PASTOR’S NOTE

CHANGING METHODS

I hope all of you are managing this recent snow storm well.  It was interesting to see how it intensified as it moved east. We, here in central Ohio, saw accumulations of six to twelve inches of the white stuff.  In Bear, Delaware where my eldest daughter lives, had up the three feet!  Thank God for our blessings.  On the other hand, the temperature has dropped and now the snow is not melting away leaving us to deal with the aftermath of this storm.  To make matters worse there is another storm on the way.  Stay with me now.  This is not a weather report, I am actually going somewhere with this.  I was dismayed this morning when Joanne and I drove into the church parking lot to see that the lot had not been plowed.  Our contact for a person to do the work for us evidently had not panned out.  What to do?  It sounds too simplistic, but you do what you can.  Paige, my youngest daughter and I, grabbed a snow shovel and salt and began to prepare a path where those that do brave the bad weather can pull up close to the portico and unload their passengers before parking.  Myself and others will man the doors ready to assist those getting out of their cars and help them make their way to the entrance of the church.  We will repeat the process after the morning services are dismissed.  It is the most effective way to deal with this bad situation.  The only other alternative is to close for the day and go on a quick telephone campaign to inform those who were planning on coming.  You see the roads are in very good condition.  There is no problem of getting people to the church.  The problem is getting them near enough to make it into the church.  Absent of all the snow, this is really not a new problem.  There are those all around us who know of the church, but are not part of any church.  They were raised within the church’s walls, but somehow have never become part of any church.  They drive by every church building without thought, turn every channel away from the person talking about Christ, nod graciously at every word a believer shares with them, yet without a commitment.  Yet life’s roads are well prepared to lead countless millions of them to the church.  Now the challenge is how to get them from the parking lot to the altar.  The method we used to get people into the church building this morning is not what we planned for or was even willing to pay for, but it is what will work under these circumstances.  Once inside the message remains the same as does the Spirit of a living God.  The methods must change at times.  Yet, we remain unashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation.

SHOW TEENS ATTEND “TO SAVE A LIFE”

A group from Safe House of Worship attended the movie “To Save A Life” on January 23rd.   Several who attended the movie have already practiced some of the life skills presented in this well-made hollywood movie.   Godly alternatives were given for bad situations that we as humans put ourselves in.  Thanks to Show Case Cinemas in West Carrollton for showing this movie.  A movie night as an outreach to teens is already being planned for when the DVD is released. 

VALENTINE BANQUET

Safe House of Worship will again host its annual Valentine Banquet on Thursday, February 11 at 7 pm.  If you live in the Dayton area and would like to attend, please call the church office at 937-233-0099 before February 7.  The fare is Italian and a donation of  $15 per couple and $7.50 for single is required.  Guest speakers are Ron & Edna Wagers of Lebanon, OH. 

PASTOR’S NOTE

AMAZED

Has God ever just amazed you?  I know that reading His word and the accounts of His doing in ancient times are amazing beyond words.  The works of Christ, God’s Son, leave us speechless most times.  Throughout the history of the modern church, we have recordings and testimonies of His dealings with His faithful.  We have testimonies of how He sustained, healed, protected, fed, provided for and delivered through wars, famines, droughts, depressions and much more.  It is awesome to read of these things that have been recorded for our admonishment today.  There are those who are of the mind to read the Bible only for a history of God and His people.  But, it does us good to learn how God has taken care of His own since the writing of Scripture.  We need to understand that God has never stopped moving in behalf of those that are His by faith.  Althought the Bible is the basis of what I know about God theologically, my experiences and the experiences of others including those of my parents and grandparents, shape the framework of my faith and how God moves in my life today.  You need the same reference in your own life.  It sounds something like this:  God did this in Scripture, He has done it in the life of so and so and in the life of someone I know, why wouldn’t He do the same for me?  In your life, has God done something that has just amazed you?  In my last article I talked about the Daniel Fast and how that for twenty-one days I felt instructed by God to pray for nothing else but the welfare and future of Safe House, the church I founded and have pastored now for over six years.  Our church has not come near to what I have envisioned for it.  The struggles have been many.  And more than a few times I have had to fight the temptation to run.  Let me tell you what God has done for us just in the past week.  On January twenty-first, the last day of our Daniel fast, my youngest daughter Paige felt inspired during worship team practice to sit down at the drums and play.  She did and miraculously she did play the drums, well enough to play for service Sunday morning.  This Sunday morning she is preaching for her first time.  This past week God performed a miracle for our church.  A miracle that I had prayed for.  I had not shared the need with the church, I had just carried it to God each day in prayer.  How He did it, I did not expect.  Where it came from I did not expect either.  Yet God had given me peace that He would take care of it and by the time we had to have it.  He did it!  Have you been praying?  Have you been trusting?  Well, buckle up and hang on, you’re getting ready to be amazed! 

PASTOR’S NOTE

Twenty-one Days

From January 1st through the 21st, several members of Safe House and I have been on the Daniel Fast.  For those of you who are not familiar with the Daniel Fast, it is fairly simple:  just stop eating anything good and basically you are there.  I have done some fasting in my day and I must admit, the Daniel Fast is the hardest for me.  It is much harder to me than a complete fast.  When preparing for this fast, God began to give me specific instructions as far as what was to be the focus of my prayer during the fast and to the severity of keeping the fast.  The most difficult thing during the fast was the direction and restriction of my prayer life throughout the fast.  I felt God specifically speak to me to pray for nothing but the church I pastor.  I had concerns about that direction, considering there are certain things I carry to God daily in prayer.  One is the healing of my oldest Grandson, who is now nearly nine and who has for the last two years or so suffered with an incurable disease.  I will, everyday of my life, pray for his healing until the healing is won.  I know there are those who think to pray more than once for a need is an expression of doubt rather than faith.  They need to read the book again.  Jesus’ own parables teach contrary to that notion.  What if Daniel had stopped praying and fasting after the first day of prayer, instead of the twenty-one days that he did fast and pray?  This is spiritual warfare.  It goes far beyond just clocking in and out of prayer.  They can believe what they will, just excuse me while I go to bow once again before the creator of all the universe to make my petitions known in the courts of heaven.  As I said, there are certain prayers that are part and parcel of my daily prayer life.  They are there because of their importance to me.  To let them go for a season was hard for me.  Who is going to pray these prayers and who will carry this burden if I lay them down for a time?  It is not that I am the only one praying such things, it is as a pastor, father, grandfather, provider and patriarch of much of the Allen clan, I feel this is my responsibility.  I want to be faithful to those who look to me and to my heavenly Father.  I felt God speak to me as well in reassuring tones that He would handle this part of my responsibility.  So for twenty-one days I prayed for nothing but the vision and welfare of Safe House.  For twenty-one days in the courts of heaven were heard the pleas and prayers coming from the heart and soul of this under-shepherd for the life and future of this flock given into my care.  For twenty-one days warfare was waged for the well-being of the Safe House of Worship.

DANIEL FAST COMPLETE

Hello friends and fellow fasters.  What a ride this fast has been!  The giving of the first fruits of my year to God in a Daniel fast is now complete.  I experienced things this year I had never experienced before in my life.  I am not a moody person nor do I suffer with depression.  After about one week into the fast this year, there was a wave of heaviness or depression that came over me. I just couldn’t seem to shake it.   It lasted until this morning the day after I had completed my fast.  I had finally slept more than 4 to 5 hours.  I awoke to the song “All Things are Possible” rolling over in my head.

I was overcome with thankfulness this morning as I went to prayer.  I have testified to the greatness of what God has done and is doing in the life our middle daughter Desha.  But this morning I prayed, “Father, I know that you listen to every word I say.  I know that you have heard me give you praise for what You are doing in my daughter.  But I just want to tell you, thank you so much for all you are doing in Desha’s life.”  I had awakened to being the person I am comfortable being. 

I do not want to go all spooky spiritual on you.  I just want to say; Congratulations to all my fellow fasters for whatever you gave up for God this year.  We have finished the first fast of this decade.  Let us rejoice and start reaping the harvest for the Lord of the harvest!

Joanne

 

PASTOR’S NOTE

MY TIME WITH GOD

It has become routine to me, this morning drive while it is still dark.  Each day I awake early without the assist of an alarm clock to make my solitary journey to the church.  There are few cars on the road as I negotiate the turns and lights, all the while hoping the heater will warm up a little faster.  To what purpose do I make this eight mile trip each day?  This is my time with Him.  No one else is invited yet.  Just God and me alone in the sanctuary.  No music and no one to share this time with but Him.  I am a busy man.  Between the cares of the church, sermon preparation, study of the Word, as well as family time and the running of a successful business I have little down time.  I have always been the type who has constantly looked for something else to do.  I remember a time when pastoring on the east coast that I was working part-time (not because I had to, but because I wanted to),  pastoring full-time and going to college full-time.  It is something in the genes I think.  Nevertheless, because of this I have found that I have often gotten so busy that personal time with God was limited to a few stolen moments here and there.  Sadly I must confess, I have been guilty of giving God only my spare time, if there was any.  One day last summer in prayer I made the statement to God that if the church I had founded and pastor was doing as good as my business I probably would not need the business.  Have you ever had a moment when you knew what you were hearing inside of you was not you but God?  Well I had such a moment.  God said to me, “Try putting me first instead of the business”.  Reality checks can be painful.  I knew without argument that He was right.  I had been caught .  I had been exposed.  My failure was now out in the open.  I sorrowed.  I repented.  Then I set a date of which I would institute a new schedule that would begin with putting God first.  The target date was two weeks away.  You see I was in the middle of one of the largest jobs we had worked on all summer.  I needed those early hours to stay on schedule.  I couldn’t wait for the two weeks to pass, two days later I found myself taking the drive to spend time with God.  I spoke with those who work for me and informed them of the new schedule and why.  I spoke to some of the contractors I do work for and informed them of the new hours and why.  At first it was out of a sense of duty and some guilt that motivated me to make this drive each morning.  But now it is something by far more real and precious.  It is Him waiting on me that draws me out into the darkness of the early morn.

DANIEL FAST Day 12

Last night was ladies prayer meeting.  Corporate prayer when you are on a fast is great.  Fasting seems to not only cleanse the body but the mind and spirit as well.    Hope you are doing great on your fast.  There are some things that can only be solved by prayer and fasting and usually God solves them in a totally different way than we expect.  Do you think that could possibly be because “His thoughts are higher than our thoughts and His ways are higher than our ways.”  God is always “outside the box”  and will not be confined to our meager human way of thinking.  I am thrilled that I serve a God who is like that.

Daniel Fast Day 11

“…Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.  For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him…I have brought you glory on the earth by completing the work you gave me to do.  And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I have with you before the world began.”  John 17:1-3

This is an interesting portion of Christ’s prayer to me.  The part that speaks to me most is FINISH THE WORK.  We have completed half of the 21 Daniel Fast.  All the prayer, meditation and giving our first fruits to the Lord.  I love the fact that it is not what is left over that we are giving to God but the very first part of our year and our lives.  I know that some of you have broken over on your fast.  Don’t keep on pondering over those feelings.  You can’t change the past.   Just get right back on the fast  and complete the mission. 

You may experience some depression during this time of fasting.  That is normal.   You may have been extremely tempted during this time.  Remember that the devil came and tempted Jesus during his fast.  Stay strong and don’t give up!  Complete the mission.  Jesus  certainly completed the mission for our redemption.  Be encouraged!

PASTOR’S NOTE

GOOD-BYE  I was saddened this week to hear of the passing of Reverend Kenneth Brand.  He died in surgery this past week.  He will be missed by all who knew him.  As we have started this new year with hope and promise for the future, it is things such as this that cause us to look back rather than forward only.  Joanne and I discussed this on the way to the church this morning.  I have known Brother Brand since I was about fourteen or fifteen.  My father preached the Sunset Hills Campmeeting in Granite City, Illinois where Brother Brand pastored.  Joanne, who was raised in Illinois, said that she could not remember a time when she did not know him or his family.  Another part of our childhood and shared history gone.  This is one of the things that makes the loss of family and friends so difficult to deal with.  Truly each person that we have known that has impacted our lives in some way, with their passing, a little bit of us is lost as well.  I was unable to attend the funeral that was held in Paducah, Kentucky on Friday, so let me say that I honored and respected this man and his dear family.  He was not a big man in stature, yet in spirit and demeanor, he was a giant in my estimation.  He stood strong in spirit and daring in his commitment to do the will of God.  This faithful man of God was a successful and true husband, father, pastor, missionary and evangelist.  In spite of all his strength and daring, he remained a loving and king gentleman of the gospel, something that is rare and missing in most church circle these days.  We of the ministry and church have a hard time saying good-bye when one of our own has passed.  Regardless of our faith and our firm footing in the theology of an eternal rest in heaven, we often struggle.  It is not that our faith is flawed, it is that we have difficulty seeing with any other eyes than those with which we were born.  I have not yet seen heaven with these eyes.  I have not seen or witnessed the reality of eternal life in my current state of being.  I have only seen it in the words we call Scripture and have merely gazed upon these truths with eyes of faith, something Paul called looking through a glass darkly.  It has been my experience that though we may have a clear grasp on the Scriptures, I have never known anyone or read from anyone who had a clear grip upon the eternal or the supernatural of God.  These are the things only realized and seen through eyes of faith.  So I say to  friend that has left this arena for a far greater place, “Until then!”

Pastor Allen and Joanne also wish to extend condolences to the family of Juanita Holland who was laid to rest this past week.  Juanita was a true prayer warrior and  Godly mother and faithful woman of God.  She was a member of the Virginia Beach Pentecostal Church of Christ where Pastor Allen pastored for nearly 10 years.  She had worked for CBN as a prayer counselor and was the top soul winner of the year in the past and had run the food pantry for the church.   Though small in stature she had a big heart.  Our earthly loss is heaven’s gain.