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for June, 2009.
By pastorbillwalden
Narrow the gap between what you know to do and what you actually do.
When people disobey God, there is applause in Hell.
The soldiers in Iraq wear between 40-60 lbs. of body armor in 120+ degree heart. It is difficult, and uncomfortable, but it is a matter of life and death. They learn to carry the load, to drink extra water, and to not neglect that which protects them and saves the lives of their comrades.
Many Christians are unwilling to “put on the full armor of God”, because it interrupts their lifestyle. It means reducing time at the gym, cutting back on playing video games, skipping some shopping, or skipping a movie. (None of which are wrong)
They then wonder why they become spiritual casualties in this cosmic war. They wonder why their friends become wounded and incapacitated. They wonder why marriages break up, kids rebel, hearts are broken, and churches split. They blame the culture, the Devil, the pastor. They blame God.
And yet, many times, they themselves are unwilling to recognize the battle and make the needed spiritual changes.
The US soldier in Iraq grows accustomed to the extra effort needed for safety and victory. They change their lifestyle, and then it becomes natural to them to live by making the extra effort.
May we who follow Christ understand that we are in a War. May we purposely and with great intention, do what God tells us to do. May we become accustomed to a more purposeful lifestyle than what we have. May we actually do the things we say we believe are important. May we be blessed as we see God’s mighty hand changing people’s lives for good. May we experience the fact that it is well worth our effort to increasingly live the Christian life.
To quote Warren Wiersbe- The Christian life is not a playground, it is a battleground”.
“Put on the full armor of God”.
By pastorbillwalden
This article was written by my son-in-law, Caleb Schrader. He is a respiratory therapist at a children’s hospital.
Caleb, we need you over here…
The blood thumping in my ears.
Round the corner,
see a child, buried under a pile
of duck billed, yellow gowned, life savers…
Never treat the numbers,
treat the patient I was always told,
but a quick look at the numbers,
confirms my fear that the patient
is in need… of some serious treatment….
I cover myself in yellow,
Don the duck bill,
glove my hands and
dive in…
Straight to the head,
is where I go…
For the Thumper,
The Bag,
is my forte,
my niche in this chaos,
my eye of the storm…
The numbers keep dropping,
confirmed by the patient,
who is looking,
worse and worse each passing second…
Start compressions… we are ordered…
I assume the position…
Left hand on bottom,
Right on top with fingers interlaced,
Elbows locked,
Rock at the waist to come straight down on the patient…
My first push courses life bringing blood,
through her body…
it also cracks her sternum and some ribs…
I sink into the routine,
One *snap* and two *crackle* and three *pop*… and etc….
Counting in my head,
Pushing hard and deep,
to force the blood to flow…
The nurses fill her,
with fluids, and drugs…
All that modern medicine has to offer,
to give a chance at life,
once more…
The Drs. watch,
taking and processing,
all the info…
Regurgitating it to us in the form of orders…
It is a controlled chaos like nothing on earth…
we are at the eye,
and around us the storm rages,
as the Unit comes together,
to try to save someones life…
After only 5 minutes I have become worn out,
relief is brought in and someone else,
assumes the grueling task of,
being this girls heart…
We have assumed control of her lungs as well,
They are filled with fluid,
not blood,
not serum,
not water,
but a mix of all…
comes flowing out with every breath…
We ignore the sights,
the smells,
the thoughts,
we are all focused…
The Drs. call stop to see if we have got anything…
to see if she has come back…
We do!!
But not much… and not good…
We take a breath,
and step back,
allowing ourselves some reprieve…
Thinking the worst is over.
But no… no no no…
Back again we are called.
This time is short.
We try more of the same,
with worse results.
The Drs. do their checks,
we all admit we have tried it all…
And
they
call
it……..
So all that,
we feel futile.
We sweated and strived,
to no avail…
We,
I,
Have lost another…
Receive her into Your arms God,
Thank you for taking her in…
I can’t wait to meet her,
and enjoy heaven to the fullest,
with our new bodies some day!
But until then God,
comfort us in these mortal shells…
By pastorbillwalden
Water cannot rise above its own level. Neither can a Christian by any sudden spasmodic effort rise above the level of his own spiritual life.
I have seen under the sun how a man of God will let his tongue go all day in light and frivolous conversation, let his interest roam abroad among the idle pleasures of this world, and then, under the necessity of preaching at night, seek a last minute reprieve just before the service and by cramming desperately in prayer try to put himself in a position where the spirit of the prophet will descend upon him as he enters the pulpit. By working himself up to an emotional white heat he may afterward have reason to congratulate himself that he had much liberty in preaching the Word. But he deceives himself and there is no wisdom in him. What he has been all day and all week is what he is when he opens his Bible to expound unto the people. Water cannot rise above its own level.
Men do not gather grapes of thorns, nor figs of thistles. The fruit tree is determined by the tree, and the fruit of life by the kind of life it is. What a man is interested in to the point of absorption both decides and reveals what kind of man he is; and the kind of man he is by a secret law of the soul decides the kind of fruit he will bear. The catch is that we are often unable to discover the true quality of our fruit until it is too late.
A.W. Tozer- from The Root of the Righteous
By pastorbillwalden
Jesus said to go into all the world and make disciples. (Matthew 28:19) 
A failure of the Church and Christians is that sometimes we ask the World to come to us, and we neglect to go to them. Don’t misunderstand me: I very much encourage Believers to ask Unbelievers to attend church, or other church events. I think that that is great, and that it should be happening, but there is more to reaching the world than just that.
The Church needs to be out in the community, rubbing shoulders with people in their world. It happens very naturally. We have the same barber for years, we see the same grocer for decades, we see the same parents at school functions. We don’t have to develop a plan about how to interact with people who don’t know Jesus; we already are interacting with them. We need to love them, and as the opportunity avails itself, we need to speak to them about Jesus. We need to be praying, and we need to be ready.
Something our church has discovered is that we best intersect with Unbelievers when we are where they want to be. Over the years, we have done concerts in the park, etc. The response has always been minimal. In Napa Valley, there are scores of fun and interesting things to do. It is difficult to compete with the entertainment and recreational opportunities here in the Valley.
Our biggest and best interaction with the unbelieving world is our Halloween Outreach called “Light Of Life Festival”. On Halloween, young families are very much looking for something safe and fun for their kids to do. We have sponsored this outreach for many years, and we have met hundreds who would never enter our church doors. We offer fun for the kids, Christian literature, and a verbal message about why we do the event. The community hears about Jesus, and they gladly come to us.
Today is another chapter in reaching the community by being in the community. We are marching, but not on City Hall. We are not marching against something today, but we are marching with fellows Napans in the 4th of July Parade. We have three classic cars entered, we will wear American flag t-shirts, and hand out candy, refrigerator magnets with church information, and invitations to our sports VBS. We will wave and hand out American flags, and we will meet many people today that we don’t normally see.
We will gather where unbelievers want to be, and we will meet them on their turf, and we will share Jesus.
May I encourage you to find ways to meet with people who don’t know Jesus by entering into their world. Pick up trash in a city clean up. Build a float to celebrate a worthy cause. Help fill sand bags when the river is rising, and help those facing danger.
We know that all these causes are lesser causes, and that the Kingdom of which are citizens will outlast all these things.
But someone has rightly said that, “The only thing you can take to heaven is people”.
Get out of the house and meet some people. Pray for your barber, your grocer, the crosswalk attendant. Meet them at civic events, spend time with folks who don’t know Jesus. Jesus said that we are to be salt and light. Get out of the saltshaker, and let your light shine.
By pastorbillwalden
Hey everyone…progress is being made on my blog site.
I currently have all the sermon notes upoloaded from Ephesians, and will continue to upload the notes each week.
I’ll soon start uploading the notes for Philippians.
These notes are intended to be a blessing to both those who sit and listen, and those who study and teach.
I will also be able to upload recorded audio messages, and videos. Little by little. Poco a poco.
To access the sermon notes, just click on the tab to the left, and you’ll see the options.
Blessings all…Bill
