OUR FOUR PASTORS AND FOUR CHURCHES VIDEO SERIES CONTINUES ~ “Christian
Evangelism is just one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.”
So said Daniel Thambyrajah Niles (1908 – 1970), a Ceylonese (Sri Lankan)
pastor, evangelist, and president of the Ceylon Methodist Conference.
Nothing could be more true. And that is why I continue to share our Four
Pastors' messages, for they continue to point those needing spiritual bread
toward the Bread of Life, Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ tells all believers (we saved beggars) 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). We all
know some who have not yet found the source of our Bread of Life.
Possibly it will help if your share these short videos with them. Let us
look beyond "the choir" and strive to bring His message of
salvation to those needing His Bread of Life.
America is currently in a very critical time, waiting for the final outcome of
the elections, wondering if our homeland, our fellow Americans, will have Godly
leaders whose leadership will be more spiritual - or will we have more secular
leaders who will work to make the ways of the world our new norm. We must
trust in God to give us a right and moral outcome of the political fracas which
is being played out in the following weeks.
That said, this week I would like to personally recommend you watch Pastor Sam
Lacanienta's short video message first. Why? Well, as I have often
told you, the main goal of the Evangelistic Messages in these videos is to
reach out to our unsaved FRANs (Friends, Relatives, Associates,
Neighbors). From personal experience I know that a non-believer will be
more likely to listen to a message which is coming from a loving heart, than
from an intellectual sermon.
I know, because for most of my life, until
my 50th year, I lived in a secular "if it feels good, do it!"
world. In those days, if you had given me a Christian tract, to be nice I
would have accepted it - and then thrown it into the nearest trash can as I
walked away. That was before Pastor Sam showed me where to find the Bread
of Life. Today I not only keep those tracts, and if I see one that has
been thrown away, I will pick it up.
Watch his video and you will see the Godly love in the face of Pastor Sam which
caused me to stop and think, and then to visit the Fil-Am Church of Irvine (CA)
where he was the pastor. The love you see in his face, is the same love I
experienced on that fateful Saturday evening in 1987 when he and I first met at
the home of Lolita Mueller.
The next day Dory and I went to hear him
speak. Intrigued by the love I experienced from him and all the church
members, the next Friday we went to their Bible study at the home of Ed &
Ligaya Nibut. Six months later I surrendered my heart and my life to
Jesus Christ. This would never have happened if I had not first seen the
love of God in Pastor Sam's face on that fateful Saturday evening. And it
most likely would not have happened if my first experience with him had been a
one hour sermon.
Pastor Sam Lacanienta continues his series on the names and attributes of God,
short messages with so much content, definitely meat and not milk messages
(Hebrews 5:11-14, 1 Corinthians 3:1-4).
I will preface Pastor Freddy's message this week by reaffirming a position
which has carried me through the 33 years of my Christian walk. I have
many pastor Friends, and Pastor Freddy is right there on top of my list of
pastor Friends. But I do not know a single pastor, teacher, theologian,
or Bible scholar with whom I agree 100% of the time. The apostle Paul
admonishes us, all believers, to be Acts 17:11 Berean believers - always
testing the teacher and the teaching against Scripture.
When I consider the calling of pastors, I must say I hold them in great respect
- for being a pastor is not an easy calling, not an easy task. I highly
honor and respect pastors. But I will not hesitate to challenge and
question them when I feel that what they are saying is not the right
interpretation of Scripture.
Pastors study Scripture and based upon their Biblical knowledge, training, and
interpretation - they will teach from Scripture. But, being human, they
can be wrong - and they should never be offended if we question their
teaching. As a matter of fact, Bible-based pastors should, and will, be
offended if we always sit and listen without ever questioning. To always
accept without questioning is indoctrination, not learning. And the goal
of every Christian should be to learn and grow more mature in our knowledge of
God's Word. That is the Sanctification part of our Christian faith.
In Pastor Freddy's message this week, he suggests, or seems to imply, that
Christians should not be involved in the political process. With that I
humbly disagree. A government where there is no Christian influence -
quickly becomes a secular, worldly government - imposing the world's values
upon all the people. A strong and fair government MUST have some
leavening of the Christian faith.
He also implies that a church should be 100% governed and all decisions made
only by the pastor and pastor chosen elders/deacons - with no inputs from the
congregation. Once again I disagree. I understand where he is
coming from - for he and I both were in a church where the annual nominating
and selection of elders/deacons caused a problem some years ago. That was
a situation where the pastor was honor and spiritually bound to make the
decision which led to the division.
That was not a fault of the system of church governance, but of a pastor honor
bound to protect personal knowledge which came from pastoral counseling.
Human government is not perfect, for we humans are far from perfect.
I agree with Pastor Freddy that God's Word does admonishes us to respect and
support the people He has allowed to be put in positions of leadership - but
God's Word does not tell us that we should not be involved in the election of
those leaders. Nor that we should meekly close our eyes to secular,
worldly practices those leaders will impose upon us and our families. Yes
we should honor those whom God has allowed, or has placed, in leadership
positions - but that should not stop us from shining the Light of God into
those dark halls of secular government.
I would not want to live in a country with a 100% secular and worldly
controlled government. America was not founded upon that principal - and
America should not be governed by that principal without an infusion of
Christian influence.
So, just to clarify: Pastor Freddy is one of my dearest Friends, a Friend
I have long loved, admired, respected, and under whose tutelage I have
learned. I hold him in the highest regard as a Pastor, as a Teacher of
God's Word, and as a Friend. But on the issue of Christians not being
involved in government - if that is what he meant, I respectfully
disagree. And I highly recommend his teaching in these videos.
Pastor Sergio's message today speaks of the Holy Spirit in the life of
believers (1 Corinthians 3;16-23, 6:19-20, John 14) - how we should handle
situations such as the pandemic, the election, and the outcome of those
problems. While our church videos still have a volume problem, I pray
that Pastor Serge's message speaks to your heart today.
And once again I want to emphasize that while I do not believe God caused the
CoronaVirus, I am convinced that He is using it to cause His churches to move
away from "preaching to the choir" in our local fellowships -
and to start using the power of the internet and social media to take His
Gospel of Salvation to the far corners of the earth. Many churches and
pastors who had never learned to use social media before to share the Gospel,
are now very effectively using it to share His Word.
Matthew 24:14, "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."
Each week I will share the YouTube
Playlist for each of the four pastors/churches so that you do not miss any of
their teaching. And each week I will keep adding their latest message
videos on top of the playlist 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 once 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 (message 15 - 20
minutes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kIP22hEQQA&list=PL_YT3RttutrjP4_ws1dHh8bO_CvVYWkPi
PASTOR ED DACIO - Corona International Christian Fellowship, Corona,
CA (messages 20 - 30 minutes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Wss7Qg4nSc&list=PL_YT3Rttutri2x3a9teQBvznVAO4IjUEt
PASTOR FREDDY CORTEZ - Church of Hope, Aliso Viejo, CA
(messages 30 - 60 minutes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9kHyf6w2No&list=PL_YT3RttutrjNG8vXg20iPm0FNhfwZImX
PASTOR SERGIO NOLASCO - International Bible Baptist Church, Riverside,
CA (messages 50 - 90 minutes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iwzd7rwGnlM&list=PL_YT3RttutrjJ0P_7W-3MKVGI9Rbwnekp
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
Click on the image to enlarge:
