MOUNTAIN MANNA

Sit still, my children! Just sit calmly still!
Nor deem these days–these waiting days–as ill!
The One who loves you best, who plans your way,
Has not forgotten your great need today!
And, if He waits, it’s sure He waits to prove
To you His tender child, His heart’s deep love.

Sit still, my children! Just sit calmly still!
You greatly long to know your dear Lord’s will!
While anxious thoughts would almost steal their way
Corroding within, because of His delay–
Persuade yourself in simple faith to rest
That He, who knows and loves, will do the best.

Sit still, my children! Just sit calmly still!
Nor move one step, not even one, until
His way has opened. Then, ah, then how sweet!
How glad your heart, and then how swift your feet,
Your inner being then, ah then, how strong!
And waiting days not counted then too long.

Sit still, my sons & daughters! Just sit calmly still!
What higher service could you for Him fill?
It’s hard! ah yes! But choicest things must cost!
For lack of losing all how much is lost!
It’s hard, it’s true! But then–He gives you grace
To count the hardest spot on the sweetest place.

By J. Danson Smith

HOW A PREACHER GETS ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE BOAT
John 21:1-6 “Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find.”

Obviously the “right side of the ship” is simply the opposite of the left side; however, in this case the left side was also the WRONG side. How did Simon Peter and six followers ever get on the far, foolish, frustrating, and fish-less side of the boat?

I believe that six of them were caused to stumble by Simon Peter- who had determined to leave the ministry and to permanently go back to fishing. The others were affected by Simon Peter. “For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself” (Rom.14:7). We affect one another- either for the better, or for the worse. The six followed the leader.

Someone is following you. Don’t let them down. Don’t fall. If you fall, then you may knock some down or you may pull some down.

We live in a day when many are falling. An evangelist said that he started to keep a record, notes in his pocket calendar, about good men who had fallen into sin and out of the ministry. At the end of the year, he had accumulated sixty-seven names!

You and I CAN fall! We must avoid the pitfalls in the ministry. We must learn why Simon Peter fell. These reasons are warnings to you and me:

PERSONAL ATTACK BY SATAN

In Luke 22:31-32, the Lord had warned him that he was going to be attacked. Why would Peter be the personal target of this attack? Satan always attacks the leader first. “Smite the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered” is a truth that the evil one understands. Preacher, you’re going to be attacked!

In Viet Nam, the point man was a soldier who led a patrol. His job was to guide and guard those who followed him. Unfortunately, he was usually the first causality in a battle- not just because he was in front, but because the enemy knew that his patrol would become confused and frightened by the loss of their point man. So, the enemy trained their first shots on him. Be sober and vigilant! You’re point-man! The enemy has focused his sights on you. He wants to ambush you. Watch out!

PAST FAILURE

Simon Peter had failed miserably. He swore that he’d never forsake Christ, and then he denied him three times. He had been told to pray. He fell asleep three times. He felt like such a failure. He rationalized that he was going to go back to something he could do: fishing. However, now that the Lord had called him to be a fisher of men, he couldn’t catch a fish out of the will of God. You’ll never be a success at anything out of God’s will, either.

Listen. Failing does not make you a failure. Quitting does! In a little over forty days, Simon Peter was going to be catching hundred and fifty pounders by the thousands! Don’t quit!

PRAYERLESSNESS

Simon Peter slept when he should have been praying. Prayer is primary to the ministry. Acts 6:4 tells us that later on Simon Peter learned its importance. “We will give ourselves continually to prayer (first) and to the ministry of the Word”.

Prayer must precede ministry. Ministry is powerless without prayer. Paul agrees. Read I Tim. 2:1. Someone has said, “Prayer is faith taking hold of the promises and the power of God”. You need this power to pray, to properly divide the Word, to praise, to practice your ministry, to preach, to be pure, and to prepare for His Return. If you are not praying- YOU ARE PLAYING.

PUT DOWN HIS CROSS

I have observed six things that can cause the servant of God to put down his cross, to stop denying himself, and to stop following the blessed Savior: LUST, LUCRE, LEADERSHIP CONFLICT (In the Home and in the Church), LOSS OF DESIRE FOR THE MINISTRY, LUNACY (Doctrinal), and LOOKING FOR THE ELUSIVE GREENER GRASS–i.e. A church to pastor that is larger, really appreciative of their pastor, wealthy, and “truly spiritual”. Remember this about greener grass: (1) It may be artificial grass like Astro-turf! (2) Even if it is greener, YOU will just have more to mow! Finally, (3) we have a saying here in West Virginia: “The grass is always greener right over the septic tank!”.

POINTING TO OTHERS

II Cor.10:12, “But they measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves by themselves ARE NOT WISE”.

The worst thing that some preachers can do is to go to a pastors’ fellowship. A brother pastor comes up and says, “Well how is the Bishop of (Any Town) doing”? “Just okay?

Brother we’ve been really blessed. We had seven saved…” Or, some brother pastor will come over and state, “People just aren’t as spiritual as they used to be, are they? I can’t get my people to do anything.” Have you ever been to those type of fellowship meetings? It’s so depressing!

Comparing ourselves with ourselves is not wise. It will result in one of these three things: (1) Pride- “I’m doing more than most”. (2) Jealousy- “I wish I had what so-and-so has”. Or, (3) Complacency-”I’m doing as much as so-and-so. In fact, I’m so so. I’m right in there with the best of the worst and the worst of the best. I’m average… I’m lukewarm”- which makes God sick.

Peter pointed to John and asked, “What about him”? The Lord rebuked him by saying, “What is that to thee?” In other words: It’s not your business! Just worry about yourself. God has not called you to be successful- JUST FAITHFUL! If you’re faithful, then you ARE successful! Success is never to be measured by nickels and noses.

POWERLESSNESS

John 20:22 says that they had already received a filling of the Holy Spirit and His power. However, they lost it. Power does not come by getting more of the Holy Ghost. It comes by letting the Holy Ghost have more of us. The two keys to this power are given in Romans 6: (1) Reckon yourself dead. (2) Yield yourself to Christ. Let Christ live in you and through you. Remember Gal. 2:20 says, “Not I, BUT Christ liveth in me.”

Finally,

PASSIONLESS SERVICE. “Lovest thou me?” Leaving that first love is not just a loss of a degree of love, but it is leaving a Person. God is love. Christ is love. We leave close fellowship with Him because our love grows cold.

Perhaps, the Great Apostasy of these Last Days is not only a doctrinal apostasy by infidels, BUT, tragically a devotional apostasy by believers. The love of many has grown cold. So many of us have the right motions, BUT lack the right emotion. We run on auto-pilot.

May I tell you how to return to an impassioned degree of service? Study the Cross. Preach on the Cross.

Meditate on the Cross. It is this show of love that constrains us. It is not my love for Him that will sustain me. Sadly, the degree of my love for Him goes up and down. Love for people, love for preaching, love for praying, and not even love for soul winning will sustain you.

It is His love for me that constrains and sustains me. No one ever cared for me like Jesus! The hymn says, “I saw one hanging on a tree, In agony and blood; He fixed His languid eyes on me, As near His Cross I stood. Oh! Can it be, upon a tree- The Savior died FOR ME? My soul is thrilled- My heart is filled, To think HE DIED FOR ME!”

A Barber moved to a new town. His shop was on the main street right across from the Town Cemetery. He noticed that EVERY day a young woman came to the cemetery shortly after twelve noon. She went to a certain grave, placed fresh flowers on it, and quietly sat on a bench for a few minutes before she left.

One particularly slow day in the shop, the barber’s curiosity got the best of him. He closed his shop and went to the cemetery just before noon.

“Pardon me Miss,” he said, “I’m the barber that runs the little shop across the street. I have noticed that you come here everyday. Was he your father?”

“Oh, no he wasn’t my father. I’m not offended by your asking, though. I’d be glad to tell you about this man.

When I was eight years old, I was sick, and my mother kept me home from school. She had gone to our neighbor’s house to use their phone to call the Doctor. While she was out of the house, the furnace blew up. Flames filled the first floor of the house. I was trapped upstairs. Our Volunteer Fire Department was called. This man lived near my house. He was first on the scene. He saw me trapped upstairs and ran into our burning house, up the stairs, and into my room. He had no sooner lowered me safely out of my window to a neighbor below, when the floor gave way beneath him. He died in the flames. He died for me. This is the least that I can do for him. The barber understood and agreed.

Brethren, the Lord Jesus has saved us from worse than a house fire. He has saved us from Hell fire. We ought to faithfully live for Him who loved us and died for us. It is the least we can do.

Please, brother pastor, don’t quit! It’s ALWAYS too soon to quit. Don’t fall, either. Avoid the pitfalls. No matter what- keep on keepin’ on!

Dr. John Piper, who has prostate cancer, has written an article entitled, “Don’t Waste Your Cancer!” He gives ten reasons:

1. You will waste your cancer if you do not believe it is designed for you by God.

It will not do to say that God only uses our cancer but does not design it. What God permits, he permits for a reason. And that reason is his design. If God foresees molecular developments becoming cancer, he can stop it or not. If he does not, he has a purpose. Since he is infinitely wise, it is right to call this purpose a design. Satan is real and causes many pleasures and pains. But he is not ultimate. So when he strikes Job with boils (Job 2:7), Job attributes it ultimately to God (2:10) and the inspired writer agrees: “They . . . comforted him for all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him” (Job 42:11). If you don’t believe your cancer is designed for you by God, you will waste it.

(I don’t totally agree with all of Piper’s theology–or his use of other translations.  However, I have learned to separate the wheat from the chaff.  I hope you will, as well.)

2. You will waste your cancer if you believe it is a curse and not a gift.

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13). “There is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel” (Numbers 23:23). “The LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11).

I’ve often wondered why it is, that the conservatives are called the “right” and the liberals are called the “left.” By chance I stumbled upon this verse in the Bible:

Ecclesiastes 10:2 A wise man’s heart is at his right hand; but a fool’s heart at his left.

Yep, that’s gotta be it!

MW4 Gregory L. Cain, USA/RET, Charlie Company 227 Assault Helicopter Bn., First Cavalry Division, Vietnam 1970, “Ghostrider 23″

CHURCHGATE

–Church member plans to call for Special Prosecutor and possible Impeachment Proceedings against Pastor–

Pastor Terry Hagedorn, Calvary Baptist Church, Reedsville, WV

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times–the way it always is! Everything had been going really well. This, of course, concerned the pastor. (Pastor, beware!–when the tragedy of things going well befalls you. Problems are just around the corner!)

All the trouble started when the pastor asked if there was any new business at the church’s monthly business meeting. Well, everyone knew that something was bothering brother Aristotle “Ari” Gannt. (That’s not his real name. Although, it should be.)

First of all, he had worn his “Philadelphia Lawyer three-piece suit”. Ari always wore that suit at funerals or business meetings–where he would make everyone feel worse than if it had been a funeral. When he wore that suit, he imagined himself in a Jimmy Stewart movie–”Mr. Smith Goes to Churchington”–or something. Evidently, he imagined that if he could just give an impassioned speech, while clutching the lapels of his suit coat, condemning all that he perceived as abuses–that he could single-handedly rescue the church from some impending doom or save the church a little money. Usually, it was the latter–a very little of the latter. A very little of the latter that was not worth the big bother to anyone–except brother Gannt.

Secondly, he had been sitting there fuming through the whole service. It distracted everyone around him. He was folding and unfolding a paper that he would–intermittently–roll up and stick in his inside coat pocket, pull it out and read again, and then fold and unfold it again. (He was as nervous as I was when I preached my first sermon–in front of real people. I had an eight page outline, twenty-three illustrations, told my testimony of salvation and call to the ministry, AND it was all over in eight minutes. The longest eight minutes of my life! Fortunately, I don’t think that anyone was paying any attention to me.)

That was not the case with Ari. As soon as the pastor asked for new business, Jimmy Stewart–I mean Ari Gannt–stood up and motioned in the affirmative with his hand and moved to the aisle for maximum dramatic effect. “W…w..well, yes! As a matter of fact, p..p..pastor, I do have something that I would like to ask you, the deacons, and the trustees of this church–those whom we AND the Lord have entrusted with the efficient operation of our church.”

He turned to address the main part of the church audience. He stared off into space and said in a perfect Jimmy Stewartesque voice and mannerism, “M…m…may I ask you? W…w..why do we have a budget? If we aren’t going to stick to it!? You and I–Mr. and Mrs. Average Joe–have to stick to a budget. Don’t we?”

He pointed to a widow woman, “M..m..mrs. Hubbard, do you have to stick to a budget?” Old mother Hubbard reluctantly nodded her head in the affirmative. She was embarrassed. But, everyone knew that you had better humor Ari Gannt. Or, he would just keep asking, “W..well, do you?”–until you did answer.

“That’s right! It the same for me and you and you and you,” he said as he pointed at various other “yous” in the flock.

“Now–here in the budget,” he pointed at a copy of this year’s budget–marked with red and yellow highlight markers–which he had in his hand, “it says that x-number of dollars is to be set aside for a certain thing. When I, we–as a church, or as the great nation that we live in, violate our budgets, then we are just asking for financial failure. Either we learn to live within our means or we die!” Ari clutched his heart and looked down in despair.

“Point of order!,” someone shouted from the back of the auditorium. The voice sounded somehow like pastor’s wife’s voice. “Where is she?”, pastor thought to himself.

Whoever said them, those Parliamentarian words shot Ari through the heart. He looked shocked and wounded.

An equally startled pastor asked, “What is your point of order?”

“Would you ask Ari to get to the point? It’s gettin’ late!,” the voice shouted. His point was seconded by numerous nods of agreement and a bevy of hearty, “Amens!”

Pastor didn’t have to ask. Ari had recovered his composure, “Okay. Okay! If that’s all that this matters to you–I will get to the point.”

“I have been doing a little research–a little investigation into the day-to-day operation of our church. Do you know how much this church spends on toilet paper every month?,” he asked as he lowered his glasses to the to the tip of his nose and looked at some notes on his paper. Thankfully, he didn’t go into his, “W..w..well do you?”-mode. Everyone was embarrassed by the topic. That was exactly why Ari had chosen the topic. “It makes folks think!,” he thought.

“Exactly–on average–twenty-three dollars and fifty-seven cents a month!,” he reported. He waited for a reaction. There was none. That’s the worst reaction to have when it comes to Ari Gannt.

“W..w..well, I found that if we used coupons and shopped where stores had specials we could save money. I could get the same toilet paper for–$19.99!,” he reported.

“N..n..now, three dollars and fifty-eight cents might not be a lot of money to some people,” he said as he glanced in the pastor’s general direction, “but I remember when…”

People actually began to moan as they realized that this could take hours. Ari was starting his “I remember when…”-routine.

Again the sanctity of the moment was disrupted from the back of the auditorium when someone yelled in rapid succession, “I move that we leave things as they are!”

“I second it!”, the same voice yelled, ‘all those in favor say, ‘Aye’!”

“Aye!”, the people responded.

“I move we get out of here…I second it!”, the same voice stated.

“All those in favor say, ‘Aye!’,” the same voice said.

“Aye!”, the people quietly responded, jumped up, put their coats on, picked up their belongings, and filed out of the church–vacating the premises like it was a fire drill!

Ari Gannt–was for once in his life–speechless! Pastor, looked down from the pulpit and gave him the shrug with the palms up at his side expression, “What can I do?” He picked up his Bible and notes, then as he left the platform he said, “Ari, thanks for pointing out the toilet paper problem, I promise that I will look into making certain that we are getting the best deal possible–with the Lord’s money.”

That made Ari’s day! The people might have walked out, BUT–at least–he got his point across to the pastor! He would live to fight again. There was always next month’s business meeting.

WHAT DO YOU SEE IN YOUR CLOUDS? Oswald Chambers
Behold, He cometh with clouds. Revelation 1:7

In the Bible clouds are always connected with God. Clouds are those sorrows or sufferings or providences, within or without our personal lives, which seem to dispute the rule of God. It is by those very clouds that the Spirit of God is teaching us how to walk by faith. If there were no clouds, we should have no faith.

“The clouds are but the dust of our Father’s feet.” The clouds are a sign that He is there.

What a revelation it is to know that sorrow and bereavement and suffering are the clouds that come along with God! God cannot come near without clouds, He does not come in clear shining.

It is not true to say that God wants to teach us something in our trials: through every cloud He brings, He wants us to unlearn something. His purpose in the cloud is to simplify our belief until our relationship to Him is exactly that of a child – God and my own soul, other people are shadows. Until other people become shadows,clouds and darkness will be mine every now and again.

Is the relationship between myself and God getting simpler than ever it has been? There is a connection between the strange providences of God and what we know of Him, and we have to learn to interpret the mysteries of life in the light of our knowledge of God. Unless we can look the darkest, blackest fact full in the face without damaging God’s character, we do not yet know Him. “They feared as they entered the cloud . . .” – Is there anyone “save Jesus only” in your cloud? If so, it will get darker; you must get to the place where there is “no one any more save Jesus only.”

To the Editor:

Preston County citizen, George Street, is right. The All Good Music Festival is a plague on Preston County.

I would ask anyone to produce evidence to the claims that 4 to 5 million dollars are being brought into the county. (Maybe those millions were made in illegal drug sales?) I wonder what the loss offset would be for the businesses in the county that are brought to a standstill for almost a week for the All Good Festival? Perhaps County Commission should speak to some of those businesses—not just the promoter.

What about the offset to all the taxpayers of Preston County? Although the additional police presence and planning helped some this time, emergency responders are hindered by that fact that one lane on Rt. 7 is blocked with the All Good Festival motley entourage and the fact that there is nowhere in many places for vehicles in the other lane to get out of the way.

Who is paying for the additional police presence? The promoter—or Preston County? Who is paying the regional jail for the detention of the All Gooders who are accused of being all bad? The promoter—or Preston County? Who is paying for the property damage and litter control? The promoter—or Preston County?

One local farmer said that he had to clean up broken beer bottles out of his pasture—before the cattle were injured by stepping on them or ingesting them. How can he be compensated for his loss and damages? Does the Health Department inspect and approve the sanitation and food vendors at the festival? Is Marvin’s Mountaintop approved as a camping facility? Shouldn’t the county establish and enforce certain requirements for such campground/music festivals before we get another scourge of music aficionados holding their own festival?

I believe that the All Good Festival came to Preston County because they thought we are just hicks, hayseeds and country bumpkins that could not handle their blatant disregard for the peace and safety of our community. Also, I believe that they knew that it was a place where they could flagrantly break drug laws—and that there were almost no laws regulating such a festival.

If the festival cannot be stopped, shouldn’t the promoter post bond to cover all claims of damages to property and business loss? Shouldn’t there be an amusement tax charged for each ticket to defray the cost of additional police and security so that laws can be enforced?

All Good should be All Gone! The Preston County Prosecuting Attorney, the Sheriff’s Department, the Health Department and the County Commission need to do something now!

There will be a post-festival meeting conducted by the promoter. I encourage everyone interested to attend and voice your concerns. Also, I encourage you to contact the Preston County Commission and let your opinion be known —NOW!

Pastor Terry K. Hagedorn
Calvary Baptist Church
PO Box 282 Reedsville, WV
Ph. 304-864-3870

http://mountainmanna.com

“Pointing Mountaineers to Mount Calvary.”

To the Editor:

“Freedom of worship” has recently replaced the phrase “freedom of religion” in public pronouncements from the Obama administration. Semantic antics? Or, does the rhetoric signal a policy change?

“Freedom of worship” first appeared in President Obama’s November remarks at the memorial service for the victims of the Fort Hood shooting. Days later, he referred to worship rather than religion in speeches in Japan and China. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton echoed the shift in language, as well. In a December speech at Georgetown University, she used “freedom of worship” three times but “freedom of religion” not at all. While addressing senators in January, she referred to “freedom of worship” four times.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom noted the shift in its 2010 annual report. “This change in phraseology could well be viewed by human rights defenders and officials in other countries as having concrete policy implications,” the report said.

Freedom of worship means the right to pray within the confines of a place of worship or to privately believe, said Nina Shea, director of the Center for Religious Freedom and member of the commission. “It excludes the right to raise your children in your faith; the right to have religious literature; the right to meet with coreligionists; the right to raise funds; the right to appoint or elect your religious leaders, and to carry out charitable activities, to evangelize, [and] to have religious education or seminary training.”

In the case of the freedom of religion, while everything has to be done to avoid public disorder and conflict in order to uphold religious freedom, it should never be reduced simply as a strictly private, personal affair of freedom of worship.

Our First Amendment right guarantees that we have the right to public worship with others of like faith, to the religious training of our children, to publish and proclaim our faith, to evangelize and to be separate from the state and its interference in the free exercise of our faith.

One war–The Revolutionary War–was fought to guarantee that right. My prayer is that no one would try to take that right away.

Pastor Terry K. Hagedorn
Calvary Baptist Church
PO Box 282 Reedsville, WV
Ph. 304-864-3870

http://mountainmanna.com

“Pointing Mountaineers to Mount Calvary.”