Pastor Ralph Diehl » Spirit

THE GLOVE

pastordiehl — Sat, 29 May 2010 12:00:59 +0000

The late Corrie ten Boom was a Dutch prisoner of the Nazis during World War II and wrote several Christian books about her experiences. She had a great illustration of God at work in the life of a believer. She brought to the platform a limp, worn out glove and talked about how useless it was in that condition. Then she put her hand into that same limp glove, and, abra-cadabra, strength came to the glove.

The glove looked the same and still appeared worn and faded, but the hand within gave it new life. With that hand inside, that limp glove had the power to pick up things, throw things, and accomplish great tasks.

So it is with us. Although we may be limp and powerless, worn out with life’s pressures, yet when the Spirit of God comes within us there is nothing that we cannot do. Of course, it wasn’t the glove, but the hand, that had life. And so it is with us, not me, but the Spirit within that accomplishes great things.

One of God’s Coincidences

pastordiehl — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:00:22 +0000

The week after I first learned I had this cancer, I went to our Fellowship’s annual conference in Fort Wayne, and determined to not tell anyone, but see what God would do. There we got to reconnect with our fellow pastors from all over the country. One evening Anita and I were invited to a home for fellowship. We happened to sit on a patio with another couple from Florida. Immediately our wives connected and began speaking about health issues in their lives. Then the other wife made the comment that her husband had just dealt with prostate cancer. My spirit lept within me as I knew this must be one of God’s coincidences.

We spent an hour listening to Pastor Mark Goodman’s account of having his prostate removed robotically. After three months all side effects of the procedure were gone. He was healed, and I felt God had divinely arranged that encounter to encourage me and give God’s advice on what I should do.

Armed with this awareness, I met last Friday with my Urologist and discussed our treatment options. Together, we determined to follow this method of prostate removal. I will meet with the specialist who does these surgeries this Friday. Keep praying.

NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION

pastordiehl — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 18:17:10 +0000

Early in 2007 I became concerned with our church’s decreasing attendance and dwindling offerings. I had moved in the “seeker” track in an attempt to reach the lost in a culturally changing America. But while reaching a few lost ones, we were losing the past harvest. I sought the Lord about all this.

Then the Lord spoke to my heart. I’ve never tried to compare our church with others because I thought that was egotistical and wordly. But the Lord led me to think about the competition in our community. The largest churches around us are Sonlight Community Church in Angola (a Mennonite Church), Fairview Missionary (a Missionary Church), Dayspring Community Church ( another Missionary Church), Lakewood Park (a GAR Baptist Church), and County Line Church of God (a Church of God Church). These are all non- or anti-Pentecostal churches. They have all followed the seeker route and grown dramatically. And I know that for a business to succeed amid the competition, it must be first, fastest or better. But what was our “niche”? What does New Hope have to offer that none of these others has? And the answer was obvious: a solid belief in the ministry of spiritual gifts among the body.

And I also know that Pentecostal churches are much to blame for turning off people to spiritual gifts with their emphasis upon emotion (a function of the soul) and calling it a move of the Spirit. But the New Testament teaches us to believe in the supernatural working of a God who cares! And then I understood that we must find a balance between an expression of the gifts of the Spirit and keeping dignity in the House of God.

The Christmas movies we’ve all just watched prove to us that Americans really want to believe, but believing in Santa Claus or flying reindeer isn’t reality. And this upcoming young generation will not tolerate phony Christianity that just blesses ourselves at the expense of others. So I’ve decided to move into 2008 with a great expectation of a genuine visitation of God’s Spirit to set people free and give life as Jesus declared in Luke 4:18 (go read it carefully). That’s my New Year’s resolution.