Monthly Archives: December 2011

Are You Hearing His Word For You?

Posted on December 29, 2011 by mcalmond

There has always been conflicting voices in the earth. There have always been other voices than the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ. And there remain many voices in the earth all claiming to be speaking the words of the Lord Jesus Christ! Yet, in the end we must discern the true voice of the Lord Jesus Christ and obey His voice and not the others, the many, many others. It is true that the Lord maybe speaking many different things to many different people, but are you hearing His voice to you and are you obeying what He is saying to you, today?

John 21:18 (ESV) Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.”…Vs19…. “Follow Me”

John 21:21-22 (ESV) When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” 22 Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!”

Read more »

Categories: A Genuine Heart Cry, Abiding, Absolute Dependency, Christian Maturity, Church, Holy Spirit Hearing, Knowledge, Mentoring Men, Mentoring Women, Mentoring/Discipleship, Ministry, Noise and Distractions, Now Word, Obedience, Open Ears, Readiness, Separatism, Training, Work of God | 3 Comments

Christmas, Santa And A Tree

Posted on December 22, 2011 by mcalmond

Part Two

Now as Christianity continued to expand, grow and thus celebrate the birth of Christ Jesus (Christmas, Epiphany, the Feast of the Nativity), His Baptism and obviously His death and Resurrection (Easter), the different cultures added their own marks upon these celebrations. It is these cultural adaptations, which most often incorporated some aspect of their local celebrations or local context into the celebration experience of the Birth of the Lord Jesus Christ and yes, even of what we call Easter. Now, again, taking the more positive road on this, I believe this was all done for the same purposes as we have already stated in Part One, to replace what was previously observed or worshiped, with the true worship and celebration of the Lord Jesus Christ. How successfully this was always done, I am not always so sure.

The point of all of this is simply that the celebration of what we call Christmas is indeed the celebration of Christ’s birth and this has been in the church, in various forms, from very early on. The celebration of what we call Easter, the celebration of the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, has also been a vital part of the church from its very beginning. In fact, it was seen for a very long time as the greatest of the Christian celebrations or remembrances. I believe that Easter should still be our most important celebration. However, this of course is my humble opinion.

Read more »

Categories: A Compilation of Sources, Body of Christ, Celebration, Changes, Christmas, Church, Church Forms, Church History, Churches, Confidence, History, Hope, Humility, Questions, Remembrances, Seeking The Lord Jesus, Thanksgiving, The Power of God, Timing, Witness | 2 Comments

Christmas, Santa And A Tree

Posted on December 22, 2011 by mcalmond

Part One

Every year around this time we read of many varied expressions of and concerning Christmas. They all range from informational to inspirational. Well, I simply desire to pass on some of what should be well-known, information. While brief, for there are literally volumes that could be written, may this information encourage those who have questions about Christmas because of what others have said or written against it. It seems these negative issues come up each and every year and mostly from within the professing Church. They are primarily concerned with the ongoing accusations and warnings that Christmas, Santa Claus and the Christmas Tree, are all rooted in paganism. So I want address each one briefly over this two-part series.

It seems very clear from church history, that the early believers celebrated the Birth of Christ Jesus. The date for this was varied but came to be centered on Jan 6th, and Jan 10th. A little later on the date of the 6th of January was commonly accepted. So, just for the record, the celebration of Christmas or the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ has its roots in the very early church, with various dates and descriptions used, and not in paganism. As with the dates changing and becoming more uniform over time, even so did the term to describe this celebration, evolved and changed over time, yet it was all for the same purpose.

Read more »

Categories: A Compilation of Sources, Celebration, Christmas, Church, Church Forms, Church History, Faith, History, Questions, Simplicity | 2 Comments

Some Things Change, Some Things Do Not

Posted on December 18, 2011 by mcalmond

I have been in the ministry in one form or another for over 35 plus years. Much of this time was bi-vocational. What this means is simply that I worked two or more jobs while seeking to fulfill one calling in the Lord Jesus Christ! I have Pastored, Itinerated, Consulted, Church Planted, Restarted Churches, Revitalized Churches, Counseled and Train Others in and for the Ministry and Wrote. I have also worked in factories, worked construction, and many other odd jobs along the way while still in the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Today we are beginning to see a fresh resurgence of this much needed ministry and calling that is understood as bi-vocational ministry. However, I would say, there is still so very many more who have yet to embrace or have even begun to seriously consider this vital calling of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I confess that while in the early days of ministry, I wanted desperately to be in ministry full time. Much later, while in fulltime and paid ministry, I wanted to be in bi-vocational ministry. Some people are hard to please and I guess that sometimes I am one of them, just ask my precious wife.

Read more »

Categories: A Simple Reminder, Absolute Dependency, Anointing, Calling, Churches, Commands, Core Values, Encouragement, Fear of God, Ministry, Ministry Motivation, Pastor, Seeking The Lord Jesus, Work | Leave a comment

Crossing A Point of No Return

Posted on December 10, 2011 by mcalmond

How does one cross a point of no return? First of all, one would need to know that there was such a point and where that point was. I was confronted with just this reality for myself on a Saturday evening, May 5th, 2007, when I was fellowshipping with other believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, while in Scotland. The Lord had spoken so clearly to me about the weeks of ministry ahead in Scotland prior to my coming and shortly after my arrival. Right after I had  arrived in this wonderful nation, the Lord Jesus revealed to me my first insight for which I was to be ready for. It was simply this: He showed me that I would come to a point, a line, in which I would have to make a decision, a decision that carried the weight of crossing over a point of no return.

I had no clear idea when, where, how or at what point this moment of decision would come across my path. All I knew was that this would in deed take place, that it was important. Therefore I needed to be ready for it. Immediately I began praying into this forth coming event in my life.

In His timing, this point of decision did come to pass. The Lord Jesus, in a way I could not have imagined, brought things together, with such clarity, power and yet such subtly, that I knew I was at His specific place, time and moment, the moment of my decision. Would I cross over, or would I choose to play it safe, staying where I already was?

Read more »

Categories: Abiding, Absolute Dependency, Angels, Anointing, Being Built Up, Boundaries, Breaking Forth, Calling, Changes, Confidence, Divine Encounters, Following Through, Genuineness, Gifts of the Holy Spirit, God's Love, Grace, Growing in Faith, New Beginnings | Leave a comment

My Personal Struggle With Writing

Posted on December 6, 2011 by mcalmond

Writing is like preaching for me, without the anointing, I have an extremely difficult time doing it. So, I confess that I have shied away from it more often than not. In other ways, writing is much more difficult for me than teaching and or preaching. This is most likely because I have preached and taught far more than I have written. Come to think of it, I have always struggled with writing. I have never really ever seen myself as a writer and still don’t. Yet this last year there was a brief moment in time when I surely felt, in and before the Lord Jesus Christ, that I was to give myself to writing much more than I do. However, as is usual, there were so many others things that got in the way of this. There was for example, work and driving long miles to do so, fatigue, moving, pastoring, family, health concerns, lack of genuine motivation, and the list goes on and on.

I have imagined a time when I would have time sufficient to write more. I have imagined a time when I would have the finances to take the time to write more. I have imagined that the anointing of the Lord Jesus would suddenly fall upon me and I would write like there was no tomorrow. But alas, none of these realities are indeed mine. This leaves me with but one of two choices as I see it: to give up on writing more altogether, or to write anyway.

Read more »

Categories: A Simple Reminder, Absolute Dependency, Anointing, Being Built Up, Calling, Character, Dying to Self Will, Following Through, Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Noise and Distractions, Perseverance, Process, Righteousness, Seeking The Lord Jesus, Spiritual Barreness, Surrender, Work | 2 Comments

Blog at WordPress.com. Theme: Adventure Journal by Contexture International.

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 27 other followers

%d bloggers like this: