Free Will

God has granted us all free will. The challenge comes when you've surrendered your life to Him and then find your free will in conflict with His will. If we are actually in relationship with Him and we are enjoying fellowship with Him then we know when we and our will conflict with Him. Even when we begin with the best of intentions, somewhere along the way we realize that this isn't God's best for me.
You can keep yourself from these situations by prayer. Pray and read the Bible. God has a plan for you and it's a plan that is beyond belief. Ephesians 3.20 says - “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us”
Keep that in mind as as you ask God to guide your life. Keep in mind that His plan is far better than you can imagine or conceive of in yourself. Ask Him to show you and then be sure to listen after you've asked. You must listen and read your Bible.
Praying and then acting without waiting is not what the Bible tells us to do. The Bible tells us that if we wait it will be worth the wait. Isaiah 40.31 tells us, “But those who wait on the LORD
      Shall renew their strength;
      They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
      They shall run and not be weary,
      They shall walk and not faint.”
Wait on Him and He will direct your path. I pray that you have a terrific week as you walk out the path that God has for you in His strength and surrounded by His perfect love.
Keep the faith and wear the crown. Holla!

Pastor James

The Church

The church. What a topic. The church has many critics, but no rivals. Lots of the opinions that are formed and trumpeted about the church come from people who aren't even in the church. Curious... I have a question. What does Jesus think about the church?
When we think of church our minds immediately gallop to the church gathering. We come, we greet, we sing, we pray, we listen, we seek, we repent...and all of those things are important. How often though do we stop and ask Jesus, “What do You think of the service Jesus?” Would Jesus be pleased?
Before I begin to attempt to unravel that notion I want to say something of the nature of Jesus with respect to His church. I find many times that churches and ministries try to make Jesus feel welcome and they feel that this should be the ambition of the attenders as well. I submit to you though that if it is His church, why should He be treated as a guest? He is Host, not guest. I think if we bear that in mind in designing what happens at the gathering, and aligning our expectations, we'd be far more effective at drawing all men unto Him even through the gathering.
Just food for thought. I'll get at you later with some more. Keep the faith and wear the crown. Holla.

P. Jas.

The Nature of Prayer

Is your relationship with God personal or functional? When I was younger in the Lord and began to hear some of the very things that today I teach, I was at first most upset.  See, the truth does something that many will not acknowledge.  It divides.  When the truth is presented to you, you must make a decision to walk in the light of it or to get angry with it.  I wrestled and got angry with the message of faith for quite some time, because it did not allow me to have my way.  In the end I figured out that I am irrelevant and that to live is Christ.  God was no more interested in what I thought about having my way than a little bit.  I then came to realize that the primary purpose of my prayer life (and yours too) should be to deepen my relationship with God.  The pinnacle of prayer is when we want Him.  (When we don’t want what we want).  The nature of prayer is such that our relationship with God is more important than our requests.  So I ask again; Is your relationship with God personal or functional? Holla at your boy.

Peace is the presence of the goodness of God.
P. Jas.

A Little More To Chew On

I want you to notice that it is quite possible that the nature of your relationship with God has hindered your prayer life.  Relationship precedes request and out of fellowship comes fortitude.  Some of us have gotten to the place where we accept God’s word as truth, but that is where it stops.  A true follower of Christ is one who responds to the truth of God’s word.  The life of faith in God is a response to relationship with Him, not just another way to be religious.  All things have been revealed to you as a child of God.  A disciple is one who will respond to God’s revelation.  What will your response be to what you are reading here? Keep the faith and wear the crown.

Peace is the presence of the goodness of God.
Pastor James

Food For Thought

Is your interest in God personal or functional?  I ask this because as I’ve examined myself, I’ve found that there have been times in my life when my relationship with the Lord was purely functional.  What I mean is that I wanted to know God only because I thought that I would gain something from Him.  If that is your frame of mind today, I want to encourage you to get to know God on a personal basis.  Not because you need something or want something, but because He wants to know you intimately, as well.  I believe that even if you find yourself in a place where your motives to pursue an interest in God are selfish, that He can meet you there and take you to the place where you belong in Him. Remember that growth is optional. Keep the faith and wear the crown.

Peace is the presence of the goodness of God.
P. Jas.

Dawn Of A New Day?

In a few hours President Elect Barack H. Obama will take the oath of office and become the President of the United States of America. I can say without reservation that today is a proud day for America and minority Americans more specifically. If you don't understand our enthusiasm, you are likely not a minority and it would be utterly impossible for me to describe to you why we feel the way we feel.
Enthusiasm aside, I believe that our coming president is fit for the job. I am not alone in this assertion. I hear on the radio this morning that 58% of Senator McCain's supporters are confident in the coming Obama administration. Obama is without question an innovative and deliberate leader, who has an opportunity to do not be merely the first minority President of the USA, but a great American president.
We have been filled with promises and pledges of what it will be like. I would like to believe that if he can get half of what he says done, he will go down in history as a great man, not just a great black man.
That being said, I wish that you would join me in praying for our president. I hope that when the times get rough and it seems like there is no way, you'll pray for a way. I'm hopeful that the faith community and those who are without will answer the call to be of service to one another. This alone, could solve many of the problems we face. Barack knows this, I know this and God knows.
Pardon me for being a little giddy, but I will be smiling ear to ear, every time I hear the song, "Hail To The Chief" from now on. Have a great innauguration day! Keep the faith and wear the crown.

Peace is the presence of the goodness of God.
P. Jas.

Sign of the Times

Seasons greetings and happy holidays! Those of you who know me realize that I am no apocalypse now preacher. You also know that I don't claim to be anywhere relatively close to an eschatology expert. Actually, most of what I've been exposed to in the name of eschatology has been cleverly disguised drivel and wishful thinking.
That being said, the signs of the times have caught my attention as of late. Surely I don't need to cite for instances; but I will. Have you noticed the weather for instance? Earlier this week right here in Vinita the temperature went from 75 to 20 over the course of a day. Not exactly a normal situation, but yet more and more frequent. Didn't Jesus say that we are well able to discern the weather, but not the signs of the times?
Well the weather has certainly claimed my attention and I believe it is time to wake up as He could be back to collect His own shortly. I realize that I am in the company of every Christian philosopher that has ever walked Earth since Jesus first promised in this assertion...but really. Before you go with the, "Jesus is not coming back till His church is glorious, brother" argument, I'd like you to observe a globe and not merely a map of the USA. We (America) are the only place on the planet where the church is growing in reverse. Wasn't it Jesus who claimed that it would be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to inherit the Kingdom of God? Stop it. You are rich. Again pull out your globe and look at the world. (Jesus isn't an American)
I say all of this to ask you to think about what I'm saying. At the risk of being redundant I'm saying, We must work while it is day...We must wake up to the fact that Jesus will be back and if He came back today, what would your, or my story look like? What words would we hear from Him with respect to our hearts condition and activity? Join me please in prayer that we as a people of faith would wake up, rise up, fall to our knees in repentance, get up and go about our Father's business till His return. Selah.
Again happy holidays. Keep the faith and wear the crown!

Peace is the presence of the goodness of God.
P. Jas.