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A Word from Bruce

 

Posted by: | on September 24, 2015

Our Intentions Must Always Be Pure

When we serve God or go about His business, it should always be done through pure intentions, as this will help us to be equitable in all our decisions and dealings. It is always a plus to start out with a good sense of right and wrong.

In 1Timothy 3, Paul sets out what would be the expected behaviour of a bishop, pastor, deacon and also their wives and I would extend this requirement also to every church leader. How then could church leaders sit down and discuss how to extract money out of their members pockets and feel justified that they are doing it for God, when God does not require it? We must always remember and be guided by 1Timothy 6:10 which starts ” For the love of money is the root of all evil…..”.

Men were always meant by God to be the leaders of their household and the church but because they are sometimes weak in carrying out their mandate at home or have not shown up for duty in the kingdom of God, then more women have had to take up the mantle.

A church leader who uses the wrong method to get the right results, can only be wrong in the end and is not much different from a scammer who justifies his action by saying that the person whom he has just scammed is foolish. God does not require us to force or coerce anyone in anyway for His sake! To be safe, we must always use the methods prescribed by God.

We must constantly reflect on the things we do or say and make corrections where necessary, with the help of God. Our intentions should always be to do the will of God and so we should at all times make an effort to treat persons equally and fairly. If our intentions are right then we will get better results for God.

Bruce Campbell

23-Sept.-2015

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Posted by: | on December 28, 2014

Baptism: It’s Importance and What the Scripture Says

1Peter 3:20-21 – Can baptism alone save me?…No

Can I get to Heaven without being baptised? Yes….. St. Luke 23:39-43

Jesus’ Instruction:

  • Matt 28: 18-20 (after resurrection)
  • Mark 16: 15-18 (after resurrection)
  • Luke 24: 45 – 50 (after resurrection)
  • John 3: 3-7 (before resurrection) – speaking of those being born again
  • Acts 1: 4-5 (after resurrection) – Jesus stayed with disciples 40 days
  • We are saved by grace not works; baptism is works – Eph 2: 5-9

Steps I must take to get to Heaven

  1. Must believe that God exist
  2. Must be born again (repentance, forgiveness for ourselves and forgiving others, & baptism) in Jesus Christ’s name.
  3. Must believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God; that He was crucified, buried, resurrected and is seated at the right hand of God the Father.
  4. Love God more than anything else, loving our neighbour as ourselves
  5. Be obedient to God, die daily to the flesh (stop sinning)
  6. Endure to the end.

Jesus Christ has given us the steps to follow Him, so let us use them. This is not to say that He cannot do it another way, He is God. The man who was on the cross beside Him was not baptised but he is in paradise.

So now we know that contrary to what some Christians might think, baptism alone cannot save us as it is only part of the process. The more important part of being born again is that of us repenting for our sins and being forgiven by God. When we are born again, we start a new account with God, a good account. Good works cannot save us but they do become more valuable with the new account.

-Bruce Campbell & David Williams

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Posted by: | on December 28, 2014

God’s Promises are Sure! (Both Good and Bad)

  1. Isaiah 58: 6-12. God instructs that if we fast correctly, feed the hungry, give shelter and clothes to those without, then when we call out to Him, He will answer quickly. He will guide us and exalt us.
  2. God promised land to the Jews and He delivered. If they were obedient the journey would have been much less.
  3. 2 Samuel 12:10. God promised David that the sword would never depart from His house, and it never did. This was because David married to Uriah’s wife.
  4. Matt 21:22. Whatever we ask of God believing and not doubting… it shall be done.
  5. The promise of the Holy Spirit. Gal. 3:14
  6. The promise of eternal life. Heb. 9:15
  7. The promise of becoming joint heirs with Jesus Christ. Gal. 3:29
  8. By Jesus’ stripes we are healed. Is.53:5
  9. I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. Heb 13:5
  10. In 2 Kings 20, God promised to extend the life of Hezekiah by 15 years and He did.

 

God’s words cannot be voided and these having gone forth can only be changed by Him. This is accomplished in the scriptures where it says that God repenteth  of a thing.

 

-Bruce Campbell

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Posted by: | on May 26, 2014

Declaring Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham…. You were conceived and brought into this world by Your mother, the virgin Mary, a product of the spoken word of God, You became God in the flesh, You conquered sin and death.

Jesus, You showed us what the greatest love is when You obediently submitted to be crucified, just for me, Your friend, a sinner. This act certainly was not easy but it was worth it, every drop of blood You sweated, every extreme pain You felt as You were scourged. You are truly the Lamb of God.

Jesus Christ, You did die on the cross that day, You were buried and on the third day You rose from the dead, and although You are God, You are still the Son of God. You are now seated at the right hand of God Almighty, waiting on Him to tell You when to return to this earth…. in Your full glory.

Jesus, You are the Alpha and the Omega (the begining and the end) because You were here when the foundations of the earth were being laid and You will come back to end it all. You are the lion of Judah but You are still the lamb. Some might think that You are a paradox but I say no, You are just being God!

Jesus, You are our Saviour, provider, healer, Comforter and King. Yes, You are the King of kings and the Lord of lords. You are wonderful, marvellous, all things to all men. There is no other name but the name of Jesus, at the mention of Your name, every knee shall bow because You alone are worthy. Hallelujah!!!!

Bruce, 28-2-14.

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Posted by: | on February 27, 2014

The Beginning of Our Walk With God (Part1)

Our walk with God starts with a desire for God and that by faith we believe that He exists, that He is…. Heb.11:6. So we cannot serve God if we do not think that He exist. Ezekiel 18:25-32 sets the stage for repentance and a new life with God. Acts 2:38 suggest that we are all to repent and be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ.
Although our works are important, our works cannot save us. Baptism, though important, cannot save us. It is when we are truly repentant before God (broken, surrendered and asking Him to forgive our sins) that forgiveness comes. Baptism is an outward sign of our death and resurrection with Jesus Christ. Romans 6:1-6. On only one occasion did Jesus Christ died and was resurrected, so there is no need for more than one baptism (Eph. 4-5), and in fact our salvation does not depend on us being baptised. The thief who was crucified on the cross next to Jesus Christ and forgiven by Jesus, was not taken down and baptised before he died! St.Luke 23:39-43.
Some things to adopt during our early walk:-
1) 1Peter 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.
2) St.John 14-26, that the Holy Ghost is the greatest teacher.
3) St.Matthew 6:33, ” But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all things shall be added unto you.
God builds us up bit by bit and speaks to us in unknown tongues. Isaiah 28:9-11.

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Posted by: | on August 14, 2013

You just cannot lose if you choose God

If you believe that God exists and you walk according to His word and if at the beginning of eternity you discover that He does exists, then what an exceedingly wonderful eternity that would be.
If you believe that God exists and in the end you discover that He does not exist, then all it would mean, is that you would have lived your life as a much better person and impacting others positively.
If however, you believe that God does not exist and in the end you discover that He does exist, then eternity will be spent by you in much heat and torment.
If today you would believe that God exists and start that relationship with Him, you would soon discover that He is real and that He loves you so much. It is better to err on the side of caution.
Father God, I pray for Your continued urging of Your people to do the right things, Amen.

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Posted by: | on August 5, 2013

Giving

Who shall enter into His gates, he that has clean hands and a pure heart!
The precepts of God are all interconnected and are suppose to connect us to Him. The word of God instructs us to give, and it is in that giving that we shall receive. So we should not give and then make demands because we have given! Neither should we expect it.
In the ‘Our Father’ prayer, God instructs that if we do not forgive those who have trespass against us, we should not in fact expect to be forgiven ours against God. So if we are not willing to give then we are in serious trouble.
For there is no greater love than he that would lay down his life for a friend. The question is how much of us would be willing to do this right now? Jesus Christ did!!! He has given the most. How much do we think we can give? Are we willing to give the very thing that we believe is necessary to save our lives, like the woman who gave of her last meal to Elijah and then her miracles came?
Father help us to understand these precepts and apply them to our lives in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Posted by: | on August 5, 2013

Being Organized Helps

All of us have problems remembering things we need to remember at times. So to get by more efficiently in this stressful world, we need to set up little systems and encourage habits that can help.
1) Organize yourself from overnight as best as possible, putting things you need to take to work or school together. If you drive, put your car keys amongst the stuff you need to take with you, as you cannot drive away without your keys.
2) If you are travelling long distance, try packing your bags a day or two early. Charge phones and pack away chargers from the day before you travel. Reverse the process when you get to the other end. Leave behind things which are not necessary to take along, that way you cannot leave them on your return trip.
3) Try and be as current as possible with the various task at home or at work. The more you do today the less you will have to do tomorrow (don’t put off for tomorrow, what you can do today). (a) Make notes of the things you must do, strike them off your list as soon as they are done. (b) Multi-task at home. This is accomplished by combining two or more task that require varying levels of continuous attention. An example of this would be to wash the dirty dishes or prepare the drink while cooking. Another example would be to rake the yard or wash the car while filling your drums or tank with water.
4) Try and be at least a half an hour early for any event. If you are being offered a lift to anywhere, then you should be ready and waiting on the person. When travelling with others, you must first identify what time you need to arrive at your destination, then subtract the total number of hours that it will take the group to be ready for travel. Subtract also your travel time and the half an hour you had given yourself to be early. This should give you a reasonable point at which to start preparation.
Father I pray that as your children, we will adopt to survive, that we will not be too lazy to think or too bound to move! Almighty God, while it is an asset to be able to function under pressure, it cannot be applauded to be a last minute person. Father in the name of Jesus, I pray that we will not be so stubborn that we cannot change, but rather that we will be malleable clay on the potter’s wheel. Father we thank you for your Word in Jesus name. Amen.

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Posted by: | on May 3, 2013

Hard Facts for a Hard Life

We are all living in increasingly difficult times so we need to accept this and prepare ourselves to endure. We just cannot escape the ever increasing taxes or the high costs on food, fuel, electricity, water, etc. Irrespective of how much we earn, it is possible to spend it all. And no matter how small the pay is, it is possible to save some. For most persons, what we earn is never enough to cover all the expenses so we prioritize and then we prioritize some more until some of the items at the end of the list get burnt.
On the 1st of January 2013, NWC (National Water Commission) locked off water to our area in Westmoreland as they thought it necessary to supply only the tourist area of Negril. The total lack of piped water would continue for the next four months. During this period my wife would travel with some five gallon pails in her car and which she would take back full of drinking water from the town of Savanna-la-mar (she had to do all the lifting). I work work out of town and is only home on weekends. On most Sunday mornings for that period of time, I would put a couple of drums in the back of a pickup and take them to a spring where I would fill them with buckets for washing purposes.
For the entire four months period, my wife and myself along with my last daughter would hand wash all the dirty clothes. This activity would occur on a Saturday or a Sunday morning. The important revelations in all this are as follows:-
1) Things sometimes have to be removed forcibly for us to understand and agree with God or our brethren.
2) There can be much financial savings if we remove a particular thing from our list even if we think we can’t do without it (during the period we saved on water and electricity)
3) In the coming years, we have to decide what to give up or what not to buy so as to enable us to function better, we have to take the tough decisions.
4) More of us need to start cultivating food stuff for consumption.
Father I pray for people in this time, in this hour, for strength and courage, in Jesus Christ’s name, Amen.

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Posted by: | on April 23, 2013

Doing God’s Business

There is no perfect moment, place or time to do God’s business, when you are on the road to perfection (God). If you wait to see all things in place before you move, then you may never move. All that is required of us by God is to believe that he will take care of us and that if He says so, then we are to move…..now!
So if there are no resources, we are to move. If there is constant pain in our bodies, we are to move. If there is wickedness all around us, we are to move. If there is unbelief around us, we are to move. It is not by might but by your Spirit God Almighty and faith without works is dead. Move Lord move, move across this land…. and across this world, in Jesus Christ’s name, amen.

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