Things I Learned in 2023

Well, it's the end of the year. 2023 is mere hours away from being over.
As it comes to a close, I decided to list some of the things I learned this year.

1. I don't have to say "yes" to every stranger who makes demands of my time. Saying "no" is perfectly valid if there is no established relationship. Some people do not respect you or your time. They are simply takers or problem-dumpers... and that gets exhausting very quickly.

2. Communication is important (in marriage, in business, in church, etc). How we say things is as important as what we say. 

3. Marriage is a blessing when married to the right woman. Mutual respect, mutual love for each other and a mutual love for Jesus go a long way. 

4. I am perfectly fine to slow down and rest in between work-days or after hours. Additional tasks and non-urgent messages will still be waiting for me in the morning... they can wait until then. :-)  

5. I learned to simplify life by deleting unnecessary commercial/mass communication inbox messages without opening them. 

6. I learned that I enjoy painting for fun on occasion. My wife also discovered painting this year and she enjoys it even more than me. 

7. I discovered a new digital piano I really enjoy playing... the Yamaha P125. I have already uploaded several piano videos to my youtube channel using this piano. See my channel here.

8. I learned to turn off the notifications from certain social media platforms. I no longer allow those messages to be sent to my email or to my phone. I shut that option off. It helps me focus and declutter my mind during the day. I may have actually started this practice in the previous year, but it really came to help me in 2023. 

9. I learned that the New Testament Book of Revelation has more references to the Old Testament than any other New Testament book. (I counted at least 330 OT references!) 

10. I have discovered the joys of being a middle-aged man who has more wisdom than his younger self did. Some of the things concerning relationships and life that were unclear to me in my youth are much clearer now that I am older and more experienced. 

11. I reaped the benefit of waiting 13 years to get remarried to the right woman - it was (and is) important to not settle for the wrong person (as I did the first time). Jenny and I got married June 7th 2022 and now we are over 1 1/2 years into the marriage and very happy. 

12. I really enjoy being an uncle to my 2 neices (10 and 7 yrs old) and 1 nephew (1 yr old), even if we are far apart most of the year! 

13. Spiritual fatherhood: I learned that the years of ministry, Bible instruction, and prayer I poured into my spiritual children at church are really starting to show fruit. One of them has now grown up to be a fine young man who participates on his own free will in various church activities including leadership events. I am very blessed to invest in the young generation. 

14. After nearly a decade of ministry to the Christian adult singles (my singles ministry began in July 2014), I learned that this group I lead is still very much needed and appreciated by the singles in our church.

15. After more than 23 years at Church On The GO, I have discovered, with guidance from the Holy Spirit and our lead pastor Stephen Coates, some key topics to teach, such as Historicism, Young Earth Creation, the Melchizedek priesthood, and Kingdom of God Theology.
16. Speaking of Kingdom of God Theology, this is the year it really sunk in for me how central the Kingdom of God is and was to the message of Jesus. I did have an understanding of the Kingdom of God already, but our studies at church this year really helped cement and advance my understanding of this core doctrine of Christ.

17. Having common interests with my wife has really made us best friends as well as lovers. We both love walking, reading, discussing Scripture, playing musical instruments, and playing board games like Scrabble. 

18. I learned that a manual I wrote and printed 21 years ago still has relevance today. It was called "Science and the Bible". I originally wrote it to teach a 2 part seminar in the church in 2002. It then got left in a box in my house and forgotten. A church goer recently asked me this year to see if I can find any copies I might have of it. Well I did find one copy of it left. It was dusty and the binding was falling apart. So I scanned the pages, readjusted the alignment, updated the info and resources, and then made it into an online PDF file that anyone can read or download for free on my website. This person at our church then printed it, bound it, and shared it with someone in public recently. They were happy to read it. So my work from 21 years ago is still making a difference today! It was all through the combined work of the Holy Spirit and the members of the Body of Christ.

I am always grateful to the Lord Jesus for His faithfulness to me this year and every year!
Happy New Year!
Pastor Curtis

Assistant Pastor at:
churchonthego.ca in Newmarket ON.
If you would like to read my 39 page manual, please visit my website: curtisjalexander.wordpress.com
and click the download button.

Sun Dec 31 2023 10:32PM Eastern Time.

Seasonal Changes Can Help Us Grow

The transition can be a challenge or it can go smoothly. Either way, seasons do change and we must learn how to adapt and adjust to the shift in the seasons.

I was single for 13 years until I got married in June this year, 2022. I met my current wife, Jenny in 2020. This relationship is a blessing and an amazing match by the Lord Jesus.

We believe God helped us. I am now married to an amazing and sincere Christian woman who is serious about following Jesus and supporting me in my pastoral ministry at Church On The GO. 

It is my story of loss and now, recovery. I once was abandoned by a former wife who wore a "Christian" mask but was not a true follower in practice. I was faithful to the end, but she cared about education, not me. She certainly didn't care about the Lord. (Education worship = Eating from The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil- sounds familiar right? See Genesis chapter 3.) 

I spent years healing from divorce due to being abandoned. Divorce is a serious type of loss, similar to the death of a loved one. Then God got me focused on ministering to other singles, especially those who were brokenhearted and abandoned/divorced. I was already an assistant pastor at Church On The GO. But I then added a new aspect to my ministry at the lead pastor's request: ministry to Christian adult (18+) singles once a month. I decided to call it Christian Singles On The GO. My first meeting was in July 2014.

I started teaching discipleship to our church's singles and showing that both marriage and singleness are valid ministry gifts when harnessed by the Lord and guided by the Holy Spirit. See 1 Corinthians chapter 7. And I taught Ecclesiastes chapter 3- God works in seasons on the earth. If it is on earth, it is subject to seasons: literal seasons or circumstantial seasons or spiritual seasons. And marriage and singleness are both seasons. Those who never get married may think this is not a season.... but your whole life on earth is still just a season. Only heaven is eternal.  

Now around Februrary 2022, as the time for my marriage drew near, our leaders felt I should still lead the singles group. The only difference is that I added an extension to the title: PLUS LOSS AND RECOVERY. My marriage to Jenny is my story of recovery. This is my season of recovery.

And seasons change to help us grow. And marriage is helping me flourish. 

 My example, by God's grace and Spirit, serves to show singles what God can do in a faithful person's life if they only trust the Lord and obey Him and submit to His process of recovery. Not that all singles need to get married. I make that clear to our people. Recovery is a lot more than just relationships. God recovers our spirit and our soul through salvation and our life and our health and many other things, not just relationships. The most important thing God wants to recover is our relationship to HIM! Only through Jesus! (See John 14:6). Be reconciled to God through Christ! (See 2 Cor. 5:20-21) 

Photo (c) Curtis J Alexander

So I am now a married man involved in a variety of ministry and marketplace vocational  activities: this includes leading our monthly singles group. My marriage shows that God is a God of recovery and He knows best when to change the seasons in our circumstances. 

When your seasons change, be ready to do things differently from then on. That season could be a new job. A new friend. A new church. A new volunteer position. A new ministry at church, etc. OR it could be a new marriage, as in my case. No matter the change you are experiencing, be ready to go with the Holy Spirit and be flexible to Him. His leading is always right and you are going to experience some growing pains even if they are only minor. Such changes help us grow. God often changes a situation when we need to grow.

And of course, seasons change when we make choices. You must agree to take on the job, or the relationship or the new ministry role. It is your choice. And yet, it is still God working all things for GOOD for those who love Him and are called by Him. (See Romans 8:28)

 

What works in one season will not always work in the next. For instance, going back to marriage and singleness: both are equally valuable gifts. Jesus and Paul and Jeremiah all made use of singleness on the earth, to advance God's Kingdom in the Bible. They did so in a way that works best when they remain unmarried. 

But now that I am married I am adjusting to a married lifestyle, blessed in new and different ways. I was blessed as a single. Now I am blessed as a married man.
 I am adapting over time to new routines and patterns where both me and my wife accommodate each other with kindness and understanding. 

I hope this encourages you to always trust in Jesus Christ as King and Lord and Saviour. He will guide and shift your seasons and circumstances according to His calling on your life! 

1 Corinthians 7:17 NKJV

17 But as God has distributed to each one, as the Lord has called each one, so let him walk. And so I ordain in all the churches.

 

God bless,

Pastor Curtis

www.churchonthego.ca

Sat Nov 26 2022.

12:19am Eastern Time.  

Waiting Does Not Mean Wasting Time

I came across this meme on social media tonight:

I think it is good. I would, however like to clarify what "waiting" is about in this context.
Keep in mind I have not remarried yet in almost 7 years. I have had no steady relationships in that time since I was abandoned, and my first marriage ended. Yet I am really involved with ministry more and more. My miracle ministry that survived divorce has been preserved by the Lord. I am to teach and to preach and to minister in my local church. That is my privilege and honour. Whether I get married or not, this is my calling. It is the cross I bear. What is the cross you bear for Jesus?

So to this meme I say:

Yes of course waiting on God is important.

But... It is also important to position oneself for receiving. One must keep praying in Jesus' Name, and keep asking and keep seeking. It's not enough to just sit back and do nothing. When some people think of waiting they imagine themselves sitting in a doctors office, waiting to be called. No.

In this context, "waiting on God" means working for Him in your calling. It means you do not act outside His will, but you DO act according to His will. Waiting on God does not mean standing around doing nothing, wasting the gift of singleness. The more years one can get in doing the work of God, the better. Because once marriage comes, your time will be divided and you will have to please both The Lord and also your spouse. Believe me, that is no easy task.

(1 Cor. 7:32-33)

 

Wait on God by praying for your future spouse to come. Then ....get back to work! Serve Jesus. Spread the Gospel. Love one another in the churches. Serve God in the ministry you have. All Christians have a ministry. Be faithful.

Go all out for Jesus as a single. NOW is your time to serve and bless Him and bless others. You will never again have this THIS level of freedom to please the Lord. You will never again get this many options where you are free to make choices in Christ without considering a spouse's plans or feelings.

 

You have a commission. Serve God in it, and really press into your love relationship with Jesus Christ our God and Saviour. Don't think that waiting means wasting. Not a chance. Waiting means you position yourself thankfully and prayerfully, and then get busy and do what God called you for in ministry.
Yes, you keep putting yourself in position for meeting a special person. But your focus must remain on your calling. The only way you will ever know who to marry is by cultivating your calling in Christ. Jesus does not call us to marriage or singleness per se. He calls us to love Him, to spread His Gospel, and to die to self and follow Him. THAT is the call. In a word, the call is DISCIPLESHIP. And, regardless of your marital status, marriage cannot ever be more important than discipleship. And the geographic details of your call will vary from mine. Nevertheless, now is the day to serve God and worship Him and love Him.
Love those He puts in your path. Feed the sheep with the truth of Jesus Christ, who is the Bread of Heaven and the Living Water. In 1 Corinthians 7:7, Paul calls marriage and singleness "gifts". They are not the call, but gifts. The Call is always discipleship. And discipleship is always an individual experience before the Lord. Discipleship cannot be blocked by marriage or family or past or current condition. As you read through 1 Corinthians 7 you realize the key is not found in marriage OR singleness. The key is this,

 

1 Corinthians 7:171599 Geneva Bible (GNV)

¹⁷ But as God hath distributeth to every man, as the Lord hath called every one, so let him walk: and so ordain I in all Churches.

 

 

God bless,

Pastor Curtis

Meme Commentary: A Man's Success

Today I saw a meme on the internet and it was this:

A random internet meme I found online today.

While I would tend to agree with it, it is not the whole picture either.

It inspired me to write the following:

Sometimes, the right woman for a man to marry is no woman at all. It is sometimes best to remain single for the Lord. Especially when you are a pastor and part of what you do is to lead a Christian singles ministry. Especially when you desire no natural children. And if your past relationship was not so good, then taking a break from the opposite sex is always wise.

So the Lord has kept me for Himself, apart from women. To serve Him. As He pleases. At His call and at His pleasure. It is all for His Name's Sake.

Seasons do change eventually. But for now the Lord has kept me on this path for six years as a single-again Christian (legally divorced). I've been living alone for 7 years and very busy at church, the store, and elsewhere. And through me the Lord has successfully enriched the ministry I am involved with. And He has blessed me with new songs to create in that time. Since becoming single again, I got promoted at my job at the store in 2012 (I overcame lots of challenges). Thank you Jesus for SUCCESS in the natural and in the Spirit! Following Jesus is success! Fear God, keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of mankind. 

So to add a final thought to this above meme:

A person's success has everything to do with the kind of God one chooses to have in ones life!

If your god is money... you will ultimately fail.

If your god is marriage... you can't take it with you. At your death, you enter eternity as a single. So making your marriage a god is not going to lead to success either. As special as this institution is, between one man and one woman, we must be careful not to idolize it either.

If your God is JESUS CHRIST, then you will truly succeed, according to God's view of Success!

If you recognize Jesus as the one true God, then all else will fall into Biblical alignment, over time, with obedience to Him. You will gladly serve Him. Your finances, your relationships, your work, your pleasure. You will gladly entrust it all to Him to make you a SUCCESS in HIS BOOK! 

Blessings!

May 10 2015 3:18 PM EST 

Prose on Pros

Prose on Pros:
I'm for life and marriage and the perfect timeless word of God.
I believe like the Peace Tower says, its righteousness that keeps the Canadian flagpole upright in the sod.
Pro-life, pro-one-man-one-woman-marriage, pro-senior, pro-children, pro-babies, pro-people, pro-repentance, pro-righteousness, pro-mercy, pro-God.
But to sum it all up and what I am for, it's more complete to say I'm pro-Jesus,
He will save us from east to west shore.
Us to the right Way, will He restore.
He is the example, the only One, who shows exactly what I am for.

Stand for Jesus, and you stand for what's right.