firstIMPRESSIONS
from Senior Pastor Timothy Satryan

He was looking forward to this moment all day long, after 6 days of labor and it finally arrived – Visiting Day!

The man with the keys arrived to swing open the large, heavy doors. The cold gray hall springs to life in the warm glow of light. He could hardly control His emotions.

The families began to arrive. He peers from the corner of the room longing for the 1st glimpse of His loved one. He lives for the weekends. He lives for these visits.

As the cars arrive, He watches intently. Then, finally, they arrive, for whom He would do anything. They embrace, eat a light lunch and reminisce how things used to be.

At one point, they break into singing, with interruptions of laughter and applause. But all too soon it is over. A tear comes to His eyes as they depart.

Then the man with the keys closes the heavy doors. He hears the key turn in the lock marking the end of a special day. There He stands, alone again.

He knows that most of His visitors will not contact Him again till next week. As the last car pulls away from the parking lot, Jesus retreats into loneliness as He waits until next Sunday – Visiting Day.

Is the time that we spend with Jesus an everyday thing, or do we just visit Him on Sunday. Think about it...

Here is your copy of firstIMPRESSIONS, Volume 4.12. Live for God, on purpose, each and every day.

We are pleased to welcome back Evangelist Jimmy Davis to WILMINGTON first assembly of God for this year’s Spring Revival, beginning this Sunday morning, March 21, at 10:30, continuing Sunday evening at 6:00, and Monday through Wednesday evenings at 7:00 pm.

In recent correspondence with Brother Davis, he says “The Lord has been blessing [our meetings] in special ways. Attendances have been superb, we've seen many saved and filled with the Spirit and many delivered from habits and bondages. We are thankful for God’s continues blessings! He is good!"

Dr. James O. Davis is known on five continents for providing straightforward Biblical solutions to difficult, contemporary problems. His gifted insight and dynamic presentation on life-changing principles provide encouragement to people in need of guidance for change in the private or public aspects of their lives. He has traveled over 5,000,000 miles internationally to more than 60 countries where the Bible’s answers are relatively unknown. Throughout his full-time ministry, he has led thousands of people to discover the value of Christ-centered living.

Dr. Davis is equally dedicated to a stateside ministry that places the Church at the cutting edge of a spiritual awakening of America. Davis has also been a featured guest speaker at International pastor’s conferences, Dr. Bill Bright’s Annual Fasting & Prayer Satellite Conference, Amsterdam 2000, sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Liberty University’s Spiritual Emphasis, and Assemblies of God Conferences. He has also ministered in key pastors conferences involving more than 70 denominations, including more than10 million viewing the events via satellite and Internet.

As National Evangelists Representative for the Assemblies of God world headquarters in Springfield, Missouri, Dr. Davis represents more than 1000 full-time evangelists and coordinates the annual National Evangelists’ Leadership Conference. In the last five years, he has equipped over 1,300 students for a God-given calling into full-time evangelism in the United States and overseas.

Dr. Davis resides in Springfield, Missouri with his wife Sheri. They have two children, Jennifer and James, residing in heaven. Olivia Xiaoxu was adopted in China on February 18, 2002 and has already brought much joy to their family.

Be sure to invite your friends, neighbors and co-workers to attend with you at this dynamic series of meetings, guaranteed to change your life!

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There has been a significant increase in the number of American Protestant churches using contemporary worship styles over the last five years, according to a new study conducted by Ellison Research. The survey of U.S. Protestant pastors will be released in the March/April edition of Facts and Trends magazine. Results show that diverse methods of worship are also on the rise.

When asked about changes in the overall worship style of their churches over the past five years, 44 percent reported no significant change, 15 percent said their churches had moved in much more contemporary directions, while another 36 percent said their worship had become a little more contemporary. Only five percent said their worship had become more traditional during the time period in question.

In general, the study found that churches moving toward more contemporary worship outpaced those churches moving in a more traditional direction by a margin of eleven to one, with larger churches and those led by younger pastors most likely to have made this shift. Pentecostal churches were more than twice as likely to move in the direction (31% to 12%).

One of the biggest changes found in the study was the use of electronic media. Five years ago, only five percent of all Protestant churches used PowerPoint or similar computer graphics presentations at least once a month. Today, 36 percent of churches use projected computer graphics and video such as movie clips, music videos or well-known speakers. Five years ago, only four percent of churches used video clips during services, but today that number has risen to 29 percent.

The use of praise and worship choruses during services rose as well — from 38 percent in 1999 to 74 percent today. The use of drama skits or sketches jumped from 23 percent to 42 percent. And Christian rock, pop or country music in worship rose from nine percent five years ago to 25 percent today.

It does appear that one thing has remained fairly uniform through the years, however — the length of the pastor’s sermon. Today, the average minister preaches for about 31 minutes, approximately the same as five years ago, with Pentecostals preaching the longest sermons (about 40 minutes on average) and Lutherans and Methodists preaching the shortest ones (20 minutes).

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by Jim Rawdon

When we bought our first house, I roto-tilled a plot and planted a garden. Saturday morning at the farmers’ market, I bought various vegetable sets including broccoli, which we really like.

After I placed the vegetables in rows in the ground, I had one broccoli plant left. I put it in at the back of the plot. My garden thrived except for that broccoli at the back. It produced nothing except leaves that curled and wrinkled like a sick plant.

Why? Maybe it needs more fertilizer, water or spray for pests, I thought. But nothing helped.

Then it occurred to me: Perhaps I had it backward. Am I watering fertilizing and spraying too much? So one-by-one I quit watering, fertilizing, weeding and applying pesticides. But the broccoli didn’t improve, so I gave up. I had lots else to do – work, kids, chores.

When summer ended, like a good gardener I pulled up dried-up okra stalks and tomato vines. When I'd worked my way to the back of the garden, I saw that broccoli – covered with Brussels sprouts!

Somehow at the farmers’ market a Brussels sprout plant got mixed in with the broccoli set.

All summer long I'd thought something was wrong with the plant at the back of the garden. But those leaves wrinkled and rolled up because that’s what Brussels sprouts do.

I'd done everything trying to stop the plant from becoming what it was – Brussels sprouts. I tried to do what only God can do, change its basic nature.

Remembering that “broccoli” makes me wonder: Do I ever make wrong assumption about people or circumstances? Do I ever try to change individuals or situations from what God intended, instead of trying to be “an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master” (2 Timothy 2:21)? Do I do good things when what’s needed is the right thing?

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by Ron Hutchcraft

It was one of the most compelling television documentaries I've seen in a long time. It aired on the second anniversary of the September 11th attacks on the twin towers of the World Trade Center. The stories of rescuers and the survivors, told first-person, took the viewer into what that day really felt like for the people who lived it. One story I cannot shake was told by a British young woman who worked in a brokerage firm high up in Tower Two. She recalled with remarkable composure the confusion in her office on whether or not to evacuate the building. She’s alive today because she made the right decision. But many of her co-workers never made it out. She broke down for the first time as she talked about her good friend in the office. All she could say was, “I keep thinking, ‘I should have asked him to go with me.’ I can’t get that out of my mind.”

Okay, change the scene. You're in heaven, you're looking for a co-worker you cared about... a fellow student or teammate, a family member, or a neighbor, maybe a friend. You ask Jesus, “Lord, is _____________ here?” What if He says, “Oh, did you bring her? Did you bring him?” You never asked him. You never asked her to go with you. Another scene: I've been to funerals where I looked at someone I'd been close to and realized that I had talked with them about everything except one thing – Jesus. And now I couldn’t.

We can’t have any of those missed opportunities back, but the future is yet to be written. I want to turn my regrets for the past mistakes of not telling someone about Jesus into a passion to be sure I don’t make that mistake again. You and I have been placed in the lives of some people who are not ready for eternity, who have never been to Jesus to have their sins erased. God put us there to be their spiritual rescuer – to be their link to Jesus. To help them be in heaven with us.

Our assignment comes crystal clear in our word for today from the Word of God in 2 Corinthians 5, beginning with verse 11. “Since we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men... for Christ’s love compels us... God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” No doubt about it. You're the one God is counting on to deliver His life-saving message to the people who are within your reach.

You can’t just depend on your life to rescue them. They won’t guess Jesus died on the cross for them. You have to tell them that. Start by loving them in their language of love. Pray with them when they share a burden. You'll be showing them your personal relationship with God as you do. Share the difference Jesus is making in your life at a point where the conversation allows you a natural opportunity. In fact, each day pray for – look for – opportunities. They're all around you. Let your hope story open the door for you to ask, “Has anyone ever shown you what the Bible says about how to have a personal love relationship with God and how to go to heaven?” In some cases, you might want to put your love for them and God’s love for them in a letter where they can receive it without distraction and without debating.

You only have to be God’s glove; Him inside you helping you to do and say what you could never do without Him. But silence is just not an option. Not if you want them to be in heaven with you. You know what they must know to get there. You're safe – you got out. They're still in the collapsing building. Life’s biggest regret would be having to say, “I should have asked them to go with me.” You still can. There’s still time.

Copyright (c) 2004, Ron Hutchcraft. Reprinted with permission. “A Word With You” is a radio outreach of Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc.

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If you've listened to motivational speakers or read any self-help books, you've undoubtedly been told about the importance of setting goals. In fact, many people will tell you that goals are the key to success. Well, I've studied goal setting for nearly 20 years and I have a confession to make: I still don’t have a handle on this intriguing subject.

Here’s the problem. Motivational speakers and writers frequently oversimplify goal setting. Those who advocate what I'll call the “traditional goal setting method” advise you to do the following to achieve your objective:

• Set a goal in other words, determine what you want to achieve

• Put the goal in writing

• Set a time deadline for the attainment of the goal

• Develop a plan and work the plan

• Visualize a successful result

• Maintain a positive attitude

• Measure your progress and make adjustments, where needed

• Persist until you reach your goal

All of this sounds great, except for one problem – most people don’t achieve their goals using this method! The vast majority fall way short of the mark. I've achieved many goals and also failed to achieve some goals with this system.

I'd also bet that virtually all of the people reading this article have failed to achieve many of their goals using this formula – despite the fact that they were positive and took considerable action.

Where did we go wrong? Why do we accomplish some goals using this formula, yet fail to achieve others? While I don’t pretend to have all the answers, here are some of my observations on the subject of goal setting.

1. Many people succeed without having specific goals. Over the years, I've noticed that there are many high achievers who have succeeded without setting goals at all.

Actor Harrison Ford has said that he did not have a goal of becoming a movie star. Antonio Banderas said he never sets goals and finds goal setting very limiting. Cindy Crawford never set out to be a “supermodel.” Former Secretary of State Madeline Albright said she never set a goal to become Secretary of State – or, for that matter, to be appointed as Ambassador to the United Nations. And, I'm guessing that Vincent Van Gogh did not have a goal reduced to writing that said: “I will paint three masterpieces in the next 90 days and earn one million dollars.”

The bottom line: some people are hugely successful without using traditional goal setting methods.

2. Whether or not you set goals, you need clarity and passion to be successful. When I cite examples of those who succeeded without goals, I want to emphasize that these people still had a clear vision of what they wanted to do in their lives.

They were and are passionate about their work, they are constantly learning and growing in their field, they are willing to take risks, and they are committed to doing whatever it takes to keep moving forward. People who are vague and uncertain never attain long-term success.

3. The rules are different when it comes to business and sales. In business and in sales, I've found that to be successful, you DO need to be a goal setter (using many of the traditional methods). Here’s why: in sales, you need to get results quickly.

Either you produce, or you're “out of the game.” Businesses can’t afford to take the view, “We'll work hard and whenever we succeed, that’s okay.” With that approach, the business probably would not meet its payroll and would not gain the confidence of investors. There are some companies that prosper without setting specific goals, but these organizations are very much the exception.

More and more, businesses are using personality assessments to test applicants for sales positions and to determine beforehand whether the applicants have the potential to succeed in sales. This is a positive approach and helps to identify those who are well suited to play under these “rules.”

4. Some people are simply not suited to traditional goal setting models. Many people who advocate traditional goal setting methods claim it can work for anyone. I no longer believe that. If Harrison Ford worked as an insurance salesman, he probably would have failed miserably.

Some people simply don’t respond well to setting specific goals and achieving them within certain time deadlines. That’s not the way they perform at their maximum.

5. Failed goals usually reveal a lack of commitment. We have the ability to achieve most of the goals we set. However, we often lack a necessary ingredient: commitment. We think we're committed to achieving a goal, but in reality, we're not willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish the objective.

We get frustrated and eventually give up the goal. So, if you're not making much progress on a goal, there’s a good chance that you're not really committed.

6. Failed goals serve a purpose. It’s easy to look at failed goals as a disappointment or as a bad thing. I don’t see it that way, however. In fact, “failed” goals serve a purpose – to re-direct us to a better path.

Often, we set goals based on what others tell us to do – or what seems like a good way to be successful or make money. When we don’t achieve these goals, we give up on them and then have an opportunity to pursue a different path, which is often more in line with our abilities and our unique personalities.

7. There is an “X” factor when it comes to attaining goals. Sure, you need a positive attitude, enthusiasm and commitment to achieve a goal. But there’s also an intangible factor working behind the scenes – I call this the “X” factor.

As we've all seen in sporting events, the championship game can be decided by a bounce of the ball, a fraction of an inch or a missed call by a referee. Granted, it’s the prepared competitor that puts himself or herself in a position to win, but make no mistake about it, sometimes serendipity or fate seems to step in to help us achieve certain goals.

More than 40 years ago, Maxwell Maltz, M.D., wrote a classic book on goal setting entitled Psycho-Cybernetics. Dr. Maltz believed passionately that we need to have goals or targets. However, he thought it was counterproductive to try to figure out with the conscious mind how to attain the goal. He recommended focusing on the end result and allowing your automatic guidance system to determine the “means whereby” that goal is achieved.

My point is that goal setting is not a “one size fits all” concept. If I've confused a bunch of people here, that’s okay. If you out and out disagree with me, that’s fine, too. I want you to start thinking more about goal setting instead of simply following methods that don’t work for you.

Traditional goal setting methods work for some people, and I would encourage those people to continue using them. But they don’t work for everyone, and the statistics prove that very convincingly.

There is a path that will work for you. Keep challenging and fine-tuning the various approaches to goal setting and you'll

find a system that will produce positive results for you!

This article is written by Jeff Keller, and is from his “Monthly Motivator” email. You can visit his web site at www.attitudeiseverything.com. (c) Attitude is Everything, Inc.

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by Alan Smith

I'm sure you have all heard (and maybe prayed) the prayer: “Lord, give me patience, and give it to me right now!” The following list of similar prayers has been made up. As usual, the author is unknown.

• God, help me to begin relaxing about little details tomorrow at 11:41:32 am.

• Lord, help me to be more laid back, and help me to do it exactly right!

• Lord, help me not to be a perfectionist. (Did I spell that correctly?)

• Lord, keep me open to the ideas of others, wrong though they may be!

• Lord help me to stand up for my rights! (If you don’t mind my asking)

• Lord, help me to finish everything I sta.....

• Lord, help me be less independent, but let me do it my way.

• God, help me to take responsibility for my own actions, even though they're usually not my fault!

• God, help me keep my mind on one th.... LOOK, A BIRD! ... ing at a time.

• God, help me to slow downandnotrushthroughwhatIdo.Amen!

Maybe you've heard some of those prayers. Maybe you've prayed some of those prayers! We often find ourselves having to say, as the apostles did, “Lord, teach us to pray!” Teach us to pray with confidence, but in humility. Teach us to pray, not to force You to give us what we want, but as a means of submitting ourselves to Your will. Teach us to devote more time to this precious privilege.

I don’t know about you, but one of the most amazing things in this world to me is the realization that the God of this universe hears and answers the prayers of his children.

“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” (I John 5:14-15)

Take time today to pray.

This article by Alan Smith, pastor of the White House Church of Christ, White House, Tennessee. You can visit his site at http://www.TFTD-online.com

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by Patrick D. Odum

“I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, ‘You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’” – Luke 12:18-19

I got a little dose of conviction Sunday.

My wife met me at church Sunday afternoon with a story. She and our 5-year-old son had been playing with Lincoln Logs. (Anyone still remember those?). Well, the set Josh has contains an old west fort, complete with an army officer and a Native American. It also comes with a tepee for the Native American. From somewhere — another play set, I guess — Josh came up with another tepee and included it in the story that he and my wife were telling. But, he had an explanation for it, and that’s where I got my little dose of conviction. “Look,” he said to Laura. “The Indian’s grandmother made him another tepee for all his stuff.”

Spoken just like the only grandchild on either side of the family.

And while I laughed, I laughed just a bit uneasily. I have to wonder just a little where he came up with the idea that if you run out of room for your stuff, you just make more room. Maybe it was just a throwaway remark that actually has nothing to do with values that he’s already developed in his short life. Or maybe it signifies the first encroaching step of the culture, the first influences of a materialistic world. Or, worst of all, maybe he got it from me.

We're all weaned on it. We live in it. Marinate in it. It soaks into us and becomes such a part of us that we don’t even think about it. We're fascinated with stuff. Possessions clutter our homes and garages and sheds and closets and drawers and basements — and our hearts and minds. We convert bedrooms into closets to hold it all. I live in a century-old house, and its quirks give me a little glimpse of what life was like a hundred years ago. The walls are all plaster. There are plates in the ceiling that still conceal gaslight fixtures. And, maybe most significantly, there isn’t much closet space in the oldest part of the house. So when the attic was finished, more closets were added. We're adding one in the basement. Things have changed in a hundred years. We need more tepees for all our stuff now.

Jesus told a story about a rich man whose crops did very well one season. So well, in fact, that he didn’t have enough room to store what he harvested. So he decided, reasonably enough it might seem, to tear down his barns and build bigger ones. He would have plenty of room for all his wealth then. Plenty for retirement. He could just taste the good life. It was right around the corner. All he needed was more room for all his stuff and then he could relax, kick back, and enjoy life. Big house and yard in the suburbs. Winters in the tropics. Nice clothes. Expensive car. Good food. Private schools for the kids. “Eat, drink, and be merry.”

The twist in the story, of course, is that he gets to enjoy none of his stuff. He doesn’t get a chance to build those barns, buy his house and car, or impress everyone with his country club membership. God tells him that he won’t live through the night — “Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” The answer to that question isn’t important; what matters is who will NOT get all that stuff. That’s why the rich man is a fool. And the punch line, says Jesus, is that a lot of us aren’t much different: This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:21 TNIV)

The problem isn’t the stuff. Who, after all, was responsible for the success of the rich man’s crop? Who is the source of wealth and prosperity? God, of course — but the problem is that the rich man in the story seemed to have forgotten that. His default response when he sees that his barns won’t contain his stuff is to build larger barns. Maybe sharing his stuff would have been a better response, instead of hoarding it. Maybe he could have given some to his poor neighbors. A bonus for his servants. Maybe at least a prayer of thanks to God instead of smug self-congratulation and hedonistic plans. While the rich man filled his barns, his soul was empty. Those barns he was building weren’t just barns. They were temples in honor of his real gods: wealth, power, and luxury.

Maybe in this area more than any other — more than sexual immorality or divorce or entertainment — the church is most influenced by the world. We accumulate our wealth — or wish to accumulate it — with no thought of God as its source or how his generosity to us should drive us toward generosity with others. We fill up our barns and build bigger ones, or look enviously and covetously at those who do. All the while, as our want for more grows and our barns get fuller, our spirits get empty and dead.

One day, what happened to the rich man in the story will happen to us. Our lives will end, and it'll be up to our family or friends to sift through all that stuff that in life seemed so important. When that day comes, you'd trade every possession you've accumulated for the assurance of a smile when you see God’s face.

So right now, thank him for all the stuff he’s given you. Reflect on how generous he’s been, how all your possessions are touches of grace from him that bring extra joy or comfort or security to your life. And then reflect on how you can be a source of that grace for others, especially those for whom building bigger barns is not an issue at all. Reject the world’s assumption that we should do whatever we need to do to accommodate as much stuff as we can get. Instead, think about ways to simplify; to break the hold of materialism by becoming less concerned about stuff and more concerned about godliness.

Big barns stand out too much in most neighborhoods, anyway. Tepees too.

This article (c)2004 Patrick D. Odum, as posted at www.heartlight.org

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I had a pastor friend who went into the pulpit one Sunday morning wearing a pair of new bifocals. The reading portion of the glasses improved his vision considerably, but the top portion of the glasses didn’t work so well. In fact he was experiencing dizziness every time he looked through them.

He explained to the congregation that the new glasses were causing problems, “I hope you will excuse my continually removing my glasses,” he said. “You see when I look down I can see fine, but when I look at you, it makes me sick.”

Although I do have to wear reading glasses now, I am happy to report that it doesn’t make me sick to look at you each week! In fact, when I see you all, it brings joy and happiness to me! I am looking forward with great anticipation to seeing each of you this week as we begin our Spring Revival meetings! I know that you will be blessed, challenged and encouraged. Why don’t you take a few moments right now and invite a friend or two to come with you?! You will be glad you did, and so will they! See you this Lord’s day!

Yours for HIM,
Timothy Satryan,
Senior Pastor
WILMINGTON first assembly of God