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Monday, November 26, 2007
POSTED ON NOV 22, 2007 "THANKSGIVING DAY"
Happy Thanksgiving Day! Today we are celebrating Thanksgiving with either our Friends or Family or both! This is a day that
we look back and consider all that God has done for us and try to find something to praise Him about. I am living out of my
savings and feel like Habakkuk who said that there the fig tree will not blossom, neither shall a fruit be in the vines; the
labour of the olive shall fail, the fields will yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be
no herd in the stalls, YET I WILL REJOICE IN THE GOD OF MY SALVATION! Even when we have nothing God tells us to rejoice.
Even when it looks like all is lost and you have no hope then rejoice. Even when you are running out of money and do not know
where that next meal is coming from then you are to rejoice. God's provision is not based on your ability. God's provision
is not based on your job or your talent. God's provision is not based on you. You are not the provider of your needs. So is there
food on the table and people around it, do you have clothes on your back and a roof over your head. Then you are among the
richest 1% in the world. Today is a day that you can remember to stop focusing on your failures and shortcomings and focus
on His grace. Focus on what is right in your life not the miseries that you have. IF you focus on what is wrong in your life
then you will only see the problems that you have; but if you focus on who your Saviour is and that He provided for all your
needs then your problems will diminish. Oral Roberts once asked How big is your Jesus? He saw a 700 foot Jesus! IF your problem
is 500 ft high then it is not as big or strong as that Jesus. How big does your Jesus need to be! The Bible
says ALL the PROMISES of GOD are YES! The promises in the NT are not based on you keeping the law but on Jesus keeping it
for you. The law was kept for you so now God sees you as the righteousness of Jesus and not with your own fleshly servitude
that you think gives righteousness. JESUS MADE YOU PLEASING TO GOD FOREVER! Jesus did not keep the law because He needed to
be Holy; for He was holy before he even came to earth. Jesus kept the law because you needed Him to. Jesus did the impossible
so that you could have the impossible done in your life. What was impossible is not anymore!
Jesus made the impossible possible in your life. Jesus removed the barriers and opened up fellowship with God, enabling you
to receive all things from God, not as a wage earned, but as a gift from a friend with no strings attached. Jesus made it
possible for God to be your friend; so because God is on your side then you have assurance of all things. This is what you
should be thankful for regardless of your present financial, health, or living situation. Be thankful for who you are
in Jesus! A friend of mine said that when God becomes all you need then He will give you what you want. The issue is
not what you need but on who Jesus is to you. The focus needs to be on relationship not reward. When you focus on the relationship
then you will have what you need; but when you focus on your needs then you will lose site of the relationship. Don't
be so involved with God's business that you lose sight of His friendship, instead be so involved in making God your friend
that HE cannot help but involving you in His business. As one of my songs says, it is not my commitment
to Him but His commitment to me, its not based on what I do but on what He did for me. IT is all about Him! Rejoice in Him
this Thanksgiving and may He be the unseen special guest who gives your day meaning!
Sunday, November 18, 2007
November 15,2007
I do hear the calling from the nations. I do believe that God does things in His time and HE is
the one who orchestrates all things in our lives. The steps of a righteous man are ordered by the Lord. I believe that God
has a plan for Word of Grace Fellowship and a plan for each of us. It was not put together on the spur of the moment because
HE had to hurry to finish other things on the to do list that He had for that day. It is a detailed plan that is so glorious
that the devil or us cannot mess it up. IT is foolproof! I believe that things happen at a certain time for a reason. God
is a God of order! God does not do things without a reason. God will lead us and right now we know the following is true 1)
God put with us partners to help carry the load and to help share in the vision 2) God brought in people from other countries
to help us expand this vision 3) God has accounted for all the variables and nothing will happen that He does not know about
4) God never makes a mistake for HE knows what HE is doing! Therefore,
in light of all these things I say this for the record on the internet that Lord I will trust you no matter what to
provide the needs of this church and my personal needs. I will praise you when it seems that things are going wrong and give
thanksgiving no matter what my flesh seems to tell me. I will rejoice in you because of Jesus Christ for He has given me grace
and I will praise you. I ask that you say this about your life and about this church as well. Praise God because
of Jesus Christ. Stand together with us so that we as one body can go into the world and share His grace. Jesus Christ is the head of the body and all who are in Him are in His body. Right now I am the
head of the church body called Word of Grace Fellowship so it is my responsibility to speak words of encouragement and to
speak what God gives to me to perfect this local body. I do not go in my name or in my ministry but in the name of Word
of Grace Fellowship. When I go to other nations then I go as a representative not only of God but also of this body. When
you go to speak to others you go not only as a representative of God but also as the hands and feet of this body. We are one
body and a head which was cut off from its body causes both the body and the head to die. The head needs a body and the body
needs a head for neither can exist without the other. We need each other. This body is growing and God will bring more into
this body. He will bring More ministers who will help us minister in foreign areas and I also believe more who will help us
minister to our local area. We need to grow both ways: Vertical and Lateral growth. When you make a cross then
you have a + which as 1 line going down that represents your relationship with God and 1 line that is on the left and one
line that is on the right . These 2 lines represent your growth locally and abroad, near and far. We minister not only to
the ones next door or at the supermarket but also to the ones who read our site in Africa or India, or the Philippines.
Praise God daily not only for what you see but also for what you do not see.
Praise God and mix your God given faith with it so it will produce a great result. This body is unique for God has a group
that knows that the law is removed and that they are freed by grace so they can live without focusing on their failure. Do
we? Only you can answer that, but this is what we have been taught since our inception. Carry on the vision that God gave
our Founder and 1st Pastor John Hogan to those that you meet when you are out and about or surfing the web. Help us by pointing
people to Jesus and to Word of Grace. Give thanks for Jesus Christ and for his servants. Rejoice in Christ Jesus and have
no confidence in the flesh. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so! Be anxious for nothing but in everything give thanks for
this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. I pray
that as you read the other messages on this site which are updated weekly that you will be blessed by them. Go and check out
the page about the founder and be blessed anew by His sayings and the Scriptures listed there. Let God arise in you so that
your enemies will be scattered. God is for you so rejoice in Him as you prepare for this Thanksgiving season. Go in peace
and grace and may the joy of the Lord be your strength! Pastor Don Carson Word of Grace Fellowship
Monday, November 12, 2007
Dear Friends,
I was thinking the other day about the word legacy. What is our legacy? I looked up the word legacy and it means to
be a founder of , or to generate something. John founded this church and generated the knowledge of God's grace in our
lives by his words and deeds. What did John leave for us? He left things to his family and that was part of their inheritance
but that is not our legacy. A legacy is not given with material things but it is given to your heart. John gave you a legacy
of grace. This ministry is his legacy. We have a page about Pastor John that reminds us of this legacy, for this
ministry comes out of what He gave to us. Every time I preach on grace I am preaching to you what I learned from John,
and what he instilled in me is part of his legacy to me. The legacy is the foundation
that we will build on. Jesus showed John some beautiful truths about grace and that is what we build on- what Jesus gave John. Paul
left a legacy to his spiritual sons, Timothy and Titus. I am a spiritual son of John Hogan in the faith, are you? Legacies
remind us of what God did in someone else. The preaching of the gospel reminds us of what God through Jesus accomplished
in us. The legacy of John Hogan reminds us of what God has accomplished in us by John
To be entrusted with a legacy is not to honor yourself but to honor the one who gave it to you. When I tell you that what I
teach is part of the legacy of Pastor John Hogan then I am honoring John. I am asking you to honor John with me. He put
this legacy into many of you, so when you participate with this work you are not just helping us but honoring what God did
in you through Pastor John. He founded this work. He generated the knowledge of grace in our lives. He taught us something
that we never heard before that revolutionized our life, for it changed the way we saw God. It opened a door we did not know
existed. Help us to continue sharing the legacy of Pastor John. When you share a legacy it comes from Father
to son(s) and then it goes from sons to everyone else. A legacy can die if the people entrusted with it keep it to themselves
and do not share it. Jesus shared his legacy with 12 disciples and we still are taking part in that eternal legacy. Paul shared
it with 2 sons and we still remember that legacy. How many children did Pastor John share his legacy with that will remember
it and help it continue, will it be 2 or will all his sons and daughters help to remember that legacy and cause it to continue.
I am one of his Spiritual sons and Natalie is one of his spiritual daughters, will these be the only spiritual children of
John to continue his work or will you also join us? (If you are receiving this and did not know our Founder Pastor John Hogan,
then let us share with you this legacy.) You can help us by 1) becoming a
partner 2) praying for us 3) contacting us and letting us know what God is doing for you and sharing with us your needs 4)
Remind yourself and us of what you learned from Pastor John 5) if you cannot partner then send one time gifts from time to
time to help us continue the work that God started in you with Pastor John. The blessing from his work goes on for the
church he founded is still here.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Dear Friends, I want to discuss
today All Saints Day. It is a little known Holiday outside of Christian circles and has never received much press. Halloween
means Holy Eve. Halloween has developed into something that is celebrated by many here in America so kids can get candy. Everyone
celebrates Halloween even Christians yet many do not remember its origins. Halloween has origins with the druids who were
scary people. They would come and tell you if you do not do this then we will do xyz and to you. The pumpkin would then be
set outside the home to ward off evil spirits. This originated in the Middle Ages when people were so afraid of evil spirits
that they saw them everywhere they looked and they were used to explain anything that was wrong in a believer's life.
Celebrate that you are a saint of the Most High God. Celebrate your union with Jesus! Celebrate who you are in Him. Don't
celebrate your enemy! Celebrate the captain of your salvation and walk praising Him regardless of whether you see any works
in your life. Celebrate that God lives in you and will never leave or forsake you. We as saints should celebrate God and not
celebrate the devil and his minions. We do not have to speak against sin or the devil's works, we just have to speak for
God. When Jesus would preach he would tell them of His Father. HE would talk of God and His
perspective and yet his followers spend their time focusing on the failings of flesh. Jesus cast out the devil and it did
not matter who the devil was using. He told his disciple Peter get thee Behind me Satan, for you do not have in mind the things
of God. We are told today that if someone goes to church then they must be of God so obviously God is always working through
them. The devil and God can both use sinners and righteous people. God used a donkey to speak, made an axe float and used
a dead man to raise someone from the dead. God does not limit himself to using only Christians. Just because God uses you
does not mean you are born again. So if you are born again and God lives in you then you are special and you should celebrate
that, not only on Nov 1 but every day of the year. You celebrate All Saints Day by blessing
someone else. You celebrate your union with God by giving God out to others. The more you Give the more you will receive.
The more you give God out the more you will receive Him. That simply means the more that you give out (minister) healing,
deliverance, finances, love, training, etc. the more you will receive back from God. Giving to God is not limited to finances
but we have taught it as such. Give out what God gave to you and HE will return it to you. Bless others because you are a
saint and that blessing will return to you. Give to others and you will grow. We do not go to church because of what we need
we go because of what others need.You go to church to bless others, and one of the ones that are blessed by your going is
God. You give to God praise, and He gives His presence to you. Celebrate your sainthood.
You are not a saint because you were voted on to become a saint by a process. You were made a saint because of who lives in
you. Once you are born again you are a saint of the Most High; your sainthood is not lost because of your misdeeds, because
your sainthood was not given to you by your deeds. When you celebrate that you are a saint then you celebrate that belong
to God and God belongs to you. You and God are one- so celebrate the oneness you have with Him. If you
have not seen yourself as a saint then change your mind and see yourself as a saint. If you have a prayer request then write
us at info@wordofgracefellowship.com and we will be glad to pray with you. If you live in the NJ area then come visit us at our Sunday Morning Service
so we can bless you. ( if you will go to our direction page then you can get directions from wherever you are, the address
for the Y is already programmed in) Our services are at 11 Am at the Springfield YMCA. We look forward to hearing from you!
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