2012 ST LOUIS HOLINESS CONVENTION + 15 DAYS AWAY!

Good Morning,


In 15 days the JOHN WESLEY FOUNDATION of ST LOUIS will host the 8TH ANNUAL ST. LOUIS HOLINESS CONVENTION.  Great prayer and careful planning have gone into this year's convention.  


THE NEED FOR A REVIVAL OF SCRIPTURAL HOLINESS has never been more acute.


THIS YEAR'S SPEAKERS INCLUDE:

LLOYD BLEY, Past President of Faith Bible School, Mitchell, SD

WILLIAM CAWMAN, Prison Ministry, Vineland, NJ

BEN CRAWFORD, Evangelist, Bible Methodist Church, AL

ANDREW DURST, Great Commission, Crusaders, IL

STEVE GIBSON, Missionary, Holiness Pilgrim Mission, IN

GENE HOOD, Independent Nazarene Church, Indianapolis, IN

GARY JACKSON, Pastor, Bible Holiness Church, Troy MO

MARSH JONES, Bishop, Crusaders Church USA, IL

P L LIDDELL, Evangelist, Church of the Nazarene, MI

JOHN POFF, Pastor, Church of God Holiness, Carthage, MO

KEN THOMPSON, Missionary & Evangelist, MO

WALLACE THORNTON, Sr., Evangelist, KY

AND OTHERS…

You will enjoy the singing of the: DUANE ELMORE FAMILY

If you need a ride from the airport, transportation or lodging arrangements, or further information please feel free to call us at (314) 607-1424, or e-mail us at pastorrick@fcctoday.org.

Services will begin at 9:00 A.M. and continue throughout Thursday and Friday. The evening services will begin a 7:00 P.M.


LUNCH AND DINNER will be provided for a free-will offering.
Discussion is welcome.

STRESS, STRENGTH, AND SANCTIFICATION

WHAT IS THE MARK OF A STRONG CHRISTIAN?


Is a strong Christian someone who believes God’s Word is true? 
Absolutely! But there is more.


Is a strong Christian someone who wants to know God’s Word? 
You can be sure of that!  Yet there’s more.


Is a strong Christian someone who believes God’s Word applies to them? 
Without a doubt! But it must be more. 


Is a strong Christian someone who believes God’s Word is their first priority?  
This is closer to the measure of a strong Christian, and yet there is one further.


Is a strong Christian someone who believes God’s will is not only their first priority but their first concern in every other priority of life? 
It is this that is the true measure of a person’s spiritual strength.


It is our observation that when God’s Will is truly our first priority, and when God’s Will is integrated into every aspect of our living, it is then that we stand “strong in the Lord.”  When God’s Will is our first, our second, our third, as well as our last priority; when His will is our every time and every where and every circumstance  priority; then “His strength is made perfect in our weakness.”


It is in the daily living of our lives, and in those moments of deep spiritual introspection, that our true priorities are revealed.   Just as physical strength can only be increased through the stress of pushing and pulling, so spiritual strength is revealed in the hour of crisis—will we choose God’s priority over our own?  And even more specifically—will we gladly choose God’s will over our own will?


For Example:  When a professing Christian who believes that God’s Word is right, relevant, and first in her life is offered a high-paying position that requires shady dealing, or a job that would keep her away from God’s House, what will she do?


Example Two:  If a Christian was excluded and mistreated by someone who he thought was a friend, should he assume the best and reach out to the one who was apparently thoughtless, or should he avoid that person until they come seeking forgiveness?  Is he obligated to forgive if the offender comes forward? Is he obligated to pursue peace with the offender? How many times should he offer forgiveness?  The Bible has specific instructions for these situations.


Another Example:  Think of a professing Christian who is trying to decide what to do for entertainment.  There are shows that will incite lust. There are choices that may make him feel good, but they are not good for him. There are great places to go but supporting them with his money enables the business owners to pursue a godless agenda. There are ways we might put ourselves forward, or earn the admiration of others, but they too are not Christ-like.  What should the Christian do?


Each of these examples represents a crisis point.  There are many others that we might have listed.  But those who are “strong in the Lord,” hear Christ saying, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.” (Luke 9:23,24). 


We have heard the invitation that Dietrich Bonhoeffer so powerfully wrote of in “The Cost of Discipleship,”


“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die…—death in Jesus Christ, the death of the old man at his call.”


In her book “Total Truth,” Nancy Pearcey challenges Christians to love God and acknowledge His Lordship over every aspect of our lives:


"Genuine [Christian] worldview thinking is far more than a mental strategy or a new spin on current events. At the core, it is a deepening of our spiritual character and the character of our lives. It begins with the submission of our minds to the Lord of the universe - a willingness to be taught by Him. The driving force in worldview studies should be a commitment to 'love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind.' (see Luke 10:27).


That's why the crucial condition for intellectual growth is spiritual growth, asking God for the grace to "take every thought captive to obey Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5). God is not just the Savior of souls, He is also the Lord of creation. One way we acknowledge His Lordship is by interpreting every aspect of creation in the light of His truth. God's Word becomes a set of glasses offering a new perspective on all our thoughts and actions.


As with every aspect of sanctification, the renewal of the mind may be painful and difficult. It requires hard work and discipline, inspired by a sacrificial love for Christ and a burning desire to build up His Body, the Church. In order to have the mind of Christ, we must be willing to be crucified with Christ, following wherever He might lead - whatever the cost. "Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22). As we undergo refining in the fires of suffering, our desires are purified and we find ourselves wanting nothing more than to bend every fiber of our being, including our mental powers, to fulfill the Lord's Prayer: "Thy Kingdom come." We yearn to lay all our talents and gifts at His feet in order to advance His purposes in the world. Developing a Christian worldview means submitting our entire self to God, in an act of devotion and service to Him.


While Pearcey rightly ascertains the Christian’s ultimate aim, her theological bias restrains her from believing that Christians could in this life truly realize such “entire devotement to God.” 

Her call to holiness is as breath-taking in its reach, as it is Biblical in its basis.  Yet she, like so many others, cannot believe that God is able to sanctify wholly in this life. 


But hear the Word of God:


“God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth” (2 Thessalonians 2:13)


“For this is the will of God, even your sanctification” (1 Thessalonians 4:3)


“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.”  (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24)


“Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” (2 Corinthians 7:1)


“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Romans 12:1,2)


“Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.” (James 4:8)


“God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” (1 John 4:16-18)


“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” (Galatians 2:20)

These Scriptures do not tantalize converts by holding up an impossible attainment.  Rather they exalt the power of God’s redeeming, transforming, and sanctifying grace—a grace that is greater than all our sin! “Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it.”

WEAK, ILL, OR NIL CHRISTIANS

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.   EPHESIANS 6:10

WHY ARE SOME CHRISTIANS SO WEAK?

With the coming of a New Year I find myself taking a personal inventory.  I’ve been thinking about the victories and the setbacks of the year past.  There were some really great times I am so thankful to have experienced, and then there were some moments that I wish I could delete from my memory. 

This proves that I am not my computer.  My computer deletes what I want to keep, and keeps what I want to delete.  I on the other hand seem to keep what I want to delete, and delete what I ought to keep. Just sayin…

 Realizing that there’s not too much that I can do about the past, I think the Apostle Paul had it right: “Forgetting the things which are behind, and reaching forth to the things which are before, I press toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:13).  So we press on!.

WEAK or ILL, or NIL?

Before focusing on the path to spiritual strength, I wondered if it is even proper to speak of a “weak Christians?”  Turns out it is a Biblical concept.  Writing to the Church at Rome, and again to the believers at Corinth, the Apostle Paul urges mature Christians to do nothing that would offend those who are “weak in faith,” or “weak brothers.”  (Romans 14:2; 1 Corinthians 8:11). 

Writing to the Church 1600 years ago, St. Augustine observed that weak Christians are anxious for spiritual victories, but they are reticent to sacrifice or to suffer for Christ.  Indeed.

“Ill Christians,” Augustine warned, were those who had lost their appetite and desire to do what is right.  He warned that when the love of the world or some evil desire assaults the heart of Christians, it renders them “sick and listless.”

My great fear is that many who consider themselves weak or ill Christians are actually nil Christians—they are not Christians at all.  They may have a “form of godliness,” but they “deny the power thereof.”(2 Timothy 3:5).  They may “profess to know God, but in works they deny Him.” (Titus 1:16).  They say that they love God, but they do not keep His commandments. The Bible calls them “liars.” (1 John 2:4).  They may be awakened to the truths of God’s claim on their lives, but they have yet to fully surrender to Him.

Of this truth we are sure, all who are truly Christ’s are growing (Ephesians 4:15) in grace and knowledge (2 Peter 3:18), increasing in love (1 Thessalonians 3:12), and having cleansed themselves from all the filthiness of the flesh, they are perfecting holiness in the fear of God. (2 Corinthians 7:1)  Even new-born Christians discover that in Christ there is victory over sin. “Whosoever abides in Him, sins not.” (I John 3:6). The Apostle Paul testifies: “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid.  How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein?” (Romans 6:1-7) Indeed, all God’s children continually, “hunger and thirst after righteousness,” and “are [and are continually] filled.” (Matthew 5:6).

WHETHER THE CHRISTIAN IS WEAK OR STRONG WE ARE ABSOLUTELY SURE THAT ALL CHRISTIANS GO TO HEAVEN.  Jesus said to His disciples, “I go to prepare a place for you.” (John 14:1-6). We are sure THAT ALL WHO ARE HEAVEN-BOUND, AS WELL ALL THOSE WHO TODAY ARE IN HEAVEN, ARE CHRISTIANS. And we are positive that all who are not Biblical Christians, THOSE WHO ARE NOT SAVED will be forever lost in hell.  

THE INFAMOUS ROE V WADE DECISION

Thirty-nine years ago today, the U. S. Supreme Court, handed down one of the worst, if not the worst decision, they have ever made.

Based on a complaint by one Norma McCorvey who falsely claimed she had been raped (named Roe in the case that reached the Supremes), the court declared that state laws prohibiting abortion were null and void.  The court expanded the definition of the right to privacy under the due process clause in the 14th Amendment to include the right of a woman to choose whether  or not a baby growing in her womb would be allowed to live.  Even liberal jurists have questioned the validity of the court’s rationale.  Yet for 39 years “Roe” has been the law of the land.

A FEW OBSERVATIONS:


1. Moralilty--the definition of Right and wrong--is NOT determined by the U.S. Supreme Court.  GOD, not the Court, is the arbiter of right and wrong.  Another tragic error by the Supreme Court was their 1857 Dred Scott ruling (A black man who moved to Missouri and was denied standing in Court)--declaring that all blacks, slave and free, could never be U. S. Citizens.

2. Life begins at conception.  Science confirms what the Bible teaches (see Psalm 139).  Whether a human life is growing inside her mother, or living in a nursing home, her life is valuable and worthy of our love and protection.  Watch THE SILENT SCREAM to see how babies inside their mothers react when abortionists invade the womb.

3. The proponents of abortion told us that when abortions were safe and legal, child abuse would become practically non-existent.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  When the weakest among us is no longer valued and protected, the freedom of every citizen is at risk.  Unless “life, liberty, and the pursuit  of happiness,” are recognized as “endowed by our Creator” then “might” not “right”will rule.

God can forgive this sin, and He can heal our land, but not until we repent.

Politics and the Pulpit

Every so often someone complains, “Pastor Rick, you’re too political in your preaching.”

Because I truly love people I certainly do not want to say or to do anything that drives people away from our Lord Jesus.  I pray that the Lord (and my congregation) will forgive me for speaking when I should be listening, and for saying what I should have left unsaid.

I also pray that the Lord will find me a faithful shepherd.  The writer to the Hebrews tells us that faithful ministers “watch for your souls, as they that must give account.” (Hebrews 13:17).  The Apostle Paul told the Church leaders at Ephesus to “take heed to themselves and to the flock...for grievous wolves [would] enter in not sparing the flock.”  (Acts 20:26-31).

God has not called me to be a political partisan--a democrat or a republican--but as Ambassador for Christ He has given me explicit instruction: (1.) To preach the Gospel of salvation through sanctification and belief of the truth (2 Thessalonians 2:13), (2.) to Warn the lost and the backsliders of God’s judgment--It is appointed unto man once to die, and after this the judgment. (Hebrews 9:27) and (3.) to “cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression.” (Isaiah 58:1).

Standing before the Judge of all the Earth, we will not be asked if we voted “Republican” or “Democrat.” All that will matter in that hour is that our hearts are pure from all sin, that our minds are fully persuaded that God’s Word is right and that God’s Will is best, and that our lives have been lived to the glory of God.

Standing against murder--at any age--is far more than a political position--it is a moral mandate!
Upholding Biblical marriage is more than a partisan statement, it is a righteous commitment.
Standing  against greed is more than a political value, it is a Christian virtue.

America stands in desperate need of a moral awakening.  Pray!

GO FORWARD - 40 YEARS OF "ALL THE BIBLE"

With the January issue of FAITH IN THE FUTURE we mark the beginning of our 40th ANNIVERSARY as CRUSADERS CHURCH of the UNITED STATES of AMERICA.

CRUSADERS CHURCH was thrust into being when, despite the impassioned efforts of our Founder to warn the 1972 General Assembly of our mother Church against changing their doctrine on the permanence marriage, an irregular parliamentary ruling on the convention floor cut short discussion and within less than twenty minutes the delegates voted to alter the historic teaching of the church.

Writing for the Historical Statement of Crusaders Church, our Founder, Pastor Eugene Owen (Jack) Jones clarified why this change proved to be so pivotal:  “When doctrinal changes forbade preaching the pure Word of God, particularly the teaching of Jesus concerning the permanence of marriage, conscience required another pulpit.”

The Pastor was explicitly warned that he could not preach to his congregation nor teach the young ministers in training that marriage was a life-long commitment, ratified by God, and indissolvable by the courts of man.

Pastor Jones explained in our Church’s historical Statement: “The issue was crucial, for it was a departure from Biblical theology and acceptance of philosophical theology.  A difference was made between God’s ideal and man’s real with a resultant moral relativism that implied that God’s grace could not accomplish His perfect will in man.  Men’s opinions thus took precedence over the Word of God and error was added to error.”

On Sunday morning, July 23, 1972, the heavy-hearted Pastor freely surrendered his credentials to officials of his denomination.  Standing in his small church office at 2011 Brownfield Road, Urbana, Illinois, he was advised that if he ever desired to restore his credentials in the denomination of his birth he would be welcome. (He was literally born in the Chariton, Iowa parsonage.)

That Sunday, by prior agreement, Pastor Jones would preach his last two sermons in the church he had pastored for 10 years. The congregation had grown from 25 to well over 100 in attendance.  The Spirit of the Lord was powerfully present in those final services.  I remember the saints singing and shouting, the pastor preaching under the anointing of the Spirit, and an altar service crowned with God’s presence.

Tragically a few years ago that same church building was sold to Islamic fundamentalists to be used as a mosque and teaching center where Sharia law is promoted, and Christ is dishonored.

To the contemporary “emergent” Christians, all of this must seem strange, bordering on insane.  They wonder:
Are we absolutely positive that the Scriptures accurately report what Christ said?

Can we trust His Word? 
If the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments are unreliable--incomplete, errant, or selectively truthful--we are left to our own best lights to determine God’s will.  From Eden onward, the enemy of man’s soul has first lured his victims with, “Hath God said?” (Genesis 3:1)

Can anyone be sure that the Lord Jesus meant what He said?  
Can we spin this teaching? The lawyers of our day are no different from the lawyers in Jesus’ day. Word games, obscuration, and rhetorical ambiguities may entertain those who seek to justify themselves, but finally God’s Truth will prevail.

Jesus said to the lawyers of His day, “Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God... Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery.” (Luke 16:15,18)

Wasn’t this more of a divine ideal rather than a real necessity? 

Isn’t intellectual agreement more important than practical follow-through? Both are necessary.

New Testament Christianity is holistic.  The mind is renewed, the life is tranformed, and the heart is purified.

James tells us that “faith without works is dead.” (James 2:17) The Apostle Paul warned against those who, “profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.” (Titus 1:16)


Doesn’t redeeming grace justify our sins?

Don’t we all live in sin? The German martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer was right, “Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our church. ...Cheap grace means the justification of sin without the justification of the sinner. That is what we mean by cheap grace, the grace which amounts to the justification of sin without the justification of the repentant sinner who departs from sin and from whom sin departs.”

“How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein?” (Romans 6:2) the inspired Apostle asks.  The answer is clear: we don’t!

Why can’t we all just get along?

Why would anyone part with a friend, suffer, or even die for an idea? We love everyone, but our first love is the ONE who said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6).

Forty years ago our Founder answered the objections of today’s emergents (a.k.a. compromisers):
Yes, God’s Word is accurate.
Yes, we are sure that Christ meant what He said.
Yes, God’s ideal should be and can be man’s real.
Yes, redeeming grace not only justifies sin, but it justifies (makes right) the sinner. And,
Yes, those who are committed to the One, are indeed one.  And we will never surrender our allegiance to Him.

May God bless CRUSADERS and all God’s people, as we GO FORWARD!

Politics and the Pulpit

Every so often someone complains, “Pastor Rick, you’re too political in your preaching.”

Because I truly love people I certainly do not want to say or to do anything that drives people away from our Lord Jesus.  I pray that the Lord (and my congregation) will forgive me for speaking when I should be listening, and for saying what I should have left unsaid.

I also pray that the Lord will find me a faithful shepherd.  The writer to the Hebrews tells us that faithful ministers “watch for your souls, as they that must give account.” (Hebrews 13:17).  The Apostle Paul told the Church leaders at Ephesus to “take heed to themselves and to the flock...for grievous wolves [would] enter in not sparing the flock.”  (Acts 20:26-31).

God has not called me to be a political partisan--a democrat or a republican--but as Ambassador for Christ He has given me explicit instruction: (1.) To preach the Gospel of salvation through sanctification and belief of the truth (2 Thessalonians 2:13), (2.) to Warn the lost and the backsliders of God’s judgment--It is appointed unto man once to die, and after this the judgment. (Hebrews 9:27) and (3.) to “cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression.” (Isaiah 58:1).

Standing before the Judge of all the Earth, we will not be asked if we voted “Republican” or “Democrat.” All that will matter in that hour is that our hearts are pure from all sin, that our minds are fully persuaded that God’s Word is right and that God’s Will is best, and that our lives have been lived to the glory of God.

Standing against murder--at any age--is far more than a political position--it is a moral mandate!
Upholding Biblical marriage is more than a partisan statement, it is a righteous commitment.
Standing  against greed is more than a political value, it is a Christian virtue.

America stands in desperate need of a moral awakening.