Tag: Christianity

The Christian Ideal

pastorwardclinton1 Comment

last days

The true Christian ideal is not to be happy but to be holy – A. W. Tozer

We must learn that God is holy.  If we are to experience the manifest presence of God’s glory, we must repent.  When Isaiah saw he glory of God in the Temple, he was driven to brokenness, confession, and repentance.  Too many in the West desire to know the manifest love of God without the manifest holiness of God.  We have lost the message of repentance. – Sammy Tippit, “Fire in Your Heart”

“We must learn that God is holy” if we hope to experience the full measure of God’s presence possible during our tenure in this life.  There is a popular level of Christian living that fails to comprehend the level of Christian living promoted as possible, and preferred, in the 15th Chapter of John.  Completely committed Christianity is the type of Christianity that is fully abiding in Christ and it is quite commonly called consecrated Christianity although, unfortunately, it is an experience that is not quite as common as it should be.  The cause of Christ suffers as a result of that fact.

Theologians whom I have a good deal of respect for have spoken of a point of grace to which all Christians are called to abide in that is as high above ordinary Christian living as ordinary Christian living is above the strictly secular state.  Some of them did not openly subscribe to John Wesley’s way of understanding of the holy Scripture but they still acknowledged, in their own way, that all Christians are called to holy living in this life in the pursuit of purity which honors our Savior.

Thomas Brooks, English Puritan: “Ah, sirs, holiness is a flower that grows not in Nature’s garden.  Men are not born with holiness in their hearts, as they are born with tongues in their mouths: holiness is a divine offspring: it is a pearl of great price, that is to be found in no nature but a renewed nature, in no bosom but a sanctified bosom.”

The serene, silent beauty of a holy life is the most powerful influence in the world, next to the might of the Spirit of God. – Blaise Pascal

The destined end of man is not happiness, nor health, but holiness.  God’s one aim is the production of saints.  He is not an eternal blessing machine for men; he did not come to save men out of pity; he came to save men because he had created them to be holy. – Oswald Chambers

When God purifies the heart by faith, the market is sacred as well as the sanctuary. – Martin Luther

It is time for us Christians, to face up to our responsibility for holiness.  Too often we say we are “defeated” by this or that sin.  No, we are not defeated; we are simply disobedient.  It might be well if we stopped using the terms victory and defeat to describe our progress in holiness.  Rather we should use the terms obedience and disobedience.

-Pastor Ward Clinton

A Great Awakening is Needed

pastorwardclintonLeave a comment

last days

Our situation is not yet hopeless, but it is quickly approaching that point.

Oh?   I’m supposed to be preaching “Positive Mental Attitude”?

Funny…That is NOT what God told me to preach.  I was instructed, as was every other preacher who was actually commissioned by God, to preach His Scriptural truths, not what man wants to hear. (Unless that man actually desires to hear from God.)

If you do not like it, then you may call “1-800- TELL GOD” and see what that gets you.

(Be forewarned: you might not like His response, but He is God; you ain’t.)

J.C. Ryle listed seven characteristics of the messengers during the Great Awakening of the eighteenth century:

  1. They taught the supremacy of Holy Scripture.
  2. They preached the total corruption of human nature.
  3. They taught that Christ’s death upon the cross was the only satisfaction for man’s sin.
  4. They preached the doctrine of justification by faith.
  5. They taught the universal necessity of heart conversion and new creation by the Holy Spirit.
  6. They spoke of God’s eternal hatred against sin and of God’s love for sinners.
  7. They preached that there was an inseparable connection between true faith and personal holiness.  They never allowed for a moment that any church membership or religious profession was the least bit of proof of a man being a Christian if he lived an ungodly life.

These awakeners continually cried, “No fruit, no grace.”

We must learn that God is holy.  If we are to experience the manifest presence of God’s glory; we must repent.  When Isaiah saw the glory of God in the Temple, he was driven to brokenness, confession, and repentance.  Too many in the West desire to know the manifest love of God without the manifest holiness of God.  We have lost the message of true repentance.  Now the church in the West is the sleeping Giant.  Alarms have been sounded but there seems to be no great or even general awakening; if it doesn’t begin soon the giant may die in its sleep.

Let us pray

Satanic weapon

Find a Good Church

pastorwardclinton1 Comment

last days

Just because you attend a church doesn’t make you a good Christian any more than driving a car makes you a good driver, but we don’t blame the car, so why do we blame the Church?

It is not quite enough to know God and Jesus…we must also know and engage the Holy Spirit in our life.  He will empower us to live Godly in this world and thereby we honor the Kingdom of God.

If your current church is part of the popular theological tradition that says that all believers sin every day in thought word and deed then I have a question for you.  How is that any different than the devil?  It is time for all Christians to engage the third Person of the Trinity because He is the power that enables us to live Godly in the here and now.

God commanded that we live holy; Holy Spirit empowers us to obey that command.  If your pastor claims holy living is not possible during this sojourn on earth then it is time for you seek out a pastor who knows and is showing the way to connect to the power that can make you godly; your unsaved friends and family members are desperately looking for that kind of completely committed Christian.  Be one.

Godly Power

pastorwardclinton1 Comment

last days

Life “de-powers” us. It saps our energies, depletes our courage, drains our patience. People–pressures get us down; problems stir us up; physical ills distress us; worry over people we love disturbs us.
We all need strength—strength to think clearly, love creatively, endure consistently; strength to fill up our diminished reserves; supernatural strength that flows from a limitless source, quietly filling us with power.
I want you to meet Someone who can provide that kind of strength. He is willing to listen to us and understand, He will encourage us to talk until we know what we really want to say. He will probe to the nub of the issue of our fears and frustrations with X-ray discernment and wisdom, and will help us to see any confusion in our thinking or distortions in our emotions. He not only can lead us to the truth about ourselves, but possesses the power to help us act on what He guides us to be, say or do. He has the power to heal our painful memories, sharpen our vision of what is best for our future, and enlist us in a purpose that’s big enough to fire our imaginations and give ultimate meaning and lasting joy to our daily living.
That’s a tall order. No loved one, friend, psychiatrist, psychologist, pastor, or social worker can meet all of these qualifications. But there is One Who has all of these qualifications—and much more.
He alone has the omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence to give us the kind of help we need. He can help us with our problems, relationships, and decisions, for He knows everything. He is with us always, for He never sleeps. He has all power to give us the gift of primary faith as well as pertinacious faith, guidance for our daily lives, conviction and courage to face the future unafraid.
Who is this? A Person spelled with a capital “P.” He is a Person in the Trinity. He is the Holy Spirit.
We celebrate Pentecost and remember the time fifty days after Passover when Jesus’ disciples and followers received the power of the Holy Spirit. (read Acts, chapter 2). There is no greater need in your life and mine and in the church throughout the world than for a contemporary Pentecost. We confess with John Oxenham,

Not for one single day,
Can I discern the way,
But this I surely know—
Who gives the day
Will show the way
So I securely go.

The Holy Spirit is the Greatest Counselor in the World. The word, “counselor” may not be the first word that comes to your mind when you think of the Holy Spirit. For many, the Holy Spirit is the least known and understood Person of the Trinity.
Jesus used this propitious word, “Counselor,” to declare what the Spirit is meant to be in our lives. – Lloyd John Ogilvie

I do not want to be two-thirds of a Christian – I desire and need to have the Spirit of God engaged in my life to make me wholly Christian; a properly empowered Christian.

Last Days Stuff

pastorwardclinton1 Comment

last days

One popular theological tradition says that all believers sin every day in thought, word, and deed.  That seems so much less than the victory over sin promised by the Bible.  Across the years far too many Christians have settled for too little, emphasizing human frailties and the pervasiveness of sin.  Caving into the argument that a person is doomed to stumble along in constant failure, they have lived defeated lives.  Some have given up Christianity altogether.  Not only did individuals suffer personal defeat, but the reputation of the Kingdom also suffered.

As human beings, we were created in the image of God to live in holy fellowship with Him.  Much of that fellowship was lost to sin.  The experience of heart holiness offers us a restoration that put us back on track to fulfilling God’s original plan.

Because of this, genuine, wholehearted love for God, our neighbors, and the rest of His creation is possible for us again.  The doctrine of entire sanctification is that door that leads us into glorious, full and perfect fellowship with God. — from an Article by Howard Culbertson, Roger Hahn and Dean Nelson. For more like this visit http://home.snu.edu/~hculbert

So why would we, as Christians, want to live at a level less than that which Jesus has indicated is possible for us while we reside in this temporary life?  God commanded us to be holy, we find that we are unable to do so in our own power but it is  a command, nonetheless.  Therefore God must have provided a way in which it could be done since it was a command and not merely a suggested ideal.  Some reportedly have found it like Lloyd Ogilvie and Billy Graham who are definitely not of the Wesleyan theological persuasion and have their own way of proclaiming the higher calling of empowered Christian living and heart holiness.

It is not enough to know God and Jesus – you must also engage the Holy Spirit in your life – Lloyd John Ogilvie

  • Pastor Ward Clinton

What you believe makes an eternal difference

pastorwardclintonLeave a comment

state churchGlobal warming hoaxBible Islam sucks Jesus v Muhammad

You are an eternal being living a temporary human existence.

     What you believe makes a difference.

        Are you prepared for the consequences of your belief system, whether “good” or “bad”?

Pastor Ward Clinton

Voices

pastorwardclintonLeave a comment

A fellow blogger over at “The Healing Arena” has a post entitled, “What’s that voice in your head?”  A portion of it follows:

Why are you thinking the way you are thinking now?

Why are you acting like that now?

Why did you just take that strange decision which is very unlike yourself?

  • You think God’s attitude towards you has changed because of some short-coming in you or a mistake you made.

  • or you think you are unworthy of love and appreciation because you’re too far down the drain.

  • Some devil is whispering some nasty stuff into your ear and you’re beginning to believe it.

  • Some nay-sayer is speaking negativism into your mind and it’s taking its toll on you.

More of it can be found at: https://thehealingarena.wordpress.com/2015/08/02/whats-that-voice-in-your-head/

If you follow that link (hopefully it opens up in a new page so you don’t lose your place here) you will find that Elijah is mentioned.  Now she did not go into any detail regarding Elijah, that might have gotten too far off track, but I shall take that risk here.

Elijah was fresh off his world-famous victory and should have been super-empowered to keep fighting the battle and gaining incredible victories as he smashed all his foes left and right.  So why is he running away instead of pressing forward and taking advantage of the momentum?

God provides him some food to strengthen him for the journey he is taking but He does not tell Elijah to go back to where he should be.  Instead He allows Elijah to continue on in his journey and when Elijah is ready God assures / reminds him “You are not alone.”  He then gives Elijah a new assignment.

A few years ago I participated in an activity where I was the victim.  A blindfold was securely placed and the folk around me started saying things like: “You’re no good,”  You really messed up again,” “You’re such a loser,” and other things of that nature.  Have you ever told yourself things like that?

At first I almost laughed because I knew all those people and I knew that they all liked me, excepting for maybe one or two of them, also I was their assistant pastor at the time.  However the “voices” started taking a toll on me and memories of some of my own past shortcoming and failures suddenly started coming to mind, some of which I have beaten myself up for, and I remembered the voices of some others in my life who didn’t like me and some negative things they had said.  Suddenly I did not feel like laughing for I could feel a wave of dark depression enveloping me, ready to choke me.

The voice of one of those physically present, started to crack.  Since I’d had a counseling session or two with her I knew she was starting to hurt and I wanted to stop the experiment but the “key phrase” had not been uttered (I didn’t even know what the “key phrase” was, they all knew what it was but the moderator had purposely kept me uninformed) I was not the one in control and it was not yet time for the exercise to stop.  Nevertheless, at that moment, I wasn’t feeling like I could really have given any words of encouragement to anyone.

Then I heard another voice which I could not really quite comprehend, at least not initially.  It was saying, “You’re good,” “You are loved,” “You’re a child of The King,” etc.  It was like a tiny flicker of light somewhere in the suffocating darkness.  I began to focus on that solitary, still, small, voice and the depressing feeling began to recede but only as long as I could focus on that one voice.  Then, finally, the key phrase, “Well done,”  was uttered, everyone went quiet.  The blindfold was removed.  The experiment was over.

The person in charge, the moderator, offered a quick apology as she realized my eyes had “sweated a little bit” but I assured them all that it was okay.  In the discussion we all had following the experiment I learned that she had actually been speaking for awhile before I ever heard her.  It was when I heard the hurt behind the antagonistic voice and had empathy for its owner that I finally heard the positive voice.

Gretiana’s statement, “Just manage to go out there and be good to someone, even if you need it more, even if they don’t deserve it.” triggered my memory and inspired this blog posting.  It is not just in that little experiment where that bit of advice worked, I’ve seen it work on several occasions in real life situations.  I’ve heard the testimony of others.

Going through a rough time?  Cheer up. It’s not over yet.

  Breathe in deeply … c’mon humor me … now exhale.

  What is the point?  God is not finished with you here yet.  Your special task probably still lies out there and you’ve got more preparation to go through.  Now matter what happens always remember:

You are not alone, He, Jesus, is there.

He is not shouting.  His is a still, small, voice.  Funny how people flock to the motivational speakers but none of them comes even close to being as good as Jesus.  He knows all about you and He is there, nearby.  One day He will utter the key phrase “Well done….”  My eyes will probably get all sweaty on that day, too.

  • Pastor Ward Clinton