Pastor's Blog

A Message that Changed the World

Pastor Steve Nash

The last Christmas I spent as a non Christian was what God used to bring me to Christ the very next month.  I was not a nice person, thinking only of myself and indulging in horrible sins that many involve themselves in when they are headed in the wrong direction.  I guess it could be said that I was miserable and had no hope at all for the future.

My marriage and two children (at that time) were not the priorities they should have been.  I was in the Air Force but in total rebellion against all authority.  My mind was polluted, my spirit was dead and my body was wasting away because of drugs and alcohol.  I didn’t care about anything good because I was a complete reprobate narcissist!  That Christmas was not a pleasant one for me or my family.  Making a fool of myself at holiday parties made me realize that I needed a different direction for my life before I lost everything that had any real purpose for living.

After the holidays my 1^st Sgt. had told me about John 3:16.  I had never heard that message from the Bible before because no one ever shared it with me.  For me to understand the meaning of this passage it was broken down in this way:

“For God…” – He told me that this is speaking of the God who made the universe; the only true God who was my Creator who had a special plan for my life.  This was a personal God who actually cared for me and promised to help and forgive me of all my sins.  I couldn’t imagine that such a God would be interested in someone like me.  I had cursed His name and spoke against Him for years.  I considered myself an atheist who believed that belief in a god of any kind was a foolish thing to do.  I continued to listen because I was without hope and without any reason for living.

“So loved the world…” – How could a holy God love a world as wicked as this corrupt globe?  Why would the only true God even care to intervene when we have given him little regard?  Even if God loved this planet, He wouldn’t love someone like me.  How could a righteous God love this world that was filled with wickedness, war, violence the hate I heard about on the evening news?  Of course, at that time I didn’t know what love was all about.  My love was all about “feelings” whether perverted of not.  Was that the love that the Sgt. was speaking of or was there a love that was higher and deeper that could be experienced by some?  Maybe some, but not a sinner such as me!

“That He gave His only begotten Son…” – The man told me that God didn’t just say that He loved the world – He proved it by sending His Son as a sacrifice for all our sins.  I had trouble with such a statement.  Why would He bother; why would He go to such extremes?  He told me that God would do such a thing for the man down the street who often abused his wife and children and dealt drugs that brought ruin to many families.  He explained that the greatest price had to be paid for the greatest sin we could possibly imagine.  The Sgt. went on to say that this was the “plan” for this corrupt world from the very beginning.

“That whoever believes in Him…” – He said the word “believe” was deeper, yet simpler than I might think.  He explained that it had to do with trust, reliance, faith and a total surrender of my will to a God who knows better than I.  Fortunately, I had made such a mess of my life; it wasn’t that difficult to allow someone else to manage things for awhile.  I was tired, defeated and depressed.  I wanted someone to help me and he told me that the only true God was that person!  He shared his testimony how God saved and changed his own life and family.  That all sounded good to me!

“Should not perish but have eternal life!” – He told me of the horrors of hell and the splendor of heaven.  He explained that there was a hell waiting for those who have disregarded God’s Gift all their life and it was far worse than the hell they experience in the here and now.  But then, I also heard him talk about a future existence; a heaven that sounded so beautiful, so wonderful!  He tried to explain that each were “eternal” even though I could not fully understand that concept.

That evening I made an appointment with God.  It was 10pm.  I was alone in my bedroom, having gone upstairs before my wife.  I prayed a simple prayer, for I didn’t know how to pray.  I sensed that a great burden or weight was lifted from me and went off to sleep with a peace I had never before known.  The next day I awoke and realized that my mind was not thinking the same way.  My desires had obviously changed and I wanted to tell someone else what had happened to me.  Three months later my wife also surrendered her life to Christ.  We and our family of now, 26 members, have the promise of heaven and a wonderful reason for existence!  That message from my 1^st Sgt. changed our lives and continues to change millions who embrace it by faith!  Today, Christmas has a wonderful meaning for all who have embraced John 3:16!

Pastor's Blog

Hope for Our Children  (part 2)

Pastor Steve Nash

What is it that brought millions of immigrants to our shores?  I’m sure there were many reasons,  but we can all agree that one predominant aspiration was that many mothers and fathers who found their way to Ellis Island came because they wanted new hope and a brighter future for their children.

My grave concern is that the very reason many came to these shores (our children) is about to be lost forever.  Let me explain it another way.  We’ve had great hope for our children’s economic prosperity.  That hope today is fading like a setting sun.  We are selfishly saddling them with a national debt (nearly 18T) they will never be able to bear.  We long to have our children enjoy a healthy spiritual and social life.  Those values we feel important for a healthy society are constantly under attack from many fronts and we are rapidly losing ground in that battle.

Did you know that 75% of our youth believe there is no such thing as “absolute truth” and that all truth is relative?  Did you know that 83% of our High School students have been sexually active?  Did you know that 40% of our 8^th graders have used illicit drugs?  Did you know that 78% of our inmates grew up in a single parent or no parent home?  We are told by the Psalmist that “children are a gift from God,” yet we have aborted 55 million since 1973.  If the child survives the mother’s womb, many of our young ones feel they are a burden to their parents, not a blessing from God. The main reason we are gradually increasing in our population is not because of the natural pro-creation of the American family but because of immigration, both legal and not.  Couples living together outside of marriage is a growing trend that keeps the divorce rate at about 55%.  We can agree that divorce or illegitimacy is not a healthy upbringing for any child.

Children are more afraid of the divorce of their parents than they are of the drug dealer or physical abuse.  Some researchers on the family feel that divorce is more damaging to a child’s heart than even sexual abuse.  I don’t know if I agree with that, but nevertheless, such findings reveal the seriousness of a broken home.  Divorce is a sin against the child but few parents seek the forgiveness of their children after the home has been broken apart.

Today’s child is forced to grow up too quickly.  By the influence of the media, peer pressure and lack of a healthy family environment, today’s child loses their innocence and becomes a product of society’s demoralization.  Suicide, addiction, self abuse and violence are too often the outcome for the children God has blessed us with!

We have a wonderful missionary outreach program called “Save the Children” that encourages us to sponsor a child in a developing country, but what about our own?  Do we spend the time, show interest in their lives and equip them with spiritual and moral safeguards that will enable them to survive the constant attacks on their mind, spirit and body?  What is invading or permeating the mind and heart of your child?  Too many parents provide the sports, dance lessons and other club involvements for their children but neglect the most important need – the spiritual.  These parents run their children all around during the week for these appointments but fail to bring them to church!   Doesn’t the Proverb exhort parents to “Train up a child in the way they should go?”

What can we do to raise our sons and daughters the way God would have us? First of all, have them!  Many parents don’t want the responsibility of any children so they choose not to have a child.  The root problem here is “fear” and “lack of responsibility.”  Secondly, teach them!  Do not leave that responsibility to other people or influences that may not embrace your belief system.  Thirdly, demonstrate to them that they are secure in their family life and you will always be there for them when they need your help and advice.  Lastly, learn from them.  Didn’t Jesus constantly use children as an object lesson to teach profound truths to the adult?  “For such is the kingdom of heaven!”

Our children need not be part of the sad statistics I quoted before.  Our children must be special and equipped to make a difference in their generation.  The other day I asked my 24 year old 6^th child if she believed she was part of the “terminal generation.”  She indicated that she was determined to be a beacon of hope to her generation and leave the time table of God’s coming to Him.   May God help us to raise sons and daughters as sharp arrows who are able to pierce the darkness and turn many of their generation to righteousness!”

Pastor's Blog

Racial and Religious Wars

Pastor Steve Nash

Ferguson to Fallujah, Houston to Haifa; war in every direction we turn.  Ferguson, Missouri is on the verge of an all out race riot. In Fallujah, Iraq, captured by ISIS, we have an evil army, slaughtering people of their own religion.  Houston pastors are attacked by their own mayor and Haifa and other cities of Israel once again exist under the highest threat level because of Palestinians terrorists.  Does it ever end?  I take no stock in the philosophies of John Lennon, but I do understand his longing to, “Give Peace a Chance.”

Have you ever stopped to analyze WHY certain groups of people seem to always be at war with other groups of people?  Racial wars erupt because of “who” we happen to be.  One person is back, the other white; another person is brown, the other another race and color.  The color and culture we happen to be born into is what we call the “unchangeables.”  Being born black or white or brown is a matter that no one on earth has control over; that is God’s design.  What have we often done?  We all gravitate to those of our own kind and fail to take interest and build relationships with those who are different than us. 

God is a god of variety.  Consider the difference in flowers, trees, landscapes, animals, insects and even snowflakes.  They are all different, yet each has it beauty and place in God’s garden.  I marvel when gazing at a mountainside of varied fall trees as they together display their own special colors during the peak of autumn.  That exhibit wouldn’t be nearing as beautiful if they were all the same color.  It appears that God enjoys gathering His bouquet of flowers for all to behold every October in many of our states and around the world.  Can we not learn from creation?

Then we have those who war because of “what” they are.  I happen to be Christian.  I have a friend who is a conservative Jew.  Can we not love one another?  A few years ago, I noticed sitting in a pew of a church I pastored, an Israeli sitting next to a Palestinian worshiping Jesus Christ in one accord.  On another occasion as I was preaching to an Indian congregation in Queens, NY, ten Pakistanis’ entered the sanctuary to take part in the worship service.  Jesus Christ is the only world religious leader I know of who insisted that we tear down the walls that separate us! 

As much as I want to, I cannot understand why Muslims seem not to want to strive together with another religious group in order to experience peace.  In fact, today, Muslims are killing each other in Iraq, Syria and other parts of the Middle East.  It appears that the Muslim extremist feels they have a corner on truth, faith, heaven, hell, etc.  A friend recently reminded me that the Muslim extremist is the “orthodox” believer who feels they are following the literal teachings of the Koran and other, more moderate Muslims are merely white-washed, compromising people of Islam who are the backslidden Muslims. 

The Apostle Paul reminds us that “we wrestle not against each other, but against powers of evil in high places.”  If I were the devil, I would instigate strife and then rejoice when people, who happen to be different, are at war with one another.  I would dispatch my demons to stir up strife all over the world so that I will be more able to divide and conquer.  Then I would make an appointment to visit the God of heaven and earth and laugh in His face because His creation is an absolute failure; you know, the one created in His own image!  Yes, that’s what I would do, and I would enjoy every minute of that encounter.  

We war with one another because of the fact that we happen to be different in color, culture, race and religion.  It is quite amazing when we stop to think about it.  Jesus prophesied, that in the last days this world will become so divided that it will fall apart at the seams and eventually end at the Battle of Armageddon.  It will take the re-appearing of our Great God and Savior to intervene in order to establish world peace.  He will utterly destroy any one or any thing that gets in His way!  I do not what to be on the wrong side of that confrontation!

Pastor's Blog

Did You Remember the Kids?

Pastor Steve Nash

The Lord has blessed my wife and me with seven children.  We had so many to look after when coming in and out of stores, homes, churches, etc., only to discover that we had made the horrifying mistake of forgetting one of the kids!  It is a frightening experience to pull in the driveway and discover you left a child at someone’s home or back at the church.

It is embarrassing to have someone from church pull into the driveway, with one of our kids we left behind.  They understood because it probably happened to them in the past.  I’m sure some of you have done the same.  We finally got into the habit of counting to seven and then continuing on to where ever we were going.

Our generation needs to be more alarmed about the heritage we are leaving behind for our children.  What are we handing down?  What kind of torch are we passing on?  Are the hopes for our children better than what we have received from our parents?  I don’t think so.  Consider the 18 Trillion dollar debt, the social and moral landscape, the geo-political position of their country or the spiritual condition of this nation.

Did you know that:

·        85% of our youth believe that there is no such thing as “absolute truth,” and that all is relative?

·        Did you know that 86% of our H.S. graduates have been sexually active?

·        Did you know that 44% of our 8^th graders have used illicit drugs?

·        Did you know that 80% of our inmates grew up in a single-parent or no-parent family?

According to Psalm 127, children are a gift from God and blessed is the couple that has many.   Do American couples consider Children as a gift from God?  Since post WWII, children have often been viewed as a burden, not a blessing.  They are sometimes considered a financial burden.   They are sometimes considered a hindrance to the aspirations of the working mother (1950’s 8% double income, 2010 80% double income).  Children are sometimes considered a disturbance to the “peace” of a couple.  Divorce has been a “plague” upon our nation more than any other disease.

More children are scared by divorce than by drugs, promiscuity and sexual or physical abuse.  Some researchers on the family feel that divorce is more damaging to a child’s heart than even sexual abuse.  Divorce is an assault, a transgression, a horrible sin against the children we say we love so much.  If that tragedy has visited your home there needs to be forgiveness and healing and the grace of God. 

Children are a “gift from God” and if they have survived the most dangerous place on earth (mother’s womb) there are so many more pitfalls along the road of young life.   More than 55 million children have been lost to abortion since 1973!  Today’s child is forced to grow up too quickly.  The child’s innocence and purity is being attacked by society’s demoralization.

Today’s child is forced to grow up too quickly.  What is invading and even permeating the mind of your child?    What are the assaults upon your child’s body?   Is your child growing spiritually?  Are they living out Prov. 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all…?!”  The local church can help provide the spiritual opportunities for your children, but it must be going on in the home as well.

What can we do to raise-up sons and daughters so that they might “increase in wisdom and stature and favor with God and others?”  Have them!   Teach them!   Show them!  Win them!  Lead them to Christ!  Pray for them as Job did for his children.  Direct them to a better life than most experience by gaining and retaining God’s favor over your family.

Our children need not become part of the sad statistics I quoted earlier. Our children can be different and make a difference as they grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.  May God help us to raise sons and daughters as arrows from the quiver who pierce the darkness and turn many to righteousness.  Let’s not leave them behind because we have simply forgotten them!