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A Word from THE WORD

Good Morning Happy Church,

Today is Wednesday, February 10^th, 2016. Today is the 41^st Day of 2016.

There are only 326 days left in this year; and, there are only 60 Days Left until Our Spring Revival Begins!

We will begin the Revival Meetings on Saturday, April 9^th with a Banquet and Sermon at 6pm.

Sunday, April 10^th, we will hear Bro Bobby at 10am and again at 6pm.

Monday and Tuesday, April 11^th and 12, we will hear Bro Bobby at 7pm each night!

Please clear your schedule to attend as many of these meetings as possible.

As I often say, “The two things you have to invest to be blessed is your Attendance and your Attention!”

Please be in prayer for Dr. Bobby and Sandra Boyles as they travel here and back.

Pray that God will pour out HIS SPIRIT on us as never before!

Pray for the salvation of the lost; repentance and renewal in the life of God’s people; new people to become part of our Church Family; the calling out of ministers and missionaries; a spiritual awakening in our area; and, for Jesus Christ to be glorified in all that we do!

Isaiah 40:31

“but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

This is certainly one of the best known and most often quoted verses in the Bible. And, it should be!

What a great promise!

As I have shared before in this series of devotions, to be “renewed” is what is means to be “refreshed” or, literally, to be “revived.”

As long as God is alive, revival is a possibility!

Here, of course, is the hard part. Waiting on the LORD!

Jesus Christ is the One, True, Almighty, and Sovereign God and HE will revive whom HE chooses when HE chooses!

“To wait on the LORD” means more than merely passively waiting for HIM to show up. It means to “expectantly” anticipate HIS return.

Jesus declares in Matthew 25 that we must continue to serve HIM as faithful servants until HE comes.

Here is the bottom line. ““but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

That is an awfully clear picture of a “revived” Believer!

Will we really have revival?

We will soon see!

Carpe Diem!

A Word from THE WORD

Good Morning Happy Church,

Today is Tuesday, February 9^th, 2016. Today is the 40^th Day of 2016.

There are only 326 days left in this year; and, there are only 61 Days Left until Our Spring Revival Begins!

We will begin the Revival Meetings on Saturday, April 9^th with a Banquet and Sermon at 6pm.

Sunday, April 10^th, we will hear Bro Bobby at 10am and again at 6pm.

Monday and Tuesday, April 11^th and 12, we will hear Bro Bobby at 7pm each night!

Please clear your schedule to attend as many of these meetings as possible.

As I often say, “The two things you have to invest to be blessed is your Attendance and your Attention!”

Please be in prayer for Dr. Bobby and Sandra Boyles as they travel here and back.

Pray that God will pour out HIS SPIRIT on us as never before!

Pray for the salvation of the lost; repentance and renewal in the life of God’s people; new people to become part of our Church Family; the calling out of ministers and missionaries; a spiritual awakening in our area; and, for Jesus Christ to be glorified in all that we do!

Lamentations 5:19-21

¹⁹ “But you, O LORD, reign forever; your throne endures to all generations.
²⁰ Why do you forget us forever, why do you forsake us for so many days?
²¹ Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may be restored! Renew our days as of old…”

“Lamentations” is a book of funeral dirges written by the Prophet Jeremiah.

He had gone into captivity in Babylon with most of the remaining people of the Southern Kingdom of Judah around 586 BC.

In this Book, he “laments” the destruction of Israel and the sorrow and suffering that has come upon his people because of their rebellion against GOD.

He harkens back to the “old” days when they had been faithful and lived under the blessings and protection of almighty God.

He prays that GOD will restore them to faithfulness and end their captivity.

One of the few benefits I enjoy as an old man is the ability to look back on the “old” days before the cultural rot of our culture had gone too far to escape the judgment of God; back before the majority of the American people (including many who profess to be Christians) continually voted into office politicians (of all political parties) whose one great passion appears to be the murder of pre-born babies.

These “professing” Christians have now enabled the slaughter over 55,000,000 children in America since Roe vs. Wade.

I remember the days when even school kids knew what “Marriage” meant.

I remember hearing the Bible read in public school and teachers praying for their students and our families.

Those days are almost completely over in America; and maybe forever.

Oh, that God would renew our Nation and restore us to being a people with Biblical morals and a love for children and families!

Even if it is too late for America… it is never too late for Americans!

God will still save anyone anywhere and everyone everywhere who, after hearing the gospel, will repent of their sins and believe in Jesus as their Savoir and LORD!

God will still revive HIS people who repent of our sins and turn back to HIM!

I wonder…

Will we really have revival?

We will soon see!

Carpe Diem!

A Word from THE WORD

Good Morning Happy Church,

Today is Monday, February 8^th, 2016. Today is the 39^th Day of 2016.

There are only 327 days left in this year; and, there are only 62 Days Left until Our Spring Revival Begins!

We will begin the Revival Meetings on Saturday, April 9^th with a Banquet and Sermon at 6pm.

Sunday, April 10^th, we will hear Bro Bobby at 10am and again at 6pm.

Monday and Tuesday, April 11^th and 12, we will hear Bro Bobby at 7pm each night!

Please clear your schedule to attend as many of these meetings as possible. As I often say, “The two things you have to invest to be blessed is your Attendance and your Attention!”

Please be in prayer for Dr. Bobby and Sandra Boyles as they travel here and back.

Pray that God will pour out HIS SPIRIT on us as never before!

Pray for the salvation of the lost; repentance and renewal in the life of God’s people; new people to become part of our Church Family; the calling out of ministers and missionaries; a spiritual awakening in our area; and, for Jesus Christ to be glorified in all that we do!

Habakkuk 3:2

“O LORD, I have heard the report of you, and your work, O LORD, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.”

Habakkuk does not tell us much about himself, but, he was clearly a Prophet to the Southern Kingdom of Judah and most likely lived and prophesied around 650 – 600 BC. This would be shortly before Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem in 606 BC.

He knew that God had poured out HIS judgment on the Northern Kingdom of Israel by allowing them to be conquered by the Assyrians about 100 years before.

He knew that God, even when pouring out HIS wrath on HIS rebellious people, was still merciful and saved a remnant of HIS people.

Chapter 3 records the Prophet’s great prayer to God for mercy, even though HIS divine judgment appeared sure.

It was; and HE did.

Habakkuk prays about God’s work in the world. He prays that HE will revive HIS work, even if HE waits for years to come.

We ought to be equally concerned for God’s work in the world.

Even if God continues to pour out HIS wrath on this rebellious Nation, let us pray that HE will ultimately will restore and revive HIS Kingdom work!

We have an advantage that Habakkuk did not… we have the rest of the Bible. We know that ultimately – in HIS own good time – God will return and set up HIS Kingdom on earth.

HE will revive HIS work!

However, it is certainly possible that HE will revive HIS work though us and our Church here and now!

That is our prayer and the reason for the revival meetings we have planned.

Please join your Church in praying that “even in the midst of wrath” God will show us mercy!

Pray that God will revive us again!

Will we really have revival?

We will soon see!

Carpe Diem!

A Word from THE WORD

Good Morning Happy Church,

Today is Sunday, February 7^th, 2016. Today is the 38^th Day of 2016.

There are only 328 days left in this year; and, there are only 63 Days Left until Our Spring Revival Begins!

Today is Karen Dietderich’s Birthday!

Today is the LORD’s Day!

We will begin the Revival Meetings on Saturday, April 9^th with a Banquet and Sermon at 6pm.

Sunday, April 10^th, we will hear Bro Bobby at 10am and again at 6pm.

Monday and Tuesday, April 11^th and 12, we will hear Bro Bobby at 7pm each night!

Please clear your schedule to attend as many of these meetings as possible.

As I often say, “The two things you have to invest to be blessed is your Attendance and your Attention!”

Please be in prayer for Dr. Bobby and Sandra Boyles as they travel here and back.

Pray that God will pour out HIS SPIRIT on us as never before!

Pray for the salvation of the lost; repentance and renewal in the life of God’s people; new people to become part of our Church Family; the calling out of ministers and missionaries; a spiritual awakening in our area; and, for Jesus Christ to be glorified in all that we do!

Hosea 6:1-2

¹ “Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.
² After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.”

One of the things that is the most difficult for us to admit is that the cultural collapse we see in our Nation is not happening because God cannot prevent it, or stop it.

It is not happening because our Nation is so godly that the Devil is throwing all of his might against us.

Listen to the Prophet Hosea carefully as he speaks to Israel, (God’s Chosen People)…

“HE has torn us… HE has struck us down…”

Why? “so heal may heal us… HE will bind us up… HE will raise us up.”

God clearly allows trouble to come upon HIS people in order to DRIVE US BACK TO HIM!

God will not stand idly by watch us walk away from HIM. HE will act!

Here is the way to revival… “Return to the LORD.”

Return to the LORD and HE will heal us; HE will bind us up; HE will revive us; HE will raise us up…”

Return to the LORD!

Will we really have revival?

We will soon see!

Carpe Diem!

A Word from THE WORD

Good Morning Happy Church,

Today is Saturday, February 6^th, 2016. Today is the 37^th Day of 2016.

There are only 329 days left in this year; and, there are only 64 Days Left until Our Spring Revival Begins!

Today is Timothy Walker’s and Courtney McBay’s WEDDING DAY!

We will begin the Revival Meetings on Saturday, April 9^th with a Banquet and Sermon at 6pm.

Sunday, April 10^th, we will hear Bro Bobby at 10am and again at 6pm.

Monday and Tuesday, April 11^th and 12, we will hear Bro Bobby at 7pm each night!

Please clear your schedule to attend as many of these meetings as possible.

As I often say, “The two things you have to invest to be blessed is your Attendance and your Attention!”

Please be in prayer for Dr. Bobby and Sandra Boyles as they travel here and back.

Pray that God will pour out HIS SPIRIT on us as never before!

Pray for the salvation of the lost; repentance and renewal in the life of God’s people; new people to become part of our Church Family; the calling out of ministers and missionaries; a spiritual awakening in our area; and, for Jesus Christ to be glorified in all that we do!

Psalm 119:154 (New King James Version)

“Plead my cause and redeem me; Revive me according to Your word.”

“The work of the Word in Revival!”

Again and again we are confronted with this undeniable truth – the means by which God revives HIS people is HIS Word!

Every time someone speaks with me about revival… and every time I speak with someone about revival, sooner or later, one of us will say that “revival” is a different thing than just a series of “revival meetings.”

And, indeed, that is true.

But, as I wrote to you recently, one cannot separate the experience of real revival form the work of the Word of God in your life!

THAT IS WHY we schedule “revival meetings!”

THAT IS WHY I am pleading with you to clear your schedule now – prioritize your attendance to these meetings, and begin READING GOD’S WORD now!

“SATURATION; SATURATION; SATURATION!”

Being saturated in the Word of God is (again) how God revives HIS people!

Here is the question…

Will we really have revival?

Will YOU?

We will soon see!

Carpe Diem!

A Word from THE WORD

Good Morning Happy Church,

Today is Friday, February 5^th, 2016. Today is the 36^th Day of 2016.

There are only 330 days left in this year; and, there are only 65 Days Left until Our Spring Revival Begins!

We will begin the Revival Meetings on Saturday, April 9^th with a Banquet and Sermon at 6pm.

Sunday, April 10^th, we will hear Bro Bobby at 10am and again at 6pm.

Monday and Tuesday, April 11^th and 12, we will hear Bro Bobby at 7pm each night!

Please clear your schedule to attend as many of these meetings as possible. As I often say, “The two things you have to invest to be blessed is your Attendance and your Attention!”

Please be in prayer for Dr. Bobby and Sandra Boyles as they travel here and back.

Pray that God will pour out HIS SPIRIT on us as never before!

Pray for the salvation of the lost; repentance and renewal in the life of God’s people; new people to become part of our Church Family; the calling out of ministers and missionaries; a spiritual awakening in our area; and, for Jesus Christ to be glorified in all that we do!

Isaiah 57:15

“For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.”

The immediate impact of God reviving the spirit of a Christian is a deep sense of conviction about our sins.

In this verse, we see again that God revives the “contrite” and “lowly of spirit.” In other words, pride is the main thing that keeps God from sending us revival.

Pride tells us that, “I’m OK; I don’t need to be revived. I’m doing better than most people.”

God tells us that we are NOT OK. We are continual sinners and we are therefore continually in need of God’s mercy and forgiveness.

The idea that we do not need revival should alarm us and make us see how very much WE DO NEED REVIVAL.

All of us are busy, but the reality is that if we are too busy to set aside time for God to speak to us through a protracted series of sermons, we are too busy to be revived.

ONE MORE THING. God does not revive Churches; HE revives Christians!

If enough Christians in a Church are revived, it will result in a great move of God upon that Church.

That is what we hope for… that is what we pray for… I hope you will determine that if only one person in our Church is revived, that one person will be you!

Will we really have revival?

We will soon see!

Carpe Diem!

A Word from THE WORD

Good Morning Happy Church,

Today is Thursday, February 4^th, 2016. Today is the 35^th Day of 2016.

There are only 331 days left in this year; and, there are only 66 Days Left until Our Spring Revival Begins!

We will begin the Revival Meetings on Saturday, April 9^th with a Banquet and Sermon at 6pm.

Sunday, April 10^th, we will hear Bro Bobby at 10am and again at 6pm.

Monday and Tuesday, April 11^th and 12, we will hear Bro Bobby at 7pm each night!

Please clear your schedule to attend as many of these meetings as possible. As I often say, “The two things you have to invest to be blessed is your Attendance and your Attention!”

Please be in prayer for Dr. Bobby and Sandra Boyles as they travel here and back. Pray that God will pour out HIS SPIRIT on us as never before!

Pray for the salvation of the lost; repentance and renewal in the life of God’s people; new people to become part of our Church Family; the calling out of ministers and missionaries; a spiritual awakening in our area; and, for Jesus Christ to be glorified in all that we do!

Psalm 19:7a

“The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple…”

The Source of Real Revival!

THE great problem facing true churches today is antinomianism!

Anta what?

Antinomianism simply means “against law.”

It is the godless, unbiblical, and wildly popular idea that one can be right with God without being changed from…

A person who hates God and loves sin into

A person who loves God and hates sin!

This is a biblical description of spiritual growth.

This is a picture of what God does in the life of a saved person…

The THING God uses as HIS means in the process of “reviving the soul…” is the Law of the LORD.

The Law of the LORD is the Word of God!

The fastest route to revival is to repent of our disobedience then beginning again to strive at all times to OBEY the Law of the LORD!

Let me say as a general observation that many faithful church people in the dozens and dozens of church with which I am familiar have fallen into this trap.

And, YES, I am an expert in this area because I often fall into this trap.

Disobedience forfeits the blessings of God!

Obedience brings the blessings of God!

REVIVAL comes to the child of God when we realize that we are living careless and disobedient lives; and, we then turn to God in repentance asking forgiveness and renewal.

A return to reading and heeding God’s Word will bring a renewed and refreshed walk with Jesus!

aka: Revival!

It IS the Law of the LORD that revives the soul!

Will we really have revival?

We will soon see!

Carpe Diem!

A Word from THE WORD

Good Morning Happy Church,

Today is Wednesday, February 3^rd, 2016. Today is the 34^th Day of 2016.

There are only 332 days left in this year; and, there are only 67 Days Left until Our Spring Revival Begins!

We will begin the Revival Meetings on Saturday, April 9^th with a Banquet and Sermon at 6pm.

Sunday, April 10^th, we will hear Bro Bobby at 10am and again at 6pm.

Monday and Tuesday, April 11^th and 12, we will hear Bro Bobby at 7pm each night!

Please clear your schedule to attend as many of these meetings as possible. As I often say, “The two things you have to invest to be blessed is your Attendance and your Attention!”

Please be in prayer for Dr. Bobby and Sandra Boyles as they travel here and back.

Pray that God will pour out HIS SPIRIT on us as never before!

Pray for the salvation of the lost; repentance and renewal in the life of God’s people; new people to become part of our Church Family; the calling out of ministers and missionaries; a spiritual awakening in our area; and, for Jesus Christ to be glorified in all that we do!

James 4:8

“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

Devotional Thought for Today… “Revival Verbs!”

I should not be surprised by the verbs (action words) that the LORD often uses in HIS Word to call us to… well, action!

In this oft-quoted verse on revival, James uses three specific verbs to demonstrate the “cause-and-effect” aspect of revival.

(Remember 2^nd Chronicles 7:14… If we will, HE will…)

The first of these verbs is “Draw.”

Why “draw?” Because one of the curses of needing revival is that we sense that we are far away from God.

We are never far away from God, of course, but when we grow cold and stale in our relationship with HIM we certainly feel that way.

Cause-and-effect: we draw near to HIM and HE draws near to us!

The second verb is “Cleanse.”

We live in a spiritually “dirty” and decaying world. All that we touch in this world, especially in the spiritual sense, is dirty and leaves us with unclean hands.

No mystery here.

If something is unclean, don’t touch it! If we have touched the unclean thing, we must cleanse our “hands” by repentance and right living!

The third verb in this verse is “Purify.”

Indeed. Our heart needs to be purified! God calls to be pure in heart – and promises that we will “see God.”

Cf. Matthew 5:8

The “heart” here is speaking of the mind. If we want to experience real revival, we must be people of pure minds.

Our sad condition is clear in this passage… we are “far away” from God; the filth of this world is sticking to us… and our mind is impure.

Sounds bad. It is bad. It means we need revival.

The good news is that if we will… draw near to God, cleanse our hands, and, purify our minds; God will draw near to us and revive us!

Will we really have revival?

We will soon see!

Carpe Diem!

Sermon Starter for Sunday, February 7^th, 2016

Ephesians 2:1-3
¹  “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
²  in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—
³  among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

“How Dead is Dead; and, What can a Dead Man Do?”

As the LORD allows, we will begin our verse-by-verse study of Ephesians Chapter Two this coming LORD’s Day!

I could not be more excited!

It is very likely true that with the two exceptions of John 3 and Romans 10, more people have been led to faith from Ephesians 2 than any other Chapter in the Word of God!

This is also one of the most profoundly theological of all of the Chapters in the Bible…

In the first three verses, we certainly dive into the deep end of the pool!

These verses deal with the “Radical Depravity” and “Spiritual Deadness” of human beings in a way that staggers the mind and dramatically offends our pride.

It rips away what we like to think of ourselves and lays bare who and what we really are before a holy God…

We are, indeed, radically depraved and spiritually dead.

These three verses completely destroy the popular myth of “the sin-sick sinner.”

(Oh to think of the millions of sermons that this Chapter refutes…) including many of my early ones!

Grab a pen and a sheet of paper; read these three verses over and over; write down questions and other thoughts that come to mind.

Beg God to give you wisdom and understanding of what it means to be “radically depraved” and “spiritually dead”.

The biblical doctrine expressed in these verses is extremely unpalatable, but very necessary to understand.

I tremble when I read these verses; and I tremble at the thought of preaching them. I hope you will take time to read these verses over a few times and think very deeply about what God says.

As my dear friend and hero Tom Rains loves to say, “I hope to see you Sunday with your Bible in your hand, a smile on your face, and your family and friends by your side.”

A Word from THE WORD

Good Morning Happy Church,

Today is Tuesday, February 2^nd, 2016. Today is the 33^rd Day of 2016.

Today is Floyd Winings’ Birthday!

There are only 333 days left in this year; and, there are only 68 Days Left until Our Spring Revival Begins!

We will begin the Revival Meetings on Saturday, April 9^th with a Banquet and Sermon at 6pm.

Sunday, April 10^th, we will hear Bro Bobby at 10am and again at 6pm.

Monday and Tuesday, April 11^th and 12, we will hear Bro Bobby at 7pm each night!

Please clear your schedule to attend as many of these meetings as possible. As I often say, “The two things you have to invest to be blessed is your Attendance and your Attention!”

Please be in prayer for Dr. Bobby and Sandra Boyles as they travel here and back. Pray that God will pour out HIS SPIRIT on us as never before!

Pray for the salvation of the lost; repentance and renewal in the life of God’s people; new people to become part of our Church Family; the calling out of ministers and missionaries; a spiritual awakening in our area; and, for Jesus Christ to be glorified in all that we do!

Psalm 51:12-13 (New King James Version)
¹² “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
¹³ Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners shall be converted to You.”

Devotional Thought for Today… “First Revival, then Evangelism!”

While we are certainly praying that God will save people during our Spring Revival services (as we pray for ALL of our worship services) King David’s great prayer of repentance reminds us that effective evangelism is a natural result of personal renewal.

Following his horrific sin with Bathsheba and his confrontation with the Prophet Nathan, David repents and asks the LORD to forgive him, renew him, and use him again to bring the “Good News” of salvation to others!

Such repentance ought to be continual in our life.

Oh, that God would forgive us, revive us, and use us again to bring unsaved and unchurched people into the Family of God!

Psalm 51 is the record of the repentance of a broken, ruined, and truly repentant man; a man who, earlier in his life, God called “a man after My own heart.”

Really good people can do really bad things; and, every follower of Christ continually battles sin and often loses that battle.

So, how on earth could a holy and righteous God use such people to serve as the Ambassadors of HIS Kingdom?

Repentance!

We want our family and friends to know Jesus! We want God to save them and use them in HIS work!

We want to see people saved and changed!

How can that happen?

Remember this… “First Repentance, then Evangelism.”

Will we really have revival?

We will soon see!

Carpe Diem!