Pastor’s Blog, August 2008

Pastor’s Blog, August 2008
Back to Home Page

Progress digitizing Faith Assembly recorded sermons: July 11, 1995 a.m.

Thursday, August 28, 2008
Through Isaiah 39

3:25 p.m.
This has been a busy time, but incredibly satisfying. Faith Ministries and Publications has moved out, so now there is space for a new entity, ~~Faith Assembly Ministries~~, to get busy in production and distribution of messages of the present pastor (myself) of Faith Assembly. It was a conflict of interest to promote my own messages before, but as I no longer work for nor represent Faith Ministries and Publications, that restriction is gone. I still am not comfortable with the term “promote,” but I do want those who would like to have them to know they are available, and to be able to get them.
    I want to say again, I continue to rest on the foundation of truth I received through the ministry of Hobart Freeman, the founding pastor of Faith Assembly. But his ministry is represented by Faith Ministries and Publications, and my own is represented by ~~Faith Assembly Ministries~~. Separate ministries, but committed to the same Biblical message.
    I am beginning to work toward a full catalog listing on this web site. All my messages from 2001 on are listed beginning ==> HERE. The current link to tape order pages will remain as is for now, but eventually I’ll only have a page of ordering instructions, and the tape numbers will be added to the sermon listings. Many of the teachings are in both cassette and digital form, so you can order whichever you prefer. But, I better keep working on them, instead of talking about them! God bless your day!
    Note on crossed out type: I have decided not to use this name after all. The name of my own ministry for legal purposes will continue to be Last Minute Ministry.

Saturday, August 23, 2008
Through Isaiah 39

11:00 p.m.
Praise the Lord for another day that He has made. God has never allowed my life to fall into an endless, dull routine. Today I was terminated from employment by, and association with, Faith Ministries and Publications. The facts are on the news page. God is wonderful! I am eagerly anticipating what God has next for me. I continue to love the message I received through the founding pastor of Faith Assembly. I’m sure the days ahead will be full of blessing as God continues to lead and direct His Work.
This has no bearing on the restoration of God’s work. There might be some who feel there is no “real” Faith Assembly apart from its association with Faith Ministries. In fact, God’s work is always identified by association with His message, not with any particular ministry. God’s work is related to those who walk in the truth, not just show loyalty to a minister or ministry. God’s restoration will involve people who have received the truth, and desire to continue to receive it; but above all, those who truly want to walk in the truth of total discipleship. And that restoration may actually be aided by taking a step back from direct association with a specific ministry. That is a step back. Not rejection. We still walk in the same message. But it is a walk that transcends associations; it is a walk of following Jesus. That is our heart and soul.

Saturday, August 16, 2008
Through Isaiah 23

12:00 noon
Praise the Lord for another day that He has made. God has never allowed my life to fall into an endless, dull routine. At least not for very long. I am never sure what God has in mind for me, but I always know it will be challenging and fruitful. Sometimes I can’t see the fruit clearly with my own eyes, yet I know that nothing God does is ever in vain, and the Word I have been preaching under His direction will not return void. I know I am a tool in His hands; so if He wants to use me as an ax to hew, “shall the ax boast itself against Him that heweth therewith?” Or, if He wants to use me to saw, “shall the saw magnify itself against Him that shaketh it?” (Isaiah 10:15). I know that the work I have been doing these past 17 years is the Lord’s work, and I know that He called me directly to be the pastor of this body, where I have been serving over 14½ years now. I tremble still at any thought of looking back, after having put my hand to the plow. The enemy is still trying to make it appear that Faith Assembly was the work of a man, and that when the man passed off the scene, Faith Assembly essentially ceased to exist. But I know the message and direction is what identified the work then, and still identifies it today. Even our connection with Faith Ministries And Publications is really only incidental. There are other bodies that make use of the same resources, and it never was necessary in the past for the pastor of Faith Assembly to also manage Faith Ministries and Publications. It has been my privilege to do both these 14 plus years (I began working at Faith Ministries and Publications on August 19, 1991, 17 years ago next Tuesday, and I was recognized as pastor December 18 of 1993), but I have known for some time already that this was not to be the situation for the rest of my life. I know that I must always be prepared for the next step, and ready to follow wherever the Lord leads me. He alone can redirect where I serve Him, if He so chooses; and, if He does, I will obey, and that will not be a case of looking back after having put my hand to the plow. Not that there is any specific thing I know of at this time that is going to change — that is not my point — only that God has been reminding me of the need to be prepared to move any direction at His command. It should not come as a a shock, or become a crisis situation, if God ordains changes in our lives. We all know: any change that is of God, or that God allows, is surely for our good.

Thursday, August 7, 2008
Through Isaiah 14

Oh, the searchings of the Spirit! The things everyone else in the world has probably known forever, and I feel that I am just beginning to catch glimpses....
I shall try to explain my latest “profound” discovery/thought about life. For a while now, I have made an effort to look at every human being in light of the fact that each one was born; each one had a mother; with rare exceptions, each one’s mother loved her child, cared for it, wanted the best for it. This is easy enough to do when a person is “beautiful,” but it is just as true for those who are plain, or for those unto whom the devil has been uncommonly cruel in terms of their physical appearance. Just to think, a mother bore that one, too, and loved him or her. Is anyone beneath being treated as a person who was beloved by a mother? Does not the fact that someone loved them, in and of itself, give them worth? Is it not contemptible to treat with contempt the love that was bestowed on that one, who was once upon a time a child?
So, of course, this hints of I John 5:1.

{1 John 5:1} Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.

But, today, something else occurred to me. When we cannot have our way at some point, are we so vain as to think that no one could possible want something different than what we want? And, should not the fact that another person wants it different be sufficient reason to be happy? That fact that how it turned out made someone else as happy as I would have been to have it my way? Plus the fact that if I had it my way, it would have been at the expense of someone else’s happiness? Whatever it was that I wanted would have spoiled someone else’s day. Can I be happy that I did not spoil it for someone else because of insisting on getting my way? Whatever that objective is, it’s like a person who does not appeal to me, either by appearance or by personality: they had a mother who loved them, and that gives them worth. The fact that someone will be happy because of getting their way, when I give up getting my own way, gives worth to them getting their way, and might be a justification for me to be happy.
Now, like any other idea, there are boundaries. In life, there is an external basis for determining right and wrong, and the fact that someone enjoys evil doesn’t make me happy about letting them enjoy their evil. This especially applies to parents in rearing children. Children may whine it’s just parents wanting to get their own way. No, dear child; your parents love you, and want what is best for you. You have no idea of how much Mom and Dad have already given up of getting their own way just to fulfill their responsibility to clothe you, feed you, educate you, and entertain you. They’ve been deriving their happiness from making you happy, at the expense of their own private fun, all their lives. And there just are points where they cannot let you have your way, not that they just want it their way, but because they want to keep you from violating the eternal, absolute standards of God’s Word, because they know that can only lead to greater misery than you could ever justify by any momentary thrill you might think you would get out of whatever worldly pleasure you are seeking, that Mom and Dad say, “No” about. The principle it was once a baby loved by a mother doesn’t apply.

So, anyway, that is the general framework of my newest “profound” thought, and as I thought about it, I realized, this really is not profound at all. Everybody but me already knew it all this time, and wondered what was my problem! Oh, well: better late than never, I guess. God will perfect that which concerneth me, in Jesus’ name!