John 15 01-11 What’s New

John 15 01-11 OL What’s New

ATTENTION! Three disciple-making retreats are coming up quickly in this new year. The first will be at Central Baptist Church, Crossville, Tenn., and the dates are Friday-Saturday, January 11-12. The Friday night schedule is 6-8:30 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m.–noon, and 1:30-3 p.m. I will also preach on Sunday, January 13 at Central Baptist.
The second retreat is at Friendship Baptist Church, 8307 Ball Camp Pike, Knoxville, Tenn., on January 25-27. I don’t know the exact daily schedule for the Knoxville retreat, but I’m confident that the schedule will be similar to that of the Crossville retreat.

Then, the annual disciple-making retreat sponsored by Spiritual Life Ministries will be on March 8-10 at Camp Linden Valley, Linden, Tennessee. With regard to the Linden Valley retreat, more details will be sent as the time approaches. Meanwhile, pray for these special meetings and put the dates on your calendar to attend. I personally wish I could share with you the many testimonies of major life-changing decisions that have been made through the years “on the grounds” of these retreats. In over 30 years now, we have never had one of these retreats without many letters and email notes coming, reporting such testimonies to us. We hope to see YOU at Camp Linden on March 8-10.

ATTENTION! I have written two more books, which have now been published and are on hand for you to order them as you wish. The two books are VOLUMES ONE and TWO of TAKING THE WHEEL FOR DISCIPLE-MAKING. Without planning this balance, it turned out that each book has 300 pages, made up of disciple-making strategy, curriculum studies which may be used in disciple-making, and devotional studies. Because I forget what I have written over a long period of time, I decided to read again these two books. Perhaps this comes with something of a bias on my part, but honestly, I have been greatly blessed on every page while reading the books again. In fact, I made a side-note to re-read some sections on a regular basis! These two 300-page volumes are $8 each plus postage, and may be ordered by replying to this email, or on our website, www.herbhodges.com.

The Bible has an overload of things which it places in the “new” category. Most of them are good, helpful, advantageous, grace-laden, things. Occasionally, there are “new” things also in the categories of condemnation and circumstantial judgment.

The statement, “The Lord will make a new thing…” (Numbers 16:30) was specifically spoken about an occasion of radical judgment which God pronounced on radical sin, but the bare statement itself could be applied to innumerable other things, and most of them would be gracious and good. In one of the truly great “praise Psalms” (Psalm 33:3), the Psalmist said “Sing unto the LORD a new song”. The same sentence is recorded elsewhere in the Old Testament — six more times in the Psalms, and once in the Book of Isaiah. Then, it is recorded twice more in the New Testament, and you might guess that they would be in the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, the book that records His Final Victory and His Ultimate Reign over all things (Revelation 5:9 and 14:3). It those last two references, it is recorded as a fact of celebration; i.e., “…and they sang unto the Lord a new song.” Song is one of the greatest of God-given “victory mechanisms”. Song is a primary means of praise, and often proves to be the best means on hand at a given moment. Song is also a means of initiating spiritual victory.

I have for many, many years found II Chronicles 20 to be one of the most thrilling chapters of the Word of God, and I have employed it as either a personal strategy or a corporate strategy for myself and for the people of God as I/they have faced challenging situations. I strongly recommend that you carefully and strategically read and study this great chapter of God’s Word. Meantime, let me cite two or three brief accounts from the chapter. The setting of the chapter is seen in the opening verse: “The children of Moab, and of Ammon, and with them others beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.” When some of the King’s advisors reported their approach, the Book says that “Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD….and Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the LORD: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.” The next long paragraph records Jehoshaphat’s passionate appeal to the LORD. In his prayer, He said to God, “O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no might against this great company that comes against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon You.” God answered, “You shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.” What happens next proves the spiritual rule that “The battle is not ours, but the LORD’s”, and that our only concern is to trust Him to wage His own war against evil. Then follows this strange strategy: “And Jehoshaphat appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness as they went out before the army, and to say, ‘Praise the LORD; for His mercy endures forever.’” I personally believe that this is still the only valid way to practice “spiritual warfare” (which is called for on every occasion of worship, whether it be corporate or personal, or field-service, or ministry assignment).

Can we possibly grasp the picture in this story? The army of Judah is going out to face a major enemy in battle. But God changes the Battle Strategy through a spiritually-sensitive King. Instead of sending the warriors into the battle, a choir of spiritual singers goes out without military protection to face the enemy! The result? “And when they began to sing and to praise, THE LORD SET AMBUSHMENTS AGAINST THE CHILDREN OF AMMON, MOAB, AND MOUNT SEIR, WHICH WERE COME AGAINST JUDAH; AND THEY WERE SMITTEN.” Remember, Christian brothers and sisters, that we are to “put on the whole armor of God, that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the battle. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in the heavenlies. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (Ephesians 6:11-13). Waft the Praise to God, wear the Panoply of battle, and WEIGHT (yes, weight) on the Lord in everything—and go to War with complete confidence of Victory! Is this not a true spiritual strategy given by God for every struggle, every warfare, every battle, every service (of any kind, whether it be a public worship service, or “private” service rendered by an individual believer)?

Personally, I have been blessed to see and know (both close-up and at a distance), one great church led by a spiritual and strategic pastor, which practiced this strategy, and they were renowned for their victories. I have seen that church literally devote long periods of time to special praise and worship for strategic purposes, again with the same outcome (and occasionally with staggering victories). I have seen other churches who occasionally mustered the faith and effort to do the same, with the same results. But, either this is errant thinking and doing, or the typical church is errant in what it DOES NOT THINK and DOES NOT DO at this point. My conviction is set, and I have seen God endorse this strategy again and again, and I have seen nothing to make me abandon it.

This year, God willing, I will be blessed to lead (and to be responsible for) teams of Godly, spiritual teachers/preachers/believers/Christian warriors who will go with me into numerous foreign countries (early in the year, we will, God willing, go into India, east Africa (3 conferences in Kenya and Uganda), Peru, and Honduras. The last half of the year, we will go in several other directions for the same kind of ministry.

We face together the opportunities and responsibilities of a NEW YEAR. My brothers and sisters in Christ, let’s go celebrating our way into it, singing the praises of the Lord. Praise is delicious to God and malicious to the Devil; let’s praise God and give to each what HE/he deserves! Thus, we may expect God’s Victories on every occasion of service. HAVE A HOLY NEW YEAR!

Because the message is so crucial, I am sending out this month the one message with which I begin all discipling, all group teaching, most personal counseling, and many other special occasions I have on which to teach or preach. Of course, when special occasion calls for specialty of message, I accommodate the need. But this message would be my first choice for any occasion. Be blessed, whether you are reading it for the first time or whether you are being refreshed by a repeated exposure to its Truth.

In The “Cross-Ties”,

Herb Hodges

Spiritual Life Ministries

2916 Old Elm Lane

Germantown, TN 38138

901 758 2777

herbslm@mindspring.com

www.herbhodges.com

Judy and I wish you a “MARY” Christmas—that Jesus will excite you this Christmas as much as He excited Mary on the first Christmas. Also, that you will be a container, a carrier, and a conveyor of Jesus today as Mary was then.

May Jesus grow in you as He did in Mary, until He becomes too big to keep to yourselves, as He did in Mary. Then may He break forth through you into the world around you as He did through Mary!

Indeed, have a very MARY Christmas!

In The “Cross-Ties”,

Herb and Judy Hodges
Spiritual Life Ministries
2916 Old Elm Lane
Germantown, TN 38138
901 758 2777
herbslm@mindspring.com
www.herbhodges.com

Matthew 02 01-12 LESSONS FROM WISE MEN Outline

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ

I found an undeveloped outline in an old Christmas folder which had ruminated in my mind for some time, but was never developed. I have a desire in my heart to let you see it and perhaps develop it in your own way. Here is a succession of statements that define and describe the successive occurrences in the first Christmas story. I record them without comment.

IT WAS A “MARY” CHRISTMAS, and here are some of its facets:

I. A Previous Explanation was given (the angelic announcement)

II. A Possible Embarrassment was checked (for both Mary and Joseph)

III. A Precious Enjoyment ensued (“…my soul rejoices…”)

IV. A Penetrating Entrance occurred (Mary’s conception of Jesus)

V. A Progressive Enlargement began (Mary’s pregnancy)

VI. A Personal Exit (or Exodus) took place (Jesus was born)

VII. A Powerful Expression (the Incarnation of Christ and the continuing incarnation of Christ in Christians) was begun. And a lifetime of “Christian Experiences” is available to every person who will receive Him.

I have attached a complete Christmas message, “Lesson From the Wise Men”. May God use the familiar story to impart new truths from His heart to our hearts today.

In The “Cross-Ties”,

Herb Hodges

Spiritual Life Ministries

2916 Old Elm Lane

Germantown, TN 38138

901 758 2777

herbslm@mindspring.com

www.herbhodges.com

I am happy to inform you that a SECOND book of Christmas messages is available now. It is VOLUME TWO of the books entitled, WHEN GOD MADE FOOTPRINTS ON EARTH. The first volume was doctrinal messages of Christmas and the second volume is devotional messages. Either or both books may be ordered by reply to this e-mail or from my website www.herbhodges.com. We will mail the book to you with an enclosed invoice and return envelope for your payment. The first volume costs $8 and the second volume, a bit smaller, costs $7. I know of no message that intrigues and excites me more than the message of “the Word made flesh” in the Birth of Christ in Bethlehem. You may look for a complete list of my eleven books in publication on my website www.herbhodges.com. Actually, there are two more books in print now, but they are only in process of editing, correcting, etc., before they can be published.

In the year 2005, Christmas day came on a Sunday (this year it comes on a Tuesday). Because it fell on a weekly “Lord’s Day”, I wrote a more lengthy letter than the usual monthly letter I send out. The number seven is Biblically the number of perfect cycle—and the number eight is Biblically the number of new beginning. So I am going to send out this year the same monthly letter I sent out in 2005, with some additions and a few adjustments. This month, the monthly printed message will take the form of this letter. I HOPE YOU ARE BLESSED BY IT! Here is the letter, along with the additions:

I don’t know how it is around the world, but here in the United States, we speak of “the Christmas rush”, and it is accurately named. The streets are lined with traffic and the stores are crowded with people during the last days before Christmas, and it is a rush indeed. I’m sure that some people are relieved on Christmas day simply because a few minutes of quiet and relaxation have come.

I heard of a little boy who was supervised by his mother as he memorized the Lord’s prayer. It happened to be the Christmas season when he “recited” the prayer. When he reached a certain line in the prayer, he said, “And forgive us our Christmases as we forgive those who Christmas against us.” Without knowing it, he struck a loud note of truth in his misstatement of the prayer. Our Christmases often are hardly Christmases at all. Here in America and the West, our Christmases have become binges of affluent indulgence. When Christmas is over each year, we would be wise to pray, “Father, forgive us, for we often simply don’t know what we do and what we don’t do during this season in which we declare that we are celebrating the Savior’s Birth.” Or perhaps we should pray at Christmas time a phrase of “The Model Prayer”, but with an entirely different meaning in the key word: “Forgive us our debts.” Did you know that the early Christians DID NOT EVEN OBSERVE CHRISTMAS? It was added later to the Christian calendar.

Christians should capitalize another side of “the Christmas rush”, because there is also a rush of Truth that comes to us during this season. The trouble is that the season rushes by so rapidly, carrying its special Truths back into oblivion until next December. So let’s pause for a few more fathomings before we leave the glory story once again.

Poetess Mary Coleridge wrote a “Christmas Capsule” in these words:

“I saw a stable, low and very bare,
And a little child in a manger;
The safety of the world was lying there,
And the world’s danger.”

There should be few things more delightful than the birth of a child, and this certainly was true of the birth of Jesus. The very air was full of delight as the angels serenaded His Birth and gave the first explanations of it in the New Testament. “The safety (indeed, salvation) of the world was lying there.” “You shall call His Name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins,” said the angel of the annunciation (Matthew 1:21). “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief,” echoed Paul some years later (I Timothy 1:15). Anybody who has been saved by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ knows what a delight is included in that salvation. And anybody who has not been saved can be saved by Jesus Christ while reading these words!

John Milton, the master seer and poet, wrote:

“Welcome all wonders in one sight—
Eternity shut in a span,
Summer in winter, day in night,
Heaven in earth, and God in man.
Blest little one Whose all-embracing birth
Lifts earth to Heaven, and stoops Heaven to earth.”

The God-man was born! Never was so strange a birth seen on earth. Never before or since was so much lowered into a cradle in one body. As fully God as if He had never become man, He is also as fully man as if He had never been God—but He is both God and man in one tiny human body. Why? Why did God do this mighty, mysterious, majestic thing?

Remember the last line of Mary Coleridge’s poem: “The safety of the world was lying there, and the world’s danger.” The Stranger in a manger, to save people from the world’s danger! But exactly what is “the world’s danger”? Well, it is far worse than we can presently imagine. God did not invest His eternal and glorious Son into the messy and tragic scenes of this world without wanting a “return”, a “dividend” on His investment that would justify such a price. God’s motive was to redeem men from their sins, and take them to Himself as His own “peculiar treasure”. The word “redeem” means “to buy out of a marketplace”, and it acknowledges the terrible plight of unredeemed man. Man has sold himself cheap—to Satan—in the marketplace of sin. It should be easily recognized that (as G.K. Chesterton said) “whatever else man is, he is not what he was made or meant to be.” Man is a sinner. Sin is that self-addiction that makes a man
“live for himself, for himself and none beside,
as if God had never lived and Christ had never died.”
That is the “world view” of Satan, the lifestyle of the Devil. He lives only for himself, and being increasingly miserable, he is trying to implicate others in his selfish misery. And remember, dear heart, that he is the “father of lies”, the accomplished master of deceit. Remember, too, that in your unaided self, you are absolutely no match for him. “Misery loves company,” our old adage says, and Satan, possessing plenty of misery, is trying to see that he also has plenty of company. Jesus said that Hell was created “for the Devil and his angels”, so man would be an intruder there, not originally designed for the place. However, because that God-destroying selfishness called sin must be quarantined somewhere, God constructed a Hell for the accommodation of those who selfishly insist on not enjoying Heaven’s Self-giving Love.

My favorite comic strip in the daily newspaper is a strip named “B. C.” It is a kind of prehistoric view of life from the comic standpoint of primitive man (who, incidentally, often “sees” more than we do). It is devised by a Christian named Johnny Hart, and occasionally it contains a powerful “Gospel wallop”. Two days before Christmas in 1996, one of those Gospel messages came through loud and clear. In the first two pictures, the pegleg main character is sitting at the mouth of his cave and writing on a piece of stone. This is what he wrote:

“Tonight as I lay in my cave, I can feel
Some ‘something’ beyond this existence—so real,
So real and so peaceful, I can tell,
There’s no way I could have any future….in hell.”

In the last picture of the cartoon, his little buddy is standing just outside the mouth of the cave staring up at one bright star shining in the sky in the shape of a cross, and he is exclaiming, “No way, indeed!”

That’s it! That’s the lost world’s danger, but it also shows the Christian’s delight. Jesus said, “I am the way…to the Father” (John 14:6). I have taken that Way, and found a satisfying Path, a Great Person, a gratifying Pardon, an expansive Praise, a character-changing Power, and I will be welcomed finally into the incredible Place which Jesus mentioned when He said, “I go to prepare a place for you….that where I am, there you may be also.”

When Jesus packed His bags in Heaven and headed for Bethlehem, He knew that the ultimate destination on earth was the Cross on which He would die to deliver men from their sins and “the world’s danger”, the danger of Hell. Never forget that the real and final Christmas tree was the Cross. “He carried our sins in His own body on the Tree” (I Peter 2:24). You cannot properly separate the revelation of Christmas from the redemption of the Cross. The Christmas cradle and Calvary’s Cross were both made from the same piece of wood. Be sure to let the shadow of the Cross fall happily over your Christmas celebration this year. Remember that the Stranger in the manger has radically saved you from the world’s danger—and praise Him today.

If you know you have not been saved, that your sins have not been forgiven, and you have never received God’s Gift of Eternal Life, you may at this moment:

Confess your sins directly to the One against Whom you have sinned;
Repent of your sins, saying a decisive “No” to them, trusting God to help you;
Remember that Jesus Christ died personally for you as if you were the only sinner;
Remember also that He arose from the dead to livingly and literally come into your heart;
Trust Him to save you and RECEIVE HIM INTO YOUR HEART BY SIMPLE FAITH.

Millions of times this Christmas season, people will say, “I hope you have a very merry Christmas.” I want to make a slight modification of that statement. I hope you have a very “Mary” Christmas this year! Let’s explore the idea just a bit in the conclusion of this message.

When the angel made the incredible announcement of God’s coming incarnation in Mary’s body, several statements were made to her which are no less true of all Christians today. The angel said to her, “You are highly favored” (Luke 1:28). Literally, the text says, “You are GREATLY GRACED!” Surely she was, but she was actually no more “graced” than any saved sinner today. Oswald Chambers said, “Grace is the overflowing favor of God, and we must reckon that it is always there to be drawn upon.” It is a theological “given” that grace is not something earned or deserved. Contrary to the false beliefs of those who elevate Mary to a position of equality with Jesus, Mary herself declared that she was the recipient of God’s grace and salvation just like other needy sinners (see Luke 1:47). It was only because of God’s grace that Mary was saved from her sins and was greatly privileged to bring God’s Son into the world. On the one hand, the grace of God was manifested in the pardon of her sins, and on the other it was manifested in the once-in-history privilege of her becoming the mother of Jesus. Mary was a recipient of God’s grace, the “overflowing favor of God”, and so am I.

Then the angel said, “Blessed are you” (Luke 1:42). Surely she was blessed, but she was actually no more “blessed” than any saved sinner today. In fact, when Paul was “spelling out” the magnanimous dimensions of God’s great salvation (which I presently possess!), he used a combination of these very words. In Ephesians 1:6, he said that every saved person is “engraced in the Beloved Son”. Friends, all of us born-agains are “highly flavored” by God! We are a “breed apart”. To have a place in His grace, to be a personal recipient of His “overflowing favor,” is an unspeakable privilege.

An ugly brier bush was growing in an overgrown meadow when a gardener came and dug it up with his shovel. Taking it home, he planted it among his lovely flowers. Later he took a sharp knife and made a slit in the brier bush and grafted in a rose. When summer came, lovely roses began to bloom on that ugly brier bush. A visitor observed the plant and the roses and exclaimed, “I would never have dreamed that such beautiful flowers could come out of that common brier bush!” The gardener softly replied, “Their beauty is not due to what came out of the brier bush, but to that which I put into it.” The true beauty of a true Christian is not due to what he has developed in his own character, but is solely due to what God has put into him (and thus can bring out of him) by His matchless grace. True, the recipient must cooperate with God and grow in grace (II Peter 3:18), but he works only with what God has put into him.

In Ephesians 1:3, Paul said that we have been “blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus.” Like Mary, we are “highly favored” by God, and “uniquely blessed” by Him. The descriptive phrase, “all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus,” suggests the size, the substance and the storehouse of our blessings. What an inventory!

And like Mary, we, too, should “rejoice” because of what God has done in us. In Luke 1:28, where the angel said (KJV) to Mary, “Hail, thou that art highly favored,” the word translated “hail” is the Greek word chaire, which means, “You rejoice”. It comes from the noun form chara, which means “Joy”. Later, Mary echoed this word when she said, “My spirit rejoiced in God my Savior” (Luke 1:47). Mary truly received the grace and blessing of God and rejoiced over them in her life. Their realities formed the foundation of the incarnation of Christ in and through her life. And you and I, dear friend, will incarnate the Presence of Christ in our own lives only if we receive the grace and blessings of God and rejoice in both the Giver and the gifts.

So I wish to each of you a very “Mary” Christmas—that is, that you — you — be a container, carrier and conveyor of Christ today — and every day — as Mary was then.

Herb Hodges
Spiritual Life Ministries
2916 Old Elm Lane
Germantown, TN 38138
(901) 758-2777
herbslm@mindspring.com
www.herbhodges.com

The only “party” in the Thanksgiving story who may not, cannot, should not appreciate the meaning of thanksgiving is the thanksgiving turkey! While the turkey is being consumed by the givers-of-thanks, those givers-of-thanks should be absolutely consumed with a big-as-life, wide-as-awareness, celebration of the Blessings of God—the BEST blessings first (see Ephesians 1:3), then the common BENEFITS (often called “common grace”) received by all men, even self-labeled “atheists”.

I PRAY FOR EACH OF YOU A “BLESSED THANKSGIVING”. May the attached message help to highlight a bit more of the thanks-giving, thanks-living spirit to you.

In The “Cross-Ties”,

Herb Hodges

Matthew 06 09 Father

Dear Fellow Believers in Christ

As I typed the above greeting, my eyes were arrested by the key words and concepts in it. Focus, for example, on the word “Dear”. This is clearly a word of close association and expressed affection. By dictionary definition, the word means “beloved or loved”; “in the salutation of a letter, it means ‘highly esteemed’”; “precious in one’s regard”; “a worthy one”. Though we use it formally and even glibly, it is a very meaningful word when describing beloved associates and/or family members. I use it in this greeting with all of the above meanings in my intention.

Then, there is the word “fellow”. In this setting, it is not primarily a word of gender, but a word of companionship, or comradeship, of tender association. Again, we must admit that we use this word loosely and employ it without intending its full meaning. In fact, this word is often used as a term to convey small worth or no esteem, in which case it is used cynically and in derision. In my greeting, I intend it to have all of the positive meanings mentioned.

The third word in the greeting (believer) is a very meaningful and important word. Of course, I use it here to refer to a Christian believer. The very word defines someone who is trusting Jesus Christ in an up-to-date, ongoing, continual, non-stop, consistent way. This is guaranteed in the life of a sinner who has truly been born again. Being born produces a being that is a child the moment he is born, remains a maturing (and possibly aging) child today, and will continue to be a child of his parent(s) forever. The believer is not simply someone who trusted Christ on a given date and then calls himself “saved” because of that “decision”. So we must carefully mark the difference between the person who says he has at one time “received Christ”, or “believed in Christ”, perhaps defining an “event” on a time-line that occurred some years before today, and the person who has, because of a miraculously changed nature, continued walking with Christ since that day. Many people see their salvation only in terms of a past decision, but New Testament salvation travels in three tenses—past, present and future. So I am only TRUE BELIEVER when I can say, “I HAVE BEEN saved (past tense), I AM BEING saved (present tense), and I will yet be saved (future tense). I WAS saved on the day I trusted Christ, and I AM BEING saved today, and (glory to God) I will yet BE saved and GO ON BEING SAVED (when I die, enter Heaven, and remain there forever). ALL OF THIS IS INCLUDED IN “BEING SAVED”!!!

Of course, the key term in the greeting is the term, “IN CHRIST”. Every human being is either IN ADAM, his original father through his natural birth, or IN CHRIST, his new representative before God since he has been saved. “In Christ” may be the two most important words ever joined together in human language. Every believer should spend his life studying these words, realizing all the while that everything he is discovering is now true of him.

I’ve written four paragraphs, and have not gotten beyond the greeting! In fact, I could write four pages, or four chapters, or four books (maybe) on these four terms. They are THAT BIG!

This month’s message is on the vital exercise of prayer, true, Godly, Spirit-engineered, Spirit-governed, prayer. I pray that you will read it with understanding, implementation and FAITH. May God attend your mind and your heart and your faith as you read. BE GREATLY BLESSED.

This week I will be in a meeting in Trussville, Alabama, at Deerfoot Baptist Church. Please pray the Lord will speak through me to the people there.

Let me open the letter by urgently entreating you to read the attached message VERY CAREFULLY AND VERY PRAYERFULLY. In my view, it ranks high as one of the most important messages I have ever sent.

I have heard it reported (and I believe I heard it “live” from the preacher himself) that the late great preacher and evangelist, Dr. R. G. Lee, preached one sermon, a message entitled “Payday Someday”, over 6,000 times. I heard Dr. Lee preach it several times myself, and was always awakened and alerted by the great truth at the heart of the sermon. However, time moves so subtly and steadily; someone said, “Time waits on no man, and only fifteen minutes on a woman.” Now that I am old, I often hear (and say), “Where has the time gone?” And that weary sigh is often attended by another lament, “We are too soon old, and too late smart.” In the steady moving of time, each of us must choose how to best use the time that is allotted to us. As Christians, we must never be pressure-driven legalists in anything, but “use it or abuse it” should be our underlying motivation with regard to time.
Corinthians First 03 09-15 OL

Corinthians First 03 09-15 3 judgements

In one sense, Every day is Payday! Sin carries within itself its own judgment (Today is Payday); no one ever survives sin, and the payoff (“wages”) of sin is comprised of incremental payments which begin immediately upon the commitment of the sin. And the pay-back of sin comes in many different shapes and forms. “You have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23). You cannot bribe this Paymaster, and He maintains a jealous control over the moral structure of His universe. The payback may come in (1) Your conscience; or in (2) A torturous conviction of sin; or in (3) the circumstantial consequences that engulf your life; or in (3) the eternal condemnation of you the sinner.

Ah, but the Gospel of Christ provides a flip-side of the coin! Jesus has graciously and gloriously absorbed my sins into Himself in a One-time-for-all-time, One-Man, One-Act, Settlement of my sins on the Cross. Thus, my sin-debt is marked “Paid in Full,” and His Resurrection is God’s standing signature of His acceptance of the settlement! Furthermore, I am not left with a blank slate—He has credited His own righteousness, which He gained for me by living a sinless Life in a badly sin-contaminated world, to my account. Now, I stand before God as being as righteous as Christ Himself. Indeed, because I am “in Christ”, I stand before God as acceptable as if I were Christ Himself! His settlement was bold, full, final and Perfect!

This month’s message is an attempt to examine three judgments that concern every born-again person. He has already experienced one of them, is experiencing the second one today, and will experience the final one in eternity. May our hearts be a mix of seriousness and celebration as we read.

ADVANTAGES OF DISCIPLE MAKING

Dear Friends

My heart warms as I greet you in the Name of Jesus. “What a Name, O such a Name; He loved me ere I knew Him…” I have been brought by the Holy Spirit recently to explore the full dimensions of His “Adoption” of me into His Forever Family, such dimensions as Election, Prevenient Grace (everything God did BEFORE I was saved to protect and prepare me for His Salvation and Possession of my life), “Saving” Grace, Securing Grace, Sustaining Grace, Supplying Grace, etc., etc. And then I consider that He has actually recruited and conscripted and enlisted me (me) in His Plan to impact the whole world (stated concisely and exactly in the Great Commission, where the only command is to “turn people into disciples”)! By deliberate design, I usually do not send a monthly message that majors on the Strategy of Jesus, though at this late date I have sent out several studies about His Mandate to impact the world through disciple-making. This month’s study follows that Mandate, and also has an attending study of supportive truth.

If anyone would like to pursue this responsibility of making disciples, please call me to discuss the matter further. God’s Great Commission Army continues to grow world-wide, and you can “sign up” today if you have never participated on His Terms in fulfilling His Big Plan.

May God’s Spirit fill each of us today and engineer His Maximum Productivity through our lives, a productivity that is at the highest when it technically and practically follows the Great Commission of Jesus. May God’s Best Blessings be upon you/us/them as we serve Him.

Please join with me in prayer for meetings this month in West Virginia and Mississippi.

Herb Hodges
Spiritual Life Ministries
2916 Old Elm Lane
Germantown, TN 38138
(901) 758-2777
herbslm@mindspring.com
www.herbhodges.com

John 01 29 OL BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ

Greetings in the Strong Name of Jesus. My heart is fresh with celebration and rejoicing as I write these words today. Sunday night, I returned with a team of five other members from Ivory Coast, West Africa. The dates for the trip were July 19-29. The team included three ladies—Bonnie Everly, Cheri Holcomb, and Dara Pearman; the three men on the team were Lee Holcomb (Cheri’s husband), Don Kwasigroh, and myself, Herb Hodges. After flying into coastal Abidjan in Ivory Coast, we were met at the airport by Ebele Adioye, a dear IC leader whom we met in our home city of Memphis, Tennessee, when he was attending Mid-America Seminary there. Brother Ebele and his wife Marie graciously hosted us during our stay in Ivory Coast. After over-nighting in a guest house, we were driven the next day to the interior city of Yamoussoukro, where the conference for pastors and leaders and a separate conference for the pastors wives and other leading ladies in the area churches would begin on the following Monday morning and extend through the following Friday night. Each of the male members of the team preached in two churches on Sunday morning, then the two conferences began the next morning. Beginning at 8:30 each morning, the conferences continued until two p.m. each afternoon, when we ended the daily conference with a team lunch together in a home or restaurant. With translators, we typically taught three sessions during the day, then after a long late afternoon break, we began the evening conference sessions at 6:30 each evening and continued until 9 p.m. each night. Each of the four daily sessions was visited and anointed by God the Holy Spirit, and each was attended by God’s moving in many hearts, beginning with the six team members. Brother Ebele Adioye did all of the translating for us in the teaching sessions and the evening preaching services. The two other men on the team preached (in community churches) on “The Three Crosses” on Sunday morning, and I preached a message entitled, “Like Hand and Glove” twice (in different churches). We taught each day of the conference “The Strategy of Jesus for World Impact by building reproducing disciples of Christ who would in turn build other reproducers, and thus would multiply to the ends of the earth until the end of time.” These sessions were remarkably well received by the attendants, and God’s blessing was evident. Then, I preached on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights on Matthew 4:18-22, “The Call of Christ”; Matthew 13:38, “You Are God’s Seed”; II Corinthians 6:2, “The Word That Never Comes Back” (the word “NOW”); Genesis 5:21-24, “Walking With God”; and Mark 3:1-8, “The Case of the Crippled Christian.” There were large numbers of decisions in every service, with especially large response the evenings of Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights. Brother Ebele counted approximately 250 total first-time decisions for Christ in all of the meetings, and the total number of decisions of Christian commitment to join Jesus in His Harvest Field for His great Harvest (Matthew 9:37-38) was too large to keep a count. We had over 160 men in each of the daily morning and afternoon sessions, and about 110 women each day except Friday, when about 170 attended. The church building (which would seat at least 400 people) was largely filled in every evening service, with chairs also filled in a large long tent put up alongside the church building. The people were wonderfully receptive and responsive when the messages were preached.

Each team member repeated over and over that this was probably the best overseas conference he/she had ever attended, and I concur. I am taking the liberty (with her gracious permission) to repeat the testimony sent to me just today by email from team member Bonnie Everly.

“Herb, I cannot tell you enough how deeply grateful I am for the privileged invitation to go with you and the team to teach and minister with you on this trip to the Ivory Coast! This trip has far surpassed any trip I have ever made in my life in spiritual blessings and I wanted you to know my gratitude for you in my prayers to God for you, and be assured that I join possibly millions all over the world as our prayers reach the Throne of God on your behalf for your continued fruitful service to Him. My brother, God has used you more than any other human being to enlighten me to the riches of His glory and to the vast spiritual blessings that are at my disposal. I look forward to serving our great God for all eternity, as you do, with no interference from His archenemy! Praise God for the great and mighty things He has done in Cote d’ Ivoire!!!! Praise Him for the salvations! Praise Him for mass illumination as was prayed by so many prayer warriors! Praise Him for our good health throughout the trip! Praise Him for the many blessings bestowed on Marie and Ebele and the children! Praise Him that new leaders (laborers for the Harvest) were raised up! Praise Him that the enemy was again recognized as a defeated foe! Praise Him for overcoming every transportation obstacle supernaturally so He alone could receive the praise! My heart is so full of praise to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ I hope I never get over the abundance of it!!! May I now go on to live my life as Paul did, as you model, and as my dear discipler, Cheri, models, not with the wisdom of men but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power!!!! May we go on reaching the world for Christ by building world visionary, world impacting, reproducers of the same kind of reproducers who will multiply God’s Kingdom to the ends of the earth ‘til the end of time!!!!!!! I love you, brother, and thank God always for you!! Bonnie”

If you want a testimony blessing, corner one of the team members and ask for a little time for them to tell you about the trip and what we all experienced on the trip.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch!

I have been asked by the Village Church of East Atlanta to highlight: A DISCIPLE-MAKING CONFERENCE AT THE VILLAGE CHURCH OF EAST ATLANTA, ATLANTA, GEORGIA, WHICH I WILL LEAD ON THE WEEKEND OF AUGUST 10-12, 2012. THE SESSIONS OF THE CONFERENCE WILL BEGIN ON FRIDAY NIGHT, CONTINUE ON SATURDAY, AND CONCLUDE WITH THE SUNDAY MORNING SERVICES IN THE CHURCH. ANYONE WHO CAN COME IS CORDIALLY INVITED AND ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND. I personally urge the rest of us to pray for God’s Visitation and Power to be upon this conference, and that He will be glorified beyond our thoughts and abilities.

PLEASE CLICK ON THIS LINK FOR MORE INFO AND REGISTRATION. https://www.wepay.com/events/disciplemakingconference

The next weekend, August 17-19, I will be in a meeting at First Baptist Church, Jamestown, Tennessee, with Pastor Gale Hartley.

On August 30-31, I will be speaking to the Downline group in Little Rock, Arkansas.

The message for this month is based on one of the greatest invitations (or commands) ever extended in the history of this world. May each of us stop in our tracks, frozen in place by the staggering fact that the Lord God Almighty has invited, commanded, urged us to Gaze upon Jesus in His Greatest Role as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” “THE Lamb…… THE LAMB of GOD……who TAKES AWAY……THE SIN OF THE WORLD.” When the “terms of engagement” are so specified, what kind of ingrate and ignorante would that person be who would not, as Spurgeon said, “look until he has looked his very eyes away”? Be blessed as you read, study, and rejoice in Jesus.

In The “Cross-Ties”,

Herb Hodges

Spiritual Life Ministries

2916 Old Elm Lane

Germantown, TN 38138

901 758 2777

herbslm@mindspring.com

www.herbhodges.com

I leave tomorrow, July 19, with a group of six choice teachers for a spiritual sojourn to Ivory Coast, West Africa, to assist Brother Ebele Adioye in a disciple-making conference, with evangelistic services also held each night and on Sundays. The teachers are Cheri Holcomb, Bonnie Everly, Dara Pearman for the ladies conference and Lee Holcomb, Don Kwasigroh, and Herb Hodges for the men’s conference. I will be doing all of the evangelistic preaching and the team will be joining me in teaching each day.

The Holy Spirit is insistently leading me to know that this meeting is NOT for self-publicity or church-publicity, but solely for the purpose of publicizing Jesus Christ and magnifying the one Strategy that He commanded us to follow in His Great Commission. So this is a disciple-making conference, and the evangelistic services are purposely intended to win people to Christ; i.e., to the Person of Christ as Savior and Lord, and to the Purpose of Christ, i.e., to function ourselves under His Lordship and to move strategically in all that we do to ESTALBISH A MOVEMENT OF NEW TEATAMENT DISCIPLE-MAKING in and through the church in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast, and far, far beyond. Personally, in such a conference, my heart finds satisfaction only if we see the Holy Spirit raise a Great Commission Army of people who will function to “make disciples” and penetrate with/through that army throughout the city, the country, and the continent. (I can cite several examples of exactly this impact through numerous conferences in Africa). I am praying earnestly that do will “do it again”, and even go far beyond what we have previously seen.

I want to encourage all of you to pray fervently for Brother Ebele who is the local pastor and leader, that God will lead and anoint him for every assignment of enlistment and preparation for our daily schedule while there, the enlistment of lost people by the entire church to attend the evening services, the contacts that must be made in advance and during the meeting, and for the full anointing of the Holy Spirit on every teaching/preaching session, etc.

YOU WILL NEVER IN YOUR LIFE DO ANYTHING MORE IMPORTANT THAT INTERCESSION FOR GOD’S PEOPLE, FOR ALL THE PEOPLE THEY ARE TO REACH AND BUILD, AND FOR THE FULFILLMENT OF HIS PURPOSES IN THE INDIVIDUAL HEARTS OF PEOPLE HERE AND AROUND THE WORLD. THE MINISTRY OF INTERCESSION IS THE ONE MINISTRY THAT OCCUPIES JESUS AT THE FATHER’S RIGHT HAND THROUGHOUT THIS AGE, AND IT SHOULD BE EQUALLY IMPORTANT TO US. Personally, I devote a part of each day to such intercession, and expect God to hear and answer these prayers.

All of you have friends, family members, fellow Christians, who would join you in genuine prayer for such a venture. Feel free to enlist them, even pray with them, from now until one week AFTER the meeting in Ivory Coast. We return to the US on July 29. Please make this a daily matter of consuming concern for God’s Power to be upon every person involved. “God’s blessings descend from Heaven upon the wings of the prayers of His people.” May we see an abundance of those blessings during this time – and because of your prayers. May God honor you as you honor Him (a promise of His Book – I Samuel 2:30). Please make this an urgent priority item on your daily schedule for this specified time. My deepest thanks and appreciation for this consideration.

In The “Cross-Ties”,

Herb Hodges
Spiritual Life Ministries
2916 Old Elm Lane
Germantown, TN 38138
901 758 2777
herbslm@mindspring.com
www.herbhodges.com

P.S. – ON AUGUST 10-11, 2012, I WILL BE CONDUCTING A DISCIPLE-MAKIING CONFERENCE AT THE VILLAGE CHURCH OF EAST ATLANTA.

PLEASE CLICK ON THIS LINK FOR MORE INFO AND REGISTRATION.

https://www.wepay.com/events/disciplemakingconference