Be of Good Cheer

John 16:33 (NKJV)
These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
 
 When my kids were very small my husband and I found ourselves in a place where we lived from paycheck to paycheck. Maybe you can relate? Most of the time the income didn’t meet our basic needs. When God told us to move to another state and city away from where our parents lived, it was exciting but scary. Neither my husband nor I had ever been away from the security of our parents before.  
  
When we arrived, there was a housing shortage and we fell short of funds needed to secure a rental. We also found out that we had 1 too many children to meet most housing agreements. However, God had already made a way for us before we said “yes” to His leading. The housing shortage was so bad that it caused hundreds of people to bid for the few rentals on the market. We didn’t have a chance…, but God did! He made a way when we saw no way. Miracles like this continued to happen from deposits for a house, (not an apartment), utility deposits, food, our children’s school clothing etc. God allowed us to see His goodness and we all grew in our faith as a result of our answered prayers.  
We were filled with laughter, joy, to anticipate how God would answer prayer for the things we had need of. My family and I truly learned what it means to “be of good cheer” during trials and tribulations. We learned to believe and trust God fully together as a family.  
  
When we are suffering, we have a choice to cry, sulk, or be depressed because God hasn’t answered us yet or we can be of good cheer knowing that God is going to work it all out for our good and to His glory. What will you choose to do today despite the situation you are in today? Will you cry and sulk or will you be of good cheer because God “is” faithful. The answers may not come the way you want it to, but He will provide. He can close doors that won’t benefit you and GOD is able to open doors the enemy doesn’t want you to experience. The Bible says He knows what you need before you ask Him. (Matthew 6:8)
  
Mark 11:4 (NKJV)
Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. 
  
Be blessed today! 
Your sister in Christ, 
Norma Pittman

AL PITTMAN MINISTRIES
UPDATE

The last six months have been a mixture of exhilaration and very deep valleys. Norma and I were so excited about the succession of our Calvary Worship Center ministry, as we watched our son take on the role as CWC’s new senior pastor. We were eager to see what the Lord had in store for us, in our new chapter of ministry together.
We moved forward ever mindful of the exhortation of the apostle James when it comes to our plans; to not boast in or rely upon them.

(James 4:15-16) “Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that."
But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.” (NKJV)
After a trip back east to celebrate my mother’s ninetieth birthday, we then traveled to Calvary Chapel, St. George Utah, for a speaking engagement. After that we were blessed to fly to France with another dear couple from CWC. Paris was on Norma’s bucket list and touring the beaches of the June 6, 1944 Allied Normandy invasion.

It was an amazing trip. But I started to notice Norma was not feeling
well. We returned to discover after multiple visits to the doctor, that the liver transplant Norma went through two years before was now failing. Not only that, but she would also need to undergo a simultaneous kidney transplant due to the adverse effect her failing liver was having on her kidneys.At this point the truth of God’s word, once again, rang true.

(Proverbs 16:9) “A man's heart plans
his way, But the Lord directs his steps.” (NKJV)
We are so grateful for the prayers and generosity of so many of you who have stood with us in our valley. Due to your prayers and the
faithfulness of our God, Norma came through the double transplant surgery and is now on the road to complete recovery! It has not been easy for her, to say the least, but each day she improves a little more.

Norma is presently undergoing dialysis three days a week. Her new liver is doing great, but her kidneys are slow in waking up. With your prayers and our Lord’s steadfast love we are learning to walk a new path, for His glory! We are learning what it means that God is good all the time, all the time, “God is good!” He is good not just when things go our way, but when disappointment seems to be only food! God is still good! The psalmist in Psalm seventy-three declared.

(Psalm 73:26) “My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (NKJV) As the saying goes, we will never know Jesus is all we need, until Jesus is all we’ve got! As believers we are called to “feed on His faithfulness.”
(Psalm 37:3-4) “Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His
faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.” (NKJV) Our “desire” is to have a ministry in this new chapter of our lives, which will cause God’s people to “delight” in Him!

As a precaution, sometime ago, I decided to cancel ministry opportunities we had scheduled for the first of the new year, due to Norma’s health. However, we are expecting God’s divine healing touch and with great anticipation look forward to the opportunities the Lord will open for us in 2025.

Please keep us in your prayers, as we endeavor to serve the Lord by depositing into other
pastor’s and pastor’ wives that which God has poured into us!
If you so desire, continue to follow us on our website. We hope to communicate on a more
consistent basis through multi-media in the future. May the Lord richly bless and keep you, in the grip of His grace!

Sincerely,

Pastor Al and Norma Pittman

Consider partnering with us prayerfully and financially. To give, please visit our website:
https://alpittmanministries.com/give

“ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!”
Al Pittman

The Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, speaking at a New Hampshire presidential campaign event, a month ago declared, “enough is enough!” She
was referring to the horrific mass shooting at Apalachee High School, in Barrow County Georgia. After making this statement, the Democrat presidential candidate quickly pivoted to the politics of gun control. As I listened to Vice President Harris’ speech I
thought, clearly by virtue of today’s national spiritual bankruptcy due to our rejection of God, enough is clearly, “not enough!” Gun control will not solve the problem of gun violence, because gun violence is a matter of the heart, a matter
which only God can resolve! One of the Vice President’ platform slogans is, “We are
not going back!” It resonates with her supporters, especially proponents of abortion. In fact, the Vice President voted against a bill that would ban abortions
after 20 weeks of pregnancy. (source: time.com).The slogan, among other things, infers resistance to a return to America’s racist past; a past ironically which
was promoted by the Democrat Party of the south. A party that gave birth to the KKK, Jim Crow, and the politics of the so-called “Dixiecrats,” southern politicians. In fact, it was the Dixiecrats who led a filibuster against the Civil Rights Bill passed on February 10, 1964. The filibuster lasted seventy-days. The Bill finally passed the United State’s Senate on
June 19, 1964. This is not a political statement, but a historic fact! From a spiritual perspective, when I hear people proclaiming, “We will not go back,” I can’t help but
think, “We must go back, not to a racist past, but “back to God!” There are things we can learn from the past, which should never be repeated. Similarly, there
are also things we must never forget, i.e. trust and dependence upon God as a nation. Scripture warns. Jeremiah 6:16 - “Thus says the Lord: "Stand in the
ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, And walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it.' (NKJV) It was President Abraham Lincoln who said. "We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of
Heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in
the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own". We have come to the place in which we foolishly
believe as a nation, we can heal ourselves! Yet, the truth is, it has been only God who has sustained us! Gun control, speech control, climate control, political control, price control, etc., are poor substitutes for a nation out of control, apart from God! “Enough will never be enough,” until Christ is “enough!” For only He can satisfy the soul! (Psalm 107:9) For He satisfies the longing soul, And fills the hungry soul with goodness. (NKJV)In fact, being under “God’s control. ” Is the answer to “gun control.” No amount of legislation can
accomplish this, because “control” begins in the heart! America has a heart problem, which only God can heal! As the Lord God, reminded the Hebrews (Israelites) of the Old Testament, so He reminds us today, “…For I am the Lord who heals you. ” (Exodus
15:26b – NKJV) For the individual and as a nation, enough will never be enough until, Jesus is “enough!” Until you and I are in a right relationship with God, through faith in Christ! People are weary today, desperate for true hope, and not more empty promises, every four years! I’ll be the first to say, as a follower of Christ, we should exercise our right to vote. Americans have died for us to exercise that right. But let us cast our vote, with our confidence residing in God and not man. Vote in a manner which reflects our need to return to God, rather than rejecting God! By returning to the “One” who has sustained us in the past, and will keep us in the future, we are saying “enough is enough!” Jesus
said.“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. ” (Matthew 11:28-30 – NKJV)
The truth is, “We need to go back,” to move forward as a nation, because we cannot save ourselves! Back to the understanding, as a people and individually, that
God is our national sustainer of hope! Zechariah 1:3 - Therefore say to them, 'Thus says
the Lord of hosts: "Return to Me," says the Lord of hosts, "and I will return to you," says the Lord of hosts. (NKJV) In his inaugural address on January 20, 1961, John F. Kennedy said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” The
reverse is happening today, everyone seems to be more concerned with what the government can do for them, rather than what they can do to be a “blessing”
to our nation! As followers of Christ the best thing we can do for our
nation, is to “to glorify God!” Let us declare in our homes and our churches, “enough is enough,” by enthroning Christ as Lord and King! Let us pray for our
nation. Pray for a return to the God of our past, future, and future! He is enough, we have had enough!

“Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed. And Simon and those who were with Him searched for Him. When they found Him, they said to Him, “Everyone is looking for You.” But He said to them, “Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth.” Mark 1:35-38 “Everyone is looking for you!”

The “tyranny” of the urgent did not direct our Lord’s ministry, nor should it direct ours. He found balance in a “solitary” place, in the presence of His Father. Find your “solitary” place today, even if it’s for just “five minutes.” There you will find the demands, fears and urgency of this world subdued, in the presence of our Father. There you will find divine perspective, that you might continue the mission He has assigned, “…because for this purpose I have come forth.” Also, there you can escape the “urgent” demands of this world, which seek to place their “burden,” rather than that of Christ! (Matthew 11:30) “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” But you must “depart” and find a “solitary” place. May the Lord guide you to that place today, that you might experience “triumph,” rather than “tyranny.”

For His Glory,
Pastor Al