Christmas season is filled with exciting moments and times as we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We can be walking through department stores and nodding our heads, listening to the Christmas music broadcasted in these stores, but do we listen to the lyrics in these songs. Many of the songs are joyfully declaring the exciting moment that we are celebrating while some lyrics are talking about sharing “figgy pudding” with each other and a “drummer boy.”
What exactly is figgy pudding? Did you know it’s a real British dish that people would eat? According to USA Today, “is traditionally made with suet (which is raw beef or mutton fat), eggs, brown sugar, breadcrumbs, spices, dried fruits and, last — but certainly not least — brandy”. Not to be confused with bread pudding, which according to some local sources, there is a premiere of bread pudding available in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Unfortunately, it said to costs $14.00 per slice and one hundred dollars at the gym to burn it all off. Reportedly. The next time you start singing about figgy pudding, now you know what it is.
Greg was freshly saved, having given his life to the Lord Jesus. He was so excited about the Lord and wanted to learn everything he could about Him especially at Christmas when we celebrate the Birth of our Lord. He was listening to a song and having “a moment” of astonishment that there was a drummer boy that showed up at the time of Jesus birth. The song says, ‘the boy had nothing to give to Jesus, but he did have a drum and that he would play his drum for Jesus.’ He was so amazed, so he went right away to look into the Bible to see more about this “drummer boy.’ After much research, “reading”, and looking through references books he was shocked to find out, there is no drummer boy! Yet, it’s a good song and tells the story that it’s not about what we give as a gift to our Lord, but that we do give what we can, what we have, to Him for His glory.
Humor Moment: Is it a Copyright Infringement Name Your Child Luke Skywalker?
It is such a beautiful and celebratory moment to find out that someone is having a baby. When you find out you’re having a baby, immediately the ideas start to come as to what you are going to name the baby. Greg shares how he was recently in a local business and had a conversation with someone who shared that they named their baby “Skyler”. As the conversation continued, Greg learned the baby’s middle name was “Lucas”. After thinking about it for a moment, a connecting the two names together, Greg instantly knew: STAR TREK! Star Trek, or Star Wars, aren’t they the same thing? We’re kidding. Only to confirm his thoughts when the mother tells him that Star Wars is the baby’s father’s favorite movie. Now that’s a fan for sure!
What Does HARK! Really mean? What were the Angels Harkening?
In this exciting season of celebrating Christmas, joyful music is in the air. Many may casually hum along, walking through department stores, completing their Christmas shopping, but do we pay attention to the lyrics of these Christmas songs? Have you ever actually listened to the lyrics of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”? Sometimes, we can be humming along and not even realize what is playing in our midst. What exactly does “hearken” mean? According to Dictionary.com, it means listen. Angels are calling attention to all those present because they are delivering a message. Luke 2:8-13 reveals what this exciting message is,
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them,
“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.””
Think about this! Imagine you are a shepherd just quietly going about your life, tending your sheep, in the middle of the fields, at night, and suddenly the heavens rip open. This something that not only you’ve been doing for all your life, but generations before you had done. It’s at that point we all figure we got this thing figured out. What can and cannot happen. Yet, all they knew was about to be shown to be very little. The night’s sky rips open showing angels harkening. What was once a dark night, where the stars of heaven could clearly be seen, now the entire sky is emblazoned with the glory of God emanating from the angelic host that is now declaring a message directly to you! This is what we are celebrating this moment! There was 400 years of silence from the voice of God. BUT SUDDENLY! This is what The Chosen declared in their phenomenal rendition of this very moment when the shepherds in the field were awestruck at the Good News that was being declared to them.
We take it so lightly when we sing a nice Christmas song. This was a momentous occasion! God had sent His angels to declare to the world that His Son, Jesus Christ, who takes away the sins of the world, had just been born! Now THAT is headline news! He lived a sinless life, He was tempted in every way, but didn’t sin. He was crucified for our sins so that we could have a relationship with God the Father! This is what John 3:16 is all about! “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Don’t be surprised when you see darkness increasing across the land in America. Satan understands that his time is getting short and he is doing all that he can to distract people from the Good News of Jesus Christ. Remember, Jesus is coming back! There is going to be an appearing in the sky when Jesus calls His Church home, into heaven, to be with Him, FOREVER! THIS IS GOOD NEWS! THIS IS WHAT CHRISTMAS IS ALL ABOUT! If you want to know more about God and find out how you can know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, go to Know God. We have wonderful things waiting for you there that will bless you on your adventure to Know God.
The Great Resignation! ‘38% of Pastors Have Thought About Quitting Ministry’ says Barna Group as Gross Darkness Is Increasing in the Land
It doesn’t take long to look around the daily events happening in our world in order to recognize that gross darkness is taking place. It’s getting darker and darker as each day passes. This is why we are here right now, talking to you on the Greg Lancaster Show, to bring light to you, and encourage you. God has called those who follow Jesus as their Lord to be the Light of the World. We’re even called “Children of the Light.” The darker things get, the brighter you, as a believer, get. Be sure not to catch yourself screaming at the darkness, instead of Lighting a candle and “being the Light” that Kings will come to. We knew this day was coming and now it’s here. This is a moment in time when we have to recognize and ask ourselves the question, “was God the God of someone else’s life, or is He God of my life?” “Am I serving darkness while claiming to be “the Light, which God showed Greg in a prophet dream?” This is an important eternal question for us to ask. Everyone is feeling this pressure upon them. Even pastors.
According to a recent study conducted by the Barna Group, “38% of pastors have thought about quitting full-time ministry in the past year.”
This is a staggering reality. Remember, pastors are people too. They feel the same pressures you’re feeling. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and governments over reaching response, is causing many to suddenly walk away from their jobs, which is being known as the “The Great Resignation”. We’re seeing Pastors walk away from their churches, shepherds walking away from their sheep. We understand the heaviness of this hour, but DON’T QUIT!
David Kinnaman, President and CEO of Barna Group, highlights the reality that pastors are feeling the same effects that many millions around the nation are feeling as well, and how the pandemic has caused many Christians to walk away from their churches. ‘During and after the pandemic, about a third of Christians, practicing Christians disengaged, from their congregation, just sort of stopped showing up.’ As CBN News reports from this same study, “4,000 churches closed in 2020 and 20,000 pastors left the ministry”. In addition to those staggering realities, “50% of pastors say they would leave the ministry if they had another way of making a living.” If the difficulties of these days are not enough, many are also experiencing the troubles and divisions of the heightened opinions regarding the vaccines and mask mandates.
Do you feel like there is a constant heaviness of demonic, oppressive, sad, weight upon you? You are not alone. Everyone is feeling this right now. It’s a demonic strategy of the adversary. What we are witnessing is a demonic strategy to keep people constantly changing the popular narrative, to create their desire outcome, which is division, polarization. It’s Rules for Radicals. People are trying to define success in this present environment where the very definition of success is constantly changing. There is no “finish line” in this current demonic happening, outside of turning to Jesus. As Marshall Ganz says, “Community organizers have to be well-integrated schizoids.” Someone who has schizophrenia is someone who has lost their mind. This isn’t a logical argument. God is not limited by the presence of increasing darkness in the land. In the 1970’s, the Lord poured out His Spirit sovereignly upon an entire generation and a nation. He is about to do it again! There were horrific tragedies taking place in the 1970’s. Rebellion was everywhere. What is different about today? If you’re feeling all these things taking place, don’t put your focus on this life. Focus on the Lord! Just as the Lord moved right in the middle of darkness and tragic headlines in the 1970’s, He can and He is about to do it AGAIN! GET READY! As the old hymn says “Turn your eyes upon Jesus and the things of this world will grow strangely dem” including man’s feeble attempt to remove the knowledge of God from the earth.
“GAZILLIONS” of Hippies on the Beaches Flock to Beach Preacher & Listen for Hours! The Jesus Revolution! Part 10
During the 1970’s, horrific tragedies were taking place across the nation as the daily news cycle and media were declaring continual calamities and heartbreak. Interest rates were steadily climbing, ultimately peaking in 1981 at the highest they had every been in our nation. Gas lines would stretch for miles. The Vietnam War was taking place. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. It was as if increasing darkness was over an entire nation. BUT GOD! It was during these realities and events that the Lord poured out His Spirit sovereignly upon an entire generation that ultimately swept across the entire nation. This was the Jesus Movement! God did it then and He is about to do it AGAIN!
Can you feel the same oppressive heaviness in the land today? Everybody is feeling it. You are not alone. It’s a demonic strategy of the adversary because he knows his time is running out and the Lord is about to do great and mighty things again in such a holy and powerful way that it will dwarf what took place in the Jesus Movement. Pastor Jeff Johnson of Calvary Chapel Downey shares how the Lord touched an entire generation. “The Lord just chose, for this time, to pour out His Spirit upon this troubled youth”. David Guzik, Pastor of Calvary Chapel Santa Barbara shares how the Lord moved upon Chuck Smith, founder of Calvary Chape, to be the catalyst that would reach these young people. “What Pastor Chuck did was he brought these lives that were being changed in this outpouring of God, that is often being called The Jesus Movement, and he really connected them to church.” It’s incredibly important to understand how many perceived what the “Church” was and how Chuck Smith helped people overcome mindsets. Pastor Guzik continues, “Many expressions of the Jesus Movement were ‘anti church’. They were sort of ‘anti-establishment’, but Chuck brought these lives that were being changed and he really brought them into the Church, and he really brought them into ministry. He brought all the fruit down to the place simple enough to where we could receive it.” Nobody had in mind what the Lord was about to do, or what He was doing. Not even the hippies who were being drawn to the Lord Jesus Christ knew what God was doing. Only the Lord did! No man or religion could have worked up a sovereign move of God like this. It was the power of the Holy Spirit!
When we truly begin to understand that God loves us and has a plan for each and every one of us, and that begins to impact our hearts, there’s no telling what the Lord will do in our lives. It’s not about religion. It’s not about
working something up or living a life of works in hopes of being acceptable before God. That’s exhausting and that’s not what God has called us to. That’s why He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world. The Lord knew we couldn’t do it, so He sent His Son to live the perfect life FOR US! God never wanted you to live a life full of defeated mindsets. He called you to live full of liberation and freedom!
Pastor John Henry Corcoran, of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, was one of those hippies that was radically touched in the sovereign move of God during the Jesus Movement. As he remembers, “Gazillions of hippies crawled off the beaches of Southern California to come and listen to God’s Word being proclaimed by Pastor Chuck Smith.” There was such a hunger in the air to learn about Jesus Christ that people would listen attentively for hours. Pastor Corcoran continues, “the studies would go on for over two hours. He’d teach the Bible for hours.” These were the people that society deemed to be the least likely that could be brought to the Lord. But God had other plans. How could these people who were anti-establishment, anti-government, anti-God, be so hungry to learn and listen to the teachings of the Word of God for hours? IT’S GOD!
This is what it looks like when people are hungry for God! What is the number one sign of a healthy baby when they are born? They are hungry! You don’t have to remind them to eat! They are eating all day long! If this is true in the natural sense, would it be any different in the spiritual sense when someone is born again in Christ? Chuck Smith declared the simple truths of the Gospel: the Cross, the Blood, the Kingdom of God, repentance, sin and salvation. When people are hungry for God, just share the truth of the Good News of Jesus Christ and watch Holy Spirit convict hearts and draw people to Himself. When a sovereign move of God comes, it’s not going to be like it is now. Distractions and drudgery is everywhere in this present environment. When the Lord pours out His Spirit sovereignly, HE IS THE TOPIC. HE IS THE SUBJECT. ALWAYS. EVERYWHERE. When we begin to get a sense of what that looks like we suddenly realize the incredible urgency of preparing now so that we can be a part of what the Lord is doing. Are you preparing now?
A sovereign move of God will take everyone by surprise if you’re not ready for it. This is exactly what happened on Father’s Day 1995 at Brownsville Assembly of God, in Pensacola, FL. Evangelist Steve Hill was preaching that day on the Wonders of the Lord for Pastor John Kilpatrick. As Steve Hill was talking to everyone who was listening, every one is attendance was already referring to previous messages, thinking this was just another day. But everything changed when Steve Hill started praying. The presence started increasing, gradually, more and more, and there was sudden awareness God was here. Pastor John Kilpatrick declared, “GET IN! THIS IS GOD!” Imagine you knowing that God is coming, and you can take this time now to prepare for this great sovereign coming move of God! This is that! GET READY! GET READY! GET READY! GOD IS ABOUT TO DO IT AGAIN!
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