He Routs Our Enemy

He Routs Our Enemy 
"He hath cast out thine enemy"   (Zephaniah 3:15).

What a casting out was that! Satan has lost his throne in our nature even as he lost his seat in heaven. Our LORD Jesus has destroyed the enemy's reigning power over us. He may worry us, but he cannot claim us as his own. His bonds are no longer upon our spirits: the Son has made us free, and we are free indeed.

Still is the archenemy the accuser of the brethren; but even from this position our LORD has driven him. Our Advocate silences our accuser. The LORD rebukes our enemies and pleads the causes of our soul, so that no harm comes of all the devil's revilings.

As a tempter, the evil spirit still assails us and insinuates himself into our minds; but thence also is he cast out as to his former preeminence. He wriggles about like a serpent, but he cannot rule like a sovereign. He hurls in blasphemous thoughts when he has opportunity; but what a relief it is when he is told to be quiet and is made to slink off like a whipped cur! LORD, do this for any who are at this time worried and wearied by his barkings. Cast out their enemy, and be Thou glorious in their eyes. Thou hast cast him down; LORD, cast him out. Oh, that Thou wouldst banish him from the world!

(by Charles Spurgeon)

What is "revival" and did we experience it?

"An evangelical revival is an extraordinary work of God in which Christians repent of their sins as they become intensely aware of his presence in their midst, and they manifest a positive response to God in renewed obedience to the known will of God, resulting in both a deepening of their individual and corporate experience with God, and an increased concern to win others to Christ." (E. Towns)

Historically, true revivals result in an extraordinary work of God in individual lives, an increased awareness of God's presence, and significant evangelistic outreach and harvest of souls as a result of a church that has been revived.  
So, let me ask you...did we experience "revival" during this week's camp-meeting? I hope your answer is a resounding "yes"!!!  This is not meant to be rhetorical.  We must answer this question honestly before God for ourselves.  If we did not experience personal revival and renewal we should be honest enough with ourselves to ask why not?  Was it sin...Satan...or a sorry disposition?  

God undoubtedly spoke to us corporately and individually through this week's revival, so we should see each nights message as a "word in a sentence" to us!   Each night God was communicating something uniquely to us in that moment, but also in such a way that fits into a larger context for our lives and church.  In other words, all the messages tie together to form a thought or series of thoughts God is trying to convey to us through his prophets.  For instance, "get in the boat", "get out of the boat", and "get the spirit of Tobiah out of your life and the church"!

My prayer is that you experienced God's life-changing presence in new, challenging, and powerful ways that you will not soon forget!  My prayer is that you have examined your life for the "Spirit of Tobiah" and cast it out wherever you find it!  My prayer is that we will put into action anything the Holy Spirit challenges us on - knowing that God will bless and reward our obedience!  My prayer is that our personal revival will continue and that we will experience even greater dimensions of his glory and life-changing presence resulting in new and lasting spiritual fruit, divinely re-ordered priorities, and a renewed passion for reaching lost souls while there is still time.

Hallelujah, Thine the glory - Hallelujah Amen - Hallelujah, Thine the glory - Revive us again! ...  

until ...  "Every house is a temple, every heart an altar, and every human being a priest!"  (Moritz Lazarus) 

Pastor Chad

WHERE REVIVAL AND WORSHIP MEET!

Good morning to you!  What a wonderful time again last night in the presence of the Lord!  Although it was different than Sunday, it is always wonderful (no matter the style or whose ministering) when God is in the house!!!...and that's what revival is ultimately about...God meeting and tabernacling with His people!  He is faithful to inhabit the praises of His people just as he promised He would.

Revival takes place in our lives when we come in contact with God himself.  Revival is not an end in itself but just the beginning of something that God wants to do...the meeting itself is not the end but a means to an end!  Here's a definition I would like for you to ponder taken from a book I am reading called The Ten Greatest Revivals Since Pentecost by Elmer Towns.

"An evangelical revival is an extraordinary work of God in which Christians repent of their sins as they become intensely aware of HIS presence in their midst, and they manifest a positive response to God in renewed obedience to the known will of God, resulting in both a deepening of their individual and corporate experience with God, and an increased concern to win others for Christ."

So, you see this definition of revival is a little different from what we think of when we talk about revival.  The above definition is based on the study of many of the major world revivals that have taken place on the earth from Pentecost to the present.  If you want to know what real revival looks like, study the book of Acts and what took place prior to, during, and following Pentecost and then you will begin to see what revival really looks like.  I can assure you revival has little to do with a series of meetings and guest speakers (as good as that is).  Revival happens when we get a hold of God and God gets a hold of us!  The early Christians came together in one accord (unity, love, and fellowship) and they prayed and sought the face of God...and they waited upon the Lord as they drew near...until it happened! 

So let me encourage you to not seek a move from God -- don't put God in a box!  Simply seek God for Himself as the 120 did in the upper room and all the others throughout history have done who have experienced genuine revival!  If you seek a move or try to put God in your little box, you will miss it.  If we seek for revival we risk making the "revival experience" an idol.  Rather, we seek the God who is able to revive the souls of men.  

As worshippers and seekers we need to be continually reminded that the end of worship is God himself, and when we experience God for ourselves we can't help but be REVIVED for in His presence we experience fullness of joy and pleasures at his right hand forevermore!!  So let's come ready tonight to magnify, glorify, and  offer worship pleasing to GOD himself.  HE is our goal...not good music...not excellence...not an outpouring...not a specific kind of move of God...not the people's approval...SIMPLY God Himself!  Do we need any other motivation?  If we make it our goal to be preoccupied with God alone, all the pressure, apprehension, nervousness, or whatever is swallowed up and melts away in the warmth of His loving presence.  Remember, God is love and He is your Heavenly Father....you don't have to perform for Him who already accepts you...just worship and adore Him and experience His joy and favor over you as his child!

Let's come ready to once again draw near into the Holy of Holies.  We are invited to come boldly before the throne of God.  As you worship Him tonight, see yourself coming before His throne.  This holy place is the place of glory that worship theologians call the glory realm of His presence...it is found past the gates of praise into the Holy Place.  This is the place of divine encounter with God where our lives are changed.  We've already experienced this in this revival...but our hearts cry out for more...more...more of You, O God!!!  

The glory realm is the place where we stop talking and begin worshipping and listening to what He is saying to us because what He has to say to us and about us is much more important than anything we have to say to Him.  This is the place where we stop singing our song and God begins to sing His song over us.  One of the greatest promises and one of the most fantastic invitations given to us in the Bible is when God invites his children to come close to Him.  He then promises to draw near to them whose hearts follow closely after Him.  (Note:  Make sure you are drawing near to Him in your worship!)  Make Jesus the end of your worship...not right music or the emotion of the song.  God forbid!  When we break through the "external trappings of worship" into this realm of experience with God...we experience the glory and power of God in new and fresh ways!  So, come as His child who is loved, accepted, and highly favored.  Come ready tonight to sing in the presence of the King and turn your eyes upon Jesus looking fully into His wonderful face and I know...the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.  Hallelujah and Amen.   

Glory to His Name!

Chad Stafford

Worship Arts Pastor

South Metro Ministries

Costly Worship

"I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God that cost me nothing." (2 Samuel 24:24).

Awhile back, a northern district in a particular church denomination had received a grant to help educate their people in worship. They worked with our organization in planning and hosting a worship seminar, but we also invited others from outside their denomination. Using the grant money, they extended scholarships to their district churches, based on the size of the congregation. One church was given six scholarships, another ten and still another received twelve, etc. It all seemed quite equitable. Nearly two hundred people were pre-registered for the seminar, about half that number were folks who had received the scholarships.

Unfortunately, the seminar was held in the middle of winter, and the night before there was a snowstorm, a big snowstorm. I watched the snow piling up outside my hotel window. Fluffy white flakes continued to fall from the sky on into the morning hours. As a result, travel became quite difficult. The snow had drifted across roads. Road clearing crews had difficulty keeping up with the storm.

The final result was that about half of the people who had pre-registered didn't show up for the seminar. Interestingly, though, it was not the people from far away who didn't make it. Actually, there were folks who drove more than an hour through snow-covered roads to attend. Predominantly, the ones who failed to attend were the ones who had no investment. People who lived within just a couple miles of the venue were not there. Why? Because they had received a scholarship to go but they had no real investment in attending.

King David said, "I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God that cost me nothing" (2 Samuel 24:24). He recognized that if he had no investment, the sacrifice was meaningless.

Here's the interesting part, though. David knew he needed to offer a sacrifice at a particular place: the threshing floor of Araunah. The owner offered to give David everything he needed to make the sacrifice. The oxen, the wood for the fire, even the piece of property were willingly offered to the king. If David had accepted, the sacrifice would have looked exactly like the sacrifice he finally ended up offering. In outward appearance there would have been no difference.

But David refused. He would not offer something to God that cost him nothing.

Perhaps David was on to something. Maybe the Lord isn't interested in what our worship looks like on the surface. You see, when you and I gather together weekly with brothers and sisters in Christ, we can appear to be involved in actual worship. We can sing and smile, perhaps play our instrument and help lead the congregation. But is that it? Is it just an appearance? Or are we truly making the necessary investment into what we're offering to the Lord? Are our hearts really engaged with Him as we "worship" or does it just look proper on the outside? Are we honestly allowing God to mold and shape us with His Word throughout the week, or do we just come on Sunday morning and go through the motions?

When life's blizzards hit—and they will—if we have no investment, we will falter. Are you making an investment in your worship to the Lord?

Prayer: Lord, we, too, don't want to offer You something that doesn't cost us anything. Cause us to be drawn to you repeatedly, that we might offer worship that doesn't just look good on the surface, but truly comes from the treasures of our heart.

(taken by permission from WorshipMinistryDevotions.com)

Chadwick A. Stafford

Worship Arts Pastor

South Metro Ministries

pastorchad@smmcog.com 

cstafford71@hotmail.com 

http://www.smm-wa.blogspot

770-251-3777 x6 (w) 

919-906-5702 (m) 

Christ the Source of Living Water & Times of Refreshing

Jesus is your source for Revival...none other!

Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." (John 4:10)

"He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." (John 7:38)

Living or Alive – having life or teeming with life.

Stream – a current of water; a small river; to flow as in a stream; to move swiftly.

River – a natural stream of water larger than a creek emptying into an ocean or lake.

Spiritual rivers – symbols of divine blessing

Spiritual rivers are supernatural living waters, constantly moving and flowing from Christ Himself proceeding from His throne through the city of God to all who thirst and will drink from the living waters.  It is the unifying and life giving force flowing throughout the City of God.   No matter where you are in the city—you're not far from the River.  Take…drink…be filled and refreshed today!  Knowing Christ is the key to experiencing and maintaining personal revival in our lives.  Don't wait for a series of meetings…be revived today!

In His Love,

Pastor Chad

Bearing Spiritual Fruit by Dr. R.C. Sproul

By grace, God offers the righteousness of Christ to all who put their trust in Him. For all who believe, all who have faith in Him, the merit of Christ is reckoned to their account.

Does this exclude good works in the life of the believer? By no means. Our justification is always unto good works. Though no merit ever proceeds from our works, either those done before our conversion or those done afterward, good works are a necessary fruit of true faith.

"Necessary fruit?" Yes, necessary. Good works are not necessary for us to earn our justification. They are never the ground of our justification. They are necessary in a more restricted sense. They are necessary corollaries to true faith. If a person claims to have faith yet brings forth no fruit of obedience whatsoever, it is proof positive that the claim to faith is a false claim. True faith inevitably and necessarily bears fruit. The absence of fruit indicates the absence of faith.

We are not justified by the fruit of our faith. We are justified by the fruit of Christ's merit. We receive His merit only by faith, but it is only by true faith that we receive His merit. And all true faith yields true fruit. 

Today, prayerfully examine your faith and spiritual fruit.

For Further Study

Galatians 5:22-25: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit."

Chadwick A. Stafford

Worship Arts Pastor

South Metro Ministries

pastorchad@smmcog.com 

cstafford71@hotmail.com 

http://www.smm-wa.blogspot

770-251-3777 x6 (w) 

919-906-5702 (m) 

DEVOTIONAL: Breaking Free From Worry By Knowing Jesus by Greg Laurie

Have you ever been gripped by fear? You know the feeling. A shiver downs your spine. Your stomach has a sinking sensation. Your mouth goes dry. Maybe it happened when you were in a life-threatening situation, or at least you thought you were.

Some people actually thrive on fear and will spend their hard-earned dollars to be scared out of their minds. They will go to a movie because they have heard it is really scary, or go to an amusement park to ride the most extreme ride. But like it or not, fear is a very real emotion that most of us would rather avoid.

Unfortunately, fear has a friend called worry, and the two work in tandem. For example, maybe something frightens you, and you begin to think about the worst thing that could possibly happen.What if this happens? What if that happens? You can worry yourself into a state of panic.

Medical research has proven that worry can be physically harmful. It can affect our nervous systems and make us less resistant to disease. Experts have stated that excessive worry can shorten the human life. It is ironic that we worry about our lives, but in doing so, we actually can shorten them.

I am glad that the apostle Paul took the time to address the subject of worry and give us God's antidote for it:

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy-meditate on these things (Philippians 4:6-8 NKJV).

When Paul wrote these words, he was not living in an ivory tower, spinning off impractical theories. He was in some very difficult circumstances. Paul wanted to go to Rome to preach, but instead, he ended up there as a prisoner.

Now he awaited his fate. His case could come up any day. He didn't know whether he would be acquitted or beheaded. Paul had plenty to worry about. But in the midst of these circumstances, Paul offered three steps that will help us break free from worry.

The first step is right praying (verse 6-7). When we are gripped by fear and worry, we need to pray. If you want to be free from worry, then you need to be a person who prays. Jesus taught us to pray, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done. On earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:9 NKJV).

When you put God's will above your own and start praying and thinking about His greatness, then all of your problems start shrinking, not because they are getting smaller, but because you have begun to realize how big God is. It puts your problems in perspective.

Second, we need to take the step of right thinking (verse 8). Maintaining personal peace involves both the heart and the mind. If you want peace in your heart, then you have to get your thoughts in order, because what we think about ultimately affects what we do. We want to nip in the bud any thoughts that would be impure or spiritually destructive.

Isaiah 26:3 promises, "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You" (NKJV).

The third step is right living (verse 9). You cannot separate outward action from inward attitude. When you live a wicked life, you are constantly in turmoil, because sin always results in unrest.

In contrast, when you live right before God, you have His peace. Isaiah 32:17 says, "The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever" (NKJV).

Are you a person who is gripped by worry today? Before you can know the peace of God, you need to have peace with God. But this is only possible through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. 

If you're reading this today and know Jesus Christ, then you don't have to worry about tomorrow. God is in control of your life. You may not know what tomorrow holds, but you know who holds tomorrow.

Getting To Know Pastor Chad

PC:  Share your Biblical philosophy of music and worship?

Biblical worship is not about fulfilling the requirements of Old Testament law any longer but rather about the law of love instituted by our Lord.  (1 Corinthians 13:1) We can "sing and praise" all we want, but if we are not motivated by a heart of love for God and others we are only making noise!  Loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength AND loving our neighbor as ourselves is what God is after.  Secondly, Biblical worship is not about performance but priority - the priority of God first in our lives and the priority of a God-centered lifestyle which is itself an act of worship making our lives a "living" sacrifice. (Romans 12:1) not Sunday morning only but sacrificial living…  not the art but the heart,…not the song but the Lord of the song…not the lyrics but the lifestyle.  Thirdly, as the late Dr. Robert Webber said in his book, Worship Is A Verb, Christian worship is not something done to us or for us...but "by us"!  This carries with it the idea of service.  Worship requires from us an active personal and holistic response to all that God has done, is, and has revealed himself to be. Fourthly, Biblical worship flows naturally out of a passionate, loving, and Christ-centered life.  “A lukewarm heart can not perform boiling hot worship” (Warren Wiersbe) so we should guard our heart at all times and make sure we are working to maintain our intimacy of relationship with God at all times for our heart is the fountainhead from which all life issues flow. (Prov. 4:23)  If God has our hearts -- he has us!, but if God does not have the "bedroom" of our hearts he doesn't have anything!  What God sees in our hearts is what he sees as our worship.  The danger is disconnecting our actions from our hidden attitudes and motives.  Yet again, we are only fooling ourselves for God sees it all.  When we go through the motions of outward worship but our hearts are not engaged we are only fooling oursevles -- not God.  We should avoid practice of so-called "worshippers" who honor God with their lips yet their hearts are far from Him.  God forbid! Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (sings), Jesus said.  New Testament worship has little to say with regard to the externals and trappings of worship because worship has everything to do with the condition and quality of the individual heart.  So the church should be encouraged to not simply offer outward physical responses but true and sincere worship that flows from the well-spring of a righteous, sanctified, and obedient heart.  Finally, we must remember not only the "what", but the “who” of worship!  Worship is to God, for God, and about God…not unto us, for us, or about us!  If worship is for God then we should be diligent about offering to Him acceptable worship offered in humility, out of  deep reverence and love, and in spirit and in truth.   

Pastor Chad, share your philosophy of music and worship ministry?

Worship Leading In The Spotlight

Making Theology of Our Worship Songs a Priority

By Graham Kendrick

Theology is simply the study of God, and everyone who opens their mouth to sing or speak about God inevitably expresses an idea about God—a theology; the question is whether it is a good one or a bad one, a true or a false one. Every song sung in Christian worship has a theology, for better or for worse. Therefore as songwriters and song selectors, our role is that of local theologians.

It is not that our existing songs are full of grievous errors, though issues pop up from time to time. In my view, the pressing issue is one of balance, or rather lack of it. It is about what is missing, the subjects we never sing about because the songs either are not being written, or not being chosen. And it is about the growing dominance of a “default” worship culture that only allows for certain kinds of expression, a limited range of mood and style that edits out certain subject matter. So, why does any of that matter? Here are a few reasons I can identify; though I’m sure there are many more.

God’s Glory
Orthodoxy sounds like a dusty old word, but actually it means “right glory,” in other words representing God as He actually is. In the same way that we are jealous over the reputation of someone we know and love, a large part of worship’s purpose is to lovingly and accurately, richly and comprehensively, describe God’s nature and qualities. What and who we believe God to be has eternal consequences both for His glory and for the eternal destiny of every human being. It is a cosmic battleground. The Bible presents truth as reality, and its opposite, untruth as unreality and deception. Bad theology not only robs God of glory, it can be a dangerous thing on a vast scale, the Crusades of the Middle Ages being just one sobering example.

So if we are to give right glory to God in our songs, we need to pursue the biggest vision of Him we can. My reference Bible lists fourteen descriptive names and titles by which God the Father is revealed, 101 for God the Son and twenty-three for the Holy Spirit, each one a window to seeing more of who we worship and why. Worship is a response and will grow or shrink in direct proportion to our view of its object.

Numerous songs enable us to worship Jesus as a savior and friend, but how many enable us to worship Him as judge, heir of all things, or in the context of His hometown humanity, as the Nazarene? We are not short of songs about Christ’s crucifixion, but there is not so much available concerned with His existence with the Father and the Holy Spirit before the world was created or after His ascension or how the world might look under His future Kingship. 

Therefore, we need a balance of right theology, right glory, and right songs which accurately express right ideas and concepts about the great God we serve so that we may offer our Heavenly Father worship that is pleasing as well as aright - and that enables the people we serve to do the same.