Pause: with Pastor Aaron

God doesn't love American's greater than people from other lands, but I think it safe to say that America holds a special place in God's heart.  Where we have traveled and what we have overcome in these last 230 years is nothing short of remarkable.  I believe we must acknowledge God's hand in our success as a nation. Yet there are those who are doing all they can to remove God from not just the present discussion but also the pages of history.  They want to talk about a county founded by deists and forget that a number of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence were men of the pulpit, perhaps the best know being the Rev. John Hancock. Why I bring that up is because we can not divorce ourselves from our heritage as a client nation of the Lord, created to do His will.   While I will readily acknowledge that not all will be Christian who govern, we should not diminish, condemn or push out those who are.  We should not flee the influence of our ...

I believe that the Lord has moved me into a new place regarding my devotional reading; the book of the Judges. Today in chapter 2 the Lord gave me pause in 2 verses: Judges 2:10 - Also, all [the people of] that generation were gathered to their fathers [in death]; and another generation arose after them who did not know (recognize, understand) the Lord, nor even the work which He had done for Israel. (Amp) Judges 2:20-21 - So the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He said, “Because this nation has transgressed (violated) My covenant (binding agreement) which I commanded their fathers, and has not listened to My voice, I also will no longer drive out before them any of the nations which Joshua left [to be conquered] when he died.  (Amp ) One of the things that frightens me is that people have adopted the 'come and see' approach to church.  Pastors and leaders often treat is as they would an entertainment venue, focusing on the presentation so as to compete w...

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...

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...

The are inherent qualities that are necessary to leadership. What I love about working for the Lord, is that when He calls us to a higher place of influence, He prepares us for that higher place. In God's economy, we never have to worry that we don't possess the skills to achieve. What we do have to be concerned about is this, "Do we have the obedience to achieve." Will we be apt learners of the lessons God will teach us to prepare us for the task we are called to do? Learn and we will thrive. Ignore the lessons and we are destined to repeat them. Live in rejection of the lessons and we will lead others down failures path into a place of corporate destruction. Leadership is hard. When you stand in the front of the people you become a target. Everyone who thinks they either can do it better or perhaps deserved the position you now find yourself in is now proverbially gunning for you. In our context of leading other believers, you face the additional rea...

Most of us can probably talk about a level of injustice that they have personally witnessed.  You may have seen or been the victim of some type of abuse.  You may have seen people mistreated financially.  You may have known of cases where someone close to you was personally attacked by people whose sole purpose seemed to have been the outright destruction of character. They used every lie, slander and manipulation.  Their efforts may have even worked with others, peeling people away from truth. It's easy in those moments to ask the question, "Where was God in all of this?"  In some ways I think that every believer has a picture in their heads of Jesus riding a white steed into the battle and setting right the enemies of truth.  We want God to raise His mighty 'smiter' and do justice on our enemies in a timely and quick fashion that ends the suffering and sleepless nights that we experience.  We want this, yet it can be argued that this is often not...

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...