Merry Christmas from Ron Brewer Ministries

It is really hard to believe this is the December Newsletter. My how the months have flown by. As I take time to look back, it has been such a thrill to see all that God has done. During 2011 so many people surrendered their lives to Christ. One that is such a joy to me and Trish is our twelve year old son, Joseph. While in Fresno, TX doing the singing in a revival service, he gave his life to Christ. What a thrill. God has blessed us so abundantly.

We just completed 9 days of Christmas In the Smokies and what an awesome time we had. Such tremendous blessings from all the artist, the great Christian Comedians, as well as the comedy skits. The chapel services were so great. Each service was so anointed. Every person who came out received a blessing and was a blessing. It was such a joyous time to see artist praying with others and sharing their testimonies with people. The spirit of the lord was there.

If you would like to attend in 2012, the dates are Nov. 26, 27 and 28 or Nov. 29, 30 and Dec. 1 or Dec. 3, 4 and 5. It will be held at the Main Stay Suites in Pigeon Forge, TN. The early bird gets the worm. Contact me soon for a great deal. We still have rooms available on the Caymen Island and Cozmuel, MX cruise, Mar. 5 - 10. sign up at www.sonshinepromotions.com

I am so excited to announce the release of my new project “Heart Collector.” This is an absolute wonderful project of songs from the Heart. Songs such as Man In The Mirror, I’ve Got My Foot On The Rock, JESUS, I Love You Son, Friends In High Places, Jesus Was A Country Man, One Drink and many more. The best writers, Shane Roark, James Elliott, Tom Burress, Becky Allen, Jason Todd Herod. You can get your copy in time for Christmas at www.ronbrewermusic.com

Thank you all for your love and support. Continue to call and request Tear Off the Roof. There are still a few dates available for 2012 so hurry and call. May we all continue to pray for lost souls and one another and for our nation.

Merry Christmas from our family to yours,

Ron, Trish and Joseph

When Your Confidence Level is Low

Posted: December 7, 2011

by Stan Parker

Things not going like you’d desire? Well, take this advise: “don’t throw away your confidence; it will soon be appropriately rewarded” (ancient first century writing from a book called Hebrews).

I wonder if we realize that a lot of what we do and say tells others about our confidence level. I can readily think of ten tips on how to increase your confidence level starting right now:

Tip #1: Don’t get down on yourself ! – The more you talk about your perceived inadequacies, the more likely you will become bound by them.

Tip #2: Celebrate being you! – You are special, one of a kind, unique, and you have strengths as well as weaknesses.

Tip #3: Get more decisive! – Start saying yes or no and leave maybe out of any answer. Make up your mind on things and stick with the decision. Just do it.

Tip #4: Remove the words “I can’t” from your vocabulary! Yes you can!

Tip #5: Get a handle on procrastination! – Constructive forward movement gets your energy flowing and makes it easier to continue. So make a move, even a small movement, and keep building your movements into bigger movements.

Tip #6: List your positive points! - Take a pad and pen and write down your positive characteristics and skills. Review them and ask yourself how you can apply one or two of them today.

Tip #7: Volunteer for some group or ministry for two hours a week through the end of this month! – New responsibilities freely given will challenge your life and positively impact others.

Tip #8: Be a dream maker! – Picture yourself doing what you would love to be doing if money was no obstacle. Tell four people about this adventure.

Tip #9: Set some S.M.A.R.T. goals! – To be accomplished, goals must be (at least) specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely. List a few steps necessary to reach two of your goals. Take a step forward today and do one of those steps.

Tip #10: Get into the action! – Act confident, dress confident, look the part, speak distinctly, shake hands with confidence, and walk with confidence. Feel confident!

Stan Parker – The A.I.M. Group: Coaching, Speakers Group, Corporate and Church Turnaround Projects. Contact: stanp@abbgroup-nwa.com.

10 Things to be Thankful For on Thanksgiving Day

Subscribe to this newsletter here.

10 Basic Blessings You Should Be Thankful For

Tuesday, 22 November 2011 08:15 AM EST J. Lee Grady Newsletters - Fire In My Bones

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Americans today face economic challenges, but we have nothing to complain about.

We Americans are a blessed people, but we are also spoiled. I know I am. I can get flustered over the stupidest things—like when my cellphone doesn’t get a good signal, when a flight is delayed or when my computer takes too long to load a website. Most people in the world don’t have iPhones, can’t afford air travel and don’t have computers. My impatience reveals my ungrateful spirit.

So how can we avoid this virus of selfish immaturity? Thankfulness is the antidote. It melts our pride and crushes our sense of entitlement. It reminds us that everything we have comes from God, and that His mercy is the only reason we are blessed.

"Be thankful instead! God calls us to live above negativity. When we give thanks in all things, God gives us a supernatural attitude adjustment.”

As you celebrate Thanksgiving Day, I pray you will invite the Holy Spirit to convict you of any whining. Here’s a list of 10 blessings that many people in the world don’t have. Go over this list and then see if you still have anything to gripe about.

1. Got clean water? The next time you uncap a bottle of water or grab a drink from the tap, remember that one in eight people in the world (that’s 884 million people) lack access to clean water supplies. Millions of women around the world spend several hours a day collecting water. When you take a five-minute shower, you use more water than a typical person in a developing country uses in a whole day.

2. Do you have a bathroom? About 40 percent of the world's population (2.6 billion people) do not have toilets. Lack of sanitation facilities spreads disease and is a major reason why more than 2 million people die annually of diarrhea.

3. How’s your electricity? The power in my house might be interrupted briefly three times a year because of Florida storms. But 1.6 billion people—a· quarter of humanity—live without any electricity. And, because of unreliable infrastructure, at least 2 billion people on earth don’t have any light at night.

4. Got a roof over your head? One billion people live in slums. That's almost one-sixth of the world’s population. Of this total, 640 million children live without adequate shelter; they live in cardboard boxes, tin-roofed shacks, one-room mud huts or filthy, crowded tenements. It’s been estimated that 1.4 billion people will live in slums by 2020. Meanwhile here in the United States, between 2.3 to 2.5 million people are classified as homeless.

5. Is there food on your table? In the United States we are battling an obesity epidemic. Yet according to UNICEF, 22,000 children die each day due to poverty. Approximately 790 million people in the developing world are chronically undernourished, and almost 28 percent of all children in developing countries are estimated to be underweight or stunted.

6. Got a stove? In developing countries, some 2.5 billion people use fuelwood, charcoal or animal dung to meet their energy needs for cooking. In sub-Saharan Africa, more than 80 percent of the population depends on these crude, traditional means for cooking, as do over half of the populations of India and China. The really sad part: Indoor air pollution resulting from the use of solid fuels claims the lives of 1.5 million people each year, more than half of them below the age of 5.

7. Got regular income? You may have had to take a pay cut during the recession. But keep in mind that at least 80 percent of humanity lives on less than $10 a day. The world's average income is about $7,000 a year. Still, only about 19 percent of the world's population lives in countries with per capita incomes at least this high.

8. Did you go to school? Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names. Enrollment data shows that about 72 million children of primary school age in the developing world were not in school in 2005 (and 57 percent of them were girls).

9. Are you generally healthy? Americans face illness like people in other nations—and more than 12 million Americans are battling cancer in any given year. But many of us have access to health care. In the developing world, more than 2.2 million children die each year because they are not immunized. An estimated 40 million people in developing countries are living with HIV/AIDS. Every year there are 350–500 million cases of malaria, with 1 million fatalities, mostly in Africa.

10. Are you free to worship God? More than 400 Christians die for their faith every day around the world, and most of these believers suffer in Islamic countries—although the top hot spot for Christian persecution, according to Open Doors International, is the atheist regime of North Korea.

What will you be grateful for this Thanksgiving? In these tough economic times you may feel the urge to complain. Be thankful instead! God calls us to live above this negativity. When we give thanks in all things, God gives us a supernatural attitude adjustment. When we thank God for all He has given us, acknowledging that we don’t deserve His goodness, our grumbling melts into gratitude and our impatience turns to praise.

J. Lee Grady is the former editor of Charisma. You can follow him on Twitter at leegrady. His most recent book is 10 Lies Men Believe (Charisma House).

What Will Your Obituary Say?

FIRST-PERSON: What will your Obituary say?

By Candi Finch / Baptist Press

FORT WORTH, Texas (BP) -- What would your obituary say if you were to die today? What would your legacy be? Would people remember your passion for Christ, your love for others, your heart for the outcasts? Or, would they remember your negative attitude, your short temper, your sharp tongue? What would your family say about you? Your friends? Your teachers?

These questions are ones I have often posed over the past few years to the teenage girls I have taught in my local church. I am convinced the reason many students (and adults, for that matter!) do not live consistently for Christ is that they do not think about the eternal impact their lives can have, and they do not think a single life can make much of a difference anyway.

For close to 15 years, I have watched students start their high school years so strong for Christ only to finish poorly, many even dropping out of church before they graduate high school. It breaks my heart as I watch my girls that once had a burning passion to impact their school for Christ get sidelined because worldly things took their focus off of the Lord. I remember one girl in particular that I led to the Lord when she was a freshman, had in Sunday School, and met with in a small discipleship group. She regularly brought lost friends to church. However, she started dating a boy her senior year who wasn't a Christian, and that one decision to date a non-Christian took her down a disastrous path. She stopped talking about her faith and attending church because she didn't want to alienate her new boyfriend.

So, a few years ago, I started having my students write their own obituaries at the end of their freshman year in high school so they would think about how important the choices are that they make on a daily basis. Then, I spent time with them walking through some famous "obituaries" found in Hebrews 11. These testimonies left behind in Hebrews help believers today realize that the legacies of their lives can last generations. In this day, we need more Hebrews 11 type of Christians. The point is not that our names would be known but that we would live in such a way that Christ's name is known because of our lives.

The truth is, though, that it is not just high school students who need to examine their lives to see if they are building a legacy of faith. We all should be asking ourselves: If today was my last, would the legacy of my life be one that honored the Lord? Consider the "obituaries" of the people recorded in Hebrews 11:1-40:

1. They had a good reputation (vv. 2, 39). Both of these verses note that the people had a good reputation because of their faith. What is your reputation? Is it as someone who loves the Lord and cares for others? Or, do people know of you for less desirable reasons?

2. They were remembered by people who came after them (v. 4). One of the beauties of the Bible is that it records for us the lives of those who "though dead, still speak." Women in Scripture like Ruth, Esther, and Lydia and women in church history like Amy Carmichael, Ann Judson, and Elizabeth Elliott spur us on because of their example of faith. My grandmother and my pastor's wife were such women who, because of their lives, I am encouraged to live for Christ.

3. They were known as people who pleased God (v. 5). Someone who pleases God seeks to honor the Lord before any other. This is the type of girl who doesn't seek popularity at the cost of her convictions, who doesn't date boys who are unbelievers, and who seeks to honor God in the way she dresses and talks. She uses her time to deepen her relationship with God and makes daily time in God's Word a priority.

4. They had confidence in God (v. 10). When you are bombarded daily by the message of the world, it can be hard sometimes to trust that doing things God's way is best. However, when God says, "Do not have any other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3) or "be slow to anger" (James 1:19) or "honor your father and mother" (Ephesians 6:2) or adorn yourself "with proper clothing, modestly" (1 Timothy 2:9), do you have confidence and trust in His guidance for you?

5. God was not ashamed to be called their God (vv. 13-16). When one day in the future my family member sits down to consider my life and pen my obituary, this would be the one thing I want said of me -- that God was not ashamed to be called my God.

6. They resisted sin by keeping their eyes on God (vv. 24-27). The temptations to sin are ever present in your life and my life, but God has promised us in His Word that no temptation will be so great that a way out will not be provided (1 Corinthians 10:13). The challenge for us is to keep our eyes on Him in the midst of these temptations! One thing that has really helped me is memorizing Scripture for those sins I know I struggle with, and I have even put Scripture cards up in my car, on my TV, and in other places in my house to remind me. So, before I think of speeding in my car or getting angry at careless drivers, God's Word greets me from the dashboard. Before I think about watching anything on TV that is unwholesome or that may cause me to sin in my thought-life, God's Word beckons to me above the screen.

7. They were used by God in the midst of difficult circumstances (vv. 32-34). The phrase in this section that encourages me so much is that "their weakness was turned to strength." In high school and early in college, I was terrified of public speaking and had difficulty sharing my faith. Yet, I remember time after time how God opened doors for me to witness for Him -- to entire classes through assigned speeches, to my principal in his office because he had questions about a Christian club I was president of, and to teachers and classmates with whom I had built relationships. In each instance, when I trusted Him instead of giving into fear, I was able see Him do great things.

8. They withstood persecution and ridicule for their faith (vv. 35-37). Today, all around the world, brothers and sisters in Christ are persecuted and killed for their faith. I read an article recently about a group of 26 Christians who were murdered in Cairo, Egypt during a demonstration. I often ask myself if I would have the conviction and courage to stand in the face of such circumstances. Maybe a more appropriate question, though, is whether I have the courage and conviction to live for Christ in my own context?

So, I ask again, what would your obituary say if you died today? Consider the eight characteristics found in Hebrews 11 and ask yourself which of those could describe your life. May we all be remembered as Hebrews 11 Christians!

Candi Finch is a Ph.D. student and an adjunct professor in the Women's Studies Program at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. This column first appeared at BiblicalWoman.org, a blog of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Copyright (c) 2011 Southern Baptist Convention, Baptist Press www.BPNews.net

Simos Family Ministry Update-June 2011

Praise God for all He has done! Here's a short update just to let everyone know that we arrived safely in the DR and we're working on settling in. Last Tuesday night we arrived in the DR! We were greeted by the Hilgeman family and then spent the rest of the week setting up our apartment. Things move slowly here so please continue to pray for patience. We do have internet and so email or facebook is the best way to reach us right now. We also have a home phone that actually has a US number (so it is a free call) 317.789.8986, feel free to try it. Just remember, we're in and out alot right now. We were told that some people had trouble accessing the messages from our commissioning service, so here it is again. Click here to listen to Commissioning Sermons Thank you all for your prayers! We couln't do this without you! Josh, Toni, Kinsey, Elle & Gabe 317 789 8986 joshsimos@itisforfreedom.com

Prayer Requests Transition - that we adjust well to a new culture & home. We attended church for the first time in San Pedro, all in Spanish! We couldn't understand much of what was said but definitely felt welcomed by our Dominican brothers and sisters in Christ. Patience - that we continue to wait upon the Lord as we settle into our new home and as we learn Spanish. Mail Support to: Freedom International Ministries 2905 E 46th Street Indianapolis, IN 46205 note “Simos Family” on check

How do you like me now?

Most of you have probably seen the fast food chain commercial with the talking lemon. The lemon tells us how he has always gotten the bad rap. defective, no good, he goes on to tell us.

This is a commercial for lemon with strawberry added for a new drink for summer. Sounds quite good. We have often been told that when life gives you lemons, to make lemon-aid. At the end of the commercial when an attractive lady is drinking this new beverage, the lemon yells,"How do you like me now?"

We are a lot like that lemon aren't we? Born defective, no good, without Christ in our life. Then we meet the Savior. Jesus makes old things new. We should be yelling to the world this good news that He can change us from bitter lemons....and our loved ones will probably like us better now too!...keith

Sin & Believers-Dr. Ken Schenck

Sin and Believers

What Would the Apostle John Say?

By Kenneth Schenck | Released: Apr. 6, 2011

Christians today—including many Wesleyans—seem increasingly comfortable with sin. No doubt we could give many reasons for this alarming trend. One factor is the misinterpretation of Scripture, particularly passages from Paul and John’s writings.

Misuses of Scripture

How often have you heard people paraphrase John 8:7 as an argument for the acceptability of sin in a Christian’s life: “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone!” First John 1:8 is also popular: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” If the apostle John were to hear these uses of his writing, I suspect they would be real sore spots for him. The all-too-common ways Christians apply these verses go directly against what he actually taught!

The Background of John’s Writing

One of the problems we have when we read Scripture is incomplete information. Originally, John’s letters were written to real churches who knew the background of what he was saying. Of course the Spirit helps us to hear what we need to hear, even when we cannot be certain of what a passage meant originally.

However, 1 John gives us some good hints about the situation it first addressed. John’s community had undergone a “church split,” for example (compare 1 John 2:19). The departing group refused to believe Jesus had really become human and taken on flesh (for example,

1 John 4:2–3; compare John 1:14). These divisive individuals apparently were gnostic in belief, an early Christian heresy we know about from other sources. Before they left John’s community, they showed hatred toward their brothers and sisters in Christ (1 John 3:10–24; 4:7–21).

Perhaps more to the point, they saw no need for the blood of Christ (1 John 5:6). They, thus, did not see a need for a sacrifice to cleanse their sins. They did not believe they had sins for the blood of Christ to cleanse!

It is in this context that John wrote the verses that Christians use most often to argue for the normality of sin in the life of the believer. But we can see now how out of context these interpretations are. First John 1:10 says, “If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar.” The departing group had made such claims. The tense John used in this verse implies that everyone has sinned in the past, with the result that everyone has a need for cleansing by Christ. In other words, John was basically saying the same thing as Romans 3:23: “all have sinned.”

Cleansing for Sin

First John 1:8 focuses on the fact that everyone needs the cleansing of Christ as a result of their past sins: “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (NASB). The verse does not say that we do sin continually in the present, as many presume. It says that everyone has sin as a result of past sins. The key is that John has in mind someone who claims that he or she has never sinned at all.

Anyone who thinks 1 John 1:8 justifies ongoing sin in the life of the believer will have difficulty dealing with 1 John 3:9, which gives John’s teaching on this subject. That verse reads, “Those who are born of God will not continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God” (TNIV). This verse puts to rest any doubt about what John really thought. To the Jews, “walking” was about living. To walk in the light, thus, meant to live the right lifestyle, a life in which sin was atypical (compare 1 John 1:7).

First John 2:1–2 leaves us with the bottom line on the issue of sin in the life of the believer. These verses capture the whole subject in a nutshell for me. “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”

Amen. •

Ken Schenck is an author, professor, and dean of Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan University.

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Wesleyan Life Online is a family friendly Website dedicated to promoting strong Christian values. Please refrain from using any inappropriate language or content in your comments, including defamation, libel or personal attack. Thank you

Why go to Church?

A Church goer wrote a
letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that
it made no sense to go to church every Sunday... "I've gone for 30 years
now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like=203,000
sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them.
So, I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by
giving sermons at all."

This started a real controversy in
the "Letters to the Editor" column, much to the delight of the editor. It
went on for weeks until someone wrote this
clincher:

"I've been
married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000
meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a
single one of those meals. But I do know
this... They all
nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife
had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise,
if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead
today!" When you are DOWN to nothing... God is UP to something! Faith sees
the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible! Thank
God for our physical AND our spiritual nourishment!

Seeing the Positive in our Problems

Guest Sermon Series

Rev. Robert D. Shofner, Jr.

St. John's UCC Boonville

Many people think that when they have problems, God is angry with them. And that's just not true. Many think that when they're having problems, they're out of God's will. And that's not necessarily true.

There are preachers on the TV and radio today that preach that God wants everybody to be healthy and wealthy. And when we're not healthy and wealthy, then they say we must be out of God's will. There’s a theological term for that way of thinking; “Baloney.”

1 Peter 4:12,19: "Don't be surprised at the painful trials you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. . . . Those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good." Notice that phrase, "those who suffer according to God's will." Problems are sometimes God's will for our lives. Yeah. That's right. So today we want to look at seeing the positive in our problems. We don't want to try to explain suffering, because there's no way that we could. But we want to learn to look at our problems from a new perspective.

How many of us had a problem this past week? All right. God uses that problem you're going through in five ways.

#1 - God uses problems to direct us. He often uses problems to point us in a new direction. To motivate us to change. To get our attention.

The frustrated teacher brought the little boy into the principal's office. "This boy is absolutely impossible!" she exclaimed. "I can no longer manage him. He is constantly causing trouble with the other kids; he doesn't pay attention; he gets into fights; and he constantly talks back to me. There must be some way to help him change his ways, but I just don't know what to do."

"Now, now, Miss Higgins," the principal replied. "You must remember that each child is a precious gift from God. We must practice love, patience, and understanding."

At that moment the errant young lad grabbed a book off the principal's desk which caused a potted plant to fall off onto the floor which set up a chain reaction that ended with the principal slipping in the mud and falling on his behind.

The boy started laughing at all the trouble he had set in motion as the principal got up and seized the child. He put the boy across his knees and paddled him.

The teacher gasped, "But you just told me that we must show children love, patience and understanding."

"How right you are, Miss Higgins," replied the principal. "But first you must get their attention!"

Proverbs 20:30 (GN), "Sometimes it takes a painful experience to make us change our ways." How many would agree with that verse? Usually we change, not when we see the light, but when we feel the heat. C.S. Lewis once said, "God whispers to us in our pleasure, but He shouts to us in our pain." He gets our attention real quick when problems come upon us.

There are many example of this in the Bible. Take Elijah. One time Elijah was hiding out in the desert. He had everything he needed. Fresh water from a brook, birds bringing him food. He was safe and content and not about to leave. But then ... one day the brook dried up! Ever have a brook dry up in your life? All our resources dry up? Elijah thought, "What gives? God's been taking care of me, and all of a sudden the resources aren't there. God must not love me anymore." And God answered him, "No, that's not it at all. I just want your attention here. I don't want you to stay where the brook is. It's time to move on. And as long as you are comfortable in that situation, you're not going to change." The brook dried up so that God could direct Elijah to a new situation.

Sometimes a job dries up, a relationship dries up, a situation dries up ... why? God says, "Because I don't want you hanging around there anymore. I want you trying something new."

Remember the story of Jonah? God told Jonah to go to Ninevah. That way. He went to Tarshish ... as far that way as you could go. So God arranged a little Mediterranean cruise for Jonah. In the belly of a fish. Fish says, "Jonah, you're going in the wrong direction." And when the fish spits him out, guess which way he's headed?

God uses problems to direct us. To prod us, to push us. We would rarely change if we didn't have any problems. So we want to ask the question: "Where is this problem leading me?" Because problems never leave you where they found you. When we go through a problem we always end up someplace different from where we started off. God uses problems to direct us.

#2 - God uses problems to inspect us. To check us out, to see what we're like on the inside. To test us. Somebody once said that people are like tea bags. You never know what's really inside them until you drop them in hot water.

Deuteronomy 8:2, "The Lord God led you all the way into the desert these 40 years ... to test you in order to know what was in your heart ..." Notice that word "test." The Bible says that when Moses led the people of Israel through the Red Sea , they were to stop at Mt. Sinai , then move on to the Promised Land. Now, the walk from Egypt to Israel really shouldn't take more than a couple of weeks. But it took them 40 years! Why? God wanted them to wander around for a while so that He could test them. Seven times God tested them to see what was inside of them. Remember that story about Marah? That was one of the 7 tests. And every time they blew it, God said, "Okay, one more lap around the desert!"

Has God ever tested you? You bet He has. And we want to ask the question, "What does this problem reveal about me?" James 1:2-4, "Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance ... so you may be mature and complete ..."

The Bible often compares suffering to a refining fire. You take silver and heat it up to burn off the impurities. God does that with people ... through problems. Isaiah 48:10, "I (God) have tested you in the fire of suffering, as silver is refined in a furnace." God uses problems to burn off the excess in our lives, the stuff that's not needed, to purify us. Asked a silversmith once, "How do you know when silver's pure?" He answered, "When I can see my reflection in it." When God sees His reflection in our lives, He knows that He's burned off the impurities.

#3 - God uses problems to correct us. Psalm 119:71, "It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your statutes." Hear that word "learn." He's saying that life is a school and our problems are the curriculum. Now why is it that some lessons we only learn through failure? Some things we only learn by blowing it. I remember being a kid and having mom say, "Now, Bobby, don't touch that hot stove." Do you think I touched it? Count on it. Did I ever touch it again? Nope. I learned by being burned.

Have you ever learned by being burned? Ever get burned in a relationship? Financially? Ever get burned by a bad decision? God uses problems to correct us when we're going off in the wrong direction. Living Bible paraphrase of that verse from the Psalms: "... it was the best thing that could happen to me, for it taught me to pay attention to your laws!" It seems that it's just human nature that we have to learn through pain.

Hebrews 12:7 (LB), "Let God train you, for He is doing what any loving father does for his children. Whoever heard of a son who was never corrected?" Do we discipline our kids? Yeah, sure we do. Why? Because we love them. This verse tells us that God's discipline of us is proof that He loves us. (God knows He must love me a lot, right?) Problems don't mean that God hates us, problems mean that God loves us! He allows the circumstances that are the natural consequence of our behavior to occur.

Now we want to get this above anything else this morning. Many people say, "I made a bad decision, I blew it. So I'll just confess my sin to God and ask Him to forgive me." Does God forgive me? Yes! Instantly, I'm forgiven. It's wiped out. No condemnation.

But that does not mean that God cancels out the cause and effect of that situation. We are forgiven, but He doesn't withdraw all of the circumstances. I could go out and recklessly race my Corvette down Main Street , crash into a car, hurt someone else and break my own arm. When I ask God to forgive me, He would forgive me ... but I'd still have a broken arm and a lawsuit. See what I'm saying?

God forgives us, but He often allows the effects of our sin to stay in order to teach us not to do it again. If every time we did something bad, and we could get away with it by just saying, "God, forgive me. " ... we'd keep right on doing it! But the Bible says we reap what we sow. And God allows that to happen, we reap what we sow, not because He hates us but because He loves us. He wants us to learn. "... it was the best thing that could happen to me, for it taught me to pay attention to your laws!" God's discipline proves that we are His children.

So when problems come, we don't want to ask "why." We want to ask, "what?" What does God want to teach us? God uses problems in our lives to teach us about Himself ... His power, His love, His grace. The fact that He can handle anything, that He knows everything about us ... the good, the bad and the ugly, and He still loves us. He also uses our problems to teach us something about ourselves. God may use a situation to reveal a weakness, to show up a blind spot, a character fault. So He uses these problems to correct us.

#4 - sometimes God uses problems to protect us. Sometimes God allows problems in our lives for our own benefit. Many times a problem is actually a blessing in disguise. It may prevent us from getting involved in something more harmful. 1 Peter 3:17, "It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good, than for doing evil." He says, "You're going to have problems in life. So you might as well have problems for doing the right thing, rather than problems for doing the wrong thing." He's saying that it's safer doing what's right, what's honest, and suffer for it ... than to compromise our values, do what's wrong, and suffer for that.

When I think of this verse, "It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good, than for doing evil." I think of Joseph. We've talked about his story before. Remember how his master's wife accuses him of rape because he won't sleep with her? And he gets put into prison for doing good. I'm sure Joseph sat in that prison and thought, "What gives, God? What are you doing?" Sometimes you do the right thing and everything falls apart. Joseph was in prison for doing the right thing. But if he wasn't in prison, he wouldn't have met the men who introduced him to the Pharaoh who eventually put Joseph in charge of the whole country! And two nations were saved from seven years of famine because he ended up in jail. God knew what He was doing, even if Joseph didn't. So remember, we don't see the whole picture, but God does. And He's faithful to us.

So we want to ask, "What is it about this problem that's protecting me? How is this helping me to trust God?"

#5 - Last one - sometimes God uses problems to perfect us. To develop us. Romans 5:3-4 (LB), "We can rejoice when we run into problems and trials (I'm kidding, right?) for we know that they are good for us - they help us learn to be patient. And patience develops strength of character in us and helps us trust God more each time we use it ..." It's like the old illustration about the uncut diamond. We are an uncut diamond. And God wants to chip off our rough edges, to polish us up and make us a beautiful gem that glistens and reflects His glory. And so He uses problems to chip off the rough edges in our lives. He comes along with a little chisel and hammer, and sees that rough edge, and goes "chink." Then He sees another rough edge, and "chink." Sometimes there's a great big rough edge, and He gets out a bigger chisel and hammer and goes, "CHINK!" Sometimes He may have to use dynamite ... because it takes different kinds of things to get our attention. But God is trying to shape us into something for His glory and use.

God wants to make us like Jesus Christ. And He does that two ways. Through the Bible, and through circumstances. When we read the Bible, He helps make us like Christ. As we go through circumstances, He forces us to become more like Christ. You see, the easy way is this. God says in the Bible, "Be patient." And we're patient.

But when we don't learn it that way, God will just put us in a traffic jam, force us to learn patience. We read the Bible and it tells us, "Be humble." So we can do it the easy way and just do what God wants. But if we don't, that's okay, because God will teach us the hard way. He'll humiliate us. God will get His message across.

Paul learned that lesson. He talks about his thorn in the flesh. We don't know what it was. It was some type of irritation, maybe physical, maybe emotional. It says three times he prayed desperately, "God, take this situation out of my life." And God said, "No way, Jose." Why? Because the purpose of the problem is greater than the pain of the problem. If God took it out of the way, Paul wouldn't learn the lesson that God wanted him to learn. So God sometimes says "no" to the removal of a problem, because He wants us to learn something first.

In Hebrews it says that Jesus was made perfect through suffering. How do we think we're going to be made perfect? The same way. 1 Peter talks about how there are seasons in life. In life we have good times and bad, things change. There are springs and summers and falls and winters. All sunshine and no rain makes a desert. All rain and no sunshine ... you need an ark. We want balance in our lives. We want seasons in our lives to season us, to prepare us to be what God wants us to be.

Now, the question we ask for this is, "How can I grow from the problem? How does God want to perfect me through this problem?"

Let's wrap up. Our problems are not the problem. The problem is the way we respond to our problems. When do problems become real problems? They become real problems when we get a bad attitude about them. When we lose our perspective, when we let go of our values. They become real problems when we lose our sense of humor, when we start holding pity parties. When we start blaming other people for our circumstances.

(Saw a bumper sticker that said, "It's not whether you win or lose, but how you place the blame.")

I was teaching a class once and we talked about our problems in life, and I explained that God always gives us the strength to bear any burden He may place upon us. And He gives us the grace to overcome all evil with His help.

And I asked, "Are there any comments?" A hand slowly rose in the back of the room, and the person said, "Pastor, I know that God doesn't cause us evil. And I understand that He only tests our faith to give us a chance to grow stronger as His children. But, you know, I still think that sometimes He overdoes it."

What do you think? I think this. Romans 8:28. "We know that in everything God works for good with those that love Him, who are called according to His purpose." In everything, even our problems.

Let's pray:

Now, let's think about these questions as we pray. Just ask, Lord, are you using this problem to direct me? If so, which way do you want me to go? Lord, are you using this problem to inspect me? If so, what does it reveal about me? Lord, are you using this problem to correct me? If so, what should I change? Father, are you using this problem to protect me? You know what's best. God, are you using this problem to perfect me? If so, chip away, Lord! Make us more and more like your son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Help us to see that the pain of the problem is a lot less than the purpose, that you are teaching us and perfecting us and that in all things you work for our eventual good. And for that we give you praise and call you good.

And the people said, “Amen.”

"God Is Enough!"

Condensed Sermon Series #2
By Reverend D. Edson Ames
Senior Pastor
Boonville Wesleyan Church

Introduction: I’m a hunter; but only in my mind. I watched a program about a young man who wanted to hunt a certain kind of deer in the Scottish Highlands. He hired a man who had lived and hunted the deer all his life. They went into the mountains and finally saw the deer very far away. He put his rifle on the ground with a tripod and killed the deer when all he could see is the silhouette against the sky. I was reminded of 2 things:

1. If you’re hunting for big game don’t use a shotgun

2. To bag a trophy may require extra effort and sacrifice

I have had a vision of being a great hunter so I bought a wii game at Bass Pro Shop. I don’t expect I’ll hang any trophies, but it’s the closest I’ll come. It’s not the real way it’s just a substitute.

Through the records of man and God it is a repeated fact that people are always leaving the ways of God and going their own way. We often try to substitute the easy false way for the more strenuous right way.

I want to give us some ammunition for our hunt for the hearts and minds of those who have tried to substitute the false gods for the Real God.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 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. (Rom 8:35-39 NKJV)

Let’s bag a “trophy” for Jesus this week with 1 shot: GOD IS ENOUGH!

1. It is human nature for people to get bored and restless with routine.

-Moses had gone up the mountain to receive the commandments and the people got tired of waiting for God to do something, so they made a golden calf.

- While Israel was in the wilderness, God fed them manna from heaven but they got tired of that, even though it had everything they needed to live on, so they demanded

something else. God sent them quail (birds) until they grew sick of them.

- People find God's goodness boring. After a while they get tired of it so they mix something with it.

2. For many Christians God is not enough.

- They want what the SALVATION the cross of Jesus provides, but not what it demands.

- They want God's protection while living their worldly ways. God's ways become boring

so they want more.

- They invent "religious" entertainment" to "pep" up their "worship" services, God is not enough.

- They want physical healing more than spiritual healing.

3. The Christian won't be where he/she ought to be until he/she gets to a place where God is enough.

- Those who desire and pursue the presence of the Holy God and stand in awed silence are satisfied.

- Those who are obedient and seek only God's will are satisfied with what God does.

- We have to live here in this world but we don't have to be like it.

- Many take the things of the world and "sanctify" them saying those things are necessary for spiritual happiness.

- The presence of God brings more delight and satisfaction than all the invented gadgets, things and programs of the entire world.

4. "Stand in the way, and see for yourselves, and ask for the old paths, the good way, and you shall find rest to your souls." (Jeremiah 6:16)

- They are ancient and eternal with no time quality attached to them.

- God's creation, our response and relation to God, human sin, human redemption, the incarnation, the indwelling Christ, the union of the soul with God.

- We will never be where we ought to be until these things become to us the source of

excitement and satisfaction.

- We will not be bored with God.

- We will not make God's redemptive plan merely an escape from Hell.

- We will center our affections upon God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

5. The person who is where he/she should be with God will require very little from the world.

- It is amazing how much God will meet one's needs.

- It will not be God plus something else.

- It will be God - everything.

- In the world, yes, but that person's anchor will be God and if cut off from all the comforts and things the world provides, he/she will still be perfectly at rest for God will

be enough.

CONCLUSION:

1. Can you say that through the difficult times that God has been enough?

2. Are you confident that in the days ahead GOD IS ENOUGH?

3. Will you tell someone this week that you have experienced through your trials and heartaches — GOD IS ENOUGH?