Pause: with Pastor Aaron

The Easter story goes back now well over 2000 years.   It has been talked about, written about, sung about and expressed in just about every medium possible.  The sad thing of so much exposure is that it can often turn the most beautiful thing into the mundane, turning glory into white noise. One way we can see the power brought back for the hearer is to turn the story to its relevance in the speakers life.  Go beyond the facts of history.  Go beyond the theology of faith.  Talk about what the Easter story means to you, for as believers you are its' most powerful testimony. I grew up in a pastors home, so from a tender age I learned the facts about Jesus.  I was one who had many experiences at the proverbial altar; many times confessing my sins and many times receiving Jesus into my heart.   Some might ask me which one 'stuck' but I would point them to each one being a part of my journey.  Each time I resolved to know Jesus more I grew in Hi...

How is forgiveness gained?  I remember a conversation with a young man in my church in Monongahela who was convinced that forgiveness was a result of an apology.   It had to be sought, and could not be offered unless it was.  Others have proposed to me that we have a state of forgiveness before the Lord and when we sin we only need reconcile to that state and we are made right again with Him.  In that case no real apology is needed - simply a turning away from the previous deed and an awareness of identity in Christ.  Still yet others look to Scripture and see verses of a God who can withhold forgiveness based upon our withholding forgiveness from others.  Thus a person must be practicing the very thing they are asking God to do for them. This may be one of those places where each position is a little right.  Each position may be a lot of wrong dependent upon what the outcome is that the person who forgives wants.  Some truths we have to fa...

26  For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead" James 2:26 A common thought that has been shared with me is the insecurity some perceive in their Christian life.  Satan has a terrible ability to steer us away from the grace we have been freely given to the failures of our lives.  We often have hurt our relationship with Christ through those actions. So thankful for the grace of God.  It does not overlook sin, but it shows up when sin is present, with full hope of restoration through repentance.   Grace is not a license to sin, instead a tool used to redirect us back into fellowship and right standing.  Grace allows 2 major things to occur.  In the first sense it allows for the wrath of God to fall on the work of Jesus and not on us.  We call that propitiation.  The second thing that grace accomplished is the release of the Sprit to "guide us to all truth."  It is He who bring convic...

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...

We need to acknowledge the elephant in the room.  It is a sin to hold onto grudges. There I have said it.  It is a sin to hold onto grudges.    I can hear the replies of people who would argue.   "Wait a second! You don't know what they did!"  "I have forgiven, but I will never forget!" "I have to make sure that they can never hurt me again!" "I have to make sure they will never hurt someone else again!"  All these responses, I am sure, are seen as legit by the ones who make them.  Deep hurt breeds harsh responses.  Any of these responses can make a lot of sense, except... I once was told, "Hurt people hurt people, but healed people heal people." By holding onto a grudge, do you find yourself on the healed side of the spectrum, or on the hurt? By holding onto a grudge, are you committing yourself to healing others around you, or are you hurting them?   It doesn't matter if you don't intend to.  Does it really ma...

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...

We don't like the word suffering. Perhaps it's because of the picture of it that we see through our mind's eyes. Could it be a picture which turns us into a victim of circumstance? In that view we suffer because someone else has oppressed us. In that view we suffer because we are victims. In that view we suffer because God has forsaken us. After all, when we come to Christ, we are not supposed to suffer anymore... right ? The picture of suffering that you receive from your mind's eyes can often be framed through a bad understanding of what it is to follow Jesus Christ; such as from the end of the last paragraph. There is no easy road promised for the saint. I've heard it said that while God promises that He will take care of our needs (Phil 4:19), He never promised us that He will give us everything we want. In fact the opposite is often the truth. Many times we don't get our 'wants' because to have them would be a distraction from our call and pur...