Noonday Devotion

Comment

Comment by Chinadoll Chrissy on July 19, 2010 at 3:12am

Dear Brothers and sisters.
Kindly keep my friends and families in your prayers and thoughts.
Thank you.
God Bless.
Christine


1) Bob Pate.
He has bad arthritis, breathing difficulty, diabetic and now prostate cancer.

2) Jeanette Rothwell
Her grandson has cerebal palsy and has to undergo surgery again.

3) Paul Nooja
He has Lymphedema is that it is frequently mis-diagnosed, is hereditary and always in pain and incurable.

4) Cathy's husband Carl.
Carl had leukemia and is still hanging there and no changes in him.

5) Tammy Oestreich
She had disk degeneration and bulging disks and is seeing a spine specialist, in extreme pain, on pain pills all the time and on medication, financial problems too, to get treated.

Comment by BOYANI ONUONGA on July 11, 2010 at 1:58am

EVERY TIME IS GOD'S TIME.

Comment by JAGADEESH KUMAR on June 27, 2010 at 5:37am

GOD IS GOOD IN EVERY TIME.......AMEN.

Comment by Teresa Cagmat Mertens Montejo on May 17, 2010 at 12:05am

God of Abraham, guide us always. Keep us from harm. I pray for all Nation, I pray for guidance to whole generation,all your children here on earth. Give us Peace,Love and your mercy. Amen.

Comment by Bob Archer Head Site Pastor on May 14, 2010 at 12:03pm

“Good Is The Enemy Of Great.”

“That’s what makes death so hard – unsatisfied curiosity” – Beryl Markham
Like Lewis and Clark, it would be deeply satisfying for me to climb into a boat, and head West saying, “we don’t know what we’ll find when we get there, but we’ll be sure to let you know when we get back."
I love adventure.
• I like eating at restaurants that I’ve never eaten at before.
• I like going places I’ve never been before.
• I will often take a wrong road intentionally just to see what is there that I’ve been missing.
• I want to see countries I’ve never seen before.
• I want to enjoy what is just ahead.
I want to enjoy some things in the spirit realm too.
• I look into the Bible and I see the Apostolic in the New Testament having an all night prayer meeting for Peter.
• The miracle to me was not Peter getting loosed from prison.
• The miracle to me was a body of believers putting their agendas, and personal motives aside long enough to agree that something had to be done about Peter’s condition.
In his book Good to Great, Jim Collins states Good to Great companies do not focus on what to do to become great; they focus equally on what not to do and what to stop doing.
• We in Pentecost are continually seeking the next gimmick or program that will take us to where we are wanting to go in the terms of church growth or revival.
• The problem with that is we start new things constantly but never do perfect them, only to go on to start something else without burying what we just gave up on.
• As a result of that we have our interests and labors so divided that many of our churches are dysfunctional with regards to evangelism instead of being the driving evangelistic force that our Lord desires us to be.
You see there are a few things we can stop doing that would bring us closer to having Great evangelistic moves instead of simply good moves.
• I believe we would go from having good church to having Great church if we would stop trying to entertain one another.
• Too many of our musicians are all hung up trying to entertain the crowd instead of entertaining the presence of the Lord.
See we got it all backwards.
• We think if we sing good enough…
• We think if the choir ever gets it all together we will really have church…
• We think if we hit the right note…
• We think if we gesture correctly as we sing…
• We think that somehow the crowd will be impressed enough to give their hearts and lives to Jesus Christ.
• Let me let you in on something…. You can’t sing good enough to give someone salvation.
• You can’t sing good enough to heal a broken body.
• You can’t sing good enough to give deliverance to a drug addict
• You can’t sing or play or act good enough to save even one person’s soul, so why don’t we just entertain the Lord with our singing….It might be that we could draw His presence closer with our sincerity and hunger to worship Him.
• And if He came closer there is no telling what could happen in this place before we leave here tonight!
See we don’t have Great church because we have been satisfied with good church.
• We don’t have Great worship services, because we are satisfied with good worship services.
• We don’t have Great results from our evangelistic labours, because we are satisfied with good results.
• We don’t have thousands come in, because we are satisfied with a dozen or two per year.
• Just enough to make up for the ones we lost this year.
• We don’t have Great moves of God because we are satisfied with good moves of God.
• We don’t have a Great walk with God, because we are comfortable with having a good walk with God.
• Are you hearing me?
Hear me now…
To go from good to great requires transcending the curse of competence.
What’s wrong with competence?
Competence is GOOD!
• Just because we had some measure of success, it shouldn’t satisfy us to the point that we don’t want to experience something far greater.
• Just because we had a little growth.
• Just because we had a little move.
• Just because “we liked what we felt in the service” is not enough.
• We have to expect far greater things from a God of the miraculous.
• We can’t be satisfied with a few being added to the church in a year…
• We have to expect something far greater than that to happen…
• We can’t say that one or two per month is good enough…
• We have to expect one or two dozen per week…
You say, there’s no way.
• You say there is no way this church could have that kind of revival.
• And I would say to you…you are right!
• IF you are thinking with mans wisdom.
• But IF you are thinking by FAITH, then anything is possible!!!
In his Book from Good to Great, Jim Collins said this,
All companies have a culture, some companies have discipline, but few companies have a culture of discipline. When you have disciplined people, you don’t need hierarchy. When you have disciplined thought, you don’t need bureaucracy. When you have disciplined action, you don’t need excessive controls. When you combine a culture of discipline with an ethic of entrepreneurship, you get the magical alchemy of great performance.
I would put it this way however.
All churches have a culture, some churches have holiness, but few have a culture of holiness. When you have a holy people, you don’t need a hierarchy. When you have a holy thought, you don’t need bureaucracy. When you have a holy action, you don’t need excessive controls. When you combine a culture of holiness with an ethic of evangelism, the result will be a great outpouring of God’s Spirit and an end time harvest of souls.
You see folks…Holiness is more than the clothing you wear or the places you go.
Holiness is our attitude and our spirit as well.
• Yeah, I hate to break it to some people, but some of us dress holy, but our attitudes and our spirits are far from Holy.
• We devour one another with our conversation.
• We destroy each other's potential with our criticism and our constant critiquing of how other people are living for God.
• We annihilate any possible likelihood of even a budding promise of potential in someone’s life to defend our position in the church or our place in the Kingdom.
• Like the mother of the two brothers seeking a place next to Jesus when He takes his throne, we scramble for positions in the church like people in the world clambering for positions on the corporate ladder, only to find that the way up is not up - the way up is down.
• If you want to be Lord of all, You have to be servant of all.
• If you want to rule many, you have to serve more.
• If you want to be the guy at the top, you first have to be found faithful over the things at the bottom.
• Holiness is also a hunger to see others come to Christ.
• Holiness is also our desire to see those around us excel in the things of God.
• There can be no room in our churches for competition.
• There can be no room for attitudes that say, "I’m better or I’m more important."
• We’re living in the last days, and we don’t have time to try to figure out who is the better preacher or who’s song sounded the best, or who looks more spiritual or who acts more potentate.
• Hey, we have to move on past the mediocre mindsets that would hold us back from the things God would want to do in our lives and in our churches!
It’s time to move from having good church to having Great church!
• It’s time to leave the norm –
• It’s time to move out of the ordinary –
• It’s time to move on into the promise of revival that the Lord has promised this end time generation.
• God has always offered a measure of revival to every generation.
• I believe if He promised His generation with it’s population of millions a great revival, how much more would He offer this generation with over 6 thousand million people - a great end time harvest of souls.
If we are talking about revival, what are we really talking about?
• Are we talking about pew running services?
• Are we talking about the choir getting one right.
• Or the preacher hitting one out of the park?
• No! We are talking about people being converted and filled with the Holy Ghost and then becoming an intrical part of the revival that would then ensue upon the church.
Do you know who the most important person in this house is tonight?
• Do you know who I value more than any other person in this church?
• Do you know who I believe is the greatest among us here this evening?
• Are you ready for this?
• Can you handle it?
• The one who brought visitors with them to church.
• The ones who thought enough of their family and loved ones to say, hey, would you come to church with me tonight.
Listen, the world is not going to get saved by sitting home on a Sunday night watching TV!
• Somebody has to bring them so a preacher can preach to them, so the Holy Ghost can fill them and heal them.
• The least among us are actually the greatest of us.
• Where are those who keep the house of God looking beautiful?
• Where are those who drive the Sunday School buses?
• Where are the ones who teach children’s Sunday school?
• Where are the Bible Study teachers?
• Where are the people who share their testimony with anybody who will listen?
• “Here are the unsung heroes!”
• Here are the ones who are making a difference in this world.
• Here are the ones who are adding to the Kingdom!
• These are the people whom Jesus will say, “Well done my good and faithful servant.”
The leadership teams of churches.
• I have to tell you, I wish I could get in front of just one leadership team who was more concerned about the lost and perishing souls of their city than they were about their own political advantage in the church.
Oh, don’t get me wrong, there are many people who truly know what this is all about.
• There are some who realize it’s more important to serve than it is to rule.
• But I have to admit.
• I nearly go out of my mind sometimes when I see someone who is dripping with potential for the Kingdom only to be drug down by their personal ambition to be better or more valued than someone else.
• It drives me nuts to see people who would be infinitely more valuable than myself to the Kingdom of God be destroyed by the spirit of competition in the church.
• Young preachers who think it’s more important to get their preaching license than it is to teach someone a Bible study.
• You know what church? We really need to move on…
• We really need to move out of this place of “what’s in it for me” to the place of, "I love the church and want to do anything I can to see it have growth and revival."
• “God baptize us with a spirit of humility all over again.”
What is it about our flesh that keeps causing our carnal ambitions to destroy our potential for the Kingdom?
• A man who is a principal of a public school system.
• Do you know what he is doing in the church?
• A head of the Sunday School Department?
• Running the outreach program of the church?
• No, he’s assisting in a Sunday school class. – So much potential wasted.
A man who is a millionaire many times over.
• He has started businesses many times and sold them for their profit.
• Everything this guy touches turns to profit.
• Do you know what he is doing in the church?
• Is he a head of the outreach program?
• No, he’s doing his best to cause grief to the pastor about the new building the church is building.
• He could run the whole operation, but instead, he’d rather sit on the sidelines and complain about everything the pastor is trying to do to bring growth and increase to his church.
• The guy is useless to the Kingdom.
• He knew how to show a profit for the corporation, but he can’t even show one ounce of profit to the church?
• Why?
• Because of personal ambition.
• If he can’t run it, he’ll ruin it.
• That’s the mentality of the World folks!
• That’s not Holiness!
• That’s not Godliness!
• That’s not conducive to revival!
I don’t know about you, but I want to have a right spirit.
• What qualifies me to preach to the church is that I love the church with all my heart!
• I would die for the church.
• I have given my life and career to see the church move forward in the things of God.
• I don’t hurt the church because I love it.
I love it when people get healed.
• I love it when they get the Holy Ghost.
• But do you know what excites me?
• Do you know what motivates me as a preacher?
• When people come together in unity.
• When people love one another.
• When I see them encouraging each other in the altar.
• Because I know that if a congregation ever got it together and really loved each other and this world the way Jesus does, there is no city that could not be won.
• There is no community that would not be impacted by their generosity and kindness.
• Hear me church!
• We are a city set on a hill tonight!
Listen church, our only assets in the church are not the pews we sit on.
• They are not the buildings…or properties.
• Our only assets are the people who walk into our doors and who allow themselves to become invested into the Kingdom of God.
• Somehow we have to get the right people to get the right attitude in the right positions.
• If we could do that, there is no telling what could happen with regards to revival and growth in our congregations.
God deliver us from the spirit of Self Exultation.
• Lord set us free from the attitude of me! me! me! me!
• Lord send us a burden for the lost like we’ve never had it before.
I know this is not a Holy Spirit message.
I know this is not a Healing message.
• But I’m smart enough to believe what one old preacher told me once.
• He said, “Bob, you get what you preach.”
• I would like to see someone get the Holy Spirit here tonight.
• I would like to see someone get healed here tonight.
• But listen, I know that the potential for revival is not what happens as a direct result of this particular service.
• But I know that if I could somehow cause even one person in this place to know their potential in Christ, the result for the Kingdom would be many thousands times greater than 1 or two who will get the Holy Spirit in this place.
Invitation to come, as a congregation to pray earnestly for their Church to become a Great Church.

Comment by Esobayl on April 19, 2010 at 4:26am

Praise God today for the sunshine thankyou Lord
Praise God today for the beautiful flowers thankyou Lord
Praise God today that I have delicious food thankyou Lord
Praise God today that I am able to witnesto my unbelieving family thanku l
Praise God today for my new friends on ND thank yu Lord
Praise God today for just being who he is THANK U LORD 4 BEING YOU!

Comment by Bob Archer Head Site Pastor on April 18, 2010 at 6:50am

Putting Pain Into Perspective

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have
been grieved by various trials; that the genuineness of your faith, being
much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may
be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 1:6,7

Painful circumstances, like most things in life, can be looked at in more than one way. As Christians, we ought to want to look at everything, including something as unpleasant as pain, in a truthful way. In short, we ought to want to view it as God Himself does, and usually this means looking at it from a wider perspective. When we're hurting, we need to see more of the reality of the situation than the mere fact that we're hurting.

One thing we need to clearly understand is that anyone who lives in this world, ruined by sins committed before we got here, is going to hurt. The experience of pain is a fact of life, an unavoidable difficulty. No one knows this more than Jesus Christ, who suffered greatly despite never having made a single bad decision as to His own manner of living. If right living protected a person from pain, Jesus would never have known pain, but not only did He know it, He knew it deeply. He was "despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief" (Isaiah 53:3).

Yet if pain is necessary, much of the anguish that often goes with it is not. And again, Jesus is our example. He drank deeply of the cup of torment, but even in the moments of His greatest agony, it's hard for us to imagine Him experiencing any of the negative emotions that normally make pain so horrible for us. For example, much of our suffering comes from anger, resentment, and self-pity. But Jesus refused to respond to pain in any of these ways, and consequently His pain was much purer. Peter, therefore, referring to Christ's attitude toward pain, said to his fellow Christians, "Arm yourselves with the same mind" (1 Peter 4:1).

We may find it hard to do, but it's possible even to rejoice in the midst of pain. "In this you greatly rejoice," said Peter, "though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials; that the genuineness of your faith . . . may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ." The difference is in perspective: seeing pain against the backdrop of salvation.

Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.

Comment by Bob Archer Head Site Pastor on April 16, 2010 at 11:32am

Ordeals Make Some Things Obvious

Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know
that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son,
your only son, from Me.

Genesis 22:12

From time to time we are tested in ways that make it clear what kind of persons we are. When, for example, Abraham's faith was tested by the command to offer his son Isaac, God could say, "Now I know that you fear God." This is not an easy statement to fathom. But whatever may have been manifested to God by Abraham's ordeal, we can be sure of this: Abraham learned a good deal about himself. After his agony, Abraham would have known his own faith in ways that were impossible before.

When we face difficulty, we find out what we are really made of. In times of ease, we think we know ourselves and we say what we believe in words that sound right to our own ears. And we're not being deliberately deceptive. But A. W. Tozer probably had it right when he said, "Only after an ordeal of painful self-probing are we likely to discover what we actually believe about God."

There are two things about us that need to be tested. One is the validity of our principles. It is something to have meditated on our principles; it is something else to have field-tested them. We need the value of a faith that has found its beliefs to be consistent with reality, on the battlefield as well as in the church pew. And God invites us to test His truths in this very way. "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good" (Psalm 34:8). But also, our allegiance to our principles needs to be tested. And frankly, this often requires a trial by fire. "Adversity is the trial of principle. Without it, a man hardly knows whether he is honest or not" (Henry Fielding).

If it is through suffering that we learn our own mettle, then suffering is not altogether undesirable. James said, "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials" (James 1:2). Perhaps most of us will find that we can't actually welcome difficulty, but we can at least give thanks for its usefulness. There are some very practical, as well as eternal, reasons why we need to understand ourselves, and if it takes hardship to help us understand, then so be it. Even if an ordeal shows that we're less than we've made ourselves out to be in the past, the sooner we face the truth, the better we can make godly choices for the future.

Adversity introduces a man to himself.

Comment by Chinadoll Chrissy on April 13, 2010 at 7:17pm

Hi All.

Kindly keep my friend Wendy's dad, Gary Anderson in your prayers and thoughts, he had congestive pneumonia and chronic heart failure and was admitted to the ICU last night.

Thank you very much.

God Bless,
Chrissy

Comment by Earl Adams on April 13, 2010 at 5:01am

father we pray for our friends ,Jackie Pauline andcarl we pray that you will touch them with your mercy and grace and Heal them completely today as we pray,We know you are the great physican and all power bis yours. you tells us tht any thing we ask believing will be dome so we thank you i advance for these healing and give you the honor and gory due you amen,

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