Making a Differencewith Pastor Phil Erickson

Dec 31st My Favorite Passage – The Saturday Morning Post by Pastor Ted Stahl

It’s December 26^th, late in the evening. I’m sitting in the emergency room at Shore Memorial Hospital. One of the tubes coming out of Melissa’s kidney had gotten blocked. Infections, holes, 4 units of blood, and a trip to Philadelphia Hospital, brings us back to Shore Memorial, and now it’s Saturday. Sitting there on Monday, I had no idea what this week had in-store for me and my family. Numerous Bible verse flowed through my head this week. The one that I thought about the most is, possibly, my favorite passage from God’s Word. The passage is in Ezekiel chapter 16…

“And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite. And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all. None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the lothing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born. And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live. I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments: thy breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare. Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine.” – Ezekiel 16:3-8.

This passage paints a beautiful picture of where we started, and where the Lord has brought us. Other Christians are on this same journey, but we are all at different points. If you want to make a New Year’s resolution, one that is worth keeping, then treat others as God treated you in these verses. Let 2012 be the year that we lift up a brother or sister. Make them yours. Let’s help them grow in the Lord.

Peace. (1John 3:16)

Dec 25th Merry Christmas!

Today’s Passages – 1 John 3 – 3 John 1; Proverbs 25

Second Milers also read – Psalms 120 – 125; Memorize – Luke 1:35

The Christmas Story from Lke 2: 1 – 16

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.

(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

Dec 24th Surviving The New Year – The Saturday Morning Post by Pastor Ted Stahl

Good morning! Only one more shopping day till Christmas (two, if you go to Wawa to get a gift card Christmas morning!). And then, shortly after Christmas, the credit card bills start rolling in. Are you worried? The Bible says, in Proverbs 24:1 thru 4: “Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them. For their heart studieth destruction, and their lips talk of mischief. Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established: And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.”

Not that the credit card companies are run by evil men. They are a business. The credit card companies are out to make money too. They have bills to pay and creditors to pay off. They need an income just like you and me.

“…Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” (Rev. 22:20). But He may not come back until you pay your bills. So let me give you a few tips on Surviving the New Year.

First of all, and most important for your survival is to put God first. That means you should tithe, that’s 10%. It was the best of the flock, the first fruits from the harvest, and it is holy unto the Lord…

“And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD’S: it is holy unto the LORD.” (Lev. 27:30).

That simply means that if you were paid $100 this week, and Uncle Sam took $25 to keep big government going, your tithe that goes into the general fund of the local church should be $10. That’s 10% of you first fruits, not $7.50. This is what God wants to use to keep His ministries going. He doesn’t need your money to do this, but how is He going to bless you if you don’t give. Malachi 3:8 thru 12 explains it plainly by asking, “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.”

The second step for survival is in the first part of Romans 13:8, “Owe no man any thing…”: start paying off your credit cards. You know how it’s done. Start with the smallest balance, and pay as much as you can. Make sure you pay the minimum on your other cards too. When the smallest is paid off, role that payment onto the next smallest, and destroy the one that had the minimal balance if you want to get out of debt, and owe no man anything. Eventually you will have all your cards paid off. Deuteronomy 15:6 states, “For the LORD thy God blesseth thee, as he promised thee: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee.”

Praise the Lord, he has gotten our mortgage balance of the church property to a point where the amount going to the principal is more then the interest. Sooo…

1) Put God first.

2) Owe no man any thing.

And thirdly is also in Deuteronomy 15:6: “…and thou shalt lend unto many nations…”: you can give an offering. This is more of an outcome of the first two. We have someone in our church who is having some financial problems right now. See Brother Gerald if you can help. Also our missions conference is February 25^th thru the 29^th. Did you know that if 2 people gave $5 to missions every week it would be $40 per month: enough to support one of our missionaries. If everyone in the church would give their $5, a church that has 100 giving members could support 50 missionaries at $40 per month. One hundred church members only giving $2.50 each could support 25 missionaries. A person giving $10 per week supports 1 missionary at $40 per month.

Can you imagine what God could do if we tithed the way we should, spent money the way we should, and gave to others the way we should? It would be staggering.

I hope these little tips will help you in 2012.

Peace (Malachi 3:12)

Dec 20th Closed For Christmas?

Today’s Passages – Hebrews 10 – 11; Proverbs 20

(Second Milers also read – Psalms 96 – 100; Memorize – Luke 2:11)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Matthew 6:33

Click here to view last year’s post from this passage – “Living by Faith”

“Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 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.” – (Hebrews 10:23-25)

This Sunday is Christmas. Now I have to confess to you that I personally prefer when Christmas falls on another day of the week besides Sunday. Our tradition during Christmas usually involves going to a candlelight service at the church on Christmas eve, and then we visit with some dear friends of ours for a couple of hours. On Christmas morning we take our time getting up, and then open up our gifts to each other. We usually have a big breakfast together, sometimes a few close friends will come over to join us. In the afternoon we travel up to my dad’s house in Brick where we exchange gifts again, and enjoy a wonderful Christmas dinner. Sometimes on the way home, we will look for those homes that are beautifully decorated with Christmas lights. My family enjoys our tradition. We look forward to it every year, and we savor every minute of it when it arrives.

This year, however, our schedule will be radically different from most years because Christmas falls upon a Sunday. It happens every seven years or so, and every time it happens I am tempted to make some changes to our normal Sunday schedule so that I can keep my Christmas tradition as close to normal as possible. I know that many churches have changed their schedule. Some have eliminated services altogether. Some have just removed their Sunday evening service. Others have cancelled Sunday school. It is not really my business to tell other churches what they should or should not do, nor is it my business to judge the decision that they might have made regarding this Sunday’s schedule. However, I do want to explain to the people of Jersey Shore Baptist Church the reason why we have chosen to keep everything the same as a normal Sunday.

Christmas is all about the birth of Christ. I got to thinking about my normal Christmas tradition, and I realized that it wasn’t really all about Jesus, it was all about my family. Now family is very important, and we certainly do not want to do anything that will hurt our family, but on the same token, neither do I want to do anything to hurt my Saviour. It is His birthday. Now I know what some of you may be thinking right now: we don’t have to physically go to church to worship Jesus because we can and should worship Jesus anywhere and everywhere. However, isn’t that the same argument some people use for not going to church at all; and isn’t it the same argument many churches have used through the years when they permanently eliminated their evening services and their prayer meetings.

If Christmas is about Christ, and it is, then we should give Him what He wants on His birthday, and He wants us to put Him first. The verses above from Hebrews chapter ten are not necessarily Christmas verses, but I think that they apply perfectly this year. Let’s keep Jesus right at the center of Christmas day this year. Some family members and friends may not understand our decision, but that’s OK. I love my family, but I must love my Savior more. There will be plenty of other opportunities this season to enjoy family and friends, but on Christmas Sunday, my immediate family and I will be in church for both the evening and the morning services; not because I have to, but because it is my delight to do so.

Read the verses above again. By assembling together we are holding fast the profession of our faith without wavering. In other words, we are letting the world know where we stand. We are also making ourselves available to some that may be in desperate need of edification and encouragement. I have discovered through the years that not every Christian has the same strong, loving family that I have, and they really need to be around other believers on Christmas. And let’s not forget that we are closer to the “approaching day” than we have ever been.

No, we will not be closing the church this Christmas.

Dec 17th His Love – The Saturday Morning Post by Camille Stahl

Titus 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Who gave himself for us, HIS LOVE

Close your eyes and think with me. Your in your yard sitting by a stream listening to the water flowing. You can smell the pure air and the fresh flowers near by. Inside your home there is a nice soft pillow you lay your head down on each night. A king sized down comforter to keep you warm. You ware the finest clothes, you eat the best food. You sit in a big comfy chair. There are always friends and family around you who love you. No one ever speaks an evil word.

Then you have to move. You can’t take anything with you. You are going alone. You know you have to go. There are people there who really need you. What now!

At first it’s not too bad. Your in a safe, warm comfortable place, with all the food and water you want. There’s a little bouncing around for awhile and then your there. Hmmmm. Things are different here. The first thing you hear are the sounds of sheep (baaa – baaa). Goats chewing on straw. There are no more smells of fresh air and flowers, just farm animals. There is no more soft pillow or comforter, just the hay the animals eat. The only clothes you have is something they call “swaddling”. At this point I would have turned back. In the beginning the food’s not bad but as the years go on, it’s mostly fish and flat bread, yum. Your comfy chair has become what they call a manger. And if that doesn’t get you down, there are only a few people who really love you. Evil words! You hear them often. Shortly after you arrive, some guy wants to kill you. Your on the move again. But in the end, well. I don’t know about you but I wouldn’t have moved. Would you?

HIS LOVE. (John15:13)

Dec 11th Pray for Me by Pastor Ted Stahl

Today’s Passages – Ephesians 4 – 6; Proverbs 11

(Second Milers also read – Psalms 51 – 55; Memorize – Micah 5:2)

Read this morning’s Scripture song – Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 89:1

“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,” – (Ephesians 6:18-19)

Good morning. Are you ready to take on the world today? It’s a battle we face every day. Our war starts with the flesh. Our flesh is either too tired, or it’s too cold and wants to stay warm under the covers. Eventually your body does drag itself out of bed, takes a shower, gets dressed, and has breakfast. Now it’s ready to face the world, right? Wrong!

Take a look at the passage in Ephesians 6 about putting on the whole armour of God. If I had a favorite punctuation mark it would the colon found at the end of verse 17. This little colon is going add explanation to putting on God’s armour. What was missing from the scenario above? Prayer. Ephesians 6:18 says, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints…”

We should always start the day with prayer. Would you go to work naked? Could you drive to the store without a car? How do you think you can face the world without prayer? You can’t, and neither can I. You need your prayer, all the saints need your prayer, and I need your prayer. Start your battle with the world today (and every day) in prayer.

Then pray for me. Pray for me what Paul requested: “And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.” (Ephesians 6:19-20)

This is how we all ought to speak. Will you join me? Please pray for me this morning while you are putting on the whole armor of God.

Peace. (Ephesians 6:23)

Dec 3rd Ya Got it? – The Saturday Morning Post by Pastor Ted Stahl

Good morning! Next year, corporately, we are going to start memorizing passages from God’s Word. Maybe 1Corinthians 13 is a good place to start, or at least be on the list. Jesus said, in John 15:12, “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.” And in chapter 13, once again we see that the King James Bible is the perfect translation. Jesus loved us with the agape love: the giving love: charity. Let me ask you, “Ya got it?” Do you have charity, the giving love, the agape love?

Charity suffereth long and is kind. We know what kind of sinners we are, (Romans 5:8) “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Do you look at others with envy? Charity does not.

Charity does not lift itself up. Charity will cause you to do what’s right, it will not cause you to seek out others who will listen to your gossip: charity thinketh no evil. Has somebody made a comment that has made you angry? Charity is not easily provoked: they called Jesus: Beelzebub.

Do you rejoice in gossip (either giving or receiving, or any other iniquity for that matter). Charity rejoiceth in truth.

Charity beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Ya got it?

Charity never fails. Do you have it?

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. Ya got it? If you have it, then give it.

Peace. (John 3:16)

Nov 24th Truly Blessed

Today’s Passages – Acts 26 – 28; Proverbs 24

(Second Milers also read – Psalms 116 – 118; Memorize – Romans 1:21)

Click here to read “Three Expressions of a Thankful Heart” by Pastor Paul Chappell

I am writing this post from my daughter and son-in-law’s house in Paradise, Texas. Everyone is still asleep here, except my son-in-law who left earlier to go hunting. My son, Phil is on a plane right now, and should arrive here a little later this morning. The only child we are missing this year is Samantha who is out at college in California and is spending the holiday with our dear friends, Dan and Carla Owens. This is the first Thanksgiving in 47 years where I will not be spending it at my parent’s home in New Jersey.

In the quietness of the hour, I am thinking about all of the ways that I have beeen blessed by the Lord. God has been wonderful to me throughout my life, and this year has certainly not been an exception. I have been provided for in every way possible. I got to thinking, however, about what I was thankful for more than anything else in life. Did you ever think about that? What would be at the top of your list? I guess, we would all have to say that the greatest blessing that God has given to us who are saved is the gift of His marvelous salvation. But apart from my relationship with Christ, what am I the most thankful for? The answer to that question is easy for me: I am the most thankful for the people that God has placed in my life. God has given me a wonderful wife and family. I cannot imagine what life would be like without them. I am not just referring to my immediate family, either. I include all of my extended family as well. I even enjoy being around my daughter-in-law’s, and son-in-law’s families down here in Texas. In fact, a strange thought occurred to me while writing this: I don’t have any family members that I have anything against, or that (to my knowledge) have anything against me. I not only love them all – I like them all. That’s bizarre if you think about it.

I need to broaden the list a little further. God has also given me a number of good friends that have been as close to me as my family is. I believe that I have some friends that would take a bullet for me. God has been very good to me in many ways, but this Thanksgiving, I am the most thankful for the family and friends that God has brought into my life. I am truly blessed. If you think about it, people are much better than possessions because they are eternal. I will be able to enjoy the friends and family members that are also saved for all eternity. Houses and cars won’t be with us in heaven, but people will. A little later today, I will be sitting down to a meal with some of my friends and family. It will be just a little slice of what Heaven will be like.

To all of my family and friends who I won’t see today, have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Oct 29th Put Away Your Flame Thrower

Today’s Passages – Luke 8 & 9; Proverbs 29

(Second Milers also read – Psalms 136 – 140; Memorize Psalm 126:5 & 6)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 25

Note – this is a repost from last year’s blog.

“And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?” (Luke 9:54)

As I was writing the article this morning for the blog, and was all finished with it, the internet went down, and I lost all that I had written. I guarantee you that I wanted to call down fire on my computer when it happened. Oh well, let’s try again.

The context of the above verse is found in Luke 9:51 – 56. Jesus is traveling from Galilee to Jerusalem in order to attend the Feat of Tabernacles in the last year of His earthly ministry. It is getting close to the time of His crucifixion, and His ministry will now be primarily in Jerusalem rather than in Galilee. On the way, He wants to stop and rest overnight in Samaria. This was something that most Jews would not even consider, but you may remember that Jesus had a good history with the people of Samaria. Very early in His public ministry when Jesus was on His way to Galilee, He insisted on going through Samaria. It was there that He had the encounter with “the woman at the well” which ultimately lead to her salvation and a great revival in her village. Jesus spent a couple of days there ministering to the people of Samaria.

However, on this trip, the Samaritans are not too receptive to the idea of Jesus lodging with them. They seem to be offended because Jesus is just passing through them on His way to Jerusalem. The Samaritans and the Jews still despised each other, and the Samaritans did not believe that anybody had to go to Jerusalem to observe one of their rituals. If they weren’t going to be the primary focus of Jesus’ visit, then they would rather not have Him come at all. This did not sit tool well with the Jewish disciples of Jesus. They decided that these Samaritans should be done away with for “snubbing” the Lord, and they ask Jesus if they could call down fire from Heaven like Elijah did to the prophets of Baal. Jesus recognizes that these disciples were reacting “in the flesh” to the Samaritans, and rebukes them for their attitude. He tells them that by reacting in a fleshly manner to the Samaritans’ unkindness they were playing right into the hand of the Satan.

Did you ever want to call down fire from Heaven to destroy someone? Did you ever want to get even with someone for something they did to you? If you did, you must understand that those thoughts do not come from God’s Spirit, they originate in your “old man”, your carnal, sinful flesh. We all have an “old man” to contend with, and it does not matter how long you have been saved or how much you have grown in the Lord; the flesh will still be a problem. The apostle Paul recognized this plague within himself when he said, “for I know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing”. He knew that his flesh was a real problem. We must recognize when our flesh is resurrecting itself. We must realize that the thoughts and feelings of lust, hatred, etc. from within us are not of God. And we must yield to the Spirit of God within us as He directs us to conform to the image of Christ. We are not to be in the business of destroying men’s lives, but bringing men closer to the Lord.

Sep 11th We Still Haven’t Forgotten

Today’s Passages -Ezekiel 38 – 40; Proverbs 11

(Second Milers also read – 1 Timothy 1 – 4; 2 Chronicles 7:14)

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” – (John 15:13)

10 years ago today our nation was attacked by radical Muslim terrorists filled with hatred for our culture and our freedom. I have not forgotten that day, and I am sure that all of you who read this who were alive on September 11th have not forgotten either. We remember exactly where we were and what we were doing on that day. It is my prayer that as the years go by  the memory of 9 – 11 will remain vivid in our hearts and minds for several reasons:

1  I do not want to forget that there is an enemy out there that wants to destroy us. In this world of distraction, we go about busily living our lives almost oblivious to the fact that evil still exists in our world. Satan is still very active, and His hatred for God and God’s people has only become more intense as years have passed. His influence on people has also increased; and there are more people than ever out there who are under his influence, and are willing to do his evil bidding. As Christians, we are admonished to be alert:

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” – (1 Peter 5:8)

2  I do not want to forget that there is still a cause worth fighting for. The evil that exists in the world reminds me that I must be daily in the battle, fighting the devil, and working to deliver people from his spell. The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is still the most powerful weapon in our arsenal against the wiles of the devil. The more people that we can reach with the message of salvation, the less people Satan will have to do his bidding. Evil cannot be removed by more evil. It can only be eradicated through the love of Christ.

3  I do not want to forget that there are still people out there that are willing to die for that cause; and there are still folks out there worth dying for. Jesus died to set us free:

“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” – (John 8:32)

“If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” – (John 8:36)

“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” – (Romans 8:2)

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” – (Galatians 5:1)

Jesus died to give us liberty, and there are many still today who are willing to lay down there life for the same cause. The men and woman who are fighting today are fighting for our liberty and freedom. The men and women who were murdered by the terrorists ten years ago were murdered because the concept of liberty and freedom was under attack.

The greatest demonstration of love is sacrifice. Jesus commended His love for us by dying on the cross for our sins. Parents show their love for their children by what they sacrifice for them.  The men and women that went into those buildings in order to save lives were putting their lives on the line for other people. The men and women that fight for our freedom today are putting their lives in jeopardy for the cause of our liberty. They are sacrificing their own liberty in order to help us keep ours.

Let’s not forget these things. Let’s not forget these people. And let’s get in the battle ourselves, and be willing to sacrifice some of our liberty so that we can help others enjoy theirs.