Notes of Faith June 3, 2024

Notes of Faith June 3, 2024

Show Faith Through Actions, Not Just Words

“Preach the gospel at all times. Use words if necessary.”

It’s reported that Saint Francis of Assisi said those words when asked by others how a person should express his faith. And while most who know me wouldn’t expect me to pull out a supposedly eight-hundred-year-old quote from a Catholic friar, when I heard the words, I thought immediately of Dad. He is the living example of those words.

Clearly my father always had faith in himself, but the faith he would tell you was more important to his success was his faith in God. It wasn’t a discussion he had with reporters; it has always been his — and our family’s — take on faith to keep this portion of our lives rather private. Within our house, believing in our Creator was a central part of our life and success, and I’m sure no one who has spent time with Dad would question his faith. The lesson that both my parents taught us as their children mirrors exactly the way I’ve shared the discussion regarding faith with my children.

As I was writing this, the importance of faith and how it was taught led to a great discussion with both of my parents. “Believing in Christ was just a way of life,” Mom said.

Then Dad summed it up. “I thought it was important to teach you about God the same way I taught you golf,” he said rather matter-of-factly. “Go through and make sure you understand the importance and the fundamentals, then let each of you come to decisions based on what you saw, not what you might think was being forced. If the decision becomes truly yours, the impact will be far greater. My father and mother taught faith to me, basically, the same way.”

Mom and Dad passed that faith on to us, one of the greatest gifts they ever gave us. And as a Christ-follower today, I know the way Mom and Dad set the example worked for me.

As often as she could, Mom made sure she and the five kids attended our Methodist church and Sunday school and learned about God and Jesus. She said she made it a point for us to sit in the front row so none of us would be tempted to nod off or misbehave.

We didn’t attend church every Sunday because as a family we traveled to Dad’s golf tournaments many weekends. Dad got to go to church far less frequently than we did. He worked on Sunday. (At least he hoped every week to be working on Sunday!) But Dad made the point that a church attendance roster was no way to define our relationship with God. Of the five children I probably traveled more with Dad than the others. I first caddied for Dad when I was fourteen years old and was on his golf bag many weekends as a teenager and beyond, missing many Sundays at home.

PGA Tour players compete in twenty to thirty tournaments annually — Dad played in 586 PGA Tour events during his forty-three-year career. He traveled nationally and internationally, making pew appearances nearly impossible. On the tour, several players have, for many years, made it a point to gather for a group Bible study on Sunday mornings. Dad didn’t attend those gatherings, choosing to make his private time of worship his own. He read and prayed. But he did it alone.

Dad thought of the golf course as his place to witness.

When he was out there, the crowds were watching. In his mind it wouldn’t have mattered what he did on Sunday mornings if on Sunday afternoons he cursed and acted in ways that would have dishonored his Lord. Similarly, it wouldn’t matter how many times you pointed toward Heaven after a great putt if you disrespected your wife and family through your actions or words. Many people can put on a good show in public. But your core, who you truly are, is defined by what happens when nobody is watching.

I have tried to instill my parents’ commitment to faith in my kids through many of the same ways. I believed the way they watched a Christian life lived would help set an example, and I am proud of the direction each of them has chosen.

One of the most important teachings in the Bible is the admonition that each of us must love our neighbor.

I know there’s a chapter ahead in this book on my parents’ work for charitable organizations, but as I think about how my father and mother lived their faith, I think about many of the little ways they showed love to neighbors.

Dad would often encourage us, as children, to find little ways to help people. The greatest lesson in what he was teaching, though, was the importance of showing empathy for others, of not being judgmental of circumstances we might not understand.

You never know what other people are going through in their lives. Even a small interaction when passing someone on a sidewalk can entirely change a person’s day. Being respectful, appreciative, kind, caring, and listening to and learning from your friends, family, and strangers is very important. As big as our world is, it truly is small.

And in those moments, you may be opening a heart.

Excerpted from Best Seat in the House by Jack Nicklaus II and Don Yaeger, copyright Jack Nicklaus II and Don Yaeger.

I have liked playing golf most of my life. I cannot say that I love playing golf because that is reserved for something that I can do at least slightly well. But it is fun to watch others who seem to have a miracle happen with each swing or putt. I do not share such gifted talent. However, I do try to live my life in doing little things every day to share the glory of God with those all around me. Being a blessing to others is guaranteed to bring blessing in return. It is proven true to me more often than not. Those of you who have the Spirit of God living within you know that His love blesses you as you give His love to others. May we give the love of God to others today!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith June 2, 2024

Notes of Faith June 2, 2024

Give Them Time to Grow

Learning the Power of Patient Love

Article by Scott Hubbard

Managing Editor, desiringGod.org

Several weeks ago, I bore witness to a miracle. It was the kind of miracle I had often prayed for — and the kind I had come not to expect. And then, in an ordinary moment of an ordinary day, it happened.

A man I have long known and loved, a man I have poured into and prayed for, a man I have sometimes despaired of and sinned against, changed. He really changed. The Spirit of God moved upon the waters of his soul, shining light into an old and stubborn darkness, and I bore witness to a startling, miraculous act of obedience. It was a moment worthy of angels’ admiration.

As I reflect on the miracle now, and the years leading up to it, I find myself wishing I could take back many impatient responses along the way: cynical thoughts, reproofs spoken in fleshly frustration, unbelieving prayers on his behalf, unrighteous inner anger. But even more, I find myself marveling at the patience of God unashamed to call this man — and me — his own.

So often, I labor for others’ growth on a timeline dramatically shorter than God’s. Whereas I tend to track others’ progress in terms of days and weeks, “the living God,” says David Powlison, “seems content to work . . . on a scale of years and decades, throughout a whole lifetime” (Making All Things New, 61). And oh, how I want to be like him — zealously yearning for change, faithfully praying for change, and then patiently waiting for change.

For miracles are wondrous things. But many miracles take time and remarkable patience.

Disciples of Perfect Patience

The apostle Paul knew something of such patience. His own testimony bore the marks of God’s long-suffering love, his “perfect patience” (1 Timothy 1:16). And Paul remembered that patience. He couldn’t forget it.

In response, he lived and ministered with a profound patience of his own. What else could have kept Paul loving churches that sometimes broke his apostolic heart — churches like Corinth or Galatia? Though slandered (2 Corinthians 10:1–2), though underappreciated (Galatians 4:15–16), though repeatedly faced with startling folly and sin (1 Corinthians 3:1–4), Paul remained patient, a disciple of God’s perfect patience. He yearned, he prayed, he labored, he pleaded, but he also waited “with utmost patience” (2 Corinthians 12:12). He let miracles take their God-appointed time.

And so he instructed others. “Reprove, rebuke, and exhort,” O Timothy — yet do so “with complete patience” (2 Timothy 4:2). “Admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak,” dear Thessalonians — yet “be patient with them all” (1 Thessalonians 5:14). Patience, for Paul, was not merely one way of responding among many: it was a robe to clothe all responses.

“Miracles are wondrous things. But many miracles take time and remarkable patience.”

Where might such “complete patience” come from? Where might we find the strength to be patient not just with the outwardly hopeful, or with those whose struggles we understand, but “with them all”? Patience like Paul’s comes in part (as we’ve seen) from the backward glance, from the story of God’s patience with us. But Paul also gives us more. For so often, as he responds to sin and folly with patience, his eyes are looking ahead.

Imagine Them Then

Consider the Christian who causes you the most grief: a brother or sister in your small group, a parent or sibling, your own believing child. What do you see when you look at this person, especially in his worst moments? A stubborn young man, perhaps, who can’t seem to take counsel seriously. Or maybe a flaky woman whose “yes” is actually “we’ll see” and often “no.” A headache or a heartache. An inconvenience or an interruption. A waste of time.

Those assessments are understandable, at least to a man like me. But what did Paul see? He saw, no doubt, a troubled soul, just as we do. But whereas we often see only what is, Paul had an astounding ability to see what could be — and in Christ, what will be. We see a house unfinished; Paul saw an unfinished house. He saw stumbling saints in light of who they one day would become:

I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6)

The picture frame I place around people is often no more than a cramped little square: I imprison them in the present moment, neglecting to see where they came from or where they’re going. But what a broad frame the apostle used! Broad enough to see the darkness and death from which others came (“he who began a good work in you . . .”) — and broad enough to see the light and life to which they are headed (“. . . will bring it to completion”).

Paul could still see the present moment, of course. And his patience did not prevent him from rebuking and reproving, nor from earnestly warning when needed. But when he looked upon someone in Christ — repenting, believing, yet often stumbling — today was not as important to him as “the day of Jesus Christ,” when this unimpressive saint would shine like the sun in the kingdom of God (Matthew 13:43).

And so, he could look upon today’s stumbling and see tomorrow’s standing. He could trace a line between today’s discouraging failure and tomorrow’s final victory. He could imagine the angry turned calm, the lustful made pure, the grumbling quietly content, and the bitter full of forgiveness — not because people themselves are so full of promise, but because our faithful God finishes whatever he begins.

Name Them Now

Ah, yes, I find myself thinking. Paul wrote those words to the Philippians, a maturing church. Would he say the same to the struggling? Indeed he would; indeed he did. He begins his letter to the Corinthians in much the same way (1 Corinthians 1:8–9). And as he does, he reveals another dimension of godly patience: the patient not only imagine other Christians then; they also draw that future reality down into the present moment and name these Christians now. They see, in Christ, that the sun of another’s life is rising, not setting, and then they define this person by the coming day, not the lingering night.

And so Paul, though discouraged and disappointed by the Corinthians’ slow progress, begins his letter with their true name: “To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints” (1 Corinthians 1:2). O Corinthians, you might act sometimes like sinners and fools, but that’s not who you are. In Christ, your name is saint.

We find this patient naming elsewhere as well, perhaps especially in Peter’s life. When he saw himself as merely “a sinful man,” worthy to be forsaken by Jesus, our patient Lord named him a fisher of men (Luke 5:8–10). Later, when Peter surely felt like little more than a lost and desperate sheep, our patient Lord named him a shepherd (John 21:15–17).

Every failed Peter needs someone to believe that failure need not define him. Every stumbling Corinthian needs someone to see his sin and still call him saint. Every discouraged Christian needs someone to lift his eyes to the coming day, when all the soul’s shadows will flee before the face of our patient and purifying Christ.

Of course, we don’t want to give anyone a name that God himself doesn’t give. But if Jesus could see a shepherd in Peter, and if Paul could see saints in the Corinthians, then surely we can name others more hopefully than we sometimes do. And what a difference such a name might make. When we feel utterly lost in some forest of failure, a faithful name can be like a path that suddenly appears and a light to guide our way. I don’t need to stay here, such a name suggests. In Jesus, I can be more than I am right now.

Room for Good to Grow

Several times in Paul’s letters, the grace of patience holds hands with another Spirit-given virtue: kindness. “Love is patient and kind,” he tells the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 13:4). He writes also of “the riches of [God’s] kindness and forbearance and patience” (Romans 2:4). In the garden of the Holy Spirit, the two grow side by side: “patience, kindness” (Galatians 5:22).

“Every failed Peter needs someone to believe that failure need not define him.”

Such a pairing suggests that the truly patient do not merely hold their tongue or restrain their burning frustration behind a forced smile. No, their patience is the product of a deeper passion, godly and pure: a love of kindness, the very kindness that leads to repentance (Romans 2:4). As God has been patiently kind with us — as God is, right now, patiently kind with us — so we love to be patiently kind with others.

Imagine, then, patience like the walls of a garden, protecting the fragile shoots of grace in another’s soul. Whereas impatience lets wind destroy and animals trample and chew, patience gives room for good things to grow. It gives room for kindness to shine like the sun and fall like rain, for the work that God began to grow toward completion.

You and I, dear Christian, are a garden within God’s walls. Whatever grace we have is a miracle wrought by his patience and nourished by his kindness. And the same miracles still happen today. We may see more of them if we pray, and imagine, and name, and wait, and robe our every word with some of the patience we have received from him.

Scott Hubbard is the managing editor for Desiring God

You need to be patient with yourself also. Becoming like Jesus is a life-long process. Though we are miraculously changed at the moment of believing in Jesus, our daily lives are experienced through growth and relationship with Christ. Don’t despair or beat yourself up because you fail to walk as Jesus did. Persevere in faith and grow by His grace and love and His promise to make you more and more like Jesus every day. Then turn and offer that grace to others as well. Love them. Pray for them. Let them grow as God nourishes their lives and draws them to Himself. You will grow as you help others grow!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith June 1, 2024

Notes of Faith June 1, 2024

Soul Fuel: Courage

The Storm was a monster. It was nighttime, and we were four hundred miles off the coast of Greenland, facing subzero, gale-force 8 winds, and waves as big as houses. Five of us were attempting to cross the frozen North Atlantic in a small, open rigid inflatable boat, and we were struggling.

It felt as if it was only a matter of time before one of the walls of roaring white water that were repeatedly smashing over us would soon capsize our little boat, and that would surely spell death so far from rescue in those arctic waters.

All five of us were truly terrified. I will never forget that sickening feeling when you know you have truly screwed it up — and you are going to die. Anticipating a horrible death was a genuine reaction to our situation.

We had been sticking to our order of rotation, taking turns at the wheel, desperately trying to outlast the storm and endure the night. But we were exhausted, tight on fuel, and hundreds of miles from any civilization.

I knew that the times when we changed over the helm were always our most vulnerable moments. It was those dangerous few minutes as the new helmsman started a fresh battle to feel the rhythm of these huge waves in the pitch dark. One slow reaction and we would be over.

Twice we came so close to capsizing at this critical handover point, and instinct told me we might not get so lucky a third time. I made the decision to carry on and helm the boat myself, in a desperate attempt to see the storm through. It was hard to explain, but I just knew that this voice was telling me to keep steering.

Fear can totally break people, but it doesn’t have to be the final answer. Courage steels people, but we have to find it from somewhere.

Courage isn’t the absence of fear. On the contrary, without fear we cannot truly be courageous. To be brave, we must first be afraid.

I remember so vividly asking Jesus to be beside me in that storm, to steel me, to sustain, strengthen, and deliver me. And He was there, so much so that one of our crew, Nigel Thompson, who had never known faith in his life before, swore that he saw an angel calmly sitting on the front of our small boat throughout that storm.

Still the winds and waves roared — if anything, they got worse. It was one of the longest, most high-risk nights of my life, but never once did I feel alone.

Christ promises never to abandon us.

And as dawn broke and the storm subsided, we finally saw the coast of Iceland in the distance. We had been steeled and delivered.

In the moments when we need it most, if we ask, God will supply us with the courage we need. Fear and anxiety might shout louder. But isn’t it just like God to answer in the still, small voice of calm? When we ask, Christ will always be beside us, with His angels if necessary. I don’t know all the ins and outs of theology, but I know the presence and the courage that God has provided in the tightest of moments.

And that is enough for me.

To be brave, we must first be afraid.

Eyes Front

Henry Ford was right:

“When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it!”1

Struggles are a part of life, and we all need renewed courage from time to time. So it’s comforting to read words like these from someone as great as King David:

“I am in trouble,” he wrote. “My eye is clouded and weakened by grief, my soul and my body also. — Psalm 31:9 AMP

Nobody can go through life without moments like these. But if we read on we see another essential truth: in the tough times we find out the most about where our trust lies.

I trust [confidently] in You and Your greatness, O Lord;... “You are my God.” — Psalm 31:14 AMP

When hard times come, it’s tempting to look back and long for things to be the way they were. But we are called always to look forward, not back. That’s where God is leading us. Look up, not down — ahead, not back. That’s where our help comes from, and that’s where our courage gets restored and renewed.

1.United States Army Recruiting Command, Recruiter Journal 49 (November 1996): 6.

Excerpted from Soul Fuel by Bear Grylls, copyright BGV Global Limited.

Time does not stop. Everything keeps moving forward toward a certain end. We too, must keep moving forward, never alone, always in and with the presence of God, right beside us, guiding our path. Move forward boldly, as you walk by faith and not by sight toward the eternal prize for which you were called in Christ Jesus!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith May 31, 2024

Notes of Faith May 31, 2024

A Prayer for When You Are Afraid

When You Don’t Know What to Pray

Fear not, for I am with you;

Be not dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you,

Yes, I will help you,

I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. — Isaiah 41:10 NKJV

Father, how grateful I am for Your awesome love and that You are with me at this moment when I need the comfort only You can provide. I am afraid. I am shaken to my core. But You know all about my fears — how deeply they affect me, where they originate in my heart and mind, and how they ultimately paralyze me from moving forward in important ways. Thank You, Father, for helping me overcome the things I am afraid of and offering me Your peace and security.

Father, it is amazing how situations such as the one I am facing can knock me off my feet and throw me off balance. I know that happens because I feel weak and frightened when I lack control. However, I recognize that when I wrestle with such fears, they ultimately exist because of what I believe about You. I am focused on myself and the challenges rather than You. Therefore, please reveal where my fears have taken root and why they exist. Lord, remove the lies I believe and the issues that prevent me from fully embracing who You are.

Continue to give me strength and courage through Your Word. Comfort me with Your nearness, and reassure me of Your constant presence. Teach me about who You are so I can stand strong against these fears and declare in faith, “My God is wiser, more loving, and more powerful than any problem I could ever face!” Help me to daily place my focus on Your unfailing character and life-giving principles so that I can be courageous — a person who obeys and pleases You in every way.

Comfort me with Your nearness, and reassure me of Your constant presence.

Father, I am grateful that You want me to be free and won’t let me remain in bondage —You don’t want me to be a slave to my fears. You desire for me to enjoy the abundant life You created me for. Therefore, You bring my fears to light so that You can deliver me from them and I can be free.

So I will set my heart to believe You and will say as David did,

Whenever I am afraid,

I will trust in You.

In God (I will praise His word),

In God I have put my trust;

I will not fear.

What can flesh do to me? . . .

In God I have put my trust;

I will not be afraid.

What can man do to me? . . .

For You have delivered my soul from death.

Have You not kept my feet from falling,

That I may walk before God

In the light of the living?

(Psalm 56:3-4, Psalm 56:11, Psalm 56:13 NKJV)

I bless and praise You for Your kindness and the patience with which You heal my wounds. Thank You, Father, that I can have victory over my fears because of who You are and what You’ve promised. You said I can have confidence because You will be my God, You will always be with me, and You will protect me with Your righteous right hand. You are the all-powerful and all-wise God who defends me. Truly, You are worthy of all the honor, glory, power, and praise! And my soul rests secure and in peace because of You.

In Jesus’s name I pray. Amen.

Excerpted from When You Don’t Know What to Pray by Charles F. Stanley, copyright Charles F. Stanley.

If you will admit it, you have experienced fear. Sometimes fear is good. It protects us from harm with signals in the brain to turn and go the other way. Often, fear is used to control our thoughts and actions. This is all too often used when others want to get their way by controlling what we think and do. The Bible says, love casts out all fear. Our God is a god of love. Those who do not have love to guide them are controlled by fear in whatever they believe in. We need to focus on love in this life that will lead us into life eternal through faith in Jesus!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith May 30, 2024

Notes of Faith May 30, 2024

Remembering His Goodness

So [the widow] said to Elijah, “What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son?”

1 Kings 17:18

Some of history’s most agonizing words are those whispered by Jesus Christ in His final minutes of life: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46) Those were the very words spoken by David when he felt God had abandoned him to his enemies (Psalm 22:1).

Recommended Reading:

Psalm 13:1-6

It is not unusual for us to express our frustration toward those to whom we are closest—those whom we expect will be there for us—when we feel they have let us down. Even if that person is God Himself. The widow for whom God miraculously provided a perpetual food supply (1 Kings 17:8-16) suddenly doubted God when her son died. She thought that the very God who had blessed her with food was now judging her sins by killing her son. How easily we forget the goodness of God when our circumstances change.

A good way to remember the goodness of the Lord is to thank Him daily, preferably at the beginning of your day, for the blessing of knowing Him—for His mercy, love, power, and more that covers the pathway of our life and the day that is just beginning.

The Lord’s goodness surrounds us at every moment.

R. W. Barbour

Rom 8:28

28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

God is good all the time and all the time God is good!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith May 29, 2024

Notes of Faith May 29, 2024

Overcoming Memories

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Joshua 1:9

When Joshua was preparing to take the Israelites into the Promised Land, God gave him a promise: “The Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” It wasn’t just the task that had Joshua worried. It was also a 38-year-old memory.

Two years after the exodus from Egypt, the nation arrived at Kadesh where Moses sent twelve spies into Canaan. After forty days, the spies returned burdened with the fruit of the land—and burdened about the warlike nature of the inhabitants. Ten of the spies warned Moses not to try to take the land because the giants that lived there would surely defeat them. To their credit, Joshua and Caleb disagreed, saying God would give them victory. For rebelling against God at Kadesh, the nation wandered in the wilderness 38 years until that generation died off. Now Joshua would lead the second generation of Israelites against the next generation of Canaanite giants and their iron chariots.

Memories are powerful things. If God is calling you to do something, don’t let a bad memory stand in your way—“for the Lord your God is with you.”

Take courage. We walk in the wilderness today and in the Promised Land tomorrow.

Dwight L. Moody

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith May 28, 2024

Notes of Faith May 28, 2024

Look around. You are the generation that is watching the fig tree come back to life. You are watching God's handling with Israel within your lifetime in a way the apostles and disciples never saw. Jesus said, “Learn this parable from the fig tree,” when He spoke about the end time signs. He said, "When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that the end is near at the doors." The point He was making was this: When the Jewish people return to their land, signaling that the cursed fig tree is coming back to life, you know it's the end.

He said, "Assuredly I say to you, this generation…”. I want you to lift up your hand right now. Hello. You are the generation! "This generation will by no means pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My word will by no means pass away." And the Psalmist wrote, "Bring us back to the land.” He said, "Like the streams in the south." Have you been to Israel? Good. Because there are no streams in the south. The southern part of Israel is a desert. There's only one case where that part of the land has streams. Do you know when? Flash floods. When it rains heavily all around in the mountains, the water arrives in the form of flash floods. Have you ever seen a flash flood? It takes everything in its path.

And that’s exactly what happened in 1948. I started this message with my grandparents surviving Auschwitz, making it all the way to the land. For every person that lived in Israel in 1948, three new immigrants came. Amazing, flash flood. And it's Aliyah. It’s immigration from the four winds. And we didn't even know how to communicate. Yemenite Jews, Moroccan Jews, German Jews, Spanish Jews, Polish Jews, Russian Jews. How will they even communicate? God says, "It's time to restore their language. Hebrew." Wow. You see, He restored first the land, then restored them from their graveyard in Europe, brought them back to their land, restored the language, and now, thus, the fig tree is coming back to life.

Learn This from the Fig Tree

While the subject is debated by some, the fact that national Israel is represented by the fig tree multiple times in scripture is clear - Joel 1:7, Hosea 9:10, Jeremiah 24, to name a few.

Matthew 24:32

“Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near.”

Arbor-culturally, the fig tree putting forth leaves was also an indication of a change of seasons. When the branch was tender - symbolizing new growth - and the leaves sprouted, it meant that summer was near and the late harvest season (fall) was in the not-too-distant future. The fig tree was also the last of the spring fruit trees to bud. So, when it put forth leaves, a seasonal change into summer was very near.

When Jesus came the first time, the four spring feasts of Israel were fulfilled; Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Firstfuits, and Pentecost. Summer would then arrive and there would be no fulfillment of the fall feasts until the fig tree became tender and put forth leaves; until Israel became a nation again.

Matthew 24:34

“Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.”

That means that the fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets, Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement), and Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles) will happen within a single generation of the rebirth of the nation of Israel.

Between 1882 and 1903, approximately 35,000 Jews immigrated to Ottoman Palestine, joining the pre-existing Jewish population, which in 1880 numbered 26,000. Since then, 3,340,000 Jews have made Aliyah (ascent) to Israel with millions now having been born in Israel. Over 7,000 have made Aliyah so far this year, even in the midst of war.

Why is this continuing in the midst of war and growing antisemitism? Because God is bringing them back into the land for His name’s sake (Ezekiel 36:22) to prepare them for what’s coming.

Zechariah 12:10

“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.”

The House of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem are the same group. And no, they are not Muslims, Arabs, or Palestinians. They are Jews. The promise spoken of by Zechariah will happen at the fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets - the Second Coming - when the 1/3 of the Jews who survive the great and terrible Day of the Lord will look upon the returning Christ Jesus as the Holy One of Israel, their Savior.

May 14th, 1948, was over 76 years ago. While we do not know what the length of a “generation” is, we know that 76 years is a lot closer to the end of a generation than the beginning.

Matthew 24:36-42

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.”

The unknown day and hour can only be referring to the Rapture of the church and not the Second Coming. The Second Coming is 42 30-day months, or, 1260 days after the Abomination of Desolation, which occurs at the midpoint of the Tribulation. The Rapture can occur at any moment.

The Jews are back in the land and the nation is now 76 years old. Moreover, the world is gathering against Israel just as the Bible foretold. So, let’s keep our eyes lifted and be watching for His glorious appearing and listening for the sound of the trumpet.

Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!

Look up, for your redemption draws near. It could be very close. Perhaps today. It may be in our lifetime. But certainly God keeps His promises and Jesus will return to fulfill all that the Bible says will happen. If we die before the rapture of the church, we will still be with God. There is no down side for true believers.

Love God! Love others!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith May 27, 2024

Notes of Faith May 27, 2024

The Boy Who Saw the Battle of Bunker Hill

Today in the United States it’s Memorial Day, the day we honor those who have lost their lives defending their country. Today, let’s pray for families who have lost a loved one in battle or in service.

Trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. — Psalm 62:8

After the Boston Tea Party, the British issued punitive measures against Boston, which prompted the Colonies to convene the First Continental Congress in 1774. John Adams of Massachusetts traveled to Philadelphia, leaving his wife, Abigail, and their children in Braintree, near Boston, which was quickly becoming a battle zone. British troops began swarming the area, and shots were fired at nearby Lexington and Concord.

Abigail was the daughter of a minister and a force to be reckoned with, but she grew increasingly anxious for her children’s safety. On June 15, she wrote her husband, “We now expect our seacoast to be ravaged; perhaps the very next letter I write will inform you that I am driven away from our yet quiet cottage... We live in continual expectation of alarms.

Courage, I know we have in abundance... but powder — where shall we get a sufficient supply?”1

Seven-year-old John Quincy felt the strain, too, later writing, “My mother with her infant children dwelt every hour of the day and of the night liable to be butchered in cold blood or taken and carried into Boston as hostages by any foraging or marauding detachment of men.”2

On June 17, Abigail and her children heard the guns and cannons that marked the beginning of the Battles of Bunker Hill and Breed’s Hill. As the British started up the slopes, a command reportedly passed through the American lines: “Don’t shoot until you see the white of their eyes.”

Trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. — Psalm 62:8

When the guns began firing, the sound traveled for miles. Hearing the roar of the cannons and the sounds of the battle, Abigail took John Quincy and hiked to the top of Penn Hill, where they watched the battle unfold across the bay. The Boston neighborhood of Charlestown went up in flames, and the winds blew the heat and smoke into their faces. Waves of British soldiers fell while charging up Bunker’s hill. The Patriots were driven back, and it was the bloodiest battle thus far in the War. The next morning Abigail wrote John, and in the middle of her letter, she burst into the cherished scriptures sustaining her, especially a passage from

Psalm 62:

The day — perhaps the decisive day — is come, on which the fate of America depends. My bursting heart must give vent at my pen. I have just heard that our dear friend, Dr. Warren, is no more, but fell gloriously fighting... “The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; but the God of Israel is He that giveth strength and power to His people. Trust in Him at all times, ye people, pour out your hearts before Him; God is a refuge for us.” Charlestown is laid in ashes. The battle began upon our intrenchments upon Bunker’s Hill, Saturday morning about three o’clock, and has not ceased yet... It is expected they will come out over the Neck tonight, and a dreadful battle must ensue. Almighty God, cover the heads of our countrymen, and be a shield to our dear friends! How many have fallen, we know not. The constant roar of the cannon is so distressing that we cannot eat, drink, or sleep.3

John Quincy Adams never forgot the carnage that filled his seven-year-old eyes as he stood transfixed by the cannons, gunfire, charging soldiers, dying troops, burning city, and unfolding history. He later said it made an impression on his mind that haunted him the rest of his life. Even in old age he couldn’t bring himself to attend celebrations associated with the events of that day.4

“I saw with my own eyes the fires of Charlestown and heard Britannia’s thunders in the battle... and witnessed the tears of my mother and mingled them with my own,” he wrote.5

Abigail finally turned and left the bloody panorama, leading her son back home where she made him promise to repeat the Lord’s Prayer every morning before rising from bed, a practice he kept the rest of his life.6

Thus the little family watched, prayed, trusted God, poured out their hearts to Him — and melted Abigail’s collection of pewter spoons into musket balls for the Patriots.7

Abigail Adams, Letters of Mrs. Adams, 1 (Boston: Charles C. Little & James Brown, 1840), 36–37.

Harlow Giles Unger, John Quincy Adams (Boston: De Capo Press, 2012), 12.

Adams, Letters of Mrs. Adams, 39–40.

Nathaniel Philbrick, Bunker Hill (New York: Viking, 2013), 293.

Edward Everett Hale, ed., Old and New, 10 (Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1875), 508, quoting John Quincy Adams, Memoirs of John Quincy Adams, Comprising Portions of His Diary from 1795 to 1848, vols. 1–2, Charles Frances Adams, ed. (Philadelphia: Lippincott & Company, 1874).

Unger, John Quincy Adams, 17. 7. Unger, John Quincy Adams, 17.

Excerpted from 100 Bible Verses That Made America by Robert Morgan, copyright Robert J. Morgan.

One cannot change the truth of history. God has always been in control. He still is. All we need to do is trust Him.

Prov 3:5-6

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart

and lean not on your own understanding;

6 in all your ways acknowledge him,

and he will direct your path.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith May 26, 2024

Notes of Faith May 26, 2024

Thank you to all who came to Bill Lawson’s memorial service. Thank you to the ones who blessed us serving to meet the needs of the day. Thank you for all of the cards, prayers, and words of encouragement. We are a truly blessed family.

The Best Day of the Week

Five Reasons I Love Sunday

Article by Kenneth E. Ortiz

Pastor, Orlando, Florida

Early one Sunday morning, I walked into my two-year-old daughter’s bedroom and scooped her up out of bed. She was barely awake. As I carried her over to the changing table, I whispered, “Baby girl, today we get to go to church.”

Her eyes lit up, she let out a big gasp, and she shouted, “Scottie, Elise, William, Rowan?” I responded, “Yes, you’re going to see your friends today.” “Dada, I love church!” she said. “Yeah, baby girl, me too.”

Obviously, my daughter doesn’t fully understand why we regularly meet as a local church, but she gets the excitement. She has tasted how sweet it is when Christians gather to worship.

Why I Love Sundays

For many years, I’ve been known for saying that Sundays are my favorite day of the week. As a pastor, I’ve said this to my congregation repeatedly. Why do I love Sundays? It’s quite simple: Sunday is the day that I get to worship with my church family — my dear friends who love the God I love.

We don’t need a specific time or space to worship, of course. We can pray alone. We can read the Bible by ourselves. We can engage in various helpful spiritual disciplines in solitude.

However, there are elements of the Christian life that you simply cannot experience alone. Don Whitney puts it this way: “Christianity is not an isolationist religion. . . . There’s an element of worship in Christianity that cannot be experienced in private worship or by watching worship” (Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, 43–44). This is why the author of Hebrews exhorts us to prioritize our gathering together (Hebrews 10:24–25).

Sunday worship gatherings have been a big deal to Christians for a very long time. They were normal for the earliest Christians (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2; Revelation 1:10) and were important to the second and third generations as well (Didache 14.1; First Apology of Justin Martyr 67).

I’m thankful that many contemporary Christians gather each Sunday for worship and fellowship. However, I worry that many believers lack the appropriate enthusiasm, attending church services largely out of obligation. I long for God’s people to enthusiastically anticipate the unique sweetness of gathering with God’s people week after week. I love Sundays, and here are five reasons why I think you should love Sundays too.

1. We get a taste of glory.

I love Sundays because they give me the best glimpse of the new Jerusalem.

One day, Christ will return, and we will live together in that glorious city, the new Jerusalem. When we think about this city, we might think about geography or location, about streets of gold or structures made of jasper. But that misses the main point.

The new Jerusalem is primarily a community, a people perfected by the work of Christ, enjoying his greatness and beauty together. When that day comes, all of God’s people will be permanently gathered. We will live in perfect harmony, enjoying one another and treasuring Christ together forever and ever.

The local church offers a sneak peek. Every Sunday when we gather, we’re seeing some of what the future holds. We are not yet perfected by Christ, but we are being perfected (Romans 8:29; 2 Corinthians 3:18). Each Sunday, the church is a little bit more like Jesus than we were when we gathered last week. And if our Lord permits, we will be a little bit more like him next week. Each week, I get a better picture of the glory that is to come.

“Sunday is the day that I get to worship with my church family — my dear friends who love the God I love.”

In the Old Testament, if a person wanted to be near the presence of God, he or she would go toward the tabernacle (or, later, the temple). The tabernacle was God’s dwelling place on earth. But today, God dwells with his church. Puritan writer Richard Sibbes says the church is “the tabernacle now” in this age. “Particular visible churches under particular pastors [are] where the means of salvation are set up. Particular visible churches now are God’s tabernacle” (A Breathing After God, 54).

2. We see spiritual gifts on display.

I love Sundays because they put God’s spiritual gifts on display.

God has gifted each Christian with spiritual abilities (Romans 12:6; 1 Corinthians 12:7; 1 Peter 4:10), and he means for them to build up the body. Some spiritual gifts manifest in informal settings, but others are best and most often displayed within the context of corporate worship gatherings.

When I walk into our church building and I’m greeted by Joyce, I see her gift of hospitality. As Garrett leads our music ministry, I see his gift of exhortation. As our kids participate in Sunday school, I see Jim’s gift of teaching. When the elements of our service run smoothly, I see Phil’s gift of administration. After the service, when I have a brief conversation in the foyer with a few members of our church, and they tell me about the meal train that came to them that week, I see gifts of mercy and giving on display.

Sunday is not the only day spiritual abilities are at work, but Sunday is the day when I get to see the gifts on clearest display.

3. We hear much-needed teaching.

I love Sundays because I love hearing God’s word faithfully taught by a pastor who knows and loves his congregation.

God has gifted his church with teachers to serve and bless the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:11–12). As Whitney writes, “Bible reading and preaching are central in public worship because they are the clearest, most direct, most extensive presentation of God in the meeting” (Spiritual Disciplines, 42).

Certainly, we can find good teaching in other contexts, but nothing can equal a sermon preached by your local pastor, carefully tailored for your particular congregation.

I have spoken to many pastors about how their relationships with congregants shape their sermons. Often, as a pastor prepares, the faces of his people keep coming to mind. Why? Because the pastor knows his people. He knows their stories. He knows their struggles. He knows the unique temptations they face. That knowledge of his congregation shapes the sermon he crafts for them.

Faithful teaching from a pastor who knows and loves his people is the most nourishing diet a believer can consume.

4. We experience spiritual growth.

I love Sundays because on them I experience great spiritual growth.

Spiritual growth is wrought by the Spirit of God. We cannot control it or manufacture it. However, spiritual growth happens most often — and most intensely — in those moments when we come face-to-face with the goodness and beauty of Christ. So if we intentionally put ourselves in positions and places where we are more likely to see the majesty of Jesus, then we are more likely to experience spiritual growth.

Therefore, we sing, we hear testimonies, we confess our sins, we revel in the gospel, we sit under faithful teaching, and we participate in the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Table. And in no context are we more likely to encounter those types of activities than when Christians gather on Sundays.

5. We remember we’re not alone.

I love Sundays because they remind me that many others believe what I believe and follow the one I follow.

Life can be hard and lonely. The cares of this world have the potential to exhaust us. And in a society that often celebrates evil and believes in lies, during the week it can feel like you’re the crazy one. But come Sunday, when I gather with believers for worship, I’m reminded I’m not alone, and I’m energized.

In the Old Testament, Elijah experienced deep discouragement and distress. He felt alone, as if he were the only person left in Israel serving God. But God assured Elijah that there were still seven thousand people who worshiped the one true God, and he was greatly encouraged (1 Kings 19:18). The same happens within us when we gather. We are greatly encouraged, refreshed, and energized.

Sunday Is Coming

This list certainly is not exhaustive. There are more good and godly reasons to enthusiastically look forward to Sunday worship gatherings.

God pours out so many beautiful blessings on those who gather faithfully with their local church. Even now, as I think about those blessings, my anticipation and excitement for Sunday is building.

Praise God, Sunday is coming!

Today is Sunday! I am happy to be with the congregation that I have worshipped and fellowshipped and grown spiritually with for the last 30 years. Every day is a day to praise the Lord, but I love doing it in the community of the church with Jesus, our Lord and Savior as the Head! See you soon!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith May 25, 2024

Notes of Faith May 25, 2024

Today could be a dark day for our family as we lay our husband, dad, grand-dad, and great-grand-dad to rest. But we actually celebrate his home-going after the blessing of the life God gave him and the years we spent together. No more pain, sorrow, suffering…just the joy of being in the presence of his Savior forever. And, we look forward to joining him some day. That too, will be an eternal blessing. We are praising God today, for his love for us, his provision for us, through dad, William Dean Lawson. Services today, at Community Grace Brethren Church, 5885 Downey Ave. Long Beach, CA. 90805, 11:45 A.M.

To watch livestream follow these links

Facebook:

Facebook.com/cgbclb

Click on the picture of the livestream for a full screen viewing

Zoom:

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/77612737885?pwd=lZ4zyZb2plUb9GWbYq0hYbflhciqdv.1

Click on the link above to join the livestream on zoom. After 40 minutes you will be told the time for the meeting has ended, or it will just close your session…just click into the meeting again and it will continue. You might have to do this more than once because the host at the service will have to rejoin the meeting as well.

Thank you for your love and prayers of comfort for our family.

Todays devotion speaks of our dad who praised God in all circumstances!

Worshiping in the Darkness

I will praise You with my whole heart; before the gods I will sing praises to You.

Psalm 138:1

The nineteenth-century South African pastor and writer Andrew Murray was feeling unwell one day when he wrote down a few paragraphs in his journal. The last line he wrote was a summary: “I am here (1) by God’s appointment, (2) in His keeping, (3) under His training, (4) for His time.”1

In short, Andrew Murray wrote down four reasons for worshiping God even in times of trouble. If we are where we are by God’s appointment, in His keeping, under His training, and for His time, what could we possibly have to worry about? Those four points are usually what we think when things are going well, when we really feel like worshiping God. But if they are true all the time, even when things are hard, why wouldn’t we worship God in those times as well? We agree with Job: “Shall we indeed accept good from God and shall we not accept adversity?”

(Job 2:10)

We don’t worship God because things are good or otherwise. We worship Him because of His sovereign oversight and care for our life.

Never doubt in the dark what God told you in the light.

V. Raymond Edman

God is good all the time, and all the time God is good!

Pastor Dale