Pause: with Pastor Aaron

Why did we quit being a people who came up against a problem and pushed it over? Why have we allowed the 'wall', standing in the way of progress, to define or hinder our momentum? Why have we become a people who quit instead of overcoming? The culture of today is to be defined by something. I saw this first hand in my previous youth ministry where so many talked about 'their' anxiety, depression, learning disability or disadvantage. What I loved about these teens is that, at least they were honest with themselves. Many adults either A. Ignore the issues in the lives, B. Play the victim card or C. Let busy-ness keep them occupied, ignoring the wall to forward progress. So we have raised generations who will sit as the base of the wall, and never progress further. They will accept mediocrity in their homes, jobs and lives. They will rationalize it saying that "This is what I deserve" or "This is the best I can get." We as believer in Jesus Christ...

This past weekend I had the privilege to go to the National Prayer Summit which was put on by the Free Methodist Church. For a while now I have felt a new call to pray in my own life, and perhaps remarkably I found I was not the only one and was even perhaps late to the game. God has been birthing a new desire in people all over the world, and in that new desire, God is doing new things all over the world. You can see videos of the summit at  http://fmcusa.org/nationalprayerministry/nps/ The thing that stood out to me was this, while He is doing new things all over the world, His presence is making it's greatest impact in the eastern world, while the western world seems silent. George Otis, the speaker from the Sentinel Group said this of the phenomena, "It is not for God's reluctance to send his Spirit to the western world, it is for our resistance." This left a mark in my spiritual concrete, and I left with a desire to note the places where I am livi...

I have been told that wisdom is the proper application of knowledge. As we seek to apply knowledge, we often will battle with the realities of God's timing. I will never forget when a wise brother asked me, "What is the better solution, to be right or be Spirit led?" That question exposed to me a reality that was brought by a mentor pastor of mine who presented, "A right thing, done in a wrong way is still wrong." Having knowledge (truth) is good, but knowing how to present that knowledge is often the key to receptivity. Maybe its sad that it is the state of the world, but it is what it is. So we must check our approach and ultimately our motives. We must be a people who are as hard and fast on how we apply knowledge as we are in gaining it to begin with. The following Scripture gave me pause on this topic: 17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, imparti...

This morning is the conclusion of a 4 part devotional series based upon the position that sin should have no place in the life of a believer. Sin compromises the spiritual walk thus sin must be put to death. These statements take a hard line, yet they are truth. The benefit of eradicating sin from your life is intimacy with God and power. The consequences of compromise with sin are impotence and complacency. It comes down to what kind of a Christian do you want to be. Do you want a faith that can move the mountains, or do you want a religious experience? The choice is yours. Let me encourage you to return to the previous 3 blogs on the topic. God is dealing with this man on the subject. May you benefit from my journey. Today we deal with the life of sin. What this means is that you did not practice abstinence with lust and you did not abort the fetus of sin as it developed (see part 2). What has been born now is controlling your life, demanding satisfaction every day. Just l...

Yesterday we concluded the devotional with this thought, "The second part of this compels us to look at the formulation of sin. Sin is often the byproduct of several steps of  development. First, we have a need. Second, Satan attempts to woo us to his solution. Third, we rationalize his solution.  Fourth, we entertain his solution and finally we act upon it. This is sins gestation process an thus compels us, as believers in Christ, to address it in 2 ways: 1.  Birth control (Abstinence) 2.  Abortion The battle to defeat sin begins with these 3 simple words, "I trust God."  I trust God to wait.  I trust God that His plan is perfect.  I trust God beyond my moment and beyond what my eyes presently see.  I trust God to have my best interests at heart.  I trust God enough to walk away from what my flesh and mind are in agreement on. I trust God so much that I am choosing to practice abstinence with sin. Trustin...

Grace can be so easily misunderstood. To some it is license for poor behavior while to others it is life. The reason for such a dichotomy is that Satan has slipped in and promoted his lie in the face of God's truth. Grace was never meant to be a scapegoat for sin. Grace is meant to be the springboard to further maturity and holiness.  Consider Paul's writings in Romans 6:1, "Shall we go on sinning that grace may abound? God forbid!" God forbid that grace becomes easy or cheap! God forbid that we view grace as that which permits us license. God forbid that grace is less than a fall back position for us to regroup, after we do sin, and then spring board forward for us to conquer the strongholds of sin in our lives; (see also 2 Cor 10:4 "For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds." Destroying strongholds of sin in our lives is warfare that begins with an awakening or a reckoning of sorts. This awakening...

The church is meant to be a hospital for the healing. When we forget this, we often become consumer minded and lose the heart of God for why He created this second institution. Remember that the first institution He created was the family. The family was His first pathway for good to be carried out upon the earth. The family provided the living illustration of His love for humanity. It modeled intimacy which brings forth new life. It showed us perfection in the roles each sex was to thrive in. It provided a road to maturity and prosperity, as the parents were to pass on their values to their children. God also created the family that a love and knowledge of Him would be passed on to each generation. He was to be God to the family. The church was the second institution He created.  Just like the family, it was created with a purpose and a design. My former youth pastor spoke its purpose into my life when he once said, "The lost need to be saved and the saved need to be heale...

Working in the people business can be some of the most challenging careers to find satisfaction. If you think that you are going to change a person, you will quickly find great frustration. People establish habits. People are the by-product of their upbringing and their culture. All the wisdom in the world will often never negate these facts. Every medical professional has seen it. A person suffering from heart problems is told to change their diet and to exercise. The doctor, who has gone to school almost a decade and then years of residency, explains to them the downfall of their habits. Do most listen to their counsel or do they return to the doctor again showing symptoms of the same problem? Every school teacher has seen it. They tell the student that they are smart and can achieve, yet what they have known all their life is a culture which has affected how they see themselves. A teacher can often have a hundred affirming conversations, but a student remains behind beca...

Solomon wrote "There is a season for everything." The Byrds took that knowledge and sang "Turn Turn Turn."  Both understood that existence has moments, times and seasons that separate themselves from the normal hum-drum of life.  These ticks of the clock can be incredibly rich, such as times of great joy seen in new marriage, the birth of a new baby, or moving and starting fresh, but they can also be very hurtful and joyless.   Life brings us seasons where we don't understand why things are going on the way the are.  These can be seasons of wrought with darkness, anger, pain and suffering. Does it mean that God is with us in the one and absent from the other? Often the moment makes us feel that this is true. That's often the problems with feelings.  They are naturally subjective.  By subjective they are 'true' in the moment, but not 'true' after the fact.  This is one of the primary reasons that we can not trust them and should not l...

There are days that I feel like the American dream has emasculated the American church. The idea that we must have "more" to have done right, to have been successful, flies into direct conflict with the teachings of the Bible. "My kids deserve a better lifestyle than I was raised with", can take a man or woman and put them into direct conflict with God because they might pursue an end opposite of God's desire for them.   The Bible tells us,   "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things"  Col 3:1-2. The end for one who makes their lives about the 'American dream" seems to be paralleled in John's writings to one of the seven churches of the Revelation.   John wrote,  “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:  These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the r...