PAUL SAYS TO LET GO AND LET GOD!!!

“Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethern, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,”

(Philippians 3:12-13, NASB).

The world and Satan will tell you that what influences your future and present life is your past……If you came from a difficult home environment, that is going to determine the direction of your life; If you were abused as a child, that history will strangle you and cause you to struggle with your past for the rest of your life; If you experience racism or discrimination, that will dictate the condition of your life today…It does not have to be this way!!!

What Paul is trying to say here in the book of Philippians is that as a Christian he is to strive to be like Christ and that he has not obtained that fully yet, but the one thing he is doing right is that he has learned to forget his past and look to the wonderful future God has in store for him! Christians are to live in freedom because Christ has overcome our past!……“the old things passed away; behold new things have come” (2 Cor. 5:17b).

GOD HAS TOTALLY FORGIVEN THE CHRISTIAN’S SIN AND HE CHOOSES NOT TO REMEMBER IT! (Isa. 43:25)……

We as Christians do not forget the past, but we are not to be controlled or motivated by it……God gives us HOPE to look to the future with; hope through His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ!……We have the Holy Spirit helping us to conform into the image of Christ……While the world is concerned with what they are overcoming, the Christian is dealing with the process of what they are becoming……Christians need not be concerned with their past or their future, because once we have accepted Jesus as our personal Savior and Lord, our past is forgiven and forgotten by God and our future is anchored in the blood of Jesus and full of wonderful, exciting, and glorious things that we cannot imagine!!!!

I want to state this as clear as I possibly can and encourage you to let go of your past…Number One; if you are a Christian and you are continuing to be preoccupied with your past, pray and ask God to help you do what Paul did - put Satan behind you, open your eyes to the incredible future that is awaiting you, and press on to what lies ahead…Number Two; if you have never asked and accepted Jesus into your heart as your personal Savior and Lord, pray to receive Him and allow Him to erase your past sins and give you a new present and future to live for Him and Him alone!!!!

As Christ Followers we are to strive to be perfect as Jesus was and is, but we need to remember that it is a slow process and we will never reach perfection in this earthly life; that will be a part of the wonderful and incredible future God has in store for each one of us…

Instead of holding onto your past and letting Satan hold onto your future, just

“Let Go and Let God”!!!!!

Yes, Church Is To Be A Priority In Our Lives!

How many of you that went to church this past Sunday considered going somewhere else before finally deciding to go to church? Or were you one of the many that didn't even consider going to church, but always seem to have something "more important" to do? NOW, BE HONEST!

The world has so much to offer all of us every day of our lives and almost every hour of every day….If not somewhere else to go then something to watch on TV or to do on the internet.

I have heard comments from “When I go hunting or fishing I meet with God through His nature and have church…I don’t have to be IN church to have church!”…to…”I pray before, during, and after the Super Bowl Game, therefore its just as if I were in church!” And my favorite; "I went to church today - I watched it on TV."

Its true; you don’t have to be in a church to have church, and I understand that there are times when everyone must miss a service every-now-and-then due to family commitments or extenuating circumstances….BUT, there is something special and satisfying about being in “corporate worship”; worshiping with like fellow believers and seeking the blessings of the Lord as you worship with one another.

I do understand that going into a church doesn’t MAKE you a CHRISTIAN any more than standing in a garage MAKES you a CAR, or walking into a McDonalds MAKES you a QUARTERPOUNDER!! But I also believe that if someone desires to have personal and group revival to come into their lives, they must understand how important coming together in “corporate worship” really is to accomplish “TRUE REVIVAL”.

The Bible has something to say about meeting together to worship God….....

"And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." (Hebrews 10:24 – 25).

Church will be “central” in your life and a priority for you if you have made Jesus Christ the TOP PRIORITY in your life!!
Lets look today at 5 things that we must do to make church a priority in our lives and, therefore, get closer to a “true revival” THAT MUST begin in our own personal lives.

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First………YOU MUST PRESERVE THE SANCTITY OF SUNDAY!

Please understand that Sunday is NOT THE SABBATH!…..God intended this day to be a day of rest; Sunday is “the Lord’s day” and HE OWNS IT.....We must preserve and respect the “SANCTITY” of this day for the purpose of meeting to WORSHIP HIM !!!!

The world is seeking to make Sunday “just another day of the week”…..For example, youth sports (baseball, soccer, football, etc) schedule games, and sometimes practices, during church service times; schools are now planning activities on Sundays and Wednesday evenings; you will notice that all of the major Hollywood and entertainment awards shows are scheduled and broadcast on Sunday nights during church time; more and more professional sporting events are moving into church times; sadly enough, many times, extra-carricular activities within the church are planned for youth, as well as older adults, so as to take people away from church services…….And there are many more things that interfere with attending “corporate worship” services.

How do we handle this? How do we NOT allow ourselves to be distracted by these things from the world? First we must personally decide, "Who will I serve; the world or God?" We must ask ourselves, "What is truly my top priority?"......Is it God???

THEN we MUST decide to make God our top priority and SERVE HIM; NOT THE WORLD!!! We also must boldly stand strong in our commitment and decide that we will not do anything that takes us away from worshiping and serving God on a consistent basis.

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Second……YOU MUST PREPARE BEFORE YOU ARRIVE.

Have you ever showed up for a test that you did not prepare or study for ??? I have and believe me it is no fun when you have spent all your time NOT PREPARING and you show up and your lost! We must spend at least a LITTLE BIT of our time preparing for each upcoming worship service reading from God’s Word, allowing God to calm and prepare our hearts, and praying and asking God to give us the right frame of mind and attitude to receive His Message……If you knew for a fact that Jesus was physically going to be in church next week, would you prepare for Him? WELL, HE IS GOING TO BE THERE!!!
One day a man visited a church and he noticed right off how everyone treated each other with rude attitudes and were mean to one another, including the worship leader and the pastor….At the end of the service, as he was leaving, he could not help but ask a deacon standing at one the exits, “Does everyone treat each other like this all the time?” and the deacon responded by saying proudly, “Why yes! This is an every week ocurance.”….The man then asked, “How can you all act like that in front of Jesus every week?”…The deacon responded, “Oh, we don’t have to worry about that….Jesus hasn’t been here for years!” This sadly is true in too many of our churches today.

WE MUST PREPARE TO SEE JESUS EVERY TIME WE COME TO CHURCH AND WE MUST COME SEEKING HIM!!!

I have heard some say, “I come to church, but I just don’t get anything out of it”…….My response to them is, “Did you come to church PREPARED to receive something and were you seeking Jesus?”
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Next..........YOU MUST PRAY FOR GOD TO WORK.

We have not – OR RECEIVE NOT - because we ask not!

Too many times people come and sit and just “DO CHURCH”, OR JUST GO THROUGH THE MOTIONS……..How many of you have ever asked God to do something great and fantastic in any church service you have attended? DID YOU KNOW THAT GOD IS STILL WORKING TODAY AND DOING INCREDIBLE AND MIRACULOUS THINGS IN PEOPLE’S AND IN CHURCH'S LIVES! We should pray at the beginning of every church meeting or service, individually and corporately, and expect God to answer our prayers and move!

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Fourth...............YOU MUST PARTICIPATE AND NOT JUST SPECTATE.

No matter how much we want to ignore it or try to avoid admitting it, it is true; we have some who just like to come and applaud and cheer-on the work of others…….WE ALL NEED TO GET INVOLVED! What have you done on Sunday to service the Master? What will you have done by the end of this week for His service?

PARTICIPATION IS WHEN YOU PUT YOUR HAND TO THE PLOW!!
It is not just sitting on the porch, rocking, and telling the mule and the farmer what a good job they are doing and cheering them on!

Everyone can do something, such as;
Ø Help hold a baby
Ø Hold a door for someone
Ø Sing in the choir
Ø Help with the sound
Ø Help with the children
Ø Help with the teens
Ø Help by volunteering to be an usher
Ø Volunteer to arrange the books and envelopes on the backs of the pews before the service
Ø Volunteer to help clean up and organize everything after each service
Ø Be willing to walk around the sanctuary before each service and greet each and every person present and ask them sincerely how they are doing
Ø Be willing to meet with the Pastor before each service to have prayer for that particular service and for those who are present
Ø Be willing to respond quickly and without hesitation before, during, and after each service when an unexpected need arises
Ø The list can go on and on and on…………..

The key here is to do something FOR JESUS, allow yourself to be an instrument IN HIS HAND, and BE FAITHFUL IN ALL THAT YOU DO FOR HIM! Being faithful is what God asks of each of us and being faithful is what pleases Him.
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AND FINALLY…….YOU MUST PRACTICE WHAT YOU LEARN!!

COMING TO CHURCH IS ONE OF THE GREATEST OPPORTUNITIES FOR US TO GAIN KNOWLEDGE FOR CHRIST!

James 1:22 says, “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.”

When we come into the House Of God to hear the Word Of God, should we not be prepared to write down what God has to say to us, so as to remember it? Is what God has to say important?

How many of you can remember what the preacher preached about last week? How many of you can remember God’s message for you from the week before? How about 3 weeks ago? How about 2 or 3 months ago?

EVERYBODY SHOULD COME ARMED WITH PEN AND PAPER EVERY TIME THE WORD OF GOD IS TO BE PREACHED AND TAUGHT AND BE PREPARED TO WRITE DOWN NOTES FROM THE SERMON SO YOU CAN LOOK BACK ON THEM AND REMEMBER WHAT WAS SAID AND WHAT YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO DO……YOU CAN NOT DO WHAT YOU CAN NOT REMEMBER!!!

I am going to ask you to get a pen and paper out right now and write these 5 things down (or just print them out) so you can remember them, meditate upon them, study further about them in the Word of God, pray about them being applied in your own personal lives, and then act upon them:
1) Preserve the Sanctity of Sunday, the Lord’s Day….Make Sunday a priority!
2) Prepare before you arrive at church…..Pray and Read The Word!
3) Pray for God to work during each service......Expect God to move!
4) Participate, not just spectate......Get up and do something!
5) Practice what you learn from the messages and from God’s Word by taking notes!


What I have talked about in this blog post should be more than just going through a ritual or a routine or going through the motions…..Being in church on any given Sunday or Wednesday should make an impact on your life…It should make an impact on your children’s lives and anyone you come in contact with on a regular basis….YOU MUST PUT IT INTO PRACTICE AND TEACH AND COMMUNICATE IT TO YOUR CHILDREN AND SHARE IT WITH OTHERS……YOU MUST BE AN EXAMPLE!!


WHAT WOULD IT TAKE TO KEEP YOU AWAY FROM CHURCH ON ANY GIVEN SUNDAY OR WEDNESDAY ??? THINK ABOUT WHATEVER THAT IS AND ASK GOD TO HELP YOU TO MAKE CHURCH A PRIORITY OVER THAT….BETTER YET, MAKE CHRIST A PRIORITY OVER EVERYTHING!!!!!

AND WHEN YOU DO THAT, CHURCH WILL AUTOMATICALLY BECOME A PRIORITY; REMEMBER THAT CHURCH IS AND WAS A PRIORITY FOR JESUS!!!!
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9-11; IS IT A DAY OF FEAR OR A DAY OF HOPE?

“Surely my soul remembers And is bowed down within me. This I recall to my
mind, Therefore I have hope. The LORD‘S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness”

(Lamentations 3:20-23, NASB).

Eight years ago this week on Friday (9-11-09), more than 3,000 innocent people lost their lives in America when on a beautiful September morning the perfect blue sky was shattered by shocking destruction leveled by terrorists driven by hatred. We were numbed as we watched it unfold before our eyes, as many of us said out loud, "This can't be happening!"….And ever since that day, as individuals & as a nation, we have wondered; could it happen again &, if so, when, where, how, & could it be worse???

Long ago, the Prophet Jeremiah also experienced overwhelming grief & fear & was to a point of despair as he reflected on the complete destruction of the city & temple of Jerusalem & on the exile of Judah’s people to Babylonia. He had many reasons to be downcast, worrisome, fearful, angry, & bitter….But Jeremiah also found abundant reasons to overcome his grief with HOPE; THE LORD’S GREAT NEVER-ENDING LOVE, HIS NEVER-FAILING, RENEWING COMPASSIONS, & HIS INCREDIBLE & GREAT FAITHFULNESS!!!!!!!!!!

America/Church/Individual Christian - We have a need to hope; we have a reason to hope; we have the Way to hope!!! In fact, we have available to us the Author of Hope - - The Only Begotten Son, the One Who died for our sins, the One Who brought hope through His death; OUR SAVIOR & LORD, JESUS CHRIST!!!!!!

WE SHOULD CAST ALL OUR HOPE UPON THE ONE WHO LOVED US ENOUGH TO SEND HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON TO THIS EARTH TO DIE A HORRIBLE DEATH ON THE CROSS TO GIVE US ETERNAL LIFE IN HEAVEN. OUR GOD IS A LOVING, COMPASSIONATE, & FAITHFUL GOD!!!

Cast your burdens, your cares, your grief, your fears, & your sins upon the

“God of Hope“!!
Jeremiah found abundant reasons in His Almighty God to overcome his grief with HOPE….

Well, Jeremiah’s God is the same God of today….He has not changed!!!

He promised us that He would never fail us or forsake us and that He would be with us wherever we would go (Joshua 1:5-9)…..Claim that promise and cast your fears aside and place all your hope in the One and Only True God!

Will you allow God take away your fears and give you His hope today???

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ARE YOU GOING THROUGH PAIN?

“The troubles of my heart have enlarged; Bring me out of my distresses! Look on my affliction and my pain, And forgive all my sins. ” (Psalm 25:17-18, NKJV).

We hear many people say, with good intentions, "It would be so wonderful if there were no pain in this world!”….Their desire is for someone experiencing pain to not have to deal with it, yet pain sometimes has vital uses! At times a child is born without the capacity to feel physical pain and such a child has to monitored constantly to make sure he or she does not bring harm to themselves and not know it. Because they feel no pain, they have no warning of sickness or of danger.

If we observe carefully, pain can instruct and direct us. When we feel pain we know that something needs to change; either the direction we are heading or the actions we are acting. If a child refuses to brush their teeth month after month and they begin to feel the severe pain of a toothache it becomes obvious what needs to happen to avoid that pain in the future.

God sometimes uses pain and trouble in our lives to teach valuable lessons. In God’s plan, these difficulties in our lives become opportunities for us to learn something knew, as long as we are patient to wait upon God to show us His kind presence, healing, and comfort. We should not pray or wish pain upon ourselves or others, but if we are allowed to experience it we should be spiritually prepared to trust that God is in total control, that He is with us wherever we go, that He precedes us in every circumstance, that He has our best interest at heart, and that there is something for us to learn!

No matter what you find yourself going through, if you begin to feel any type of or any amount of pain at all, be sure to fall on your knees and look to the cross; SEEK HIS FACE! And as you ask God to teach you something great as He walks with you and guides you through the pain, remember that He is already waiting for you on the other side to wrap His comforting arms around you!!

GOD IS A GOOD GOD, ALL THE TIME!!!!

Stay focused and let God teach you through your pain!!!

Separating From The Word of God

Something has been bothering me since around the end of the month of July and I just have to get it out of my system; the so-called "news" that former President Jimmy Carter was resigning his membership in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). Am I mistaken, or did the former president already do this back around October of 2000 when he sent a letter to over 60,000 Baptists saying then that he was separating himself from the SBC then? Do you smell a public relations ploy here somewhere? I do!

It was reported after his "PR" move in October, 2000, that President and Mrs. Carter remained members of a congregation that was still affiliated with the SBC....Very interesting?! Well, I guess he didn't lie; he did say that he was "separating himself" from the SBC, not leaving it. Now, here we are almost a decade later and the former president is making the same public declaration again, but yet we hear nothing about the fact that he had already done it years earlier. OK; how many times can you separate from something and still remain part of it? When your a politician, I guess as many times as you want to or need to.

Please do not misunderstand me, I believe that everyone has the right to their own opinion and also have the right to choose if they want to remain associated with a particular group, organization, or denomination. But I also believe that it is wrong to mislead people, especially if you are a well known figure, political or otherwise, and use a certain group, organization, or denomination to get "PR" points and further your popularity and stronghold in a particular political party. It seems to me as though he really doesn't want to completely "separate" from the Southern Baptists because he may need to use the same "PR Trick" in the future to secure a better political status and legacy before he passes on.

Over the years former President Carter has denied the inerrancy of the Word of God, stated that he believes some texts of the Bible are false, and promoted the false teaching that individuals do not have to know Jesus as personal Savior to be saved and get to heaven! If you do not believe that there is only "One Way" to heaven and that "One Way" is through the blood of the Only Begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ, then you are denying the Incarnation and the entire Doctrine of Jesus Christ!!! You are saying that there was absolutely no reason for Jesus to even come to this earth to identify with man and become "the likeness of sin" so that He could be the substitution for our sin to save us from an eternal death in hell and give us the free gift of salvation and eternity in heaven with Him!!!! If there are other ways to get to heaven then why did Jesus leave His throne in Glory and come to this earth as a poor lowly Baby, born of the Virgin Mary, live on this earth as 100% man and 100% God, allow Himself to be crucified, die, be buried in a tomb, arise from the dead three days later, and then ascend to heaven to sit at the right hand of Almighty Father???

I will tell you why!!! BECAUSE THERE ARE NO OTHER WAYS TO BE SAVED OR TO GET TO HEAVEN!!!!!!!!! THE ONLY WAY TO RECEIVE THE FREE GIFT OF SALVATION AND SPEND ETERNITY IN HEAVEN WITH GOD IS TO REPENT OF YOUR SINS, ACKNOWLEDGE THAT JESUS CHRIST DIED FOR YOUR SINS, AND RECEIVE JESUS CHRIST INTO YOUR HEART AS YOUR PERSONAL SAVIOR AND LORD.......JESUS SITS AT GOD'S RIGHT HAND WAITING TO INTERVENE FOR ANYONE AND EVERYONE; ALL WE HAVE TO DO IS CALL OUT HIS NAME.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved" (John 3:16-17, NKJV).

President Carter, may I suggest that if you truly feel that the SBC does not best represent your Biblical viewpoint, doctrine, or ideas concerning the "equality of women", then by all means, separate yourself from and remove yourself from the SBC and the teachings of any church affiliated with the SBC. Please go find another church and/or denomination that better fits your ideas and interpretation of God's Holy Word......But may I also suggest; be careful about separating yourself from the Inspired Inerrant Holy Word of God and from the Doctrine of Jesus Christ. "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me'" (John 14:6, NKJV).

I believe that President Carter "separated" himself from the SBC again, not because he doesn't go along with the idea that women are to be "subservient" to their husbands; but because somewhere along the way he has lost sight of the fact that the Word of God is the total truth (inerrant) and is to be the ultimate authority in the lives of the Children of God...Also, he has forgotten that we only become Children of God after we have received the Free Gift of Salvation in Jesus Christ through faith and then we are adopted by our Heavenly Father.

By separating himself again from the SBC he has solidified his place of leadership within his political party....But by separating himself from the truth of the Word of God and the Blood of Christ he has become a False Teacher teaching a False Doctrine....That is definitely more dangerous than any "mad swimming rabbits".