Today’s Sermon: 1st Love

Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.
–2 John 1:8

We sang this morning to kick-off a camp meeting revival in Virginia and I took a lot of this post from the message today, hence the lateness of its publishing. Anyway, here are some thoughts and notes from today’s message. Enjoy.

You can lose your first love

Sin will rob you of your joy. Like the church at Ephesus was reprimanded time and again for its apathy and loss of heat, Christians have lost their joy and vigor. It’s not how you begin as a Christian, it’s how you end up.

When you love your first love like you first loved it, you won’t want to stay home from church. Love doesn’t wither and die, it only grows. If we keep our first love we will only love Him more and more as the days go by.

Sin can steal that first love from us, not destroy it, never destroy it, but sin can separate us from our first love.

How do we keep our first love and ensure that we do not lose it?

Remember the cross and what Christ has done for you. I haven’t gotten over my salvation because the cross is my greatest accountability. I can’t look at the cross, visualize the agony of my Lord for my sins, and turn away the same as I was. The cross is irresistible. I cannot help but gaze upon the wondrous love of Christ for sinners. I cannot look away from the cross and leave the same as when I came.
You can lose your joy

The joy of the Lord is our strength and many people don’t apply that to our struggles. We hear, trust in the Lord, lean on the Lord, and pray for your needs. However, we need to realize that the joy of the Lord is the strength in our struggles. Trials are fleeting, joy is lasting and enduring. Our greatest weapon against our personal struggles and sufferings is the joy of the Lord for it is the strength of believers.

You can lose your courage

After the 62 word prayer that brought fire from heaven, in chapter 19 Hillary-, I mean Jezebel wrote a note and sent it to Elijah and he crumbled. This man of God asked the Lord to take his life for fear of Jezebel.

–T. D. Burgess

That note killed his courage and stole his joy even right after the miracle he just witnessed God perform. Even the greatest among us are susceptible to fear and doubting.

How do keep courage and avoid falling into fear?

We are to be filled with the Spirit of God as the disciples on Pentecost. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is joy. Where there is the joy of the Lord there is courage.

Stay in His presence. In the presence of the Lord there is fullness of joy. So, how do we stay in His presence and experience this fullness of joy?

First, we need to ask for it.

If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
–John 14:14

We need to expect it and believe that He will do it. Then we need to praise God regardless of what happens, knowing that it is His will.

In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
–1 Thessalonians 5:18

If the Holy Spirit of God is controlling your life you will have a passion to witness and to lead others to Christ. You won’t have to go to church, you’ll have to go to church. You won’t have to witness, you’ll want to witness. Why don’t we see revival? The Holy Spirit is in us but doesn’t have control over us. We need to let go of the wheel and let Christ take the throne of our life.

We can lose our vision

Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
–Proverbs 29:18

When we lose our vision we lose our testimony. If we don’t go to church, if we don’t actively witness, if we’re not living with a purpose, why would anyone want to be a part of this church thing, this Christian thing? Without the evidence in you, your testimony won’t reach even as far as your front door. Let Christ out of your house, let Him out of the church. Don’t keep Him locked up and visit him once or twice a week. Let Him out, allow Him to rock the world.

You can lose your reward

Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
–Revelation 3:11

If you stop participating, stop being active in your church and in your faith, you’ll lose your reward. Something as simple as a cup of water given in Jesus name and you will not lose your reward in heaven. How simple is that? And yet some Christians will walk away from the throne with nothing to lay at our Master’s feet because they didn’t even give a cup of water in Jesus name.

There’s something burning in my soul that tums and rolaids can’t put out. Jesus loves us! And yet we only talk to him when we want something.

–T. D. Burgess

Unless we forsake all else we cannot truly follow Christ.

Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.
–Mark 10:21

As always, thanks for reading.

—the anonymous novelist

Mother’s Day

I don’t know what it’s like to be a mother; I never will. I do know that I wouldn’t want to raise me, let alone my seven other siblings. Being a mother is hard, that much I do know. Mostly because as long as your children live, you never stop being a mother. You never stop being the protector, worrying about the future, and yes, being disappointed. 

Not everything we do will be everything you dreamed we would. Not every standard you hold will be a standard we think is necessary. But, you can teach us well. Instruct to do what is right in the sight of God. If you train us up in that way, when we are old, we will be alright.
We know we can always count on you to be there when we have problems. You are so dependable that we take you for granted. Thanks for being there when we don’t need you, for its in those time that we overlook your importance as an instructor and guide.

Today is a day to honor mothers, and I know many of you have various ways you do that. I want to encourage you to just spend some time with your mom’s today. Let them know you love them. If you’re like me, and all of that stuff just makes you feel awkward: just being there and having a good attitude will help your mom enjoy the day. I want you to spend this day with your families and specifically your mothers, so I won’t drag this post out.

As always, thanks for reading and Happy Mother’s Day.

–the anonymous novelist 

God Doesn’t Want You to be Happy

Allow me to explain myself. Happiness is a base emotion, a topical feeling that we experience for just a moment and then it’s gone. God doesn’t want you to just be happy, he wants you to be joyful. Joy comes from God alone, it is a deep-seated, fulfilling feeling and satisfaction comes with it.

… Bear with me, it’s 1:15pm here and I just woke up. You wouldn’t believe the day I had yesterday. Anyway, God wants us to have joy, not happiness. The word happy is used only 25 times in the Bible, whereas the word joy is used 155 times. Joy is of God, joy is by the Holy Spirit, joy is through Christ Jesus.

Happiness is here today and gone tomorrow, no matter how good it feels at the time, it doesn’t last. God doesn’t want happy children, He wants joyful children. In the Bible, happiness is a result of something, example: happy is he that doeth this, or happy is he that has done this. But joy is a condition; people become happy, but people live joyful.

Joy brings peace, hope, satisfaction, and life. Happiness brings only fleeting enjoyment and false fullfillment. Happiness doesn’t last, joy is forever. God doesn’t want you to be happy, He wants what’s best for you, He loves you, He wants you to have His joy and to glory in Him.

I know this was short, but maybe that will help you to get this message. The world gives happiness because it is a human emotion, we respond to situations with happiness. The only thing wrong with that is that we can only be happy when things are good. We can be joyful in the midst of trials because joy comes from God, and God is always there; in the good times and bad we can have joy.

As always, thanks for reading.

–the anonymous novelist

Homeless For The Holidays

This might have been more fittingly timed had I posted it around Christmas, however, New Year’s Day is also a holiday, so it still works.
Since November, my family has been living out of a van and trailer due to an accident with the bus rendering it incapacitated. Living from hotel to friend’s house to hotel is nothing new for our family, but it is different to be out of one’s own home over Christmas and New Years; possibly even through Easter as well. It is not looking like a good situation.

This post is for my followers who do not have Facebook or Twitter and cannot get these updates any other way.

Two weeks ago, Mom and Dad left on their anniversary trip leaving us kids in Springfield, MO where our oldest brother Caleb and his family lives. The first Sunday after they left we had two bookings to fulfill. Now, this is the first time that we have ever had to do a full Christmas concert without Mom and Dad: it was a unique experience. It caused a few of us to step up and take charge where we normally would not. So, it was a growing experience for us.

The day Mom and Dad came back from their trip they received news from the bus shop in Wisconsin that the front frame was bent and the cost of repairs was going to be tremendously more than we had at first thought. Some of the major issues were replacing the front frame and obtaining parts. There is only one company in the US that makes parts for our make and model of coach, (MCI), and some of the parts we need are no longer being manufactured.

When you evaluate the cost of re-manufacturing parts and the time it takes to make them, ship them, and install them, we could be out of the bus for a very long time. On the flip side of the coin, our insurance company has said that if the cost of repairs becomes too high, they will total the bus.

By Thursday we will know more, right now I ask for your prayers and any kind thoughts you can send our way. Just wanted to keep you informed. We’re homeless for the holidays, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be joyful. Joy is not where you are, who your with, or what you are doing. True joy is found in Christ and nothing can take that away.

As always. Thanks for reading.

–the anonymous novelist

Christmas Cultrolls

Trolls are real; they steal your socks.

What is a Cultroll? That is the question of the hour. Well, a good place to start is by figuring out what troll is. According to Frozen, it’s a dumpy, string-haired, gapped-toothed, rock-person. By Tolkien’s representation it is a large, ugly, brutish creature that turns to stone in the sunlight. But what is it by today’s definition?

Most commonly, people who wander around the internet looking for a fight on social media are reffered to as trolls. People who only have negative and contrary things to say regardless of the topic or even if they believe one side or the other of the arguement. So, a troll is a really obnoxious, constantly negative person on the Internet. Then, what is a Cultroll?

Well, it’s a conjunctive word I just made up. A combination of two words “Culture” and “Troll”. Thus, a culture troll, or a Cultroll, is a real life person who goes trolling for cultural fights and disputes. Cultrolls are everywhere; more commonly called liberals in the political society, these fight-seekers are really only intent on making others as miserable as they. 

During the Christmas season, a different breed of Cultroll emerges, one that has been hibernating all year, waiting for their chance to strike. We see these more clearly for what they truly are, miserly, grinch trolls that ride on Christmas culture and seek for every opportunity to take the joy and pleasure out of others at this time of year.

Cultrolls are fixed on tearing people down, it’s how they feed their own wretched kind of happiness. They are negative by nature, but it’s more than just wanting to tear others down. Christmas Cultrolls are after anything Christmas and anything joyful. Why? Well, because they feel that if they are miserable, so ought everyone else. They’re lonely because of how they distance themselves and create rifts between them and others.

Christmas Cultrolls will try to steal your joy this Christmas season. I say give it to them, just hand over your joy to them. Maybe they’ll catch some of this contagious Christmas spirit.

As always, thanks for reading, and watch out for trolls.

–the anonymous novelist

A Reason to Give Thanks

Time to talk about you. You know, you are the reason for everything that happens in your life. Whether it is you making things happen, or someone doing something for you: everything in your life is about you. You are the center of your universe. When Christ comes to live inside of you, His love, His joy, His peace, His purpose becomes yours; the world still revolves around you, but Christ is now the center of the center of it. So, how do you find a reason to give thanks if everything in your life is done for or by you?

What about history? Is not the origin of the holiday, the celebration of the Pilgrims settling in the new world, free of religious tyranny a reason for thanks? The legacy of our ancestors and the founding of this great nation under God, is that not a reason to give thanks?

Well, when looking for a reason to give thanks, our first instinct is to look to those closest to us: our family. Is it not a reason to give thanks to have those we love near to us for the holiday? Is that not a good reason for thanks? Personally, I love spending time with my family, Thanksgiving is one of those special days where we all seem to get along; we appreciate each other for who we are on our best days and not what we do on our worst days. Thanksgiving is family. So, family is a reason to give thanks, right?

Then we have friends. One good friend is better to have than 1000 enemies. Friends are great. If you are anything like me, you do things not so much for the enjoyment of the activity so much as for the time with the person you are doing it with. Friends make you see things about yourself that you can’t see, they tell you things you don’t want to hear, and they help you grow in the Lord. Are friends not a reason for thanks?

If we see ourselves in sated scenes,

Of amber skies and Autumn leaves,

And dusk: the rolling billows sweeps,

With beauty of the Master’s hand;

Then to our souls the light doth whisper,

Love and hope in the dusk of November.

Fated is the woe of life, 

But through the storm the truth be told,

And we give thanks for hearth and home.

This day of thanks, the giving season,

The ties that bind do draw us near.

The essence of thanks; hear this: the truth!

The reason to give thanks, is inside of you.

Christ came, lived, died, rose again, and still saves. Pilgrims fled from danger to the lion’s mouth, forsaking health and security for freedom: for hope: for liberty. Give thanks, for every reason, on this, the giving day, the thankful season.

As always, thanks for reading. Like, comment, follow this blog, and check me out on social. I just got on Facebook yesterday! Friend me there and keep up with the blog.

Facebook: @JaredAllen

Twitter: @EJaredAllen

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—the anonymous novelist

Star(bucks) Wars!

I think this is hilarious, and following up on my post about Starbucks and the Red Cup Controversy, allow me to present the Star(bucks) Wars! 

Alright, so Starbucks seems to quite innocently introduce a simplistic, two-toned cup design for their annual holiday Red Cup. Looks like this:

 
An Evangelist on social gives Christianity a black eye and takes this lack of design or pattern personally. You see, Starbucks has in the past included snowflakes, trees, or ornament patterns on the Red Cup and anything less than that is, to this man Anti-Christmas. Gasp! Oh, no, say it isn’t so! A new-age, anti-Christian coffee shop is taking patterns off of their cups! No!!!

So, this guy blows up social media with a feiry: “Starbucks is the Antchrist!”, or something similar; completely ignoring the fact that red is a Christmas color more than trees and snowflakes are Christmas patterns. There would be no Christmas without the blood of Christ. That and red and green don’t go together atbany other time of the year, so why bother even making it a red cup if you’re going to go all Anti-Christmas on us?

Just a few days ago, in an attempt to become the holiday friendly company coming off the heels of a Christmas confetti explosion called the “Red Cup Controversy”, Dunkin Donuts has introduced their JOY cup.

 
That’s about as Christmasy as you can get. Social media has again   responded, this time, hailing Dunkin Donuts as the “Savior of Christmas”, or some mumbo-jumbo like that. Not that it’s wrong of Dunkin Donuts to promote joy this Christmas, but the timing seems awfully convenient don’t you think?

Well, that alone is a story, but it’s not the end of this story. In retaliation to Dunkin Donuts “Joy” cup, Starbucks has returned with their own marketing ploy, consequently it is also named the “Joy Cup”.

 
The only thing about this cup, well, there are a lot of things wrong about this cup, but one big thing is that Starbucks seems to be the center of the red and green themed Christmas joy. Again though, it’s 50% marketing and 50% trying to recover from the Red Cup explosion. 

In the midst of the Star(bucks) Wars we see the commercialism of Christmas, but also the reason behind it. Every business want to make Christmas about you, while in reality making it about them. To convince you to buy from them, they appeal to your Christmas spirit by being as festive as they can; but it’s not because they like Christmas, it’s because they like the money Christmas brings. Christmas isn’t about you, it’s not about Christ, it’s about the lost. 

Wow! Pause right there for a moment. What? Did I really just say that God’s holiday isn’t about His Son? Did I really just say that you are not the reason He came and therefore the reason for the season?

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

God came for the lost, if you’re a Christian, you’re not the lost, you are the saved. For Christians, Christmas is a time of rejoicing. But, Christ came to save, if we are saved, Christmas is no longer about us: it’s about them. And the lost in the world are not just the poor and destitute, but also the rich and famous. Hell is no respecter of persons, it accepts the rich and poor alike.

Christ came, but the reason He came is the reason for this season. With all the different people and businesses vying for your money and your attention, focus on the real reason for the season.

As always, thanks for reading.

—the anonymous novelist