There are hurting people everywhere, but at times we just don't know what to say or do to ease their pain. Here are six practical ways to bear someone else's burden.

Be there. At times the best "method" of helping is simply to be present. During our darkest hours, we don't need someone who tries in vain to fix everything; we just need a friend.

Listen. Don't attempt to give answers or tell people what to do next. Injured souls frequently want simply a listening ear so they can express what's on their mind.
Share. Never parade yourself as someone who has all the answers. Instead, allow your own pain and failures to help others.

Pray. There is power in speaking people's names before the Lord. When they hear someone talk to Jesus on their behalf, healing often starts taking place.
Give. Sometimes helping others involves more than a handshake or warm hug. Maybe they need something financial or material. One of the best measures of sincerity is how much we're willing to give to others.

Substitute. You may know an individual who bears the burden of caring for someone else. If you step in and take his or her place for a while, you are emulating your Savior--He, too, was a substitute.

Because we were unable to do it ourselves, Jesus bore all of our sin and sorrow, even unto death. As a result, we can live happily and eternally in communion with our Father. If Christ did that for us, how can we ever say, "I'm too busy to bear someone else's burden"?

We all experience hardship, and trials can shake us unless we cling to truth. Let me share three assurances to remember when troublesome circumstances arise.

First, God will always meet our needs. This doesn't mean He provides everything we want. Instead, the Lord will bless us with all that is necessary to fulfill His purpose for our lives. His goal is to sanctify us, not simply to satisfy each immediate desire.

Second, we're never alone. God promised to be with us always, Hebrews (13:5). Loneliness often accompanies hardship, so we may feel deserted or opposed by family and friends. But our Father has sent His Spirit to be with us and in us, until the day He brings us to heaven, John (14:16-17). He is all we need--our advocate, guide, helper, and comforter. Recognizing His intimate presence gives us confidence in the midst of trials.

Third, God's love is eternal. Regardless of our circumstances or poor decisions, His care is unconditional--even when He reprimands us. Loving parents allow disobedient children to experience the consequences of wrong choices; they recognize the benefit of learning from mistakes. Of course, there are also times when we are negatively affected by others' wrong actions. Even then, God is sovereign and allows only what will bring good in His followers' lives.

In difficult times, we can remember that God will meet all of our needs, is always with us, and loves us forever. Though Jesus said we would face troubles in this life, He offered encouragement: The ultimate victory is His. So keep in mind that trials are fleeting, whereas our Father's love is forever.

Religious Gatekeepers

Luke (18:35-40)

What if I told you there are people, even well-meaning people, out there preventing you from receiving God’s best. These folks are not hidden, unscrupulous, vicious individuals skulking around dark corners. They are some of your closest friends traveling the road with you. The problem is the noise they make. It is the rabble from their wake. They never shut-up long enough for you to hear or be heard. God has a word for you today and everyday. Some of His messages are more important than others. There is a high likelihood you cannot hear God’s revelation for the confluence of voices surrounding you. This was exactly blind Bart’s problem. Yes, he was blind. But his biggest problem was the crowd.

As Jesus was approaching Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the road begging. Now hearing a crowd going by, he began to inquire what this was. They told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. And he called out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Those who led the way were sternly telling him to be quiet; but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to Him; 

This company of onlookers following Jesus was like all the other crowds surrounding the Lord. Except  this bunch was preventing this man from connecting to his destiny! His new eyes were passing by on the road right in front of him. Bartimaeus was just five minutes from being able to see. In the middle of this crowd were some nay Sayers attempting to keep old Bart from seeking the Lord. Jesus’ disciples attempted the same thing with children just a few verses earlier. What do disciples know? The Kingdom belongs to children and blind men.

Here is the point about crowds they have no concern about others. They really don’t care about what is happening around them until someone has the audacity to halt their parade. When they get the news that their parade is about to be stopped for someone other than them personally this is when they get louder.
Every person in the crowd could have called out to Jesus on this occasion. Only one audacious person was heard blind Bartimaeus. What did the crowd do? They were audacious too, but not for Jesus. They sought to shut-up the one man crying out with all his heart for the Lord. They rebuked the seeker for being loud and boisterous. Bartimaeus’ courage was met with a ferocious rebuke. These “gatekeepers” believe they know what is best for you and for Jesus.

Why is it that most religious folks and even non-religious folks don’t want other people healed, restored, or redeemed? Everybody says they want the “good” from heaven to be passed around to all people. But, in reality, the exact opposite is true.
The truth is we don’t want others to get blessed until we are blessed. We want the Lord to notice us first. It is like we feel the cupboard of heaven has limited supplies. God isn't acting fairly unless we are served first. It is sad, but true. I think this is one of the reasons we feel uncomfortable in churches where some believers express emotions and worship passionately. Since we don’t worship in this fashion no one else should either. Since we personally do not feel the urge to get passionate, neither should others. Since the blessings of God haven’t touch us personally, then no one else should be passionate either.

Someone wrote an article a while back on “why the other line at the grocery store always moves faster than the one you are personally standing.” It really doesn't but when you are in the line moving quickly, you really don’t think about all the poor stiffs sitting still. But, when you are stuck waiting, all you can do is think about why you are stuck and others are moving forward. In other words, it is easy to fill victimized and never give serious consideration when others are stalled. We all have a tendency to over-exaggerate our own importance and rarely consider what others are going through. Hey, if it is not happening to me, then it should not be happening to anybody. Right?

Not one person encouraged Bartimaeus to get louder. They all told him to shut-up. We have all been yelled at or shouted down. This is why we too react like the crowd. Religion even has the gall to say things like, “It is a sin to question God. It is wrong to plead, seek, and go after God like the blind man. It is wrong to be passionate!”
Wrong!!! The blind man proves it. It is not wrong to call out, to question and seek God like a mad man. It might be socially and religiously unacceptable but it is never wrong in the eyes of Jesus. Blind Bart knew better on the road that day. He got louder.
We don’t like those who speak up, who leave the status quo, who refuse to keep quiet, who reject compliance as a way of life. We would rather have people shut up than say disturbing things from a genuine faith. So we tell people to be quiet because in reality genuine faith scares us to death. Since God has yet to answer us personally He is not going to answer some unknown, blind man!

Have you gotten quiet? Have some of your friends discouraged you from seeking the Lord more passionately. Have they said something like “It didn't work for me, so it is not going to work for you. I tried praying like that but it didn't work. God didn't hear me, so He is not going to hear you. You should just settle down and get quiet.“
If blind Bartimaeus could speak to us again today it would be “Seek the Lord with all your heart. Don’t listen to the crowd get louder until the Lord hears you.“

Creating A Way Of Life You Love

The King of Kings and Lord Of Lords doesn't just want an hour or two of your time during the week.
God wants to be the one to permeate the atmosphere of your entire life'.
If we want to find the best for our lives we won't find it through a "Sunday go to the meeting faith" where the sports, work, shopping or anything else sets the priorities and rhythm for our daily life.

We need to be able to reinvent our timestyle and lifestyle to create a liturgy of life you can love, and free up more time and resources to invest
in the advance of God's Kingdom. In fact most people find it isn't really possible to seriously implement either their mission statements or their goals without making some major changes in how they steward their time and their resources.

For to many of us life has become little more than a living blur. If we have any kind of liturgy of life it is to be shaped more by the Today programme, the "fly on the wall" television and or our e-mail routines than anything that comes from our Christian faith.
But we find people everywhere who want to take back their lives. They not only want to overcome their "hurry sickness", their stress and their 24/7 lifestyle but they want to rediscover an easier rhythm that is more in touch with both the creation and their Creator. They also want to be more responsible stewards of both time and their money.

A new pattern of time is emerging, one that moves to a digital beat that has no regard for night nor day. Fueled by a global marketplace that leaps across time zones in a single bound. The internet is both it's emblem and it's foundation, and e-mailers and web surfers have been among the first to learn it's paces." We are paying high costs in our lives and churches for our blurred existence.

Many of us find we are out of sync with the created order, our own natural rhythms and even spiritual core. We can pay a very high price in our health, our relationships and personal values for this epidemic of "hurry sickness". It can cost us the vitality of our faith and the viability of the church as we race ahead into this 21st century living. We find that as Christians that our Bible reading  among other Christians has declined rapidly in recent years in spite of an explosion of print and on-line Biblical resources.
There is an alarming number of Christian leaders in local churches that tell us they are so pressed for time that their only prayer is with the pastor before the Sunday morning service. Believers tell us that the only rituals of faith they celebrate are Sunday morning worship and Christmas plus Easter. And what is tragic, they have largely succeeded to transform those "Christian holidays into celebrations of consumption!

As the global consumer culture increasingly gobbles up our time and resources it is not only undermining the vitality of the church but also undercutting our support for missions around the world. We are witnessing the slow but serious hemorrhaging of time and money invested in the work of the church.
I am sure most of us are deeply concerned by this serious decline in the amount of time and money we are investing in our faith,
the church the mission. We should be concerned. But what are the causes? Why has our per capita giving declined over the past decades while our incomes have increased? Why does our faith seem to have so little impact on the rhythm of our lives?

Reverend William Bowers
 

Not A Religious Game

God desires sacrifice and obedience, not a religious game. It must be emphasized that our obedience is not for the purpose of saving us--salvation is by grace--but to assist us in perfecting holiness II Corinthians (7:1) and to provide a witness of God working in our lives, Matthew (5:16).

Israel's purely ceremonial religion could never safeguard the truth because the people were not living it. By being used in the worship of man made deities, not the Creator God, the rituals of their shrines were completely divorced from the truth found in the law. God will not be mocked, Galatians (6:7). The evidence of true religion is that through His correction in mercy and love, it will touch and purify every area of life. If we are really in contact with the true God, change will take place gradually as we grow.

To determine if our profession and practice of religion is pleasing to God, we must consider two questions: 1) Are we covered by the blood of Jesus Christ? and 2) Are we obeying God to the best of our understanding?

We never obey to the extent of our knowledge because knowledge, knowing what God expects, always outpaces ability. We gather knowledge before we have the ability to live it, and that makes us feel guilty because we realize we are not applying what we know. This guilty feeling is not really wrong, for without guilt we would not change. It is good if it makes us change, but when guilt becomes neurotic, it becomes destructive and wrong.

Today, psychologists are trying to remove guilt from our every thought, word, and deed--a sure sign of widespread spiritual poverty and complacency. But God says we can worship Him with a pure conscience because we know we have been cleansed of our past sins through Christ's sacrifice, and because we know God is faithful to us as we live by faith in Him, Hebrews (10:19-23).

Reverend William Bowers

Vision For The New Year

How do you plan to fulfill your new year?

What is your vision?

What your vision needs is Godly focus'.

That calls for waiting on God until He reveals His plans for you. Dedicating your time and energy to it, which calls for patience and discipline. Knowing how to overcome obstacles, which calls for good management. For where there is no vision, the people perish, Proverbs (29:18).

We all need to have a dream. But are you going to make it come true?
A vision gives you direction, motivation, creativity and resilience. Without one you become passive, aimless, bored, and vulnerable to quitting. God can give you a vision instantly but its fulfilment will require a lifetime of learning, practicing and managing life's daily challenges.

Visions come with obstacles and opportunities! When you ask God for a vision, you're likely to be placed in a field of opportunities concealed under hectares of obstacles; a place of possibilities hidden beneath piles of problems. Then He will stand back and watch how you engage in the ministry of obstacle management.

Obstacles can't steal your dreams without your permission. Never ever give in-never except to conviction of honor and good sense! Obstacles are inevitable; quitting is optional! When you walk in faith and refuse to quit, God guarantees your obstacles won't prevent your vision from being fulfilled. Habakkuk (2:3).
Between your dream and it's fulfilment you'll be tested.

You'll face: The faith test where you'll need to maintain it in a hostile environment and believe in a dream nobody else does. You may not have a 'dreamer's support network cheering you on, you may have to stand alone.

The patience test: Your dream won't happen quickly you may be a mature man or woman before it's fulfilment. Every frustrating day you'll have to hold onto your dream or risk losing it. Patience isn't just hoping things work out; it's persevering and believing what God said. 'Learn to be patient, so that you will please God and be given what He promised'. Hebrews (10:36).

The strength test: For a while circumstances made by the critics may appear to be right. You may be in a pit, frightened, alone in a strange country without  family and friends, or in prison with an unearned criminal record. But you must remain strong in your conviction that your dream was really from God.

The focus test: With enough emotional baggage to sink the Titanic, sibling resentment, abandonment, false accusations and compound losses, you must control your focus. If you fixate on your problems and obstacles that will only produce disillusionment. Maintain your dream-focus will be your salvation.

The readiness test: When God finally begins opening doors you have to be ready for action! Discouragement or negative thinking will blind you to opportunity. So keep your spirit and gifts honed, take action every occasion to use them, and watch as God turns your vision into a reality.

Obstacles won't destroy your vision, but your attitude will. It's not over till God says it's over. Circumstances and people don't have the last word; God does! He after all is the author and finisher of our faith, Hebrews (12:2). With God, quitting is not an option.
When you quit without his permission you're 'AWOL'. Furthermore, if you are not where God wants you to be, how can you receive the protection and provision He has planned for you?

Refusing to stay down denies your enemy permission to sabotage your destiny.
So ask God to give you a dream for this "New Year", ask God for a dream so big and watch as your faith grows.

Reverend William Bowers

Speaking In Tongues

What you are hearing is real," These people are filled with the Holy Spirit." It is real, not imaginary, these people are really filled with the Holy Spirit!

Jesus said, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned" Mark (16:1518). Then Jesus predicted what would happen: "These signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well".

Acts (2:1). "Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them".

What kind of tongues were these? They were foreign languages. "There were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: 'Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!'

Peter first explained that they were seeing a fulfillment of a prophecy about God's Spirit, Acts  (14-21). He then preached a message about Jesus as the Messiah or Christ, and the need for repentance and baptism, Acts (22-40). The miraculous languages got the attention of the crowd and allowed Peter, even though he was not a rabbi, to speak with authority to the people.

Peter proclaimed to those who accepted his message that they should repent and be baptized and thereby "receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" Acts (38). This promise applies to Christians of every century, but the verse does not make clear whether the "gift of the Holy Spirit" means that the Holy Spirit is the gift, or whether Peter meant that, in addition to receiving the Holy Spirit, they would receive speaking in tongues or some other manifestation of the Spirit as the gift.

The book of Acts describes two other occurrences of speaking in tongues, one in Caesarea and one in Ephesus. Acts (8:14-18) reports a tongue-speaking incident in Samaria. The Holy Spirit came upon people in some noticeable way.

The second description of speaking in tongues comes when non-Israelites were first added to the church, 10 years after Christ's death and resurrection. Up until that time, the church had been primarily Jewish. The apostle Peter had been invited to the house of Cornelius, a gentile (non-Jewish) army officer in Caesarea who worshiped the true God Acts (10:24-25).

Many people were in the house, and Peter told them about Jesus Christ, faith and forgiveness. The third and example of tongues from the book of Acts occurred in the city of Ephesus. Paul found some disciples who followed the teachings of John the Baptist. They didn't know about the Holy Spirit, so Paul informed them more fully, and taught them that John told people to believe in Jesus, Acts (19:1-4).

Pentecostal churches teach that Christians receive the Holy Spirit when they are first converted, but that they are not filled with the Spirit until they are baptized with the Spirit. This baptism of the Spirit is not considered necessary for salvation, but people are encouraged to seek it in order to receive additional power to witness.

Spirit-baptism, Pentecostals believe, always includes speaking in tongues. Therefore, those who desire Spirit-baptism will seek to speak in tongues. However, any attempts to imitate the tongues of Pentecost are attempts to imitate only one of the miracles of that day. There were other miracles that day, too. God will give what he wants to give.

The real lesson of Pentecost is not in the miracles, but in Peter's message: "Repent and be baptized, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit".

Loosening the tongue does not necessarily require a miracle, but loosening the heart in real repentance does. Whoever believes, repents and is baptized will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. No further steps or tarry meetings are needed.

Does every Christian who receives the Holy Spirit speak in tongues? The book of Acts records many healings and other miracles, but only three incidents of tongues. This suggests that tongue-speaking was not a common occurrence, but rather a miraculous sign for special occasions as the apostles preached the gospel and established the church.

It seems that most New Testament Christians did not speak in tongues. Several verses tell us that people were "filled with the Holy Spirit," but without any mention of tongues.

Not long after Pentecost, the apostles were praying for God's help. After they finished praying, "the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly" Acts (4:31). The apostles had already been filled with the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. Here they are filled again. Miraculous shaking is mentioned, but speaking in tongues is not.

It also may surprise you all, to know I myself was "Baptized Pentecostal AOG. Not by mere man but with the power of the "Holy Spirit.

Speaking in tongues, yes it is "real. Seems very strange yet when you truly have the fire of the Holy Spirit in your belly and Heart 'you will know the truth!  

Reverend William Bowers