By Martyn Ballestero Sr. 

This is just a line to let you know how things are since you’ve gone. It’s not the same without you, nor will it ever be. Although our lives seem shallow and empty when you’re not here, we’ve learned to make up for you in other ways. We’ve learned to live without you.  We now run the aisles, leap for joy, jig to the music, sing catchy choruses, and tap our feet in time to the rhythm of the drums. We use sticks, banners, black lights and our sign teams do a tremendous job acting out recorded music. We’ve learned to worship without you. The prayer rooms are mostly silent now. Those that do go there, for the most part, come away dry-eyed. A lot of praying now is chanting and singsong style. That’s how we know we’re in the groove.

We pray memorized phrases that come automatically. We love what we call Prayer Walks. Most of us don’t even close our eyes anymore during prayer. We just walk and pray while we look around. We pray because it is required. No one prays till they break through anymore. We just pray till our ten minutes are up. Family altars are almost unheard of now. You can’t imagine how busy we are and how hectic our schedules have been. It’s unbelievable. We get up in the morning and never stop till we go to bed at night. We do try to make it to church most services and get some praying in there during the service, but prayer at home is kind of out of the question. That may be another reason you haven’t heard much from us. Oh sure, we still believe in prayer, as such. But not very many of us are anxious for you to come back. (You were always the polite type, you know, never forcing yourself on anyone. You never came uninvited. You only left because you were ignored.)

The sad truth is you’re not really needed anymore. You see, most of us have hospitalization insurance now. (It sure takes away that old desperate feeling we use to have.) So now, there’s no need to pray more than the few minutes it takes to drive to the Emergency Room.  Also, we don’t have to ask for our daily bread like we used to. We now have better jobs with good benefits and government programs to fall back on. If we lose our jobs, there is always Unemployment or Welfare. If we retire or become disabled, Social Security now supplies our needs.  So, you can see, we’re doing OK.  Other things have filled the void in your absence. Sure we miss you. But we’re getting over it some how. Actually, we’re too busy to entertain you right now, even if you tried to come back. I hope you understand.  We are having revivals now without you. It’s not hard. The pastor fasts and prays, along with a couple others. The evangelist preaches mostly just to sinners now. Most of us try to get to church in time for the first song or two.  We justify the fact that the number of new converts is down.

Yes, there seems to be diminished conviction, less lasting victory, fewer miracles and many young people are backsliding. We agree, however, that it’s not us that are at fault here; it’s just the times we’re living in. It’s like this everywhere. As your friend, I’m writing this to you, knowing how much it must hurt you to have folks say they miss you… and yet in their material and intellectual progress, they’ve weaned themselves away from the haunting memory of you.  What hurts, I know, is that we were children you personally raised. You were always there when we needed you. (But now… we don’t.) You taught us about faith. 

You taught us about miracles. You taught us about a move of God. You taught us about revival. You taught us about how to touch God. Thank you for that, but you see, this is a new day and we are trying to go to the next level. Our services are structured differently now. Do you know… can you believe, that now when you are ever mentioned in church, everyone gets real quite?  They all feel guilty I’m sure. It’s like they experience a momentary twinge of guilt while they consider their part in your disappearance.  Once in awhile some even get misty eyed when we talk about the old times you shared with us. But all that feeling vanishes along with the pizza right after church.  No, Intercessory Prayer, your coming back really wouldn’t work right now.  We’re too blessed. We’re doing too well.  We’re comfortable. In your day, you served your purpose, but the sentiment of most today is that we can manage OK without you now.  We’ve got better clothes, cars, homes and prettier and bigger churches than ever. 

By the way, do you remember all the folks of yesteryear coming into the sanctuary with red-rimmed eyes?  Remember the baggy looking knees in men’s’ suits?  Remember all night prayer meetings?  Remember the depth that was in worship?  Remember when sinners couldn’t sit in their pews any longer, and would run to the altar? Remember when you could feel unity and brotherly love? When folks helped bear one another’s burdens? When the saints didn’t watch the clock? When they could hardly wait to enjoy the after service atmosphere, praying around the altar until the wee hours of the morning? Boy, those were to good old days. We call that “Old School.”

Well, it’s pretty much all gone now. But you ought to see our new Hammond C-3, our new drum set with a cage and everything. Electric bass guitars are just awesome and the electric guitars too. We use Praise Singers to help cover up the fact that our congregations don’t sing like they should or used to. We let them do most of our worship for us. Our Choirs just do terrific on the new style songs. Old saints don’t like the new songs much, but the younger crowd seems to like them. Many music directors don’t even know some of your old favorite songs, so they don’t get played much anywhere. 

You would be proud of our church buildings. Carpet on the floors, there are pews now instead of benches and they are padded too, besides. The arched beam are beautiful, we also have the loveliest of imported chandeliers.  Our pastor has polish too. He doesn’t preach long. We are more concerned about sermon length now, than content. Our pastor spices up his sermons with cute sayings… but I guess that’s progress for you. “Win some, lose some.” Speaking of “lose some”, we’re losing a surprising percentage of our young people. An unbelievable number of marriages have gone on the rocks. Many lives have been in jeopardy. But that’s to be expected I guess. Teenagers seem to be at war with their parents and want to dress more and more like the kids at the public school.  Our youth meetings may not have much in the way of prayer, but we have great icebreakers, skits and games. We have plenty of medicines nowadays to help our aches and pains. What more could we ask for?  Sure we miss you, but I guess we really don’t NEED you right now.  I hope you’re not offended.  I don’t mean for you to be.  You’ll always have a special place in my memory.  You were very kind and generous to me. You sure got me out of some hard times. I can’t thank you enough!  Still, this is a generation now that doesn’t know you at all. Your coming would probably scare them. 

Remember the night when my mother sat at the piano bench and you joined her there? Remember how she wept and groaned in the Spirit and slumped to the floor during the revival service and how some tried to call the ambulance because they thought she was sick? They never knew you and her were talking. That’s what I mean. A good many never got to know you well.  And most never knew you at all. Those that knew you personally have waited so long to talk to you that they are now, to say the least, embarrassed. 

So while we are trying to work out our feelings about you, and see where you might fit into our plans in the future, you might try your luck someplace else. Try Brazil, Ethiopia, or how about the Philippines?  You might have better luck in Third World Countries, or behind the iron Curtain. You might even luck out and find someone to talk to you in some little storefront on the other side of the tacks. Surely someone somewhere needs you. 

We’re terribly sorry, Intercessory Prayer, we miss you, but we really don’t NEED you… right now! 

We would like to thank everyone who attended the Westside Homecoming (Anniversary) service. We had 212 people attend to hear The Chandlers sing along with our local Westside Choir with our guest speaker Rev. Harold Jayco, Tennessee District Secretary.

Listen to the morning service

The ladies of the church prepared a wonderful lunch and the afternoon of singing was a blessing to everyone who attended.

If you missed it be with us next year for our 35th Homecoming! But don’t wait until then come join us this week!

We are excited to begin a new convert class each Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in the church annex.

If you have questions or are interested in attending, please see Bro. or Sis. Baltimore.

“Your love speaks, my heart listens.” That was the message on the card from my wife. The thoughtfulness behind her choosing that card from among hundreds of others on the card display spoke to my heart of her love for me. It caused me to want to make sure that my heart listens when her love speaks.

Consider the emotional disconnect in marriages where love speaks and the heart of the spouse is not listening. My wife’s card reminds me of God’s love for us and of our need to listen.

“God is love.” (See I John 4:8.) “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). God loves the whole world at large, but He also loves us as individuals.

Peter referred to John as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 21:20). The crowd at Lazarus’ tomb saw Jesus weeping and said, “Behold, how he loved him” (John 11:36). John said, “Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus” (John 11:5). God, with whom “there is no respect of persons” (Romans 2:11), loves us on a personal level.

The love of God is manifested toward us. (See I John 4:9.) The word “manifested” comes from a Greek word that means to make apparent, to show, to declare. God’s loves declares forgiveness and healing and deliverance and redemption and salvation.

God’s love said to the woman caught in adultery, “Neither do I condemn thee: go and sin no more” (John 8:11). His love said to the infirm man at the pool of Bethesda, “Rise, take up thy bed and walk” (John 5:8). The love of God said to the Canaanite woman, “O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt” (Matthew 15:28). God says to the young person who has blown it many times, If you confess your sins, I am faithful and just to forgive you and cleanse you.

God speaks His love to each person in his own language, even in his own dialect. God’s love speaks the language in the ghetto and the language of main street America.

Have you heart the voice of God’s love in His Word, your pastor’s sermons, through the songs we sing, your conscience? Does your heart listen?

When the little boy Samuel mistook God’s voice fro Eli’s voice, Eli said, “Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth” (I Samuel 3:9). “The Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth” (verse 10).

May our hearts be attuned to God the words of God’s compassion. May we tune out the world’s distractions and listen to the still, small voice of God’s love. If our heart is listening, we will hear God say, I love you.

Someone said to Karl Barth, “Professor Barth, you have written dozens of great books, and many of us think you are the greatest theologian in the world. Of all your many ideas, what is the most profound thought you have ever had?” Without hesitation, Barth said, “Jesus loves me.”

Paul said, “The love of Christ constraineth us” (II Corinthians 5:14). The word “constraineth” in this verse comes from a Greek word that means to arrest, to take captive.

When Saul of Tarsus was arrested on the road to Damascus, he surrendered and said, “What wilt thou have me to do?” (Acts 9:6). When God’s love speaks to us our response should be to surrender to His love. Our surrender means that we love God. “We love him, because he first loved us” (I John 4:19). Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandants” (John 14:15).

My wife shows me in countless ways that her heart is listening when my love speaks. When I opened her card, I was moved and I called her on the phone and told her that I love her too.

Simeon Young Sr.
Pentecostal Herald

“The heart is a hard-working marvel. It can keep on beating automatically even if all other nerves are severed. It beats an average of seventy-five times a minute, forty million times in a life of seventy years. At each beat, the average adult heart discharges about four ounces of blood. This amounts to three thousand gallons a day or 650,000 gallons a year—enough to fill more that eighty-one tank cars of 8,000 gallons each. The heart does enough work in one hour to lift a 150-pound man to the top of a three-story building, enough energy in twelve hours to lift a sixty-five-ton tank car one foot off the ground, or enough power in seventy years to lift the largest battleship afloat completely out of the water.”

The heart is an amazing organ. No heart, no life! The heart is at the root of all things—it is connected to all things. Everything begins with the heart in the natural and in the spiritual. In the Old Testament it was commanded: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5).

In the New Testament, when Jesus was asked by one of the scribes what the first and most commandment was, Jesus said “The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment” (Mark 12:29-30). God does not want to live in the spare room of our hearts; He wants to sit on the throne of our hearts so that we might live abundant, overcoming lives and become more like Him in everything we do and say.

Webster’s Eleventh Edition gives this definition of the heart: “Personality, disposition, intellect—the emotional or moral as distinguished from the intellectual nature. Affections, ardor, one’s innermost character, feelings or inclinations; it is the central or innermost part—the essential or most vital part of something.”

The very issues of life are connected to the heart as stated in Proverbs 4:23: “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” The consequence (or final outcome) of life and situations emanates from the heart. The destiny of every person flows from the heart—the source of life. Every person’s attitude, behavior, and speech originate from what is described in I Peter 3:4: “The hidden man of the heart.” Our words, actions, and mannerisms reflect as a mirror to other people what is hidden in the heart.

The heart condition is the main thing in life. To have a right heart with God and man should be our ultimate goal. Out of this everything else flows. The two most important commandments were to love God with all our heart and to love our neighbor as ourselves. With the state of the heart being so important, it is necessary to understand what the heart is capable of doing.

The heart can think. Proverbs 23:7 states: “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” We must think on things that are good as stated in Philippians 4:8: “Whatsoever things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, whatsoever things are of a good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

The heart can purpose. “Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat” (Daniel 1:8).
It is important to have the right purposes. “Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord” (Acts 11:23).

The heart can speak. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Matthew 12:34).

The heart can believe. Paul said, “With the heart man believeth unto righteousness” (Romans 10:10). Jesus wants us to be quick to believe and not be as those He describes in Luke 24:25: “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.” “Faith is the vision of the heart. It sees God in the dark, as in the day.”

The heart can sing. Paul said, “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19).

The heart can be broken. The psalmist said, “The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart” (Psalm 34:18).

The heart can be healed. Jesus came to heal broken hearts. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to … heal the brokenhearted” (Luke 4:19).

The heart is capable of many things even more than what is mentioned here, but not only is it important to know what the heart is capable of doing, but also what affects the heart. The heart is affected by the ears, eyes, and spirit, so we must be careful of what we listen to, what we see, and what we absorb through our spirit.

The ears are connected to the heart. The Bible says, “Now the LORD had told Samuel in his ear” (I Samuel 9:15). God sent a message to Samuel’s heart through his ear to tell Saul.

The eyes are connected to the heart. The psalmist said, “I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes” (Psalm 101:2-3). Jeremiah said, “Mine eye affecteth mine heart” (Lamentations 3:51). That is why we must affect our hearts through the medium of the eyes. The Word of God instructs the best way to do this: “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Psalm 119:11). Read the Word! It will keep you from sin.

The mouth is connected to the heart. Jesus said, “For of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh” (Luke 6:45).

The mind is connected to the heart. The psalmist said, “The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple” (Psalms 119:130). As the mind receives the Word, it is absorbed into the heart, and the heart and mind become as one in intent and purpose. They cannot be separated. It is not good to be double minded as stated in James 4:8: “Purify your hearts, ye double minded” It is good to be as I Chronicles 12:33 describes: “they were not of double heart.” It is imperative to have the mind of Christ, which will keep the heart pure as well as keep it on the right track. Paul said, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5).

“The caterpillar of a moth, we are told, becomes like the color of the leaf upon which it feeds. Its color in this way indicates the character of the food it eats. If we would be like Christ we must feed on Him. Our moral character will always manifest the color of our mental food.” The question is: What color is our mental food?

The heart is a message center. Often, after listening to a song, I find myself humming the tune. I received a message through my ears. The words, the beat, the tune, entered my heart and affected me. Other things can affect us also—some good, some bad. When we feel like our heart needs a cleansing, we need to cry with the psalmist: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10).

People grow older, but they must guard their heart, for that is the most important thing. “If wrinkles must be written upon our brows, let them not be written upon the heart.” Keep the heart fresh, full of love, pure, and kind. Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in you! Be that individual who brings peace where there is chaos; love where there is hate; unity where there is division; comfort where there is torment. In all you do, purpose to follow Christ and obey His commandments and shine in a world that is filled with all the opposite of God. Dare to be different and affect a world for eternity!

“Fortunate, indeed, the community [or church] that has a few individuals who go through life curing sorrows, allaying discontents, healing enmities, sweetening bitter fountains, scattering happiness and good-will. One such nature can influence an entire community [church], just as one flower will crowd a room with sweet odors.”

Guard your heart from becoming bitter. Keep the debris of life’s hurts from clogging the joy of the Lord from being in your heart. Serve the Lord with all your heart and let the ears, eyes, and spirit be unpolluted while living in a polluted world. You can make a difference, even as Daniel made a difference during his captivity in a heathen country. You just have to purpose in your heart to do it, and then do it no matter what anyone else does. Be aware every day and every moment of the most important thing in life: the condition of the heart!

Joy Haney
Pentecostal Herald

“How could a loving God send anyone to hell?” People sometimes ask this question as if it were an answer in itself. The assumption is that since the idea of hell is so inconsistent with the character of God hell must not exist. But God does not predestine people to hell. On the contrary, it is not God’s will “that any shouldperish, but that all should come to repentance” (II Peter 3:9).

If the existence of hell were decided by majority opinion, there would be no hell. Although heaven generally gets a “thumbs up” on opinion polls, hell has few supporters. Indeed, for the average critic, the very idea of hell inevitable prompts the question, “How could a loving God send people to hell, anyway?” That said, hell’s existence does not depend on a referendum. The real question is what the Bible teaches on this subject.

Because we have never personally experienced heaven or hell, there remains some mystery. It is similar to when a little boy is told how he will feel when he becomes an adult.
He believes what he is told but cannot fully comprehend it yet. Thus, we believe the Bible when it says that in heaven the streets are made of gold, yet the gold is like “transparent glass” (Rev 21:21). Yet, no one has seen this phenomenon, so it is difficult to imagine. Nor have we come across a rainbow-like emerald throne (Rev 4:3), nor do we understand the glory of God as represented by living creatures somehow interacting with beryl colored wheels turning every which way within other larger wheels (Ezekiel 1:14-19). The Bible requires us to stretch in order to understand.

So it is with hell. Jesus linked hell with flames (Matt 5:22, Luke 16:23-24). He spoke of this fire as everlasting (Matt 18:8, 25:41-46). Yet, Jesus also made reference to hell as “outer darkness” (Matt 8:12; 22:13; 25:30). On the face of it, “outer darkness” is the opposite of “everlasting fire.” Still, both descriptions are consistent in depicting hell as a terrible place. What remains clear is that hell exists as a place where there is very real suffering; further, hell seems to be accentuated by a state ofaloneness.

Jesus was a hell-fire preacher. He talked about hell more than anyone else in the New Testament. Borrowing the language of gehena, the name of the burning refuse dump outside Jerusalem, Jesus painted a picture of judgment, which included by referencing the place of historic shame and human carnage outside Jerusalem, repeatedly warning His audience that hell is a place where “their wormdieth not, and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:44, 46, 48).

It would be beyond the scope of this article to do a study of all related Scriptures. Briefly though, hell is not altogether the same as the Hebrew wordsheol or its Greek equivalent hades. While such words may at times intersect with the idea of a place of suffering and punishment, more often they speak generally of the abode of the dead. Some have actually exploited the create of a kind of shell game that eliminates the notion of hell. But such an attempt does not square with biblical proclamation. The teaching of Jesus is neither ambiguous nor uncertain. Hell is real, and people ought to avoid it.

We now return to the question originally offered: “How could a loving God send anyone to hell?” People sometimes ask this question as if it were an answer in itself. The assumption is that since the idea of hell is so inconsistent with the character of God, hell must not exist. But God does not predestine people to hell. On the contrary, it is not God’s will “that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (II Peter 3:9). In truth, if a person goes to hell, it is because he has ultimately decided that his own will is more important than God’s way. Indeed people go to hell against the will of God, despite the mercy of God, and over the broken body of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I remember a time when as a child I was sent to my bedroom as a punishment. In isolation, I cried and cried, saying all kinds of harsh things to myself against my mother and father. They were terrible people, cruel, and unjust. But when I had cried for a long time, I ran out of tears. And then because I was less angry, my disobedience loomed larger. I gradually acknowledged that it was my own pride that made me the prisoner of my room. I decided then that I wanted to rejoin the family unit and acknowledge my parents’ authority over me.

Pride is never without a price. When Satan suggested to Eve that God was playing unfairly, that He was holding out on her, Eve chose to listen. Unfortunately, in her pride, she forgot God’s love and dwelt on God’s supposed offense. Consequently, Eve become unhappy in paradise! Adam followed suit. Adam and Eve opted for freedom from God’s Lordship, but in doing so, they relinquished their right to have fellowship with God. Similarly, we as descendants of Adam and Eve have a choice whether or not to follow God’s way.

Christians are not free. We may as well admit it. If God is in charge, then we are not. People may mock us because we have restrictions, but those restrictions are apart of the package. God is God. We are not. Yet, we have the incredible promise that “no good thing will God withhold from them that walk uprightly” (Psalms 84:11). God knows what is best for us and He wants us to be blessed.

Christians are not free to hate; we are commanded to forgive, and we have what at times seems like a ridiculous charge to love our enemies. Yet, because God forgives, loves, and blesses us, in order to enjoy His fellowship we are not free to do otherwise. Because such a lifestyle is too restrictive for many, they opt to abandon God’s plan. Such freedom is not without its own consequences.

In C.S. Lewis’s Great Divorce, residents from hell board a bus to go on vacation. The bus stops at a station where it is apparently possible for these same folks to begin to walk towards heaven. In order to do so, they have to leave a few things behind. In Lewis’s parable, only those walking towards heaven can see its beauty. In the end, all the vacationers get back on the bus to hell. An explanation is offered for their curious behavior: “There is always something they insist on keeping, even at the price of misery. There is always something they prefer to joy...Ye see it easily in a spoiled child that would sooner miss its play and its supper than say it was sorry and be friends...but in adult life it has a hundred fine names..revenge...self respect...proper pride.” (C.S. Lewis The Great Divorce)

We as humans mostly want to follow God - except for those times when it appears that God is spoiling our fun. We as God’s creation like the notion of forgiving others - but what prevents us from doing so are those particularly nasty offenses that really hurt us. As rational men and women, we ordinarily want to love - with the exception of the people who do not really deserve it.

Although God will not send anyone to hell, neither will He make anyone choose heaven. Choosing heaven typically involves us changing direction. Yet, when we admit we are wrong, God begins His transforming work in us. No offense is too great to be forgiven.

Despite the fact that Paul was a murderer of Christians, when he turned his life towards Christ, he was offered forgiveness. the preacher told him, “Get up and be baptized, and have your sins washed away” (Acts 22:16 RSV). That is exactly what he did. When Paul received the Holy Spirit, he experienced the gift that Jesus likened to drinking water that forever quench thirst. Eternal life is free, but it is definitely a choice.

The pages of Scripture reveal that on his side of eternity, “we see through a glass, darkly” (I Corinthians 13:12). That said, there are some things that the Bible is very clear about. First despite majority opinion, hell does exist. Second, heaven exists as surely as we do. Finally heaven requires a choice, and it is clearly a choice that is well worth making.

David Norris
The Pentecostal Herald

Each part is 10 minutes in length for a total of 30 minutes.

We hope you enjoy it.

Part II

Part III