My Stronghold; My Deliverer; My Refuge

My Stronghold; My Deliverer; My Refuge 
By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

“Praise be to the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.  He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, in whom I take refuge.” (Psalm 144:1-2)        
       We often become so busy with the battles of life that we lose sight of our priorities.  The first priority for each of us must be to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength.  (Matthew 22:37.) Our heavenly Father is the one who strengthens us to meet the demands of life and encourages us to overcome the disappointments.  We are engaged in a war, but our God is our deliverer.  He is God alone.  The one who protects, delivers and shelters.  The more we love Him, the more we will desire refuge in Him.  
He is the self-existent one, the creator and sustainer, the Alpha and the Omega.  When we come to know Him for Who He is, we willingly take refuge in Him and leave the cares and frustrations of the world in His capable hands.  
Before the beginning, He was; He is now; He will forever be.   In a world searching for consistency, He is constant.  When we abide in Him, we do not rest in fear, doubt and unbelief.  We rest in love because He is love.  (I John  4:8).  Think of it!!  The dynamic power that created and maintains the universe is the power of love.  It is no wonder that the morning stars sang and the angels shouted for joy as the Lord called the universe into existence. (Job 38:7)
His love, which is manifested in His desire to recreate us into His image and His willingness to bless us with the blessings of heaven, is our stronghold, our deliverance, our refuge. "Praise be to the Lord, my Rock."  Amen.

(I will be teaching a study of "The Harbinger" starting February 28 at Rhema Fellowship, 206 6th Ave. in Torrington,WY at 7:00 p.m. It will be a 13 week study. Purchase a copy of the book and the Companion study guide and join us.)

Unity: The Bond of Peace

Unity: The Bond of Peace

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

            The Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Epheseus, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.  There is one body and one Spirit–just as you were called to one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:4-6) The desire of God’s heart is that Christians come together in unity–harmony within the church and harmony among the churches based on salvation through the blood of Jesus.

            Later, in verses 11-13, Paul declares that the purpose of the five-fold ministry is to bring the Body of Christ into unity. “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, until we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”  We will never be “perfect”, mature or complete, until we come into unity with God, unity with ourselves and unity with one another. Then the corporate anointing will flow powerfully through us and glorify God the Father.

            Psalm 133:1-3 declares the blessing in unity.  “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!  It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, The beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion; For there the LORD commanded the blessing: Life forevermore.”

            Oh, Lord God, may the world know us by the love we have for one another, by our unity in the Spirit, by the peace we have in our hearts and with one another.  Amen.

A Day of Prayer

A Day of Prayer
By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Former governor Mike Huckabee has called our nation to prayer on January 20, “Join me for "A Day to Pray", where we will ask God to grant our leaders, from the local school houses to the White House, the wisdom they need for the road ahead. We will gather to ask God for forgiveness and healing of our land and to bless our Country and her people. This will not be a political rally but a spiritual event and hopefully one that can help bring us together as we move forward as a nation.”
As we pray wisdom, forgiveness, healing and blessing over our land, we must remember the admonition of 2 Chronicles 7:14, “"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."  
We must come before our God with cleansed hearts.  As the Body of Christ, we must humble ourselves, individually and corporately, we must pray, seek the face of God and turn from our own wicked ways so that God will hear from heaven and heal our land.  Let’s spend the next few days preparing our hearts to join in pray for our nation.
As we pray for wisdom, let’s remember James 1:5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”  Remember also that the reverential awe of the Lord is the beginning, the foundation of wisdom (Proverbs 1:7).  Wisdom is not dependent upon the thinking of the world.  Wisdom is dependent upon the will of God.  Wisdom is that ability, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to make wise decisions.  “Lord, we pray for wisdom that we might make Godly decisions in our private lives and then in the public arena.”
We cannot pray for the forgiveness of the sins of our nation while we remain unforgiven and harbor unforgiveness in our own hearts.  “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us” (Matthew 6:12).  If we desire forgiveness for the sins of our nation, we must forgive others and seek God’s forgiveness for our own trespasses. 
1 John 1:9-10: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”  “Heavenly Father, forgive us for we have sinned.”
As we pray for healing of the brokeness in our nation, we must first ask for healing for our own brokeness–healing for our fear, our lack of faith, our sense of hopelessness, our irrational anger, our spitefulness, our despair.  Then we can cry out for the healing of our land. 
Then we can walk in the promise of 2 Chronicles 7:15 “Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place.”

Let us pray.

Blessing Our Children; Blessing Our Future

Blessing Our Children; Blessing Our Future
Rev . Lonnie C. Crowe 

   2,500 years ago, Socrates opined, "The children now love luxury; they
have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for
elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants,
not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders
enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company,
gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their
teachers."
   In 1960, Lee Adams wrote the following lyrics for the musical Bye Bye
Birdie: "Kids ! They are just impossible to control! (Soon you'll be old
enough to be) Kids ! With their awful clothes and their rock an' roll!
(Another teenage delinquent ) Why can't they be like you were, Perfect
in every way? What's the matter with kids today?" Fifty years ago, Mr.
Adams wrote satirically. Yet, he focused on what many adults in the
western culture continue to voice about children and young adults. We
have, for at least 2500 years, cursed our children and, thereby, have
cursed our future. It is not too late to change and to begin blessing
our future by blessing our children.
   Two keys to blessing our future:
   1. Proverbs 22:6" Train up a child in the way he should go, and when
he is old he will not depart from it." "Train" is the operative word.
Let's take a moment and rephrase Socrates: We must train children now to
appreciate and enjoy the necessities of life; we must model for them
good manners and respect for authority; in our behavior, we must show
respect for elders and the importance both of healthy exercise and
healthy relationships. We must teach our children their proper place and
responsibilities as functioning members of the household and of the
community . We must model for them the proper way to address their
parents. We must train them to be good conversationalists without
dominating the conversation, to employ proper manners, proper posture
and proper conduct in the classroom and in the workplace.
   Whether we want to accept it or not, adults are role models for
children. It is time for us to get over ourselves and accept the
privilege of training children to be effective adults.
   2. No matter their age, we must learn to speak blessings over our
children . We cannot speak negatively about and to children and expect
that they will behave positively . If children are to be productive and
successful, we must declare words of life and hope over them. Proverbs
18:21 declares "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those
who love it will eat its fruit." In other words, we will reap the
consequences of what we sow with our words. 
   In Proverbs 10:11, we read, "The mouth of the righteous is a well of
life." We must carefully choose our words in order to speak life into
our children.
   In order to bless our future, we must bless our children in the
present . Blessings are spoken words and are usually accompanied with an
affirming touch. Eastern cultures have long practiced the rite of
blessing their children. Each Sabbath, Jewish fathers speak a specific
blessing over their children. We can bless our children by speaking
words of hope and encouragement over them and by declaring the Word of
God over their lives. For example, "You are my child. I love you and am
pleased with you. You will do well in life. God's word says that
children are a blessing and I agree with Him."
   Or, for children in general, "I love what I see in you. I love what
God has spoken in His word for you. 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."
   If you are uncomfortable with such formality , simply say, "You're a
good kid, and I like having you around."

The Blessing of Christmas

The Blessing of Christmas
By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Lord, You listen–
I trust.
You care–
I heal.
You empower--
I’m strengthened.
You give–
I receive.
You speak–
I listen.

You are peace–
I rest.
You are redemption–
I’m free.
You are song–
I sing.
You are worthy–
I praise.

You are forgiving–
I am forgiven.
You are glory–
You are mercy–
You are holy,
Holy God.
I am Your child.
You are my King.

You are the blessing of Christmas.

Celebration in the Face of Tragedy

Celebration in the Face of Tragedy
By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Christmas, a time for joy and celebration.  Where is our joy?  Where is our celebration?  We are like the ancient Israelites.  We have hung our harps on the willow trees. How can we sing the Lord’s songs and dance with Him in the midst of such heartbreak?
Please know that the Lord’s dance is not always in allegro.  Often it is a long, slow, intimate largo. At this time of deep, national grief, the Lord is calling us to dance with Him in largo, to dance to the rhythm of His heart of love and compassion, to allow Him to hold us close, to lead us tenderly into His peace that passes all understanding.  Then our dance becomes one of joy in His love.  
Our celebration cannot be the revelry of worldly dissipation.  Even in the best of times, dissipation leads to disillusion.  True celebration is in the comfort of His presence, in the healing of His touch, in the hope of His Word.    
As we dance in His arms, may we as a nation and a culture come once more to the understanding that our children are gifts from our God.  May our heart's desire be to nurture them, to comfort them, to guide them, to enjoy them. Parents and teachers have the most important jobs in the world.  We are among those who nurture tomorrow.  
We will overcome this tragedy by holding fast to the Lord and allowing Him to nurture us so that we can nurture others.  The Lord is asking us to dance with Him for the rest of our lives.

Jesus Is the Reason for the Sesaon

Jesus Is the Reason for the Season
By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

History and tradition have added many details to the Biblical account of the birth of Jesus.  Sometimes we, unknowingly, put more emphasis on the traditional accounts rather than on the scriptural account. Even many of our Christmas carols do not accurately reflect the Biblical account of Jesus’ birth.  We love the old melody,  “The First Noel”. The original author is unknown.  The song  probably originated as a folk song  in the late 18th or early 19th century.  Let’s look at the traditional lyrics:  
 “The First Noel, the Angels did say
Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay
In fields where they lay keeping their sheep
On a cold winter's night that was so deep.
They looked up and saw a star
Shining in the East beyond them far
And to the earth it gave great light
And so it continued both day and night.”
Two mistakes in the first two verses:  
It is unlikely that Jesus was born in the winter time.  December 25 as the date for Jesus’ birth was not established until the 4th century.  Because the shepherds were out in the fields at the time of Jesus’ birth, it is probable that Jesus was born during the warmer months when the sheep could be grazing.  However, when we celebrate is not as important as why and how we celebrate.
The second mistake is much more glaring.  The shepherds did not see the star.  They saw the angels.  It was the wise men who saw the star.  
Some other additions to the Christmas story:  Although we have seen him in many Christmas plays, no innkeeper is mentioned in scripture, no animals are listed as having witnessed the birth, the angelic host refers to an army of angels rather than a choir, neither the names nor the number of the wise men is given; the wise men did not come at the time of Jesus’ birth, but later they visited the Child in a house; a little drummer boy did not play his drum as a gift to the Christ child¸ and Santa Claus is a completely  different tradition.
Perhaps the Holy Spirit spared details so that we can concentrate on the miracle of the Incarnation, God’s coming to earth in the form of a man, to walk among us,  to pay the price for our sins, to allow us to enter into an eternal covenant with Him.  Jesus is the reason for the season.   He is Emmanuel, God with us.  Trim the tree, give the gifts, put out the Creche, prepare the food, send the cards, enjoy the music,  but above all else, adore Him, our Redeemer, Savior and coming King.