A: 6870 S. Highway 95 Mohave Valley, AZ. 86440 (in the El Rio Professional Plaza)

P: (928) 788-2225

    

Give Online

Give Online

Guest Posts

Home Archive "Guest Posts"
Guest Posts

Christians are Morons

Moron? Really?

By Guest Blogger: Nick Covanes

Now, before you have me excommunicated, or think I have lost my mind, read on.

[1Cr 2:14 NKJV]But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned.

And so, indeed, the world does think that we are moron’s. After all, who would worship a God that they cannot see, serve in a church with a bunch of people who are equally deluded, give their hard earned money to the church, meet often every week, serve others, pray for others, worship and sing together with no motive other than to offer up worship to their unseen God?

Well, from that perspective we must look like moron’s. And if Jesus was not who He said He was, then we would indeed be morons!

We read in 1 Corinthians 15:12-19 the following…

[1Cr 15:12 NKJV]Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

[1Cr 15:13 NKJV]But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen.

[1Cr 15:14 NKJV]And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching [is] empty and your faith [is] also empty.

[1Cr 15:16 NKJV]For if [the] dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen.

[1Cr 15:17 NKJV]And if Christ is not risen, your faith [is] futile; you are still in your sins!

[1Cr 15:18 NKJV]Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

[1Cr 15:19 NKJV]If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.

It has been said that Jesus was either a lair, a lunitic or the LORD. He cannot be LORD and either of the other. He could have been a liar and a lunitic at the same time, but we know he was neither. The fact is that He is LORD and because He is LORD we believe He has been raised from the dead.  And since He has risen we have every confidence that He will raise up His children with Him.

And so I would have to say Christians are morons in this sense:

Christians Are:

  • More on fire for the LORD
  • More on top of their Bible studies
  • More on point with their families
  • More on serving others
  • More on loving God
  • More on living according to His will
  • More on life
  • etc….

In light of this…how can we be discipled by the knowledge that we have regarding the resurrection and Holy Spirit.

The fact that we have the Holy Spirit living in us as our guarantee of redemption should be the most exciting promise to us ever! Because the Holy Spirit teaches us the things of God we should desire to read His Word more often. And in light of the fact that the world, who does not have the Holy Sprit, is spiritually discerned we should be more desirous of seeing them reached with the Gospel message.

So today, get in the Word. You may not see anything in your devotional time that is remotely related to what is going on in your life right now, but rest assured, what the LORD gives you today could very well be for someone else. You may encounter a person who is going through a trial or a time of rejoicing and may benefit from hearing the Word of God that you have just read! You never know. Finally, get out there and share your faith. Jesus is coming back for His church. It would be a shame to miss out on the opportunity that God has given each of us to minister to others by His Word.

Finally, be in prayer. Those who do not know the LORD think we are foolish. Show them through love and grace that we are children of the Most High and because of this our love for them may bring them to their knees before the LORD for salvation!

Guest Posts

Children’s Church- Teaching Anyone

If You Can Teach Children You Can Teach Anyone.

By Guest Blogger: Nick Covanes

I have heard it said on numerous occasions now that, “If you can teach childrens church, you can teach anyone.” I get it. Children are such that they don’t pull any punches when it comes to messages that are boring to them. I had a class of students from 3rd Grade to 5th grade, and got into teaching some stuff that was not the most exciting and two of my students actually turned around in their chairs and faced the wall. Ha! But we are taught when we speak in public settings, “Know your audience.” And so I asked the students to turn around and join the class, and said to them, “let me explain it to you in a different way…” and I began to act out the scene using a deep voice for one character and a falsetto voice to portray the other character. This got some laughs, but allowed me to capture their attention and engage them once again, but more to the point, it enabled me to reach them in a way that I was obviously failing at previously.

Now as I contemplate this strategy, I am thinking, what part does the Holy Spirit play in teaching. I recall my dear “Grandfather in Christ,” the late, great, Pastor Chuck Smith saying (paraphrased), “If you make a big production, you have to continue keeping up the big production, instead, simply teach the Word simply.” And wouldn’t you know it… the next time we got together for class, one of my students said, “Act it out again!” Apparently that was a big hit. And quite frankly I enjoyed having fun with them in that way, but I am not an actor…I just love to teach the Word of God. And so I ask what role the Holy Spirit has in this simply because I don’t want to be the center of attention, I want the WORD to be.

I suppose this will be a dilemma in any setting, whether it be with children, teenagers (who you practically have to blow something up to get their attention) and adults. The responsibility for keeping an audience engaged has to fall on all parties involved: the teacher, the audience and the Holy Spirit. But at what point do you put the onus on the listener? I suppose that there is a degree of balance that comes with more experience, and I am not the most experienced speaker, yet I would be willing to bet that some of the great, most prolific orators in history have dealt with similar frustrations in teaching.

What I find even more interesting as I teach children the WORD, is that my love for them increases every time I engage them with the WORD. I used to joke around and say, “I am not sure why the LORD has me teaching kids…I don’t even like my own kids.” But I understand that it is not anything I am doing for the kids, as if I am somebody skilled in the art of teaching the WORD. God is using this, I believe, more for me than them anyways. There are so many rough edges in my own life that the LORD is chipping away at, and teaching children seems to be the best place for me in this season of my life. I have moved from sensing a calling on my life to teach to knowing that it is inevitable, and yet I feel quite content waiting on the LORD. Instead of viewing my role as childrens minster as a hurdle that I have to overcome in order to one day be a pastor, I view it as an opportunity to hear from the LORD about areas in my own life that need to be molded and conformed into His image before He will use me. In the process, I am learning that I need to have more compassion for those I serve, I need to look at every “bandaid clad boo-boo” as something really big in the life of the individual.

As a result I have grown closer to my own children, I have been able to become more sensitive with both real and percieved troubles of others, and I have been ministered to by the experience.

So in summation, I have to say, “If you can teach children you can teach anyone, but what you find in the final analysis is the one who is being taught is me.”

[Mat 19:14 NKJV]
But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

Guest Posts

Making Godly Decisions

Making Godly Decisions

By Guest Blogger: Nick Covanes

One of the biggest challenges a new believer has is in the area of decision making. Up until the point of their conversion their decisions were guided primarily by their own desires and now the new believer finds that he or she has to make decsions that will honor God. Not an easy task when you have been accustomed for so long in making decisions based on your own will with no regard to God. And to make matters more difficult for the new believer, often times they will make decsions based on legalism because of the fact that they have been delivered from a life contrary to the Spirit of God.

I have been confronted with the question at times, “How can I know how to make the right decision.” And so today, I would like to leave you with some wisdom that I believe is sound and supported by Scripture when it comes to making godly decisions.

First, we have the Holy Spirit. When you become a believer you are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit takes up residence in you and I to help us, to comfort us, and to teach us the Word of God. And so I would say that the first step in making a godly decision is to pray about the direction that LORD would have you go. The Holy Spirit will guide you and even intercede for you on your behalf with regard to making the right decision, the godly decsion. When you embark upon the course of your decision the Holy Spirit will prompt you and encourage you, or else He will convict you and cause a sense of spiritual unrest with regard to your decision.

[Jhn 14:26 NKJV]”But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

[Rom 8:26 NKJV]
Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Second, we have godly counsel from men and women of the faith. A great place to start finding good counsel is amongst the multitude of believers. When you have a big decision to make and you have prayed about it, go to your church and seek the advice, wisdom, and prayers of those who have walked in the faith for several seasons and can offer sound and godly advice. Your pastor is a great place to start, but even if he is busy (and I suspect most pastors are) there are others in leadership that your pastor has appointed, godly men who know and understand the counsel of the LORD from years of service to Him. The church is a great resource for helping you know the will of God regarding the decisions that you have to make in this life.

[Pro 11:14 NKJV]
Where [there is] no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors [there is] safety.

Finally, open your Bible. Listen, God has made His Word such that it is useful to you in every decision no matter how great or how small. His Word will effectively guide you on the right path in all decsions. God has preserved His Word and we can hold it in our hands and read it for ourselves. The beauty of the Word of God is that it always right! God has given us His Word as the sole instruction manual for living a godly life in service to Him. Each page has within the power of life and death for the believer. The Word of God is so wonderful and perfect and God holds it in such esteem that He regards it above His name. That is a powerful statement considering that we can go to His Word for wisdom, which He pours out on each of us liberally if we will but ask.

[2Ti 3:16 NKJV]
All Scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,

[2Ti 3:17 NKJV]
that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

And so no matter how big or how small the decision is that you have to make, you can always call on the LORD for wisdom and receive it through: prayer, godly counsel, and the Word of God. Let me add that of the three, the final authority is in the WORD. Listen, if you pray and you feel that the Holy Spirit is leading you in a direction that is counter to the Word of God, then it is not the Holy Spirit guiding you. That gut feeling you have is likely indigestion. This is because God will not contradict Himself. His Word is the final authority. This holds true for any advice that you recieve from godly men and women. If the advice they give runs counter to the Word, their advice is poor and should be disregarded. Again, the preeminence should always be given to God’s Word, the Bible.

The beauty of leaning on God for all of your decsions is that it puts the direction for your life in the right hands; God’s hands. God is faithful and wants the very best for you. If you think about it, God knows the beginning from the end. Who better to put your trust in regarding your decsions than the LORD?

[Pro 3:5 NKJV]
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;

[Pro 3:6 NKJV]
In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

Back To Top