New Melody Church

Warriors, or Worriers? 11/12/14 “And the vale of Sidim was full of slimepits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain. And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorah, and all their victuals, and went their way. And they took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed. And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these were confederate with Abram. And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan. And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the...

“Patience” 1/2/14 “In your patience possess ye your souls.” (Luke 21:19) Patience is a virtue possessed by few, and practiced by still fewer. This is one of the many “spirits”  that I address daily in prayer. It is also one that I find to be most difficult to find and follow for myself, because, as a friend once warned me, when you pray for patience, God also gives things that will require that patience! As we look at the world, with all the problems, all of the pain, all of the evil that exists, patience wears thin, and other “spirits” tend to attempt to replace it. If we allow ourselves to succumb to those spirits, ones of impatience, anger, disappointment, delusion and dissatisfaction, we allow the possession of our very souls instead of maintaining that possession as we were asked by Jesus to do in the opening verse. Rather than regurgitate the entire chapter, I once again, ask the reader to go there for yourself. It is prophesy of a time to co...

“Suffer Little Children, and Forbid Them Not” 4/24/14 “But Jesus said, Suffer little children and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” As so often happens, the message for this day was changed before completion and publication, and the original intended must be saved for yet another time. This was prompted by yet another chance occurrence as I drove to the prayer breakfast that I too seldom attend, but chose to attend this morning. A short distance into the drive to attend that breakfast, I encountered a school bus, half filled with children stranded in a ditch where the driver had gone to avoid a collision with a passing motorist in too much of a hurry to remain behind that bus, crowding the bus too far to the side of the road in an area where a ditch had been recently cleaned, making it deeper than normal. The bus appeared to be precariously perched, leaning far to the side, with both rear axles off the ground and enoug...

“We are at War!” 1/18/14 “Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.   Thou, therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth, entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” (2 nd Timothy 2: 3&4)  As Christians, we are at war with the remainder of the world, as that world attempts to quash all semblance of morality, godliness, and particularly the teachings of Christ Jesus.  If we are at war, we must assume a posture of defense of all in which we believe. I recently heard a sermon, taken from this scripture, in which the primary premise seemed to be an emphasis that Christians, once having attained the grace given through salvation, are no longer subject to sin, and ...

Let not your Heart be Troubled! 9 Jan 13 “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions:  if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go, ye know, and the way ye know.” (John 14: 1-4) “Let not your heart be troubled, How often we hear this opening statement used at a funeral for a loved one.  It does give great comfort in those situations, and is most appropriate for them. This however, is not the only situation in which that it was intended by Jesus to be used. When He spoke those words, He was speaking to His disciples, and addressing Peter in particular.  He had just told Peter that he would deny Him three times before the cock crowed the following day. Naturally this disturbed Peter. Jesus was telling him, an...