The Will of God

"It is possible to evangelize the world in this generation, if the
Church will but do her duty. The trouble is not with the heathen. A
dead Church will prevent it, if it is prevented. Why should it not be
accomplished? God will have all men to be saved and come unto
the knowledge of the truth. The resources of the Church are
boundless. Let the will of the Church be brought into line with the
will of God, and nothing will be found to be impossible. May God
grant it!" - Griffith John

Schedule

Christian Coffeehouse

“AN ENCOURAGING WORD”
(in the Old Hometown Café building)

Saturdays
· Doors Open @ 5:00pm
· Music starts @ 6:30


Gospel music
by
The Otterson Family
Nancy Odom, house band and featured guests.

(free-will offering)

Call ahead for more information or if you are interested in jamming with us. (715) 962-2007 or 962-4054

Our Desire

Our desire is to lift up the name of Jesus and to encourage each other in the faith. We live in world of great darkness, where the multitudes mock Christianity and where the true believer is being tested on a daily basis. The enemy is working overtime to steal and destroy our faith in the Lord Jesus. The Bible says that in the last days there will be a great falling away, that even the elect will be deceived. So as we ponder these things we can see we have a great enemy to which we must war against. That is why we must fix our eyes on Jesus. He alone gives us hope for the future, both in this life and the next. This is why we are called to worship and to sing praises to our God. This is why we must shut out all of our cares of life and look to his Glory and power. We have no hope without it.
Our desire is to remain faithful even in the midst of trials and fear. In the midst of being mocked and reproached. And even as our eyes gaze upon this sin sick world we can say “He alone is worthy of all our praise; all our hope and blessing are found in Him. He is all-powerful and His loving kindness is ever present. No matter what, we can trust and rest in Him”. What peace we have in our great God and King, our father and friend, our redeemer!

The Bride of Christ

Recently we attended a wedding where the bride was so radiant with joy and anticipation for this marriage that was about to take place. Oh the joyful bliss in her eyes...I just love to see that. Makes you think, wow this guy must really be something for her to be so happy. Anyway, the Lord seems to be reminding me of the need for “Joy” in every circumstance of my life, good times and bad time. As I have pondered these things it seems so obvious that this is the state of mind we should be in, as believers, especially before a lost world. We are the bride Christ and we too should be living with that same joy and anticipation for our groom to come and take us away. What a powerful testimony to others when our lives radiate that joy. Makes them wonder what we have and makes them want what we have. The Bible says, “ The Joy of the Lord is our strength”.

When I was first saved I was so overwhelmed with this sense of “Joy” like nothing I ever had before. My heart was so filled with gladness that my feet didn't seem to be touching this earth. As time went on though, I began to notice that very few believers had this sense of “Joy” in their own lives, even though they were steady members of the church. I was confused by that and could not figure out why the long faces. They had no praise on their lips, no testimonies to share and little desire to reach the lost. Then a couple of years later the Lord led us to a church that was filled with this sense of “Joy” and I knew that they had what I had, in regards to salvation. It was not just in their heads, sort of thing, but went deep into the depths of their souls. Because of it, the worship service was truly that... a worship service like nothing I had ever experienced. It was powerful and God presence was really felt. It was a revival atmosphere and many souls were saved on a weekly basis.

Since then, I have heard Christians who say, "Oh that is just emotionalism and not of God." Well, granted I do agree that maybe this might be an issue for some but it is something that is very real to a sincere soul who understands the mercy and grace of God in their life and knowing how undeserving they are. I think of Mary who wept at the feet of Jesus. Did Jesus rebuke her for being too emotional while she wept at His feet?

Oh what a great God we are blessed to know! Can we even comprehend His goodness? I just am amazed at His kindness, His mercy and His grace. It is hard to fathom how He would save a wretch like me but praise God He did!

My prayer is that the Joy of the Lord overflow in our lives in such a way that it will even penetrate those we come in contact with; even to bring the harden sinners heart to repentance and to all who do not have this relationship with Him, may it cause them to seek the Lord in a new and fresh way till that glory comes down...like Mary who worshipped (wept) at the feet of Jesus who is worthy of all our love and praise and thanksgiving.

Blessings of His grace,

Jayne

Acts 2:17-18

Acts 2:17-18

"OTHERS MAY: You CANNOT"
-by G. D. Watson.

If God has called you to be really like Jesus He will draw you into a life of crucifixion and humility, and put upon you such demands of obedience, that you will not be able to follow other people, or measure yourself by other Christians, and in many ways He will seem to let other people do things which He will not let you do.

Other Christians and ministers who seem very religious and useful, may push themselves, pull wires, and work schemes to carry out their plans, but you cannot do it, and if you attempt it, you will meet with such failure and rebuke from the Lord as to make you sorely penitent.

Others may boast of themselves, of their work, of their successes, of their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing, and if you begin it, He will lead you into some deep mortification that will make you despise yourself and all your good works.

Others may be allowed to succeed in making money, or may have a legacy left to them, but it is likely God will keep you poor, because He wants you to have something far better than gold, namely, a helpless dependence upon Him, that He may have the privilege of supplying your needs day by day out of an unseen treasury.

The Lord may let others be honored and put forward, and keep you hidden in obscurity, because He wants to produce some choice fragrant fruit forHis coming glory, which can only be produced in the shade. He may let others be great, but keep you small. He may let others do a work for Him and get the credit for it, but He will make you work and toil on without knowing how much you are doing; and then to make your work still more precious He may let others get credit for the work which you have done, and thus make YOUR REWARD TEN TIMES GREATER WHEN JESUS COMES.

The Holy Spirit will put a strict watch over you, with a jealous love, and will rebuke you for little words and feelings or for wasting your time, which other Christians never feel distressed over. So make up your mind that God is an Infinitely Sovereign Being, and has a right to do as He pleases with His own. He may not explain to you a thousand things which puzzle your reason in His dealings with you, but if you absolutely sell yourself to be His love slave, He will wrap you up in Jealous Love, and bestow upon you many blessings which come only to those who are in the inner circle.

Settle it forever, then that you are to DEAL DIRECTLY WITH THE HOLYSPIRIT, and that He is to have the privilege of tying your tongue, or chaining your hand, or closing your eyes, in ways that He does not seem to use with others. Now, when you are so possessed with the living God that you are, in your secret heart, pleased and delighted over this PECULIAR, PERSONAL, PRIVATE, JEALOUS GUARDIANSHIP AND MANAGEMENTOF THE HOLY SPIRIT OVER YOUR LIFE, then you will have found the vestibule of Heaven.
_________________________________
(~SOURCE: Faith, Prayer, & Tract League:Tract #76; Grand Rapids, MI 49504)

A Shimmering Shower of White Pearls

Author: Sally Y. Ross, March 1, 2001

As I sit here by the window sipping a cup of herbal tea and contemplating my future, my eyes are drawn to the cool beauty of the large plum tree that dominates our backyard. The branches, which are covered with a multitude of fragrant white blooms, sway playfully in the breeze. I smile, hoping that the appearance of so many flowers on the tree is a sign that there will be plenty of sweet juicy plums this year. Each time the b reeze touches the branches, flower petals are released and they drift lazily to the ground. Something in the scene so moves me that I feel compelled to put down my cup and rush outside to stand beneath the tree.

As I stand there with face uplifted and arms raised to the heavens my senses seem so vibrantly alive, and I breathe in the fragrant Spring air, which is filled with the sound of birds singing in the trees all around. The gentle breeze caresses my skin and I am enveloped in a cloud of flower petals, which like a shimmering shower of white pearls, drift slowly to the ground. Suddenly my heart is filled with incredible joy, and I am so thankful to be alive at this time and in this place, so thankful that I am a much loved, much blessed child of God. As tears flow down my cheeks the words written at James 1:17 come to mind:

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” James 1:17

As I stood there basking in the warmth of God's love, it occurred to me that my Heavenly Father is like a mighty tree whose presence dominates all else. I thought about how His many attributes, such of love, joy, peace, mercy, patience, kindness, graciousness, gentleness, forgiveness, comfort, healing, loyalty, justice, and strength, to name a few, are like branches extending out into the heavens. It came to me that the flowers on each branch are like blessings, or "good gifts" from above. The Tree watches over us, and at the times in our lives when the breezes of change rustle the branches, Good determines the type of blessing that we need. And like a shimmering shower of white pearls, His "good gifts" and "perfect presents" abundantly flow down from the heavens to enrich the lives of each one of us.It also occurred to me that there are periods when trials and tribulations rage through our lives like a fierce winter storm, disturbing our peace and creating havoc in our spirit. At times like these our problems may cause us to question our faith and doubt whether God loves us or even hears our prayers for help. We may even come to feel that we are being tried, but as James 1:13 brings out,

“Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:” James 1:13

Instead, we should view our tribulations in a far different light. God loves us and He not only hears, He also answers our prayers. But we cannot come to him with doubt in our hearts. We must BELIEVE that the Tree exists and that it is there for us in our times of distress. God allows tribulations to enter our lives not as punishment but to teach us lessons, and to refine our faith. We must BELIEVE that whenever a nd wherever and however we need the Tree, the Tree will lovingly spread its branches over us. Once we have endured our tribulations and the lessons have been learned by means of our faith, the fierce storm clouds of adversity will gradually subside. And as the darkness in our lives and in our hearts gives way to the glorious light, the Tree causes it's branches to rustle, and we are abundantly showered with blessings, flowing down from the heavens like soft shimmering pearls.And all of this came to me on a beautiful Spring day as I stood beneath the Tree.

“But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.” - Psalm 5:11

Sherry and Jim Heard
Inspirational In Jesus

Who Should We Honor?

Webster defines honor as:“High regard or great respect given.”

I see a trend across America and that is a subtle disrespect for the older folks and replacing it with a lifting up of the youth. Yet the blessing for the youth can only come from the older generation. If we want to reach our youth let us reach our old folks by showing them honor and respect the way God has taught us in His word. The Bible says,

“Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls…” Jer.6

Just the fact that old folks are old-fashioned is the very thing that the youth need to learn, not the ways of the world!!! Let the older generation be heard!! Let the rest rise up and show honor and humility to those who have been in this world much longer, to those who have walked with the Lord through thick and thin, in good times and bad. This is wisdom that this generation needs to hear!

Sadly as the youth are exalted, contemporary music is filling the sanctuaries and out goes all the old hymns and the Gospel music that were sung with conviction and power. How contrary this is to scripture. May God give us eyes to see what Satan is so slyly doing to the church, how he is deceiving the hearts of the simple. May we as God’s people take a humble look at the condition we are in and realize that we lack the power that the earlier Christians had--even just 50 years ago things were so different. May we admit our failure to show honor to those who are older, to those who have wisdom that only can come with age. They just might be able to tell us what we are doing wrong and what we can do to change things around. Maybe then our unsaved neighbors and relatives would come to know this glorious salvation and the Lord would pour out His spirit on our land in a way we have not witnessed yet in our generation. If we would but humble ourselves, “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble,”(James 4:6)

It is the older generation, which deserves our honor. They are the ones that the church should be seeking to reach. I have been in many churches where there are few, if any, older folks there. The leadership instead consists of the young men who have no one to answer to that is older. The young men in the Church have no one to go to for direction they need to raise their families and to rule their homes. This is also true for the women. Titus 2 teaches us of the importance of the aged being there to teach the younger. Oh, how we need our old folk!!!
This touches me in a personal way right now as I just lost both parents in less than a year’s time. What a great void I now feel and am realizing how much I took for granted. Even if our parents were not what we thought they should have been, God still worked through them to help shape and mold our lives. No one can say that he or she does not need their parents and yet I see this lack of honor growing very strong, even in the conservative circles. The Bible clearly says we are to honor our mother and father and by doing that, He will greatly bless our lives, our churches and our world.

Worship

I have been blessed and challenged by a book I am reading. Here are some of my notes.

Quotes from A. W. Tozer in his book

WORSHIP: THE MISSING JEWEL

What is the chief end of man? That we might be worshipers of the Most High God.

Tozer describes real worship “to feel in the heart”. A person who merely goes through the form and doesn’t feel anything is not worshiping. Worship means to “express in some appropriate manner what you feel... And what will be expressed? “ A humbling but delightful sense of admiring awe and astonished wonder.” It is delightful to worship God, but it is a humbling thing and the man who has not been humbled in the presence of God will never be a worshiper of God at all. He may be a church member who keeps the rules and obeys the discipline, and who tithes and goes to conference, but he’ll never be a worshiper unless he is deeply humbled. A humbling but delightful sense of admiring awe. There’s awesomeness about God, which is missing in our day altogether; there’s little sense of admiring awe in the Church of Christ these days.


God meant that a convert should learn to be a worshiper, and after that he can be a worker. Jesus said, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel.” Peter wanted to go at once but Christ said, “Don’t go yet. Wait till you be endued with power.” Power for service? Yes, but that is only half of it. The other nine-tenths are that the Holy Ghost may restore to us again the spirit of worship. Out of enraptured, admiring, adoring, worshipping souls, then God does His work. The work done by a worshiper will have eternity in it.

Is it possible to have religious experience and not be a worshipper? Yes, look at Cain. He had a religious experience, but God did not accept him. To worship acceptably, I repeat, is to be born anew by the Holy Ghost through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and have the Holy Spirit of Christ teach is to worship and enable us to worship.