(October 8, 2009)

Prayer House News!

If you are interested in financially helping one of our youth go to convention please let Pastor Nick. He is seeking help for some of the students. The convention is at the end of this month.

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It's not too late to register for the Jesus-Sensitive Conference. Go to the side bar (scroll down) and click on the picture. PS. You don't need to register to be able to come. We would just like an idea of how many are coming.

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Intimacy with God

continued from yesterday

Luke 14:16-20 Jesus replied: "A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. (17) At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, `Come, for everything is now ready.' (18) "But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, `I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.' (Lust of the eyes, materialism) (19) "Another said, `I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.' (boastful pride of life) (20) "Still another said, `I just got married, so I can't come.' (lust of the flesh).

The sadness of these verses is that it is an analogy of those who are not going to make it to heaven. The one preparing a banquet is God. Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son, (Matt 22:1-2). The church is called the bride of Christ. Have you ever heard of a woman getting married that was not the bride?

God is preparing a wedding feast for the bride of Christ and the only ones at the feast are those who were not taken up with the spirit of this world. Those who were taken up with a spirit of lust, a spirit of materialism, or pride did not even want to go to the banquet. Lust, materialism, and pride were the intimacies of their life. In their effort to gain life, which is why all men need intimacy, they lost their life.

In Mark 6:31 Jesus said to his disciples,
"Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." (32) So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.

Look at how different the world of light is compared to the world of darkness. Jesus sensed that his disciples needed to be refreshed. Rather than focusing on them the way King Herod did, he calls them to Himself. Christ calls them to come apart from the spirit of the world. And he doesn’t go to a palace filled creature comforts, he takes them to a solitary place in the desert. There were no fine buildings and fine gardens, nothing but a desert place, where the accommodations were very poor, and which was decorated by nature only, and not by art. He calls them to rest awhile.

continued tomorrow

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Medication: A Merry Heart

This cartoon is in honor of Pastor Kevin who did not understand yestedays Medication (scroll down to see it). This one deals with a super hero which means he will understand it without any explanation from me. I hope.

(October 7, 2009)

Prayer House News!

There are no classes tonight due to Family Week.

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I am doing a one-day prayer conference in Lodi, WI this coming Saturday. I will be leaving from our church at 6:00am and will be returning at 4:00pm. I'll be back in time for SNS. If you are interested in going with me - give me a call at the church office.

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Intimacy With God

continued from yesterday

In the next few verses the scene changes. It’s almost as if a new chapter should start here.

(30) The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught.

It goes directly from talking about how John the Baptist lost his head over a girl to Jesus’ disciples coming back from a time of ministry. However, from verse thirty on, it’s a continuation of verses 7-13.

Mark 6:7-13 Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits. (8) These were his instructions: "Take nothing for the journey except a staff-no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. (9) Wear sandals but not an extra tunic. (10) Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. (11) And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them." (12) They went out and preached that people should repent. (13) They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

Actually the account of King Herod’s birthday was interjected. The chapter is more so about the disciples going out in the name of Jesus.

(30) The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. (31) Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." (32) So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.

Here is where we begin to really see the difference between the world of darkness and the world of light. Actually John gives a great description of the world of darkness.

1 John 2:15-16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
NAS

There are three facets of the world of darkness.

1.The lust of the flesh. This was manifested when Herodias’ daughter danced seductively for the King. This spirit is what ultimately cost John the Baptist his head. Lust is the mistreatment of other people.

2.The lust of the eyes. This is materialism. The need to

see things is what captures the heart of the material man. Men love to just look at what they possess. There have been times when I have purchased a car and for a few days I like to just look at it. Women love to window shop. There is something about looking – with the possiblility of one day possessing that really captures our hearts. The is most likely the reason the King threw a party at his palace. He was showing off all of his material goods.

3.The boastful pride of life. Pride is an incredible spirit that can capture a heart. One of the reasons the king had to keep his word and kill John the Baptist was because his dinner guests heard him make the pledge. Now his pride would not allow him to back away from a foolish statement. It is quite common to hear people stand by a rather stupid statement they made because of a refusal to humble themselves and admit to their error.

continued tomorrow

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Medication: A Merry Heart

(October 6, 2009)

Prayer House News!

Our ladies are praying this morning at 9:00am. Are you enjoying Family Week?

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On October 15 the Jesus Sensitive Conference begins. I hope you will be able to get to many of the sessions.

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Intmacy with God

continued from yesterday

There used to be a popular song called, "Looking for Love in all the Wrong Places." That could actually summarize this message today. The world is looking for love, all men have a basic need to be loved. The problem with the world is that it is looking in all the wrong places.

Mark 6:21 21Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee.

Herod was definitely a part of the dark world at this point in his life. On his own birthday he decides to give himself a banquet. It’s stated that the banquet was for his high officials, military commanders, and leading men, but let me ask you this: if you were invited to a banquet that just happened to fall on the King’s birthday, who do you think would be the guest of honor?

Please don’t read into this thinking that I am saying that birthday parties are wrong. I’m just talking about this one incident where the King threw a party for himself. I want us to see the difference between our love for God, which results in intimacy with Him, and the love of the world, or a love of self, which results in lust.

22When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests. The king said to the girl, "Ask me for anything you want, and I'll give it to you." 23And he promised her with an oath, "Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom."

Lust Destroys life

We need to get a picture of what is happening here. King Herod, who is driven by the spirit of this world, throws a party for himself. In the midst of all the debauchery he asks the daughter of Herodias, who is actually his niece, though he is married to her mom, to dance for them. This by the way is why Herodias wanted to kill John the Baptist – because the prophet told the King that it was not right to marry his brothers wife.

This dance was obviously very sensual because when she is finished he is ready to give away half of his kingdom to her. The spirit of incest must have been incredible here. His own flesh and blood has so stirred his spirit that he is willing to do anything for her. He is driven by his need to gain for himself.

What does his own lust result in: the death of John the Baptist?

24She went out and said to her mother, "What shall I ask for?" "The head of John the Baptist," she answered. 25At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: "I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter."

Lust destroys life. In this case one man’s lust literally resulted in the death of another man. This is not the first time that has happened. Uriah died because of the lust of King David. However, literal death is not the only kind of death that lust can cause.

Lust can kill a home, it can kill a marriage, it can destroy the hope children have in their parents, or it can kill a ministry. Lust is a false intimacy. Yet intimacy is a drive that all people have.

The problem here is priorities. The man who does not have an intimate relationship with God turns to himself as that which he worships. Subsequently, he will allow himself to enter into all sorts of potentially devastating situations in an effort to fulfill his need for intimacy. He ends up looking for love in all the wrong places. Self- preservation is a strong force. The man who worships himself will put himself above others and even above God.

(26) The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. (27) So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John's head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, (28) and brought back his head on a platter.

The king’s lust got him into a very difficult situation, now his pride won’t let him out of it. He is distressed. How many men and women have allowed their own love of self get them into situations that literally distress them, and find that they cannot get out of it.

They have gone to far, they have crossed the line and now their lust won’t even allow them to turn back. Isn’t it interesting that he was distressed for two reasons: his oath and his dinner guests. He made an oath – he sold his soul. He made a promise that he could not back out of. And then there are the dinner guests.

By all means – if you have dinner guests you’d better keep your word. This is a pride issue (which is a fruit of self love). His guests heard him make the oath. For their sake he must kill John the Baptist – someone he actually claims to like (that’s why he was distressed).

continued tomorrow

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Medication: A Merry Heart

(October 5, 2009)

Prayer House News!

Our October church calendar is viewable by clicking on the calendar on our side bar. Check it out often so you know what's happening at Prayer House.

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This is Family Week for us. That means that nothing is happening at our church this week. This is a great opportunity to do some fellowshipping with others.

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Intimacy with God

It’s been some time since we took some time to look at our core values. When we planted this church we did so by establishing six core values. For those of you who are relatively new to Prayer House I will simply tell you that a core value is something you would be willing to die for.
Many times people confuse preferences with core values. A preference is something you would like, if you didn’t have to pay a price to attain it. An example of that is the subject of revival. The church would prefer revival – but it seems we are not really ready to pay a price for revival.

A core value is something so deeply ingrained within a person that they would willingly give their life for it. Our first core value is “Intimacy with God.” So the question must be asked, “Would you give your life for the privilege of intimacy with God?” If it became illegal to go to church, if you could be thrown in jail for claiming to be a Christian would you still call yourself Christian?

There is a lot of literature being published today that is looking at the consequences of our easy believe-ism and whether or not people who come into the church by their own flesh pleasing standards, would even give a second thought of staying committed to Christ in the midst of persecution.

Two Existences

Do you realize that we live in two existences, or two worlds at the same time. I am not talking so much about the difference between the physical world and the spiritual world. I’m talking about the two worlds, which could be defined as the world of darkness and the world of light.

I don’t believe it would be correct to refer to our physical world as the sum total of the world of darkness because we can see bits and pieces of both worlds in this physical world. Anytime we walk through the doors of a church we get a little glimpse of the world of light that exists in this physical world – but only a glimpse.

You could go almost any other place outside of the church and see glimpses of the dark world. Walk through any night-club or rock concert and you will get a glimpse of the dark world. But in either case today we see as through a glass darkly.

To see the fullness of either of these two worlds one must look into the heart of man. The one thing that both worlds have and need is intimacy. All life craves intimacy. Intimacy is the source of life originally, and it goes on to sustain the very life it creates. Christians must have intimacy with God if we are going to continue to be useful in the kingdom. We cannot give birth to anything without intimacy.

The ungodly also crave intimacy but not with their creator but rather with self. The world of darkness is filled with a love for self, which is translated, lust. The world of light is filled with love for God. Love gives itself away for the needs of others – lust seeks to gain for self. Nothing means more to a lustful person than their own personal fulfillment.

continued tomorrow

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Medication: A Merry Heart

Bucket o' Chicken

One day a state trooper was pulling off an expressway near Chicago. When he turned onto the street at the end of the ramp, he noticed someone at a chicken place getting into his car.

The driver placed the bucket of chicken on top of his car, got in, and drove off with the bucket still on top of his car. So the trooper decided to pull him over and perform a community service by giving the driver his chicken.

He pulled him over, walked up to the car, pulled the bucket off the roof, and offered it to the driver. The driver looked at the trooper and said, "No thanks. I just bought some."

(October 2, 2009)

Prayer House News!

Our October church calendar is viewable by clicking on the calendar on our side bar. Check it out often so you know what's happening at Prayer House.

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This weekend is another Food Pantry collection time. Please bring unperishables to those in need.

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The Heart of the King

Psalms 119:97, Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could live a life of meditating on the things of God all day long? Some would say, “Yes.” Others would say, “I’m not so sure.” And still others would say, “No!”

The key word here is “love.” “Oh, how I LOVE Your law!”

Not until we love the things of God the way David did will we really be taken up with meditating upon them all day long.

David is expressing first-love desires in this verse. The one with a first-love desire is completely taken up with the one he is pursuing. I remember once when I received a letter from my wife before we were married. I read that letter over and over. Her very words were a comfort to me. I literally meditated upon those words for days. Why? Because I was in love.

When you are in love even the words of those you love are important to you. David said, “I love Your law (Lord) so much that I meditate on it all day long.”

The word “law” in the Hebrew language means “teaching.” It means “law,” especially in the sense of the teaching of an authority, whether patriarch, king, or rabbi. In other words, the teaching of the King is law.

The Supreme Lord not only utters laws as we think of them, but His utterances are teachings. Whenever Israel backslid, it was because they fell away from the teaching God gave them in His Word. Then when a godly king arose, he was commanded to teach the people how to serve God. So when David expressed he loved the law of God, he was also expressing he intended never to stray from his God.
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Medication: A Merry Heart