Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers… For the past two weeks I have written about subjects that bring joy, peace and serenity to my life. I’ve written about my true identity in Christ, and what that means to me as a follower of Jesus Christ in this fallen world. Thank God (and I mean that literally) that I have the secret weapon (the indwelling Holy Spirit, ref. Ephesians 2:10) that is empowering me to continue the process of becoming the Masterpiece God created me to be. Now I want to be obedient to that responsibility, meaning I want to have the courage and boldness to stand on my platform of faith rather than being politically correct. These are times that demand we become aware of the frightening truth facing our nation and the world right now.  It is imperative that We (as a nation) make a commitment to become part of the solution rather than giving up because things aren’t as we would like them to be.

No doubt you are already as fed-up as I am with the abysmal political rhetoric that is captivating our news headlines. Lie after lie; denial after denial, accusation after accusation, finger pointing, more denial! The sad part of this is…the precious political process, that is our gift in this democratic society, has been boiled down to personalities rather than creative solutions and plans to overcome the sheer unadulterated EVIL that engulfs both our culture and the world! Make no mistake…satan is alive and well!  His plan has always been (and will never change) to lie, cheat, steal, kill and destroy, and he carries out his insidious plans through people, i.e. Judas, Hitler, and I’ll stop there before I get too close to home.  But you get the picture. Let’s look at two brief scenarios.

Today I was awakened by a news alert telling about another suicide bomber that detonated at bomb at Quetta Hospital in Pakistan killing at least sixty people and wounding scores more. These news headlines are becoming a daily occurrence. But the worst part is…we, as a society, are becoming as numb to these occurrences as the numb response from our government that “supposedly” is leading the free-world. “We condemn these acts in the strongest possible terms, blah, blah, blah”.  And what happens? Nothing! Only more talk about gun control at home; and more talk about supporting a candidate that has already admitted she will not only continue the same disastrous policies that have decimated our country, but even expand them!! Yikes!! How much more can we take???

Then last night before I went to bed, I was watching a news show that was broadcasting the continuing denials of one of our candidates who has been accused of mishandling classified information in her possession. While she was denying, at the same time being played were the FBI’s findings that contradicted all of her denials. Yet, nothing is done. How can that be? Can it be that a “coincidental” incident that occurred just days before involving a clandestine meeting between Loretta and Bill (no last names used to protect their anonymity) at a remote air strip might have effected the outcome? What happened there?  Was money exchanged? Was an offer “too good to refuse” issued? Who knows?  But within a few days one of the most egregious miscarriages of justice unfolded right before our eyes involving the wife of Bill.  And as “subjects” of the imperial federal government, are we supposed to just to accept that? Wow!  What about truth?  What about character? So that’s where America is today??? The founders of our country and the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our country would be horrified at what has become “commonplace”. But our responsibility, my Friends, is NOT to let their actions die in vain.

This upcoming election is about so much more than the personality of the candidates. The media and the current administration want to keep the spotlight there, because if we take the bait and get bogged down in a personality contest, the failed policies of the current regime and the real needs of our country might never get the scrutiny they deserve. The only losers in that scenario would be us, The People.  But trust me when I tell you, the candidates are not in themselves the solution or the problem.  What WE need to fear is something much bigger than the candidates. We need to fear what and who they represent, and their ultimate goal. This is a subject I want to write about more extensively as the election approaches, but right now I want to put the focus on a subject I wrote about almost a year ago called, “The Unmentioned Enemy.” This exposes an evil agenda that is in place and in motion in our culture right now.

So let me begin by stating some obvious facts.  If one holds to the fundamental principles of: (1.) the Constitution; (2.) Judeo/Christian beliefs; (3.) the traditional family structure; (4.) and values  the “sanctity of life” (and make no mistake…I am intentionally shinning the “light” on the darkness of the multi-billion dollar abortion industry), you can expect to be mocked and vilified by the prevailing “Liberal- Progressive Agenda.”  And what is the Liberal-Progressive Agenda (LPA)? Well…I will give my interpretation of how I see that agenda playing out in our culture right now, knowing full-well that someone else might define it differently. 

As I see the LPA, it is an agenda wrapped in wealth, power and control. If the LPA can chip, chip, chip, away at fundamental principles that are the foundation of our society (like those listed in the above paragraph), they can weaken our society and begin restructuring it according to a new blueprint.

1. The LPA seems to be under the umbrella of a huge, bureaucratic government that believes the more “it” can make the populace dependent on government for its sustenance, the more “it” can ultimately control the populace.
2. “It” believes in the distribution of wealth. Those who have earned wealth and status should be mandated to share it with those who are deemed “less fortunate” (ie. those who are recipients of the government’s “social programs”). No one is against giving a “hand up” to those in need, but unfortunately a whole new sub-culture has developed and is thriving at “beating and raping the system.” That, in fact, is encouraged by the current administration!
3. “It” believes in high taxation to keep the “gravy train” coming. To use one of my mother’s favorite sayings, “If you are going to rob Peter to pay Paul, you can always count on the support of Paul.” So if you are a recipient of the social programs (Paul), you will vote to keep that program in place, and poor Peter (YOU), who is working hard to better himself and his family, will be paying the bill.
4. “It” professes freedom of speech, yet vilifies anyone who expresses a different opinion than the one espoused by the LPA, hence…political correctness.
5. “It” professes a disdain for “Wall Street”, yet allows those who further the LPA to become billionaires at taxpayer expense, for example the “green energy industry”, the “abortion industry”, and certain members of the banking industry.
6. “It” keeps people divided rather than unified, (ie. today’s racial tension fanned by such radical groups as “Black Lives Matter” and the new Black Panthers).
7. “It” professes religious tolerance, yet there is an all-out war against Christianity while accommodating the requirements of Islam, such as the removal of the Bible and religious symbols from the military while providing Korans upon requested.
8. And last, but not least on my list…”it” never lets a crisis go by without making political gain. Rather than me substantiating that statement, I will let Obama’s rhetoric speak for itself.

This by no means encompasses all of the LPA. In fact, it is just the tip of the iceberg. What drives the LPA is the same mindset that has contributed to the fall of every individual, civilization or nation throughout history. And that mindset has been, and is, the exaltation of human wisdom (the current “tree of knowledge of good and evil”) above God’s wisdom.

The Bible is resplendent with examples to substantiate that statement, starting in Genesis. The fall happened in the “Garden” when man was seduced by Satan’s lie. “You won’t die, the serpent hissed. God knows that your eyes will be opened when you eat it [forbidden fruit]. You will become just like God, knowing everything both good and evil.” In other words, you won’t need God. You can be your own god! That is the same lie Satan uses today, and that is the same lie that defines the LPA.

Let me refer to two quotes from Jonathan Cahn’s, “The Harbinger”. “A nation that turns away from prayer will ultimately find itself in desperate need of it.”  And, “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.”  Do those two statements ring true of America today?

Within just two generations, what used to be valued, respected and worshiped is now mocked, ridiculed and vilified. And what used to be shameful, despicable and sinful is now basking in the spotlight and being championed as the “new norm.” Isaiah 5:20 tells us: “Destruction is certain for those who say that evil is good and good is evil; that dark is light and light is dark; that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter.”  2 Timothy 3:1-5 gives us a more specific and ominous message:  “…that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control; they will be cruel and have no interest in what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed-up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act as if they are religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. You must stay away from people like that!  

One striking distinction I want to point out and shout from the rooftop is the difference between power and control – the LPA way, and free-will – God’s way. This is what is at stake in this coming election. God gave us freedom to choose; the LPA ultimately wants to make our choices for us.  No wonder there is an all-out assault on Christianity. One represents light and life; the other represents darkness and death. One candidate is a engrossed in the LPA and will certainly maintain this administration’s failed policies and will even expand them. YOU KNOW WHAT YOU WILL GET WITH THIS CHOICE. Is that what you want? Whatever you do, please do not sit on the sidelines this election. Get informed and be involved in the process of keeping our country free. My choice is to give the “outsider” his chance to stand for “hope and change.”  I can’t help but remember Saul’s journey to Damascus. 

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

May God Bless ya…

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

Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers…Even at 0-dark thirty, I’m bright-eyed and bushy-tailed this morning.  I had cataract surgery this past week, so now when I open my eyes to start a new day, I see the beauty of a whole new world with clarity and in vibrant colors. Wow!  I didn’t know what I was missing, but I sure love what I’m seeing. So when you add to that the excitement I’m still feeling about the “Steps to Freedom” class yesterday at Grace Church-St.Louis, that explains the attitude of gratitude -even at this early hour.

Nothing makes me happier today than seeing those moments when “the light-bulb turns on” in someone’s mind and you know they’ve just experienced an “ah-ha” moment.  Thankfully, those moments are frequent in the “Steps to Freedom” class, which is based on Neil Anderson’s classic, “Victory Over the Darkness.”  This class illuminates the pathway to “the abundant life” Jesus promised as we realize the power of our new identity in Christ.  This is the plan Apostle Paul was referencing in Ephesians 1:4-5, “Long ago, even before he created the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.  His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ.  And this gave him great pleasure.”

Many Christians believed that when they accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, their lives would immediately turn around and everything would be rosy.  But the fact is…if you had financial problems, relationship problems, health problems, job problems, anger issues, etc. the day before you made the choice to accept God’s Gift of Grace, you are still burdened with those problems the day after you made your decision. The good news is…at this point you have everything you need to overcome those issues. But whether that happens or not depends on your willingness to participate in a process of change called “sanctification” (becoming more Christ-like). That’s what becoming a Christ-follower is all about…change – making intentional choices to become the person God created you to be.

Jesus was very up-front about this.  He said in Luke 9:23: “If any of you want to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, pick up your cross daily, and follow me.”  Again in John 16:33 he said the same thing, but he added the hope we are looking for at the end: “Here on this earth you will have many trials and sorrows, but fear not, because I have overcome the world.” The good news for us is…if Christ has overcome the world, so have we.  Why? Because we are in Christ.  The truth is, because of our new identity in Christ, we inherit everything that is true of him.  Take a moment and let that last statement sink in. We are the righteousness of Christ.  Why?…because we are covered with the blood of Jesus. We are now a Saint (sin free; set aside for sacred purpose).  Why?…because we are covered with the blood of Jesus.  We are worthy and acceptable in God’s eyes.  Why?… because we are covered with the blood of Jesus.  We inherited eternal life.  Why?…because we are covered with the blood of Jesus.  We are heir to all the promises in the Bible and all the spiritual blessings in the heavenly realm.  Why?…because we are covered with the blood of Jesus. Wow!

The challenge for all Christ-followers is not only to know your new identity in Christ, but to believe it and let it change the way you live.  After all, we are called to live a different life than we see in the world around us.  More to the point… we are called to let Jesus’ light shine through us.  So how do we do that?

If anyone has ever been in a recovery room, surly you’ve noticed the plaques on the walls inscribed with such pithy sayings as, “Let Go, Let God”; “Just Turn It Over”; “One Day at a Time”.  Wow!  No doubt that’s the truth. But again, how do we do that. There is a lady in one of the meetings that I attend who frequently exclaims, “I just can’t handle this mess. I’m just going to turn it over to God!”  I’ve always wondered what she thought was going to happen, so one morning after the meeting I asked her, “Barb…when you say you’re just going to turn it over to God, what do you expect?” Her reply was, “I expect God to take care of it.” Hummm? (I’ll return to this a bit later.)

“Long ago, even before he created the world” (or man), God had a plan which centered on Jesus Christ.  So let’s examine this.  If God had a plan centered on Jesus Christ even before he created the world, no doubt he knew man was going to use his free-will for purposes other than for which it was intended. (The intent of free-will was so we could choose to love him back and enter into a relationship with him. Man, however, chose to use free will to satisfy himself rather than keeping the focus on God.)  That still describes all mankind today who are not in Christ.

But because we serve a loving, merciful God who gave us from Creation to 2016 years ago to overcome the issue of sin (living separated from God), he implemented the plan referenced in Ephesians 1:4-5 and explained in Romans 5:6: “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time to die for us sinners.”  I love the way this verse explains itself.  What was just the right time?  When we were utterly helpless!  And what was the state of man? A sinner! That’s a pretty severe incitement of our fallen state.  But it also makes clear that without the Gift of Grace, we could never have been able to enter into an eternal relationship with our creator because we are stained with SIN!

God came to our rescue because he knows we are only dust.  Left to our own volition, he knew we could never rise above our sin-nature (or what our culture calls our “human nature.”) The same is still true today…and yes, even for Christ-followers.  Why?  Because we live in these fleshly bodies; we live in a fallen world; and we have a formidable enemy who wants to do everything possible to ship-wreck our effort to break free from the kingdom darkness.  That’s why God’s salvation plan for us not only includes forgiveness of sin and eternal life (which takes care of our eternal destiny), but the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit, which empowers us to become the person God created us to be…right here, right now.

It is absolutely imperative that those who are in Christ understand the power that we have been given. As I mentioned a few paragraphs back, “Let Go, Let God” or “Just Turn It Over” is the right answer, now I’m going to reveal the truth of the Holy Spirit.  Barb’s answer before missed the mark when she said, “I’m just going to let God take care of this mess.”  God doesn’t take care of our messes, but the Holy Spirit will empower us to take care of our messes.  Remember, Jesus said, “Here on this earth you will have many trials…”  Overcoming these trials in a way that brings honor and glory to God IS WHY we have this power.  It’s all part of becoming more Christ-like, and we want to make intentional choices that lead to this outcome.

So here is how we do it.  We call on the Holy Spirit to “give me wisdom, strength, courage, perseverance, patience, insight…whatever it is I need that allows me to become the person you created me to be (His “Masterpiece” referenced in Ephesians 2:10, so we can do the good works you planned for us long ago.)  The power of the indwelling Holy Spirit allows us to rise above the world around us, and to resist the temptations of the flesh and Satan.  In short, this power is the secret weapon of all Christ-followers because it allows us to live the life we are called to live. And why do we have it?  Because we are in Christ. This is how we achieve victory over the darkness. A-men!

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

May God Bless Ya…

Dan Presgrave (Pastor Dan)

Good Day, Meetpastordan Readers…This is one of those days when I have about four possible subjects  rattling around in my head for today’s blog..  Current events are always a draw for me, but there are so many ways I could go with this subject, I think I’ll take a break from that quagmire and focus on the joy I am feeling just because I am in Christ. I’ve discovered that peace and serenity is what I’ve always longed for and searched for, but as the song goes, I was “searching for love (value, identity, purpose, etc.) in all the wrong places”.  And when we’re involved in that rat-race, we have to work awfully hard chasing all the “things” we hope will fulfill our needs.

I’ve been blessed to have had a career in music that brought me great joy.  But as I look back on it, there was always the desire – and need – to make sure the next concert was better than the last one; that my contribution was always my best…  I always wanted to keep growing, to keep moving up, always striving for…  I loved it, and in many ways I was fulfilled by it.  But that ultimate “it” was always just beyond my fingertips.

To be perfectly honest, I wasn’t sure what the ultimate “it” was, so I looked outside my career for other ways to find it.  That excursion involved a twenty-five year obsession with racquetball and tournament play; an even longer love affair with alcohol and other interesting substances; and quite a few relationships and relationship issues. They all did the trick for awhile, but…

Anyone who follows the path outlined above will most likely end up someplace they never intended to be.  And when they get to that “place”, they find themselves surprised, fearful, frustrated, angry… maybe even hopeless.  At this point they can chose one of two options.  They can shake their fist at God and blame him for allowing this to happen, turn away from him and continue the downward spiral; or they can press into God, admit their own insufficiency, and shout the famous three word plea, “God help me!”  When that plea comes from our heart with the intent of repentance (a willingness to change our ways), the door is open for restoration. That was my plea April 21^st, 2000, and I have been sober ever since.  But that was just the beginning of an incredible journey.

During my thirty-eight year drinking career, I stopped drinking many times, only to fall again for the lie, “it will be different this time.  I can control it.”  But after the compulsion to drink was lifted from me, I became obsessed with finding answers to “why” and “how”.  But one thing I did know for sure; however this happened, it was beyond me. It crossed my mind more than once that it might be a miracle, but the problem with that was…I wasn’t sure I believed in God. But I was willing to concede that my experience might have “religious roots” of some kind, so I started looking into Eastern religions, Islam, and even new age religions.

Two years into this quest, I ran into one of recovery friends who asked, “Presgrave, have you found God yet?”  “I don’t think so”, was my answer.  He seized the opportunity and invited me to Grace Church St. Louis. I told him about my church experience as a kid and why I wasn’t anxious to go back to church, but he assured me he found something at Grace that he’d never found in other churches.  He peaked my interest, so I went the following Sunday.  That was the beginning of a whole new journey.

That Sunday morning Pastor Ron must have known I was coming because he prepared a message just for me.  The message I heard that morning was way different from what I heard in my childhood church.  This message was about a loving and merciful God who wants a relationship with us…no matter who we are or what we have done.  It was about forgiveness; it was about bringing the hurting people into church so “the church” can love them until they can love themselves. Wow! That message got my attention.  I took the church bulletin with me that had the Scriptural references used in preparing that day’s sermon, and I stopped by the bookstore and bought a Bible so I could check to see if anything was exaggerated or misrepresented in any way.  The result:  I was convinced and I was hooked.

Once again I became obsessed with learning the truth of God’s Word. I participated in numerous Bible studies, engaged a spiritual mentor, and became a voracious reader. I couldn’t get enough.  Two years later I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior; three years later I became an Ordained Pastor.

John 8:32 describes my journey: “Jesus told his disciples, if you follow my teaching you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”  Today I have truly been set free.  Today I know who I am in Christ.  Where before there was a search for identity, value and purpose, today I am totally secure in those areas.  My identity today is:  I am a child of God.  I was grafted into his family when I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.  2 Corinthians 5;17 explains this transformation: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old is gone; the new is here.”  I am no longer a slave to my “sin nature” (human nature).  Today I can make choices that bring honor and glory to God because I am his Masterpiece (“capable of doing the good works he planned for us long ago.”  Ephesians 2:10)

My value to God is reflected by his unconditional, unending, unfailing love for me.  He was willing to pay my “sin ransom” so I can spend eternity with him in Paradise. This is confirmed in Romans 5:6: “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.” And again in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, so that those who believe in him will not perish, but will have everlasting life.” And again in Hebrews 8:12: “For I will be merciful toward their iniquities and remember their sins no more.”

And my purpose is clear.  I am to let Jesus’ light shine in me through my words and my deeds; I am to reflect the truth of Jesus’ teachings by the choices I make and the way I choose to live my life; I am to share the Gospel of Grace with those who do not know Jesus Christ; and I am to be of service to my fellow man.

And there’s more:  I am worthy and acceptable in God’s sight, not because of anything I’ve done or haven’t done, but because I am in Christ. I am covered with the blood of Jesus, so God now sees me as a Saint (one who is holy and set aside for a sacred purpose), not as a sinner.  And, I am heir to all the spiritual blessings in the heavenly realm as well as all the promises in the Bible.  Wow!

That, my Friends, is who I am in Christ, and that is my source of joy, peace and serenity.  We can all find ways to fill that “hole in our soul”, but everything else is a counterfeit and will eventually fade away. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. In his love, there is no fear.  Isn’t that what we’re all looking for?  Isn’t that what we all want?

The truth is, this is available to anyone who wants it.  All you have to do is ask.

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

May God Bless Ya…

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

Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers…Usually I jump out of bed at 0-dark thirty on Monday morning excited and looking forward to writing.  But I have to admit; today I’m flat as a pancake.  The news of the past few days, both locally and nationally – then add to that the world news! – I find myself emotionally drained.  I’ve always been a news junkie because not only do I want to stay informed, today I feel an obligation to stay informed.  But holly-tomolly, enough is enough.  The airwaves are dominated with evil and hatred hour after hour and day after day. Now add to that the political spin and various agendas, and I can’t help but think the end result is more evil and more hatred!

So what is the answer?  Do I turn off the radio and TV?  Do I shut down my computer?  No doubt those are options, but I think I will exercise another option that is much more appealing to me right now…and most likely the reason for this blog.  I will make a conscious choice to renew my mind.

It’s easy to let the circumstances of this world cloud our thinking lead us into a funk (as I was here-to-fore experiencing). But when we stop and focus on the truth of God’s Word, we can find our way back to the light (Jesus).  John 8:32 is the answer:  “Jesus told his disciples, if you follow my teachings, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”  Notice Jesus was very specific about what teaching he was talking about; “MY teaching.”  So what did Jesus teach?  He taught about love, forgiveness, compassion, mercy, grace, 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)

Proverbs 23:7 tells us, “As he (a man) thinks within his heart, so he is.”  In other words, what you have in your heart determines what you say and what you do.  If your heart is filled with hatred, anger, disgust, jealousy, envy, the result will be evil actions. And who is the author of evil?  The prince and power of this world…satan!  So whether we are witnessing  the indiscriminant killing of innocent people by an ideology that hates any way of life that does not bow down to its belief, or protests such as those seen in Ferguson or Dallas that resulted in violence and killing, the motivation comes from the same source…satan!

I am constantly amazed at how many people – especially the professed intelligentsia – seem to have learned so little from history. Both the Bible and secular ancient history books reveal the same information, albeit one from a spiritual perspective and one from a secular perspective. But if one were to take time to trace the rise and fall of civilizations in either book, it is easy to see patterns.  In the Bible it is clear that when people, countries or civilizations are in line with God’s will, they are blessed and they prosper.  When out of line with God’s will, there is calamity, such as fire and brimstone, floods, wars, famines, pestilence, earthquakes, etc.  The ancient history books attribute the fall of civilizations to such human flaws as greed and the desire for power, control, and wealth.  Again these human traits are out of line with God’s will because they are motivated by “self will”, the author of which is satan.  And remember, his only purpose is to keep us separated from God and his ways.

So how does that basic history lesson apply to our culture today?  Well…whenever a culture exalted the wisdom and teachings of man over the wisdom and teachings of God, that culture was on the pathway to collapse. Can you see that happening today?  No doubt the teachings of Jesus are marginalized, minimized, mocked, ridiculed, and even condemned in many cases.  The fundamental Judeo-Christian principles on which this country was founded are under assault by an agenda that wants to redefine America.  The “traditional family” and “traditional moral values” are also under assault by a liberal progressive agenda that wants to redefine “normal”.  Instead of seeking to promote commonality and unity among the populace, there is an attempt to divide and promote anger, distrust, and even hatred.  And what could be the reason for all of this?  Could it be for power and control??

No doubt, satan’s lies are always appealing!  2 Corinthians 4:4 explains this perfectly: “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.”

Well…by all appearances, satan is winning.  It would appear that the saying, “the world is going to hell in a handbasket” is true…unless, of course, WE remember who we are.  We are followers of Jesus Christ and we have a secret weapon that allows us to rise above the world to become the person God created us to be. We ARE already victorious.  Jesus said, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” (and so have we because we are in Christ!) He also told us in Luke 10:19, “I have given you authority over all the powerful schemes of the enemy…”, and again in 1 John 4:4. “He that is in you (the Holy Spirit) is greater than he (satan) that is in this world.”

If there was ever a time for intercessory prayer, it is now!  We, as followers of Jesus Christ, have the power to change the world.  The truth in the Scriptures above tell us we are already victorious, so let’s proclaim the Truth of Jesus’ teachings with a MIGHTY VOICE to this dark world that wants to keep the focus on evil!  It is our time to shine.  It’s our time to bring the light of Jesus to this fallen world engulfed in darkness.

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

May God Bless Ya…

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

Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers… I was driving home from Kansas City a few years ago when I came across a talk radio program that was announcing their next segment was to include an interview with the author of a book entitled, “Why God Has Stopped Performing Miracles”.  Needless to say, that got my attention.

As they introduced the author, (whose name I cannot remember), his credentials included leadership positions in organizations with which I am not familiar, honorary degrees, and a PhD.  In other words, he was a heralded intellectual.  But as I listened to the interview, this was the crux of his message.  God does not need to perform miracles today because the world has evolved to a point of self-sufficiency. Wozzer!  Is this Dude living is the same world I’m living in???  I couldn’t believe such intellectual drool!  My first thought was…obviously this man has never attended an AA meeting where miracles are witnessed on a daily basis.

It seems to me God never fails to show up in one of these two situations: when a miracle is needed to accomplish his purpose, or when we come to realize our own insufficiency and cry out in surrender, “God help me”. The Bible is resplendent with such examples.  For instance, when the Israelites needed a pathway to escape from the Egyptian soldiers, God parted the Red Sea to show his power and might.  And all of Jesus miracles were intended to substantiate who he was (is)…the Son of God…and to bring honor and glory to God!

Today, when there is a car crash and the car is completely destroyed and the occupant walks away unscathed, that “miracle” will somehow be used to further God’s purpose.  We might not know what it is, but God was certainly at work in that circumstance.  But why that circumstance, yet not in another?  The only answer I can rely on is Isaiah 55:8-9: “My ways are not your ways, my thoughts are not your thoughts.  As high as the heaven is above the earth, my ways are not your ways, my thoughts are not your thoughts.”  That will be a great question to ask Him when you’re standing face to face.

Quite unlike the intellectual who believe the world has “evolved to the point of being self-sufficient”, the door is open for anybody to meet God when they come to grips with their own insufficiency.  As so beautifully stated in James 4:10, “When we bow down (come in humility) before the Lord and admit our dependence on him, he will lift us up and give us honor.”  And again in Proverbs 3:34, “God mocks the proud, but exalts the humble.”  God wants us to be willing to trust him, then the condition is set for a miracle to happen, just like when Jesus said to Jarius after his servants came to tell him his daughter had died, “Don’t be afraid; just trust me.” (Mark 5: 36)  And what happened…the daughter was raised to life.

For those of us who are Christ-followers, the first miracle we experienced – and most likely unknown to us at the time – was the immediate change in identity from a sinner to a saint.  We were immediately transferred from the domain of darkness into the light.  And how did that happen?  It was in fulfillment of the famous Scripture John 3:16:  “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, so that everyone who believes (trusts) in him will not perish, but will have eternal life.”  So as you can see, belief (trust) is a key ingredient for a miracle to happen.

So what should we deduce from the above examples?  God produces miracles to fulfill his purpose. And in our case, when we pray for a miracle,  it requires humility (realizing our own insufficiency) and faith (trust) that he can and will provide.  And implied in our humility and trust is our desire to bring honor and glory to God, or our desire to become the person he created us to be.  (“masterpiece”, Ref. Ephesians 2:10)   Let me share a personal experience.

About six weeks ago I was asked by Jubilee World Ministries to conduct the Jubilee World orchestra in a gala concert that was to conclude their conference being held in St. Louis.  Jubilee World is a Christian not-for-profit corporation that carries the truth of Jesus Christ to the world through music, art and outreach ministries.  The orchestra was to be comprised of musicians from around the world that would be attending the conference, but unfortunately timing was not on our side.  Many visas were being denied to hopeful attendees…including many orchestra members.  So what became reality was the necessity to build an orchestra in a matter of three weeks.

I immediately asked three other people to help me secure orchestra members.  After a week and well over one hundred contacts, we came together and compared notes.  What we discovered was  most people were either committed to other concerts at the same time as our concert, or vacationing.  Between us we had thirteen commitments, but we needed a minimum on twenty-two.  So we continued to make another fifty plus contacts over the next few days, until we finally concluded we were out of resources.  Unfortunately our second round netted us only three more players.  Still six players shy, including a violin soloist to be featured on one piece.

Two weeks ago I wrote in much more detail about the background of this “miracle-in-the-works” in a blog entitled “Living in the Spirit”. I don’t want to repeat all the details here, but I can refer you to http://meetpastordan.com/living-in-the-spirit/.  I think you will find the background both intriguing and entertaining.

Once I was out of resources and completely dependent on God, I prayed with gusto, quoting the Scriptures back to him on which I was standing. Your Word says, “you will never leave me or forsake me”. (Deuteronomy 31:6)  Your Word says, “If I seek first the Kingdom of Heaven, all these things will be added”. (Matthew 6:33)  Your Word says, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13) Your Word says, “You work for the good in all things for those who love you and are called to your purpose.” (Romans 8:28)  Etc…  And as a result, it seemed like each day I would get a call from someone who would say, “I know earlier you called and I said I would be on vacation at that time, but now we will be back earlier, so I can play.”  Or, “So and so told me you were looking for a violist for a concert…”

The day before our rehearsal for this concert, I went up to the headquarters to meet a young lady from San Francisco.  The only vacancy we had not filled was the solo violin position, and without that position filled, I would have to cancel one of our pieces.

So I met Emily.  I smiled at her and asked, “What instrument do you play?”  “Violin”, she replied.  “Tell me about your playing”, I asked.  “I just finished my master’s degree in violin performance at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music,” she replied.    🙂

The concert was this past Saturday night, and it was magnificent…and nothing short of a miracle. And what were the key ingredients:  my insufficiency; my trust in him; and an event that was to bring honor and glory to God!  But that is who he IS and that’s what he DOES!  Not only does he show up, but sometimes he shows off.  What an awesome, faithful God we serve!  He is indeed true to his Word and his promises.

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

May God Bless Ya…

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

As we enter our 240st Independence Day celebration, I hope it is a time when we all reflected on the true meaning of this day, and take time to thank God and a Veteran for the privilege of living in a country that is free. As we partake of various parades, concerts, festivals, family BBQs,  perhaps even a memorial service or a patriotic speech,  I hope the truth of this statement, “freedom isn’t free” becomes ablaze in your heart and inspires you to embrace it as a truth rather than a bumper-sticker slogan.

Unfortunately these are perilous times in which we are living, and freedom itself seems to be in jeopardy. Contributing culprits include today’s hostile political climate; A Liberal-Progressive agenda that will stop at nothing to achieve its end; a world news that tells us we are facing a formidable foe that hates us and wants to destroy us;  our country’s economic uncertainty; and the sense of despair that sets in when we are not sure what to believe or who  to trust.  Now couple that with the downward spiral of our culture’s moral values and it’s easy to see how all of these factors can contribute to a sense of uneasiness…even hopelessness.

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

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

Throughout the Bible, God has spoken through prophets and delivered a Proclamation to both man and nations.  That Proclamation was always the same:  “Repent!  Turn from your sin and turn to God.” (ie. Ezekiel 18:21-23)  I believe the psalmist David not only captured the heart of God in Psalm 37, but when superimposed over our present day malaise, it should give us nothing but hope for our future. It tells us not to worry about the evil we see around us, but to patiently trust the Lord.  He is sovereign, and we who believe in Him will prosper and the wicked will stand in judgment for their evil ways.  Let’s enjoy verses 1-11:

“Don’t worry about the wicked.  Don’t envy those who do wrong.  For like grass, they soon fade away.  Like springtime flowers, they soon wither.

Trust in the Lord and do good.  Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.

Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.

Commit everything you do to the Lord.  Trust him, and he will help you. 

He will make your innocence as clear as the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.

Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act.  Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes.

Stop your anger!  Turn from your rage!  Do not envy others – it only leads to harm. 

For the wicked will be destroyed, but those who trust in the Lord will possess the land.

In a little while, the wicked will disappear.  Though you look for them, they will be gone.

Those who are gentle and lowly will possess the land; they will live in prosperous security.

The wicked plot against the godly; they snarl at them in defiance. 

But the Lord just laughs, for he sees their day of judgment coming. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

I believe our role is to pray for revelation and enlightenment in the mind and hearts of those who want to steer us away from the Judeo-Christian principles on which our great country was founded.  I don’t believe the answer will  be found in a  Republican, Democrat, or Independent, but rather through the miracle of enlightenment and repentance.  My hope is that all Christ-followers will stand on that truth and answer His call, because in my opinion, our country needs to hear His Proclamation every bit as much today as Nineveh did a few thousand years ago…  and we all know what happened at Nineveh,  right?   I believe our great country  too can be transformed and restored to its former greatness.  Why?  Because “nothing is impossible with God!”  (Luke 1:37),  and because God  DID bless America.

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

May God bless you,  and Happy July 4^th, 2016!.

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

Good Morning, Meetpastordan, Readers…Pam and I were at a fund-raising event last Saturday evening to honor an organization that helps the poor, the needy and the disenfranchised, and to pay tribute to its leaders.  At each place-setting was a card with this message.  Most of you will recognize this as the Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi.

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is doubt, faith.  Where there is despair, hope. Where there is darkness, light.  And where there is sadness, joy. 

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to love. 

For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

I read this message at least a dozen times that evening, and continued reading it throughout yesterday.  And I couldn’t help but think…”Can you imagine….?”

In this dark, perverted world in which we live that exalts the teachings of man over the teachings of God, the essence of these words have, for the most part, been snuffed-out. Unfortunately our culture today is characterized by hatred, anger, lying, cheating, stealing, sadness, and hopelessness. If you doubt that, I challenge you to turn on a news station and compare the number of news stories motivated by the attributes stated in the previous sentence with the news-stories reflecting the attributes found in the prayer of St. Francis.

As offensive as this truth is to our current leadership, we are a nation that was founded on Judeo-Christian principles. And when this great country lived and operated according to those principles, we experienced God’s blessings and were shielded by his protection. But unfortunately, we are following the same path every civilization and nation followed before it’s collapse: we have exalted the teachings of man over the teachings of God, and man’s plan is motivated by self-will, self-promotion, greed, and a desire for wealth, power and control.  And to hasten the implementation of man’s plan, the teachings of God are marginalized, mocked, ridiculed at every opportunity by the reigning “intelligentsia!”  What results is the world and culture we see today!

But can you imagine what it would be like if someone were to step forward, characterized by humility, and exclaimed, “Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace?”  Wow! Would he be exalted as the answer to our prayers, or would he be stoned to death??  Is our country ready for Godly leadership, or has it sunk so deep in the quagmire of sin that it wouldn’t even recognize the life-jacket that was available to it?  Obviously everyone reading this has their own opinion, but it doesn’t hurt to dream…right?

The Holy Bible is resplendent with stories regarding the rise and fall of individuals and nations.  Quite simply, when individuals or nations were in line with God’s will they were blessed.  When they were disobedient and out of line with God’s will, there was calamity, fire and brimstone!  The lessons to be learned here are quite clear, as was the truth of the proclamation that was sounded by various prophets throughout the ages: “Repent!  Turn from your sin and turn to God!”  When people yielded to this message, they experienced mercy, as stated in 2 Chronicles 7:14, “Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land.”  James 4:10 reinforces that need: “When you bow down (come in humility) and admit your dependence on the Lord, he will lift you up and give you honor.”  You can see the importance of humility (realizing your own insufficiency) in both of these scriptures.  Contrast that with the teachings of man, which epitomizes arrogance (sufficiency).

Now let’s look at us…followers of Jesus Christ.  We too are called to live to the standard St. Francis proclaimed, and we all know how hard it is to achieve!  In fact, humanly speaking, it is impossible for us to achieve it through our own effort.  But because we are in Christ, we have something the rest of the world doesn’t have.  It is our “secret weapon”. Our power comes when we realize our own insufficiency and turn to the indwelling Holy Spirit and ask him to give us the wisdom, strength, courage, patience, insight, revelation, perseverance, whatever it is we need, to accomplish our calling. That is God’s gift to us so we can become the person he created us to be. (Ref. Ephesians 2:10)

The interesting thing about this prayer is the stark contrast between this fallen world and the Kingdom of Heaven.  What is being replaced is “worldly attributes” with “Heavenly attributes”.  For instance hatred is replaced with love; injury with pardon (mercy); doubt with faith; despair with hope; darkness (evil) with light (goodness); sadness with joy.  We are shifting the focus from our self and focusing on our fellow man: seeking to console rather than being consoled; seeking to understand rather than being understood; seeking to love rather than being loved; seeking to give rather than receiving; and seeking to forgive rather than being forgiven.  And the gift from all of this is knowing that ‘in dying we are born to eternal life.”  Thank you God!

Can you imagine a world like that?  There is one…The Kingdom of Heaven.  And as Christ-followers, we get be begin experiencing it right here, right now.  But our charge is to pray for revelation in the hearts and minds of those who do not know the Truth; to pray for a leader who will have the anointing to lead our country back to its founding principles, and one who will first exalt the glory of God! Can you imagine our nation being like that??  I believe it is possible, because “nothing is impossible with God!” (Luke 1:37)

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

May God Bless Ya…

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

Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers…Happy Belated Father’s Day to all the fathers out there. I want to share something with you that is happening in my life right now that has really challenged my faith. Not challenged my faith in terms of “have I lost my faith” or “am I doubting the truth of God’s Word”, but challenging my faith in terms of “stepping out in faith”, or “walking by faith”, or “living in the Spirit”…different phrases, but all with the same meaning.  In other words, we can profess our faith; we can say we stand on our faith; but when the rubber hits the road, are we willing to “live by faith”?  For those of you who have experienced this challenging decision, you know what I’m talking about.

So here is my scenario.  I am going to be very non-specific with many of the details of this presentation because it is still in progress, but…  About a month ago I got a call from a very prominent organization asking me to accept a leadership role…in fact, doing something I thoroughly love doing.  And the goal of this organization is something that I particularly admire – carrying the Truth of God’s Word throughout the world through music and the arts, and out-reach ministries.  So, I met with the local leadership, but because of the different ethnic backgrounds, communication was a challenge.  In fact it was so challenging, for the second meeting I took Pam (my wife) with me so we could compare notes afterwards. (Pam has a lot of not-for-profit experience, (ie. The ins and outs of how they work, plus she has much more patience than I have.)

Here’s what we concluded.  They have asked me to accept a certain role, which I would love, but there are certain shortcomings.  Primarily this…want they want me to do does not really exist yet, so they have asked me to put it together and have it in ready to go for a world-wide conference that is to take place in St. Louis in early July OF THIS YEAR!  Now I have done what they want me to do on numerous occasions, but never in this time frame. (July of 2017… maybe??) I reluctantly told them I would put out feelers to see what I could do, but would make no promises. Oh yes, and one other problem …it takes a huge manpower to pull this off.

Well…once I got started – and I immediately assembled some people to help me – we ran into one obstacle after another. After about ten days of failure, I was ready to admit that I could not do this, and was prepared to go back and share with them my abysmal results… wish them good-luck… and bow out.

That was my plan.  But God had different plan.  The evening before what I thought would be my final presentation to the organization, I didn’t sleep for a minute. The Holy Spirit was challenging me big-time… “So, do you really believe you can do all things through Christ who gives your strength”?  “Do you really believe I will never leave you or forsake you”?  “Do you really believe that if you put first the Kingdom of Heaven, all these things will be added”? “Do you really believe that God works for the good in all things for those who love him and are called to his purpose”?  Etc. etc….  He never stopped!  The next day, much to my surprise, I said I would do it, knowing full well it defies all logic and rational thinking!!  This can only happen through a miracle, which I’m happy to say, is now beginning to take shape.

But I have to conclude my scenario with this encounter with the Holy Spirit the next day.  This in itself is nothing short of miraculous. I was driving down to St. Patrick’s Center to do my men’s class and was on I-70, deep in conversation with God.  “OK, God, I’ve said I will do this task, but will you give me a sign…something tangible that will put me at ease with my choice? Because I gotta tell ya…I’m still not real comfortable with my, or rather…YOUR choice.”  At that moment, passing me on the left, was a big tanker truck, perhaps a petroleum product truck, or maybe a milk truck, all bright and shinny steel.  As it passed me, painted in red on the back was, “and the truth will set you free”.  Following immediately behind was a second tanker truck, just like the first, and painted in red on its side was, “Jesus Saves”, and on the back as it completely passed me was painted in red, “the answer is in Jesus Christ!”  I could only smile and say, “Woowww!  Very impressive God.  I think I get it.  It’s not up to me…it’s up to you!”

The whole purpose of presenting this scenario is to set-up what I want to write about today – Living in the Spirit.  Being a Christ-follower is an active and challenging endeavor. And Jesus was very explicit when he said in John 16:33: “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But fear not because I have over-come the world.”; and again in Luke 9:23 when Jesus was talking to a crowd, “if any of you want to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross daily, and follow me.” Jesus never said this would be easy, nor did he say it would be smooth sailing.  In fact, just the opposite!  These trials and tribulations are our means for growing and maturing into the person God crated us to be. Becoming more Christ-like is a matter of us facing and overcoming these trials and tribulations in a way that brings honor and glory to God.  This is how we become the Masterpiece referenced in Ephesians 2:10: “For we are now God’s masterpiece.  He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”  This is the manifestation of God’s promise in Ephesians 1:4: “Long ago, even before he created the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.”  So as we all know and can clearly see, the trials and tribulations are nothing compared to our reward at the end of our journey.  “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind can conceive what God has prepared for those who love him. (1 Corinthians 2:9)

When we make the decision to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we have only taken the first step in a life- long process called “sanctification”…or becoming more Christ-like. But, however, at the moment we do make that all-important decision, “we become a new creation in-Christ: the old is gone (our sin nature); the new has come”.(the Holy Spirit) (2 Corinthians 5:17). We are immediately “justified” (made right) with God because we are now in-Christ.  That means:

1. we are grafted into God’s family; we are now a child of God:
2. our sins are forgiven (past, present and future), we are no longer sinners: The sin issue IS over!
3. we are worthy and acceptable in his sight, all because we are covered with the blood of Jesus. Therefore, even when we do fall short in our walk to “sanctification,” the good news is…God now sees us as a Saint (one who falls short; not one who sins ). All he wants us to do is get up and rely on the Holy Spirit to empower us to be successful until our journey is complete.
4. we are heir to all the Spiritual blessings in the heavenly realm.
5. and we are heir to all the promises in the Bible.

All of this happens instantaneously. And not because of anything we did or did not do.  Nor is it  because we were worthy through our own effort. All of this is ours because Jesus paid the ransom for our sin at the cross.

We develop our platform of faith as we grow in our knowledge of the truth of God’s Word, and as we develop our relationship with Jesus Christ.  The more we stay connected with Him, the stronger our faith becomes.  And no doubt, it is important that we know the scriptures so we can quote these truths back to the devil in times of Spiritual Warfare (I wrote about this for the past two weeks.)

But because the process of “sanctification is a walk with Jesus”, it is equally important to be ready to “step out in faith”, or to “live in the Spirit”.  To do that requires that we realize our own insufficiency, and rely on the Holy Spirit to empower us to do what we cannot do for ourselves. In other words, we get out of the way so Jesus can live His life through us.  Just as God’s will never trumps our will, the Holy Spirit does not spring into action until we call on Him. We have to make the choice to call on him to empower us to be the person God created us to be, or to make a choice that brings honor and glory to God!  That, My Friends, is “stepping out in faith” or “living by the Spirit”. And it is also the manifestation of the truth found in James 4:10, “When you bow down (come in humility) before the Lord and admit your dependence before him, He will lift you up and give you honor.”

In my scenario that I described above, I am totally dependent on God to make this happen!  God wants us to trust him so he can do things through us that are far greater than anything we could ever do ourselves. He wants our faith to come alive in the way we choose to live, and he wants our life to be a testimony to the Truth of his Word and to his Greatness!  A-men!!

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

May God Bless Ya…

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

Good Morning,  Meetpastordan Readers… This is a milestone week for me.  This blog is number one hundred-fifty.  I remember when I first had my website set-up, I told my webmaster to skip the blog section.  “I’m not a writer” I told him, (and I suspect there are some of you out there who might still agree with that assessment), but he was persistent saying, “everyone has a blog”.  When I first started, my goal was to make it to twenty five.  But I gotta tell ya…I’ve learned to thoroughly enjoy writing them and I look forward to each Monday rolling around.

On Thursday of this past week (6/9), I had surgery for a herniated disk. The disk was putting pressure on my sciatic nerve, which transferred pretty severe pain to my hip and knee.  It took two years to eliminate all the possible solutions that didn’t solve the problem, but Thursday I walked out of the hospital pain-free!  I know many of you indicated you were going to lift me up in prayer, so here is a rousing, “Thank You”! and another rousing, “Yea God!!”

Last week I wrote part one of this two-part series entitled, Spiritual Warfare: Winning the Battle.”  I got more response from this posting than perhaps any other, so here is part 2.

Ephesians 6:10-13 tells us that as followers of Jesus Christ, what and who we are up against.  And believe me, it is very real!  “Be strong in the Lord and his mighty power.  Put on all of God’s armor (the truth of God’s Word) so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.  For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world; against mighty powers in this dark world; and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil.  Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.”

As I pointed out last week, to those who are still of-this-world and not in-Christ, I know how crazy this sounds to you.  When I was a non-believer, which was for half a century, whenever I heard someone talking about satan, demons or demonic forces – or  Spiritual warfare – I would challenge them and ridicule their belief by proudly stating my conviction that it was the church’s method of instilling fear to keep their flock in line.   I thought I was way too smart to fall for such a tale. But today I realize my faulty belief developed because I was the one ignorant of the truth.

If you’re a non-believer and of-this-world, satan doesn’t bother you because he doesn’t need to.  He has you right where he wants you.  His sole purpose is to keep you separated from God and in his dark domain, and that’s exactly where you are.  But when you learn the truth and accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, satan and his evil minions will stop at nothing to keep your mired in their darkness, and they’ll work relentlessly to shipwreck your new journey in-Christ.  Satan is the master of lies and deception, and we – through our own effort – are no match for him!

Satan, or the devil, is referred to in  Revelation 12:10 as “the accuser of our brothers and sisters.”  That voice that you hear in your head – the one, coincidently, that sounds like your own voice – telling you “you can’t do that”; “you’ll never measure up”; “you’re less than”; “look at yourself, how can you think God loves you when you’ve failed AGAIN!”.  That’s satan! That’s what he does!!  He accuses us of our failure; he causes us to doubt our new identity in-Christ (that we’re truly forgiven – FOREVER!; that we’re worthy and acceptable in God’s eyes…even when we fall short!)  And He will throw every temptation our way and try to convince us “it’s OK”.  “Remember how good that felt…”; “no one will know…”; “everyone is doing it!  What’s wrong with you? You’re nothing special…” 1 Peter 5:8-9 reinforces the strength of satan’s attack: “Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the devil, your great enemy.  He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour.  Take a firm stand against him, and be strong in your faith…” Otherwise, you will be one of the victims!

Lies and deception.  Lies and deception! LIES AND DECEPTION!  That’s all the power he has over us!  But he is THE master at accusing us of our failures and our weaknesses. Therefore believing that we can resist him or defeat him through our own effort is sheer folly!

So what can we do in the face of this onslaught? The answer is the last sentence in the paragraph above: “take a firm stand against him, and be strong in your faith.”  In fact that is the example Jesus displayed for us in the wilderness when he was tempted three times by the devil. It’s the perfect example, and it is the ONLY answer!  Jesus knew that he was in the Father and the Father was in him, and of course he knew the truth because he IS the truth!

Therefore, our only answer to the lies and deception of satan is to know our true identity in-Christ: that we ARE a new creation in Christ; our sin-nature has been replaced by the Holy Spirit.  We are grafted into God’s family; we are now a Child of God.  Our sins – past, present, and future HAVE already been forgiven; we HAVE inherited eternal life; we are worthy and acceptable in the eyes of God, not because of anything we did, but because Jesus paid our sin-ransom at the cross.  We are a Saint in the eyes of God because we are covered with the blood of Jesus. Therefore in God’s eyes we are not a sinner, but a Saint who occasionally falls short. AND, we are heir to all the spiritual blessings in the heavenly realm and all the promises in the Bible.  That is why it is so important to abide in the Word…to get these truths firmly embedded in our inner-being, in our Spirit-man. But we must also become aware of the promises that are ours.   We must have a firm platform of faith (of Truth) on which to stand, AND we must have these truths on the tip of our tongue, ready to confess in the face of satan’s lie if we have any expectation of  standing firm against our enemy.

I have explicitly listed our new identity in-Christ.  Now I want to share with you some truths and promises that will become not only an indispensable part of your platform of faith,  but will be the truths you can quote back to satan in the face of his lies and accusations. Remind satan of the source of these words…just like Jesus did.  Begin by saying, “It is written…then quote the Scripture (in the first-person “I”). (Ref. Matthew 4:4)  {Trust me…I am not trying to turn this into a “prayer formula”, but if Jesus did it…well, what can I say???}  So start by saying, “It is written”…then quote the Scriptures below as needed:

“I have been given authority over all the powerful schemes of the devil.  No harm will come to me.” Luke 10:19

“He that is in me (the Holy Spirit) is greater than he that is in this world.” (satan) 1John 4:4)

“When I call to Him, he will answer and show me great and mighty things which I did not know.” Jeremiah 33:3

“God works for the good in all things for those who love him and are called to his good purpose.” Romans 8:28

“There is no condemnation for those who are in-Christ.” Romans 8:1

“I am born of God; the evil one cannot touch me.”  Jeremiah 5:18

“I have been redeemed and forgiven.”  Colossians 1:14

“I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”  Philippians 4:13

These truths and promises are only a miniscule sampling of all the riches in glory that belong to you because you are in- Christ.  As we continue down this path of growing and maturing in Christ, I would like to close with this truth that eludes each one of us now and then.  “And so I tell you, keep on asking and you will be given what you ask for.  Keep on looking and you will find.  Keep on knocking and the door will be opened. For everyone who asks receives.  Everyone who seeks, finds.  And the door is opened to everyone who knocks.  (Luke 11:9-10)  Enjoy this journey!

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

May God Bless Y’all,

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

Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers… I am constantly amazed at the number of Christians who, by their own admission, are missing out on the abundant life Jesus promised.   In fact, I have heard many say, “I don’t feel much different than I did before I became a Christian.”  I’ve always asked myself, “How can that be?  What are they missing?” until I came across Neil Anderson’s powerful book, Victory over the Darkness. In this book he very clearly and succinctly explains the difference between Justification and Sanctification, a misunderstanding of which, I have come to believe, can be a huge contributor to that sense of being “unfulfilled”.  And as luck would have it, Pastor Ron Tucker from Grace Church St. Louis just completed a powerful two-part series entitled “Spiritual Armor” which totally supports this notion.  Therefore, I will use material from both Neil Anderson’s book and Ron’s message from the past two weeks as my source material for this posting, which will most likely be completed next week.

Justification happens at the moment we make a decision to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. It is instantaneous!  We become a new creation in Christ, as stated in 2Corinthians 5:17: “We are a new creation.  The old has gone (our sin nature) and the new has come.” (the Holy Spirit).  In other words, we are no longer slaves to our “sin nature” (or as our culture calls it…our “human nature.”) We are reborn because we have a new identity in Christ, which means we are adopted into God’s family. We become his Child.  Our sins (past, present and future) are forgiven. Therefore, we are worthy and acceptable to come into his presence. We are the righteousness of Christ. In God’s eyes we are no longer a “sinner” but a Saint, all because we are covered with the blood of Jesus.  We are also heirs to all the Spiritual blessings in the heavenly realm and all the promises in the Bible. 

All of this is because Jesus paid our sin-ransom at the Cross 2016 years ago.  This is our new identity!  Now we are in Christ!  But along with this new truth comes this challenge: it is imperative that we get this truth from our head into our heart and let it begin changing the decisions we make and our resulting behavior through a process called Sanctification.  And how do we do that?  We stay in the Word, and we ask the Holy Spirit to reveal these truths to us so we can become the person God created us to be.

While Justification (being made right with God) is instantaneous, Sanctification is a process – a life-long process.  It is the journey of becoming more Christ-like! And since this journey is a process, it is imperative that we participate in the process if we expect the intended transformation to take place.  Remember…justification changes our identity. Our old self is gone, now we are in Christ”.  But sanctification is the process of bringing our behavior and our life-style in line with our new identity, and this requires different choices and intentional living.

But fear not… we are already victorious!  Ephesians 1:14 tells us, “The Holy Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us everything he promised, and that he purchased us to be his own people.”  This is reinforced in 1John 4:4, “He that is in you (the Holy Spirit) is greater than he that is in this world.” (satan)  You see, God knows that we are living in a fallen world; that we’re still in these fleshly bodies; and he is well aware of the schemes of the Devil!  But none-the less, we’re called to rise above the world around us and to live to a different standard – His standard!

From Creation until 2016 years ago, man displayed his total inability to overcome the “sin issue”, as revealed in Romans 5:6, “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.”  The pathetic condition of mankind could not be more clearly stated.  But because we serve a loving God who wants us to spend eternity with him, part of his salvation plan was to provide a gift to do for us what we had proven we could not do for ourselves.  He gave us the Holy Spirit.  (Ref. Ephesians 1:14 above)  That is the Christ-followers secret weapon!  But unfortunately, too many Christians live their life as though they are totally unaware of this GIFT!  That is also why I believe so many Christians live as victims rather than victors!

When we were living as unbelievers, we probably never experienced any encounters with the Devil.  And the reason for that should be obvious…Satan had us right where he wanted us.  He left us alone. We were separated from God and living according to our own plan.  In my case,  if anyone were to have talked to me about satan, fallen angels, demons or demonic forces, no doubt I would have laughed at them and thought they were nuts. “Are you serious?….”  But the sooner we shed that lack of knowledge and replace it with the truth (the armor of God), the sooner we become an armed participant rather than cannon fodder in the Spiritual battle that will surly engulf us.

So here is what I know for a fact today.  When we make a decision to move from the realm of darkness into the realm of light – the realm of Jesus Christ, now it’s as though we are wearing a target on our back.  Satan and his minions will spring into action, and they will do everything possible to discredit our new identity, and to shipwreck our journey to become more Christ-like.  And they are relentless!!  Satan is the father of lies and the master of deception.  Unless we recognize what is happening and turn to our secret weapon, the Holy Spirit, we will most likely become a victim of his schemes.  And therein is the problem.

But that doesn’t have to be the case.  Next week I will get into specific tactics we must use to overpower Satan and his minions. But first I want to leave you with this truth for meditation throughout the week.  When God nailed all of our sins to Christ’s cross, Jesus won our spiritual war.  Since we are in Christ, we don’t have to fight for victory; we fight from victory.  Our role is to enforce the victory Jesus already secured!  When we understand AND USE the power we have because of our new identity in Christ, there is absolutely no reason not to be experiencing the abundant life Jesus promised.

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

May God Bless Ya…

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