REAL FATHERS, ARE MEN OF GOD!

         REAL FATHERS, ARE MEN OF GOD!

 

Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord:

5 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:

7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

 

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! To be a father requires maturity and learning many things, ha! Who is learning the most?

 

They say that a woman has to prepare for 9 months and then spend the rest of her life taking care of the child that the man made in only a few minutes! But today we are talking about fathers, not mothers even though mothers have a high place of esteem.

 

There are many cultures that treat the role of the father in different ways. Almost always the man is looked upon as the one who provides for the family, and he must be a moral and spiritual leader. Our Father, in heaven, Jesus describes as the One who provides for us our daily bread. He is the one who cares for us. He loves us. He also corrects us when we go the wrong way. 

 

3. God is the One who created the idea of families and he intended for the man to be very involved in the life of his wife and his children. The men who are not involved and communicating and being responsible usually end up with a lot of problems as you reap what you sew, or you don’t sew. 

 

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. If he gives honor and respect to someone over Him, he becomes a good example to his children, and they will in turn honor and respect him. 

It works both ways, if he doesn’t honor God or his father or anyone, his children will not learn honor and respect him, and men reap what they sew by the example they set.

 

And we should always remember that we as men should always take for a good example, God as our Father, because there are many many people out there who are like me, who grew up not having a physical father present in their daily lives, and there are plenty of people who have had bad and abusive fathers, and it is hard to distinguish which situation is worse! 

 

4. Let’s take an example of a man of God, Samuel, who was dedicated by Eli to the Lord, and he became the next prophet of the nation of Israel. He was an outstanding man of God. Also, remember father Abraham. God tested him to see if he would give up his son and sacrifice him and the amazing thing is that he was ready to carry it out. But God did not make him do it, it was only a test, but later God gave up his only son for us! 

 

So, we can conclude that the next thing a good father does is that he dedicates his children to God. But dedicating is really not enough, a man needs to take charge and be the spiritually leader as often as he can in the evenings when he is back from work so he can teach his kids Bible stories and all about the Lord.

 

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

 

5. Let’s take a look at the consequences of our society not holding on to their values and letting the men get away with not being fathers. Isn’t it about one in 2 people divorce in the USA today? And the sad part is that Christians too have about the same amount of divorce! We haven’t even begun to see the all the bad effects of this in our society. But even now, juveniles commit many crimes, and statistics show that most of the problem makers, who are those who really are love starved, and wanting attention, and are inventing bad ways to get it, are those who do not have a father.  

 

And here is another problem in the factor; fathers are under attack in many areas of our current degenerate society! Many news articles I’ve read claim that for the past 3 decades there has hardly been one good role model of a Dad on TV! All the novellas have single parents, and the fathers are often made out to be as stupid nobodies that no one respects. There is nothing that hurts a man more than that, than to not have dignity and respect by those of his family, community, & church. 

 

6. That is why some men just give up. They try to be good and give their all, all their time and dedication, and paycheck to their home but if they have a wife and kids who are corrupted after following the disrespectful ways of the world and not after the ways of Christ, then some just get discouraged and call it quits! How horrible the new norm is to just live undedicated to the wife and kids and people split up damaging their kids and whole family!

 

It takes a man who is close to God to keep on going even when times are very difficult in his family. Role model fathers are ignored on TV. I think the producers in Hollywood do not like families, fathers, and good people because usually good family values are trashed as passe, old fashioned, & ignorant. They want men to buy into the sterilization agenda and this cheats them out of being a full man, a father. God’s first command was in Genesis 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. Satan has been attacking God’s plan of reproduction ever since!   

 

Traditionally Hispanics, Italians, and other minorities in many countries have had centuries of stable families and they value each other and value their children. Many men also work 12 hours a day to support their homes! It is a pity that even despite their good family values and those years of a good solid foundation that there are many homes losing their men to not being responsible fathers. The world says you can “do as you please” and “move on” but God’s commands don’t allow for that. Bitterness, disrespect, loneliness, and despair affects way too many people! 

 

7. There has always been a large group of immigrant men here in the US who have come over for work and they leave their wives behind in their country. It really does make life very hard and as we already know from past experience, it is not good for a bunch of men to hanging out together for too long a time as they often drink too much, gamble, and get into trouble! However, if they were forced to be near their wives, they would not do so much wild stuff out of respect for their woman or out of fear for the chewing out they would get at home. 

 

God made us to need each other! It’s like a “checks and balances” system. Also, the roles of the mother and father are different and the child needs both as the mother is soft and caring, while the man must usually deal with the lessons the child needs to learn. 

 

The children too must be taught how they should respectfully respond to their father and mother. Abuse by the father, the wife, or the kids is inexcusable!

Ephesians 6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.

2 Honor thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise;

3 That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth

 

8. So, let’s review the 3 main points a man needs to be a good father.

1. He himself must love, honor and respect God his spiritual father. Also, respect his earthly father as even in the 10 commandments require as God commanded for everyone to honor our father and mother. The consequence back then was one could be stoned to death for not doing so!

 

2. A. father must be willing to give his kids up to the Lord’s service. I know in most every church they dedicate their children to God when they are babies. This is good as you are making a public declaration that you are dedicating them to God. but it doesn’t stop there. The father and the mother have the job of teaching their children daily about the Lord.

 

3. Real fathers will pray for their families and be spiritual leaders. Children, young men and women need to see more role models of integrity, faith, and righteousness. 

 

Let’s pray for our fathers! Those here in the church and for those out in the community. Our world would be so much better if men fulfilled their Biblical roles and took on responsibility, the work load, and the joy of being a father. A wife is amazing, and kids are too, but a man must do his part to create the happiness needed. 

There's too much pain everywhere! Comfort/Consolation: Give It & Take It!

Comfort/Consolation:  Give It & Take It!                    By Kelly Durant 8-10-14 Re 6-9-24

Romans 1:11-12 For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; 12 That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.

2. How many of you have ever heard the story about the person in the mental hospital that bangs their head on the wall, and they do it off and on all day? The professionals and doctors decided to go in the cell and interview the crazy man, “Why do you bang your head on the wall?” The man looks at them dumbfounded and answered, “Don’t you know? Because it feels so good when I stop!”

Believe it or not, this pattern of seeking pain, then relief, is a reality for many people in this life who live without a connection to the Lord! People live on a treadmill of up and down because they have never known real love, healing, and comfort from God! I have known people who seem to thrive in life, not on encouragement and comfort, but thrive on discouragement and bad news! They seem to be energized running from one crisis to the next just to get attention!

Real life examples: I have dealt with a dozen or more people in my past who from week to week always have a life and death emergency crisis and they’d say “Oh pastor, you don’t know what happened to me now!” That phrase meant I was going to be busy doing something unplanned for. I am not complaining about serving others, this is what I am here for, but my concern is how do we fix this situation that certain people have so many problems non-stop and seem energized living in the crisis mode? They need an extra dosage of comfort and Jesus!

3. All of us confront problems in life, but it is how one handles them that matters! Crisis situations are not the whole problem, how one reacts and handles them determines if matters will calm down or if they will get worse! The reaction of most Christians is to ask for prayer and help from a brother or sister, and this is the way it is supposed to be.  We are supposed to help one another. Galatians 5:13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.  In other words, don’t abuse, but serve, or be served, and with love.

The issue is many people without the Lord in their lives are weak and obsess over things. There are many TV shows on people’s addictions such as drugs or alcohol, or an addiction to hoarding things which is idolatry and materialism, or to eating, or politicians addicted to power, or to botox, or obsessed with music, exercise, or to anything which actually can become an obsession which is idolitry! People become extreme and crazy to lust and want and get, and to get attention, and why? It is because God’s love and Jesus does not fill their empty hearts, so they get crazy trying to get satisfied with something, or just anything! They crave one more bite, one more drink, one more relationship, one more person helping them as a victim and yet nothing soothes their soul! 

It is like that old frustrating song by the Rolling Stones (a song deemed #1 of the century?!) ‘I Can’t Get No Satisfaction’. When I was about 10 years old, I played that miserable song over and over non-stop for hours and days on a 45 record (making my mother crazy!) and I thought to myself, you mean he is a rich and famous rock star and he is not happy? No satisfaction in life?! Well, it is true, people without God, whether rich or poor, are never content, they are always obsessing, stressing, and creating drama if no drama is coming to them! It is a lifestyle! And a stressful one at that!

4. So if we look at the scripture today, Paul in Romans 1 is expressing that no matter how dark this world is, no matter how many horrible sins are taking place around you (see the rest of the chapter), our comfort is in the encouragement and comfort we can give each other and get from God through the Holy Spirit!  Paul mentions “impart a spiritual gift” and what does that mean? Paul wants to empower every believer against the evil ones, problems, and hardships that attack each one of us as a Christian.  

The gifts of the spirit we have learned are in I Cor. 12:8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; 9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

So basically, the Word of God encourages and comforts us, it tells us to seek the Spirit and no matter the problem we face, God will make a way for us to get by without us worrying, obsessing, or becoming crazy!  If we are ignorant on matters, God increases our knowledge, if we doubt the faith or need faith for our needs, God will supply it. When we are sick, God will often heal us and even do miracles! God’s Spirit can help us to discern between the true and false, and even help us to learn languages, or understand people speaking in the Spirit.  These are all Spirit gifts we share, and they are all done within the context of us helping one another by praying and sharing them, practicing them within our community of brothers & sisters.

5. So why do we have such an abundance of craziness, obsessiveness, and drama in the world today? It is in great part because of the lack of (or rejection of) the knowledge of God (which Romans 1 makes clear), but also according to the verses today, we could conclude it is a lack of us comforting one another in hard times as we should be.  Paul says, “that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me”. Let’s look at comfort a bit deeper.

Paul is clearly saying here that it is our faith in Jesus that brings us comfort and we must comfort one another, He wants to give comfort and he wants to receive it. How do you comfort another person? That depends, right? Comfort is a personal thing, you have to be with the person, you must communicate and share the faith together which implies praying, studying, and listening to what that person’s needs are. You may not have the answers to all their needs, but when you pray for them, God will answer somehow, right? The biggest problem is many people do not know how to express what their needs are because their life is comprised of carnal things, and not spiritual things. The people ask for the carnal things, rent or bill money, but the greater need they have is spiritual. People do not see that it is their way of life and habits that are impoverishing them. The wounded person must first be healed, soup, soap, and then salvation!

6. God comforts us to be encouraged and consoled but not for us to get comfortable! In carnal people’s ways (Romans 1 describes quite a few!) there is the selfishness factor of some people that they start wanting all your time and attention, or too much comfort. To the contrary, I think none of us get tired of serving a Christian brother or sister because if they are true, they will always appreciate it, and they serve you back when you need it! I personally have had to learn a balance to spend more time with our leaders, planning and doing, instead of too much of my time with people who are always going to keep having one crisis after another!  If I help a person 5 times, then maybe it’s time that I choose a different person to help them. But what can we do for the poor, old, single ones with no relatives in this country, and no welfare check?

The frustration is one is always trying to win someone to Christ, and you serve them in their crisis, but then they may not even appreciate it! Often people want more and more and are abusive! I have had my kindness interpreted as stupidity a few times! Imagine a person almost homeless, you help them, and then they judge you as a dumb person?! As I mentioned before, my commitment is to serve people with love and this implies doing things not very pleasant at times like going to represent them in the courts, helping pay late bills, visiting them in the hospitals, taking them to apply for jobs, and on and on. The factor is, neither you nor I can afford to get discouraged from dealing with the sufferings brought on by someone’s sin! Sin brings pain and when in pain it’s an emergency! Life is like a battlefield and as Christians we are the only soldiers still well enough to go out and rescue the fallen ones!

Remember the 10 lepers that Jesus healed, and only 1 came back to thank Him! The general mission of all of us in life is to preach the gospel and do good matter what and that includes showing God’s love by comforting, healing, and helping! We cannot focus on ourselves and any reward in this life, we just must simply comfort each other however needed whenever needed! 2 Corinthians 1:4 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. 

7. All of this to get you to think about the following, do you know what the greatest human need is? It is to be loved! Everyone is hungry for love, each one of us wants comfort, we all want connectedness and a feeling of belonging! As Christians we have a lot of work to do to be able to have confidence amongst ourselves to build up trust and feel free to confess our weaknesses and needs to one another. Can we trust that the other person will listen, care, pray, and comfort us? We all need comfort in our pain, and we should be able to get it!

The problem with ‘help’ is the following, those immature in the faith are like little children, they are selfish, they have no consciousness of the needs of others, and they are not aware of their own carnality and abusiveness of what they expect from others. They want to get help and comfort, but they do not give any! They obsess only over their own self! With some you may help them 2 dozen times, but that one day you cannot help them then you suddenly become the bad guy! In the end, our help is for the needy, not the greedy! But we focus on the good ones, some people really do change with love and Jesus, and this is our COMFORT to keep on ministering! The thankful ONES make our day!

Love, which entails comfort should work like this: we as Christians are tapped into God’s system, like a water system that never runs dry, and the Holy Spirit fills us and refills us again so we just keep pouring out on others. Those that are empty and receive God’s love get filled up, and if they allow God’s healing, then they become whole, and instead of remaining broken and leaking out the love given them, they retain it, appreciate it, and then after getting full, they too start overflowing on others as well. This is also a way of observing how holiness works, God’s Spirit of purity fills us up until there is no more emptiness and then we overflow on everyone!

8. Referring to whom to comfort, as a pastor I always try to focus in on the neediest persons in the group, the weakest and most vulnerable, the ones suffering most.  A church should be a place where people arrive for love, comfort, and mercy! The mature are here to guide the immature; the strong are here to help the weak without a judgmental attitude. As believers we have all things common, and we share with each other so that no one is suffering from a dire need. (Acts 2:44,45) It is the job of all Christians to know how everyone is doing spiritually and materially, and everyone should serve to show love, and this brings comfort knowing that all areas are covered in our fellowship! 

Comfort is an expression of love, and it is shown in many ways: it is a human need! Without natural affection babies have been known to die, so what about people?  Ask yourself right now, do I have the confidence to seek advice and comfort with a brother or sister near me? When is the last time you comforted another person who had a problem, something secret no one could know about?  Seriously, how do you serve others if you are not alleviating their distresses? It should be with acts of service and that is love in action! We need to establish closer relationships amongst ourselves, so we have more love and confidence, and God gives us our talents and the Holy Spirit to be used and shared.

All of us should do a better job of listening, understanding, and comforting others!  John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. John 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.  This love implies that your whole life is wrapped around others!

9. Do you know of anyone suffering or of anyone who gets into crisis often? Do you know of anyone who obsesses over things because they don’t have the peace of God in their heart, and they are trying to fill a void?  Someone with no satisfaction with anything?  There is a cure!

Philippians 4:7 “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” And this next verse is a promise I have claimed often…

Isaiah 26:3 “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you”.  Also, with the Holy Spirit anyone can access the gift of having a comforter or obtain the power needed to get through a trial… John 14:16 “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever;”

10. Despite God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit comforting us we still need each other for comfort! We love God but equally as important, we must love our neighbor as ourselves! Comfort may be expressed with encouragement from sharing God’s word, through prayer, through serving or giving or providing in the time of need, through hugging someone who needs it, through loving care and concern, and even just by your presence by being there for them when they need you most! Do you allow yourself to be available? Break down your defensive walls and connect with people on a human level! 

Jesus warned us how it would be in the last days. Matthew 24:12 “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” Ask yourself, am I an indifferent, a self-protecting stagnant water type of Christian? Or do I overflow the Spirit on to others? Do I obsess and worry too much and live in the crisis mode? Or am I one that pours out the love and comfort of the Holy Spirit freely onto others? The formula of God has always been that to receive you must give! People are dying for a lack of love and comfort, so DO SOMETHING! 

Do you know of anyone who really does have a need to be comforted? If you do, then just act! Call them, visit them, spend time with them! Don’t worry about how much Bible you know to share; people are comforted just by knowing you care! You are a living Bible representing the Holy Spirit and Jesus to them! Break your old habits, learn to comfort or you will suffer, and many others will continue to suffer as well! 

Leadership Jesus Way: What You Need

Leadership Jesus Way: What You Need     BY Kelly Durant Re: 5-26-23

I Tim 3:1-7  

2.Forest Gump! Who saw the movie? There is a part where he starts running across the U.S. from state to state and everyone that saw him running thinks he is a wise guru of some kind and that they need to follow and run with him. So from place to place he picks up more and more people following him expecting wisdom. But then after many months, and many people questioning… What are we running for, where are we going...he breaks down and his words of wisdom are, “I’m tired!” He wasn’t going anywhere! People wasted their time for nothing!

Believe it or not this stereotypes many people recognized as leaders in the world, who run from one cause to the next to support any old thing but in the end the followers discover that these leaders weren’t really going anywhere nor, was their cause worth what the public was sold! Like what happened to Lance Armstrong.  

Leadership today is very important! I am very pleased with most all of our Local Leaders! Leaders have followers, but have you ever asked yourself, what are my attributes that makes me worthy of having followers? 

Let’s review some principles of leadership that can help guide us on what can make us worthy.

3. Paul in the scripture of today tells Timothy what qualities leaders must possess. These are the basics of holiness, and we need more leaders in all areas, but we need leaders with good qualities and with the same vision as Jesus.

In the scripture we see what qualities a leader, or a bishop, or a Local Officer, (same position) needs with these words, and make the personal with each characteristic looking at yourself:

To be blameless, Can anyone accuse you of a wrong doing?; 

Faithful to his mate, Are you still there despite temptations?;

Vigilant, Do you worry about what could endanger others and the church?;

Sober, Do you confront with seriousness matters of concern?;

Hospitable, Will you receive and attend to visitors when they are here?;

Apt to teach, Are you training others for your job?

Not a drinker, Do you always remain without intoxication?;

Not violent, Do you have control over your anger?;

Not greedy, Do you want to be rich and that is your main focus?;

Patient, Can you endure the mistakes and problems of others with kindness and patience?;

Not argumentative, Some people love conflict and always speak the contrary, do you do that?;

Not covetous, Are you happy when someone prospers, or envious and hate them?

Controls his children, Are you involved with your kids to make them be courteous, respectful?;

Not a novice, Are you inexperienced in something but yet you want to be in charge?;

And with a good report with all, How many people like being with you and do they like you because you are an example of a servant?

 

These are some challenges from the scriptures. Do you possess these qualities as a leader? Most of you do have potential, but there are always some areas in which we all must grow. I personally believe in giving people a break, if most everything is good, say passing with a D or C grade, then there is potential! So, look over this list and let the Lord speak to you where you could grow. 

4. Regina and I have seen all kinds of leaders in our lives and all kinds of styles & personalities. In the scripture we see that the good is mentioned along with the negative not to have and I will give you the most common 3 bad examples we have seen in our experiences and then 3 positive points on how Jesus taught us to be.

1)      There is the leader who lacks respect to authority to the pastors, the Officers, the leaders in general, or the church to which he or she says they belong to. These are leaders who tell others behind your back they do not agree with things but in front of you they are silent because they know inwardly they are wrong. These are the argumentative and conflictive ones. Have you seen this kind?

We have heard that good followers make good leaders and that is because they listen and learn, but those who never follow never really learn anything to lead anyone with! Do you respect others?

2)      The prideful leader. This is the one who always thinks he or she knows more than you. They are like the taxi driver that you tell him the shortest way home, but he insists he knows better than you and takes you on a long route, has that ever happened to you? It did to me all the time in So. America! With no humility this kind of leader will never be useful nor train others because they always want others to see them as a great leader since they know everything, and they are selfish with their skills, knowledge, and delegation.

3)      The novice leader who doesn’t know what he or she is doing but is greedy with the power or position. Regina and I have been shocked sometimes when we have given a person a little power of authority in the church and then this person starts ordering everybody around to be serving them as if they were a slave driving boss! How sad it is when a person can seem nice but then with a title they have a personality change and tell everyone what to do. Have you seen that too?

5. So, what were Jesus’ principle ways of managing things as a leader? He chose some shady characters didn’t he? Fishermen, & tax collectors! He often stopped walking down the street to attend to the people who needed healing. He seemed to be ready for any situations that came up to use it as a teachable moment.

He even took time with the children when preaching. His style was very unique

6. -First point, Jesus called his 12 disciples from very different backgrounds. He formed a diverse teamwork! I want to work with each and every one of you as each person has a unique perspective, and all good leaders include everyone for decisions on their team. You are my team, the only one I have! Do you believe that each person here is valuable even though they may be very different from you?

 If we were to compare you to the disciples in this Corps I think we could see some here that are like John, Peter, and or Matthew, and there are faithful women followers too like Mary and Martha.

7. -Second, Jesus gave an example to his followers on how to bring the message of God’s Kingdom and salvation to the masses and to the individual people. He starts off in the synagogue reading from Isa 61, how He is the Messiah, God’s chosen, and then He goes on to preach the sermon on the mount to thousands. Later He travels and talks to only one woman at the well, and then to one lone rabbi, etc.

What we see is Jesus shares the message to everyone, anywhere, anyplace, and anytime! A leader is not just a leader in a group but also he is one to individual people as well! He teaches his followers how to adapt and be ready all the time as the scripture says,” Be instant in season out of season.” Do you share what you know with others? 

8. -Third, Jesus is the great Rabbi or teacher, so he is constantly teaching his disciples about the kingdom of God, preparing them for their mission of preaching and teaching the gospel to every creature to repeat what He did. 

We conclude that if you follow God, He expects you to learn to work together with others of the same mission in teamwork, even though they have their faults; observe and learn teachings while serving; and finally you get equipped to prepare others so they too will understand God’s plan in their lives and obey it and do the same.   2 Timothy 2:2

2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.

9. Now, after Jesus has gone in the clouds, what did the disciples do? The waited on the power of God in order to do the job!  Later they all eventually went in different directions to preach the gospel with their own leadership style! After the day of Pentecost, after Acts 1:8 God gave Acts 8:1, to get the mission done in all places so they hear the preaching of the gospel. And in the end each disciple ended up as leaders for Jesus in many different faraway places!

10. You may not end up getting killed for the mission as the first dicsples did but what did they do that you can do too? You can each fulfill the mission that God called you to! Don’t wait until the persecution either!

 11. 3 simple points: Jesus formed a team, Jesus shared the message to everyone along his way, and Jesus taught or prepared his team on what to do to repeat the mission after He was gone. 

Something great and wonderful is God is raising many of you up as leaders here to take care of all the new people that will be coming in as new members! Don’t forget, your job as leader is YOU must train others! 

 You may ask then, well we are to imitate Jesus, to be more like Him, so how are we doing that in the Hialeah Corps? Well, first of all, all of us as a team must continue on empowering each other as better leaders by sharing our talents and skills. Also, always we need to get you signed up and get qualified on paper to be recognized.

Think of how you will be spending time to be getting preparing for your individual tasks. By now most of you have gotten the Local Officer’s Job Descriptions and if not we will give you copy. Many of you have many talents and we just need to get you prepared and get you more busy! 

12. Each of you should be taking care of each other. We had a list of who would be in touch with who, so after one year, did it help? Do we need to revive it? You have already been learning Bible from each other and you time will come for you to have your own band of 10 to 12 followers that you will be training in the Word, in doctrine, and how to keep on doing your job after you go.

Let’s imagine this Corps only 10 years from now. Where will you be then? It will be the ones in their 20’s and teens that will be best equipped to take over, don’t you think? If today you can go back 10 years and remember what it was like here, some of you were here, but you can name only a few that have been here even that long! So, time always implies a changing of the guard and a new set of leaders and members, and do you think we have people who are prepared enough to handle the jobs then?

 When I am not here on a Sunday, there are several of you that are very capable of preaching and running things, I hope that when any one of you is absent too, another person here will be trained by you in your job position to replace you too.  Have you prepared someone?

13. So let’s review, leadership is all about being worthy, holy, qualified, and trained, prepared, and then passing all of that on to the one behind you! In the Salvation Army, do you wear the uniform, be faithful to inform another when you cannot attend to something, and do you volunteer to do what you are capable of doing as much as possible?

Jesus was the model leader to his followers, showing love for all and he took time for the masses and each person who had a need! Jesus taught them, and Paul taught Timothy and the ones after them taught others. 

Ask yourself, am I being faithful to train another? Am I being a good example and good mentor? Young people, who do you want to be your mentor to be amongst the more experience ones? We need to make ourselves more likable, more patient, more willing, and more like Jesus, are you ready to lead?  Let’s pray…

Appreciation: For God and Others Who Honor God

 

Appreciation: For God and Others Who Honor God   Re 5-19-24 Kelly Durant

John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. Proverbs 21:21 He that followeth after righteousness and mercy findeth life, righteousness, and honour.

2. Do you want to know about the character of a person? Ask yourself, who do they love and appreciate?  Who do they talk about and spend money or time on? Are they the vain type of person that idolizes mere men or women in high places of power? Ask, who are their favorite performers, movie stars, or rich and famous ones they look up too? Or do they (or you) speak of what God is doing in their lives or in the lives of others having their pleasure in those who inspire by good works? Who we honor says everything about who we are as a person! 

Basically, to appreciate is to reciprocate! Appreciation is a reaction, something was done for you, and now you seek to return a favor or gesture to reveal your thankfulness. Often you and I cannot return the same value of what was given but to do something reveals an honorable heart. Friends are often those whom we appreciate most but often you or I do not get a chance to thank them appropriately! Tell others, “Thank You!” more often!

Appreciation can be shown in different ways but one must always be a support to the person. This may also include being an imitator or admirer of their goodness. Appreciating a person by sharing with them something of value like a gift is a good thing but simply spending time with someone may reveal that you appreciate their presence and value them as a person. But too often today people do nothing, and they do not even say, “Thank You!” In today’s world too many people do not appreciate anything! Sad, right?

3. Let’s start with priorities, how do you show appreciation to Jesus for His love to you by dying on the cross to give you eternal life? The verse of today are Jesus words, He gives us eternal life and the blessed assurance that no “man” can ever take it away. Eternal life? How amazing! How incredible! Jesus had appreciation for His followers so much so that He granted them (from the present and the future) life after this life in a perfect utopian heavenly world!

How can you or I ever thank Jesus enough for saving our soul? Eternal life in heaven is something that no amount of money can buy and there is no way to earn it! Eternal life has been the obsession of all cultures since mankind’s inception and is usually the basis for all religions, disciplines, and sacrifices throughout time. Before Jesus, the Hebrews, the Hindus, the Egyptians and all humanity have sought ways to gain eternal life and earn position by purification and respect by following Godly standards (laws) which would carry over in the next life. But mankind’s attempts at being worthy and clean are never enough to gain a purified soul acceptable enough for a Holy God who is the embodiment of pure holiness and love.

So how do you and I show appreciation for eternal life? Are you taking it serious how much God loves you? What can you give back to God?  The gift of God, is eternal life, but it cost Jesus His, to give it to you, And it will probably cost you yours, to live it too! You are no fool to give a life you cannot keep, To gain a love you’ll never lose!

4. For the gift of eternal life, a chance in heaven, people will do anything! Some religions teach you must earn it by being selfless, sacrificial, ritualistic, and generous to their church, or even live separated from society. Some religions also teach that you must kill others who are unfaithful to God (what they think God wants as described by their false prophets) so people will also even commit murder and violence. Until when will this type of horrible radicalism dominate mindsets submitting people to a misrepresented idea of god?! The only way to conquer is with Jesus! Violence and the murder of the unfaithful brings no justice to any God or to anyone. It is the system of Satan and only serves to satisfy man’s lust for power, wealth by robbery, and sexual domination and it is the total opposite of what we know our God of mercy, compassion, and love to be!

 

Imagine such a perverted way of thinking that in order to please God, to show God appreciation and in order to gain eternal life with rewards you should murder another human being who does not agree with your god as defined by these ideas?! John 16:2 (b): “Yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service”. Appreciation and how it should be expressed has always been misguided by those carnal and dead towards God. God sent Jesus as the ultimate example of how we are to live and love. God Jehovah is the only one who taught us how to love through Jesus granting obedient ones eternal life and God will honor them with crowns and rewards in heaven.

 

5. What I can witness is this, once Jesus really touches your spirit, you will be changed, you will understand that your life is not yours anymore and that you owe Him everything! To show Jesus appreciation I chose as a young man to give up everything to follow Him. I gave up (sold) all my possessions, I gave up comfort for poverty in poor nations for 14 years, and I still am giving up all my years in service to Him, I can never pay Jesus back so all I can do is to show Him I love Him by obeying and following Him and winning news souls to Him! Appreciation for Jesus requires being His disciple full of love for every person, appreciating every soul you meet as a potential future lover and servant of Him!

 

We know how we all should appreciate God by living for Him worshipping Him, but who should we appreciate in this life? Should not appreciation be shown to those who do the most for God and Jesus? Think about who you know here in the Corps church, who are the ones obeying the Lord, sacrificially “serving one another in love” as Jesus commanded.

 

Each person according to their talents do what they can for the Lord and sometimes amongst ourselves we are unaware of what the other is doing for God or the Corps because not everyone is here all the time to be informed about who does what. But in general, you and I should try to not judge who to appreciate more than the other, but instead just take an attitude to appreciate and love everyone that we know are here for God! It is God that keeps a record of words and deeds. But by our fruits, God knows who we are!

 

6. Many times others do many good things for the Corps church that you may not be aware of and often these are things you could not do yourself. For example, some people have a talent to raise several hundred dollars every time they go out ringing the bell for the red kettle and others do not. Some others of you can repair broken doors and locks; others can decorate amazingly while others know how to cook and provide great meals for a hundred people. Each person has value, and to appreciate that try switching the tasks and ask the decorators to repair the sound system!? We all must show honor and respect to one another! All have value! Always esteem the humble poor ones, God does!

 

Someone asked me one time, what did the shepherds give Jesus on Christmas? (Assuming they gave Him a sheep) The Bible does not record that they gave Jesus a sheep, but they did run to admire and worship him! Maybe they did give Him a sheep, I don’t know, but the important part is they gave Jesus their heart, praise, and worship! That surrendering of the will is what anyone can give and is what God wants! We should not expect people to give what they may or may not be able to give, but we must show appreciation to those who do something for God.

 

7. Do you want to know what has been a hard lesson for me in life? It is to appreciate broken-ness and to just work with broken people! We have volunteers that have had bodily injuries and cannot lift more than 10 pounds, some of them are homeless, some of them are not very solid emotionally, but do I reject them? No! I appreciate them! At least they are serving God in some manner as best they can around here. Some Christians are too good and too proud to work with a motley crew but not me because I know Jesus disciples were a mess, and I know I am still a work in progress! Being a Volunteer Army, we take whoever will serve!

 

In this life our Corps church will never be perfect with perfect people altruistically loving and sacrificing for each other to the level Jesus expects. Some of you sometimes I perceive are not happy with each other and you don’t like the way some show or don’t show appreciation to the Corps church as you think these people are benefiting more than giving and in some cases this has been true. 

 

Reality is, like it or not, all people always are measuring who does what and they comment about it so try to examine yourself well in what you do for God. Also, remember none of you are ever seeing the whole picture of all that goes on behind the scenes. Some people with rough edges that may appear undesirable may actually be doing God’s work and going out and visiting the sick and helping the helpless while others stay back and clean, serve food, decorate and repair and even provide a gift for someone in need without calling attention to it.

 

8. Concerning the things of God, you and I should concern ourselves with own ourselves first, so ask yourself, do I actually give enough to God as He wants to my Corps, family and friends? Do I do all of what God expects of me? Do I show the appropriate amount of appreciation to God and others? Do I, as in the Proverb of today, concern myself to be full of “righteousness and mercy” which invokes life and honor?

 

The reality is everyone should take conviction to be more appreciative to Jesus, to their brothers and sisters, and to their Corps church which should shine like a light in the community with the evidence of the love a God present in each person. In order to please God we must appreciate every act of kindness, appreciate every visitor, and appreciate and love each other!

 

There are different types of appreciation. You may appreciate a person who feeds you once, but what about someone who over a course of more than a decade has fed you hundreds of times? Now that is where a deeper appreciation takes place! It is obvious some of the people of this Corps have provided service, food, and acts of kindness for the people of this Corps and for those of the community many hundreds of times. Now that is truly worthy to be admired and appreciated on a deeper level! Each one of us will reap what we sew! Sew in a big way!

 

9. As human beings and animals of habit we often take for granted the good that others do for us through the church or on their own and sadly we later only take notice of it once it is gone! It is sad reality that ‘you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone’? We should all wake up and notice all the good that each person does and thank them, whether they be a driver who picks up people on Sundays, or whether they be a cook, or a Bible teacher who brings clarity to God’s word. 

                                                                                                             

My grandmother use to say some people would not do things neither for ‘love or money’, and it is true, many people are motivated or not motivated to do things as it affects their personal gain, but with God things works to the contrary. You are expected to love, give, and serve expecting nothing in return! Just be a faithful humble servant! The reality is, however, that by being obedient to Jesus, sacrificial, and generous you do gain things that money can’t buy such as honor, respect, righteousness, and love! And most importantly, Jesus will grant you eternal life and rewards in heaven when you do these things in His Name!

 

Let’s ask God to forgive our past failures and ask Him to give us a love and appreciation for Him so deep that it will sustain you and me to do greater things for Him, for our brothers and sisters, the Salvation Army Corps, and for all others out there in the community! Appreciate everyone, always, and thank them!  

Support Mothers Be Real Women of Honor!

Support Mothers Be Real Women of Honor!  5-18-14  Re:5-12-24.  by Kelly Durant

Titus 2:3-5 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, 5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

2.It is a sad truth that women in general are not respected by a majority of the world’s people today and it is a fact they never have been! Investigate for yourself how other major world cultures, religions, and communists treat women and you will be outraged and appalled! There is still a current war on women in our culture! Modern music has progressed from Elvis that would sing he was “All Shook Up’ in love with a woman to our current music which refers to women as “Bs” and sex objects only (rap & more, you know), something to own and exploit as property! Denounce it when heard!

The quote many men have lived by was what Plato voiced: “'I thank God, that I was born Greek and not barbarian, freeman and not slave, a man and not woman”. Why? The usual case is that women have lived with zero rights, zero respect, and still women are considered property in many countries!

Some people always want to complain of the discrimination of women in the U.S. but here it is minimal compared to other places! Abortion of girls in China is so extensive that close to 30 million young men will not be able to find a wife! What a manmade crisis! Many in several nations fear that the frustration of these men will lead to aggression and war, internal and external. 

Have you ever heard that one should judge a society by how it treats its most vulnerable members? How are the unborn, the babies, the elderly, the children, and the impaired getting treated? And of great importance, how are the women & mothers treated? 1 Peter 3:7 Likewise, husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered. (God will not hear the prayers of those who mistreat women!) Identify and condemn those who are to blame for making women into just sex objects and slaves for labor exploitation. Our job is to love, esteemed, respect, and value women as intelligent industrious essential co-collaborators in the home and community! 

3. The verse of focus begins in Titus 2:3 highlighting that God expects women as they mature to be strong influencers with their wholesome (holy) values, living a pure life. Women are exalted in the verses here inferring they are important and useful as teachers and mentors expected to share their acquired knowledge over the years about life and of the word of God with other younger women and to their children (and to the men as well).

Mothers always impact their children profoundly! Many single young men in jail or on the battle front when facing a breakdown or crisis have been known to cry out for consolation from mommy! We all recognize that the woman who incubated us and gave us life after 9 months, and raised us for 18 + years is important to our emotional and physical wellbeing! 

Every mother must recognize that they are very important influencers and leaders in society creating either embittered monsters or sacrificial saints! Each person reaps what they sew, and the boomerang of actions does come back to haunt us. I knew one young Mexican man in prison and when I offered to bring his mother there to visit him as a favor, he told me “No, I don’t want to see that wh_re”! Sad, right? She had a history of living with different men, and he had suffered from the hand of many of them. We must teach this modern culture to get back to purity and holiness.

4. In history we observe that it has only been the word of God in the Bible practiced correctly that has brought women out of the darkness, of the depths of slavery and debasement, to being equal to the man in position in spiritual gifts and abilities. Jesus, by honoring his women followers, influenced many and eventually as the Bible got translated in many languages; it sparked a Renaissance and enlightenment of respect for women that we benefit from that in our democratic society today. It is a pity that the primitive church and still some churches today never matured in doctrine as the Salvation Army did to esteem women as equals ordaining them as ministers honoring them highly. Sadly, still very few churches today ordain and respect women as equals, so you can be thankful that William and Catherine Booth got it right! Women have full rights here! Help us spread this good news!

Did you know when the Salvation Army was founded in 1865 that 60 to 70% of the initial members were young mothers and they were valiant preachers too! And today in this Corps, we expect the women and mothers to be leaders, not just to their children, but leaders in society being influential winning many over to the faith: souls saved for Jesus! Everyone listens when a wise woman speaks!

But I wish women today would start passionately speaking up more against social injustices! Help expose crimes such as rape, child-abuse, sexual trafficking, labor exploitation, domestic violence: women must demand that the people adhere to the standard of family values in the churches, schools, and city halls! If women are not defending the weak and family causes in their role, then they may fall for useless causes wasting time on popularized trends and standing up for people who later become back stabbers to them. The causes that foment hatred towards men creating division and controversy in the community are against nature; truth is very few agree even though the media lies and says it’s the majority. The truth is the majority are sick of controversy from people demanding rights for things of selfish desires and not for rights of the truly defenseless abused innocent ones.   

5. Men and women have different roles in life. If a burglar is in the house at midnight, it is the man’s role to handle it, right? Or women, do you love a good fight and enjoy tackling 6’ masked men who have guns or knives? Raise your hand, women, if you would say, “Honey, I’ll get it”! Sadly, today in a few so called developed nations, some people due to the confusion of laws (non-Biblical) are supporting gender reversals. Such confusion sews the seeds of frustration, and proven statistically, it foments suicidal tendencies! Contrary to this is the defense of the equality of the sexes, and it is correct within the context of equal rights for women. They have gained substantial respect here in the U.S. in the workplace but concerning crimes committed against women, much more needs to be done, in particular abroad in Arab, Communist, and non-Christian nations or in about 4/5ths of the world!   

Again, referring to how women are commended to be holy and sober, what happens when women are not holy but rather become loud and self-serving? The progression (as observed in Hollywood children) of the character slides downhill from disrespect on into total chaos! Each person is the principal player in the forging of their own reputation. Those seeking to take advantage of men usually ironically find men with the same nature (birds of a feather..) seeking to take advantage of them! Trying to take advantage of another pretending love (either sex) is nothing new, and everyone gets burned. Many women have a disadvantage though because of their more sensitive emotions and smaller physical size.

In the 90s in Miami, we had a nice Peruvian friend in her 50s that was depressed and sad due to a recent divorce. The judge awarded her the house of the ex and she sold it. In the meantime, the new boyfriend, who was supposedly a rich man of a rich Spanish family said he would help her by storing her $100,000 cash in his personal safe at home. We soon found out she had never ever even visited his house! It soon came to light (after we encouraged her to go to the police) that he had played her and about 5 other women for their money and she felt horribly shamed! He went to jail, she lost it all, and she had to go on with life working minimum wage having nothing too embarrassed to even talk to her family! 

6. Today many people complain about the disappearing family unit but who is to blame? Where is the fighter spirit of couples of, “we will get through this” attitude! Do we blame the deadbeat dads? Or the deadbeat moms? Both sexes share blame in being irresponsible! Take note, young deadbeat fathers were boys who grew up under a mother (or father) that influenced their attitude about women. How the mother treated the child affirmed obedience and good behavior, or rebellion and disrespect. Kids imitate the parent’s example and values, or the lack thereof; values are caught and imitated and must be taught. Parents reap what they sew and get payback for their sins often multiplied through those closest to them.

Sad as well, some girls and boys have grown up seeing abusive fathers degrade their mothers verbally or physically (or vice versa), and when a guy or gal imitates this horrible behavior, he (or she, as a victim to this) thinks that this is just normal life! They imitate this abuse even though they already know this behavior brings about hurt feelings, much suffering, and even divorce. No one should tolerate abuse ever because you are God’s child and of high value and esteem!

7. Here is where the breakdown begins begging the question, have the older ladies been faithful to teach the young girls at home, in the churches, and in the schools the high standards and values? Are the women mentors teaching the girls to dress and act like princesses aspiring honors and achievements? My concern is this, lately women and mothers are letting girls dress too risqué, even 12 year olds use high platform heels and short shorts, unaware of the dangerous provocations that put the girls at risk for rape and abuse? Some women dress so crazy here picking up their kids in school that the schools are now enforcing dress codes for parents! 

By the time a girl is in college, an estimated 1 in 4 have been raped already! I have also known of many mothers that have prostituted their own daughters for money as well! Take into account that before the 60’s themes of “burn your bra” and be liberated message, only 2 main STDs existed, now there are dozens that are very serious causing cancer, HIV, and destroying the normal desire and pleasure that God intended to last a lifetime between married couples!

8. How sad today as well that in a majority of so called “developed” cultures women are choosing to not be mothers or married wives protected by the law. This lack of security for kids causes both men and women to miss out on many laughs and beautiful emotions, and a needed maturity. Romans 1 :27 “In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.” A few societies worldwide, due to misinformation and feminist influences are sadly not supporting women in their roles as mothers and wives. Remember, young pregnant girls need support from us and everyone! Pre 60s and the pill, The Salvation Army had many clinics nationwide for delivering babies! Everyone must always support families because we need one another to survive and to provide for what is needed! 

So, these verses of today (vs 4) go against the grain of what the world promotes and it is up to Christians to be very vocal to support women! (I love counter-culture challenges, don’t you?) In general, both sexes without faith and obedience to God are horrible abusers of their own bodies and others wreaking havoc going against nature. I thank God again and again for the Christian values taught in the Bible that inherently invoke respect and exalt the women as of great value! And when ‘mama is happy, everyone is happy’! See Proverbs 31

The Bible has inspired women to become the liberated, dedicated, wise, good, and fun loving creatures God made them to be! We must spread this good news!

9. One disturbing part of verse 3 is, “not false accusers”, what does this mean? To invent a lie to muster sympathy and harm someone is punishable by law! In today’s language it could also imply not falsely exaggerating a contentious item being a “drama queen”, spouting out foolish words just for manipulation or revenge. All of these recent TV shows of marriage boot camps and counseling showing the women yelling and red in the face is not helpful in modeling better alternative communication methods to help us solve common relationship issues! Men and women always will accuse each other of their faults but the factor is both often forget to factor in their own irritating provocations usually started with sharp accusatory words. Everyone is always right in their own eyes, but to God we are all in great need of maturity and to be more in control of our words!

False accusations from the woman may be that of accusing the man of having another woman. If the accusation is a true one, then what is she doing with him? She needs to stop thinking that she is going to control him and fix a broken sin nature that does not want to be fixed. Only Jesus changes hearts!

The man a woman chooses as a husband must first of all be a man that has proven himself worthy and faithful to God not living an addictive abusive or adulterous life. 

10. One more interesting part, “not given to much wine”. Well, in our case, we are not given to any wine, but this implies that many young women have the tendency to be party girls right? It is human nature for the youth to want to have fun but if having fun includes alcohol and the starting motherhood due to being drunk one night, this is something to seriously think about and avoid! 

Because the body mass of women is smaller than that of men, women get drunk easier than men. They also get addicted to drugs easier as well. This is a warning to women to not let their selves be exposed to any excess as it will create more consequences. Date rape happens often to young girls that are high or drunk and it has always been a problem for millennia not just a recent societal problem. 

Alcohol is a serious problem in this country as an estimated 1 in 10 people are addicted! People who drink or get high are forcing their brains to imbalance and expend in a few hours the pleasure serotonin chemicals and later normal for them is a personality state that is bored, edgy, and violent. Be careful of what may happen to you: drug or alcohol abusers need serious help!

11.  Continuing on to the last part of today’s study, “obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed”. What does it mean? Today, after the feminist movement from the 70s, many people think that the woman being obedient to the husband is heresy! After all, the woman has rights! This is true, but each couple needs to decipher each other’s strong and weak points to keep a balance and common sense. Most women follow the man’s lead anyway unless she perceives a danger or threat, or if he is being totally anti-god and cruel. 

Here is an example of how a man may lead, if the woman gets very excited about getting a nice new car with a $680 a month payment with another $200 in insurance, and the man says, “Oh no, babe we can’t afford that, it would be almost half our income,” then the woman should try to understand and just trust the man’s judgment on the matter and keep looking for a deal! This is the essence of the idea of being obedient, trusting in practical deductions above emotions. It does not imply absolute blind servitude as some Christian defamers want to imply! But a woman who demands her way may make the man blaspheme! Higher goals will happen over time but it takes two to work at it!

12. I love and respect my wife that has for 46 years has been a great fighter for justice defending me and her children and helped a few thousand others in need. She woke up all hours of the night, learned new languages to communicate with us (English, Portuguese, ASL, sign language) and tolerated moving from place to place doing God’s work. I love and admire her as only 1 out of a million would do this! How lucky (God’s plans) that I could meet her!

What did the scripture teach us? Respect the women! Both women and men should study and research what makes the other sex, or their own mates, be secure, stable, and happy. What kills any relationship is a self-centered insecure jealous controlling person who demands that their needs be supplied not considering the needs of the other one. Relationships are always give and take and that must be done in love! Men also have responsibilities but that’s for later!

13. If a woman or wife claims to be a Christian but she is harsh with her tongue, and punishes the man when she doesn’t get what she wants, with addictive or unfaithful behaviors, then the man might conclude that her faith, that her Christian God must be flawed and unjust! This works vice versa, men must also be must be loving examples gentle proving their dedication to their family or their religion will be criticized as useless and hypocritical!

It is the pure, powerful, and holy women, usually mothers, throughout history that have been the ones to bring about a real change in society, starting in their homes with their own children and then out in the community! Thank God for Catherine Booth! Countless women are renowned professionals! Let’s pray the Lord brings us more women to organize and defend the weak, minister to the suffering, and putting into practice God’s word! Let’s pray for the women here to have the strength they need to accomplish great things for their families, church, and friends. We must denounce, expose, and encourage correction for those fallen into weakness, but honor the noble, pure, and wise and holy women! If we do not support them, then more men, women, and children around the world will continue to suffer more and more injustices! Women, and mothers with Jesus and the Holy Spirit are powerful teachers, healers, and influencers: love and support them with all your heart! God bless our mothers!