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Letters Archive: September 2004 Back to our Homepage Dear Friends and Loving Church Family, It’s September and some mothers are rejoicing because school has started while others are lamenting the fact that the children are gone from home all day. Other parents are feeling empty inside as they send their children off to college. Education is essential to all human growth on the earth. Without studying and learning, the human race could not survive. The same is true of the Church. Without education, it cannot grow and mature. Many believers are spiritually crippled in this life because their flesh is ruling them instead of them controlling their flesh. It doesn’t have to be this way. Through feeding and acting on the Word, our spirits can become strong to the point of dominating our flesh. We must not believe lies that we are helpless victims. We are more than conquerors through Him Who loves us, and we can do all things through Him Who strengthens us. After 41 years of Pastoral ministry, I have discovered the secret to victory over depression and defeat. This comparison comes to my attention almost every day as I minister to the flock of God. The victorious believers in the Church Family are those who are putting God first. You will find them doing these things: 1) attending Church regularly, obeying Jesus’ command to “assemble together with other believers”, hearing the Word of God preached with power; 2) growing in the knowledge of God by enrolling in one of the Christian Living Classes each semester; 3) giving their tithes for the operation and upkeep of the church along with offerings to provide food, clothing and the gospel to the needy, 4) reaching out in love to meet the needs of others and 5) allowing the Holy Spirit to “make them witnesses” for Christ. A few months ago, God drew my attention to the verse in John’s Gospel, Chapter 16, Verse 13. It reads: “However, when He, the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide you into all truth: for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak: and He will tell you things to come.” I felt challenged to “meditate” on this verse continually. We’re hearing so much these days in the media about “who is telling the truth?” The importance of “truth” is coming to the forefront all around us. Over and over each day I am expressing my gratitude to the Holy Spirit of truth who is guiding us into ALL TRUTH. Just think about what that means – ALL TRUTH! How often have you been confronted with a situation where you wondered if someone was telling you the truth? The Bible tells us that God has given us His Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth. There is nothing more powerful than the truth. Jesus is called The Truth. The more we follow the Holy Spirit as He guides us into all truth, the more we will know Jesus. At the end of this verse, God tells us that He (the Holy Spirit) will tell us things to come. What about the future? The Holy Spirit will tell us things to come as we put God first in our lives and study His Word, learning how to recognize and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit minute by minute. Many times we fail to recognize when the Holy Spirit is leading us. Often we wonder why things are happening to us. This was our experience a few months ago when my Dad was hospitalized with an obstruction in his intestine. The Doctor said surgery would be necessary to remove the obstruction. But, as news of his condition spread, many people began to pray for Dad. Immediately he began to improve. The obstruction seemed to disappear and Dad was feeling better each day. The Doctor canceled the surgery, but wanted to keep him in the hospital and run some additional tests, just to be sure they hadn’t missed something. Enclosed is a copy of the story, as Dad tells it. The Holy Spirit was able to use what the enemy brought to Dad, and turn it around. A precious Russian immigrant might never have known Jesus as her Savior if Dad had not ended up in the hospital. As you read Dad’s story, you’ll be amazed to see how carefully the Holy Spirit orchestrated the entire event in response to a neighbor’s fervent prayers for this lady’s salvation. We recently had a similar intervention of the Holy Spirit’s guidance in our lives. Jetta’s sister, Sharron, who is on the faculty of Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota., was going to make a short 3-day trip to Oklahoma at the end of August to visit relatives. It had been a long time since Jetta had seen her sister since she spends one semester each year teaching at a College in Austria. Their busy schedules have prevented them having many opportunities to spend time together. So, just on the “spur of the moment”, we made plans to drive to Oklahoma. We would be able to stop in Springfield to have dinner with Dad Smolchuck on the way down and also on our way back to Michigan. We left on a Friday afternoon, planning to arrive in Tulsa on Saturday night. Jetta and Sharron could be together on Sunday and Monday before Sharron flew back to Minneapolis on Tuesday. However, just as we were approaching Springfield, we discovered that there had been some unexpected changes and things weren’t working out as planned. As we prayed for direction, we realized the Holy Spirit was at work. What looked like a “negative” was actually a “positive” when viewed from God’s perspective. We had been wanting to go to Branson, Missouri, ever since we took Dad Smolchuck there for a visit almost two years ago. Jetta and I had spent our honeymoon in Branson, 41 years ago. It is located less than an hour away from Springfield and our brief trip there with Dad two years ago, was the only time we had been back to Branson since our honeymoon. It had changed so much and we wanted to “relive” our honeymoon in the exciting new vacation area that Branson has become. There was another reason we wanted to go to Branson. We wanted to visit Faith Life Church that was started two years ago by Keith Moore. Some of you are familiar with the story about Jetta’s mother regularly filling her car with sick people, and driving them to Kenneth Hagin’s School of Healing in Tulsa. Keith Moore was her favorite teacher and she saw many people healed as they sat under his anointed teaching ministry. Mother Henry went to be with the Lord 11 years ago. Even though we had heard her speak often about Keith Moore during the years prior to her death, we had never seen him. Then one day, our daughter, Kendal, saw him on TV with Kenneth Copeland. She got the address of his web site, Moore Life Ministries, and we began to order his teaching tapes. With the sudden change of plans for Oklahoma , we saw our opportunity to make our dream come true and go to Branson for our “second honeymoon” and to be spiritually refreshed by attending the services at Faith Life Church. We were able to meet Jetta’s sister, her Aunt Ella Vee and her friend, Sharon Spence on Monday at a town located half-way between Branson and Tulsa. We made an extra trip to Springfield to see Dad and he drove to Branson to spend a day with us. So, we got to see him much more because of staying in Branson instead of Tulsa. The Holy Spirit changed “our plans” and gave us “His plans” that were so much better in every way. Isaiah 43: 18 & 19 is another scripture that God keeps bringing to my attention: “Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing. Now it shall spring forth: Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” Get prepared for increase in every area. Stay hooked up through all of the progressions in the church. Preparation is necessary for a flood of the Holy Spirit. We’ve never been more excited about “God’s new thing”. One speaker referred to his part in the success of an endeavor. He said, “It’s like the rooster taking credit for the sunrise.” That expresses to some degree how we feel when we see the Son of Righteousness beginning to rise over the Saginaw Valley with healing in His wings. (Malachi 4:2). As a part of the ministries of First Assembly, we want you to know that the Word is being preached, the sick are receiving healing, the poor in our community are receiving food, clothing and the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God is increasing! Yes, Islam is growing, but statistics show Christianity is growing faster. We are winning the battle for souls! We are laborers together with Him, Pastor Fred and Jetta Smolchuck |
View the Pastor's
• July 2007 •
Meet Pastor Fred Words to Live By • Daily Bible Reading Guide • Better Life Course by Randal Smolchuck |
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