October Praise and Prayer

Dear Prayer Warriors,

This past month the Church Plantings met for our training day, we all were reminded the need to uphold you in our prayers as you uphold us in your prayer. This reminder returned to me this morning during my devotions.

Paul says in Philippians 1: 3-5 "I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now."

I too, thank the Lord for you and pray for you as God brings you to my mind. I thank God for your participation in the Gospel from the first day until now!

Praises

• New Life has seen increased growth in weekly attendance and just added 13 new members this past week. PTL!
• Follow up contacts in Milford have proved encouraging. (more surveys must be done)
• Support level has remained steady despite the economic challenge supporters are facing (we are averaging 90%)
• Safe trips to Cape May and opportunities to help strengthen that ministry

Pray

• For ministry surveys that need to be completed in Milford. (rainy weather on scheduled days has disrupted the process) We are planning for our next survey on October 11th. And at least one more in October.
• For outreach and preaching in Cape May over the next several months.
• Open doors to develop a Bible Study in the target area of Milford. Pray that God would bring 20 people together for this study. (If you know someone who might be interested in Milford area, please send their contact information to us)
• For Brian's salvation. Each time I talk with him I can see the spiritual struggle taking place in this young man's life. Pray that God will draw this man to salvation.
• For the weekly radio ministry that I am able to do here in Delaware. This is a "Doo-wop" station so doing teaching between the music is a great opportunity to reach those who do not know Christ.
• Wisdom to help Cape May develop their "New Movers" Outreach program. This program has proved successful in several of our church plants.
  

Your Partners in Missions,

Ray & Louise Bertolet


Find Ray on Facebook

No Either/Or With Jesus

Who would you say Jesus was? There are some who call Jesus a "good man," others would say "he was a kind of prophet or teacher". What I want to say is if any of that is true that Jesus was either a liar or lunatic.

C.S. Lewis said, "A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things that Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would be a lunatic — on a level with a man who says he is a poached egg ---- or else he would be the Devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the son of God: or else a madman or something else (Mere Christianity)

Look at some of the things Jesus said.

Matt 12:6 "But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here NASU

Here Jesus is saying He is "greater then the temple"

Matt 16:16-17 16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 17 And Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. NASU

Here He says His father is in Heaven

Matt 23:37-38 37 " Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. NASU

Here, He wants to gather people like a hen gather chicks.

John 14:5-6 6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. NASU

Here He says, He is the ONLY way to get to the Father in Heaven.

The problem with these statements is this, they are either true (and you must believe and respond accordingly) or they are false and Jesus is a great big liar and fraud.

How will you decide? You don’t get an either/or choice with Jesus. You must choose to obey Him completely or say He is a liar.

True or False – Jesus is the Son of God!
I believe the Bible clearly point to this being TRUE.

Who gave you a Moral Compass?

What is the first thing that comes to your mind if I ask you to tell me one thing that you would find offensive? Are you offended when you hear that a child was abused? How about if someone was killed because of a drunk driver?

So where did you get your morality? Why are you offended?

I want to suggest to you that you got your morality because there is a moral law giver. (I believe that that giver is God.

When we are talking some social issues, (drinking, smoking, abortions, etc.) we hear people say "Well that is your opinion".Yet those same people have things that they think people are wrong for other to do. Why is that?

Rom 2:15 in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, NASU

What we are seeing from this verse there are things written on you heart (morals).
So who wrote this on you heart? (Yes, I believe that God wrote them)

So next time you say, "that is soooooo wrong" think! Why do I think that is wrong. Society isn’t the one who set your moral compass.

God did!

Is God Real?

There are people who are questioning if "God is Real". Today we want to begin a journey of dealing with this question. It is not my desire or intention to "convict" you that God is real but to challenge you to examine clues that (I believe God) are evident in our world.

I would also like to point you to several books/authors that have provided information and which you can use in your own journey of searching. Please understand, I am asking you to actually do "homework" and not simply accept what is said. Not what I say, or other people who may think that there is no God.

I trust that you will be curious to search for truth.

Is God Real?

Here are two verses that we should read.
Ps 19:1 The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. NASU
Ps 139:14-16 14 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; 16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them. NASU

Choosing Faith Points Mark Mittelberg

• Point 1-Design in the universe points to an Intelligent Designer (p164)
• Point 2-Fine tuning in the universe points to intentional Fine Tuner-p168
• Point 3-Information encoded into DNA points to Divine Encoder-p171

Mark Mittelberg, Choosing Your Faith In a World of Spiritual Options, (Carol Streams, Illinois, Tyndale House Publications) ©2008

A couple of quick question as you read these verses.

1. Who but the clouds in the sky?
2. Who made the dirt/sand you walk on?
3. Who made the air that you breath?

Notice the three points to consider by Mark. I understand that scientists discovered DNA but we must consider how it became a part of who we are and how it got there.

Stop Stumbling Around

If you have a bad crack in your side walk that would cause you to stumble you would fix it. When putting stair in homes in the 1800's, it was some carpenters practice to put in a "trip step" to cause someone to stumble on the way up the steps during the night. The whole purpose of the "trip step" was to catch someone who tried to sneak up the steps. But the reality of all this if something keeps making us trip and stumble we would take steps to fix it.

Our spiritual journey is not something we can simply fix. It takes the hand of God upon our hearts and lives. He is willing to remove those "trip steps" that we installed because of our sinful disobedience. God tells to return, you are stumbling because of sin. He invites them to remove that sin so that there will be worthwhile fruit.

God reminds them (and us) that worldly leadership or our own efforts do not save us. Only He can bring about that true change.


Hosea 14
1 Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, For you have stumbled because of your iniquity. 2 Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to Him, " Take away all iniquity And receive us graciously, That we may present the fruit of our lips. 3 "Assyria will not save us, We will not ride on horses; Nor will we say again, ' Our god,'To the work of our hands; For in You the orphan finds mercy." 4 I will heal their apostasy, I will love them freely, For My anger has turned away from them. 5 I will be like the dew to Israel; He will blossom like the lily, And he will take root like the cedars of Lebanon. 6 His shoots will sprout, And his beauty will be like the olive tree And his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon. 7 Those who live in his shadow Will again raise grain, And they will blossom like the vine. His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.
8 O Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I am like a luxuriant cypress; From Me comes your fruit. 9 Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; Whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the Lord are right, And the righteous will walk in them, But transgressors will stumble in them. NASU

God loves YOU! FREELY! He is calling you to choose wisely. Stop stubbing your toes and ask the Lord to help remove that stumbling block.

Explore for Yourself!

What "cry" does God have for Israel? How will they know what to do?
What statement is God looking for from them? List the steps.
What will result from true repentance?
What will they truly understand?
What will God do for Israel when they repent correctly?
Why does God use things in nature to describe His actions?
What does He ask Ephraim regarding idols?
Who has answered and looked after them? Why make this statement?
How will they know a wise individual? What is the "these things" in verse 9?
What is discernment?
How can we distinguish between righteous and transgressors?
Why do you think the Lord closed with that statement?

Why?

With today being 9/11 I want to ask two questions. First, where we you when you learned of the events for 9/11? Second, I will ask the questions that many ask, Why, did God allow this to happen?

I can tell you where I was when I heard "I actually saw them" the events unfold. I was sitting in a hotel room in Singapore watch the CNN news after return from a full day of meetings with fellow Trans World Radio missionaries.

The second question, truthfully, NO ONE can answer. I can tell you this, the events of that day are not because God is mad or getting back at America. First we must understand that when God created the earth He made provision for evil. Unfortunately, that evil came into existence and what we saw that day (and days before and after) is a result of that evil.

I find it interesting that many people who question "why God allowed those events?" of doubt that God is real. It seems to me that God is only real when A) we want to blame Him or B) we need to pray for some relief from a tragic event.

In the days and week ahead I plan to begin discussion the question "Is God Real" and other related topics. Hopefully, you will check back and even offer up your questions/comment during the course of this discussion.

Something to chew on!

Isa 40:13-14
13 Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord,
Or as His counselor has informed Him?
14 With whom did He consult and who gave Him understanding?
And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge
And informed Him of the way of understanding? NASU


Rom 11:33-36 34 For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? 35 Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN? 36 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen. NASU

1 Cor 2:16 For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? NASU

Now What?

There were lessons that I learned growing up. This were "you got what you deserved". Ouch, I wanted dad and mom to step in a stop the heart ache but they didn’t because they understood that I would learn more for life if I experience some "pain" during growing up.

God is doing the same here with Israel. He is telling them because of their disobedience, they will face destruction. He reminds them that they asked for king’s and prince’s. "Where are they" "Why don’t they help you?", these are the things that God is asking.

The tragedy that falls upon Israel is not God’s fault. God allowed this evil to come but He left the chose up to man.

Hos 13:9-16
9 It is your destruction, O Israel, That you are against Me, against your help. 10 Where now is your king That he may save you in all your cities, And your judges of whom you requested,"Give me a king and princes"? 11 I gave you a king in My anger And took him away in My wrath.
12 The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; His sin is stored up. 13 The pains of childbirth come upon him; He is not a wise son, For it is not the time that he should delay at the opening of the womb. 14 Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from death? O Death, where are your thorns? O Sheol, where is your sting? Compassion will be hidden from My sight.
15 Though he flourishes among the reeds, An east wind will come, The wind of the Lord coming up from the wilderness; And his fountain will become dry And his spring will be dried up; It will plunder his treasury of every precious article. 16 Samaria will be held guilty, For she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword, Their little ones will be dashed in pieces, And their pregnant women will be ripped open. NASU

Choose today who you will obey, yourself or God.

Explore for yourself.

Who are they fighting? Why does God ask about their kings and judges?
Because of asking for kings and judges, what has happened to Ephraim?
Tell what thought the LORD is pondering?
What will happen to Ephraim position and wealth?
What happens to Samaria who rebel against God? How does this concern us?
What warning should we get from this?

I'm It!

Saying that we care someone should best come along with examples of that care. Lord just finished reminding Israel how they have walked away but He also tells them that despite their disobedience or run towards idols. He points to all the ways that He has provide, protected and rescued them from themselves.

So let me ask you this, can you "hear" the Lord saying these same things to you? Well He does? John 3:16 tells us of his love for us, how He sent His son!

Are you willing to accept God's help?

Hos 13:4-8
4 Yet I have been the Lord your God
Since the land of Egypt;
And you were not to know any god except Me,
For there is no savior besides Me.
5 I cared for you in the wilderness,
In the land of drought.
6 As they had their pasture, they became satisfied,
And being satisfied, their heart became proud;
Therefore they forgot Me.
7 So I will be like a lion to them;
Like a leopard I will lie in wait by the wayside.
8 I will encounter them like a bear robbed of her cubs,
And I will tear open their chests;
There I will also devour them like a lioness,
As a wild beast would tear them. NASU

Explore for yourself.

How does the LORD describe Himself?
What will He be doing? What happened in the heart of Israel?
How is God going to respond to their unresponsive heart?

Big Month

How many times have we open our month and gotten ourselves into trouble. Whether it is a work or home we say things that upset others.

Ephraim spoke and people were afraid but all that talk also got them into trouble. The way that they exalted themselves just lead them further from God and involve themselves with worship of Baal.

Speaking bold and arrogant tends to force us make foolish choices. God will chose to set us aside and stand on our own foolishness and sadly we will learn how poorly we can stand on our own.

Hos 13:1-3
3 When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling.
He exalted himself in Israel,
But through Baal he did wrong and died.
2 And now they sin more and more,
And make for themselves molten images,
Idols skillfully made from their silver,
All of them the work of craftsmen.
They say of them, "Let the men who sacrifice kiss the calves!"
3 Therefore they will be like the morning cloud
And like dew which soon disappears,
Like chaff which is blown away from the threshing floor
And like smoke from a chimney. NASU

Explore for yourself.

What did Ephraim do? What happened to him?
What is increasing?
Why are they "like" the morning cloud or dew? What is a morning cloud?

Come Back

Where are you heading in life? Have you thought about that in you day to day routine? The Lord is telling the tales of Ephraim /Israel. He has shown that there is much to be disappointed with in Jacob’s life. His battles with God are well known. God call is for Israel to return to Him. Wait for Him, He desire to lead and guide them. But the reality that they don’t want to return to Him, they want to their own way.

The reality of their desire is God allows them to have your way. If your way was going to result in trouble and heartache would you really want your own way?

Your way, will result in the way of destruction. Jesus’ way is the way to the Father. Why not seek His way?


Hos 12:1-14
1 Ephraim feeds on wind, And pursues the east wind continually; He multiplies lies and violence. Moreover, he makes a covenant with Assyria, And oil is carried to Egypt. 2 The Lord also has a dispute with Judah, And will punish Jacob according to his ways; He will repay him according to his deeds. 3 In the womb he took his brother by the heel, And in his maturity he contended with God. 4 Yes, he wrestled with the angel and prevailed; He wept and sought His favor. He found Him at Bethel And there He spoke with us, 5 Even the Lord, the God of hosts, The Lord is His name. 6 Therefore, return to your God, Observe kindness and justice, And wait for your God continually. 7 A merchant, in whose hands are false balances, He loves to oppress. 8 And Ephraim said, "Surely I have become rich, I have found wealth for myself; In all my labors they will find in me No iniquity, which would be sin." 9 But I have been the Lord your God since the land of Egypt; I will make you live in tents again, As in the days of the appointed festival. 10 I have also spoken to the prophets, And I gave numerous visions, And through the prophets I gave parables. 11 Is there iniquity in Gilead? Surely they are worthless. In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls, Yes, their altars are like the stone heaps Beside the furrows of the field.
12 Now Jacob fled to the land of Aram, And Israel worked for a wife, And for a wife he kept sheep. 13 But by a prophet the Lord brought Israel from Egypt, And by a prophet he was kept. 14 Ephraim has provoked to bitter anger; So his Lord will leave his bloodguilt on him And bring back his reproach to him. NASU

Explore for Yourself

What does Ephraim feed on? What does this mean?
Who is the Lord disputing with? What is the outcome?
What did Jacob do?
What is Israel to do? Why? How?
How does Ephraim describe their situation?
How does God respond to them? What concern does God have?
Describe their sacrifices and alters.
How did Israel get out of Egypt? How were they kept?
What will happen to Israel?

Heartache to Heartcry

Watching ones children can be a wonderful thing in life. But, sometimes when those "wonderful" children reach a age of making decisions on their own they make some that bring heartache to the parent. The heartache is not simply in that they have gone their own way it is in that we have been so involved in helping them to learn that we are heart broken when we see that the decisions they chose to make will lead them to paths that will difficulty.

What do you do? Instead of being stirred to anger we can follow the lead of our God who says, "All my compassions are kindled." Rather than destroy, God will reach out to heal.

Have you walked away from God in your life? Are you afraid that His wrath is just waiting for you around the corner? Today, I hope that you have seen that rather than anger God has been stirred to compassion. God is reaching out to you. Don’t be like Israel with a cold hard heart.

Hos 11:1-12
1 When Israel was a youth I loved him, And out of Egypt I called My son. 2 The more they called them, The more they went from them; They kept sacrificing to the Baals And burning incense to idols. 3 Yet it is I who taught Ephraim to walk, I took them in My arms; But they did not know that I healed them. 4 I led them with cords of a man, with bonds of love, And I became to them as one who lifts the yoke from their jaws; And I bent down and fed them. 5 They will not return to the land of Egypt; But Assyria — he will be their king Because they refused to return to Me. 6 The sword will whirl against their cities, And will demolish their gate bars And consume them because of their counsels. 7 So My people are bent on turning from Me. Though they call them to the One on high, None at all exalts Him. 8 How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I surrender you, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart is turned over within Me, All My compassions are kindled. 9 I will not execute My fierce anger; I will not destroy Ephraim again. For I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst, And I will not come in wrath. 10 They will walk after the Lord, He will roar like a lion; Indeed He will roar And His sons will come trembling from the west. 11 They will come trembling like birds from Egypt And like doves from the land of Assyria; And I will settle them in their houses, declares the Lord. 12 Ephraim surrounds Me with lies And the house of Israel with deceit; Judah is also unruly against God, Even against the Holy One who is faithful. NASU

Explore for Yourself!

When did God love Israel? What happened after God called them "My Son"?
What did God do for them? How did they respond?
What will happen to their cities and gates?
How are they bent?
What is kindled within God despite Israel’s actions? What won’t He do?
What contrast does He describe?
Why does God say He is roaring? How is Ephraim and Israel responding?

Re: Prayer

I decided to copy my son's blog for today's post.

How your prayer life?
Robert Murray M’Cheyne, a Scottish pastor from the 1800s who died at the age of 29, has said, “What a man is alone on his knees before God, that he is, and no more.”
J.I. Packer, the renowned evangelical theologian, has stated, “I believe that prayer is the measure of the man, spiritually, in a way that nothing else is, so that how we pray is as important a question as we can every face.”

So how's your prayer life?

If it is true for the physical body that “you are what you eat” it is true for your spiritual life that without excluding the necessity of God’s Word: “you are what you pray.” What does your prayer life look like?
Posted by Tim Bertolet at 6:00 AM