By Mike and Julie McGhghy
ASR RUMBLINGS – DECEMBER 2019

In this fourth and final article regarding holiness, and in the spirit of thankfulness and celebration of the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ, we will unwrap a gift given to us by Dr. David K. Bernard in his book, Practical Holiness:  A Second Look. No, Dr. Bernard did not write the book thinking of his message, as a gift to the readers, but to me this message was a life-changing gift.

Remember that our goal is to live the Acts 2:38 message that we wear on our back patches when we ride, but to live it at all times, not just when we ride. Living the message means living holy. In the prior articles we discussed holiness involving both the inner man and the outer man and how that looks in our lives. The gift we will unwrap today is the message we find in Romans 6, 7, and 8, but we will first start with a review of our sinful nature.

 We know from both the Old and New Testaments that all human beings have sinned (I Kings 8:46; II Chronicles 6:36), all human beings inherit the sin of Adam (Psalms 51:5; Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 5:12), and the penalty of sin is death, but forgiveness is available through Christ (Romans 5:19; 1 Corinthians 15:22). Even after receiving forgiveness through the experience of the New Birth, our sin/carnal nature struggles against the Spirit. Galatians 5:17. We must all wage against our sinful nature, even after we experience the New Birth.

 The sinful nature consists of a compulsion to commit sinful acts, not just a capacity to sin. If we let the sinful nature lead us it will always cause us to sin. Paul taught that neither the law of God nor the law of the mind, that is neither God’s moral law nor the good intentions of the human mind, imparts power to overcome the principle of sin that drives humans to sin. Most of us are familiar with Romans 7:14-25, where Paul describes a struggle between the carnal nature and our desire to walk holy. Verse 15 states, “For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.” Many people accept this as a description of the norm for Christian living, a constant battle with the desire to sin. Many, including myself in times past, justify ourselves saying something like, “Hey, if Paul struggled with sin, of course I am going to struggle.”

But here is the gift: Romans 7 does not describe the norm for Christian living! It describes a good-intentioned person trying to overcome sin without the power of the Spirit. Paul concludes Romans 7 by thanking God that through Jesus Christ we can serve the law of God in our minds, overcoming the law of sin in our flesh.

To find the norm for Christian living, we must look at Romans 6 and 8. Romans 6:6 and 11 tell us that we are dead to sin and we are to consider ourselves as such. Romans 8 describes life in the Spirit, where there is no condemnation (verse 1) and we are more than conquerors through Christ (verses 37-39). Yes, the principle of sin remains in the born-again believer, but the born-again believer can overcome the principle of sin through the power of the Spirit!

Holiness starts at salvation. Without salvation, we will constantly live in the struggle Paul describes in Romans 7. Once we experience the New Birth (repentance, baptism in Jesus Name, and receiving the Holy Ghost), we embark on the process of daily submission to the leadership and control of the Holy Spirit. We must follow holiness in order to see the Lord. Hebrews 12:14. The New Birth has no eternal value unless we walk by faith and live after the new nature of the Spirit, allowing God to complete the work of salvation that began at the New Birth.

Following holiness requires personal effort. It is our responsibility to reverently and watchfully implement holiness in our lives. But we need not be overwhelmed by this! God is the One who works in us, giving us the desire and the power to live righteously. Philippians 2:12-13. Below is a three-fold approach to overcoming sin that is revealed in Romans 6 and shared by Dr. Bernard in his book:

1.    Know who we are and what has happened to us. Know that when we were born again, we died to sin. Know, therefore that sin has no power over us.

2.    Reckon this to be so. Think on that knowledge and act as if we died to sin and sin has no power over us.

3.    Yield to God. Replace sinful habits with an active performance of God’s will as revealed by His Word and His Spirit.

God will consider us holy if we live a repented life, have faith in Christ, live according to the knowledge of His Word, and strive to become progressively more like Christ. Ephesians 4:13. He expects us to grow continually in grace and knowledge (Mark 4:26-29; 2 Peter 3:18) and to bear more and more spiritual fruit (John 15:1-8). If we do not become progressively more holy and Christ-like in thought, attitude, conduct, and lifestyle, something is wrong.

Let’s Welcome all our newest  member to the Azusa StreetRiders Ministry

Bro Jeffrey Todd Nuchols
Maryville, TN
Pastor Kenneth Carpenter
FAC Maryville
Maryville, TN

Allow me to say something on Bro Nuckols behalf. He has built numerous churches, in many third world countries. His wife and him raise money and when they have enough to build a church he leads a team into remote areas of the world and builds a sanctuary for the the Lord Jesus Christ. I am glad he the is a part of this ministry I know he loves to ride, I know he love God and he is excited to be a member of the Azusa StreetRiders Ministry

We are already looking forward to the 2020 Bind the Strong Man event kicking off the riding season for the Azusa StreetRiders Ministry. Sis Juli Jasinski from WNOP (World Network of Prayer) will be leading our prayer and directing us on how to bring down strongholds, March 6 & 7, 2020 from 8:00 pm to 8:00 am

Sanctuary of Macon
1780 Tucker Rd
Macon, GA 31220

Please join us in a Daniel fast the day before and during Bind the Strongman.

There will be Prayer to bind and loose, to take over our cities, homes, churches and our lives.

Bring a map of your city and mark key areas (City Hall, Police Dept, courthouse, Schools, colleges, bridges, gateways, Masonic temples, tattoo parlors, palm readers, strip bars, etc)

This is a preview of what we will be addressing and praying:
Plowing before the harvest training
Strongholds of the enemy
Focused prayer
Prayer walk inside the church
Armor of God
Weapons of our warfare
7 Points of effective prayer walking
How to prayer walk and disengagement
Things to pray for your city
Strongholds of the city
How to do spiritual warfare praying
Directed prayer

This year’s hosts will be Bro & Sis Diaz
Central Georgia Chapter & Members of the
Sanctuary of Macon church.

Hotels in the area (March 6 – 8th)

Holiday Inn Express & Suites Macon-West
4970 Harrison Rd, Macon, GA 31206
(478) 803-0033

!!  ANNOUNCEMENT  !!

Azusa StreetRiders is proud to announce the addition of “A Culture of Caring” in all future issues of RUMBLINGS.  This prayer corner will be updated monthly with prayer requests and praise reports submitted by ASR members. We ask that all ASR members send prayer requests to their Regional Chaplain and the Regional Chaplain will submit reports to Chaplain Carman Hamby by the 25^th of each month for submission in the next issue of RUMBLINGS. This way everyone will be informed and praying.

I should clarify that this is not replacing emergencies on Facebook, texts or calls.  It is a follow up to show we care and are obeying 1 Samuel 12:23.  As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you.  And I will teach you the way that is good and right.   Chaplain Carman’s email is:  Carmanhamby@yahoo.com

The name of our prayer corner was taken from the title of the book, “Cultivating a Culture of Caring,” by the ASR International Chaplain, Rev. Mark A. Hardin. We would like to thank Chaplain Hardin for allowing us to use this title as it so accurately conveys the prayer corner purpose. It is well worth reading and would make an excellent gift this season and is available on Amazon. Chaplain Hardin believes in cultivating a culture of caring within the confines of our local congregation, or structure of influences, so that we continue to love our neighbor as ourselves.

By having the prayer corner, we meet two important needs; 1) each member knows we are here for them and are praying when difficult circumstances arise. 2) each one is well informed of the needs of individual members.

We all face difficult circumstances.  It is important to contact your Regional Chaplain when needs occur along with any updates and they will in turn pass on to Chaplain Carman Hamby so she can add the request to RUMBLINGS. This will create spiritual unity when we are all praying fervently about each others needs.

If we do not use the Holy Spirit that God has placed in our hearts and hands to give increase to the Kingdom by lifting up brethren and our neighbors, we have missed the focal point of God’s divine purpose of distributing or dispersing Himself to mankind. We are to build and restore relationships not walk through this world alone. We are to encourage and share with each other, in the good times and bad. We are to minister to those who oppose us or themselves. Isn’t that what Christ did?

Excerpt from Cultivating A Culture of Caring: Jesus explained to Peter that Satan wished to sift him as wheat…one translation says “riddle”… in other words, grind you up like flour. He went on, but, I pray your faith, fail not and when converted, strengthen the brethren. Converted is also interpreted restored or redeemed. Jesus warned Peter, when you go through the crushing blows of the enemy, don’t loose heart for when you are tried like gold you will come back restored… and when you do, strengthen those who are now going through their personal “hell”.

We want to continually lift up prayers for all ASR members and their families. In addition we have some specific request this month. Please forgive me in advance if I have failed to add someone. 

Missions
Rev. Mike McGhghy and Rev. Julie McGhghy – AIMers to Costa Rica

Home Mission
Rev. Mike Markham – Turning Point Fellowship
Rev. Johnny Carr – Apostolic Church of Tatum

Restoration
Prodigals

Healing
Robert Thompson – healing of eye issue
Tom Thompson – seizures – heart issues
Lydia Diaz – is currently being treated with chemo
Delbert Hayes – has started chemo for leukemia
Anthony Storey –  recovering from motorcycle accident
Kaila Markham Miller – daughter of Rev. and Chalain Krysta Markham, will be having surgery December 6^th  on right side of brain, the second possibly Dec 12^th  on the left side of brain
Sophia – Theodore’s granddaughter surgery for crushed her ankle
Scott Culver – bone marrow issue
Rev. Marcos Prieto varicoelectomy – vein stripping in both legs
Rev. Johnny Carr – Vertigo and headaches
Carla – Jon and Serrena Weber’s niece – paralysis from brain tumor surgery

Family members passed 2019
Doug Solomon –  father
Joe Endicott –  mother
Lisa Endicott –  mother
Chaplain Krysta Markham –  father
Rev. Anthony Storey –  father

Thank You for Your Prayers and Have a Christ Filled Christmas!
Diane Beall
International Ladies Chaplain

We are a representation of someone or something as we perform our everyday tasks in this world. I have no doubt that my brothers and sisters of ASR represent Jesus very well to this world as we go about our everyday lives, and for that I thank you. I for one, in the spirit of being transparent, have struggled with road rage at times. Once I joined ASR, and began wearing the Name of Jesus Christ on my backpatch, came a new level of responsibility and self awareness of my actions while representing ASR and Jesus Christ. It has helped me to overcome that issue in my life. I take the opportunity as much as possible to wear my ASR shirts even when I am not on the bike, so I can have that door opening wherever I may be. One such occurrence happened recently, not to me, but to my sister and brother in law. They had traveled to Washington DC on business for my sister’s job, and had went downtown to sightsee. They both purchased support shirts at the 2019 National Rally, and were wearing them on that trip. While they were traveling on the subway, a Vietnam veteran noticed their shirts, came over and struck up a conversation with them. The name Azusa had grabbed his attention, and he explained to them how he had attended school in Azusa, California. He loved the motorcycle design on the front and the “Jesus Information” on the back. Had it not been for those support shirts, it would possibly have been just another subway ride. One planteth, one watereth, and God gives the increase! As we approach the year 2020, let’s be a “Billboard For Jesus”, and use every method and opportunity available to us to advance the Kingdom of God!

God Bless You

Bro Jeremiah Hayes