fbpx

Posts Tagged with Prayer

Your Local Drug Store

Posted on Leave a comment on Your Local Drug Store

Walgreens and CVS are the new Planned Parenthood. Even if your state has strict protections for the preborn, these two pharmaceutical giants are willing to join their names to those who have no fear of God and no respect for their neighbor. They cannot be trusted with your health.

If they are willing to supply the nation with drugs that murder babies in the womb, what else are they willing to inject into the human body?

In Twin Falls, Planned Parenthood is no longer providing induced abortions. This is a blessing from God, but it will not be long before there will be many more locations and more acceptable locations for babies to be murdered. The murder mill industry has pivoted from the clinic to the pharmacy to the living room.

Here are some phone numbers for local Walgreens and CVS drug stores. They need to hear from us. They need to know that this is not acceptable.

Twin Falls:

Burley:

Walgreens and CVS announced last week that they will begin providing mifepristone (abortion pills). You will be told that the pill is not available in Idaho because of the strict abortion laws. This is true (for now) but these stores are part of a national attack on the most innocent neighbors we have. These local pharmacists need to hear from us now.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/01/health/cvs-walgreens-to-dispense-abortion-pill-mifepristone/index.html

Pastoral Prayer 11.12.23

Posted on 2 Comments on Pastoral Prayer 11.12.23

I’ve been writing on this blog page for nearly 18 years. In dog years that’s 126 years (that dog is no longer alive.) I don’t know of a blog year calculator but my observation of how fast the internet world advances, this blogging practice of mine is of the ancient world. The purpose of my writing is to put words to thoughts. To practice a discipline. To encourage my church. To dialog with my brother pastor friends. During these years of journaling there are some years where I have written more and other years I have written less.

I had someone once tell me, as they were preparing to tell me they could not stay at Eastside Baptist any longer, that they wished I would preach the way I write. I still don’t know what bread of insult that really was. Because I’m a self-publishing blogger without an editorial staff to work out my grammatical head-scratching run-a-long sentences and second-grade spelling (no offense to second-graders) I’m not so sure I understand their statement at all.

Anyway, that was years ago. I’ve not written with the same kind of regularity in recent years as I have in other years. But here we go again.

May the reader understand. This discipline of writing is born in my life from a friend who once told me… “If you want to be a communicator, you need to become a writer.”

I’ve been writing my opening prayer for the past few months to give careful and intentional words when I address God, a discipline I have benefited from if none others have. And for that, I’m thankful to God. May the practice bless the Lord’s church and encourage pastors to give attention to this discipline.

I will publish these prayers here for now.

My pastoral prayer from November 12, 2023

Our God and Father, Yahweh, draw near to us by your spirit and
may these few moments we have together today be full of joy in
our shared experience, free from resentment, frustration, and
malice. Because of your Glom may we escape the trappings of
the trivial and the temporal trappings of vanity. May our eyes be
pleased to look upon your beauty. We confess we do not find it
easy to rid ourselves of distracting thoughts. Remind us we have
weapons to take upon these misleading thoughts. We are far too
easily distracted. May we have success to chase away all that
distracts us, whether it be pleasure or pain. either strength or
weakness that which takes up residence in our minds to keep
us from your service.

Give us a church of saints. Give husbands joy in their duty to
lead, and help wives to support & stand by. Raise parents to the
place to joyfully disciple their children. Bless these little ones
among us to be content and full of joy in you.

All of the true Church worships you O God. Every heart
renewed by grace takes delight in you and is not
disappointed. Bless your people with resolve to stand.
Those in safe Places and those in dangerous places. help
us not grow apathetic or filled with the fear of men.

We bring our wounded & sick before you – The greater our
sickness, bruises, sores, diseases, we are aware of the depravity
of our nature, of the deep-seated corruption of our hearts. The
more we know that we are the sort of beings you call to
abandon of flesh and look unto you!

In Jesus name, we pray, amen.

Pray for Your Church

Posted on Leave a comment on Pray for Your Church

This past week was the annual National Day of Prayer. The first Thursday of the month of May is as much a holiday as Thanksgiving. The only difference is that no school was shut down, no bank was closed and the commercial world has not found a way to capitalize on the day. Which really make this more of a holy day, unlike all others.

It was good to gather at the center of the city with many in our community to pray, seek the favor of God for the family, the church, the workplace, education, military, government, and the media. My assignment was to pray for the church.

To pray for the church implies that the church needs prayer – and it does.

When does a church need prayer? According to the bible, she always needs prayer, non-stop.

Where does a church need prayer? Again, according to the bible, the church in all places, everywhere needs prayer.

Which churches need prayer? As before, according to the bible, all churches need prayer, including the church I pastor.

Why do churches need prayer? Now it gets personal. Here is where I want to focus my column this week.

When the church is in the midst of persecution we should pray that the church would remain faithful. When there is a shortage of truth in the public discourse of life the church needs prayer that she would rise up as a pillar and buttress of truth. When the church has been found apostate we should pray for reformation. When the church sees one of her duties is to entertain than point to the holiness of God then the church needs prayer. It appears that these are some of the reasons we should be praying for the church in our communities. 

There has largely been a collective silence from the church for the past forty-eight years concerning abortion, the murdering of babies in the womb. Even this year in the Idaho legislature, a “pro-life” bill was passed and signed by the governor to continue regulating abortion rather that abolish the hellish act against God’s creation. What has been the reaction? Most of our politicians are celebrating a bill that will not go into effect until either another state wins a “heartbeat” bill case in a higher court or the Supreme Court reverses Roe v. Wade. Where this is a high hope, it is more likely a flawed hope.

For over a decade now our federal and state governments have reeducated the population on the definition of marriage. Another attack against God’s ordered world according to the authoritative Word of God that marriage is an institution between one man and one woman. Like abortion, the church has been silent for the most part. 

Now, we are no longer on a slippery slope of moral decay and more on a freefall concerning the attempt by the secularist to redefine sexuality and gender. Where is the church on these matters? What will the church do?

Here is why the church is in need of prayer. So, the church should rise up in this day as the voice of objective truth that will honor God and bless the community. The church must not forget that liberty is inseparable from God. There will never be true liberty so long as the church remains silent. For “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. All of human flourishing is needing the church to do her duty. Rise up and demand your pastor preach the word of God and get fully behind the uncompromising pulpit of truth. 

*this will be published in the Twin Falls Times News on May 8, 2021

A Disciple Must…

Posted on Leave a comment on A Disciple Must…

I was away from my preaching duties for five Sundays. There is only one other time when I was away from the pulpit for this long… Those God ordained days were character building days too.

Just like then, I was blessed with peace of mind that the pulpit of Eastside Baptist Church was secure and in the capable hands of a faithful church with faithful pastors/elders.

Pastor Mark King preached a five sermon series entitled, “A Disciple Must…”

  1. Desire the Word
  2. Continue in Prayer
  3. Worship Daily
  4. Be A Good Steward
  5. Share the Word

Here are all five of those sermons, and I highly recommend all five.

What Is A Sabbatical?

Posted on 3 Comments on What Is A Sabbatical?

I’m just wrapping up a month long sabbatical. Here is my bullet point evaluation/summarization of the past 30 days. (We begin the journey home on Friday afternoon). For a daily journal documented by Renee and me, visit this page: 2018 Sabbatical

For someone who’s never been on a sabbatical It’s hard to describe what a sabbatical is. I have heard of pastors taking sabbatical leave but I don’t actually know many who ever have. Several years ago Eastside Baptist approved a leave policy for pastors to take a sabbatical leave ever 5 years (I’ve been pastor of Eastside Baptist for just over 17 years). Last December (2017) I asked permission to take the month of September (2018) and do just that. I’m now asking myself, “why haven’t you done this before now?”

It felt odd at first explaining to others what I would be doing in September, probably because I didn’t know what it was either, but mostly because I felt like I was somehow explaining something that sounded like a “glorified” vacation (I don’t even take all of my allowed vacation days most years.) I just have to overcome this feeling that some people must think pastors don’t work hard. However, my church is very kind to me. I think they understand the work load and duty of a pastor better than most churches. Then, I just simply don’t like being away from home very often.

Now that I’ve been away, with a game plan, I know better what to do to prepare for the next time and help my preacher friends know how to prepare for a sabbatical leave.

How and why did you decide to go to Wyoming? I first heard of a place called the Machaseh Children’s Ranch several years about when my parents were living in Riverton, WY. The children’s ranch was a foster home ministry of John and Debbie Scudder, former pastor of Warm Valley Baptist Church in Pavillion, Wyoming. In late 2017 they decided to transition the ministry from a foster home to a home to minister to churches and pastors in need of a retreat location. I contacted John about the possibility of coming for the entire month of September 2018. They were kind to allow me and Renee to come and stay in this home, free of charge. A young seminary student, Brad, is on staff at United Baptist Church in Riverton, WY lives at the home too. This has been a blessed provision, a rich provision that I could not afford to have paid for. There are many kind and generous people who have made this home available to pastors and churches to use. We bless the Lord for this kind provision every day. Every friend of mine in the ministry that needs a place like this for a sabbatical season, please contact me.

What did you do? There were things that I did here that I can’t do at home, like roam among the antelope who show up every morning and evening, watch the neighboring farmer harvest his alfalfa, feed corn, and wish he would stop and ask if I wanted to drive any of the farm equipment. Apart from the normal routine of life, like eating, sleeping, brushing teeth… etc. I think I would answer that with three main answers.

  1. I spent many hours working on a book idea I’ve wanted to do for several years. I actually came here with two books to write but only worked on one. And still have a lot of work to do on that one. I’ve never devoted myself to the discipline of writing a book so I have much to learn and discover as I go home to continue working on it. I am the “curator” of my dad’s sermon collection. He pastored in three churches in Colorado; New Castle, Rifle, and Trinidad from 1971-1990. I estimate that he must have preached nearly 2,000 sermons during that time, I have about 1,200 hand written sermon notes that he carried into the pulpits of those faithful churches. When he passed away I gathered up all of those sermons from his study and have stored them in a large tote. I spent the first few days sorting them out chronologically. The earliest sermon notes were from his seminary days in 1967. Nearly every sermon he preached was from hand written notes that were mostly comprised of simple outline formats. I then spent several days reading these sermons. Sometimes I would laugh out loud, other times I would weep, I read a few of them to Renee. Then I began to enter them into an electronic format for archiving and publication potential. This took much longer than expected. I’m a slow typer, for one, then the sheer volume showed it a much more aggressive goal than I could accomplish. I have made a dent in this, but I have a mountain of work to do before I can even begin to figure out how to begin the publication side of the task.
  2. The second main task was that I wanted to read and listen. I wanted to read several books, listen to several sermons, spend several hours alone in wilderness type settings to read Scripture, meditate upon Scripture, and pray. I want to walk close to my God. I don’t want to just know about Him, or how others know Him. I want to abide with Christ as one whom God would be pleased to find usable for whatever He wants to do in me. I brought several books with me, I brought blank paper to write thoughts on. I read most of what I brought to read, but one book I did not come prepared to read has left a profound impact upon me. The book is from an early American pastor from the Northeast, Albert Barnes, 1798- 1870. The book is not in print anymore, but fortunately I could download it. The Theory and Desirableness of Revivals, has left a mark on my heart, soul, and mind. I will be rereading it soon.
    • I spent a day on the Wyoming Heritage Trail. This is a 22 mile stretch of abandoned railroad path from Riverton to Shoshoni. I had Renee drop me off in Riverton and gave her instructions of when to get me in Shoshoni. This was much more difficult than I had anticipated. But I spent the day praying for my church family. I prayed for every person individually, every family unit, and church body as a whole.
    • I spent an entire day in the Popo Agie Wilderness area. This 9 mile hike was a time to meditate on Scripture, enjoy uninterupted fellowship with Christ, my savior. I sang along the way, meditated on Psalm 25: 4-7, and spent time just listening to the sounds of creation. I should do this again soon.
    • I listened to several sermons. The one that was most encouraging to me was a sermon preached by W.A. Chriswell. In 1985, I had just graduated from high school when this sermon was preached. As an 18 year old, I knew nothing of what was going on in the denomination of my youth. Southern Baptists were in a fight for survival and this sermon was a pivotal sermon for the convention as a whole. The ongoing movement away from the inerrancy of Scripture has largely happened to many denominations and many individual churches. Renee and I both listened to this sermon and I highly recommend it. Here is a list of the sermons I listened to. Most of them are archived on YouTube.
      • The Battle for the Mind – Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones
      • Satan’s Strategy for Stealing the Church – John MacArthur
      • 1985 Southern Baptist Convention Message – W.A. Chriswell 
      • The Kind of Preacher We Need – Vance Havner
      • Why We Believe While Others Reject – John MacArthur
      • Prayer – Ron Dunn
      • Pray and Be Alone with God – Paul Washer
      • Do Yo See God Working in Your Life – Paul Washer
      • The Lord Comes As A Thief – Paul Washer
      • Prayer – Richard Owen Roberts
      • Humility – Richard Owen Roberts
  3. On the weekends, Renee and I would attend church at local Southern Baptist Churches; United Baptist, Riverton, WY, Warm Valley Baptist, Pavillion, WY, Hillcrest Baptist, Riverton, WY, and Set Free Church, Riverton, WY. We are thankful for the unique settings of each of these churches and were blessed to hear the preached word together. It is as expected, as a pastor, I rarely get to sit with my wife under the preaching of the word. To some respect Renee is like a woman who attends church without her husband. Not because I avoid her, but because I’m not next to her. This was good to do for several weeks in a row.
    We also took advantage of nearby sights and locations nearby to participate in some rest and relaxation together.

    • We enjoy geocaching and there are plenty of these in the area.
    • We enjoyed several of the local eateries in Riverton, Dubois, and Lander.
    • We spent a day hiking to Popo Agie Falls, horse back riding along the Tetons, sight seeing around Dubois.
    • All time together was refreshing, blessed, and rewarding. I should do this more often at home.

What would you do different? I would plan for more of the “wilderness” times. After reading, meditating, praying and listening I need to give myself to more wilderness type living. Not for the joy of backpacking, (however, I should spend more time backpacking with my family) by “wilderness time”, I mean more time meditating, praying and listening to God. By “more” I mean I would have scheduled this more in advance and purposed more intentional time. I realize that I am a public figure, but I can’t expect to be effective for my pastoral duty if I am not given to a hunger of concentrated, consecrated time with God. This was a sweet reward and one that I would plan for more of next time.

Do you recommend others to go on a sabbatical leave? Absolutely! Start talking to your beloved church now. Plan to stay where you are for a very long time. Let your church bless you with a sabbatical leave for your benefit and theirs. Don’t delay this kindness. (Contact me for information on the Machaseh House.)

To my beloved church, I am looking forward to gathering with you this coming Lord’s Day to worship our God together. Lord willing, I am looking forward to sitting under the faithful preaching of our beloved brother, Mark King, with you. We have missed you and have been pleased to pray for you. May the Lord bless you, may the Lord bless your households, and above all may the Lord be pleased to find us a fit and ready people to move the gospel forward in our day, if He chooses, for His glory.

 

 

 

Meet Bear Morton

Posted on Leave a comment on Meet Bear Morton

On February 4, 2018 Eastside Baptist will host our second Burning in the Soul preaching series. I have invited “Bear” Morton, pastor of Magic Valley Bible Church in Twin Falls, to come and preach what is burning in his soul.

Meet Greg “Bear” Morton:

Bear has been shepherding God’s people who gather at Magic Valley Bible Church in Twin Falls for more than 17 years. Bear is married to Cherie and they have six children; Stephanie, Jamie, Joshua, Jordan, Madison and Riley.

Bear is an Idaho native, born and raised in Boise. Bear is one of the biblically faithful contributors to the weekly pastors column in the Twin Falls, Times News. (Any time you read one of his columns online be sure to like it and share it. When publications like this get traffic online it communicates to the editor that it is read and it is liked when it is read. Share it on your social media outlets too.)

Magic Valley Bible Church is a faithful preaching post of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in Twin Falls. You can rejoice in the Lord that there are other faithful churches with faithful biblical preaching happening in the city. This church, MVBC, and this preacher, Bear Morton, are a blessing to all who live in the Magic Valley. Don’t miss out on this.

Gather with me on Sunday, February 4, 2018 at 6:30 p.m. to hear a word from God delivered through this local pastor. Be encouraged that there are many faithful preachers. Be challenged in your relationship to Christ. Be corrected by the power of the Holy Spirit as we sit together under faithful preaching.

Bear will be addressing the intercessory work of Jesus from John 17.

Be sure to invite someone to come with you.

Here are some influential books (other than the Bible) that have impacted Bear. Consider reading one this year.

  • Amillennialism and the Age to Come: A Premillennial Critique of the Two-Age Model by Matt Waymeyer
  • Biblical Doctrine: A Systematic Summary of Bible Truth. John MacArthur and Dick Mayhue
  • D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Preaching and Preachers
  • Spurgeon’s Sorrows: Realistic Hope for those who Suffer from Depression by Zack Eswine

 

For Church and Family (010) Prayer

Posted on Leave a comment on For Church and Family (010) Prayer

In this post I encourage parents to set an example of the significance of prayer in the corporate gatherings. This is a moment to set all things aside here and listen closely and to pray.

Tips for Church and Family

  • Parents:
    • Teach this at home.
    • Create an expected pattern at home that before meals this family prays.
    • Teach your children that at the church house on the Lord’s Day, we will spend some of that time praying together with our church family. Teach them that this is a gathering of families that pray together.
    • Instruct them at home to be prepared to stop what they are doing and join together in prayer.
  • Church:
    • Prayer time is not the time to gather up all of your belonging to prepare to leave. Little eyes will pick up on this quickly and will check out.
    • Prayer time is not the moment to leave the room.
    • Prayer time is significant, treat it as such.

Decay of Nations

Posted on Leave a comment on Decay of Nations

I began preaching through Isaiah several weeks ago and am very thankful to God for these strong warnings. As one looks and listens to Isaiah warn the nation of Israel it is not missed why they were judged by God so harshly as they ignored God and His preacher.

I began preaching chapter three last Lord’s Day. Here, Isaiah informs the nation of what it will look like as the decay of the nation is in full effect. There are many things along the way that lead to this but Isaiah makes it very clear what the last days of the nation that rebels against God looks like. All nations should look closely at this. All Churches should pay close attention to this. Every family should stop and look into these words. Every professing believer should examine his life closely against the plumb line of holy Scripture.

Here is a general look at the entire chapter three. (Based on Isaiah 3:1-12)

  • There will be a removal of the great and mighty men. One of the first marks of decay is not a falling away of great men, but a removal of them. There will be a noticeable shortage in the land of wise, prudent, disciplined, discerning, honorable, skilled men of honor and valor.
  • The shortage of men of honor and valor will be replaced with incompetent, undisciplined, dishonorable,  and childish desires will seize them to attract selfish attention upon themselves and prolong childhood by delaying manhood.
  • There will be a rise of weak willed, moody, rude, arrogant, disrespectful, children who will demand from and oppress the elders. Many cities will notice a shortage of reliable and discerning leaders. Churches will water down the criteria for biblical leadership in light of this great shortage. Children will rule their homes with demanding behaviors that parents will give in to for fear of tyrannical tantrum raging children.
  • A generation or two of this without widespread correction of course will only intensify selfishness among society at large.
  • Disrespect for elders becomes the norm of the day. Where there is a lack of biblical social order in the home, in the church, and in the society, anarchy becomes a path most desired and appears appealing to the majority. This kind of chaos replaces peace with widespread unrest.

It is necessary for this progression to happen for a total collapse of a nation. If foolishness attempted to overthrow a nation ruled by men of valor and godly honor it would be thwarted with ease and a corrective course would happen quickly.

The family must recover. Husbands must pray that God would grant them courage and pray that God would give mercy to their wives. Fathers must instruct the children and mothers must gather and nurture the children. Parents must co-labor in this God ordained duty.

Where are you family?

The church must come out of her slumber. Pastors must lead, deacons must serve, congregations must secure the preaching post with heralders of truth. She must advance this gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ without any mixture of the philosophies of men or fallen angels.

Where are you church?

Where the family and church was once the birthplace and training ground that society looked to for principles of justice and good will, the majority are now petri-dishes of undisciplined selfish little boys and girls who demand others give them what they want while redefining and rebuilding a society that more impoverishes and distresses  with the markings or the Judges of what it’s like when everyone does what is right in their own eyes and hates that which is true and just.

Arise Church! to your duty! The day demands it! Our Lord commands us!

Go into this day and advance this Gospel, now!

 

Follow

Get every new post on this blog delivered to your Inbox.

Join other followers: