Monday, October 21, 2013

THE PRINCIPLE OF PORTLAND LIGHTHOUSE

This past Summer my wife and I visited Maine to see the Portland Headlight. 

Commissioned by President George Washington, this Lighthouse is still 
active--sending both beacons of light and radio signals to guide 
Captains into the Portland harbor.

In the 1880's the Lighthouse was shortened by 20 feet and the lens was replaced so that its beacon was less visible to passing sailors. The addition of another lighthouse nearby was 
thought to diminish the importance of the Portland Headlight. 

Captains who had depended on the Portland Headlight were confused. But when confusion 
turned to tragedy, and lives were lost because the light was no longer distinct and visible to seafarers, the Lighthouse was raised and the light was returned to its previous intensity. 

We do well to heed the Principle of Portland. Though others may be sending out the light we must not minimize the import of the place to which God has called us to serve. 

This is no time to doubt our significance.
This is no time to lower our Light. 
This is no time to diminish our beacon, and blend with other lights along the shore.

By God's grace we at FAITH COMMUNITY CHURCH (www.fccstlouis.org) are determined
to "let our light so shine before men that they may see our good works and glorify our Father which is in heaven." Matthew 5:16.

Sunday, October 20, 2013

ITS SATURDAY NIGHT - SWEET WILL OF GOD

TRAITS OF THE CARNAL MIND
By E E Shelhamer

The following are some of the features and manifestations of carnality:
Reader, the Spirit ALONE can interpret and apply this tract to your individual case. As you read, examine yourself as if in the immediate presence of God. Do you ever feel...

1. A secret sense of pride; an exalted feeling in view of your success or position; because of your good training and appearance; because of your natural gifts and abilities; an important, independent spirit; stiffness and preciseness; married to your opinion?

2. Love of human praise; a secret fondness to be noticed; love of supremacy; drawing attention to self in conversation; a swelling out of the ego when you have had a free time in speaking or praying!

3. The stirrings of anger or impatience -- but worst of all you call it nervousness or holy indignation; a touchy, sensitive spirit; a disposition to resent and retaliate when reproved or contradicted; sharp, heated flings at another?

4. Self will; a stubborn, unteachable spirit; an arguing, talkative spirit; harsh, sarcastic expressions; an unyielding, headstrong disposition; a driving, commanding spirit; a disposition to criticize and pick flaws when set aside and unnoticed; a peevish, fretful spirit; a disposition that loves to be coaxed and humored?

5. Carnal fear, a man-fearing spirit; a shrinking from reproach and duty; reasoning around the cross; a shrinking from doing your whole duty by those of wealth or position; a fearfulness that some one will get out of the Spirit and thus offend and drive some prominent person away; a compromising, holding-back spirit?

6. A jealous disposition; a secret spirit of envy shut up in your heart; an unpleasant sensation in view of the great prosperity and success of another; a disposition to speak of the faults and failings rather than the gifts and virtues of those more talented and appreciated than yourself?

7. Lustful stirrings; unholy actions, a carnal leaning; undue affection and familiarity toward those of the opposite sex; wandering eyes; looking the second time?

8. A dishonest, deceitful disposition; evading and covering the truth; covering up your real faults; leaving a better impression of yourself than is strictly true; false humility; exaggeration; straining the truth when it is to your advantage?

9. Unbelief; a spirit of discouragement in times of pressure and opposition; lack of quietness and confidence in God; lack of faith and trust in God; a disposition to worry and complain in the midst of pain, poverty, or at the dispensations of Divine Providence; an overanxious feeling whether everything will come out all right?

10. Formality and. deadness; lack of concern for lost souls; dryness and indifference; lack of power with God? Selfishness, love of ease; love of money, etc.?

These are some of the traits which generally indicate a carnal heart. If one principle is lurking there, you can depend on it, they are ALL there. By prayer and fasting hold your heart open to the searching light of God until you see the groundwork thereof. The Holy Ghost will enable you, by confession and faith, to bring your "old man'' to the death. "Knowing this that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.'' (Romans 6:6.) Do not patch over, but go to the bottom. It will pay. Hallelujah! (E. E. S.)

* * *

Let Me Die
Janette Palmiter. Publication Date: 1916

O God, my heart doth long for Thee
Let me die! Let me die!
Now set my soul at liberty;
Let me die! Let me die!
Die to the trifling things of earth,
There now to me of little worth;
My Savior calls -- I'm going forth;
Let me die! Let me die!

My friends may say I'll ruined be,
If I die! If I die!
If I leave all and follow Thee,
But I'll die! Yes, I'll die!
Their arguments will never weigh,
Nor stand the trying judgment day;
Help me to cast them all away,
Let me die! Let me die!

Thy slaying power in me display,
Let me die! Let me die!
I must be dead from day to day;
Let me die! Let me die!
Dead to the world and its applause,
To all the customs, fashions, laws,
Of those who hate the humbling cross;
Let me die! Let me die!

Oh, I must die to scoffs and sneers,
Let me die! Let me die!
I must be freed from slavish fears;
Let me die! Let me die!
So dead that no desire will rise
To appear good or great or wise,
In any but my Savior's eyes;
Let me die! Let me die!

When I am dead then, Lord, to Thee
Will I live, will I live.
My time, my strength, my all to Thee
Will I give, will I give.
I'll work for Thee, my blessed Lord;
I'll be obedient to Thy Word;
I'll wield with power the Gospel sword.
While I live, while I live.

SWEET WILL OF GOD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3-G98qF2HE&feature=c4-overview&list=UUpUmxduWvxlTv1C-2JA4xtw

Sunday, October 13, 2013

HOW BIG IS GOD? IT'S SATURDAY NIGHT!

"YOU ARE NOT DISCOURAGED UNLESS THE SITUATION YOU FACE SEEMS BIGGER THAN THE GOD YOU SERVE.  HOW BIG IS YOUR GOD?"

http://youtu.be/VN3T_OI104c

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

IMPLOSION

IMPLOSION
 
What began as erosion of the foundation has progressed to a frightening corrosion of the vital framework.  As moral decay metastasizes through our government, schools, businesses, press, entertainment, and homes, the one institution that God ordained to check and cure the malignancy of vice is herself in peril.  The Church in America is at the brink of implosion. 

The Apostle Paul, (who wrote the absolute truth under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit) compared the Church to a building.  Built on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets with Jesus Christ the cornerstone, the true Church is the dwelling place of God through the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:20ff).  In too many quarters the Spirit has departed. 

Our pulpits no longer thunder with certainty—“Thus saith the Lord.”

Our services are no longer charged with conviction.  We don’t want anyone to go away challenged or changed.  We want them to feel loved and affirmed.  Weirsbe had it right: “We want to feel good without being good.”

And the demand of obedience, that inevitable impulse of genuine love, is mocked as legalistic.  But the desire to obey God is not legalism.  Legalists are people who zealously keep one part of God’s law while justifying their neglect of the rest of God’s law.  A legalist tithes mint and omits judgment, mercy, and faith. (Matthew 23:23). A legalist is self-righteous.  A Christian is righteous—we walk in the light as He is in the light and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son, cleanses us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:7)

Modern Christians are anxious to condemn those who carefully keep the law of God, then commend those who carelessly disregard the law of God.  For them legalism is worse than il-legalism.  The truth is that legalism and il-legalism (liberalism) will damn the unrepentant.

It is casuistry to suppose that one can abandon the foundational fundamentals of our faith—the inerrancy and authority of the Bible, the necessity of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, the requirement of Christian holiness—in heart and in life, and the permanence of the marriage vow—without consequence.   

As the foundation has shifted and cracked from a blistering barrage of godless philosophers, cynical producers/entertainers, and skeptical worldlings, cracks in the framework of contemporary Christianity are now threatening the stability of the Church herself. 

What were at first only fissures are widening into to gaping holes.  We used to say “The Bible is inspired, inerrant, and infallible.”  But under the assault of modern criticism we retreated to, “We have the highest regard for Scripture.”  We are now being told that Holy Spirit may have misdirected Moses, or Moses may have misunderstood the Spirit, or maybe the Genesis we are reading today is not the Genesis Moses wrote—yet “we have the highest regard” for Scripture.  Really?  Now they are asking, “Must a scientific Christian really believe that ‘God breathed into man the breath of life’?”  I hear the hissing of that old serpent, “Hath God said?” (Genesis 3:1).

Integrity has been compromised. 
Fidelity has been jettisoned.  
Purity has vanished.  
Strength has been scorned. 
And stability is no longer sustainable. We have come again to that tragic hour when “the prophets prophesy falsely, the priests bear rule by their own means, and [God’s] people love to have it so.” (Jeremiah 5:31).

It is no wonder that those who know the God of Scripture are warning us—“This building is not safe.”  They have wisely condemned all new “forms of godliness.”  They see the danger. 

They have seen the corrosive effect of compromise.  Their hearts tremble and their tongues stammer, “What will ye do in the end thereof?” (Jeremiah 5:31).

Rescuing as many as possible before the inevitable implosion of the compromising church—we who are contending for the faith once delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3)—must continue in faith, love, and holiness with self-discipline (1 Timothy 2:15).  We must speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).  We must go into all the world to make disciples, (Matthew 28:19.  And we must aggressively, persistently, insistently, and consistently assault the gates of hell (Matthew 16:18). 

It is the Church militant that will be the Church triumphant.  

The church recalcitrant stands at the brink of implosion and the sentence of God himself--“depart from me ye workers of iniquity.” (Matthew 7:23)

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

RISE UP OH MEN OF GOD!

The distance between who we think we are and who we really are may be extremely wide.  It’s hard to know ourselves.

The distance between who we are and who we ought to be may be even wider.

Even if we know who we are and know who we ought to be it is impossible to transform ourselves.  Praise God for redeeming, transforming, sanctifying grace that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ask or think!

Identity matters.  It’s true of individuals. It’s true of organizations. And it’s true of churches.

So what kind of a Church does God want us to be?

Is He looking for a people who will hide themselves away and isolate themselves from the culture that continues slouching towards Gomorrah?

Is He looking for a people who will adopt the spirit of the age in the name of “relevance?”  

Is He looking for a people who will adapt their message and abandon their insistence upon righteousness so that they better fit the times? A place where we can feel good without being good?

Is He looking for a cool church?  A place where we wow one another with our tech-savvy, show-time church services, model our skinny jeans, and stand around drinking Starbucks?

Is He looking for a people with a new twist, a new angle,
or a new doctrinal
accent?

Or, is He looking for a laid back, pat on the back, and “you all come back” church?

The vast majority of American churches fit into one of these models.  And yet an honest appraisal of the cultural indicators and the spiritual life of the professing Church is disquieting at best, and frightening at its worst.  Tragically the world is transforming the Church.  But God is looking for a Church that will transform the world.

We are to be Crusaders!  Lifting up the cross and gathering enlistments wherever, whenever, and whoever.

We are to be a mighty Army.  Our only hope is that the Church Militant will stop dancing with the stars and start marching for Cause of Christ.

We are to defeat the devil, disprove his deceptions, and dismantle his domain.

We must give attention to the military code (God’s infallible Word), put on the uniform (no more bending, blending, or blurring our distinctive God given gender or our Commander’s call to modesty), and get moving! The hour is late.  The cause is great.
           Rise up oh men of God,
               Have done with lesser things,
           Give heart and soul and mind and strength
               To serve the King of Kings!

Sunday, October 6, 2013

YES HE CAN!

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”  (Philippians 4:13). 

      Several years ago a very successful presidential campaign slogan swept across the nation.  Adoring fans shouted, “Yes We Can! Yes We Can!” as their chosen candidate took the stage.
      What optimism!  What an encouraging message!  What a great theme!  That message won the day--and the election. 

“NO I CAN’T” –
      But we are struck by a remarkable difference between the Apostle Paul’s inspired words, and the words of the political rally.  The political crowd chanted “Yes We Can!”  The Christian acclaims, “Ye HE Can! ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.’”
      The politically minded are not alone in their assertion of self-determination. 
      Scientists brazenly mock the Word of God and claim, “Yes We Can” discover and invent our way through every problem. 
      Psychologists and Psychiatrists discredit the power of Christ and suppose their combination of therapy and drugs can remedy any mental  challenges. 
      Businessmen and Bankers think they can buy and sell and invest their way to solve problems. 
      Stars, rockers, and performers act like they can laugh and dance and entertain us through life’s obstacles.

Actually without God we wouldn’t have the strength to oppose God!
Actually without God we wouldn’t have the power to live, and move, and have our being.

It is at best misguided, and at worst a malignant evil to suppose that we can live without Him.  To be accurate we should say, “No We Can’t!”

YES! HE CAN!
      This Christ is not the figment of our imagination.
      This Christ is not the Christ of another man’s perspective.
      This Christ is not the Christ who

THROUGH CHRIST I CAN…
STAND FAST IN THE LORD…
BE OF THE SAME MIND…
REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS…
REMAIN DISCIPLINED…
BE CAREFREE
HAVE PEACE THAT PASSES ALL UNDERSTANDING
      SATISFYING MY MIND AND SECURING MY HEART
I CAN THINK ON THINGS THAT ARE VIRTUOUS!
TRUE, HONEST, JUST, PURE, LOVELY, GOOD REPORT, VIRTUOUS, PRAISWORTHY…
BE CONTENT…

PHILIPPIANS 4
1 So stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.
I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord.
And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life.
Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.
Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.
10 But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity.
11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

               

Saturday, October 5, 2013

ITS SATURDAY NIGHT - WHATEVER IT TAKES

OCTOBER 2013 FCC PASTOR'S UPDATE LETTER

Dear Friends of FCC,

In the Spring of 1947 our senators stood reverently  as chaplain Peter Marshall prayed:

OH GOD OUR FATHER, LET US NOT BE CONTENT TO WAIT AND SEE WHAT WILL HAPPEN,
BUT GIVE US THE DETERMINATION TO MAKE THE RIGHT THINGS HAPPEN,
GIVE US THE COURAGE
GIVE US THE CLEAR VISION THAT WE MAY KNOW WHERE TO STAND
AND WHAT TO STAND FOR BECAUSE
UNLESS WE STAND FOR SOMETHING, WE SHALL FALL FOR ANYTHING.

The Chaplain’s prayer was as much a plea to the Senators in Washington as it was a petition to the Sovereign of heaven. Apparently moral myopathy and weak knees are nothing new.

Where To Stand & What to Stand For
We all have the feeling that we should stand for what is good.  But what is good?
We intuitively know that we ought to stand for what is right.  But what is right?
We have a desire to stand up for virtue.  But what is virtuous?

Our eyes and ears are overwhelmed with images and ideas competing for our attention and approval.  Reporters and commentators, educators and entertainers, philosophers and scientists, believers and skeptics, even family and friends, speak with such contradictory certitude that we are left with more questions than answers.

Because we are finite—limited in our abilities, our experiences, and our knowledge—we often rely on what “feels right.”  We look around for facts that support our feelings.  We ignore or discredit facts that do not harmonize with our feelings.  We reason, but we’re not always reasonable.

But what is right, and what is good, and what is virtuous cannot be left to feelings. 

Nero felt he was right to order that his slave would be castrated (an ancient world sex-change operation) so he could marry him.  Hitler felt that he was right to quarantine and exterminate Bible believing Christians and Jews. Our prisons are overflowing with people who did what they felt like doing.  Homes are shattered and lives are devastated because people did what they felt like doing.

The feelings of sinful men are notable for being self-centered, self-justifying, and self-promoting.
If feelings are unreliable, and facts are incomplete and subject to interpretation where should we stand?  What should we stand for? 

The Chaplain prayed that the Senators would stand for something—it would have been better if he had had prayed that they would STAND FOR SOMEONE! 

It is when we stand for Christ, the loving, sacrificing, crucified, buried, risen, ascended, and coming again King of Kings, that we are standing for good—perfectly good.

It is when we stand for the Word of Christ, that we are standing for what is right—always right.

And it is when we stand with the Lord Jesus Christ that we are standing up for virtue—flawless morality.  Even his executioner declared, “I find no fault in Him!”

Why Do So Few Stand?
Sometimes standing with Christ is easy.  But often, standing with Christ is challenging to say the least. 

It’s easy to stand with Christ when He says, “Be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven.”
It’s hard to stand with Christ when He says, “Go and sin no more.”

It’s easy to stand with Christ when He says, “I am with you always even to the end of the world.”
It’s hard to stand with Christ when He says, He that is not with me is against me.”

It’s easy to stand with Christ when He says to our neighbors, “Love thy neighbor as thyself.”
It’s hard to stand with Christ when He says to us, “Love your enemies.”

It’s easy to stand with Christ when He says, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
It’s hard to stand with Christ when He says, “If you love me, keep my commandments.”

It’s easy to stand with Christ when He says, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
It’s hard to stand with Christ when He says, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.”

It’s easy to stand with Christ when He says, “I go to prepare a place for you, and will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am there ye may be also.”
It’s hard to stand with Christ when He says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man comes to the Father but by me.”  We protest—that’s too narrow—too few will accept Christ.  Hear Jesus, strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”

The world, the flesh, and the devil conspire to deceive and to defeat us.  It’s a lot easier to go with the flow, than it is to stand against the tide.  By nature we would rather please ourselves than please Christ.   And you can be sure that the enemy of our souls is doing what he can to lure us away from Christ.

How Can We Stand?
First we must stand with an absolute unshakeable confidence in the authority, inspiration, and veracity of God’s Word written.  THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD!  We do not simply have “a high regard for Scripture,” we have the highest regard for every divinely inspired word in the book of books. 

Our conviction that the Bible is the Word of God compels us to read the Word, study the Word, and to hide the Word in our hearts that we might not sin against God. (Psalm 119:11).  Bible readers stand strong.

Second we must stand living our lives in harmony with God’s Word—obeying not only the letter of God’s law, but acting on the principles of Scripture. 

We know that God’s way is always the best way so we choose to live in holiness and righteousness.  We not only love the Author of God’s Law, we love the Law He authored.  We want to do the will of God.  When God requires us to do what we don’t understand, we obey Him anyway.  “Trust and Obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to Trust and Obey!”

I read recently of a Christian college that decided that their teachers and staff should no longer be forbidden from drinking alcohol and smoking (who knows what).  Their rationale was that since the Bible nowhere specifically says, “thou shalt not smoke Camel cigarettes” that they should no longer require their employees be smoke-free.  Their logic would laughable if it weren’t so erroneous. 
Think about it.  Does the Bible say “Thou shalt not smoke crack cocaine?” or “Thou shalt look at online pornography?”  You can’t find those forbidden anywhere in the 66 books of the Bible.  I suppose if you worked at their school you could smoke crack and view online porn since the Bible nowhere specifically forbids that.  How ridiculous.  The Bible is a book of specifics, “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” AND it is a book of principles What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?  For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.”  1 Corinthians 6:19,20.  Holy men of God have throughout the history of the Christian Church known that some deeds were off limits to God’s people and they have gladly forfeited life’s pleasures for the joys of eternity.
Third, we must stand, with sincere and pure love for Christ—loving Him with all our “heart, soul, mind, and strength.”  Sincere Christians embrace Christ without reservation.  They serve Him because they love Him.  They will not have divided affections.  When self-love challenges the demands of selfless-love, they cry “cleanse me.”  When self-righteousness rises against Christ-righteousness, they cry “humble me.”  When self-will asserts itself against God’s will, they cry “kill that self-will that’s killing me.”  “This is the will of God, even your sanctification.”

Will We Stand?
I pray for you. I pray for for the salvation of those who are without God and without hope. I pray for the sanctification of the believers.  I pray for the material needs of the congregation.  I pray for the physical needs of our Church family. 

But in recent days I have found myself driven to pray that God would strengthen those of us who have repented of our sins and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. The Apostle Paul prayed for the Christians at Ephesus.  “...to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man.”  (Ephesians 3:16ff).  I am convinced that the day is not far off when only those who are standing strong will resist the pressure to conform and worship the Anti-Christ and his evil empire.

 I’m praying that we will not only stand, but that we will stand strong!
…That we will stand strong when tempted.
…That we will stand strong when tested.
…That we will stand strong when tried.
…That we will stand strong when persecuted. 
…That we will stand strong when we face the Judge of all the earth.

Let’s stand strong on the Word of God written. Let’s stand strong for the Word of God practically—living obediently to all that Christ commands. Let’s stand strong with hearts aflame with the Spirit of Love.

Stand up! Stand strong! Stand firm! Stand out! Stand still!  “Having done all, stand!” 

HOPE TO SEE YOU THIS WEEKEND AT FCC! If we can help you in any way please let us know.  We love and appreciate you every one!

Onward!


Pastor Richard M. Jones
FAITH COMMUNITY CHURCH –  A Crusaders Church of America
2969 North Lindbergh Blvd, St. Louis, Missouri  63074 - Telephone (314) 298-5840; Cell (314) 607-1424

FINANCIAL UPDATE:  Just a quick financial update.  As we close out the 3rd quarter we are thrilled to report that God’s people have given $96,766 toward the mission of FCC.  With those funds we have paid our monthly expenses, reduced our indebtedness to around $500,000 (our monthly mortgage is now $2900, down from $4800 when our loan first closed), and purchased a bus and needed equipment.  Insurance money paid for a new roof, gutters, and air conditioning coils. 
      Yet as we begin the 4th quarter we are concerned that our bills exceed our cash on hand by over $2,500.00.  Thank you for making this a subject of prayer and thank you for your sacrificial gifts to this mission.  We pray God’s choicest blessings upon each of you.

UPCOMING EVENTS:
Sunday, October 6           BACK TO CHURCH SUNDAY
Sunday, October 13         GRANDPARENTS SUNDAY
Sunday, October 20        BIBLE SUNDAY – FREE BIBLES
Sunday, October 27         REFORMATION SUNDAY
Sunday, November 3       TIME CHANGE (Back 1 hour + 100 years) – OLD FASHIONED DAY!
Sunday, November 10     FAMILY FOCUS WEEKEND
Monday, November 25   THANKSGIVING DINNER at WILD ACRES, 7:00 p.m.
Wed, December 17          CHRISTMAS CAROLING
Sunday, December 22     CHRISTMAS SUNDAY – Programs, Choirs, & Teen Play