Path-Way Worship Ministries Why Study The Bible

Strange Times

We are truly living in strange times. California is really going off the deep end when it comes to apparent biological ignorance. Apparently some are beginning to believe lies that our biological make up does not matter but how we think we are does. I read an article today that spoke of a specific feminist group calling breast feeding an unnatural process……Really, that is what she said.

How much longer are we going to let these delusions continue. We are made to be male and female. God created us to procreate and subdue the earth. He created us as caretakers of the earth. He created the two sexes in order to accomplish this. It is written that man shall leave his mother and cleave to his wife and they shall become ONE FLESH. That is not describing the sexual act. It is a completion of the spirit where the culmination of one flesh means having a child. Anything else is unnatural.

Popular people with money think they can control the world through their words and actions. As we know from the past, those who are in the world do not end up living happy lives. They worship the idol of money which distorts the mind. These people are slaves to the sins of the world. Satan is definitely at work here because if people continue in these unnatural ways, the population will decrease and God’s creation will fall . But of course we know that this will not last long as God will prevail. What we must do is stay in the Word, living for God. Worshiping and Praising Him in everything we do. Worship together, study daily, in every opportune moment, pray.

God Bless You All Brothers and Sisters

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Path-Way Worship Ministries OUTREACH

Remembering or Knowing

Remember

We have many things that we are reminded to remember for some reason or another. “Remember the Alamo” reminds us of the slaughter that occurred in San Antonio, Texas where a great number of people lost their lives. We are told to remember September 11th for the vicious attack that took many more lives. We remember December 7th 1941 for the attack on Pearl Harbor that caused America’s entrance into WWII. Each one of these have a couple things in common. The first thing is that each have a memorial set up to look upon and remember. The second: there are  advertisements specifically around the time the event took place which entice people to travel hundreds if not thousands of miles to see a tangible, material object which triggers an emotional response. With all the celebratory events surrounding these remembrances there is one other thing they have in common: they all need to be seen to cause the deeper remembrance.

There is only one time in history which involves the death of one person where we do not have to see to believe, For we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). He commands an action which goes beyond our senses. When He said, “Do this in Remembrance of Me” as He shared His last meal in fellowship, which is known to us as the Last Supper of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But it goes deeper than just bread and a cup of wine or juice.

The Jewish celebration of the Passover Feast is done in remembrance of their deliverance from slavery in Egypt which was done in accordance to the Will of God. This is a wonderful event as they await for the return of Elijah who will usher in the time of the Messiah. The oral history is complimented with a meal which is spiritual in nature. Meanwhile, the celebration of the end of slavery from sin is to be an everyday event that requires a small meal when like-minded spiritual people are gathered together. But it does not end there. Man has set up great features of stone, glass, and metal to honor the people who lost their lives for a cause. Whereas our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ’s memorial is in our spirit, flesh, and blood.

All this to pose this question: If people will travel hundreds of miles to see a material things which causes an emotional response, why can’t we get them to go down a block or even ten miles to refresh and renew their spirit and save their souls?

  1. People are afraid of being judged and convicted by the flesh without realizing their conviction lies within their own hearts.
  2. They feel that Christians believe they are above everyone else.
  3. They see the church as being filled with hypocrites.
  4. They see Christianity as a cult, not a fellowship or community of believers.

It is difficult to comprehend but at the same time easy to see why people would rather remember something that does not permanently impact their lives. People see Christ in others every day and can feel the tug but are afraid to come alone. They fear the unknown: will they be greeted or treated like an outcast; looked upon with disgust or smiled at; will they be chastised for their looks to include their ethnicity and clothing? These are happening in every church. This unchristian like behavior must stop if we are to further the Kingdom of God here on earth.

So how do we change this?? BE INVITING. You have neighbors who wish someone would invite them to church. We are commanded to do this through the Great Commission. We need to be in Christ not just believe: Showing and sharing the Gospel, living to attain a Christ-like life through conducting ourselves in a manner pleasing to God. We need to Express the joy of knowing Christ as Savior and Lord and how we have been changed just as the Apostles did when Jesus sent them forth. We need to show that  making the commitment to Christ on a spiritual level is deeper than the relationship between friends, coworkers, family. It is truly the only life-long commitment that has eternal consequences. This is only the beginning as we are limited by our flesh. The rest is up to the Holy Spirit guiding us to help guide others.

Remember God’s Word and act upon it… hard to forget if we truly have it engrained in our hearts and lives.

Be blessed in your walk with Jesus brothers and sisters. Amen.

Path-Way Worship Ministries Uncategorized

GOD IS THE CONTROL CENTER

control switchPsalm 118:8

It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.

Contrary to the beliefs of man, we are not the center of the world much less the universe. There are those who believe this so whole heartedly that when their world crashes down they usually end up completely destitute, mentally unstable, or even dead because they do not understand how to recover. The ones that know how to recover either fail at other efforts or succeed and die very lonely and unloved.

Trusting in the things of man without God is a very dangerous place to be. The richest people who are without any type of spiritual background die a very slow death. They enjoy life and die never knowing the joy of salvation. It is better to be poor in material things and rich in spirit than to have much and die with nothing.

God is in the center of all things. This center is the base of all creation. Think of the nucleus of an atom; without it and the nourishing power generated, the atom is worthless and diseased. It is incomplete and fails. We are incomplete and will fail without God in our hearts.

Now here is something interesting, since we are all created by God don’t we all have God in our hearts? Well, yes but those who do not accept Him are more susceptible to the disease of sin. I am not by any means saying we are completely cured of the disease, we have the symptoms and get flare ups but our medicine is the cleansing blood of Christ.

There are those that say they believe but still cannot give up control and constantly try to figure things out on their own without letting go. For one particular individual I know who is older than me this has cause extreme mental anguish due to perfectionism and a hard life he has created for himself. He prays but does not listen, moves without thinking, lets emotions run without calmly listening, reacts to the slightest difference to the way he believes things should be. This is not God.

Another fault of man is not realizing God is not a multitasker, He doesn’t have to be. Not only does He have agents to report to Him but He is fully with us when we call on Him whether we know it or not. He is everywhere in everything so He doesn’t have to multitask as we do to get everything done we desire to do throughout our days.

So what do we need to do?  Sit back, pray, give ourselves over to Christ and accept Him as our Lord and Savior. Remember that we are not in control of everything, only the things that He gives us to handle.

GOD IS THE CENTER OF EVERYTHING, not us.

Path-Way Worship Ministries Why Study The Bible

Reading or Studying, There is a Difference

 

There are many resources for reading the Bible through pamphlets, web sources and even church studies that basically skim through Scripture and do not really focus on the meaning. Yes in church there is a prayer for understanding but then it is just read and each person is given to their own understanding. Granted that does not happen a lot but I have been in church Bible studies that do just that. Scripture is meant to be studied, prayed upon, understood, and interpreted to meet our time without distortion. Does not God tell Joshua to meditate on His Word daily keeping it in his heart. That does not mean just reading but comprehending, praying for understanding, learning, and letting the Word guide every move. For God said that is where we will be most prosperous as we keep His Word.

 

Keeping the Word means more than just having a Bible on you at all times. Every Christian should have a life verse that helps them and reminds them why they are who they are. Mine in particular is John 15:13, “Greater love hath no man than he who would give his life for his friends.” Why is that mine? I understand that to be a Christian means to sacrifice my own life to live a Christ like life. Leaving behind the worldly desires and serving others as Jesus served us. Sharing the Word without care of consequence and giving all to those in need.

 

Romans 15:4 For whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that we may have hope through endurance and through the encouragement from the Scriptures.

 

I hear so many folks say, “I read the Bible every morning then I feel better.” these are the lukewarm Christians. To them I ask, “Did you pray before reading to have a deeper understanding and letting the Word be your guide”? So many times I get the deer in the headlight look and I ask them to go to God and search your heart. It is better to hear what God has placed in men’s heart to write through prayerful consideration than just opening a page and reading, then putting the book down and forgetting. 

 

Take this morning for instance. I read of the death of Absalom, David’s son. David did not what him killed even though he was conspiring against his own father. In the last skirmish there was a forest in which Absalom was entangled in a tree. He could have been released from there and given over to David for forgives and possible exile or house arrest but it was decided by Joab to have him killed while he was defenseless. There are later consequences for this which was not part of the study this morning but what can I take from this? Obey the words of those appointed above you and do not take actions into your own hands when you do not know what the elder/boss/etc. has planned. If you do not then there will be consequence. Also, do not let a defenseless person just dangle and die but help them in their time of trouble for they may be forgiven. 

 

I could have just read it and left it because of it being a history but as we well know we can learn from historical outcomes whether good or bad. All this to say, reading is one thing but studying, understanding, and remembering (keeping it in our hearts) is something completely different. Besides, God desires it of us to learn how to be in His image.

 

Don’t just read the Bible, let it be in you. For: “It is written, ‘Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4)

 

Path-Way Worship Ministries Intro

What Is Worship

What is Worship? Worship is the expression of adoration for God. Most people associate worship as being a joyful noise to the Lord God through song either sung or played. While it is true that this a part of worship, it goes much deeper than that. Worship is any type of communication with God. Singing, Playing an instrument, and Interpretive Dance are only a small part of Worship. Worship is sharing the Word, Living the Word, Speaking with God in Prayer, Studying the Word, and Application of the Word are integral parts of total Worship. This is What we do.

Exploring types of worship, one finds the easiest to do is also the hardest. That is reading and understanding God’s written Word. We will dig into the Scripture to share, find, and apply God’s Word in our lives today. this is a place where we do not judge but we may challenge and cause a conviction in your life. It is ok to disagree but examination of the heart and mind is needed.  God does not tell us to solely listen to our hearts,  we are corrupt beings, but heed the Word He gives and accept Him into our hearts to clean them.

We are to worship God only. Even His Son, the personification of the Word, worshipped Him. When Jesus was tempted by Satan, He told him that we are to worship God alone and no other. The problem is that people tend to worship Jesus and have forgotten to worship God. That is, they worship the man and the teachings forgetting that He is God’s Word, the Truth, in the flesh that was sent to return people to God, not to be worshipped Himself.

There are many aspects to Worship but there is also the Great Commission work which we must abide by. This world is in trouble and if we do not stay in His Word we will fail. Living in constant adoration through the many facets of Worship and conducting ourselves as Christ showed us will show others and hopefully bring them to Christ.

We have a loving and caring God who teaches us to love and care for others but we should not forget that God is also jealous and will judge as He deems fit. Without Christ is our lives we are doomed but following Christ and His commands we will have a place at the great table. One of the hardest things to do as a Christian is to live in this world while learning how to show God’s Love through understanding and sharing His Word. We must have courage and strength but remember that all this comes from the Lord.

God Bless You Brothers and Sisters