Dear Beachside Family and Friends,

Life can pass out a few blows. Sometimes they are light brushes with negative circumstances, and other times they are seriously jarring events, events which are life-changing, even life threatening. Every person experiences challenges and setbacks that can leave them feeing like a failure in life. Feelings of failure can be transitory or permanent depending upon the individual's response to the circumstances around them. We cannot control the circumstances around us or the actions of other people. We do have the ability to control our response to those circumcstances, and whether or not we become failures.

It has been said "if at first you don't succeed, try again. When faced with the difficult task of creating the first lightbulb, Thomas Edison experienced many defeats. When questioned about the process, Edison said "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.” He later stated "Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” Having faced many challenges with the sometimes complicated products he developed, the great inventor learned an important lesson: it is impossible to be a failure if you never quit.

Jesus faced many opportunities to become a failure. He was constantly rejected by the religious leaders of His day, and was accused of being controlled by saran. The constant resistance to the message of His ministry and the hatred directed toward Him personally  would tempt any man to quit. Isaiah well prophesied "He was despised and rejected-a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care" (Isa 53:3) Despite the rejection Jesus experienced, He never gave up, and He never quit. He knew if he continued to do what God asked him to do, it was impossible for Him to be a failure. 

When we experience the many challenges of life, we must decide that failure is not an option. If life knocks us down, we must choose to get up again. We may be knocked down, but if we get up, we have not failed, and we will not be failures.  Jesus experienced the ultimate knockdown when He was crucified. He knew the cross was in his future, and He declared His resurrection prior to His death. He told His disciples "Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again. (Matt 20:18-19) Jesus refused to fail or have the mindset of a failure. He said "I will rise again!" "No matter what men do to me, I will not fail, I will rise again!"

Like Jesus, we have the power to get up again. We can rise above the challenges and setbacks of life and refuse to be a failure. Romans 8:11 tells us "The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead, assuring His victory and success, resides in every born-again believer. 

Resurrection power is available to turn your defeat into victory, your sickness into health, your poverty into prosperity, and your failure into success. When you trust in the Word of God and refuse to quit, you cannot be a failure.

Jesus never fails, and when He lives in your heart you have all you need to succeed. Failure is not an option. Never stop, never give up, and never quit. With this attitude, victory is assured, and it won't take very long! Expect to win. Rise up, and become the success you were meant to be. You already have everything you need to succeed. Do it!

Pastor Ramon

Dear Beachside Family and Friends:

Jesus did not grow up in a free society. He was born in Bethlehem of Judea and was raised in Nazareth of Galilee. Both the city of His birth, and the city of His upbringing were controlled by a ruthless Roman government that did not tolerate dissent. For the most part, His ministry was centered in Gallilee, where he did not run afoul of the Roman military government and their civil officials. Contrary to the representations of liberation theology and social justice, Jesus was not a revolutionary. His goal was redeeming mankind, and He successfully carried out His ministry in the midst of oppressive political circumstances. 

What was revolutionary were His ideas. He espoused a relationship with God that was not about religious observance, but founded upon righteousness of the heart: a righteousness that could only be attained through a relationship with Him. It is this relationship that makes men truly free. Jesus said "So if the Son makes you free, you will be truly free" (John 8:36) True freedom can never be experienced through social justice or political exercise. Only those who know Jesus can be truly free.

It was that understanding that moved men and women to leave Europe and bring their families two what would become the United States of America. Freedom in our nation can only be experienced by those who know and understand that our system of government is based upon the Word of God. Freedom is not a natural, but a supernatural experience. It seems our society now believes that freedom can exist apart from a relationship with God. They call themselves free, yet seek "safe places" where their anti-God ideas cannot be challenged. Jesus never refused to hear the ideas of others. He encouraged discussion, even with those who openly opposed  Him. A man who is truly free will never be afraid of the ideas of others, no matter how different they may be.

Jesus said " And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Those who hide from the truth can never be free. What is is truth? According to Jesus "Sanctify them by Your truth. YOUR WORD is truth." ( John 17:17) Who is truth? Jesus declared in John 14:6; " I am the way, THE TRUTH, and the life. No one comes to the father but by me." Do you want truth and freedom? You can find them in Jesus today!

Pastor Ramon

Dear Beachside Family and Friends,

Almost every child has experienced fear of the dark. I remember hiding under the covers because I didn't like the looks of the two-inch metal Venetian blinds covering the  window in my bedroom. A streetlight outside shined through the closed slats just enough to give them the look of a demonic grin. They did not bother me during the daytime, but the darkness of the evening changed the benign blinds into a beckoning beast. 

Some of my friends had similar evening challenges. They believed that there were monsters in their closets or under their beds. The same rooms in which they happily played during the day were transformed into chambers of terror by the arrival of evening shade. The onset of darkness brought with it fear, and fear worked to fill our minds with foolish imaginations. 

Most of what we see and hear in the news media these days is darkness. Despair and hopelessness fill the airwaves twenty-four hours a day. Protests, riots, looting, and destruction are regular guests in prime-time. 

Fear is on the march, and law-abiding citizens suffer attacks on their businesses and homes because they advocate traditional values. Darkness is attempting to control and manipulate the hearts of men and women in our nation, but no matter how dark it may seem, the dawn is about to break!

When the first rays of the sun stream over the horizon, the light drives back the darkness with ever increasing power. The smallest ray of light penetrates even the deepest shadows and drives them away. Just as the rising of the sun dispels the darkness of night, the Word of God drives out the darkness and fear that attempts to dominate the hearts of men. The Bible tells us in John 1:1,5 "In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God....The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it." The SON is rising!

Jesus IS the Word, and His Word contained in the Bible has all the power necessary to destroy the darkness and fear that besets our nation. The Word that we speak from our mouths is more than enough to turn our country around. We are instructed by our Savior and King "Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 5:15-16)

Shining our light is so much more than doing acts of charity. It is speaking the Word of God, which brings light in darkness, exposes the plans of the enemy, and lights up the path of success in life. As Psalm 119:105 reveals "Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path."  The light of God's Word never fails to deliver us from darkness and assures our place in the family of God. "..,for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. 

We need not fear the darkness, for the Word of God is infinitely more powerful. "For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don’t belong to darkness and night...,But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation." (1 Thess 5:5,8) Dealing with the darkness is simple: TURN ON THE LIGHT! Shine the light of the Word into every situation in life. Don't hide under the covers anymore: expect the darkness to flee!  "Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people." (Phil 2:15) Turn on the light - turn on YOUR light!

Pastor Ramon

Dear Beachside Family and Friends,

Many people have returned after evacuating their homes in Texas and Florida to  discover massive amounts of debris that will have to be removed. The process of cleanup will last days for some, and months for others. The passage of storms Harvey and Irma uprooted trees, turned buildings and homes into matchsticks, and left piles of broken automobiles and boats at parking facilities and marinas. Restoration will be difficult and time-consuming, but not impossible.

Houses and buildings which have not moved from their foundations will be repaired and restored. Those who have moved off their foundations or whose foundations have been cracked or eroded  will be condemned and destroyed. Structures with compromised foundations are a danger to life and limb because they are no longer stable. Instbility can result in a complete or partial building collapse later, months or years after the storm has passed. 

Beyond physical storms like hurricanes and tornadoes, everyone experiences the storms of life. In the same way as wind and water test constructed foundations, the storms of life reveal the condition of the foundation of our personal lives. The challenges of life break upon the lives we have built, and test the foundation we have built upon. Jesus spoke of this in Luke 6:46-49 “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not practice what I tell you? Everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words and obeys them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a far-sighted, practical, and sensible man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and yet could not shake it, because it had been securely built and founded on the rock. But the one who has merely heard and has not practiced what I say, is like a foolish man who built a house on the ground without any foundation, and the torrent burst against it; and it immediately collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.” 

Those who have built their homes upon solid foundations successfully weather hurricanes, floods, and other vagaries of this natural world. There are times of cleanup and restoration, but a building set on an enduring foundation will survive and remain viable long into the future. Human lives are exactly the same. Lives built upon a solid foundation will not only survive the storms of life, but continue to thrive and experience the blessing of the Lord long after the storms have passed.

Jesus said that the man who laid a foundation upon the rock was one who heard His words and obeyed them. He still speaks His words to us today through the Bible. Reading the Bible alone is not enough: Jesus expects us to hear His words and act on them. The Bible does not say "faith comes by reading the word". It does say "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God". (Romans 10:17) Faith comes by hearing, and hearing, and hearing again what the Bible says. Hearing the Word, and acting on the Word by doing what it says builds a strong life foundation that cannot be moved by any circumstance that we experience. Sickness cannot destroy our foundation of healing, poverty cannot destroy our foundation of prosperity, and turmoil cannot destroy our foundation of peace. When we dig deep and build a Word foundations in our lives we will never be moved!

A foundation of human learning and understanding, psychology, and worship of the mind cannot withstand the storms of life. Only by constantly hearing and acting upon the word can we build the foundation necessary to withstand the storms of life. This requires a daily encounter with the word of God by hearing what it says. The most effective way to hear the word of God is by speaking it out of our own mouths. Romans 10:8  tells us "But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” that is, the word of faith which we preach" 

Education and intellectual development have little value when dealing with the storms Satan brings against human beings. He is wiser in the system of this world than all doctors, lawyers, educators, and politicians combined. The only learning that can successfully defeat Satan and his plans is that which comes through hearing and acting upon the Word of God. Let us re-commit ourselves to speaking and acting upon the Word of God found only in the Bible. I used to sing a song with the children in Children's Church. It went this way "the B – I – B – L – E, now that's the book for me. I stand alone on the Word of God, the B – I – B – L – E. it is the only foundation that can survive the storms of this life. As Proverbs 10:25 says "When the storm has swept by, the wicked are gone, but the righteous stand firm forever." Think ábout it!

Pastor Ramon