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Pastor's Corner |
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04/02/00
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Trust.... Trust?... Trust!.... Trust?... Truuusssttt...
Oh, trust. |
When it comes to living and surviving on planet Earth, you
only have a few places that you can put your trust. But when you come down
to scripturally considering them, in the end you will find out that there
is only one place you SHOULD put your trust. Let’s take a quick tour of
things we trust in, and what God says. |
Should we put our trust in our flesh? |
Php 3:4,8 ... If any other man thinketh that he hath
whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more... Yea doubtless, and I count
all things but loss ...and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ. |
Should we put our trust in our knowledge? |
Proverbs 3:5 ... lean not unto thine own understanding. |
Should we put our trust in our own hearts? |
Jeremiah 7:23-24 But this thing commanded I them, saying,
Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk
ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto
you. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the
counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward,
and not forward. |
Should we put our trust in our own minds? |
2 Corinthians 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the
serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be
corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. |
Should we put our trust in our fellow man.? |
Jeremiah 17:5 Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that
trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from
the LORD. |
Should we put our trust in our selves? |
Proverbs 19:3 The foolishness of man perverteth his way:
and his heart fretteth against the LORD. |
Should we put our trust in our finances? |
1 Timothy 6:17 Charge them that are rich in this world,
that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the
living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; |
Should we put our trust in Rulers, Kings, Governments? |
Psalm 146:3 Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son
of man, in whom there is no help. |
Trust should be in ONE PERSON... |
Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine
heart... |
Jeremiah 17:7-8 Blessed is the man that trusteth in
the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by
the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not
see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be
careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. |
© Anthony J. Massotti Th.M., Th.M.
4/02/2000
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4/16/00
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So, there I was sitting in my "corner" getting
ready to write (I am after all the Pastor and this is called ‘Pastor’s
corner) when it struck me that in the flesh there were many other things
that I would rather be doing than sitting and writing a Pastor’s corner.
And I wondered, in my own emotional way, just exactly what
the saints do with all the Pastor’s corners I write. Now, I am
not complaining mind you about the fact that I write Pastor’s corners,
but I wondered in my self just exactly what people do with the thoughts
which the Holy Ghost and I produce for the benefit of the people every
week. |
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Hebrews 4:2 For unto us was
the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not
profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
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When I stop to consider in my own life all of the sermons
that I have heard, all the books I have read, and even all the messages
that I have myself written -- including Pastor’s Corners -- it seems to
me that I am as much a victim of the disease of "what was that?"
as everybody else. |
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James 1:23-25 For if any be a
hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his
natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and
straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into
the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a
forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his
deed.
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It is so tragic to think that we move from point to point
in life and yet somehow keep missing the point of life. If the thought is
too hard, or the saying to long, or the meaning a little obscure, we will
willingly pass by that which God gives us to eat in hopes of finding
someone else’s kitchen cooking food that we find more personally
pleasing and emotionally satisfying. |
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Isaiah 55:9 For as the
heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
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Whatever else we do today, we must at least do one thing.
We must LISTEN WITH OUR HEARTS and not just with our minds. |
© Anthony J. Massotti Th.M., Th.M.
4/16/2000
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4/23/00
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Luke 16:18... for the children of this world are in
their generation wiser than the children of light. |
I was thinking, just recently, that in some ways the world
often has wisdom that the Christians (who are supposed to be the source of
true wisdom) are lacking. One of those pieces of wisdom is found in the
rhetoric of the theatrical arts. There is a common saying among all
actors, performers, and dramatists. The quote is: ‘THE SHOW MUST GO
ON". It is a phrase which has come to be a norm because even though
the people are consummate professionals, who practice their craft for
months on end before doing a performance, they find that when it comes to
SHOW TIME, anything can happen. A slip of the foot, a slip of the tongue,
a slip of memory, a slip of character, a slip of musical scoring, a slip
of directing, a slip of the sound technician, a slip of the lighting crew,
a slip of the props crew, a slip of the costume designers and even a slip
from the audience are ALL POSSIBLE events. The fact of the matter is that
even among the BEST, flaws happen. And while the people laugh at the
failings of the professional (knowing full well that if they themselves
were in that position they would not be able to perform even one-tenth the
ability of the star’s ability), the professional must dust off their
clothing, and their ego, AND PRESS ON! |
Even so it is in the Holy Ghost, in the church, and in the
Kingdom of God. Even though the church audience (comprised mostly of
critics and the judgmental and the self-righteous) all sit and analyze the
‘slips’ of other Christians (individuals and groups), the true SAINT
must go on! The Lord has given each of us a role to play in life; we call
them callings, leadings, and biblical mandates. And we MUST perform our
roles. Yet, He has told us that He will forgive us our failings. He has
told us that He will reward us for our efforts. He has told us that He IS
watching and that it is more important to Him that we DO than that we
merely watch or hear. AND He has made it very clear that judges will be
judged, the proud will be brought low, and the mocker will be mocked in
the Judgment. He says to those who are fulfilling His will: ‘endure to
the end’ and ‘be zealous’ and He says ‘I LOVE YOU’. Herein lies
spiritual wisdom: THE SHOW MUST GO ON! |
One day the curtain will fall and we will all be in a
place where FAILURES and WEAKNESSES will not exist. HEAVEN IS REAL! In the
meanwhile, we are left with this instruction: Prov. 24:16 For
a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again.... And we are left with this hope:
Jude
24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you
faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. |
© Anthony J. Massotti Th.M., Th.M.
4/23/2000
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4/30/00
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Today you have three choices. No matter how
many things you do, or how many things you think, or how many feelings you may
have, at ever juncture you will ultimately have to make one of three choices. Do
you know what they are? They are: SERVE GOD, SERVE SATAN, OR SERVE SELF. There
are no other choices. Three curtains - one prize.
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Now some people would say that if you
serve self then that is the same thing as serving Satan. But that is not
true. To serve self at a given moment of time CAN indeed be a surrendering
to Satan, but may also not be. It is, however, certainly true to say that
if you are serving yourself then at that moment you are NOT serving God;
and perhaps, that is a less than proper way to spend your time, but that
is not necessarily doing evil or being evil. Satan tempts self, but self
is not Satan. |
The real challenge comes not in placing
a value on what we are doing, but rather in determining our destiny by not
making the wrong decision when there is a clear reason to chose. If God is
tugging at your heart, AND the devil is tugging at the same time, THEN to
not chose the God-direction would be wrong. If the Devil is tempting you
to do something, and you for your own personal reasons (‘self’ in
action) decide not to do them then you have chosen self over Satan. And
that is a very good thing because God is not only watching to see what you
are doing merely for Him, but also personally against His adversary. Self
in adversity against Adversary IS advisable! |
The nice thing about have a WILL is
that what ever you CHOSE is an action of YOU! Many Christians, counselors,
and clerics do not realize that SELF is good when it chooses to do GOOD,
as well as, when it chooses to NOT DO evil. Both actions are actually
selfishly motivated. We chose to not do evil, because it is harmful to us;
both in this life and in the next life. We chose to do good, because it is
beneficial to us; again, both in this life and the next life. We may SAY
that we are doing it ‘for God’ but that is not quite true because it
implies that we are ‘not doing it for ourselves’ at all. It’s always
about us! |
God did not merely say, DO AS I TELL
YOU OR I WILL KILL YOU! What He said was: CHOSE LIFE! God wants us (the
real us, the ‘me’ inside, the inner man, the ‘will’, the soul) to
LOVE truth, good, right, spirit, Him; but He has not bound us to it. He
has made Himself vulnerable to be rejected or accepted at OUR CHOICE. And
likewise He has decided to ‘stand by’ and watch to see which master we
will serve. God offers BLESSINGS to entice us to serve Him! What lasting
blessings has Satan or Self |
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© Anthony J. Massotti Th.M., Th.M.
4/30/2000 |
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Original Quote by Pastor Anthony |
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God created; Satan destroyed. God blessed; the Devil unblessed and said 'blessed be.'
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This site was last modified on 10/10/2007
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Anthony J. Massotti Th.M. || Technical:
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