Mickey’s Dead

Mickey’s Dead

Spiritually Deadness.

Should I slit my wrists? Done that.

Revolver to my mouth? Done that.

Overdose on pills? Done that.

Burn every bridge? Done that.

Piss everyone off? Done that.

Lie about it all? Done that.

Drive to fast? Done that.

Live wild and reckless? Done that.

Take every drug known to man? Done that.

Satanic things? Done that.

Wicked things? Done that.

Shameful things? Done that.

Sinful Things? Done that.

Blaspheme God? Done that.

And that was just today?

And yet Jesus still loves you!

God bless from scumlikeuschurch@gmail.com

Remember Matthew my son, possible brain tumor or just a really stupid doctor.

GET SMART

You may not be old enough to remember a television show called Get Smart, no, it wasn’t a game show, it was a show about a really dumb spy named Maxwell Smart. He outlived all the assassination plots out of sheer stupidity.

He was a likable dumb guy with a really irritating voice and a good looking female partner that he never realized she liked him.

He had a saying that pretty much ended each show. After bungling, failing, tripping and plenty of slapstick, he’d hold up his thumb and forefinger and say: “Chief, we missed it by this much.”

That pretty well summed up how much he didn’t know.

18 inches, that’s the difference between your head and your heart. 18 inches.

Salvation isn’t about what you feel but what you know.

Plenty of people have had emotional, religious experiences, but not a salvation experience or being born again or saved. Whatever you want to call it. Emotions and religion may or may not go always go together. You can have plenty of zeal and not really be going to heaven. You can feel pretty strongly about something and still be wrong.

It’s the same way with making heaven your home by choice, by an intelligent decision that won’t be dissuaded by emotion.

In other words, you won’t hear God saying; “you missed it by this much”.

You will KNOW, that Jesus is God, the Son of God, that He is eternal, always existing. Born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, was crucified as a substitute for your sins. He died and was resurrected 3 days later. Witnessed by over 500 people to be alive. Then ascended into heaven to be our conduit to God for a lack of a better word.

And, don’t miss this; He is the only way into heaven. All religions don’t lead to heaven. You can’t pray to Mary or the saints. Only God can hear your confession and have it mean something. And all this truth is found in the bible the only Word of God.

You won’t go to heaven through Mormonism, Hinduism, the religion of the Muslims, Jehovah Witness, Christian Scientists, or any other religion. It is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as Savior, not a church. Although the church is important for your growth, fellowship and accountability.

God bless from scumlikeuschurch@gmail.com

Questions, comments, prayer requests, etc. please send to the email address.

Blessings.

ARE YOU IN DENIAL?

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Many people do not understand what genuine, biblical humility is. They think that biblical humility is going around all hungover having an inferiority complex and saying, “Well, I am just no good.” Well, friend, that is not true, you are somebody and you need to develop to have true humility and to have a true understanding of who you are. You need to have an understanding of what God says about you. You need to see who you are in Christ.

Ephesians; 1:1…Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”

Have you ever noticed that in the average Bible, if you’ll look at the margin where it’s thumbed the most, you’ll find the Bible has been used the most in what we call the behavior passages. These are, if you’ll take somebody’s Bible and look through it, the verses that deal with behavior will be the ones that will be marked up the most, underlined the most. And, the Bible pages will be smudged there the most, and they’ll be worked over the most there because we just have a way of going to those kind of passages.

You say, “What do you mean, Pastor, by the behavior passages?” Well, I’m talking about passages like Ephesians 6 that tells us how to put on the whole armour of God and how to fight the warfare. And, boy, we say, “Well, that’s what I need to do.”

And, we get over there and we study that and study that. Or, maybe in the 12th chapter of Romans that tells all of these things to do and not to do. Or, maybe in the Beatitudes that tell us how to live and how to act and all of these things, and we study those behavior passages over and over again. But, I want you to learn something about Christianity tonight, Christianity is not behavior modification.

Real humility is accepting what God says about you. That’s real humility. Not what you think about it, but what God says about you.

God says we are saints, meaning sanctified ones. The term is always used in the plural, there isn’t any Saint, singular. As members of the body of Christ we are Saints, plural.

Christians just resist the idea. They don’t get victory because they cannot accept the fact that they’re saints.

I hear people say, “Well, you know, I’m just not what I ought to be.” Now, you know, that sounds humble. That’s not humble. You know what that is? A man says, “Well, I know I’m just not what I ought to be.” That’s rebellion. I mean, let me ask you a question. If you’re not what you ought to be, why not? Huh? Why aren’t you what you ought to be? Do you think God’s going to take that as an excuse? No. If you ought to be that way, then get that way.

See, it starts out with us believing a lie. Just like in Genesis, it’s easier to say we are not good enough. Because we know our shortcomings, we know our sins.

We will tell everyone we are sinners before we will tell anyone we are saints.

That means we don’t really believe what the bible says about us.

Ephesians 1:4; “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:” Every one of us tonight ought to be blameless before the Lord Jesus Christ. We are saints of God. You say, “Well, but I’m not perfect.” That makes no difference. Dear friend, in God’s sight, you’re His saint. In God’s sight, God sees you as perfect.

So lets start with that, God sees us as perfect, because He sees us through the sacrifice of His Son, we are covered in the Blood of the Lamb. Would you deny that? Of course not.

Let’s stop there, more tomorrow.

God bless from scumlikeuschurch@gmail.com

Remember our salvation list, yes, it seems like we pray for the same people every day to find out about Jesus. As long as they are drawing breath there is always a chance for them. So don’t give up.

HE KNOWS ME!

“He (the Holy Spirit) shall glorify Me (the Lord Jesus)” (John 16:14).

  The Spirit’s ministry within is the displacement of the old man, and the emplacement of the New Man.

The Father works to will, and He is ready to work to do, but, alas! many Christians misunderstand this. They think because they have the will it is enough, and that now they are able to do. This is not so. The new will is a permanent gift, an attribute of the new life in Christ. The power to carry out this will is not a permanent gift, but must be each moment received from the Holy Spirit. It is the one who is conscious of his own utter powerlessness, as a believer, who will learn that by the Spirit alone he can live the Christian life.

Our manner of speaking may often mislead us. We would say, The work of the Spirit is to save souls. Yes, but why—just to save them? No; in order that the Lord Jesus may have His place. Those souls are to be ‘residences’ of the Lord Jesus. The Spirit may instruct believers and build them up—for what purpose? Just that they should be mature Christians? Not at all; but so that the Lord Jesus shall have a larger place.

No matter what the Spirit does, He has one all-inclusive object and end—the glorifying of the Lord Jesus Christ: that is, the giving of Him His place, and then filling all things with Him. Do not think of the ‘being filled with the Spirit,’ or the ‘fulness of the Spirit,’ in any other way than this. The Holy Spirit’s filling is intended to be a filling of all things with the Lord Jesus Christ.

How we have degraded the Holy Spirit into a mere power by which we have to do our work! Oh, that the Spirit might be held in honor as the One to fill us with the very life of our Lord Jesus Christ!

  “Unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13)

UNDER PRESSURE

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When we look closely at the story of Israel, we find a recurring pattern. When the people are under pressure, they turn to God; when the pressure is off, “they forgot the LORD their God” (1Sa 12:9).

 Pressure is a constraining or compelling force or influence in our lives. We can feel pressured by circumstances, other people or even by God. It is this last type of pressure that often scares us most. We know God only gives us what we need, but we resent the idea that what we need is more pressure. “Pressure is one of the more resented of God’s graces.” Resented or not, we need to understand it.

  ➤ The purpose of pressure—If we want to make the muscles in our bodies stronger, there is only one way to accomplish the task: (1) apply increased loads (e.g., weights to our muscles until they are exhausted), (2) rest and (3) repeat. This is the cycle by which pressure makes our bodies stronger. And it is also the way God makes us morally, mentally and spiritually stronger.

 ➤ The difference between good and bad pressure—Not all types of pressure are created equal. Good pressure is that which forces us to rely on God and leads us to grow in faith. We might not like the process, but experiencing godly pressure and godly rest are how we’re made stronger. Bad pressure is what we bring upon ourselves through sin, anxiety or worry, often because we want to assume God’s role. Rather than making us stronger, bad pressure breaks us down and makes us weaker.

 ➤ The benefits of pressure—Pressure has numerous benefits.

  God only gives us the priceless grace of pressure so that we will share his holiness, bear the peaceful fruit of righteousness (Hebrews 12:10–11), exercise love for others (1 John 4:7), put their needs before ours (Philippians 2:3), and to push us toward himself—our exceeding joy (Psalm 43:4).

God bless from scumlikeuschurch@gmail.com

Pray for our little pal Daniel, 5 years old with Leukemia, great Christian family, lots of support. He’s a real trooper

Remember our salvation list.

Norma Perales and her husband Rick and her adult son Rick Jr.

Mona R, Barbara D, Cristina and her husband Oscar and Cynthia B.

Keep Bill Warneke in prayer chronic pain and depression.

Olivia and Tim say thanks for praying for baby Eli, he has finally caught up to the right weight and growth.

Keep Steve H in prayer, strength and encouragement.

I love my Lists

IF THIS PICTURE DOESN’T CREEP YOU OUT WE NEED TO TALK!

How about a hot topic list

1. If you have a good wife, you are blessed, if not life sucks

2. Christians cannot be demon possessed

3. Animals have a spirit not soul

4. Our soul is our identity

5. Spirit and Soul are used interchangeably in the New Testament

6. No one can really agree on what the apostle Paul meant by flesh, there are several great arguments and all of them make sense.

7. No one knows the date Jesus will return, if they say they do, they are a liar

8. No one knows when the Rapture will take place, pre, mid or trib, so just be ready at all times

9. Dakes bible is probably the worst bible ever written

• Animals don’t go to heaven

• Some people hate lists

• God doesn’t care if you are happy, just if you are becoming more like his Son.

God bless

scumlikeuschurch@gmail.com

let the games begin

SO NEAR YET SO FAR, SO FAR YET SO NEAR

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  “Oh, wretched man that I am!” (Rom. 7:24).

If you are familiar with that verse, then you have probably uttered those words often in your Christian walk. The Apostle Paul also said; ‘the good that I would do I don’t, and the bad that I don’t want to do, I do.’

  The result of, and penalty for, reliance upon the flesh, is Romans Seven. The result of, and reward for, dependence upon the Holy Spirit, is Romans Eight.

 Self-disappointment is a very different thing from self-judgment. Indeed, if there were true self-judgment there would never have to be self-disappointment. If in honesty and sobriety of heart I have judged ‘that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing,’ I shall certainly not expect anything from myself, and it has been well said that where there is no expectation there can be no disappointment.

 But I feel sure that many young believers, and I dare say some old ones too, are very familiar with the wretched and depressing experience of self-disappointment. They have made many fresh starts; they have often been stirred up, and have made up their minds to be more for Christ; they have thought, ‘I shall do better now; I am more earnest about it than I was before’; but it has all ended in disappointment.

They have no idea that they are trying to improve themselves; they would repudiate such a thought; they suppose that they know better than to look for good in themselves. And yet their disappointment is the plain proof that, in spite of all their knowledge of Scripture, they have expected to make themselves different, for they are disappointed because they have not succeeded in doing so.

The soul that turns back upon itself to learn God’s judgment about it, and what His dealings with it are likely to be, is not leaning upon what the Father is—is not standing in grace. Neither our joy nor our peace is dependent on what we are to Him, but on what He is to us—and this is grace.

  “My soul wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from Him” (Ps. 62:5).

God bless from scumlikeuschurch@gmail.com

Remember Bill Warneke in prayer, chronic neck pain, chronic depression and the beginnings of Parkinson’s.

Pray for Steve H, strength, endurance, encouragement, and to be a blessing and to be blessed.

Remember baby Eli, continued growth.

Pray for Danny, our 5 year old friend with Leukemia.

Salvation list; Barbara, Mona, Sherry P, Norma Perales, her husband, and adult son, Cristina and her husband Oscar. Blaine V,

Tommy is still doing well and says thanks for the prayers

Ricky R, still sober

upside down and backwards day

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1 Corinthians 9:27

But I keep control of my body, and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

The Apostle Paul is talking about controlling his body, cravings, lust, appetites of the flesh, sexual appetites, pleasure, cravings for food or desires.

He is also implying that all of our body including our mind needs to be harnessed as well. And there are ample bible verses to support this. But I want to bring up how there is a boomerang affect, you’ve all experienced it. You promise the Lord that there is something you are going to stop doing or something you promise to start doing and end up doing the opposite.

Well yesterday our devotions were on keeping our gaze, our attention fixed on the Lord.

Today was a total fail for me.

I not only sucked on the attention to the Lord, I sucked at everything else. To much on my plate, to much on my mind, to many things that needed to be done.

Oh I read all my bible chapters today, didn’t get a thing out of them. Prayer time was a bust. Left the house with two different color socks on (not blue and a black either). Left the cattle gate open, didn’t fill the deer feeders, forgot to leave a check for the propane guy, didn’t pack a lunch. Forgot my cell phone charger and ran a red light. Thankfully no one got hurt and no ticket.

We are supposed to redeem the time, make each day, each moment about Jesus, live for him, think of him, witness for him. I know I’m not at my best when I get home and realize I didn’t ever pray with someone today or share God’s word.

Thankfully God understands our being distracted days, even after we have told everyone to stay focused.

So, folks, stay focused, tomorrow is another day and God is gracious.

It’s not about feeling guilty its about closeness to the Lord. Thinking more about Him than anything else.

So here’s to tomorrow.

God bless from scumlikeuschurch@gmail.com

Remember Bill Warneke in prayer, chronic neck pain, chronic depression and the beginnings of Parkinson’s.

Pray for Steve H, strength, endurance, encouragement, and to be a blessing and to be blessed.

Remember baby Eli, continued growth.

Pray for Danny, our 5 year old friend with Leukemia.

Salvation list; Barbara, Mona, Sherry P, Norma Perales, her husband, and adult son, Cristina and her husband Oscar. Blaine V,

THE UPWARD GAZE

  “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph. 1:3).

  One’s growth is gauged by one’s gaze.

The first impression on my heart when converted was, ‘Enoch walked with God.’ That was my start. Now then, I said, I will walk with God. Beautiful as far as it went; but I very soon found, that oft times the old me was sometimes stronger than the young me. That every Christian is going to struggle with who we once were.

I came to my wit’s end, for I wanted to find how to draw so as to live it out. You are unable to live out of resources in yourself—you must not act as though your life is separate; the Lord Jesus must be the fountain. It is all very well to get the heavenly side of truth; but let me remind you that this alone will not do, for nothing will compensate for lack of walking in fellowship with the Father and the Son.

It is one thing to drop off or renounce certain things, and quite another to be engrossed with the right thing. Monks renounce much, but they are not engrossed with the Lord Jesus Christ. It must be not only ‘forgetting those things which are behind,’ but also reaching out unto the things that are above. It is that which you give yourself to, not what you have abandoned, that colors you and which imparts character to you.

Look at the Lord Jesus firmly and fixedly, never letting your gaze wander elsewhere; and whatever temporal objects come between you and your Lord, look right through them, as through a mist, and fix your eyes and heart upon Him and Him alone. Whatever condition you find yourself in, do not let either earth or heaven hide Him.

  “Who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1:3).

God bless from scumlikeuschurch@gmail.com

Well praise God, we had 3 people give their life to Jesus last night through our last devotion, and we have shipped out today 3 new study bibles.

So join with me in prayer to Ada, Riahada, and Jaqueline, that they will find good church homes and continue to grow and be strengthened in the Lord.

Remember Bill Warneke in prayer, neck pain, depression

Pray for Steve H, strength and encouragement and a blessing on their new pastor and the church.

Remember baby Eli, to continue to grow.

Pray for little Danny, 5 years old with Leukemia, a great Christian father and mother and grandparents all asking for our prayers.

YOUR CALENDAR SAYS WHAT?

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“Therefore will the Lord wait, that He may be gracious unto you” (Isa. 30:18).

  Waiting upon the Father is not a matter of longsuffering, but of expectant faith—quiet, restful, confident dependence upon One who is fully trusted. Often the God of circumstances must teach this waiting by placing us in situations that offer no other alternative.

When the testing comes, does our faith prove true? Does our confidence in the Father become shaken and our hope prove uncertain? When the clouds have gathered and the thunder rolls and the lightning stabs the darkness and the roar of the storm is in our ears, can we keep our eyes and thoughts off the tempest and continue in the quiet and peace of the Father’s presence?

When the enemy of right and wrong has thrown down the gauntlet and is trampling ruthlessly upon that which affects the honor of our Lord, and when he seems about to bring ruin upon that which our Father has purposed, can we refrain from rushing in to strive with him, and wait for Him ‘in quietness and confidence,’ with a true sense both of our weakness and of His faithfulness and strength? When we have no word from the Lord except to wait and everything seems to be at a standstill, does the certainty of hope remain undimmed?

When you are in faith you will find that the Lord Jesus does not remove the pressure from off you until you are asleep in it, until you are able to take it quietly. You learn His grace first, and then His mercy.

Faith possesses all things, and hope stretches on to the fulness of the possession, yet in no restless mood, for patience sits by the side of hope in the believer’s soul, and teaches him to wait for the glory of his Father. ‘If we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.’ (Rom. 8:25).

  “I waited patiently for the Lord, and He inclined unto me” (Ps. 40:11)

Our calendar and God’s calendar never quite match up.

God bless from scumlikeuschurch@gmail.com

Remember Bill Warneke in prayer, severe neck pain, chronic depression, the beginnings of Parkinson’s and extreme denial.

Pray for Little Danny, 5 year old with Leukemia, the most optimistic kid you’ll ever meet.

Baby Eli is doing much better.

Remember our salvation list. Cristina B and her husband Oscar. Barbara D and Mona R. Norma Perales and her husband Rick and her adult son Rick Jr.

Pray for Danny F, a prodigal who needs to come back to the Lord. After his divorce he went a little nuts.

Remember Steve H, strength and encouragement.

Please continue to pray for my wife Sharon that her back problems will get better without surgery.

Pray for Aueekea, just met her, she’s from Hawaii, she is one step from homeless, a victim mentality that’s going to get her hurt and very codependent.