PASTOR D. L. GOULD MUSINGS (2021) 1221

Sunday, November 28, 2021

11/06/21 DON'T BE DUPED

When a person magnifies, promotes, supports Socialism he is aligned with the enemy of the cross.
COME OUT FROM AMONG THEM.

11/06/21 CHOOSE YE THIS DAY WHOM YOU WILL SERVE

Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world," therefore, His servants do not fight for this world.
Our weapons are not fleshly, but spiritual, as the "sword of the Spirit."
We wrestle not against men (flesh and blood), but against spiritual powers and authorities.
My allegiance, loyalty, belongs only to Jesus, for He alone is my God, my Savior; He alone is the same yesterday, today and forever; He alone Faithful and True.

With these truths in mind, do not spend yourself, your energy, your time, your service, your resources or fight for a man made system, regardless of how much better that system may be than the other systems of this world. Our time, energy, resources, abilities should be spent in lifting up Christ and His kingdom of love, truth. forgiveness and holiness.

11/06/21 WE NEED EARS TO HEAR

I don't like explaining spiritual truths in simply human terms, but that is what we must do. However, understanding spiritual truths requires a relationship with God and His word. This may be called esoteric by some people, however it is not esoteric in the normal use of the word.

Basically, three forms of knowledge can be termed, Esoteric, Exoteric and Christian.

Esoteric knowledge is personal understanding of something from within yourself and only available to those with a special insight or understanding, not usually referring to the knowledge or understanding that God imparts to His children. This is the seen in the "hidden" knowledge claimed by non-Christian religionists such as "spiritualists," gnostics (ancient and modern).

Exoteric knowledge is knowledge, which is outside of self and is knowledge that is available to everyone. Though the spiritual truths of Christian salvation are made available for everyone, not everyone is in a living relationship with God and therefore, being dead in sins and trespasses they are dead (blind, deaf) to spiritual truth, without the enabling work of the Holy Spirit.

Christian knowledge is knowledge from God (outside of ourselves), about God and our relationship with Him, which He communicates to people of various spiritual conditions, from the lost to the most mature Christian. This knowledge or understanding always aligns with the infallible, written word of God in the Holy Bible. It is from God, to us (by His Holy Spirit) and is only known by those who have a living, faith relationship with God, through Christ.

The Bible refers to three kinds of people, when it comes to knowing and understanding God's enlightenment from His word.

The NATURAL MAN, or the man without spiritual life cannot know, understand Divine truth, reality because his sins have separated him from God and spiritual truth is only understood when the Holy Spirit enlightens a person. All of us have been Natural Men until we were regenerated by the Holy Spirit.

The CARNAL BELIEVER, or the person who has been saved, converted, justified, born of God, but still has the corruption of the sinful nature waging war against the knowledge and will of God. This person needs to recognize his own inherited and inward rebellion against God and that person needs to realize that there is deliverance from the Old Man, through faith in Jesus Christ and the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

The SPIRITUAL BELIEVER, is the Christian who has been redeemed, is walking in obedience to the light of God's word and has made total surrender, resulting in the purification of the heart from the Old Man (the mind of the flesh, the Double Mind). This person is not only forgiven for his own sins, which he has committed, but he is delivered from the inner pollution (rebellious attitude), which he (and all other people) inherited from Adam.

Remember, there is...
Human Nature, the nature to be Human (body, soul, spirit). Adam was created with human nature. Jesus was born with human nature, lived and died with human nature. Human Nature is not the same as sinful nature. Adam was created with human nature, but his disobedience corrupted his human nature and also introduced the Adamic or Sinful Nature.

Sinful Nature (Old Man, Adamic Nature, Fleshly Nature, Carnal Mind, Double Mindedness) is the inherited, internal, attitude of disobedience and rejection of God. All of humanity has received this from Adam (except for Jesus Christ, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary). Before we are saved, we have the human nature (the nature to be human) and we have the sinful nature (the nature to be sinful). Before we are saved we do not have the Divine Nature (the nature to be like or to be in the image of God). Through salvation God imparts Divine Nature (aka our New Man).

Divine Nature, is the imparted nature, which makes it possible to be conformed to the image of God. The Divine Nature tends toward God, while the Sinful Nature tends toward sin. Therefore there is an internal spiritual battle in new converts. God's plan for believers is to purify their hearts by the infilling and abiding presence of the Holy Spirit.

All Christians grow in grace and knowledge, but the Spirit filled, believers, who have purified hearts, grow more readily and completely, because they are set free from the inner corruption and conflict of the sinful nature.
It is like a piece of ground that grows nothing but weeds. Then the land is prepared and planted with good seed. The land now has good growth, mixed with weeds. The husbandman then clears out the weeds, which allows the good seed to produce more and better plants.

The purification of the heart has many Biblical passages that explain, admonish and prove that God has a second, definite, instantaneous, crisis salvation experience for believers. Few preachers preach or teach this great truth. But even when it is preached, few of those believers hear the message of God in their hearts. This is why we need to have, "EARS TO HEAR."

If you have any questions about my Biblical support for this post, please let me know.

11/06/21 IT'S NOT A CHANGING TIDE, IT IS A TSUNAMI

Don't be fooled into thinking that the political, social, cultural, legal tide is simply ebbing before flood tide. What is happening today Biblical in proportion, it is spiritual, it is eschatological, it is systemic, it is planned. You better align with God's plan in order to survive and thrive before the inevitable tsunami of suffering, oppression and evil comes crashing in on this unsuspecting world.

It is time (actually past time) to bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.
This means KNOWING the will of God concerning every area of life.
This is why Biblical and Spiritual preaching, teaching, leadership is important.
There is no part of your life that is exempt or should be kept from the will of God.
Bible teaching, leading, preaching does not just address religiosity and church-i-anity or just the shallow, surface, restricted issues of salvation.
God's will must be abundantly present in every area of life, which is why folks need leadership that is concerned with and addresses every area of life and why folks should follow that leadership. IT IS GOD'S PLAN. IT IS IN THE BIBLE.

The true people of God are not playing soldier or playing church. The true people of God have walls that separate them from sin and Satan, and they also break down all barriers between themselves and God.
The true people of God embrace total commitment, they do not sidestep it.

Male or female, old or young, whatever the race, every believer, every follower of Christ needs to seek God with the whole heart and follow His steps faithfully.
No time, no energy, no talent, no resource can be held back for personal purposes.

Remember, God is concerned about you personally, therefore His plan is for your good and His glory.
When it is not His will, it is not for your good.
When it is not for His glory, it is not for your good.

Sadly, many of the people who read this will view themselves as believers in Christ, while thinking they have a deferment from active service and are not obligated to an exclusive allegiance to the ministry of God and His church.

11/05/21 STEPS (and missteps) OF SPIRITUAL LIFE

There is a lot of talk about "Progressive Sanctification," in the Christian life, most of which is erroneous and is an excuse for coming short of God's will and calling.

When God brings a Christian to a point of decision, such as Total Commitment (aka death to the Old Man, Entire Sanctification, the fullness of the Baptism with the Holy Spirit) or God leads (requires) the believer to turn from a specific behavior or God leads a believer into a new direction, but the believer is not willing to obey God, then they use the idea that they are "progressing" in their walk. But it is not progression when we refuse to follow fully, it is sin, which must be faced and we must repent (abandon) all known sin.

Usually, if repentance is quick to follow a sin, then the believer can move forward in the grace of Christ. However, depending on the impact of the sin or depending on the time between the sin and the repentance, the person may lose anything, and everything, up to their own soul. If they do not confess and repent of that sin, they will not be restored and they will lose their soul.

ENTRANCE
God reveals Himself to us, while we are in the darkness of nature's night (spiritual darkness of the unregenerate).
God calls us to a living and loving relationship with Himself, through Christ's atoning death and resurrection.

OBEDIENCE AND GROWTH (EXPECTED)
As we walk in His light, He gives us more light.
God leads the faithful believer out of temptation.
God convicts the errant believer, even when he is yielding to temptation.
God convicts the backslider after he has disobeyed, and God calls him to repentance.
Sin (deliberate disobedience to the known will of God) separates us from God. It only takes one sin to separate us from God, rather than a habit of sin or a life of sin, or an ongoing practice of sin.
Remember Adam?
How many sins would it take to disqualify a "savior" from being a savior?
James tells us that God has given us His word, so that we might not sin.
God told us through David that God's word that we might not sin against God.
The Bible teaches that when we break one commandment, we break all the commandments.
As soon as we sin against God, even once, we need an advocate and we have an advocate with God, Christ Jesus the righteous.
There is never a reason for sin and backsliding.

REBELLION (UNNECESSARY)
If we are not obedient, we walk in less light and His light in us is diminished.
We fail to walk in light by either stopping in our spiritual journey or turning aside from God's path or going back to sin in open rebellion.

Sometimes our failure to walk with God is negligence and it sometimes seems negligible.
Sometimes our failure to walk with God is obvious but gradual and unalarming (though it should be alarming).
Sometimes our failure to walk with God is a sudden and significant departure from an active and vibrant relationship with God.
In any case, failure to walk in God's light is willful disobedience to the known will of God and there is no excuse for backsliding.

BACKSLIDING (REPENT OR FALL AWAY)
The backslider can and must repent or he will eventually fall away completely (apostatize) and irrevocably. Repentance will restore a broken relationship with God. Failure to repent and be reconciled to God will end a relationship with God.
God gave us His word to save us from sinning, and also, if we do sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Christ Jesus the righteous.
God gives us everything necessary for life and godliness.
He that is born of God does not commit sin.
He that sins is of the devil.
Jesus came to save His people from our sins.

MATURITY HAS TO DO WITH INCREMENTAL GROWTH IN GRACE, PURITY HAS TO DO WITH INSTANTANEOUS DIVINE CLEANSING FROM ALL SIN
God calls us to salvation (justification, sanctification, purity and maturity).
There are instantaneous, crises, Divine works of saving grace, which leads us to growth in grace.
Some realities come by crises transformations, some realities come by growth in grace.

Conversion of a sinner to a saint is a Divine, instantaneous, crisis work of saving grace, which includes justification, regeneration, adoption, sanctification. At the time of our salvation we are forgiven of our sins, delivered from the power of sin over us and transformed into a new creation.

Entire Sanctification of a believer is the Divine, instantaneous, crisis work of grace, which purifies the heart of the believer from all sin (the inner inclination to sin aka the sinful nature, through the Baptism with the Holy Spirit (Acts 15:8-9).

After our conversion (the reception of a new nature), we begin to realize that we still have an old sinful nature that wars against us and our walk with God. Though God enables us to obey Him in our new life (our new walk with Christ), we suffer an inner struggle that often ensnares us in sinful action.

God's plan for us is to be cleansed (not forgiven) of the sinful nature.
Remember, as in natural life, there is a difference between birth and cleansing. Cleansing takes place after the baby is born. Likewise, the born again believer has life, but he is in need of a cleansing.

This cleansing comes to the believer when the believer willfully trusts God for complete cleansing and deliverance.

At the time of our Entire Sanctification we are cleansed, delivered from our inherited sinful nature (the Old Man, Carnal Mind, Double Mind).

Along with the instantaneous works of grace there is continuing, advancing steps of growth in grace, walking in the light, going from glory to glory, faith to faith, grace to grace in the healthy Christian life. This is popularly referred to as "progressive sanctification."
The term is unfortunate because it has become an excuse for rebellious people to NOT make full surrender through self sacrifice and self denial, but rather expect total cleansing to just happen through growth.
Some spiritual realities are grown into and some realities are reached by deliberate steps of faith.
It is better to use the phrase, "grow in grace and knowledge," since "progressive" implies slow, incremental change.
Growth in grace is essential, but it must not be confused with the Divine work of purifying the Christian heart.

Growth in grace occurs when we walk in the light of God's word. We need to eat, drink and breath in order to stay alive. This is true for our spiritual self as well as our natural life. The spiritual man needs the life giving properties acquired through reading God's word, praying, meditating, trusting and obeying God. Spiritual food, drink and breath imparts spiritual life, and life results in growth in grace.

God calls us to Himself and He convicts us of our sin over a period of time.

Whoever accepts, receives, yields to the call of God is instantaneously and miraculously transformed from a sinner to a saint, and is changed from darkness to light and becomes a new creation in Christ.

Sanctification (being holy by being set apart from sin and set apart to God) begins immediately by cleansing the Christian from his past sins, cleansing the Christian's conscience, cleansing the Christian's daily behavior.

There is Divine work and there is human submission involved in the experience and life of salvation.

Only God can do the Divine part of salvation (such as call, convict, forgive, sanctify, regenerate) and God will not do the human part of salvation (such as believe, repent, confess, obey), though He enables the convert to do that which God requires of him.

Here is God's intended life cycle of a Christian.
CONVERSION
(including saving faith, confession, repentance, regeneration, justification, initial sanctification, adoption, obedience).
GROWTH IN GRACE
(through obedient faith, study, fellowship, walking in truth, following Jesus and Holy Spirit, self denial.
ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION
(by recognizing the corruption of the heart that remains after conversion, and recognizing the will and ability of God to deliver from that inner corruption, and making complete surrender, total commitment, and asking God to cleanse you from all sin by filling you with the Holy Spirit, which purifies our hearts by faith).
CONTINUED AND AGGRESSIVE GROWTH IN GRACE
(not only has the good seed been sown in our hearts, the evil root of unbelief has been rooted out, allowing us to grow unhindered by personal and inner conflict).

11/05/21 AN OPPORTUNITY AND A DANGER

During my Bible college days I was part of a denominational, nation wide ministry that brought a team of Christians together, in a chosen local church for a weekend. The team was hand picked by a team leader (in the fashion of the "MISSION IMPOSSIBLE" team). The team leader chose people he knew who had strengths in various areas of ministry, such as youth workers, musicians, married couples, men's and ladies ministries, Bible study leaders. The team would converge on the host church and spend the weekend in sharing, teaching, fellowship, prayer, serving, with the intent of stirring the local church in its relationship with God.

I always found it disturbing when I met sincere Christian team members who chose to remain in "churches" and pastors which were not Bible believing or Christ following. Those team members were sincere, but very shallow and unlikely to reach their spiritual potential.

The same is true today. Christians spend their time, energy, talents in dead or dying "churches." Though it is not written in stone, there is a principle that a Christian will not go any further than his pastor leads.

The point is, don't be misled by errant leadership and don't neglect following the spiritual leadership God provides.

11/05/21 A BASIC, BUT OFTEN NEGLECTED TRUTH

The value of pastoral leadership is not that he is inherently wiser or that he is chosen by God because of his personal wisdom or that he has been "gifted" by God with infallible revelation, as were the New Testament Apostles.

His value is based on the fact that he is a faithful follower of Christ and learner of God's word and he is submissive to God's Spirit. He must be a man who is Divinely called, chosen and constantly led, taught and gifted to preach, teach, counsel, lead by the Holy Spirit for the work of the ministry. He is expected to have a deeper, wider, higher grasp of Biblical truth and spiritual insight than the people he is leading and serving. It is a mistake to trust a fool, but it is also a mistake to discount the knowledge, understanding, wisdom of a totally dedicated, faithful, obedient man of God.

Some folks are stunted in their spiritual growth because they have pastors who refuse to grow in grace and knowledge and wisdom. Each believer is responsible to find personal enlightenment in God's word and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, but often they rely on the pastor to do their studying, praying, serving for them. Likewise, too few pastors are faithful in their own walk with God, much less are they capable to feed and lead the people in their congregation.

It is expected that the pastor should have greater knowledge, insight, understanding, wisdom, BECAUSE he not only has been given that responsibility and capability by God, but if he is a faithful servant of God, he invests more time, effort, energy into his calling.

Because of his calling, the pastor is Divinely enabled and he has far more time than other believers to study the Bible, faith, Christian history, doctrine, ministry and also more time to pray.

If your pastor takes his calling seriously, but you do not regard his leadership with the proper respect, you are robbing yourself, your family, your church and the unsaved world around you.

Remember, there are some things God gives us privately (in our personal time with God), and some things God gives us corporately (when we gather in worship and study). Also, there are some things God gives us through spiritual leaders and some things God gives us through personal pursuit. The Christian life is body life with other believers and spiritual leadership. God expects believers to follow spiritual leadership and He expects ministry leaders to equip themselves for their responsibilities.

Saturday, November 27, 2021

11/04/21 REFLECTION FROM 5 YEARS AGO

People are always shifting blame to: parents, children, siblings, friends, the devil, God, the boss, the employee, the weather.

I remember a song that blamed, "Everybody else but me," and another that confessed, "Not my brother nor my sister, but it's me oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer..."
It could also be said, "It's me, it's me oh Lord, needing to trust, obey, surrender, follow, praise, rejoice, serve, love.

I hope you read my simple but true post from five years ago.

WHO TO BLAME
It is not that the stain of sin is beyond Divine cleansing, it is that people do not trust the Blood.
It is not that holiness is unlivable, it is that the power of the Holy Spirit is rejected.
It is not that love, kindness, mercy, tenderness, humility, gentleness, patience, compassion are useless, it is that they are costly.
It is not that joy and peace are unavailable, it is that they are unwanted.

Don't blame society, family, or the devil for your spiritual poverty; you have chosen your treasures.

11/04/21 EQUIP YOURSELF FOR VICTORY AND FOR SERVICE

You don't need to have spiritual gifts to know and understand the Bible. The gifts of, "The word of knowledge," and, "the word of wisdom," are teaching gifts, which God gives to some Christians to edify other believers, as is the purpose for all the gifts of the Spirit.
However, all Christians are spiritually enabled to know the word of God and to have the wisdom we need, in order to live according the word of God.

The path to spiritual knowledge and wisdom is opened to the believer who is willing to study, trust, obey and follow Christ.

PAUL'S PRAYER FOR ALL CHRISTIANS
Colossians 1:9
9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;

TRUE CHRISTIANS MANIFEST KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM
James 3:13
13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.

CHRISTIANS CAN BE LED AWAY AND FALL FROM STEADFASTNESS IF THEY DO NOT GROW IN GRACE AND KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST
2 Peter 3:17-18
17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.
18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

11/03/21 KNOW YOUR MISSION

I care about this old world, but I am not spending my time trying to restore it, fix it up. I believe it has served its purpose by providing a "home away from home" and a "field of service" for Christians.

God has allowed His children to live in this old world while trying to rescue folks from the rotting ruin of this sinful world, my job is to reach and reconcile those who are trapped in a condemned structure.

But this world is not my home, I am only passing through. I believe the door of opportunity is closing fast and my job is not to straighten the pictures on the wall while the world is going up in flames.

My job is to cry aloud and warn those who are about to be crushed by a collapsing world, and to snatch victims from the clutches of a failed system.
My job is to lead and feed believers who are on this rescue mission.

I thought of the song, This Old House by Stuart Hamblen. The song refers to an old house that is falling apart, after its "glory days" as a home for a family. The song then addresses the inevitable aging and death of the human body and the spirit evacuating the body. We as Christians know that death or the rapture will take us and close our door of opportunity to rescue the lost.

I am growing old and my physical self is "falling apart." In a similar way this world, (cosmos and worldly system) has decayed so much that it is almost to the point of being unusable, and ready for the burn pile.

The rescue effort of sin tossed men requires our undivided attention. The Ship of State is going down, with no hope of being salvaged. We have no time to salvage a hopeless cause. We must man our station aboard God's search and rescue vessel and man our battle station when we are under the attack of Satan. Jesus said that His kingdom is not of this world, AND NEITHER IS OURS.

God used the imagery of an army, soldiers, warriors, in reference to His own people.
This communicates that His people are under orders, under authority, under His rule.
It also communicates that He made it clear that His church, His people do not wage fleshly war with other humans, even though those other humans may be the enemy of the cross.
We, as Christians will vacate this earthly sojourn soon, either through death or Rapture. We need to be ready for that day and we need to reach and rescue those who are lost in this sea of sin.

This World Is Not My Home.
I'm Only Passing Through, but
I must Rescue The Perishing and Care For The Dying.

11/03/21 RESPONSE OR MISSION?

There is a RESPONSE and a MISSION mentality.

Conservatives and the majority of professing Christians respond to emergency conditions, but Communists, Socialists, Liberals have an agenda and they are on a mission.

Any wonder why our world and country is in the condition it is in?

Bible people ARE ON A MISSION, so we better act like it.

11/02/21 THE TREASURE OF THE PIZER (the porch)

I feel sorry for people who did not grow up with a house porch (pizer as it was called along this part of the N.C. coast), front, back or wrap around.
I feel sorry for folks who did not grow up in a neighborhood, which was actually like an extended family.
I realize that there are other models which folks hold in high esteem.

This is not an attack on other experiences. However, I do recognize the important impact a porch and loving community has on a healthy view of life and society. Old and young, saved and unsaved, male and female often sit together enjoying swings, rocking chairs, gliders or just letting their feet hang off the edge of the porch.

Fun talk, family talk, fishing talk, weather talk, church talk, Christian witness takes place, knitting, net mending, sewing or just whittling on the pizer.

Relaxation, dreaming out loud, meal planning, corn shucking, bean snapping, reminiscing, are all part of sitting on the porch, as well as drinking in the quiet, soaking up the peace or slipping into a quiet sleep.
The porch is not a bully pulpit or a political stump. It is not a place for anger, rancor, division, self assertion. Sitting on the porch should be like sitting together in heavenly places.
Porch sitting is an oasis, a safe haven from the storm. It is where great truths are communicated in colloquialisms and ancestral idioms. A place where the young learn from the elders, just by listening. A place where parents sit and watch children and grandchildren play safely and happily in the yard, the field or the garden.

The community factor on the porch is important, but there is also the private, personal, reflective quiet times spent by individuals, aside from the voice of others and clamor of a fitful world.

The porch is a place for believers to gather after worship or Bible study or fellowship; a place for a couple of folks to share their concerns, their hopes with each other. A place where someone can seek God, talk to God, hear from God.

Sometimes we need, "alone time," and more often we need time alone with God. I am hoping to have a porch soon, as a place for my family and friends to stop by and visit with each other and with God.

11/02/21 LET'S TALK ABOUT IT

11/02/21 LET'S TALK ABOUT IT
(a part of discipling)

The discipleship process (learning and following Jesus) includes talking, listening, questioning, studying. Preaching is foundational but communication between disciples and spiritual leaders is also necessary. Remember, the three years of Jesus ministry was spent teaching and modeling the message of salvation to His twelve disciples. The Scripture makes it clear that there were many questions, which Jesus addressed. The questions were academic and practical in nature, rather than expressions of doubt. Throughout Christian history, men of God trained younger Christians in doctrinal and practical theology.

Personal counsel and open discussion have their place in the training program of God. Sadly it is ignored by some pastors or rejected by self satisfied parishioners.

My ministry has always included discussion, questions and comments, polite disagreement. But the only answers that are given authority are Biblical answers. Opinion must agree with God and His word.

I have included a few photos depicting our seating arrangements for various sized groups (7, 13, 26). I will let you know what and when I will provide these sessions. If you are interested in learning the Biblical view about these subjects, then we should have a place for you. And of course, this is ministry, not industry so there is no cost.

Monday, November 22, 2021

10/30/21 A GREAT WAY TO FINISH OFF OCTOBER

Photos of fellowship meal after worship today. We made it simple by telling everyone to bring what they wanted to eat. It was no muss no fuss. Of course we had extra for those who wanted to try something different. As you can see, everyone had a fun time, especially the young people.

The after meal fellowship went on for hours. It is so nice to have folks over for worship, music, food, fun, fellowship again.

This building is a great blessing. It reminds me of neighborhood times in The Promiseland, when I was a young person, sitting and visiting with one another on the pizer, roasting oysters in the back yard, family get-togethers and festive celebrations with folks scattered all over the house, porch and yard.

Monday, November 1, 2021

10/30/21 DREAMING GOD'S DREAMS AND ENLARGING MY MINISTRY BOUNDARIES

In the 80s, when I was pastor of The Anchor Church in M.C., we had meetings in various homes, including my home, as well as in a rented building. We would have over 50 people in my house for weekly Bible studies (living room and dining room) in River Height. We had cookouts, games and even a wedding in our back yard. The church is people and we meet and serve God in our homes, in public arenas, in basements, dens, garages, bonus rooms, workshops, and in family out buildings.

In Morehead and other places that I have pastored, we met in our homes, rented building, dedicated church buildings, public parks, libraries, motel conference rooms, storefronts, a converted bus, campgrounds, travel trailers, for church meetings, and for special activities. We used ball parks, water parks, movie theaters, amusement parks, museums. We had worship, study, Christian day school (1-11 grades), concerts, fellowships, ministry training institute, sports (soccer, soft ball, men's weight training, ladies exercise class, bowling), and we had a great Friday Family Night Get Together, which I called The Alternative (playing board games, ping pong, computer games, lip syncing, concerts) sometimes until after daybreak on Saturday.

There was more, much more. But everything was designed to glorify God, edify the believer and evangelize the sinner. The past 40 years have born witness and fruitfulness in God's service.

As I consider our opportunities to serve God today, I am even more excited. There are great challenges, greater need, more restrictions to deal with than in the past. But the only answer to man's plight is Jesus and I am committed to leading my congregation forward in victory.

These are the thoughts as I lead my congregation in worship, study, fellowship and ministry. I have always used my home as a ministry center. I am glad to have that opportunity now.