Prison Sermon on Pride for December 2016

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

There is a cosmic battle going on, a spiritual warfare between two factions, pride on one side, humility, and meekness on the other.

I decided to teach this lesson by comparing the two factions and giving examples, as well as definitions of each.

My favorite joke is to say my greatest source of pride comes from how humble I am…. But seriously I use this to remind myself that pride can sneak up on you, you have to be very careful around this deadly poison (pride)  that seems to have a mind and purpose of its own, and that is to destroy its victims, for ever and ever and ever…..

I have often wondered about pride, I have talked about it, preached about it, but really what is it? How can I recognize it, know it when I see it? How can taking pride in my work be a sin?

I used to think the old bumper sticker “God is my co-pilot” was a positive thing, a good statement of faith, but what it’s really saying God is taking second place in my affairs, and I am in control of my destiny, this is pride…. No God is the pilot, and I am the flight attendant and my job is serving the others on board while we make this journey….

C.S. Lewis writes, in Mere Christianity, that pride is the “anti-God” state, the position in which the ego and the self are directly opposed to God: “Un-chastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.”

But again, that is confusing, because we have all been taught to be proud of our accomplishments, or take pride in ourselves, family pride, pride of our son’s football team, or our daughters musical talents, or whatever they may be involved in.

How about taking pride in our work, meaning to do a good job, create a good product, and etc.

What about humility or being meek? Are these just other words for weakness? This is what I discovered:

Hubris

This is the type of pride C.S. Lewis is speaking of:

Hubris was a character flaw often seen in the heroes of classical Greek tragedy and The familiar old saying “Pride goeth before a fall” is basically talking about hubris.

In ancient Greek, hubris referred to actions that shamed and humiliated the victim for the pleasure or gratification of the abuser. The term had a strong sexual connotation, and the shame reflected on the perpetrator as well.  Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

Definition of Hubris by Aristotle

From his book “Rhetoric”

“Hubris consists in doing and saying things that cause shame to the victim…simply for the pleasure of it. Retaliation is not hubris, but revenge. … Young men and the rich are hubristic because they think they are better than other people.”

Aristotle thus believed that people indulge in crimes like sexual misconduct and maltreating others only to fulfill their basic desire to make themselves feel superior to others.

A couple of examples:

Paradise Lost

In his famous epic “Paradise Lost”, Milton portrays “Satan” as a character that suffers from Hubris. He loses his glorious position through giving in to his excessive pride. It was his Hubris that made him try to take control over Heaven. Although he failed miserably, his pride lasts:

“Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav’n.”

The reason of his desire to rebel against his creator originates from his reluctance to accept the authority of God and His Son because he believed that angels are” self-begot, self-raised” and hence bringing his downfall in being thrown out of Paradise.

How often have we heard men boast “I am my own man” or how about that song by Frank Sinatra, and Elvis Presley…. I did it my way?

A good example of making God the co-pilot, second in command rather than first in their lives.

Doctor Faustus

An instance of Hubris can be spotted in Marlowe’s “Doctor Faustus”. Faustus’s arrogance and extreme pride in his scholarship and his irresistible desire to become superior to all other men of his age forces him to sell his soul to “Lucifer” by signing a contract with his blood. He learns the art of black magic and defies Christianity. Finally, he must pay for his arrogance and pride. The devils take away his soul to Hell and he suffers eternal damnation.

Let’s look at the other side of this cosmic battle….

What is the opposite of hubris?

Meekness and Humility

God’s Cure for Pride, Haughtiness, and Egotism

Two men came to lead their people; first Moses to lead the Jews out of Egypt, and then Christ to lead all men out of captivity.

Both men, came, gave up comfort, and lived by, and taught us God’s will.

Numbers 12:3 – Moses was very meek, above all men on face of the earth.

Matthew 11:29,30 – Jesus said, “I am meek and lowly in heart.”

These men were two of the greatest characters who ever lived. God chose both to be givers of His law. Jesus was the Divine Son of God. Surely, we should seek to be like these men.

Other verses emphasize the importance of these qualities

Matthew 5:5 – Blessed are the meek (gentle – NKJV), for they shall inherit the earth. Jesus declares a “blessing” (happiness) on those who are meek.

Galatians 5:22,23 – Meekness is one of the characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit – qualities that we must possess if the Spirit leads us.

Definition: Meekness

This is a difficult word to understand, because we think “meek” implies weakness. Sometimes it is translated (NKJV) “gentleness,” but that also implies weakness.

The best way to know the meaning of a word is to study passages where it is used. As we do, we will see meekness is an attitude or quality of heart [1 Peter 3:4] whereby a person willingly accepts and submits without resistance to the will and desires of someone else.

The meek person is not self-willed – not continually concerned with self, his own ways, ideas, and wishes. He is willing to put himself in second place and submit himself to achieve what is good for others.

Meekness is the opposite of self-will, self-interest, and self-assertiveness.

This is a sign, not of weakness of character (as some think), but of strength. It requires great self-control to submit to others.

Think about it, we are born with only one thought, self, we know nothing of the outside world, the only thing we know is that if we are uncomfortable, or hungry we cry, because things are simply not going our way….

The job of the parent is to teach the child, to speak, walk, read, write, but more importantly to look to others, to put their needs and desires ahead of their own.

Jody’s focus when we teach a Sunday school class of little ones, is teaching them to share.

Our instinct is to gather for ourselves, work a job so we can have money to spend on ourselves. Not for others.  So, we must resist our natural instinct to be meek, and that takes great strength of character.

Meekness is what we must possess to fulfill the greatest commandant, to love God with all our hearts, minds, and souls, as well as the  2^nd greatest commandment to love each other, and by this men will know we are Christians…. Love is agape…. To put the others needs ahead of your own.   Fits perfectly doesn’t it?

Matthew 22:37-40  37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is  the  first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

“DYING TO SELF”

by Dr. D. W. Ekstrand

The world’s philosophy says LIVE FOR SELF… but God’s Word says DIE TO SELF!  Many people came to Jesus and asked to be His disciples, but most of them turned away because they were not willing to give themselves to Christ; i.e., make themselves a “slave of Christ” (Lk 14:26, 33; 16:13; Rom 12:1; 1 Cor 6:19-20; 1 Pet 1:18-19). Jesus said, “He who loves his father or mother or himself more than Me, he is not worthy of Me” (Mt 10:37-39). Thus Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal 2:20).

The essence of a being’s “existence” has to do with the fact that he is a “living reality” — if one no longer has or the functions of vitality, they are said to “no longer exist.” So, the essence of “death” is the absence of “life” – therefore when one dies “one ceases to exist.”

To carry the argument into the spiritual realm, when someone “spiritually dies    to self,” self ceases to exist – that is, SELF IS NO LONGER THE REASON FOR ONE’S EXISTENCE. 

As such, the individual is no longer concerned with “his own will or happiness,” because he is no longer in the picture… he is         no longer the center of his own little universe… he no longer continues to arrange the world around himself.

The individual who “dies to self” understands that God created him for a reason; that he is a part of God’s plan for the world. To be used of God one must understand the essence of who he now really is, and how it is that God can use him.

Every genuine child of God wants to be used by God to accomplish His purposes in the world

Jesus said, “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples” (Jn 15:8).

That is the essence of God’s plan – we are saved to bear fruit; created in Christ Jesus for good works (Eph 2:10).

We bear fruit when Christ lives His life in and through us (Jn 15:5; Gal 2:20). The apostle Paul said, “For me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil 1:21). The Lord wants us to live a godly and spiritually productive happy life.

Definition: Humility

This is an attitude or quality of mind [Acts 20:19] whereby a person holds low esteem or opinion of his own goodness and importance. Spiritually, one abases himself because he realizes his sinfulness and therefore he is willing to depend on God to meet His needs. It is the opposite of pride, haughtiness, and self-exaltation.

The goal of death to self and daily cross-bearing is “fellowship with Christ.” The goal of life for the believer is to “seek God” and make Him their all in all, their last end.

Jeff Alexander suggests the following five ways that we embrace the cross (www.cause-of-god.com) —

Humiliation – This is the essence of the Christ-life. Here God uses reproaches, abuse, poverty, loneliness, persecution, distress, seeming failure, disappointments, and the like. These things succeed when they cause us to lose our own will and let God take charge.

Rejecting the praise of men – Self thrives on praise and adulation; self-esteem is the hotbed of the self-life.

Embracing simplicity and child-likeness – Self feeds on things grand and glorious; Christ-likeness is child-like and simple.

Living by pure faith – Self depends on outward assurances; living by pure faith trusts the Word of God even when there is no indication of God’s presence or blessing.

Seeking our nothingness and His all-ness – We must make a daily habit to distrust ourselves, our own wisdom, and our strength, and look to Christ alone for what we need.

Now, let me offer a few examples of those who have displayed amazing humility and meekness: This is a story given to us by our pulpit preacher Mitch Wilburn a couple of weeks ago…

Michael W Smith met with Billy Graham for the purpose of planning Rev. Graham’s funeral. The famous evangelist was, at the time, 94 years old. He was confined to a wheelchair, on oxygen. His mind was sharp and spirits were high. But his body was seeing its final days. So he called for Michael. And he called for his pastor. He wanted to discuss his funeral. He told them that he had a request.

“Of course,” they said. “Anything you want. What is it?”

“It has to do with the funeral…”

“You cannot mention my name.  Just mention the name of Jesus.”

Billy Graham has preached to over a billion people. He has filled stadiums on every continent. He has advised every president of the last half century. He has consistently been at the top of every most-admired list. Yet, he wants to be unmentioned at his own funeral.

Mother Teresa was a teacher in a school in India, and all her needs were met in the convent where she lived.

However, she chose to give up her life in that convent to live with the poorest of the poor on the streets of Calcutta, taking care of the very sick and dying. She took care of people with whom no one else wanted to bother.

The Missionaries of Charity is the name of the religious order Mother Teresa started. Women who join this order give up their possessions and live a life of great simplicity. When they find people dying in the streets and the slums, they take them into their hospitals, clean them up, give them medical care, and if they cannot recover, provide a clean and sanitary place to die with dignity.

I have often stated my real hero is not the mother Teresa’s of the world, who are fine examples of humility, but the humble little nurse/ nun who gives up all her life, her happiness in a worldly sense, live among the poorest of the poor by choice, and we never even know their name. They live and die for others, without recognition, without glory or honor, they just do the work.

That is above most of us, certainly for me.

We should start each day with a prayer, and self examination. Starting the day with the prayer, and then with the determination that we will die to self this day, we will put all others first. And then at night, praying for forgiveness of our failure, examine those failures, what could we have done differently this day?

That is a form of dying to self, just having the goal, and working on it daily, and each day we will move a little closer to accomplishing that goal.

Thank you for having me, I pray we all go in peace and as we start the New Year, that we all are determined to move closer to being meek and humble:

I think we can see the difference, the two sides of the story are glaringly obvious now. We can recognize the prosperity preaching is not real teaching, at least Christian teaching, we don’t need self-help guides, we only need Christ, to die to ourselves is Christ, the greatest gain, the greatest of all victories.

SOME THINGS WE HEAR

Why do you waste your time? – It’s just jail house religion – We will never see them in church – Sure, they will listen, a captive audience! – It’s casting pearls before pigs – Just lock them up and throw away the key.

A THOUGHT

I hope it never happens to you!! If and when a family has a loved one arrested, it is amazing how suddenly their attitude change. PRISON MINISTRY IS WELL WORTH THE TIME, ENERGY AND MONEY. I could put a list together of men and women whose lives were changed by the power of the Gospel. And later were released and have done very well. The list would include ministers, missionaries, elders, deacons, Bible School teachers, song leaders, prison ministers, just good hard working members of the Lords Church, etc.

One out of every 31 citizens in the US is part if the criminal justice system. Either locked up or on parole, or probation etc. If you add chemical addiction to the equation, one in every three is affected. On the average one out of every two families are affected. It costs between $25,000 – $40,000 per inmate per year. We don’t always succeed in turning a prisoner into a faithful and fervent church member. However, he or she may leave prison and stop drugging, drinking, stealing, and beating his wife and or kids. HOW MUCH IS THIS WORTH? We must remember the value of one soul yanked away from Satan.

The spiritual growth process is simple: we plant and water and God does the rest. A willing few go behind the bars while many others send by praying and sending financial support to them. Thank you for your prayers and support. We could not do what we do without your prayers and support. GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME!!!! ALL THE TIME GOD IS GOOD!!!

6TH GRADUATION FROM FAITH AND CHARACTER BASED UNIT.

This unit is made up of believers in Christ. They spend there time in Bible and Life Skill classes for one and one half years. I have had the privilege to teach in this unit for several years. I have seen many men change there lives because of this teaching. Of the ones that graduate less than ten percent ever go back to prison as an inmate. The rate of all inmates is about 80 percent are back within 3 years. We graduated 25 men on Friday December 9, 2016. What a blessing to get to witness the change in these men because of the word of God.

Thank you from the bottom of our heart.

From all the jail and prison workers Jim Pinkston, Senior Prison Minister

Tulsa County Jail. Jim Pinkston, Francisco Davila and Zeth Parkhurst teach the men. Several ladies go to the women’s pods every Thursday and Friday for the last four years, to teach. Zeth is teaching with Jim each Wednesday and teaching the hearing impaired. We have baptized 398 of our students this year.

Back to the ladies: We have ladies teaching in all three ladies pods at Tulsa County Jail each week. They rotate lessons every thirteen weeks. Carol Siling, Elaine Russell, and Theresa Hawkins teach. Jody Gilkey was teaching but her job schedule is preventing her at this time but hopes to return soon. Elaine is the coordinator for the women. Many ladies are being changed by the Gospel because of these ladies.

Dick Connors Correctional Center. Jim Pinkston teaches NLB Lessons and CASA (Christians Against Substance Abuse). He also teaches in the faith based unit and preaches there four evenings each month. Jim Carmichael teaches every Monday morning and for the next three months also on Thursdays and preaches one night per month. Elaine Russell, Jim’s wife Jean, Jim & Jody Carmichael, Patrick Murphy, and Beverly Bennett help and Booker leads singing when he can. We go to the Minimum Security unit on the first and forth Sunday nights for services and to the Medium Security (behind the walls) on the first and third Tuesday nights for services.

Correspondence. 40 packages of 6 to 7 lessons mailed to many prisons in Oklahoma. Every two weeks = 260 lessons x 2 = 520 per month or 6,240 per year. Many of these are people we studied with at Tulsa and Creek County Jail and have gone on to prison or were transferred from one prison to another. This is one way we keep up with our students as they are moved from prison to prison. Elaine Russell & Carol Siling sends lessons to ladies who were former students at Tulsa County Jail who have gone to a prison or gone home. On the second and fourth Tuesdays evenings we have a group that meets to grade and get these lessons ready to mail.

John H. Lilly Correctional Center. Bryan Campbell is doing Celebrate Recovery every Saturday.

Creek Co. Jail . David Stikes is preparing to start teaching there again in January.

Re-entry program. (Hope City) It houses five men at this time. Randy Milam is the onsite manager. We have the space for five. Two units are being remodeled to where it can handle seven. We also have a RV that is being plumed at this time to where it can house one, making the total eight. One of these men (Bryan Campbell) has been trained to go into the prisons and be a full time teacher. He leads a C.R. group there each Saturday.

In the last three years over twenty men have been helped and are closer to Jesus because of the Hope City ministry. Two of these men have their own businesses today and employ several ex-offenders.

Advisory Board. The board is made up of eight men: James Ivy,(deacon over ministry) Ken Williams, Steve Stade, Scott Blackwell, Gary Medley, Mark Clayton, Randy Milam and Kevin Neiman. Jim is the recruiter for the applicants. The board decides who is approved to enter the reentry program. They go by a set of guidelines approved by the Elders. The board also oversees the operation of the program.

Rogers County Jail Mike Hawkins started a great jail ministry a few months ago and has been very successful teaching there. God just keeps growing this ministry along with the others.

Future Plans. To continue with the programs that are now successful and just see where God leads us in 2016.

This ministry was started by Terry Finch and James Ivy in 2009, Jim Pinkston came aboard in 2010 part time for 2 years then full time.

Baptisms from this work

2010 94

2011 109

2012 139

2013 259

2014 406

2015 382

2016 398

Total 1787 Since 2010 That we know of.

To put this in perspective, 1787 would more than fill first & second service at Park Central.

Impossible without your support.

“Jesus did it!!!”

Jody doesn’t share her thoughts very often, but today she has something to say:

Our God is an awesome God! Our country is a Christian nation! Our election is celebrated!

America was founded on three documents: The Declaration of Independence; The Paris Peace Treaty of 1783, and the Constitution. These documents give conclusive proof that America is a Christian nation. One does not need a law degree or a degree in history to grasp this truth. It is obvious to anyone who does not have an agenda. Let us review the documents and show this proof.

Suggestions for President Trump:

Abolish the Supreme Court. We do not need them, we each have our own State Supreme Courts,  and the US Supreme Court has followed Obama’s lead in making laws, without authority to do so.

Why was the Supreme Court created?

Although the Constitution establishes the Supreme Court, it permits Congress to decide how to organize it. Congress first exercised this power in the Judiciary Act of 1789. This Act created a Supreme Court with six justices. It also established the lower federal court system.

The Supreme Court was constructed to adjudicate law for specific cases, mostly disputes among states or situations in which the United States is a party. The high court was assuredly never meant to override law or overturn state law, and even the proponents of judicial review in the ratification conventions never explained this power in relation to overturning state law. How can I assert this with certainty? Because the Constitution’s biggest proponents assured us of this. The proof lies in the states, where the Constitution was defended against some of the most compelling attacks by the Brutus Writings, Patrick Henry, and other powerful voices of opposition.

Abolish the IRS. They also have violated the Constitution in acting on behalf of the Liberals.

16th Amendment: The American people were told that the income tax provision would apply only to the top one percent of wage earners, and would sock them with a one percent tax on income. The rest of America – you know, the ones who had to vote for this thing – were told we would be left alone. None of this would apply to us.

Prior to the passage of the 16th Amendment, virtually the sole source of income to the federal government came from tariffs collected on imported goods. That itself was a profound limitation on the size and reach of the federal government. In 1910, for instance, the budget for the entire federal government was $1.042 billion. You read that right. The entire federal budget in 1910 was one billion dollars.

Withdraw from the United Nations, it is a joke, and it will fall when our funding is gone.

U.S. Funding of the U.N. System

The U.S. has been the largest financial supporter of the U.N. since the organization’s founding in 1945. The U.S. is currently assessed 22 percent of the U.N. regular budget and more than 27 percent of the U.N. peacekeeping budget. In dollar terms, the Administration’s budget for FY 2011 requested $516.3 million for the U.N. regular budget and more than $2.182 billion for the peacekeeping budget.

Assist California in seceding from our great Christian nation, but include sanctions of any trade with  them, which will bankrupt them. This will cleanse our country of the filth inflicted on our children from Hollywood.

The huge majority of professional pornography is generated in California – Los Angeles, to be exact. Some estimates say that 90% of all porn is shot in the San Fernando Valley.

All states will gladly accept any Christian refugees who choose to flee California.

Deport the protesters to California, where they can be taken under the wing of the Hollywood elite, at least, until their funds run out.

The ACLU should be exclusive to California, banned from all courts in our Christian Nation.

Maybe the professional politicians can relocate to California, and with their amazing acting skills,  they can compete with the most successful, famous Hollywood stars, until their funds run out…

Hillary can either be President of California, or further pursue her acting career.

It is amazing to me to see the great concern the radical liberals have for the environment and animals, yet eagerly promote homosexuality and abortion.

Romans 1:25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

Genesis 2:24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

Leviticus 20:13 If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.

They will soon find themselves on the extinct list without ability to reproduce, as God intended with us, His creation.

I believe America has received a reprieve from completely sliding into the abyss of perversion. And, we have been spared the wrath of God for our sins.  We have had people in office, running our country that do not adhere to God’s law first, they do not honor Him nor His precepts, and have made shambles of the Christian Character of America.

We have lost the respect of the world, but more importantly we are falling from God’s grace, as we as a nation have been turning our backs on Him.

We have a very weakened military, the economy is in the worst shape it has been in for decades, children are no longer allowed to pray in school let alone study the word, and teaching the word in school has been so far removed that people have lost memory of it. The government with the permission and even encouragement from the people have allowed for marriage consisting of a deviated sexual life style and attempting to pass it off as normal as traditional marriage. We have legally murdered 60 million babies since 1973 after we somehow decided God’s commandment of “Do Not Murder” didn’t apply to us.  Our daughters have been left unprotected from sexual deviates that are now allowed to choose which gender they are for the moment, and may enter without risk of persecution, any lady’s restroom they choose. We can’t even obtain decent health insurance for our families.

I believe we have been given a second chance due to all the prayers offered to God, begging for that chance.

But what does that mean? Do we just continue with business as usual hoping the good folks who have wondered from their Christian training will somehow change their minds and return to solid Christian values?

I see three things that we need to take control of immediately:

1. Return the power of government to the states through the convention of states now be formulated.
2. Return the education of school children to the church. Bring in your foreign missionaries, let them teach American children, bringing them up in the word of God with the overwhelming evidences of God existence… no more teaching of “bible stories”  but biblical reliable history, proving to them the bible is the word of God, by proving to them there is no other choice.
3. Take whatever means possible to stop the mass genocide of unborn children. Picketing abortion clinics, educating the young, pursuing legal measures, and bombarding the government with demands to cease the horrendous criminal activity hidden behind the false curtain of “women’s health” regardless of the child’s health.

Transcript of the September 2016 Prison Sermon by Jim Carmichael

Grace be to God that I am able to stand before you this evening and share His word with you.  

if you possess a certain level of common sense, once something is proven to you to be true beyond a shadow of a doubt,

especially when it concerns your eternal well-being, seeking that truth should become a passion in your life.

The bible gives us an example of just how strong that passion should be:

Psalm 42:1 (For the choir director. A Maskil of the sons of Korah.) As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; When shall I come and appear before God?…

Genesis 2: 7 Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. God is life, and He imparted life to us, now think how much you would desire that breath of life if you were drowning.

This should be our goal, to seek God with this kind of overwhelming passion.

But we can’t just choose to, at least I couldn’t, we have to have a conviction, a true ironclad conviction that God does exist, and did create the world.

 Let me define Science;            Science means knowledge.

There are two forms of science

There is true science we call observable science. WE call it true because we can see evidence of it.

We can see the result of a thing happening, such as arriving upon an accident about 5 minutes after it occurred. We didn’t see the accident, but we see two cars smashed together and can safely assume there was indeed a car accident because it is based upon observable evidence.

On the other hand, we have false science, or pseudo-science, more commonly known as scientific theory.

Now pseudo-science would be like saying, I believe an accident has occurred here, even though there are no witnesses, no wreckage, and no real reason to think so.

There is no way to prove scientific theory, because there are no witnesses, and no evidence, and in fact may even contradict real science.

We can go back to the accident, and instead of thinking an accident had occurred we would try to convince people that what appeared to be an accident was actually just an act of nature, both wrecked cars just developed through time. That would be contrary to observable evidence, wouldn’t it?

That is precisely what the theory of evolution attempts to do with observable evidence of creation, even though all the evidence points towards creation, the evolutionist wants to tell us even though it appears to be creation, it really just occurred through small mutations over millions of years.

 How can we know the bible is truly inspired by God? And, can it possibly be proven?

The answer is; God gave us two witnesses to this fact, many years before they could stand as witnesses.

The prophesies, which is man making predictions of future events of which they could not have had any knowledge of in advance, no way of knowing what or why they were predicting it, all they knew was God was telling them to write it down, and they did.

The second was having them write what would become observable science/ knowledge thousands of years in advance. They were writing things they could have had no idea of what it meant, and no man could have until recent years with the development of technology, and true science.

These are our two witnesses that offer us testimony to the fact that God must have told them what to write, and they did, it had to be the inspired word of God, there is simply no other option.

I normally do not study prophesies concerning end-time events, however I do want to look at a couple of those prophesies.

1 Timothy 6:20 warns us of a false doctrine, and false teachers stating that those would come who would profess profanity and idle babblings that actually contradict true, or observable science/ knowledge.

 That time has come, and a great delusion has swept the earth which was also predicted

2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Today a great lie has covered the earth, the theory of evolution which contradicts observable evidence, yet is taught worldwide as fact, and many just accept this without investigation.

There are only two options on how we came to exist: Either through evolution, or creation.

There can only be one absolute truth regarding the beginning, not two. One is supported by observable evidence the other is not.

Did it ever occur to you that if we can prove just one fact that had to come from God, that is all that required to “prove” His existence, but I will tell you now, He has given us a thousand ways, and the theory of evolution has given us none, yet people flock to it.

Why, for evolution eliminates the need for Christ, there is nothing to be forgiven for, we just developed this way, there is nothing after this life, no hell that burns forever.

The problem with that idea is that you might not believe a bus is barreling down on you when in reality it is, but if you don’t move, believe it or not, you are going to be squashed.

Whether you believe in hell or not, if you do not accept the truth, with a passion and live by it, and teach it to others, you will be hit by it, and there will be no recourse, and it will continue forever.

I would like to explain something to you, we have all kinds of proof that creation is the only answer, from the study of the cosmos, the earth, and the human body. We use these facts very often in an attempt to “prove” creation, but at each and every turn, at every example those who believe in the lie will have a counter, and generally it will be “given enough time” and all things could have occurred by chance.

So what is the answer? Using these facts as the observable science, the true knowledge, that even the atheist will not refute… for it is science… observable science and compare it to the bible in order to verify the bible is in line with that same observable science.

So where does the proof lie?

When we can demonstrate the bible stated the observable facts long before they were observable, information given to man before he would have had any idea of why he was writing it, then we are establishing a higher power must have been in play, and we are going to look at a few examples of this evidence this evening.

The earth was designed for biological life. (Isaiah 45:18) Isaiah 45:18 For thus says the Lord, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited: “I am the Lord, and there is no other.

Scientist have discovered that the most fundamental characteristics of our earth and cosmos are so finely tuned that if just one of them were even slightly different, life as we know it couldn’t exist. This is called the Anthropic Principle and it agrees with the Bible which states that God formed the earth to be inhabited.

I hope you see the connection, God created the earth to be inhabited, and it is so finely tuned that life couldn’t have existed as we know it without the fine tuning.

Let’s go to Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth.

Satan just adds two words, In the beginning God did not create the heavens and Earth.

Just as he only changed one word in the Garden, he caused the fall of man, he now changes two words, and hopes to seal our fate… eternity in the lake of fire with him and his demons.

In the beginning God revealed Himself to early man. It was obvious enough that He told them to write, and they wrote without question, writing things they had no idea of their meaning.

So let’s take a look at them and see if they agree with observable science.

God told them in Genesis 1: 14-16 That He had created the lights in the heavens for signs, seasons, days and years. We know now that it takes one full year of time for the earth to make one trip around the Sun, and during that year the seasons changed due to their position in relationship to the Sun. The phases of the moon follow one another with clock like precision constituting the lunar calendar, and in Job 38:12,14 The picture here is of a clay vessel being turned or rotated upon the potter’s wheel – an accurate analogy of the earth’s rotation. Luke 17:34-36 says the second coming of Jesus Christ will occur while some are asleep at night, and others are working at daytime activities in the field. This is another clear indication of a revolving earth, with day and night occurring at the same time. And, here is your first example of the bible agreeing with observable science.

Now, we have covered the seasons, the day’s, the year, and even the calendar with the earth tuning on its axis, but what about that first reason given for those lights? For signs. Now many think this has to do with astrology, but God commands us not to use the stars for predicting the future Isaiah 47:13 “You are wearied with your many counsels; let them stand forth and save you, those who divide the heavens, who gaze at the stars, who at the new moons make known what shall come upon you.”,

yet He gave them as signs, so what could those signs be for?

Dan 12:4  But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

Increased when? In the end. Do we have a great increase in knowledge now?

This verse is a great witness to the fact that God has concealed the meaning of this book until the “time of the end”.  To “shut up” means to hide, keep secret or conceal.  This is a common methodology of God found throughout the Bible.  God has hidden information for us to find.   This information is revealed by the Spirit of God at the proper time.  For some scriptures it was during the time of the Apostles and Paul when God revealed vast amounts of new revelation.  But, it is also for our time based upon this verse in Daniel, that we live in right now.

So I want to go over this really quickly, in the beginning God revealed Himself to early man, a burning bush, To Noah on how to build the Ark (by the way, the dimensions of the ark turned out to be the perfect dimensions for large sea going cargo vessels, one of those revealed scientific facts) To Moses, with his ten plagues, parting of the red sea.

Later with Christ revealing Himself as God in the flesh performing miracles of healing and raising the dead, and rising from the dead Himself.

And now us, He is revealing Himself with this great increase of knowledge, so we can know and recognize Him. So we can accept Him, so we can have our witness, in order to gain eternal life.

the new technology has revealed many things in scripture that proves it to be in accordance with observable science.

Let’s go a little further. These lights in the heaven are stars; In Genesis 17:22 and Hebrews 11:12 God states that the stars are comparable to the sands of the sea. Modern day scientist estimates the number of stars as very comparable to the number of pebbles of sand on the sea shore.

In Jeremiah 33:22 God says they are incalculable. At a time when less than 5,000 stars were visible to the human eye, God stated they were incalculable. It was not until the 17^th century that Galileo invented the telescope and got a glimpse into the immensity of our universe, today astronomers estimate that there are 10,000 billion trillion stars (that’s a 1 with 25 “0”’s following it), and as the bible states, they also say this estimate might be “woefully” inadequate.

The bible agrees with observable science. Although the number of stars are immense, and incalculable the scientists state that the number is finite, which also agrees with the bible which states that in Isaiah 40:26, and in Psalms 147:4 God counts them and calls them by name… we serve an awesome God.

In Job 38: 31 The Pleiades and Orion star clusters are described. The Pleiades star cluster is bound gravitationally while the Orion star cluster is loose and disintegrating, the clusters gravity isn’t strong enough to hold the group together, yet God asked Job 4,000 years ago” Can you bind the cluster of Pleiades, or loose the belt of Orion?” Yet, it is only recently that we realized that the Pleiades is gravitationally bound, but Orion’s stars are flying apart.

Let’s look at a star very familiar to us… The Sun… goes in a circuit. We found this in Palms 19:6. Some scientist scoffed at this verse thinking it taught geocentricity, that the Sun traveled around the Earth, and insisted the Sun was stationary, yet we now know that the Sun travels through space at 600,000 miles per hour. It is literally moving through a huge circuit in space, just as the bible stated 3,000 years ago.

 Of course what do stars do? Provide light, so….

Let’s go a little further, 4000 years ago God declared that light had its way in Job 38:19. In the original language the word used here was Derrick, which means road or path, and more accurately a road or path traveled. Job wrote this at a time when it was thought that light traveled instantaneously, we now know that light is a form of energy that travels at 186,000 miles a second in a straight line, and as the bible says, in complete agreement with observable science, light has its way.

And moving to Job 38:24 the bible states that light can be divided, and it wasn’t until about 400 years ago that Sir Isaac Newton decided to study light and discovered that white light was made of 7 colors that could be divided, and then reunited. Science confirmed this 400 years ago, but God declared it 4 millennia ago.

Let’s wrap this up with one more example, staying in Job 38, going to verse 35 God says light can be sent, and then manifest itself in speech. We now know that light waves and radio waves are merely two forms of the same thing, electromagnetic waves. Therefore, radio waves are merely a form of light, and by using a radio transmitter, we can send lightening’s, and they will indeed manifest themselves in speech.

As should be obvious, these are things that could have only been known by God when they were written, and they have been revealed to us in these days of increased knowledge, and written at an earlier time so we could confirm the truth of God.

We lived in a blessed time.  There are app 2,500 predictions of the future in the bible almost all fulfilled except for a few end-time prophesies, and hundreds of these scientific facts proving the bible lines up perfectly with observable science.

We didn’t even touch the tip of the preverbal iceberg… it’s an exciting journey for anyone who decides to take it… it gives you an iron clad faith, which will instill in you a passion for seeking God and his truth.

So, you can have your witnesses, your two witnesses of the end times, and you can know you live in the final days. God’s word is provable, and by that fact we know trustworthy to be true, every word…. And the increase in knowledge, the description that covers the earth, all tell us we are in the end days… the very end days.

Now I am going to wrap this up with two more verses: To me the two scariest verses in the Bible.

Revelation 3:15 -17 15I   know your deeds; you are neither cold nor hot. How I wish you were one or the other. 16 So because you are lukewarm — neither hot nor cold — I am about to spit you out of My mouth! 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have grown wealthy and need nothing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.…

James 1: 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

Studying apologetics, becoming a student of it, along with solid biblical knowledge will give you an ironclad faith, that faith will cause a passion in you to share the word with everyone who will listen.

And, you will have an unstoppable power to defend the word against the most aggressive atheist that might attack you.

So why are we studying this? Because many people have no idea of the truth of the scripture. They have had no background training, and all they have heard that bible is just a bunch of nonsense, full of lies, because they have been taught evolution is the true answer for the reason we are here.

They have been deceived. If not taught the true knowledge, they face an eternity in damnation, and if only for a teacher they could have eternal life.

Let’s be that teacher. We have to defend the bible, and from what? From the ignorance of the world that now believes in the theory, the pseudo-science of evolution, and to do that we must have solid, honest, provable information.  Thank you for your time.

Tulsa County Jail.

On Pace to deliver 5,000 Classroom lessons this year into David L. Moss or Tulsa Co. Jail.

Jim Pinkston & Francisco Davila teach the men.

Ron Babbet teaches with us men when his schedule allows.

Four ladies go to the women’s pods every Friday for the last two and one half years, to teach.  Elaine Russell, Carol Siling, Teresa Hawkins and Alison Valentine. Two more ladies, Lori Varnell & Jan Upton, have taken the training and are waiting to get their badges.

Jody Gilkey has moved back to Tulsa and has started back at the jail with the ladies. We have just received permission to teach in the third POD #18 on Thursday afternoons. This will have us teaching in all the lady pods.

Carl Moore and Zeth Parkhurst have finished the training and have received their badges. They will be able to teach the hearing impaired.

On October 10, 2015 over 200 inmates were baptized at DLM. 105 were the students of the Park Plaza Prison Ministry.

Bill Hamrick, Ron Hass and Ralph Hunter Church of Christ preachers also go into DLM between us all the men’s pods are visited each week. In

December Park teachers baptized 64, and March 2016;  85 more.

Creek Co. Jail

is a new work started by Terry. He takes Celebrate Recovery into the jail every Monday and on Friday afternoon New Life Behavior.  Due to this ministry going into Creek County, The inmates there studied salvation and 107 were baptized into Christ. Over 20 of these are Terry’s students.  The last time Creek held baptisms was 5 years prior to these. David Stikes now has his badge and is teaching there.

John H. Lilly Correctional Center.

Terry teaches New Life Behavior, Thinking for a change, and sponsors Celebrate Recovery. He is also the Assistant Chaplin. Roger Bentley has received his training and got his badge and has started helping Terry at John Lilly. John Ulrich is helping on Saturdays with CR. On Wednesday April 13, 2016 Terry baptized two men into Christ.

Dick Connors Correctional Center.

Jim has worked there since 1990. Elaine started a couple of years later.

Jim teaches NLB Lessons and CASA.  He also teaches in the faith based unit and preaches there four evenings each month. Tuesday night Oct.20, 2015 one inmate was baptized during the service the Park Plaza Prison Ministry did.

On November 4 another young man was baptized into Christ.

Jim and Jody Carmichael, Elaine Russell help and Booker leads singing when he can.

Jim’s (Pinkston) wife Jean now has her badge and is going with the group to the services there. So far this year we have had four baptisms there.

Correspondence.

35 packages of 6 to 7 lessons mailed to many prisons in Oklahoma.  Every two weeks = 228 lessons x 2 = 456 per month or 5,472 per year.  We have several helpers that show up every other Tuesday night to grade all of these and get them ready to mail. Many of these are people we studied with at Tulsa and Creek County Jail and have gone on to prison. This is one way we keep up with them.

Re-entry program.

(Hope City) It houses four men at this time.  Randy Milam is the onsite manager.  We have the space for five.  Two units are being remodeled to where it can handle seven.  We also have a RV that is being plumed at this time to where it can house one making the total eight.

One of these men (Bryan Campbell) is being trained to go into the prisons and be a full time minister like Jim Pinkston and Terry Finch.  He has a degree in bible and masters in drug & alcohol counseling.

Through the ministry he was funded for these while incarcerated.  He will receive his badge in January. In the last year and one half over twenty men have been helped and are closer to Jesus because of this great ministry. Two of these men have their own business today and employ several ex-offenders.

Advisory Board. 

The board is made up of eight men.  James Ivy, Ken Williams, Steve Stade, Scott Blackwell, Gary Medley, Mark Clayton, Randy Milam and Kevin Neiman.  Jim & Terry are the recruiters for the applicants.  The board decides who is approved to enter the reentry program.  They go by a set of guidelines approved by the Elders. The board also oversees the operation of the program.

Future Plans.

To continue with the programs that are now being successful and just see where God leads us in 2016.

Baptisms from this work

2010                            94

2011                            109

2012                            139

2013                            259

2014                            406

2015                            382

2016 Jan Tulsa County 56 March Tulsa County 85 As of April 1 2016 Dick Connors 6 John Lilley At Boley 7. = 154 So Far in 2016

Total                          1543 Since 2010 That we know of.

To put this in perspective, 1543 would more than fill first & second service at Park Central. 

Impossible without your support.

“Jesus did it!!!”

THOSE WHO GO FOR SERVICES

 AT THE DIFFERENT PLACES

Jim Pinkston

Terry Finch  

Elaine Russell

Booker Murphy

Jerona Robey

Jim & Jody Carmichael

Francisco Davila

Carol Siling

Teresa Hawkins

Alison Valentine

Jody Gilkey

NEW WORKS FOR 2016

Tulsa County Jail

Carl Moore & Zeth Parkhurst  have finished their training and will soon receive their badges. They will be teaching the hearing impaired at Tulsa County Jail.

Lori Varnell & Jan Upton have finished their training and will soon receive their badges. They will be teaching the ladies with the other Park Plaza ladies at Tulsa County Jail.

Creek County Jail

David Stikes & Jody Gilkey will soon receive their training and receive their badges and start teaching at the Jail.

JOHN H. LILLY CORRECTIONAL CENTER

Roger Bentley, Brian Campbell and John Ulrich will receive their badges and start teaching at this prison with Terry.

Dick Connors Correctional Center

Jim Pinkston has started teaching in the Faith Based Unit. This is a program where every inmate in the unit is a believer in God. The men stay in this unit for eighteen months and spend there time studying Gods word.

Jim’s wife Jean is getting her badge and will start going to Dick Connors with the group soon.

Jim Carmichael will start teaching Apologetics the first Monday of April. That is how to defend the Christian Faith.

HOMINY PRISON MISSION

NEWLIFE BEHAVIOR MINISTRIES

PO BOX 326  HOMINY, OK 74035

 MARCH 22, 2016

The Fear Factor

The goal of evangelism is to lead a person to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. The goal of apologetics should be the same. So what is the difference between the two? In summary, apologetics is a distinct but inseparable part of evangelism.

Evangelism is concerned with the presentation of the gospel, and the methods used to do so. Apologetics is concerned with answering objections to the gospel, clearing away obstacles, and commending the Christian faith as the only legitimate answer to man’s predicament.

Imagine an All Wheel Drive car. Usually the front tires do all the work, but when they begin to slip, the rear wheels kick into motion and stabilize the car. When you are sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, you are evangelizing. However, when someone raises objections against the Christian faith, apologetics kicks in and answers the objections so that you can return to evangelizing.

Now as you know I normally teach apologetics, proving the word of God to be infallible, the absolute truth, and the best way to prove anything is through our actions, and those actions come from faith, fearless faith.

Fear is the great stumbling block to evangelism, and apologetics.

FEAR

If I turn the lights off in here, so that it is entirely dark, can we have light at the same time?

It’s impossible isn’t it?

It is the same with fear, if we live in the darkness of fear the light of faith can’t exist.

Fear and faith cannot occupy the same mind, the same space, for they are opposing forces.

It is attributed to Einstein that total darkness is the absence of light and in that regard, that true faith is the absence of fear.

President Franklin Roosevelt famously asserted, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

I think he was right:

With fear we can’t have the courage we need to fight the good fight, or any fight for that matter.

A simple and useful definition of　fear　is:　An anxious feeling, caused by our anticipation of some imagined event or experience.

And there are only　five basic fears, out of which almost all of our other so-called fears are manufactured. These are:

Extinction—the fear of annihilation, of ceasing to exist.

Mutilation—the fear of losing any part of our precious bodily structure; the thought of having our body’s boundaries invaded, or of losing the integrity of any organ, body part, or natural function.　Anxiety　about animals, such as bugs, spiders, snakes, and other creepy things arises from fear of mutilation.

Loss of Autonomy—the fear of being immobilized, paralyzed, restricted, enveloped, overwhelmed, entrapped, imprisoned, smothered, or otherwise controlled by circumstances beyond our control

Separation—the fear of abandonment, rejection, and loss of connectedness; of becoming a non-person—not wanted,

Ego-death—the fear of humiliation, shame, or any other mechanism of profound self-disapproval giving us a since of worthlessness.

FEAR!!! Why must we resist it?

I have heard fear is our friend; it keeps us from being burned, or getting hit by a car, or some other catastrophe. But, really is that fear, or educated awareness of danger to be resisted?

As Gary Richardson titled his book, Fear is not our friend.

What does fear do to us?

The consequences of being fear-based or operating from fear are extremely varied and insidious.

One consequence is that we tend to become narcissistic. When we’re caught in fear of being negatively impacted physically, financially, or psychologically. We automatically divert our focus from others or the environment and bring it into ourselves.
However God tells us to practice agape love, this means we put others needs above our own, which is in direct opposition to being narcissistic, which means being self-serving to the exclusion of all others.

We can also be drawn into a victim-like stance where we see ourselves as being unfairly taken advantage of or impacted by other people or circumstances. If we have given our lives to God, and then we know it is God that has been offended, not us, besides, we are blessed beyond compare.

When we come from fear, anger, guilt sadness, etc. the result is that we become a source of negative energy. We will never draw people to the truth through negative energy.

When we come from fear we tend to be more judgmental and critical of those people and situations we fear. Love doesn’t judge, fear does. Being judgmental is against God’s will. Do not judge, that is God’s job.

Fear limits our world view and life’s infinite possibilities. When we find ourselves in a difficult situation, fear can blind us to all the possibilities except a few versions of the old fight or flight alternatives

Inevitably when we undo the fear, we find a different way of “being” with the situation and other alternatives arise.

Another way that fear limits us is by shutting us off from the opportunity to try new endeavors, and meet new people, which we need to do to follow the command to take the word to the world, and being ready to prove it.

Fear’s voice is not our own even though it operates in our head. The great thing is that we don’t have to listen to it or follow it any more than we have to listen to a person who constantly lies to us and tries to mislead us. We must learn to listen to the voice of Truth, the Holy Spirit.

There is another part of our mind that knows that fear is not needed or helpful in most situations. For instance when we are suddenly confronted with a situation, such as a potential car accident, we automatically deal with it to avoid it, the fear doesn’t set in until we think about it later. Fear is all in the mind.

Fear of death, which many have said is our greatest fear. However, when someone absolutely knows they are about to die and there’s no way out, the fear of death can disappear and be replaced with perfect peace, clarity and calm.

When Jody and I worked as chaplains, one of our initial fears was how we would deal with someone facing death, the emotional part of it, however, what we found was there was no fear, no sorrow, no judgment, and no sadness. There was nothing but an amazingly profound presence of Love which was felt by everyone.

So again, I believe that part of our mind knows that fear is an illusion and we can step out of it at critical moments.

Another aspect of fear is that it takes us out of the present. We start dealing with a future potential problem, when in truth all we have is this moment in time. And, personally I have found the perceived problem isn’t nearly as bad as I expected.

What does the Bible say?

I have heard it said, and have repeated it that the bible says do not fear in one form or another, 365 times one time for each day. A book I recently read claimed 366 times, so there would be one extra for leap years..

There are two things to point out here:

* The Bible does tell us – lots of times – not be afraid. This message is not in doubt. God tells us to fear nothing and no one except for him and when we are told to fear God that is to respect Him, to respect His power. We are not to live in fear.

* Is it important how many times the bible tells us not to fear? No – it is not important to salvation, but not fearing is important to our salvation.

Prayer without faith is not heard

How do we learn to resist fear?

So, is there a formula for dealing with fear, to turn the fear in our hearts and minds into faith in God?

First, have we really bought into who Christ is?

Have we really accepted God’s word as the ultimate truth, and His will as the best for us?

Do we mistake our desires for God’s will.

As Christians have we truly given our lives over to God, because if we have, it is no longer our life, but His, He gave it to us to do with as we pleased in the beginning (at birth) and now we have given it back to Him.

Remember there is one thing we should reject that has been offered by God; free will; we no longer accept free will, but God’s will in our lives.

So now we know it is His life to do with as He pleases, and what He wants us to do, will happen, remember Jonah and the big fish? We will end up in our Nineveh.

God will also use these times to teach us, and develop us until we are ready for His final plan for us.

In Your case, the environment you were previously in before coming here probably wasn’t open to God’s will for You, so He allowed Your situation to change, so you would have time to focus on Him for a bit.

As I have told you in previous lessons, God separates His people from the world, so step one has been accomplished, you have been separated from your people, your world, and now have time to give God your undivided attention, a time to learn, a time to grow. He does have a plan for you. Rest assured, it will happen, you will find your Nineveh.

He has a way to make all work to your good, if you love Him.

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. King James

James 2:18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

How do these two verses fit together? First of course, God makes all things work to the good of those who love Him, and in the second we can know our faith, by the works we are doing.

Most often people look at this as how we demonstrate our faith to others, which is true, however I believe it is also how we demonstrate to ourselves we are a child of God, we do not always know why we are in the situation we are in, or doing the things we are doing, however, our faith that He is in control tells us we are in His will, because as His servant, His adopted child, all things will work to our good, and so we are either doing His will, or are in the molding phase for a future work.

I would like to quote from the book “Fear is Never Your Friend” by Gary L Richardson [page 89 – 90]:

“The Bible tells me that as human beings we will fail and make bad decisions that will cause us to despair. But we also find that through those experiences, we will learn and grow” Gary L Richardson

And:

“When we accept salvation, we give up our will – what we want – in order to serve our Savior and live in His perfect will. And that’s the only truly fulfilling choice.“

And:

Gary quotes from Oswald Chambers who in his bestseller, My Utmost for His Highest, says;

“Joy comes from seeing the complete fulfillment of the specific purpose for which I was created and born again, not from successfully doing something of my own choosing.”

So at this I think we have established a few facts;

Fear and Faith cannot occupy the same space at the same time

Accepting faith over fear allows you to reject fear because you understand everything that happens to you, and the reason you do anything, good or bad, has been caused or allowed by God’s will for your own good.

Ok, this is probably the big question in most minds,

HOW???

How do we really allow faith to occupy the only space we have?

How do we resist the fear that is common among all men?

Our fear is based on what we experienced in the past, the things we see happening around us and our thoughts that usually imagine the worst.

For example: If opposition to the Christian faith is increasing around us, we worry that we might have to quit our evangelizing work and remain silent.

If a friend betrayed our trust, we are afraid it will happen again.

If we start thinking about the possibilities of political turmoil, travel accidents, persecution, martyrdom, family problems, difficulties in our marriage, failing health, disunity in the church, power struggles among the prisoners—and a thousand other terrible things—we will not have a single peaceful day.

Allow me to share one more story with you:

What has helped me is:

Through study of both Scriptures, and a study of apologetics, I have gained an “intellectual” faith, I know in my mind it is all true, for it has been proven.

I have prayer, and continue to pray for the Holy Spirit to speak to me reminding me when I am tempted to fear something, to resist that fear, to replace it with faith, true faith, knowing this trouble will also pass.

An African tribe teaches its children that when they are chased by a devouring monster they must stop running, turn and face it, and hold out their hand and say, “Give me a gift.”

I learned this 30 or 40 years ago and tried it, and it works.

My father in law, Ted Rauh, now pushing 90 real hard, and we are now facing the challenge of dementia, was one of the strongest men I have ever met, always seemed completely fearless.

He lied about his age when world war II started, and joined the Army, found himself under the command of General George Patten.

By age 17 he had won the bronze star for bravery, and the purple heart.

He spent 20 years in the federal prison system as a guard. As a devout Christian he was not allowed to bring the bible to the prison to teach to the prisoners, so he memorized literally hundreds if not thousands of verses, he could quote verses for more than a half hour at machine gun speed. But he did this so he could take the message to the prisoners without the help of written material.

Anytime something worrisome or fearful would rear its ugly head he would say “come on trouble where are ya? ”

He always claimed he feared neither man nor beast and I never saw the look of worry or fear in his eyes.

Somewhere along the line he made a decision to resist all fear, this was a choice we can all make.

However, we need a path, direction to how to make the right decision concerning fear, worry, or anxiety.

In the face of all these real-life threats, the Bible tells us:

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! (Philippians 4:4)

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God (Philippians 4:6).

Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:16–18).

Are we to close our eyes to reality? The truth is, the world we live in is not getting better, we live in a fallen world that is on a downhill slope to the depths of hell.

We are surrounded by wars, terrorism, persecution, sickness. As Christians, we are not immune to life’s struggles as long as we live in this fallen world.

In addition, Satan is our enemy, and we are constantly engaged in a spiritual battle.

God doesn’t ask us to close our eyes to reality or pretend that nothing negative can ever happen to us.

Instead, God wants us to change our focus from the fearful things of this earth to Him.

Only when I look at my heavenly Father can I put all the threatening things that surround me in this world in the right perspective.

It then will become real to me that:

My heavenly Father loves me: “… for the Father Himself loves you” (John 16:27).

He knows every one of my needs: “… for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things” (Matthew 6:32).

He cares for me: “… casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).

He bears my burden: “Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden” (Psalm 68:19).

He doesn’t want me to worry: “Be anxious for nothing” (Philippians 4:6).

He invites me to tell Him all my concerns: “… in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6).

He is all-powerful: “For nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37).

He is well able to rescue me from whatever I face: “… our God whom we serve is able to deliver us” (Daniel 3:17).

If He chooses for me to go through trials, He is with me and brings me safely through: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for Thou art with me” (Psalm 23:4).

There is nothing He would not do for me: “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).

Learning to focus on my heavenly Father will replace my fear with faith. Faith will enable me to rejoice and give thanks, like the apostle Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18, because I trust Him to have a solution for me.

It will give me peace in the midst of a storm, because I know He can handle my situation.

It assures me that He knows all the unknowns of my life and that I am safe in His arms.

Faith is what pleases God and what moves His hand to work on my behalf (Hebrews 11:6; Matthew 21:22).

Faith is the shield with which I must protect myself during an attack from Satan. With it I will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the enemy (Ephesians 6:16).

I challenge you to practice replacing your fear with faith.

Each time your circumstances or imagination fills you with fear, stop entertaining your fearful thoughts.

Instead, meditate on each of the Bible verses I listed about focusing on our heavenly Father.

Face your real fears, and your imaginary fears with the same force, demand a gift from it… the gift of fearless faith from the father.

As you do, look at your situation or fear in the light of each verse, and ask God to make His Word alive to you. If going through these Scriptures once is not enough to replace your fear with faith, do it five, 10 or 20 times—until your spirit is able to believe God’s Word. If the same fear attacks you two days, three weeks or five years later, go through the Scriptures again.

This is what I do when I am afraid or when faced with problems. The Scriptures I cling to may vary with different situations, but the end result must be faith; otherwise, there will be no victory.

After you have learned how to replace fear with faith, teach it to others so that they too will become strong in the Lord our God.

We also serve at the county jail, and yesterday between the men’s jail, and the ladies jail there were 85 new souls added to the kingdom through baptism.

The following members of our jail ministry team include Jody Gilkey,  Theresa Hawkins, Carol Siling, Elaine Russel, Alison Valentin, Francisco A. Davila, and Jim Pinkston