Friday, September 12, 2014

ELEVATION NORTH has NEWS for YOU!


GOD’S PLAN TO REACH THE WORLD!  Simple … or complicated?  Well, it’s much simpler for us when He uses us – than it was for Him when He sent His Son to die for a world lost in sin.  There is no comparison at all – not even one tiny iota of similarity.  God did His part, as did Jesus – a very long time ago.  They gave their all!  Now we get to be a part of His plan to reach the world.  And what do we do?  What part of us do we give?  In most scenarios, whatever we do, we tend to make His outreach plan way too difficult!  It should be as natural as breathing.  It should be as enjoyable as eating.  And it should be as comfortable as sharing the most exciting news ever … with whoever will listen!  God has always had a plan to reach the world.  That has never changed.  It’s just that the world has changed.  Immensely!  Our world is not the world our parents knew.  And our children’s world is definitely not the world we knew.  And their children now know a world that is literally spinning out of control with an overdose of violence, hatred, and warped values.  More children than we can imagine have never experienced real love in any of their relationships – be it from parents or peers.  Living on bare essentials and survival of the fittest – has become the name of the game.  Pretty dark picture of this old world that I’m painting, right?  But it doesn’t have to be that way … for that’s where Jesus comes in!  Remember where you were at the exact moments the Twin Towers were collapsing thirteen years ago on the 11th of this month?  It was a dark, dark day in our nation and around the world.  But out of the ashes emerged the light of God’s love.  Rescuers acted with heroic love in action.  Many in the rubble found themselves spared – some by divine, supernatural miracles from the hand of God.  There was no other explanation.  Remember the cross of shattered metal beams that stood out tall above every other piece of mangled iron in the debris and the dust?  It was a beautiful symbol of Light piercing through the sad haze of terrorism, destruction and death.  At times like this, all that gives mankind the ability to continue on is the hope that Christ brings.  And that day, hope took shape in the form of a cross unlike any other we’d ever seen.  No, it wasn’t wooden.  And no, it wasn’t beautiful and new.  But it gave hope that day as it emerged out of hopelessness and despair and grief.  We had never seen broken, twisted metal look so beautiful and strong.  But that day – it did.  What the enemy of our souls and the enemies of our land intended for harm, God used for good!  Our nation and people united with one heart and engaged in survival and rescue mode.  Our nation and people turned their hearts to God and filled the churches – many that had been nearly empty before 9/11.  America wept and prayed.  Americans drew from deep within and forgot about political correctness.  We became a team united to rescue the perishing and help those in need.  Nothing else mattered.  We had a mission and we were one in spirit.  How said that it takes such tragedy for us to “see” the hurting and the dying.  Elevation North has such a mission today – because there are 9/11’s happening all around us.  Next door.  Overseas.  Down the street.  At our jobs.  In our churches.  Satan is ramping up the level of his terrorism – attacking the believers and lulling the sinners into a false sense of security.  Where, oh where are those who will put on the armor of God and plunge into the darkness and danger … and rescue the perishing?  Oh we see some of you!  We see your willingness to sacrifice of your time and possessions to bring hope to those without hope.  We see you using your gifts to reach out to those who still have an open heart.  We see you stepping out into the darkness and shining your light – the Light of the world that lives in you.  We see – and we are inspired and blessed.  Because we know that it is going to take each of us – ALL of us - uniting in the mission to make each day a rescue operation – right where we live.  And beyond … if that’s what God calls us to.  It’s time to quit peeking carefully and safely through our windows at the mass of lost humanity.  It is time, dear people of God, to dress up in our God-given armor and run towards the crumbled, burning rubble of lost souls searching for something real.  It’s time to bring the Light to those who are trapped beneath the crushing load of sin and heading to the smoking inferno of Hell.  Don’t YOU want to be a part of God’s rescue team?  You are needed today more than ever before in the history of our world.  Please get prepared and ready to head out wherever God calls you to go!  And whatever you do … do it all in love … Christ’s love.  Anything less will leave you trapped in the rubble with the lost.  God has more for us – and for them … if we will just set aside our reserved ways and allow God’s ways to be unleashed in us – and through us!  Watch out, world!  Rescuers are on the way!!!


REMEMBER . . .
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whosover believes in Him shall not perish,
but have everlasting life!”
John 3:16  


Joyfully Serving  Christ . . .


Pastor Doug and Debbie




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