Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers…every time I walk out of Grace Church St. Louis, I always take a moment to thank God that I have the privilege of being part of a church body that is committed to, and identified by, the Gospel of Grace.  Nothing brings more confidence, peace and serenity than the revelation of the truth of Grace.  And since the Easter Season designates the implementation of God’s plan (as described in Ephesians 1:4-5: “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.”), it should be to no one’s surprise that Pastor Ron’s message yesterday was  entitled, “The Power of Grace”.  Coincidentally – but most likely of no coincidence at all – I too had already planned to write on the subject of Grace today. That being said, it is my belief that one cannot hear the Gospel of Grace too many times, so here it comes again!

Nothing shows God’s unconditional, unending, unfailing love for us more than his plan for our Salvation.  Mankind had from Creation to 2016 years ago to wrestle with the dilemma of SIN, and the end result continued to be a downward spiral into abyss of darkness.  Romans 5:6 eloquently depicts our pathetic state of being: “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.”  It is my opinion that utterly helpless defines just the right time.  I believe a loving God concluded, “they are absolutely incapable of becoming holy (Ref. Ephesians 1:4 above: set aside for sacred use; sin-free) through their own effort, so I will do for them what they have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt they are incapable of doing for themselves.”

So let’s begin by defining “Grace”.  Grace is unmerited favor.  That means we did nothing to earn Grace, and truth be told, we certainly did not deserve it.  Notice Romans 5:6 tells us that God gave us this gift while we were still sinners.  That’s important because he didn’t wait for us to clean up our act so we would be worthy in his eyes!  No…the fact that we were utterly helpless moved him to act on our behalf.  This is unconditional, unfailing love for us.  His plan was always to provide a sacrificial lamb to do for us what He knew we could not do for ourselves.  To begin reaping the rewards of this Gift requires only that we accept the truth that Jesus paid the price for our sin on the cross.  Once we make this decision, we are in Christ and heir to all the promises in the Bible and heir to all the “spiritual blessings in the heavenly realm”. (Ephesians 1:3)

God’s salvation plan for us includes three parts.  The first part is about forgiveness of sin.  1Peter 1:16 tells us, “we have to be Holy because God is Holy.”  In other words, we cannot come into His presence if we are stained with SIN.  Why?  Because SIN spreads, contaminates kills and destroys. If you doubt that, look at the world today.  Remember, this world was originally perfect.  It was Paradise.  But with the fall of man, sin entered the world and manifested itself as fear, greed, hatred, anger, jealousy, lying, envy, pride, poverty, sickness, pain, suffering, and death. Even though it was these sin-qualities that took the world from “paradise status” to “cesspool status”, these same qualities continue to be woven into the fabric today’s worldly culture as it sinks deeper and deeper into spiritual bankruptcy.

But God promised the followers of Jesus Christ that we would spend eternity with him in Paradise. But as we can see from the paragraph above, for Paradise to be “Paradise”, it would obviously have to be sin-free!  Therefore, only those who are in Christ – those have been washed white as snow by the blood of Jesus – can come into His presence. But again, God continues to show his love, mercy and patience with us because Jesus will not return until every person has heard the Good News and has had the opportunity to accept  Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. God doesn’t want to lose even one soul.

The second part of His salvation plan for us has to do with our eternal destiny.  Jesus defeated Satan at the cross when he overcame death and rose to eternal life. Therefore, because we are in Christ, we too inherit eternal life. You see, God wanted our relationship with him to be an eternal relationship, and again the blood of Jesus makes that possible.  Romans 5:9-10 explains it this way: “And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s judgement.  For since we were restored to friendship with God by the death of his Son, we will certainly be delivered from eternal punishment by his life.”  Our eternal destiny is no longer a question…it is a promise!

But God’s perfect plan for us did not stop at this point.  What about those of us who will continue to live in this fallen world for another 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years after we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior?  Can we endure?  Can we make it to the end?  Well, if it were up to our effort, definitely not!  But again, we serve a loving God who knows we’re only dust. He’s keenly aware of our “utterly helpless” state of being. Therefore his plan was always to do for us what he knew we were incapable of doing for our self.

On the night of Jesus’ betrayal, he had a conversation with his Disciples and revealed God’s plan for their victory (and our victory) over the world.  This conversation can be found in John 14:16-18. “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 (its ME) and later will be in you.  No, I will not abandon you as orphans – I will come to you.” (in the form of the Holy Spirit)

This was God’s plan for assuring Christ-followers victory over the world, right here, right now! The Holy Spirit empowers us to become the masterpiece referenced in Ephesians 2:10: “For we are God’s masterpiece.  He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”   With the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, we are now capable of becoming the person God created us to be by the decisions we make.

This is the secret weapon of every Christ-follower. The Holy Spirit is our power source.  Regardless of the issues we may face, be it addictions, relationship issues, anger issues, integrity issues, lack of wisdom, courage, patience, etc., we can call on the Holy Spirit to empower us – to give us wisdom, insight, courage, perspective…whatever it is we need – to make a decision and to follow through in a way that honors God.  When honoring God is our motivation, His promise to us is victory over the darkness.  1John 4:4 tells us, “The Spirit that is in me (the Holy Spirit) is greater than the spirit in this world.” (satan)  And Luke 10:19 recalls Jesus telling his Disciples, “I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy…”  The victory is ours!  We just have to know it, believe it, and tap into our source of power,.

Happy Easter to everyone!  During this time of celebration, take time to thank God for his incredible plan for your life, both in this world and for the world to come.

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

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

Good Morning Meetpastordan Readers… I hardly slept last night because I lay awake trying to anticipate the appropriate title of this posting.  It could be “The Joy-filled Life” (pt.2); “The Essence of Gratitude”; “Why the Blessings Flow”, etc. You get the drift.   Even at 4:30AM, (I slept in a bit), I’m sky high!  But the good news is…it’s a different kind of high today.  It’s not an external stimulus, but an internal transformation that has made all the difference.  And the icing on the cake right now is a hot cup of coffee at hand, and my best friends, Cliff and Glenn, snuggled up beside me. It already doesn’t get much better than this.

So where to start?  March 14^th is a special day for me, because a few decades ago I made my entrance into the world.  Like all babies when we enter the world, I looked around at my new environment and saw all the bright lights, people wearing masks, flashing monitors, and did what all babies do …Whaaaaa!  “Where am I?  I was all warm and cozy; this place seems a bit cold and sterile.”  Knowing full well my entrance story might be a bit exaggerated, the point is…the first thing a new born becomes aware of is “itself.”  And the sad truth is, we can go from cradle to the grave with the focus entirely on our self and miss the whole panorama that can be ours for the asking.  I know about that because that was me for half century.

Many of you reading this already know my story, so I don’t want to repeat it here.  Suffice it to say that I was always self-centered – well actually, an ego maniac with an inferiority complex; extremely driven to get what I wanted; a pleasure junkie; and an alcoholic for about 38 of those years.  No doubt the list could go on, but that snippet gives you a picture of the potential volatility in my personality.

I grew up in a small town in Ohio with loving, nurturing parents who gave me their very best. They raised me in a small fundamentalist church that we attended about three times per week.  As a child I was OK with it, but in my teen-age years I became critical of what I saw going on around me.  Everyone collecting the offering, reading the scriptures, directing or singing in the choir on Sunday – but not many living the Christian life Monday through Saturday.  And in a small town, everyone knows who is doing what – and with whom!

That, coupled with my discontent with the message and the wagging finger that said, “You’d better watch out; God is watching you He’s keeping a record.  He’ll punish you!”, then there was always the threat of eternal damnation. Yuck!!  The problem was…everything they were saying we shouldn’t be doing was what I liked to do.  So needless to say, I couldn’t wait to get away from that church and that God…who I knew had to be thoroughly disgusted with me. So I took the next 40 years away from church and away from God.  So I’m sure to know one’s surprise, I became my own god.

As most of you know, I chose a profession that gave me a title – a title that conveniently served as a mask.  I was comfortable living the image of a professor; a conductor; or a maestro.  But if you put me in a room by myself and ask me who I was – without telling you what I did – there would have been dead silence.  Truth is…I had no idea.  And therein was the problem.  There was always this incredible emptiness, and like most people in that pathetic state, I filled that void with all the wrong things; the struggle for power and control; drugs, alcohol, cars, clothes, women, more things and more things.  All are temporary fixes, but definitely not the answer.

My answer came when I was caught on tape displaying some of my friends’ most candid observations of my behavior; aggressive, off-the-charts; despicable; I even heard the word monster.  Me? I couldn’t believe it!  I was sophisticated, well-educated and I knew how to treat people.  After all, I was a leader. But, thank God, that tape revealed the truth and there was no denying it.  It was at this point I admitted to myself I needed help, and was actually ready to surrender.  So this broken man offered up, after a long drought, something as feeble and unceremonious as, “God, I don’t know if you’re there or not, but if you are…I need you. I have to stop drinking and I know I can’t do it on my own.  Please help me.”  That was it, April 21^st 2000, and I haven’t had a drop of alcohol since then.  But THAT got my attention, and it started me on a journey of transformation that took a few years.

The transformation was drastic, because in my god-like days, I was a professed atheist and enjoyed challenging and ridiculing those who professed faith. “How can an intelligent person like you (implied: or like me) be expected to believe such a fairy tale.  Come on…that’s ridiculous.”  But as revealed in the Gospel of John, 8:32, “Jesus said, if you follow my teachings you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” That’s my story.  I started looking into Eastern Religions, Islam. New Age Philosophies, but found what I needed when I returned to my roots.  In 2008 I became an ordained pastor and served as part of a four team pastoral staff as Director of Pastoral Care.  After three years, I stepped away from the church to become a Christian Counselor, a teacher again (I’m on the teaching staff at Grace Church, St. Louis, and at St. Patrick Center where I lead a men’s spirituality class), and I publish a weekly blog. God has definitely used my weakness to become my strength…just like he said he would!  What an Awesome, faithful God we serve!

In in addition to my new direction in life, I am still blessed to be able to conduct great music with the extraordinary Saint Louis Wind Symphony.  I can’t think of anyone more blessed than me.  Yesterday I had the privilege of conducting the premiere performance of Julie Giroux’s magnificent, Symphony No. 5, “Heartland Portraits”, commissioned for, and dedicated to the STLWS by Pete Poletti, a member of our tuba section. He did it to honor the memory of his parents. Julie, certainly one of the foremost names in wind music today, was on hand for the premier; we had a huge crowd; and the STLWS was at the top of their game.  What an honor to be part of such an organization with such great musicians and such an awesome friend and Associate Conductor, Tom Poshak.  I pinch myself each day just to be sure this is not all a dream.  But so far…so good!

So how did all of this come to pass?  How did I get from the darkness into the light?  I had a radical encounter with Jesus Christ.  When we come to the end of our rope with nowhere else to turn, we become aware of our own insufficiency.  James 4:10 is also my story:  “When you bow down (meaning come in humility) before the Lord and admit your dependency on him, he will lift you up and give you honor.”  I’ve experienced that too, along with all the other promises in the Bible that I’m heir to, because I am in Christ.  That is not blind faith.  That is evidential faith!

There is absolutely nothing like a second chance at life. I, and my beautiful, engaging, supportive wife Pam, and our two pooches, Cliff and Glenn are living the abundant life Jesus promised us, so this is indeed a joy-filled life too.  Thank you God for your faithfulness, your unconditional love, and your Gift of Grace…and thank you for another birthday. I am still blessed to have a lot of tread left on these wheels.

Trust me when I tell you, there is nothing special about me. My story is only the pathway to this truth: the transformation I just described is available to anyone who is willing to invite God into your life and trust him to lead.  That is the key to peace and serenity and the abundant life we’re all searching for.  Believe me…everything else is counterfeit!

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

May God Bless Ya…

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

Good Morning, Meet Pastor Dan, readers…I’m up even a bit earlier than usual today.  I have a pretty full day, which includes two guest-appearances by both me and the Associate Conductor of the Saint Louis Wind Symphony.  This morning we have a radio interview at 11:00 with RAF (Radio Arts Foundation, 107.3), then this afternoon we are going downtown to tape a segment for STL Live that will air at 5:00 today and at 9:00 am tomorrow.  This is to promote this weekend’s upcoming concert by the STLWS, which will include the premiere of Symphony No. 5, “Heartland Portraits”, a magnificent new work by Julie Giroux, one of the foremost composers of wind music today.  This work was commissioned for, and dedicated to, the STLWS by one of its members, Pete Poletti. It is to honor the memory of his parents.

That is the good news.  The sad news is…this will be the last concert of our regular concert season (September-March).  After Sunday we are off for about two months, then our summer season kicks in.  What will I do with my Sunday afternoons?  Enjoy the time with my beautiful wife, Pam.

But now, on with my blog!  The essence of Christianity is based on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the Gospel of Grace.  When we hear the Good News and accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are called to live “a life of faith” based on the truth found in God’s Word – the Holy Bible.

But the critics say, “how can you do that?”  What evidence do you have for something you can’t see?”  I would say, “When you flip a light switch, can you see the electric current that makes the bulb light-up”? or “If you are standing by a pond and hear “splash” and then see the resulting ripples, aren’t you convinced that someone or something disturbed the calm of the water, even though you didn’t see exactly what happened?” You make that assumption based not on “blind faith”, but “evidential faith”.  And so it is with the truths of the Bible.  Hebrews 11:6 tells us, “it is impossible to please God without faith.  Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.”

We have seen the majestic qualities of our Creator: the sun, the moon, the stars, and the roaring ocean.  And we’ve experienced the His personal side: “that he would never leave us or forsake us.” (Deuteronomy, 31:6 and Hebrews, 13:5)  Romans 5:6 reveals his unconditional love for us: “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.”  The more we experience the truth of our object of faith, the more our faith grows.  The perfect example of that can be found in the story of Jarius, and Jesus’ charge to him.  It is told three times in the Bible (Matthew 9:18-26; Mark 5: 35-43 and Luke: 8:49-56), so that in itself attests to the importance of the story.

Luke 5:22, 35-36: “A leader of the local synagogue, whose name was Jarius, came and fell down before him (Jesus), pleading with him to heal his little daughter.  ‘She is about to die’ , he said in desperation. ‘Please come and place your hands on her; heal her so she can live. But a bit later,“…messengers arrived from Jarius’ home with this message, ‘your daughter is dead.  There’s no use troubling the Teacher now. But Jesus ignored their comments and said to Jarius, ‘Don’t be afraid. Just trust me!”  That charge to Jarius is still alive and well, and it is the same charge to all Christians today.  So let’s examine the circumstances.

Jarius came to Jesus because he knew Jesus WAS the answer to his problem.  How did he know that?  Well, he certainly had heard of Jesus and his healing miracles…perhaps he even witnessed some of them.  He certainly saw Jesus heal the woman who had been hemorrhaging for twelve years.  (This story is in the midst of Jarius’ story.  He was there standing beside Jesus, so he had to have heard His parting words to her: “Daughter, your faith has made you well.  Go in peace. You have been healed.) 

But even prior to the above experience with the woman, Jarius’ own words when he met Jesus was, “Please come and place your hands on her; heal her so she can live.”  No doubt he came to Jesus with the expectation of healing for his daughter.  He had total faith in his object of faith – Jesus.  (That, my Friends, is THE indispensable answer; knowing and trusting without  doubt.)

But the reception of Jesus when he arrived at Jarius’ house is typical of unbelievers today. “When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw the commotion and the weeping and wailing.  He went inside and spoke to the people, ‘Why all this weeping and commotion.  The child isn’t dead; she is only asleep’.  The crowd laughed at him.”  Unfortunately, the crowd still laughes at Jesus.  And unless they “come to know him”; unless they “come to believe that he IS the author of all miracles”, they will continue to laugh.

The only way to rectify that situation is to have the willingness to participate in THE process of change.  And that process is defined in Romans 12:2: “Do not copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.  Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.”

The key phrase in the above scripture is, “let God transform you into a new person”.  That happens according to Hebrews 11:6 listed above: “God rewards those who sincerely seek him.”  God’s Word also tells us in John 15:7: “If we abide in Him, his words will abide in us.”  In other words, the more we stay in His Word, the more “revelation of truth” we experience.  Unfortunately, the unbelievers of the world aren’t seeking him, so they are conforming to the behavior and customs of the world. Their hearts are hardened.  They are incapable – and will remain incapable – of grasping the truths contained in His Word unless they humble themselves and become a “seeker of God’s truth”.

The perfect example of this revelation is evidenced in this conversation between Jesus and Apostle Peter: “When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is’?  Well, they replied, ‘some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.’  Then he asked them, ‘Who do you say I am?’  Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’  Jesus replied, ‘You are blessed, Simon, son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you.  You did not learn this from any human being.” 

As a non-denominational Pastor, I believe that the Bible is the inerrant word of God – not that everything contained therein is literal, because the Bible is written in prose, poetry, metaphor, allegory and parable. But I believe that everything that is there is there for a purpose, and we are to learn from the truths contained in these stories.  And when we experience these truths coming alive in our own heart, that is when we begin changing our thoughts, attitudes and behavior. That is also how our faith grows.  This is why, and how, we can still respond to Jesus’ challenge to Jarius: “Don’t be afraid.  Just trust me.” 

Where are you on the faith scale from 1-5, with 1 being the highest?  Remember, the greater your faith, the easier it is to step out in faith.

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

Best Wishes to Ya…

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

Pam and I are in Kansas City for a few days: she for work, me for moral support.  Luckily my schedule permits me to tag along on most of her trips.  She is a consultant for “The Integrity Resource Center”, headquartered in K.C., and it has turned into a beautiful working relationship. They love her; she loves them, and I’m happy that everyone loves everyone. But as good as her day went for her, mine truly sucked!!

My saga began at 0-dark 30 when I got up to start writing my blog, only to discover that the battery in my computer was shot.  Even plugged in, it was dead.  Since I already had three cups of coffee in me, going back to bed was out of the question. But eventually a store opened and I got a new battery, only to discover when I got back to the condo it would take about twelve hours to charge ‘er up!  Next I went outside to pull the car into the garage, only to mistakenly push the “program” rather than the “send” button on the garage door opener. I erased the code.  The rest of the morning was spent trying to reset the code…but to no avail.  Consequently the car remained in the driveway outside the garage, which is against condo rules.  Ugh!

But…I had appointments in the afternoon at the Conservatory of Music at UMKC to attend an orchestra and wind symphony rehearsal.  So off I went, thankful to be putting the morning behind me.  But once I got to campus the parking situation was totally NUTS. Consequently it took me 40 minutes to park.  I ended up in a parking garage that had metered parking on the top level, but by this time I’m already fifteen minutes late for the rehearsal, only to discover when I got to the ticket machine, it did not take credit cards, nor did it give change.  It had to be the EXACT amount.  No way was that going to happen, so I decided to chance it.  So as you probably have suspected, when I got back to my car the meter patrol had just put a ticket on my window…and he wasn’t interested in my sad story!  Needless to say, inside I was ready to POP!

The reason I’m telling you this is because there was a time in my life when any one of these incidents would have pushed me over the edge.  I had absolutely no patience, and could become particularly belligerent and ugly in a matter of seconds.  I can’t even begin to tell you the number of times my mouth was the mouthpiece of satan!  I could not stand to be inconvenienced, nor did I like being held accountable for my actions.

But the good news is… that is not who I am today.  And to be totally honest with you, I’m particularly fascinated with the change that has taken place in me.  Consequently I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time thinking about “why” and “how” this happened.  I was definitely a hot-head, a loud-mouth, and when you add to that my addiction to alcohol, you can definitely see the mixture for volatility.

But here is what I’ve discovered.  The “why” is, I had enough.  I was willing to surrender.  The “how” is, I found Jesus Christ.  Very quickly He became my “higher power” (step II), and I came to believe that the more I got out of the way and let Him live through me, the more successful was the attempt to change.  I believed in the power of the Holy Spirit, and I submitted to his will.  I abided in Him and He – true to his word – abided in me.  My prayer life became more energized because I was seeing the truth of His Word being manifested in my life, and I wanted more, more, more.

We are told in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 to “pray unceasingly, and in all circumstances give thanks to the Lord, for this is his will for you.”  James 1:5-7 tells us: “If you need wisdom – if you want to know what God wants you to do – ask him, and he will gladly tell you.  He will not resent your asking.  But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to answer, for a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave on the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.  People like that should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.”  I was more than willing to plug into the power of the Holy Spirit because I could see that I was beginning to conquer situations that used to baffle me.  I was convinced I had found THE answer for overcoming my character defects.

Today I look for opportunities to share what I have experienced, and the opportunities are numerous.  In fact, many times the opportunities come from people who knew me in the BC (before Christ) part of my life.  They are fascinated and want to know “what happened.”  This opens up the door for me to tell them the truth…that I had a radical encounter with Jesus Christ, and what he did for me, he is willing to do for anyone who is ready to embrace the process of change.

I particularly focus on the “relationship” part of changing, because I am used to skeptics responding with: “well, I know people who go to church but…” or “I go to church but…”  As soon as I hear “but”, I am convinced I have the answer they have been seeking, but here-to-fore have been looking in all the wrong places.

I talk about the importance of coming to know Jesus Christ on a personal level, and I stress the importance of delving into the treasure trove of knowledge that is the Bible.  This is indispensable in the process of change. I suggest they start reading in Ephesians, Chapter 1: 1-14 for background information; then to Romans 3:22-26 (the mini-Gospel) and 5:6-11 for the implementation of God’s plan; then to Galatians to read about the “human condition”, 5:16-23 and 6:7-8; then to Philippians 3:3-9 and 4:13 for the reward.

What I’ve discovered – and I’m sure to no one’s surprise – is the beacon that draws people to Christianity is forgiveness of sin and the promise of eternal life.  No doubt that is great news, and it certainly settles once and for all the concern about our eternal life. But what about those of us who will continue to live for another 20, 30, 40, or even  50 years in this fallen world.  Now that we are trying to become the person God created us to be, we have a target on our back. To stay the course is indeed a challenge!  And as we’ve all experienced, satan is a formidable foe who never misses an opportunity to try to shipwreck our best effort as he tries to lure us back into our previous ways.  He had us right in the palm of his hand, and he isn’t going to give us up without a fight.  Trust me…it can get particularly ugly.  I know that because I’ve been there, and I still struggle at times to stay afloat.

What seems to be a surprise to many people after they’ve accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, is they expect their life to be changed for the better. Ta Da-Ta Da…Newsflash!  If you had relationship problems, financial problems, health problems, job problems before you accepted God’s Gift of Grace, you will still have those same problems the day after you made this monumental decision.  But the good news is…the Holy Spirit is God’s gift to empower us to rise above our circumstances; to become the person He created us to be; to bring honor and glory to Him through our new decisions and behavior.  It is by allowing the Holy Spirit to direct our life that becomes our new source of power and strength. But keep in mind, it is a process, and it requires growing in our wisdom and knowledge of God’s truth. It is this process that allows us to become his “masterpiece” as referenced in Ephesians 2:10: “For we are now God’s Masterpiece.  He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

That, my Friends, is how we change.  It is not through of our effort, because mankind had from Creation to 2016 years ago to conquer the battle with SIN…and we failed miserably.  In fact, Romans 5:6 reveals our pathetic state: “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time to die for us sinners.”  This is a gift from a loving God who always planned – even before the world was created  (Ephesians 1:4) – to send a Redeemer to do for us what we proved without a doubt we were incapable of doing for ourselves.  That is why we can expect eternal life!  Christ paid the price for our sins so we can come into the presence of God. It is the Holy Spirit that empowers us to march down the path of sanctification (becoming more Christ-like) in this life. And we are blessed to do that because we are in Christ. 

That is the key to change…successful change…enduring change.  And that power is available to anyone who is willing to accept God’s Gift of Grace. 

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)

A few weeks ago, when I was meeting with my Men’s Class at St. Patrick Center, a man raised his hand, and with all the sincerity he could muster-up, asked; “What’s the big deal about Jesus?”  He went on to say he believed in God because he could see his majestic qualities in the sun, the moon and stars, the changing seasons, lightning and thunder; he felt God looked after him; he felt God was good; in fact, he thought he was good.  But…“I just can’t buy the concept of Jesus? So what’s the big deal about him?”

So I responded in my usual manner, and this is the conversation that followed.  (It is, btw, virtually verbatim to every conversation I’ve ever had following this question.)

(me)  “That’s interesting.  Thanks for sharing your perspective.  But let me ask you…do you believe there is a heaven…an after-life?”

(him)  “I hope so”

(me) “OK…let’s assume there is a heaven.  Do you think you’ll get into heaven?

(him) “I think so.”

(me) “Why do you think so?”

(him) “Because I’m a good person.”

(me) “But how good is good enough?  Have you achieved ‘good enough’ status?”

(him) “hummm… I don’t know?”

So therein is the shortcoming of his perspective, and every other perspective – or religion – that is based on being “good-enough” to satisfy god.  “I don’t know (if I’m good enough.”)  Ever since the fall of man at Creation, the goal has always been to try to justify our existence by being acceptable to a god somewhere who is keeping score.

But why guess?  God has given us the answer to the “good enough” question. It’s in the Bible!  But you have to open the Bible to find the answer, and again…therein lies the problem.  Most people don’t open the Book, or they rely on someone else to tell them what it says.  But clearly stated in 1Peter 1:16 is the answer: “You have to be holy (set aside for sacred use; sin-free) because I am holy.” In other words, according to God’s standard, you have to be sin-free to be acceptable in his sight.

“Ouch! That sounds frighteningly strict. I don’t think I like that – and it certainly doesn’t sound like fun!  So, I’m going to keep looking until I find something that’s more palatable to me.”  (Free-will is alive and well)

Because man is first and foremost about “feeling good” and serving himself, he tries to find a religion that fills that bill.  And he can justify his search by thinking, “OK…if God is a loving God and an all-knowing God, he knows I am doing my best.  I mean…I’m not Jesus Christ, therefore he can’t expect me to be perfect.  But I’ll do the best I can.  What more will a good God – a loving God – expect of me?”  And the crowning thought of justification is…“I know there are good Hindus, Buddhists, Agnostics, etc.  And what about Oprah?  She says there’s more than one path to heaven and she’s certainly a good person!  And finally, “since god is a good god, I know he wants good people in heaven with him.  Right?

Right!  But let’s review for a moment…Christianity 101!  A loving God created a perfect world for his perfect people.  Adam and Eve, our ancestors, were created in his image and for a relationship with Him.  They lived in paradise, it was perfect; they communed with God, and they wanted for NOTHING. But since Adam and Eve had free will, they – like all of us – were subject to temptation.  So when they took the focus off God yielded to Satan’s lie (Genesis 3: 5 “God knows your eyes will be opened when you eat of it. [the tree of the knowledge of good and evil] You will become just like God, knowing everything both good and evil.), SIN entered the world.  In fact, that is the definition of sin – living to please our self rather than pleasing God. (In other words, we become our own god!)

The world we live in today – as I’m sure you have noticed – is not paradise.  Every despicable thing about it is the result of SIN: greed, anger, hatred, fear, lying, cheating, envy, poverty, suffering, sickness, pain, death, etc.  So as you can see…SIN spreads, contaminates, kills and destroys.  Our world today is a result of the truth of the previous sentence.

But the good news is…God is a loving God; a good God full of mercy and grace.  And because he is also an omniscient God, he knew that man would use his free will for a purpose other than for which it was intended.  That’s why Ephesians 1:4 tells us: “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.” Romans 5:6,10 is the fulfillment of that promise. “While we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.  For since we were restored to friendship with God by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be delivered from eternal punishment by his life. (in us)

That, my friends, is why Jesus is not only a BIG deal…he’s the ONLY deal!  God wants a relationship with us…an eternal relationship with us, but ever since the fall of Man we have been born into this world spiritually disconnected from Him. Unless we come to a point where we realize our own insufficiency apart from Him, we can go from the cradle to the grave living only to please ourselves.  That is indeed unfortunate because God said we cannot come into his presence if we are stained with SIN.  So unless we can muster up the will, the ability, the stamina to live a perfect life through our own volition, we are at this moment the living dead.

Here is our dilemma and THE answer in one verse, Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Because of what Jesus did on our behalf, not only can we “hope we are good enough” to get into heaven…we know we are “good enough” and acceptable in God’s sight because we are covered with the blood of Jesus.  That is our only way.  Jesus told us himself in John 14:6: “I am the way, the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.”  Colossians 1:27 tells us, “Christ in you, your hope of glory.”  In other words, our only hope of glory (our after-life with the resurrected body) is in Christ. 

So how good is good enough?  Perfection…to be without sin!  Can we live a sin-free life through our own effort?  No!  So what’s the big deal about Jesus?  He is our ONLY answer.  This is summed up perfectly by the most well-known verse in the Bible, John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish, but will have eternal life.”  That, My Friends, is the Good News…and that is a very big deal! 

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

May God Bless Ya…

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

Good Morning, My Friends.  Some mornings the 0-dark-thirty hour arrives much too early.  This, however, is not one of those days.  I was awake at least an hour before my feet finally hit the floor because I was still basking in the glow of yesterday’s Saint Louis Wind Symphony performance.  What a blessing it is in my life to be able to stand in front of a “Rolls Royce” ensemble such as this.  I remember early in my conducting career when I would think to myself (on numerous occasions), someday I hope I have… and today I do!  What a dream come true.  So with that being said, I have a hot cup of coffee and Glenn and Cliff are curled up beside me, so I am more than ready to get started.

I would like to begin by using yesterday’s experience as a metaphor for today’s topic. Our Valentine’s Day concert was in jeopardy of being cancelled because of a winter weather advisory for the Saint Louis area.  Three of us (my Associate Conductor and the Chairman of the Board) spent the morning hours glued to the weather reports and following radar screens until noon.  When we finally decided it would be a “go”, we also knew the conditions would probably have a negative effect on the size of the audience.  The bad news is, it was a smaller audience that usual; the good news is, it was larger than we expected.  But most importantly, the STLWS played a Steller concert, and one that thoroughly impacted our audience.

Immediately after the concert, I went to the atrium to tell as many people as possible, “Thank you for coming out today.”  But before I could get my words out I heard, “Thank you so much for doing this.  It was magnificent.”; “It was the best yet!”; “This is just what I needed on this dreary day.  Thank you. Thank you!”; “Those who got scared out really missed something extraordinary. Thank you being here today.”

The reason I used the above example is because it is a demonstration of faith.  Why did our faithful followers come out in threatening weather to hear the STLWS?  Because of past experience with our performances.  They knew what to expect; they knew it would lift their spirit, so they thought it was worth “stepping out in faith.”  Faith develops from positive experiences with the object of faith.

Hebrews 11:1 defines faith. “It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen.  It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see.”  Based on that definition, people knew what to expect from the STLWS.  No doubt there are other musical ensembles performing around town, but there is only one STLWS.  Not that I want to sound immodest, but once the people hear us, they keep coming back.

Now let’s take this to a whole other level.  We have been talking about is worldly faith.  Let’s see what Romans 10:17 tells us about Spiritual faith, first in the NKJV: “So then faith comes by hearing, and by hearing the word of God.” The NLT gives us this perspective: “Yet faith comes from listening to this message of good news – the Good News about Christ.”  Notice that both are very specific about the message you are hearing, and about the source of truth. In both cases it is about knowing the truth of God, the only object of faith that will never fail.  (Now before you get too wound up at that last statement, no doubt there are laws of truth such as gravity, physics, mathematics, laws of nature, laws of electricity etc., all of which are part of God’s creation! They are what they are because He made it that way.)

So the example above from the NKJV tells us the truth comes from hearing the word of God. In the Old Testament, everything about the truth of God’s Word points to the manifestation of that truth being fulfilled in the New Testament. The Book of Hebrews in chapter 11 lists great examples of faith from the Old Testament: Abraham, Enoch, Noah, Moses, Sarah, Isaac, Joshua, Gideon, Barak, Samson, David, Samuel.  And what was their commonality?  They all trusted and responded to God’s directive, knowing full-well they would never see the manifestation of their faithfulness in their lifetime. That is faith – knowing the truth and responding to it. That is our calling too.

In the second example above from the NLT, the author talks specifically about responding to the Good News…the Gospel of Grace.  We are called throughout the Bible to be in line with God’s will (or directive). So now that the manifestation of His truth has come in the form of Jesus Christ, what is God’s will for all of us today?  It is…that everyone will come to know his Son, and accept the redemptive work he did on our behalf at the cross. That is our only hope of glory.  Because Jesus Christ paid the price for our sins, we now can expect eternal life.  Not because of anything we did to earn it – and we certainly were not worthy of it – but because of God’s unfathomable love for us. 

Unfortunately there are a lot of counterfeit messages and counterfeit prophets in business today.  The most common message propagated is, “yes, Christ died for your sins, but you’ll be a better _____, if you follow these rules.”  Just as the Pharisees intended to help the Jews adhere to the Ten Commandments by adding over six hundred additional rules and regulations, every additional “rule” or “regulation” that is added to religion today takes you from under Grace and puts you back under the Law!  If the Law could have saved us – meaning if we could have adhered to God’s standard by our own effort – there would have been no reason for Jesus to come.

That last statement is substantiated by Galatians 2: 21: “…For if we could be saved by keeping the law, then there would be no reason for Christ to have come.” And Hebrews 8:7,8,10 tells us: “If the first covenant would have been faultless, there would have been no need for a second one to replace it.  But God himself found fault with the old one when he said ‘the day will come when I will make a new covenant with my people.  And this is the covenant I will make: I will put my laws in their minds so they will understand them, and I will write them on their hearts so they will obey them.  I will be their God, and they will be my people.” And Romans 8:3 tells us: “For the law of Moses could not save us because of our sinful nature.  But God put into effect a different plan to save us.  He sent his own Son in a human body like ours, except that ours are sinful.  God destroyed sin’s control over us by giving his Son as the sacrificial lamb for our sins.”

When we accept his Gift of Grace, 2Corinthians 5:17 tells us: “For those who are in Christ, we are a new creation.  The old (our sin nature) is gone, the new has come” (the Holy Spirit.) Therefore, we are no longer slaves to our sin nature. The indwelling Holy Spirit empowers us to live the life God has called us to live; a life that will bring honor and glory to him.  In other words,  under the New Covenant – under the Gift of Grace – it is no longer about us earning God’s approval or blessing through our own effort.  Man had from Creation to 2016 years ago to prove his inability to do that.  Romans 5: 6 is God’s solution to OUR problem: “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.” 

So the question becomes, “How do we know if we are listening to a counterfeit message or a counterfeit prophet?”  Simple!  If anyone preaches that it takes anything more than Christ’s finished work on the cross to achieve salvation, go to the source of Truth, the Bible, and see what God says.  “But”, you might ask,  “doesn’t God still want us to adhere to the Ten Commandments?”  Of course…that is his standard today just as it was on Mt. Saini.  The difference is… “religion” teaches us that it is about what we can do to become a better ____.

You must understand…Christ didn’t come to start another “religion”.  His message was about our relationship with him.  And we achieve that relationship with him when we accept the Gospel of Grace. We learn what it means for us to get out of the way so the Holy Spirit  -the essence of Jesus Christ living in us – can live through us.  That is the only way we can rise above this fallen world, our flesh, and satan to become the person God wants us to be.

The New Covenant is about the Holy Spirit empowering us to win.  1John 4:4 tells us we are already victorious because “the Spirit that lives in us (the Holy Spirit) is greater than the spirit in this world” (satan).  Our challenge is to get out of the way and accept our victory!

So have you accepted your victory yet?  Can you differentiate between religion and relationship?  If so, let me know.

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

May God bless ya…

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

“Love” is probably the most used and abused word in our language.  I mean… we love this song; we love this movie; we love Fridays, we love chocolate; we love our car; we love vacations; we love, love, love….  Unfortunately, in our culture the term has gotten watered down to the point of being almost meaningless.

But when used properly, it portrays something particularly extraordinary.  For instance, “For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten Son. That whoever believes in him will not perish, but will have eternal life.” (John 3:16)  Now that is something extraordinary, something mystifying, and something truly overwhelming. In fact, it takes a thorough understanding of the word “love” in order to grasp the depth of sacrifice – yet hope – contained in these words.

In 1John, 4:8, the author describes “love” as the very essence of God.  “God IS love.”  Therefore, Jesus lived and demonstrated “love” when he was on this earth.  In John 13:34-35, Jesus tells us, “A new command I give you. Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” 

The love referred to in these passages from the Bible is “agape love”.  This is the highest form of love; it is self-sacrificial love, unconditional love, unending love, and unfailing love. (Read the underlined part of this sentence over and over until it begins to take root.  This IS God’s love for us) Apostle Paul described Agape love perfectly in 1Corinthians 13:4-8: “Love is patient, love is kind.  Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.  Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged.  Love is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.  Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance.  Love will last forever.”

The above passage is a standard part of most Christian wedding ceremonies.  It is the way God wants us to relate to each other, and most certainly the way he wants couples to relate to each other in marriage. But like the beatitudes, these words call us to a higher standard than we see displayed in our culture today.  I mean, the concept of caring more about the happiness and welfare of someone other than our self is definitely not the norm today; not in our culture, and definitely not in marriage.  The witness to that is the staggering divorce rate; violence in our society and in marriage; and the increase in adultery, broken homes and ugly child-custody battles. (The last sentence was not God’s plan for us, but rather was the result of sin entering the world at Creation.)

Ephesians 1: 4-5 tells us, “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.”

You see, even before Creation God knew he was going to create man for a relationship with himself. And he also knew that in order for this relationship to come into being, he would have to give man (us) “free will” so we could choose to enter into that relationship.  But being omniscience, God also knew we would misuse our “free will” and follow our own desires! (the original sin)  Therefore,he already had a plan in place to save us from ourselves, and that plan was Jesus Christ, our Redeemer.

Romans 5-6 describes our situation:  “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.” Notice that God didn’t wait for us to clean up our act before he saved us.  No indeed!  We were still sinners.  We were still his enemies!  Yet because of his great love for us and because he wanted to save us, Jesus came “at just the right time” as the sacrificial lamb to pay the penalty for our sin so we could spend eternity with him.

Notice in Ephesians 1:4-5 listed above, it tells us that God “chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.”  This is not a statement of predestination, but rather an explanation of how his plan would work.  Remember, he gave us free will.  That IS the determining factor, because we have the right to accept or reject his Gift of Grace.  We who believe in the finished work of Jesus Christ and accept him as our Lord and Savior are in Christ, meaning we are “holy” (set aside for sacred purpose, sin-free) and “without fault in his eyes”. (covered by the blood of Jesus and “washed white as snow.” Isaiah 1:18)) “Now we can come boldly before the throne of God” (Hebrews 4:16) because “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.” (Romans 8:1)

The world today is spiritually no different than the world 2016 years ago.  Our culture is also morally bankrupt, so we have those who respond to the Gift of Grace and those who reject it.  Yet God is being so patient with us because he wants everyone to have the opportunity to choose eternal life.  But that choice is up to us, and the consequences are very clear: “The wages of sin is death (spiritual death), but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ.”  (Romans 6:23)

God IS love, and he demonstrated that (agape) love for us by sacrificing his only begotten Son so we could have a chance to spend eternity with him.  So while you’re loving movies, chocolate, Fridays, vacations, etc., think of how far away you are from the love Jesus demonstrated for us when he was on this earth.  Can you achieve that level of love on your own?  No chance! But you can achieve it when you are in Christ, because you have the indwelling Holy Spirit to empower you to become the person God created you (us) to be.  That is what sets Christians apart from non-believers, and it is a free gift to anyone who is willing to accept the Good News!

So what about you?  Have you responded to the Good News…that Jesus died so you can have eternal life?  If not, why not?

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

Man God Bless Ya…

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

This is a popular question today, and one that I hear asked frequently. It is also an awesome question when asked in humility by those seeking discernment concerning the next “right thing to do”; or when one is seeking to bring honor and glory to God.

The Bible has numerous references concerning discernment. 1John 4:1 states: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit (show discernment), but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.”  And also in Hebrews, 4-12 we are told: “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” In other words, it is always wise to check the motivation of the heart of the person asking the question.

The title question seems like an innocent question…right?  So you may be asking yourself, “Why make a big deal about it?”  Well…to my way of thinking, it is a big deal if the question is asked to promote what could be a politicized agenda.  As I have mentioned (and defined) in a previous posting (The Unmentioned Enemy, 12-7-2015), there is prevalent philosophy in this country that I have referred to as a “liberal, progressive agenda” (LPA). That agenda has a history of marginalizing Christian teaching, Christian traditions, and Christian documents at every opportunity. So when that question has its roots in the LPA, a red flag goes up and my first question becomes, “why was it asked?” Was it asked when seeking clarity concerning God’s will in a certain matter, or was it asked with the intent of marginalizing or discrediting our Christian beliefs once again?  Well, let’s look at the circumstance of the question?

There is a political issue facing our country right now that has prompted this blog.  As you know, our President has mandated that we accept a “certain number” of refugees.  (I choose not to put a number here because that number varies greatly depending on where I search for answers.)  But suffice it to say, that decision presents a major obstacle to the security of our country because there is no vetting process in place that is sufficient when it comes to weeding-out possible terrorists.  But none-the-less, I heard the President promoting his decision, and he asked the question, “What would Jesus do?”  Then later in the same presentation, he lectured us (Christians) about our “moral obligation” to accept these refugees.

So let’s look first at what the Bible says about Jesus, the Bridegroom, and his “church” (followers of Jesus Christ) as his bride.  Notice the “church” is made up of those who are in Christ.  Does Jesus want everyone to be part of his “church”?  Absolutely!  He died for all mankind and he doesn’t want to lose anyone.

But those who choose not to accept (our) God’s Gift of Grace – or choose to follow the teachings of another god (Allah) – are not heir to His blessings. Romans 1:28-29 tells us that “when they (nonbelievers) 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, and malicious behavior.”  In other words, if anyone chooses to continue to live “in sin” –  in this case, if their intent is to do harm to this country by slaughtering innocent men, women and children as they have done in other parts of the world – they definitely are not part of His family. Therefore they have the same status we had before we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior; they are God’s enemies. (Ref. Romans 5:10)

Now let’s look at the Biblical definition of a husband.  A husband is to be the spiritual leader of his household, and as such his role is to provide for his family and to keep them safe.  Ephesians 5:25 tells us, “And you husbands must love your wives with the same love Christ showed the church.  He gave his life for her.” So hypothetically, if the President’s mandate requires families to take in unknown people from an area known to produce an abundance of terrorist – and local families can’t be assured that their guests are not terrorist – does the husband have a “moral obligation” to put his family at risk?  I can’t think of any teaching of Jesus that would substantiate that scenario.

Galatians 5:27 describes the person who’s heart is filled with the teachings of Jesus.  “But when the Holy Spirit controls your lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”  Compare this with the description of an unbeliever three paragraphs back. (Romans 1:28-29.)

Now let’s compare the truth of Galatians 5:27 listed above with these four versus taken directly from the Quran.

Quran 2:191-192: ““And kill them wherever you find them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out. And Al-Fitnah [disbelief or unrest] is worse than killing…but if they desist, then lo! Allah is forgiving and merciful. And fight them until there is no more Fitnah [disbelief and worshipping of others along with Allah] and worship is for Allah alone.

Quran 5:33: “The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His messenger and strive to make mischief in the land is only this, that they should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides or they should be imprisoned; this shall be as a disgrace for them in this world, and in the hereafter they shall have a grievous chastisement”

Quran 8:12:  “I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them” 

Quran 17:16: And when We wish to destroy a town, We send Our commandment to the people of it who lead easy lives, but they transgress therein; thus the word proves true against it, so We destroy it with utter destruction.” 

The striking contrast between the teachings of Jesus and the teachings found in the Quran speak for themselves.  History has shown that these two teachings have never been able to coexist in peace.  Titus 1:15-16 tells us, “Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure.  But nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, because their minds and consciences are defiled.  Such people claim they know God, but they deny him by the way they live. 

So what do you think was the President’s motivation for asking the question, “What would Jesus do?”  And based on what we have seen in other parts of the world from countries that have accepted refugees, do you think we have a “moral obligation” to take in refugees who’s intent can certainly be questioned?.

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

May God Bless Ya…

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

One of my fondest childhood memories is recalling our church body being emotionally caught up in the singing of the traditional hymns.  I always liked the iambic pentameter-type writing, the simple harmonies, and especially the emotional rush I got from being part of that collective spirit.  The piano was often out-of-tune, or the organist would play her share of “colorful notes”, or take liberties with the printed rhythm, but that never distracted from our zealous praise and worship.  I still find myself mentally singing, or if alone in my car, bellowing out those time-honored hits!

But today I find myself not only drawn to the emotional impact of those hymns, but enlightened by the incredible power and truth of the words.  Each of those hymns can stand as a mini-sermon in their own right.  Take, for example, one of my favorites; “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”.

What a Friend we have in Jesus,  All our sins and griefs to bear!  What a privilege to carry,  Everything to God in prayer!

O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, All because we do not carry,  Everything to God in prayer.

Have we trials and temptations?  Is there trouble anywhere?  We should never be discouraged, Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Can we find a friend so faithful,  Who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness,  Take it to the Lord in prayer.

To drive home the power of the first sentence, I will defer to John 15:13: “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”  That display of faithfulness was the ultimate display of Jesus’ love for us.  And that display was also God’s plan, “even before the world was created” (Ephesians 1:4) so that we could be sin-free and worthy to come into His presence  and spend eternity with Him- not because of anything we did, but because of what Jesus did for us.

When we make the decision to accept God’s Gift of Grace, we become a new creation, as explained in 2Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, anyone who is in Christ he is a new creation.  The old is gone (meaning we are no longer slaves to our sin nature), the new has come. (we now have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to empower us to live the life God has called us to live as followers of Jesus Christ.)

Think about the power of that truth.  Now that we are in Christ, we inherit everything that resulted from Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. We are sin free; we are forgiven; we are worthy and acceptable in God’s eyes; we become His child; we are the righteousness of Christ (only because we inherited His glory); we are heir to all the promises and covenants in the Bible; and “heir to every blessing in the spiritual realm.” (Ephesians 1:3)  AND, because Christ is in us, “I myself no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20)  Therefore, since we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (the essence of Jesus Christ) in us, we are no longer slaves to our sin nature.

Galatians 5: 17-21 explains it this way: “The old sinful nature loves to do evil, which is just opposite from what the Holy Spirit wants.  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. When you follow the desires of your sinful nature 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, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other kinds of sin.”  Apostle Paul ends this litany with the following capstone, “Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God!”  (my underline)

Now look at the stark difference of living in the Spirit.   “But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce in us:  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”  Apostle Paul’s capstone here is, “…but those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.” Galatians 5:22, 6:8

Now let’s look back at the hymn and the rest of the truth in verse 1.  “All our sins and griefs to bear,” and “O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we often bear”.  Jesus told us in Matthew 11:28-30:  “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you.  Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light.”  For instance, when two oxen are yoked together (usually a younger one on the inside and an older one on the outside), one is learning from the other.  When we are yoked to Jesus, we learn THE truth, and that truth sets us free.” (John 8:32)

Once we realize the work was done by Jesus 2015 years ago and no longer do we have to work to earn God’s approval and acceptance, we can finally find “rest” because we are in Christ.  Our eternal destiny is sealed.  And because we have Christ in us in the form of the Holy Spirit, we can rise above this fallen world to become God’s masterpiece as explained in Ephesians 2:10: “For we are God’s masterpiece, created anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”  Now add to that this exclamation point of truth. One of God’s many promises tells us we are already victorious because, “He that is in me (the Holy Spirit) is greater than he (satan) in this world.!  Do you see that?  We are already promised victory because we are no longer slaves to our sin nature.  We can now count on the Holy Spirit to empower us to make decisions that are pleasing to God. 

Let’s look at verse 2 of the hymn.  “Have we trials and temptations?  Is there trouble anywhere?”  Absolutely!  We live in a fallen world where the truth of God’s Word is challenged and marginalized at every possible opportunity.  We live in a culture that has turned it back on God. The fallibility of human wisdom reigns. So while we look at the Gospel of Grace as the very power of God, to those who do not have the Spirit in them, it seems foolish…like a fairy-tale. (1Corinthians 1:18)  I know that for a fact ,because I was one of those “too smart for this message” intellectual frauds.

“But we should never be discouraged because we can take it to the Lord in prayer.”  God’s salvation plan is absolutely perfect.  Our eternal destiny is sealed because we are in Christ, and the indwelling Holy Spirit empowers us to rise above this world and become the person God created us to be. And in so doing, we bring honor and glory to God.  When we are in line with God’s will, he will hear and answer our prayer.

So, “have we found a friend so faithful… who will all our troubles share?”  Absolutely!  Jesus Christ, who laid down his life for our salvation!  He said he came to give us rest, and he said he came that we may have life, and have it abundantly.  Only when we understand who we are in Christ and grasp the truth of that new identity – a Child of God, forgiven, acceptable and worthy in his eyes, the righteousness of Christ, heir to all the covenants and promises in the Bible, and heir to all the spiritual blessings in the heavenly realm – can we begin to experience both the promised rest and abundant life. I encourage you at this point to scroll back a few paragraphs and once again compare the stark difference of life directed by our sin nature (or “human nature” as our politically correct culture describes it) and a life directed by the Holy Spirit.  Then ask yourself the source of your life; which list describes your life??

The good news is… “Jesus does know our every weakness.  He knows we’re only dust. (Psalm 103:14)  He knows that because, as the Son of Man, he experienced the brokenness of this world…Oh, did he experience it!!  He knows what we face as his followers.  But even if we stumble…even if we fall, “if we take it to him in prayer”, the Holy Spirit will give us the wisdom, patience, perseverance, courage strength, whatever it is we need to continue to grow in the likeness of Christ.  As long as we turn to Him as our source of strength, we can count on him to empower us to be the person  He created us to be.  And that, my friends, is the goal of a Christian life!  Amen!

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

May God Bless Ya..

Dan Presgrave (A.K.A. Pastor Dan)

Good Morning, my Friends.  I hope this posting finds you in good spirits and enjoying life to the fullest.  I am, even though I am just getting over a bout with the flu.  I did feel (almost) good enough to do a rehearsal with the Saint Louis Wind Symphony yesterday afternoon.  It was a very good rehearsal, so that was indeed the best medicine.  Luckily I have a very understanding Associate Conductor who agreed to let me do my pieces first and then head home and back to bed.  Today I feel (almost) human again.

The book of Exodus is a great story.  It is the story about a journey from bondage to freedom.  What I like about the story is how it parallels the Christian walk. For instance, when the story begins, the Israelites are enslaved to the Egyptians; they follow God (portrayed by his representative, Moses); who leads them out of bondage and on a journey through the wilderness (a time of testing); and their destination is the Promised Land. (Canaan)

Now let’s compare this to our Christian walk. Prior to accepting God’s gift of grace, we have been in bondage to our “sin-nature”, meaning we were living our lives to satisfy ourselves rather than honoring God.  When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are set free from bondage to our old self.  Now we begin a journey, actually a life long journey, to become the person God created us to be, growing in our knowledge of, and trust in God.  As a result of this transformation process, we  too are on the way to our promised land, Heaven.

I’m sure we are all happy God gave us free-will at creation.  But as we all have experienced, “freedom” can be a double-edged sword.  Right?  Too often it allows us to choose a path that satisfies our “sin-nature” rather than a path that is pleasing to God.  As a result of such decisions, we often find ourselves in “dark” places that were never our original intent, but none-the-less we find ourselves totally lost and struggling with addictions, behavior problems, relationship problems, poor self-esteem, etc. When a person finds themselves in bondage to such undesirable behaviors, life can certainly be a black hole.  In fact, it has brought many of us to our knees in a state of brokenness.

A MERCIFUL AND FORGIVING GOD

In the story in Exodus, God told Moses he heard the cries of the Israelites in slavery: Exodus 3, 7-8, “Then the Lord told Moses, “You can be sure I have seen the misery of my people in Egypt.  I have heard their cries for deliverance from their harsh slave drivers.  Yes I am aware of their suffering.  So I have come to rescue them from the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own good and spacious land.”  This is the decision of a loving, merciful, and forgiving God.  This is his nature!  He is a God of love.  As stated in James 4:10, “When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on Him, he will lift you up and give you honor.”

That is as true for those of us on our knees today crying out, “God, please help me!” as it was for the Israelites in slavery.  Remember, we are his proudest creation, and one of his promises to us is, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:10).  No doubt some of our decisions grieve Him, but just like the father in the parable of the Prodigal Son, (Luke 15:11-32)  he is anxiously awaiting our return “home” so he can wipe away the tears, clean us up and give us a second chance at life.  And who doesn’t want a second  chance at life?

THE JOURNEY

Once we are set free from our bondage, we begin the journey of rebuilding our lives.  That may sound easy, but believe me when I say it is one of the most challenging endeavors we will ever undertake.  Why?  Because rebuilding our lives requires change, and change can be frightening, or perhaps even overwhelming. But the whole purpose of the journey is to grow in our relationship with God and to learn to trust him.  To the Israelites in the story of Exodus, God revealed his love and his mercy through his power, and what amazing miracles they witnessed:  the ten plagues to entice Pharaoh to “Let my people go!”; the parting of the Red Sea so the Israelites could escape the pursuing Egyptians; and His presence at Mt. Sinai where he made a covenant with his chosen people that was revealed in the Ten Commandments.  All of this was the action of a loving, merciful and forgiving God.

Today our best source for getting to know God is  the Holy Bible.  Because God knows something about relationships, he knew that before we could enter into a relationship with him, we would have to come to know him: to know what he thinks; what he thinks about us; what his standard is; what his promises are; and how we could receive his promises. Not only would we need answers to all of those questions, but we would also need to see the manifestation of those truths in our lives before a relationship could develop. Therefore, God chose to reveal himself to us through the prophets and the scribes. That revelation can be found in The Holy Bible.  As stated in 2Peter, “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophets themselves or because they wanted to prophesy.  It was the Holy Spirit who moved the prophets to speak from God.”  And 2Timothy 3:16, tells us, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.”  As Christians we are called to live by faith.  It is in this journey phase, ie. the wilderness, where we face our trials and tribulations, and it is here where our faith develops and becomes steadfast. 

BEING IN LINE WITH HIS WILL

As we grow closer to God, we learn that his blessings come to us when we are in line with his will.  Step 3 of the Alcoholics Anonymous programs states this beautifully.  “We become willing to turn our will and our life over to the care of God, as we understand him.”  Many times people are fearful of this step because they don’t like the idea of giving up control.  Notice the key word in that statement is “care” and not “control”.  If God’s plan was to control us, he could have taken care of that at Creation. But no…God’s plan was not to control us but to care for us. And what does a care-giver do?  They look out for our best interest; makes sure our needs are met; keep us safe, etc.  Two fundamental principles that resound from every page of the Bible is 1.God is love and 2.God wants a relationship with us.  Coupled with those principles is God’s desire to bless us when we are in line with his will.  All of this is the action of a loving, caring, merciful and forgiving Father who wants a relationship with his us.

THE SOLUTION

As we grow in our knowledge of God’s truth, and as we see the scriptures come to life in our own life, it becomes absolutely clear that God’s will for us is to accept his Gift of Grace.  This is the ransom he paid to erase our sin so we could be worthy of entering  Paradise with Him, Jesus and all other believers. 1Peter 1:16 tells us, “we have to be holy (without sin: set aside) because God is holy”, so it is clear that we cannot enter Heaven if we are stained with sin.  Since man had from Creation to 2014 years ago to solve the sin dilemma, God did for us what we clearly were unable to do for ourselves.  He provided a Redeemer, a Deliverer, a Savior!  Romans 5:6 states: “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time to die for us sinners.”  While God doesn’t specify what constitutes, “just the right time”,but the very fact we were “helpless” and referred to as “sinners” certainly indicates our pathetic state.  This is the action of a loving, caring, merciful, forgiving God!

As followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to grow in his likeness, and this is a huge challenge – sometimes and overwhelming challenge – since we live in a fallen world.  We are bombarded with the worldly teaching; we are subject to temptations of the flesh; and the Enemy is always beside us just waiting for a chance to ship-wreck our transformation.  But Paul tells us in Romans 2:12, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.  Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.”

To do this of our own volition is an over-whelming challenge.  But because God is our care-giver, and because he knows our human weaknesses, part of his salvation plan is the gift of the Holy Spirit.  It is this gift that allows us to be victorious in this journey because the Holy Spirit empowers us to rise above the world in which we live; to resist the temptations of our flesh; and to reject Satan.  The Holy Spirit empowers us to accomplish more than we could ever accomplish through our own effort.  The more we grow and mature in this journey, the more we realize it’s not about what we can do, but what Jesus Christ can do through us.  Luke 1:37 succinctly summarizes this message, “Nothing is impossible with God!”  Wow!  Thank you, God.

So what do you think of this last statement?  Is it true?  Do you stand on it in your own life?

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)