DOWN AND OUT

WHEN THIS WOMAN IS KNOCKED OUT, IT’S SERIOUS.

WE ARE SO SICK, GOT ANOTHER GROCERY BAG FULL OF DRUGS.

WIFE WAS SO DEHYDRATED THAT SHE PASSED OUT AT WORK. FELL AND BRUISED HER TAILBONE.

PLEASE KEEP US IN PRAYER.

THANKS FOR YOUR PRAYERS.

GOD BLESS FROM SCUMLIKEUSCHURCH@GMAIL.COM

ONE LIFE TO LIVE

Living a life that contrasts sharply with the lifestyle of the world provides a sound basis for the other aspect of our relationship to the world: effective evangelism. First Peter 3:15 incorporates these two aspects in one passage: “Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts [separation from the world], always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you [evangelism], yet with gentleness and reverence [the Christian attitude as contrasted with the cosmic attitude of pride and arrogance].

The believer separates himself from the world in two major areas: in word and in deeds. The epistles of the New Testament emphasize how a believer is to think and believe and then how to live in accordance with that doctrine. This is what is meant by not being conformed to the world but being transformed by the renewing of our mind (Rom. 12:2). The New Testament is full of teachings that describe how the believer is to think and live based on the dynamics of the Christian life provided by the Holy Spirit. If a believer loses his interest in doctrine and godly living, he is in serious trouble because he has no other effective basis to combat the world.

God bless from scumlikeuschurch@gmail.com

Pray for salvation, Lauren, Tara, Nicole, Anne, Cheyanne, Hunter, Garrett, Phil, Tavon, Lubbock, Paul M, Oscar, Cristina, Norma and her husband Rick and adult son, Rick Jr.

Revival in America, that we truly become one nation under God.

ESTEEMING OTHERS

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Philippians 2:3

New International Version (NIV)

³ Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves

Nothing whatever should be done through selfish ambition or conceit, since these are two of the greatest enemies of unity among the people of God. Selfish ambition is the desire to be number one, no matter what the cost. Conceit speaks of pride or self-display. Wherever you find people who are interested in gathering a clique around themselves or in promoting their own interests, there you will find the seeds of contention and strife.

The remedy is found in the latter part of the verse. In lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. This does not mean that we must consider criminals as having better moral characters than our own, but rather that we should live for others unselfishly, putting their interests above our own. It is easy to read an exhortation like this in the word of God, but quite another thing to appreciate what it really means, and then put it into actual practice. To esteem others better than ourselves is utterly foreign to the human mind, and we cannot do it in our own strength. It is only as we are indwelt and empowered by the Holy Spirit that it can ever be practiced.

What do you practice?

God bless from scumlikeuschurch@gmail.com

Pray for J.C. Hickman, going through chemo and needs support as well as our prayers.

Also praying for Jeff S whose Mom passed away pray for the family

Prayers for Anthony B who needs a job…trying to feed and clothe 6 kids

Praying for Steve H, strength, encouragement, also keep his wife Pam in prayer, chronic knee pain.

Keep Caliste Burt in prayer, pray she beats discouragement, she has been dealing with numerous brain tumors for several years and the upcoming surgery is long, radical (never been done before).

Caliste has been told she needs to have radical brain surgery with only a 40 percent chance of it fixing the problem. She is refusing the surgery because of the 60 percent side of not working and the almost 100 percent chance of negative results (loss of speech, motor function etc.) .

Keep Lauren in prayer for salvation.

DANG, MISSED IT

Visited a Christian bookstore today, something I don’t often do as I’ve found most Christian bookstores only care about sales and not content, makes sense since they are a business and not really a ministry.

The problem is you have at least a 50/50 chance of buying something that is pure crap. Especially in the area of books written on spiritual warfare. I trust basically two books on the topic (besides the bible) the multi volume set by Walter Wink and the one volume set by Dean.

Have I read every book on the topic in print today, almost. To me books are like prophets, you are either 100% right or you ain’t. It’s the little things that will screw you up.

Having qualified in long range rifle shooting in the military and shooting competitively for over 40 years, I can tell you that being ‘off’ just a little bit will make you miss the target. Being a little bit of spiritually can also make you miss the target.

Those that know me really well know I have a ‘rule’ about reading (which it’s a guideline not a hard fast rule) I try not to read anything by someone still living. Part of the reason is what they’ve written stand the test of time, or will it fade into oblivion because it was poorly written, or time has proven false. When you read a book especially in the christian arena two things will always have to come into focus. Is the book biblically correct and is the person writing the book leading  a life pleasing to God.

If the book strays from the truth about God, trust me the author has also strayed.

I’m not recommending you follow the same rules but just want you know where I’m coming from.

So that’s my 2 cents, I don’t often rant, but today it’s what you get.

God bless from scumlikeuschurch@gmail.com

RETURN TO YOUR FIRST LOVE

Consider the pangs of conscience that may have intruded into your life when you first experimented with certain things that you knew were wrong. You were overwhelmed and shaken. Perhaps you even became physically ill. But the power of sin can erode the conscience to the point where it becomes a faint voice in the deepest recesses of your soul. By this, our consciences become hardened and callous, condemning what is right and excusing what is wrong.

For some of us it’s hard to remember being sensitive, easily offended, shocked or even alarmed. I hate to sound like a prude, but I am shocked at what Christians’ watch for entertainment.  It appears if it’s popular it’s excusable.

Vampires, sex, horror shows (I’ve never understood that) I’ve seen enough real horrors in life to not want to volunteer to see more.

The worse language, it’s ok, it’s funny.

Then we wonder why our kids are acting or sounding the way they do.

There is one trend crude Christians exemplify, they don’t study their bibles.

A casual reading, maybe, but prayerfully, carefully, not at all.

Why?

Because being in love with the things (entertainment) of this world will rob you of any desire to know the things of God.

And this is what happens….

Hosea 4:6

English Standard Version (ESV)

⁶ My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge;
because you have rejected knowledge,
I reject you from being a priest to me.
And since you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.

God bless from scumlikeuschurch@gmail.com

Pray for Mandy who is raising a child as an unwed 16 year old, rejected and thrown out by her parents. This prayer request is 2 years old today. Mandy is 18, Melody is four. Mandy has stayed faithful to church, celibate and teaches on Wednesday night to single moms who are struggling like she was. This is a testimony to Mandy and the church that has faithfully taken her in and blessed her.

Speaking of victories, former pastor Allen, of an Aryan church, also 2 years of love and no hate speech. Working with inner city youth gangs. Allen did 9 years in prison and has a real message to these tough street kids, it is definitely a tough love program.

On top of all that has been going on in our life, things are tough, we just found out our well collapsed and have to dig an 900 foot deep new well. And we are still looking for a place to live as our home has not water, heat or electricity.

Please keep my wife Sharon in prayer, between taking care of me as I hopefully recover from whatever I have and all the other things on her plate I’m praying she does not over do it.

PRAYER VOCAULARY

The apostle Paul spells out the dimensions of prayer when he lists four of the seven different Greek words for prayer found in the New Testament: “supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks” (1 Tim. 2:1). Confessional prayer or “supplications” carries the idea of desire or needs. In prayer we confess to God our desires and our needs.

Then there is consecrational prayer. “Prayers” is the most general word for prayer, but is exclusively used of our address to God; therefore, it emphasizes the sacredness of prayer and the need for reverence and worship in our devotions.

Next is conversational prayer—“intercessions.” While this is translated “petition” (prayer, 1 Tim. 4:5), its basic meaning is “to meet with in order to converse” (W. E. Vine). How often do we take time to “converse” with our heavenly Father? Finally, there is celebrational prayer—”giving of thanks.” This is a dimension of prayer that should never be absent in our dealings with God.

For me Praying gets easier if I understand the sum of the whole. People are always asking “how do I pray better?”

Understanding the parts of a prayer makes it easier. You can shoot for one piece of the puzzle or do the whole thing.

Thanksgiving should not merely conclude a “selfish prayer.” Thanksgiving should be the normal activity of a grateful and adoring heart. Archbishop Trench reminds us that this is one aspect of prayer that will continue throughout eternity, where it will be “longer, deeper, fuller than here.”

That’s it for today, God bless from scumlikeuschurch@gmail.com 

PRAYING FOR REVIVAL IN AMERICA, ONE NATION UNDER GOD, NOT DIVIDED BUT UNITED

Pray for J.C. Hickman, going through chemo and needs support as well as our prayers.

Also praying for Jeff S whose Mom passed away pray for the family

Prayers for Anthony B who needs a job…trying to feed and clothe 6 kids

Praying for Steve H, strength, encouragement, blessing on his study time, also keep his wife Pam in prayer, chronic knee pain and recovering from emergency appendectomy.

Keep Caliste Burt in prayer, pray she beats discouragement, she has been dealing with numerous brain tumors for several years and the upcoming surgery is long, radical (never been done before).

Caliste has been told she needs to have radical brain surgery with only a 40 percent chance of it fixing the problem. She is refusing the surgery because of the 60 percent side of not working and the almost 100 percent chance of negative results (loss of speech, motor function etc.) .

keep Lauren in prayer for salvation

WORM FOOD

The Scripture clearly teaches that humans were created in the image of God. Genesis 3 describes Adam and Eve’s disobedience and fall. Genesis 4–Genesis 11 portrays the calamities and strife of Adam and Eve’s descendants. Although humans still bear enough of God’s image to demonstrate divine origin, the history of war, crime, terrorism and perversion provide incontrovertible evidence of the Fall. The noblest ideals of humanity provide evidence that humans are created by God. However, the greed and brutality of humanity offers proof of the corruption of humans by sin. Without an inspired record of the Fall, we would still have to assume an evil occurrence at the dawn of history to account for such tragic human drama, drama that could only be redeemed by the divine intervention of Christ’s incarnation, resurrection, and promised return (see Job. 31:33; Rom. 5:12–14; 1 Cor. 15:22–45; 1 Tim. 2:13–14).

1. The interpretation of the Fall: Is the account of the fall of Adam and Eve figurative or literal? Is it myth and allegory with symbolic meaning or is it literal, factual history? While some theologians interpret Genesis 1–Genesis 11 as myth, the following facts argue for a literal interpretation:

1. a) Nowhere in the Bible is the story of Adam interpreted symbolically. If the Creation and Fall stories were merely allegorical, the spiritualized interpretations would have been numerous.

2. b) There is no indication in Genesis 11 and Genesis 12 suggesting a change from allegory to history. Noah is as much a real character as is Abraham.

3. c) The apostle Paul paralleled Adam and Christ in his writings. Since Christ is a historical person, it is unlikely He would be an antitype of a non-historical character (see Rom. 5:14; 1 Cor. 15:22–45).

4. d) Adam’s name appears with other historical characters such as David, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in two different genealogy scriptures (see 1 Chron. 1–2; Luke 3:23–38).

5. e) Real geographical locations are included in the story of Adam, such as Assyria and the river Euphrates.

6. f) The fallen condition of people is literal and true. The truly fallen state of humans can hardly be attributed to a mythical event. Moreover, the fact that humankind has made extraordinary scientific and technological progress, while making little or no moral, ethical, or social progress, demonstrates the sinful human nature. The persistence of war, crime, terrorism, greed, political corruption, and perversion exhibits the existence of human sinfulness as well as the existence of a supernatural evil force motivating human wickedness.

We can never honestly celebrate a noble humanity, not with our written proof of our fallen nature inscribed by in word and in our hearts. Even as redeemed we still sin, fall, get back up and fall again. That is why as believers each day we need to be born again, renewed, refreshed, rededicated. Like the manna given in the wilderness, each new day is exactly that a new day, what we did yesterday matters little if we do nothing for Him today. We cannot save up credit and be unspiritual for a day and expect spiritual results. As the manna turned to worms when it was saved overnight, so is our new day either worm food or spiritual food.

As always it is a choice, renew or rot.

God bless from scumlikeuschurch@gmail.com

Pray for revival both of our nation and for ourselves. That a revival could start with you, and then spread to your family, then your neighbors than a block, then a city and so on. Pray it starts with you. Blessings. ,

CHOOSE

There is a common theme running from the Book of Genesis through the book of The Revelation. That is, God invites people into His presence (God’s MERCY), they refuse, and they are subsequently banished from God’s presence (God’s WRATH).

For example, Adam and Eve  could have eaten from the tree of life and lived forever in God’s presence (Genesis 3:22).  Instead, they refused, ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and were banished from the Garden of Eden, the Garden of God, where God walked with them (Genesis 3:8,23,24).

Israel is invited to be with God at Mount Sinai .  They refused by running from God and this rebellion ultimately resulted in their banishment and subsequent death in the wilderness. (Exodus 19:16-19; 20:18-21)

God invites the children of Israel to recognize Him as their King.  Israel refuses to recognize God as their king and rather chooses a human king (1 Samuel 8:6,7).  This ultimately leads to sin and the banishment from God of the whole nation of Israel! (Psalms 78:59. Jeremiah 3:8)

Jesus tells us the same story with a twist others will be invited to take the place of those banished (cf. Romans 11:17-20).

Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his slaves to summon those who had been invited to the banquet, but they would not come. Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Look! The feast I have prepared for you is ready. My oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.”‘ But they were indifferent and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. The rest seized his slaves, insolently mistreated them, and killed them. The king was furious! He sent his soldiers, and they put those murderers to death and set their city on fire. Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but the ones who had been invited were not worthy. So go into the main streets and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’  And those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all they found, both bad and good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to see the wedding guests, he saw a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But he had nothing to say. Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!’  For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:1-14)

Jesus, the consummate teacher, would use the known to explain the unknown. An unjust judge, a familiar character, was juxtaposed with God the just judge. (Psalms 7:11)

Then Jesus told them a parable to show them they should always pray and not lose heart.  He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected people. There was also a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but later on he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor have regard for people, yet because this widow keeps on bothering me, I will give her justice, or in the end she will wear me out by her unending pleas.'” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unrighteous judge says! Won’t God give justice to his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he delay long to help them? I tell you, he will give them justice speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”  (Luke 18:1-8)

Juxtaposed to the unjust judge in this parable or story, our God is a just judge and certainly will do much better than any human judge (Isaiah 45:21,22). Again, the point of this parable is if an unjust human judge will give you what you want just to stop the constant asking, will not a God that is grace, mercy-love, and compassion answer your request quickly? (Jeremiah 29:12,13. Psalms 103:13,14. Isaiah 42:3,4) The conclusion – we are not to give up on our requests to God in prayer even if the answer seems to us delayed! (Isaiah 64:4)

Similar to the unjust judge being used to teach us about our just God, King Ahasuerus is used to illustrate the dealings of God with Israel.  Ahasuerus is the king of the world and treats his subjects, including his wife, to blessings and liberty without end (Esther 1:1-4).  Then he invites her to his presence – she refuses and is banished (Esther 1:11,12,19).  I believe Vashti represents the nation of Israel, which refused to come into God’s presence.  All but a remnant of Israel is broken off, divorced, and banished. (Romans 11: 1-36)

I believe Esther represents the church that has been grafted into Jesus the vine (John 15:1-8) and is the instrument for the salvation of the world during this age of the Gentiles (Romans 11:1-36).  She is treated with the King’s oil (the anointing of the Holy Spirit) and perfume (representing obedience through death to self).  She only wants what Hegai (her helper, guide, coach, etc. representing the Holy Spirit) tells her to do, say, or be in the King’s presence.  She becomes the bride without a spot or wrinkle (Ephesians 5:27). However, Israel will be grafted back into the vine when they accept Jesus as their Messiah! (Romans 11:1-36)

Conclusion:

Do not ever forget, God’s MERCY rejected leaves only God’s WRATH (Hebrews 10:30,31). Furthermore, do not mistake the patience of God against sin as His affirmation and acceptance of it. (Numbers 14:18. Romans 9:22. 2 Peter 3:9. Ecclesiastes 8:11)

That is because God is full of holiness, righteousness, and justice (1) He cannot tolerate or overlook our sin. Nevertheless, because God is also full of grace, mercy, and compassion He has provided a way for sinners to escape His wrath by sacrificing His spotless, sinless Son Jesus Christ (Isaiah 53. 1 Peter 2:22-25).

If you chose not to accept Jesus’ sacrifice for your sin and His Lordship in this life then when you die:

…prepare to meet your God… (Amos 4:12)

God bless from scumlikeuschurch@gmail.com

Prayers for salvation; Lauren, Tara, Anne, Cheyenne, Nicole, Oscar, Cristina, Drew, Hunter, Garrett, Lubbock, Phil, Norma, Rick her husband and Rick Jr their son, also they would be delivered from gambling.

Revival for America, a united America under Christ. Heal our nation, open our eyes to the deception of our leaders, Lord save our Leaders or remove them.

UFC 0

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UFC 1 (Ultimate Faith Challenge)

The book of Job not only helps us see Jesus through the use of Job as a type (a person or thing in the Old Testament that exemplifies the ideal or significant characteristics of a person or thing in the New Testament) of Christ, but it also leads us to consider how the examples of both Job and Jesus can be applied to our own lives

➤ Even the righteous suffer—Job was “blameless and upright” (Job 1:1) while Jesus was “without sin” (Heb 4:15) and yet both endured immense suffering. What can we learn from their examples about dealing with our own suffering?

➤ God uses Satan’s efforts for his own purposes—Satan intended to use suffering to turn Job away from God. But God used Satan’s work to do the opposite—to strengthen Job’s faith. Similarly, God used the intentions of evil men to ultimately bring about the salvation of humankind (see Ac 2:23). How can we use these examples to build our trust that God will use suffering and evil for his own purposes?

➤ Friends can increase misery—Both Job and Jesus were surrounded by friends who, when they were needed most, not only failed to provide comfort but compounded the misery (see Job 16:2; Mt 26:40,43; Mk 14:66–69). What can we learn from these “miserable comforters” (Job 16:2) about helping our friends in their time of need?

➤ Hope even unto death because of the resurrection—“Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him,” said Job about his Creator (Job 13:15). Similarly, when faced with his impending crucifixion, Jesus had the courage to say, “Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Mt 26:39). How can we learn to put our hope in God even in the face of death? By doing what Job and Jesus did: putting our hope in the resurrection (see Job 19:26; Lk 9:22).

➤ Submitting our suffering to God—At the end of his ordeal, Job submitted all the suffering he had endured to God (see Job 42:1–6). The book of Hebrews tells us that during the days of his life on earth, Jesus did the same by offering up prayers and petitions to God (see Heb 5:7). What suffering in our lives do we need to submit to God through prayers and petitions? Job 42

God bless from scumlikeuschurch@gmail.com

OUR BIGGEST PRAYER, REVIVAL IN AMERICA, A NATION UNITED IN FAITH BY GOD AND BEING A GODLY NATION.

Pray for J.C. Hickman, going through chemo and needs support as well as our prayers.

Also praying for Jeff S whose Mom passed away pray for the family

Prayers for Anthony B who needs a job…trying to feed and clothe 6 kids

Praying for Steve H, strength, encouragement, also keep his wife Pam in prayer, chronic knee pain and continued healing from an emergency appendectomy.

Keep Caliste Burt in prayer, pray she beats discouragement, she has been dealing with numerous brain tumors for several years and the upcoming surgery is long, radical (never been done before).

I’m still dealing with a severe case of bronchitis, keep me in prayer please, my oxygen levels are finally back in the 90’s.

OH THAT WOMAN

What kind of motivation did Satan use to tempt holy, innocent beings into disobeying their God? As previously mentioned, God endowed Adam and Eve with certain basic instincts, needed for their own well-being. These instincts or drives included self-preservation, acquisition, desire for food, desire for love and procreation, and the urge for dominion. These drives constituted a motivational base to which Satan could direct temptation.

Satan aimed his temptation at three of Eve’s basic desires: “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate” (Gen. 3:6). Unquestionably, these were not inherently evil desires. They became evil because they were used for Satan’s purposes in direct disobedience to God’s specific commandment.

Desire becomes lust when it is contrary to the will of the Spirit. Many scholars believe John was referring to the pattern of Eve’s temptation when he wrote: “For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:16–17).

The term “world” in this verse does not refer to the earth, but to the societal realm ruled by Satan; the term “flesh” has reference not to the body as such, but to the total person dedicated to selfishness and disobedience to God.

It is important to notice that Satan did not appeal to Eve’s desires until he first tempted her to doubt the Lord. He began his temptation with the insinuating question, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” (Gen. 3:1). This question is contrived to tempt Eve to doubt God’s goodness. Next Satan states, “You will not surely die” to raise doubts about God’s veracity (Gen. 3:4).

With the seeds of doubt planted, Satan unveiled himself as God’s enemy by asserting that God was trying to deprive Adam and Eve of their supposed right to achieve divine status: “For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:5). Once this seed of doubt was planted and had germinated, Satan appealed to Eve’s desires. Perhaps Eve thought if God’s truth and goodness were suspect, she must then pursue her own interests. Scholars disagree on whether Eve’s rebellion may have been one or all of the deadly sins of self, doubt or pride (see 1 Tim. 3:6; 2 Pet. 2:10; Jas. 1:5–8, NIV). It seems all three sins contributed to the ultimate fall of the first humans, Adam and Eve.

There are those in the church today that put all the blame on Eve for sin entering the world. But read the text carefully and it appears that Adam must have been near her or in close proximity and he failed to protect her, failed to act as the leader God intended him to be.

God bless from scumlikeuschurch@gmail.com

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