| GEORGE'S ANGELS NEWSLETTER | |
| In Loving Memory of Bishop George Moye | December 1999 |
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves,
it is the gift of God.... Ephesians 2:8
A gift is that which someone, out of love or
and adoration, gives to another. Gifts are
always a pleasant and surprising delight. The
giving of gifts is what makes Christmas such a
joyful time. However, the problem is that we
get side tracked by the material gifts and little
time and attention is given to "The" gift. The
greatest gift of all is the gift God gave 2,000
years ago.
"For God so loved the world that he gave
his one and only Son, that whoever believes
in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world
to condemn the world, but to save the world
through him. Whoever believes in him is
not condemned, but whoever does not
believe stands condemned already because
he has not believed in the name of God's one
and only Son. John 3:16-17
God's gift was given out of His love and grace. He did not want to see the world condemned but
wanted all to be saved and receive eternal life. He gave us out of his kindness, unmerited favor
and forgiving love. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from
yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast. Eph. 2:8-9.
I, for one, am so glad that God's gift of salvation is given out of his grace and unmerited favor.
No human effort can achieve our salvation, it is a gift from God. How many gifts have you had
to work for? How many gifts you received that were due to your hard work and dedication? If
you received anything at all for working hard or doing good, it was not a "gift," rather, you
worked for it and earned it. For example, I am sure you do not consider your paycheck a gift
from your employer. On the contrary, a gift is free and given freely.
The most wonderful thing about God's gift of salvation is that we did not earn it. He gave it
because He loved us, not because we loved Him and deserved some sort of favor from Him. The
Bible says while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). What we truly deserve is
to be judged for the sin in our lives and given the punishment of death - separation from God.
But, Praise God! due to His unfailing love and great compassion for us, He sent Jesus Christ to
die in our place. All we have to do is accept His gift by placing our trust and faith in Jesus
Christ, invite Him into our hearts and be released from the wages of death and given eternal life.
How wonderful the gift of God to the world!
We, believers, cannot hear this message enough. It is enough to get us excited and praising God
in a moment's notice. We are ever mindful of the grace of God through Jesus Christ and it is
reason alone to praise and worship the Lord. Christmas time, is the time believers are to be
overwhelmed with the reality of the gift of Jesus Christ. We celebrate through praise and
worship in prayer, church services, charity giving or by whatever means God lay on our hearts to
make Christ known to the world. The Christmas Message is: Believe and Be Saved!!!
The other day, I was meditating on the Word of God while beginning to reading the book of
Ephesians. In the very first chapter, 11th verse, I discovered that God gave Christ as a gift to us
and Christ gives us back as a gift to God. What a wonderful thought -- to be a gift to God!!!
That is exactly what we are when we are "born again." We are gifts born to God just as newborn
babies are gifts to their mothers. I can still remember 20 years ago when I gave birth to my
one-and-only child, I remember thinking "I could love no one more than my own child." During
this time of meditating on God's Word, He showed me that this is exactly how He feels about His
"born again" children.
John Wesley was asked why he preached so often on, "Ye must be born again." He answered,
'Because ye must be born again.' Have YOU been born again? Without the new birth, you have
no hope of escaping the terrors of Hell or enjoying the glories of Heaven. The Lord Jesus said,
"Ye must be born again." (John 3:7)
I. WHAT THE NEW BIRTH IS NOT
1. It is not religion. Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a very strict religionist. He celebrated the Passover, paid tithes, said prayers, brought sacrifices and tried to keep the Law. To HIM the Lord Jesus said, "Ye must be born again." Law keeping, joining a church, being baptized or living up to a religious creed will not save you. There will be many in Hell who did all of these things. Will you? Ye MUST be born again.
2. It is not morality. You may try to keep the Golden Rule, pay your bills, be a good neighbor, stay out of jail, and live a clean, moral life, but that won't save you. It is not recorded that our Lord said, "Ye must be born again," to cowardly, vacillating Pilate, or to two-faced, hypocritical Judas. Why? Because you would say, 'I know miserable hypocrites like Judas and men like Pilate need to be born again, but I'm not like them. I wouldn't betray Christ with a kiss after professing to be His friend. I wouldn't order Jesus to be beaten and then turn Him over to a howling, blood-thirsty mob to be crucified. Gangsters, thugs, adulterers, liars, drunkards and gamblers need to be born again, but not I. I'm all right.'
My friend, do you realize that God's Son spoke these words on the new birth to a man who was doing his best to gain Heaven? Without a doubt, he was neither a crook, drunkard, nor gambler. He was a true husband, a good neighbor, a man of clean morals, and religious. If he needed to be born again, so do you. HOW DO YOU EXPECT TO MAKE IT TO HEAVEN WITHOUT BEING BORN AGAIN IF NICODEMUS COULDN'T?
3. It is not reformation. Even if you would quit all your meanness, that would not be the new
birth. Your trouble is not on the outside, but on the inside. You don't need exterior decoration,
but interior regeneration. Satan wants you to rest in a false peace. We warn you in Jesus' name,
don't be satisfied unless you have been born again.
II. WHAT THE NEW BIRTH IS
1. It is a mystery you cannot explain, but a reality no man can explain away. "The wind
bloweth where it listeth [pleaseth], and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence
it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is everyone that is born of the Spirit." (John 3:8) Just as
Nicodemus could not understand or explain the wind, so no man can understand or explain the
new birth. But the wind is a reality no man can explain away. Only a fool would say, "I don't
believe in the wind because I have never seen it and I can't understand it." See the wind move
the big limbs of an oak. Watch the wind tear a house to splinters. You cannot deny the reality of
wind! You cannot see the Holy Spirit. You cannot explain Him. But see His mighty power make
the harlot pure, the liar honest, the drunkard sober, the blasphemer pray, and then try to deny the
reality of it.
2. It is the work of God by which a poor, lost, guilty, hell-deserving sinner who receives the Lord Jesus receives a new nature, becomes a child of God and begins a new life. It is a second birth, a spiritual birth.
Physical life begins by birth. Spiritual life begins the same way- -not by joining a church and
becoming religious. You cannot JOIN the family of God, you must be BORN into it. Someone
has said, 'You can't make a Christian out of anybody.' True, Christians are not made, they are
born.
A birth is the coming into being of a new life which has the nature of its parents. When you were born the first time, you were made a partaker of the old nature, the sinful nature we all received from Adam. When you are born again, you become a partaker "of the divine nature" (II Peter 1:4). Is this true of you? DO YOU have the divine nature?
No matter what kind of religious profession you have made, no matter how good a person you
may be morally, unless you have been made the partaker of the divine nature, you are not saved.
God gives you this new nature the moment you receive His Son. It is instantaneous. You can no
more be born again by degrees than you can shoot a firecracker by degrees. When you are born
again, you begin living a new life. That is what happened when you were born the first time; you
began living a life you had never lived before.
Some think they are going to Heaven just because they went forward in a meeting. Be sure you
are born again. There may be a more spectacular change in the life of one who is a drunken,
railing blasphemer, but even in you who have not been down deep in sin, there is bound to be a
change when you are born again. There will be a new attitude towards the Lord Jesus Christ, His
Word, and His people.
Are you SURE you have been born again? You may not know the exact day or hour you trusted Christ, but you should be able to say, 'I know NOW I am born again.' If you are not certain about this most solemn matter, I beg of you to tell the Lord Jesus that you receive Him now. Then read John 3:36 and believe it. "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life."
III. WHY YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN
1. Because the Lord Jesus Christ said so. That ought to settle it.
2. Because you have a sinful nature. The nature we all receive from Adam is fallen, corrupt and totally depraved. God says the heart of man "is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked:" (Jeremiah 17:9). With this old nature you could not enjoy yourself in Heaven. If you can't find any pleasure in a prayer meeting now, how can you expect to enjoy Heaven hereafter? Heaven is a holy place. When you are born again, God gives you a holy nature that you might enjoy yourself in Heaven, a holy place.
3. Because you cannot save yourself. " For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)
"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us,"
(Titus 3:5). Now don't skip lightly over these two quotations from God's Holy Word. Read them
again and again until the truth grips you. You cannot save yourself--you MUST be born again.
IV. HOW TO BE BORN AGAIN
"He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 1:11-13)
1. It is not of blood. You are not a Christian just because your parents may be. You do not inherit
salvation from your parents. Even though your folks may be saved, if you have not been born
again, you are lost.
2. Nor of the will of the flesh. It is not by your own efforts and willpower. You will fail. So why
not stop trying? Instead of trying, trust, receive, depend upon the One Who died and rose again.
If I'd ask some of you if you were a child of God, you would say, 'I don't know for sure, but I'm
trying to be, in my poor, weak way.' Now suppose you ask Johnny Jones if he is the son of Mr.
and Mrs. Jones and he answers, 'I am not certain, but I'm trying to be in my poor, weak way.'
How silly. He is not their son because he tries to be, but because he was born into their home. If
you are a child of God, it is not because you are trying to be, but because you have been born
into His family.
3. Nor of the will of man. It is not brought about by any of man's religious creeds, systems, or ceremonies. No man or organization can do anything to you that will make you a child of God. Join what you will, go through ceremony after ceremony, memorize creeds, and try to keep the rules and regulations of man-made systems, but it will not save you.
I heard a man testify, 'I have been the president of the men's Bible class in our church for the past
two years, but I didn't get saved until just two months ago.' For twenty-two months the president
of the men's Bible class, a member of a church, believing in God and the Bible, but lost because
he had never been born again.
4. But of God. The Lord Jesus said you must be born "of the Spirit." It is God's work, not yours.
It is a miracle. Only God can perform it. If God has not done a work in your life, you are not
born again. Your part is to believe God's record about you, that you are lost and in need of
Christ, and receive Him as your Lord and personal Saviour. He died at Calvary, satisfying the
righteousness and justice of God, that He might take your sins and punishment upon Himself. He
arose and is seated today as God's Man at "the right hand of the Majesty on high" (see Hebrews
1:3), and He is offered to you as God's salvation. When you receive HIM, you will be saved, for
Paul says we are "children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:26)
You do not receive Christ by taking communion. You receive Christ by faith. Just tell Him that
you receive Him as your personal Saviour.
A preacher of the Gospel, confesses he was a Sunday School superintendent before he was saved.
A lady confessed that she was a church member 38 years before she was saved.
Before it is eternally too late, I beg of you again for your sake, for your family's sake, for Jesus' sake, do not trifle with this thing. Bow at the feet of the risen Lord and tell Him you receive Him now. "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." (I John 5:12)
Now read Romans 10:13: "whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Did
you call upon Him? Then He says you are saved! See John 6:47: "He that believeth on me hath
everlasting life." Did you believe on Him--that is, did you receive Him and trust Him for
salvation? Then He says you have eternal life!
If you realize the need of the New Birth in your life, sincerely receive God's risen Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, by repentance and faith, as your Lord and Saviour, trusting Him to wash your sins away. Just bow your head and say: Lord, I am a guilty, lost helpless sinner. I believe You suffered on the cross for my sins and died in my place to pay the penalty for my sins, and that You rose again. I call on You to forgive my sins and give me eternal life. Then stand on His promise, "He that hath the Son hath life," and when you have the opportunity confess Him before men as your Lord.
Email us to let us know of your decision to accept the Lord as your Lord and Saviour. We want to pray with you and assist you in any way the Lord leads.
Many years ago, a little boy was given a priceless possession: his deceased grandfather's gold
pocket watch. How he treasured it! But one day, while playing at his father's ice plant, he lost the
watch amid all the ice and sawdust. He searched and scratched, becoming frantic, but no watch.
Then he suddenly realized what to do. He stopped scurrying around and became very still. In the
silence, he heard the watch ticking. God has given each of us a priceless gift of joy in Jesus. How
easy it is to lose our joy in the scurrying around of life. Yet it is always there to find, if we will
but pause and listen to the beautiful presence of Jesus in our hearts.
Taken from The Pastor's Story File, January 1997.
Taken from Parables, Etc., March, 1997
It is a blessing to know that the Lord is
using our children in many ways. This
month I am proud to present 2 articles
to the Kid's Corner. Latia
Harris-Thomas and Dexter Thomas, Jr.
are brother and sister who wishes to
share their testimonies of what the Lord has done in their lives. We thank God for these
young people whom the Lord has so graciously poured out His love and mercy upon. They
both share life-changing testimonies of how God has touched their individual lives and
made a difference. Both articles have all the blessings of a true testimony which brings
glory to God.
Please continue to submit articles the the Kid's Corner of children who are making a
difference for the Kingdom of God. We want to continue to encourage and support our
children in living godly lives where Christ is exalted.
MIRACLES
Some people believe in Miracles and some people don't well, I believe in Miracles and in the nest three Paragraphs I will tell you how God has moved in my life.
First of all, my father left my family and I, 3 years ago and it affected me in a tremendous way. I started to become rebellious towards my mother, in other words I let the devil get the glory. I have never shared this with many people, but I had a dream and in this dream I was in my room, it was dark and I sat there on the edge of my bed and I was hot. There were little black people all around me. I knew there was something wrong with this picture. Suddenly a light came through the door. I could not see a face all I could see was a light. When this light came to me it touched me. My body felt weird as if something was trying to escape inside of me. My body was hot then it was cold. And I woke up and the temperature change in my body continued. I was afraid, so I ran into my mom's room and started banging on the door, but she was sound asleep and could not hear me. I told my mother the very next day.
I still continued to be rebellious so in the summer of 1997 my mother sent me to my grandmother which did not last very long before I continued. I want to say "Thank You" to my grandmother for keeping me. I truly appreciated it.
To continue, in the summer of 1998, I was sent to my father's mother's house and I stayed there for a whole year. During that year, I changed. To Granny and Grandpa: "you are a blessing and I will always acknowledge the fact that you all kept me and loved me, Thanks".
Finally, I can now say that I am no longer rebellious and I am doing well at home and at school.
I no longer think about harming myself or others. And I thank God for keeping and redeeming
me. There is no other God like the God I serve.
Also, Aunt Phyllis, Thank you for encouraging me, you are a true inspiration in my life and I
love you. Everything that you have told me, I remembered - Psalms 27.
Uncle Jesse, the devil tried to defeat you, but you held on strong. You are an inspiration and an example for the men.
Aunt Gin, keep your faith. For God has something in store for you. Keep going on.
Grandma Harris, God has moved in your life like never before, He took the taste of cigarette out of your mouth and I would like to say "HALLELUJAH".
MOM, I love you and remember God will never steer you wrong, so hold on.
Grandpa Thomas and family, may God bless you and continue to restore what you have lost in the past.
TO THE FAMILY: Don't let the devil get the glory of destroying your faith, mind, family and
home. Remember, just because the sky looks black, it does not mean that it is black. The devil
is out to kill, steal and destroy. And he is not going to get the glory of destroying our family.
Submitted by Latia Harris Thomas
Age 14
MY BAPTISM STORY
When I got baptized I felt like a whole new person. Thanks to my mom that I got the courage to
get baptized. I felt closer to God when I went in the Holy water. The pastor called me up to him
so that I could give a testimony about what God has done for me. The testimony that I gave was
about my dad and the fact that I get to see him more than I usually do. He calls me every day
and checks on my sister and I. I prayed for this to happen and it came true.
Submitted by: Dexter Thomas, Jr
Age 10
I have a strong feeling in my spirit that this year we will see a great outpouring of the Spirit of God working mightily in the lives of His people. I believe we will see more and more hearts turn to the Lord in these last days. I believe lives will be changed and Christ will be exalted to His rightful place as Lord and Saviour in the lives of those whom He has redeemed. I am looking forward to many blessings and even more spiritual growth as we continue to walk in the Spirit allowing God to mold and shape each of us into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ to the glory of God.
Remember, I love you but God loves you best.
PHYLLIS NEWKIRK
Editor, George Angels Newsletter
December 1999
ENTER YOUR COMMENTS HERE
ENTER PRAYER REQUESTS HERE