Victory is a Journey, Not Just a Destination.

This is the link to my latest song, just for interest's sake. It is the same track I sang to live last night at my church (there are recorded vocals in this version). When I write music, it is almost always because God has opened a passage up to me, and I am singing based on what God has shown me in that verse. It is not just text or history, it is revelation!

"Chronicle Of Praise" By Curtis Alexander
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wv-UsvOWH5s&feature=youtu.be

1 Chronicles 29:10-13(Holy Bible, Geneva Version:
"10 Therefore David blessed the Lord before all the Congregation, and David said, Blessed be thou, O Lord God, of Israel our father, for ever and ever.
11 Thine, O Lord, is greatness & power, and glory, and victory & praise: for all that is in heaven and in earth is thine: thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou excellest as head over all.
12 Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all, and in thine hand is power and strength, and in thine hande it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.
13 Now therefore our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious Name."

This passage from King David is powerfully messianic and prophetic of the Lord Jesus. We know Jesus taught his disciples to pray "thine is the kingdom" and we know He is Head of the Church and King of kings! The word that caught my eye in particular was the word "victory". For Victoria Day this word "victory" means something powerful in the Hebrew language:

In the Strongs Concordance:

H5331 "Victory"

nay'-tsakh

From H5329; properly a goal, that is, the bright object at a distance travelled towards; hence (figuratively), splendor, or (subjectively) truthfulness, or (objectively) confidence; but usually (adverbially), continually (that is, to the most distant point of view): - alway (-s), constantly, end, (+ n-) ever (more), perpetual, strength, victory.

Therefore Christ Jesus is the brightness and splendor we travel towards and He is the Way we travel! He is our perpetual strength and confidence!

That word "victory" is only one of the rich words King David uses to describe the Lord! This word Victory means so much more that just "winning". It is our whole path of faith!

I want to challenge you to expand your understanding of "Victory". Use the biblical standard to understand it! You don't just "get" to victory, you walk in it! As long as you are watching Jesus and walking toward His glory and splendor, walking along side His Holy Spirit, then you are victorious! You do not need to see the "result" to know you are a winner now! Even on days we feel like we are loosing, we must LOOK to Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith!

As you walk in faith with Jesus and toward His glory, you are walking in VICTORY now!! Let Jesus be your "perpetual strength and victory"! You are a winner as long as you are heading in the right direction... even if you haven't arrived just yet! I want you to catch this as I am catching it: VICTORY IS A JOURNEY, not just a destination!! Jesus is our WAY not just our Destination!

For us Canadians, Happy Victoria Day! Be Victorious in Jesus!


Digest it, drink it in, and God Bless,
Pastor Curtis

 

Be Thankful!

I know some who are not grateful. Do you? It is so grating on me and I can only imagine how God feels about it. He does not like ungratefulness. He loves thankfulness. He loves everyone, even those who don't love Him. He even loves those who call Him by Name (Jesus) but are ungrateful to Him. I have discovered in my personality a couple of things that trigger my "petpeeve" alarm.... one is unreasonableness, and the other is ungratefulness. These attitudes grate on me and I lean fully on Jesus and His grace to help me speak the truth only in love. If I love these people who can't see the blessing, and Jesus loves them even more, then Oh how that must make Him feel when they ignore His best blessings to them! He gave His very life for them!

Ungratefulness is an injustice. No matter how much one may explain the thankfulness one should have, the sour Christian cannot see it. This is frustrating to many of us. Therefore I am sure God makes full use of His Longsuffering to deal with such people.

 God longs for thankful people. If you receive a gift,  in church or other places, be thankful for it... don't criticize it for being the wrong colour or type. Don't make an issue centered around you. It really is not about you. It's not about me. It is about Jesus. It is about what you and I can do to serve others and how we can give God our best by operating in His Spirit.

In case an ungrateful person is also reading this along with my other readers, I will reiterate: It is not about you. It does not matter what you think is "fair" or not. And yes, I meant to type that.

 It doesn't make a "mature" Christian when we constantly complain and live with the stone of ungratefulness scratching our eye, dulling our eyesight. And yes, a stone can permanently damage your vision. Ungratefulness is blinding, and it makes the perfectly good gift seem terrible to the sour Christian. They cannot see how good they have it, because they cannot see! Ungratefulness has scratched their eyes!
It is time to lift the eyes, wash them in the Word of God, get your eyesight back, and behold the Glory of the Lord. Be thankful for the many many blessings we have in our lives each and every day.

We will please the Lord by living by faith, and being thankful. Put on your "Gospel Glasses" and see Jesus! Be Thankful to Him!
~Pastor Curtis

Tips for answering the Call of God

All Christians are called by Jesus. Not only are they called to salvation by grace, but once saved, they are called to serve Him and His people also. All Christians have a function in the Body of local believers, the church. (See 1 Corinthians chapters 12-14).

Here are a few pointers for believers answering the Call of God, the call to serve Him:

1)  Be stable in your local church. Faithfulness is the ground in which your calling can grow, like a seed. Remember that the Apostle Paul said for each person to walk as God calls them, and He ordains this as a rule in all the churches. (Read 1 Cor. 7:17) That means the local church is the starting place, the ground for building foundations in your call. The roots are important!

2) God will never call you to do something that you can't do. He always enables those He calls by His Holy Spirit. If anything, the issue is more likely: Do you want to answer?

3) The call is both for now and later. The Lord always has something for you to do today. And He will build on it tomorrow. Don't put it off and assume that you will get around to the call in a few days, weeks or years. Answer now, for we do not know how long we have left on earth.

4) Everyone is called to something, often through the voice of the pastor. When the pastor asks for volunteers, respond cheerfully! Expect your call to be unique and compatible to the needs of the church. But if you see a need in the church (like clean up etc) and no one is doing it, just jump in and answer the Call! You don't necessarily have to wait to be asked to help... Just go to the pastor yourself and say, "I'd like to help with ________ if you don't mind." Then go from there.

5) Don't compare your call to others or get envious. Remember that it is no longer about you: you were bought with the Blood of Christ and are now His. All assignments are from the same Lord and Spirit, and all assignments work together to benefit the whole congregation. Your part is just as important, even if it is different, or less noticeable. God notices.

6) God calls you no matter what your circumstances look like. Moses was a murderer, Gideon was timid, Matthew was a hated tax collector, and Peter knew he was not worthy when Jesus called him. Yet in God's wisdom, mercy, and grace, He calls us anyway. Don't use your circumstance as a reason not to answer God. Remember God gives the ability to  those who respond, such as when Jesus called Peter to walk on water with Him. God's grace and sacrifice through the blood of Christ is what washes away your sins. So agree with Him, and walk in your call!

7) When you do begin to walk in your unique call to serve the Lord, be prepared for resistance from the devil. Be prepared for resistance from your own flesh as well. You will have to overcome several distractions, and put aside some tasks, even if those tasks look reasonable. If you don't put your call at the top of your list of Priorities in Christ, you will not walk in that call. Here in North America, there is plenty to keep people distracted from God. People are less inclined to even attend a church regularly now, much less answer the call to serve. They act as though they have 1000 years to answer the call... and all the temporary stuff gets in the way. Years pass, and some believers still haven't responded. They are saved, but not functioning in the Body. Press through all the clever distractions of the world, the flesh, and the devil! Overcome.

8) The good news is, if you are still alive, then it isn't too late! You can still start! Age is just another circumstance, and no reason to reject God's call. Abraham was 75 when called, Moses was 80 when he was ready to start leading. Also, Jeremiah and Samuel were very young when called... But these ages were no barrier to these obedient believers. So get into the Spirit of God, and ask Him to pave the way... Walk in your call! One little faithful step at a time, day by day.
Be encouraged,
~Pastor Curtis

Thankful Reflections

Today I want to thank the Lord for holding me steady through life's greatest trials and hardships.

I count my blessings that I am indeed a pastor and all thanks to the call of God. That call of God came to me through my local church and through my ministerial fellowship, a credentialing body for pastors and ministry leaders. I was sponsored by my Lead Pastor back in 2003 to be given a basic local license through the ministerial. I was to operate under the lead pastor in a support leadership role. Through the grace of God I have continued to grow in this and have since been upgraded to a general license. I am an Assistant Pastor thanks to the folks of this church and ministerial and also my friends and family. Most of all, I am grateful to the Lord for holding me steady through all the years, especially the years in which I endured being abandoned by a spouse. The marriage ended in divorce  (married 2005, divorced 2009). Despite all my efforts to save the marriage, my spouse walked away dishonestly. My exwife was as described in 1 Corinthians 7:15. She did not believe the Word (despite the fact that she had confessed Christ.) That word "unbeliever" means more: it means someone who does not practice the Christian faith or believe it, but it also means someone who is "not credible". Giving your vows to someone to support them in life and in ministry and then walking away for no real reason is not credible behaviour.

So here I am, a divorced assistant pastor. How then am I still in ministry?

Yes it is true: the average divorced/separated pastor does not get to go through recovery while in active ministry.

But in my case, the Lord and the Church and the Ministerial allowed me to continue to function in my role. This was because they view me as faithful to the end of marriage, and faithful to the work of God. Indeed I was not, and am not, the only minister who happens to be divorced within our ministerial. The key is, in order for a divorced minister to continue leading, he or she must have been faithful to the end of the marriage. And that was the case with me. I remained true to my ex-wife until the court ordered divorce was finalized.

The difference that divorce brought was that I would not be advancing to a higher levels than my current one until further recovery had occured. This is on the Ministerial level, not the church level. As it stands, I am still thankfully a General License holder. As my personal marital recovery becomes more complete, I may one day see an opportunity for a higher credential, regardless of my marital status.  I leave that with the Lord.

On the Local Church level, there was what I call a "holding pattern".
Initially as the break down in my marriage started in 2006, the nights I spoke at the church were to remain as they were, but new windows would not open to me immediately- for everyone's protection. Those windows started opening as the congregation and church leaders saw my stability in God's Grace. I was able to continue in my capacity as a Youth Pastor throughout 2006 and 2007, praise God! But those were personally sad years for me. The joy of the Lord kept me going. In the fall of 2007 I was eventually promoted  to the position of a worship leader, a new window of opportunity that my local assembly opened to me after they saw I remained stable in God's Grace. I was a Youth Pastor at the time my troubles began. When I became a worship leader as well as a Youth Pastor, my title was changed to "Youth & Arts Pastor" to reflect the promotion and also my involvement with church photography and the creation and upkeep of the church's website. My local church has since awarded me a newer promotion in the summer of 2012. I was promoted to Assistant Pastor. Again, praise be to God!

Showing stability and faithfulness is not an easy task when your world around you seems to be melting and crumbling down. But God is able to hold us up in the worst of times! God rewards our steady day-by-day, year-by-year faithfulness, even though we ourselves can sometimes suffer from the unfaithfulness of our own loved ones. But God is always faithful, never to abandon us, or forsake us! He displayed His faithfulness to me through my local church and through the ministerial as well.

So in my gratitude, I thank the Lord and my friends and family. I thank my church and ministerial for supporting me in a time of great loss. My marriage was supposed to be an extension of God's love between husband and wife, and toward the people of God in ministry. When my wife decided to quit and be dishonest in her commitments to me and the ministry, and got up and left me permanently, it was the Lord and His grace that held me up in the storm. His hand reached out to me through the local church and the broader ministerial. I would not be here doing what I do except by the Grace of Christ as seen in my local church and my ministerial network.

I am here today to tell you that if you are experiencing a human meltdown of relationships or finance or of some other tragedy, that you should just stay true to God's call. Hang on to Him and don't let go! He will sustain you through His Spirit, His Local Congregation, and His Network of Saints! Read through 1 Corinthians chapter 7 as it really helped me sort through things. In this chapter the major theme is not really the marriage or singleness or divorce. The real theme of the chapter is the Call of God. Each person is to remain true to God's call on their individual life, regardless of the conditions they find themselves surrounded in.
 I stood for God's call on my life, and He sustained me and my ministry through my church and ministerial. It is a miracle since most denominations and ministerials tend to take the pastor off active duty if his marriage breaks down. Some places do not recognize who was faithful and who was not. But my church and ministerial chose to respect my steadiness in Christ. But that steadiness was partly thanks to their help! And it was ALL by the GRACE of God!
 I am here to declare that GOD in CHRIST is FAITHFUL. I simply yielded, and allowed God to be Faithful through me. And it is with awe and wonder, respect and humility that I sit here today, more than 3 years after divorce, and thank Jesus for the honour and privilege of serving Him.
~CJA, 2013

UPDATE Dec 20, 2019 - I have been divorced for well over a decade now and God remains faithful to me. Since July 2014 I have been running a discipleship Bible study for Christian singles called Christian Singles On The GO within the church. It is monthly. Every now and then we do a fun social event for the singles also.
So, God continues to bless me as a single-again Christian. After 10 years, God has proven to me how valuable the season of singleness is to Him and His Kingdom. SO much can be accomplished by a Christian who is single, and focused on knowing Jesus, resting in Jesus, and serving Jesus. It no longer matters if any woman comes by me or not. I am serving Jesus. Singleness has its own purpose, apart from marriage. Marriage can be a blessing, if you marry a godly spouse. But singleness is ALSO a blessing, one that most people do not seem to want or recognize.
 Both marriage and singleness are seasonal gifts that can accomplish things by the Spirit of God, for the Kingdom of God. (Ecc. 3:5b, 1 Cor. 7:7) Marriage may one day be a part of the picture again, many years down the road, Lord willing I live. But right now, singleness is too valuable for me to simply let it go or squander it. I have surrendered all to Jesus and am in His will. Wow, what a tremendous transformation in my life. He has made me into a successful, healed, and whole single man serving Jesus with a secure identity in CHRIST. My redemption story is complete! Christ alone (not woman) completes me! Col. 2:10.
Colossians 2:10 New King James Version (NKJV)
10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

God bless and thank you for reading my Victory Story!

Learn more about my ministry to singles at these links:

website: www.churchonthego.ca/christiansingles.html 


facebook page: www.facebook.com/christiansinglesonthego/

Beyond All Comparison

To illustrate how vastly superior God's eternal glory is over the temporary trials of this life, I am calling in a giant. No, it's not Goliath. I'm thinking of something bigger than him. It's name is VY Canis Majoris, the largest star man has discovered in space to date.

See, I was recently inspired by a video I watched by Louie Giglio in which he shows the bigness of God by illustrating the sizes of the stars God created. It made me want to investigate further. Then, later on, in an unrelated event, our lead pastor Rev. Stephen Coates preached on 2 Corinthians chapter 4 at one of our latest church services. He got to the following part:

2 Corinthians 4:15-18 (ESV)
 15  For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
16  So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.
17  For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
18  as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

In my 1599 Geneva Bible, 2 Corinthians 4:17 says:
 For our light affliction which is but for a moment, causeth unto us a far most excellent and an eternal weight of glory:

Take a look at the following picture from wikipedia:

This picture shows a progression of planet and star size comparisons. In each panel, the scale gets increasingly larger, until the last panel, panel 6, shows VY Canis Majoris. This star is so gigantic that you cannot see our own sun at that scale. In fact, you cannot even see stars that are much bigger than our sun at the scale of Canis Majoris!

 Wow!

Then it hit me: the Lord encouraged me to put the star-size chart and 2 Corinthians 4:17 together. God laid these stars in the expanse of space. Stars do not declare the future, nor your personality. They declare His GLORY.

Psalm 19:1 ESV  To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

The revelation I received was...

 Earth, where we live, represents our life and our successes, and also our struggles and problems. But that earth (as big as it is to us) is so tiny in the cosmos that it disappears by panel 3 in the 6-panel progression of the photo above! And the biggest star makes earth microscopic by comparison! God's reward for you, as a faithful believer, is so very much bigger than the biggest star in the above diagram.

The point is this... just as the stellar giant Canis Majoris is "beyond all comparison" to earth's physical size, so is God's eternal weight of glory "beyond all comparison" to the struggles we have on earth.

Did you know that eternity is so much bigger than the temporal realm? The afflictions you are currently suffering in Christ, these are important character builders in the Spirit. But as difficult as they can be, they are temporary. These afflictions will not last.

But His glory will. If Jesus is your Lord, then you will dwell eternally in His Glory.

We cannot fully grasp the sheer magnitude of these objects in outer space. Yet eternity with Jesus is bigger, and far more permanent and more luminous.

His eternal weight of glory is worth the temporary struggle we endure for the moment.
Be encouraged, I pray that you can also see the revelation that the Lord brought to me.
Blessings!
Pastor Curtis


(Star image credit: Dave Jarvis (http://www.davidjarvis.ca/ )

Truth in 2013

Truth is unchangeable. It is timeless. It is the same yesterday, today in 2013, and forever. If you stand on truth, some will hate you, some will love you. It is uncomfortable to all who have been making up their own "truths" and are not yet ready to face the truth. That is the real reason they persecute and judge those who do face and embrace it: because they themselves haven't the courage to look at truth for themselves. But if you do decide to stand on truth, you will be safe in the mercies of God.

Truth stands on its own two feet. It exists with or without people. It has been around before time. It continues to stand whether it is discovered or not, whether it is liked or not.
Even if the whole world were to deny it, it does not get destroyed. It is invincible.

If you stand on Truth, you will be unshakable in spirit, steady in mind, dependable in character, merciful and kind in behaviour, and principled in your stand. Most of all, you will have love, benevolent love. Love that gives what is needed without price, but does not always give what is wanted/demanded. Sometimes wants are destructive, sometimes not. Only truth can tell. And that is why you need truth!

People change, their views flip-flop and are weak. We damage each other. As soon as a group hollers for supposed wrongs or rights (based on a system that keeps changing what is right and wrong- no standards!) the people scramble and accomodate. "Times have changed" they quote. But when did time have anything to say to truth? Truth has dominion over time. Time does not have dominion over truth. So times can change all they want. The truth still presides over all time.

We have a strange illogical and unfounded concept floating about like a dead leaf falling from a tree: it is that truth is determined by the masses, by popular vote if you will.

Well, just study John Wycliffe, Martin Luther, Copernicus, or Galileo. They were studying the truth and stood alone, and got punished or sidelined for it. It wasn't until much later that the public discovered they were right. So the popular opinion was indeed wrong. History keeps teaching us that lesson. When Copernicus (1473-1543ad) discovered that earth is (gasp!) ... NOT the center of the solar system, he was afraid to publish his findings. Why? Because he was afraid of the masses railing against him and that persecution would come. It was all because he discovered a truth: "EARTH DOES NOT LIE AT THE CENTER, the SUN DOES." (I'm saddened to say this, but there are peoples and groups today who still, in an allegorical sense, believe they are the center of the solar system.) Tell me one time in history, since the fall of Adam and Eve, that truth was popular. It never has been popular and never will be on a fallen sinful planet like this. People may try to get along without the truth, but sin wrapped in goodwill and activism, is still sin.

 So you must be brave! Be unafraid to face the true persecution, the true sufferings of those who follow the Truth. The Word promises that if you do follow truth, you will find mercy.

John 1:17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Here is a basic principal, albeit uncomfortable, to take with you into 2013. It is uncomfortable to the human mind, but it will save your life and keep you from sinking in the mire of current secular western depravity.

Here it is:
It's not truth that changes - it is people who faulter. But there is hope! We need to come back to the Ancient Truth. It is the Rock. Truth and Mercy meet together in Jesus Christ! Accept Him as your bedrock and sure foundation and keep standing on His Word. His word never changes, never goes obsolete and always extends mercy to those willing to return to the source, The Truth, Jesus Christ.

Don't believe me?  Good! I'm not the truth... you shouldn't just believe me.

You should read His Word, the Holy Bible for yourself, and discover the Truth in Jesus. No book in history is more verified, with more ancient manuscript copies, than the Holy Bible.
Ask Him to show His Ancient Truth to you! He wants a relationship with you in 2013!
So don't believe me, or the right wing or the left wing, or this group of changers, or that group of changers. Rather, believe the words of unchanging Truth. Find grace and mercy in Him today.

 Read the Bible, do it prayerfully, daily, and with a teachable spirit. Test it and see if what I say is right or not.

Happy 2013!
~Pastor Curtis

Do You Smell Good To God?

Do You Smell Good To God?
Here is how to answer:

Do you believe Jesus died and rose again for your sins? Do you follow Him by grace (that means, He did the work to save you, you can't save yourself) and by His Holy Spirit?

 If you believe and follow Jesus Christ as the Lord, Saviour, and interactive Leader of your personal life, then you smell good to God!
Want proof? Here it is:

2 Corinthians 2:14-15 in the Holy Bible:
The Geneva Version says:
2Co 2:14 Now thanks be unto God, which always maketh us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
2Co 2:15 For we are unto God the sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them which perish.

The English Standard version says:
2Co 2:14 But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.
2Co 2:15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing,
So offer your worship this Christmas day, and everyday, and it will be a spiritual kind of frankincense, just like the literal frankincense that the wise men offered Christ when he was 2 years old.

Romans 12:1-2
Rom 12:1 I Beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye give up your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable serving of God.
Rom 12:2 And fashion not your selves like unto this world, but be ye changed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what that good, and acceptable and perfect will of God is.

ESV:
Rom 12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Rom 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Let us worship Him, Christ Jesus the Lord. As the Geneva and the English Standard versions of the Bible put it, surrender your bodies (turn away from sin and lust and accept Jesus' blood payment for your sin) and offer your thanks, praise, prayer, worship, and service to Him. This is the reasonable  and spiritual thing to do on Christmas, and every day!

Merry Christmas to you all. God Bless,
Pastor Curtis