Thursday, April 9, 2020

Preparation For Easter Sunday - Pastor Sam Lacanienta, April 9, 2020

THIS VIDEO I AM SHARING HAS A DUAL PURPOSE:   First, today, April 9, 2020, is Pastor Sam Lacanienta's 84th birthday, and second, in his message today he is preparing us to celebrate Resurrection Day, the day that Jesus Christ rose from the grave and opened heaven to all believers - for Old Testament saints, for New Testament saints, His bride, and for the future Tribulation saints who will die during the seven year Tribulation for being followers of Jesus Christ.

In the beginning of our video, Pastor Sam explains the name of Jesus Christ, Jehovah-Jesus, the Lord Saves.  And several times in the video we hear a rooster crowing, reminding us that this message is coming from the Philippines.  But for me it like a clarion call, a wake-up call, telling is to wake up, be alert, for one day soon, and we cannot know when, He will come back to gather His Bride, the church, into heaven to be with Him.

His message today also brings moments of deja vu for me.  He speaks of honoring the name of God, not taking His name in vain, and he tells the story of a mechanic who, when he hurt his hand, exclaimed, "Jesus Christ!"  And with that opportunity Pastor Sam asked if he knew Jesus Christ - and that afternoon he led the man to Christ, just like he did me in 1987.


In a late 1980s Sunday School Class at our Fil-Am Church of Irvine, Pastor Sam taught on misusing the name of God.  Until then I was not aware of the many ways we had been taking God's name in vain.  That Sunday, about 30 years ago, Pastor Sam used our Sunday School Class to explain to us how common it is for folks to take His precious name in vain.  I knew that using OMG was wrong, for it is short for "Oh, my God!" to add emphasis to a statement.  But other ways to take His name in vain surprised me.  For instance, I had often heard, and probably been guilty of doing it myself, using words like "Geez" - which is just a shortened form of Jesus ~ or using "Gosh!" which is just a disguised form of God, i.e., "Oh, my gosh!" - as exclamation points.

But since that Sunday circa 1989, I have been very aware of the different forms of taking God's name in vain.  And, it sincerely does bother me to hear others do it so blatantly, even when it is not done purposely to offend another.  When I hear someone declaring, "OMG!" or "Oh, my God!" - I will suggest they finish their prayer - for the only reason to begin a statement with "Oh, my God!" is when you are beginning a prayer to God.

I realize that many folks may not be aware that what they are saying is offensive to most Christians.  So as a Christian Friend, I will point it out to that person and let him/her know that I find it offensive.  If that person then continues to do it, I realize he/she is intentionally trying to offend me.  And that is why I have been writing and posting blogs about taking His name in vain for many years.

I don't recall ever hearing Pastor Sam raise his voice - in conversation, in Bible studies, or in his sermons.  Even his sermons were more like conversations, much like we see with Pastor Charles Stanley on television.   And that reminds me to another Pastor Sam incident which always brings a smile to my face.

As I said, Pastor Sam never raised his voice, but I did see him get angry.  One evening he came to Bible study and you could tell he was bothered and irritated.  What caused his irritation?  That afternoon he had been driving on the freeway and saw a car with a "Honk If You Love Jesus" bumper sticker.  So, Pastor Sam, who always has a big smile on his face and Godly love in his heart - honked as he drove past the car and gave the driver a big Pastor Sam smile.  The driver of the other car responded with a "one finger salute" to Pastor Sam's overt friendliness.

Our Bible study that evening centered around car bumper stickers.  Pastor Sam told us, "If you are selling or trading in a car which has a Christian bumper sticker or any other Christian sticker on it - REMOVE IT before surrendering the car."   He was deadly serious. 

And I can relate to that.  One afternoon in Corona I was stopped at a red light and in the car in front of me was a young lady.   I smiled because she had a Christian fish on her car.  At the same time a pick-up truck was sitting beside me blaring the most vulgar rap music I had ever heard - and my immediate thought was, "Praise God he is not sitting beside that young Christian lady with that filthy music blaring."

When the light changed, the vulgar rap music truck pulled ahead of me and, to my shock, on the rear of the truck was a Christian fish.  Only two things could explain that:  (1) either he bought the truck and the previous Christian owner had not removed the sticker as Pastor Sam had admonished us - or (2) he had borrowed the truck from a friend who was a Christian, and that Christian friend had no idea of the pollution that was blasting from his truck.  Either way, I remembered Pastor Sam's lesson on removing Christian stickers from cars you are selling or trading.

So I pray that you will enjoy Pastor Sam's short video preparing us for this coming Easter (Resurrection Day) Sunday - and that you will say a prayer that God keeps him healthy and extends his Christian ministry for many, many more years.


Jehovah-Jesus - by Pastor Samuel D. Lacanienta

https://youtu.be/WwjdXUgqNnU

This video message by Pastor Sam Lacanienta and the photo below by his and my long time Christian brother, Pastor Joe de la Peña, gives us assurance that, in spite of the current CoronaVirus Crisis - God will bring us through it, for He is in control.

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day and a Glorious Easter Sunday,

Bill 
Click on the image to enlarge: 

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