Baptist Vistor

1. FIRSTSOUTHERNBAPTIST CHURCHof NORTHHOLLYWOOD (1-818-761-4800) NON-PROFIT
ORG.
“The First Family” (www.fsbcnh.org) U.S. POSTAGE PAID
10853 Victory Boulevard PERMIT #660
North Hollywood, CA 91606-3826 VAN NUYS, CA
Address Service Requested
THE BAPTIST VISITOR
Paul D. Whetstone (Interim Senior Pastor) November 14, 2017 Charles Cutney (Minister of
Encouragement)
Pass it on!: The First Family will be
sponsoring our
“Annual Thanksgiving
Potluck”
at 5PM this Sunday, November
19,
followed by (Gasp!) yet another of
our exciting, Spirit-filled
ALL MUSIC EVENINGS at 6:30PM!
Perhaps you’re thinking:
“What can I do to
help make these
special events more
successful?”
Here are a couple of ideas:
1. First ofall, SIGN UP (ifyou haven’t
already done so) in the narthex, so our
Church Hostess Team will have a rough idea
of how many folks will be attending!
2. INVITE SOME PEOPLE TO ATTEND
WITH YOU! (They will be BLESSED IN SO
MANY WAYS!)
3. Make plans for the kinds of food that
you’ll bring to the Potluck(The Church will
be providing the TURKEY and
TRIMMINGS!!)
4. Try to show up at 4:45PM—so we can
begin eating at 5:00PM!
5. Pray for all the gifted, Spirit-filled
musicians who will be playing and singing at
the Concert which follows the Meal at
6:30PM—ask the Lord to use this special
occasionto touch the hearts and minds of all
the people who will be attending!
Some Special Events
To put in your Calendar:
#1. Sunday morning, December 24
(yes—the Day before Christmas!) at
both 8:30 and 11:00 services, our
Choir will present their Christmas
Cantata—Pastor Charles’ Christmas
Message will follow.
#2. Later that day we will hold
our annual “Christmas Eve
Candlelight Service” at the 6:30
pm. “Creative Worship Service.

2. ============================================
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**OUR RECORD SPEAKS November 5/ November 12, 2017**
8:30AM Worship Attendance 31/ 21
9:45AM Bible Study / Sunday School
Attendance NA / 19
11:00AM Worship Attendance 29 / 20
6:30PM Worship Attendance 16 / 15
Budget Offering **$1,862.10 / $2,418.10
Benevolence $*** / $156.00
Children's Ministry **/**
“Conviction—
‘A.P.’!”
Article #11 of “What is ‘Revival,’
and how does it happen?”
If you remember, we mentioned in Article #10
(“Conviction—‘B.P.’”) that Jesus promised the disciples there
in the “upper room” (following their partaking of the Last
Supper) that—among otherthings—after He was gone, He
was going to send the Holy Spirit to them in a very special
way. This happened,of course, on the Day of Pentecost,
which is dramatically described in the Book of Acts.
In fact, the title of this article—“Conviction—
‘A.P.’!” refers to the penetrating way that the Holy Spirit now
works within us “A.P.” (“After Pentecost”)to “convict” us of
things in our lives that are keeping us from experiencing the
peace and power that God wants to give us.
“Before Pentecost” the Holy Spirit came upon men
and women and enabled them to do specific tasks that God
had laid out for them to do. But the Spirit could also be taken
from them (remember David’s prayer in Psalm 51: 11[b]
NASB: “...do not take Thy Holy Spirit from me.”). Jesus
promised the disciples (and us,of course...) that “I will ask the
Father, and He will give you anotherHelper, that He may be
with you forever...”—John 14:16 (NASB) Christ also told them
that “...you know Him because He abides with you, and will be
in you.”—John 14:17[b] (NASB)
“You know,PastorChuck,I’d really like to dig into
my own life a bit deeper—but isn’t that a pretty tough thing to
accomplish? I mean, Satan can really confuse us!”
I’m glad you asked that question. I’m sure there are
lots of believers who want to experience Revival—or
“spiritual renewal,” or whatever you want to call it—and
they’re having the same kind of issues.Here are some basic
considerations.
A. First of all, Revival (and “conviction”)begins to
happen the moment God’s people INVITE the Holy
Spirit to “search their hearts”!
Psalm 139:23-24 is a perfect illustration of this kind of
invitation: “Search me, O God, and know my heart;test
me and know my anxiousthoughts.See if there is any
offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
(NIV)
That is a very courageous prayer, because we are allowing
God to go into the deepest part of our being and examine
us—and then let us know what He sees there!
Very few people actually enjoy going to see a
physician—especially when he/she orders a battery of
tests to be administered to our body—some of them
perhaps very painful and/orembarrassing. I have often
been with people when they got the results of those tests,
and again, the diagnosis they hear might in fact have been
devastating for them to consider. But without it, healing
was and is impossible.
The same thing is true of God’s “diagnosis” of us. The
Holy Spirit “scans us,” and then gently, sometimes very
gradually (because we couldn’t take it all at once?),
makes us aware of those “offensive ways” that need His
healing touch,and also our willingness to change.
One thing to be very careful of: Don’t allow Satan to
tempt you to begin “beating yourself up” with guilt and/or
shame because of what the Spirit has let you know about
yourself. Always remember that, because you are a born-
again believer in Jesus Christ, God loves you and accepts
you as His own dear child—even when you are going
through these difficult “times of renovation”!
B. Also, true Revival is always grounded in the WORD of
GOD—and so is “conviction”!
A wonderful scripture to meditate on is 2 Timothy 3:16-
17 (AMP): “Every Scripture is God-breathed (given by
His inspiration) and profitable for instruction,for reproof
and conviction of sin, for correction of error and
discipline in obedience,[and] for training in
righteousness (in holy living,in conformity to God's will
in thought,purpose,and action), So that the man of God
may be complete and proficient, well fitted and
thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
This is why I constantly try to help people to not only
study the Word correctly (through the principles of
“observation,interpretation and meditation”), but also
how to allow the Holy Spirit to use the Word to dig deep
into their lives and root out things that are holding back
their spiritual growth and development!
C. “Walking by the Spirit” continues the “spirit of
Revival” (and of “conviction”) in our everyday lives.
As usual, the Amplified translation of Galatians 5:16
provides some excellent insights into a godly lifestyle:
“...walk and live [habitually] in the [Holy] Spirit
[responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit];
then you will certainly not gratify the cravingsand
desires of the flesh (of human nature without God).”
But the Spirit is very respectful of our wishes; if we
choose to ignore Him and go our own way, He will allow
us to do just that. However, if we come to the place
where, as one person expressed it, we’re “sick and tired of
being sick and tired,” and we ask Him to take complete
control of our day-by-day attitudes and activities, He will
do that as well.
D. Finally, one of the toughest things that God calls on
believers to do is to “subject themselves” to other
believers!
We’ll come back to this topic in a later article, but it is
vital that we understand the necessity ofmaking “mutual
submission” a regular part of our spiritual journey.
In Ephesians 5:18 (AMP) we are commanded: “...do not
get drunk with wine,for that is debauchery;but ever be
filled and stimulated with the [Holy] Spirit.”Part of the
evidence that demonstrates that we are “filled with the
Spirit” is found in verses 20-21 (AMP): “At all times and
for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ to God the Father. Be subject to one another
out of reverence for Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed
One).”

3. Part of “being subject to one another” is allowing our
brothers/sisters to help us to see our need for growth in
specific areas of our daily walk with the Lord. AskGod to
help you find some godly, loving, spiritual, honest,
available, etc. “spiritual mentors” to assist you.(And, of
course,you can also help them in the same way; the
operative term in verse 21 is “one another”!)
November 14, 2017