From the Pastor
II Chronicles 16:9
“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro through out the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.”
Acts 2:47
“Praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”
I Corinthians 3:6,7
“I have planted, Apollas watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.”
Matthew 9:37, 38
“Then saith he unto his disciples. The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that he will send forth laborers into the harvest.”
Psalm 127:1
“Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watch man waketh but in vain.”
My prayer, “Lord would you grow Cathedral?”
The privilege of ministry is growth. God has allowed our property to grow in value. God has allowed all our facilities to grow in size and activities. We have gone from no van to a van and a bus. All of this is physical growth.
I am praying for us to grow in love. I am praying for God to add human lives to our fellowship. People that can grow us more in the Lord. People who can help us grow in outreach throughout our community.
Will you join me in this prayer, please?
Thank you. ~Bro. Doug~
From the Pastor
I Corinthians 15:14–20
Point one: “If Christ be not risen, then our preaching is vain.” Our proclamation is empty air. Our words are hollow. We have no real offer of hope to share.
Point two: “If Christ be not risen, then your faith is also vain.” There is no substance to hope on. There is no later evidence to look for. You are trusting in cotton candy that soon disappears.
Point three: “If Christ be not risen, then we are found to be false witnesses.” Peter said, “I saw Him after the cross and burial.” James and John said, “I saw Him after the cross and burial.” I, Paul, say, “I talked with Him after His cross and burial.”
Point four: “If Christ be not risen, ye are yet in your sin.” Talk about bad news. The joy of Christ is our sins removed. Guilt destroyed by Jesus is our song of victory. Still in our sin, God forbid!
Point five: “If Christ be not risen, we should be most miserable.” I cannot comprehend the depth of sorrow and emptiness of heart Paul is describing here. Misery, a sorrow that can’t be corrected or comforted. What an enemy of thought the word “not” is in such a sentence of “He is risen,” an uninvited intruder.
Paul is hitting the points loud and hard. Like a great lawyer before the jury. One point after another, “If Christ be not risen.”
With the picture of hopelessness firmly in place, Paul, now pounces on the point of all points.
In verse 20, “But now is Christ risen from the dead.” So much for all the “if” he be not risen!
Hallelujah! Why look you for the living among the dead? He is risen! Go tell others, He is risen! We serve a risen Savior. He is alive! That’s good news. That’s the best news.
Have a meaningful Easter.
In Christ. ~Bro. Doug
From the Pastor
I am writing this article on Tuesday, September 20th, and as I am praying and thinking about the article God would have me write, my mind is on another hurricane in the gulf called Rita. With the fall of the year right upon us, I would rather be thinking on the fall moon and the falling leaves. Normally this time of the year is pleasant.
My heart is heavy for our nation. We as a church have been doing our part to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Our prayers for the devastation of the gulf coast are said daily. Yet, for all this, I watch as a nation seems to be unwilling to change its wrong ways.
- America, as a nation, is wrong concerning abortion.
- It is wrong about removing “under God.”
- It is wrong about not displaying of the Ten Commandments.
- It is wrong about removing the Bible readings and prayers from our schools.
- It is wrong about homosexuality.
- It is wrong about the defense and promotion of other Gods and religions.
- It is wrong about evolution as opposed to creation.
- It is wrong about pornography.
In the face of all these wrongs, we are in conflict at home and overseas. In a time when no man’s voice can turn America, God’s call to repentance is being ignored and His power and plans are being credited to a non-existing goddess, Mother Nature. She does not exist, Father God does!
Will the highest court in the land really be supreme and right these wrongs so that God can bless America?
Which do you fear the most?
- Nuclear bomb
- China & Russia
- North Korea
- God
I fear God above all. He is true and righteous altogether. Psalm 9:15–20
~Pastor Doug
From the Pastor
“Give us a King.”
This was the cry, the call of the people of Israel. The time of Moses, Joshua, and the Judges have come to a close. Eli and his sons are dead. Samuel is old age and his sons were ungodly. Now the people wanted a king like all the other nations.
Israel was supposed to be different than all nations. When asked the difference, the answer would be “God.” Moses wasn’t over the people and Joshua wasn’t over the people. The Judges all came from God. God was always good. God was the victories. Never a man, always “God.”
When the nation of Israel asked for a king, they were rejecting God. They were rejecting faith and wanting sight. They were rejecting perfection and wanting a fallen one like themselves.
Most people today still like the idea of no God. This opens up self rule. Rather than obeying a rule maker, they get to become the maker of the rule. People who speed hate the police cars with radar in them. People who steal hate the machines that announce their theft. Darkness hates light. No God, no consequences. Even in the time of Jesus, man had rather have Barabbas, a murderer, than Jesus, God’s son, in their company. Take a real close look at who Americans idolize today.
I have a king and I am glad He is a King. His name is Jesus. It was written just above his head on the cross. He is the son of King David. He is also David’s king. He is the king of kings.
I want his presence. I want his rule. I want His ways. I want His kingdom to come. I have no other kings. I want no other king. I bow to the king. I rise to serve this king. I sing of the king. I pray to this king. I am proud of my king. Jesus is his name.
~Bro. Doug Welborn~
From the Pastor
In my years of being cared for by God, He has ministered to me through the Bible. He has also supplied comfort and guidance through books written by other people who themselves have been ministered to through the Bible.
In the month of May, I read a book written by Charles Stanley titled, “Peace.” This book helped restore some loss of peace in my life that had slowly leaked out like air in a tire. It didn’t just put air back in, it fixed the leak.
From the day I was saved, I knew I had peace with God. My sins were and are forgiven. (I John 1:9) I was but am no longer at war with God. (Romans 8:7, Ephesians 2:15–16; James 4:4) He calls me his son, his servant, and his friend. I call Him Father, God, and Lord.
I have known peace from God. In difficult times God has whispered into my heart peace. This peace was calm and reassuring. It gave an extra strength. It seemed to have come on its own. It simply was there.
Charles Stanley’s book speaks of these, but also speaks of a daily peace of God. This peace flows out of a daily constant walk of faith. A peace that we as an individual are responsible for maintaining.
If you have a blow out, your tire instantly goes flat and you know it. If your tire blows up, that too is obvious.
Some people drive for hours on a tire with a slow leak. Then they just air the tire up never fixing the leak. It keeps going down and up. Likewise, peace is to be a fixed relationship with God no matter the circumstance. God wants peace from Him to us, but He also wants us to live in His peace.
You know Jesus is the King of Peace. Our eternal home, Jerusalem, means, “City of Peace.” Jesus said, “Peace, I leave with you. Not as the world giveth.” John 14:27. Jesus said this in the face of some pretty dark times.
Don’t give peace away. Read the Bible and find peace within it.
Bro. Doug Welborn~
Message from the pastor
My family and I join with this group of people to declare that in a world that has lost its direction, in a society that has lost its meaning there is still a Life Worth Living. The Life Worth Living is based on the Word of God that makes the will of the Father, the love of the Son, Jesus, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit possible.
“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the Law of the Lord; and in his Law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”
Pastor Doug Welborn
From the Pastor
People of God. People of the Bible.
You might call this a “God Alert.” If you color code this, the color is the highest color of alert.
2 Peter 2:9
“The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punishment.”
Psalm 50:17–21
“Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my word behind thee, you cheered the thief; you are adulterers; you speak evil; you frame deceit; you slander continuously. I kept silence, you thought I was like you, but I will reprove you.”
Ecclesiastes 8:11–13
“Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily . . . men is fully set to keep doing evil. Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, though a sinner lives a long life on earth, surely I know that it shall not be well for the wicked, but it shall be well for those that fear the Lord.”
Psalm 1:3–5
“The ungodly are not so but like the chaff which the wind driveth away.”
Psalm 37:1–2
“Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the screen herb.”
Our nation is on the verge of bursting wide open into the celebration of ungodliness. Like Israel of old, they are ready to “sit and eat, rise and play.” Judges with no conscience and no sight of truth are aiding this cause. We will be fine. They will not. Pray and vote.
~Bro. Doug~
From the Pastor
In Revelation 1:8, Jesus declares, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.”
I did not create the thing called “calendar.” Believe me, I have had my share of calendars. I have a desk calendar, a wall calendar, and a pocket calendar. There is not an object that God has not made, but somebody has put it with a calendar. The word, calendar, in Latin means “account book”.
Jesus is there with you on January 1st, as well as, December 31st. He is the beginning as well as the end.
Christian living is really, calendar living. We are to take one day at a time. Since Thanksgiving and Christmas are at the end of the calendar year, we have a tendency to end with great thoughts of Jesus, and this is good.
Hebrews 13:8
“Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today, and forever.”
December 25th may not be your best day of the year. God only knows what a day holds for you. You can fill out a calendar, because it is good to plan. Just be aware that, “Lord willing,” is not simply a cliche’. In James 4:15 we are told that this is the way a Christian should think and live.
Plan to obey God on all the calendar days, and make no plans for the flesh and sin. There is no good day on the calendar for sin.
Remember each “new day” is the first day of the rest of your life. Live within that day. Read your Bible each day. Speak goodly, godly, and kindly each day. Be honest and be thoughtful each day.
Do not linger in the past and do not borrow problems from the future. Fill each day of the rest of your life with Jesus.
We have added a scheduled daily scripture reading so that you, if you desire to, can read the Bible through this year. Perhaps you have your own plan. I want you to have a great year, a good life, and we know it is done on one calendar day at a time.
Jesus will start and finish with you. Jesus will help you number your days and fill them with purpose. (Psalms 90:12)
Happy New Year!
~Bro. Doug Welborn~
From the Pastor
Sing Cathedral
Ephesians 5:17–21
Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
God gives eight commands in those verses. To be not unwise, but understanding. To be not drunk, but be filled. To speak to yourselves or to sing. To give. To submit.
If Matthew 28:18–20 (Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”) is called the great commission, then let’s call Ephesians 5:17–21 the singing commission.
I am talking about Monday thru Saturday, morning, noon and night. To yourself, to God and to others. Let the Spirit take control. Then come to church and let’s collectively sing to our great and good God. Write poems. Make up your own songs. Sing about love, sing about life. Sing about hope, sing about goodness and sing about heaven. Sing, sing, sing!
Read the song books like you would the Bible. That is what the book of Psalms was and is today, a song book. It is Israel’s “Heavenly Highway” hymnal.
God created you and He created music. Come to church on Sunday evenings and share in the music. We are going to have singing and testimony services. We want to hear what God is doing in your life.
I am praying that Cathedral will become the singing church for God’s glory.
~Pastor Doug~
