Facebook Wisdom from Pastor Duke

Duke Hergatt

Yesterday at 7:18am · Halfmoon, NY ·

Reading the fall if Jerusalem under Nebuchadnezzar where the siege began in 605 BC and the final fall in 586 BC when the Temple came down along with the walls of the city. All the glory was gone. The warnings from all the prophets unheeded. But their Holy God kept the promise of judgement when He preferred the promises of blessing for obedience.
I think of the glory of our country is mostly gone now. The siege began a good while ago. And saddest of all it's our own corruption from within that is destroying us. Our people are divided. Our media fans the flame of division. We have over spent, over taxed, over sexed and over indulged. As God rose up evil enemies to pressure His people to repentance so we have evil enemies all around now called radical Islamic terrorist. Our fall is looming and the New World order is in place and it ain't gonna be pretty.

Technorati Tags: Faith,GOD,Christian,Judgement,USA,Evil Enemies

From Pastor Duke Hergatt on Facebook

Love this message.  He has been running a series based on Ministry Memory and they are great.    Anyway:

Duke Hergatt

3 hrs · Waterford, NY ·

Ministry memory: one Saturday in fall of 73 I visited all my bus kids and no one showed up to visit the other route. I skipped lunch and went ahead and visited all those kids. At the last house the child's mother was crying while on the phone. Her sister was suicidal on the other end. The mom begged me to go visit here NOW. it was getting late but of course I went. The young woman was hysterical with a loaded gun on the table. It was crazy. All I knew was to give my testimony and tell her there's a whole new life in Christ. She got saved and sent the gun back to her sister. I had to preach that night at a campfire for our young peoples group at Jack and Marilyn Carr's farm. I had no time to study or to eat. I remember eating six hot dogs before I preached "I have bread to eat that you know not of. ". That was my day.. I got a bite of that gospel bread that day and knew..this is my life. Chris Jackson got saved that night along with one more. I got one last bite of that Jesus bread and have been addicted ever since. What a wild journey it's been.

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Duke Hergatt

Yesterday at 8:05am · Waterford, NY ·

Ministry memory: soon after I was saved I saw the set of encyclopedias sitting in my closet that I had stollen from the school one

Technorati Tags: Christian,Religion,God,Jesus

by one. I felt compelled to return them to the school in repentance. It went viral. The next month I felt compelled to visit my old principle and apologize for all the grief I had caused him in my BC days. As I began telling him my story he stopped me in my tracks. I thought he was throwing me out of his office. But he said "No.. I want the whole school to hear your story". The next week I preached my first sermon to the Lucas public school 7th-12th grade faculty and all. The schools first drug dealer had become the first preacher. The fire God put in my heart all those years ago continues to burn hot. Many of those students through the years have come to Christ. What a great open door that was. Thank you Mr Wine..RIP.

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Creation Science

From Facebook:

Duke Hergatt

Yesterday at 8:25am · Waterford, NY ·

Great ministry memory. Dr Bernard Vonnegut, founder of the School of Meteorology at SUNY Albany and team member on the

Technorati Tags: Religion,Creation,God

Manhattan Project came to Christ here at Temple late in his life. I taught him creation science. He said "it finally all fits together." He blessed me and said "I gave my life to see how things tick. You have given your life to study the ONE WHO MAKES IT ALL TICK. If I had to do it all over again I would choose what you have chosen". Ain't it amazing whose doors Jesus knocks on!

“The shooter was lining people up and asking if they were Christian”

From “Brutally Honesty” blog.

We should all be livid that a debate about guns breaks out before the dead and injured quit bleeding, led by the President of the United States, while the elephant in the room is completely ignored:

The gunman who opened fire at an Oregon community college was forcing people to stand up and state their religion before he began blasting away at them, survivors said Thursday.

Technorati Tags: School Shooting,Christian,Media,MSM,Democrat,Republican

A woman who claimed to have a grandmother inside a writing class in Snyder Hall, where a portion the

Authorities carry a shooting victim away from the scene... AP Photo

massacre unfolded, described the scene in a tweet.

“The shooter was lining people up and asking if they were Christian,” she wrote. “If they said yes, then they were shot in the head. If they said no, or didn’t answer, they were shot in the legs. My grandma just got to my house, and she was in the room. She wasn’t shot, but she is very upset.

The Twitter user then recalled how her grandmother attempted to save the life of one of her close classmates.

“She tried to perform CPR on her friend, but it was too late,” the woman said. “I hope nothing like this ever happens again.”

Kortney Moore, an 18-year-old student at Umpqua Community College who was also in the room, told Oregon’s News Review that the shooter was indeed on the hunt for Christians.

Moments after hearing a bullet come flying through a window, she said the 20-year-old shooter made his way inside and targeted their teacher, pumping a single round into their head.

As the young man ordered people to the ground, Moore laid patiently with her classmates and waited, according to the News Review.

Once they all got down, she said the gunman began asking people to rise and say what their religion was. After they stood and gave their answer, he started shooting.

God rest the souls of those martyred in His name.

And a pox on those attempting to score political points on this while being ignorantly oblivious as to what really went down.

Yes, a pox.

Crossposted at Wizbang.

From Facebook – School Shooting

Peter Whitehouse

18 hrs ·

Technorati Tags: School Shooting,Religion,God,Society,Pray

Another school shooting… more senseless death. When will we realize that this is so much more than a debate about guns. There is something very wrong with our society. We have consciously removed prayer from schools and God from the marketplace and we have taught humanism with no moral absolutes. And we are surprised? Do you think another law will change our hearts? How we need a spiritual awakening! How we need the Lord! Please pray for these grieving families. Please pray for America.

Church Memory – St John Presbyterian in Tampa

One day after church a small group of men were standing outside talking.   Manuel Beiro said to my dad “Henry, you are a cracker and I am a Cuban, and we’re going to be friends”.   And they were great friends in their church life and in their personal lives.  Today’s church lacks that friendliness, that willingness to reach out to everyone, anyone.    Today we just want to get out of the church and get home perhaps to watch football or some such thing.  Manual and my father and lets not forget Mike Cassanueva were great friends through the years and the world could sure use more men like that.  I miss all of them.

Upper Room Devotional – 9/10/2015

Read Isaiah 40:25-31

Thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads in every place the fragrance that comes from knowing him.

- 2 Corinthians 2:14 (NRSV)

Today's Devotional

The day before our Harvest Festival several sisters from church and I decorated the sanctuary with flowers, berries, and trailing shrubs. Our work went smoothly. Soon, bright arrangements were everywhere! When the main decorative work had been completed there were some “leftovers” on the table — broken branches, unattractive flowers, unopened buds. As we gathered all this together to throw into the trashcan, the caring hands of one woman took a few items from the pile of garbage, wrapped a ribbon around them, and crowned her masterpiece with a shiny bead. A charming bouquet appeared before our eyes.

Sometimes I feel like one of those superfluous, broken branches, thrown away in this materially oriented world. But for our Lord none of us is superfluous or unnecessary. Each person is precious and valuable in God’s eyes. (See Isaiah 43:4.) Each of us is a unique flower in the fragrant bouquet of the Lord.

Irina Ivanova (Pskov, Russia)

Thought for the Day:

None of us is superfluous to God.

Prayer: Generous and merciful God, help us to know ourselves as your beloved children. Help us to understand that we are wonderfully made by you and that we have everything we need for life and holiness. Amen.

Prayer Focus: Someone with low self-esteem

Church Thoughts

As I have grown older – ok ok, old;  I have had a lot of chance to reflect on my Christian life and church preference.   I have a lot of miscellaneous and probably unfinished thoughts on a lot of churchy things.   Fasten your seatbelts and hopefully finish reading this post.

Music,  most of todays churches use contemporary music instead of the old hymns I am used to.   I tolerate the guitars and drums as long as they are not do loud that you can’t hear the voices;  sometimes they are just too overpowering.  I do wish they would sprinkle in an old standard once in a while – I would love to sing thing like “The Old Rugged Cross” or “ In The Garden” once in a while. 

In the past people would not just say “welcome”, shake your hand and then keep walking. . . because hey there might be a football game on.    They would engage you in an actual conversation.   Maybe invite new folks to a mid week Bible study or Sunday School or church dinner.    And the older church folks would never let a newcomer stand or sit alone. 

Church folk would even hand you a religious tract booklet or also something I don’t see anymore,  a small New Testament Bible;  I still have one I was given back in 1967 when I was leaving to go to Thailand with the Air Force.  I am not saying that I always read it faithfully but it has travelled with me all over the world and I still have it and look at it once in a while – it planted the seed in Christianity in my life and I am very grateful for it. 

I remember when (60’s) the Pastor would periodically come around for a visit (usually Sunday afternoon) and maybe a meal.  That really helped to get to know everyone and not just be a face in a crowd;  plus it is nice to get to know the Pastor as a person and not just the guy who preaches.   It wouldn’t work for me in my situation as I am the only “churchy” one – but there are many folks who would benefit from it. 

In parting,  there is one thing I wish I could do is to go into the sanctuary during the week and just sit there in the quiet and think – but in todays world that just isn’t possible. . . . is it?