Jesus Christ, Better Life

 

Praise the Lord everybody! This is Minister Novice. The message that our Apostle, Bishop Nate Holcomb preached this week is entitled, "Jesus Christ, Better Life." We were taught in reference to the pulpit ministry of Jesus Christ and how that every message that comes from the pulpit should always end with Jesus. We must realize that whatever the devil brings, Jesus always comes and does better. The purpose of the pulpit is to pull us out of the pits of our lives and to inspire us to step out to fulfill our purposes in life. Additionally, the purpose of the preacher in the pulpit is to stand up and bring the book. He or she is to open the book of the law, the Bible and find the place where it is written of Him. It is written in the book of Nehemiah 8:4-6, "And Ezra, the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood which they had made for the purpose…….And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, and when he opened it all the people stood up. And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. And all the people answered Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands. They bowed their heads and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

In whatever situation that you may encounter in life, always remember to get God's prospective from the pulpit. The pulpit is where humanity meets divinity, where man meets God, and it is where the super comes in contact with the natural in our lives. We are admonished in 2 Chronicles 20:20 to "Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe His prophets, so shall ye prosper." Hermeneutically speaking, when you Amen God, God Amens you; and when you Amen His preacher, the preacher pushes you to step out and do better, to live better, to have better, and to be better. In all things, bear in mind these words, "The Lord is my helper. I will not fear." And please remember to remain in the place of grace. Remain in the place by Jesus.

Jesus Christ in Charge

Praise the Lord everybody! This is Minister Novice. The message that our Apostle, bishop Holcomb preached this week is entitled, "Jesus Christ in Charge." The question becomes, is He in charge of our lives? The scripture reference is found in Colossians 1:12-19. Verse 18 says that in all things He has the pre eminence. When we say that Jesus is Lord, we are saying that He has the pre eminence. He is in charge of our lives. Therefore Jesus is our Master who rules us, our Owner who owns us and He is our Lord who directs and controls us. We have been bought with a price; by the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

Bishop Holcomb also taught us that living an effective life for the Kingdom is living like Jesus is in charge. We must be a Triple A church, being triple A people. We must have an appreciation for the Word of God which entails being pleased with hearing god's Word preached, speaking what we hear, speaking the same thing(homologeo) that there would no divisions among us; and having a devotion as we daily open the Bible and read God's Word. We must have affection towards the House of God. I was glad when they said unto me; come let us go into the House of the Lord. We must have an aspiration for suffering persecution for the cause of God. Always recognize that Jesus is not to be on our priority lists. He has the pre eminence and therefore He's on a page all by Himself.

Your Help Comes From the Lord!

 

This week I am compelled to encourage your hearts to continue to trust in, lean on, rely on and have confidence in God at all times; remembering that He is the same God in the night as He is in the light. In this world, we will experience tribulations, which are three times the trouble, but be of cheer because Jesus has overcome the world. The rains will descend, the floods will come and the winds will beat upon all of our houses; but it's the house that's built upon the rock and the revelation of who Jesus is that will stand. I'm also reminded of a song that goes like this…….I've had some bad days. I've had some hills to climb. I've had some weary days and I've had some lonely nights. These are all evil tidings, a lot of bad news. But the songwriter didn't leave us there. He came back and gave us the good news. He said, but when I look around and I think things over, all of my good days outweigh my bad days, so I won't complain. I'll say thank you Lord and I won't complain. My prayer is that the Lord will perfect everything that concerns you today and that you will stand perfect and complete in all the will of God for your lives. Remember that the joy of the Lord is your strength. The joy of the Lord is an inner contentment that's independent of external circumstances. It produces in us strength and fortitude which is a conquering attitude. That inner contentment is an uncompromising acceptance of one's lot as we realize that God is still God in the good times and in the times if inquiry. We must come to a place where we can travel through our passages of pain with peace because we do not pursue God's prosperity, but we seek His presence and His person. God bless you and realize that when we close our hands, God opens His. Whatever you situation may be today, yes God can. Yes God will. But if not, He's still God. Don't give up. Don't give in. But keep looking up to see that your help comes from the Lord. Please remember to remain in the place of grace. Remain in the place by Jesus.

A Fresh Dedication to Prayer

 

Praise the Lord everybody! This is Minister Novice. The message that our Apostle, Bishop Holcomb preached this week is entitled, "A Fresh Dedication to Prayer." He taught us that an effective Christian is one who communicates with God. The Bible tells us that the earnest, heartfelt, continued prayer of the righteous makes tremendous power available, dynamic it's working. However, a Christian who does not pray is in consequence dead, nuted, impotent, void, and powerless. If we are to be effective in prayer, we must learn God's way of communicating. We must discover what the Word of the Lord says and rehearse God's heart back to Him in prayer. It is not beneficial for us to go before the Father simply speaking what is on our minds. This is called straight line praying, praying amiss, or using vain repetitions; in essence hitting and missing. Here is my prayer for you all. Heavenly Father, I take with me words, Your Word and I turn to You in prayer. I pray that You will perfect that which concerns Your people. I always labor fervently in prayer that we may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God for our lives. I thank You that You watch over Your Word to perform it; and I put You in remembrance and plead together with You. I do believe that You will contend with those that contend with us and that You will save, heal, deliver, preserve, and make whole and complete. May the God of peace Himself, sanctify you wholly and may your spirit, soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. For Him, we live, we move and we have our being. In Jesus' name, Amen and amen. Please remember to remain in the place of grace. Remain in the place by Jesus.

Who is He to You, Your Holy Man of God?

 

Praise the Lord everybody. This is Minister Novice. In our church, The Christian House of Prayer, we are having a month long celebration to our Holy Man of God, our Apostle, Bishop Nathaniel Holcomb, for 30 years of successful ministry. This week Pastor Valerie preached the Word and the title of the message was, "Who is He to You, Your Holy Man of God?" The scripture reference was 2Kings 4: 8, 9. The account says that Elisha was passing through Shunem and the Shunemite woman said unto her husband, "I perceive that this is a holy man of God which passes by us continually." The story goes on to tell how that they honored and made provisions in their hearts, their lives and in their home for the man of God and how that they were blessed because of it. My personal testimony is that 16 years ago, I came to the Christian House of Prayer and when I heard Bishop Holcomb preach, I remember seeing a man that I had never seen before. I saw Jesus as He was being re-presented with character and integrity. I realized that Bishop Holcomb was a Holy Man of God and that he was the voice of God for my life. Over the years, he has continued to bring me my faith as he passes by continually with the Word of God. We realize that we should give honor to whom honor is due and beyond a shadow of any doubt, my husband and I love our Man of God. We honor him with our faithfulness, service and our gifts of love. We say, "Long live our Apostle, Bishop Nate Holcomb"!

You Must Be Born Again

 

This week we reverenced ad celebrated the Resurrection of our Risen Lord and Savior, our soon coming King, Jesus Christ. Apostle Holcomb came in the power of the Spirit of God. The Spirit of the Lord is upon our Apostle. He has been anointed to preach the Gospel, which He did on Sunday. The title of the message is "You Must Be Born Again." The subtitle is "Jesus Can change Your Sin Nature." The scripture reference is John 3:1-7, when Nicodemus, a religious man came inquiring of the Lord. Jesus answered, ultimately declaring that, "You must be born again"! Bishop Holcomb taught us that we are all born morally innocent, but with a sin nature. In essence, we were all born wrong because of the Fall of Man, yet Jesus can and will change our sin nature. We all need Jesus! That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Remember that there is a God-shaped vacuum, emptiness, a void in all of us that only God can fill. Nothing can satisfy the longing soul except for the presence of the true and the living God. You must be born anew and born from above. You must be born again! Please remember to remain in the place of grace, remaining in the place by Jesus.

 

 

Resurrection Sunday: Jesus Christ, our risen Lord and soon coming King!

Praise the Lord, everybody. This is Minister Novice. We have embarked upon the time of the year when we reverence the death, burial and resurrection of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. During this season, there is a drawing anointing pulls and compels people toward the Savior.

When I was growing up, I can remember preparing for Easter with a brand new dress, a new purse, new shoes and an Easter Bonnet. Unable to verbalize it at the time, somehow we knew that this was a time that we had to go to church. Little did I realize, but I was actually responding to the Savior and with the clothing, preparing to meet the King.

I encourage everyone to go to church on Sunday, even if you haven't been in a while. It is actually not about the clothing, what you have or don't have. But it's all about responding to a loving, caring and sharing Heavenly Father who sacrificed His only begotten Son on our behalf. Go to your local church in celebration and in reverence to our risen Lord, Jesus Christ, our soon coming King!