Today's Verse - 1 Samuel 16:7b

(NIV) "The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
(CSB) Man does not see what the LORD sees, for man sees what is visible, but the LORD sees the heart."

As Christians we should be striving to know the heart of the person before we make any kind of assumptions about them. I know to many "Christians" that don't practice this, instead they let fear and worldly opinions influence their decisions on how to deal with people and the kind of people that can be at "church". This makes me sick and angry for we are here for the sick, unrighteous and sinful people. We came from them so how can you say they are unfit. We are to be imitators of God - Ephesians 5:1 to bring healing, joy and love to this world.

Man has no right say who can be in God's family.

Today's Verse - Proverbs 4:18

(NIV) The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.
(CSB) The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday.
(NKJV) But the path of the just is like the shining sun, That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.

The closer we get to God the more his light shines through us and becomes brighter. Till the day we are made perfect let us strive to be pure light.

Today's Verse - Hebrews 2:1

We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.

We can drift from God with out even realizing it until one morning we wake up and say, "How the heck did I get here?" Same thing happens in our friendships, marriages and other relationships, all because we stop putting in the time it takes to maintain and keep the relationship healthy. This also applies to God's teachings. If we don't spend time in the Bible reading and studying we drift from his teachings and the simplicity of them. We must be diligent in our time with God and his teachings to prevent drifting and being deceived by teachings of men.

Spend time in the Bible and with God everyday.

Today's Verse - 1 Peter 2:23

(NIV) When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.

(CEV) Although he was abused, he never tried to get even. And when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he had faith in God, who judges fairly.

Another amazing example of Christ for us to strive towards. I used to be really good and getting even and making threats and I guess I still have those skills, but I refuse to use them anymore for negative purposes. I learned awhile ago to trust God's judgment and love for me over anything that man says about me. I know God loves me enough that he sent his son to die a horrible death, so that we could become his children.Trust God to turn the insults and suffering into blessings and joy in time.

Be patient and trust God.

Today's Verse - Proverbs 16:9

(NIV) In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.

This applies all to well to the way my life has gone. I know where I want to go and I am getting closer, but the journey sure has been interesting, fun, filled with joy and sorrow and difficulty at times, but I would not trade the experience for anything. Adventure for the win!

Set your goals, follow and rely on God and enjoy the adventure of a life time.

Today's Verse - 1 John 4:21b

(NIV) Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
(NKJV) he who loves God must love his brother also.

So simple to say and preach about, but very hard at times to practice. I know it has been very hard at times to love "my brother" when I have been betrayed, stabbed in the face, insulted and cast aside, but I must continue to love them even when I can't stand to be around them. I hurt for them and wish they would open their eyes and see God more clearly. Being human makes this very difficult and nearly impossible at times but I have to trust in the wisdom of the creator and do my best to fulfill his commandments. Prayer helps a lot in pursuing perfect love.
 
Pursue the practice of love.

Today's Verse - 2 Timothy 1:7

(NIV) For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
(CEV) God's Spirit doesn't make cowards out of us. The Spirit gives us power, love, and self-control.
(CSB) For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power,  love, and sound judgment.

The affect of the Holy Spirit should be constantly moving us toward increased spiritual power and knowledge, increasing or ability to love those who hate, hurt or wronged us, increasing our self-control, knowledge and wisdom and driving out any fear and timidness. This does not happen on its own, only with time and effort do we move in this direction and we should never be content with where we are spiritually and mentally. Constantly seeking God's wisdom and asking for knowledge and praying to be put into situations that will challenge and make us uncomfortable to help us grow will keep us from stagnating and getting comfortable.

Always seek to improve yourself, because there is no such thing as perfection in this life. Amen.

Today's Verse - Psalm 23 (CEV)

You, LORD, are my shepherd.
I will never be in need.
You let me rest in fields of green grass.
You lead me to streams of peaceful water, and you refresh my life.
You are true to your name, and you lead me along the right paths.
I may walk through valleys as dark as death, but I won't be afraid.
You are with me, and your shepherd's rod makes me feel safe.
You treat me to a feast, while my enemies watch.
You honor me as your guest, and you fill my cup until it overflows.
Your kindness and love will always be with me
   each day of my life, and I will live forever
   in your house, LORD.

Today's Verse - Hebrews 2:18

(NIV) Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
(CSB) For since He Himself was tested and has suffered, He is able to help those who are tested.

There is nothing on this planet that Jesus was tempted with or suffered through that is different then what we go through or deal with today. He understands and knows what its like to be human. He was human for some thirty years. He has been to hell and back, literally in my opinion, to sacrifice himself so that we may have freedom. Freedom from fear of death, freedom to come to the Fathers throne, freedom from the flesh, freedom from sin, freedom to love and freedom to live. Our freedom came at the highest price with is death. Talk to Jesus about your temptations, struggles and suffering has they are happening He will come help and comfort you.

 

Share with Jesus and he will share with you.

Today's Verse - John 14:21

(NIV) "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."

Such a simple statement. Love Jesus and keep his commands and the Father will love us too and Jesus will show himself to us. In my experience truth is often simple and easy to understand and that is one of my favorite things about Christ. His teachings are simple but take a life time to master. The more I have gotten to know Christ the more I am aware of his influence and movement in my daily life, even more so when I look back and see how things worked out for the better. The trick is we have to put time and effort into the relationship and Christ will match and exceed what we put into it thus showing himself to us. The more time spent with him the more times we will see him move and to be thankful for the gifts, protection, guidance and wisdom that comes from knowing and spending time with Christ.

Strive to know Christ, not to know about him.

Funny Bible Story - 2 Kings 2:23-25

This story has a bald guy, annoying youths and bears. Enjoy!

From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some youths came out of the town and jeered at him. "Go on up, you baldhead!" they said. "Go on up, you baldhead!" He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths. And he went on to Mount Carmel and from there returned to Samaria.

Tune in next Saturday for another fun Bible story.

Today's Verse - Job 41:11

(NIV) "Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me.", God.

Humans love to think of themselves as equal with God or even a god, but this is stupid and it makes me laugh. We know so little  about our own little planet and even less about the universe. I mean we don't even know how gravity works, or whats on the bottom of the ocean. So when a human, made by God, starts to think they know better than God it makes me laugh and sad at the same time. God created everything  we can see and have yet to discover. He has the RIGHT to do as he pleases, whether he smites us all because we are to stupid to recognize who he is or to send his son to be beaten, murdered and hung on a cross because he desires a relationship with us and wants to be our father.

Know your place at the feet of God.

Today's Verse - 1 Corinthians 10:24

(NIV) Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.

Does this mean you never seek good for yourself? NO, but when you are seeking good for yourself make sure you are thinking of others and how you can benefit them and when there is a conflict the good of others should come first. God wants us to prosper, to better ourselves but not at the cost of another. Anything that damages relationship for the worse should be avoided. As always though God must be at the center and the Holy Spirit will be our guide to the correct path.

Seek wisdom.

Today's Verse - John 3:17

(NIV) God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

God did not send his son into this world and to die so that we Christians can go around telling people they better repent or go to hell. We should be practicing love, which if you don't know what love is go read 1 Cor 13:4-7, and building relationships with people we wish to convert. Jesus met people where they were at and went from there. The only people he ever condemned were the religious teachers of the Jews because they had perverted God's law, which means we should be watchful of our Christian leaders to make sure they are preaching and practicing Christ and not perverting it. If our approach does not line up with Christ's and the apostles then maybe we should be taking a hard look at how we are reaching out to people. Church should be a place of welcoming, peace, healing and love, not of fear, politics, and hate.

God's guidance be upon us. Amen.

Today's Verse - Proverbs 27:6

(NIV) Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.
(CEV) You can trust a friend who corrects you, but kisses from an enemy are nothing but lies.

Getting corrected is never much fun but when it comes from a friend it is worth the pain and tears that can come from. I know I have been better off when I have been corrected or wounded by a trusted friend and as a bonus the friendship is strengthened and brought to a deeper level of trust and understanding.

I have also experienced the kisses or what I prefer kiss ups who never say anything negative or questions your motives and just sit there and watch you run right into a wall. American Idol comes to mind with the bad singers they have and I always wonder what kind of friends a person has that would not tell them they need to learn how to sing, of course there are always the people that don't listen to correction or wisdom from there friends but the Bible has a diffirent word for them, a fool, so the two people who read this, don't be a fool, heed the correction or wounds from a friend for it can be trusted.

May God bless those who read this. Amen.

Today's Verse - Proverbs 14:2a

Whoever lives with integrity fears the LORD.

The fear used here is not the kind of fear you would have from say seeing a ghost, spider, your worst nightmare, of getting in trouble but one of awe, respect, reverence and a hatred of evil. If you put those words in place "Whoever lives with integrity has awe, respect, reverence and a hatred of evil for the LORD." brings more meaning and depth to the spricpture when you understand/know the meaning behind a word that is not normally used in today's language. For more on this check out these two pages here and here

We The People Stimulus Package

The revolution is coming.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeYscnFpEyA

Refreshment for the Soul

Music Camp for those that have gone know what refreshing unity, love and peace goes on during its week and for those that haven't been I hope you will come and experience God's presence and power through music. I look forward to it every year and have had the privilege of going since I was fifteen, from camper to staff. I get more out of it now, watching the kids grow and experience the life changing presence of the Almighty Father, then I did as a camper. Come to think of it this blog was started as a result of one of my years at camp.

Anyway back on track. If you have read my previous post you will know that my family and a few others have been dealing with a lot of church crap. It was so refreshing to come and worship and just sing without all this religious bs that is not Christianity. There was no bickering, arguing or playing church. We were all there united through Christ the way the church is supposed to be. We were sharing, crying, comforting, rejoicing, confessing, worshiping all as one. There have been very few churches I have been to where it is safe to do most of those things and it breaks my heart to see what happens when our focus goes from God to I. I was crucified when you were buried with Christ (Gal 2:20). I left all his crap when he died, but now we have Christ living in us to deal with it and clean it out. We just have to remember to keep our eyes on Him for He is the author and perfecter of our faith.(Heb 12:2) All things will healing in time. I guess I had some preaching in me. lol.

Anyway, this year I really got a lot out of it as well as some challenges to grow myself as a man and leader in the church, thank you Mike. As a result I have begun putting together a lesson series on becoming a man under God that has been on my mind for about a year, so pray that God guides me and speaks through me in this endeavor.

It was a great camp this year. God spoke so much through the devos and worship lessons. Thank you Father for putting the people together to make it happen. Praise be to you my King.

Wolves in Sheeps Clothing

Since I have come back to the northwest I have been asking God why he called me back to this place and after seven months I think He has finally revealed His purpose for calling me back. My parents and brother have been in intense spiritual warfare for a long time and it got worse when I arrived in August. I am now convinced I was brought back to bear witness and as support for my family and others involved in this war.

I am experiencing first hand what Paul wrote in Romans 16:17-18, 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 and what Solomon wrote about in Proverbs 26:23-26. I find it unbelievable that the elders of this church stand by as evil gains ground and turns this church into a social club with no depth of faith or knowledge, its breaking my heart to see the damage done to my parents, brother and the others involved. It saddens me to see how blind most of the congregation is to what is happening around them.

I know there is great evil here. I have been woken up twice in less than month in the middle of the night by a presence and I know the first time something was in the room I could feel the evil emanating from it and the second time it was not nearly as strong. I have not been scared either times for I know whose I am and rebuked it in the name Jesus Christ. It left and I went to sleep at peace. The fact I have felt this in my home tells me how serious the situation is and how much my parents and brother have been dealing with and assaulted by.

It reached a pinnacle Saturday and my parents, brother and I have done what we could and it is on the shoulders of the elders their decision to either confront this evil or to sweep it under the rug and pretend what has happened hasn't will determine our next move. I pray to God they confront the evil.

I can't explain or tell everything that has happened for I would be here writing for hours and this would turn in to a book. Instead I write to show the challenges that have been set forth and what we have been dealing with.

This is a call to arms for prayer, for the light to shine in the darkness, for the glory of God to reveal and destroy the evil that is rooted in this church, for healing and comfort for us very wounded and weary soldiers. Were it not for the Armor of God and the protection, faith and strength He has provided we would have become casualties of war.

Brothers pray for us.
To God be the glory forever.
Amen.

Direction

I went home to Washington to spend two weeks with my family and really had no intention of coming back to live and work, but I had never ruled it out, it was just not my first choice. God is a funny guy sometimes and knows just what we need and when. He put the people I needed to meet and in situations I needed to be in to make me realize I needed to come back to the Northwest to serve Him. I was filled with such and intense desire to stay that I would not have come back to Arkansas if I didn't have anything. For the first few days after coming to know His will it would nearly bring me to tears thinking about it. I don't know if it was just His presence, the excitement of finally having a direction or what but it was intense, exciting and a bit scary. I also realized, or more like God revealed it, during the second week, which was Music Camp, that my time at Harding and in Arkansas has been my wilderness/coming of age journey that every boy needs to go through on his way to becoming a man. After seven years my journey has finally come to an end and it is time to return home. I left a boy and return a man confirmed by the Most High. Praises be to the LORD my rock.