by Pastor James Bell

The title of our new sermon series might seem a little arrogant. Actually, it’s a reference to the sad truth that we get it wrong about God sometimes. Would you believe lots of times? Our culture’s concept of God seems a bit skewed, to say the least. Maybe that’s why the Bible tells us to be transformed, not conformed, in the way we think.

It’s pretty obvious that people create their own gods today. How often have you heard, “The god I serve doesn’t do (this or that, fill in the blanks).” We take the liberty of defining God according to our own personal moral standards and beliefs. We assume God is on our side because, after all, we’re right about practically everything. Some are even deluded enough that they pray to, and think they hear from, the one true God, not knowing that it’s really their own self-created “god”. This is often an over-active conscience or an egocentric imagination that has led many sincere Christians from true charismatic giftedness to an overstated (but spiritually insignificant) charismatic folly. Bottom line: It never was really God to begin with.

What is even more common, and is the focus of our series, happens when people of faith incorrectly understand the nature and character of God. We think He is mad at us. We aren’t sure He is always walking with us. We are intimidated by His holiness and our (sometimes gross) humanity. We anticipate His wrath and at times we hope He isn’t looking at us right now, at this very moment. We need to re-think our view of God.

The Bible is a real good place to look when re-thinking God. It is, after all, the ultimate resource for a definitive view of God. Jesus came to give us an understanding of God from a human perspective, which is, incidentally, the only perspective we are much good at understanding.

Intimacy with God is a blessed experience, a taste of eternity. This happens through the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. But even intimacy with God is defined, as well as encouraged, by biblical principles about the wonder and majesty of God.

Remember the character who said, “Sometimes I sit and think. Other times I just sit”? Well, let’s not just sit! Re-thinking your concept of God might open some new doors of spiritual growth in your life.

Let’s do it together!

Thoughtfully,

James

by Pastor Kenny Innes

We know that God is gracious, loving and merciful. We know that God forgives sin. Does that mean that God doesn’t care about our sin, and therefore, neither should we?

There is a false grace movement on the fringes of our faith which says that we can sin all we like because God will forgive us anyway. This “grace” of God “frees” us to indulge our sinful desires, safe in the knowledge that God will forgive us for it all. This is an evil thought.

God hates sin, and wants people to be free from the sinful desires that separate them from Him. Furthermore, God says that He will judge all sin, and the consequence of an unrepentant life is death and eternity in Hell. To those who repent, He offers forgiveness.

The forgiveness that God offers us is not free. It was bought with a price. Jesus, God’s Son, became a man to live the perfect life that we cannot live, to die the death that we deserve to die, and to rise again to offer us new life. God poured out all of the wrath and judgment for our sin onto His own Son. When we believe and trust in Jesus, His righteousness is given to us. Our forgiveness is very costly indeed.

The cross shows us another very clear thing about our sin – we are not able to pay for it ourselves. It takes action on God’s part to remove the stain of the very sin that we commit against Him. All of our good deeds are not enough to satisfy the wrath and judgment of God towards our sinfulness. We need to throw ourselves on His mercy, confess our rebellion and wrongdoing, and surrender ourselves to His forgiving, healing, changing power. Only then can we gain any power over the sin that holds us back.

This is what David recognized in Psalm 51. He couldn’t appeal to his own goodness as a basis for forgiveness. He could only appeal to God’s merciful character upon those who sincerely repent and desire to be changed. So David, distraught by his own sin and unable to see a way to change within himself, cries out to God to rescue him.

Many church members forget that God is the only source of change and forgiveness. Instead, they try to hide their sinfulness under an outward appearance of godliness and good works. This works-based righteousness leads to a life of defeat, guilt, and shame. No matter how hard they work to cover their sin, they still have no power over it.

What God desires is for His Church to conquer their sin by depending on the work of His Son upon the cross to forgive them. Every one in the church will battle the sinful desires of the flesh. Those who hide it from God and from others will struggle in their faith. Those who confess their sins and cling to the cross will have victory after victory over sin as they experience the sanctifying work of God’s grace in their lives.

Trusting in Him alone,

Kenny

by Pastor James Bell

Bob Hamp, one of the ministers at Gateway Church, recounts a story about the time he was a parole officer in a small West Texas town. In his book, Think Differently – Live Differently, Bob tells of a distraught mom as she was nervously asking about the restrictions to be placed on her under-aged son, who was convicted of car theft and using stolen credit cards. The boy had left West Texas and headed to Florida, leaving a trail of stolen credit card usage. She just couldn’t believe her son had done these things, but he was caught red-handed and admitted everything.

Attempting to get a little more information about the situation, Bob asked the boy’s mom, “Why did he go to Florida? Is there family in Florida? Maybe a girlfriend?” The mother replied, “No, we don’t know anyone there.” She paused, and then spoke of her trip from West Texas to Florida to pick her son up after his arrest, offering this explanation:

“Freedom. He went for freedom. The further I traveled, it was as if I was leaving behind every care and every difficulty. The more I drove, the more I considered joining him, because life just seemed easier in front of me than it did behind me.”

I’ve been to Florida a few times myself, so I can easily understand what a wonderful change of scenery the white sands and blue water must have been for this young man. Nothing like the sleepy, dry, dust-blown little town he knew so well. But it wasn’t freedom. At least, not for long. An alert service station cashier phoned the police, and a short time later the boy was gazing at the walls of a jail cell.

Do you ever feel the need to escape? Lots of folks think a new city, a new job, often a new church, and sometimes even a new spouse, will bring freedom into their lives. Then they get to their “Florida” (whatever and wherever that may be) and reality slaps them in the face. Hard. Accountability, along with those “sins that so easily beset us” will follow us wherever we go. After a few glorious hours of feeling free as a soft, gulf coast breeze, that young man paid a price of humiliation and regret. Florida has laws, too. Florida has officers who administer those laws. It wasn’t really freedom, it was just Florida!

If you are looking for an escape route from the life you are living, consider the offer Jesus makes to all of us. He will change you from the inside out and give you joy and peace that the world can only imitate. There are places everywhere that people have gone to find freedom. New York, L.A., and lots more are filled with disappointed freedom seekers. But beautiful, sunny Florida makes a great metaphor for my message to you. Instead of plotting your escape, find out about overcoming instead!

My prayer is that you’ll never find yourself in a faraway place mumbling something that could be metaphorically stated as, “This ain’t freedom. It’s just Florida!”

Peace,

James

by Pastor James Bell

A few days ago I read an article where Christian leaders were predicting the direction of the church during the next decade. There seemed to be a consensus that some radical shifts are beginning to happen and will continue.

For example, Larry Stockstill believes that “results will no longer substitute for character, and gifts will no longer replace anointing”. Jack Hayford predicted the demise of “convenience oriented sermonizing that tickles ears preoccupied with personal fulfillment more than service to God and the church”.

When will we “get it” about church? How you feel about church reflects your actual relationship with God. Someone recently told me, “I loved the spontaneity of the services where my family and I attended previously, but I would have never invited my extended family or friends to come.” When I asked why, my friend said that the services were just too “out there” and would be hard to explain or difficult for non-believers to understand. I could relate.

Others have said they seldom, if ever, felt the presence of God in the churches they attended while growing up. They endured a formal church service, with teaching from the word of God, but no sense of the presence of the Holy Spirit. Been there, too.

While far from being a paragon of all things ecclesiastical, we welcome the Holy Spirit’s involvement in every service. He is invited to interrupt our agenda anytime, or lead us in a different direction while we are planning a service. We are also committed to spiritual and scriptural order, and will protect our congregation from false words and self-glorifying displays of emotion.

On Sunday mornings we are sensitive to the fact that non-believers often come with their Christian friends. We want them to feel comfortable and included in our worship. On Sunday nights the services are less structured and often result in a strong, prophetic move of the Holy Spirit. There is also more time for personal ministry.

Some Christians, in countries suffering religious persecution, meet several times each week. Some underground churches in North Korea, Vietnam and China, meet every night. Some new Christians at Hosanna wish we had more services, and try to find small groups to attend in addition to Sunday mornings and evenings. What these believers have in common is that they “get it” about the heart of the Lord for his church. They have fallen in love with Jesus.

A backsliding Christian will begin to see church as an inconvenience. Idols are not seen as idols, but rather entitlements, deserved and needed as they attempt to replace the Holy Spirit with “stuff” that brings momentary pleasure.

How do people “get it” about church? Usually it happens something like this:

They reconnect with Jesus through the indwelling Holy Spirit.
They realize and consider the importance of knowing Jesus.
They consider that, at the end of this life, only what we have done for God will have value to us.

They change their schedules to include church as a top priority.

When you develop a passion for God, everything else will come into focus and have meaning for you. And you’ll probably start to wonder why some people don’t “get it” about church.

Believing for the best for you,

James

by Pastor James Bell

Matthew, Mark and Luke all shared the phenomenal story of a demon-possessed man who lived among the tombs near the city of Gadara. No one could control this man. That is, until Jesus arrived on the scene. The spirits within the man cringed at the sight of Jesus and at his command they left the man free and sound of mind.

Among the graveyards of mainline Christianity toward the end of the last century, there emerged, not a maniac, but rather a charismaniac of sorts. It was known for it’s displays of power, it’s struggling against chains of restraint, and it’s habit of tearing itself (dividing) when frustrated in it’s purpose.

What is a charismaniac? I would call it “charisma-gone-bad”. It’s the perversion of something God-breathed. Charisma means “giftedness”, which is a blessed and good thing. But when gifts are not administered with scriptural authority and spiritual order, the word “mania” gets added to the equation.

So in the midst of a spiritual graveyard, charismania erupted. The roar of overzealous, out of order giftedness became unsettling and disturbing to many people who didn’t “get it” about the latest strain of hyped up, pseudo-prophetic power trips. From Baker to Bentley, from Hinn to Haggard, the idolatrous images of one-man shows crumbled to the ground. The faithful who followed now found themselves wandering through a graveyard, bound by the past, repeating words of proclamation that now seemed to fall powerless to the ground. Would this signal the end of an era?

Not at all. You see, there is no such thing as a counterfeit three dollar bill. There was once a spiritual reality and a scriptural authenticity in spiritual giftedness. That never died. It was just that ignorance screamed more loudly and was better financed than reason. But truth always triumphs in the end. We are at the end of charismania, but only growing stronger in genuine spiritual giftedness.

Okay, how does that play out in church services? Well, there is a list of things we probably will see a lot less of, and that list includes rhetorical, self-serving prophesies that are too vague to evaluate or are clearly and spectacularly wrong. The church has had it’s fill of both. Many of you could add to that list, but let’s not. Let’s talk instead about what we will see more of, or what’s being anticipated in the Spirit by many believers today.

The key phrase is “multiplicity of ministry”. We are finally excited about becoming Ephesians 4 churches. Spiritual gifts manifest in a way that glorifies God, not the gifted ones. Equipping happens on Sunday nights as we share spiritual insights with the passionate core of the church. Words are shared in our three Sunday daytime services as fresh, anointed direction from the Father, without appearing to be the second coming of Moses or Elijah. Healings happen during worship, even without the old healing- evangelist-type of prayer lines. We have exchanged production for presence. Sinners and saints alike now get the message that Jesus is Lord!

When the leaders and townspeople of Gadara visited the graveyard to see what happened, they found the “maniac” dressed nicely, smiling and sitting with Jesus. He now had the charisma, but that maniac phase was over.

Feeling the need for spiritual giftedness? Welcome to the new definition of “gifted”! The power has been there for a long time. It’s just that we’re learning how to glorify God in it’s use.

So more power to you! Use those gifts God has given you….for His glory!

by Pastor James Bell

It’s that time of year when everything is changing. New life is springing up everywhere! How about you? Can you spare some change?

“Moses, you have had an exciting life. Hidden as an infant, raised by the Pharaoh, exiled to another country, and now raising sheep. Ever think of writing a book?”

“Hey, I’m only eighty. I sense a major change coming in my life. In fact, I heard God speak from a flaming bush in the desert yesterday. The book might have to wait.”

Five books, in fact. We call them the Pentateuch. Starting at age eighty, Moses radically changed his lifestyle by following God’s leading. Feeling absolutely unqualified, he led God’s people from slavery to freedom.

There is never a convenient season for change. It often comes as an uninvited guest, forcing us out of our comfort zones. Preferably, It comes as the result of an intentional act, rooted in a passion for things to be different. But, one way or another, change will come. It will leave you breathless and full of faith, or it will see you disappointed, and clinging to the safety of a compromised life.

“Saul, you have always been an over-achiever. Gamaliel found you to be a brilliant student. The Pharisees recognize you as a scholar. Will you gather young men around you and share your wealth of knowledge?”

“My life is a pile of crap. That is, compared to what I have just discovered. I am completely changing my perspective on the scripture. I am being filled with the Spirit. I am set on disappearing as Saul, and letting Jesus be huge in my life. Might even change my name…”

The world would never be the same. Some said of this Saul of Tarsus, who changed to become the Apostle Paul, that he and his associates “turned the world upside down!”

It is both exciting and frustrating to know that we have people like Moses, Paul, Ruth, Gideon, Esther, and Peter sitting in our congregation. We see insecurity, pride, fear, misguided ambition, and low expectations. God sees powerful ministry impacting lives. The difference is change.

Good change is a result of revelation. It comes to us when we “get it” about life. Our role in personal change is simply to come to Jesus with a wide-open heart. He takes over from there. Positive change always begins at the cross. We leave everything. Then we receive God’s best.

There are leaders in men’s ministry, intercessory prayer warriors, teachers of children, missionaries and pastors in our midst. Gifted musicians and singers are all around us. Gifts of prophecy, healing and discerning of spirits are waiting to be unwrapped and used. Gender and generational bias is giving way to the will of God, as religiosity is exposed and dealt with. Spiritual sensitivity is fueling a change. Do you feel it coming?

Hearts are hungry for truth. Lives are in a state of confusion. The world is waiting for some answers, looking frantically, one last time, at the church.

Can you spare some change?

by Pastor James Bell

The willful ignorance of God and his purposes by the media and the entertainment industry has perpetuated a disturbing and false concept of God. For the most part, our culture is buying into it big time.

The idea is that God is somewhere up there sneering and snarling at you because you are so messed up. The message is that you have two choices available to you with regard to religious convictions:

You are incapable of being good and you are honest about it.

Or

You are incapable of being good and you are a hypocrite.

You choose. According to the what is culturally acceptable, you only get to choose one. Okay, what do you suppose is the best choice? Here is how it might be described:

“It is to be aware that you are upsetting “the Good Lord” by the way you live, but you are an honest sinner, who might actually be so real and so honestly human that God begins to like you and feel a little sympathy toward you. I mean, at least you are not a hypocrite, whom God and everybody else despises. God will let you know how he feels about you by the things that happen, or don’t happen, to you in your life. If things get rough, you might want to attend a church service pretty soon to show a little respect. But don’t let that hypocrisy rub off on you.”

Just one problem with that concept, though. It’s totally bogus. Two thousand plus years ago, Jesus came to earth and changed everything. Knowing that we are incapable of being good, the Son of God was punished in our place, paying the price for our sins. God loved us too much to leave us separated from himself. There is a difference between imperfection (as we grow spiritually) and being a hypocrite. It is not hypocritical to take a stand for what is right, even though you need forgiveness when you don’t do the right thing. That is progress. That is growth. It can also make you a target for those who have failed to create their own righteousness and criticize the righteousness of Christ in others. They have “dumbed down” Christian teachings to formulate their own pseudo-spirituality that they will take with them to the judgement and eventually to an eternal hell.

One startling fact has not changed since Jesus walked the dusty roads of Judea and Galilee. It is the religious who hate Christ the most. Jesus was executed by Roman soldiers, but he was killed by the religious. The same misunderstanding of the righteousness of God permeates “Christian America” today. To be “good” has become a bad thing. To be “bad” is now a good thing.

God’s response is unchanging. He continues to love those who sin against him, and he offers them a better way. But, being limited by our own mortality, every person has their last time to reject him before it is too late. Understanding that God is not your enemy, you have a great opportunity to experience eternal life, beginning right now. Think about this prayer:

God our Father, we find it difficult to come to you,
because our knowledge of you is imperfect.
In our ignorance we have imagined you to be our enemy;
we have wrongly thought that you take pleasure in punishing our sins;
and we have foolishly conceived you to be a tyrant over human life.

But since Jesus came among us, he has shown that you are loving,
that you are on our side against all that stunts life,
and that our resentment against you was groundless.
So we come to you, asking you to forgive our past ignorance,
and wanting to know more and more of you and your forgiving love,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Stunned by the brevity and depth of this prayer, written by St. Augustine, I can only say, “Amen”.

How about you?

Question 1: Was there a time in your life when you ‘wandered”, when you did not fully understand what it meant to be set apart?

Question 2: Can you describe the moment of realization? That time when you suddenly saw things from God’s perspective instead of your own?

Question 3: How did you respond? How did this response change you as an individual?

by Pastor James Bell

Satan is more often found working through our circumstances than possessing our bodies.

Most of the Devil’s work happens without him wanting or receiving the credit for it. These clever efforts are also missing the special effects seen in television’s definition of exorcisms, whether fictional on the movie channel or live on the Christian channel. It presents more difficulty for Christian leaders than rolled back eyes or foaming mouths. It is more devastating than scary. Satan is more often found working through our circumstances than possessing our bodies.

Visualize with me how this happens. Satan waits with folded arms and a knowing smile for certain circumstances to unfold in our lives. When things don’t go as we want them to, disappointment and frustration push us to express our discontent. We are tempted to sound off about it to anyone who might listen, especially our friends or folks we think would probably agree with us. Maybe we’ll regret it later, but for right now our button has been pushed. Also, we still have freedom of speech in this country, right?

Certain phrases become loud invitations for the evil one to rush to our aid:

“The Pastor is not perfect, and he was flat out wrong in that sermon today…”
Interpretation: “The Holy Spirit really convicted me today, and I don’t like the feeling that I am some kind of sinner because the Bible seems to contradict what I’m doing.”

“This church has a lot of problems and leadership is doing nothing to resolve them.”
Interpretation: “I don’t understand why this church doesn’t do things my way and doesn’t use my suggestions. I have good ideas too.”

“I have missed and missed the Sunday services, and no one ever calls.”
Interpretation: “I’ve had a hard time fitting in and making friends, so I’ve often chosen to just stay home or do something else. But I want to be wanted, even if I don’t reach out to others myself.”

All of these are issues that churches (including Hosanna) are constantly dealing with, and they are important issues. Satan, however, doesn’t really care about the issue. With him, it is not the issue but the opportunity. His target is almost never the person who voices the words, but rather it’s the ones who hear those words. Without them realizing what is happening, Satan has just set up those who hear the criticisms (especially if they are caring, sympathizing people, as most Christians are) for a sudden free fall from spiritual effectiveness into spiritual confusion.

Through the ages of church history, the enemy’s plan has always been to divide the church. A burned-down church will rise from the ashes. A persecuted church will miraculously multiply. But a divided church is sterile. It will die without re-producing itself. That’s why Jesus prayed that the church would be one, just as he and the Father are one. A united church is a powerful, effective, healthy church. That’s why division means everything to the evil one. He fears our unity more than anything.

The Devil didn’t make you do it. You simply decided to let off some steam. But he did jump all over the situation, targeting those who heard you more than focusing on you. He usually shows up later with either guilt (if you realize you were wrong) or a victim mentality (if you don’t) to try to offer you a “phase two” of his plan.

We can counter the Devil’s schemes by understanding his methods and refusing to let him use us. We can let openness and honesty replace insecurity and presumption. I think we are blessed that this situation is not as frequent in our congregation as it is in most churches, but it is something we can reverse for the glory of God and our own spiritual well-being.

Still love me?

James

p.s. I do love all of you, and that’s why I posted this.

by Pastor James Bell

Superstitious spirituality… okay, it’s an oxymoron. That is, if you are talking about the Holy Spirit.

John wrote to the church,

1 John 4:1 “Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” –

Spiritually superstitious nomads wander across the spiritual landscape of Christianity. They are looking for that miracle…that perfect prophetic word…that definitive outpouring…that will change America. And yet they have a hard time committing to much of anything their local church is doing.

With a far-off look in their weary eyes, they point to this self-proclaimed prophet, or that so-called outpouring. They feel that they are aware of a higher dimension of spirituality than the rest of us, not seeing that they are tragically deceived by a perception that is more superstitious than spiritual. Their spiritual vulnerability makes the mouths of the wolves waiting in the darkness water with anticipation.

I’m talking about good people. They are misguided in their search for more of God. They are frustrated by their failure to “fix” the people they love and care about. They feel overwhelmed by the culture around them that marginalizes Christianity and ridicules the miraculous. They look for an anointed hero who will appear on the horizon and straighten everyone out, with undeniable miracles to back him up. But what they want is their solution, not God’s. They are chasing Saul around while Samuel is quietly anointing David right under their noses, often in their own churches.

The first generation of Christians understood that the church is to work together as a family, as parts of a body. Unfortunately, today’s pseudo-prophetic superstars emerged from the dark side of the charismatic movement, not from the Book of Acts. Even an elementary investigation of New Testament teaching makes it so evident that a Christian is to be an active member of a local church. In fact, most of the New Testament letters open with, “to the church at….” Discipleship is to happen corporately, as we grow together, if it is to be scriptural. Paul wrote,

“For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually members one of another.” 1 Cor 12:12

Spiritual growth happens to us individually only as we grow together in the body, the church. To circumvent this and try to accelerate spiritual growth with para-church “events” or sporadic “moves” always leads, sooner or later, to spiritual starvation. Spiritual growth is replaced by superstitious sensationalism. “Words” become all-important, signs are seen in everything, the devil is hiding behind every bush, and the written word of God, as well as common sense, is abandoned. Eventually, lives are wrecked.

What can concerned Christians do to help the spiritually superstitious? First, we need a huge dose of unconditional love. Second, we must pray for authentic revival, a genuine work of the Spirit, that will demonstrate the difference in a real move of God and a farce. Third, let’s stay humble before God and pursue His agenda instead of our own.

Hopefully expectant,

James