Service

by Pastor Mark Downey

Before you jump to any conclusions, let me preface the start of this message by saying that some of my pet peeves are backward baseball caps, White people speaking ebonics and men with pierced ears. This latter fad began with homosexuals and was then popularized by the antichrist MTV 'I want to be like a negro' crowd (unless you’re Michael Jackson). It's decayed into even more primitive body mutilations with lips, noses and eyebrows.  Unfortunately, it has become a cultural norm and symbolic of politically correct rebellion, which should not be confused with a godly resistance to Babylonian conformity.  “Be ye not conformed to the world” Romans 12:2.  Rebellion, we know, is likened to witchcraft. 

What I want to look at today is the mentality or spirit of a slave and how that relates to opportunity.

by Pastor Mark Downey

Are you free? I know that's a rather subjective question. 'Are you free compared to what?' some may ask. Patriotic circles have been discussing freedom for a long time. Sometimes it swirls down the drain of philosophical overkill. Social security numbers may be rescinded or your land may have allodial title, but are you free from the world at large? Sad to say, no man is an island in Mystery Babylon, although we can and should give it our best shot. That's what Remnants do.

Adam and Eve lost the perfect life of Paradise, being tempted to play God, by having the knowledge of good and evil; like a child touching a burner to see if it's hot. The Garden of Eden experience could be interpreted to mean that now we know the difference between freedom and slavery.

by Pastor Mark Downey

Ferrar Fenton renders Mt. 7:13-14 like this, “Enter through the gate; because the gate is wide, and the road well paved, that leads to destruction; and through it the majority go.  How narrow the gate and difficult the path, that leads to life!  And they are few who find it.”  I’d like to continue with the theme of the voice of God, because so few of our people are hearing it today.  The Bible says there’s some things that are hard to understand (II Peter 3:16), not just for those who are ignorant or unstable, but who have hardened hearts.  Hearing the voice of God is a gift for obeying instructions.  So it only makes sense that the more we comply with our instruction manual, the more blessed we become in understanding how things work.

by Pastor Mark Downey

Many international shortwave radio broadcasts are called ‘the voice of…’ this or that country and their signal targets a select area of the world.  It usually has a special message for the intended audience, a target market.  The Voice of America represents the government of the United States and can be anything from light entertainment to heavy political propaganda.  Shortwave reception is always fluctuating depending on the atmospheric conditions and sometimes enemy jamming.  The larger voices of shortwave radio transmit their programs through the air in many different languages.  For example, they can target South America in Spanish.  I think this is a good analogy for how we tune into the voice of God. 

First, we have to turn on the radio of our minds.  “And be ye not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” Romans 12:2.  And then we turn to the right frequency.  Sometimes you have to adjust the dial because it drifts.

by Pastor Mark Downey

At the end of this common refrain sung at ball games, there erupts a burst of hooting and hollering as if the angels of heaven were cheering in unspeakable joy for the conviction of one more soul given to Christ. Why should there be a home for the brave? What does that mean? Well, it shouldn’t mean ‘let the games begin’ as if one were in a Roman coliseum feeding the Christians to the lions in a time of ‘bread and circuses’, self indulgence and apostasy.

There is a deeper spiritual meaning for the brave seeking a place they can call home.