REVIVE US AGAIN

July 4, 2017 By Pastor David Stone

“Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?”–Psa. 85:6

America needs an awakening, but the church needs a revival. We often use the words revival and awakening interchangeably, but there is a distinction. An awakening is when a nation comes alive spiritually, sees its need for God, and turns to Him. A revival is when God’s people come back to life again.

Revival simply means to bring back to life, to restore. To be revived is to wake up from a state of sleep. As C. S. Lewis pointed out, “A moderately bad man knows he is not very good: a thoroughly bad man thinks he is all right. . . . You understand sleep when you are awake, not while you are sleeping.” In other words, if you think you are a great person with no problems, then you are really more asleep than you realize.

Revival is coming back. It is waking up. Revival is getting back to the Christian life as it was meant to be lived. Revival is being in the bloom of first love for a lifetime, walking closely with the Lord. You can’t always have those initial emotions you had as a new believer any more than you can have the same butterflies in your stomach you had when you first met your husband or wife to be. That is unrealistic. But your love can grow deeper. Your love can grow stronger.

That is how we ought to be as followers of Jesus. We need the faith of the Christians of the first century, the faith that turned the world upside down. Revival is nothing more or less than a new obedience to God. Then it is, to quote Nietzsche, a “long obedience in the same direction.”

Only God can send an awakening to America. But revival can happen right here, right now. (Greg Laurie)

PRAYING FOR A NATION

July 3, 2017 By Pastor David Stone

“I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”–1 Timothy 2:1–4

On April 18, 1775, Paul Revere made his famous “midnight ride” to warn that the British troops were leaving Boston to try to confiscate the colonist’s weapons. His special purpose was to alert two men, Samuel Adams and John Hancock. These prominent leaders of the cause of American independence were special targets of the British raid, with soldiers purposing to bring back the bodies of Adams and Hancock. That night, Adams and Hancock had met, not to plan a political rally or write a treatise demanding independence, but to pray for God’s help and blessing. When Revere reached Lexington, he found them sleeping in the house of a local pastor, Reverend Clark, and alerted them to the danger in time to flee.

Many people find it easy to criticize presidents, politicians, and judges. Few take the time to pray for them, or seek God’s direction and guidance on those He has chosen to set in authority. In reality, no politicians of our day compare to the wickedness of the Emperor Nero—the ruler of the Roman Empire when Paul penned the instructions to pray for those in civil authority (1 Timothy 2). We must never forget that human government is instituted by God, and He has the ultimate say both over who leads nations and how they lead. Our assignment is to regularly and faithfully pray for those leaders, whether they are the ones we would prefer or not.

If we are not praying for our nation and our leaders, we are failing our responsibility as Christians.–Paul Chappell

THE HOPE OF A NATION

July 2, 2017 By Pastor David Stone

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. The LORD looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men. From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth.”–Psalm 33:12–14

When the long battle for America’s independence ended, the Continental Army that General George Washington led through great hardship to victory was disbanded. Before he left New York to return to his home at Mt. Vernon, General Washington wrote a letter to the governors of the thirteen states that made up the new nation. In the conclusion of his letter Washington wrote:

“I now make it my earnest prayer that God would have you, and the State over which you preside, in His holy protection; that He would incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to government, to entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another, for their fellow-citizens of the United States at large, and particularly for brethren who have served in the field; and finally that He would most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility, and pacific temper of mind, which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion, and without an humble imitation of whose example in these things, we can never hope to be a happy nation.”

God has blessed America greatly. While we are not a Christian nation in the sense that all are believers, our government was founded on Christian principles and understanding. The farther we go away from the truth as a nation, the farther we go from God’s protective hand. Our great hope for the future is not political change but genuine revival.

If we want our nation to be blessed by God, we must do our part to see that our nation exalts and honors Him.(Copied)

HOW TO GET UP WHEN YOU ARE DOWN

July 1, 2017 By Pastor David Stone

“For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”–Heb. 12:3

“I am cast down!” said the Psalmist. And that raises the question, “Why? “. James Smith suggested some answers people would give. I have omitted the list because we each are able to compose our own. But I suspect somewhere in his list you would find something that troubles you. Due to the nature of the world and the needs of man, disappointments are common. We are born with certain appetites and the world is shouting in our ear, like a merchant selling his wares, “Try this” or “Try that”, but we keep coming up empty. The world is long on promises but short on provisions. So we might well expect to be disappointed. But the Christians greatest disappointment usually is with self. We feel as Paul described in Rom. 7. We have the desire, our goal is high, but we keep coming up short–and it hurts. We earnestly strive to do well, but we keep failing. It just might be that we are focused too much on self.

Smith wrote: “—if you look at yourself, and pore over the things you have named — then it is no wonder that you are cast down! They are enough to cast anyone down! But if you carry them to the throne of grace, if you there confess them before God, if you look to Jesus to save you from them — then, in spite of them — you will not long be cast down. I know it is difficult to do this. There is a natural proneness to pore over such things. One feels at times a secret liking to indulge in gloomy thoughts. But we must look away from self — for if we do not, we shall become anxious, doubting and gloomy! We must run the race, not looking at our imperfections, short-comings, and failures — but looking unto Jesus. He knows what we are. He knew what we would be — before He called us by His grace; yes, before He shed His blood for us!

He loved us, as sinners. He died for us, as sinners. He called us, as sinners. He saves us, as sinners. He will have all the glory of saving us, and He will get great glory by doing so, because we are such great sinners; and do not, cannot, do anything to repay Him for His wondrous love! Salvation is by free grace — from first to last! Believe this, and it will raise up your drooping mind! The life-boat of free grace has put you on board the vessel of salvation, and that will convey you safely to the port of glory! Do not look at your spiritual destitution, or feebleness, or incapacity, or imperfections — but trust in your Pilot, rely on your Captain, and expect His mercy and merit to land you safe in Heaven at last!”

Hope in God! His mercy is great unto the heavens, His grace is as free as the air, His love is as changeless as His nature,His promise is as immutable as His love.
Hope in God, for you shall yet praise Him. He will save you for His own sake, and present you.. as a monument of His mercy, and a trophy of His grace!“

LEARNING TO LIVE

June 30, 2017 By Pastor David Stone

“…I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. “–John 10:10-11

Jack London said, “The proper function of man is to live—not to exist”. You need to think about that.We need some lessons on living. If that sounds foolish to you it might be proof that you need them. There is more to living than just existing. There is more to life than just breathing, moving, eating,working, and sleeping. Your vital signs might indicate that you are alive, but are you really living, or just existing?

The problem is that “living” means different things to different people. Sometimes we hear people, engaged in something they enjoy, say “Man this is living!” They often talk about “living life to its fullest” But what does that mean? For some it’s kicking back with a cold one watching a ball game, or climbing a mountain, catching a big bass, killing a big buck, or shopping, etc. But for the Christian it should be entirely different. We are not at liberty to pick and choose how we live. It should be the same for us as it was with Paul who said, “For to me to live is Christ..”(Phil. 1:21). Rather than talking about “the good life” of which men speak we would be better to think about the abundant life of which Jesus spoke. That’s a life worth living–a life that not only satisfies but also serves. That is the life we should learn to live.

But such a life doesn’t just happen, it requires something from us. We don’t just exist our way into excellence. Growing doesn’t mean that you grow-up. Aging isn’t maturity. Many exist to the end of their lives without ever becoming the person they should or could be. A life well-lived is learned. The time to start is now! Jesus came not only to provide life, but to produce abundant life. He provides love that passeth knowledge, joy unspeakable and full of glory, peace that passeth all understanding, hope that is steadfast and sure. He doesn’t just give us life, He gives us life on the highest plane. We would be foolish to deprive ourselves of the abundant life. Why would you want to live beneath your privilege? God wants better for you than that. If you avail yourself of all God offers you will experience a life beyond anything you ever imagined! The sheep that follow the Shepherd “shall not want”, and that’s what God wants from you and for you.-HDS

REVIVE US AGAIN

PRAYING FOR A NATION

THE HOPE OF A NATION

HOW TO GET UP WHEN YOU ARE DOWN

LEARNING TO LIVE

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