Friday, December 30, 2016

Once Upon A Time....

This little story was shared on my Facebook in the middle of December based on a sermon pastor did and the fact I was thinking about half my adult life was done without Christ and the latter was. In February it will be fifteen years, since I started this journey and it keeps on going. I've had more trials with Christ than without, but because of Him life is so much better even if circumstances want to say otherwise. 

Once upon a time there was a God who decided to make a fantastically huge universe that had set physical characteristics of still being finite due to restrictions by time, matter and space though He made it out of nothing. Into this great creation He made man of free will, to do as they pleased, but inspired them to have a relationship with Him. However, they did what they pleased and ruined the relationship.
He gave them a Law so they would know good and evil, so they would understand morality and righteousness, but it did not contain the power to close the gulf.
He loved them so much that He already had a plan in place knowing this would happen. He would do something that did not fit in 'their box', something that would totally go against worldly thinking. He sent the same Word, the power, that made the universe out of nothing to be born as a baby. Not to be born in a warm place or a hospital, but a manger with all the animals.
And when he was a man and set upon his mission, he did not take of an earthly throne. No! He took on all sin, hurts and whatever other icky name you want to give it that man had caused by breaking his relationship with God. Due to carrying this great burden to his death, even God had to look away so that the ultimate sacrifice felt the true pain of how God felt in His deepest love.
But due to this great sacrifice that had to come from outside the "box", the way back to God was opened. The access to the power to once again live as He wanted us to has come into a fallen world.
As I stated earlier this week, I spent half of my adult life without Jesus and half of it with. Even if my greatest trials have come while following Jesus, they have been the greatest years. I'm not alone trying to do this with my own power. I have a relationship with God, my power source, and nothing will change my mind.

Please think outside the "box" and realize how many things we really do take on blind faith. Let's see what really makes the most sense in the end when not based on only what we can detect with our five senses. It is sure to blow your mind as much as it did mind! It's like the brightest of light bulbs got turned on and keeps getting cranked up impossibly brighter as I dig deeper and deeper into this great mystery that is a loving God, who is also one of great righteousness and will have to judge us a final time at some point.

Life is a Glorious Trial

It's been a few months since I posted. I've had too many ideas sometimes and other times none at all. I finished a huge overhaul edit on a novel in time to deal with some other changes in life.

The awesome thing with life is that I see trials as opportunities now. I see them as God's work. Changing doctors let them find something my husband needed fixed by surgery before things went bad. Trying to find the right way to publish my completed novel has made me really think about it and why God would want me to publish it. I definitely am not motivated in what I do for money or fame. That would take the fun out of it. And without these trials that make us have to pause or even take a detour, what would I learn to add to my writing and understanding of life? What would I learn about God if not for the bumps in the road?

It's my wish that, even if I'm not regular, that everything I have written here and what comes in the future will inspire you to think about life and how God is so involved with it. May your Christmas have been bright and cheery and may your New Year shine with refreshed hope and anticipation.

Monday, August 15, 2016

Follow and Emulate the Shepherd

John 10:27 NKJV - My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.

In Jesus’ day most people easily understood the role of a shepherd with their sheep. In today’s world where most of us live in cities and bustle to and from work, school, and errands, we may not even think about farm animals and how that life really is. However, we have stories that help us understand and I have a couple from people I know who herd sheep.

The best news is the Shepherd knows His sheep. Jesus knows you inside and out. He knows what it will take for us to learn the right way to follow Him. He will not lead us astray and will be right there when we get lost.

Any good shepherd will have sheep that quickly learn he is there to protect them and help them. They will answer when they hear him and follow accordingly. However, they will not always do this correctly or as assuredly if the circumstances make things rough. For example, one shepherd had her sheep get stuck out in the field due to a freak snowstorm. They would not come down the field towards her so she trekked up to them. The more trusting of the herd started moving towards her before she got to them and then the rest fell into line. They went single file across the field in her path.

We are like the sheep and are at different levels of understanding and trust with God. There is nothing wrong with this because we all started out from the beginning. Some of us will be more willing to step out in the midst of turmoil towards the shepherd than others will. Peter was the only one that climbed out of the boat to walk on the water during a storm since Jesus said to come.

In following we learn how to emulate the shepherd. As our trust in Him grows, so does our willingness to try new things he reveals.

One of the shepherds I know was shocked to find her sheep emulating her one day. She plucks up milkweed she finds in the pasture so it won’t go to seed and take over. Sheep know not to eat it and will graze around it. On this one particular day she realized the sheep were following her around the field. As she watched they were biting off the milkweed and dropping it on the ground like she had been doing.

We should be like these sheep and doing our best to emulate our Shepherd, Jesus Christ. We should be like David, who was the shepherd of his father’s sheep growing up. Psalm 23, written by David, starts with, “The Lord is my shepherd…” He knew to trust God even when he went astray and came back due to correction.


Who is your shepherd? If Jesus is your shepherd, do you trust Him enough to follow through anything?

Monday, August 8, 2016

Pride Promotes Strife

James 4:1-6 NKJV
Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously"?

6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:

"God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble."  

Pride makes us want to promote ourselves rather than God. This causes fights even among Christians when we put our desires first. We get aggressive in what we want and are not happy until we have it. This is not the way we get what we truly need.

We get what God knows is best if we pray to Him. Do not do it to get what you want. God might have a better idea. Our motives should align with his when we ask and He will give us what we truly need. He will even tell you if you are not getting it or if something better is coming if we have some patience. There is nothing wrong with wanting things, but make sure your desires are not for self-gratification or for appearances.

The best way to curb the evil desires that occur due to pride is to learn humility. Pride makes us self-centered while humility can allow us to be other-centered. When we are humble God can then work wonders through us that can help many and He does reward us for doing so. We won’t need the latest and greatest car, gadget, whatever, but will want to spread the Good News and help others instead.


Which would you prefer to step into the future as: the prideful, selfish you that can so easily blow up when things go wrong and you don’t get what you want? Or the one who has God on their side and find even greater fulfillment doing as God wants with all your needs met? I’ve been on both sides of this and I’ll stick to doing it God’s way.

Friday, July 22, 2016

The Signs of the Times

Before reading further, I would like you to stop and pray for anyone suffering from loss and injury due to the recent brutality of shootings, wars and other tribulations caused by hate.

Now read and ponder what Jesus told his disciples when they asked about his return, what many now call the Second Coming.

Matt 24:4-14 NKJV

4 And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you.  5 For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.  6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.  7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.  8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. 

9 "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake.  10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.  11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.  12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.  13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved.  14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. 


We have had wars and murders since man’s fall and removal from the Garden of Eden. We can’t blame it on the tool used to commit the crime. It can’t move unless a human uses it and then it will do exactly what the human decides. We can blame it on man’s selfishness and lawlessness. Our desire for the individual rights over all else and then segregating by color, race, creed, financial station, etc. has us in a broken state of affairs. Even in the church we have groups saying their way is the right way and everyone else is wrong. There is a cacophony of voices out there wanting our attention and many are just giving us feel good about yourself lip service.

We have entered the age of false prophets and loose morals. This leads to a very destructive disease, the loss of love for God and others. We must be first and then we bother with others. When things don’t go our way we want to blame someone and find some way to protest the outrage. We think we are entitled to having it and doing it our way. This is no way of showing love. You cannot show love to others if you are only thinking of yourself.

I have a great many friends and family who are not living as Jesus says. Many who are not sure they want to know Him because of all the false prophets out there. I don’t blame them because at one point I was in their shoes. However, once I understood who Jesus really was and accepted Him, I was finally free to be myself and learned to love despite the differences. I have people telling me I’m a Christian that they will listen to even if they don’t agree. Maybe it’s because when I wasn’t a Christian, the ones I did listen to showed me love and did not make me feel Bible thumped. They loved me anyway and still were able to tell me about Jesus. When I accepted Him, they were the ones I ran to for a church. They were the ones I stuck with when their actions and words kept lining up with the Bible and if they did not they had the guts to admit they made a mistake.


What voices are you listening to today? Have you set your goals so they are all about you or are they about helping others? Are you immediately retaliating due to some wrong done to you no matter how big or small? Or are you showing love that can convince people to be better? Are you helping spread the hate mongering and finger pointing that tears us apart or are you breaking the cycle? 

I pray that you chose Jesus and endure with Him to the end no matter what comes your way. God’s Word should be our weapon to change the world.

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Functions of the Law

We are under a new covenant with Jesus Christ, but it’s the Law that made us realize we needed Him to save us. It is the Law that helps us understand how to obey Him. It will not save us, that is what Jesus did for us on the cross if we accept it. Once saved we follow the Law only to know how to grow and be like Him, our greatest example of how God intended us to live.

Psalm 19:7-11 NKJV

7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul;
The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;
8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
Yea, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
11 Moreover by them Your servant is warned,
And in keeping them there is great reward.

A quote from Ray Comfort says, “The demands of a holy Law bring us to the foot of the cross and keep us there, trusting only in the grace of God.” The grace is our gift if we accept Christ. We will be forgiven and have a chance to continue on in life under new rules that really set us free from all the bondage our worldly living caused. Don’t despair if this takes time. Just like a child learning to do things, there are steps to be taken on the journey.

Ignorance of the Law is no excuse. Whether you know you broke a law or not, you are still guilty. This goes for any law made by man or by God. God wrote His Law on our hearts and our conscience will bear witness against us. There are moral standards God imprinted upon man when he made him in His image and breathed life into him. No matter what culture you talk to, there are the same ideas. Now some may not see them all the same way and some have tried to stamp out some of the Laws, but the choice is for each person to make. Have you hardened your heart to try and run from these Laws or are you letting them guide you?

Christianity really is a “guilt trip” because it takes you straight to the cross. If you go there and accept Jesus Christ as your savior, all that guilt is removed. You are made new and can start living life the way God intended. However, I would heed what J. I. Parker once said, “Simple assent to the gospel, divorced from a transforming commitment to the living Christ, is by biblical standards less then faith, and less then saving, and to elicit only assent of this kind would be to secure false conversions.”


It’s truly an all or nothing commitment, but it’s the best decision I ever made. Now I march to the tune of God’s Law because I am His child and understand it makes life better, not because it keeps me saved or gets me what I want. Which way are you marching today? I pray you accept Jesus to the fullest and learn to accept the abundant life He offers when we follow Him.

Monday, July 4, 2016

Meditation is Focused Thinking

Phil 4:8-9 NKJV - Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy — meditate on these things.

Many people see meditation as an emptying of the mind. This is just emptiness. Nothing constructive or even destructive is going on. Quiet is nice at times, but it is better for the mind to be focused on the right stuff. The Bible tells us to meditate on good things, things that align with how God meant us to live.

Worrying is meditation of the negative kind. You are focused on all the bad stuff going on. Unless you are working on a solution to the problem, stop thinking about it. Especially stop wondering what to do about things you have no control over. If it is the past, you can’t change it.

What you can do is meditate on positive things. No matter how bleak things may look and feel to you, there is some positive there, too. It might even be as simple as someone just giving you a friendly smile, holding a door for you, or saying hi even if you are a stranger. It might be the way the sun hits the dew on the grass. Finding a flower where you did not expect one to grow. The hug of your child even if they were just being bad a few minutes before.

God’s Word is the best thing to meditate on due to all the great promises He has given us if we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior. Way before God sent this wonderful gift of salvation to us, He was telling His people to meditate on his word. He told this to Joshua when he took over leading the Israelites after Moses died. Josh 1:8 NKJV - This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Sure this part is based on the old covenant and law, but Jesus came to fulfill that law. If it were not for the Law we would not know what was right or wrong and thus know we were sinners needing a savior.

Never stop meditating on God’s word every day. It is our spiritual food and we need it as much as we need meals to fuel our body each day. Do not just read the Word, but digest it to know how to be prosperous and have good success.

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

On Earth We Know in Part

1 Cor 13:8-12 NLT - Now we know only a little, and even the gift of prophecy reveals little! But when the end comes, these special gifts will all disappear. It's like this: When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child does. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly as in a poor mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God knows me now.

I love that Paul, who wrote so many of the epistles in the New Testament claimed we all knew in part. I believe this is true. Just like children we have to learn things in stages and God reveals things that way.

It’s good that it makes us want to know more, but we should not be making things up to fill in the holes due to impatience. When we do that we skew God’s Word. God reveals things as we are able to learn and properly digest them. I always equate this to an onion. The first few layers come off pretty easy. Deeper in they are fresher and as they come loose the smell is strong enough to make our eyes water. We all have our own layers we should peel away to be like Christ. The deeper we go the harder it may get, but well worth the effort.

God did not leave us here without help. He gave us the Holy Spirit as our counselor and guide. He made sure we had his revelations over time written into the Bible. If we are unsure that something is of God, we should be checking the Bible. The Holy Spirit will help us feel God’s peace about things that are right, but we should always be in our Bible daily.

Knowing the Bible keeps us close to God’s plan, promises, and purpose. It is our weapon against our enemy who would rather devour us than see us take even one step with Christ. Without daily Bible study to know more and maintain our connection with God, we leave ourselves open to being sidetracked by the wiles of our enemy. This should really scare us: we can know the right way to go, but still run off the grid to do wrong. Some of the kings of Israel were guilty of this and led the people into greater wrongs than could have been imagined before.

I encourage you to keep pushing through and growing. If you can’t figure something out, go to your pastor or someone you trust with God’s Word to help you understand it. Get encouragement when you need it from a church member you know. God made us a family. We are not perfect, but together we can learn from each other and grow stronger in the Lord.

For the non-believers reading this, I encourage you to seek out Jesus and when you do accept him, I promise you will know who to run to. You will know the Christian friends or people in your life that truly walk with Jesus and they will welcome you in so you can learn to grow with God. It happened for me at thirty-three. Don’t go looking for perfect. Go looking for God’s love and you will see it in them.


Let’s all learn to walk with the Lord together and shine his love into a dark world one step at a time.

Thursday, April 7, 2016

He Is Risen

The cross is the hardest thing to digest with the Christian faith, but it is the crux of it. If God knew we would require His son, Jesus, to die for us, why did he give us free will in the first place? Why not do it differently?

The answer is in his love. He reveals himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit to show us proper relationship. He gave us free will so we could choose him. He could have so easily made little automated toys to tend the garden.  Instead he made man in his image and gave him free will.

We can now read the Old Testament using Jesus as a lens. God knew what was going to happen. He made sure man knew about it. The more we dig to prove things right or wrong with the Bible the stronger its truth becomes. It keeps pointing at Jesus and his death on a cross for us. It points at how God wants us to be part of His family, but only through the blood of Jesus Christ.

Jesus is definitely Lord of Lords and King of Kings, but he is also our brother when we are adopted into God’s family. He wants to be our friend. When Jesus returned to heaven after defeating death, God made sure we had a helper in the Holy Spirit.

This should be blowing our minds. It is very hard for us in our short lives on earth stuck in the confines of time to digest this. All eternity is out there beyond our own deaths and that scares us. However, we know Jesus defeated death and is eternal. Being in the image of God we have an eternal piece that longs to be acquainted with him here and now, and beyond.

Some wonder about Christians who truly believe in eternity and whether what Jesus told us was the truth. Honestly, after many disappointments and downfalls in life, I decided to give Jesus a shot. I’m going to stick with him.

If you are not walking with him yet, I would like you to really think on why. Some say it is all nonsense, but I’d rather have a chance at heaven rather than an eternity in hell when Jesus is proven right upon his return. If he is proven wrong, I am still no worse off than anyone else at the end. So I’ll be talking up Jesus until the day I die and sticking to His ways. It has made far more sense than a lot of other things.


Please take the time to check Jesus out for yourself. He wants you to be part of his family and his friend. He wants a one-on-one relationship with each and every one of us.

Monday, March 21, 2016

Words Have Power

God spoke the world into existence in Genesis chapter one. This shows us words have power. Since God lives in us as the Holy Spirit, we have access to this power. But how often are our words not aligned with God’s? More often than I like.

Mark 11:23 NKJV - For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Our words can move mountains out of our way. Are we talking to our problems in order to move them? Pray and then act as God directs. Speak to your problems according to God’s promises and this will invoke the power to put them in their place. Sure your problems may not disappear instantly, but aligning with God will make them seem like a bump in the road instead of mountainous. Sometimes miracles do happen, but they won’t if you don’t speak out.

Another example of the power of words is earlier in Mark 11 starting at verse 12. Jesus comes upon a fig tree in leaf, but it doesn’t feel like giving up its fruit. It will do so when it wants to regardless of the season. Jesus rebuked the tree for not bearing fruit and the next day when they passed it, it was withered. All Jesus did was rebuke the unprofitable tree with words. Personally I never want to hear that from God and wind up withered. I’m hoping to hear the well done good and faithful servant comment no matter how much I have stumbled trying to align with God.

In the same way, our words can really hurt people and make them whither into a shell of themselves. Words really do hurt. We do not need to be causing strife. Prov 6:2 NKJV - You are snared by the words of your mouth; you are taken by the words of your mouth. Our words can lead us towards a fight or towards resolution. Do not let your words snare you from moving forward into the life of an overcomer that God promised, nor take people down to make yourself feel better. It is a vicious cycle of decay.

However, words can lift people up to heights they never expected to reach. Be an encourager. Prov 12:25 NKJV - Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad. We all get worked up about things and encouraging words from any source will help us overcome. I love making people smile or at least see a positive point they can be heading toward despite the issues they believe are overwhelming them.

Prov 25:11 NKJV - A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver. I wish all my words could be like this. I’m still learning to properly speak to my problems and to the world about how we all can be overcomers in Christ Jesus. It is not an easy road, but a comforting one and filled with blessings.

How are you directing your words? Are they rebellious and quarrelsome? Or are they positive with uplifting power, not only for you, but for others? I would challenge us all to learn how to aptly speak the right words and even show love to our enemies. One kind word can diffuse what feels like a war. One word can move a mountain.


Ask God to direct your words and to speak his words through you. He will answer this prayer, it is one of his gifts.

Monday, March 14, 2016

Don't Be Rude

I see a lot of rudeness in today’s culture. We think being aggressive will get us what we want rather than the more positive assertiveness. If we don’t fight for what we want, we could lose more. Yes, we need to fight for what is right, but not to get what we individually want. We need to work and fight as a team to keep humanity on the higher track, one that lifts us up and isn’t putting us down.

So many quote the Golden Rule, which can be found in Luke 6:31 NKJV - And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. What I see more often is mistreatment and then retaliation which cycles into a downward trend. We have racism, religious persecution, rape, stealing, lying, and murder to name a few things all because each individual is striving for what they want first.

We are not to retaliate to the evil. I’ve seen hatred diffused because of one act of kindness. Sometimes it will take a lot of acts of kindness, but in the end kindness wins. This is because it is based on love. 1 Cor 13:4-5 NKJV says - Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil. We are to show love even to our enemies, so they know that what they are doing is not right. We are not to let the enemy walk all over us, but they better know we are not going to retaliate the way they expect. Doing it the enemy’s way will only make it worse.

Prov 20:3 NKJV - It is honorable for a man to stop striving, since any fool can start a quarrel. Anyone can get into an argument and most times it is over something petty and selfish. We find it so easy in our culture to throw out anything that is considered an inconvenience or causes us a little aggravation. We scream for what we want and in turn don’t want to let others have their rights because they annoy us.

There is a lot of freedom of speech infringement going on as people start crying about hate speech. I do not have to agree with every belief you have and you do not have to agree with mine. I would like that those that disagree could have intelligent conversations to understand the other point of view better. Bringing up our thoughts on abortion, gay rights, religion and politics sometimes leads to ducking for cover as the words fly. Whatever happened to true debates where you could relish the intellect and presentation of it to the point of being able to adjust your own opinion? Most of the time, I’m tuning debates out as people slam their opponents like bullies. It’s downright refreshing when a debate has minimal lambasting.

God does not want us fighting amongst ourselves over selfish things. He knows that will not help us prosper in the long run. Isa 35:8 NLT says - And a main road will go through that once deserted land. It will be named the Highway of Holiness. Evil-hearted people will never travel on it. It will be only for those who walk in God's ways; fools will never walk there. If you are a Christian and not acting the part, everyone will see that and you will not make it onto God’s highway. Do you want others to follow you onto God’s path? Then you must make sure you are on it, as well.


Let’s show the world how to be assertive with love.

Monday, March 7, 2016

Pride

Proverbs 16:18 NKJV - Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. The pride of Eve and the lies of the serpent made her believe she could be like God if she ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam did not stop her and ate, as well. Then they knew they had done wrong and wanted to hide from God. In the end it caused man to be removed from the garden and put into a world where the land would rebel against them as they tried living off of it. This is called the Fall and the curse of it is what we all must face. We should be looking at how we live and making sure we are on track with God. Do not wander off because something catches your eye as ‘good’ when it really isn’t.

Proverbs 8:13 NLT - All who fear the LORD will hate evil. That is why I hate pride, arrogance, corruption, and perverted speech. God does not want us to have a pride that makes us think we can do it ourselves without him or that we are better than others. We are all created in his image and no one should be exalted above or trampled below another. Our goal should be learning how to help others as Jesus did. Our pride should be in knowing we have done our work for the day the way God intended us to.

If you look about the world, you will find that man tends to fall to the evil side if they have not learned how to properly discipline themselves. Our culture loves to think we are all individuals entitled to doing it our way. In the end, we wind up bumping into each other and causing friction instead of cohesion as God planned. When our society believed in an objective morality, we proved how great we were as we worked together. Now we are not seen as great as our individual prides vie to be seen and gain what they are entitled to. Everyone is entitled to their opinion unless your opinion does not agree with theirs.

Galatians 6:3-5 NLT - If you think you are too important to help someone in need, you are only fooling yourself. You are really a nobody. Be sure to do what you should, for then you will enjoy the personal satisfaction of having done your work well, and you won't need to compare yourself to anyone else. For we are each responsible for our own conduct.


We should be helping others because they need it, not because of some ulterior benefit. Be sure of whom you are as a child of God and your actions will tell the world. You won’t need to be arrogant about it or need to think you are better than someone else. You will be content in being you.

Monday, February 29, 2016

Made to Work with Honor

Gen 2:15 NKJV - Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.

God made man to tend the garden, but he also gave man authority over the earth. The work we do and how we do it impacts more than ourselves. We usually do not work alone and we have the power to do things right or wrong. We have the power to stand up to wrong ethics at work. If you know things are not being done correctly and don’t say anything about it, you are agreeing with what the company is doing. Many people do not speak up because they do not want to lose their jobs. Times can be rough, but we are not to fear as Christians. We should present the issue to management with ways to correct it and show how it is more beneficial to do it right. If things don’t change, at least you know you tried with a solid effort.

2 Thessalonians 3:10-11 NKJV - For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies.

We should be willing to work if we are able bodied. A mentality of entitlement is taking over our country where people think the government should give them all sorts of free things. Well, the government would not have the money to do that if there were not working people to tax. You should be working for what you want. Being a burden to others does not help anyone. If we all work together greater things can happen and we can acquire more than what we think we are entitled to. For example, the remnant of Israel that returned to Israel had issues building up the wall around Jerusalem again due to adversaries on all sides. Nehemiah 4:6 NKJV, So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work. Once they all were of a mind to work, they managed to get something done. Sure it was only half its height, but that was better than no wall at all.

Titus 2:6-8 NKJV - Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded, in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility,  sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you.


The verses in Titus sum this all up. We should be people of integrity who are willing to work. We should do all things as if we are doing them for God. We are not here to impress each other, but to help each other. Charles Spurgeon said, “He is no Christian who does not seek to serve his God. The very motto of the Christian should be ‘I serve.’” We serve God by serving those around us. Serving takes work. Even Jesus served those around him. If the Lord of Lords can serve, why shouldn’t we do the same and do it as if doing it for Him? Our work down here matters even if it is only a finite portion of our eternity.

Monday, February 22, 2016

Christ is Our Hope

So God has given us both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can take new courage, for we can hold on to his promise with confidence. Heb 6:18 NLT

Everything God has promised is the truth and we can thus have hope in those things he states will come to us. Unlike people we know, God is not going to change his mind or forget what he promised. Many times it is a matter of when, not if. We need to have faith in those promises and use that hope of what is to come to keep us going.

Many people say they can’t have faith in what God has said, but they believe the weather report, newspapers, and even trust people they don’t know, like the pilot of the last plane you flew in or that taxi driver who got you across town. Things made by even the best engineers can break and cause havoc. Every one of us has broken a promise, lied to get out of something, or simply not showed up on time if at all for something. That is because we can lie, but by nature God cannot. Lying is repulsive to God. So where is your hope?

Mine is in God. I’ve seen many things in this life that definitely made me think hope was lost, let alone a logical reason to be here. We don’t even learn science correctly in school because the idea of naturalism is shoveled in like law rather than the philosophy it really is. What hope is there for us if we are no better than animals, evolved from apes, and we can make up our own moral standards? It frustrated me to the point I had had enough. The cool thing is God is always there and he knows sometimes it takes us finding the end of ourselves before we will take his already offered hand.

Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (Rom 5:5 NKJV) I know God is with me and for me. He has blessed me in so many ways in the past 14 years of following him. It always makes me wonder why it took me so long to turn to him in the first place. I am pretty stubborn, so it really isn’t a surprise either. After trying so many other philosophies and religions before him, I definitely knew he was the answer when I bothered to look. Everything he told me so far has come true and life has a reason beyond it that I can hope confidently in.

Now that we are saved, we eagerly look forward to this freedom. For if you already have something, you don't need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don't have yet, we must wait patiently and confidently. (Rom 8:24-25 NLT)


Again, I ask, “Where is your hope?” I put mine in Christ and everything I’ve hoped for has come true. I know the rest of the promises will come true at the right time. I know I have many battles to fight in this life on earth, but they will be far easier knowing God promised us eternity and rest with him.

Monday, February 15, 2016

Joyful Conquerors in Chrisrt

Rom 8:35-39 NKJV
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written:  "For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter."  Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I started off with this verse because we should know there is nothing we can think of that will separate us from God’s love. Even when we decide not to accept his love, it does not stop it from existing.  It does stop it from helping us. We only acquire what we are willing to receive. Once you accept Christ you have God’s full love and access to everything else as an adopted child of God.  Jesus conquered death and took the keys of hell. With him nothing can defeat us. 

Wait! What about all the bad stuff? Sure bad things are going to happen.  We live in a fallen world due to the original sin of pride. However, you can either stick with Christ to overcome them or chose to give up on him due to a setback. In the end, eternity is where our eyes should be and the joy of our salvation to have access to that should help us through the ups and downs of life.

I’ve dealt with divorce, layoffs, financial ruin, and a chronic disease since I accepted Christ. Some of these things happened due to not living life correctly as God intended. I didn’t know better. But after accepting him, this joy is my strength to face anything and keep on marching. Sure my multiple sclerosis slows me down, but I still go to church, volunteer to do things, and it definitely doesn’t stop me from writing and talking about God.  I know healing is mine and I’ve even seen improvement in my MRIs. It is not IF he will heal me, it is WHEN. I take joy in knowing God’s promises are true.

Isa 12:2-3 NKJV
Behold, God is my salvation,
I will trust and not be afraid;
'For YAH, the LORD, is my strength and song;
He also has become my salvation.'"  
Therefore with joy you will draw water
From the wells of salvation.

Notice how the two verses are linked.  Faith always produces joy. Trust in God produces courage.  If we know that God has granted us forgiveness of sins and the gift of his everlasting life, we will rejoice, and the joy of the Lord will be our strength.  If God is for us, nothing can be against us.  (Note on Isaiah 12:2-3 by Ray Comfort in the Evidence Bible). I like how Ray summed this up.  This is how I feel even when my body hurts the worse and I actually do have to cancel going places. If I can’t go do one thing, I can definitely find others to do for Christ.


Whatever you are facing, know that God loves you. Our joy in knowing we are saved through Christ is part of our conquering strength. We have nothing to fear, not even death. Keep clinging to God even if you think you have nothing left to lose and nowhere to go. He will show you what to do and be your strength.  

Monday, February 8, 2016

Love

Our culture acts like love has more to do with sex and romantic relationships than caring about anyone.  In part I think English doesn’t help.  We have one word we use to translate three different Greek words.  We seem to forget the true strength of love.  Real love should blow our minds because it will make someone do something for others for completely selfless reasons.  God gave us one of the greatest examples of this.  He took responsibility for resolving the issue of sin for us, when it was human pride that caused it in the first place.

John 3:16-17 NKJV - For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

Rom 5:8 NKJV - But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Love is selfless, patient and kind.  True love will last forever.  There is one way to know what love really is:  through Christ.  God did not have to send Jesus down here to give us a view of who God is.  He did not have to die to reconcile our sins, which was man’s fault to begin with.  However, God is all about relationship and relationships of any kind take love.

As Christians we should be walking around like we have God’s love in us.  When we accept Christ, we then acquire the Holy Spirit, which is God living in us.  Many of us unfortunately tarnish this by letting our own feelings, hurts and doubts get in the way.  What we are proving when we don’t act with love is that we don’t know God.  The following verses sum up how God is love and loved us, so we should return the love to him and love others like he does.

1 John 4:7-19 NKJV

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.  He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.  In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.  Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.  By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.  And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.  Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.  And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.  We love Him because He first loved us.


Are we grumbling about how people treat us?  Are you gossiping about others just because they don’t fit in?  Are you even a slight bit angry with someone?  None of these show love, but only our selfishness.  Think about what God really did for us and the examples he gave of how to relate to each other with love.  Start working on learning to walk in love today and never stop.

Monday, February 1, 2016

Repent and Be Saved

This message was repeated several times in order to make sure mankind learned that repentance was required for salvation.  If we do not confess our sins and truly want to stop repeating them, this salvation is not going to come our way.  No, you will not know everything that God sees as a sin on the day you accept Christ.  You will know you were not living correctly and want to become the new creation he promises we can be.  Confess what you know and accept him.  The rest will come as you grow in him knowing he already saved you.

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!  (Matt 3:1-2 NKJV)  John the Baptist came as the one paving the way for Jesus, the Son of God, who could cleanse us and make us right with God.  Notice his first word is ‘repent’.  His words were to get people thinking about how they were really living and if it was according to God’s way.  His message was to the Jews because they were the ones that had the message of God and were his chosen people.  God works with building blocks as we shall see.

When Jesus came, many tested him and asked him a great deal of questions.  Here is his reply about who may or may not be the greater sinner.  Just like today people tend to claim bad things happen to people because they must have been a bad person, a sinner.  There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.  And Jesus answered and said to them, "Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things?  I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.  Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem?  I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish."  (Luke 13:1-5 NKJV)  In conclusion, everyone is a sinner and none are worse off than others.  Everyone has to repent!  This may have been directed at the Jews, but Jesus was definitely implying it applied to everyone that wanted to believe in him.

The disciples were waiting for the power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus had promised them before he returned to heaven and on the day of Pentecost it happened.  Everyone was thinking they were drunk as they went out into the streets speaking in tongues so that many there would hear the message in their own language.  God was trying to get everyone’s attention there and three thousand did accept Christ that day. 

Peter, as I mentioned in my post “What is Faith” on 1/11/16, shows the boldness of his faith as he becomes the spokesmen for his fellow believers.  Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call."  (Acts 2:38-39 NKJV)  Notice how he tells them to repent and then be baptized.  He also claims this is for all that God will call.  God is calling all of us who will listen to come hear his message of love and forgiveness by what Christ did on the cross for us.

Repentance must come before the salvation.  So God has planted a seed of faith in us for us to be able to believe in him if we so choose.  Once we decide to believe and accept Christ for what he did for us on the cross, we know we have lived improperly as sinners against God.  So here is where our hearts break.  We confess that we are sinners and ask for the forgiveness God gives so willingly. We are saved and have been adopted into his family.


Once you have repented and know you are saved, don’t keep rehashing the sins you know God has forgiven.  It is time to start learning about him and adjusting your life accordingly, one step at a time.

Monday, January 25, 2016

You are a New Creation

2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV – Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

When we accept Christ, he cleanses us so we can be a new person.  He forgives all our sins.  However, it may seem like nothing has changed.  We still have the same life here on earth.  Worse, you start realizing what you need to change to align with Jesus and know you missed the target entirely a lot.  We need to let the Holy Spirit help us with the renewing of our minds.  This part is a process and is not instantaneous.  I like equating this to an onion.  We have this shiny, new creation inside, but we have to throw off all the layers of beliefs the world built up on us.  With study of the Word and paying attention to God’s leading through the Spirit, we figure out how to dig through the layers, peeling them off one by one.  This is the growing process that our faith should help lead us through.

Titus 3:4-6 NKJV – But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

We are now children of God and heirs to all that he has, brothers and sisters in Christ.  Just like all children, we need to be trained to be a proper member of the family.  We will crawl before we walk, and walk before we run full tilt for God.  Don’t be afraid of this process.  Just like a child learning to crawl and then walk, each finds their own way there with the help of their family.  None of us are the same and our paths through growing with Christ will all be different.  This is how our testimonies are made to share with the world about how God helped us become what we are today.

Ephesians 4:22-24 NKJV - …put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lust, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

This last verse sums things up.  We have had all these worldly thoughts and training that put us on a trajectory away from God.  God will not expect you to figure it all out as soon as you accept Christ.  That would blow your mind.  For me, it was good enough when he proved he had a power that blew away any other power I had felt before.  There is plenty of spiritual power out there and I had definitely messed with the wrong side.  That realization ignited my faith further and over the past nearly fourteen years, I have been peeling my onion layers off as I grow up as a child of God.  There will be a lot of tears, a lot of hard work, a lot of not wanting to let go of things contrary to him, but in the end it will be worth it.


Let God lead you on the right path for growing up as his child.  You have been cleansed by accepting Christ, so all your sins have been forgiven.  Don’t give up and someday you will realize you are running as a child of God and have gone beyond those struggles to crawl and walk.

Monday, January 18, 2016

Faith Versus Works

We cannot earn our way to heaven or God’s blessings.  It is by our faith, as explained in last week’s post, that we connect with God to gain salvation and blessings.

Galatians 2:16 NKJV – knowing that man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.

Charles Spurgeon – “Neither the Jewish Law of the ten commands nor its law of ceremonies was ever intended to save anybody.  By a set of pictures it set forth the way of salvation, but it was not itself the way.  It was a map, not a country; a model of the road, not the road itself.”

Galations 3:11 – But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.”

God gave the Law so that people could truly know what was good and what was evil.  “The law is like a mirror.  All it can do is reflect what we are in truth – unclean and desperately in need of cleansing.”  (Ray Comfort, note on Gal 3:11 in The Evidence Bible.)  The law only shows us what needs to be fixed in order to be right with God.  Doing good things without faith in God will not bring us to salvation.

Ephesians 2:8-9 – For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Our works should come from our faith instead.  They should be what we want to do because of our connection with God.  They are not done to acquire anything from God or from people.  Do good things because they help someone else regardless of any benefit you might get.  The only thing you should even think of is the benefits the other person will get from what you do for them.  The works we do through faith in God should inspire others to at least think about God.  It is seed planting in God’s kingdom.

God gave us the Holy Spirit upon accepting Christ, so that we have a helper and counselor in all that we do.  He will guide us in the right direction with what we should be doing for Him.  This will lead to us doing proper works that bless many.


Never stop doing good things, but make sure you realize why you are doing them.  If you are primarily doing them to gain something for yourself in return, you have missed the mark.  Let’s make sure our good works are simply to help others and inspire them to know Christ.  Let your faith in Him shine through those works with God’s love.

Monday, January 11, 2016

What is Faith?

Faith is our trustful response to God’s self-revelation via his words and his actions.  God initiates this relationship with us and lets us make the choice to accept it.  He provides evidence of his trustworthiness by speaking and acting into the world.  This trust in God is both objective and subjective.  God is objectively outside human beings and showing us the truth of His nature, which we can trust in.  We subjectively chose to believe or not.

It is by faith that we understand God.  If we don’t have the faith to start believing in him, we surely won’t get to know him either.  Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1 NKJV).  We cannot see him or how he created the world.  By faith we understand that worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible (Hebrews 11:3).  If we read Genesis 1, it states that God ‘said’ and then it happened.  His very words created the world out of nothing.

That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  For the scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”  For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.  For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  Romans 10:9-13.

Belief is the verb form of faith in our English translations.  We are to act on the testimony the world gives us through what we see and hear.  The resurrection of Jesus after he was crucified was proven by eye witnesses who saw him after.  God relied upon people to believe it was Jesus resurrected and in turn for them to tell the whole world of how God worked salvation for us through Jesus.  He made sure there was proof for people’s faith to act upon.

Once we accept Christ and become a Christian, God will see how the trials of life build or deplete our faith.  We are expected to have a relationship with him where he reveals himself more and more.  In doing so our faith is to grow.  Faith was one of the things Jesus admonished the most.  He kept asking why they had so little faith.  He did this with Peter when he started sinking into the water after a few steps.  He told them all they had little faith when they woke him from a sound sleep due to a storm they feared.

But faith is also a gift.  For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith, (Romans 12:3).  God gives each of us a measure of faith to work with and build upon as we live life according to his plan.

God wants us to have faith in him and accept him fully in body, mind and soul.  Either you chose to believe with all you are or you don’t.


Have you stepped out to accept Christ as your savior yet?  If not, the bible says we have no excuse not to know him and trust him.  If you are a Christian, don’t give up on Him even when your faith feels as small as a mustard seed.  Look what his disciples were capable of doing even when Jesus kept admonishing them about little faith.  They accepted and grew into men who changed the world for Christ.

Monday, January 4, 2016

Why Did God Send His One and Only Son?

I want to sum up four points of why Jesus came to us as a baby and grew up into the man that could be the pure sacrifice on a cross for our sin.

1)      Christ came to be Crucified

Colossians 1:12 NKJV:  giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.  Jesus’ death on the cross was the payment for all humanity to qualify us to eternal life, the gift from God.  We cannot save ourselves.  We have no original goodness in us to even start making us eligible on our own.  By faith we must agree that God took on the responsibility of our sin despite us causing it. 

That is the kind of love talked about in John 3:16 that probably is quoted so much we forget how awesome and mind blowing it really should be to us.  God could have chosen to let us flounder without his help, but instead he sent Christ to die for us.  Ephesians 2:5-6 NLT:  that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead.  (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)   For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.  He loves us so much we become children of God sharing in the inheritance with Christ.

2)      Jesus came to claim us

His love made us part of the family.  All we have to do is accept Christ and what he did for us on the cross in order to have this eternal life and become a child of God.  He truly is the way back to God and an inner peace we all keep looking for.  Humble yourself to this and accept that all the knowledge you are filled with is making this seem like nonsense and blocking you from what your soul was made to crave.  Our human knowledge feeds our pride and builds us up, creating fantasies that do not solve the human dilemma of sin and separation from God.

You will know when you have accepted Christ because he will send his Holy Spirit to live within you and guide you.  He is the seal on this acceptance of Christ.  Ephesians 1:13-14 NKJV:  In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

3)      Jesus rescued us

We are lost in the darkness listening to the wrong voices.  We cannot blame anyone but ourselves for what voices we chose to follow.  Many of us have some inkling of what is in the Bible and about whom Jesus is.  If not, I hope this gives you at least a basic idea of what Jesus did for us. 

We need to trust what aligns with God and to do that we must accept Christ and receive the gift.  Then we will have the voice of the Holy Spirit to help guide us out of the darkness.

Whether you have come to believe yet or not, ALL must deal with the skeletons in the closet.  Don’t hang on to those things that don’t agree with God’s Word once you accept Jesus.  These will only hold you back from the life he really wants you to live.  Don’t be afraid to stumble because Christ will carry you when you can’t manage it yourself.  I know he has carried me a lot and I keep finding new things to help me improve.  Earth is our training ground for what awaits us in heaven, which we only see in part like through a haze for now. 

Let Christ save, heal, and correct you.

4)      Jesus came to redeem us

Finally, he came so we could once again be reconciled to God despite the sin that came into the world causing a great void between us and God.  He wants to have a loving relationship with you and adopt you into his family.

It will take a lot of nerve and a strong backbone to stick to your faith when you accept Christ.  I had many friends who ridiculed me or would not talk to me the same way after I accepted Christ.  However, I found a peace in life despite it still being full of turmoil.  I found a greater family to be tied to with a great deal of helpful friends that pick me up when I fall down.  Persevering through the trials of life helps us build our faith further in Jesus.

I am hoping this makes you think about what Jesus did for us and how he helps daily through the Holy Spirit.  I know I am sticking with him despite everything the world has thrown at me.

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Thank you, Pastor Bob Englehardt, for the sermon I plucked this out of and did my best to write up from my notes.


A New Beginning

It is the first days of a new year.  Many people have made resolutions and many will have given up on them by the end of this first month.  Why not start something new that you will stick to?  Oh, I know why, most of us don’t realize the effort we will need, the amount of training it will take, and most times we might not have all the knowledge.  That makes us stumble and wonder why we ever decided to run with this idea or resolution in the first place.

That is how this blog looks.  I’m not deleting anything that I posted in for 2012 to 2014 in sporadic mode because they show what I was learning and what was on my mind at the time.  I figured out I needed a lot more knowledge and training to pull this off properly.  I could not come up with enough things to keep it going weekly, let alone monthly.  Why?  I did not get my plan straight.

God has led me on a great learning journey in 2015 and now I want to start this year off with getting back to the basics.  I plan on sharing what Christianity is really about and why you should think about it if not a Christian, and why you should dig deeper if already a Christian.

We just celebrated the birth of Christ, the reason for Christmas.  He came down to earth in a baby suit and grew up like any other child of his day.  He came for one purpose:  to live life like we have and then die for us.  He was the once and for all sacrifice to reconcile us to God.  Without accepting this you are missing out on that true relationship you can have with God.

In the posts to come I hope to help you get to know God’s love and why he sacrificed his only Son for us while we were still sinners.  For those who have not accepted him, I’m hoping to make you think about this with an open mind.  For those that have accepted him, I’m hoping to help propel you into a deeper relationship.

I will accept your questions and comments along the way.  Together, may we all learn who Christ really is and gain the true blessings that come with a relationship with him.