Pastor Joe’s Blog

In the book of Matthew chapter 12 verse 36 Jesus said “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.” Well first we need to establish what an “idle” word is. The Greek word that is translated as “idle” in this passage is the word argos. The definition of argos from the Strong’s concordance is:

1. free from labour, at leisure
2. lazy, shunning the labour which one ought to perform

In other areas of scripture the word argos is translated as careless, useless or barren. Basically the word describes a word that is “good for nothing”. God is a God of production. Many times you will hear people say that we are “prosperity Christians.” Well the truth is, God is a prosperity God! Prosperity doesn’t just mean that you have a lot of money. It means that you are making progress; progress in every area of your life. In the same way we should be speaking words of progress. Words that build up, words that bring righteousness, peace and joy. In Hebrews chapter 4 verse 12 we read “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” The Greek word  translated as “powerful” here, is the word energes. Energes is the exact opposite of argos. It means effective, powerful, productive; The word of God is not idle, in fact it is living and powerful! If you want to make sure that you are not speaking idle words, then speak the Word of God! Line up your words with God’s words and you will find yourself living the “abundant (productive) life” that Jesus said he came to give you (John 10:10).

When you walk into a room does the atmosphere rise? Or does it fall?

What I mean is: do you carry with you the spirit of faith and hope, or the spirit of doubt and despair?  If you are a follower of Jesus then you are carrying faith and hope with you wherever you go! He has chosen to reside in you; the burden removing yoke destroying power of God living inside of you! We know that when Jesus went to the home of Jairus to heal his daughter (who was dead, Luke 8:49-55), that Jesus only let Peter, James, John, and her parents in the room.  Jesus wanted an “atmosphere of faith” in that room! Unbelief and doubt, had to go! With an atmosphere of faith and hope in the room, Jesus then said “little girl, arise”. Her spirit returned and she arose immediately! Do you want to raise some things up in your life? Do you want to have the abundant life that God has promised you? Then change the atmosphere! Hang around with people of faith and speak the word of God! And watch God do some things, IMMEDIATELY!!

Did you ever feel like giving up? Throwing in the towel? Taking your ball and going home? Life has a way of doing that to you. The cares of this world, the constant trials, the seemingly endless things to accomplish, have a way of wearing a person down. I wonder how King David felt. Anointed King by the prophet Samuel, yet on the run from the present King (Saul) who was trying to kill him. Not able to stay in Israel he was “sleeping with enemy” (the Philistines), staying in occupied territory,  all the while knowing he was anointed by God to be King! To top it off, he and his armies left Ziklag to intervene in a battle between Israel and the Philistines, and on returning found that (another enemy) the Amalakites, had taken their wives, children and goods and burned the place down! It says in 1 Samuel 30:4 “Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep.” They cried until they couldn’t cry anymore! If you need to cry, go ahead, get it alllll out! It goes on to say that after that “David strengthened himself in the LORD”. Sometimes you just need to get it all out, so you can get God all in! Then it says in verse 8 “David inquired of the Lord, saying, shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?” And He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.” God’s answer is always yes and amen. You will recover all that you have lost. Therefore:

Don’t Quit

When things get wrong, as they sometimes will,

When the road you are trudging seems all up hill;

When the funds are low and the debts are high

And you want to smile, but you have to sigh;

When care is pressing you down a bit,

Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.

Success is failure turned inside out;

The silver tint of the clouds of doubt.

And you can never tell how close you are

It may be near when it seems afar;

So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit –

It’s when things seem worst that you mustn’t quit.

NEVER, NEVER, EVER GIVE UP!!!

God Bless

Everyone wants power, no? How would you like to be a super hero? I always wanted to be superman as a kid. I used to put on the costume and jump off the bed. Somehow, I couldn’t leap tall buildings in a single bound, or dodge a speeding bullet (don’t try either of these at home!). However, there is a power available to us that is much greater! It is the Power of God! Some think that God is just something you talk about or believe in. Some think God just means going to a church and saying a special prayer or feeding poor people. All this is true, but what most miss is that God wants us to do all these things and more with his supernatural power. The word of God says “”For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.” 1 Corinthians 4:20. If you are a member of God’s kingdom, then you will be endued with power from on high (Luke 24:49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high). This is a power that will not only change you, but it will change the world!! This power comes to those who obey God and his word. Romans 1:16 says that the gospel is the power of God. Open your bible, understand his word, act on it, and you will be endued with power from on high!

Be endued with his power, today!!

Sometimes it seems like there is noise everywhere! It seems like lawnmowers are mowing all the time; cars are racing down the street with no muffler; TVs are blasting; teenagers’ music is too loud (I have 6 of em); spouses are telling you what to do (ooops!); thoughts are racing through your head. Sometimes I just wanna go ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!! (and sometimes I do). I guess I figure if I make enough noise, none of the other noise will bother me. In 1Peter 5:8 it says that your “adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour”.  Well what is a roaring Lion? He is a noise maker! That is only as effective as we allow him to be. If we drown out his noise with the shout of triumph from the word of God, we won’t hear all that NOISE! And that is all it is, a bunch of NOISE! So next time he roars, give him the word of God and drown out all that noise!

Make some real noise today!

Believe it! In proverbs 23:7 it says “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” Start thinking good, which really means “start thinking God”. As you start thinking God (good) your heart starts believing it and it is what you become. Wouldn’t it be better to hope for good (God) then to expect evil? We would walk around with a lot more joy if we started thinking right. Renew your mind with the goodness of God and then these words will flow from your mouth:

Something good is coming my way, today!!

God bless and be blessed!!

In one of my favorite scriptures, David says that when we prosper it magnifies God: Psalm 35:27 May my friends sing and shout for joy.  May they always say, “Praise the greatness of the Lord,  who loves to see his servants do well.” (NCV) Isn’t that what we are supposed to do, magnify God?  When your friends see you doing well the Glory goes to your God. So tap into his power and walk in his ways and prosper! prosper to glorify him!

God Bless you this day!!

How is everyone doing? It is bring your kid to work day today. Did you bring yours? I don’t want to hear anyone say it is a burden; I have 6 kids! Well, even more important then bringing them to work is bringing them to church. With my kids it is not an OPTION! As long as they are living under my roof and spending my money, they are going to spend the Lord’s day with the LORD! Now I’m not saying we need to hit our children over the head with the bible (although, there are certain cases where this does apply), but we need to let them know that going to church is as important (actually it is more important) as going to school or going on vacation or going anywhere. Their hopes and dreams depend on it! So let’s make this and every Sunday:

Bring your kid(s) to church day!!

Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

Happy New Year! Here we are again, starting a new year. Time to make our “New Year’s resolutions” again. You know: how we are planning to eat right, exercise more, and lose that extra weight; how we are going to be punctual from now on and do our jobs with 100% effort; how we are determined to work harder to make our businesses more successful; how we are going to treat people better (especially our spouses!); going to spend more time with the kids, less time with the remote; etc…. Well, these are virtuous goals and God is all for them, however, He has given us the blueprint for life and when we follow it “all these things” will take care of themselves. In the bible in the book of Matthew 6:33 Jesus said, “seek first His (God’s) kingdom and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you”. Our focus need not be on the things, but on God (who by the way, owns all the things!). Jesus said this during his sermon on the mount in which he basically turned the world’s way of doing things upside down. He also said to “bless those who curse you” and to “love your enemies” among other things. Behavior, that doesn’t make a lot of sense from society’s perspective. I mean really, how many “bless those that curse you” seminars have you been to lately! The most important resolution you can make is to seek God’s kingdom first this year. Most of us are trying to change from the outside in; instead of from the inside out! Proverbs 23:7 says “for as a man thinks in his heart, so is he!”. We need to change our thinking this year. We need to start thinking about God’s kingdom and His way of doing things. If we spend more time with Him, we will spend less time eating. If we seek more of Him in our work life we will see the benefits. If we seek more of Him, our relationships with others will improve. It is appropriate that our New Year immediately follows Christmas. A new year represents new beginnings and the birth of Christ in your life will bring them! Whoever is in Christ is a NEW creation, the old has gone the new has come (2 cor 5:17).

Jesus said not to worry about things, but to seek God first. In Matthew 6:25 he said not to “worry” about what you will eat or what you will drink or wear. He also said in vs 32 that your “heavenly father knows that you need them”. If 2008 is to be your best year yet (not your best ever) then make one resolution and keep it. I spent 16 years on Wall Street trying to make enough money so I could take care of all those “things” that I thought would “complete me” (yes, I’ve seen “Jerry Maguire” a few times). Well after all those years of trading money back and forth I found that I would never be able to chase all those “things” down. Having a wife and 6 kids also had something to do with it. I have four girls and let me tell you something, I think they are all born with a “shopping gene”. On July 23,2000 I told God I was tired of chasing the things and I was ready to seek him with all my heart. He answered by saying I would have to preach the Gospel weekly by starting a church in North Brunswick. I had just lost my job and was in debt over $250,000.00 and my family was more interested in me starting a job then starting a church. Of course I listened to God and started the church a month later. And within 6 months (after much prayer!) I found a job on wall street again. This time though there was no quick fix for me financially (or so I thought). I sought God with all my heart and performed my job to the best of my ability. As time went on I focused less and less on the “things” and more and more on Him. Now my wife and I pastor a thriving church and all the things that I used to chase are chasing after me. I have retired from wall street and I am debt free, God is still in the miracle business! Please don’t get me wrong, life isn’t always easy, but it is much better with God! He knows exactly what you need and as you seek him first he will add whatever that is unto you.

So, lets make this our 2008 New Year’s resolution, that we will seek God first in our lives: we will pray more (”pray without ceasing”), we will read our bibles regularly (”give us this day our daily bread (whole wheat with flax seed, of course!”) and we will attend our church regularly (”do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together, as some are in the habit of doing”).

May 2008 be your most healthy, blessed and prosperous New Year yet, as you seek God first.

God Bless