Double Portion

As Elijah was winding down the days of his Prophetic ministry, he stood along the banks of the Jordan and asked Elisha what he desired most. Elisha's response was to have a 'double portion of the Spirit' that is upon Elijah. I believe every child of God wants all that God desires to give. Last Sunday at Cornerstone, people came through the prayer line to receive a greater, double portion of the Holy Spirit. We must remember that when God pours His anointing upon our hearts, we might be changed forever. You and I are witnessing before our very eyes a world that is falling in deep despair. The news and media is filled with acknowledging celebrity superstars as role models for our kids. So much time and money is spent of telling what great celebrity legends we have had. The television viewing has come to a place that hardly anything is fit for believers to watch. Even taking our families to the theatre can make one embarrassed or upset at the garbage we see and hear. The times of our days brings an obvious conclusion, this world is full of sin! We cannot afford to be desensitized nor compromise what we have come to know, believe and proclaim. If we truly want to carry the mantle of the Lord and walk in His glory and holiness, we will not be entangled with the affairs of the world or be influenced with worldly things. We have to be the Elisha's of our day and be determined to walk uprightly, delight in the journey even as we continue to have trials and tribulations, and remember that we are destined to fulfill the will of the Lord. That is what carrying the mantle is all about.

Unconfessed Sin

What is it that keeps our spirits confined? Why does our heart feel constraint to give the Lord praise? Why do we sense at times we are not complete as a Christian? Could it be, there might be unconfessed sin within our heart? This was the problem the children of Israel had as they tried to overcome their enemies since the deliverance from Egypt. Once they felt that Yahweh was by their side and victory was won, they quickly turned back to their idolatry and God allowed hard times to come upon them. When you read this cyclical over and over in the book of Judges, you find it difficult to believe Israel would do this to Yahweh. Yet, we do the same things even today. All because we have left unconfessed sin to take residence within us, and we worship (idolize) other things besides the creator of worship. At the conclusion of Judges 21:25, their journey ends on a bad note when the Word says "...there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes." This is what happens when we do not allow the Holy Spirit to deal with our hearts and cause us to repent. I trust you have asked the Lord for forgiveness. If not, please do not allow your spirit to be consumed with sin in your life. Today, begin to ask the Lord if there is anything in your life, heart or spirit that is keeping Him out of your daily walk. You cannot afford to be like Israel 'to do what is right in your own eyes'. God has a purpose and plan for what He desires to do in you. Get the sin out of your system and let the presence of the Holy Spirit begin to overflow you with fresh oil of His anointing. May the Lord guide your steps each day as you follow Him.

Sunday - Mother's Day

What a tremendous time in God's presence Sunday at Cornerstone. My wife, Donna, brought a challenging message to all the mom's to bring their children up in the Word and to teach them the values and principles of right living. The theme of the day was 'A tribute to Godly Mom's. The Bible has demonstrated to us through experiences how today's mom can be effective to raise her children up to have a relationship with Christ. Teaching children to be good citizens, having education and success is alright, but if we leave the importance of following Christ out of the picture, we have raised them in vain. God desires we teach our children to have a relationship with Him is to follow and obey Him. Much like we want our children to follow our example and obey us, much the same is with Christ. When we trust in Christ and obey His Word, we see our life is less hectic and we find a greater peace and fulfillment in our journey. We salute all of the mom's who are following the Lord and teaching her children to do the same.

Pastor Scott Skeens - Proverbs 31:28

Developing a Real Passion for Christ ny Pastor Mike Jarboe

Some years ago Becky and I had the opportunity to spend our anniversary in Rome and
we also got to attend a Papal Audience. This Papal Audience was identified to me as an intimate
audience, smaller in nature than the typical throngs that go to see the Pope in the Vatican square.

Well, we went and I was amazed. There were more than 5000 people at this audience in a huge
auditorium and the Pope does several of these a week. According to some people that I asked, the room is always full to standing room only with throngs hungry to hear the Pope share what amounts to as about a 10 minute talk. Becky and I did get to shake hands with the Pope and he did talk to me first in Italian and then in English. Fascinating how many languages John Paul II could speak with a degree of fluency. A neat experience to be sure.

Thinking about all those people just trying to get tickets to get in, I’m quite amazed. Many of these people aren’t Catholic. Becky and I weren’t. They stumble over themselves to pile into a crowded room to catch a glimpse of the man. It’s got all the potential of being a stampede if not carefully orchestrated by the staff at the Vatican. Those colorful Swiss Guard uniforms helped.

Though the Pope is a powerful figure in world politics and in the affairs of the religious community, do you ever wonder why so many people make a heroic effort with real fire in their eyes and a sense of urgency in their step just to see him. If you think about it, we can have an audience with his Boss, the creator of everything, the Lord of our Life, our Savior and King at virtually any time we want. Maybe such easy access to God affects us. Maybe distractions keep us from getting fired up like we should. I don’t know for sure. What I do know is that I really want to have a burning hunger about my time with God. I want it to be something that I just can’t wait to do—spend time alone or corporately with my Heavenly Father. And just like I jockeyed for position to shake John Paul’s hand, I should fight through however many hours it takes in prayer, praise and worship just to get a touch from God. A passion for Christ may just give us the answers we are looking for. It may just be the catalyst to a Last Days revival. Let the fire rise within you!

What is beyond the Cross?

This was the title of the message on Resurrection Sunday. Today we have many anxious Americans who are wondering about the future of our nation. While there is much uncertainty around us, we must not allow it to affect our faith to march forward in God's kingdom. Let's face the reality, that the church is going to withstand whatever comes our way. What we must do is look beyond the cross with hope that will endure through suffering, hope that will sustain our purpose, and hope that will reveal truth. Let me encourage and remind you of what Jesus said in John 3:14, "And I, if I the son of man be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to me." What is beyond the cross? An empty grave and a risen Saviour.

Put your hope and trust in Jesus and everything else will take care of itself. What makes you a Christian isn't perfection, but it's grace.

2009 E2 Conference

It is hard to believe the e2 conference has come and gone at Cornerstone. The presence of the Holy Spirit was so rich in every service and people left on Saturday fully equipped to be more effective in their churches. Last evening, I was evaluating over the number of people from Cornerstone church who helped make the conference a huge success. Countless hours of changing light bulbs, scrubbing and mopping floors, buying material and food items for the kitchen, companies lending their equipment, chairs transported from one room to the other, sound, lighting and media technicians, security,volunteers before and after services in kitchen, tables up and tables down, ushers, greeters, hospitality, nursery volunteers and so much more brings a great sense of servanthood. My heart leaped inside to watch the volunteers from our church respond to a need and step into action to serve the people of Southern Ohio. It reminds of the church found in Acts 2:44 "...and had all things common." The volunteers at Cornerstone church are to be commended for demonstrating the love of Christ, and reflecting the true spirit of service to the body of Christ. All things common, were shown when I witnessed our people serve and fight their way through the distractions of sickness, work, finances and probably many others I don't even know about. We truly found the secret and discovery of how a church needs to function. Simply, making ourselves available to kingdom purposes through our fellowship with Jesus and one to another. This is why we serve together and to one another. By serving one another, we reflect the image of Christ like passion and love. By serving together, we are reminded how much can be accomplished when more are involved in the serving. In other words, the more who choose to serve, the more productive we can be to touch the lives of people-the way Jesus would touch them. Thank you so much, for your willingness to bind together as a church serving family and touch the lives of people in Southern Ohio. We serve a great and holy God.

Love Language

Life is God's gift to us, but what we do with that life is our gift back to God. One of the most expressive ways to show God our attitude of gratitude is to share the life of God's love with others. We live in a world that is screaming for love in all the wrong places. As a society, we have lowered our standards to believe that it doesn't matter where the love comes from,as long as it is packaged with a label called "love". Most often we findt hat what we call "love" is actually lust disguised. One can always use this example as a gauge to measure if something is love or lust: If it is true love it's always looking for an opportunity to give. If it is lust it is always looking for an open door to take. We have crossed the threshold of a new age, we must hold fast to the core values that have made us sober and secure. Jesus tells us that on these two hang the entire laws of the prophets according to Matthew 22:38-40:"This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."Let us continue to love one another and our neighbors to show the love of Christ in our hearts.