Month: September 2011

(Heb 9:27-28 NKJV)  And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, {28} so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation…

We only live this life once. There is no second chance. There is no second time around.

Jesus Christ came and died for our sins. He did it once. That’s all that was needed. The rest is up to us.

It’s up to us to accept what He’s offered to us. It’s up to us to accept the sacrifice He made. He died once, for everyone, but not everyone receives Him.

Have you received Him? Have you accepted the offer of salvation that He died to give us?

It’s not hard to do, but some people think it is. I’m here to tell you today that accepting Jesus and the sacrifice He made for you is the best thing you will ever do. It is truly life-changing.

He’s reaching out to you today. Reach back to Him. Ask Him to forgive your sins and He will.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie
Seven Seas Ministries
401-377-5400

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(1 John 4:10-11 NKJV) In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. {11} Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

My husband and I were faced with a situation that was very disturbing to us. About 8 months ago, we had someone that we cared about, whom we spent a lot of time with, took out to dinner, and invited over for all the holidays. We took this person in like one of our family members because we knew that this person had nobody else, only to find out that during this time this person stole from us, cheated us, and lied to us. Sometimes it’s so hard to learn the truth about a situation.

When this happened to us it was like a hard blow. We felt like we were in the ring and just got knocked out and everything in us was hurting.

We knew that we were not to hold bitterness or anger in our hearts and we fought this time after time, because it was trying so hard to creep in. The hardest part was that everyday we could see this person and it would remind us of what happened and we had to make a choice everyday to forgive or get angry.

We had evidence to show that things were stolen from us and we could have very easily set things motion to get it all back. But nonetheless, things are things and when it came right down to it we’d rather see this person experience love and give their heart to Christ..

Sometimes we have to sacrifice our pain for someone else’s gain. God did it for us.
Love someone today like you mean it!!

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie
Seven Seas Ministries
401-377-5400

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(2 Sam 22:31 NKJV)  As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

Who’s scared today? Who has questions about what’s going on in the world today? Probably all of us at one time or another. I’m sure we all have good days and bad days as we look around us and see all the crazy things happening.

It’s normal to be paying attention to the things going on around us. We just need to be careful we don’t get too caught up in it and let it take over our minds and hearts. Knowing is good, but we need to have balance in it; too much of anything is not good for us.

Just a little reminder that even though hard times are around us, God is with us. His way is perfect and He is our shield. Trust in Him today!!

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie
Seven Seas Ministries
401-377-5400

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(Heb 3:4 NKJV)  For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God.

Everything we see around us, whether man-made or otherwise, has a builder or a creator. There’s nothing that has just happened and there is nothing that has created itself.

During the summer months I like to spend a lot of time outdoors at night. While I’m out there I am always in awe at the stars in the sky. They are an incredible example of God’s creative work.

Sunrises and sunsets are one of my favorite things to see because they are never the same twice in a row and they can be truly breathtaking.

A large majority of the world seems to have forgotten who created all of this wonder around us, but we should not.

Today, no matter where you are, make it a point to watch the sunrise or the sunset. Or step outside tonight and gaze at the stars for a few minutes. And then think about the One who created it all. And give Him glory.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie
Seven Seas Ministries
401-377-5400

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(1 Pet 5:6 NKJV) Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,

Giving God our life and letting Him do with it as He desires is a way of saying to Him that we surrender.

The world thinks that living means you must have your own goals and go after them on your own and make it happen on your own, and then you are considered successful, on your own. We can then say, yay to ME! I did it, and look at it all and boast in it!!

But what God wants for us is that we humble ourselves before Him and let Him guide us and lead us into a life of VICTORY, giving Him all the Glory! Allowing Him to take us to places and areas we never would dream of going.

Don’t struggle today to get to a place that you feel is considered successful, missing out on fun with family and friends, miserable and tired from working so hard, and not enjoying life itself. Rest in knowing that as we humble ourselves, He will exalt us in due time.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie
Seven Seas Ministries
401-377-5400

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(James 5:17-18 NKJV) Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. {18} And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

This is showing God’s faithfulness!! Elijah went to God for help with his needs and God took care of him. For Elijah rain was a problem. Maybe for us, abuse is a problem. Maybe drugs are a problem, sex is a problem, money is a problem, our spouse or children are a problem, etc.

Maybe we think that we can’t ask for help in these areas, but let me tell you this; a problem is a problem, no matter what face it wears. God is there for us! Don’t be afraid to go to Him for help.

Our first instinct many of times is to run to people when we have a problem; we’ve got to tell so and so about this. There may be some people we need to tell about what’s going on but, first and foremost, God needs to hear it and we need to ask Him for help and let Him guide us through it.

If we can’t go to Him, maybe because we feel ashamed or maybe because we think it is something we need to fix on our own, then we really don’t trust Him with all of our being. We only trust Him with selective things.

He wants to be there for us and when He answers our prayers we will see the fruit!!

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie
Seven Seas Ministries
401-377-5400

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(Col 3:8 NKJV)  But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.

Our words express what’s in our heart. We can do a good job of covering up our true selves most of the time, but sooner or later our mouth will give us away and the real us shows through.

As believers, we need to be sure we let God clean up our mouths and let Him help us get rid of the language that the rest of the world uses. We should not be walking around with R rated language spewing from our mouths. In fact, our language should be more along the lines of G rated… safe for the entire family.

Oh… and that means the G rating of years ago… not the G rating of today, where “certain swear words” are safe for the children.

Let me be blunt. Our standards should not be the same as those of the Hollywood entertainment industry and we should not allow ourselves to become desensitized to foul language, even if it is in just about every TV show and movie these days.

God says we are to put off filthy language from our mouths. We are to stop using it. God didn’t compromise on this and we shouldn’t compromise either.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie
Seven Seas Ministries
401-377-5400

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(Mat 18:12-13 NKJV)  “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? {13} “And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray.

We live in a time where numbers and quantities seem to take precedence over quality. It runs rampant in our industries and in many other areas of life.

Unfortunately, it also seems to have penetrated the church to a very large degree. We hear a lot about huge churches… congregations with 1,000 people, 5,000 people or even more than 10,000 people.

The perception is that a huge church is more successful than a small church. Sadly, many people, including pastors and evangelists, have bought into this line of thinking.

I am not against big churches, per se, but I believe that Jesus was more concerned with quality than he was with quantity. Jesus would speak to the masses and teach them, but he took the time to spend time with people on a smaller scale. He would minister to people one on one to heal them, deliver them from demons and to correct them if they needed it.

We need to be doing this today, too. The quality of our walk with God depends on how well we’re taught and discipled. Teaching can be done in large numbers, but discipling needs to take place on a smaller scale in order to be effective.

Jesus knew this and He did it, taking His twelve disciples and pouring Himself into them by spending time with them away from the crowds.

If you’re a pastor and you’re reading this today, I urge you to make sure you’re taking the time needed to spend quality time with your flock. It’s not about the numbers… it’s about the souls of the people God has given you the responsibility of pastoring.

If you’re not a pastor and you’re in a church where you feel like you get lost in the shuffle of so many people, and you feel like the pastor is untouchable or unreachable, maybe it’s time to make a change.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie
Seven Seas Ministries
401-377-5400

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(Col 3:14 NKJV)  But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.

It’s very easy sometimes to get caught up in rights and wrongs, regulations, systems and many other things that we let guide us or persuade us in our thinking.

This is especially so when it comes to those around us. Sometimes it can take us only a split second to begin verbally berating someone for something, whether it’s their fault or not.

So many times, if we would just stop and think and then act or speak in love, our response would be so much different. And the outcome of so many situations would be very different too.

Love is very powerful when we understand it in its fullest measure. Love will overcome fears. Love will overcome jealousy. Love will overcome racial bias. Love will overcome so many things, but only if we let it.

We all need to do better when it comes to loving the people that God puts in our path. It’s not always the easiest things to do, but it becomes easier as we try harder.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie
Seven Seas Ministries
401-377-5400

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(Eph 6:1-3 NKJV)  Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. {2} “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: {3} “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.”

I’d like to say something today that may come across as meddling if not taken correctly, but I hope we can all receive it in love, as it is intended to be written.

Our children are given to us by God, as a gift. They are entrusted to us to take care of them, nurture them and give them godly guidance.

What I see so much of today is that children aren’t being guided as they need to be. Too many children are in charge of their homes, instead of being subject to the leadership of the parents.

Much of this is due to the demands of society on the parents. Households where both parents work full-time jobs can make it hard for the children to have as much parental care and discipline as there should be.

Regardless, we have been given the responsibility to care for our children and raise them to be respectful and honorable.

Let’s take inventory and be sure that we’re not lacking in the area of caring for our children and giving them the guidance and discipline they need.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie
Seven Seas Ministries
401-377-5400

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(Psa 100:4 NKJV) Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

Being thankful everyday with what God wants to do in our lives is the key to growing and becoming all that Christ wants us to be.

Some may say, “well I’m not really where I want to be in life, I’d rather be like so and so and have this and that.” This type of thinking can cause us to enter into a place of being ungrateful.

We need to constantly be thankful for where we are at. God will get us to where He wants us in this life if we wait on Him and His timing and He will open the doors that need to be open in due season.

Our job is to be thankful for where we are at and to praise Him and bless HIM for the AWESOME God that He is!!

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie
Seven Seas Ministries
401-377-5400

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!