Men's Prayer Breakfast At Tabernacle

Men's Prayer Breakfast At Tabernacle

Men's prayer breakfast is Saturday, March 1, 2008 at Coudersport Gospel Tabernacle on the Port Allegany Road. Starts at 8:00 am in the sanctuary. Bring a friend.

The Iron Gate

By Scott Presson

Message preached by Pastor David Minor to the Rock Ministerial Family Conference, January 21, 2008.

Look at this passage from the Word:

“ about that time King Herod Agrippa began to persecute some believers in the church. He had the apostle James (John's brother) killed with a sword. When Herod saw how much this pleased the Jewish leaders, he arrested Peter during the Passover celebration and imprisoned him, placing him under the guard of four squads of four soldiers each. Herod's intention was to bring Peter out for public trial after the Passover. But while Peter was in prison, the church prayed very earnestly for him. The night before Peter was to be placed on trial, he was asleep, chained between two soldiers, with others standing guard at the prison gate. Suddenly, there was a bright light in the cell, and an angel of the Lord stood before Peter. The angel tapped him on the side to awaken him and said, "Quick! Get up!" And the chains fell off his wrists. Then the angel told him, "Get dressed and put on your sandals." And he did. "Now put on your coat and follow me," the angel ordered. So Peter left the cell, following the angel. But all the time he thought it was a vision. He didn't realize it was really happening. They passed the first and second guard posts and came to the Iron Gate to the street, and this opened to them all by itself. So they passed through and started walking down the street, and then the angel suddenly left him. Peter finally realized what had happened. "It's really true!" he said to himself. "The Lord has sent his angel and saved me from Herod and from what the Jews were hoping to do to me!" After a little thought, he went to the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where many were gathered for prayer.” (Acts 12:1- 12)

Peter had every expectation that he was getting ready to die. He was sitting in the same jail where James had been put to death and he was no doubt thinking he was next. But God had a plan.

The Bible says “the Church was praying”. It seems that so many Christians nowadays are suffering with issues. We’re the Overcomers and yet we are struggling with the same issues that people in the world are dealing with. We pray and pray and yet the answer we need appears to be farther away than ever.

How do we pray with knowledge and understanding? How do we pray knowing that what we are asking for is God’s will and that He will answer our prayers? To some extent we’ve been praying in ignorance. We’ve been praying not for His will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven but for our will to be done on earth. There is only one way that we can pray with an absolute certainty that what we are praying is God’s will. That is by praying in the Spirit! When we pray in our heavenly prayer language, then we are praying what God wants to do on earth. Did you ever think that the devil knows every language on earth but one? The devil doesn’t speak the language of Heaven!

How did the Church know that it wasn’t God’s will that Peter be put to death? Remember Jesus had told him, "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church.” The word of God had not yet come to pass. This event with Peter happened after the Day of Pentecost so the Church was praying in the Spirit in their heavenly prayer language and by doing that they were praying for God’s will to come to pass.

Suddenly, a ministering angel came and awakened Peter and released him. It’s interesting to note that Peter didn’t seem to be worried. He was asleep. The angel awakened Peter and said, “get dressed, put on your coat. They passed a couple of guard posts and they came to the Iron Gate and it opened all by itself.

God has been speaking to me a word for this hour. God showed me this scripture and as I began to study it, God began to give me a revelation about it.

In the Bible, iron speaks of unbending authority, hardship, oppression, fear and pain. God told He is supernaturally opening the Iron Gates in our lives! That gate led into the city of Jerusalem. Jerusalem literally means, "Teaching of peace". God is leading us through a gate and into the place where He is teaching us how to walk in peace!! This passage says, “…this opened to them all by itself”. “Them” is the angel and Peter. If the angel didn’t open the gate then who did? God! He is opening a gate that only He can open and it is to us a gate to Peace. The Church was praying for God’s will and it came to pass. We have all certainly been praying and we need to remember that we what we have sown in tears, we will reap in joy. Our prayers according to His will have been answered!

In Isaiah 62:10 the Bible say, “Pass through, pass through the gates! Prepare the way for the people. Build up, build up the highway! Remove the stones. Raise a banner for the nations.”

“Remove the stones…” we are to remove the stones for ourselves and others. The obstacles are to be moved so we can walk through freely.

The hour of release is here. Ecc.2:26 says “…the unrighteous are storing up for the righteous...to hand it over to the one that pleases God.”

If there’s a “storing up”, then there’s a day of release and its here. But it’s not just wealth that’s being released, it’s also us releasing. If offended, you must release it. If hurt, you must release it. If angry, you must release it. If you’re worried, release it. You have to walk in the promises of God because they are yes and amen. They are done. Finished. The devil loves to make us think there’s unfinished work that God has somehow overlooked. He hasn’t and he didn’t. God’s doing an on-going good work in us. Pray in the Spirit every day so you will be praying God’s will for your life and others. Walk by faith, not by sight…, God is opening the iron gates in your life! Take Him at His word and believe it. Remove any obstacles of doubt and unbelief. Remove the hindrances that have come in and stolen your joy and diverted your attention from the Lord. Walk in “Release” into the place of Peace that God has ordained for you!

Bishop John Gimenez---Rock Church

In Memorium

IN MEMORIUM

BISHOP JOHN GIMENEZ

“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.” (Psalms 116:15)

Virginia Beach, Va. - John Gimenez, the International Overseer and Bishop of Rock Ministerial Family and Rock Church International has gone to be with the Lord. He was 76. He died Tuesday, February 12, 2008 after suffering a stroke.

John Gimenez was born in Spanish Harlem, New York and raised in the South Bronx. He was the son of a pastor and as he liked to point out a “praying Mom”. He became involved with drugs and when he was only eleven years old, he was put in a reform school. When he was sixteen, John went to prison for the first time of what would be end up being many times. He eventually ended up serving time in some of the worst prisons in the state of New York. As his drug addiction continued to worsen, John voluntarily went to several rehabilitation programs but none helped him. He was told that he was incurable and would in all probability die from a bullet, a knife, an overdose of heroin, or, if he was lucky, be in a mental institution for the rest of his life.

On April 12, 1963, John Gimenez left Rikers Island Penitentiary and found his way to a small church called Damascus Christian Church. It was there that he had a personal experience with the Lord Jesus Christ. Afterwards, he traveled for five years with a drama group he formed called "The Addicts". The group spoke in churches, schools and colleges sharing the horror of drugs and the message of salvation in Christ. He attended Elim Bible Institute and in 1967, he married the former Anne Elizabeth Nethery of Corpus Christi, TX.

The Gimenez’s traveled and ministered as Evangelists but God’s directive to John and Anne was "…I am sending you to a people you know not of…” After an appearance on The 700 Club in 1968, Betty Forbes, (who would later become a staff pastor at Rock Church), directed them to an empty church building in the Norfolk, Va. area. Soon it was overflowing with hundreds of spiritually hungry people. Out of that revival, John and Anne Gimenez founded the Rock Church and oversaw its rise to prominence as one of the largest Charismatic churches in the world.

After being delivered from a life of addiction, Bishop always had a heart for those with shattered lives and he developed several outreaches that ministered to drug addicts, broken families and anyone that needed a second chance. Today, many of those men and women are serving the Lord and are themselves pastors of churches.

In 1980, John felt led to call Christians throughout the United States to fast and pray for the future of our nation. After partnering with others, he organized a diverse group of Christian leaders and denominations for what became known as “Washington for Jesus”. On April 30, 1980, hundreds of thousands of Believers gathered on the Mall in Washington, D.C. for a day of prayer and repentance while hundreds of others marched around the Capitol area with signs and banners declaring Christ's lordship over the nation. Other “Washington for Jesus" rallies in 1988 and 1996, the “America for Jesus” rally in 2004 and more than 200 other rallies across the U.S involving millions of Believers crying out to God, helped usher in a climate of unity and a Godly change for righteousness across America. Some say that the “Washington for Jesus” and “America for Jesus” rallies helped change the course of our nation and have altered the American political landscape forever.

Bishop was a firm believer in the teaching of the Ten Commandments and never backed down on his call for prayer to be reinstated in public schools. He always championed the cause of the unborn and refused to vote for any politician that endorsed abortion. As an author and a song writer, John wrote several books and recorded several albums. He made numerous television appearances where he shared his testimony and always sounded a clarion call for Godly change in our nation.

Rock Church is now a vibrant ministry with outreaches throughout Virginia, the United States and around the world. When John assumed full-time duties as Apostle and Bishop of the Rock Ministerial Family in 1999, Anne Gimenez was named Senior Pastor of the Rock Church International.

Today, the Rock Ministerial Family has over 500 churches around the world. This apostolic ministry is committed to fulfilling the purposes of God by equipping people from the “cradle to the grave”. Bishop’s vision of a family of churches where relationships are developed, a “covering” is provided and where unity is promoted will continue to “plant” new congregations as the Lord leads. His calling to build churches of Prayer, Worship, Healing and Restoration will go forward as others take up his mantle to fulfill a legacy that glorifies God.

John was a father, husband, brother and a Pastor’s pastor for over 40 years. He will be greatly missed.

Tabernacle Services Wednesday At 7:00 pm

Midweek services are held every Wednesday evening at 7:00 pm at the Coudersport Gospel Tabernacle. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Be Not Weary In Well Doing

Be Not Weary In Well Doing

From a sermon by Dr David Minor

You've given and given and nothing comes back in return. You've prayed and prayed, but heaven seems like brass. You've shown mercy and kindness, but it seems no one understands you. Have you ever felt weary in well doing?

The scriptures tell us to cast our bread upon the waters; for you shall find it after many days. The Word of God also says let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season, we shall reap if we faint not. You cannot sow, but what you are going to reap. You can not pray for others but what you are going to have others pray for you.

You can not give but what others are going to give to you. You can not show mercy but what you are going to be a recipient of mercy. The tide that carries these things out is the same tide that is going to bring them back in! What you have sent out is going to come back to you. It is an inflexible law of Almighty God that He returns unto you what you have given out. God is just in His doing!

There are laws of nature. I made a mistake and planted some tulips in the summer. I went against a known law. You have to plant tulips in the fall. The tulips I planted never came up. There is a time to plant. If I go out in the fall and plant my tomatoes the frost will kill them. There are laws I must abide by if I want a good garden.

There are laws we must respect in whatever we do. And even so in the natural there are laws in the spirit. Have you ever heard someone complain that nobody loves him? Do you know why? That person does not show forth love, so he doesn't receive it. Have you ever heard someone murmur that everyone talks about him? Thats because that person does too much talking himself. What you sow, you also reap.

If you see a person in a fault, and you cover that person, then God will cover you when you are caught in a fault. But if you go around whispering tales and uncovering the faults or shortcomings of others, then you will be talked about also- because that is what you sowed. If someone comes to you with a tale about a brother or sister in Christ and you say, "Excuse me, I don't listen to tales about the "Body of Christ".

As surely as as someone comes with a tale against you, God will put it in his heart to say, "Wait a minute, I don't want to hear anything about my brother." If you are a kind and generous person and you give unto God, it is the law of God that with the same generosity you have given it, it will come back to you.

Harvest time is coming. In the spring when you pass by a bare field which has been plowed up and cultivated, you don't know what the farmer put in there. But when you come back in the fall and you see corn or wheat or beans or potatoes, you know exactly what he planted. Listen, it's getting around harvest time--so don't get upset when you find out what's growing in people's lives. That is what they have been sowing.

Cast your bread upon the waters. Trust in the laws of God. Show kindness, sow in mercy, give to the work of the Lord. Be generous and be kind to the Body of Christ. Cover the Body of Christ with mercy. The time is going to come when the tide shall turn, and you shall reap what you have sown.

It is a beautiful time when the tide comes back, but if you threw garbage in when the tide went out, don't be surprised if you find garbage on your shore when the tide comes in.
It is a law of God. It is time to clean up the beaches and say, "as of now I'm going to send something good out, while the tide is going out." Don't be weary in well doing. It is a princple of the nature of God that you reap what you have sown.

Haman was pounding the gallows together. He hired carpenters and built a great gallows to hang another, but in the evening sun there was a body that swung from the gallows, and it was the man that built it. The scriptures say, "He that digs a ditch is going to fall in it."

Don't cast away your confidence. Don't be weary in well doing. Don't get discouraged in the way. If the tide is going out, don't lose faith--the tide is going to come back in and when it does, it is going to bring to you what you have sown.

Every prayer you have ever prayed will come back on yur head. Every dollar you have given to the work of the Lord, brother in Christ, will come back to you in blessing. Every mercy that you have shown is going to come back and you will be the recipient because you have sent it out.

Keep on doing good.
Keep walking with Jesus.
Keep on reading the Bible.
Keep on praying for one another.
Keep on giving of your substance, of your love, and of yourself.
Keep on sharing.
Keep a good attitude--because the tide is about to come back!

Be not weary in well doing. It pays to do good! Don't cast away your confidence. The harvest is surely coming!!

Editor's note:
Dr. David Minor has pastored the Coudersport Gospel Tabernacle for 50 years. He is known to have the faith of Moses, the wisdom of Solomon and it is a privilege just to know this man. As a spiritual leader, he is the real thing. His 80 years are a testament to the sincerity of his faith in God.

Vandalism occurs after appearance of 'demons'

By MATT COUGHLIN
Bucks County Courier Times

Two "demons" made an appearance at a Tullytown church a few weeks ago, according to the pastor.

The two walked into St. Michael the Archangel Church on Levittown Parkway in Tullytown, Bucks County, PA about five and a half weeks ago and introduced themselves as "demons," Rev. Michael C. DiIorio said Tuesday.

DiIorio said the two individuals, whom he declined to describe, walked around after Sunday Mass asking to speak with the pastor. When parishioners pointed DiIorio out, the two walked up to him and said they were "demons" and wanted him to know they’d moved into the area.

"The boldness of it," DiIorio said of his surprise. "To come up and introduce themselves to you in that way."

He said he’s aware of Satanic graffiti and symbols, but this is the first time he’s heard of a demonic or Satanic group actually introducing themselves.

DiIorio said he put the incident at St. Michael’s out of his mind right after it happened until vandalism was found at the church.

In the past two weeks, lewd words have been carved into the church doors and a petition book on the altar of the Blessed Mother was defaced. On Friday the church received a letter in the rectory mail that contained threats. The church campus was evacuated — the school was out for teacher meetings — because police believed it should be taken seriously. More

Pastor Janet Kreis Speaks About Women

Pastor Janet Kreis spoke last Sunday at the Coudersport Gospel Tabernacle about how women have not been treated kindly in churches.

"Women are still not treated kindly in many far off cultures in this world.

In some they are not allowed to even get an education. In other cultures, men are allowed to beat their wives.

Women have not been treated kindly in those places.

References are made in the early bible that women are not allowed to speak in church.

But the early bible also finds nothing wrong with slavery.

Women only earned the right to vote in the US in the last 80 years. Women pastors are only now beginning to be accepted in most churches." Pastor Kreis explained.

Pastor Kreis said " I was hired by Pastor David Minor 33 years ago, before women pastors were even thought of and I've had to take a lot of gaff because of it."

Today women are readily accepted in the US. Pastor Minor was way ahead of his time when he had the foresight to hire Janet Kreis to teach and preach in the Gospel Tabernacle.

Pastor Kreis went on to say that "there are different ways that God manifests himself in our lives. Sometimes it is with power, when people have a spiritual experience that manifests physically but many times it is a manifestation of truth, that is revealed through reading the bible. A sudden understanding that was not there before."

She urged everyone "to take time to read your bible if you want to have these manifestations of truth in your life."

Pastor Janet Kreis is a speaker in demand not only at The Coudersport Gospel Tabernacle, but at churches across the country.

Anna Pitre, 86, Coudersport, PA

ULYSSES — Anna Pitre, 86, of Coudersport, died Tuesday (Feb. 12, 2008) at her residence. Arrangements are under the direction of the Olney Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Ulysses.

Friends may call at the Gospel Tabernacle, Coudersport, on Saturday, Feb. 16, from 2 to 3 p.m., with funeral services at 3 p.m.

Click any picture to enlarge

Sunday School Schedule

This is the Sunday School Schedule
If you have any questions
Please call the church office
814-274-7573

2007 Tithe Records Are Ready

Your 2007 Tithe record statements are now available in the narthex before or after services.

Flag Team Practice Starts February 11th

Practice for the Gospel Tabernacle Flag Team will be starting on February 11th, 2008.

Practices are Mondays and Thursdays from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm.

Women's Outreach Breakfast Scheduled

The Gospel Tabernacle Women's Prayer Outreach Breakfast is scheduled for 9:00 am on Saturday, February 16th at 9:00 am. All women are invited to participate.

Church Notes--2-3-08

Pastor David Minor, Jr. delivered the message this Sunday at Pastor Smith's church in Batavia, New York.

Pastor Minor, Jr. and Chad Cowburn are flying to Romania this week where the Coudersport Gospel Tabernacle maintains orphanages and helps support some churches. Please keep them in your prayers for a safe journey. Pastor Minor has made over 50 trips to the church's missions in Romania.

The congregation is invited to a SUPER BOWL PARTY at Mike and Deb Heroux's home tonite at 6:30 pm.

Mike Heroux

Gospel Tabernacle Not "Seeker Friendly" Unless..

SUNDAY--February 3, 2008

Senior Pastor Dr. David Minor spoke today at the Coudersport Gospel Tabernacle on the Port Allegany Road.

Dr. Minor explained that many churches today are moving toward what are called "Seeker Friendly" churches. The appeal of these churches is to downplay anything that might be objectionable to the parishioners. Many of the teachings of the Bible are downplayed because they might offend someone.

Dr. Minor stressed that the Coudersport Gospel Tabernacle will never water down the message of the Bible just to attract parishioners to come to church.

Preaching and teaching at the "Tabernacle" are based strictly from the word of God and are SEEKER FRIENDLY only if you are seeking a genuine relationship with God and Jesus in your life.

If you are, then he would like to invite you to come and join him in that quest.