Great Authors in Cross Reference Library

What Are You Afraid Of? - For many people, worry, anxiety, and fear are constant companions: fear of death, fear of danger, fear of disease. And too often, these fears are crippling, keeping us from the life God has called us to live. But it doesn’t have to be that way, says Dr. David Jeremiah. As Christians, we have been given all we need in order to face down even the most frightening, unexpected, and overwhelming obstacles in life. In his new book, What Are You Afraid Of? Dr. Jeremiah explores the top ten fears that are holding so many of us back from the life God has called us to live and shares the supernatural secrets for facing down these fears with faith.

I Never Thought I’d See The Day! - Many people are blind to the destructive cultural trends of the day. At the same time, others see the dangers but are too quick to minimize the negative impact these trends are having on society. Then there are those who see the chaos all around them but believe that resistance to the prevailing culture is useless. In the middle of all this confusion, Dr. David Jeremiah issues a prophetic warning: “We must understand that we are in a war for the very heart and soul of civilization or the consequences will be catastrophic.” In, I Never Thought I’d See The Day!, Dr. Jeremiah identifies the nine major indicators of this looming disaster and then issues a strategy for turning the tide and equips us with the weapons we need for the battle ahead. Above all, he brings a message of hope that our “culture at the crossroads” can be put back on the right path. 

Where Do We Go From Here? - The more we look around today, the more it seems our modern world and contemporary way of life are hanging by a thread. We’re emerging from the pangs of a pandemic, yet society remains haunted by the specters of socialism, globalism, and cancel culture. The economy is in flux, the church is in decline, and Jerusalem once again sits atop the powder keg of global politics. What should we do now? How can we move forward as citizens of God’s kingdom even as the world teeters on the brink? In Where Do We Go From Here?, bestselling author and respected Bible teacher Dr. David Jeremiah shows us that the colliding crises in our culture are not isolated incidents or random misfortunes. They are as connected as a spider’s web. With each passing day, tectonic forces are pushing us closer to the end of history. Yet this is not a time for despair! Instead, this is a time to examine ever more closely the calm assurance of God’s prophetic plan. These pages will help you do just that by exploring ten current moments and movements in light of that plan. Each chapter highlights what’s happening, what Scripture says, and where we can go from here.

Who Were The Magi? - Ask the Pastor

You can listen to Ask The Pastor every weekday at 9:00am MST on 97.1FM Hope Radio KCMI! You can also listen and subscribe to Ask The Pastor in your favorite podcast feed. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music and most other podcast services.

This edition of Ask the Pastor features Pastors Ben Poole and Gary Schick.

Ben Poole
All right, so our question this morning, or questions, I guess.

Gary Schick
There's about three of them here.

Ben Poole
Yeah, "Regarding the magi, who were they? When did they arrive in Bethlehem? Shortly after the shepherds or much later? If much later, why were Mary and Joseph still there and not back home in Nazareth?" So I know there's a lot of thoughts on this, and a lot of different interpretations on what happened and when it happened. And so, yeah, Gary, why don't you just kind of open us up with some thoughts?

Gary Schick
What a great topic for Christmas Eve, Merry Christmas, everyone. Yeah, so the magi, and they're such an intriguing topic, aren't they? I think we always want to know more about the magi and about the star and all of those things. In terms of, who were they, you know, if you watch the movies, I think, Jesus of Nazareth comes to my mind. You would kind of get the idea that they sort of met on the way from the three different corners of the globe. One from the east, one from Europe, one from Africa, and coming together and sort of finding their way to Jerusalem from some place like that. But really, most likely I think they probably came together from a location, because it specifically says that they came, you know, from the east. And I believe in that time there kind of, I guess what you almost might call a cast of priest, philosophers, magicians among the ancient Persians. May have been just kind of a phrase in general for such holy men or sages, philosophers, wise men, we might call them. And while their country isn't named specifically, you know, they state, when they get to Jerusalem, "We saw His star in the east." And I think we interpret that to mean, from the east, you know and, "We've traveled west to find Him." So Persia, Babylon, these would've been starting points and I think there's often even some thought that Daniel, as one of the wise men of the Babylonian empire, was kind of at the source of these people. But regardless of exactly who they were, you know, I think many Christmas cards that we've seen over the years sum it up well, "Wise men sought Him then wise men seek Him still." It's of course assumed that they were three, but that's because of the three gifts they brought: Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. I mean, the scripture actually only tells us more than once, it could have been two, it could have been 20. But the point is again, not only that they were wise, but they also were representative. Whether they came from one place or----many of us Gentiles, people from the outside. Who, one way or another God alerted to come seeking the one who would be born king and to worship before Him. And I just kind of wonder if when they got there and kind of figured things out, they began to realize just what a special king they had come to. It wasn't that the king inherits palace that they were to find. Then of course, there's this question about when did they get there? And again, if you look at our nativity scenes, it's obvious, everybody showed up the first night. You know, there was a star hanging there, there were angels in the breeze and there were shepherds and wise men, and that fits really nicely at our little nativity sets and scenes. Of course, if you follow the traditional days, it's given that the wise men show up around what, January 6th, which I don't know about in your house, and in your church, but we are pretty much done with the Christmas carols and the Christmas decorations are down by then. So, but how do we know? Well, Luke's gospel is real specific, there was no room in the Inn, Jesus is born in a manger. Probably some kind of a cave-like structure just outside of the Inn or outside of town. But by the time the wise men come, or the magi come in Matthew chapter 2, they find Mary, Joseph and the child in a house. And so that's kind of our indication as to why, there's a period of time lapsing here. Also, although Herod doesn't actually ever hear directly back from the wise men after they've seen Jesus, he does know based on when they saw the star, to kind of figure something under two years old. Now in a way, that's a little bit unhelpful because does the star appear at the time of His birth and that's when they begin their journey or did the star come ahead of time and kind of provide? I mean, they could have showed up the same night as the shepherds, other than the fact that there's kind of these, these two statements. One, "He's born in a manger or placed in a manger and found by the magi in a house," which to me would indicate that they stuck around. And then the third question, "Well why don't they go right back to Nazareth, you know, family, friends, home?" Well, you've got to remember, they didn't have car seats for camels and donkeys in those days, you know what I mean. Traveling with an infant would've been difficult, and so it would just kind of make sense that once Mary and Joseph, and he had a very, he had a trade that he could practice anywhere, he was a carpenter. That they would kind of settle down until forced to flee by Herod's hunt for the baby. And of course, that's exactly what the scripture tells us happened.

Ben Poole
Yeah, that's really great information. And I know that, just reading up on it, there's so many different thoughts on the timeline. And I think that we can easily get caught up in those. I was just actually looking up approximately how far it is to walk from Nazareth to Bethlehem. And per Google, where all good things are found, obviously, it looks like about 31 hours of walking. So I know my wife had a baby a little over a year ago, I can tell you, she would not be in a rush to be walking 31 hours back home if that was the option. So I think that they probably stuck around and really invested in the health of baby Jesus, learning to be a family. Learning this new dynamic, because you gotta remember this, we see these beautiful portrayals of the manger scene and how beautiful it was. And having a baby is one of the most beautiful experiences ever, in my opinion, but it was still real life. It was still very real in changing diapers, and however they did that, whether it was cloth and hopefully some clean water and things like that. I mean, it was still very real, Mary had to heal after giving birth. I mean, it was real, it was messy, it was having a baby in a barn. I mean, just consider what that would've been like. And so, but going back to the magi, I think that I've looked into this and again, still a lot of theories on who these people were. Obviously were of wealth to some degree having Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh.

Gary Schick
Pricey gifts.

Ben Poole
Pricey gifts, which they also say probably helped take them into Egypt and to cover expenses and to give them a livelihood while they were on the run. But thinking about these guys, these Magi, whether they were simply just wise men, or even some say they were magicians, some have even said they were Kings themselves, they were royalty. And I really like that picture, and I'm not sure we can totally say one way or another, but I think the picture there is beautiful, nonetheless. That these grown men, full of wisdom and wealth and probably power, chose to follow this star to find a baby. I love my baby boy, but it would be super weird if someone came and bowed down in worship of a baby. But something in them knew this is someone different. This is someone worthy of our worship, this young child, whether he was a few days old or he was two years old. That they would come and bow down and worship a baby is powerful to me. What we know on the other side of this story, we know who Jesus is, we know the story, we know the outcome, we know why He came, but these guys followed a star. Knowing what the old scriptures had taught, that the baby would be born in Bethlehem and He would be the king of the Jews and they showed up in worship of Him. And I think it is just humbling, I guess, to me, to know that this is something powerful that maybe we forget sometimes. You know, we celebrate Christmas and we get a lot of different ideas and, in our culture, especially, you know, we get really wrapped up in consumerism and shopping and gifts and all these little things. And not that we're not taking our eyes off of Jesus, but I think the importance of why He came. I talked a little bit in my sermon on Sunday that, one thing that we have really ingrained as Christians is to help kind of keep our focus as "Jesus is the reason for the season." We hear that a lot, and I kind of challenged my church to say, "That's part of it." That's part, He's part of the reason for the season. But as we know what scripture teaches, Jesus didn't come for Himself. He came for you and me to be our savior. And so really, when we look at this from the magi coming, from Mary being obedient, to Joseph having to make a hard choice to even stay with her, all of these things, the point comes back to is, Jesus lives His life. As He goes to the cross, as He's resurrected from the dead, what changes is, Jesus isn't so much the reason for the season; you are. You're the reason for the season, you're the reason Jesus came to live among sinful people. And it is our opportunity and privilege and a great blessing that we can bring our gifts to Jesus. We can give our life to Jesus, we can give our worship to Jesus as our king.

Gary Schick
Amen. Give them the best we have, like they did.

Ben Poole
Yeah. And that's really what we're called to do, is to lay everything at the feet of Jesus, our life, our worship. And essentially we're to give up the promise of our salvation to Him and placing our eternity in His hands. And we get to live that out. And that's really what I think the world needs to hear. There's a lot that went on and a lot of hard things you think about. Herod and the decree he sent out. "Okay, I don't want to lose my place, and if I hear of another king coming up, baby or not, I want him dead." And you think about the pain and the suffering that ensued from that point on, for some time. And thank God, He has a greater plan than even a king on earth can do. And so we get the privilege to worship a living king for all of eternity.

Gary Schick
Well and you know, you talked about the hardness of life. You know, it could have been, I mean, we know the hard choice Joseph made. Maybe, you know, town in Nazareth didn't have that information, but they probably knew Mary was pregnant. And you'll notice that even when they do go back home, they only ultimately go back to Nazareth because they hear a son of Herod is in place. And so they decide not to be so close to Jerusalem and so forth, but you know, it could be, they were just kinda waiting for the gossip to die down. Even you know, as Jesus is an adult later, you know, isn't this Mary's son, you know, aren't His brothers, "And wait Mary's son?" They knew it's part of the story, they didn't know the whole story. And boy, that's the tragedy. As Christmas approaches the world still doesn't know the whole story. This is the son of God who came for us, came for you my listening friends. I hope that you receive the gift of Christ above all this Christmas.

How Do We Know Christ's Incarnation Is True? - Ask the Pastor

You can listen to Ask The Pastor every weekday at 9:00am MST on 97.1FM Hope Radio KCMI! You can also listen and subscribe to Ask The Pastor in your favorite podcast feed. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music and most other podcast services.

This edition of Ask the Pastor features Pastors Gary Hashley, Tim Hebbert and Brad Kilthau.

Tim Hebbert
We're gonna jump into a Christmas question this week. This is the question, "During the Christmas season, there is a lot of mention of the incarnation. How do we know it's true, and is that really so important to be included in the Christmas story for us today?" And I guess I would answer, yes, to that second question. But, so what is the incarnation? Let's start there. The incarnation, I'll give you the definition of it, the proper definition from a biblical dictionary, "The act of grace whereby Christ took our human nature into union with divine person and became man. Christ is both God and man. Human attributes and actions are predicated of Him, and He of whom they are predicated is God. A divine person was united to a human nature. The union is hypostatical or is personal; the two natures are not mixed or confounded. And that confounded, I would say, or confusing, and it is perpetual." A simpler definition would be, that the God of the universe came into the world and took on human flesh. You know, Brad, as I was working through that, I remember one of our topics, one of the days, probably been five, six months ago. And you were the one that probably for the very first time got me to really think about this. Now when Jesus was resurrected, He was resurrected in bodily form again, and then He ascended into heaven and He took that bodily form with Him. Now that bodily form is not the same as what we have here. It doesn't age, it's not susceptible to anything, but He still bears all of the scars. I think, I agree with what you'd said that day, of what He went through for us at the cross of Calvary. So when He returns, we're gonna see those nail scar hands. We're gonna see the scars of the crown of thorns on His head and all those things. So as we walk through this today folks, I'd just ask you to think in those terms. There's a few passages I wanna share with you that the scripture talks about, "The divine Jesus coming in the form of man." The first one is probably the most obvious to all of us, and that's the first chapter of the gospel of John, verse 14 "And the word," capital W referring to Jesus, "Became flesh and dwelled among us. And we have seen His glory, glory as of the only son from the father full of grace and truth." The second chapter of the book of Hebrews, the writer says this, starting with verse 11, "Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. He says, I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters in the assembly, I will sing your praises. And again, I will put my trust in Him. And again, He says, here I am and the children God has given me. Since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity. So that by His death, He might break the power of him who holds the power of death--that is the devil." And one last passage, and this is from the Old Testament. This is one that any Christian that's gone to a Christmas Eve service has heard this passage. Isaiah chapter nine, and I'm just gonna read verse six, "For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulders. And His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace." So Brad, how do we know it's true that Jesus was fully God and fully man?

Brad Kilthau
Well, that passage you just quoted from Isaiah, of course, that one's the classic one, talking about the incarnation. The first part talks about His humanity, and then it goes on into His deity and what His plans are in the future. But I think another way we can look at this is, to know that Jesus was fully God and fully man, is you separate the two, was Jesus fully God? You go to the classic passage that you would normally be in during the Christmas season and the gospels, and in Matthew 1:1-17 you got this whole long list of how 'A' begot 'B'. It's one of those lists that we usually skip over, cause we don't wanna try to stumble through the names. But when you get verse 18, you find there's a record account of a birth without a human father. And you find that Matthew carefully guarded the fact that Jesus was born of a virgin. He takes out the whole genealogical table of the Lord and he states when he gets to Mary, that Jesus was only born of Mary. In fact, in chapter one, verse 16, it has the words, "of whom," a pronoun, "of whom." And that indicates clearly in the original language that Mary only, not Mary and Joseph, was the one that had Jesus. And so the fact that Jesus was born only of a Virgin, that's very clearly showing that He is truly God. And then I think another one that's kind of clear that we often forget about is the betrothal between Mary and Joseph. I think that's very important in this miraculous event, because as we know during betrothal period, a man and a woman were, what we would call today, engaged. But to them it was a lot more serious than an engagement. In fact, to break off the betrothal there would have to be a creed of divorce to make that happen. And so also during that period of time, which sometimes is almost a year in length, the couple, the man and the woman could not come together sexually. And if they did, it was actually considered an act of adultery and it could even mean death, it was that serious. And so that tells you, there's not something secret going on here of Mary sneaking off with Joseph or something of that sort. This was a serious thing in that culture, in that day and time, the betrothal period. And so yes, when you look into scripture, it was the holy spirit who came upon Mary during that time. And the Bible says, "Came upon her and placed the son of God, the Messiah in her womb." And we know that even though a lot of people probably mocked it in that day, I mean if they saw a pregnant girl walking around, they would say, "You know, well, she did this, she sinned or whatever." And we know even Joseph didn't believe it to start with until an angel appeared to him in a dream that it was the miraculous work of the holy spirit to bring about the incarnation.

And I think we need to be paying attention to the angel of the Lord when he revealed to Joseph that this son or this child inside of Mary was God Himself. There's something clear in the angel's message, because the angel told Joseph the sex of the baby, the name of the baby and the mission that the baby would carry out. And then of course on this side of things, we can look back and see exactly that was the truth. The baby was a male baby, His name, as we would say it in our language, Jesus, and His mission was fully carried out and that is to save His people from their sin. And so it was a spiritual work, it wasn't of a human father to bring about this conception. Something that never happened in the history of man, something that'll never happen again in the history of man. Jesus was born, He was fully God, and He was always God. As it says in Micah 5:2, "He is of the everlasting," as we look in that passage of scripture. So Jesus' personhood didn't start through this miraculous work of the holy spirit, when Jesus was born here on the earth. The Bible tells us clearly that He existed from eternity past. Absolutely He did, as we know, Jesus created the world that He was born into, when we studied that through the scriptures. And then you can look at the life of Jesus to see that He's fully God. The miracles that He performed when He empowered His disciples to do miracles; the transfiguration. And then you think about raising Himself back to life after the death on the cross. You think about His ascension up into heaven before eye witnesses. Definitely, He absolutely is God. And then the question is, "Okay, so maybe He's fully God, but can He be fully man?" Well, you got to keep in mind, He had a human mother, Mary, which produced a Mary substance, a complete human in nature, a body, soul, and spirit. And in knowing this, we can stand why the angel and his conversation to Mary described the one who being born, as the holy one. And I guess when you study that in the original language, the holy one in Luke 1:35, it indicates that Jesus was supernaturally conceived and Mary gave birth to Him as a human being. But Mary did not give Him His personhood and did not give Him His divine nature. So He was born as a human, He was a male child, but He already existed as the second person of the Trinity. I guess I just need to say that to you guys, because when we're thinking about this broadcast, I know that there are some who have had the thought that Mary is the mother of God. And that's been said often, and that is totally not true. Jesus existed in eternity passed and He existed way before Mary was ever born. Also some of the humanity things of Jesus: He shed tears, He felt real pain, hunger, and thirst during that time of temptation in the wilderness. He ran out of human strength, just like you and I would, He grew from a little baby to being a boy, to being a man. People could feel Him, they could touch Him, they could embrace Him. In fact, He was even able to be beaten, as we know, as He went to the cross and murdered and butchered and hung on a cross, that's got to have a human body for that to happen. So, Gary what are your thoughts on the incarnation?

Gary Hashley
Well, the part of the question that I was asked to think about and prepare for is, "What does the incarnation do for us today?" Brad, you hit on a very good point, Bethlehem isn't where Jesus started. Jesus has always been who He was, the second member of the Trinity from eternity passed, but He became flesh incarnation. If you go to the store, you buy Chili Con Carne, Chili with meat, Chili with flesh. Incarnation; Jesus took flesh to dwell among us and John, one of the disciples, writing in 1 John about Jesus, says, "We've heard, we've seen, we've looked upon, our hands have handled." And he's talking about Jesus that, "We heard Him speak, we saw Him with our eyes, we looked upon Him, we actually touched Him because He was real. He had a real human body, He always had been the spirit. The second member of the Trinity, He became flesh to dwell among us," John says. And the question is, "Well, what does that do for us today?" Well, I sat down and came up with five quick thoughts. One is, if Jesus really became a man while still being God, we talked about that, but if He really became a man, we can know God in a personal way. Because just as the disciples talked with Him and laughed with Him and ate with Him and walked with Him, we have in Jesus, one, we can know God who is spirit, but we can know Him in a personal way. The daily bread back in 2006 included, "God can exact nothing from man that He's not exacted from Himself. He has Himself, gone through the whole of human experience. From the trivial irritations of family life and the cramping restrictions of hard work and lack of money, to the worst horrors of pain and humiliation, defeat, despair, and death. When He was a man, He played the man. He was born in poverty, died in disgrace and thought it well worthwhile." Through Jesus we can know God, in fact we can't know God without Jesus. He said, "I'm the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the father but by me," so we can know God in a personal way and we can know that God understands our every need. Hebrews 2 talks about the fact that He suffered, and He's able to help those who are being tempted. He's able to help us in our need because He became one of us, just without sin. But He had every other attribute of humanity that we have, Brad talked about it: He got hungry, He got thirsty, He got tired He ate, He slept. So yeah, He understands our every need, He knows what it is to be tired. He knows what it is to be hungry, He knows what it is to have people walk away and feeling lonely. The third is, we have a helper for our every need. Hebrews 4 talks about the high priest, talking about Jesus, and says, "In Him, we can find grace to help in time of need." He's always there to help because He came to be among us and to be one of us. And we can know that He can help us in our time of need. The fourth one is, we have a perfect atonement for our sins. It says in 1 Peter, "He bore our sins in His body on the tree," He could not give His flesh for us if He didn't have flesh, and He could not give His blood for us, if He didn't have blood. And if He wasn't incarnated, if He hadn't left heaven to come to this earth and become flesh, there'd been no flesh and there'd been no blood to give for the atonement for our sins. And then lastly, we have a model to live our life after, 1 Peter 2 talks about Jesus and says, "He left us an example so that we might walk and follow in His steps." So because Jesus came, we can know God in a personal way. We can know that He understands our needs, He's there to help when we have needs. He's the perfect atonement for our sins, and we have a model to live our life. And all of that is part of the wonder of the fact that Jesus was born.

Discussing Great Hymns of the Faith; "O Come All Ye Faithfull" - Ask the Pastor

You can listen to Ask The Pastor every weekday at 9:00am MST on 97.1FM Hope Radio KCMI! You can also listen and subscribe to Ask The Pastor in your favorite podcast feed. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music and most other podcast services.

This edition of Ask the Pastor features Pastors Mike Clement, David Clement and Michael Gleb.

Mike Clement
We've been looking at some of the hymns that are more familiar, they're older hymns, and they've passed the test of time. And I picked out one for us to look at today, it's a Christmas hymn. This is, you know, the end of November, we're coming up on Christmas. And, you know, years ago we had a lady that came, actually it was a woman and her daughter. And they played the Vibraharp, the Marimba and piano, they had all kinds of neat stuff. And they said they were from the Seattle area and they were hired by shopping malls to play Christmas music. And the comment was made, because Christmas music is not allowed in public schools any longer, many people miss the Christmas music. And they were hired just to play music in the malls, it was kind of interesting. Anyway, the hymn that we're gonna look at is, Oh, Come All Ye Faithful. And we were talking a little bit about the fact that a lot of hymns have good rich theology, and that was something that the hymn writers used to really focus on. It wasn't just to sell song, and it wasn't just to become popular. They wanted to communicate a message, and they wanted that message to be a biblical message. And there's a line in here every time I sing it, it kind of gets me, and now I gotta find it. It's in the second stanza, the second stanza says, "God of God and light of light begotten, low He abhors not the virgins womb." And there's a fascinating concept that, you know, the Lord Jesus Christ was the second person of the Trinity, the creator of heaven and earth, and in the book of Hebrews, it says, "He humbled Himself and became obedient even to the death of a cross." But He humbled Himself to actually be in the womb of Mary, and that's just an incredible thought. And then it goes on, it says, "A very God begotten not created." There are those that reject the full deity of the Lord, Jesus Christ, the idea that Jesus is equal with God, the father, and equal with God, the son. In fact, we had a lady in our church who went on a vacation with some of her sisters, they're all grown. She said they were on the beach in California and one of them turned to her and said, "Sandy, you go to church, don't you?" She said, "Yeah, I do." And the gal said, "Did you know that Jesus was God?" And Sandy said, "Uh, yes, I did." She said, "Well, I knew He was good, and I knew He taught things. I knew He healed people, but I didn't know He was, God, I just found that out. And there are some people that reject the full deity of the Lord, Jesus Christ. And those that do, oftentimes will use the phrase that we find in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son," and they kind of hang on that. See, Jesus was begotten, He was created, and so He was not eternal and He was not God. Now that term begotten, is not talking about origin, that is a position, that is a designation that, begotten. In one of the Psalms, it says that the father declared Him to be the begotten, He made Him the begotten. And so, this actually is underlying the full deity of the Lord, Jesus Christ. He was not created, He was begotten, He was declared to be the Son of God. So this is a great Christmas hymn, any thoughts on that guys?

Michael Gleb
You know, a great deal of Jesus' ministry was convincing people that He was God. I mean, honestly, you go look at the life of Christ, and I spent time when I first got to Torrington Baptist, just going over the life of Christ and miracles and His travels. I'm forgetting the other things, but I spent a great deal of time in some of those important passages. And it struck me that He just spent a great deal of time convincing the Pharisees, Sadducees, and others that were lost that He was His own personal deity. And so yeah, I mean, not created, not a created being like you and I are. And by the way, in Genesis, we know full well in the account of the creation, and there's a plurality there that's mentioned, I can't remember what verse, I don't have it in front of me.

Mike Clement
There's a number of places right in the beginning. "Let us make man in our own image"

Michael Gleb
That's right, "Let us make man," yeah, absolutely. But that's one of the things that struck me about the life of Christ, was when I was going back and somebody had asked me, a while back, what would I teach somebody that's struggling with salvation? And I think I had mentioned that because it was heavy on my heart and I was thinking about it and maybe even preaching through it was, that Jesus is God. I don't know why I said that at the moment, but there was some other reasons.

David Clement
Good, yeah. Well, interesting thing, you know, oftentimes when we think about this song, when we sing this song, we kind of get the idea of being on the hillside. Maybe with the shepherds and the beckoning that we feel, but really the angels didn't beckon the shepherds to go. It was the shepherds that said, "Come let us go, even unto Bethlehem and see this thing, which the Lord has made known unto us." You know, but the idea that we kind of get that picture in our mind as we sing the song of the Bethlehem, Jesus being born there and being invited to go and worship Him. We maybe even think of the wise men that came. But anyhow, the invitation is to us today still, you know, we're not in the first century, we're not in Bethlehem. But the invitation is not to literal Bethlehem, not to the birthplace of Christ but the idea of, what did Christ come for again? You know, and really when you take the time to sit down and look at good hymns of the faith, if you would. Whether it's a Christmas hymn like this is, getting you in the holiday spirit, whether it's like some of the other ones that we've talked about, you see the plan of salvation laid out. You see the truth of God's word intermingled throughout the whole hymn and that's where you see where the power of these hymns come from. Is the fact that they do have rich doctrine in them, they do have the word of God interwound in throughout the stanzas and the choruses of the song. And so that's where they get their validity, if you would. But just this invitation, not just for them, not just for those shepherds, not just for the people at that time, but it's true to us today. The idea of, come, let us adore Him, let us worship Him as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Mike Clement
In most hymn books, in many hymn books I should say, in the very beginning there's sort of a, like a table of contents. And you can find, "Okay, here are where the Christmas hymns are located, here's where the Easter hymns are located, here's where the patriotic hymns are located." They're usually bunched up like that. And in many, in the very beginning, here are the worship hymns. And that actually tends to be a small section of most hymn books. Most hymns and I'm talking about older hymns too, most hymns are testimonial, and there's nothing wrong with a testimonial hymn. The one that we looked at before is testimony, "Years I spent in vanity and probably caring not my Lord was crucified, knowing not it was for me He died on Calvary." A testimonial hymn is talking about my relationship to the Lord, but a worship hymn is Him. It's Him, it's me worshiping Him. I've been in some services, not in our church or your church, but I've been in some services where they have a praise and worship time. And frankly, the first time I saw that, it was like, "Okay, we're all gonna stand up and we're gonna praise and worship the Lord." And so for 10 minutes everybody stood and sang, and then praise and worship time was over, "Now, we're gonna do something else." And that bothered me, the whole service should be worship, the whole service should be praise. In fact, when I came home, the next bulletin I did, I redid the whole thing. Praise, worship in song, worship in reading scripture, worship in taking the offering, worship in testimonies, you know, the whole thing. And it's true, kind of had a bur under my side, but the whole idea of, let's adore Him. Somebody commented once on prayer, that many people's prayers sound like a McDonald's prayer, with a gimme gimme here and a gimme there.

Michael Gleb
Almost rhythmical in a sense too. It's like, yeah, it's exactly right.

Mike Clement
In fact, many of us have spent not nearly enough time just worshiping God in prayer. There've been times when I've gone to prayer and said out loud, "Lord, I don't need to learn anything, I'm not here to learn anything, I'm not here to get anything, I just want to be close to you." In the course of this, "Oh, come let us adore Him, oh come let us adore Him, oh come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord." Now there's a great big sidetrack path down there that is beckoning, and I'm not gonna go down too far. But there has been some reaction to the Lordship of the Lord, Jesus Christ. There was a book that was written a number of years ago, and out of reaction to that book came the concept of Lordship salvation. Which says, "When you come to Christ, if you're not sincere and give Him everything, then you're really not saved." And I understand that, that actually is a reaction to the book, which the book did not teach. What I find in scripture is, saving faith also produces other things. Saving faith produces repentance, saving faith produces submission, saving faith produces a desire to please the Lord. And I think that's what scripture--

Michael Gleb
Sanctification, yeah.

Mike Clement
Yeah, and I think that's what scripture means when it says, "Any man be in Christ is a new creature." All things are passed away, all things have become new, but here is this encouragement to come and just adore Him. I love the preaching of the word and I enjoy preparing messages and getting ready to open up God's word and share it with the people. But we have had some times when we've had just an unusual testimony time in the church. I mean, people are sharing how God has touched their heart and used them. And not just prayer requests, but I'd be sitting on the platform with my notes and I'm starting to scratch stuff off, cause there's not gonna be enough time for this and not enough time for that. And there actually was a couple of times when I just folded my notes and let it go.

Michael Gleb
That's good.

Mike Clement
The worship atmosphere was so rich that I just didn't feel comfortable.

Michael Gleb
Yeah, Can I add to that?

Mike Clement
Sure. Yeah, go ahead.

Michael Gleb
You know, at the very beginning we talked about, you know, not a created being and then it comes in, "Oh come let us adore Him, oh come let us adore Him." The scriptures tells us, "They, that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. So, you know, there's a lot of worship, so-called, that really is not worship, you know. And right type of worship, because there's not the truth that backs it up, you know? And there's a doctrine of Jesus Christ, there's a doctrine of the word of God, and they, that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. So these things are beautiful. There is a time that it can connect to our emotions and connect to our spirit, but it has to be based in truth.

Talking About Messianic Prophesies - Ask the Pastor

You can listen to Ask The Pastor every weekday at 9:00am MST on 97.1FM Hope Radio KCMI! You can also listen and subscribe to Ask The Pastor in your favorite podcast feed. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music and most other podcast services.

This edition of Ask the Pastor features Pastors Kiley Callaway, John Mulholland and Jon Simpson.

Jon Simpson
And we are gonna take on the topic, since it's Christmas time and near Christmas, we thought it'd be appropriate to look at some of the messianic prophecies from the Old Testament specifically about Jesus. And so we're going to look at a couple of different passages from the book of Isaiah. And the first passage is found in Isaiah chapter 42, and it's the first four verses, so I just want to read those as we get started here. Isaiah 42:1-4 goes this way, "Look at my servant whom I strengthened. He is my chosen one who pleases me. I have put my spirit upon him. He will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or raise his voice in public. He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle. He will bring justice to all who have been wronged. He will not falter or lose heart until justice prevails throughout the Earth."

John Mulholland
I have one more little section there, does yours have it? "Even distant lands beyond the sea, will wait for his instruction."

Jon Simpson
Oh, I do it's on the next page. Thank you for catching that.

John Mulholland
I was like, "What Bible are you reading?"

Jon Simpson
It's the Bible that cuts out part of it. Right, so what is the main theme that you guys see here in this particular prophecy about the Messiah?

John Mulholland
Justice, He's going to bring justice.

Jon Simpson
Yeah, so as we think about the topic of justice, how does that connect today? What kind of justice does he, do you think is being referred to?

John Mulholland
So the people are in exile and he's giving them a future hope. He's telling them that whomever, you know, this person, this Messiah, whoever this person is that's going to come is going to bring justice. So in their minds, they would think that He's going to deliver them from their exile. So short term, I think we could be thinking about how we would translate that to us. We hear things like this and maybe our default switch then too is short-term. Like I'm thinking of maybe how something's going to be restored in my life today or whatever. I think that's the short answer to your question. I'm like, how do we apply that? I think we think short and think we're going to experience these promises today. Just like they thought they were going to experience those promises.

Jon Simpson
And justice, I mean, the kind of understanding of what justice is, is to make things right. Would you agree with that simple definition? So the Messiah is going to come to make things right. And yeah, because they're in the time of suffering in Babylon, then they are looking for an immediate release to that. And for things to be made, right for them as a nation.

Kylie Calloway
They always thought He was coming to make things right. But not in the way that He meant.

Jon Simpson
Yeah. So they're looking for a savior to get them out of the persecution they're under, to make things right.

Kylie Calloway
Looking for something tangible, wouldn't you say? Something that's like a kingdom that He was going to set up.

Jon Simpson
Yes, yes. And interestingly enough, they're looking for that in Isaiah's time. And they're also, the nation of Israel was looking for that when Jesus came.

Kylie Calloway
Looking for something external, something they can see or touch.

John Mulholland
Well, and even in the first chapter of Acts before Jesus, you know, ascends, the question the disciples ask is, "Are you now going to bring your kingdom to the Earth? You came, we saw all these miracles, you died your back." What I say, when we talk about this at Westway is, "Like they had their, Make Israel Great Again, hats on. They're ready to-

Kylie Calloway
Build Back Better.

John Mulholland
Yes, yes, exactly. We're here, you're ready to do this, and I think that's what these people are looking for. So I would argue, because that cycle has existed since this time, as evidenced by the situations that we just talked about. We have that same mindset, like, we're ready for immediate relief.

Kylie Calloway
We're ready for the king to get the kingdom ready to go.

Jon Simpson
We're ready for things to be made right, and we can tell when things aren't right. And certainly the world is filled with people with different viewpoints on what is right and wrong. We live in a world that's diverse and people's view, you know, we talk about this. I talk about this often with people and the awareness that the battle we're in, in our country and in our world is a spiritual battle. And it always has been. And it's a war between, you know, what the nation of Israel stood for in a sense was to represent God in the world, reflect the character of God, the behaviors of God. And so today, I'm not going to wade into the position of Israel, but the church is meant to reflect that today. God's people, Christians, are meant to be a reflection of Him, but we're looking for justice to happen in our day-to-day life in the world we live in. And there's the constant influence of evil and the presence of evil is there, and we get to experience that and it hurts and we get wronged. I think you were saying before we started recording that, "Why are good people suffering?" So how does the justice, the Messiah is going to bring, play into that? Does it affect or touch our day-to-day life?

Kylie Calloway
Well, yeah, I mean, for me, I think it's that big Christian word, the justification. Though, they were looking for an external, a tangible, a touchable kingdom. You know, it's something deeper inside of us. You know, you said "To be made right." I don't think we're made right, I think we're declared right. According to the theological term justification. So there's nothing that we can do to make ourselves right. There's no amount of works to make ourselves right. It's just faith and that He came, that He died on the cross, and then because of the blood of Jesus Christ, He declares us righteous. And that's, to me the justice that I received, from the injustice of the sin nature that is upon me. That when He looks at me, He declares me right, or righteous.

John Mulholland
And I liked the way you described, like it's not simply an external thing that God is after, that Jesus is after, there's something else. And we can have all of those external things fixed, but there's still something wrong, and that thing that's wrong is me. And as we've gone through the book of Judges, like no matter how many times God sends a judge to deliver them from whatever situation they're in because of their own sin, and I know we're going to talk about that a little later in another session. But the fix is not the external thing, the fix is not, "I need food or I need this." I mean, it's not that those things are wrong to want, but that's not the thing, necessarily that Jesus is ultimately after. So this justice is not only an external thing, but that's the justification that you're talking about. It's what Jesus does to me, to my heart, so that when He sees me, He sees me through the lens of Jesus.

Kylie Calloway
I believe there is an external coming in the end times and new Heaven and the Earth being set up. I think that's where we have to live by faith and not by sight of what's going on and trust God, that ultimately He will bring the justice that we think of in America. That He will bring that to evil and those crazy things that happen to good people. I believe that time is coming, and I believe for this passage, is that's to me, is what he was talking about. That there is a justice coming, they just didn't realize it was Him dying on the cross for their sins.

Jon Simpson
Yeah, when it says, "He will bring justice to the nations," you know, He's not going to crush the weakest reed He's going to come with a sensitivity. He's not going to yell and shout, you know, He's coming with peace, which Jesus did come to bring peace to the world. And the peace was in the, specifically the Jewish nation in Jesus' time, when He came to the Earth, was looking for, you know, they were looking to get out from underneath the oppression of Rome. And they wanted peace as a country and the freedom to do their own thing and to control their own destiny. And they weren't able to do that. and so they were looking for, like we've said, a tangible, a real king that would establish a kingdom, or He would set things right for the nation. But the justice that Jesus really came to bring, as you said, was the, to justify us and to help make it so that we can be made right. And our sins, as you said, can be forgiven and the relationship between the human race and God can be restored.

Kylie Calloway
Right, and I think, for justice to happen, there has to be an ultimate judge, which God is. And I think that's why the Bible says, "There's no longer any condemnation and those that are in Christ Jesus." Because in the court of law, when I stand before Him, since I've been declared righteous by Him. Then I'm no longer condemned before Him, and that's the justice that I get to receive now.

Jon Simpson
And how powerful is that to be able to walk in a right relationship with God in the midst of injustice, that's going to happen to me in my daily life. I'm going to be treated wrongly by the people around me, the world systems against me, the enemies against me, and people are sinful and I'm sinful. I'm not going like, "Walking in this perfect world where nothing happens that's offensive or hurtful," is probably not going to happen. And I'm going to experience injustice in my tangible, real life. So how powerful is being justified before God, and to walk in that, does it have a relation to my day-to-day life? Or I get to experience the goodness of God in the midst of a sinful world, is there a connection there?

John Mulholland
Yeah, and I think that was you before, you know, you mentioned Micah 6:8, "No oh people, the Lord has told you what's good, He's told you what's required of you. Do what's right, love mercy, walk humbly with your God." We had a conversation in one of our small groups recently. You know, we look at the world and we see so much that's wrong with it, and we want justice, people want justice. This is a popular topic, people want justice. And as much as we want to see justice on that macro scale, which is going to come only through Christ, I think as Christians our responsibility is to bring and demonstrate and manifest what justice looks like in my own life. So if I see something I don't like, the fix is not, the fix may be addressing that thing, but the fix is addressing what's wrong in my heart that causes me to judge that thing that I don't like. Like, rather than being mad at someone or I'm frustrated with somebody because they're acting like a sinner, because they are, if it's somebody that's outside of Christ, why would we expect someone who's not a Christian to act like a Christian? I think the micro piece, the day-to-day for me is, to remember that I have been justified by Christ. Christ is doing a work in me and my responsibility is to manifest that justice to other people. To demonstrate the same justice that God did to those other people, which is recognize, you know, I hear, "Somebody oughta pay for that." Or there's a bad thing that happens, "Somebody's got to pay for that, that needs to be made right. And in the back of my mind, I just want to shout, "Somebody did pay for that, His name is Jesus." And how fantastically glorious is that reality?

Kylie Calloway
So we've received this, being declared right, by how? By faith in God's grace, because there what you're saying is, "We need to show more grace to these injustices and things that are happening to us." Which would then be the image of the father.

John Mulholland
Right, taking on, and so then we, this may be a little controversial, so then we don't shout. We don't raise our voice in public, we don't do the things that frankly, so many of the three of us see so much on social media. People in each one of our churches and other churches in town raising up this clamor, which is clearly not an accurate representation of who God is and what He would have us do.

Jon Simpson
Yeah, because we've been justified, made right freely by His grace, we don't have to force justice to happen in every situation. It's one of the things that is maybe not, maybe it's a little counter-intuitive, although Jesus lays it out clearly. The justice movement of our day does not offer forgiveness, nor show any grace, nor exemplify mercy. It's about punishment, it's about paying for things and if that's the world we're going to live in, we're going backwards. Because Jesus has offered us a way out of that, into a path of peace, where it's possible for us to have peace with each other, because we've been made right. Our sins have been you know.

John Mulholland
So when you show who you are, you'll know what to do.

What's New at Cross Reference Library? Amazing Grace

Showdown With Iran -  Bible prophecy expert Mark Hitchcock, PhD, is noticing a dangerous trend: the nation of Iran remains in the newspaper headlines for all the wrong reasons. In Showdown with Iran, he reveals why this rogue nation is so dangerous and how that connects to what the Bible says about what’s to come while encouraging readers to remain alert, aware, and hopeful as the end times near. He tackles questions such as:

• Does Iran plan to wipe Israel off the map?

• What does this mean for the future of the Middle East? 

• Where does Iran stand in Bible prophecy?

• What will be the role of the United States in Bible prophecy?

The warning of what will happen is not new. In the book of Ezekiel, the Bible records a multitude of predictions about the region then known as Persia as well as about the nation of Israel. These ancient prophecies foretell an end-time rise of Iran, as well as Russia and Turkey. But are the prophecies still unfulfilled today? Hitchcock is convinced Iran continues to play a central role in bringing about chaos in the Middle East. In Showdown with Iran, he explores the continued validity and accuracy of end-time prophecy and answers questions that will become increasingly relevant as the end times draw near. 

Lost in the Middle - The Bible never discusses midlife, just like it never discusses teenagers. Yet the Bible is able to address any of life’s experiences because it was written by the One who made them all. You will face things in midlife that beat at the borders of your faith, but you do not have to be lost in the middle of your story. You do not have to be paralyzed by regret, defeated by aging, and discouraged by the passing of your dreams. This middle period of life, which can seem like the end of many things, can actually welcome you to a brand new way of living. As is so often the case in your walk with the Lord, this moment of pain is also a moment of grace. 

The Next Jihad - News of Christians being killed overseas occasionally makes the headlines, but it’s rarely covered by mainstream media and often quickly fades away. While the world has been fixated on jihadist threats in the Middle East, terrorists from Nigeria to Kenya have had free reign to massacre on a scale far beyond that of terrorists in Iraq and Syria. Drawing from on-the-ground experience and personal testimonials, Rev. Johnnie Moore and Rabbi Abraham Cooper--two of the world’s leading advocates for religious freedom and human rights--explain what’s happening to Christians across Africa, why it matters, and what must be done now. 

Grace - We talk as though we understand the term. The bank gives us a grace period. The seedy politician falls from grace. Musicians speak of a grace note. We describe an actress as gracious, a dancer as graceful. We use the word for hospitals, baby girls, kings, and pre meal prayers. We talk as though we know what grace means. But do we really understand it? Have we settled for wimpy grace? It politely occupies a phrase in a hymn, fits nicely on a church sign. Never causes trouble or demands a response. When asked, “Do you believe in grace?” Who could say no? Max Lucado asks a deeper question: Have you been changed by grace? Shaped by grace? Strengthened by grace? Emboldened by grace? Softened by grace? Snatched by the nape of your neck and shaken to your senses by grace? God’s grace has a drenching about it. A wildness about it. A white-water, riptide , turn-you-upside-downness about it. Grace comes after you. It rewires you. From insecure to God secure. From regret-riddled to better-because-of-it. From afraid-to-die to ready-to-fly. Grace is the voice that calls to change and then gives the power to pull it off. Let’s make certain grace gets you.

What Should Christians Do With Thanksgiving? - Ask the Pastor

You can listen to Ask The Pastor every weekday at 9:00am MST on 97.1FM Hope Radio KCMI! You can also listen and subscribe to Ask The Pastor in your favorite podcast feed. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music and most other podcast services.

This edition of Ask the Pastor features Pastors Gary Hashley, Tim Hebbert and Brad Kilthau.

Brad Kilthau
We've got a timely question to think about today as we're moving into Thanksgiving this week. And the question goes like this, "What do, or should Christians do with the holiday of Thanksgiving?" We wouldn't think that would be a question we'd have to ask, but today we do. And we have to remember that when we think about Thanksgiving, it is just, flat-out remembering God's blessings in difficult circumstances. And so fitting for us today, as we think about where we are as a nation and some of the things that are coming up against us today in our country. But we have to also look back in history, because Thanksgiving holiday has been celebrated on and off in the United States since 1789, when President George Washington declared it as a national holiday. And then President Abraham Lincoln made it a regular national holiday in 1863. I thought that was kind of ironic that two presidents that probably went through some very difficult times in this nation are mentioned as bringing this holiday to the forefront. But the reason for the holiday is to remember God's blessing. Especially God's provision and care for the pilgrims, the first European settlers that came to America. And as history tells us, they arrived from England in 1620, and there was a group of Christians among them that were seeking land to make a new life for themselves. They were seeking to come to a place of where they could worship God in freedom. But however, when they arrived in North America, it was late, too late that is, to plant food or anything that would make for harvest. And so they didn't have much food during that first cold snowy winter in the Massachusetts bay colony. And many of them died during the winter. In fact, as I was looking up a little bit of this history, 46 out of the 102 pilgrims perished that winter. In spring though, the local Native American Indians helped them plant what they needed to plant that would grow. That is corn and beans and squash, and when harvest time came around, the pilgrims had an abundance of food. And as history tells us, there was so much to eat they invited their new friends, the local Native American Indians, to celebrate with them. They had a big feast. They praised God for helping them survive the winter and providing new friends and abundant food. Now, even though they had endured much suffering, now was still a time to rejoice because those that did survive, they realized that the only reason they survived was because God looked out for them. God brought them to this new land. God gave them the privilege to worship and freedom and spirit and truth, and they had it right. That is all blessings do come from God. And we think often of the verse found in James 1:17 that says, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above comes down from the father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning." And for Christians in the United States, as we get back to our question, Thanksgiving is not only a time for food and family, as great as that is, but it is more importantly a time that we thank God for the good provisions in the care that he shows for us every day. He shared that with the original American settlers, He's still sharing that with us today. He has blessed our nation so much, but we also have to remember that the percentage of Christians in America today compared to what it was in the mid-1800's, when this holiday was first coming into being instituted in our country, that percentage isn't even close. And so we have many Americans that don't thank God on Thanksgiving day in this nation. But for those of us who trust in Christ, we remember that our families, the food, provisions we have, we know it didn't come from us. It isn't because of our work alone, but it is all a blessing that God has given to us. God is our creator, He's our provider, and it's good for us to take time to thank Him, especially on this time of year. And they actually have a holiday that, encourages us to do that. In fact, again, in the Bible, it says in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, "Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." And so guys, I want to kind of continue the talk about Thanksgiving and Tim, what are some of the ways for Christians to correctly celebrate Thanksgiving?

Tim Hebbert
You know, I think it can be just about anything you really want, as long as it's from the heart. I always feel like one of the ways to celebrate Thanksgiving is to share the goodness of God with somebody less fortunate than you are. Here at the church, the last several years, our Kids Club on Wednesday night, collects food goods and one of our ladies groups combines with them. And they purchase and deliver to, I think this year was about 20 families. Several of them were shut in elderly people, who needed some good food, some things just to let them know that there are people in the community that care about them. And our home celebration, my family's celebration, it's probably Sandy and mine's favorite holiday of the year. To your point, I think it's become secularized, just like Christmas and Easter has. But in our home, my whole family gathers and we typically have, a half a dozen people, either from the church here, or maybe friends that we know don't have somewhere to light on that day and we invite them to our home. But everybody comes at 10 o'clock in the morning. And everybody that comes is in charge of preparing something for the meal.

And we typically stop on the hour, at the top of the hour, every hour around and gather in a circle and everybody shares a thankfulness that they have of what's gone on in the last year. For me last year, to be honest, I was just thankful that I had health enough to have my family there. I had just gotten over COVID, that turned into pneumonia, and so I was thankful for that. But that's typically, for me I think of Thanksgiving anytime the Lord gives me a heart of Thanksgiving. I want to try to share that with someone, and so one of the ways is to serve other people. But another way I believe that honors God is to draw people into your close knit circle. You know, so to speak, and share that love for the Lord and that thanksgiving for the Lord with them. Because sometimes I think we take the goodness of God, well now I shouldn't say sometimes, when we're not careful, we always take the goodness of God for granted, and we're not near thankful enough. I don't know. What do you guys do for Thanksgiving typically at the church or at your home?

Gary Hashley
Well, Thanksgiving for me was always a very special time, because I was a ministry kid and we didn't live near my grandparents on either side. And my dad's family, he was one of nine, they only got together three times a year Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. So between Easter and Thanksgiving, I never saw my cousins, and there were over 30 of us cousins. I never saw my cousins. So they were great times when we would fill my Aunt Juanita's house, because she had the only house big enough for grandma and grandpa and nine, their kids with their spouses and then 30 some grandchildren total to get together. It was a very special time to get together with them, but we always had a time with just my dad and mom and my sister and brother and I. It was very, very special time for me, and we'd like to carry that on in our family. I mean, we have a daughter in Colorado and a daughter in Helena with their families, Helena, Montana, and a son who's now in Indianapolis. So we are together a lot, and we look forward to those times when at least part of us, rarely is it all of us, part of us can get together. Where I pastor there at Calvary Memorial, they started a routine, a pattern years ago when the church first started back in the mid-1960s of having a large, we call it feast of thanks. It is a very full house, full blown Thanksgiving dinner that we get together. This year we had about nearly 200 people in house and plus we delivered meals to shut-ins, and just had a great and wonderful time. We do it early in the month, that way we set the tone. I feel like it really kicks off my holiday season for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, to be able to do just that. But it is a great time. What about Community Bible Brad?

Brad Kilthau
Well, Gary we do the same type of thing, in fact, we just went through it this past weekend. We call it a Praise Service of Thanksgiving, and we just kind of open up the service time for people to give their personal testimonies and praises of great things that have happened in their life through the past year. We had a lot of people who would stand up and share a lot of bad things that happened as most of us can attest to. I think that those times are testing, but in every time of those testing's they always saw the goodness of God through that. And so they dwelt more on the goodness that God showed to them through those difficult times that they've been going through in their lives. And also just take a little bit of time to look at the little things that God blesses us with. And then after the service, of course, we have a carry-in meal in the same way. We kind of theme it towards Thanksgiving, decorate the fellowship hall, and everybody gets together for the meal. And then of course, as Tim was sharing here, we also do the same thing. We deliver meals earlier in the week to those who are needy, and the women's ministry does a tremendous job of putting together a huge box of food and a big Turkey and all of that, and the trimmings to go. And what they do is they ask me to deliver it to people in need. No one in the church knows where these packages go to except for myself. And some things that I've been coming across the last few years is just this, it's not only people in a physical need, but sometimes people are in an emotional need. They're struggling with some difficult times in their life, and this meal just shows an expression of love from the church. And so, yeah, guys, it's a great time of year just to get the body of Christ together. And again, coming back to, what is Thanksgiving all about? It's just remembering God's blessing in the difficult circumstances of life and seeing God through all of that.

Gary Hashley
Yeah, Thanksgiving as I was growing up in Michigan was a day to eat Turkey and watch the Detroit lions lose a football game, because that was generally the pattern. But most of us think of family, but we all ought to think of God. The very first Psalm I ever memorized in totality, it was Vacation Bible School as a young boy, and I got points for memorizing Psalm 100. "Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all you lands. Serve the Lord with gladness, come before His presence with singing, know that the Lord He's God. It is He was made us and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and bless His name for the Lord is good. His steadfast love endures forever and his faithfulness to all generations." I look at that Psalm and the first four verses, are kind of the what of Thanksgiving and the last verse, verse number five is the why. And as you think of the what, there are several action words in Psalm 100: make a joyful noise, serve the Lord, come into His presence, know that the Lord is God, enter His gates with thanksgiving, give thanks to Him, bless His name. And I think a real good lesson from that is thankfulness is an action word. It's not just what we say, but it's what we do in response to what we would say because, and I love it. It says, "Know that the Lord is God." And then in verse five, "For the Lord is good." He's God, and He's good. And it's really, you know, what we should be focusing on, that God is God and God is good. So those first four verses have all those action words telling us, you know, what we can do, but the why is verse five, "For the Lord is good His steadfast love endures forever and his faithfulness to all generations." And I think what I need to remind myself of frequently guys is that, things may not feel good. Circumstances may not be describable as good, but God is good, and that's the thing I'm thankful for. Many have gone through some really tough times. There was an automobile accident on 85, between Torrington and Bear Mountain Station, and two Frontier School of the Bible students were killed. A friend of mine and his son and his son's girlfriend were killed in an airplane crash last night. There are things that aren't really enjoyable, but we can be thankful people because the Lord is good, His love endures, His faithfulness is here for all generations.

What's New at the Cross Reference Library? Coming of Age

Aggressive Girls, Clueless Boys - “Can you sneak out tonight?” What a brazen question for a tween girl to text a boy! In our sex-saturated world, how can parents address th idiomatic upswing of sexually forward girls in hot pursuit of their young sons? Aggressive Girls, Clueless Boys offers a solution to this unsettling cultural trend. Through seven guided “Talk About It” conversations, what-if scenarios, and honest responses to questions from real-life parents, Dennis Rainey offers a detailed guide on teaching your adolescent son to set boundaries and pursue the right kind of girl. It’s time for straight talk with your son! Give him the courage to stand strong in a world enticing him to throw away his sexual purity. 

When They Turn Away - We desperately want our children to have deep faith and a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We want to arrive safely home in heaven together with our children. But what happens if our adult child leaves the church and turns away from the faith of his or  her childhood? Writing with compassion and honesty, author and pastor Rob Rienow shares a powerful message of hope: it’s never too late to point an adult child’s heart toward God. When They Turn Away shows you how to take a proactive role in leading your child back to faith through four biblical and practical steps: 

• Offer your heart to the Lord 

• Turn your heart to your child 

• Draw your child’s heart to yours

• Point your child’s heart to Christ

My Favorite Senior Moments - Ah, those senior moments we dread...and yet laugh about. Gentle humorist Karen O’Connor tickles your funny bone in these senior moments that also highlight the many blessings of living long. You’ll chuckle and want to share these stories that reveal the sunny...and funny...sides of life. They’ll encourage you to: 

• Embrace with good humor the startling honesty of grandkids 

• Go with the flow when you make silly mistakes 

• Choose to be optimistic instead of opting for pessimism

Yes, remember the good old days, but also look for the good in today. God is with you every step of the way--senior moments and all.

Is Prayer Effective? - Ask the Pastor

You can listen to Ask The Pastor every weekday at 9:00am MST on 97.1FM Hope Radio KCMI! You can also listen and subscribe to Ask The Pastor in your favorite podcast feed. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music and most other podcast services.

This edition of Ask the Pastor features Pastors Gary Hashley, Tim Hebbert and Brad Kilthau.

Gary Hashley
The question today that we are going to look at says, "What about prayer? Is it really effective in accomplishing anything? Or is it just something we do when there is nothing else to do to make us feel better?" What about prayer? You know, there are those who say "Prayer, you know, if you pray in the right way, you can have anything you want." And there are those who say, "Well, prayer doesn't change anything." I don't think either of those perspectives is accurate. But there are those who get discouraged, because they wonder if prayer really makes any difference. I received a missionary letter from a friend of mine who is with, God's Helping Hands, a children's ministry in Michigan, and he tells about speaking. One of their teams was at a camp this past summer, and they met a boy named Danny. And Danny came and he talked to Chris after chapel. And he said, "Uncle Chris, I just wanted to tell you that I don't believe in God." Chris responds, "Why not?" And the boy says, "Because I tried praying to him and nothing happened, nothing changed. I heard no voice, not even a tingly feeling." Chris replied, "So you expected him to answer you your way?" And this boy said, "I prayed for five years and nothing happened." He said, "How do you know nothing happened?" He said, "Look, I haven't believed in God since I was five, okay?" And he says, "Tell me something, how old are you now?" And the boy answered, "Nine." So here's a boy that in his youth, in his young life had tried this thing called prayer. And whatever it was, he doesn't say what he was asking God to do. Maybe it was, you know, get his parents back together, maybe it was, heal Grandma. I don't know what it was, maybe he wanted a pony for Christmas. But whatever he had prayed about, he felt it was a waste of time to pray. And at nine years old, he was already saying, "I don't believe in God." And he based it totally on, "I prayed and nothing changed. I heard no voice, not even a tingly feeling." So part of that question I'd like to look at before I pass it off to my brothers here is, is prayer really effective in accomplishing anything? So I sat down today and I thought, okay, where are examples in scripture where prayer made a difference? And King Hezekiah in his life, in the record of his life in 2 Kings, we find two times when his prayer made a huge difference. In chapter 19, we find Hezekiah concerned because the Assyrians had showed up with an army way bigger than his, way stronger than his, and more equipped than his. And he goes to God and he prays for God to help them, and however God was going to help them, but to help them. And we find that in the night, God struck down 185,000 of the Assyrians. And when the Israelites came, they found that there were just all these dead bodies where the camp of the Assyrians had been. Another time in Hezekiah's life, the next chapter, chapter 20, God sends word to Hezekiah, "You're going to die." And it says, "Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and he prayed." And we find that God sends the prophet back and says, "God heard your prayer, and he's going to extend your life." And he did, 15 years longer. He was healed of the disease that supposedly was going to take his life, and he was now living on for more than a decade. Then I look in the New Testament, Peter's in prison, and the church gets together and prays. And an angel shows up, Peter thinks he's dreaming, angel shows up and gets him out of prison. He goes and knocks on the door where the people are praying, at first they don't even believe it. I don't think they were even praying in faith. They don't believe it until they find out, really it is Peter. And I think of James 4:2, which says you do not have, because you do not ask. So the part of the question I was asked to deal with, is prayer really effective in accomplishing anything? I would say yes based upon scripture, and I would say yes, based upon personal experience. I have seen God step in and respond to prayers in an outstanding, miraculous, over-the-top way. Does He always do what I ask him to do? No, because sometimes his answer is, "No Gary, I have a better idea," and I just need to trust Him in that. So Tim, we're going to shift over to your microphone, and does prayer just make us feel better when there's nothing else we can do? So grab that one and run.

Tim Hebbert
You know, I think the wording of the question, it says a lot, does prayer just make us feel better when nothing else will do? Implying that prayer is the last thing we do, not the first thing that we do. And when I look up just the whole process of prayer, prayer is not a button to push, but it's a relationship to be built. I know you guys agree with me, but I view prayer time as an intimate conversation with my father. And I can look to my earthly father, who's at heritage, and when I can get in to see him now, if I've got questions, if I'm needing advice, I still get it from him. Anytime I walk in and sit down and begin to have a conversation with him, I still have that sense. And do I feel better when I pray? Oh, absolutely. And I think I feel better when I pray, because I sense the intimacy. I'm not, I don't know where you guys are at with this, but I do ask, I do seek, I do knock. But I have learned over the course of my life to come with the only expectation that a sovereign God is going to do what He knows is best. But prayer reminds me that He listens, that He cares, that He's concerned, that He loves me. And so, yeah, that does make me feel better. Does it just make me feel better, just because I've said a few prayers? The person out there in the world that doesn't believe in God that thinks prayer is useless, that's what they're going to argue to you. That, "Well, it's just you saying some words and it makes you feel better." Well, for me, prayer is not necessarily about what I have to say, but shutting my mouth once in awhile and just sitting and soaking in the presence of God and letting his presence nourish me. So yes, that absolutely makes me feel better. But I think if we would start there more often than in there, maybe we wouldn't need to go any anywhere else. Because I think God wants us to bring things to Him first, not try to figure it all out on our own. And when, you know, we need an escape clause, "Okay now I'm going to go pray." But, anyway, that's my two cents. So Brad?

Brad Kilthau
Well, I think that's a good two cents Tim, I like that. That was good. And, you know, I think as we kind of finish this thought up today is, you know, prayer should be a basic part of the believers life. Somebody once said that, "Prayer is supposed to be like breathing for a Christian, easier to do than not to do." And it shouldn't be just like, "I got to do this," you know. And we do pray for a variety of reasons, I'll just give you just a few here." One is, prayer is a form of serving God, and you can study about that in Luke 2. Prayer is also, obeying God, because as we know in Philippians 4, those very famous verses six and seven, it says, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God," and here it is what you're talking about Tim, "And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your heart and mind through Christ Jesus." Hey, if we got anything we need in life, God says, "Pray," it's a commandment. And if we look in the Bible, if Jesus thought it was worthwhile to pray, and he did a lot, it's obviously got to be for us. And then another reason to pray is that, God has his will, right? And we have to find that. And so prayer is a way of finding God's will. There are situations that come up in our life and yeah we've always got the answer, but as you guys are both saying, God's got the real answer. And so we find that in prayer. Prayer is also a way to prepare for major decisions. As we know in Luke 6, Jesus prayed all night before choosing the apostles, okay? And so, we should be doing the same. I don't think we should approach any major decision in our life without praying. In fact, I don't think we should do little decisions. Some of the guys through the years that I've mentored, some of the young men, I'll even tell them, "Hey, if you're out working in the field sometime and there's a bolt or a nut that's rusted into this piece of equipment and you can't get it loose, and you're struggling with it." I said, "Step back and pray that God would loosen it up." And they'll come back often and say, "You know what? I did that, and God loosened it up." You know, that's the way our God works. Prayer also helps us overcome demonic barriers in life. There's a lot of demonic barriers around us right now, and sometimes they box us in and prayer helps us to get past those barriers. Prayer also helps us get workers for the harvest. May we never seek to bring workers into the harvest without first praying that God would bring the right people for the right place and the right means of serving. Prayer is a great way to strengthen us to overcome temptation. In fact, in Matthew 26, we're told, watch and pray, as Jesus said to his followers, "Unless you enter into temptation, the spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak." And I think we could all say, "Yeah, our flesh is so often so weak." Prayer is a huge tool of overcoming temptation. And also prayer is used to strengthen others spiritually. We must not ever forget about that. And I think as pastors, we think of this a lot, maybe more than sometimes, other folks do in the church. But I don't know about you guys, but I'm always praying for somebody's spiritual growth, praying for their spiritual strength. And sometimes it has to come in a hard prayer because sometimes they're going through a tough time in life. Maybe it's financial, maybe it's their health. And they're asking me as the pastor to pray that their health would be restored or their finances would come in to meet their need. And often I'll find myself going to the Lord and saying, "Yes, there is that need, but would you please strengthen this person through that situation in their life? May they grow spiritually through this thing." Because really that's the main purpose of struggles that in our life. And Gary, you were saying how you're coming into the book of James and you're in your teaching series right now. And we find that's shared a lot in the book of James, of how testing strengthens us. And so that's a good thing actually in our life. So, you know, prayer again is a huge, vital, important part of our Christian life. And also somebody else once said this, "Prayer is like sharing the gospel with people. We do not know who will respond to the message of the gospel until we share it. But in the same way, we will never see the results of an answered prayer, unless we first pray." And yeah, when we pray and we see God answer those prayers, what an uplift of our spirit to see God working. Little things, big things, when we pray, and some people will even write this down in their morning devotion notes and carry that and look back and see how God answered that prayer. And it just lifts their spirit, encourages them and helps them to walk in their faith.

Gary Hashley
You know, there was a book that came out a number of years ago called, The Prayer of Jabez, just a little booklet. And there was one imagination scene in that book where he said, "He saw, in heaven, this mound of packages. This huge mountain of packages. And in his imagining, it was, he imagined asking God, "What is that mountain of packages?" And God's response was, "That's answers to prayers that were never prayed." And I wonder sometimes, you know, when James says, "You have not, because you ask not," we fail to pray. And like Tim, we fail to pray first, we see it as a last resort. But I don't want to get to heaven and find out that there really is a pile of answers and I just never bothered to pray.

Brad Kilthau
Right. And, you know, I guess when we think about our prayer life, you know, a lack of prayer really demonstrates a lack of faith kind of as Tim was alluding to, too. And a lack of trusting in God's word, because again, as has already been shared in our conversation, when we pray according to God's will, He promises to answer that. He promises to answer that prayer according to His will. And so if there's a decision in my life that needs to be made, or if there's a problem in somebody else's life, God's got the best answer. And so, if I pray to Him for his answer and for His will to be done, it's going to be perfect. And so that again, we're trusting in God when we pray like that. And so, yeah, God wants us to come to His throne. Jesus is our high priest right there. He opens the gate and lets us into the throne room with the father, and we can come in and pray at any time. And He loves to see us there approaching the father in that way. So good discussion guys that we had about prayer today, and there's a lot to say about it obviously, but we'll get to that maybe in another time.

What's New at the Cross Reference Library? Let's be Honest!

A Flicker of Light -  For generations, the Jensen’s have raised their families in the small Montana town of Moose Creek, where gossip spreads faster than the wind. Yet some secrets need to be told. When twenty-one-year-old Bea discovers she’s pregnant on the heels of her husband losing his job, she’s forced to admit she needs help and asks her dad for a place to stay. But past resentments keep her from telling him all that’s going on. Mitch Jensen is thrilled to have a full house again, though he’s unimpressed with Bea’s decisions: dropping out of college, marrying so young--and to an idealistic city kid, of all things. Mitch hopes to convince Bea to return to the path he’s always envisioned for her, but she’s changed since her mom died. And he refuses to admit how much he’s changed, too, especially now that he might be losing his mother as well. Grandma June is good at spinning stories, but there’s one she’s never told. Now that her mind is starting to fade, her time to tell it is running out. But if she reveals the truth before her memories are gone forever, the Jensen family will never be the same. 

Straight Up - Are you looking for someone who’s not afraid to tell you the truth? Or a real source of wisdom when things get real? With his trademark combination of raw honesty backed by practical next steps, former NFL player Trent Shelton helps you navigate some of the most confusing topics you face, including relationships, friendships, fear, depression, and even your own past trauma. And while none of us make it out of the storms of life unscathed, the insight and lessons you’ll find in these pages can help you make it out stronger. Organized into 52 different bite-sized chunks of content you can pick up and read anytime you are looking for advice, searching  for answers, or just need a lift, this collection of real and raw, honest and practical wisdom will help you take the next important steps toward being the best you and living your best life. 

Undaunted Hope - Running from the mistakes of her past, Tessa Taylor heads to the uppermost reaches of Michigan, planning to serve as the new teacher to the children of miners. She quickly learns the town had requested a male teacher, but Percival Updegraff, superintendent and chief mine clerk, says she can stay through winter since it’s too late to replace her. Tessa can’t help but thank him and say she is in his debt. Determined to make herself irreplaceable once spring thaw arrives, Tessa throws herself  into her work, and soon two students have decided Miss Taylor is the right match for their grieving father. At the same time, charming assistant lightkeeper Alex Bjorklund makes his interest known, surprising Tessa, who has never had men fight for her hand before. But not all is well as she feels that someone is tracking her every move, and she may not be able to escape the trap that has been laid for her. 

It has been said that, “Honesty is the best policy,” but if that is the case, why do we all have so much trouble being honest with friends, family, and even ourselves. The books I read through this week all contain people and characters who struggle with doing just that. Believing it would be best for everyone involved, these characters keep the burdens of their past hidden. But as much as they deny it, those burdens will continue to weigh them down, the longer they keep them inside. In A Flicker of Light, it follows the story of Bea Michaels and her grandmother June Jensen who find themselves keeping a couple of big secrets from those who care about them. June intends to keep that part of her past safe, but as her memories start to slip away due to the effects of Alzheimer's disease, her hold on that lifelong secret starts to slip away also. In Bea’s case, she believed that if she waited to tell her dad about her pregnancy then she could prove to him that she didn’t waste her life by marrying young. It doesn’t matter if we are 20 or even 60 years old, when we keep something hidden in order to avoid conflict, the conflict always comes back to bite us in some way or another. And that is one of the many things Trent Shelton talks about in his book, Straight Up. Trent reminds us that being honest with ourselves is just as important as being honest with those around us. One truth that he gave us right away was, “Denying reality never helps.” You want to show that everything is just fine, while in reality it's time for you to ask for help. The last book I looked at was Undaunted Hope, which is the third book in the Beacons of Hope Series. In the previous book, Hearts Made Whole, Tessa Taylor betrayed her sister and ruined her own reputation in the process. Even though her sister Caroline ended up with the man and the job of her dreams, we are left wondering what will happen to Tessa. This book answers that question as we find Tessa trying to get a fresh start in Eagle Harbor, Michigan. But with a past as dark as hers, would a fresh start even be possible? To be honest if you want to find out what happens in these great page-turners, come on down to the Cross Reference Library and find out if the rumors in between the covers are true.