(also Pt. 2 of The Value of Fundamental Principles)

Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers…Well, with a title like that, this message should pack some wallop! And indeed, it does! What I am going to write about is the very power of being a Christian.

God’s salvation plan is perfect! If you read last week’s blog, hopefully you will recall that this was a plan that was created even before the world and Man were created. God knew that we (His proudest creation) were going to go astray, therefore His plan was always to provide a Redeemer to do for us what He knew we were incapable of doing for ourselves. We had from The Fall (when sin entered the world) until 2019 years ago (the coming of Christ) to prove that we were “utterly helpless” to overcome the dilemma of sin. (Ref. Romans 5:6) Therefore, Jesus, in the form of a man, came to be the sacrificial lamb to pay the penalty for our sin with His own blood.

“Why is that important” you might ask? Because God stated in Leviticus 20:26: “You must be holy because I, the Lord, am holy.” In other words, to be His chosen ones, we too have to be holy, which means, “sin free, to be set aside for a sacred purpose.” Therefore, in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven for eternity, we too have to be sin free. If we’re stained with sin, we won’t qualify to get in!

So, what draws most people to Christianity? It is the forgiveness of our sins and the promise of eternal life. No other religion or philosophy in the world can make such a claim. No doubt, that is certainly reason enough to choose Christianity, because being in Christ seals our eternal destiny. But God’s treasure trove of blessings doesn’t end there; it keeps on giving. The truth is, we don’t have to wait until we die to begin experiencing the benefits of His gracious offer. God’s plan also included provision for those in Christ who are still living in this fallen world.

God knows what this world is like; He saw what it did to His Son. He also knows we are no match for our enemy, satan. That is why He gave us the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit to empower us to resist temptation, and to rise above our circumstances, to become the person He created us to be. 2 Corinthians 1:22 tells us, “He has identified us as His own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment of His rich and wonderful promises.” Ephesians 1:14 substantiates that promise: “The Spirit is God’s guarantee that He will give us everything He promised and that He has purchased us to be His own people. This is just one more reason for us to praise our glorious God!”

After the Last Supper, and before Jesus left for the Garden of Gethsemane, He shared this news with the disciples. “If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor, who will never leave you.  He is the Holy Spirit who leads into all truth.  The world at large cannot receive Him, because it isn’t looking for Him and doesn’t recognize Him.  But you do, because He lives with you now (meaning…its ME!), and later will be IN YOU.” Jesus knew, as did the disciples, that they drew their courage and power from Him to heal the sick and to cast out demons. He wanted them to know that after He was gone, the Holy Spirit would continue to empower them with the same supernatural power to fulfill their mission. Let me give you an example of how that played out.

Just hours after Jesus delivered this message, the Roman soldiers and the Pharisees, led by Judas, arrested Him in the Garden. At that moment, all of the disciples deserted Him and ran for their lives, because they were afraid that they too might be arrested for being His followers. Apostle Peter, later that same evening, denied even knowing Jesus three times; the next day at the crucifixion, only John was there to care for Mary, Jesus’ mother.

Now let’s fast forward seven weeks to Pentecost. During the time between His resurrection and His ascension, Jesus met with His disciples many times, and was seen by more than five hundred witnesses. In one meeting with His disciples, He cautioned them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you what He promised.  Remember, I have told you about this before. John baptizes with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit comes into you, you will receive power and will tell people about me everywhere – in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1: 4-5, 7-8) In other words, wait until you’re empowered to tackle this mission. Don’t get ahead of this gift by mistakenly trying to do it through your own effort!

On the day of Pentecost, a Jewish holiday celebrating the Feast of Weeks, about a hundred and twenty believers were meeting together when the Holy Spirit descended upon them. They were all empowered by the Holy Spirit and were prepared to begin proclaiming Jesus ’message to the world. But this is the point I wanted to make with the above three paragraphs. Peter, the same Peter who denied Jesus just weeks earlier, stepped outside and addressed a multitude that had gathered. “Each of you must turn from your sin and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”  (Acts 2: 38) Peter, empowered and emboldened by the Holy Spirit, did this with such power, courage and conviction that he added three thousand new believers to their fold that day.  That, my Dear Readers, is the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

All rolled into one, Superman, Spiderman, and Batman would be totally paled when compared to the Holy Spirit. To drive this point home, the indwelling Holy Spirit that we have in us is the same Holy Spirit that raised Christ from the dead, and the same power that said, “Let there be light!” Take a few minutes and let that sink in. Wow!

As I said earlier, this supernatural power is a gift from God so we can resist temptation, rise above our circumstances, make choices that bring honor and glory to Him, and ultimately become the person He created us to be. In other words, this gift is given to us so we can stay in line with His will for our lives.  Let me make two important points right here. This gift is not to be used in any way to promote or exalt self, and the Holy Spirit does not do the work for us, but empowers us to be victorious when we call Him into action.

So, if you are thinking, “how do I do that?”, this is the format. Whether the call is for resisting temptation, rising above your circumstances, or confronting relationship issues, it begins with “Holy Spirit, I want to bring honor and glory to you through my choices, or my actions, or my thoughts.  Please give me your wisdom, your courage, your strength, your patience, your perseverance, your eyes to see this situation the way you see it, your ears to hear. Whatever it is that you need to handle these situations in a way that honors God, His Word assures that He will answer that prayer. In fact, James 4:10 reiterates that promise. “When you come humbly before the Lord and admit your dependence on Him, He will lift you up and give you honor.”  Every time you begin your call with “Holy Spirit”, you are humbling yourself and admitting your dependence on Him. Nothing pleases God more than YOU bringing that Scripture to life.

God has equipped you, as a Christ-follower, to be victorious in this fallen world. But first you have to know you have that power, and secondly you have to know how to use it. It is all about getting “self” out of the way and allowing the Holy Spirit to work through you.  1 Corinthians 10:13 addresses this situation. “But remember that the temptations (or trials and tribulations) that come into your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will keep the temptation (or a situation), from becoming so strong that you can’t stand up against it.  When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you will not give in to it.”  The way out is relying on the Holy Spirit to give you what you need to be victorious in your battle against the enemy, satan. The same promise the Lord made to Joshua as he prepared to go into Canaan to conquer the land is the same promise that He makes to us today. “Have courage! I will never leave you or forsake you”. (Deuteronomy 31:6)

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May God Bless You abundantly,

Dan Presgrave (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)

Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers…Have you ever noticed in a moment of enlightenment, that the answers you had been unsuccessfully searching for were actually right in front of you all the time? Such was the case with the topic for today’s blog. I struggled with a topic for about a week, then I actually jumped in and started my own journey, thinking it would eventually take shape. To be honest, It was a struggle from the first word! Finally, after quite a few hours of total frustration, I had a brilliant thought; perhaps I should check in with the Holy Spirit. That is usually my first stop, but for some reason, I just passed over that step and landed in an inspirational wasteland. But when I came to my senses, I was immediately drawn to today’s topic because I have been stressing the importance of knowing our identity in Christ, and understanding the power that comes from that identity with my “Freedom in Christ” class at Seaglass Church in Apollo Beach, FL.

Since I was involved with music education for most of my previous career, I understand the importance of fundamental principles when learning to play a wind instrument. If one begins with a faulty embouchure, or doesn’t understand how to properly use the air stream, or doesn’t master the importance of hand and finger position, or posture, it can hinder the budding young muscian from ever reaching full potential. Such is the case when learning what it really means to be in Christ.

Unfortunately, too many Christians think that if they say, “I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior”, their life will change for the better; they’ll be happier; they’ll be more confident; they’ll be blessed, and they will achieve the abundant life that Jesus talked about. No doubt, all of that is possible, but it requires more than just saying the words. 2 Peter 1: 3-4 clarifies this error: “The more we grow in our relationship with Jesus, His divine power gives us everything we need for living a godly live.  He has called us to receive His own glory and goodness! And by that same mighty power, He has given us all of His rich and wonderful promises.  He has promised that we will escape the decadence all around us caused by evil desires, and that we will share in His divine nature.”

No doubt, people are drawn to Christianity because they’ve heard that their sins will be forgiven and that they will inherit eternal life. “Fire insurance” is a good motivator, but it is not to be confused with developing a relationship with Jesus Christ. Not that I mean to be judgmental, but that defines a large segment of the Christians I know, and about all of the Christians with whom I have the privilege of counseling. They have accepted God’s Gift of Grace, but they never intended to let that decision interfere with the life-style they had been  enjoying. Many, not all, go to church, and a few even become involved in church activities. But they have little interest in growing in their relationship with Christ, and a few have even expressed their concern about becoming a “Jesus Freak”. After all, would their friends still like them? Would they think they were weird?

When people turn to God, it is usually in a state of brokenness or because of an epiphany. But regardless of the reason, God Jehovah of the Holy Bible will meet us wherever we are, but then He leads us to His Son, Jesus Christ. Why? Because that was His plan for our salvation even before the world, and Man, were created. This is explained very clearly in Ephesians 1:3-4: “Long ago, even before the world was created, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes.  His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and this gave Him great pleasure!” Notice two things here: even before He created us, He loved us…but not as the world loves. His love is unconditional, unending and unfailing because that is the very essence of God. (Ref. 1John 4:7: “God IS love!” …my emphasis.) That love is reflected in the fact that He also chose us in Christ.

Because one of God’s majestic qualities is omniscience, meaning He can look into the future, He knew, even before He created us, that we were going to be problem children; He knew that Adam and Ever were going to be disobedient in the Garden and would fall into satan’s trap. But none-the-less, He created us. How awesome is that?!  But He also “chose us in Christ”. To “be chosen” means” to be set aside for a sacred purpose”, and in Christ  refers to His plan to provide a Redeemer to do for us what He already knew we could not do for ourselves. Again, another example of His unconditional, unending and unfailing love for His proudest creation.

So, Fundamental Principle # 1 is this: God is Love; He created us for a relationship with Himself. But in order for a relationship to develop, He had to give us “free-will” at the outset so we could choose to enter into that relationship. And therein lies the problem. Man can choose to use his free-will to engage in a relationship with God, or he can choose to focus on “self-fulfillment”, “self-pleasure” and “self-promotion”. Well, we all know how that turned out.

Ephesians 1:10-11 tells us:  “And this was His plan: At just the right time He will bring everything together under the authority of Christ- everything in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, because of Christ, we have received an inheritance from God (forgiveness of our sins and eternal life), for He chose us (in Christ) from the beginning and all things happen just as He decided long ago.” The fulfillment of that promise can be found in Romans 5:6: (N.L.T.) “When we (Mankind) were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time, and died for us sinners.” And what was “just the right time”? When we proved ourselves to be “utterly helpless.” This “Gift of Grace” was God’s ultimate love offerng to us.

Fundamental Principle #2 is this: “God’s plan was always to send a Redeemer, Jesus Christ, to save us from ourselves. This is why that is so important. God wanted a relationship with His proudest creation, and not just a here-and-now relationship, but an eternal relationship. God already had set the standard for entering into eternity when He proclaimed in 1Peter1:16: “You must be holy because I am holy.” (Holy means to be sin-free, and set aside for a sacred purpose) That presented a problem for Man, since from Creation until 2021 years ago, we proved ourselves to be “utterly helpless” to overcome the dilemma of Sin. But the good news is… God already had a plan to redeem Mankind; Jesus Christ would become the sacrificial lamb who would shed His blood to pay OUR sin ransom.

It is important to notice that God did not wait for us to clean up our act before He offered His Gift of Grace. Romans 5:6 (listed two paragraphs above) tells us that Christ came to die for us while we were still sinners.  This is just one more reinforcement of God’s unconditional, unending love!

To be in Christ means to be born again, or to be saved. 2 Corinthians 5:17 explains this supernatural transformation: “We become a new creation in Christ; the old is gone (meaning we are no longer slaves to our sin-nature); the new has come.  (the Holy Spirit)”  Prior to this transformation, we too, were unsaved.  In the third paragraph of this blog when I referenced 2 Peter 1:3, the Scripture stated, “His divine power gives us everything we need for living a godly life”. That divine power is the indwelling Holy Spirit.  This is a gift from God so we can become the people He created us to be.

These two fundamental truths are the very essence of Christianity: God is love, and His plan was always to provide a Redeemer to set us free from the power of sin that leads to death.  Romans 6:23 provides this truth: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”  No doubt we will all die physically, but for those who are in Christ, our spirits will live forever.  Apostle Paul explains this in 2 Corinthians 5:8: “When we are absent from these bodies, we will then be in the presence of the Lord.”

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May God Bless Y’all…

Dan Presgrave, (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)

As we enter the week of our 243nd Independence Day celebration, I hope it is a time when we all reflect on the true meaning of this day and take time to thank God and a Veteran for the privilege of living in a country that is free. As we partake of various parades, concerts, festivals, family BBQs, perhaps even a memorial service or a patriotic speech, I hope the truth of this statement, “freedom isn’t free” becomes ablaze in your heart and inspires you to embrace it as a “gift” rather than a bumper-sticker slogan.

Unfortunately, these are perilous times in which we are living, and freedom itself seems to be in jeopardy. Contributing culprits include today’s hostile political climate: a Liberal-Progressive agenda that will seemingly stop at nothing to achieve its end; a culture that is characterized by anger, frustration, hatred, name-calling, finger-pointing, accusations and deception; a challenge to time honored traditions; a growing disdain for the rule of law. No wonder there is a climate of uncertainty and despair looming over our great nation; we’re not sure what to believe or who to trust anymore. Now couple that with the downward spiral of our culture’s moral and spiritual values and it’s easy to see how all of these factors can contribute to a sense of uneasiness…even hopelessness.

But the good news is…we don’t have to look at the world through that lens.  Oh yes, those issues are today’s reality, but I believe if we look up for a solution rather than down at the cesspool in which we are standing, we can find hope.  I’m still an optimist, so when we stand on the only truth that will never forsake us, I believe we can become energized once again as individuals and as a nation.

I love America. I believe in America. I was proud to serve my country, and I still believe that with all our faults and shortcomings, America is the greatest country the world has ever seen.  It was founded on Judeo-Christian principles, and the founding fathers even bowed in prayer on April 30, 1789 at St. Paul’s Chapel to consecrate this new nation’s future to God.  No other nation in modern times has been so blessed, but to whom much is given, much is expected.

I know it’s easy to look around and see the dramatic changes that define America today and ask yourself, “How did we ever get in this mess?”  Truth be told…there are as many opinions and answers to that question as there are people asking the question.  But let’s look at just one Biblical principle that can provide one answer on many levels.

Throughout the Bible when God’s chosen people (the Israelites) were in line with his will, he blessed them.  When they were not following His will for their lives, there was calamity in many forms: famines, floods, earthquakes, pestilence, wars etc.  Here are two sets of scripture that specifically address the above situation. Romans 1:25, 28, 32: “Instead of believing what they knew was the truth about God, they deliberately chose to believe lies…When they refused to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their evil minds and let them do things that should never be done. They were fully aware of God’s death penalty for those who do these things, yet they go right ahead and do them anyway.”   And concerning his covenant with a nation, we are told in Jeremiah 18: 9-10: “But if I announce that I will build up and plant a certain nation or kingdom, making it strong and great, but then the nation turns to evil and refuses to obey me, I will not bless that nation as I had said I would.” 

Do you get any clue from those scriptures concerning America’s standing in terms of fulfilling God’s purpose?  To me, the scripture from Jeremiah could not be clearer.  The removal of prayer and the Ten Commandments from its public life would most certainly be out of line with God’s will.  Add to that the 55 million aborted babies since Roe vs Wade in 1973; our acceptance of sexual immorality as the new norm; and our tolerance for lying, cheating and stealing as “just the way it is today”, and it isn’t difficult to see why God would be grieved by our disobedience.   All one has to do is backtrack through the Bible and look at the history of nations that have ignored God’s Proclamation. That little excursion can give us ample reason to be concerned about the direction of our country.

But the good news can be found in 2Chronicles, 7:14: “then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land.”   James 2:10 also gives us reason to be hopeful: “If you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on him, he will lift you up and give you honor.”  In my mind, our calling is clear.

1John 4:4 reminds all Christ-followers of our identity in Christ. “He (the Holy Spirit) that is in me is greater than he (satan) that is in this world.  When addressing the holy people in Ephesus who were struggling with their culture, Apostle Paul clearly points out satan’s activities in Ephesians 2:2, 4: “You used to live like the rest of the world, full of sin, obeying Satan, the mighty prince of the power of the air.  He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.  But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so very much, that even while we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life…through Jesus Christ.”

As Christ-followers we are called to carry His message of truth into the world and to be His shining light on the hill.  When we call on the Holy Spirit to empower us with his wisdom, strength, courage and patience, we can fulfill that calling and resist the enemy in these evil times.  His Word says He will bless our effort as we continue to stand up for the same freedom that was endowed by the Creator Himself!

Therefore, if there was ever a time for intercessory prayer, it is now. This is the time to pray for revelation and enlightenment in the minds and hearts of those who want to steer us away from the principles and traditions that made our country great!

I believe America is in a time of reprieve. The same Proclamation that has been offered to men and nations throughout the Bible is being offered to our great country now. “Repent! Turn from your sin and turn to God!” The Bible is resplendent with examples of men and nations that yielded to that calling and were blessed and restored.  Unfortunately, there is also a number of examples of destruction for those who resisted that same invitation. Remember, God did bless America, and his mercy always trumps his judgement. As we are told in Luke 1:37, “Nothing is impossible with God!”

Feel free to respond to this posting, and please “like” and share it with other social media friends.

May God bless you, and Happy July 4^th, 2019!.

Dan Presgrave (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)

Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers…I thoroughly enjoyed preparing and presenting the last series, “The Time of The End. Are We There Yet?”  I felt strongly drawn to that topic, especially since we are living is such crazy times when so many signs of The Tribulation are lining up. Jesus told us to be mindful of the signs, and to watch and listen.  The presumption in that directive was that people would know what to watch and listen for. But unfortunately, we are living in a culture that has drifted so far away from Bible reading and study that this subject matter is often mocked and ridiculed out of ignorance of the Truth. My intent was to present the principles of the Book of Revelation in a clear and succinct manner, hopefully making it easy for both Believers and unbelievers to understand.

But now it’s time to move on, and this seems like the perfect topic. I borrowed the title from a book by Rick Joyner, “There Were Two Trees in The Garden” as my title for my blog today because I’m sure I could not have come up with a better one. I read this book a couple of years ago and was very impressed by Joyner’s presentation.  He began by stating, “The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life are symbolic of two spiritual lineages or “family trees.” The Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is a history of these two lineages.  Understanding this can help us understand the most common errors besetting the entire human race, including those that have continually misled the Church. Between them lies the focal point of the dichotomy between the Kingdom of God and the present evil age.”

Genesis 2:8-9, 3:1-5 presents this scenario. “Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden, and there He put the man (and woman) He formed. The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground – trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food.  In the middle of the garden were the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the other wild animals the Lord God had made.  He said to the woman, Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’ The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it or you will die.’ ‘You will certainly not die’ the serpent said to the woman. ‘For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.’ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.  She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.”

Now bear in mind, Satan did not tempt Eve with the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil just because the Lord prohibited it. He tempted her because the source of his power was rooted in that tree. And furthermore, the Lord did not restrict Eve and Adam from eating from that particular tree just to test them; He prohibited the eating of its fruit because He knew it was poison. It was not just man’s disobedience that brought death to the world; it was also the poison (lies, deception and accusations) contained in the fruit.

So, you might be asking yourself, “What relevance does the story of the two trees have to do with the state of our world today?  And I would say, “Absolutely everything!” In the Genesis scenario above, there were choices to be made; there was deception, accusation and temptation; the irresistible seed was planted, “You could be your own god”; the offer to participate in sin was introduced; the result of that choice ended with Adam and Eve being banished from Paradise. This summation of choices represents the dichotomy referenced above by Joyner concerning the Kingdom of God and the evil world in which we live.

Life is a series of choices.  The Tree of Life IS Jesus Christ, who “came to give us life and life to the fullest.” (John 10:10) 2 Peter 1:3-4 gives us this truth: “The more we grow in our relationship with Jesus, His divine power gives us everything we need for living a Godly life through our knowledge of Him, who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them we may participate in His divine nature, having escaped the decadence of the world around us caused by evil desires.”  Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil and to set the captives free! (Us) “And how did He do this”, you ask? By arming His followers with the Truth of God’s Word!  To choose Jesus is to choose life…eternal life.

The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is wordly teaching, or teaching that is contrary to the Word of God. Unfortunately, this teaching has made its way into our schools and our colleges and universities. God and His Word are mocked while the secular teachings of man, and philosophies of the world, are exalted. The most challenging proposition to the intellectual mind is to surrender to something greater than “self”, especially when it is beyond our five senses.  Apostle Paul nails this in I Corinthians 1:18-21: “I know how foolish the message of the cross sounds to those who are on the road to destruction.  But we who are being saved recognize this same message as the very power of God. As the Scriptures say, ‘I will destroy human wisdom and discard their most brilliant ideas.” (Isaiah 29:14) So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made them all look foolish and has shown their wisdom to be useless nonsense.  Since God in His wisdom saw to it that the world would never find Him through human wisdom, He has used our foolish preaching to save all who will believe.”  The world says, “I’ll believe it when I see it.”  Christ-followers say, “I see it (through revelation), therefore I believe it.”

When we are born into this world, we are born into an eternal morality play of “Good” vs “Evil”.  Granted, we don’t know that we’re actors in a play, but we certainly are. The role we play depends on the choices we make. Ephesians 1 tells us that God had a plan even before this world was created, and Revelation tells us that after this world ends, His plan will continue to be carried out in the world to come.  As we learned in the past series concerning the Time of the End, those who are in Christ experience eternal life, and those who remain unbelievers will experience eternal separation from God.

I will close with this Scriptural truth found in Romans 6:23. It is actually two Scriptural truths in one. It captures the very essence of this and the last five blogs. “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  The choice is ours to make.

Please feel free to respond to this posting, and please “like” and share it with other social media friends.

May God bless you abundantly,

Dan Presgrave (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)

Good Day, Meetpastordan Readers… I was away this past week end to the Missouri Bandmasters Association conference at Lake of the Ozarks. The Saint Louis Wind Symphony was the featured ensemble to open this event, so of course, I had to be there to cheer them on. I was later getting back today than I had expected, so instead of my regular blog, I am sending, for your entertainment, a classic, prophetic transcript by the late Paul Harvey. But instead of calling this “the rest of the story”, I will refer to it as “a glimpse into our present story.”  Enjoy it, and I’ll be back on track next week. 😊

If I were the Devil, the Prince of Darkness, what methods of deception would I use to rule the world? What areas of society would I target? What tactics would I employ? In the transcript below, Paul Harvey in 1965 airs one of the most astonishing monologues ever recorded. Now nearly 50 years later, everything that Paul Harvey said the Devil would have to do to rule the world, has come to pass.  How did 100% of what he said in 1965 come true?  Was Paul Harvey a modern-day prophet? Was this glimpse of the future inspired by a supernatural power? No doubt, he was plugged into something particularly special. Ponder that as you will, but enjoy, or rather be appalled with… the rest of the story!

If I were the Devil, if I were the Prince of Darkness, I’d want to engulf the whole world in darkness and I would have a third of its real estate and four-fifths of its population, but I wouldn’t be happy until I had seized the ripest apple on the tree, thee.

So, I would set about however necessary to take over the United States. I’d subvert the churches first. I’d begin with a campaign of whispers. With the wisdom of a serpent, I would whisper to you as I whispered to Eve: “Do as you please.”

To the young, I would whisper that the Bible is a myth. I would convince them that man created God instead of the other way around. I would confide that what is bad is good and what is good is “square.” And the old, I would teach to pray after me: “Our Father which art in Washington.”

And then I’d get organized. I’d educate authors in how to make lurid literature exciting so that anything else would appear dull and uninteresting. I’d make TV look worse than movies and then make movies look worse than TV in a vicious cycle that just gets worse and worse. I’d peddle narcotics to whomever I could. I’d sell alcohol to ladies and gentlemen of distinction. I’d tranquilize the rest with pills.

If I were the Devil, I’d soon have families at war with themselves, churches at war with themselves, and nations at war with themselves, until each in its turn was consumed. And with promises of higher ratings, I’d have mesmerizing media fanning the flames.

If I were the Devil, I would encourage schools to refine young intellects but neglect to discipline emotions; just let those run wild until, before you knew it, you’d have to have drug-sniffing dogs and metal detectors at every schoolhouse door. Within a decade, I’d have prisons overflowing. I’d have judges promoting pornography. Soon I could evict God from the courthouse, and then from the schoolhouse, and then from the houses of Congress. And in His own churches I would substitute psychology for religion and deify science. I would lure priests and pastors into misusing boys and girls and church money.

If I were the Devil, I’d make the symbol of Easter an egg and the symbol of Christmas a bottle.

If I were the Devil, I would take from those who have and give to those who wanted, until I had killed the incentive of the ambitious. And what will you bet I couldn’t get whole states to promote gambling as the way to get rich. I would caution against extremes in hard work, in patriotism, in moral conduct. I would convince the young that marriage is old-fashioned, that swinging is more fun, that what you see on TV is the way to be and thus I could undress you in public and I could lure you into bed with diseases for which there is no cure.

In other words, if I were the Devil, I’d just keep on doing what he is so successfully doing.

Paul Harvey…. Good Day!

Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers…The five words in this title might make up the most challenging proposition that is ever put before us.  I suspect all of us have had varying experiences with accepting or rejecting the challenges of fear and trust. In my opinion, the challenge exists on two levels.  The first level is being willing to surrender self; the second level involves trusting the source that asks for trust.  An example of the first scenario would be when a counselor prescribes a certain pathway for recovery, but you are not really ready to give up your familiarity with certain people, places or things.  The second scenario could be a visitor to New York City encountering a slick man on Times Square who offers you a “deal” on a genuine Rolex watch for $29.99.  Would you trust him?

Fear is part of our makeup; it’s part of our emotional system. Sometimes it keeps us safe, such as when we reject the temptation to experiment with drugs, and sometimes it keeps us in bondage, such as when we reject change because we fear the unknown.  But trust, on the other hand, is not innately a part of us.  This is something that has to be earned through experience.  In many ways fear and trust are polar opposites.

Now for those of us familiar with the Holy Bible, we know we are called to live by faith.  And what is faith?  Putting our trust in what we have experienced to be the truth. If it is not experiential faith, it is blind faith, and blind faith in the end won’t sustain us. Hebrews 11: 6 tells us: “It is impossible to please God without faith.  Anyone who wants to come to him must first believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.”  1 John 4:18 reinforces this: “Love (God) has no fear because perfect love (God) casts out fear.  If we are afraid, it is for fear of judgment, and this shows that his love has not been perfected in us.”  In other words, when we come to know God (whose very essence is love) and the truth of his Word, we begin to trust him because love casts out fear.  Fear is not part of God’s plan for us.  The source of fear is our enemy, satan, who wants to steal our joy by keeping us separated from God.

Faith (trust) is always a challenge unless we know the source of our strength.  I mentioned in the previous paragraph the difference between experiential faith and blind faith.  Let me clarify this. People can claim anything.  They can say, “I believe this…or I believe that”, and perhaps they can quote scriptures in a most impressive way.  Blind faith is expressed in words, but when the chips are down, does this professed belief translate into action? (experiential faith)  Let’s look at Disciple Peter as an example of both.  Here I believe we see a work in progress.

Peter had the courage to step out of the boat. That’s good. So far we’re witnessing experiential faith. But he took the focus off of Jesus and all of a sudden the waves looked bigger than his object of faith.  (oops, he’s not quite there yet in terms his development)  And again, after telling Jesus he would die for him (Matthew 26:35;70-74), he denied him three times. (still not quite there.) But the real example of Peter’s experiential faith can be found in Acts, 2:14-41.  After the Holy Spirit fell on the disciples at Pentacost, Peter, the same Peter that denied Jesus and was absent at the Crucification for fear of what might happen to him, preached the truth of Jesus’ resurrection so boldly that three thousand people were added to the church roster that very day.  So what was the source of Peter’s transformation?  The Holy Spirit.

Now let’s look at the example of Jarius’ asking Jesus to come to his house to heal his daughter . ”My daughter just died, but you can bring her back to life if you will come and lay your hands upon her.” (Matthew 9:18)  Notice Jarius’ experiential faith.  He came knowing Jesus could raise his daughter to life.  He stepped out in faith.  But on the way to his house, he was met by messengers who told him, “Your daughter is dead.  There’s no use troubling the Rabi now.” (Mark 5:35) But Jesus’ response to Jarius is the same response he has for all of us today.  “Don’t be afraid. Trust me!” (vs.36)  Now if we follow this story to completion, we can see the reaction of the unbelievers who were gathered outside the synagogue leader’s house “weeping and wailing”.  When Jesus told them the girl was only sleeping, they all laughed at him.  Isn’t that the same reaction Jesus gets from unbelievers today? But as you might expect, the story has a happy ending. The daughter was raised to life.

Growing in knowledge of Scripture and intellectually believing that the words are true is essential in our walk with Jesus. But those are just the building blocks for stepping out in faith.  At this point we have only created the platform of faith on which we can stand.  Next we’re called to put our faith into action just like Peter eventually did, and Jarius did. Perhaps Jarius witnessed some of Jesus miracles?  Whatever the source of his strength, he came to Jesus believing He was the source of his daughter’s miracle. That’s what we’re called to do; we’re called to put our faith into action.

But as Christ-followers, we see the transforming power of Jesus at work in our life each day. That’s because we’re seeking it.  It isn’t just enough for us to “be”; we’re in the process of “becoming”, which is what we’re called to do.  The more we grow in Christ, the stronger we become in our faith.  The stronger (more real) our faith, the easier it is to step out in faith.  We rely on the Holy Spirit to empower us to become the person God created us to be.  We aren’t afraid because our source of strength dispels all fear.  We are told in 2 Timothy 1:7: “God didn’t give us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of love, power and a sound mind.” (some translations say self-control.).

Now, I want to end this presentation with a personal experience.  I had the privilege of officiating the marriage of my primary care physician three weeks ago.  I met a lady at the reception and we had a wonderful “meaty” conversation about faith, our country, and our culture, when all of a sudden she told me about the “celebration of life ceremony” they were planning for her recently deceased father.  Then she asked if I would consider speaking at that event.  She said, “since it’s a celebration of life, perhaps you can talk about eternal life.”  Well, how could I refuse such an offer?

But I have to tell you, Satan didn’t want that to happen. He messed with me from the day I said “yes” until one minute before the ceremony yesterday. It was brutal and he pulled out all the stops: doubt and fear; laryngitis; distorted concentration…I would be going over what I was going to say, and I kept losing my train of thought.  “Look at you” he’d say. You’re going to embarrass yourself, Pam and even God. He might cast you out of the kingdom after this!” Now I like speaking and am confident about what I’m doing, but this was getting me down.  As soon as I would take authority over one situation, another would pop up.  It was like spiritual whack-a-mole!

As soon as we got to the ceremony yesterday, I began to relax.  But shortly before it was time for me to speak, I adjourned to the men’s room and asked the Holy Spirit to give me his strength; his courage; his words to speak that would bring honor and glory to God and to the family that invited me. Immediately peace came over me; a sense of confidence swelled up in me; and the five words in the title rang in my head.  “Don’t be afraid…trust me”.  And true to his promise…He spoke through me that afternoon.

So my final words are…if you’re challenged to step out, I highly recommend stepping out in faith!  Why go it alone?  You have a force in you that would put Luke Skywalker’s to shame. 🙂

Feel free to respond to this, and please “like” and share it with other social media friends.

May God Bless Ya…

Dan Presgrave (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)

Good Day, Meetpastordan Readers…For those of you who are regular readers of my blog, you know I have written many times about the fallen state of our culture. It is an easy topic to write about, because with each passing day, it seems that we sink deeper and deeper into the morass of hopelessness and despair.  Jerry Lee captured this unfulfilled state in his popular song of the 1980’s, “Lookin’ For Love in All the Wrong Places”. Well, I’ve spent a lifetime lookin’ for you; singles bars and good time lovers were never true. Playin’ a fools game hopin’ to win; and tellin’ those sweet lies and losin’ again. I was lookin’ for love in all the wrong places, Lookin’ for love in too many faces, searchin’ their eyes and lookin’ for traces, of what I’m dreamin’ of.” We could just as easily substitute “identity,” “fulfillment”, or “acceptance” for the term “love”, because the search is for that “elusive something” we’re “dreamin’ of” to make us feel whole; to fill that proverbial hole in our soul.

No doubt we are a culture that has lost its civil bearing, its moral compass, and its sense of pride and responsibility. Consequently, we’ve become susceptible to the lure of false gods, those captivating avenues of escape that promise nirvana, but instead steal our souls. These current statistics substantiate that claim: addiction rates are at an all-time high; the suicide rate is sky-rocketing; divorce rates are at their highest; psychosomatic illnesses such as stress, depression, and anxiety are escalating, and STD rates are soaring. So, why do you think this is happening? I’m not asking this as a rhetorical question. I, of course, have my own opinion, which I will share momentarily, but I welcome your reply with input on this matter. The more input, the better.

A principle of modern-day psychology is this simple statement: “What we put in our heads sets up an expectation, and an action most likely follows.”  Since our culture has rebelled against the Judeo-Christian principles on which this great country was founded, secularism, based on the teaching of Man and worldly philosophies with a bias against Christian teaching, has become the norm. When that happens, it doesn’t take long for chaos to rear its ugly head. (A direct result of the information we put in our heads.) In fact, our culture is looking more and more like the Israelites in the wilderness. They too rebelled against God and His ways (remember the golden calf?), only to suffer the consequences of disobedience. Without a standard of Truth on which to rely, (God’s Word), false gods become more alluring. The secular teachings of today are leading us down that same path of disobedience. Therefore, the brokenness we are witnessing in today’s culture is the consequence of yielding to the same lie that seduced Eve in the Garden; “You don’t need God, you can be your own god.” So, ask yourself, “How did that work out for Eve and Adam?”

So, what are false gods? The answer is simple: They are gods of “self”. They exalt self, they pleasure self, and they promote self. Anything that we put in place of the one true God Jehovah, anything else that captures our worship, is a false god. God was very explicit about this on Mt. Sinai. “You shall have no other God but me!” and, “You shall not make for yourself any idol, nor bow down to it or worship it.” (Exodus 20:2-17)

Because today’s culture has chosen to expunge God from its midst, the false gods of wealth, power, control, pleasure, convenience and self-aggrandizement have taken center stage. That has been encouraged by the secular culture, the liberal media, the entertainment industry, and a powerful (yet sometimes conniving) marketing industry that tells us if we just had the next latest, greatest, newest and biggest gadget, we would be happy. The truth is, those things may satisfy for the moment, but they are temporal; sooner or later we have to look for the next shinny object to fill that never-satisfied God-shaped hole in our soul.  In other words, culturally speaking, we are living the myths found in Jerry Lee’s song: “We’re playin’ the fools game hopin’ to win, but the good times were never true.” Why?  Because we have been looking for love, acceptance, identity, significance, joy, peace and serenity in all the wrong places.

When God created Man, He created us in His (Our) image. (Ref: Genesis 1:26-27) He created us for a relationship with Himself, and Man was spiritually connected to Him.  Adam and Eve lived in the Garden (Paradise) and they wanted for nothing; God communed with them and provided for all of their needs. That was His plan, and that’s the way it all began. (But there is a nugget of truth that must be noted here.)  We are told in Ephesians 1: 4-5, “Long ago, even before God created the world (and Man), He loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ.  And this gave Him great pleasure.”

Do you get that? Let that soak in for a moment. Because one of God’s majestic qualities is omniscience (He knows all; He can look into the future), He knew, even before He created us, that we were going to go astray.  He knew we were going to drift off the path that He had planned for us, and that Sin was going to enter the world. But He created us anyway! Yes indeed, He created us knowing full-well that He would have to provide a Redeemer, Jesus Christ, to do for us what He already knew we could not do for ourselves.  What an incredible display of unconditional, unending, unfailing love by our immutable God. Talk about Good News, this is it: God’s plan for redeeming us from ourselves is still in effect today!  Not only did He foresee the fall of Man even before He created us, but He also foresaw the rise and fall of our country, and the resultant deplorable state of our culture right now. Wow!

History has shown throughout both the Old and New Testaments that when cultures fall away from their moral foundation, secularism quickly takes root.  And what is the antithesis of this worldly movement? The Word of God. Therefore, there has always been a concerted effort to marginalize, to demean and even ridicule the credibility of those old, outdated Truths. “And why is that?” you might ask. Because those time-honored Truths fly in the face of the self-serving motivation and agendas of the new power structure. Take for example the Liberal Progressive Agenda that has become firmly ensconced in what used to be the Democrat Party. Right here – on display for all to see – are the false gods of wealth, power, control, and self-aggrandizement. And just like all other evil agendas, their promises are wrapped in a most appealing, yet elusive manner: Medicare for all, free college for all, equality for all. What more could we want, right?  Well, keep reading.

Mark J. Perry, concurrently a scholar at American Enterprise Institute and professor of economics and finance at University of Michigan wrote an article in 1995 entitled, “Why Socialism Fails.” His opening statements included these two indictments: “Socialism is the ‘Big Lie’ of the twentieth century. While it promises prosperity, equality, and security, it delivered poverty, misery, and tyranny. Even if there are initial signs of success, those signs quickly fade as the fundamental deficiencies are exposed. It is the initial illusion of success that gives government intervention its pernicious, seductive appeal. In the long run, however, socialism has always proven to be a formula for tyranny and misery. Equality was achieved only in the sense that everyone was equal in his or her misery.”

The unfortunate truth today is this: we are only one election away from socialism. And with socialism comes more big government (another false god), and less personal freedom. God gave us free will, so what right does any man or government have to take that freedom away? But, of course, if you eliminate God from the equation, that becomes less of a sticky-wicket.  (See how the world works?)

At this point you may be thinking, “What is the answer to this sad dilemma?” And I would conclude, the answer is the same answer Apostle Paul gave at the end of his rant in Romans 7:25: “The answer is Jesus Christ.”  The truth is… the love, acceptance, identity, significance, joy, peace and serenity that everyone is longing for today is found in Christ. No other religion or philosophy offers forgiveness of sin, a new life, and eternal life. But that is exactly what God’s Gift of Grace offers!  The further our culture drifts away from the truth of God’s Word, the more plentiful the harvest can be.  Without a doubt, there is another Grace Awakening on the horizon.  When our culture of hopelessness and despair comes face to face with the truth of God’s love, mercy and grace, it will be a no brainer. Only under the outstretched arms of God, not the strong arm of government, will we be in the “right” place to find the love and everything else“we’ve been searchin’ for”. God, YOU  ARE….

Feel free to “like” this post, and feel free to share it with other social media friends.

May God Bless You Abundantly,

Dan Presgrave (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)

Good Day, Meetpastordan Readers…earlier in the week I finished a new blog entitled, “God IS love! #339, which I intended to publish today. However, it just dawned on me over the weekend that this is Memorial Day, which is one of my favorite holidays. I would be remiss if I didn’t share my traditional Memorial Day message.  Therefore, I hope you all have a great Memorial Day celebration with family and friends, and please take a moment to ponder the true meaning of this very important day.

I love America.  I believe in America.  I believe that even with all its issues facing our great country today – including the short-comings of our culture, America is still the greatest country the world has ever seen.  And when I think of the men and women who stepped up to serve in the Armed Forces in times of peril, many who never returned home to their families or loved ones, I always get a lump in my throat and a sense of pride about who “WE” are as Americans.  My father served in WW II; I served in the Vietnam era; and I am enclosing a video clip later that summarizes the horrors of war as seen through the eyes of my long time hero, Colonel Arnald Gabriel.

Here is a familiar quote that packs a wallop in its truth.  “The only two people who have ever volunteered to sacrifice their life for the benefit of others were Jesus Christ and the American soldier.”  Wow!  And what was their common purpose?  So that others could be set free, or remain free. Jesus’ sacrifice freed us from the bondage of sin; the American soldier’s sacrifice keeps us free from tyranny and oppression, which illuminates the statement, “Freedom isn’t free!”

Jonathan Cahn, messianic Rabbi, history scholar and best-selling author of The Harbinger, makes an interesting observation when he compares our country with ancient Israel.  He states, “No doubt Israel was blessed from the beginning: first as a people group because they were descendants of righteous men (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), then later as a nation, delivered from bondage to the most powerful nation at that time – Egypt. God chose to show his power through Israel because it was the smallest and weakest of nations.” 

Cahn goes on to say, “America was the only other nation to receive such a blessing”.  “And why was that”, you might ask?  Cahn continues his thoughts: “Because this was a nation founded on prayer and built on Judeo-Christian principles. Therefore, America would rise to heights no other nation had ever known. Not that it was ever without fault or sin, but America did aspire to fulfill its calling.” And what was that calling”, you ask? According to Cahn, “To be a vessel of redemption, an instrument of God’s purposes, a light to the world. It would give refuge to the world’s poor and needy, and hope to its oppressed. It would stand against tyranny. It would fight, more than once, against the dark movements of the modern world that threatened to engulf the earth”.

The United States declared its independence in 1776, adopted the Constitution in 1787, added the Bill of Rights in 1791, and was clearly recognized as a world power by 1798.  In light of world events at that time (ie. the effects of the French Revolution), religious persecution was rampant in Europe.  America was that light on the hill; that bastion of hope for all people seeking freedom…freedom of worship, or just freedom to fulfill their dreams, to be “all they could be”.

An inscription at the base of the Statue of Liberty identifies America’s purpose.  It was taken from a sonnet, The New Colossus, written by Emma Lazarus in 1883 and reads: “Give me your tired, your poor; your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The wretched refuse of your teeming shore; send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the Golden Door!”  Liberty’s image is one of strength, majesty, and hope.  It is visible in her eternally raised right arm which carries the torch of freedom.  Holding aloft a light that never fails, she represents hope to the hopeless, welcome to the poor, and courage to the meek. Facing outward toward the ocean, her lamp is a beacon on stormy seas, drawing to her shores those from afar who seek a better life.  For these, and for countless others who embrace her message, the Statue of Liberty represents the Golden Door.  It is the passageway to liberty and freedom from oppression that is the promise of America – a land, a people, a way of life.

For Americans, freedom is our most precious possession.  “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” is a well-known phrase in the United States Declaration of Independence. The phrase gives three examples of the “unalienable rights” which the Declaration says has been given to all human beings by their Creator, and for which governments are created to protect.  It is the protection of those rights that have inspired brave men and women to answer their country’s call . “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” is the absolute antithesis  of Socialism!

I mentioned earlier a video clip that features my life-long hero, Colonel Arnald Gabriel.  I know Colonel Gabriel as the commander of The United States Air Force Band in Washington D.C. but as you will see from the video, in World War II he served as a combat machine gunner with the famed 29th Infantry Division in Europe. On June 6, 1944 he went ashore at Omaha Beach with Easy Company, 116th Infantry, 29th Division.  He received two Bronze Star medals, the Combat Infantry Badge, and the French Croix de Guerre.  This man, and all who served this great country, should be our heroes today. They bring this phrase to life: freedom isn’t free.

https://www.facebook.com/Tapsbugler/videos/10152384981199627/   turn volume up (If for any reason this hyperlink doesn’t open, please copy it to your browser.  You will be glad you did.)

My hope and prayer today is that as Americans, we will have the courage to do anything and everything possible to protect our freedoms from enemies – both foreign and domestic. As Americans, we must never let the sacrifices of our brave men and women be in vain. I hope you will take time today and thank a veteran for their service, then take time to thank God for blessing our great nation.

Happy Memorial Day, and may God continue to bless America.

Please feel free to respond to this posting, and please “like” and share it with other social media friends.

Dan Presgrave (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)

Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers…A few years ago Grace Church St. Louis initiated a church-wide book study of “The Power of Prayer” by Mike Bickle.  No doubt this is a powerful book, but there was one passage in particular that I will never forget because it changed the way I now go about reading and studying the Bible.  Pastor Bickle, when talking about his own experience, reminisced: “I’ve learned that when I sit down to begin reading and studying the Bible, instead of jumping in with the intent of covering a certain amount of Scripture, I take time to relax; time to be still and clear my head of current thoughts. Then I ask the Holy Spirit to open my mind and my heart to receive the truth contained in these sentences.  I ask Him to let my roots go down deep into the real meat of these words and draw up a new depth of spiritual nourishment better than anything I’ve experienced before.”  Wow!  Today I do the same thing, and it certainly changes the result of my reading habits and my praying habits.

I followed that process this morning before I started reading passages from the book of Jeremiah. I read about God’s anger against both Jerusalem and Babylonia for their disobedience and their idolatry. In God’s eyes, sin cannot go unpunished, and the Scriptures are very detailed and graphic concerning His impending wrath. And believe me, it’s quite horrific!

After I finished reading, and before I started writing today’s blog, I leaned back and asked the Holy Spirit to give me the “big picture” from what I just read, and also asked Him to lead me in the direction of today’s writing. Almost immediately I was drawn to this truth: Regardless of God’s burning anger against Sin, He always prefers mercy over judgement. God was speaking through the prophet Isaiah when He said, “I – yes I alone – am the One who blots out your sins for My own sake, and will remember your sins no more.” (Isaiah 43:25) This is repeated again in the book of Jeremiah when he was prophesying about the New Covenant: “And I will forgive their wickedness and will never again remember their sins.” (Jeremiah 32:25) What greater example of God’s unconditional, unending, and unfailing love for us than this truth; “He always prefers mercy over judgement.”

Regardless of who you are or what you have done, God longs for a repentant heart. We are His proudest creation, so He doesn’t want to lose even one of us. 2 Peter 3:9 tells us, “He doesn’t want anyone to perish, so He is giving us time to repent.” Just to be clear about the meaning of “repent”, it’s more than just saying “I’m sorry”; it’s about making a decision to change directions – to change the way we’re living. A repentant heart is a humble heart, and James 4:10 speaks to this: “When we come humbly before the Lord and admit our dependence on Him, He will lift us up and give us honor.”

No other religion or philosophy offers anything comparable to God’s gift of Grace. All others teach that the way to find favor with God is through good works; the more good works, the more we are worthy and acceptable in His eyes. For instance, if you give more, you’ll be blessed more; if you do more, you’ll be blessed more; if you help more, you’ll be blessed more. Unfortunately, none of these activities reveal the state of our heart, or the real motivation behind the activity. Too often our activities can have ulterior motives such as self-exaltation or self-pleasure. But the biggest shortcoming of the works yardstick is that it doesn’t deal with the true chasm that exists between Man and God, and that chasm is the issue of SIN!

Sin, by its very definition, is living separated from God. We’re born into this fallen world spiritually disconnected from Him. Unless we do something to re-establish that spiritual connection that was severed at “the Fall” (when Adam and Eve fell victim to satan’s wiles in the Garden and sin entered the world), we can go from the cradle to the grave and miss the whole mind-boggling transformation that God has planned for those who love Him and are called to His purpose. For those who accept His gift of Grace, we are instantaneously transformed into a “new creation”. 2 Corinthians 5:17 describes this transformation: “We’re a new creation in Christ; the old is gone (our old self that was enslaved to our sin-nature); the new has come, (the indwelling Holy Spirit). At this point we are “justified” in His sight, meaning we are reconciled to Him because we are covered with the blood of Jesus.

The truth is…at this point we are saved, but this is just the first step in the transformation process. To get all the blessings that come from being in Christ, we have to start the journey of becoming more like Him. 2 Peter 1:3 addresses this process: “The more we grow in our relationship with Jesus, His divine nature (His supernatural power) gives us everything we need for living a Godly life.” That “everything” referred to is the indwelling Holy Spirit who equips us to do things we could never do through our own volition.

This is the secret weapon of every Christian. This is how we overcome the wiles of our adversary, satan. You’ll very quickly come to appreciate this gift, because now that you’ve been transferred from the domain of darkness into the domain of light, YOU are satan’s target!  His whole purpose is to keep you separated from God through lies, deception, schemes, and accusations. And believe me, he is a master at his craft!

But here is the good news…God knows that through our own effort, we’re no match against satan and his evil minions. That is why He gave us the Holy Spirit to be our teacher, our guide, our comforter, and the One who will lead us into all truth.  The spiritual warfare that we will experience during this transformation journey is not a power struggle, but a truth struggle. Satan will come at you unmercifully with his lies, deceptions, schemes and accusations. Your victory will come from the truth of God’s Word and knowing who you are in Christ. Satan’s lies cannot stand against God’s truth.

James 4:7 reveals this truth: “Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”  Tell him, “I’m a Child of God”. Tell him, “Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior”. Tell him, “the Spirit that is in me (the Holy Spirit) is greater than the spirit in this world.” (That’s you, satan!) (1John 4:4) Tell him, “You were defeated by Jesus two thousand years ago at the cross”. Tell him, “I’m in Christ and Christ is in me!” Satan will flee at the name of Jesus.

What incredible hope is in the Gospel of Grace! It’s a gift from God given to you so you can become the person He created you to be.  He forgives your wickedness and remembers your sins no more for His own sake!  He gives us the indwelling Holy Spirit so we will be victorious in our battle with satan. Galatians 5:16-18 describes that scenario: “So I advise you to live according to your new life in the
Spirit. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The old sinful nature loves to do evil, which is just the opposite from what the Holy Spirit desires. And the Spirit gives us desires that are opposite from what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, and your choices are never free from this conflict.  But when you are directed by the Holy Spirit, you are no longer enslaved to your sinful nature.” And the brightest jewel in this crown of victory is this truth: God always prefers mercy over judgement!  Amen!

Please feel free to “like” this posting, then feel free to share it with other social media friends.

May God Bless You abundantly…

Dan Presgrave (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)

Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers…I woke up last night with the recollection of this question being asked when I was still leading a men’s spirituality class at Saint Patrick Center here in St. Louis. It seemed like such an innocent question, but in fact it was an extremely profound question because the answer has eternal ramifications. I remember that a certain young man talked about growing up in a church environment, but he still didn’t know if he was saved or not. Then I started wondering if others might be facing that same quandary?  That kept me awake until it was dog-walking time, so I’ll continue my thoughts with you right now.

The obvious question to clarify the question in the subject line is, “What are we being saved from?”  And I would answer, “We’re being saved from ourselves.” And here is why I say that.

When a baby is born, what is the first thing it does?  He or She cries.  No doubt the pat on the butt by the physician prompted that cry, but it doesn’t take the baby long to figure out that if it wants something, whether it is to be held or to be nursed, it cries. So at this point, the first thing the baby has become aware of is “self”. From this point forward, our natural instinct is to focus on self. If something feels good or tastes good, we want more; if something exalts us, we want more; if something makes us happy or gives us a “zingggg”, we want more. The point is, unless we make a choice along the way to change that focus, we can go from the cradle to the grave living in our own self-fulfilling capacity.

When God created us, we were created to be in relationship with Him…just like Adam and Eve. They lived in Paradise; God was their provider; they wanted for nothing. But all of that ended when SIN entered the world. Eve and Adam took the focus off of God and put in on themselves when they yielded to satan’s temptation and deception: “The woman was convinced. The fruit looked so fresh and delicious, and it would make her so wise!”  (Genesis 3: 6) That act of disobedience led to them being banished from Paradise.  But not only were they banished from Paradise, so were all future generations. Therefore, unless each one of us decides to restore that original connection that existed between “self” and our Creator, each one of us will also be banished from Paradise.

But because God is a loving, merciful and gracious God, not to mention omniscient, He knew this was going to happen even before He created the world (and Man). Ephesians 1:4-5,10 tells this story: “Long ago, even before He created the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes.  His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and this gave Him great pleasure.  And this is His plan: At the right time He will bring everything together under the authority of Christ – everything in heaven and on earth.”

That original act of disobedience in the Garden delivered this message from the creation to the Creator: “We can be our own god; we don’t need you.” To that, God replied, “Go for it.” Romans 1:28-32 describes God’s attitude about that matter: “When they refused to acknowledge God, He abandoned them to their evil minds and let them do things that should never be done.  Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, fighting, deception malicious behavior and gossip.  They were backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud and boastful.  They were forever inventing new ways of sinning and were disobedient to their parents.  They refuse to understand, break their promises, and are heartless and unforgiving…And worse yet, they encourage others to do the same;”

After “The Fall” (when sin entered the world), God let Man choose his own destiny until we proved without a shadow of a doubt that we were “utterly helpless” (Ref. Romans 5:6) to overcome the issue of SIN (being self-reliant rather than God-reliant) through our own effort. In our utterly helpless state, He implemented the plan referenced above in Ephesians 10. His plan was always to provide a Redeemer (Savior) to do for us what He knew we could never do for ourselves.  In other words, His plan was always to save us from ourselves, because He wanted His “Masterpiece” (Ref. Ephesians 2:10) to spend eternity with Him in Paradise.

Unfortunately for Man, God’s standard for entering Paradise is pretty high. In fact, it calls for perfection. “You must be holy because I am holy” (1 Peter, 1:16) In other words, if we are stained with sin, we can’t even get through the “pearly gates.” But the good news is, God’s plan takes care of that obstacle. It’s called The Gift of Grace, meaning we didn’t earn it, nor do we deserve it. But God was still willing to provide a Savior (Jesus Christ) to pay the penalty for OUR sins.  When we believe and accept what Jesus did for us on the cross, in God’s eyes we are now covered with the blood of Jesus and we are SIN-FREE!  We are a new creation in Christ!  Now we are worthy and acceptable to enter Paradise to be with God, Jesus and all Christ-followers forever.

As it says in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son (to pay the penalty for OUR sins), that whoever believes in Him, will not perish, but will have eternal life.”  When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we inherit what Jesus did in our place on the cross. This is what it means to be saved!

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May God Bless Ya abundantly…

Dan Presgrave (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)