My Purpose to Preach

The Bible gives me my purpose in preaching.

The lost give me urgency in my purpose for preaching.

The backslidden give me reasoning in my purpose for preaching.

The spiritual give me encouragement my purpose for preaching.

The children give me innocence in my purpose for preaching.

The seniors at the end of their life give me wisdom in my purpose for preaching.

The mentally challenged give me appreciation in my purpose for preaching.

The physically handicapped give me "I can" in my purpose for preaching.

The promises of my Heavenly Father give me comfort in my purpose for preaching.

The Holy Ghost gives me unction in my purpose for preaching.

The LORD JESUS my Saviour gives me love in my purpose for preaching.

Written by Pastor C. M. Carruthers

A FAMINE OF HEARING GOD'S WORD

Amos 8:11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.

Amos was a prophet to the nation of Israel. He proclaimed to the rebellious nation that they would be taken into captivity and led out of their homeland. Of course, the reason these people would be taken captive was their refusal to hear and heed the messages God was sending them. Amos announced that a day would come when there would be a famine in the land "of hearing the words of the LORD." God was letting them know that the day was coming when God's Word would be absent from their lives. A famine is a horrible thing. To be without food and starving to death or to be without water and dying of thirst; these are dreadful conditions. For God to be silent or for there to be no faithful proclamation and explanation of Scripture would also be a horrible experience. These, who had rejected the Word of God, would one day be without the message of truth. This presents a sobering reality, in addition to the historical message to Israel. For those who resist hearing God's Word and find His Truth an unwelcome intruder, there will come a time when they will no longer have to be bothered by the Bible's message. Like Israel, who after continuing to rebel against the commands of Scripture and ignoring the warnings of the prophets, eventually found themselves in a world without the "words of the LORD." Others will one day find that God has silenced His call for them to repent. Many will one day long for a Bible sermon or an opportunity to turn from sin and selfishness, but in hell there will be a famine "of hearing the words of the LORD." We also know of nations where the Bible was once preached soundly and believed. However, revival has since departed and churches have accepted formality and ritual instead of preaching. To find a clear presentation of the Gospel or a call for repentance and trusting in the blood of Calvary alone for salvation is a scarcity in those lands. What about America? Is it not true that the preaching of the pure Word of God is becoming harder and harder to find? Why has old-fashioned Bible preaching been replaced with musical presentations, seminars, drama, and other forms of entertainment? Could it be that we are already headed for such a famine?

A devotional thought by Pastor Smith of Mt. Zion Baptist Church

Ten Ways to Know That You are LOST

Born-again Believers know in Whom they have believed, and know that they are Saved!!! The unsaved can also know some important things......

How To Know You Are Lost:

1. You have no hunger for the Word of God - evidence found in: Matt. 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
2. You can sin and get away with it - evidence found in: Heb. 12:6-7 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
3. You love the world more than you love God - evidence found in: 1 John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
4. You cannot understand God's Word - evidence found in: 1 Cor. 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
5. You do not look forward to Jesus Christ's return - evidence found in: 1 Thes. 1:9-10 For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. 1 John 3:2-3 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
6. You practice the same sin or sins again and again - evidence found in: 1 John 2:4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 1 John 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
7. You do not like to be around God's people - evidence found in: 1 John 3:14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
8. Your prayers are not answered - evidence found in: 1 John 3:22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
9. God's Spirit does not bear witness in you - evidence found in: Romans 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
10. There has been no change in your lifestyle - evidence found in: 2 Cor. 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

By Evangelist Jack Parchman and Pastor Lee Spencer

TAKING PREACHING SERIOUSLY

Jonah 3:4-5 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.

Jonah was, to say the least, a very reluctant preacher. He was not in favor of taking the Gospel to Nineveh, the capital city of the Assyrians. In the belly of the whale, Jonah changed his mind about the will of God and then took God's message to the great city. After hearing the preaching of Jonah, the people of Nineveh "believed God, and proclaimed a fast." They took seriously the message from the man of God. What a testimony of the power of the Word of God! The preacher, although he finally agreed to go to Nineveh, still disagreed with God about showing mercy to the people of Nineveh. These people were enemies to God's people, and Jonah certainly did not want to see them blessed. However, despite the struggles the prophet was going through, God's Word was powerful to the hearts of the hearers. We should never underestimate the life-changing power of the Word of God. There is also something to be said about the way the people responded to the preaching of God's Word. These pagan people of Nineveh believed God and repented. They had no Christian background or training and were accustomed to worshiping a plurality of gods, rather than the true and living God. In spite of this, they did not question nor debate about the message; they received the truth and responded properly to it. How different this is from the way we sometimes see the Word of God treated. Even professing believers spend great energy trying to disprove some portion of Scripture rather than simply believing what the Bible says. If we are going to see God's power at work in genuine revival, we must get serious about obeying the Word of God. Jonah's experience reminds us of the vital role of preaching in God's design to bring about change in the hearts of individuals, and even to influence cities. It is through the preaching of truth that God communicates with those He is reaching out to. May we always hold in high regard the preaching of the Word of God. And when the truth is presented to us from the pages of Scripture, like the citizens of Nineveh, let us believe God.

A devotional thought by Pastor Smith of Mt. Zion Baptist Church

THE REPAIRERS OF THE BREACH

Isaiah 58:12 And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.

This passage is a part of a larger context which includes a number of promises to God's people, specifically associated with their sincere repentance with prayer and fasting. A careful reading of the passage reveals promises having do with our children, and their influence on future generations. Of special interest is the phrase, "thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach." A breach is "a break or a gap in a fence, hedge, or wall." Walls or fences were constructed for protection and preservation. Boundaries were hedged to preserve property lines, and towns were walled to protect from enemies. When these walls were broken, eroded, or allowed to deteriorate, it caused breaches or gaps, and a break down of protection. Someone would have to repair the breaches or the occupants would be in great jeopardy. In every generation, "repairers of the breach" have been greatly needed, and they are certainly needed today. Walls of protection and separation have suffered great damage. Compromise and disobedience have eroded the hedges that ought to protect. We have witnessed an all out assault on the protective walls of our homes, our churches, and our nation. Moral walls have been greatly damaged. Attacks on traditional marriage, opposition to public references to God, and legalized abortion are examples. The hedges around the Lord's churches have been weakened by worldliness, ecumenism, and rejection of Biblical truth. The safe haven of families have been breached through similar matters of compromise and disobedience. The spiritual protection of individual lives can be removed by willful sin and giving ground to the enemy. To restore the protection, the breaches must be repaired. How can we rebuild the walls around our lives and ministries? Through repentance, obedience, and intercession, we can see these hedges rebuilt. The number of those who are determined to see the old landmarks removed continues to grow. We must be just as committed to the cause of following the old paths of obedience and godliness. And as such, we too can be called "repairers of the breach."

A devotional thought by Pastor Smith of Mt. Zion Baptist Church