When Jesus broke down the wall of distance between our heavenly Father and us, He gave us a closeness to God that Paul emphasized again and again to the believers, especially in the Galatian church. If we keep God distant in our lives, then it is easier to deny following Him and hearing His call on our lives. There is purpose in everything God does, but our human reasoning can put barriers to the purposes of God. Hear Paul's words to the Galatian church and his call for th

When you make a commitment to "step out" and say, "Here am I, send me," you are putting a target on your back that is being hunted by satan. So what do we do, quit? I think not. Our Almighty Father is right here with us, and he watches the steps of His children and leads us, if we will listen. It is so easy to get overwhelmed by life and all of its foibles, but we are exhorted by God Himself to have faith and keep on moving. So we do. God spoke these words to Joshua in

Scoffer (def) - a person who mocks or makes fun of someone or something, often of religion or moral values. The moment you take a firm stand on believing "all" of God's Word, the scoffers will come in force. God is not sending them, by the way. These are false prophets, whether official or not. 2 Peter 3: 3  Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. 4  They will say, “What happened t

When you do things, why do you do them? What is your motivation? When you give to your church, what is happening in your heart? For some, it is a matter of duty. To others, a matter of power and position. And the goal should be "giving out of love", no matter what the action. When you speak to someone, why do you say what you say/. What is your motivation? Is it to influence, tear down, or belittle? To be pure in your motives is a good thing, but many times being tha

We are all capable of forming and organizing a religious belief, because we have inherently in each of us a desire to have a god. The Romans were polytheistic,so they believed in many different religions, and thus some real "doozies" can come out of that weird belief system. Religions are a huge part of our world, and the desire to fill this black hole in our hearts comes up with many opinions about how to fill it. Thus, the formation of religions that are based on man's r

John 3: He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less. Strong words by John the Baptist as he realized the "real" salvation, or the Messiah, was truly here and working. Jesus' ministry that went on for 3 years and culminated with His death, burial, and resurrection was moving forward, and John did not offer what mankind needed, but Jesus did. We all need to come to the realization that there must be more Jesus seen in our lives of less of us. This

I love the scripture in Proverbs (NASB) 27: 17  As iron sharpens iron, So one person sharpens another. NLT - 17  As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend. ESV - 17  Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. When reading these three different versions of scripture, it is easy to see that the correct kind of friendship is a must. In other words, there are proper and soul-building friendships that cause us to grow stronger in our faith walk, and there are

We cannot minimize what happens to a lost person who is born again in the Spirit. And we should never make it a usual, "whatever" type of thing in our thinking, because that is a life that was bound for eternal damnation that is now saved from it and ushered into an abundance of living! To some, those may seem like just a bunch of "church" words that all people who call themselves inherited to say. If you have made them empty words that have no depth in them, it is time to

Life is all about decisions, and for the born-again believer, it is about following God's will in all things. But it is tough, and second-hand information can lead us down a primrose path and not down the narrow path God has set before us. This is why pursuing the truth of the Word of God is so vital!! The early church in America was sent down a path that may or may not have been reliable, as the personal opinions and "leanings" of one or two Christian leaders set into moti

Blood is life. Without our blood, we will die. When we get low on blood, we are weak and almost lifeless. Blood is necessary for us to live physically, and the blood of Jesus is necessary for us to live spiritually. Leviticus 17: 11 For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life. We are nothing without the shed blood of Jesus, for it covers our sins

For years, I have been trying to get some clarity about the significance of baptism. Not the church "ordinance" of baptism, but the spiritual ramifications of being baptized, and it can be a little confusing if you look at it through religious reasoning. SO I WON'T!! I received Jesus by faith when I was 11 years old, and I was baptized three weeks later. When I went into the baptistry, I did not "feel" some strange heightened awareness of the water and the people out ther

So, we get all pumped up and God has put a burden on your heart, and what is next? As I mentioned in my previous blog, we start with prayer. I don't just go "ok, where do we go now?) Even though that works for some. I tend to realize how God has enabled me with certain strengths and natural abilities and ask Him to blow those up more in my life. If I have a burden for discipling new converts, then a plan to make that happen needs to be implemented and thought over with mu

There are very few detail people in this world, and we sometimes think just saying something is enough of a standard, but in reality, it is "just talk." We already have talking heads trying to talk us into certain things. "Talk is cheap!" But talk without action can begin to dig us into a "rut" that gets increasingly deep, to the point that we cannot get out of it. Action is the plan of those who have a faith walk with Jesus. Jesus was a man of action when He walked on th

With the growth of social media, images have become a huge thing to hang our hats on. Women (and men) spend a tremendous amount of money on certain types of makeup to make themselves look young or younger. Particle 61 is an anti-aging cream that supposedly takes off 20 years of wear and tear on our skin. When dealing with skin and our brains, age does kick in, and the end result is a different look than what we want many times. There is a cure for this aging process, but

Today marks three weeks since the doctor took out my left knee and replaced it with a new metal one. It sounds like such a small, little thing, but it was a huge help, even with all the pain. My pain has been very manageable, though, and the new knee really bends very smoothly, and now I go from here. Where is my old knee? Thrown out for sure because there is no need for it anymore. Arthritis was thrown out with it. Yay!!! This is the real "all things new." God is all a

There is a worldly side to faith and a spiritual side to faith. You can probably guess which one born-again believers should be tied into. The world has polluted our minds with too much information, making us pass over the most powerful and perfect information, and that is the Word of God. This indoctrination by a lost and dying world has short-circuited our faith and turned it into a weak and lackluster thing that has no power, because it has been compromised. I know bel

Where do you get your truth from? For many years, Christians, church going people have been getting their truth from a second-hand source. This kind of practice is our AI response to the Word of God. You may say how? The study of God's word for one's life has been replaced with a third-party practice that involves just reading the Word and not applying the Word. The Word of God is alive, and its truths are perfect, but falling short of taking the next vital step will rob

It seems like we have been in a fog for many years, and when in that fog, mediocrity and "settling" begin to creep in without us knowing...

Genesis 12:1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I...

When ministering in North Carolina a few years ago, we were able to lease a condo on the second row on Topsail Island, and the town was...