Dear Brethren, What a critical and Oh So Important quote left to us by Our Savior. But, how many of this generation's children aspire to "Go To Him" during these darkening days? I believe WE Patriarchs, We Parents see the need to bring back the basics and demonstrate the need, the WAY, and the Love of Christ. Let's make an effort to instill The True Faith and understanding by teaching and demonstrating a strong God based love of Christ to the hearts of our Children. Does your heart not soften, and can you feel the Holy Spirit directing your heart, when you see the "blessed" children in the short videos below? Bless their Souls! Here are 3 short videos showing the " LOVE OF GOD ", in the hearts of these young children. Watch their eyes, their smiles, as they all demonstrate their own unique blessings and their own ways to REJOICE and PRAISE our Father, ABBA !
Shalom in the name most high, God Almighgty ... (El Shaddai ) !
Here is a quick inspirational worship tune to stir the Spirit within, prior to today's post. Enjoy!
As we begin to wind up our "Encroaching Darkness" series, we thought that a good follow-up to the 'Hey Jude' post would be highlights from an outstanding sermon written by our own Reverend Dr. Wilbert Gough, whose book " Life Isn't Fair - But God Is " is a Must Have compilation of sermons written over the course of over 65 years in the pulpit! Pastor's messages have appeared in Billy Graham's DECISION magazine, THE WATCHMAN-EXAMINER, THE PULPIT DIGEST, the Armed Forces Magazine THE LINK, to mention only a few. Step With Christ Ministries is blessed to have Pastor as our Adviser of Sound Doctrine, and I am personally blessed and grateful to call him Mentor!
Neighboring Church, York Baptist Church has advocated 2015 to be a year for REVIVAL, we also believe the time is NOW! to Revive the Christian Faith, the TRUE and Once and For All Faith necessary to be pleasing to the all seeing eyes of our Father (Yahweh).
REVIVE US AGAIN
Psalm 85:1-8
Like an 8-day clock needs rewinding, batteries are in need of recharging, bodies need food, - our souls need reviving, in the things of the Lord and His Word !
-To pray, like the Psalmist, Lord. "Will you not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You"?
-What a prayer this is, to the Lord! One from God's People- People who Love the Lord need reviving.
-Many churches havespecial revivals, some I pastored. Careful and prayerful preparations, Music and Evangelistic Preaching, nightly, or for a week or so, like a mini Billy Graham Crusade,
to bless a community.
-Towns, churches, families, individuals all need it!
Psalm 85 tells us how to have a revival - let us pray for it!
- To find needed forgiveness. Increase our praying.
- To help us get back to the Bible- God's Holy Word.
-To awaken us all fully to the love of Jesus as Lord.
-To stir up evangelism! To bring lost people to Jesus.
-The first three verses show what God does for us.-- Note six things. 1- "The Lord has been favorable." 2- Brought us from captivity. 3- Forgiven iniquities." 4- 'Covered sin" 5-"Taken away your wrath." 6-" You have turned from fierceness of your anger." -- Much could be amplified, about each of these things. Psalm 85:4,5 declares " restore us oh God of our salvation." Maybe your life, like theirs, has been tough. -Hardships happened. Losses of loved ones, jobs, or ill health. Many taken captive,by evil enemies. -Sometimes life isn't fair, ... But God cares for you! -Bible verses record over 21 revivals on it's pages. From Genesis 35 to many in Acts. O God do it now! ...........................................
What a soul touching opening to Pastor's "Revive Us Again" sermon! Certainly enough to intrigue good Christians to delve into the continuing and discerning points used by Pastor Gough in the remaining sermon notes that feed the soul, and compel us to pray for a much needed Revival of The Once and for all TRUE Faith !
To view the remaining pages of Pastors sermon, we have provided a link to this sermon, as well as an array of additional touching and scriptural sound sermons that we believe will only bring you closer to our Lord and Creator. Please follow this link for more. And we pray you join us Monday as we wind up the " Encroaching Darkness " series with a " Christian Challenge ", to " Shine Brighter For Christ ", and introduce some changes to our blog content which will be geared more toward our new Fellowship Initiatives, Highlights of local Church events, Christian Growth Resources, and much more.
May you all be blessed with the un-paralelled Joy of Jesus, The Deep Inner Peace of God, and rest in His Holy name!
Dear Brothers in Christ, AND Fantasy Football ! Yeah, Brother of the 'virtual' gridiron, tis' the season at last! The time of year when we can serve our savior by ' Fellowshipping ' through our inter-church Fantasy Football League. As some of you are aware this will be the 7th year for Football, Faith, and Fellolwship. Recently, The Lord has directed me to Elliot Baptist Church (meet them at Eliot Baptist )to discuss the possibility of some inter-church fellowship. I was received by Pastors Joel and Yyves with very open arms. I consequently joined them for a great Sunday service this week. I must say, they are a dynamic, God Loving and Serving group of families for Christ, full of vitality for HIM, eachother, and Christianity as a whole. After service, EBC held a wonderful congregation picnic, and I was introduced by Pastor Yyves to Keith and Sam whom started a Fantasy Football league at EBC last year. I am excited to say that the concept of shining for Christ through this inter-church fellowship initiative was very warmly welcomed and will be further planned over the next couple of weeks! I will meet with them soon to discuss dates and details. * If you are aware of a Church that may be interested in joining, OR starting their own league, please feel free to have them contact me. I will do all I can to lend a hand! With the Participation of Elliot Baptist Church, First Christian Church of Kittery Point ( where I've hung my own hat for some time now ), Next Level Church in Somersworth, NH, First Parish Church of York, and a couple of folk whom are NOT YET!,.... Church Goers, we have a unique opportunity to burn brighter for Christ ! By all means, it should be a fun year with a Live Draft, Mid Year Tailgate Party, and a Superbowl Party ! Join us as we edify one another through Christ and eachother's Spiritual Blessings. Should you be interested in playing in this rather 'low-maintenance' league, check back for posts which will include addt'l info. and dates. Or, feel free to e-mail me at bill.bayliss@aol.com . It appears The Lord is blessing us with additional churches that we may grow through one another and that we may burn brighter for Him, at a time when the magnification of His Glory is needed desperately. We pray you join us with this initiative which has for 7 years now been effective in promoting new Christian Friendships that burn bright for His Glory. We hope to hear from you very soon. May you be blessed in His Holy name! bill
The short video above which is produced by our Brother in Christ and likely foremost Christian Apologist here in the human realm ( Ravi Zacharias ) is what we believe will be a good ' primer ', for today's post.
Please Enjoy, and as a reminder we do have a link to RZIM (Ravi), on our home page.
Brethren, we Thank those of you whom have chosen to follow our " Encroaching Darkness " study series which is comprised of bi-daily posting through the month. Again, we pray it touch your hearts in any small way that will bring you closer to life in Christ.
As you likely determined, Wednesday's post was largely comprised of my 'venting' with a somewhat forward Evangelistic response to the encroaching darkness that appears to be playing out across the world today, and perhaps leading the way is OUR country whose moral values were at one time founded in the Truth of God's word.
Being a mere man, I felt compelled to ' air out the dirty laundry ' of what many are beginning to perceive as WARNING SIGNS pointed out in Holy Scripture. In a post a couple of weeks back, we spoke briefly about our intersecting paths to The Kingdom, and directions oft times being driven by God Planned Co-Incidences to which one blog follower tagged the correct word to be God Incidences, which I thought was appropriate. But Brothers n' Sisters,.doesn't the fact and logic directs that the closer we walk with Christ, the happier we become? We can CREATE these God Incidences just by remaining in the Faith. We CAN!,....but now we MUST burn twice as brightly. Not only remain closely in the faith as a BEACON, but to also reach out and grab as many lost or misguided sheep as we can on the way. ( these points seem to be brought out in Jude's writings ) I guess what I'm saying is that I truly Believe that the direction of today's world requires us to Step Up !, ... Now! The latest God Incidence put before me is that as the encroaching darkness that has unfolded over the past 30 days or so, happened to co-incide with a thorough Bible Study of the Book of Jude. How appropriate for the time! This my friends is indeed a God Incidence. The word, sent at the very exact time it was needed. Indeed He is our sufficiency! And, allow me to profusely thank the Thursday Night Bible Study Group. A God Centered group of 20+ dedicated Christians from 5 local Churches whom for years have been meeting to Fellowship and study scripture in the name of God. As history certainly repeats itself, a logical man and a man in Christ could easily look at the world condition and compare the dire need to contend for The Faith quickly and seriously as JUDE warned us.
" Hey Jude ! "
How may we as God fearing lovers of Christ and His Way, respond in an effective way that is pleasing to the Father ( Elohim )?. How can we make a measurable difference before the persecution of Christianity proceeds to a point where we cannot positively affect it?
Well, I for one believe that the conditions under which Jude was compelled to to write his Holy message is eerily comparable to current issues of the world, our country, and our western churches.
I don't think it to be odd at all that this 'small' Biblical book is so heavy in it's content. I see it as a Holy Spirit driven warning that is clear, concise, and to the point.
Packing a very powerful and direct message into only 25 verses, Jude points out spiritually inspired warnings and directions that have spoken across centuries and even as though it was written in the past 30 days!
* Although the compilation of the Bible's 66 books is not necessarily written in a chronologically precise fashion,is it not perhaps a God Incidence that these warnings of grave concern happen to precede the end times noted in the final book, ... The Book of Revelation ?
" Never in the history of the Church has the Body of Christ
been so willing to sacrifice the Truth for the sake of misguided unity.
Because of this Compromise,
she shall have neither. "
I won't consume your time with descriptions and examples of Apostasy and Gnosticism pointed out in Jude's writing. (I will leave that to your review). I will however touch on the point that Jude fiercely cautions early Christians to be aware of outright heresy in the teachings of some Churches, which depart from The True Faith. Teachers of the day ( and today ) were wandering from the clear word of God to promote various 'brands' of Christianity. These variances consisted of faulty interpretations of the Word of God. This incited an " Out of The Word " unity based in worldly ways and sins of the flesh. It certainly divided houses. I reflect on my personal O.T. hero of prophecy, Isiah. Isiah justly points out that " A house divided against itself will surely fall ". A sobering thought is it not? During my own families search for a Home Church, we were able to experience the TRUTH of this first hand. It is indeed a heart-breaking and soul-shaking experience.
As I begin to close out today's rather lengthy post, let me point out Jude's Seven Challenges to Christians of the day, in defense of the faith.
1- Earnestly contend for the Faith (v.3) 2- Remember the teachings and warnings of the Apostles (v.17) 3- Build yourself up in the Most Holy Faith (v.20) 4- Pray in the Holy Spirit (v.20) 5- Keep yourselves in the Love of God (v.21) 6- Look to the mercy of the Lord to bring you to eternal life (v.21) 7- Show mercy to Christians who doubt, snatch unbelievers from the fire, and very cautiously show mercy to the corrupt (vv.22-23)
A Quick Prayer in Closing
Dear Father ( Elohim ),
We offer thanksgiving for the Holy Roadmap of Life, your Holy Word, the Holy Bible. We thank you for assigning your Spirit inspired word to your servant Jude. We pray you help to provoke our indwelling Spirits to absorb Jude's direction in our hearts, so that we may Shine Brighter in the Way of Jesus, that we may portray and convey the TRUTH of your word through every days deeds.
We pray you give us the strength " To Burn with The Zeal of Jude ", so that we may become effective
" Defenders of The True Faith ".
May we carry uncompromising love for You and the TRUTH of your word and commands. May we endure in the Joy of Jesus as we carry out " The Great Commission ", until you call us home.
We pray this with love in the name of our Savior, Christ Jesus (Yeshua)
AMEN
* Please join us Sunday as we continue the " Encroaching Darkness ' series with a compelling Sermon taken from the book ( Life isn't Fair, But God Is ! ) of our Adviser to Sound Doctrine,
Dear Brethren, Shalom in the name Most High! Please forgive this very tardy post. I've personally had a very difficult time in determining how to address the encroaching darkness demonstrated by mankind over the past month or so. The seemingly prophetic disturbances to His Kingdom and narrowing of the road that allows us to Step With Christ can be overwhelming for any lover of God. Through my own ever-deepening Fellowship with Christ, which allows and enables the Holy Spirit (Ruach ha Qodesh) within, to guide me through holy discernment, I've learned NOT to REACT to life's disappointments. ( Although via my P.H.K. degree,.....Philosopher of Hard Knocks! ) I've learned the hard way. But, my journey has enabled me to Pray in the Holy Spirit, and Rest in the Peace of Christ Guided Patience, for Him to write His Holy and discerning responses onto my heart. Oh!, how I praise Him for this blessing. AMEN ? I've always desperately tried to avoid creating the identity of what many refer to a " Soapbox Social Justice Ministry ". This was easy enough to do when our country was moving forward with a separation of Church and State. However, that line of separation that has allowed us to flourish in the Faith indeed seems to be in jeopardy. It appears the Prophesied plan of Satan has been set in motion. Earlier this week I looked down to my W.W.J.D. bracelet ( What Would Jesus Do? ) As I do so often when facing issues that trouble me. I contemplated my duty and desire to be as Christ-Like as my human frailty allows during challenging times. So,...... What Would Jesus Do ? ( I reflect on the turning tables of the Money Changers in the Temple. ) My spirit tells me that He would certainly NOT remain still !. I believe he compels us to at the very least point out these developing and prophesied warnings as the half brother of Jesus did in The Book of Jude. ( We will post " Hey Jude ", on Friday, please join us. ) We must always point out warnings and offer Godly direction that will allow us to burn as brightly as necessary to affect impending and looming darkness!,.......This plan of the evil genius that is Satan! The Father ( Abba) tells us that Satan is the ruler of the authority of the air and that he is operating in and through those whom are acting disobediently to Elohim. .......according to the course of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the Son's of disobedience. ....... Eph'siyam ( Ephisians 2:2 ) I pray in The Holy Spirit that you will revisit our blog here at Step With Christ Ministries every other day ( From this day of 15, July 2015 through the remaining month ) as we minister the Holy guidance that has been placed on our hearts with regard to the following signs of darkness. We have diligently organised a discerning effort that we pray will help every believer and non-believer grow closer to " The Way ", so that we may burn bright enough to Glorify God in the Hearts of Men.
Warnings of Darkness
* The progressing disregard to our Creator's Commands. There are many, but are highlighted by the legalization ( and in some churches, sanctified by misguided leadership ) of same sex marriage. Make no mistake, for it is written ' the world will change, but His word WILL NOT '. This is sin which opens the door to an array of many more. A sin that shines disparity to our once Godly based country's separation of Church and State. Isn't it odd and hypocritical that so many doubters make an effort to use science as a way to disprove God when it serves their purpose? Yet they overlook the very scientific fact that mankind and all of God's mammals of the same sex are scientifically unable to pro-create.
* Our God-Centered Constitution created by God fearing and God exalting forefathers has been compromised by ( Administratively Nominated Men ), who are now creating and changing laws rather than leaving them to ELECTED officials whom represent WE THE PEOPLE !
* A court order to dismantle a stone monument to our '10 COMMANDMENTS' outside the state capitol of Oklahoma, submitting to organized Satan worshipers.
* An administration who seemingly allowed or even encouraged the now pertinent theme that
" EQUALITY NOW TRUMPS MORALITY ". ( I thank my brother in Christ Bill Olsen for this insightful analogy )
* An administration and nations turning their backs to God's Chosen One's of Israel. A family whom by the grace of God, and the Calvary Love Sacrifice, that we are blessed to have been grafted into. Forget Not !, ... " He will bless those who bless Israel ".
I could ramble on in an Evangelistic effort to point out these prophetic and blasphemous times for pages. But, I will spare you and leave you with the following YouTube video (just click on it), from our Brother in Christ Alan Horvath. (please don't let his 'hippy hippy shake' style dissuade you from the TRUTH of his message. "It's Right On, Man!" )
I think you will find it very succinctly paints a picture that all Christians should consider as we prepare to burn brightly in our faith during these troubling times. And please remember as we strive to Shine for Christ, that we are not in this fight without Him, and " He has already conquered the world "
