"many are called, FEW ARE CHOSEN" Mt 22:14

This short verse of scripture scares the daylights out of me, knowing many people will be invited to serve the Lord, and to be a part of His bride (the church), but will in fact turn the invitation down because the demands are too much. You might say, "I thought salvation was free, wouldn't cost me anything, just believe in Jesus and I'm in...right?"

Listen to the story about a rich ruler from Luke 18 who obviously had lot's of money. He came to Jesus one day asking the Lord "how can I inherit eternal life".  Jesus told him "You know the commandments" and the young ruler probably at that time felt a huge sigh of relief, knowing full well he had religiously served and obeyed the Torah (the law) all his days. But then Jesus said something that many refuse to listen to, or we've interpreted the meaning to lessen the impact of it's demand on our life. Jesus said "Sell all you have, and distribute the money to the poor, then come and follow Me". Lk 18:23 says it all, "when he heard this, he was very sorrowful" knowing it was too big a price to give up to follow Jesus.

I've recently preached a message entitled "The Harzards of Being Chosen", talking about the subject above and the challenge the Lord has to fully reach the heart of man. Three hazards I mentioned included:

1.  Being chosen demands separation - Light and darkness cannot dwell together. You cannot serve two masters. The Old man is dead, having been crucified with Christ, and now the Newly Created Man lives, but Christ now liveth in me. The Chosen will fight against this, because until we see Jesus face-to-face we will fight against our flesh. Our spirit is willing, but our flesh is weak.
2. Being chosen demands abandonment of independence - James 1:1 says it clearly "James, a slave of God" meaning he became a "love slave to Jesus". Testimony has it, when James was buried, calouses were found heavily on his knees having been a man devoted and dependent on prayer to his God.
3. Being chosen demands bearing one anothers burdens - God will require of you your life for His. Let a man lose himself that he may find himself in Christ. He will place the burden of souls on the chosen, they will give ear to the last words of Jesus and take it serious "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all nations..." He will send you to the weak, the poor, the rich, the messed up, the well to do, He will send you to everyone for He is unwilling that any should perish, and that means "ANY".

What is your life, but a Vapor. Use what time you have on this earth for God. Allow Him access to every area of your life, holding nothing back so that you don't walk away "sorrowful". There is nothing worth holding onto that would ever be greater than walking, and working with the Savior of mankind, the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords - Jesus Christ!

The Spirit of the Lord is compelling the Chosen to Respond...will you respond?

We make time for everything, but Prayer

James 5:16 "...the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." That word "availeth" means to accomplish much. Think about the resources, tools, abilities it takes to get most major projects accomplished today. Not only things, but time is critical to get things done today. What we fail to realize as Christians, is that we possess the ONE resource, tool, or ability that can change a world around us, and it's PRAYER.

Leonard Ravenhill, one of my favorite Preachers & Writers, says "God doesn't answer prayer, He answers desperate prayer". Our world today is in a crisis, financially, spiritually, and socially. Our churches are lukewarm, focused on entertainment, presentation, and cool style rather than seeing souls pour their hearts out before God. Our worship has become canned, it's become ineffective to reach the heart of man. It's become self centered, and flesh driven, not reaching the spirit of man. It's not a lack of talent, and great lyrics, it's a lack of Prayer! Make a new commitment to pray, seek the face of God, repent of sins in your life, and complacency that you've allowed to settle in your soul. Pray that God will move again in our Churches in America, that people will once again sense an urgency to get right with God, for Judgment stands at the door. God help us to pray, GOD HAVE MERCY!

Why I preach the message of Repentance!

Why I preach the message of repentance! When I, we, you, in fact everyone stands before Jesus Christ, the only thing that will matter is; DID I make the CHANGE of DIRECTION in my life when the Savior of mankind came calling and beckoned me to follow Him. The Savior who took all my sins to the Cross, forgave me of everything, and made me a new creation in HIM. That will matter most!

His Word to me for 2011

Simplify, Position myself to hear His Word, and Raise the level of my expectation for the things of God.

These three things, the Lord has spoken to my heart to accomplish early in 2011. If I can, and if I DO what He has encouraged and challenged me to do, amazing advances will we see regarding the Kingdom, our Family, and our influence to others.

What are you doing that the Lord has spoken to you on? Whatever He says, do it...that's what Mary told the servants at the wedding at Cana. Whatever He (the Lord) says to do, do it and don't delay.

Follow Him in 2011, you won't be disappointed.

When I think about what the Lord has done…

I just finished making my final preparations for tomorrow's sermon at The River in The Woodlands, and put in a worship album to unwind with as my mind settles in on the message and I sit to ponder what God will do for our folks tomorrow. As I sit here by the fire, still listening to this music, I am overwhelmed with the Lord's goodness to me and my wife. I think I'm the most blessed person in the world, obviously you all would say the same I'm sure about your life. But I just have to give God praise tonight. I love Him so much. He's done so much in my life. Oh how I pray others feel this way when you think about Jesus and what He's done for you.

Please know that whoever you are, I'm praying for you to hear His voice, feel His love and embrace in your life. If you don't have a home church, I invite you to ours. You can find us at www.TheRiverAG.org. The Lord is moving in this very hour, your life is dependent on His grace and forgiveness. I hope you find this as a help. Jesus saves, heals, delivers, and is coming again SOON! I love You!

Happy Anniversary – The River www.TheRiverAG.org

This Sunday July 12^th, 2009 The River will celebrate its Five Year Anniversary service with special guest Eli & Mary Gautreaux, Chi Alpha Directors at Sam Houston State University, Huntsville and South Texas District A/G Chi Alpha Director. Service begins at 10:30 am.

The River officially began ministering to the community of The Greater Woodlands Area July 4^th, 2004 out of Tinseltown Theater. After six months in the Theater a full-time church facility became available on Hwy 242 in The Woodlands. We thank God for the journey and look forward with great anticipation for what lies ahead for our church body.

Vision for the future is expanding. The group pic is taken from a Chi Alpha meeting of young adults that have started the journey of walking with Jesus. The River has always desired to minister to this generation of young adults and will now move passionately in that direction as we launch in the next few weeks "Thursday Nites", a ministry to the young at heart with a relaxed, but fully engaged night of fellowship, acoustic worship and the Word.

The five year journey has been a foundation building season for us, filled with challenges helping us to grow stronger. Now a new season of building the structure is upon us. Come this Sunday, July 12^th and help us celebrate the New Beginning of our next season.

Pastor David Summerlin, Pastor

The Bible and it's parallel to our lives

The call of God on a man or woman's life is amazing. I always tell people that ministry, or the call to ministry is a God thing. It can't always be understood or figured out, it's just a God thing.

When I read the Bible and examine the lives of great men and women, I find so many similarities to my own life, however, I am not in the least bit saying I live up to their standards, or even come close to the dedication and commitment they had to the Lord when they walked this planet. But, I do see so many life experiences that they went through that I find myself going through along this journey. For instance, Elijah, when he stood against 450 prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18) on Mt. Carmel challenging the people of Israel to remove the idol worship of foreign God's and choose the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as their only God. I see in Elijah a dedication and an extreme commitment to bring truth to the people, so much so, that he is willing to stand before the whole congregation and speak things that many do not want to hear. We live in this type of generation today, many people don't want to hear that God is a jealous God, and that He will not compete with idols in our lives. He will be first in our lives and will never play second fiddle to another, because He is God, and to accept anything less would be to reject His own commandment to the nation of Israel, "Thou shalt have no other God's before me". (Exo. 20:3)

After the intense confrontation between Elijah and these prophets, Elijah runs (1 Kings 19:4) into the wilderness asking God to take his life (where did all the boldness go?) after hearing word that Jezebel, who represents an evil spirit that controls weak spirited people, makes threats on his life which causes fear and confusion to arise. No doubt Elijah had right intentions when confronting the prophets. He wanted to see the people of God serve and worship the true God of Israel. His love for the nation gave him the boldness to speak out in tough times. However, right after the greatest victory and demonstration by the hand of God, Elijah finds himself running for his life in fear and doubt.

It is most important for ministers and people called of God to rightly divide the word of God, separating soul (mind, will, emotions) and spirit (the hub of man that God speaks to). This is done by spending time in prayer and the Word. God's Word is "quick and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword..." Heb 4:12. Elijah was a man of God and still dealt with fear and confusion. Attacks will come to the mind. Ministry can be a very lonely place, it was for many of the prophets of God, up to the last O.T. prophet John the Baptist, one called of God to prepare the way of the Lord. His fiery messages didn't impress the religious of the day, but to the lost and hurting, they where a refreshing wind of hope that something better is on the way. I want to be like John, speaking a message that something better is on the way. Jesus Christ is coming soon and we in ministry have a mandate to speak the truth and prepare the people no matter how lonely of a place it may seem to be. We must remember what we preach "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" Heb 13:5, that apply's to God's messengers as well.

Stay the course, keep up the fight, Jesus is coming for His Bride!