Author: pastordarryl68

This is the day of the week that has been set aside for two millennia by followers of Jesus to gather together, in the bonds of the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit, to exalt the person of Jesus Christ, to engage in fellowship, equipped by His Word, empowered through exercising our spiritual gifts within the body and encouraged to live another day in the name of Jesus!

This is a day that the Roman empire acknowledged in the 3rd century as vital to the expression of faith in the triune God Almighty. For nearly two centuries, these United States set aside this day for the assembled worship of God by His followers in fellowship.

It is the pinnacle of the week of the Spirit-filled follower of Jesus, the priority of those who have sworn allegiance to the King of kings and Lord of lords, and the absolute privilege of those who walk in trust and obedience to Christ our Lord and Savior.

Even so come quickly, Lord Jesus!!!!

“Check your schedule with your calling.” OUCH

Before I excuse my absence of attention or my absence of being present and engaged “I don’t have the time”, “I’m just so busy” or “I just have a lot going on right now” – I need to FIRST put down my device (phone, tablet, computer), my TV remote and my gaming controller…and put on the armor of God.

We are in a battle for the eternal, but we are far more dedicated to the temporal.

Our lives are in overload mostly because of our personal choices and preferences and not because of our personal responsibility or obligation — and certainly not out of any God-given responsibility.

“Check your schedule with your calling.”

*as with all things, there are some exceptions. But as a rule for the majority, and certainly, with my own life, this is often more true than not.

Entering into a relationship with an agenda or expectation to change or “fix” the other is NOTHING SHORT OF DECEPTION and will always end in painful regret for both parties.

My wife accepted me and learned to love the person whom she met and entered into relationship with. That doesn’t mean that we didn’t grow together in the ways that we think and behave, impact and influence one another over the years. It doesn’t mean that neither of us changed (for better or worse), but our relationship was not predicated on an expectation or a vision of altering something we didn’t like in or about the other person.

This applies to friendships.

This applies to marriages.

This applies to employment and partnerships.

This applies to teams and organizations.

This applies to covenant partnerships with the local body of Christ.

Our Vows:

I accept you – as a person and to be my spouse – with your strengths – and with your weaknesses – to be loyal to you in health or illness – to share what I have and who I am – to love enough to risk being hurt – to trust when I misunderstand – to weep with you in sorrow – to celebrate with you in joy – and to enjoy life with you in reverence. This is my vow to you – and to the God we serve.

– for better, for worse

– for richer, for poorer

– in sickness or in health

– to love and cherish

– ’till death do us part.

Whether in a society, an organization, a business, a team, a church, or a family…CONSUMERS NEVER BUILD OR LEAD ANYTHING.

A CONSUMER cannot be depended on as a foundation for anything…by definition, they will only consume, take, and receive for their own benefit and when they no longer find personal benefit, they move on to consume elsewhere.

A society is built by CONTRIBUTORS and plundered by CONSUMERS. CONTRIBUTORS are the foundation of any society, organization, business, team, church, or family. CONTRIBUTORS invest through radical generosity of their time, their talents, and their treasures (their possessions and money).

I’m extremely grateful for the sacrificial generosity of those who have contributed to my family, my church, and my society. I’m grateful for the examples God has placed in my life to teach me to pay that same generosity forward.

If you go into any place or gathering with a critical spirit, you are sure to leave with your expectations met. That includes the gathering of the body of Christ.

Looking for imperfection, you’ll find it.

Looking for hypocrites, you’ll find them.

Looking for fault, you’ll find it.

Looking for insincerity, you’ll find it.

Looking for pain, you’ll find it.

Looking for ignorance, you’ll find it.

The same is true for a hospital…if you’re looking for it, you’ll find pain, sickness, and death. You’ll also find novices and ignorance.

But if you’re looking for obedience, trust, surrender, and allegiance to the King of kings and Lord of lords, you’ll find it in the gathering of the body of Christ. If you’re looking for resurrection power, you’ll find it in the body of Christ. If you’re looking for healing, you’ll find it in the body of Christ. If you’re looking for joy, peace, love, community, purpose, and meaning, you’ll find it in the gathering of the body of Christ.

Searching the scriptures, trying to find where God instructs us to send our children of early elementary ages into the clutches of the world’s education system to be missionaries, many having not reached an age of understanding the gospel themselves. Do you know where I can find this instruction in scripture – book, chapter, and verse?

As I often say to our church body, “Hear what I’m saying…not what I’m NOT saying.” Don’t try to read between the lines…I didn’t write anything there. Don’t add tone to what I’ve said…If I wanted there to be an emotional tone, I’d have clearly stated it. Don’t read in what you think I’m implying. I am speaking exactly what I want to say with clarity…there’s no deeper message.

I’m not talking about our regenerate young men and young women in secondary school whose parents have invested years of instructing them morally, socially, and spiritually as children through diligent repetition, having God’s instructions spoken to them while sitting in their house, when walking on the road, when lying down, and when getting up. I’m not talking about young men and women who have walked in the footsteps of their godly parents, having tied God’s Word as a sign to their hands and as frontlets on their foreheads, coming from homes where God’s instructions have been written on the doorposts of their houses and on their gates.

I’m also not debating the merits of public, private, or homeschool education in this post, though I can and do. I’m specifically addressing the idea that our little elementary-age children should be sent into a secular, sometimes pagan environment so that they can be missionaries of a Gospel that they may or may not yet understand.

Extremism is the rule in the United States today, socially and politically. Common sense, common decency, common courtesy, collaborating for the good of the NATION rather than a special interest group – these are ancient practices that are foreign to those who govern today.

If you don’t believe it, watch what is shoved in your face (and your children’s) in prime time commercials and programming on HALLMARK Channel (for crying out loud), social media, the classroom, the marketplace. If you don’t believe it, ask another foreign power. Your country is the laughing stock of the world.

Protecting your liberty, your values, your family are not the agenda, even if you happen to line up with their brand of extremism. You are being used. Anarchy is the goal. If anarchy becomes the state then massive control becomes the answer. This is the goal.

Praising God today for a Kingdom and a King who reigns and will one day crush all corruption. Until then, I will exercise my privilege and my responsibility to vote my values and serve my King. I may not be woke. I may not be liberal. I may not be an elite or an intellectual, but I am filled with the Spirit of the Sovereign and Holy God Almighty, King of the Universe, Creator and Savior of my soul.

We have spent the last several years in our country listening to leaders make gaslighting accusations that have transcended into base levels of society and even into personal relationships. Gaslighting has become a common word and a common sport. The ultimate gaslighting – accusing the other party of gaslighting them. It’s genius.

This pretense is for a limited time only, though. Gaslighting is not a forever game—it is merely a transitional game. There comes a point when everybody quits pretending that the LIE is TRUTH. There comes a time when the LIE stops masquerading as TRUTH and embraces the once-masked agenda that intelligent observers had identified as present from the beginning.

Before that moment of embrace, you are a hater if you identify the presence of the lie. After the embrace, you are a hater if you fail to recognize the supposed goodness of the lie that was told in the first place.

The lie is that it’s possible to dance around the golden calf without actually listening to the lyrics or embracing the idolatry, because the bass line is really stellar. The pretense of truth did not cover up what was actually going on, but the pretense nevertheless worked as a form of gaslighting other people.

But, there comes a moment, after it is too late to do anything about it, when the music reaches a throbbing crescendo and the clothes start coming off, and the thing turns into an orgy and the truth-tellers are just out of touch.

*storyline borrowed from a friend and then altered

Being a “good person” is not Christianity.

You can be the most moralistic person that has ever lived, and still be eternally separated from your Almighty Creator.

Jesus is the only “good” person that has ever lived, and we hung him on a tree.

Making morally right decisions will not earn points toward eternity with Jesus.

Going to church as a part of the culture won’t get you to heaven.

The only way to eternal life is through Jesus.

We must be reconciled to a Holy God by repenting of our sin and trusting that Christ died in our place.

Jesus matters…that is all.

I’ve got to admit – not gonna lie – I’m just a bit excited for Election Day. American History, including the process of law and order, liberty and justice in a representative government, is my sport. I’m not a fan of professional sports, I don’t play any at my age, and I abhor the idea of fantasy sports or paying ridiculous amounts of money to watch someone who gets paid ridiculous amounts of money to play a game. But a democratic election in a constitutional republic – there’s a piece of me in this…there’s a piece of my past and my future, my children’s and grandchildren’s future involved. This is a sport that I can participate in as a citizen and learn valuable lessons without having to get on the field (running for office is not for me).

I’m earnestly ready and excited to cast a vote, to have a say. This is one of the most pivotal US elections of my lifetime (I said that two years ago, too), and because I am a US Citizen, I get to speak on behalf of the Holy Spirit of God, who indwells and controls me and on behalf of those who have not or may not ever get the privilege of voting. Sure, there’s a lot of junk to wade through…a lot of false narratives, ego, posturing, name-calling, divisiveness, lying, deceit, dishonesty, duplicitousness, falsehoods, fiction, and any other word that you can think of for untruths. but as the optimist little boy once said as he was digging through a room full of horse poop “with all this crap, there’s got to be a pony in here somewhere!” I’m a marriage counselor…I’m used to having to dig through a lot of poop to find the truth!

On one hand, this election secures a possible future of choices for my adult children, their children, and grandchildren. It secures a possible environment of liberty and freedom for the gospel message to go out among those who have not yet heard it or responded to it.

On the other hand, the Kingdom of God extends beyond November 8th…this is only the beginning of an incredible journey, friends. This world in its current state is NOT my home. I am a citizen of another Kingdom, and whoever sits behind the resolute desk in the oval office or in the $1000 swivel chairs in Congress chambers will have been placed there by My King to accomplish His Purpose.

This election might set the stage for the day of Jesus, His return for His bride. There might be lost freedom and even some forms of persecution ahead for my family and me. But even at its worst possible outcome, there will be opportunity for devoted followers of Jesus to rise up from the ashes of the American church and be conformed to the image of His Son – who can whine about that!?!?!? There will be an opportunity for a separation of the wheat from the tares, for intense examples of surrendered and sacrificial living for the King of kings and Lord of lords so that those who seek hope and fulfillment can ask about the hope that is in us…and we’ll be ready to give an answer.

Let’s Get Into This!!!!!