New Day Christian Church

Greetings to all in the name of our precious Lord! My prayer for you is that you would be currently experiencing the mighty power of the Holy Spirit in every area of your life. If you find that is not the case for you then I would greatly encourage you to ask the Holy Spirit for a fresh in filling of His presence in your heart today.

I was reading a devotion the other day and as all good devotions do, it stirred my heart in a new yet challenging way. The Apostle Peter writes in 2 Peter 1:16-17 “We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He (Jesus) received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to Him from the Majestic Glory saying, ‘This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.” 

I am fearful, because of so much deception that has been unveiled in politicians and government, sports figures, hollywood stars as well as major people in the business community, that people today have begun to lose faith in what people say or declare to be true. I am even fearful that has also crept into the church and for that we as Christians should be grieved. The Apostle Paul warns us about this in 2 Timothy 4:3 “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, ( KJV says thier own lusts) they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.”

I love it when Paul uses the term ‘itching ears.’ Boy haven’t we all struggled with wanting what our itching ears were wanting to hear at one time or another? We love it when we hear someone say things to us we want or love to hear, don’t we. In those times we are quick to declare that surely the Holy Spirit has spoken. But what happens when what the Holy Spirit says is not so much what our ‘itching ears’ want to hear at that particular time? I know the Scripture says we are to always speak the truth in love to one another and I totally agree that we should do that, but what happens when the truth steps on our toes; is it still truth? When the Apostle Paul was about to leave the Ephesian elders whom he loved dearly and who dearly loved Paul to never see each other again, he said to them in Acts 20:26-27 NKJV “Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.”

Looking back at 2 Peter 1:16-17, Peter proclaimed they did not have to follow cleverly invented stories when they spoke about the power and coming of Jesus for they were eye-witnesses of His majesty. A growing problem I see in the church today is that there are some who actually believe they need to spice up or modernize the accounts found in the Bible to get people’s attention for we are now living in 2012; the age of technology! Those people believe when people come to church today we need to stimulate them with huge power point presentations and graphics, or entertain them and tell cute stories or little white lies so that they will want to come back to church. We need to modernize all the accounts of Jesus and make Him seem cool, down to earth, so people will relate. I pray, Lord have mercy on us!!

Peter said they were eye-witnesses of the Lord’s majesty. Have you ever been called to give an account of an accident or something that took place because you were there when it happened? If we are not careful, we can be intimidated by people to not say what actually happened. There is nothing like a person who saw what took place and had the guts to tell it like it was, no matter the consequences.

Looking at what took place on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2, I truly believe there isn’t a one of us today who could change the minds of those who actually witnessed what took place before their very eyes when they were baptized in the Holy Spirit; yet today we will argue and debate what actually took place, even though none of us were there, just because it makes us feel uncomfortable or better yet, challenged in our hearts.

The prayer of my heart for my life and the life of the church is that we would have such an out-pouring  of the power of the Holy Spirit fall on our pastors, our church services, our worship leaders, our elders and deacons, our youth and singles that would shake our foundation to its core. Then try to keep these eye-witnesses quiet

May I take this time to welcome all of you who are reading my blog for the month of April 2012. I pray that the words you are about to read will not only richly bless you but will also challenge you in your walk with the Lord! You may have wondered why I would title my blog in the way I did for this month. You may think I am being pious by the giving my blog this title or that I am trying to be condescending to others. Actually both of those thoughts are the farthest thing from the truth of what I am trying to say.

If you have walked with the Lord for any amount of time, you have certainly either heard a preacher use the term C&Eer’s from the pulpit or other Christians, maybe even yourself, use this term. The term C&Eers refers to those people who only grace the doors of the church either on Christmas or Easter. As we all know, this month the church is celebrating the glorious celebration of Easter; which I believe is the most glorious day for all Christian’s and a very good day to be in church. Most churches, hopefully will have more attendance on Easter Sunday than they do on any other Sunday. It seems that people come out of the wood work on Easter Sunday. Most pastor’s would say of those who only attend church on Christmas and Easter, where have you been all the other Sundays!!

The Scripture most Christians use, who regularly attend church on the other Sundays besides Easter, to base this on is found in Hebrews 10:25 “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”  The reason people gathered together back in Biblical days, as we do today, was for the purpose of public worship. I grew up as a Catholic, and a Latino Catholic to top that off, and going to church was never an option for us kids. We wouldn’t dare to think of telling our parents that going to mass was boring or that we had a baseball game to play that Sunday, or that the priest didn’t speak to us, out of the fear of the back side of a hand coming our way. It was Sunday and you went to mass, end of argument!! The sad truth is that too many people today who call themselves Christian, seem to come up with all kinds of excuses as to why they don’t come to church on a regular basis, and most of them are exactly that; excuses and poor ones to say the least. Yet for some reason even those who seem to have every excuse in the book for not attending church on a regular basis, seem to make no excuse for attending church on Easter, why you may ask. I think some of the blame lies with the church itself.

There is biting, gossiping, critical hearts, and many more things, too numerous to mention, going on in the church today. And even if people come to church, they hear mostly feel good messages; messages that tell them everything but the truth; the fact that they are in desperate need of the Lord in their life!!! I believe the church today has unfortunately looked more to feed the people too many banana splits with every sweet topping one could imagine and not enough broccoli or dare I even go so far to say, lima beans ( I hate lima beans)

The truth of the matter is that those of us who call ourselves Christians and who regularly attend church on Sundays need to clean up how we are at our churches. Hear me when I say it is not about your child liking the youth pastor or making sure there are plenty of games to play and less preaching going on. It’s not about you being so overwhelmed that you couldn’t possibly volunteer to help in Sunday School or wherever help is needed. It’s not about you getting out of church in time to watch your favorite team play on TV or that you just can’t sit still that long. It’s not about you being uncomfortable with praying, serving others in the body of Christ or having a genuine move of the Holy Spirit in the church service.

Yes,  far too many people today seem to find any and every excuse not to attend church but the fact that they still come on Christmas and Easter tells me that they still sense a need in their life for the Lord. What is it that we the church are giving to them when they do come or what do they see?

I believe when we who regularly attend church begin to make it a point that we are always encouraging each other, as the writer of Hebrews says we are to; that we always genuinely love one another; that we consistently thirst for more of the move of the Holy Spirit in our church services not just cute stories; that our youth are not the ones who make the decision as to what church the parents will attend, then when those C&Eer’s walk through our church doors, they will long to come back the next Sunday and every  Sunday after that because they witnessed the risen Jesus Christ alive and working in the people. That is the prayer for me and my church; I hope it is for you as well. We serve a Lord who is alive and well; may people see that in every one of our lives!!! Have a blessed Easter my dear friend; I will see you in church!!!

Let me begin by sending greetings to all who may be reading my blog at this time. My prayer for you is that you are enjoying the favor of the Lord in your life but if you find yourself currently in the middle of a storm in your life, my prayer is that you sense the Lord’s provision and strength for all that you need in your storm.

At our church this past week, we had the privilege of hosting the first week-long session of the Nazirite Training led by its founder; a very dear friend of ours, Pastor Jerome and his lovely wife Abel; all the way from the Philippines. Let me say that it not only was a very wonderful time of training but it was also very challenging week as well. The Nazirite Training is divided into 3 sessions. Pastor Jerome led us in the first session which was on Humility.

As Pastor Jerome explained, humility does not come naturally to us. In fact, the exact opposite is often what seems to the case, we struggle with pride. Many of us are familiar with Proverbs 16:5 “The Lord detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.” and Proverbs 16:18 “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” Yet even though we may be familiar with these verses and the many more verses on pride and being proud found in the Bible, we still struggle with our pride. It would be good for us to heed the warning given by the Lord in Isaiah 2:12 “The Lord Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted (and they will be humbled.)” The question remains for us; what are we to do.

In Matthew 18:1-9, we read of a time when the disciples came to Jesus and asked Him a very important question, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” I don’t know about you but this is a question I find myself relating to. I tend to believe that deep down in the core of our being, whether we want to admit it or not, there is that need in us to be viewed upon by others as the greatest at whatever we do.

In all truth, the reason I believe the disciples asked Jesus, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” was to see if Jesus would say that person would be one of them; and why not they thought. They had walked with Jesus, they had preached the good news, they had been a part of the many miracles Jesus had performed and much more. It would only seem right that the greatest in the kingdom of heaven would come from one of them, right. Isn’t that just the way many of us think in the church at times? Why am I not the first one they pick to be an elder, why am I not the worship leader, why isn’t it me that they pick to lead the mission trip, and the list goes on. It’s that sinful prideful nature in all of us that rises up right at the most crucial time when we should look instead to be seen as humble servants.

The very next words Jesus speaks after being asked that crazy question by the disciples is what I believe will help each of us maintain a humble heart. Jesus calls a little child over to Him and says, “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Can’t you almost see the dropped jaws on the disciples faces? WOW talk about being schooled by the Master. This little unnamed little child, with such an innocent look on their face, stand by Jesus. He or she wasn’t there when Jesus performed all the miracles; he or she wasn’t there to be used by the Lord as He preached the good news; he or she hadn’t walked with Jesus all those years, but he or she knew exactly where to stand; close to Jesus.

Though little children continue to make so many mistakes; though they don’t have all the wisdom of the world in their world in their hearts yet; Jesus says if we would humble ourselves and become like little children, then we would be considered the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. You see it is not about the position of being the greatest that we are to seek after; it is not about all the recognition we get from others; nor is it about being considered the one to lead that is important.

The words we should long to hear from Jesus when our life is over are, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!”  What have you been faithful with that the Lord has placed in your care? Make sure you take care of that first before you seek your next step. Become like a little child and you will become the greatest in the kingdom of heaven!!! Anyone up for a game of marbles

Greetings to all who may be reading my blog for this month. My prayer is that you are experiencing the Lord’s love and favor in your life.

We have now come to what I call “The Love Month” For those who may not understand this 60′s language, I will just say we have now come to the month of February. The reason I call the month of February ‘The Love Month” is because Valentines Day falls on February 14.  Valentines Day is always associated with love, the cupid, valentine cards, flowers, candy, Barry White songs and teddy bears; not necessarily in that order may I say.

I have a bad sweet tooth and one of my all time favorite candies are those silly conversation hearts; you know those little candy hearts that have all those silly sayings on them that come out every Valentines Day. There are those that say, You’re mine, My love, Made 4 U, Sweet Pea, First Kiss, So Fine, Soul Mate, Luv me and the list goes on and on.

I remember when I was a young boy, (yes, I can actually think back that far) I used to pick out the candy hearts that had the special saying that I wanted to say to someone special. I did that because I didn’t have the courage to actually say it to them, so I would give them that certain candy heart with that special saying; hoping they would read it. Almost all the time they put the candy heart in their mouth; not even reading what it said. They call them conversation hearts but most people never bother to read them; they just like the way the taste, so where’s the conversation!?!

So many people struggle with finding the right words or way to tell someone they really like or love them. They look for cards, candies, flowers or a nice dinner to do it for them when in all reality, people really like hearing someone actually say those simple words, ‘I love You”

When I first became a Christian, I struggled talking to God because I came from a religious background that totally relied on just saying prayers to God; mostly we said them to saints. Actually only special people could talk to God and I found that to be very discouraging so when I was old enough to do my own thing, I quit going to church.

After making many horrible mistakes and experiencing many heartaches, I decided it was time I got back into going to church but thinking about attending the church I used to attend was out of picture for me.

I ended up attending a nondenominational church where I was introduced to Jesus and what a glorious day that was. The person who ended up mentoring me told me that I could actually talk to the Lord and to top that, He would actually talk to me. At first I couldn’t wrap my head around that but in time as I read the Word, I realized that to be so true.

My mentor friend told me that the Word of God is the Lord’s conversation to me and the wisdom for my life.  Psalm 119:105 “Your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light for my path.” Jesus said in John 10:27 “My sheep listen to My voice; I know them and they follow Me.”  

Those verses and many more I read in the Word were so exciting and uplifting for me, I also read where David said in Psalm 5:3 “In the morning, O Lord, You hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before You and wait in expectation”  and where the Lord says in Psalm 91:15 “ He will call upon me and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble , I will deliver him and honor him.” When I read those verses and many more I almost couldn’t believe it. The Lord, Almighty God, the one who spoke the stars into place, would actually hear my voice and speak to me, unbelievable!!!

I struggled with the thought that the Lord would actually desire to have a conversation with me until I read Jesus words to His disciples in John 16:12-13, which are His words to us as well today. “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come.”

Are you getting it my dear brother, my dear sister; Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth; the One who spoke the stars into place, actually wants to have a conversation with you and tell you great and mighty things!!!

Don’t allow anything to hold you back from having a conversation with the Lord for He longs to speak to you. Save those Valentine conversation hearts candies for your mouth. Tell the Lord your greatest fears, joys, dreams, desires but never forget to tell the Lord how much you love Him (He really enjoys hearing that). Trust me my dear friend, the Lord will actually speak to you and as that happens, you will experience, that wonderful Godly conversation

Happy New Year to all my dear brothers and sisters who may be reading my blog for this month. I also pray that every one of you enjoyed a blessed and wonderful Christmas with family and friends.

Someone may have already asked you this or you yourself may have said this to someone, but can you believe that it is 2012!!! To me it seems like it wasn’t so very long ago that it was 1966 when I graduated from Rancho High School (did I just date myself). Since that time the years have just flown by and the older I get, it seems like the years go by faster.

I can remember when I was a young man, anytime I even thought about the year 2000 or any year past that, which seemed light years away back then, I envisioned that by the year 2000 we would be  flying around in the skies in spacecrafts instead of driving cars on the streets; robots would be doing all of our work; (can anyone remember the show the Jetsons)

Yet, here we are in the year 2012 and though we have made great strides in technology, we are still driving cars on streets made of pavement, that in many cases are in great need of repair. Today we can place men on the moon and in space stations; place rovers on Mars and launch satellites into orbit that can take pictures of you and I as we mow our lawn, yet we still can’t find a cure for the common cold.

Everyone has phones that aren’t just phones but minicomputers and we are constantly texting each other. Yet we  find we have become a society that has lost how to do that old cave man form of communication; actually talking face to face with each other. It’s a crazy world that we live in today.

People have become so intrigued with  programs on TV that deal with ghosts, finding bigfoot, UFO’s in the sky, seeing the face of Jesus or Mary on a tortilla or anything else that sounds weird or intriguing. It seems like everyone wants to believe that all those weird things actually exist.

I remember as a young man how intrigued I was with UFO’s. I was always looking up at the skies to see if I could spot a UFO flying so I could tell every body that I saw a UFO; with no such luck I may say. My father worked many years at the Nevada Test Site at Area 12 and Area 51; you know the places they say that don’t actually exist (isn’t that funny). I remember how I would always ask my dad if he ever saw anything weird in the places he worked but because they either threatened the workers with death or that something horrible would happen to them if they ever told what actually took place in those places, we never actually knew exactly what my father did or saw.

I guess what I am trying to say it that at times it seems we are more easily convinced to believe that bigfoot actually exists or that aliens are coming to take us away (have you ever noticed that many times when someone says they were abducted by an alien, they usually lived in a trailer somewhere out in the desert) than we are convinced to believe the truths and promises that are found in the Word of God.

I believe in 2012, the Lord will require His church, you and I, to have such a strong sense of belief or faith in the Lord’s promises found in His Word that no matter what we face in 2012, it will be our strong belief  that the Lord is able and His promises are true, that will get us through those hard times.

In Matthew 8:5-13 and in Luke 7: 1-10 we read as Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him and asked Jesus if He would come and heal his servant whom he valued highly, who was sick and about to die.  Jesus replied that He would go to the centurion’s home heal his servant.

The centurion told Jesus he did not deserve  Him to come under his roof. The centurion then went on to tell Jesus that he was a man under authority and who also had men under his authority. He would tell one to go and he would go; he would tell one to come and they would come; he would tell his servant to do this and it was done. So if Jesus would just say the word, his servant would be healed.

When Jesus heard this, He was amazed; He turned to the crowd and said, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.” Jesus then turned to the centurion and said, “Go! It will de done just as you believed it would.”

When the people asked Jesus what must they do to do the works God requires, John 6:29, “Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: believe in the One He has sent.” What is it that you are placing a lot of your belief or faith in today?

We all know that 2012 is going to be a very important election year for our nation and I strongly believe that all Christians should not only vote but they must also not waste their vote. Yet in spite of whoever it may be that will become our next president, I find comfort knowing that the Ancient of Days is still on the throne!!!

But I also believe that my faith, my trust must not only rest on the fact that the Ancient of Days is still on the throne; but it must also be a faith, a belief that is real and active in every area of my life and for all to see.

May 2012 be a year of great spiritual growth in your life my brother and my sister. May this year be the year that you finally; BELIEVE!!!