Pastor's Blog

Pastor,

My name is Eloy Gonzalez and I work with Rehoboth Baptist Associaiton in Sulphur Springs as Director of Hispanic Ministries.
I have a question - Do you have a hispanic ministry?
If so, where do they meet?

If not, do you know of a Hispanic work in that area?

There is some people who are from Cooper who are interested in going to a spanish speaking church.

If there is no work, can one be started in that area?

Thanks for your help and information.

Blessings,
Eloy Gonzalez
Director of Hispanic Ministries
Rehoboth Baptist Association

     When Joshua and the Israelites were facing the Promised Land after fourty years of wandering in the wilderness, the Bible states in Joshua 3:4, "ye have not passed this way heretofore." Joshua and the Israelites were facing an unknown territory. They did not really know what was ahead of them.
     In a way, we are facing the unknown of a new year. We really do not know what lies ahead for us. But, God does.
     Joshua 3:1-4, , 1 And Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. 2 And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the host; 3 And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it. 4 Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore.
     These instructions came from God Himself to Joshua and from Joshua to the people. Here is some good advice for facing the unknown whether it be a new year or some huge decision you must make. Whatever the unknown might be in your life:
     1. Keep your focus upon the Lord. Notice that the Ark of the Covenant is mentioned some 7 times in chapter 3. The Ark, you may remember, was that special piece of Tabernacle furniture that symbolized the presence and power of God. When the Ark was in the Holy of Holies, the glory of God rested upon it and it was the dwelling place of God. I need to be aware of what God is doing around me and pay particular attention to what He is doing. I must not allow myself to be distracted and move my focus from Him to something that may appear to be more important. Nothing is more important than my walk with God. I want to focas only on that which will move me closer to Him.
     2. Follow God. When they saw the Ark of the Covenant move, each person was instructed  to "leave your place, and go after it" Not only were they to watch God, they were to move when He did. They were to pursue God! This is my objective in life-to pursue God. This m,eans that God will be leading me. I may be led into difficult circumstances or even dangerous situations. I don't know what the future holds but, I know who holds the future.
     3. Honor God. The Israelites were ordered to stay about 3,000 feet behind the Ark. They were to keep that distance so that they would be able to be aware of what was going on. Another reason was that God wanted the Levites around the Ark. The Levites were the priestly tribe of Israel. To get too close to the Ark could mean certain death. There must always be a holy reverence for God. I do not want to treat God casually. I want to take God seriously in my life. I desire that my life would honor and glorify Him.
     If I could make these three disciplines a reality in my life, this upcoming year may not necessarilly be the easiest year of my life, but it will be a good year of my life. I simply want to grow more and more like my Savior. I want the gospel of Jesus Christ to become a greater reality in my life.
     My prayer for you is that you, too, would grow more and more intimate with the Father and your life would be saturated with the presence and power of God.
      Happy New Year to All!

4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5  to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. Gal 4:4-5 (ESV)

     Yes, it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas. The truth is that it was beginning to look a lot like Christmas before Halloween. Stores were already stocking their shelves with Christmas decorations and holiday merchandise. Maybe it’s just me, but things just simply don’t look right when you see Christmas decorations right next to goblins and witches. And then there were stores, who historically were closed on Thanksgiving, taking advantage of an extra day of profit by opening their doors early in the morning. And then there is Black Friday when all sensibilities go right put the window.
     But, there was one bright spot in all of this. Nordstrums department stores have a policy of not putting up Christmas decorations until after Thanksgiving. The following is a copy of their public notice: "From our family to yours, HAPPY THANKSGIVING. We like celebrating one holiday at a time, so you won't find our halls decked until Friday, November 26.  Join us then, when we open our doors to a festive new season. We will be closed Thanksgiving Day."
     Now, in a materialistic, money driven society, it is so refreshing to see a major deapartment chain go against popular norms.
     I know that the 1951 hit, Its Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas, is still popular today, but does the way Americans do Christmas today really look like the Christmas God intended? Today’s Christmas looks more like an aberration of some sort. There is no doubt that we are moving further away from the true meaning of Christmas.
     Paul plainly tells us what the true meaning of Christmas is all about in his letter to the Galatians. When the time was just right God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to be born of a virgin in order to redeem (save) sinnersthat they may be the adopted sons and daughters of God. Accordinf to Paul Christmas is all about the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel story begins with Christmas. Our Christmas celebrations ought to include, not only a celebration of Jesus’ birth, but a celebration of the gospel and what the gospel means to every believer. We must never forget that the baby born nealry 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem to a virgin would live and die for the your sins and mine. He would then be raised to life three days later to be seated at the right hand of the Father where He constantly makes intercession for you amd me. Now, that is what makes Christmas special to every believer. The reason that is not obvious to most Americans is because most Americans are not believers. We may not be able to reverse the trend of moving away from the materialistic and secular emphasis of Christmas, but we can each one celebrate the true meaning of Christmas in our own lives and in our families by keeping the gospel central to our Christmas celebration.
     Everything we do here at Cooper First Baptist Church to celebrate Christmas will keep the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and His redemptive work on the cross at the cnter of our Christmas celebration.
     I pray what Jesus did for you on the cross will greatly affect your holiday season and that you and yours may have a Merry, Merry Christmas!!!!!.

     Acts 7:54-60, 54When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. 55But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, 56and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” 57Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; 58and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. The Holy Bible, New King James Version, (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, Inc.) 1982.
     I keep thinking about Stephen and how he died with such faith and composure. He did not try to defend himself from the mob. He did not try to retaliate. Why? I believe verse 60 reveals his heart. Rather than retaliating or defending himself, he prayed for their forgiveness. He had compassion for his persecutors. He loved them enough that he was willing to die for them. He understood what would happen to them if he were to defend himself and accidentally take one of their lives. They would go into a Christless eternity. Stephen had not been a beleiever for very long. The reality of what it meant to be lost was still fresh in his heart; so fresh in fact, that he didn't evebn want his enemies to go to hell. The reality of God's amazing grace, His magnificent mercy, and His limitless love was so overwhelming to him and the fact that he had been delivered from the penalty of hell enabled him to love the very people who were taking his life. God's great act of love for Stephen allowed him to love even the most unloveable, those who were trying to kill him.
     I believe that this kind of compassion and love for the people in our communities is absolutely necesssary if we are to transform our communities. This kind of love forces us to think less about ourselves and more about those in our communities who dedsperately need Jesus Christ. Passionate followers of Jesus Christ will possess something of the kind of love that Jesus had for people and they will give up their rights to safety and comfort in order to reach the people in their communities no matter the cost. The greater the love for people, the greater the willingness to give up safety and comfort.
     It is not when everything is going great that a person's true passion for Christ is revealed, but when all kinds of wrong begins to happen--That's when the true level of a person's passion for Christ becomes obvious to them and everyone else. If a person truly knows Christ and is growing in Christ, sooner or later their heart will begin to possess the same passion that Christ's heart possesses. The passion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is for those who know Him to love those who do not.
     Do I love love those in my community enough that I would be willing to die for them? I do not know. God is is still working this out in my life. I do know that I want to love those in my community enough that I would give up my personal safety and comfort in order to point them to Jesus. That means I must get out among the people, establish relationships with them, and love them to the Lord Jesus Christ. I mus love outloud.
     God is probably not asking us to die for Him while reaching people, but He is asking us to live for Him completely while reaching out to our communities. I pray that I will continue to grow in love for my community. If I don't I need to find another vocation. I want to love my community with the same passion that I live Christ.
     Until next time, love the Lord passionately and love the people the same.
     Bro Johnny
       
     

     Once again I have experienced the mind blowing freedom and liberty in giving up more of my "rights" to the Lord. There truly is something powerful about giving up your "rights" as a believer. Paul states in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, 19 Don’t you know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.(HCSB) I experienced the freedom and victory of giving up my rights to my possessions. I have truly found that when I give everything to the Lord, He can take care of His possessions better than I can. I gave our Lord my life, my hopes, my dreams, my aspirations, my goals and have found that He can He can take care of all of that better than I can. It is truly amazing, the more you give to God, the more freedom and victory you experience.
     A few weeks ago one of our church members asked me if I had given my reputation to God; had I given up my “right” to my reputation. I told that person that I had not but I certainly will as soon as possible. At first that really didn’t make sense to me. Well, two weeks later I received an anonymous letter just dragging me through the mud and trying to assassinate my character. My first reaction was to find out who wrote that letter and let them have it and really give them a blessing. Then the Lord reminded me that I had given Him my reputation. I thought to myself, “That’s right! My reputation not belongs to Him and He is able to take care of That which belongs to Him. There is no reason for me to get upset.” I even began to feel sorry for the person who wrote that anonymous letter because I was not sure how my Lord was going to deal with someone maligning the reputation that I gave to Him.
     Do you see how liberating this is? Do you see how this helps you to live in victory? If I were to hold on to my reputation I would get all bent out of shape every time I thought someone was attacking my character and reputation. I would begin to be more concerned about what people thought about me than what God thought about me. I might be more concerned about how people would respond to me than whether or not I was responding in a way that pleases my Lord. More important to me than my reputation is the reputation of God in my life.
     Each day I am learning to give up more and more of my “rights” to the Lord. Actually, it is an every day thing. The things that God is teaching me are exciting. There is nothing like living in the liberty and victory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

     I am still trying to wrap my mind around the hugeness of God. The illustrations from our last message just blows my mind. The church in the book of Acts confessed God to be the creator of the universe, land and sea, and everything that is in them. The early church seemed to begin their worship times by reflecting on the creative power of God. They seemed to possess a larger perception of God than we do. I believe that the hugeness of God gets lost in all of our technological advancements and human achievements. Sometimes we forget that God gives us the ability to make those advancements. Psalm 33:6 states, "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth." By the power of God's spoken word, God breathed the universe into existence. That's a big, big God. The universe is really, really big and God created it all. It is absolutely amazing to me that just our sun is so big that if you hollowed it out, it would hold 1,300,000 of our earths. And there is a star called "Antares" that is so big that if you hollowed it out, it would hold 64 million of our suns. A star in the constellation Hercules is so big that, if hollowed out, could hold 100 million "Antares" stars. And the largest known star--Epsilon-- is so big that, if hollowed out, would hold several million Hercules stars or 27 billion of our suns. Any way you meaure it, our God is a really, really big God to have been able to create all that.
     Psalm 8:3-4 states, "3 When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you set in place—4 what are people that you should think about them,mere mortals that you should care for them? (NLT) I am totally amazed when I think about God and how big He is. But, I guess what is even more remarkable is realizing that a God as big as He is would think of someone as small as me. The thought that God would desire a relationship with me is one of the grandest thoughts a human being could have. But then, being able to have that thought and knowing the reality of that thought is what seperates us from all other living things.
     I encourage you to keep thinking about the bigness of God and no matter how big of a problem you may face, it will shrink in size when compared to our really, really big God. Keep thinking about how big God really is and when you come to worship this Sunday, you will find your worship transformed. Our God really is that big.

After last Sunday morning's message, I realized again how little I actually resemble those New Testament believers. Those believers were willing to suffer persecution for the sake of Jesus Christ. They actually believed that no sacrifice was too great and no price was too high to pay in order to share the gospel. They didn't care if they suffered or not. I, on the other hand, seem to do all I can to protect my "comfort zone." I seem to do all I can to avoid persecution rather than embrace it as did the early church beleivers. That simply means that I am still holding on to some areas of my life that I do not want to give to Christ. I realized last Sunday morning that I must give those areas up to Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ did not save me so I could play it safe. I am tired of playing it safe all the time. If I am learning anything at all, I am learning that being a passionate follower of Jesus Christ is not always the safest position to be in. But then, He never said that it would be. I must be willing to risk my safety, my comfort, my everything for Him. Anything less will fall short of His desire for me. I am also learning that, although passionately following Christ may not be the safest place to be, it is the best place to be. I am still on my journey of giving up all "rights" to my life and giving them to Him. Every time I give up a "right" to Him, there is such freedom and victory that I cannot even explain it. The more I become obsessed with Him and obsessed with a world that desperately needs Jesus, the less I find myself self-absorbed and self-focused. That really is freeing.
     I continue to hear about the amazing things God is doing in your lives as you continue to learn to be traders. It is exciting to hear about how our awesome God has brought freedom to your lives as you share with me how you have given up certain "rights" in your lives. When you give everything, I mean everything, to the Lord, it is amazing how well He takes care His stuff and how it takes the pressure off of you.

     I am really looking forward to the Bells beinf with us this Sunday. Be in prayer for them as they share about the work in Tanzania. See ya Sunday.

So many people have been approaching me and telling me their "trader" stories. Chris Gall mentioned to me that it would be great if the people could share their "trader" stories on our website. I agreed. If you have a "trader" story you would like to sahre with the rest of us follow the instructions below:
• Go to our www.cooperfbc.org website.
• Click on the ministries tab.
• Scroll down and click on the pastor tab.
• Once you are in the pastor page click the blog link.
• On my blog page click on the leave a comment link.
• Write your blog and click on the post message tab.
Those who visit our website will be able to read about your "trader" story. These stories will help people understand what a "trader" is and how becoming a "trader" can radically change their lives. This is a way for your story to inspire others to step out on faith and become a passionate follower of Jesus Christ.
     We are now in the third chapter of the book of Acts. We are discovering how the church in Acts was a transformational church. Because of the fact that these early believers gave up all rights to their lives and possessions, they were able to impact their community in a transformational way. Their community was transformed because of them surrendering all rights to their lives. I am experiencing greater freedom and victory the more rights I surrender to God. Most recently, I was going crazy over my schedule. No matter how well I tried to organize and streamline my time, I simply was not getting done all that I needed to. And then I gave up my right to my schedule. No matter what surprises come up that catches me off guard, I don't freak out anymore. I just say, "Lord, it's not my schedule, it's yours. You can bring anything into my life that you want and I will go with it. I am not going to worry about it any longer. My schedule is now Yours." That is so liberating to me. There is so much freedom in surrenduring your rights to the Lord.
     I would also like to know how the Lord is leading in your personal life to help the needy and hurting. Thinking in these terms will soon become second nature to us. It will become the norm for our faith family. Remeber keep trading in your pursuit of the American Dream for a world that desperately needs Jesus Christ. Everything I am and everything I have is at His disposal to use anyway He chooses. WOW! What freedom!!!!!!
     Oh yes! I want to sy High to my new buddy Micah Lemon. Stay inquisitive dude.