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Pastor's Corner |
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04/04/04
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Judges 7:18
When I blow
with a trumpet, I and all
that are with me, then blow
ye the trumpet on every side
of all the camp, and say,
“The sword of the LORD,
and of Gideon.”
More and more we are
hearing in the voices around us statements to the affect of:
“I am my own boss”, “I’m nobodies slave”, “I only care
about what happens to me”, “who do you think you are to tell me what to
do”, “I know my rights” (which means ‘my needs come first’, and
other such statements. At first glance these statements just seem to be
good, solid, stalwart confidence. Ok, maybe in some folks it seems to be
hyper-confidence. But surely there is nothing wrong with it. Right?
Consider. When you
look into the Scriptures, the predominate thought focus which God
continuously deals with is: My ways come first! My ways are higher than
yours. My ways are right. I alone am supreme. That means that no matter
what, we are de facto servants. We already are number two, before we even
open our mouth. How then can we win with a SELF battlecry?
We try to fight our
battles alone. We try to change our lives alone. We try to overcome our
faults alone. We try to be SELF MADE men and women. And in the end we always
end up UNMADE men and women. The sword of our natural man seems to shatter
when we need it most. The battle cry of FEAR ME, quickly becomes I FEAR.
We try to push away
God. We certainly push away man. And sooner or later we even push away
ourselves; into a deep, deep, deep corner of the recesses of our psyche. And
then we start to die. And then we are dead.
But it never had to be
that way. It never has to be that way.
God has a battle cry for all his servants: THE SWORD OF THE LORD – which
is mightier than any two edged sword; and the sword of GIDEON, which means:
WARRIOR. Follow Christ your warrior (instead of yourself) and use the
Lord’s SWORD (instead of your ego) and your adversary WILL RUN from you!
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© Anthony J. Massotti Th.M., Th.M.
4/04/2004 |
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04/11/04 |
Psalm 133:1
Behold, how good
and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
Now THERE is
something to sing about! In a world full of discord and dispute, where
every voice thinks itself to be the finest on earth (when in fact most
wouldn’t even pass an “American Idol” Entrance Exam), to find a
people who are all in tune and on the same spiritual page; yes, that would
be something worth singing about. To have us all DWELL in unity, abide
there? WOW.
Some people
despair; that unity will ever be achieved. Some people believe that it is
an idealists dream. After all, how many times have you found your peace
destroyed by the entrance of someone else who is ‘out of step’ with
your spiritual tempo? On the other hand, how many times have you blindly
blundered into a room where the Presence of God was on a person, never
realizing that a Holy conversation was going on with Creator and Created.
We just don’t see it.
I believe that
UNITY IS A MUST if we are ever to see the full Glory of God flowing from
our lives. Unity is the sweet honey of the Spirit. It begins when man
becomes ONE with the GOD. Indeed, every individual must become one with
the Almighty. Individuals that all are one with God more easily become one
with each other in Spirit. Scripture says:
Ephesians 4:3
Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
The unity of the
Spirit is granted to us by God as we draw nigh unto him. That is a given.
But the MAINTAINING of the unity of the Spirit between ‘anointed’
saints must be ‘kept’ by the saints. How can two walk together except
they agree? It is a fair question. The answer is: They can walk in the
Spirit, live in the Spirit. People who are fulfilling the Galatians 5
mandate to be spiritual, love ‘hanging’ with people who are spiritual;
and peace follows all who endeavor to be IN THE SPIRIT. It bonds the
spiritual with the spiritual in perfect unity.
The non-idealist,
the skeptic and those who have been damaged by disunity often will say:
‘But you can’t get two people to agree on anything! Everyone has an
opinion! Everyone believes their point of view!’ True, they are
partially correct in their cry of anguish; after all, we have NOT yet come
into the UNITY OF THE FAITH. As the verse declares, “Till we all come in
the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a
perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ”
(Ephesians 4:13), we are just not there, YET.
But we will get
there. How do I know? Because in John 17 at the closing stages of the
ministry of Christ, Christ prayed to the Father that we would be ONE! He
is OUR INTERCESSOR, and God has never left one of Christ’s prayers
unanswered. Christ’s WILL will be done. Today, unity of the Spirit!
Tomorrow, unity of the FAITH of the whole Body of Christ. Amen. Let’s
sing!
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© Anthony J. Massotti Th.M., Th.M.
4/11/2004 |
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04/18/04 |
Hebrews 12:2
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of [our] faith; who for the joy
that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set
down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Jesus Christ,
murderously impaled onto the cross-beam of a dead tree that had been a
partaker of more men’s deaths than a serial killer, endured. It’s hard
to imagine a man in so much pain enduring such humiliation and shame at
the hands of men who were not one-one-hundredth the human being that he
was. Next to criminals, a class of men he had no right being even in the
same cage with, he suffered the looks of the people as they wagged their
heads, wagged their tongues, and worse yet, even wagered over his clothes
below. Why, that assault upon his soul should have killed him!
If we had been him
(falsely accused, misunderstood, misquoted, misrepresented in a court of
law, and mistakenly taken as a threat to a nation) we would have shown
those rascals who had dared to oppose us a thing or two. Yes, we would
have come down from that cross; even if just to get out of the pain. But
he didn’t. Instead, he forgives a criminal on the left, assigns his
mother’s care to the disciple below watching, prays to the Father who
had brought him to this painful place, and the forgives the world (and the
people in specific) for placing him in this most painful predicament.
And the Jerusalem
reporter down below asks the question of his viewers, ‘Just how did he
do it? Was it because he was God? Was it because he was perfect? Was it
because he was drugged up?’
Jesus was a man who
lived for TOMORROW no matter what the situation was for today. He had
always been that way. He knew when his hour would be, and didn’t fear
it. He knew what his Father wanted him to do and he would embrace it. He
prophesied of his death long before it occurred and came to peace with it.
But most of all, and most important of all, HE SAW FORWARD TO THE DAY WHEN
DEATH WOULD LOSE IT’S STING! That’s right. He who had RAISED many a
dead man KNEW about his own resurrection. He who had visited with Moses
and Elijah on the mountain KNEW he would see them shortly. The Kingdom
that he had been preaching about and the mansions that he had been
promising his believers, he eagerly looked forward to go prepare. And the
Father, his beloved Father, welcoming him in with open arms saying, “My
good and faithful son, come thou in to the Joy of your Lord”, this kept
his HEART safe while his TENT was destroyed by evil assault.
It was not the JOY
NOW that kept him through the hard times, the busy times, the tumultuous
times and all the contradiction of sinners – not to mention demons –
which were arrayed against him. It was the JOY FUTURE that was his solid
foundation. HE BELIEVED EVERYTHING THAT HE PREACHED, AND HE LOOKED FORWARD
TO ITS FULLFILLMENT.
One day, your joy
will be full too; if you follow your Shepherd, if you endure to the end,
if you press for the mark, if you partake of the sufferings of Christ, if
you overcome, if you let no man take YOUR crown of faith. He understands
and will ‘succor’ you in it all; if you will call on HIS name. |
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© Anthony J. Massotti Th.M., Th.M.
4/18/2004 |
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04/25/2004 |
Revelation 1:4
John to the seven
churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which
is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which
are before his throne;
Peace. We want it at any price. Some people will die to have peace.
Some people will picket to have peace. Some people will kill to have
peace.
They want freedom,
they don't want war. They want liberty, they don't want disagreement. They
want unity but they don't want feel bound as one. They just want 'peace';
and disguise the request in a wide range of parallel ideas.
The 60's had a
movement that went into the early 70s'; looking for peace. The governments
of this world keep trying to write treaties in order to have lasting
peace. The poor worker in the shops just wants to have peace.
Peace. Everybody
wants it. It is an intrinsic need within the human heart; a need which was
created by the Creator Himself. It is the hearts cry for heaven, the souls
desire to go back to the garden of Eden, the flesh's cry for the absence
of pain, the mind's cry for the quiet of solitude. It is the cry of a
society absent of God.
Peace. We all need
it. We all want it. Yet, for all our desire... WE WILL NOT TAKE IT!
That's right, you
did not read wrong. I said, 'We will not TAKE it'. We will try to
manufacture it. We will try to fake it. We will try to negotiate it. We
will even try to steal it! But the NATURAL MAN will not TAKE IT!
The HOLE of peace
can only be filled by taking THE PEG created by God Himself designed to
fit it. "Grace and peace be UNTO YOU." Before God ever goes to
the step of discussing our goods, and our bads, our weaknesses and our
sins, our failures and our successes, HE SAYS, "UNTO YOU PEACE!"
When God makes an
offer, don't you think we should take it? Do you know how many times in
the Bible the gospel writers offered peace to their followers; and grace
too? We study out so many things, yet miss the simple and obvious.
The Prince of
Peace. What does that phrase suggest to you? The God of Peace. What
feelings does that conjure up in you. The Gospel of Peace. What mental
images does that bring up in you?
Prayer: Lord, I
want to ACCEPT your peace. I ask you to help me to RECEIVE your peace --
which passes understanding. I need you to cause me to be FILLED with
that peace.
The world is not
entitled to have peace. Did you know that? There is no peace to the
wicked; check your Old Testament. But there is peace OFFERED to all who
would follow God and His Son; check your New Testament.
Here is a verse to
hang on to for dear life: "NOW THE GOD OF PEACE BE WITH YOU ALL.
AMEN." (Rom 15:23). Never let go of HIM who IS, WAS, and WILL BE
peace unto the saints. Never trade inner peace for outer turmoil. Never
let another man take away your crown; a crown that came from the VICTORY
of Christ on the cross; a victory which USHERED IN THE AGE OF PEACE for
all mankind who would receive HIM.
God Bless you
all! And may PEACE rule in your hearts. Amen.
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© Anthony J. Massotti Th.M., Th.M.
4/25/2004 |
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Original Quote by Pastor Anthony |
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Man creates games to test human decision making -- where do you think that gift came from?
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This site was last modified on 10/10/2007
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