Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers…this is in essence part 3 of blogs #282 and #284. In those two blogs I wrote about the state of our fallen culture. In conclusion, I stated that the only way to bring light into the prevailing darkness was through another Grace Awakening. Based on the responses I received, I have come to realize that the term “Grace” is not always received by the listener with clarity, and the term “Grace Awakening” provoked more questions. Obviously, my intent today is to bring clarity to this subject.

I begin by quoting Apostle Paul’s powerful words in 1 Corinthians: 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.’ So where does that 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 believe!”

For those who are not in Christ (meaning those who live for themselves, separated from God), the message of Christ’s death on the cross to pay the penalty for the sins of Mankind seems like utter nonsense. I know that because I was an atheist in the latter part of my previous life. And like other nonbelievers, that message made no logical sense. What intelligent man (like myself) could believe such a story?  I was convinced it was made up by the church to give some semblance of hope to the flock. But thank God, today I realize I was ignorant of the truth.

As it says in the Scripture above, “God, in His wisdom, saw to it that the world would never find Him through human wisdom.” “And why is that”, you might ask? Because to grasp Spiritual concepts, it takes humility first, then an open mind and an open heart to process this new concept. That is just the opposite of the close-minded nonbeliever. However, when people reach a state of desperation and become aware of their own insufficiency, that is when they are most likely to open their minds and hearts to partake of the love and hope found in the Gospel of Grace.

Now I want to answer four frequently asked questions about the Gospel of Grace: 1. Why is this called the Gospel of Grace? 2. Why is Jesus so special? 3. Why did He come? 4. What does this mean to me?

1. The term Gospel means “the teachings of Jesus” OR “the revelation of Jesus”, meaning you now realize and accept that He is who He claimed to be – the Son of God. The term Grace itself means unmerited favor. We did nothing to earn this favor, and we certainly did not deserve it. It’s a free gift! The Gospel of Grace means we realize that Jesus died in our place to pay the penalty for our sins, and we accept His sacrifice as a gift of love. The Book of Ephesians tells us that even before God created the world and Man (Mankind), His plan was always to send a Savior to do for us what He knew we could never do for ourselves. “Long ago, even before He created the world (and Man), 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! (Ephesians 1:4-5)
2. John 1:1 tells us, “In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God.” So, what does that mean? The Greek term for “Word” is “logos”, which means “Truth”, God’s Truth. When “Word” is capitalized, it is synonymous with “Jesus”. (Now read that Scripture and substitute Jesus for “Word”.)  That is why John 1:14 tells us, “The Word became flesh (human) and dwelt among us. And we (the disciples) have seen His glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father.”  When Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist to start His ministry, a dove (the Holy Spirit) descended on Him and a voice from heaven proclaimed, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17) Jesus existed before the world was created. He gave up his Lordship to come to earth in the body of a man, thus demonstrating the truth of God’s Word by the way He lived His life.
3. Jesus came because it was always God’s plan to send a Savior to do for us what He knew, even before He created us, that we could NOT do for ourselves. (Ref. to Scripture from Ephesians in #1 above.) From Creation until 2019 years ago (the coming of Jesus), man had the opportunity to make himself right with God by living according to His standard, the Ten Commandments. Romans 5:6 is our report card on that endeavor: “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time to die for us sinners.” “Utterly helpless” means that our self-attempt to please God was a miserable failure! And what was “just the right time”?  It was when we showed ourselves to be utterly helpless to overcome the dilemma of sin through our own effort. This is when God implemented His plan: To send Jesus Christ as the sacrificial lamb to pay the penalty for our sins. Through His death on the cross, our sin ransom was paid in full, thus fulfilling the requirements of the Old Covenant. (blood being required for forgiveness of sin.) (Hebrews 9:22)
4. So, what does this mean to me? (us) It means that now we have options. I’ll let Romans 6:23 present these options: “For the wages of Sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” When Jesus died on the cross to ransom us from sin’s penalty of death, this gave us two options. We can try our best to live a sin-free life, which for thousands of years proved to be an impossible task, or we can accept Jesus Christ’s payment on our behalf. If we choose the latter, we are accepting Him as our Lord and Savior, which means we are now in Christ. As such, our sins are forgiven, and we now have inherited eternal life. That seals our eternal destiny! We are no longer slaves to our sin-nature (human nature); now we can choose to make choices that bring honor and glory to God.

Sin is the dilemma that keeps Man separate from God. 1 Peter 1:16 tells us why that is a problem. God proclaimed, “You must be holy because I, the Lord, am holy.” In other words, if we are stained with sin, we cannot come into the presence of God. Therefore, we cannot join Him in Paradise for eternity because sin contaminates, kills, steals and destroys. Revelation 21:27 is the exclamation point concerning this matter: “Nothing evil, nor anyone who practices shameful idolatry or dishonesty, will be allowed to enter.” (referring to Paradise) So here are our options: try our best to be sin-free, which is an impossible task, or accept God’s Gift of Grace with the many blessings that accompany that choice.

Forgiveness of our sins and eternal life are certainly reason enough to accept God’s Gift of Grace, but this is a gift that keeps on giving. We don’t have to wait until we die to begin experiencing more blessings. For those of us who will live for another ten, twenty, thirty or more years, we also inherit the indwelling Holy Spirit who empowers us to become the person God created us to be. We are no longer slaves to our human nature; through the Holy Spirit we can now rise above our circumstances to bring honor and glory to God. Through this newness of character comes a sense of confidence, security, strength, patience, peace, serenity, and joy. How’s that for hitting the spiritual jackpot?

Jesus died for the sins of the world.  This new life is available to anyone who makes the decision to accept God’s Gift of Grace. (Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior) The choice is yours; reject God’s gift and remain in sin; accept His gift and experience eternal life, plus a transformed life right here and now. Now that you know the truth, isn’t this a no-brainer?

I will close with what is probably the most popular verse in the Bible, John 3:16. It encapsulates the essence of this entire presentation. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son. Whoever believes in Him will not perish, but will have eternal life.”

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

May God Bless You…

Dan Presgrave (a;k;a; Pastor Dan)

Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers…This is another subject that has been rattling around in my head for a while (in fact, it’s actually pt. 2 of blog #282), but I’ve held off because I understand that some readers might be offended by my thoughts on this subject. While I have never been one who considers myself “politically correct”, the “new me” (the transformed me) is more interested in drawing people in, rather than driving my point home at any cost (the old me 😊).

Let’s take today’s title as an example. I struggled with whether I should use “Church” or “Body of Christ” to make my point. While “Church” is all-inclusive, to me it is a bit too inclusive.  I say that because not all churches present the same message: we have the prosperity message, replacement theology, New Age cult-like messages, and churches that even question the Trinity doctrine and the deity of Christ. Since followers of Jesus Christ are referred to in the New Testament as the “Body of Christ”, I chose that as my title. After all, I am writing about Him and His teachings.

I love the question “What would Jesus do?”, especially when it is asked by someone who is smugly setting a trap and looking forward to tripping the “jaws”. I have experienced that in many conversations, but these two examples will clarify my point. The first was a conversation about armed guards in the church, of which I was in favor, and my adversary was against. The second was a conversation about the caravans at the southern border and my adversary could not believe our government’s lack of compassion for these “poor people who struggled so hard to get here.”

It has been my experience that the motivation for that “favored” question seems to be rooted in a veiled attempt to discredit my Christian beliefs rather than engaging in any manner of sane discourse. “What do you mean you ARE in favor of armed guards in a church?  I thought that as a Christian you were supposed to turn the other cheek!” Or, “I thought that as a Christian you were supposed to be against violence!” And concerning the caravan issue, virtually the same position: “I thought that as a Christian you would be kind and compassionate!  I thought you would want to help those in need!” No doubt Christians are called to stand against violence and no doubt we are called to be kind and compassionate, but being a Christian doesn’t mean we should be blind to the snake when we see him.

No doubt, this approach, and many like it, are wrapped in agendas that are, in turn, shrouded in evil. Unfortunately, the spokesperson for the agenda-driven side seems to be unaware of that truth, which makes the original question seem all the more trivial. Those of us who do know the truth about Jesus, know this would be His response: He would stand against evil whenever or wherever He saw it. And as we know from His encounters with the Pharisees, He was anything but politically correct. For instance, “You brood of Vipers” (Matthew 12:34), “Hypocrites!” (Mathew 23:13), “Everything you do is for show.” (Matthew 23:5), and He called them “Blind guides and blind fools.” (Matthew 23: 16, 17) No doubt Jesus stood firm against deceitful and despicable behavior.

So, Body of Christ, what about us? Are we (as a Body) willing to stand in unison against evil whenever or wherever we see it? We are in the midst of a culture that is morally and spiritually bankrupt, a culture that has embraced secularism and is willing to marginalize or ridicule the Word of God and the teachings of Jesus at every opportunity.  And just when we think it can’t get any worse, we hear more and more talk about America becoming a socialist country, which means less and less personal freedoms; we’re expected to accept the new norm of same sex marriage as “freedom of expression”; we’re expected to accept new parameters for gender identity as “enlightenment”; and most recently we’ve heard of a radical new abortion law that not only permits abortion up to the day of delivery, but if the baby should survive the botched abortion attempt, it can be “terminated” (KILLED!) once it is out of the womb. This is touted as a woman’s right!

We certainly hear, loud and clear, the voice of the radical Liberal Progressive Agenda (LPA) who unabashedly shout their intent to fundamentally change America. And from every indication, there is no place in their plans for God or Jesus. The enlightened teachings of man have been exalted by the LPA, and that is what guides their path!

So, what does that mean to the Body of Christ?  Where is our voice? What do we have to say about all of this? So far there hasn’t been so much as a concerted whisper. Now I’m sure there are many individual churches that talk about these matters within the safe confines of their walls, but what I’m talking about is a counter movement from the Body of Christ against the evil that is engulfing the minds and hearts of our society. It’s wonderful that week after week we can preach to the faithful congregations we have built up over time, but they’re already believers.  We’re preaching to the choir, so to speak.

Jesus was very explicit about His plan. He told the disciples, “I have been given complete authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, GO and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:18-19) The word GO is very specific. It means to take the message wherever you have to take it in order to share it with unbelievers. Remember, “Satan, the god of this evil world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe.” (2 Corinthians 4:4) Unless we carry this message of love and hope to them, it is very unlikely that those who need to hear it most will ever cross the doorway of your church seeking enlightenment.

As I mentioned earlier, our culture is spiritually and morally bankrupt. Since we have expunged God from our midst, we have lost our moral compass, causing some to even drift toward depravity. All the while this is happening, the voice of the LPA is increasing in volume, supported unfortunately by the billion-dollar entertainment and media industry that keeps bombarding our souls with more violent, sexual, extraterrestrial, and demonic themes. With a steady diet of these atrocious messages, it doesn’t take long for our senses to become numb to what was once considered horrific. (Hello! That is precisely the intent!)

Body of Christ, our only hope is in the power of the Gospel of Grace. No other message offers hope to the brokenhearted like this message of love, forgiveness and freedom. Unfortunately, that whole message is being silenced, or even worse, snuffed out by the evil agenda we see being firmly planted in our culture. Unless we make a concerted effort to move in unison now, I predict it won’t be long before we could be considered an enemy of the state for making such radical claims. The time is now! As it says in 2 Corinthians, “God has given us the task of reconciling people to Himself. This is the wonderful message (the Gospel of Grace) He has given us to tell others. We are Christ’s ambassadors, and God is using us to speak to the world. Be reconciled to God!” (vs.18-20)

I am part of an active intercessory prayer team at Grace Church St. Louis. We meet regularly to pray for people, places and things. We pray consistently for our culture, for our government, and for those who are hurting.  We are part of a larger network of intercessory prayer groups doing the same thing with the intent of laying the groundwork for another Grace Awakening.  If you are reading this and you don’t know if your church is part of this endeavor, ask. If they are not, encourage them to add their voice to our voice. OUR MESSAGE MUST BE HEARD! We do what we do standing on these truths: “The righteous ones cried out, and the Lord Jehovah heard them and delivered them.” (Psalm 34:17) “The prayers of a righteous man avail much” (James 5:16) “Nothing is impossible with God!” (Luke 1:37)

Remember, as the Body of Christ, our primary duty is to follow Christ’s example of confronting evil wherever and whenever it rears its ugly head. When considering the challenge our culture presents, “The harvest is plentiful; the workers are too few.” (Matthew 9:35)

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

May God Bless Ya…

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

Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers…Being a follower of Jesus Christ is much more than calling ourselves “Christians”. It is a way of life that has to be demonstrated to the world around us on a daily basis, and that can only be possible through the mystery of Christianity found in the transformation that takes place in us when we make the decision to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior.  We become “new creatures” in Christ, meaning our old self – enslaved to our sin-nature – is replaced by the Holy Spirit that empowers us to rise above the temptations of our flesh, the world around us, and the lies and deception of satan!   But as I wrote last week, this is the process we have to follow in order to live the abundant life promised to us by Jesus; a life that is characterized by confidence, security, peace and serenity, joy and freedom.

We know that all human beings inherited Adam and Eve’s sin-nature. It was passed down to all future generations because of their disobedience to God’s directive.  All that means is that man’s natural inclination is to live with the focus on “self” rather than on God. The only way to remedy the loss of the spiritual connection that originally existed between God and man, is for man to initiate the process.  When we become willing to repent, meaning we are ready to turn from our old ways and turn to God’s ways, He is there to welcome us with open arms.

James 4:10 reads, “When we humbly bow down before the Lord and admit our dependence on Him, He will lift us up and give us honor.”  As we develop our relationship with God, we quickly learn that His foremost will for our life is that we accept His gift of grace.  That is the only way we can be freed from the yoke of our sin-nature.  2 Corinthians states, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone; the new is here.” Now we are capable of becoming the person God created us to be.  Ephesians 2:10 reads, “We are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ, so we can now do the good things He planned for us long ago.  We are His masterpiece because we (now) are in Christ.

As clearly stated in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish (to be condemned because of our sins), but have eternal life.”  That truth – that scriptural fact, is a gift from God.  We did nothing to earn it nor do we deserve it.  But Jesus’ atonement for our sins on the cross is God’s ultimate show of His love for us, and when we accept His gift, it is our ultimate show of faith (belief; trust) in Him.  Romans 5:8 tells us, “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.”

That is the mystery revealed concerning our salvation.  When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we have an exchange of spirit, or nature.  Our old nature, a slave to sin, is replaced with the Holy Spirit.  The nature of the Holy Spirit is not to sin, but to empower us to live a life that is pleasing to God; a life that reflects the teachings of Jesus. So, what did Jesus teach? Repeated themes included love, mercy, grace, tolerance, compassion, humility, forgiveness, and being of service to others. Does that sound impossible? The only reason it is not impossible is because we have the Holy Spirit in us to empower us to accomplish that purpose.

As Christians, we have been set apart for God.  Ephesians 1: 4 reads, “Long ago, even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy (without sin) and without fault in His eyes.”  Notice that God chose us because we chose to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  Now we are in Christ.  (Notice “being chosen” has no predestination overtones.  We are chosen because we are in Christ.  There is no other reason.)  The Holy Spirit is the essence of Jesus Christ living in us.  (Ref. “What is the Holy Spirit” Oct. 7^th, paragraph 5).  God knows the weakness of human beings.  He knows that by our very nature we yield to the temptations of the world, the temptations of our flesh, and the lies and deceptions of  satan.  That is why His plan, even before He created the world, was to send “at just the right time” the Savior, to do for us what He already knew we were incapable of doing for ourselves. (Ref. Romans, 5:8)

Jesus also knew that His disciples were, of their own volition, a rather weak bunch. He also knew they drew whatever strength they needed to accomplish their purpose from Him.  That is why He told them that after He was gone (meaning after his death), He would not leave them like orphans, but instead would send a comforter, a guide, a teacher, a counselor to empower them – and us – to accomplish His purpose.  And what was Jesus’ purpose? It was to do “the Father’s will.” (John 6:38)

Because we are in Christ, we inherit these three gifts: (1.) forgiveness of sins, which means we can come boldly before God with no fear of condemnation (Romans 8:1): (2.) eternal life with God, Jesus and all other believers: (3.) the Holy Spirit to empower us to live a life that is pleasing to God, as well as a life that will bring us abundance, joy, peace and serenity like we have never before experienced.   BUT THERE IS MORE!

We are also heir to all the spiritual blessings in the heavenly realm, and all the promises in the Bible…and there are many.  Because we are in Christ, every time we set out to grow in our Christian walk, more truth is revealed.  It is through this revelation that our faith grows and we become more comfortable and confident that our life is built on a solid foundation.  It is on this solid rock of faith that we begin experiencing God’s blessings. He wants us to put our trust in Him.   As stated in Malachi, 3:10, “…I will open the windows of heaven for you.  I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in.  Try it!  Let Me prove it to you!” 

My suggestion is that you go to the Bible and open it to Ephesians and read the Chapter 1 (only 23 verses). Notice how many times the blessings come because we are in Christ.  We are truly set aside to be God’s ambassadors to the world, and in doing so, we are heir to all the blessings He promised His children (us).

When the reality of who you are in Christ sets in, you cannot help but be flooded with joy and hope!!  And who are you in Christ? Well,  how’s this for hitting the spiritual jackpot: Your sins are forgiven; now you are acceptable to God. You are worthy to come before Him with no fear of condemnation..  You are loved unconditionally with a love that is unending and unfailing. You are a Saint and no longer a sinner; even when you fall short of God’s glorious standard, He doesn’t condemn you. He just wants you to get up and continue becoming more Christ-like. He’s now your cheerleader! You are now grafted into His family; now you are His Child.  You are heir to every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm, including spiritual healing and revelation. And YOU are heir to all the promises in the Bible…hundreds of them!

Regardless of what anyone else thinks of you, this is your new identity in Christ.  Holy-Tomoly…does anything else really matter?

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

May God Bless Ya…

Dan Presgrave  (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)

Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers…This blog has been rattling around in my head for a few weeks now, but I have been waiting for clarity of approach before I put my hands on the keyboard. What I want to write about is straight from my heart, so I don’t want to get ahead of my source of strength, courage and understanding. But today I believe this is the right time for me to take the plunge in an attempt to bring hope to the hopeless and light to dispel the prevailing darkness.

For years I have been a news junkie. I have always enjoyed keeping up with the latest goings-on in my country, my state, and my hometown. But even more than just keeping up, I have looked for ways in which I could contribute positively to a successful outcome.  Thankfully I have been able to use this blog as my means of accomplishing that stated purpose. But rather than trying to add another “latest and greatest idea” or “brilliant insight”, my purpose has been to stand on the truth of a timeless message; a message that history has proven to be unmistakable and unshakable.

I love my country! Even with its shortcomings and mistakes along the way, I believe America is the greatest country the world has ever seen. But unfortunately, America today is a far cry from the Greatest Generation (those who grew up during the Great Depression and came of age to fight in World War II, or those whose labor helped win that war.) That was a time when there was unity of purpose and a desire to make America great; that was a time of patriotism and sacrifice. Our country sorely lacks those qualities today.

I have reflected many times on the Scripture found in Matthew 23:37-38: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers… And now look; your house is left to you, empty and desolate.” Prior to this lament by Jesus, He had just rebuked the leaders of His day for their hypocrisy, self-centeredness, ego-driven agendas, lack of compassion for others, corruption, and lawlessness.  As you reflect on that last sentence, do you see any of those characteristics displayed in our current political raucous?  Today when I look at the pathetic state of what was once “the land of the free and the home of the brave”, I too weep for my country.

I have written many times about what I perceive to be an evil agenda that has been gaining popularity in our culture. I have referred to this agenda as the Liberal Progressive Agenda (LPA). For the past few decades this insidious movement has been festering in our country, progressing at a patient, methodical pace, but with a very clear goal in mind – to fundamentally transform America. The very heart and soul of this movement is the unmitigated desire for power and control.

Therefore, an integral part of achieving their goal has been the decimation of many of the fundamental pillars that have previously defined our culture.  Targets of assault are: the traditional family structure, religious freedom, casting doubt on the stability of our founding documents (the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights), a concerted attempt to divide rather than unite people, challenging and rewriting our country’s history, challenging and diminishing the effect of laws and law enforcement. Two characteristics that define this movement are the willingness to do whatever it takes to silence the opposition, regardless of the collateral damage, and the exaltation of human thinking and worldly philosophy over the truth of God’s Word.

The seat of this all-important power structure will be a big government that will eventually become not only our provider, but our god. And what will certainly become evident is the driving force that has been behind this silent coup; that is the liberal elite, the media and the entertainment industry working in tandem with the LPA to disseminate their propaganda in order to numb down and dumb down our society. If this agenda is allowed to succeed, we too will discover, albeit too late, that our own house has been left empty and desolate.

In my previous blogs that have begun with a similar exposition, I had gone on to present and contrast the political platforms of both parties. Then I encouraged you to educate yourselves before going to the polls. But today I have a different ending for what seems like a cultural black hole. I have listened to the hate-filled rhetoric and the name-calling; I have witnessed the frenzy of finger-pointing and accusations; I have heard lie after lie. Today, I, like Apostle Paul, put no confidence in human effort to solve the myriad of issues that have left us shrouded in darkness. I believe the malaise that defines our culture today is way beyond human effort, as supported by the epic words of Albert Einstein, “You can’t solve a problem with the same mind that created the problem.”

Throughout the Bible (and world history books), the fall of civilizations have had common elements.  The big three are the desire for wealth, power and control. It all started with Satan’s rebellion in heaven.  He became envious of God’s power, so he amassed his own army of rogue angels and challenged God’s authority.  The result of that failed attempt was banishment from Paradise.  That pattern has continued throughout the Bible, and can be substantiated by secular history books. When people and cultures are in line with God’s will, they are blessed, they prosper, and they flourish. (America has been an example of those blessings when the focus was on answering our call, which was to be that shining light on a hill for all to see. We were the example of freedom and democracy.)  However, when people and cultures are out of line with God’s will, fire and brimstone, plagues, famines, pestilence, wars, horrific natural disasters, strife and suffering usually follow.

America today is a country that has lost its direction. Expunging God from our midst has left us without a defining moral compass, and it shows in every aspect of our society. Here are some staggering statistics to back up that last statement: the divorce rate today is the highest ever; we have a suicide rate that is sky-rocketing; addictions are off the charts; depression and anxiety are at epidemic proportions, and STD rates are on the rise. Yet the liberal, secular thinking that has set itself up as the new norm tells us that we are free to make our own moral judgements; we don’t need to answer to a higher authority. In fact, we can be our own god! (hum…isn’t that the same lie the serpent used to deceive Eve in the Garden?) When you look at the insanity that is so prevalent in our culture today (not clinically speaking, but culturally speaking), what you see, and what you are experiencing is man’s best effort at playing god.  As you can plainly see, the human elements of hatred, anger, fear, distrust, jealousy, greed, lying, deception, anxiety, etc. are certainly contrary to the love, forgiveness, mercy, grace and blessings of the one true God!

Right now there is a culture war in our country. The LPA is fanning the flames of secularism and socialism; the other side (party?) wants something, but who knows for sure what that “something” is? The unanswered question that looms heavily in the minds of everybody is, “Does either side (party?) really care about “we the people?” For years we have heard empty promises from political leaders, but clearly, agendas have taken precedent over constituents.  So, what can we count on? What can we believe in? Who can we trust?  The good news is…I have the definitive answer.

I am part of the intercessory prayer movement at Grace Church St. Louis.  Pastor Ron Tucker has been the driving force behind this assembly, and our primary purpose, along with many other churches across the country, is to pray for revelation in the minds and hearts of those who do not know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. This is not about promoting any particular religious doctrine; this is about hearing and experiencing the transforming power of God’s Word. His word is Truth; His word is Life!

Sin is the dilemma that has kept Man separated from God.  Man’s nature, his human nature, is to live with the focus on self rather than on God. (In fact, that is the very definition of Sin.) God gave Man from Creation until 2019 years ago to try to overcome the sin-issue through his own effort. Romans 5:6 tells how he fared: “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time to die for us sinners.”  Utterly helpless is quite an inditement. Clearly, we proved ourselves unable to overcome the issue of sin through our own effort.

Ephesians 1:4-5 tells us, “Long ago, even before He created the world (and Man), God found us acceptable and holy in His sight because we are in Christ. His plan was always to adopt us into His own family through Jesus Christ, and this gave Him great pleasure.” In other words, God’s plan, even before He created us, was to eventually send a Savior to save us from ourselves. This is called the Gift of Grace, because we did not deserve it, nor did we earn it. It is a gift from a loving Father who wants to provide a way for everyone to be saved.  All we have to do is accept His Gift of Grace. What an example of unconditional love, unending love, and unfailing love!  God doesn’t want to lose even one of His creations to eternal damnation.

Today’s lost culture is morally and spiritually bankrupt!  Allow me to once again spotlight Einstein’s accurate assessment, “You can’t solve a problem with the same mind that created the problem.”   We have drifted away from our Judeo-Christian roots and have championed secularism. With this has come the exaltation of human wisdom, while at the same time marginalizing and ridiculing the timeless truths of God’s Word. So how has that worked out? Well…you’re living in the pathetic result of that mind-set. This clearly cannot be solved through politics, because politics has proven itself to be self-serving and corrupt. This is not a political problem!  This is a spiritual problem that needs a spiritual solution.

The intercessory prayer movement I mentioned earlier is spreading this truth across the country with the intent of bringing forth another grace-awakening. This is the powerful message of God’s love, His mercy and grace, and His forgiveness. This message is the pathway, not only to eternal life, but the source of our courage, strength, confidence, peace, serenity, and joy… right here, right now!  It’s everything we’ve longed for, but unfortunately, we have been looking in all the wrong places. A change of minds and hearts in our culture is the answer. It’s time to invite the one true God back into our midst!

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

May God Bless Ya..

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

Oh that we would listen to God’s voice today!  The Psalmist writes in Psalm 95: 8-11:  The Lord says, “Don’t harden your hearts as Israel did at Meribah, as they did at Massah in the wilderness.  For there your ancestors tried My patience; they courted My wrath though they had seen My miracles.  For forty years I was angry with them, and I said,”They are a people whose hearts turned away from Me.They refuse to do what I tell them.” So in My anger, I made a vow: ‘They will never enter My place of rest.”  (That passage is quoted again in Hebrews 4: 3-7.)  And what was it that inflamed God’s anger? It was the disobedience of the Israelites. God had promised them the land of Canaan.  All they had to do was enter the land and conquer it.  But the Israelite’s unbelief was more real than God’s promise, so they were punished by aimless wondering in the wilderness for the next forty years until the older generation passed away.

God wants us to obey His word. We can clearly see throughout the Old Testament numerous examples of God’s wrath manifested in floods, famine, wars, fire and brimstone, pestilence, and droughts when people or nations were disobedient. But conversely, when people and nations were in line with His will, they were blessed. That’s the way God worked.  He protected those who were selected to be His very own, either by punishing their enemies or bestowing blessings on them.  Malachi 3: 10-11, is very specific “…If you do [as I say], says the Lord Almighty, I will open the windows of heaven for you.  I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in.  Try it!  Let Me prove it to you!” Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease.  Your grapes will not shrivel before they are ripe.  Then all the nations will call you blessed, for your land will be such a delight.” 

The “rest” promised to the Israelites was the land of Canaan. That was their destination.  Had they been obedient to God and continued to live in accordance with His will, they would have entered their “promised land” and would have experienced rest, peace and prosperity as they communed with God.  (Canaan could have, in effect, become like the Garden of Eden) However, that was not the case, and also the reason the author of Hebrews writes in 3:15, “Today you must listen to His voice.  Don’t harden your hearts against Him as Israel did when they rebelled.”  Since those who first heard the message were disobedient and did not reach their destination, God set another time for entering his place of “rest”, and that time, according to the psalmist David, is “today”.

As followers of Jesus Christ, God invites us to join Him in His place of rest. You see…God’s plan for our salvation is perfect. He knew that we could never achieve His standard of perfection through our own effort. History would, and has, proven that.  But today we can enter our place of rest, not by our own effort, but by accepting God’s gift to us.  And this is a gift of grace because we did nothing to earn it, and we were certainly were not worthy of it. But this is a gift from a loving father who wants an eternal relationship with His children. As followers of Jesus, we are “heir to all the spiritual blessings in the heavenly realm” (Ephesians 1) and all the promises in the Bible. Now it is no longer about our work and effort, but about our faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ.

When Jesus was nailed to the cross, He died for all of our sins…past, present, and future. I know how hard that is for us to wrap our minds around that truth, because I have heard the same response more than once. ”What? Come on…that makes no sense to anyone with a brain in their head!”  The fact is…you’re right. When limited by our rational thinking, it makes absolutely no sense. But God knew we would struggle with many of “His ways”, and His majestic qualities such as omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience.   That’s why He spoke through the prophet Isaiah in 5:8-9 and said, “My ways are not your ways, My thoughts are beyond anything you can imagine.  As high as the heavens are above the earth, My ways are not your ways; My thoughts are not your thoughts.”  In other words, “just be still and know that I am God! (Psalm 46:10) His plan for our salvation, “which existed before the world was created” (Ephesians 1:3) is perfect, and it is based entirely on our faith in Him.

Since God knows us better than we know ourselves, He knew we could never – through our own effort – be worthy of coming into His presence. Why? Because we, like it or not, are sinners and are stained with sin. And sin has been proven to spread, contaminate, kill and destroy.  If you doubt that, just look at the world around you.  This was originally paradise, but would you call the world “paradise” today?

The Promised Land the Israelites were seeking was described as a fertile land; a land where their crops and livestock would flourish. To them it was a land of milk and honey; a land that would fulfill their dreams. As Christ-followers, we are also looking forward to our “promised land”, and we too are expecting Paradise. But the wonderful truth of being a Christ-follower is…we don’t have to wait until we die to begin experiencing God’s kingdom.  His Kingdom has come to those of us who have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. And we can begin experiencing it right here, right now...even in this fallen world.

That is the part of being in-Christ that too many Christians seem not to have grasped. Jesus came to give us life... a new life, and he wants us to live it to the fullest. At the moment of our rebirth, we become a new creation. Our old self (our sin nature) is taken away, and we are filled with a new spirit, the Holy Spirit.  This Spirit is part of God’s salvation package, and empowers us to rise above the world around us.  Prior to our rebirth we were slaves to our sin nature, but after our conversion, we are set free from our bondage to sin. Now we are free to make different choices that are in line with God’s will for our life.

Notice that I said, we can choose.  The Holy Spirit empowers us to become the person God created us to be, but we have to choose that path of change.  It must be a conscious effort on our part at first, but over time we begin forming new habits

Perhaps the most unsung benefit of this new life is the “rest” that comes from being in Christ. Apostle Paul clearly portrays the confusion, strife and hopelessness found in a life directed by our sinful nature.  In Galatians 5:19-21, he states: “…your lives will produce these evil results: sexual immorality, impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure, idolatry, participation in demonic activities, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, contempt, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other kinds of sin.  Now contrast that with the life directed by the Holy Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23.  This is a life that produces, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.   1Corinthians 14:33 tell us, “God is not a God of disorder, but of peace”.

As we begin to see the truth of God’s Word manifested in our lives, the more our faith grows, and the more we mature as Christ-followers. It doesn’t take long to realize that the peace and serenity we are now experiencing is what we’ve always wanted, but unfortunately, we had been looking for answers in all the wrong places. Conforming to the patterns of this world is clearly not the answer, and the harder we try to fill that “hole in our soul” with worldly things and endeavors, the more we sink deeper and deeper into the quagmire of hopelessness. Yes, we may find temporary answers, but there is only one eternal answer that fills our needs.  And that answer is Jesus Christ.  He IS our place of rest.

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

May God Bless Ya…

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

Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers…Have you ever experienced those times when you want to take it to the Lord in prayer, but for some reason your prayers seem to be bouncing off the ceiling right back to the floor?  I’ve spent the last few days in that rut! After tossing and turning for most of  last night, about 3:30 am I decided to move to the great room, turn on the fireplace and do some reading.  I began by asking the Holy Spirit to guide my endeavor.  I was looking for answers to why I was feeling frazzled and out-of-sorts. Pam and I had read and discussed together Ephesians 1,2, and 3 this past weekend, so I already had a bookmark at chapter 4. When I looked down, Apostle Paul had written these words, seemingly just for me.

“I beg you to live a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.  Be humble and gentle.  Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.  Always keep yourselves united in the Holy Spirit, and bind yourselves together with peace.  We are all one body; we have the same Spirit, and we have all been called to the same glorious future.  There is only one Lord, one faith, and one baptism and there is only one God and Father, who is over us all, in us all, and living through us all.” (Ephesians 4: 1-6)

I had two encounters with an individual this past week that caused me to backslide into some of my old behaviors. Rather than responding to the situation, which I try to do today, my buttons were pushed and I immediately reacted with a pretty ugly demeanor.  The next day I made a feeble attempt at an apology, but that truce was almost immediately broken as another confrontation reared its ugly head. The truth is, there was a time in my life when I derived some sort of insidious pleasure out of confrontation, but today…no way!  Today I pay a huge penalty when that door is opened for satan and his minions to have a field-day with my conscience.

As I read the Scripture above, these words jumped out at me: live a life worthy of your calling, humble, gentle, patient, making allowance for each other’s faults. The problem with reacting as I did, none of these attributes were part of my presentation. Instead, I portrayed arrogance, aggression, and a mean-spirited demeanor. In other words, I became a real jerk.  No doubt that defined my previous character, but it certainly is not who I am today.

As a follower of Jesus Christ, I am called to stand on the truth of God’s Word.  But I’ve come to realize how easy it is for truth to become entangled with feelings and emotions.  As a matter of fact, satan becomes my biggest cheer-leader when that happens. Once I have opened the door for him and his minions to run roughshod with my feelings and emotions, he then becomes my accuser.  “Look at you!  You call yourself a Christian?  You’re an embarrassment to the name Christian.  You’ll never be good enough to measure up to His standard; you might as well give up and have some fun!”

But here is the undisputable truth of God’s Word. I am in Christ. I am unconditionally loved by God. In fact, Romans 8:38 tells me, “Nothing can separate me from God’s love. Death can’t and life can’t. The angels can’t, and the demons can’t. My fears for today, my worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of Hell can’t keep God’s love away!” My sins are forgiven. I have inherited eternal life. (This seals my eternal life.) I have the indwelling Holy Spirit, given to me as a gift from God so I can rise to His calling right here and now, even when facing a formidable enemy who is hell-bent on shipwrecking my best effort to become more Christ-like.

And there’s more! I’m grafted into God’s family; I am His child. I am no longer a sinner in His eyes, but a “Saint” (a follower of Jesus Christ) who sometimes falls short of His glorious standard. I’m now worthy and acceptable in His eyes, not because of anything I did or didn’t do, but because of what Christ did for me on the cross.  I’m heir to every Spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms (including Spiritual healing and revelation of The Truth), and I’m heir to every promise in the Bible.

All of that is mine because I am in Christ! That is the truth, and it never changes, even though our feelings and emotions do change. Satan knows he is no match for God’s truth, but if he can keep us focused on feelings and emotions, it’s easier for him to pummel us with his lies, deceptions, distortions and accusations. His whole purpose is to keep us in a state of fear, doubt, guilt, shame, remorse, anger or depression. When we let any of the afore mentioned emotions define us, His sordid lies and schemes seem more real to us than God’s truth.

A mixture of those emotions accurately describes my feelings as the volume and the verbiage of my confrontation continued to ramp-up. No doubt I was angry, but it didn’t take long for guilt and shame to enter the fray. But once this deplorable display finally wound down, I was too ashamed to even think of myself as a Christian.  I remember the thought of turning to prayer passed through my mind, but I felt totally unworthy of His attention  At that moment I could relate to Apostle Paul’s cry in Romans 7, “Oh what a wretched man I am!”

But let us return once again to the truth of God’s Word!  Regardless of how we feel about ourselves, even on our worst day when we think God is ready to boot us out of the Kingdom, He loves us with an unending, unfailing love that can never be snuffed out.  As it said in Romans 8:38 above, nothing, absolutely nothing, can separate us from His love. Remember, we are grafted into His family; we are His children. Even when we can’t believe we’ll see a glimpse of Paradise, remember that in His eyes we are now a Saints…not sinners.  Instead of praying, “God forgive me”, that would be called a dead work because He has already done that!  All He wants from us now is to call on the Holy Spirit to empower us with His wisdom, courage, strength, patience, whatever we need to keep marching down that path of becoming more Christ-like.

Our prayers, regardless of how feeble, move God.  Every prayer means we are reaching out to our Creator; we are contributing to, and growing in the relationship for which God created us. Prayer moves Him into action. In the first paragraph I used the term, “prayers hitting the ceiling and falling to the floor”.  It feels that way to us because there is flaw in our thinking or our behavior that makes us feel separated from Him.  But He is true to His word, and He said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5) Never means NEVER!

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

May God Bless Ya…

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

Good Day, Meetpastordan Readers…This is one of those days when I have been drawn to this particular subject. But the challenge so far has been, finding the right title for the message. However the title reads when you first look at it, I can assure you it is at least the 10^th, 11^th, or 12^th attempt at getting the right wording. The title could just as easily have read, “A Message to My Unsaved Friends.”

This message is the ultimate message of hope and salvation, but since so many people have erroneous beliefs concerning two fundamental truths that underpin the message of grace, I want to tackle each misconception separately. Granted, the title has an ominous ring to it, which is intentional because the two misconceptions lead to ominous consequences. But when you compare these misconceptions with the truth of the Gospel of Grace, you can’t help but see a God of unconditional, unending, and unfailing love who always prefers mercy over judgement. He is a God who wants to lavish on you His riches in glory…“regardless of who you are, or what you have done!” (Romans 3:22)

I have the opportunity to share the Gospel of Grace with both nonbelievers, and with believers who are struggling to stay the course.  In both cases, my conversation eventually leads to this all-important question: “Are you secure in your salvation?” Sometimes I am told outright that they don’t believe what I believe, and they’re not interested in pursuing this subject any further. The good news… that is by far the minority of cases. Most often I hear one of these two misconceptions. The first sounds like this: “I believe I am a good person”, then I hear a resume of good deeds, a list of volunteer work, and sometimes even about financial support of worthy endeavors.  In these cases they have missed the concept of “grace” and are still living under the Law, meaning they are depending on their works to make them worthy and acceptable in God’s eyes. Galatians 2:21 addresses this specifically: “If we could have been made right in God’s sight by keeping the Law, there would have been no reason for Christ to have come.”

The second misconception is often framed in this manner: “Wow! If you had any idea of my past, even you could easily see why God would want nothing to do with me.  I don’t even like myself; how can I expect Him to love and forgive me?” Here the concept of grace has obviously given way to satan’s lies and distortions, leaving the victim feeling unworthy, unloved and unacceptable. That’s the way satan works; his whole purpose is to steal our joy and to shipwreck our best effort to become more Christ-like. Believe me, he is a master at his craft!  But let’s turn now from these two areas of misconception and immerse ourselves in the truth of God’s Word.

God created us for a relationship with Himself; not just a here-and-now relationship, but an eternal relationship.  That is of utmost importance, and God’s plan is spelled out specifically in Ephesians 1:4-5,10-11: “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 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, for He chose us from the beginning (because we are in Christ), and all things happen just as He decided long ago.”

Because one of God’s majestic qualities is omniscience, even before He created us, He could look into the future and see that we were going to be problem children. He could see that we were going to pursue our own interests and exalt “self” rather than exalting Him. But it was that very awareness that makes this such an incredible example of His unconditional, unending and unfailing love for us: He created us anyway, knowing full well that at just the right time He would have to send a Savior to do for us what we would prove, without a doubt, we were incapable of doing for ourselves. What a display of His love for our lost souls.

Sin is the eternal dilemma of Mankind! God gave Man from Creation until 2019 years ago to wrestle with the issue of Sin, but instead of showing progress, we continued our downward spiral into moral and spiritual decay.  Romans 5:6 is our report card regarding the issue of Sin and our own best effort. “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time to die for us sinners.” Utterly helpless is a serious indictment, which means we showed ourselves to be slaves to our sin-nature. So, what was just the right time to implement God’s plan? When we, in God’s eyes, were utterly helpless to save ourselves. This is what makes this gift the “Gift of Grace”.  We didn’t earn it, and we certainly didn’t deserve it. It is His gift to us because He loves us.

But God also wants us to love Him back with all of our heart, soul and mind. That is why we were created for a relationship with Him. 2 Peter 1:3 clarifies that point: “The more we grow in our relationship with Jesus, His divine nature gives us everything we need for living a Godly life…”  It’s all about relationship; it’s not about religion or works. Ephesians 2:8-9 drives that point home. “God saved you by His special favor (by His grace) when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; this is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”

Since God witnessed first-hand what sin did to His original Paradise, He took steps to prevent such a recurrence in the New Jerusalem. He proclaimed in Leviticus 20:26: “You must be holy (set aside for a sacred purpose; sin-free) because I, the Lord, am holy. I have set you apart from all other people to be my very own.” In other words, we cannot come into the presence of God if we are stained with sin because sin contaminates, spreads, kills and destroys.  If you doubt that, just look at the world in which you are living.  Remember, this too started out as Paradise, but what you see today is the exaltation of Man’s best effort as opposed to God’s perfect plan.

Revelation 21 puts the exclamation point at the end of the discussion concerning the criteria for entering the Kingdom of Heaven.  “Nothing evil will be allowed to enter – no one who practices shameful idolatry and dishonesty – but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.” (meaning, those who are in Christ!)  

So far there has been only one person in the history of the world who lived a sin-free life, and that was Jesus Christ.  That is what qualified Him to be THE Sacrificial Lamb to be slain in our place. His one-time sin offering paid the sin-ransom for everyone who accepts God’s Gift of Grace. If you are in Christ, in God’s eyes you are justified (made right in His sight) because we are covered with the blood of His dearly beloved Son, Jesus.  This is the only ticket to eternal life in Paradise!

I’ll close with this clear, concise presentation of the Gospel of Grace: “But now God has shown us a different way of being right in His sight, not by obeying the Law, but by the way promised in Scriptures long ago.  We are made right in God’s sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins.  And we all can be saved in the same way, no matter who we are or what we have done.  For all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard.  Yet now God in His gracious kindness declares us NOT GUILTY! He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins.  For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy His anger against us.  We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed His blood, sacrificing His life for us.”  (Romans 3:21-25)  Amen!

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

May God bless Ya…

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

Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers…Last week I had the opportunity to attend a luncheon sponsored by The Integrity Resource Center.  If you are not familiar with the IRC, it is headquartered in Kansas City and is a movement in the marketplace that has encouraged, equipped and trained thousands of leaders to do business God’s way.  My wife, Pam, had the privilege of being a Consultant for that organization last year, so consequently I became interested and supportive of their effort as well.

The keynote speaker for their event was Jason Dellinger, who challenged us with the first three words out of his mouth: Do you believe?  He then told his personal story regarding that question.  He became one of the top insurance agents in his national company in 2006. On his personal cell phone (not his business phone) he had an out-going message that said, “Have a blessed day, and remember…Jesus loves you!”  He was told by his executives to remove his voice mail words, “Jesus loves you” or lose his job. He refused to submit to that request, and it did cost him his job.

That question from him is a question for all Christ-followers today.  What would you do in that situation?  It is easy to grow in our knowledge, understanding, and even our relationship with Jesus Christ, but when the rubber hits the road, are we willing to live by the words and the consequences of our response, “Yes. I Believe!”?  If you will recall the horrific incident at Columbine High School in April of 1999, Dylan Klebold had Rachel Joy Scott on her knees in front of him with his gun pointed directly at her when he asked, “Do you believe?” Her answer was, “Yes. I believe” and she paid for that answer with her life.

No doubt Christianity is under attack today, and more and more people have to make difficult decisions about their faith.  Not only is this a personal matter, but today – just like Jason – we have to deal with that dilemma in the work place too.  So let’s take a moment and recall what being a Christ-follower really means, and how we became willing to make that choice.

God’s Gift of Grace is the ultimate present.  It has always defied logic and rational thinking, and it is still the ultimate challenge to man’s intellect today. That is why God revealed through the Prophet Isaiah, “My ways are not your ways; My thoughts are not your thoughts.  As high as the heavens are above the earth, as far as the east is from the west, My ways are not your ways; My thoughts are not your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9) And again in Psalm 46:10 we are told, “just be still and know that I am God.”  In other words, I believe God is telling us not to sit around and try to figure Him out with our own finite minds, because we will never be able to do it!

But unfortunately, I have many “smart friends” – and even some “brilliant friends” – who just cannot bring themselves to submit to the authority of something greater than themselves; especially something that claims to be the “only way”, or something they can’t see or touch.  I can only chalk that up to their ignorance…not ignorance in terms or “stupidity”, but ignorance of The Truth.  I can say that because there was a time when I was one of them, and I asked the same questions. But today, John 8:32 IS my story: “Jesus told His disciples, if you follow My teachings you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”  Jesus was very specific in his directions: He was referring to His teachings being the pathway to freedom. He wanted to make a clear-cut distinction between His teachings and worldly teachings.

So the obvious question is…“what did Jesus teach?”  Well, first of all, Jesus was the Word incarnate, meaning He WAS (IS) The Truth of God’s Word in human form.  We are told in John 1:14,“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”  Jesus taught about love, forgiveness, compassion, mercy, grace, tolerance, acceptance, and being of service to our fellow man.  He taught about “loving God with all our heart, soul and mind”. (Luke 10:27) He told us to “Repent!  The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17)  He told us “I am the way, The Truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.”  (John 14:6)  Jesus did, in fact, live everything He taught.

If you look up the word “truth”, you will find slight variations in the definitions.  But the one that I think is most applicable here is, “that which is in accordance with fact or reality.”  Since Christianity is based on faith, if we as Christ-followers hadn’t experienced The Truth of these words coming alive in our own lives, how could we believe they were (are) true? Or, how could we build a platform of faith?  The fact is, we couldn’t.  But we all have been transformed by the truth of these words, so our faith is experiential faith, not blind faith.  We know it’s true because we have experienced it and now stand on it.

Look at this paradox.  For the Believer, the fact that The Truth of God’s Word does not change is where we find our comfort, peace, joy and serenity.  For intellectuals, that same truth is way too confining because it thwarts their desire to live the way they have chosen to live.  Therefore, intellectuals try to create as much grey area as possible around the truth that is bothersome so they will have wiggle-room to carry out their plan or agenda, for instance, the issue of murder vs. abortion or the issue of lying vs. deception.  The intellectual (or “enlightened one”) wants God’s Word to be a “living, breathing document” that changes as society changes. But just as God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, His Truth also remains unchanging.

As we look at our culture today, we can see the disastrous effects of turning away from God and His Truth.  In His Word, He outlines in Galatians 5:19-21 what such a culture would look like and the penalty for such disobedience: “sexual immorality, impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure, idolatry, participation in demonic activities, cheating, hostility, quarreling, lying, jealousy, out-bursts of anger, selfish ambition, social divisions, the feeling that everyone is wrong except those in your own little group, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other kinds of sin.  Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.”  Can you see any of this in our culture today?  No doubt Jesus’ teaching IS the answer.  Just compare the content of this paragraph with the reference to Jesus’ teaching three paragraphs above.  Do you think that if Dylan Klebold had had the teachings of Jesus in his heart rather than hatred and anger, he would not have been in that library that day doing what he was doing?  “As a man believes in his heart, so he is.” (Proverbs 27:3)

When we make a choice to stand on the truth of God’s Word, we are immediately living contrary to the teachings of this world.  But as Christ-followers, that is what we are called to do.  In John 17:14-16, Jesus was addressing this situation in a prayer for the safety of His followers: “I have given them Your Word, and the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not. I’m not asking you to take them out of this world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They are not part of this world any more than I am.”   And again in John 16:33, Jesus told His disciples, “Here on this earth you will have many trials and sorrows.  But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”  The good news for us is…we too have overcome the world because we are in Christ.

There’s not a day that goes by when I don’t thank God for His Gift of Grace.  When I think of the truth found in Roman’s 5:6: “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners”, I realize that I have a second chance at life today because of what Jesus Christ did for me.  Now my goal is to live my life in a way that says, “Thank You, Jesus, for what You did for me”, and to make choices that bring honor and glory to God.  Now I ask the Holy Spirit to give me the strength and the courage to say, “Yes, I Believe” whenever I have the opportunity.  His Word tells me that if I acknowledge Him on earth, He will acknowledge me in heaven.

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

May God Bless Ya…

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

DO NOT USE      GO TO 319

Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers… Happy New Year to Y’all! Isn’t it wonderful to have a new beginning? January 1, 2019 represents the beginning of a new era, and just the thought of being able to start over with a clean slate is inspirational for all of us. For many, it’s about making a New Year’s resolution to visit the gym regularly; for others it’s about changing eating, drinking, gambling, or shopping habits. In our mind we can see a new person, a thinner, more healthy person, who has faced some serious demons and won the battle. But unfortunately, the statistics to support this mindset isn’t encouraging. Depending where you look, by January 14^th, the drop off rate is anywhere from 20%-31%; by January 21^st, 32%-56%; and by January 28^th, 57%-86%. So what’s the problem? Everyone wants a second, sixth, or possibly even a twelfth chance at a new life, but the truth is…IT’S REALLY HARD!

From a worldly perspective, there is a plethora of self-help books and methods to enhance our ability to become the person we want to be. We hear about breathing exercises, yoga, focus groups, the power of positive thinking, and we’re even encouraged to tap into the universal consciousness (whatever that is) to help us reach our full potential. But from the beginning of time man has wrestled with his inability to rise above “self”, because our human nature is drawn to things that pleasure us, exalt us, or things that titillate our emotions…whether they’re good for us or not. I would like to propose that, contrary to worldly thinking, becoming aware of our own insufficiency is the first step in the process of becoming the person we were created to be. (More on that later.)

In my previous life, I like to refer to that time as my BS period (before sobriety and before salvation), I was always searching for “that something” to flip my switch. I became a workaholic. I turned to achievements and accomplishments, to alcohol and drugs, to women, cars, and to more and more material things. And truth be told, they all worked for a while, but eventually I had to keep going back to get that elusive “fix” again and again. Unfortunately, that “thing” I was looking for was always just beyond my reach, so I tried harder, more often, and was willing to do whatever I had to do to get what I wanted. That mindset and behavior set up my downfall in April of 2000.

Thankfully my BS period is behind me and today my identity is in Christ. While the previous New Year’s resolutions that were tackled by my “old self” were defined by frustration and defeat, my resolution this year is the same as it has been for the past few years: “Holy Spirit, help me to seek first the Kingdom of Heaven, and help me to get out of the way so You can work through me.” My self-help book today is not a book filled with worldly perspective, but a Book filled with God’s perspective. In this Book I have found everything I need for living a Godly life, and for becoming the Masterpiece referenced in Ephesians 2:10. When I am immersed in that zone, I have the confidence, joy, peace and serenity that we had always been searching for, but here-to-fore had been looking in all the wrong places. I gotta tell ya…there’s nothing like this “new creation!’

But the good news is found in Romans 12 2-3: “Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by changing the way you think. Then you will know how good, pleasing and perfect God’s will really is for your life.” The topic for my AA meeting this morning was “A New Beginning”, and the testimonies about each of our transformations was nothing short of staggering. And virtually everyone credited God and his loving kindness for their successful journey. I love this because it brings to life the truth found in Jeremiah 29:13: “If you seek Me you will find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.” No doubt God met each one of his broken creations when they called on his name. For almost all of these recreations, this first step opened the door for a deeper and more meaningful relationship with God.

All of us were at one time utterly helpless to rise above self-indulgence, consequently we were in desperate need of a Savior. None of us came into this world spiritually connected to God, so we all became the sum-total of the choices we made.  For some the answer came in a state of brokenness, when we were face to face with our own insufficiency and we had no place else to turn other than to cry out, “God help me!” For others the answer came in the form of an epiphany. But whatever the reason, we came to the realization that our best efforts were failing us. Suddenly the thought of “something greater than ourselves” became a welcomed answer. (That’s Step II in the twelve step recovery program. But AA is not a religious organization, so they do not define “higher power”. AA does, however, understand the necessity of planting seeds.) I wish I could say that everyone found Jesus Christ to be their higher power, but the fact is, not all have done that. I’ve concluded that all I can do is pray for revelation in the hearts and minds of those who are still seeking, and consciously let the light of Jesus shine through me.

But those of us who are in Christ know that we have found the one true higher power. Neil Anderson states in “Victory Over the Darkness” that God’s plan for our life is two-fold. First, He wants us to accept His Gift of Grace (Jesus Christ as Savior). Secondly, He wants us to grow more Christ-like in that relationship.

For those of us in that process right now, we understand that our secret weapon is the Holy Spirit, a gift given to us by God so we can now become the person He created us to be. (Ref. Ephesians 2:10 again) The Holy Spirit is our comforter, our guide, our teacher who will lead us into all truth. When called upon, He will empower us with His wisdom, courage, strength, insight, patience, perseverance, eyes to see, ears to hear, whatever it is we need to overcome our trials and tribulations in a way that brings honor and glory to God. When we do this, we are bringing to life the truth found in James 4:10: “When we come humbly before the Lord and admit our dependence on him, he will lift us up and give us honor.” We know we have been lifted up by the confidence, joy, peace and serenity that comes from being a follower of Jesus Christ.

So back to A New Beginning. My prayer is that 2019 will be the best year ever for all my readers. And if you are not in Christ, I challenge you to pick up the Holy Bible and start reading in the Gospel of John. Let the truth found in that Book transform you. Once the seeds of truth start to sprout, you will become a new creation, much like a butterfly coming out of the cocoon. Once you’ve been set free, just like the butterfly, you will experience the blessings of no longer being a worm.

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

May God Bless Ya,

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

Good Day, Meetpastordan Readers… I was almost through with the blog I started writing for this week’s posting, but when I sat down to finish it the next morning, I was so strongly drawn toward this new subject matter, it was impossible not to yield to this prompting. It is natural for me to write about the Reason for the Season, the awe and wonder of the birth of our King, or to write about the undisputable facts about this miraculous event, and invite non-believers to join ranks with those of us in Christ.  All of that I would consider my “sweet spot”, but this new direction is a new challenge for me, because I am living the reality of my own faith having been tested.

In order for me to move forward with this new subject, I have to share a bit of history with you. When Pam and I were in Hawaii two months ago, it was wonderful.  We did the usual Presgrave routine: we walked and ate, walked and ate, and walked and ate. We took in the wonders of Oahu and Maui, but we walked so we could eat “a-la vacation style.” Even though I had been experiencing left knee problems for a few years, the right pain medication made that Hawaiian vacation a reality. But all of that came crashing down the day we arrived home.

By the time we landed in St. Louis, Pam’s ankles had swollen to twice their normal size, and she began experiencing pain in her lower back. All of a sudden my pain medication stopped working and the bone on bone discomfort began screaming at a louder volume. We both kept thinking, “this soon will pass”, but it never did. In fact, it was just the opposite. Needless to say, this required new and frequent doctor appointments, but nothing was dialing back the pain for either of us.

I was the first to approach my doctor to schedule a full knee replacement. (That was three months after an arthroscopic procedure proved itself to be of no value.)  Pam was only days behind me when she approached her doctor with a new MRI, which revealed two herniated discs in the lumbar area. That was followed by her first epidural, which brought limited relief. On her return trip to the doctor, they decided that December 21^st would be the date for the lumbar procedure. As she was walking out of the office, Ari (her doctor, my friend) parenthetically asked, “are there any other issues we need to discuss?” Pam responded, “Well, nothing other than the numbness in my right arm.” Oooops! That required another MRI of the cervical area, which revealed two other disc issues. Now there is not only one surgery scheduled, but December 21^st will be for the neck area, and mid January for the lumbar area. As for me…I had full knee replacement surgery on December 10^th.

Sorry to drag you through the Presgraves’ trials and tribulations, but I feel that I need to set up the physical torment we have been experiencing for the past two months. The physical pain has been particularly debilitating for both of us, but especially for Pam. Night after night we would move from our bed to the love seat recliners trying to get comfortable, back and forth, back and forth while sharing a few tears of total exhaustion and total exasperation! “God, why?”  “Why is this happening?”

The obvious questions one might ask at this point are: “Do you believe in Spiritual Healing?” The answer is yes! Not only have I been a personal recipient of such healings, but I have prayed for, and have witnessed, the power of God at work on many occasions. “Did you ask people to pray for you and Pam, or to lay hands on both of you?” and again the answer is “yes!” “Did you stand on the Truth of God’s Word by praying those Truths back to Him?” and again I would answer “yes!” “So, what’s the problem?” Well, that’s the same question I have been asking over and over again for the past month, but the spiritual well appears to have run dry.  “God, why?”  “What am I missing?”

No doubt, when your circumstances become more real than your faith, nothing good comes from that scenario. But one thing you can count on…it certainly gives a mighty foothold to the enemy, and he never fails to show up! We prayed; we took the authority that Christ gave us in Luke 10:19, “I have given you authority over all the evil schemes of the devil. You can walk among scorpions and snakes, yet no harm will come to you.” Nothing! Those prayers were bouncing off the ceiling back down to the floor.

Last weekend, on one of the many nights I wasn’t sleeping, I ventured out again to the great room, lit the fireplace, and assumed my position in the recliner. I immediately began pleading with the Holy Spirit for a breakthrough:” Why?” “Why am I lost in this vast wasteland of nothingness?” “Please give me revelation…” All of a sudden I heard the same words that Jesus spoke to Jairus when the messengers delivered the bad news that his daughter had just died: “Don’t be afraid. Just trust me!” (Mark 5:36) “But Lord I do trust you!” “Just connect the dots.”

All of a sudden, as through a veil was lifted, I saw the past two months through new lenses. Instead of seeing the painful milieu, I saw the hand of God orchestrating and guiding me and Pam through a treacherous minefield that could have been even more horrific.  Those little coincidences, those unusual choices “that we were prompted to make”, this situation or that situation that we just took for granted, were not coincidences at all. They actually revealed the very presence of God, who “coincidently” said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” That same promise that was made to Joshua (1:5) is equally true for me today, because I am in Christ!

So why am I writing this? Well, as I said earlier, I believe I was drawn to change directions from my previous draft because we all will come face to face with our own personal hell. When that happens, we will have choices to make. We can either shake our fist at God and ask “Why me, God?”; we can get angry and scream and yell at Him, or we can press into Him and pray for revelation, strength and courage to stand strong. I know that sounds like a simple, almost Pollyannaish, answer to this frightful situation, but I would like to direct you to these two Scriptures for a dose of the Truth.

Jesus never promised that our journey with Him would be easy. In fact, He promised just the opposite: “In this world you will have trials and tribulations; but have courage, for I have overcome the world!” (John 16:33) Jesus is reminding us that when facing personal trials and tribulations, we are to keep the focus on Him instead of our circumstances, because if He has overcome the world, so have we because we are in Christ. And again, James opens his Book with these bold words: “Dear Brothers and Sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy.  For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So, let it grow. For when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything.” (James 1:3-4)

This is the crux of my message today. No one, absolutely no one -regardless of who you are or what you may have done – is immune to a barrage of attacks at our weakest moments by our formidable enemy, satan. He is THE master liar, a deceiver, and the accuser of the Brothers, and as I mentioned earlier, he never fails to show up at our most vulnerable time with the intent of shipwrecking our journey with Christ. He is the author of pain and suffering, so these are two of his favorite weapons for diminishing our faith and enlarging our circumstances. I fell for it, and I teach and talk about the power of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit every day.

But the truth is, “satan is like a roaring lion prowling around looking for some victim to devour” (1Peter 5:8) But notice what Peter has to say as he continues with verse 9,10: “Take a firm stand against him, and be strong in your faith.  After you have suffered a little while, He will restore, support, and strengthen you, and He will place you on a firm foundation.  All power is His forever and ever. Amen!”

Our battle with satan is not a power battle, so don’t even approach it that way or you will surly lose. Our battle with satan is a Truth battle. His lies, deceptions and schemes cannot stand against the truth of God’s Word. Our God and His Truth ARE ALWAYS bigger and more powerful than our circumstances.  Even if you can’t see it at the moment, stay connected to Him and He will lead you to victory. For me and Pam, it took this rocky journey for our faith and our endurance to grow to a new level.  Thank you, God, for Your faithfulness!

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

Merry Christmas to you and your family, 2018

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

PS…if you see us this Christmas season, we will be easily recognized by our matching walkers! 😊