Relentlessly Pursuing God and the People He Loves!
Sunday
9:45am – CG Groups
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Wednesday
6:30pm – Family Night
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Throughout life I have observed many times that people view Christianity as something for “needy”, “weak minded”, or “ignorant” people. In fact several years ago, former governor of Minnesota Jessie Ventura remarked, “Organized religion is a sham and a crutch for weak-minded people.” Why do people have this idea about Christianity? Could it be that we who claim to be Christians enable the idea? How do we enable it? One way is by our lack of using reasoning.
A few years ago I sat through a School Board meeting where individuals wanted to allow teachers the ability to teach that there were holes in the theory of evolution. This is a very true statement. It shouldn’t have been a problem to convince a School Board of facts, however that didn’t happen. Instead, one by one I heard well meaning Christians get up and make comments like “The Bible says….” Or “God created Adam and Eve ….” And on and on they went, never dealing with the facts being debated or the issue that was before them. Needless to say, the proposal was defeated.
If we are going to actively engage our culture and present them with the truth that is found in Jesus Christ, then we must use the intellect that God has given to us. Recently I heard Virginia Delegate Bob Marshall speak and say “faith is a gift but everyone can reason.” He went on to say that reasoning could lead to faith. As I pondered this statement I realized the truthfulness of it. (Romans 10:14-17)
As we use the brain that God has given us, we will be able to present today’s society with unarguable truth based on God’s Word. John Maxwell has been doing this for years when it comes to leadership development and training. John is highly respected in not only Christianity but also in the business world. Why, because he realized early on that the Bible offers practical, intellectual thoughts for every day life. Our faith is not based on fiction but some amazing facts that the world cannot rationalize away. Jesus is who He said He is – “The WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE!” (John 14:6) How do we discover these amazing facts?
All humanity is in need of a savior (Isaiah 53:6) and Jesus desires for “all men to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (I Timothy 2:3-5). As Christians, we possess that truth. It’s a truth that should be highly treasured and shared with those lacking. When we make a decision to follow Jesus Christ it is one of the most intellectually sound decisions that we can make with benefits that will last for all eternity. May God help us to use the intellect that He has given to us to reason and share the good news that Jesus Christ offers.
Next week I will continue with this topic by sharing a second way we enable others – the focus of our communications. May God bless you this week! See you in church on Sunday!
Because of HIS Amazing Grace,
Myron D. Atkinson
Pastor
Scouting for God
In the Roanoke-based Blue Ridge Mountains Council, 59 percent of Boy Scout units have religious affiliations.
By Rob Johnson
981-3234
The ties between Robert Mazzuca, the new chief executive of the Boy Scouts of America, and the likes of 15-year-old Matt Hoyle, who leads Bonsack-based Troop 584′s quest for religious knot badges, are growing stronger.
Mazzuca, who visited Roanoke on Thursday for a Scout fundraiser, is well aware that while overall membership in Scouting is falling, the number of church-chartered units is on the rise.
“Scouting is flourishing among the churches, and we’re aiming at more partnerships with some in particular, evangelicals for example,” Mazzuca said.
“Our strongest partners nationally are religious organizations.”
Matt’s role underscores how churches and Scouting find a kindred spirit in each other.
His troop meets Tuesday nights at Bonsack United Methodist Church. Before the brown-and-olive uniformed regulars assemble in the gym, some attend Matt’s Bible study class, where completion of the “God and Life” student workbook is the path to the coveted religious knot, an embroidered silver and purple award worn above the uniform’s left pocket. “This is a way we get closer to God, being active in Scouts and at church,” he said.
Scouting is finding a needed refuge of sorts in churches. That’s largely because of a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2000 that backed the nonprofit organization’s right to ban gays from its ranks. The Scouts’ opposition to homosexuality on moral grounds prompted the widespread withdrawal of permission for troops and Cub Scout packs to use schools and other public facilities, and support from many civic groups and charities dried up.
Despite their motto, “Be prepared,” Scout leaders weren’t ready for the backlash. “For years the Scouts have been synonymous with mother, apple pie and lemonade. Then you wake up one morning facing issues you aren’t familiar with,” Mazzuca said. To recover their membership momentum, Scouting is focusing a constituency whose welcome hasn’t weakened.
More churches — particularly in the growing ranks of evangelicals — are finding that hosting Scout groups raises their community profile. A message on the marquee of Penn Forest Worship Center in early February proclaimed, “Welcome Scouts. Always be Prepared — For Eternity.”
The pastor there, Myron Atkinson, even held a “Scout Sunday” on Feb. 3. “Our attendance doubled,” he said. “I geared the entire service towards the Scouts.”
To be sure, Scouting and churches are traditional allies. In 1915, 54 percent of the 7,000 or so pioneering troops in the United States were chartered by churches. Today, as U.S. Scouting approaches its 100th anniversary in 2010, churches hold 62 percent of the charters. In the Roanoke-based Blue Ridge Mountains Council, 59 percent of Scout units have religious affiliations.
There’s no obligation for Scouts to attend or join churches that sponsor them. Howard Wilson, scoutmaster at Penn Forest Worship Center’s Troop 418, said, “We haven’t felt any pressure. I’m sure Pastor Atkinson knows that welcoming the Scouts and their families is an opportunity to grow his church. But he has opened the church gym to us as a community meeting place.”
While for decades the Scouts grew fastest among larger mainstream denominations, including Roman Catholics, Methodists and Mormons, lately their popularity is rising faster among evangelicals and independent community churches. “Our growth pretty much follows that of the denominations. We’re not seeing increases among the Methodists and some of the other mainstream groups,” said Don York, director of relationships at Scout headquarters in Irving, Texas.
York keeps a close eye on church growth, and the slump in troop chartering that has accompanied membership declines in certain denominations is noticeable. “They close a church and we close a Scout troop.”
One denomination hungry for new Scout troops is the evangelical Churches of Christ. “We’re an almost untapped resource for Scouting. The sky is the limit,” said Kent Barnett, executive director of Scouting for the group, based in Abilene, Texas. “We have 13,000 churches nationwide, and less than 600 have Scout troops.” Barnett estimates than only three or four of the 16 Churches of Christ in the Roanoke area host Scouts.
Relatively conservative denominations such as Churches of Christ are perhaps especially receptive to Scouting, notwithstanding the controversy over gay rights. “Scout traditions are all Christian based. They share the moral values of our church,” Barnett said.
But it’s harder for the Scouts to recruit Barnett’s churches because the denomination has little central organization, and many of the churches are so small there’s no staff besides the pastor. “We’re a harder target for the Scouts to reach, but we’re out here,” Barnett said.
Mazzuca’s strategy to reach such congregations fits with the Scouts’ legendary penchant for hiking: the shoe leather approach. “We need to get our local council officials and volunteers out on more sales calls. Take our message right to the church door and be aggressive about sharing how our goals complement each other.”
Individual Scout units can put as much, or as little, emphasis on religion as they choose. Bible worship groups such as the one led by Matt Hoyle are optional, and the religious knot award isn’t required to attain Scouting’s highest rank, Eagle. But for those who do attend, daily Bible reading for three months is mandated, the workbook states, adding: “You may want to keep a written record or journal as well.”
Greetings one and all!
Today is Maundy Thursday! What is that? Maundy Thursday, also called Holy Thursday, is a time to commemorate Jesus’ Last Supper and the beginning of our sacrament, the Lord’s Supper. The word Maundy comes from the Latin mandatum, which means “commandment.” At the Last Supper, Jesus gave the disciples a new commandment to love one another as he had loved them (John 13:34).
In the Old Testament in order to receive forgiveness of sins, a spotless lamb had to be sacrificed. Without going into great detail, when Jesus died on the cross He became the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. He did it because of His great love for us! On this day, remember that you can be freed from sin! No longer do you have to feel the tug between what you know you should do and what you do. Romans 7 explains the struggle that Paul went through that but in verse 25 he shares where he can receive the victory. He writes “24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
Jesus Christ will rescue you this day. He can give you victory! How because He was victorious over sin and the grave. Did you know that you can go to the tombs of the major religious leaders in the world and they are still there? Wait… you can’t go to the tomb of Jesus Christ and find Him there! He is not there! He is risen! On this Maundy Thursday, if you find yourself struggling with sin, it can be a habit, an inappropriate relationship, a wrong attitude, I encourage you don’t try to gain victory yourself. Go to God, seek out accountability partners, be honest, get rid of pride, humble yourself before God and HE will raise you up. Just as Jesus Christ was victorious so you can be as well. Life is too short and eternity is too long to play games with. God will give you the VICTORY!
In closing, let me urge you to go to church this Sunday. Why? To celebrate the victory that is our in Jesus Christ and to worship with other believers! I look forward to seeing you here at PFWC this Sunday at 10:45 AM for our Resurrection Celebration Service.
Don’t forget our Good Friday Service at noon on Friday! God Bless!
Because of HIS Amazing Grace,
Pastor Myron
Luke 22:7-20,39-41 (NLT)
7 Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread arrived, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed. 8 Jesus sent Peter and John ahead and said, “Go and prepare the Passover meal, so we can eat it together.”
9 “Where do you want us to prepare it?” they asked him.
10 He replied, “As soon as you enter Jerusalem, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him. At the house he enters, 11 say to the owner, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guestroom where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?’ 12 He will take you upstairs to a large room that is already set up. That is where you should prepare our meal.” 13 They went off to the city and found everything just as Jesus had said, and they prepared the Passover meal there.
14 When the time came, Jesus and the apostles sat down together at the table. 15 Jesus said, “I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins. 16 For I tell you now that I won’t eat this meal again until its meaning is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.”
17 Then he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. Then he said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. 18 For I will not drink wine again until the Kingdom of God has come.”
19 He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this to remember me.”
20 After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people-an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.
39 Then, accompanied by the disciples, Jesus left the upstairs room and went as usual to the Mount of Olives. 40 There he told them, “Pray that you will not give in to temptation.”
41 He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” 43 Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him. 44 He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood.
This morning as I laid in bed contemplating what I should write I began to think of the many people who believe in God. I have heard and read that most Americans believe in God so I decided to “Google” to find out what the latest statistics were saying. According to a FOX News poll taken in 2004, 92% of Americans say they believe in God. That’s great news for a pastor to know but what do Americans think about Jesus? According to, The Harris Poll® #90, December 14, 2005, seven in ten (70%) believe that Jesus is God or the Son of God. This is really great news! It means that my job is not as hard as I sometimes perceive it. But…is belief enough?
If I walk into my garage, sit down on the cement and say, “I’m a car.” Does this make me a car? What if I make engine noises and am gassy? (lol) Of course not! What if I focus really hard, will that change me into a car. Nope. Just because I act like a car, smell like a car and believe I’m a car it doesn’t make me a car. My point… Just because a person calls himself or herself a Christian doesn’t mean they are. It takes more than just believing. James 2:19 says, “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that-and shudder.” (NIV) Another verse in Matthew 7:21 says, “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.” (NLT)
So what does it take to get into Heaven? Not much, you just have to be perfect! Now I know some of you think you are perfect, even I have been accused of acting that way, but none of us are really perfect. I John 1:8 says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” (NIV) I can hear people saying, well I’m not a bad person. It doesn’t matter; just a little bit of sin messes it all up. I can have a straight 4.0 grade-point-average and get one D and it will mess it all up. It’s a problem we all have. There was only one person that ever lived who was without sin and that was Jesus Christ (Hebrews 4:15) Ok, so if I have to be perfect and that’s impossible what can I do to go to Heaven?
A. Admit that you are a sinner. – Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (NIV) In order to admit this we have to put our pride aside and humble ourselves to the point of being honest.
B. Believe that Jesus died on the cross for you and accept His forgiveness. - That is what we will remember next Friday. Romans 5:8 tells us, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (NIV) That’s pretty incredible that Jesus would die for us! Next week Passover will be celebrated. This is a time of remembering that while the Israelites were in slavery in Egypt, God sent plagues and the last one gave them freedom. During the last plague they had to kill an innocent lamb and place the blood of it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of their houses. When the angel of the Lord saw the blood he would pass over. Jesus became the ultimate Passover lamb.
C. Confess that Jesus Christ is Savior and Lord – Romans 10:9-10 says, “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” (NIV) We need to tell others who Jesus is and what He has done and the hope that we have.
D. Determine to follow Jesus – We do this by reading the Bible, praying, going to church, worshiping Jesus and determining to follow His example. I Peter 2:21says, “This is the kind of life you’ve been invited into, the kind of life Christ lived. He suffered everything that came his way so you would know that it could be done, and also know how to do it, step-by-step.” (The Message)
If you have never done this and would like more information about having an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, please contact me. It would be an honor to share with you about this life and eternity changing relationship.
God Bless,
Pastor Myron
Greetings PFWC Family and Friends!
The past two weeks we have been having Morning Devo’s in Romans. We’ve been taking our time, digging in and applying it to our lives. In the introduction to Romans, Paul identifies himself first and foremost as “A Servant of Christ Jesus.” What does this mean?
The Greek word for “Servant” here means, “slave.” However it was not something that Paul was forced into but was something that he freely chose to do. This was called a “Bond Slave” (See Exodus 21). A bond slave was a person who willingly chose to serve his master out of love and as a result would be marked. Paul is saying that he is a slave to Christ not by force but by choice because of God’s great love for him. As Christians we are to willingly choose to serve Jesus Christ. Too often I think we want the “Get out of Hell” free card and never think about what Christ has done for us. Because of His death on the cross He has freed us from sin. No longer do we need to be in bondage to it, we are FREE.
Think about that for a moment… FREE. Imagine going hiking with a backpack. Not just any backpack, a heavy, smelly, moldy backpack that digs into your back, nauseates you and reminds you with every step of all the bad things you have done. You are walking up and down hills and it seems to get heavier with each step. You are tired, you are thirsty and you are overwhelmed.
Now imagine having someone willing to take that backpack off. They give you a refreshing Jacuzzi to bathe in and some fresh clean, crisp water to drink that restores you. As you sense this new freedom, cleanliness, and energy, you notice that the other person has taken this backpack and is willing to carry it for you. You no longer have to carry this putrid, heavy backpack ever! This is what Jesus did for Paul and what He has done for each of us. He has taken the nastiness and weight of sin and given us freedom.
In gratitude to Jesus Christ, Paul says, “I choose to be a bond slave for you Christ!” No one is forcing him, he freely chose to do this. It’s a monumental decision to go beyond just receiving this freedom to saying I will serve you no matter what because You have been so good to me. I’m no longer a slave to sin. I no longer have to carry this weight of guilt, bitterness, resentment and dread. I AM FREE! In the end, being a bond slave cost Paul his physical life but gave him a much better eternal life. A life that words cannot express how outstanding it is and will be. Hebrews 11:13-16 summarizes his attitude:
“All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16Instead, they were longing for a better country-a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.”
WOW the best is yet to come! Now… here’s the question: Will you freely choose to be a bond slave of Christ? There is no harm that can come to you that would surpass the pain the pain that was done to Jesus Christ on behalf of our sin. Paul loved his Master enough to live for Him and to die for Him. What about you?
Above the pulpit at PFWC is the quote from John Wesley that says, “Give me 100 people who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God and I will change the world.” Have you ever stopped to contemplate that statement before?
Why should we fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God? This week at the Wednesday morning Bible Study we were studying Ephesians Chapter 2. In this chapter, verse 3 uses the term “objects of wrath.” This is referring to the habit of sin. Sin separates us from God! Isaiah 59:2 and Romans 6:23 tells us that sin separates us from God and that the penalty for that sin is death. What is that death? – eternal separation from God in hell! This is why we should fear Sin. I think that we take sin way too lightly and too often try to justify it or excuse it. That’s why Jonathan Edwards, in his sermon “Sinners in the hands of an Angry God” preached so passionately about sin when he said:
“O sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are in: it is a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath, that you are held over in the hand of that God, whose wrath is provoked and incensed as much against you, as against many of the damned in hell. You hang by a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it, and ready every moment to singe it, and burn it asunder. And you have no interest in any Mediator, and nothing to lay hold of to save yourself, nothing to keep off the flames of wrath, nothing of your own, nothing that you ever have done, nothing that you can do, to induce God to spare you one moment.”
I remember my 8th grade History teacher saying that this doesn’t sound much like a loving God. He is a loving God (John 3:16-17) that why He came to earth to die for our sins so that we would not have to be separated away from Him. This is a good place to ask the next question:
Why should we desire nothing but God? Without God we are “objects of wrath” because our sin separates us from Him. A relationship with God brings LIFE (See Romans 6:23b and John 3:16-17). I 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. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” In order to really live we need to pursue God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30). When we do this we will be able to be used by God to make a difference.
As Christians we no longer have to fear death, we embrace life and look forward to eternity and hearing His words “Well Done!” Let’s pursue God with all that we are this day. God Bless!
Because of HIS Amazing Grace,
Myron D. Atkinson
Pastor
Gooseneck Studios is now accepting students for music lessons (Piano, woodwinds, brass, percussion, etc.). Lessons will be scheduled Tuesday and Thursdays here at PFWC.
For more information, please call Linda Pasquarell at 774-5448 or email her at gooseneckstudio@gmail.com
Thanks to Miss Nancy, children in grades 1-5 can participate in Bible Quizzing.
Practices will be held on Sunday nights at 6pm (drop your kids off and then head to the Adult Bible Study!).
This year, the children are studying Genesis.
Please see Nancy Phillips for more information.