Thank you, thank you, thank you, from the bottom of our collective hearts, our family says "Thank you!" to the JNPC church family. Your kindness and generosity during October (Pastor Appreciation Month) has been a time of uplifting this fall season. For every dinner, every gift, every card, every gracious thought, and for all the prayers we are most eternally grateful. What a tremendous month it has been. And thank you for the incredible church dinner/luau, complete with a whole roasted pig! You all are fantastic.I don't have enough words to express our love and gratitude to this church, to each of you. You are in our prayers, and we can tell that you all are praying for us. We are looking forward to the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons that are coming up soon, I know that it will be an awesome season of growth in God. So, again, and I don't think I can say it enough, thank you for an unbelievable October. We are looking forward to the future in God.
Pastor Gates
Showing posts with label From The Pastor's Desk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label From The Pastor's Desk. Show all posts
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
It's June!
Wow. It seems as if weeks have passed since I have updated. But that's only because it has been.
We spent a great week at our Missouri District Youth Camp, the speakers all did an excellent job, especially the night speaker.
Omar Jolly moved our young people deeply with incredibly anointed preaching. He had a favorite phrase that he used several times during the week... "The Devil is a Liar!" Usually said in a strongly punctuated voice.
The scripture text is John 8:44
"You are the children of your father, the Devil, and you want to follow your father's desires. From the very beginning he was a murderer and has never been on the side of truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he is only doing what is natural to him, because he is a liar and the father of all lies." TEV
"...he (the devil) is a liar..."
What does he lie about? Just about everything that he ever says to mankind. Go back to the Garden of Eden. He told Eve that they could become like God, it was a lie. He told them they would not die if they ate the fruit, they did die spiritually, they lost their communion with God.
When he inspired Rabshakeh in Isaiah 36 he was lying.
Isaiah 36:11-18
11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the king's representative, "Please speak to us in Aramaic, for we understand it well. Don't speak in Hebrew, for the people on the wall will hear."
12 But Sennacherib's representative replied, "My master wants everyone in Jerusalem to hear this, not just you. He wants them to know that if you do not surrender, this city will be put under siege. The people will become so hungry and thirsty that they will eat their own dung and drink their own urine."
13 Then he stood and shouted in Hebrew to the people on the wall, "Listen to this message from the great king of Assyria!
14 This is what the king says: Don't let King Hezekiah deceive you. He will never be able to rescue you.
15 Don't let him fool you into trusting in the LORD by saying, 'The LORD will rescue us! This city will never be handed over to the Assyrian king.'
16 "Don't listen to Hezekiah! These are the terms the king of Assyria is offering: Make peace with me — open the gates and come out. Then I will allow each of you to continue eating from your own garden and drinking from your own well.
17 Then I will arrange to take you to another land like this one — a country with bountiful harvests of grain and wine, bread and vineyards — a land of plenty.
18 "Don't let Hezekiah mislead you by saying, 'The LORD will rescue us!' Have the gods of any other nations ever saved their people from the king of Assyria? NLT
Rabshakeh was wrong several points. It was not foolish to trust in the Lord. And I doubt seriously that he would have let them continue eating from their own gardens and trees. But besides that, he said that he would give them land, in a distant country, that was as good as what God had given them through their forefathers.
The wonderful things of God, the godly heritage we have, His presence, His blessings, are not for sale or trade! Which brings me to my last thing. He said that Hezekiah was wrong to say the Lord would rescue them. The Lord did rescue them. Rabshakeh had to take his army back to the north.
The Devil is a Liar!!
Listen my friend, God does care about you, even when it feels as if you are surrounded in life. HE does know exactly how far the enemy has come into your life, the advantages he has taken on you. He knows the fear and worry that you feel and deal with every day of your life. Can I repeat the words? The Devil is a Liar!
God will rescue you. Yes, it will be in God's time and not ours, but He is never late. He may not be early, but He is never late.
God has not deemed you fit only for destruction, He will not let you fall, He will lift you up. It doesn't matter what the devils says. The Devil is a Liar!
When the devil whispers in your ear that God must not love you, remember, the Devil is a Liar. When he says that you will always be a failure, the Devil is a Liar. When he tells you that your healing will never come, the Devil is a Liar.
May God bless you all greatly this week...
We spent a great week at our Missouri District Youth Camp, the speakers all did an excellent job, especially the night speaker.
Omar Jolly moved our young people deeply with incredibly anointed preaching. He had a favorite phrase that he used several times during the week... "The Devil is a Liar!" Usually said in a strongly punctuated voice.
The scripture text is John 8:44
"You are the children of your father, the Devil, and you want to follow your father's desires. From the very beginning he was a murderer and has never been on the side of truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he is only doing what is natural to him, because he is a liar and the father of all lies." TEV
"...he (the devil) is a liar..."
What does he lie about? Just about everything that he ever says to mankind. Go back to the Garden of Eden. He told Eve that they could become like God, it was a lie. He told them they would not die if they ate the fruit, they did die spiritually, they lost their communion with God.
When he inspired Rabshakeh in Isaiah 36 he was lying.
Isaiah 36:11-18
11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the king's representative, "Please speak to us in Aramaic, for we understand it well. Don't speak in Hebrew, for the people on the wall will hear."
12 But Sennacherib's representative replied, "My master wants everyone in Jerusalem to hear this, not just you. He wants them to know that if you do not surrender, this city will be put under siege. The people will become so hungry and thirsty that they will eat their own dung and drink their own urine."
13 Then he stood and shouted in Hebrew to the people on the wall, "Listen to this message from the great king of Assyria!
14 This is what the king says: Don't let King Hezekiah deceive you. He will never be able to rescue you.
15 Don't let him fool you into trusting in the LORD by saying, 'The LORD will rescue us! This city will never be handed over to the Assyrian king.'
16 "Don't listen to Hezekiah! These are the terms the king of Assyria is offering: Make peace with me — open the gates and come out. Then I will allow each of you to continue eating from your own garden and drinking from your own well.
17 Then I will arrange to take you to another land like this one — a country with bountiful harvests of grain and wine, bread and vineyards — a land of plenty.
18 "Don't let Hezekiah mislead you by saying, 'The LORD will rescue us!' Have the gods of any other nations ever saved their people from the king of Assyria? NLT
Rabshakeh was wrong several points. It was not foolish to trust in the Lord. And I doubt seriously that he would have let them continue eating from their own gardens and trees. But besides that, he said that he would give them land, in a distant country, that was as good as what God had given them through their forefathers.
The wonderful things of God, the godly heritage we have, His presence, His blessings, are not for sale or trade! Which brings me to my last thing. He said that Hezekiah was wrong to say the Lord would rescue them. The Lord did rescue them. Rabshakeh had to take his army back to the north.
The Devil is a Liar!!
Listen my friend, God does care about you, even when it feels as if you are surrounded in life. HE does know exactly how far the enemy has come into your life, the advantages he has taken on you. He knows the fear and worry that you feel and deal with every day of your life. Can I repeat the words? The Devil is a Liar!
God will rescue you. Yes, it will be in God's time and not ours, but He is never late. He may not be early, but He is never late.
God has not deemed you fit only for destruction, He will not let you fall, He will lift you up. It doesn't matter what the devils says. The Devil is a Liar!
When the devil whispers in your ear that God must not love you, remember, the Devil is a Liar. When he says that you will always be a failure, the Devil is a Liar. When he tells you that your healing will never come, the Devil is a Liar.
May God bless you all greatly this week...
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Spring is Here! And a thought about Graduation
Greetings one and all in the name of Jesus!
Sorry this is arriving a day late, but I've had a pretty busy week so far.
Spring is the time of flowers, weddings, and Graduations! And we have all three this week. So let me say Congratulations to our graduates, Tosha Overton, Audra McKown, Alex Rodriguez, and Ronnie Overton, who got his GED this year. I pray that life is good to you, but more importantly, that you let God's hand lead you and His voice speak to you.
And then also congratulations to JP Ford and Samantha Lawrence as they prepare for their wedding this coming Saturday.
Spring is a season of hope, the wonder of God's beauty fills nature with green leaves and colorful flowers. It is as if nature is experiencing a rebirth after a long, hard winter.
So from where do the seasons come? Whose idea was this? Well, the answer is found in Genesis.
Genesis 8:20-22
20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and sacrificed on it the animals and birds that had been approved for that purpose.
21 And the LORD was pleased with the sacrifice and said to himself, "I will never again curse the earth, destroying all living things, even though people's thoughts and actions are bent toward evil from childhood.
22 As long as the earth remains, there will be springtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, day and night." NLT
The idea of spring, summer, fall, and winter, is God's idea. I think that He gave them to us to not only mark time, but to remind us that there are seasons in life.
We can look at life in the long view, where we enter the harvest and winter season in old age, but I think it applies even before then.
There are times in life when we enjoy the beauty of spring, everything is coming up roses for us, life is sweet and good. Everything seems to be blooming. But Spring is good for something else. It's the time of planting. We sow seeds in the spring. There is plenty of grain, so we sow some for the future, looking forward to the harvest that is to come. Spring is that season when you are preparing, planting things, getting things ready, knowing that all that you are doing now, whether it's time spent studying in school, blessing others, giving to the Lord, will one day return as a harvest.
You may be in springtime in your life right now, just know that while you may not see the results yet, there will be a harvest. Spring reminds me that there is a harvest. If we are not careful we will miss it, we will enjoy the beauty of the days and forget that this is the time to sow, to give, to be generous, knowing that we will receive a harvest in due time.
What do you do if you are in a summer season, or a fall season, or (gasp) even a winter season? I will write those seasons later. For now, enjoy the spring!
God Bless...
Pastor Craig
Sorry this is arriving a day late, but I've had a pretty busy week so far.
Spring is the time of flowers, weddings, and Graduations! And we have all three this week. So let me say Congratulations to our graduates, Tosha Overton, Audra McKown, Alex Rodriguez, and Ronnie Overton, who got his GED this year. I pray that life is good to you, but more importantly, that you let God's hand lead you and His voice speak to you.
And then also congratulations to JP Ford and Samantha Lawrence as they prepare for their wedding this coming Saturday.
Spring is a season of hope, the wonder of God's beauty fills nature with green leaves and colorful flowers. It is as if nature is experiencing a rebirth after a long, hard winter.
So from where do the seasons come? Whose idea was this? Well, the answer is found in Genesis.
Genesis 8:20-22
20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and sacrificed on it the animals and birds that had been approved for that purpose.
21 And the LORD was pleased with the sacrifice and said to himself, "I will never again curse the earth, destroying all living things, even though people's thoughts and actions are bent toward evil from childhood.
22 As long as the earth remains, there will be springtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, day and night." NLT
The idea of spring, summer, fall, and winter, is God's idea. I think that He gave them to us to not only mark time, but to remind us that there are seasons in life.
We can look at life in the long view, where we enter the harvest and winter season in old age, but I think it applies even before then.
There are times in life when we enjoy the beauty of spring, everything is coming up roses for us, life is sweet and good. Everything seems to be blooming. But Spring is good for something else. It's the time of planting. We sow seeds in the spring. There is plenty of grain, so we sow some for the future, looking forward to the harvest that is to come. Spring is that season when you are preparing, planting things, getting things ready, knowing that all that you are doing now, whether it's time spent studying in school, blessing others, giving to the Lord, will one day return as a harvest.
You may be in springtime in your life right now, just know that while you may not see the results yet, there will be a harvest. Spring reminds me that there is a harvest. If we are not careful we will miss it, we will enjoy the beauty of the days and forget that this is the time to sow, to give, to be generous, knowing that we will receive a harvest in due time.
What do you do if you are in a summer season, or a fall season, or (gasp) even a winter season? I will write those seasons later. For now, enjoy the spring!
God Bless...
Pastor Craig
Monday, May 11, 2009
Ahhhh.... Mondays!
Greetings one and all... may today find you blessed and enjoying life.
It's Monday again, and another busy week. I am reminded of the old proverb about taking time to stop and smell the flowers, and May is certainly the month to do just that.
I didn't get to post last week, so congratulations to the Prengers on the dedication of Charlie Mike. And more congrats to the Hernandez' on the baptism of Paul. And while we are at it, I had the privilege of baptizing my youngest son, Joel. A great week it was.
But today finds me headed to St Louis, our cross-state rival city, where I have meetings scheduled for today. Today's post might be a little short.
Yesterday was Mothers Day, so to all the mother's in our lives, I pray that yesterday was blessed and that you feel our love throughout the year.
I can't get a certain verse out of my head...
Titus 2:13
13 Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
NKJV
I like this verse... He is our blessed hope. All of the problems with dear old Mother Earth end with the appearing, the return, of Jesus. Paul would write that all of creation groans waiting for the day of release. There are a lot of problems, some man-made, some given by nature, some seem to spring up out of no where. But when Jesus returns all of those things end.
I like this verse... because He is our great God and Savior. It states in one verse that Jesus is not only savior, the One who went to the cross, but He is also God, the Great God. When you say "God", you imply certain things. Creative ability, miraculous power, universe-controlling... you get the idea. God is big. Jesus is that Great big God in the flesh of a man, and He took that flesh to a cross to pay for my sins, and your sins. And Paul tell Titus that same God, with all of that love and power, is going to return.
While I don't know the day that He will return, I know that He will return. It might even be on a Monday.
I pray that this week finds you incredibly blessed.
Pastor Craig
It's Monday again, and another busy week. I am reminded of the old proverb about taking time to stop and smell the flowers, and May is certainly the month to do just that.
I didn't get to post last week, so congratulations to the Prengers on the dedication of Charlie Mike. And more congrats to the Hernandez' on the baptism of Paul. And while we are at it, I had the privilege of baptizing my youngest son, Joel. A great week it was.
But today finds me headed to St Louis, our cross-state rival city, where I have meetings scheduled for today. Today's post might be a little short.
Yesterday was Mothers Day, so to all the mother's in our lives, I pray that yesterday was blessed and that you feel our love throughout the year.
I can't get a certain verse out of my head...
Titus 2:13
13 Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
NKJV
I like this verse... He is our blessed hope. All of the problems with dear old Mother Earth end with the appearing, the return, of Jesus. Paul would write that all of creation groans waiting for the day of release. There are a lot of problems, some man-made, some given by nature, some seem to spring up out of no where. But when Jesus returns all of those things end.
I like this verse... because He is our great God and Savior. It states in one verse that Jesus is not only savior, the One who went to the cross, but He is also God, the Great God. When you say "God", you imply certain things. Creative ability, miraculous power, universe-controlling... you get the idea. God is big. Jesus is that Great big God in the flesh of a man, and He took that flesh to a cross to pay for my sins, and your sins. And Paul tell Titus that same God, with all of that love and power, is going to return.
While I don't know the day that He will return, I know that He will return. It might even be on a Monday.
I pray that this week finds you incredibly blessed.
Pastor Craig
Monday, April 27, 2009
May is almost here!
Welcome to a rainy Monday morning! But despite the rain, everything is still good. I was taking my oldest son to school today, he remarked (sarcastically) how pretty the blue sky was, and wonderful the bright sunshine. I chuckled for a moment, but then it hit, the sky is still blue, and the sun is still shining. Just because I can't see them this moment doesn't take away the fact of their existence.
James 1:2-5
2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,
3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. NKJV
Count it all joy... those are words not always easy to hear when it's raining and you want to see the sun... but the sun is still out there, just as God is still working in your life, even when things seem to be at their most difficult.
The rain brings life and nutrients to the soil, and sometimes problems and trials bring us closer to God who enable us to grow in Him.
Count it all joy...
Pastor Craig
James 1:2-5
2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,
3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. NKJV
Count it all joy... those are words not always easy to hear when it's raining and you want to see the sun... but the sun is still out there, just as God is still working in your life, even when things seem to be at their most difficult.
The rain brings life and nutrients to the soil, and sometimes problems and trials bring us closer to God who enable us to grow in Him.
Count it all joy...
Pastor Craig
Friday, March 13, 2009
Welcome...
Welcome to our new blog...
This will be the place that we leave thoughts, upcoming events, scripture thoughts of the day, points to ponder, and generally any other good information we can pass along.
We hope and pray that this will be a blessing to your life.
And before I forget, major props to Rachelle for setting this up! We couldn't have done this without her.
Feel free to contact us...
Pastor Craig L Gates
This will be the place that we leave thoughts, upcoming events, scripture thoughts of the day, points to ponder, and generally any other good information we can pass along.
We hope and pray that this will be a blessing to your life.
And before I forget, major props to Rachelle for setting this up! We couldn't have done this without her.
Feel free to contact us...
Pastor Craig L Gates
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Meet Pastor Gates
Meet Pastor Craig Gates & His Family
I have been a life-long Kansas City, MO resident. Born and raised in Raytown, MO, I am a graduate of Raytown South High School.
I felt the call to the ministry at the age of 16, and although I didn’t always pursue that call, it was something that never left me.
After high school, I attended UMKC for one year, but I was unhappy, knowing that I had been given a call to something beyond the career choice I was making.
In the fall of 1984 I enrolled at Gateway College of Evangelism in St. Louis, a UPCI Bible School to study for the ministry. I received my Bachelors of Theology in the spring of 1988.
I married Melinda in June of 1989. Melinda is also a life-long resident of Kansas City. She works along side me in many areas of the church. We have three children Alex (born 11-13-92), Hannah (born 6-9-96) and Joel (born 5-8-01).
Our mission here at JNPC is to evangelize the unchurched, establish the new believer, and equip the saints for the work of the ministry. Everyone has a purpose in God, it is my prayer that you will join us to discover your purpose, your calling, and your gift for the Kingdom of God. We know that God is a healer, that He is a provider, that He loves you more than you can imagine.
May God bless you all,
Pastor Craig
pastor@jesusnamekc.com
pastor@jesusnamekc.com
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