|
Listen to our Sunday morning sermons at our
Sermons Page
The Present
Truth Magazine (Email)
|
|
|
FROM THE EDITOR’S HEART
Yes, I have an invisible friend. I talk to Him and listen to His inaudible voice. Father God gave Him to me, and He dwells with and in me. He is a teacher who leads and guides into all truth (1 Cor. 2:13; John 14:17, 26, 16:13), and He actually authored the Scriptures (2 Pet. 1:21). He speaks to and through people (Luke 12:12; Acts 13:4, 28:25; 1 Cor. 12:3; Heb. 3:7) and pours the love of God into our hearts (Rom. 5:5). Of course, I’m speaking of the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit is a real “person.” He has a mind (Rom. 8:27), a will (1 Cor. 12:11), and emotions (Eph. 4:30; 1 Thes. 1:6). If I rebel against Him, He becomes my enemy and fights against me (Is. 63:10), but when I am flowing with Him, He gives life to my mortal body, helps me put to death the deeds of the flesh, confirms to me I’m a child of God, and helps me in my weaknesses (Rom. 8). When Holy Spirit comes to indwell a person, He brings gifts (Heb. 4:2; 1 Cor. 12), fruit (Gal. 5:22-23), and true life and liberty (2 Cor. 3:6, 17). He strengthens the “inner man” and empowers one to deny the flesh and worship in spirit and truth (Eph. 3:16; Phil. 3:3; John 4:23). Jesus needed the Holy Spirit to carry out His ministry (Acts 10:38); so do I. I do not want to quench Him (1 Thes. 5:19) because He is my “connection” with the deep things of God (1 Cor. 2:9-10). This Thanksgiving season, I am so grateful for my constant companion Holy Spirit and for the many people in whom He resides and freely operates. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen (2 Cor. 13:14).
Sincerely in Christ,
THE LAST DISCIPLE is a well-written novel that
is a good alternative to the left-behind series. It is written from
what we consider a partial-preterist viewpoint; i.e. that the
great-tribulation and most of the book of revelation was written about and
fulfilled in the first century. Reading it is an excellent way to both
enjoy a novel and gain a scriptural understanding of how Jesus' and His
apostles prophecies were fulfilled in the first century.
|
We are glad to have you as a subscriber to our Present Truth Magazine. Below you will find articles from individual authors who have written for our magazine. Our prayer for all who receive read these articles is that the Lord "...may give to you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, and what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (Ephesians 1:17-18).
The Work of the Holy Spirit Today In the book of Acts, the gospel writer Luke’s terminology is fluid in regard to the Holy Spirit. At the Jewish Feast of Pentecost, Luke says, “…they were filled with the Holy Spirit…” (Acts 2:4). In the Samaria episode, Luke states, “…they received the Holy Spirit” (Acts 8:17). When Peter was ministering the Word of God at the centurion Cornelius’ house, Luke records, “…the Holy Spirit fell upon those who heard the word” (Acts 10:44). Luke further declares that “…the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also” (Acts 10:45). When Paul was ministering at Ephesus, Luke says “…the Holy Spirit came upon them…” (Acts 19:6). Some bible scholars say that Luke’s terms to describe the Holy Spirit’s ministry are essential equivalents to Jesus’ promise to His followers: “…you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (Acts 1:5). Obviously, Jesus was referring to the Holy Spirit’s coming at the Jewish Feast of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4). Luke’s fluid use of different terms when referring to the work of the Holy Spirit (who is a person) has caused many to be confused about His role in our postmodern world. When we accept the fact that the Holy Spirit is God, and He is one with the Father and Son (who are also God), we will be better able to communicate in a personal, intimate way with the Holy Spirit. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deut. 6:4; Eph. 4:4-6). God’s Holy Spirit has both gifts and fruit to manifest in the new covenant believer in Christ today (1 Cor. 12; Gal. 5:22-23). Jesus said when the Holy Spirit—who proceeded from the Father—would come, He would guide believers in Christ into all truth (John 15:26, 16:13). The same Holy Spirit who is one with the Father and Son indwells all new creation, covenant believers in Christ today (John 14:17, 20, 23). A very important ministry the Holy Spirit is performing today is clarifying the “last days” controversy concerning the time of the end of Israel’s old covenant world. There is no place in the Scriptures where it talks about the end of time. The Scripture does talk about the “time of the end” of Israel’s old covenant world. “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away (Heb. 8:10-13). During the enthroned Christ’s messianic reign (the last days of Israel’s old covenant world), grace and mercy characterized the new covenant—replacing the inadequate old covenant of Israel. For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious (2 Cor. 3:11). In this transition period, God was establishing Israel’s new covenant as the old was passing away. Regarding the last days of Israel’s covenant world under the Law of Moses, God’s prophet Joel predicted, Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the Lord your God And there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame (Joel 2:27). Apostle Peter explained that God was pouring out His Spirit on all flesh at the Jewish Feast of Pentecost (Acts 2:14-39). In his book Last Days Identified, Don K. Preston does a superb scholarly job from Scripture alone to show that the end of the age occurred in the first century. Israel’s prophets, which include the Chief Prophet Jesus, promised the end of Israel’s old covenant world with their Messiah’s coming. From the Feast of Pentecost in Peter’s time until our day, the Holy Spirit has been active in bringing regeneration to unbelievers (Titus 3:4-7). The Holy Spirit is also actively empowering believers in Christ for witness and service (Acts 1:8). God’s Spirit operates
spiritual gifts in believers’ lives as He wills (1 Cor. 12:11). He
also produces the fruit of the Spirit in believers who will walk
humbly with
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to His covenant people today. There are great rewards in new creation, covenant living today. The Spirit and Word say, “The best is yet to come.” A. Wilson Phillips is the co-founding and senior pastor of Abundant Life Covenant Church.
LOOKING FOR LOVE IN ALL THE RIGHT PLACES In 1980, Johnny Lee wrote a song that became a crossover hit, “Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places.” He described a man that had spent a lifetime looking for a friend and a lover in all the wrong places. Single bars and good time lovers never true. Playin’ the fools game hoping to win. And telling those sweet lies and losing again. Sadly, millions of people are like the man in the song; they spend their lifetime looking for love in all the wrong places. The apostle Paul knew that the faithful in Christ had legitimate needs and that their hearts would not be satisfied with substitutes. He prayed for the Ephesian church that their Father God would reveal to them His boundless love in order to hold them steady during life’s trials and, conversely, cause them to soar into the infinite dimensions of His greatness and covenant blessings. …that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God (Eph. 3:17-19). It was love that sent Christ to the cross, it is love that chose us, it is love that saved us, and it is love that wants to satisfy our desires in Him. Everything good in life originates from the Lord. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And let your soul delight itself in abundance. Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you— The sure mercies of David (Is. 55:2-3). John wrote during the great tribulation to encourage his children in the faith, and it might surprise us that he said their deliverance was found in God’s love. In fact, he said that GOD IS LOVE, and that perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:8, 18). Paul likewise bolstered the Roman believers’ faith saying that the force of God’s love would carry them through every trial. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8:38-39). The “agape” love of God is
found only in God and His people. Fallen humanity has emotion that is
oftentimes confused with true love. When we embrace the love of God
through His Son by becoming obedient to His Word, we are transformed into
Love suffers long and is kind; love does not
envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave
rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not
rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes
all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails
(1 Cor 13:4-8). Richard K. Clark is an associate pastor of Abundant Life Covenant Church.
Thanksgiving in
the Midst of Suffering The first Pilgrims to establish a colony in America were driven by their faith in the God of the Bible. As they followed the Lord’s leading to establish a colony in the New World, they believed they would succeed because the Lord was with them. Thus they wrote: We verily believe and trust the Lord is with us, unto Whom and Whose service we have given ourselves in many trials, and that He will graciously prosper our endeavors… Because these Pilgrims were not wealthy, they had to endure very difficult circumstances in their journey to the New World. Aboard the Mayflower, 102 men, women, and children crammed into lantern-lit, low-ceilinged areas below decks. Due to constant storms, they had to remain in these small quarters for most of their seven-week journey. During their first winter in the new land, they lost nearly 50 percent of their number. However, as spring came, the Lord provided them with an Indian who had converted to Christianity and felt it was his personal calling to teach these newcomers how to survive in the New World. Thus they learned how to fish, hunt, trade, and farm. The Pilgrims were so grateful for the Lord’s provisions that they declared a public Thanksgiving that first year and invited a nearby Indian tribe with whom they had been trading. It was a huge celebration that they ended up extending for three days and was continued in years to come. The Pilgrims’ concept of Thanksgiving was born out of the scriptural principle of thanksgiving in the midst of suffering. Jesus set the pattern for this kind of thanksgiving in His earthly ministry. John 11 reveals our Master’s attitude while He had the cross in view. As Mary and Martha were grieving over the death of their brother Lazarus, Jesus gave them truth to sustain them: …I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die… (John 11:25-26). It was clearly understood by the Jews of the day that the Messiah would bring the resurrection from the dead. It was not as clear to them, even though it was clear in the old covenant Scriptures, that the Messiah had to first be crucified and sacrificed as a blood offering to God before this resurrection could take place. By telling Mary and Martha that He was the resurrection, Jesus was prophesying the cross event. To confirm that He was the Messiah, Jesus went on to physically resurrect Lazarus while the family looked on. In His prayer, He expressed His thanksgiving in the midst of suffering: “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me…” (John11:41). Jesus’ thanksgiving was a confession of faith in the midst of a suffering circumstance. He spoke it with His own suffering in clear view. He maintained that confession of faith all the way to the cross. Seeing Jesus’ thanksgiving in this circumstance reveals an important principle: faith and thanksgiving are tightly connected partners. Without one, the other is crippled. The apostle Paul took Jesus’ pattern of thanksgiving in the midst of suffering and applied it to his own life. In his second letter to the Corinthians, he wrote of his sufferings and trials, sharing “For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you, with many tears…” (2 Cor. 2:4). Yet, just a few verses later, Paul declared his faith and thanksgiving in the midst of suffering— Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place (2 Cor. 2:14). Thanksgiving in the midst of suffering is an act of worship to the Lord. As we who are in the new covenant are no longer called to offer animals or burnt offerings, this sacrifice is one that is well pleasing to Him.
Therefore by Him let us continually offer the
sacrifice of praise to God,
In my own family, this year’s Thanksgiving holiday will be one that is in the midst of God’s ordained level of suffering. Nevertheless, our testimony will be one of thanks to God who is leading us in triumph in Christ, using us to spread His knowledge, grace, and love in every place. Benjamin Davis is an associate pastor of Abundant Life Covenant Church.
DOMINION
vs. DOMINATION Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Gen. 1:26-28). From the beginning, man was given a God-directed charge to have dominion over the earth. The Genesis passage is also reflected in Psalm 8:6-8: You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet… According to these Psalm and Genesis passages, man is to have dominion over the birds, the fish, the beasts of the field, the sheep and oxen, the cattle, the creeping things…over all the earth. As I was recently meditating on these Scriptures, I realized there was one (conspicuous) thing that was left off the list—“man.” And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh (Gen. 2:18, 24). God had made “man” in His own image—male and female. They were to be joined together as one in marriage and jointly have dominion over all the earth, not over each other. However, after God gave the direction for man and woman to co-rule over planet earth, sin entered the human race (Gen. 3:1-13). Mankind (man and woman) now had been infected with a “sin nature.” God began to explain to them how sin was going to show up in their interactions: So the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this…”
To the woman He said: “…Your desire shall be for
your husband, and he shall rule over you” (Gen. 3:14a, 16). The good news—in Christ, our fallen natures are changed into the nature of Christ! In Christ, we no longer have a sin nature of domination but a new creation nature: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new (2 Cor. 5:17). Our new creation nature in
Christ restores us back to dominion. We (male and
…there is neither male nor female; for you are
all one in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:28).
…heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ…
(Rom. 8:17). …all of you be submissive to one another… (1 Pet. 5:5). Jonathan Clark is an elder of Abundant Life Covenant Church and a physician in Springfield, Missouri.
Don’t Sweat It I was shocked to find myself in a state of despair. Since the year 2000, I have been ranked number one or number two among my peers in my company. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, I was beginning to rank in the bottom half. There wasn’t one specific thing that had changed, and being responsible for 120 people, I began to panic. I’ve been a believer for a long time and know my life to be a devotion to God, and I understand the manifestation of Christ in me—so I began to practice what I knew the best I could. I prayed about my circumstances, tried to think rightly, counseled with my pastor, etc., but things were not improving; worst of all, I was acting out towards my employees in a negative, demanding way. I knew something was wrong and even heard myself say things like, “I know I’m being tested”; “I’ve got to think rightly about this.” But the fear and anxiety were taking a grip. I talked with my wife and said, “This job is ruining my life.” She responded that it was affecting her life as well and asked me why I believe what I believe, and why do I go to church and counsel with our pastor if I’m going to live miserably and have a negative confession. I also heard my pastor speak about choosing whom we will serve. I may have been serving the god of my company AT&T just a bit. I was waking up during the night and the first thing each morning with trouble at work on my mind—what to do about this or that or who I needed to discuss what with today. I’d make sure to ask God to show me what to do, but I was very quick to return to trying to figure it out myself. AT&T is a cruel god. The corporation does not have the capacity to care about people. I often talk with employees who are expecting the corporation to care about them, and I have explained that our company is like a car—a car doesn’t have the capacity to care about anyone. Obviously, it does not have feelings. The good news is that there can be people in your car that do care, just like there are people who care at AT&T. When employees understand this, we can proceed to deal with their issues. During this time of worrying over my job, I twisted my back and needed to physically rest. So, I was forced to get still. In this state, I began to listen to Holy Spirit, and I asked God to show me where my blockage was—or, in other words, if the life of Christ is in me, why am I acting this way? God began to reveal that my devotion to Him was lacking. I had become professional in my devotion—meaning that I was going through the motions, but I had my own agenda. I had also become very accepting of “overlapping.” I felt it was proper devotion to commune with God while I brushed my teeth or shaved or drove to work. Overlapping isn’t a bad thing; I believe we can and should commune with God while we go through our routines. However, overlapping had become my only communion. I needed to give God my full attention—He was getting it now. God spoke some very specific things to me: “I have and will move heaven and earth for you (for all those whom I love and have called according to My purpose).”
“I will provide for you and your family—here in Springfield. You will prosper and be in health even as your soul prospers.”
“Submit to my Spirit, and your soul will prosper.”
“Let’s meet every day at 6 a.m. for a morning walk. I will commune with you, renew your spirit daily, and regenerate your mind and energy.”
“Live by faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1).
“Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise” (Heb. 10:35-36). As I began to walk in obedience to the Lord’s direction, with my heart towards Him, my attitude began to change. I saw my circumstances at work. God showed me some very specific things to do—which would take some courage. The vibrancy of walking in obedience to what He was showing me and letting the results rest with Him began to kick in. Compared to the way I had been functioning, this new way of approaching my work was as different as night and day. I now could experience a freedom to release things I thought were in my control; I could simply do what He was showing me throughout the day, starting with devotion to Him. Results at work have been steadily improving—solidly back in the top quartiles of most measurements with more improvement on the way. The hidden benefit is that this way of life and work is less sweat than before. I was so driven to produce results and felt so responsible for them that I was willing to pound them out with my hands if I had to—which is a lot of work. God’s yoke is easy. I’m receiving revelation about my job and my company—after being with them 26 years—that is helping me to operate in a more successful manner with less manual effort. I’m not sweating it any more. Craig Sifferman is the Associate Sales Director of the Consumer Sales and Service Center for AT&T in Springfield, Missouri.
God is in Control A friend of mine asked me one time, “If there really is a God, why does He let bad things happen?” As I pondered this question, I realized how strongly I believe that God is in control of everything, He has no weaknesses, and He is good. God used some difficult circumstances in my childhood to show me the reality of these truths. When I was fourteen, I was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer. It took doctors a long time to discover what it was, and almost as long for them to figure out what to do. Since it was in both bones of my lower arm, one doctor refused to do radiation on it because it would cause severe swelling and eventually need to be amputated; however, simply amputating was the only other option. He referred my parents to an orthopedic surgeon 900 miles away, Dr. James Neff. After reviewing my case, Dr. Neff was divinely inspired. Less than a month later, he operated on my arm replacing my bone with bone from my leg and fusing it with metal. I have never had any recurrence of the cancer and am now almost 35. God was in that situation all along. I know that it was no coincidence that we found this doctor half way across the country. There was more to this miracle. While I was in the hospital, I became good friends with a girl named Cherilyn. She had the same cancer as I had, only hers was spreading much faster. She was on chemotherapy and very sick. Through it all, she never stopped smiling. (I have a picture on my wall to this day of her smiling.) When I was struggling with my feelings, she would always cheer me up. I once asked her why she was so happy. She just replied that she knew that God would never give her more than she could handle, and that He had a plan for her life. This plan, she knew, was one that included death at a young age. She wasn’t afraid because God had given her strength. We stayed very close, and through it all, she never stopped talking about her God. She died not too long after our time together. God used Cherilyn and my cancer to bring me to Him. Everything He does has a purpose and is for my good. I look back at my childhood and at my lasting scars and thank God for every minute of my life. He has always been in control. Dee Kerr is a homemaker in Springfield, Missouri.
When, God, When? It greatly surprised me to see Pat Robertson, John Hagee, and the like praying for protection on Israel, when in fact prayer is needed for all humanity and, in particular, for those who claim Christianity but do what the Lord is abhorring still yet today. Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord” shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven (Matt.7:21). When will we understand? When will we comprehend? WHEN, GOD, WHEN? God is still in control and cannot be questioned. I venture to say that the Christian evangelists are contributing to the problem in the Middle East. As Christians, we must love one another no matter whether we are Jew or Gentile—we are one body (Gal. 3:28). It really saddens me much when I see actual pictures of killed Israelis, Lebanese, and Palestinian innocent civilians. Israel is destroying Lebanon and most of the economic viability that Lebanon has been struggling to build over the past 16 years. Before that, Israel was unleashing its terror and destruction on the people of Gaza. They kill children, women, and innocent civilians. Israel has been displacing families from their homes in villages ever since its establishment in 1948. In six days, since July 12, 2006, it displaced over 700,000 people in Lebanon alone. Ten years ago, Israel committed the Qana Massacre in South Lebanon at a UN base, and it has remained unpunished for its unlawful acts in Qana, Jenin, Sabra, Shatila, etc. Using the same argument of “self-defense and fighting against terror,” Israel has now committed the mass genocide in Gaza and Lebanon in 2006, killing children and innocents. The nation of Israel must be held accountable for its criminal acts of war. Of the 1,145 killed, only 61 of them were Hezbollah and over 3,000 were injured. Israel’s purposes are to diminish any economical, civil, and infrastructural aspect of Lebanon. When Israel found it difficult to diminish Hezbollah resistance, it started ruining any effectively standing structure, including but not limited to airports, ports, roads, bridges, highways, hundreds of civilian homes, energy plants, communication networks, water towers, pharmacy stores, etc.—starving people by cutting them off from going anywhere to get their needs met. Not that I approve of some of the actions committed by the fundamental fanatics; innocent civilians are vanished in a moment when radical ideologists decide to detonate strapped bombs around their waists or when trucks full of dynamite are driven into American embassies. Actions committed such as these can be contributed to ignorance, injustice, inability to be heard, and the lack of acknowledgment from the West to deal with the main issues. WHEN, GOD? When will the human conscience be awakened? When will the Christians in this country awake and see what the Bible calls for? Am I going to be labeled an anti-Semitic for speaking the truth? Steve Shogren, in his “Book Reviews,” CBA Marketplace Magazine, March 1998 (page 56), states: In his long list of Jewish people who have blessed the world, Hagee makes no distinction between individuals who simply have a Jewish background and those who truly fear and seek God. He lists Goldie Hawn, Dustin Hoffman, and Barbara Streisand, among others, as Jews who have proven the Scripture “in thee shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” The contributions of these entertainers can hardly be seen as a fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis. Hagee also goes as far as branding anti-Semitic those who don’t agree with his enthusiastic support of Israel. Poison is being spread through Christian platforms to the American public, which has a seemingly bottomless appetite for nonsense. Looking at Genesis 12, let me further address the “bless-the-Jews-or-else” mentality. Jehovah said to Abram … And I will bless those that bless you and curse the one who curses you. And in you shall all families of the earth be blessed (Gen. 12:1, 3). The emphasis is on Abram who did not have any kids at that time, so if we make this verse physical, then we must also support and bless the Arabs who are descendants of Ishmael as the Jews are descendants of Isaac—both Ishmael and Isaac are children of Abram (later known as Abraham), but Isaac was the child of faith. Ishmael was the child of the flesh not of faith (Gen. 18, 21:1-7; Rom. 9:6-9). Paul in his Galatian letter further explains that the Seed is Christ. And to Abraham and to his Seed the promises were spoken. It does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many; but as of one, “And to your Seed,” which is Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according
The Lord has warned us not to be led astray by the hypocritical scribes and Pharisees of our day, who do not know who the true Israel, the true kingdom of God, is today. But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men. For you neither go in, nor do you allow those entering to go in (Matt. 23:13).
A. J. Alyatim
was born in a small village near Biet Lehem, Palestine. In January of
1980, he enrolled at Wichita State University and in 1986 received his
master’s degree in electrical engineering. He opened computer stores in
1995 and 1998. Currently, he lives in St. Charles, Missouri, and is
involved in developing small businesses and investments and primarily
works as a commercial real estate agent.
WISDOM—THE PRINCIPAL THING …the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask! What shall I give you?” And Solomon said, “…You have made Your servant king…but I am a little child…give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people that I may discern between good and evil…” The speech pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing. Then God said to him: “Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies…I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart…and I have also given you …both riches and honor…” (1 Kings 3:5-13).
Our youth have been
studying the Proverbs and finding that “Wisdom is the principal thing”
(Prov. 4:7). … Wisdom has been saying to me that this year at school I need to have a good attitude when my teachers correct me, instead of having a bad attitude and rolling my eyes at them… Proverbs 12:1 says, “Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.”
Sarah Molica, 7th grader at
Pershing Middle School in Springfield, Missouri My son, do not walk in the way with them, Keep your foot from their path; For their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed blood (Prov. 1:16-17). This proverb made me realize that I had been doing things that “unChristian” kids at school do so that everyone would think I was cool… The peer pressure that God sends to test me is so that I will stay true to who I am and Who I represent!
Kaylee Gibson, sixth grader at Cherokee Middle
School in Springfield, Missouri The Proverbs have been talking to me about listening to my parents and obeying their voice with a whole heart… “Hear, my children the instruction of a father, and give attention to know understanding” (Prov. 4:1).
Stephen Whitten, 8th grader at Cherokee
Middle School in Springfield, Missouri Wisdom is saying to me about school that if other students with bad behavior tell me to do something wrong with them to not give in to their peer pressure but to stay on the right path. Also if teachers have some advice or criticism, I need to receive it happily and do whatever they want me to, or else I will be a fool.
Jeanna Bieber, 6th grader at Wilson Creek
5th/6th Grade School in Springfield, Missouri
As I was reading the Proverbs, God showed me a lot about wisdom relating to my friends and peers. Proverbs 16:27-33 in particular really stuck out to me. It talks about how the people of the world try to stir up evil and gossip, and let the rumors fly. They stir up drama to have something to talk about and end up breaking relationships and separating the best of friends. But at the end of the passage, it tells us how to prevent this problem by being slow to anger, watching our words, and thinking before you speak. Let the voice of the Holy Spirit take charge when you are confused or in a tight spot. I think the reason these words really got me is because we seem to face this issue ALL THE TIME, especially when we get back in school and are constantly caught up in the latest gossip. And this is something the Lord has been teaching me about for awhile now—staying away from the need for news. The rumors, news, gossip, dirt, whatever you want to call it, hurt people badly… When I steer clear of unkind words, it tends to make the people I am around do the same thing. When I don’t know what to say, I need to ask the Holy Spirit. He is the supplier of wisdom, and He will freely give it. Rebekah Clark, 9th grader at Glendale High School in Springfield, Missouri
EXPERIENCE THE POWER OF GOD
College/Career Ministry Every day at Power House you can research the Internet with Wi-Fi from your laptop or on in-house computers, watch TV, play games, receive mentoring, or just hang out with like-minded folk. In-depth
Bible Studies Prayer &
Praise Meetings
powerhouseministry.net |
.jpg)
.jpg)
God
in obedience to His voice. Those who are Christ’s have crucified
the flesh with its passions and desires (Gal. 5:22-24). 
people
of love and become channels of His love. 
that
is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks
to His name (Heb. 13:15). 
female)
co-rule over the circumstances of this life: 