Last week I started this subject because of a question that came my way after delivering a message at Sunshine Mission.  A young man came up to me and asked, “What’s the big deal about Jesus?”  That was more than a year ago, but it still pops into my head quite frequently, and I always smile when I think of the obvious answer:  “Jesus is not a big deal…Jesus is THE ONLY DEAL!”  I can understand it’s hard to accept this answer if you have not been exposed to “the truth”, and the truth I’m referencing is found in John 8:32 when Jesus said, “if you follow my teaching you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”  Jesus was very specific about the truth he was referencing: it was “my teaching”.  And he also put the onus on us by leading with the first two works of the scripture, “if you”.

I believe that anyone who puts forth the effort to develop a relationship with God will find two foundational principles from which springs everything else that is written in the Holy Bible: 1. God is love, and 2. God wants a relationship with us…an eternal relationship!  From the prophecies that are both numerous and resplendent in the Old Testament that point to the coming of Jesus, to a journey through the New Testament, which is all about Jesus – who he is, why he came, and what he did, – I believe that any rational-thinking person that connects the dots will be compelled to come to the same conclusion:  Jesus is not only a big deal…HE IS THE ONLY DEAL!   I know that popular talk show hosts and other “worldly thinkers” have attempted to create doubt about Jesus being the “only way”, but doubting, or being ignorant of something, can only be remedied by seeking and being exposed to “the truth”. Then there is the issue of “free will”!  Do I want to accept this?  This is contrary to how I want to live my life.   And this scenario, my friends, has been man’s dilemma since creation.  So where do I find “the truth?” Keep reading…

OUR STATEMENT AND CHALLENGE

Christianity is unique among all other world religions in that it is not about man trying to earn favor with God through his actions. Christianity is about a loving God reaching down and doing for us what we have proven since Creation we are incapable of doing for ourselves. All other world religion is about our work, our effort to please God; Christianity is about our faith that a loving God has solved the sin issue for us through Jesus Christ, and that is why we can expect to have eternal life with Him. Romans 4:27-28 tells us, “…our acquittal is not based on our good deeds.  It is based on our faith.  So we are made right with God through faith.” John 3:16 states, “For God so loved the world he gave his only Son.  That whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life.”

 The problem with being exposed to the truth is that many times people don’t want to hear it.  Why?  Because the answer might be contrary to the way a person “has chosen” to live; or perhaps it’s contrary to a philosophy they “want” to espouse, or perhaps it impedes an agenda they “want” to promote.  In other words, it’s natural to question anything that is contrary to what we “want” to do, to say, to accept, etc.  That’s our nature; that’s “human nature”.  And I would be the first to say, I think we should, – no, actually I believe we have an obligation – to question everything.  But then the challenge becomes…what do we measure our questioning against? Jesus made this statement about the permanence of God’s word in Luke 21:33, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words will not pass away.”

THE ANSWER

To my knowledge there is only one book that makes the claim of being the “Word of God”, and that is the Holy Bible. (FYI: the root word from which comes our term “word” is the Greek word “logos”, meaning logic, rational thinking or the truth.  The Holy Bible, or the “Word of God” IS God’s logic, his rational thinking and the truth.)  When a book makes such a hefty claim, it immediately sets itself up for challenge and criticism.  Such has certainly been the case with the Bible!  It has been challenged by the greatest minds in history: philosophers, scientists, scholars, academics, atheists, agnostics, and a plethora of those just like the “old me”: those ignorant of the truth.  To my knowledge, no one has dis-proven “the truth” found in the Bible.  I make that statement because, had anyone been able to disprove it, I believe we all would have heard about it!  Think about this…suppose today someone made a discovery that could prove the bible was not what it claims to be.  Every TV show, every radio show would be interrupted with that all-important announcement; every headline in our newspapers and our news magazines would be ablaze with the bold-faced, all caps proclamation: “THE BIBLE IS A FRAUD!”  To my knowledge, that has never happened.

But what does happen, however, is people will read the Bible then make a choice to close the covers and decide that is not the way they want to live.  (As stated above, the truth can be inconvenient to the lifestyle many of us have chosen!  Believe me…I can relate to that.)   Therefore they exercise their God-given free will and make a choice to turn away from the light.  John 3: 19-21 says, “God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.  All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.”   (But there is also good news: the opposite has also happened.  There are many cases when people have set out to disprove the Bible only to be converted when they began to connect the unmistakable dots of truth they found throughout the scriptures.( ie. C.S. Lewis, Lee Strobel, Philip Yancy, Rabbi Jonathan Cahn)

I know from my own experience, if anyone opens the book with an open mind and a desire to find God, He will meet us right where we are.  Jeremiah 29: 13 says “he who seeks me wholeheartedly will find me”.  God does not want to be a distant God or an unknown God. That is why He chose to reveal himself to all of us through his word, the Holy Bible.  He knew that before we could enter into that relationship He wants with us, we have to come to know him; who he is; what he says; what he says about us; what his standards are; what his promises are; how we can achieve those promises.  All the answers to those questions are in the Holy Bible.  They are there because a loving God revealed himself to us so we could choose to enter into that eternal relationship with him.  And don’t forget, our relationship with God is based on our faith in him, and faith can only be developed if we know the object of our faith is true and steadfast.  Not only has that become our solid foundation now, but we also have learned that God’s will for our lives is that we accept his “Gift of Grace”, Jesus Christ. This is the ransom he paid so we can expect eternal life in paradise with God, Jesus and all fellow believers! That’s his promise to us. Romans 3: 23-24, “For all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard.  Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us NOT GUILTY.  He has done this thorough Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins.” (my caps)                                                                    .   .

OUR HOPE

When Jesus was walking on this earth, he definitely had not come to start another religion.  No, but he did come to fulfill the law and the ancient prophecies of  the existing religion  by  modeling  and teaching  the truth of God’s word, and to be  the sacrificial lamb so man could have an eternal relationship with God.  And what did He model:  how to love God with all our heart, all our soul and all our mind; how to love our neighbor as ourselves; what it means to be a servant to others; mercy, grace, compassion, and forgiveness.  That was his message!  Sounds harmless enough, right?  Well, it certainly wasn’t pleasing to the ears of the religious leaders of the day.  In fact, the source of his consternation, and the target of his most biting comments, were the religious leaders known as the Pharisees.  In Matthew 23, he refers to them as “hypocrites; snakes; lawless; greedy, self-indulgent, liars and fools.”  He told them “they were not worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven”.   Clearly Jesus was not impressed by the “religion” he experienced.

The only issue that separates man from God is the issue of SIN!  Isaiah 59:2 tell us,“But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.”  Romans 6:23 states, “The wages of sin is death.” That is why God hates sin;  sin kills, destroys, spreads and contaminates!   That matter cannot be minimized because Eden was paradise until sin entered the world.  Look at the world around us today.  Does this look like paradise to you?  Remember, the definition of sin is “to be disobedient to God; to be separated from God; not to realize our need for God”.   That, my friends, is the human condition without Jesus Christ.  But  the good news is found in, Romans 5:6,10:  “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.  Since we were restored to friendship with God by the death of his Son…we will certainly be delivered from eternal punishment by his life.”(meaning Christ’s life in us.)  All of this is a result of the  two foundational principles found at the beginning: 1. God is love and 2. God wants an eternal relationship with us.  Next week I will continue this theme and talk about what it means to be in Christ.

So my question to you is… Are you in Christ?  Why or why not”   Feel free to respond to this posting.

May God Bless Ya,

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

Good Day, My Friends.  I had the privilege of spending last Wednesday through Saturday at Tan-Tara, Lake of the Ozarks for the Missouri Music Educators Conference.  The Saint Louis Wind Symphony was invited to perform, and what a spectacular concert we presented.  I could not be more proud of that assemblage of talent.  Luckily we made it back and forth with good weather, but how quickly things change. Yesterday it was 59 degrees.  Today at family excursion time (6:00 am), it was 8 degrees and windy!  Thank God for hot coffee…

Without a doubt the most baffling; the most debatable; the most thought-provoking; the most nagging, the most gut-wrenching, yet the most important question we all will have to contend with at some point in our life is, “Why would I accept Jesus?  Who is he?” or, “What’s the big deal?”  I am particularly partial to the last question because a few months ago, after delivering a message to the men at Sunshine Mission, a young man came up to me afterward and said, “I don’t get it.  What’s the big deal about Jesus?”  Wow!  I was momentarily stunned by the question, then the answer came to me: “The big deal”?  Jesus isn’t the “big deal”…Jesus IS THE ONLY DEAL!!”

I know the subject of Jesus has always been, from the first century on, the basis for energized conversations.  But the truth is…there is no way to be passive about the subject, nor any way to have a non-committal response because the very nature of Jesus won’t allow that.  Jesus demands a response… then you’d better be ready to defend your thoughts! “Oh, I think Jesus was a good man.” (blah!) “I believe Jesus was a prophet” (double blah!) “I believe Jesus was a historic figure who did wonderful things” (pabulum!)  How about this…“I know Jesus IS the Son of God who came to die for the sins of mankind so that we can have eternal life!”  Now you’re in the game!! But unfortunately that response has always demanded courage, and that courage certainly doesn’t come from us. (Hummm, that craziness sounds like double-talk or religious-eze…Right?  Let me explain.)

FACING REALITY

The truth of the matter is this: mankind is lost and waist-deep in ignorance. Now I’m not using that term in a derogatory sense, meaning stupidity or lack of intellect, but simply to mean, “not having been exposed to the truth”. To be exposed to the truth takes effort on our part. I know that because I spent most of my life as a non-believer and I had my own idea of truth. It was the gospel of Presgrave, and if something didn’t fit into my paradigm of thinking, it couldn’t be true…and I gotta tell ya, Jesus didn’t fit into my box.  But with further exploration, I did find His promise to be true: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” (Matt. 7:7-8)  As the asking, seeking and knocking continued, I found revelation in John, 8:32: Jesus said, “if you follow my teachings you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” Those two scriptures are my story of transformation. That’s why I can say today with total confidence, “Jesus IS the Son of God who came to die for my sins so that I can have eternal life!” That is not only confidence; that is my foundation for living.

So who is this controversial figure, Jesus Christ? Well, the best way to find the answer to that question is ask Jesus; to let him tell you what he said about himself. While some of these claims may be challenging to you if you haven’t been exposed to the truth, try to imagine what it must have been like to the Jews who were living during Jesus’ time on earth. These claims were not only challenging, but downright scandalous…even blasphemous!   In fact, that’s what led Jesus to the cross.

LEARNING THE TRUTH

Jesus said: “I AM”, meaning He is one with God. He is everything, past; present; and future.  He is immutable. John 8:28, tells us: “Jesus said, when you have lifted up the Son of Man on the cross,  then you will realize that I am He and that I do nothing on my own…”  In other words, when you crucified me, you crucified God!  Wozzer!!   I bet that got their attention.

Jesus claimed to be the “Son of God”, meaning he came from Heaven; that he existed before he existed in his mother’s womb.  Colossians 1:19 tells us: “God was pleased to have his fullness dwell in him.” He also claimed to be the “Son of Man”, meaning he was the “natural” counterpart to the Son of God.  He was thoroughly human.  He was one of us in every respect.  He felt love, joy, temptation, sorrow, pain, suffering, anger…BUT, He remained sinless.  In John, chapter 8, we are told about Jesus’ confrontation with an angry mob of unbelievers.  Twice he directly challenged them: “point to anything wrong in my life” or “who can prove me guilty of sin”.  The amazing thing is, no one in the crowd was willing, or could, accept his challenge.

Jesus claimed to be “The Messiah”, meaning the anointed one from God; the Deliverer of those in bondage. Jesus’ coming fulfilled the prophecies found in the Old Testament.  In Matthew 5: 17, Jesus said, “Don’t misunderstand why I have come.  I did not come to abolish the Law of Moses or the writings of the prophets.  No, I came to fulfill them.” And when talking to Martha about her brother Lazarus’ death, Jesus said: “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die like everyone else, they will live again. They are given eternal life for believing in me and will never perish…” (John 11:25-26).

Jesus claimed to be our Savior, meaning He IS the answer to mankind’s never-ending struggle with sin.  We are told in Luke 24:47, when Jesus was talking to his Apostles, “With my authority, take this message of repentance to all the nations, beginning in   Jerusalem: There is forgiveness of sins for all who turn to me”. Again in Matthew 20:28 He said, “For even I, the Son of Man, came here not to be served but to serve others, and to give my life as a ransom for many.” And again in John 10:10, “The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” 

Jesus claimed to be The Truth, meaning he is the Word incarnate.  In John 1:14 we read: “And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.  We have seen his glory…” And again in John 14:7, “If you really know me, you know my Father as well.  From now on you do know him and also have seen him.”

WHAT’S NEXT

The statements or claims Jesus made about himself could fill many pages, in fact there have been hundreds of books written on just that topic. But my purpose in this segment is only to begin an introduction to this world-changing, world-challenging figure.  My intent now is to take the next few weeks and talk about the practical application of his teachings in our lives. Luke 19:10 tells us, “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost.” That, my friends, is anyone who has not repented and turned to God.  Hopefully as we begin connecting the dots, it will become obvious that Jesus was not just a “big deal”, but that Jesus IS THE ONLY DEAL!  Ephesians 2:5 makes it blatantly clear. “Without Him we are dead in our transgressions. It is by Grace we have been saved.” 

So my question to you today is…Do you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior?  If “No”, why not??

May God Bless Ya!, and feel free to respond to this posting.

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

My church, Discovery Church, has embarked on a year-long over view of the Holy Bible. When I think of my first attempts to follow such a path, I have to admit I got so bogged down in the Pentateuch (the first five books of the OT that comprise the Hebrew Torah), especially books 3,4, and 5, that I threw in the towel more than once.  Luckily a friend suggested I jump over to Matthew and begin my journey there.  I’m very grateful for that advice (and I repeat it now when talking with new readers), otherwise I’m not sure I would have completed the journey.  They also said I would know when to return to the Old Testament.  To give full disclosure here, I couldn’t imagine that ever happening.

That was more than a decade ago.  Much to my surprise, I find myself turning to the Old Testament for clarification and for the history of what I’m reading in the New Testament. I have to admit, I actually find it interesting, and at times even thrilling – especially after Deuteronomy. Today I realize that not only does the history shed light on my understanding of the New Testament, but I also grasp the mystery of the prophecies, their purpose, their fulfillment, and the stark contrast between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant as being indispensable for understanding God’s plan for humanity.

THE MYSTERY AND THE HISTORY

The mystery of the prophecies is clearly divulged in 2Peter 1:19-21, “…Pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a light shining in a dark place – until the day Christ appears and his brilliant light shines in your heart.  Above all, you must understand that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophets themselves or because they wanted to prophesy.  It was the Holy Spirit who moved the prophets to speak from God.”   The purpose of the Prophet was obviously to foretell future events, but the common message they shared with the world was, “Repent…turn from your sin and turn to God!” (Ezekiel, 18:30; Hosea, 14:1, Daniel 9:13, etc.)

The first prophecy can be found in Genesis 3:15 when the Lord said to the serpent: “From now on, you and the woman will be enemies, and your offspring and her offspring will be enemies.  He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”  This foretells the never-ending conflict between those who choose to follow “your offspring” (satan) and those who choose to follow “her offspring” (Christ). He (meaning Christ) will crush Satan at the cross; you (meaning satan) will cause Christ to suffer.

While the history contained in the Old Testament is in itself a treasure, the prophecies and their fulfillment points to an authenticity that no other book can proclaim. Many of the prophecies about world events were fulfilled before the coming of Jesus Christ, but the messianic prophecies point specifically to His coming as the Savior to the world.  The Psalms, the books of Isaiah and Zechariah are quite specific about the birth, life and death of Jesus, and of the two hundred plus prophecies found in the O.T., about half of them were fulfilled by Jesus. As stated in Matthew 5:17, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” 

THE MYSTERY UNVEILED 

God’s plan for humanity is clearly stated in Ephesians 1:4, “Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.”  This clearly shows that his plan was always to send a Savior to do for us what he knew we could not do for ourselves. Romans 5:6 tells us: “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.”  However, before “just the right time” arrived, God gave man an opportunity to “get himself right” with the issue of sin.  At Mt. Sinai, God shared his standard in the form of the Ten Commandments.  That presented a problem to the Israelites at that time, and it presents the same problem for us today.  And the problem is: it’s contrary to human nature!  (Remember, when sin entered the world it was a result of man taking the focus off God and putting it on himself.  That’s been “human nature”, living to please ourselves rather than bringing honor and glory to God, ever since the Garden.)

I know many of you reading this are thinking, I have never committed murder; I haven’t stolen anything; I haven’t engaged in adultery.  Good.  But do you ever covet?  Have you ever bore false witness against anyone?  Have you always honored your father and mother?  Have you taken the Lord’s name in vain?  Do you have any idols in your life (money, job, power, prestige, house, boat etc.)?  Hummmm   The scriptures tell us if we break one of the commandments we are guilty of breaking them all!  Ouch!!

The good news for the people in the Old Testament who lived under the Old Covenant, God  gave them a means of worship and a means of dealing with the sin issue. That is described in the last part of the book of Exodus, and it is very exacting and very tedious.  The only problem with this method was it was not a permanent solution.  While the worship required the blood of sacrificial animals, the blood was not for forgiveness of sin, but only to cover sin and provide a relief from guilt.   This is spelled out in Leviticus 17:11 when God was speaking to Moses: “For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.”   (The good news is…there’s a new sacrifice coming that will offer us permanent forgiveness of sins.)

Bear in mind the Old Testament is a foreshadowing of the coming of Jesus Christ. It is a wealth of knowledge and stories from which we are to reap the benefit.  We see people from creation until “just the right time” struggling with the same issues we struggle with today, ie.  self-centeredness, pride, fear, anger, jealousy, etc.  Under the Old Covenant we see man trying to earn favor with God through his own effort.   What we are to learn from these experiences is that our effort, our self-sufficiency, is not sufficient.  We will never become holy (sin free) based on our own effort, and according to 1Peter 1:16, “we have to be holy because God is holy” if we want to come into his presence.  So the answer to our human dilemma still is, and will continue to be, yielding to the prophet’s call: “Repent! Turn from you sins and turn to God!”

THE GOOD NEWS OF THE NEW COVENANT

I will let Apostle Paul tell us about God’s plan for our deliverance.  Romans 3:22-25 says, “We are made right in God’ sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins.  And we all can be saved in this same way, no matter who we are or what we have done.  For all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard.  Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty.  For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy His anger against us.  We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us.”   These three verses represent the Gospel of Grace:  it’s not about our work, but the work Jesus Christ did on our behalf.

When Jesus said “it is finished” on the cross, that signified the end of the Old Covenant.  Jesus’ sacrifice represents a new way for us to be made right in God’s sight, and it is not about our effort, but about our faith and belief in what Jesus Christ did for us.  Has God’s standard changed since Mt. Sinai?  Absolutely not.  But what has changed is how we live the Ten Commandments.  Jesus changed the parameters.  Under the New Covenant, our charge is 1. To love God with all of our heart, all of our soul, and all of our mind. And 2. To love our neighbor as ourself.  If we call on the Holy Spirit – an inheritance to all Christ-followers – to empower us to focus on these two commandments, we will automatically live the other eight, and it will not be a result of our own effort, but because the Holy Spirit is empowering us to be the person God created us to be.  We are now His masterpiece!  Amen

My question to you is…are you still working to make yourself acceptable to God?  How’s it going?

May God Bless ya, and feel free to respond to this posting.

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

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

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

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

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

A MERCIFUL AND FORGIVING GOD

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

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

THE JOURNEY

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

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

BEING IN LINE WITH HIS WILL

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

THE SOLUTION

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

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

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

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

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

May God Bless Ya,

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

Well, today I made one of my, shall we say, “less than good” decisions?  I took Mr. Cliff and Glenn out for a walk when the temp was -3. Yikes!  We have snow everywhere, and the winds have created some treacherous snow drifts.  Needless to say, that walk didn’t last long…actually to the end of the block and back.  By the time I got me and the boys cleaned up and thawed out, I grabbed some coffee, retreated to my office, put on a recording of our last concert by the Saint Louis Wind Symphony and here we go…..

As I promised last week, my message this time would be about one of my favorite subjects: You Too Can Be Superman!   As a youth, I loved action hero movies.   If you too have enjoyed movies such as Superman, Star Wars, Batman etc., you also know there is a common theme.  The action hero always represents good; he possesses some superior “force” or power that enables him to win the battles; and he gets the prize (usually the girl) in the end.  If you’re like me, you would leave the theater thinking, “I wish I were Clark Kent, Luke Skywalker or Bruce Wayne (a.k.a. Batman).  I wish I had “the force” or their special power so I could be an action hero!  Dan the Man, Super Hero!  It sounded grrreat!!  But then I would take solace in the fact it was only science fiction, and in reality we’re equipped, however we are, to fight our own battles and to win or lose the prize.  Oh well…but I would still continue wondering, “What if?”

THE FORCE THAT IS WITH US TODAY

 Well, I’ve changed my thinking over the years, and even more specifically, since I have been a Christian.  Once I learned the truth about what it means to be “born again”, I came to realize that when I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, part of my salvation package was the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The role of the Holy Spirit is to empower me to become the person God created me to be. Wow!  There is no doubt in my mind today that the “force” or power possessed by any action hero pales by comparison to the power that indwells all of us who are in Christ. Our foe is Satan!  He is a ferocious enemy.  We will need no less than a supernatural power to go toe-to-toe with him, but God prepared us for that task.  (Amen)

In the Gospel of John, 14-16, we get a close-up picture of Jesus’ final hours with his disciples in the upper room after the Last Supper.  Jesus told his disciples about his impending death and what it would mean to them as he laid out the series of events that would occur within the next few hours.  He could tell they were shocked and frightened, but he also knew the men in front of him were, in their own strength, a weak lot. (He was also keenly aware that the responsibility of carrying the message of salvation to the world would rest on their shoulders). So when he told them he was “going away”, he also told them it was better that he left them so he could ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit to be their comforter, counselor, teacher, and guide.  This is key…he told them they did not need the Holy Spirit at that time, because He was with them.

Jesus knew that for the past three years the men had drawn whatever strength they had from him, so he promised them he would not leave them as orphans.  Instead would send the Holy Spirit to live in them; to empower them to accomplish God’s Will.  (For a picture of the transformation that took place in these disciples, I would direct your attention to Acts, 2-4.  These same men who were in hiding during Jesus crucifixion became giants among men in terms of spreading the truth of Jesus death and resurrection.  On the day of Pentecost, Peter – the same Peter who recently denied Jesus three times – converted 3000 Jews to believers.)   

GOD’S GIFT

God’s salvation package is perfect!  For most people who are drawn to Christianity, the promise of forgiveness of sin and eternal life is a message of assurance and peace, as well it should be. And no doubt it beats the alternative of spiritual death and damnation!   But the gift of the Holy Spirit is God’s promise that we don’t have to wait until after death to begin to experiencing the blessings of heaven on earth right here and now.

When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we become a new creation in Christ.  Our “old self” (our sin nature) is taken away and we are filled with a new spirit, the Holy Spirit, whose role is to empower us to live the new life we are called to live in this fallen world.  This is referenced in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old is gone; the new is here.  The obvious nature of our “old self” was to sin.  But the nature of the Holy Spirit is not to sin, but to be pleasing to God.  So now we are set free from our bondage to sin!  Now we have choices we never considered before.  As a new creation in Christ, we are empowered to make choices that help us grow in Him as well as bring honor and glory to God.

This was God’s plan even before Creation!  We are to draw our strength from the Holy Spirit the same way the disciples drew their strength from Jesus Christ.  And like the disciples, as followers of Jesus Christ we  are called to boldly carry the same message of truth (the teachings of Jesus), love, tolerance, forgiveness, and service to others in our daily lives.  In other words, we are called to live to a higher standard than the world around us, and that is indeed a formidable challenge for anyone!  But God’s promise in 1John 4:4 tells us, “He that is in me (Holy Spirit) is greater than the spirit in this world.” (Satan) We are told we are already victorious.  Now the question becomes…do we believe that promise? Will we boldly stand on it?

Now I’ve come to the part that I know will not find favor with all readers.   I know the most common criticism of Christianity by non-believers is: “I don’t see the Christians I know living a life of love for his fellow man, tolerance, forgiveness, service to others”… and they usually throw in honesty or integrity too, because they are quick to point out that Christians may talk the talk, but they don’t see it manifested in our walk.  Unfortunately that criticism is “right on”  in way too many instances.

THE CAUSE AND THE SOLUTION

I see two specific reasons for this unfortunate reality.  First, we live in a culture that embraces political correctness (PC).  Tolerance has become “anything goes”; truth is “in the eye of the beholder”; forgiveness today is too often levied according to social mores rather than according to truths found in God’s word; and honor and integrity have given way to a social numbness spawned by excessive lying, cheating and stealing in all levels of our society.  Too often we hear this innocuous excuse:  “Oh well,everyones doing it.  That’s just the way it is  today.”  Really?  How pathetic that we have come to accept bad behavior, or even illegal behavior, as the norm!!  So in this age of PC, it takes courage and commitment to stand on the truth of God’s word because our culture in general doesn’t want to hear it.     After all, this is an age of humanism and secularism, so the truth of God’s word shines too bright in this culture filled with darkness.  I believe that is why there is an assault on Christian teachings and traditions today.   The “truth” is an inconvenience to the way most people have chosen to live.

Unfortunately, PC has also invaded many churches today.  If you belong to a church that preaches the complete Gospel of Grace- forgiveness of sins, eternal life AND the power of the Holy Spirit- thank God and don’t take it for granted.  While that sounds like a terrible indictment, it is also true.  Too many churches don’t dwell on the power of the Holy Spirit because they are afraid that when the people realize the freedom they have in Christ, the church (meaning a religious institution) might lose some of its control over its flock.  Being in Christ and relying on the Holy Spirit is about being SET FREE.  It’s about HOW to live a new life, and live it to the fullest!

 Too often churches keep the focus on sin.  The sin issue is a non-issue if you are in Christ!  The price was paid for our sins 2000 years ago by Jesus at the Cross.  As a new Christian, it’s not about continuing to look back at who we were, it’s about understanding who we are in Christ and relying on the Holy Spirit to enable us to follow His example and grow in his spirit.  This is what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit makes it possible for us to get out of the way s0 Jesus can live his life through us.  As Apostle Paul said in Galatians 2:20, “I myself no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”   A-Men!

 If you are a Christian reading this, do you call on the Holy Spirit to give you strength, courage, patience, perseverance, wisdom, whatever it is you need, to be the light of Jesus Christ in this fallen world?   Unfortunately too many Christians live their life  seemingly oblivious to this part of the Gospel of Grace. As I said earlier, but it bears repeating…it’s this awareness that allows you to experience heaven on earth right here and right  now.    Feel free to respond to this blog.

May God bless ya,

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

Well, my Friends, it is that time of year when we take an inventory of past twelve months, then decide to change – or not to change – our ways based on what we observed.  To prepare for this examination, most of us have already zeroed in on some areas of concern. Perhaps it is a more healthy diet, or weight control, or more prudent spending, or trying harder to achieve last year’s goals, etc.   Whatever area we conclude needs improvin’, we stand on the cusp of a new beginning, and in that moment we feel GOOD about making the necessary decision to bring about CHANGE!  There is no doubt in our mind it is FOR OUR OWN GOOD.  We are psyched!!

We don’t need statistics to tell us that on January 2^nd  gyms are filled; weight-loss classes have a higher enrollment, more people are seen walking or jogging in our neighborhoods, and more people are showing-up to work earlier…maybe even on time!   But it’s also been recorded that by January 30^th, there is a noticeable drop in those activities, and by February 28th, statistics do tell us that more than 50% of the New Year’s resolution makers have lost interest or have given up.  And to no one’s surprise, by March 30^th that number increases to a startling 76%.

So what can we deduce from this message?   Well…clearly the majority of people have a problem making a commitment and keeping it; or perhaps it’s a matter of resisting temptation when it comes a callin’.  But you say…surely we CAN do that if we just suck it up and commit to a plan!  True.  There are indeed some who have what our culture calls a strong “self –will”, and they are impressive when it comes to tackling certain challenges.   But truth be known…we all have challenges or temptations that are stronger than our own best effort to overcome.   In fact, that has been the human condition since Creation.

As you know from previous blogs, I have written a quite a few times about our “human nature”.  If you are a new reader, that condition resulted from Adam and Eve’s disobedience to God’s command found in Genesis 2:3,“Do not eat fruit from the tree at the center of the garden (tree of knowledge of good and evil), for if you do, you will surely die.”  Prior to that act, Adam and Eve were spiritually connected to God.  He provided everything for their life in the Garden of Eden.  It was paradise; it was perfect.  But once Adam and Eve took the focus off God and put it on themselves and satisfying their own desire, that original spiritual connection was severed; they were banished from the Garden; and by that act of “self-will” they were cursed to live by their own effort.   That was the original SIN: taking the focus off God and putting it on “self”.

Consequently, every generation born after Adam and Eve has inherited their curse:  we are born spiritually disconnected from God.  All that means is that we live our life to satisfy our own needs, desires and lustful pleasures rather than focusing on God’s will for our life.   That condition, commonly referred to in our culture as “human nature”, is Biblically described as “sin nature”.  Yikes! And as you already know, there is definitely a downside to that condition, as clearly stated in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death…” Now as ominous as that sounds, there is also good news in the last part of this scripture (which I will share a bit later) and also in this Biblical truth.  Since man severed the spiritual connection with God, it is up to man to restore it.  Here is the good news…that can be done any time we are we are ready to admit our way has not worked and we cry out “God help me!”  The unfortunate truth is…it usually – but not always – takes a state of brokenness for humility to kick in!  James 4:10 tells us, “When we bow down before the Lord and admit our dependence on him, he will lift us up and give us honor.”  He also promises us in 1Chronicles, 28:2, “If we seek Him, we will surely find Him.”

The opportunity for a new beginning is a time of hope, whether it is a decision to change our habits or a decision to change our “human nature”.  One decision has temporal consequences, the other has eternal consequences.   But the whole matter of change is frightening to most people, and as I stated above, it usually takes a ‘wake-up” call.  Ask a person who has just won the lottery if he/she wants to change their life, and you’ll probably hear, “Are you crazy!  I’ve just won what I’ve always dreamed of…” (humm..,check back in five years).   Now offer the person a chance to change, whose secret life of adulterous behavior has just been exposed.  Who do you think has the most willing heart to change?  The truth is, and the good news is…God is still waiting with open arms for all of us!  That’s why He proclaimed in 2Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient.  My strength is made perfect in your weakness”.  Wow!  Now that is a message of hope!!  But that’s the way He works; He exalts the humble.

God’s promise to us is he will meet us right where we are in our time of need.  When we surrender to Him and are willing to turn our will and our life over to his care, as was the original intent, his first order of business is to direct us to Jesus Christ.  Why?  Because God created us for a relationship – an eternal relationship with him in paradise, but as stated in 1Peter, 1:16, “We have to be holy because God is holy.” To be holy means to be without sin.  Ooops!  What about our human nature- our sin nature?  It’s important here to see this distinction:  we’re not sinners because we sin; we sin because we’re sinners,  meaning we don’t necessarily set out to sin, we just do what comes naturally to us in our human condition.  We live to please ourselves rather than God.

God knows our human condition and he knows we are slaves to it. Now to complete the scripture above that contains not only a curse, but also a blessing,  Romans 6:23 tells us, “For the wages of sin is death, BUT the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord” (my emphasis).  To emphasize the “gift of God”, one of my favorite scriptures, Romans 5:6 also tells us, “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.” (Notice that Apostle Paul didn’t shade words when he described our condition: “us sinners.”)  But because God loves us, and because He wants an eternal relationship with us, he knew mankind was “utterly helpless” and could not, by our own effort, become holy.  Therefore, he chose to solve the problem for us by sending his Son, Jesus Christ, as the sacrificial lamb to pay the penalty for our sin.  Jesus clearly states this reality in John 14:6 when he proclaims, “I am the way, the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.”

This verse is the essence of Christianity.  This is God’s gift of grace, meaning we did nothing to earn the gift, nor do we deserve it.  It is about a loving God choosing to pay the price for the sins of ALL mankind, through his Son, Jesus Christ, so we can spend eternity with Him, Jesus and all other believers.  He wants ALL of us to be in Christ so we won’t be contaminated with sin. Remember, we cannot come into the presence of God stained with sin.  Why?  Because sin contaminates, destroys, spreads and kills!!  Need proof?  Look at the Garden of Eden; paradise until sin entered the world.  Look at the world today.  Does this look like paradise to you??

So as we approach 2014, we have a chance for a new beginning.  Everyone likes a clean slate and a new start, right?  It gives us hope!  But while changing our behavior, our eating habits, or work habits, etc., are important, they pale by comparison to the most important change anyone can make.  When we accept God’s gift of grace, 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us, “… if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come.  The old (self) is gone; the new (self) is here.”  God’s plan is perfect.  Not only is our old self (our sin-nature) taken away, but we receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to empower us to live the new life that will bring honor and glory to God.  (I plan to write about this next week in a post entitled “You Too Can Be Superman”).  That, my Friends, is when a new life begins and we start to receive God’s promises and blessings.  Gotta tell ya…I’ve been on both sides, so I can say with certainty, God’s way is the only way to receive the “abundant life” promised by Jesus ( John 10:10).

Happy New Year, One and All!, and please celebrate it by accepting God’s gift to you!

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

As Christians approach the day 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 Trinity, 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.”  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 least likely recipient.  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.  Let us not forget… Christianity is based on faith, and faith comes from standing on a scriptural foundation based on the truth of God’s word.

Let’s look at two examples of God’s 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…”  We must never lose sight of this fundamental Biblical principle;  Nothing is impossible with God!

Now let’s look now 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 under 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 the battle 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 ram’s 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. At that time 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”.

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 asks the angel, “But how can that be?  I have never known a man.”  Gabriel replies, “…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: from Mary’s encounter with the angel to Joseph’s acceptance of conception by the Holy Spirit; from the trip to Bethlehem to the birth in the stable; then there is 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 a 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?  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” (Titus 1:2). 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.”  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. 1 Peter 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.  The world was, and many still are, waiting for a Messiah who would unite Israel and bring the rest of the world under his (their) control.  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 sin 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 allow their minds and hearts to be transformed by the truth of God’s word.  Gotta tell ya…that’s one Christmas gift that fits all!

Merry Christmas!

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

Good day, My Friends. I’m sorry this is late being posted today, but I ended up with an unusually busy morning. Crazy stuff..some to do with logistics for the Saint Louis Wind Symphony for the remainder of this season, and another was just a social event. Gotta tell ya…I feel much better getting this done first thing in the morning. I relax best once my work is done rather than vice versa.  Oh well, enough jawing.  It’s time to get to the matter at hand…sharing a message of hope.

This month Discovery Church (my church) has been using Charles Dickens’, A Christmas Carol as the basis for our messages. As I watched the story unfold, I saw the typical format of a “morality play”, meaning  the main character, through his actions, words and deeds, has created a past that comes back to haunt him. He comes face to face with “who” or “what” he has become; he makes a decision to change; he sets out to rectify the wreckage of his past, then he reaps the benefit of a bright, productive future. I have witnessed that very process change people’s lives time and time again.  As a story-telling format, it reached its pinnacle in the 15^th and 16^th centuries in Tudor dramas.  But when I look at that format, I see the outline of a “Christian walk”.

Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol in 1843. He wrote it specifically to call attention to the plight of England’s poor population.  Many scholars believe that the characters and situations he presents in the story are people and events he experienced during his childhood. He was raised in Kent, England.  His father was a gambler, a womanizer, and an alcoholic. When Charles was 10 years old, his father moved the family to the outskirts of London, to an area we might call the slums today. When Charles was 12 years old, his father was sentenced to a debtor’s prison. As odd as this sounds to us today, but apparently is was common at the time, Charles’ mother moved her children, minus Charles, into the debtor’s prison with the father. Charles was left to care for himself. Consequently he was forced into child labor and worked in deplorable conditions at a bottling plant just outside London.

The main character in “A Christmas Carol” is Scrooge, described by Dickens himself, as a “squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scalping, clutching and covetous old sinner!” (Wow!  How would you like that on your tombstone??)  Suffice it to say…Scrooge was a tight-fisted, cold-hearted, greedy old man.  He had disdain for people, and he particularly disliked Christmas and anything having to do with  joy and laughter – and especially giving!  His words and actions drove everyone away, and Scrooge finds himself a prisoner in his own lonely, dark, cynical world. This confirms a truth found in Galatians 6:7 “do not be deceived … whatever a man sows, so shall he reap.”  

The first apparition to visit Scrooge is Marley, his business partner, who had been dead for seven years. Marley appears draped in chains, representing the bondage resulting from his former selfishness and greed, and he tells Scrooge to change his ways or he will experience the same fate.  He also tells Scrooge he will be visited by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Future.

The ghost of Christmas Past escorts Scrooge on a return journey to previous Christmases from the curmudgeon’s earlier years. Scrooge gets an objective view of the damage and hurt he caused. The ghost of Christmas Present makes very clear to the miser the despicable person he has become, while at the same time planting seeds for change. The ghost of Christmas Future reveals to Scrooge what the future will hold if he continues down the same path of self-centeredness. As a result of this enlightening journey with his visitors, Scrooge experienced the awakening all of us must experience if we are going to embark on the process of change. It is in the process itself that we begin to experience freedom from the bondage of our past.

All of us have a past, and who we are today is a sum total of that experience.  Our past either empowers us to victory, or it chews us up and spits us out.  If your case is the latter, there is hope.  If you find yourself in shackles to doubt, fear, guilt, shame, remorse, or destructive behavior, there is a pathway to freedom. The first step down that path is admitting you have a problem and making a decision so seek help.

The call to change either takes the form of an epiphany – a burning bush experience such as enlightenment or revelation, or perhaps we find ourselves in a state of brokenness and are willing to surrender with a plea for help.  Many times that plea is as simple as “God, help me!” The good news is found in Hebrews 13:5, “…never will I leave you or forsake you.” and James 4:10, “When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on him, he will lift you up and give you honor.” God knows the state of your heart. He is just like the father in the parable of the prodigal son, found in Luke 15:11-32.  He is there to meet you with open arms and to say, “Welcome home!”

Whether the impetus for change comes from an epiphany or brokenness, we need to continue to fan the flames of our endeavor or those flames will start to die out.  The answer to this situation is found in John 15: 4-5, “Abide (remain) in me and I will remain in you…Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches.  Those who abide in me and I in them will produce much fruit.”  If we stay in line with God’s will for our life rather than pursuing the former path of self-obsession, his promise is to be there for us.  

Once we are willing and  ready to commit ourselves to finding God’s purpose for our life, we begin cleaning up the past messes we have made. We begin by making amends to people we have harmed by our actions or our words. When we do this, we are taking responsibility for our actions. Matthew 5:23-24 addresses this: “So if you are standing before the altar in the temple, offering a sacrifice to God, and remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there beside the altar and go be reconciled to that person.” As we clean-up the wreckage from our past, we begin rebuilding our spiritual connection with God. Now we are becoming the person He created us to be.

This process outlined above is also the Christian walk. We know there is a need for us to change; we’ve received a wake-up call. We turn to God and we admit our dependence on him. His first priority is to lead us to Jesus Christ. He is our pathway to freedom. When we are in Christ, we are heir to all the spiritual blessings in the heavenly realm and all the promises in the Bible. When we are in Christ, we are a new creation…our former sin nature is taken away and we are filled with the Holy Spirit, whose nature is not to sin!  Now we are no longer slaves to our old nature, but we have choices, and the Holy Spirit prompts and empowers us the make decisions that are in line with God’s will for our lives. When we are in line with God’s will and we have the Holy Spirit empowering us, Isaiah 54:17 tells us, “…no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.  This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and this is their vindication from me, declares the Lord.”  This is reinforced in 1John 4:4, “He that is in me (the Holy Spirit) is greater than he (Satan) that is in this world.” 

As Christians we already have everything we need to be victorious in this life. As Jesus proclaimed when he began his ministry, “repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17)  When we are in Christ, we already experience the Kingdom of Heaven – an “abundant life”, right now, right here on earth. This awesome life manifests itself in happiness, joy, peace and serenity. Whether we know it or not, that is really what we have been searching for all of our life, but in most cases we were “searching for love in all the wrong places”.   Jesus tells us in Matthew 11:28-29, “come to me all who are weak and heavy laden and I will give you rest.  My yoke is easy, my burden is light.”

Are you experiencing the abundant life Jesus promised?

May God Bless ya, and feel free to respond to this message.

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

Brrrrrrr….it’s 15 degrees with a pretty strong wind blowing, making the wind-chill factor 8 degrees; it’s also totally black outside, and last night weather prognosticators were warning us about icy conditions this morning.  That being said, my morning walk is being postponed until this afternoon – after I have this posted.  Glenn and Cliff, however, are a bit distressed.  They haven’t missed a morning walk as long as they have been part of the Presgrave family, and running around in our back yard doesn’t seem to do it for them…especially when it appears to be in lieu of their stroll.  After all, they have their favorite spots to visit each morning, if you know what I mean.  🙂  So, here we go…coffee in hand, the boys reluctantly hanging with me, and the St. Louis Wind Symphony (STLWS) recording of “In the Christmas Mood” playing in the background.  I’m feeling rather HO, HO, HO for 6am Monday morning.

Yesterday the STLWS did its annual Christmas concert at the Ivory Theatre in the Carondelet area.  I always tell the audience at the outset, “This is a Christmas concert, not an all-inclusive concert or a politically correct concert, but a Christmas concert to celebrate the true reason for the season.”  Our culture has obviously declared war on Christian principles and traditions with its attempt to remove Christmas trees, decorations, and nativity scenes from public places; forbidding Christmas events in public school; directing employees to say, “Happy Holidays” rather than the offensive “Merry Christmas”, and, to point out the obvious, the media hype for this season is all about shopping, buying and more shopping and buying.  This would be a bit more palatable if it were tied in with the spirit of giving and helping others, but unfortunately that message seems to have slipped through the cracks. Therefore, every time I have the opportunity to put Christ back into Christmas and to talk about the true reason for the season, I feel honored AND compelled to do so.

As you know from previous postings, I believe that there are two fundamental principles that underlie everything else written in the Bible, and those two principles are (1) God is love and (2) God wants a relationship with us – an eternal relationship.  There is only one obstacle that prevents this from happening: SIN.  When God created man, the Bible tells us he created man in his image and for his pleasure (a relationship).  Adam and Eve were placed in The Garden of Eden, and it was paradise.  There was no sickness, suffering, poverty, war, famine, jealousy, fear, hatred…not even death.  God communed with Adam and Eve; they were spiritually connected to him, and he provided for all their needs.  It was perfect!

That changed when SIN entered the world, and that fatal act was disobedience to God’s directive. Genesis 2:17 describes the event: God told Adam and Eve, “do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  For if you do, you will surly die” Bear in mind, sin can be used as either a verb or a noun.  The act of sin, in this case “disobedience”, caused their spiritual nature to change. This produced a new state of being, “living in sin”, which means living for our self and our own pleasure rather than living for God and bringing honor and glory to Him.  In the Book of Romans, the term “sin” is used 47 times: 41 times it is used as a noun, describing our state of being rather than a verb, describing an act or action.  Because the original spiritual connection with God was severed at “the fall of man”, every generation after Adam until today has been born with a “sin nature”, meaning the focus is on ourself rather than on God.

If you doubt that, let’s look at the birth of a child.  When the baby comes out of the mother’s womb, its first action is to cry.  Why?  Because he/she wants something; to be held, to be nursed; to feel safe; to get away from all those bright lights…something!  In other words, the first thing a baby becomes aware of is “self”.  The unfortunate truth is…man can go from the cradle to the grave living with the focus on himself rather than living in line with God’s will for his life.  In Romans 6:23 we find both the consequence and the solution for that state: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.”   Thank you God for your love!  Thank you Jesus for your willingness!

As I stated earlier, the only thing that stands between us and an eternal relationship with God is SIN.  1 Peter 1:16 tells us, “we have to be holy because God is holy”, and to be “holy” means to have the same nature as God, to be without sin.  In other words, we can’t come into the presence of God if we are stained with sin.  One of my favorite passages in the Bible, Romans 3: 22-25, provides the solution to that dilemma: “We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for all who believe, no matter who we are or what we have done.   For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.  Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares us NOT GUILTY. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. ²⁵ For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood for us”. (added emphasis: underline and CAPS is mine).

Man had from Creation until 2013 years ago to wrestle with this issue of sin, but because of our “sin-nature” (or as our culture calls it, our “human nature”) man lived with the focus on himself; his goals; and his pleasures.  The fact is…we don’t set out to sin; we don’t say, “humm, I think I’ll sin today”, we just do what comes naturally to us.  Romans 5:6 tells us, “while we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.”  While we were utterly helpless…that is powerful! God knew we could never save ourselves, that we were, and will be slaves to our sin-nature.  And “at just the right time”…Wow!  God doesn’t specify his criteria for this statement, but undoubtedly he knew that waiting was not going to improve our condemned status as “sinners”!  And most importantly, because He is a God of love, he didn’t insist that we clean-up our act before he acted.  No…while we were still sinners, He gave us his gift of grace – meaning we didn’t earn it, weren’t worthy of it, and certainly didn’t deserve it– to do for us what He knew we were “utterly” incapable of doing for ourselves.  He gave us Jesus Christ as the sacrificial lamb to shed HIS blood for the forgiveness of OUR sins.

Blood has always been required for forgiveness of sin.  Under the Old Covenant (before the crucifiction of Christ), the day of Atonement was set aside for a ceremony that designated the forgiveness of sins for God’s chosen people, the Israelites.  The high priest would go from the outer room of the Temple, the Holy Place, into the most sacred place in the Temple, the Most Holy Place, with the blood of sacrificial animals to make an offering to God.  Unfortunately this ritual had to be performed each year, not for the forgiveness of sins, but to cover the sins of the people.  This had nothing to do with salvation, but was for cleansing their conscience.

 The contrast between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant is presented in Hebrews 9:13-15, 26: “Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow could cleanse people’s bodies from ritual defilement.  Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our hearts from deeds that lead to death so that we can worship the living God.  For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as the perfect sacrifice for our sins.  He came once for all time…to remove the power of sin FOREVER by his sacrificial death for us”.

 What this means for us is the price Christ paid for sin 2013 years ago is still good today.  His sacrifice removed the “power of sin” forever.  That’s why this is a gift of grace!  We did nothing to earn it; we are not deserving of it, and we’re certainly not worthy of it.  But when we are in Christ, meaning we have accepted God’s loving gift of grace – Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, God looks at us and no longer sees a sinner, but a Saint covered by the blood of Jesus. Romans 8:1 states: “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.”  Now we are sin-free and worthy to come into His presence, not because of anything we did or didn’t do, but because of what Jesus Christ did for us.  And because we are in Christ, we inherit eternal life and can look forward to spending eternity with God, Jesus, and all other believers. Eternity!  Wow…our minds cannot begin to grasp the incredible magnitude of this.  But suffice to say…it certainly beats the alternative.

That, my friends, is the reason for the season and the best Christmas gift any of us will ever receive.  If the gift of grace is not at the top of your Christmas list, what are you waiting for?   It’s free; all you have to do is accept the gift, and it’s available to anyone who wants it…no matter who you are or what you have done!!  It’s the only way to experience God’s plan for your life.

Merry Christmas to ya!

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

Good Morning, my Friends.  I hope you made it through the Thanksgiving festivities in good spirits.  Pam and I have never had the interest or the nerve to participate in the Black Friday commotion, so we I just hung out here during the weekend and did Christmas decorations.  She put up a beautiful tree right out side my office, so I can look at it as I’m working.   Yesterday was our Wind Symphony rehearsal for our Christmas concerts this weekend, and tonight is the SLSO Holiday Brass concert rehearsal for three concerts tomorrow.  Needless to say, I’m shifting gears from Thanksgiving to Christmas, but I love the music for this season and I feel honored to be part of such great music-making endeavors.  But, I gotta start writing because I have a busy afternoon.  I just got fresh coffee; Cliff and Glenn are snoozing beside me, so here we go……

The idea for this posting has been brewing in my head for a few days, but it took until my walk this morning to settle in on this approach for writing about it.  I am, and always have been, a believer in processes, although for a long time the term process wasn’t a word I used to defined the steps I was taking to achieve my goal.  In fact, I’m not even sure I knew I was involved in a process.  But today it seems I see processes all around me.  I see the “twelve step” recovery program of AA as a process;  I hear the businessmen in the BBT program  talking about implementing new processes  to enhance the effectiveness of their business;  I recently read a posting by a long-time friend who was writing about his successful career, and he outlined the process he followed for getting there.  What really caught my eye in George’s writing was this statement; “there are no short-cuts to success.”  When I read that  my mind took me to the idea of processes, meaning the systematic, step-by-step approach to achieving one’s goal.

I even see a process in the Christian walk.  For instance, the mantra of my church (Discovery Church) is “seek-grow-serve” meaning: we seek God and His will for our lives; we grow in our knowledge and relationship with Him; and we serve each other and Him by sharing the gospel of grace.  So where is the process in this mantra?  Well…we begin by realizing we have a problem.  Whether it is Step 1 in AA (realizing we are powerless over our addiction and that our life is unmanageable); or a person coming face to face with a catastrophic experience (divorce, financial ruin, caught in an act of betrayal; a health issue,etc.), we realize we are facing an over-whelming problem, and we need HELP!  Perhaps for the first time we realize our own inability and we cry out, “God Help Me!!”

 I know, and I suspect you also know, people who have experienced an epiphany (a revelation, a burning bush experience) and have turned to God. All I can say to that is, “Praise God!”  But unfortunately, for most of us it takes the threat of a life-changing experience (our own “road to Damascus experience”) to get our attention. The good news for us is found in Deut. 31:6, “Be strong and courageous…He will never leave  you or forsake you.” And in James 4:10 we find; “When we bow down before the Lord and admit our dependence on him, he will lift us up and give us honor.” So whatever the reason, whether it is an epiphany or a catastrophe, we come to realize our need for a power greater than ourselves to empower us to tackle the issue we are facing.  In other words, we know we have a problem and we know we need HELP!

 Now we are ready to seek God.  But how do we do that?  Where do we go?  Well, the Word of God, The Holy Bible, is the logical answer.  As I have stated in previous postings, I believe there are two fundamental principles, either stated verbatim or inter-woven throughout  the scriptures, that shout loud and clear from each page of the Bible. Those two principles are: (1) God is love, and (2) God wants a relationship with each one of us…an eternal relationship.  Now this should come as no surprise, but since God is God, he knows something about relationships!  He knew that in order for us to develop a relationship with him, we would have to get know him…what he says, what he thinks, what he says about us, what his standards are, what his promises are, how we receive his promises, etc.  Only after we have answers to these questions can we choose to enter into a relationship with Him.  That is why God chose to reveal himself to us through his Word, The Holy Bible.  2 Peter 1:21-22 says “…you must understand that no prophecy or scripture ever came about from the prophets themselves or because they wanted to prophesy.  It was the Holy Spirit who moved the prophets to speak the word of God.”  2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All scripture is inspired by God…”

Having made the decision to seek God, next comes the matter of growing in the truth of His Word.  One of my favorite Christian authors, Neal Anderson, stated in his book, Victory Over the Darkness, “you can’t have faith in something you don’t know anything about.”  Since the essence of Christianity is faith, Rom. 10:17 tells us very specifically, “Faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of God.” In Heb. 11:1, it says, “…faith is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen.  It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see.”  As we grow in the truth of God’s word, we come to realize, as stated clearly and succinctly in 1 John 4:8, “God is love.”  And about relationship… numerous prophets in the Old Testament were inspired to speak time and again with the same message; “turn from your sins and turn to God.” Jer. 31:34 confirms this message, “For I will forgive their wickedness and remember their sins no more.”

Step 3 of AA states this most eloquently.  “We became willing to turn our will and our life over to the care of God, as we understand him.”  The more we come to know God and discover his true nature, the more we realize he is a God of forgiveness, grace, acceptance, kindness, righteousness, patience and that nothing pleases him more than blessing us.  The God portrayed in the Holy Bible is the same Father as portrayed in the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 11: 15-32). In this story, the father was hoping beyond hope that his lost son would return home. He would look down the road everyday hoping to see his son returning, and when he finally did see him, he ran to meet him with open arms and said, “Welcome Home!”  Just like the father the parable, God is waiting for us to come home.

 After we have committed ourselves to seek God, (Deut. 4:29 tells us, “…if you seek the Lord, you will find him”) from that endeavor itself begins spiritual growth. What happens is this.  The more we experience the truth of God’s word coming alive in our hearts, the more we can build a solid scriptural foundation on which to stand.  As the Word of God becomes the “living word” in us, we begin to see our life changing for the better.  What I am describing is how we build our faith!   As our faith continues to grow, the more we want to share this life-changing message with others.

Now we are ready to enter the serving (or message-carrying part) of this process. I find it interesting that the last message from Christ to his Apostles was, “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” (Matt. 28:19)  Step 12 in AA is, “Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we carry this message to other alcoholics who are suffering and practice these principles in all of our affairs.”   The ultimate goal of both processes is being of service to our brethren, and carrying the message of hope and salvation to those still held in bondage.  Judging from the message from both AA and the Christian walk, I believe we can safely conclude that “our life is a mission” to help others.

As we can see from the previous examples, the beauty of a process is its systematic approach.  It is a step-by-step process with the next step based on, or growing out of, the previous one.  The intent is to logically lead us toward a stated goal.  I quoted my friend George’s perspective in the first paragraph, “there are no short-cuts to success.”  AA says, “half-measures avail us nothing.”  Christianity stands on, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14;6)  There is a process involved in each of the above endeavors, and ‘ol George had it right… “there are no short-cuts”.  My suggestion to you is…just follow the steps and don’t change them or rearrange them.

My question to you today is… are you involved in a process that is taking you toward a goal?   Are you committed to it?

May God Bless, ya.  Feel free to give me feedback on this.  Go to the top of the page and click on the title of today’s blog at the top of the list of previous blogs.

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