Category: Embracing God

My Testimony!

I was seven years old when I first experienced God. I don’t know that I remember too much about it except that there were no tears and no angels around with bright lights and a chorus in the background. I had just made the decision that I was going to follow Christ. At the time I probably was more afraid of going to hell than I was in having a relationship with Christ though, but it was a start on a somewhat long journey to embracing the God I love. 

My mother took me to the Nazarene Church. This was the type of church that if you even started to have a hint of singing during worship you might disrupt what God was doing. Unfortunately He wasn’t doing much, because the church really wasn’t letting Him move in their lives. I did in some way learn how to respect God even in my silence. I was a step closer.

Then we moved to Wyoming. They did not have a Nazarene Church there so we decided to go with my Aunt to an Assembly of God Church. I went from a silent reverent church to a no holds barred (well to a degree) church that scared the behebees out of me. One night a woman decided that God was speaking and spoke in tongues then everyone waited for the Interpretation. I looked up at my mother and told her that that lady was talking funny. In a way I was waiting for the men in White Jackets (You know the ones from the funny farm) were going to bust in and take her away. I was a little creeped out. Fortunately, this is something that happened from time to time and I learned that God could be in everything that we do. I grew stronger and continued on my path to find the path that God had set out for me to do.

It was some time later that I went into the army and found myself pulling away from God. I started to do things that today I look back at and wonder what I was thinking. It was my skeletons that were coming to surface and went down the wrong path for a long time. But eventually God called me back home and gave me a drive to follow him. This time through AMWAY. Yes AMWAY! They told me that if I wanted to grow my business that I would need to find God again. They didn’t care which one, they just thought that it was good practice. I am not doing it anymore but it brought me back to the Church again. 

That is when I met Pastor Bob and Pastor Fowler. Through the love that they showed me and the strength that they possessed they slowly brought me back to see God and learn to embrace him again. I owe much to them for showing me the love that Christ has for me through their actions towards me. 

Now I am married and going to a Baptist Church. Christ has driven me down a path to a destination that only he knows but that I am confident is the right path. I have been a part of the reverent, the raughty, and the rough, and he has always been with me even when I was not with him. He never forsook me. I have now completed a degree in Seminary, and have been looking at the wonderful ways that he has been working in my life and I see evidence all around me of His existence. It is not something that I can prove per say, but some things just cannot be coincidence. He is with me, I can see it in my life. That is another blog for another day. If you want to know him please follow these steps and welcome to the family. 

http://www.go2clbc.org/templates/System/details.asp?id=31036&PID=243802

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About Blogging

I have been thinking a bunch about blogging. I haven’t quite quit, I have just been doing it more on my personal blog. You see, I created a blog that is just between me and God and that is where I do my prayers. Many of my own personal prayers without my wife anyway. It is funny because I seem to do better when I am writing it all out. I feel as if when I hit the send button that I am lifting my prayer up to him. I can get personal with him. I can praise him. I can intercede for a friend. Not necessarily the conventional way of doing things, but it is an avenue that helps me to connect with God. I wonder how many other ways there are that someone can connect with him that isn’t the mainstream norm.

I am glad that I have a God that will listen to me. I don’t have to do anything special. I don’t have to do it way too cerimonial. I can just sit and gaze into the heavens and know that he hears me and listens to me. What a mighty God we serve. I thank him for all of his loving kindness, grace and forgiveness. There is no other like him. He is my God!

Praise Be To God, Christ the redeemer, and the Comforter of all.

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The difference between Luck and Providence

I have been thinking alot about luck recently. Some would say that there is no such thing as luck, but I actually believe in it. It is hard to deny it when one person can call up the radio station and never even get to the operator, while another has won more than one time. Luck is the lottery winner that has won twice. Luck is even being bit by a shark or struck by lightening, I mean what are the odds of that. I have never understood why someone would be luckier than someone else; for good or for bad. Today I was contemplating the difference between luck and God’s Providence and I think that I have come to a conclusion. Luck is fleeting while providence is forever. Think about it! It is commonly known that many that win the lottery, are sometimes worse off after. Some have gone bankrupt because they don’t know how to handle that kind of cash, while others just become different people. Even winning a gift is fleeting, or just in a moment. Providence on the other hand is God providing for your every need. You may not win the lottery and get through the telephone to the radio station, but your needs are always taken care of. Providence is making sure that the right thing happens at just the right moment – God is in Control. So I don’t need luck, even though it would be nice now and then; what I need is the providence that God gives and I can be content in the life that he has given  me.

Just a thought. It may not be too enlightening, but it struck me as something important. The next time I see someone that gets the glory or luck of the draw, I can look back at all what God has done for me and realize. He is my all, and all that I need. Thank God for his Providence, there is nothing in the world that can compare.

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It has been Awhile

So I have been out of the loop for a little while. Hopefully life has slowed down enough that I can do some posts on here. My plan is to try to set up a discussion question regarding the Book Study we are doing at our house. Hopefully it will spark some good discussion. The First Question, I hope to have up by sunday. We will see, after all I have defensive driving to take this weekend, but I should have at least the introduction down for the class.

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Repent – For the Kingdom is at hand

 1 Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” – Matt 3:1-2 (NASB77)

These are the first words recorded in Matthew of John the Baptist, however, do we  really understand what it means to repent?

As Christians we talk to unbelievers as if we are talking another language and still expect to connect with them. In many cases, I believe that many Christians do not understand the concepts them self, let alone try to explain it to someone else. With many churches embracing a selfism or consumerism “what is in it for me?” mentality, it seems that repentance is getting the second seat; if any seat at all. It is the only way through Christ that leads to the saving grace that is given by God to us. It is not about us, it is about Him!

Repentance needs to be a focus for the Church. After all John the Baptist (Matthew 3:2), Jesus (Matthew 4:17), Peter (Acts 2:38), Paul (Acts 17:30), The Twelve (Mark 6:7-13), and many others all began their ministry with this message. You would think that we would get the hint of how important that the message of turning to God is. Jesus was even more concerned about the soul of a paralytic, then from his ailment in (Mark 2). Repentance should be a big focus of our churches today.

Basically repentance means, to turn 180 degrees. Pastor Fowler from Christ Church Assembly of God used to say, “You cannot turn 179 degrees and expect to end up in the same place. It may work for a while but eventually you will be way off track.” I always think back to this sermon when I think about repentance. However, it never really sunk in until recently when I took a class with Dr. Rodney Woo for “New Testament 2” at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, what true repentance is. 

We talked about the difference between Godly Sorrow and Worldly sorrow. It is discussed in 2 Corinthians 7:9-10 followed with the seven marks of true repentance.

9 I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, in order that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. 10 For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation; but the sorrow of the world produces death. 11 For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter. – 2 Cor 7:9-11 (NASB77)

Understanding the difference between Godly sorrow and worldly sorrow is the key to repentance. It is Godly sorrow that brings repentance that leads to salvation while worldly sorrow only brings death. Here is the difference:

  • Worldly sorrow is self centered and could be summed up with the statement, “I am sorry because I got caught.” However, worldly sorrow doesn’t bring real repentance because there is no real want for change. Most of the time, when it does deal with changes, it is because they don’t want to be caught again. Worldly sorrow cannot sustain itself because it doesn’t have enough gas or energy to have any staying power. It is always looking for a way out, or how close to the line they can get without getting into trouble.
  • Godly Sorrow is God centered. David said it beautifully in Psalms 51:4, “Against you and you alone have I sinned.” The sorrow is a sort of “soul anguish” because of the hurt that we place on God by our disobedience. The difference is that this kind of sorrow bring about real change because we don’t want to hurt our heavenly Father. It produces “repentance without regret, leading to salvation.” Real repentance only happens when we realize the hurt we have done to God.

I believe this is why so many people can come to Christ, live years trying to do the right thing, but ultimately lose their faith. It is because they never truly repented. Fruit is not about what we do, it is about who we are. It is time that we learn that repentance is brought about by Godly sorrow through the action of changing our mind and heart to reflect that which God has intended: a life fully devoted to him. That is basically the definition of a disciple and it shows in the fruit of change in our lives.

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God of all Comfort

2 Cor 1:3-11 (NASB77)
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; 4 who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. 6 But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; 7 and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort. 8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; 9 indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves in order that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; 10 who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us, 11 you also joining in helping us through your prayers, that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed upon us through the prayers of many.

This scripture caught my eye this morning. I have always thought of the fact that we will suffer in this life because of our faith. We are not to be a friend of the world, we are to be part of the family of God – which the world hates. Jesus gave us the Comforter, and when we go through trials he is there to comfort us. I highlighted the parts that stood out to me this morning and don’t really know why I posted it, but felt that I should. If you are going through a rough time right now, just know that he is there to walk with you through it. Most of all he is there to comfort you through it as well.

In God’s Peace, My prayer goes out for you.

Heavenly father, I ask you as the God of all comfort to be in the midst of the person that is reading this right now. I don’t know what their circumstances are, but you do. I know that you will help this person through any trials and troubles and will see them through the tough times. I ask you to open their heart to you so that they would gain a better understanding of you in their life. If they are not going through anything right now, then I ask you to meet them at their need, whatever that might be.

Thank you for hearing me, and I ask this all in JESUS name, AMEN! (Let it be done according to your will.)

I hope that this blog will be a blessing for you today.

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Open Door Policy

What a day! It is amazing how many things can break in one day, or at least over a short time period. I woke up and found that my car didn’t want to start (I think the battery is going bad and we just spent some money on it as it is), my computer doesn’t want to work, my IPOD froze (I cannot turn it off to reset it), the washer broke, and the dishwasher is not cleaning well for some reason. Am I complaining (Maybe a little) but what surprised me was what I was thinking.

You see my wife and I are trying to put the house on the market, pay for school, and go to Russia for a mission’s trip. All of which costs money. I started to think that maybe we are getting something wrong and God does not really want us to do something. After all shouldn’t he open the doors for us to make it happen, if it is his will! At least that has been my train of thought.

Have we been trained to think this way? Does God choose the easy way? If it is God’s choice, isn’t he just going to make it happen? That is when I started thing of things that were God’s choice like:

  1. His plan for Redeeming mankind – Christ had to die and rise again. It was not a easy path.
  2. For his Disciples – Many of them died a martyr’s death and lived hard lives.
  3. Scriptures like “Take up your cross and follow me” ring in my ears
  4. etc. etc. etc.

Maybe I have been thinking about this in the wrong way. This is when I remembered something that Dr. Woo was talking about in New Testament class. “When God opens doors, Satan is waiting!” We are in a spiritual war after all, and he doesn’t want the things that God wants. The open door can lead to opposition and not an easy life.

So what am I getting at? In everything give thanks and continue searching for God’s will. Simple answer, but even in the opposition I can count on him to make it happen even if it is not going to be easy. I like easy, but it is praiseworthy when you see God fill in the blanks and make things happen his way.

The next time you have an open door policy, when it comes to God, remember that, “just because opposition comes, it does not mean that that is not the way he wants you to go.” It could very well be the thing he desires for your life.

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