Friday, May 18, 2018

Losses Overcome

And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten. (Joel 2:25)
Yes, those wasted years over which we sigh shall be restored to us. God can give us such plentiful grace that we shall crowd into the remainder of our days as much of service as will be some recompense for those years of unregeneracy over which we mourn in humble penitence. The locusts of backsliding, worldliness, lukewarmness, are now viewed by us as a terrible plague. Oh, that they had never come near us! The Lord in mercy has now taken them away, and we are full of zeal to serve Him. Blessed be His name, we can raise such harvests of spiritual graces as shall make our former barrenness to disappear. Through rich grace we can turn to account our bitter experience and use it to warn others. We can become the more rooted in humility, childlike dependence, and penitent spirituality by reason of our former shortcomings. If we are the more watchful, zealous, and tender, we shall gain by our lamentable losses. The wasted years, by a miracle of love, can be restored. Does it seem too great a boon? Let us believe for it and live for it, and we may yet realize it, even as Peter became all the more useful a man after his presumption was cured by his discovered weakness. Lord, aid us by Thy grace.
~ C. H. Spurgeon

Saturday, May 12, 2018

Who is Shaping America?

I was reading the history of the Puritans who settled in New England in the early years of our country? That was a long time ago, but there is a forgotten lesson to be learned from them. The family unit which consisted of a man, his wife and their children was one of their firm beliefs.

 They were called Puritans for many different reasons, but the main reason was that they believed in the "PURE RAW WORD OF GOD” Not just part of the Bible but all of it and none of it sugar coated. They laid a foundation for our country which was and still is unique and rare in our country's history. Some people call them religious nuts because of their beliefs., but they were on target about the family unit. A lot of people call me a religious nut because of my beliefs. I have said, more than once, we do not have to sugar coat the gospel. I have been called a Bible thumper, religious idiot, and out of touch with today's world because I stand firm on the Word of God. I want to zero in on their beliefs about the family unit which I also firmly believe in.

The more I read about the Puritans beliefs the more I see they had a most significant influence on the development of America. A large portion of later pioneers and westward settlers were descendants of these early Puritans and still followed their ways, their values and principles, though they were sometimes secularized and some people tried to remove them from their religious foundations and their practices, they continued to mould America by their thoughts and practices in the years that followed. How we need that foundation today. so how did the Puritans help to mould this country?

The family unit was the most basic institution in the Puritan society and it was organized like a church or structured like a church and as far as I'm concerned they were right in this. The training of their children began at home. They believed the family was the foundation of all civil, social, and church life, and rightly so. The training of their children began in the family unit and was not left to the government, the village, or psychology. Former President Nixon made the following statement when he was president: "The family unit is the foundation of America". How true those words were and still are today, as they were in Nixon's day or when the Puritans were here at the beginning of our nation. Back in 2006, our president at the time Obama said: “Whatever we once were, we are no longer a Christian nation.”  I hate to say it but he is just about right, even though he was not saying it as a warning but as an accomplishment.  We are, for the most part, living in an ungodly country, a country that knows not the Living God of the Bible.

The family was instituted and established by Our God before all other institutions and before man's fall. In the morning and evening the Puritan family unit assembled together to worship the Lord and on Sundays, the family unit joined other family units in the worship service. The Puritans believed God and His worship were important enough to reserve at least one full day out of the week, and the original Puritan settlers joyfully devoted Sunday to the Lord. They had a joy deep down in their souls.


Sermons were the centre or bull's eye to the intellectual life of the Puritans, and they rarely were less than an hour in length. Now if we have a sermon for over ten minutes people complain.  We need some of those bull’s eye sermons today, not the motivational messages that will tickle your ears we hear today.  The instruction and training of children by the Puritans were considered heavy responsibilities, and parents prayed that children would become a source of glory to their Lord. The children were taught and disciplined when needed. How this is needed in today's family. But for the most part, it is just not there no more.

In doctrine and practice, the Puritans believed the Bible was and is the only written word of God, with the original text inspired by God and without error. They believe the Creator God has revealed Himself to us in three persons: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They believe in the necessity of personal salvation by grace through faith in the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. They believe that the Holy Spirit is instrumental in leading a believer to recognize the need for holiness. They also believed in the imminent return of Jesus Christ.

I have said many times that the religious training should start in the home and that training should follow not only our children but the parents as well where ever we go. Our children need to know about Jesus Christ and most of all they need to understand and respect the very foundation the family unit is founded on. 

Because the children are not taught in the home the Christian values and moral values which they so desperately need, they are being raised and taught by our ungodly government, the village, the modern church, and some liberal school teachers that are teaching contrary to the Word of God. We must once again shape our homes and our country to the teachings of the Word of God starting in the homes of every family in this country.
































Thursday, May 10, 2018

I Am A Soldier

I am a soldier in the army of my God.The Lord Jesus Christ is my Commanding Officer.The Holy Scripture is my code of conduct.Faith, prayer and the Word are my weapons of warfare.
I have been taught by the Holy Spirit, trained by experience,
tried by adversity and tested by fire.
I am a volunteer in this army, and I am enlisted for eternity.
I will not get out, sell out, be talked out or pushed out.
I am faithful, reliable, capable and dependable.
If my God needs me, I am there. I am a soldier.
I am not a baby. I do not need to be pampered, petted, 
primed up, pumped up, picked up, or pepped up. I am a soldier.
No one has to call me, remind me, write me, visit me, entice me or lure me.
I am a soldier. I am not a wimp. I am in place, saluting my King,
obeying His orders, 
praising His name and building His kingdom!
No one has to send me flowers, gifts, food, 
cards or candy, or giveme handouts. I do not need to be cuddled, cradled, cared for or
catered to. I am committed. 
I cannot have my feelings hurt bad
enough to turn me around. I cannot be discouraged 
enough to
turn me aside. I cannot lose enough to cause me to quit.
When Jesus called me into this army, I had nothing. If I end up with nothing,
I will still come out ahead. I will win. 
My God has and will continue to supply all of my need.
I am more than a conqueror. I will always triumph. I can do all things through Christ. 

The devil cannot defeat me. People cannot disillusion me. Weather cannot weary me.
Sickness cannot stop me. 
Battles cannot beat me. Money cannot buy me. Governments
cannot silence me, and hell cannot handle me. I am a soldier.
Even death cannot destroy me. For when my Commander calls me from His battlefield,
He will promote me to captain and then allow me to rule with Him. 

I am a soldier in the army, and I’m marching claiming victory.
I will not give up. I will not turn around.
I am a soldier, marching heaven-bound.
Here I Stand! Will you stand with me?
 unknown author

Saturday, May 5, 2018

SLOWER STEPS: SOARING FAITH

Image result for eagle clipart

                               I watched steps that were strong and steady
And hands always firm and for work ready
Begin to tremble and falter as old age caused them to grow weak
And to do ordinary everyday things: help he had to seek.
But as dad’s hands and feet slowed before my eyes,
I saw his inner man begin to rise.
His faith began to soar on eagle wing
He constantly praised God for everything
Upon his face a peace so serene
I was seeing my dad like before I had never seen
I saw close up a man of God now walking his last mile
Such site, through my tears, brought a smile
He told me one day, I’m waiting for “a call”
You see, to the very end, Jesus was Dad’s all in all
Looking back a Bible verse comes to mind
In what a great comfort I find
“Though the outward man perish,
Yet the inward man is renewed day by day”
This was true for my dad until the day:
He, like on eagle wings flew away.
{Scripture Reference: 11 Corinthians 4:16}

Phil Patchett
Pastor

In Today's Word What Are You Building?

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