GOD WILL PROVIDE HIMSELF A LAMB

Abraham and Isaac foreshadow that fateful day when God would provide himself a lamb.

www.nationofthecross.blogspot.com

ST LOUIS HOLINESS CONVENTION BEGINS THIS EVENING

See  http://pastorrickjones.blogspot.com/2015/02/st-louis-holiness-convention-2015.html

www.fccstlouis.org

 

ST LOUIS HOLINESS CONVENTION 2015

We agree with John Wesley, ““Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin, and desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen; such alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven on Earth.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KWcRVGWF5Y
YOUR VIDEO INVITATION TO COME TO THIS WEEK'S ST. LOUIS HOLINESS CONVENTION, February 26, 27, 2015

Sponsored by the JOHN WESLEY FOUNDATION of ST. LOUIS
Hosted by FAITH COMMUNITY CHURCH + A CRUSADERS CHURCH USA
2969 N. Lindbergh Blvd, St. Ann, MO 63074
Contact Pastor Rick Jones (314) 607-1424

You are warmly invited to attend this week's St. Louis Holiness Convention!

IF YOU'RE UNCONCERNED, UNCONVICTED, OR UNWILLING TO BE CONVINCED...YOU'LL NOT WANT TO ATTEND.

But if you're DESPERATELY HUNGRY for the WORD OF GOD,
IF you're  SERIOUSLY THIRSTY for the PRESENCE OF GOD, and
IF you're CRAVING FELLOWSHIP with the SANCTIFIED REMNANT,
YOU WILL NOT WANT TO MISS THIS CONVENTION!

PRAYING!
PREACHING!
THINKING!
CONNECTING!
All in an atmosphere of Christian love!
THIS PROMISES TO BE THE BEST CONVENTION IN OUR 12 YEAR HISTORY.

WE ARE PREPARING DELICIOUS MEALS for a freewill offering.
WE CAN PROVIDE GROUND TRANSPORTATION from the area AIRPORTS, TRAIN STATIONS, and BUS TERMINALS.
WE CAN ARRANGE ROOMS for overnight guests.

STATES AND NATIONS REPRESENTED:  Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Alabama, Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, Iowa, Cayman Islands, Honduras, and others.

This year’s Convention will again feature A LADIES’ TRAC led by Sister Becky Schenck.  Both Thursday and Friday afternoons the ladies will be inspired in sessions that are especially for them.

 

 

GO TO http://fccstlouis.org/ AND CLICK ON 2015 SLSC SCHEDULE AND INFO BROCHURE to see what we have mailed to scores of churches.

LINKS FOR YOUR INTEREST

Faith Community Church www.FCCStLouis.org

Pastor Rick Jones' Blog www.PastorRickJones.blogspot.com

Easter 2015 Devotional www.NationoftheCross.blogspot.com

Pastor Rick Jones You-Tube www.youtube.com/user/rmjones58

Pastor Dennis Skinner http://bloomingtoncrusaders.org/

Pastor Marsh Jones http://www.fccurbana.org/

45 DAYS TO RESURRECTION SUNDAY

45 DAYS TO RESURRECTION SUNDAY
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2015 LENTEN DEVOTIONAL
I WILL GLORY IN THE CROSS
www.NATIONOFTHECROSS.blogspot.com

 

DAILY DEVOTION 47 DAYS TO RESURRECTION SUNDAY -

TAKE UP THE CROSS - DAILY DEVOTION

·         WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015 - 47 DAYS TO RESURRECTION SUNDAY

 

·         Scripture Reading: Luke 9:18-25

·         18 And it came to pass, as he was alone praying, his disciples were with him: and he asked them, saying, Whom say the people that I am? 19 They answering said, John the Baptist; but some say, Elias; and others say, that one of the old prophets is risen again. 20 He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter answering said, The Christ of God. 21 And he straitly charged them, and commanded them to tell no man that thing; 22 Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day. 23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. 25 For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?

·          

·         REFLECTION: Too many professing Christians imagine they can be identified with Christ without being crucified with Christ.

·          

·         Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in THE COST OF DISCIPLESHIP, "When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die."

·          

·         Christ's disciples deny the pleasures of sin, pride, and the "self-centered life. They willfully (choose without compulsion) and willingly (choose without reservations) take up the cross daily--dying to the world and the flesh. Without a death there can be no resurrection. Only when we die to our self-centered and selfish agenda can we rise to walk in newness of life. Fanny Crosby expressed the same idea in her hymn "Blessed Assurance," "Perfect submission, all is at rest."

·          

·         PRAYER: Our Father, Thank you for sending your only begotten Son to die on the cross for my sins. Search my heart and reveal to me any area of my life that is self-centered, or selfish, or in any way disobedient to your will.(Pause here and wait for a moment to listen for God's voice). Forgive me Lord. Purify my heart. I surrender my entire life to you. Put to death any rebellious and self-centered attitudes in my heart. Fill me with your great love. In Jesus' name, Amen.

A MESSAGE FROM THE NATION OF THE CROSS + SIGNED WITH BLOOD

¹¹ And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
¹² Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.  REVELATION 12:11,12


The heart rending specter of 21 Egyptian Christians ruthlessly beheaded by the Islamic State (ISIS) is beyond grotesque.

The professional video of the martyrdom included a chilling threat to crusaders--the people of the cross.  With an uplifted knife pointed at the camera, the militant swears by Allah, that he will shed the blood of the swine (the Jews) and the people of the cross all the way to Rome.

Before despairing I would remind the "nation of the cross," we have been here before.  We have faced torture, mocking, scourging, bonds and imprisonment.  Citizens of the blood-bought nation of the cross have been stoned, sawed in two, slain with the sword, and exiled to deserts and mountains, dens and caves.  (Hebrews 11:35-38)

We recall the convicting hymn of Isaac Watts,

Am I a soldier of the cross,
   A follower of the Lamb?
And shall I fear to own His cause
   Or blush to speak His name?

Must I be carried to the skies
   On flowery beds of ease?
While others fought to win the prize,
   And sailed through bloody seas?

Are there no foes for me to face?
   Must I not stem the flood?
Is this vile world a friend to grace,
   To help me on to God?

Sure I must fight, if I would reign
   Increase my courage, Lord!
I'll bear the toil, endure the pain,
   Supported by Thy word.

Thy saints, in all this glorious war,
   Shall conquer, though they die;
They view the triumph from afar,
   And seize it with their eye.

When that illustrious day shall rise,
   And all Thy armies shine
In robes of victory through the skies,
   The glory shall be Thine.

Brothers and Sisters, fellow citizens of the Nation of the Cross, "the gates of hell will not prevail against us!"  We are "more than conquerors through Him who loved us!"

It's certain that Christ-less, Cross-less, and Character-less "forms of godliness" will never withstand the coming onslaught. Spiritually defeated and Morally debilitated our nation politic may not have the will to push back these emissaries of Satan, but there is absolutely no question as to the final outcome of this existential conflict.

The Nation of the Cross will prevail--the crucified, dead, buried, and risen Christ of the Cross cannot and will not fail. 

Hear the words of John the Revelator, "These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful." (Revelation 17:14).

JOIN THE CALLED, CHOSEN, AND FAITHFUL AS WE GATHER NEXT WEEK IN ST. LOUIS FOR THE 2015 ST LOUIS HOLINESS CONVENTION and TRANSFORMATION WEEKEND.  It is a must be there event. If there was ever a time when our nation needed the message of Scriptural holiness it is now.

 

IT'S TIME FOR GENDER BENDING

Missouri State Representative Mike Moon (R-Ash Grove), has introduced a resolution in the Missouri Legislature urging our state's Federal Office-holders--Senators and Representatives--to aggressively seek the repeal of the Affordable Care Act (Obama-care) with "manly firmness."  You can imagine the outcry that has erupted from the supporters of Obama-care and those who are bent on deconstructing gender distinction. 

Rep. Moon borrowed the phrase "manly firmness" from Thomas Jefferson and the signers of the Declaration of Independence.  After asserting that all men are created equal and endowed with certain unalienable rights--life, liberty, and the pursuit of holiness (well, actually happiness)--the Continental Congress listed their grievances against King George III. Among them, "He has dissolved Representative Houses (colonial legislatures) repeatedly for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people."

As the brou ha ha in Missouri has intensified, I've been thinking more about gender distinction as defined in the New Testament.

1.  Our Lord Jesus referred to the distinction of gender in His teaching on the permanence of marriage, "...from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh."  (Mark 10:6-8).  God made them male and female. There are two genders, not twenty.  There are not "50 Shades" of gender. There are two.

2. Gender is a matter of spirit as well as body.  The Apostle was clear.  Husbands are to love and sacrifice for their wives just as Christ loved and sacrificed for His Bride--the Church. (Ephesians 5:24)  Men who are unwilling to sacrifice for their wives and family do not love as Christ loved and are in violation of His express command.  A sacrificing spirit--willing to "lay down his life," and "endure hardness as a good soldier,"--is the hallmark of Christian manliness.

My father was stricken at age 16 with a life-threatening heart attack.  Throughout the rest of his life he was unable to engage in strenuous physical labor or participate in sports.  Yet no one doubted His masculinity. 

On the other hand we have known of physically strong men, capable of lifting incredibly heavy weights, able to endure grueling hours of backbreaking labor, or even excel in sport events, who were of weak character.  Their lives were pathetic models of self-centeredness and selfishness. 

3. When God defines the kind of men He wants to lead His Church, He lifts up His desire--or ideal--for the men of His Church.  He wants men who are "vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach, not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre, but patient, not a brawler, not covetous, one that ruleth well his own house having his children in subjection with all gravity..."  (1 Timothy 3:2-4)  Later in the same letter He tells us that His men provide for their families.  (1 Timothy 5:8).  Men are to protect and provide for their families--physically and spiritually--to the fullest extent that they possibly can.  That's the New Testament measure of "manly firmness."

Some have wondered whether these virtues are unique to men.  Shouldn't women be sacrificial in their love?  Shouldn't women be of good behavior? etc.  Indeed they should.  But there is something more.

The greater mystery is this.  How is it that men have been called specifically to a self-sacrificing love, while women are specifically called to a submissive love?  (Ephesians 5:22-29). 

I can only imagine the Apostle's amazement and wonder when the Holy Ghost moved him to write, "This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church." (Ephesians 5:32).  Here's truth that we would have never understood apart from revelation.  I see now!  

The God of the Universe ordained that the marriage relationship would open our eyes to spiritual reality--reality about our own natures--men and women, reality about His nature, and reality about His power to redeem and restore the nature of all those who seek after Him with all their heart.  It's time for every fallen of each gender to come to Him who is the great bender, able to straighten perfectly what sin has bent--and experience His great salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.

Finish, then, thy new creation;
pure and spotless let us be.
Let us see thy great salvation
perfectly restored in thee;
changed from glory into glory,
till in heaven we take our place,
till we cast our crowns before thee,
lost in wonder, love, and praise.

Charles Wesley

PONDER THIS: 
Could it possibly be that the fallen natures of Adam and Eve inclined them to different sinful dispositions? 
Was fallen Adam prone to self-centeredness and would a sanctified Adam be given to self-sacrifice? 
Was fallen Eve resistant to leadership--even loving leadership, and would a sanctified Eve be desirous of godly leadership?


JOIN US THIS MONTH AT THE ST LOUIS HOLINESS CONVENTION WHEN ARTICLES LIKE THIS WILL BE THOUGHTFULLY AND PRAYERFULLY CONSIDERED. 

 



 

14 DAYS TO THE ST LOUIS HOLINESS CONVENTION - FEBRUARY 26, 27 , 2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrX7BG_FurA&list=UUpUmxduWvxlTv1C-2JA4xtw&index=2