Good Day, Meetpastordan Readers…How can we feel anything except awe and wonder when we read these words from Ephesians, 1:3- 4 :”Long ago, even before He created the world (and Man), God loved us and chose us to be worthy and acceptable in His sight because we are in Christ. His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into His own family through Jesus Christ, and this gave Him great pleasure.” Wow! What incredible power in those words! Even before He created us, He loved us, and He already had a plan for our salvation. This also testifies to God’s omniscience, because He could see into the future, and He already knew we were going to be problem children in need of a Savior. In my opinion, the most astounding take away from these words is this fact; He still created us! No doubt these words are good news, but let’s look more closely at how this Good News played out.

God knew we were going to use our gift of “free will” for something other than its original intention. He also knew we were going to encounter the dark domain, and from that moment on, He knew we were going to choose to live for “self” rather than honoring Him. Therefore, He gave Man from Creation until the fulfillment of His plan 2020 years ago to wrestle with the issue of Sin (living separated from His will). But instead of overcoming that dilemma, Man continued to sink deeper and deeper into the dark abyss of hopelessness. So when it became obvious that Man could not save himself, God implemented His plan, as presented Ephesians 1:10: “At just the right time, He will bring everything together under the authority of Christ…everything in heaven and on earth.” Since Jesus Christ shed His blood on the cross for the redemption of our lost souls, we NOW have the opportunity to reverse the effects of “the Fall” by restoring that broken spiritual connection with God. (Ironically, the same free will that led Man astray in the Garden can now save him.) Romans 6:23 states this truth: “For the wages of sin is death, BUT, the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  How that plays out for each one of us depends on whether we accept His Gift of Grace, or whether we choose to ignore His offer.

Here is a pillar of truth that cannot be overstated. Ever since Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden, the original spiritual connection they had with God was broken.  Therefore, they could only pass on to every generation born after them that same spiritual brokenness.  So, truth be told, all people born into this world can go from the cradle to the grave spiritually disconnected from God, unless at some point they decide to reconnect with their Creator. That is exactly what happens when we accept His Gift of Grace, also known as The Good News.  When that happens, we receive God’s promise, found in Ephesians 1:4 in the first paragraph. (Take a moment and review that message…(His unchanging plan…)

Now let’s look at Man’s hopeless situation through God’s eyes. Roman’s 1: 20-23, 25, 28-30 presents this declaration (written by me in the “first person present”).  “From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that I made.  They can clearly see My invisible qualities, My eternal power and My divine nature. Therefore, they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing Me. Yes, they know Me, but they won’t worship Me, or even give Me thanks. Instead, they begin thinking up foolish ideas of what I am like. The result is, their minds become confused. Claiming to be wise, they become utter fools! Instead of worshiping Me, they choose to worship idols made to look like mere people, or birds, or animals or snakes. Instead of believing what they intuitively know about Me, they deliberately choose to believe lies. They worship the things I made, but not Me! Therefore, I abandon them to their evil minds, and let them do things that should never be done. Their lives become full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, fighting, deception, malicious behavior and gossip. They become backstabbers, haters of Me, insolent, proud and boastful.” This is  indeed an indictment of Mankind!

In the paragraph above, when it talks about God abandoning Man to his evil ways, that does not mean He left us, or that He gave up on us. No indeed! He just let man be in the driver’s seat long enough to prove his own inability to live according to His standard. Without God’s guidance, Man failed miserably at that challenge. Apostle Paul describes our pathetic state in Romans 3: 10-18 by using the psalmist’s insightful words: “No one is good – not even one. No one has real understanding; no one is seeking God. All have turned away from Him; all have gone wrong. No one does good, not even one. Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave. Their speech is filled with lies. The poison of a deadly snake drips from their lips; their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. They have no fear of God to restrain them.” Even though God gave Man His Law on Mt. Sinai to keep him safe from facing impending judgement, the harder he tried, the more evident it became that Man could not, through his own effort, rise above his sin-nature. (That statement is as apropos for our culture today as it was when David penned those words three-thousand years ago.)

Clearly, the world was/is under indictment. Man proved, without a doubt, that he could not save himself. I can only imagine God looking down at His proudest creation, shaking His head, and saying, “I created them for an eternal relationship with Me, but none of them can qualify to enter My Kingdom. I guess if I want them here, I’ll have to do for them what they clearly cannot do for themselves.”

Well, here is the Good News that bridges that chasm called “sin and death!” Romans 3:21-24 presents this awesome, clear, concise picture of God’s Gift 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 the Scriptures long ago. We are made right in His sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins.  And we all can be saved in this 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 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.”

I mentioned a few weeks ago about us living in an eternal morality play entitled Good vs Evil. In my mind, that title represents the source of the options we have to choose from. It’s about the dark domain vs the Kingdom of Light, and us relying on the Holy Spirit to keep us steadfast as we grow in the Kingdom of Light. I mention this only because good works is not the criteria for entering the Kingdom of Heaven.  No doubt God wants us to do good works, but not as a way of earning His favor. That was the Old Covenant; that was before His Gift of Grace. But when we accept His Gift of Grace, we are immediately grafted into His family. Now we are sin-free and set aside for a sacred purpose – to be His ambassadors, and to further His Kingdom right here on earth. We are now worthy and acceptable in His eyes, so when we do good things, it is our way of saying “Thank You, Jesus, for what you did for me.”

To reiterate my message, salvation is not about being good or bad. Salvation is about being saved or not being saved. Period! Under the Old Covenant, people “did” to “get”; under the New Covenant, we already “have” so we “do”. Jesus added the final exclamation point to this message when He proclaimed this Truth in John 14:6: “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me!  There is no other good news than can compare with this Good News! Only a God of Love could have drafted this plan to save His proudest creation’s collective souls.

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

May God Bless You Abundantly

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

Good Day, Meetpastordan Readers…First, I want to thank all of you who are my faithful readers. You keep me going. Just like everyone else, sometimes I get busy, distracted, anxious, and, in all truth, sometimes “the well” just seems to have run dry. But here is what I’ve learned. In that state of un-motivation: If I call on the Holy Spirit, He has proven Himself faithful to respond to my plea. Such was the case for today’s presentation. Once again, I was re-directed.

In our Southshore Falls intercessory prayer group, the prayers were focused this morning on our responsibility as Christ-followers to share the Truth of God’s Word. No doubt, that was Jesus’ last directive to His disciples: “Go! Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all I commanded of you. And surely, I am with you always, even until the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:16-20) The obstacle that stands in the way of most people responding to that command is “FEAR…fear of being unprepared for the task, fear of rejection, fear of ridicule, or fear of letting God down. At this point, let me point out a rock on which we can stand: “God did not give us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of love, of power, and a sound mind” (some versions say “self- control”) (2 Timothy, 1:7) 

Since “God IS LOVE” (1 John 7:21), not only does He love, but His very essence is LOVE. This means that nothing can emanate from Him that is not rooted in “LOVE”, such as forgiveness, grace, mercy, compassion and kindness. Therefore, anything that is not rooted in LOVE is from satan, such as fear, anger, hatred, jealousy, doubt, depression, anxiety, guilt, shame, remorse, pain, suffering, sickness, and even psychosomatic illnesses. The spirit of fear is from the father of lies himself, and this spirit can stymie the best efforts of unsuspecting Christians.

God revealed Himself to His proudest creation so we could come to know Him. Since we were created for a relationship with our Creator – an everlasting relationship – He knew that we would have to come to know Him before we could choose to enter into that union. Therefore, He chose to speak through prophets to reveal what He thinks, and what He thinks about us; what His plans are, and how we fit into those plans; what His promises are, and how we can achieve these promises, and, of course, what His standards are. These words are collected and codified in a book called The Holy Bible. Everything we need to know about living in this world, and the world to come, is revealed in this book.  In fact, the very name,” Bible” can be viewed as an acronym: Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.  Everything is there!  And just a word of caution, not having time to read it is not a valid excuse when you are standing before God giving an account of your life.

Quite simply, faith or fear is the result of the voice we are listening to in our head. Galatians 5:16- 18 explains this perfectly. “So, I advise you to live according to your new life in the Holy Spirit. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The old sinful nature loves to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Holy Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives you desires that are opposite from what your sinful nature wants. These two forces are constantly battling each other and your choices are never free from this conflict. But now that you are directed by the Holy Spirit, you are no longer a slave to your sinful nature.”  Your faith grows deeper and stronger as you submit to the direction of the Holy Spirit

Whether you know it or not, you are an actor in an eternal morality play entitled, “Good vs. Evil.” You were born into it; you didn’t ask for it, and maybe you don’t even care about such “foolishness”. But, the role you play depends on the choices you make throughout this life’s journey, and those choices have eternal consequences. You can choose to honor God with your choices (Good), or you can choose to honor satan by choosing “self” over “Him”. (Evil) That is the battle that is referenced in Ephesians 6:10-13:

“Be strong with the Lord’s mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor (The Word of God – the Truth) so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies and tricks of the devil.  For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms.  Use every piece of God’s armor to resist the enemy in the time of evil, so that after the battle, you will still be standing firm.”  (Remember, if you let satan get you into a power struggle, he will win every time. He is, according to Jesus, the Father of Lies. None of us can stand against him toe to toe.)

Therefore, it is imperative that WE take the reins to turn these battles into Truth struggles, just like Jesus did when He was tempted. He stood on God’s Word and crushed satan three times. Notice that each of Jesus’ statements were proceeded by the phrase, “It is written…” God’s armor is the Truth. Satan’s lies cannot stand up against God’s truth.

The two previous paragraphs should make it abundantly clear that spending time in the Holy Bible (the Word of God) is essential to growing in our relationship with Jesus. This Book is the source of Truth, and it is by growing in, believing in, and experiencing those truths coming alive in our lives that our faith grows.  Faith is simply choosing to believe what the Bible says is true. After all, the author of those magnificent words is God Jehovah of the Old and New Testament; the Creator of the Universe, the Godhead of the Trinity, the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, immutable, and the Alpha and Omega. What other source of claimed-to-be truths can possibly stand against this source? After all, God Himself said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will last forever.” (Matthew 24:35)

When we choose to believe God’s Word, and when we begin seeing it come to life in and around us, we know – without a doubt – that we are standing on solid ground.  Satan and his minion army have but one purpose, and that is to shipwreck our best effort at becoming the person God created us to be. We are his enemies because we left the dark domain. We now live in the light, and that is why we are targets. In my previous life, whenever I heard somebody mention satan, or the devil or the dark domain, I would scoff and say, “I’ve never experienced any of that “crap” you’re talking about.” Today, I understand the error of my counterfeit security: satan already had me.  He had me right where he wanted me, so there were other “fish to fry.” Make no mistake…when we make the choice to bask in the light, it becomes a whole different story. War is declared, and the battle is on.  And believe me, it is a battle!

Satan’s most powerful lies are rooted in fear. So, when he comes at us, he already knows each of us intimately because he had us before we saw the light. Therefore, he knows our every weakness, and he knows just what buttons to push to bring us down. Not a pleasant thought, of course, but we are called to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are called to be discerning. The sooner we recognize satan as the author of our emotional turmoil, the sooner we can rebuke him by telling him (meaning, speaking out loud, and speaking with passion!) who we are in Christ. “Satan, I am a Child of God.” “Satan, Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior” “It is written, “The Spirit that is in me is greater than the spirit in this world” It is written, “You are a liar, satan; I choose to stand on the Truth of God’s Word.”

So, why should we be afraid to share the Gospel of Grace?   After all, God said, “Be strong and courageous, for I will go before you. I will never leave you or forsake you” (Joshua 1:9) Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid, trust Me!” (Mark 5:36) “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13. And when called upon, the Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth. Jesus said, “I will remind you of my teachings, and I will give you my words to say.”

We must not forget that carrying the message is not done through our own strength.  Our role is to get out of the way, and to call on the Holy Spirit to give us His wisdom, His words, His courage and strength so we can be the ambassadors we are called to be. Don’t be afraid; trust Him! Put your faith into action!

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

May God Bless You Abundantly,

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

Good Morning Meetpastordan Readers…I had another topic in mind for posting today, but as so frequently happens, I was strongly urged to move in another direction. I started asking for direction last Thursday, but as sometimes happens, I wasn’t hearing much from my intended source. So, in the interim, I came up with my own idea. It seemed like a good topic, but this morning this new theme took root in my head, and completely blotted out my plan.  “OK, God, I get it.” Then I smiled and said aloud, “You certainly do move in mysterious ways.”

When I look at the psychological and physical effects of the mayhem that is plaguing our great country right now, I must admit I shake my head in disappointment. Addiction rates are soaring; depression and anxiety are running rampant; fear is holding people captive; divorce rates are at new heights, and suicides statistics, especially among veterans, is staggering. When I ask myself, “Why is this happening?”; I keep coming up with the same answer. “People feel hopeless, or victimized.” We all need to feel loved, accepted, significant and secure. If we are lacking in these areas, it is easy to turn to counterfeit solutions such as drugs, alcohol, sex, money, power, or other “lies” that promise to fill those proverbial “holes in our souls.” I know that to be true, because in my previous life, I was one of the many who drank the “world’s Kool-Aid”.

What promised to be “the answer” took me to new depths of despair. While the lies might do “the trick” for a while, they eventually run their course and we have to keep returning to the watering-hole for another “fix”. Looking back on my own dilemma, I have come to believe that all people are really searching for the same joy and fulfillment, but unfortunately, they’ve been looking in all the wrong places. Today I have found THE answer! And THE answer revealed this Truth: “I am the way, the Truth, and the life…” (John 14:6) I will spend the rest of the blog unpacking this first part of the Scripture before I put it all together.  I hope this will help to bring clarity to these words.

Almost everyone has heard of Jesus Christ. To some, He is their Savior; to others He was a philosopher or a teacher; still to others, He is a folk legend. Most people have heard the Christmas story, and the Easter story, but other than these well-known stories, how many people really claim to know Him?  These stories reveal the fulfillment of God’s plan that was put into place even before the world (and Man) was created, but Jesus’ own description of Himself (above paragraph, John 14:6) gives us a more complete picture.

“I am the way”. What did Jesus mean when He made that statement? No doubt, Man had a hard time adhering to God’s Law. From the time The Law was given on Mt. Sinai until Jesus made His famous statement, Man proved himself totally incapable of adhering to God’s Ten Commandments. The penalty for breaking these commandments (also known as “sinning”) was death, both physical and spiritual death. Under the Old Covenant (and remember, Jesus was living under the Old Covenant), blood  was required for the remission of sin. That was the whole purpose of the Old Testament sacrificial system. The blood of slain animals was sprinkled on the alters of sacrifice and on the people, and it covered the sins of the people until the next Day of Atonement. (Two things to note here. First, the blood of slain animals only covered the people’s sins. It did not signify forgiveness of sins.  And secondly, the sacrifices had to be repeated annually.)

One of Jesus’ reasons for coming to earth as a mortal man was to replace the old sacrificial system. (FYI:That system was to be in place only until His coming.) He came to live the perfect, sin-free life, so He could be our perfect sacrifice. His perfect blood not only fulfilled the requirements of the Law, but also designated forgiveness of sins.  Now that we are sin-free, we qualify to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. If you are wondering, “Why is that?” I would say, “Because it is part of our inheritance for being in Christ. Jesus’ work on the cross opened our door to heaven.”  He is THE way!

“I am the Truth”. One of Jesus’ names is “Word”. The Greek word for “Word” is “logos”, which means Truth (or reason). John 1:1 tells us: “In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God.” Now substitute the name Jesus for “the Word”, and re-read that Scripture. Now, since “Word” means “Truth”, re-read that Scripture and substitute the “Truth”, for “the Word”. Doesn’t  this juxtaposition of  words expand your conception of Who Jesus really is? Now let me expand it even more.

John 1:14 tells us: “The Word (Truth) became flesh and dwelt among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. We have seen His glory, and the glory of the only Son of the Father.” Psalm 107:20: “He (God) sent His Word (Jesus) and healed us; He rescued us from the grave.”  Colossians 2:2-3, “I want them to have full confidence because they have complete understanding of God’s secret plan, which is Christ Himself.  In Him lay hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Truth) The same way God, Jesus and Holy Spirit (the Trinity) are interchangeable because they are one, the same can be said for Jesus, Word, and Truth.  Jesus IS Truth (because he is the Word!)

“I am life”. Another reason for Jesus’ coming was to save sinners. He didn’t come to make bad people good, He came to restore life to dead people. To God’s dismay, His proudest creation was dead because of its disobedience and its many sins. But God Himself set the standard for entering through the pearly gates.  He said, “I am holy, therefore you must be holy.” (1 Peter 1:16) This is reinforced in Revelation 21:27: “Nothing unclean will ever enter…only those whose names are written in the Lambs Book of Life.”  Romans 6:23 clearly presents both the bad news and the good news concerning this matter; “For the wages of sin is death, BUT the free gift from God is eternal life through His Son, Jesus Christ.”

Without a doubt, this Scripture is the most controversial in the entire Bible. While it is undoubtedly “the Truth”, many times people don’t want to hear the truth…especially since it’s as buttoned up and as air-tight as this one. So, let’s face it, God paid an incredible price for our salvation, and He didn’t wait for us to clean-up our act. No indeed! Jesus died for us while we were still sinners.  Meditate on that truth for a while!

Now, allow me to present the full Scripture in all of its glory (or as some might read it, with it’s too exclusive (or threatening) overtones.

John 14:6: “I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE. NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER EXCEPT THROUGH ME.”  This message demands that each of us make an eternal choice. It’s our time to exercise our free will.

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

May God Bless You Abundantly,

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

Good Day, Meetpastordan Readers…I had an interesting conversation with a gentleman this past week that has lingered with me. This was our first meeting, so we exchanged pleasantries. He asked where I was from, if I were a Cardinals fan, if I was married, then he asked about my line of work? When I get this question, I usually respond by telling them about my wonderful career in music for 40 years. But then I like to follow that by telling them that I am now following a different calling, and today I’m a pastor. When he heard that, it opened the flood gates for him to tell me about how much he liked to give and to help people, and believe me, he had a lot to say on the subject. “I do this”, “I do that”; “I give here”, “I give there”! But before I could tell him, “That sounds great”, he led me down another path.

“Do you know why I do that” he asked?  And before I could respond, he told me. “I know that if I do good, I will be blessed. That’s what it says in the Bible, right?” So, when I want something, I tell God what I want, then I do something good. It works “a lot” of the time. Then he went on to tell me that in his profession, it looks good to be involved in a church and active in the community.” Just as I was strategizing where to start with my response, he said, “Nice talking with ya. I’ll probably see you back here (at the pool) again.

So, where would you start with your response? His premise was right. As Christians, we are called to give to and help people in need. The Bible does say that God blesses those who bless others. And no doubt, being active in the community can be a good thing, especially if you are led by the truth, God’s Truth. So, other than being a “blow hard” and in my face with his gospel, what else do you detect?

In my opinion, his thinking is rooted in the “Old Covenant”. His concern was earning God’s favor (blessings) through his works (giving, helping and being involved in the community). That’s the old covenant way of doing to get. But, thank God -and I mean that literally – we are no longer under the Old Covenant. We are now living under the New Covenant, which means we’ve already “gotten”, so we “do”. Let me explain.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of Christians who still have a hard time grasping what it really means to be in Christ. When you have chosen to make Him your identity (meaning, you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior), you are immediately grafted into God’s family; you are His child, and you are now a brother or sister of Jesus. Your sins are immediately forgiven; you now qualify for eternal life, and you have received the gift of the indwelling (meaning, living in you) Holy Spirit. Ephesians 1:14 tells us, “The Holy Spirit is God’s guarantee that He will give you everything He promised, and that He has purchased you to be His own. “That IS the new you!

Now that we are under the New Covenant, meaning Christ already fulfilled His reason for coming (to die in our place so our sins can be forgiven, to proclaim the Kingdom message, to destroy the works of the devil, and to save sinners) when we accept Him as our Lord and Savior, we NOW have favor with God. Once again, in Ephesians 1:4, we are told that “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.” We are now worthy and acceptable in His eyes. Therefore, we don’t have to try to earn His favor, because He poured out His favor on us when we accepted His Gift of Grace.  The truth is…even on our worst day, there is nothing we can do to fall out of His favor. We are covered with the blood of Jesus.

Once it dawns on us that God’s plan for our salvation was already in the works, even before He created the world, we have to ask ourselves, “Why would He do that? Surely, He must have known we were going to go astray.” And no doubt, He did! But that in itself shows His incredible love for His proudest creation. Don’t forget, He created us not only a for here and now relationship, but for an eternal relationship. But until the sin issue was overcome, none of us could even qualify to walk through the pearly gates.  “And why is that” you might ask? Because God Himself proclaimed, “I am holy, therefore, you have to be holy.” (Leviticus 19:2) To be holy means to be sin free, to be set aside for a sacred purpose. In other words, if you are stained with sin, you won’t get in (to heaven). (Revelation 21:27)

Once that truth takes root in our heart, we NOW want to do the good things God planned for us long ago. But now we are not doing good things to get a blessing, we already got the blessing in Christ. Now we are doing the good work as our way of saying “Thank you, God, for your incredible plan for my salvation, and thank you, Jesus, for being willing to die in my place.”  As it says in Ephesians 2:10: “We are God’s masterpiece.  He has created us anew in Christ Jesus so we can NOW do the good things He planned for us long ago.”

Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at the well, “The time is coming – indeed, it’s already here – when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth.  The father is looking for those who will worship Him that way.” (John 4: 23) Under the New Covenant, it is all about the state of our heart, it is not about works.  If our heart is right, our works (or our behavior) will be right.  Remember, under the Old Covenant, we did to get. Under the New Covenant, we’ve already gotten (we’re in Christ) so we do (as our way of saying “Thank You, God for what you did for me.)

Man’s greatest challenge is to realize there is nothing he can do to make God love him more. Not being involved in God’s eternal equation challenges Man’s intellect to the max. The eternal equation is Christ + Man = Salvation.  The human equation is ME + my best effort will hopefully be good enough to get me in.  The error in that thinking is ME + my best effort cannot make ME holy.

The eternal paradox: The only way to win is to surrender.

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

May God Bless You abundantly,

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

Good Day, Meetpastordan Readers…Yesterday I was able to set up intercessory prayer sessions on Tuesday and Thursday mornings in our new community of Southshore Falls in Apollo Beach, FL. I felt strongly drawn to do this, so I checked with the clubhouse and got an affirmative nod. We will start on the first Tuesday in August, and will meet from 6:45-7:15 am on a beautiful gazebo that jets out over the bay. We will pray for our country, our state, our community, our leaders, against the insidious Carona virus, for teachers, doctors, and for anyone else in need of prayer. What a great way to experience the sun rise in God’s beautiful creation. And, as you might expect, that initial vision is already expanding to other ways Pam and I can be of service to our community.  Who knows what He has in store for the Presgraves?

As I’m sure you have already surmised, based on my past three writings, that I am quite concerned about entering into this prophesized era, labeled by Jesus Himself as the Great Tribulation. (Notice that I said “concerned” and not “fearful.”) I am not fearful because I know who I am in Christ and the power that comes from that identity, but I am quite concerned for those who do not know that Truth, or for those who might be weak in their faith. And again, I’m not saying this in a judgmental way, but in a concerned way. Jesus described this time as “a time of greater horror than anything the world has ever seen, or will ever see again.” Matthew 24, 21)

Already there are false prophets in our midst, offering counterfeit messages that titillate our desire to be on the “easy road” to salvation. “After all, God is a loving God, a merciful God, a forgiving God, so if you’re a good person, you go to church, you volunteer, or perhaps you even teach Sunday school, surely He will bring you home in the end.  After all, His Word says He wants us to be happy…right?” No doubt that sounds good, and no doubt it’s appealing, but that was also true of satan’s message to Eve? (“you’ll be just like God, knowing everything He knows. (Genesis 3:5) The inference…you won’t need God; you can be your own god. We must never forget this pillar of our faith: Jesus didn’t come to make bad people good; He came to give life to dead people.

If we could have received salvation through our works (the Old Covenant), there would have been no reason for Jesus’ sacrifice. But Man proved, without a shadow of a doubt, that from Creation until the coming of Christ 2020 years ago, Man could not save himself. What I referenced in the previous paragraph was the period of time that I will refer to as “a time of tribulation” (trouble, turbulence). Let’s face it, ever since Christ’s birth, death, and resurrection, His followers have experienced tribulation. I know I mentioned this in previous blogs, but Jesus was very up-front about this.  He said, “The world will hate you because you belong to Me.” (John 15:13), and He also talked about His followers being victims of persecution. Therefore, here is the Truth we MUST stand on: “In this world you will have trouble (tribulation), BUT, fear not because I have overcome the world!”  This is WHY that message is so important. If He has overcome the world (and He did when He walked out of the tomb), so have WE overcome the world! It is part of our inheritance for being in Christ. Our challenge is to stand on that truth, and to live that truth.

So, you might be thinking, “What does this have to do with the Great Tribulation?” and I would answer, “Everything”…as pointed out in 2 Peter 1:3: “The more we grow in our relationship with Jesus Christ, His divine nature gives us EVERYTHING we need for living a Godly life.” Jesus warned us, His present -day disciples, about the intensity of evil during this great tribulation. And just as He directed the disciples of His day to “watch and listen”, it will be even more challenging for us today because of satan’s unrelenting attacks, specifically against believers, through false prophets. Their sole purpose will be to confuse, or entice believers to move from the “old, out dated gospel”, and to accept their “new, inspired revelations.” STOP! “Watch and Listen!”  “Those who endure (stand firm) until the end will be saved!” (Matthew 24:13) These two truths can help us endure to the end: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My Word will last forever! (Matthew 24:35) And, “Jesus is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.” Hebrews 13:8)

Those truths are God’s promise to all Christ-followers. And because He IS Truth, He cannot lie.  Our calling is to endure; our prize at the end of the Great Tribulation will be salvation! That doesn’t sound so hard, does it? Well, not only will it be challenging, but it can also lead to the demise of those not absolutely ensconced in the Truth of God’s Word. To endure will take absolute confidence in God’s love, mercy and faithfulness. (And now to smack you in the face a bit harder…this period precedes the wrath of God!  But the good news about that bad news is…we, who endure to the end as Christ-followers, will not be here for that event.)

Now I want to re-emphasize the extraordinary gift God gave to all of His children that allows us to tap into the supernatural realm. That gift is the indwelling Holy Spirit. But for even more emphasis, I want to let Jesus explain the Spirit and the Spirit’s purpose in His own words: “I will ask the Father and He will give to you another Counselor who will never leave you.  He is the Holy Spirit, who leads to all truth. The world at large cannot receive Him because it isn’t looking for Him and wouldn’t recognize Him.  But you do, because He lives with you now (meaning, “It’s ME) and later will be in you. No, I will not abandon you as orphans. When the Father sends the Counselor as My representative, and by Counselor, I mean the Holy Spirit, He will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I Myself have told you.” (John 14:6-18, 26)

Please read that whole quote from Jesus again, and then take a minute and let it soak in. That is the supernatural power that we can tap into that empowers us to rise to new heights, and to accomplish things we could never have done through our own strength. That gift, the Holy Spirit – the essence of Jesus Christ Himself – was given to us by God so we can be victorious in our battles against the world, our flesh, and satan.  When we use this gift, it brings honor and glory to Him!  

And that, my Friends, is precisely how we are going to endure to the end, regardless of the horrors we will face, or the lies and deceptions satan will speak through the false prophets. When we call on the Holy Spirit to give us His wisdom, His insight, His strength, courage, perseverance, patience…whatever it is we need to endure through this horrific time, His promise to us is, “I will never leave you, nor will I forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)

Thank you, God, that in spite of what lies ahead, YOU are still our shield and our protector. As Neil Anderson said in “Victory Over the Darkness”, our battle with the dark domain is NOT a power struggle, but a truth struggle. Standing on the Truth of His Word, and rebuking satan – in other words, being clothed in the Armor of God – is our only hope for enduring to the end. You must not forget that the Holy Spirit is your gift, your weapon, so call on Him to lead you into all truth with the right words, courage, perseverance and the confident assurance that He WILL respond to your cry.

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

May God Bless You abundantly,

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

Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers…I have reflected quite a bit about last week’s blog, because writing truthfully about the end times is not an easy, nor a pleasant, undertaking. Many people don’t believe it; many people just don’t want to hear about it because they find it upsetting; and still others have chosen to believe a counterfeit message that tells them a loving God will forgive, and welcome everyone home. I have taken solace in the truth of this sentence in last week’s blog: “Jesus didn’t share this information with His disciples to scare them; He shared this information to prepare them for what is to come.” Therefore, not believing these truths doesn’t make them any less truthful; if you find them frightening, and you should, then take time to prepare for what is coming (How? Spend more time in the Word checking out what Jesus or Apostle Paul had to say about this subject); and finally, shore up your faith, and that is exactly what I want to write about today.

There is a Biblical definition of faith found in Hebrews 11:1: “Faith is the confident expectation of what you hope for, and the certainty of what you have not yet seen.” You can’t argue with that, but in all honesty, I’ve always thought it was a bit wordy. Today I stand on this simple truth as presented in “Freedom in Christ”: “Freedom is choosing to believe what God said is true.” How simple is that?

Everyone has faith in something. In, fact we live by faith. When we’re driving, we cruise right through the green light because we believe that those who have the red light will stop. When we sit down on a chair, we expect it will support us. But what about the 450 prophets of Baal when they were in the competition with Elijah? No doubt, all the prophets had faith in their god, but he didn’t fulfill their expectations. Elijah’s God did! So, it wasn’t really about “faith” in itself, but it was all about their object of faith. Baal was a counterfeit god; God – the God Jehovah of the Old and New Testament – IS the real deal.

“So why should I believe that” you might ask? Well, for two reasons. God Jehovah has two components. Let’s look first at His majestic qualities: He is Creator of the universe; He is the Godhead of the Trinity; He is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, immutable, the Alpha and Omega, but He is also LOVE. While we might understand what each of those words mean, how can we possibly relate to them? They are all outside of our paradigm of rational thinking or being. Omnipresent? How can we relate to that? Alpha and Omega? How can we even grasp that concept? But our saving grace is that God IS LOVE. “Thank you, God” that you ARE LOVE.

While we can’t relate to His majestic qualities, we can relate to His personal qualities of love, forgiveness, mercy, grace, kindness, compassion, faithfulness and truth. Now try wrapping your head around this: God doesn’t only love us, His very essence IS LOVE. Love underlies everything He does, including judgement and punishment. (That is enough fodder right there for another one or two more blogs) When God says something, it IS… much like the way He introduced himself to Moses, when He said, I AM… When God speaks, it isn’t the words themselves that pack the wallop, it is WHO spoke the words!  The Lord God Almighty spoke those words to us, and for us.

Because God is LOVE, He is also TRUTH. (Logically, He can’t be LOVE and be anything other than TRUTH) That is why the hundreds of promises throughout the Bible are so important. Regardless of to whom, or under whatever circumstances He made those promises, they are as true for us today as when He spoke those words. “God (Jesus Christ) is the same yesterday, today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8) That is why we can stand on every word in the Bible. It is because of WHO spoke those words! God is LOVE and TRUTH, therefore He cannot lie.

I am writing this because of Jesus’ all-important statement in the midst of the horrors that are to come. “But those who endure to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 24: 13)  Jesus referred to this time (the Great Tribulation) as “A time of greater horror than anything the world has seen, or will ever see again” (Matthew 24: 21) This will be a time when satan unleashes his most insidious lies, deceptions  and schemes with the intent of destroying our relationship and confidence in God. False prophets will be plentiful, and their message will be wrapped in a most alluring way. Their latest and greatest new gospels will entice our flesh, our egos, and many will mistake the lies for “enlightenment.” His assault will be merciless, because destroying God’s family is the only weapon satan has against God.  As I said last week, He knows his time is nigh, and he knows what his future looks like.

I am saying this for the same reason Jesus told His disciples about the future: it is not to frighten you, but to prepare you for what lies ahead. “Enduring to the end” indicates a challenge, and the only way to “endure” is to stand on the Truth of God’s Word.  As Neil Anderson said in his book, “Victory Over the Darkness”, our battle with satan is not a power struggle, but a truth struggle.  The only way to stop satan in his tracks is to stand on the Truth of God’s Word. Jesus gave us the perfect example when He was tempted three times by satan in the wilderness. He combated the enemy’s schemes by quoting the truth of God’s Word. He said, “It is written,……” It is important that we do the same thing.

As I wrote a few weeks ago, we are called to be discerning about what we see and hear. Discernment for us means that we compare the new gospels, or new processes, or new power structures and edicts with the truth of God’s Word. Standing on His Truth is our only way to endure. Remember, one of His majestic qualities is immutability. He never changes; He is always truth. And that same God also said, “Be strong and courageous; do not fear or dread, because I will never leave you, nor will I forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6)

Knowing that God is LOVE and TRUTH, we also must accept the fact that He cannot lie! His Word is truth and will never change. That’s why I wrote, not only about His personal qualities, but also about His majestic qualities. Even though we can’t begin to wrap our heads around the how’s and why’s of those words, we all have experienced His love, mercy, grace, compassion and faithfulness.  Having experienced those truths, it only makes sense that those majestic qualities are His supernatural power that becomes our source of strength when we depend on Him to empower us. Wow! Why would anyone worship a lesser god?  If we stay plugged into our God Jehovah during the coming storm, He WILL empower us to endure to the end!!!

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

May God Bless You abundantly,

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

Good Day, Meetpastordan Readers…I am gearing up to start a new “Freedom in Christ” class tomorrow, and as I was preparing for the initial meeting last night, I found myself as “giddy” as I was the first time I ever taught this class. No doubt, when we return to fundamental principles, it is not uncommon to have new “ah ha!” moments, but this material can never be revisited too often, because it is a review of our true identity in Christ. Unfortunately, because we live in a fallen world and the dark domain is thriving, it is easy to get swept up in the milieu of daily existence. Our circumstances, our relationships, our jobs, health, finances, or our sense of security can all be areas for demonic assault. And when that happens, and before we even realize it, we have forgotten all about our spiritual source of strength, and find ourselves doing battle through our own strength. In no time, satan has us wrapped-up in knots, and we find ourselves cursing, kicking and screaming, then wondering, “What is wrong with me?”

Sound familiar? Well, we’ve all been there. But the more we grow in our relationship with Jesus Christ, the more we come to realize that our only hope of victory is not through our own strength, but by tapping into the supernatural strength that is our inheritance from being in Christ. This new identity is our source of joy, confidence, security, patience, perseverance, peace and serenity. And believe me, we will all need to hold on to that identity “for dear life” as we move into a new era referred to as “The Great Tribulation.”

Ever since the time of Christ, we have been living in a time of tribulation, and Jesus never soft pedaled that truth. In fact, He told his disciples in John 15:18-21, “When the world hates you, remember it hated Me before it hated you.  The world would love you if you belonged to it, but you don’t. I chose you to come out of the world. Since they persecuted Me, naturally they will persecute you. The people of the world will hate you because you belong to Me!”  But don’t fret, because the good is finally heard in John 16:33: “In this world you will have many trials and tribulations, but fear not because I have overcome the world.”  Because we are in Christ, we too have overcome the world. We just have to know that truth and never give up…even in the face of adversity.

When we look at the civil, moral and spiritual malady that is plaguing our country today, it is hard to wrap our heads and hearts around what is happening…or why it is happening? But one thing that is blatantly obvious is the evil movement that is wreaking havoc across our land, and the seeming unwillingness to bring it to an end. How much longer do we have to watch our country being torn apart, and innumerable lives and livelihoods destroyed? No doubt there are systemic issues that need to be addressed, but I don’t believe that burning, looting and killing is the pathway to reconciliation…if that indeed is the desired outcome? Or…perhaps the desired outcome is the destruction of this great country known as America. What do you think?

I am mentioning this because there is a reality to be faced, and the Church – the Body of Christ – has to wake up to what lies ahead. What is happening today should not be a surprise. In fact, it has been prophesized for centuries. Jesus’ talked very specifically about the Great Tribulation when He gathered His disciples together to inform them about their future. For a complete presentation, I will direct you to Matthew, chapter 24, but I will share a bit with you now. “Don’t let anyone mislead you.  For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will lead many (including believers) astray.  And wars will break out near and far, but don’t panic.  Yes, these things must come, but the end won’t follow immediately.  The nations and kingdoms will proclaim war against each other, and there will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world, but all of this will be only the beginning of the horrors to come. Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because of your allegiance to Me. And many will turn away from Me and betray and hate each other; many false prophets will appear and will lead many listeners astray. Sin will be rampant, and the love of many will grow cold. This will be a time of greater horror than anything the world has seen, or will ever see again. But those who endure to the end will be saved.”

No doubt this is not a pretty picture; in fact, it is down right frightening. But Jesus didn’t say these things to frighten us; He said these things to prepare us. This time of great tribulation will test us in ways never before imagined. 2 Thessalonians gives us another glimpse of what is to come. “This will be the time when “the man of lawlessness (also known as the Anti-Christ) will be revealed. He will bring great destruction. He will exalt himself and defy every god there is, and will tear down every object of adoration and worship. He will position himself in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God. This man of lawlessness has come to do the work of satan with counterfeit powers, and signs and miracles. He will use every kind of wicked deception to fool those who are on their way to destruction”, and many false prophets will launch their assault by challenging our faith. They will reveal the latest and greatest “revelations” with the intent of drawing those who are weak in their faith back to the realm of darkness. It is also a time when we will be challenged to take the mark of the Beast, as referred to in Revelation 13. All of this is why Jesus told his disciples to “watch and listen”.  “When you see the events taking place that are described above, you can be sure that the return of Christ is “right at the door.” (Matthew 24:33) But as you might expect, He ends this message with this anchor of hope: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will remain forever.” (verse 35)

As Christ-followers, we are called to be discerning. We are called to compare the latest and greatest revelations, or findings, with the truth of God’s Word. The litmus test will be how these new enlightenments, or perspectives, line up with the last five words of the above paragraph. This is why I used the phrase “hold on to our identity for dear life” in the second paragraph. We must hold fast to the truth and the power we have in Christ!  Of utmost importance is this nugget of truth:  we must not lose sight of the Holy Spirit’s role of leading us into all truth. If we depend on His wisdom and insight to guide us, we can count on making the right choices when it comes to discernment.

Remember, satan knows that his time is also drawing nigh. And make no mistake, he also knows that his only weapon against God’s plan is through his followers. Therefore, WE can expect a relentless assault at the end as he and his minions try to shipwreck our journey to salvation. This time of great tribulation will be the battle of all battles.  So, as Apostle Paul so accurately stated in Ephesians 6:13: “Use every piece of God’s armor to resist the enemy in this time of evil, so that after the battle, you will still be standing firm!”   It is absolutely essential that you are awake to this daunting truth: you are going to be at war (most likely both spiritual and physical) whether you want to be or not. Therefore, I encourage you to “watch and listen”, because those who endure to the end will be saved

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

May God bless you abundantly,

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

Good Day, Meetpastordan Readers…What a pleasure it is to be back in the saddle again. I have to tell you, I certainly missed being out of commission for the past six weeks, especially since this interim period of time provided so much fodder for writing. But during this same period, I have had a change of heart regarding how I perceive the insanity that is plaguing our great country. Instead of dwelling on the obvious targets and firing my righteously indignant darts at the evil that I know is at the core of all this mayhem, I believe I have been drawn in a different direction. I have prayed about this quite a bit during these past few weeks, and I believe I am called, not to criticize or point a judgmental finger, but to stand on the truth of what it means to be in Christ, and respond in a manner that is consistent with that identity. There is already enough anger, fear and hatred being perpetuated by the 24/7 news outlets and social media, so instead of contributing in any way to that distasteful cool-aid, especially since most of it based on lies, half-truths and exaggerations, I would like to stand on what I believe to be the ONLY truth today. And that, my Dear Brothers and Sisters, is the Word of God!

What I want to write about today is the power found in these five words, “Don’t be afraid; trust Me!” (Mark 5:36) These five words present the ultimate challenge, and it’s not the words themselves that pack the punch, it’s all about who said those words! Many politicians have uttered that political cliché, and time and time again, they’ve failed to produce.  But when Jesus made that statement to Jairus, He did indeed follow through with His promise. That should be of no surprise, because Jesus follows through with EVERY promise made. In fact, that is one of the incredible inheritances bestowed upon us for being in Christ; we are heir to every Spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms, as well as every promise in the Bible.

Now let’s dissect those five words, because they are actually two separate directives at work. “Don’t be afraid” denotes fear. Since we are called to be discerning concerning the truth of God’s Word, our first question should be, “what is the source of that emotion?” It can’t be from God, since His very essence is described in 1 John 4:8: “God IS Love.” Verse. 18 in the same chapter goes on to tell us, “There is no fear in love, because perfect love casts out all fear.”  Therefore, since God IS love, nothing but goodness, compassion, grace, forgiveness, and faithfulness can emanate from Him.

But the prince of this world knows nothing about love.  In fact, Jesus referred to him as “the father of lies” (John 8:44), then He went on to reveal his sole purpose: “He comes to steal, kill and destroy!” (John 10:10) Satan, the master deceiver, is the source of fear. If he can convince us that our circumstances are bigger than our God, he can take us down.  And make no mistake…he is also the puppeteer at work behind all the anger, hatred, violence, burning and looting that is ravenging our cities today. 2 Corinthians 4:4 exposes the root cause of the onslaught: “Satan, the god of this evil world, has blinded the minds and hearts of those who don’t believe, so they are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News that is shining upon them. They don’t understand the message…about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.”  Unfortunately, the dark domain is alive and well in a culture that has left the door wide open to evil shenanigans.

But for those of us in Christ, we know our source of strength. And it is not any mortal man, or any form of government that promises to be our hope, our provider, or our god. No indeed! Our source of strength is not man-made; it exists in the Spiritual realm in the form of Jesus Christ. .Once we have experienced the revelation of the unconditional, unending, and unfailing love Jesus has for us,  we are then prepared to grasp the truth found in Romans 8:31: “Nothing can separate us from the love of Jesus”! Read that Scripture again. Nothing means NOTHING! Not fear, not doubt, nor unforgiveness, anger, hatred, or even yielding to repeated temptations can turn Jesus away. In fact, just the opposite is true. His arms are wide open, because He has been patiently waiting for us to turn to Him as our source of strength when we are in the midst of our own personal hell.

This is the depth of understanding that is essential for the last two words, “trust Me!”, to take root. To trust Him means to surrender “self” to Him. Jesus revealed His character in Matthew 11:28-29 when he said, “Come to me, all who are weary and heavy burdened, and I will give you rest…Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls.” Jesus wants us to “trust Him” because when our focus is on Him, He is poised to bless us. The more our words and our deeds reflect our trust in Him, the more we will experience this Malachi promise: “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 all in!” Then He adds this Spiritual exclamation point, “Try it! Let Me prove it to you!”  (Malachi 3:10)

Being in Christ means we have been Spiritually transformed, as explained in 2 Corinthians, 5:17: “We are a new creation in Christ; the old has gone (we are no longer slaves to our sin {human} nature), the new has come.” (the Holy Spirit) Now it’s not about trying to make ourselves right with God through our works, because “we already have everything we need for living a Godly life”. (2 Peter 1:3) Therefore, when we turn to the Holy Spirit (the essence of Jesus Christ who lives within us) to ask for His wisdom, His courage, or His strength, patience, or perseverance in order to bring honor and glory to God, His promise tells us that He will hear our prayer, and will answer our prayer. This overwhelming truth indeed substantiates Philippians 4:13: “I can do ALL THINGS through Christ who gives me strength!”

It’s easy to look at the insidious happenings that are destroying our country and our culture today, then finding ourselves getting caught up in the web of political narratives, finger-pointing, name-calling, or perhaps you’ve just given in to depression or anxiety? We all talk about it, but it is usually with those who share our point of view. “It’s terrible what is happening”, we say, “but what can I do?”

Well, as Christ-followers, we have been given our marching orders. Jesus’ last directive to His disciples was this: “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.  Therefore, GO (my edit) and make disciples of all the nations,^[a] baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28: 18-20; The Great Commission)

Now I know this can sound like a daunting task, but before you do the “Jonah turn around”, let’s examine what Jesus is really asking of his followers. When you read the truth found in 2 Corinthians 4:4 in the fourth paragraph above, it should break your heart. Most of the people caught up in satan’s lies, deception and schemes have no idea of the source of their anger, jealousy and hatred. The truth is, they have never heard the Truth we stand on, therefore they become satan’s puppets.

Jesus isn’t calling all of us to become evangelists, pastors or counselors, but He does want us to deal with spiritual conflicts by tapping into our supernatural power. The Holy Spirit IS our gift from God so we can become the person He created us to be.  We can ask for His wisdom, His insight, His courage and strength, or even the words to use in prayer, as we pray for revelation of Truth in the minds and hearts of those who are lost. Let’s ask Jesus to meet each and every one of them the same way He met Saul on the road to Damascus. There is power in prayer! Remember Abraham’s prayer of redemption for the people in Sodom and Gomorrah.  No doubt God responds to prayers of intercession by the righteous.

Standing on that Truth, we can all put our faith into action, producing much more than we could ever have accomplished through trash-talk, finger pointing or name calling. These Godly actions are the seeds of blessings, and we’re all capable of reaping a harvest.

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

Have a Blessed Day…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

https://www.facebook.com/Tapsbugler/videos/10152384981199627/   turn volume up (I tried many timess to get this to be a direct hyperlink to the video, but it wouldn’t let me do that.   So, please highlight it (from https: to  the last /),  copy it, then paste it to your browser, then open it.  You will be glad you did.  We must never forget the price paid for freedom.

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

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

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

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

Good Mornning, wonderful Meetpastordan Readers…while on my morning walk with Cliff and Glenn, I had my headset on and was listening to Chuck Swindoll deliver a message entitled, The Radical Prophet. It was the story of Jonah and his attempt to run away from God when, in fact, his calling was to carry the message of judgement to the wicked city of Nineveh. Jonah’s disgust with the Ninevites and their sinful ways led him to be disobedient to God’s plan, because he was afraid that God might show mercy if they repented. Jonah wanted to see judgement, because, in his mind, that was what they deserved. (Now for those of you who are familiar with this Biblical story, you are probably expecting me to continue writing about the storm at sea, the whale, and Jonah’s expectoration onto dry land, but you’ll have to turn to the Book of Jonah and read that for yourself; its only 3 pages long.) Pastor Swindoll, however, took a different turn and put the spotlight on Jonah’s preconceived thoughts and continued with the theme of racism. It was in this part of the message that I received a revelation, certainly from the Holy Spirit.

Racism is an ugly word. It has a myriad of overtones, and none are good. I believe that hatred is the foundation for the word, and I certainly have no problem finding examples, not only in our history, but also in today’s culture. It’s easy to look at slavery as racism, but what about the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the Salem Witch Trials, the Holocaust, or, as is so prevalent today, casting that ugly word at anyone who disagrees with “my way of thinking?”  In these latter cases, it’s not about race, but actually about how people think and what they believe.

Now let’s add this powerful Scripture to the mix, Romans 12:2: “Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed 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, pleasing and perfect His will really is.”  Transformation is the goal of “becoming a Christian.”

God’s plan is, first and foremost, that we accept His Gift of Grace. If we do that, at that very moment, we become “justified in God’s eyes”, as explained in 2 Corinthians 5:17: “We become a new creation in Christ. The old (nature) is gone, (we are no longer slaves to our “sin nature”); the new (nature) has come (the indwelling Holy Spirit). But the truth is, at this point we are only prepared for “transformation”. Unless we participate in the process of growing in our relationship with Jesus Christ, that process of being transformed may be slow or even non-existent.

Now, here is the point of my revelation. Assuming that we have grown into that “new person” referenced in 2 Corinthians 5:17 – and we know that we are standing on The Truth, because we are standing on God’s Word – we have to be careful not to fall into the same kind of intolerance displayed by Jonah when he boarded the boat for Tarsus rather than for Nineveh. With our new-found courage, strength, confidence and assurance, we have to be careful that “self-righteousness” does not overtake us.

Unfortunately, I realized there have been times when I have fallen into that pompous, self-righteous attitude. If not careful, it is easy for Christ-followers to look at those who are on the flip-side of the coin and exclaim, “What is wrong with them? How can they believe such nonsense?  But the truth is, we can never lose sight of Jesus’ proclamation when questioned by the Pharisees about the greatest commandment. He responded by saying, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law, and the message of the prophets depend on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22: 37-40)

The Law of Love, which is the crux of the New Testament, is summed up in Jesus’ statement. If we live these two proclamations, we will automatically live the other eight commandments, meaning we won’t lie, steal, covet, murder, commit adultery, or take the Lord’s name in vain. We will also honor our parents and honor God on the sabbath.

“But how do we love our neighbor when we don’t even like them”, you might ask? No doubt, that is a hefty challenge.  In fact, it is absolutely contrary to our “human nature”, and it’s also contrary to worldly teaching. But God knew that, and that is exactly why He gave us the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Through the Spirit, we can be empowered to do things we can’t do of our own volition.

In the opening story, Jonah already had his idea of justice for the Ninevites. Unfortunately for him, God had a different plan in mind. As I have written many times before, God always prefers mercy for a repentant heart, rather than punishment for a disobedient heart. So, how does that story relate to us?

Our charge is to carry the message of salvation into the world. The reason most people don’t know God’s Truth, is because they haven’t heard His Truth. While we are called to always stand on that Truth, we are never to use it as a battering ram, or in any intimidating or demeaning way. We are called to speak the truth in love, just as our namesake did. That takes humility and compassion, so I strongly encourage you to ask the Holy Spirit for His wisdom, courage, strength, humility and compassion. When this plan becomes your habit, you will be amazed at how you can further His Kingdom right here, right now. This is a tangible measure of transformation, because you “changed the way you think.”

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

May God Bless You abundantly,

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