MFF Pastor's Seed Articles

When the Father is a Friend

2008-06-08T13:34:00.000-04:00

When I was young Pastor Bob was just Dad to me. He was the guy who laid down all the rules, enforced the rules, and provided so the rules could exist. I loved him as a child simply because of what he did for me. Even though I hated his rules, I knew and recognized him as my resource and my appropriations committee. If I violated the terms, I ran the risk of limiting my resources. In my teenage years, once my dad established me I completely turned on him. Forgetting that he was the ultimate reason I was able to stand in the first place, I rebelled. Even after I grew a little older, joined the Army and left home with a family of my own, I did not recognize his presence and influence in my life. I neither honored nor respected him. In my mind I had arrived on my own. I could not explain in one sentence how far reaching my dad’s love for me was and just how much trouble he got me out of even then. I only saw his mercy and grace towards me as some sort of obligation because I was his son and that’s just what you do when you have children.

Well, that was some pretty ignorant and manipulative thinking. Pastor Bob and Pastor Jeanne knew that too but they always loved me despite my shortcomings. All those years my dad was just there. I knew nothing of his inner workings, feelings, thoughts, dreams or visions. I’m sorry dad for all those wasted years. I was your child but I was far from your friend.

What a prophetic twist my life has taken! I see many Christians today who treat their Father God like Al Bundy (Married with Children)! They want all His goods but they don’t want Him as a person. Where’s the honor in that? Where’s the love in that? Where’s the respect? Friends, God is not robbed nor is He mocked. Thank God we as Christians are equipped with an uncanny ability to change and transform ourselves (our minds) with deadly efficiency by the power of the Holy Ghost.

James 2:23 reveals to us an important aspect of our relationship with God the Father. The Word says God called Abraham a friend. This position with the Father was so revered that in 2 Chronicles 20 when King Jehoshaphat feared for his life, he petitioned God based on Abraham’s status to lay claim to Judah’s deliverance (verse 7). He saw the Father as his God: Jehovah Sabaoth, Nissi, Rapha, Tsidkenu – but not his friend. Maybe he didn’t see himself as fitting into that position? We know based on the law, Jehoshaphat knew of his unrighteousness. Then again, so did Abraham. So did David for that matter. What made the difference?

Heart. Heart made all the difference in the world. It’s the difference between love and like, justice and revenge, righteousness and self-righteousness, clean and dirty, the whole truth from half a truth and the right from the wrong. Heart is everything. It was the difference between the rod that Aaron threw down and the rods Pharaoh's magicians threw down. To many men it remains a mystery but to God’s eyes the human heart is an open book revealing all the hidden things man himself is not able to discern. Heart was everything to a scoffing Sarah who inwardly laughed but Hebrews tells us she was in faith. God knew her heart and motive. Yes, the difference between Abraham, David and others was and still is heart. It was David who said let me fall into the hand of the Lord rather than suffer the wrath of men. And it was Abraham who saw Jesus’ day and rejoiced. Why is that important? Because despite their shortcomings, they knew God and they knew He searched their hearts and knew their motives. They trusted in, adhered to, and relied on Him and Him alone. In short they were men of faith.

The Bible says there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. What keeps that friend there? Heart. Heart says wherever you are, I’ll be there with you. Whatever you face I face too. If you go down I’ve got you covered. If we both go down we go together. Heart doesn’t just say I’ll help you carry the joys and sorrows. Heart says I WANT your joys and sorrows. I want your highest ecstasies and your deepest pains. I want your heart and mind; I want your thoughts and devotions. I want everything that you are down to the very core of your being and I’ll give you everything that I am to take up your vision.

When I learned this, Pastor Bob became my friend. He’s my best friend to date besides the Godhead. He can confide in me and I confide in him. All I have is his and all he has is mine. Haven’t you seen all those suits of his I wear? We as fathers need to foster this heart attitude in our children so when they grow old they won’t depart from it. I learned heart from dad because he gave God his heart. He’s the most genuine man I know and will go through any difficulty to work with the Father in achieving the expected outcome. He’ll never back down. By the grace and love of God, he’s NEVER failed. He experienced set backs of course but heart kept him in the game. Heart attached him to the Father’s hip and established him as a trusted confidante. If we aimlessly wander through life wishy-washy, our children will imitate that in their lives. If they see us always looking for a way around something and not through it, they will imitate that behavior in their lives. If we don’t teach them the power of living with Godly vision and the heart to stick with it through thick and thin, our children will perish.

As Father’s Day rolls around we need to check ourselves and ask – am I a friend or an acquaintance to the Father? Am I someone the Lord passes in the hall and says “Hi” to on His way to important and intimate meetings with His friends? How are we honoring and respecting our Father? That’s what our children are seeing and it will shape their entire outlook on life. Are we too busy spilling our guts out to Him like He’s Dear Abby to let Him confide in us? Our wants and our needs are pitifully small in comparison to being His confidante. It’s in the abiding that we’re made whole. Matthew says seek first the kingdom, AND His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. That’s where I want to be: In the confidence of my Father and Lord Jesus by the Holy Spirit. What a difference in my life with Pastor Bob as my best friend, how much more God our Father?

Founding Pastor, Bob Miller

2008-03-25T15:20:00.002-04:00

Pastor Bob Miller

1946-2006

Pastor Bob and his wife, Pastor Jeanne, were the co-founders of Montgomery Faith Fellowship in 1985. Over the years Pastor Bob’s teaching gift and his leadership skills blessed the congregation. Most importantly however was his flow with the Holy Spirit in prophecy, word of wisdom and word of knowledge which helped guide many who received these spiritual gifts.

Pastor Bob was a graduate of Rhema Bible Training Center in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, in 1983 as well as having three earned degrees from Towson State University in Maryland. In the 1990’s he served as a District Director for Rhema Ministerial Association International and eventually became a Regional Director for that organization. He held this position until his homegoing in May of 2006.

While the congregation of Montgomery Faith Fellowship misses him, the foundation he built for us is a solid one and we have continued on the same path that he started us on those many years ago. We will always remember him with love and appreciation for all that he brought to us and we will see him again in the not too distant future.

Spring, The Time of New Beginnings

2008-03-11T18:49:00.001-04:00

by Pastor Jeanne Miller

Spring is a beautiful time of the year. I think of cherry blossoms, daffodils, tulips, and leaves on trees. A couple of weeks ago I was outside our home with Jonathan, my grandson, and we were having a very deep discussion concerning the seasons of the year. He wanted to know when the leaves would be coming back to the trees and I was trying to explain that in Spring the new vegetation comes. In Summer, school is out and everything is in bloom. Then in Autumn those leaves that came in Spring fall off of the trees and in Winter everything looks dead but it really isn’t because then Spring comes and it starts all over again. Jonathan was having a little trouble looking at the trees in their “dead” state and understanding that shortly from those oh-so-bare limbs would come forth the green leaves that make the trees so beautiful (and that provide him shade while playing outside).

Our conversation started me thinking. While some people look at January as the start of a new year, I would rather look at Spring as the beginning of a new year. Everything in nature that looked so dead comes back to life. Even in the deadness of Winter, there always remains life within the vegetation. We can’t see it but by faith we believe it’s there and that we will see this life appear once again as the seasons change.

I think it is very appropriate that Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension occurred during the Spring. This is what brought to us a new beginning, a new birth, life out of deadness and light out of darkness. Just as Spring brings beauty to nature just as God made it to do, our new spiritual birth brought a beauty to each of us that we could never have attained by ourselves or from any other avenue save the Lamb of God. Jesus said in John 10:10-11 “. . .I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance—to the full, till it overflows. I am the Good Shepherd. The good Shepherd risks and lays down his own life for the sheep.” I try to remember to thank God for His plan of salvation every single day and I thank Jesus that He was willing to lay down His life for me. I don’t ever want to take what Jesus did for granted because He truly gave me “beauty for ashes”.

In Hebrews 2:1-3 the Amplified Bible says, “Since all this is true, we ought to pay much closer attention than ever to the truths that we have heard, lest in any way we drift past [them] and slip away. For if the message given through angels [that is, the Law spoken by them to Moses] was authentic and proved sure, and every violation and disobedience received an appropriate (just and adequate) penalty, how shall we escape [appropriate retribution] if we neglect and refuse to pay attention to such a great salvation [as is now offered to us, letting it drift past us forever]? For it was declared at first by the Lord [Himself], and it was confirmed to us and proved to be real and genuine by those who personally heard [Him speak].” I love the phrase “such a great salvation”. It truly is so great that it is hard for us to comprehend and live out all that our salvation encompasses.

During the Summer of our lives we should be applying ourselves to learning what this salvation is all about to its deepest meanings and then obeying and doing what we have learned as James writes in 1:22, “But—obey the message; be doers of the Word, and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth].” Studying the Bible should be a part of our daily routine. We should be able to say with the Psalmist, “Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.” and “The entrance and unfolding of Your words gives light; it gives understanding—discernment and comprehension—to the simple.” We should enjoy
fellowship with the Father and with one another and allow it to change and sharpen us.

Autumn in our spiritual life is when we have reached some level of maturity and the world can see what God has done in us, just as the leaves display such beauty in that season and catch our attention. Natural age shouldn’t have much to do with this phase of our spiritual life. Children who have been raised by parents who take God seriously are many times more mature than adults who have played around with being a Christian for years. It depends on the knowledge of the Word and the degree that a person yields to walking in that knowledge. It depends on the passion that we have for the things of God. Paul told Timothy in his youth “Fight the good fight of the faith; lay hold of the eternal life to which you were summoned, and confessed the good confession [of faith] before many witnesses.” It is a fight to stay untainted by the world and to keep our passion for the Lord.

Winter in my mind is when we make the transition from earth to heaven—whenever and however that my come. Though our earthly bodies may look dead and useless, that inner life which has sustained us during our life here (the spirit man) moves on to something far better. In fact Paul says far, far better. Philippians 1:21-23 “For me, to live is Christ—His life in me; and to die is gain—[the gain of the glory of eternity]. If, however, it is to be life in the flesh and I am to live on here, that means fruitful service for me; so I can say nothing as to my personal preference—I cannot choose, but I am hard pressed between the two. My yearning desire is to depart—to be free of this world, to set forth—and be with Christ, for that is far, far better”.

At this point in our lives if we have truly followed the Lord, there will be someone left behind who starts the cycle again of the new birth, or Spring, because of our lives lived on this earth. This is the greatest tribute we can give to God—that someone came to accept Jesus and walk in that great salvation because of the life we lived before them. I truly love Spring!

Blessings In The New Year

2008-01-02T18:02:00.000-05:00

Pastor Jeanne Miller

It’s time for New Year’s resolutions to be touted on the talk shows and in the media. I don’t know about you but they don’t do much for me. Not that we shouldn’t look over the old year and see where we might do better this year. It’s just that most of the resolutions that you hear about are all worldly and that’s not where it’s at for me. I’ve found over the years that if I keep my spiritual life in order the rest will follow. So at this time of the year I stop and sit with the Lord to find out what needs to be done in the New Year. You notice I didn’t say where I failed in the past year, but instead where I need to stretch and go further this year. The Lord doesn’t spend a lot of time on telling you where you failed. Instead He tells you what will help you in the future. Everyone needs to continue growing spiritually all the time.

I can give you some concrete examples from years past. When I knew I needed to lose weight, I went to the Lord and He told me to spend more time with Him. When I went to Him about walking in love, He told me to spend more time with Him. When I went to Him about ministry needs, He told me to spend more time with Him. When I went to Him about health issues, He told me to spend more time with Him. Are you seeing a pattern developing or is it just me? I finally got the point that no matter what the need may be, (family issues, marriage issues, anger issues, oppression issues, financial issues, etc.) the answer will always be the same: spend more time with Him.

Now that seems to be too easy! Especially when you know how you’ve struggled in the past with these issues. I can remember when I was trying to lose that weight that just kind of crept up on me. I thought, how is spending time with the Lord going to help me say no to that candy or those chips? Yet that is exactly what the enemy would have you think so you’ll pass it off as nonsense. How many times have we heard from the Lord and said, because of our own reasoning, that can’t be God? Yet what I found was the only way I could withstand those temptations was by being stronger in the spirit! God knows what’s best for us. During that time He took me to scriptures that I still remember. Here are two. Proverbs 23:2, “And put a knife to your throat if you are a man given to appetite.” Proverbs 23:21, “For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.” Spend some time meditating on those two scriptures and see what happens!

In II Peter 1:3 the scripture says, “As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.” Now I believe that all things that pertain to life and godliness pretty much covers it all! However, if you were to stop right there and not finish the verse you could stand on this part of the verse all day for many years and not obtain all things that pertain to life and godliness. The “all things” are obtained only one way—through the knowledge of Jesus. And the knowledge of Jesus only comes one way. That is by spending time with Him. That is the only way you get to know Him.

Now we get to the only way to success for a Christian which we hear about all the time. We need to spend time in the Word and in prayer, or as it says in Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God, I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth!” When you get your answers by being still before the Lord and you walk them out with success, then God is exalted among the nations and in the earth! And this strategy works! I have found it works better than the ways of the world or than me doing things in my own strength—which never works.

How come more Christians don’t have success in this area? Mainly because the enemy will use everything in his bag of tricks to stop you from spending time with the Lord and he’s usually successful to one degree or another. He is a liar and a deceiver and he will try to convince you through your reasoning that this is just too easy and therefore could not possibly work. However those who have success in their walk with the Lord know that it really is just that simple if you will buckle down and do it.

In 2008 let’s determine in our heart to do only one thing but do it well. Spend time in the presence of the Lord through prayer, praise, the Word and just being still. I believe it will bring more blessings to our lives then anything we could think up on our own. Be blessed in 2008!

Increasing Our Capacity to Receive

2007-10-06T21:21:00.001-04:00

Pastor Jeanne Miller

We hear from almost every ministry that this is the year for more, the year of coming into a fullness that we haven’t seen before. However, in order to walk in the fullness and to see more we are going to have to increase our capacity to receive this fullness. What do I mean by “increasing our capacity to receive”? I’m going to use two areas of receiving as examples: healing and prosperity.

How many people have hands laid on them on Sunday and by Monday all the symptoms are back and they’ve “lost their healing”? There’s a reason why this happens. Their capacity to receive from the Lord is not what it needs to be. As Brother Kenneth Copeland said recently, healing always comes when hands are laid on people because the anointing goes into them; it is not always received. Mark 16:18, “. . . they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover.” Why then does it seem that some do not receive healing? In verse 15 of chapter 16, Jesus said to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Then we must believe the gospel, verse 17. Knowing the gospel and believing the gospel put us in a position to receive and when two people hook up and believe (one laying on hands and the other needing healing), healing will always come.

Receiving takes knowing God and what is His will for His children, knowing what Jesus went to the cross to secure for us and knowing who we are as a Christian. We need to know our position in Christ today. In Ephesians 2:6 the bible says, “and raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus”. What does this mean? First of all, only royalty can sit in the presence of other royalty. Do you see yourself as a king and a priest reigning with Jesus (Revelation 1:6 and 5:10) or someone who has got to convince God that you’re good enough to get the blessings? Secondly, when we know who we are in Christ then we know what we have in Christ: healing, prosperity, peace, love, etc. When we really know our position and what we have in Christ we begin to have the faith necessary to receive.

The bible says study to show yourself approved. We must take this seriously if we want to walk in all the fullness of what God has planned for us. When we are baby Christians we receive many things from God just because He is full of grace and mercy. But there comes a time when He expects us to grow up and at that point, we must know how to receive. It takes an intimate knowledge of God to have faith to receive from Him. It takes study and meditation of the word on a daily basis, being in His presence and praying His will rather than our will. All of this means that you’re maturing in the Lord. Maturity means we are walking in love (John 15:12) and being thankful (Hebrews 13:15) to the best of our knowledge. All of this increases our ability to receive from our Father, not only for healing but in every arena of our lives.

For those that are believing for financial breakthroughs it means knowing God’s heart on finances. We hear a lot these days about prosperity and God does want His children to prosper, but He wants us to prosper in all areas, not just financially. III John 2, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” Those that push financial prosperity over prospering in every area run the risk of causing Christians to fall into the trap that I Timothy 6:10 speaks of: “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” The best way I know to prosper is to be a giver--not just a tither, but a giver. When you learn to give over and above your tithe as God speaks to you, you are increasing your capacity to receive. God rushes to honor His children when He knows they will not be covetous or greedy but will give generously and hilariously, as the Amplified Bible says in II Corinthians 9:7, “Let each one [give] as he has made up his own mind and purposed in his heart, not reluctantly or sorrowfully or under compulsion, for God loves (He takes pleasure in, prizes above other things, and is unwilling to abandon or to do without) a cheerful (joyous, “prompt to do it”) giver [whose heart is in his giving].” Hallelujah!

I truly believe this is the year for more—in every area. We will see more people healed, more people born again, more people spirit filled, more of everything. But I know that it will take people drawing closer to the Lord in every way. For those that do draw closer, the rewards will be great. And why does God want to see our capacity to receive increase? Increasing our capacity to receive means increasing our capacity to give, and that is what God is all about.

Characteristics of a Godly Father

2007-06-06T11:45:00.000-04:00

Pastor Robert Miller

As I reflect over my life and its peculiarities, I have come to regret that I never had a father to influence my life. His absence created some issues for me as I attempted to be a husband and a father in my own family. I really missed my father’s presence but I did not realize that fact until I came to know my heavenly Father. My heavenly Father’s presence filled a void that I did not realize I had. His presence has made me a better companion for my wife and a more compassionate father for my children. His continued presence changes my outlook on life and provides me with a great foundation for security. Because He loves me, I know that I can win in the arena of life.

Likewise, natural fathers can have the same effect upon our lives. I am not suggesting that our natural fathers can take the place of our heavenly Father. I am saying that godly fathers contribute the essentials for meaningful relationships that will benefit his family and equip them for victorious living. A father’s role is so important to his family’s future. When a vital relationship with the Lord is factored into the equation, a father can literally shape the future of his family and provide the ingredients that are the basis for success. The Bible gives us timeless principles that describe the characteristics of a godly father. I would like to outline just a few in the hopes that at Montgomery Faith Fellowship we will rise to the challenge of godly fathering.

The first characteristic of a godly father is that he establishes a vital relationship with the Lord. In other words, he demonstrates his spirituality to his family. He initiates participation in spiritual activities such as family prayer or devotions. He sees to it that his family goes to church and that they display a reverential respect for the Lord. A godly father would demonstrate his love for the Lord through service. His spiritual life reflects the importance of his relationship to the Lord and sets into motion the priorities that govern his family. This takes commitment on the part of the father, but that is exactly what our heavenly Father demonstrates to us: His commitment that is motivated by His love for us.

The second characteristic of a godly father is that he teaches his children to respond to God in their lives. A father will teach and train his children by his words and his example. The model he provides will become the basis for his children’s own behavior. How his children respond to God will reflect how they were trained. Eli, the priest, was charged with failing to restrain his own children and to train them properly. 1 Samuel 3:13 says, “For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows, because his sons made themselves vile, and he did not restrain them.” God actually said Eli honored his sons more than God. (1 Samuel 2)
Eli’s failure to teach and train his sons allowed an opportunity for destruction to come into his family. By contrast, God praised Abraham for commanding his children well so that God could bring to them His promises. Gen 18:19 says, “For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him." Did you perceive the tremendous effect of a father’s instruction upon the ability of his children to receive God’s blessings? A godly father will teach his children how to respond to God in their lives.

The third characteristic of a godly father is that he demonstrates a stable character. As a father walks with the Lord, his character will reflect the Lord and fruit will grow that is experienced by those in his family. 1 Peter 3:7-9 tells us, “Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered. Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.” Living these principles in life bring blessing, answered prayer and stability. A godly father implements behavior patterns that demonstrate stability. He is consistent, regular and predictable. He has worked to overcome mood swings. He keeps his word and his promises. He is present in the family and keeps a regular daily schedule. He heeds the warning of scripture and doesn’t provoke his children, and he brings them up in the nuture and admonition of the Lord. (Eph. 6:4)

These are just a few of the characteristics of a godly father. I believe that you can readily see how fathers can affect their families for good or for evil. Fathers, the future is literally in your hands. I believe God is calling us to rise to the challenge of our identity in Jesus. For those who do not have fathers present in the home, take heart for what my Heavenly Father did for me He will do for you. He will step in and reveal Himself to you. This is not His first choice but it is one that works. He will be a Father to you and to all who call upon Him. God bless.

Happy Mother's Day!

2007-05-07T20:16:00.000-04:00

Pastor Jeanne Miller

One of the greatest joys of my life is having been a mother. I know I didn’t do everything right, but I also know I tried my best at all times. I just loved (and still do) being with my children and watching them grow. It was so exciting to watch their personalities develop and help them become who God wanted them to be. It wasn’t an easy task as any mother will tell you, but it was rewarding. There were sorrows and there were joys but, in the end, it is worth every minute spent working with your children. It’s worth being diligent with discipline and constant with rules and behavior, even when you think you cannot discipline them one more time!

The job of raising children normally falls to the mother and I believe God has equipped her for it. Women tend to be more nurturing than men and more relational. I believe that when God took Eve out of Adam these personality traits were given to her. Remember that Adam was made in God’s image and was complete, like God, before Eve was taken from him. (Gen. 5:1-2) It falls to the father to be the main provider for the family and the head of the family in making final decisions, after listening to input from his helpmate. I think we have all seen what can happen when roles get reversed for any reason—it makes it hard on the whole family.

A family without a mother is a poor reflection of what God intended. Children grow and develop best when in a nurturing, supportive atmosphere. In many ways a mother sets the tone for family life which is why it is so important for her to have a spiritual life with God along with her daily responsibilities. How many of us have had a mother who prayed for us daily and we lived better lives for it? A mother needs to know what God’s plan for her family is and the way He wants to bring it about. God’s plans are always the best and bring the best results so being aware of them is vital.

A mother’s words will be remembered for a lifetime—for good and for evil. To speak encouraging, faith-filled words over our children is so important, even when we may not be seeing the result of those words as yet. That’s what faith is all about. When we speak words that pull down and tear apart, we are imparting a force into our children’s lives that will do just that—pull them down and tear them apart. If we tell a child they are stupid or slow, they grow up with that belief and some never overcome those words—even if it is not true. How much better it is for them to hear that they have the mind of Christ. They believe what they hear and so become what they believe. What would you have your children believe about themselves?

Words spoken in the morning will be with you all day long. What is the last thing you say to your children as they leave the house? I tried never to let my children go from the house with strife sown in them for the day through my words. I also made a point to try and be there when they came home to sit and talk with them about their day. It builds for a close relationship where they are free to express their feelings and needs openly. I believe that a son treated in this manner will have a better chance at expressing himself later on in marriage. This is a complaint of so many women where their husbands are concerned—they don’t and can’t communicate. Well the answer starts long before they are ever old enough to get married—it begins with being drawn into conversations as children by their mothers who encourage them to communicate. The importance of words cannot be underestimated! Proverbs 25:11 says, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver”. What a beautiful, poetic way to express the need to watch our words.

We give our children a picture of God by who we are and how we act. They will grow up and be like their parents. What an awesome responsibility! How hard it can be to look at your children and see your own shortcomings. Better to work at being who you need to be so they can become who they should be. I used to fall back on the scripture that says “With God all things are possible”. That gave me peace of mind! There were times when I felt it would have to be all God if they were to turn out right, but He always came through.

The greatest compliment a mother can have, I believe, is when as in Proverbs 31:28, “Her children rise up and call her blessed”. It’s wonderful to see the end result of your years of hard work as your children become parents themselves and endeavor to put into their children what was put into them. It truly is a blessing and one to work towards diligently when you feel you cannot do one more chore at the end of the day or speak one more word of encouragement because you really don’t feel like it! Children are truly a blessing from the Lord, but more than that they are a sacred trust given to a mother from the Lord. He gives them to us to mold and to build into a great woman or man of God. That is the greatest compliment of all—that our Heavenly Father trusts us to do the job! Happy Mother’s Day to all our moms!

Memorial service information

2006-05-18T17:01:00.000-04:00

A memorial service will be held on Friday, June 2, at 7:00 pm at:

Montgomery Faith Fellowship
356 Christopher Avenue, in Gaithersburg, MD.

Directions

From Route 270, Take Exit 11 (Montgomery Village Avenue).
Turn left on Frederick Ave. (Rt 355).
At 2nd traffic light, turn right onto Christopher Ave.
Proceed through traffic light at Russell Ave.
Church is in 1st office park on right.
Parking is available in the front or rear of the building with entrances in both locations

For more directions from other locations go to MAPQUEST.COM

In Memoriam: Our Pastor Bob

2006-05-18T16:54:00.000-04:00

Pastor Bob Miller
1946-2006

Pastor Bob Miller was born Robert Franklin Miller on November 1, 1946 in Baltimore, MD. He is the son of Carl Miller and Doris Moffit, and brother of Raymond Miller, all deceased. He met his wife of 39 years, Jeanne Lynn Miller in 1964 and married her on June 16, 1967. Shortly after that, he served his country in the Vietnam war, earning many honors, including a bronze star. He is a graduate of Towson State University, with a bachelor’s degree and two masters degrees in education. He was a Howard County school teacher until 1980, when he left that profession to train for ministry at Rhema Bible Training Center. After graduating from Rhema in 1983, he began to pastor, and he founded his church, Montgomery Faith Fellowship, in March of 1985. His life of faith and gift for teaching have touched the lives of many people around the world. He is a member of Rhema Ministerial Association International, and served as the Mid-Atlantic Region’s director for many years.

After fighting for a year, his body succumbed to cancer, and he died in his home on May 16, 2006. He is survived by his wife, Pastor Jeanne Miller, children-- Kristin & John Wenck, Jr., and Justin & Angelique Miller, and grandchildren—Hannah Sue Miller, Jonathan Wenck, and Kaitlyn Wenck.

UPDATE ON PASTOR BOB

2006-05-17T10:17:00.000-04:00

Pastor Bob went to be with the Lord on Tuesday night at 11:20 p.m. Details on his memorial service will be provided at a later date. There will be service this evening, Wednesday, May 17.

How Do You Love God?

2006-02-07T17:29:00.000-05:00

by Kristin Wenck

Many of us know the joys and woes of toddler years with children. The day they begin to push your hand away and say that they can do it by themselves. And they do it by themselves. The result is disastrous—the buttons are mismatched, the shoes so knotted it seems easier to buy a new pair than attempt to unravel the laces. And yet there they are, smiling up at you, waiting for approval. What do you do? There are many Christians today who still act like toddlers—wanting to do it by themselves, refusing all help offered to them, and making life a mess. They wait for God to show His approval for what they have done by healing this, fixing that, giving them something they want, or just changing something in their lives. What does God do? He resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6, I Peter 5:5).

Proud Christians are just like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day. The Bible tells us in Luke 7 about a time that Jesus went to dinner at the house of a Pharisee. He did not offer Him the common courtesies of the day—a foot bath, a kiss of greeting. It seems he invited Jesus there for his own purposes, but he did not have enough respect for Jesus to do even what was required for a guest. Then a woman came in, a known sinner, and bathed his feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair, and kissed them. Simon was disgusted by her love for Jesus (she was doing something that he ought to have done, albeit differently) and figured that if Jesus was really a prophet He wouldn’t let that sinner touch Him. Jesus told him a story about 2 people who owed money, ending with “Her sins, which are many, are forgiven for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” Simon was very proud of the way he kept the law, studied the scriptures, gave his tithe and did what was “required”, but he was so busy working for God that there was no room for God in his life! The woman, on the other hand, had not bothered to know God’s law or follow it, but she recognized God when He came and let Him change her.

Simon was familiar with God, but he “loved little”. He wanted to live life his own way, and placate God into getting the rewards he felt he was owed for his service. The woman didn’t know God’s law, but she loved Him a lot, and I am sure that she lived differently after that day. What a joy it is when children will turn to us for help, and what a sorrow it is when they choose to do things their own way and throw temper tantrums when it doesn’t work out. I am sure it is the same for God.

God wants to help us, but we need to be humble enough to ask and receive His counsel. We need to recognize our need for Him—before things become a disaster. Remember the story of the crossing of the Sea of Galilee when the storm came up? The disciples tried to take care of things themselves, while He slept in the boat. I am sure they thought they were helping Him by letting Him rest after His long days and nights. They waited until the boat was filling with water, probably waiting for the wet to wake Him, so they wouldn’t have to. But it didn’t. When they woke Him up, they didn’t ask Him for help. They asked Him, “Don’t you care that we are going to die?” And He rose and stopped the storm. I think from that question we can say they had been expecting Him to get up and do something about the storm without being asked. Many times toddlers will turn in disappointment and say “Why won’t you help me?” The answer is simple—“You didn’t ask”.

In James 4, the Bible says that there are 2 ways that toddler-like pride makes a mess in our lives: either we won’t ask for help (like the disciples), or we ask with wrong motives—we want the situation to be changed so that we can go on doing things our way (like Simon). His answer: “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. . . . .Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”

The story of the storm wouldn’t have made it into the Bible if Jesus had heard the wind and rebuked it before the waves started so that He could lie down and sleep. The disciples wouldn’t have known His protection and care in the same way. He who is forgiven much, loves much; he who is forgiven little, loves little. The difference between Simon and the woman was not the number of sinful acts committed, though Simon in his pride wanted to believe it was. The difference was that the woman humbled herself and allowed God to work in her life to make a big change: she had a great love for God. Simon did not want to allow God or the revelation of Jesus to change his life: he loved little. The great struggle that begins in the toddler years is the struggle to stop making life about you, the struggle to get rid of pride so that you are able receive grace from God, and ultimately receive his approval at the judgment seat for neatly tied shoe laces (AKA for finishing your race well)!

Blessings In The New Year

2006-01-10T16:54:00.000-05:00

Pastor Jeanne Miller

It’s time for New Year’s resolutions to be touted on the talk shows and in the media. I don’t know about you but they don’t do much for me. Not that we shouldn’t look over the old year and see where we might do better this year. It’s just that most of the resolutions that you hear about are all worldly and that’s not where it’s at for me. I’ve found over the years that if I keep my spiritual life in order the rest will follow. So at this time of the year I stop and sit with the Lord to find out what needs to be done in the New Year. You notice I didn’t say where I failed in the past year, but instead where I need to stretch and go further this year. The Lord doesn’t spend a lot of time on telling you where you failed. Instead He tells you what will help you in the future. Everyone needs to continue growing spiritually all the time.

I can give you some concrete examples from years past. When I knew I needed to lose weight, I went to the Lord and He told me to spend more time with Him. When I went to Him about walking in love, He told me to spend more time with Him. When I went to Him about ministry needs, He told me to spend more time with Him. When I went to Him about health issues, He told me to spend more time with Him. Are you seeing a pattern developing or is it just me? I finally got the point that no matter what the need may be, (family issues, marriage issues, anger issues, oppression issues, financial issues, etc.) the answer will always be the same: spend more time with Him.

Now that seems to be too easy! Especially when you know how you’ve struggled in the past with these issues. I can remember when I was trying to lose that weight that just kind of crept up on me. I thought, how is spending time with the Lord going to help me say no to that candy or those chips? Yet that is exactly what the enemy would have you think so you’ll pass it off as nonsense. How many times have we heard from the Lord and said, because of our own reasoning, that can’t be God? Yet what I found was the only way I could withstand those temptations was by being stronger in the spirit! God knows what’s best for us. During that time He took me to scriptures that I still remember. Here are two. Proverbs 23:2, “And put a knife to your throat if you are a man given to appetite.” Proverbs 23:21, “For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.” Spend some time meditating on those two scriptures and see what happens!

In II Peter 1:3 the scripture says, “As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.” Now I believe that all things that pertain to life and godliness pretty much covers it all! However, if you were to stop right there and not finish the verse you could stand on this part of the verse all day for many years and not obtain all things that pertain to life and godliness. The “all things” are obtained only one way—through the knowledge of Jesus. And the knowledge of Jesus only comes one way. That is by spending time with Him. That is the only way you get to know Him.

Now we get to the only way to success for a Christian which we hear about all the time. We need to spend time in the Word and in prayer, or as it says in Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God, I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth!” When you get your answers by being still before the Lord and you walk them out with success, then God is exalted among the nations and in the earth! And this strategy works! I have found it works better than the ways of the world or than me doing things in my own strength—which never works.

How come more Christians don’t have success in this area? Mainly because the enemy will use everything in his bag of tricks to stop you from spending time with the Lord and he’s usually successful to one degree or another. He is a liar and a deceiver and he will try to convince you through your reasoning that this is just too easy and therefore could not possibly work. However those who have success in their walk with the Lord know that it really is just that simple if you will buckle down and do it.

In 2006 let’s determine in our heart to do only one thing but do it well. Spend time in the presence of the Lord through prayer, praise, the Word and just being still. I believe it will bring more blessings to our lives then anything we could think up on our own. Be blessed in 2006!

Land of the Jews

2005-11-03T20:20:00.000-05:00

by Pastor Jeanne Miller

As I prepare for our trip to Israel on November 7, I am sitting contemplating what we will find. Our last two trips were unique, each one, but I know this one will be also. Every time we go to Israel something else has happened, some other significant event has occurred, which changes the complexion of the land and our trip. Since we were last there, Gaza was given to the Palestinians and has become a base camp for Hamas to attack Israel. Whoever thought Hamas would not take advantage of the situation doesn’t know the land or its history. Unfortunately, this group of people appears to include our President, which does no bode well for our country.

I’m sure we’ll ride along the wall that is causing so much controversy. It was going up the last time we were there but now is further along and will be more noticeable. It has greatly reduced suicide attacks in Israel and other crime. (Should our country consider such a wall for its borders?) Hebron will probably be embroiled in controversy but hopefully we’ll get there anyway. I know once again we will come away with new knowledge of our Christian roots which will stand us in good stead for the future.

My wish would be that each and every Christian makes the trip at least once to Israel no matter the cost. One doesn’t realize the need in our Christian walk to experience Israel until you make the trip. I know many Christians who see no reason to go over and spend time in Israel. They don’t see the point and it’s almost impossible to convince them that there is a reason to go and to walk the land. I feel sorry for them because the bottom line is that they don’t understand the prophets of the Bible and what they were saying about the time we live in currently. I believe it has had a stabilizing effect on me and has enabled me to mature in the things of God. I now understand the Hebrew people of the Bible and the Hebrew people of today which in the long run helps me understand God better. The Jews have known God much longer than the Christians have and it shows. It’s true they don’t believe that Jesus is the Son of God which we do, but their knowledge of God the Father is far greater than ours.

For instance, they realize that when God makes a covenant with you, everything that covenant stands for is yours. No exceptions. In Gen. 13:17 they believe God meant what He said when God told Abraham, “Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you”, and in verse 14 when He said, “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.” They understand that this land (Israel) is theirs forever. Not because some government halfway across the world says it but because God said it. I challenge anyone, Christian or not, to stand on the mountain top at Alon Moreh and not understand deep in their hearts that this land belongs to the Jews and no one else. This is one of my most favorite spots in all the land of Israel and I am a bit passionate about it.

God did not stop there but time and again He promised the land to Abraham and his descendants. Then He promised the same land to Isaac and then to Jacob. In Gen. 17:19-21 God said, “No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant and with his descendants after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. But My covenant I will establish with Isaac . . .” Ishmael, and his descendants, have no legal right to the land of Israel. God said it. This settles the issue for all those who say that the Arabs have a legal right to the land. These are only a few of the scriptures where God promised the land to the Jews. Brother Hagin used to tell us that if you find something repeated several times in the Bible you need to pay attention to it. The promise of the land to the Jews is repeated over and over and over again. I think we should pay attention to it!!!!

I truly believe that we should bless Israel or pay the consequences of coming against God’s plan on the earth. In Gen. 12:2-3 God told Abraham, “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” I believe this was not only to Abraham but also to his descendants, from whom the Messiah came.

When God gives something forever, He means forever. If we can’t count on Him to be faithful to His Word, we have nothing to have faith in. Either God stands by His Word or He doesn’t. Just because we have a new covenant doesn’t mean you can discount the covenant for the land that God said was forever. Forever is forever. Without God’s steadfastness to His Word we are left as orphans on this earth, with nothing to hold on to. I know God the Father never changes so I know we have a glorious inheritance through Jesus and I don’t have to be concerned with standing on what my Heavenly Father has told me. However, I do believe that the land He gave to the Jews forever will always belong to the Jews. Therefore, I can call myself blessed!

Heart Motives Matter

2005-10-08T19:21:00.000-04:00

by Pastor Jeanne Miller

More and more there seems to be creeping into the church an affinity for going after the things of the world versus keeping true to God and His word. In II Timothy 3:1-4 in the Amplified we read: “But understand this, that in the last days there will set in perilous times of great stress and trouble—hard to deal with and hard to bear. For people will be lovers of self and [utterly] self-centered, lovers of money and aroused by an inordinate (greedy) desire for wealth, proud and arrogant and contemptuous boasters. They will be abusive (blasphemous, scoffers), disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy and profane. [They will be] without natural (human) affection (callous and inhuman), relentless—admitting of no truce or appeasement. [They will be] slanderers—false accusers, trouble makers; intemperate and loose in morals and conduct, uncontrolled and fierce, haters of good. [They will be] treacherous (betrayers), rash [and] inflated with self-conceit. [They will be] lovers of sensual pleasures and vain amusements more than and rather than lovers of God.”

That’s quite a mouthful! But do we see these very characteristics appearing in these times? Absolutely yes! Most of the time when this scripture is taught on, these characteristics are attributed to the world. However, in my studies of the commentaries, these verses are talking about the church, not the world! Unfortunately, we are seeing this corruption creeping into the church with our own eyes. More teachings on prosperity are put forth now and more teachings pertaining to you getting money and giving it to me, me being whichever ministry is teaching on it. Teachings on prosperity can sometimes pander to the flesh and make problems for the listeners.

In verse 2 of this scripture, it talks about people becoming lovers of self. After that, sins that come from loving yourself more than you love God are listed. Just read over that list and it’s enough to make you shudder.

In I Timothy 6:10 we read, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” Notice that it is the love of money, not money. We need money to live and pursue our ministries. God knows this. He has every intention that we have enough and more than that to pursue the goals He has for us. The love of money is when a person puts all else aside, including God, to work at getting money in any way possible. That heart attitude goes hand in hand with II Timothy 3:1-4. And we are seeing this. So many Christians are not content with what they have. They want more, newer, better at the expense of their walk with God. This is a sign of the end times and it’s a sign that’s in the church! Read I Timothy 6:9, “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.” This is what the love of money brings about in the life of a believer. It’s something we need to guard against in our lives.

In Mark 4, Jesus teaches the parable of the sower. In verses 18 and 19 (Amp) Jesus is explaining the parable to His disciples. “And the ones sown among the thorns are others who hear the Word, then the cares and anxieties of the world, and distractions of the age, and the pleasure and delight and false glamour and deceitfulness of riches, and the craving and passionate desire for other things creep in and choke and suffocate the Word, and it becomes fruitless.” Here we know Jesus is talking about the heart and sowing the Word. The cares and anxieties of the world and distractions of the age refer to unrelaxing attention being given to the business of the world. It talks of enjoyments that worldly prosperity enables one to indulge and absorb oneself in, whether they are innocent past times or not. It speaks of allowing these activities to draw you away from God. In order to reap the benefits and blessings of walking with Jesus, we need to guard our hearts, keep looking into the Word, keep believing on the Lord, and keep watching that satan doesn’t get into our minds and pull us away from God and draw us to the things of the world.

Finally we read in James 4:2-3 (Amp), “You are jealous and covet [what others have] and your desires go unfulfilled; [so] you become murderers. [To hate is to murder as far as your hearts are concerned.] You burn with envy and anger and are not able to obtain [the gratification, the contentment and the happiness that you seek], so you fight and war. You do not have because you do not ask. [Or] you do ask [God for them] and yet fail to receive, because you ask with wrong purpose and evil, selfish motives. Your intention is, [when you get what you desire] to spend it in sensual pleasures.” This speaks of Christians who are not committed to God’s ways and don’t seek His will.

We don’t want to fall into this heart attitude where money and things are concerned. Those that do will reap destruction in their lives. We need to check our heart from time to time to make sure we are still seeking God for who He is, not what He will give us. Believe me, He seeks to bless us and He will but we don’t have to go after the blessings. We need to go after God!

Signs

2005-09-06T20:30:00.000-04:00

by Pastor Robert Miller

It’s proclaimed by television commercials and magazine ads everywhere. There is no doubt about it; a new season is about to begin. The signs all point to the transitions that are about to take place. Think about it for a minute. A new school year is here. A new anticipation is guiding parent’s expectations for their children. Fall ads remind us that it is getting colder and changes in apparel are required. Changes in weather remind us to prepare our furnaces and make sure they are working properly. We pull out the heavier clothing and get them ready to be worn. The signs we watch prepare us for the fullness of the season to come. A failure to observe the signs assures a future problem.

God used communion as a sign in my life last year. He drew my attention to communion and what it meant to me in terms of salvation. This sign occurred during our own communion service. The Holy Spirit kept reminding me of the significance of communion. As I meditated upon what He was revealing, He spoke and told me to take communion every morning. I recognized the sign and was obedient to what it meant for me. I began taking communion in the mornings to start my day and declare the benefits of salvation for my life especially healing and wholeness. This occurred months before the doctors diagnosed the stomach cancer. This was used by the Lord to prepare me for the battle I was to wage in this coming season. My obedience enabled me to fight the good fight of faith. The cancer was contained and did not spread. The second tumor that was discovered was not malignant. There are many other results that have occurred and next week after surgery I will be cancer free. The sign of communion prepared me for the battle long before I knew there was a battle. God will reveal signs in your life just like He did in mine. I was so blessed by how He knew what I was facing before I did and gave me what I needed for victory. This is the importance of recognizing signs in our life.

Signs are meant to give direction and prepare us to handle the new circumstances that a change in seasons will bring. Signs act as reference points that impart to us a vision of what is about to come. Ignoring the signs will result in a lack of preparedness. You will not be ready to handle the changes to come and you will definitely be shaken when the fullness of the new season arrives.

Signs impact your life and become the reference points that define your expectation and behavior. These reference points provide the boundaries for your life and give your life meaning and purpose. When signs become reference points for our lives, they promote confidence, purpose, direction, and endurance, all of which are essential for stability. Signs help us identify problems, define our expectation and provide a measure of safety so that we can take the risks involved as we respond to the coming changes. God gives revelation through signs. He reveals His purpose for you, His power and His destiny for your life.

There are three principles for living out what God’s signs reveal. The first is recognizing the principle of time. God gives you time for preparation. Time can be your friend if you utilize it properly. Recognizing signs early gives you time to prepare and grow. For example, Noah had time to prepare the Ark before the rains came. I was given a time of preparation before my battle with cancer. So you will have time to prepare your life for the coming changes. The second principle is to get rid of fear. Fear paralyzes you. God’s ability to prepare you is not removed because of earlier struggles with fear. Rebuke fear and allow His grace to replace that weakness. The third principle is the priority of responsiveness. Our preparation depends on our readiness to respond to God making it a process that involves a partnership with God. These three principles will prepare you to make the necessary changes in your life.

In 2 Corinthians 12:1 Paul declares that he will come to visions and revelations. The question is will you put yourself in the position that will yield the same results as Paul? The Lord wants to impart to you the ability to recognize the signs in your life. By observing some tried and true disciplines, the Lord will impart to you the meaning of the signs. First, this is not an intellectual pursuit but a spiritual pursuit that involves a rich prayer life. The prophet Habbakuk learned the meaning of his sign during a time of prayer. (Habbakuk 2:1) Prayer must be a discipline that you develop on a regular basis. Hearing from the Lord is the result of fellowship time with him. Another discipline to observe is your love walk. God commanded us to love so that we can deal with other people properly. How you manage your relationships in love is a very important key to knowing the meaning of these signs. Walking in love keeps you in a position to hear from God. Specifically, keep yourself out of strife and learn not to take offense otherwise you may not recognize God’s sign. Because love never fails, you will never fail when you make walking in love a priority. Another key discipline is to become faithful. You must make a commitment to the Lord and stick with His way of doing things. Hebrews 10:35 says, “Therefore do not cast away your confidence which has great reward.” Are you committed or are you just interested?

God works through signs in the earth. (Acts 2:19) He communicates through signs His will and plan. He wants His children to be prepared for what is coming in the earth and in their lives. Like the commercials on television He advertises His will for whosoever will listen and hear. The Lord expects us to discern the signs of the times. Are you able to discern the signs that God has placed in your life?

Update on Pastor Bob

2005-09-01T13:18:00.000-04:00

From Pastor Jeanne:

Pastor Bob has been moved onto the floor. His phone number is (301) 754-8305. Due to excessive tubes, containers and paraphernalia he is not ready to receive visitors, but your prayers are welcome.

Update on Pastor Bob

2005-08-29T14:38:00.000-04:00

From Pastor Jeanne:
Pastor Bob is out of surgery. He did really well. The doctors removed everything they needed to. He's recovering nicely!

We Win

2005-06-03T17:27:00.000-04:00

by Pastor Jeanne Miller

We at Montgomery Faith Fellowship have been taught that in this life we are ambassadors of heaven living on this earth. Our purpose is to bring about God’s will on earth even as His will is done in heaven. We are seated with Jesus in heavenly places and live our life here on earth from that position. As such we represent Jesus every day of our lives and cannot forget it. We need to walk in love and forgiveness, with the gifts of the spirit working in our lives. From this position we are a very powerful force striking down the intents of our enemy. We use our words and authority to thwart him.

We also know that our enemy wants to stop us at every turn. In John 10:10 it says, “The thief comes only in order that he may steal and may kill and may destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance—to the full, till it overflows.” (Amplified) He will use every opportunity at his disposal to stop us from fulfilling our assignment. He will use every underhanded device to influence us to make decisions that will draw us off course. He will attack and attack in an effort to stop us from going forward.

In II Corinthians we read, “. . .To keep satan from getting the advantage over us; for we are not ignorant of his wiles and intentions.” (Amplified) In context Paul is talking about walking in forgiveness so we don’t give satan a landing place to attack us. It is one of the ways to leave ourselves open for attack. Sometimes satan just attacks to see what he can pull off. Other times we have given him a legal right to attack and you can be sure he will take advantage of it. My point in quoting this part of scripture is to point out that we are not to be ignorant of his intentions. I feel that many times Christians are totally ignorant of his ways and don’t even know whether it’s satan attacking or just natural circumstances taking their natural course.

We at Montgomery Faith Fellowship are in the midst of an attack on us as a body of Christians walking out God’s purpose for us as a church. In Zechariah 13:7 we read, “. . .Strike the Shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.” In Matthew 26:31 Jesus himself quotes this part of scripture as to what will happen at the time of His death. However He finishes by saying that after He is raised up He will go before them to Galilee. In effect He says He will draw them back together. Now satan knows this part of scripture and would like us to believe he’s going to work this in our church. However he has forgotten that it did not work in Jesus’ case and that it will not work in our case either! We are not ignorant of his devices.

I have seen over the years a number of churches that were torn apart because their shepherd (pastor) was struck by an illness or he was pulled off course by giving into a temptation of the flesh. It all comes from satan. He chooses the attack based on what he thinks will work. Sometimes it works and other times satan is caught and recognized and made to pay! Once again I say we at Montgomery Faith Fellowship are not ignorant of his devices. We know and can see what he is attempting to do. We are a congregation who knows about the Blood, about healing, about prayer and about the power of the Holy Spirit. We have an anointing to go forth in this area and fulfill our purpose. We have proved effective in what we are called to do and therefore satan would like to get rid of us. A church that is not fulfilling any purpose in God is one which will never see an attack by the enemy. He doesn’t have to attack; he’s not threatened by that body of believers in any way.

Our outreach ministries are making a dent in satan’s kingdom. We are seeing people born again, healed, and walking in the power of the Spirit. The prayer that goes forth from this congregation definitely thwarts satan’s plans and purposes. Some of the most powerful pray-ers in the body of Christ today have confirmed time and again that the spirit of prayer is working mightily at Montgomery Faith Fellowship. We are truly a blessed congregation.

Six years ago satan tried this same tactic to stop us. It didn’t work then and it won’t work now. He has been caught and will be made to pay. Our ministries will become more powerful and effective as we walk through this latest attack. We know who we are and what we have in Jesus. As we walk in those promises, we will see another victory and another black eye for the enemy. God has said that we have the victory and by faith we will attain it. All of God’s promises are yea and amen!

Faith And Patience

2005-05-04T17:15:00.000-04:00

by Stuart Barth

Have you noticed that faith and patience almost always seem to go together in the Bible? If you see one, the other is generally not too many verses of scripture away. I believe that the patience the Bible refers to when it speaks of faith and patience is largely misunderstood by believers. The idea generally believed and taught regarding patience is the notion of time and waiting, or the length of waiting. It leaves the impression that if we’ll suffer and endure, someday God will answer our prayer. While enduring can be a good definition of patience, it’s not scripturally accurate when talking about faith. The Bible definition of this kind of patience refers to constancy, or consistency; remaining fixed and unmoved; standing firm as we persevere.

In Luke chapter 21 we see the disciples asking Jesus about the events of the end times. Jesus shares many points of information that Pastor Bob has recently taught on. But in verse 19, He says something that is a key to walking in faith and receiving the things of God if we take the time to read it correctly. He says in verse 19 that “in your patience possess ye your souls” (KJV). How interesting! Let’s look at that in light of the Biblical definition of patience: “In your constant consistency, remaining fixed and unmoved, and standing firm as you persevere, you will possess your soul.” Now that puts a different light on it, doesn’t it? Look at what He says about the soul, which is our mind, our will and our emotions. Jesus is telling us that we can possess our thoughts and our emotions. This would put us in a position of authority and dominion where our soul is concerned. This means we should be ruling and controlling our thoughts and emotions, and not the other way around. This is critical information when standing on the Word of God in faith.

James 1:3 says that “the trials of our faith worketh patience” (KJV). Notice that the trying of our faith doesn’t develop more faith! I’ve heard Christians talk about exercising their faith to build up their “faith muscles”, but the Word says the trying of our faith develops patience. So, it would seem that the need isn’t more faith, but more patience! How can that be? Isn’t faith enough to cause us to receive? Let’s look at the Word. Hebrews 6:12 says that “through faith and patience we inherit the promises.” (KJV, emphasis mine.) If we’ve spent regular time in God’s presence and in His Word, we’ve heard His voice, we’ve received rhema. Remember “faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word (rhema) of God.” (Romans 10:17, KJV.) So the faith is there to believe, it came by the rhema, the word the Holy Spirit spoke to us. It’s the patience, that constant consistency, that’s going to get us to the other side to receive! How is that? Romans 5:3 says that our faith is going to be tried and tested. When it’s tested, that’s what’s going to work in us that constant consistency, that fixedness and firm resolve. If you’re going to believe God’s word, that decision of faith will be put to the test. But it’s the enemy who will bring pressure against us, not God. How will he bring this pressure? How will we recognize it? Possibly in our bodies, especially if we’re believing for healing. I’ve found that in all cases, the battle is going to be in our souls: our thoughts and feelings and emotions! The place Jesus just told us that WE can possess if we’ll not back down from God’s word!! Hallelujah!

Often times as I have begun to believe God for provision or for healing, I was attacked in the very area that I was believing for. If I needed financial provision, a big expense I hadn’t anticipated came out of the blue, or the Lord led me to give money to someone else. Now instead of increasing financially, in the natural it looked like I was decreasing. Then the enemy came to my thought life with words of failure and defeat, and emotions of fear and worry. This is the trial! This is the test! Here’s where we’re either going to have victory or failure where God’s promise is concerned. God gave us the answer when He spoke rhema to us, but it’s the trial that gives us the opportunity to stay fixed and constant, immovable against everything we can see or feel with the 5 senses. We need to declare with our mouth what we believe in our heart, just like we did when we accepted Jesus as Lord, and we need to keep declaring it! Every time fear comes, or a thought of failure comes, every time a twinge of pain comes, every time a well-meaning friend tells you about so-and-so who stood in faith and died anyway, we need to boldly declare (speak out loud!) God’s promise! It might have happened to so-and-so but it’s not going to happen to me! The Bible says that “a thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand but IT WILL NOT COME NEAR YOU” (Ps 91:7 – Amp, emphasis mine).

Jesus, in teaching about sowing the Word, said this in Luke 8:15: “But as for that [seed] in the good soil, these are [the people] who, hearing the Word, hold it fast in a just (noble, virtuous) and worthy heart, and steadily bring forth fruit with patience.” (Amp, emphasis mine) The fruit He’s talking about in this verse is receiving the promise of the Word, and it’s brought forth by constant consistency, remaining fixed and standing firm as we persevere. That’s the only way. We won’t receive from God by begging because He’s not moved by our need, and Pastor can’t lay hands on us to receive it. James 1:4 tells us to “let patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing.” (Amp). It’s up to us to let it have its work, and if we will, we’ll be lacking in nothing. I like lacking in nothing!

King David said “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless His holy name.” (Ps 103:1, KJV.) He was talking to his soul! He was telling his thoughts and emotions: “You bless God! You praise Him! You give Him the glory He deserves! He’s done great things!” Hallelujah! God has given us dominion in the area of our thought life and our emotions! Satan has no power – he’s been stripped. Jesus said in Matthew 28:18 that “all power in Heaven and in earth has been given unto Me.” Jesus took Satan’s power away, there’s nothing left for him, just a bleak eternity! So the next time he attacks you in your mind, you just keep on standing. Keep on speaking that rhema word every time that pain flairs up. The devil’s got no power to stop it from coming to pass. All he can do is lie to you and tell you you’re not going to get it and try to derail that patience and stop your faith. But we know better, don’t we!

Spring, The Time of New Beginnings

2005-04-05T19:16:00.000-04:00

The Power of the Spirit

2005-03-01T18:18:00.000-05:00

by Pastor Robert Miller

As Christians we need to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. If we follow Jesus’ example then we will know that we can overcome Satan by speaking the Word and not yielding to temptation. In Luke 4:1 we read, “Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.” The Holy Spirit led Jesus to a place where the enemy tempted Him. When Jesus arrived at that place, He apparently fasted. Fasting is a spiritual discipline that heightens spiritual awareness. In Jesus’ case He was able to “endure” the temptation and to resist Satan by speaking the Word to him. Finding no opportunity, Satan departed from Jesus. Reading from Luke 4:14, “Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region.” These scriptures show us that the power of the Spirit can attract people and give us the opportunity to evangelize. As Christians we should focus on walking in the power of the Spirit.

Following the example of Jesus, we focus on the power of the Spirit when we develop a life style of spiritual discipline. For the Christian this is a must. The first spiritual discipline to develop is to establish a time every day when you are in the Word of God. The Word of God must be planted in your heart. Jesus knew enough of the Word to quote the scriptures back to Satan. Each Christian should possess enough knowledge of the Word so that he can quote scripture back to Satan. Notice that Satan always attempted to get Jesus to question what God had revealed to Him and to question His identity in God the Father. I have found this to be true for Christians today. Satan attempts to attack us by suggesting that we are really not very powerful at all. Ephesians 6:17-18 reveals that the Sword of the Spirit is the Word of God, “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints — “. Time in the Word of God yields an ability to wield the Sword of the Spirit.

Ephesians 6:17-18 also shows us that along with learning the Word of God there must be times of prayer in the Spirit, another spiritual discipline. By praying in the Spirit, I am referring to praying in tongues. Ephesians says to be watchful and perseverant in prayer. Jesus taught the disciples that overcoming temptation is directly related to prayer. From Matthew 26:40-41 we read, “Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." As we pray, the Holy Spirit is able to impart power to us. Quoting scripture without a regular time of prayer is not enough to overcome in temptation. It takes the interaction of the Holy Spirit in you with the Word of God planted within you to produce God’s power.

God requires that Christians develop spiritual discipline. The Bible says it takes faith to overcome. 1 John 5:4, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith.” There was an event in the lives of the disciples when it seemed as if their faith did not work. They could not take authority over a demon that had oppressed a young man. Jesus was able to obtain the answer. Jesus told them why in Matt 17:20-21, “So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting." The faith to overcome was not there because their spiritual discipline had waned specifically in the areas of praying and fasting. Spiritual discipline leads to sensitivity so that we can hear from the Holy Spirit.

Romans 10:17 tell us, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” It is not simply reading the Word that brings faith. The Greek word “Rhema” is translated as “word” in that scripture. We could read that verse this way, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Rhema of God.” Rhema means a revealed word by the Holy Spirit. Rhema comes from the interaction of the Holy Spirit and the planted Word of God in your heart. It becomes very clear why spiritual discipline is very important to the power of God. Faith to overcome comes to us through hearing the Holy Spirit who speaks to us through the Word of God that we are putting in. Prayer and the Word produce the faith we need to overcome. Then as Jesus said when we speak to the mountain it will move. Faith results when the spiritual discipline of the Word and prayer are operating in the Christian’s life. The fame that spread about Jesus came because overcoming faith was working in His life. People were attracted to Him because of it and they will be attracted to you too. God bless!

Attaining the Prize

2005-02-03T17:33:00.001-05:00

By Pastor Jeanne Miller

In I Corinthians 9:24-27 (Amp) we read, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but [only] one receives the prize? So run [your race] that you may lay hold [of the prize] and make it yours. Now every athlete who goes into training conducts himself temperately and restricts himself in all things. They do it to win a wreath that will soon wither, but we [do it to receive a crown of eternal blessedness] that cannot wither. Therefore I do not run uncertainly-without definite aim. . . .But [like a boxer] I buffet my body-handle it roughly, discipline it by hardships-and subdue it, for fear that after proclaiming to others the Gospel and things pertaining to it, I myself should become unfit-not stand the test and be unapproved-and rejected [as a counterfeit].”

In this passage of scripture Paul is speaking of a race that he has been given to run by the Lord. He is describing what it takes to win that race and he’s using himself as an example for all of us. Each and every Christian has a God given race to run. However, it is up to each of us to accept that race and to run it to win. Once we accept this fact, we need to find out what our particular race is, then train for it and finally, run it to win.

Paul talks about the discipline and commitment it takes to win-“I buffet my body-handle it roughly, discipline it by hardships”. We call this crucifying the flesh but this is a good description of how one must handle the flesh in order to run the race. Any athlete training for any competition knows the endurance and training it takes. It’s not a piece of cake. It requires all of their attention. It requires determination and an attitude of “I’ll not give up, no matter what”. Those with this attitude win.

We also can never back off from the race the Lord gives us to run. Just like an athlete it takes courage, boldness, never giving up, never backing down. But for us there is another ingredient. We also have a spiritual walk to maintain. Without it we cannot win the race. For us the devil is always there filling our minds with junk or putting temptation in our paths through our flesh to draw us away from the race. Many times his words tell us we can’t win because this is how we were made, this is what our parents went through or maybe something more subtle like, later on you’ll be able to conquer this but not now. The devil wins when our spiritual life has not been maintained because we won’t flee from the words he tells us. We’re not strong enough spiritually to do so.

Read I Corinthians 10:12-14 which is a continuation of how to run the race in order to win. “Therefore let any one who thinks he stands-who feels sure that he has a steadfast mind and is standing firm-take heed lest he fall [into sin]. For no temptation-no trial regarded as enticing to sin [no matter how it comes or where it leads]-has overtaken you and laid hold on you that is not common to man-that is, no temptation or trial has come to you that is beyond human resistance and that is not adjusted and adapted and belonging to human experience, and such as man can bear. But God is faithful [to His Word and to His compassionate nature] and He [can be trusted] not to let you be tempted and tried and assayed beyond your ability and strength of resistance and power to endure, but with the temptation He will [always] also provide the way out-the means of escape to a landing place-that you may be capable and strong and powerful patiently to bear up under it. Therefore, my dearly beloved, shun-keep clear away from, avoid by flight if need be-any sort of idolatry (of loving or venerating anything more than God).”

First of all, we must take care never to stand in our own strength when fighting the fight and running the race. It will surely lead to destruction. Our strength is in the Name of the Lord, and only in that Name do we stay where we need to be spiritually. There are times when Christians are not even aware that they are slipping in their daily walk with the Lord. But this slipping always makes a place for the enemy to get in and when the trials and temptations start we should immediately realize that we are in a place of vulnerability brought on most likely by letting down on our determination and commitment to running the race as we ought.

A definition for temptation given by Rick Renner is an outside source that appeals to a weakness in your flesh. It appeals to your flesh!! This should set off sirens in our minds and spirits. In verse 14 the answer given is to flee, avoid by flight, get up and get out of the situation that is tempting you. Avoid those situations and areas where you know you have a problem with your flesh. This is a choice each one of us must make. No one can do this for you but it is a way of breaking bondages of the flesh that need to be gotten rid of so you can run your race and win the prize that is rightfully yours. You will not win your race while you are under bondage. But the good news is that God has provided a way to win if you should choose to take it.

Attaining the prize should be our goal as Christians. We should know the race we are called to run. We should concentrate on the training needed to run it (our spiritual walk), and then not allow anything to distract us. This means not giving place to the temptations of the flesh because we know God has a way of escape for us if we just allow Him to show us. Our God is the God of the impossible and the God of Love who only wants good things for us. He is the one that can turn our bondages, sicknesses and poverty around so we can accomplish the mighty feats He has ordained us to do. Let’s allow Him to do all that He wants in our lives so in the end we attain the prize.

The Spirit of Prophecy

2005-01-05T17:06:00.000-05:00

by Pastor Robert Miller

Happy New Year! 2005 looks like it will be an interesting year. The words of prophecy that have been given describe this year as the year of overflow. Overflow refers to the harvest we are to reap. That harvest can either be good or not so good depending on the kind of seed sown in your life. If you as a believer have been astute during 2004 and prepared yourself for 2005 as was suggested, then there is no reason to be concerned. If you have not prepared, it is not too late. Repent and turn to Him. He will cleanse you of all unrighteousness and get you going in the right direction.

During the teachings that I have been doing about the Birth of Jesus recently, the Holy Spirit prompted me to highlight the Spirit of Prophecy and the role it played in the Incarnation of Jesus. After looking closely at the scriptures about this spiritual principle known as the Spirit of Prophecy, a pattern emerged revealing how God works in the earth today. By understanding how to apply the Spirit of Prophecy to our own lives, we can more fully cooperate with the Holy Spirit making a way for God to work to the fullest extent in our lives. This is very important for 2005, the year of overflow. We need God working to the fullest extent that He can in order to take our place in God’s plan and enjoy the blessings He has given us.

In Rev 19:10 the Apostle John writes, “And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, see that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” John wrote in John 21:25, “And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.” All the events surrounding Jesus birth, His life and His resurrection describe the working of the Spirit of Prophecy in the earth.

God the Father anointed the prophets of old to speak under His direction about the plans that were to unfold on the earth. In my Bible there is a chart that lists 45 specific prophecies about Jesus and His life. It can be concluded that God, the Father used men anointed to speak in unity with His plan first and then there was a manifestation of those spoken words. For example, in Isaiah 7:14, the prophet spoke and said God would give a sign to the world: a virgin would conceive, and bear a son and call His Name Immanuel. These spoken words came to pass some 750 years later. Here we see the essence of the Spirit of Prophecy. Men under the anointing of God spoke words prompted by God first and then what was spoken manifested in the earth. Therefore, the Spirit of Prophecy became the bridge connecting the will of God in heaven and the manifestation of His will on the earth. This pattern is consistently revealed in the scriptures.

Notice that the Spirit of Prophecy precedes the manifestation of the prophecy. We need to remember this as we learn to cooperate with this spiritual principle. There are many statements God has made through the Apostles about how God’s power will manifest in the lives of believers. In order for God’s power to work in your life, you must do your part so God can fulfill His part. Your part is to voice these prophecies first and then you will see the manifestation of them. This is what Jesus was saying in Matthew 12:37, “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." In this same chapter Jesus says a tree is known by its fruit. He then went on to say the scripture quoted above. You are the tree and your words bring forth either good or bad fruit depending on what you are saying about yourself or your life. Words become the bridge between the will of God in heaven and the manifested will of God on the earth.

The harvest that is reaped in your life is determined by the operation of the Spirit of Prophecy. Are you speaking by man’s wisdom or God’s wisdom? If you are speaking by man’s wisdom, then you are opening a way for the devil to take advantage of you. God needs you to speak His wisdom first. As you speak God’s wisdom, then you are preparing the way for Him to work in your life. Once again your words prepare a way for God to move on your behalf. It is critical to do this. In scripture, God’s best never manifested for those who spoke against it coming to pass. So we see the connection between the Spirit of Prophecy and the year of overflow.

As we enter into a new year, it is a natural time to make necessary changes. Get purposed and disciplined about operating in the Spirit of Prophecy concerning your life. The harvest, or overflow, is determined by how you cooperate with the Spirit of Prophecy. Make your words the bridge that allows God to manifest the good things He has prepared for you this year. Change the negative into the positive and become an explosive force that reveals God’s will and His power. Happy New Year!

What Gift Will You Give This Year?

2004-12-13T17:18:00.000-05:00

Kristin Wenck, Children’s Minister

A great deal of our joy and frustration at Christmas centers around gift-giving. Joy at finding the perfect gift, frustration over finding a gift for someone who “has everything”. Giving gifts at Christmas began as a celebration of the gift of Jesus. When God gave His only Son, what gift was He giving? The Bible says that Jesus came so that we could have everlasting life and salvation. Everlasting life to many would mean never dying. In the Bible, many times death is defined as “separation from God”. The “life” that Jesus came to give was a chance for men once again to live in unity with God, to walk with Him and to know Him.

Ask any child and many adults what gift they have to give Jesus, and they respond with “my heart”. But being born again, the gift of a new heart, is the gift that Jesus gives us, not a gift that we give Him. Many times in the Bible our salvation is referred to as “the gift of God”. And what a wonderful gift! Being eternally connected to God brings the blessings of prosperity in every area–healing for our bodies, financial prosperity, the fruit of the spirit–love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, meekness, and self-control. It brings freedom from sin and fear. If God is for us, who can be against us? His gift to you–salvation and the Holy Spirit– is everything that you need to walk as He did on the earth. That gift began with the child born in Bethlehem, and was completed when Jesus gave the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. When we receive gifts at Christmas, we like to be sure we give something in return. What will you give in return for this indescribable gift?

The Gift

Author unknown

I heard today
Of a decrepit native woman
Who walked mile after mile
Under the blistering sun
To bring a small gift of embroidery
To the missionary she deeply loved.
Hour after hour she trudged
Over rough, rugged roads
Clutching tightly her small gift.
Her weary body sagged
Her vision blurred
Her bare feet bled from the jagged rocks.

Grateful but overwhelmed
The missionary wept.
The trembling old woman spoke softly:
“Please understand
The walk is part of the gift.”

Our response to His calling is the gift we bring, and the walk is part of the gift. How you do something is just as important to God as whether or not you do it. The walk is part of the gift. How do you respond to long holiday lines, people who don’t wait their turn, crazy drivers, disobedient children, a late spouse, lazy co-workers, angry bosses and your own frustrations? Between now and eternity there is time to give Him the gift of your walk. The Bible urges us to “walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Eph. 4:1-3) Every day we have the opportunity to give Him this gift, and many times it is a hard walk–hard on our flesh!

This gift is given in the every day moments of life, not only in the life-changing ones. This gift is given in the little things as well as the big things. This gift is given in public and in private. It is given when you feel like it and when you don’t. It is a gift that touches the world around you but it is given to Him alone.

Salvation and its blessings are God’s gifts to us—we don’t deserve them and we can’t earn them. The way we live our moments on earth is our gift to Him. Only by living every day in fellowship with Him can we receive His gift of life. As we commit ourselves to give Him the gift of our daily walk, His gift is shared with family, friends, and the world. As you go about your shopping and gift wrapping this year, remember to include Father God on your gift-giving list!

Reaping the Harvest

2004-10-31T17:43:00.000-05:00

By Pastor Robert Miller

This is the harvest season. Have you looked around you? Fall foliage abounds. The brilliant colors of burgundy, gold, browns and greens signal that autumn’s glory is here. Orange pumpkins, yellow corn stalks and multi-colored gourds are decorating homes and lawns in celebration of the season. All the signs of harvest are clearly visible and easily interpreted. There is no doubt about it. The harvest signs tell us that change is about to come. Planters have reaped the earth’s reward and gathered it into the barns.

How exciting to think that this natural phenomenon known as harvest has a spiritual application too. Jesus tells us in John 4:35, “ Do you not say, It is still four months until harvest time comes? Look! I tell you, raise your eyes and observe the fields and see how they are already white for harvesting.” (AMP) Jesus is saying look at the signs around you. They indicate that harvest is not coming but is actually here. Those to whom he was speaking were not reading the signs properly and so were not preparing to labor to gather the harvest. They had it in their minds that there was more time until the harvest.

This mind set exists in the church today. Many of us are not recognizing the signs of the times. We need to take Jesus’ advice and look again. He wants the church to realize that the time has come to reap the harvest and not wait any longer. The end of the age draws close and Jesus is coming back. In fact Jesus requested that we pray for laborers to reap the harvest because it is ready, “Then He said to His disciples, The harvest is indeed plentiful, but the laborers are few. So pray to the Lord of the harvest to force out and thrust laborers into His harvest.” (Matthew 9:37-38 AMP.) God needs people who are willing to bring in the harvest. He needs you!

How can you prepare yourself as a laborer in the harvest? Jesus’ greatest quality was that he was willing to go because His Father requested that of Him. We, like Jesus, must recognize the Father’s need of laborers and be willing to go. God’s command was motivated by the peril of people who are living without Christ. Like the harvest that must be reaped in the appropriate time or be lost, so people must be brought to the Lord so that they are not lost. Do you look at people in terms of their eternal destiny?

As his disciples were willing to go, Jesus equipped them for their work. We must recognize that we have been equipped with all we need to reap the harvest. The Lord has given us the power. Without supernatural equipment the disciples would have quit soon after they started. Jesus has given us power over all the work of the enemy to heal, to preach and to set free those who are bound. Our supernatural equipment can meet any need you face while laboring in the harvest. Get rid of the fear of not having any results!

You can’t overcome Satan by reasoning with him. Reinhardt Bonnke says in his book, Evangelism by Fire, “Don’t argue--shine! You can’t conquer darkness by arguing with it. Just switch the light on. The Gospel is power. Power creates light. When you are plugged in the light comes on.” Paul also had this in mind when he said he came with a demonstration of power. Preaching or proclaiming the Gospel creates power. Expect God to confirm His word as you speak it. Have confidence in the fact that God’s word when spoken from the Spirit’s anointing produces the power to answer the needs of the people. We cannot just leave Gospel truth as an idea. It must be demonstrated.

Jesus was moved by compassion that released the power of God into the lives of those who were sick, bound and oppressed. Compassion is the key to successful personal evangelism because through compassion genuine love is experienced. Allow compassion to motivate you so that people can experience God’s love. Boldness in combination with compassion can overcome many obstacles to evangelizing.

Evangelizing is multi-faceted. It is more than just a salvation prayer. We are anointed to make disciples. How can we accomplish this? I believe we can make disciples through our own life’s testimony. Your testimony is more than an isolated incident; it is the pattern that you reveal to others. Do others see Jesus in you or someone or something else? Our testimony is anointed to have an impact on others by revealing the living Lord and how He changed your life. Your testimony carries God’s anointing and can affect many to come to the Lord. We also can make disciples through our words. You see preaching is nothing more than speaking the anointed Word from the Bible. Do you realize as you speak scriptural truths, your words are literally “seen” by others? Your words are anointed to evangelize people. What are people hearing from you? We can also make disciples by manifesting Jesus to others. When we operate in power, walk in love and sacrifice for the sake of others, people see His character in our actions and that is the point.

Signs of the harvest are all around us. Just look and you will see them. Time is drawing to a close and we must reap all of the harvest that we can. God needs you today!

Parenting With Purpose

2004-09-13T17:35:00.000-04:00

By Kristin Wenck

“As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of thy youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed . . .”Psalm 127:4-5. This scripture brings back memories of a Jr. High school archery class. They took us outside, a little too close to the school as it turns out, and set up targets on hay bales. Then they gave us bows and arrows, backed us up, and told us to hit the target. Some kids chose another target—other students, the school building—and hit their mark!. Most kids had the right target and tried to hit it, but the arrows feel far short. Some kids hit the hay bale. Only 1-2 even hit the target. One got a bullseye—someone who actually practiced archery regularly! When parenting, we need to have a target—something we are aiming for, a goal for our children. We also have to know how to hit the target. And we have to be consistent if we are going to be successful.

First a target must be chosen. Some common things that parents aim for: a certain career, academic success, material success. Think of what it takes to make an Olympic gymnast or a child star. Parents who have that goal work hard and sacrifice to make it happen. They end up spending money for training and tutors, time shuttling kids to practice/gigs, they may move the whole family or send their child to live with others to accomplish this goal. They are unreasonably committed. What is your target and are you committed to it? As Christians, what should we be aiming for? The target we should have for our children is the same one we should have for ourselves. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength”. Our number one purpose should be to lead our children into a relationship with God. Sadly, many Christian parents chose to aim for other things: straight “A”, certain extra curricular activities, the right school and college, popularity. What does God value? A heart full of faith, someone who is obedient to do his will. If we parent with knowing God as our target, we can be sure that they will achieve the other “worldly” purposes as well (Matt. 6). We must first choose the correct target, then we have to commit ourselves to reaching the goal so that our arrows (our children) don’t fall short of it.

Commitment means sacrificing yourself: your desires, your time, your sleep, your feelings. Commitment means constant prayer and adjustments—it means hearing from God daily. Commitment means keeping your eye on the target and not getting sidetracked by the busyness of life or worldly definitions of success. Those arrows have to be in the hands of a mighty man (or woman) to hit the target! Commitment is training, not teaching. Teaching is telling a child what they need to do, training is making them do it. Staying there until they get it right. Training a child to know God happens at home, not at church. Phillips, Craig, & Dean wrote this in a song “ let me be a living Bible, Lord, that my little boy can read, I want to be just like You, ‘cause he wants to be like me”. The Bible says that if we train our children, they will not depart from that training when they are older. It is a promise, for better or for worse. They will stay committed to what we train them to commit to—be it God, academics, or social activities.

Children are trained by what they see everyday, not just the days when we get everything right! They get their values from their parents. If you treasure God and make your relationship with Him a priority daily, they will know God also. When obedience to God’s Word is a priority in the home for all the family members, blessings overflow: health, prosperity, peace, love, confidence, protection. To have a happy home, you have to not only teach God’s Word, but be an example of faith, love, and obedience to God’s will. You have to make your children obey God’s Word and obey you. If they won’t do the things that you tell them to do, they won’t do what God tells them to do. The blessings of obedience are that they will live long and well (they will not need be ashamed of all the wrong they did as young adults!).

According to scripture, our children should fill us with joy, not frustration! However this is not true in many Christian homes today. If you are struggling with children who won’t obey, worried that your children will repeat your youthful mistakes, if your home is not a place of love and peace, first check your target. Are you training your children for worldly success, or Godly success? Making their relationship with God your target will cause them to prosper in every area of life throughout their lifetime. God Himself will strengthen and equip you as you obey Him in training children daily. The Bible promises that when we train children in obedience and love, they will stick with it when they are older. They will hit the target!

Enough to Do the Job

2004-07-25T22:04:00.000-04:00

By Pastor Bob Miller

It all began when Justin awoke one morning with a tick embedded in the tissue under his eye. After seeing the doctor, he was given medicine for a staph infection. His fever continued to rise in spite of the fact that he was now on medication. This did not make sense! Justin, my son, could only lie there, weak and listless. His fever climbed to 105. Our doctor was out of town but he had left instructions with another doctor just in case. The fever was reaching a dangerous level. We had to get him to a hospital. As we picked him up, his body was limp and a rash appeared around his wrists. That was new. Needless to say he was admitted immediately and our doctor notified. Blood was drawn and special tests were run that would confirm our doctor’s suspicion. His temperature was still climbing. My wife and I had made up our minds that no matter what symptoms he was enduring, our Lord had a victory for him. Healing belonged to him because of the stripes that Jesus bore in His body. We made up our minds that healing was ours. We decided to pray constantly in twelve-hour shifts until the job was done. I would pray twelve hours and my wife would pray twelve hours until the healing manifested.

As parents we were concerned yet determined to see this through. I was at a loss as to how to pray effectively because I became fearful. I had prayed yet he still grew worse. Have you experienced this same thing too? I did what I knew to do yet to no avail because of the presence of fear. I thank God for His Word. Romans 8:26 tells me just what to do, “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” This verse gave me hope and a plan. This scripture makes an important point about praying: we can pray on a higher level and overcome our weaknesses when we allow the Holy Spirit to pray through us. I thank God for the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. This experience was crucial in this situation. The plan was to pray in the Spirit (in other tongues) until the healing manifested. Thus our weaknesses were turned into strength. Romans 8:27 gave us great news, “Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” The prayers would be effective because they would be the will of God. What a load was lifted! We can pray effective, fervent prayers with assurance they will be answered.

John 16:13 makes another amazing statement, “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” The Holy Spirit, the Helper, will show us ahead of time things we need to know and will guide us in applying His truth to the situations of life. This means that as we pray in other tongues God provides the help we really need. God will show us ahead of time what we need to be praying. That sure changes the balance of power and we had the advantage in this battle to see healing manifest in our son. You see the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is critical if we want to see God’s power manifest on our behalf.

God revealed to John the Baptist that he would baptize with water and the one to follow, Jesus, would baptize in the Holy Spirit. John 1:33, “I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'” Jesus also said believers would speak with new tongues in Mark 16:17, “And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues.”

Armed with the Word of God and the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, we commenced to pray in twelve-hour shifts knowing that God had provided us with enough power to get the job done. As my wife was praying in other tongues during her shift, the Holy Spirit spoke to her as to what to do. The Holy Spirit told her to curse the life in the organism in Justin’s body and command it to die in Jesus Name. She laid her hand on his body and spoke as the Holy Spirit had directed. As she spoke those powerful words, she knew no more praying was needed. Healing was ours. Eventually, the test results came through confirming our doctor’s prognosis: Rocky Mountain Fever which is caused by an infected tick. The antibiotics had masked the symptoms and made it harder to diagnose.

The following morning I arrived at the hospital to see a miracle, our son sitting up asking for some French fries and a hamburger. Then the doctor came in and confirmed that it was a miracle—the medicine had not had time to take effect. We knew nothing about this disease. He began to tell us that Rocky Mountain Fever is caused by a tiny parasite that gets into the blood stream that takes it to the organs of the body where it feeds on tissue. We both realized the magnitude of what God had done. Through speaking in tongues my wife was given everything she needed to get the job done. Justin was healed and God received the glory.

Very soon we will celebrate Pentecost commemorating the time when God poured His Spirit upon all flesh. Are you baptized in the Holy Spirit? Do you speak with other tongues? Jesus said believers will speak with new tongues. Are you spending time praying in other tongues? As far as I am concerned, the Baptism in the Holy Spirit saved my son’s life. Just think what Jesus can do for your life as you pray regularly in other tongues. Jesus will give you all the power you need—enough to do the job!