I have taken the liberty to highlight a few of the key words in this passage when I could have highlighted the entire passage. First we see that He (Christ) has chosen us. Often times we think we have chosen Him, that we allowed Him into our heart. Only part of that is true. Yes we did accept Him as savior, Yes we believe in Him, put our trust in Him, but that is a result of Him first seeking us out, coming to us, and calling us, He chose us.

Not only did He chose us, but He has appointed us. Appointed simply means someone in a position of power and authority has put us in a position. We have His backing. We have been called the sons/daughters of God, we have been “commissioned” to spread His word. The One with all power and authority on this earth  has  chosen and appointed you !

We are expected to bear fruit. We have been appointed to bear fruit. The question really isn’t will we bear fruit, but rather what kind of fruit will you bear? It is His desire and plan that we bear fruit that will feed the hearts/souls of those we have contact with. After spending 12 plus years in the ministry, I have seen my share of bad fruit in the church. It is not His plan for you to bear bad fruit, but good fruit. I encourage you to make a conscience decision to put away bad memories, of disappointment and pain, and look to Him, the author and finisher of our faith, and bear good fruit, which will remain, long after we are gone.

Lastly we are commanded to love. This is not a hint nor is it a suggestion, but a commandment to LOVE. Love those who don’t love you, or even acknowledge you. Remember as Christ was hanging on the cross, He prayed, Father forgive them, for they know not what they do, That is love!

Recently we held the first service of our new church; Fields of Grace Worship Center. We must realize we have been chosen to fulfill the mission of the church, The mission of the church still matters !  To further the mission of the church we must bear fruit and love.

Keeping it Simple

Pastor Phil

In Genesis 11: 1-8 we see the power of unity. The grandchildren, and great great grandchildren of Noah had settled in the plain of Shinar, and set a goal to build a city and a tower, which would reach into the heavens. They were well on their way to reaching their goal, when God paid them a visit. You have to be doing something really good or really bad to get God’s attention, to pay you a visit. In this case, they were up to no good.

What they were building and how they were building was not the problem, in fact I believe God was impressed with their results, In fact God said they are “One” and “nothing shall stop them”. The problem was their motivation. What they were building was for their own pride, and self promotion.

I firmly believe there is a positive lesson the church can learn from this story. If the church would truly become one in purpose, mission and passion, nothing will stand in our way. Consider the scriptures, Isaiah 54:17, “No weapon formed against thee will prosper” Romans 8: 28-31, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” If we could just understand the power of true unity, lives would change, souls will be healed, and our communities and schools will be a much better place, but the church is the key !

In the Book of Acts Chapter 2, is the story of the New Testament Church, The apostles were in one place, in one accord, and the Spirit was poured out, later in the scripture we see a great revival, where the early church had all things common, they had singleness of heart, and God added to the church daily! That is the power of UNITY!

Being unified as believers is a big challenge, and maybe impossible. Before we can be in unity as a church, we first must be unified with the Spirit. The church is made up of individual believers, and the church is only as strong as the individuals relationship with the Father, if we are unified with the Father/Spirit, then we can be unified as a body! The challenge before us is to keep it simple, this is not rocket science, be unified with the Father, and that unity follows us into our relationships with our brothers and sisters.

Keeping it simple

Pastor Phil

We all have a general idea what it means to be a Christian, and what is acceptable behavior for a Christian. But with hundreds and perhaps thousands of denominations/doctrines, the list of what is acceptable behavior for a Christian is all over the map, causing a great deal of confusion to many. The fact  is this, man cannot tell you what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. This may seem like I’m taking a shortcut or ignoring the biblical stance on sound doctrine, as a former pastor I’m not. In fact one of the roles of a pastor is that of teacher. All teaching must be based upon the Word of God, and nothing more. It is imperative that every individual become part of a local church, where sound biblical doctrine is preached and taught. The goal of this article, is bring to light that each believer is responsible for their own behavior as a Christian.

Paul in his writings to the Philippians (chapter 2:12) encourages the believers to take responsibility for their faith, and to ” work out your own salvation with fear and trembling”  This can only be done in conjunction with the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is like your personal tutor. When you or I have things in our life, or when we have character traits or habits that are not pleasing to God the Holy Spirit will point them out, and gently walk us through the transformation process.

In  Matthew Chapter 22.  A lawyer asked Christ, which is the greatest commandment ? Jesus said unto him, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment”.  Key 1, If we can put this commandment into daily practice, and allow this commandment to be the deciding factor in our life,  everything else falls into place. Make Him the focus, make pleasing Him our motivation, then we will find ourselves walking in harmony with the Holy Spirit. When you love someone it is your  desire to know everything about them, what pleases them, what makes them happy or sad. When we make loving God with every fiber of our being  our priority, we will conduct ourselves in a manner that is pleasing to him.

Christ continued His answer to the lawyer by stating;  “And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. “  This answer speaks to the the selfish nature of man. Many of our problems as human beings and as Christians, stems from our relationships with others. When we fail to treat our fellow man with love and respect, we fail to treat God with love and respect.

 Think about what I’m telling you. We as Christians have two areas where we are weak and need the help of the Holy Spirit. 1)  Our relationship with God, and 2) our relationship with others. If we can gain spiritual understanding in these two areas, How we are to love God, and love our fellow man, these are two keys to becoming a better Christian.

Keeping It Simple

Pastor Phil

I had a hard time accepting forgivness from the Father, I just didn’t feel good enough. It wasn’t until much later in my  christian walk, that I realized this fact. Psalms 103:12 says:  “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.”  This is important, He the Father, has cast (tossed) our sins, as far as the east is from the west. East never meets West ! You can get on a plane, and fly East, as long as you fly East, you will always be flying East, never will you fly West! East never meets West. So what the Father is saying is this, once I forgive you of your past failures, wrongs etc. I will not bring them up again.

Each on of us, needs to accept the love and forgivness of the Father. None of us is perfect or deserving of His love, He loves us regardless of our name, talents, skills or economic status. God is Love. Let us accept His Love and the forgivness.

Keeping it Simple

Pastor Phil

For a long time, I had been suffering from a medical condition, that seemed to be getting worse with each flare up. Like clock work, every 6 weeks the  glands in my neck/throat would swell and become infected. The effects this recurring problem, for someone who did public speaking for a living this was a big concern. I started adjusting my schedule, I would have to schedule someone to come in and cover for me, as I was unable to speak. Can you imagine having the worst sore throat of your life every 6 weeks?

My life experiences and the bible teach me that things just don’t happen, God has a plan, and there is a lesson to be learned in every circumstance. As I went to family camp, my glands were infected and swollen and I was in big time pain, I could barely speak or swallow. I had been at camp only one day, when I decided, I just couldn’t do this anymore, and I was going leave camp at noon the next day, and see my doctor about finding a permanent solution to this problem, no matter what that meant.

The next day in the morning session, the speaker was Pastor Gary Johnson, I had never heard him speak, but everyone bragged how great of a speaker he was. As I set through the worship service in pain, I kept thinking I need a miracle, and as soon as this service is over I’m packing up, leaving camp and finding a doctor that can help me.  Pastor Johnson came to the pulpit to deliver the morning message.  The title of his message was “Healing Communion” The message was amazing, pastor Johnson spoke with anointing and authority.  At the end of the message everyone was invited to partake of communion. I was so pumped up by the message, I was one of the first in line to be served. However my throat pain was becoming worse, my faith had been strengthen and I knew in my heart that God had the power to heal me, but I wasn’t sure that He would. My sole purpose for taking communion that morning was to receive my healing.

 As I stood in line, I did a quick check, I ran my hand down both sides of my neck and I could feel the swollen glands, I swallowed and  the pain was still there, as I received the communion I was nervous, I so desperately wanted and needed a miracle. After taking the bread and wine, I immediately checked myself again, No Change, glands hard as rocks and pain like a knife through my throat. I was so disappointed. I knelt at the alter to pray, to beg, and to question God why I wasn’t healed. I got up from the alter, and pastor Johnson instructed us to pray for the person next to us, as several people had gathered at the alter, to pray for their own needs.

Well I wasn’t in the best mood to pray for anyone, I could barely speak above a whisper, and I was disappointed, But I thought maybe, someone could get their healing, as I prayed for the person next to me, I was caught up in a spirit of prayer. I prayed with power and authority for this person. I continued to pray, and intercede for this person, and then…………..I noticed I was speaking louder, then I noticed the pain was gone, I even stopped praying to swallow, NO PAIN ! Then I took my hand and ran it down both sides of my neck, it was NORMAL ! No swelling, those rocky hard glands were soft and pain free! I got my miracle!  I didn’t know what to say or think. A spirit of praise & worship sprang forth from my heart. I was minutes away from leaving camp, finding a doctor to fix my problem, but the Great Physician came to me !

It has been 15 years since that day, and I have never had a flare up again.  I want to encourage you, that measure of faith the Father has given you, give it back to Him, in your time of need.

Keeping It Simple

Pastor Phil

The great adventure wasn’t and isn’t always as exciting as it appears. We found a small house to rent, and kept a close eye on expenses as not only did my career change, but so did my way of living. But hey God is good and we were making it pretty good. I remember thinking wow, this is good, I should have taken this step years ago, we are living in a new city, serving the Lord, and making new friends, and it felt so good to be a Pastor, a life long dream.

Well after a few months, reality began to set in. My wife had not been able to find a job, and the savings account was getting smaller each week.  But we kept the faith, knowing that He would not fail to meet our needs. Then in happened, one morning on the way to the office, as I backed the car from the garage, it did nothing, it just set there and idled. It didn’t make a difference how hard I pressed on the gas, or how many times I switched the gear lever, the car just wouldn’t move when I put it in reverse.

I was finally able to drive the car to a transmission shop, where the mechanic, took one look at my car, and said, “How much money do you have?” “I can tell you right now, it will cost you at least $1700.00″ Well I didn’t have that kind of money, so I started to get real concerned. I took my car to another shop for a second opinion. This is where it gets good. I walked in and shared with the man behind the counter, my transmission woes, and the opinion of the first mechanic, and he said “He is correct, those transmissions are expensive, because they are difficult to work on, and parts are hard to find”  At this point I’m starting to cry inside, I kept saying, I don’t have $1700.00 ! God I need some help here.

The man behind the counter asked me to step into his office, as he checked actual prices for the repair, as I set there waiting, I kept thinking God, how can this be happening? Why is this happening? I was snapped back into reality when the man said, “yeah it will cost between $1700.00-$2000.00. I almost burst into tears, I knew there was no way I could afford that. In a moments time  I heard the voice of  my Father telling  me, “have him fix it” I kept arguing with God, but I don’t have the money, I exclaimed in my heart, this went on for what seemed like an hour, finally I gave in, it didn’t make sense to me, but I finally said, “Fix it”

Immeaditaly, the man, looked at me, looked at his arms and said… “Who are you?” “Look at my arms, they are covered with goose-bumps”! He went all to say, God just told me to fix your car without charging you one penny! I didn’t know if I wanted to cry, shout or hug the man. I had not idea, he was a believer, and he had no idea, I was new to the community and pastoring a small church. This was a major confirmation, that God had called me to this city, and God gave me favor, in the middle of my storm. I haven’t looked back since, this day my faith, became empowered like never before, and my faith is stronger today.

The Word says He will supply all our needs !

Keeping it simple

Pastor Phil