Saturday, June 27, 2009

Don't Lay With The Dogs! (You might get fleas)

Growing up I was always drawn to "hang out" with the wrong crowd. It was exciting to me to sneak out the bedroom window and stay out late. Many times my mother would warn me running with the wrong crowd, but I threw caution to the wind and went my own way! Years went by and slowly I became the wrong crowd. No longer was it sneaking into the movies, but now it had became drinking and using drugs. And no longer was it exciting, but now it was everyday life. The drinking and druging cost me countless relationships, jobs, and money. I finally hit rock bottom one day, and the only move I could make was up. That is were I met my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I gave my life to Him, and He restored my soul. Never again did I desire a drink or a drug. I gave it all over to King Jesus, and I urge any of you that may be struggling in your daily life to do the same. He can save you, I speak from experience. God's Word says this "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him." (John 3:16-17) The price has been paid for your sins!

Friday, June 19, 2009

Papa please preach!

As we all celebrate fathers day be in prayer for each other. The Christian men of today are in desperate need of a "restructure". As many of us may be fathers, and some becoming fathers we need to be reminded that we need to be a positive role model for our children. Often I see my three boys doing things that I do, or imitating me. As I sit back and watch I am reminded that they learn from me what a man is supposed to be like, how a husband is supposed to respond to his wife, or a father to his children. I pray daily for God to give me strength to overcome worldly temptations and to be a godly role model for them. Deuteronomy 6:5-7 says "You shall love the Lord you God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and talk of them when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise." So we are commanded to love God and talk about our love for Him, teaching this to our children all the time. Please fathers, be the man God desires you to be, and pass it on to your children. I am praying for you all, and feel free to e-mail me any personal prayer request.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Bug Off!




Chances are if you have been outside at all in the US you have had the aggravating experience of ticks. As you walk through a field or in the woods these blood sucking insects find their way onto your body. I can remember as a child always having a dog or two around our house, and most of the time in the spring and summer you could find ticks clinging to our family pets. I would often make the comment that it looked as if the dogs were wearing earrings, because of the fattened ticks hanging from their ears. I loved to pull the ticks off of the dogs and my favorite tool to use was an old pair of needle nose pliers. I would pull tick after tick and then give the dogs a good bathing. I am sure that this was very reliving for the dogs. My mother once pulled one of my teeth with this same pair of pliers! ( I did not know that it was the same pair till after the fact) If a tick bites in to your body not only to they take blood but they can leave deadly viruses. The same can be applied to grudges we hold onto in our lives. These "spiritual ticks" can suck the happiness right out of your life and create a dark and hardened heart. Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:14-15, "For if you forgive others their trespasses (sins), your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." So in other words if you hold a grudge against someone and don't forgive them, God will not forgive you of the sins that you commit against Him. And after all when we sin we are sinning against God. David cried out to God after he had sinned and said "Against you, you only have I sinned" (Psalm 51:4). I encourage you brothers and sisters to let God pull these "spiritual ticks" and pour a spiritual bath over your hardened heart, and feel the sweet relif of God's grace.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Dare To Be Different!



My family and I were on our way back from an overnight stay at my parents house in the mountains when it happened. I had heard and even read articles about an albino doe around the Falls Lake area but I never expected to see her. My wife and three boys were fast asleep as I turned off the interstate and drove down the HWY that would take us home. I often saw deer at night as they would feed on the shoulder of the road and along the ditch lines. As I turned the corner I saw glowing eyes up ahead and then as I passed there she was! I yelled really loud and the whole car shot up from their sleep. I drove down about 1/2 mile and turned around to go back. As I approached the spot where she was standing, we watched as she disappeared into the forest. This was the first and last time I saw the big white doe. She stood out among her friends and she did not blend in with the environment where she lived. What a wonderful example of how we should be different from the world, "Albino Christians". 1 John 2: 15-17 says this, " Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world -the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions-is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever." Some food for thought.