I read a sermon by a preacher one time with this title; “Is what you have on display in stock?”  That is a good question for us to consider this week. You see there are many “Christians” who TALK about serving the Lord and living for Him but when you take a close examination of their lives it doesn’t back up their words.  So the conclusion would be that what they have on display is not in stock!

Now I am not trying to say that you are not saved, what I am saying is that if your life is like what I just described then there definitely is a spiritual problem. Now let’s consider some scripture:

Matthew 23:27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.

These words that Matthew records for us are words of grief. He is grieving over the condition of these 3 groups of people.  Now you might say well that just doesn’t apply to me, but wait just a minute. If you are a Christian who’s life fits the description from above then what would you call that? I would say that this is a clear case of being a Hypocrite.  So He is talking to us if we fit the description!

Let’s see what He says. He starts by giving a description of their outward appearance. These sepulchers were painted with a bright white type of paint that made them look beautiful and stand out.  But he says inside were dead men’s bones!  We can say anything we want but the truth is that if there is no life on the inside then it doesn’t matter what the outside looks like.

And let me go one step further and say that if the inside is alive and well then the outside will reflect that! Remember what the Lord said to Samuel when he was going through looking at David’s brothers as a replacement for King Saul:

1 Samuel 16:7 But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.

It’s easy to fool man by the way we look but that doesn’t fool the Lord! Listen to how Peter puts it:

1 Peter 3:3-4 Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; [4] But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

There is nothing wrong with making this body look good, but if we are trying to hide our Spirituality by what we do to this body then it is wrong because the Lord knows the truth!

So let me conclude by asking what you have in stock?

Until next week,

Roger Penny

Philippians 1:6He

Hebrews 12:8:
But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

The word used here for an illegitimate son, is not a word that I use in my vocabulary simply because it is not a word that is highly accepted in the normal everyday conversation of Christians.  However it carries a very pointed meaning!

Now how does this verse correlate to the title of my blog posting today?  I am very confused by what the Ultra Free Grace movement teaches. They say that once you are saved that you can never sin again or do anything wrong.  When examining this verse the word chastisement jumps out at me, this word just means correction or instruction.  Now the first thing that the UFG people would say is that there is really noting to this and that it would just be the Holy Spirit directing you to see that you need to grow in that area.

But I disagree.  Notice Hebrews 12:11:
Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

In this verse the writer of Hebrews tells us that when the Lord chastens us that it is not very pleasant! The word grievous means sorrowful, that doesn’t sound like this is a very pleasant experience!  Now he goes on and gives us the reason for this chastening, he says that it is to help us to see the error of our ways and to change!

Again listen to the writer of the book of Hebrews in 12:5:
And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:

He says that when we are chasten that it shouldn’t make us angry or cause us to quit but it should humbles us to do something about it!  Now there is one more important thing to notice here, when we look at our original verse we see that if the Lord does not chasten you when you sin or do wrong then it could be that you are not one of His children.  Plain and simple you are not saved!

Consider this last verse, Hebrews 12:7:
If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

Notice he says that any earthly Father would chasten his child who did wrong, so if that is the case then why wouldn’t the Lord chasten His children?

One last thought, if I couldn’t sin or do wrong after I am saved, then why would the Lord need to chasten me?  My premise is that UFG people use free grace as an avenue for them to justify living however they want, with no remorse.  And if you question them in any way with scriptures like I have just given you then you are labeled a legalist who is just trying to bring them back under the law!

If you can sin willfully as a Christian and there is no chastening in your life then you are either unsaved, or you are so far backslidden that you have become numb to the things of God!

Till Next Week,
Pastor Roger Penny

My post for this week has to do with these verses in Proverbs 3:5-6:
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.

So the first thing that stands out is the fact that if we want the Lord to direct our lives we must be saved! Of course Solomon knew that to be saved a person must trust in the Lord with all of their hearts, not their minds. To not be saved is a heart issue not a mind issue.  You can know all about the Lord but if you never invite Him into your heart then you are not saved! When we trust only in our knowledge to get us to heaven then Solomon says that we are leaning on our own understanding and there is no way that our own understanding will get us there.

So after the issue of your salvation is taken care of, then comes the question as to how the Lord will help us navigate through this life?  Well Solomon also answers this question in verse 6. He says that if you want the Lords help then we must acknowledge Him in ALL our ways!  That just simply means that we must involve Him in ALL of our lives. If we involve Him in all of our lives then the rest of this verse will come to pass.

Notice the last part of verse 6, He SHALL, it didn’t say He might if He feels like it or He might if we ask just right. It says that He will, if we will!  If we are willing to ask Him to save us and then we are willing to include Him in ALL of our life then He will do the rest of this verse.  He will direct our PATHS!

Isn’t it interesting that He didn’t say that he would direct our PATH, singular!  What He did say was that He would direct our PATHS, plural!  This is not a one time proposal, this is a promise that if you and I will ask the Lord to save us and then we will include Him in all of our lives, then His promise to us is that He would direct all of our paths as long as we continue to do include Him in our lives!

What a promise!

Do you need some direction in your life today?  If you do then these verse gives us the formula as to how we can receive that direction today!

Until next week
Roger Penny
Philippians 1:6

 There are a lot of people who are unstable in our world today. The word unstable just means not fixed or firm, not constant. There are to many people who are not firm about anything that they believe, now why is that?

Our verse for today is found in the book of James, 1:8:
A double minded man is unstable in all his ways

Of course when this verse is discussing a man it means any type of person, and also this verse answers the question that I posed in my title. This verse says that a person who is double minded is unstable.  This verse revolves around our faith. Now many will ask what is faith? And again the Bible gives us the answer:

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hope for, the evidence of things not seen.

Faith is the act where a person believes in something that they cannot see!   So James is saying that anyone who says that they have faith but their actions to not back up their claim then this person is unstable in all that they do.

The writer of the book of Hebrews continues on in chapter 11 and tells us why faith is so important!
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must BELIEVE that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.

So we must have faith and believe that He is who He said that He was!  We must believe that Jesus was the Savior and that He will save all of those who will ask Him to save them.  All of this must be done by faith, we didn’t see Him die, we didn’t see Him rise up from the grave, yet by faith we believe that these things did happen!

These things that I have just mentioned must be established in your heart, if you do not want to be a double minded person who is unstable!  Does that mean that we will never be unstable again? No it means that we will not be unstable regarding our salvation!  We can still become unstable after salvation, but what we will find is those things that cause us to become unstable are things that we have not been willing to deal with.

Things that the Lord has already been dealing with us about and we say no to Him! So to remedy this issue all we have to do is to say Yes and agree with Him and ask Him for forgiveness.

And as soon as we do that then we will find that we are no longer unstable!

So where does this blog posting find you today? Have you asked Him to save you? If you are saved have you said no to Him about any issue He has been dealing with you about?

If either of these things are true then you will be unstable until you take care of them!

Until next week,

Roger Penny

The verse that I would like to examine today is found in the Matthew 22:42: 
Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David.

Jesus is speaking here and He was talking to the Pharisees who would have been the so-called religious people of that day. Just like Jesus posed this question to them I want to pose this same question to you. What do you think of Christ?

There is so much false information out there today about who Jesus was and the life that He lead and how He died and rose again.  I don’t have time to discuss all of these things but I did want to try and get you to stop and consider this question.  What would your answer be? There are many “religious people” who don’t even know the answer. They might say something like this, well Jesus was a good man who lived along time ago, or they might say that Jesus was a prophet who lived a long time ago. You see your answer to this question is very important because it can be the difference between heaven and hell!

Just being a religious person will not necessarily get you into heaven! The first thing that must be established is weather or not you believe in the Bible. If you don’t think that the Bible is true then you will never be able to answer this question correctly! I did not say that you had to understand everything about the Bible, you have to believe that it is the very words of God.  Yes He used different men (40) to write it over a long period of time (1500 years) but it still is his Word and you must come to the place where you except that. Once you do then you can begin to allow the Bible to answer this question for you because as you read it you will see your need and you will ask the Lord to save you. Once He saves you then you will have the right answer to this question!

Listen to Thomas’s answer to this question:

John 20:27-28:
Then saith he to Thomas, reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. [28] And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.

Thomas said that He is MY Lord and MY God! You see the only ones who can say this are those who have made Him THEIR Lord and THEIR God, and you do this by asking Him to save you!

Listen to Peter’s answer to this question:

Matthew 16:16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Peter could make this confession because he had the Lord living in His heart!

Now how about you? Does Christ live in your heart? Or are you just a religious person? If you want to answer this compelling question correctly then you must have Christ living in your heart!

Until next week:

Roger Penny

I come to you today, with absolutely nothing new.  In fact, we, as a society, do not need anything new.  We have everything!  I mean, think about it, we have it all...if any society, any people, or any nation in history ever had "It All" it is us!  Most of the people we know have all kinds of "stuff."  Electronic stuff, housing stuff, car stuff, clothes stuff, food stuff...man we have got the "stuff!"  We do not need anything new!  However, we certainly do need something old...we need an "Old Fashioned Revival" at the House of God...with an old time calling upon our hearts from on High...and some old time surrender of our hearts here below.

We need and old fashioned revival that will bring some old fashioned tears, and some old fashioned broken hearts.  Hearts that are broken because of personal conviction.  Some old fashioned weeping because of concern for lost souls, concern for wayward family, concern for sinful friends. 

We need an old fashioned revival that will draw men and women to thier knees in old fashioned prayer.  One that breaks arrogant, prideful, malicious hearts and causes Christian people to cry out to Almighty God for relief, for forgiveness, for assistance, for deliverence.

We need and old fashioned revival that begins as a spark in an open heart, that becomes a flame in that life, and then spreads like a wildfire through the pews, across the altar, throughout the Church, and into the community...We need what Ezra said Jerusalem needed in Ezra 9: 8 "And now for a little space of grace hath been showed by the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in His holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage."

We need that "...little space of grace..." so that we can receive a "...little reviving..." and experience an old fashioned revival that will stirr our hearts anew for the cause of Christ.

Will you join me in prayer for such a "space of grace?"

Hope to see you soon,

Pastor Jerry
Phil. 3: 10

Matthew 16:26:
For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

These words of Jesus are very thought provoking.  There are many people who are running around trying to just better themselves and that is their only pursuit in life. Not taking one thought about the hereafter.

Let me first say that the Bible nor is God against any person bettering themselves, what it is against is when that becomes our one and only pursuit in life.  Notice the question of our verse that we read.  If it were possible for a person to gain the whole world and not be prepared for what comes after this life then what have they really gained?

The Bible is very plain that when a person dies they will spend ETERNITY in one of two places, Heaven or Hell!  When we talk of heaven there is little debate about what heaven will be like, however when you start talking about hell there is much debate. My description is that hell will be a place of torment and the worst part is that there will be a total separation from God.  So that means that there will be a total separation from any thing that is good!

Hell will be a place where the devil and all his demons will inhabit!  It will not be a place of limbo it will not be a temporary place it will be forever!  You can’t pray your way out or do penitence to get out, your fate will be sealed when you leave this life.  What all is involved in the torment I can not tell you, the Bible does speak of the fire of that place and the guilty mind that will torment those who populate it.

Now some would scoff at this and say well if God were a loving God then He wouldn’t allow anyone to go there.  True, He doesn’t!  If you end up in hell it will be because you sent yourself there!  You see if I am so preoccupied with gaining the whole world then in the end then I will lose my soul!

So let me ask you Would It Be Worth It?  The thing for you and me to do is to take care of our eternal destiny here and now while we can and then it won’t be to late.  To do that then all you need to do is to confess you are a sinner and believe that Jesus died on the cross for you to pay the price for your sins. Then just ask Him to save you!

If you take these steps and ask the Lord to save you then please contact us so that we can help you in your new life with the Lord!

Until next week,

Roger Penny

Our scripture today will come from the book of Matthew:
Matthew 7:1-5 Judge not, that ye be not judged. [2] For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. [3] And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? [4] Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? [5] Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

Today we hear this said a lot, “Don’t judge me” or “You can’t judge me!” however in these verses it does not say that we cannot judge others.  Let’s examine exactly what these verses are really saying!  The first thing is to establish what we can judge, obviously no one but God can judge a persons heart.

What we can judge is what we can see in a person’s life and then we can hold that up against what the Bible says.  And may I say the proper interpretation of the Bible!  So if I see a brother whose actions and words and manner of living are not in line with the Bible then I have an obligation to point out this to that brother.  If I have an opportunity to witness to a person who is not a Christian then I have an obligation to point out to them the sin that is in their lives.

But why should we do this?  The reason is to help the Christian to get their heart right with the Lord and for the lost person to help them to trust Christ as their Savior!  This is not to condemn them however when you point out the wrong in someone’s life many times they will fill condemned!  If your motive is to condemn and not to love and restore then your heart is not right!

First we must consider the consequences. Verse 1&2 say that when you set out to judge someone that we need to understand that we will be judged by the same standard that we are judging them by.

Second we must consider the conditions. Verse 3&4 say that when we notice something in someone’s life the first thing that we must do is get rid of the junk out of our lives first before we judge.

Third we must consider the challenge. Verse 5 says that the challenge is to get your life clean before you begin to talk to anyone else!

Fourth we must consider the cause. Verse 5 says that once I have cleaned up my life then and only then can I help someone else with their lives.

So to wrap this up the Bible does not say that we cannot judge, however the Bible does say that if you are going to judge then there are some requirements that we need to meet.  If you can’t follow these things then we should keep our mouths shut!  The whole purpose for the judging is to help the one who is being judged! 

Let me make this last statement: You will never accomplish the true purpose of judging if you are not filled and controlled by the Holy Spirit!

Until next week;

Bro. Roger 

As we celebrate another Christmas you would think that there would be no need to have the debate as to what we are celebrating.  However every year it is the same old thing, a group of people in our country, I’m not sure how large but it seems to grow every year, wants the holiday without the reason for the holiday.  And the very sad part is the fact that those who know the reason for the season stand by and allow them to have their way.
The retailers tell their workers that they can’t mention Merry Christmas. So what do we do? We follow right along and say nothing or wish them a Happy Holidays.  Just because they can’t say Merry Christmas does not mean that we can’t or shouldn’t.  If these people don’t like songs that mention the reason for the season then don’t go to those places that play them. Or if they are offended because their children are asked to sing one of those songs then don’t allow your child to participate.

This is not about political correctness this is about observing a legitimate holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ.  When was the last time any Christian tried to change Halloween, or anything about it? Even though we don’t agree with what is being celebrated we don’t try to ban costumes or parties or any banners that mention anything about it.

This is all about getting God out of our society, these people don’t want to have to even think about God because that will cause them to reflect upon their own lives and actually think about God.   Romans chapter 1 deals with this issue and what happens to those who don’t want God in their lives in their families and in their country.

Romans 1:21-32:
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. [22] Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, [23] And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
[24] Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: [25] Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. [26] For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: [27] And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. [28] And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; [29] Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, [30] Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, [31] Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: [32] Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

Read what the Holy Spirit directs Paul to write. You will find that God placed in the heart of EVERY person the knowledge of Himself.   What matters is what that person does with that knowledge, Paul says that there will be some who will push God out, of their lives of their families and of their countries.  Then he says that God will say if that is what you want then that is what you will get. And verses 26-32 tell us the result of that line of thinking.

And what we see is a picture of our world and more importantly our nation!  So instead of allowing yourself to fall into the devils trap take a stand for what Christmas is all about. Don’t be ashamed to say Merry Christmas!  Don’t be ashamed to sing or whistle out loud a traditional Christmas song.

And let’s tell everyone what the real reason for the season is all about!

Until next week,
Roger Penny

Our verse to consider today is I John 5:13:
These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

There are way to many Christians walking around to day who are so defeated that the Lord cannot use them. And the reason that they are defeated is because they have no assurance!  Well the verse that we are examining today is a verse that should help us to understand that we can KNOW that we have eternal life.

One of the devil’s favorite games is to cause a Christian to doubt their salvation, because he knows that if he can get you all caught up in that, then you will not be a productive Christian!  Another game that he likes to play is to convince someone that they are saved when they really aren’t. I don’t know if this applies to you but I am sure that you know someone who it does!

Now let me say right up front that none of us can no someone else’s heart, I don’t know if you are saved or not. I only know what the Bible says about salvation.  I can tell you if you are trusting in anything other than what Jesus did for us on the cross to save us then you are not saved.  I can also tell you that if you are trusting in anything along with Jesus to save you then you are not saved.

Listen to how John states this truth in his gospel. He uses the very words of Jesus:
John 14:6:
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Jesus did not say that you could go any way that you want and you will make it to heaven. He did not say that you could do some work and go to heaven.  He said very directly that the only way to go to heaven is to go through JESUS!  You will not make it if you try to go any other way!

So you must first determine if you are really saved. John says that he wrote this book for those who are saved. So it is presupposed that you are saved before you go further into this verse.  So if you are saved this verse says that you have eternal security!  Eternal security is for the believer!  And when we have it settled in our hearts that we are saved then that should take away all of the doubt about our salvation.

So let’s go a little further, if you have established that you are saved then the next question is why do you still have doubt?  The answer lies in your fellowship with the Father. If you know you are saved but you are living a life with blatant un-confessed sin in it, then it won’t be long before you doubt your salvation.  So the answer is to clean your life up and allow the Holy Spirit to control your life, and when you do this then the doubts will dissipate.

One last word, if you are one of those that I described who has been deceived to believe that you are saved and you know that you aren’t then I have good news for you.  You can change that right now!  Just admit that you are a sinner and accept the Lord as your Savior, and He will save you!

Until next week,
Roger Penny