Joel 2:12 and 13a “That is why the Lord says “Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping and mourning. Don’t tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead.

Fasting is not done very often, especially when it pertains to finding out God’s Will for your life. Jesus fasted in the desert. Everything Jesus did during his earthly ministry was an example for us to follow. Jesus spoke to the Father with these words “not my Will but thine be done.” Jesus showed us how to battle Satan by quoting Scripture and He also showed us how to gain spiritual strength by fasting. When you deny physical wants and needs such as food from your body, the Holy Spirit will fill you with the fruit of the Spirit called “self-control”. This supernatural “Spirit control” will lead you in winning the battle against sinful habits and also discovering what God’s Will is for your life.

Rev. Jonathon Rager

41But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! 42There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”

              A few years ago, I created ‘Operation Radical’ for our youth group. The goal was to penetrate the local housing projects with the gospel and continue ministry there. Shortly after, I shut it down and went in a different direction, because this question was asked of me: “How do you expect everyone to make disciples, if they aren’t disciples themselves?”

In response to this, I pledged that we would return one day, but first I would devote to growing those students who wanted to truly follow Jesus and fulfill His Great Commission, and we would go as a team of disciples to make new ones.

This cycle has become the norm in church culture: 1. Invite people to service, 2. Lead people in “the prayer,” 3. Find them a responsibility to keep them busy , and 4. Repeat. I call this the Martha Method.

I’ve often heard church leaders say they practice this in order to keep the people committed to attending church. It’s almost like service for church has been exalted above Bible study and quiet time with God. Looking at America’s churches, I don’t think this method works to fulfill the Great Commission, though it’s genius to fill a building with lukewarm hearts.

There is, however, a better alternative—which often takes more time but—produces sustainable and more desired results. I will call this cycle the Mary Method: 1. Proclaim the gospel, 2. Lead people to confess Jesus as Lord and instruct them on what it means to believe that God has raised them from the dead, 3. Thoroughly grow them in the word and prayer, 4. Allow the Word to challenge them to walk in obedience, and 5. Repeat.

If there’s so much service that people can’t sit under and truly focus on the Word, then we are simply doing too much—as Martha was doing—and not focusing enough on the Word. Yes, she was doing it for Jesus, but we need to remember that Jesus doesn’t need our help as much as we need His!

According to a 2019 LifeWay Research survey, only 32% of Protestant churchgoers read their Bible regularly. This means over 65% of the people in churches across the country know very little about God, but they are “serving” Him…? I’d rather believers do little during a church service, as they grow in their knowledge of God. And, as history shows us, the ones who will be gripped by the Word, will respond in obedience to His commands. This way, we will have believers who will not only be serving God, but they will know Him and will know why they are doing what they’re doing. Let’s go away from the Martha-mentality of doing 100 things to serve God, and let’s begin to develop more Marys who will fall in love with Jesus’ Word and respond to Him in obedience.

Pastor Jeff

Prayer is simply talking to God. You can ask God to show you His Will. You are actually commanded to pray according to God’s Will and He promises to answer you. However, God can only hear your prayers when your sins have been confessed, repented of and forgiven. The Bible says “If I regard iniquity (sin) in my heart the Lord will not hear me.

Rev. Jonathon Rager

“Remove the heavy yoke of oppression. Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors! 10Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon. 11The LORD will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring.”

              In my last devotion, I explained the beginning of this chapter. God confronted His people, according to their hypocritical fasting. They made little sacrifice but didn’t want to focus on God nor the more important issues that can be found in His heart. So, He asked them this rhetorical question: “Do you really think this will please the LORD? (v. 5)”

              What makes God amazing is that He never leaves us in the dark; He always provides us with the RIGHT way of serving Him and responding to Him. Following God is not a guessing game. People who often ask, “I don’t know what God wants from me” rarely are truly seeking His will for their lives.

              But, in this passage, God shows the people that FASTING is not about the momentary sacrifices we make for ourselves or for even God. Biblical, God-pleasing fasting aligns itself with an already devoted lifestyle. For some, fasting is simply a brief period where we actually decide to devote ourselves. That’s completely backwards! If we truly want God’s attention to our problems, wants and needs, we must—first—focus on God’s desires. Jesus reminds us of this in Matthew 6:33, when he said, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”

              So, in this season of fasting, commit more than a delicacy or mere inconvenience to God; commit or re-commit your life to Him! Then, as He says, “The Lord will guide you continually.”

Pastor Jeff

The meditation of God’s Word has three important elements.

1. Remembering: remember the victories God has given you over sinful behaviors and impure sinful thoughts.
2. Experiencing: experience God’s love, forgiveness and peace every time you confess your sins and put them to death.
3. Learning: learn more about Jesus and His sacrifice for you. Learn from His examples while He was here on earth; how He responded to Satan tempting Him; how He treated the sick and the poor, and children and how He responded to His enemies. Meditate daily on these things. They will lead you toward God’s Will.

When I think about the religious practices of other belief systems and what has now become the typical church’s 21-day fast to begin the year, I can’t help but to consider God’s words from Isaiah 58. Here, we see an interesting observation in which God breaks down the Israelites’ fasting, what they want from Him, and what He really thinks of it.

Looking at this “religious” people from a distance, one might feel inspired with the lengths they had gone to show how devoted and how delighted they were in God. They pulled out all the stops to demonstrate those around them that they were walking passionately before God. Only, God seemed to have missed everything!

When these fasts take place, I often hear how people take on these challenges to sacrifice their gods…I meant their delicacies (select foods, TV, games, etc.) for a couple weeks, and they expect God to move on their behalf in some supernatural way. But, as I’ve often witnessed, the contemporary religious  have made the same mistakes as the Israelites of Isaiah 58.

We can’t simply make these moments about us, momentarily separate from the very things we can’t wait to return to and expect God to be thrilled that we “put up a fight!” God takes no delight in our disingenuous piety toward Him, and we should never expect anything less. On the other hand, God is looking to move on the behalf of those who will honor and seek Him in truth. In my next address, we’ll see what type of fasting gets His attention, and we need to ask ourselves an important question before we nonchalantly practice these fasts: Am I doing this for Him or for His

Pastor Jeff

But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘ man shall not live on bread alone , but on every word  that proceeds out of the mouth of  God .'”

              Jesus was about to undergo a series of tests, and He knew going into the situation that it wouldn’t be easy. For forty days He would deny Himself the most basic human needs, and He would do so for the purpose of drawing on the Father’s strength. Why would Jesus, the Son of God, need to fast? Wasn’t He God in the flesh? Absolutely! The fact remains however, that He knew that to make it through, He would need to draw on God’s strength, and to truly accomplish this great task, He would have to deny Himself and make God His source of power.

              “I’m hungry!” If you’re like me, you say these words numerous times a day, and you never wait too long to satisfy the desire to eat. If you have children or grandchildren, you certainly hear these words even more often. We usually think of fasting as something foreign, or perhaps unnecessary in modern times. The fact is, this couldn’t be further from the truth. In this passage, Jesus was about to tempted by the devil. Sure, He is the Son of God, but in the flesh, He struggled with many of the same things we do. Jesus put on flesh so that He could be that perfect sacrifice God required to for humanity’s sins. Why fasting though?

              Jesus Fasted for the purpose of drawing nearer to God and drawing on God’s strength. He knew that He could never make it through these tests without it! He denied Himself food because He needed something more important: An uninhibited connection with God that only comes from denying oneself. Jesus knew that it wouldn’t be easy. He knew that He would be weak and hungry at the end of it all. He even knew that the lack of physical strength that comes from fasting would make these trials even harder. The most important thing He knew though, was that He would make it through with God’s strength, and so He didn’t need His own. So, what do you need to hand to God so that you can lean into His strength instead of relying on your own? Have you not realized that your own strength only leads you so far? Why not let go of the unimportant and grab hold of the most important. I can promise you that God’s strength will take you further than your own ever could.

~Pastor Jimmy

Have you ever given serious thought to what it truly means to “renew our minds”?  It is not something we just do whenever we feel like it.  Rather, it is a daily, intentional decision to pray, take up our cross, follow Him, and allow Him to change us from the inside out.  The Apostle Paul spoke to this when he said, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

It is difficult to stay consistently focused on His purposes because we get distracted by the cares of this world and often forget that this world is not our final home.  We tend to get consumed with whatever we think is important and we don’t slow down long enough to be still before Him and really listen to what God is telling us to do so He can reveal His perfect purposes to us (Psalm 46:10).  Jesus spoke of the weakness and sinfulness of our fleshly desires when He said in Matthew 26:41, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Fasting and prayer naturally go together and one of the great benefits of fasting is that we spend more concentrated time in prayer, so as we take this time to fast before the Lord, it is my hope that we will resist the temptations that will surely come and slow down and use this time to think more seriously about where we want to be at the end of this process.  Let us remember that the ultimate goal in what we are doing is the “renewing of our minds” so that we can serve Him more fully each and every day.  May God bless you!!

Pastor Aaron

Submission to the Authorities

13 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment

With all of the polarizing political issues that are currently facing us in this nation, as Christians we must never forget that we are children of God first.  Our primary duty is to continually protect and uphold the absolute truth that is found in God’s Holy Word.  We are to be salt and light in a world of melancholy and darkness. 

How do we accomplish those tasks successfully you might ask?  We are successful in this charge when we correctly view our lives as humble servants of the Lord.  We are successful when we daily live our lives as soldiers for Christ, when we handle sensitive issues with love, when we sacrificially support the case for Christ in a fallen world, and we show unwavering support for all Biblical scripture not matter how it might contradict with culture.  We fail when we change scripture, or soften it, to fit with a man-made sense of political correctness.  We fail when we deliver all truth with no love.  We fail when we offer all grace with no claim for the necessity to adhere to Biblical authority concerning sin in our daily lives. 

So, to answer the original question concerning Christians and politics.  As Christians we must be concerned with every aspect of this world and how those aspects may affect reaching the lost.  Doing nothing in the political realm would contradict our Biblical call to publicly stand for Christ.  Ultimately, we are called to both elect and support leaders who most closely reflect Biblical values.  No leader in our world will ever be perfect, but we must still participate in the selection process.  Even when things do not go the way we wish during that process, we are Biblically commanded to obey and respect our government, unless it is in direct conflicts with Biblical teaching.

Sometimes our greatest witness to this world may come when we show love and respect to leaders, and other authority figures, who disagree with us politically.  Our ability to love those who are different than us reveals that we see a bigger picture than just what is occurring here on this Earth at this moment.  As Christians, we should look at all matters of life through a Biblical lens of eternity, rather than a short-sighted carnal lens of self-satisfaction and personal satisfaction.

Dr. Harrison

              I know how you feel, like the world is stacked against you and there is no hope of any kind of peace in your current situation. Friend, you need to understand that all of God’s people undergo trials, and that includes the pastors, Sunday School teachers, and even the deacons. Let me guess, this doesn’t make you feel any better? Remember how Joshua, as a young man had to assume the role of leader to God’s chosen people? He faced many of the same things you and I face on a daily basis. Am I good enough? What if I fail? Why do I feel so alone in this? Where is my help in all these troubles? Just like God called Joshua to lead the Israelites into promised land, He called you live the life He created you to live, leading in the way He chose you to lead. If you view God’s call on your life through human eyes, then you will always be lonely. If you view it through His eyes however, you’ll know that He can’t leave your side, because He promised to always be there.

              From the start, Joshua’s life is filled with struggle. How could he ever lead these hardheaded people? From the danger the two spies were in at Jericho, to the Israelites’ defeat at AI because of one man’s sin, the odds always seemed stacked against Joshua and God’s chosen people. Given all of the struggles he faced, Joshua might have had many moments where he thought that the journey was too tough, but he never lost sight of the fact that he served a mighty God, and it would be this same God that would deliver them into the Promised Land!

~Pastor Jimmy

3 And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.”

After their Babylonian captivity, a portion of the Jewish people returned home to Jerusalem under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Ezra. When the Jews returned to Jerusalem, their priority was to rebuild the temple.  The Jews then needed to restore their outer city wall in order to keep them safe from their emeries and provide security to their families.  This focus on the temple was noble, but there was descension amongst the people as to what the priorities should be in how Jerusalem should be restored.  We also see read in Nehemiah 2:17 how Nehemiah told the leaders of Jerusalem, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.”  There was not only a lack of focus amongst the Jews, but there was also a lack of motivation from those who were in leadership. 

As Christians we need to be intentional in how we serve and honor God.  Nothing ever remains constant; you are either growing in Christ or backsliding.  If there was ever a time you loved or served God more than you do currently, you are backsliding.  We need to continue to grow as church, and as an academy, so that we can be used in service more each day for Christ.  

Inevitably the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem became a clear sign to the enemies of Israel as to who they served, and ultimately who was protecting them.  Prayerfully asking God to help us grow our church and academy is a clear sign to our community about our commitment to making Christ’s name known throughout Palm Coast.  Nehemiah 6:16 says, “When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God”.   If we stay focused upon God, not only will He guide and bless our endeavors, we will show our community what a mighty God we serve.

Dr. Harrison

             During His time in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus began to be troubled because He knew the time had come for Him to pay the ultimate price for the sins of the world. Here He was, conversing with the Father, and hoping for the same kind of compassion and comradery that He had shown the disciples in the three years previous. After returning from His first prayer session in the garden, He found them sleeping, and His first order of business was to hold them accountable. He asked “So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour?” Of course, Jesus knew that they were tired and weak from the day’s activities, but He also knew the enemy and just exactly what he was capable of. Jesus reminds them to keep on praying so they might not fall into temptation.

              Sometimes it’s easy to fall into just doing enough, or just doing the simple thing. Let’s be honest, we all get tired, and we all have moments of weakness, and we wonder if it’s all worth it or not. Perhaps we’ve put in a long work week, or maybe we’ve had family at our home during the holidays. Maybe it’s ok to miss church once in a while, or spend precious downtime on social media, or even to neglect prayer because we seem to be doing ok. After all, God has all this under control, and He knows I love Him, and spend some time thinking about Him once in a while, right?

              If this sounds like your current walk with the Lord, don’t be disheartened. We serve a God that not only holds us accountable in the same way Jesus did the disciples but seeks to bring us back into a right relationship with Himself. Has your prayer life been lackluster? Start with a morning prayer, then pray again at lunch and bedtime. Pray fervently, pray seriously, and pray like you have an audience with the one true God, because you do. The reason Jesus woke the disciples and told them to pray wasn’t because He didn’t want to feel alone in His struggle. He woke them because He knew the devil was coming for them next, and in the same way the devil is hot on your heels, looking to make you stumble and become ineffective. Stay in prayer, and keep God at the forefront of your life. I promise you won’t regret it!

~Pastor Jimmy

Have you ever given serious thought to what it truly means to “renew our minds”?  It is not something we just do whenever we feel like it.  Rather, it is a daily, intentional decision to pray, take up our cross, follow Him, and allow Him to change us from the inside out.  The Apostle Paul spoke to this when he said, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

It is difficult to stay consistently focused on His purposes because we get distracted by the cares of this world and often forget that this world is not our final home.  We tend to get consumed with whatever we think is important and we don’t slow down long enough to be still before Him and really listen to what God is telling us to do so He can reveal His perfect purposes to us (Psalm 46:10).  Jesus spoke of the weakness and sinfulness of our fleshly desires when He said in Matthew 26:41, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Matthew 6:16-18 English Standard Version