Not Condemned!

In Romans chapter 7 Paul tells us that we have a sinful nature. By this he means, that our bodies are already fallen and prone to sin. He explains that "the things that he wants to do he doesn't do, and the things that he should not do, those things he practices." He is letting us know the difficulty we will have in fighting flesh. In other words, the things that he wants to do that are pleasing to God, he finds it difficult to do those things because of the sinful nature of flesh. And, conversely, the things that he does not want to do, which are pleasing to the flesh, he finds those things easily accomplished. 

After making such a poignant statement he comes back and begins chapter 8 with "there is therefore now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus." This is his way of saying that regardless of our sinful nature, our past, and even our future mistakes we have no reason to condemn ourselves. It is in Christ Jesus that we find that we are, in fact, redeemed from sin and subsequently death.

Hallelujah anyone??

I love you, and I'm praying for you. 

~Pastor Erroyl
SALT

Pleasing God or Pleasing Man?

"Gal 1:10 For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ."

    You can't be a people pleaser and a bondservant of Christ at the same time. It's important to learn the difference between serving others as a Christian, and being a people pleaser. People pleasing typically starts with compromise, and ends with frustration. You alter your commitments, promises, or pledges. The end result often leaves you as the "bad guy" or the "fall guy".  Serving others for Christ has intentionality, purpose, and most often won't require a compromise. 

   Example: I find it difficult to say "no" when people ask for help. Especially in my "areas". This leads to issues with time management. It's caused strife in my home in the past. I miss events in my family's life, either because I'm not there, mentally, or I'm too tired if I am there. My wife and I have agreed that I must carefully monitor the things on my calendar, and the guard the margins fiercely. Soon after this decision, Sis Jones asks if I can lead next semester's men's small group because Bro. Larry has to cancel. "Of course I can. Glad to help." Before I know it, I've eroded the margins of my time, and cheated my family out of my time. 

   Reality check- You cannot please everyone, and you certainly cannot continually keep people happy...not if you are a Christian that is. Why? because, the Gospel is offensive to sin. And wherever you go and whatever you do, if you are carrying the gospel with/in you, just by being Christ-like, it will offend sin and those living in sin. And the offended will take it out on you. in effect, when you seek to please people you are in a bondservant to them. Something hinges on their happiness, and that keeps you in bonds. 

   I'd rather please God, and be bound in Him. How about you?

I love you, and I am praying for you 
~Pastor Erroyl
SALT

Family Line

According to 1st Peter 1:23, when you accept Christ your lineage changes from a flawed, persishable bloodline to a bloodline of incorruptible seed. Accepting Chirst is more than just saying it by the way.. You need a heart transplant, and a blood transfusion.. . v22 says "you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love, loving others from the heart"

I notice that many people teach on generational curses, but not on the adoption into Christ's bloodline, and repudiation of your natural bloodline. Is that being/acting super spiritual? I don't think so.. No, it does not counteract the previous things that God said would come to past. 

For example, if God said that a burden is to be carried for three generations in your family... then that will happen. God can't lie. But what it does mean, is this:

Just because my father was a _____, and his father was the same a_____, and even his father before him was also that same sort of  _____... I do NOT have to be a ____ like them. In fact, if I accept Christ, and continue to live in that bloodline consisting of that _____, then I need to question if I really accepted Christ? If so, then that means that I am CHOOSING to live within the precepts of that corruptible seed. And I don't have to. 

I don't have to stay in a cursed bloodline. Christ's seed in supernatural, and perfect. Therefore it is incurruptable. 

Why not accept Christ into your heart and live beyond the confines of your natural limitations?

Amen? Amen. 

I love you, and I am praying for you.
~Pastor Erroyl
SALT

Activate Your Faith

On this day, give a little bit of attention to your faith. Activate the thing that God gave you a measure of, that gets Jesus to say, "Because of your faith, you are__________ (healed, forgiven, etc..). I don't know about you, but I've got some things to put in that blank that need to be moved, eradicated, and then forgotten. It appears to me that, throughout his ministry, Jesus did some amazing things at the showing of faith (I.e. The woman with the issue of blood, the invalid lowered by his friends, to name a couple). 

Believe God for the miracles in your life, appreciate the sufferings for His name sake, and share the blessings with others. All three of those things are might be hard to do. Some things are harder for some people.. but by faith many great things have been done through out history. (Read Hebrews 11..Hebrews 11 is known as the Faith Hall of Fame among preachers. It practically preaches itself).. 

Why not add your name to that list of people who, by faith, did great things! How? Simply begin to trust God with little things in your life. Gradually build your faith. See if He won't show Himself faithful to righteous, earnest requests that are in His will. 

I love you, and I am praying for you.
Pastor Erroyl
~SALT

Hear and do...

If you read in the book of Ruth, chapter 1, you will find that after Naomi's husband and sons passed away, that she moved. 

Have you ever thought about why she moved? Or better yet, why she moved where she was moving to (Moab)? The Scriptures say that she was moving because she HEARD that the Lord had visited His people there. 

Have you thought about the discomfort it must have caused her to leave? After all, she and her family had been there for quite a while. They were there long enough for each of her sons to get married, her husband to die, and both her sons to die. Yet, because she HEARD about the works of God, she WENT. 

The lesson for us here is two fold:

1) First, we should always listen for the works of the Lord. Listen for occurrences where God has moved in someone else's life. It's encouraging. What Naomi heard was, not that God was still present there in Moab, but that He had visited there (That's past tense). In other words, she was moving based on God showing Himself mighty in someone else's life. She was basing her move of faith on someone else's testimony. 

2) We should not hesitate to share what God has done in our lives. We should constantly look for opportunities to share our testimony with others. Why? Because, we don't know if there is a Naomi somewhere waiting and listening for our testimony in order for her faith to be activated.

Is God telling you to step out on faith? Is He telling you to move? What is it that the Lord is saying to you through the story of Naomi?

I love you, and I am praying for you. 

~Pastor Erroyl

SALT

Get some rest!

Get some rest! 

We live in a world where we are always going, going, going. We ALLOW The pressures of life to dictate a warp-speed pace for us. We are stressed, depressed, and oppressed by things which we should have dominion over. We seldom take the time we need for our bodies to recuperate, for our minds to rejuvenate, or for our souls to simply relax. In fact, we go so much that we threatened to run ourselves ragged. So, what does the Bible say about resting? 

Our God is all about reaping and sewing. (that's working), but he is also a God of balance. That is where the Sabbath comes in to play. After God created the world, after he'd done all of the awesome and majestic things that we read in the book of Genesis Ch 1, He then creates the Sabbath; which, in a nutshell, means resting from work. He sanctified it- called it holy (Gen 2:1-3). You to say that in the entire Bible the first thing to ever be called holy is the Sabbath? Hmmm.  I find this of great significance. It means that we certainly should observe a holy period of rest.

We are supposed to rest. How can we renew our minds daily, when we are always thinking about the day that has just passed, and stresses and stressors of a tomorrow that may never come?  God observed the Sabbath as an entire day. (food for thought, right?) So, what the Bible says about resting is that we should remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. (Ex 20:8) I know that our calendar may not be aligned with the original Hebrew calendar, and that our work schedules may not permit an entire day of resting or resting on the recognized sabbaths (Saturday or Sunday). I believe what's important is the concept of a regularly scheduled period of rest. We must, as with many things in this life, PLAN to rest. That's right, schedule in your time of rest. Plan it into week (each day if you have to).

Now, there is a consequence for not resting. Have you ever read the 23rd Psalm? verse two says "he MAKES me to lie down in the green pastures". That doesn't sound like an option to me. It seems to me that because our God is our provider, The good Shepherd, He will make sure that we get everything that we need, including rest, whether or not we want it. But, because He is a good God -He provides us rest in "green" pastures.
Hallelujah.

Get some rest!

I love you, and I am praying for you.
~Pastor Erroyl
SALT

Welcome to the new home of SALT Ministries

Hello everyone,
   and thank you for visiting the new home of Salt Ministries. Starting right now, this will be where God's word will be discussed, disseminated, and lived. Please feel free to offer comments, suggestions, and insight as the Holy Spirit leads.

I love you, and I am praying for you.
~Dr. Erroyl McGinty Jr., Pastor
SALT Ministries