(Acts 17:6b)

Contained within the words of a weekly email from the Family Research Council Prayer Team were these words from E.M. Bounds’ (1835-1913) book entitled The Preacher and Prayer:

“The character of our praying will determine the character of our preaching.  Serious praying will give weight to preaching.  Prayer makes preaching strong, gives it unction and makes it stick… It cannot be said with too much emphasis, the preacher must be preeminently a man of prayer.”

And while most of you would probably agree with Pastor Bounds, you might not make the necessary correlation between his strong admonition for pastors and the parallel reality for all believers.  It is true, in fact, that prayer brings authenticity to the life of every single follower of Christ.  Not only does the “character of our praying determine the character of our preaching,” but we can also safely say, “the character of our praying determines the character of our living.”

Remember it was Jesus who said, “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing (John 15:5).  Or in another place He said, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).  The Apostle Paul furthered developed Christ’s words with this command to the believers in Philippi: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

So, while I am seeking the Lord in my daily life… and hopefully it will be obvious through my preaching week after week, I would like to encourage each of you to seek the Lord daily… and let it become obvious in your living day after day.  We need Jesus.  We can’t survive without Him.  Why not take a few minutes right now to acknowledge His presence and offer Him praise and thanksgiving; and then before you continue about your day, invite Him to use your life to honor and glorify Him today.  After all, the character of our praying will determine the character of our living.  See you Sunday…

Pastor Jamie

Recently a friend loaned me his copy of author Eric Mataxas’s 2010 biography on Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  Bonhoeffer, the German-born author, pastor, theologian, and martyr came from a large, closely-knit family.  He was the sixth of Karl and Paula Bonhoeffer’s eight children born between 1899 and 1909, only ten minutes older than his twin sister, Sabine.

When Dietrich was just 12 years old his two oldest siblings – brothers Karl-Friedrich and Walter – enlisted in Germany’s infantry to fight in what we now call the First World War.  Both brothers departed for the front lines within a month of each other.  Author Eric Metaxas tells the story like this:

“In April 1918 it was Walter’s turn to go.  As they had always done and would do for their grandchildren’s generation twenty-five years hence, they gave Walter a festive send-off dinner.  The large family gathered around the large table, gave handmade presents, and recited poems and sang songs composed for the occasion.  Dietrich, then twelve, composed an arrangement for ‘Now, at last, we say Godspeed on your journey’ and, accompanying himself on the piano, sang it to his brother.  They took Walter to the station the next morning, and as the train was pulling away, Paula Bonhoeffer ran alongside it, telling her fresh-faced boy: ‘It’s only space that separates us.’ Two weeks later, in France, he died of a shrapnel wound.  Walter’s death changed everything.”

When I read this paragraph two things flooded my heart.  First, when we experience the death of a beloved family member or friend it does “change everything.”  Life is different.  Someone we loved and treasured is gone.  Life is different.  They are absent.  However, for those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ, the difference is merely temporary.  We will be re-united with one another in heaven… and that will last forever!  Paul told the Thessalonians that “Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thess 4:17).

Second, I love Paula Bonhoeffer’s perspective on the distance separating her and her son – “It’s only space that separates us.”  In other words, the distance from the Bonhoeffer’s home in Berlin, Germany to the front lines of battle in France was only a separation in space.  There was no separation in her love and devotion for Walter.  This, too, is clearly stated in Scripture.  Paul told the Romans that “I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).

Here is hope for us TODAY:  Through faith in Jesus Christ we are assured of eternity together with all other believers from all epochs of time, and we can NEVER be separated from the love of God granted to us in Christ our Savior!   Rejoice in the goodness and grace of our FOREVER God as we look forward to eternity with Him and with one another!

Pastor Jamie

(Matthew 5:14)

While this Scripture is nothing new to you, the thought is nonetheless crucial.  Almost daily you and I are receiving news and information like today’s report from author and Bible teacher Joel Rosenberg, “With our national debt skyrocketing, our politics divided, many marriages and families crumbling, and the growing threat of another war in the Middle East, one thing is clear: 2012 is going to be a critical year for the United States. Will the Church step up and be the shining city on the hill that Jesus called her to be? Will we see God pour out His grace and mercy in a series of transformative revivals that will save our nation again as He has saved us in the past? Or will we continue rejecting God’s mercy and see our decline accelerate into a national death spiral?”

Or consider this quote Attorney Matthew Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, provides from a recent Washington Post article regarding the “National Defense Resources Preparedness” Executive Order (EO) President Obama signed on March 16th, placing himself and certain government bureaucrats above the law, “That single EO granted the power ‘to commandeer all U.S. domestic resources, including food and water, as well as seize all energy and transportation infrastructure inside the borders of the United States.’  Further, the Government can also forcibly draft U.S. citizens into the military and force U.S. citizens to fulfill ‘labor requirements’ for the purposes of ‘national defense.’ There is not even any congressional oversight allowed – only briefings… [President Obama] now possesses the potential powers of a dictator.”

Well, “so much for a Word of Hope, pastor,” some of you are now saying.  Let me explain.  Such times as these produce many questions, not the least of which may be, “How shall we go about living when so much potential turmoil is in the air globally, but more specifically, even at home in the USA?”  The answer, of course, is that we shall go about living as we have always done – with faith in our great God who is over all, and in all, the affairs of mankind, and who desires to empower His people by His grace to live and declare the Gospel regardless of our life circumstances.  Or as Paul told the Philippian church, “I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death” (2:20).

The Bible teaching conference the staff and I are attending today and tomorrow is serving to remind us of this gravely important truth.  No matter the changing nature of, and the instability of our social and moral environment, our purpose as followers of Christ does not change… “preach the Word; be ready in season and out of season… endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (2 Timothy 4:2,5).  That is not just a Word of Hope for pastors, it is a hope-filled word for all of us.  Think about it, and, then by His grace, do it!

Pastor Jamie

(Ephesians 6:13)

The spiritual climate in which we live in America today is not very friendly to Christians.  Our federal government continues to support and legalize things which most committed Christians do not agree with… most recently our federal government, as part of the now infamous Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) signed into law by President Obama March 23, 2010, ruled in January of this year that regardless of religious belief, all institutions and organizations providing healthcare coverage for their employees must pay for and provide insurance that covers abortion-inducing drugs, contraception, and sterilization.

All of a sudden political correctness has supplanted our Constitutionally-provided freedom of religion.  Today, according to our federal government, it is more important to provide a woman’s so-called “right” to abortion than it is to provide religious liberty to all persons.  Our society has lost its way, and we stand in jeopardy of losing our nation in the process.

Add to this tragedy Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley’s recent signing (March 1^st) of the Civil Marriage Protection Act ensuring same-sex couples in Maryland have the so-called “right” to homosexual marriage.  It is apparent, as one state after another falls prey to political correctness and the pressure from homosexual activists across America that our nation is rapidly turning away from Biblical morality.  We are in a moral free-fall, and God’s judgment awaits us at the bottom of this pit.

What shall we do in times like this?  Despair?  Hide?  Become Angry?  Take matters into our own hands?  Actually,  when Paul was writing to the Ephesians, who lived during very similar days in the 1^st Century Roman Empire, he told them to “take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand” (Ephesians 6:13).  Our responsibility in days like these is to live our faith boldly and unashamed.  We are to do everything we possibly can to make sure the purity of our faith in Jesus Christ and the clear sounding of His Gospel is resonating from our lives!  Keep the faith; stand up for Jesus!  See you Sunday, Lord willing.

  Pastor Jamie

(Matthew 24:14)

The days in which we live hold unimaginable potential for reaching a lost world with the Gospel.  Though Candies Creek Church is just one of about 350,000 churches in the USA and only one of millions of fellowships, house churches, small group Bible studies, and organized churches, our global reach is virtually unlimited.

Just today I saw these remarkable statistics regarding the interconnectedness of our ever-diminishing planet:

• The population of the world just passed the 7 billion mark.
• About 1/3 of the world’s population has access to the internet (2.26 billion users).
• Of the world’s 2.26 billion internet users, 1 billion are in Asia (26% social penetration).
• While North America has the highest percentage of people with internet access (79%) among all continents, we are still only 273 million users (just ¼ of Asia’s number of users).
• Africa, though remote, is growing in internet access, now up to almost 15% of the population being connected to the worldwide web.
• Both European and Australian populations exceed 60% of their populations connected to the internet.

Imagine this world we actually live in… one-third are connected to the same thing you are reading this Word of Hope on – the worldwide web of communication!  What a tool God has given us to keep up with friends, but more importantly, to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

No doubt, the main reason God has allowed the internet to come into existence is for HIS GLORY and the advancement of His Kingdom.  Are you using this great asset to “preach” the Gospel to the ends of the earth?  I want to challenge each of you to find a friend of your same sex in a far-away place and develop a friendship with him or her so that you can use the internet for its greatest benefit – the salvation of the lost.  We are, after all, a “river of hope to a dry and thirsty land,” which comprises the entire globe.  The accomplishment of the Great Commission is within our reach in this generation!  Think about it…

Pastor Jamie

Some people only have a birthday once every four years.  That’s how often we experience a leap day… which makes this a leap year.  Technically leap year comes every four years, except those years that are evenly divisible by 100.  Those years have no leap day, unless they are evenly divisible by 400, then they do.  Got that?

The reason we have the unusual opportunity for a leap year is because the earth’s complete revolution around the sun takes 365 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes and 16 seconds.  Therefore, every four years those hours create an extra day on the Gregorian calendar, except on the years evenly divisible by 100.  According to Wikipedia, the “Gregorian calendar repeats itself every 400 years, which is exactly 20,871 weeks including 97 leap days.”  That means that 97 years out of every 400 is an unusual, or an out-of-the-ordinary, opportunity.

Based on a Harvard University study on birthdays between 1973 and 1999, the most common months for birthdays are September and October, with September 16^th the most common and December 25^th being the least common birthday among Americans, except for February 29^th.  There are just certain days that are unusual opportunities.

The Apostle Paul often encountered unusual opportunities in his ministry.  The Scripture listed above describes one of those from the book of Acts.  Paul, being put on display like a show dog by Governor Festus, was presented to King Agrippa so Festus could get some advice on how to handle Paul’s unique situation (Acts 25).  Paul saw his presentation before the King and the prominent men of the city as an unusual opportunity.  And so he used it to share the Gospel.  It sounds like a good model for me and you… when caught by an unusual opportunity use it to declare the good news of Jesus Christ.  It might just be the very reason God has us there!

Think about it, and I will see you Sunday, Lord willing.

Pastor Jamie

The New York Times had an article in May, 2011 on the percentage of couples in America who are married versus those who are not.  The headline caught my attention: “Married Couples Are No Longer a Majority, Census Finds.”  According to the article “married couples represented just 48 percent of American households in 2010.”  Compared to 1950, this is a decrease of 30 percentage points in the past 60 years – a five percent decline every decade for 6 decades in a row.

The article listed other disturbing trends in the American family.  Only one-fifth (20%) of households in America are traditional families, defined as a married couple with children.  In 1950, 43 percent of American households could be defined as traditional.  “The days of Ozzie and Harriet have faded into the past,” said William Frey, senior demographer at the Brookings Institute.  The biggest change for the first decade of the 21^st century “was the jump in households headed by women without husbands – up by 18 percent.  The next largest rise was in households whose occupants were not a family – up by about 16 percent.”  Things, they are a’changin’.

As Penna Dexter wrote last August for the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, “Generation X (1964-1982) went through its all-important, formative years as one of the least-parented, least nurtured generations in U.S. history.”  With the demise of the Biblical formula and foundation for family, it is always the children who suffer.  W. Bradford Wilcox, the director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, argues that “the retreat from marriage is bad for society because it means less security for children.  Kids from broken homes are much more likely to be exposed to instability, complex family relationships and poverty.”

Elizabeth Marquardt, head of the Manhattan-based Center for Marriage and Families said that a recent report from Child Trends revealed that “the more traditional the parental relationship, the better kids did in all sorts of academic and behavioral categories.  Children living with biological or adoptive parents did better than those living with unmarried parents.  And results were worse for children living in married stepfamilies, and even worse for children in a home with one biological parent and a live-in partner.”

All this simply points to the fact that God knew what He was doing when He designed the family.  He really doesn’t need our progressive, non-Biblically-informed ideas about how to make family after our own desires.  When God rebuked the priests through the prophet Malachi, He chastised them for treating the wives of their youth treacherously.  After all, said Malachi, the reason God made you and your wife “one” is so that you will have “godly offspring (see verses above).  Mom and Dad, there is no treasure greater in your life than your children; stay faithful to one another so that your children can grow into being godly followers of Jesus Christ.  The greatest guarantee for this to happen is the success of your marriage.  Pray about it… live it…  and I will see you Sunday, Lord willing.

Pastor Jamie

for such a time as this.”  (Esther 4:14)

Last fall we had Daniel Henderson as one of our guest speakers during the week of meetings we called “Heart Cry for Revival.”  Daniel is a former pastor, and presently the founder and president of “Strategic Renewal,” a ministry to ignite personal renewal, congregational revival, and leadership restoration for Christ’s glory.  He is also the co-leader of the “6:4 Fellowship” with Jim Cymbala, pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, which is a fellowship of pastors committed to prayer and the ministry of the word (Acts 6:4).

My wife and I took Daniel and his traveling associate out for a late supper after the service last fall.  During our meal time conversation I was relaying to Daniel my personal frustration with some of our denominational leadership and their apparent failure (in my opinion) to call our denomination to prayer, asking God to bring revival and spiritual awakening to the church in America.  “At some of our denominational meetings this year,” I said to Daniel, “I have asked that a time of corporate prayer be included in the agenda of leadership meetings, instead of the perfunctory Scripture and prayer spoken only by the person at a microphone.”

And then I asked Daniel, “Am I supposed to continue to ask for this every time I am in one of these meetings, or should I be satisfied that we have had seasons of corporate prayer at a few meetings this year?”  Then Daniel spoke truth right to the core of my soul, when he said, “Why else do you think you are there?”  And he was right, wasn’t he?  If God has invested 52 years of spiritual development in my life to teach me the simple importance of God’s people praying together, then why else would I be involved in denominational leadership meetings?  It was so clear when he spoke it, that I was a little embarrassed that I had even asked such an obvious question.

It’s the same principle that Esther’s first cousin Mordecai impressed upon Esther when she hesitated about approaching the king to seek deliverance for the Jews (see Esther 4).  Mordecai sent her a message when she hesitated, saying, “Do not imagine that you in the king’s palace can escape any more than all the Jews. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish.  And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”

My friend, you are where you are right now by the appointment of God, for just such a time as this!  The reason you are in that place is to bring glory to Him alone.  Don’t underestimate the importance of your role in the affairs going on around you – God is at work and you are one of His instruments.  Rejoice in it.  Be faithful to it.  Let your voice and your presence be useful to His purpose. Pray about it and I will see you Sunday, Lord willing.

Pastor Jamie

(Psalm 4:4)

Do you remember when neighbors often shared a telephone line and each neighbor had their own unique ring?  Sometimes one neighbor would pick up the phone to call someone and discover that one of his neighbors was already on the phone.  Nosey neighbors might try to eavesdrop on the conversation, or if one neighbor had an emergency she might ask those already talking to get off the phone so she could make a call.  Using the telephone was much different than it is today.

In my childhood I rarely ever talked on the phone.  First of all I was too busy riding my bicycle or playing ball, and secondly why would I call someone I could go see.  In high school I rarely called friends on the phone because we lived 12 miles from the city where we attended high school and it was a “pay call” – in other words, it wasn’t free, and our time on the phone was limited.  I  am also old enough to remember when there were only three channels on our television (which we did not have until I was seven years old), and the word computer had not yet been invented.

What I’m getting at is that it wasn’t very hard to find a little “peace and quiet” 40 or 50 years ago.  There was no computer or internet to allure us to its sights and sounds; no email calling our name; no ever-present, hand-held phone / gaming device / internet search engine / text messenger; no endless supply of TV channels to keep us entertained or distracted.  I could find “peace and quiet” in my bedroom, or even in the living room if none of my siblings were playing the piano.  I could find “peace and quiet” in my treehouse in the woods behind our house, or down on the banks of the Mill Run creek.

A recent TIME magazine article told how YouTube, owned by Google and now all of 7 years old, has grown since its inception.  A year ago users of YouTube around the world were uploading 24 hours worth of videos to the website every minute.  More than 2 billion videos are viewed on YouTube every day of the year!  Another TIME magazine article recently stated that Facebook’s membership hit 800 million in 2011, and is expected to exceed 1 billion members sometime this year.  Between watching our friends videos on YouTube, checking our friend’s daily status updates on Facebook, and staying in constant touch with friends and others 24/7 through Twitter and/or text messaging… not to mention a little TV watching and an occasional movie at the theatre…  there is little time left for genuine, meaningful “peace and quiet.”

Let me urge all of you Facebook users, or Twitter followers, or TV watchers, or YouTube viewers, or 24/7 text messengers, to be sure and budget some time in your DAILY SCHEDULE for some “peace and quiet.”  Discipline yourself to put all the media down for an hour or two each day and just be with God, or just be with family or friends, or just simply to BE STILL.  It will feel awkward at first, but once you make it a habit, you won’t want to trade it in for any media, no matter how glitzy.  Think about it, and I will see you Sunday, Lord willing.

          Pastor Jamie

This week I am fasting and praying for our church, our denomination, and my own family to be instruments in the hands of God to help bring spiritual awakening to our city, county, state, nation, and world. God has taught me many things over the past two decades during times of fasting and prayer.

Not eating and not preparing meals, as well as not having to think about what to eat or where to eat, frees up a considerable amount of time. It is amazing how much time and effort (not to mention expense) is wrapped up eating. Extended fasts, lasting more than a day or two almost always result in a heightened awareness of the Lord, His presence, His voice, His Word. Fasting also slows me down internally; I seem to be more purposeful and less stressed about it…awonderful combination. Fasting also makes me quieter; subdued; pensive; introspective.

Though taking a break from food to focus for a season on the Lord alone is biblical, I was reminded just today that neither food nor the absence of food in a person’s life is what really strengthens a person. The verse listed above from Hebrews 13:9 says that our hearts are “strengthened by grace.” Eating the right kind of foods did not strengthen the hearts of those who observed the Law of Moses. Giving up foods for a season of intense fellowship with Christ does not strengthen the heart. What strengthens our hearts is the grace of God!

Reveling in Christ; abiding in Him; walking in the light as He is in the light; these are the things that truly strengthen believers. This is the month that most of us are starting new habits, changing old patterns of behavior, or resolving to give something up or add something on to our lives. Just remember, while you are eating cottage cheese, or jogging one more lap, or giving up fried foods, true strength for living is found only in Christ. The other things are good; don’t stop seeking to live a disciplined life. Just keep Christ first. “It is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace.” Think about it, and I’ll see you Sunday, Lord willing…

Pastor Jamie

My house needs a new roof (according to our insurance agent after the storms of 2011).  Our bonus room needs new light fixtures.  The half bath needs to lose its 1970’s look.  My truck needs new tires.  My wife needs a vacation.  My son and daughter need to visit seminaries to determine where God wants them to prepare after college graduation.  I need a few more hours in each day.

Needs always press us to determine PRIORITIES.  Have you ever had difficulty determining what is MOST IMPORTANT?  You know, setting priorities.  Where to begin?  What’s the greatest need?  Actually, as I read the Bible I am reminded that the greatest priority is God… having Him first; devoted to Him above all other persons and things; loving, serving, honoring, and obeying Him ahead of all other demands on my time, my resources, and my energy.

When the prophet Haggai was ministering among the returning remnant of God’s people around 520 B.C., he and the prophet Zechariah encouraged the once-captive exiles to rebuild the temple – the place that marked God’s presence among His people, and the place of prayer and worship for the people of God.

It seems, however, that the people were having a hard time determining their priorities.  The men and women who were returning from the 70-year-long Babylonian captivity evidently felt great pressure to rebuild everything EXCEPT the temple first.  They chose to try to take care of their own needs before they glorified God for His deliverance from captivity.  This was a not a good choice.  God told the people, “Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate?  …Consider your ways!  You have sown much, but harvested little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put in a purse with holes.  Go up to the mountains, bring wood and rebuild the temple, that I may be pleased with it and be glorified, says the Lord” (Haggai 1:4,5,6,8).

Why did these returning exiles never seem to have enough of anything?  They had failed to glorify God first and foremost.  God must be our PRIORITY!  Love Him.  Serve Him. Obey Him. Honor Him.  Glorify Him… despite all the pressures we might face to do something else first.  Jesus said, “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).  That means that while I may want to spend $500 on new tires, but God asks me to give $500 to a family who is unemployed or to the “Finish the Task” offering, my response must be to obey Him and trust Him to meet my needs in another, unseen way.  The Bible calls it “walking by faith,” and it is a very exciting life!  Why don’t you try it this week, and I will see you Sunday, Lord willing.

Pastor Jamie

Just today author and Bible teacher Joel Rosenberg said in his email blitz called “Flash Traffic” that he “just finished writing and editing a new non-fiction book entitled, Implosion: Can America Recover From Our Economic and Spiritual Challenges In Time?” He hopes to have the book in bookstores by June of this year. However, he said that “I need to begin talking about the message now because the issues are too important to wait.” The book, he says, presents the argument that “America is not simply in decline; we are actually headed for collapse — an implosion — unless we make fundamental and sweeping changes soon.”

Rosenberg is not the only person making this kind of prediction. Many others are saying either the end of the world is upon us, or perhaps the end of America as we know it – from politicians to Bible teachers; economists to newspaper editors; Hollywood producers to university professors. And they may be correct. There is certainly enough evil in the world already for God to say, “Enough!” America alone has drifted so far from her Christian roots that even if the end of the world does not come in 2012, God’s impending judgment could cripple us at any moment.

Other prognosticators are talking about things like the Mayan calendar, supposedly one of the most accurate time keeping systems known to human kind, predicting the world will end on December 21, 2012 at 11:11am. Others point out that this year (January 31) the second largest near-earth asteroid named 433 Eros will pass fairly close to the earth (about 16 million miles) and serve as a reminder how fragile our existence on earth could be. Others talk about the earth’s population exceeding 7 billion people sometime this year – what non-faith people want to call an unsustainable population. Still others will talk about the disaster that awaits America should we not get our nation’s indebtedness, and wild spending patterns under control.

All of this should drive us straight to God’s Word – our everlasting source of wisdom and guidance. The Bible reminds us that, YES all of this world will one day come to an end. And YES, one day our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will return for His Bride, the church (those who are genuinely His faith-followers). So, while movies portray the end of the world with monsters from outer space, and economies across the earth continue to unravel, there is one thing about the end of the world that you and I should rejoice in today. When God has waited as long as He intends to wait for people to turn to Him in faith, He is going to send His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ to retrieve us from this broken world and take us to be with Him forever!

Until then, love Him with all your heart, live in a constant state of preparedness to serve Him effectively, and give yourself away in ministry to others…and don’t panic, worry, or be anxious. Think about it and, Lord willing, I will see you Sunday.

Pastor Jamie

This week we have about 30 college students in Atlanta at the Passion Conference.  Amazingly, thanks to the tremendous advancements in technology we have experienced in the past 10 years, I can be there too.  No, I am not a college-age student (a requirement for admittance), but the sessions are streamed live on the internet; they are also saved at the Passion website for 24 hours so I can watch when I can work it into my schedule.  WOW!

The Christ-focused call to service and the Christ-exalting worship that is happening with 45,000 college students at the Georgia Dome is phenomenal!  I just watched part of Tuesday night’s worship in which singer-songwriter Chris Tomlin was joined in leading his hugely popular “How Great Is Our God” song by other singers from around the world.  It was a tiny glimpse of heaven as Africans, North and South Americans, Asians, and Europeans joined their voices and their languages together to sing praise to Jesus!

It was an extraordinary preview of heaven where we will all participate in thoroughly international worship of Christ for all eternity!  Please pray that our college students will be so overwhelmed by the experience, by the ministry of the Word of God, and by the call of God to the nations, that they will never be the same in their commitment to Christ!

While the rest of us may not be at the Georgia Dome being thrilled by the worship of nearly 50,000 intensely devoted followers of Christ, our task is the same as theirs – carry the Gospel to a lost and broken world.  Keep your eyes on Jesus this year; there is a lot of work for us to do.  Stay close, stay clean, and stay humble.  Lord willing I will see you Sunday as we continue to prepare for, and engage in, kingdom work.

Pastor Jamie

Daddy saved stacks of lumber from the old home place – true, hand-hewn 4×8 beams, 2×4′s and 2×6′s, as well as several truckloads of tongue-and-groove wall and ceiling boards. I helped him stack some of it in large piles at the back of his property before I enlisted in the U.S. Army in September of that year.

Over the next couple of years Daddy used some of that lumber when he built a large two-car carport onto him and mother’s house. He sold some of the lumber, and gave some to others over the years. That was 34 years ago.

This past Monday, December 26th, 2011, the final two stacks of lumber disappeared into the crisp, winter, Pennsylvania air as I struck a match and burned the final boards and beams from the Work Family Farmhouse, constructed more than 120 years ago. I was on a little clean-up detail on mother’s property and the lumber which had become totally useless and mostly rotten, had to go.

Transition…a time of change from one era to another. Thirty-four years after the house came down the final pieces of that house were laid to rest in a heap of ashes. It may be that there are some things in your life, as in my own, that need to be finally laid to rest, not in ashes, but in the blood of Christ. Perhaps it has been 34 years or more that you have held on to some old habits or old ways that really need to go. Maybe it’s only been 34 weeks or 34 months…nonetheless, it is time to let go of those things that belong to yesterday, and lay hold of that which Christ has for you TODAY!

He is the God of all things new! As we march into a new year, let’s resolve not to hold onto anything that God has not ordained for our lives…not for even 34 seconds. The “former things have come to pass, now I declare new things…” Trust Him as you embrace the newness Christ died to make possible. Pray about it…and I will see you Sunday. Happy New Year!

Pastor Jamie

Two weeks ago I was sitting at a breakfast meeting with about a dozen other pastors and ministers. The leader of the meeting asked us to introduce ourselves and tell our place of service and approximately how many sermons we thought we had preached in our life time thus far…

I was amazed to discover that over the past nearly 30 years of preaching and teaching the Word of God, that I have probably preached or taught about 200 times a year totaling more than 5,600 messages. What was more staggering was that among our small group, more than 50,000 sermons or Bible lessons had been shared with the people of God in various venues all across our nation and around the world. May God be glorified!

Despite all those sermons, messages, and lessons, the reality is that even those who are God’s messengers find great comfort in the fact that our great, sovereign God is our “refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble.” For this I am most grateful on the Thanksgiving eve.

Whether you are a Bible teacher, a Sunday School teacher, a small group leader, a faithful daily witness, a pastor or evangelist, or just someone who listens to those who teach and preach, every one of us finds great comfort in the reality of our Lord’s nearness in times of difficulty. HE IS our refuge and strength! Praise His Holy Name; and thank Him!

The Psalmist goes on to say in other places, “My soul waits in silence for God only; from Him is my salvation” (Psalm 62:1). And again the Psalmist says, “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord gives grace and glory; no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11). And again, the Psalmist says, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust’” (Psalm 91:1-2).

This Thanksgiving give God thanks and praise for being all that we need in every moment and in every circumstance and trial. He is GOD! Pray about it, and I will see you Sunday, Lord willing.

Monday evening, after hearing preaching on prayer and revival all day at the Alabama Baptist Convention’s Pastor’s Conference in Mobile, Alabama, it was a privilege for me to once again tell the story of God’s work at Candies Creek. As part of his two-hour segment on revival Monday evening, Byron Paulus, the Executive Director of Life Action Ministries, interviewed me about the glory of God poured out on our congregation in April and May of this year, and allowed me to tell a little about what has happened since then.

Thank you for allowing me to be your representative by telling this story one more time so that others can be encouraged to seek God for revival in their own locations. As far as I know right now, this is the last time I will be travelling anywhere this year to testify. It is amazing how discouraged are many pastors all over the nation. Everywhere you have allowed me to go and tell the story, there have been pastors with whom I have talked who have unbelievably horrible church situations.

Believe me, as a result of hearing from pastors in the past six months from Arkansas, Arizona, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, and too many other places to remember, I have never been so convinced that we desperately need revival in our nation, our denomination, and our various local churches. I have listened to pastors who have considered everything from resignation to suicide. I am exhausted…but pressing on in prayer for God to do greater things in my own heart, in our church, and in our nation.

I believe God wants us, His people, to rejoice in Him once again! If you and I will seek the Lord’s face earnestly, we will discover what the Psalmist said in Psalm 85:9, “Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him.” Much of the travelling you have allowed me to do in order to go and tell God’s story of revival, so others will be lifted up to seek Him relentlessly, has now come to an end. Thank you for the privilege to speak and testify in so many places this year. I am looking forward to staying home for the next season of ministry, and the ongoing work God is going to do in our church family for His immeasurable glory. Let’s press on together in seeking His face, asking Him to complete the work He has begun in us. Keep praying…and I will see you Sunday.

Last week I shared some quotes from Bible teacher, author, and pastor John Franklin regarding the importance of a strong foundation of the corporate ministry of prayer and the corporate ministry of the Word of God in any local church who desires to be a fruitful witness. From that same article, Franklin makes it very clear how dangerous it is for churches who know they are guilty of prayerlessness to remain in that state.

Pastor Franklin writes, “prayerlessness is one of the most heinous sins a church can commit…Prayerlessness produces a minimum of five deadly consequences for the church:
(1) A lack of relationship with God
(2) A lack of love for God
(3) A lack of dependence on God
(4) A lack of obedience to God
(5) A lack of the proper fear of God

Franklin explains, “First, if we don’t pray together, how can the church even say she has a relationship with God? The whole purpose for which God saved the church is that we might know Him by experience, but prayerlessness robs that.”

“Second, how can the church say she loves God if she doesn’t spend time with Him? Those whom we love, we seek. Prayerlessness indicates a cold heart. When our love grows cold, what else would God want? He doesn’t need our service; He could only desire a love relationship.”

“Third, if we don’t call on God, then how can we say we depend on Him? We must be turning to something else – perhaps programs, preaching, promotion or the latest business principles from Wall Street, but in the end it’s not God.”

“Fourth, God commanded prayer. A failure to do it is disobedience, pure and simple.”

“Fifth, whenever the people of God no longer experience the presence of God, they lose the fear of God. The lack of encountering God creates amnesia of His holiness and a willingness to disregard Him and our accountability for sin. Hence we have the problem of those claiming to be Christians doing basically the same things in the same proportion as the world.”

Let’s prove that we are different from the world by no longer being a corporately prayerless church. We have prioritized prayer in our weekly ministry schedule. Every Thursday is a day of prayer. Everything is in place for prayer to become our practice. Please make every attempt to regularly join one of our times of corporate prayer every Thursday – men at 6:30am, all ages at 11:00am and again at 6:30pm. God is at work reviving us to be a “house of prayer for all the nations” (Mark 11:17). I am looking forward to seeing you this Sunday as we worship our Great God together!

Pastor Jamie

Of course all sorts of products and manufactured goods have been coming to America for decades, which have also contributed to the feeling that we live in a very small, greatly inter-connected, world. No matter the size of this world in which we live, there are some principles of life that do not change according to the size of our world, such as: “Happy is the man (or woman) who finds wisdom” (Proverbs 3:13).

King Solomon has a lot to say about wisdom in his writings, and in Proverbs 3 there are some very important statements we should be reminded of while we live in this very small, yet, inter-connected world. The person who pursues, and then embraces, the wisdom only God can give through faith stands in a position to be able to receive the following blessings, according to Proverbs 3:
(1) Length of days (3:16)
(2) Riches and honor (3:16)
(3) Ways of pleasantness (3:17)
(4) Paths of peace (3:17)
(5) Tree of life (3:18)
(6) Happiness (3:18)
(7) Life to your soul (3:22)
(8) Grace to your neck (3:22)
(9) Safety in your way (3:23)
(10) Feet that will not stumble (3:23)
(11) A heart that is not afraid (3:24)
(12) Sleep that is sweet (3:24)
(13) The Lord will be your confidence (3:26)
(14) Your foot will not be caught (3:26)
(15) The wise shall inherit glory (3:35)

This is good news for us! Today’s world often seems to be either going mad or falling apart, or both. But when we put our trust in our GREAT GOD, we can live with confidence that He holds all things, and us, in His hands. He is still the One who gives wisdom and understanding. Seek Him and He wil provide both. Think about it, and I will see you this Sunday (Lord willing)…

Pastor Jamie

I have many pleasant memories from childhood experiences of week-long revival meetings in both of the churches in my boyhood hometown. Revival services have been a part of evangelical Christianity for many generations. Charles Spurgeon often preached on the need for revival among his church family more than 100 years ago. On one occasion he said:

“This morning’s sermon, then, will be especially addressed to my own church, on the absolute necessity of true religion in our midst, and of revival from all apathy and indifference. We may ask God for multitudes of other things, but amongst them all, let this be our chief prayer: ‘Lord, revive us; Lord, revive us!’ We have uttered it in our song; let us stir up your pure minds, by way of remembrance, to utter it in your secret prayers, and make it the daily aspiration of your souls.”

As we look forward to our ten-day meeting with Life Action Ministries, April 10-20, let us continue to make it the daily aspiration of our souls to seek God for revival in our hearts and in our homes. “Lord revive us; Lord, revive us!” Pray about it…and I will see you Sunday.

Pastor Jamie

When we prayed in the still-unfinished upstairs of the children’s building, we were prompted to ask God to make it possible for our church family to pay off our remaining debt in 2011 (what was then the coming year) and thereby enable us to finish the 10,000 square feet of unused space shortly thereafter. As most of you remember, before two weeks had passed, God sent an anonymous check for the balance of our indebtedness left over from 2004 when God gave us the Children’s Building and the Student Building.

Praise the Lord for answered prayer! Sometimes we “do not have because we do not ask.” Yesterday our staff had another day of prayer, once again in preparation for our annual planning retreat that will come at the end of this month. As we prayed in the downstairs hallway of the Children’s Building, we asked God to please have our long-awaited architectural plans approved by the state Fire Marshall.

We have been delayed by almost two months in starting the construction of the upstairs project which includes an AWANA ministry room, Children’s Church space, additional classrooms, and an elevator. We even had to revise our plans once, and remained concerned the state Fire Marshall would request further modifications. However, by the time our prayer journey around the church campus came to an end, and I returned to my office three hours later, I checked my email, and there, in my “InBox” was a letter from the state Fire Marshall’s office stating approval of the architect’s floor plan! It had been sent about the same time we were asking God for it!

Praise the Lord for answered prayer! God has once again done the miraculous when we asked for His intervention in our circumstances. Sometimes we “do not have because we do not ask.” And sometimes we do not have because we have not asked “where two or three are gathered in His Name.” There is power in prayer; there is even greater power in corporate prayer in His Name.

Whatever you lack today, seek the Lord for His provision and answer. Better yet, ask some others to pray WITH YOU about it. Then watch and see Him provide His answer to your need…for the glory of His Name! Think about it, and I will see you Sunday…

Pastor Jamie

We are all very familiar with Jesus’ promise to His disciples (and to us) that “you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). In fact, we invest a great deal of our ministry and resources taking action upon this promise and thereby seeking to equip and deploy Christ-followers to be His witnesses.

What we don’t want to miss in our zeal to take the Gospel across Bradley County, Tennessee, America, and the world, is that there are foundational elements that must be in place if our witnessing efforts are going to be fruitful. That’s where Acts 6:4 comes in…”but we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” The apostles, not long after the church was birthed, affirmed two things which are indispensable ingredients in the fruitfulness of the church’s witness – the corporate ministry of prayer and the corporate ministry of the Word of God.

Concerning this, pastor and author John Franklin said in a recent article, “Don’t get me wrong. Missions and evangelism remain the preeminent task of the church. Jesus’ fervor in stating the Great Commission four times after His resurrection proves that. But they don’t create a healthy church life; they reveal a healthy church life. They are not the cause, but the effect.” The mobilizing power the Holy Spirit uses to bring about fruitfulness in the mission of the church is the corporate ministry of prayer and the corporate ministry of the Word of God.

Pastor Franklin went on to say, “As Southern Baptists we do fairly well in the corporate ministry of the Word. Preaching is the centerpiece of worship services. Sunday School has been our legacy for over 100 years. More recently we have led the way in discipleship courses… What we don’t practice is corporate prayer. Until we do, we will not see significant change in our denomination.”

Further, says Franklin, “the overwhelming majority of commands to pray in the New Testament are given to the church, not the individual. Jesus Himself taught on prayer in 37 verses on 14 different occasions. Of those 37 verses, only four are addressed to the individual. In the other 33 He corporately addresses His disciples.” Prayer is FIRST a corporate, church-wide function – praying together, in agreement, for His glory – then an individual privilege.

It should be exciting for all of us at Candies Creek to be a part of God’s renewing work, where, by His grace, we are prioritizing prayer in our corporate life as the church! Wherever God is at work throughout the world, it is always a result of God’s people praying together! As we intentionally pray with others in our homes, on our jobs, in our schools and in His church at Candies Creek, we can expect to see God do “abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within US” (Eph. 3:20).

I hope you will each keep working on re-structuring your family’s weekly schedule so that you can regularly join one of our times of corporate prayer every Thursday – men at 6:30 a.m., all ages at 11:00 a.m. and again at 6:30 p.m. God is at work reviving us to be a “house of prayer for all the nations” (Mark 11:17). Let’s embrace His reviving work! Keep praying, and I will look forward to seeing you when I return from these last two weeks of Study Leave.

Pastor Jamie

While there have been a remnant of people praying for several generations asking God to move in reviving power in our church family, those prayers became more pronounced in the months leading up to an 11-day Revival Summit in April, 2011. When the extended prayer times in small groups and worship services in January, February and March were combined with the use of a 30-day prayer guide published by our Prayer Team for March and April, the small group study among all youth and adults in Roy Hession’s book, The Calvary Road, in March and April, the prayer preparation among the Men’s Ministry and Ladies Ministry, the daily men’s prayer gatherings, and the intensive revival praying going on in Life Action Ministries’ 30-member revival team due to arrive at Candies Creek on April 8th, a supernatural explosion happened on the third day of the meeting that eventually extended our originally-scheduled 11 days into a six-week revival! Though the nightly meetings have ended, the Spirit of the Lord is continuing to reveal Himself to us in refining, reviving power.

Led first by two young adults under the age of 20 who confessed their hypocrisy in worship, the Spirit of the Lord broke the proud and stubborn will of our congregation. God began pouring out His Holy Spirit in convicting power to cleanse His people and prepare us to be instruments for His glory. Over the first four weeks of nightly meetings during the revival, individuals publicly confessed sin and sought God’s grace and forgiveness for more than 25 hours of collective service time! It was staggering. God was, and still is, cleansing His Bride. As a result of the revival meetings, God has led our church to confess and repent of (1) prayerlessness,
(2) a failure to practice Biblical, redemptive church discipline, (3) superficiality with God and with one another, (4) lukewarmness, or lack of commitment, (5) programmatic, non-Spirit-led worship and ministry, and (6) a preoccupation with mammon (money and stuff).

God is still leading us in the repentance process. The church recently adopted a new weekly ministry schedule that prioritizes prayer, extends service times, simplifies the weekly offering of ministries, and gives families time to be together. We are continuing to seek the Lord’s full measure of transformation into the likeness of Christ and a spotless Bride for His glory.