THANKS

January 19, 2015 By Pastor David Stone

As I’ve done far too often, I was recently thinking about all those who have dropped out, moved on, or fallen by the wayside during the last year. Then, suddenly in the middle of all my morbid thoughts, God turned my thoughts upside down. I began to think about the other side of the coin– the additions, the success stories, the good rather than the bad. The difference is amazing! As someone said, “A smile is a frown turned upside down”– Well I have a smile on my face and joy in my heart as I write this.

2014 was an awesome year. Whatever bad or sad thing that you can think of, I can think of ten times as many good things. God has added some wonderful people to the church– people who are both able and willing to serve the Lord, who have the talent and are willing to take the time to minister to others. Meeting new people is one thing, making new friends is another, and we have been greatly blessed by the latter. I had no idea these people even existed until God brought them into my life.Thank You Lord!

It has also been a blessed experience watching others grow and seeing God use them. The good Lord has a way of surprising us by using people in ways we never imagined. Time and time again He has proven that He is able when we are willing. Seeing God work in them and through them has been a delight. What He has done in their lives gives me hope that He will do the same in others. Now I see untapped potential everywhere and I am encouraged to not give up on some that seemed hopeless.

And then there are those who have have been steadfast, unmoveable, and faithfully abounding in the work of the Lord. I’ve often referred to them as “the faithful few”, but their tribe keeps increasing. We now have numerous members who can be counted on. They are faithful in attendance, generous in giving, dedicated to duty, cheerful in their service, etc. They are the kind of members that every pastor prays for and the kind in which he knows he can depend on.

I don’t have the words to describe the delight these people have brought into my life. Their faithfulness enables me to do my job “with joy, and not with grief”(Heb. 13:17). If you are among those I have mentioned I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. You are a great blessing and I pray you will be richly blessed as we labor together in the up-coming year. I have determined that, with God’s help, I am not going to get discouraged by the things I can’t change or control. Rather than focus on the crosses and losses that bring the blues, I am counting my blessings by thinking about people God has put into my life. We had a great year and I have no reason to doubt that this year will be even better.

BLESSED BALANCE

April 8, 2015 By Pastor David Stone

This article by Charles Spurgeon is one of those you need to read slowly–again and again:

“For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.”2 Corinthians 1:5

There is a blessed proportion. The Ruler of Providence bears a pair of scales—in this side he puts his people’s trials, and in that he puts their consolations. When the scale of trial is nearly empty, you will always find the scale of consolation in nearly the same condition; and when the scale of trials is full, you will find the scale of consolation just as heavy. When the black clouds gather most, the light is the more brightly revealed to us. When the night lowers and the tempest is coming on, the Heavenly Captain is always closest to his crew. It is a blessed thing, that when we are most cast down, then it is that we are most lifted up by the consolations of the Spirit. One reason is, because trials make more room for consolation. Great hearts can only be made by great troubles. The spade of trouble digs the reservoir of comfort deeper, and makes more room for consolation. God comes into our heart—he finds it full—he begins to break our comforts and to make it empty; then there is more room for grace. The humbler a man lies, the more comfort he will always have, because he will be more fitted to receive it. Another reason why we are often most happy in our troubles, is this—then we have the closest dealings with God. When the barn is full, man can live without God: when the purse is bursting with gold, we try to do without so much prayer. But once take our gourds away, and we want our God; once cleanse the idols out of the house, then we are compelled to honour Jehovah. “Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord.” There is no cry so good as that which comes from the bottom of the mountains; no prayer half so hearty as that which comes up from the depths of the soul, through deep trials and afflictions. Hence they bring us to God, and we are happier; for nearness to God is happiness. Come, troubled believer, fret not over your heavy troubles, for they are the heralds of weighty mercies.

I WOKE UP

January 13, 2015 By Pastor David Stone

I woke up this morning with my usual aches and pains– a constant reminder of many things, and a mental list of things to do–more than I am able, and a wife who has more physical problems than I do or that you know about. But some folks didn’t wake up this morning. So I am blessed!

Shortly after taking a pill—yeah you know which one, to take the edge off, I began thinking about my dear preacher friends over the last half-century. The names are rushing to the forefront of my mind—-Charles Thomas, David Cavin, Bill Dowell, Leon Grey, John Hardy, Fred Neidy, Gene Hankins, Al Locke, Charles Ashcraft, etc… It’s a long list! If I’m not mistaken, I now have more in heaven than on earth. Not only that, but some of my preacher friends that are still alive are in no shape to continue in the ministry. I can’t help but wonder “Why?” Don’t get me wrong, I know all the stock answers, etc., but I am still amazed by the grace of God that has blessed me so greatly—I woke up this morning!

What I’m trying to say is that it is great to be alive and able to serve the Lord. Even though I can’t do everything that needs to be done, I can do some things that better men than I are now unable to do. I have no cause to complain. I am so very thankful for the goodness of God that has blessed me so greatly–so much more than I deserve. Regardless of what happens today it is going to be a great day in one way or another. And, if you are a child of God the same is true of you (Rom. 8:28). Remembering who we are and what we have in Christ brings Sonshine to any day. Have I told you–“The best is yet to come”? Until it does we have grace–and it is “sufficient”.

THE REFINERS FIRE

January 13, 2009 By Pastor David Stone

I just read the following article by Dr. Paul Chappell and wanted to pass it along:

“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you.”

1 Peter 4:12

Sometimes it seems that when God is about to make preeminent use of a man, He puts him through the fire.

Everyone faces times of adversity. Most of the Psalms were born in difficulty. Most of the Epistles were written in prisons. Most of the greatest thinkers of all time had to pass through the fire. Bunyan wrote Pilgrim’s Progress from jail. Florence Nightingale, too ill to move from her bed, reorganized the hospitals of England. Semi-paralyzed and under the constant menace of apoplexy, Pasteur was tireless in his attack on disease. During the greater part of his life, American historian Francis Parkman suffered so acutely that he could not work for more than five minutes at a time. His eyesight was so wretched that he could scrawl only a few gigantic words on a manuscript, yet he contrived to write twenty magnificent volumes of history.

Even the most famous of people who seemed to have an easy life, secretly struggled with adversity and suffering. Suffering is not reserved for a certain type of people. We all face adversity at some point in our lives.

Peter writes, “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you” (1 Peter 4:12). Peter tells us that adversity is to be expected in the life of a Christian. Peter was teaching the early Christians that if they intended to live for God and follow the commands of the Bible, they could expect adversity to come their way.

We live in a society that thrives on vacations, trips to amusement parks, and times of fun. We want things to go smoothly and get all the fun we can out of life. But the reality is that sometimes adversity will come and it is to be expected.

Notice the phrase “think it not strange” in verse twelve. The word strange means “to surprise or astonish by the strangeness or novelty of a thing.” It is as if Peter is saying, “Don’t get caught off-guard by the trials that will come your way. Know that you will face ridicule, challenges, and difficulties as a Christian.”

Notice also the phrase “concerning the fiery trial.” The fiery trial reminds us of the refiner’s fire. The refiner is God, and He brings into our lives the fire that will not burn us, but that will bring out the impurities in our lives. Just as the refiner puts the gold ore in the fire to separate the pure gold from the ore, so God brings adversity to teach us to trust Him and to mature us as His children.

Some Christians fail to see God’s purpose in the fire of adversity and stray from God during this time. They have tried to live for God in their own strength and have desired to follow Him, but the minute a trial came, they turned from God. They didn’t expect hardships, so they stray from God’s work in their lives.

Are you in the refiner’s fire? Is God seeking to refine you through adversity? Friend, don’t let trials separate you from God. God has a purpose for that trial in your life! Even when you don’t understand why or when you can’t see God’s plan, trust that He, as your Heavenly Father, knows what’s best for you and only wants to help you. Spend time with Him now and let Him have His way. Endure the fire, for in the end you will come forth as gold. —-THINK ABOUT IT!

THE GOSPEL MESSAGE

April 7, 2015 By Pastor David Stone

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit– Romans 8:1

Here we find two descriptions of the same person — the person that is in Christ Jesus. Those that are in Christ Jesus are described first by their position and then by their practice. They have no condemnation against them, Paul says, and they walk after the Spirit instead of the flesh.

No condemnation! Because God is completely holy, even our greatest deeds and thoughts are sin-soaked, filthy rags in His perfect sight. We stand guilty before a virtuous and fair judge; justice will be served (He will not compromise His own righteousness in order to have mercy on us) and so we must be condemned.

But those who are in Christ have their punishment transferred to Jesus, so that they are without condemnation. Those who believe on Jesus Christ have the assurance that He has taken their place—acted as their substitute—and so, in spite of their great shortcomings, they are without condemnation. Christ’s perfect sacrifice on their behalf has wiped their criminal record clean.

How do these pardoned sinners then live? They follow the promptings and leadership of the Spirit of God. As Paul explains a few verses later, “as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (14). They no longer follow the dictates of their corrupted nature or of the sinful world; they march to the beat of a spiritual Drummer, following the footsteps of their perfect Savior.

What a joy, what a privilege it is to be in Christ! Our desire, like Paul’s, should therefore be to “be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith” (Philippians 3:9).–Baptist Bible Hour

THANKS

BLESSED BALANCE

I WOKE UP

THE REFINERS FIRE

THE GOSPEL MESSAGE

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