Keep Praying

What is your biggest worry?  Is there a problem in your life you cannot solve?  Are you and your family facing a problem today that you cannot resolve?

KEEP PRAYING!  Don’t give up!  Don’t grow weary and stop praying, just KEEP PRAYING!

James 5:16 reads some new energy into our prayer life.  The latter part of the verse reads:

“The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

Whatever is our problem, concern or burden, we should pray.  In today’s world, the church (God’s people) must be a people of prayer!

But Pastor, “I have prayed before.” “Nothing ever changes.”  “I am about to give up!”

We can’t stop praying!  We must keep praying!  We must keep believing God’s Word and praying in faith!

The verse states that, “The effectual fervent prayer…”  This means a prayer of passion and a prayer of power.   EFFECTUAL prayer is the Greek word ENERGEO, showing a prayer that has the energy of the Holy Spirit living inside of you!

A prayer that is earnest and unwearied.  A persistent prayer that knows that our God is alive and hears our prayers.

We need divine help with the problems of our lives.  That help is found in prayer through Jesus Christ our Lord!

You are loved,

Pastor and Muzette

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Be Available

We continue to witness to a changing world and a country that has abandoned its walk with God.

One writer this week described our national and spiritual condition as a “cultural Gettysburg,” comparing our condition morally and politically to the time of the great struggle during the Civil War. Whoever won the war, America would never be the same.

This New York Times writer is not a pastor or even a Christian journalist, but he believes the nation is in trouble.  The nation will never be the same after this election.  The constitution’s purity and the appointment of three Supreme Court Justices will make changes, not for four years, but for 20 or 30 years into our future.

This time in our lives is a living illustration of darkness and light: whether we are walking with God or walking against God.

We are not seeking an easy or broad way. We are not looking for a politically correct answer for a hurting family or city, but we are faithfully pointing them to Jesus, our Lord and Saviour!

Dr. Warren Wiersbe wrote about being willing to accept the challenge to confront the enemy or righteousness.  Dr. Wiersbe wrote that we should be available to stand up for Biblical principles.

For his book, he taught from the book of Judges.  He compared the past to the present:

  • There is no King in Israel
  • People are doing what is right in their own eyes
  • God’s people can’t seem to work together
  • People are in bondage to various enemies in the world

When a man, woman, family, church, city, or nation turns from God, there will be heartache, rebellion, sin, and suffering. God’s hand of judgment is in our future!

Pray together for revival!

You are loved,

Pastor and Muzette

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Summer Sweetness

WOW!  This has already been an exciting and blessed month, and it seems like the fireworks of July 4th have continued!

Our Wednesday night fellowships have been so much fun and they taste good too!  Our first week was the famous ice cream truck, in the middle of a thunder storm.  This past week was Super Summer Sweetness with the best cupcakes in town!  A La Cupcakes does a fabulous job making a cupcake into a delicious work of art.

Thank you for making our summer prayer meetings so special as we serve the Lord together and make memories with our friends and family.

The fireworks continued Sunday evening with our teens.  The very first Thrive @ 5 was blessed by the Lord.  There was great attendance, wonderful workers, a powerful message by Pastor Nathan and fun and food in the Field of Fun!

Let’s keep praying for our families, our church, and our nation.  We are desperate to see revival for this generation!

You are loved,

Pastor and Muzette

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Prevailing Prayer

This past week has been filled with conversations. Conversations about the powerful service with Dr. Billy Kim and conversations filled with concerns over our nation!

Dr. Kim reminded us that prayer indeed does change things.  The Korean people became desperate during the war for their survival in 1950.  They prayed for South Korea to survive and to be a free people.

They are still praying after the great prayer revival of the 70s, 80s, and 90s for God to keep them free and to save their families.

We must revisit our walk with the Lord and our personal prayer life.  The Bible states that “the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much!

Prevailing Prayer is the price for seeing God step into our world!

Samuel Chadwick wrote:

“There is no power like that of prevailing prayer—

of Abraham pleading for Sodom,

Jacob wrestling at the midnight hour,

Moses standing in the breach,

Hannah intoxicated with sorrow,

David heartbroken with remorse and grief.”

This is the prayer that prevails!  Our families need a spiritual renewal, our churches need revival and our nation needs restoration!

May we pray together for God to grant us this burden to pray.

“Will thou not revive us again?”

Pastor Ralph

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50 Years Together

In September, 1965, I was in Nashville, Tennessee attending Trevecca Nazarene College.  While sitting on a wall in front of the Post Office, I spotted this pretty girl walking out of the building.  Her name was Muzette Thaxton and ten months later she became my wife.

On July 1st, 1966, we were married and have spent the past 50 years loving each other and serving the Lord.

The years have been filled with mixed emotions, just like your life.  We have had ups and downs, and tears of laughter and sadness.  Good times and tough times, but through it all we had the Lord and each other!

God has given us three children, one son-in-law, two daughters-in-law, nine wonderful grandchildren and one granddaughter-in-law!

Our lives have been built around ministry and missions.  Teen bus trips, teen camps, Sunday School class outings, church picnics, men’s outings, ladies’ conferences, homecoming, mission conference, TBC planning conference, children’s camp, Vacation Bible School, mission trips, television programs, Christmas programs, Easter dramas, tent meetings, and study tours to the Holy Land.  We have had 50 years of marriage to each other and to the work of the Lord!  How blessed we are!

Today we celebrate a marriage mile marker and look forward to our future together and with our family and friends.

The Bible teaches to give honor to the one that deserves the honor. (Romans 13:7)

I want you to join with me today to honor Muzette, the love of my life.  She is the one who has been faithful these 50 years, not only as a partner in marriage, but a true help-mate in life and ministry!

Muzette, I love you!  Happy 50th Anniversary!  I honor you today for your love for the Lord, me, our children and our grandchildren!

Yours forever,

Ralph

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