Our One Inalienable Right

Posted on April 8, 2015 by ccpastormike

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:12-13

Here’s a news flash for our rights-obsessed American culture – rights must be rooted in an objective law that transcends individuals, ethnic groups, nations, and civilizations. Without an objective standard that transcends us all, we are left with roughly 330 million opinions.

The Bible tells us many things, not the least of which is not to think too highly of ourselves. I think a primary reason why we have so many aggrieved people in America today is pride. People do in fact think way too highly of themselves. That’s to be expected though when a theology of self-esteem rules the day.

When we become haughty we can miss out on what God wants to do in us and through us, thinking that a task is below us. How many people have you heard say they wanted to help around the church until they found out that the help needed was cleaning the restrooms or working in the nursery. I actually had a man tell me once that he didn’t want to do something because it wasn’t worth his time. This was a man who aspired to be a “leader.” He didn’t last very long at our church because he had no idea what a servant leader looked like.

The apostle John tells us that the primary right Christians must consider is the right to be called God’s children. When Christians make this right their focus, then pride evaporates and in its place arises a sense of humbleness and eagerness to serve our great God in any way He sees fit.

Friends that is a transforming truth.

Christ the Lord is Risen Today by Charles Wesley

Posted on April 3, 2015 by ccpastormike

1 Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!
Earth and heaven in chorus say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia!

2 Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids him rise, Alleluia!
Christ has opened paradise, Alleluia!

3 Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once he died our souls to save, Alleluia!
Where’s thy victory, boasting grave? Alleluia!

4 Soar we now where Christ has led, Alleluia!
Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like him, like him we rise, Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!

5 Hail the Lord of earth and heaven, Alleluia!
Praise to thee by both be given, Alleluia!
Thee we greet triumphant now, Alleluia!
Hail the Resurrection, thou, Alleluia!

6 King of glory, soul of bliss, Alleluia!
Everlasting life is this, Alleluia!
Thee to know, thy power to prove, Alleluia!
Thus to sing, and thus to love, Alleluia!

United Methodist Hymnal, 1989

Charles Wesley, the son of Samuel Wesley, was born at Epworth, Dec. 18, 1707. He was educated at Westminster School and afterwards at Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated M.A. In 1735, he took Orders and immediately proceeded with his brother John to Georgia, both being employed as missionaries of the S.P.G. He returned to England in 1736. For many years he engaged with his brother in preaching the Gospel. He died March 29, 1788. To Charles Wesley has been justly assigned the appellation of the “Bard of Methodism.” His prominence in hymn writing may be judged from the fact that in the “Wesleyan Hymn Book,” 623 of the 770 hymns were written by him; and he published more than thirty poetical works, written either by himself alone, or in conjunction with his brother. The number of his separate hymns is at least five thousand.

—Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A., 1872.

The Wonders of Calvary

Posted on February 15, 2015 by ccpastormike

This is a prayer of thanksgiving penned by Charles H. Spurgeon. In it he demonstrates a wonder and awe of God who stoops down to save mankind. This provides a good reminder of the depth and the riches of the love of God for us.

Great God, there was a time when we dreaded the thought of coming near to You, for we were guilty and You were angry with us, but now we will praise You because Your anger is turned away and You comfort us. Yes, and the very throne which once was a place of dread has now become the place of shelter. I flee to You to hide me.

We long now to get away from the world, even from the remembrance of it and have fellowship with the world to come by speaking with Him that was, and is, and is to come, the Almighty. Lord we have been worried and wearied oftentimes with care, but with You care comes to an end, all things are with You, and when we live in You, we live in wealth, in sure repose, in constant joy.

We have to battle with the sons of men against a thousand errors and unrighteousnesses, but when we flee to You, there is all truth and purity and holiness, and our heart finds peace. Above all, we have to battle with ourselves, and we are very much ashamed of ourselves. After many years of great mercy, after tasting of the powers of the world to come, we still are so weak, so foolish; but oh! when we get away from self to God, there all is truth and purity and holiness, and our heart finds peace, wisdom, completeness, delight, joy, victory.

Oh! bring us, then, we pray You, now near to Yourself. Let us bathe ourselves in communion with our God. Blessed be the love which chose us before the world began. We can never sufficiently adore You for Your sovereignty, the sovereignty of love which saw us in the ruins of the Fall, yet loved us anyway.

We praise the God of the Eternal Council Chamber and of the Everlasting Covenant, but where shall we find sufficiently fit words with which to praise Him who gave us grace in Christ His Son, before He spread the starry sky.

We also bless You, O God, as the God of our redemption, for You have so loved us as to give even Your dear Son for us. He gave Himself, His very life for us that He might redeem us from all iniquity and separate us unto Himself to be His peculiar people, zealous for good works.

Never can we sufficiently adore free grace and undying love. The wonders of Calvary never cease to be wonders, they are growing more marvelous in our esteem as we think of Him who washed us from our sins in His own blood. Nor can we cease to praise the God of our regeneration who found us dead and made us live, found us at enmity and reconciled us, found us loving the things of this world and lifted us out of the muck and mire of selfishness and worldliness in the love of divine everlasting things.

O Spirit of God, we love You this day, especially for dwelling in us. How can You abide in so rude a habitation, How can You make these bodies to be Your temples, and yet You do so, for which let Your name be held in reverence so long as we live.

O Lord, we would delight ourselves in You this day. Give us faith and love and hope that with these three graces we may draw very near to the Triune God. You will keep us, You will preserve us, You will feed us, You will lead us, and You will bring us to the mind of God, and there will You show us Your love, and in the glory everlasting and boundless, there will You make us know and taste and feel the joys that cannot be expressed.

But a little longer waiting and we shall come to the golden shore; but a little longer fighting and we shall receive the crown of life that does not fade away.

Lord, get us up above the world. Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly Dove, and mount and bear us on Your wings, far from these inferior sorrows and inferior joys, up where eternal ages roll. May we ascend in joyful contemplation, and may our spirit come back again, strong for all its service, armed for all its battles, armored for all its dangers, and made ready to live heaven on earth until soon we shall live heaven in heaven. Great Father, be with Your waiting people, any in great trouble please greatly help; any that are despondent sweetly comfort and cheer; any that have erred and are smarting under their own sin, bring them back and heal their wounds; any that are panting after holiness give them the desire of their hearts; any that are longing for usefulness lead them in ways of usefulness.

Lord, we want to live while we live. We do pray that we may not merely groan out an existence here below, nor live as earthworms crawling back in our holes and dragging now and then a withered leaf with us; but Oh! give us to live as we ought to live, with a new life that You have put in us, with the divine quickening which has lifted us as much above common men as men are lifted above the beasts that perish.

Do not let us always be hampered like poor half-hatched birds within the egg; may we chip the shell today and get out in the glorious liberty of the children of God. Grant us this, we pray You.

Lord, visit our church. We have heard Your message to the churches at Ephesus; it is a message to us also. Oh! do not let any of us lose our first love. Let not our church grow cold and dead. We are not, we fear, what once we were. Lord revive us!

All our help must come from You. Give back to the church its love, its confidence, its holy daring, its consecration, its generousness, its holiness. Give back all it ever had and give it much more. Take every member and wash his feet, sweet Lord, most tenderly, and set us with clean feet in a clean road, with a clean heart to guide them, and bless us as You will in a divine fashion.

Bless us, our Father, and let all the churches of Jesus Christ partake of care and tenderness. Walking among the golden candlesticks trim every lamp and make every light, even though it burns feebly now, to shine out gloriously through Your care.

Now bless the sinners. Lord convert them. O God, save men, save this great city, this wicked city, this slumbering dead city. Lord, arouse it, arouse it by any means, that it may turn to its God. Lord save sinners all the world over, and let Your precious Word be fulfilled. “Behold He comes with clouds.” Why do You delay? Delay no longer, O, our Lord. And now to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost be glory forever and ever.

Amen.

Available at http://www.believersweb.org/view.cfm?ID=460

Are You Living An Offended Life?

Posted on February 8, 2015 by ccpastormike

Most people would answer this question in the negative. Of course they are not living that way. But if you want to know if you are living an offended life, then pay close attention to how you react to the mention of certain people’s names or what you think and how you act when you are in their presence.

Author John Bevere in his book “The Bait of Satan,” explains that people can live an offended life without even knowing it because they are so focused on the hurt done to them.

Offense that is harbored and allowed to have free rein produces varying degrees of anger, outrage, jealousy, resentment, strife, bitterness, hatred, and envy. These emotions in turn produce division, separation, broken relationships, betrayal, and even a cooling of faith and love.

Clearly, the devil utilizes the bait of offense to destroy us and other people. So what must we know and do?

First we must realize that we have a choice whether to pick up the bait of offense. I have a dear friend who many years ago made this statement that has stuck with me for decades. He said, “I’m not smart enough to be offended.” In his own humorous way, he was saying, “I love you and will not let words or actions come between us.” The Bible says that love covers a multitude of sin.

The point is this – we have a choice whether or not we will become offended or whether or not we will forgive. Remember friends, forgiveness has nothing whatsoever to do with whether or not the one receiving forgiveness deserves it. What it all boils down to ultimately is this – do you want to remain free of the rotten results of harboring an offense?

Then secondly, we must determine to forgive those who have hurt us. I am convinced that a big reason love among Christians is growing cold is because people refuse to forgive. They believe they are justified in their feelings. Perhaps they have never been told that Christians must forgive. Perhaps they don’t understand that their holding onto hurt has frozen them in time, effectively making them a prisoner of the one they believe has hurt them.

Friends, God’s way for His children is that we live in peace with one another. You cannot do that when you are living an offended life.

I recommend you pick up a copy of John Bevere’s book, “The Bait of Satan,” and begin reading and praying for your own deliverance from this heinous trap of our enemy.

When you do you will experience a transforming moment in your life.

Gourmet Meal or Crumbs?

Posted on January 25, 2015 by ccpastormike

Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her. Ephesians 5:22, 25

“Love makes the world go round” is a cute adage that is simple in its message but deficient in explaining exactly how that works. Love is as the poet says a “mysterious thing” and something that is both fleeting and enduring. Love has the capacity to satisfy the soul like a gourmet meal or it can starve the one who receives only crumbs.

Let me cut to the chase here folks. How would you describe your relationship with your spouse? Would you give it a thumb up or a thumb down? I don’t mean is everything going great right now because truth is, almost every marriage has a few pot holes every now and then. What I am asking is this – is your marriage on solid footing? Is the foundation of your spousal relationship solid?

If you cannot say “yes it is,” then let me encourage you today to begin the process of evaluating why. The decision to begin to build a solid foundation for your marriage may be an individual one, but to make it happen takes team work.

Taking the necessary steps to construct, restore, or repair a damaged marriage must begin with determining to love your spouse even though they may be behaving in an unloving way. Let me issue a caveat here – I am not suggesting that you should accept abusive behavior in the name of love, and that includes physical, verbal, or emotional abuse. But I am suggesting that you live the truth that love is not primarily an emotion. It is a decision in the biblical sense. So determine to honor your covenant vows to love your spouse through the thick and thin of life.

Next, determine to be honest and transparent with your spouse. This will require a generous amount of trust. Some information will be hard to share and the fear of being judged can be a tremendous weight. Press on anyway. If not initially, your spouse will in time see that your love for him/her outweighs the hurt, because the goal in being honest with one another is to begin to build accountability, which ultimately leads to trust.

When trust is an integral part of the marriage relationship then you are able to overcome those things that previously were stumbling blocks. In effect you are being equipped to demonstrate love in the biblical sense. Friends, your spouse deserves the best you can give not the left over crumbs.

That is a transforming truth.