God Really Answers Prayers!

God really does answer prayers! He answers them in His way when He is ready but man when He answers prayers He really answers them. I have not written for some time now. Things have been rough, tough, sparse around here for some time. Though with every bump in the road God provided a shock abosorber. Every sharp turn or sudden stop was met wit precision handling and superior braking systems. When the world around me seemed to be flying by at the speed of sound I was gliding along under the guidance of His cruise control. What a ride it has been. Details are not important.

The important part is that no matter what life threw at me God had a plan in place to help me through the storm ahead. He placed the right people in my path at the right times. He helped me to hold my tongue and be patient in many situations I could not have handled on my own. God provided me with the resources to help others even when I could barely help myself.  He gave me the peace of knowing that He had things under control. The light at the end of the tunnel was Him. He alone led me through the darkness of many trials, tests and tribulations over the past several months. He planted seeds of faith, seeds of patience, seeds of peace and joy and has been cultivating them for months and months. I believe I actually see some fruit being harvested from my once over grown, thorn infested, dried out and decaying garden. I have hope for a bountiful year in 2009! Praise God ya’ll. Praise Him always, give Him everything and reap the harvest He has planted for you!!!

What is too hard for The LORD!? Amen!

“Is The World Coming To An End?!”

Is the world coming to an end?! The experts say that we are expeirencing global warming. They say we could be struck by an asteroid. They say that sea levels are rising. Tsunami strikes are more likely. Famine is spreading! Epidemic deseases could and will strike! The weather is more and more tumultuous and harder than ever to predict! Hurricanes are more frequent and more violent! Tornadoes and floods more common place. Where will it all end? …..Who knows! …..Who cares!

Centuries and decades and years and months go by and everybody keeps saying the end is coming. Nowadays they say it is coming soon! Well,,,, they’re all right and have all been right! Every day the world gets closer to the end. Every day since the beginning of time the world has been getting closer to the end! Just like everyday we get one day closer to death. When will that be? Our death? The death of our planet? The end of our “world”? Nobody knows! Just like the Bible says….not even Jesus….only God knows!

So why do we fret about it? We might get killed by a train tomorrow. Die on the interstate. A plane crash! Heart attack! Cancer! Murder! Who knows?! A million things are more likely to kill us if you calculate the odds. The Earth has been around for how many years? Centuries? Millenium? The odds are atronomical that we will see the end of the world in our time! But…… but anything can happen! So, naturally we need to be prepared. So, why do we waste our time worrying when we could be living life to the fullest? Worshippng God, doing His will and not our own, following His example of love and living, basically acting like a “real” Christian is supposed to act! Reaping what we sow!! Why is it so hard?

The world is so much more complicated! That’s why!

Look around you. The cities are bigger and more congested. The “country” is shrinking everyday. We have video games, television, theaters, cd’s, dvd’s, cars, sports, computers, ipods, the internet… “high speed” internet, remote controls, drive thru windows, 99 flavors, alcohol, porn, ciagrettes, pills, dope, pot, sex, music of every kind, travel to anywhere in the world, foods from all parts of the world and on and on! There are so many distractions, addictions, hobbies, commitments, indulgences and luxeries that we have almost no room left for God and are so distracted by the “world” that we can’t see Him even though He is all around us! Wow! What a ploy! Attacked from every direction possible through every sense we have! Amazing battle plan if you think about it!

So what do we do?! How do we survive?! What a struggle this Christian life is!!

But, if you look at the truly successful people in this world you can see the truth. Very few, a minute number, a tiny, microscopic fraction of all the people who have ever lived and died were any kind of a success without having to work and struggle and scratch and claw their way to the top! All the way from the best olympic athelete to the highest paid corporate executive, from the vascular surgeon to the motorcross champion, rock star to professional baseball player and any other person you might consider successful Their stories tell of sacrifice and hard work! Dedication and fortitude! Fighting against all odds and never, never giving in to defeat until finally the day comes when they win that first Gold Medal, get that promotion to the top, earn their medical degree, their first championship or whatever milestone that sets them in the elite group of the truly successful! They have so much for a Christian to glean. Not about money, status or material gain. Not in the area of fame or acknowledgement, but more importantly they have the story of their vision, their goals, their struggles and their never ending determination to succeed!!! Wow!

So, do we really want to be a success as a Christian? Do we really want to find out if all those promises in the Bible are true? Do we have the deternination and the fortitude to make it through the storms, struggles and sacrifices that have to be made to find out?! Because the only true way to find out is to make it to the top!! Then when we get to the top and only then will we finally know if the juice was worth the squeeze!! I want a gallon… no a fifty-five gallon drum full of the best tasting, sweetest juice there is!!!

Will I make it? Only God knows…. and only He can truly offer me the kind of success I want and desrie in the depths of my being! Only His Son can offer me the true fortune that I need and am created to have one day! I was not put here to toil and struggle for a bigger house, deeper pockets, a more impressive protfolio! I was not created for material gain but to fight a successful campaign directed at winning the most glorious and treasure filled reward ever given to anyone! A reward that greatly exceeds the heights of glory any sucessful person has ever had here on earth!!!!! Solomon was never as rich here on earth as anyone of can be in heaven!

Wow, ….. I think I need to thank God for not giving up on me when I gave up on myself! I praise Him for His strength when I had none left in me to fight on! I am humbled by the gift His Son gave me when I have done nothing and can do nothing to earn or deserve it!!!! I am grateful and blessed by the Comforter whom He sends to me when I can find no relief in anything of this world!!! Praise God! I pray that He will continue to lead me by His bright shining light when I am on the path He has laid out before me and that He will lead me by the hand when I have stumbled off into the darkness that lays at each side of that path! Praise His name! Praise His Son Jesus Christ and Praise the Holy Spirit! I will not give up the fight! I will not lay down and die! I will not go silently into the night! I will struglle and claw and scrape my way to the top! I WILL BE A SUCCESS! Praise God!

Wanna come along?! Let’s join forces by praying for the success of every Christian and the salvation of all those who are not yet Christians!!! Man!!!!…. I’ve gone and got myself excited! Let’s get started…now!

Nothing Is Impossible With God!

I wrote a post several months ago titled “Abraham Did It, So Can I” In that post I described the beginning of a new journey that I felt the Lord had directed me to embark upon. What a beginning it was my friends. I know that without God I never could have made it through those first weeks. The tests and trials associated with the beginning of my journey were impossible for me to overcome without the Lord’s help. He guided me and strengthened me as I traveled through the storms raging around me.

Since those not so humble beginnings the hardships have continued. One after another, time and time again, they fell upon me like a monsterous force that would not relent. I have experienced every kind of attack, discouragement and distraction that could possibly be thrown at a person. It is amazing to me when I think back over the last five months. How did I make it to where I am now? How will I make it through what lies ahead? The only answer I can truthfully give is that the Lord is responsible for whatever measure of success I have had or will have in the future.

Luke 1:37 “For Nothing Is Impossible With God.” God has been there for me through ever step I have taken. He has been right beside me the whole way. He has gone before me throughout this amazing journey making preparations for my needs before they were even known to me. He has been there to pick me up again when I have buckled under the strain and fallen flat on my face!

Did that make the journey easy for me? No! Not at all. The past several months have been some of the hardest I have ever experienced. I have been on my knees many times, ready to give up, during this journey. I have cried out to God so many times that I am amazed He hasn’t gotten tired of hearing from me. But isn’t that the beauty of our God? He never gets tired of being there for us. He is always happy to hear our prayers and delights in answering them. Does that mean He has answered my prayers as I have asked Him to….No! However He has answered them as they needed to be answered! Praise His name for that!

Psalm 18:1-2

1 I love you, O LORD, my strength.

 2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
       my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.
       He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

God has been my strength when I had no strength left in me! He has been my firm foundation providing me the support I needed when everything around me was crumbling! He has been my fortress, my place of security, when the enemy was attacking on every side! He has released me from the bondage of my fears and set me free to soar on wings like eagles! He has shielded me from destruction and He has been my only shelter when the storms raged beyond what I could bare alone! He has been my symbol of strength that gave me hope when no hope could be found in the day! He is everything to me and nothing in this world could replace Him!!! Who would I be without the Lord? Where would I be without the Lord? What would become of me without my God and Savior? The answer is simple… I would be lost, in darkness and despair, without hope of rescue!

I want to praise God for everything He has done for me! I want everyone who reads this to know that I would have failed long ago without His help, love and guidance. He is the only reason I am still here struggling forward on this seemingly impossible journey. He is my hero, my counselor, my friend, my Father! He alone has brought me through to the other side of the storms that have raged in my life! He alone will bring me through any future tempests that await me! He alone will shelter me from the storms that life may throw my way! He is everythng that is worth mentioning in my life! He provides whatever joy there is to be found along this rough and tumultuous path that I tread. Praise Him for His love. His never endind love. I don’t deserve it. I can do nothig to earn it. It is given to me freely because “God is love.”

Psalm 18:6

In my distress I called to the LORD; 
     I cried to my God for help. 
     From his temple he heard my voice; 
     my cry came before him, into his ears.

Father I thank you for your love that you have given me without cause. I thank you for the things you have done for me throughout my life. The times you have saved me when I deserved to be left to my own rewards. I thank you for the gift of salvation that you presented to me and the rest of this lost and dying world by way of your Son Jesus Christ. I thank you for your Holy Spirit who comforts me when I can find no comfort elsewhere! I ask you to forgive me of my weakness which leads me to sin against you by losing faith, losing focus, and allowing the events around me to weaken my resolve. I thank you Lord for picking me up everytime I fall. I praise your name for the shelter you provide me when I am beaten and battered by the storms of life! I am so grateful to you for not turning away from me in my times of need. You know I don’t deserve your love or your help and yet you give both freely. Over and over you have rescued me from myself and have put my feet back on solid ground when I became mired in the turmoil that is life! Thank you God, thank you Jesus, Thank you Holy Spirit!!

9/11 Conspiracy Theories

 

9/11 Conspiracy Theories are a joke! The people who come up with them have either an over active imagination, a case of schizophrenia, too much time on their hands or they just want something to run their mouths about.

Conspiracy: as defined on Dictionary.com

1.	the act of conspiring.

2.	an evil, unlawful, treacherous, or surreptitious plan formulated in secret by two or more persons; plot.

3.	a combination of persons for a secret, unlawful, or evil purpose: He joined the conspiracy to overthrow the government.

4.	Law. an agreement by two or more persons to commit a crime, fraud, or other wrongful act.

5.	any concurrence in action; combination in bringing about a given result.

Now, what person with any real intelligence or the ability to discern fact from fiction, reality from fantasy or truth from a lie would believe that members of the US government would not only decide to murder thousands of Americans just to enter into war with Iraq but that they would be able to convince dozens of other “Americans” to enter into that kind of evil act with them?!  How is it that not one of these supposed conspirators has ever given into their conscience and confessed their part? How is it that not one positive piece of evidence exists to support their idiotic theories?

There are many theories ranging from “controlled demolition” of the WTC buildings to a missle shooting down Flight 93 and also hitting the Pentagon. They are all idiotic at best and at worst they do more damage to the America Psyche as whole than anything the “enemy” could ever do to us. These fools rage on street corners and at conventions and even at the memorial sevice at Ground Zero. They have nothing more than factless, speculative rhetoric in hand and do harm to the families of the victims and degrade our country’s world image more than anything I can think of at this moment. It is a pitiful thing to behold. The terorists are laughing and thanking them for their help!

Anyone with any intelligence, educational background or normal thought process could see right through their “Crap”! It is obvious from the videos of the World Trade Center buildings being hit by airplanes and then the subsequent collapses that they were caused by those strikes from the terrorists. Now, why bother shooting down a plane with a missle if you can crash it into a building? Why hit each of the trade center buildings with airplanes and then use a missle on the pentagon? How do you convince Red Blooded American service men to attack their own country? Are they serious? What kind of fools have we living in our midst?

They are the truest threat to our nation’s security. They are the truest threat to the American people. They breed fear and mistrust for no other reason than to run their mouths or to attract attention to themselves! Our nation is not perfect! Not one person in our government is perfect. None of our citizens are perfect! But, we live in the greatest country in the world today and in the greatest, richest society at anytime in hstory! A country that is so great that it’s laws allow fools the right to express their opinions in public, on the net, on television and in writing!

I am sick of hearing that our President and our military conspired to kill American citizens simply to enter the war in Iraq. I am sick of these idiots poisoning the minds of our youth with their lies and innuendo directed at our highest office and our military that protects the very freedom that allows these fools to speak publicly! Ungrateful, moronic, thoughtless people spew their poisinous rhetoric into the airways and the internet and through publications and meetings simply to make themselves look big and important. They are pathetic losers who need to get a life. They need to find a way to help our country and to fight terrorists rather than doing more damage by spewing this junk everywhere they go! They are the most effective weapon Bin Laden has in his arsenal. They are the enemy! They are the traitors!

Now that I have said all I have said on this subject I have to ask God to forgive me for the anger I feel in my heart toward these “dummies”! I also have to ask Him to please speak to these peoples hearts and “minds” and make them see that they are hurting our country and impeding the healing process by poisoning other’s minds and instilling doubt in their hearts. I am sickened by all of this and I am struggling within myself over the feelings I have towards these people and the desire to do what God would have me do as a Christian! God help us all! God bless this great country! We need the energy being expended by these misguided individuals to be redirected toward the homeless and the needy, laws and elected officials, common decency. We need more effort put into electing Godly leaders who will reinstill God’s Word into the heart and soul of this country not more nonsense and factless claims tainting our unity and fellowship! God help them all, God help us all! God Bless America, PLEASE!

And so, my fellow Christians: ask not what your God can do for you – ask what you can do for your God!

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country — That is a small portion of a very famous speech by President John F. Kennedy. Every American should read the whole speech!

Now onto today : And so, my fellow Christians: ask not what your God can do for you – ask what you can do for your God!

Jesus’ entire life from His immaculate conception to His ministry, crucifixtion and death, ressurrection and accension, and His eminent return,…they all boil down to love. He proved His love for this world by giving His love, His Word, and His Life!  

We love our country, don’t we? Don’t all true blue, red blooded Americans claim to love their country?

So, if we “love” our country so much then why aren’t we helping her to survive? Why are we allowing this world to slowly push God out of our country? This country was founded by Christians who desired for God to be the guiding light in this new land. The light is burning out folks. We are slipping away into darkness. Man is doing many things these days that displease God and as a country we are spitting in His face with each new back slide we experience. This country will fall into severe troubles if it does not change its path soon. We are doing it to ourselves, each and every one of us. No one is innocent, no one is blameless, no one is without shortcomings, bad habits, or even simply apathy.

Where is God in our daily lives? Where is God in our work places? In our Schools? Where is He in our hearts America? Where is He? Does He rank at the top of the list? Is He mid way to the bottom? At the bottom? Where is He America? One Nation Under God. We need Him America. We need Him!

But, it doesn’t start simply by changing laws or imposing stricter sensorhip on public media. It starts in our hearts and our homes. It builds and spills over from our churches and our missionaries. It becomes the norm in society again and then the broadcasters, the publishers, the media moggles and even the lawmakers will begin to change. It starts with us! The fault does not lie in our government. The fault lies in us as a people. Of the People? For the People? By the People? We desperately need to get back to our roots.

God, Jesus, The Holy Spirit, prayer, reading the word, church attendance and participation! That’s what we need! A revival of the Spirit of God in our hearts and then it will overflow into our government and commercial arenas. We need to elect godly men who are not afraid to govern by the principles taught to them in the Word of God! We need to elect them. It is not the governments fault that this country is the way it is today. It is our faults as Christians and as fellow American citizens. We need to be more active in spreading the good news and effecting a change in our country’s spiritual condition! Not pointing fingers, calling names, and spewing nonsense. But, by working for the Lord to improve our walk with Him and to serve the betterment and growth of our locals churchs and missions and outreaches! 

What can you do for your God? Don’t have a clue? ….Ask Him! He’s got plenty goin’ on!

Praise God for everything He does! I praise Him for loving me even though I “deserve” nothing more than Hell… and yet He loves me…. He loves you too! Amen!

Welcome To Your New Life!

Welcome to your new life! When you accept Christ as your Savior you become a “new creature” and begin a new life. Amen. Now everything becomes easy and sunny and breezy, right? ……..NO! Not right! Farther from right than “wrong” could encompass. You’ve just started your journey. You’re standing at the foot path to eternity. Like some great adventurer you have struck out on a trek into the unknown. What awaits you between now and the time you reach the prize? What will this Christian life be like?

To each His own. Those who give themselves over completely will experience the life God intended for them. He knew us before the foundations of the world were laid. He knows His plans for us. Plans for good and not evil. Now, does this mean that these new Christians will be rich and happy all the time? …..No.

The world will insure that something happens to test them, to try them, to distract them, to discourage them and to detour them. They will learn and grow like any other child or beginner. They will feel growing pains like a child and stumble and fall periodically as they learn to walk, just like a child taking their first steps. It will be joyous at times and painful at others. There may be times when they feel they can not carry on…. it will pass and God will reveal more of Himself to them on the other side of the trial. They have a Hope that can not be diminished. They have a Savior who can not be conquered! Death could not conquer this man, this God. The only living God. All other God’s are alive only in the minds of their captives. They have no power. Only the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob is truly God. Truly the creator of the universe. The creator of man. The giver of life and mercy, love and grace! Wow! Amen!

We all go through our struggles. Some deeper and more sinister than others but struggles none the less. We all must focus on Christ during those times. New Christians and older Christians alike need Jesus Christ to remain at the center of it all. Christ must be our anchor of Hope in this lost and dying world! He must be the foundation of our lives as we walk amongst our fellow humans in the world. We must not let the opportunity to rescue someone from a life of eternal misery pass us by in these desperate days that are upon us. We must ban together as brothers and sisters in Christ and insure the survival and the growth of the church. Jesus Christ needs our help. He gave His life for us in a most painful and humiliating way. He suffered when He did not have to because He was sinless, blameless, innocent. We must as Christians reach out to those in need, those lost in the darkness, those slipping away from the family.

We are a family, not just in our individual churches, but as a whole. All those who believe in Christ are a family. Does that mean that all the members of our family are perfect and blameless? No…. we all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God! We all are going to have to grow and mature in the Lord to change our lives dramamtically. We will have to work, hard, to remove all the rubble our life has dumped into our souls. Personal failures, failed marriages, broken homes, abuse, poverty, drug and/or alcohol abuse and on and on. It takes time to get all that out.

The potter doesn’t complete the creation in one step. There are many steps to the creation of a vessel on the potters wheel. Like clay being molded, step by step, we are a work in progress. I know that until the day we are taken up into heaven that the work He has started in us will not be completed until He, Lord Jesus Christ comes back to claim His church. I believe that with all my heart! I believe that the Bible is the True Word Of God! I believe He will not give up on me. Praise God He hasn’t quit on me yet! And never will! Otherwise I would be lost for sure. I would have nothing without Christ in my heart, in control of my life, embedded in my soul.

Praise God for His love new and old Christians! Praise Him for His Word to guide us and speak to us. Praise The Lord for His mercy given to us through the cross and the sacrifice of His only begotten Son. Praise Him for the Holy Spirit who comforts us and lifts us to new heights of love and grace. Praise The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit ya’ll!

Happy Birthday America!

Happy Birthday America!

Two Hundred Thirty Two years old! Wow! I pray that we remain until the coming of the Lord. It is hard to imagine this great country not being here. It is even harder to imagine this land being taken over by another government or even another religion. We are truly a diverse nation, a melting pot and possessor of every cultural background known to man. Everyone here as a citizen of the United States has the RIGHT given by our laws to worship freely the God of their individual choice. However, I have not found in the Word of God where we are given permission to worship any other God than the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I have read the Bible cover to cover and can not recall a single instance where God was ok with us worshiping other Gods. I do, however, remember Him saying we shall have no other Gods before Him and I also recall the nations who turned to other Gods, mentioned over and over in the Bible, coming to ruin.

So what of this great nation? Are we like Northern Israel? Are we like the other pagan nations? Or are we One Nation Under God? Do we know God in this country like we should? Is His presence still with us? Has it left us already? I pray not! I pray we will have a revival of the church in America and throughout the world like we have never seen before! I pray we will turn back to Him and His Word and His example of how to live for others. Jesus’ life is chronicled in the Holy Bible as a “How To” book for our lives. He showed us through His own life and actions how we are to live our own lives as individuals and as a Nation Under God! What are we gonna do America? Are we going to keep denying to ourselves and the world that we have turned away from our only true hope for survival? When will we stand up and say enough!? When will we turn back and bask in the glory of His blessings again? Will we wait to long as Israel did and be given over to our enemies to suffer? Will He lift His hand of protection from us and allow us to reap what we are sowing? God forbid that should ever happen to this great nation! God forbid!

Praise God America! Praise Him for His Holy name! Praise Him for His love which is His true nature. Praise Him for His mercy which He so freely gives when asked! Praise Him for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who sits at His right hand and anxiously awaits the day when He can return to claim His church! His bride! Praise God for this country and ask Him to help us return to Him!

Distracted, Discouraged, Detoured

Life is so busy these days. I don’t mean just my life, but rather life in general. We have so many things happening in this world these days. Life is so “full” and I am not speaking about the fulfilling kind of full. This modern world we live in is full of so many distractions it is amazing to think about. Distractions that fill our time from the moment we open our eyes until the moment we go to sleep. Even my dreams seem to be full of distractions these days. How amazingly distracting this life can be for us all. Television, DVD’s, video games, public events, social unrest, political races, school, children, friends, family, personal vehicles, traffic, gas prices, grocery prices, weather forecasts, gardening, yard cutting, finances, and on and on they go.

Discouragement most times follows these distractions. More frequently than not. It’s discouraging to work all week and not have enough money left to do anything on the weekend. It’s discouraging to know that none of the candidates running for the highest office in our land are worth having. It is discouraging to look at your life and wonder where the last forty-five years have gone. How did they vaporize so quickly leaving nothing of “true” substance behind. Discouragement comes in many shapes and sizes. Slowly chipping away at our sanity and sense of self worth. Our lives are judged by our successes most often and these days it is more and more difficult for the average American to be “successful”, at least in the eyes of this fast paced world we live in. When the discouragement reaches a fever pitch like it frequently does, we can no longer focus on the one thing that truly matters in life, knowing Jesus Christ, studying His word, seeking His truth and spreading it through out this lost and dying world.

We become detoured from the path that God has laid out before us. The plans He has for our lives become lost in the jumble of distractions and discouragement lingering at every turn. This is not how life is supposed to be, distracting and discouraging. This is not what God has planned for us on a daily basis. He has much greater plans for our lives than these things that we grapple with daily. The enemy detours us as often as possible by throwing distractions in our path. He discourages us with great skill at every minor difficulty and failure in meeting the expectations of this materialistic world we live in today. So, what do we do about this distracting, discouraging world we live in now a days?

Focus. Pinpoint the things that help us focus on Him, Jesus Christ, the one and only “human” who ever truly loved us with all of His being. He laid down His life so that we would have a chance to “live” life. And how do we live this life to its fullest? Seek after Him, focus on His example chronicled in the Holy Bible for our benefit and strive to be more like Him. Will it be easy? Not at all. As a matter of fact it will probably be the most difficult thing we do in our lives. What isn’t difficult these days? So if we must struggle through this life, why not struggle to gain something of true worth? Why not seek the only true treasure in life, knowing Him more?

I am going to increase my efforts in this struggle to live a fullfilling life. I am going to increase my efforts to help others find that fulfillment that is so difficult to achieve. I will not waste another moment chasing the distractions of this world. I will not waste another moment being discouraged by the meaningless things of this world. I will seek His truth with all my heart and I will endeavor to help others find it as well. Praise God for His encouragement given to me through His Word. Praise God for His Son who died for me so that when I refocus from my distractions I have hope in this hopeless world. Praise His name for the road signs that will return me to the path I have been detoured from while simply trying to live. Thank God I have a Risen Savior to lead me through this difficult life. Thank God I have His Spirit to comfort me when life weighs me down. Thank God I have a Father who loves me enough to send His Son to die for my sins so that I can still have hope when all hope seems lost! Praise God!

Life is a rollercoaster ride!

 

Life is a rollercoaster ride!

Is it just me? Is there anyone out there who rides the rollercoaster too? I can’t seem to get off of it! One week things are up and then two weeks they’re back down. Just like a rollercoaster. You ride up a little while and you drop straight down. Then maybe there’s a sharp curve or a “loop-d-loop”! You have no control! You are along for the ride whether you like it or not! It doesn’t matter if you are the guy in the back with white knucles, eyes closed as tight as humanly possible, screaming at the top of your lungs or the guy in the front hoopin’ and hollerin’ with a big smile on your face. You are in it until the end of the ride comes! There is no choice in the matter about how long or how fast or how scary or anything!! You are there for the duration!

That pretty much sounds like life in a nutshell to me! Up and down, left and right, twisting and turning! Then when you get done with the ride you’re on before you kow it you find yourself on a new one! Twisting and turning again. Why? Who knows? A test or a trial, what does it matter? We have to ride the ride no matter what! Why not ride it to the best of our ability and try enjoying it in the process? “How do you do that?”you ask. Through the strength of Jesus Christ and the words of the Holy Bible!

I wish I were able to tell you that I always do what I should or react to a new situation in a way that would make Jesus proud, but I can’t! Because I fail often and usually pretty miserably when I do. I get rattled by events and my schedule gets out of whack and the next thing you know I missed two or three days reading my Everyday Bible or I get in a hurry and forget my prayers. I always feel terrible when I realize what I’ve done but I still did it! So I have come to realize that not only is my life like a rollercoaster ride but so is my Christian attitude apparently!

My Christian attitude has to be out of whack if I am allowing “anything” to stop me from readng my Bible, or praying, or going to chapel at OMA, or Wednesday night Bible study or Celebrate Recovery. Something is out of whack in my relationship with God if I don’t feel His presence around me and I am not in His will. Since God is always doing good and loves me like I know He does then I have not doubt where the problem lies. It’s in me! My flesh jumps up and interferes with my attitude. For whatever reason, it makes no difference, I get mad, depressed, rattled, distracted, and I seperate myself from God. I need Him with me and yet I do things that contradict my true heart’s desire, to know Him more!

I just want to know Him more! More than ever before! More intamitely! More passionately! I would not have such bad days if I could consistantly give myself over to His will in every situation that comes my way! Every situation! No matter the severity, no matter the pleasentry! Always in His will! Seeking Him and His will in what ever situation I find myself in…. but can I do that? I don’t know! But, I do know this…

I will never quit trying! I will never give up! Even until my last breath I will not give up “trying” to live the way I know Christ wants me to live! I have read His word… I have seen the examples of how to live life the way the Lord wants me to,,, I have seen great men in the Bible fail and get up again and move forward in the Lord. I have seen great men fail and never recover from that failure, but never have I seen God fail. Nowhere in His word does it tell me of God failing anyone even one time! Nowhere! And HE has never failed me! Not once! He will not fail me! I may fail Him but I will never have anything to worry about as long as I stay in His will. Come what may, if I am in His will and lean upon Him instead of my own understanding, I will make it through to the other side and Jesus will be waiting there when I emerge from the storm! Praise God!

So, tomorrow I will get up, again, and I will ride the ride, again! Come what may I am going to do my best to succeed tomorrow! And if I fail, I will get up and dust myself off and try, try again! Day after day, week after week, month after month, until I am old and gray I will continue my efforts! I have no way of telling you how successful I will be… but I can tell you this… with God on my side, what could I possibly have to fear? What is there in this world that is too hard for God? He created everything and He knows everything… even down to the number of hairs on my head!

Praise God for His love, Praise God for His Son who guides me, and Praise His Holy Spirit who comforts me!

The “American Way of Life” is Dying!

The “American way of life” is dying!

Why do I say that?  Think about it for a minute.  The American way of life used to be about pride, dignity, truth, love, liberty and the presence of God in our homes and our government. Now it is about “me”, ”I” and “Mine”. We are very quickly becoming an individualized society of loners competing against everyone else in our country. Self has overridden the once “United” states that we live in. The United States of America is not the country we live in today. We now live in the “Individual States of America”. This country is coming apart at the seams.

We used to know our neighbors and care for them. Now we wave to them as we come and go and think to ourselves that we are better than one another. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is no longer what it was intended to be in our foundng fathers’ day. They invisioned a land where a man could be free to live and love as he saw fit for his life and his family while following the principles of the Bible. Although this freedom they desired still exists it is not built on the foundation they laid for that purpose. God was intended to be the foundation of our once great nation. He was intended to be the guiding light of our once great nation. We are no longer that great nation because what made us great has been pushed to the back of the scene by “individual” wants and desires. We used to be “United” by God and the fundamental laws of the Bible, the Word of God, and now we are seperated by those individual differences in us that once made us strong.

When the founding fathers wrote of seperation of church and state they did not mean that they should be seperate from one another but rather that one should not govern the other. Early laws, bills, personal letters and journal entries illustrate this clearly. They intended for God to be the supreme authority in this country and for our laws, actions and general social state to reflect this principle to the world. We are supposed to be “one nation under God”! Where is God in America today? The “normal” American of one hundred years ago was a law abiding, God fearing person. Now those same people are the exception to the rule. Today it is all about me. What’s in it for me? What do I get from my country? Show me the money!

Below is a portion of a famous speech by President John F. Kennedy :

“In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shank from this responsibility – I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavour will light our country and all who serve it — and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.

My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.”

 
Here on earth God’s work must truly be our own! Amen! Where is the America I love…. where is the great nation that was founded more than two hundred thirty years ago? Today we are the most powerful nation on earth. But the power we have today is not the power that we were founded upon. The power of God is leaving this great nation and when it has faded completely…. then we are lost! Without God at the center of this great nation then we are just another “world” power. This world is lost and dying and we the American people are dying with it. Our way of life is dying with it. We have but one hope for survival! The power of God, in our hearts, in our homes, in our government and in our schools…this is the only way the “American way of life” can prevail. Because without God it is just a way of life and nothing more.

Praise God, praise His Son Jesus Christ and praise the Holy Spirit! Without these three as our foundation for this great nation then it is only a matter of time before we are swallowed by the sands of time! God forbid that should ever happen to my beautiful country!

Please visit Apolegetics Press Website for more on this subject.