Sunday, June 14, 2009

West Milton, Ohio, USA

Bro. Ricky Hernandez exhorted the saints to be prayerful in all that we do. Whether in conversation or elsewhere, keep a spirit of prayer with you.

The Sea of Glass
Bro. Benjamin Tovstiga

Text: Revelation 15:1-4

The sea of glass (glass meaning mirrored glass as in a looking glass), mingled with fire is powerful. It is used by God to bring people face to face with themselves. Some spend hours in front of a literal mirror. This is generally a waste of time, but come and stand on the sea of glass. Take a good look – how is it with you? Many people come and take one look and run, as they cannot deal with how they appear. Do not get upset with what you see – it is only a mirror, after all. Save your energy for the washing. Do not rail at something innocent. Get a burning bush experience so you will not be consumed.

The camp meeting is now ended – what a meeting it was! Blessings poured down from heaven, souls were saved, sanctified, unified, and strengthened. There was a tremendous influx of people there for the first time and as a whole, were encouraged by what they saw. May the Lord continue to bless each and every one to bloom where they are planted and be light in this dark world.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

West Milton, Ohio, USA

In the prayer meeting this morning, Bro. Ken Harger iterated how vital it is that we spread ourselves out to receive was much as possible from God. If we are parched, the wider we stretch our arms, the more rain (blessings) we will get.

Shiloh
Bro. Stephen Hargrave

Text: Zechariah 8:20-23

Shiloh=peace. Jesus=peace. Peace comes with a sword – some things have to be divided before there can be peace. The Body of Christ is peace. It is not normal for Christians to be separated. It is abnormal to have a church only for black/white/Hispanic/German people. That is manufactured unity. A lot of people try to manufacture arks. Some have only zebras or gorillas. In the middle of the arks are many creeping creatures. Many a zookeeper is deployed to keep the peace. Regardless of your race or culture, if you are a Christian you are in! All of us Christians look alike the whole world over. It is not about the clothes you wear, but your spiritual personality – we all share the same Spirit. You cannot be a Christian and withhold your hand of fellowship to any of the saints. These kinds of actions only happen outside of Shiloh. But, the Lord can heal withered hands so that they once again reach out to every blood washed one as He first intended. Is this Amish/Mennonite/Catholic/Baptist? No! It is the Ark – all Christians are one congregation, separated simply by locality. If you are separated from another brother in the Lord, that is not between him and God. That is between you and him and God. The religious world is declining so quickly around us that true Christians are running out of options – it is time to come home and unite as God has ordained in His Word.

Following the morning service, a baptismal service was held nearby. Many were baptized by immersion – it was a blessing to see the outward symbol of what had already taken place inside the heart of each participant.

The saints were greatly inspired and encouraged in the evening service through the numerous songs that were sung.

The Spirit of Prophecy
Bro. Randy Hargrave

Text: Revelation 19:10

In order to operate a piece of heavy machinery, you must have someone teach you that has experience. It is not enough to read the owner’s manual or get some classroom training. The only way to learn is hands-on. People are puffed up in their own minds and think they know so much. But even most so-called Church of God people have never touched the real thing. They only have head knowledge. But God has put together a people that actually know how the machine works. It may not be how you imagined it to be, but it works! The spirit of prophecy speaks expressly. You are accountable for what you see and what it tells you. There is not much time left – are you going to heed its speaking? People by the multitudes are feeling the pressure – it is the spirit of prophecy. Do not refuse Him that is trying persuade you to yield. It may seem hard, but will Heaven not be worth it?

Friday, June 12, 2009

West Milton, Ohio, USA

Bro. Patrick O’Shea Jr. exhorted the saints in the 7:30 AM prayer meeting to pray effectively. Do not just pray generally, but identify the need and pray accordingly.

The ordinances of foot washing and the Lord’s supper were observed in the morning service. It was a blessed time of fellowship as the brothers and sisters separately washed each others’ feet as hymns were sung and the saints rejoiced in the bond of perfectness which binds us all together in Christ. Afterward all the saints reunited in the main tabernacle and an open communion was observed in accordance with the example Jesus left us in the New Testament. Unleavened bread was used to represent the body of Christ, wheat mixed with water and baked. Pure grape juice was used to represent the blood of Christ that He shed on the cross of Calvary for our sins. Individual communion cups or bread portions are not used by the Church of God as that is a modern, sterile dilution of the ordinance that is meant specifically to be used as a type of the exclusive unity of the Church and the resistance to personal, spiritual independence. As each saved person participated in the communion, an air of solemnity prevailed over the audience as we meditated on the gravity of the sacrifice of Christ’s death. The service was all together inspiring, unifying, and sobering.

Bro. Byron Benion opened the service tonight with a rousing testimony of his salvation from sin and spoke of his lifelong quest to be a winner through football, coaching, etc. Through all of these avenues his quest continued, but he testified that since he got saved last September he had finally attained his goal – he was a winner with the best coach in the universe – God! A number of saints testified tonight and the special singers from Aylmer, California, and Ohio sang.

The Witness
Bro. John Redekop

Text: Romans 8:16

A witness is the assurance of approval. God gives each of His children a witness of their salvation. In the Old Testament God gave His people a stone. Do you have a stone? A stone will make doubts disappear. When the devil comes to you with accusations and questions – show him the stone. There is a prevalent false teaching to “take it by faith”. Yes, faith is necessary, but God is faithful to bear witness with His Spirit in your heart. He also bears witness to His people as a body. That is why we do not hesitate to invite anyone to the meeting – come and see the witness. Try the Spirit – does it bear witness with your soul? Many have tried to manufacture a witness through various means, but this will not last. If you do not allow yourself to be talked into it, no one can talk you out of it. Elijah’s sacrifice was answered by fire – when the fire falls, you have the witness. If you are unsure tonight, get the witness – it is available for all.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

West Milton, Ohio, USA

An ordination service was held this morning. Bro. John Redekop of Steinbach, Manitoba, Canada and Bro. Johnny Friesen of Paris, Texas, USA were ordained to the Ministry of the Church of God. May the Lord richly bless them as they labor in the Lord’s vineyard.

Let Us Go On
Bro. Ray Tinsman

Text: Hebrews 6:1

After you have been saved, the Lord has more for you. Last words are generally very important. Jesus specifically instructed

His disciples to tarry in Jerusalem until they should received the Holy Spirit. They were saved – Jesus explicitly mentions that their names are written in heaven – but they needed to go on to perfection. The experience at Pentecost is known by numerous names: Baptism of the Holy Spirit, Sanctification, Entire Sanctification, Perfection, etc. It has always been the desire of God to have man in His own image. God never meant for His creation to be separated from Him by sin. After Adam sinned, the root of sin was inbred into each child born subsequently. This is also know as the Adamic nature, the carnal nature, the old man, the carnal mind. After you are saved, you have victory over sin, but the carnal mind is still present and causes something to rise up within you involuntarily. The carnal mind also causes doubts and confusions. Your biggest enemy is yourself. After you have experienced the second work of grace or been sanctified, this root is entirely removed and the Holy Spirit takes full charge of your being. All temptations come from without, not within. Character flaws, impatience, and other carnal traits are eradicated. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible clearly distinguishes between the two works of grace, salvation and sanctification. If you are saved, that is wonderful! Now, do not tarry there, go on to perfection, the Lord has a tremendous experience for you that will help you to excel spiritually.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

West Milton, Ohio, USA

In the prayer meeting, Bro. Peter Hildebrandt reminded the saints not just to seek but follow the Lord’s instructions to receive your help. Naaman had preconceived ideas how he should be healed. He was not healed until he followed the prophets instructions exactly.

The Second Coming of Christ
Bro. Jacob Braun

Text: Acts 1:9-11

Everyone will see the Lord return, not just those that anticipate His coming. Prepared or not, you will witness His return. Some are refusing His pleadings today, but a day is coming when you have no choice but to face Him. That day will surely find you out. Every teaching that allows for a second chance is a fallacy from the devil. People are pretending another chance exists after the judgment, but it is only a pretension. When Jesus returns, Mohamed will acknowledge Jesus as the only Savior, along with all other false religions. Every single knee will bow to Jesus Christ, every atheist will confess that He is Lord. God will answer His enemies to their face. The judgment will be fair, your verdict based solely on your actions. Now there remains an opportunity to determine your own outcome. We are responsible for all we hear and know. Is there a welcome in your soul for the Lord’s return? Do not be the last backslider before the Lord’s return. We do not know when He is coming – but this we know, prophecy is fulfilling and He promised He was returning.

Awake
Bro. Daniel Layne

Text: Isaiah 51:9

The Church of God is preaching the message of awakening, alarm, and restoration. The world around us is asleep and needs to be awakened. God wants a place where our children can excel and a place for our young people to be radical. When we stop to preach the come-out message, we need to hear it preached to us. We came out of places where mourning was the main occupation. After being in many different prisons, we are now free! We are living in Bible times, we are living the acts of the Apostles. The glory is here, the Lord is working mightily. Get people into the Book and they will experience real salvation – a life-altering experience. It will affect everything, your family life, finances, etc. It used to be that you could to service after service and never feel stirred. Those times are over – the Lord is working and moving freely in each service. We have no program, the Holy Spirit has free reign. Now we can sing Joy Unspeakable with joy unspeakable and full of glory! Quantity will come, the Lord is restoring quality so that He can send quantity.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

West Milton, Ohio, USA

In the early morning prayer meeting, Bro. Rick Wiebe encouraged the saints to continue in prayer. We must persevere until we get through.

Restoration
Bro. Benjamin Tovstiga

Text: Isaiah 1:23-26

God is characterized by comfort. Outside of God there is no comfort. If God is the comfort of all comfort, surely He has the capacity to comfort Himself. Throughout history, God has comforted himself, by restoring His people. Restoration is the removal of counterfeit or substandard materials to be replaced by the genuine product. God is removing the tin in this time, to be replaced by Gold. For the last 100 years, the people have been collecting tin. Preachers turned into amateur tin collectors. Trying to collect something that has no value. Gold was too expensive, so people decided to divert to tin. Tin is everything besides God. God despises tin and everything that comes with it. Churches have turned into scrap metal junkyards. God is now comforting Himself by restoring the condition of the Church back to the beginning. Not a few years or eras, but right back to the beginning. We have come from places where it was more profitable to just sleep rather than to fight sleep. Adam was not yawning when He walked with God. It is good to see people getting up and moving, but when you get up, you are stained with the things you have been sitting on for 40 years. That is where fuller’s soap comes in. This is no delicate wash cycle – this is genuine get-the-dirt-out washing. People have been sincerely begging for revival in the past decade. Then when it arrives, they reject it because it did not come the way they expected it. Come and experience the joy of restoration!

We are thankful for the Lord’s great blessings this far – it has been a spiritually exhilarating time and the week is far from over. Many more have arrived and we are anticipating a great outpouring of the Spirit of the Lord.

Another Gospel
Bro. Stephen Hargrave

Text: Galatians 1:6-9

This scripture has been manipulated to keep people trapped in religions of tradition. That application is false. It is written on the basis of assurance that where you are is true religion. Verify that you are actually where the true Gospel is preached. A farmer’s work is self-evident – is the corn growing, are the rows straight? Check out the straightness of your rows. If there are curves and deviations, you know you need to first find the true Gospel that Paul was speaking of. He knew his personal revelation came from Jesus Christ. Paul preached the true gospel so well that the religious economy of paganism and idolatry went into recession. In the time of Primitive Christianity you did not have to figure out where to go. There was no black, white, liberal, or conservative church. There was only the Gospel. If in the future you hear one of us preach differently than what you know is right, let us be accursed. Do not accept something different than what you liberated you in the first place. The Gospel is to be communicated from the heart of the preacher to the audience. Any other is only talking – not the Gospel. We reach our hand to every blood washed one – that is the Gospel of unity – the Gospel of Paul.

Monday, June 8, 2009

West Milton, Ohio, USA

Bro. Johnny Friesen exhorted the saints on Matthew 7:7 in the prayer meeting this morning. We must be persistent to have our needs met.

Godly Sorrow
Bro. Isaac Thiessen

Text: II Corinthians 7:10

Before we can get very happy, we must get very sad. Now do not be mistaken – salvation is wonderful and glorious. But, there are steps you must follow in order to get a true, crisis experience of salvation. There is no rest in this world until you have experience God’s rest. We are not looking for brief, shallow experiences that last for a day or two. Walk in the steps the Lord is leading you, go through the sorrow He is leading you through. Follow until you feel horrible as a sinner. He will lead you to become absolutely sick of yourself. This is true Godly sorrow. People want a “road to Damascus” experience, but this must be preceded by a genuine sorrow for your committed sins. A deep awakening must have taken place in the heart and a realization of the gravity of sin. Do not stop seeking – seek Him until you find Him. There is a real danger that our children may avoid this and never get a hold of true salvation. Each and every one of us must go through this sorrow and realization of sin to obtain salvation. The Bible way is to sorrow, repent, and be saved with complete, continuous victory over sin for the rest of your life. You never need to fall back into your old life. Godly sorrow will keep you faithful when you remember your old life. Would you like rest? Get tired of your life as it is and God can provide unparalleled rest in this world with wonderful, sustaining victory over sin.

Over 1,000 have people have registered on the grounds here up to this point and we are anticipating more as the week progresses. Many visitors and newcomers have arrived and are enjoying the rich blessings of the Lord as He moves among His children.

Meet Your Help
Bro. Abe Redekop

Text: Isaiah 35:4

If you have not yet yielded in this meeting, it is time that you did. Do not relax in an unsaved condition. We will keep digging around until we find your hidden spot. Sin will lull you to sleep. We are here to wake you up. What is holding you back? Do whatever you have to do to change your condition. Our goal is rest – beg for help from God in this meeting to get true rest. Admit your need, seek your help, and get your rest. You may be able to help yourself for a little bit, but in the long run it will not last. Get a lifting experience that will victoriously lift you above the waves of sin. Heed the warning – danger is in delay.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

West Milton, Ohio, USA

In the prayer meeting this morning, Bro. John Redekop exhorted the saints not just to seek, but to find and obtain in prayer. He challenged us to go beyond the seeking and fulfil the obtaining.

Kicking Against
Bro. Ernest Benion Jr.

Text: Acts 9:1-5

Saul came to a point where he was in pain from kicking. God puts goads in place so that it will be painful for you to continue kicking against His dealings. Through this meeting our purpose is to at least insert something in your heart that will grow and prick you when you resist. How much time do you need to finally yield? How many songs need to be sung? If we yield in a timely manner, we will be saved. God’s voice penetrates the loud music, His spirit will follow you. He can cause things to go wrong for you and your health to fail. This is conviction! You may be covering up on the exterior, but inside your soul is crying. Allow God to water your dry condition.

The song service this evening was richly blessed as the Spirit of the Lord gave liberty. The saints were greatly encouraged through the songs – God Can, Nobody Helps Like Jesus!

Through Faith We Understand
Bro. Randy Hargrave

Text: Hebrews 11:1-6

In order not to believe in God, you have to be out of your logical mind. Faith causes you to think right. It gives you the capacity to think the way God designed you to think. Jesus speaks soul language. When your soul connects with Him, that is true happiness. When God smiles and you smile that is enough to make a man cry. Jesus demonstrates, then he asks you what you think. That is the test of faith. Your answer tells on you. Call it for what it is, do not hesitate and speculate. If you see a miracle, do not say “Hmmm, that was…” Just say it, “That was a miracle!” God sends lightning, thunder, and hail and asks you, “What is this?” Admit it and call it for what it is – something real. If you are not offering something real, seekers will walk away. God has established a strong salvation that will produce a strong faith – it will surpass anything this world has to offer. By faith – that is the key.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

West Milton, Ohio, USA

We are filled with praise and thanksgiving – another International Camp Meeting has begun! The saints have arrived with great anticipation to witness the glory of God in the midst His children and feel His mighty, working power in each and every heart.

In the prayer meeting this morning, Bro. Benjamin Tovstiga exhorted the saints to pray for this meeting in a mighty way. God’s expectations for this meeting far exceed our own expectations. We need to ask big – He is mighty!

In the morning service the special singers from Aylmer and Ohio encouraged the saints with songs, Christ Is Not a Disappointment, In Christ Alone, and God Is Glorious.

Fear Him
Bro. Ray Tinsman

Text: Matthew 10:26-28

God still hates sin! No matter what people say or how they excuse themselves, He still hates sin. God will exact vengeance on you if you do not repent. Your due date to pay for your sin is coming, can you afford to pay? If you are late, the penalty is clear. Do you have things you need to clear up? Now is the time to send a messenger to request terms for peace. It is settled – your payment due date has been set, you do not know when. Either it is cleared up or the Lord promises revenge on those who presumed on His mercy but did not act in a timely manner. Now is the time to stop being a hypocrite, terms for eternal peace are still offered. Children need to know they will be responsible for their actions when they know to do better and do not do it. This message needs to be instilled from a young age – God still hates sin!

The tabernacle is full and overflowing, more saints arrived by the time evening service had begun. The weather this first day has been pleasant, which we are thankful for.

Poor In Spirit
Bro. John Strizu

Text: Matthew 5:3

Blessed are the poor in Spirit – the antithesis of mainstream Christianity today. If you feel like you have something to offer God when you get saved, you are not ready. God does not need your money, reputation, or intelligence. He already has what He needs. It is imperative that you declare personal, spiritual bankruptcy and realize you cannot continue alone. No sin is small. If you have only told one lie, you are no better than the drunkard staggering out of the bar. It is all in the heart. A Pharisaical nature is to downplay your own sins versus others. One committed sin gives you the capacity to stop at nothing. The Prodigal son had spent all his money, yet thought there was a little hope so he got a job. When reality hit him, he realized he was craving the food of vile creatures. The time has come to stop believing in yourself and believe in God. Imagine yourself as the dirtiest sinner around. The rich young ruler lacked one thing – the realization of his spiritual poverty.

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