4th and 1 on the goal line..........

Good morning everyone! Man, what a night last night. We went out to eat for my birthday and ate all you can eat crab legs. I ate about 13 pounds all by myself. I don't know where I put it. But, afterwards I hurt real bad. How dumb was that? Tasted good while I was eating them though. Then we went shopping sort of....To the mall with the Bass Pro shop. There is a kids area with a small water kids area and playground. We stayed there for about three hours. Kids had a great time and I did also just watching them enjoy their evening. It's funny how your priorities change when ya have the tricycle motors. Gave out some tracts yesterday too! I want to talk today about why more people don't want to know more about God and what God can do about it. So, let's dig into some of the good stuff.....

Bible Verse: 1 Kings 19:37 Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. Then the fire of the Lord fell......and the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The Lord, He is the God; the Lord, He is the God.

Is this what it takes for people to come to realize that there is one true God? Why do some many people waver between what they believe in? Or follow what the movie stars are worshipping this day or that. What does it take for people to come to know Christ? Maybe some just aren't sure what to believe or maybe even some know the truth and refuse to believe because they really enjoy their sinful ways or don't want to give something up. I used to drink a beer every now and then and when I got my life straightened out with God I gave it up. I am not saying that drinking a beer is bad. But, I was convicted about it. So, I gave it up and haven't had a drink of any alcohol in 5 years. Do you think I miss it? Nope. Sure don't!

Guy's it is so very important that we take a stand for the Lord. I know you have all heard that if you don't stand for something that you will fall for anything. Maybe fall in love with anything. If we just drift along in life with whatever feels good at the time or whatever is pleasing to us and easy. We may one day realize maybe even get smacked in the face with the truth....We might be worshiping a false god....Ourselves!

I am still teaching our young people The Way of the Master....How to share their faith. Guess what? They are doing it! I am so very proud of them. If a thirteen year old can share their faith why can't you. This is how some people will come to know the one true God. Through people like you and me with the power of the Holy Spirit!!! It is game time. Let's put on the pads and huddle up! It is 4th and 1 on the goal line.....Have a great day, I love you, and God bless!!!

Serving two masters??????

Good morning everyone! Had a great day at the beach yesterday. The water was really clear and we found some sand dollars for the girls. Went to a really cool place to eat last night at the Sandestin Resort called Hammerheads. They had live music and the kids all got up and danced their hearts out. Really fun place for all. We are going to the Twisted Palm tonight for my birthday....All you can eat crab legs!!!! Yummy! Today I want to talk to you about serving two masters. Let's dig into some of the good stuff and see want it says about this subject.....

Bible Verse: 2 Kings 5:20 But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master hath spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought: but, as the Lord liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him.

Now check this out Gehazi saw a way to get rich quick by trying to get the money that Naaman offered Elisha but, Elisha refused. But, guess what his great plan had some pitfalls. First, He took some money that was offered to someone else. Second, he kind of implied that the money could be exchanged for the free gift's that God gives. And third, he lied to hide the real reason he took this money.

I want you to know that Gehazi had been a good and faithful servant. But, he let personal gain become his god and it became more important than God. I am not saying that cash is bad or having money is evil. What I am saying is greed and lies are bad!!!! No good will come from them. No matter what people say. Money does not buy happiness.

Are you serving God? Are you serving with true motives? Are you motivated by money? Are you serving because you want God's favor? We should be serving out of love and devotion to God. We should be serving because God asks us to! As it also says in Matthew 6:24 "No man can serve two masters..." We can't serve God and money. Let's examine ourselves this week. ave a great day I love you, and God bless.

The little things..........

Good morning my friends! More from the beach. Chris and I stayed up last night jamming. We played music and sang into the late hours. What a night! Leaning how to play to cojon (box style drum) starting to sound better. I have to ask you a question. When God speaks to you do you know it? When you do....Do you listen? Or, only when it is what you want. Think about it for a second. Let's dig into the good stuff and see what it says about it.......

Bible Verse: 2Kings 5:10 And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean."

I must give you the story if you don't know it yet. We have talked about the great leader Naaman and that he was a leper. Well, his wife's servant girl from Israel told her of a prophet in Samaria that could heal her husbands leperosy. Well, even Naaman's king didn't want his great leader to die and sent money and a letter to the king of Samaria to make a way for Naaman to see Elisha. Well, it all worked out and Naaman rode his chariot to Samaria and came to the door of Elisha. Well, here comes the hard part for Naaman. Elisha sent a messenger to Naaman and didn't come himself. That really ticked Naaman off! He thought that Elisha should have came out to meet him and do some hand waving and shouting and heal him with the power of God. The messenger told him to go and wash in the Jordan seven times and he would be clean. Naaman in his anger said are the rivers Abana, Pharpar, and Damascus not cleaner and better than the Jordan? Why can't I wash in those? He left angry!!!!

How many times when God tells or even asks us to do something that doesn't make sense do we refuse or get angry? It is all about obedience and that begins with humility. Guy's we are not always going to understand His way of working, but if we humbly obey, we wil recieve His blessings.

Back to Naaman, He left angry and his servants came to him and asked "If the prophet asked you to do some big thing would you have do it?" So, why would you not do this? It is something so very small. So, Naaman went and did what Elisha told him. His skin was made like a newborn babies!! The leperosy was gone!!! It was all about obedience!!!!!! That is what God wants from us. Just our obedience. How obedient are you? Are you only obedient when it is what you wnt to do? Are you humble in your obedience? Let's put our pride in check and pay attention to the little thins this week. Have a great day, I love you, and God bless.

A Dying Hero.........

Good morning everyone. I am writing from the beach and we are really enjoying our time off. The weather has been great and Destin beaches have been clear of oil. So, we have had a great time. You guy's all probably know I was in the military and have been in law enforcement since then. Well, I love the military stories and movies. In my studies, I have studied on Naaman, a great man of valor that helped deliver syria out of the hands of their enemies numerous times. Let's dig into the good stuff and see what it shows us.....

Bible Verse: 2 Kings 5:1 Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master, because by him the Lord has given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor, but a leper.

Today, I want to talk about success. See, Naaman was a success story. In his day, the only way you could hope to make a name for yourself (unless you were royalty) was to rise up in the ranks of the military. Naaman had done just that. He reported to the king of Aram. And even though he had fought against Israel, God had used Naaman to bring victory to Aram. Naaman was a succesful leader, highly respected, at the top of his game.

There was one problem: He was dying. He had leprosy, a disease still in the world today though not as common. There was no cure. Your skin would start turning greyish/white and then begin to flake off until it ate awyat your whole body. All the success in the world. Even being used by God. Didn't keep him from getting this ugly disease. I must ask you, what's the point of working hard to be successful if it can be taken away in a moment....When you're just going to die anyways?

I am going to be studying the stories of Naaman this week and I want us to ask God to give us some insight into our own lives this week through the story of Naaman.

Do me a favor make a quick list of some successful people you know about who have died or gotton seriously ill even though they were rich and/or famous. Tune in for more on Naaman and we'll dig into the good stuff together! Have a great day, I love you, and God bless!

Don't worry about sounding right..........

Good morning friends! I pray everyone is doing well and ready for the holiday weekend. I must work this weekend and will miss being with my family but, that's how it works sometimes. How do you fight your battles? If your a Christian, how do you wage war on the devil and his demons? Or, should I ask do you wage war? Because whether you want to believe it. That is what is going on if you are a born again believer. My pastor has said many times and it is so very true that his greatest battles have been won in prayer. The wars and battles with the devil are won in the closet. The prayer closet. We must be prayer warriors to win this fight from day to day. Alright, let's dig into the good stuff........

Bible Verse: Matthew 6:6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

Let's be about prayer today. Really, Let's be about what Jesus said in Matthew 6 . He was teaching about how we should do this thing called "prayer."

First: We should pray for God's ears, not other people's. Praying in public makes some people feel really weird. I don't really blame them for saying silly things to God in those moments, but you can sometimes tell they're worried about "sounding right" to the people around them. They work in a few churchy words or phrases because they've heard everyone else do it. Jesus told his listeners to do their praying behind closed doors in secret. But, really Jesus just wants you to talk to Him like He is your best friend. Now, the closed doors thing is not during mealtime or other occasions as such. But, for your personal prayer.

Why should we pray this way? For one thing, it weeds out all the wrong motives. The Jewish religious leaders gave each other spiritual browny points for how sweet and good sounding their public prayers were, but they were missing the point of talking to God. When you're alone, you know you're not impressing anyone with your prayer talk. You're more likely to talk to Him straight out of your own life, not how someone else's might pray.

Of course, you're not going to pray in secret unless you're convinced God is listening. Prayer in secret is an act of greater faith in the God who cares so much about you. Jesus promised that our Father listens and rewards those prayers. You don't need to step up to the microphone for Him to hear and answer you.

Have you ever pray in front of people, do you pray any differently than you do when you're alone? Are you ever tempted to try to impress people with your prayers? How likely are you to pray when nobody is looking? Let's ask God to help us talk to Him more often when nobody else is around. Let's be prayer warriors and share our heart with the King on Kings! have a great day, I love you, and God bless.

This may sound funny but, got a closet handy? Try praying in it today. No, I am just kidding you don't really need to pray in a closet for God to hear you, but trying it once or twice might make you more aware of how you're talking to God.

God doesn't need a resume.........

Hello friends! Had an awesome night last night. Myself, a few adults and a bunch of the youth worked in our missions garden. We worked on weeding, staking up tomato plants, thinning out the okra, and rotor tilling the lanes between the vegies! We raise quite a bit of money for the missions last year and hopefully with the Lords help we will raise more this year. The garden is twice as big! I must tell you that I was talking to one of the dad's last night and he was telling me he needed to look for a different job. We got talking about places to apply and I asked him if he had an updated resume. He said he has been keeping it updated lately. That brings me to the good stuff today. Let's dig in.........

Bible Verse: Psalm 19:1-2 To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge.

Ever have to fill out a job application or hand over a resume to someone? You work hard to list all of the best stuff you've done, your education, your experience. You hope the person sees from a resume that you've got what it takes to do that job. Your work and school history. Your references, you hope speak for well for you.

In Psalm 19, David is saying that God doesn't need to carry any updated resume with Him. He should not have to convince anyone that He exists, that He is real, or that He is "The Man". He can just say, "Look up." "The heavens" should be all the work history He needs. The sun and moon and stars are screaming down to the earth, "Look what God did. Look how powerful He is, how creative, how awesome, how perfect."

What a silly thought that the God who created all the world would have to prove Himself to anyone. If the heavens speak of God day and night, what are some of the things they say about Him? What are some concrete things we can know about God from His creation? Do me a favor today. Ask God to help you see His fingerprint in what He has made. Thank Him for giving you the ability to notice. Then do me another favor. Go outside and look up! Have a great day, I love you, and God bless!

What if Jesus was never born????????

Good morning everyone! I hope all is well. Had a great night at church last night. We had a powerful men's meeting. but, it was afterwards again that even more powerful stuff happens. Great relationships built and issues worked out. Just awesome how God works. I have a question for you. Have you ever thought "What if Jesus had never been born?" Let's dig into some of the good stuff and a story that might shed some light!

Bible Verse: 1 Corinthians 15:16-20 If corpses can't be raised, then Christ wasn't, because he was indeed dead. And if Christ weren't raised, then all you're doing is wandering about in the dark, as lost as ever. It's even worse for those who died hoping in Christ and resurrection, because they're already in their graves. If all we get out of Christ is a little inspiration for a few short years, we're a pretty sorry lot. But the truth is that Christ has been raised up, the first in a long legacy of those who are going to leave the cemeteries.

NO! Not the buttons! Not my gumdrop buttons!
Alright then! Who's hiding them?
Ok. I'll tell you. Do you know... the muffin man?
The muffin man?
The muffin man. Yes, I know the muffin man. W-who lives on Drewery Lane?
Well, she's married to the muffin man.
The muffin man?
THE MUFFIN MAN! She's married to the muffin man...

I'm pretty sure if you saw the first Shrek movie, you'll remember this classic reference. That's because the first Shrek movie is a classic. It just seems to just get better with time. Well, I saw the last Shrek and it made me think Shrek Forever After kind of reminds me another classic movie often seen at Christmas called "It's a Wonderful Life". In this movie, the main character is given the gift of seeing how life would have turned out if he had he never been born, it was pretty much a mess. In Shrek's case, the world is also pretty much a mess. Puss-n-Boots is fat and lazy, Fiona is kind of a gang member, and a creepy little dude named Rumpelstiltskin is on the throne instead of Sir Justin Timberlake.

Well maybe that Rumpelstiltskin vs. Justin Timberlake part is sort of in sync, but overall the Shrekparallel world is a darker and crueler place to be, because Shrek is trying to be a savior on many levels. It's up to him to save his friends, restore his world and reclaim his one True Love.

This alternate reality stuff can really mess with your mind, but have you ever considered what the world would be like if Jesus had never been born? At first glance, you might shrug and think about a couple implications like the need for a different way to measure time and not having to go to church, but I would like to paint a deeper picture that should fill you with appreciation for the gift given to us on that first Christmas.

If Jesus had never been born, the world would be a much more primitive place where women are slaves of free men, children are sacrificed, and the idea of giving and love are all but missing from the world.

But worst of all, if Jesus had never been born, there would be only one spiritual destination for us. A dark and tormenting place where we would be forever separated from God. Jesus came to earth as a man to live a perfect life, die a horrible death, and rise from the grave so that the penalty for the world's sins would be paid in full...and eternal life made available to anyone who puts their faith in Him for salvation. Man, I am so glad to know that Jesus was born and I am going to get to see Him one day real soon! So, today let's be glad and rejoice in it. We have a risen Savior!!! Have a great day, I love you, and God bless!