Thursday, July 28, 2011

God has the right, and my permission, to rearrange my life to achieve His purposes.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God's grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God's grace.

Monday, July 25, 2011

The Tragedy in Amy's Death

Can I just vent a little, speak from the heart??? When I heard about the death of Amy Winehouse, I was not shocked or surprised. And that is the real tragedy. I received tweets and text messages from youth pastors or preachers who all pointed to the choices that she made like crooning "No No No" when it came to going to rehab. We can tell our young people, "Look at her choices and the way she lived her life....don't make those choices". True, whether a drug overdose, murder, suicide or whatever happened, many will almost instantly point to the choices that she made as the reason for her premature death, and undoubtedly have a message or material to persuasively minister into the lives of people who may encounter the same issues. Yet, here's the question that I had to ask, did any of us take the time out to pray for Amy??? We all saw the choices she made, and I am guilty of passing judgement on how she handled life, but did I ever ask God to demonstrate his love like never before in her life? I mean, I can honestly say, this is the outcome I expected, but never took the time to pray against it. The real tragedy is, many of us expected this to happen, but never felt the need to pray for her.  I'm sure people attempted to talk to her or have an intervention, but sadly many of us who watched from a distance never took the time to pray.  The love of Christ is powerful enough to change the darkest situation. The question is who's next? Do we just sit and wait for another young musician to become a member of the 27 club? She is more than just a tragic story; she's a missed opportunity.  We expected it, and accepted it.  We had the time to pass judgement, but did not take the time to pray.

The Tragedy in Amy's Death

Can I just vent a little, speak from the heart??? When I heard about the death of Amy Winehouse, I was not shocked or surprised. And that is the real tragedy. I received tweets and text messages from youth pastors or preachers who all pointed to the choices that she made like crooning "No No No" when it came to going to rehab. We can tell our young people, "Look at her choices and the way she lived her life....don't make those choices". True, whether a drug overdose, murder, suicide or whatever happened, many will almost instantly point to the choices that she made as the reason for her premature death, and undoubtedly have a message or material to persuasively minister into the lives of people who may encounter the same issues. Yet, here's the question that I had to ask, did any of us take the time out to pray for Amy??? We all saw the choices she made, and I am guilty of passing judgement on how she handled life, but did I ever ask God to demonstrate his love like never before in her life? I mean, I can honestly say, this is the outcome I expected, but never took the time to pray against it. The real tragedy is, many of us expected this to happen, but never felt the need to pray for her.  I'm sure people attempted to talk to her or have an intervention, but sadly many of us who watched from a distance never took the time to pray.  The love of Christ is powerful enough to change the darkest situation. The question is who's next? Do we just sit and wait for another young musician to become a member of the 27 club? She is more than just a tragic story; she's a missed opportunity.  We expected it, and accepted it.  We had the time to pass judgement, but did not take the time to pray.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

What Do You Believe???

What_do_you_believe

A Message that I preached at Victory Christian Fellowship. Check it out, bel blessed

What_Do_You_Believe.mp3 Listen on Posterous

What Do You Believe???

What_do_you_believe

A sermon that I preached at Victory Christian Fellowship.  Check it out, be blessed.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

What I Learned From An Atheist

A gentleman just sparked a conversation with me. He's an atheist, always interesting. He went on and on about how Christians act and all of our many character flaws. So IF God existed, he would at best have flawed PR or earthly representation. Can't disagree with that, but that's not why he's an atheist or believes that God does not exist. He says, "Young man, there is so much pain and hurt in this world that either he's one heartless bastard or he just isn't really there. Did you hear about that girl who just walked out of prison after slaughtering that innocent child? If God could stop her why didn't he? That child is dead." Then something hit me, at his feet in the isle there lay an infant in a carrier. The baby was occasionally blowing bubbles and attempting to pull her foot into her mouth. She seemed to be one of the happiest babies I have ever seen. I kind of smirked at the gentleman and said, "Yeah, there is a lot of pain in this world and because there's pain there's no God? I guess my question is when there's reason for happiness or good is happening can God exist there? I understand the tragedy of that child being killed, but you can't focus on that situation so much that you miss the blessing that's right at your feet. It's amazing that the presence of bad means an absence of God, but when we sit and think, is everything in the world bad or is that just the place we choose to focus? I can see the tragedy of Katrina or 9-11, but I can also see the good that was done in the recovery." I really began to really put this thing into focus a minute ago. Most of us are like spoiled children who have so much stuff that it's easier to focus on what we don't have and complain about that. His denial of God is because he's not the genie in a bottle who makes every day roses. Yet, many of us will deny the power of good because of trials that we may encounter. To deny the power of God or the goodness of God is to deny who He is. Is there much difference than the atheist? We have to be mindful of the blessings and not dwell on the problems. To focus on what you do not have will only make you ungrateful for what you do have. Is it truly fair to view God through the scope of what's wrong with the world (some of which is man made). That only diminishes the value of all that is good. My atheistic acquaintance and I exchanged emails and promised to keep in touch. There's a chance that he's reading this now. Regardless, I'm praying for him. I know God is going to do something powerful in his life. Can't wait to see what happens. Till then, we'll run on......see what the end gone be. Be blessed

Monday, July 4, 2011

They got a luggage store in the airport? A place to buy luggage? How late do you have to be for a flight where you're like, just grab a pile of stuff and we'll get a bag at the airport'.