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Last week I talked about giants as strongholds in our lives.  I realized that I only looked at one side of the conversation so I’d like to explore a different direction today.

Strongholds are meant to be places of safety and security.  In ancient times European people built strongholds that eventually became the remarkable, beautiful, enduring  castles that we all recognize today.  Strongholds can be less obvious also, without physical form. 

Our Constitution is a stronghold that most of us take for granted.  Living in the U.S. we are quick to say, “I have the right to…”  Before COVID19 we couldn’t imagine being restricted from going anywhere anytime with anyone we chose.  Suddenly our “right” to freedom of movement has changed.  Do we no longer have that right?  I believe that it will return.  In the meantime, consider how changing that one stronghold has impacted our entire way of life.

Have you used your “rights” to build personal strongholds for yourself?  Have you built walls around your heart?  Is your place of refuge a computer game, where real life doesn’t enter in?  Perhaps you have surrounded yourself with all the things that we’ve been told will make us happy, so that your stronghold is the physical presence of your stuff.  Do you use your “right” to roam the internet in a way that diminishes you or someone else?

What I am really wondering today is this:  do our “rights” interfere with our relationship with God?  I would love to hear what you think about this.  Please feel free to leave comments. 

Pastor Ann is going to be speaking with us about the strongholds in our world on Sunday morning.  Please join us LIVE in the parking lot at 964 W. Hwy 190 in Cove, livestream with us on Facebook or watch her sermon later in the day on YouTube.

 “May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.” —2 Thessalonians 3:5 (ESV)

I remember vividly the day I was born again. The Nazarene church our family used to attend was having its annual Fall Revival. I do not remember the name of the evangelist or the song selection or the text of the sermon. What stands out about that night is the strong awareness the Holy Spirit brought about my desperate need of a Savior. That night, as I knelt at an altar in the front of the sanctuary and repented of my sin, Jesus changed the trajectory of my life.

Have you ever thought about how your relationship with Christ has evolved over the years?

As a pastor, it has become obvious to me that some people are more mature in Christ than others. Often, the difference has little to do with the amount of time they have been a Christian. How do we grow in Christ?

We understand that anything that takes place in our lives is a work of God. He is the author and finisher of our faith. We are born in the Spirit, baptized in the Spirit, and grow as we walk in the Spirit. However, we recognize that there is also a call from God for our participation in the work He desires to do in us. We recognize that God works when we trust and obey Him. He wants us to seek after Him and do the work that exhibits a lively faith!

His promise in Jeremiah is that we will find Him when we seek Him with all our heart.

Regular participation in church worship, Bible reading, prayer, baptism, Holy Communion, fellowship with other believers, and acts of service to the church and community are all activities that help us seek God. I have resolved to spend my life intentionally placing myself in the position to be directed by the Lord. There is great reward in seeking Jesus!

This seeking does not contradict God’s work, but complements it. Our faith is living, not philosophical. As we seek, we find. There are moments where God acts to do full, complete, and finished works in our lives. That night many years ago, around an altar, I was adopted into the family of God. It was not partial, it was a full welcome into being an heir with Jesus Christ.

I remember another night, years later, when I knelt at an altar and fully surrendered my will to the will of God. I entirely consecrated my life to Him and did not hold anything back. The Holy Spirit sanctified me through and through! These are two moments that I have sought to live out ever since. The process of maturing is seeking to fully live out the ramifications of what God has done in my life. Maybe this week, as we place ourselves in places of obedience and trust, God will direct our hearts.

Jared Henry is lead pastor of Mackey Church of the Nazarene in Mackey, Indiana, USA.

Written for Coffee Break. 

Do you believe in giants?  They exist you know.  They are all around us and we interact with them every day.  What?  You don’t think so?  You haven’t seen any 12 foot men and women walking around your neighborhood.  You haven’t even seen any 6 foot toddlers!  Okay. Okay.  Give me a moment and I will try to explain.

The giants I’m speaking of live inside each of us.  They have taken up residence and made themselves quite comfortable in our lives.  They inhabit our heads and our hearts.  They whisper to us as they go about shuffling from one spot to the next.  They look for the weak spots in us.  When they find one! Whumpf!  They set that big old king-size bed right down and make themselves a home which soon becomes a castle and that soon becomes a stronghold. 

Are you still here?  Good.  What I’m talking about is that littlest word… sin.  Rarely do we think of it as a giant. It’s just that one little thing and I didn’t mean to do it and I have no intention of doing it again and oh whoops I just slipped there but I can get right back on track and that won’t stop me doggone it happened again I can’t believe I tripped over that thing again.  Have you had this conversation with yourself about ANYTHING?  Yes.  Anything.  Giants come in so many forms I don’t even know where to begin. 

Giants can be pride, gossip, a critical attitude, greed, lust, envy, jealousy.  Giants can be a bad habit and we all seem to have one of those, even if its just picking your nose.  With Covid19 everywhere right now, just think how bad a habit that nose-picking is!!!  Giants can disguise themselves as good things too.  Maybe you are one of those people who help others, and help others, and help others not because you want to but because you can’t say no.  It looks good on the outside, but you are miserable on the inside; frustrated, aggravated, insulted.  So you see, giants really are everywhere. 

Now I am hoping you are thinking about your own giants and what to do with them.  I am really, really hoping you are thinking about how to get rid of them.  I think you may have already realized that they won’t go away on their own.

That is exactly where Pastor Ann comes in.  On Sunday, Pastor Ann will be talking to us about the strongholds those giants have created in our lives and what we ought to do about them.

We will be doing drive-in style service again this week so worship will start promptly at 10:55 a.m.  We will be live-streaming Pastor Ann’s sermon beginning at 11:15 a.m. on Facebook.  If you can’t join us in person or follow along while she’s preaching, we will post her sermon on our YouTube channel as soon as possible after service.

PRAYER MOBILIZATION LINE 22 April 2020

Board of General Superintendents Call to Prayer—Week Four Scripture Reading: Job 19:25–27   Maybe you saw it. The meme said, “I didn’t plan on giving up this much for Lent.” We have laughed, and we have cried during the past few months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Consistently across the globe, people in every country have isolated themselves from others. Life has been simplified to new levels in so many ways. Onsite work is almost non-existent. Families are together for countless hours in their homes. For the first time in decades, parents and children are eating three meals a day around their kitchen tables. What we have considered “essential daily activities” for so long have been taken away.   When all is stripped away, what is left? JESUS REMAINS! Job lost everything that the world said was important, but he was able to say, “I know that my redeemer lives!” We have passed through Easter declaring in the presence of our family and our God, “Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed!” In these simplified moments, let us declare with Job, “We know that our redeemer lives!” Let’s recommit our lives to focus on what matters most—praising Jesus and sharing Him with our world!   Please pray for: People experiencing grief over the losses they are experiencing in this crisis. The millions of singles, young and old, who struggle with loneliness and despair during shelter-in-place orders. The thousands of Sunday schools and small group leaders who are ministering to men, women, and children every week while exploring new and varied ways to connect with their classes. Sunday School & Discipleship Ministries International (SDMI) district leaders and local SDMI presidents who are prayerfully and creatively guiding ministry initiatives through these challenging times. The ongoing discipleship of our children and youth across our six regions. For children’s ministry leaders and youth leaders as they navigate these new challenges in ministry. Parents as they balance the stresses of life, working at home, parenting and discipling their children, and homeschooling. Christians to share the love of Christ through thoughtful and generous acts of kindness to their family members, friends, and neighbors. Families whose loved ones are isolated in a senior facility, a nursing home, a rehabilitation center, or a hospital, and cannot physically be in contact with one another. Those struggling with addictions and the challenges this creates while in isolation.