I Am Well!

To the Church,

I am well!  It’s very early on Friday morning; which is known as “Good Friday” the day our Lord and Savior died on the cross.  It’s hard for me to remember what my life was like without Jesus being the center of it.  These past several weeks have reminded me how important it is to be part of the living church of Jesus Christ.   A church that believes the in the resurrection power of Jesus and the importance of continual prayer for one another.  I have been humbled by all the care and love each of you have showered on Dorald and I during the very difficult time.  My family and I have huddled together and enjoyed the love and support together.  Bless you for all your care and concerns.

My operation was late Monday afternoon  I woke up around 4 pm and vaguely remember Pastor Angel sitting in the chair next to me along with Bernie, Peggy and Dorald.    He held my hand for over an hour and sang over me with his beautiful voice and great compassion.  I’ve known Pastor Angel for over 24 years and what love he has for me.  Later that night I woke up briefly to see Dr. Tim Rasmusson standing alongside the bed.  He had just finished surgery and before leaving to return home he stopped in to check on me.  The nurses on the floor were amazing! The care I received was absolutely the very best.  There was Paula the night nurse who called me “Honey” and then found out I was a pastor through Mike and Pam Lina.  She then doubled my care and her response time to my needs.  What a precious women of God.  The morning nurse was Patrice, a friend of Joy Caparaso’ who lives not far from the church.  She recognized me as “Pastor Pickle”  because her son has attended VBS and someday wants to become a volunteer helper.  Between these two beautiful ladies and others like them the care I received was incredible!  I weep when I think how faithful God is to care for His servants in times of need.

The surgeon said  “the operation went like clockwork.”  All of the areas surround the prostate gland were clear,  and the lymph nodes were not enlarged.  That’s a great report!  We still have to wait for the biopsy report on April 16^th. To make sure that the cancer did not spread into the “margins” of the gland.  So continue to pray with me for a good report on April 16^th.

I won’t be with you in church this Easter, but my windows will be open, and I’ll be sitting next to that window,  listening to the music and praying for you to respond to the Ragman’s  invitation…”new rags for old rags.”  This will be a very special Easter for all of us. Celebrate with me the resurrection power of our Lord.  When you drive by the house beep your horn and shout “NIKE” which means VICTORY for He has risen,  and I will smile and agree with you.

Thanks for being there for myself and my family.  Pray for little Levi next week, he will have his tonsils taken out and hopefully that will take care of the high fevers.  Continue to pray for Michelle, Tom, Norm, Amanda, Jacob and all those who are sick and struggling.  It makes a huge difference.  Love on each other and enjoy His overwhelming presence in your life this Easter.

Love you…

Pastor Pat

The Sweet Fragrance of Prayer

Yesterday was a “FULL DAY” in so many ways.  The service was “sweet with the presence of the Lord” as someone described it to me.  It was just amazing to hear the worship rise to heaven and the prayers of great compassion and love.  I know the Father was moved deeply.  I received this email from Patty Boquard yesterday after the service.  It’s well worth reading and thinking about deeply.  I believe she received a vision from God.

Pastor Pat,

We have made a covenant relationship with you.  We are intertwined through our Salt Covenant, and so you are not alone today.  We stand with you and cover you with our shields of faith.  Just as you, Pastor Pat, covered your grandchildren as the head of your household we, the church – your brothers and sisters stand with our shields covering you.  And we STAND FIRM!

The prayer service yesterday was amazing.  In the midst of prayer and worship, I saw a gold bowl.  It had an intricate design on the inside and blue inlaid stone.  It was beautiful but I had no idea of the meaning.  When Bill and I went up for prayer, I mentioned it to Nadine and she knew it was the bowl of incense which are the prayers of the saints.  She asked Doctor Darren where in Revelation this was located and he told us Revelation 5.  This was an incredible confirmation to me and I hope to you.

I also saw a great mountain rising up out of the sea.  The sea was crashing against it, but the mountain continued to rise.  Satan can pound against us, but we will stand firm and our prayers rise; you are covered today; your whole family is!

Patty Boguard

Read Revelation 5…

Blessings

Pastor Pat

 

The Camp of Familiarity

Psalm 25:8-10 (NIV) ⁸Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. ⁹He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. ¹⁰All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant.

This is one of my favorite Psalms because the promise is that He will guide and teach the humble in His way.   That He is “loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of His covenant.”    When I read this, I picture God gathering the humble in a quiet and secret place to share His heart with them.   But first we must go out to meet with Him.   Here’s what I mean by that…

Exodus 33:7 (NIV) ⁷Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the “tent of meeting.” Anyone inquiring of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp.

Notice that “Anyone inquiring of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp.”   If we are truly going to meet with God we must “go outside of the camp.”  We must pitch our tent a good distance from the camp.  What camp is this?   For Moses, as well as for us, it is the camp of familiarity.

There is nothing wrong with familiarity, but remember that when Jesus told His disciples to follow Him, He called them to leave the familiar pattern of their lives for extended periods and be alone with Him.

Mark 1:19-20 (NIV) ¹⁹When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. ²⁰Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

Matthew 19:27 (NIV) ²⁷Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”

Mark 9:2 (NIV) ²After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. 

Why would He do that?  Because He knew that our human nature is unconsciously governed by the influences of the familiar.  If He is to open us to the eternal then he must first rescue from the limitation of the temporal lives that we live with such familiarity.

 Psalm 90:12 (NIV) ¹²Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Is there a time in your day when you set aside your familiar activities; hobbies, television, the internet, newspapers, books and “pitch a tent a good distance from the camp?  A time when you leave the camp of the familiarity and are taught by God?

Blessings,

Pastor Pat

You May Have To Fight For It!

Joshua 1:7-8:  “Be strong and very courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them.  Be very strong and courageous.”

God promised them the land, but like anything in life, even though God promised it, you and I must possess it by driving out the enemies that are keeping us from the promise.  This is where Spiritual warfare comes in; God has a plan and He says, “I’ve given you this, HERE’S WHAT I WANT YOU TO DO!“  You’re all set to transition into God’s dream and promise for your life, and you face a fierce battle.

Listen, just because God tells you to do something, to go somewhere and possess a dream that He’s given you, doesn’t mean you then sit on the sofa and just inherit it.  YOU MUST fight the fight of faith and be “strong and very courageous” because you will face a battle on two fronts:

Joshua and the Nation went into the land and they faced two kinds of warfare:  

The first battle was a Direct Frontal Attack; an “I’m going to knock you out warfare!”  They faced kings, enemies and cities that were walled and fortified strongholds like Jericho.  They faced bows, arrows, shields and well-equipped armies.  It’s the same with us in life. (Joshua 9:1-3)

When you face a major transition in life the chances are you will come under a direct frontal attack.  Your mind is attacked; doubt and confusion, worry and anxiety can enter in.  You can be filled with fear, and many times you feel beaten up knocked back and you lose your faith.  People who you care about and trust let you down and there’s nothing subtle about it; it’s a direct frontal attack.

The second battle you face is Deception which is much more dangerous.  Joshua and the people learned as long as they were right with God, confessing their sin and walking in fellowship with Him, then no one who came against them could stand or defeat them.   But they came against someone smarter than them; they came up against someone who tricked them, and resorted to a “RUSE”; a masquerade.

 Joshua 9:3-14   “The people of Gibeon” 

Gibeonites came to Joshua and their goal was simple; just don’t drive us out, make a treaty, let us live in your life, in your land, alongside of you where we will submit and serve you.  That’s a LIE, a RUSE – It’s the strategy of all Gibeonites; lie after lie after lie; clever lies…”look at our sandals, look at this moldy bread; we are far away and here’s the proof and we only want to stay and serve you!”

Joshua 9:14-15 (NIV) ¹⁴The men of Israel sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord. ¹⁵Then Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the assembly ratified it by oath. 

They sampled their provision and they went by their senses; eye, ear, taste, story, scientific method that just looks at it and tests it …”sure enough this is old so it must be true.”  So they made a treaty, a covenant with them and by oath and brought them into their lives.  All without inquiring of the Lord!

Be careful of deception, things looking good, smelling good, feeling good; it may be a Gibeonite.  Guard your home and family from them.

Romans 13:11-19 (NASB95) ¹¹Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. ¹²The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. ¹³Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. ¹⁴But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. 

Blessings,

Pastor Pat

 

Put Up Your Dukes!

Before you embark on a mission to enter into battle with Satan it’s important that you know… 

1.       The victory is sure, but war rages on.

• 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (NIV) ³For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. ⁴The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. ⁵We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

2.       You are equipped to bring victory to the place of battle; point of battle.

• Matthew 10:1-8 (NIV) ¹He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. ⁵These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. ⁶Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. ⁷As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ ⁸Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

3.       That your enemy is not simply a “fallen foe” he is dangerous, insidious, and determined to find your weakness and exploit it.  

• Acts 19:14-16 (NIV) ¹⁴Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. ¹⁵One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” ¹⁶Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.

4.       He is PATIENT and will wait for an opportune time. 

• Luke 4:13 (NIV) ¹³When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.

5.       The warfare you will face is twofold; a direct frontal attack or deception.

• Read Joshua 9:1-15:  There were kings who came to war against them and then there were the Gibeonites who resorted to a “ruse,”  a trick, or deception .  Joshua looked at them with his eyes, tasted their food with his tongue, and judged by appearance while never acquiring of the Lord. So, he was deceived and brought the nation into a covenant with them because of a “RUSE.”   That’s deception and it is a battle strategy of your enemy.  Be careful who you allow yourself to enter into covenant with…watch who your children enter into covenant with…it could be a “ruse.”

Blessings,

Pastor Pat

 

Your Father is the Devil

These are fighting words like, “Your mother wears army boots.”   Yet Jesus used these words when he spoke to a group of religious leaders who were attempting to silence him and his message.

John 8:42-47 (NIV) ⁴²Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me.   ⁴³Why is my language not clear to you?  Because you are unable to hear what I say. ⁴⁴You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him.  When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! ⁴⁶ Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? ⁴⁷He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

WHEN JESUS confronted the RELIGIOUS PEOPLE of his time he was blunt for 2 reasons:

1. He cared deeply about their eternal destination and;
2. He knew their teachings had influence over the innocent who were under their care.

NEVER forget this:  JESUS went to the cross of CALVARY because of his mercy and love; not because he was angry and hard in his heart towards those who would not hear his message. For the joy set before him he endured the CROSS (Hebrews 12:2).   He came to set the captives free, not bring judgment upon them (John 3:17).  His mission was a mission of deliverance from darkness…a mission to set free those who are captive and walking the “way of the world.” (Ephesians 2:2)

• 1 John 3:8-10 (NASB95) The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. ⁹ No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. ¹⁰ By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.

Practices:  Greek – to make it a work of your life

God is sensitive to and supportive of someone who is struggling to be set free from sin, but he is not tolerant of a heart that is hard, callous, and set against him.

• Matthew 21:43-44 (NASB95) ⁴³“Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it.   ⁴⁴“And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”

Fall on the STONE, and in your brokenness God will restore you.  He will lift you up and set your feet on the Rock and give you a new song of deliverance.

Psalm 40:2-3 (NIV) ²He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. ³He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.

Blessings,

Pastor Pat

The Verdict

1 John 5:18-19 (NIV) ¹⁸We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him. ¹⁹We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. 

1 John 5:18-19 (The Message) ¹⁸We know that none of the God-begotten makes a practice of sin—fatal sin. The God-begotten are also the God-protected. The Evil One can’t lay a hand on them. ¹⁹We know that we are held firm by God; it’s only the people of the world who continue in the grip of the Evil One. 

Ephesians 2:1-2 (NASB95) ¹And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, ²in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 

The sons of disobedience are those who live are under the influence of Satan.  They are men and women who are living in darkness, and live according to the “course of this world.”  Satan is working in their lives to accomplish his purposes, some are willingly and some are unwilling, but that doesn’t change the fact that they are under his SWAY, under his influence.

This is not easy to grasp, but Scripture is clear, it tells us the whole world is under his sway; Satan is the god of this world, and if we are not redeemed by His grace and we will live in that world then we will be judged with that world living for eternity in “outer darkness.”

2 Peter 2:4-9 (NIV) ⁴For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment; ⁵if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; ⁶if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; ⁷and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men ⁸(for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— ⁹if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment. 

Here’s the verdict: 

John 3:16-21 (NIV) ¹⁶“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. ¹⁹This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. ²¹But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”

How do we respond?   Be a witness to the light and live as children of light; let it shine and God will use you to draw those who live in darkness out into His marvelous light.

Blessings,

Pastor Pat