| 10/03/2007 I was eating at a restaurant out of town last week. The waiter brought out a big round piece of bread to eat with the salad. This piece of bread was about six inches high and six inches round. Since I was eating by myself I was only able to eat about 1/4 of the bread. I was certain they would throw the rest of the bread away after I left. I woke up that night about 3:00 AM. The Holy Spirit spoke to and asked me why I wasted all of that bread. My immediate response was that I would have shared it with anybody I saw that was hungry. The Spirit spoke again and said, but you wasted the bread. I again explained that I knew people were starving to death all over the world but I didn't see anybody that was hungry. The Holy Spirit said, how about the living bread, are you willing to share it. Do you waste opportunities? I share the gospel on a weekly basis. But probably like you, I miss opportunities. Sometimes we see the physical need more than the spiritual. How are you doing with sharing your faith? What obstacles are you facing? |
| Sharing Your Faith 02-23-08 I seem to be better at sharing my faith when I am out of town. On the business trips I took in the past I would quickly east dinner and walk around and look for some to talk to. I never failed to have an opportunity. I remember one time in Denver Colorado; I was walking downtown and saw some men lying in cardboard boxes. I stopped and talked to them for a good while. They were out of work and the boxes that had found were the only thing they had to sleep in. I could smell alcohol on their breath. I asked them if they were hungry and they were. So the three of us walked down the street to a local pizza shop. It was about a two-block walk so I had a lot of time to ask they questions about their lives, especially where God fit into their lives. We carried out the pizza and went back and ate on the cardboard boxes. After talking to them for a while, I said a sinner’s prayer with one of them. They really seemed to appreciate what I had done for them. I said Jesus has done so much more for you than buying you pizza, start living your life for him. He is here to help you through each day. I live, eat and breathe that type of ministry. This type of work is the main part of my ministry. Sharing my faith that it might have an impact on someone else. Look for divine appointments in your everyday life. You might be surprised what you run across. Pastor Jim Stuteville |
| What Are We Worshipping? Aug 16 2009 At some point mankind must come to a realization and accept why we are here on this earth. Sometimes we can get so busy in life itself we lose our bearings and what things are important. Let’s take a close examination of what we are doing. What is our life about? If we have had an experience with God, the answer should be straight forward. But sometimes we can get so caught up in the daily activity we really need to think about the answer. Some may say, “I am employed at this job and I have a family with many responsibilities. I fulfill my obligation to God by going to church on Sunday. I know I am not living the best I can but I think God understands, or at least, is being tolerant with me until I have time to serve him better”. Does this sum up the analysis of where we are. Let’s consider this. We were all created by God Almighty. But why were we created? We were created for fellowship with him. We were created to worship him and in that worship fellowship and commune with him. God desires our fellowship and love. If we could bring someone like King David back to life for one day and show him the state of our present world and explain what is going on currently, what would he think? Let’s take David on a tour of the world and look at how we as the human race are fulfilling our purpose. Let’s look in any music store selling cassettes and CD’s. What should we expect to see there? Wouldn't’t you think all different types of praise and worship music in a variety of styles would be for sale ? What do we really see? We see classical, rock, jazz, country, blues, rap and the list goes in. Incidentally, you will be hard pressed to find a praise and worship tape in the store. “God created music to be used in praise and worship” David may say, yet look at what man has done with it. What else has man done? The human race has developed every kind of entertainment imaginable. Just think about it, water parks, bowling alleys, tennis courts, football stadiums, baseball diamonds, water skiing, snow skiing and the list goes on. Let’s take King David into a video rental store. Would he be astounded not to find a majority of the movie videos about the Lord? We would tactfully explain that the videos are made according to what man wants to see and there is not much interest in worship or videos about the Lord. King David may ask, “Where is the effort from the human race in fulfilling their purpose? How are they ministering to the lord?” We may further explain that man needs his entertainment and try to justify the non-existence of God centered videos. After this visit we probably would be too embarrassed to take him to a Barnes & Noble bookstore where he would see the same display of subject matter all geared to what man is really interested in. Think about the amount of effort that goes into developing many of the modern conveniences we have today. Nearly the whole world is employed In making things for other people or the servicing of other people’s needs. That is what our jobs consist of. Is this wrong? No, but how much effort is being expended to fellowship with God? How do we illustrate our love for him. Man does not let anything get in his way when pleasing the flesh. When you really take a close look at what’s going on with the human race as a whole, it is mind boggling. Let King David take a look at all the large buildings in the world today. He would probably ask, Were they built and dedicated to God? Why not?” Because the world has its own agenda and its own purpose. We may want to quickly show him all of the churches in the world today. There is where man has illustrated his love for God. But in our explanation we would sadly point out that many of those building people are fulfilling a religious obligation, not really worshipping and loving on the Lord. Surely in this big church there is grand and glorious worship. We would then have to explain that the church does have bingo and church suppers weekly and gives money to the poor. David would then ask, “ Do they have worship daily?” We would then have to answer, “ No, but they do have mass once a week. David would again ask, “ Do they enter his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise, and do they know the joy of intimacy while in his presence?” We would then invite him to visit area churches so he could make his own analysis being careful to point out that many churches don’t have Sunday night services due to lack of interest. People would actually build a church to attend worship, but really not worship In desperation we would take him to our own church to experience the worship. We may need to further explain that not everyone in the service will worship, that some don’t feel comfortable worshipping God and don’t be surprised to see some with their arms folded with a blank stare during praise and worship. Some even get mad if the worship service goes too long The fact is, King David, even though we present true worship not all enter in. What has happened to mankind? Where are we headed?God help us. It’s time to think about what God wants. Its time to shake our very foundations. Its time to break the lies of Satan. What Satan would really like is for all creation to worship him. Short of this the next best thing is to stop us from worshipping God. Satan knows that mankind was created for fellowship and he has done everything to stop that flow of fellowship. Satan loves all of the diversions that man has developed. We won’t even mention sinful activities. Everyone knows they are wrong. Just think about all the activities that are not really classified as sinful. Yet, it many instances man’s interest in these things far outweighs his interest in fellowship with God. It’s time to think about what we can do to revitalize the relationship and fellowship with our Creator. How patient He has been with mankind. How does God feel about all the things we do? How pleased is God with us? Many times out of guilt some may quickly give money to a charity or help someone less fortunate, thinking this will pacify God. But our first calling is to God. Our ministry to others flows out of our relationship with Him. Our first priority is to love and worship him. If our hearts are in tune with the Lord, if we truly know his heart, we will want to worship Him more than do anything else. Why? Because God made worship and fellowship with more enjoyable that anything man has come up with as a source of entertainment. Satan knows this. True worshippers know this. If you talk to a true worshipper they will tell you, “ I love worshipping God“. I love to be in his presence. He is absolute love and the peace and joy that flow from Him during intimate times of worship is more exciting and exhilarating than any other experience I have encountered. What can we do as true worshippers? How can we better illustrate our love to Him in corporate worship? We can come together on a regular basis, not just to have another church service, but only to praise and worship him. We are saying “Lord, we love worshipping and fellowship with you more than anything. There are many other things to do in this world. But my heart’s desire is you. I may have been guilty in the past of putting other things first in my life, but from now on my heart is set on you. My total desire is to know you better. I want to explore our relationship to the fullest. I want to meet with other true worshippers regularly just to give glory and honor to you. Lord you deserve a place where praise and worship occurs continuously. Our hearts desire is to see you glorified on a continual basis. Lord I want to worship you lavishly not because it is my obligation but just because “I want to be where you are and you alone deserve my highest praise.” Pastor Jim |