problem is spiritual, not intellectual. Until you come to believe that, you may be the most frustrated person on the planet. You can explain to someone the things of God until you are blue in the face, but you have to realize that they are blind spiritually. You can tell a blind man that that apple is red, but he has never seen red and so doesn’t know what you are talking about. And if a person’s heart has not been touched by the Holy Spirit yet, he can’t see what you are trying to explain either.

Spiritual blindness is something that has effected all of us at one time or another. The Apostle Paul describes the problem in Ephesians 4:17 ”Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; 19 and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.” Notice the words Paul uses to describe the unbelievers of that day. Futility of mind. Darkened in their understanding. All words to describe a total lack of understanding or blindness. Once we understand that this is a spiritual problem, we won’t be so frustrated by trying to win, or overcome some one intellectually.

The power in communicating spiritual things comes from prayer. God prepares the heart. As a matter of fact, it’s God the Father Himself who brings us to Jesus. John 6:37 says, “ All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. 38 “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” So it’s the Father who brings people to Jesus. How does He do that? Through a series of circumstances and the movement of the Holy Spirit to allow people to see Jesus. The Apostle John actually tells us how the Holy Spirit reveals Jesus to us in John 16:8 “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; 11 and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. No wonder Jesus was praying all the time, it’s where all the power lies. Have you been frustrated with a loved one or friend over the subject of God? Try praying earnestly and watch the power of heaven get lit up. It takes the burden off us. Be praying that God would give you an opportunity to be part of that process. Be attentive to the Holy Spirit about when he wants you to speak, and when He wants to do the speaking, and watch what God can do. This is the way Jesus did it, we know He’s not wrong. Only the Father can make the spiritually blind see. No wonder Jesus told us to pray without ceasing, this is where the power lies.

Matt 11:24 “Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.

Matt 21:22 “And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

John 16:23 Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. 24 “Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.

James 5:16 The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

“And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; 9concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; 11and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.

Offense, Offense, Offense !!!

steveprice114 — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 18:54:27 +0000

The church today has fallen into the defense mode. They are all about defending the unborn child. Defending the right to pray in school. Defending the right to mention politics from the pulpit. Defending the right to have manger scenes in public. Defending the right to home school our children. All these things are important, but if we make the priority of the church to be on the defense, we will lose the battle. No successful football team in the NFL makes it on defense alone. If you don’t have a good offense, you won’t score a touch down. If your always on the defense, you can’t gain ground. The Chicago Bears found that out in 2007 when they lost the super bowl. They had a good defence but they couldn’t score offensively and lost the game. They did something about it and got a new quater back, Jay Cutler from the Broncos because he’s a offensive minded player.
The same thing is true in golf. Tiger Woods didn’t become the best player on the PGA tour by being on the defensive. He’s not interested in holding his score as he heads for the 18th hole, he’s interested in breaking his own record by the time he gets to that 18th hole.
It’s time for the church to step up to the plate and realize that playing bingo is not going to change this world. It’s time for us to realize that there are more important things then being user friendly so we can bring as many people into our churches as they can hold. It’s time to throw political correctness out the window, and not be afraid to say words like, hell, sin, wrath, God’s judgment and eternal fire. The world is in a delusion thinking that every thing is just fine. But it’s time for all of us to realize that this same world is going to face judgment some day, and every sin that they ever committed will be exposed and most won’t know what to say. I cannot stand the idea of letting my family and friends and work partners fall into an eternity of depression, pain, and suffering. So we have to go on the offense. We have to have enough guts to tell this eternal story like it is. We can’t afford to sit around and be fat, dumb and happy. I don’t care what the liberals think of me. I care about what Jesus Christ thinks of me. I don’t care about church programs or statistics, I care about every single individual that may lose his soul for eternity. Let’s face it, if we are going to do this, we are going to have to be able to take the heat. Nothing is won with out a fight, and we are in a fight with the enemy of darkness. This is not for the faint hearted. You go on the offense and you are going to experience resistance and persecution. But remember what Jesus said in Matthew 5:10 “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And don’t forget what He said in John 15:20 “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you;. And never forget what Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:12 Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Yes we have to count the cost, but we will make a difference for eternity. But it is only going to be done on Offense, Offense, Offense !!!