Later, Levi invited Jesus and His disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus’ followers.)

“Whaa, there cowboy! PK, are you telling us that Jesus hung around tax collectors and disreputable sinners?” (I think it’s funny that “tax collectors” are classified along with “disreputable sinners.” Hope you don’t work for the I.R.S.) Yes, I’m telling everyone because the Bible tells us so. It even says…

“But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw Him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked His disciples, “Why does He eat with such scum?”

Man! Those Pharisees were brutal. I love the way Jesus finishes this meeting. Here it is…..

“Jesus, overhearing, shot back, “Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? I’m here inviting the sin-sick, not the spiritually-fit. (Mark 2:15-16 NLT/ Mark 2:17 MSG)

So, what do you think? Are WE the kind of person that gets saved and then spends all of our time trying to make others spiritually-fit…. which makes us feel spiritually-fit? Listen, I’m not saying we should not help people to “grow” God’s Kingdom, His church. We need them. However, Jesus is telling us that His whole purpose was to reach the lost, the “sin-sick.” Without the sin-sick, Christianity would die off.

OK, last thought. Christians, and even non-Christians, have a bad habit. Let’s call it “sin-sick-NESS.” We all have our comfort zones. And I’m pretty sure that most of us don’t like to be inconvenienced. People say, “I hate my job. Nobody is a Christian and they make fun of me. I am going to quit!“ They don’t realize that God had them right where He wanted them, because the co-workers had sin-sick-NESS. The great Physician (Jesus) was trying to reach out to those co-workers who were reaching up to Jesus. Too bad that Inconvenience got in the way…

We are living in times of greatness!

In HIM,
Pastor Kevin Kinchen

The Sadducees were trying to trick Jesus publicly by asking questions that could get Him arrested. Of course, Jesus knew what they were doing and He beat them at their own game. As the story continued Jesus actually gave them an answer that would change them all, IF they would apply it in their life. Here’s the answer…

Jesus replied, “Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God.” (Matthew 22:29)

THIS is what we need in every society, in every nation. It’s time to “know the Scriptures” so we can “know and experience the power of God.“ The Scriptures that this verse is referring to is the Bible. Reading the Bible is not rocket-science. And, yes… it IS possible to understand it. But, reading the Bible is not just reading a book and memorizing a few verses. It is about the One who created it, God. More than anything, reading the Bible will draw us into the greatest relationship we can imagine. We can expect to know the power of God soon after.

I bought a new truck in the late 70’s. I drove it home and it was good except for the steering wheel. Back then most trucks had a knob somewhere on the steering column that allowed you to raise or lower the steering wheel. I looked and looked for it but couldn’t find that knob. After driving with my uncomfortable steering wheel for almost a year, I had enough. My lightning-fast brain told me to READ THE OWNER’S MANUAL! Within 10 minutes I found the knob and adjusted the steering wheel. The owner’s manual was with me the whole time in my glove compartment… I just needed to access it. Perfect!

Unfortunately, we tend to do that with God. Our lifestyle is uncomfortable and we know it. We try to fix ourselves, but our flesh (natural, old-man) is too strong. We get irritated so we just learn to live with our uncomfortable lifestyle. We suffer in and out of our uncomfortable lifestyle for a year, or 10 years, or even more. FINALLY, we realize that we forgot to READ THE OWNER’S MANUAL …GOD’S OWNER’S MANUAL, which is THE BIBLE.

Remember, It’s time to… “know the Scriptures” so we can “know and experience the power of God.”

In Him, Pastor Kevin Kinchen

I’ve noticed how some people talk, or even pray, when it comes to the subject HEALING. Some may talk about “healing” like this, “Yeah, my Uncle died from that.” Or, “You don’t believe in that God stuff do you? You can’t believe everything you read in the Bible.” And when it comes to praying, you might hear this, “Oh God, IF there’s anything you can do, please do it… I am begging you to do it!” And the most common prayer is, “Father, IF IT BE YOUR WILL, please take this sickness away from them.”

Listen, Jesus knows how to talk and He knows how to pray. He is our example to follow. We can’t earn or buy our healing, but we can pray like Jesus did, because He prayed the Word of God (The Bible). We can access every promise and every blessing in the Bible. God never meant for us to “beg” for our healing; He told us to ask the Father (God) in the name of Jesus. And for those who pray “IF IT BE YOUR WILL” you can rest assured that it IS God’s will for you to be healthy. Take a minute or two and read the verses below taken from the book of Matthew…

Mat 4:23  And He HEALED every kind of disease and illness. Mat 4:24  And whatever their sickness or disease, or if they were demon possessed or epileptic or paralyzed—He HEALED them all.  Mat 8:3  “I am willing,” He said. “Be HEALED!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared.  Mat 8:13  “… Because you believed, it has happened.” And the young servant was HEALED that same hour.  Mat 8:16  He cast out the evil spirits with a simple command, and He HEALED all the sick.  Mat 9:22  “Your faith has made you well.”  And the woman was HEALED at that moment.  Mat 9:35  And He HEALED every kind of disease and illness.  Mat 12:15  He HEALED all the sick among them… Mat 12:22  He HEALED the man so that he could both speak and see.  Mat 14:14  He had compassion on them and HEALED their sick.  Mat 14:35  … and soon people were bringing all their sick to be HEALED.  Mat 14:36 …  and all who touched Him were HEALED. Mat 15:28  “Your faith is great. Your request is granted.” And her daughter was instantly HEALED. Mat 15:30 They laid them before Jesus, and He HEALED them all. Mat 19:2  Large crowds followed Him there, and He HEALED their sick.  Mat 21:14  The blind and the lame came to Him in the Temple, and He HEALED them.

Wow! When I read these verses I see nothing but love, love that goes from heaven to earth.  And that was only some of the verses in Matthew. So…. “I believe and declare that a revival of healing will punch through the heavens, one that will circle the globe with miracles. Miracles that will travel from the finger-tips of the healed TO the finger-tips of the hurting. A revival that will be tagged, The Greater Than These Revival. Amen!

Don’t let the devil steal your promise of health.

In Him, Pastor Kevin Kinchen

#6 — DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE?
So far, I have shared some Hurricane Harvey highlights about my two sons, Jared and Josh. We also have a daughter, Courtney. Her and her husband (Jayce), along with their three-year-old daughter (Adalie) and their one-year-old son (Judah)… live right down the street from us. I’m glad they live close by because Courtney is a nurse and Jayce is a fireman/paramedic. He also helps us around the house. Of coarse, Adalie and Judah are the icing on the cake… they keep us young.

A few weeks before the Hurricane hit, Courtney dropped her iPhone in water… again. She was upset and frustrated. I told her to calm down and TRUST God. Before I could blink-an-eye these words jumped out of my mouth, “Courtney, you already did everything you could do to fix your phone. And it still won’t turn on. So, go home and pray for God’s help. You need to TRUST Him. Don’t try to figure out how He will fix your phone. Oh, call me tomorrow morning, ON YOUR PHONE, and tell me the good news.”

What happened? Well, she called me ON HER PHONE! When we TRUST God we can SEE whatever we’re believing for. If we are “trying” to figure out how God will solve our problems, we will only see frustration and stress. TRUSTING is always better than TRYING.

What does that story have to do with Hurricane Harvey? It was a set-up! A good set-up from God. Courtney has what I call a “REALationship” with God. When we have a REALationship with our Heavenly Father, He loves to provide and bless us beyond measure. In fact, He wants to bless all of His children beyond measure… but He wants our TRUST first. Courtney trusted Him with the phone and she saw the result of trusting God. After the Hurricane she (and Jayce) trusted God to find them a place to stay while they were repairing their house, which flooded. God really delivered on this one: a spotless, immaculate, luxurious RV. Plus, they didn’t have flood insurance so they asked God for favor, and once again He delivered and blessed them. FEMA gave them some money, but God went the extra mile by directing some generous people who reassured Courtney they would cover whatever she and Jayce couldn’t.

I found this quote on Courtney’s Facebook that sums up this message……

“When you trust God with every detail of your life He will ALWAYS take care of you! Feeling an over abundance of His favor today! God is good, people!!! HE IS GOOD!”

In Him, Pastor Kevin Kinchen

Over the last 30 something years I’ve noticed so many well-meaning Christians are more interested in, “What we are supposed to do for God?” than we are about “Who He is.” We get it backwards. We are all wrapped up in the works and to-do’s of our walk (with God) instead of being wrapped up in the One who gave us the works and to-do’s. Does this make sense to you? We need to pursue KNOWING the Lord first. Get to know Jesus and His Father because they know the purpose and plan for every step of our life.

And that is what I did, I began to know Jesus and His Father. Little by little, I was beginning to see this intimate time of knowing God would produce change in my life. The more I stepped into my relationship with the Lord the more I desired to know Him. The more I began to know Him the more He began to show me who I am and what I was to accomplish in my life. With each day, the purpose and plan of God for my life became clearer. The best thing about it was the satisfaction and peace that comes when God directs instead of me.

People make a big splash into the world of Christianity when they first give their lives to the Lord. At that point and time, if they are anything like me, they are hungry to find out who this Jesus is that just entered their life. Eventually though, when the newness wears off, people often slip into the mode of knowing “about” Jesus, instead of knowing HIM. Then, unfortunately they tend to lose their passion for Him. If this continues for any length of time there can come a harsh reality of having “lost their first love.” It doesn’t mean they are a bad person. It just means they have drifted away from the Source of the life that changed them in the first place. I don’t want to see this happen to anyone, especially you.

If we keep doing what we have always done, we will end up with the same results we are getting now. That’s why there has to be a change. And in order to change our life, we first have to change our daily routine. I am writing this in hopes that something will spark that change. Life is too short. You have an open invitation from Jesus and His Father… Get to know God and His Son, and everything else will fall into place.

In Him, Pastor Kevin Kinchen