Watch this humorously informative short video First...
First, the disclaimer: This is a mere example; it doesn't mean that all fellowships have "issues" such as the ones illustrated below.
You can't help but to see them from time to time; the flashy suit, the tie, and the Cheshire grin. Yup, it's the resident super Christian of the First Whatever Church in Anyville, USA…and he wants EVERYONE to notice him!He writes the name and amount of the offering on the envelope extra large so that all can see how much he tithes.He conspicuously handles the envelope just before the offering, and while he places it in the basket.He's the one that boasts about how he paid for the bulk of the expenses of the recent church project.He continually arrogantly brings up all the time he spends "serving" in the community.He complains about the ones who wear jeans to fellowship, and he may have even talked about you when you weren't there!He the one who says in an audible manner; "yeah, I saw brother Smith at the EZ Mart last night; he was buying a 12 pack of beer, that must be reason why he isn't showing until the 11 am service". Another one in the gossip circle says "yeah he's hung over"! They quiet down as you pass by to go to the sanctuary.
If you have found yourself in one of these speculative conversations ask yourself if you have the right to condemn the man for his transgression, or is it between that person and God.
Pitifully, this goes on allot! This reminds me of the Pharisees!That's right, we have modern day Pharisees attending our churches of today.
Luke 18:9-14 (New International Version)
9.) To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: 10.) "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11.) The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12.) I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get!
13.) "But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' 14.) "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
(the below text was extracted from www.jesuswalk.com)
Now Jesus, the storyteller, sets the figures into action.
"The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men -- robbers, evildoers, adulterers -- or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.' " (18:11-12)
Jews often stood as they prayed, looking up to heaven, often with hands raised. Look at the telling statement "prayed about himself." The preposition pros can be translated "about" (NIV), "with reference/regard to," but it could also be rendered "to" (NIV margin), "toward, towards, to." It could mean that he prayed silently, though the normal practice was to pray aloud, but quietly.
But his entire prayer is about himself. He thanks God -- not for blessings -- but that he isn't a sinner like others. He first lists those who were known to be evil: robbers, Greek harpax, "swindler or rogue" ,evildoers, unrighteous people in general, and adulterers. Then he compares himself to the nearby tax collector.
He also reminds God of how pious he is -- fasting and tithing. Pharisees developed the practice of fasting on Mondays and Thursdays to intercede for the nation as a whole. Pharisees far exceeded the requirements of the law in this regard. They scrupulously tithed or gave one tenth (Greek apodektaoo) on everything they acquired, even down to the herbs in their garden (11:23). As Jesus tells the story, I can almost hear a ripple of laughter sweep over the crowd. They all recognize the type of Pharisee Jesus is describing, and are amused. Jesus' description might have been a slight caricature of the Pharisees, but not too much of a stretch.
"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' " (18:13)
Notice the tax collector's posture. Jesus describes three kinds of body language before he voices the tax collector's prayer.
Standing at a distance. He doesn't feel worthy to draw close to God or the temple.
Not raising his eyes to heaven, but standing with head level or bowed, as a sign of his sense of guilt.
Beating his breast. Though we don't see many instances of this in scripture is a sign of mourning, Josephus, a Pharisee who lived a few decades after Jesus, described David's mourning for his son Absalom in this way: "David ... wept for his son, and beat his breast, tearing [the hair of] his head, tormenting himself all manner of ways...."
The tax collector's prayer is remarkable and short. First, he addresses God, just as the Pharisee had done.
Next, instead of telling God all the good things about himself, he describes himself as a sinner, hamartolos, "pertaining to behavior or activity that does not measure up to standard moral or cultic expectations, 'sinner.' "Notice that he makes no excuses for his behavior, offers no mitigating circumstances. He is confessing his sinfulness before God and taking full responsibility for it.
Finally, he asks for mercy, Greek hilaskomai, "to cause to be favorably inclined or disposed, 'propitiate, conciliate.' When used in the passive, of one addressed in prayer, to act as one who has been conciliated, 'be propitiated, be merciful or gracious.' " was expecting to see the common Greek word eleeo, "to be greatly concerned about someone in need, 'have compassion/mercy/pity on or for someone.' "The difference between the two words is significant. Hilaskomai calls for forgiveness from one who has been wronged, while eleeo asks for compassion and pity for one in tragic circumstances.
For the tax collector to ask for forgiveness and restoration of his relationship with God is a bold and faith-filled act for a man so despised by his society. He is obviously humble and repentant of his sins, but his faith has made him bold to ask for something that he has no right to expect -- forgiveness and restoration before God.
(end of extracted text from www.jesuswalk.com)
In Closing…
We need to make sure that when we are doing things for our fellowship that it's in the service of God and not just to be seen by the fellowship to gain favor.Friends will be gained in due time as you get to know folks.We should NEVER show a façade of service just to gain accolades! Our motivation for doing things should be God given drive to serve!Our serving should be where we have God given gifts and skills to do the job, if it's possible!
Philippians 2:3 (New International Version)
3.) Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
Watch this video First! It is amusing! Nothing is blatantly wrong with it, but I would recommend parental guidance for those under 14 years old. Remember, the behaviors in the video are to show how image conscience we tend to be!
How many times have we paused in front of the mirror just to see every flaw that we have? How many times have we anguished in our thoughts; "oh no...another blemish on my face", "I have got to loose those extra pounds", "I need to have money to be accepted", "I need to have that car to show that I am successful", "I need that designer shirt and pants to fit with the "in" crowd". In some way or another I believe we have ALL been there friends . Our looks and style become sort of a competition. Some of us feel that we need to keep up with the latest trends to feel better about ourselves, or to look good to others. We sometimes even criticize others because of the way they look, or act. We tend to adjust our image to match what we think is the benchmark of success. Image to some is much deeper than skin. Sometimes image is all a soul has, this can lead to some sad valleys in the walk of life.
EXAMPLE ONE
You can see it in neighborhoods all over America. John gets a raise and bonus at work and buys a brand new shiny black Ford F - 250 pick up truck. Eddie, John's friend and neighbor sees the visible measure of John's success and is reminded that he isn't as successful in the money world. Eddie; feeling horribly inadequate in the eyes of himself and his friends, makes a rash decision. A red Chevy Silverado 2500HD catches his eyes on the way home from work. He knows that he is in for a struggle if he buys this vehicle, but he feels he must have this to feel and look successful. He strives for the illusion of image adequacy, but is bound by reality.
EXAMPLE TWO
A young lady in Anytown, USA. Kate is a delightful young lady. Kind, intelligent, and quick witted once you get to know her. Kate is a likable person. She spends allot of time in front of the mirror. No, her hair is fine. She isn't overweight. It's those awful pimples and black heads. She spends hours trying to hide them by covering them with make up, but it's no use...they still show...bad! She feels as if she can never have friends with those awful zits. She doesn't speak as much as the others; therefore, she doesn't get noticed for who she actually is. She feels the stares as she walks with her head hung low.
Those stories reflect the tendencies of humanity to dwell too much on image. Those situations are fictitous examples, but they are similar to what I have witnessed in the past years.
Lets be honest here. In some way we have all been a victim or a flaunter of image; it's a part of our human nature!
What can we do?
First and foremost we need to know that God could care less if we drive a shiny car, have facial flaws, or 100,000 dollars in checking. He is our father! He loves us dearly, enough to have his child become human, "skin and bones". For us he experienced: pain, sorrow, horror, agony, temptation, hate, disbelief, abandonment, and death. While experiencing all of this he gave glory to father God!
Our excess value of image has everything to do with us, and nothing to do with serving our savior. It is pride, no other word for it.
Some steps to recovery...
Acknowledge that the image stigma effects us all. Ask the Holy Spirit that dwells within to make us notice immediately when we are wrongfully noticing our image or others image. We need to know that how we look to others doesn't amount to a hill of beans compared to the treasure we have waiting for us in heaven! Love ourselves and others for soul value, not face value. We all should remember that we are the children of a King who have the fathers love within. You will find this a whole lot easier as you grow in tenure as a Christ follower. Will we be perfect from now on? No, I didn't say that...we DEPEND on our father continually for guidance. All we need to do is confess the mistakes, turn from them, and live!
Ecclesiastes 2:11 (New International Version)
11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 5:10 (New International Version)
10 Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless.
Ecclesiastes 11:10 (New International Version)
10 So then, banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body, for youth and vigor are meaningless.
Psalm 49:11-20
11 Their tombs will remain their houses forever, their dwellings for endless generations, though they had named lands after themselves.
12 But man, despite his riches, does not endure; he is like the beasts that perish.
13 This is the fate of those who trust in themselves, and of their followers, who approve their sayings. Selah
14 Like sheep they are destined for the grave, and death will feed on them. The upright will rule over them in the morning; their forms will decay in the grave, far from their princely mansions.
15 But God will redeem my life from the grave; he will surely take me to himself. Selah
16 Do not be overawed when a man grows rich, when the splendor of his house increases;
17 for he will take nothing with him when he dies, his splendor will not descend with him.
18 Though while he lived he counted himself blessed and men praise you when you prosper-
19 he will join the generation of his fathers, who will never see the light of life .
20 A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish.
If only we objected to sin the same way we object to the foods we don't like.
Watch this video of objection below before reading on!
If we could only be that animate in objecting to sin!!!
One word...WOW!!!
The third weekend of October of 1979, I was eight years old and at the Pensacola Interstate Fair.Like any eight year old I loved the fair rides and fair foods.In between the excitement of the fair rides and the exhibits I wanted some cotton candy and a coke.I got the large cotton candy along with the large coke to wash it down.I remember it like it was yesterday.The fair ride called the "scrambler" caught my eye.I stuck my sticky, grubby hands into my pocket and pulled out a wadded up string of tickets and eagerly waited in line as I joyously finished devouring my treats.Finally, MY TURN!I hurriedly passed off my tickets to the ride operator and boarded the "scrambler".The scrambler lived up to its name.My tummy was scrambled and I barfed!To this day I haven't eaten any more cotton candy.
Folks tend not to eat foods that they dislike, nor do they eat foods that have made them sick in the past.
Like the foods that makes a person sick, sinfulness can make you ill too.I for one can attest to that!
Here are some signs of sin: worry, mental strife, misery, guilt, remorse, depression, anger, frustration, and severe stress.
All of these can make you physically ill!
They can cause: Nausea, vomiting, tremors, nightmares, panic attacks, irregular heartbeat, irrational behavior, and much more.
Why do people go back to a transgression after it has caused such misery?Could it be that the taste of the indulgence is so sweet that one is willing to suffer the consequences just to partake of the moment in time?
The very thought of cotton candy still repulses me! Unlike the reaction to offending foods we tend not to ascertain that it is our sin that makes us despondent.The symptoms make us so ill we cry out to our master for deliverance. Our souls are not equipped to handle those signs and symptoms.God doesn't want us to reach the point of desperation. God wants us to lean on him daily to stay spiritually healthy. Our sin results in infirmity.The sickness drives us to the cross. It is by God's design. Christ said "my yoke is easy"
Matthew 11 (Today's New International Version)
28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
In my first writings I indicated that my purpose is to illustrate my changing life as I learn to walk closer to Christ. By walking in the light, our wisdom will forever be expanded by the master of our lives, Jesus Christ. I am learning to lean on Christ daily! A relationship with Christ is an everyday fixation on the master.I am learning with every approaching challenge to give my burdens to Jesus. Praise God! He has taken the weight of it off. He walks by our side carrying the burden.He sees us through the trials of this fallen world.
The scope of this blog is to illustrate that sin can indeed make you sick. Our spirits can't cope with these types of sickness alone. God did not design us to live independent of him. The fact that we are showing the symptoms of mental turmoil prompts to stay close to the master while suffering through it. I was not pointing out that sin is the basis of all sicknesses. Anger, depression, and severe stress are all "signs" of an individual attempting to govern his or her life independent of God; they are not a final indication. If a body has a chemical imbalance in the brain, indeed it is the physical make up of the individual's body that has caused the illness. However the person's physical condition doesn't preclude the individual from taking it to the cross. These words are still important to the one suffering from the results of nervous system chemical imbalances, evil manifestations, and individuals who are attempting to live a life independent of the master.
I am amazed at how many folks acknowledge the existence of the supernatural realm, BUT they are QUICK to look away from the idea of a superior, supernatural God.They are THREE TIMES QUICKER to point at the UFO's, ghosts, psychics, and the zodiac sciences. Could it be that they are afraid that they may be accountable to a superior being?
Let's explore, shall we?
I'm reminded that their are many that have NO CLUE of what God; our father through Christ, is all about. They have never felt the supernatural embrace or connection; the spirit side of them is asleep; numb to this wonderful, supernatural relationship.Closed minded they strive to illustrate we "just happened".
Fellow believer; before we get too deep, this is a reminder to do what Jesus has commanded! All of us; including me, must think on the cutting edge to harvest souls for Christ so that he can bring them into the kingdom with his advocacy to the Father, God.
Matthew 9
37.) Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.
38.) Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
On occasion we can see, hear, and feel this intriguing supernatural realm. Some folks seem to be more sensitive than others. Since it seems like supernatural occurrence and phenomenon is more frequent these days I will start with the bad guys so you can see what's most visible and prevalent in these times.
The Evil One and his agents:
They have the ability to influence the EARTH, that's ALL that we lay our eyes on...including US and what is (apparently) visible, but we can't put our hands on. Examples, UFO's, Ghosts, disembodied voices, and feelings that one is not alone. Evil also is able to influence our thoughts IF we entertain the occult arts; horoscopes, death date guessing data bases, palm readers, fortune tellers, even right down to those silly fortune cookies. EVIL will stop at nothing to get us off the path of thinking right. If it takes a few UFO's, the psychic hotlines, and Oprah Winfrey to get us off the path of thinking right, evil forces will do it! They are clever in design and very convincing. They may not appear evil, but when you boil the hodgepodge down the sludge that remains is evil. You see it all around you.... murder, rape, torture, and worse...much worse.What was considered as soft porn in 1985 is now pg13.Hollywood smugly smiles as it pumps its vomit into the living rooms of America.We are accepting the immoral teachings of the world by allowing our children to view this garbage without guidance or censorship.I have canceled the television cable until the fall, simply because I have no use for television.In the fall football returns, and so does the cable box.
Obadiah 1:3
The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, 'Who can bring me down to the ground?'
2 Timothy 3:13
while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
God:
Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
God has control of "Heaven", the world we could go to. He has control of this world, but humanity is of free will and has fallen as a whole. We (gave up) eternity in the present Earth we are standing in THOUSANDS OF GENERATIONS AGO when we originally listened to the evil one and violated God's Trust. We lost our "original eternity" Worse; EVIL was loosed on the Earth. From that moment of violation the Earth began to die, and the clock started ticking, "time" began. Everything; including us, has an expiration date. From that point of original transgression we were to: be born, to live, to age, and to die. Like a tree sapling that first breaks through the earth; it grows, lives, and falls back to the earth in its death. We are in likeness to that!
We are on the clock people, tick tock, tick tock.We are the reason for time; we now have "time" to make the choice; good, or evil.
Some want to be independent of God. Evil's endless pleasures can often last as long as your clock is ticking, sometimes the pleasure turns into hell on Earth while the clock ticks are as loud as thunder in the poor souls ears while he strains at the evil yoke as Satan laughs. A ten-year cocaine high can't hold a candle to eternity in heaven.
Jesus:
Jesus is God's son that became human. Jesus was 100% God, and 100% man. Becoming human skin and bones he endured abandonment by his friends, humiliation, unimaginable pain, rejection, temptation from the evil one, and unbelievable grief. While suffering all of this he glorified his father! When mankind killed him he took our wrong doing upon himself. By doing this he took our sins: past, present, and future! The blood of Jesus covers our sin. The best news was God resurrected him from the grave!
Isaiah 53:7
He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its Shearer's is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
Jesus is our advocate to Father God, we can't approach God, and we must go through Jesus with our prayers.We have ABSOULTLEY no right to call God our father unless we go through Jesus.
The Holy Spirit:
Before Jesus ascended back into heaven he left a comforter to dwell within our souls. The Holy Spirit dwells within us and advises and guides us. The Holy Spirit guides our consciousness to correct thinking and behavior. The spirit admonishes us when we transgress, and comforts us by reminding us of God's presence in troubled times.
John 14:16-17
16.) And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever 17.) the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you
If one wants eternity they must learn the easy yoke of Godliness' with Jesus as the advocate for them. All one needs to do is confess the wrong doing "sins" and turn away from the them, we also need to admit that we know the only way to God is through the son, Jesus. We are still on the dying Earth in this life and subject to its horrors due to the original sin, but our eternal life is safe in Heaven!
The path to Heaven can be chock full of trials, but the reward is great if one keeps focused on Christ. If a person is truly saved the Holy Spirit will drive and guide them to repentance if they should wonder from the Holy path.It is VERY DIFFICULT for one who is truly saved to remain in sin for long. The reward for serving and believing in Christ is eternity in Heaven, that's forever folks! Sometimes folks get multiple blessings for serving God while living in the restraints of time on Earth, and some do not.It is by God's design. We have eternity, why worry about the mansion on the hill when we have eternity in heaven? If we believe and worship God we need to maintian the drive to serve, and disciple our fellow man for Jesus. Rember, if we are in Christ we exist FOREVER AND JOIN our creator, father God. The world we are going to will never die, and ROT in a grave. No more pain.... no more hunger...no more evil.
Matthew 7:14
13.) Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.
14.) But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Why doesn't God stop the murder, rape, and other atrocities?
We are ALL subject to the carnality of this fallen world due to our original transgression. We live in a lost, broken, and fallen world where death, struggling, and evil are all around us. While we are in our flesh we still are subject to the evil of this world's horror and atrocities.
If we choose the path of salvation the reward is ETERNITY in heaven. No pain, no sorrow, no hunger, no strife, no loneliness, no murder, no rape, no violence, NO DEATH!
Keep in mind…
IF WE ARE IN CHRIST We can STILL die a horrible death, and face the worst violations of our bodies, but when we leave this world we WILL be with our God in eternal heaven...AND NOTHING HORRIBLE WE FACED HERE will matter THERE! We live forever... All of the atrocities that we see around us are not of the world we will go to if we are in Christ.
1 Thessalonians 5
4.) But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. 5.) You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 6.) So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. 7.) For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8.) But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. 9.) For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10.) He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. 11.) Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
SOME OTHER POINTS…
We NEED TO open our mind, heart, AND SOUL and quit trying to live under our OWN power. We can't do it by ourselves, that's why we struggle so much...God wants us to trust him AND RELY ON HIM.
I have confessed my sins to Christ!I am under the blood of the new covenant; Jesus is my advocate to the father God. It is through Jesus that I have a right to call God my father. The Holy Spirit to lives within my soul and governs my conscience.It is impossible for me to transgress without feeling the conviction of God driving me to repent immediately.
I am an imperfect man on a journey to my master Jesus in heaven where many folks I know who have been promoted before me are going to be. I mess up from time to time; but one thing is a fact, I am saved. I get back up, repent, and re-assume my Holy walk.
Learning the Christian walk should be similar to the first steps of a child. Those first steps are uneasy and unbalanced as the baby learns to hold it's body upright and put one foot in front of the other.The child often falls as he learns to walk towards it's fathers arms, but with each fall the baby rises again; more determined, and more driven to get to his or her father's arms.
It is a shame so many folks fall away from fellowship in this walk.They hear the devils lies accusing them of sin that is forgiven forever. Sadly, they fade away from the walk as the evil ones lies and accusation thunder in their conscience.What happened? I'll tell you, and I ain't afraid.It's down right SORRY lazy discipleship.They believed Satan's lies because their Christian brothers and sisters who have made it through those crucial first years of a Christian life HAVE FORGOTTEN how Satan attacked them!They have failed to prepare the person.
Matthew 28:19-20
19.) Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20.) and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Morality is spiraling out of control as modesty is forgotten. This Earth is passing away NOW; the planet is in its death convulsions. To see this just turn on the WORLD news at 5:30 pm and you will see the proof!
Originally written 5 / 8 / 08 on myspace blogs. About five years ago on a date that I can’t put my finger on I finally FULLY believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and finally…really, took him as my Lord and Savior. I had always believed in God and prayed often, but had doubts and other foolish curiosities. All of the other curiosities I had about our origins faded away.I ran to the father’s arms, he welcomed me and put on back on my feet. On my feet is where I have been ever since.Five years is a lot of time.In those years there have been many people who have been in and out of my life.I’m in quite a retrospective mood today.I feel that writing about the people who were there in the past years is appropriate at this juncture.
Family is family; of course, they are the very deepest of my inspiration and have laid the framework for me to establish my home and life!
My precious daughter Mackenzie is my greatest gift from God and her existence helps me stay focused on the cross.
The folks below are not blood related, but spiritually related. That is the scope of this article; Spiritually related Christian brothers and sisters. All of the folks below have helped me immensely in my Christian walk.
Free Ammons:
The FIRST friend to ever call me “their best friend in the whole world”.It shook me up good when he said that, but I never let him know...ha ha! I will always remember this kid!He has no idea how bright and gifted he is.It was cool to watch him grow from a little boy to a young man.
Jamie Ammons:
I am like 2 – 678 against him in Madden Football.Thanks for the company and killing time with me!Thanks for listening to me ramble on about stuff you had absolutely no interest in. I’m proud of you man! You are getting it done!
Simon and Tammy Ammons:
Simon was always there for me at the right place and the right time.I remember I had 13.45 in my pocket, and I was unemployed.He asked me if I wanted to come along on an out of town industrial shutdown and pretend that I was an ironworker for about six weeks. That pulled me out of a financial bind.
Argo:
You can’t possibly be bored around this guy.I have spent many hours on his front porch talking about life.I have grilled many pounds of ribs and beef on my old Weber grill around there.The cave man style cookouts were an all time favorite of the many friends that we all hang out with. The age range of attendance was 3 to 53, good times! There is just something about eating ribs right off the grill that speaks to maleness.The bulk of my friends that hung out around Argo’s were old school kick-start Harley enthusiasts.We all got along; well, most of the time!
Jim and Betty Stewart:
The folks who I paid my rent to.They always understood when I couldn’t muster the rent money on time.When I paid my late rent money they never accepted a penny over what the rent was.If their was left over food they always made sure I got a plate when I was down on my luck, or just because.Rest in Peace Jim!
Family Worship and Reverend Julian Walker:
The first fellowship that counted after not attending fellowship for 19 years.I finally began to learn the truth about Jesus.Thanks to this fellowship I began to sing my heart song to Christ, thanks to Pastor Walker’s teachings, wisdom, and prayer.Pastor Walker was there to speak at Jim’s funeral.I am honored that God directed me to Family Worship.God, through that fellowship helped Jim come back to the cross.Praise God!
Harvest Outreach Church and Pastor Bobby Lepinay:
I discovered zeal along with biblical relevance in worship that I so direly needed.There is something special about the wisdom and spiritual gifting of this fellowship.I truly connected with God and I am still unpacking my spiritual gifts from God thanks to this fellowship teaching me how to enjoy my life. I discovered contemporary worship where I really became engrained in the worship along with learning the word.
Myspace…YES, myspace:
I was pleasantly surprised to find so many Christians within this online community.There are many genuine folks in the myspace Christian community.Many are unselfish and willing to pray for you, and do pray for you.There are MANY awesome people full of talent and wisdom!It seems like many of us are on the same page as far as the way we follow Christ.I wish that my friend’s list were a fellowship assembly in my hometown, which would be a powerful church!
I am having a little difficulty seeking a new fellowship to call home due to moving away from Pensacola last year.I know I will eventually find a good fit, and a worship home.
I thank and ask God to bless EVERYONE who has been in my life during the past critical years!
……………………..AND NOW THE HOME RUN !!
When we TRULY take the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior and purpose in life we hit the home run!We have to round the bases touching each base to make it count.Sometimes we can fall and sustain spiritual Injury on our way home.As Christians we need each other to help us around the bases.The video below is a shining example of what Christians should do for each other on our journey through life while on our way to heavenly promotion.
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