He makes me want to be a better man !!!

Dearest Brethren, 

Blessings to you all in the Holy name of Christ Jesus. Now that our Ministry initiative is accelerating,
I am SO happy and blessed to share a couple of ministry announcements with you.

First, I would like to share with you the fact that we have finally compiled the Ordination and Licensing documentation along with our Ministry/Church Charter, required to file the 501 c non profit designation that has become necessary to partner with larger national and international ministries for co-venture Fellowship initiatives and events.

But very importantly, I am blessed to announce a key ministry advisory board designation. Whereas we will be shortly be adding additional board advisers, we feel strongly that an Adviser to Sound Scripture is of most vital importance.
So, without further ramblings, I feel very blessed to announce the name of Rev. Dr. Wilbert D. Gough, whom has graciously accepted this role to advise our ministry with sound God given scripture as it may pertain to our Fellowship Initiatives.

Rev. Dr. Wilbert D. Gough

I am very honored and blessed to have personally known Pastor Gough for some time now. I met Pastor Gough through a wonderful Bible Study group I've been a member of . This Bible Study group has been meeting in Christian Fellowship weekly for several years.

Although I cannot speak directly for the group of twenty something, I can say that I firmly believe that every one of us has very high regard and love for this Man of Christ. His biblical wisdom I have found to be surpassed by none, and importantly, his desire to share said wisdom is strong and cemented in his desire to serve our Lord and Savior.

On a personal level, Pastor Gough has been an invaluable Teacher and Mentor in my own journey to Ministry. Along those lines, Pastor guided me and honored me,... ( who said discipleship ? ) with a very endearing letter of recommendation for acceptance to Liberty University for ministry preparation . In a nutshell, my Christian love for this man of God is deep. He  without hesitation Makes me want to be a better man !

Pastor Gough is a published author, having written the most excellent book entitled " Life Isn't Fair-

But God Is ". This book is a wonderfully arranged compilation of the experience and sermons delivered over a 65 year commitment to God in the Pulpit. Which yes,.... makes him Ninety Something, but with the vitality surpassing most people I know. I have simply never known a man whom is more committed to sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Pastor has a doctorate from Eastern Baptist Seminary as well as graduate degrees from Temple University School of Theology and Burton Theological Seminary. He has served churches throughout

the United States and has written and publicly spoken extensively .

We are quite looking forward to tapping on his guidance for our upcoming " Back to Basics, Old Time Tent Revival ". I am quite sure that pastor's experience and insight ( including Revivals and Crusades with Billy Graham ), will prove to be invaluable to our goal of bringing both Christians and non-Christians closer to God our Father.

We thank Pastor Gough from the bottom of our hearts. May his guidance to our ministry prove to be a Blessing to each and every one of you.

God Bless You, and please feel free to visit our blog often as we off n' running with the development of Fellowship initiatives in the Name of Jesus!

Listening for God

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

" Today is the day the Lord gave us , I was glad in it, and graceful for it. "

My prayer is that today you experienced the goodness an happiness of life in Christ Jesus!

   * ( NOTE ) ,.... Having re-read my last post, I had to come to the conclusion that with my ability to coherently and concisely convey a message, it works out alot better if you don't omit words.

This error has been corrected, and I hope you may have time to re-read it. ( as it relates so strongly to today's post ). I believe you may find it worth the time. God Bless!

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In speaking with so many devoted Christians, Mentor Pastors, and Teachers, it seems to be a common agreement that as individual our own paths might be to us, so are the varied ways we as growing followers hear from or listen for God our Father.

As for me, I have for some time now started my mornings rather early. It's what I affectionately refer to as my 'GOD TIME' !

When the sun rises, the birds start chirping, when they chirp ,....they in turn wake up my cats,.... whom affectionately wake ME up,.................' Feed Me Now! '
But that's OK as this is the quiet time I use to feed my soul. I begin each day be either opening The Bible , or, with these days of social media outlets, I can find Bible based messages through following a few of my favorite 'scriptural sound' Ministries who post to You Tube ( as we plan to do in short order ).
This early AM quiet " God Time " as I call it is when alone with Him I can 'listen ', with discerning ears. What I find more times than coincidence could ever be, is that what He has to tell me directly,.... ' I Mean DIRECTLY ' correlates to a specific and current issue I am facing as I journey with Christ. 
When we give the Word of God space to live in our hearts, the Spirit of God will use it to take root, penetrating the recesses of our minds and hearts. Etching a message on our hearts that will allow us to keep God at the center daily happenings.
So, getting back to my daily God Time so often giving me or BLESSING me with Godly insight to a current concern, an almost exact example would be the below video from In Touch Ministries.
Just this morning I came across this video ! And it was telling that the Lord brought this before me just at the RIGHT time!  I listened to this God Given message, and what do ya know, .......... it seemed like a virtual re-interpretation of yesterday's posting. Very distinctly telling me that I need to KEEP LISTENING, and that I'm on the right track or the right path. How glorious it is to receive what you consider as approval from the Lord God !  What a feeling ! similar to the approval a Son seeks from his earthly Father, a feeling that drives me to listen to Him and look for Him in all things.

I Implore you to please re-read the last post, and then to watch the attached video.,

Related Scripture : " God will instruct me and teach me in the way I should go. "
                                                                         .....Psalm 32:8

                                " Call to Me, I will answer you and show you great and mighty things,
                                   which you do not know. "
                                                                         ....Jeremiah 33:3

Choose to be alert in the heart of God as you spend time in The Word of God.  ........Listen !!!

 * If you feel compelled, please feel free to leave a comment. Anonymously so is fine, but so many people benefit from the personal testimonies of how God is working in our lives. As we share our stories we can edify eachother in the Fathers desire to have us Fellowship with eachother, build eachother up in the name and way of our loving Messiah.

I am excited to hear your thoughts on the synergy between the last post, and the words and video in this post.

* Please check back tomorrow for details on our upcoming plans for an 'old time - tent revival', which will be conducted by our local church 'elder fellowship', " Melded Elders ", which will be made up of Elders from local Churches. The mission of this particular Fellowship initiative is in the realization of the fact that " Churches should complete one another, rather than compete with one another " in our effort to more completely magnify the amazing grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and more effectively carry out The Great Commission, to together spread The Good News of  life in Christ Jesus.

Good Night All, and may The Father Bless You with the stirring of The Holy Spirit within.
bill                               

By The Grace of God !

Welcome Back Beloved !!!

As most of you are aware, I have been on a Doctor directed ' Medical Sabbatical  ',  while I received rather aggressive medical treatments and adjusted to cutting edge medical protocol. 
I am happy to tell you that this 'season' of my journey has afforded me the God sent Blessing of the ability to manage the significant and unpredictable health afflictions that were managing me, rather than I managing it!   ( once again, it is evident that I've been Again be Saved by the Grace of God ).
Am I cured of the complex combination of my ailments?,.....No,.....or, I should say ' Not Yet '. 
He has yet again shown me that He will only give what I can bear, and that heartfelt faith in Him is most certainly our sufficiency.

Throughout my own journey I have on so many occasions  turned to Holy Scripture for guidance, understanding, and the strength to endure. Yesterday I came across Psalm 40, to once again find synergy and Godly understanding of my journey.
The Psalm recounts God's complete faithfulness when David cried out for His help. ' I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and He heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair,
out of the mud and mire. ' ........( in my own case, a pit of  significant disease and quickly failing health )  ..... Praise be to God !

Whether this Psalm refers to an actual 'pit' or to humanly devastating and challenging circumstances, David knew that he could always count on  the LORD our GOD for deliverance.
( Again pointing out the fact that HE IS OUR SUFFICIENCY !

God never actually says 'NO'  to prayers for healing. He either says ' YES ' or  ' NOT YET '.
Indeed Even to the faithful, born again, God fearing, Christian  living in Christ, the ' NOT YET ' answer may indeed not become the ' YET ' we pray for until our earthly bodies fail us. BUT, 
as convicted Christians, we fully know that at that point ( Thanks to the love sacrifice of Messiah )
we are righteous to an eternity with our Father and Creator where sickness, corruption, and a myriad of  other earthly diversities no longer exist. Additionally we are in full awareness that
' ALL ' of God's plans are for good.

" And we know that in ALL things, God works for the good of those who love Him "

..... Romans 8:28

Recently, and perhaps a good hypothetical example would be the affliction of cancer in a 7 year old child of God from one of our local churches. So many heartfelt prayers, so many tears.

My wife Donna and I sent a prayer to a young Jewish boy from Israel whom accepts such prayers to insert them into the crevasses of Jerusalem's Western Wall in the Holy Land,  (what s dedicated young man with the fortitude and understanding that each of us can carry out ministry in our own ways) Many of  our wonderful prayer group prayed in earnest with Godly loving kindness,

but the ' NOT YET ' prevailed and after several weeks of treatment and hospitalization, The Lord called him Home to the eternal happiness promised us.

We all indeed had a difficult time trying to decipher why the ' NOT YET '  was delayed until he was united with The Father. How did this young boy's challenge work out for good as scripturally promised?

First and very importantly, we realized it is not always for us to know every reason God besets some of us with these diversities. ( His ways,thoughts,plans, and level of understanding are so very much higher than ours ). What is important is that we have complete faith in God's plans. 

But in this case, who knows ?, ... ( I mean,....other than Him ), perhaps there was a young med student doctor whom worked on the case who along their own journey may extrapolate their experience with the case if this small child of God, and some day apply it to a cure for cancer.

Hmmmm, ... could be, and perhaps not. Again, only the Father knows. We must have unbridled Faith in the ways, words, and plans of our Creator.

Personally, I have come to realize that so very often, God works through other people. ( Who said FELLOWSHIP ? ) But, in my case, I had to patiently wait ( 5 yrs. of 100+ per yr. hospital days, Infusion therapy galore ( a special thank you to the caring people at York Oncology) , surgeries, toxins, and a plethora of fun stuff!,  but in God's divine and pre-destined plan, my path had to cross that of  the correct pre-determined combination of patient centered, empathetic, and skilled medical professionals whom could tame disease and manage other incurable disease. An intersection of paths

that affords me an immensely improved quality of life.

I tell you from the heart that I truly believe that I AM the healthiest sick man, and the richest poor man than I could EVER hope !

I have all I need in a life of serving Christ,..I pray the same feeling for all.

I will forever consider these outstanding empathetic and ' patient  first ' Doctors as ' Vessels of Christ ', as I fully understand this Blessing from God came through their own individual Blessings from God, at the discretion of God !!!

Furthermore I've come to realize that the time patiently waiting and struggles as nothing short of a Blessing ( or even miracle ! ) in itself . As this situation has only further cemented my feet in Words and ways that steep my Faith in our merciful and loving God.

To the many of you,...my Brothers and Sisters in Christ. whom have prayed for me, given me rides and even sat with me through the lengthy infusions at the oncology clinic,... I can only Thank You

for your love and help. You have shown me the paramount importance of how a Christian Family

can so positively affect our journeys. It has all contributed to not simply becoming healthier, but to the fact that I can now accelerate my God-Given assignment to spread our ministry of Christian Fellowship.

I so look forward to working with all of you toward growing the Christian Fellowship initiatives that will add to our growth in Christ, and demonstrate how Christians in like-believing Churches Must Complete One-Another,  Rather Than Compete With One-Another.

In closing, ( You're Welocome!,.. i tend to run on 1 ) haha........  I again offer Thanksgiving to our Lord and Savior as well as to all of you. May you be Blessed with The Joy of Jesus. Please know that you all make me want to be a better man, and contribute to my personal covenant and desire to serve our Lord and Savior for my remaining days. ( WHY ? ) do I choose to serve Him for me remaining days ?

Not because I feel I need to ( although I do ), But because doing so provides me the fullest happiness I've ever known !  My desire is to spread this infectious disease that provides what I refer to as THE JOY OF JESUS.

Please check back Sunday for many updates including new Fellowship initiatives, Ministry Advisory Board announcements and more.

May You All Be Blessed With Shalom of Jesus ! 

Monday,..turned to 'Saturday'....with Mark !

It was Christmas Season and all through the house,....not a creature was stirring ,...just Brother Mark!,.....thinkin' about !

Rather than waiting for Monday, and ' Mondays With Mark ' ( which, along with more consistency with all of this blog's pages, will be much more active with the coming year ),
we decided to share mark's insight now.

It's Christmas night and I reflect on the day. Barbara is asleep as she needs to be at work by 6 AM, and I just finished watching " CHRISTMAS EVE " while I awaited my toothache to subside.
The movie is very much about 'doing the right thing', even if you don't see how it makes a difference. You find out that a series of people, each doing the right thing, fit into God's plan
unbeknownst to them ( but as we know, divinely planned by God ).  Doing the right thing wasn't easy and came at a cost to each, but the result was miraculous for those who benefited from their individual acts of ' doing the RIGHT THING ', or ' doing the' GOD THING '.

What was the 'right thing', and how do you recognize it, then act on it?  It's very simple, yet incredibly hard at the same time!  Do as Christ lived and told us,  love God and love one another 
as you would like to be loved yourself !!! .
The second part, the love another like you want to be loved requires ' EMPATHY '.  Empathy?
What is empathy?, ... How do you come by empathy?  ... I'm glad you asked!

EMPATHY, 9 it's a 17 point word in 'Scrabble'.  www.I.word.com defines it as the action of understanding, being aware of,  being sensitive to,  vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts,  and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner: also: the capacity for this.
( PLEASE READ THIS DEFINITION THROUGH A FEW TIMES BEFORE YOU CONTINUE TO READ THIS POST, ... I'LL WAIT,...IN FACT, i'LL READ IT OVER WITH YOU ! )

As a self identified Christ believer/follower I claim that 'EMPATHY', is a 100 point word in 'Scrabble'. !!!  It's what Christmas is TRULY about, it's what our lives as proclaimed believers should be about !

WORD PICTURE : think of ' empathy ' as a sort of God Given radar. Picture it, make the beeping sound in you mind, watch the line sweep it's way across the scope. Before we became believers, and as new believers, our ' empathy ' may have been offline or had a limited range, ... anywhere between inches or a few yards!.  As we mature in our faith, that's religious speak for having a relationship with Christ, which is religious talk  for getting to know, understand, and have empathy for God. Which is religious talk  for coming to grips with ' why God loves me ! NO MATTER WHAT!
As that relationship deepens,  God increases our ' empathy ' range, to 'feet, yards,miles, ...tens of thousands of them. There is no limit! " It's range is as far as our Love for God Is. ".
Our God's ' empathy ' radar range is as UNLIMITED !,  as is His ' ,LOVE, FOR EACH OF US !

             " AMEN !,....you 'go' Mark ! ",,,,,    ( edited by bill ,... as I also
                                                                               assumed secretarial duties for this posting! )

So, what's up with with this ' Radar ' thing?  ...  How do we use it ?   Radar is used to identify things in your vicinity or path that you likely would not notice on your own.
"I'm a Captain of a ship, ...there's dense fog! ... and my radar shows a boat dead ahead!,....Collision Course!
CRAAASH ! , we collided, ' grab the life jackets! , launch the life boats, we're SINKING!

What went wrong ?  " I saw the boat on the radar,....... I had empathy for the person!

                                                            LIGHTBULB !!!

                                                     ............ " I NEVER CHANGED COURSE ! "   , ... wow!

Before I go on,...it's confession time. God made known to me someone on my empathy radar. The right thing to do was to invite this person over to spend Christmas with my family and I. But, i didn't do this. I failed at loving another as I would like to be loved. Instead of knowing I did the right thing, 

, ( the GOD/CHRIST thing )  I feel guilt and failure.  Fortunately, I have a Savior to wipe clean the slate, and God gives all of us the opportunity to turn to Him whilst strengthening faith and healing our hearts when we knowledge our mistakes, and seek His help, which is His Will, to correct our paths.

How do we learn to react correctly when someone/something comes into view on our empathy radar?  We turn to Holy Scripture , With examining 'how' Jesus lived.  For Christ is fulfillment of Scripture!  Think of our Scriptures as an ' instruction manual ' directly from our God. our Creator, our Father ! '  It's a pretty fair bet that living as possibly close (in our human frailty) To the letter of God's given desires for us, ..the better poised we are to gain the peace of God. We will have the eternal, perfect, holy relationship with God by living leading a life in the footsteps of Jesus.

Simple, Right ! ........... except, human nature is to lean toward the lies of satan ( sorry, I refuse to capitalize the name! ).    But as the famous line of a Clint Eastwood movie, ... "we don need no stinkin' instructinz! "  We all make the same mistakes as Eve and Adam, believing in the lies of satan, and that we don't need God and God doesn't have our interests at heart.

" Hog - Wash "

......... ( it's bill editing and getting hid dander up. )

This  choice has/had consequences. The consequence is loss of spirit ! , we no longer are as we were. We can't be in God Because God is Spirit, and we've lost track of ours. But God so loved His creation and so desires an eternal relationship with His creation, he sent His only begotten Son, Jesus to show us " The Way ", and erase our sins so that we may be resurrected , and that our souls will be united with that of our Savior as well as the Father.

Christ lived as a man, was tempted, felt anguish and pain, endured persecution, torture, and death to atone for OUR sins, so at resurrection we can become the complete Holy Spirits who will enjoy eternal relationship with a Holy Spirit God !

The one thing Christ cannot and will not do for us is to force us into this relationship with Him.

God gave us free-will, and this is most inviolate. We need to freely accept this 'gift' of a new Holy life from God. We accept this gift when we believe wholeheartedly that Jesus is the Son of God. 

He is the Christ. That He is our righteousness in eternity through the Divine Exchange at the mount where he freely and out of Love, ....paid for the sins of humanity !

Full circle, when we accept this gift of life it comes with some responsibilities, .. ........................  the "Great Commission"  to spread the " GOOD NEWS " of the Gospel to every corner of the world. 

Why ?,...  need you ask?,.....   so ALL of God's creation,  ...  ALL of humanity have the opportunity to freely accept God's gift of a new spirit life through believing in His Son, Jesus Christ.

Having empathy and choosing to act rightly isn't to make this present life better , ... ( but, it does )

nor does it indicate you've earned something, it's to lead humanity to Christ so they might choose a relationship with Christ and accept His gift of eternity. 

What Would Jesus Do ? , ... Each time you inadvertently or by mishap hurt someone, you make it more likely they reject or push away this free and wondrous blessing from Father God.

That's it tonight,...it's 2:23 AM  EST

If you want scripture citations, have conversation, care to make a comment, or get in touch ,.....

PLEASE COMMENT !

NOTE :  All negative comments may be directed specifically of Brother Mark.

               All positive comments may be directed to Pastor Bill.

                                                                               ( it's Good to be the Editor of a fellowship

                                                                                           of good humored Christians !  haha! )

                                         God Bless !  and we wish you all a safe happy,                                                   and Christ Filled 

         New Year !

.....in Loving Christian Fellowship,  Step With Christ Ministries.

Verily, Verily,...I say unto you,... the Christ is the True Meaning !

Dearest Brothers and Sisters in Christ !



Step With Christ Ministries would like to extend every blessing to you as we celebrate The Birth of Our Savior!  May we never forget the TRUE meaning of Christmas !



Simply put, the coming of our Prophesied Messiah, is yet ANOTHER of God's foretold 

' Love Promises '  come True. Today may we praise our God and Messiah for their endless 

Grace, Mercy, and Blessings. May we, as we are responsible to do,.....'Share the Story with

the generations' in effort to glorify the endless love of God.



Merry Christmas to ALL !  and may the Holy Spirit within, guide us to the inspiration of others

in effort for all to bear fruit that is pleasing to the eyes of God, and to share 'The Good News' of

Salvation through Christ.



May The Lord touch your hearts on this most Holy of days !

Happy Hanukkah ! To our Jewish Brother and Sisters

Shalom Beloved,

As some of you are aware, Step with Christ Ministries is a supporting partner of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, and follows the Messianic Jew initiative quite closely.
On a personal level, and as it pertains to my own continual Ministry training, I feel as though Jewish Rabbi mentors such as those involved with the fellowship as well as Rabbi Schneider from Discovering The Jewish Jesus,and  Rabbi Eckstein offer Old Testament insight that only adds to our understanding of the New Testament, and magnifies the power and understanding of the Godhead. I firmly believe that the Judaic roots of the Christian Faith bring a more complete understanding of the Power, Glory, and Love of God!
These teachers as well as so many others give Christians a more robust understanding of how the Old and New testaments are connected. As ( Marie ), a follower from Philadelphia so eloquently yet simply puts it, " Jesus did not come to abolish the old Testament, but to fulfill it. ''

Today, much of Christianity tends to completely forget the Old Testament, Marie, as well as myself are happy to have found teachers from the Messianic Jew initiative which tie these two books together in such a way that one cannot help but to more fully understand how they together create a much deeper level of FAITH in our Father and Creator. The highlighting of the plethora of God's Love Promises foretold by His chosen messengers,and Prophets culminating to the greatest promise of all with the birth of Our Messiah provides not only for an immensely deep and well founded level of faith, but additionally a fuller understanding of the powerful Love our Creator has for each of us.

As Hanukkah began at sunset last evening, I thought it to be an opportune time to First and Foremost wish our Jewish Brothers and Sisters a very Happy Hanukkah with heartfelt wishes for Godly blessings throughout the upcoming year. We pray that turmoil and atrocities in the area quell and leave the firm understanding that " The Lord is Indeed Our Protector ", firmly understood by ALL.

( The Following ' Story of Hanukkah ', has been extrapolated from my " Discovering The Jewish Jesus "  December newsletter as it is a succinct and short depiction of the Jewish Holiday of Hanukkah,.................The Feast of Dedication.

The Story of Hanukkah

Hanukkah is thought of by most of us as an exclusively Jewish holiday. Interestingly enough, the only place that Hanukkah is mentioned in the Holy Bible is in the New Testament: " At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem" ( John 10:22 )

The Hebrew word Hanukkah means dedication, and therefore called, The Feast of Dedication. This feast commemorates the Jewish people's rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem to the Lord.

The history of Hanukkah began when the Greco-Assyrians invaded and captured Jerusalem. They attempted to destroy the culture and religion of the Jews, and desecrate the Temple of the Lord. During this time, a group of Greco-Assyrian soldiers marched into a Jewish settlement and demanded that the Priest there, Mattathias, sacrifice a pig to their pagan god, Zeus. Because Mattathias feared the Lord more than the soldiers, he refused to sacrifice the pig!  A fellow Jewish onlooker, fearing the Greco-Assyrians wrath, volunteered to sacrifice the pig. In response to this,

Mattathias drew his sword and killed him.

This act of conviction and courage was so inspiring to the rest of the Jews that they right there and then  joined Mattathias and formed an army. Under the leadership of Judah ( Mattathias' son )

this army of our Lord successfully stopped the Greco Assyrians from overtaking their settlement, and eventually drove them out of the whole region!, including Jerusalem and the Temple !

This victory climaxed with the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem, and the innauguration of The Feast of Dedication in 164 BC.

When the Jews lit the Menorah ( the lampstand inside the Temple ), during the re-dedication they found that there was only enough oil to burn for ONE day. However, tradition states that the oil burned supernaturally EIGHT days!!!  Thus, the Hanukkah menorah that Jewish people light each year has eight candles, representing these eight miraculous days of burning. An additional 9th 'Servant' candle on the Hanukkah Menorah is used to light the additional candles each night of Hanukkah.

" LOOK FOR HOW MANY WAYS TO BLESS ISRAEL AND THE JEWISH PEOPLE. PRAY FOR THEM. GIVE TO THE PURPOSES OF THEIR SALVATION. YOU WILL BE BLESSED."

                                                                           ....... ( Genesis 12:3 )

Again, Happy Hanukkah to our Jewish brothers and sisters. May the Lord our God bless you with the everlasting and overwhelming Peace of the Holy Spirit !

STEP WITH CHRIST MINISTRIES 

" How Great Is Our God ! "

Blessings to All and Happy Friday !



Just a quick drop of  "inspiration ", as I continue with our broader update!

,

I hope to have a ' special ensemble ' accompany me next month when I'm honored to lead worship in January at First Christian Church in beautiful Kittery Point, Maine.

( check back for a date. )



On the personal level, Joshua Aaron indeed relates how Great our God Truly Is, The Jewish Heritage of Jesus, The roots of our Christian Faith and Old Testament History.

Have a " Blessed Day " in Christ Jesus!



God Bless!

..