Our God is a Loving, Jealous God

Recently my wife and I were at a friends home for dinner. We have been friends for 14 years. We go to church together when we are in the same city we spend weekends together at each other’s homes. We have fun together. We will very often talk about our personal walk with the Lord.

One evening we were at their home in the Sierra Mountains for dinner. It is summer, in the evening it is relatively warm but comfortable. We prepared dinner then decided to eat on the deck. We would  enjoy conversation and the weather. We got into a wonderful conversation around prayer, how to pray and daily prayer habits. Our friends are Catholic the man is a do good and get to heaven Catholic the wife has accepted the gift of salvation. The wife is a prayer warrior she may be the poster child for pray without ceasing.

The conversation begins with the man describing his daily prayer time. It is structured and dotting all the I’s while crossing most of the t’s. We begin a discussion of relationship with God. The discussion gets pretty intense but very nurturing.

During the conversation,  I focused my attention on the man in the couple. We enjoy debate and conversation. It was all good. Except!

Except when we finished, did the dishes and headed off to bed. My wife said that she felt I ignored her during the conversation. A simple thought on my part, she was right. I apologized. Men in Ministry does your wife make a good Holy Spirit stand in?

I thought about Jesus, in two ways. First love your wife like the Lord loves the church that He gave His life for her and second: “for I the Lord thy God are a jealous God.”

Wow did I commit a huge sin! If my wife, the bride of my life thinks I am neglecting her, I am.

First God never ignores His Children. The Bible tells us that repeatedly.

Second; I think of how many times during each day that I neglect Jesus. How many times I turn my attention away from the Lord to other things. The comment may be you have other things to do, there is family, baseball, running, work, golf the list can be extensive. How then do I keep my focus on Jesus?

I think of a book I read a long time ago and then gave as a gift to a number of young men I was mentoring: Practicing the Presence of God, by Brother Lawrence. In the book, he describes how in everything he does he prays it through, always keeping his attention on Jesus.

How can I be more of the man that Jesus wants / commands me to be.

Men in Ministry, begin each day with Jesus, before anything. Seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness is a command. First is first, once I set the first aside for Jesus, then ask the Holy Spirit to direct my day I have begun on the right foundation. The next thing to be aware is would Jesus be doing what I am doing. Would I be comfortable inviting Jesus to be with me in what I am doing? This is a second foundational practice. Third for me is asking direction throughout the day and thanking Him for His direction. Finally, open everything I do in personal prayer. In turn, this keeps me focused so that I can thank Him for every result. Thank Him even when the ball finds its way into the trees or the fairway.

Prayer is Powerful, so why are we not always in prayer?

When I ignored my wife, she expressed her feelings I felt terrible. How terrible do I feel when the Holy Spirit reminds me that I am ignoring my Lord and Savior. Jesus gave it all for me and never forgets me.

Thank you, Jesus for your love and presence thank you Michele, for a lesson I hope I  never forget.

100 Year Celebration!

The intention of the Glad Tidings 100 Year Anniversary Celebration is to reach more people of San Francisco for Jesus. The events are designed to show God’s love for all people.

Glad Tidings Church is an Oasis of God’s Love in San Francisco. It has

been a Holy Spirit Led Oasis since 1913, when it was founded by Robert and Mary Craig. Glad Tidings was founded out of a fresh revelation of the Holy Spirit from the Azusa Street Revival. The fire of the Holy Ghost has been leading the pastors of Glad Tidings for over 100 years. Glad Tidings has planted, in a variety of ways, over 400 churches in Northern California it has sent out 100’ s of Missionaries around the world. Glad Tidings founded Glad Tidings Bible Institute, which became Bethany College in Santa Cruz. Glad Tidings planted Glad Tidings Bible Institute in 2006 it continues to expand and grow.

In 1999, a new time started in San Francisco, with the election of Pastor Beiser to the Lead Pastor role at Glad Tidings. He came with a distinct calling from God. He had arrived in San Francisco years earlier with his family. Pastor is a Holy Spirit led minister who is a praying, fasting, Bible Studying and worshipping man. He leads Glad Tidings with a dedicated focus on Prayer, fasting, Bible Studying and worshipping. The church is outward facing, supporting missionaries around the world, financially and through mission trips. Pastor Beiser's success is a testimony to the Power of Prayer.

The Assemblies of God has over 12,000 churches in the United States. Glad Tidings is 57th in giving to missions. Glad Tidings in 1999 had 37 people in the first Sunday Service Pastor preached as the lead Pastor. Now in 2013 the average Sunday attendance is in the 700 range. The church continues to grow, weekly.

The 100 Year Anniversary of this great church begins the first weekend in September and will continue through the last weekend in November. The events in the coming months will have pastors and evangelists from all over the world. The Glad Tidings 100 Anniversary Choir of over 300 singers and musicians will lead worship in all services and banquets.

September 6- 8 Banquets and services featuring Mel and Sharon Johnson. The Johnsons pastored Glad Tidings for 17 years. They are currently missionaries in Asia.

In 1980, Mel and Sharon, became the pastors of Glad Tidings Church.  For seventeen years, they poured their lives into our church, and the mark of their steady, godly hand is felt in many ways at GT today.  We owe a great debt of gratitude for their faithfulness at GT, and we are so glad to welcome them home to San Francisco for this “kick-off” weekend of GT’s 100 Year Anniversary.

October 4-6 will feature George Wood the CEO of the Assemblies of God. The son of

missionary parents to China and Tibet, Wood holds a doctoral degree in pastoral theology from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, and a Juris doctorate from Western State University College of Law in Fullerton, California. He did his undergraduate work at Evangel University (College) in Springfield, Missouri, and served the college in several capacities, including being the director of spiritual life and student life from 1965-71. He was ordained by the Southern Missouri District in 1967.

November 1-3 Glad Tidings Bible Institute / Bethany College reunion weekend.

November 22-24 the Celebration with Reinhard Bonnke, Sammy Rodriguez and Isaiah Saldivar.

Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke is principally known for his Great Gospel Crusades throughout the Continent of Africa. The son of a pastor, Reinhard gave his life to the Lord at age nine, and heard the call to the African mission field before he was even a teenager. After attending Bible College in Wales, and his ordination in Germany he pastored a church and then went on to start missionary work in Africa. It was there, in the small mountain kingdom of Lesotho that God placed upon his heart the vision of ‘the continent of Africa, being washed in the precious Blood of Jesus’. The entire continent, from Cape Town to Cairo and from Dakar to Djibouti that needed to be reached and to hear the proclamation of the signs-following Gospel.

CNN named Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, “The leader of the Hispanic Evangelical movement”. The Wall St. Journal identified him as one of America’s 7 most influential Hispanic Leaders, and the only religious leader on the list. Meanwhile, the San Francisco Chronicle described Samuel as one of the 6 Leaders of the New Evangelical Leadership. Charisma Magazine Identifies Rev. Samuel Rodriguez as America’s most influential spirit-filled Christian Leader in the political sphere.  By God’s Grace, Rev. Samuel Rodriguez stands as one of America’s Leading Christian Voices.

As one of Newsweek Magazine’s Top 12 People to Look For in 2008, and as the President of America’s Preeminent Latino Christian Organization, Samuel is regarded as one of the most prominent voices in the Kingdom of God and the lead spokesperson for the 16 million strong Hispanic American Born Again Christian Community.

In January 2011, Isaiah Saldivar had a radical encounter with God at the age of twenty. The Lord told him to pray for revival and He would draw thousands of old friends, family members, and people from around the world to his house. Since then, well over 12,000 people from all ages, races, and backgrounds have come and experienced a tangible encounter with God. They have seen hundreds of healings, miracles, deliverances, and countless signs and wonders. God has commissioned him to impart and release believers into a life of holiness, revival, and reformation. He is passionate to see the power and reality of God restored to the churches of the world.

Glad Tidings Men In Ministry