My Thoughts - My Journey

God's faithfulness has never depended on the faithfulness of His children. He is faithful even when we aren't. When we lack courage, He doesn't. He has made a history out of using people in spite of people. God is greater than our weakness. In fact, it is our weakness that reveals how great God is. Amen! † "He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.'" - 2 Corinthians 12:9

Part of our message today dealt with baptism...is it salvational, necessary, etc.; therefore, I thought I would share a few of my thoughts. We should not allow baptism to be something it is not. Apart from the cross it has no significance. If you are trusting a dunk in the water to save you, you have missed the message of grace. We must beware of dogmatism. No one this side of heaven can fully understand the majesty of baptism. Watch out for the one who claims to have a corne r on the issue, especially if that person is in your mirror.  Don’t prevent baptism from being what God intended. This is no optional command! This is no trivial issue! It is a willing plunge into the power and promise of Christ. Baptism is the first step of a believer. If it was important enough for Jesus to command, isn’t it important enough for you and me to obey? And if it was important enough for Jesus to do, isn’t it important enough for you and me to follow? In baptism God signs and seals our conversi...

God didn't create any of us to be average. He didn't make us to barely get by. We were created to excel, to rise above and soar. We must remove those negative in our life and know that they are not from our Creator. Our Father God only gives His children positive words, positive direction, and a love like no other. If negativity is holding you back, it is of satan and you must release his hold. Put Jesus in every aspect of your life and walk in Freedom! Amen! †

God's answer for the hurting heart is not a promise of the absence of pain, but a promise of His presence to be with us to offset the struggles. He has guaranteed that He will walk with us every step of our life. Open yourself up to a supernatural touch....and let Him love you. Amen! †

Do the voices of accusations and condemnations ever stop? You're not good enough, you're not strong enough, you don't give enough, serve enough, you're not faithful enough. These voices that whisper... and even sometime shout...in our head of the lack of our worth. Who owns this voice? Does these voices of accusations ever shut-up? No, they don't because they come from the devil. There is an evil, malevolent force who is on a limited time table and on a short leash, but he ha s one goal....he wants to suck the joy out of God's people. He can't take our salvation, but he tries to steal our joy, our happiness, our fruit, our faith, our hope, our security....he tries to take whatever he can. Often times he recruits a lot of people to help him ....he uses friends, family to drudge up our past, and even ministers who preach all guilt and no grace.  So many have been reared to only hear criticism and accusations that it makes it very difficult to feel and to kn...

There's no shame when any other organs in the body fails, so why do so many feel shame if their brain is broken? Mental illness continues to be seen as a spiritual deficiency or character flaw by many Christians. It has been reported that nearly half of evangelical, fundamentalist, or born-again Christians (48%) believe that people with serious mental illness can overcome their condition through prayer and Bible study alone. Mental illness, on any level, is one of the saddest , most dreaded diseases faced and very difficult to overcome or be healed from. I know many, including my sweet sister-in-law, who fought a strong battle against the demons of this disease. She was a loving, compassionate follower of Jesus who prayed and read her Bible.....went to church; however, it still took her life.  Those who are walking this journey are on my mind and in my prayers today. My heart and prayers go out to all the families and support groups because I know first hand the helplessness they...

Often times we accept statements as truisms that are actually quite absurd.  We even do that in “church.” We come up with phrases that would make great bumper stickers or perhaps on refrigerator magnets and coffee mugs. They sound right, but they aren’t actually in the Bible. Example: “God helps those who helps themselves.” What book of the Bible would you find that? It doesn’t exist. “Everything happens for a reason.” Yes, but that can’t be found in a Bible verse and shouldn’t be used as a blanket statement appointing credit to God when bad things  happen. We use many of these phrases with the best of intentions because we want to give comfort to those hurting and going through a tough season. That phrase has echoed in my mind for years, but one occasion especially back in December, 1995. My mom lost her mom and seventeen hours later, lost my dad. Both deaths were quite sudden and not expected. My mom’s words have forever resonated with me, “God will not put more on me th...

God is able! No matter what is going on in our lives, He stands with us. No matter what answers we receive, He will remain our God. He is our strength, our comfort in times of trouble. He covers us with His amazing love. Life is unpredictable, but He remains steady. Our God is everlasting to everlasting. Amen! † A readers response: Your comments are, as usual, "Right On". and I appreciate the encouragement you send through these messages. I would appreciate hearing what you, and others that read and comment have to say about the doubters and skeptics that respond in a negative w ay for a lot of different reasons and are reluctant to put their trust in God's word. They read and many times respond therefore have not totally shut God out of their lives. God is good!! My response to the reader: Thank you, R_____ . You are always so kind and I pray that you and your beautiful bride, L_____ , are doing well. I rarely get negative responses. I would imagine that those w...