The church as we know isn’t a building, it’s a people of God who gather regardless of where they gather

God has taken the initiative to create a universal capacity for the human race to receive his grace so that they can live with him eternally. John writes in Revelation 7:9

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.

The peoples mentioned here are ALL people. All people in the north, south, east and west. All the peoples that are yellow,  black, brown, red and white. All people that could be 16,689 people groups that make up the almost 7 billion in the world today.

All these people, the scripture says will stand before the the throne of God and praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for such a great and incomparable salvation.

Let us remind ourselves that the Great Commission was never qualified by clauses calling for advance only if funds were plentiful and no hardship or self-denial involved. On the contrary, we are told to expect tribulation and even persecution, but with it victory in Christ.

When the Lord examines your heart,what does He see? A self-righteous legalist trusting in what I do, or a humble sinner trusting only in what Jesus has done? When Lord examines your heart, can he see someone ready to take a stand and help remove obstacles so others may hear the gospel?

Isaiah 57:14-16

And it will be said: “Build up, build up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people.” For this is what the high and exalted One says – he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with those who are contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.”

WINNING SOULS for Jesus is a life-long winding path of energy, passion, discovery, faith, hope and love revealed in the person of Jesus Christ who gave his life as a ransom for our sins. Success in this mission is a result of the living God doing what he only can do, causing spiritual awakening. Winning Souls is not about sustaining and maintaining rather it’s about thriving, growing, and depending on God to lead us deeper in Christ.

CHURCH-PLANTING is built on the foundations of Christ ‘s concern for SOULS. God’s most effective tool at displaying the gospel in our local communities is churches that are filled with people whose lives have been transformed by a relationship with Jesus.

SHARING FAITH leading to salvation. New birth is offered to this generation that is now in the midst of great societal shifts. The current technological revolution mirrors the Industrial Revolution, creating an America that is becoming more postmodern, post-Christian, and multiethnic. Like Nicodemus, we have to learn not only why people must put their faith in Jesus, but how faith is born.

Making Prayer a priority

Rather than fear, the people of God must rise to the challenge of a new season or a new chapter with prayer in the Spirit so that he might be glorified in the heavens, in the earth through the local church and in His Holy Temple which is your body (I Cor. 6:19-20).

Pray in the power of the Spirit

Effective and powerful prayers are those prayers said in the Spirit. It is very possible to pray selfish and destructive prayers that focuses on ‘number one,’ new-marketing niches or prayers based on faulty foundation of prosperity gospel. Such was the prayers of the prodigal son in the early days of his life when in Luke 15:12 he says;

Father “GIVE ME” my share of the property that will belong to me.

Such a request though answered immediately led  him wade through the dark seasons of selfishness. After coming to his senses, he speaks in the power of the Spirit a kind of prayer that availeth much. In Luke 15:19 he says;

Father “MAKE ME”  like one of your hired men.

This kind of prayer is filled with words that pleads for relationship and freedom. It takes the power of the Holy Spirit for one to say “Father Make Me a Servant.” In most cases, we are able to say in prayer “make me” when hope of eternal life is our ultimate desire. As long as earthly pursuits is a priority, we pray selfish prayers of “Give Me” rather than “Make me a Servant Lord.” When heaven, however, becomes our only hope, then our prayers are said in the power of the Spirit and filled with faith which the book of Hebrews 11:1 say is the evidence of things HOPED for. On hope C.S. Lewis said,

“Hope means a continual looking forward to the eternal world but it does not mean that we are to leave the present world as it is. If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought the most of the next. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth “thrown in”: aim at earth and you will get neither.”

Pray for laborers

In  Matthew  9: 36- 37  we read;

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.”

In  John 17: 20 – 23,  Jesus said;

My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, ²¹ that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²² I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— ²³ I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

First Samuel 12:23 says,

“Far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you.”

First Thessalonians 5:17 says,

“Pray without ceasing.”

Matthew 26:41 says,

“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”

• When we don’t pray in the Spirit, we’re powerless. It limits our relationship with God. It hinders us from knowing His will, His priorities, and His direction.
• When we don’t pray in the Spirit, we rely on what we can do instead of what He can do.
• When we don’t pray in the Spirit, we’re showing pride, self-sufficiency, and lack of discipline.
• When we don’t pray in the Spirit, we’re left weak, harried, and hassled.

Pray for souls

Pray that God will open our eyes to see a new vision in which the local church is the central locus of evangelism and discipleship.  Pray in the SPIRIT for;

1. SOULS IN ALL

• Countries
• Cities

2. DAILY  NEEDS  

• Spiritual –  reconciliation  with  God,  others,  self,  and  the  world
• Physical –  adequate  food,  clean  water,  safe  shelter,  medical  care
• Emotional –  healthy  relationships,  peace,  support,  healing
• Mental –  understanding  of  true  identity,  restoration  of  identity,  healing  of  illnesses
• Social –  systems  in  societies  that  would  support  not  oppress  people,  justice  issues,  family  relationships

Pray in the Spirit knowing that;

God “has sworn and will not change his mind!”

God is faithful to supply our every need

Hudson Taylor, a missionary to China, wrote these words in 1867.

“Many seem to think I am very poor. This is true enough in one sense, but My God shall supply all my needs. On Saturday we supplied breakfast to the destitute poor who came to the number of 70. They come to us every day, Lord’s Day excepted. Well, after that morning we paid all expense and had not a single dollar left between us. How the Lord was going to provide for Monday we knew not-but over our mantelpiece hung the encouragement “Hitherto hath the Lord helped us, and Jehovah-Jireh shall keep us from doubting for a moment.” That very day the mail came in sooner than expected with a check for $214.00 We thanked God and took courage. On Monday the poor had their breakfast. The Lord had provided and with our eyes filling with tears of gratitude we were able to supply the needs of widows, orphans, the blind and the lame, the friendless and the destitute.”

Taylor’s letter reminds us God grants us contentment and joy as we serve others out of what He has provided and in our generous attempts to Do Good Works, God is faithful to supply our every need.

We all want to be winners

An old saint once said to me, “My doctrine of the end times is pretty simple. I’ve read the last chapter of the Bible, and the good guys win.” Maybe that’s all we need to know.

-EVENT-

The first goal of the ‘fundraiser’ is to raise about five thousand to help the family meet short-term personal and collective cost of transitioning and basic need for food, shelter and if the Lord wills, transition to ‘gainful’ employment in ministry or otherwise.

For the last three years, our living arrangements has primarily come from our own ‘savings’ supplemented with gifts of tithes and offerings from God’s people in different parts of our nation and world. Our ’employment’ and financial support from the General Conference terminated February 2009 and after three years, of ministering by faith, meeting felt needs of the ministry by faith, we can say GOD is faithful! He has become our EBENEZER!Nevertheless we stand in need as we transition and appreciate prayers.

The second goal of the event, {if a miracle of a million dollars occurs and somehow committed over the next ten years if Jesus tarries} is to transition to a new vision and ministry by August 1, 2012 focused on sharing the gospel to all people, helping young people, families and parents in transitions to transition with dignity as well as helping all people find a place of usefulness in the work of the kingdom of God and together growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus until that day he calls us HOME to spent eternity at our permanent home in heaven. This world is not our home. Heaven is our home and we must do all we can to prepare to spent eternity in heaven with God.

In Everything Give Thanks

“I preached on the righteousness of the law and the righteousness of faith. While I was speaking, several dropped down as dead and among the rest such a cry was heard of sinners groaning for the righteousness of faith that it almost drowned my voice. But many of these soon lifted up their heads with joy and broke out into thanksgiving, being assured they now had the desire of their soul – the forgiveness of their sins.” ~ John Wesley~

Obstacles in the work of the Gospel

   1) The bare-handed missionary-pastor/ church-planter, who goes with inadequate back-up and resources.

   2) The self-managing missionary-pastor / church-planter, who means well, but needs on-the-field supervision.

   3) The untrained missionary-pastor/ church-Planter, with special reference to the lack of additional training on the field where he/she works.

   4) The rise of the questioning layman and laywoman, who too readily assumes he/she has the answers.

   5) The failure to harness vital new forces, especially in handing down leadership to the younger, newer missionaries and recruits.

   6) The need for dual and non-100% White or Reflective of one Ethnic Mission Boards (the so-called “Cross-Cultural Mission Agencies.”)

   7) The decline of women’s involvement (the death of the Women’s Boards and the change from the local church’s Women’s Missionary Society to simply the meeting of the Women’s Society), with all that implied for missions.

   8) The syndrome of “every organization for itself,” with its resultant overlap and duplication of effort while vast fields go untouched.

   9) The lack of a Major Mission Center for Worship, Fellowship, Teaching and Nurture ministries to Children, youth, College students, Newly Married, Married with Children, Singles, Middle aged and the elderly. (This was the whole basis for envisioning acreage).

   10) The absence of economically “indigenized” projects. In other words, are we solely to rely on fundraising or indigenized projects?

   11) The myth of “over-missionizing” — basically a psychological obstacle rather than a real one.

   12) The massive omission, ending up where you began with the challenge of the still-unreached.

(Adapted from Dr. Raph Winter,  the founder of the U.S. Center for World Mission (USCWM), William Carey International University, and the International Society for Frontier Missiology.)

God Can!

We are here looking prayerfully at a survey of what could possibly be the four acres of land for a church of all people and all nations in Coppel, TX (i.e Northwest Corner of Dallas County).

The call of God is for a church founded on the word of God and prayer. A church where forgiveness of sins is proclaimed. A church where healing and restoration of individuals, families and communities is a way of life.  A church where the lost can hear about the savior.

Humanly speaking it appears impossible for our small church to make this move at this time, but with God, all things are possible and 2012 could be a year of fulfillment of this vision that we have shared for seven years now.

God is God and he cannot share his glory with anyone. We must be careful to allow God to do what he alone can do. Our part is to pray knowing that it is not by might, but by the spirit.

Time and time again God’s angels and Jesus himself tell us, “Do not fear, only believe.” Fear is the enemy of faith.  It is, also, the enemy of hope.  We must resist fear. Fear is one of the chief obstacles we face as we seek to imagine and live into God’s preferred future. For more, go to https://chepkwonyerick.wordpress.com/category/journey/ and be sure to pray in faith, knowing that GOD CAN!

Go and bear fruit that would last

In John chapter fifteen, verse sixteen, Jesus makes very clear the mission of the disciples.  They were to go and bear fruit that would last.  No one would argue that Jesus meant that the disciples would add people to the Kingdom (see John 4).  Somewhere along the way Jesus disciples began grouping and in grouping became more concerned with adding to their group than in fulfilling Jesus’ mandate.

For most of the last 20 years in America,  churches and denominations kept trying to get better results from a flawed plan.  That plan included a believe that:

• “If we build it they will come,”
• “Bigger is better,” and that
• The way to “save our church” is to invest in the structures and decisions that got us into this mess in the first place.

Jesus had a simple plan and he laid it out for his disciples.

1. Remain in me (John 15:1-15);
2. Bear fruit (John 15:16);
3. Love one another (John 15:17);
4. Under the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit tell others about me as those who know me best (John 15:26-27).

God has a plan for His Church; a good plan for fruitfulness.  But we have to follow his map to that destination—not ours.

It Is Finished and Jesus is LORD of ALL

(John 19:28-30)

There are three words in the English language that, when spoken together, can signify either the deepest joy and satisfaction or the deepest sorrow and despair. These words are:

“It is finished.”

=

When they are used by graduating seniors, or marathon runners, or a church elder finishing out his last term of leadership — you know it’s a sign of joy and relief.

When they are used by a senior who has failed his final exam or by a farmer looking at his crops after a devastating drought, or by a fan watching a favorite game, you know it is a sign of dejection. Sometimes there is an in-between stage when it can go either way.

When Jesus uttered those words on the cross there were different responses.

• For His friends and disciples it meant that all their hopes and dreams were over. It meant the end of their plans for a triumphant Israel and for a promised Messiah — back to a way of life known before.
• For the Pharisees it meant that the threat was finished, that this troublemaker would bother them no more, and that life would return again to normal.
• For Satan and the hosts of evil it meant the battle was finished, the victory over God was won. It was a defeat for God, who had tried to reach out to His fallen race in love and that race had nailed His Son to a tree.

According to Luke’s gospel, when Jesus breathed His last, the curtain of the Temple was torn in two. The curtain symbolized the separation that existed between man and God because of sin. Only the Priest, after much ceremonial cleansing and sacrifices, could enter the Holy of Holies.

Maybe the Sanhedrin did take note; maybe the forces of darkness became a little uneasy. They had Pilate set extra guards around the tomb of Jesus just in case. It did not matter. When Sunday rolled around, that stone rolled away and with it the song of love burst out again. It suddenly became clear that those words on the cross had a whole new meaning.

“It is finished” meant not that His life was over, that everything would go back to the same old pattern. Instead, His work was accomplished; everything was different. That for which He had come was completed. Jesus Christ came into the world to rescue His people and save them from their sins and bondage, to set them free from the power of the evil one. He accomplished that by His death and resurrection. In the words of Peter in his Epistle,

“You were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”

We are bought with a price — a costly price it was. When He said “It is finished,” He meant that the debt had been paid in full, a debt we owed and could never repay. It is accomplished just as God planned it from the foundation of the world. Now for the disciples the words took on deepest joy and gladness. For the hosts of darkness it was a crushing defeat.

The meaning of Easter is not simply that because Christ rose from the dead we will be able to live in heaven. It also means that everything Christ came to do was accomplished. John 19:28 says: “After this, Jesus knowing that all had already been accomplished said, ‘I am thirsty’ in order that Scripture might be fulfilled.” When He tasted the sour wine, He then said

“It is finished.”

–

Everything prophesied about Him was completed. Salvation is accomplished, redemption is attained through Jesus’ death and resurrection. There is nothing that can be added to it. Nothing that we can do that makes His sacrifices better. It is not conditional on our good works, on our baptism, on our church membership. All we can do is receive it by faith, celebrate it, and live out our lives in response.Easter is that celebration of our rescue. In Christ, God did for us what we could not do for ourselves. He only had to do it once. The cross is empty; He is risen!

The cross is empty, and He will never be on it again. The writer of Hebrews 9:26 says, “But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.”  It is finished. He is risen.” The focus is not so much on what we have to do as on what God has done.What He calls us to do is to place our trust in Him as our Lord and our Savior; and to live as new people, to live in the newness of resurrection.

We cannot live with the same old habits and in the same defeat;

we are people freed by Jesus to walk in victory,

to walk in newness of life.

Our citizenship is in Heaven

In Genesis we read that God called Abraham out from Ur to go a land he would show him. Ur was a dream city in southern Iraq. Archeologist now say that Ur had indoor plumbing and air-conditioned shopping malls two thousand years before Christ.

When Abraham said goodbye to the city of Ur, he was never going back again. There must have been some desert crossings when he remembered the comforts of his old home. There were some lonely times as an alien. He must have longed for the embrace of the family he left behind, a taste of some home cooking, and the comfort of familiar surroundings. But he moved inexorably forward, allowing the past to be past.

Christians are aliens in this world. Like ancient Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we are pilgrims passing through. Like our ancient fathers, we are called to live in tents that can be packed up at a moment’s notice. In John 1:14 we read

”The Word became flesh and dwelt among us…”

The original Greek literally says, “Jesus pitched his tent among us.” Our Lord never purchased a piece of property, or built a house. His earthly life was spent on the go. He stayed here for only 33 years before he moved on to heaven. In the same way, we are called to pitch our tents, not build permanent residences in the cities of men that will never last.

The only property Abraham ever owned was a cave that he purchased as a burial crypt for his family. Other than that, our faith ancestors were nomads living in tents rather than houses. Though they passed among the cities of the Canaanites, they never became citizens of those places. Hebrews 11:16 says,

“Instead they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one.”

The only one who ever built a house was Abraham’s nephew Lot, and it cost him his soul.

New Testament Christians are also called to live as alien residents on earth. We are here as aliens who have invaded planet earth for a purpose. Jesus went on to pray to his heavenly Father,

“As you have sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.” (John 17:18)

Our Lord gave a new name to his disciples: the church. It was the first time that word had ever been used to describe God’s people. The Greek word is ecclesia. It literally means “the called out ones.”

The church is “the called out out ones”  in this world. Jesus is intent on conquering the whole world and then transforming it. He has sent us into a world where we don’t belong. He has gifted us with skills that can benefit the world, and a message that can bring salvation. But we don’t belong here. We are called to transform the world, not be conformed to it. Like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we are people of the tent living among the Canaanites to show them the glory of God.

Resident aliens on planet earth, who know know that their permanent home is heaven must live by faith. Faith is about dreams, not nostalgia. It always looks forward. Jesus said,

“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back over his shoulder is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62)

The church is the ecclesia. We are the “called out ones” on a mission. To put it another way, we are all foreign missionaries in this place that is not home. It doesn’t matter what we used to be or where we came from.

The point of the GOSPEL is that we never have enough to meet the needs of life

Everyone at some point in life has an overwhelming thing to face and a problem of lack. There are areas of life where we face demands bigger than our resources. We calculate the odds and are undone. So we want to throw in the towel.

The central theme of the gospel is that we never have enough to meet the needs of life. We don’t have enough righteousness to please God. We don’t have enough strength to overcome everything that life throws at us. In every area that really matters, our funds are insufficient. We don’t have enough righteousness to earn our own salvation. We don’t have enough power to live the Christian life. We can’t do enough to make everyone happy. We can’t stop wars, solve America’s problems, fix our family, or overcome our own deficiencies. Apart from God, we are in trouble.

In John chapter 6, it’s late in the day and there are 5,000 hungry men out there not counting women and children in the crowd. That’s a lot of mouths to feed. All that stands between this hoard of hungry Hebrews and starvation is a little boy with a snack lunch—five barley loaves and two small fish. Hear the word;

“Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far side of the Sea of Galilee (that is the Sea of Tiberius) and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. The Jewish Passover Feast was near.”

It is obvious from reading the first sentence that the word is out. The Rabbi from Nazareth is a miracle worker. This day, many people with INSUFFICIENT FUNDS stamped across their wrinkled foreheads heard about his whereabouts. On this particular day, Someone spies Jesus leaving on a boat. A shout went up, and people left everything behind and followed him.  The crippled hobble on crutches, the blind poke along with their walking sticks, and the lepers follow behind at a safe distance.

In verse five, we read;

When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” ⁶ He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

Jesus must have seen folks that are empty-handed, exhausted and hungry in the middle of the Galilean wilderness. Before giving a practical solution, he puts his disciples in a place of helplessness and vulnerability. He asks them,

“Where shall we buy bread for all these people to eat?”

Maybe you are in a wilderness today. It’s never easy. But it’s a great place and time to remember that big needs and short supplies are the two most used equipment in God’s gymnasium. Growth comes when we are exhausted, and our faith muscles scream out in pain, “I don’t know if I can stand this pressure any longer!”

The story reaches its climax in verses 10-13:

“Jesus said to them, ‘Have the people sit down.’ There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. Jesus then took the loaves and gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were seated, as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. When they all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, ‘Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.’ So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.”

There are several truths here. One, Jesus gives thanks before he does the miracle. He had the faith to declare that it would happen before it did. He thanked God so that the people would know that only he can supply our needs. Everyone had as much as they wanted. God’s grace supplies more than we can ever ask or imagine. Is Jesus saying that, whenever we come together as a church and feed on the grace of God, there is always enough left over for us to go out and share with folks who are starving for grace out there? I think so!

As we come together, we must remember that we all come out of the wilderness of sin and failure. Our lives are spiritually bankrupt. But an old rugged cross stands on the distant horizon of history. The hands that multiplied that bread were nailed to that cross. There the Son of God paid for our insufficient righteousness with his wealth of righteousness. On that cross he cried out, “It is finished.”

If you are feeling drained of resources today, facing a multitude of needs beyond your capacity, put the little you have in his hands and step out in faith. Don’t be surprised if you discover what millions have already found out:

in the hands of Jesus,

a little bit is more than enough!

God is not a man, that he should lie

Numbers 23:19

God is not a man, that he should lie,

nor a son of man, that he should change his mind.

Does he speak and then not act?

Does he promise and not fulfill?

Overseer’s Reflection

Dallas  is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States.  The city is the largest economic center of the 12-county Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area (the DFW MSA) that according to the March 2010 U.S. Census Bureau release, had a population of roughly 6.5 million as of July 2009.

Dallas was founded in 1841 and was formally incorporated as a city {15 years later) in February 1856. Dallas today attracts many people from different parts of the world who come here seeking employment or continuing their education. Like many other American cities, Dallas has changed since 1950. It has nearly tripled in terms of its population, and along with Fort Worth and its many suburbs, comprises the largest market in the southern United States, and the ninth largest market in the nation as a whole.

Population growth came first to Dallas, as it did for many other cities, from the rural areas surrounding Texas. The mechanization of the agricultural industry (which allowed fewer people to perform the same work), along with promise of good jobs and prosperity, lured rural citizens and returning World War II veterans away from their farms and into nearby cities. Later in the seventies and eighties, as the manufacturing jobs of the north began to dwindle, northerners began to migrate to regions in the Sun Belt, Dallas being no exception.

Most recently, as in many places in the United States, Dallas with its strong economy has been the destination for immigrants from around virtually every nation, but most predominately from Mexico and other Latin American nations. All of these migrations have created a dynamic and diverse society, and one that is different from the Dallas of fifty years prior. With the significant population growth and the changes in the city of Dallas over the past half century, God engaged the leadership of the Southern Methodist Church early 2004 with a question, what is First Southern Methodist Church of Dallas, a  struggling and declining local church in a neighborhood that is increasingly becoming multi-ethnic to do?

The answer from God was simply

to be  Victorious Fellowship

Ecclesiastes 3 says that there are times of dying and uprooting and weeping and mourning. It’s okay to go down, but the people of God must not  stay down. If we do, we might miss the times of birth and seasons to plant and build and laugh and even dance. Do you need a harvest of joy? Turn to Psalm 126.

Like every American citizen and permanent resident, I love this country deeply and pray to God to heal this land. Our children are American Citizens. My wife and I have been in this nation for more than 15 years. Of these years, one year as Associate Professor of Old Testament at Simmons College of Kentucky , four were spent serving as a lead-pastor for two predominantly white middle class congregations in Ohio,   and another four years working with a predominantly African American and a Hispanic congregations meeting for services in one facility in Pleasant Grove area in the South-East Corner of Dallas County as part of transitional pastoral leadership with support and prayers of  both the General and Annual Conference.

Since August 2009 our work has been focused primarily on sharing  the gospel among the first and second generation of Kenyan-Americans, predominantly from Rift Valley whose population is estimated at 7 thousand in the state of Texas. We have also focused on sharing the gospel to many young people from all cultures and races in Dallas County. We have also shared the gospel and a vision for a church  that stands upon the word of God, rooted in Historic Methodism and faithful to the Great Commission to reach out to ALL PEOPLE.

From the first day till now, our heart’s desire has not been  to birth a tribal church in Dallas, but to see God raise a church for ALL PEOPLE. Before we get there, we must remember that God always starts with one family then adds to that number such as are saved. Today, God has began a good work and has formed a nucleus so that

ALL NATIONS may hear the gospel and

The city turned upside down for JESUS

Regardless of what you have heard and seen, the vision at hand is for VICTORY FELLOWSHIP to be a church in Dallas that reaches out to ALL people from all races, ethnicities and background. We could not have done this without the support and prayers of many people in the General Church who like Rev. Bashaw of Baton Rouge and Rev. Beauchamp of Shreveport believed that this gospel must be preached. In those formative stages, they had met in the home of Mr. Wilkins and founded a church with conviction that Dallas would be the center of Southern Methodism in days to come.

 Times of uncertainty are made easier when we realize that they are seasons of life. Seasons come and go, but God’s plans are immutable. At this juncture, America needs your prayers. Many people are afflicted by the loss of moral laxity, the pain of addiction to debt, the strife that they may find at home, church and all levels of societal and civil structures. Many people have  lost jobs and those with jobs are not sure they will stay employed. Many people have lost their homes and several more  have lost hope in America.

Psalm 126 reminds us that there is a love that will never let God’s people go. On May 15, 1948, almost 2000 years after Rome snuffed out Israel, she again became a nation. Political experts said that it was an impossibility. Historians still shake their heads in amazement. Only God could have moved geo-political events in such a way that this miracle of history could happen a second time.

 The scriptural story of the people of God teaches us that no matter how many times those who believe in God are knocked down, they will never be knocked out. Like Israel, those who believe in Creator God will always come back. St. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 3:8-9,

“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed…”

The writer of Psalm 126 discovered that, even when they cried their tears in Babylon, their best days were still ahead of them. We should live with a sense of anticipation. Don’t stop dreaming of a better day tomorrow. If Israel can’t be buried, then nobody can ever declare that it’s over for any of God’s children. Your 401K might be wiped out, but that is not over. Your property values might have plummeted, but that is not over. Your body might be diseased with cancer, but that is not over for you. Your career might have stagnated, but that is not over. In verse 4 of Psalm 126, we read that the Israelite cry out,

• Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like streams in the Negev.

The books of Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, and Zechariah tell of the difficulty these people went through when God had restored their fortunes. They had to clear the land, rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, and build a new temple. It was discouraging, backbreaking work. The new temple was so inferior to the glory of the former temple that the old folks wept bitterly. Nonetheless, they said;

• “Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy.”

Their Joy was because they had come out of Babylonian captivity and could once again worship their God, raise their families in the way of the LORD and see their land healed and revived by the GOSPEL. Jesus teaches us that SIN is our “Babylonian Captivity.” When we give our lives to JESUS we find victory over sin and we can shout with the Jews “Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of Joy.” Joy is the fruit of the SPIRIT. Psalm 126 ends with a great promise in verses 4-6:

“Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.”

St. Paul promises in Galatians 6:9:

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

If you know Jesus as your savior, DO NOT grow weary praying for your lost brothers and sister.

Pray  that NATIONS will hear the GOSPEL

And glorify his NAME.

Pray for many in the horn of Africa suffering starvation and pray for many young people feeling LOST due to the massive shift that has come with technological revolution. Pray that God will move our hearts, to love him and to do those things that bring glory to God. Pray for healing, reconciliation among races, age-sets, ethnicity and etc. GOD is faithful and he in his time he will make ALL things beautiful.

The treasures of the Wesleyan message, have never been more relevant than today.

All valid Christian traditions preach that justification and adoption give repentant sinners a new standing, in which God imputes Christ’s righteousness to us and frees us from the guilt of sin. The Wesleyan message also emphasizes that regeneration and sanctification give us a new state, in which God imparts Christ’s righteousness to us and frees us from the power of sin. The treasures of the Wesleyan message, have never been more relevant than today.

HEAR THE WORD…. AGAIN

Romans 8

Life Through the Spirit

 ¹ Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, ² because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you^[a] free from the law of sin and death. ³ For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh,^[b] God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.^[c] And so he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

 ⁵ Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. ⁶ The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷ The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. ⁸ Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

 ⁹ You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. ¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life^[d] because of righteousness. ¹¹ And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of^[e] his Spirit who lives in you.

 ¹² Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. ¹³ For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

 ¹⁴ For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. ¹⁵ The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.^[f] And by him we cry, “Abba,^[g] Father.” ¹⁶ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. ¹⁷ Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

Present Suffering and Future Glory

 ¹⁸ I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. ¹⁹ For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that^[h]the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

 ²² We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. ²³ Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴ For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

 ²⁶ In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. ²⁷ And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

 ²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who^[i] have been called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. ³⁰ And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

More Than Conquerors

 ³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? ³³ Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶As it is written:

   “For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”^[j]

 ³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,^[k] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The words that burn

May every lost soul hear the words of Jesus that;

“For love of you I left my Father’s side.  I came to you who ran from me, who fled me, who did not want to hear my name. For love of you I was covered with spit, punched and beaten, and fixed to the wood of the cross.”

• ‘Once you come to know the love of Jesus Christ, nothing else in the world will seem as beautiful or desirable.’
• Accept and embrace the good news of God’s unconditional love in Jesus Christ.

Hear the word…. again

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

⁶ Who, being in very nature^[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
⁷ rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature^[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

Philippians 2:5-8

What If?

I heard a very touching story from a pastor who preaches in Florida. It is a story of how Bennie, a child of unwed immigrant mother became Ben W. Hooper, the most powerful lawyer and governor in Tennessee.

It is noted by several commentators and pastors that it wasn’t easy for Bennie to bear the disgrace of being the love child of an unwed immigrant mother—especially during the late 1800s in rural Tennessee. He was shunned by other children, he withdrew into a shell of self-loathing. Teased unmercifully, he learned to fight back with fists and bulldog determination. But his hard-shell exterior hid the shame of grinding poverty that made him the town ragamuffin. Mostly, Bennie hated the salacious gossip about the things that his mother did late at night to make ends meet.

One day, it is noted that Hooper slipped into church that stood upon the word of God, by himself and with shabby clothes that made him appear an outcast. At the church he sat at the back row like a leper and slipped out as soon the service was. Another time, he slipped again. This time, the pastor took notice of him and went to greet him. The pastor then uttered the words he dreaded. The pastor said, “You must be the child of…”

Ben shrunk back in shame, knowing that it would only be a moment before the preacher would say “You are the  illegitimate son of the immigrant woman living in………” To Ben’s shock, the pastor said,  “Yes, now I recognize you. You’re a child of God.” He then slapped Hooper on the back and said, “Now go out and claim your rightful inheritance.”

Circumstances changed for Bennie a few months later. His mother died, and the doctor who had left her to marry someone else, reconnected with his son and took him into his home. Hooper later said, it all began when that pastor slapped him on the back and said, “You are a child of God, now go out and claim your rightful inheritance.”

Do you know what became of Ben Hoover? Check it out on wikipedia. He became  the most famous lawyer in the state of Tennessee, and a two-term governor. It all began and ended this way when Ben grasped that he was “a child of God” and did go out to claim his rightful inheritance.

• What if you and I would grasp that we are the child of God and as a result claim our rightful inheritance? How many lost souls would be rescued and transformed?
• What if we start believing the best things about others even when what is apparent is the worst? How many lost souls would be touched by the love of God?
• What if we believe the best things about ourselves, family, church and society? How many precious souls languishing  in despair would be transformed by the love of God?

The life of Ben Hooper teaches us that there is transforming power in believing the best things. Jesus believed the best in people. In Mark chapter 9, we see that he believed the best for  a demon-possessed boy who spent his childhood in convulsions, rolling around on the ground and foaming at the mouth. When everyone had given up on the boy as a lost cause, Jesus did not.

Do you feel anyone has given up on you?

The truth is: God has not given up on you. You are not a lost cause with God. Believe in Jesus, believe also His word for you.  Hear the WORD again;

• “Everything is possible for him who believes” (Mark 9:23 ).
• “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible”  (Mathew 19:26)
• “Is anything too hard for the LORD?” (Genesis 18:14 )
• “Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.” (I Samuel 14:6b)
• “Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you. (Jeremiah 32:17)
• “I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me? (Jeremiah 32:27)
• “For nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37)

WHAT IF WE BELIEVE HIS WORD and TRUST HIS GRACE? WILL YOU SAY

Though I can’t see Your holy face
And Your throne in heaven above
It seems so far away
Though I cant touch your nail scarred hands
I have a deep and unspeakable joy
That makes my faith to stand

Lord, I believe in You
I’ll always believe in You
Though I cant see you with my eyes
Deep in my heart
Your presence I find
Lord, I believe in You
And I’ll keep my trust in You
Let the whole world say what they may
No one can take this joy away
Lord, I believe

Born from above
You are Gods only chosen one
Youre the one and only true way
To the Fathers heart
You died for all sin
Then you rose and now live again
Conquering death and the grave
So that I might live

Lord, I believe in You
I’ll always believe in You
Though I cant see you with my eyes
Deep in my heart
Your presence I find
Lord, I believe in You
And I’ll keep my trust in You
Let the whole world say what they may
No one can take this joy away

Hear the WORD

Jim Jones shared that Last January he sent out a thought about a little devotional book he had found at Foundry Press (the Southern Methodist Bookstore in Orangeburg) titled, Dialogues with God, by Frances J. Roberts.  He notes that the format of the book is conversational;

Frances Roberts speaks to God in her time of prayer, and unlike most of us, she waits to hear His response. One time she heard God said,

“Yea, my child, I have been betrayed more times by silence than by words. By words a man may sin against Me, but by silence do ye rob Me of My Glory. Said I not, if those who praised kept silent, I would cause the stones to testify? Yea, but I take no pleasure in the stones, but I rejoice in My people. . .

I am continually placed on trial in the eyes of men by the enemy. You are My defense. For as I plead your cause before the throne against the devil’s accusations, so I depend upon you to defend Me before those who cast doubts and aspersions upon Me before men. Truly these words are prompted of the devil the same as the words he brings to Me against you. Never miss an opportunity to uphold Me; and know this: As you testify of Me and plead My cause before men, I will surly plead your cause and witness for you before the Father.”

And the harvest of righteousness (of conformity to God’s will in thought and deed) is [the fruit of the seed] sown in peace by those who work for and make peace [in themselves and in others, that peace which means concord, agreement, and harmony between individuals, with undisturbedness, in a peaceful mind free from fears and agitating passions and moral conflicts]. James 3: 18

And God’s peace [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4: 7

In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for You, Lord, alone make me dwell in safety and confident trust. Psalm 4: 8

Acquaint now yourself with Him [agree with God and show yourself to be conformed to His will] and be at peace; by that [you shall prosper and great] good shall come to you. Job 22: 21

When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. Proverbs 16: 7

You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You. Isaiah 26: 3

Lord, You will ordain peace (God’s favor and blessings, both temporal and spiritual) for us, for You have also wrought in us and for us all our works. Isaiah 26: 12

Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.] John 14: 27

Peace be to the brethren, and love joined with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). Ephesians 6: 23

Now may the Lord of peace Himself grant you His peace (the peace of His kingdom) at all times and in all ways [under all circumstances and conditions, whatever comes]. The Lord [be] with you all. 2 Thessalonians 3: 16

First of all, then, I admonish and urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be offered on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in positions of authority or high responsibility, that [outwardly] we may pass a quiet and undisturbed life [and inwardly] a peaceable one in all godliness and reverence and seriousness in every way. 1 Timothy 2: 1-2

Blessed (enjoying enviable happiness, spiritually prosperous–with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions) are the makers and maintainers of peace, for they shall be called the sons of God! Matthew 5: 9

If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Romans 12: 18

So let us then definitely aim for and eagerly pursue what makes for harmony and for mutual upbuilding (edification and development) of one another. Romans 14: 19

Let him turn away from wickedness and shun it, and let him do right. Let him search for peace (harmony; undisturbedness from fears, agitating passions, and moral conflicts) and seek it eagerly. [Do not merely desire peaceful relations with God, with your fellowmen, and with yourself, but pursue, go after them!] 1 Peter 3: 11

And may the God of peace Himself sanctify you through and through [separate you from profane things, make you pure and wholly consecrated to God]; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved sound and complete [and found] blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah). 1 Thessalonians 5: 23

Depart from evil and do good; seek, inquire for, and crave peace and pursue (go after) it! Psalm 34: 14

And the effect of righteousness will be peace [internal and external], and the result of righteousness will be quietness and confident trust forever. Isaiah 32: 17

My people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, in safe dwellings, and in quiet resting-places. Isaiah 32: 18

Oh, that you had hearkened to My commandments! Then your peace and prosperity would have been like a flowing river, and your righteousness [the holiness and purity of the nation] like the [abundant] waves of the sea. Isaiah 48: 18

Salt is good (beneficial), but if salt has lost its saltness, how will you restore [the saltness to] it? Have salt within yourselves, and be at peace and live in harmony with one another. Mark 9: 50

Strive to live in peace with everybody and pursue that consecration and holiness without which no one will [ever] see the Lord. Hebrews 12: 14

And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state] to which as [members of Christ’s] one body you were also called [to live]. And be thankful (appreciative), [giving praise to God always]. Colossians 3: 15

Therefore, since we are justified (acquitted, declared righteous, and given a right standing with God) through faith, let us [grasp the fact that we] have [the peace of reconciliation to hold and to enjoy] peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). Romans 5: 1

Then on that same first day of the week, when it was evening, though the disciples were behind closed doors for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, Peace to you! John 20: 19

I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.] John 16: 33

May grace (God’s favor) and peace (which is perfect well-being, all necessary good, all spiritual prosperity, and freedom from fears and agitating passions and moral conflicts) be multiplied to you in [the full, personal, precise, and correct] knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 2 Peter 1: 2

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good tidings, who publishes peace, who brings good tidings of good, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, Your God reigns! Isaiah 52: 7

There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked. Isaiah 57: 21

Finally, brethren, farewell (rejoice)! Be strengthened (perfected, completed, made what you ought to be); be encouraged and consoled and comforted; be of the same [agreeable] mind one with another; live in peace, and [then] the God of love [Who is the Source of affection, goodwill, love, and benevolence toward men] and the Author and Promoter of peace will be with you. 2 Corinthians 13: 11

To shine upon and give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to direct and guide our feet in a straight line into the way of peace. Luke 1: 79

Exclaiming, Would that you had known personally, even at least in this your day, the things that make for peace (for freedom from all the distresses that are experienced as the result of sin and upon which your peace–your security, safety, prosperity, and happiness–depends)! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Luke 19: 42

And He came and preached the glad tidings of peace to you who were afar off and [peace] to those who were near. Ephesians 2: 17

Be eager and strive earnestly to guard and keep the harmony and oneness of [and produced by] the Spirit in the binding power of peace. Ephesians 4: 3

And hold them in very high and most affectionate esteem in [intelligent and sympathetic] appreciation of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. 1 Thessalonians 5: 13

The Call

Jeremiah 1:5-10

`

 ⁵ “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,  before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”  ⁶ “Alas, Sovereign LORD,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”

 ⁷ But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. ⁸ Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the LORD.

 ⁹ Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth. ¹⁰ See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”

Numbers 14

The Fourth Book of Moses, Called

Numbers

14

The People Rebel against the LORD
1	And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.
2	And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!
3	And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?
4	¶ And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.
5	Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.
6	And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephun’neh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes:
7	and they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land.
8	If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.
9	Only rebel not ye against the LORD, Heb. 3.16 neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defense is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.
10	But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. ¶ And the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel.
11	And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have showed among them?
12	I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they.
13	¶ And Moses said unto the LORD, Then the Egyptians shall hear it, (for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them;)
14	and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that thou LORD art among this people, that thou LORD art seen face to face, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, by daytime in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night.
15	Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying,
16	Because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness.
17	And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my LORD be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying,
18	The LORD is long-suffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. Ex. 20.5, 6 ; 34.6, 7 · Deut. 5.9, 10 ; 7.9, 10
19	Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now. Ex. 32.11-14
God’s Punishment on Israel
Deut. 1.34-40
20	¶ And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word:
21	but as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.
22	Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;
23	surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it: Heb. 3.18
24	but my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it. Josh. 14.9-12
25	(Now the Amal’ekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley.) Tomorrow turn you, and get you into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea.
26	¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
27	How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.
28	Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you:
29	your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness, Heb. 3.17 and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me,
30	doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephun’neh, and Joshua the son of Nun.
31	But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised.
32	But as for you, your carcasses, they shall fall in this wilderness.
33	And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, Acts 7.36 and bear your whoredoms, until your carcasses be wasted in the wilderness.
34	After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.
35	I the LORD have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.
The Death of the Ten Evil Spies
36	¶ And the men which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land,
37	even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the LORD.
38	But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephun’neh, which were of the men that went to search the land, lived still.
The Defeat of Israel at Hormah
Deut. 1.41-46
39	¶ And Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly.
40	And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the LORD hath promised: for we have sinned.
41	And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the LORD? but it shall not prosper.
42	Go not up, for the LORD is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies.
43	For the Amal’ekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned away from the LORD, therefore the LORD will not be with you.
44	But they presumed to go up unto the hilltop: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and Moses, departed not out of the camp.
45	Then the Amal’ekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah.

Gospel

In I Samuel 12, God tells his people that even though you have sinned greatly and terribly dishonored the Lord, even though you now have a king which it was a sin to get, even though there is no undoing that sin or its painful consequences that are yet to come, nevertheless there is a future and a hope. Fear not! Fear not!

What is the basis of the fearlessness of God’s people according to this verse? First of all it is the promise that he will not cast them away. In spite of their sin in wanting a king, the verse says,

• “The Lord will not cast away his people.”

But that is not the deepest foundation of hope and fearlessness in this verse. Why will God not cast away his people? The deepest reason given is in the phrase,

• “For his great name’s sake.”

The rock bottom foundation of our forgiveness and our fearlessness and our joy is the commitment that God has to his own great name. First, he is committed to act for his own name’s sake. And then, for that reason, he is committed to act for his people.

How does Samuel make that connection for us in this verse? Why is it that God’s commitment to his own name results in not casting away his people? How does his commitment to his name produce a commitment to this people?

1 Samuel 12

 ¹ Samuel said to all Israel, “I have listened to everything you said to me and have set a king over you. ² Now you have a king as your leader. As for me, I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have been your leader from my youth until this day. ³Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the LORD and his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these things, I will make it right.”

 ⁴ “You have not cheated or oppressed us,” they replied. “You have not taken anything from anyone’s hand.”

 ⁵ Samuel said to them, “The LORD is witness against you, and also his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.”

   “He is witness,” they said.

 ⁶ Then Samuel said to the people, “It is the LORD who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your ancestors up out of Egypt. ⁷ Now then, stand here, because I am going to confront you with evidence before the LORD as to all the righteous acts performed by the LORD for you and your ancestors.

 ⁸ “After Jacob entered Egypt, they cried to the LORD for help, and the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your ancestors out of Egypt and settled them in this place.

 ⁹ “But they forgot the LORD their God; so he sold them into the hand of Sisera, the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab, who fought against them. ¹⁰ They cried out to the LORD and said, ‘We have sinned; we have forsaken the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths. But now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve you.’ ¹¹ Then the LORD sent Jerub-Baal,^[a] Barak,^[b] Jephthah and Samuel,^[c] and he delivered you from the hands of your enemies all around you, so that you lived in safety.

 ¹² “But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we want a king to rule over us’—even though the LORD your God was your king. ¹³ Now here is the king you have chosen, the one you asked for; see, the LORD has set a king over you. ¹⁴ If you fear the LORD and serve and obey him and do not rebel against his commands, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the LORD your God—good! ¹⁵ But if you do not obey the LORD, and if you rebel against his commands, his hand will be against you, as it was against your ancestors.

 ¹⁶ “Now then, stand still and see this great thing the LORD is about to do before your eyes! ¹⁷ Is it not wheat harvest now? I will call on the LORD to send thunder and rain. And you will realize what an evil thing you did in the eyes of the LORD when you asked for a king.”

 ¹⁸ Then Samuel called on the LORD, and that same day the LORD sent thunder and rain. So all the people stood in awe of the LORD and of Samuel.

 ¹⁹ The people all said to Samuel, “Pray to the LORD your God for your servants so that we will not die, for we have added to all our other sins the evil of asking for a king.”

 ²⁰ “Do not be afraid,” Samuel replied. “You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. ²¹ Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless. ²² For the sake of his great name the LORD will not reject his people, because the LORD was pleased to make you his own. ²³ As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right. ²⁴ But be sure to fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you. ²⁵ Yet if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will perish.”