The Four Pastors On Facebook!

THIS IS JUST A HEADS UP on what I am doing to stay busy during the CoronaVirus Lockdown.  We are all familiar with the Four Tenors.   If not, then Google "Il Divo - Amazing Grace (Live)" and you are in for a treat.  With that, let me introduce "The Four Pastors" - four of my favorites spiritual leaders and teachers.  They may or may not sing for you - but they will definitely share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with you.

Let me tell you about The Four Pastors.  They are four men of God whom I personally know.  I have chosen them because they are Conservative Theology pastors whom I have known for years - and in whose Worship Services, Sunday School Classes, and Bible Studies I have participated over the years. 

My goal now is to share their online messages of hope, assurance, and peace found only in God's Word with you on Facebook.  All four are Dispensational, i.e., they believe in and teach a PreTribulation Rapture of the Church and a PreMillennial Second Coming of Jesus Christ to establish His Millennial Kingdom on earth.

All four believe in and teach "Salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, alone" and Eternal Security of all believers.

What I am sharing is a YouTube Playlist for each of the Four Pastors on Facebook, and I will add their latest message videos on top of the stacks each week.  That way you can view their latest videos, and you can also scan the playlists to find other videos which may address issues you want to study. 

I pray these video messages will help you during this time of isolation and trial, and even after we are back to having open church services again - with assurances that with God's help we will all get through the valleys and come out stronger on the other side. 

PASTOR SAM LACANIENTA - Talakag Church on the Solid Rock, Philippines
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaeVWZDpTcY&list=PL_YT3RttutrjP4_ws1dHh8bO_CvVYWkPi 

PASTOR FREDDY CORTEZ - Church of Hope, Aliso Viejo, CA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNE4XL5Fg9I&list=PL_YT3RttutrjNG8vXg20iPm0FNhfwZImX 

PASTOR SERGIO NOLASCO - International Bible Baptist Church, Riverside, CA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K71jE88Msdk&list=PL_YT3RttutrjJ0P_7W-3MKVGI9Rbwnekp

PASTOR ED DACIO - Corona International Christian Fellowship, Corona, CA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=El91fwx9WmA&list=PL_YT3Rttutri2x3a9teQBvznVAO4IjUEt

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill 

Click on the image to enlarge:

 

Latest Breaking News From California! ~ Churches Open Or Closed?

Latest Breaking News From California! ~ Churches Open Or Closed?   This seems to be the latest update on the tug-a-war between Nancy Pelosi's nephew by marriage, Gavin Newsom, and President Donald Trump - with some interference from the infamous left-leaning 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.  My personal opinion (which with $2 will get me a cup of coffee in California, if we ever open our businesses) - is that we need to weigh all aspects in this time of uncertainty.

We know there is a LOT of politics involved in our current crisis.  But I personally believe that God's hand is also moving across America and around the world.  In Scripture He tells us to:  "Go, Make disciples, Baptize them, TEACH them.  .  . Be His witnesses in all the world"  (Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 1:8, Mark 16:15).

In past years when we read that from Scripture, we often asked, "How can we possibly effectively share the Gospel in all the world?"  Well, my Friends, we now have the technology to do that - using current social media technology we can send powerful short Gospel messages around the world via the internet.  During this period of isolation and lock down, I have been sending out YouTube videos from four pastors whom I personally know.  Those videos range from 15 minutes to almost 2 hours.   Since it is my conviction that God's Plan for this current situation is for the non-believers and unchurched of the world to hear the Gospel - which do you believe will be most effective in reaching those two groups?

I have noticed as I watch many ministries and pastors posting videos on the internet - many tend to want to "do business as usual."  What do I mean by that?  Glad you asked.  In the past, when we have met in our local churches for worship and fellowship, our services may go on for hours - because we love to worship the Lord, we love to sing and praise Him, and we love to enjoy fellowship with our Christian brethren.  But I am personally convinced that shorter, more to the point, videos sharing the Gospel are more effective in reaching the unchurched and non-believers of the world, and it is my belief that those are who the Great Commission would have us reach during this unusual period of isolation.

I am reminded of a trip I took to Seattle years ago.  My company had a new computer product I wanted to introduce to my contacts at Boeing.  So I scheduled meetings with key individuals in different Boeing facilities, with the last one being across from SeaTac Airport.  I was on a tight schedule and gave myself an hour to present our new product to each individual or group.  Everything went smoothly until my last appointment.  When I met with this individual, he was so excited about his new project that he had to tell me all about it - and he went on and on for 45 minutes telling me all the details.  That left me only 15 minutes to tell him all the wonderful features of my new product. 

I used that 15 minutes to give the best summary I could, then dashed across to the airport for my flight home.  A couple of weeks later, another friend at Boeing told me, "John Smith (obviously not his real name) is so excited about your new product.  He told me you gave the best product presentation he has ever been given."  Go figure, I was limited to 15 minutes - so I covered the important points and won him as a convert.  Could I have done that with a one or two hour presentation?  I will leave that for your consideration.

While I agree with my Christian brethren across America that we must lean, first, on God and not man.  However, let us not be like Christian Science believers who do not "believe" in doctors - and will allow loved ones to die or be seriously harmed - feeling it is showing lack of faith to call in the medical doctor.   Nor should we be like the Jehovah's Witnesses who teach a doctrine that refuses blood transfusions, claiming that life is a gift from God - we must not try to sustain life by taking in blood, even in an emergency.

Yes, God gives us life.  But God also gives us the gift of common sense and His blessings on the medical community.  Just as God most often uses we believers as His feet on the street to share the Gospel with non-believers - He also uses those in the medical fields to accomplish His healings.

And I personally believe this period we are going through may well be God's plan for us to "Be His witnesses in all the world" - instead of just "preaching to the choir" in our local congregations and fellowships.  In other words, God has given us the opportunity, the means (social media/internet), and the knowledge to take His Gospel to all the world.  If we start clustering again in our own little church families and stop utilizing social media for sharing - will we accomplish His plan?

That said, this is the latest news from the governor of California on houses of worship resuming on-site services:

NEWSOM: CALIFORNIA PLACES OF WORSHIP CAN REOPEN WITH LIMITED CAPACITY
The Mercury News | Bay Area News Group
By Maggie Angst | May 25, 2020 At 1:17 P.M.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/05/25/newsom-california-places-of-worship-can-reopen-with-limited-capacity/

The governor’s new guidelines will depend on approval from county public health officials.  Amid mounting pressure from protestors and President Donald Trump, Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled plans on Monday for reopening California churches and allowing in-person religious services.  But religious leaders in the Bay Area will have to wait.  Under the governor’s new guidelines, places of worship could reopen, pending approval from their county public health officials, on the condition that they limit attendance to 25% of the building capacity or a maximum of 100 attendees — whichever is lower.

After three weeks under these restrictions, the California Department of Public Health will work with county public health officials to assess the impact of in-person religious services, such as whether the number of deaths and hospitalizations of COVID-19 patients rose during that time, and provide further direction moving forward.

But even as the governor (is) granting some leeway for religious institutions, Bay Area officials — who were the first in the nation to issue shelter-in-place orders — don’t appear to have plans to fall in line with the new state guidance just yet.  Under the region’s current shelter-in-place order, public and private gatherings of any number of people outside a single household, including for worship services, are prohibited.  A spokesperson for the Contra Costa County Public Health Department said in an email Monday that the county will “continue to abide by the terms of its own shelter-in-place order, currently set to expire June 1.”

The new state guidance comes just three days after the president declared that he was designating places of worship as “essential” businesses, and those that were ordered closed because of the pandemic should be allowed to reopen immediately.  On Friday, Trump said he would “override the governors” across the country who resist reopening religious institutions.  “America, we need more prayer, not less,” he said.

When asked about Trump’s comments on Friday, Newsom said he had been talking with faith leaders statewide over the previous week to find the best approach to resuming religious services as quickly as possible, while still protecting the public health.   “It’s so important that folks understand we deeply understand, admire, the faith devotion,” Newsom said, adding later, “We look forward to churches reopening in a safe and responsible manner.”

Churches and places of worship across the state have been prohibited from holding in-person services since the governor’s CoronaVirus shelter-in-place order was issued more than two months ago.  Despite multiple challenges to Newsom’s ban on in-person church services up until this point, the state’s 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld his order last week in a split ruling.  The justices ruled 2-1 that South Bay United Pentecostal Church in San Diego cannot reopen immediately.

“We’re dealing here with a highly contagious and often fatal disease for which there presently is no known cure."  In the words of Justice Robert Jackson, "If a court does not temper its doctrinaire logic with a little practical wisdom, it will convert the constitutional Bill of Rights into a suicide pact" -  the two majority justices wrote in the court decision.

Although the new California guidelines will give places of worship the opportunity to resume in-person activities, it is still “strongly recommended” that places of worship continue to offer remote services and other related activities for those who are vulnerable to COVID-19, the governor’s new guidance states.

Leaders at a handful of Bay Area churches, including Pastor Mike McClure of San Jose’s Calvary Chapel and Bishop Bob Jackson of Oakland’s Acts Full Gospel Church, have already vowed to reopen their churches — with or without approval from the state or local public health officials.  But others are sticking to their remote offerings for the foreseeable future, seeing the potential of exposing their congregants to the fatal COVID-19 disease as a toll too costly.

Churches and religious gatherings have been the source of many major outbreaks across the country, including a church service in rural Arkansas where more than a third of the attendees came down with COVID-19 and a Russian language church near Sacramento where at least 70 congregants tested positive for the virus, according to the county’s public health director.

Amos Brown, the pastor at the Third Baptist Church in San Francisco and president of the city’s NAACP branch, said he will not be rushing back into a church house anytime soon.  Instead, Amos is calling for more testing in the region’s African American communities and more internet access and programming for their youth.   “The African American clergy have consistently been independent, critical thinkers and they’re not about to be called out in the political ploy where certain forces — mainly the right-wing evangelicals — are pimping the piety of people,” Amos said. “Putting people into life-threatening situations is not the way of Jesus.”

Places of worship are encouraged to modify certain practices that could increase the spread of COVID-19, such as hand-holding, using a common cup, and hugging or kissing.  They are also being asked to consider holding services outside whenever possible, shortening services to limit the length of time congregants spend at facilities and close places of worship for visitation outside of scheduled services.

Like businesses, places of worship will be required to implement a social distancing plan, including thoroughly sanitizing their facilities, conducting health screenings on their employees, and ensuring that congregants remain six feet apart from one another during services.

To read the governor’s full set of guidelines for places of worship click here:   https://covid19.ca.gov/pdf/guidance-places-of-worship.pdf

Let us have two goals in mind now.  One, to be able to resume our worship services as before, and, two, to not forsake this new gift He has given us for taking His  Gospel to "all the world" via social media, streaming, and YouTube videos.

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill 

Click on the image to enlarge:

Which Path Are You On Today?

WHICH PATH ARE YOU ON TODAY?  ~  This is a good Christian tract showing our walk from being a non-believer, i.e., spiritually dead, the Natural Man (1 Corinthians 2:14) - to being a saved and eternally secure believer in Jesus Christ and all He has done to offer eternal victory for all who will believe and receive Him as Lord and Savior.

My Christian sister, co-worshiper, and dear Friend, Heather Fernandez, shared this tract with me today on Facebook Messenger - and immediately I knew that I have to share it with all my FRANs (Friends, Relatives, Associates, Neighbors) - so that you may also share it with all your FRANs.

In the left panel of the tract, you can see us as we were born, burdened with the Adamic Sin Nature, spiritually dead, i.e., the Natural Man.  And as we begin our walk in life we find that we will come to a fork in the road of life.  One way, the broad way, the world's way, leads to eternal destruction.  The other path, the narrow way, will lead us into eternal life in the presence of God.

Matthew 7:13-14, "Enter by the narrow gate (path); for wide is the gate (path) and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in (into eternal destruction, the lake of fire) by it.  Because narrow is the gate (path) and difficult is the way which leads to (eternal) life, and there are few who find it."

As you can see from the tract below, just as the Bible teaches us - the Broad Road leads into the eternal lake of fire.

And, as the Bible teaches us, the Narrow Road leads us to Victory in Christ.

There is only one place where I will disagree with this tract.  It defines the Carnal Walk as the "Defeated Christian" and I am firmly convinced that no Christian is Defeated!  Maybe impaired, confused, backslidden, discouraged - but never Defeated.  Not when you have God the Holy Spirit living within you.

When we have the Holy Spirit residing within us, when we have Jesus Christ in our hearts - we cannot be defeated.  We can walk with a limp, we can get distracted by every little side path we pass, we can even seem to turn around and walk the wrong way for a while, i.e., backsliding.  But once you have the Holy Spirit within you - you cannot be defeated, you cannot be lost to Christ, you are a Born-Again, Regenerated, Eternally Saved Christian believer. 

And no one, on earth or in heaven, can snatch you out of God's Hands (John 10:27-29).  And, NO, as some confused folks may tell you, once you are a true believer - you CANNOT snatch yourself out of His hands and you CANNOT walk out of His hands.   Once you are adopted into His family, you are in His family for eternity.

"But, Bill, doesn't that mean that after I become a believer - I can sin all I want and still be saved?"  Simple answer:  NO! 

If you will look at the paragraph just above, you will find the descriptive word "REGENERATED."  That means that the moment you believed and received Christ into your heart, life, and soul - your old self, that despicable Natural Man who reveled in worldly degradation, died, capoot, no more!  In his place God created the new, REGENERATED, man/woman that you are today.

"Then, Bill, does that mean that I will never be tempted to sin again now that I am a believer?"  NO! NO! NO! 

Most likely you will be tempted to sin even more now, than you were before you became a Born-Again, Regenerated, Eternally Saved Christian believer.  Why more temptation now?  When you were betrothed to Satan, he had to tempt you very little - for the secular world would provide all the temptation needed to keep you swimming in the secular cesspool. 

But now that you have turned you back on Satan and his secular world - he has to fight harder now to create temptation for you.  From the moment you became an indwelled saved believer - Satan has personally assigned a full team of his demonic angels to be your personal case workers.  My friend, from the moment you were saved, the battle is on - and you will encounter many, many landmines as you walk the Christian path.

So in this amazingly good Christian tract, every place you see the phrase "Defeated Christian" - just replace it with "Impaired, But Saved, Christian."  Fewer rewards in heaven maybe, but the greatest reward is being in heaven and eternally being in the presence of God.  NO ONE can take that reward from you.  Now you need to share this tract with ALL your FRANs. 

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill 

Click on the image to enlarge:

 

The Gospel Must Be Preached To All The Nations!

ARE WE IN A NEW NORM FOR SHARING THE GOSPEL NOW?  ~  The past several weeks I have been taking the online videos from my home church, International Bible Baptist Church of Riverside (IBBC-Riverside), and from several other pastor Friends (Pastor Sam Lacanienta, Talakag Church on the Solid Rock, Philippines - Pastor Freddy Cortez, Church of Hope, Aliso Viejo, California - Pastor Ed Dacio, Corona International Christian Fellowship, CICF, Corona, California) and creating playlists of their online services. 

By sharing a playlist for each, you can view only the most recent video, or you can browse to watch others which address issues of interest to you.

During this very unusual time, one thing which stands out to me is that we cannot keep doing church in our accustomed way which has worked for years.  Back in the good old days, you know, like two months ago - we had our regular Sunday Worship Services, our Bible Studies, and our Sunday School Classes.  If our Sunday Worship Service went longer on some days, not a problem. 

After all, we came to church to fellowship with our brethren and to worship our Lord together.  During those times we could worship Him in Music, in Prayer, in Fellowship, in our Offering, and in our Teaching Sermon Message - a day well spent.  And in doing that, we were blessed and edified by our local fellowship which may be only 20-30 believers, or it may be 50, 100, or several hundred worshipers.

Now, food for thought:  Is this new "norm" God's way of accelerating the sharing of His Gospel to all the nations?  In the two Scripture passages referenced here, we see one key theme:  "The Gospel must be preached to all the nations, in all the world!"

Mark 13:6-19, verse 10 "And the Gospel must first be preached to all the nations."

Matthew 24:5-21, verse 14, "And this Gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come."

In past years, have we been preaching the Gospel to all the world, or were we preaching it only to our local fellowship?  To quote an old maxim:  "Are we preaching to the choir?"

"But wait, Bill, aren't those passages in Mark and Matthew speaking of the Tribulation when the church, all Christian believers, will have already been Raptured into heaven?"

Yes, that is true.  But should we leave all non-believers to only hear the Gospel and believe - after we leave in the Rapture?  Shouldn't we do all we can to bring those non-believers into God's family before the Rapture, so they can be Raptured with us?  How can we take more of those folks with us in the Rapture?  Glad you asked.  We share the Gospel to all the nations, in all the world - today.   I believe God is giving us that opportunity today - by effectively allowing us to be forced, through our isolation, into sharing the Gospel online, to all the world - sharing His Gospel message.

This train of thought was inspired by two things:  First, I have been sharing playlists from those four different pastors/churches because I know they are good teachings.  But what can we do to make those online messages even more effective, as taught in 2 Timothy 3:17, "That the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work"?   How can we make our messages more effective in reaching those non-believers?

Having spent a large part of my adult working life selling computers to companies of all sizes, ranging from small 5 or 10 employee companies all the way to large international corporations - doing one-on-one presentations, group presentations, and seminars - I know that we have only a limited window of time to reach that person, the decision maker(s), when given the opportunity.  In other words, we may have only one arrow in our "time quiver" with which to hit the bullseye - and we must make sure that Gospel arrow is true, on target, and sized to hit the right target, those non-believers.

In sharing the Gospel, we are dealing with a very important decision, an eternal decision - one that will affect that person's eternal destiny.  We cannot afford to not hit the bullseye.  Marketing knowledge and personal experience have shown me that we can hold a person's or a group's full attention for only a limited time, that is our bullseye - the amount of time that person will listen.  Particularly in a video or audio message, there will be so many others vying for their time - so we must tune our message to find the bullseye - for we may not get a second chance.  And that person we lost may not get a second chance either.

In an online message, what is the most effective length of time before the viewer gets a little impatient, clicks Pause, and moves on to other interests?  Typically that time will be between 15 and 30 minutes.  The messages in the four playlists I have been sharing vary in length from 15-20 minutes, up to 1 1/2 hour.  Which do you think will keep that person's attention, have a better chance of hitting the bullseye, and make him/her want more to hear more?

Keep in mind that in this new "norm" we are not just reaching out to our local fellowship, those who are accustomed to spending a large part of their Sunday with us.  Now God has us reaching out to many more than our local fellowship.  He has us reaching, not the 30, 50, 200 in our local fellowships - but literally to hundreds, thousands, maybe many thousands around the world via social media sharing. 

It reminds me of when I went from sharing my blogs to only those in my Friends Ministry eNewsletter mail list and on the TimesDaily Religion Forum - to sharing as a guest columnist on The Conservative Voice.  Suddenly instead of writing to reach a few hundred - I was on a platform with a worldwide readership of about 250,000.   The difference was almost frightening, but I saw it as a God-given opportunity.  And that is what we have today, during this panic period - a Golden Opportunity.  Let's do it right!

In this new "norm" we are reaching out to many who are not believers - not just to our local fellowship who will tolerate a one hour message - but to non-believers, new seekers, etc., who will pay attention for 15 minutes, 30 minutes - but I can almost assure you that virtually all of them will hit Pause and run when the message and service drags on to an hour
or 1 1/2 hours.

We must tailor our New Norm Online Messages to reach all those folks we want joining us as believers BEFORE the Rapture.  So, let's lay aside our magnificent one hour expository sermons, rituals, and catchy presentations - and get down to the 30 minute or less of Nitty-Gritty Gospel.

And since English is the most common language spoken around the world - lay aside your native tongue and speak English - unless you only want to share the Gospel with people who speak your native language instead of "all the world."  Just a thought.

My second train of thought moment was inspired by this article from my Alabama hometown newspaper, the TimesDaily of Florence, Alabama.  This article which falls into the same line of thought I have been discussing - shorter, more effective messages - was the spark which inspired me to start writing this blog:

MINISTERS OFFERING SHORT MESSAGES OF HOPE
TimesDaily News - May 5, 2020
By Lisa Singleton-Rickman, Staff Writer

If there's one thing that seems to be in short supply in the minds of many these days, it's hope.  To help combat that discouragement, ministers of the area's Churches of Christ have started "31 Days of Encouragement" - short, 10-minute daily devotionals available via Facebook under the title "31 Days of Encouragement from the Word of God."  The short devotionals feature a different minister daily through June 4, each bringing an inspirational and Bible-based message.

"The Bible offers all sorts of comfort, and we want people to open up their Bibles and follow along and be encouraged," Woodlawn Church of Christ Pastor Matt Heupel said.

Ben Hayes, pastor of Highland Park Church of Christ in Muscle Shoals, spent part of his morning on Monday recording at Woodlawn.  His devotional was based on Colossians 1, the writings of the Apostle Paul.  "Paul did a lot of his writing in the jail cell, and he constantly prayed for the people's encouragement and for them to grow in their faith," Hayes said. "There is a sense of confinement among us now, but there's hope because of Christ.  We're encouraging people to hold on to that."

"Sharing messages in the name of encouragement gives people something to look forward to," Pastor Miles Stutts of Atlas Church of Christ said.  "Encouragement is the key to caring.  When there's peace within, it makes all the other things manageable.  Each of these messages is designed to provide a source of hope for today and a blessing for tomorrow."

So, are YOU and your church family ready to take on the "New Norm" God has given us, trim your online program to more effective half hour messages - and let's take the Gospel to all nations, to all the world?

Take a moment and reflect on the Great Commission which Jesus Christ left for all believers, "GO, Make Disciples, TEACH them.  .  .  . Be My witnesses in all the world"  (Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 1:8, Mark 16:15).

Yes, I know, I left out Baptize them.  Why?  Glad you asked. 

First, we have to GO into all the world (we are doing that online now).  Then we have to Make Disciples (a disciple is one who is learning from us, i.e., a student).  We do that most effectively by keeping their attention with a short, Gospel-based teaching.  Next, once we have a committed Disciple, we may get involved in a more personal way, maybe one-on-one discipling in person, maybe one-on-one via private communications, or as I have chosen as a beginning - sharing good teaching videos via YouTube. 

When we have a person who is ready to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, a person who, when things finally get back to normal - or as normal as they ever will be again - we want to see that person involved in a good Christ-centered, Bible-teaching church fellowship.  We want to help point that person to a local church, hopefully ours if he/she is local - or a good Christ-centered, Bible-teaching church in his/her area. 

That is when the new believer is to be Baptized, in fellowship with his/her new Christian Family, their local church fellowship.  That is just my thought, that since Following Christ in Baptism is such a personal event, it should be shared with those closest to you - your immediate family and our local spiritual family.

So, my Friends, how is YOUR "new norm" shaping up?  Have you given thought to trimming it to 30 minutes of less?  Think about it.  For our task now is not just reaching our local fellowship, not just preaching to the choir.  Our task now is reach all the world, or at least a bigger chunk of it, through the Great Commission in our new online world.

Final thought:  During this period we are locked in isolation, I will continue to add to the Playlist Stacks below.  So please periodically check back, via e-mail or on my Facebook profile, to see the latest video messages from these four Conservative Christian Theology senior pastors.

Pastor Sam Lacanienta, Talakag Church on the Solid Rock:  https://youtu.be/TcKm3G9HfNE?list=PL_YT3RttutrjP4_ws1dHh8bO_CvVYWkPi

Pastor Freddy Cortez, Church of Hope:  https://youtu.be/Ah1QwK4FNq0?list=PL_YT3RttutrjNG8vXg20iPm0FNhfwZImX

Pastor Ed Dacio, Corona International Christian Fellowship:  https://youtu.be/G91gZUtkxdo?list=PL_YT3Rttutri2x3a9teQBvznVAO4IjUEt

Pastor Sergio Nolasco, IBBC-Riverside:  https://youtu.be/M5Fx1nqyafg?list=PL_YT3RttutrjJ0P_7W-3MKVGI9Rbwnekp

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill 

Click on the image to enlarge: