1-20-22

 

If you have been watching the news this past year you have probably been inundated with reports of

overwhelming crime increases in our larger cities in this nation. It must be very frustrating for residents of these

large metropolises as they struggle to deal with increased robberies and violent crimes that have become a plague

in our country. We are fortunate to live in a smaller city that seems to not trend in the same direction as bigger

communities. But make no mistake, we do not go unscathed as this criminal pandemic will eventually touch us all

in some way whether financially, physically, psychologically, or spiritually. Why are we experiencing this rise in

criminal activity?

The answer can be made into a complicated soup of mashed together

excuses. Here is a list of causes, some more valid than others: The existence of

poverty, lack of fathers in the home, deteriorating family values. not enough

policing, anti-police idiocy, corrupt political leaders, ignorant political

leaders, lenient and ineffective judicial system, lenient criminal processing, gangs

allowed to thrive, drugs and drug laws. You name the crime, we have multiple

excuses for it. Not that these reasons for crime are untrue, but the Bible boils the

problem to simpler reasons.

In 1962, prayer was outlawed as an allowed activity in our public schools.

In 1973, the killing of unborn babies was legalized in all states. In 1980, the Ten

Commandments were removed from those same schools where open prayer had been removed. What has

happened? We have slowly but surely turned our face and heart from seeking God. Psalm 14:1-3 says, “ The fool

has said in his heart, “ There is no God.” They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who

does good. 2 The L ORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand,

who seek God. 3 They have all turned aside, They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No,

not one. ” In James chapter 4, we are told that fighting and wars amongst ourselves occur because of our lustful

desire to have, and the reason we don’t have is because we refuse to ask God. The 2 nd book of Chronicles says it

like this, “ 14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn

from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

So why are crime rates rising? We have slowly but surely kicked God out of the public square and out of

our hearts. He is no longer invited in our schools to shape the lives of our children, so what did we expect would

happen? So how do we change this pandemic, take the advice of God from 2 Chronicles 7:14, turn to God, seek His

face, and He will heal our land.

 

Be blessed even more!!

Pastor Chris

1-15-2022

J. Fields

 

Valentine’s Day is coming up very quickly. That’s right, Valentine’s Day 2022 is on Monday, February 14th. You may be thinking that you have plenty of time to make plans but I’m warning you, don’t forget!

Valentine’s Day is known as the day we get to celebrate and show how much we love that special someone in our life. For the ladies, they love this day and even if they try and tell you something different, they are expecting their special man to come through with that one special gift. For all the guys out there, you will most likely either procrastinate and wait until the last moment to pick up the usual flowers and a card or you may forget Valentine’s Day until you are passing by the store on the way home and you realize you once again forgot to plan.

 

Gentlemen, you can thank me later for the friendly reminder “I’m trying to save us all” but honestly there’s a bigger point that I want us to see. As humans, we have different holidays that we celebrate throughout the year and the “day of love” would be one of them. Can you imagine for just a moment if Jesus Christ would only show us His love only when there was a special day here and there? See, God loves us with an unconditional, all-in kind of love. God loves each one of us so much that John 3:16 states that He gave us His only son to save us from eternal punishment.

Aren’t you glad that God never forgets how much He loves us? Every day God shines His beautiful love over each one of us. God’s love is unconditional, never-ending, never forgetting, and unending. We could all learn an important lesson about true love by understanding who it is we are loved by.

 

This Valentine’s Day I encourage you to show that special person in your life how much they mean to you, don’t wait until the last minute to remember to tell them I Love You because the last thing you want to happen is to forget and miss your opportunity.

 

1 John 4:9-10

“This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

 

Blessings,

Pastor Jason

 

 

 

 

 

12/15/2021

J. Fields

 

I absolutely love this time of the year. Christmas has always been my favorite holiday of

the year but the bad thing is we spend all year awaiting this season and before we can blink an

eye it’s over. I love the traditions that we are making as a family, the joy and excitement that my

kids represent make the season even brighter. As a family, we love driving around town looking

at Christmas lights especially at Sunken-Gardens and the tree at Rotary Park. We enjoy

watching Christmas movies, making holiday treats, visiting Santa, and the list goes on and on.

My kids are literally Christmas fanatics!

 

It is easy to get wrapped up in all the holiday hustle and bustle. The malls are crazy busy,

the mail is running overtime to deliver cards, and the delivery companies are driving like they’re

being chased down by crazy parents looking for the hottest toy for their kids. The holiday

couldn’t be complete without a lot of stress filling up our minds, after all the shopping

countdown is everywhere you look. My daughter and I went Black-Friday shopping this year, it

was her first real experience at seeing a bunch of adults running around like they’ve been

guzzling energy drinks non-stop for a week straight, yes adults honestly act completely bonkers

on this crazy shopping day!

 

The point of this letter is to encourage you to slow down and take a moment to just

breathe. The holidays are not established so that you are stressed to the max. The biggest issue

we face with Christmas in todays culture is it has become so commercialized, the beauty and

reason for this season have been overtaken by worldly standards. Now before you tell me that

I’m acting old fashion let me explain a few things. I love partaking in Black Friday shopping, I

love going and seeing Christmas lights or even seeing Santa but that does not mean I don’t stop

and reflect on the true meaning.

 

My prayer is that you and your family will take the time to just reflect on this beautiful

holiday season. Over two thousand years ago we were all given the most precious gift

imaginable, a baby who was prophesied years’ prior that would come and save the world from

all sins. Can you imagine how incredible it must have been to see Jesus Christ wrapped up

laying in a manger? We celebrate the birth of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the One who

was sent from God Almighty to save all of humanity. Go, enjoy this season, have fun with

friends and family but remember that the season is about thanking God for the gift that no money

in this world could ever buy. Allow the world to see true Christmas Spirit shining through you.

 

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his

shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting

Father, The Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

Merry Christmas,

Pastor Jason

12-1-2021

C. Hayden

 

All of God’s creation is an absolute wonder to behold. Just think of the beauty of the changing leaves we see as we traverse a country road. Or the majesty found overlooking an endless sand-lined ocean view. Or stop by the Indianapolis Zoo’s butterfly arboretum sometime. Take a look at the overwhelming beauty of the Monarchs or the Blue Morpho butterfly among countless others. God is truly the greatest of all artists. Yet in God’s economy, He loves and cherishes one creation above all the others. Though the earth houses an innumerable collection of marvelous treasures, mankind is the one who holds the heart of our Father God the very most. For it is you and me that He came to this planet to redeem. 

 

In Psalms 139, Kind David weaves striking poetry in the 13th and 14th verse. “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are you works; my soul knows it very well.” David ponders his own beginnings in God’s world of wonder. Within those musings, David recognizes the premium that is put on the conception of each and every soul. We are “fearfully and wonderfully” made. That word fearfully is derived from the Hebrew word “Yare” which means AWE! In other words, when we see mankind in the process of a baby’s conception, the response God should receive from those in attendance should be nothing less than AWE! How we demean and defame God when we say a preborn baby is nothing but a collection of cells! God help us!

When we see a baby in the womb of his or her mother (yes, I was gender specific and used the term “mother”), we should respond in no less than absolute awe of our wonderful, mighty to behold Creator! That is who God is, and that is what God thinks of us. Yes, our God is the Master, and we are His masterpiece! We are priceless to Him! To redeem our Lord’s highest order of creation, us, it would be extremely costly. The ultimate creation’s price for our Lord’s ultimate creation is the blood of Jesus, God the Son. And Jesus paid it willingly. That is how much you are worth to God!

 

Be blessed even more!

Pastor Chris

11-15-2021

J. Fields

 

Where has this year gone? I cannot believe we are only a couple of weeks away from Thanksgiving! The smell of fresh-baked pies, deep-fried turkey, sweet potatoes, and oh, did I mention fresh-baked pies, oh how I love this time of the year.

 

While Thanksgiving gives us a time to come together with friends and family and have a wonderful meal it is also a great times to just reflect. Personally, I get so wrapped up in the hustle and bustle of the world that I sometimes forget to just stop, contemplate, and let God know just how thankful I am for all of His blessings.

Let me ask you when you think of Thanksgiving what are some of the thoughts that come to your mind? Do you think about family? Do you stop and consider just how blessed you really are? Do you think about all the Black-Friday sales? What is it that you enjoy about this Season?

Being thankful isn’t just for this time of year, yes it is a great reminder but scripture tells us to always be thankful. You may be thinking, “You expect me to be thankful when everything around me seems to be falling apart” — My answer is honestly pretty simple, Yes, while you may not want to hear it, I believe it is something we all must be reminded of.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus”. It’s easy to be thankful when everything is going great in life but the real testing of your faith is how thankful you are during the low times. What if I told you that your breakthrough or miracle was on the other side of your thankfulness, would you then praise Him in the valley? I believe that is exactly what God wants to see from us, He wants us to showcase our faith through the thick and thin.

This November I give you a challenge — Get up every morning and start thanking Jesus for all of His goodness. Turn your complaining into praise. When you go through your day just give Him the honor. When something challenging happens, just thank Him. In everything you do give God all your praise, honor, and thanksgiving. I guarantee you one thing, when you start declaring the goodness of God in everything you do, God will, in return bless and shine upon you. 

 

Psalm 118

 

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Let Israel say: “His love endures forever”. Let the house of Aaron say: “His love endures forever”. Let those who fear the Lord say: “His love endures forever”. When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord; he brought me into a spacious place. The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? The Lord is with me; he is my helper. I look in triumph on my enemies. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes. All the nations surrounded me, but in the name of the Lord I cut them down. They swarmed around me like bees, but they were consumed as quickly as burning thorns; in the name of the Lord I cut them down. I was pushed back and about to fall, but the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: “The Lord’s right hand is lifted high; the Lord’s right hand is lifted high; the Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!” I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done. The Lord has chastened me.”

 

Blessings,

Pastor Jason

11-1-2021

C. Hayden

 

Let’s start off this blog with scripture. The Apostle John says these words, “…every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:3-4). In this passage, God warns us not only of the coming Antichrist, but that his spirit is already existing in the world in John’s day that rejected Christ. We see that foul spirit in our own time as well, distorting, deceiving, and destroying lives. The good news is that we have not been left alone to our own devices. Jesus, the Lord of hosts, is in us and with us always. As the scripture above states, greater is He (Jesus) who is in us, than he (the devil) who is in the world.

 

Because Christ lives in us, we have access to His power to overcome what the devil may put in our path. In Ephesians 6 we are told to put on God’s armor so that we can withstand the enemy’s schemes. With God in us, there is no attack Satan can bring our way that we cannot overcome. 1 John 5:4-5 says this, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” The Scriptures are referring to us! We believe in Jesus the Christ, the Son of God. Simply put, our faith in Him makes us overcomers of this world, allies of the One True God and an enemy of an already defeated foe, the devil. So who are you really? You are a child of the King, a family member of the One True Lord of Hosts, who also lives inside of you. Trust in the Lord and let the overcomer come out in you!

 

Be Blessed Even More!

 

Pastor Chris

10-15-2021

J. Fields

 

Have you ever heard someone joke around about them spending their life in hell after they die? How about this, have you ever heard someone  tell someone else to go to that place? Or how about someone just teasing around saying that it is hotter than hell? Whatever the circumstance may be, hell is truly no laughing matter. We should never want to see anyone, even our worst enemy to spend the rest of their life in total destruction.

 

Throughout Scripture, there are many mentions about the horrible place known as hell. The bottomless pit known as hell was never created for you or me to spend eternity in rather it was specifically created for Satan, and all that worship and follow his ways. Even though we weren’t created for hell, God does allow us to have free will in the choices that we make in life. SCripture states that the wicked will go down to the realm of the dead (Psalm 9:17) while the righteous will spend eternity in Glory (Matthew 25:46). 

 

There is a generational belief that someone can get into heaven by being a good person in life, while being a good person is important it will not lead you into the glorious life of heaven. Scripture explains that the road to heaven is narrow while the way to hell is much wider (Matthew 7:13-14). The first step in your walk with Christ is to live out His goodness in all the days of your life (Philippians 2:12-16).

 

Ponder these questions for a moment. Are you doing everything in your power to live a life that mirrors that of Jesus? Are you just trying to go through life as you do at work (punching your ticket)? When someone sees you do they see the love of Christ? Have you talked with anyone recently about God? Do you try and make church about you or do you go to glorify Him? These may be some tough questions to swallow but what would Jesus say about your answers?

 

We are living in a world that is looking for something. The way we have been doing church, and I use church as a broad term, it isn’t working (remember some of my statistics). I believe that we are getting closer and closer to the last days. Jesus is knocking, He is looking for the church who will rise up and preach the truth, speak the truth, and go out into all the world to save the sinners for His glory. Central Christian has done an incredible job of building up the congregations, you have “it” inside of you, the Holy Spirit is in charge but are you willing to step out of your comfort  zone and snatch someone out of hell and into heaven?

 

Yes, this is a subject that I am passionate about because as a lover of Jesus I am called to also love and pour into others. Take the time and pray to God about how you can be used for His glory. There are many ways we can be the light of the world, stretch your thinking and seek Him. Now let’s put our faith into action and reach the world for Jesus!

 

Blessings,

 

Pastor Jason

10-1-2021

C. Hayden

 

Hello everyone. It is blog time again and I have been asked to produce another episode of Biblical wisdom to salve and edify the weary soul. So, the question I pose to my readers is this, “What should I say today?”. I do not want to simply dazzle with big words that amaze the masses or try to reveal some deep hidden mystery to those who care more about some newfangled doctrine than any actual truth. Yes, there is something called truth. But are we really interested in hearing it?

 

The Apostle Paul warns Timothy, a young Pastor, that there is coming a day when most people would not be interested in what is or is not true. They are far more interested in what pleases their interests, not God’s. The Bible, the source of all real truth, says this in 2 Timothy 4:2-4, (2) “Preach the Word! Be ready in seasons and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. (3) For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap for themselves teachers; (4) And they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables.” They would applaud the orator who declares the things that please them, that tickle their ears, but despise the sermon that speaks of holiness and righteousness. Central Christian left its denomination because we refused to accept doctrine that would please the world. Maybe we should only hear things that pleases everyone?! I think we should just preach about doctrine that people like?! Maybe we should just do that so people will be pleased with us.

 

We hear many sermons on how we are loved by God, how God wants to bless his people, how Jesus died for us, how He will provide for us, and the heavenly real estate reserved for us in the glorious new Jerusalem. All good messages. All appropriate. All needed. But do not shun the tough teachings. Those that call us to a closer walk with Him requiring commitment, dedication, exhortation, holiness, and life change. As scripture tells us, “For whom the Lord loves He chastens…If you endure chastening, God deals with you as sons…” (Hebrews 12:6-7). Maybe we should just stick with the truth, all of it.

 

Be Blessed Even More!

 

Pastor Chris

9-15-2021

J. Fields

 

Have you ever come to a stop sign in a busy intersection of town and saw a homeless person holding a sign that expressed that they were in need of money? Have you ever been walking down a sidewalk and witnessed someone sleeping right along the edge of the walk? The other day I was in Nashville, Tennessee for a work trip and witnessed many homeless people holding signs, playing music, and sleeping along the sidewalk, my heart was aching. I have no idea about each of their stories, I’m sure that some have made bad decisions throughout life while others may have just had a bad upbringing but regardless who am I to judge their story.

 

The things I saw in Nashville made me think about how many times I have walked past a homeless person and quickly turned the other cheek so I wouldn’t “lock eyes” with them. If I spoke with them what would happen if someone else saw me talking with them? I can’t imagine how bad they may smell, I’m sure they haven’t showered for days. If I give them money will they actually buy something nutritious or will they spend it on something bad? I know I’m probably the only one with these concerns but at the end of the day, who am I to think I am better than anyone else regardless if they are homeless or not?

 

God doesn’t call us to judge others. Rather, He calls us to love others. Love comes only through a relationship with Christ. How can you say that you love God but then you judge others? Love doesn’t say “I love you but…or I love you if…” 1 John 4:7 “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.” Don’t get me wrong, sometimes you have to show “tough love”, but you can show it in a Godly way.

 

Life is sometimes crazy, just because I’m a pastor doesn’t mean I don’t face the same troubles like everyone else. It is refreshing to know that God is full of grace, mercy, and love. Even when I fail, He’s there. Even when I have questions, He’s there. When I need that pick me up, He’s there to say I love you. We all leak, we all make mistakes, and we all make decisions we wish we could take back. Instead of being like the world, let’s choose to be like Jesus. John 13:34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

 

Blessings,

 

Pastor Jason