TRANSFORMING LIVES WITH THE TRUTH OF GOD'S WORD

THROUGH REFORMED THEOLOGY WE HAVE BEEN

TRANSFORMING LIVES WITH THE TRUTH OF GOD'S WORD SINCE 1997

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Men Prepare Sermons; God Prepares Men

2nd Timothy 2:15

"The proper place for a ship to be is in the water, but if the water gets into the ship, the ship will sink. The proper place for the church is in the world,

BUT IF THE 'WORLD' GETS INTO THE CHURCH,

THE CHURCH WILL GO DOWN IN DISGRACE!"

Thank you for taking the time to view our blog;we look forward to reading your comments. DVDs of our services are available upon request. We covet your prayers and friendship. In His Service and For His Glory, Pastor Bill & Kathy ...
"Now fear the Lord and serve Him with all faithfulness...But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."-Joshua 24:14-15

Is God Calling You to be a Pastor?

The right kind of education is essential to the man who has answered God's call. No army dare send a soldier into battle without proper training. The results would be devastating, not only for the warrior, but for the war.


Sunday, March 20, 2011

March 20

HAPPY 1ST DAY OF SPRING!!!

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The following article was published in the Coolidge Examiner

on March 16th.  We welcome any comments.

HAVE YOU FELT LIKE GIVING UP LATELY? DON’T!
Nearly a century ago, Christians were concerned about the “Social Gospel”. Instead of being a lighthouse for lost souls, the Church during those years, became a soup kitchen.

Now, in the first part of the 21st century, Christians need to become aware of, and concerned about the “Culture Gospel”. Instead of being an oasis for the spiritually desperate, the Church in America is becoming a play house of cultural relevancy.


Traditional forms of worship are disappearing as if they were dinosaurs. An atmosphere of reverence is all but extinct. An expectation that people attend church services dressed respectfully for the occasion, is frowned upon by many Churches as archaic and old fashioned – as if there is something wrong with being old fashioned.


Popular wisdom prescribes observing the cultural elements of people’s daily experience, transcribing them into a liturgical format, and presenting a Christian message in a vernacular setting. The more diverse the demographics of the community, the more diverse “worship” becomes. Something must be included, it is said, to appeal to every segment of society. Baby Boomers, Generation X, Singles, ethnics, and an infinite list of other special interest groups become targets with new innovations. The activities of “worship” are fabricated with great sensitivity to all the people who may enter the refurbished halls of the Church.


I get letters at times, from ministers expressing their concerns for parishioners who are on the verge of giving up. “Good honest Christians are so overwhelmed by quilt and condemnation that it causes despair. When they can’t live up to their own expectations, when they fall back into sin, they decide to give up…”


A growing number of Christians are at the breaking point. Few Christians would even dare entertain thoughts of quitting on their love for Jesus, but in despair they consider giving up on themselves.

Some ministers today continually preach only a positive message. To hear them tell it, every Christian is receiving miracles, everybody is getting instant answers to prayer, everybody is feeling good, living well, and the whole world is bright and rosy. I love to hear that kind of preaching because I really desire all those good and healthy things for God’s people. But that’s not the way things really are for a great number of very honest, sincere Christians.


No wonder so many people give up in defeat. They can’t live up to the image, created by religion, of a carefree, rich, successful, always positive-thinking Christian. Their world is not that ideal; they live with heartbreaks, hour-by-hour crises, and family problems.

The Apostle Paul talked about trouble “…trouble which came to us… we were pressed out of [burdened beyond] measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life (2 Corinthians 1:8).


Positive thinking won’t make these problems go away and “confessing” that these problems don’t really exist doesn’t change a thing.. So, What is the cure?


There is a very simple answer; Keeping our focus on Jesus Christ; the Church has forgotten to “keep the main thing the main thing”. The Church that used to be focused on God and Jesus Christ is now, in far too many cases focused on itself.


When you belong to the Sovereign Lord, the One who rules the galaxies and cares about our daily bread, depression and sadness cannot ultimately win! The Brightness of the Son of God’s power and love in your life is more powerful than the fog in your valley, no matter how dense and stubborn that fog may seem to be. Psalm 84:11 promises that “the Lord God is a sun and a shield…no good thing does He withhold from those whose walk is blameless.”


And in the Word of God, you have five hope-filled words straight from the Father’s heart to yours. They’re in Psalm 112:4, “Even in darkness light dawns.” Okay, let’s get the context of that promise for every foggy day” Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man.” Don’t let the darkness change the kind of person you are. Your mission is to keep on being gracious, keep on being upright, and keep on being compassionate. Don’t let the light inside go out. Psalm 112 goes on to say “Good will come to him…surly he will never be shaken…he will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord…in the end he will look in triumph on his foes.” He will look on the sadness, the depression, and say, “This is the day that the Lord had made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.”


We must remember that; “the proper place for a ship to be is in the water, but if the water gets into the ship, the ship will sink. The proper place for the church is in the world, but if the ‘world’ gets into the church, the church will go down in disgrace.”


· God loves you. He is a loving Father wanting only to lift us out of our weakness.
· It is our faith that pleases Him most. He wants us to trust Him.



Dr. William Perry- Pastor
Community Christian Church
680 N. Main Street
Coolidge, AZ 85128
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The March Coolidge Chamber of Commerce luncheon was held in the City Chamber. The Speaker was the Arizona Chamber Director.


image001 HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY  image001

Some thoughts concerning St. Patrick: He was neither Irish nor Catholic. He died on March 17, 461, was buried in Downpatrick, Northern Ireland. It seems interesting that we celebrate his death instead of his birth.

Paddy shouts frantically into the phone "My wife is pregnant
and her contractions are only two minutes apart!"
"Is this her first child?" asks the Doctor.
"NO", shouts Paddy, "THIS IS HER HUSBAND!! "
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An answer I can understand.
An American tourist asks an Irishman:
"Why do Scuba divers always fall backwards off their boats?"
To which the Irishman replies:
"If they fell forwards, they'd still be in the bloody boat."
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Click here for the HO HO KAM RV RESORT WEBSITE
As we continue our support of and continue our ministry to the local RV community, please keep the HO HO KAM Resort Community in your prayers, that we might be accepted as their full time Chaplain couple for the park. 

To hear this week's message click here.
Continue to pray for us as we seek to serve the Lord here in the desert.
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3 comments:

  1. Well said Bro. Bill well said......
    pj and L
    our prayers are continually with you and Kathy.

    ReplyDelete
  2. good message. Right in line with what I was thinking. Soup kitchen, entertainment center. I guess I'm old-fashioned too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your church disk came in the mail just now – thanks. It is interesting to be able to visit there this way. Love that statement about the ship in the water.

    -Carol

    ReplyDelete