April 18, 2021

Question?  Are there times when we should not obey the government?  We should never allow government to force us to disobey God.  We are instructed to “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers.  For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.  Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisted the ordinace of God:  and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.  For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil.  Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power?  do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:” (Romans 13:1-3).  Jesus and His apostles never disobeyed the government for personal reasons; when they disobeyed it was in order to follow their higher loyalty to God.  We who are believers, possess dual citizenship.  We are citizens of the United States of America, and importantly, we are citizens of the Kingdom of God.  It is the responsibility of every believer to do his/her best to make the state better.  We must learn that politics is not a dirty word.  As believers, we must elect Christian, or other higher principled leaders to public office.  That’s right dear ones, we must vote in every election.  Research the candidate and vote wisely.  Moreover, my brothers and sisters, you are salt and you are light.  If Christians make no effort to affect the world around them, they are of little value to God.  When authorities are unjust, good people are afraid.  Verse three refers to authorities who are doing their duty.  When these officials are just, people who are doing right have nothing to fear.  As the “Functioning Church”, we must “occupy until He comes”.

Pastor J. Amos Jones

April 11, 2021

An arrogant, self-absorbed, young man came to an old sage with an intriguing question.  You see, it was the intent of the young man to embarrass the old man who was known for his wisdom.  The young man came to the sage and said, “Old man, the bird I have in my hand, is it alive or is it dead?”  The young man had said to himself, “If the old sage says the bird is alive, I will immediately crush it, and it is a dead bird and if he says the bird is dead, I will open my hand and allow the bird to fly to freedom.”  The old sage answered with the wisdom that only comes from God, “Young man, the life of the bird is in your hand.  You control whether the bird is alive or if it is dead.”

Dear ones, if I may draw from that story, much of our lives are in our hands.  In Genesis 1:26, we are told that: “And God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness:  and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”  Our Heavenly Father has given us dominion, the right to rule and to reign with Him.  Let us understand that “We have been raised up together, and made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:” Be blessed as you walk in the awareness of almighty God.  

Pastor J. Amos Jones

April 4, 2021

He is alive!  This proclamation has thundered a message of hope across the centuries.  He is risen as He said He would! “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19).  He is faithful to His word.  In all things, Jesus can be trusted to keep His word.  He said He came that we might have life and that we might have life more abundantly.  For your life and for my life, Jesus has regard for its preservation, protection, perpetuity, provisions, punishment, and ultimately its perfection in glory.  Because He lives, we can have life in its fullest measure.

As the people of God, we have resurrection power.  We can (and should) experience His resurrection power in every facet of our lives.  That power will keep us and deliver us out of life’s difficult circumstances.  If it is a dying relationship, He is able to resurrect it.  Be it husband and wife, parents and children, neighbor and neighbor, most of all, man and his God.  Fractured relationships are not the will of our heavenly Father.  It does not matter how foreboding life’s experiences are, we have His resurrection power in us.  Let Him live in your relationships.  He is alive and we enjoy His protection.

I know what the Chronicle and Time Magazine has to say about terrorist and terrorism, the pandemic, but I choose to let the word come alive in my spirit.  “Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple” (Psalm 15:4).

Happy Resurrection Day!

Pastor J. Amos Jones

April 4, 2021

Join us for Sunrise Service Easter morning at 6:00 a.m.

March 28, 2021

Dear ones, we are now one year into the coronavirus and God has been faithful.  The following is a reprint of From the Pastor’s Desk for March 22, 2020.

“All we have to fear is fear itself” (Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32 President of the U.S.A).  How right President Roosevelt was then, and how true that statement is today.  For many, and that includes some believers, the fear of the coronavirus has literally petrified them and they are incapable of acting in a required or expected manner.  Fear has traumatized them.

How many times in scripture does the Lord Jesus tell His followers to “fear not”? Answer:  Enough for us to get the message.  “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind (wisdom)” (2 Timothy 1:7).  Paul mentions here three characteristics of the believer that will help us overcome our fear of the coronavirus or any other malady: Power, love, and a sound mind (wisdom).  These are available to us because the Holy Spirit resides in us.  Fear, my brothers and sisters, is a negative faith.  Fear says the worst is going to happen, while faith says God has everything under control.  Faith says: “For He will save you from the trap of the fowler, and from the deadly pestilence.  He will cover you and completely protect you with pinions and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and a wall (Psalm 91:3-4 AMP).  Fear questions God’s word and the God of the word.  “So faith comes from hearing [what is told], and what is heard comes by the [preaching of the] message concerning Christ (Romans 10:17 AMP).

Dear Ones, all we have to fear is fear itself.

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Again, how faithful is our God!

Pastor J. Amos Jones