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Thoughts

2/23/2012

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This is not the first blog I have used and it probably won't be the last. I love to write, but have been drawn away from the pleasure of pouring my heart out through words by the small, unimportant tasks that face us every day. I hope to reclaim my passion for words, and blessing others through them, through this blog. I hope you enjoy!

I am a missionary on a Native American Reservation. Due to some issues previously with some aspects of ministry, I will have to be careful about what is posted on this blog. Please forgive me if things are not explained in depth or if it seems like certain parts of some posts are left out or don't flow well with the rest of the post. It is hard writing with your hands tied behind your back....

I have been on the Reservation for almost one year. October 1, 2011 will be a year since I moved from my home to come to this place. What a year it has been. I still don't feel like I fully fit in, or that what I am doing here is fully accepted or understood, but progress has most definitely been made. Instead of stares, there are waves. Instead of blank looks, there are smiles. Where there used to be silence, there is now small talk and even some joking. Slow progress is still progress.

The Lord has taught me so much about myself since coming here. I used to think that I knew what a relationship with Christ was and how it was to look like when being lived out. I now think completely different from what I did back then. When you come from a place where your family is your spiritual support, you have an assortment of churches to attend, and you have been assimilated into the people around you, you live in a kind of "blanket security." Your beliefs aren't necessarily yours because you have them as much as they are formed and defined by the people and life around you. Please don't misunderstand me... each person has their own personal beliefs. I just know for myself, those beliefs were never properly or fully tested until I came here... three hours away from my hometown by car, but worlds away by any other standard. I used to think I knew what it was like to have faith, to live off less than average, to understand what it was like to go without, to know and experience trials and tests. The thing about a preschool is that it prepares you for school. Well, I have entered school here, in this place. I have learned how to have less than I did before, but watch the Lord provide more than I ever need. I have learned that true faith is not worth having if it can't pass various tests. I have learned how much worldly safety and security can hinder, even halt, the advancement of faith. I have learned how uninformed most people are to the suffering and heartache of others. The main thing I have learned though, is who Christ is to me. I have taken a lot of "Christian" classes, completed a lot of studying and various programs, even took and passed a test to become a licensed minister, but that isn't where I learned who Christ is to me. I learned who Christ is to me through two different things: watching the hopelessness of a child turn into genuine, true faith; and by serving others from sun up to sun down. This is when the Lord has shaped and pruned me for His service. I can learn about Christ all I want through study and classes, but I learn who Christ is by and through service. I am so different now than I was a year ago. While I have experienced more pain and heartache in this year than any other year before, I have also witnessed the grace and mercy of God in the most powerful ways I could imagine. I have watched lives be transformed by the saving and renewing power of Jesus, and I have watched the Holy Spirit purge and cleanse my heart and my life in ways I didn't think were possible. I have fought my darkest days spiritually; and the Spirit of God has given me the wings I need to fly to the mountaintop for rest, before heading back to the valley to battle again and again. I have learned both how subtle and how blatant the enemy can be. I have said goodbye to good friends, and hello to new ones. I have seen bridges smashed by events beyond our control, but I have seen the lifeboat of God ferry us from place to place, shore to shore. I have watched lives without hope change into lives that cannot contain the joy that radiates in them and through them. I have seen faces of fear become faces of happiness. I have seen the effects of the enemy reversed; new breath breathed into dead lives; and floodwater rise in a famine land. I have experienced the presence and power of the Lord in such a mighty way that the only thing to do was lay prostrate on the ground before Him. I have spent nights longing and yearning to hear that Still Small Voice, and having to move on in faith in the morning after hearing nothing but silence. I have seen how the hand of God has protected and provided through situations that shook me to the core. I have been torn down and built up; wrecked and renewed; bled and transfused.

I say all that to say this: there is pain in sacrifice.... but there are experiences of joy, power, and life that can only be found this side of sacrifice, and that can only be reached through faith and obedience, despite all obstacles, despite all counsel, despite all fears. To any who are reading this that know that God has called them to more than what you are doing now: jump.

I pray that our Heavenly Father would begin to open the eyes of His children who are blind to their surroundings, and the hurt and pain of so many within the boundaries of what we call home. He needed to remind me of this recently. Even though I live in conditions that seem unreal at times, I can still grow complacent. I went to the dump the other day to deliver the garbage. When I pulled up, there was a person digging through the trash. The depth of the trash varied from stuff you could walk on to stuff you literally had to wade through. The trail I picked for my car depended on what I thought wouldn't hurt my tires versus what I thought would. When I got out of my car, I looked into this person's eyes, and saw.... nothing. No life. No hope. No sense of self-worth. It broke my heart. I popped my trunk and grabbed my garbage. As I was walking it to the trash bins, I heard a voice say, "You have TRASH BAGS!!!!!" This was said with the excitement of a child on Christmas Day who just received a present beyond their wildest imaginings. I turned around, and there stood a little child. This child was large, probably four or five... and still in diapers. This child's nose was running down past their chin. The child's diaper was soaking wet, and had saturated the shorts. This child was dirty. My heart broke again. I just answered this child the best way I knew how, but my smile did not reach my eyes, for my eyes were full of pain. I continued getting out my garbage, and heard the child say, "Look Dad, I found a toy!" I turned around once more, and saw this child holding up what most of us would consider unfit for a toy for our pets. The smile on this child's face was one of pure happiness. As I was watching, another reality settled in: this child was not wearing shoes. This child was walking through nasty, disgusting, filthy garbage with no shoes or socks. THIS IS REALITY! And what are we doing about it?

I pray that the stupor that sits upon us fall off. I pray that the contentment that has enslaved and bound us be broken. I pray that we understand how evil it is to be an apathetic Christian. I pray that the chains of complacency be broken in Jesus' Name. I pray that God does what it takes to make us hurt for who He hurts for. Christ did not die to make us rich and successful. He died so that we may live to serve others. There is no other reality than this.

I read a quote a while ago that I can't seem to find again. Please forgive me if I state it other than how I read it. It is: "Christ did not die to make bad people good, but to make dead people live." (Author Unknown) But what are we made alive in Christ for? TO SERVE AND REACH OTHERS AS WE HAVE BEEN REACHED AND SERVED. We need to wake up to the world around us and stop living like WE are special or that WE deserved the grace that was shown to us. What a shame that we receive grace and squander it on successful living, when a whole world goes by unnoticed and unreached. Father, forgive us and MOVE us into action, by whatever means necessary!

James 4:1-4, 17:
1 What is the source of the wars and the fights among you? Don't they come from the cravings that are at war within you? 2 You desire and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. You do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and don't receive because you ask wrongly, so that you may spend it on your desires for pleasure.     4 Adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the world's friend becomes God's enemy.
17 So, for the person who knows to do good and doesn't do it, it is a sin."

We can live in ignorance no longer. We know what we are to do... all we have to do is do it.
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Love by Justin Countryman

8/5/2010

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Love.

Love is a tricky thing.

I knew a love once.

This love was intense.

This love was real.

This love was authentic.

This love almost killed me.

This love didn’t stop her from walking out the door.

This love didn’t stop her from falling for him.

This love didn’t protect my heart.

This love didn’t shelter our son.

This love didn’t end in a fairytale happiness.

This love destroyed.

This love consumed.

This love devoured.

This love hurt.

This love fled.

This love brought more pain that I could bare.

Love.

Pain.

What is the difference?

Jesus.

Savior.

Healer.

Redeemer.

LOVE.

I know this LOVE.

This LOVE heals.

This LOVE mends.

This LOVE saves.

This LOVE creates.

This LOVE redeems.

This LOVE renews.

This LOVE rebuilds.

This LOVE conquers.

This LOVE stays.

This LOVE lasts.

This LOVE defines.

When I run, this LOVE chases.

When I hide, this LOVE seeks.

When I fall, this LOVE catches.

When I am weak, this LOVE is strong.

When I hurt, this LOVE comforts.

When I fear, this LOVE holds.

This LOVE wants me.

This LOVE desires me.

This LOVE defines me.

This LOVE died momentarily, to remain eternal.

This LOVE suffered to ease my pain.

This LOVE stood alone, so I don’t have to.

This LOVE took my place, because I couldn’t.

Love is death.

LOVE is life.
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Psalm 121:1 by Kathy Countryman

5/17/2010

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  Psalm 121:1

By Kathy Countryman

 

“I will lift up my eyes to the hills – from whence comes my help? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.”

What divine direction! We are blessed to live in one of the most beautiful parts of the United States. Just outside our windows are the Crazy Mountains. We try to never let a day go by without pausing to look up at such a majestic sight! While looking UP at those mountains, you begin to really “see” them: standing in their place reaching up towards heaven. You can be enthralled in a matter of moments! When your eyes are fixed on their beauty, you see little else. Sometimes you get to the point where you are really not aware of the goings on around you at ground level. Could that be the key in this verse? Where does our help come from? Certainly not “the hills.” When we remember to look up we are no longer looking down or even at our circumstances. We look up, with our eyes on Him, the direction from which the help comes from. Not distracted by what we “see” around us. With eyes directed up, we see those hills and we are reminded of the God who made those hills; the hills and heaven and earth besides. With eyes lifted up, eyes that look to Him, eyes raised up in hope, we truly “see” and know “from whence comes our help – my help comes from the LORD.” Thank You for the reminder, LORD, and the direction.

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The Search by Justin Countryman

5/9/2010

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This note is a little different from my other notes in that it is purely a note of encouragement. I want to encourage all of my brothers and sisters in Christ to continue their search for their calling. For those of you who know your calling in Christ, may my words resonate within your spirit to remind you of the significance of your calling in Christ Jesus. For those of you who have not yet fully stepped into your calling or are still unsure of your calling, keep pushing. It is there.

There is a peace and assurance that comes from knowing you are working within the realm of God’s calling within your life. Even though the struggles are still there, and sometimes more often than not, there is a peace beyond all understanding that envelopes your heart, mind and soul. There is a freedom in knowing that I don’t have to rely on myself, my knowledge, or my ideas, but on the Holy Spirit. All I have to do is present myself before God as a willing vessel, and He takes care of the rest; and thank God for that, because if my calling was left to my own talents or strength, it would be a pathetic thing indeed.

I have also learned that in the search comes the preparation. Is my search over? Definitely not. The more God’s Word speaks to me and the more confirmation fellow believers speak into my life the more excited I become. One thing I have learned is that no man can stand alone. I thank God for my fellow brothers and sisters, for it is through them that my rough edges have been buffed out, my timidity has fled, and my understanding has increased. We need each other to test, strengthen, stretch, define, rebuke, build, and edify each other. If you are struggling in understanding your calling then I urge you to become an active member in a group of believers. God designed His church to be made of individuals, and individuals make up His church, but an individual cannot be a church. We need each other. Hebrews 10:25 says, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” I don’t know about you, but I see the day approaching. This is not a debate on the end times note, but if we are honest with each other we can see that if ever there was a time when Christians needed each other, it is now. Psalm 89:7: “God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about Him.” Psalm 107:32: “Let them exalt Him also in the congregation of the people, and praise Him in the assembly of the elders.”

We also need an assembly for the benefits it can bring to a believer: Psalm 65:4 says, “Blessed is the one You choose and bring near, to dwell in Your courts! We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, the holiness of Your temple!” Psalm 84:10 says, “For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” Psalm 92:12-15 says, “The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God. They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the LORD is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.” Psalm 96:8 says, “Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His name; bring an offering, and come into His courts.” There is something about the house of God that is different from every other place you can go. Chances are, if you haven’t stepped into your calling, it could be that you have neglected the Christian duty of finding a place in a local body and fulfilling service there. There is a comfort and strength that we as Christians need that comes from a unified body of believers. Find a church and dive in!!!

For a long time I wondered what my calling could possibly be. I felt ashamed because I couldn’t state exactly what my calling was. I knew I was called but just didn’t know the details. If you feel like this then please take heart! Knowing you are called should be sustenance enough. Rest in the fact that God has called you, and that if you are obedient and open, His calling will be accomplished in you and through you. Another thing is this: we are all called to do certain things. We are called to pray. We are called to fast. We are called to serve. We are called to worship. We are called to study. We are called to witness. Experiencing the salvation of Christ IS a calling! We have the chance to intercede for the lost! We have the chance to fast for spiritual breakthroughs! We have the chance to serve in love without condemnation! We have a chance to worship in spirit and truth! We have a chance to study and build our knowledge and understanding of Christ and His salvation message! We have a chance to speak the words of life into others lives! I used to think that only after I knew what my calling was could I ever be effective in ministry. The truth is that the same Holy Spirit that entered my heart upon salvation is the same Holy Spirit that is guiding, equipping, and leading me in my Christian walk, including my calling. I have the chance to be effective in the lives of the lost because of the Holy Spirit, not because of an understanding of my calling.

As Christians, we all have callings to step into. But don’t put so much emphasis on the calling that you become an ineffective Christian in the mean time. Walk in the glory and hope of your salvation, purchased by the blood of our Savior! Walk in the understanding that we are children of God and that this world is not our home! Walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, who lives inside you! Walk in prayer and in the Word, ready at all times to speak life to the dead and dying! Walk in the defining word of centuries: Christian. Better yet, let ‘Christian’ be the defining word of your walk!

Take heart brothers and sisters and let’s do something for glory of God and His kingdom!
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Objects In Motion

5/3/2010

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  Objects in Motion

Justin Countryman

 

I love how God teaches me things as I am teaching my son things. This morning before church, Logan was rolling the head of a bullet around on his desk. He could not understand how if he just set the bullet on the desk that it would move because the desk is at a slight slant. I went on to explain to him the one thing from college I remember (surprisingly) and that is that objects in motion tend to stay in motion unless acted on by another force. I further went on to explain to Logan how gravity was the force that was causing the bullet to roll down the desk and the force that keeps us from floating into outer space. Quite a Sunday morning topic I know, but as I was pondering whether I had relayed the information to Logan in a way that He could understand, the Lord hit me with an analogy of gravity and objects in motion using my own life. I will attempt to share it with you so bear with me if you can.

For many, many years, I did my own thing. I was like an object floating around aimlessly in space searching for some sort of truth that would attract me with its gravitational pull. Weightlifting, music, band, girls, parties, etc. attracted me for some time, but that attraction was only temporary until a new attraction would gain my attention. Since I was not grounded in anything that had the ability to keep me, I would “crash” into certain things and people. Every time I crashed into a person or object, pieces of me would be lost and scars, burn marks and “crash” marks would take the place of those pieces; both in me and in the other person. I was an object out of orbit. We all know that objects that are out of orbit are dangerous, but usually are broken into little pieces by something bigger until they become such a small threat they are not even noticed anymore, but just assume some sort of orbit around something larger than it. From the age of 18 to 25, I began to break into a million little pieces. Different objects attracted different parts of me and their gravitational pull would create friction and chaos within my “world”. So many directions began to pull at me and without any stability, the end seemed very likely to come by my own hand; just like an objects end eventually comes when it is out of orbit.

During a chance church attendance, a new “gravity” began to pull at me. Every word the preacher spoke wove tighter and tighter around my heart. It felt like a force was pulling the heart out of my chest. For the first time in my life, I felt a gravitational pull that went straight to the heart. This was the Holy Spirit pulling me into the embrace of Christ. I finally saw how “out of orbit” I was, and the One who could put me back into my created place in this universe.

What I did not realize then was all this was happening so that Christ could draw me out of the "universes" of those around me and into His spiritual universe. All the pain and heartache I went through as a young man was so my attention would land on the real center of the universe, and not on thousands of tiny distractions. I was in motion heading only one direction (Hell) until the Holy Spirit stepped in, drew me to Christ, and He set me in a new direction (Heaven). I stepped into my orbit within the universe of Christ when He saved me and washed me in His blood. Now, when I “crash” into people, it is for a purpose and that purpose is so that the light of the universe, Christ, can crash into them through me. I have finally found my place in this universe, and it is under the submission and Lordship of Jesus Christ in His kingdom.

 

In Hebrews 1:1-4 it says, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed the heir of all things, through whom also He created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name He has inherited is more excellent than theirs.”

Hebrews 11:3 says, “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.”

It is such an amazing thing to understand who created us and where we fit in His plan. I thank God for His salvation plan and I thank Jesus for saving my soul! God, who is the center of the universe, became the center of my spiritual universe. It is not enough to know that He is Lord and Savior. One must know Him AS Lord and Savior. I praise God that He did not give up on me and that the “gravity” of the Holy Spirit brought me straight to Him! What an awesome God we serve. Just to think that He created this whole universe, of which we cannot even properly explore, yet cares enough for you and me that His Son would willingly die on a cross in my place and in your place humbles me to the greatest extent. The One who spoke the world into existence longs for a relationship with you and I. He feels our pain and he knows us intimately. Surely, it is about time we submit to His plan for our lives and by doing so fit into proper orbit within His universe. Give God a chance. You will never go back.

Psalm 19:7-9:

“The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.”
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Easter Reflections by Kathy Countryman

3/30/2010

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Reflecting on the Easter season, I am reminded that Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Jesus' last week upon earth. Lately, I have been pondering the sacrificial lamb, the shed blood, the atonement, etc. Sacrifice  was ordained by God and instituted by Him in the Garden of Eden. From the beginning God has been saying to man, "There is no way to approach Me except by coming with a lamb." There were many types of sacrifices mentioned in the Old Testament. Most were DUE and OBLIGATORY, they belonged to God. But, in the New Testament we see ONE that was VOLUNTARY -- John 1:29: "Behold, the Lamb of God which (or who) taketh away the sin of the world." This sacrifice was not from man - who chose, slew, and offered to God - this was God GIVING VOLUNTARILY OF HIS OWN. "God sacrificed the Lamb on the altar of the Cross." Now, it is finished, now it is done, now we don't wait for a man (priest) to represent us to God once a year. Now we have access to Him on our own, anytime, anywhere, for anything, because of that final and acceptable sacrifice (LAMB) that was given for us.
Many times we show our love to others by giving flowers, cards, candy or doing something nice for someone. But, THAT LOVE - CHRIST'S LOVE - the purest and highest form of love EVER SHOWN - brings me to my knees in humility and leaves me speechless.
But this was not just ANY sacrifice. This was the PERFECT, FINAL AND SUPREME sacrifice.
Think about what He experienced that final week. Mental and emotional anguish, mocked, ridiculed, displayed, dishonored disrobed, disgraced, forsaken, rejected, taunted, spit upon, hit... then look at Isaiah 52:14: "His visage was marred MORE THAN ANY MAN AND HIS FORM MORE THAT THE SONS OF MAN."
No man EVER was marred, tortured, disfigured or hurt as He was. NO MAN WAS EVER AFFLICTED AS HE WAS. Look at and really see verses 4-7 of that same chapter. Note that in verse 7 it says TWICE, "that He opened not His mouth." To me that says there were at least two times that He was at the point - pushed to the point of humanness - yet He was obedient, even to the death on the cross. He was willing to "GO THERE" for you and for me. His love for mankind and the need so great propelled Him to the cross.
When I see and understand the COST of that kind of love, how can I refuse Him? That is why it is so easy to follow HIM, to serve HIM and to love HIM WHO FIRST LOVED ME! Not only did He say it but He showed it and proved it. Do we understand THAT KIND OF LOVE? Do we understand THAT KIND OF SACRIFICE? I ask you to ponder the week between Palm Sunday and Easter. I ask you to reflect upon the cross, the Lamb, the sacrifice, THE LOVE.
Let us never forget to celebrate, but let us also never forget to remember THE GREATEST OFFERING EVER GIVEN!
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My Greatest Battle by Justin Countryman

2/14/2010

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Some little while ago, I gazed into my soul;

Only to find in me, and a “me-shaped” hole;

Try as I might, I could not pretend;

That my life would not have, the forever expected end;

Looking further down my line, all I could see was hell;

I tried living backwards, though harder each time I fell;

I watched it all go…everything I had built;

Walked right out my door, leaving me with my guilt;

I could not find the strength, to die to those outside;

Even though my death inside, I had long tried to hide;

Weak and helpless, pitiful and worn;

Every move I made only kept me forlorn;

To walk through this life, with the steps of the dead;

Is the final result of letting Satan share your bed.

All hope was lost, nowhere could it be found;

Understood I this then: I was who I had bound;

The shame was so great there could not have been more;

And that’s when I heard, the knock at the door…

“I am the One that gives rest to the weak;

For I am the One, of Whom all men do seek;

I cannot be found in pleasures and games,

But nearest I am, through struggles and pains.

For My blood was shed, once and for all,

To break the curse of that death dealing Fall.

If you want life, you must come to Me;

At the foot of the cross, where I will set you free.

To live on your own, is to live in your sin,

For without Me inside, you have nothing within;

Save for a hole shaped like you,

For which accounts are past due.

Reach out to Me, and I will take your hands;

For I alone, am the One who stands.”

I fell to my knees, and I opened my heart;

With each tear that fell, I felt sin depart;

I was washed in the blood, that He so preciously shed;

Even though I deserved the noose around my head;

I was the one who wove the crown of thorns…

It was no accident that my shadow had horns.

I spit in His face, and laughed at His pain;

Because I thought the world, was what I’s to gain.

When I understood it was me that He died for;

Mercy and grace, rushed through me once more…

He gave up His life to pay my sin debt;

The King of kings is who I had met.

He reached inside me, into that dark hole;

He replaced the Truth which the devil had stole;

The Spirit came in, cleansed and repaired;

Now I know this: my life has been spared.

A love like this cannot be forgot;

For if it can, then you knew Him not.

We all struggle and we all fall,

God’s mercy is enough, to go through it all.

If you find yourself in the desert alone,

Just remember one thing: this is not your home;

A place is prepared, for all who are willing;

To submit to God, and let Him keep killing;

The ugliness inside, of which have we all;

And let God redeem, the effects of the Fall.

I now stand together with the One who was slain,

New hopes and new dreams have replaced all the pain.

Even though there are times, when I feel like giving up,

Remember Jesus said, “Who can drink from this cup?”

Trials and fires, necessary they surely are,

For without them, one cannot get far.

I love thee Lord Jesus, who saved me from hell;

And of Your great mercy, I forever will tell.

There’s power in the blood, of that I am certain;

And I will stand firm, until He draws the curtain;

For it is not by my strength, or make-believe power,

But by His Spirit, that I’m alive at this hour.

I thank thee Lord, for all You have done,

For my greatest battle, You’ve already won.
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By Kathy Countryman

11/28/2009

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I open up the fridge at will
Turn up the heat when there's a chill
I'm fed, I'm warm, I know I'm safe
Yet from my mind cannot escape
The pleading in those innocent eyes
The never-ending wondering "why's"
"We have no hope, no clothes, no food
Can you please help? Is there something you can do?"
They are in a prison without a key
Knowing this need, we can't turn away
When dark brown eyes into mine gaze
Within my heart, a question will raise
What can we do for these poor babes?
How can they make it through the day?
To see, feel and know their needs
Will humble you, break you, bring you to your knees
Winter's here, it's time to prepare
The season's here in which we share
The hope and peace and love of God
But wait, there's a need you may not know of:
Of cold, of hunger, of shame and despair
Of families alone 'cause no one will "GO THERE"
We need your help to meet this task
Please talk to God is all we ask
To help these children who stand in need
We'll do our best to clothe and feed
We send out thanks with all our hearts
For joining with us in some small part!


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Reasonable Service by Justin Countryman

11/28/2009

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Romans 12:1-2 says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (The Legacy Study Bible New King James Version, italics mine). So many times Christians hear this verse, yet their lives remain unchanged. According to these verses, our calling as Christians is to perform our reasonable service in order to present our bodies holy and acceptable to God. It is our reasonable service. If it were not attainable, God would not call it reasonable, and if He expects it, then we should do everything to reach that expectation. Because of the forgiveness given us by Jesus' death on the cross, Christians and the Church must remain holy and uncompromised with the world, separated unto God for His glory and His purpose.

“[B]ecause it is written, be holy for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16). Verse 15 says, “[B]ut as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.” This is not a recommendation. It is a requirement, a command. It is used both in the New Testament in the verse given, and in the Old Testament, found in Leviticus 11:44 and 45. Many times, we as Christians evaluate our “performance” solely on the Ten Commandments, yet fail to realize what 2 Timothy 2:16-17 tells us. It says,  “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (italics mine). The Word of God is our guide for every circumstance in life, including explaining our part of the Christian walk. Holiness is a major subject in the Bible, and therefore should be a major subject in every believer’s life.

Holiness is the same as consecration. Encarta Dictionary defines consecrate as the act of dedicating something to a particular purpose. It is that simple. So why is this consecration to God (holiness) not taking place? Jerry Bridges, in his book The Pursuit of Holiness, clues us in on one possible answer.

First, we are simply reluctant to face up to our responsibility. We prefer to leave that to God. We pray for victory when we know we should be acting in obedience. The second reason is that we do not understand the proper distinction between God’s provision and our own responsibility for holiness (13).

Christians must understand that we cannot sit back and be holy. We cannot expect God to do everything for us. At some point in time we have to point the finger at ourselves and step up to the plate. Living a Christian life requires action, and that action is on our part as well. We must choose to live for Christ, just as we choose to eat, sleep, and move.

We must be holy and separated unto God and not compromised with the world. Compromise, in my own opinion, is the death of what could be for the acceptance of what is. So many times in a Christians life they settle, because the battle for holiness seems too hard to fight. Why does the battle seem too hard to fight? It is because we are settling for the rewards and merit of this world and the people in it rather than the eternal rewards and merit prepared for us by our God. When we accept the salvation Jesus provides, we allow the Holy Spirit to take residence within us. It is through the power of the Holy Spirit that we can fight the fight of holiness. “To live by the Spirit is to live both in obedience to and dependence on the Holy Spirit. There is a balance between our wills (expressed by obedience) and our faith (expressed by our dependence). But at this point we are considering the aspect of our dependence on the Holy Spirit” (Bridges 79).  When acting in obedience to God, and living with the desire to strive to please Him with my all: thoughts, will, actions, attitude, emotions, heart, soul, I find two things occur. First, I become the man God created me to be, and second, I become the person I was destined to be, which makes me the real “me,” and not the “me” this world wants me to think I should be. A transformation of our minds must occur, and we must begin to think, see, hear, and observe this world as Christ does, and not simply as we want to. There is a major difference.

The world today has so mixed with the teaching and preaching of the Gospel that we now have a “Worldly Gospel” which in and of itself is a complete contradiction in terms. The Church is steadily becoming as worldly as it can, all under the guise of saving souls for Christ. I understand the need to reach people. It is what our mission as Christians is. However, when we change the words of the Gospel, or the meaning of the Gospel, or the Gospel itself, we are changing how people accept salvation and why people need salvation, possibly even creating a false salvation based on the lusts of the flesh rather than the depravity of the spirit. Let me explain this in an analogy. In weightlifting competitions, there are strict rules and regulations. For instance, legitimate competitions ban the use of steroids. The enforcers of these rules set up strict screening procedures the contestants must go through. If the judges find evidence of steroids in the contestant, the judges disqualify the contestant. Why? Steroids allow people to lift more, run faster, and achieve a higher level than they could by themselves. Sure, there are side effects, but the end justifies the means, right? It is the same with the Christian walk. Once we compromise the message with the world’s “steroids,” it spreads like wildfire. People eat it up. They love to have their ears tickled. For every person who will stand up and speak the undefiled Word of God there are hundreds who will stand up and preach a watered-down, weakened version of the Word of God. However, one might ask, does this end not also justify the means? The simple answer is this: not when it disqualifies those who enter the race. A contestant cannot be half-cheater and half-honest. The contestant is either honest, or a cheater. There is no gray area to dispute. The judges must ban a cheater from the race.

A church compromised is a church without power or effectiveness, just as a believer compromised is a believer without power or effectiveness. There is no reason on this earth why the Church, or individual believers, should compromise with the world, but there is one reason not on this earth that we should remain holy, and that is eternal life with Christ Jesus. It seems as if we accept the salvation of Jesus and the forgiveness of our sins with a willing attitude, and then balk at the possibility of having to separate ourselves from the very things that caused our spiritual death in the first place. This is the hypocritical part of the Church and Christianity that is leaving a bad taste in the mouths of all those it contacts. When we call ourselves Christians, we are taking the name of Christ upon ourselves. We slander His name when we compromise with this world. 1 John 2:15 says, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” We want to place our dependency on God and still not remain accountable to Him. We live in a world that lets somebody else shed their blood, sweat, and tears to leave us with their life’s work, which we then chew on, spitting out what disagrees with us and then passively digesting the rest, which we then leave in a not too appealing pile, and expect someone else to produce roses from our leftovers. We have gone from being followers of Christ to being followers of who we want Christ to be. We are a pathetic excuse for a bride to be.

Bridges once again summarizes the wrongful thinking Christians have taken in another excerpt from The Pursuit of Holiness.

We need to brace ourselves up, and to realize that we are responsible for our thoughts, attitudes, and actions. We need to reckon on the fact that we died to sin’s reign, that it no longer has any dominion over us, that God has united us with the risen Christ in all His power, and has given us the Holy Spirit to work in us. Only as we accept our responsibility and appropriate God’s provisions will we make any progress in our pursuit of holiness (85).

We must shake ourselves from our pathetic “we are so needy” lifestyle and walk in the freedom Christ has given us through His death and resurrection. Jesus already won the battle, yet we continue to create our own battles, out of our desire to sin and find a place to put the blame. This is why the Church compromises, and this is why individual Christians compromise; we love our sin more than we are willing to obey.

Christ offered a covenant relationship, which means both partakers of the covenant have responsibilities. Walter Brueggemann, in his book The Bible Makes Sense, explains this covenant relationship.

This theme emerges as central in the Bible because God’s self-revelation showed a covenant-making, covenant-keeping God. That is who God is. That is how the Divine Self meets Israel and relates to the church. That is how God relates to creation as a faithful covenant-keeper. That is how God defines our world for us as a process of covenant-making and covenant-keeping. And that is the good news of the Gospel, that God is faithful to the Covenant (54).

I have never understood this: we accept full pardon for our sins through the death of Jesus on the cross. We claim full freedom for the death that our sins procured. We expect the full blessings (many of them manmade and unbiblical) that come from salvation through Jesus Christ. Yet, when it comes to living a life fully for Christ, we resist with everything in us. Here is where compromise starts. We want Jesus to follow through with His part of the covenant, but then we want to negotiate our half of the covenant. Let us turn the tables and see how we fare. For instance, let us say that we sign our names to a covenant with Christ, yet He refuses to do so. To most of us, this thought is outrageous, yet this is what we do to Him. It is about time Christians start living up to their word, but more importantly, their word to their Savior, their God, and their Redeemer. How many of us would be in trouble if our life after salvation mattered (which it does)? How many of us can say that in all we do we bring glory and honor to Him who gave His life for us? Not many of us can say that.

Now, let me use part of a transcript of a sermon given by Paul Washer, entitled “Examine Yourself” to further drive my point home.

Let me take it a little further. Let’s imagine that I show up late and I run up here on the platform, and all the leaders are angry with me and say, “Brother Paul, don’t you appreciate the fact you’re given an opportunity to speak here and you come late?” And I’d say, “Brothers, you have to forgive me.” “Well, why?” “Well, I was out here on the highway, and I was driving and I had a flat tire and I got out to change the tire, and when I was changing the tire, the lug nut fell off, and I wasn’t paying attention that I was on the highway and I ran out and I grabbed the lug nut, and as soon as I picked it up in the middle of the highway, I stood up and there was a 30-ton logging truck going 120 miles an hour about ten yards in front of me, and it ran me over and that’s why I’m late.” Now, there would only be two . . . I know no one studies logic anymore, but there would only be two logical conclusions. One, I’m a liar or, two, I’m a madman. You would say, “Brother Paul, it’s absolutely absurd. It is impossible, Brother Paul, to have an encounter with something as large as a logging truck and not be changed.” And then my question would be to you––What is larger? A logging truck or God? How is it that so many people today profess to have had an encounter with Jesus Christ, and, yet, they are not permanently changed?

Brother Washer hits the nail on the head. When Christians dress the same, act the same, and are the same as the world, it raises the question, “Have they had an encounter with God?” This is not an argument for whether Christians have salvation, for that is a completely separate argument, but it is an argument for why some Christians profess salvation and no difference between them and the world exists. According to Scripture, born-again Christians are not like the world. They are different from the world. They stand out from the world. You see, holiness is not a list of things you can and cannot do, because if you are completely and wholly set apart for God, there will be no argument as to what you can and cannot do, because the Word of God will be your guide. You will do what the Word of God says, you will act how the Word of God says to act, and you will be what the Word of God says a Christian should be. You see, there is no great mystery. There is only a great misunderstanding. Worse yet, there is a great disobedience, leading to the shame and reproach of the name of Christ, and everything His death and resurrection stand for. The determining factor is this: does it bring glory and honor to God, and is it fulfilling His purpose?

Many people claim to love Jesus, but claiming something does not mean that it is necessarily true. You can be sincere, but you can be sincerely wrong (author unknown). They sing thousands of praise and worship songs, many of which move them to tears. They raise their hands in worship. They make a joyful noise unto the Lord during praise. Yet, if the statistics are true, the average prayer time is about five minutes (Small 35). Prayer is how we communicate with the Lord. If we do not pray then logically this would mean that we do not have a communicative relationship with the Lord. We have a one-sided relationship. How can we love someone we do not know? Isaiah talks about people who praise and worship with their lips, yet their hearts are far from the Lord (29:13). We have become this people, this abomination before the Lord. We want our words to take priority over our actions, even when one is as far from the other as can be.  God help us to turn back and live. “Give unto the Lord the glory due His name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness” (Psalm 29:2, italics mine).

For those Christians that are reading this and claim that the Church is holy, I offer some startling statistics to combat that claim.

· In America, 3500 – 4000 churches close their doors each year (Campus Church Networks).
· Half of all churches last year did not add one new member through conversion growth (Campus Church Networks).
· Churches lose an estimated 2,765,000 people each year to nominalism and secularism (Campus Church Networks).


The Allan Guttmacher Institute claims the following concerning abortion:

Women identifying themselves as Protestants obtain 37.4% of all abortions in the U.S.; Catholic women account for 31.3%, Jewish women account for 1.3%, and women with no religious affiliation obtain 23.7% of all abortions. 18% of all abortions are performed on women who identify themselves as "Born-again/Evangelical."

There are over twice as many abortions occurring amongst women who claim a religious affiliation than those who do not. This information should be a wakeup call to Christians. These statistics are very scary and show the plight of Christian churches all across America. If a church is comprised of individual Christians that are holy and given to be about their Father’s business, then how can this happen? The answer lies within each of our lives. Could it be that we are more worried over what car we drive and if we have the latest, most expensive style of purse than we are about if our neighbor is going to hell? Could it be that we would rather repent on Sunday morning before church only to go out and sin the rest of the week? Could it be that we have misunderstood God’s grace and therefore turned it into a license to sin with absolutely no consequence? Romans 6:1-2 says, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” Could it be that we have grown so self-interested and so self-indulgent that winning souls for the Kingdom of God is something we will not and do not want to do? The answer is yes.

            "Jesus came to save us from sin, not to save us in sin" (C.H. Spurgeon). We are in the world. There is no way for a Christian to escape this fact, and there is no use for a Christian to pretend otherwise. However, because we are in this world does not mean that we have to belong to the things of this world (teachings, thinking, and lifestyles). John 15:18 says, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.” Those are Jesus’ words. They are not something we can pretend someone made up. The Word also says in Colossians 2:8, “Beware lest anyone cheat you through the philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ” (italics mine). The Bible also says in Proverbs 16:25, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (italics mine). When we consecrate ourselves partially unto Christ and partially unto this world, then we have an unholy and unhealthy relationship with God. This not only damages our witness, but it compromises the name of Christ. We need to begin to think along the lines that our life on earth does matter in our reward in Heaven, and that our witness is not just through words, but thoughts, actions, and attitudes as well. This is our witness.

We need to take every self-help book off the shelves, especially in Christian Book Stores, and replace them with the Holy Bible. I do not pity humankind enough to think that anything I could say could supplant or take the place of the Word of God. “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). Since when did the Church become about us and not about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, or our mission as believers? The Church has trained us to think of our individual churches as the equivalent of our individual ministries combined, causing us to say, “If we can just get so and so to church, then we have done our part and they will be saved.” Instead, we should be saying, “If only so and so can see the light of Christ in my life, then God can save them, and they can join my church as a believer.” The power does not rest in church, but in God, and ironically, this is the same God of the Bible.

Life is an argument; for whom is your life arguing? We must choose to separate ourselves from this world

 and consecrate ourselves unto God for His glory and His purpose. As Pastor Woody Brien said, “I remember
 
when a lot of negative preaching produced a lot of positive living.” Today, we see a lot of ear-tickling, ungodly,
 
“positive” preaching producing a lot of negative living. We are the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13). Salt mixed

 with any substance is no longer salt, but some other substance. We must remain true to the mission God has given

us, and we must not compromise with this world. I want to leave you with one last verse of Scripture, which should

end the holiness argument forever. It is Hebrews 12:14, which says, “Pursue peace with all people, and

holiness, without which no one will see the Lord” (italics mine).
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