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Choose One of the Following:
A) Born once, die twice
B) Born twice, die once

1-6-09

by Tad Lindley

Every one of us was born from our mother’s womb. We had no choice in the matter. And at least some of us will die. If the Lord delays his coming long enough, all of us will die once. Doctors can prolong human life in some cases, but except for the coming of the Lord, death will come and we will breathe our last breath. People have given everything they own to shamans, medicine men, and doctors in order to stave off death, but in the end they exhaled and returned to dust.
Death
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment (Hebrews 9:27). From the Garden of Eden until now, only two people are recorded to have evaded death: Enoch and Elijah. Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. (Genesis 5:24) In other words, Enoch walked so closely with God, that when his life was winding up, the Lord simply took him. He did not cross the threshold of death. When Elijah had reached the end of his time he and Elisha were walking, and it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. (2 Kings 2:11)
Not even Moses escaped death. David’s tomb remains to this day. Death is an inescapable fact of life. Every airplane that takes flight must eventually touch down again, and every baby that comes into this world must one day leave it.
The second death
From the beginning until now, the dead have been buried in the ground, swallowed up by the sea, and burned in funeral pyres. The exit of the soul from the body marks what we call death. This is really just the first death. There will be a second death for many.
Daniel prophesied concerning the dead: and many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. (Daniel 12:2) When the wicked dead awake to shame and everlasting contempt, they will taste of the second death. First of all, death and hell will be cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:14). Then the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death (Revelation 21:8). The second death is an eternal death from which there is no escape.
Escaping the second death
The Bible tells of those who will not taste of the second death. He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death (Revelation 2:11). Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years (Revelation 20:6). By this we know that just as there are many that will die twice, there are also many who will only die once. They will rise up victorious with Jesus and say, O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? (I Corinthians 15:55)
Born twice, die once
Jesus told Nicodemus this powerful truth: You must be born again (John 3:7). According to Jesus here is why we must be born again: Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God (John 3:3). Unless we are born again, we cannot see the kingdom of God. You will see in your Bible that Jesus went on to be even more specific about this second birth: Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God (John 3:5). Not only do we have to be born a second time, but that second birth involves being born of water and of the Spirit.
This second birth or new birth is available to all people. The Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (II Peter 3:9). He does not want anybody to experience the second death. If you are not born again, which according to Jesus means being born of water and of the Spirit, then you are on a path to dying twice. The time is now to repent of your sins and experience the mercy and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ through baptism in his name and the gift of the Holy Ghost. Be born again in 2010!
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Contains less than 2% of the
following ingredients: faith

12-9-09

by Tad Lindley

What do you think is the greatest miracle in the Bible? When we contemplate the mighty things that we read about in the Bible, many things come into our mind. There is Noah who gave up at least 100 years of his life to build the ark, and Moses who confronted the mighty Pharaoh of Egypt with nothing but a stick in his hand and God at his back. We might recall Jonah who preached so effectively that an entire city was brought to repentance. There was Elijah who prayed and fire came down from heaven. Peter grabbed the hand of a crippled man and he got up and walked. Four friends lowered a paralyzed man through the roof of a house and Jesus healed him. I could go on for several years of this column just listing miracles.
One thing in common
All of these miracles involved faith mixed with the word of God. Faith is essential. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Hebrews 11:6) Of course you knew that faith was essential, but how much faith do we need?
Let us dissect a famous miracle and see how much faith it actually took. In Exodus 14, the Israelites were about to be destroyed by the Egyptian army. The Lord told Moses, “…lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.”(Exodus 14:16) Moses followed directions, and the miracle came to pass. When the Egyptians followed, the waters closed over them and they drowned.
It wasn’t really about Moses
We might think, that Moses had prayed long enough that God granted him this miracle, or that he had gone so long without eating meat, that God decided to give him a miracle. Wrong. All that Moses did was show up, mix his faith with the word of God, and see the miracle. Moses faith consisted of raising up his walking stick and raising his hand over the water, that’s it (you or I could have done it). As with any miracle, the human being has very little to do with it. Miracles are about Jesus not about us. Without the man, the miracle wouldn’t have happened, but all that the man did was mix in a very tiny amount of faith, and the Lord did the rest. If Moses had gone back to his tent to suck his thumb, the miracle would not have taken place, but instead, he believed the word of God, and mixed his faith with it.
Less than 2%
Have you ever read the ingredients on food labels? The ingredients are listed in order from most to least. Sugar and salt are often at the front of the list. At the end of the list there is often a phrase that read, “Contains less than 2% of the following ingredients”. If there was a list of ingredients on miracles, this is where faith would fall: less than 2%. If you think I am wrong, you are trusting in humanity and not in God.
Do you have enough faith?
…faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. (Romans 10:17 NIV) If you have heard the word of God, then you have held faith. If you allow that faith to mix with the word of God, then you are moving in the right direction. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. (Hebrews 4:2) That’s good, but how much faith is enough to see the power of God?
Do you believe Genesis chapter 1? Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. (Hebrews 11:3) If we believe that God created the heavens and the earth, and everything that follows, then we have enough faith to get started with the Lord. Jesus said unto them, “… If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you”. (Matthew 17:20) Jesus is always the main ingredient to a miracle, but when a human being meets Jesus with less than 2% faith nothing can stop him.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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A Prayer for the President:
Psalm 109:8?

12-3-09

by Tad Lindley

There is a bumper sticker out there somewhere that urges people to pray for President Obama, citing Psalm 109:8. In the version of the Bible I most often read it is translated as follows: Let his days be few; and let another take his office.
I suppose that those very same words were prayed over President Bush and over President Clinton before him. No president is perfect. True, President Obama has clearly taken glaringly anti-Biblical stances on abortion and marriage. But then neither was President Bush following the Bible in the way he dealt with Saddam Hussein. Hebrews 12:14 teaches us to Follow peace with all men...We could go all the way back to George Washington if space permitted and find faults in the lives of each one. No man is perfect.
You’ve got to love the president
Regardless of whether or not we like President Obama, or any former president for that matter, we have to love them. If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother. (I John 4:20-21 NIV) You may disagree with them, but to hate them is to break God’s commandment.
Are you still a Christian now?
Many Christians supported President Bush. His positions on abortion (see Psalms 22:10, 71:6, 127:3, 139:13, Isaiah 44:2) and homosexuality (Romans 1:24-32) and gun control (see I Samuel 13:19-22) were in agreement with scripture. When Barrack Obama was elected President, I was curious to see how those Christians who had been outspoken supporters of George W. Bush would handle a president who did not see eye to eye with them. After all, one of the signs of a false Christian leader is that they will despise government and will not be afraid to speak evil of dignitaries (I Peter 2:10).
Honoring without agreeing
A true lover of God will be graceful in disagreement. Jesus calls for us to honor our nation’s leaders. He does not call for us to agree with them, but to honor them. Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king [or president], as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king [or president]. (1 Peter 2:13-17 NIV)
Let us say that the president were to do something totally outrageous that would be against what you believe, like trying to use money from your income taxes to pay for abortions (a disproportionate percentage of which would be executed against African American and Latino babies). It is our Christian responsibility to take a stand against that; however, it does not give us a license to dishonor our president in any way. We are not to make jokes or speak evilly of him.
How do you honor someone you disagree with?
First of all, we pray. As part of a peaceful and godly life, the Bible teaches that we need to pray for our leaders. I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone-- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. (I Timothy 2:1-2 NIV) Your prayer might be, “Lord Jesus, turn the president’s heart toward truth. Send him godly counsel. Help him to find prayer time and Bible study time. Let your word govern the decisions that he must make today. Help me as a Christian to stand behind my president and honor him for the position that he holds”.
Secondly, you treat them as you did before you disagreed with them: with the same kindness and courtesy that you would treat a president that was in perfect agreement with you. In doing so, you will be honoring the one who is above the rulers of this world, Jesus Christ.
Regardless of where you stand on any president’s decisions and policies, he needs your prayer and your loving support. Pray for your president today.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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The Miraculous Genetics of the Messiah

11-21-09

by Tad Lindley

But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman... (Galatians 4:4)
On my dad’s side I inherited a receding hairline, my last name, and my chin. On my mother’s side I get my eye color, my mitochondrial DNA, and my crooked pinkies.
About two thousand ten years ago a baby was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a stone feeding trough in a cave in Bethlehem. This baby had a mother and a father also. We don’t know the day the birth happened. There is even debate about what year he was born. In fact there is a 99.7% chance that it took place on some day other than December 25th, and it probably took place B.C. In spite of what we are not sure of, there are some very certain facts about Jesus Christ.
This infant was like no other before or after. Mary’s later children would be conceived naturally, but Jesus was conceived supernaturally. He was born of a virgin. She became pregnant when the Holy Ghost overshadowed her. So the child that she bore is called the Son of God.
On His Father’s side
We also know that Jesus was not a lesser God, a junior God, nor one-third of God. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. (Colossians 2:9) II Corinthians 5:19 tells us that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. We know also from I Timothy that there is no controversy about the mystery of who Jesus was: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.(3:16)
On His mother’s side
Jesus was the Son of Man. He possessed in his body all the human frailty that you and I do. He was born, was the eldest son to Mary and stepson to Joseph, lived as a man, and died in about 29 AD at the age of 33 years.
He was fully God and fully man
On his mother’s side, After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. (Matthew 4:2) On his Father’s side, he would feed 5,000 people from five loaves and two fish and there would be twelve baskets full of leftovers. (Matthew 14:13-21)
On his mother’s side, Jesus would weep at the death of his close friend Lazarus. (John 11:35) On his Father’s side, Jesus would stand out side the tomb of his decomposing friend and cry with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth”. (John 11:43)
On his mother’s side, Jesus would know grief. On his Father’s side, he would become “the resurrection and the life”. (John 11:25)
On his mother’s side, Jesus would be tempted. (Matthew 4) In fact, would be in all ways tempted, just as we are. (Hebrews 4:15) On his Father’s side, would overcame temptation and remain sinless.
On his mother’s side, Jesus would be the only begotten son of the Father. (John 3:16) On his Father’s side, he would be the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. (Revelation 13:8)
On his mother’s side, he would be seriously injured to the point of death on the cross.
On his Father’s side, he would heal the sick, and open deaf ears, blind eyes, and dumb tongues.
On his mother’s side he would give up the ghost as he hung on a wooden cross. (John 19:30) On his Father’s side, he is the Holy Ghost. (Acts 3:20)
On his mother’s side he was perceived as the lowly illegitimate son of Joseph the carpenter. (John 8:41) On his Father’s side it is written, Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)
There has never been another like Jesus. One of the most beautiful passages of scripture describes the events surrounding the placing of almighty God in human flesh. It is found in John 1:14: And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. On his mother’s side, fully man. On his Father’s side, fully God. It is the miraculous genetics of Jesus.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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I Didn’t Recognize You
with Your Clothes On

11-11-09

by Tad Lindley

I was fairly new in the village. Almost everyone knew who I was; as a tall skinny white guy with hair half way down my back, it was hard to confuse me with anybody else in town. I was still trying to figure out who everybody was. At city league night, the court looked to me like a sea of guys with black hair and brown skin, all about six inches shorter than me. The opposing teams figured this. They would call my name, and I would throw them the ball. Eventually I learned my teammate’s faces and I quit turning the ball over.
Did you ever say something without thinking about what you were going to say? I narrowly missed one of the most embarrassing moments of my life one afternoon in Johnny Paul’s store. I was in the aisles and a voice called out to me from another aisle, “Hey, Tad”. I had heard the voice in the steambath many times, and I had seen the face across the fog in the dimly lit porch of the qasgiq, but here he was bundled up in winter clothes in an unfamiliar situation. I couldn’t recall his name.
I started to say, “I didn’t recognize you with your clothes on”. The mercy of God must have been with me, because as the words were about to come forth from my mouth the Lord flashed a vision of the lady at the register and all the other customers turning and staring at me and the store getting so quiet you could hear a rat licking ice. Some other greeting came out of my mouth instead and I narrowly escaped an extremely awkward situation.
God’s clothes
The Jews knew that God was coming to his people. And the Bible tells us that he did come, but they did not recognize him with clothes on. He appeared as a man traveling with two angels disguised as men at the tents of Abraham (Genesis 18). He spoke to Moses out of a burning bush (Exodus 3). At Mount Sinai Moses saw the backside of God from the cleft in the rock (Exodus 33:23) God appeared to the Israelites in the wilderness as a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by day (Deuteronomy 1:33). At the same time, he was the rock that followed them in the desert (I Corinthians 10:4). When Job saw him, he was a whirlwind (Job 38:1). When the shepherds came he was a baby in a feed trough (Luke 2:16). When the magi came, he was a young boy in a house (Matthew 2:11). All of these people recognized God for who he was.
When Jesus came into his ministry though, many people did not recognize him for who he was: the great God of heaven and earth clothed in human flesh. He came unto his own, but his own received him not (John 1:11). The scribes, Pharisees, and elders, looked at him and only saw a poor man, the illegitimate child of a carpenter from a backward part of Israel. Before them stood the promise of the Old Testament prophets robed in human flesh, but the blindness of their tradition and the hardness of their hearts prevented them from seeing him.
More than a carpenter
Inside of the human form which we know as Jesus Christ, was the mighty God. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not (John 1:10). As a human being, he was begotten by God (John 3:16), and sent by the Father (John 5:30). But Jesus was more than a human being. All of God was in him. This is why the Bible tells us that the fullness of the Godhead dwelleth in him bodily (Colossians 2:9). God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself (II Corinthians 5:19). Jesus is not one-third of God, he is the express image of his [God’s] person (Hebrews 1:3). Colossians describes Jesus as the image of the invisible God (1:15).
Knowing Jesus
If we want to know Jesus, we must realize that he is much more than a man, he is, and claimed to be, God. In the verbal shootout in John 8, Jesus told the Pharisees if you had known me, you should have known my Father also (v. 19). He told Philip, he that has seen me has seen the Father (John 14:9). When Jesus told the people I and Father are one (John 10:30), the Jews picked up stones to kill him. When he asked them why they were going to kill him, they said, …for blasphemy, and because you, being a man, make yourself God (John 10:33). They completely missed God, because they did not recognize him with his clothes on.
Will he recognize you with your clothes on?
Just as the invisible God was robed in Christ, so we too can put on Christ. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ (Galatians 3:27). In fact, unless we are found dressed and serving him, we cannot be saved. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watches and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame (Revelation 16:15).
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Are You a Murderer?

11-4-09

by Tad Lindley

The king had committed adultery with one of his top soldier’s wife. Now she was pregnant. The soldier, Uriah, would not fall for the king’s plan to cover up the adultery. So the king sent the soldier back to battle with a sealed envelope for the general. In it he wrote, “Put Uriah in the front line where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.” (II Samuel 11:15 NIV)
Uriah
Uriah was a threat to hell. He was a man with an allegiance to God that transcended the desires of his flesh. Although he was not one of God’s chosen people, he was willing to go hungry, thirsty, and lonely, and even to die for the cause of the Lord. He laid down his very life for a temple that, because of his race, he would never have been allowed to enter. Uriah was one of David’s thirty best soldiers.
The downfall of David
David had been a great man of God, but he had grown complacent in his walk with God until he became backslidden in his heart. As David played the peeping Tom, he had no idea that his sin would lead him down a path that ended in the murder of an innocent man.
The Murder of Uriah
Uriah was in the thickest of the fighting, and upon the command of General Joab, the men who stood around him retreated, leaving Uriah to fight his last battle alone. As the fiery darts of the enemy overwhelmed him, Uriah exhaled his last breath and collapsed. Had his fellow soldiers not been ordered to withdraw, Uriah would likely have survived and continued to fight the good fight. In fact, he may have lived to see the temple that Solomon built in Jerusalem.
Our battle
We are soldiers in a battle. The fight is not against other people, it is a spiritual war. Hell is battling for our souls, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:12) The ultimate victory for hell comes when a person dies lost, destined to burn forever. The goal of Jesus is that one day we will cross into eternity able to say, I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. (II Timothy 4:7)
The good soldier
The good soldier knows that there is strength in numbers. The Bible says that one will put a thousand to flight, and two will put ten thousand to flight (Deuteronomy 32:30). Hell knows it too. Now if the church was full of perfect people, we could steamroll right over hell. Unfortunately the Church is made of people like you and me.
In a real battle, the good soldier stands by his fellow soldier. If a man is wounded, others seek to help him and get him to safety. It should be the same in the army of God. Often times it plays out very differently. Somebody stumbles: they go out and get drunk, or they say something that hurts our feelings. If we understood the spiritual battle, we would rush to their aid, and support them with love. What do we do instead? We withdraw our love from them. We get angry. We withhold our friendship. We become like the soldiers that pulled back leaving Uriah to fight alone.
Are you a murderer?
Did you know that if you give your wife or your husband the silent treatment, the same spirit that caused David to murder Uriah is in you? Look at what Jesus said: Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: but I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment…(Matthew 5:21-22) When you get angry with another, you are withholding love and forgiveness, you are a murderer. Instead of helping your spouse, you are abandoning them to fight hell alone. Yes, they hurt your feelings, but didn’t you hurt the Lord’s feelings so much more when you were living a sinful life, and he died for you anyway. The cross completely erases our right to nurse a grudge against somebody.
The perfect soldier
Uriah was one of the greatest soldiers that ever lived. Even as the men around him pulled back, he fought to the last drop of his own blood. Yet there is a more perfect soldier. When the man that would betray Jesus stepped into the Garden of Gethsemane as our Lord was praying, it would have been the most natural feeling in the world for Jesus to hate his betrayer. Most of us if we were in the same situation would turn from Judas. Jesus knew all that Judas was betraying him into, and in the last moment that he would ever see Judas in this life, Jesus loved his disciple all the way to the end. His final words to Judas? Friend, why have you come? (Matthew 26:50)
Christian soldier, our call to duty is to love others regardless of their skin color, their nationality, their lifestyle, their attitudes, or their appearance. To do anything less, is to be a murderer.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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There’s Not Enough
Violence on Television

10-28-09

by Tad Lindley

Warning: The following article contains graphic depictions of violence that may not be suitable for those wishing to remain discouraged.
And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. (Matthew 11:12)
I can hardly claim to be an expert on the subject of television. Even in our modern nation, there are many who choose not to have TV in their home because of the violence on it. The fact of the matter is that if TV had the right kind of violence on it, we would be a different nation today. Unfortunately, there are certain violent acts that Hollywood is scared to show the people.
The Bible says that the kingdom of heaven permits violence, and the violent take it by force. That’s a strange verse of scripture. By itself it would make us wonder if we shouldn’t back up our preaching with gunpowder and lead.
More powerful then a pistol packing preacher
Then we read in II Corinthians what kind of violence the Lord is referring to. He isn’t suggesting that we fly planes into buildings, or blow up buses full of innocent people. That’s man’s answer. But the Lord tells us, “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds” (10:4).
The weapons of our warfare, the instruments of violence that the saints of God use in the Bible, are mighty. King Jehoshaphat’s people were about to be overrun by three hostile nations (II Chronicles 20). Then King J’phat decided to get violent with them: “They think they’re big just because they have better weapons and better transportation? We’ll see about that”. No, he didn’t go down to the armory and start handing out Uzis; the king went to God and declared a nationwide fast. POW!!! Ammonites take that! Our weapons are mighty. I’ll never understand why President Bush didn’t call on our nation to fast before he ordered the attack on Iraq. Fasting is one of the most powerful weapons known to the kingdom of God.
Then the people got even more violent. They formed a riotous mob at the temple in Jerusalem and began to pray. BAM!!! Take that, Moabites! The Lord came through with a powerful message to the people. He moved on the prophet Jahaziel who declared the word of the Lord: “The battle is mine; you all just show up and look pretty.”
Spiritual warfare
The dangerous thing about violence is that it escalates. In this case it got way, way out of hand. Not only were the people of Judah fasting, but they were praying, and then things really snowballed. When they marched out to confront the enemy, they sent the choir out front of the soldiers. And the choir was praising God. They were thanking the Lord before the battle was ever joined. BIF!!! Silly Meunites, you can’t touch God’s people!
As they un-holstered their praises, and launched their worship, and rattled away with shouting to the King of Kings, the Lord set ambushments against the enemy, and when the Israelites came upon the enemy, they were already dead!
We need more violence on TV
That’s the kind of violence there’s not enough of on television. In fact there’s not enough of that kind of violence in our classrooms or our communities. I might be interested in television if the hero was popping off praises to the Lord instead of 9mm rounds. I might not be so against it if they actually showed people solving their problems with the right kind of violence.
If you find that you are up against a battle that is bigger than you are, may I recommend getting spiritually violent? Addictions, ungodly lifestyles, bitterness, anger, depression, hurt, and loneliness can all be overcome by the weapons of our warfare: prayer, fasting, and praise. Notice as you go back and read II Chronicles 20 for yourself, the Jewish people were shouting, praising, and worshipping before they ever had the victory. If you are struggling, may I suggest that it’s time for us to turn off our TVs and really get violent. In Jesus’ name.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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What Exactly Do You
Mean By “Born Again”?

10-22-09

by Tad Lindley

Don’t read any farther until you have answered the above question in your own mind.
If we were to poll a cross section of America we would get a wide variety of answers. Some would say, “It happens when you have had a powerful touch from God and you cried.” Still others, “I was born again when I stepped forward and shook the pastor’s hand in front of the church.” Some perhaps, “When I graduated from Sunday school I was born again.” Others, “When I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal savior.” Let’s go all the way back in time and see what the Bible says.
Jesus first to say, “Born again”
In or about the year 27 AD, a new phrase was coined: born again. It was after sunset. A religious leader named Nicodemus had come in the darkness to meet with Jesus. Nicodemus was hungry for the truth. He started the conversation, but Jesus quickly changed it to this strange new topic. ... “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” (John 3:3 NIV) Most Americans are familiar with the term “born again”. After all, it has been around almost two thousand years.
This evening in the late 20’s AD was the first recorded instance of the term ever being used. If Jesus had spoken it to you or me we would have understood roughly what he was getting at. Nicodemus had never heard the term before, however, and he was baffled by it. “How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!” (John 3:4 NIV)
Jesus’ definition of “born again”
In the next verse, Jesus is going to explain what He means by the term “born again”: Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. (John 3:5 NIV) Jesus defined being born again for Nicodemus. It means being born of the water, and the spirit. Jesus also went on to say that being born of the water and the spirit is absolutely essential to enter the Kingdom of God.
How can we be born of the water? The Bible tells us this: Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved... (Mark 16:16 NIV). And in I Peter 3:21, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also... (NIV)
How can we be born of the spirit? ...He [Jesus] will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. (Matthew 3:11 NIV) In Acts 1:8, Jesus told the disciples, You shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you. Acts 2:4 records the fulfillment of this promise: All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (NIV)
The way they were born again in the Bible
The Bible records that the original church taught and preached this new birth experience. The very first sermon ever preached was by the Apostle Peter in Acts 2. He addresses being born again like this: ...Repent, and be baptized [born of the water] everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sin, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost [born of the spirit].
In Samaria, …they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus [born of the water]. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Ghost [born of the spirit]. (Acts 8:16-17)
The Gentiles at Cornelius’ house in Acts 10: While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them [born of the spirit] which heard the word. And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord [born of the water]. (vv. 44 & 48)
Followers of John the Baptist at Ephesus: On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus [born of water]. 6When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them [born of the spirit], and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. (Acts 19:5-6 NIV)
If you have not been born of the water and born of the spirit as in the Bible, I urge you not to wait. The peace and joy that come from obeying the word of God is unsurpassed by anything in this world. These are the words of Jesus Christ to Nicodemus: You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ John 3:7.
Tad Lindley is a minister in the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Nobody Calls Me
for Steam Bath Anymore

10-15-09

by Tad Lindley

I saw smoke coming from the stovepipe on my friend’s qasgiq, so I waited until I thought it might be ready and dropped in unannounced. You see, nobody calls me for steam bath anymore. There have been too many times when I was busy with something and had to say, “No”. Other times I had said, “Yes”, and then something came up and I didn’t make it. It has literally been over a year since anybody in Bethel has invited me over for a steam.
I’m not trying to get you to feel sorry for me. I know exactly what’s happened because my steam bath guest list has gotten pretty short too. Long ago I made a rule for myself, a “three strikes and you’re out policy. If a guy said, “No”, three times I would cross him off my list and never invite him again.
Jesus has a guest list
Jesus has a guest list, and he’s a lot more patient than Brother Lindley’s. He’ll call again and again, and if you say “No” he’ll keep calling, hoping some day you’ll say, “Yes”. The lord…is long suffering to us-ward not willing that any should perish, but all should come to repentance. (II Peter 3:9) I wish I could tell you that God’s patience will last forever. True, his mercy endures forever, but his patience comes to an end. God waited patiently in the days of Noah but eventually he said, “My spirit shall not always strive with man”. (Genesis 6:3)
God’s final call
Eventually the Lord quit calling on the people in the days of Noah. All the fountains of the great deep were broken up and the windows of heaven were opened. (Genesis 7:11) God had made his final call. Only eight people said, “Yes”. They were saved by the ark. Every other living person on earth at that time said, “No”, and their names were crossed off the list forever.
Sometimes we trust too much in the patience of the lord. When he calls we say, “No”, telling ourselves he’ll call us again. But for every one of us there will be a final call; it might be in a sermon at church, it might come when somebody talks to us about Jesus, or we might feel the gentle tugging of the Lord in a quiet place. We tend to think that we’ll have many other chances. We quiet the voice of God and smoke another bowl, or pop another can of Budweiser, or go back to our bed of adultery, not realizing that it was the last time that Jesus would ever try to reach us. Death comes unexpectedly and our name is forever crossed off the guest list.
Left behind
Jesus likened the day in which we live to the time of Noah: As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. (Matthew 24:37-41 NIV)
Some of us will die before the Lord returns, and if we have not said, “Yes” to Jesus at that point, it will be too late. But perhaps many more of us will be alive when he returns. Jesus describes a situation where two people are together working and one is taken to be with Him, and the other is left. The one that is left will be the one who has imagined that they had many years left, and that they could keep making excuses. The ones taken will be enjoying the wedding supper of the lamb (Revelation 19:7-10). Those left behind (with the exception of the Jewish people [see Zechariah 13-14]) will have missed their final call: their name will be forever blotted off of the Lord’s guest list. Even if they seek repentance they will not find it, in fact, they will curse God.
Say, “Yes”, to Jesus
If you are dodging the bullet, telling yourself, “I will get right with God next year”, then you are living on the precipice of hell. There may be no next year for you, friend, this very newspaper column you are reading might be your last call: answer it.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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God’s Economic
Stimulus Package

10-6-09

by Tad Lindley

We live in a day when the economy is on the edge of collapse. The government has borrowed hundreds of billions of dollars against our future, believing that the way out of financial chaos is to get more money. I hope that it works, and new jobs are created and we rise up again to be an economic powerhouse, but I cannot help but notice that President Obama’s economic stimulus package is very different than God’s economic stimulus package.
Give not take
No single verse of scripture sums up Jesus’ economic stimulus better than Luke 6:38: Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give unto your bosom. For with the same measure that you use to measure with, it shall be measured back to you. In other words, Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. (II Corinthians 9:6 NIV)
No apologies
You might think, “Brother Lindley, it’s shameless for you to be teaching on money with dividends coming out this week”. Actually, I am trying to help you out by selling you on God’s economic stimulus package. You see, according to Jesus, there are two things that are directly connected to your heart. The first is your mouth. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh (Matthew 12:24). The second is your money. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (Matthew 6:21). Perhaps it is for this reason that Jesus often talked about financial issues.
Economic disaster nothing new
A little over 400 years before Christ, Israel found itself in economic crisis. The people had turned their hearts away from God. When their hearts turned from God, so did their wallets, bringing to pass the second half of the proverb, The world of the generous gets larger and larger, the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller (Proverbs 11:24 Message). The world of the Israelites was shrinking; they had stepped out from under the blessings of God.
In the midst of their meltdown, the Lord gave them an economic stimulus package. “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit,” says the Lord Almighty. “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty. (Malachi 3:10-12 NIV)
The Lord’s plan doesn’t make sense
We are conditioned to think, “I’m barely getting by now on 100%, if I tithe (10%) and give offerings on top of that, I’ll go bankrupt on the little that I have left. I don’t need to give money to the Lord’s work; I need the Lord to give me money in my work.” Israel felt the same way, which is why the Lord gave them this guarantee: If you will test out my economic stimulus package, you will find out that not only will I bless you, but it will be more than you can hold: good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over. It doesn’t make sense, but it works.
How to tithe
Tithe literally means tenth. Proverbs 3:9 teaches us to honor the Lord with thy substance and with the firstfruits of thy increase. It is the first tenth. If your paycheck is $2,375.00 before taxes are taken out, move the decimal one place to the left and you have a tenth: $237.50. On the PFD the tithe is $130.50.The tithe amount goes to the church where you fellowship and are spiritually fed. Offerings are any money that you give above and beyond the first tenth.
This is God’s economic stimulus package, and it works. It works so well that you will live better on 85% or 90% than you ever could by keeping it all for yourself. In the words of the psalmist, I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed [children] begging bread (Psalm 37:25).
Tad Lindley is a minister in the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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The Bible and Your Vote

9-30-09

by Tad Lindley

Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. (Proverbs 20:1) Perhaps no other sin drives home the point that the wages of sin is death quite like drunkenness does. It destroys marriages, careers, hope, dreams, and even life itself. Oddly enough, alcohol on its own is not a sin.
Alcohol is not a sin, but drunkenness is
In the Bible, people drank wine. Jesus drank wine as was the custom. He turned water into wine at Cana in Galilee (John 2:1-10). While certain people in the Bible were forbidden to drink alcohol (Numbers 6:4, Proverbs 31:4, Jeremiah 35:5), the vast majority did.
Unfortunately alcohol has the tendency to make certain people feel very in control when they drink it. This good feeling leads to more and more drinks. The outward effect is drunkenness. The inward effect is isolation from God.
Many scriptures warn against drunkenness. Perhaps none more chilling than I Corinthians 6:9-10 which tells us that drunkards will not inherit the kingdom of God.
The social drinker
Maybe you drink, but never to drunkenness. Perhaps you are a person who can have one drink, and when you start to feel as if any more will make you begin to lose control of yourself, you stop. Thank the Lord. You have an ability that many of us do not have. You are not the ones that put a heavy burden on the police department. It is not your children going berserk in their classroom taking precious time away from other students. You are not the ones overwhelming OCS. You are not the one that is bootlegging alcohol to support an addiction. You are not the one that is making sport of sexual assault. You are not the one that is destined for an early grave. And yet you are asked to pay more for your alcohol, surrender some privacy, and limit the amount of alcohol you can have in your home.
The Christian’s responsibility is to vote…
Many of us who serve the Lord, myself included, do not drink alcohol, because of past addiction. What about the Christian who can drink responsibly? The Bible teaches us this important principle: It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall. (Romans 14:21 NIV) Brothers, mothers, apas, sons, and daughters are falling because of alcohol. In our region, drunkenness is so common that nearly all crimes committed in Bethel are alcohol related. We have all attended the funerals of young men and women who would not have died had they not been drunken. If you can control your alcohol, thank the Lord, but realize that many cannot.
As Christians, then the Bible calls for us to lay aside our right to do what we want if it would cause a weaker person to stumble. If you vote “Yes” on Proposition 1, you are voting for more alcohol, more stumbling, more failure, and more death. God’s call to us is to make personal sacrifice when to do so will strengthen another individual. Alcohol may not be a heaven or hell issue for you, but to those who cannot stop at one drink, it is a heaven or hell issue. Please prayerfully consider them, and vote “No” on Proposition 1.
A message to village readers
Proposition 1 calls for no limitation of alcohol importation into Bethel. In addition bootlegging would no longer be a felony, it would be a misdemeanor. Sales of alcohol to a minor will also drop to a misdemeanor. A “Yes” vote on Proposition 1 means more bootleg alcohol at a much lower price and at a much lower risk to the bootlegger.
You will not be able to vote at the ballot box, but you can vote with your prayers. Please be in prayer for Bethel leading up to the October 6th election. Pray that voter’s hearts would be in line with God’s word and that Bethel would send a strong “No” vote.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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The Right Addiction

9-22-09

by Tad Lindley

You know the house of Stephanas…that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints. (I Corinthians 16:15)
Webster’s New World Dictionary defines “to addict” as “to give oneself up to some strong habit”. When we hear the word addiction, often we picture the broken soul at Wal-Mart with meth mouth bumming dollars from passersby to get another hit. Or perhaps we think of the heroin user with tracks up and down their arms, or the person wandering the streets of Bethel with Listerine oozing from their pores. Those are only the most extreme cases of addiction.
More common forms of addiction
Certainly those individuals have given themselves up to a strong habit, but what about the gambler, the liar, the weekend warrior whose children live in fear of Friday and Saturday nights, the husband who views internet pornography after his family is in bed, the respectable couple who tucks the kids in early and then gets the bong out, the one who gives themselves up to violent outbursts of temper, the gossiper, or the chronic self-pity partier? All of these conditions I have described fit the dictionary definition of addiction; they are strong habits that people give themselves up to. Not only can these things become strong habits, but they are sin.
Who do you say you are?
If you find yourself constantly talking or thinking about something, it might be a strong habit you have given yourself up to. If you knew that people were following you around watching you, would you change your habits? Is there something in your life that causes you to become cranky when you can’t get it? When you are with your friends, what do you talk about? What are you really excited about in life? The answers to these questions might give you insights into who you really are.
Am I excited about Jesus?
Am I as excited about Jesus as the 4:20 crew is about marijuana? A friend used to carry a business card that made the following suggestion:
If you aren’t excited about being a Christian, then maybe you aren’t.
The majority of us in this region would classify ourselves as either Christian, Jewish, or agnostic. If you are a Christian or a Jewish reader, I want you to stop reading and ask yourself this question out loud: “Who do men say that I am?”
Who do men say that you are?
Jesus asked his disciples the same question. Whom do men say that I the Son of Man am? (Matthew 16:13) By his daily observation of Jesus’ actions and conversation, Peter correctly identified Jesus as the Messiah. But let us ask that question of ourselves. Who do people say we are? What if we had strangers follow us for several days (not Sunday or Wednesday)? They would listen to everything that we said, and observe most of what we did. Then at the end of those days, they were asked to classify us as Christian/Jewish or as agnostic. How would people classify you based on your words and your actions?
But what about “God looks on the heart”
True, the Bible does tell us, for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart (I Samuel 1:7). Jesus builds on that in Matthew 12:34, for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. Our heart will tell on us through our mouth. This is why Monday morning you may have heard the alcoholics at your work place talking about parties over the weekend. That is where their heart is.
When our heart is set on Godly things, it will be apparent to people who hear us talk. We will talk about the Lord. We will talk about his word. We will lift him up in praise. If we are Christian in our heart, it will be apparent to people, because we will love the unlovable (Luke 6:32), and be servants to all (Matthew 23:11).
Our life will let them know
If we are diligent about serving God, our life will show it. Not license plates or window stickers, not just Sunday mornings, but our day to day life. And perhaps, after we have run our course, we might receive the honor given Stephanas and his household: …that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints (I Corinthians 16:15). Their lifestyle told the world that they were unreservedly, unashamedly addicted to Jesus.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, Alaska.

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When Drugs Don’t Listen

9-16-09

by Tad Lindley

The old joke goes, “I said no to drugs, but they didn’t listen.” It was a response to Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” campaign. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the government trying to keep young people from getting addicted to drugs, but if you have ever been addicted to drugs or alcohol, you know that it takes more than just saying, “No”. Addictions are hard of hearing.
We need something far greater than “Just Say No”. If the government really wants something effective, how about a “Just Repent of Your Sins, Get Baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ, Receive the Holy Ghost, and Say No” campaign. I know it wouldn’t fit well on T-shirts, bumper stickers, or buttons, and it might be hard to remember, but it works. Not only does it work for staying off drugs and alcohol, but it will keep you out of the bingo hall and the card games as well. It will keep you from adultery and promiscuous living. It will bring hope and healing to the desperate, it will set you free from the pain of the past. There is nothing like it.
Just Say No in the Bible
James wrote to the church these famous words: resist the devil and he will flee from you (James 4:7). It sounds a lot like “Just Say No”. In fact that is what it is. When we tell somebody to resist the devil, we are telling them to say, “No”, to sin. If that is all we are doing, we won’t make it.
The part the Nancy Reagan left out
If you read the Bible verse it tells us to do much more than simply resist the devil. I think the reason we like to skip the front part of it is that it is too hard to do. Here is the verse in its entirety: Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7) Saying, “No”, is easy, the problem is it doesn’t work unless we first submit ourselves to God.
Unfortunately most of us have trouble submitting ourselves to God. Drugs know this. Hell knows it. The Lord described it like this when he was trying to help Cain: If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it. (Genesis 4:7 NIV) Sin is crouching outside of every man’s door wanting to have us. The way to master it is to do what is right, which is to submit ourselves to God. It is only with his help that we can live free from drugs or whatever sin it is that we may be struggling with.
Jesus explained it like this
Jesus used this analogy: When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.” (Matthew 12:43-45 NIV)
It is not enough to get the alcohol and drugs out of our life. We must fill up the void left behind. This is why people can stay sober for periods of time and then wind up drunk with no warning: they got the sin out, but their “house” was unoccupied with the things of God. Ask any drug addict or alcoholic who has cleaned up their “house” and been sober for a period of time. When the drugs and alcohol come back, they come on like a storm, and it is always worse than it ever was before.
Letting the right spirit occupy the house
When we have said, “No” to sin, if we want victory, we must surrender to Jesus. Speaking of the Holy Ghost that would soon fill the disciples, Jesus said, “But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.” (John 14:17 NIV) When the emptiness inside is filled with the Spirit of Jesus, then we have the power to say no to drugs, dishonesty, gambling, gossip, greed, and every other sin that we are tempted with. If you are fed up with the sin in your life, now is the time to turn to Jesus. He was speaking of folks just like you and me who had tried saying “No” to sin and found that sin didn’t listen when he said, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) (John 7:37-39) Say, “Yes”, to Jesus, and then you can say, “No”, to drugs.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Jesus was Buff

9-10-09

by Tad Lindley

I am so sick of seeing these limp-wristed pantywaist Jesus paintings and drawings. Jesus was buff. Instead, a lot of artists have presented an effeminate Jesus. Far from the rough, tanned hands of a carpenter, they portray a Jesus who looks as if he has been hanging around a dark house giving his slender fingers a manicure. Instead of a traditional Jewish dreadlock (where only the hair above the sideburn is long and uncut), they offer us a Jesus who looks like he came out of the dope house, long hair hanging at shameful lengths (see I Corinthians 11:14).
It is time for artists and movie makers to face the fact: Jesus could work many twenty-first century men into the ground.
Evidence from the missing years
Mary and Joseph found Jesus visiting the rabbis in the temple when he was twelve years old. From that time until he began his public ministry at about the age of 30, scripture is silent. Some refer to this time as “the missing years”. We can infer several things about this period of time. One of them is this: Jesus would have trained as a carpenter in his step-father’s carpentry shop. Mark 6:3 tells us that Jesus was a carpenter. This was before sawmills and lumber yards. Carpenters could not simply go own to the lumber yard and buy 2 X 4’s. Everything they used had to be either hewn or sawn by hand. His physical strength must have been tremendous compared with the men of today.
You try fasting for forty days
The gospel accounts of the life of Jesus Christ reveal a man who was a powerhouse. Jesus’ comes onto the scene at one of John the Baptist’s revival meetings. There he is baptized to fulfill all righteousness. When he comes out of the water he heads into the wilderness. There he goes on a forty day fast (Matthew 4). At the end of forty days of fasting (this was not Pharisee style fasting during the day and eating at night, he did not eat anything for forty days), Jesus took the devil face on and won.
And you thought you were a nukalpiaq
Jesus brought home the brisket. We can get excited when we bring in a boatload of fish or birds. What man among us doesn’t feel a tinge of pride when he pulls into town or the village with a sled load of meat? Try feeding 4,000 people with your own hands. Jesus did it (Matthew 15:32-39). In Matthew 14, he broke bread with his hands until 5,000 people had eaten (13-21). These are not the hands of a sissy.
Jesus broke up the Jerusalem stock exchange
Jews traveling from far away to sacrifice at the temple were permitted to bring money to Jerusalem and purchase an animal for sacrifice instead of trying to bring a lamb or a dove all that distance. Businessmen found that there was much money to be made in selling livestock to be sacrificed. Often they sold imperfect animals for sacrifice. This was an abomination to God. They had even begun to set up a market in the temple. On at least one occasion Jesus went into the temple and turned over the tables and threw the money changers out (Matthew 21, Mark 11, John 2). John adds the details that he poured out their money and used a whip to drive them. This is not the work of a slump shouldered man with muscles atrophied from surfing the internet. Jesus was buff.
Beaten beyond recognition
When Jesus was arrested he was beaten. The prophet Isaiah described the scene before it ever happened: I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting (50:6). The spit of men ran down Jesus’ face, and mingled with his blood where they had torn out the hair of his beard. Their fists rained down upon him. The whip of the Roman soldier tore through Jesus’ rib and back muscles. The blood would have flowed freely down his body onto the ground. By modern standards we would say, “He was beaten beyond recognition.” An average man would have gone into shock and died simply from these preliminaries to Calvary. And yet Jesus in his exceptional physical strength was able to walk up the hill of Golgotha (there is no place in the Bible where he stumbled or fell), permit them to drive spikes through his hands and feet, and then live through six hours of the cruelest torture. Throughout his ordeal he never once struck back or spoke out in anger, instead as he gasped for air on the cross of Calvary he prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). Perhaps buff is too weak of a word for Jesus. He was the strongest man that ever lived.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Study Finds
Love Has 20/20 Vision

9-1-09

by Tad Lindley

William Shakespeare wrote, “Love is blind”. Since then it has often been quoted until it is known a widely recognized non-biblical proverb. The fact of the matter is that love is not blind. Love has 20/20 vision. It is lust that is blind.
If you study the Bible you will find that love does not gloss over the truth: love sees things as they are. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. (I Corinthians 13:4-8 NIV)
Read it again carefully. You will see that love sees things exactly as they are. It is not blind. Love choose to go on whatever the reality might be.
Love is not a feeling
Where we get mixed up is that we think that love is a feeling. Love is not a feeling. Feelings can flicker like a candle in the wind. Love is a choice. Often times it is the harder choice. Love is the woman who stands by her husband even when he loses yet another job for drinking. Love is the man who, like Hosea, takes his wife back after she has been unfaithful. Love is the parent who never fails to pray for their lost child. Love is our God who died for us even though we were unthankful sinners rejecting his mercy.
Love chooses to stay when it would be easier to forget the wedding vows and start over. Love chooses to lay aside less important things and raise children. Love never fails. Love is more powerful than convenience. Love does not depend on our mood for the day; it is not controlled by hormones. Love is a choice. It is not blind. It chooses to persevere in spite of the facts.
Lust is blind
Lust is blind. It leads people to make very foolish choices. Lust is a feeling, and when we give in to lust, we let it make our choices for us. Just as love never fails, lust always fails. And this is why people bounce from man to man or woman to woman. Lust fails to fulfill us, and we figure that this just wasn’t the right person for me. And the cycle starts all over again.
When lust gets pregnant
Lust starts in our imagination. We tell ourselves that we would be happier with (fill in the blank). Unless you filled it in with “more of Jesus”, then chances are it is a lustful thought, after all, things and people cannot make us happy. When we allow our mind to dwell on the object of our desire, we are setting the stage for sin to happen. Whether the lust is for drugs, drunkenness, sex outside of marriage, pornography, stealing, gossiping, or not paying tithes, it starts as a thought. If we choose to feed the thought, it will bring forth sin. Watch what happens: then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. (James 1:15)
Lust is blind. Under the influence of lust, a person refuses to see the consequences of the path they are taking. This is why when everyone around a woman can see that she is absolutely insane to leave her husband and children for a man she has never seen that she met in an internet chat room, she goes ahead and does it anyway. This is why a man will trade in the respect of his children and the committed faithfulness of his wife for a woman who dumps him three weeks later. Lust blinds us to the inevitable outcome of sin.
The baby no one wants
When lust gets pregnant, it brings forth sin. Sin is pleasurable for a season, but when sin gives birth, it gives birth to death: the consequence that no one wants. It brings forth the death of friendships, of marriages, and even physical death.
If you are constantly giving in to lust, there is hope in Jesus Christ. The Bible offers this advice for saint and sinner alike: Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7) Jesus has 20/20 vision; he knows all about who you are and what you have done, but he has chosen to love us anyway. To those of us who have walked in the darkness of lust, he is the Great Light that calls us from lust into love (Isaiah 9:2).
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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When the Train is Running Late

8-27-09

by Tad Lindley

In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple (Isaiah 6:1).
The year was 739 BC. The young prophet Isaiah experienced a vision. It is the only vision he ever recorded in scripture.
Isaiah was lifted up to the throne room of God. He saw the Lord sitting upon a throne. Above him were the seraphim, six-winged angels. These angels were crying out to each other, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory (6:3).
What exactly is a train?
The thing that Isaiah noticed before noticing the angels was the Lord’s train: it filled the temple! If you ever been to a wedding where the bride had a fancy wedding dress, then perhaps you have seen a train. The dress sometimes has so much extra fabric that a young child must follow the bride holding the train up to keep it off the floor. In modern America a big train on a wedding dress means that you are rich enough to spend extra money on very expensive fabric. And so instead of using that money for something more practical like a snow machine down payment, some folks buy a train instead.
Was Jesus wearing a wedding dress?
When Isaiah saw a train, he was seeing extra fabric that had been attached to the robe that the Lord was wearing. So much extra fabric had been added, that the train began to fill the temple. In 2009 our first thought might be, “What’s going on? Is Jesus wearing a dress?” Absolutely not; cross dressing is an abomination to him (Deuteronomy 22:5). Actually in historic cultures, kings wore robes, and to these robes would be attached trains of cloth.
The train was a sign of dignity. Often, the length of the train represented the number of victories that a king had won in battle. Today generals and valiant soldiers are covered with medals, but in times past, they might wear a train instead of medals; the longer the train the greater the man. So when Isaiah reports that the Lord’s train filled the temple, he is giving us a picture of how great the Lord’s victories are.
Are you on the train?
If you have ever had a blessing from God, that victory is recorded in his train: every healing, every time joy came in the face of despair, every time groceries showed up when there was no money and no hope, every sinner delivered from addiction, every sinful soul that came before him in repentance, every answered prayer, they are all victories in his train. Isaiah lets us know that they are too numerous to mention: his train fills the temple!
When the train is running late…
Even victories that we are seeking but haven’t yet seen may be recorded in heaven. When Daniel came before the Lord in grief, the Lord heard his prayer and spoke the victorious answer. Daniel had no idea that the answer to his prayer was on its way down from heaven, and so he continued on three weeks in prayer and fasting. It wasn’t until the 21st day that Daniel was to see the angel with the answer. The train was running late, but it made it. You see, the answer to Daniel’s cry had been withstood by dark spirits. They slowed the train of God’s victory, but darkness cannot extinguish light, and Daniel received his answer.
…just wait
You may be on the verge of quitting your job, walking out of you marriage, going back to smoking, or even taking your life. The train may be late, but that doesn’t mean it’s time to give up yet. The answer to your prayer may already have been spoken in heaven. Wait on the Lord. You might be weary and stumbling now, but wait on the Lord. The same Isaiah who saw the Lord high and lifted up in his holy temple, would as an older man record this powerful promise from God. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint (Isaiah 40:31), and a songwriter would later add this prayer: teach me Lord, teach me Lord to wait.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Divorces Starting at $300

8-21-09

by Tad Lindley

The billboard sign on I-17 Southbound was advertising a law firm. Most law firms are named for the partners. This law firm was simply named “The Divorce Store”. The sign went on to boast of divorces starting as low $300. I understand that $300 is quite a bargain. You won’t find a divorce that cheap in Bethel. If you are thinking about getting divorced, please read this entire article. It will save you money, time, lost sleep, and fathomless heartache.
The Lord’s plan for marriage is found in the book of Genesis. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. (Genesis 2:24) How do we know it is talking about marriage and not just living together? ...and shall cleave unto his wife.
Divorce
When the marriage vows are broken, we call that a divorce. Moses introduced divorce to God’s chosen people. In Deuteronomy 24:1 we read, When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.
God’s opinion on the matter
Jesus tells us this, “He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so”. (Matthew 19:8) In fact for the follower of Jesus, there is only one permissible reason for divorce, adultery. Matthew 5:32 indicates to us that the only acceptable reason for divorce is adultery. The Lord’s command to the Corinthian church was this: To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife. (1 Cor. 7:10-11 NIV) Clearly God’s will is for the married couple to stay together.
Four bad reasons
If you are in a struggling marriage, you may ask, “How can we stay together?” You may have a list of reasons that the marriage should be broken. That list might include these reasons:
•We have irreconcilable differences. It may seem that way, but other people have worked them out. They are not irreconcilable. Our God is bigger than our differences (Matthew 28:18).
•It will be better for our children. No, your children need to grow up in a home with a loving mother and a loving father.
•We can never love each other again, it has been too long. Jesus can restore the lost years (Joel 2:25).
•I’ll never be able to forgive. Not so. No matter how dark the night or how deep the hurts, our God is an overcoming God. Look at these beautiful words from the prophet Ezekiel. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 36:26)
Jesus can save your marriage
Many, many marriages have been saved by the power of Jesus Christ. If you are in the midst of divorce, or contemplating it try this before you give up. First of all, be ready to believe that your husband or your wife is not 100% responsible for your marital difficulty. Second, commit to yourself to praying daily for a month. Ask the Lord in your prayer time to change you; not your spouse, but you. Lastly, during that same month read three chapters a day in your Bible beginning in the book of Matthew.
The word of God is all powerful. He does not want your marriage to fail, and it does not have to. When we apply God’s word in our life things will happen that you never imagined were possible. Remember, Nothing is impossible with God. (Luke 1:37)
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Ugly? Get a Faith Lift

8-13-09

by Tad Lindley

“They will saw through my lower jaw on both sides and take a section of bone out. Then they’ll wire me up and let the bone heal. I won’t be able to eat solid food for six months,” she told me. I pressed for the motivation. She was already married, so it wasn’t to get a husband. She was in no physical discomfort, so it wasn’t an issue of her health. Somewhere in her mind, my college classmate had gotten the idea that she was ugly, because she had an under bite (I did not even notice until she told me). By my estimation she was actually attractive, under bite and all, but somewhere in her mind she had begun to believe that she was ugly, and the only way to make herself complete was to undergo a life threatening surgery.
Who told you you were ugly?
Ever since man sinned, women have struggled with feelings of ugliness. If you were to turn the calendar all the way back to the Garden of Eden, you would read about a time when Adam and the woman were completely at peace with themselves. We do know how long life went on like this, but it was a life that knew no sin. There was no crime, no resentment, no disappointment, and no ugliness. They were completely comfortable within their own skin. They communed with the Lord on a daily basis, all plants were edible, and the animals were not afraid of them. It was a very different world.
Then they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They realized that they were naked, and they felt ashamed of themselves. They tried to cover their shame with fig leaves. But they found out an important truth: you cannot cover ugliness from the outside. Ugliness is an inside job.
Face lift or faith lift?
The world wants you to feel ugly. The cosmetics industry wants you to hate your plain unpainted face. The plastic surgeon wants you to be utterly unhappy with the shape of your nose. They want every woman on this planet to subscribe to the lie that changing the outside will make you happier on the inside. This line of thinking is straight out of hell. It produces people who are in bondage to makeup, and people who are obsessed with trying to alter their body, and those who are depressed, believing that they are chronically ugly.
Jesus came to set you free from ugliness. He came that you might have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10). The fact of the matter is that beauty is an inside out job that no surgeon’s scalpel can accomplish, and no amount of Maybelline mascara can manufacture.
The world vs. the Bible
Ladies, the world is telling you that you need breast implants, but the Lord wants to give you a heart transplant (Ezekiel 36:26). Avon wants you to feel ugly without eye shadow, but the Almighty wants you to get into his shadow (Psalm 91:1). Clairol wants you to hate your grey hair and color it up. Jesus said to leave your hair color alone (Mark 5:36), because in his sight, grey hair is desirable (Proverbs 16:31). Sephora.com wants to sell you lipstick, but Jesus Christ wants to bring you liberty (II Corinthians 3:17). Mary Kay says that you need a makeover to work your miracle, but Jesus said, You must be born again (John 3:7). The dentist wants you to spend your money making your teeth whiter, Jesus wants to wash your soul and make your sins whiter than snow (Isaiah 1:18). The fashion industry wants you to feel like a tramp unless you pay double the cost for a name on a label. The jewelry industry wants you to feel worthless without stones and gold, but what God finds beautiful is the jewelry that comes from inside, the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit (I Peter 3:4).
The secret to true beauty
Women, the world is out to make money off of your fears. The fashion and beauty industries want you to feel incomplete and empty unless you get a bottom tuck and a botox treatment. Ugly is an attitude and a lifestyle, it comes from the heart not from the outside. You are already beautiful; you were designed according to God’s plan. You don’t need a nose job or a face lift: you need a faith lift. If you are a Christian, than you believe that the Bible is God’s inspired word. And if that is true, God’s instructions for making yourself beautiful are better than anything else you can do. You have been taught to feel empty and ugly without cosmetics, fashions, and jewelry. It does not have to be that way. Jesus can make you whole again, for in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in him (Colossians 2:9-10).
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Eating at the Master’s Table

8-06-09

by Tad Lindley

When Jesus saw people racing to get the best seats at a feast, he stopped the feast and began to preach to them, “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this man your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests.” (Luke 14:7-10 NIV)
The greatest feast ever held
When Jesus returns to take his bride, the church, out of this world, there will be a mighty feast. …blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb… (Revelation 19:9) There will be the signs of the coming of the Lord. And then they shall see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory (Luke 21:27). …and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him; and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him (Revelation 1:7). The Lord himself shall descend with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord (I Thessalonians 4:16-17). At that time, the Lord will be united with his bride and there will be a celebration.
In your face, Pharisees
As Jesus preached to the crowd at the wedding feast in Luke 14, he was preparing them mentally. His audience was entirely Jewish. In particular he was speaking to a certain group of Jewish leaders known as the Pharisees (these are the same ones who would later organize Jesus’ arrest and call for his crucifixion). Through his parable, he was trying to tell them, “I will choose somebody else over you”. At another time Jesus told the Pharisees, Many shall come from the east and the west [non-Jews], and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom [you Pharisees] shall be cast into outer darkness (Matthew 8:12). In fact Jesus would later say it even more bluntly: Verily I say unto you, “That the publicans [tax collectors] and harlots [prostitutes] go into the kingdom of God before you (Matthew 21:31).
Will prostitutes really eat at Jesus’ table?
The answer is yes and no. There will be people who have wallowed in almost every sin known to man who will sit down at the table at the wedding feast of the lamb. They will come from the east and from the west, and they will sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. There will be people who were prostitutes, and drug addicts, and fornicators, and adulterers, and homosexuals, and murderers, and drunkards, and thieves, and gossipers, and witches, and resentful. But at some point Jesus came, and they were washed, they were sanctified, they were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God (I Corinthians 6:11).
Even you and I can eat at Jesus table
The core message that John the Baptist preached was repentance (Matthew 3:2). Repentance was also the first messages that Jesus preached (Matthew 3:17). And coincidentally, it was also the foundation of the first message the church ever preached (Acts 2:38). Answering the invitation of Jesus to the marriage supper of the Lamb starts with repentance. Repentance is coming broken before Jesus and turning toward him and away from sin.
Even if you are steeped in the grossest sins your mind can imagine, Jesus can save you. It starts with repentance. It continues with baptism in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins (Acts 2:38). There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12). If we repent of our sins and are born again of the water (John 3:5), then you will receive the empowerment of the Holy Ghost to keep us walking in the path of righteousness, this is a promise (Acts 2:39).
Friend, if you are cut off from God because of sin, the devil and maybe even people around you want you to believe that you are forever lost. That is a lie. The very reason that you are reading this newspaper right now is because Jesus is knocking on the door of your heart: Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup [eat] with him, and he with me (Revelation 3:20).
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Men at Feast Fight for
Spot at Kitchen Table

7-30-09

by Tad Lindley

Next time you go to a feast, study the situation carefully. See if what I am saying is not correct. The most esteemed guests, usually elders, will be seated at the kitchen table. The table will be piled high with bowls of akutaq, assaliaq, dry fish, and cookies. The ladies serving at the feast will wait on those at the kitchen table, offering them a choice of several soups. When the elders finish, tea will be placed before them. If a feast were an airplane, the kitchen table would be first class.
Sitting in second class
If it is a well-attended feast, there will be people seated on the couches, and on the living room floor. There may even be people spreading back the hallway to the bedrooms, and in certain situations, people may actually be stacked up in the porch and even outside of the house. People desiring a spot at the kitchen table will be standing in a position near the kitchen waiting for one of the ladies in the kitchen to motion them toward a chair as an elder pushes his tea cup away and rises.
Put plain and simple, a lot of people at a big feast will never get to sit at the table. They will have to sit somewhere else in the house hoping that one of the ladies in the kitchen will come by with a bowl of soup, or a piece of assaliaq, or a piece of neqerrluaq. They will never sit among towering pitchers of fresh juice or bowls of fresh rolls.
Jesus goes to a feast
Jesus went to a feast that was much like this. It was a wedding feast. When Jesus went to the house for the feast he literally observed grown men muscling their way toward the kitchen. They wanted to be the first ones to sit at the kitchen table. And if I am envisioning things correctly, the ones that lost out on the kitchen table started fighting for spots on the couch, and so on, until the ones in the losers bracket had to sit in the hallway going back to the bedrooms and wait for one of the ladies to bring by a bowl of soup.
And when he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table he told them this parable, “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this man your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 14:7-11 NIV)
In other words Jesus was telling the people at the feast, “You try to get there early and sit in the best seat. What’s going to happen is that the hostess is going to say, can you please get up, an elder just got here and needs your seat. Then you will look for a place on the couch, but the couches will be full. The living room floor will be packed and the hallways too. When you look for a place to stand on the porch, it will be crowded. You will have to wait outside the house all together. Instead, be willing to settle for a less desirable spot, and wait for the hostess to come and invite you to the table.”
What did Jesus mean?
This is a parable. A parable is a lesson that has many layers to it. One of the layers to this lesson is that Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees and Sadducees. They were the religious people of Jesus’ day. He was foretelling the fact that they will be shocked at the end of time. They erroneously perceived themselves to be the chosen children of God. They were the ones that Jesus was referring to. Jesus was even more “in your face” with the Pharisees when he spoke the following parable: And I say unto you, “That many shall come from the west and the east, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 8:11-12)
A second layer to this parable is that people who promote themselves will at the end of time burn in the lake of fire. And those who promote the Lord first and then serve others (the humble) will be at the same time exalted and live forever with Jesus. If we think the world owes us something, we are exalting ourselves, but if we understand that Jesus is calling us to be servants and to take that lower seat, he will call us to take a seat at His table.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Go Ahead With Your Poor Victimized Self

7-21-09

by Tad Lindley

“My cousin can ride bikes better than me,” the boy said. “He’s from Nome,” as if riding bikes depended on the size of the community a person lives in. The youngster rode off across the village popping wheelies on his bicycle, leaving me to ponder his statement.
Now you and I both know that there is nothing about living in Nome that would cause a person to be a better bike rider. True, his cousin may have been able to pop better wheelies, but it had nothing to do with circumstances. We see the ridiculousness of the boy’s thinking, and yet many of us live in the same sort of mindset: we are satisfied to think that we are perpetually victimized by circumstances beyond our control.
What’s your excuse?
We tell ourselves that we drink, because we had bad parents; that we cannot get a job, because we have the wrong last name or the wrong skin color; that we cannot be happy as long as we live in Anchorage. Husbands, we tell our wives that we lose our temper because of their nagging. Wives, you’d be happy if only your husband wasn’t so lazy. Teenage reader, you’d be able to go somewhere in life if only your parents let you live your life the way that you want to.
You can go ahead with your poor victimized self if you want to, but I am going to encourage myself in the Lord. You see, I read in my Bible about a scrawny kid from a small village in Palestine who rose up to be one of the most powerful men in the world.
Rising above victim-hood
David was the youngest son of a family who lived in the village of Bethlehem. His brothers verbally abused him (I Samuel 17:28). His father, Jesse, had so little confidence in him that when Samuel came to pick one of Jesse’s sons to become the next king, Jesse did not even call David in out of the field (16:11). Not only that, but for anyone who has ever been a victim of racism, the Bible even makes note that David had a peculiar skin color (16:12). In spite of the strikes against him David rose to greatness.
I suppose that David could have told himself, “I’ll never be able to get anywhere in life, because I am so much weaker and smaller than my brothers.” Or, “I’ll never be a mighty man, because I am from Bethlehem. If I had grown up in Jerusalem maybe…” He could have sat on the couch wallowing in his victim-hood, smoking dope, eating chips, and playing Nintendo. He could have spend his days talking about how great he would have been if only he had better parents or more loving brothers. But David was not content to be a victim of his situation.
Moving from victim-hood into victory
There are two things that David did to rise above his situation. He practiced with his sling, and he praised God. Instead of wallowing in self-pity, he decided that he would become a nukalpiaq regardless of circumstance. It was this mindset that eventually allowed him to take down Goliath. Instead of drinking homebrew in the sheep patch talking about how Daddy didn’t love him, David was preparing himself for greatness. There came a lion and a bear and took a lamb out of the flock: and I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by the beard, and smote him, and slew him (I Samuel17:34-35). It was David’s refusal to be a victim that led him to victory. He would go on from these small, unknown victories as a boy to take down Goliath and be recognized by everyone.
Not only did David busy his hands, he busied his heart. Even as a young man he developed skill on the instrument he sang praises to the Lord. This led him from a small village into the palace of the king, where he would play soothing music for King Saul when Saul became mentally ill (I Samuel 16:3). David would go on to write many of the psalms that we still read, pray, and sing today. He would receive the unique distinction of being called by God, “A man after God’s own heart.” While some of us would have been content to lie around the house text messaging our friends about what a raw deal we’ve gotten, David was developing a foundation in Jesus that would carry him through hell and high water.
Will you be a victim or a victor?
With God all things are possible. Jesus is greater than your last name. In Jesus, skin color is no longer an issue (Galatians 3:28, Colossians 3:11). His ability to heal is greater than the abuse that you received in your past (Isaiah 53:5). His blood is can give you victory over a criminal history (Matthew 26:28). He can take you from the pit and the prison into the palace of a king (Genesis 37-50). You can go ahead with your poor victimized self, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord (Joshua 24:15).
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Revelation 12: A Short History of the Future
Part 3

7-15-09

by Tad Lindley

Revelation 12 gives a brief record of history from the spiritual side of things. For greater detail, please read the entire Bible. Last week we finished in Revelation 12:13, now we resume.
The United States in the Bible?
Only time will tell, but if the woman is Israel, then this verse should be an eye opener. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent (Revelation 12:14). There is a nation whose internationally recognized symbol is the eagle: the United States. Not only that, the United States is the greatest friend that Israel has. If this interpretation is correct, then the United States will stand between Israel and the forces of the devil in the end time.
Three and a half years
There is no question about the meaning of the expression time, times, and half a time. It literally means “a year, years, and half a year”. This adds up to three and a half years. (See Daniel 7:25, 12:7, 12:11, Revelation 13:5) This is the same time period as the tribulation when the antichrist will wear out the saints of the most High (Daniel 7:25). There will be a horrendous assault on those who have not taken the mark of the beast, Christians and Jews. For those who have taken the mark of the beast, it may actually be a time of peace and prosperity (see I Thessalonians 5:3).
The antichrist arises
At the same time that the devil is cast to the earth in the spiritual realm (Revelation 12:13), in the political realm, the antichrist will be rising to power. We know this, because the devil has three and a half years to try to destroy those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ (Revelation 12:17). The Bible also teaches that there will be a three and a half year period that is marked by the rise of the antichrist. Jesus referred to this event as the Abomination of Desolation (Matthew 24:15). The antichrist will step into a rebuilt Jewish temple and cause the animal sacrifices to cease (Daniel 9:27, 11:31). In the temple, he will claim to be God (II Thessalonians 2:4).
The Great Tribulation
Jesus taught that these events would culminate in the Great Tribulation. Regarding the Abomination of Desolation, Jesus has this to say, For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be (Matthew 24:21). Daniel describes it like this: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time (12:1). According to John the antichrist will have the power to make war with the saints and to overcome them: and power [will be] given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations (Revelation 13:7).
Is there any hope?
Revelation chapter 12 closes with the dragon in a rage seeking to destroy Israel and the church. The Bible does not try to sugar coat it: many people will die for the name of Jesus. The good news is this: all Christians will be saved in the end.
At the end of the three and a half year period, Jesus will return to earth again. The Lord himself will descend with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds… (I Thessalonians 4:16-17). This is absolute proof that some Christians will survive the tribulation (all non-Christians will survive too, and for them it won’t be that bad a deal; if they are not Jewish they’ll have the mark of the beast and be worshipping the image of the beast).
Are you ready?
The time to be ready is now. The events in Revelation 12 may unfold very quickly. If you are not serving the Lord you will not be ready. If you are putting off repenting and being baptized in Jesus’ name, now is the time to get right with the Lord. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. They that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. (I Thessalonians 5:2, 4-8)
Tad Lindley is a minister in the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Revelation 12: A Short History of the Future
Part 2

7-9-09

by Tad Lindley

Revelation 12 gives a brief record of history from the spiritual side of things. For greater detail, please read the entire Bible. Last week we finished in Revelation 12:6, now we resume.
What is the devil doing in heaven?
And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels (12:7). Remember from the first two chapters of Job we know that the devil still at least periodically was coming into the presence of the Lord. At some point in the future, the devil and his angels will rise up in war against Michael and his angels. You may recall that when Lucifer fell from his position of glory in heaven, that he took a third of the stars (angels) with him. These are the angels that are fighting on his side. Presumably the two-thirds of the angels that remain are those fighting alongside Michael.
Good guys win
And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. (12:9-10) The devil and his angels lose the war. They will be cast out into the earth. Understand this, heretofore the devil and his angels had been the prince and power of the air (Ephesians 2:2). Jesus likened the devil to the fowls of the air (Luke 8:5,12). But as a result of this final war in heaven, the devil will be cast down to the earth.
BC or AD?
And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night (12:10). When did or does this war in heaven take place? Many have assumed that it happened BC (before Christ). This cannot be the case. It had to have happened AD (from Latin ano domini: year of our Lord). By the time that Satan is cast down from heaven to the earth, the Christ is already on the scene. The next verse reveals even more proof of this.
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death (12:11). The blood of the Lamb was shed at the cross and in the events leading up to the cross. The heavenly victory over Satan therefore has to take place after Calvary.
Cover your ears
Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time (12:12). This is the part we don’t like to talk about. The wrath of Satan will be poured out on earth. Many will die for the cause of Christ. They will love not their lives unto death. In other words they will choose Jesus over living.
Look at the words having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. A short time before what? Reading to the end of the book we know that the devil has a 1,000 year prison sentence that he will be serving at the return of Jesus Christ (Revelation 20:1-3). If that is what the devil is afraid of, then that means that he has not been cast down yet, as we do not see people across the planet losing their lives for the cause of Jesus.
Standing behind Israel
And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child (12:13). At this point it is quite clear that the woman that brought forth the man child is not Mary, but an image of Israel. Israel will be severely persecuted by the devil. This is why it is so extremely important for the United States to support Israel in the end times. Failure to support Israel will open our nation up to being cursed by God. And I will bless them that bless thee and curse them that curse thee… (Genesis 12:3).
Next week we will finish Revelation 12.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Every Priest Needs a Pastor

6-24-09

by Tad Lindley

Although a number of religions use the title of priest to describe the leaders in the church, the Christian church in the Bible never referred to its leaders as priests. There were deacons, overseers, bishops, evangelists, teachers, and pastors, but never priests. Those whom people refer to as priests today, are not really priests. They are actually pastors. What happened to the priesthood?
Jesus knocked out the priesthood
In Bible history, the priest was appointed as the one who stood between man and God. In Christianity, the need for priests is eliminated: …there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (I Timothy 2:5). No longer do we have to go to the Jewish high priest for the year to get in touch with God, no longer do we have to have assistance in our worship of God from the Levitical priests of the Old Testament, Christ has become the high priest (Hebrews 9:11). In fact, the Bible goes so far as to say that the born again Christian is a part of the royal priesthood (I Peter 2:9, Revelation 1:6). This means that because of Jesus’ death at Calvary, we no longer need a human being to mediate between us and God; we can approach the Lord ourselves, we have become like priests.
We are the priesthood
If we are serving the Lord and obedient to his word, then we have the same privilege to come into his presence as the priests in the Old Testament did. If you have received the baptism of the Holy Ghost, then you have the same power as the Jewish high priests did to enter into the Holy of Holies (Hebrews 9:6-8).
Born into, or born again into?
In the Old Testament, the priesthood was something that you were born into. If Levi was your many times great grandfather, you were a Levitical priest. If you happened to be a Levite who also had Moses brother, Aaron, as a grandfather many generations ago, then you were eligible to become the High Priest. In the New Testament, the priesthood is something that you are born again into. Your family background does not matter. This is why a meth addict can become a man of God. A prostitute can become a royal priestess in the eyes of Him. A suicidal psychotic can become a son of God. Regardless of how deep a pit we have dug ourselves into, the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ is great enough to reach in and pull us out, and to lift us to higher heights than we ever deserved or imagined. And all of this is possible, not because of who we are, but because of who Jesus is.
So you think you’re big, just because you’re a priest
Being a child of God is truly the most special thing that a person can ever experience. Having access to go straight to him with our needs, our worship, and even our repentance places us into the category of the royal priesthood. It would be tempting to think that this means that we do not need to have anybody in authority over us. That is a lie straight out of hell.
You might be a priest in the eyes of God, but you still need a pastor. When we study the great men of God in scripture, we see that they were subject to somebody who was their spiritual mentor. King David, a man after God’s own heart had a pastor named Nathan. When the apostle, Peter, baptized the first Gentiles in the name of the Lord (Acts 10:48), we see that he had church members to whom he was accountable (Acts 11). When the apostle, Paul, returned from his missionary journey, he met with his mentors, Peter and James (Galatians 1:18-19, 2:1-3). Just because these men had been mightily used of God did not place them in positions of isolation. They still had somebody who was watching for their souls, making sure that they were serving God.
Do you have a pastor?
The Bible says to obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they might do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you (Hebrews 13:17). What a great description of a pastor: a leader who is like a coach whose goal is to train and teach that you might make it to live forever with Jesus. Without sitting under the preaching of a pastor, we will not be saved. Don’t get mad at me for saying it, get mad at God. For…it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe (I Corinthians 1:21). If you do not have somebody who is your pastor find one. If your village does not have a man of God as a pastor, pray that the Lord will raise up a man to serve the village.
It is a great thing to enjoy the fellowship of knowing God in the capacity of a priest, but we still need a man over us to watch for our souls and to preach to us the unchanging word of God.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Missing Priests Found

6-17-09

by Tad Lindley

Maybe you did not realize that the priests were missing, but they were. Fortunately, the apostle, Peter, found them. If you have been losing sleep chronically worrying about their whereabouts, you can now look forward to peaceful rest.
Priests
Priests have been around for a long time. Before Judaism even existed there were priests. The pagan worshippers of the ancient world had priests. Joseph married the Priest of On’s daughter (Genesis 41:45). Paul and Silas had a run in with the Priest of Jupiter, who wanted to worship them believing that they were gods (Acts 14:13). And of course, when God met Moses on Mount Sinai, He established the role of priest in the lives of the chosen people.
Moses’ brother, Aaron, was the first Jewish high priest. All men descended from Aaron were eligible to become high priest. Modern Jewish people with the last name of Cohen, or some other derivative of it, are descended from Aaron. These men actually have a genetic marker on their Y chromosome that identifies them as descendents of Aaron.
In addition to the high priests, there was a group of men called the Levites. They were from the tribe of Levi. The Levitical priests did much of the work involved with the tabernacle, the temple, and the sacrifices. They did not have the privilege of entering the Holy Place or the Holy of Holies. That privilege was reserved to the high priests.
The job of the priest
The priests were chosen to be the intermediary between the children of Israel and the Lord. The average person could not simply perform his own sacrifices, let alone enter the holy presence of God. They needed the priests and the Levites.
The strange disappearance of the priests
Oddly, the priests disappear in Christianity. In the Bible, the only record we have of priests and the church is the Jewish priests who sought to destroy Jesus, and later stamp out Christianity (Luke 24:20, Acts 5:17-28). We know that many of the Jewish priests converted to Christianity (Acts 6:7). Beyond that, the priesthood appears to have completely vanished. The New Testament speaks of pastors, apostles, evangelists, teachers and prophets in the church, but not priests (Ephesians 4:11). There are bishops and deacons, but no mention of priests (I Timothy 3).
Bermuda Triangle?
The disappearance of priests in the New Testament church is not a mystery. The priesthood was replaced by something so much more perfect. When Jesus allowed his own blood to be shed for many, he was actually stepping into the role of the high priest. Remember, the priests were the ones who went before God on behalf of men. In the New Testament, Jesus fills this roll, for there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (I Timothy 2:5). Furthermore, when Jesus hung on the cross, the veil in the temple between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies was torn in two (Matthew 27:51). This signified a new relationship between God and man. No longer were priests necessary; all people now have access directly to the Lord!
Missing priests discovered
In the Old Testament the approach to God was through a priest, since we now have the ability to come before the throne of grace, we are all effectively priests. In fact the Bible teaches that those in the church are a royal priesthood. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light (I Peter 2:9). And speaking of Jesus the Bible says, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. (Revelation 1:6)
The beauty of Calvary is that Jesus abolished the priesthood as a class of men, and opened the door for every one of us to call upon his name and thereby present ourselves before him. Regardless of who you are or where you are, you can have instant and direct contact with Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory, because in the New Testament, we have become the priests.
Tad Lindley is a minister in the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Jesus Loved the Beetles

6-5-09

by Tad Lindley

Jesus loved the beetles. Not the Beatles, as in John Lennon, but the beetles, as in the lady bug. The famous biologist, Communist, and atheist, J.B.S. Haldane is reported to have said, “The creator, if He exists, must have an inordinate fondness for beetles.” Haldane was referring to the fact that there are over 360,000 known species of beetles on the planet. For comparison, there are fewer than 6,000 species of mammals. And while humans come in various shapes, colors, and sizes, there is only one species of human.
You thought you were big just because you’re a human
We are used to thinking of ourselves as being the greatest thing on the face of planet earth. After all, we appear to ourselves to rule the world. We have unlocked the secrets of physics and biology. Man has made mechanical hearts, and mastered surgical techniques. We can track a criminal with satellite technology and send text messages from fish camp to a person halfway around the world. Surely humans are the greatest thing since the beginning. The Christian can easily find themselves thinking that we are the apex of God’s creation; the evolutionist, that humans are the pinnacle of natural selection.
Really we aren’t that special
True, humans can live to be over 120 years old, but a quahog clam from Iceland was aged at 405 years old. Any ungulate (moose, caribou, musk ox, etc.) can survive for years on food that would cause us to starve to death within weeks. We would die after four days without water, but a kangaroo rat can go for its entire life drinking very little water, because its kidney is so much more efficient than ours. Every bird on the planet has a more efficient set of lungs than humans. Humans can last a few hours at the most in ice water, and yet seals and walrus live their entire lives under such conditions. The arctic tern flies from the Antarctic to the Arctic and back every year, and a lot of us cannot even get from our house to church on Sunday morning. As great as we think we are, there is really nothing in our physical make-up that is any better than the rest of the animal kingdom.
The one thing that sets us apart
Jesus made everything: All things were made by him, and without him was nothing made that was made (John 1:3). He was in the world, and the world was made by him, but the world knew him not (1:10). On day six, he made the beetles along with all the other insects and the other land animals. And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so (Genesis 1:24). If God’s love were to be measured in the number of species of each type of animal he created, the beetles would have won. He made 360,000 or more. But that is not the measure of God’s love.
The measure of God’s love is that he chose to make man in his own image. And God said [presumably to the angels, since when angels appear to men they appear as men], 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 (Genesis 1:26). The truth of this is borne out in the fact that when God came manifest in the flesh, he did not come as a lady bug. It was not a kangaroo rat that was nailed to the cross of Calvary. Jesus became a man, not a musk ox. He came not to save the whales, but to seek and save lost humanity. The one thing that sets us apart from other life, is that Jesus came and dwelt among us robed in flesh, and that he let himself be humiliated, beaten, and crucified that we might be free from sin.
Jesus must have loved all of his creation, but even more than the beetles, Jesus loves you. The proof is found in his own words. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13).
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Pentecost

5-19-09

by Tad Lindley

Friday, May 29 2009 marks the Jewish Feast of Weeks. The festival is perhaps more recognized by its Greek name, Pentecost. For Christians, the Day of Pentecost in 29 A.D. (plus or minus a few years), marks the first time that men and women received the baptism of the Holy Ghost. For nearly 2,000 years the Lord has continued to pour out his spirit on those who earnestly seek him.
29 A.D
When Jesus arose from the tomb on the third day, he continued to minister to his followers for forty days. During this time, the Bible tells us that Jesus continued to teach his disciples. Then he opened their understanding that they might understand the scriptures (Luke 24:45). Jesus revealed His plan for the spread of the gospel, namely that they should teach and baptize every nation (Matt. 28:18-20, Mark 16:15-18, Luke 24:44-48). In order to do that, Jesus told them to go wait in Jerusalem until they received the promise of power from on high (Luke 24:49). In Acts 1:8 Jesus is more specific about this power: You shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.
Waiting for the promise
On the fortieth day out of the tomb, the Lord ascended into heaven. This fledgling group of Jewish believers went to Jerusalem where they waited for the promise of the Holy Ghost and power. They went to the temple every day, and also were meeting in an upper room somewhere in the city. There were 120 of them. These included the 11 disciples, Mary the mother of Jesus, and Jesus’ half-brothers (Acts 1:14-15).
At the same time these 120 believers were waiting in Jerusalem, the city was filling up with Jews from across the Roman Empire. These men and women were there to celebrate the Feast of Weeks, or in Greek, Pentecost. This Feast celebrates the giving of the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai. It occurs 50 days after Passover. In Greek, Pentecost means fiftieth.
Promise poured forth
Here is how the Word of God describes what happened:
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:1-4)
Apostles accused of alcoholism
Apparently their joy and excitement was so great that it spilled over into the street and passers by stopped and were amazed at what was happening. Some, not understanding wondered out loud if these people were drunk. The Apostle Peter stood up among the crowd that had gathered at this great joyous moment. Peter told the onlookers, “They’re not drunk as you suppose, they’ve just been filled with the Holy Ghost”. Peter went on to preach the first sermon ever preached (Acts 2:14-40). It was the birth of the Church.
First sermon ever preached
Thousands of people gathered in to hear Peter preach. As Peter spoke to them about who Jesus is, they began to see their own hopelessness. They asked the disciples, “Brothers, what should we do?” At this point, Peter told them what they must do to get right with the Lord. Then Peter said unto them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, for the promise [the Holy Ghost] is unto to you [the Jewish people], and to your children, and to all that are afar off [the non-Jewish], even as many as the Lord our God shall call” (Acts 2:38-39).
3000 saved in one service!
Among those gathered there, were 3,000 men and women who believed Peter’s message and desired this same promise that Peter and the 120 had received. These people repented and were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. They must have been baptizing people into the sunset!
If you have been living for God and wondered if there was more to God that what you have yet experienced, there is. If you have not been baptized in Jesus’ name and received the promised gift of the Holy Ghost, do not wait. This is the Biblical pattern. God is still pouring out his spirit on those with hungry hearts! You can have your own personal Pentecost.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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“Six Tips to Spice
up Your Romance”

5-14-09

by Tad Lindley

At least that’s what they used to read. Nowadays it seems like a lot of them have replaced the word “romance” with the words “sex life”. If you’ve never seen them, they are near the checkout of most big grocery stores. I have always thought of them as women’s magazines, but by the models on the cover, you might think they were trying to sell them to men.
An article like that really doesn’t interest me. I’ve got a book at home that I think has scooped all of these lonely housewife gossip type magazines. Here are a few tips that I have gleaned from my Book.
Tip Number One: Get Married
A lot of readers are living together unmarried. That is completely against God’s plan for you. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall become one flesh. (Genesis 2:24) The very first couple was married. In the New Testament we are commanded to flee fornication (sex outside of marriage). (I Corinthians 6:18) In fact, unless we repent of it, we cannot make it to heaven. (I Corinthians 6:9-10)
Tip Number Two: Men, Don’t Live With Mom
God has asked men to leave their home of birth, and live with their wife. Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother and shall cleave unto his wife…Psychologists may disagree with me on this, but it is usually easier for a woman to get along with her mother than with her mother-in-law. Men tend to be less particular about such things. But regardless of the reason, the Biblical model is for the man to leave his parents.
Tip Number Three: Have Sex
Perhaps people have confused religion with the Bible. Some religions have taught that sex was a forbidden or dirty thing. Others have forbidden people to marry. They were not preaching from the same book I am. The Lord wants married couples to have sex, and not just for the sake of having children. Read this with me: Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer… (I Corinthians 7:5 NIV)
Tip Number Four: One Man and One Woman
The Bible is extremely clear about this fact. The marriage bed is not to be defiled. (Hebrews 13:4) There is no such thing as an “open marriage” in the kingdom of God. If you want to improve your romance, flirting must only be done with your spouse. Men, never discuss your marital problems with another woman and vice versa.
Tip Number Five: Wives, submit…,
Men don’t even read this if you aren’t going to follow tip number six. I present this carefully. Some men may wish to completely control their wives. When the Bible tells us: Wives submit yourselves to your husbands, as unto the Lord (Ephesians 5:22), it means that the man has been chosen as the leader in the family. The husband’s decisions are final. If he is a good leader he will seek to make sure he has his wife’s support in decision making. If a woman has wisely chosen her husband, this should not be a problem. The scripture is not telling women to be a punching bag for a drunken boxer. If you are in a dangerous situation like that, get help now.
Tip Number Six: Husbands, Love Your Wives…
A man must go out of his way to love his wife. Simply eating the food she puts before you and then grunting is not enough. Husbands love your wives even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies… (Ephesians 5:25, 28) If you want to spice up your marriage, start loving your wife even when it is inconvenient. Instead of rushing off to basketball after dinner, make yourself sit down and visit with her. Purposely put off things that she knows you enjoy, to spend time with her instead. Then when you are too old to play ball, she will still be there for you.
Reader, you may feel that it is impossible that you will ever have a joyful marriage. Try the Biblical suggestions I have outlined above. The Lord gave them for our own benefit. The Bible says these words. When all else fails, tie a knot in this scripture and hang on, God will bless you: Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. (Mark 9:23)
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK. This article originally ran in the October 17, 2005 issue of the Delta Discovery.

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The Greatest Book Ever Written
Part II

4-29-09

by Tad Lindley

The Bible is much more than a book. It is a collection of books that were written as holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost (2 Peter 1:21). The pen was held in the hand of man, but the author was none other than the author and finisher of our faith, Jesus Christ. There is no other book that you can point to that has the power to heal physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
No marriage has ever been saved from divorce when the husband and wife sat down together to read Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. And yet many thousands of marriages are being saved when couples do the same with the word of God. Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10), that is the goal of scripture, and the fruit of obeying it.
The Old Testament was handed down from generation to generation by the Jewish people. The New Testament, with the exception of two books, was written by Jewish men who recognized that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, and converted to Christianity. The only two books in the New Testament not written by Jewish Christians are Luke and Acts. These were both written by Luke. The New Testament can be broken up into four sections.
The Gospels
These are the first four books in the New Testament. They tell us about Jesus. They record the events surrounding his birth, a visit to Jerusalem at age twelve, and then the three years of his public ministry. Finally they close with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The gospels are named after their authors: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
Matthew was written by the Matthew whose Jewish name was Levi. He was a tax collector who was called by Jesus in Mark 2:14, and Luke 5:27.
Mark was written by Mark. Most Bible students believe that Mark appears in the book named for him in the following enigmatic passage: And they all forsook him, and fled. And there followed him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body; and the young men laid hold on him: And he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked. (Mark 14:50-52)
Luke was written by a Greek physician named Luke. Luke does not appear in the gospels, but is an active participant in the Book of Acts.
John was written by John, who presumably was the same one who wrote the books entitled I John, II John, III John, and Revelation. In John’s writing he refers to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” as in this passage: Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved (John 13:23).
History
The Book of the Acts of the Apostles was written by Luke. Through both eyewitness interviews and his own personal involvement, Luke gives the history of the first 29 or 30 years of the church. This book describes how Christianity was as practiced by the very men that Jesus entrusted to build his church. It shows how people were born again in Bible times. It speaks of the miracles that occurred over a 30 year period.
Letters
Most of the New Testament books are letters that were preserved by the churches existing at that time. Romans through Philemon were written by the Apostle Paul to the churches that bear the name of the letter (ie. Romans - Thessalonians) or to individuals (Timothy – Philemon). The author of Hebrews is unknown. James, Peter, and Jude were written by James, Peter, and Jude. With the possible exception of Hebrews, these letters were written to churches and individuals who were already saved. They encourage and teach us how we are to live as Christians once we have already been born again. The new birth process is explained and demonstrated in the gospels and the book of Acts.
Prophecy
The last book in the New Testament is the Revelation. It details prophetic visions that the Lord gave to the Apostle John while he was in a penal colony on the Isle of Patmos. This book closely fits with the Old Testament prophecies concerning the end of time, and the return of Jesus Christ. It is in Revelation that we find the antichrist, the mark of the beast, the battle of Armageddon, and the lake of fire.
No written word has the power to impact your life like the Bible can. If the whole book is too much for you to read, I urge you to at least read the New Testament. When everything else around us fails or falls apart, the one thing left standing will be the word of God. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever (Isaiah 40:8).
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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The Greatest Book Ever Written

4-22-09

by Tad Lindley

Before we go any further, you need to understand my world view. I believe the Bible. It is more than a collection of historical writings. It is more than a 2,000 year old Chicken Soup for the Soul. It was written over about 1500 years by at least 32 different men as the spirit of God moved upon them. Speaking of itself, the Bible says, For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost (2 Peter 1:21). The Apostle Paul added this note, All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness (II Timothy 3:16).
The word of God is the final authority. It does not matter what other writings you dig up out of the ground or find in caves and ancient libraries, there is nothing that can top this book. It does not matter what great religious thinkers say. If an angel visits me in my bedroom at night, what he says cannot ever override the word of God (Galatians 1:8). For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven (Psalm 119:89).
If you have a Bible in your home, treasure it. Read it. Underline your favorite passages. There is nothing like it on earth. For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). Put this paper down and look around you. Everything will pass away someday, but not the Bible. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever (Isaiah 40:8).
The Old Testament
What Christians call the Old Testament are actually the Hebrew Scriptures, known as the Tanakh. These books were written primarily in Hebrew, although portions of Daniel and Ezra were written in Aramaic. These writings were carefully copied by scribes and passed down for hundreds of years. Hebrew Bible is divided into three sections: The Law (Torah), the Prophets (Nevi’im), and the Writings (K’tuvim). Christians generally divide these books of the Bible up differently. Because the Bible that you have is probably structured by a Christian publisher, I will use the order used in most Christian Bibles, Law, History, Wisdom Literature, and the Prophets.
The Law
These are the first five books of almost any Bible. History tells us that they were written by Moses as God moved upon him. The Book of Genesis covers an undetermined amount of time from the creation of the universe through the entry of the Hebrew people into Egypt in about 1900 BC. Exodus tells of the escape of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt. It describes the events at Mount Sinai when God issued the 613 commandments to his people. Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy describe the laws (everything from don’t boil a young goat in its mother’s milk to don’t wear cotton polyester blends). When you read your New Testament and you hear Jesus refer to the Law and the Prophets, it is to these five books he is pointing as the Law.
History
Beginning with Joshua, the Bible unfolds the history of the Jewish people. It is a roller coaster ride. They do well serving God, and then they backslide. Things fall apart; they repent, and start to live for God again. It is in these books of the Bible that you find men like Samson (Judges), King David (I and II Samuel), and Elijah and Elisha (I and II Kings). They contain the stories of women who served God like Rahab (Joshua), Deborah (Judges), Naomi and Ruth (Ruth), and Esther (Esther).
The history books cover the time of the Jewish return to Israel from Egypt. They cover 400 years under various judges, 400 years under different Jewish kings, their exile to Assyria and Babylon and their return again to the land of Israel. After this time period, there is a 400 year period between the last of the Old Testament writings and the time of Christ.
Poetry/Wisdom Literature
This section of the Old Testament is comprised of several books. The book of Job is perhaps the oldest book in the Bible. It tells the story of a man who lost everything, but refused to walk out on God. It contains some very powerful spiritual truths. The Psalms was essentially a hymnal, a collection of worship songs. Proverbs are wise sayings collected by King Solomon and others. Ecclesiastes is the testimony of a backslidden King Solomon. It is a desperate and haunting book. Song of Solomon is a love poem written by King Solomon presumably about one of his many wives.
The Prophets
These writings are messages from God concerning both historical Israel, and the future of life on earth. Many of them point to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, as well as his return at the end of time. It is in the prophets that Daniel spent a night in the lions’ den, and Jonah three nights in the belly of a great fish. The prophets give us a picture of the restoration of Israel in 1948, the rise of the Anti-Christ, and the triumph of Truth over evil in the coming years.
The miracle of the Bible is that it all works together to point people forward to the victory that is promised in the New Testament through Jesus Christ. Next week: The New Testament.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Sometimes God
Doesn’t Work a Miracle

4-14-09

by Tad Lindley

Some preachers tell you, “Name it and claim it.” The skeptics among us call that type of message “blab it and grab it.” It is the concept that, as born again children of God, we ought to be able to have so much power in our prayer life, that whatever we speak must happen, and if it does not happen, then we are lacking in faith. If we tell God that we want a $350,000 a year job, then he will automatically get it for us. If we tell God that we want a nicer truck, one will show up in our driveway. It denies the fact that Jesus always knows better than we do. We might not need a better job or a bigger truck. Sometimes his answer is, “No.” The truth of the matter is, regardless of the size of our faith, God’s “No” will always be bigger than our faith.
Apostles did not always get miracles
This may burst your bubble, but all of the apostles died. Did you catch that? All of the apostles died, most of them violent deaths. Surely there were saints praying for them, but nevertheless, they died. Sometimes God doesn’t work a miracle.
Most of us want a microwave Jesus. We want to be able to pop our prayer into the throne room, press the “one minute” button and have an instant miracle. Unfortunately, Jesus did not say, “Pick up your magic wand and follow me.” Here is what he actually said: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me (Matthew 16:24). Sometimes God doesn’t work a miracle.
Miracles are still happening
The Bible states quite clearly, that among the signs that would follow the church is that they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover (Mark 16:18). I have seen it happen. I have seen a man paralyzed on one side of his body get up and walk out of the hospital after two Christians came and laid hands upon him calling on the name of Jesus. And yet at the same time, I have laid hands on the sick, called on the name of the Lord and seen them die. Sometimes God doesn’t work a miracle.
A miracle at the Jordan
Let us look at two very similar situations in scripture. In the first, Joshua is leading the Jewish people into the Promised Land (Joshua 3). To get there, they must cross the Jordan River. They happen to reach the Jordan during high water. It was flooding, and the water was up to the top of the banks. The priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant were out in front of the people. As the feet of the priests dipped into the flooding river, the water was stopped upriver. The entire nation of Israel crossed on dry ground!
God withholds miracle at Jordan
In the second situation, a group of mighty men, nukalpiat, were coming to rally around David (I Chronicles 12:8-15). They were in the perfect will of God; they were trying to establish David into the kingship for which the Lord had chosen him. It seems only fitting that these men were worthy of a miracle as much as their ancestors that had come upon the Jordan River over 400 years before. But there was to be no such miracle for them. The water was faster and the flood was deeper.
When this group of men came to the Jordan, they might have expected that the Lord would grant them a miracle. It would have been good faith for them to expect it. For some reason, the Lord withheld the miracle. Now they could have acted the way some of us would, “If God is not going to work a miracle for me, then I’m just going to quit and sit down right here.” That is not what they did though. They pressed on through the flood. Yes, their clothes got wet. Yes, they could have died. Yes, people would have sympathized with them if they had waited another month for the water to subside, but they were men on a mission, they were called of God: they had picked up their cross and were following him.
I want you to notice something very important: both groups of people made it across the Jordan in spite of the flood. The first by a miracle of God, the second by the power of God to sustain them. The first is an awesome testimony of the Lord to command the elements and bend the laws of physics. The second is a testimony of the power of God to turn ordinary people into heroes.
Has God withheld your miracle?
Someone you know may have prayed, and her husband quit drinking and fell in love with Jesus right away. It may be years now, and every time you come home from church he is sitting on the couch playing Halo III in a haze of bong smoke. Brother, you might know someone who was born again and his wife followed after him, but even while you read this, yours is spending the stove oil money at the bingo hall. Perhaps you know someone who was instantaneously healed of cancer and even though you have served God, your body is withering. I am sorry that God has not parted your Jordan, but if he has not parted it, it is because he knows that with his strength you can make it to the other side. If we are willing to pick up our cross daily, it will come to pass what is written: I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me (Philippians 4:13).
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Easter is Coming and the Calendar is Getting Confusing

4-9-09

by Tad Lindley

Take this quick quiz. Next to each holiday, write down the date or day of the week upon which that holiday is celebrated:
Example: Thanksgiving: last Thursday in November
1. Christmas:
2. Independence Day:
3. Leap year:
4. April fool’s day:
5. New Year’s Day:
6. Memorial Day:
7. Veteran’s Day:
8. Chief Eddie Hoffman Day:
9. Valentine’s Day:
10. Easter:
All of the holidays except Easter appear to fit a logical pattern. Christmas is celebrated on December 25 or January 7 depending on which calendar you use. July Fourth is Independence Day. Every fourth February we add a 29th day. April fool’s day and New Year’s fall on the first of April and January. Memorial Day is the last Monday in May. November 11 is Veteran’s Day. Chief Hoffman Day is the second Friday in December, and Valentine’s Day is February 14.
What about Easter?
Easter doesn’t seem to make much sense. It doesn’t fall on the same day every year. It doesn’t even fall on the same month. To the modern American calendar, the only thing consistent about Easter is that it is on a Sunday. This year it falls on Sunday the 12th of April.
Who is responsible for this?
God is. In or about the year 29 A.D., Jesus Christ was crucified. That same afternoon his body was laid in a tomb. Three days later, he was resurrected from the dead. This resurrection occurred on the day after the Jewish Sabbath. The Jewish Sabbath is Saturday. This means that Jesus rose from the dead on a Sunday.
The Jewish calendar
The Sunday that Jesus came forth from the grave was directly after the Jewish feast of Passover. For this reason, the timing of Easter is always strictly tied to the Jewish calendar.
Our calendar is 365 days long. Since the time it takes the sun to go around the earth is about six hours longer than that, we have a 366 day year every four years. The Jewish calendar had 354 days in it. So they fell behind pretty quickly. About every three years, they added a “leap month” to make up for all of those missed days.
God commanded the Israelites to celebrate the Passover feast in the middle of the month of Nisan (Leviticus 23:5). Depending upon how the Jewish calendar plays out Easter falls somewhere in the months of March or April.
“Easter” not in most Bibles
Interestingly, the word Easter is not in most Bibles. It does appear in the King James Version (Acts 12:4), but the Greek word is actually pascha, which is everywhere else in the Bible translated as “Passover”. The actual word “Easter” has its roots in Germanic paganism not in Christianity. Furthermore, we have no biblical record of the Church setting aside a day once a year to celebrate the resurrection. Instead we see in the Book of Acts, that for them celebrating the resurrection was a daily thing, with perhaps a special emphasis put on Sunday (Revelation 1:10).
Fight back against this calendar confusion
Celebrate the resurrection of Jesus daily. Every time we gather together with other believers, there should be a resurrection celebration. Christianity is based on the resurrection of Jesus. This very truth is the foundation of our salvation. Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:4)
The same power that raised Christ from the dead is available to all of us. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (II Corinthians 5:17) For this reason, we can all be saved. The power that raised Jesus from the dead delivers us from addictions, from perverse life choices, from bitterness, depression, and disappointment. Don’t wait until April 12th, celebrate it today!
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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The Bible Says…

4-1-09

by Tad Lindley

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. (Colossians 2:8)
When I fly in an airplane, I trust that the mechanics who tend to it have read the manual. If I was about to get on the plane and the mechanic were to tell me, “I think that a plane can do just fine with a little water in the gas.” Or if I were to ask the pilot, “What does the manual say the stall speed is on this plane?” and he were to answer, “I’m not sure, but I heard another pilot one time say that it was 57 knots,” then I would have serious concerns about getting on the plane.
Red flags
When I have a question about the things of God, and I go to a minister of the Gospel, I don’t want to get an answer that begins with the words “I think,” or “I heard somebody preach it like this,” or “ancient history says”. Any time we need guidance in a spiritual matter, and we ask a question of a clergyman, the answer had better begin with these three words: “The Bible says”. If he starts his answer with the words, “Our church teaches,” red flags ought to be going off all over the back of our eyelids. And our next question needs to be this, “That’s what our church teaches, but what does the Bible say?” Not only should a man of God be able to tell us what the Bible says, but he should be able to show us where the Bible says it.
Extreme case: the gender of God
There is at least one pastor in America that on occasion refers to God as “She”. Now if that sets alarms off in your mind, it’s because it should. When God was manifest in the flesh (I Timothy 3:16), He did not come as the only begotten daughter of God, and yet there are people who can tell you, “My church teaches that God is a He or a She.” Well, that may be what your church teaches, but what does the Bible say?
Test the spirits
Jesus warned in Matthew 7:15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” Scripture indicates to us that at least as soon as Gentiles were being converted, that there were false teachings abounding (Galatians 1:8, Colossians 2:8, Jude 4). This is why John admonished the church: Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1)
How do we test the spirits to see whether they are of God? The Bible says regarding the church in Berea, that they were more noble than the church in Thessalonica, because they studied their Bibles to see if what Paul and Silas preached was true (Acts 17:11). They tested the teaching of Paul and Silas to make sure it was not some new philosophy, or human tradition. Likewise, we need to test what we are taught to see whether or not it is of God.
Don’t change the Bible, let it change you
The popular philosophies of our day and our human traditions will never be an adequate substitute for Bible salvation. As we review what we preach, teach, and believe, we must always examine it closely to see if it is in agreement with what God says. If it is not, then we need to change, because the word of God is everlasting: The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever. (Isaiah 40:8)
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, Alaska.

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If the World Fits,
You’re the Wrong Size

3-26-09

by Tad Lindley

(I take my title from a sermon preached by Rev. Johnny James, the message is mine).
And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. (Matthew 22:12)
Many times in my life I have heard women say, “I’m trying to lose some weight, because so-and-so are getting married, and I have got to be able to fit into my favorite dress for the wedding.” In general, men don’t care as much about other people’s weddings and such statements are hard for us to understand. Nevertheless, there is a powerful spiritual truth in it, so men stay with me.
The wedding banquet
Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven to a great wedding banquet (Matthew 22 1-14). He told about the original guests who refused the invitation, and how the king holding the feast sent his servants out to invite whoever would come, both good and bad. When the guests had gathered, among them there was found a man who did not have his wedding garment on. If you are a male, you might be in the habit of showing up to a wedding in jeans and a Carhartt jacket. “What’s the big deal,” you wonder.
To the king in the story, it was a big deal. In fact, the king said to his servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (22:13) Sound extreme? It is, but Jesus wasn’t interested in popular opinion polls, he was interested in the salvation of our souls.
Your personal wedding garment
There is a wedding coming in the future. Revelation 19 tells of the wedding supper. At that point, the Lord will be united with the church. Speaking of the church the Bible says, and to her it was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints [in the Bible “saints” means average Christians]. (19:8)
If you have repented of your sins and been baptized in Jesus’ name, you have felt what it is like to wear the wedding garment. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. (Galatians 3:27) And if you have received the gift of the Holy Ghost, you will rise up in the rapture to attend the wedding supper (John 1:12, Acts 2:38, Romans 8:9-11). Regardless of how sinful we have been, we have been invited by Jesus, and he has made a way for us to be cleansed of our sin.
But will the garment fit?
True, the garment may have fit at one time, but does it fit now? We may have experienced God’s saving power at one time, but along the way, we hung it up in the closet. We have become so comfortable in the weights and sins of the world that the wedding garment no longer fits. When the trumpet blasts there won’t be time to cast off those sins and squeeze into the wedding clothes.
If the world fits, you’re the wrong size
If the lifestyle of getting high on alcohol, meth, or marijuana fits you, then you are the wrong size for the wedding garment. If having sex outside of marriage fits you, you won’t be able to suck in your tummy enough to fit the wedding garment. If you are a liar, it won’t fit. If there is hate or pride in your heart, you’ll split your skirt. If you enjoy watching television programs where you see other people committing these same sins, you’ll bust your britches (Romans 1:32). If you spend more time at card games or bingo than you do in prayer, you need to go on a diet (Matthew 6:24). Husbands, if you are admiring the models in Victoria’s Secret, you need to shed your sin and cancel your subscription (Matthew 5:28). However you try to justify it, if the world fits you, then you are the wrong size.
Shedding those extra pounds
Forgive me for being old-fashioned, but I still believe that what worked in the Bible will work today. When the men of Jerusalem asked the Apostle Peter what to do about the sin that would keep them from God, Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. (Acts 2:38) If you already have these Biblical experiences, but you have backslidden and gotten comfortable with sin again, then it is time to repent and turn back to Jesus. Writing to those who had already been buried with Jesus in baptism and received the Holy Ghost, John wrote, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (I John 1:9) Whether you know nothing about Jesus, are a backslidden Christian, or fall somewhere in between, I urge you to heed the cry of Jesus throughout the gospels: If the world fits, you’re the wrong size.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Are You Suffering
From Atheistic Tendencies?

3-18-09

by Tad Lindley

Reputable surveys suggest that somewhere between two and four percent of Americans are atheist. In case you are not up on the lingo, an atheist is a person who denies that God even exists.
Christians are at the other end of the spectrum from the atheist. The Christian knows that there is one Lord (Deuteronomy 6:4, Ephesians 4:5), and will not turn from that truth. But unlikely as it might seem, many Christians are suffering from atheistic tendencies.
We will never stand up in public and deny the God that bought us. We will never sue to have the words “one nation under God” stricken from the pledge. We are not in-your-face atheists; we are Christians struggling with atheistic tendencies.
Symptoms of low-level atheism:
1. Worry
The number one symptom of mild atheism is worry. Jesus had a beautiful sermon on worry in Matthew 6, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature [make himself any taller]? ...Now if God so clothes the grass of the field which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry… but seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6:25-33 NKJV) This is a powerful promise straight from the mouth of God. It tells us that if we seek him and his kingdom first, we will be provided for.
Every time we take a thought break and begin to wonder about how we will pay the stove oil bill, or the light bill, or what we are going to do if we get laid off from work in six months, we are worrying. We are actually telling the Lord, “Jesus, you know all that stuff you said in Matthew chapter six about how you will take care of us? I don’t believe it. I don’t believe that you can do what you promised, so I am taking matters into my own hands; I’m going to worry about it until the situation is taken care of.”
2. Swearing and anger
I have only sworn two times since receiving the Holy Ghost. The Lord has the power to change our attitudes and habits. I wish I could say that I never get angry anymore either, but that is not the case. Just like you, I struggle with atheistic tendencies.
Every time something doesn’t go the way we want it to and we get angry, we are telling the world, “I am losing my temper, because this problem is so messed up that not even God can sort it out.” When we slam doors, swear, yell, break dishes, speed, or shake our fist at somebody we are in the grip of an atheism attack. You see the Bible very clearly states that there is nothing too hard for God to fix. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28 NKJV) This is why a person who has been born again can hit their thumb with a hammer and not swear. This is why the sincere Christian can look at a flat tire and say, “I guess God needs to slow me down, because he has someone he needs me cross paths with today.” Swearing and getting angry only says, “There is absolutely no way that God can turn this flat tire into a blessing!”
3. Stinginess
Some people are so greedy that they actually rob God. …In what way have we robbed God? In tithes and offerings. (Malachi 3:8 NKJV)) To those who would hold back the tithe the Lord has a challenge: “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.” (3:10 NKJV)
The tithe is the first ten percent of a paycheck, a PFD, a TANF check, a moose, Hugo Chavez stove oil, or any other blessing that the Lord sends your way. Every time that we decide not to tithe, we are trusting in ourselves to make ends meet and not trusting in God. Not only that, we are excluding ourselves from the powerful promise of God.
Avoiding a major atheism attack
If you are experiencing all three of these symptoms on a regular basis, that is 1) you are worrying, 2) you are prone to fits of anger, and 3) you are not tithing and offering, you are at extreme risk for very serious complications from your atheism. The only preventative measure is repentance. Meet with God in prayer. Pour your heart out in godly sorrow and ask for him to deliver you from atheistic tendencies.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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The Deadest Church in Town

3-11-09

by Tad Lindley

The only good church is a dead church. My church is a dead church. I think it’s the deadest in town, but I haven’t been to all of them, and I don’t want to start a shouting match in the letters to the editor about who has the deadest church in town.
Please don’t confuse a dead church with a boring church. Some of the deadest churches are also the liveliest. You can be bored in a dead church, but that is not what makes it dead. In fact, once a man was literally bored to death in church. And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead. (Acts 20:9) Poor Eutychus fell asleep in church and fell out of the third story window. That might have been boring church, but it certainly wasn’t dead church.
What exactly is a “dead church”
A dead church is a repentant church. It is a church that has died out to sin. A dead church is seeking to love the people of the world, but to be separated from the sinful behaviors so common in our world. The Bible sums it up like this: What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? (Romans 6:1-2) If we have repented of our sins, then we have begun walking toward God. In Bible terms, we are dead to sin.
When we die out to sin, we are identifying with Jesus’ death on the cross. You will notice if you read your Bible, after Jesus died on the cross, they buried him in a borrowed tomb. Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death... (Romans 6:3-4) In other words, if we have been baptized into Jesus, we are spiritually being buried with him.
The sign of a dead church
After comparing the baptism of a repentant person to Jesus on burial, the Bible goes on to call us to live a new life …that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:4) This is the sign of a dead church: the power of God will change people’s lives. The people will no longer conform to the world, but they will be transformed by the renewing of their minds (Romans 12:2).
Let me simplify it. In a dead church people are delivered from drunkenness and other forms of addiction. In a dead church, people give up gossip and gambling. In a dead church people quit plugging their minds with the violence of Hollywood and the liquid pornography of certain modern music. In a dead church people quit shacking up with their honey and marry her. Some of you might be thinking, “That sounds like prison”. Actually, when a person has died out to sin, they are happier than they have ever been in their life. They rejoice in the new life they have found. This is why dead churches are actually some of the liveliest churches around.
I wish you were dead
Almost 2,000 years ago, the Apostle Paul started a church in Corinth. It was going well. People repented of their sins, they were baptized in Jesus name (see I Corinthians 6:11), they had received the Holy Ghost. Then the apostle left to start churches elsewhere.
At this point, a lot of the sins that people had died out to came back to life. People were getting drunk on communion wine; others were gorging themselves on the bread. Sexual sin was rampant. Men were letting their hair grow long, and women were cutting theirs (I Corinthians 11:1-16). There were divisions in the church. People were abusing the gifts of the spirit. In these ways it was like many churches today.
Apostle Paul was very disturbed about the situation, and he wrote a letter to the church in Corinth. In effect he was telling them, “I wish you were dead”. He speaks plainly about the sins that had overtaken the church and calls upon them to die out to these sins in repentance. We call this letter I Corinthians.
We know from Paul’s second letter to the church in Corinth, II Corinthians, that the people were hurt when Paul sent them his “wish you were dead to sin” letter. He had stepped on their toes. He had confronted them plainly, and it hurt their feelings, but we know that they responded to Paul’s letter, and that they once again turned from sin and turned toward Jesus (II Corinthians 7:8-16). They came to know that the only good church is a dead church; dead to sin that is.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Love is a Choice
Part II

3-6-09

by Tad Lindley

If Adam and the woman had not eaten from the tree, everyone would be perfect. People would be easy to love. The problem is, they ate from the tree, and we are left with the consequences. Not only do we have difficulty loving other people ourselves, but those around us are often difficult to love. We do not have to like everybody, but if we want to be saved, we have to love them.
Love is a choice. It is often a hard choice to make. When a person chooses to love, then it will be followed up with action. I Corinthians 13, often called the “Love Chapter”, describes in detail what these actions are that indicate real love. These scriptures represent the measuring stick with which we are to compare our lives, and the goal that we are to aim for in every interaction with our fellow man.
Love does not seek its own…
Many times my pastor has said, “In marriage the two become one, and the one isn’t you”. If we could get a handle on that going into marriage, there would be far fewer divorces. Instead of contending for our own selfish desires, we would seek to please our spouse, because that is what love does.
Is not provoked…
Jesus was humiliated before men. He was hung up naked, bearing the weight of all of our sins. And yet when they plucked his beard, he did not pluck back. When they spit in his face, he did not spit back. When they slapped him, he turned the other cheek. When they ridiculed them, he was silent. He refused to be provoked, because he loved his persecutors. As hard as that is for us, if we choose to love, we will refuse to retaliate in anger. We will respond instead with love.
Thinks no evil…
If you have to call your wife’s cell phone to check on her every five minutes, because you suspect she is in adultery, you do not really love her. You are thinking evil of her. You have played right into the hand of the devil. If we live in constant suspicion of other people’s motives, we do not love them. Real love chooses instead to suspect the best.
Does not rejoice in iniquity…
Did you ever get a slight twinge of pleasure from hearing a bit of bad news about somebody? “Yep, I suspected it all along,” you may have said. That is rejoicing in iniquity. Real love feels godly sorrow over another person’s downfall.
But rejoices in the truth…
The truth of your situation may not be beautiful. You may live in a home where there is drunkenness, late night card playing, and general chaos. Very few of us have completely perfect home lives. Nevertheless, we can live victoriously in the face of the storm. Philippians 4:4 tells us to rejoice in the Lord always. Not only when things are going smoothly, but always.
Bears all things…
The Greek word translated as “bears” means to endure patiently. Real love does not blow up when it does not get its own way; it waits patiently, trusting in the Lord to fight the battle.
Hopes all things…
Love does not give up hope. Love expects a godly outcome. This is why a godly woman can stand beside a husband who has failed miserably. This is why a godly man can take back his adulterous wife. And this is why Christ died for us while we were yet sinners (Romans 5:6). Jesus did not wait for Israel or the Gentile world to repent before he went to the cross, nor should we wait for others to become perfect before we love them.
Believes all things…
In the face of all things, real love moves forward in faith. Real love looks beyond present conditions toward the vision of unseen victory.
Endures all things…
If we are able to practice all of the above forms of love, our love will endure all things. There will be nothing from outside of ourselves that will shake it.
Choosing love seems like an impossible thing. In our own ideas and attitudes it is impossible. But Jesus…said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). Choose love!
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Apostle Paul, “So You
Talked in Tongues, Big Deal”

2-19-09

by Tad Lindley

Before you think I have changed my tune, understand that I still maintain that we must receive the Holy Ghost to be saved. After all, didn’t Jesus tell Nicodemus, “Except a man be born of water, and of the Spirit he can not enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5)? At the Feast of Tabernacles didn’t Jesus proclaim that the Holy Ghost was for all people? In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) (John 7:37-39) And did not Jesus leave us this promise: If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him (Luke 11:13)?
Gift of the Holy Ghost in Scripture
In the Bible, people spoke in other tongues as they received the gift of the Holy Ghost. There are at least four places in scripture where it describes people receiving the Holy Ghost. The first was on the day of Pentecost about 29 AD. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:4). The second is at the house of an Italian man named Cornelius. While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. For [we] heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God (Acts 10:46). The third is among some followers of John the Baptist in Ephesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied (Acts 19:6). A fourth outpouring of the Holy Ghost occurred in Samaria. Something happened there that was above and beyond the miracles that had previously occurred, so it was not a number of other miracles, nor was it something un-notable, because the local Shaman was so intrigued by seeing people receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost that he offered the apostles money if they could teach him how to lead people to the experience (Acts 8:4-24).
The Pentecostals at Corinth
The Apostle Paul started a church in the Greek city of Corinth. They had a great revival there. People were delivered from addictions, from crime, from perverse lifestyles, and every other sin (I Corinthians 6:9-11). We know from Paul’s teachings in the book of Acts, that when these people had received the message of Jesus Christ and repented of their sins that they would have been baptized in Jesus’ name, and that they were filled with the Holy Ghost (6:11).
When Pastor Paul left Corinth, things began to fall apart. Without the godly guidance of their pastor, the people were vulnerable to false doctrine and to the moving of their flesh. As a result, some saints in the church fell back into sin. Others went overboard pursuing the gifts of the Spirit. Reading the book of I Corinthians one gets the picture of a fairly chaotic church.
So you talked in tongues, big deal
This was in a time before VHF and cell phones, so the only thing that the Apostle could do was write a letter to the church. That letter now appears in our Bibles as the book titled I Corinthians. Chapter 13 starts with these words: If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. (13:1-3 NASB) Paul was telling the church, you are pursuing the supernatural gifts, but you are doing it without love. Love is the foundation of all things in the kingdom of God. If we do not have love, it doesn’t matter whether we have talked in tongues, been baptized in Jesus’ name, or even repented of our sins. Unless we have love, we will be placing ourselves outside of God’s salvation.
Concerning the gift of the Holy Ghost, Peter said, “For the promise is unto you, to your children. And to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call” (Acts 2:39). The Lord has called us to receive the gift of his Spirit, but long before that, he called us to love. Love is the greatest commandment. Without love in our hearts and our lives, when we stand before him, it will not matter that we talked in tongues, that we prophesied or did any other great thing in the kingdom of God. Without love in our hearts, he will have to say, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity (Matthew 7:23).
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Can You See the Writing on the Wall?

2-12-09

by Tad Lindley

It is no secret that some Americans deeply resent the influence of the Bible on our world. In recent years Dr. Michael Newdow sued to have the words “under God” removed from the Pledge of Allegiance. He also sued in a failed attempt to prevent President Obama from using the phrase “so help me God” as he took the oath of office. Others have sought the removal of the Ten Commandments from public places, the abolition of prayer at public meetings, and the changing of Ohio’s state motto “With God, all things are possible”.
Imagine what life would be like if these folks got the upper hand. There would suddenly be many things that we could no longer say, because they are taken directly from the word of God, and as such could be deeply offensive.
No more English as usual
The whole thing would have us all at our wit’s end, but we couldn’t say that, because wit’s end is a direct quote from Psalm 107:27. You see, all the days of my life (Psalm 23:6) I have been using Biblical expressions and not even realizing it. We would have to tell babies not to babble, because babbling is a Biblical concept (Genesis 11:9). From the cradle to the grave we would be affected. We could no longer be at death’s door, because that might be seen as an allusion to Psalm 107:18. As far as knowing what to say and what not to say, most of us would be like the blind leading the blind (Matthew 15:14). It’s just that no one would admit it, because it is scripture and it might offend someone.
Simple things would change. We would have to pretend that we didn’t know what the weather was doing. After all, red sky at night, sailor’s delight comes from Matthew 16:2. Even your wardrobe would change. You would have to cut all the labels out of your Fruit of the Loom™ clothing. It is a direct play on the words fruit of the womb found in Psalm 127:3. Your wife could no longer be the apple of your eye (Deuteronomy 32:10). You could no longer say that something was just a drop in the bucket (Isaiah 40:15), nor could you be all things to all men (I Corinthians 9:22). Any slip up with such expressions could be considered offensive, and possibly illegal.
Huge impact on crime
Crime rates would go up. Schools could no longer legally teach students that it is better to give than to receive. After all, is straight out of the book of Acts (20:35). Nor could they be taught love their neighbor as themselves (Leviticus 19:18). Alcoholics Anonymous and treatment centers would have to be shut down, because every time somebody said higher powers, they would be quoting from Romans 13:1.
Then crime rates would go down, as it was found that some of our most basic laws are Biblical in nature. Thou shalt not murder and thou shalt not steal are straight from Mount Sinai (Exodus 20). These laws as such could be offensive. We would have to get rid of them.
Parents could not tell their children respect your mom and dad (Exodus 20:12). If a policeman overheard dad say, “Like mother, like daughter,” dad could be arrested for quoting Ezekiel 16:44.
Watch your tongue
When things are tough, don’t even try to say that you have been meeting yourself coming home. It might be perceived as a vague reference to Amos 9:13. It would be a tough one for the public defender to help you with. If you said that you’d been to hell and back, you would be talking about I Peter 3:19. If a policeman heard you saying that, you wouldn’t even make it by the skin of your teeth (Job 19:20). I suppose you might find a friend to bail you out in the eleventh hour (Matthew 20:6), maybe not though. Such a friend might be perceived as going the second mile (Matthew 5:41) for you, another Biblical behavior that could get him in trouble.
You say, “That’s fine, I can keep my mouth shut”. Remember friend, pride comes before the fall (Proverb 16:18). What if the troopers showed up with a warrant to search your kitchen? If they found angel food cake, they would put you in cuffs, for that is a direct reference to Psalm 78:25. You had better have ripped the label off of your syrup bottle, since Aunt Jemima traces her name all the way back to the book of Job (42:14). Even if the troopers don’t find any contraband, be very careful when you serve them tea and pilot bread. Whatever you do, don’t say, “Eat, drink, and be merry”(Ecclesiastes 8:15), you’ll give yourself away.
Quite frankly this business has me worried. I was going to ask you if you can see the writing on the wall, but I better hadn’t, since that comes from the Book of Daniel (5:5).
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Desperate to Get to Church, Woman Cuts Shoes

2-4-09

by Tad Lindley

AMITY, ARKANSAS - When 87 years old May Kirkpatrick woke up one Sunday morning, she had a destination in mind - church. Unfortunately, something had happened to her body overnight. Fluid had pooled in her feet, and they had swollen to the point that she could not get her shoes on.
Mamaw May (mamaw is a southern term similar to maurluq) was not the average churchgoer. In her mind, church attendance was not optional. Many people in this situation would have simply stayed home, not Mamaw May. She found a pair of shoes made of softer material, got out a pair of scissors, and cut the shoes down to the sole, forcing them to fit her swollen feet. Off she went to church.
We might ask, “What was so special about this service that Mamaw May would choose to destroy a pair of shoes to get there?” The answer is simple, it was just another Sunday. It was not a songfest or a singspiration. There was no Resurrection Day play, nor Christmas program. The church was not handing out candy. There was no special speaker. It was just another Sunday morning service.
You see, Mamaw May loved Jesus. She was in touch with the fact that the Lord inhabits the praises of his people (Psalm 22:3). And she knew that a person who truly loves the Lord wants to be in the presence of other believers. It is for this reason that the Book of Hebrews teaches us not to avoid the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching (Hebrews 10:25). In modern language: don’t skip church like some people do, but encourage each other, especially as you see the return of the Lord coming.
So what is your excuse?
In my travels, I have visited many churches. I have been to churches where there was standing room only when there was a play with candy bags afterward. And yet on a regular Sunday morning there might be five people present. Where did the other 295 people go?
I know that there are some elderly men and women who actually cannot make it to church. God will take care of them. I am writing to the younger generations. Someday we will all stand before God and be asked to give an account of our lives (Romans 14:12). He will want to know why we seldom attended church even though we were completely healthy.
Who is your God?
When I was a young man, if the Grateful Dead played any city within four hundred miles of where I lived, I was there. I would have gone with swollen feet. I would have gone with any infirmity known to man. Men have been known to cross Norton Sound in order get alcohol in Nome. Others have chartered planes to Dillingham, McGrath, and Aniak in order to get a drink of alcohol. In the past, those things were our gods, but now God is calling us to repent. How much more should we be willing to go to any length to do what he wants us to do?
Search your heart. The next time that you are tempted to miss church, if you are a basketball player, ask yourself, “If I had this same chest cold would I stay home from basketball?” If you are a tobacco addict, ask yourself, “Would this same snowstorm that I am about to use as an excuse to skip church keep me from running down to the store to get a pack of cigarettes?” If you love hunting king eiders, ask yourself, “If I was up all night with sick kids, would I still go down to the ocean and hunt birds?” If the answer is yes to any of those questions, then they are not valid reasons to miss church.
What if there is no church to attend?
Some of you live in a community that has no Bible believing church in it. Pray that God would raise up a church in your village. Seek out other believers with whom you can meet with on a regular basis for prayer, singing, and Bible study. If conditions permit, travel to Bethel or to a village that does have a church.
Remember, someday we will all stand before God. Mamaw May has gone on to her reward. But on that day, you will see an elder standing in line ahead of you. She will be holding a sliced up pair of shoes, because she refused to let her failing body keep her from coming to the house of God. What will your excuse be?
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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The Last Time You
Will Ever Go to Church

1-21-09

by Tad Lindley

The old joke tells about three men discussing their own funerals. They got on the topic of what they want people to say to one another as they pass by the casket at the end of the service. The first says, “I want them to tell what a great provider I was and how I loved my family”. The next man says, “I want them to look at my face and say, ‘He was such a good man. He loved God and served people’”. The last man grins and says, “I want somebody to stop at my casket and start jumping up and down shouting, ‘Look everybody, he’s moving!’”
Unless Jesus comes again before you die, the last time that you will ever go to church will be your own funeral. Even if you are an atheist or the worst of sinners, the chances are good that your family will want to have a funeral for you. Your body will be laid out in the coffin, and your soul will have already departed to its next destination.
The order of the service
There will be songs sung about you. Perhaps friends and family will come before the people and share how you touched their lives. Somebody will read from the eulogy in the funeral program aloud while the congregation reads along silently and studies the pictures of you spanning your life. Eventually the preacher will come to the pulpit open his Bible and preach to the congregation. He will say some words to the family and to the ones gathered into the church. They will be words of comfort and encouragement. In nearly every funeral I have attended the preacher has preached the deceased right into heaven.
Where will you be watching from?
At this point in the service, according to scripture (Luke 23:43), you will already have departed for your new home three days prior. You will have died saved, or you will have died lost. If you died saved you will be able to look in on your own funeral service (see Hebrews 12:1). If you are suffering the weeping and gnashing of teeth in the torments of hell, you will be at least able to see those in heaven looking in, for did not the rich man as he was in hell see Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom (Luke 16:23)? For just a moment, I am going to ask you to imagine that those in hell might be able to see this present world.
At this point in the funeral your destination is already forever settled. It will be too late for the words of the preacher to change it. If you are in heaven, nothing that he can say will change your salvation, and if you are in hell, there is absolutely nothing that he can say that will bring you back from damnation. The tree lies where it falls.
The sermon can’t save you
The preacher can talk about your baptism and the fervor that you once had for God. He can tell about times that you shed tears of joy as God filled you with his Spirit. He can talk about your Sunday school years. He can proclaim you saved and the church can rise and sing. If you died lost, on your third day in hell you will hear their voices echoing in through the gates of hell, In the sweet by and by, we shall meet on that beautiful shore. Iliinii tayima, ciuqerani tangruciiqukut. The preacher won’t know it, the folks in the church won’t know it, but you will know it: repentance is just three days out of reach for you. Tomorrow it will be four. There will be no going back.
The time is now
After we die, it is too late to repent. This is why John the Baptist preached, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. (Matthew 3:2) Even Jesus said, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. (Mark 1:15) The Apostles preached the same message, Repent ye and be converted… (Acts 3:19)
Hell wants your soul, and it wants you to believe that you can be saved in any condition. That simply is not true. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21 NIV; also see I Cor. 6:9-11)
Friend, I have written this column for you. Please read through the list above. It is not there to condemn anyone who has already died, but to sound a warning call to you who are alive and remain. Are any of the sins on that list active in your life? The time to repent is now. Today is the day to turn away from sin and turn towards God. None of us knows what the future holds. Your last church service may only be three days away. By then it will be too late to repent.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Will You Do God
a Great Big Favor This Year?

1-9-09

by Tad Lindley

Imagine that somebody had heroically saved your life in the past. At great risk to their own life, they had plucked you out of the jaws of death. Now imagine that they called you up today saying, “I was wondering if you could do me a little favor.” You would say, “Yes!” Now suppose the friend tells you this: “It may sound strange, but I was wondering if you would take ten or fifteen minutes every morning for this next year to get a cup of coffee ready for me. I’ll stop by the house to get it, but not come in unless you insist.” Most would say, “Absolutely, I’ll even have you in for breakfast.”
Would you do it for the country?
In the World Wars millions of young men eagerly arose to serve the United States. Many of them sacrificed their very lives. What if President Obama called you at your home and asked you to do some great thing for our nation? “Hello. This is President Obama. Listen, our nation is in a war for its very existence. And I was wondering if you would be able to help. I am not asking you to go to boot camp, or to go to Afghanistan. I am just asking you to take fifteen minutes out of your day, every day for the rest of 2009.” Would you do it? Of course you would.
What about for God?
What if Jesus spoke to you and said, “There’s something I need you to do.” Would you do it? Would you do a favor for the One who knew you in your mother’s womb? Would you help out the God whose mercy has kept you until this very day? Would you go out of your way for the One who has provided your food and clothing and shelter? Would you do a great thing for the very God who gave his life for you while you were living in sin?
Well, as it turns out, the Lord does have a favor to ask of you. It is found in Isaiah 34:16: Look in the scroll of the Lord and read...(NIV). Jesus is looking for a people that would be hungry enough for him that they would actually read his word. He wants you to read the entire Bible this year.
This is what He wants
“Brother Tad, how do you know that?” I know it, because that is what he wants for all people. He wants us all to desire to know him and to please him. The word of God speaks this wonderful praise for the people of a town named Berea: Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. (Acts 17:11 NIV) He wants us to be able to compare what we hear with what the Bible tells us. Galatians 1:8 declares, But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. Since we didn’t hear the Apostles preach the only way we can know what they preached and taught is to read the Bible or listen to it on tape.
Psalm 119 describes the words of God like this: Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. (119:105) Unless you turn the light on by reading it, you will be walking in darkness. You will be subject to believing whatever the preacher tells you without knowing whether it is true or not.
3 a day, 5 on Sunday
There are many ways to read your Bible in a year. A way that is easy to remember is this: read 3 chapters a day, and 5 on Sunday. This usually will take fifteen minutes or less per day. “Brother Tad, I don’t know where I’d find the time to read”. If you are sincere about your desire to know God and we give him 15 minutes a day, he will make it up to you.
Most of you have television in your homes, and already spend way more than fifteen minutes per day watching TV or playing video games. Make a rule for yourself: the TV does not go on until I have read my three chapters (five on Sunday). If you take a steam every night, make a rule for your self: I will light the stove, but I will not go back out to steam until I have read my three chapters (five on Sunday). If you like to sleep at night, make a rule for yourself: I will not lay down in my bed until I have read three chapters (five on Sunday). You can do it.
If you cannot get a Bible where you live, call me and I will get one to you. If you answer God’s call, you will be blessed, because God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Peace, Be Still

12-22-08

by Tad Lindley

In Mark chapter 4 we find the disciples sailing across the Sea of Galilee, also known as Lake Tiberias, which is in Northern Israel. Having preached all day, Jesus had fallen asleep in the back of the boat. An unexpected storm broke loose after they were far from shore. The disciples had no choice but to ride out the storm. As the winds increased and the waves grew mountainous they began to fear for their lives.
Keep in mind that some of these men had been commercial fishermen. They had fished these same waters all of their lives. On this particular night they found themselves up against the storm of their lives. As they assessed the situation, it began to appear to them as if they would not survive this storm.
The perfect storm
In the midst of the blowing spray and the green water coming up over the bow, is a strange juxtaposition. Jesus of Nazareth is in the back of the boat fast asleep with his head on a pillow. I have often wondered how his pillow did not get soaked. As certain death draws nearer, the disciples turn to Jesus, “Master, don’t you care that we are getting ready to die?”
Passenger number 1
You see, the disciples did not yet understand who Jesus was. In spite of the miracles they had seen up to that point, they had not yet made the connection that the one on the pillow was God manifest in the flesh. They were still living in a John 1:10 mindset: He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
Concerning Jesus the Bible teaches us that all things were made by him, and without him was nothing made that was made (John 1:3). This one who was peacefully riding out the storm while the disciples were putting on their raingear and bailing water was the same one who created all things.
The Jesus they didn’t understand
This was not a new situation to him. Jesus had been here before many years ago, because I read in my Bible about a time when darkness was on the face of the deep and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters (Genesis 1:1). The same One who had hovered over the face of the deep in Genesis 1:1 was on this night hovering over the face of the deep robed in flesh. When the disciples awoke Jesus, they were not just waking up a carpenter’s son from Nazareth, they were waking up the one who on the first day, turned the darkness into light. They thought that he was 30 some years old, they did not yet comprehend that he was the same one who shut in the sea with doors when it burst forth and issued from the womb (Job 38:8), and the same one who said, “This far you may come and no farther, and here your proud waves must stop” (38:11). When they reached out to touch Jesus and rouse him, they did not know it, but they were laying their hand upon the same one who on the second day created the atmosphere that had given birth to the winds that were blowing on the Sea of Galilee threatening to drown them.
Jesus shows his true colors
With no other words, Jesus rose from his sleep. He spoke this simple sentence to the water and the air, “Peace, be still”. And the winds ceased and there was a great calm. The disciples began to get an inkling of the fact that Jesus was more than just a prophet, he was the Son of God. And because he made the world, when Jesus spoke, the elements had to obey his voice they had no choice. If they had fully understood who Jesus was, they would not have been afraid. They would have instead woke him up and said something like, “Jesus, the winds are getting a bit stiff, could you tell the air to cut it back to about ten knots out of the East?”
When Jesus is in your boat
Yes, there boat was on the verge of sinking. Doubtless they had been bailing water and struggling to keep the bow pointed into the waves, but when Jesus is on your ship, it won’t sink. Even today when it seems like we are sinking in the storms of life, we can call on the same Jesus. The same Jesus who woke up from his pillow and spoke to the disciples’ storm, can speak, “Peace, be still”, to our storms in 2008.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Surrendering to Win

12-11-08

by Tad Lindley

Imagine this scene. It is Sunday afternoon. A family is sitting at the table having tea after lunch. The phone rings. It is their pastor.
“Hello,” says Dad.
“Why weren’t you at church this morning,” demands the pastor.
“The baby was sick. We were at the emergency room.”
“Don’t lie to me,” yells the pastor over the phone, “You overslept again didn’t you?”
“No, Pastor, we were at the hospital with the baby.”
“That’s just like you to lie,” responds the pastor. “You spent most of your life sleeping in on Sundays. I thought that things would change when you were born again, I guess they haven’t. Next time this happens, I’m going to come over kick down the door and drag you to church!” And then he slams down the phone.
Are you that pastor?
We would all agree that this is no way for a pastor to treat his saints. If we were pastoring a church we would not treat people that way. And yet some of us try to run our marriage exactly like that. We accuse, threaten, and continually bring up sins of the past. In fact, this is exactly the way to ruin a marriage.
But what about us
In the example of the controlling pastor, it is very easy to see that there is something seriously wrong. It is not so easy to see it when we are the controlling person. I know from many years of counseling people, that many marriages are slowly being destroyed by men and women who treat their spouse just like the imaginary pastor above. If you are one of them, you will never know peace until you surrender your need to control.
Number one way to wreck your marriage
Unless we surrender ourselves to God we are in a position to lose our marriage. The husband may be afraid of losing his wife’s affection or vice versa. Now the logical thing to do would be to love them harder. Unfortunately, what happens instead is the number one way to wreck your marriage: accusation. One spouse begins to accuse the other of (pick one), smoking marijuana in the qasgiq, looking at pornography, having an affair at work, being in love with an old girlfriend, or wanting to leave (the list could go on and on). Instead of making them want to stay in the marriage, the accuser ends up pushing the other away.
Playing into the devil’s hand
As soon as we begin to accuse our spouse, we are actually helping the devil. The Bible teaches us that the devil is the accuser of our brethren…which accused them before God day and night (Revelation 12:10). In the book of Job, we see Satan in the very presence of God accusing Job of being a hypocrite (1:9-11, 2:4-5). Hell is at war seeking to destroy marriages. As soon as we begin to accuse our spouse we might as well be patting the devil on the back and saying, “Alright, go get her Satan”.
I realize there are situations where your spouse may be guilty, but we do not restore them by accusing or by repeatedly bringing up the past. Husband, if you have to constantly check your wife’s e-mail to make sure she is not e-mailing an old boyfriend, you have a problem. Wife if you find yourself searching the house to see if your husband has a stash of Victoria’s Secret catalogs hidden somewhere, you have a problem. If you have to call his work ten times a day to see if he is actually there and not out having an affair, you have a problem. Even if your spouse is guilty of what you are accusing them of, your accusations do nothing to heal the marriage. Instead, they drive your spouse away. They permit the spirit of divorce to begin to work in your home.
But Brother Lindley, if you only knew…
Some of you are angry. You think that I am being insensitive to the fact that in 2004 you did catch your husband with five years worth of Sports Illustrated Swim Suit issues hidden under the mattress, and in 1997 you found his bong hidden behind the shampoo bottles in the steam bath, and then just last week, you caught him saying, “Hi”, to the woman that he liked when he was in sixth grade thirty years ago (your actual list of wrongs may be somewhat different). Perhaps in 1987 your wife moved out and lived with another man for six months, and then in 1999 she spent all the dividend money on bingo, and then two months ago she got drunk and wrecked the truck.
I am not trying to diminish the tragedy of your victim-hood, but if you have a list of reasons why you need to be suspicious and controlling of your spouse, you need to learn to forgive and place the matter in the hands of the Lord. The Bible tells us that if we are keeping a mental list of every wrong thing they have done in the past, we are not a loving person. Love… keeps no record of wrongs (I Corinthians 13:5 NIV). And if I…have not love, I am nothing (13:2).
There is hope
If you are struggling with constantly accusing your spouse and continually bringing up the past, your marriage is sinking. Even if your spouse really is guilty, ultimately there is nothing that you can do about that until they decide to repent. The only person that you can change is yourself. Now is the time to ask the Lord to heal your bitterness and help you to love. God’s ways are above our ways, and when we surrender our will and our spouse to him, we will know the truth [Jesus], and the truth shall make us free (John 8:32).
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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If Jesus Didn’t Speak In Tongues

12-4-08

by Tad Lindley

Somebody recently posed this argument: If Jesus didn’t speak in tongues, then why should we? At first it makes great sense. After all, scripture calls us to be imitators of Christ (I Corinthians 11:1). This line of thinking inspired shirts, bracelets, and bumper stickers that had the acronym WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?). This would work great except for one small problem: we are not Jesus.
First of all let us first understand who Jesus is. According to the Bible, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1). Then it goes on to tell us that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). I Timothy 3:16 tells us that without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh… If you still doubt that Jesus is God, read John 1:10: He was in the world, and the world was made by him, but the world knew him not.
Jesus Christ was the only begotten son of God (John 3:16). We all have the potential to become sons of God (John 1:12), but there is only one begotten son of God. When the Spirit of God overshadowed Mary, she became pregnant with Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:18). On his mother’s side he was fully human, on his father’s side he was fully God. For example, on his mother’s side the devil could tempt him with bread, but on his father’s side, he could multiply bread to feed thousands of people.
Jesus could do things we cannot
Jesus was different from you and me. Being both God and man, he could do things that you and I could not do. There are also things that we can do that Jesus could not do.
Because Jesus was fully God, he had the power to live a sinless life. There is not a person on the planet that can claim sinlessness. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Jesus was tempted in all points the same as we are (Hebrews 4:15), but he did not succumb to temptation. As God, Jesus had the power to tell the elements what to do. When he spoke to the storm, “Peace, be still,” it had to obey him. No man can control the weather. We can pray and ask God to change it, but we cannot change it on our own.
We can do things that Jesus could not
First on the list of things that we can do that Jesus could not do, is to tell a lie. The Bible tells us that it is impossible for God to lie (Hebrews 6:8). If you are old enough to read this, you have lied, possibly many times in your life.
Another thing that you can do that Jesus Christ could not do is to go to church. There was no church in Jesus’ day, only the Temple in Jerusalem and Jewish synagogues scattered wherever Jewish people lived. The Bible teaches us that it is essential for those who are saved to hear preaching (I Corinthians 1:21). It also teaches us not to stop going to church (Hebrews 10:25). Church attendance is an essential part of being Christian, and yet in the flesh Jesus never set foot in a church service.
Without repentance we cannot be saved, and yet Jesus never repented of sin. He could not repent of sin, for he had never sinned. Even though Jesus never repented of sin, he still calls for us to. In fact, if we do not repent of our sin, we will be lost forever. Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish (Luke 13:3,5). There is no way around that.
WWJWMTD
Because we are nowhere near equal to Jesus, there are much better questions to ask than WWJD? What would Jesus do? Here are some suggestions: WWJWMTD, what would Jesus want me to do? WDTBSISD, what does the Bible say I should do? HDTADI, how did the apostles do it?
After Jesus ascended to heaven (something else that the apostles could not do, since they had not yet received the Holy Ghost), about 120 of the 500 followers who had seen the risen Lord followed his instructions. Among the 120 were Mary the mother of Jesus and Jesus half-brothers, as well as the eleven surviving disciples (Acts 1:13-15). They were doing something that we have no record of Jesus ever doing: waiting in Jerusalem to receive the Holy Ghost (Acts 1:8).
About one week later, Jesus’ promise was fulfilled. They were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:4). In a matter of minutes, Mary, Jesus half-brothers, and the others were baptized with the Holy Ghost. They were converted. They were born of the Spirit. They would go on to turn the Mediterranean world right side up.
Jesus did not speak in tongues, but Christians will
We have no record of Jesus speaking in any languages other than Hebrew, Aramaic, and possibly Greek. We do know that he wanted his disciples to speak in tongues when they received the gift of the Holy Ghost, and we know that he wants all people to experience this wonderful power and presence of God. In his own words, If any man thirst let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive; for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) (John 7:37-39) Remember, when they did receive it, they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. They fulfilled both the command (John 3:5) and the promise of God (Acts 1:8), and in doing so, they found themselves unexpectedly speaking in tongues as the Spirit of God moved upon them.
Until the return of the Lord to catch away his church, this same salvation is available to all! Furthermore, speaking in tongues is actually the work of the Holy Spirit interceding for us with groans that words cannot express (Romans 8:26). Just as a foot cannot tell the knee it isn’t useful in the body, we cannot discount and toss off as unnecessary the gift and use of speaking in tongues. Jesus may not have spoken in tongues but he made sure his believers were given instructions for time and place to receive this power (Acts 2:1-4).
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Thanksgiving

11-29-08

by Tad Lindley

We tend to think of Thanksgiving as an American holiday. If you attended public schools, you may have been taught that the first Thanksgiving involved the English speaking Pilgrims at the Plymouth Rock settlement and their Indian neighbors. Actually the first Thanksgiving involving Europeans was celebrated by about 600 Spaniards on September 8, 1565 in what is now Florida. I hate to mess up your paradigm, but there was not a word of English spoken at the first Thanksgiving. The Spanish settlers celebrated with a Catholic mass. Prior to 1565, the many tribes of people already living in North America when the Europeans got here already had their own festivals of Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving in the Bible
In fact, Thanksgiving has been celebrated for thousands of years. Although existing since earliest times, Thanksgiving was officially instituted in Leviticus chapter 7. In the book of Nehemiah the Jews which returned to Jerusalem and were rebuilding the walls celebrated it (11:17). They even had special ministers whose job it was to oversee Thanksgiving (12:8). Eight of the 150 songs in the Hebrew song book specifically mention thanksgiving. Sixty-three of them praise God for his greatness. One of the most famous being Psalm 100:4, Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
Looks the same
This Thursday in the United States people will be celebrating Thanksgiving. If you could look through the windows into many homes and not hear what they were saying, it might appear that they were celebrating in Biblical fashion. People will be leaping around their living rooms. There will be loud shouts of acclamation. They will be celebrating with food.
But it sounds different
Psalm 107:22 gives us this picture of Thanksgiving: And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing. It is just like modern Thanksgiving, except instead of declaring the Lord’s works with rejoicing, people will be declaring the college quarterback’s works with rejoicing. Times have changed.
Not just once a year
In the Hebrew scriptures we read about frequent Thanksgiving. Abel brought the firstlings of his flock and the fat portions thereof (Genesis 4:4). Noah built an altar to God as soon as he beached the Ark (Genesis 8:20). In the face of his destruction Job somehow managed to recognize God’s excellent greatness (Job 1:20). Across time we see God’s people recognizing that he is the source of every blessing. Thanksgiving could be celebrated at any time.
It was about Him, not them
In the Bible, Thanksgiving was always about Jesus or Jehovah (in the Old Testament). Nowadays, Thanksgiving seems to be more about us. Many of us will be more concerned with gorging ourselves with food than about recognizing the Lord. In the Bible Thanksgiving was about man entertaining the Lord with praise. Now it seems to be more about man entertaining himself with bowl games, beer, and turkey.
Fight back against modern Thanksgiving
What if every home in Bethel and every village in the AVCP region were to turn off the television on Thursday for one hour? Then spend that hour as a family thanking the Lord for the many blessings that he has given us. For one day, that would make us the prayingest place on the planet! There would be about 20,000 people having an old time Thanksgiving. If we threw in a few songs of praise and read some Bible, we would be getting even closer to a Biblical Thanksgiving. Not quite sure how to do it? Here are some instructions:
Psalm 150
Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.
This Thanksgiving, let us take time to give thanks to the author and finisher of our faith, Jesus Christ.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Hell Wants Your Guns

11-20-08

by Tad Lindley

Many gun dealers are reporting gun and ammunition sales have gone up dramatically since Barack Obama won the presidential election on November 4th. Some sources are reporting that gun sales have tripled. Senator Obama’s voting record has shown that he favors a reduction in the second amendment right of American citizens to keep and bear arms. Anticipating reduced access to guns and increased taxes on ammunition, Americans are stocking up.
Gun control in scripture
The whole concept of gun control goes back thousands of years prior to the invention of gunpowder. In the Old Testament, the Israelites were subject to a primitive form of gun control. At that time the Philistines had conquered Israel. The Israelites were required to pay excessive taxes to the kings of Philistia. To keep the children of Israel from rising up and throwing off the yoke of bondage, the Philistines had confiscated almost all of the sword and daggers in Israel.
The last two swords in Israel
There were only two swords left in all of Israel. So it came to pass that in the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan: but with Saul and with Jonathan was there found (I Samuel 13:22). To keep the people of Israel from making weapons any type of iron work was forbidden. The Israelites even had to bring their farm tools to Philistia to have them sharpened. Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make themselves swords or spears”: but all the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen every man his sickle, and his plow tool, and his ax, and his hoe (I Samuel 13:19-20).
Your spiritual weapons
In the Old Testament the people used both physical and spiritual warfare. In the New Testament Christians are instructed to use spiritual warfare, relying upon Jesus for overcoming power. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places (Ephesians 6:12). The weapons of our warfare are not carnal [that is they are not physical like swords or guns], but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds (II Corinthians 10:4).
You have a number of spiritual weapons that are designed to pull down strongholds. The word of God is your sword. That is why we must read our Bibles. Faith combined with prayer has the power to move mountains (Matthew 17:20). Prayer combined with fasting can drive out devils (Mark 9:29).
Hell wants to take your guns away
When Simon correctly identified Jesus as the Son of God, Jesus changed Simon’s name to Peter (a stone). Jesus said, “Upon this rock [the revelation that Jesus is the Son of God] I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:16-18). Hell is not happy with this fact. That is why the devil wanted to destroy Peter before he could ever step into a pulpit and start preaching (Luke 22:31).
Hell wants to take away your spiritual guns. A prayerless, faithless, unfasting, and unreading church is an impotent church that will never prevail against the gates of hell. Hell knows as well that an individual Christian who does not spend time alone with God in prayer, does not read the Bible daily, and does not fast will be weak in faith and will become powerless and be easily tempted away from salvation.
Take a stand against spiritual gun control
When David’s wife Michal saw him worshiping the Lord with all of his might, a spirit of gun control rose up within her. She tried to make David feel ashamed for worshipping in a public place. David told her, “If you thought I made a fool out of myself worshipping God in public this time, it’s going to be even worse next time”. In this same way, there is a spirit in today’s world that would shame the church into giving up her guns and settling in to a dead, powerless existence.
The church has a whole lot more to be concerned about than whether the next congress will strip away gun rights. That is speculation. Hell is working hard even as you read this to get you to give up your spiritual guns. As we approach the day of the coming of the Lord, we ought to be heavily investing in our spiritual arsenal. If you are a Christian, now is the time to pray, read, fast, and fan the flames of faith as never before.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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One of the Greatest
Sermons Ever Preached

11-12-08

by Tad Lindley

It was one of the greatest sermons ever preached. I have since thought about it many times and wept. There were no cameras there to record it. No sound system. I was the only one in the congregation.
We had traveled to the village from Bethel, and we were early. I went over to the church to pray before service. The pastor let me in and left. I was alone praying. After a while I heard somebody come in. I could hear them setting up chairs in the back of the church. Leaving off praying I went to see who it was. It was an older lady, but not an elder. We shook hands.
The sermon
Suddenly I realized who she was. I had been in her home before. Her son had been a good friend of mine. He had died a most tragic and unnecessary death less than a year earlier.
“You’re so-and-so’s mother aren’t you,” I said, calling the name of my friend.
“Yes, I am”.
I said a few words concerning her son, and then I inquired about her husband, a gifted man who had helped me many times back home in Bethel.
“I have no idea where he is. I have not seen him in six months.”
We set up the rest of the chairs in silence.
Knocked down, but not out
Instantly, this older lady became one of my heroes. She was acquainted with sorrow, grief, and frustration. She had sustained a personal loss like I have never borne. Her husband had disappeared. If anybody had a reason to sit home and be down in the dumps, it was her, and yet in spite of the pain and the tragedy in her life, she was the first one at church that night. And when she got to the church house, she didn’t slump down in the pew. No, she had made up her mind: even if life is falling apart around me, I will serve Jesus.
The church slowly filled up with people. I preached what the Lord had given me to preach, but my sermon paled in comparison to the message that I had heard before service.
Tragedy in the Bible
In the Bible we read about a man named Job. His story is possibly the oldest book in the Bible. Job lived in a time when a man’s wealth was measured not in money, but in his animals. Job was a very wealthy man. He had many animals, many servants, and seven sons and three daughters. Within an hour or two, Job lost everything. His children were killed, his animals taken, and his servants destroyed. The only thing that he had left was his wife. Within days, his wife would try to get Job to kill himself. This was a man with some serious problems.
When all else fails, worship
If anybody had an excuse to get discouraged it was Job. But Job did not go down to the bootleggers and buy a jug. He did not pick up a gun and end it all. He did not turn his back on God and get bitter. After he got the news of the deaths of his ten children Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing. (Job 1:20-22 NIV)
Did you catch that? In the face of overwhelming grief, Job chose to worship God! He didn’t wallow in his victim-hood, he made up his mind: regardless of what setbacks life gives me, I will serve God.
When things got worse for Job and his body was covered with boils, maggots were eating his decaying flesh, and his wife stood over him and told him to commit suicide, Job did not give up. He clung to a hope that was not dependent on people or things. For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God. (Job 19:25-26)
The devil would have loved to see Job throw in the towel. He would have loved to see the grieving mother get mad at God and quit church. He would love each one of us to live in a victim mentality. Victim-hood is a choice. Regardless of what has happened, we do not have to choose victim-hood; we can rise up and live in victory. Jesus already purchased that victory for us.
This newspaper is in your hands for a reason. If you have reached the end of your rope, call on Jesus. The answer is not found in giving up. Peace comes through Jesus Christ. If you have been knocked down by circumstances in life, remember Job, remember the lady who preached to me. Get up and keep serving God. He will not fail you.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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What Exactly Do You Mean By “Born Again”?

11-5-08

by Tad Lindley

Reader, what does the term “born again” mean to you? If we were to poll a cross section of America we would get a wide variety of answers. Some would say, “It happens when you have had a powerful touch from God and you cried”. Still others, “I was born again when I stepped forward and shook the pastor’s hand in front of the church.” Some perhaps, “When I graduated from Sunday school I was born again.” Others, “When I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal savior.” Let’s go all the way back in time and see what the Bible says.
The background of “born again”
In or about the year 27 AD, a new phrase was coined: born again. It was after sunset. A religious leader named Nicodemus had come in the darkness to meet with Jesus. Nicodemus was hungry for the truth. He started the conversation, but Jesus quickly changed it to this strange new topic ... “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” (John 3:3 NIV)
Most Americans are familiar with the term “born again”. After all it has been around almost two thousand years. This evening in the late 20’s AD was the first recorded instance of the term ever being used. If Jesus had spoken it to you or me we would have understood roughly what he was getting at. Nicodemus had never heard the term before, however, and he was baffled by it.
What are you talking about, Jesus?
“How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!” (John 3:4 NIV) In the next verse, Jesus explained what He meant by the term “born again”. Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. (John 3:5 NIV) Jesus defined being born again for Nicodemus. It means being born of the water, and the spirit. Notice that Jesus said no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of the water and the spirit. This means that being born again is not optional, it is essential.
How can we be born of the water?
The Bible tells us this: Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved... (Mark 16:16 NIV). And in I Peter 3:21, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also... (NIV) We are born of the water when we are baptized.
How can we be born of the spirit?
...He [Jesus] will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. (Matthew 3:11 NIV) In Acts 1:8, Jesus told the disciples, You shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you. Acts 2:4 records the fulfillment of this promise: All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (NIV)
Believers in the Bible were born again
The Bible records that the original church taught and preached this new birth experience. The very first sermon ever preached was by the Apostle Peter in Acts 2. He addresses being born again like this: ...Repent, and be baptized [born of the water] everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sin, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost [born of the spirit].
In Samaria, …they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus [born of the water]. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Ghost [born of the spirit]. (Acts 8:16-17)
The Gentiles at Cornelius’ house in Acts 10: While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them [born of the spirit] which heard the word. And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord [born of the water]. (vv. 44 & 48)
Followers of John the Baptist at Ephesus: On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus [born of water]. 6When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them [born of the spirit], and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. (Acts 19:5-6 NIV)
If you have not been born of the water and born of the spirit as in the Bible, I urge you not to wait. The peace and joy that come from obeying the word of God is unsurpassed by anything in this world. These are the words of Jesus Christ to Nicodemus: You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ (John 3:7).
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Picking a Bad Campsite

10-29-08

by Tad Lindley

Martin River Slough
We landed in tide water in a Beaver on floats. With the boat inflated and the thirty horse running we headed upriver. We were loaded down with gas, tents, and net. About three miles up the slough we found a nice gravel bar with no plants on it. It was smooth and dry, a beautiful spot to camp. We set up our tents and unloaded most of the gear. Then under a blue sky we headed further upriver to look for fish.
We found fish about five miles up the river. It took us about five hours to beach seine and collect scales from the fish. The day’s work done, we headed back to camp.
As I drove the boat down, the river looked much different. It was wider and the current was much slower. I was younger and didn’t understand about tides and rivers. When we came around the last corner, were greeted by our tents, firmly staked down in a foot of water. A line of gas jugs, coolers, and rain gear was slowly drifting away from the tents. Our camp site was no longer beautiful. Needless to say, we spent a cold wet night huddling on higher ground in our wet tents.
Lot’s campsite
The bible tells a story of a man that had to choose a campsite. His name was Lot. He was a righteous man, but he made some horrible mistakes that destroyed his family. As Lot surveyed the country before him, he noticed the well watered plain of the Jordan Valley. And so it came to pass that Lot pitched his tent in the direction of the city of Sodom.
Sodom was a wicked place. Ezekiel 16:49 paints a picture of it: Sodom had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy (NKJV). Furthermore, when two angels disguised as men came into the city, the men of Sodom tried to rape the angels. It was a place that was steeped in sin.
The progression of sin
Keep in mind that when Lot started out, he had no intention of living in Sodom. He was merely pitching his tent in that direction. He only wanted to feed his animals in the land that surrounded Sodom. Unfortunately Lot moved closer to Sodom. He became comfortable with the morals of Sodom. Before too long, Lot was actually living inside the walls of that wicked city.
By the time the two angels came to visit him Lot had been badly influenced by the city around him. As the men of Sodom pounded on his door demanding to let the angels out Lot instead offered to send out his daughters instead of the men (Genesis 19:8). The price Lot paid for his camping in the direction of Sodom was devastating: his wife and his married daughters perished. Only Lot and his two unmarried daughters escaped. The last record of Lot is that his two surviving daughters molested him in a drunken stupor (Genesis 19:30-38).
Turning back the calendar
I wish I could turn back the calendar on Lot’s life. I would turn it back to the day before he pitched his tent towards Sodom. I would take Lot into his tent and say, “Lot, I know you’re thinking of moving towards Sodom, but I want you to look into the eyes of your wife and your daughters. Ask yourself Lot which is more important, to fatten your sheep or to save your family.” If Lot had considered the fate of his family he never would have pitched his tent toward Sodom.
Where are you pitching your tent?
Have you pitched your tent towards Jesus? Or have you pitched your tent toward sin? When we pitch our tent toward Jesus we are camping on the rock of ages. When we pitch our tent toward the world we are camping on a smooth gravel bar. The tides of time will rise and wash away the things we hold dear.
If you are a parent I want you to look in the eyes of your children today and ask yourself, “Is the lifestyle I’m leading condemning my children to hell?” Next time you hold the lighter over the bowl, I want you to pull it back and go look into the eyes of your children. Next time you place your children in the care of the television set and head off to bingo, I urge you to go back into the house and look into the eyes of your children. Next time you pick up the phone to place an order from Anchorage, I want you to put the phone back into its cradle and ask yourself, “Will this booze order bring my family closer to heaven, or closer to hell?”
Our families do not need fatter sheep; they need safer camp sites. They need moms and dads who will do everything that they can to pitch their tents on the solid rock of Jesus Christ.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Holy War Part III:
You Have Got to Love Osama

10-21-08

by Tad Lindley

No, there is not a typo in the title. It is supposed to read “Osama”, not “Obama”. You should love Obama, and John McCain too, but you have to love Osama. Actually you don’t have to love him. You have the power of choice. You can hate him if you want. But if you want to spend eternity in heaven, then you have got to love Osama.
As I was listening to one of the presidential debates, I was very surprised to hear Senator Obama essentially say that we need to kill Osama bin Laden. I would expect him to support killing unborn children, but killing a grown man with a face and a name? What surprised me even more was that I found myself agreeing with him (on Osama, not on abortion).
In fact, Obama’s Osama statement didn’t really begin to bother me until several days later. I was reading the Bible aloud to my children. We began to read the following words of Jesus, But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you (Luke 6:27 NIV).
Hasn’t he caused the deaths of thousands?
Well, sort of. Al-qaeda has killed thousands, and Mr. bin Laden is the leader. He is the alleged mastermind of the airplane attacks on America that took nearly 5,000 lives. He is certainly guilty of conspiracy, and, by the Biblical standard, guilty of murder.
But what about you?
There are people that will read this column who are guilty of murder. Some by vehicular homicide, others have paid an abortionist to take the life of their own child. You may have sold the drugs or alcohol that caused someone to drown or freeze to death. Or you may be slowly killing someone every day with the words of your mouth. According to Jesus, anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment… anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. (Matthew 5:22 NIV) By Jesus’ definition, nearly every one of us is guilty of murder in our hearts and mouths.
Are you ready to cast the first stone?
When a group of men brought a woman caught in the act of adultery they brought her to Jesus (John 8:1-11). (I always wonder why they didn’t bring the man too). They were hoping that Jesus would condemn her to death. Instead, Jesus said something like this, “OK boys, go ahead and kill her. But why don’t you let the one that hasn’t sinned throw the first stone.” From oldest to youngest they all turned and walked away.
Before Osama, there was Saul
In the early years of the church, there was a man who hated Christians. His name was Saul of Tarsus. He took it upon himself to torture Christians. He may even have killed some of them. Saul wreaked Havoc on the church (Acts 8:1-4).
The apostles might easily have arranged for a hit man to take out this man, Saul of Tarsus. They didn’t though, because they were Christian. They did not serve a God of physical violence; they served a God of love. As a result, they did not fight back with physical weapons. They fought back with spiritual weapons: prayer, fasting, love, and servant-hood.
As Saul was traveling on a search and destroy mission against the church in Damascus, he was interrupted by Jesus (Acts 9:1-9). He was converted to Christianity almost instantly. Saul soon changed his name to Paul. God called him to be an apostle to the Gentiles. Paul went on to write almost half of the books in the New Testament. All of this happened because God was able to use one of Christianity’s greatest enemies. Imagine if Osama were to receive the truth? What a powerful testimony for Jesus Christ.
Does God love Osama?
God loved Saul of Tarsus even when he was destroying the church. God loved you and I while we were sinning. God loves Osama bin Laden even in the darkness of his sin. For God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).
Do we have to love Osama?
If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? (I John 4:20) No, you don’t have to love him. But if you want to love God, there is no way around it, you have to love Mr. bin Laden. You may hate the things he does, and disagree with his beliefs, but if you want to walk on the street of gold someday, you have to love him.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Holy War Part II:
The Firepower of Forgiveness

10-15-08

by Tad Lindley

Jesus was the casualty of holy war. The Jewish ruling party, the Sanhedrin, actually thought that they were doing the right thing by having Jesus crucified. They had gotten so entangled in their own religious council and its teachings that they had failed to recognize Jesus for who he was. They viewed him as a threat to their own power, and as a result manipulated the Romans into crucifying Jesus.
Hell also thought that it had won a victory. As they witnessed Jesus being spit upon, as they saw the Roman whips slice into Jesus’ ribcage, as they saw the priests beat him and mock him, and as they saw our Lord hanging naked on the cross in public humiliation they rejoiced. Just as the high priest and the Sanhedrin were gloating over this now-deformed body gasping for air on the cross, hell was celebrating.
Both the Sanhedrin and the powers of hell had no concept of what they were really witnessing. They thought that the miracle worker from Galilee was being proven unable to perform one last miracle. They thought that they were forever discrediting Jesus in the eyes of humanity.
Hell’s biggest blunder
Nailing Jesus to the cross was the worst move the Sanhedrin and the devil could have made. But they were acting according to the wisdom of men. Had they known [the wisdom of God] they would not have crucified the Lord of glory (I Corinthians 2:8). If the devil had understood the way Jesus wages holy war, he would never have prompted Judas to betray Jesus (John 13:2).
It seemed as if Jesus was completely surrounded. If he was who he claimed to be, why didn’t he call down angel armies to overpower the Roman soldiers and set himself free? In the eyes of every person present, Jesus blood was poured out in utter and complete failure. Only in hindsight do we understand what was going on at the cross. He cancelled the record that contained the charges against us. He took it and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ’s cross. In this way, God disarmed the evil rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross of Christ. (Colossians 2:14-15 NLT)
The point man
In the jungles of Southeast Asia, when American soldiers were on patrol, they often had a point man. The point man was the one who walked in the lead. His job was the most dangerous. He was the most vulnerable to booby traps and trip wires. In Jesus Christ, God became the point man for humanity. He walked straight into the devil’s booby trap, and it appeared that he was completely destroyed.
Actually by sacrificing himself, he was purchasing our victory. He went through the valley of death and came out the other side so that we might be delivered from the grip of sin. He permitted his earthly ministry to fail so that we could rise above failure. In his own death, Jesus triumphed over hell and the Sanhedrin. As Jesus descended from the grave into hell and then back into life, he destroyed the sting of death and the victory of the grave. As for the Sanhedrin, they continued to fight it, but they were forced to watch the church of Jesus Christ explode and spread across the Mediterranean.
Jesus’ warfare
The Bible foretold this about Jesus: He was oppressed, he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth (Isaiah 53:7). Jesus fought a battle with the weapons of holy warfare. He did not fight back with his fists. He did not argue. He did not call in reinforcements. He embodied his own teachings. He forgave.
Their spit was plastered on his face and beard. He was beaten beyond recognition. His body would have been in a state of shock from blood loss. Jesus could have done the spiritual equivalent of calling in nuclear artillery upon his own position and blasted all of his tormenters. He could have taken revenge and called down twelve legions of angels (Matthew 26:53). But instead, he looked across time and saw the salvation of many, and from the cross he spoke these words: Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34).
If Jesus could forgive his tormentors from his pit of humiliation, hanging naked and beaten on the cross, then we can forgive those who trespass against us. The devil would love to prompt our hearts to hate. Jesus won his greatest victory when instead of hate he went to his arsenal and pulled out his greatest weapon: forgiveness. We need to follow Jesus example. Fists and rage will destroy us. Forgiveness will bring everlasting peace.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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It’s Time to Wage Holy War

10-8-08

by Tad Lindley

Our men and women are pouring out their blood into Iraqi and Afghani soil. They are taking a stand against terrorists who are seeking to destroy every non-Islamic nation on the face of the planet. In many cases, these terrorists are even killing Islamic people. They view their mission as a holy war. There is nothing holy about killing someone because they worship a different god than you do. However, there is such a thing as “holy war”, and the time has come for America to rise up and wage holy war.
Is religion responsible?
Some folks are fond of saying that most of the world’s wars have been caused by religion. History seems to bear this out. For 250 years, the church in Europe urged its followers to go on the Crusades. Church leaders, forgetting that we are saved by grace, told followers that if they fought to free Jerusalem and other areas from Muslim control, that the Crusaders would receive the forgiveness of sins. The Crusaders certainly needed forgiveness from sin; they raped, pillaged, burned and murdered their way across the Middle East. In the Fourth Crusade, “Christian” Crusaders left Italy and instead of attacking Muslims, they actually overthrew the Eastern Orthodox (Christian) city of Constantinople!
Yes, religion is responsible
Let there be no doubt that religion is responsible for these tragic episodes in history. Pope Urban II actually granted indulgences (forgiveness of sins) to Crusaders. Eventually other popes extended this same promise of the remission of sin to people who gave money to support the Crusaders.
Somehow the church became so far removed from truth that it became a religion of men and no longer the church of the living God. This is where the non-Christian can become confused. One can mistakenly believe that somehow warfare on behalf of a religion is warfare on behalf of God. Jesus Christ had nothing to do with the Crusades. The Crusaders may have been deceived into believing they were doing God a favor, but they were actually dead wrong.
How can I be so sure?
I can be so sure, because I read the Bible. True, in the Old Testament, God commanded the Israelites to kill the people in Palestine. The Israelites were carrying out God’s judgment on these people. In the New Testament, the rules for holy warfare are completely different.
The right way to wage holy war
The right way to wage holy war is found in the New Testament. It operates under the banner of Hebrews 12:14: Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. You might ask, “How can we wage a war with peace? Don’t we need machine guns and bombs?” We don’t. Though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh, for the weapons of our [Christian] warfare are not carnal [not metal and gunpowder], but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds (II Corinthians 10: 3-4).
In a Christian holy war we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places (Ephesians 6:12). We wrestle with prayer, fasting, and praise; these are the weapons of our warfare.
If we really wanted to win this war
If everyone who is mad about President Bush would take that same hot air and seek the face of God in prayer, our soldiers might come home sooner. Not only that, they might come home totally victorious. The Israelites waged a holy war using these principles in II Chronicles 20. The whole nation fasted. Then they prayed and sought the face of God. Lastly, they used a highly unusual strategy. This was true holy war. Instead of sending out the marines to engage the enemy, they sent out the choir! The singers led the way into a battle where they were overwhelmingly outnumbered. They were not singing a fight song either. They went forward praising the beauty of holiness.
Israel never had to raise a sword or fire a shot. The Lord set ambushments against the enemy, and by the time Israel got to the battlefield the enemy was already defeated. This same holy warfare is available to America today. America, the time has come to take our hand out of the Doritos bag, turn off the TV, get up off of the couch, and wage holy war.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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If Joseph Had Given Up on Life

10-1-08

by Tad Lindley

We all know people who have chosen to take their own lives. Often they are weakened by drunkenness. Sometimes a note is left, other times only unanswered mysteries. Their reasons are many. Rejection by a girlfriend. Rejection by a boyfriend. Abandonment by family. An AIDS diagnosis. The pain of molestation. The checkmate of shame. Felony indictments. Depression. Others have been misled into believing they will spend eternity with departed loved ones if they commit suicide. The list could go on for the rest of the page. What follows is the story of a man who had a number of crushing reasons to give up on life, but he held on for thirteen years until he finally understood the meaning of all of his pain.
Joseph
In case you are not familiar with Joseph, let me bring you up to speed. Roughly 2,000 years before Christ, God spoke to a man named Abraham. God promised Abraham that through him all nations would be blessed (Genesis 18:18). This is God’s prophecy that through Abraham’s descendants would come the Messiah, the one that would take away the sins of the world: Jesus Christ.
Abraham had a son named Isaac. Isaac had twin sons. The younger twin was named Jacob. God would later change Jacob’s name to Israel. Israel had twelve sons. These twelve sons became the fathers of the twelve tribes of Israel. One of these sons was Joseph. Although Joseph was the eleventh of twelve sons, he was Israel’s favorite.
The older brothers hated Joseph. They were jealous of him. To make matters worse, he brought his dad an evil report concerning his brothers.
Rejected by his family
When he was seventeen years old Israel sent Joseph on an errand to his older brothers who were out in the country grazing their animals. The brothers who were supposed to love him threw him into a pit and ate their lunch while they plotted Joseph’s murder. One of the brothers, Judah, decided instead that they should sell him as a slave. Completely abandoned by his family, Joseph found himself on his way to Egypt, sold for twenty pieces of silver. It was a time that, in spite of hopelessness, Joseph did not kill himself.
A life sentence without parole
As a slave Joseph became the target of his master’s wife. She falsely accused Joseph of sexually assaulting her. Here he was a foreigner and a slave. He had no public defender, no right to a trial of any sort, and seemingly no chance of escape from his horrible situation. Joseph was sent to prison for the remainder of his life. It was a desperate and deplorable situation, but Joseph did not kill himself.
A broken promise
Then Joseph befriended a man who was in prison. He was the cupbearer for Pharoah, king of Egypt. When the cupbearer was paroled, he knew that he would that same day be in the presence of Pharoah. He promised Joseph that he would explain Joseph’s situation to Pharoah, but he forgot. For two more years Joseph would wake up in jail without hope of ever being paroled. By this time he was thirty years old. He should have been home with his people, enjoying a wife, children, and the outdoor life, but instead, he had not seen his family in thirteen years. They had absolutely no idea he was even still alive. There was not a thing that he could do. But instead of choosing death, Joseph chose life. It was not much of a life, but he chose it anyway.
Because he chose not to kill himself
At thirty years old, Joseph went from the scum of Egyptian society to becoming the prime minister of Egypt literally over night (it is an awesome picture of the power of God, see Genesis 41). Because Joseph had not killed himself even in the face of impossibly depressing circumstances his entire family was saved. You see, the Lord allowed Joseph to be thrown into the pit, sold into slavery, be falsely accused, and serve a life sentence, because that was the only way that he could get Joseph into the position of prime minister. If Joseph was not prime minister, Israel and his eleven remaining sons would have died of starvation. Instead of starvation, Joseph’s suffering brought them salvation.
Without Joseph, would there have been Jesus?
If Joseph had given up, he would have died childless, and the descendants of Israel would have starved to death. There would have been no tribe of Judah to give rise to King David, and no King David to give rise to a teenage girl named Mary. Joseph’s suicide would have forced God to go across the earth searching for another Abraham and another chosen people. He would have had to start over again.
In Genesis 50:20, Joseph summed up all the loneliness and desolation in his life: But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive (NKJV). The Lord has a plan for each one of us. Reader, regardless of your background, Jesus can do miraculous things with it. If you are reading this, take it as a sign from God, that he knows exactly where you are, and that if you serve him, he will bring great things out of your sorrows.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Governor Palin Attended a Church Where Members Spoke in Tongues and Believed in Faith Healing and the End Times:
Should We Be Concerned?

9-24-08

by Tad Lindley

Unable to find adequate dirt about Governor Sarah Palin, CNN.com sent reporters to Wasilla, Alaska see if there was some way that her previous church experience could be used to tarnish her image. It is sad when the media tries to use a person’s religion to discredit them.
When all else fails, tear down their church
The teaser on the article read something like this: “Palin attended church where members spoke in tongues, talked about ‘end times’”. Upon reading the article, it was clearly trying to get the reader to believe that this is something that we should be concerned about. Apparently the church that Governor Palin attended for many years even believes in “faith healing”.
I suppose they were hoping to find out that Governor Palin had been a member of a snake handling church. Instead, they learned that she had attended the Assembly of God church in Wasilla much of her life. They could not find records of any racist or anti-American statements by the pastor, so they studied the church doctrine. CNN.com found three things that were troubling enough to make Sarah Palin’s religious past become newsworthy: 1. speaking in tongues, 2. faith healing, and 3. the end times.
What CNN.com failed to mention is that the church where the Obama family attended on Father’s Day, also believes in those same three things. Not only that, but they baptize in Jesus’ name (see www.acog-chicago.org for Senator Obama’s sermon and the belief statements of the church). Before the Apostolic Church of God in Chicago and the Wasilla Assembly of God there was another church that believed in all three of those concepts as well. Since day one speaking in tongues, faith healing, and the end times have been integral parts of Christianity.
Day 1 - Speaking in tongues
Jesus had told the disciples that they would receive power after the Holy Ghost came upon them (Luke 24:48). Furthermore he instructed them to wait in Jerusalem until they received that power from on high (Acts 1:8). And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:1-4)
This was day one for the church of Jesus Christ, the day of Pentecost, 29 A.D. (plus or minus a few years). The apostle, Peter, stood before the crowd and explained that this speaking in tongues was what the Lord had promised through the prophet Joel. He went on to teach the crowd gathered there that this “gift of the Holy Ghost” (Peter’s words), is available to all people (see Acts 2:38-39). Come to think of it, Jesus had mentioned that it was available to all people as well (see John 7:37-39).
It doesn’t bother me if CNN.com thinks there is something wrong with speaking in tongues. Even some churches today deny the gift of the Holy Ghost. This should not surprise us. The Bible foretold it. In the last days perilous times would come. There would be churches having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof (II Timothy 3:5).
Faith healing
Unable to get into the house, because of all the people inside, the four men tore the roof off the house and lowered their paralyzed friend into the house so that Jesus could heal him. That takes faith. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the sick of the palsy, “Son, thy sins be forgiven thee”. And later, “Arise, take up thy bed and walk” (Mark 2:5,11).
If you are ever tempted to think that faith healing is something for religious extremists, you need to read Hebrews 11. It tells about men and women who loved God who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. (11:33-34) Faith healing is a hallmark of the Christian church!
The end times
The church that does not believe in the end time has some chapters and books missing from its Bible. The prophets of old spoke of the returning of the Messiah. Every time that you see a reference to the Day of the Lord, the Bible is referring to the end time. Jesus told about the end time in Matthew 24. For as lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be (v.27). On day one of the New Testament church Peter preached an end time message. It is recorded in Acts chapter 2. The last eighteen chapters of Revelation give a detailed account of the events surrounding the end time.
Somewhere along the way things have gotten distorted. If the news writers at CNN had taken the time to read their Bibles, they would know that speaking in tongues, faith healing, and watching for the end times are not fringe elements reserved for the Christian extremists. These are integral parts of Biblical Christianity.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Seal Oil and
Milkshake Don’t Mix

9-17-08

by Tad Lindley

I didn’t want to waste the seal oil, and I don’t like to pour seal oil from the bowl back into the jar. There was only one thing to do: drink it. I drank it.
About an hour later some of my students knocked on the door. Somehow or other the topic got on milkshakes. It turned out that some of them had never had a milkshake before. I didn’t want them to go another day without trying a milkshake. Milkshakes are one of my native foods. Off to Johnny Paul’s store to get ice cream.
There must have been a blender in the kitchen, because I know that we made milkshakes. Long after the kids were gone that milkshake came back to haunt me. I became horribly ill. My stomach was so repulsed by the seal oil and milkshake mixture that it violently cast out its contents.
Although I never stopped having seal oil, it was a very long time before I had a milkshake again. Even when I am fasting, the thought of a vanilla milkshake does not appeal to me in the least.
The thing that turns Jesus stomach
In the Book of the Revelation, Jesus tells of a day when he will vomit. I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou were cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:15-16) Perhaps your Bible translation reads “I will spit you out of my mouth”. Don’t be tricked by attempts to sugarcoat the matter. In the original Greek, emeo is the word used. It means to vomit. Ptuo is the Greek word for spit, and is found nowhere near the book of Revelation.
What will make the Lord vomit?
This message was written for the Church of Laodicea. Because their lifestyle was neither hot nor cold, Jesus said he would vomit them out. Concerning the things of God, these people in Laodicea had become lukewarm. They were blessed with an abundance of wealth. Unfortunately this produced in them a spiritual poverty. This is also very true in the United States today.
What is lukewarm?
When water or food is hot, it is because the molecules are vibrating quickly. Some vibrate more quickly than others. We feel the average affect of their vibrating. When food or water is cold, the molecules are moving very slowly. Our mouth senses this as cold. In lukewarm foods, some of the molecules are moving quickly and some are moving slowly. Their average is somewhere in between. To our hands and our mouths, we sense this as lukewarm.
God likes his people on fire
Paul urged Timothy to keep his temperature up. For this reason I remind you to fan into flames the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of my hands. (II Timothy 1:6 NIV) When a person is on fire for God, it is obvious. They want to talk about Jesus. They eagerly read the Bible to learn more about God. They are the ones that want to clap their hands during Amazing Grace. They look forward to church. They love others, even those that don’t love back. Theirs is the heart of a servant.
Lukewarm = hypocrite
When people are first called out of darkness into his marvelous light, they are almost always on fire for God. If we fail to fan the flames through prayer, fasting, and worship, however, we may become lukewarm. In some ways we are hot, but in other ways we grow cold. To the casual observer we may appear hot. We are still going to church and worshipping God, but in other areas we have grown cold. Perhaps we have withheld tithes. Maybe we have been choosing to sleep in later and pray less. Some may have begun to look at pornography on the internet. Others may desperately strive to appear loving, but be filled with resentment in our hearts. The coldness of sloth and sin mix with the former heat of living for God. The result is a spiritually lukewarm condition that gives the Lord indigestion.
Repentance is like Rolaids®
To these same lukewarm Christians that Jesus addressed in Laodicea, he also extended hope. If we lapse into a lukewarm condition, we can be saved. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. (Revelation 319-20) Repentance brings about renewal and restoration. In fact it is essential for raising our spiritual temperature. If you are lukewarm find a place to get alone with the Lord and let your heart be broken before him. They that sow in tears, shall reap in joy. (Psalm 126:5)
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Mount Rushmore Impersonators Now Vastly Outnumber Elvis Impersonators in the United States

9-11-08

by Tad Lindley

Some of you are sitting out there doing your best Mount Rushmore imitation.
-Reverend Jeff Arnold
Over a fourteen year period beginning in 1927, artist Gutzon Borglum transformed the face of Mount Rushmore. Assisted by 400 men with dynamite, two million tons of rock was blasted off of the mountain. Money ran out in 1941, and the project was abandoned.
Mount Rushmore now bears the faces of four American presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. The faces are approximately sixty feet tall. Today they are the centerpiece of the National Park Service’s Mount Rushmore National Memorial, receiving as many as two million visitors per year.
I have never been to Mount Rushmore. I have no desire to ever go there. I would much rather see the beauty of God’s creation than man’s creation. Nevertheless, many people apparently love Mount Rushmore.
Invasion of the Mount Rushmore impersonators
Undoubtedly you have heard of Elvis Presley. Perhaps you have even seen Elvis impersonators. They attempt to perfectly imitate the hair, sideburns, and clothing of Mr. Presley. Many are skilled at singing Elvis’s songs and perform in public. Through careful study of his movies they have even adopted Elvis’s movements and mannerisms. There are so many Elvis impersonators, that they have conventions where many of these men join together to celebrate their idol, Elvis.
There is another group of imitators that is far more numerous than the Elvis crowd: the Mount Rushmore impersonators. Careful study of the faces locked in granite has produced near perfect impersonations. The eyebrows never rising, the slack jaw locked in position, the glazed over wax-museum look, and the complete freezing of the neck muscles. Elvis impersonators often have annual conventions in central locations like Las Vegas. The Mount Rushmore folks often meet on a weekly basis.
Mount Rushmore impersonators come out of closet
Even your neighbor might be a closet Mount Rushmore impersonator. In their daily living, they appear to be quite normal. They laugh, sing, raise their eyebrows, make facial expressions, and even shout at times. At the basketball games they jump up and down. They give high fives in the bingo parlor. They laugh and cry when they’re watching movies. At the store they greet people with strong handshakes and joyful laughter. On a weekly basis, though, they come out of the closet. Like the Elvis imitator taking off his jeans and work shirt and putting on his sequined suit, the Mount Rushmore impersonator shakes off all form of expression, and slips into silent stone mode. Las Vegas and Graceland are meccas for Elvis impersonators. Churches are the preferred gathering place of Mount Rushmore impersonators.
I recently attended a church service in another state. The preaching was outstanding. It was straight out of the Bible. Circumstances required me to sit in the back. I tried “Amen”-ing the preacher, but it clearly was distracting some of the folks in front of me, so I kept quiet. My heart went out to the preacher. Here he was pouring out the word of God with precision, and almost the entire congregation had slipped into Mount Rushmore mode. No nods, no “Amens”, when the music stopped and the preaching started the crowd was transformed into a sea of stone.
Pharisees want people to hold back their praise
When Jesus was entering Jerusalem for the Passover in which he would become the lamb slain for all humanity, people were laying their clothing on the road. They cut palm branches and laid them before the Lord on his donkey. They were shouting and praising him. This upset the Pharisees. This type of shouting and praising did not fit into the tight rein they wanted to have over the Jewish people.
They asked Jesus to tell the people to quiet down. Jesus answered and said unto them, “I tell you that if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.” (Luke 19:40) The Pharisees wanted the people to do their best Mount Rushmore imitation, but Jesus told them, “If these people freeze like stone, the very rocks on the ground will worship me.”
When Mount Rushmore sings
Mount Rushmore wants to sing. I realize that right now the mountain is locked into stony silence, but beneath all of it, the rocks want to exalt the Lord God that made them. Let the sea roar, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. Let the floods clap their hands; let the hills be joyful together before the Lord… (Psalm 98:7-9). Isaiah explains this in chapter 55: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands (v. 12). When Jesus comes again, all of creation will praise him. Out of the motionless mouths carved into Mount Rushmore will come a declaration of how great God is. Don’t let a stone take your place!
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, Alaska.

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Bingo Wants Your Dividend

9-4-08

by Tad Lindley

Some folks might get angry at me for writing about giving some of their dividend. Understand that I stand to gain nothing. Nobody who reads this article will send me their tithe. This week’s column is for the person who genuinely loves the Lord and wants to honor God’s word. Perhaps you are out of work right now and are on welfare. It might seem unfair of me to ask you to take money and support your pastor and your church with it. Beneath everything I am about to write, is a powerful promise from the God that created heaven and earth. “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this”, says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it”. (Malachi 3:10) If you tithe, you will live far, far better on 90% of your income than you used to on all of it.
Even sinners can be blessed by tithing!
I have a good friend who as an adult moved in with his mother. He had a lot of debt and wanted to get out from under it. He was leading a worldly lifestyle, and never came to church. As a condition of moving back in with mom, he had to give the first ten percent of his paychecks to the church whether or not he attended. The financial results were phenomenal. Even though it didn’t seem possible, his loans were quickly paid off and he was able to get set up on his own. I’m not talking about Alabama where you might be able to get by on $2 a day. This happened in Bethel! God blesses giving.
This is even better than Citgo stove oil
Dividend checks will start pouring out on September 12th. Attached to the dividend will be an extra $1200 per person. This money is being given by the state to help us overcome the high price of electricity and fuel. What a timely blessing!
I know it’s not you, it’s the next guy, but some people have difficulty handling that much money in one shot. If that wasn’t bad enough, there are many enterprises that would like to move the dividend and the energy relief check from your pocket into their pocket. The card games want your PFD, 4-5-6 wants your PFD, marijuana wants your PFD, Copenhagen wants it, and so does your favorite Anchorage alcohol shipper. On top of that, many legitimate businesses are interested in getting their cut. Too often, by the time we get to dishing out the dividend, there is not much left for God.
The first cut of your PFD
If you love the Lord, there is no question about where the first cut of your PFD and your energy relief check is going to go. You already know that the Bible teaches that the first tenth, the “tithe”, goes to the pastor of your church. Abraham gave tithes to the high priest Melchizadek (Genesis 14, Hebrews 7:1,2,6). Jacob promised to give God a tenth of everything (Genesis 28:22).When God met Moses on Mount Sinai, he included tithing as part of the lifestyle of the Jewish people (Leviticus 27:30-33). The Pharisees tithed even down to the plants in their herb gardens (Matthew 23:23). Jesus said, “Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). This means that if you are a Christian, you will give more than a tenth of your dividend and any other income you earn. To do anything else would be to rob God (Malachi 3:8-10).
If your PFD is $2,200 that means that you will give the first $220 as tithe. Your energy relief check will be $1200. Dads, if you are Christian, you will give the first $220 from every dividend the family receives, and $120 from each energy relief check your family receives as tithe. It is just the same as it is when you get your paycheck. The first ten per cent, before the IRS gets its cut, is given as tithe.
Where do tithes go?
In the Bible, tithes are brought to the house of God. In the Old Testament they went to the temple, or the synagogue. In the New Testament, they came into the place where the church was meeting and brought their offerings, which were in some cases not 10%, but 100% (I Corinthians 16:2). The Bible pattern is clear; the tithe goes to the local church. It does not go to T.D. Jakes or any other TV preacher. It does not go to Abraham George or any other traveling preacher. Even if I come to your church and preach (unless I move there to live and am your pastor) do not give me your tithe. Your tithe goes to the pastor of the church you attend. If you happen to live in a community where there is no church that teaches the Bible, then give your tithes at the place you do attend when you travel and can get to church. If you want to give money to a traveling preacher do so, but let it be above and beyond your tithes; tithes go to your home church.
Tithing is used to support the pastor and to pay for the electricity and heat for the church building. Some of you readers are picturing the flashy televangelist with five gold rings, wife wearing pearls, and both of them decked out in thousand dollar outfits. Change that picture in your mind. Replace it with a man who bears the spiritual weight not only of his own family, but of his entire community. He has been eating fish soup for a month straight, and he is tired of it. Folks, there are pastors in our region who are on welfare, because the church is too stingy to give the pastor their tithes. This should not be. On top of it, when a church chooses not to tithe, they are cutting off a blessing for themselves as well.
It’s best to be blessed
The dope dealer and the bingo parlor want you to lay up your dividend there. They want you to lay up your children’s dividends there. Friend, don’t do it. Instead, lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal (Matthew 6:20).
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, Alaska.

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The Caller ID Syndrome

8-29-08

by Tad Lindley

The first time I ever saw caller ID was in the mid 70s. I was at a neighbor’s house. The phone rang. My friend asked his dad, “If it’s Jack, do you want me to tell him you’re not here?” The answer would either be “Yes” or “No”. My friend would pick up the phone, “Hello.” Pause, “Nope, sorry Jack, he’s not here”. I watched this scenario play out many times. Jack was mentally ill and my friend’s dad did not always feel like talking to him. This was in the day of dial phones with four prong jacks. We never dreamed that some day we would be able to look at the phone and know who was calling without ever having to answer it.
Caller ID Syndrome
These days nearly everybody has caller ID. It has led to a phenomenon referred to as Caller ID Syndrome, or CIDS. I have seen many people look at their caller ID screen and simply let the phone keep ringing. (I do not have caller ID, when I get it, I may feel different, but for now, I think if someone calls, we ought to have the decency to answer it). The beauty of it is that they don’t have to get someone else in the family to lie for them.
The problem with caller ID is that if you are the caller, and there is no answer, it leaves you wondering whether they were not home, or if they looked at the caller ID, saw it was you and let it keep ringing. In cases of extreme paranoia this can lead the caller to go to other houses so as to appear to be somebody else. I don’t fully understand it, but I know there is some sort of secret agent feature that folks get on their phone so that when they call people with caller ID their name does not appear on the screen. The caller ID folks can fight back and force the secret agent phone numbers to dial *82. It’s all a bit too technologically advanced for me; I just pick up my phone and say, “Hello”.
Fact: Jesus does not suffer from CIDS
Jesus has caller ID. When someone prays he knows who it is, where they are calling from, and what they are doing. At the same time, he is hearing prayers and praise from millions of other folks other places on the planet. Somehow he can keep track of it all and still make us feel like we have his undivided attention. He is Jesus, he can do that.
As humans we might think that Jesus is like us and suffers from CIDS. We might even go so far as to think, “There is no point in even praying. When Jesus sees that it is me, he won’t even pick up”. Since we may have checked our caller ID and let it keep ringing, because we didn’t like the caller all that much, we anticipate Jesus to do the same. “Surely Jesus doesn’t want to hear from blasphemers, pornography viewers, drunks, dope smokers, Grand Theft Auto addicts, and the sexually immoral,” we think. “He’s got a special ring tone for church people, but what’s the use in a sinner praying?”
Friend, Jesus does not have Caller ID Syndrome. In fact, he is quicker to pick up a phone call from a sinner than from a saved person. Don’t you know that in the parable of the Prodigal Son, the Father was looking out every day, watching and waiting for the return of his lost boy? (Luke 15:20)
When “Sinner” shows up on Jesus’ caller ID
Nothing excites heaven like a call from a sinner. I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. (Luke 15:7) Did you catch that? When an alcoholic gets sick and tired, and lays his sin before Jesus, heaven lights up. When the gambling addict spends her children’s dividend checks at the bingo hall for the last time and calls up Jesus broken and defeated, angels are celebrating. When the liar wakes up to the confusing mess of his life and cries out to Jesus, singing and shouting breaks out in the throne room.
Call him up
If you picture an angry Jesus pacing back and forth in the throne room asking the four and twenty elders, “Who is it on the prayer line? Oh, a sinner. Just let it ring,” then you’ve got it all wrong. Jesus is waiting. He is trying to stretch out time. He is desperate for your call. The Bible says Jesus is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (II Peter 3:9) If you are hurting from sin, call upon Jesus. He is sitting by the phone waiting.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Cosigner Part II

8-24-08

by Tad Lindley

The book of Proverbs contains a number of cautions against cosigning a loan for another person. Here is a sampling:
•My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have struck hands in pledge for another, if you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth, then do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands… (Proverbs 6:1-3 NIV)
•He who puts up security for another will surely suffer, but whoever refuses to strike hands in pledge is safe. (Proverbs 11:15 NIV)
•A man lacking in judgment strikes hands in pledge and puts up security for his neighbor. (Proverbs 17:18 NIV)
There is no doubt that even by Solomon’s time people had gotten burned cosigning for somebody else’s loan.
Can Christians cosign?
My neighbor pointed out to me that the Proverbs on cosigning seem to be inconsistent with one of the central themes of scripture, to help the needy. Since the Bible must work together as God’s word given to man, we need to dig deeper to find some agreement.
Helping the needy
It is God’s command for us to help those in need. One of the four reasons that God gives for destroying the city of Sodom is that neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy (Ezekiel 16:49). James describes a picture of true Christianity: Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. (James 1:27) Half of the Christian lifestyle is helping others.
When cosigning helps
When I was a young man starting out, my mom cosigned for me so that I could get a credit card. I was 19 and had been working steadily since the age of fifteen. VISA would not give me a credit card on my own, but my mom put down her signature stating that if I failed to pay my VISA bill that she would pay it for me. Of course I always paid and over time I built up my credit so that I could get a card of my own.
This brings up the question, was my mom going against the Bible when she cosigned for me? First you should understand that the credit card had a limit on it of three hundred dollars. If I proved unable to pay, the most my mom would have been out was three hundred dollars. Certainly that was a lot of money twenty years ago, but still she would not have had to sell the furniture to pay it.
When cosigning is dangerous
Notice in the scriptures concerning cosigning it uses the word “security”. When my mother cosigned a VISA card for me, she was not really putting her “security” at risk. Let’s say that instead, I had wanted to get a brand new $15,000 car when I was nineteen. Of course no bank would have loaned me that kind of money without a cosigner. But suppose I was able to talk Mom into cosigning. I get the car, make the first few payments, and through driving at high speed, I blow the engine, burn up the transmission and melt all the electrical systems. Let’s make it worse: I also lose my job. Now I have a car that is worth almost nothing and no way to pay the $15,000 I owe on it. All of that burden would have been placed on my cosigner. As soon as I quit making payments, the bank would have gone after my mom. She would have had to either sell the house or her car or else take a second job to pay off my loan. It would have severely undermined the security of the family for her to cosign for such a large amount. Never put your self out like that. The Bible has been warning people of this for 3,000 years.
When is it good to cosign?
If you are an older person who has worked hard and has good credit, you are in a position to help younger people move up in life. Jesus wants us to help others. If someone with no credit history has proven themselves to be able to work and make money (if any would not work, neither should he eat (II Thessalonians 3:10) then they are a good risk. As a cosigner, you need to make sure that should something unfortunate happen, the younger person lose their job, or their life, that you will be able to cover the amount you have cosigned for without having to starve your family or lose the roof over your head. As far as scripture is concerned, we as Christians are free to cosign for others as long as it does not put our security or the security of our family at risk.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Living Outside the Ark

8-14-08

by Tad Lindley

Noah was one of the least successful preachers in history. He preached for at least a hundred years and reached only seven souls. Those seven souls were his wife, his three sons, and his three daughters-in-law. Everyone else who heard him preach rejected his message and as a result perished in the flood.
Jesus likened the day of his returning to the days of Noah (Matthew 24:36-44). He indicated that many people will be lost on the day of his returning. They will be people who simply were not ready; they were not prepared. They will burn in hell, and then at the second resurrection be cast into the lake of fire. There is no way around this fact.
Living together is living outside
In our modern world it has become quite common for people to have sex outside of marriage. Often people live together and have children, but never make the commitment to marry. Reader if you are living that way, you are gambling with your soul. You are in as precarious a position as the people that sank beneath the rising flood waters in the days of Noah.
Let me get politically incorrect on you
In this age of permissiveness, we are not supposed to say anything that might make people feel uncomfortable. I would rather make you uncomfortable now than know that you will be uncomfortable forever. If you are having a sexual relationship and are not married, you are a heartbeat away from hell. Whether you are a teenager sneaking in a window at night, or the middle aged couple that has a house full of kids, or a senior citizen shacking up with somebody, you cannot live that way and expect to be saved. If you die unexpectedly or if Jesus comes and you have not repented of your sin, it will be too late, you will burn forever.
Jesus makes this very clear in his word: Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers…will inherit the kingdom of God. (I Corinthians 6:9-10 NKJV) The Lord paints an even more horrible picture in the Revelation. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. (21:8 NKJV) I have underlined the words “fornicators” and “sexually immoral”, because in the original Greek New Testament they are the same word, pornos.
The door is still open
In the days of Noah, more people could have been aboard the ark. And you can imagine that when the floodgates of heaven opened up and the fountains of the deep broke forth, people were pounding on the door of the ark, trying to claw their way in, but the door was shut, and it was too late. By the time the tide floated the ark, the desperate screams of the drowning would have given way to the sound of rain drumming on the ark.
If you are living a sexually immoral lifestyle, you are rebelling against God’s plan. His plan is for a man and woman to enjoy each other completely within the bounds of marriage (Genesis 2:24). As long as you are alive enough to read this, the door is still open to you.
The good news
You can repent of your sin. There are two ways to do this. One is to get married. Particularly if there are children involved this is often the best route. Head straight to the courthouse and get a marriage license, then see your pastor if you also want a church wedding. If you continue living together while you wait for a church wedding at some distant time, you have not repented. For single people who are moving from relationship to relationship, the way to repent is to stop having sex until you have found a godly partner and are married to them.
For preachers only
Preacher, if you are not confronting sexual immorality in your church, you are leading people straight to hell. If you let people who are having sex outside of marriage participate in leadership in your church, you are disobeying God (I Corinthians 5:11). This includes using them to play instruments in service, teach Sunday school, sing in the choir, perform special singing, or work as an usher until they repent. To do so is to place hell bound people in positions of honor. It tells them that their sin is acceptable. People who are openly denying the word of God should not even be permitted to participate in communion (I Corinthians 11:27-29).
Jesus is calling
If you are guilty of fornication, you can still be saved. In fact, people in the New Testament church were delivered and saved from fornication (I Corinthians 6:11). Repent of your sins and be baptized in Jesus’ name for the forgiveness of your sins (Acts 2:38), and you too can know the same victory and overcoming power that the early Christians knew.
None of us knows when our last heart beat will pass, or when the day of the Lord will come. All we know is that it is now closer than it was when you began to read this column. Reader, I urge you, please honor the word of God, and live.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Cosigner Beware

8-6-08

by Tad Lindley

Along the way some folks made huge amounts of money. The housing boom was on. Mortgage companies were offering mortgages to people that they knew would never be able to make the monthly payments. Nevertheless, everything seemed to be moving ahead at full speed until the bottom fell out.
Suddenly huge numbers of people quit paying back the money that they owed on their houses. Even as you read this, banks and mortgage lenders evicting people from their homes, because the people are not making their monthly payments. This process is called “foreclosure”.
Many feel that if the government does not step in, the economy will be plunged into severe depression. The result is that those of us who pay income tax are going to have to bail out the large mortgage lenders. They lent money to people who did not have a record of being reliable, and we, the American taxpayers will be asked to cover their mistake.
Cosigning: The New American Dream
For the long history of North America, people earned their living by the sweat of their brow. In the Southwest they farmed corn and beans. On the plains they followed the bison. In Alaska the people moved from camp to camp with the seasons. Starvation was the shadow that followed them. Men, women, and children had to work, otherwise they would certainly perish.
Over the centuries immigrants came. Most of them worked hard. There was no such thing as a forty hour week with time and a half afterwards and a union approved 15 minute coffee break every four hours. Everyone worked. Work was the only way to have a better life.
Today the work ethic has been replaced by a New American Dream. Many are looking for a way to become instantly wealthy. They want the privileges and the pleasures associated with having money, but they do not want to work to get it.
Enter the cosigner
Normally for a person to get a loan from a bank to buy a house, boat, or snow machine, he must have shown himself to be trustworthy. He or she must be able to prove that they are hard working and reliable. This is shown by holding a job for an extended period of time. He must also have proved that he is trustworthy and pays his bills. It takes time to build up this trust. It takes commitment and the ability to sacrifice in order to hold down a job.
Time and sacrifice are not part of the New American Dream. We tend to want it right now whether or not we have earned it; enter the cosigner. For those who want to skip the trust building phase of life, there is a way to get what you want when you want it: find somebody to agree to pay your loan off for you if you should prove unable to. This person is referred to as a cosigner. As a person who cannot wait to build up a work history and pay your bills on time, you can use someone else who has done these things to cover you.
Cosigners beware
Even 3,000 years ago, people were looking for cosigners. The Bible clearly cautions us not to cosign loans for people. My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor…you have fallen into your neighbor’s hand. (Proverbs 6:1,3 NIV) If that is not warning enough, your Bible tells you that it is a foolish thing to do: A man lacking in judgment strikes hands in pledge and puts up security for his neighbor. (Proverbs 17:18 NIV) Scripture goes on to caution us of the consequence of cosigning for another person who has not worked as long or as hard as you have. Do not be a man who strikes hands in pledge or puts up security for debts; if you lack the means to pay your very bed will be snatched from under you. (Proverbs 22:26-27 NIV) The Biblical bottom line is that we should not cosign a loan for either a neighbor or a stranger.
If you are already a cosigner
The Bible is just as real to us in 2008 as it was to the people in the day of King Solomon. God knew that you might have already cosigned a loan for somebody. He has advice for you: then do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands: Go and humble yourself; press your plea with your neighbor! Allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids. Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler. (Proverbs 6:3-5 NIV)
Perhaps you did not know that cosigning was out of the will of God for you. You cosigned for somebody. Since you now know you should not have done this it is time to repent before the Lord. Then it is time to do everything that you legally can to get out of the situation that you are in. Go and humble yourself before your neighbor. Let him know that you were out of God’s will. Plea with him to pay off the loan so that you will be free. It might seem to you like it will never work, but remember, this is not Brother Lindley’s advice, this is God’s advice.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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When Culture and Christianity Collide

7-30-08

by Tad Lindley

Tilt your head slightly forward. If you are wearing glasses, be sure that you are looking over the lenses. Now raise your eyebrows. We all know that in Yup’ik culture when we raise our eyebrows, it is the same as nodding our head: a silent way to say, “Yes”. In the culture that I came from, however, raising the eyebrows, especially with a very slight tilting of the head forward was how we asked the question, “What?” As in “what did you say?”
My first teaching assignment was in Kipnuk. I very clearly remember the first eyebrow incident. A student asked me something, but I did not understand him. I tilted my head forward slightly and raised my eyebrows. He headed for the door of the classroom.
“Hey, where are you going”, I asked.
“You said I could go to the bathroom,” he responded.
“I said no such thing. Now get back to your seat.”
He walked back to his seat shaking his head.
It took several identical occurrences for me to realize that when I was asking kids, “What did you say?” with my eyebrows, in their language I was saying, “Yes, go ahead and do whatever it was you just asked me”. Many years have passed, and when I am in the Lower 48 I now find myself silently raising my eyebrows to tell people, “Yes,” and them probably wishing I would hurry up and answer them.
Culture vs. culture
Going across cultures can be funny, and at times it can be frustrating. Ever since Adam and the woman ate from the tree, no culture has been perfect. Sometimes folks get the idea that their culture is perfect and everyone else is hopeless. That leads to racism and in its extremity to genocide. The fact of the matter is that one group of people can do things one way and another group can do it different and both can be right. For instance, my friend Leroy does not use electricity or rubber tires. I do. There is no need for me to convert him to wiring up or him to convert me to pulling the plug. Cultural beliefs are not wrong unless…
Culture vs. Christianity
…they conflict with the word of God. If the way that we live disagrees with the Bible, somebody is wrong, and it is not God. The Bible teaches us that someday we will all stand before the Lord: So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God (Romans 14:12). In that day it will be very important that in the battle between truth and our family tradition, that we have let truth win out in our own lives.
The Bible gives us no direction concerning raising our eyebrows, so if one culture wishes to let it mean “yes” and another “what”, that is perfectly acceptable. In many areas of life the Bible does give us direction. In the culture that I came out of, from high school drop out to white collar professionals, killing the baby inside of a woman was considered an acceptable practice. In my observation of Yup’ik culture, the life of a child is highly valued, and abortion is rare. Clearly, mainstream American culture is in conflict with the word of God which teaches that the Lord recognizes the baby in the womb as a human being: For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13).
Tradition can be stronger than truth
It takes a real man of God or a real woman of God to be strong enough to break with tradition and embrace truth. In some cultures, men tend to have long hair. This is in direct conflict with God’s word, which teaches that men should have short hair (I Corinthians 11:14). It is easy for me to obey God’s word, since most of my friends have short hair and every man in my family has short hair. But what about the hippie who is under tremendous pressure to conform to a counter culture? Obeying the word of God may mean that friends will no longer trust him. In that case it takes tremendous strength to overcome the grip of tradition and walk in truth.
Some families that I have known in other places I have lived believe that a young man should drink the blood of the first big animal he kills. The Bible is explicit in both Old and New Testaments that we are not to drink blood (Leviticus 17:14, Acts 15:29). I have never desired raw blood, but I did use to like adding blood to my soups. I no longer do so, because the Bible tells me not to, and I want to please Jesus.
Unfortunately there has been a shift away from solid Bible teaching in America. Many preachers are content to teach an easier softer salvation experience. We cannot save ourselves, but if we have truly been born of the water and the Spirit, when confronted with a conflict between our culture and the word of God, we will always choose the truth.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Letting God Interrupt
Our Schedule

7-23-08

by Tad Lindley

It was the Fourth of July, but winter moose hunting was on my mind. I asked Francis, “What are you doing on December 21st?” Harry jumped in, “We’re Yup’ik; we don’t plan that far in advance”. I had forgotten.
You see, where I grew up life was different. It was a different culture and a different time. We were tied more to the clock and the calendar than to the weather and the tides. Things were planned out far in advance. As a family, we would never have dreamed of just dropping in on another family unannounced for a visit. If such a thing were to occur it would be planned out a week or more in advance. It seemed like everything was planned out; little ever happened on the spur of the moment. My mom planned meals out a week at a time, and only went to the grocery store once a week. We assumed that was how people did things all over the planet.
Getting my calendar adjusted
Eventually I moved 4,000 miles from home. I ended up married to a Yup’ik woman. It was at our daughter’s first birthday that I began to notice that the world turns differently in the Calista region. Remember, in the culture I came from, folks needed a one week notice minimum on a birthday party. This would give them time to get a gift and to rearrange their schedule so as to make it to the party seven days later.
As the birthday approached, I started getting pretty worried. I knew that my wife aimed to have a lot of people. She had bought a lot of food and a lot of gifts to give away, but she had not invited anybody. My blood pressure went up as I wondered what would happen when nobody showed up for the party. It was two days away and she had not invited anybody yet. I couldn’t stand the anxiety, so I started pressuring my wife to invite people. She didn’t. She waited until the morning of the party and began calling around. Much to my amazement, the house was packed with people, all the food was eaten up, and somehow with only a few hours notice people were able to find birthday presents.
When the church forgets to make room for God
This same need to plan things out way in advance can carry over into church. Everything is planned out ahead of time. I have actually been to churches in the Midwest where they give you a program at the beginning of the service which tells you the songs that will be sung and which verses you should stand up on and which ones you should sit down on and which verse would not be sung. Believe it or not I have seen services where the preacher had actually written out his prayer and read it instead of letting it come from his heart.
Sometime Jesus gives notice
Sometimes we can get so organized, that we leave out room for God. The Lord gave Noah at least 100 years notice before he sent the flood. Jesus gave the disciples a full one week notice before filling them with the Holy Ghost (Acts 1:8). But these are rare occasions in scripture. Often times, a Biblical move of God happens with very little notice.
Sometimes He doesn’t
When the first temple was completed in Jerusalem, King Solomon had a celebration. There were many, many animals sacrificed. There was much worship. And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place that the cloud filled the house of the LORD, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD (I Kings 8:10-11). Without notice, the Lord interrupted the carefully laid plans of the celebration.
Is there room for God in our schedule?
How often does God move in and interrupt our church services in 2008? It must be hard for Him to do that when we have got to get our three songs sung and move on to the offering and get the people out the door all in under an hour. Have we become so skillful at planning out our church services that God cannot work? The Bible tells us plainly that these signs shall follow them that believe; in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover (Mark 16:17-18). I wonder how many times God wanted to fill someone with the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in new tongues, or how many times somebody would have been healed of cancer, but we have decided at some point in the past that the preacher has to walk up the aisle and be ready to shake hands at the door at 11:59, and nothing, not even God can change our schedule.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Woman’s Belly Swells and
Thigh Rots After Drinking Holy Water

7-16-08

by Tad Lindley

My friend, Nick, approached me. We were fishing in Bristol Bay. He wanted me to pray for their boat. He held out what looked like a little plastic perfume bottle to me. It had a picture of a woman on it. It may have had the words “Holy Water” also, I’m not sure. Somehow I was made to know that the bottle contained “holy” water. Since I didn’t remember anybody ever using any kind of water while praying in the Bible, I declined to use the water in the bottle, but I did agree to pray for the boat and the crew.
You will have to forgive me for being old fashioned, but I believe that the Bible is the divinely inspired word of God. I also know that I don’t know everything about the Bible. Therefore I realized that perhaps there is something to this holy water that I have simply never noticed in the Bible before. I decided to investigate the matter. Since I prayed for my friend and his crew, I read the Bible cover to cover twice. Then I employed computerized Bible software that will search ten different translations of the Bible. I searched for the term “holy water” in all versions. I also searched for “water of holiness”, “water that is holy”, and the words “water” and “holy” in any order in any verse.
Holy water only found one time in scripture
The concept of holy water occurs only one time in the entire Bible. It is found in the book of Numbers 5:17. And the priest shall take the holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put into the water. This proves that holy water did exist, but that its use was very limited and specific.
Has your wife cheated on you?
In the Old Testament (Numbers 5:11-31), when a man suspected his wife of cheating on him, he was commanded to bring her to the priest. The man also was to bring a half gallon of barley flour. The priest would take the holy water and he would mix into it some of the dust from the floor of the tabernacle. The addition of the dirt to the holy water would make it become “bitter water”. Next the priest would set the accused wife down and undo the long hair on her head so that it hung down. He would then place the barley flour in her hands. At this point he would “charge the woman with an oath of cursing”. Afterwards she would say, “Amen, amen”, and then drink the mixture of dust and holy water.
If the woman was not guilty of adultery, then there would be no ill effect from drinking the water. If, however, she had committed adultery, the bitter water would enter into her body and wreak havoc. It would cause her belly to swell up and her thigh to rot. Furthermore, the woman would become an outcast among her people. That is the only recorded use of holy water in all of scripture.
Water of purifying
The Bible does call for the use of water in a number of applications. These tend to be for purification. This water was used for washing. The priests and Levites used it for bathing in (Exodus 29:4). The Jewish people used it to bathe themselves in preparation for ceremonies. The Jews washed their hands with it before they ate (Matthew 15:2). They used it to wash their feet (John 13:5).
Of course in the New Testament, people were immersed in water for the remission of sins. Jesus himself was baptized in this manner (although he was sinless). There is no indication that the water was “holy”. In fact, many of John’s baptisms occurred in the Jordan River. The Ethiopian eunuch was baptized at the first water that they came to after he believed in Jesus (Acts 8:36).
Holy spit, olive oil, and handkerchiefs; not water
Aside from Naaman, who was healed from leprosy by dipping in the Jordan seven times (II Kings 5:1-17), the young man who Jesus healed with a mixture of spit, dirt and water from the pool of Siloam (John 9:6-7), and the Sheep Gate (John 5) water is not involved in physical healings. These healings all occurred with normal water, not holy water.
The Bible teaches us first of all that prayer is essential to healing. In the New Testament, the only two physical elements we see associated with healing are olive oil and handkerchiefs. James gives us this directive for all Christians across all ages: Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord (5:14). Not “holy” oil; just plain old olive oil. You see we don’t need holy oil, because we have a Holy God.
At one point in time, God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: so that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them (Acts 19:11-12). The Bible describes this as a special miracle, so it is far less common than the anointing with olive oil which is a prescription given to all of Christianity.
God has given the Bible believer only one use for holy water. That use is for the Old Testament Hebrews to discern if a woman has been committing adultery. In the New Testament he promises us something that will not cause your belly to swell, nor your thigh to rot: living water.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Escaping the Predator Pit:
Moose and Molesters

7-9-08

by Tad Lindley

There was a day when it seemed that everybody who went up to the Holitna River caught moose. People from the coast were even going all the way up to the Kuskokwim and bringing back boatloads of meat. In those days, we ate moose meat. Then lean times came. Men who invested thousands of dollars in gas and gear were coming home empty.
The predator pit
The moose population had entered into what biologists call a “predator pit”. In a healthy situation, moose give birth to enough calves each year to replace the number of moose being killed by predators and hunters. A predator pit occurs when a population of moose gets small enough that the predators, wolves and bears, keep the population very small by killing lots of calves and pregnant cows. Once in a predator pit, it is very difficult for the population to grow. In this situation the only way to get the moose population to grow is to lift them out of the predator pit. Predator control, such as aerial wolf hunting, is an effective way to do this.
On the Lower Kuskokwim, the primary predator of moose is not wolves, but humans. The five year moratorium on moose hunting has lifted moose out of the predator pit on the Lower Kuskokwim. As long as hunters leave cows and calves alone, we can expect the population to remain healthy and feed many families on the lower river.
Spiritual predators
I have only personally known one person who was attacked by wolves, but I have known scores that were attacked by spiritual predators. You may be one of them. At some point in your life, someone you trusted sexually assaulted you. Or perhaps it was someone who had significant power over you because of their position. At least one village in Western Alaska had an entire generation of young men brutally abused by a church worker over a number of years. Much of this is type of tragedy is now coming to light. Still others have been taken advantage of by family members or other adults. Too many people, both men and women have made bad decisions with alcohol and ended up being exploited because of it. If you are a man and were never approached by a homosexual molester as a child or an adolescent, count yourself rare and blessed.
Are you living in a predator pit?
Sexual abuse is devastating. It leaves the victim with intense shame and humiliation. Although many people have been hurt just like you have, you may feel completely alone. You find yourself in a predator pit. You can only grow so far, but you can never break beyond, because the past always reaches out and brings you back down.
It may be years later. You may live in a different community, you have a different life now, but it seems as though you can never escape. You may be like the woman who can never allow her husband to love her, always creating crisis in the home and strife in the marriage. You may be the man who lives in a perpetual cloud of anger, inflicting his private pain on his wife and children. Maybe you travel through life drunk on mouthwash, marijuana, or methamphetamine, whatever will blot out the pain for a while. If so, you are living in a predator pit. Until you move on from victim-hood into victory, you will never escape the pit.
Escaping the predator pit
If you are tired of living in a predator pit, there is hope. Jesus came that we might have life and that we might have it more abundantly (John 10:10). This means that it is not Jesus’ plan for anybody to live in a predator pit. He wants us to live free. Jesus said, “If you continue in my word, then you are my disciples indeed; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:31-32)
If you continue in God’s word, eventually it will lead you to the plan of salvation. It is found in Acts 2:38 (a careful reading of the New Testament will show the same three concepts popping up again and again in other scriptures). I will not quote it here. I want you to look it up in your own Bible. If you are in a predator pit and are sick and tired of being there, you can have the victory. It will come through repentance, water baptism in Jesus’ name for the remission of sin, and the baptism of the Holy Ghost. The Lord brought deliverance this same way in the beginning, and he is still doing it nearly 2,000 years later.
Friend, God has placed this article in your hand, because he is knocking on the door of your heart, wanting you to open it and walk out of victim-hood into victory.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Salmon

6-24-08

by Tad Lindley

On day five, God created fish. For the record God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created the great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly…and God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let the fowl multiply in the earth. (Genesis 1:20-22)
From the beginning God had a commandment for the fish. God’s commandment for the fish is to go forth and multiply. We tend to think of Jesus’ relationship as being only with humans. After all, he gave 613 commandments in the Old Testament, and some additional instructions in the New. But the Bible clearly relates that the Lord is also involved in the lives of animals.
King salmon
Right now adult king salmon are returning from the Bering Sea. They are fulfilling the will of God for their lives. They are hearing the command of God to be fruitful and multiply and they are obeying it. This turns out to be a blessing for those of us who love to eat fish, since they must swim by our doorsteps to get to their spawning grounds.
Sea gulls peck out their eyes
The salmon that make it past the nets of fishermen will return to the rivers where they were born. The females will dig out a nest in the gravel and squirt their eggs into it. At the same time, a large male salmon will release his milt to fertilize the eggs. Often times jacks (the small male king salmon) will sneak in during the midst of this while the large male is not paying attention and fertilize some of the eggs himself. Then the female covers up the eggs with more gravel. Her tail gets worn down to a stub.
After spawning the fish get weak. Their bodies become covered with mold. Sea gulls peck out their eyes while they are still alive. Finally they die; every last one. Insects and other creatures in the river eat their decaying bodies.
The eggs, that were laid in the gravel, hatch. Eventually they become king salmon fry. These fry may spend one, two, or even three years in the river. They may even eat the insects that ate their parents’ bodies. When the ice weakens in the spring, they head for the Bering Sea. There they find an abundance of food.
It seems like a no-brainer
It would seem like the logical thing for a king salmon to do to stay in the Bering Sea and just get larger and larger. After all, when the kings head back to the Kuskokwim, the Kanektok, Arolik, or the Yukon, they are headed for trouble. There are seals waiting at the river mouths, as well as miles of gillnets. Those fish that make it past the seals and the people may have to deal with bears. They will go for weeks without eating. They will become weak unto death, unable to swim away from the eye-hungry seagulls. Finally they will die. Yes, the logical thing would be to stay in the Bering Sea and keep growing until they eat killer whales for breakfast.
But that is not what the king salmon does. Every salmon that lives to adulthood returns to spawn and die, because that is what God called them to do. They do not consider the cost. They do not skip spawning to go to do what they want to do; they press forward.
Unless you have worked in a cannery or fished Bristol Bay all of your life, I have probably seen more salmon that you have. I worked for the Department of Fish and Game the year of the last five million plus return on the Kvichak River. That summer I personally saw and counted on my tally-wackers about 300,000 red salmon.
No doubt you have seen fish with propeller wounds, seal bites, squid bites, sea lice infestations, pus oozing from lamprey sores, missing fins, and worms crawling out of them. I once saw a salmon that made it to its spawning grounds with a propeller bite so severe that its tail fin was hanging on by only its spine. I have no idea how it could have swum against the current, but its desire to fulfill the will of God was so great, that it made it.
So what is your excuse?
And there are some of us who cannot make it to church if our temperature gets up to 98.7 degrees. There are literally people who check themselves every Wednesday afternoon. They search their bodies trying to find out if there is some minor discomfort that will prevent them from making it to church that night.
We have something to learn from the salmon. They let nothing stand in the way of serving Jesus. Many of us on the other hand serve the Lord only when it is convenient to do so.
Imagine how hungry for fish we would be if salmon started acting like people. “I’m not spawning this year, the Super Bowl is on.” “I’m having too much fun eating herring to swim up the Yukon, sorry Jesus; I’ll spawn some other time.” “I stayed up too late last winter, I can’t spawn this summer.” Our nets would be empty. Instead our nets are full, and His house is empty.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Supporting Your Pastor

6-18-08

by Tad Lindley

Everyone needs a preacher
It might go against what you believed up to now, but according to the Bible you cannot be saved without a preacher. For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. (I Corinthians 1:21) Did you catch that? Preaching is an essential ingredient for the salvation of them that believe. We might think that preaching is what leads the sinner to repentance, but it is just as important for those that are already born again.
Preaching builds faith
Faith cometh by hearing and hearing cometh by the word of God (Romans 10:17). If faith comes by hearing the word and we hear it through preaching, then preaching is not an option for the Christian. For without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). This proves three important points:
I need a preacher to be saved.
I need a preacher to increase my faith.
I need a preacher.
Preacher or pastor?
But let me take it one step further, because there are a lot of people that have a preacher, but they don’t have a pastor. When you have a preacher you go to church and listen to a sermon and go home. When you have a pastor, you listen to what the man of God says and apply it in your life. Just as a child is to be under the authority of his parents, the child of God has a preacher who is watching for his soul. (Hebrews 13:7)
Judas had a preacher
Judas had a preacher. When Jesus’ little congregation got ruffled about the woman breaking the alabaster box, they brought it to Jesus attention. “What’s going on here? This ointment could have been sold and the money given to the poor.” Jesus rebuked them and told them that what she was doing was the right thing to do. (Mark 14:3-9)
Understand what is going on here. As a man, Jesus is their rabbi, their teacher, and their pastor. As God, Jesus is their strength, their song, and their salvation. Eleven of the disciples accepted Jesus’ rebuke: he was their pastor. Judas heard it, but he rejected it, because to Judas, Jesus was not a pastor, he was a preacher. Judas refused to submit to the authority of a pastor. As a result, Judas got angry and sold Jesus to the priests for a tithe of the price of the ointment: 30 pieces of silver.
A man who saw Jesus as pastor
When the Roman centurion came to Jesus he told Jesus: For I also am a man set under authority (Luke 7:8). Because he followed the orders of those above him, he understood that Jesus could order the healing of his servant and it would be done. This is the type of man that supports his pastor. It was this attitude that caused Jesus to turn to the Jewish disciples who were with him and say, “I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel”. (Luke 7:9)
Three ways to support your pastor
1. Go to church Hebrews 10:25 teaches us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves as has become the habit of some. Any time that you stay home from church, you are giving your pastor a vote of no confidence. You are telling him, “You should have cancelled that service pastor”. If your children ever ask you the question, “Are we going to church tonight”, you have serious problems. It means that somehow you have conveyed to your kids that church attendance is an optional thing. If we would support our pastor, we must be in church every time the doors are open.
2. Honor him
Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they must give account, that they may do it with joy and not with grief (Hebrews 13:17). Support your pastor, obey him. A godly pastor may teach guidelines that are not directly found in scripture. One pastor in Wichita, Kansas, Murrell Cornwell admonishes his families to keep an 11:00 curfew for their children. In his time as pastor, he has had to preach the funerals of five children from church families who died violent, unnecessary deaths. Every one of them died after 11:00 outside of their home.
It is in your best interest to obey your pastor. As long as he is teaching the word of God obey him. Never let your children hear you question your pastor. Never speak badly of a former pastor in front of your children. If you cannot honor those who have authority over you, your children will not honor your authority over them.
3. Pay your tithes
The Lord loveth a cheerful giver (II Corinthians 9:7). A tenth of all of our increase (paychecks, dividends, Citgo stove oil, Quest card, our subsistence catch, etc.) should go to support the man of God and the work of God in our town or village. Any time we are not bringing a tenth of our increase we are robbing God (Malachi 3:8), and we are telling our pastor that our personal kingdom is more important than the kingdom of God.
Having a pastor is something that money cannot buy. A good pastor will pray for you, fast for you, preach to you, and stand in the gap for your soul. These are things that are priceless. Be sure to bless the pastor in your life.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Three Fingers Pointing Back at You

6-11-08

by Tad Lindley

Before you read any further, I want you to take your hand and pretend that you are pointing at someone. Go ahead and do it. Don’t worry about what other people will think. Now look at your hand while you are pointing. Notice that there are three fingers pointing back at you?
The first man to ever blame his wife
One of the first things that Adam and the woman did after they fell into sin was to blame. When the Lord asked Adam if he had eaten from the tree, Adam could have said, “Yes, I sinned. I ate from the tree you told me not to. Lord, please have mercy on me.”
That’s not what he said though. The man said, “The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I did eat.” (Genesis 3:12) Not only did Adam refuse to accept responsibility for his sin, but he pointed the finger at God and at his wife. What Adam did not realize yet is that when we point the finger, there are three fingers pointing back at us.
Unfortunately this habit of blaming has been passed down from generation to generation. Husbands blame their drinking and their adultery on their wives. Wives in turn blame their own sins on their children or their husbands or their parents. Fingers are waving everywhere in the world today. Just remember, when we point the finger at a family member, there are three fingers pointing back at us.
The problem with your neighbor
A quick way to figure out what is wrong with us and our attitude is to look around us. The things that other people do that annoy us, often are the very things we are struggling with. Jesus put his finger on the matter: And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? (Matthew 7:3) In modern terms, why are you pointing out the splinter in the other person’s eye when you have a two by four stuck in your own eye?
Jesus goes on to say, Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam that is in thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye. (Matthew 7:5) If someone else’s stinginess bothers us, Jesus is telling us that we are probably stingy, and we better take care of that before we complain about them. When we point the finger at them, often we are even guiltier than the one we are accusing.
Quit blaming the devil
If you read the Genesis account, you will see that after Adam blamed both God and his wife for his slip up in the garden, the woman (she wasn’t called Eve yet) blamed the devil. The serpent beguiled me and I did eat. (Genesis 3:13) What the woman didn’t realize is that it wasn’t the devil’s fault: she was the one who ate the fruit. She thought she could divert the blame to the devil, but there were three fingers pointing back at her.
Perhaps this is a trait we have inherited from Eve. People love to blame the devil. The fact of the matter is people give the devil too much credit. The reason that you went to jail is not because the devil was after you. It’s because you quit going to church, started hanging out at the card games, and wound up drunk.
I even hear godly people blame the devil. I cringe when I hear it. Folks blame the devil for not getting the job they wanted. They blame the devil for the rude clerk at the store. They blame the devil for the engine not working. Often times when people are pointing the finger at the devil, when they should be lifting up holy hands and praising God.
If anybody could have blamed the devil…
…it was Joseph. His family betrayed him; he was falsely accused of second degree sexual assault, sentenced to life in prison without parole, and completely forgotten by everybody, everybody that is except for God. Now Joseph could have sat himself down and said, “Boy, the devil is really after me. I can hardly stand to keep going”. But Joseph didn’t say that. You see he had a trust in God.
We want to serve a soft, coddling God who will let us stay the way we are. We cannot imagine a Jesus that would make us uncomfortable. And so when God does bring us through a struggle we blame the devil, when we really should be praising God.
In Joseph’s case, it was God who allowed him to be sold into slavery. It was the Lord who placed him in prison. All of this happened so that God’s people, Israel could rise to become a great nation. This was hardly the work of the devil. It was the work of almighty God. Joseph summed it up like this, But as for you, ye thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive (Genesis 50:20).
The blame game is a dangerous game to play. It rarely draws us closer to the truth. Instead we need to accept responsibility for our shortcomings and give God the glory for his ability to take adversity and turn it for victory.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Feasting in the Face of Famine

6-4-08

by Tad Lindley

By the time you read this, fuel prices in Bethel will already have gone up. Local economists are predicting a one dollar increase in gasoline and a $1.89 increase in stove oil with prices as high as seven dollars after the fall barge.
As often happens when the spring fuel barge gets to Bethel, there was a run on gas this weekend. I pulled up Sunday after church to top off my tanks. My credit card was approved and the pump went to zeroes. I squeezed the handle, but nothing came out. A neighbor pumping diesel at the other island confirmed that the gasoline was sold out.
We bought two hundred gallons of stove oil earlier in the week. The sales tax alone was over fifty dollars. It should not take a calculator to figure out that unless we all get a raise or a second job; things are going to get tougher.
Will Bethel become a ghost town?
As I was contemplating these things, a feeling of desperation came over me. Are sensible folks going to pack it up in Bethel and move to some place with cheap gas and electricity? Will the school district and the health corporation have to lay folks off in order to pay for stove oil? Will we all get stuck with houses that are suddenly worth nothing? You know how this line of thinking plays out. Eventually, I’m envisioning my family sitting on the floor shivering around a cardboard box, looking at the last moldy piece of dried fish while the kitchen table crackles in the wood stove.
Eating donkey heads and dove droppings
About 2,500 years ago things got tough in Samaria. The Syrian army had surrounded the walled city. The people were locked inside. Painfully they rationed food and water. Eventually all food was gone and there was a great famine in Samaria; and indeed they besieged it until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and one fourth of a kab of dove droppings for five shekels of silver (II Kings 6:25 NKJV). It was so bad that mothers began to eat their babies.
When the king learned about women eating their babies, he lost it. In such a situation, it would seem that seeking God’s assistance would be in order. Not for the king. He immediately set out to kill the preacher in Samaria, a man named Elisha.
There’s nothing like faith
The king’s hit man was delayed at the door. The king showed up and they opened the door. Elisha didn’t hide. Instead he spoke the word of faith: “by this time tomorrow in the markets of Samaria, five quarts of flour will cost only half an ounce of silver, and ten quarts of barley grain will cost only half an ounce of silver” (II Kings 7:1 NLT).
It was a crazy suggestion. People were breaking open the skulls of donkeys that had starved to death so that they could eat the brain. Infants were being boiled and eaten by the survivors. Then this preacher has the boldness to proclaim that tomorrow everything is going to be back to normal. At least one of the king’s men couldn’t believe it. “That couldn’t happen even if the Lord opens the windows of heaven,” he said (7:2 NLT).
When the window opens, watch out!
As the people of Samaria were consumed with the stupor of starvation, their God was at work behind the enemy lines. Four lepers sat starving to death outside the gate of Samaria. They realized they had two choices: enter the city and starve to death, or approach the Syrian camp and beg food, possibly getting killed in the process. As they walked out from the city toward the Syrian camp, it was strangely quiet. The army was gone, but nearly everything was there. The lepers wandered from tent to tent. They filled their stomachs and gathered gold and silver.
The Holy One of Israel had sent a panic amidst the Syrian camp, and during the night they had fled, leaving everything behind. As the starving people of Samaria poured out of the city to feast, they trampled the king’s servant who had said, “That couldn’t happen even if the Lord opens the windows of heaven.”
Your personal famine
Reader, there is no famine that the power of God cannot overcome. When we get desperate enough to give up, it is time to reach into the word of God. Whether we are in a physical food famine, or we are in a financial famine, or in an emotional famine, if we serve Jesus, we have nothing to fear. Our God specializes in the impossible. Next time you face a personal famine, remember that while Samaria was suffering and God seemed nowhere to be found, he was actually behind the enemy lines setting up a mighty feast for them.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Revelation
and the Rising Price of Rice

5-28-08

by Tad Lindley

Recently Sam’s Club and Costco both put limits on the amounts of rice that customers could buy. Knowing this, a Bethel resident called about barge ordering rice from Span-Alaska. “Do you have a limit on the number of bags of rice I can buy?”
“No, we have no limit on rice,” was the answer.
“Good, then I’d like to buy twenty bags of rice.”
“I’m sorry, we are out of rice.”
Surviving the rice crisis
Even if there were absolutely no rice available in the Calista region, we would do all right. We could simply throw spaghetti or macaroni into the soup instead. We are wealthy in wild food resources. For much of the world this is not true.
Worldwide about one fifth of the calories consumed by human beings are in the form of rice. For many people, rice is the single most important, and sometimes the only food in their diet. In a country with an abundance of fish, cash, and Quest cards this is hard to imagine.
Where did all the rice go?
Rice has tended to be a fairly stable and reliable crop for thousands of years. Why is there suddenly a worldwide rice crisis?
There are three reasons. The first is weather factors. Rice is dependent on an abundance of water. In times of drought, rice production drops off. Fortunately rice is grown in many countries, and so drought never affects all rice growing nations during the same year.
The second factor is human greed. Those who purchased rice in enormous quantities months ago at low prices are holding on to the rice they bought. Their hope is that the price of rice will go even higher, and then they will sell, making a huge profit.
The third factor is oil. As oil prices have risen, the United States has invested heavily in making fuel from corn. Corn can be fermented to produce alcohol, as can grapes, potatoes, and most other fruits and grains. As the price of corn has risen, farmers have switched from growing other grains to growing corn. This affects everything from the cost of Doritos™ in Platinum to the price of rice across the planet.
The black horse
Would you be surprised to know that the Bible describes a very similar situation to this in the book of the Revelation? Nearly two thousand years ago, when John was exiled to the island of Patmos, he received visions from God of events that would transpire at the end of the time we are living in. Jesus showed John that there would be seven seals that would be opened (not seven nayiq, but seven prophecies), seven trumpets that would be blown, and seven bowls that would be poured out.
The first four seals that are opened are spirits that appear as men riding on horses. The third of these is the black horse and rider. This prophecy concerns the prices of grain, oil, and alcohol (wine).
When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.” (Revelation 6:5-6 NKJV) The picture here is one of rising prices for a variety of commodities.
In the past, many have assumed that the black horse represented famine. Certainly that is a possibility, but when we read what the prophet Zechariah has to say about the black horse, then we see that perhaps it is not famine.
The one with the black horses is going to the north country…those who go to the north country have given my Spirit rest in the north country. (Zechariah 6:6,8 NKJV) Famine generally does not give rest to God’s spirit. The hungrier a nation is, the greater the move of God. This is why we see tremendous miracles and greater outpourings of the Holy Ghost overseas.
Devotion to making money is what quenches God’s spirit. The rider on the black horse is a solid picture of the spirit of Capitalism, buy low and sell high. There is presently enough rice to meet worldwide demand, but powerful players are holding on to large quantities of rice waiting for prices to go higher before they sell.
Is the current rice crisis a sign that the third seal has been opened? Only time will tell.
For more on the first four seals, read Revelation 6:1-8, and Zechariah 6:1-8.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Ugly is More Than Skin Deep

5-20-08

by Tad Lindley

You’ve probably heard the story before. Adam and the woman (she wasn’t called Eve until later on, Genesis 3:20) were in the Garden of Eden. Life was wonderful. They did not know sin. They could leave their keys in the vehicles, they did not have to lock their doors at night. There had never been a murder. Nobody had ever sworn at another person. All that they knew was good.
The serpent approached them. He talked the woman into eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam took the next bite. They already had the knowledge of good. Now they had the knowledge of evil.
Beating back the ugly
The ugliness of sin came over them. They attempted to cover up the ugliness. First Adam and the woman invented the needle and thread. Next they sewed fig leaves together until they were covered. Apparently it was enough to satisfy themselves. You see, they were under the misconception that ugly is only skin deep. Unfortunately for them, it was not enough to satisfy God.
The Lord sees not as the man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart (I Samuel 16:7). When the Lord looked at Adam and the woman, he saw right through the fig leaves. He saw their hearts. What he saw was ugly.
How ugly is the heart?
When God saw their hearts, he probably said something like this: The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it (Jeremiah 17:9). He confronted them with the ugliness of their hearts. Instead of accepting responsibility for their sin, they tried to place the blame on someone else. As a result of this God kicked them out of the Garden.
Covering up the ugly
It is interesting to note that Adam and the woman had tried to cover up their ugliness with leaves. God threw out their garments and made clothes for them from the skins of animals (Genesis 3:21). This is a pattern that people have followed from that day forward: they have tried to deal with their ugliness by covering it up on the outside. Since men look on the outside, they might be fooled, but God knows the heart.
Shoe polish and paint
Recently, when someone found out my age, they asked me if I put shoe polish in my hair to cover up white hairs. I don’t and I wouldn’t. Jesus said, Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black (Matthew 5:36). Furthermore, the Bible tells us that the white head is a crown of glory (Proverbs 16:31).
Yet you know that there are people who pluck their white hairs and others who would not dream of being seen in public without dying their hair. Somehow they feel that if the flaws and imperfections on the outside can be covered up, then people will see them as beautiful.
It is not much of a problem here in the AVCP region, but where I grew up there were many women who were practically addicted to make up. Some were so bound that they felt worthless if they had to be in public without it. Others work diligently to make themselves beautiful by wearing expensive clothes. Some use elaborate body piercing (beauty is in the eye of the beholder).
Overcoming ugliness starts in the heart
The New Testament cautions Christians not to use gold, pearls, expensive clothing, or elaborate hairdos to make themselves beautiful (I Peter 3:3, I Timothy 2:9). Yes, those things might for a time deceive people who are not really close to us, but not forever. According to the word of God ugliness is overcome from the outside in: let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is incorruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price (I Peter 3:4).
In the Old Testament, God despised Adam and Eve’s attempts to cover up their sin. He killed animals and covered them with their skins. In the New Testament, God himself comes manifest in the flesh. He allows himself to be slain, and we have the opportunity to have him cover our ugliness.
Do you feel ugly?
If you have spent your life feeling ugly and trying to cover it in different ways, you can be free. Jesus knows right where you are. When we repent of our old life and are baptized in Jesus’ name, we feel the weight of ugliness slip away. Our own ugliness, shame, and mistakes are covered by the beauty of Jesus Christ. For as many of you have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ (Galatians 3:27). If you feel ugly, slip into something more beautiful.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Congregation Accused of Being Drunk During Prayer Meeting

5-13-08

by Tad Lindley

My friend thought he was going to hurt my feelings. He had been to our church for Sunday morning worship a few years back. I asked him, “How did you like service?” He paused for a moment. “I don’t mean to hurt your feelings, but it was unusual for me. You see, I don’t usually see people getting loud like that unless they’ve had a few beers or been smoking pot.”
Far from having my feelings hurt, I took it as a compliment. Way back in the beginning, at the birth of the church, on the day of Pentecost about 29 A.D., folks said almost exactly the same thing. They accused Peter, Mary, the mother of Jesus, and about 118 other folks of being drunk.
Quick history
Let me back track a little bit. You remember that Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross. They took his body off of the cross and laid it in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. Then Jesus descended into hell and preached to those people who perished in the flood (I Peter 3:18-20). On the third day, he rose from the dead. When they went to the tomb to anoint his body with spices, he was not there.
For forty days Jesus appeared to the disciples and others. The total number of people who saw him at that time was over 500 (I Corinthians 15:6). It was during this forty day period that Jesus taught the disciples and prepared them to turn their world right side up. At the end of forty days Jesus ascended up to heaven. Before he left, he instructed his followers to wait in Jerusalem until they received the power from on high (Luke 24:49, Acts 1:8).
The promise poured out
One hundred twenty of Jesus’ followers went to Jerusalem to wait for the power that Jesus had promised them. They were meeting daily both in the temple, and in an upper room somewhere else in the city. The seventh day was the Jewish celebration of Pentecost. And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:1-4)
They’d never seen church like this before
Nothing like this had ever happened before. Apparently there was such a ruckus that passersby in the street noticed that things were getting wild in the upstairs room. The Bible tells us that the word started spreading, and people came from all over Jerusalem to see what was going on (Acts 2:6). Now a lot of modern church services are over and done with in less than an hour. Not so on the day of Pentecost. God filled them with the Holy Ghost and they started speaking in tongues. They were still speaking in tongues and worshipping God much later, because after the word spread across town and people stopped what they were doing to come back to the building where the disciples were, they were still speaking in tongues!
Were the disciples actually drunk?
The Jews in Jerusalem were amazed. People from other parts of the Roman Empire heard the disciples and Mary and over a hundred others speaking in languages they could not have known. People were trying to figure out what was going on. Some of them suggested that maybe the disciples were drunk (Acts 2:13). At that point Peter and the other disciples got up in front of the crowd. He went on to tell them that they were not drunk, instead they had received the Spirit prophesied by the prophet Joel. You can read Peter’s message in Acts 2 in your own Bible. It closes with him telling the people that if they would repent and be baptized in Jesus’ name that they too could receive the very same Holy Ghost experience (2:38-39).
When you too receive the wonderful gift of God, the Holy Ghost, it will change your life. People who knew you before will wonder what has happened to you. You can tell them as did Peter, “We’re not drunk as you suppose. No, we have just been filled with the Holy Ghost”.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, Alaska.

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I Smoked All the Marijuana
I Wanted to Today

4-30-08

by Tad Lindley

This is truly a great way to live. I also drank all the alcohol I wanted today. I smoked all the cigarettes and had all the snuff I wanted today as well. Not only that, I played all the 4-5-6 and all the bingo I wanted to. If I had known that living for God was like this, I would have started long ago.
“Brother Lindley, I thought you were a Christian, and now this.”
Wait a minute, let me explain.
Don’t turn the page just yet
The Bible teaches us that where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. (II Corinthians 3:17) Some people would interpret that word liberty to mean that a person can do whatever they want, act however they want, and dress however they want. In the original language liberty refers to freedom from bondage. Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom from bondage to sin.
Exactly how much did I smoke?
Yes, I smoked all the marijuana I wanted today. All the marijuana I wanted today was none. I also made throughout the day without wanting a drop of any alcoholic beverage. All the alcohol I wanted today was none. Neither did I have the desire to smoke or rub snuff. At various times in my life I had no choice; I was addicted to these things. You probably figured out by now that I didn’t feel like gambling today either. You’re right.
How much did you smoke?
What about you, reader? Did you get all you wanted of these things today? If you weren’t able to smoke all the marijuana you wanted to, then there is a problem. If you couldn’t get enough bingo in today, then there is a problem. If you could not get enough alcohol to drink today, then there is a problem. There is a solution to this problem. You can be numbered among those who have found such a freedom in God that there is peace and comfort without the intoxicating effects of drugs, or the excitement of winning at 4-5-6.
Freedom is not…
… being able to drink whenever we want to. It is not having a closet full of cartons of Camel™. Freedom is being able to sleep at night with no regrets. Freedom is living under the same roof as my wife and children. Freedom is being in no particular hurry on Friday night. Freedom is being able to eat a meal without having to step out on the step and have a cigarette afterwards. Freedom is not having to call in Monday morning hung over and lie about having the flu.
For the past two thousand years, many have been set free from the things that at one time were destroying them. Reader, you may think, “I’m so bad, and I’ve sunk so low, that I could never be happy again.” Not true. In fact, Jesus is all about reaching those with problems. Here is what he said: ... They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick ... for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. (Matthew 9:12-13) Jesus wants to keep those that are already saved, but heaven rejoices over a single sinner who reaches the end of the rope and cries out to God. Things heat up in heaven when a desperate person turns to God. I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. (Luke 15:7 NIV)
Freedom is not free
When the Lord came revealed in a human body as Jesus Christ, he experienced all the temptations that we do. (Hebrews 4:15) In fact he took the crushing weight of every hangover morning, and the pain every gambling addict that spent the grocery money on 4-5-6. He bore the shame of every one who has ever humiliated themselves in acts of drunkenness. He took upon himself the embarrassment of having our crimes and our names printed in the newspaper. Hebrews 9:28 tells us that Jesus was crucified to bear the sins of many. The famous song borrowed in part from Isaiah 53:5 says:
He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, surely he bore our sorrow, and by his stripes we are healed.
When Jesus was hung on the cross, God was literally striking out at his own body, and shedding his own blood. He was allowing himself to take the punishment for us. The weight, shame, and humiliation of our sin were upon him. Regardless of whom you are, if you believe that, you can be set free.
To be set free, we must die out to sin. We must repent, that means to turn around and head in God’s direction. (Acts 2:38, Matthew 4:17, Luke 13:3) We must be buried with him in baptism (Romans 6:4, Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38, Galatians 3:27). We will receive overcoming power in the gift of the Holy Ghost. (Acts 1:8, Acts 2:38-39, II Corinthians 3:17) Then we can truly say that we have engaged in all the sin that we want to today, which will be none.
Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty!
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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The Reason Most Churches Do Not Baptize in Jesus’ Name
Part II

4-22-08

by Tad Lindley

Last week I related the true testimony of a man who wanted to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, following after the Biblical pattern. He knocked on the doors of ten churches, and ten times was turned away. No pastor or priest was found that would baptize him the way that Peter, Paul, and the other apostles baptized.
Then I created an imaginary story. In this story, a man became president of the United States. Having received a vision from God, he set about to convert the entire country to Christianity. Such a thing would be impossible in the United States without violating freedom of religion. In other times and other nations though, people did not enjoy this protection.
Truth stranger than fiction
In the year 312, the Roman Emperor, Constantine, had a vision. History tells us that in his vision he saw a cross of light in the sky. The words, “In this sign, you will conquer,” came to him. He had his soldiers paint a cross on their shields. On October 28 of the same year, he was victorious at the Battle of Milvian Bridge.
Although Constantine himself did not immediately convert to Christianity (he postponed his own baptism until later in his life), he adopted Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire. No more would Christians go up against lions or gladiators for the entertainment of pagans. Instead, the entire Roman Empire would be forced to become “Christian”.
Christianity was already divided
Just like today, in the day of Emperor Constantine, there were a wide variety of teachings in Christianity. Understand that almost as soon as Jesus had ascended to heaven, false doctrines crept into the church. Much of the New Testament is devoted to laying down solid teaching against false doctrine. Jude urged believers to earnestly contend for the faith that was once delivered to the saints (v.3). The plague of different teachings caused the apostle, John, to write Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world (I John 4:1). Some preachers taught that Jesus was only a spirit, that he never had a real body. Others taught that Jesus was a junior God to the senior God, Jehovah, of the Old Testament. An ancient manuscript, the Didache, proves that possibly as early as the first century some people were no longer following the disciple’s example concerning baptism.
Straightening out the “official church”
Emperor Constantine called a council of religious leaders. He wanted them to straighten out these issues and settle on one official doctrine for the “Christian” church. In 325 this council met in the town of Nicea (modern Iznik, Turkey). The men gathered to settle disagreements. The men at the Council of Nicea chose Greek philosophy over the Bible and made the trinity the official teaching of the “Church”. Another important deviation from the Bible was the endorsement of baptism using the words “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost”. Those following the example of the apostles were considered heretics and subject to the death penalty.
From Nicea to a church near you
From Nicea until now, most churches have baptized using the words “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost”. It has become so ingrained that people no longer realize that this is not how the Biblical Christians baptized. Odd as it may seem, if Peter, John, or Paul came back from the dead, they would be kicked out of many churches if they tried to baptize anybody.
New Testament vs. Nicea
Before he ascended into heaven, Jesus told his disciples, Go ye therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost (Matthew 28:19). If you have never seen a Biblical baptism before, it might seem strange to you that in the Bible, when people were baptized the disciples never said, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost”. Instead they said, in the name of Jesus Christ… (Acts 2:38). Or they used, in the name of the Lord Jesus (Acts 8:16). At Caesarea, Peter commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord (Acts 10:48). Paul baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus (Acts 19:5) at Ephesus, and himself was baptized calling on the name of the Lord (Acts 22:16). Who do you trust to better understand what Jesus meant in Matthew 28:19, the men who walked with him, or a group of religious scholars 300 years later (that is longer than the time between the Declaration of Independence and today)?
The winner is…
When human tradition comes up against the word of God the winner is you, if you choose God. If you choose religious tradition that is contrary to the Bible, you are on dangerous ground. The apostle, Paul, cautioned us in his letter to Colosse: Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ (Colossians 2:8).
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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The Reason Most Churches Do Not Baptize in Jesus’ Name
Part I

4-15-08

by Tad Lindley

Recently a man in Barrow, Alaska studied his Bible very carefully. He came to the conclusion that he needed to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sin. This is how the apostles baptized in the Bible. There is no Biblical record of anyone being baptized in any other way than in the name of Jesus Christ. Surely it would be easy for a person to get baptized in the only name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12). He went to ten different churches in Barrow looking for a pastor or priest who would baptize him in Jesus’ name. At every door he was turned away. Nobody would baptize him in the name of the Lord.
Finally, by telephone, he was able to locate a pastor in Fairbanks who was willing. Reverend Gordon Parrish and another minister flew to Barrow and baptized the hungry soul in Jesus’ name.
Why was it so difficult for this man to obey the Bible? How is it that ten out of ten churches would refuse to follow in the footsteps of the apostles? It will take me two weeks to explain, so clip this out and save it for next week.
A bit of science fiction
Imagine the following story. In April of 2008, then Senator Constantine Knock-knuckle, an independent candidate, had a dream. In his dream a man told him that if he would use the symbol of the cross in his television advertisements he would win the 2008 presidential election. Senator Knock-knuckle had always thought of himself as “a devout agnostic”. The dream deeply impacted him. For the remainder of the election year America saw the symbol of the cross everywhere they saw the name Knock-knuckle.
Knock-knuckle wins
As the calendar flipped into November 2008, the polls showed John McCain in the lead, but in an incredible turnabout, Knock-knuckle won with a tremendous landslide. He may have been “a devout agnostic” before, but after his victory he became a fanatical Christian. Because he credited the Lord with his victory, he made it his personal mission to see the entire United States converted to Christianity.
At that time, there were a wide variety of religious beliefs among “Christians”. Some contended for homosexual leadership, others for the Biblical standard. Some practiced foot washing, and others had never heard of it.
Christianizing of the United States
President Knock-knuckle sought to bring unity. In early 2009, he created a Department of Christianity (DOC). The first job of the DOC would be to call for a large convention. In this convention, leaders from every known church organization would be represented. They would vote democratically to settle issues of division among the different churches in the United States.
A new national church
One of the issues that seemed to divide people at that time was worship style. Some organizations would have open and expressive worship. Individuals would openly worship God, not worrying about what people down the pew thought. People danced, leapt, shouted, prayed aloud, ran the aisles, and clapped their hands. This group was referred to as the Wild and Woolies. In other churches, people would only stand on the third stanza of the hymns. There were never tongues or interpretation, let alone anyone doing anything other than facing forward silently with hands frozen at their sides. This group came to be known as the Manikins.
The big debate
The Wild and Woolies spoke to the council that had gathered. They passionately pleaded for people to see that David danced before the Lord (II Samuel 6:14). They showed that in the Bible people were to clap their hands and shout unto God with the voice of triumph (Psalm 47:1). After many other scripture references, they closed with the story of the lame man at the gate beautiful (Acts 3). When God healed him, he went leaping and praising into the temple.
When the Manikins stepped before the council of churches, they had only one scripture. But the Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him. (Habakkuk 2:20) They stepped down from the podium, and a call was made to vote.
It was not an issue of scripture. It was an issue of numbers. By this time in history, the Manikins far outnumbered the Wild and Woolies. It was quickly decided that the only acceptable mode of worship was silence. All other expressions of worship would be strictly and severely punished.
Truth is stranger than fiction
Fortunately we live in a nation that believes in freedom of religion. As long as this protection is in place, the imaginary story above can not happen. Unfortunately, this is not the case in every nation. Next week we will look into the past and find out why not even the apostles could neither baptize nor be baptized in ten out of ten churches tested in Barrow.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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The Mechanics of Salvation

4-8-08

by Tad Lindley

I could ask you, “What do I have to do to drive a car?” You would tell me something like this: “First you must put the key in the ignition. Then you need to turn the key clockwise until the engine starts. When the engine starts, let go. When the gas gets low, fill up the tank. Change the oil every 3,000 miles.” A good car will run for 100,000 miles on that advice alone (50,000 miles in Bethel).
There are a number of steps that need to be taken to get a car started. Many people do not bother to read the owner’s manual of their car, but all of the above steps are in there. They are not, however, found on the same page. The oil change information is in a completely different part of the book than the part on starting the car, and yet without it, your car will never last 100,000 miles. The part on filling the tank with gasoline is also in a different chapter. The person who simply goes to the book, circle the sentence that says, “Turn the keep clockwise until the engine starts,” and does nothing else, will find that in a couple of years they will have a car that is dead in the driveway.
No person who values their automobile would treat it that way. Yet sadly, people do exactly that with their Bible. Concerning the salvation of their souls, they will find one or two Bible verses, circle them and ignore everything else. This is why we have preachers telling folks they are saved by confessing with their mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord (Romans 10:9). A legion of devils acknowledged that Jesus was Lord in Luke 8:28, and yet we know that devils can not be saved. Confessing Jesus with your mouth is essential if we would be saved, but like putting a key in the ignition, it is not enough.
Belief
Belief in the Jesus Christ of the Bible is absolutely necessary. It is the key. Jesus said, “If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins” (John 8:24). When the idol worshipping Philippian jailor asked Paul and Silas, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (Acts 16:30-31). Belief in Jesus Christ is the starting point for victory. It is not the end point. If your experience is limited to believing in Jesus Christ, there is much more for you in the Bible.
Repentance
There is a strong tendency in America for “Christians” to live as much like everybody else, until they listen to the same music as the world, they use the same drugs, they watch the same movies, they drink like the world, and they wear the same lack of clothes. When we continue acting just like the secular world, we have not repented.
The Bible message is for men to repent. John the Baptist preached repentance, “Repent ye: for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2). Jesus preached repentance, “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3,5). Peter preached repentance, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted…” (Acts 3:19). Jesus has delayed his coming in the desire that many more of us would repent of our sin. The Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (II Peter 3:9). Unless we repent, we cannot be saved.
Baptism
Baptism is the Biblical response to belief and repentance. When they [the Samaritans] believed Philip preaching concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women (Acts 8:12). When the Jews of Jerusalem believed Peter’s preaching concerning the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ they asked what they should do in response to their guilt. Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins… (Acts 2:38). Everywhere the apostles went, the expected response was that people would either believe the message or reject it. Those that believed were baptized in Jesus’ name (Acts 2:38, 8:16, 10:48, 19:5, 22:16).
Modern religion has muddied the picture with non-Biblical teachings. When you read the word “baptism” in your Bible, you should picture people being put underwater. Never in the Bible were people sprinkled in the name of Jesus for the remission of sin. Never in the Bible was water poured over people in Jesus’ name for the remission of sin. The Greek word for immersion is always used where we see the word “baptized” in English, and anglluq in Yup’ik. If you desire to follow Jesus and Peter, the man to whom Jesus gave the keys of the kingdom (Matthew 16:19), then you will be immersed in Jesus’ name for the remission of your sins.
Holy Ghost filled
In your Bible, people received power from on high when God filled them with his Spirit. On the Day of Pentecost in 29 AD, they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak in tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:4). In Caesarea they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God (Acts10:46). At Ephesus, when Paul laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came upon them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied (Acts 19:6).
The disciples in Jerusalem were so concerned that the people in Samaria had not received the Holy Ghost (they had believed, repented, and been baptized in Jesus’ name, but had not received the Holy Ghost), that they sent unto them Peter and John: who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost (Acts 8:14-15). Jesus himself taught that the baptism of the Spirit was absolutely necessary. Verily, verily, I say unto you, “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5).
Over 100,000 miles
You want your soul to dwell in the house of the Lord forever. The Bible is the manual for your salvation. I realize that preachers may preach less than the Bible. Do not take your chances. Your soul is too precious to cut corners with. You are in it for the long haul. If you follow God’s instructions, your soul will last longer than 100,000 miles, it will last for eternity!
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, Alaska.

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Our First Brush with the Mark of the Beast

4-1-08

by Tad Lindley

The Bible tells of a time when men will not be able to buy or sell without accepting a mark in their body. And he causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. (Revelation 13:16-17)
It might seem far fetched. After all, we are American. This is the land of the free and the home of the brave. We are used to being able to go down to the store and spend our money as we please, but there is coming a day when this will no longer be the case.
The beast
Before I tell you about my first brush with the mark of the beast, let me explain briefly who the beast is and what the mark is. The beast is either the antichrist or the one world government of the antichrist. John saw a beast coming out of the sea. We know from the Book of Daniel, that the beast represents either a king (7:17) or a kingdom (7:23).
The mark
The mark will be something that is either in the skin as in an ID chip or a tattoo. Driver’s licenses, passports, and social security cards can be counterfeited. Credit card and ATM card information can be copied and duplicates made. If the identification were in the forehead or the right hand, the only way to pass yourself off as another person would be to have their forehead grafted onto your skull, or their hand sewn onto your body.
The reason people will love the mark of the beast
The Islamist terrorist that hijacked the airplanes on September 11 would never have been able to pass themselves off as somebody else if this type of ID were standard. Nobody could ever use your credit card information illegally again. Cash would become obsolete. There would be no more mugging. To buy or sell things, you would simply swipe your hand or forehead. People will want the mark, because it will mean security.
My first brush with it
The United States Passport is not the mark of the beast, but in response to threats from terrorists, you now need a passport to get into the United States. Even if you were born here and have never broken a law, if you go to Canada or Mexico, you cannot re-enter the United States without a passport.
We had applied for our passports well in advance of our trip to Mexico. Then about five days before we were to leave, we received a letter from the State Department indicating that the pictures we submitted were not acceptable. I checked the government web site to see if we could still travel. Yes, regulations were in place permitting people who had applied for a passport to come back into the United States. Unbeknownst to me, within the next few days, a requirement would be put in place requiring us to carry some additional paper work. When we walked up to the Alaska Airlines ticket counter 61 minutes prior to departure time, we expected to sail through.
The first thing the ticket agent asked for were our passports. We did not have them of course, but we had verification that we had applied. Unfortunately it was not the documentation that the State Department had required in their statement released a few days earlier.
“There’s no way I can get you on this flight. You’ll have to get a hotel here in LA at your own expense and I will see if I can get you on tomorrow’s flight. Meanwhile I will go into the back office and look into your passport situation”.
We were completely shut out. There was absolutely nothing that we could do. Suddenly money was useless. “This is not right,” I thought to myself. “I am a US citizen. I should be free to come and go.” I thought about telling her that I was a preacher and that I had been school district teacher of the year, but it would have been wasted breath. She disappeared and we stood stoop-shouldered alongside our bags.
It’s who you know
Then I remembered. You see, I know somebody who is bigger than Alaska Airlines, bigger even than the United States government: Jesus. “I’m going to pray,” I thought, but then doubt crowded in. “If you pray in front of the kids and it doesn’t happen, it’s going to damage their faith.” I figured that it is the Lord’s responsibility to make himself look good.
“Kids, let’s pray.” My wife had stepped aside for something. “Jesus, we’ve got a lot invested in this trip and we’d sure like to get on the plane today. Amen.”
The ticket agent came back out. Twenty minutes to departure. I asked for a manager (I had not even considered getting on the plane in spite of my prayer.) I was going to ask the manager if they would pay for the hotel for us. Instead the Lord told me to ask him if there was any chance we could get on the flight. He turned to the agent and said, “Try it.”
The Lord held the plane and we got on. Even our bags made it. There is nobody like Jesus.
When the mark of the beast comes, it will not just be whether you can get on a plane or not. Without the mark, we will not be able to get groceries, buy stove oil, pay the electric bill, or get medical attention. It will be a time where our faith will be tried beyond belief, but Jesus can and will deliver.
In the midst of complete powerlessness, we turned to the great God of heaven and earth and he heard our prayer.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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When Jesus Tears Up Your House

3-26-08

by Tommy Wells

And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of them that sold doves, and he said unto them, It is written, my house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. (Matthew 21:21-13) And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables. (John 2:15)
It certainly was not the first time that Jesus saw the temple’s marketplace. He had been there many times during his life, but this time, something snapped. The situation had been eating on him. Finally he had enough.
The Law that God had given Moses required people to bring animals to be sacrificed. In Jesus’ day animal sacrifice at the temple was an every day occurrence. Their bodies were consumed in the continual fire on the brass altar, or dealt with in a variety of other manners thoroughly described in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. When everybody lived close to the altar, it was an easy issue to deal with. Every man brought the best animal from his own flock. As the Jewish people spread out across the Roman Empire, they found it less convenient to bring animals with them on a long trip to Jerusalem. In such cases they would bring money and buy an animal in Jerusalem.
Making a quick buck
Over time, some folks realized they could make a lot of money by setting up at the temple and selling animals to people from out of town. A whole industry was established within the temple courts. Everything from doves to oxen was available. It seems that Adam and Eve instructed their sons that God must have the best animals for sacrifice. This is why Abel brought the fatlings of his flock (Genesis 4:4). The salesmen at the temple were not providing the best for sacrifice. They were offering weaker animals for a higher price (Malachi 1:6-14). They had turned the house of God into an embarrassment. Jesus dealt with it very severely.
What if Jesus came to your house?
I imagine Jesus stepping into a typical American living room. The fleshy, under-active family is sitting on couches aimed at the television. They are bathed in the blue light from the screen. At first they are oblivious to the presence of Jesus, but then they are aware of a man next to their TV. He is placing his hands on the television. Now he is casting it down on the floor. Their hands stop moving somewhere between their open mouths and the bag of Doritos. They want to get up and arrest the intruder, but he is too fast for them.
He is down the hall to a bedroom where he finds another TV with a group of teenagers playing X-Box 360. He wades through the empty energy drink cans, pulls out his Leatherman and cuts the cables on the system. They want to get up and fight him, but they are too worn out from playing Halo all day.
In the next room, a middle-aged man works on his My Space profile. He typically spends thirty hours a week on the computer. All of his My Space buddies are “Christian.” Jesus quickly cuts the cord, and is on to the next house. But as he is walking across the porch on the way out, they hear him say, “My house shall be called a house of prayer.”
It’s not me; it’s my neighbor that’s got the problem
I know that you probably only watch the history channel and other educational programming. I know that you only spend twenty-nine hours a week on the computer, not thirty. You will always be able to find somebody who is doing worse than yourself. Compare yourself with yourself for a change. On an average day do you spend more time in prayer and Bible study, or more time in front of the television? Do you spend more time with your computer, or more time with God? It used to be a popular saying among atheists that “religion is the opiate of the masses”. They missed the mark by a long way. Television, video games, and web surfing are the opiate of the masses.
I am only writing to folks that love Jesus and want to see his face. A true Christian wants their house to be a house of prayer. Television and video games are enemies to that. If you don’t believe me, keep a log this week of how much time you spend in prayer and Bible study and then how much time you spend in electronic entertainment. Do the same for your children. In most cases, if you are honest, you will come to the conclusion that TV is consuming your eternal life.
Jesus will not come to your house and destroy your television. He will not take down your satellite dish. He will not hack in and wipe out you’re My Space account. He made you with a free will. If you love him, you will have to choose to make your house a house of prayer.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, Alaska.

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Easter: A Door of Hope in a Valley of Trouble

3-20-08

by Tad Lindley

There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. (Hosea 2:15)
The Book of Joshua records the story of a man named Achan (Joshua 6-7). At the battle of Jericho, Achan stole some items out of the city and hid them underneath his tent. Because of his disobedience to God, thirty-six men lost their lives (Joshua 7:5). It was not long before Achan’s sin found him out. The Lord commanded a death sentence for Achan, his family, and his animals. The place of Achan’s death is called the Valley of Achor. In the Hebrew language, Achor means “trouble”. As the nation of Israel closed in on Achan in the Valley of Trouble, he slipped into unconsciousness and death with the shrill screams of his wife and children burning through his ears.
Almost 700 years later, the Lord would speak this promise to his people through the prophet Hosea: “I will make the Valley of Trouble a door of hope”. We would ask, “How can God take the place of ultimate failure, defeat, and destruction and turn it into hope?” Over 700 years after the ministry of Hosea, God’s promise was fulfilled, and the Lord did make a door of hope in the Valley of Achor.
Your personal Valley of Achor
According to the Bible, we all stand to walk into the Valley of Achor, For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23). Not only is every man guilty as was Achan, but we are all under a death sentence. From the White House to the prison house, every man, woman, and child has failed God. We can pat ourselves on the back and find someone else whose sin is worse in our eyes, but in God’s eyes our sin is still sin. Unfortunately for man, the spiritual law book is not subject to change by jury or legislature. In it, there is one sentence for disobedience to the Lord. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23).
Don’t stop reading here. If it sounds like the Lord wants to strike us all down for our mistakes and our stumbling, read on. The Lord …is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). Here is the good news; God has made a door in the Valley of Trouble! Where men and women would find themselves surrounded and defeated by troubles of our own making, Jesus has made a way out.
A door of escape
The purpose for God becoming a man was that he might bear our sin for us. Jesus Christ walked right into the place of destruction and was stricken in our place. At the cross, Jesus was entering into the Valley of Trouble. In burial He was making a doorway out of that valley, and in the resurrection He walked right on through that doorway!
It is not enough for us to merely know that there is a doorway of deliverance from death. We must walk through it if we would be saved.
Getting through the door
... If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it (Luke 9:23-24). How do we follow Jesus through the door? How do we lose our life to be saved?
Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life (Romans 6:3-4). When we die out to ourselves, and are baptized into Jesus Christ, we are entering the door of hope. Then we can be raised from certain defeat to walk in newness of life. If you happen to be reading this and feel defeated in life and as if everything is caving in upon you, do not give up, Jesus has made a way out for you. When the Jews who had called for the death of an innocent man asked Peter how to be delivered from their sin, Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:38). We must die out to ourselves (repent), be buried with Jesus in baptism for the forgiveness of sins, and we will rise to walk in newness of life when we receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, Alaska.

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Are you smarter than your husband?

3-13-08

by Tad Lindley

When you first met him, he may have seemed perfect in every way, but now that you’re married to him, he seems imperfect in every way. He was charming and handsome; now he’s grouchy and chubby. It used to be that he could do no wrong in your eyes, but now he really would do a whole lot better if he would listen to you and do things your way.
It may be that you really are smarter than your husband. You may be a godly wife who does the best she can, while your husband is self-centered. You do your best to tithe and support the ministry while he spends a dividend’s worth of dollars on tobacco every year. You try to teach your children about the commandments of God, and he pollutes the home with television and movies. You work a job as well as do all the cooking and laundry while he is out playing bingo or 4-5-6. You try to be a peacemaker, but he would rather sit in front of his X-box shooting people. He may be lying on the couch hung over at the very moment you are reading this. Maybe you are blessed with a hardworking man, but he loves his job and his friends so much that you and the kids only get “love leftovers”. You are not perfect, but you seem to be a lot closer to perfect than he is.
Do you let him know?
It is the natural human instinct to let our spouse know when we think that they are wrong. After all, if you are married to a selfish man, he may not realize how childish his behavior really is. You feel it is your duty to let him know. Arguments break out. Doors slam. Children cry. The more you let him know what is wrong with him, the worse things become.
God wants to help you
If you are living out a marriage like I have described there is hope. The Bible addresses godly women who are married to men who are lost. Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. (1 Peter 3:1-2 NIV) Let me break this scripture down, because it is really saying a lot.
Hope for your husband
…if any of them do not believe the word… This means that the wife is born again, but the husband will not serve God. …they may be won over…The Lord is giving you a powerful promise that will enable you to see victory. As impossible as it might seem at this moment, your husband can repent. God can wash away his sin at water baptism, and he can be filled with the Holy Ghost. With God, all things are possible.
With your mouth shut
You may not like what the Bible is about to tell you next; because it is not according to the way you have been trying to force it to happen. …without words… With your mouth closed. That’s right, without words. For years you may have been trying to talk sense to him. You have wasted your breath. If you are going to win your husband to Jesus, you will have to do it without words. This means no more questioning him about where he was when he comes home late. This means no more accusations. When he throws out bait to start an argument with you, you can no longer take the bait. If you believe in God, then your path to victory has to be free from arguments and condemnation
Words aren’t loud enough
You need something louder than words to reach him. …by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives… Your actions will speak far louder than your words. If keeping your mouth shut when you want to give him a piece of your mind is difficult, the next instruction will be even harder, but you can do it.
The Bible starts off this whole message of hope with this commandment that comes from God (see I Corinthians 14:37, and 11:2-3). Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that…they might be saved. This means a complete mind shift if you are a modern woman. A controlling woman keeps bringing up the past and crushing her husband’s spirit. A submissive wife loves her husband even when he does not deserve if. She trusts him even when he has not earned it. A domineering wife sees how much smarter she is than her husband and lets him know it on a regular basis. A submitted wife stands beside her husband and supports him. His immaturity may have caused you to become the head of the household. You have been wearing the pants in the family. A submitted wife lets her husband be the head of the household, even though you might be able to do a better job at it. Until you let him do it, his spirit will be defeated. Turn up the volume with love and submission, and you will be opening the door for God’s promise to be fulfilled.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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The hardest job God has ever done

3-6-08

by Tad Lindley

Gene made his own life hard on purpose. He walked with heavy rocks in his backpack. He hunted deer with a spear. Their meat he cooked over an open flame. He walked from Icy Bay to Cordova. On another occasion Gene walked from Cordova to Valdez. The country there is so thick and rough. It makes the summer tundra seem like a paved parking lot.
But the one thing that sticks out in my mind about Gene is an incident involving logging. A large log had washed up on the beach. Like an ox, Gene had begun to drag it up the beach and into the woods where his cabin was. As night fell he retired to his cabin where, as was his habit, he lit a candle, put on gloves and read a book. Some local men thinking to help Gene threw a rope around the log and drug it up the slope for him with a pickup truck. In the morning, Gene drug the log back down toward the ocean until it lay where he had left it the night before. Then he began slowly inching it up towards his mossy forest home. Gene was the hardest worker I have ever seen.
The hardest worker in history
Even Gene’s monumental feats were nothing but a pinprick in the massive sea of eternity. The greatest creations of men’s hands and minds are nothing in the presence of Jesus Christ. When we one day stand in the presence of Jesus Christ, we will be looking on the one who made all things. All things were made by him, and without him was nothing made that was made (John 1:3). He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not (John 1:10). Jesus is the hardest worker in history.
In the beginning
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light”, and there was light. (Genesis 1:1-3) God created all that we know in six days. He must have been very busy.
The hardest day
This is pure speculation, but I bet the hardest was day six. You might think I’m getting ready to talk about the creation of man. I hate to burst your bubble, but by the time the Lord made man on the sixth day, he had already been quite busy. He had already created 360,000 different species of beetles. Not to mention 170,000 kinds of moths and butterflies, 120,000 different types of flies, 110,000 species of bees, wasps, and ants, 20,000 grasshoppers, and about a quarter million other species of insects. Could you imagine making a life size Lego statue of every single living person in Alaska? It would take you the rest of your life. It seems huge, but day six was not the hardest job that God has ever done.
Other contenders
Was it the day that God called all the quail in Europe to fly across the Mediterranean and dive bomb the Israelite camp (Numbers 11:31)? Was it the day he made the sun move backwards in the sky (II Kings 20:11)? Was it the day that he opened the floodgates of heaven and broke up the fountains of the deep in the days of Noah? Was it the day that he lifted the hedge of protection that surrounded the godly man, Job? Was it the day he flung the stars across the sky and called them all by name (Psalm 147:4)? No, none of those come close to being the hardest job God has ever done.
He sweat blood
Normally when a man works hard, he sweats. There is a job that Jesus did that was so hard it caused him to sweat blood. An angel came from heaven and strengthened him (Luke 22:43). Other than that, he did the job alone. What was the job?
Jesus was praying in the garden of Gethsemane. He was standing at the point of no return. He stood on the side of safety and looked across the deep chasm of the next few hours. On the other side of the deep valley was a great joy that stood before him. He saw victory over death and hell. But between the garden where he stood and the victory on the other side, he saw the betrayal of his friends, the shredding of his back, he smelled the saliva of the priests running down his face, the cold of the pit, and the stench of hell. He knew that he, who was holy and without sin, would shortly become sin (II Corinthians 5:21). He was going to enter into the place of shame. He was going to feel the humiliation of everyone who has ever had their name in the paper for breaking the law, the crushing burden of those that carry around secret sin. He was going to feel the sin sickness and the broken-heartedness of every human being that ever lived. It was the hardest thing that God ever did, to take the weight and the consequence of your sin and bear it in his own body. But he did it so that we might live victoriously. And because God worked harder than he ever did before, we are looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews12:2).
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Chocolate Covered Gravel

2-28-08

by Tad Lindley

If you’ve ever opened up a goose’s gizzard, then you know that geese eat gravel. Since God didn’t give them teeth, they have a special stomach where the gravel chews the food for them. Turkeys, being bigger than geese, have even swallowed larger items to use in their gizzards, such as spark plugs and stone arrowheads.
I never fully understood the whole concept until I raised ducks. I reached into the duck pen with a handful of gravel. The ducks went hog wild! They nearly ate a hole through my hand wolfing down the gravel.
The reason it all seems so strange to me is that I hate sand or gravel in my food. There may be one grain of sand in my soup or on my plate, but I will find it. The instant my teeth bite down on sand, gravel, or steel shot, my brain knows about it.
When I think about the strange things that people eat, I have come to the conclusion that you do not like to eat gravel either. Many people eat caterpillars by choice. Chocolate covered insects are a click away on the internet. The list of foods strange to most of us goes on and on: monkey, dog, bat, spider, scrambled cow brains, etc. Even with the huge variety in the human diet, I never have come across people eating gravel by choice.
Eating gravel in the Bible
When King Solomon compiled Proverbs, he covered a wide variety of topics. Eating gravel was not overlooked. Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel (Proverbs 20:17). A parallel concept is found in Proverbs 9:17-18, Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant, but he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.
Sin tastes good…
It would be dishonest of me to say that there is no pleasure in sin. In fact the Bible tells us that there is. The bread of deceit tastes sweet. Stolen waters are also sweet. Bread eaten in secret is pleasant. Think about it. If sin was unpleasurable it would not be an issue. If there was no high from free-basing nicotine and folks developed stomach cancer the first time they used black bull, nobody would be addicted to iqmik. If alcohol didn’t give us that powerfully “in-control” feeling and make us superhuman in our own minds, after the first time we woke up hung over, we would never drink again.
...at first
Marijuana must have a great side that I don’t know about, because people really seem to love it. The problem is that we have men who smoked their first bowl at age fourteen. The next thing they know, they are thirty-five, still living with mom, staying stoned, eating chips on the couch, and playing Halo III twelve hours a day. Or maybe they are a “successful” drug dealer. Going through life wondering when there will be a trooper waiting for them to pick up their package at the post office. Their mouth is full of gravel. Marijuana is no longer a pleasure. It has become a medication to stave of the pain of sin. The thing that was so sweet to them in the beginning is now disgusting.
Perhaps you or someone you know is in an adulterous affair. They tasted the “stolen waters” of another person’s spouse. Just like the Bible says, it was exciting at first, but now it controls them. The end of it is death and hell.
You are not a goose
You were not created to eat gravel. God created you to love him and serve him, not to experience the consequences of sin. When we understand that and live accordingly, God will bless us. Yes he wants to bless the drug dealer and the adulterer, but when we fail to serve him, we miss out on the blessing. We tend to take credit when things are going well and then turn around and blame God when we wake up with gravel in our mouths. If we were doing his will in the first place we would never have had to taste the fruits of sin.
Spit out the gravel
If you are the 35 year old pot smoker, or the successful businessman that sells him the marijuana, God doesn’t want to see you hurt anymore. If you are living in adultery or you are a viewer of pornography, you can have a better life. If you are a gambling addict or a tobacco addict, God wants to deliver you. The problem is, God will not kick down your door and take the cigarettes or the rippies or the magazines or the bong out of your hand. You have to get to the place where you hate the gravel more than you love the chocolate coating. The gambler has to get to the point where they hate going hungry at the end of the month more than they love the fellowship at the bingo hall and the excitement of winning.
When someone decides to spit out the gravel, God moves. In fact, heaven rejoices. Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. (Luke 15:10) You are not a goose, spit out the gravel.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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If Axe® Body Wash Won’t Get It,
Acts Body Wash Will

2-20-08

by Tad Lindley

Sexy advertising sells stuff. When I was small, there really wasn’t a whole lot of variety in soaps for men. Then Irish Springs and Old Spice hit the market. They were powerfully scented soaps designed for men. Their advertisements suggested that a brother’s chance of getting a woman would be substantially enhanced by using them.
At that time there was no such thing as a “body wash” for men. Of course all of that has changed. If you haven’t made it in to Anchorage, it would be well worth the trip to explore the wide variety of men’s body washes available. One even makes the guarantee that it “won’t wash away testosterone”, as if the wrong soap could render the user a perpetual sissy.
As with any new product, the manufacturer tries to make people feel as if they need something that they have gotten along without just fine for 1000’s of years. I am told that Axe® Body wash is presently using the by-line “How Dirty Boys Get Clean”.
The dirt that Axe can’t clean
Unfortunately, there are a lot of types of dirt that Axe® cannot touch. When a person has lived in shame or humiliation, there is no bath, shower, or steam bath that can wash it away. There is no scent that is powerful enough to cover up the stench of bitterness and depression. No washcloth known to man will ever be able to scrub away alcoholism, drug addiction, or abortion. All of these issues leave us dirty on the inside. Their stain is untouchable by any manmade cleansing agent.
Enter the Acts body wash
Acts body wash is baptism. In the New Testament, men and women who wanted to be free from the stain and stink of sin repented and were put under water in Jesus’ name. Peter said unto them, “Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sin, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost”. (Acts 2:38) Notice the purpose of baptism is for the remission or the removal of sin. Many translations read, for the forgiveness of sin. This is the awesome truth in obeying the Gospel. When we are buried with Jesus Christ in baptism (see Romans 6:4), our sins are forgiven in God’s sight!
The Corinthian Hall of Stain
Here is a list of some of the stains that Acts body wash can get rid of. It is found in I Corinthians 6:9-10.
• sexual immorality (that is people having sex before they are married)
• idolatry (loving of things, for example when something non-sinful like sports, becomes more important then God)
• adultery
• male prostitution
• homosexual offences
• stealing
• greed
• drunkenness
• gossip
• swindling
The Bible tells us that some of the first church in Corinth was made up of people who had lived these types of lives, but they were washed...in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God (6:11) when they were baptized, and their sins were forgiven!
Don’t settle for cheap imitations
Reader, you may have been scrubbing away at bad memories with drugs and alcohol as long as you can remember. You may be trying to cover up shame in your life burying yourself in entertainment, but the stink still comes out. You may have been from partner to partner looking for a love that would overcome the dirtiness on the inside and in the end felt emptier than ever. It is time to try the real thing.
Try Acts body wash today. It is free. Jesus makes it available to all of us through his beating and crucifixion. (This is my blood of the New Covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins. Matthew 26:28). All that we need to do is to repent of our sins. Then the stain is washed away in baptism. If God’s word is true, you will thereafter receive the promised gift of the Holy Ghost (Acts 3:29), which is the power (Acts 1:8) to rise up and walk in newness of life!
In the famous words of Ananias, “What are you waiting for? Wash up!”
Tad Lindley is the Youth Pastor at the Bethel United Pentecostal Church.

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Four Year Old Boy Trapped Inside Man’s Body

2-14-08

by Tad Lindley

Years ago, doctors told Nicole Davis that she would never be able to have children. So when she went to the hospital in January of this year with extreme abdominal pain, it was a great surprise to everyone when twins burst forth from her womb. According to the UPI report, doctors at the Cincinnati hospital misinterpreted Davis’s symptoms as the onset of menopause. But when the babies came out, there was no denying what the real problem was.
We might wonder, “How could a woman feel the children struggling within her and never know?” Such stories actually are not that uncommon. They seem to pop up in news reports with surprising regularity. Let us now turn to an even more common phenomenon: when a grown man has a baby trapped inside his body.
Ahab, King of Israel
In case you do not read the Bible regularly, let me catch you up to speed on King Ahab. Ahab was the king of Israel about 2,900 years ago. He married a non-Jewish girl, Jezebel, who was extremely evil. Her wicked influence drug her husband down. King Ahab and Queen Jezebel’s rejection of God led to a three and a half year drought in Israel. Their reign was a dark time for the nation.
You can’t always get what you want
It came to pass after the drought had passed and rain had returned, that Ahab noticed another man’s vineyard. The man’s name was Naboth. Ahab said to Naboth, “Let me have your vineyard to use for a vegetable garden, since it is close to my palace. In exchange I will give you a better vineyard or, if you prefer, I will pay you whatever it is worth.”
But Naboth replied, “The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.” (1 Kings 21:2-3 NIV)
It might seem unwise for the farmer, Naboth, to refuse the king, but the Naboth had a mandate from God to keep the land that he had received from his father (see Leviticus 25:23). If Ahab were a real man, he would have been able to accept this. He would have honored the God that had protected and preserved his people. But Ahab had a little problem: he had a four year old boy trapped inside of his body.
The baby comes out of the King
So Ahab went home, sullen and angry because Naboth the Jezreelite had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” He lay on his bed sulking and refused to eat. (1 Kings 21: 4 NIV) He may have appeared noble and stately to the outside world, but when Ahab got into the privacy of his own home, the baby came out. Just like a toddler who has been told “No”, Ahab sulked and refused to eat. When a grown man is really a toddler inside, that toddler eventually comes out. Usually this happens when he does not get his own way. In Ahab’s case his tantrum got him what he wanted; Jezebel had Naboth killed and then she gave his vineyard to Ahab.
How a grown man ends up throwing tantrums
When a child throws a tantrum that is normal. When a grown man or woman does it that is not normal. If you want to raise up your children to be like King Ahab here’s how to do it. While your children are still young, take them down the candy aisle at the store. When they ask for candy, tell them, “No, I am not buying you candy today”. Then wait until they begin to throw a tantrum. Once they are pouting, crying, or throwing themselves on the floor (manifestations of the tantrum may vary), then change your mind. Tell them something like this, “I’m sorry son. Here have some candy. Then you will feel better.” You have just sent the message to your child that the way to get what you want is to baby out. Continue this throughout the teenage years. When they ask to use the snow machine tell them “No”. When they start slamming doors and giving you the silent treatment, then change your mind and let them take the snow machine. You will have showed them as you have so many times before that the way to get what you want is not hard work, it is acting like a baby, and you will produce an adult with a tendency to have horrible tantrums. Just like Ahab, adults don’t usually tantrum in public, they only let the baby come out at home or around people that they know they can manipulate.
Not as easy as it sounds
For those who have heard their own child issuing the deep mournful bellowing that comes from Mom or Dad saying “No”, you know how painful it can be. You have refused to let the child go outside when it is -20 and windy. Now the howls coming from her mouth seem as if you had plunged a knife into her very soul. The natural thing is to want to spare your child from this pain. To give in now is the worst thing you can do for them. The Bible puts it this way, Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying. (Proverbs 19:18) Never let a child’s tantrum control you. Even if his crying tugs at your own soul, do not change your mind.
Delivering the baby
Just as it was no accident that Nicole Davis ended up pregnant with twins, it was no accident that King Ahab threw the tantrum that resulted in an innocent man’s death. If you are an adult that suffers from a tantrum driven lifestyle, you can be delivered from the baby inside. Jesus Christ is the answer. The Bible promises that if any man be in Christ Jesus he is a new creature, old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (II Corinthians 5:17) If you are a parent raising children, it is important that you deliver the baby into adulthood, instead of letting them control you with tantrums. If you refuse to discipline your children, it proves you don’t love them; if you love your children, you will be prompt to discipline them. (Proverbs 13:24 NLT)
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Do you think you’re big just because you go to church?

1-29-08

by Tad Lindley

Most of us feel like we’re doing pretty good for God if we get to church on a regular basis. Some of us might even go so far as to give a tenth of our income after taxes. The fanatical among us might even give ten percent on their gross income and support a foreign missionary on the side.
When I think I am stretching myself for Jesus, I need to remember those who have made the way ahead of me. Anything I do for the Lord seems to pale in comparison.
How do you measure up?
Iva Nell Pugh received the Holy Ghost in Noble, Louisiana in 1931. She was thirteen years old. Her father had died when she was seven. When Iva Nell was sixteen, her mother died leaving her to care for her thirteen year old brother. In the midst of the Great Depression, they were orphaned and destitute.
King David wrote, I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. (Psalm 37:25) In the face of extreme poverty, Jesus provided for them. Iva Nell was able to graduate as valedictorian of her high school class. She went on to receive a bachelor’s degree and then a master’s degree. It would be normal to expect that Iva Nell embraced the American dream and enveloped herself in the prosperity that swept over America. Such was not the case. You see, Iva Nell loved Jesus.
She gave everything
Iva Nell Pugh used her training to become a teacher. She never married. Instead she worked for God. Iva Nell would go into a town alongside of a missionary couple or family who was starting a church. She never tasted of the luxuries of this life. Everything she made would go toward supporting the fledgling church. Only what she needed for the barest necessities would be kept for herself. Iva Nell left no monetary inheritance. But there are churches in the United States today where people are coming into the healing and delivering presence of Jesus Christ because Iva Nell Pugh invested her life in the kingdom of God.
Sacrifice: the apostolic calling card
In the day of microwaves and shop from home internet, sacrifice has become outdated. Nevertheless, the Bible calls us to give sacrificially of our time, our finances, and our worship. Take a look at the sacrifices that the Apostle Paul made: Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned [not on drugs, people threw stones at him until they thought he was dead], three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. (II Corinthians 11:23-28 NIV)
The modern American version
I suppose if the Apostle Paul had grown up in our day and age he might have written something like this instead: Are they servants of Christ? I am more. I got up at 10:00 AM and went to church every Sunday (except when I had a cold). Five times people made fun of me for being Christian. Three times I got a flat tire on the way to church. Once I prayed for an hour. I even fasted a few times. Besides everything else, I face the daily pressure of my concern for myself. (II Americans 11:23-28)
We need more Iva Nell Pugh’s
In third world countries God is moving with great power. We wonder why we don’t see it more in the United States. Has God forgotten America? No, America has forgotten God. When we see modern day Apostle Paul’s and Iva Nell Pugh’s rise up with a love for Jesus, we will see powerful revival sweep over our communities. Men and women will rise up out of darkness into his marvelous light. Then will come to pass the promise of God, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. (John 14:12)
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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It Takes a Real Man
(or Woman) to Mush

1-22-08

by Tad Lindley

America seems to have a lot of things out of wack. Professional sports are a prime example. They’ll pay some steroid popping guy millions of dollars to play baseball on Astroturf in a climate controlled stadium, and the real athletes like mushers have to take second jobs to support their passion. With the right blend of steroids, most of us could knock the ball over the fence and collect a pay check. There is no medication that makes folks willing to go out and cook dog food at thirty below zero. It takes an exceptional human being to be a competitive musher.
Mushing is a life style. There is nothing easy about it. I realize that there are real joys associated with it, but nonetheless, dogs are a black hole for money and time. Unlike other professional sports, mushing is a 365 day a year commitment.
Competitive racer’s commitment
Everyone that enters a race would love to win. To that end they have trained. They have sacrificed in sleep and safety. They have traded family time for trail time. In the summer they have inhaled mosquitoes while the dogs pulled the four wheeler; on winter runs they are frostbitten. At times the lone musher has pulled into his dog yard tired and cold. The lights of the warm house beckon, but the dogs must be unharnessed and cared for first. He has not eaten. He put on his snowsuit right after work and hit the trail. The dog food smells good as it steams in the subzero air. The fair-weather musher has waited for a warmer day, but the competitive musher has his sights on first place; he is hungry and tired.
The Bible on mushing
The apostle never saw mushing, but they knew about racing. In fact the Bible teaches a powerful lesson to Christians from the sports world. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. (1 Corinthians 9:24-25 NIV).
In competitive mushing, the musher must train rigorously. He understands that he will lose sleep. His body will ache. He will lose weight. His wallet will atrophy, but he (or she) has his eyes on winning. Those who go into a strict training mode will be rewarded with first place finishes and cash prizes. The very best get corporate sponsorship, and no longer have to work a second job to pay for dog food.
Christians could learn something from mushers
Christianity today is plugged full of folks who need a lesson from competitive mushers. Many Christians simply look for a mediocre form of religion where they don’t have to change or make sacrifices. Forget about trying to be best. Somehow in our minds we can tell ourselves, “As long as I’m doing better than some of the other folks who are “Christian” than I will be saved”. So the smoker finds a church where the preacher smokes, the pornography addict finds a church where the pastor watches R-rated movies, and the alcoholic finds a church where the pastor keeps a six pack in the fridge at all times, and they feel “saved”. That is about like me going down to the pound grabbing five dogs, staking them out behind the house, and calling myself a musher. It takes more to win than an appearance.
Christians need strict training too
If we truly love Jesus and want to serve him, then we are running a race. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. (Hebrews 12:1 NIV) In America, we want an Astroturf, steroid enhanced version of Christianity. We want spiritual muscle without spending time on our knees. We want to do as little as we can and still get by. We are vying for the red lantern award. We want the gates of heaven to close right behind us. That is not Bible Christianity. The Bible teaches us to cast off the things that slow us down. Sin is not our plaything. We are to avoid even the appearance of evil.
What if only one human being could make it to heaven?
Take a look at the scripture I gave you earlier: Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. The Bible is telling us to approach salvation as if only one person in the whole world was going to make it. Let me make it a little more generous. If you knew that only one person from your village or town would be saved, would you have a chance at salvation? If the answer is “No”, then you probably need to spend time repenting and drawing near to Jesus. (If you said “Yes”, then you probably need to repent of your pride).
Fortunately, salvation is open to all people, and more than one person will make it. The important question is, “Will you make it?” You will if you run the race that is set before you looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. (Hebrews 12:2)
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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For a Limited Time Only:
Now Offering Your Choice of Two Resurrections

1-15-08

by Tad Lindley

For thousands of years people have understood the concept of the resurrection. Even in the midst of his horrible tragedies, Job was able to speak in faith: For I know that my Redeemer lives, and he shall stand at last on the earth; and after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God (Job 19:25-26 NKJV). Job saw far into the future. He saw a day when Jesus would stand upon the earth. Job knew that he would die and that his body would decay a way, and yet in the end of time, he would be given a resurrected body and would see the Lord. He was seeing the first resurrection.
Daniel saw this same event. He saw the end of time when great tribulation would come upon the earth. And at that time thy people shall be delivered, everyone that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt (Daniel 12:1-2). It would be a time when graves would lose their grip on the dead, and the power of life would return. Daniel saw both resurrections, although he does not separate them in time (John does that later in the Revelation).
Plan 1: The First Resurrection
This will happen when Jesus returns. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord (I Thessalonians 4:16-17 NKJV). When Jesus returns again, the dead in Christ will live again. This is the first resurrection. Then those people who are still alive and serving God will also meet with them in the air. This is commonly referred to as the rapture.
Good bye nose hair, good bye double chin
In the first resurrection we shall all be changed- in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality (I Corinthians 15:51-53 NKJV). According to your Bible, when the first resurrection occurs, the dead in Christ will be raised with “incorruptible” bodies. The way it is now our bodies wear out over time. We get sick, we get injured, and we just get older. I remember thinking when I was younger, “I’m glad that I will never have a problem with nostril hair”. Well many years have passed, and guess what? I’ve got nose hair. If you squint hard enough you might be able to see it in my photo. The good news is this: if we make the first resurrection or the rapture, aging and sickness will no longer be an issue for us.
A 1,000 year vacation
Those folks making it in the first resurrection are going to enjoy a 1,000 year time of peace. John saw this in his vision. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshipped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years…this is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power (Revelation 20:4-5 NKJV).
The Second Resurrection
…the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished… (v. 4). The second resurrection will be comprised of anyone who does not make the first resurrection/rapture. If there are people who are born after the coming of the Lord and then die during the thousand years, they too will be in the second resurrection. The second resurrection will take place after the thousand years is up. The stage will be set for the Lord to judge the living and the dead. According to Revelation, The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hell delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged each according to his works (20:13). This will be a terrible time of weeping and gnashing of teeth. Those of the second resurrection will be cast into the lake of fire to burn forever with the devil and his angels.
Choose your resurrection now
It seems like it should be an easy choice. A one thousand year reign of peace with Jesus and then go to a place where there will be no more death, no more sorrow, no more crying, and no more pain- or burn forever in the lake of fire. You would have to be crazy not to pick the first resurrection. For a limited time, starting with Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, and ending at your death or his returning, whichever comes first, the first resurrection is open to all people. There is nothing that we could have done to earn the hope of salvation, but there are things we must do to receive it. Remember, we will be judged according to our works (20:13). John 3:1-5 and Acts 2:38 are good places to start looking to see what Jesus wants you to do to be ready.
No flying standby
No body is going to be able to go standby in the first resurrection. And so it is appointed unto men once to die; after that the judgment (Hebrews 9:27). Solomon explained it like this, in the place where the tree falls, there it shall be (Ecclesiastes 11:3). The time to get ready is now before this incredible offer expires.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the Bethel United Pentecostal Church.

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Radical Animal Rights activists are going to love the Antichrist

1-9-08

by Tad Lindley

In villages across Alaska and Northern Canada there will be men who roll out of bed today, stumble into the living room, fire up the X-Box and hunt aliens all day long. There are still some nukalpiaq’s out there, but it is not like it was fifty years ago. At one time, men across the Arctic could make a living trapping fur. Today the worldwide demand for fur has dropped. A few have been blessed with cash jobs, but many more would-be-trappers have found it easier to stay at home and collect welfare.
God made the first atkuk
Would it surprise you to know that God made the first fur coat? When Adam and Eve were kicked out of the garden of Eden, the Lord threw away their fig leaves, killed some animals and made coats for them (Genesis 3:21). God gave men 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 (Genesis1:26). It is the natural order of things for humans to use plants, animals, and other natural resources for our benefit. Animals are not our equals; they are under our dominion. As humans we are responsible for wisely using them and managing their populations. Over the last fifty years or so, some people seem to have forgotten this and elevated animals to equal status with human beings.
Enter the animal rights folks
The propaganda of organizations such as Greenpeace and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has deeply impacted rural Alaskans and Canadians. Their campaigns against wearing fur drastically reduced worldwide demand for fur. True, many baby seals, mink, and otter have enjoyed longer lives, but it has been at the expense of the Native Alaskan and Canadian. As a result many men who at one time might have trapped and sold fur for a living are now feeding their families with welfare.
Now they want your net, your sneakers, and your dog’s chain
Worldwide fur use has plummeted. Instead people have opted for fake fur and other products that are made from petroleum. The more extreme among the animal rights advocates are not satisfied to settle for that. It is their desire that trapping would be outlawed completely. Likewise they would desire all hunting to be eliminated. You think, “Well, at least we could still eat fish.” They want your permit and your net also. You can keep your rubber boots, but your sneakers have to go (a beef cow had to die to make the leather). One famous animal rights group currently has an “unchain your dog campaign” on their website. Animal rights activism in its extreme form amounts to worshipping the creature over the Creator.
Judaism and extreme animal rights don’t mix
When Jesus entered into Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, he was getting ready to offer himself up as a sacrifice. Many of the people who laid their jackets and palm fronds across the road for his donkey to walk on also had brought a lamb. The lambs were going to have their throats slit, and the blood collected in a basin. Their bodies would then be roasted and eaten. Animal sacrifice is an integral part of the Old Testament. The Bible teaches us that the Jewish people will resume daily animal sacrifices at the time of anti-Christ. This is going to drive animal rights groups hog wild.
Animal sacrifice and the third temple
At this time there is no Jewish temple in Jerusalem. The Islamic Dome of the Rock currently stands on the Temple Mount. At some point in the future, there will be a peace agreement that permits the building of a Jewish Temple next to or in place of the Dome of the Rock. The anti-Christ will be one of the political leaders who sign this agreement (Daniel 9:27). The temple that is built will be the temple that John was instructed to measure in Revelation 11.
How the anti-Christ will become their hero
We know from scripture that these two things will take place: 1. the anti-Christ will step into the temple and declare himself to be God, and 2. he will cause the daily animal sacrifice to stop. Read with me. …so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God (II Thessalonians 2:4), …they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice… (Daniel11:31), yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away… (Daniel 8:11). In fact this is the very event that Jesus indicated in Matthew 24:15 would usher in the great tribulation. Up to this point no one will no for certain who the anti-Christ is. Afterwards, every Christian who has taken the time to study his Bible will be absolutely certain. It is at this point that every animal rights activist will have to decide whether to worship the creature or the Creator, whether to follow a cause, or to follow the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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Trading in a Forty
for Two Twenties

1-2-08

by Tad Lindley

“I’m thinking about trading in a forty for two twenties,” he said. He was speaking of divorcing his wife and targeting younger women. His remark was intended to bring laughter. I didn’t laugh. All I could think about was his wife and the herd of children whose names I couldn’t keep straight. How could he walk out on them?
He was 2,000 years too late
In the Old Testament, a man could easily divorce his wife if he wanted to. If he was tired of a forty year old wife, he could have divorced her and married a twenty year old. When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes, because he has found some uncleanness in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house (Deuteronomy 24:10 NKJV). The Jewish people of Jesus’ day interpreted this to mean that a man could divorce his wife for any reason (see Matthew 19:3). All the husband had to do was put it in writing and she had to move out. She had no power to contest it. Both were then able to remarry.
Jesus tightens up the loopholes
As you might predict, with this kind of liberty, there were men who would use this as an opportunity to go from woman to woman. Jesus tightened up the loop holes and brought all of this to a screeching halt (at least to those who followed him). He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning this was not so. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery” (Matthew 19:8-9 NKJV). In other words Jesus told them, “Moses knew that you were messed up in your hearts so he let this happen, but it is going to have to stop.”
The only Biblical grounds for divorce
I realize that there may be situations where either the husband or the wife is so abusive that separation must occur for the safety of the people involved, but in God’s eyes, that does not constitute grounds for a divorce. Jesus is very clear on this point: whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery (Matthew 5:32 NKJV). The only reason the Bible recognizes for breaking off of the marriage commitment is if the other person has been sexually immoral (committed adultery). If you disagree with this, take it up with Jesus.
Forgiveness better than divorce
Even though the Lord has permitted divorce in the case of adultery, it is not his choice. He hates divorce (Malachi 2:14-16). He loves forgiveness. We live in a small enough community that adultery is hard to keep secret. You probably also know of some heroes, men and women who instead of taking the Biblical license to get divorced have chosen to forgive instead. This is the path that the Lord wants us to take. His plan is for a man and woman to remain joined in marriage (Matthew 19:4-6). His plan is also for children to be raise by two parents together in the same household. Any time a husband and wife choose to forgive and walk in the pathway that God has called them, they will be blessed.
Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, AK.

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