“Don’t Park There”: by Angie Paxton

“Don’t Park There”: by Angie Paxton

Posted on December 6, 2010 by Pastor Len and Friends

“Don’t Park There”

Many times in life we get stuck in the mud. We do the same thing everyday and become religious. We have had many things happen to us and we have been hurt. Many times we sit and look back at the things we did or didn’t do and we park there. We have had loss or missed an opportunity because of sin and we park there. We stop moving in what God would have us do or what He would have us be.

We are not to live in the past and we are not to park there. Memories will come. Thoughts will come. What are you going to do about them? You could even have had some good things happen in your life. God has done some great things and you have not moved on to the next thing He has for you because you have made that thing a god. You look to that thing instead of looking to God for direction and guidance. So it is not just bad things that cause us to park. God has a plan and purpose for your life. He is not a wasteful God. The bible says to redeem the time… Meaning making the most of the time we have for Him.

Many people live in the past. First they replay in their minds the good old days. They think about it over and over. They meditate on it over and over. Then that is all they talk about. “I remember when…”, It was better times back then.” They talk about it over and over. Then others look back to the bad times they had and the things that they went through. Those things that made a strong impression on their minds. Mistakes that they mad or times where someone hurt them really bad. They replay it over and over in their mind. Then they start talking negative and get depressed. People do not know how to live in today. Don’t get me wrong I believe some people have been hurt. But we do not & should not live in the past.

Looking back is a sure end in going back. Many people give up and go back because they park until they have looked back so much, they just go back. They go back to the things in life God has delivered them from. They go back to the mountain top where they once were at.

We have’t yet scratched the surface of the work that needs to be done in the hearts & lives of people. God has a plan and purpose now for you. He doesn’t keep a person in the past. God is the “I AM”, not the I was. He deals with people where they are at now, not what they could have been, or what has been in the past.

Phil. 3:13-14Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Everyday we must look forward at what God is doing now. Forget those things in the past, good or bad. We must remember the things God has done for us only to encourage ourselves in the Lord, not to stay back there. So instead of rehearsing the problem or the terror or trouble, rehearse, reflect, and live out and reflect His nature in your hearts and lives. Park at His goodness, His Character, and be in awe about him.

Lets look at some things to ponder and meditate on.

Gen. 9:16 … Remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature…

Deut. 8:1,18 : 16:3,12 Remember what the Lord has done, where He has brought you through, and where He has brought you from.

1 Chron. 16:12 Remember His marvelous works and His wonders…

Ps. 63:6 Remember Him and meditate on Him day and night.

Like David in Ps. 9:1 I will Praise you, OH Lord, with my whole heart: I will show forth (recount & tell aloud) all your marvelous works and wonderful deeds!

Ps. 16:7-11 I will bless the Lord, who has given me counsel. Yes, my heart instructs me in the night season. I have set the Lord continually before me, because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

Ps 18:33 He makes my feet like hinds feet [able to stand firmly or make progress on the dangerous heights of testing & trouble]: He sets me securely upon my high places.

Eph. 4:23 … be renewed in the spirit of your mind.

You are no longer a slave of your past or your former way of life!!

There are so many scriptures that we can meditate on.

Phil. 4:8-9 8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

Fix your mind on these things… Practice & model your way of living on it…

Forgetting those things behind, pressing forward, fix your mind on the Cross and your Faith in the Cross will produce:

Phil. 4:13
I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency].

So live today, do not look back or meditate on the past. Cover it with the Cross. Only Park at His goodness, His word, and sanctify your heart unto Him. This must be done daily. When satan tries to bring things up, tell him that is under the blood. Then tell him, My God… My strength…My savior…My Redeemer…My Shield…MyBuckler…My Shepherd…My Light…My Righteousness…My Salvation…My Deliverer …My Refuge…My Lord…My God…, My Great Physician …is in me. Greater is He that is in me, than He that is in the world. Satan the blood of Jesus is against you. Praise God be set free from the bondage of Fear and Terror!!!!!!

Asleep In The Lap Of Delilah: by Len Paxton

Asleep In The Lap Of Delilah: by Len Paxton

Posted on November 1, 2010 by Pastor Len and Friends

Asleep In The Lap Of Delilah

Lets read in Judges 16:15-19

15And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth.

16And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death;

17That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother’s womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.

18And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand.

19And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.

To me, this is a perfect picture of the modern church. Asleep in the lap of those who would destroy her by their false and pernicious doctrines.

Delilah is “The Word of Faith message” “The Government of 12 message” The “Purpose Driven deception” and the “Prosperity Cults”. Also, the psychological message and the false holiness message would fall under the Delilah category. So would the modern false prophetic movement and scores of other “fads” out there today.

So many in the church have fallen asleep and do not even know that the true power of God is absent from so much of what we call church. This is exactly what the scripture says in verse 20: 20And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him.

The true power of Almighty God only comes when the correct message is being preached and that message is Christ and Him crucified. Any other message will be empowered to deceive by demon spirits. Many in todays pulpits are actually anointed by the devil to deceive and scores are following them as idols. We have allowed the church to go to sleep in the lap of our seductive enemy because we have not lifted our voices and brought a true word and correction from God. For far too long we “

sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.

And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.” (Rev 2:20-21) and the results have been tragic to say the least.

So many are so groggy with slumber that they love their favorite pulpit personality far more than they love Jesus… Thousands accept anything they hear their idols say without ever looking at a Bible. Many run all over the world looking to get a “word” while ignoring “The Word” of God that has gathered dust for years…. Others only bother to look at those verses that they have twisted to promise them “their best life now” and ignore God’s true message; the message of the cross.

Many idol preachers of today give the impression they no longer need Jesus, The Cross, The Blood, The Word, or The Holy Spirit. After all, they have memorized the 12 steps to happiness and if you send them a thousand dollars, they will teach you to do so also.

Read what Jesus said about them in Rev.3:15-19

15I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.

16So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

17Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

18I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

19As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

The true riches; the true power of God will be found only in who Jesus is and what He did at the Cross.

Masses of people in the church have fallen asleep in the lap of Delilah and have exchanged the power of God for a cheap, psychological thrill and a few goose bumps. These other messages (any message that is not the cross) have an allurement and excitement to them because there are demon spirits involved with them. Any message that is not the message of the cross is “another Jesus” promoted by “another spirit” and forms ” another gospel”. (2 Cor.11:4)

The sad fact is that while all the hoopla is going on in most churches, Jesus is standing outside knocking on the hearts door trying to get invited in.

20Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

21To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

22He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.(Rev 3:20-22)

When will the sleeping church hear the knocking of the precious Savior? Will she ever be aroused from her slumber of sleep. You know, some never will because they love their idols more, far more than Jesus. But God does have a remnant that will hear us as we begin to lift up Christ and Him Crucified.

Our problem has been many times we have been to afraid to rock the boat when God has called us to tip it over. We have cried for “unity” but unity that is Biblical must be based on truth. We have been silenced and put to shame by liberals who ardently seek to further their demonic agenda while we try to be polite and let our Jesus get trampled by their unworthy feet. Yes, we have indeed been asleep but I hear a going in the tops of the mulberry trees…. I can hear the sound of an abundance of true, Holy Spirit rain coming… Thanks to Sonlife Broadcasting and hundreds of cross preaching churches springing up all around the world; the Holy Ghost is sounding His last days alarm clock.. A Holy Remnant will be aroused just prior to the coming of Jesus.. I plan to be a part of that Remnant, how about you friend? Will you cast aside all idols (including your favorite preachers) if they are not preaching the cross? Will you stop worshiping the Copelands and Hagins and Meyers and Capps; and all the others who are preaching a man made, man centered gospel? Can you handle being corrected by the word of the Cross? Many cannot. They will perish in the coming storm. Where will you be?

When the church embraces the message of the cross, which is the true message of the Bible, then we will see true miracles, healings, and deliverances. I would rather have 1 miracle that is genuine and from the power of God than 50 lying wonders performed by demons to deceive. The only true power of God will come when and if the cross is being preached… All else is a lie.. all else is as sawdust in our mouths.. We need a real move of God instead of this hype and man powered “move(s)” we have thought was God. We cry for an unction from the Holy One…. It will ONLY come when the Church once again worships the Jesus of THE CROSS…… Many have been and are worshiping a “Jesus” that their own minds have invented… The real Jesus; The Jesus of the Bible, is the Jesus of the Cross… Who Jesus is and what Jesus has done at the Cross…. that is what we need and desperately crave,whether we know it or not……

I encourage you today to put away your idols.. I can encourage you to do it but God demands that you do it. Serve only the real Jesus of the Bible. Reject those who have exploited and made merchandise of you… Cling to the cross with every fiber of your being.. Run to the cross… Jesus, The real Jesus, will meet you there.

God bless

"Don't Draw Back" from Antietam

TEACHING CLASS EXCERPTS FROM CROSS CHAPEL # 2

Excerpts from Cross Chapel: JAN 2 2011 clip 1

“And they Murmured”: by Angie Paxton

“And they Murmured”: by Angie Paxton

Posted on October 23, 2010 by Pastor Len and Friends

“And they Murmured”

The Bible says a lot about murmuring and complaining & the results of doing this. We look at the children of Israel and the disciples and we think how could they complain or doubt God. They saw the mighty miracles first hand. They walked with the one who brought them out of darkness. God provided for them in many ways. But every time something happened that might seem like a rough road they started to murmur and complain. Are we any different today. God has brought us out of a life of guilt and shame. He has given us hope and eternal life, yet when the hard times come we start complaining that it is not enough or it does not meet our expectations.

Many times the children of Israel looked back to Egypt (a type of the world) & started to murmur. They felt they had it good there, better than where they were at the time they began to murmur. They forgot the oppression, the Lack, the bondage, & the lash of the taskmaster that they had. Satan will always glorify the past as if it were some great thing. We watch movies and read love stories with happy endings and we deceive ourselves into thinking that our past was better than it really was. We were alone and had no hope without God!!

If we are not happy with the present we will glorify the past and start complaining about where we are. God is not happy with this. Being dissatisfied with what the Lord has provided leds to unbelief. Muttering of discontentment causes you to start doubting God’s word. (complaining hinders Faith)

Why meditate while continuing to let the dissatisfied heart continue to come out. When we are dissatisfied we start talking & focusing on that thing that bothers us. We must cast our cares on Him, focus on Him, Look to him, be thankful that we can go to him. He knows the end from the beginning. He has the answers. He knows how to get you through whatever situation you are in.

Murmuring breeds rebellious feelings, discontentment, disapproval, an unsatisfied heart, one who is not satisfied with what God is doing in their live and heart.

John 6:61 the disciples murmured
Ex 16:7-9 Your murmuring is not against man, but God.
Ex 15:24; 16:2
Num 11:1; 14:27

Phil 2:14 Do all things without grumbling & fault finding & complaining [against God] & questioning & doubting [among yourselves]

Matt 20:11 Jn 6:61 Mark 14:4 & 5 Ps 106:25,26 Jude 16 Is 29:23,24
Prov 19:3 I Cor 10:10

John 6: 43 Murmur not among yourselves… DO NOT bring others into your murmuring.

Remember where the Lord has brought you from. Don’t look at the things of this world. The things that are going on in you and around you do not have to cause you to murmur and complain. You can look to Jesus the author and finisher of your faith and can know that He has all things under control. He is not worried about what is happening to you or around you. He is the all mighty and He will accomplish in you what he has started. So when things do not seem to be what you want them to be, wait on the Lord and see His salvation and His deliverance!!!!

someone asked me the other day; “Do we NEED to pray”?: by Len Paxton

someone asked me the other day; “Do we NEED to pray”?: by Len Paxton

Posted on December 6, 2010 by Pastor Len and Friends

someone asked me the other day; “Do we NEED to pray”?

to me, that question should not need to be asked. A Christian, with proper faith in the finished work of Christ, should want to pray.

And, yes, needs to pray…………

That need comes from our hearts….. It is constantly with us….. We need Him like our next breath… More….

I am married. I see my wife nearly everyday and I love talking to her. Sometimes Angie and I will just spend hours talking.. It is no chore. It doesn’t cause great apprehension… It is so natural. Usually, if I am on the road somewhere preaching and my wife can’t be with me; I call her. I NEED to.. I feel the need… I am no less married if I do not call…. I am no closer to Angie if I do… But I NEED to.. I Love her. I love everything about her. I want to be with her every minute.

Should we not feel this way about our Lord also?

Psalm 42: 7Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.

we are called into that deep unto deep relationship with the Lord.

It would do you well to look at Paul’s words in this next text:

1 Thess 5:16-25

16Rejoice evermore.

17Pray without ceasing.

18In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

19Quench not the Spirit.

20Despise not prophesyings.

21Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.

22Abstain from all appearance of evil.

23And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

24Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.

25Brethren, pray for us.

I can just see some folks jumping on the Great Paul; the wise Master Builder of the Church; telling him he doesn’t need to pray… Some say there is no power in our prayer or praise… You come along too late to convince me of that; I have already read the Bible through many times.. I remember Paul and Silas at midnight singing praises…. GOD MOVED…

(Acts 16)

and several other places in the Bible; We see God move in response to prayer……..

I will be doing several articles on the Power of prayer and praise within the context of the message of the cross, next year. Please be watching for them.. God is up to something; something Good……..

“Eighteen-year-old Hudson Taylor wandered into his father’s library and read a gospel tract. He couldn’t shake off its message. Finally, falling to his knees, he accepted Christ as his Savior. Later, his mother, who had been away, returned home. When Hudson told her the good news, she said, “I already know. Ten days ago, the very date on which you tell me you read that tract, I spent the entire afternoon in prayer for you until the Lord assured me that my wayward son had been brought into the fold.”

and…….as Jeanne Sherrod has said “Jesus needed to pray, thats enough for me..”….. I say amen….