Today is the Big Day! Preliminary Results Are In
Please pray for our Big Day today at Jersey Shore Baptist Church. We want God to work in our community, as well as in the lives of the people of the church. I will put up a new post in the afternoon with some results of the day.
Today’s Passage is Deuteronomy 15-18; Proverbs 6
(Second Milers also read 2 Corinthians 1 – 4; memorize John 1:1)
I promised that I would post some of the results from the Big Day this morning, but first may I say that God deserves all of the glory for all that happened today. Praise His Matchless and Magnificent Name!!!
Pray that we will be able to get all of these new folks saved, baptized, and serving the Lord.
1 Over 2100 invitations were distributed.
2 18 first time visitors last Sunday morning (1 week before the actual Big Day)
3 Over 30 first time visitors this week – many returning visitors from last week.
4 185 in attendance this morning (160 in the auditorium – our Bus mnistry and Junior church were actualy down today)
5 At least nine people that I know of made professions of faith.
6 Several lined up for baptism tonight.
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The Saturday Morning Post by Pastor Ted Stahl
Today’s Reading: Deut. 12-14, 1Cor. 13-16, and Prov. 5
Memorize: John 1:1
Today’s Passage: 1Corinthians 14
Good morning. I know it’s still early, but have you edified anyone yet today? Paul said in verse 12: “Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church.”
One thing that I took with me to Texas Baptist College was the understanding that someone was watching me. Would I cause them to quit because I quit? Would our pastor have still gone there if I dropped out in my first year? Would I cause someone to stumble because I stumbled. For the sake of others I had to keep going, and still do. If I quit, what will happen to others? The same principle of caring about others extends throughout the Bible. We are to build people up, edify them, edify the church.
If I gossip, or say something bad about someone, will the person I’m talking to think it’s okay to gossip? By the way, if someone tells you something bad about another, what are they saying about you when you’re not around? If I don’t tithe, will others risk the devourer from Malachi 3:11 by not tithing also? What affect will my sin have on others? If I then tell others not to do it either, I become a hypocrite. Lets start going in the direction we should be going; let’s start edifying those around us. Let’s start being the kind of Christian that God wants us to be.
Peace. (2Theselonians 3:16)
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Paving the Way
Today’s Passage – Deuteronomy 9 – 11; Proverbs 4
(Second Milers also read – 1 Corinthians 9 – 12; memorize 22:17)
“Understand therefore this day, that the LORD thy God is he which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the LORD hath said unto thee.” – (Deuteronomy 9:3)
I get a lot of comfort from verses of Scripture like this one. You see, I hate to admit it, but I am basically a very fearful person by nature. I am afraid to try new things; I am afraid to to meet new people; and I am very afraid of rejection and failure. In Deuteronomy chapter 9, God is encouraging another group of fearful people. The people of Israel were about to enter into the land of promise, and though the land was a wonderful place, it was also inhabited by some pretty big and mean dudes who were not too pleased about this new nation moving in. But God reminded them here that they need not be afraid, because he was going to go before them and pave the way for them. He was going to clear the land first, so that the Israelites would basically be able to move right in.
The reason why verses like this one comfort me is because I am also often afraid to do the Lord’s will in my life. God sometimes asks me to do things that I am not naturally comfortable with. I remember the first time that I was asked to do a devotion. Even though the group that I was addressing was only a small group of junior aged boys, I was scared to death; but I knew it was something that God wanted me to do, so I did it. It turned out well, too. God went before me, and He went with me. Soul winning is another activity that causes me great consternation. I am scared to death of rejection. The thought of somebody slamming the door in my face is almost enough to keep me from going. But, again, I know God wants me to “preach the gospel to every creature”; and He always goes before me and provides me with wonderful opportunities to share Christ with the lost, or to encourage the saved.
What has God been asking you to do that you are afraid to do? Remember, He will not ask you to do something that He will not equip you and empower you to do. God will go before you. He will pave the way, and after the road is clear, He will go in with you to help you along the way. You know, every time I overcome my fears and do the thing that the Lord has called me to do – without exception – He blesses; and I walk away with a joy and a fulfillment that is beyond description. I bet that He will do the same thing for you!
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Remember Who Butters Your Bread
Today’s Passage – Deuteronomy 6 – 8; Proverbs 3
(Second Milers also read – 1 Corinthians 5 – 8; memorize Revelation 22:17)
“And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.” – (Deuteronomy 8:17-18)
In the passage of Scripture referenced above, God is admonishing the children of Israel not to forget the Source of all of their wealth. He was about to give them a land with houses and vineyards and farms; none of which they would have to build or work for. The Israelites would be waliking into a great situation. It would be like you or I inheriting a beautiful home, fully furnished, with two cars in the driveway; and then we were given a profitable business to further add to our wealth. Sounds like a great deal, doesn’t it. The problem with all of this was that somewhere along the way the people would slowly begin to forget about where all of this blessing came from. At first they would appreciate it; but then they would begin to think that they deserved it and were entitled to it; and finally, they would come to a conclusion that they had earned through their own efforts. At the end of the cycle, they have bitten the hand that fed them; and they have completely forgotten Who butters their bread.
I have observed this attitude in many Christians today. People often come to Christ when their lives are in a mess. They are often in financial distress, or their marriages are falling apart; or both. They come to Christ, and He begins to turn things around for them. At first, they greatly appreciate what God has done for them; but slowly and gradually they begn to forget Who it is that is blessing their lives. They stop attending; they stop tithing; and they stop serving. Somewhere along the line they think that they fixed their problems all by themselves. What happens next is not good. God has to stop blessing them; and they often end up right back where they started.
America is doing the same thing. We are the wealthiest and most powerful nation on planet earth. Why? Because God has blessed us. It is not because we are smarter or better than other nations. We are just blessed. But we are quickly forgetting the Source of our blessing. Unless we get it turned around, it cannot end well for America. Just a thought.
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Enough is Enough
Today’s Passage – Deuteronomy 3 – 5; Proverbs 2
(Second Milers also read – 1 Corinthians 1 – 4; memorize Revelation 22:17)
“But the LORD was wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear me: and the LORD said unto me, Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter.” – (Deuteronomy 3:26)
“For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” – (2 Corinthians 12:8-9)
When we were kids, we used to drive our parents crazy asking for things. We would keep asking over and over again until they finally acquiesced to our request; or until they got angry and said, “enough is enough!” In our passage today we have Moses asking the Lord to change His mind about letting Moses enter into the land. Moses had been leading the nation for over 40 years, delivering them up to the border of the Promised Land. He had put up with all of their problems and complaints. You would think that God would have cut Moses some slack, and let him see what he had been working toward for a good portion of his life. But God had already told Moses “no”. God is not like us, either: when He says “no” He means no. God told Moses, “Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter.” He basically told Moses to quit asking. He wanted Moses to be content with God’s will, whether or not it seemed fair.
Paul had a similar situation in the New Testament. He had a thorn in the flesh that He wanted God to take away from him. He asked God three times to remove it. God finally told Paul to stop asking. He wanted Paul to be content with the thorn, which for some reason was the will of God. He told Him that He would give him grace to go with the thorn, and that He should be content with that, because it is sufficient.
I think it is just human nature for us to keep asking for things. By the way, there is nothing wrong with asking; and God even wants us to keep asking over and over again for the same thing. But eventually there will come a point when He will answer. He will either grant you the desire; or He will tell you “no”. When He tells you “no”, quit asking; and be content with His will coupled with His grace. If you really needed what you were asking for, he would have given it to you. Be satisfied with what you do get, and know that God knows what is best. Perhaps someday we will understand a little better why God answered the way He did; but for now, just trust Him.
Note – The picture above is of Mt. Pisgah, which is the name of the mountain from which God showed Moses the Promised Land. Unfortunately, the Mt. Pisgah pictured above is in North Carolina, near Asheville. Oh well, it is a beautiful picture anyway.
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In This Thing
Today’s Passage – Deuteronomy 1 – 2; Proverbs 1
(Second Milers also read Romans 13 – 16; memorize Revelation 22:17)
“Yet in this thing ye did not believe the LORD your God,” – (Deuteronomy 1:32)
The context of the above verse involves Moses reminiscing with the nation of Israel as they were near the end of their wandering in the Wilderness for 40 years. He reminds them of the reason that they had to delay their entrance into the Promised Land, which was their inability to trust God to deliver the “giant” inhabitants of the land of Canaan into their hand. They were afraid, and they didn’t believe that God was powerful enough to give them the victory. One of the problems with this was that they had already seen first hand the power of God as He delivered them from the Egyptians; as He parted the Red Sea; and as He miraculously provided for their needs in their journey. Notice what Moses said in verse 31:
“And in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that the LORD thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this place.” – (Deuteronomy 1:31)
God had certainly never given them a reason not to trust Him. They had seen Him do the impossible, yet they could not trust Him to give them victory in the battle with the people of Canaan.
My thought this morning is in the phrase, “yet in this thing”. Though the people had seen God do great things in the past, and were stilling trusting Him to do many things in the present, there was one thing that they could not trust Him to do. They were “picking and choosing” the specific areas of trust. Do you find yourself doing that? I guess it is something we are all guilty of, if you think about it. There are some specific areas where we choose not to trust God. So what do we do instead? We do what seems right to us. Let’s consider some verses that should challenge that course of action:
“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” – (Proverbs 3:5-6)
“The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.” – (Proverbs 12:15)
“There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” – (Proverbs 14:12)
We need to trust God completely. We need to surrender to Him completely. Either He is the omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent God, or He is not. We need to trust in His provision, protection, and His purpose for our lives. We need to take our hands off the wheel, and allow God to steer our course, and control our direction. I know that this is a very difficult thing for us to do; but it is still what God demands. Let His have His way in your life. You can trust Him in all things, not just most things. God did bring the Israelites into the land, just 38 years later than He could have. As a nation, they did eventually receive all of the blessing that the land had to offer, but many individuals missed out. What blessings and abundance are you missing out on because of your refusal to believe God “in this thing”.
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Christ – Our City of Refuge
Today’s Passage – Numbers 34 – 36; Proverbs 28
(Second Milers also read – Romans 9 – 12; Revelation 22:17)
“Then ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you; that the slayer may flee thither, which killeth any person at unawares.” – (Numbers 35:11)
I must confess, I was not sure if I was going to post anything this week on this website. Our church started a week long “media fast” this week. We have been fasting for the past several weeks: each week the type of fast was different. However, this week, many of us at Jersey Shore Baptist Church are giving up some of our media entertainments for the week. Included are “Facebook”, television, videos and DVD’s, video games, unimportant phone calls and texting, and unnecessary internet usage. I wasn’t sure if this blog qualified as “unnecessary” or not. After some prayer, I have decided that because this is spiritual activity on my part, as well as yours, God would not be displeased with my writing it, and your reading it. You have to decide whether or not it is right for you. By the way, the reason for the fast is that we are praying for God to do a great work in our church in a new series we are starting this Sunday. We are sending out 2500 invitations, and we are expecting God to something big. We have already seen Him work. This past Sunday, we saw 18 first-time visitors come to the church. Praise the Lord. You pray with us that God will continue bless, and if you want to, you can join us as we fast this week.
In our passage this morning in Numbers 35, we read about the Cities of Refuge. These were six cities of the 48 Levitical cities that were strategically placed throughout the land of Israel. I believe there were three on one side of the Jordan River, and three on the other. Anyway, these cities were places that a person could flee to if he were “on the run”. Let’s say that a two men got into a fight, and one of the men unintentionally kills the other man. Even though in this case, this was not considered to be murder, the family of the man killed could legally exact vengeance upon the “slayer”, unless the slayer escaped into one of the six cities of refuge. Inside the city, the man could not be touched.
There is a great example of this in 2 Samuel 3. It is a long story, but in it a man named Joab kills a man named Abner because Abner had killed Joab’s brother in a battle. But in order to to kill him, Joab has to lure him out of the city, because they were in Hebron, which was one of the six cities of refuge. It really is a fascinating story and a great example of how this system worked.
We have a city of refuge today in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, we also have an avenger and an accuser coming after us. The devil is seeking our souls, and if he can’t get that he wants to sift our lives like wheat. But Christ offers us refuge. As far as our eternal destiny is concerned, Christ is our city of refuge, and even as far as our earthly lives are concerned, the will of Christ is our place of protection. We are all guilty. We could all be destroyed by the avenger of blood, but praise God, we have a Place to run to, a Person to run to, who not only wants to save us, but also wants to protect and provide for us, and give us a purpose in this life.
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Today’s Passage – Numbers 32 – 33; Proverbs 27
(Second Milers also read – Romans 6 – 8; memorize Revelation 22:17)
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The Saturday Morning Post by Pastor Ted Stahl
Today’s Reading: Numbers 30-31, Romans 3-5, and Proverbs 26.
Today’s Passage: Romans 3:20
What is your perceived definition of legalism? Some may think that it would be keeping the law instead of faith alone for salvation. On the other extreme it is something to avoid: I can do anything I want because I am under grace, and not the law. The first group looks down their Pharisaical noses at the second group. The second group looks back and cries out, “Legalist!” whenever they are criticized for doing their liberal thing. Me? I like what the Bible says…
To both groups: “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” (Romans 3:20).
You cannot work your way to heaven. Going to church, eating a cookie, being baptized, being good, will not get you into heaven. Faith alone, in Christ will. The ‘good works’ will follow. Once you receive Jesus, and you are no longer under the law, but grace, does that give you license to sin? No. You need the law to show you when you’re sinning.
Let’s say you are over in Germany driving on the Autobahn. You’re cruising along nice at 70mph. All of a sudden someone blasts past you doing 95mph. Who is speeding? Neither of you: there is no speed limit on the Autobahn. Now you come home to New Jersey. You’re driving on the Garden State Parkway. All of a sudden someone blasts past you doing 95mph. Who is speeding? Both of you. The GSP has a 65mph speed limit. “Yeah, but at least I’m not going as fat as he was.” It doesn’t matter, you need the law to show you what you should be doing. One law, 65 mph. One law to show you when you are breaking that law (sinning), and the same law to set the standard (our teacher).
Right here in chapter 3 are the two verses we start the Romans Road with…
“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one…” (Romans 3:10).
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God…” (Romans 3:23)
Everybody has broken the law: we all have sinned. And because of the sin nature that is still in us, there is no way we can keep the law. But Jesus died for your sins, my sins, and the sins of the world. That’s what really matters.
Peace (Romans 5:1)
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Bring Your Cause Before The Lord
Today’s Passage – Numbers 27 – 29; Proverbs 25
(Second Milers also read Acts 28 – Romans 2; memorize Romans 10:9 – 10; 13)
“And Moses brought their cause before the LORD.” – (Numbers 27:5)
In Numbers chapter 27, we have the story of the daughters of Zelophehad. The land of Canaan was about to be divided among all of the tribes of Israel; and within each of the tribes portion, the land would be divided among the families of that tribe. Zelophehad’s family was entitled to a portion of the land, but because he had no sons, there was nobody to give the land to. The five daughters of Zelophehad boldly come to Moses and ask him to authorize that Zelophehad’s portion of land be given them, because their was no son to receive the inheritance. Moses didn’t know what to do. The law up until this point read that only a son could receive the inheritance. There was no previous case to use for precedence in this matter. Moses then goes to God, and asks Him what they should do. God settles the question in favor of the daughters, and establishes new law that would cover unique cases like this.
The point of my thought this morning is not about land distribution, and inheritances, however. I wanted to point out that Moses did not take matters into his own hands: he went to God when he wasn’t sure what to do. This question wasn’t clearly covered in the Bible up until this point; and Moses wanted to be sure that he would give the right answer, God’s answer, to these ladies.
I think there is an important lesson that we can all learn from this. There are many situations in life that will come up today that are not clearly dealt with in the Scripture. There may be Bible principle that deals with it generally, or partially; but often questions arise that are not specifically covered by God in His Word. That’s when we need to do two things: First we need to go to God in prayer, just like Moses did. Second, we need to seek some godly counsel from others who may have dealt with this situation before. Parents can find out from other more experienced Christian parents about what to do in certain situations regarding their children. Young pastors can go to the older pastors. We can benefit from the godly wisdom of others.
Now I want to emphasize again that most of our questions can be answered from the principles found in the Bible; but in those unique situations where there seems to be no Scriptural answer, seek God through prayer; and seek counsel from some godly influences in your life. Remember, in the multitude of counselors there is safety.
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