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My left hand is a member of my body. And so is my right hand. The right hand cannot direct the left hand and vice versa. But both hands can receive instruction from the head.

If one hand is connected to the head and the other hand is connected to the head, then it simply follows that our hands are going to submit one to another. They’re not going to fight one another!

It should be the same way in the church – the body of Christ! Romans 12:5 tells us that “in Christ, we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”

Who is the head of the body? The Lord Jesus Christ! Who are the members of the body? You and I are. God put us in the church together that we might have a spirit of submission in the fear of the Lord.

Is there someone in the church with whom you’re having difficulties? Submit yourself to the Lord! And allow Him to give you grace to submit to one to another!

Here is your copy of firstIMPRESSIONS, Volume 8.21. Live for God, on purpose, submitting to His leadership and lordship, as well as submitting to the fellowship and follow-ship in the body of Christ!

The Pathway of Principle

Pentecostal. I am a Pentecostal Christian. WFA is a Pentecostal church. We firmly believe that the Bible clearly tells us that the promise of the Father to each and every believer is the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. This promise is for ALL who believe – to as many as the Lord our God shall call!

The modern Pentecostal church is just about a century old. Since the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Topeka, Kansas and on Azusa Street in Los Angeles, California, the Pentecostal church has grown from a small group of believers to the fastest growing group of Christian churches in the world.

Unfortunately, there have been all too many examples of individuals claiming to be Pentecostal, who have been anything but Spirit-filled. Hypocrites who say one thing and do another. Money-hungry televangelists who are living in sin. People who point fingers at others who don’t live up to their own man-made rules, rather than pointing people to Jesus. In short, there have been too many people who, while claiming to be Pentecostal, have no principle at all.

The Pathway of Pentecost MUST be a Pathway of Principle! God has given His people the gift of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit so that we can win others to Christ. But, a people living without principle cannot influence others for Christ.

In Acts 11:19-30, we see demonstrated by Barnabas and the other leaders of the early church just exactly what biblical principle is. Be sure to join us this Sunday here at WFA as we conclude our series of messages on “The Pathway of Pentecost” with this most crucial message – “The Pathway of Principle.”

Being Different is the Difference

Rosa Parks, a lifelong member of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, refused to give up her seat for a white man on a Montgomery, Alabama, city bus in 1955. The bus driver ordered four African-American riders to give up their seats for white riders who were standing. Three did, but Rosa decided the day had come to be different. Her arrest, and the resulting Montgomery Bus Boycott, set in motion the modern Civil Rights movement.

In order to make a difference, one has to be different. Three young Hebrew men in Babylon made a difference by being different. They were the only ones in Babylon who refused to bow down before a ninety-foot tall image. As a result, they were thrown into a furnace of fire from which God miraculously delivered them. The difference they made by being different was that the king offered praise to “the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego” (Daniel 3:28) and established a nationwide ordinance against defiling their God.

If you want to make a difference for Christ in your home, at your job or school, or in your community, ask God to show you ways to be different for Him.

Make a difference by daring to be different.

from Dr. David Jeremiah’s “Today’s Turning Point” daily devotional. www.TurningPointOnline.org

Don’t Be Absurd

Jack, a 15-pound, orange and white cat, took seriously his job of guarding his owners’ backyard in New Jersey. He often scared small animal intruders away, but the owners were surprised when one day they found him sitting at the base of a tall tree, looking up at a large black bear. Jack hissed at the bear as it wandered into the yard from the nearby woods. The scared bear quickly climbed up a tree. How could a big black bear be afraid of a little kitty? What was he thinking!

Even more absurd are our thoughts of worry and fear when we consider that we have a powerful and good God who cares for us. Jesus told His disciples, “Do not worry...” (Matthew 6:25, 31, 34). He said we don’t have to be fearful or worried, because our heavenly Father knows our needs, and we are valued by Him (vs. 26, 32). He is perfectly willing and able to meet our needs.

When something concerns us, what’s our perspective? It’s not what we see but how we see it that reveals our attitude. If we look at life through the lens of our powerful and good God, we’ll trust Him instead of fearfully worrying. When our perspective is right, we can see God and His faithful provision.

Strength Out of Weakness

In his book, Confidence, Alan Loy McGinnis talks about a famous study entitled “Cradles of Eminence” by Victor and Mildred Goertzel, in which the family backgrounds of 300 highly successful people were studied.

Many of the names of those in the study were well-known to most of us – including Franklin D. Roosevelt, Helen Keller, Winston Churchill, Albert Schweitzer, Gandhi, and Einstein – all of whom were brilliant in their field of expertise.

The results of this study are both surprising and encouraging for many of us who came from a less than desirable home life. For example: “Three-quarters of the children were troubled either by poverty, by a broken home, or by rejecting, over-possessive or dominating parents.

“Seventy-four of 85 writers of fiction or drama and 16 of the 20 poets came from homes where, as children, they saw tense psychological drama played out by their parents.

“Physical handicaps such as blindness, deafness, or crippled limbs characterized over one-quarter of the sample.”

These people who had confidence in their abilities and put them to creative use had more weaknesses and handicaps than many who have all of their faculties intact and who had a reasonably good home life background. So, what made the difference? Probably by compensating for their weaknesses they excelled in other areas.

One man reported, “What has influenced my life more than any other single thing has been my stammer. Had I not stammered I would probably have gone to Cambridge as my brothers did, perhaps have become a don and every now and then published a dreary book about French literature.” The speaker who stammered until his death was W. Somerset Maugham, as he looked back on his life at age 86.

“By then he had become a world-renowned author of more than 20 books, 30 plays, and scores of essays and short stories.”

It’s not what we have or don’t have that matters in life but what we do with what we have. All God expects of us is that we don’t allow our past to determine our future and that with his help we use what we have to the best of our ability.

High Maintenance Relationships

In his book High Maintenance Relationships, Les Parrott asks these questions and offers us the following advice:

1. Do you feel anxious when a particular person has called and left a message for you to return?

2. Are you dealing with a relationship that drains you of energy and enthusiasm?

3. Do you dread having to see or talk to a particular person at work or in a social situation?

4. Do you always seek to give, but get nothing in return?

5. Do you keep second-guessing your own performance as a result of interacting with this person?

6. Do you become more self-critical in their presence?

7. Is your creativity blocked or is your clarity of mind hampered by the lingering discomfort of having to deal with them?

8. Do you try to calm yourself after being with this person by eating more, biting your nails, or engaging in some other unhealthy habit?

9. Do you have imaginary conversations or mental arguments in which you defend yourself or try to explain your side of a conflict?

10. Do you feel resentful that this person seems to treat other people better than they treat you?

11. Do you wonder why this person singles you out for criticism but rarely acknowledges what you do well?

If you answer yes, do something about it – “Bless those who curse you and pray for those who spitefully use you.” (Luke 6:28). Respond in an opposite spirit!

How to Build
Strong Relationships

Here are key ingredients to work on if you want to build solid relationships with others:

Enjoyment. In solid relationships, people spend time together just for the joy of being together. What they do is not of significance. Unfortunately the busyness of life causes us to forget what a joy this can be.

Respect. How do you build respect? When you don’t let obstacles or circumstances become more important to you than the relationship. When the pressure is on and you still treat them with patience and kindness. When the relationship is struggling and you’re willing to work to preserve it.

Shared experiences. Helen Keller may have been blind, but she had 20/20 vision when it came to relationships: “My friends have made the story of my life. In a thousand ways they have turned my limitations into beautiful privileges, and enabled me to walk serene and happy in the shadow cast by my deprivation.”

Trust. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “The glory of friendship is not just in the outstretched hand nor the kindly smile nor the joy of companionship; it is in the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when he discovers that someone else believes in him and is willing to trust him.” Paul writes, “Love never fails” (1 Corinthians 13:7-8).

Reciprocity. All relationships experience ebb and flow. Sometimes one person is the primary giver, sometimes the other is. But a solid relationship will always be two-sided. “Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another: not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.” (Romans 12:10-11)

The Last Impression

Seems there is a never-ending list of new books and materials on “Church Growth.” Are you getting frustrated and tired of all this church growth talk? Well then, how about a list of “25 Easy Ways to Curb the Annoying Problem of Church Growth”!

1. Begin your message with the phrase, “You know what’s wrong with you people...”

2. Place the student Sunday school space near the “Ruth class” for ladies 70 and above.

3. Move business meetings to Sunday morning and open up the floor by asking, “So does anybody have a beef?”

4. Begin that year-long sermon series on the 40 weeks of Daniel.

5. Place a polygraph machine on the front pew to be used during the invitation time.

6. Place tire puncture strips in the parking lot for cars going the wrong way before Sunday school.

7. Pick a NASCAR driver as your favorite and complain about all the other drivers (this works best in Alabama).

8. Place the roller coaster “You must be this tall” sign at the entrance of the worship center. (And make it stand about 5’ 8 1/2")

9. Keep the Christmas pageant livestock in the church choir room year ‘round.

10. Announce that on high attendance Sunday, if the goal is met, everyone will kiss the pig!

11. If your auditorium slopes downward to the platform, give every kid under 12 a handful of marbles before the service.

12. Give deacons the ability to “gong” the special music.

13. Place the outdoor welcome center tent a few feet from the septic tank.

14. Replace the pictures of former pastors with pictures of Larry, Moe, and Curly.

15. Start arranging marriages in the singles department.

16. Put a blank for “weight” on the membership information forms.

17. Invite the “cops” crew along during hospital visits.

18. Demand mandatory drug tests for all senior adult excursions.

19. In order to feel relevant, say “Dude” 15 times from the pulpit each Sunday.

20. Have the organist play hockey cheers at pivotal moments of the sermon.

21. Place armed guards in front of the Sunday school supply closet.

22. Before the offertory hymn, have the worship leader scream, “Show me the money!”

23. Charge tolls for the use of restrooms.

24. Illustrate all sermons or Sunday school lessons with scenes from “Walker, Texas Ranger.”

25. Use the “American Idol” format for staff hirings.

I promise that none of those things will be found this week – or any other week – here at WFA! But on this “Missions Sunday” we are beginning a new feature – a “Skype” phone interview with one of our missionaries, live from their mission field! I know you will be encouraged as we hear first hand, live, from around the world of what the Lord is doing in that location! Be sure to join us for an exciting time together of Worship and Word!