"GISTS" from OUR DAILY BREAD 2007
by Pastor Merrill
1-1-07 Slow down & meditate on the Lord.
1-3-07 God values character above performance.
1-8 Do not ignore the power of your silent
witness.
1-12 God wants to help, so call upon Him.
1-16 Be a person of integrity.
1-19 Don't go through the day ignoring God.
1-21 Feed on God's word or go
hungry spiritually.
1-22 Life is a gift from God, to be lived for God.
1-25 Value every person, God does.
1-26 Difficulties are opportunities to learn & grow.
1-27 God leads & provides, but I must follow &
receive.
2-4 Christians accomplish more by working together, than
by working alone.
2-10 Following Jesus entails sacrifices.
2-20 Serve others, not self.
2-22 God didn't command "Be happy" but "Be Holy"
3-2 Anyone saved by Christ has a great testimony.
3-12 Beware of "little" sins in your life.
3-27 God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary
things.
4-3 My life helps paint my neighbor's picture of
God.
4-11 Stay in step with God. Don't get ahead, or
lag behind.
4-27 "The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a
fire to be kindled." Plutarch.
5-10 It is not as important that
others believe, but that you believe.
5-20 Know God well, not just the
things about Him.
5-22 My Provider is God, so why
should I worry?
5-23 We never stand before God
empty-handed if we have Jesus.
5-31 It is not how long we live,
but how we live that matters to God.
6-3 For any man to be saved at all
is an amazing thing, done in an amazing way, by an amazing God.
6-10 Be on guard against the little
things that can hurt you.
6-11 No need to worry about the
future when one is trusting Jesus.
6-16 To be God's adopted son gives
me great significance.
You Can't Get Someone Else Fired Up
Unless You're Fired Up!
My
oldest daughter, Dorina has beendoing agreat job at putting together a church newspaper
for us called "The Centinela Pages." She has
asked for people to submit their testimonies so that
she could print them. She showed me her
written testimony, so I have duplicated it here for
you, and would like to further encourage you to send
her your testimony so that it can be used in The
Centinela Pages.
Dorina
Merrill received the Lord at the age of four years old. “I remember
coming home from church and going into the backyard and praying. I know
I asked Jesus to come into my heart. I was later baptized at age 11 by
my father, Rev. Greg Merrill, at Centinela Bible Church . Since then I
have grown up in church and have participated in many church
activities. I currently hold the position of church clerk and also sing
in the worship team on Sunday mornings. In the past, I was the AWANA
Cubbies Director and have worked in the church secretary’s office. In
2005, I attended Westmont College , a Christian college, for one year,
where I met many other Christians my same age. My favorite memory was
Sunday night vesper service when about 100 students came out just to
sing and worship the Lord and pray together. My lowest point came when
I was 16 years old. I was struggling with my faith and lacked courage
when the Lord came to me in the form of a dove outside my window and
consoled me. I never doubted my life or faith again. I have spent a
lot of time with my Savior and appreciate all the Christian camps I
attended while in high school. I am so grateful for the ability to have
times of devotion and reflection with God alone. I am still learning to
let God control my life. I have had times of depression and always went
to the Lord in prayer. The best part was the feeling of the peace He
would leave in the end. I am so grateful for my salvation and praise
God everyday for bringing me out of my darkness.”
I have omitted the first couple of stanzas of this poem, as they only
spoke of "writers block," but liked the rest of it. It reminds me
of how Christian rap artists are using rhymes to reach the younger
generation of today.
Then I
saw a Bible, and felt a sensation
I opened the pages, and found inspiration
Only there could I find, Heaven-sent quotations
That I could write about, and put into circulation
The most important thing in life, is to receive your salvation
Come to Jesus now, before the seven-year tribulation
When you pass on to the next world, there'll be a separation
Between Heaven and Hell, and this is not speculation
Do not get caught up, in a compromising situation
In Hell there is extreme pain, but in Heaven, elation
So pass on to the good people, in this civilization
To get right with God, before His great aggravation
Disasters and wars, will increase with acceleration
The earth will be shaken, to the roots of its foundation
And when Jesus returns, there will be massive relocation
And all this will be seen, by the present generation
Listen to Jesus, and to His proclamation
Obey the Lord's commandments, stay away from deviation
Do not practice anything, that the Bible calls an abomination
Keep yourself clean, be ready for sanctification
The inspiration disappeared, after its summation
And I'm left sitting here, in utter frustration
How does one warn people, in this wonderful nation
Of the oncoming turmoil, in the Book of Revelation?
The end times are near, but while in this peaceful duration
I will do my best, to make this stipulation
Do not listen to Satan, he's the father of fabrication
Stick to God the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
That Heavenly Combination
by George Konig
GOD SIGHTING
by Jenny Merrill
I had finished business at my dad's house and stopped
to call my husband before leaving to have him pray for my safety
while driving home on the freeway. It was right after entering the
freeway that I was just "seconds" behind a three lane auto
accident. About eight cars had collided. Fortunately, I travel a
safe distance from behind the cars in front of me, and I was able to
stop before hitting the
cars. What an answer to prayer! Who knows if I hadn't asked for
traveling mercies, I may have been a part of that wreckage. Amen!
God is so good!
GOD SIGHTING
Dear Pastor & all you dear Ones at CBC. Wow, did
you all ever make an imprint on Marie's heart. She loves her
Christmas doll and has mentioned several times the hugs. "These
people love me." The result of it
all, Marie accepted Jesus in to her heart 1-24-07. Now we are
having Sunday School in her apt. each Sunday. She has a lot of
back & arm pain, so we go as long as she can tolerate it. She gets
excited as she learns, and upset because she can't stand the pain to go
on. She can't read Braille because of pain in her arms, but with
prayer this can re resolved. Thank you for your faithful support.
Praising Him, Muriel Hersom.
GOD SIGHTING
Descendant of Muhammad Converts to
Christianity
A Turk, who claims to be a descendant of the prophet Muhammad, has
converted to Christianity in Germany, ASSIST News Service
reports. Sedar Dedeoglu of Luedenscheid is involved in Christian
outreach programs among Muslims. As a result he frequently receives
death threats from Muslims unwilling to accept his conversion. His
relatives also regard the apostasy as shameful. If Dedeoglu returned to
his native country, he would very likely be killed.
Dedeoglu came to Germany in 1997 and asked for asylum because of
political persecution of the Kurdish minority in Turkey. Four years
later he and his family converted to the Christian faith. They are
members of an evangelical Brethren church.
GOD SIGHTING
God is not hard to find, but He says you have to
look for Him.
Who will be the next to report a "God Sighting"?
GOD SIGHTING
By Joanie Ashelford
This is an answer to prayer and a God sighting. I have been praying
about the Fishhook "Realed In" CD being sold at The Christian Book
Cellar in Covina and they say they love the music and have agreed to
sell it there, and not only that, they'll be playing the music in the
store. Every time I'm not real sure about what's going on with the music,
God just gently scoops me up in His arms and lets me know He's the One
in control. Which is cool, because I trust Him. - Joanie
In "The Message" the Bible in contemporary language by Eugene H.
Peterson, he renders the last verse of Psalm 5 as saying "You are
famous, God, for welcoming God-seekers."
Because God welcomes those that seek Him, those that seek Him should
have a number of "God Sightings."
Who will be next to send me in a "God Sighting!"
Pastor
GOD SIGHTINGS
Job makes some good observations about God, but we don’t want to miss
the GOD SIGHTINGS Job tells of missing in Job 9:10.11
“His miracle-surprises can’t be counted.
Somehow, though He moves right in front of me, I don’t see Him;
quietly but surely He’s active, and I miss it.”
The Message
(God’s Word in contemporary English)
Let’s not miss it. Let’s look for God, and start recording more GOD
SIGHTINGS!
“Expect
great things from God; attempt great things for (& with) God.”
William Carey, the “father of modern missions.”
Do we all know who we are at CBC, and where we
are going,
or is our vision just an hallucination?
It is God and His Word that changes things!
Let us seek the Lord!
2Ch 15:2 The LORD is
with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek Him, he will be
found of you; but if ye forsake Him, He will forsake you.
Isa 26:9 With my soul have I desired Thee in the night; yea, with my
spirit within me will I seek Thee early: for when Thy judgments
are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
Jer 29:13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search
for me with all your heart.
Am 5:4 For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye
Me, and ye shall live:
IN THE NEWS
Recently, a group launched a website asking
people to post video clips on YouTube.com
blaspheming the Holy Spirit. The group's website
says it is "fighting to free humanity from the
mind disorder known as theism." They are giving
away DVDs of the documentary The God Who
Wasn't.
To
counter that call for blasphemous video
postings, Michael Mickey, a Christian from
Virginia, has started a website that lets
Christian teenagers make a public statement
about their faith in Christ. Mickey says
ChallengeBlasphemy.com allows young people to
witness for Christ through one of the most
popular websites.
CHRISTIAN QUOTATIONS
The pay for being a Christian in this life may not be
that great, but oh what a retirement plan. Author unknown.
Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people. Lewis Sperry Chafer
Has this world been so kind to you that you should leave
with regret? There are better things ahead than any we leave
behind. C.S. Lewis.
We talk about Heaven being so far away. It is
within peaking distance of those who belong there. Dwight L. Moody
["peaking" was a typo above for "speaking" but I kind of
like it. Pastor]
All great revivals have been preceded and carried out by
persevering, prevailing knee-work in the closet. Samuel Brengle
Revival is nothing else than a new beginning of obedience to God.
It may be expected whenever Christians are found willing to make the
sacrifices necessary to carry it on. They must be willing to
sacrifice their feelings, business, and time to help forward the work.
Charles. G. Finney
Revival doesn't come by seeking a "demonstration" of
God's power, like those that "challenged" Jesus to do miracles, any more
than it comes from seeking the excitement of "spiritual feelings" that
people have spoken of during past revivals. Revival comes when
"self" is set aside, and the glory of God is the all consuming desire.
Pastor Merrill
If you read the "Power for Living" for 7-23-06, you might recall the
words of Anne Graham Lotz: "There are a lot of people in the church who
are going through the traditions and the form and the ritual, but they
don't know anything about having a personal, vibrant relationship with
the living God-- and that to me is what revival is," Ann explains.
"Taking people and waking them up to who God is and the relationship
that they can have with Him. The Bible says if you seek Him with
all of your heart, you'll find Him. If you're desperate for God,
He will reveal Himself to you. He will be found by you."
A WORD TO CBC
Pray for church
REVIVAL!
I would ask you readers to submit illustrations, articles, sermons,
devotions on revival, not just for my benefit, but to get more of us
thinking about, and
involved in revival. Send them to this CBC website by emailing
Pastor Merrill.
No revival can continue
with the blessing of God
upon it that does not have a high standard of holiness. Donald Gee
"The first step toward attaining a higher standard of holiness is to
realize more fully the amazing sinfulness of sin. J.C. Ryle
Dear Ones,
I know you all can't make all the services every
week, attend all the Bible Studies and prayer
meetings, attend the quarterly business meetings, or
join in all the offered times of fellowship, but
when people only come to church occasionally they miss
much of what is offered by the church.
Imagine if some of the words were missing from the
message of John 3:16.
"For ... so .... the world, that ... gave His only
..... .., that whosoever ...... in Him,
should not ...., but .... everlasting life."
Would you want that to be the only way you ever heard
the message. That is about
the effect that some receive, who only come to the
morning worship service, and don't always even make it
for that.
Are there changes God would have you make in your life
regarding church participation?
Pastor
A
Dubious Honor
Usually, being the first to accomplish a task or make a mark in a
particular field is worthy of accolades.
Not so in the case of U.S. Rep. Pete Stark. Last week, the California
Democrat became the first congressman in American history to publicly
acknowledge that he is an atheist. Secular groups applauded the news, of
course.
The announcement even prompted the American Humanist Association to
place an ad in the Washington Post recognizing Stark as the
highest-ranking elected official to ever disavow the Lord.
Instead of being commended for his honest declaration, however, Stark
should be the recipient of an onslaught of sympathy cards. Indeed, being
the highest-ranking nonbeliever is a dubious distinction. Those who know
God and have experienced His love for the world - which He created -
should pray for the congressman to have an encounter with God so that
he, too, can experience love and everlasting life.IN THE NEWS
George Barna, who directed the study, says the house church movement
will continue to grow throughout America -- and he explains why that
will happen.
"There is an emerging group of millions and millions of people that
is also rapidly growing who have come to recognize that they haven't
necessarily been called simply to go to church," he observes; "they've
been called to be the church." Most conventional church-goers, he
found, have no desire to help improve their congregation's ministry, nor
do they feel a need to increase their personal spiritual responsibility.
The average
size of a house church is 20 people, half of whom (54%) have been
participating in the group for less than three months -- which Barna
says reflects the rapid growth in house church activity. Only one in
five adult participants have been in their house church for three years
of more.
With the continual, generous, scriptural, honoring giving of a
number of mature Christians, and long time members of CBC, with the
added monthly income from “Head Start,” and with the extra income from
the yearly parking lot sale, and this year the fireworks stand; CBC is
doing fine financially. But I would not have us make the mistake of the
Laodicean Church, thinking we are doing well spiritually because of our
bank account. Even if we continue to hold to good doctrine, and
preach and teach good doctrine from the pulpit and lecterns, until we
start seeing signs of revival, until we start seeing more people sharing
the gospel, until we start seeing more people saved, baptized, coming to
services, being individually discipled, and glorifying God with
testimonies of what He is doing in their lives, I would not jump to the
conclusion that CBC is doing fine spiritually.
CBC has not been growing numerically, but just holding it’s
own, or even shrinking. If we hold to this “status quo,” even
though we are doing well financially, it will show we are not about the
business of growing that God would have for us. Isa 54:2,3 says “Enlarge
the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your
habitations; do not spare; lengthen your cords, and strengthen your
stakes. For you shall expand to the right and to the left,…”
continued in next column.
We need to make sure we don’t settle into a “wait &
watch” type of attitude, but move into a “lengthen & strengthen”
attitude. We are not at the point of being able to take a group of our
own people and start a new church plant with them somewhere else. We
should be at the point of wanting to reach out to the community, and
work on planting people into some of the empty rows of our own
sanctuary.
Instead of sitting back, waiting and watching, we need to have a
spiritual fire kindled under us to cause us
to get up and move out into the fields that are white unto harvest, and
bring the harvested sheaves back into the storehouse (church.)
GOD SIGHTINGS
From the "Focus On The Family Bulletin"
06/06 we read an article entitled "Look For God Sightings." It
says God sightings are specific ways you find God at work in your lives,
such as an answer to prayer, guidance through a problem, recovery from
an illness, etc. It tells you to write a dated description, then thank God together as you pray.
Once a month or so, do a bit of reviewing (reading here on this
website). As you fill up the pages, your joy and faith will
increase as well.
So, CBC, begin looking for what God is doing in your
lives, and lets start recording it for His glory, and the further build
up of our faith. E-mail me your "sightings" and I will start
placing them here. Who knows? God might start a revival at
CBC!
THE CBC CHURCH SIGN
Karate Illustrates the Gospel
In the 1600's the people of the Island of Okinawa were under the
dominion of the Japanese Samurai, who banned all weapons from them to
keep them under subjection. In order to protect themselves, the
natives learned how to use their farm tools as weapons, and over time
perfected the art of karate. The karate creed is this: "I come to
you with only karate, empty hands. I have no weapons, but should I be
forced to defend myself, my honor, or my principles; should it be a
matter of life or death, of right or wrong, then here are my weapons, my
empty hands."
Karate literally means "empty hands." Karate-do (the way of karate) can
be used to illustrate the way of spiritual salvation. Many think they
must bring something to God in exchange for salvation. Truth is, there
is nothing we can bring to God to be saved. We must come with our hands
empty, ready not to give, but to receive Christ as Savior. The hymnist
got it right when they wrote in "Rock of Ages" "Nothing in my hands I
bring, simply to Thy cross I cling." Salvation is a free gift, that can
not be earned, only received.
In the Our Daily Bread of April 10, 07 I saw a correlation between the
devotion and CBC. It says "Ruth could have been bitter
about her status as a young widow. I see how some at CBC, if
not bitter, could be frustrated that we have dwindled in size so much.
It goes on to say that "Boaz might have thought that as a foreigner Ruth
was not worth his time." At CBC, we need to realize that the new
people that come to our church, and especially those that want to
minister here, should not be viewed and rejected as foreigners.
ODB further states that Boaz & Ruth recognized the hand of God in their
circumstances, and converged with His plan to provide. CBC needs
to recognize the hand of God in our circumstances and converge with
God's plans. If one generation will not obey Him, He may choose to
let them die off and use the next generation, as He did as seen in
Deuteronomy. Our church must adapt to the changes in our
surrounding neighborhood, and use the appropriate means to reach the new
generation that is out there.
