Archive for the 'Spiritual insight' Category

A Christmas Meditation…

Guest Author December 20th, 2009

Before the angel Gabriel made his stupendous announcement to a virgin maiden in the town of Nazareth, there were farewells to be said in heaven.  The angels understood that their glorious Lord, the light of their life, was going on a long journey to another planet, and would be absent from them for more than thirty four earth years.  The first nine months the Sun of Righteousness, their Lord, would be eclipsed completely in a human mother’s womb.  Only His Father would see him there and miss the fellowship of His Son.  And they knew that the end of His sojourn on that planet was shrouded in terrible happenings.  But their Lord would be coming back, mission accomplished, having bought back from the enemy a vast family with His life blood, to join Him in heaven later.  And they marveled that their Lord deemed it all worth while. 

We know He did, for Hebrews 2:10-13 tells us that He did it  with joy for His beloved brethren!

The Lord Jesus, standing on the portico of heaven, takes off His kingly purple robe.

His gaze is directed to the small globe of the earth far below Him.  The Bible says that

“the fulness of Time had come,” (Gal. 4:4) I imagine the Father says to Him, “My Son, it is time to leave me and go down to the world we love.  You will be despised and rejected by the people you go to save.  You will be a Man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Only thru the door of death can you return to me.  Are you willing?”  And His Son replies simply,

“Lo, I go to do thy will, O God.  A body hast thou prepared for me.” With these words, the Lord of glory emptied Himself of His outward glories and privileges of deity.  He began to grow smaller and smaller and smaller…until He became that holy Seed which the Spirit of God took to earth to implant in the womb of Mary.  “And the angel said to her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee.  Therefore that holy Child that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35)

And Mary gave Him the name Jesus because He would save His people from their sins.

And her cousin Elizabeth rejoiced greatly, saying, “Through the tender mercy of our God the Dayspring from on High has visited us, to give Light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of Peace.”  (Luke 1:78-79.)

Erica Koehler 12/20/09

It wont work unless…

John Havener September 20th, 2009

I feel compelled at this time to speak to my fellow Christians  about the present political and social situation because I believe we are at a critical juncture or crossroad and that if we take the wrong path at this time it would be counterproductive at best, and lead to a horrific persecution at worst. Over the past months millions of Americans have become deeply concerned about the direction of our country and the changes that are being introduced by the Democrat-control Congress. Many seriously fear loss of freedoms, feel that their heritage is being trashed, and that an imposition of a Marxist style tyranny might be forthcoming. Many absolutely refuse to stand idly by while our country and culture goes down this perceived path. Conservative TV, talk radio, “Tea Parties,” town hall meetings and other phenomenon are keeping things hot and in the forefront of people’s minds. I frankly am in deep sympathy with many of the objectives of these groups and personalities… And yet, I’m very concerned. Again, we may be at a very important fork the road.

Years ago, I was senior pastor of a church in Pensacola, Florida. The Pro-life movement was heating up and I wanted to rally our people to help save the unborn. Christians from many churches and para-church ministries were protesting at our local abortion clinics. At one point there may have been 5000 people in the streets representing a wide spectrum of the body of Christ in our area. Hopefully, some that were contemplating abortion turned aside to other, better choices. As time went on, a small minority of radical pro-lifers began to shout horrible and hateful things not only to the abortionists, but also to those entering the clinic seeking an abortion. Due to these people, who were a very small minority, the atmosphere got very rough and poisonous. As a pastoral leader, I could no longer encourage my people to be a part of this effort which started so nobly. I pulled our people off the protest lines and away from the clinics. I was criticized for doing this, but not too long afterward a gunman murdered an abortion Doctor. Another abortionist would be gunned down in the not-too-distant future. These crimes greatly shocked our community, negatively affected the pro-life movement in the nation, and almost killed the Prolife effort in our area. I came to the conclusion during this era that has stuck with me and I believe will serve Christians well in the future: the work of Christ must be done in the spirit (attitude) of Christ. Scripture says “the wrath of a man does not work the will of God.” I understand that there is such a thing as righteous indignation and bold confrontation of wickedness and evil, but great care has to be exercised by Christians in general and pastoral leaders in particular to discern what spirit is activating an individual, group, or movement. The work of Christ must be done in the spirit of Christ! I was grieved at the recent Washington Tea Party to see some of the signs that were so slanderous, hateful, and flat-out ugly regarding our president. I do not support most of his policies, and I pray fervently for his true conversion, but I can say as a veteran minister of our Lord that some of the signs were not of Christ! If an unbeliever were carrying that sign it would be one thing, no believer should manifest hatred and contempt toward another human being.

Jesus once said, “Beware of the leaven of Herod.” Herod, of course, was the political leader of Galilee where Jesus did most of his Ministry. There was a group called the Herodians who felt like the best course of action for the Jewish people in the area was to accommodate and even compromise with Herod and his policies. Jesus warned that this type of political association (without the proper spiritual foundation) would be sinful and destructive. Every Christian needs to realize that there are definite limits to political involvement and to what politics can accomplish. Without an adequate spiritual foundation, it can be vanity and a chasing after the wind. John Adams, the second president of our country, said that our Constitution was totally inadequate for the government of irreligious people. I believe in our Constitution! But it cannot do the job alone with a population that is living in defiance to the God of the Bible. What is needed, and what we must have if we are to safeguard our freedoms and our heritage, is a genuine spiritual revolution. I am not talking about taking up arms or an Islamic style take-over the government like happened in Iran. I am talking is something beyond renewal, beyond revival as we’ve known it; a spiritual revolution that affects the masses and eventually changes institutions through true conversion to Jesus Christ and commitment to His way of life, individually and corporately.

Socially and culturally, England was a mess at the turn of the 19th century. Urbanization, cheap gin, many social problems, an ineffective Christianity, and other things had brought England into a terrible state. Across the channel, the French Revolution had turned into a massive bloodbath and ideological craziness. Would England go the same way? It might have, but God sent a spiritual revolution through the work of the Spirit in the Ministry of the Wesleys and George Whitfield. Thousands of other unknown Christians would pray and work to bring about a revolution of the most Glorious kind. No bloodshed. Wonderful social changes. Millions eventually would be truly converted to Christ and change the fabric of English society and culture. What an example for us to ardently pray for and to work for as God begins to move. We’re living in a very dynamic time of American history, with many strong crosscurrents, and many compelling voices beckoning us to move our country into a better place. Which path will you, will we take? Without a spiritual revolution, it will not work.

An ultimate stored item…the Word of God in your heart!

John Havener December 26th, 2008

Last Year as we entered the New Year, our Pastor challenged us to read the Bible through in the coming year. My beloved wife and I bought a Chronological Bible and started. We finished up on Christmas Eve. We enjoyed the CB’s arrangement of the Biblical Books and reading the New Living Translation for the first time. I won’t trouble you with our reactions to various portions of Scripture, but I can sincerely say we appreciated our Pastor’s challenge and were very enriched by reading through. I wonder if we appreciate how privileged we are to have the written Scriptures, and the huge price that was paid by our spiritual ancestors so that we could have it in our hands. Bibles galore are available and in many fine translations…But do we have the Word of God in our hearts…Bible stories down in there in accurate detail, Special verses and sections committed to memory? What would you do if you had no outward Bible to look to and draw comfort and hope from?

It is from God’s Word, “hidden in the heart,” that the Holy Spirit selects the Living, faith-inspiring Scripture to become a Rhema word to us and others (So says W.E.Vine, the great GREEK Scholar.) And from the stored Word can flow life-giving ministry although no Bibles are allowed in a situation. Consider this testimony from a veteran Christian worker in India,”Storyteller Ashesa (was) holding up a charred page from a Bible that he picked out of the ashes of a church that was burned in the Orissa riots.
During August and September extremist Hindu groups offered money, food and alcohol to mobs to kill Christians and destroy their homes in the eastern India state of Orissa. Now 50,000 believers are homeless, ten thousand of them surviving in primitive government relief camps. Sixty believers were killed and close to 90 men are still reported missing and may be dead in the forest.

In the midst of this turmoil the storytellers are proving that a Bible hidden in a storyteller’s heart cannot be burned or taken away. Even though they can’t carry their printed Bibles because of the danger, they have continued to go out sharing God’s Word as usual.”
In fast moving disasters, in situations of oppression and persecution, you may not have the time or opportunity to consult an outward, written Bible. Do you have any Word of God accurately stored in your hearts…what a huge difference it may make to you and those around you. In closing, I believe it is a characteristic of the spirit of Antichrist to try to keep the Word of Scripture from God’s people, or if it is found in their possession, to make them pay severely. In a worst case scenario, do you have the Word in your heart? Now let me challenge you to begin 2009 with some memory of key portions of God’s Word, the Bible.

Dutch Sheets on the November 2008 Elections

John Havener November 14th, 2008

November 6, 2008

I feel certain that many in my stream of the Church want a statement from me concerning Tuesday’s presidential election. I will be frank in my remarks but I do not, however, intend to vent anger or attack anyone. I have read several statements from friends and colleagues I respect very much.Their thoughts are well stated and, for the most part, insightful. None of them, however, seem to want to say some things that I believe need to be said. I do not claim infallibility or to have the final word, but my convictions run deep and I believe I bear a God-given responsibility to share them.

Was This God’s Will?


Was what happened Tuesday God’s will? America was offered a very clear choice between moving further toward protecting the unborn or further away; between a Supreme Court that would move toward honoring God, life and morality or away from it. The stakes couldn’t have been higher nor the cost greater. As a nation we put on blinders concerning Barak Obama’s background, associations, beliefs and practices, and set these causes back years, possibly decades.

And in doing so we took another step away from God and another step toward judgment.

Judgment Will Increase


This is not a fire and brimstone warning from an angry, legalistic preacher. In fact, I feel more sadness and grief than anything else. Perhaps I feel what Jesus felt as He wept for Jerusalem while announcing its judgment. I am not hoping for judgment; I am saying it is coming. I don’t know where the unbiblical belief comes from that says a nation can live any way it pleases, can reject God and His ways-even mock Him-and not receive His judgments. Nor do I know when the belief came that it is always mean-spirited or judgmental to warn of these things. To the contrary, I believe it is our responsibility.

In warning of judgment, I am not suggesting that God is going to intentially and directly hurt people. Much judgment is simply the absence of God’s protection and provision, caused by a rejection of His laws and ways. We have been experiencing some forms of judgment in America for years, but God in His incredible patience and mercy has kept us from the level we’ve deserved. I believe this will change to a degree and judgment will now increase:

  • For those in the Church who aligned themselves with pro-abortion forces, I believe judgment will result.
  • For leaders in the Body of Christ who refused to take a stand for fear of losing people, money, and tax-exempt status-I believe there will be judgment.
  • For those, both within the Church and without, who voted money over morality-a potential raise or better health insurance over the life of a baby-there will be judgment.

I have heard the argument that God cares as much about social justice issues (such as poverty and racism) as He does abortion, making a vote for Obama okay. I certainly believe God puts a very high priority on caring for the poor and I, too, have wanted to see equality demonstrated through a “minority” president. But to equate having a better income or the desire for a first black president, regardless of his positions on abortion and morality, to the issue of killing 50 million babies is not justice-it is a gross distortion of justice and great deception. I fear that we have been desensitized to this issue of abortion. I believe it kills babies and takes innocent life. Let’s not forget this in our noble attempts to be kind and conciliatory.

For African Americans I can easily see how it could bring healing to have a first black president, just as it would be for Native Americans to achieve this or for women if a woman were elected president. Again, I have wanted to see justice in this way. I am only saddened that the price for this healing ended up being Barak Obama, a man that will set the cause of life back so drastically.

What are some of the judgments we may experience on our nation from this election? Look for the following possibilities:

  • More economic woes
  • More violence in an already violent nation
  • Disease and death (satan, who is responsible for these things will have greater inroads to our nation.)
  • Natural disasters (weather-tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, drought; fires; earthquakes; etc.)
  • More acts of terrorism
  • War, perhaps on our own soil
  • Judgments relating to the Court. The stacking of the Supreme Court against the sanctity of life and God’s influence on America will occur, which will in turn cause the shedding of more innocent blood, more rejection of God’s laws and the stealing from us of our godly heritage-all of which will perpetuate a cycle of even more judgment. Continue Reading »

Explosive decompression

John Havener October 19th, 2008

A10.dod.jpgModern aircraft that fly above 10,000feet are equipped with pressurized cabins or supply the pilot/ aircrew with oxygen- vital at those and higher altitudes. Occasionally a malfunction will occur and cabin pressure will be lost, causing the emergency oxygen masks to drop down in front of the passengers/ crew. This happened in a dramatic way some years ago when part of the cabin skin of an Air Hawaii transport peeled off, cause explosive decompression of the cabin. Thanks to outstanding airmanship and the grace of God, the plane limped back to the airport with no loss of life. Count on it: the passengers and crew were very shook up by these sudden developments! Are we beginning to experience an economic explosive decompression? Many think so in light of the Banking/ credit/ housing / stock market crises of the past weeks. I am no financial guru, but God has warned me the US economy would collapse one day. I plead with you, use whatever time you have to make prudent, prayerful preparations! This is not hype: if a presidential candidate calls this the worst financial cricis since the great depression…you had better act while you have time and resources! This means in part, transforming some of your cash and “financial” resources into useful things you own, have with you and can utilize/ share with others if things really come apart. You do not want to a part of the panniced mob “out there,” desperately looking for resources to sustain yourself and family. It could be dangerous and extremely costly in every way.
When there is an explosive decompression in an aircraft, an emergency mask will fall down in front of you. One is told, put your mask on first, then help others. It seems selfish, but if you don’t, you could pass out and be able to help no one, including yourself. God has dropped His emergency mask right in front of your face, and it is the Living Lord Jesus Christ. Have you connect up to Him, put Him on? Do you have a good tight fit with Him right now? Nothing is more important…start there, with Him, and then tackle the challenges of explosive decompression.

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