YOUR ONLINE CHURCH 2009 TO PRESENT (PART II)

A LOOK AT OURSELVES

The foundation scripture for the Spirit of Wisdom Ministries comes from Ephesians 1:15-17.  Let’s read it together.

“Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.”

Welcome everyone to your 24/7, week long, online church service.  Everyone, and I do mean everyone, is welcome in this place.  This week we will continue our review of how and why our online church came into existence.  Remember I told you week before last, this should not be taken as a sermon, but rather as sort of a business meeting.  In other words, we want to be very open and transparent to you.  Two weeks ago we posted Part I of this message.  I would suggest you go back and read or listen to that posting again. 

In that message we laid out for you how God dropped the idea of an online church into my spirit.  A strange idea to me as I had no, let me repeat – no computer skills.  From 2007 to 2009 there was a battle between my mind and my spirit.  Thank God my spirit won out.  I talked in that message about how God placed a young man into my life with excellent computer skills.  We became good friends and he became our computer technician and expert.  From August 2009 to this present date, Justin has helped us to present this gospel message to you.

My wife, Vicki, is my sounding board and types every message for us.  I cannot do this without them.  Vicki is the love of my life and Justin is a great friend.  So you see, all I had to do was to be willing and God provided the help and the way.  Well, that sort of brings you up to date.  My friends, I can’t express to you in adequate words how blessed I am to present words of life to you each week.  Everyday I pray “Lord please give me your Words of life so I can give them to anyone who needs them”

Our number one priority is to lead people to Jesus.  I clearly remember telling Justin on that first day, August 5, 2009 – “Justin we just want to help somebody.”  I just knew in my spirit if we did that on a continuing basis God would be happy with us.  Every week we boldly shine the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ into the darkness of your life.  We are aware that Satan desires to rob, steal and kill every good thing in your life.  God has chosen us as he has chosen you.  He has chosen us to give forth the words of life he has for you.  He has chosen you to receive these words and to turn your life around.  John 10:10 points this out.  Jesus is speaking here.

“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy:  I am come that they might have life,  and that they might have it more abundantly.”

So you see folks, that is the reason we are here.  We are not here for financial gain.   In fact, we have never asked for one penny in donations or collections.  We are not here for our own glory.  I cannot tell you the number of times I have told Justin or Vicki “I can’t state it that way.  God gets the glory, not me.”  John 3:30 states:

“He must increase, but I must decrease.”

This scripture is one that I adhere to.  I am just a message giver.  God and his son Jesus Christ are the message.  That is the reason about a year and a half ago we added the scripture of the week to our church services.  Actually, we added the scripture of the week so you would have something to mediate on all week long.  Remember church, always put God first in your life.

The head of this online church is God, our heavenly Father.  The light of this online church is Jesus Christ, our Lord, our Savior and our Redeemer.  And the blessing of this online church to us is you.  Knowing that your life will improve because of our God given effort blesses us to no end.  So let us return to our foundation scripture.  Ephesians 1:15-17.

Church, we cease not to give thanks for you and we do pray for you daily.  We ask God to give you the spirit of wisdom to help you in your everyday walk while on this earth.  I pray that through our messages you will receive revelation in the knowledge of God.  One of my prayers to God is that he will reveal himself to you in a very special way.  God loves you, my friends.

I pray this online church will lead you to Jesus for salvation, healing and deliverance from demonic oppression.  Ever since we started this online church over two and a half years ago, people have asked me how long we will do this.  The answer is this: When God says we have done all he has desired of us we will stop and not before.  I do know this one thing.  One day our mission will be completed.  Yet yours may just be ready to start.  I believe God is preparing someone out there to continue the preaching of this gospel online.  They will be ready when it is our time to do other things. 

God Bless You, Church

Brother Bob

A Special Note: A member of our online Church, Nancy Stewart, has gone home to be with the Lord. She will be missed by her family and friends. Please pray for her family, for God's peace in their lives.

BE A DECIDER (Repost from Sunday, October 4, 2009)

It is hard to believe that another week has passed. I pray it has been a blessed week for you. If you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, I know you are blessed in all things, regardless of the circumstances that surround and try to affect you. It is your reaction to these circumstances that will make the difference in victory or defeat. Remember, the Bible is your direction for living and prayer is your form of communication with our Lord.

Welcome, my good friends, to your 24/7 week long online church service. Everyone is welcome in this place. This church is not a social club for Christians only. Our mission is to preach Jesus to all. Our desire is to show you a pathway to the love and mercy of Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of our heavenly Father; the God above all gods.

Of course, my fellow Christians, this online church is for you also. Our desire for you is to help you stay on the narrow way (road) of eternal life. Refer to Matthew 7:13-14:

“Enter ye in at the strait gate: For wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”

Unbeliever, you are already on the wide way (road) that leads to destruction. No matter how good life appears to you at this time. You may be successful on your job. You may have a good marriage. You may be a good and lovable person, yet destruction lies ahead. You are blindly heading toward the trap Satan has set for you. This is a warning from God today, my friend. Get off that road now!! Accept Jesus today as your Lord and Savior and follow the narrow way to life. The Holy Spirit will lead you unto eternal life and I guarantee you will be a better father/mother, husband/wife, friend, employee or employer than you ever thought possible on this earth.

Believers, it is so important that you stay on the narrow path. I remember when I lived near Detroit, Michigan, my sister Vicki and her family lived two hundred and thirty miles away in northern Michigan. Often times, when I would drive to visit her in the Michigan winters, there would be treacherous ice covering the highway. I would see cars in the ditches to the left and right of me. My solution was to drive as close to the middle of the road as possible. That way, if my car started sliding to the left or to the right, I would have enough room to make the correction and get the car under control. My advice to my believer friends is to stay in the middle of the narrow road to life. When the circumstances of life, the unfairness and realities of this world hit you, you will make the correction needed by turning to God for help. You will not slide off the narrow road leading to life onto the broad road of destruction and eternal death.

Today is a day of decision, my friends. We are not guaranteed even one more second of life on this earth. Will our decision be to live for God? Or will we decide to stay on the wide way that leads to destruction?

I remember a preacher snapping his fingers to illustrate a beating heart. As he talked, he just kept snapping those fingers, then all of a sudden he snapped one more time and stopped!! That, my friends, is how fragile life is. What decisions we make regarding Jesus should be made now!!


I remember when former President Bush said he was the “decider.” Many pundits and even myself made fun of that. But you know what? He was right. There is a time to become a decider and guess what? That time is now. A friend once said “God will call, wait for your acceptance, then equip you to do the job.” What job? That job of presenting Jesus to a lost and dying world. Look around you, my friends, don't you think the world needs Jesus today? God is waiting for our decision. As we decide to follow Him, He will equip us so we will not fail.

Believers, decide today to get back to the business of putting God first in your life. Get the Bible out again and decide to get the revealed Word of Truth down in your soul. Decide to let the Words of Life lead and guide you to share Jesus with others.

Nonbelievers, decide today that Jesus is the Son of God. Decide to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior in your heart. If it sounds like I am repeating myself, nonbeliever, I am. Ask Jesus for forgiveness of sins in your life. Ask Jesus to come into your heart today. Confess Jesus today as Lord and Savior of your life. Be a decider, my friends, be a decider.

Believers, decide to do the work He has done and even greater works. What? You don't think this can be done? Please turn with me to John 14:12 (Jesus speaking).

“Verily, verily (truly) I say unto you. He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do: Because I go unto my Father.”

You now must decide if you believe what Jesus said is true or not. Personally, I have decided to believe Him. So cheer up, my brothers and sisters, and run the race with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Drop sin and death from your life and replace it with Jesus, who is life.

I believe this message will be life saving and life changing today. Some people believe I am a dreamer. And you know what? I am. Refer to Joel 2:28.

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.”

I could preach five sermons on this scripture alone, but the point is: I do dream, ladies and gentleman. I dream of all my children and grandchildren being saved and having eternal life. I dream of a world where Christians will be led by the Holy Spirit and follow the direction of the Bible rather than by false teachers and false doctrine. I dream of a Godly people that preach peace and not war as the solution to all problems between nations. After all, wasn't Jesus the Prince of Peace? And yes, I do know that there will be just reasons for war. But, I also know many wars are fought and many people have died because of wars that were waged for power, greed and profit. Armageddon, the war to end all wars, will surely come my friends. But God will be the architect of that war, that will usher in Jesus as King of Kings and Lord of Lords; not greedy and lustful men. I dream that the lost will find and accept Jesus and live eternally with the Father. Yes, my friends, I am a dreamer. I dream this online church will reach all who God intends it to reach. I have decided to be a decider. Today, my friends, my decision is to follow Jesus. How about you?

God Bless you,
Bro. Bob

YOUR ONLINE CHURCH 2009 to PRESENT

A LOOK AT OURSELVES

This week I have been looking back on the past two and a half years.  It is a review that I do every once in a while just to check myself and to make sure I am being true to my calling.  Welcome everyone to your 24/7, week long, online church service.  I cannot stress enough that everyone is welcome in this place. 

I would ask you to not look upon this message as a teaching or preaching message.  Rather, consider it more as a church business meeting – a review of how we got started, what our original purpose was and what it is today.  Hopefully, if we are consistent, the purpose of this ministry has not changed.  We just want to help somebody.

The idea of this online church ministry was first given to me near the end of 2007.  We had been living and attending a home church in Tennessee.  We decided to move back to Florida.  My long time calling to preach and share the gospel of Jesus Christ was fired up and focused during our year of residence in Tennessee.  As we prepared to move back to Florida, I was wondering in what direction God would lead me.  I knew his calling was for sure and very real.  No doubt about that.  But, how would it manifest itself?  Would I be preaching as an evangelist in churches and meetings?  Was I to start a home church such as we had just left?  Good questions, but no clear direction at that time.

I did know this, my passion to see people saved, healed and delivered was at an all time high.  I knew God was going to use me to help others, but did not know exactly how.  Reading Romans Chapter 10:13-14, I began to see God’s roadmap for me.  Remember my passion?  That all, that is everyone, must have the opportunity to be saved and have eternal life with God and his son, Jesus Christ.  Romans 10:13-14  states:

“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.  How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?  And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?  And how shall they hear without a preacher?”

The apostle Paul was presenting to the church at Rome and also to us, the church of today, what the problem is.  All that call upon God will be saved.  But, if they know nothing or very little of God or his son, Jesus Christ – how can they even know how or why to call on him?  The answer is – they need a preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ to help them understand who God is.  Yes folks, preachers are still needed and used by God today just as in the days of old. 

As I contemplated the need for people to hear a solid preacher, who teaches by Bible and not opinion standards, God dropped the idea of an online church into my heart and spirit.  My heart and spirit received the idea.  My brain did not.  Somewhere and somehow in my spirit, I knew this would be a very effective way to reach people for Jesus.  My brain, however, said it would not work – very simply because I knew nothing about computers or the internet.  The obvious conclusion for me to draw was that this idea was not God’s, but my own foolish idea.  Boy, was I wrong!  As much as I dismissed the thought, the more it kept popping up.

The battle between my spirit and brain was constantly ongoing.  One thing I did do during this time was to keep preparing to share God’s Word with others by reading and meditating on God’s Word daily.  All through 2008, the battle was on.  The more I dismissed the internet, the more it would come to mind.  God began to show me how we could reach people all around the world, at all levels of faith, just by preaching out of the Bible regarding his son, Jesus Christ. Any teaching of Jesus based on any other thing than the Bible, is false teaching.

I began to realize how many people work on Sundays and are not able to attend church.  God also showed me that many people were spiritually hurt by false doctrine or unethical preachers while attending church.  They did not want to be ruled by man’s opinion about God, they just want to know God. Also, there are people who have seen Christians preach love and exercise hate.  That my friends, is called hypocrisy.

In 2009 I began to express to my wife the thoughts I was having.  I have to tell you folks, as supportive as Vicki is today of our online church, it was obvious to me she had the same doubts and concerns that I had.  Finally, I decided this idea was of my own making and not of God.  The decision was made to no longer contemplate on starting an online church service, period.  That was my decision, church, but God had other plans.

He would constantly, day and night plant thoughts of helping others (including you) by the sharing of his Word and love for you.  And guess how?  By way of the internet.  Now I understand I have taken a long time to lay down this foundation of our ministry for you.  I just wanted you to see how much thought, consideration and self-examination  went into the formation of your 24/7, week long, online church. 

In August of 2009, I went to dinner with a friend of mine by the name of Justin Rocque.  Justin is a computer whiz who now owns his own computer repair and training service.  As we were in conversation I told him of what I felt God wanted me to do.  I also told him that I had no idea of how to accomplish what God desired of me.  So, I was just not going to do it.  Justin looked right at me and said  “I know how.  If you believe this is what you need to do, let’s go back to your house and I will set it up for you.”  And just like that, God showed me if I would just be willing to serve him, he would provide the way.  That night was August 2, 2009.  And by the way, Justin still helps us today.

The Spirit of Wisdom Ministries was launched.  I cannot get over the goodness of God.  I want to repeat to you the exact words of our first posting – very short and very much to the point.  This is what we posted.  You can check it out for yourselves in our message archives.  We started by saying – Welcome to the Spirit of Wisdom Ministries.  We went on to say this blog is designed to be an “online church.”  I will share the Word of God with you.  I will relate how the Bible is the Word of God and how it relates to today.  I will strive to make it interesting and truthful.  I will not give you my opinion unless noted as such.  This site is at this very moment being created and more information about me and this ministry will be forthcoming.  God bless all who look at this site.

There you are folks, the first posting of August 2, 2009.  We have strived to stay true to our first message.  Our first and foremost goal is to share the Word of God with you and to lead people to Jesus.  Our desire today, as it was then, is to show how the Bible relates to our everyday living.  The Word of God is always up to date, regardless of the generation it is read in.  We have always attempted to be interesting and truthful.  Everything we teach or preach is based only on the Bible.  There is no greater truth than that.  Our opinions on subjects are always noted.  And by the way, our opinions are not gospel, the Bible is!

We will continue this message in two weeks.  Next week, we will be presenting a repost of a former message.  A message entitled – Be a Decider, first given in October 2009.  That is what our online church is all about, folks.  Inspiring you to decide to put God and his son, Jesus, first in your life.  Then, on March 25th, we will continue our review of your online church.  Great things are ahead of us church.  Let’s explore them together.  After all, God has provided this online church just for you. 











God Bless You

Bro. Bob

JUST FOR WHO HE IS

Today let us start this message by giving praise and honor to our Heavenly Father and his son, Jesus Christ.  God is so faithful to us and his son loves us more than words can convey.  Psalms 63:1-4 give us good instruction in how to give praise.  Let’s read it together:

“O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee:  My soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is; to see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.  Because thy loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.  Thus will I bless thee while I live; I will lift up my hands in thy name.”

Welcome everyone to your 24/7, week long, online church service.  As always, everyone is welcome in this place.  There is so much to give God praise and thanks for, church.  Let’s look at the above scripture a little closer, shall we?  The very first sentence says exactly what we as believers can and should be saying daily.  O God, you are my God.  Isn’t it exciting to be able to truthfully say that just as you are God’s child, he is your God, your heavenly Father. 

The scripture says to praise him early.  The best time is as soon as you wake up.  Just say, thank you Lord for another day of life.  Verse 3 says because God’s loving kindness is better than life, we should and will praise him.  And verse 4 points out something that will help us.  All through our Christian experience we are taught how much God desires to bless us.  We pray for his blessing in every area of our lives, don’t we?  Lord, please bless us with money, bless us with good health, bless us with a good family.  Well, I think you get the point here, don’t you?

Now this scripture says (and I want you to get this) thus will I bless thee while I live.  Church, it is time to get our eyes off ourselves and begin to focus on God.  It is time for us to bless God.  So how can we do that?  By praising him with our lips – not for what he has done for us, but just for who he is.  We should bless our heavenly Father by our words and by our actions.  I guess what I am saying to you is this:  Stop whatever you are doing and just think and meditate on the awesomeness of God.

This past week I took a walk at night and as I looked up at the stars, I realized again that God made and placed those stars in the universe just for us.  When you look at the majesty of the mountains and the beauty of the plains, know this – God designed this earth.  The beauty of the oceans and lakes, the rivers and the streams all show us the nature of God.  I am not giving you a deep theological message here folks.  In fact, I am just pointing out the obvious that we tend to overlook. 

Only as we look outside of ourselves, away from the emotions, situations and circumstances we find our self in, do we see God in all of his fullness.  When we see God as he is, nothing on earth or beyond could be greater.  As we begin to view God unfettered by the human mind and the distortion of his ways by the world system, only then can we see how awesome God really is.  Suddenly, God’s love, mercy and grace toward us becomes so very real to us again.  Deuteronomy 4:29-31 points us to God’s goodness and faithfulness to us.  As we truly  acknowledge God in our lives,  all things in the Word of God become alive and true to us.  Deuteronomy 4:29-31 states this:

“But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and all thy soul.  When thou art in tribulation and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shall be obedient unto his voice; (for the Lord thy God is a merciful God); He will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.”

We used this scripture recently in a salvation message, yet it applies to this message of praise and worship as well.  Basically, it is telling you this – turn to God!!  Seek him and bless the Lord with all your heart and soul.  God is a merciful God and he will never forsake you as you follow these instructions, all God has for you will come alive for you again.  Psalms 9:10 states:

“And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee:  For thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.”

Is not that the same as the scripture we just read in Deuteronomy?  There is a continuing theme throughout the Word of God, my friends.  Seek the Lord and he will show himself to you.  Receive his son, Jesus Christ, into your heart and he will never forsake you.  That is our God – merciful  and faithful in all his ways.

I pray this helps you to walk daily with God and his son Jesus.  After all, they walk daily with you, my friends.  Speaking of God’s faithfulness, I want to present to you a testimony we received last week.  For those of you that read or listened to last week’s message, you know we pleaded with you to pray for all prayer requests submitted to this online church.  Today you will see why that is so important.  If you will look at the prayer requests at the right side of this message, you will see a young lady by the name of Lilly.  Lilly is in high school.  She was very active in ballet and school activities.  We first received this prayer request at the end of 2010 and we have been praying for her ever since.  I know and am thankful that many of you have prayed for Lilly also.

I am going to present the testimony just as her mother sent it out by e-mail to friends and  relatives.  Please, do not skip this testimony, it is an answer to prayer.  The e-mail reads:

“I know this is a huge mailing list for me to send out.  But, I want everyone to know what God has done in our family.  For those of you that don’t know about Lilly, this is the whole story of what has been going on with her for the past year and a half.”

“In October of 2010, Lilly was diagnosed with scoliosis. At that time she had a 13-15 degree curve – no bigee. “Come back in four months,” they said and we’ll do another x-ray. February 2011 her curve was now 38 degrees! They said they have never seen a progression that fast before. She was immediately cast and put into a body brace, trying to avoid any worsening of the curve, because they operate at 40 degrees. She has hated that brace and had to wear it on the missions trip to Puerto Rico – while laying in sweat, and at church camp with a friend to help her into the brace each night, but is mortified to have to wear it during the day. She was supposed to be wearing it 16-18 hours a day. We do good to get her 10-12 hours in. She quit ballet because of pain in her back in May. But thankfully, that void was filled with drama at school and she’s been doing Irish dancing.”

“Ever since she had the brace, she had an appointment every four months to recheck her back. It went to 35, then to 32 degrees. The doctor said that they could have had an error of that much, but this past Friday she was 17 degrees!!!! She told me to come look at the before and after x-rays!! Praise God! Her back looks amazing. The doctor looked at me and said, “You do realize there is NO explanation for this.” The brace does not reverse any of the issues. Funny, she did say when we first asked what we could do, her answer was “Pray.” I liked her immediately. Isn’t God awesome! Our pastor had come to pray for Lilly just after she was diagnosed. When I told him Sunday of the news, he told me that Ray and I had been a testimony to him for our faith in the Lord through prayer. GOD IS REAL, AND HE IS STILL IN THE MIRACLE BUSINESS. Blessings to all – Janet”

We received another e-mail from Lilly’s grandmother in Georgia.  She said:

 “Bob and Vicki:  This is a wonderful testimony to the power of prayer and God’s faithfulness.  Thank you and your online church followers for yours and their prayers.  Love to you both- Sharon”

Now you know why your prayers are so important and why it is so important to praise God daily just for who he is.





God Bless You,

Bro. Bob