If 2020 taught us anything, it’s the word uncertainty. As so many have attempted of predict what will be next, no one honestly knows. 2020 would’ve been a lot easier with a handbook!

• “How to get through a pandemic.”

• “How to wash your hands properly.”

• “How to find toilet paper.”

• “How to go days without electricity.”

I look at this year and wonder how it would all have been had I not had the most important ‘handbook’, the Bible, the Book. As I mentioned on Sunday, a majority of those coming to pastors for guidance are ones who are skipping over the One we should ask for guidance. I had a pastor friend of mine state that if those attending church did the ‘work’ (reading their Bible, praying and being with other believers), it would lessen the ‘work’ of the ministry leaders.

Romans 10:17 Paul says, “So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.” Don’t we all need some more faith today?

• Faith that it’ll be ok.

• Faith that God is still in control.

• Faith that all of this is temporary.

Paul states that in oder to build our faith, we must be listening (reading) God’s Word. You see, watching the news or going on social media really does start your day in the wrong direction. The news rarely starts with a saved puppy and social media certainly won’t just show you just those who agree with you politically. You brought this on yourself.

But I want to help. But it’s not me that will help you. Dare I say in a Christian blog, it’s Jesus that will help you and the only way you can get this help is to spend time with Him. Not just occasionally or on Sundays. Everyday. My challenge is for you to join me and others in reading through the Book of Acts together. The Book of Acts takes us back to a time where the people were the church. People were being saved by the thousands. People sold all their possessions to help others. Peter and Paul risked their lives daily by telling them about Jesus. As I get nervous telling a friend of mine about my faith, these two, among others, risk it all. That’s the faith I want. I’m sure that’s the faith you want as well.

Won’t you join me? Click HERE and allow God to do the rest.

By joining this reading plan, you will receive a daily email of encouragement and a list of things that stuck out to me.

Lara Santamaria

This has certainly been a year that I’m sure many of us have wanted to hide.  Hide from everything going on with the Corona Virus, hide from job issues, quarantines, maybe family members we are quarantined with?  Many have wanted to hide from the social upheaval, riots and political unrest.  Some of us just want to hide our head in the sand and wish it would all go away.

There are other ways to hide however that don’t also involve avoiding.  Psalm 119:11 says “I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”  Today more than ever, we need to seek God’s word in everything.  Having his word and thoughts memorized helps us make Godly decisions in all we say and do.  In a society where everyone seems to be at war with each other, this is more important than ever.  While we shudder at the conflict between political parties in Washington many Christians are at war on Social Media.  

If there is one thing 2020 has done, it has brought out the passion in everyone, and not always in a good way.  We all have differing thoughts and opinions, and we are all convinced that our opinion is correct and if you don’t agree you must be wrong.  This has been made super clear on Social Media.  We all need to ask ourselves: “do our actions and words make it clear to others that we are Christ followers?.” If Jesus came back today and looked at your posts what would he say?  Would he say “well done, good and faithful servant” (Matt 25:23)? Or would he be sad to see how we had treated others?

If Social Media is a platform that you feel you must be on and comment on, I’d like to suggest you consider hiding.  Hiding other people from your feed, that is.  If there are people you don’t politically agree with and you can’t keep from commenting, then hide them.  You won’t be upset by their posts and they won’t be upset by your comments.  

One thing is for sure, we can’t hide from God.  Jeremiah 23:24 reminds us “Can anyone hide from me in a secret place?  Am I not everywhere in all the heavens and earth?”  He sees social media, he sees your comments.  As a Christ follower are they something you are proud of?  

By Rich Pancoast

As the band R.E.M. said years ago, “It’s the End of the World as We Know It”. 

I believe that’s a good thing. I don’t want the same world. I cannot stand all the injustice we see (and so much of it we don’t!) Will Smith’s quote from a few years ago, “Racism isn’t getting worse. It’s getting filmed” is very eye opening to me. I cannot imagine how much more of this is not filmed and never exposed. It breaks my heart. 

In the last several years, it’s become painfully evident how messed up we are. I guess Social Media has certainly confirmed a lot of it. When we look back one year, ten years, or even fifty years, we see how easily swayed many of us were and still are. I often wonder if I lived back in the 50’s and 60’s (or even further back for that matter!) would I ‘go with the flow’? Would I go along with separate water fountains, front of the bus white, back of the bus black, separate schools, keep to your own color mentality? Or would Jesus have been enough in my heart to see how wrong it all is? Correction: He is enough but would I have leaned into Him enough? 

My time with Jesus refreshes me daily but it also makes me sad. It is so evident in today’s world the need for Him. Jesus has shown all of us how to live and sadly, we handpick what we follow through on. I know too many Christians who forget the biggest proof of us following Him: LOVING OTHERS LOVING EVERYONE.

John 13:34 Jesus Himself says, “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.” How did He love us? Yes, He died for us. Sacrificially. All in. No conditions. No agenda. No race. 

Today more than ever, I am calling on the Christian community to practice what we preach. No more cookie cutter Christianity. If we believe in Him, follow Him. If we believe in Him, spend time with Him. If we believe in Him, be like Him. 

Don’t tell someone you’re a Christian unless you’re willing to act like one.

I read this quote recently by the author of Gulliver’s Travels, Jonathon Swift. He said, “We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.”  I’m thankful I don’t follow a religion. Religion is man’s way of getting to God. As a Christian, I believe Jesus is the only way. (John 14:6). Religion historically has done some terrible things. Jesus has not. Jesus saved my life and many of you reading this. Everything I learn and apply from Him has made me better, happier and more willing to DO SOMETHING than ever before.

Let’s not wait for all of this to end. Let’s do our part today to end it. Love goes beyond feeling sorry for someone. Love is empathetic. It puts us in other people’s shoes and helps us better understand what they’ve been through. Listen, no white person will ever know what a black person has gone through but we can do our best to learn. Let’s have the conversations - as uncomfortable as they may be.

Remember, it is love that is the true evidence that we belong to Jesus. 

GUEST BLOGGER: Pastor Stephen Eiss

I just finished reading the Bible in 54 days. l read and also let the phone read the Bible to me especially in the Old Testament.

Lessons: The first thing that comes to mind is we don't read the Bible enough, especially all of it. I personally chose the year plan. I loved it because I was reading both Old and New Testament readings each day. I got to do so because I was fully retired and I was also made to stay home due to Covid-19. l completed it in less than two months! When you read it rather quickly it reminds you of the things you know but so easily forgot. While we know the Old Testament was written and given to the Jews, the New Testament was written and given to the Christians. After reading both, l am so glad to be living in the Church age. Grace is a wonderful thing. The biggest lesson I learned from the Old Testament is that the thing that upset God continually was Israel kept worshipping Idols. They were always influenced by the people outside their faith.

What is an idol?

An idol is anything that takes our worship away from God.

The bottom line was all the trouble Israel faced was a result of following outsiders rather than God. The thing that I was reminded of was when God's people followed God, things went well. When they took their focus off God (which they did often), things went bad. I would say to myself ‘why didn't they learn’? Then I was reminded that we have the ability to do the very same thing. 

The New Testament tells us that the Old Testament is our school master. It was given to us in hopes that we could learn from their mistakes.

So are we learning from their mistakes?

How is the world drawing you away from God?

When is the last time you felt a need to read or even have the Bible read to you?

What is it that draws your focus to follow people outside the church rather than God?

GUEST BLOGGER: DENNIS BISHOP

I just finished reading through the Book of Revelation. I felt with what is happening in the world and our country, I needed to remember the end of the story. 

God rarely reveals the future to us. In the Old Testament, He occasionally showed a few prophets what was behind the curtain of the future. He showed us in Isaiah the coming of the Messiah. To the apostle John, He pulled back the curtain to reveal the final revelation of our Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. The King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

To many people the Book of Revelation is both terrifying and filled with hope.  And it should be. Terrible things happen to those who do not repent and turn from their rejection of God. Many of the same plagues that were poured out on the Egyptians will be poured out again and people will still not repent.

Psalm 7:11-16 “God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day. If a man does not repent, God will sharpen his sword; he has bent and readied his bow; he has prepared for him his deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts. Behold the wicked man conceives evil and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies. He makes a pit, digging it out, and falls into the hole that he has made. His mischief returns upon his own head, and on his own skull his violence descends.”  

I cannot even imagine the indignation the Father feels right now as we seem bent on destroying ourselves. Oh, how we need to fall on our faces and ask God to forgive us, to heal us and to give us his wisdom and strength to march forward in these days. The thing is, the Book of Revelation reveals just how wicked human kind truly is. Jesus is going to rule and reign on this earth for 1000 years while Satan is chained up. It will be a time of peace and righteousness. Yet when Satan is released he will convince man to again rebel against God after living in Jesus’ peace for 1000 years. This is the depravity of man. 

But this does not mean that we should abandon our fellow man. It should cause us to work harder to love our fellow man, to work for peace and justice, but most importantly to bring them into God’s Kingdom. 

While terrifying, the Book of Revelation is the ultimate glorious hope for the believers of Jesus Christ. When Jesus is revealed in all his glory He is going to put on quite a show.

1 Thessalonians 4 tells us, “He is going to come down as he left on the clouds in the sky with a commanding shout, with the call of the archangel, and the trumpet call of God. First all, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, those who are still alive and remain on earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and remain with Him forever. So comfort and encourage each other with these words.”

Let us comfort and encourage one another because this happens to us before all the judgments begin.      

This is our glorious elevation.  We will forever be with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God revealed His Son in this Book so we will have the hope and assurance that Jesus is who he says he is and will truly conquer death and evil. That we will live in perfect peace and harmony with him for all eternity. There will be no more sickness, no more wars or riots, no more injustice, just peace, perfect peace in a new heaven and a new earth in the glorious presence of our Savior. It will be more than we can even imagine!

 Even so come Lord Jesus!

How do you really explain to your kids all that’s happening in this world today? 

Their ‘normal’ seems absolutely crazy. 

Normal to this generation is hate, violence, constant bickering between people, a know-it-all mentality and of course, a virus that shuts down everything. 

My heart is broken daily. I need only to see the news or social media to go down this dark path. I’m bringing it on myself. 

It’s like God when He put Adam and Eve on the earth….what could possibly go wrong? Well, Adam and Eve, much like all of us in some capacity thought about themselves first.  Yes, there’s an enemy as well. Satan loves political rants, racism, hurtful comments, and really loves when we go on Social Media and the news before even considering praying or reading God’s Word. 

The only answer I have for my kids is LOVE. We can only do what we can do. Clearly, we cannot control what others do but we,…..we can LOVE. 

We can love others as Christ loves us (John 15:12).

In those moments we want to spew, LOVE.

In those moments we become angry at someone in our life, LOVE.

When everything is falling apart around us, LOVE. 

Love never fails. (1 Corinthians 13) 

Love is color blind. We are ALL created in His image. (Genesis 1:27)

You’ll never regret loving people if you’re doing it right. 

Love has no agenda. (1 Corinthians 13:5)

It is never self-seeking (1 Corinthians 13:1) ,

it is not conditional (Ephesians 1:6) Can you imagine if God loved us only under certain conditions? 

Love is the answer even when we don’t know the question. 

Today, I choose to love. I know I won’t regret it. 

If you ask anyone if they had to lose one of their senses which one would it be, you are going to get different answers and reasons for their answer.  

For me I’m not sure what I would say but it would not be my sight. To not to be able to see the faces of my loved ones and friends and the beauty of God’s creation, I’m not sure I could bear it. The thing is that over the last few years I have developed some eye problems that could make it a good possibility down the road in my life. I have the beginnings of macular degeneration, cataracts and an untreatable condition that can change the clarity of my vision overnight. But I have faith in God and whatever happens to my eyesight He will use it for His good and glory.

So if I lose my vision I will learn to live with it. But there is a vision I never want to lose. That is my spiritual vision.

Proverbs 29:18a says “Where there is no vision, the people perish:” God has a vision for my life that has nothing to do with my physical sight but everything to do with my spiritual sight. My physical sight is a gateway to sin. “For all that is in the world, the lust of theflesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of theworld.” 1 John 2:16 But spiritual sight leads to knowing God and His plan for me. Jeremiah tells us God has plans for us - plans that are for good and not for disaster - to give us a future and a hope. God is sovereign, everything He says is true. I need to know His plan and to do that I need to read and know His playbook, the Bible. No sports team is going to go far if they just read the playbook and don’t memorize the plays. It would be chaos in the game. But we’re not in a game we’re in an all-out war!

We need to know the plays. That’s why memorizing scripture is so important for us. When we get into situations and ask the Holy Spirit for guidance, He reminds us of the right scripture we need to help us through. 

In Acts 2:17 Peter quotes Joel 2:28 to the people who were mocking them and saying they were drunk. He says, “In the last days, God says, “I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.”

I’ve noticed in the Old Testament that many prophets and men and women of God had their visions and dreams while in bed. I think God likes to speak to us through our sub-conscious because if He spoke to us direct, it would wreck almost all of us. That’s why I feel it is not only important to start my day with God, but to also end the day with Him so I can be ready to receive the visions and plans He wants me to complete.  

Peter said that God said in the last days He would pour out His Spirit upon us. God has poured out His Spirit upon us because the Spirit comes and lives in us when we begin a relationship with Jesus. God wants us to know His plans and He reveals them day to day, not a year in advance. 

Habakkuk 2:3 says, “This vision is for a future time. It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled. If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed.

God’s plan is in motion. He has revealed the end to us in His playbook. His plan is for us to have His spiritual vision so we will not fear what is to come. He will grow us in our spiritual vision and at times it may be blurry, but there will come a day when 1 Corinthians 13:12 is our reality.

“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.”

Don’t lose you spiritual vision but strengthen it by learning the playbook! 

Every church is made up of people from all walks of life. 

Some are young, some are old, some are rich, some are poor, some are men and some are women. There are people that are new in their relationship with Christ and those who have walked with Him for decades. The one thing we all have in common when we start our relationship with Jesus is that we are all newborns in Christ.

No one becomes a “Super Christian” the moment they accept Jesus as their Savior (or for that matter, ever does become one, although over time pride can certainly make us think we are) 

The Apostle Paul spent 3 years being taught by Jesus Himself before he started preaching and the only person I know of that even came close to accomplishing as much as Paul would be Billy Graham. 

1 Peter 2:2-3 tells us “Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you may grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.”

Peter is telling us that salvation is not a onetime experience but a journey that takes a lifetime to grow into. It’s not a one and done “get out of hell” free card and it’s certainly not an easy journey. New believers are on fire for God because they have tasted his kindness and they are craving more. 

In the beginning they need someone to feed them this spiritual milk. They need to be discipled by older believers until they can feed themselves. That is why I love Fellowship. FC Groups allow people to learn and ask questions in safe environments. 

 2 Peter 3:18 says “But grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever. Amen.”

But just like babies we need to start eating solid food if we are to continue growing in Christ. Once we have been taught the basics of our faith, it is time for us to dig deeper on our own. Paul wrote in his first letter to the Corinthians in chapter 3 that when he was with them he had to talk as though they belonged to the world or as though they were infants in Christ. He had to feed them with milk and not with meat because they were not ready for anything stronger. Yet, they still weren’t ready because they were controlled by their sinful nature. 

What I find interesting is that Peter in his letter, in the verse before he told us to crave spiritual milk, said “So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech.” Basically the same thing Paul is saying. Stop allowing the sinful nature to control you! We defeat the sinful nature and grow in grace and knowledge of Jesus by spending time with Him in reading His Word, meditating on His Word, memorizing His Word, praying His Word, gathering with other believers, investing time one on one with others, being still before God and turning off the world’s noise.  

So how do we know if we have been eating meat and are not still drinking milk?

I don’t know because I think it is different for each one of us. 

• For some, it’s feeling God’s presence more throughout the day. 

• For some, it’s realizing life doesn’t scare you like it used to. 

• For some, it’s stepping out by faith to teach in the kid’s or youth ministry or lead an FC group even when you don’t feel ready (because we never are without God).

• For some, it is answering the call to full time ministry or the mission field or going on a short term mission trip. 

• For some, it’s opening their home to those in need.

 For me , it was praying scriptures and prayers that have the potential to turn my life upside down like:

“Father help me to cast down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of you, bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Christ that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, the fellowship of His suffering and be conformed to His image. Here I am send me”.  “God all that I am I offer to you, my life, my health, my home, my work, it is all yours use it as you see fit!”  

Has the meat of God’s Word changed something in your life or are you still drinking milk? 

If you’re still drinking milk God can change that, just ask him!