The Pastor's Pocket

I encourage you to read Acts 12:23 and Revelation 4 and 5. The Bible consistently warns us not to think too highly of what we do because God alone deserves the glory for whatever we become or attain. We live in a society that ascribes way too much glory to men.   Athletes that can hit home runs, drive a golf ball 300 yards, win races, or simply run fast; make millions of dollars and are made out to be idols and heroes.   Successful businessmen who make the top fifty “Forbes” list, glory in their financial clout and even in the Church we often see too much pride and think we have need of nothing.   On the average Sunday in America there are more people in stadiums, arenas, and racetracks than there are in churches.    The only one deserving of glory and worship is God!   No athlete, politician, musician, or minister anywhere could accomplish anything were it not for the Almighty who gives them their breath to breathe. Sure, we’ve gone to the moon, split the atom, and discovered DNA.  

Faith is the magnet that draws the attention of Almighty God.   I came across something interesting recently in Romans chapter 4. The whole chapter is about Abraham’s faith. How he believed God, and how he believed the promises that God gave to him. Verse 20 says, “he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God”. I was struck by the word “staggered”. In my mind, I picture someone who is intoxicated. I’ve seen such people, haven’t you? Someone under the influence of too much alcohol staggers around, they are unstable, they wobble on their feet.  The scripture says Abraham “staggered not at the promise”. In other words, Abraham never wavered in his faith. His faith was stable, solid, strong, and unbending. He really believed what God promised him, that he would be the faither of many nations, and his seed would become innumerable (vs. 18). By faith, he trusted God to bring it to pass even though he could not see it at the time.  God

Remember when you first began to read the Word of God? It was fresh – filled with promises, and you could not wait to hear the Pastor preach from it again. You fell in love with the scriptures that told you about Jesus and all that He did for people. Wait! Was that you who was sleeping through the sermon last Sunday?   I have some good news. A loss of wonder and amazement is a condition that can be remedied. Not only can we get it back, but we can consistently maintain it. The question is this; are you willing to admit you have lost the wonder? Do you find yourself just going through the motions in your worship, your Bible reading and witnessing efforts? Has your relationship with the Lord grown cold, dull and you feel a thousand miles from God? If this describes you my friend, you have lost the wonder of your faith. So how do you get that back? Let me offer a few suggestions: ·          Renew your focus on Jesus. Read Hebrews 12:1-2. Get your eyes back on Him. He will never disappoint

Acts 3:10 says, “And they were filled with wonder and amazement”. Most of these people had never seen a miracle like this before. A man, crippled since birth, now jumping around, and walking all by himself. No doubt about it – he was healed. Their reaction? The Bible says they were all amazed and “filled with wonder” – meaning they were overwhelmed, blown away, overjoyed, for this man’s good fortune.  I think one of the great tragedies of our day, is the number of Christians who have lost the wonder of their faith. They no longer believe God can do great things, amazing things, and this has affected their prayer life, their worship, their soul-winning efforts, and their consistent time in personal Bible study.  Over the years, I have observed this problem grow worse and worse. Many churches have lost their shout. There seems to be a lack of joy in the camp.  The enthusiasm is gone. A spirit of heaviness hangs over the congregation like a wet blanket. Pastors are discouraged. Many have

  Only God never changes (Malachi 3:6). Everything else in your life and mine changes.   Nothing stays the same. The weather, our bodies, the company you work for, the church you attend, your marriage, your children, the country you live in, the town where you reside; all of these things and a hundred more go through changes.   It’s part of life.   We all tend to resist change; we are comfortable when things stay the same.   But life teaches us that change occurs – it just does. Christians seem resistant to change as much as anyone else.   When change occurs for the better, we need to accept it, even embrace it!   I’ve been around people that long for “the good ol’ days”. But life on earth brings change and some of it is an improvement over the old.   For example, would you really want to return to the days without air conditioning? I doubt it.   How about trading your car in for a horse and buggy? I doubt you would go for that either. Don’t decry change my friend. Like it or not,

  The great prophet Isaiah once spoke these words, “Here I am Lord”. What is involved in saying that?   It means; all I have Lord; I place at your disposal.   Perhaps you think you have nothing to offer the Almighty, but how can you think that if you are created in the image of God?   Hear me friend, when you give to God what you have, He gives to you what He has!   Power, wisdom, discernment, His anointing, gifts, talent; it all comes freely your way when you give yourself to Him.   Too many Christians are convinced they don’t have anything to offer to the Kingdom.   Benjamin Franklin, remember him from History Class?   “Old Ben” had less than 2 years of formal education and yet he founded America’s first library.   At age 30, he started the first fire department. At age 36, he designed a heating stove that is still used to this day.   At age 40, he harnessed the power of electricity. At age 45, he launched the nation’s first university, and at age 79, he invented bifocals.   He was

  There is a powerful lesson about prayer in Exodus 17:8-16.   Verse 8 says, “Then came Amalek…” These bands of raiders in the desert were the Israelites first adversaries in the wilderness after they left Egypt.   The Amalekites were descendants of Esau (Genesis 36:12).   They attacked Israel from the rear and were a thorn in their side for many years to come. Amalekites could represent any number of things: problems, troubles, adversaries, headaches – anything that drives us crazy!   Joshua was instructed to gather men to fight while Moses went up on top of a hill to pray and intercede for them.   Aaron and Hur went with him.   As it turned out, the real battle was not with those fighting in the desert, but rather with the intercessors on the mountain.   God gave the victory while Moses prayed and Aaron and Hur held up his arms.   Why does it take us so long to learn that intercessory prayer is far more important than organization, programs, armies, money, or even education? Ther

  The highest level an athlete can attain in just about any sport is Pro (professional). Huge numbers of people play a sport in high school. Very few, however, ever make it to the professional level.   For example, in baseball, if an athlete is good enough in high school, he may go on to the college level. He may be noticed and sign with a team that sends him to the minor league level.   Eventually, if he works hard and develops his skills, he may make it to the “Big Leagues”. Only a handful ever make it that far.   In golf, only 2% of all the people around the world who play the game will ever attain the professional level and make a living playing golf.   In the Christian life, it is the desire of God for every believer to reach full maturity.   This requires effort and growth.   Ephesians 1:4 says, “…that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.”   To attain this goal, we must “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18)

Joel 2:25a, “and I will restore”. Our God is a God of restoration. Yes, He will chasten us for disobedience and bad behavior, but because of His grace and mercy, He is eager to restore His children to fellowship, and a place of blessing. He does this over and over in our lives. Paul wrote in Romans 5:20, “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound”.  Everyone makes mistakes in life. There is the seed of rebellion in each of us. Paul said in Romans l7, “in my flesh dwelleth no good thing”. There is a 100% chance we will fail the Lord over and over again, not because we want to, but because “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41). When you read the Old Testament, you will discover that the Israelites failed to follow God’s instructions repeatedly. They were chastened by the Lord for their rebellious ways, but when the prophets prophesied against them, they gave them a message of HOPE as well. Read Joel 2:23-27, the context for our text today, “I will restore”.

  “Brethren, pray for us.” (I Thessalonians 5:25). Someone once said, “There is nothing that makes us love a man so much as praying for him”.   When we lift one another up to God in prayer, love grows in our hearts for each other; and that’s a good thing!   Have you wondered, as I have, how people can feel lonely and feel like no one cares in the midst of this age of technology? Communication is enhanced, yet there are folks with all kinds of technological devices who are still lonely.   I guess it is a humbling thing to ask someone to pray for us, and yet that is exactly what the Apostle Paul asked of his brothers and sisters in Christ. Could it be we are too proud to ask? Are we too private to draw others into our world by asking them to “…pray for us”? Let us pray for one another. Love for one another always grows where prayer for one another is a common thing. The Pastor’s Pocket   Pastor Bruce Freeman

  Behind great accomplishments are great people! In Daniel 11:32, the Bible says, “but the people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits”. The word “exploits” means great things, unusual things, or extraordinary things.  How do great things and extraordinary things get done?  They get done by great people. Notice the verse says, “the people who do know their God shall be strong”.   Strength or inner fortitude comes from an intimate knowledge of the Almighty.   As we grow in our relationship with the Lord and we really get to know Him, we grow in strength and creativity.   Nothing can stop us from great accomplishments. It’s amazing what we can do when we put our mind to it.   Determination, hard work, perseverance, desire; all these things grow inside of us the tighter we get with the Lord.   The sky is the limit for anyone who will pursue an intimate knowledge of the Holy One. Question: Is God great? Is God the Creator? Answer: YES!   Well get this – you and I are

  God’s assignments are always bigger than we are. When we reach the end of ourselves and have exhausted our abilities, it is there that the power of God becomes evident and obvious to us. We must recognize our own limitations, our weaknesses, and then God shows His arm strong toward us. I have always believed that any church, any Christian, can thrive, win souls, love people, and fulfill that God-given potential for greatness, no matter where they are. Churches don’t grow without vision. We have to learn to see through God’s eyes what can be accomplished with His help. In Genesis 13, God took Abraham to the top of a mountain and told him to lift up his eyes and to look out in each direction on the land below, and then He said this, “...all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it...” (verse 15). In other words, Abraham, if you can see it, I’ll give it to you. When God calls us to ministry, He will always require a dependency on Him, not on our own abilities or limitations. If

Why isn’t every Christian on-fire for God?   When you study the life of Christ, the price He paid to redeem us.  How He left heaven and came down to earth, humbled Himself, suffered and died on a cruel cross, made it possible for us to escape the flames of hell and go to heaven when we die.  When you consider how God gives us all things richly to enjoy and gives us all the tools we need to live in victory over sin and Satan, and how the Lord provides for our needs and looks after us.  It makes you wonder, why isn’t every Christian “sold-out” to the Lord?   I can promise you this; it will be the red-hot, passionate, dedicated, spiritual believers that will move the Kingdom of God forward in the last days!  God has always had a remnant that He can count on to get the job done.  Are you in that number, if not, why? Now is not the time to be a lukewarm, carnal Christian.  Ask the Lord to stir your soul.  Become a passionate believer! Live a life that is sold-out to Jesus Christ.  One day,

  “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21b) That is an amazing statement for Job to make, isn’t it? Here is a man who had just had a really rough day. He lost his livelihood, all his sons and daughters, and still worshipped God (Job 1:20). You see, Job believed God was worthy to be praised, whether he had anything or not.   Here in America, we live in an affluent society. Even the smallest of homes would qualify as a mansion to people in third-world countries. Did you realize that half of the world’s population either walks or rides a bicycle everywhere they go? Job was a man of great substance. In other words, he was wealthy (Job 1:3). But when it was all suddenly taken away, he still worshipped God.   People find it easy to go to church when all is well, but let a little adversity come their way and they are suddenly absent. There is an amazing thing we discover at the end of the book of Job. You have to go all the way to chapter

If we are going to have any chance of reaching people who need the Lord, we must deal with the things in our life that might be a “stumbling block” to them. A stumbling block is anything that someone may trip over, or see in us that turns them off to our witness. None of us are perfect, however, that is no excuse for not dealing with things that might make people avoid us. What might some of those stumbling blocks be? 1.     Pride: Spiritual pride, social pride, racial pride. God detests any form of pride. It’s the attitude that says we are better than someone else. 2.     Moodiness: Moody people are like the wind; you never know which way they’ll blow. They are fickle and unpredictable. Unbelievers seldom respond to those who are one way one day and the next time you see them, they are totally different. 3.     Perfectionism: Perfectionists are seldom as loving, kind, or as compassionate as they need to be because they are obsessed with being flawless. They struggle to relate wi

Love And Loyalty   Jesus taught us to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matthew 22:37). This concept was nothing new, it was taught in the Old Testament as well, in Deuteronomy 10:12.  As believers, we so need to obey this command in our generation. Jesus was talking about a love beyond the ordinary, that’s what “radical” means.  God requires this of His people, it’s not a suggestion.   We are to love God supremely, above all others and to love Him fervently.   Then notice, it is to love “the Lord thy God”.   This deals with the issue of “loyalty”.   Again, the basis for this is found in the Old Testament, the first of the Ten Commandments; “Thou shalt have no other gods before me”.   Loyalty of this kind is rare in today’s world.   You remember the sin of the golden calf in Exodus 32?   Not long after the Israelites had witnessed countless miracles, they made an idol, another god for themselves.   They violated the covenant

  “For he endured, as seeing him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:27b) To study the life of Moses is to see a life of faith. He left Egypt behind, he was not afraid of the wrath of the Pharoah, he led the Hebrew people into the wilderness through the Red Sea, enduring many other challenges as they wandered in the desert for years. Then we read a little secret to the faith of Moses; “as seeing Him who is invisible”. What does this mean? I believe we can all learn something here. Moses endured a lot, didn’t he? All the people complaining, most of them blamed him for their hardships, yet he kept moving. He led them because that is what God had called him to do. Here is a principle I think we can live by: if we can see the invisible, we can accomplish the impossible. The Christian life is a walk of faith. We live by faith, not by sight. What does the first verse of Hebrews chapter 11 say? “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”.   I believe a lot

The secret for success in Christian ministry is knowing that “…it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). In other words, whenever we are actively involved in doing what pleases Him, we will find success and favor. So how can we know we are engaged in the will of God?   I’ve been asked this question many times by many sincere Christians who are passionate about serving God.   Maybe you have asked the same question.   Jesus said in John 10:27, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them and they follow me”.   I urge you to do a study on the “voice of God”.   You’ll be surprised by what you discover the Bible says about this subject. God does speak, the issue is, are we listening?   God always speaks directly to our spirit.   His voice is one you simply cannot ignore.   When it’s God, you’ll know it.   It’s distinctly different from all other voices.   God wants to use you my friend.   His desire is to work through you.   Just remember

  “…In the day of trouble…” (Psalm 50:15), a moment of crisis!   We’ve all experienced it.   If you haven’t yet, you will!   May 9, 2001, a day in my life that forever changed my future.   I was high up on a lift trying to change a light bulb. Something happened, I lost my balance. and the lift went down with me in it.   I thought it was going to be bad, and it was!   In a moment, I hit the concrete floor. I broke my left pelvis in three places and my right arm was badly broken.   I was alive, but badly injured and rushed to the hospital.   I survived and can walk today because fervent prayers went up on my behalf. Praise God!   We men find it difficult for some reason to cry out to God. We don’t even want to stop and ask for directions when we know we are lost.   Bit if we humble ourselves in a “day of trouble” and pray with intensity, God will respond, and He will be glorified.   Humility is a confession that “we can’t, but God can”. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12:10, “…when I a

  Change occurs in the Presence of God. Five minutes in the throne room of God can change your focus, your perspective, your attitude. Do we realize what an incredible opportunity we have, to enter into the presence of God. To go right into the holy of holies and sit at Jesus’ feet?   Hebrews 4:14-16 tells us to come “boldly” to the throne of grace”.   No one except the High Priest was allowed behind the curtain of the tabernacle in the Old Testament.   All the rest of the people stood outside only wondering what it was like to enter into God’s holy presence.   But Matthew 27:51 tells us that as Jesus died on the cross, the veil of the temple (the curtain) was ripped from top to bottom, indicating that anyone may now have complete access to God! When we enter the presence of the Lord through prayer, change occurs!   You know how it is when you come to church feeling lousy, maybe stressed, fearful or discouraged, but you came anyway and behold, as you leave the service, change has occ

  How great is our God? He is awesome in every way. His person , His power , His provision .   Nothing is too hard for Him!   This great God tells us in Jeremiah 33:3 to call out to Him (Hebrew: “gura” to call aloud, to cry out audibly), and He will answer us and show us great and mighty things.   A great God can do great things!   Things we can’t even grasp at this present moment are available to us if we simply learn to cry out to Him in prayer. So simple and yet so profound.   God can release His power to us as we pray.   You see my friends; God is a God of order and design.   This is the acceptable protocol that God Himself has laid out for us.   If we do our part, call out to Him, He will do His part. He will answer us and show us great things.   It is so simple and yet I believe we have overlooked this aspect of prayer for a long time.   God wants to hear our voice!   Look at Psalm 138:3. God wants to make us bold.   He wants to strengthen us for our tasks.   All He asks from us

    RESURRECTION SUNDAY Let’s Celebrate It!! No other religion can celebrate what Christians can celebrate at Easter. Jesus is Alive! Go to the tomb in Jerusalem and you’ll find His body isn’t there. No one can claim a bodily resurrection for any other religious figure–it’s that simple.The resurrection of Jesus sets Christianity apart from all other religions, period! The power that raised Jesus from the dead is available for you and me today, so I say with assurance, “He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today! He walks with me and talks with me along life’s narrow way. He lives, He lives, salvation to impart. You ask me how I know He lives, He lives within my heart!” It’s Easter Sunday! We as Christians have a right to celebrate it, let’s do it! The Pastor’s Pocket Pastor Bruce Freeman

Death and Life. It’s what Easter is all about. Death and Life, in that order.   “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in the newness of life.” Romans 6:3-4   We know that there was no resurrection from the grave without first of all, the death of Jesus on the cross. Jesus DID die on a cross. Yes, our Lord was crucified by angry men, but it was all part of the divine plan to secure our redemption. “And without shedding of blood, is no remission” of sin (Hebrews 9:22). Thank God for Calvary and the price Jesus paid there for our forgiveness. Then after Je sus’ death came His glorious resurrection and that is what we celebrate at Easter. Easter is a sacred time for Christians everywhere around the world.   Paul says we (believers) were baptized into the death that Jesu

The cross intersects heaven and hell. You can’t bypass it, you can’t go around it.  It confronts us all on the journey of life.  Sooner or later we must come by way of the cross.  To reject what Jesus did at Calvary, to reject the payment in full for your sin debt secured at the cross, is to “punch your ticket” for hell.  To accept what Jesus accomplished on the cross and to receive the pardon He offers is to guarantee your place in heaven.  The one thing you cannot do is remain neutral.   The cross is the heart of the gospel.   All of history hinges on the event that occurred 2000 years ago just outside Jerusalem.   It’s what really matters. If you take away the covenants, take away baptism, take away the golden rule and even some other doctrines, you might still have a religion.   But relationship with God would be impossible were it not for the cross, the blood of Jesus, and the sacrifice of Christ. History has despised it, burned it, gold-plated it, trashed it, ridiculed it, and so