1 John 5:4
“This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.”  NIV

Recently I had become a little discouraged and weary because of some difficulties.  As I prayed and meditated on my circumstances the Lord brought an old hymn to my mind that I learned shortly after I first came to Christ.  The name of that hymn is based on 1 John 5:4 it is, “Faith is the Victory.”  I found myself singing the song in the mornings when I first woke up and throughout the day for an entire week.  The more I sang and pondered the words the more I felt my spirit strengthened. 

What a wonderful and merciful Savior we have that He through the Holy Spirit can bring back to memory a song tucked away for over 25 years and use it to encourage a down cast heart. 

Faith Is The Victory

Encamped along the hills of light,
Ye Christian soldiers, rise.
And press the battle ere the night
Shall veil the glowing skies.
Against the foe in vales below
Let all our strength be hurled.
Faith is the victory, we know,
That overcomes the world.

His banner over us is love,
Our sword the Word of God.
We tread the road the saints above
With shouts of triumph trod.
By faith, they like a whirlwind’s breath,
Swept on o’er every field.
The faith by which they conquered death
Is still our shining shield.

Faith Is The Victory
Faith is the victory! Faith is the victory!
O glorious victory, that overcomes the world.

Blessings!

Kent

I have felt in my spirit for a while now that the Lord desires, and is going to bring a breakthrough in 2012. I believe that He is going to change something significant in the spiritual dynamic of our church and our personal lives.  I am not the only one who seems to be getting this sense.  At a recent meeting with several area Vineyard pastors, I heard others say the same thing. 

I need to define what I mean when I say the word breakthrough.  All too often Christians pray for a breakthrough from God and expect a great rushing change to happen that sweeps every bad thing away. I am not saying God cannot perform this kind of breakthrough and I will rejoice if He does, however, I think many times the Lord works in a much less dramatic way.  

When I was a boy and then as a teenager many times I helped my father with repairs on one of our cars.  I learned a lot from him and I have become a pretty fair, “shade tree mechanic” as he would say.  Over the years during a repair job there has often been a struggle with a rusted bolt which would not come loose.  That one bolt or nut then became the only thing standing in the way of a running car or being on foot.  I have placed as much pressure as I possibly could on the handle of a wrench with my arms, used WD40, heat from a propane torch, and yes hammers in my repair effort.  I have also endured many scraped arms and busted knuckles in my attempts to loosen that one rusted bolt.  There have been times when a few minutes of effort has been the cure and others when several hours of hard work, sweat, frustration, dirt, and sore muscles is what it took to finish the job.  Yet, at some point during the pulling, banging, straining and yes, yelling at the car suddenly there would be that “crack” sound, and an ever so small puff of rust as the bolt broke loose.  What a joy! It came loose! That was usually not the end, there were still a few more turns on the wrench, a few more pulls and pushes before that obstinate bolt would come off.  That is what I mean when I say the word breakthrough; it is the result of a sometimes-difficult process. 

 Spiritual breakthroughs are a process of cooperating with the Holy Spirit, laboring in prayer while patiently enduring until that spiritual “crack” sound happens. Everyone may not immediately notice, but its effect is undeniable.  Once the “crack” has happened, we must continue to press in and pray until the victory is won. 

Blessings!

Kent

John 3:8
8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
NIV

Back in September, I felt impressed by the Lord to call our church to a time of fasting and prayer. Among the many things which we needed to pray for I heard the Holy Spirit say that the prayer theme for the fast should be “A Fresh Wind.”

What I understood Him to say was, “The Lord had done many things for us in the past. We have seen His hand working, been blessed by Him, and had specific answers to prayer yet He wanted to do something new.” The question is, are we satisfied with where we are in our relationship with Him and content with our experience of His presence in our life?

Throughout every area of our personal and church lives, we need to experience the presence of God. We can be doing all of the “right” things, have the “right” formula, but still be ineffective because we lack power. Paul told the church at Corinth that his message and preaching were not just “wise and persuasive words,” but they were with a “demonstration of the Holy Spirit’s power.” (1Corinthians 2:4) In John 3:8, Jesus illustrated the working of the Spirit in the lives of his people by comparing it to the wind. The wind blows away the stale environment, brings the rain, and changes the temperature. This is a picture of the Holy Spirit’s working. Yesterday’s wind will not suffice for today; we need a fresh wind of His presence blowing through our daily experiences. Just as the natural winds’ blowing has an affect that we can see, so also the moving of the Spirit affects people in tangible ways bringing healing, encouragement, joy and renewed vision. We need that wind to be blowing afresh through our relationships, ministry, our prayer life, and everything we do continually.

Another picture in scripture of the Holy Spirit is the pillar of fire by night and the pillar of cloud by day that led the children of Israel through the wilderness. The pillar of cloud provided protection from the heat of the desert during the day, and the pillar of fire provided light and warmth during the cold nights. This is what God does; wherever He is present, He changes the atmosphere around us. His presence can change the atmosphere in any area of our life or relationships from a desert to an oasis.

I am becoming discontented as a pastor with church as usual; I want to see God move the way Paul talks about, with a “demonstration of the Holy Spirit’s power.” Not what we saw in the past, but a fresh wind of His presence blowing in the present. Please pray with me that we will see His fresh wind begin to blow setting the captives free and birthing in us a renewal of our first love. I pray that God will make us – me, ready for His fresh wind.

Blessings!
Kent

Originally posted June 17, 2011

For the last several weeks, I have been teaching a series entitled: “How to Handle a Difficult Time.” My current subject in this series is the story of Joseph from the book of Genesis. In my estimation Joseph is the quintessential example of a person who endured a very difficult time and overcame the difficulty. Through his difficulties, he found God’s purpose for his life and did not succumb to bitterness. 

Joseph is best remembered for his “coat of many colors,” however, throughout his story recorded in Genesis; Joseph had three other coats or sets of clothes. At each stage of Joseph’s journey, he had a different garment and Scripture is intentional to point this out in the narrative. 

His first garment was the famous, “Coat of Many Colors,” given to him by his father, Jacob.  This garment was the symbol of Jacob’s love and favoritism for Joseph over his eleven brothers. It became a coat of pride for Joseph. This flashy, loud coat was taken from him, covered with goat’s blood and used to convince Jacob that Joseph was dead after his brothers sold him into slavery out of jealousy. 

The next garment that Joseph had was a simple cloak provided him by his master Potiphar. It was not as grand or beautiful as his previous coat it was plain picturing servant hood. This cloak also got Joseph into trouble because Potiphar’s wife used it as evidence against him in a false accusation. 

The next stop on Joseph’s journey after favorite son to slave was prisoner. Because of the false accusation made against him by Potiphar’s wife and his powerless status as a slave he was unjustly cast into prison. I do not know how Egyptian prisoners were clothed in those days but I am certain that he was not adorned in anything even remotely as nice as the cloak he wore as Potiphars’ servant. Up to this point, Joseph’s life is a riches to rags story. 

Joseph made a horrible decent; he fell from being the best-dressed son in a large family to an inmate dressed in rags. His story thankfully does not end here.Because he kept his heart from becoming defiled like his clothes, God was able to put a powerful gift in him for the interpretation of dreams. If he had continued to focus on his outward appearance the way he did as a youth of 17 in his father’s house, he would have been a very sad and discourage man who the Lord would not have been able to use. He never would have been able to interpret the dream of Pharaohs’ cupbearer and he would have remained in prison. He never would have been clothed with “fine linen” robes and risen to the powerful position of second in command to Pharaoh. The nation of Egypt would not have survived seven years of famine and his family would not have been reunited. Joseph’s life stands as a great lesson that it is more important how we appear to God inwardly than how we appear to people externally.

Blessings!

Originally posted March 27, 2011

Matt 24:6-8

6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.

NIV

As I watched the pictures of the tsunami hit Japan on television I have to confess I felt a little numb.  The images of the wave coming inland and devouring everything in its path were terrifying and surreal.  These images were also a little too familiar.  We have had several other major natural disasters over the last 18 or so years.  Some of these disasters were the Mississippi river flood in 1993, the Northridge earthquake in 1994, which we experienced while we lived in California, and who can forget hurricane Katrina, the tsunami that hit Indonesia, the earthquake in Haiti and the earthquake in Chile.  Some of these events were referred to at the time as “100-year events” and each of them could be described as being of “Biblical proportions.”   With the continuous broadcasting on the 24-hour news cycle on TV and the internet, it is very easy to become frightened or desensitized by the images we see.

Jesus prophesied in Matthew 24 that these kinds of events would be a sign of the “end of the age.”  Now, do not get ahead of me this is not an “end of he world” article.  My intention is to encourage those of us who know the Lord not to fear because He is in control.  We know whatJesus said, and that should cause us to hope and not dismay. The world right now is desperately in need of hope. Who is going to show them that hope if we do not?  Secondly, let’s never loose sight of the human equation in these events.  We can turn off the TV and go about our daily lives but, the people affected by the disaster in Japan are waking up every day to the aftermath of destruction that was let behind.

How should we respond?   We can give, if we are able, to support the relief efforts and it may seem like a small thing but it is not, we can also pray for the people in Japan that they find hope in Jesus.

Blessings!

Originally posted March 8, 2011

Heb 11:38-40
38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. 39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. 
NIV

The eleventh chapter of Hebrews has been aptly called, “The Hall of Faith.”  Every time I read it I hear a crescendo in the text as the author lists the expoits and names of the patriachs and heros he singled out for their faith.  Then at the end of this great accounting we find the statement in verse 39 “…none of them recieved what had been promised.”  This is an incredible testimony.  

Some weeks ago I heard the Holy Spirit say to me “Faith runs on empty” and I was reminded of this passage.  There are times in our walk when it seems that the Lord’s favor is upon our lives and His blessings flow to us directly from heaven. While we enjoy these times and rejoice in His goodness our faith is not streched as much as it is affirmed. 

It is however, during the times when we forge ahead without answers, walking in obedience not obtaining a reward, that we demonstrate faith.  Just like driving the car with the needle on the fuel gauge firmly planted against “E” and we say within ourselves, “just let me make it to the gas station!” so, faith keeps us moving when we see no tangible reason to proceed. 

We also have confidence that faith in the Lord’s promises will never leave us stranded and they will always bring us to our destination. 

Blessings!

Originally posted Feb 20, 2011

Our game night this evening at the church center was a lot of fun.  We played Catch Phrase and Apples to Apples.  I really enjoyed playing the games and getting to spend time with everyone.  We are planning to do more of this kind of event in the future so if you missed this time, stay tuned for the next one!

Blessings!

Originally posted Feb 11, 2011

Dan 10:12

12 Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.
NIV

The Lord impressed this verse on my heart in a prayer meeting a few weeks ago.  I heard the Lord say, “You have been heard.”  I believe that we are entering a season when the Lord is going to start answering prayer, especially long standing requests.

It is always the right time to pray and we should always be praying, however, I believe that this is a time when we need to press in and seek the Lord more earnestly.  We must be like the “Persistant Widow” and keep making our requests known and not give up.  Unlike the widow in that parable we have an advocate who loves, hears us and answers our prayer.

Blessings!

Originally posted Feb 9, 2011

Hi, this is a new feature to our website.  It is a place where from time to time I will post some thoughts or give updates on what is happening around our church. So, check back here later and enjoy.

Blessings!

Kent