A Historic Easter Message

Posted on by josiahkagin

Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. His resurrection proves that all He said was true and that He has power of sin, death and hell. Because Christ is risen, He is more than able to save all those who will believe on Him. Romans 10:9 says,  “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”  As believers, it is our sacred responsibility to share this message with the world and invite all people to believe on Jesus Christ. 

All around us we observe the world mocking Jesus. It hurts our hearts to see this open mockery whether it be on the 2024 Olympic stage in Paris, the set of Saturday Night Live, the Golden Globe awards in Hollywood or in the festivals around the world. Last year, President Biden mocked Jesus Christ by proclaiming Easter to be “Transgender Visibility Day.”

As Christians, sometimes we are quick to publicly condemn the mockery, but slow to commend when Jesus is publicly acknowledged. I want to publicly commend our President, Donald Trump, for his acknowledgement of Jesus Christ. This commendation does not mean I condone everything he has ever done or will do. It is simply a commendation for being the first American President to so boldly and publicly acknowledge Jesus Christ in this way. This is an answer to prayer and may we thank God for it.

“This Holy Week, Melania and I join in prayer with Christians celebrating the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ—the living Son of God who conquered death, freed us from sin, and unlocked the gates of Heaven for all of humanity.

Beginning with Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and culminating in the Paschal Triduum, which begins on Holy Thursday with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, followed by Good Friday, and reaching its pinnacle in the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday night. This week is a time of reflection for Christians to memorialize Jesus’ crucifixion—and to prepare their hearts, minds, and souls for His miraculous Resurrection from the dead.

During this sacred week, we acknowledge that the glory of Easter Sunday cannot come without the sacrifice Jesus Christ made on the cross.  In His final hours on Earth, Christ willingly endured excruciating pain, torture, and execution on the cross out of a deep and abiding love for all His creation.  Through His suffering, we have redemption.  Through His death, we are forgiven of our sins.  Through His Resurrection, we have hope of eternal life.  On Easter morning, the stone is rolled away, the tomb is empty, and light prevails over darkness—signaling that death does not have the final word.

This Holy Week, my Administration renews its promise to defend the Christian faith in our schools, military, workplaces, hospitals, and halls of government.  We will never waver in safeguarding the right to religious liberty, upholding the dignity of life, and protecting God in our public square.

As we focus on Christ’s redeeming sacrifice, we look to His love, humility, and obedience—even in life’s most difficult and uncertain moments.  This week, we pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon our beloved Nation.  We pray that America will remain a beacon of faith, hope, and freedom for the entire world, and we pray to achieve a future that reflects the truth, beauty, and goodness of Christ’s eternal kingdom in Heaven.

May God bless you and your family during this special time of year and may He continue to bless the United States of America.”
(https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/2025/04/presidential-message-on-holy-week-2025/)

Book Recommendation: Shepherds for Sale

Posted on by josiahkagin

I finished listening to SHEPHERDS FOR SALE on Audible. Wow! It captured my attention! Chapter by chapter it revealed the level of compromise within the churches of America for financial gain and worldly acceptance.

Megan Basham did an excellent job on this book and I recommend that every pastor would put this book on their “read this week” list. It opened my eyes to the fierceness and the depth of the battle for truth in which we are engaged.

Check out Shepherds for Sale!

The Other Side of Grief

Posted on by josiahkagin

When it comes to grief, sometimes it is impossible to sympathize with a person because you have not experienced the same level of grief. We can and should be empathetic and weep with those that weep. While we may be limited in our ability to comfort, our Savior is not. Scripture tells us that Jesus is acquainted with all our griefs and that He is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. He is the God of all comfort and gave us His Holy Spirit Who is our constant companion and He is called the Comforter. When we go through trials, suffering and pain, He is there to reassure and renew us.

God promises in Romans 8:28 that He is working all things together for good to the that love Him. Through difficult times, God is developing us and our relationship with Him. He is developing endurance, experience and confident expectation in His ability and goodness. (Romans 5:1-5)

I have faced some difficult times and hurt both in life and pastoral ministry that made me wonder how I could go on and if I would ever feel normal again. I have experienced numbness and even depression.

After a particularly difficult season of ministry, I noted a hollowness had developed in my soul stemming from all the hurt. I was not sure which direction the next hurt would be hurled. Sometimes I felt like I was shellshocked though I have never experienced the trauma of war.

As I sought my Heavenly for grace to help in time of need, He sent Robert to pray with me on the lawn of the Ohio State House while I was attending an event just a couple weeks before my family and I were to take our family vacation. During our brief conversation, Robert must have noted the burden of heart I was carrying and he prayed that God would lead me into shady green pastures and restore my soul. His prayer was overwhelmingly meaningful to me seeing that we could be staying at a cabin in the grounds of Shady Green Pastures Bible Camp during our family vacation.

Little did I know all the comfort the Lord had in store for me. While traveling, we stopped in at an unassuming used book store. The front of the store was filled with books that were of no interest to me, but I continued to meander through till I found the religious sectioned. Nestled between the free used Bibles and a comedy of Christianized self-help books, a little book with light brown and pink cover caught my eye—The Sweet Side of Suffering. Honestly, the title caused a brief reaction in my heart. Is there actually a sweet side of suffering? How could the hurt and heavy heart that I was carrying have a sweet side? I started to put the book back, but could not. It had intrigued and once I read the introduction, the Holy Spirit impressed on my heart that this book was something my Heavenly Father had for me during our vacation.

For the next week and a half, my God used that book and the testimony of Esther Lovejoy to minister comfort to my heart. Each chapter detailed in a devotional way the sweetness of God that can be seen and experienced in our suffering. As I read and meditated on the Scriptures given, the illustrations and the testimony of God’s unfailing love through the valley of the shadow of death God restored my soul in shady green pastures.

Recently, I preached a message at Grace Baptist Church entitled Hope for the Hurting where I shared this story as part of the message.

In retrospect, I have learned that in my times of deepest hurt, hollowness and even depression, my Lord is right beside me working to develop in me endurance, experience and confident expectation in Him. He is ministering comfort to my soul so that He can use me to minister comfort to other hurting souls.

If this post finds you hurting and depressed, may I encourage you to pause and realize that your Heavenly Father has not abandoned you. Jesus is acquainted with your grief. The Holy Spirit is working to bring comfort to your soul. Be careful not to make life-changing decisions, but wait on the Lord to bring comfort right were you are. Hurt in our hearts will remain in our heart as a heavy burden no matter where we go until we find comfort in the God of all comfort. Often is these times Satan endeavors to keep us focused on removing the hurt we feel rather than running to our Helper. True help and healing only comes from God.

Psalm 43:5 says, ”Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope in God: For I shall yet praise him, Who is the health of my countenance, and my God.“

My prayer is that God will lead you into shady green pastures and restore your soul.

The Just Shall Live By Faith

Posted on by josiahkagin

“The just shall live by faith” appears four times in the Bible. It is found in both the Old and New Testaments. Throughout all time, God has called His followers to live lives of faith. Consider some of these Biblical examples.

Adam to obey a simple instruction not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Abel to offer a lamb as a sacrifice for his sins.

Enoch to please God.

Job to endure the loss of his family and wealth.

Noah to build an ark and preach for 120 years before the first drop of rain.

Abraham to leave his homeland for a land that God had promised.

David to await inauguration and to honor King Saul’s position.

Solomon to seek God’s wisdom in order to lead the nation.

Jeremiah to preach to a hardened audience.

Isaiah to declare “Here am I, send me.”

Habakkuk to pray in the midst of a rebelling nation.

Nehemiah to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem.

Haggai to preach for a return to building God’s House.

Ezra to teach and instruct the children of Israel as the rebuild the temple.

John the Baptist to preach of the coming Messiah.

Mary to declare her acceptance of God’s plan for her life as the mother of the Messiah.

The twelve disciples to leave all and follow Jesus.

The small boy to willingly give his lunch to Jesus not knowing He would multiply it.

The centurion to return home believing Jesus had heal his son.

Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus to care for the body of Jesus knowing that their public respect would be lost.

Peter and John to go to the tomb looking for their Savior.

The 120 believers to gather in the upper room to pray and await the coming of the Spirit of God.

Peter to preach the Gospel of Christ in Jerusalem on Pentecost.

Philip to leave Samaria to go toward Gaza to meet and share Jesus Christ with one Ethiopian.

Lydia to gather by the riverside with other believers to worship God.

The persecuted believer to preach the Gospel as the were scattered everywhere.

Paul and Barnabas to embark on a journey to take the Gospel the unreached.

Barnabas to restore John Mark to usefulness in the work of the Lord.

Timothy to pastor the church in Ephesus despite the opposition and his own timid nature.

Titus to pastor and to set things in order in the churches on the Island of Crete despite the unruly.

The Macedonian to give out of their poverty for the persecuted believers in Jerusalem.

The Philippian believers giving to fund
Paul’s ministry so that he would not be chargeable to the Corinthians.

The Apostle John to faithfully live out his final days on the Isle of Patmos penning the book of Revelation and looking for the imminent return of Christ.

Every believer today to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world while looking for the blessed hope of Christ’s soon return.

“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” —Hebrews‬ ‭11‬:‭6‬ ‭

All the Fiery Darts

Posted on by josiahkagin

“Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.” (Ephesians 6:16)

We should be aware that satan has fiery darts with your name on them each day. However, God has given you a piece of armor to stop EVERY ONE of them, the shield of faith. Faith is total trust and dependence upon God. It is taking God at His Word. In this case, it is in full faith using the very truth of God’s Word as a shield from the darts that satan will throw at you. The words “above all” indicates to us that the shield of faith is a high-priority piece of armor.

Let’s think about how this would look in our daily lives. As you get in the car to leave for work, satan throws a dart of worthlessness at you. He tells you that you are of no value to God. Do you believe it? Does he get to write your reality? He should not! Instead of meditating on that dart satan has thrown, go to the Bible and see what God says about you. God says that those who are in Christ are indwelt by the Spirit of God and ARE the children of God. He says that His children are His workmanship, His masterpiece, His work of art. God views you as valuable! By faith hold God’s truth up as a shield against that dart of worthlessness.

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1)

“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:” (Romans 8:16)

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)

Every person is intrinsically valuable to God because He created them. Even though man sinned against Him and is separated from Him, God valued a relationship with mankind so much that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die in place of man. Jesus did not just die but rose again. He offers all who will believe on His name the total forgiveness of sin and eternal life. God thinks you are valuable!

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17)

Now it is time to take the shield of faith up in your hands!

A Plan to Read

Posted on by josiahkagin

D.L. Moody wisely said, “The Bible was not given for our information but for our transformation.” In order for the Bible to transform our lives, it must be in our lives.

I am inviting my church family and others who want to join me to read through the Bible chronologically via the YouVersion App Bible reading plan. Gain a better understanding of the order of biblical events and the historic context in which they unfolded. The One Year ® Chronological Bible gives readers a fresh look at the Bible. With the full text divided into 365 portions for daily reading it allows readers the opportunity to read through the Bible in one year.

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Chronological Bible Reading PlanDownload

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