722 Highway 84 West PO Box 2454 Collins, Mississippi 39428 601-765-0029 ajmpc@bellsouth.net |
March 2004
Hattieville church was packed in January for youth fellowship. We had a great service that ended around the altar at around 6 PM but, that's when the work really started. The altar was double stacked for over an hour with many of the teens giving their heart to the Lord. The Hattieville members are to be recommended for a good job of hosting the event. The church is looking much better sporting their new burgler bars over the windows. The Lord is truely bringing revival through the youth of Belize. Husbands and Wives Rev. John Gerald I. The Permanency of Marriage Romans 7:2 For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. Many women are unhappy with their husbands. A large percentage of those seek ways to be loosed from their unhappy situation. They often think another husband would be better. In today's promiscuous culture it is easy to change partners, but so many wives who take this way out find that the next partner only brings a different set of problems to the union. Boys are not trained to be good husbands, but are spoiled by their mothers and fathers to believe that they must have their own way about everything. They are self-centered, inconsiderate and abusive. The woman who dreams of a husband who will love her and put her interests ahead of his is headed for a great disappointment. The husband is more likely to be looking for a wife who will make their wants subservient to his. The expectations of each are adverse to the other. The Lord knew how it would be. It is not His will that a person trade one set of bad circumstances for another even worse one. Another sin added to the situation will not improve it. Romans 7:3 So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. Many women do not think of the seriousness of being an adulteress. God has made it a cardinal sin, putting it into the ten commandments. "Thou shalt not commit adultery!" That is not a suggestion, it is a command. 1 Corinthians 7:39 The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord. Every marriage should be made in the Lord!! II. The Necessity of Marriage 1 Corinthians 7:2 Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. The Lord saw the need of every person for companionship. We should do our best to preserve our marriage for the sake of good morals and our own peace of mind. Marriage is a good safeguard against fornication. It helps prevent the necessity occasioned by abstinence. III. The Duties of Marriage 1 Corinthians 7:3 Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband. "...due benevolence" speaks of the duties of marriage. Each owes the other certain benefits associated with marriage. Some of these are spelled out in the Old Testament, where a man was to provide for his wife shelter, clothing, food and companionship. "...due benevolence" also includes the need for sexual satisfaction. To fulfill this command, a woman may not "hold out" on her husband beyond an agreed time. The man may not deny his wife satisfaction, either. These things are expected in marriage, and are blessed of God. Hebrews 13:4 Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. IV. Neither a Man Nor a Woman Can Have Children Alone 1 Corinthians 7:4 The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. Marriage was instituted of God. It is good for the man. God made Eve an helpmeet for the man. It is good for the woman. The preservation of marriage by society has been a blessing to women furnishing them a place of greater security. It is necessary for the security of the children born into this union. People who are married live longer and suffer fewer diseases and less stress. Marriage makes life much better! V. The Woman Who Wants to Divorce 1 Corinthians 7:10 And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: Paul says that the Lord commands the woman not to depart from her husband. 1 Corinthians 7:11 But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife. In the event that she does depart, for whatever reason, she must seek to be reconciled to her husband. The other option is to remain unmarried. Most people will not choose that option even if they do not choose the first one. Matthew 19:9 And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery. Matthew records Jesus' words on the subject: Fornication is a violation of the marriage vows. The partner who commits fornication breaks the marriage vows. That partner is guilty of adultery. The other partner is justified in taking another marriage partner to himself/herself in that case. Whoever marries the divorced woman commits adultery and the woman becomes an adulteress, otherwise. VI. When a Believer is Married to an Unbeliever 1 Corinthians 7:13 And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him. A woman may not use the excuse that her husband is an infidel to obtain a divorce. If he wants to keep the marriage vows, she may not divorce him. 1 Corinthians 7:14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy. God honors the wedding vows even in this case. The children produced by this union are not born of adultery. They are legitimate. VII. Seek for the Greater Good 1 Corinthians 7:16 For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife? It is proper to be concerned for your partner's salvation, but you may not win him by preaching to him, but by your sweet spirit of submission to the Lord and your husband as the scripture says. 1 Corinthians 7:27 Art thou bound unto a wife? seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? seek not a wife. The object here is to serve the Lord in the best way possible. Use your situation to its best advantage to serve the Lord. Don't change, hoping to improve your ability to serve the Lord. If you can contain yourself, it is better to serve the Lord unencumbered by a wife, but if you have a wife, don't seek to be free from her hoping to serve the Lord better. VIII. The Cares of the Wife 1 Corinthians 7:34 There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband. Some of the best missionaries I have ever known have been single women, given entirely to the service of the Lord. If a woman can devote her entire life and means to the service of God, she can become a very important servant to him. If she gives herself to a man, she will be less able to fully serve the Lord. It is something she must understand, and commit to willingly. I have known personally, those who felt the call of God to missions, but instead married a man, who would hear nothing of such a call. This caused much agonizing in prayer to become reconciled to their situation. It is better to listen to God's call, and heed it first and foremost. Address Changes:
Rev. Bobby and Doris Bateman
Andy and Helen Jenkins
Dianne Reid Spring Youth Retreat
Sat. April 24th
Louisiana Branch
Alabama Branch
Mississippi Branch THEY THAT DREAM Dreams
are a powerful force in people's lives.
The word dream brings many pictures to mind. There are daydreams,
which are idle wishes and desires that have no chance of ever coming
to pass. There are the dreams
of sleep whereby the subconscious mind speaks, sometimes in riddles,
other times in wild and incomprehensible pictures. But
there is another kind of dream.
This other kind of a dream...can be defined
as a desire and longing for a state of being and quality
of life that one does not yet enjoy. This type of dream is the fuel for great accomplishments.
Our culture takes great pleasure in telling and hearing of
the ones who make their dreams come true.
We are all encouraged by these success stories.
This element of reaching for greater things in life is a
universal longing, and Christians are included as potential dreamers. What
does the Bible say about one who dreams?
Perhaps, the greatest dreamer in scripture was Joseph, who
informed his brothers that he would someday be a great leader and
rule over even his family. His brothers set out to wreck his dreams, but
God still accomplished his purpose in Joseph's life. He would indeed rule over his brothers and all
his kindred. The
secret to the Christian's dreams can be found in this story. If we as Christians hope to see our dreams
come true, we must stay in
the perfect will of God for our life.
Only then can we be sure of a partnership with God in accomplishing
our dreams. I believe that
every Christian has within him the dream of full and complete service
to God. For the Christian, fulfilled dreams mean to
fulfill God's glorious purpose for our life. The will of God is personal and individual,
not public and collective. In
Psalm 126, we have a commentary on how we can achieve our dreams.
The biblical word dream can mean an ordinary
dream or a prophetic dream. This
Psalm, when taken in its context, deals with Christian longings
and desires, and our reactions, as well as, the reaction of others
to the fulfillment of our dreams. My Bible has a subtitle to this Psalm, The
Joy of Restoration. This Psalm expresses the unbelievable
joy when we are restored to the will of God in our
lives. (Please read Psalm 126: 1 - 6.) We
have seen God do great things for others, but we long for His presence
and power in our lives. Let us look at how the psalmist saw his godly
dreams come true. For
the background of this Psalm, we have to look to the book of Ezra
to find the story: The Israelites had been taken captive by Nebuchadnezzer
and Jerusalem had been destroyed in 586 B. C.
In 529 B. C., 45 years after the fall of Jerusalem, Cyrus,
King of Persia captured Babylon.
In Ezra 1: 1 - 7 (Please
read these verses.), we find the background for the text of our message: I. The Determining of the Dream All
dreams must have a starting place.
There must be a time in the Christian's life when we
purpose in our heart to pursue specific desires and goals.
How does this happen? How can we know God's will in these matters?
There are three ways to assure the blessings of God, and
they can be found in verse one: (1) the
Problems of Life
(2) the Preciousness of Faith and (3) the Precepts,
or Doctrines of Scripture. 2. The second ingredient in determining your dream is to
acknowledge the Preciousness of Faith. We see this ingredient in the phrase when the Lord. If you see a need that troubles you,
ask God for wisdom. What
would God have you to do? Study
Scripture, pray, and seek the face of God.
You must know that God is leading you.
It must be the Lord that does the work, not our own efforts.
God has a work for each of us to do.
He wants us to know His will.
He is not playing hide-and-seek with His will. 3. The third ingredient of determining your dream
is Scripture. Never trust your own intellect or your feelings.
God's will is found in Scripture and solidified in
Scripture. Many Christians get
caught up in a project or a cause, only to fail
when the emotions of the moment fade away.
Search the scriptures and pray for guidance to know the
will of God for your life. After
Determining the Dream, we need to Display
the Dream. The Lord turned
again the captivity of Zion. The psalmist remembers and retraces in his heart
how God came to the rescue of His people. 1.
We need to make our dreams A Shining Glory to God. God displayed His great power in returning the nation
of Israel to its homeland, and the psalmist
says, then was our mouth filled with laughter.
The family of
God has the unique opportunity to encourage and assist each other
in the fulfilling of God's purpose for our lives. Victories in your life will give help and aid
to your fellow Christians who need lifting up.
It will encourage them, and maybe even those outside the
family of God, to trust God in their own lives.
Put your dreams on display so that others can be blessed. 2.
Then was our mouth filled with laughter,
and our tongue with singing. The concept of singing originated as a method of praising
God, but like so many other things, songs of today praise and
uplift the basest of human emotions and deeds.
But when a godly dream is fulfilled and displayed for all
to see, a natural spirit-induced outflowing
of singing and gladness comes forth in
praise and honor to God. 3. A Seeming Greatness.... God and man see greatness in differing ways.
Man only sees it after the fact; God sees the inner greatness
that was present all the time. Then
said they among the heathen, the Lord hath done great things for
them. The
fulfillment and display of godly dreams are a testimony of God's
great love and compassion to His people.
The heathen could not deny that God had delivered His people. God's people are great only because of
their relationship with Him. After
the return of the people and the rebuilding of the temple began,
the heathen all around Judah could see God's great care
of His people. I
know many people who have started on the path to fulfilling God's
purpose for their lives. I
have seen some succeed and many other get sidetracked and fail.
We have examined in the first point how God will direct
us and show us His will. Secondly, we have seen how the successful dreams
of others can encourage and enlighten us to go on with God. Now in verse 3 - 5, we come to the difficulties
of the dream. I
have been amazed throughout my adult life how some people tenaciously
attack life and never allow the discouragements to affect them.
Others allow themselves to be knocked out without much
resistance. What is the difference between the two types?
In these verses, God shows us how to achieve our dreams,
in spite of the difficulties we are sure to face. 1.
We must acknowledge God's past blessings. Verse three
tells us, The Lord hath
done great things for us; whereof we are glad. In the proceeding verse, the heathen said it.
Now the psalmist says it for himself.
As he remembers his blessings, he agrees that God is a
great God. Many times we
forget that we are God's beloved children, and He is walking
with us and helping us every minute.
In times of difficulty,
we sometimes forget about His presence and His blessings. God's past blessings are solid evidence
for future ones! In times
of doubt, I recall to mind those times when God's presence
was most dominant in my life, and I remember how God blessed me
in times of trial and temptation. 2.
We must ask for God's prospective blessings. Verse four says,
turn
again our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the south.
We have not because we ask not. We seem to have the idea that God already
knows, so why bother asking?
God wants us to bring our hopes and desires to him in prayer. Jabez did this in I Chronicles
4:10. He prayed for success
in both his life and career. If
we are to do the same, we must seek God's blessings on all
we do. 3.
We must affirm God's promised blessings. Verse five contains
a wonderful truth. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
This is a promise to God's people, then
and now, that faithfulness will result in a joyful harvest.
Sowing seed is an act of faith.
For those in the deepest poverty, it is a supreme act of
faith. To gain future blessings,
we must be willing to give up present benefits. To the farmers and herdsmen of the plain, there
was no guarantee that their crops would ever come to maturity. They were exposed to robbers, invading armies,
and all manner of evil men every day.
They had no walls or means of defense.
All they had was the promise of God.
What great faith it took to plant the seed in the face
of such adversity! IV.
The Demands of the Dream (v. 6a) In
verse six, we find The Demands of the Dream and the Delights
of the Dream. We all know the man-made proverb that states,
God helps those who help themselves. No farmer ever grew a crop from prayer alone
or desire alone. He must
go to the field! For any
achiever, there are demands. Our
society is a place of instant: things: potatoes,
pudding and fast food. We want everything now! The truth is that there is no instant
success with God. Success
in the things of God is earned by honoring His precepts and promises.
It is an ongoing process. We can learn three things about God's
demands from the first part of verse six, the
Pursuit, the Pain, and the Purpose. v. 6 He that goeth forth and
weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall
doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. 1.
A Pursuit: He that goeth forth... The
phrase carries with it a moving away from something and moving toward
something else. We must be
at work for God. We
must put ourselves on the firing line for Him and allow ourselves
to be commanded by Him. Many
Christians have wonderful dreams, but they will not go forth
and present themselves for God's service.
A dream will stay a dream until the dreamer awakes.
At some point, we, like the sower,
must go forth. 3.
A Purpose:
Bearing precious seed.... In every Christian's dream, the goal is
to accomplish God's purpose.
God has given us abilities and expects us to use them for
His glory. This phrase literally means,
to leave a trail to follow. The
planting of the valuable seed was to set in motion events that would
lead to a harvest. Our purpose must be to do the same in our lives.
We are leaving a life trail by our actions and decisions.
Can others follow? Now
we reach the payoff, The Delights of the Dream.
Those who find God's purpose for their lives and seek
to fulfill that purpose have blessings the world cannot know.
There are four great delights for the godly dreamer in the
second part of verse six. 1. The Success.... Shall doubtless... Success
is guaranteed in the service of God. We do not mean success as the world defines
it, but as God defines it. God's
kind of success does not necessarily mean money, power, prestige,
or honor. But it does mean
a full reward and confidence when we one day stand in His presence. 2. The Strength......comes again.... The farmer sows the seed, and returns periodically
to cultivate his crop. This
is maintenance. He comes
again in the harvest. These
verses promise us strength for the harvest.
Faithful is He that calls us who also will do it!
Failure is not an option or even a possibility for the sold-out
Christian worker. We are
His servants, acting on His orders.
Victory and harvest are assured. 3.
The Song.....with rejoicing....There is a special heart-song
for the successful Christian worker.
The word means to proclaim with a ringing cry. It is a rejoicing that the world cannot understand. 4.
The Sheaves...bring his sheaves with him....It is amazing
to discover that the only place in Scripture in which the Hebrew
word used here (alummah) is mentioned
is in Genesis 37:7. That
passage is where Joseph explains his dream of the sheaves to his
brothers. The sheaves represent the harvest. In the work of God, there is a harvest. Just as the farmer is dependent on the elements,
the Christian laborer is dependent of God. Conclusion: George Mueller saw homeless children on
the streets and had a dream of building orphanages. He had no backing from either the secular world
or the religious world, but he had the help of God. What he accomplished in his lifetime for the
glory of God still stands as a great testimony to God's power. A
different sort of dreamer was John Bunyon. He was constantly persecuted and spent long
periods of his life in prison. But
his enemies could not keep him from fulfilling his dreams of service
to God. He wrote and preached from his prison cell,
and his life counted greatly for God.
His dream and his message is still
being heard today. God desires that we add our names to His great
list of dreamers. He has
a plan for our lives; He wants to use us.
As the herdsmen / farmers on the plains outside of Jerusalem,
may we seek the face of God and begin sowing the seeds of service
and devotion to the cause of Christ.
THE WMS
CONVENTION MEETS SAT. MARCH 20th AT THE GENERAL
CONFERENCE HEADQUARTERS BEGINNING AT 9 A. M.
The 2004 EBC classes started with a real excitement and expectation of God's blessings for Christian leaders in Belize. This year students were required to interview before being accepted. The qualification was to demonstrate a definite call of God to some area of ministry. The response to the first day of orientation was overwhelming. 23 candidates gave testimony to specific areas of ministry they felt called to in their local churches. Since this first orientation day 5 more students have expressed their desire to interview for the classes. In this first class we have students from August Pine Ridge, Belize City, Fireburn, Hattieville, Sand Hill, and San Lazaro. Pray for these students as they train and equip for leadership positions in the ministry of their local church. |
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