Adios 20's

"Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these [things] God will bring thee into judgment.Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth [are] vanity." Ecc. 11:9,10 KJV

    I was sitting here pondering on what I could blog about, since I have not done one in several months. Since tomorrow is my birthday and I have sorta been dreading this one for some time I thought I would write a little something on the subject. I always said to myself once I hit 30, its over. If I am still single, might as well stay that way, whatever job I am at I might as well just stay there. Just pretty much wore myself down on the fact that growing old "ain't no fun". So where is a guy with my thinking to turn. Well fortunately I have a God that had a lot to say! Our Sunday School claszs recently started studying the book of Ecclesiastes and boy has it been helpful in my processing this getting older thing!

    While I might not enjoy the idea of getting older, I have many things to look back on and cherish, also I have many thinks ahead of me that I have yet to experience. Only the Lord knows whats ahead. 30s could be the best years of my life. Looking back I did many foolish things in my 20s, things that I am not proud of, but because I accepted Christ's salvation I am forgive of those things. I can look back at those fond memories at college and Thank God He allowed me to experience those. I can look back at the sorrows as well. Losing both grandparents that I grew up with was some of the hardest times I had to go through. All of these things in 10 years. 

    Ecclesiastes 11:7- 12:8 Tells us we can look back and enjoy our youth, but we have to accept that its vanity and we all will age. I guess since I am staring dead at 30, might as well accept it and move on!

I know this was short but I blogged this more for myself than for others. I enjoyed, for the most part, my 20s. I am now beginning to look forward to what the Lord has in store for me these next 10 years! 

Did this rambling accomplish anything....... who knows...

Coming of the Lord

"Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;" 2 Thes. 2:3


    We have all been watching the news, Japan was hit by a 8.9 magnitude earthquake which caused a huge tsunami. Just over 2 weeks ago New Zealand had a 6.3 magnitude earthquake. But the shaking hasn't been limited to the "Ring of Fire". Right here in Arkansas not even 2 weeks ago the ground shook. What else has been happening in the news? Wars, fighting, rumors of wars to come. These events are happening everyday and seem to be increasing as time goes on. What does this have to do with the coming of the Lord? EVERYTHING! Jesus said in Mark 13:8 "For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be  in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows." This is where the passage from 2 Thes. comes into play.
  
  We as believers know that Christ is coming soon. Scripture foretold it, we are seeing signs daily that its happening. But the most telling sign is what Paul wrote to the Thessalonian Church. False doctrines had been thrown into their church and Paul was writing to remove those thoughts and once again instill the truth.


    First off, we cannot let anyone deceive us. Do not believe anyone who says they know when the Lord will return. I know I, as well as many other Bible believing Christians, have been saying "the Lord is coming" and things of the sort. But I say it not as something I have con cocked within myself to make me seem smart. I say it by what I have read in scripture. The deceit I speak of come from churches like the one a few months back claiming Christ would return on May 21 of this year. Those are the types of people we must be weary of. Jesus himself said "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only." God is the only one with that knowledge. 


   Next Paul gives us the conditions of the Lord's return. He says there will be a "falling away". I can see this as already happened. Our churches have fallen away from the Lord. Sin has taken such a role in the church you can hardly call it a church. Professed believers in churches are saying its ok to drink and smoke. They are trying to pervert the word into saying its ok to be a homosexual. They are allowing divorced and remarried people to take places of leadership inside the church when scripture clearly speaks against it. Things like these are the reason the church has fallen away from the Lord. When you turn a blind eye to one sin, a bigger one creeps in. Its sad the church has had these things covered in scripture, yet they do not even want to try and follow it. People the time is at hand.


  The 2nd condition has not passed, but I feel it can happen at anytime. Paul says the "son of perdition" is revealed. The son of Satan or the Anti-Christ, however you want to describe him. 


   Read the scripture, watch the news, investigate for yourself. You can clearly see God is allowing everyone the opportunity to accept His Son's sacrifice. Jesus came and died for us, because He knew this world would become so wicked that God would have to pass judgement and unleash His righteous wrath on this world. 


   Most importantly Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to spend eternity with Him. While God is a God of wrath, He is a God of Love. He wants no man to perish without accepting Christ's salvation. If you don't know Him today, please get on your knees and asked Jesus to take over your life. THEN find a  friend and tell them. Find someone who you know is a Christian so they can begin praying for you and get you on the right track to serving God. Don't be left behind, because the Lord is coming soon.


Revelation 3:3 " Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee."

The Difficult Road

"Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it" Matthew 7:13,14


    Have you ever had to make a hard decision? What did it feel like? Was it gut wrenching? Did it cause you to second guess your decision? We all have had to make a decision of course, and each one felt like the hardest thing ever until we reach another thats harder. Our decisions include where to go to college, what to study, what career I want to go into. Then relationships come around and those present difficult decisions. Should we go out? Do his\her parents like me? Is he\she the one, should we marry? Harder and harder the decisions can become. We want to make sure what we do is correct. Most importantly does the decision line up with what God wants.


   The scripture taken from Matthew talks about a road, that road is our lives. Its full of decisions. While traveling down that road, God lays out His standards. We have to decide if we are going to follow or not. Thats only part of it. THEN we have follow through with the decision 100%. I stated in a previous blog that God doesn't like lukewarm Christians, Rev 3:16 says "So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth." So we have to follow what scripture says. (Let me add that I am not legalistic, only by the Blood of Jesus are we saved. There is no work we can do that will get us in or keep us in Heaven.) Thats where things get difficult.


    Verse 14 says "Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it" When the Lord shows you something in scripture and you grasp it, you have no alternative but to follow it. If you do not, the Holy Spirit will convict you HARD! This is something I am learning more and more daily. It makes decisions harder. You have to decide if you are going to listen to this music, watch that movie, hang out with these people. The list goes on and on. I am seeing fully now what it means by "there will be few who find it". People don't want to make the tough decisions because it might hurt feelings, might lose a friend, might cause others to think you are so different that you are cast out of a group. Let me tell you, if you have come to the conclusion that God said and meant it, you have nothing to fret over, those who reject what God has shown are the ones who have answers to give. 


Its a Difficult road, the life of a true Christian. When you begin seeing how you are to live your life, the decisions get harder. Just know that God is there, Jesus at His right hand, ready to hear your prayers. I had to make a tough decision just yesterday, but it was one that had to be made. I'll be glad to share it if asked. I want others to see what we need to be doing as followers of Christ. We are playing too much, time is getting short. We need to get busy on the narrow road. 

They are Searching

"Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it." Matt. 7:24-27




   The above passage is pretty much self-explanatory. For the believers, who have built their life's foundation on the Holy, Unchanging, promises of God, and follow Him, their lives will stand STRONG. For those non-believers, who have built their lives on the world that is constantly changing and constantly wicked, their lives will CRUMBLE. God says this world will not last forever, but Heaven will be forever. Thats not the point of this blog.


   I like to watch Worship videos and other Christian videos on YOUTUBE and I become more intrigued at what I see in the comments section. There are Christians typing praises to God for helping them, how the theme of the video touched their lives, or how they enjoy the gifts God has given a particular artist. You would think a Christian video would be fully of Christianity. But there is another group that post on there. The non-believers, who are looking to stir the pot. Get Christians to argue so they can confuse those who are not solid in their faith. When I read the above passage, I thought about how these non-believers fit into it. 


  The non-believers are searching for something. They see Christians and how we live so securely, yet because they have built their lives on the world, they can't understand it. So, as humans do, they put pride in the way and attack those who are prosperous. You see all the time people who are successful how quickly the less successful people begin to try and find fault in them, to make them feel better. We Christians are prosperous, we have inherited the kingdom of God. We have it all! The non-believers do not. So what do the non-believers want to do, they start finding the faults, to find that happy place for themselves. Sadly for them, as the above passage says, unless they build their lives upon the foundation of Christ, their lives will be forever crumbling, because the world will continue to change and rot away.


  We as Christians need to continue to be strong in the foundation of Christ, those who are becoming believers need to see the strength of God's foundation. The more these non-believers see it, the more they will come to believe. We know not all will accept Christ, but we must believe that they will. Never know who you might see come to Christ!


Don't know if this rambling makes sense, but it does to me. Maybe it was meant for me!

Christians

    I know its been awhile since I posted a blog, but had a quick word to share! Enjoy!

    At work, our building likes to do something called, "The Word of the Day". Everyone gives a positive word for everyone else to think about. Some say something silly and others quote a deep statement from someone in the past. I tend to make mine Biblical. This morning I had planned on sharing a scripture, but it was more a message for a person in the building about how they acted. I instead changed it to another quote I had heard years before. It still fit the message I wanted to get out towards the one person, yet was a message all those Christians present could think about.
    The quote was paraphrased as "The single greatest cause of unbelief  in Christ are Christians, they acknowledge Him with their lips but deny Him by their lifestyle." If we are ever going to win the lost to Christ we MUST start living as Christ would have us! Why would a non-Christian want what we have if we live no different than them! Just some food for thought!

Seasons of Change

Ecclesiastes 3:1   "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:"

  "Everything happens for a reason", we have heard that quote many many times. Its used practically everywhere. For Christians it has a deeper meaning. Not just that something happens because something else is going to happen. Its God, HIMSELF, placing His hands in the middle of our lives and molding us for something great!

   This morning God did just that in Victory Missionary Baptist Church. Our pastor, Sam Higgs, announced his resignation this morning following the service. For almost 7 years he lead Victory out of some very trying times and during his leading saw around 500 people come to Christ through various programs and services. Those were wonderful seasons, seasons to rejoice! But now Victory enters into a new season, a season of sadness and almost a "gut-check". This season can last as long as WE allow it. God has plans for Victory, what those are no one can say for sure, but as long as we allow God to have total control we know it will be GREAT!

Psalm 30:5 "..... weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning"

Joy WILL come in the morning! My God doesn't lie!



p.s. Remember Bro. Sam and his family as they adjust to the position God has given him!

The Bible, hide its word in your heart, you might not have it one day!

" Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." Psalm 119:11

    Recently I was ask to teach the Wednesday night teen class, with little time to prep, I decided to ask those there some basic stuff about the Bible. I first asked them if they know all the books of the Bible, they knew some of them, but not all. Then I asked what their favorite scripture was, and I was happy to hear some had one while some didn't know have an answer. Then I asked how often they read scripture, sadly they all said they don't read at all, or just when things go bad.

    

   That brought the future to mind. I explained to the teens that one day we may not have a Bible to turn to when we are in times of trouble. Jesus told His disciples that the world would hate those who follow Him. We are already seeing more and more persecution every day. God, Jesus, prayer, and anything holy to God is being taken away or forgotten by those who do not believe in or trust in Him. So it is reasonable to think that one day The Bible will be "outlawed".

   

   So I urged the teens, like I am urging those reading this and myself, to get into The Word and put it in your hearts. God speaks to us through His Word, if we don't have it in our hearts, He can't speak to us. I know I want Him to speak to me...what about you?

Who Do You Follow?

" And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Romans 12:2


Am I following the world? Am I following God? Am I following a lot of the world and a little of God? Am I following a little of the world and a lot of God?

These questions should be apart of our everyday thought process. When you wake up in the morning you should make a decision on who you will devote yourself to. As Christians we probably say I will follow you God, but within a few moments or hours we have got to following a little of the world and a lot of God, then by days end many are thinking little about God and a lot about this world.

Where we work, what we listen to, what we watch, who we hang around will determine the answers to those questions. Its saddening to see professed Christians daily compromising their faith and beliefs to satisfy those whom they are around. That compromise eventually leads them to saying the wrong things to those who are lost or living in a way that turn the lost from Christ. I read a lot of internet articles and when I stumble upon an article with religious implications, I begin to browse comments left by readers. There are many professed Christians who begin posting compromised statements about abortion, homosexuality, vulgarity, and mocking or taking God's name in vain. Just this past week I read an article about a proposed show on Comedy Central titled "JC" that is basically a mockery of Christ and God, and while I wasn't shocked it was still sad to see many "Christians" telling other Christians that "its just a show", "God has a sense of Humor" and other remarks that showed their indifference. Revelation 3:16 came to mind where Jesus said "So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth." The world is tearing Christians a part, the more we conform to the world the more lukewarm we become.

Recently in a sermon, my pastor, Bro. Sam Higgs made a wonderful, yet sad analogy of Christians and the world. Using the pulpit as God, his right first as Christians and left fist as the world, he explained how God never changes, and Christians are staying just far enough away from the world to keep out of it. YET the world is constantly moving away from God and the Christians are still staying the same distance from the world. As he took several steps to his left the analogy showed that we Christians are getting further and further from our God, because we want to keep dabbling our finger in the world.

Who are you following today? The opening passage gives us the key to living a life God has for us. Why do we keep getting more and more into the world? Why not seperate from it. While it can be hard to just be in the world, it isn't impossible. If we put all we are and have into God's call on our lives, we can accomplish it. Others are watching and waiting for Christians to mess up, and boy have we done it. Its time to change the perception and really start living for HIM. The return of Christ is closer than anyone can imagine, don't let our lives be a stumbling block to those who don't know Christ. To those who are wondering if Christ is lord of you life, just as yourself who am I following? What consumes my time? You will get your answer quickly.

Again I ask......Who Do You Follow?

Have you found a House for the Lord?

"LORD, remember David, and all his afflictions: How he sware unto the LORD, and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob; Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, nor go up into my bed; I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids, Until I find out a place for the LORD, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob." Psalm 132:1-5

I was in the midst of my reading through the scriptures, wondering when I would get a new blog topic. I hadn't felt the Lord impressing anything upon my heart( my fault for not being as in tuned as I needed to be ) But finally He spoke! It seems like the Lord gives me these topics when I start to stray, of have strayed from His path for me. We, as Christians, all have those moments..some longer than others...where we start doing things our way and before long we find ourselves say "WHOA how did I get way over here?!" That's when we then have to get on our knees and humble ourselves before our Father and let Him bring us back to where He wants us. Well enough of the rabbit chasing!

The above passage, from what I can gather, was probably written by Solomon, David's son. While David was not allowed to build the temple, the Lord did allow him to set the stage for Solomon to. The scripture accounts for how David searched day and night, seeking God's permanent site for the Tabernacle, which God instituted after Israel was released from Egypt and wandered in the wilderness. David searched and worked tirelessly, not sleeping or even entering his own bed until He did as he vowed unto the Lord. Because of that, the Lord blessed Him by allowing Solomon to complete the task.

There is a great message in that for us today! God seeks for a dwelling place. Its not in a building, behind a curtain. Its in our hearts. If you have accepted Christ you have already opened the door, if you have not Christ is waiting!

We must ask ourselves though, if we have accepted Christ, did God become Housed in our hearts? Many Christians have fallen into the trap of thinking they are ok because we have accepted Christ, yet we still have not let God have His home. We have the closets in the house filled with junk that we have collected because of our sin nature as humans. God can not and will not share His home with anything thats not pleasing to Him.

David had that problem to, he sinned mightily against the Lord, yet he was still called "the man after God's own heart"

How can we apply what happened in Davids life with ours? Well we must be tireless! We have to work hard to empty those nasty closets and throw out the trash. The Lord wants his tabernacle clean. He will do it but we must be willing to let Him work in us. We have to spend hour after hour, minute after minute, second after second striving to follow Him. Through scripture, prayer, and meditation. When complete, God will have built a house you found for Him. Like I am sure happened with David, the place was right in front of him, God just have to inspire him to find it. God does that when He calls us to be His child. We find a home that's in need of the GREATEST tenant of all time and when we open up the door things will never be the same!


God Bless!

You are so GOOD to me!

"Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever." Psalm 106:1

As a believer and follower of Christ, this verse is one we have to ALWAYS remember. God is not just good though, He is GREAT! He deserves all our thanks and praise, in the good and the bad. Personally I have learned through the good and bad I CAN praise Him. With all that I have struggled with over the last 2 years, I could have easily given up like so many do and just turn my life over to do whatever I could to survive. But that's not God's plan for His children. He has something so much more for them. We have to keep pressing on, as the Apostle Paul says, there is a higher mark we have! All the while we are attacked by satan! I have felt that attack. The closer I have striving to get to my Lord, the more darts and evil satan throws at me.

Now back on God being good, He is not going to sit back forever letting satan do that attacking without showing hope to His. Just this week I felt first hand God's greatness. He allowed me to begin a new job closer to home and with the benefits would be making about the same I was at my previous job. THAT DAY, after knowing what I would be getting paid the Lord showed up and the company restructured pay and in just 4 hours "working" I got a "pay raise"! Praise God! Then yesterday started off bad, I checked my bank account and NO PAYCHECK deposited. I panic, but I quickly said a prayer to God to take it and use it to His Glory. Guess what? He did! I was able to workout the issue with my bank and given another day to make my payment to them. The day didn't stop there. I have been struggling mightily financially and KNEW that my check was going to be small. So Yesterday I go to pick up my final check, start walking away and looked down at it and was FLOORED! I had to go back and ask if this was right, and sure enough there is was printed on the check, it was more than DOUBLE what I expected. First thing I could say was GOD, YOU ARE SO GOOD TO ME!

That is testimony to show that through whatever comes, have faith and God will bless it. But YOU must continue in the path of serving Him, even when things are going great. So if you are struggling just know God has a time and place for everything. He will bless you when He deems it is time. I hope through my experience someone will find peace about their problems. I am not out of the woods, but boy it feels nice to know there is some clearing up ahead! God, thank you for being so good to me!

Keep My Heart

"Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil." Proverbs 4:23-27


This morning I sat here a moment trying to get my mind together from sleep and thinking about the past couple days at work. They have been days that SHOULD have been much easier with a new directive with more people added to my "crew". Well, that did not occur. I have 3 different bosses in my ear with seemingly 100 different directions they want me and those I am trying to guide to go. Admittedly, the last 2 days I lost my cool and snapped back at my 2 direct supervisors. Just like anything else bad decisions turn more bad decisions. They made a unwise call in a objective for me to complete and with me in my already "bad" mood made the unwise decision to share my displeasure with the way they were changing plans on me. I say all that to say this morning I realized I must STOP and not lose it.

This morning I did what I have learned to do more and more, I turned to God and His Word, especially in times of trouble(We should also be the same way in times of joy as well!) . I love the book of Proverbs and the passage above quickly jumped out at me. As a child of God I MUST present myself better before EVERYONE. I can't let the troubles of work and life get to me. I have to remember to look ahead at the goal and not all the bad going on around me. God placed me here to honor and serve Him. I can't do that very well when I am angry or disappointed with the people I am around. Scripture above say to "remove thy foot from evil". How do I do that? I will have to go back to the thing I used to do and become the person I used to be somewhat in just taking a breath and biting my tongue. So today being off, I am going to sit back, take a deep breath, pray, and let God take care of these issues. Thats got to be the way we do ANYTHING in life. Mine just happens to involve work. You can apply it to money issues, relationships, or anything thats got you down.

We MUST, as Proverbs 4:23 says "Keep thy heart with all diligence.." Satan is alive an well. I fully believe all the struggles I have been going through with money and NOW work, is Satan. I made an even deeper decision a few month ago to be souled out to God and work harder to know Him more and serve Him better. I have been reading scripture more, have gotten behind but will keep going, been more active with sharing God's word with others. Satan will do anything to slow down those who are drawing closer to God. I have seen it with me and others.

If you are reading this and do not know the love of God in your life, today can be the day you can know it. Send me a message to josephlawson81_00@yahoo.com and I will be more than happy to share how to become a follower of Christ and be a Child of God!

WHY?

"For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding." Proverbs 2:6

Sometimes it hard to figure out why things go the way they do. Why do jobs have to be difficult? Why does the money always seem to run out? Why am I sick? Why does my vehicle break down? Why why why?? And while we don't know, the scriptures points to the one who does. The Lord will, if you humbly come as a believer and follower of Christ, give you the knowledge and understanding you need to get through the hard times.

"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding." Proverbs 3:5

Singing

God has really worked on me. I have always liked to sing, never thought I had much a voice for it, but I never intended to sing a lot in front of others. Sure I sang in youth choir and now adult choir, but that's about it because my voice could hide. Since the end of January God has had other plans! He has been opening doors to use the hidden voice HE gave me. After doing a few specials at church over the weeks, tonight I sang at another church. It was FUN! I love praising the Lord and its much sweeter in company of people who love Him as well!

I just say this to bring up a point that God gives everyone talents and abilities that He wants us to use. We have blessings waiting on the other side just for using them. So if you have a hidden talent, USE IT!

P.S. During the writing of this, God opened a door for me to sing at a Revival in Junction City, LA. I pray God continues to use this surrendered vessel to honor and glorify HIM!

Masquerade

Just recently I was given a case of song tracks to go through, so I could have more selections of songs to sing for specials at church or where ever. I saw the track by Casting Crowns calls "Stained Glass Masquerade" but passed it by. Last Friday night me and Bro. John Paul met at the church to sing a little and see if there were anything we would like to work on. The first track John pulled out was that track I passed over. He played it and wow did it have some great lyrics. It was so true of the church today, even at Victory! (I will post the lyrics at the end)

Now I am not going to name names or say anything that will point out anyone. But the song talks about churches that do not have Jesus in total control of the entire congregation. We walk into a church building on Sunday morning, find our little pew, sing a couple songs out of a hymnal, hear the preach speak some, stand there as "Just as I am" is played, "pray", then go home. Never to think of church, to pick up or Bible, Jesus, or God again til Sunday morning. We come to God's house as Christians to get filled up and built up. But thats not happening. EVERYONE has a problem or knows someone with one, and instead of falling on our faces before God with brothers and sisters in Christ praying for these problems, you just STAND THERE. We are not strong enough to handle anything, God is.

We spend 6 days out of week living how we want, then walk into the house of God like there is not a thing wrong. The fellow members might not know, but God does. As long as we keep holding things back from God, He will not move in the way we would think in our church. God wants our everything inside and outside the church. Victory is not immune to this, I feel that there is a Masquerade going on inside her walls. People claiming to be "souled" out to God, yet they don't live it. Saying they love God, yet don't even attempt to show it. Come on people, we need to get about the Father's business. Attending services 2-3 times a week and doing nothing more will not do it. JUST teaching a class, won't do it. We have to give everything we do to Christ. There are people right here in Hampton, lost and dying, but all we want to do is hide behind a mask a church then walk back out and yank off the mask and get right back to doing nothing for God, well I promise that mask is not fooling God. Why do we do this? Afraid of offending someone? Afraid of not getting to have any fun? Why?

So are you living a masquerade? Are you walking into the Lord's house like there is no problems anywhere in your life and not giving them to God? Do you know people that are lost, yet do not try to share Christ with them? Church, if we would just humble ourselves, give these problems to God and leave them there with Him, there is no telling what will happen inside the walls of the church house! I want to see Victory and all church filled with worship, not afraid of what others will think. Just a place filled with God's presence!


"Stained Glass Masquerade" - Casting Crowns

Is there anyone that fails
Is there anyone that falls
Am I the only one in church today feelin' so small

Cause when I take a look around
Everybody seems so strong
I know they'll soon discover
That I don't belong

So I tuck it all away, like everything's okay
If I make them all believe it, maybe I'll believe it too
So with a painted grin, I play the heart again
So everyone will see me the way that I see them

Are we happy plastic people
Under shiny plastic steeples
With walls around our weakness
And smiles to hide our pain
But if the invitation's open
To every heart that has been broken
Maybe then we close the curtain
On our stained glass masquerade

Is there anyone who's been there
Are there any hands to raise
Am I the only one who's traded
In the altar for a stage

The performance is convincing
And we know every line by heart
Only when no one is watching
Can we really fall apart

But would it set me free
If I dared to let you see
The truth behind the person
That you imagine me to be

Would your arms be open
Or would you walk away
Would the love of Jesus
Be enough to make you stay

Follow You

Lately I have heard some great songs being released, the best ones have been mission themed. It has put me in a mission mind lately. I went on 2 mission trips while in college. The BCM made trips to Southern Illinois University and Western Illinois University. I enjoyed those but one day would love to do a mission trip to another country! The people outside of the states that have not heard the gospel like we have here and from hearing stories are hungry to hear about Christ. That would be an awesome mission trip!

Anyways here is the song I REALLY like!

Follow You- Leeland feat. Brandon Heath

You lived among the least of these
The weary and the weak
And it would be a tragedy for me to turn away.

All my needs you have supplied.
When I was dead you gave me life.
How could I not give it away so freely?

And I'll follow you into the homes that are broken.
Follow you into the world.
Meet the needs for the poor and the needy God.
Follow you into the World.

Use my hands, use my feet
To make your kingdom come
Through the corners of the earth
Until your work is done
'Cause Faith without works is dead
And on the cross your blood was she'd
So how could I not give it away so freely?

And I'll follow you into the homes that are broken.
Follow you into the world.
Meet the needs for the poor and the needy God.
Follow you into the World.
(X2)

I give all myself.
I give all myself
I give all myself... to you.

And I give all myself.
Yes, I give all myself.
And I give all myself... to you.

And I'll follow you into the homes that are broken
Follow you into the world.
Meet the needs for the poor and the needy God.
Follow you into the World.
(X2)

Ministry

"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen." Matthew 28:19-20

Those of us who have read the scriptures have no doubt seen the Great Commission. Go to the world and preach Christ's salvation to everyone. That is the ministry Christ left for His disciples. His disciples, I am sure, had their own people they were ministering to. If not, the message of Christ would have died with those men. God did not leave a hard to understand manual on how to do it, JUST DO IT! Believe it or not, those who are professed Christian and have truly accept Christ as savior have already accepted a call into ministry. You have accepted the call to be a preacher! God does not care how you spread the word of His son, Jesus, just that you get it out there.

Ephesians 4:11 says "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;" So you can be a pastor, evangelist, teacher, etc.

So are you fulfilling your call? When you accepted Christ did you begin sharing Jesus with the people around you? Are you being called now into something more? I have been praying the Lord show me what He wants from me. I don't know for the life of me why I am being used vocally through song. But I am going with it on faith. Thats how God works. Gives you something you don't think you can do and turns you towards that thing He uses the best. If you don't know where God wants you, PRAY. God will reveal it to you. If you have accepted Christ and are doing nothing, SHAME ON YOU for forfeiting a HUGE blessing. God did not call His people to just slide under the rug, He wants his people to live souled out for Him. That includes finding a ministry and jumping into it.

I urge all true Christians to seek out the ministry God has for you and GO!

Be Careful

"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." 1 John 4:1

There are 2 types of "spiritual" people I have noticed emerging and both are causing chaos with Christians, especially young Christians and also those who are non-believers who are looking for answers. One is the professed Christian that thinks just believing in God and Jesus is enough to get you to heaven. The other, which is more disturbing to me is the "former" Christian that now calls all things God, Jesus, and scripture to be a "delusional fairy-tale".

Those who claim to be Christians by just believing in God are pushing people away left and right from receiving the ONLY pass into Heaven, that being the Salvation on Jesus. Sure I believe in God and Jesus, Satan and all his demons do as well. Scripture says in the end ALL will bow and profess God as Lord of all. After you accept Christ, then you do good works for Him. Thats where this group fails off. They want to believe in God yet live how they want, say what they want, and go where they want without giving any thought to the God who created them. Those young Christians and Non-believers see this and think since that group claims to be heading to Heaven and are having "fun" I am going to just stay where I am. Thats where Churches are falling apart and no one takes a stand against the things God calls abominations to Him.

The second group that claim to be former Christians are disturbing in the fact that they have either grown up in church or have even been ordained ministers. They have heard every story and know the Bible better than most good professed Christians. Just recently I was on a message board debating with one of these people and it was heart breaking to see how someone who once claimed Christ and was studying in seminary to just back off completely and call Christ a fairy-tale. These people could be lumped with this first group because they still have the live how you want demeanor, but they have a whole different side. They denounce Christ all together. Since they appear to have been on the "inside" they could influence those young believers and those who are seeking Christ into turning away all together and living for themselves.

I say all that just to remind us who are trying to live for Christ to be VERY careful in what we do and say. Its our actions that show God's existence and love. To whose young Christians and those unbelievers seeking truth, PLEASE BE CAREFUL who you follow. God's Word is final and if you are learning from someone who is not teaching scripture properly, you will head down a bad path to living as you want and missing out on blessings from the King.

Leviticus and my Scriptural Journey

I started January 1st reading through the Bible in a year, I had never done this before. I can honestly say there are a couple books towards the end of the Old Testament I have never read. So this will be a cool thing to do, plus I get a chance to read some of my favorite events from the scriptures. Now I have gotten behind a little but I am catching up and continuing on.

The book I got hung on was Leviticus, I have not finished it yet, still like 4 chapters. (I have moved on to Numbers to stay with the days) I can say that this book, so far, has made me appreciate grace. If you have not read Leviticus all the way through, then you should pick you Bible up and at least read through it, you will understand what I mean.

In a nutshell, Leviticus is a book of laws. Laws on living, laws of offerings\sacrifices, and laws of who can perform offerings and sacrifices.

But back to my main thought, Leviticus makes me appreciate grace. Without Christ coming to earth, living a sinless life, dying for our sins and his ultimate resurrection there would be no grace. The state of the world would make it near impossible to ever provide the sacrifices God required of Israel after the were freed from Egyptian slavery.

Imagine every time you committed a sin, you would have to get you BEST calf, lamb, bird, etc. Go to your nearest Tabernacle. Wait in a line that would reach from here to forever(because everyone else would be in line as well), when you finally make it to the front of the line the High Priest would offer that up to God as a sacrifice for that sin. You probably sinned while standing in line, so guess what? BACK TO THE END OF THE LINE. Now it might not go exactly like that but you get the picture, we would all be laying sacrifices ALL THE TIME.

Praise God He had an ultimate plan. God knew we could never live up to his hundreds of laws that He laid out for Israel. Thats why Jesus came. He was the PERFECT sacrifice. Not a blemish, never sinned, lived as God asked Him. AND Jesus is also our High Priest. So through Christ, God cut out 2 pieces of a very complicated puzzle.

I am looking forward to what God has for me as I journey through His word. My hope is I learn to appreciate what Christ did for me on the cross more and more. Ultimately leading me to Love God more and more. Thats the relationship He wants with me, I want that relationship.

The REAL Love

"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." John 3:16

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13


February 14th, St. Valentines Day.....The day of love. For many years I have come to loath that date. It started out because I got so tired of all the "lovey-dovey" acts of boyfriends\girlfriends, fiances, and spouses. I was, and still am, single and thought if I couldn't experience those feelings then no one else should. That dislike turned more towards the commercialization of the holiday as I got older. It seemed like a joke to put aside one day a year to tell people you love them by purchasing cards, flowers, candy, expensive jewelry. Heaven forbid for a lot if you neglected to do such thing because you would be in the "dog house" for awhile. So adding those reasonings together I just flat out hated the thought of Valentines Day.

If not for the comments of some good friends and God working on that part of my heart, I would not have the thoughts I now have for this day. While I am still not a fan of it. I am going to think on the REAL love, this year. The scriptures above are just a glimpse into the Love our God has for us. If not for the love He had by sending His ONLY son to live in the evil world and endure what no man before or after Him has endured and died on a cross, there would be no love at all.
1 John 4:7-8 says that God is love and those who do not know Him can NEVER love. Those couples out there who are calling what they are doing love, but have not accepted the REAL love that God gives, are doing nothing but lusting. You must know the REAL love Christ gives and love Him before you can even begin to know what loving others is all about.

I want to say I love my family, I love my church family, I love my friends, but most importantly I LOVE MY LORD AND SAVIOR, JESUS and the FATHER!

If you do not know the REAL love, I hope and pray you do that before it is everlasting too late. Once you find the Love of God, the love you have for others will be so much more than you could ever imagine.

Be a Peter!

Matthew 14:22 And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.
Matthew 14:23 And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.
Matthew 14:24 But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.
Matthew 14:25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
Matthew 14:26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
Matthew 14:27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
Matthew 14:28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
Matthew 14:29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
Matthew 14:30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
Matthew 14:31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

This is one of my favorite events from scripture. Jesus had just finished performing one of his many great mircles, feeding the multitude with 5 fish and 2 loaves of bread, and sent His disciples ahead of Him across the sea in a boat. In the middle of the night the winds began to blow hard and rock the boat and Jesus once again does what He does best! Thinking they are seeing a ghost walking on the water towards them, the disciples becomes afraid. Jesus calls out to them and Peter, the boisterous outspoken one calls out and says, if its you have me come out to you. And Jesus said Come! Peter gets out of the boat and walks on water! As Peter is walking, he takes his eyes off Jesus and begins to sink and calls out for Jesus to help, and Jesus pulls him out of the water.

I think about how we all can be Peters. Jesus is just out in front of us, calling out for us to come to Him, surrender to my ministry, teach a sunday school class, sing a special at church, do a devotional, do SOMETHING for Him! If we would just be bold like Peter and step out, we can "walk on water", do things we never thought possible. But, don't be like Peter and take your eyes of Christ, because we will sink in that water without His guidance. Now if you do, remember all you have to do is call out for help and Jesus is right there with his hand extended ready to pick you back up! Go ahead, be a Peter though, it won't hurt you!

I am going to be a Peter tomorrow night, for the first time EVER, I am going to sing solo during our 5th Sunday Singing. I want to do something for Christ. I am nervous, but I am going to look to Christ to keep me up and I know things will be just fine!

What are you going to do to be a Peter??