Victory Though Death

Tweet

Once again, we are being told that fewer people believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ than ever before:

A new poll released by Rasmussen Reports says that 64% of Americans believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead, down from 77% just a year ago. (Poll: Americans Believing In The Resurrection Drops To 64%)

I have to ask, is it any wonder? The attacks are relentless. The rhetoric has been turned up a notch. Nearly every thing people watch on the History Channel and the like have documentaries (really, documentaries? You've got to be kidding!) that share all the reasons why Jesus could not have risen with almost no one giving an opposing opinion. And we are even being told that it doesn't matter to the Christian if Jesus rose from the dead or not as long as you just believe in Him (cue the theologians that are understudies of men like Rudolf Bultmann).

So, as we celebrate the resurrection every single Sunday, my heart is overjoyed to experience the victorious feeling of Christ rising from the dead. It is an absolute certainty that we worship and serve a living Savior! I believe because I trust the facts published and affirmed that Jesus actually rose from the dead, both historically and physically.

However, in the midst of that euphoria, we must remember that the Cross was where the victory took place. It is the resurrection that affirms that victory. You see, you can't have resurrection without a death, and you can't have death without resurrection. Without both, neither are valid.

Here's what I'm talking about. If you go to the tombs of Buddha, Confucius, or Mohammed, they are all still there. For thousands of years, archeologists and explorers have tried to find the bones of Jesus in a tomb, but there are no bones in His tomb. They are simply not there. Think about it, when they find the tomb of Jesus, which was a borrowed tomb, by the way, why would Jesus' name be on it anyway? Don't you think that it would've said Joseph of Arimathea or the like? The tomb is empty. Jesus is not there. No one, including the disciples, could've stolen His body. Think about the Romans, they couldn't have cared less. The Jewish leaders didn't want the body to be missing. And the disciples? Are you kidding me? Every single one of them gave their lives for Christ. Had they stolen the body, they would have gladly recanted and claimed it all to be fallacy. Why do they want to find Jesus' bones? Because, they know, better than most Christians, that without an empty tomb, we are miserable and "still in our sins" (1 Corinthians 15:17). The resurrection is a house of cards that would fall, if it were possible, once the bones of Jesus were found. The empty tomb assures that our sins have really been forgiven once we each trust Jesus as our Personal Savior.

So as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, remember that the victory that took place was on the cross and was assured by the empty tomb. We can never think that it was at the cross we faced defeat and the resurrection was where we received the victory. It is the resurrection that proves that my forgiveness happened because Jesus is now risen from the dead, just as He said. And that is why Satan and his minions have attempted throughout the centuries to try and deceive people into believing the resurrection never took place.

The apostle Paul puts it all together for us in chapter 10 when he writes in verse 9

"if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you'll be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation."

The resurrection and the death of Christ are permanently and completely bound together to tell us all that both are necessary for our salvation... for our forgiveness... that we might know true victory in Jesus Christ.

So my challenge to you is to glory and boast in the cross. Celebrate the resurrection because now you can know for sure that your sins can be forgiven if you will trust and ask the Father today. That's what Easter is all about.

Pastor Trey Rhodes

Small group. There's one for you! Sunday night, Wednesday night, Thursday night. A few people with great impact. Sign up today!

Men's Morning Briefing. Tuesdays at 7:00 AM. Troubadour's Coffee in Mount Pleasant. This week is Proverbs 9. Bring your Bible and let's hear from The Lord together.

Spiritual Simplicity. New Series begins on April 14 at 10:30 AM. Do less. Love More.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Motivated by the Dead: the Story of Marshall

Tweet

I really want to watch a relatively recent movie that has been called a sports movie that's not. In other words, it is about something much more profound than a sports team winning games. The movie is We Are Marshall. It is the re-telling of the account of 76 Division 1 football players dying in a plane crash, and the school's response to the tragedy. Here's a quote from a website that discusses the real life drama:

"The new players didn't know the story. They didn't know the magnitude of the tragedy," he said. "This was to help them understand the magnitude if this tragedy and what role they needed to play in the future to build the foundation for the future generations of Marshall football."

Lengyel said this was a "private moment" for the team, which traditionally happened at 6 a.m. before the first game of the year with only the team, coaching staff and team managers there.

McConaughey uses the phrase, "The funerals end today," but Lengyel said he had to make that known not only to the players but to the schools the team played. Each time the team traveled, the school would have a memorial for Marshall, but Lengyel said the team couldn't continue and grow under those conditions.

Read the actual story of Marshall's football team airline crash

The coach made sure that the Marshall football team had to remember the sacrifice, but couldn't dwell on the tragedy of the needless deaths every moment of every day.

So, how important is at that we remember those who died before us? To answer that, I need to tell you about some questions my daughter fielded in one of her classes at Charleston Southern University. Her class has been reading Fox's Book of Martyrs. Her classmates said that they didn't understand why this book is such an important part of Western literature (if somehow you don't know what this book is, you need to get a copy on your Kindle, tablet, or computer and read it). What is the point of reading it? After all, it's just tragic, horrible, depressing stuff about believers that lived many centuries ago. What good could it possibly do for us today? My daughter was incredulous. This is a book she's been read; she has also read, and had been taught from since a child. Now, here was someone all but thumbing their nose at its importance.

So, why is a "book of martyrs" important to Christians? What difference can it possibly make to us in 21st Century America? In the same way that we must never forget the attack on America on September 11, or the unprovoked surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, or the holocaust of the Jews before and during World War II, we must never forget the martyrs who died for their Lord. Even the Bible reminds us in Hebrews 11 that the world was not worthy of those who were imprisoned, tortured and many even died for the faith. There is a special place in the heart of God for those who were marytyred for Him.

With that in mind, I must ask myself, what is my motivation? Is it the living or the dead? In many ways, I believe it to be both. Read the words of 2 Corinthians 5, the Bible exhorts us all:

And He died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the One who died for them and was raised. (2 Corinthians 5:15 HCSB)

It takes death to brings us to understand our deepest motivation as Christians. That is meant in at least two ways:

1) Because Jesus died, we have no reason to live for ourselves. His example is that love in truth is always worth dying for. Remember from last week, God so loved, He gave..."

Read about Love and John 3:16 here

2) Because others have died for the Faith and are dying without the Faith, we must tell them that Jesus died for them, not as an example, but in order to reconcile us all to God the Father and to take our sins away. Theologians call that "imputation." This is a banking term that means to "place on one's account." That means that Jesus' death as the sinless, perfect Son of God allowed us to place our debt of sin on Jesus' infinite account (See 2 Corinthians 5:18-19).

Through death, we find life. In that, Jesus is our motivation, and in another way, they are our motivation. We live for Him because He died for them. We live for Him because they died for Him. Death is as much a part of life as birth. So because of that, the funerals will go on, but not in fear, but in hope that life doesn't stop with death. Death, because of Christ's resurrection from the dead, is now a conquered foe that holds no power over us anymore. No matter the circumstances, we can die in the Faith knowing real life has only begun.

Living for Him who died and is alive,

Pastor Trey Rhodes

www.MyOceansideChurch.com for our website

MyOceansideChurch.podbean.com for most audio messages

www.OCAnnounce.info for our latest updates on ministry and events

 

Posted with Blogsy

Living in Graveyards

Tweet

Graveyards are an anomaly to our way of thinking. There are times we enjoy moving through the rows of tombstones and basking in the serenity and the memories, but there are also times of terror. Who hasn't read a "ghost story" that included a graveyard?

I was taught to respect the dead in the cemetery. One of the ways was to never walk on the grave of someone buried. That leads me to a funny story I read some time ago, but gave me a whole new reason NEVER to walk on a grave. This graveyard story was written by Pastor Horace Sims in his book, Whistling at Snakes (found here with many more of his humorous stories) who wrote this about a graveyard experience he had with his family:

It was a lovely Sunday afternoon when my daughter, my son and I visited the old Presbyterian church just north of town. The old building was still open from the morning service. The custodian gave us a tour and a book of the church’s history.

One stone was inscribed: Mary Blaine, Consort of William G. Blaine. William was buried in the adjoining grave. I stepped on the grave to get a good look as I copied the word down. The grave suddenly collapsed. I sank down to my waist. I had just dropped in on Mary Blaine, unannounced. She wasn’t much to look at after 200 years.

My daughter ran for the car. My son fell to the ground in laughter. I had to pull myself from the grave without any help. My Sunday suit had mud on it from the waist down.

As we drove back to town, my son was rolling in laughter. I asked him if he really thought it was that funny.

“It will be when it is run in the newspaper,” he said.

I asked him if it would be funny news to report that I had fallen in a grave.

“Oh, no,” he said. “But when those reporters get through with it, it will read, ‘Rev. Horace Sims Buried With Consort.’”

Yikes! It might be nice to get into the headlines every now and again, but oh what the news can do with the headlines.

Truth be told, graveyards are a paradox for the living. What I mean is, we have a place that we inter people who have meant something to us in the ground waiting for their bodies to one day be resurrected. For the believer, life's great tragedy, death, has become a place of great hope. Graveyards remind us that we are awaiting our resurrection. So, we live with this paradox every time we think of or pass by a cemetery.

Without getting into all the theological ramifications of that last paragraph, I think that, for me, graveyards can be a pleasant place to visit, but I would never want to live there. There was a man in the Bible, the Gadarene demoniac, who was so possessed by demons, he only felt at home with the dead.

That makes me ask myself, as a Christian, where do I feel comfortable? If you and I live comfortably among the spiritual dead and enjoy the same sort of things the dead do, its time to examine our lives. You see, just as the disciples were rebuked for seeking "the living among the dead" (Luke 24:45) as they looked for the resurrected Jesus, my concern is that we too will be rebuked as we look for life in the old way we lived before we knew Christ. That IS the graveyard of life. As the apostle Paul admonishes us in Ephesians 2, that was the way we were before we knew Christ. That kind of life brings with it nothing but decay and rot and fear and separation... just like the graveyard. Here's what our life was:

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler who exercises authority over the lower heavens, the spirit now working in the disobedient. We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also. (Ephesians 2:1-3, HCSB)

The Greek word used for dead is "nekros" where where we get our prefix "necro" in English. It literally means dead as "in the grave." It is the word used in Luke 24:45, and here in Ephesians 2:1 and 3. Here then is what we should take from this word "dead":

1. People who are dead to Christ live that way.

2. Those kinds of activities are now dead to us.

3. We are no longer bound to live that dead kind of life.

The time has now come that we have new life in Christ... that we get out of the graveyard and... we start living heavenly Christ-filled lives. That is what we are told in that same passage:

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us, made us alive with the Messiah even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! Together with Christ Jesus He also raised us up and seated us in the heavens (Ephesians 2:4-6).

What about you? Where are you living? In the graveyard or in the heavenlies? As one of our church members tweeted during the Sunday messsage:

As a Christian look up to the Heavens for encouragement. Stop looking down in the grave. You're not that dead person anymore!

Let's live like we are alive in Christ. Let's live like we are in heaven already. Let's live with that old life in the distant past. Let's live as God intended in joy and love and peace and freedom. The graveyard is where we used to live, now we know what real living is all about. It's the only life really worth living.


Pastor Trey Rhodes, Oceanside Church, Mount Pleasant, SC

Current Sermon Series, BIO

AND...

Coming Soon to Oceanside...

the Strength Team and the Kinetic Festival

October 19-21, Under the Cabana nightly.

MyOceansideChurch.podbean.com - Oceanside's latest audio message.

www.MyOceansideChurch.com - for information, direction, pics, and more on Oceanside Church

www.OCAnnounce.info - for latest news and information about Oceanside Church

 

Posted with Blogsy

Body of Death

Tweet

There is nothing more gruesome nor offensive to our human sensibilities than looking at a dead human body. Death is something that is against the natural order. We fight it. We rush to the emergency room to avoid it. We mourn when someone close to us dies. We really don't even like to think about dying, much less talk about it. Yet, death is all around us and permeates our news media, entertainment, and discussions.

Dead bodies are bad enough, but executed bodies are even worse. They remind us that sin has a wage to be paid. A capitol crime brings about a capitol punishment. It's no surprise that the Romans were particularly good at the horrors of execution. Murder brings with it the feeling of atrocity. It is built into who we are to hate that someone's life has been taken in cold blood. So, the Romans came up with a way to get revenge by use of the dead person's body. Here's how it worked in horrific detail:

The murderer was bound hand and foot, face to face, body to body and then thrown into the heat of the Mediterranean sun. As the corpse decayed, it ate death into the living man as he stared into the eyes of the decaying man who got his vengeance as the murdered body quite literally became a body of death. (Romans, John Phillips)

This vivid description is not from some twisted horror story. It is the cry of the Apostle Paul when he was living his life on the fence. He was not not a lost man, nor a spiritual man. He was living a life that is called "carnaility." He had one foot in sin, and the other knowing how he should be living:

But I see a different law in the parts of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body. (Romans 7:23 HCSB)

Then, he got to the end of himself, couldn't keep living that way anymore, and and cried out...

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this dying body? (Romans 7:24 HCSB)

(For more on living in victorious joy...SEE "No You May Not." Excerpt: "We now know that Christ empowers us to live life joyfully and without guilt.")

That is the wretchedness of the carnal believer. Think about it, you have been there. You have mixed your allegiances as well. There have been times that you yielded parts of your body which were intended by God to be used for His kingdom and His glory, and used those incredible gifts as weapons against your Savior. It should tear you apart inside. If not, it could be that you don't have a relationship with the Savior. Today could be your day of salvation. You can know what it's like to have a relationship with Him that offers grace, love, mercy, forgiveness, and freedom from such heart wrenching torment. Thanks be to Jesus who always gives us victory! (Romans 7:25)

Pastor Trey Rhodes

MyOceansideChurch.podbean.com - Oceanside's latest audio message.

www.MyOceansideChurch.com - for information, direction, pics, and more on Oceanside Church

www.OCAnnounce.info - for latest news and information about Oceanside Church

 

Posted with Blogsy

Can I Borrow a Tomb? Life from Death

Tweet

"In the day you eat from it, you will surely die," (Genesis 2:17, NASB) warned God. It was not a threat. It was a plea. God's design was perfect. Man's choice was not. God understood that sin would destroy what He intended man to have, and that was real life. But, man chose wrong, so death entered as a conquering king.

You see, when the actual, historical Adam ate the forbidden fruit offered, he died. That doesn't mean he physically hit the ground, and his heart stopped. It meant that the moment he disobeyed, he was dead in his sin. It meant that the relationship that God wanted with him was over. It meant that no longer could he speak in the cool of the evening to God. It meant that the fury of a fallen creation would be released on all of nature. Addictions would dominate. Storms would destroy. Disease would sicken. Animals would die. Marriages would split. Plagues would kill. Death would reign. Not only did his sin destroy him, sin destroyed all it touched.

God created life. Man brought death. So, the Lord of life brought life from death. The kind of life that could not be contained in a borrowed tomb. Think about this, who borrows a tomb? I thought it was permanent acquisition!. As Lewis Sperry Chafer expresses it, "No situation conceivable could be more abnormal than that of the theanthropic (God-man) Person should enter the realms of death. He is the source of all life" (See John 5:26). A borrowed tomb was all the Lord of life needed. He was only going to be there for three days! Jesus arose because He could not stay dead. God would not allow His Holy One to "undergo decay" (Psalm 16:10). This was truly a fixed game. God sent His only Son to death because He knew life was intrinsic to the God-man. He knew that life would once again flow through the veins of Jesus Christ.

That's what ties death to life...the cross to the resurrection. As much as we fear death, Satan fears life. He has been on an all out assault on life since the moment God created life. You don't believe it? Look at the next cemetery you pass. It demonstrates the commonality of life and death. All who live, die.

But God wants more for us. He wants life for us...every one of us. That's not the kind of life that happens just because my heart is beating  God wants every one of use to experience life in Him. The kind of life that has "abundant" and "eternal" attached to it. That's God's kind of life and He wants it for you. The Lord of life is knocking on the door of your tomb. Your lease is up. He's ready to move you to a place of abundant life for all of eternity. Open the door and pack your boxes. He's here and He's alive!

Alive in Christ,
Pastor Trey Rhodes

Parenting by the Book coming soon! Join us at our weekend services and at small group.
Saturday night home-cooked meal soon.

For more information, 

GO TO

OCAnnounce.info

Frank Martin Wants a Good Relationship, and so Does God...with You!

Tweet

It's interesting to hear the importance that ball coaches, in particular, place on wanting to "get along". They might have problems with the owners, the general managers, the players, or even their own staff. Frank Martin, the newly named coach of the South Carolina basketball team, wants to go to a place where He can "get along" with the president and the athletic director of a school. So, that's why he chose the Gamecocks. I will state, for the record, that South Carolina has great love affairs for their coaches and enjoys supporting them. They actually look for reasons to support their coaches. I am happy for the team and for the fans as well. Hopefully, the state of South Carolina will be proud as well once the season gets under way next year. There truly is nothing like having a good relationship with your superiors.

Frank Martin at Press Conference
The Gamecock's new basketball coach.
He's  ready to enjoy a good relationship

As important as it might seem that a coach's relationship remain intact, there are relationships that are even more important. Your relationship with your family and friends are actually much more important and will shape you more than any other relationships you have on this earth.

Most importantly, having a relationship with our heavenly Father is not just a matter of feeling good. It is a matter of life and death. God the Father wants a relationship with you so much that He sent the darling of Heaven, His own son, to this earth.

You see, our relationship was so marred in the eyes of God that He couldn't receive any of us into His dwelling place, Heaven. You see, His holiness would not allow it. Not even one sin is allowed. Acts 17:30 tells us that in time past, God blinked at sin, but in spite of that, no one could enter the gates of Heaven bcause they had sinned. Old Testament believers from Adam, to Moses to David all went to what Luke describes for us in chapter 16 as "Abraham's Bosom" (KJV, v. 22-23). Those who were evil ended up in in "torment". This was not heaven, only a holding place. Yes, it was a wonderful holding place, but only a place they could dwell until something extraordinary would happen. Truly our our sin had separated us from our heavenly Father. The Bible reminds us as to how serious the situation is:

But your iniquities have built barriers between you and your God, and your sins have made Him hide His face from you so that He does not listen. (Isaiah 59:2 HCSB)

This is no joking matter. this is not something that could be taken care of by a few good deeds or attendance at a religious service or even a heartfelt confession. It is almost ridiculous to imagine that such a pittance could do anything about the sin we have willingly committed.

Not only is it impossible for us to do anything about our sin, our sin is horrible. One member of British parliament said it this way:

If the guilt of sin is so great that nothing can satisfy it but the blood of Jesus; and the filth of sin is so great that nothing can fetch out the stain thereof but the blood of Jesus, how great, how heinous, how sinful must the evil of sin be. William Bridges

So, it truly begs the question, "what could wash away our sin?" The answer rings back, "Nothing but the blood of Jesus." The Bible tells us that without the shedding of blood, there can be no forgiveness of sin (Hebrews 9:22). But its not the blood of bulls and goats that cleanses us from sin, but the blood of the Son, Jesus Christ. It is His shed blood that does ways with our sin. His blood allows us to have a relationship with God the Father, and because His blood was shed on the cross, we have had our sin wiped away. That means heaven is now attainable. But it doesn't stop there! We also have access to our Father daily because of His blood (1 John 1:7). you and I not only have a relationship, but also fellowship. And Jesus did this for you and me when He shed His blood.

Oh, the blood of Jesus
Allowing and restoring
our relationship with God

We remember the blood of Jesus every time we participate in the "Lord's Supper." It is truly a time of giving thanks to Him for shedding His blood for us. It is the one thing about Him that we are asked to commemorate, the shedding of His blood. We do that every time we drink of the cup.

As we enter this precious and glorious time of the year, I would recommend you participate in the Lord's Supper on Palm Sunday night at Oceanside Church. It will be a time of worship that you won't soon forget. And, the rest of this week, wake up every morning and be thankful for what Jesus did for you on the cross by shedding His blood. He restored our relationship the only way possible, with His blood. Every drop of blood that fell from His cross still cries out to you, "I love you!" It is truly nothing but the blood.

Only by His blood,


Pastor Trey Rhodes

Hear the complete message here, BLOOD REIGN

Participate in the 

Lord's Supper Candlelight Service 

7:30 p.m. Palm Sunday Night

for more info, go to...
ocannounce.info

Woman Killed for a Hoax

Tweet .

According to an ABC news article, a woman was killed after she was to be questioned by police after allegedly sending a "hoax WMD package to a republican New York state senator."

The article continues:

"a female (who was armed with a knife and handgun) opened (the door) and began assaulting an officer with the weapons." In spite of the attack, the officer was able to access his service revolver and stop the woman from continuing the assault. The officer sustained non-life threatening injuries, and the woman, identified as Jameela Barnette, was killed.

No matter what the circumstances are that surround such a tragedy, it is always hard to deal with death, particularly around Christmas. Death is such a final word that evokes deep and hurtful memories.

The sad thing is that we live as if we have hundreds of years to live when in actuality, there is no promise that I will finish the next w o r d in this sentence. That is the hoax we believe. Somehow we actually think that life...for us...never ends.

Geof Kimber, a musician friend of mine, wrote these words:

"It's not that life is so short, it's just that death is so long."

If there is anything that our family has learned over these last 8 years, it is that life is riddled with unexpected events. In August of 2003, I went to church on a Sunday morning with no inkling that my life would all but end on the floor of a theater in Mount Pleasant, SC. I had suffered a dissected aorta that nearly ended my life and drastically changed my quality of life.

When that year began, it was like any other. We shot fireworks at the stroke of midnight on New Years Day; we planned for and secured a building for our church; and we even celebrated my 43rd birthday with all the boring jokes about my life being over... never even thinking that nearly 7 weeks later I would be lying in ICU at Roper Hospital fighting for my life.

As we begin a new year, I have renewed my commitment to live each day, wait, let me change that... each moment as if if was my last. The Psalmist understood that lifestyle more than most would care or consider:

Teach us to number our days carefully so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts. (Psalm 90:12 HCSB)

Lord, this year, each moment, teach me.

Pastor Trey Rhodes

ScareMare, Death, and the Kingdom

Tweet

As most Christians have come to the point of understanding, halloween is a day when most people glorify that which is ridiculed and shunned the rest of the year. Many years ago...and I mean many...I made a conscious decision to take back this day to use what was intended for evil and use it as an opportunity to tell people about God's love and abundant life. God Himself reminded the Israelites,

"I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live" Deuteronomy 30:19 (HCSB)

So, without hesitation, we are asking everyone who goes through our house called, ScareMare, "Have you chosen life?"

With that in mind, these are the facts:
Death is sure.
Life is limited.
Judgment is coming.
Jesus conquered death.
Heaven is attainable.
Salvation is free.
Many don't know.
Most haven't believed.
We must tell.

We now live in a culture that is interested in the moment. What trends today on Twitter and Google is passe' tomorrow. For those that have grown up in world of immediacy, we must be able to give them a solution to their eternity that is both urgent and real. For them we offer ScareMare.

It concerns me to think that Christians have taken what was intended to be a good way to think, that halloween is evil, and made it into a night to be feared or even banned. The good news is that we are able to get the Gospel message across; the bad news is that for some it has become a way to criticize those who do want to try to shine a light in this dark world.

To give us a better understanding, here's some Scripture that can help clarify what ScareMare (click here for more info) is about:

the Savior took on flesh and blood in order to rescue them by his death. By embracing death, taking it into himself, he destroyed the Devil's hold on death and freed all who cower through life, scared to death of death. Hebrews 2:14-15 (MSG)

Our goal is that people would no longer be scared to death of death, but embracing life in Christ.

To many, death is a reality that comes true only in the life of others. The "everyone but me" belief about death. Think about it...if life is a collection of experiences, as many profess whether philosophically or pragmatically, then they would only experience death  through the death of another. For whatever reason, they have chosen to ignore the fact that mortality is 100%.  Everyone dies.

Concerning the afterlife, there are some so foolish to say they believe that there is no life after death. They say they, "just don't believe in it." However belief doesn't change the fact that we will all spend eternity somewhere. To these, we must shock them into understanding that they cannot be wrong about eternity. The cost is too high. It is what Jude says to us in verse 23, "save others by snatching them from the fire" Jude 1:23 (HCSB). Whatever it takes, using all available legal ethical means, we are called to snatch them from the fire.

I summarize by using the words of the great evangelist and Bible teacher, C.T. Studd, 

"Some wish to live within the sound of a chapel bell; I wish to run a rescue mission within a yard of hell."

Yours for the Kingdom,

Pastor Trey Rhodes 

Impossible Miss Universe?

Tweet

Miss Universe, Leila Lopes, receives her will deserved crown

The new Miss Universe, Leila Lopes,  is from Angola. Where in the world is Angola? Yeah, admit it. You had to look it up on Google. I didn't (I had the advantage of living in Africa for 2 years, so I knew, but that is the only reason). According to People magazine online edition, "She is the first woman from Angola and only the fourth black woman to be crowned Miss Universe." 

At first I thought it was another ploy to capitulate to the undeveloped countries for political gain. Then I read these words, "'I consider myself a woman endowed with inner beauty,' she said. 'I have acquired many wonderful principles from my family and I intend to follow these for the rest of my life.'" so as People magazine observed, "it's not only the exterior that Lopes wants the world to see," it is what inside. According to the judges, that capped it for them. Even they were looking for inner beauty. This is truly a wonderful story of someone going from rags to riches in the vein of an Horatio Alger story.

At first, when I read the headlines, I thought, "That's impossible. I must be reading it wrong. Of all the girls in the world, a girl from Angola got the crown?" As it turns out, it may be improbable, but not impossible. According to my "big honking" Webster's dictionary, it means that it is something that is "incapable of being done." When something is impossible, that is exactly what it is, not possible. According to The Complete Word Study Dictionary, New Testament, it is when we have no power in and of ourselves to accomplish the act. That's what impossible is. No matter how hard we try, we do not have the power to accomplish the action. It would be similar to asking a weedwacker engine to power a C-130 Hercules. No matter how hard the weedwacker tries and regardless of the sincerity or intention, it does not have the power to lift a C-130 off the tarmac. It would be, you guessed it, impossible.

Here's the bottom line, God not only wants to do the impossible in your life, He promises He can do it as well. He has the power. He is the Lord God omnipotent (all-powerful).

 And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible. Mark 10:27

What is the impossible thing that is lurking in the back of your mind? Maybe it is a relationship that is beyond mending, or a friend that has refused to follow Jesus, or a financial situation that it will take a miracle to settle. Remember this...God can!

What do you and I need to do?
Get ready for God to do it. Here's how from Joshua 1:

1. Take God at His Word (vv. 6-9)
Joshua was promised supernatural success if He would mediate on God's supernatural book. Meditation empowers us to see life from God's point of view. God's will and hence His words will never be stopped. Then we can easily trust God because His Word has become a part of us: "I trust in Your Word" Psalm 119:42

2. Watch for God's Activity (vv. 10-11)
God told Joshua to tell the people to get ready. How? They were about to cross the Jordan, so it would make sense that they should building a bridge or constructing a boat or raft. But, that's not where God was at work. He was about to do the impossible by piling up the water of the Jordan during the spring tide. They had to take their eyes off of where they thought God should work and open their eyes to where God was going to work.

Remember what Jesus said, "My Father is still working and I am working also." (John 5:17) If that is true, then we better know what God is about to do around us. Be sure to look at people, not circumstances.

• Are they being drawn to God? 
• Are they seeking Him? 
• Do they feel conviction of their sin? 

3. Look What God Has Already Given You (vv. 12-15)
God has already given you things materially and spiritually. These people had been given property (including house and farms that had already been built for them). They had also been given rest.

First, think of all that God has already given you materially. You have a roof over your head, food to eat, clothes to wear. If you wonder if God cares...look and see that He has already cared for you.

Second, rest is also given to us. Those of us that have trusted Christ as Savior and Lord can now rest in His finished work. We no longer strive to live up to God's standards, Jesus made the impossible possible by dtying on the cross for us. That is why Jesus cried, "It is finished" from the cross. The price had been paid and the work was accomplished.

4. Do God's will (vv. 16-18)
The children of Israel had had enough of low living and rebellious attitudes. They were about to see God do impossible things. They were were up to their necks in sinful attitudes and actions because of the lifestyles of their parents. So, they chose a new and different way. They chose now to follow God and they guaranteed it with the very lives:

Anyone who rebels against your order and does not obey your words in all that you command him, will be put to death. Joshua 1:18

Would you be willing to so commit to Christ, that if you didn't do His will, you would willingly die? We so often speak of dying for what we believe, but will you live for the One you believe in? His will is worth our lives.

Once we are prepared for God, He stands on the edge of heaven waiting to do the impossible. Be ready.

Thinkin' 'Bout Oceanside

• Sun Stand Still - Get in a small group. You don't want to miss what God has for you through this inspiring and life changing study. Begins next week. Watch God do the impossible!

• Oceanside Saturday Night - Begins this Saturday night at 8p.m. Let your friends know. Come ready to have a good time and hear form God as well. We'll be finished by 9:00 p.m. Impossible you say? Come and see.

• Scare Mare - The day are clicking by and you need to be praying about God touching people's hearts and lives. 3 guarantees: 1) We will scare them 2) They will hear the Gospel 3) People will be saved. Get involved now and watch God do the impossible through you

• Parenting by the Book - Do you know how to raise your children in this crazy mixed-up world we live in? John Rosemond helps us avoid the pitfalls and build a home where children can be all they were intended to be. You can be the parent you were meant to be. Sign up today. Email us at contact@myoceansidechurch.com.

Preparing for the impossible,

Pastor Trey Rhodes

Living to Die

Tweet

When surveyed, the number one fear people say they have is death. As Christians, though, it should be quite different, but it seems to me it is not. Think about it, we sing choruses, hymns, and anthems that tell us that we can't wait to see Jesus. Here's a few: I Can Only Imagine (Mercy Me), Heavenbound (DC Talk) Big House (Audio Adrenaline), I'll Fly Away, Sweet By and By, I Bowed on My Knees and Cried Holy, and of course, When We All Get to Heaven. But if it comes to our heart starting to act up, we start screaming for someone to call 9-1-1. I know that because I would do the same thing. We have become way too used to the things of this earth and often forget that we were created for eternity. One pastor said it this way:

The most damaging aspect of contemporary living is short term thinking.To make the most of your life, you must keep the vision of eternity continually in your mind and the value of it in your heart. (The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren, Zondervan Publishing, 2002, p. 38). 

Our (and I mean our) problem is three-fold:
1) We have never really died to our self, our world, or our flesh. We will be willing to die as much as we live for Jesus now. John 12 reminds us:

 I assure you: Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains by itself. But if it dies, it produces a large crop. The one who loves his life will lose it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. John 12:24-25 (HCSB)

 2) We are too comfortable. Life is too grand and glorious for us American Christians with our TV's, air-conditioned homes, and high speed transportation. Many of us feel like we are already living the dream. Our freedoms and prosperity have gotten the best of us.

3) We don't see death as reward. The apostle Paul struggled, hurt, faced ridicule, and took care of the churches. He had become weary of this life and longed for heaven. He wrote in the book of Philippians that to him, "dying is gain" (Philipp. 1:21). We see someone who has given their life for Christ and then dies at what would be considered a young age. What is our reaction? Questioning and lament for a life too soon gone. But for them, they are enjoying their reward right now.

For those that weren't able to get all the points from the message this past week, this should help us realize when it is that death becomes a welcome friend and is no longer an enemy.

1. Jesus Welcomed Death Because It Was for the World (John 12:20-22)

2. Jesus Welcomed Death Because God Received the Glory (John 12:23, 28)

3. Jesus Welcomed Death Because It Has Purpose ( John 12:24-26)

Can you  truly say, "I can't wait to see Jesus"?

Live like you're dying,

Pastor Trey Rhodes
www.MyOceansideChurch.com


SEE www.TreyRhodes.info 
for an actual first person account of a 
near death experience!