God's Self Defense Plan

I Peter 5:8-9   NLT

^8 "Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. ⁹ Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are."

God has given us a great self-defense plan:  HIS WORD.    Friend, we're not alone in our struggle.    We all face the same enemy, the devil.  But be of good cheer, Jesus has overcome that foe, relying on Him we will be victorious.

Today's struggles are temporary!     Victory shall be ours – IF we let the Lord fight our battles.  HE is victorious!

Don't let satan get you down, stand firm on God's Word!

Love ya,  Pastor Phil      

When on a long journey with a friend, inevitably the personality of that friend becomes evident from his behavior and responses. Soon, one could easily order for the other at any restaurant. Preferences in many of life’s choices become well-known to each other.

So it is in our journey with God. It doesn’t take long to discover that He delights in caring for His own. The supernatural is His go-to method when we are facing challenges. Witness the feeding of the 5,000 or the 4,000 for that matter. And the calming of the raging sea is one of my personal favorites.

Make your own list of the miraculous interventions of God in the lives of ordinary people as Jesus strolled among them. It seems a given that whatever crisis you face, someone in those days stood toe-to-toe with something just as daunting. Truth is; Jesus is just as present in your life as He was in theirs back then.

Go ahead and believe for your miracle. You’re in excellent company.

Your friends over here at Battlefield Assembly of God are expecting it will happen for you too!

Lovingly,

Pastor Rich Orrell

Luke 18: 27 NIRV

Jesus replied, 'Things that are impossible with people are possible with God."

Friend:  Do you believe this word from the Lord?   Do you believe that He can do the impossible in your marriage, your lives, and the lives of your family?  Can HE stop the growth of ISIS, Ebola and other plagues that are terrifying the world today?

YES HE CAN;  and He WILL if His  people will only Pray and trust in Him.

It is our job to pray and His responsibility to answer. 

God is bigger than all our fears, problems and difficulties.

Join me today in trusting Him to do the impossible!  

Love ya,  Pastor Phil      

Romans 10:13 makes this powerful statement: "for whosever shall call upon the name of The Lord shall be saved".

In younger, stronger days we might well have asked the question, saved from what? We were bullet-proof, bull strong and in some cases bull-headed. We needed no help with anything. But as time passed, we became painfully aware that we face things from time to time for which we have no solutions.  Situations develop that overwhelm our strengths and take advantage of the weaknesses we  refused to acknowledge in our youthful arrogance.

It is then we discover God has been waiting for our defenses to fold. He has patiently allowed reality to underscore our need for Someone on whom we can rely in times of stress. Our frantic call of distress finds the heart of God. Help comes immediately as we wisely ask forgiveness.

The life we lay willingly on the altar of repentance is cleaned up, handed back to us with the power of the Holy Spirit installed. Suddenly, life makes sense. Optimism and faith pervade our lives. And we get it...we needed to be saved; from sin, from satan, and from ourselves.  It's true;  whosoever shall call upon the name of The Lord shall be saved!

So call now...!

Lovingly,   Pastor Rich Orrell

This week's Pastor's Pen is available by clicking the link below.   Hope to see you all on Sunday.   We will be celebrating Communion in the AM service - come expecting a blessing.

Click here to read Divine Recall Notice:

Some people cruise through life with hardly a ripple. Others go from one violent crisis to the next. Perhaps the difference between the two is related to “balance”. If we can manage to make the Lord the center of our lives, His presence at the heart of things keeps us in balance. If we try to have more than one center, terrible imbalances occur and we self-destruct. Ask any Mom what happens when the load in the washer gets badly out of balance. Especially when working with heavy loads such as denim, it doesn’t take long to discover, things must be carefully balanced or mayhem ensues.

Similarly, anyone who has had the misfortune to purchase badly balanced tires can relate horror stories of violent shaking and difficulty controlling the vehicle until proper balance could be restored.

Life can be a lot like either of these illustrations. If God is at the center of our lives with everything else in good alignment to Him, life goes smoothly. When we put anything else at the center, life can shake itself to pieces rather quickly.

Does living your life remind you of riding a bucking bronco? Do you feel like you are up today, down tomorrow, in today and totally outside God’s grace tomorrow? Perform an in-depth self-check and make sure you have not tried to make God satellite to something else at the center. He does not do well as a counter-balance. The Eternal weight of His Glory requires that He be THE center of everything. Then all else will find its rightful orbit around His stable Presence.

Be blessed as you make Christ the center and pivot point of life!

In Christ’s love,

Pastor Rich Orrell

James 5:7  (KJV)

^7 ""Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waits for the precious fruit of the earth -  -  until he receive the early and  latter rain."

Sept 7th -10th we will have revival  services with Evangelist Daniel Tidmore.  God 's  promise is that HE will send the Latter Rain and It will be poured out on ALL His people.

Let's prepare our hearts for what the Holy Spirit desires to do in our midst in the coming week.   Don't miss a single service of these  special days!  Don’t miss out.   Be here !

If you're truly hungry for more of His Spirit, and the Power you can  have through the anointing of the Holy Spirit, come expecting and asking for more of Him.

Be hungry!   We need a fresh anointing!  The benefit we will receive from Him during these revival services depends on us.  

We must pray now, seek the Baptizer and submit our lives to Him.  He  says that He will fill the hungry until they are overflowing.   

Lord, let the Holy Ghost come on down and meet with us in the coming days! 

Join me in that prayer for a mighty outpouring of His Spirit!

Love ya, 

Pastor Phil  

These are three words that sum up Jesus’ take on a very important question as the school year begins.

A college student recently posted (tongue-in-cheek) on social media, two great problems facing her and her friends as they prep for school:

1. Having nothing to wear
2. Having no room left in her closet

I know the young lady and can verify that she is blessed with a closet full of lovely things to wear. But what she says teasingly, many say very seriously. The subject of costuming for today’s world is a very real concern for young people trying desperately to find their place in a confusing world. And worse; the question of what to wear may be symptomatic of their perceived need for many other things they think they will need to fit in at work or college.

Truth be told, it is not just the younger person who falls prey to the need to dress better than others or live in better surroundings, or drive something cooler than the neighbors. Keeping up with the Jones’ has been going on since time began.

Jesus well-knew that we would always be tempted to participate in the race to be a fashion statement. And He also realized our commitments to Him and the spread of His gospel would preempt our drive to preen our collective feathers on anyone’s runway. His words, “…Consider the lilies”, are tantamount to His own guarantee that our needs would be met. He will bring out our natural attractiveness in ways that do not rely on the latest fashions. Our character and grace will overshadow clothes that may be a bit tired or dated. The personality He has developed in us will render the finest clothing simple window dressing for the sterling qualities of Christlikeness others will see in our lives. And by the way; you WILL have something appropriate to wear. J

Yep…”Consider the lilies”. Now that is a promise we can live with!

Trusting in His goodness,

Richard Orrell, Pastor

Ever wonder why we get so sore after hard work or exercise? The best I can tell you is that our muscles build up lactic acid in them as a result of the heavy usage, and the result is pain. It takes time for our bodies to leach out the lactic acid and repair the damage done to our muscles by the unfamiliar motions and heavier-than-usual activities. But when the pain subsides and the repair of the damaged tissue is complete, our bodies put on a bit of extra muscle for potential repetitions of such strenuous activity. So, with regular exercise, more and more muscle is added. And on the other hand, prolonged inactivity results in muscle loss.

I wonder if there may be a similar thing going on in our spiritual lives. Is it possible that the pain brought on by troubled times triggers a time of rebuilding for our inner person? Do you suppose our characters develop added strength from surviving difficulties just as our physical bodies pack on muscle mass due to stressful exercise?

Perhaps I should point out that some of the strongest people I’ve ever known are those who have faced the most challenges. But some of the weakest are the ones always protected from the very stresses that would develop character.

Is it any wonder that the Bible enjoins us to give thanks for all things? (Ephesians 5:20)

Trust God as you walk through the crisis of the day. You’ll find yourself better for having walked with Him through yet another valley.

Lovingly,

Pastor Rich Orrell

Ezekiel 48:35   NLT

"And from that day the name of the city will be ‘The Lord Is there".  

As followers of Christ we must have His Spirit within us.    If we do, others will sense The Spirit of the Lord  when in our presence.

Let it be said of us:  "We can tell that they've been with Jesus".  Let His love and presence shine through us, as we're often the only 'Jesus' the world may see.

Be His hand extended to a cold and lonely world, make those with whom you come into contact see Jesus in you.

Love ya,  Pastor Phil