“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith.”
March is here, and I'm looking forward to Spring with great anticipation. Please remember to keep our President and our troops in your prayers. Make every day count. 
In Whom We Have an Inheritance
The other day I heard a message by Bob Coy, who pastors a large Calvary Chapel in Florida. He made a statement meant to shock and make people think. He said, and this is my paraphrase, to those Christians in church who are just here as bench warmers, “please don’t come back, we need the space.” In an era where user friendly churches are springing up everywhere, his statement was outrageous to say the least.
After the silence, Pastor Coy went on with his point which was, there are two things a church today
doesn’t need, complacency and compromise. Those Christians who are just warming the bench,
living lives of complacency and compromise are not only hurting themselves, they hurt the church as well.
Pastor Coy went on to say that in this day and age it’s important our witness to the world not be ambiguous. A Christian who lives in compromise, for example, the couple who lives together without being married, or the Christian who habitually frequents bars and gets drunk etc., is sending the world a false message about Christianity. They blur God’s Word. The world needs the clear truth. They need to see the real change Christ can being to an unsaved life. The change is nothing to be afraid of. Compromising because you think you can live on both sides of the fence with no consequences is something to fear.
Pastor Coy was crying out to his congregation to not only be hearers of the Word but also doers. Lukewarm believers do no good on any level. He exhorted believers to honestly examine their faith and their lives, cleaning up where needed and living lives as free from compromise and complacency as possible.
The pure, uncompromised Word of God is faithful to change lives and turn nations upside down.
How are you living? What is your life saying about Christ? Answer the questions honestly and go
from there. You have the power of God’s promises at your disposal, believe them and live them.
Ministers According to the Gift of Grace
The Bible tells us that as believers, God has “blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly
places in Christ.” Notice it says “every”. It doesn’t say that some people get a little and others get
a lot, it says that as believers we are blessed with “every spiritual blessing.”
You and I were given the same spiritual blessing as Chuck Smith or Billy Graham. We might have
different gifts, but we have the same Savior and therefore the same access to His power. The
question is, what are with doing with this gift of grace, this spiritual blessing?
As I examine my faith and my life, I know there’s more I could do because Christ has promised to work through me, if only I will let Him. Sometimes fear holds me back. Think back to the Israelites Moses led out of bondage. They only acquired a fraction of what God promised them. Fear and complacency stopped them moving forward. I don’t want to settle for a fraction, I want ALL God has for me. How about you?
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be Holy and without blame before him in love.”
Eph 1:3-4
“But be doers of the Word, and and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” James 1:22
“So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my
mouth.” Rev 3:16
March 2005
My Favorite Web Sites
Applegate Fellowship-Jon Courson
Calvary Chapel Home Page
Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale
Kay Arthur Precept Ministries
Three things to remember about God:
- He loves you
- He has a plan for your life
- He will never forsake you
