Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers…I recently saw a posting on Facebook that prompted me to choose today’s subject.  A friend of mine posted a powerful clip portraying a man hanging from a cliff, and the verse read, “Before man can be saved, he must first learn that he cannot save himself.”  Unfortunately, for those who have never been exposed to the truth of God’s Word, they do not even realize they are living in Sin, and in need of a Savior.  They are just living according to the standards of this world, doing what everyone else is doing, while being completely oblivious to the truth found in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death…” (I will complete this verse later in this post, because the completion of the verse is the solution to the condemnation).

As I have stressed before in previous messages, the insurmountable obstacle standing between Man and an eternal relationship with God is SIN.  And what is Sin?  When used as a noun, it refers to a “state of being”, meaning we are living with the focus on “self” rather than on God.  As a verb, it points to our actions, meaning we are disobedient to God’s will and to His standards. (The Ten Commandments)

If we go back to Genesis (2-3) and look at God’s plan, we see that Man was created in His image, for His pleasure, and for His purpose. Man was also created to be spiritually connected to God, but that changed when Eve succumbed to satan’s  deception and disobeyed God’s stern warning: “You may freely eat from any fruit in the garden except fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  If you eat of this fruit, you will surely die.” (Genesis 2: 16-17)  But satan, as he always does, offered an appealing alternative to God’s plan: “You won’t die the serpent hissed.  God knows your eyes will be opened when you eat of it.  You will become just like God, knowing everything both good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4-5) In other words, you won’t need God; you can be your own god.  (FYI…that’s the same lie satan uses today)

Through that one act of disobedience, Sin entered the world when Adam and Eve took the focus off of God’s will and put the focus on satisfying their own will.  That was the original sin that caused the spiritual connection between God and Man to be severed.  As a result of that action, Adam and Eve were cursed and put out of the garden. Therefore, every generation following that event inherited the same curse that befell Adam and Eve. We, too, are born spiritually disconnected from God. 

To see how this happens, let’s look at the delivery room in a hospital. When a baby enters the world, what is its first action?  It cries.  Why?  He/she wants something… to be held, to be nursed, to be cuddled, to be made to feel safe?  In other words, the first thing a baby becomes aware of is “satisfying self.” So, here is a sobering truth to ponder. If our life is all about satisfying our own lustful passions and desires, that “state of being” is referred to as living in Sin. In other words, we are separated from God because our focus is on “self” and not on Him. We are told in Matthew 6:33 to “seek first the Kingdom of heaven”, and all of these things (blessings) will be added.”

Before we can understand our need for a Savior, we first must be aware of our separation from God and the ramifications of that condition. Without knowledge of Him and His ways, we develop our own thought and behavior patterns from what we see and hear going on around us. The sad reality is… most people today aren’t even aware that they are living in Sin, because most people are ignorant (uninformed) of the truth of God’s word.  Satan, the god of this world, has done a great job of clouding the minds and hardening the hearts of unbelievers to that truth.

2 Corinthians 4:4 states: “Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God”.  Apostle Paul, thank goodness, shared the antidote for that dilemma. “Don’t conform to the behaviors and patterns 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.”  Romans 12: 2

Remember, God has a plan and a purpose for each of us.  Regardless of who we are or what we have done, He wants nothing more than for us to engage in vibrant relationship with Him. He delights when we humbly come and admit our dependence on Him. James 4:10 tells us, “He will lift us up and give us honor.”  As stated in the previous Scripture, His plan for our life, is both “pleasing and perfect”.  When we are in line with His will, He promises to bless us abundantly.  Jesus said in Matthew 6:31-34, “So don’t worry about having enough food or drink or clothing.  Why be like the pagans, who are so deeply concerned about these things?  Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs, and He will give you all you need from day to day, if you live for Him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.” 

While the connection between God and Man was severed by Man’s sin (disobedience) at Creation, the good news is…that connection can be restored any time we are ready to repent, meaning, we are ready to turn from our plan and seek His plan is for our lives.  As the prophets of Old Testament proclaimed, “turn from your sins and turn to God”. (Matthew 3:2).  The history found in the Bible clearly shows that when we are in line with God’s will, we are abundantly blessed; when we are out of line with His will, there are consequences to pay.  In Malachi, God even challenges the people to trust Him; “Try it!  Let me prove it to you!”  (Malachi 3:10).

It would seem that unless some transformation takes place in our thinking, we are programed (by the world, the flesh and the satan) to live in a state of Sin.  That is absolutely correct. Romans 6:23 is also correct, “the wages of sin is death”. But because of God’s loving kindness, and because He wants an eternal relationship with us, He provided THE answer to Man’s dilemma. The whole verse reads, “For the wages of sin is death, BUT the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” 

God’s plan for our salvation is perfect.  He knows that we are weak; He knows that we are slaves to our sin nature; He knows we live in a fallen world; He knows that we live in our fleshly bodies, and He knows that we have to contend with satan, who mocks all of God’s standards by offering the delights that titillate our weaknesses.  Therefore, He, in His loving kindness, gave us a Savior to do for us what we proved (from Creation until 2020 years ago) that we were/are incapable of doing for ourselves. That, My Friends, is how we overcome the dilemma of sin.  Because we are in Christ (meaning we have accepted Him as our Lord and Savior), “We are a new creation…the old is gone (meaning we are no longer slaves to our sin nature), the new has come” (the Holy Spirit is living in us, empowering us to become the person God created us to be).

So, what does it mean to be saved?  It means that we made a choice to repent…to turn from our sins and to turn to God. Because of that one choice, we also inherited eternal life and the indwelling Holy Spirit who empowers us to do greater things than what we could ever do through our own best effort.  As Jesus so boldly stated, “No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)

So, my question to you is…Have you accepted God’s free Gift of Grace?

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

May God Bless You abundantly,

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

Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers…I hope this message finds you filled with joy, and living life to the fullest. That’s what Jesus promised, and that is what He delivers to all who are willing to accept God’s Gift of Grace. As a result of that life-changing event, we are now in Christ, meaning our sins have been forgiven, past, present and future sins; we have inherited eternal life, meaning we will spend eternity in Paradise in the presence of God; we have inherited the indwelling Holy Spirit, who empowers us to become the person God created us to be;  we are now worthy and acceptable in God’s eyes, not because of anything we did, but because of what Jesus did for us on the cross; we are grafted into God’s family, meaning we are now His child; we are now a “saint” (a follower of Jesus Christ) and not a “sinner”, meaning our short-comings are not counted against us as sin (Romans 8:1”: “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus); we are heir to every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm, including spiritual healing and revelation, and we are heir to every promise in the Bible. Wow! That is nothing short of a spiritual jackpot!!

The above paragraph defines our identity in Christ.  But with that new identity comes a new-found sense of security, confidence, courage, strength, patience, peace and serenity that produces an almost unexplainable sense of “joy”. Now this “joy” is not to be confused with happiness, because happiness depends on external factors, such as “If I just had that car, (that house, more money, that job), I would be happy.” Joy is not based on external factors; it just wells up inside of us because now we know, without a shadow of a doubt, that we are unconditionally loved and accepted by God. Regardless of how crazy the world becomes around us, we grow in our awareness of what it means to be in the world, but not of the world. (substantiated by John 15:19) Now we grow in our desire to become more Christ-like, because the truth revealed in John 8:32 has now become engrafted in our minds and hearts: “Jesus told His disciples, ‘if you follow My teachings, you will know the truth, and that truth will set you free.”

The teachings of the world, and all other religions and philosophies, are not congruent with the teachings of Jesus. “How so”, you might ask? Well, the teachings of the world exalt man, and they encourage him to strive to be all he can be. All other religions and philosophies are about works to achieve their stated goal. Christianity, by contrast, is not about works, but about faith. This is clearly spelled out in Hebrews 11:6: “It is impossible to please God without faith, because anyone who comes to Him must first believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.”  The manner in which He introduced Himself to Moses, “I AM…” is the way Christians believe God to be; “He IS…” He IS everything. He satisfies completely. We put our trust in Him!

So, the appropriate question right here should be, “What did Jesus teach?” Before I answer that, let me point out four important points. (1) When Jesus came to earth in a human body, He fulfilled the promises and prophecies found in the Old Testament.(But take note, some of these can be repeated again) In Ephesians 1:10, it is stated, “And this is the plan (God’s plan): At just the right time, He will bring everything together under the authority of Christ -everything in heaven and on earth.”  Romans 5:6 is the fulfillment of that plan: “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.” And what was” just the right time”? When we proved ourselves to be utterly helpless. (2) He came to show us how to become “the living Word” by His own example. Matthew 1:14 tells us, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” (3) He came to destroy the work of the Devil.1John 3:8 tells us, “The Son of God came to destroy the Devil’s work.” When Jesus walked out of that tomb, death was defeated! (4) Jesus came to proclaim heavenly principles by contrasting His Truth with the ways and teaching of the world. He stated many times, “Repent! The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3:2) A prime example of this contrast can be found in the Beatitudes. (Matthew 5-7)

Now to the question at hand, “What did Jesus teach?” Jesus taught about love, forgiveness, mercy, grace, compassion, acceptance, and honesty. He also taught about the Father, about heaven and hell, and about being of service to our fellow man. When our minds and hearts are filled with this information, there is no room for darkness. As Proverbs 23:7 reminds us, “What a man puts in his mind and heart, so he is.” Proverbs 3:5-6 expands on this truth: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your path.”

Now, let’s look at the fruit that results from Jesus’ teaching. These traits are referred to as “fruits of the Spirit” because the Holy Spirit produces in us these Christ-like characteristics: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Now let’s compare this to what our culture refers to as “human nature” (and what the Bible refers to as our “sin nature”): pride, greed, jealousy, anger, hatred, fits of rage, depression, anxiety, guilt, shame, remorse, discord, sexual immorality, idolatry, envy, addictions and aggression. When these latter characteristics define us, there is no joy, no peace, and very little, if any, hope for the future. Unquestionably, there is an abundance of physical ailments and psychosomatic illnesses that result from these stresses.

Jesus was quoting Psalm 118, vs.22,24, when He said to the Pharisees, “the stone the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone. The Lord has done it this very day; let’s rejoice today and be glad.” Jesus was, of course, referring to Himself as the stone, but even more specifically “the stone that makes people stumble and fall”. That statement is as true today as it was when Jesus said it, and we can see evidence of that in our culture with the attempts to mock, ridicule, and demean the teachings of the Bible. Nothing stands in the way of promoting the Liberal Progressive Agenda (LPA) more than the Truth of God’s Word, and perhaps the most controversial of all Scriptures is Jesus’ pronouncement in John 14:6: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” How discordant that must sound to the arrogant mind that believes itself to be god.

So, let’s superimpose this blueprint of truth over today’s culture. But first, a sneak preview of how we got to where we are today, I will go back half a century to the 60’s and early 70’s when we experienced these bombshells: the Vietnam War and the resulting protests, rock and roll, Woodstock, free love, LSD and other mind-altering drugs, and the horrific Supreme Court decision known as Roe vs. Wade. As a result of these pillar-shaking events, our culture began moving away from the Judeo-Christian principles that provided the groundwork for developing Spiritual and moral values. During the next two decades, America continued turning away from God and His ways, at first subtly, but for the past decade and a half, more brazenly. Today we find ourselves part of a culture that is spiritually and morally bankrupt, as reflected in the dramatic increase in suicides, the epidemic of addictions, the increase in divorces, the tolerance of lawlessness, a disregard for the value of human life, and the relativity of truth. All of these insidious markers, in my opinion, reflect the evil that is inherent in the Liberal Progressive Agenda. I boldly use the term “evil” here, because none of this is part of God’s plan. In fact, quite the contrary! The puppeteer pulling the strings behind the curtain of this evil agenda is none other than the prince and power of the Dark Domain.  Today’s social and political climate also reflects that truth.

Does any of this ring true to you?  Our culture believes it is a political crossroad, but I submit that we are at a Spiritual crossroad. Now to show inclusivity for my next statement, I will turn to a worldly thinker, Albert Einstein, for his input: “No problem can be solved with the same consciousness that created it.” I agree with Einstein’s thinking on this matter, therefore I challenge you to implement the directive given in 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”   Since God Himself revealed this plan of action, I believe intercessory prayer will produce powerful results. Will you join me in this endeavor to heal our land?

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

May God Bless You abundantly

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

Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers… For the last few days I have been humming and muttering one of the oldies but goodies from the traditional hymn collection.  As I lay in bed last night asking the Holy Spirit for a prompting concerning today’s message, this line popped into my head and made itself right at home. You might recognize it as the third phrase of the traditional hymn entitled, “What A Friend We Have in Jesus”. The whole stanza goes like this: “What a friend we have in Jesus, All our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry, Everything to God in prayer. Oh what peace we often forfeit, Oh what needless pain we bear.  All because we do not carry, Everything to God in prayer.” Wow! What power; what truth in those few words.

Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 that we are to “pray unceasingly.” This can be a bit confusing. Obviously, he did not mean that we should go around with our heads bowed all day.  I believe that Paul is not referring to non-stop talking, but rather an attitude of God-consciousness and God-surrender that we carry with us all the time. Every waking moment is to be lived in an awareness that God is with us and that He is actively involved and engaged in our thoughts and actions.

My definition of prayer is simply “a conversation with God.” Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well, “Believe me, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father here (at Mount Gerizim in Samaria) or in Jerusalem. But the time is coming, and is already here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for anyone who will worship Him that way.” (John 4: 21,23) I believe the reference here is regarding the role of the Holy Spirit, who leads us into all truth through revelation.

This is also a good time to reference the meaning of the torn curtain in the Temple at Jesus’ crucifixion. Matthew 27:50-51 tells us, “Then Jesus shouted out again, and He gave up His spirit.  At that moment the curtain in the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom…” This massive curtain separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place in the Temple. Only the High Priest could enter the Most Holy Place as the people’s representative to offer sacrificial blood and to burn incense. But that rending of the curtain symbolizes the removal of any obstacle between man and God. No longer must man appeal to a Priest to access God; Jesus IS our High Priest!  If we are in Christ, we can come boldly into God’s presence, sit on His knee, and call Him “Abba Father.”

We were created for a relationship with God, and nothing does He like more than when we engage with Him. The first Commandment makes that abundantly clear; “Thou shall have no other gods before me.”  The fact is, we all have a god of one sort or another in our lives, but God Jehovah makes it perfectly clear that He is not sharing that number one spot with anyone or anything else. He told us in Hosea 6:6-8: “I don’t want your sacrifices; I want your love!  I don’t want your offerings; I want your heart!  In other words, He wants us to know Him personally and intimately.

When we begin our conversation with “God”, “Jesus”, or “Holy Spirit”, they’re synonymous, we have just opened the door to the spiritual realm. Nothing gets His attention more than our attention toward Him. The fact that we turned to Him to ask for wisdom, insight, courage, strength, patience, whatever it is that concerns us, is an act of obedience. He delights in this! This action brings to life James 4:10: “When we come humbly before the Lord and admit our dependence on Him, He will lift us up and give us honor.  God loves to bless us, and this behavior certainly opens that door.

Now regarding the third phrase of the hymn used in the title, “Oh what peace we often forfeit, Oh what needless pain we bear.” This phrase reminds us of the torment that results when we become victims of satan’s lies and deceptions. His sole purpose is to fan the flames of our human nature: “You don’t need any help. You can be your own god; you can get all the glory.” (Does that sound familiar?)  Well, thankfully God knew from the beginning that we would be an easy target for satan and his evil minions, that’s why He gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil, and the Holy Spirit working through us, and empowering us, was/is His plan for our victory and satan’s defeat.

As I have said many times before, “I don’t know how people who don’t know Jesus make it in this crazy world today.”  When we come to know Him and truly understand what it means to be in Christ, there is a sense of confidence, security, peace, serenity and joy that comes from knowing that we are empowered to do greater things than we could ever do through our own effort.  All of a sudden there is hope, especially when we realize that we ARE being transformed into the person God created us to be. And here is the super-naturalness of all of this: we realize it is happening because we are getting “self” out of the way and allowing the Holy Spirit to guide our path, to give us the right words, to give us His wisdom, and to give us His courage and strength.  Proverbs 3:5-6 nails this principle: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will direct your steps.”

Prayer is the key that sets this process in motion.  What a privilege to come before the throne of God and talk to Him as our Abba Father.  There is no reason to forfeit any peace, or to bear any pain, guilt or shame. We honor Him by calling the Holy Spirit into action. That is every Christian’s secret weapon in our war against satan and his minions, and that is precisely why He blessed us with this gift.

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

May God Bless you abundantly,

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

Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers…I’m constantly amazed at how these blogs take shape in my mind. I was going to write about “Joy”, and the fact it is a byproduct of being in Christ, meaning it is the opposite of doubt, fear, anxiety, depression, guilt, shame and remorse.  I was going to open with a, “Thank You”, to the KC Chiefs for the joy they’ve brought to their faithful fans by “doing what they do”. Throughout the season we’ve been able to develop a sense of confidence, even when they are 10 or more points behind, because in the face of adversity, the Chiefs rise to the occasion.  That seems to have become their hallmark. But, for some unknown reason, for the past two days that idea has been blotted out with a strong pull to tackle another issue. Therefore, I would like to use Psalm 2 to set the new stage for today’s blog.

“Why do the nations rage? Why do people waste their time in futile plans? The kings of the earth prepare for battle; the rulers plot together against the Lord and against His anointed One. ‘Let us break their chains,’ they cry, ‘and free ourselves from this slavery.’

But the One who rules in heaven laughs.  The Lord scoffs at them. Then in anger, He rebukes them, terrifying them with His fierce fury.  For the Lord declares, ‘I have placed My chosen King on the throne in Jerusalem, My holy city.’ The King proclaims the Lord’s decree: The Lord said to me, ‘You are my Son. Today I have become Your Father. Only ask, and I will give You the nations as Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as Your possession. You will break them with an iron rod and smash them like clay pots.”

Now then you kings, act wisely! Be warned, you rulers of the earth! Serve the Lord with reverent fear, and rejoice with trembling. Submit to God’s royal Son, or He will become angry, and you will be destroyed in the midst of your pursuits…”

David wrote that psalm over 3000 years ago. As depicted in stanza 1, Man has always looked at God’s Word and His ways as confining, stifling or prohibitive. Our human nature wants to be free of any “perceived” shackle that would inhibit us from pursuing our own will. Stanzas 2 and 3 reveal that God has already given His Son dominion over the earth, therefore, it is in our best interest to partner with Him and His will. I wanted to use this psalm as the lens that hopefully will give us a new vision of the insanity that has consumed our nation since November 13^th, 2019

Before I jump right in and talk about the insanity that is Washington D.C., let me first present some Scriptural references that will lay the foundation for what I want to say.  I will extract excerpts from Romans 1: 20-31: “From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that God created. They can clearly see His invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature. They have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God. Yes, they know God, but they wouldn’t worship Him as God, or even give Him thanks. They began to think up foolish ideas of what He was like. So, God let them go ahead and do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things; they chose to believe lies; they worshiped things God created, but not the Creator Himself. As they refused to acknowledge Him, 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. They became back-stabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud and boastful. They refuse to understand the Truth; they break their promises, and are heartless and unforgiving.” I hope the take-away from these words will be, if people continue to turn their backs on God and pursue their own exaltation and pleasure, He will abandon them to their evil ways. (But bear in mind, He will never leave them or forsake them. If at any point they should choose to “Repent! Turn from your sin and turn to God.” (Acts 3:19), He will welcome the prodigals home.)

Now let’s look at the source of this long, drawn out insanity. 2 Corinthians 4:4 tells us, “Satan, the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe the Truth, so they are unable to see the glorious light that could be shining on them.” The darkness that shrouds Washington D.C. right now is undeniable, and it seems to be increasing in intensity. Think back to John F. Kennedy’s reference of his colleagues: “the best and the brightest.” When we look at the political circus that just took place, can we use either of those two words to describe the participants? That question is given even more credibility by AOC’s recent revelation; “Lifting ourselves up by our bootstraps is a physical impossibility…therefore, it must be a lie.” (Sorry, I can’t help myself.)

Perhaps the most disturbing part of the impeachment shenanigans was the unmitigated hatred that was on display.  When a derangement syndrome, the likes of what we just witnessed prevails, the natural result is lying, cheating, stealing, and a willingness to do whatever it takes to win, regardless of the collateral damage. It was an embarrassment to watch; it was an embarrassment to the country, but even worse, it shows how far our culture has drifted away from the Judeo-Christian principles that once provided valuable guidelines for a moral compass. (This also seems like the perfect time to point back to the truth found in 2 Corinthians 4:4 one paragraph above.)

As Christians, we are called to proclaim the Gospel of Grace, but we are also charged with confronting EVIL wherever and whenever we see it. Jesus never shied away from that challenge, so why should we look the other way? No doubt this age of “political correctness” has silenced many voices because of possible reprisals, however, doing nothing tacitly endorses the lie, the deception, or the bad behavior. Therefore, it is time to put on the Armor of God, as referenced in Ephesians 6, and prepare for battle, because the future of our country is at stake!

Other than ancient Israel, no other nation in the history of the world has been more abundantly blessed than America. In fact, many scholars and theologians have made a case for America being the prophetic beast referenced in Revelation 13:11. No doubt America has risen to heights no other nation has ever known. Even though we were never without fault or sin, we did aspire to fulfill our calling. America is an experiment in an elected, representative government called a democracy; it is a country based on Judeo-Christian principles, and it is intended to be “that shining light on the hill.” As a result, America has given refuge to the world’s poor and needy, hope to the oppressed and has stood against tyranny by fighting against dark movements that threatened to engulf the world.

Today an evil movement exists right in the very heart of our country, and it threatens the greatness that once was America. I have referred to it many times before as the Liberal Progressive Agenda (LPA). Sadly, today it is found in what was once the Democrat Party.  Virtually every hopeful Democrat presidential candidate in 2020 is pointing toward a socialistic form of government, which is contrary to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness that is afforded us by our founding documents. Instead, the LPA Democrat Party offers free healthcare for all, including illegal immigrants: abortion on demand, under the guise of women’s healthcare: open borders, which entices illegal immigration, sex trafficking, and drug smuggling: sanctuary cities, which protects the illegal immigrants and prevents ICE from doing its job: free college for all and forgiveness of existing student loans, and a Green Energy Deal with a price tag that is unsustainable.

In order for these liberal, progressive ideas to take root, it is important to redefine the pillars that once anchored “American ideals”, such as a government of the people, by the people and for the people, sustaining and supporting the brilliance of our founding documents, supporting the ideal of a nuclear family, and standing for the sanctity of life, the rule of law, freedom of speech and religious freedom. Right along with all of these pillars, the Truth of God’s Word presents the biggest rock that stands in the way of the LPA’s success, because it transforms the hearts and minds of its listeners. Consequently, the 10 Commandments must go; public prayer must go; public display of religious traditions is being questioned, and the content of pastor’s messages is under scrutiny.

This numbing down and dumbing down of America has been in the process for the past fifty years.  Unfortunately, it has progressed at breakneck speed during the past twelve years. These flames continue to be fanned by a news media and the entertainment industry whose intent is to work in tandem with the LPA to alter our sense of reality and our sense of truth.

I would now like to turn to these wonderful truths, as expressed by Messianic Rabbi, Jonathan Cahn. “America was founded on prayer. Therefore, the removal of prayer from its public life was a central part of its fall from God. A nation that turns away from prayer will ultimately find itself in desperate need of it. America started turning away from God with spiritual complacency, then spiritual confusion, then the merging of God with idols and then, ultimately, the rejection of His ways. Just as with ancient Israel, America began ruling God out of its life, turning, step by step, against His ways, at first subtly and then more and more brazenly. As God was expunged from American life, idols came in to fill the void, idols of sensuality, idols of greed, of money, of success, comfort, materialism, pleasure, sexual immorality, self-worship, self-obsession. The sacred increasingly disappeared, and the profane took its place.” As you read this, is any of it ringing true?

As America continues to separate itself from God and His will (remember, our country was dedicated to God by President George Washington, his cabinet and congress the evening of his inauguration), the door opens even wider for satan to run roughshod through the hearts and minds of those who are obsessed with wealth, power and control. (FYI…satan’s greatest victory is convincing the intellectual mind that he doesn’t exist.) What we witnessed playing out politically in Washington D.C. these past few months was an illegal grab for wealth, power and control.  It was the LP  Democrats best effort at trying to become their own god. (Let me once again refer back to the truth found in 2 Corinthians 4:4)

I will close by posing this question. “When you read the platform of the LPA agenda (Democrat Party) listed 5 paragraphs above, is that really the America you want?”

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

May God Bless You…and may God Bless America.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

If you look up the word “truth”, you will find slight variations in the definitions.  But the one I think is most applicable here is, “that which is in accordance with fact or reality.”  Since Christianity is based on faith, if we as Christ-followers hadn’t experienced The Truth of these words coming alive in our own lives, how could we believe they were (are) true? Without that life experience, we couldn’t!  But we all have been transformed by The Truth of these words, so our faith is experiential faith, not blind faith.  We know it’s true because we have experienced it, and we now stand on it.

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

As we look at our culture today, we can see the disastrous effects of turning away from God and His Truth.  In Galatians 5:19-21 He reveals what such a culture would look like and the penalty for such disobedience: “sexual immorality, impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure, idolatry, participation in demonic activities, cheating, hostility, quarreling, lying, jealousy, out-bursts of anger, selfish ambition, social divisions, the feeling that everyone is wrong except those in your own little group, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other kinds of sin.  Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.”  Can you see any of this in our culture today? Just compare the content of this paragraph with the reference to Jesus’ teaching three paragraphs above.  Do you think that if Dylan Klebold had had the teachings of Jesus in his heart rather than hatred and anger, he would have been in that library doing what he was doing?  “As a man believes in his heart, so he is.” (Proverbs 27:3)

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

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

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

May God Bless Ya…

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

Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers…Pam and I had the privilege last night of being part of a healing service. A dear friend of ours (if fact, he married us), Mark Levesque, has been the visionary for developing that ministry. When Pam and I started going, there were six people in attendance. Last evening, a yucky, rainy and snowy evening, there were forty plus anxious-to-be recipients. Some came to observe and to learn about spiritual healing; others came with the expectation of being healed, and yet others came wondering if they would have the nerve to go forward, even if they had the opportunity. The room was alive with a confident expectation that something wonderful, perhaps even miraculous, was going to happen; in fact, quite a few people stated that they felt the presence of the Holy Spirit in our midst. There were no TV cameras; no one was selling anything, and there was no admission charged. Only prayer, reading God’s promises, then standing on those promises was the order of the evening…but what an incredible, joy-filled evening!

I mention this because healing is a blessing, although perhaps the most controversial and fear- ladened blessing. I believe it is both of those adjectives because we all know someone who has received prayer for healing, and then the healing appeared not to have come, or even worse, the recipient died. (I will come back to this subject a bit later.)  We have a part to play in our healing process, the same as we do in any blessing process, but that part seems to have eluded many hopeful recipients. If you’re an old hymn lover as I am, the answer is quite simple. It can be found in this golden oldie, “Trust and Obey” (for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”) Sounds simple, right? Truth be told, that duo (Trust and Obedience) have been the dilemma of Mankind since creation, and continues, to this day, to be the linchpin between victory and defeat.

Almost all of the promises in the Bible begin with this challenge, “If you”, or “When you”. The next step is up to us; we either choose to “obey” or “trust”, or we choose to do it our way. All parents can relate to this scenario: When you offer your child this challenge, aren’t you trying to teach them a principle that you know is in their best interest? For instance, you say, “Don’t put your hand in the dog dish when the dog is eating.” If the child is compliant, you reward (bless) them, if not, they might be banished to “time out.” Blessings are the reward for obedience. Such was the case when God called Moses to the top of Mt. Sinai in preparation for the Ten Commandments.

He gave Moses this information: “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations, you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.” (Exodus 19:5-6) Moses went back down the mountain and set before the people the words the Lord had commanded him to speak. And their response? “We will do everything the Lord has asked of us.” (Exodus 19:8) Well, we know that commitment lasted only until they got impatient with the length of time Moses was on the mountain. Their disobedience resulted in the Golden Calf. So, the take-away principle is, “if we want to receive a blessing, we first must be in obedience with God’s will.” Romans 12:2 defines that statement: “Then you will know how good, pleasing and perfect God’s will is for your life.”

Matthew 8:5-8,10-13 relates these two truths: “When Jesus arrived in Capernaum, a Roman officer came and pleaded with Him; ‘Lord, my young servant lies in bed, paralyzed and racked with pain.” Jesus said, ‘I will come and heal him’. Then the officer said, ‘Lord, I am not worthy to have You come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed!’ When Jesus heard this, He was amazed. Turning to the crowd, He said, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all the land of Israel. And I tell you this, that many Gentiles will come from all over the world and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven. But many Israelites – those for whom the Kingdom was prepared – will be cast into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then He said to the officer, ‘Go home. What you believed has happened.”

Truth 1. The Roman officer obviously believed that Jesus was who He said He was. Perhaps he heard His message; perhaps he saw previous miracles. But when he came to Jesus for prayer, he came with the confident expectation that Jesus would heal his servant. That was, as Jesus noted, faith in action.

Truth 2. Jesus pointed out that the blessings of His Kingdom message were also available to the Gentiles.  Even though the Jews were the intended recipients of this message, if they continued to live in disobedience to God’s will, they, just like any other unbeliever, would be cast into the outer darkness.  This foreshadowed the truth found in Galatians 3:26,28: “So, you are all children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, male or female, or slave or free. You are all one in Christ Jesus.”

When we pray for God’s blessing, it is imperative that we have a clear understanding of Jesus’ statement found in John 14:13: “And I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask anything in My name, and I will do it.”  This statement is about us being in line with His will. If what we are asking brings honor and glory to the Father, that prayer will be answered. So, this is the point. If we are in line with God’s will, we can expect a blessing. But keep reading…

Two of the biggest obstacles that can stand in the way of our blessings are doubt and unforgiveness. Now let me relate this to the answer I promised in paragraph 2.  When we are asking for healing, it is imperative that we understand that our position in Christ, renders us ALREADY healed. It was part of the Atonement. Christ paid the penalty for our sins on the cross, and He paid the penalty for our sickness and disease at the whipping post. “By His stripes we are healed!” (Isaiah 53:5) “I will restore your health and heal your wounds, says the Lord” (Jeremiah, 30:17) “He sent forth His Word and healed them.” (Psalm 107:20)

There are many promises of healing in the Bible, so we can stand on these promises, not just because of the words, but because of who said those words! God doesn’t want His Word coming back void (Isaiah 55:11), so what could delight Him more than us praying those words aloud, and standing firm on this platform of faith?  We know that we are healed, so we pray for the manifestation in the natural realm of what is already true in the spiritual realm. We pray with confident expectation of healing! We cast out any doubt because these are God’s promises to us!!

Matthew 5:23-24 clarifies this next point. “If you are standing before the alter in the Temple, offering a sacrifice to God, and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there beside the alter. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come back and offer your sacrifice to God. Come to terms quickly with your enemy.”  To be in line with God’s will, He clearly doesn’t want us harboring feelings of unforgiveness. Why? Because it gives a foothold to the Enemy! He wants us to clean up our side of the street, and then come to present our sacrifice to Him without a spot or a blemish.

So, here is the crux of this blog. Everyone wants to be blessed, and we know that God’s Word says He wants to bless us. But to quote the famous Gospel preacher, TD Jakes, “He ain’t gonna bless ya ‘til ya ready to receive them blessins’” In other words, God wants us in line with His will, because His will is good, pleasing and perfect.  He wants us to deal with any unresolved issues that keep us in bondage such as addictions, anger, hatred, jealousy, fear, slander, lying, etc. before He bestows His blessing. This is the likely answer to prayers not being answered or healing not being manifested.

For those of you who are regular readers of my blog, I know you are familiar with Pam’s and my journey as it relates to her MS diagnosis. After the initial shock, we continued to rely on our faith as we met with doctors and searched for answers. From the outset, we knew it was the work of satan and not of God. We also knew we were already healed. So, we both asked the Holy Spirit to reveal to each of us any issues that needed to be dealt with so that we might get on the fast track for His healing to be manifested. Believe me, He was faithful to bring to mind for both of us issues that needed to be addressed. Some had even been forgotten. But today, Pam is walking, and she gets stronger day by day. Now our focus is praising His name, and thanking Him for His faithfulness.

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

May God bless you abundantly,

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

Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers…In last week’s blog, I made this distinction between Christianity and all other religions: In other religions, “we do to get”, meaning our standing with God is based on our works or performance.  If we successfully adhere to prescribed rules, regulations and rituals, our standing with God is secure, and hopefully will even get better. The intent is to make bad people good, or good people better.

Christianity is in a class by itself. Sometimes it is laden with religious overtones, which encourages observers to say, “All religions are the same. It’s about keeping the flock in line.” (Truth be told, in my BS days {refer to last week’s blog, #321}, I was guilty of making that exact comment!) But Christianity, in its “purest form”, is about having a personal relationship with a loving God who has made it possible for us to spend eternity with Him.

Christianity is not based on works or performance, but instead is based on faith – choosing to believe the truth as revealed in God’s Word, the Holy Bible. We believe the Holy Bible was/is God’s way of revealing Himself to Mankind so we can choose to enter into that all-important relationship.  In this Book, He reveals who He is, what He thinks, what He thinks about us, what His plans are concerning us, what His standards are, what His promises are, and how we can achieve those promises. In fact, 2 Peter, 20-21 states : “Above all you must understand that no prophecy or 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.” The more we are transformed by this truth, the stronger our faith!

On the cover of Neil Anderson’s book, “Victory Over the Darkness” (one of the books used in my  “Freedom in Christ” ministry at Grace Church St. Louis), is this synopsis: “Realizing what it means to be in Christ, and understanding the power that comes from that identity.” In that sentence is THE answer for achieving the abundant life Jesus promised. I am privileged to have the opportunity to talk with Christians who are struggling with life issues, and my experience has revealed that not many actually understand what it means to be in Christ, but even fewer understand the term “power” in this context.

To be in Christ means we have made a choice to accept Jesus Christ as our Savior. That was, and is, God’s plan for our salvation. When we do this, we are justified (made right) in His eyes, and this immediately becomes our new identity: our sins are forgiven; we inherit eternal life; we are gifted with the indwelling Holy Spirit; we are now worthy and acceptable in God’s eyes because we are covered with the blood of Jesus; we are grafted into God’s family; we are now a Saint (a follower of Jesus); we are heir to every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms, and are heir to all the promises in the Bible. This new identity is confirmed in 2 Corinthians 5:17: “We are a new creation in Christ, the old is gone (we are no longer slaves to our sin nature), the new has come.” (the Holy Spirit) When this powerful truth becomes engrafted in our hearts, how can we not be filled with confidence, security, peace and joy?

At this point we have everything we need for living a Godly life. (Ref. 2 Peter,1:3) But truth be told, we haven’t yet taken the first step toward becoming the person God created us to be. Now He wants us to be transformed into the image of His Son, so we can further His Kingdom on earth by sharing the truth, love, life, and power of Jesus’ message. (To review His message, refer to last week’s blog, #321) The more we grow in our relationship with Jesus, the more He becomes Lord of our lives. But there is, however, one unavoidable consequence that comes with our new identity in Christ.  Now all of us have targets on our backs!

Let me say something that might shock you. Prior to your new identity, you were living in the domain of darkness under the influence of satan. 2 Corinthians 4:4 tells us, “Satan is the god of this evil world. He has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe, so they are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News (the truth about Jesus) that is shining upon them.” Prior to being in Christ, you lived to satisfy and exalt yourself. That is the very definition of “Sin”. You didn’t know you were sinning, you just did what came naturally. Therefore, satan had you in the palm of his hand, so there was no reason for him to bother you. But once you made a decision to move into the domain of light (the domain of His Son), satan declared war on you. His purpose now is to separate you from God, and to shipwreck your best effort to live the Christian life. Unfortunately, he is a master at his craft! But even more unfortunate…you are no match for him!

Thankfully, God knows we’re only dust. He also knows that through our own strength, we will almost always succumb to satan’s evil schemes. We proved that, without a shadow of a doubt, from the fall of Man (when Sin entered the world) until the coming of Jesus Christ 2020 years ago.  This is confirmed in 2 Corinthians 2:11: “We are not oblivious to his sly and evil ways”, and again in John 10:10: “The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy!”  Whether you want to be or not, you are now at war with the “Father of Lies”. (John 8:44) Being unaware of that fact, or trying to ignore it, will almost certainly ensure your defeat. Your enemy is ruthless and insidious.  1 Peter 5:8-9 describes him this way: “Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in your faith.”

Satan’s greatest victory is convincing us he doesn’t exist. Since he is a spirit and not a physical entity, it is easy to convince unbelievers that this whole idea of a spiritual realm is a myth or a fairy tale. Because we are limited by our five senses and our finite minds, it is impossible for us to grasp spiritual realities without the indwelling Holy Spirit leading us to that truth. But truth be told, Jesus spent an extraordinary amount of time talking about satan and warning us of his cunning tactics. And He wasn’t talking about a symbol or a fictional character, but a very real spiritual being with supernatural power to destroy us.

So, you might be asking yourself, “How does satan work? How will I know if I’m being accosted by him? Well, first of all, he is a tempter. He loves to plant lustful thoughts in your mind that entice you to return to your old behaviors such as addictions, sexual exploits, or the unadulterated quest for wealth, power and control. When you struggle with anger, hatred, jealousy, lying, cheating, stealing, depression, anxiety, guilt, shame or remorse, satan is the author of all those emotional conditions. Remember, this is a battle for your soul, which consists of your mind, emotions and will.  This is his playground!  Any choices you make that are contrary to the teachings of Jesus (love, mercy, grace, compassion, kindness, acceptance, or being of service) are inspired by satan.

Granted, the above scenario does not paint a very encouraging picture. Now let me cap it off with the final exclamation point. “For the wages of Sin (being out of line with God’s will) is death!” But here’s the good news in the midst of that darkness: “But the free gift from God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 6:23) God always prefers mercy over punishment. He knows what it’s like to live in this fallen world; He knows what it’s like to live in these fleshly bodies, and He knows that we’re no match for our enemy, satan. Therefore, His plan for our salvation also provides for those who are still alive and trying to live a Christian life under stressful conditions.

In order to secure our victory over the darkness, He gave us the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit to do for us what we proved we could not do for ourselves. Ephesians 2: 10 tells us, “The Holy Spirit is God’s guarantee that He will give us everything He promised.” This is the power that Christians have that unbelievers do not have because they are still under the influence of satan. This gift cannot be bought, nor can it be earned. But sadly, most Christians, who already have this power inside them, don’t know how to tap into this spiritual treasure. Therefore, I am going to present a crash course entitled, “Tapping into the power of the Holy Spirit”…right after I tell you what the Holy Spirit does and does not do.

He (a real spiritual entity; the essence of Jesus Christ in us {Ref. John 14:17) does not fix things for us. He empowers us to accomplish His purpose. He also does not respond to any request that exalts “self”. His sole purpose is to empower us to make choices that are in line with God’s will, and to honor Him by becoming the person He created us to be. When that is our motivation, He empowers us to be THE VICTOR through Jesus Christ.

We begin by calling the Holy Spirit into action. Whenever we begin a sentence with” Holy Spirit”, we have just opened the door to the supernatural realm.  Then we ask Him to empower us with His wisdom, strength, courage, patience, perseverance, insight, eyes to see, ears to hear – whatever it is we need to accomplish His purpose. For instance, if you have an interview for a new position, you might say, “Holy Spirit, I need your courage, and your words to speak today. I want this person to see Your light in me. Help me to honor you today at this interview. Thank you, Lord Jesus”

This process is about YOU getting out of the way so the Holy Spirit can work through YOU to accomplish His will. The more you do that, the more you will thank God for His supernatural guidance. In Christ, you can be your own action hero, because you have a a supernatural power that would make Superman, Batman or Wonderwoman envious. Think about that.  That’s your gift from a loving God who wants you in His eternal family.

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

May God Bless You abundantly,

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

Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers…I suspect some of you are reading this because you saw the title of today’s message, and you thought, “oops…he mis-typed it”; then you opened it to see what I really meant to say. Well, no mis-typing is involved. This is today’s subject, and I feel drawn to state my case. I certainly thought about tackling this earlier, but today is the day.

I believe that in its purest form, Christianity is not a religion. I say that because Christ didn’t come to start a religion. Truth be told, He came to straighten out the religion He was born into. After the Israelites were set free from their four-hundred-year bondage to Egypt, they were experiencing freedom for the first-time. However, their journey through the wilderness toward the Promised Land was wrought with challenges, frustration, doubt and fear that drove them into utter chaos. God was witnessing their misery, so He called Moses to the top of Mt. Sinai and revealed His Law to the people. The intent of that presentation was threefold: First, it was civil law, a blueprint for living in peace and harmony. But it was also His moral and ethical standard; this is how He expected us to conduct our personal lives.  And finally, the Law revealed to us (Mankind) our inability to honor God’s standard through our own effort.

The spiritual leaders of the Jews, the Pharisees, in their zest to help the people live in obedience to God’s Law (The Ten Commandments), instituted another six-hundred man-made laws to guide their effort. This, in my opinion, is the definition of religion. God’s Law was, and is, perfect. But when you start mixing the teachings of man with the teachings of God, it is easy to end up with a convoluted “mess” where the teachings of man rise to the top, and many times those teachings take precedence over the teachings of God. 

Such was the case with the Pharisees. Their rebuttal of Jesus resulted when He was not adhering to their religious procedures, such as…asking why He and His disciples didn’t follow their laws of ceremonial washing (Luke 7:5), or why did He disrespect their religion by healing on the Sabbath? (Mark 3:1-6) This response is typical of Jesus’ response to their accusations: “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites. You have let go of the teachings of God and are holding on to human laws and traditions.” (Mark 7:6,8)

When Jesus came to earth in a human body, there were many reasons for that history-changing event. First and foremost, He came to be our sacrificial lamb, paying our sin-ransom so we could qualify for eternal life. (John 3:16) He also came to be the Word incarnate; He came to live and to demonstrate the truth of God’s Word. (John 1:14) He came to destroy the works of satan. When Jesus walked out of that tomb, satan immediately became a defeated foe. (1Peter 1:3-6) And Jesus came to proclaim Kingdom principles. His message was intended to spotlight the disparity between worldly teaching and God’s teaching.

John 8:32 points to this: “If you follow My teachings, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” He also proclaimed that He embodied the Kingdom principles when he said, “The time is fulfilled; the Kingdom is at hand.” (Mark 1:15), or “The Kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” (Luke 17:21) What Israel had long awaited, Jesus Christ was now inaugurating.  But unfortunately, His message was not recognized by the people, nor by the Pharisees. (Unfortunately, the same could be said about our culture today.)

Christianity is different from all other world religions, in that other religions are about “doing to get”. By this, I mean it is about earning favor with God by what we do. For instance, we try harder to be a good person. Christianity is different in that “we already have, so we do”. We are a Christian because we accepted God’s Gift of Grace, Jesus Christ as our Savior. Therefore, we are justified with God (meaning we are worthy and acceptable in His sight because we are covered with the blood of Jesus.) Now “we do”, not to earn anything (because we already have EVERYTHING), but “we do” as our way of saying “Thank You, Jesus, for what You did for me!”  Religion is about trying to make bad people good; Christianity is about giving dead people a new life. (Next week’s message will be devoted specifically to this subject.)

In the second paragraph above, I used a term that I want to clarify. I said, “In its purest form, Christianity is not a religion.”  In its purest form, the message of God (Jesus) is about relationship. God created us for a relationship. In fact, He gave us free will so we could choose to enter into that all-important relationship.  2Peter, 1:3 tells us, “The more we grow in our relationship with Jesus Christ, His divine nature gives us EVERYTHING we need for living a godly life.”

Unfortunately, the purity of Jesus’ message has been tainted throughout the centuries by various attempts to turn His Kingdom message into a religion. In the New Testament, the Body of Christ, or the Church, denotes followers of Jesus Christ. Period! But instead of being one unified body of Believers today, the Body of Christ has been sliced and diced by doing exactly what the Pharisees did concerning God’s Law. The teachings of man have been mixed with the Word of God in an attempt to clarify a particular interpretation, or in some cases, to further a particular agenda. The result is a staggering number of church denominations, each with its own particular doctrine that details the parameters of its worship.  In my opinion, that was never God’s intent.

So, the question now should be, “What did the purity of Jesus’ message reveal?” I referred to John 8:32 earlier, but I would like to revisit that message right here. Jesus was talking to His disciples when He told them, “If you follow My teachings, you will know the truth (Kingdom truth), and that truth will set you free.” Notice, Jesus was very specific; He said “My teachings”. So, what did Jesus teach? He taught about love, forgiveness, mercy, grace, compassion, kindness, and goodness; He taught about the Father, and He taught about being of service to our fellow man. In fact, Jesus boldly exclaimed, “Truly, truly I tell you, The Son can do nothing of His own accord. I speak exactly what the Father has told me to say.”  The disparity of His teaching was also highlighted in the famous Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) when He presented the Beatitudes, the Lord’s Prayer and central tenets of Kingdom principles. Some people who heard Him that day believed Him, but many could not grasp His message because it was contrary to the worldly principles they had been taught.

There is no doubt that when most people hear the term, “Christian”, they immediately think of religion. And I must agree, that title itself can only result from accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior, and that was definitely God’s plan for our salvation. For some people, this seems to be enough. They have what I like to refer to as “fire insurance”, so they continue life as usual. But I believe there is more. I say that because of the truth found in 2 Corinthians 5:17: “We become a new creation in Christ. The old is gone (we are no longer enslaved to our sin nature), the new has come.” (the Holy Spirit)  {Hum…this seems to indicate there could be a process in our future.}

When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, we are immediately justified (made right) in God’s eyes. At this point, we have everything we need for becoming the person God created us to be (Ref. 2 Peter 1:3). Being transformed into the image of Jesus Christ IS the continuation of God’s plan for our lives. The more we become transformed by this growth process, the more Christ becomes Lord of our lives as well as our Savior!  As a result, we are on the cusp of experiencing His Kingdom right here, right now (just as it says in the Lord’s Prayer). Now we can rise above the world around us to bring honor and glory to God. This is beautifully stated in Ephesians 2:10: “For we are God’s masterpiece, created anew in Christ Jesus. We can NOW do the good works God planned for us long ago.”

To recap: God created us for a relationship with Himself. In order for that to happen, He gave us “free will” so we could choose to participate in that endeavor. But Man(kind) used free will to exalt self rather than God, so Sin entered the world. That kept Man separated from God until the coming of Jesus Christ. Jesus came “at just the right time to die for us sinners.” (Romans 5:6)

Jesus came to be our Savior so we could qualify for eternal life, to be a living example of God’s truth, to destroy the works of satan, and to proclaim Kingdom principles, which are relationship principles.  When we accept Him as our Savior, we are immediately justified in God’s eyes. We now have everything we need for growing in our personal relationship with Jesus. But the more He becomes Lord of our life, the more we become the person God created us to be, and the more we can further His Kingdom here on earth.

Next week will be part 2 of this series, and will deal specifically with the supernatural realm of Christianity. This is how we receive the new life.

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

May God bless you abundantly,

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

Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers… Happy belated New Year to each and every one of you! Isn’t it wonderful to have a new beginning? January 1, 2020 represents the beginning of a new era, and just the thought of being able to start over with a clean slate is an inspiration for all.  For many, it’s about making a New Year’s resolution to visit the gym regularly; for others it’s about changing eating, drinking, gambling, or shopping habits. In our mind we can see a new person – a thinner, more healthy person, who has faced some serious demons and won the battle. But unfortunately, the statistics to support this mindset aren’t encouraging. Depending on where you look, by January 14^th, the drop off rate is anywhere from 20%-31%; by January 21^st, 32%-56%; and by January 28^th, 57%-86%. So, what’s the problem? Everyone wants a second, sixth, or possibly even a twelfth chance at a new life, but the truth is…IT’S REALLY HARD!

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

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

Thankfully, my BS period is behind me, and today my identity is in Christ. While the previous New Year’s resolutions that were tackled by my “old self” were defined by frustration and defeat, my resolution this year is the same as it has been for the past few years: “Holy Spirit, help me to seek first the Kingdom of Heaven, and help me to get out of the way so You can work through me.” My self-help book today is not a book filled with worldly perspective, but a Book filled with God’s perspective. In this Book I have found everything I need for becoming the Masterpiece referenced in Ephesians 2:10. When I’m immersed in that zone, I have the confidence, joy, peace and serenity that I always wanted, but here-to-fore had been looking in all the wrong places.

Good news is found in Romans 12 2-3: “Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by changing the way you think. Then you will know how good, pleasing and perfect God’s will really is for your life.” The topic for my AA meeting this morning was “A New Beginning”, and the testimonies regarding each of our transformations was nothing short of staggering. And virtually everyone credited God and His loving kindness for their successful journey. I love that because it brings to life the truth found in Jeremiah 29:13: “If you seek Me, you will find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.” No doubt, God meets each one of His broken creations when we call on His name. That is the humility that is referenced in James 4:10: “When we come humbly before the Lord and admit our dependence on Him, He will lift us up and give us honor.”

Now that we have another opportunity for a new beginning, “a clean slate” so to speak, what is going to be different this time? Remember, the statistics listed above don’t give a lot of credence to our “will-power!” People have tried hypnosis, meditation, yoga and plugging into the “universal power” (or “universal consciousness”, whatever that is??), but the inherent problem with opening ourselves up to “spiritual” influence is…we never know who or what might be our host. I am a true believer in the spiritual realm, but it is vitally important to understand how to plug into the right source.  Now that I’ve gotten your attention, let’s talk about Man’s short-coming when it comes to commitment and will-power before we venture into the spiritual realm.

When a baby comes out of the mother’s womb, it experiences a strange new environment: bright lights, cooler temperature, people wearing masks, and being touched for the first time. So, what does the baby do? It cries! It wants to be held, it wants to feel safe, maybe it wants to be fed. It doesn’t take much time before the baby understands that if it wants something, all it has to do is cry.  As the baby continues to grow and mature, it decides what things it likes, and what things it dislikes. So naturally, it wants more of what it likes, and if possible, it wants it when it wants it, and in many cases, is willing to take drastic measures to get its “fix”.  This is referred to as exalting “self”, and this has proven to be the dilemma of Mankind, as well as the downfall Mankind.  Biblically speaking, this is also the definition of Sin: living to exalt self rather than God.

If you are living “in Sin”, you make choices, or perhaps you scheme, to get what you want rather than concerning yourself with God’s will. Those self-centered thoughts and resultant actions are called “sins.” If you are living separated from God, you are unaware of His truth, His promises, and His love. Therefore, you are vulnerable to the insidious shenanigans of the dark domain, and whether you know it or not, you are under the power of satan and his minions.  His whole purpose is to keep you separated from God, and he is a master at his craft. Truth be told, he IS the puppeteer of your life! In fact, he is also the god of this natural world.  To break free from his talons, you have to make a personal choice to pursue another source of strength.

When we were “of this world”, virtually all of us eventually discovered that we were utterly helpless to rise above self-indulgence. (Ref. Romans 5:6) Consequently, we became the sum-total of the choices we made while living separated from God, and that, in most cases, was certainly not a pretty picture. For some, the answer to this dilemma was found in a state of brokenness, a time when we came face to face with our own insufficiency with no place else to turn. Perhaps in this state of anguish we cried out, “God help me!” For others, the answer came in the form of an epiphany. It was that light-bulb moment when the answer flashed right before our very eyes and we became willing to change.

Two paragraphs above I introduced you to the domain of darkness, satan’s realm. Unbeknownst to most of us, we already had been responding to spiritual influences. Now let me introduce you to the domain of light. This is the other source of strength I referenced in the last sentence two paragraphs above. Whether you are in a state of brokenness or you’ve just experienced an epiphany, you are on the cusp of experiencing a new spiritual beginning.

When you are ready, God WILL respond to your plea. He has a plan in place for your salvation that was designed before the creation of the world and Man. (Ref. Ephesians 1:4) When you make the choice to accept His Gift of Grace, Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you inherit a spiritual trifecta. Not only are your sins forgiven, but you inherit eternal life (this seals your eternal destiny).   To empower you to rise above this world, you also inherit the indwelling Holy Spirit which enables you become the person God created you to be…right here, right now!  What an incredible gift of love!

So, let’s take a moment and examine the title, “A New Beginning”. Everyone dreams of a second chance…maybe even a third or a fourth chance. Since we are on the threshold of a new beginning, it is up to us to write the first chapter, and no doubt we want it to be filled with worthy and profound life-changes and accomplishments. But as the statistics clearly show us, more people fail at that endeavor than succeed. Therefore, I would like to encourage you to first seek a spiritual new beginning because of its all-encompassing nature. Not only do you inherit eternal life, but you can now plug into a power source (the Holy Spirit) that will enable you to do things that here-to-fore might have seemed impossible. It’s all about your motivation. If you seek first the Kingdom of God with the intent of bringing honor and glory to Him, He will give you the desires of your heart. Those are not my words; Those are His words and His promise to you!  If you’re willing, the door is open to a new beginning. There is no downside to this choice…..

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

May God Bless You,

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

As Christians approach the day when we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, it is a time that is filled with wonder, majesty and awe.  Yet for some, this history changing event is wrapped in skepticism and doubt resulting from questions that have never been answered in a way that redirects worldly thinking.  I mean, come on… a virgin birth?   The Son of God?   Savior of the world?   I understand the weight of those questions and the need for answers.  Those very questions kept me separated from God’s truth for many years.  Today however, I understand the prophetic Scripture that speaks perfectly to this challenge.  The “stone that makes people stumble” was first referenced by Isaiah eight centuries before the birth of Jesus.  It was repeated again in 1 Peter 2:8 when he referred to Jesus as “the stone that makes people stumble; the rock that makes them fall.”

God knew people would have trouble grasping His ways and His majestic qualities such as omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, Alpha and Omega, the Godhead of the Trinity, immutable, and of course the Biblical truth that proclaims, “Nothing is impossible with God!” (Luke 1:37) That is why He spoke through the prophet Isaiah telling us, “My ways are not your ways, My thoughts are not your thoughts.  As high as the heavens are above the earth, as far as the east is from the west, My ways are not like your ways and My thoughts are not like your thoughts.”  And again in Psalm 46:10, He tells us, “Just be still and know that I am God.”  I believe God was clearly telling us that we will never understand, with our finite minds, the wonders and ways of the Creator of the Universe.  That is why, throughout the Bible, He uses the most unlikely people, situations and methods to carry out His plans.  He delights in showing His power and strength through the most attention-getting methods.  That, however, is the same reason so many people stumble or fall when grappling with His thoughts and ways.  God is so far outside our paradigm of rational thinking that we will never be able to intellectually wrap Him up and put Him in a box.  But let us not forget… Christianity is based on faith, and faith comes from standing on the truth of God’s word.

Let’s look at three examples of God’s “nothing’s impossible” ways, starting with Samuel, chapter 17, to see how a boy named David saved a nation.  When Jesse sent his son David, a young man of about fourteen years, to the front lines to deliver food to his three older sons who were fighting with the Israelite army, little did he know he was sending the nation’s next hero.  When David arrived at his destination, he was shocked that the army was shackled with fright at the sight of Goliath, who was shouting insults and demanding a volunteer come out to fight him.  David asked, “Who is this pagan Philistine anyway, that he is allowed to defy the armies of the living God.” (vs. 26).  David volunteered to meet the challenge, picked up five stones and walked toward the giant armed only with a slingshot.  He knew the same God that protected him from the jaws of lions and bears as he tended his sheep in the hills would also protect him against this opponent.  With one stone he took down Goliath, brought victory to Israel, and brought honor and glory to God when he told the giant, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord Almighty – God of the armies of Israel…”  A miracle?  Yes!  But how?  Because “Nothing is impossible with God!”

Now let’s look at what was probably the most outlandish battle plan in the history of the world.  When Moses died, Joshua was appointed leader of the Israelites.  Their plan was to conquer the land of Canaan, relying on the Lord’s guidance. God spoke to Joshua, who felt terribly unqualified, with this message: “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, “for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9).

As the Israelites prepared to move into Canaan, God commanded Joshua to have the priests carry the Ark of the Covenant into the center of the Jordan River, which was at flood stage. As soon as they stepped into the river, the water stopped flowing. It piled up in heaps upstream and downstream, so the people could cross on dry ground. God performed the same miracle for Joshua that he had done for Moses when he parted the Red Sea.  The people were now in the Promised Land, but the first obstacle they encountered was the walled city of Jericho.

God had a strange plan for taking the city of Jericho. He told Joshua to have the armed men march around the city once each day for six days. The priests were to carry the ark; appointed trumpeters were to blast forth on their rams’ horns, but the soldiers were to keep silent.  On the seventh day the assembly was to march around the walls of Jericho seven times, and during the last round, at Joshua’s command, the men were to give a great shout and Jericho’s walls would fall down. When that happened, the army was to march into the city and conquer it.  Remember…God had already promised Canaan to the Israelites.  All they had to do was take it.  Joshua certainly knew that, so even with this less than orthodox battle plan, he relied on two Biblical truths: “God would never leave him or forsake him”, and “nothing is impossible with God”.

But undoubtedly the most mysterious display of God’s thoughts and ways can be found in the whole scenario of Jesus’ birth, as presented in Luke, chapter 1.  The angel Gabriel visits Mary, a virgin in her middle teens, and tells her, “You have found favor with God.  You will become pregnant and give birth to a son who will be called Son of the Most High.  He will reign over Israel, and His Kingdom will never end.”  Mary asked the angel, “But how can that be?  I have never known a man.”  Gabriel replied, “…nothing is impossible with God”.  Mary replies, “I am the Lord’s servant.  I will do whatever He asks.”

As we continue reading the story, new questions will undoubtedly arise, such as Mary’s encounter with the angel, Gabriel; Joseph’s acceptance of conception by the Holy Spirit; the trip to Bethlehem, to the birth in the stable. Then there was the host of Angels proclaiming to the shepherds in the hills, “The Savior – yes, the Messiah, the Lord has been born tonight in Bethlehem.” (Luke 2:11)  Absolutely none of this makes sense to our logical, rational thought process.  I mean…

• Who were Mary and Joseph?  What were their qualifications?
• Why Bethlehem, of all places, for the birth?  Wasn’t Jerusalem just up the road with more accommodations?
• And a stable (Yikes!) for the birth of The Savior, the Messiah, the Lord?   Nothing about that seems appropriate for the long awaited Messiah!
• And the announcement of his birth to shepherds.  Didn’t they occupy the bottom rung on the social ladder?  Why them? Who would believe them??

The only way to grasp the truth of this event is to come to know God, and only then, through revelation from Him, can the pronouncement through Isaiah become authentic, “My ways are not your ways, My thoughts are not your thoughts…”

This story has always been God’s plan, “even before the world was created” (Ephesians 1:4). Because God  is a loving God who wants an eternal relationship with us, Romans 5:6 tells us, “While we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time to die for us sinners.”  Then Romans 3:23 also tells us, “All have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard.”  Because of our “human nature”, we could never make ourselves holy and acceptable to God through our own effort. And 1Peter 1:16 tells us, “we have to be Holy (sin free) because God is Holy.  That is why Jesus HAD to come as Savior of the world.  He fulfilled all the prophecies of the Old Testament, and at the same time gave us a new way of being made acceptable to God.  Romans 8:1 tells us, “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.”  God’s gift of love to us is His Gift of Grace, which allows us to be in Christ. 

No doubt about it; Jesus – the Savior of the World, the Messiah, the Lord -arrived in a totally unorthodox manner.  Everything about this story challenges our intellect.  But when we come to know God as a loving God who wants an eternal relationship with us based on our faith in Him and not on our own works – AND, as a God who was willing to sacrifice his Son as payment for our sins so we could become part of that relationship,  we need to stop and ask ourselves: “would I want to worship a lesser God?”   I might not understand His ways and His thoughts, but why would I put my faith in a lesser god that even I can figure out??   Remember…God gave Jesus to be a stumbling block to the world. We are supposed to be challenged.  Yet this same Jesus becomes a Savior to all who will allow their minds and hearts to be transformed by the truth and love of God.  I gotta tell ya…that’s one incredible Christmas gift that fits all!

Have a very Merry Christmas as you celebrate this world changing event, and thank God for this pathway – this ONLY pathway – for salvation. This event is the beginning of God’s unfathomable plan to save us from ourselves.  Jesus came as the Lamb of God who will take away the sins of the world. But when He comes again, He will not be a lamb; He will be “the Lion of Judah who will judge the world of its sin.”  (Revelation 5:5) My Christmas prayer is that YOU will accept His Gift of Grace.

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

May God Bless you abundantly this Christmas season…

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