Encourage to Get Encouraged!

Encourage Others! A Study in the Book of Acts   by Kelly Durant  7-23-12                                   

Acts 4:36, Acts 9:31, Acts 11:23-24 , Acts 15:32 Acts 16: Acts 18:27, Acts 20:2, and Acts 28:15.

How many of you have heard a quote, ‘It is better a hand on the shoulder, that a hand-swat on the rear?’ It’s so true! We all need encouragement often! Do you not agree? In life everyone needs correction and instruction, but my favorite way to give it is through encouragement! Encouragement needs to come from each of us all the time! It is an act of divine love!

Some of you have a difficult life from abusive people around you. Some people are more easily depressed than others. Some people are living in very difficult situations. The reality is we all need someone to lift us up from time to time!

In life the average person will suffer discouragement over and over. People live with family problems, broken relationships, health issues, financial worries, corruption in their communities, and just random chaos upsetting our daily lives! 

But we have the promises of God from the Holy Scriptures that we are always going to come out alright!  As in Psalm 34:19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.   And Jesus said,  in John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

These things mentioned are just a few of the causes of our sadness and discouragement.  I personally think what brings about one of the worst discouragements in our lives is a feeling of being unloved and unwanted! Sadly most times this is due to circumstances out of our control.

Also, often times our feelings are not reality but distorted imaginations.  Often our minds deceive us, and Satan, our enemy, plants horrible thoughts in our heads.

Mother Teresa stated, “The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved”.  I think everyone would confirm that our most important job in life is to love God and others and to encourage others in word and with effective deeds of kindness!

And then some people provoke upon their selves their own discouragement.  Sad but true, some people are not very loved because they themselves do not give love. Everyone reaps what they sew, or do not sew, in this life which impacts eternity.

No matter what your situation is, it is important to refresh our minds at how to obtain encouragement. Repeatedly in the book of Acts we read that the disciples got encouragement. God wants Christians to be full of faith, hope, and  love and these all bring encouragement!  

Do you like to encourage others? Do you sew it so you can reap it?

Consider this, how would you like to have as your name, Encourager? Acts 4:36 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”, in modern English), (Other version: Son of consolation).

Imagine, if someone were to say, the son of encouragement will come to my house to visit, do you want to meet him?  Barnabas was true to his name to console others.  He was one of the first Jewish disciples that was considered to be a saint by the old church.

His name was Joses, but he was led to change his name to Barnabas. Recall as well Saul became Paul, and many Christians changed their names to signify their mission in life! Maybe we should change the names of some of you here! I have known a few ladies with the name Dolores (which means “pains”) that I wish I could have renamed Joy!

If Barnabas had the job of encouraging, and he was one of the most important figures travelling with Paul, then I deduct the message we should learn here is that we must develop more encouragers amongst ourselves!

Where does our encouragement from God come from? Through the Holy Spirit!

Acts 9:31 Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.

Here in Hialeah, we observe ourselves in this phase as they were, in a time of strength.  We are enjoying a growth phase, but this blessing is only effective if each person here is being sensitive living a pure obedient Christian life which attracts the Holy Spirit! It also attracts others from the world to join us to get relief from their suffering. Jesus stated clearly that the Holy Spirit is the Comforter.

John 15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:

When you share comfort and encouragement you are being a channel for the Holy Spirit to work in you!

Acts 11: 22 Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch. 23 Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord.24 For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord.

So now consider this, Barnabas encouraged others with the Holy Spirit, and many people believed on the Lord due to his way of being, by his loving spirit, and for his concern for others. His influence was like a fire that spread and warmed many hearts to do the same! Let’s keep this fire burning!

This brings each of us to a challenge, ask yourself: How many people have you encouraged in your lifetime to be closer to the Lord? Can you name the person that has encouraged you in your past as well?

The word says in Matthew 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Let’s continue on in Acts 15:32 Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers.

Here we have an example of 2 more brothers who were very good at encouraging others. And a prophet, or one representing God, is one who encourages through prayer and study of the word, and the results bring strength and power in the spirit!

How encouraging are you? How loving are you? How full of the Holy Spirit are you? When people think of you, do they think you are full of comfort, consolation, and encouragement? Or are others indifferent to you because you are indifferent?

Acts 16:40 After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house, where they met with the brothers and sisters and encouraged them. Then they left.

What is the message here? Whenever you have a testimony you must share it to encourage others! Paul and Silas had a big testimony, that God opened the prison doors for them!

These brothers went to a house for a visit, but what about those that are too far away to visit? What can we do?

All of us can encourage friends that are far away by writing to them sharing  uplifting words to continue to do good for the Lord! In today’s world be can call them as well! We find more visitation in the next verse, first a letter, then a visit.

Acts 18:27 When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers and sisters encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed.

Paul, Barnabas and many like Apollos seemed to get around a lot to encourage others.

Acts 20:2 He traveled through that area, speaking many words of encouragement to the people, and finally arrived in Greece,

Even when you are in a hard situation you can still be uplifting. Paul was shipwrecked and in a survival situation but he was always positive.  Look in:

Acts 27: 34 Wherefore I pray you to take some meat: for this is for your health: for there shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you.35 And when he had thus spoken, he took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all: and when he had broken it, he began to eat. 36 Then were they all of good cheer, and they also took some meat.

Notice how Paul encouraged them that nothing bad would happen to them because God was with them in their journey on the ship. Do you do that? Do you tell others things will come out good because God is with you? The people were made very happy by these words! And his encouragement was not a long exhortation but a short one. Encouragement doesn’t have to be a long speech; it can be just a few words as well.

Acts 28:15The brothers and sisters there had heard that we were coming, and they traveled as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns to meet us. At the sight of these people Paul thanked God and was encouraged.

What we learn from this verse is when a Christian brother or sister is close by we should get excited and encouraged we should go visit them as it will bring us up in spirits. If they come near, we should also go to see them.

Soon we will get a visit from General Bond soon and we will all travel to see her and it will encourage us in the spirit! Encouragement comes from hearing the word through someone who is mature in the spirit. Leaders must travel to inspire others!

What has the Book of Acts taught us about encouragement today?

1-Encouragement comes from people who take up the challenge. Ask yourself, am I willing to be a Barnabas to have the ministry of encouragement?

2-Encouragement comes from the Holy Spirit and all we have to do is ask for it. Ask yourself, do I regularly ask for the Holy Spirit to be close to me?

3-The influence of one encourager spreads and causes many others to become encouragers as well.  Ask yourself how many people have I influenced in my life?

4-We must share testimonies and positive words of God’s works to bring encouragement to others. Ask yourself, when have I shared a testimony?

5-Visitation from others brings encouragement. Ask yourself, when was the last time I traveled to get encouragement from someone mature in the faith? Or to give it?

Remember love is encouragement and it is like a cologne, or perfume, and you cannot put some on someone else without getting some on yourself!

Be encouraged and encourage others from this day forward! 

Conquer Depression!

Conquering Depression: Deny Self and Follow Jesus!               Kelly Durant    10-18-08

Matt 16:24-28

24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. 28 I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom." 

    I was contemplating…all of us want to live with good conditions, right? Life has many chapters, some good, some not so good. But in life hard times always come our way and there are several ways to confront these hard times.

    How many of you were here last week when I preached on how to win in difficult situations? Daniel faced death more than once, he was in difficult situations and as we learned, he prayed and it was the solution!  Daniel prayed!

God protected, and God gave wisdom for the situation! And he also praised God!

   Today in the meantime, while you pray during hard times I want to propose something else that can be done. I propose we stop being who we are and deny ourselves as Jesus describes in these verses above and that we get busy for Him in God’s work!

   Did you know Hispanics and Afro-Americans are up to 3 times more disposed to go into despair and depression due to their hard situations than the other population?

And why is that? This info can be found on the www.nami.org (National  Alliance on Mental Illness)

   What is feeling bad in the first place? It is a continual worry and fear that you will arrive in a totally helpless situation. Do you know who thinks like that? The pessimistic people who do not know God! The faithless! But those who truly trust God have peace in the midst of the storm.

Isa 26:3

3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

Ps 16:10

10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.     God will not abandon us!

 But isn’t it true that Christians also sometimes suffer depression? Why is that?

   Some Christians would propose people suffer depression because they are being disobedient, and faithless. That might be true in some cases and each person has to examine their own heart. If you are not right with God, you will feel sadness!

1 John 3:21

21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.

 So many times, maybe twice a month there will be some sister that will call up say, Hi Captain, I’m Maria, the one you helped before, and I have been out of work 3 months and I have been at home and I am depressed and in a terrible situation. I wonder, with all of that free time, why doesn’t she come over and help us and do something for God? I invite people all the time to help us serve the Lord, but few ever do it! 

 However, there is a reality and there are people with serious brain chemical imbalances, and that makes them be classified as with a mental illness, not just negative thinking. You need discernment to know the difference. There are demon-possessed people too! That is whole another study!

   Jesus offers us the cure to everything in life. Isn’t that true? His Word tells us

Let’s return to the verse in 24. (read) What does Jesus say, deny yourself!

Tell what does that mean? People reply…hear their answers… do not do what you want, etc., leave behind your way of being…

It means...Not being who you naturally are and we studied that in the Weds night Bible class. Look up Eph 2:3

3 All of us also lived among them at one time (we all were living like sinners), gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. God was displeased with us before and allowed us go through misfortunes. Naturally without changing all our nature, we are just our own ugly sinful selves. We must deny that!

Denying yourself also means not allowing your mind to be controlled by your own thoughts, cravings, and passions Rom 12:2

2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will.

God wants us to not be who we are but who He wants us to be! (repeat) He wants to see us think different, live different, to have a different thankful attitude; and all of that in spite of how hard life is.

Phil 4:11-12

11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

Life is hard, why? In part we inherited it. It is from the fallen state of the world, from Adam’s mistake of sinning. You are born into a world full of corrupt leaders who make their selves rich and their people poor. Our bad economy is admittedly the product of corrupt men in the business world.

Matt 4:8-10

8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;

9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

So Satan does temporarily control corrupt leaders.

In part life is hard for many because people are reaping the consequences of their past sins. For example, people who marry the wrong person and end up having to live with violence and conflict almost daily.

Despite all of this, The Lord can free us! He frees us from ourselves, first by us denying our selves. However, then we must be take up His cross. This means living for and preaching the Christian faith and way of life in truth! In other words do something to be busy at God’s work.

The answer to depression, especially for those who do not see doctors about it, is not to sit around until it goes away. Weeds in the gardens never go away by themselves! Neither does depression!

The way to conquer this is with the rejuvenating Word of God combined with active service for him! Follow Him!

James 2:20

20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith apart from works is barren?

Come here during the week and help us serve God when you have time! Take up your cross and follow Jesus! If you busy for God you will not have time to even think!

You will never stay depressed by putting Jesus first, denying yourself, and then staying busy for Him. 

How to Avoid Manipulators!

How to Avoid Manipulation -What Jesus Taught through Forgiveness!                       

By Capt. Kelly Durant

John 8:1  Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. ²And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them. ³And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,⁴They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act ⁵Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? ⁶This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. ⁷So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. ⁸And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. ⁹And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. ¹⁰When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? ¹¹She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

Have you ever been suckered at a Carnaval or at some game? I recall once when I was 12 I had saved up $6 for about 6 months. When you are age 12 money is hard to come and at that time it would have been worth about $60 today. I was shooting at a target with a BB gun and almost getting all the area shot out with a whole big enough to win. They would trick me so good and say, “Keep playing son, you almost won!” I played over and over for almost an hour and a half and spent all my money. Later I felt like such a fool to have wasted all that hard earned money. I was young and learned my lesson, but in life many of us are predisposed to accept abuse because we want to gain something out of pride, something that we may not really need. We get easily misled!

Have you ever felt that people all around you are trying to manipulate you? You are not alone! You may first think it is junk mail and TV advertisers, politicians, and Uncle Sam that are trying to convince you against your will and opinion but actually most manipulation takes place at…guess where? At home!  To manipulate another person for personal gain is a sin and God will hold those who do it guilty for it. Beware.

Many people grow up in abusive homes and you should determine what kind of an example your parents and relatives gave you. Was it good or bad? When either the father or the mother withholds something from the other, hoping to obtain some personal item, usually a luxury item or money, then that is manipulation and abuse! And it can get violent!

Like they say, “People use people and love things, when they should love people and use things”. I personally get angry when I feel taken for a fool, and you?

Before exploring more about the deceitfulness of people for personal gain let’s look at Jesus forgiveness of Jesus for the prostitute sinner. What is the main lesson of this incident? That God will show mercy on all sinners, no matter how many accuse and want to punish, right? It is a comfort to know that God will love the worst of the worst and forgive.

This is a beautiful lesson and we all should feel relief that if God forgave her, then He can forgive you and me! But let’s dig deeper here. Usually we focus on the prostitute, but what were the other ones in the street doing? All of Jesus actions always have multi-faceted lessons for us to learn by, many teachings all in one. We know and understand forgiveness from these verses. Now, what do we learn about the accusers?

It seems obvious that the scribes and Pharisees wanted to manipulate Jesus and the crowd to their cruel way of doing things. What was their way? The condemning self-righteous, double-standard way! Jesus exposed them! Did they stick around and tell Jesus later, “Oh I am so sorry I had such maliciousness in my heart”?  No! They went home angry or convicted for Jesus interfering with their system of things.

If Jesus were to have said: “Agreed, she broke the law and she is worthy of death”, then He would have been allowing the merciless hypocrites to manipulate Him. But what were His words that shock all like a bomb?  7”He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her”.

Here clearly Jesus is resisting and not playing the game of the hypocrites. What happened as a result is that all of them had to walk away because in their hearts they knew they were guilty of sin too! Jesus had the divine gift of knowing how to expose sin and stop abuse by those who just wanted the power, control, and manipulation.

Now let’s apply this to our lives at home! When a relative or a friend tries to get you to agree with them on something not quite right, and you feel that pull of the spirit inside you making you feel that it is wrong, what should you do? You should be silent a moment and reflect just like Jesus did!

When they came to pressure Jesus, did he jump right into the discussion? No, we read He wrote on the ground. Haven’t you ever wondered what he wrote? I have many times!  But it seems Jesus was giving all of them time to calm down, time for them to shut up so he could speak.  It worked because when He asked who didn’t have sin, let him throw the first stone, they were all very quiet for sure!

Never let others manipulate you to get you in on the game of gossip, accusations, or bullying another person. People always want to manipulate you and anyone they can to their way of thinking as it usually gives them the advantage over you.

There is a time to forgive, but when a serious sin is harming someone it should be addressed by church leaders in council for correction. There are 2 sides to the coin. Proverbs 11:14 Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.

I am thankful that in The Salvation Army we must do all decisions, in councils. The Pastoral Councils are the ones who put many heads together to see how to handle something wrong in the Corps or community. It creates a big problem when either the Captains or a certain leader decides to do some punishment on their own with no one’s advice.  By experience I have seen this never works. Like with the Pharisees, they got exposed to the fact that they had no authority due to their sins.

The deceitful part is throwing stones makes some people feel holy, it is a holier–than-thou platform. However, when condemning the sin of another, as Jesus points out, one must take into account one’s own sins. God shows mercy to repentant sinners, do we?

All things we see in life should be handled by prayer. Sometimes there is a time to expose and meet and deal with a sin and other times it is a time to be silent. 1 Peter 4:8 And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.

There are times to point out sin. I John 2: 1, 2 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

What we learn today is how to handle sin and the errors of others without being manipulated into condemning someone without mercy. We must apply in our lives the lesson of Jesus’ forgiveness and also of the exposure of the hypocrite scribes and Pharisees.  Due to pride, power abuse, and deceitfulness, they were manipulated by Satan in their hearts. In the end, all they wanted was to see blood, and see Jesus admit they were right. But they were evil and wrong! Never let anyone lead or manipulate you! To agree with the hypocrite makes you guilty of his sin as well!

Christians must be strong and be the most difficult people on earth to manipulate, use, or abuse! Take time out like Jesus. Let the dust settle before acting on anything. Safeguard yourself with prayer, by more knowledge of God’s word, and share all disturbing things in council with someone strong in the faith. Others may have more facts than you do. Live in the truth and you will always see the truth of motives.

Where Are the Fathers?

REAL FATHERS?  Only MEN OF GOD are!       By Capt.  Kelly Durant 6-17-12

1-Malachi 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: 6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

2-The famous author Mark Twain said that when he was 14 he could not stand to be around his father because he was so dumb, but by the time he was 21 he was amazed at how much smarter his father had become in only 7 years!

The role of the father is interpreted in many ways. Historically the man is looked upon as the one who corrects, protects, and provides for the family. Our Father, in heaven, Jesus describes as the One who is to be honored and He provides for us our daily bread. He is the one who cares for us and loves us. He also has the role of giving correction to us when we go the wrong way. Fathers lead and train!

3- God is the One who created the model of families and he intended for the man to be very involved in the life of his wife, children, and local community. He intended that the fathers be the role models.

In the verses of today, the very last verses of the Old Testament, we see that God was giving us a promise, “And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers”, and this refers to a love that will flourish.

4-How did God have a plan to mend the broken families and repair all the disconnection of fathers with their children as we see today? The verse preceding verse 6, vs.5, is a classic prophetic verse that refers to Jesus having the spirit of Elijah, who was a powerful prophet.

So this verse implies that it is with the coming of Jesus that there would be a provocation for people to become close together and united, for a father and child to bond and be as it was intended to be from the beginning. Jesus causes men to be humble, transform, and give love and accept receive love as it was created to be!

Men, in this sinful fallen world, are proud, not naturally responsible, loving, nor caring, so how do they get reprogramed to become the way that God wants them to be according to the scripture, connected with their families?  It is by a process, a process of a man submitting to Jesus’ teachings and ways, loving yet leading. 

5-When a Christian man suddenly becomes a father and he has a son or a daughter, he suddenly gains a cause to live and fight for. With a baby in his arms he has a world to conquer, so his children can grow up to have a safe place to develop in. A man that becomes a father changes his whole perspective and vision on life! 

The first step for a man to be capable of being a good father is for him to recognize that he has a Father over him, who is God the Father. If a man will give honor and respect to someone over Him, then he becomes a good example to his children and they will in turn honor and respect him. But due to free will, pride, and rebelliousness, this does not always work this way.

6-For example, Adam, who walked with God, taught his 2 sons to love and sacrifice to God and he had one son, Able, who turned out to follow his good example.  But the other one, Cain, didn’t want to worship God as he did, he was proud, selfish, and rebellious, and as a result he became an embittered murderer killing his own brother! This pattern repeats in a lot of families!

If a father doesn’t honor God or anyone, his children will not learn to honor Him and men reap what they sew. In the world today only about half of the men own up to the children they have fathered to raise them, and this has happened due to the decline of men honoring God and fearing His judgments. Imagine how a just God will judge a person for abandoning innocent ones and provoking suffering? Unless they repent they will reap their consequences eternally!

7-And we should also remember that we as men may not always be able to look up to our flesh father as an ideal role model. Everyone must always look to God as our Father, as He is the one that set the example for us as pure love through Jesus.

We are all aware that here are many many people out there who are like myself, who did not have a physical father present in their lives growing up, and there are maybe a billion or more people in the world who have had negligent, bad, or abusive fathers. I am sorry if you have suffered in the past, but in the end you have to forgive, and turn it over to God!

Psalm 27:10When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up

8-Let’s take an example of a man of God, Elkanah and his wife Hannah, who had Samuel. They lent, or gave up their son to serve the priest Eli. Eli dedicated this child to the Lord and he became an important leader and prophet of the nation of Israel! Eli was an outstanding man of God because he taught Samuel as a father. This story indicates that a father to you may not even be the one who conceived you. Samuel became one of the most important prophets of all time!

Also remember father Abraham. God tested him to see if he would give up his son and sacrifice him, and the shocking thing is that he was ready to carry it out and he even had him tied up on an altar. But God did not allow him to sacrifice him! It was only a test of loyalty to God first. But notice later how God gave up his only son, Jesus, for us! So a true father will sacrifice and put God above all when they need to and God will honor them. That hurts, but it brings the needed results!

9-We conclude that good fathers dedicate their children to God! Dedicating is really not a one-time event. It implies that a man will take charge and be the spiritually leader at every moment possible to his family.  Back from work he will teach his kids Bible stories and everything about Jesus love and power.

Another important thing that a good father will do is pray often with his family and pray for his children asking God’s blessings on them. I really hope the fathers here are doing that! You will see a difference in your kids!

10-Let’s take a look at the consequences of our society not holding on to the values of their past fathers and letting the men get away with not being responsible fathers. There are about one in 2 people divorced in the USA today! And the sad part is that Christians too have about the same amount of divorce! Where’s Jesus?

When there were too many sins in Israel and God let them be defeated and taken into slavery by an enemy God, revealed that the men were not being men.  Isaiah 3:12 As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.

11-We haven’t even begun to see the all the bad effects of men not leading in our society as they should! Divorce is a sin provoked by both parties. But the juveniles that commit many of the current crimes, according to statistics, are those who do not have a father. Most kids today, and even some here in the Corps, will do disrespectful things because they do not have a father (or mother) that will discipline them correctly.  You need a strong arm and a roaring voice at times!

Everyone suffers when no leadership is present as the scripture says,  Proverbs 20:11 Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.

12-I have seen fathers just give up, and why? This is serious problem today! Fathers are under attack by the media and disrespected by our current degenerate society! Hundreds of news articles report that for the past few decades there has hardly been one good role model of a Dad on TV! All of the family shows, or soaps (novellas) have single parents and the fathers are always made out to be as dumb idiot nobodies that no one respects.  If men aren’t honored as the city fathers they deserve to be, then manipulation and destruction can flourish in that society.

There is nothing that hurts a man more than to have his dignity and authority disrespected by those of his family or by the laws! That is why some men just give up. They try to be good and give their all, all their time and dedication, and use their full paycheck in their home but if they have a wife and/or kids who are corrupted following the disrespectful role models of the world and not after the ways of Christ, then they just get discouraged and call it quits!

Reacting to this dishonor, some men even become violent with their wives and kids, others may drink to escape reality, but it is all tied to fathers not being honored as the Bible commands to honor. Jesus unites, but without him is death!

13-It takes a real father, a real man close to God to keep on going even when times seem impossible in his family. Historically, many countries have had centuries of stable families and societies (which go hand in hand) with the ones in the family valuing each other. The men historically also have worked from sun up to sun down to support their homes on farms or in big cities!

Sons and daughters bring real happiness in the life of men; fathers get inspired as much by their kids as the mothers do. Men just display less emotion though.

14-Another attack on fathers comes from the consequences of man’s laws not being aligned with God’s laws. This applies to punishment. But also, for example, fathers who migrate from other countries for work, suffer greatly. There has always been a large group of Hispanic immigrant men here in the U.S. who have had to come here for work and sadly they usually leave behind their wives in their country. This break- up of the family unit is devastating! I have attended to those in these separation situations for over decade and the sad stories will crush you!

We all know from past experience that a bunch of men to hanging out together for too long a time without domestic responsibilities and kids is disastrous. The men will often drink too much and get into trouble with many illegitimate things. If these men were near their wives and children they would not do these things. The authorities have not wanted to solve the injustice of no visas for immigrants who slave here, and how it separates dozens of millions of fathers from their families.

It is a pity that even despite the good family values many people see modeled in the Christian church, and all those years of a good solid foundation from past generations that there are so many homes losing their men as active leaders. We need to pray desperately for responsible fathers!  Consider once again:

15- 1. A father must love, honor and respect God, his spiritual father. The men who love God seem to always have more courage, more leadership, more faithfulness, and the all the good qualities of God in their lives to offer those in their home.

2. A father must be willing to give his kids up to the Lord’s service. I know in the church we dedicate our children to God when they are babies but it shouldn’t stop there. The father and the mother have the serious job of teaching their children daily about the Lord!

3. Real fathers will pray for their families daily and then lead, and be confident in their role as spiritual leaders. The young men and the young women today need to see more role models that govern with authority.  Fathers today are discouraged, restricted, and oppressed but Jesus can empower them to do their job right, amen?     Let’s pray for our fathers and families! Jesus brings us together with our fathers!

You Really Don’t See the Truth!   What Do You Perceive?                                                         By Capt. Kelly Durant  6-10-12         Matthew 7:3-5

3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?

5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

Perceptions are deceiving. There is a story of the 5 blind men and the elephant.

Once upon a time, five blind men came upon an elephant. "What is this?!" asked the first one, who had run headlong into its side. "It's an Elephant." said the elephant's keeper, who was sitting on a stool, cleaning the elephant's harness.

"Wow! So this is an Elephant! I've always wondered what Elephants are like!" said the man, running his hands as far as he could reach up and down the elephant's side. "Why, it's just like a wall! A large, warm wall!"

"What do you mean, a wall?" said the second man, wrapping his arms around the elephant's leg. "This is nothing like a wall. You can't reach around a wall! This is more like a pillar. Yeah, that's it! An Elephant is exactly like a pillar!"

"A pillar? Strange kind of pillar!" said the third man, stroking the elephant's trunk. "It's too thin, for one thing, and it's too flexible for another. If you think this is a pillar, I don't want to go to your house! This is more like a snake. See, it's wrapping around my arm! An Elephant is just like a snake!"

"Snakes don't have hair!" said the fourth man in disgust, pulling the elephant's tail. "You are closer than the others, but I'm surprised that you missed the hair. This isn't a snake, it's a rope. Elephants are exactly like ropes."

"I don't know what you guys are on!" the fifth man cried, waving the elephant's ear back and forth. "It's as large as a wall, all right, but thin as a leaf, and no more flexible than any piece of cloth this size should be. I don't know what's wrong with all of you, but no one except a complete idiot could mistake an Elephant for anything except a sail!!!"

And as the elephant stepped aside, they tramped off down the road, arguing more loudly and violently as they went, each sure that he, and he alone, was right; and all the others were wrong.

As humans we are weak and instead of remembering “Blessed are the peacemakers”, and resolving conflicts of opinions, we are quick to create controversy!

Don’t you see it? People get so mad when someone contradicts what was said, or when someone else has a different opinion.  The situation is, though, that everyone informed on the matter does have some parts of the truth, all are in part right, and in part wrong like in the tale of the elephant.

One truth is clear, you are human, and consequently opinionated, and strong headed and this influences how you resolve conflict matters in your home, in the Corps, and at work.  But, instead of jumping right in and giving opinions though, all of us need to learn how to see the big picture and what is happening before speaking so much and confusing the matter!

For all opinions and decisions, we all need each other’s opinions in councils.  Everyone must council with people who are fully knowledgeable of God’s word. It is imperative we put several minds together to be able to draw conclusions with more of the truth of the whole picture.

It is hypocrisy as Jesus points out here in Matt 7 for a person to be so arrogant to believe they have the correct assumption to judge and condemn another for a sin! You or I must always realize we do not have all the information to make an absolute judgment! What blinds all of us are our own sins that we do not see!  

When you have a problem or disagreement, here or anywhere, what you and I first must do is assume that we do not have the facts, or maybe we are blinded by something!  Pray first, clean your heart, then speak up but only to the right people.

Check your self to not be just like the blind men. Usually each person always believes what they want to believe for their own convenience. It feed peoples pride and makes them feel superior when there is someone doing something dirty that decent folks can frown on! Some people feel powerful when being critical!

But as we see in politics, or anything, attacks always involve partial truths, not all!

Beams get in our eyes from past bad experiences that skew our judgment. Offenses we have been through, things that were not turned over to the Lord for forgiveness. For example: the girl that had an abusive father always believes that the men are always the guilty ones in the picture, like the tree trunk. The minority person who was rarely included in class activities by the teachers may think all the problems in the world are from the people in authority not giving them a chance like the elephant being like a wall. The poor kid who thinks the rich should give him money just because he has it and he doesn’t is like the rope or tail.

Everyone has predispositions and prejudices and usually others see that in you, but because it is so hard to accept one’s own fault, the reality is you don’t see it!

Where do conflicts originate? It is from justifications people make in life to be prejudice or angry; it may in part appear justifiable at times since they have unjustly suffered, but the damage they are causing to their selves and to others by their verbal attacks is not solving the real issue of controlling the evil in ones’ own heart. People always want the other one to be the bad one, never their self!

Tell yourself right now, “I have a beam in my eye and I must remove it!”

How many of you have ever been traveling with a group and one is hungry and they claim they see a restaurant sign one mile ahead and they yell let’s stop I see a Burger King sign. But as you get closer off the exit you discover it is a gas station sign.    Repeat to yourself, “Not everything I see is what is really there”!

In essence what Jesus is saying here in Matt 7 is that what you have in your mind’s eye is what you will see, and it is usually wrong because your heart is not fully clean with all the sin taken out permitting a clear vision.

In other words, the beam in your eye exposes the fact that you have sin, predispositions, and attitudes against others!

Only after you or I have humbled ourselves before God, only after you or I have cleaned our hearts and taken away all the bitterness, the lack of forgiveness and the judgment in our hearts towards others, will we be able see the faults in others more correctly with the truth.

Let me give an example of someone predisposed that had some pride and believed she was not liked by others in the Corps. She thought that all the Corps people were saying ugly things about her behind her back but I never heard any. One time she came in late to a Bible study. We were studying the whore of Revelation 17-18. She walked in the class and I turned and said, “Oh, look Maria is here, (then continuing with the class), can you look at the scripture of the great whore and follow with me now”?

A few weeks later after not coming back to the Corps I discovered Maria was offended.  Maria formed a bitter attitude against me. What is wrong with Maria? Well, Maria in her mind had heard that what I had said to her that night was, oh because you are here, we will read about the great whore; in other words I was implying she was a whore! What she perceived was totally wrong and opposite the truth! I was just including her in the class and she thought I was rejecting her and trying to embarrass her in front of the class. And I have seen this happen over and over, people hear and see what they are predisposed to hear or see!

A normal person with no beam in their eye would think clearly, and would conclude that neither the pastor, nor any true Christian would ever embarrass any one in a Bible class with an insult! We are trying to win people to Jesus not insult and offend them so they never come back! Right? The sad reality is most people perceive words and other people’s actions as something personal against them a lot of the time when the person talking has no bad intentions at all.

As Christians we all need to be reminded to practice I Corinthians 13: 4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, (repeat out loud, not easily..)and thinketh no evil”, 

Christians are very human. Some people don’t even realize it when they get angry and hold grudges, even for years, against someone they perceived tried to do something to them but the reality is they have their perceptions wrong. 

You have heard Jesus words, John 8:32

“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”.  Exposing truth on a matter often may provoke an unexpected outcome. Jesus did not correct the one with the wood splinter in the eye but instead the correction of the one with the big wood beam in the eye calling attention to the other one!

The way it works is, okay, you want to complain of someone with a fault, then are you willing then to allow your life to be opened up like a book and let all see if you have the same fault or not? Like the old picture of the hand, you point with one finger to accuse and 3 point back at you!

In my situation, and like many of you, when you are a leader you will often be loved or you will be hated for attending to the complaints of others. When someone expects you to correct someone and come down hard on them by what they accuse, it is a delicate matter. Imagine causing someone to stumble in the faith because you accuse with information that is not the whole story. Sometimes it comes to light that not the accused but the accuser may end up being the one needing correction.

Most people are quick to dish out correction but they sure don’t like getting correction back on their own selves! It is humiliating to admit that opinions contrary to yours are right.  All of this is from pride and hypocrisy blinding the heart! And everyone must humble their selves before the Lord!

This wrong perception with eye blockage repeats itself over and over all time with all people all around the world everywhere.  Someone communicates something, someone else misinterprets it. In the meantime, others see nothing out of the normal and forget all about it. But the one that was predisposed and is bitter wants retaliation, when in fact no insult was spoken in the first place. So what happens? This person with the beam in their eye, or another expression in English is a person “with a chip (of wood) on their shoulder” want to pick a fight and start retelling the story of events.  But the story they tell of what happened is from their distorted perception.

A good rule in life is not to accept the story of anyone in it’s totality without getting more facts as it is usually only a partial truth. We must recall God’s standard.    Deuteronomy 19:15   One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.

So when you hear a story, an accusation, a complaint against anyone, what should you do? Go get a mob to back you up to attack the person? Never!

This propensity to throw stones at others is part of our hypocritical nature of our fallen human state. The good news is as Christians we can be growing in holiness, growing and maturing away from bad judgmental habits, and learning not to repeat the same old mistakes of misjudging all the time.

Repentance for many people only comes from the exposure of the embarrassing truth in their lives. However, getting free from your own blindness can come as well from having a desperate heart to want to please God and be holy as He is!

What do you prefer? To seek God and ask Him to reveal to you your beam of pride, hypocrisy, and uncalled for bad opinions born out of your bitterness, hate, and revenge? Or to have a continual repeating clash and disagreement with others mature in the Lord creating discord amongst the brethren causing others to not like enjoy your presence?

Most everyone can see that when a person has a problem with many other people that the problem is not usually with all the ones this person keeps talking about but with their own self. Embarrassing right? Ask God, how do you see me? How do others see me?  Pray: Take the beam out of my eye today God, speak to your mind about what my beam is! But if you still perceive sin in another after that, if an injustice is happening, if an insult really was spoken, please tell the appropriate leader, not anyone else!   Most of all tell the Lord in prayer!  

Is anything blinding you right now? Come and pray for God’s truth to be revealed! Do you think you don’t have a problem seeing the sin of another? Come and pray for the person in mind! Prayer, humility, and obedience allows more truth in your life! Without more truth in your life you and others will suffer in darkness and ignorance. Now, what will you do with the truth once God has shown you it?

Honor the Elder, if you want Blessings!

Golden Age (Old) Age Appreciation & Blessings!  by Captain Kelly Durant 5-27-12

1- Titus 2:2,3  2 That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.3 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; 4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,

Lev 19:3232 Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the LORD.

2-Tell me something that is not valuable when it is old? You can find old cars, old furniture, old mansions, paintings, practically anything old is valuable, right?

There is a quote in English that says: And No wise man ever wished to be any younger! There are a lot of benefits to growing old, but I mean growing mature in the Lord!  But like they say, wrinkles should be on the face, not on the heart!

3-Let’s think about how many people are in the Bible that God waited until they were old to use them for a great work!

Noah, Moses, Abraham and Sarah, and there are many more! Think about the ones who when they were young they messed things up. Esau, Samson, even King David! Age and experience certainly contribute to God being able to use us more readily. Maturity usually means one is more educated, more informed, more wise to make decisions, and more careful and slow to not do terrible mistakes!

4-That scripture in Tit. 2 tells the elderly to be serious, Why? Because some are not! Serious (which means they are using their time to be productive, not wasting time on games and distractions), temperate (which means living life in balance, not exaggerated in any area), strong in faith (which comes over time after years of study of the word of God), love and patience (Older people should display their soft hearts full of love for all and patient with all).

Apart from honoring the elders, notice how in so many places it mentions we are to include not just the men but the women as well. 2 Timothy 1:5 When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.

Now revert back to the last part of the verses of Titus 2: 4 where it mentions the women who are mothers and grandmothers. 4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, The idea is that the older women are respected as teachers explaining about good family relations as well. Who here does that? A few of you do that! And if not?

5-Today, sadly, we have a generation of kids that disrespect the elderly and their parents, and according to the 10 commandments to honor your father and your mother, if a child insulted his parents breaking this commandment, he was to be stoned to death! God is serious about us respecting those that are older! But today the laws of man seem to protect the rebellious?!

Do you want to know how a young person shows they are mature? When suddenly they want to be around older people so they can learn from them! This usually happens about college age when young people realize professors and older people are not so dumb after all, they actually have learned a lot! And the older ones should always be ready to teach the lessons of life!

6-It is the job of the young to learn from the aged and experienced and the older ones should be willing teachers! That is willing if they are close to the Lord! You lived all those years and all you know can benefit many people, so all the elder here need to consider they have a job in our Corps, they should be mentors to the younger. That is what the Word commands us to do and we need to retain the mentality of respect for our elders!

There are many articles about how we age and most of them are positive and state how people often get more mellow, worry less, more friendly, more happy and less worried, and even more productive. Later in life many people go on to accomplish great things in business, in writing, in service to the community. Old age, or maturity, is a blessing from God!

7-God waits for maturity and see how He has acted throughout the Bible history. He called Abraham and Sarah when they were old to raise their son of the promise. He called Moses when he was 40 but he was still too young and impulsive and he didn’t call him again until he had watched sheep for another 40 years, and he went to free the children of Israel at age 80! Many of God’s prophets were not used by God until they had become aged men or women. It is not the age of the body that matters as much as the maturity of the spirit and how much you have learned to obey God’s ways. When I was young I often prayed, Lord make me mature, I need it!

It is God’s plan that we all grow more mature in our faith, holiness, and love. There are some people that get older but still make the same mistakes over and over though, and that is because they are not seeking God every day. Some people, usually the non-Christian ones, get older but not wiser.  Let’s look up. Prov 16:31 The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness.

8-In other words, if you are old with grey hair, and you are close to the Lord, living in righteousness, you are wearing a crown of glory! But the older ones must live in the path of righteousness, and that is a purity that comes after years of practicing righteousness & holiness. White heads should be symbolic of whitened spirits!

In my time here with the Salvation Army I have meet many older and retired Officers and what I have seen is amazing. They are an usually sharp bunch! I have seen some retire at 65 and keep working another 20 years! And just like some of you here, your memory of Bible stories and of life’s experiences is lucid. I’d say the average life span of a US Officer right now must be at least 85, and many even more! Even though we live a busy stressful life for the Lord, it is as though the Lord blesses us with length of days for serving Him. Look up…

9-Ps 92:13 15

13 Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. 14 They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;15 To shew that the LORD is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

Let’s go back to verse 3 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; Here it talks about not being false accusers. Or in other words , v15 “and there is no unrighteousness in him.”

Basically that means not to manipulate others with invented stories. Before people would drink a lot of wine apparently and today some people take too many antidepressant prescription pills that are even stronger than wine! The idea is to be respected for being sober, not high & crazy!

10-In my life, as in yours, you have met thousands of older people. I can tell you the names of some people right now that I know that have sought the Lord even later in life, come to church, and lived better holy lives, and they have prospered. On the other hand, some people I know that have been too slow to get close to the Lord, I see them now the same or in worse condition than what they use to be! We are on God’s time but always our time has a limit, our days are numbered.

William Booth started the Salvation Army later in life and look how much he accomplished! When he died the whole city of London stopped that day to honor him! Age with faith will regenerate you and you will be useful and fulfilled, or age will degenerate you and kill you, when you have not been on the right path spiritually!

11-I know I have said this many times, but Hialeah is made up of many immigrants that are getting older! What are all of these old people doing day to day? It is our job to bring them into fellowship and love! Most of them have solitary lives and some pray every day to keep their health so they can get around walking, getting to the store, and buying food. And we always need to thank our drivers who pick up those elderly ones here who do not drive due to their age or heath! That may be you getting picked up one day!

We need to thank those who visit the elder in the Community Care ministries too! Remember, the people out in the world, those that have not known righteousness and our loving, life filling renovating Christian way of life, are not anywhere near as happy as most all of us are in this Corps.

If you want to have sympathy and do more to help the elderly just go out with the Community Care people (raise your hands) and also consider the following issues they face:

Relationship issues such as having a deceased spouse, living far away from family, loneliness, etc. Mental issues such as depression, forgetfulness, moodiness; Health issues such as arthritis, osteoporosis, high or low blood pressure, cancer, and many more issues such as a loss of hearing and eyesight.     

On the less bright side, you and I have been in enough rest homes to see that there are all kinds of elderly people. Some can be angry, insulting, and rude, while others can be very nice, calm, and sweet!

12-Answer this question, what habits do you have today? You will be more of who you are today tomorrow!

Will you be energetic, in love with the Lord, and with life, and blessed because you planted in His house so you could reap? Isn’t it true that we see amazing things happen in this Corps? Teaching, service, generosity, and encouragement, all come from the older faithful ones! My question to you who are younger, how is it going to be for the rest of you when you are older with grey hair?

Will you be old and bitter about how you don’t have what you wanted out of life? Will you complain how others treated you unfairly, how you should have been richer, how your family held you back! Age & time is a collection of what was lived day to day and daily living in God’s praises will always be renovating but our own thoughts with our own carnal minds are degenerating and discouraging!

Here is some news…each of us are getting older! So if we cannot escape time, and some will pass on before others, why not grow wise, happy, and mature in Jesus Christ? Paul said he died daily, and that means we ourselves kill the bad in ourselves that is preventing us from being holy and right with God. But yet he also said that even though the external man was perishing, the internal man was being renovated!

13-Each one of us is responsible for the effect of what we are feeding our minds and spirits day to day over our time on earth. People look up to the older ones, and what do they see?

With age we get better or bitter! Like wine that gets more fine, or like vinegar that gets more tart!

Let’s appreciate, respect, and pray for those with us that are mature here today! Make plans to grow old gracefully, full of His grace, and His love, and His righteousness, His wisdom, and His patience, and His faithfulness!

Pray for those you know who are elderly today, for family members, friends! Ask the Lord how you can honor them!

Do You Consider the Weak? If you want blessings, you must!

Do You Consider the Weak? If you want blessings, you must!                       

 By Kelly Durant      

Ps 41:1-3

Blessed is he who has regard for the weak;

the LORD delivers him in times of trouble.

2 The LORD will protect him and preserve his life;

he will bless him in the land

and not surrender him to the desire of his foes.

3 The LORD will sustain him on his sickbed

and restore him from his bed of illness.

1. How many of you know that the Salvation Amy helps 30 million people in the USA per year? That is one person out of every 10! (See stats)  We are saved to save and to serve with compassion the needy! You need to always be ready to help anyone as God will put you & I in situations in which we must respond to the needs of others! We are in the compassion business!

 2. We have always had our appreciation dinners to thank all of you who help but what matters most is not public recognition but how Jesus appreciates all of what you do! If you have been a part of impacting the lives of the elderly, of children, and everyone for Jesus then He knows! And you now, are you ready to help? Someone who is weak and in need may need you today!

     I could tell you many sad stories from people I have met in my recent past of compassion. Often you don’t expect it, but the Lord puts you and I there by people so He can use us to open up our heart of compassion. Can you tell me a few stories of how you have helped someone? We should all share our testimonies! You might realize how blessed you are protected and in good health!

3. Prayer for people is worth more than anything! All Christians must encourage someone when someone is weak, sad, poor, discouraged, hurt or down in any way!  

One time I met a mother in the park who explained that her house got burned down last week and she lost everything she owned! And to make matters worse her husband was burned on over 90% of his body and he was in the hospital in serious condition! I was thankful the Salvation Army had a way for me to help them through the social services! We paid 3 months’ rent and she had no government help either! That really helped her!

     People cross our paths all the time with needs but serious pain really does make cry and pray! Another young mother one time during the kids soccer game, not knowing we could help her, started to tell me that her husband had been killed in a car wreck by a drunk driver last week. She was 22 years old and she was doing the best she could to survive with her two small children! Imagine, no job, no papers, a deceased soul mate, and no other family to help you!

     There must be times when you just need to stop and pray for people! How cold it would be to just watch them wipe tears from their eyes and you not be moved with compassion! You and I know that our comfort comes from God and the Holy Spirit; and just as Jesus drew strength from his Father, you and I must draw strength from God and his promises too!

 4. Our mission, as Christians and in particular, as member of this Salvation Army Corps is to win souls for Jesus Christ and we do that by compassion or doing tangible deeds proving our love for God and our love for our neighbor as ourselves! In other words, God works through us showing compassion on the weak! The word “Christian” should be synonymous to the word “compassion”! Clearly hard-hearted uncompassionate people are the enemies of Christians and there are even some of them in most churches!

      The people who come to the Corps to hear the word God and then do not practice love and compassion in their personal lives by being a servant to help others do not stay long as members in our Corps. We focus on salvation, compassion, mercy, service and love! And over time people either get it understand it and start practicing it, or they get embarrassed by the word of God exposing their own selfishness and they run away from obeying God’s ways!

 5. We, TSA, are unique and not in competition with any other church; and history speaks of all the heroic deeds of compassion! There are too many people in the world that prefer churches where they will not be asked to do anything. How comfortable!  Many people prefer bigger and richer churches than ours, with mega praise bands for their entertainment, but what we offer here is simply an opportunity for anyone who comes to serve others and express their love and faith, and compassion, for the weak and needy!

       Church will always disillusion you if it is taken as a place where you should get your needs supplied. Church, as it was for the disciples, is any place, anytime; a moment to be with Jesus hearing His word, but then you put it into action in the streets to showing the love and compassion you have learned!  

       Most churches serve their own people, there is nothing wrong with that, but there have been hundreds of times people have commented to me that their own church could not help them in a crisis, which is why they came to The Salvation Army, and we help them! What a great record right? Who do you call when someone is weak and down?

6.  Some people know about our help but do not know about the Salvation Army as a church and that is why it is so important that you spread the word to everyone that you have the best support out there that practices their faith by helping others like Jesus did! Each of us needs to be inviting friends and getting others on board with the method of Jesus which is love and compassion shown on the weak! God’s plan for millennia is to help the needy ones!

Deut 15:11

11 For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.

      But remember many of God’s promises in the O.T. have an, if clause, in other words God will do many things for you and bless you but he puts on it requirements with His promise.

Zech 3:6-7

6 The angel of the LORD gave this charge to Joshua:7 "This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here.

The requirement here for Joshua, and for all Christians, is to walk in God’s ways if we want to have a place of authority to govern, a place where you are worthy to serve. Many of you govern well in this Corps and it is a practice for how you may rule as princes and princesses in heaven!

Looking at our verses of today in Psa 41 it says:

Blessed is he who has regard for the weak;

the LORD delivers him in times of trouble.

2 The LORD will protect him and preserve his life;

he will bless him in the land

and not surrender him to the desire of his foes.

 7.  In these verses God states through David that He will bless you take care of you and me and protect you and I, and deliver you and I from trouble, from those who wish to harm us but notice how God’s promises work. God can protect our health, avoid problems with the law, and bless us. But God’s blessings have implications and requirements. He blesses his children but like with a contract, He expects you and I to fulfill your part in following His ways and doing His work.

     In this case, if you are Christian who has a heart to help those who are weak, those in need and you do it as often as you can, if you are practicing helping others who are poor or weak, then God will use you as His own child, because God has no other hands but yours, no other feet to go to help the needy but yours, and you will be blessed! You will be protected, delivered, preserved, and blessed in the land! I consider that I have been blessed all my life!

8.    But what does it mean for those who hear God’s word and they do not regard the weak and they remain selfish or always busy when we need help? What about those who have obtained help but still they do not help others? Those who hear God’s word and never practice it?

      This verse empirically implies that this type of non-participant person will be treated with the absence of the promise. They will not be protected from having troubled times, they will not be blessed in the land and they may fall into the trap of those who wish them harm!

      How terrible is that! To think that you are like time bomb and at any moment the judgments of God are going to fall on you because you are not practicing His ways of compassion on the weak! I have seen it hundreds of times. People who stubbornly remain far away from God and they punish their own selves by receiving goodness from God with no appreciation.

9.   You and I have already seen blessings and bad consequences happen over and over to people depending on how these people have reacted to God’s love! In the Salvation Army I have become accustomed to seeing about one thousand people come through our doors year after year asking for help; and we pray with them, and tell them, ‘We love you, come and seek God!’, but when they don’t then some time later they almost always come back for more help in an even worse situation! But there are the ones who obey God and get blessed by our help and then they give help and then keep on getting blessed because they are in God’s will!

      It is a simple as this; God makes it clear, you will walk in His ways of compassion for others, helping the needy, or simply He will not be with you and bless you!

10.    Prov 19:17

17 He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.

Prov 21:13

13 Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.

      Are you willing to increase your faith today to practice helping the weak and the poor more and seek ways to help others around you so they will see your good works and glorify God in heaven? Help implies not just giving food, it implies spiritual encouraging that costs you hours of preparation and spiritually feeding dedicated to those around you in your part of the world! It costs to give! Even someone sitting right here in the church right beside you may need you!

      Each person must be interested in the well-being of his brother and sister! God comforts us why, to be comfortable and blessed? No, there is another reason. Look here:

11.     2 Cor 1:4

4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

     Ask yourself, when was the last time I comforted someone suffering? Someone weak, how long has it been since I did something generous for someone in need, for someone in a weak painful moment in time?

     Come forward and confess it if you feel guilty for not doing all you can to love your neighbor as yourself and ask God to help you help the weak so in your time of weakness and poverty, God and the true Christians with compassion will be there to help you too!