tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77886200929253790612011-04-21T18:57:25.930-07:00Inspiring messages from Jeff Crain, the pastor of the Seventh-day Adventist churches in Omak, Tonasket and Oroville, WA.Pastor Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15130487503740075346noreply@blogger.comBlogger21100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7788620092925379061.post-24718411820152305912009-02-16T12:42:00.000-08:002009-02-16T13:14:49.160-08:00<span style="font-style: italic;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">After these things I saw four angels standing on the </span><span style="font-style: italic;" id="lw_1234573392_1" class="yshortcuts"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; cursor: pointer; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1234816988_0">four corners of the earth</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;">, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.</span> --Revelation 7:1<br /></blockquote>Four mighty angels are still holding the four winds of the earth. Terrible destruction is forbidden to come in full. The winds will be the stirring up of the nations to one deadly combat, while the angels hold the four winds, forbidding the terrible power of Satan to be exercised in its fury until the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads.<br /><br />The signs of the times give evidence that the judgments of heaven are being poured out, that the day of the Lord is at hand. The daily papers are full of indications of an intense conflict in the future. Bold robberies are of frequent occurrence. Strikes are common. Thefts and murders are committed on every hand. Men possessed by demons are taking the lives of men, women, and little children. All these things testify that the Lord's coming is near.<br /><br />The restraining Spirit of God is even now being withdrawn from the world. Hurricanes, storms, tempests, disasters by sea and by land, follow one another in quick succession. The signs thickening around us, telling of the near approach of the Son of God, are attributed to any other than the true cause. . . .<br /><br />The time is right upon us when there will be sorrow in the world that no human balm can heal. Even before the last great destruction comes upon the world, the flattering monuments of man's greatness will be crumbled in the dust. God's retributive judgments will fall on those who in the face of great light have continued in sin. Costly buildings, supposed to be fireproof, are erected. But as Sodom perished in the flames of God's vengeance, so will these proud structures become ashes. I have seen vessels which cost immense sums of money wrestling with the mighty ocean, seeking to breast the angry billows. But with all their treasures of gold and silver, and with all their human freight, they sank into a watery grave.... But amid the tumult of excitement, with confusion in every place, there is a work to be done for God in the world.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7788620092925379061-2471841182015230591?l=omakpastor.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Pastor Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15130487503740075346noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7788620092925379061.post-51064727964818021412007-08-19T11:56:00.000-07:002007-08-19T12:15:40.232-07:00<span style="font-family:arial;"><blockquote><span style="font-family:arial;"><em>He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty;<br />and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.</em> Prov.<br />16:32</span><br /></blockquote></span><span style="font-family:arial;">He has conquered self--the strongest foe man has to meet. The highest evidence of nobility in a Christian is self-control. He who can stand unmoved amid a storm of abuse is one of God's heroes. . . .<br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />He who has learned to rule his spirit will rise above the slights, the rebuffs, the annoyances to which we are daily exposed, and these will cease to cast a gloom over his spirit.<br /><br />It is God's purpose that the kingly power of sanctified reason, controlled by divine grace, shall bear sway in the lives of human beings. He who rules his spirit is in possession of this power.<br />The man or woman who preserves the balance of the mind when tempted to indulge passion, stands higher in the sight of God and heavenly angels than the most renowned general that ever led an army to battle and to victory.<br /><br />What young men and women need is Christian heroism. God's Word declares that he that ruleth his spirit is better than he that taketh a city. To rule the spirit means to keep self under discipline. . . . They need to seek earnestly to bring into their lives the perfection that is seen in the life of the Saviour, so that when Christ shall come, they will be prepared to enter in through the gates into the city of God. God's abounding love and presence in the heart will give the power of self-control and will mold and fashion the mind and character. The grace of Christ in the life will direct the aims and purposes and capabilities into channels that will give moral and spiritual power--power which the youth will not have to leave in this world, but which they can carry with them into the future life and retain through the eternal ages.<br /><br />- Pastor Jeff</span><br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7788620092925379061-5106472796481802141?l=omakpastor.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Pastor Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15130487503740075346noreply@blogger.com0