firstIMPRESSIONS
from Senior Pastor Timothy Satryan

A horrible thing happened to me today... a thief broke into my house. It happened shortly after I awoke this morning. I got up and began rushing about. I had a thousand things on my list and was already running behind. Quickly, I gulped down breakfast, took a shower and got ready for work.

In my rush, I forgot to turn the security system on at my house. It was just about a half an hour later that the thief broke in. Of course, he didn’t make a sound. Just kind of snuck inside, not drawing any attention to himself. In fact, none of the neighbors ever saw him.

But, I did.

You see, I WAS HOME when the thief broke in.

He naturally startled me, as I was unprepared for his visit. He, of course, didn’t announce that he was coming and I certainly had not invited him over.

And yet, I found myself face to face with danger and I felt so powerless. I also felt so very stupid, because this whole incident could have been avoided if I had just taken the time to turn the security system on.

You better believe I’ll be turning it on tomorrow morning! I thought I’d warn you about this guy, because he’s still on the loose. Chances are, he’s in your area. Possibly even headed for your house.

His name? His name is Satan. You see, this morning when I jumped up in my haste to get started on my busy day, I skipped my prayer time – opting to “pray later today.” In other words, I DIDN’t TURN ON THE SECURITY SYSTEM. My defense wasn’t on, my guard was dropped... and when the thief came into my home to attack me, I was unprepared to do battle. He tempted me and I felt powerless. Like I said, I also felt so very stupid, because I could have avoided the incident if I had just taken the time to pray.

My friend, the thief has come to “steal, kill and destroy.” And, as a Child of God, you are on his “hit list.” He’ll probably pop over to your house today. He may be lurking outside your door right now, just waiting to catch you off guard.

Take time to pray this morning. Ask God to bind Satan from your very presence, to protect you and empower you to do battle. In short... don’t forget to turn your security system on.

Here is your copy of firstIMPRESSIONS, Volume 6.05. Live for God, on purpose, as you submit yourself to God, resisting the devil, and drawing near to God.

The entire WFA staff and deacon board are busy this weekend at our annual retreat! Our guest speaker for the retreat is Rex Bornman. As we all return from the retreat, Rex will be speaking to the entire congregation at WFA on Sunday morning.

Rex says that “churchianity and religious ritual are anything but fun!! Instead, I suggest the absolutely awesome adventure of life with the Living God!!”

That theme of excitement and adventure mark the ministry of Rex Bornman. You will enjoy his humorous and dramatic approach to “life with the living God!” His ministry is energized with personal passion and genuine joy and attended by God’s power and provision.

In thirty years of ministry, Rex has enjoyed the privilege to lead four different churches on their journeys to effectiveness, impact, and growth. This has included the development of multiplied new ministries and satellite congregations. All this while, he has maintained his love affair with the Body of Christ through preaching crusades, personal consulting and teaching at pastor-training events. He also maintains a passionate love affair with his wife of thirty years, Kris and their two grown sons, Jeremy and Jared.

Currently, Rex is a part of the ministry team of Convoy of Hope, working to transform communities and churches through compassion. Addressing issues of hunger and human need across America and around the world – all of these are the concerns of Convoy of Hope. “It’s exciting to see the ever-growing army of adventurers!” says Rex. “These passionate people are discovering the exciting and Biblical truth that, God gives givers gifts to give!!”

You won’t want to miss this Sunday, February 5th, as we enjoy the ministry of Rev. Rex Bornman!

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A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed that as one problem was solved a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water. In the first, she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs and the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil without saying a word. In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, “Tell me what do you see?”

“Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied.

She brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they got soft. She then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee.

The daughter smiled, as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked. “What’s the point, mother?”

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity—boiling water—but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. However after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But, after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water they had changed the water.

“Which are you?” she asked her daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?”

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity, do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hours are the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate to another level?

How do you handle Adversity?

ARE YOU A CARROT, AN EGG, OR A COFFEE BEAN?

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The electronic security sensors at store exits aren’t just to nab shoplifters, but to stem an even bigger problem – employee theft. About 30% of “inventory shrinkage” is due to shoplifting, but a whopping 43% is due to stealing by employees. Furthermore, the cost of everything we buy is inflated by 15% to compensate for losses due to theft.

Most of us wouldn’t think of stealing from our employers, but consider this: There’s a Divine Employer who requires faithfulness among His workers. For financing His earthly work, He desires our tithes and offerings. And the prophet Malachi said that our failures in these areas are tantamount to stealing from God.

According to a 2003 report by Empty Tomb, an Illinois-based research organization, if U.S. Christians were giving the biblical tithe – one-tenth of their income – our churches would have an additional $143 billion for their ministries and benevolence works. Instead, the average American Christian gives the Lord a mere 2.66% of his or her income.

Tithing is trusting. We give to the Lord, trusting Him to open the windows of heaven and pour on us the blessings we need; and we, in turn, continue to tithe and trust.

from Dr. David Jeremiah’s “Turning Point Daily Devotional” of January 13, 2006. www.turningpointonline.org

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The lonely job of being a lighthouse keeper was usually carried out by men. However, during the 1800’s the federal government made provision for widows of recently deceased lighthouse keepers to have first preference to fill the vacancy. Kate Walker’s lighthouse keeper husband died unexpectedly and she applied for the position for the Robbins Reef Lighthouse in New York Harbor. Her heroic exploits over the next several years were tremendous. She is credited with the rescue of more than fifty fishermen in peril. She raised two sons alone and tended the lighthouse until she was seventy three years old.

Ellyn Sanna reflected on Kate Walker’s life in her book, A Beacon of Hope, writing: “Our world is full of men and women who, in their own quiet ways, are as heroic as Kate Walker. These individuals shine the light of Christ over the world. They are beacons of hope that spread the gospel message: We no longer have to live in darkness, for the light of God has come to us in Christ.”

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One of my teachers had each one of us bring a clear plastic bag and a sack of potatoes. For every person we’d refuse to forgive in our life, we were told to choose a potato, write on it the name and date, and put it in the plastic bag. Some of our bags, as you can imagine, were quite heavy.

We were then told to carry this bag with us everywhere for one week, putting it beside our bed at night, on the car seat when driving, next to our desk at work.

The hassle of lugging this around with us made it clear what a weight we were carrying spiritually, and how we had to pay attention to it all the time to not forget, and keep leaving it in embarrassing places.

Naturally, the condition of the potatoes deteriorated to a nasty slime. This was a great metaphor for the price we pay for keeping our pain and heavy negativity!

Too often we think of forgiveness as a gift to the other person, and while that’s true, it clearly is also a gift for ourselves!

So the next time you decide you can’t forgive someone, ask yourself...

Isn’t MY bag heavy enough?

And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins. – Mark 11:25

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by Dick Innes

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said [to fishermen Peter and Andrew] and I will make you fishers of men” (Jesus in Matthew 4:19, NIV).

Some of us have the idea that our life can’t make much of a difference. “What can one person do?” we sometimes think. This reminds me of the man who, when walking along the beach, kept picking up starfish that had been washed ashore. There must have been thousands of them. One by one he picked them up and threw each back into the ocean.

A stranger watching said to the man, “Why are you doing that? There are so many starfish on the beach. What you are doing makes no difference.”

“Makes a difference to that one,” the man replied as he threw another starfish back into the ocean.

Robert Kennedy once said, “Many of the world’s great movements, of thought and action, have flowed from the work of a single person. A young monk began the Protestant Reformation ... It was a young Italian explorer who discovered the New World, and the 32-year-old Thomas Jefferson who proclaimed that all men are created equal.”

When Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat in a bus to a white man on December 1, 1955, she triggered the civil rights movement in the U.S.A. In so doing she played a key role that changed a nation.

And it was a motley band of twelve very ordinary men – unsophisticated and uneducated – whom Jesus chose for his disciples to introduce the Christian message to pretty much a hostile world.

You and I may not achieve such greatness but we can make a difference. We do so every time we stand up for what is right, lend a helping hand to a friend or stranger in need, and help communicate the love of God and the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Added up, our small ripples blend together to reach ever-widening circles. In so doing, one life does make a difference and can make an impact for Christ in our corner of the world.

As Edward Everett Hale said, “I am only one, but I am one. I can’t do everything, but I can do something. The something I ought to do, I can do. And by the grace of God, I will.”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, I’m available. Please help and use me to make a difference in somebody’s life today. Help me to be as Jesus in some way to every life I touch. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

© Copyright 2006 ACTS International. Visit them online at http://www.actsweb.org

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The clergyman was finishing the graveside service. Suddenly, the 78-year-old man whose wife of 50 years had just died began screaming in a thick accent, “Oh, oh, oh, how I loved her!” His mournful wail interrupted the dignified quiet of the ceremony. The other family and friends standing around the grave looked shocked and embarrassed. His grown children, blushing, tried to shush their father.

“It’s okay, Dad; we understand, Shush.” The old man stared fixedly at the casket lowering slowly into the grave. The clergyman went on. Finishing, he invited the family to shovel some dirt onto the coffin as a mark of the finality of death. Each, in turn, did so with the exception of the old man. “Oh, how I loved her!” he moaned loudly. His daughter and two sons again tried to restrain him, but he continued, “I loved her!”

Now, as the rest of those gathered around began leaving the grave, the old man stubbornly resisted. He stayed, staring into the grave. The clergyman approached. “I know how you must feel, but it’s time to leave. We all must leave and go on with life.”

“Oh, how I loved her!” the old man moaned, miserably. “You don’t understand,” he said to the clergyman, “I almost told her once.”

While the story is a piece of fiction, I figure that it’s more true than we would care to admit. Wouldn’t that be a shame to allow this to happen? Our loved ones need to hear from us regularly that we love them. It’s impossible to tell someone too often how much you care for them!

Go ahead... give it a try! And when you tell your family and friends that you love them each time you see them, you’ll find yourself feeling better about yourself too!!!

You can’t feel bad for long when you’re sharing love... and remember the old saying, “It’s not love until it’s shared” – you’ve got to share it for others to know it and feel it!

So go ahead and tell someone that you love them – you’ll love yourself for it!

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• Give God what’s right – not what’s left.

• Man’s way leads to a hopeless end – God’s way leads to an endless hope.

• A lot of kneeling will keep you in good standing.

• He who kneels before God can stand before anyone.

• In the sentence of life, the devil may be a comma—but never let him be the period.

• Don’t put a question mark where God puts a period.

• Are you wrinkled with burden? Come to the church for a face-lift.

• When praying, don’t give God instructions – just report for duty.

• Don’t wait for six strong men to take you to church.

• We don’t change God’s message – His message changes us.

• The church is prayer-conditioned.

• When God ordains, He sustains.

• WARNING: Exposure to the Son may prevent burning.

• Plan ahead – It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.

• Most people want to serve God, but only in an advisory position.

• Suffering from truth decay? Brush up on your Bible.

• Exercise daily – walk with the Lord.

• Never give the devil a ride – he will always want to drive.

• Nothing else ruins the truth like stretching it.

• Compassion is difficult to give away because it keeps coming back.

• He who angers you controls you.

• Worry is the darkroom in which negatives can develop.

• Give Satan an inch and he’ll be a ruler.

• Be ye fishers of men – you catch them and He’ll clean them..

• God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called.

• Read the Bible – It will scare the hell out of you

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One Sunday morning, a mother went in to wake her son and tell him it was time to get ready for church, to which he replied, “I’m not going.”

“Why not?” she asked.

“I’ll give you two good reasons,” he said. “One, they don’t like me, and two, I don’t like them.”

His mother replied, “I’ll give you two good reasons why you should go to church. One, you’re 54 years old, and two, you’re the pastor!”

I’m not planning on hiding under the covers this Sunday! In fact, I am looking forward with great anticipation to worshiping together with everyone this Sunday morning at WFA!

PS –

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

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