Month: April 2018

April 13, 2018 Believers Church Duluth

Greetings from Duluth!

February came much sooner than expected. We started off the month with a prayer breakfast and workday, where we did some housekeeping, made some technology upgrades, and continued the remodel of the balcony into a work space (and it made quite the jump forward that day). The day after was our Super Bowl party, which was quite the event. Per our usual tradition it was a pot luck event, and the number of crock pots definitely shows we’re mid-westerners! The good fellowship we have helps make the Duluth winters more bearable.

March brings with it a longing for spring, and the excitement that comes with it. We started off the month with a men and women’s Bible study and prayer breakfast. As the month progressed things became more lively. A group from Duluth went down to the covenant retreat, and we also had a visit from Brittany and Laura. Slides announcing our annual rummage sale entered the rotation, a sure sign that spring (and warm weather) is on the way.

On Sundays we have continued through the book of James, digging deeply into what he has to say about genuine faith. We have been continuing on the theme of putting our faith on trial, and we’ve been looking specifically at what James has to say about works, fruit, wisdom, and faith. James is very convicting in these matters, and it has produced deep introspection here, which helps us to grow and mature. March brought a close James, and we started Jude at the beginning of April.

Exciting things are also happening at Street Level. We were having our pre-meeting meals in one of the dorms at UWS since last semester. In February we moved both our meal and our meeting off campus to Big Apple Bagels! Thus far the change has been nice; it’s a nicer atmosphere, and it gives us some additional opportunities to serve (and the food is also very good).  We had an open mic night at the beginning of April, and we had a very good turn out. We look forward to seeing how God will use this new location in the months ahead.

Until next time–

table time ladies with laddersafe exit

April 10, 2018 Pastor Jesse Moss | Duluth

Awesome

Human beings desire to be amazed. We want to see incredible, beautiful, powerful and shocking things. We go to great lengths traveling thousands of miles and spending millions of dollars to behold and experience things that will leave us with some small sense of awe. Unfortunately those things are short lived, few and far between, and insufficient. We seek the awesome and find ourselves settling for the unexceptional. The word “awesome” has become a watered-down slang word that we use for anything that we find to be even mildly intriguing and interesting but when you think of the true definition of awesome (overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration produced by that which is grand, sublime, magnificent, and extremely powerful) there is very little that we know that can be described this way.

Other Things or God

I know that you know where I am going with this. The the things that we turn to for amazement, the things we attempt to find awe in will disappoint, but our God will not. He truly is awesome. He is great, powerful, magnificent, incredible. Adjectives stretched to their farthest fail to even begin to capture the glory of God or describe how much higher He is; how much we should be filled with awe that we can know and be in a relationship with Him. And I know that you know that.

So we as humans desire to be in awe, to be amazed, and we as Christians know that we can know and experience a relationship with the One so amazing and incredible that we can be filled with this awe forever, yet it seems we don’t live in that reality. Instead our reality is mundane and mediocre, monotonous and routine, day after day. And if we are not careful those days turn into weeks, weeks into months, months into years, and before we know it a lifetime has passed us by and we can’t remember the last time we stood back in awe of our creator, shocked at His power, amazed by His goodness, entirely overwhelmed by His love. We need to recover a REAL awe of God, an awe that goes beyond intellectual knowledge and understanding.

Real Belief

We come together week after week and we sing sings that boldly proclaim how great our God is. Our songs are about His power, His grace, His glory. We learn about it, we even read about it for ourselves in verses like 2 Chronicles 29:11, “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all.” We are quick to talk about how awesome God is, but my concern is do we REALLY believe it? Has the reality of who God is and His awesomeness really sunk in to the core of our being?  Don’t let a false familiarity with God plunder you of your awe of Him.

Why does this even matter? What difference does it make whether or not we still find any sense of awe and wonder in the Lord? It matters because our lives are either captured by the majesty of God, or they will be captured by all the cares and fears of this life. When they are captured by His majesty WE WILL live for Him and we will do it with hearts filled with joy. When our lives are captured by the cares and fears of this life we will live for ourselves and no lasting joy will be found. Obedience is easy and natural when our hearts are filled with an excitement for God, a love for Him, a fear of Him, amazement of His power, and overwhelming appreciation for His love.

What to do

Now the question, what are we to do about it? It seems hard to answer, how can we possibly regain a lost awe of God? Here are some things to help: look at ourselves, look at others, look at God’s creation, and look at God’s word.

Ourselves- Now I don’t mean to take a deep look inside at who you are and what you have done, that probably won’t lead to awe of anything. Take a step back, stop thinking about all that you have done, turn to what God has done. Think about everything that He lined up and miraculously worked into your life all the way through to get you where you are right now. Take the time to reflect on the incredible work that God has done in your life up until now and thank Him for it.

Others- Look around! I know sometimes we don’t see it, sometimes it is slow and painful, but God is doing great work all around us. It might not be the work we expect, but God is saving souls and transforming lives. We will see it if we look.

Creation- There is a reason why Romans tells us that since the beginning of creation God’s qualities, His power, and nature have been on display for all to see.

The Bible- Read passages like Isaiah Chapter 40 where you can find the glory of God displayed for all to read. Read His word again and again, and dont read it just to become more intellectually informed or to find a list of things to do, but to discover God. To behold the true and awesome nature of our Creator and Savior.

Our God is an awesome God. He is magnificent, powerful, and wonderful. Believe it, trust it, and let’s live our lives in light of that fact. Then we can say farewell to the mediocre and mundane that the rest of this world knows and embrace the awe filled life that God would have for us.

April 4, 2018 Believers Church

Seeking the Spirit

In February, your pastors and ministry staff got together at the Bethlehem College and Seminary’s annual Pastor’s Conference. The title of the conference was Gospel Power: The Christ-Exalting Work of the Holy Spirit. Most of the sessions there were compelling and insightful. Pastor John spoke on the first evening of the conference giving this message called Seeking the Spirit. Have a listen…

 

April 1, 2018 Pastor Tim Dodson | Menomonie

I have mixed feelings about even speaking the words. I mean, part of me feels like calling attention to such a time of blessing could somehow jinx us and garner the attention of Satan or something. But the flip side of that is I would hate to fail to be thankful for the blessings when they come.  I want God to know we realize how favored we are! It’s the “glory days” around here and it’s God who gets all the glory.

History

Easter marks 29 years this church has been “pounding it out.” Indeed as Charles Dickens said in “A Tale of Two Cities,” it has been the “best of times and the worst of times.” And yet through it all, we are still standing! And certainly we can’t help but notice that in truth we have done more than just “stand.” There appears to be even a lot of dancing lately…at least metaphorically! Growth has continued…people are being saved and people are stepping up to service to king and kingdom. About the time we think He could or at least would do no more, He amazes us with another amazing story! We are told in Psalm 118:24 “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

Visitor

We are just coming off our yearly covenant conference, this year with guest speaker Corne’ Platschorre, the director of Shelter Hostel in Amsterdam. It was a dynamic weekend…even through the Sunday service. One thing that Corne’ brought up again and again was how much he loved our “energy.” He remarked that he has never seen a group like ours that is so in love with Christ and zealous to serve the kingdom!

Corne comes to town
Corne’ Platschorre, director of SHELTER CHRISTIAN HOSTEL in Amsterdam, speaking March 25th on Revelation 2-3

In Ecclesiastes 11:1-2, we read the following: “Cast your bread upon the waters, For you will find it after many days. Give a serving to seven, and also to eight…” The Living Bible gives this account: “Give generously, for your gifts will return to you later. Divide your gifts among many…” I believe that all of you have done exactly that, and as the years have passed the wave of blessing is now returning back to you. Even outside of the fellowship community, you are continually being given great jobs, marriages, children, and the joys of community and God’s spiritual presence. We have tasted of what it must have been like to walk with God in the garden!

Blessing

All of this comes not because you have sought possession or gain, nor did you give and serve with expectation, but I believe God is just wanting to bless His kids. You have “sought first the kingdom of God” and He has indeed kept his promise to add to you “all these things.” Luke 6:38 says “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full — pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.” I am so thankful that you are a giving and sacrificial bunch! For certainly my spirit and calling is the richer for being able to work with the likes of all of you!

Coming

All of this does not mean the way ahead is not without its bumps and bruises! But I am proud of how so many of you have grown up spiritually and are ministers yourselves now and your whole life is a mission. I do not write this with any illusion that we have somehow “turned a corner” and it’s “easy street” from here! No, there will continue to be attacks from the dark side, and there will always be those who will come out from us and prove they were never part of us. Satan will indeed continue to win some battles but our Redeemer has already “won the war.” Satan has “bruised his heel” (Gen 3:15) but Jesus will “crush his head!”

So there will be times of pain yet to come. There will be losses and tears shed for those who turn away. But for those of us on the front lines…like I know many of you are today, “the gates of hell” will never prevail against this church community.

Thoughts

Billy Graham once spoke saying, “I have in my hand a letter written by a Communist student at an eastern university after he had gone to Mexico and become a Communist. He wrote to his fiancée, breaking off their engagement. Here is in part what he said. This was given to me by the minister of the Presbyterian Church in Montreat, North Carolina, where I live. Here is what it says:

We Communists have a high casualty rate. We’re the ones who get shot and hung and lynched and tarred and feathered and jailed and slandered, and ridiculed and fired from our jobs, and in every other way made as uncomfortable as possible.  A certain percentage of us get killed or imprisoned. We live in virtual poverty.  We turn back to the party every penny we make above what is absolutely necessary to keep us alive.

We Communists don’t have the time or the money for many movies, or concerts, or T-bone steaks, or decent homes and new cars. We’ve been described as fanatics.  We are fanatics. Our lives are dominated by one great overshadowing factor, THE STRUGGLE FOR WORLD COMMUNISM.

We Communists have a philosophy of life which no amount of money could buy. We have a cause to fight for, a definite purpose in life. We subordinate our petty personal selves into a great movement of humanity, and if our personal lives seem hard, or our egos appear to suffer through subordination to the party, then we are adequately compensated by the thought that each of us in his small way is contributing to something new and true and better for mankind.

There is one thing in which I am dead earnest and that is the Communist cause. It is my life, my business, my religion, my hobby, my sweetheart, my wife and mistress, my bread and meat. I work at it in the daytime and dream of it at night. Its hold on me grows, not lessens as time goes on. Therefore I cannot carry on a friendship, a love affair, or even a conversation without relating to this force which both drives and guides my life. I evaluate people, books, ideas and actions according to how they affect the Communist cause and by their attitude toward it. I’ve already been in jail because of my ideas and if necessary, I’m ready to go before a firing squad.

Hey JF Believers…the world is watching! Do we have that much dedication to the Lord Jesus Christ? Because Christ demanded no less! He demanded nothing less of those that follow Him. Scripture is replete with verse after shocking verse…calling us to be “all in.” Some have yet to make that commitment and are doing their best to drown out the call with as much noise of the world as they can muster. But many of you…ah! You are indeed “all in.” And God is so blessing us in response! So today, we dance!

Pastor TIM

April 1, 2018 Street Level College Ministries

Concert Report

Last Friday night the stage was set for the first concert of the Spring Semester- and Yam Haus did not disappoint! The Indie Funk band from Hudson, WI were a blast. There was even some slight dancing from some in our group. They delivered some cover songs as well and overall it was a great night. As many of you know the concerts that Street Level puts on are not just to entertain us. But a chance for us to reach out to college students. Friday night brought many new people to us. This, after a very well-attended mobile coffeehouse on campus on Thursday afternoon (serving almost 100 people!) we had a few come from those events. Please continue to pray for Street Level as we enter the last 6 weeks of school and many of us prepare to head off to the Philippines that we will finish the semester well. Yam Haus live