World Missions March in Oxnard October 2013

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World Missions Campaign in Oxnard October 2013

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Campana Misionera Alabanzas Octubre 2013

Reachihng Our Potential

Reaching Our Potential

Dustin T. Hays, General VLB Coordinator

 “Within the breasts of the people of this generation dormantly lies possibilities which, if not discovered, brought forth, and utilized, will rob mankind of much good… Latent powers are now lying dormant, unused and unknown in the bosoms and within the reach of many, many today. Within the grain of wheat is a germ of life, fraught with great possibilities for the sustenance of man… I just feel so with many young lives of today. With proper environments and under certain conditions, those latent powers will spring into use, and not only surprise friends and acquaintances, but will in many instances surprise even the persons themselves, because of the successes and exploits wrought… This world must be evangelized. “This gospel of the kingdom [power] must be preached in all the world” in our day. We must not shift this responsibility to a future generation as all other generations have done. There is enough latent power now in men and women; if brought into use, to evangelize this world in five years… There are possibilities in our young men and young women…if it were not quenched and locked down by worldly environments…to fire this world with a fear of God and His power, as Samson's foxes fired the corn fields of the Philistines… Oh, for a million men and women to burst forth, with such holy ambition, with every unused power in full use, like mad-men to strike terror and fear to all the half hearted religionists of the day!... Oh, glorious achievement! Oh, magazine of power! Oh, humility and love! Oh, great arm of the Lord! We bid you welcome to step in and take control and begin to perform the exploits due to our generation… Look out, beloved, we may linger here on the border land one day or an hour too long and be put to shame, and thus lose the better things that are promised us, and the incoming generation gain the land we might have enjoyed, if we had only pressed over at the proper time… Who will be a Caleb and still the people and say to them, “We are fully able, let us go up at once and possess the land!” Who will listen at, and obey the voice of our Captain and press on until you are filled with all the fullness of God? You dare not tarry on the threshold; you must either push on inside or be roughly thrust backward… Who will make the sacrifice and go forth to conquer or die on the field to get this gospel of the kingdom to every creature under heaven in this generation? Will you? Will you? Is the responsibility too great? Is the cross too heavy to bear? Are home and friends too dear and comfortable for you to make the sacrifice?”

A. J. Tomlinson, former General Overseer of The Church of God, wrote the previous words in the book The Last Great Conflict with most of the thoughts coming from the chapter entitled “Latent Powers.” Brother Tomlinson felt there were hidden abilities and strengths that, if tapped into, would bring the work to a quick close in his day. He noticed the potential and put the responsibility upon the young generation of his day. How true this still is today!

Among the youth of The Church of God today are young men and women who are sold out to God, who love the Truth, who love holiness and who live lives of prayer. Young men and women that are well capable of crossing the border from where we have existed for too long into the fullness of God’s power and might in the Church. Young men and women who are ready to lead the charge into perfection, not because we are any better than the generations prior to us but because we have tasted what they have and want more, more until we receive all of God. Will God return for His bride during this generation? Only He knows the answer to that question but we can certainly reach and operate in the glorious state that the Church is prophesied to reach in this generation and blaze a trail into the current unknown for the coming generations to follow.

 “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you” (Phil. 3:14, 15). “The ‘But Ye’ Generation” will be a generation that has this mindset. Too many have adopted the idea that perfection is too far away and cannot be attained in their lifetime so they have stopped pursuing it. The generation to reach it will be the generation that recognizes that there is great potential and power inside of them and all they need to do is unleash that power and allow God to do in their lives what He wants to do. Are there currently things in our lives that hinder us from fulfilling these lofty goals? In too many cases the answer is probably yes, but they are not things that are so powerful that we cannot overcome if we will press toward perfection.

 Have you allowed God to reveal to you where in your thinking that you are not pressing toward perfection? We ought to ask ourselves often, “Is the path that I am currently on going to take me to perfection?” If you were to honestly ask yourself that question right now what would your answer be? What have you been spending your time doing? Are those things bringing you closer to God or taking you further away from Him? I do not believe that there is room for any middle ground. There are no “neutral” things; they either draw us closer to perfection or push us further away from it. Jesus ad-dressed the thought of spiritual neutrality when He said: “He that is not with me is against me…” (Matt. 12:30; see also Luke 16:13). Be careful of the pursuits, interests and people in your life that seem to be spiritually neutral, for these are never what they seem. A snake lying in the grass may seem to be neutral until you get close enough to it that you are within its striking range. The venomous strike of a snake is not neutral and neither are the things in our lives that seem harmless yet do not serve to help us in our walk with the Lord.

 As the spirit was in Brother Tomlinson, so it is in me that I AM NOT SATISFIED TO ALLOW ANOTH-ER GENERATION TO REACH THE PLACES THAT GOD HAS INTENDED FOR MY GENERATION! And I am convinced that we can get there! Will you come with me?

WHEN DID I SIN?

WHEN DID I SIN?

The sin problem is ever before all humanity. It is a constant concern to both the saved and the unsaved, because sin separates man from God and eliminates him from eternal life in heaven. Unforgiven sin keeps the individual alienated from God and all the benefits of His grace. "All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death" (1 john 5:1 7); "...the soul that sinneth, it shall die" (Ezekiel18:4); "...sin is the transgression of the law [of God]" (1 John 3:4).

 These very straightforward assertions from God's Word we accept as eternal truth. Many other scripture passages corroborate their validity, but can every fault, misstep, oversight, omission, misjudgment, fleeting thought of the subconscious mind, impulsive act be defined as sin? Does the soul die with every slip?

 Let us consider a discussion of this matter by the New Testament writer James: "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust [desire], and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth [spiritual] death" James 1:13-15) (emphasis supplied). You will notice that there is a process involved before there is an actual transgression of God's law, or sin. A slip, a temptation, an evil thought which subconsciously enters the mind, an impulse, then, is not necessarily a sin, according to James' inspired writing.

Before an evil temptation, slip, impulse becomes sin it must progress further than its very introduction into the mind. It can be stopped there and go no further. It can be rejected, dismissed, put out with no harm done to the soul or heart. However, if that evil intent is entertained in the mind/heart, and a determination is made in favor of it; when it "hath conceived," then, and only then, will God impute it as sin. It can be avoided. It can be rejected. It does not have to result in sin or transgression and spiritual death.

It is possible to live without sin. In fact, if one expects to go to heaven, he must. "Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not..." (1 John 3:6); "He that committeth sin is of the devil..." (v. 8). One cannot be long to God and to the devil at the same time. ''...these things write I unto you, that ye sin not" (2:1). The inference here is that you don't have to sin. "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God" (3:9). That is, when he allows himself to sin by allowing an evil intent to "conceive" in his heart and be overcome by the devil.

Those who advocate the heresy that one cannot live without sin disregard the fact that the sin principle (Adamic nature) is crucified in the heart by sanctification. Before sanctification, the believer, when he is tempted, must choose not to sin, because the sin principle is still in the heart, but after sanctification if the believer sins he must choose to do so, because there is nothing in his heart to consent to transgression against God. The choice can be made against any evil intent. It can be eliminated before it results in sin and the heart remains clean and justified before God. If one should allow himself to be overcome-consent to evil principle there is a remedy: "...if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: ... he is the propitiation for our sins..." (1 John 2:1, 2).

Those who advocate unavoidable sinning are wrong, wrong, wrong. Taking this line of heresy leads one into an irresponsible attitude toward sin. To them, sinning is imperative, so one can indulge the tendencies to transgression and charge it to the account of Christ with no decision to reject it and prevent it from being conceived in the heart. How subtle! How diabolical! Many souls who otherwise would have repented of their sins and been saved will be lost because they were encouraged to be "sinning" Christians. Think on these things.