changed lives

SING A NEW SONG!!!

Psalm 40:3 (New American Standard Bible)
    He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
 Many will see and fear And will trust in the LORD.

 

Psalm 149:1 (New American Standard Bible)

 Praise the LORD!
   Sing to the LORD a new song,
 And His praise in the congregation of the godly ones.

Psalm 144:9 (New American Standard Bible)

 I will sing a new song to You, O God;
  Upon a harp of ten strings I will sing praises to You,

 

As I sit here typing this post, there is a bird outside my office window chirping. We also have several birds out our house that love to chirp and sing...... Unfortunately they do not start their singing until about midnight. For some strange reason these birds start singing at the darkest hour they sound like they are right on our window seal. There are about four of them each seem to be trying to out do the other. I have never heard such loud chirping. In-fact I have never heard any bird chirping at midnight before. But these do and they keep going until day light. It seems as if when the sun comes up they no longer feel the need to sing. At first I thought these birds are determined to keep me awake! Then I began to think maybe God wants me to learn that I can sing a new song to HIM at anytime..... in-fact the darker the hour the more I need to sing and praise my mighty God.

My prayer for each of you is the same thing. Maybe God will send you a couple of song birds to bring you a new song!

Prayerfully,

Bro. Clayton

The other day while I was getting gas in our Jeep ( I seem to have to do that alot) I began to meditate on Phil. 4:8. WE started talking about it yesterday. As I thought about this verse, I was watching the dollars add up on the pump. Then I began think about the fact that - What you put in your gas tank has consequences for your car. NASCAR drivers don't settle for the cheapest fuel they can find. What you put in your mouth has consequences for your body.(If you don't believe me.... just take a good look at my exquisite physique). Likewise, what you put in your mind has consequences for your character. If your mental diet consists primarily of movies with gutter language, video games full of gruesome violence, books and magazines based on lust, and conversations focused on gossip, then don't be surprised when your character is not so pretty.

Your thought life shapes you. If you fill your mind with junk, your character naturally starts to take the shape of the garbage you are consuming. But if you fill your mind with "whatever is true... noble... right... pure... lovely... admirable... excellent or praiseworthy," your character naturally takes on those qualities.

Please be in prayer for me as I go and preach a revival at the Church I went to as a teenager. Many of the first sermons I ever preached was at this Church. Now about 25 years later I am going back to preach a revival. The thoughts these people have of me are of love, and respect. However their thinking is based upon what they heard 25 years ago.

My Mom and youngest sister still go to church there. It will be great to see these people again, and even greater to get to share the good news with them.

Please be in prayer as we go to Danville and preach in their AM service. Pray that God's direction will be very clear to everyone involved! I can only imagine the thoughts that announcement has evoked. Anxiety, concern, speculation and introspection are just a few terms that could be used to describe some of the feelings that have been swirling in peoples minds.

I pray that even during this time we can put Philippians 4:8 into practice. I pray that God will protect every heart, every mind, every attitude and our Character.  

 

Let HIS Thoughts be OUR Thoughts,

Bro. Clayton

THINK THIS WAY!!!!

Philippians 4:8

 ⁸Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praise worthy—think about such things.

 

I would like for us to reflect on the truth revealed in Philippians 4:8: the God who formed your mind cares about what you put in it. He cares about it because He knows that what you regularly bring before your mind eventually shapes your mind and determines the kind of person you become. Nothing "passes through" your mind - every book you read, every TV show you watch, every website you visit, every conversation you have will rewire your brain and shape you in significant ways. We think we can violate this principle. We might say, "That show I watch is a little trashy, but I don't let it affect me." That's like saying, "I'm going to step off the roof, but I will choose not to hit the ground." What you allow to occupy your cranial cavity will determine your speech, your actions, your decisions, and your destiny. What you think is what you are.

Prayerfully,

Bro. Clayton

 

PRAISE YE THE LORD!!!!

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands." (Psalm 19:1)

Psalm 19:1 tells us that the greatness of God is on display in what He has made. Look at the clouds drifting overhead, or the vast array of stars at night - the sky shouts that is's Maker is amazing. Springtime flowers do some pretty good proclaiming, too. God invented the colors of the sunset and the flavor of your favorite food. He designed the potato and the platypus. He made it all, and it all points us back to HIM and HIS glory.

I am so thankful for all of God's creations. This time of year it causes to to think about how thankful I am for my mother (mothers day is this coming Sunday)

The thing I am most thankful for is my WIFE, today we have been married for 20 years. I am thankful that God created us for each other. No one else could love me like she does, and there is no one else I had rather spend the rest of my life with. In my humble opinion - she is the greatest of all of God's creations!

Thank You God!

Clayton

This coming Sunday my sermon title will be "WOE,WOE,WOE!" Please be in prayer that God will speak through me and that His presence will fill the place. Remember I will be preaching a revival in Bloomburg starting Sunday Night. Mike Roper will bring the Bible Study on Sunday Night, I am sure it will bless you. 

Sally and I will be leaving in the Mornig to go out of town for a few days. This next week we celebrate 20 yeras of marriage. She needs a few days away after putting up with me that long! The problem is She has to take me with her.  

We will see you guys when we get back,

Bro. Clayton  

HUMANITY ON A RUN-AWAY PLANE

I want to share a bizarre story with you. Payne Stewart was a Christian and a Pro golfer. On October 25 1999 he and a few of his friends boarded a twine engine 2.4 million dollar lear-jet. They took off at 9:19 am from Orlando headed to Dallas everything was fine however just fourteen minutes after take off they began to stray off course over northern Florida and the air traffic control tower lost communication with both pilots. The plan continued to fly northwest; the air force dispatched F-16 fighter jets to offer aid. After the air force jets made visual contact and pulled along side Payne's plane they reported that they could not see either pilot nor any movement inside the cockpit, they further stated that the window were obscured by frost and condensation which is consistent with loss of pressurization and a subsequent raid drop of temperature. The lear-jet apparently ran out of fuel and spiraled out of control and crashed some where near Aberdeen, South Dakota. 

One of the air force pilots who watched as the plane made it's final descent and impact, said "it is a very helpless feeling to pull up beside another air craft and realize that the people inside are potentially incapacitated and there is nothing you can do to help. Even though I am just less that 100 feet away I am helpless to save them."

Air Safety  investigators (NTSB) explained that the probable cause of the accident was incapacitation of the flight crew-members as a result of their failure to receive supplemental oxygen following the loss of cabin pressure (at 45,000 feet) - for undetermined reasons. It was probable that the pilots and occupants may have lost consciousness due to lack of oxygen and/or hypoxia. The investigators reported that it was likely that the crew was slowly deprived of air and probably never knew what happened. One minute they were feeling good, feeling happy, and the next they were losing consciousness.  

 

I want us to picture humanity on a run aay plane, on a collison course, with only moments before they crash into eternity. Yet people are caught up with their lives. with their pleasures, pressures, pursuits, etc. Many do not realize the urgency of it all. I have good news for them,and un-like the pilots of the Air Force F-16's - there is something we can do to help.

 

But will we??????

Bro. Clayton

FISHERS OF MEN!!!!

I recently fond this story and thought it was very good. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. There is a lot of truth in it!

Jesus said, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." Seems simple enough. Followers of Jesus have been given a clear task: Go fishing to find others who will become followers of Jesus.

Oh my, how we have complicated that call! We have become species specialists, selectively fishing for certain fish. The Sunday morning boat ramps are filled with favoritism. The Bass Boat Baptists hit the boat ramp first. While they are content to leave the Crappie to the Charismatics and the Catfish to the Catholics, they are divided even among themselves over how to fish for bass, selective about which bass is worth catching, and suspicious about other fishermen who are more successful.

Some want to bed fish and yank those sinners right out of bed on Sunday morning. Others want to finesse fish and lure them in without them realizing they're caught until it's too late. Still others are looking only for "keeper fish." They go after the big fish. Oh, they don't mind catching an average fish, but they eventually toss it back and forget about it. Let them land a lunker and they'll parade that catch in front of everyone! It'll even make the "Baptist Mess-O-Fish-enger" paper. They are quite proud of their trophy fish.

It is dangerous to get the Bass Boat Baptists together for too long. It won't be long before they'll divide up amongst themselves arguing over everything from which bait is better to which species of bass is better. The topwater lovers will cluster and preach against the crank baiters. The largemouth crowd will speak derisively about the smallmouth. Before long, another new club will be formed.

To make matters worse, the Bass Boat Baptists won't share a boat ramp with Pontoon Presbyterians because they have more than fish in their coolers and the Canoeing Church of Christs won't even use the same boat ramp as any of the others because they don't believe in motors.

It is puzzling to observe such behavior. The call of Jesus seems simple enough. Yet, instead of fishing, much of our time is spent maintaining and polishing our boats, admiring our gear, bragging about last year's catch, fussing over favorite fishing holes, fuming at another boat because they took one of our fish, and taking classes on everything from better knot-tying to what color boat cover to use.

The craziest behavior of all takes place away from the water. In alarming numbers, fishermen sit cross-armed at the boat ramp or on the bank or in their driveways with their boats still on the trailer, wondering why the fish won't jump out of the water and flop toward them! It's as if they expect the fish to jump in their boats and baptize themselves in their livewells!

Jesus didn't call us to fish for men for the pleasure of fishing, but for the importance of the men. It's not about our pleasure. It's about His passion. We've made fishing for men too much about the act of fishing and not enough about the lost condition of man. Jesus doesn't care what your boat looks like or whether you use the same spinner bait as Peter. Jesus isn't judging you by how many fish you catch or how big they are. He just wants you to fish.

If we'll do the fishing, He'll do the catching.

Oh, and by the way, Jesus doesn't practice catch and release. Why should we?

PS: The reason I am being harder on the Baptists than the others is because I are* one.
*(Intentional use of poor grammar)

FROG GIGGING

I have had several people tell me about an experience they have had while walking around the "POND". In-fact I have had the same experience. It is the experience of being scared when a frog lets out a croak and jumps into the water as you get close to it.

It reminds me of a story:

A farmer loved to sleep with his window open so he could feel the gentle night breeze and hear the soft noises of the night creatures. However, the night noises were getting louder and louder due to an invasion of frogs at the farmers pond fifty yards from his bedroom window. The noise of the frogs continually got worse each night. The farmer was not able to sleep because of those amplified amphibians. So, one morning the farmer got in his truck and drove to a nearby restaurant owned by a friend. They had a little business meeting together, shook hands, and the farmer left with a smile. He had convinced his friend in the restaurant business to add frog legs to the menu. The farmer guaranteed his buddy that he could supply him with a million frog legs. The restaurant owner didn't need that many frog legs, so the agreed on a few thousand. A week later, the farmer returned to the restaurant with a bag of frogs. The restaurant owner met the farmer in the parking lot, excited to see the new addition to his menu. "Well,"said the restaurant owner. "Let's see what we got!"The Farmer let out a deep sigh and had an odd, sheepish look on his face as he reached into the bag and pulled two out scrawny frogs. "I thought my pond was overflowing with frogs. They were driving me crazy. These two little frogs were making all that noise! I never woulda guessed that two scrawny frogs could sound like a million." 

OH, but the can! The voices of those who croak defeat into your ears are few, but loud! Everyone has one or tow croakers who make it difficult to hear all the other voices of encouragement and victory. Learn how to hear the hundreds beyond the croaking of a couple. Don't allow a couple of scrawny frogs turn your attention away from the will of God for your life. Don't allow your froggy friends to focus you eyes toward the negative things of life; rather set your mind and your ears to hear the higher, softer pitches of the goodness of God and His plans for you. 

And please... don;t be a scrawny croaker in anyone's life. In spite of the fairy tale, people really do not go around kissing frogs. But they do like to GIG EM!

 

"Pleasant words are like honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones" (Proverbs 16:24)

Plesae pray for me........... that I would have wisdom; God has place many decisions in front of me that requires much wisdom. My decisions could bring joy to some and hurt to others! It is essential that I hear God's voice and that I have HIS Anointing!   

With Love,

Bro. Clayton

THE PARETO PRINCIPLE

In 1906 Vilredo Pareto created a mathematical formula when he discovered that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population. Today it is known as the 80/20 rule or the Pareto Principle. And it basically states that 80% of the effect comes from 20% of the cause.

For instance:

• 80% of the sales comes from 20% of customers.
• 80% of problems are caused by 20% of a company's staff.
• 80% of production is produced by 20% of workers.
• 80% of peas come from 20% of pea pods.
• 80% of wealth is owned by 20% of population.
• 80% of the time we only wear 20% of our favorite clothes.
• 80% of health care is use by 20 of the U.S. population.
• 80% of crimes are committed by 20% of criminals.

We could go on for quite some time giving examples of this principle, but I think you understand. This principle can also be found in the Church life. 80% of the work is done by 20% of the people. 80% of the finances are provided by 20% of the people. 80% of the problems are caused by 20% of people. 80% of the praying is done by 20% of the people. 80% of the congregation gets about 20% of what the pastor says.  

As I pray for God's wisdom and guidance; I am asking for God to change those numbers for us. I know we have some challenging days ahead of us. We need to running on all cylinders. We need to have more committement to God's agenda to His plan. We need to invest into His economy!  Some say that RHBC has a 80% chance at failure and a 20% chance at making the transition to a successful relocation. God has a different principle; we find it in Matthew 6:33.

Please begin to pray for the presence of God to fall on our Church. We need his presence as we seek to do His business!

Prayerfully,

Bro. Clayton   

THE PLACE OF PRACTICE

I am sure most of you remember the name Greg Frizzell. Over the past 6 years I have given away about 500 of his books. He writes about how to have a powerful prayer life, he also writes about holiness and daily cleansing, etc. I want to give you a little story taken from his book on prayer.

A huge high school student walked up to the football coach and told him that he wanted to play football. The coach was thrilled and said, "Son, I am so glad you want to play. We sure need a player of your size."Then the coach told the young man to be at practice the following day and assured him he would get a chance to play on the team. For the next three days, the coach anxiously watched for the young man but he never showed up for practice. About a week later, the student again came to the coach and said, ""Coach, I sure love football and I really want to be on the team."  The coach said, "I'm glad to hear that but you never came to practice. Son, we really need you on our team but if you want to play ball, you must come to practice." The man assured the coach he would be at practice the next day. A whole week passed yet, the boy never attended a single practice. Later, the young man saw the coach walking at a distance and he yelled for the coach to wait up so he could talk to him. But rather than stopping, the coach just kept walking. The young man ran to the coach, got right in front of him and started to give him the all too familiar speech. As the boy proclaimed his desire to play, the coach suddenly interrupted him and spoke the following words: "No son, you really don't want to play football. I told you in order to play you must come to practice. The truth is, you had rather do other things than pay the price to be on the team. When you say you want to play, yet you won't come to practice, you are really just kidding yourself. Now excuse me while I go and coach the boys who are waiting at practice. You see son, they do want to play football." 

Many of us make statements like, We need revival, we want to see God move and save lives. Oh, how we wish The Holy Spirit would move in, stir the hearts of our people. We need God to breathe life into our Church, etc. The truth is God says that if we cleanse ourselves and spend time in daily prayer with Him. He would send a mighty moving of His Spirit. 

The question is not - does God want our Church to grow, Does He want us to see the lost come to saving faith. The question is; do we want to be apart of God's activity?

Are willing to pay the price? Are we willing pray the price? If we truly want these things, thing we must be willing to show up for practice and pay the price in consistent prayer. The place of practice for our spiritual life is spending much personal time with God in daily prayer. If we say we want to grow and yet we seldom show up for serious prayer, we are just kidding ourselves. God cannot teach you to pray if you refuse to show up for practice! 

 

Please pray that our Church will be all that God wants it to be. Pray for a Spirit of Spiritual revival. Please pray that God will move in might and power this coming Sunday. 

Prayerfully,

Bro. Clayton