He's All Around You!

The last few days have been spectacular if you have taken time to look at the clouds. For a guy like me, I'm a cloud man...it has been amazing.  Today the beautiful blue sky was contrasted by white clouds exploding in endless forms.  These are gifts from God.  He is amazing. He is the grandest of all artists.

Learn to rejoice in all He has given us.

Colossians 1:16

¹⁶ For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.

Revelation 4:11

¹¹ “You are worthy, our Lord and God,
    to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
    and by your will they were created
    and have their being.”

Psalm 24:1-2

¹ The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it,
    the world, and all who live in it;
² for he founded it on the seas
    and established it on the waters.

Psalm 33:6-9

⁶ By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
    their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
⁷ He gathers the waters of the sea into jars
    he puts the deep into storehouses.
⁸ Let all the earth fear the Lord;
    let all the people of the world revere him.
⁹ For he spoke, and it came to be;
    he commanded, and it stood firm.

Psalm 89:11

¹¹ The heavens are yours, and yours also the earth;
    you founded the world and all that is in it.

Next service July 7th  Glick Park...planning on 6:00am!  Weather permitting.  Step outside the box!   Lets worship.  More to come as we approach the date.

God has a plan for us!   He does!  He really really Does!   Believe it...just don't preconceive it!   Love, Pastor Kent

The Jesus Experiment Week 4

This weeks Jesus experiment verse gives us something to ponder about how we are living our lives.  How much of our life is based on "having things?"  If you are like me, it seems that having things seems to be really big in most of our lives.  Meditate on this weeks scripture and think about your life in this world.  The teaching to me reiterates how short our lives are here compared to eternity. We must be careful not to waste our time on accumulating things that 100,000 years from now are not going to matter!

1 John 2:15-17

Do Not Love the World

¹⁵ Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. ¹⁷ And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

Love, Pastor Kent

Lord, If You will just tell me what you want me to do!

How many times have you asked God that question?  I know I have many many times.  God if you will just tell me exactly what you want me to do, I will serve You to the best of my ability.

If God were to put you in that kind of assignment, could He trust you to handle it?  Are you really ready to go to the next level of faith with God?  Do you remember this story?

On the night before Jesus' crucifixion, Peter said to the Lord, "I'm ready to go with you both to prison and to death!"  In response, Jesus warned him, "The rooster will not crow today until you deny three times that you know Me." (Luke 22:33-34).

God also knows the limits of your faith. He knows what you can handle.  We can often have a higher estimate of our faithfulness and trust in God than we should. God is never fooled. He always matches His assignments with our character and faith in Him.  So trust Him. Don't insist that God put you in a position you think you should have. Don't strive to gain a position you think you deserve or can handle. That could lead to your ruin.  Rather, trust Him and obey wholeheartedly where He has put you, and watch to see where He leads next.

The above is just a sample from the book, "Experiencing God" that I hope to use as a bible study. If you are interested in how to get to know God better this is a fantastic book.   Let me know if you would be interested in meeting to discuss this book as a bible/book study.

In the mean time, just know that God loves you and is in control of all things.  But also realize that His will will always be done. The question is, "Will it be done with you and thru you or without you?

See you soon.  Love, Pastor Kent

Correction

In the last blog I sent out I stated that I was planning a Sunrise service June 7th.  That should be July 7th!

Are You Living By Faith or by Circumstances?

• Understanding God's plan for the world around you is far more important than telling God what you are planning on doing for Him.
• He wants to use your life and the church for His purposes!
• We are called to live by faith not sight or circumstances

The above quotes are from a book and bible study that I will be starting soon. The book we will be studying is "Experiencing God by Henry and Richard Blackaby and Claude King.  I would like to start this Bible Study on Wednesday nights. If you are interested in joining this group please let me know so I can begin ordering the books.  The book will cost about $12.00 - $15.00. I will see if we can get a discount  by ordering in bulk.   Even if you cannot commit to the bible study this would be a great book to read. It has helped thousands of people develop a much closer relationship with God.

Mission Project:  We will be joining Esic Baptist Members in an effort to collect items for the Ronald Mcdonald houses of St. Louis. Please see the following message.

The 3 St. Louis Ronald McDonald Houses are in need of the following individually wrapped lunch items and snacks:  Ramen noodles, easy mac, pop top ravioli, soup, single serve bags of chips, candy bars, granola bars, pop-tarts, snack cakes, cheese or peanut butter crackers, etc.   There will be  a donation box in the hallway through the end of July. See Darlene Azar for more information.

 I have a special surprise service planned for Sunday June 7th.  We will be meeting at Glick Park for a Sunrise service weather permitting. This is the park where I do my daily prayer walks.  More info to follow soon.

Just have faith.  Believe and know that God wants to be the Lord of our life but we must yield all to Him.

Love, Pastor Kent
If you are interested in the Book/ Bible study please let me know by email. bon-kens@hotmail.com

Do You Have The Peace of God?

There are many research reports coming out stating that stress may be the cause of up to 85% of all chronic illnesses being reported today.  

Oh if we could only believe what God says in His word how our lives would be changed.  That is our problem. Lack of belief.  If we truly believed in the God of the Universe and His son Jesus and all that He taught how we all would be radically transformed. 

Becoming a true believer, a follower and disciple of Jesus is a powerful and radical life changing experience. However it usually does not happen at the snap of the fingers. It is a process just like becoming an excellent musician, doctor, or business person it takes time, study, practice and consistency. 

We "would be" Christians have been boondoggled into believing that by showing up at church on Sunday once in a while that we have met our spiritual obligation.  And that the surreal God of the universe will honor our once-in-a-while prayer. And, if God has time, He will drop us a crumb of blessing now and then. But if we really want to have a good life and make something of ourselves we are on our own and it is up to us to find our happiness and completeness. Well that is exactly what Adam and Eve believed. They believed that they knew better than God how to be happy and how to get things done. They thought they knew how to find peace and contentment by eating from the tree of knowledge.

Ah yes we have knowledge.  We are smart. We can figure things out on our own. We don't need some ancient figure in some ancient book to tell us what to do.  Because we know things. Well how has that worked out for you so far?  Is your life full of peace? Happiness? Joy? Contentment?

I pray that each of you reading this will come to know the living God of the universe where true peace and wisdom flow.

Isaiah 26:3-4

³ You will keep in perfect peace
    those whose minds are steadfast,
    because they trust in you.
⁴ Trust in the Lord forever,
    for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.

Stay tuned...much more to come.

Love, Pastor Kent

Tonights Service

Tonight Sunday, June 23rd.....What Is God Trying To Reveal In Your Life?

I am going to show you how God is pursuing all of us because He needs each of us for a specific Job to expand His Kingdom.

Come join us at 6:30.  Come be part of something special.

Sincerely, Pastor Kent

The Jesus Experiment Week 3

I hope you will find this weeks scripture a big help in your daily transformation.

James 1:19-20

Hearing and Doing the Word

¹⁹ Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; ²⁰ for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

This Sunday, June 23rd we will be gathering at 6:30 to come before God and worship.

There is much to think about when it comes to our relationship with God.  I will be exploring some interesting questions this Sunday. I hope to see you then.

God has a plan for your life even if you still don't know what it is....yet.
Love, Pastor Kent

Three Words That Changed Everything For Me.

This past weekend I had the honor of officiating my first wedding. What a great blessing it is to be able to share such a special occasion in peoples lives. I'm not sure about everyone else who attended that ceremony but I'm pretty sure I enjoyed the celebration as much as the bride and groom.

I had several people ask me the afternoon of the wedding if I was nervous.  Imagine that, asking the pastor if he is nervous before a wedding.  I think word got out that this was going to be my first wedding as a pastor.  But my answer was no, I was not nervous because I do enjoy the peace of God.  Now I'm not sure if I will have this peace 100% of the time for the rest of my life, but I can tell you that I pretty much enjoy this peace every day.

So what is my secret?  My secret is found in the following three words:

I trust God!

It is that simple. I have read and studied the bible and many many books about the bible and I have come to the conclusion over the years that:

1.) God is real, alive, and well.
2.) He is in control of absolutely everything.
3.) He loves me and always has my best ...ETERNAL... interest in mind.

Ok that's about it.  Pretty simple.  That's my secret.   Hope to see you all soon.  In the mean time it's up to.  Do you really really trust Him?

Love,  Pastor Kent

Reminder: No PCF Service Tonight

Happy Fathers Day!

This is the day the Lord has made let us rejoice and be very glad in it.  Psalm 118:24

We have gone to 2nd and 4th Sunday night services.  Therefore tonight there will be no service.  We will all gather next week, Sunday the 23rd. Therefore, be the church today and the rest of the week because God lives in you!

Have a wonderful Sunday and enjoy your family and friends.

Love, Pastor Kent

The Jesus Experiment Week 2

Ok I know most of you probably had a hard time remembering to practice what I call the Jesus Experiment.  That's ok. God is patient and loving and caring...thank God!   I wonder if it's ok to thank Him for being Him?

As a quick reminder. It is my intention as your pastor to bring all of us, including myself, into alignment with God and what Jesus taught.  Because when you align what you believe with the truth of God miracles happen; like having deep inner peace in all circumstances.

I found in my own experimentation with doing what the bible says even when it makes no logical sense, is when my life began to radically change for the better. So here is this weeks Jesus Experiment verse. Read it. Think about it. Pray about it and then apply it!

1 Thessalonians 5:15-18

New King James Version (NKJV)

¹⁵ See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.
¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray without ceasing, ¹⁸ in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Another Thought
Mowing the lawn is therapeutic for me. Usually I have long conversations with God as I mow. This past week as I was mowing a parable of sorts came to mind about the power of the Holy Spirit.  Imagine if you will getting your lawn mower out and pushing it over the yard as if you were mowing except you didn't start the engine. You do exactly the same work, it takes the same amount of time and effort but when you get finished, the grass looks exactly the same as before you started.  Why? Because you didn't start the mower. No one in their right mind would intentionally do that, especially in this heat.

But this is exactly what can happen to a church that tries to operate without the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit. A church body can build a wonderful sanctuary, develop numerous programs, and go through all the motions of "having church" but if it is not being lead by the Holy Spirit, peoples lives will remain the same. They will come out exactly how they came in. What's the point?

Something to kick around.    Love Pastor Kent

Africa...Here We Come!

Just to let you know we have two members of Praise Community Fellowship heading to Zambia in Africa in about a month.  Laurie Frey and Dr. Jeannie Trimmer have both signed up to go on the mission trip to Zambia with African Vision of Hope.

Laurie Frey and a handful of volunteers that Laurie coordinated has put together a truck load of school supplies for the mission school.  Laurie will be helping distribute and visit the schools in Zambia.

Dr. Jeannie is a pediatric doctor and will be seeing children in Zambia helping them with health issues. Here is what we can do to help her out. Dr. Jeannie is requesting that we go through our medicine cabinets and see if there are any unused antibiotics including antibiotic creams.  If you have some of these medical items that you could donate,  please email me and I will arrange a pick up time.

We also want to lift this mission team up in prayer asking God to watch over all the volunteers and make the trip rewarding and successful.  Praise Community Fellowship is so very lucky to have such dedicated, giving people such as Dr. Jeannie and Laurie who are willing to serve God in such a magnificent way.

Going on this "other side of the world journey" is a sacrifice they each have decided to make at the prompting of the Holy Spirit. I say sacrifice because each of them is paying their own way for this mission trip.  For more information go to www.africanvisionofhope.org

Lets support them in their ministry.

PCF...reaching out and touching the world for Jesus!
Love, Pastor Kent
Personal email     bon-kens@hotmail.com
Cell                      618-334-3575

Stop Worrying, God is In Control / So What is My Role?

Tonights sermon.  Stop Worrying God is In Control / So What is My Role?  

I hope you can join us this evening for a worship service filled with music, love, fellowship and God's word.  We will begin at 6:30.

Hope to see you. Sincerely, Pastor Kent

The Jesus Experiment "Corrected Version"

As I was reading the Scriptures this morning something came to mind. I want to  challenge you to try something that I think will change your life in a very positive way as it has for me. I call it the "Jesus Experiment."

The New Testament is loaded with teachings that just sound irrational and kick human nature right in the head.  Example:

• Love your enemies
• Pray for those who persecute you
• Humble yourselves and you will be exhalted

And there are many many more. So here is the challenge. Once each week I am going to post a scripture that I am going to call the Jesus Experiment. The objective will be to practice that particular scripture that week every single day! The scripture we are going to start with is:

Philippians 2:2-4

New Living Translation (NLT)

² Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.

³ Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. ⁴ Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

Carefully meditate on this scripture and decide what it means to you. Then, everyday for the next week put the teachings of the scripture into practice. Every time a situation arises in your daly life where this scripture would apply, do your very best to put it into practice.

If you join me in this weekly experiment in a year you will be practicing 52 Bible teachings. Trust me your life is going to change for the better. Far too many Christians in this country are learning the "concept" of Christianity instead of practicing Christianity.

God has a plan for PCF and your life.  Get on with it!   Love, Pastor Kent

Sometimes We Just Forget About All Our Tools

God has given us many tools to bless us and to allow us to be a blessing.  He has given us our eyes to be able to see the beauty of the world and to see what ugliness needs to be corrected.

He gives us the sense of hearing to listen to the sounds of nature, beautiful music, and to hear the cries for help from those less fortunate.

All of our senses can be a blessing and a way to bless,  but one blessing that I think we often overlook is our sense of humor.  Sometimes we just need to lighten up and laugh at our selves. We are all crazy in some way shape or form.  And there are no exceptions!  Your craziness might not be my crazyness but we are all crazy.

Sometimes when things start building up and getting intense the best way to handle it is to step back and look at it with a sense of humor.  PCF is made up of a bunch of crazy characters and I love it.  It's just more fun.

We are learning and growing and going through things that God wants us to go through so that we come out on the other side better people.  God is in control of everything!  Everything means everything. The good the bad and the crazy stuff. He is either allowing it to happen to us or He is making it happen to us but either way it is always, always, always to teach us something about ourselves that we need to learn.

Remember the blog yesterday?  There are two stories unfolding in this life. What we see, feel, and experience here in this three dimensional world and the behind the scene story of a sovereign God shaping all of us from the experiences we are going through. He is shaping us so that we may better further His Kingdom by serving others, not our own wills and desires!

1 Peter 4:10-15

¹⁰ Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. ¹¹ If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

I don't know about all you but I plan on making this life as fun and enjoyable as possible within the guidelines of Gods guidance found in the bible. My suggestion, quit taking yourself so serious and laugh more.

See you soon. Love, Pastor Kent

Which Story is More Important?

There are always two stories being unveiled in our world. There is the obvious story that we read about in the headlines, what we hear in the news report, and what we witness with our own eyes and ears. These are the worlds stories that we so readily relate to. But there is a much grander story taking place behind the scenes usually hidden from our immediate awareness. That story is the "Kingdom Story!"

The Kingdom Story is the story that our soveriegn God is working out behind the world story.

A Christian writer Ron Boyd-MacMillan, shares the following insight from his teaching, “Why I Need to Encounter the Persecuted Church.” Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have an idea of what God is really up to in this world?

Below is Ron Boyd's interesting discovery.

"I think of China. The headlines said in June of 1989 a terrible massacre took place. Five thousand young people were mown down by the Chinese army. The headlines all mourned the death of the pro-democracy movement. It was terrible, but what was God up to underneath? Out of that massacre came a remarkable turning to Christ among China’s students for the first time in history! The headlines never saw it. It’s not part of history. But “His story” went on.

I think of Afghanistan. When the Soviet Union invaded that country in 1980 the world was outraged. The headlines were all full of fierce denunciations of the action, and rightly so. But I remember meeting a missionary from Kabul who said, “Yes, what the Russians did was wrong, but the fact is it is now much easier under the Russians for Christians to evangelize than it was before under the Islamic regime.” Again, another more significant story, of God building his kingdom, was going on undetected by the world at large.

I think of Sudan. The headlines in the 1980’s were full of a dreadful civil war which isolated the Danka people from the outside world. It was terrible. There was untold suffering on vast scale. But underneath, God was bringing the 2 million Dinks to himself. By 1993, 80% of them were Christians and this among a tribe that was historically very resistant to the gospel.

Notice that these are all stories from the persecuted. They seem to be better placed to notice the real story. And so I need to keep in touch with them because this glimpse delivers me from despair. In 1989 in China, there was not just a massacre, but a revival. In 1980 in Afghanistan, there was not just an occupation, but new missionary opportunities. In Sudan, there was not just a brutal war that killed millions, but a new kingdom of believers among an unreached people.

So every day when I open my newspaper, I remind myself of two things, thanks to the persecuted: the story I see is not to be confused with the kingdom story; and underneath even the saddest news, God is surely up to something good. There is hope because God is always at work."

It makes me wonder what God is doing behind the scenes in my life and in the life of Praise Community Fellowship.  What ever it is you can bet it is to expand His Kingdom, not ours!!!  Can't wait to find out!

For those who choose Jesus, there is a plan being worked out behind the scenes. Live boldly, with the two greatest commandments Jesus gave us being your mantra. Love God, Love one another.

See you soon. Love, Pastor Kent

If You Really Really Believe!

If you really believe in God and that He is the real deal and that He is sovereign, sovereign meaning that He has all power and control over all things. Then, whatever you are experiencing in your life right now, no matter what it is, God is using it for a purpose.  And that purpose is to get your attention and to move you closer to Him. That is Gods whole desire for all of us. He wants us to look to Him for everything!

If things are wonderful in your life, then praise Him, thank Him, let Him know how grateful you are. Giving thanks will make Him smile. How would you feel if you did your very best to make someone happy by doing something really special for them and they didn't even acknowledge you?  We are created in Gods image.  We are like Him in many ways. God has feelings.  Jesus was God incarnate on this earth and we can read in the bible that he wept, he rejoiced, he enjoyed, he got angry, all the same emotions we have.

If things are not so wonderful in your life maybe even terrible, God is still in complete control. We are called to go to Him in all circumstances.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray continually, ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

As I look back over my life it was when it looked as if the bottom was falling out that I now realize it was God trying to get my full attention. Giving thanks in all circumstances sounds crazy, but let me ask you something, has anything else worked?

Do you really believe in God? Our actions many times say otherwise.

See you this next Sunday, June 9th     Love, Pastor Kent