Electronic Aggravation

Good Monday Morning To You!

I hope you had a terrific week. As for me --- I’m aggravated. We have a sound system at Church that is driving us nuts. It never works the same way twice. Our former music director took care of setting up the equipment and adjusting it each week. When he left, he showed several of us how to use it, and we made a diagram of what to plug where. The system was so upset with its change of handlers that it is acting like a spoiled brat. It literally does not like us. I think Bill Wolfe has somehow offended it. I took the mixer board back to Jay and Kay’s Piano Shop where we bought it and it worked just fine for them. Jay even took time to show us the proper way of setting it up. A total of five of us learned the proper procedures and it worked like a champ at the store, but when we took it back to church -----. You get the picture. I should add at this point that this hateful creature is only a little over a year old. I suspect the problem is in our speaker. Everything else seems to be just fine. This time when I take it in, I’m taking the whole kit and caboodle with me. It worked fine using their mics, wires, and speakers. Hopefully we can get an answer. If they can find an fault, we can eliminate operator error. I hope so; five brilliant Baptists can’t be wrong.

Yesterday was an awesome day at Friendship Harmony. Attendance was super, and the presence of the living LORD was with us. It is so good to be in a church where people love God and love each other. Sadly, that is not the case in all churches. All of us at Friendship Harmony Baptist Church are genuinely aware of the gift God has given us --- the gift of a unified congregation. What a tremendous blessing!!! I can’t tell you how many people who have visited from other places have said that if they lived in our community, they would definitely attend Friendship Harmony. God has blessed me twice to pastor extraordinary churches: Calvary Baptist in Cincinnati, and Friendship Harmony in Lee County Florida.

I concluded our “Walking” series with part 3 of our messages titled “Peripateo.” Remember, peripateo means to walk to prove you can. Below are the notes. I hope they are of benefit to you as you look deeper into God’s word. One way of having a peripateo walk is to study God’s word and to plumb its depths. As always, feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments. Unfortunately, the notes cannot go into the depth the actual sermon did. With the coming of the video ministry, however, you will eventually be able to get it all.

Peripateo ©
Deut. 5:33
Walking Series 3 of 3 October 19, 2012
By Victor Cooper

Intro: Today we wrap up our look at the command to “peripateo;” walk to prove you can. We conclude by looking at some good reasons for walking in the ways of the LORD out side the fact that it is commanded.

I. Walking in God’s ways prevents sin.
Psalm 119:3 They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways.
A. Iniquity means “evil; unrighteousness.”
1. Unrighteousness = not right with God
2. What we call a “little” sin, God calls it evil.
3. How much sin did it take before God chastised Adam, Eve, and all creation?
4. How much sin did it take for Jesus to have to die on a cross?
“By man’s way of thinking, taking a bite of a piece of fruit is not such a big thing, but look what it has done! Pastor Vic Cooper
B. You cannot walk in God’s ways and the world’s ways at the same time. Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

II. Walking in God’s ways guarantees light.
John 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life
A. “Walk“ in this verse is “peripateo.” To paraphrase our Lord, “I am the light of the world: he that accompanies me shall not try to prove he can walk in darkness…”.
B. Since Jesus is light, the only way to walk in darkness is to purposely step away from Jesus.
1. Key word: purposely. Remember, peripateo means to walk to prove you can. To walk in darkness is a deliberate attempt to show you can.
2. To walk in darkness once you have been in the light is to tell God, “I’ll show You.”
That is called rebellion. It goes back to that unrighteousness we spoke of earlier.

III. Walking in God’s ways grants rest. (A paradox.)
Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

The paradox ---
How can walking be restful?

A. Logic: Any creature, man or otherwise, can only walk so long before fatigue sets in.
B. Resting is fine, but can lead to laziness if one enjoys the rest better than the walk.
1. Psalm 37:7a says, “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him…”
2. This, however, is not a rest from walking in God’s ways.
C. Walking in God’s ways guarantees rest because to do it one must be with the LORD.
1. “They that wait upon the LORD…” They walk with Him, not run ahead nor lag behind.
2. The old Gospel song says, “You’ve got to keep walking, keep walking, walking in the light of the Lord.”

Conclusion: We are called upon to walk to prove that we can. Primarily we are called upon to prove it to selves. It is encouraging to try it and succeed at it. It makes you want to keep going.

I hope you can join us at Friendship Harmony soon. If not, be sure to keep up with us here on the Monday Morning Blog. Either way, it is always a joy to visit with you. Here’s just a little preview of the message for this upcoming Sunday. “Our new body will be: imperishable; incorruptible; incapable of sin; incomprehensible.

Stay safe and well, and I’ll see you next Monday Morning With Pastor Vic!!!

Down By The Old Mill Creek

Good Monday Morning To you!

Several folk commented on my story about Theodore the rooster. I was asked if it was a true story. Indeed it was. We had a pet chicken smack dab in the middle of Cincinnati. I really wasn’t able to do justice to the part about mom not being able to go outside to hang her laundry. It was side-splitting hilarious! I can still see mom throwing her laundry up in the air and running all over the yard with this rooster chasing her, flapping his wings and squawking as he flapped. To this day whenever mom eats a piece of chicken, she has a victorious smirk on her face.

I was asked to recount some other stories about my childhood. I remember another adventure Johnny Miller and I shared. We were in Vacation Bible School at the Presbyterian Church Johnny attended, and decided after the classes, we were going to go down to the Mill Creek to play. Martha Miller, and Alene Cooper had told their boys, Johnny and Vic, that they were not allowed to play by the creek. Johnny and I had gone there before, so we figured what our moms didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them. To plan our escapade, we snuck into the furnace room of the church. Mom and Mrs. Miller were upstairs in the sanctuary doing some kind of work. The furnace room was in the basement, so we were no where near our moms. We made our plans. Mom and Mrs. Miller went home, and Johnny and I told them we were going to ride our bikes. We did ride them too --- right down to the Mill Creek. Mill Creek was a dirty, polluted creek that was as close to being an open sewer as existed in the United States. Where we played was secluded. You could be down by the creek and never know a large metropolitan city was nearby. We were pleased with ourselves, until we got to our spot. There stood Martha Miller and Alene Cooper. It was easy to tell that they were not happy, and it was confirmed when they spoke. As bad as that was, we both knew when our dads got home from work, things would likely go from bad to worse.

I don’t recall how we were punished. Mom’s favorite punishment was to take the TV away from me for two weeks. Mom always said, “Two solid weeks.” I hated that word “solid.” It makes me cringe to this day!

When we asked our moms how did they know, their answer was, “Moms just know those kinds of things.” Many years later after I was married with kids of my own, mom revealed how she knew. Johnny and I had figured that since we planned our foul deed inside a Church, surely God must have told them. We worked off that theory for years. Mom told me that she and Mrs. Miller had heard every word we said. She told me that they were up at the altar of the sanctuary working, and that there was a vent that allowed air from the furnace room to circulate into the auditorium. We were standing right under that vent, while they were standing right beside it. We had told them, detail by detail, exactly what we’d planned to do. Johnny Miller and Vic Cooper were to have many more adventures, but never again did we plan any orneriness. Sometime I’ll tell you about the time Johnny won a baby kitten on the Skipper Ryle television show. That was an adventure by itself. As a side note, John Miller and I are still friends and we communicate from time to time. Neither of us live in Ohio any more, but the memories of those care free days will forever be locked in our minds and hearts. They were great times!

Yesterday at Friendship Harmony, I began a four part series called “Peripateo.” Have you ever heard of that word? If you ask any of the folks who were at Friendship Harmony yesterday, they could tell you. Peripateo is a word from the Koine Greek that translates to “walk.” However, it means just a bit more. It means “to walk to prove that you can.” I gave the illustration of Miss Bessie’s follow-up visit to her orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Michael Jugan. Bess was sitting on the exam table and told Dr. Jugan to stand over by the door. She got down off the table, left her walker standing by itself, and walked over to him. She walked to prove she could. That’s peripateo.

That is how Christians are to walk. We are to walk proving that we can walk the believer’s walk. It proves it to the world, and it proves it to us. Below are the notes. I do hope you find them beneficial. If in looking at the notes you ever have any questions, or desire clarification, just call me or e-mail me at preachercooper@hotmail.com.

Peripateo ©
Deut. 5:33
“Walking” Series 1 of 3 By Victor Cooper
09/28,29/12

Intro: The title of this series seems strange to a modern hearer, but the word peripateo comes to us from the Koine Greek. It is one of the words meaning walk. It means to walk about to prove that you can.

I. Walk in the ways God has commanded.
A. To walk in them one must know them, not simply be acquainted with them.
1. It comes from Bible reading.
2. It comes from Bible study.
3. It comes from talking to God.
4. It comes from listening to God.
(a) “Be careful here: before you get to listening, get to learning.” Pastor Victor Cooper

II. Walking in God’s ways prevents sin. Psalm 119:3 They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways.
A. It is the blessing of obedience.
Bible Knowledge Commentary The psalmist delighted in the fact that those who walk in wholehearted obedience to the Law are blessed (vv. 1-3). This prompted him to wish that he were more obedient in view of God’s commands to follow His laws (vv. 4-6). So the psalmist vowed to give thanks as he learned more about God’s statutes (vv. 7-8)

III. Sin is prevented because one is walking in the light.
A. Walking in the light is commanded. Isaiah 2:5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.
B. Jesus is the Light of the world. John 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
C. Jesus said walk while you can. John 12:35a Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you:

IV. Not walking in God’s ways invites God’s wrath.
Leviticus 26:21 And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.
A. God is not speaking to the world, but to His own.
B. God wants His own walking with Him in sweet communion. Example: Enoch.
Genesis 5:23-24 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: [24] And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
C. Not walking in God’s ways brings confusion.
John 12:35b for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.
Quote: God won’t make you serve Him, but He’ll make you wish you had! Pastor B. J. Thomas circa 1995
Conclusion: Walking with God is a commandment, but as we have seen is a pleasant one with grand benefits. Walk with God so that, as our text verse says, “…it may be well with you…”

Have a good rest of your week. For those of you traveling south to be with us, stay safe. We look forward to seeing you soon. To all of you, I’ll see you next Monday Morning With Pastor Vic!!