Videos From Our Trip To Minnesota

Elizabeth Rocking Her Baby To Sleep

Elizabeth And Andrew Kissing Grandpa While He Hides From The Camera

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Be Careful How You Worship

Deuteronomy 12:11–15

11 Then there shall be a place which the Lord your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the Lord: 12 And ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your menservants, and your maidservants, and the Levite that is within your gates; forasmuch as he hath no part nor inheritance with you. 13 Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest: 14 But in the place which the Lord shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee. 15 Notwithstanding thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee: the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as of the roebuck, and as of the hart.

Modern Christianity seeks to worship God in their own way, but in Deuterium 12:11-14 we see that God is the one who directs our worship. Ignoring His protocols negates His power. Have you fallen into the trap of worship God in spirit with out truth? Is your worship centered on truth or your feelings. The high places in the Old Testament were intended to make the people feel close to their god because they were high.(Walter A. Elwell and Philip Wesley Comfort, Tyndale Bible Dictionary, Tyndale reference library (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001), 604.) Be careful that hymns and songs sung in church are not simply an emotional experience. Make sure you are focusing on the truth presented.

Satan always seeks to counterfeit and many fall in to his trap in the realms of “feeling spiritual” when they are living in direct opposition to God’s commands. At other times when a believer has confessed their sin and accessed the blood Satan makes them “feel” that they are not right with God. Be careful to worship God in Sprit and truth and accept what He says.

 

John 4:23–24

But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Offertory Story:

 

In writing of her years in China, missionary Bertha Smith told of a time when Dr. Wiley Glass, missionary educator, was kneeling during a prayer meeting service at a large church in China. Mr. Wang, the church treasurer, was kneeling nearby. Suddenly the Chinese, overcome with emotion, cried out, “Lord, have mercy on me! I’ve stolen! I’m a thief! I have stolen from God!”
In astonishment, Dr. Glass said, “Not you, Brother Wang; surely not you! All these years you have been such a trustworthy, devoted deacon, faithful trustee of the seminary, and upright Christian gentleman. You just could not have taken money from the church treasury!”
Brother Wang regained control of himself enough to say, “I have not paid my tithe to the Lord! According to His Word, I have stolen it from Him!” The Chinese keep accurate household and personal accounts. Wang counted up his tithe from the time he became a Christian, more than twenty years before, subtracted from it the total contributed to the church, and sold some land to pay the balance. What a flame he afterward became for the Lord.

Robert J. Morgan, Nelson’s Annual Preacher’s Sourcebook, 2002 Edition (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2001), 127.

Son, Remember

I have been twice in the jaws of death. Once I was drowning, and the the third time I was about to sink I was rescued. In the twinkling of an eye everything I had said, done, or thought of, flashed across my mind. I do not understand how everything in a man’s life can be crowded into his recollection in an instant of time, but nevertheless it all flashed through my mind. Another time when I thought I was dying, it all came back to me again. It is just so that all things we think we have forgotten will come back by and by. It is only a question of time. We will hear the words, “Son, remember,” and it is a good deal better for us now to remember our sins and confess them before it is too late. Christ said to his disciples, “Remember Lot’s wife.” Over and over again, when the children of Israel were brought out of Egypt, God said to them, “Remember where I found you, and how I delivered you.” He wanted them to remember His goodness to them, and the time is coming when, if they forget His goodness and despise it, they will be without mercy.

D. L. Moody, D. L. Moody’s Child Stories Related by Him in His Revival Work, ed. J. B. McClure (Chicago: Rhodes & McClure, 1877), 144-45.

Investing In Your Marriage

 

“You can give time early and prevent issues,

or you can give more time later because you have issues.

You will give time.

Pay now or pay later,

but you will pay.”

Bill Farrel and Pam Farrel, A Couple's Journey With God (Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 2012).

FREE: Audio Book - A Passion for God: The Spiritual Journey of A. W. Tozer

This month "A Passion for God: The Spiritual Journey of A. W. Tozer" is free at www.christianaudio.com. They also have a lot of his other works for sale as well.

"I fear we shall never see another Tozer. Men like him are not college-bred but Spirit-taught." Leonard Ravenhill, 20th century British evangelist.

Pastor A. W. Tozer, author of the Christian classics The Pursuit of God and The Knowledge of the Holy, was a complex, intensely private, deeply spiritual man, and a gifted preacher whose impact for the kingdom of God is immeasurable. In this thoughtful biography, bestselling author Lyle Dorsett traces Tozer's life from his humble beginnings as a Pennsylvania farm boy to his heyday as a Chicago pastor--when hundreds of college students would travel to his South Side church to hear him preach and thousands more heard his Sunday broadcasts on WMBI. Eventually, he came to his final pastorate in Toronto.

From his conversion as a teen to his death in 1963, Tozer remained true to one passion: to know the Father and make Him known, no matter what the cost. The price he paid was loneliness, censure from other, more secular-minded ministers of the times, and even a degree of estrangement from his family. Read the life story of a flawed but gifted saint, whose works are still impacting the world today.

You may also be interested in...

The Attributes Of God V1: A Journey Into The Father's Heart Regular Price:$14.98 or 3 credits Special Price:$4.98 or 1 credits

The Crucified Life Regular Price:$16.99 or 4 credits Special Price:$4.98 or 1 credits

The Knowledge of the Holy Regular Price:$10.98 or 2 credits Special Price:$4.98 or 1 credits

The Patience Of Faith

 

Revelation 3:10

Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

 

Patience is more than endurance. A saint’s life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, and He stretches and strains, and every now and again the saint says—‘I cannot stand any more.’ God does not heed, He goes on stretching till His purpose is in sight, then He lets fly. Trust yourself in God’s hands. For what have you need of patience just now? Maintain your relationship to Jesus Christ by the patience of faith. “Though He slay me, yet will I wait for Him.”

Faith is not a pathetic sentiment, but robust vigorous confidence built on the fact that God is holy love. You cannot see Him just now, you cannot understand what He is doing, but you know Him. Shipwreck occurs where there is not that mental poise which comes from being established on the eternal truth that God is holy love. Faith is the heroic effort of your life, you fling yourself in reckless confidence on God.

God has ventured all in Jesus Christ to save us, now He wants us to venture our all in abandoned confidence in Him. There are spots where that faith has not worked in us as yet, places untouched by the life of God. There were none of those spots in Jesus Christ’s life, and there are to be none in ours. “This is life eternal, that they might know Thee.” The real meaning of eternal life is a life that can face anything it has to face without wavering. If we take this view, life becomes one great romance, a glorious opportunity for seeing marvellous things all the time. God is disciplining us to get us into this central place of power.

Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest: Selections for the Year (Grand Rapids, MI: Oswald Chambers Publications; Marshall Pickering, 1986).

Shot My First Turkey

Today we went Turkey Hunting and Fishing with some friends. The kids about killed us with fishing poles so I took their hooks off and let them have a line in the water with a bobber and no hook. Andrew when I return bashed his bobber to bits and Elizabeth tired out. While I was gone I managed to get my first Turkey.

“Let the Lower Lights be Burning”

 

A few years ago, at the mouth of Cleveland harbor, there were two lights, one at each side of the bay, called the upper and lower lights; and to enter the harbor safely by night, vessels must sight both of the lights. These western lakes are more dangerous sometimes than the great ocean. One wild, stormy night, a steamer was trying to make her way into the harbor. The captain and pilot were anxiously watching for the lights. By and by the pilot was heard to say, “Do you see the lower light?” “No,” was the reply; “I fear we have passed them.” “Ah, there are the lights,” said the pilot; “and they must be from the bluff on which they stand, the upper lights. We have passed the lower lights, and have lost our chance of getting into the harbor.” What was to be done? They looked back, and saw the dim outline of the lower lighthouse against the sky. The lights had gone out. “Can’t you turn your head around?” “No; the night is too wild for that. She won’t answer to her helm.” The storm was so fearful that they could do nothing. They tried again to make for the harbor, but they went crash against the rocks, and sank to the bottom. Very few escaped; the great majority found a watery grave. Why? Simply because the lower lights had gone out. Now with us the upper lights are all right. Christ himself is the upper light, and we are the lower lights, and the cry to us is, Keep the lower lights burning; that is what we have to do. He will lead us safe to the sunlit shore of Canaan, where there is no more night.

      Brightly beams our Father's mercy
         From His Lighthouse ever more,
      But to us He gives the keeping
         Of the lights along the shore.

      CHO.—Let the lower lights be burning!
             Send a gleam across the wave!
           Some poor fainting struggling seaman
             You may rescue, you may save.

      Dark the night of sin has settled,
         Loud and angry billows roar;
      Eager eyes are watching, longing,
         For the lights along the shore.—Cho.

      Trim your feeble lamp, my brother;
         Some poor seaman tempest-tost,
      Trying now to make the harbor,
         In the darkness may be lost.—Cho.

          P. P. BLISS.

D. L. Moody, D. L. Moody’s Child Stories Related by Him in His Revival Work, ed. J. B. McClure (Chicago: Rhodes & McClure, 1877), 121-22.

Exciting Moments In The Ministry

 

I can remember going once to a conference where the preacher was preaching about the passions and desires in our lives. His whole point centered on the fact that most believers are more excited about a ball game than they are the things of the Lord. As I sat and listened to him preach I can remember asking myself, what makes me excited? It is a good question for all of us to ask because it will reveal some inward priorities that we would never verbalize.

After thinking about what makes me excited, I concluded that at that point in my life it was investing my life in the juniors at our church. We had recently taken a trip with a group of Junior boys to my wife’s farm. The night before we left I had a hard time sleeping because I was so excited about the trip. (For pictures of that trip visit http://www.jasonandbeccamiller.blogspot.com/search/label/Jr.%20Church%20Trip)

You may be wondering what all that has to do with the ministry at Oregon Trail Baptist Church. In the last two weeks we have had opportunities and doors open up that had the same effect on me. We have had some new young families show up a church as well as several people who are seeking after the things of God. It has been exciting as Becca and I have been able to share the Gospel with those who are hungry for it.

Please pray for the Devil’s work of snatching seed to be hindered and that we would continue to see God working.

Sin = Sin

This short video highlights the sins we like to mask. If you are unable to watch it below please visit https://vimeo.com/64284573.

The Best Of My Logic

This morning as I was sitting in a chair when Elizabeth came up to me with a request. She wanted me to “fix the batteries” on her remote control truck. We had bought her and Andrew a remote control truck at a thrift shop for their birthday and although it is designed for older kids they still enjoy running it around. Elizabeth proceeded to tell me all the tools needed to “fix the batteries” and how to do it. She said we needed a screw, hammer, and a few other things. She even specified that they needed to be orange. She has an orange set of Black and Decker play tools that I’m sure she was referring to. It was quite cute listening to here explain the problem and the solution for it.

After listening to her and then watching her go to find the tools needed. I simply walked to the kitchen with the truck. As I walked into the kitchen I saw the spoons that my wife has in the lazy Susan for stirring coffee and tea. I grabbed on of the spoons and with the handle turned the lock on the battery compartment of the truck and pulled out the dead battery pack. I then found the charger and plugged everything into the wall to be charged.

If you haven’t noticed, Elizabeth’s logic and method were quite different than mine. I smiled and chuckled to myself as I completed this simple task and thought of three ways that this applies spiritually. First, I wonder how often God feels the same way about us? We think we have everything figured out and so we have a plan of action that is complicated, color coded, and categorized. God, in is infinite wisdom, does what needs to be done in what to us is a surprising way. Elizabeth’s method was much different than mine and often my method is much different than God’s. The tools that Elizabeth thought were necessary I didn’t even look for or use. Often the things that I think are important God thinks that they are unnecessary. Why do I worry and try to figure everything out and then pray for an answer? I should instead begin by asking God for wisdom and leave the details to Him.

The Second lesson I saw was this, although we don’t get things out just right, God knows what we mean. In Romans 8 we are told that we cannot pray as we ought and so the Holy Spirit makes intercession for us with groaning's that cannot be uttered. Elizabeth's request to fix the battery was really a request to charge the battery. I knew what she was asking for even though she couldn’t express it. Why do we get so concerned with the verbiage and wording of our prayers? I remember once being “corrected” for not addressing the right remember of the God-Head in my prayer by a fellow college student. The truth is God knows exactly what I mean and the right Person of the God-Head knows who I am addressing. This can also be see in the conversion of Augustine. The American theologian and author James Freeman Clarke from the 1800’s explained,

In his Confessions, Augustine relates that when as a young man, having expressed a purpose to visit Rome, his mother remonstrated, and prayed earnestly that he might be prevented from going, her reason being that she feared the effect upon the young man of the temptations and vices with which the great city abounded.
He went, however, and during his stay there was converted to Christianity under the preaching of St. Ambrose. Augustine writes that her prayer was answered, though not in its outward form, but in its inward heart. What she really prayed for was that he might be saved from the ways of sin. (Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc., 1996).)

Our God is big enough and wise enough to know exactly what we are asking for and the best way to answer that prayer. That does not mean that we cannot take the details that we see and lay them before God, but it does mean that we don’t have to be overly concerned about the language we use in prayer. Prayer is as simple as a conversation with another person and it should be our constant personal source of communication with God (alongside our Bible reading).

Third, I realized that although there are tools better equipped for a task God uses those who are clean and surrendered. 1 Corinthians tells us that God is in the business of using the simple to confound the wise. The best tool to open the battery compartment on Elizabeth’s truck was a screw driver, but I used a spoon handle. Why did I use a spoon? It was available and ready for the task at hand. The spoon was not designed to be a screwdriver, but it worked. I want to be careful here when equating this to God. I was to lazy to find the right tool, but God is not lazy. God simply delights in confounding the wise and strong of this world with weak things. There are many more qualified, smarter, organized, and educated people who could be pastoring Oregon Trail Baptist Church. To be honest I am completely inadequate for the task. God uses those who are clean (have confessed all known sin) and surrendered. God does not force anyone to serve Him.

In short I observed that….

 

1. God’s ways are not my ways and His thoughts are not my thoughts.

2. God knows my heart and is not limited to the words that come out of my mouth.

3. God uses those who make themselves available to Him regardless of their strength or weakness.

Costly Grace

Psalm 39; 2 Corinthians 6:1–13

When we say something hurtful to a friend or a family member, we know we can’t just ignore the harm we have caused (we should know, anyway). In order to repair the relationship and earn back trust, we have to acknowledge the rift we’ve created. But when it comes to our relationship with God, we don’t always look at it the same way. Sometimes, consciously or unconsciously, we belittle the incredible love that He has shown us.
When we don’t acknowledge our sin as an act of rebellion, we feel far from God. We’ve created this great divide because we’ve tarnished our relationship with Him. In Psalm 39, the psalmist is in great agony over his sin—to the point where he acknowledges that people are nothing and his life is vanity: “Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; And mine age is as nothing before thee: Verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.” (Psa 39:5).
Without God, life is meaningless. The psalmist acknowledges that his transgression has done great harm. He turns to God and says: “And now, Lord, what wait I for? My hope is in thee.” (Psa 39:7). At the heart of that cry is a need for redemption from a God that answers. He provided a way of salvation—one that was incredibly costly through Christ. In 2 Corinthians, Paul stresses the importance of not taking this great gift for granted: “ We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)” (2 Cor 6:1–2).
Paul’s call is urgent because Jesus’ coming to earth wasn’t a small gesture. It was incredible. If we aren’t amazed at it, if we scorn it (even by accident), we may miss out. We have a greater hope than the psalmist was ever able to realize; his broken cry would not be fully answered for centuries. So today, when you hear God’s call, don’t respond with silence. Respond with a thankful heart.

Are you ignoring sin in your life? How can you live with a thankful heart, since Christ has bought you with such a great sacrifice?

REBECCA KRUYSWIJK

John D. Barry and Rebecca Kruyswijk, Connect the Testaments: A Daily Devotional (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2012).

Funeral for Charles

Tuesday April 16th I participated in officiating the funeral for Charles Oliver. His wife LaQuetta has been one of our most faithful church ladies and she does so much to keep our church going. Charlie came about every month and was a dear friend to my family. Whenever I went to visit him we always sat and drank a lot of coffee. The day of the funeral happened to be one of the snowiest day’s of the year. His old family friend Bill Walker who is the priest at the Episcipical church read his eulogy and dismissed while I handled the preaching and Scripture readings. Everything went smooth and there were about 200 there in attendance (According to Becca).

Obituary for Charles Oliver

Funeral services for CHARLES A. OLIVER, 76, will be held at 2pm on Tuesday, April 16, 2013 at the Ft. Laramie Pioneer Center in Ft. Laramie, Wyoming with Pastor Jason Miller and Bill Walker co officiating. Burial will follow in the Ft. Laramie Cemetery. Charles died on Wednesday, April 10, 2013 at Guernsey, Wyoming while enroute to the Wheatland hospital. The casket will be open briefly following the funeral service. Memorial contributions may be directed to the family. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Colyer Funeral Home and friends are invited to send condolences to the family at www.colyerfuneralhome.com
Charles was born on June 21, 1936 in Lingle, Wyoming the son of Albert "Jack" and Irene (Milnes) Oliver. He grew up and attended school at Ft. Laramie. Charles married LaQuetta Haynes at Ft. Laramie on October 8, 1955. The couple lived on a ranch north of Guernsey where they ranched until Charles retired in 2006. Charles also worked at CF & I Mine for 28 years. He served in the Wyoming National Guard and was later on active duty with the US Army.
Charles enjoyed roping and the family held roping events in their arena. He also was a Chariot Racer and he enjoyed hunting and fishing, and riding 4-wheelers.
He is survived by his wife LaQuetta of Guernsey; his son Chet Oliver of Torrington, Wyoming; three daughters, Kim Dillman of Torrington, Joy Oliver and Luana (Mike) White Bird all of Guernsey; 7 sisters, Betty Blankenbaker and Lucy Urbach both of Torrington, Myrna Lucas and Judy Garhart both of Ft. Laramie, Joan (Bob) Hohnholt of Torrington, Joyce (Gene) Santillanes of Guernsey , and Darlene (Andy) Anderson of Elkhart, Kansas; two brothers Rudy (Jeannie) Oliver of Douglas, Wyoming and Wayne (Millie) Oliver of Ft. Laramie; 9 grandchildren and 23 great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, 2 brothers Bud and Steve and 2 sisters, Donna Eisenbarth and Janet Fisk.

Silly Me… I Thought Spring Was Here

Big Thanks to Leroy Clark who came and helped me shovel the show for Wednesday’s Bible Study.