You Are the Light of the World

Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Matthew 5:14-16 "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. "Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.:

Jesus said that we, His people, are to shine like a city that is set on a hill that cannot be hidden.

And the world, including all of creation, is watching us and waiting for us to step forward and take our places as the sons of God. (Romans 8:19).

The sons of God must stand in unity against the forces of the enemy of our souls.  The turmoil in our culture is manifested in the political, but its roots are in the spiritual.  Only the sons of God can battle in the spiritual realm.

"Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

 

Notice  that the center candle the only candle that is the candle stick.  It is the vine.  The other candles are branch off the vine.  7 is the number of God.  6 is the number of man.  We cannot accomplish any thing without God. Our light does not shine without Him.

How can we make our little light shine?

Light dispels darkness.

Darkness is not the opposite of light.

Darkness is the absence of light.

 

Romans 12:2.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.

(Matthew 22:37)

You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 27:39)

Romans 8:38-39:For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Galatians 5:22-23:   the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

Jeremiah 29:11:  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

 Debate Will Be 

By Rev. Lonnie Crowe  

 

As we fervently enter this election cycle, no matter the issues, no matter which side of the issues we espouse, we must stand for those issues that touch our hearts. We are blessed to have freedom of speech. We dishonor that freedom when we enter into slander, libel, insults, vulgarity and prevarication. 

Points to consider: 

1. Be certain that comments address the issues rather than personalities. 

2. Insults and vulgarity never win an agrument. Speaking personally, no one can insult me into acceptance. 

3. If disparaging comments are directed toward us, we must never stoop to the level of our adversaries. 

4. I Corinthians: 14:40: “Let all things be done decently and in order.” 

 Good News Thoughts from Pastor Lonnie

We can control what we think.

Philippians 4: 8.  Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy meditate on these things. 

Bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5)

 

We Must Be the Salt

Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Matthew 5:13. "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.

Salt, symbolically, pictures permanence, loyalty, value, healing and purification.

2  Chronicles 13: 5.  "Should you not know that the Lord God of Israel gave the dominion over Israel to David forever, to him and his sons, by a covenant of salt? Because salt is a preservative, a salt covenant is a perpetual, a forever, covenant.

Leviticus 2:13.  `And every offering of your grain offering you shall season with salt; you shall not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your grain offering. With all your offerings you shall offer salt.

Salt represents the purity in our offerings to the Lord.  Our offerings include good works, good attitudes, obedience and faith as well as money.

Salt is anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial.  It is healing.

2 Kings 2: 19-22:  Then the men of the city said to Elisha, "Please notice, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the ground barren.'' And he said, "Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it.'' So they brought it to him. Then he went out to the source of the water, and cast in the salt there, and said, "Thus says the Lord: `I have healed this water; from it there shall be no more death or barrenness.' ''  So the water remains healed to this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spoke.

Just as the salt in the water healed the water, the river of living water that is to spring from our innermost being is to bring healing into the spiritual chaos swirling around us.

Caution:  If we lose our saltiness, our testimony becomes worthless and is trampled over by others.

“Progressive Christianity” is Christianity without salt and light. It is a form of godliness that denies the power of godliness.  Paul cautions us to stay away from this. (2 Timothy 3:5)

Franklin Graham: “I would say the exact same warning applies today to the advocates of progressive Christianity. They deceitfully promote and proclaim what I believe is clearly a “different gospel, which is really no Gospel at all.

“When the topic of justice is discussed, progressive Christianity is primarily concerned with the issues of social and racial justice (which the Bible does address), but most often neglects the far more fundamental issue of God’s justice—how a holy and just God deals with sinful and wicked men.

“And when it comes to the matter of personal sin, progressive Christianity most frequently fails to see the ruinous consequences of mankind’s depraved, sinful state. Biblical teaching on the precious blood of Christ, the sacrificial, substitutionary, atoning work of Christ’s death on the cross, is too often neglected or distorted.

“To reject the deity of Christ is to deny Christ and doom yourself to an eternity spent in hell. To love darkness more than light will end in an eternity in hell.

“To hope that good works alone will earn salvation, while rejecting the gift of everlasting life through faith in Christ alone, will lead straight into the eternal abyss.

“To deny the fullness of the Trinity—God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit—can risk a person spending their eternity separated from the glory and splendor of God Almighty.”

From Progressive Christianity Can Lead You to Hell.

1 Corinthians 15:1-4:  Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

To be salt means to be a positive influence and to preserve what is good spiritually, materially and emotionally. People must see the unconditional love of Jesus through our words and our actions.

Colossians 4:6: 6.  Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.

 

The Parable of the Seed

By Reverend Lonnie C. Crowe

Mark 4: 26. And He said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, 27.  "and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. 28.  "For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. 29.  "But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.''

Often when our lives are in turmoil, we cannot see the Lord working for our behalf. We cannot see the prayer seed that we have planted sprouting invisibly in the soil of our lives. Like the Israelites in the wilderness, we murmur because of what we have deduced to be the Lord’s unwillingness to intervene in our situation.

Psalm 119:11 if foundational in all aspects of bringing us into understanding what is happening in our lives: “Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.” We must believe in the goodness if God.

Remember that old Sunday School chorus: “I stand alone on the Word of God, the B_I-B-L-E.  If we are going to stand on the Word, we must know the Word.  Consider the following scriptures: 

Psalm 27: 13. “ I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living. 14.  Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!”

Psalm 46: 10.  Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!  11.  The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

We can also become discouraged because we do not understand how God works. 

1 Corinthians 14: 40.  Let all things be done decently and in order.  God does all things in order—first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. 

We usually want to jump forward to the full grain in the head.

When we are trying to figure God out, we must remember Isaiah 55; 8.  "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,'' says the Lord.  9.  "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.

To put it simply, we must know in our hearts that God knows best.  Living a Kingdom life is, essentially living in faith.

Hebrews 11: 1.  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2.  For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. 3.  By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

We must truly accept in the depth of our being Genesis 1:1:  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 

Jonny Gibson of Professor, Westminster Theological Seminary has written that Genesis 1:1 expresses 12 aspects of the nature of God:

God is one spirit, eternal, infinite, unchangeable, self-existent, living, and immortal in his being, the omnipotent, omniscient Creator and Sovereign of all things in heaven and on earth, of all things visible and invisible.

The more we know of the nature of God, the more we will walk by faith and not by sight.  Hebrews 11:6.  But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

On Forgiveness

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

 Genuine forgiveness is a deep and often sluggish river.  It requires an inner change of heart toward the one who has offended us.  Too often we think we have forgiven when we have only masked our hurt. Forgiveness is a decision to let go of resentments and thoughts of revenge. Forgiveness is the act of untying ourselves from the emotions that hold us in bondage to the offense.

A prayer for the journey to total forgiveness: “Lord, I forgive.  Please help my unforgiveness.”

What is forgiveness?

• Forgiveness is not denial.  We cannot forgive what we deny has happened.  We can, and must, forgive without excusing the act.

• Forgiving is wanting God’s best for those who have hurt us and letting God take care of the situation. God’s best for each of us is to walk according to His word. 

• Forgiveness is often a process.  It begins by concentrating on the forgiveness rather than the offense.

The Lord spoke to Israel in Isaiah 43:25: “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins.”

If God blots out our sins for His sake, then we should blot out the sins of others for our own sake.

Hebrews 12: 14-15: “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled.”

When we are unforgiving, we pay the price over and over. That root of bitterness can become entangled in every aspect of our lives.   We may bring our anger and acrimony into every relationship and every new experience. Our lives may be so wrapped up in the wrongs of the past that we can't experience the joys of the present nor the hope of the future.

Scientific evidence shows that holding on to grudges and bitterness results in long-term health problems. Forgiveness, on the other hand, offers many benefits, including:

• Lower blood pressure and heart rate

• Less stress and hostility

• Better anger management skills

• Lower risk of alcohol or substance abuse

• Fewer depression and anxiety symptoms

• Reduction in chronic pain

• More and healthier relationships

• Greater spiritual well-being

• Improved psychological well-being

An unforgiving, vengeful, or bitter spirit will not only affect us and those around us, it will separate us from the blessing of God.   Therefore, for our own sake, we must forgive others no matter what the offense.

 

Addiction to Power

Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

 

A prevailing stronghold in America and the rest of the world is an addiction to power. That addiction has led to division and corruption   The situation calls to mind Lord Acton who said, “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

A desire for power causes us to deny our role and to blame-shift. A desire for power will cause people to seek positions to which they are not called.  A desire for power causes us to form opinions based on our own desires rather than upon knowledge and reason.

Remember the words of Paul to his disciple Timothy:

2 Timothy 3:1-5 “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!

The above is not only a description of the world today.   It is also a description of many in the Body of Christ.

In “10 Ways Christians Weaponize the Bible”, Joseph   Mattera writes, “10. When we demand biblical ethics that we are not living ourselves. When we use the Bible as a particular standard (in the church or home) that we are not willing to live by, we are weaponizing the Bible against others to have our way.”

We cannot, in authority, declare scriptures like Isaiah 33:22 over our nation if we have not submitted to the truth that “the Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our King; He will save us”.  

The root of our problem is a spiritual one that has manifested in the political realm.  The axe must be laid at the root.