#jesuschrist Archives - Page 2 of 2

I Can’t Wait!

Posted on Aug 5, 2015 in Devotions, Looking forward | Tags: #10/40window, #beafollowerofchrist, #believers, #cominghome, #conservative, #declineofUS, #diedoncross, #Dr.MikeGoodyear, #drmikegoodyear, #extremists, #God, #GodhelptheUSA, #Godislove, #jesuschrist, #loveGodloveall, #loveoneanother, #MikeGoodyear, #moversandshakers, #pathwayfellowship, #prayer, #teachkidslove, #timeinabottle, #underthesamesky

Aug '15

A long, long, time ago, Alabama sang a song that ‘fit me to a tee’:

“I’m in a hurry to get things done

Oh I rush and rush until life’s no fun

All I really gotta do is live and die

But I’m in a hurry and don’t know why.

Don’t know why I have to drive so fast

My car has nothing to prove,

It’s not new But it’ll do 0 to 60 in 5.2

Can’t be late, I leave plenty of time

Shaking hands with the clock,

I can’t stop I’m on a roll

and I’m ready to rock

I hear a voice That say’s I’m running behind

I better pick up my pace, It’s a race

And there ain’t no room For someone in second place.”

I remember my mother laughing at me when I was 5 years old and just starting kindergarten (a traumatic life style change for me). My question was very simple. “How long do I have to keep going to school?” After falling apart in laughter, she gently broke the news to me that it would be, at the very least, another 12 years.

In my mind, the starter’s gun shot out, & my “race with time” had just begun.

I couldn’t wait to finish kindergarten.

I couldn’t wait to finish grade school and then high school.

I couldn’t wait to finish college. I stumbled out of the starter’s gate & it took me 5 years, but I finally did finish.

By then, I was a follower of Jesus and had my call to full time ministry.

I couldn’t wait to get married and have our own children.

I couldn’t wait to finish Seminary & come back home to California.

I couldn’t wait to get my first church in Kernville.

I couldn’t wait to become an associate up in Yuba City. But after 3 years,

I couldn’t wait to leave.

I couldn’t wait to finish my doctoral studies, but no one seemed to notice.

I couldn’t wait to grow a large church in Orangevale, but it all fell apart right before my very eyes. I wasn’t completely broken, but I was badly bent.

I couldn’t wait to get well, to get my mind right. It is still a battle at times.

I couldn’t wait to get on the “mission field”. After several short term trips, I couldn’t wait to get into the 10/40 window and reach those yet unreached.

I know what you must be thinking. “Now there is a “Type A” Driven man.”

And I have no defense for that accusation. As you can clearly see, I have been impatient for most of my life.

The good news is that God has a lot of patience.

2 Peter 3:8-9 ^NASB

8 But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.

9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

For people like me, that is incredible. He could have squashed me like a bug, years ago. But His love for me, my soul, my eternity, is so very important. He was (& is) waiting for me to accomplish the task that was assigned to me when I became a follower of Jesus.

For me, I just keep prodding and kicking, like a rice farmer in Myanmar, trying to get that beast of burden to move a little faster. Some might say that I am too persistent. There is a big difference between being impatient and being persistent. Impatient people like me worry so much. We are fearful that we might run out of time & thereby miss out on the opportunity. I can see it all now. They are closing the door to the plane that I should have been on. As I race to the terminal gate, I am too late. I missed my connection. And so I worry. Always thinking about what might have been.

Matthew 6:25-34 ^NASB

25 “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink;

nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

34 “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Life becomes so much sweeter when we allow God to do the leading and directing. He has His own timetable.

Tempus fugit – Pastor Mike

got Evil?

Posted on Jun 19, 2015 in Uncategorized | Tags: #10/40window, #evilisalive, #jesuschrist, #pathwayfellowship

The World’s Last best Hope June 15, 2015
After last week’s blog and Sunday’s sermon (Posted on our Website) many people were asking me for a list of books that they could read to educate themselves. Here is a list of what I have been reading.

E. Benjamin Andrews – 6 Vol. History of America – the best I’ve read
Mark David Ledbetter -America’s Forgotten History – excellent volume
Charles Murray – American Exceptionalism – Why we have been great
David Horowitz – The Black Book of the American Left – If you want to understand the progressive left, this is the author you want to read. He was raised and communist and a crucial cog in the radical 60’s but after the war ended and he saw what communism did to millions, he had “second thoughts” – and began to turn to the right. Today he is one of the best authorities on the progressive left, their many names and their goals.
Ravi Zacharius – The Real Faith of Atheism – One of the best apologists (defender of the faith) of our day.
Rodney Stark – A great historian – multiple books covers a lot of history.
Dinesh D’Souza- America, Imagine a world without her. A contemporary immigrant who sees clearly the
Jim Demint & J. David Woodard Why We Whisper- restoring our right to say it’s Wrong. – Addresses why so many are frightened to tell the truth.
Oswald Chambers Christian Disciplines
David Marshall The Truth behind the New Atheism
William J Bennet America The Last Best Hope
Peter Kreeft and Ronald K Tacelli Handbook of Christian Apologetics: Hundreds of Answers to Crucial Questions Kindle Edition
Norman L. Geisler The Big Book of Christian Apologetics got_evil_postcard-r7f841dc7d2ff47a1a0096fe26aceecda_vgbaq_8byvr_324
Norman L. Geisler Christian Apologetics

I know the list seems overwhelming, but just get started with one. Pick one that seems of interest to you. With the multi-volume books you might just choose ones that are related to the 20th century forward. This progressive socialism was evident in President Wilson a WWI isolationist forced into war.

With all of this bad news about the trouble America is in, many are people are asking “why all this evil”? “Why does God allow this to happen to us”?
If we are the world’s last best hope, then why would God let us fall?
The reason is very simple. You have to get your mind out of this world.
The World’s best hope has always been and will always be God the Creator.
In these terrible last days, He is our Last Best Hope.

God is not the author of Evil. (1 Corinthians 10:13) In fact evil is not something objective that you can collect and put in a can or jar. Evil is the absence of good. God is good.
Jesus told us the only God was good. To the degree that God and His Light is absent, then evil & it’s darkness claims the void. Did you ever wonder why God seemed so close in church, and then a bit more, maybe quite a bit more, distant out in the world. In worship, where we are exalting God,
His heavenly creatures are with us, joining in that exaltation. There is little room for a void, unless you are suppressing God’s presence. To the degree that you do that, the less you will receive from God out of worship.

The question naturally arises “Why did God allow temptation to be there in the first place?” First of all, God tempts no one. (James 1:13,14) But He does allow us to undergo testing. That is why the one tree – the tree of the “knowledge of good and evil” was created in the garden. God wanted us to choose obedience & in that obedience we would have found the difference between good and evil. But in choosing dis-obedience, we discovered the difference from the side of darkness, defeat & death. So we hid from God. We’ve been running from Him ever since. But like the Good Shepherd that He is, He has been chasing us down ever since, to bring us back to Himself.

When God created us, He wanted us to be a much higher level, and so He gave us great intelligence and the ability to choose between right and wrong. In the Garden they chose poorly, and as a result sin came into the world and God would no longer be fully present. As a result of our actions, we created a void, as it were, and Satan took advantage of that filling the void with sin ad darkness. The more the world went into darkness, the worse life became. Immorality and crime increased. It is only a matter of time until God says, “Enough! I’ve had Enough!” And then destruction follows. Read history and you will see it is true.

Just as cold is the absence of heat and darkness is the absence of light, so evil is the absence of good. Knowing this, there are many believers who want to go into the heart of the darkness in order to shine the Light of God.
It might cost them everything, but they cannot ignore the call of God in their lives to let His Light shine in those terrible places, whether it is in an American Ghetto or a Mid-Eastern place torn apart by the forces of evil.

Eventually God’s Light will overcome all the darkness of this world, when He comes back to establish His Kingdom. The key to His return is to finish the great task He has given us. When the Gospel is preached over the entire world, and everyone hears about the love of God (whether they accept it or not) He will come back to us. Come quickly Lord (Maranatha) was the call of the early church. May it become our passion today.
Coram Deo, Pastor Mike

It is good to be home from South Korea

Posted on May 27, 2015 in Looking forward | Tags: #10/40window, #believers, #cominghome, #communistcountries, #God, #jesuschrist, #josephkim, #Matthew24:14, #MikeGoodyear, #muslimcountries, #pathway, #prayer, #southkorea, #underthesamesky

Somehow, coming home always feels so good and right, no matter where I have been or whatever I have experienced. My experience in South Korea was incredible. I saw some beautiful sights and had wonderful experiences. But nothing could compare with the inspiration of meeting Believers from all over the 10/40 Window.

The 10/40 Window is a rectangle on the globe from the 10^th to the 40^th Northern Latitudes from China to West Africa. It is here that 2 Billion of the worlds unreached peoples live. They have never heard the Good News of Jesus Christ and New Life that He brings to those who place their faith in Him. These are mostly Muslim Countries, Communist Countries or Buddhist

Countries, with a smattering of Hindu’s here and there.

In most of these countries it is either illegal to be a Christian or it is persecuted regardless of any “freedom of religion” statement made by the government. As a result, these leaders find themselves in the delicate situation of expressing and sharing their faith where the cost may be severe. It may even cost their freedom, torture, or their very lives.

It is because of this cross that they bear that makes their faith so powerful and real. Prayer is often not a luxury, but a necessity for survival.

Their understanding of Jesus two great commands;

To Love others has He loved them &
To spread the Gospel into all the regions of their country demonstrates their tremendous love for God and His Glory.

It was a humbling experience to be in their presence. Some 3,000 people gathered to share, pray and inspire one another. Just to be in their midst was a great honor.

In order to get a sense of what some of them go through let me recommend a book to you. Joseph Kim is the author of Under the Same Sky: From Starvation in North Korea to Salvation in America (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). His story of being stripped of the love of his family and left as a child begging in the streets of North Korea is eye opening. Then he tells of the miracles that God did in his life (even before he knew about God) miracles that eventually led him through China, South Korea and eventually into the United States where he was to meet His Savior, our Lord Jesus.

More than anything, my time in Korea was a confirmation of my hearts’ desire. I truly believe that God is opening doors for us in the 10/40 window where we will be able to join these saints in fulfilling the great commission, completing the task that Jesus has given to us at Pathway. Once that task is completed, then the door will be open for the return of Christ, the resurrection of the saints and the ushering in of His great Kingdom. May 2015

Marantha, Pastor Mike,

Matthew 24:14.

I Can’t Wait!

got Evil?

It is good to be home from South Korea

Stay Connected