Anderson Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church

"Building God's Work God's Way!"

 From The Pastor's Heart

February 2009

 

February  27, 2009  

  Daily From Johannesburg, SA

 

“What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked.  “Anything is possible if a person believes.”

Mark 9:23 NLT

                                                                     

There is a difference between thinking that God can and knowing that God will.

 

Have a great weekend!

 

© 2009 William M. Campbell, Jr.

 

Message from the Motherland

February 26, 2009

Pastor Campbell is in South Africa attending a meeting of the Global Development Council. We will post his daily update to the Church on the Hill.

 

Members of the Church on the Hill…

 

God is moving in this place….Swaziland…and this is the place to be…for right now!

 

The Global Development Council meeting is an historic event in the life of the church. Our own Bishop Sarah Frances Davis preached the opening service. Her message: Signs Follow Decisions from Nehemiah 2:1-5; 17-20. It was a blessed message. What decisions are you making today? What signs will follow those decisions tomorrow?

 

Today, Bishop Sarah was unanimously elected the CHAIR of the G.D.C. which consists of Districts 14-20.  Already she is certainly serving with distinction.

 

I have been asked to minister the closing meditation in the closing service tomorrow. Pray for me that God would grant His grace and favor and give a Word for His Church at this hour.

 

We will head back to Johannesburg tomorrow. Dr. George Flowers, Executive Director of Global Witness and Ministry and I will be preaching in South Africa on Sunday at two of the historic churches. I will be ministering at Mokone Memorial A.M.E. Church in Soweto. This is a part of the 19th Episcopal District.  Prayers here are needed too.

 

Peace from the Motherland,

Pastor C

 

February  26, 2009  

(From Mbabane, Swaziland)

As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God.

 

Psalm 42:1 NLT

 

This kind of water can not be put in a bottle.

 

© 2009 William M. Campbell, Jr.

 

February  25, 2009  

( From Mbabane, Swaziland)

 

So do not act like the people in Egypt, where you used to live, or like the people of Canaan, where I am taking you.  You must not imitate their way of life.

Leviticus 18:3 NLT

 

God is calling you to be a bird of a different feather.

 

© 2009 William M. Campbell, Jr.

 

February  24, 2009

  

 

Then he said,

“You skillfully sidestep God’s law in order to hold on to your own tradition.”

 

Mark 7:9 NLT

 

 

Don’t sidestep! Step right up and be blessed!

 

If your arms are too short to box with God, then your legs are certainly

too short to step around him.

 

© 2009 William M. Campbell, Jr.

 

 

February  23, 2009

    

They still didn’t understand the significance of the miracle of the loaves. Their hearts were too hard to take it in.

 

Mark 6:52 NLT

 

 

Are there miracles happening right before your very eyes, that your heart won’t let you see?

 

© 2009 William M. Campbell, Jr.

 

February  20, 2009

  

 

A crowd soon gathered around Jesus, and they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons. He was sitting there fully clothed and perfectly sane, and they were all afraid.

 

Mark 5:15 NLT

 

 

1 Jesus! 2,000 demons! 1 free man! 1000’s of amazed people!

 

That’s not “clothed in your right mind” but having on clothes and being in your right mind.

 

Have a great weekend!

 

© 2009 William M. Campbell, Jr.

 February  19, 2009

 

For today's scripture from Mark 4:8, I mistakenly used the word "soul"

 

instead of "soil."  This was unintended, but as it turns out an interesting

 

play on words! The "u" is next to the "i" on the keyboard (that'll preach).

 

My prayer is that we have a fertile "soul" and that our hearts would be

 

fertile "soil" for God's Word. In any case, my apologies for the error.

 

 

Still other seed fell on fertile soul, and they sprouted, grew, and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!

 

Mark 4:8 NLT

 

Only 25% of the seed you sow will fall in places where it can grow!

 

Sow wisely!

 

© 2009 William M. Campbell, Jr.

 

February  18, 2009

 

Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act.

Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes.

Psalm 37:7 NLT

 

Every action does not require an equal and opposite reaction on your part.

 

© 2009 William M. Campbell, Jr.

 

February  17, 2009

Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus’ followers.)

Mark 2:15 NLT

 

Hanging with the wrong crowd = bad associations. Wrong crowd hanging with the right One = eternal salvation.

I would rather be with the people in verse 15, than the ones in verse 16.

The decision we have to make everyday: be with church folks or Jesus’ followers!

 

© 2009 William M. Campbell, Jr.

 February  16, 2009

 

And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out through the stunned onlookers. They were all amazed and praised God, exclaiming, “We’ve never seen anything like this before!”

Mark 2:12 NLT

 

Jesus! Pure energy and no sugar added!

 

© 2009 William M. Campbell, Jr.

 

February  13, 2009

 

“He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself! So he is the King of Israel, is he? Let him come down from the cross right now, and we will believe in him!”

 

Matthew 27:42 NLT

 

 

He saved a few B.C. (before the cross). He saved one O.C. (on the cross). He saved us all A.C. (after the cross).

 

There are many heroes before the cross (B.C.). There is only one Savior after the cross (A.C.).

 

It’s not so much those who believe going to the cross, as much as it is those who believe coming out of the tomb.

 

It’s not just how you handle the cross; it’s what you do with the tomb!

 

Okay, one thing about the scriptures, they speak volumes. Have a great weekend!

 

© 2009 William M. Campbell, Jr.

 

February  12, 2009

 

So Moses chiseled out two tablets of stone like the first ones.  Early in the morning he climbed Mount Sinai as the Lord had commanded him, and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands.

Exodus 34:4 NLT

 

And people actually think that leadership is easy.

 

Preacher’s Bonus:

He chiseled! He climbed! He carried! – That’ll preach!

 

© 2009 William M. Campbell, Jr.

 

February  11, 2009

 

Inside the Tent of Meeting, the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Afterward Moses would return to the camp, but the young man who assisted him, Joshua son of Nun, would remain behind in the Tent of Meeting.

Exodus 33:11 NLT

 

Service has its privileges!

 

© 2009 William M. Campbell, Jr.

 

February 10, 2009

 

Meanwhile, Peter followed him at a distance and came to the high priest’s courtyard. He went in and sat with the guards and waited to see how it would all end.

Matthew 26:58 NLT

 

Don’t be afraid to come closer! In the end, we win!

© 2009 William M. Campbell, Jr.

 

February 9. 2009

 

Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went to the leading priests and asked, “How much will you pay me to betray Jesus to you?”  And they gave him thirty pieces of silver.

Matthew 26:14-15 NLT

 

Relationship with Jesus: Priceless!

 

© 2009 William M. Campbell, Jr.

 February 6, 2009

 

When I was prosperous, I said, “Nothing can stop me now!”  Your favor, O Lord, made me as secure as a mountain. Then you turned away from me, and I was shattered.

Psalm 30:6-7 NLT

 

The only thing that will stop your train is forgetting the One who laid the track.

Without the Lord, your mountain is just a pile of rocks!

 

Have a blessed weekend!

 

© 2009 William M. Campbell, Jr.

(Some days there is more than one thought about a particular verse. I call this the “Daily Double”)

 

February 5, 2009

 

Be sure never to charge anyone falsely with evil. Never sentence an innocent or blameless person to death, for I never declare a guilty person to be innocent.

Exodus 23:7 NLT

 

Thank God for a DNA test that clears the innocent.

Thank God for mercy which relieves the guilty.

  © 2009 William M. Campbell, Jr.

 

February 4, 2009

 

If you use stones to build my altar, use only natural, uncut stones.  Do not shape the stones with a tool, for that would make the altar unfit for holy use.

Exodus 20:25 NLT

 

Self-made altars make for self-made gods.

 

You can’t make a way to the Lord.

The Lord has to make a way for you.

 

© 2009 William M. Campbell, Jr.

 

February 3, 2009

 

My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.” And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.”

Psalm 27:8 NLT

 

The heart really does know the One it can trust.

 

© 2009 William M. Campbell, Jr.

 

February 2, 2009

 

He told them, “This is what the Lord commanded: Tomorrow will be a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath day set apart for the Lord. So bake or boil as much as you want today (manna), and set aside what is left for tomorrow.”

Exodus 16:23 NLT

 

There is something to this “rest” thing!  Enjoy the journey!

 

© 2009 William M. Campbell, Jr.

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