Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus........

Today has seen alot of controversy over the new Governor of Alabama's inauguration speech.

So what's wrong with it?

According to the Internet he said the following:

"Anybody here today who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their savior, I'm telling you, you're not my brother and you're not my sister, and I want to be your brother," Bentley said Monday, his inauguration day, according to The Birmingham News.

Sounds like there was a message in side the message. Many people believe that if you do good works or you are good morally that you are a Christian......NOT SO!!! Also, he said he wanted to be their brother so in a sense he was pleading with sinners to turn to Christ.

Everyone MUST be born again. To put it simply, ask Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sins and come into your heart. You must turn away from your wicked ways and look towards the light and follow it as it shines on your path.

Friends, if you have not received Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, you are not MY brother and sister. Just because you go to church every Sunday and give offerings and do good works does not make you a Christian. But listen, I WANT TO BE YOUR BROTHER IN THE LORD!!!! So, if you aren't there yet...GET THERE!!!!

What kind of person are you........?

Are you an encourager or discourager?

When you see people in your daily walk, how do  you greet them?

When you strike up conversations, do you go directly to "the gossip" that's circulating?

How should we, as Christians, conduct ourselves?

I think we sometimes forget about what Christ Word teaches us in our "daily" walk.

If we know that our brother or sister is down we should try to encourage him and lift him up and restore him....

We should hold our brother's and sister's accountable, if we know first hand that they are falling short of what they know to do good......

If our opinion is asked, don't give the "popular" answer or what they want to hear, WWJD (What Would Jesus Do (or say))

If we feel the need to talk about our brother and sister, we should do it in private....."ON OUR KNEES"!!

None of us are perfect, but we should strive to be more like Jesus and HE was an ENCOURAGER!!!!!

My Apologies...

To the folks that have been faithful to read my blog...I apologize for my absence of postings.

I would like to give many excuses why....but will not.

Please forgive me and I will do everything in my power to do better at posting regular items here.

Please continue to pray for me and our church as we look for a Senior Pastor.

May God richly bless you in what you do for HIM and HIS KINGDOM.

JOY, JOY, JOY.......

How are you doing since the Christmas Holidays?

Do you still have the spirit of the season?

Does the true JOY still live on in your life?

True JOY is never out of our grasp or can be taken from us. The JOY of knowing we are saved from a world of sin and have a promise of tomorrow.

This reminds me of a song I learned as a child:

I've got the JOY, JOY, JOY, JOY down in my heart,
Where?
Down in my heart,
Where?
Down in my heart.
I've got the JOY, JOY, JOY, JOY down in my heart,
Down in my heart to stay!!!

Beware of Icy Conditions....

While travelling to my wife's parents for the Christmas holidays, we have to cross the state of Illinois. If you know anything about Central Illinois, you know it's FLAT. Even though there were snow storms prior to our travel the roads were in remarkable condition except a large stretch of road in, you guessed it, CENTRAL ILLINOIS.

Because of the landscape and the gusting winds, snow was being blown onto the right hand lane of the interstate and causing intermittent strips of snow covered highway. At first glance, one would think this was a bad condition with possible ice complicating travel in this lane. With alot of traffic on the road I was forced to drive in this lane for a period of time which unnerved me a little bit. But knowing that I had great tires on the vehicle we were driving and knowing that it was just a light snow that was being blown onto the highway and it was not an icy condition, I felt relatively confident driving in this particular lane.

I said all of that to say this.....

In life the enemy will blow things into our way and psych us out to think it's more than what it really is. But if we stick to the basic fundamentals and know where we are going, what type of equipment we are operating with and keep our eyes on the road ahead, we can make it through anything.

It's all in the preparation......You wouldn't start out on a trip without being prepared for it. We should not begin our sprititual journey without the same type of preparation. Worship, Prayer and Studying God's Word.

We Are the Reason.....

As little children we would dream of Christmas morn,
And all the gifts and toys, we knew we'd find,
But we never realized, a baby born one blessed night.
Gave us the greatest gift, of our lives.

We are the reason, that He gave His life,
And we are the reason that He suffered and died,
For a world that was lost He gave all He could give,
To show us the reason to live.

As the years went by, we learned more about gifts,
Giving of ourselves, and what that means,
On a dark and cloudy day a man hung crying in the rain,
Because of love, Because of love.

We are the reason, that He gave His life,
And we are the reason that He suffered and died,
For a world that was lost He gave all He give,
To how us the reason to live.

David Meece wrote this song many year's ago. It is still true today!!!!

PEACE......

As we make our way through this Christmas season, it's my prayer we would understand the true reason for our celebration.

I know when asked in a religious content question do we know the "reason for the season" we would replay Jesus is the reason. And that is all fine a good. But, do our actions speak the same thing our mouths do?

Many people do things this time of year they wouldn't ordinarily do any other time of year. Why?

Is it because they get depressed because they can't provide for their children like other families can?

Is it because we have commercialized this season and made it about the biggest, newest gadgets to give our children and grandchildren?

Maybe it's because we talk more about Santa Clause to our kids and grandkids than what the season is REALLY about.

During this time of year there should be more people feeling a greater sense of PEACE, COMFORT and JOY!!!

We might think that the great gifts we give and get during Christmas will give us great peace and make us feel special, and they might for a short period of time. But, the greater peace that sustains us all comes from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

He is the one who gives us the real PEACE!!!!