"We've Lost Our Respect For Life"

Well the statistics are in for the year 2012. The homicide rate for our major cities are alarming. Los Angeles came in at 297, Philadelphia at 331, Detroit at 411, New York at 414, and Chicago at a whopping 505. Mayor Dave Bing of Detroit is quoted at saying, "We've lost our respect for each other; we've lost respect for life." Planned Parenthood also came in with their statistics too. In the year 2012 they aborted 333,964 babies, that comes to an average of one every 94 seconds. The year before they killed 329,445 innocent children. That makes their total for two years 663,409 babies that were aborted by their clinics. Over a half of million babies in two years. The nation mourns at the atrocity of a person shooting innocent children in a schoolroom and we should. Its tragic. But not many mourn about statistics mentioned above. The Bible tells us in the Book of Titus that people outside of Christ are enslaved with all kinds of passions and pleasures living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. (Titus 3:3 NIV) Because of our godlessness we are becoming a much more hateful nation and taking our hatred out on one another. We are paying the price of turning our back on God and His Word. How true God's Word is when it says, "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap." (Galatians 6:7 NKJV) We've sown godliness and now we are reaping it. Please join me in prayer putting the principles of 2 Chronicles 7:14 into practice this year. Our only hope is revival.

2013

As we approach the New Year I would like to give some words of encouragement as a pastor and friend. I want to encourage everyone to increase their level of faith, especially if you are facing difficult times. God's Word will help all of us to accomplish this goal because faith comes by hearing and hearing God's Word. After hearing the Word of God we put it into practice on a daily basis. We call this standing on the Word and exercising our faith. Then we listen to the Holy Spirit's still small voice and obey whatever He tells us to do. When we do this we will begin to see God's blessings poured out on us as we have never seen before. God is pleased with faith and rewards those who diligently seek Him. This year like any other year is filled with God's potential in all of our lives regardless of what we face. May God's richest blessings overtake you in 2013.

We Have Bigger Problem Than Barak Obama

The election is over and many of us are disappointed to see this godless man elected back into office. I was stunned like many others that they were calling the election over so early in the night. But as I saw the totals come in it made me realize we have a much more bigger problem than Barak Obama. As this man pitted groups of people against one another and he won by a margin of 52% to 48% it made me realize how divided we are as a nation. Not only by political parties but by the way we think as people. Jesus said in the Matthew 12:25 "...Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand." We are already paying the price in society of homes that have been divided by divorce and selfishness. Cities that are divided by racism and poverty have cause so many problems to families who are too poor to do anything about it. Much of our nation no longer fears God and we're seeing the results. Reading this Scripture carefully shows me that division = desolation. I'm not sure how much longer we will survive as a nation, I'm a pastor, not a prophet. But God's Word is forever settled in heaven and He does not lie like us. We will fall. Our only hope is another great awakening.

Missions 2012

As we approach our mission's convention for 2012 it's amazing how many people in this world have never had a good presentation of the gospel message. There are so many people heading into eternity without a clue what is going to happen. The Apostle Paul was committed to reaching as many as possible and so should we. Even through economic difficulties missions and mission's giving should be a priority. Paul understood the importance of the 'grace of giving.' Paul told the Corinthian Church about the generosity of the Macedonian churches and how they gave during extreme poverty with joy. He encouraged the church to match their eager willingness to give. I hope all of us, even during tough times, continue to sow our seeds into missions. Let's support missions and be generous about it.

Young Blood

I am really encouraged by some of the young pastors and missionaries that are coming up through the ranks. They bring a freshness with them along with new ideas that stretch us older people. Their enthusiasm can be contagious if we allow it to be. Yes, some of their music is different and yes they may not always put on a suit and tie, but many of them are excited about Jesus. And many are open to all the possibilities in their Christian lives. We need to let them make their mistakes so we can encourage them to get up and keep going. What an opportunity we have not only to show them the love of Christ but to mentor them in the process. The Psalmist encourages us to proclaim God's goodness from generation to generation. So lets do it. Every generation should be filled with the anticipation of reaching their generation with the gospel. So as these younger ones look at their harvest fields lets give them all the encouragement we possibly can.

Faith's Value

In my morning devotions I read something from Billy Graham that caught my attention. His comment was this,"The Christian faith has become a cheap faith because we to often live as if it has no value." I had to think on how much value I do put on my faith in Christ. Has my 'saving faith' become a 'living faith' that others may see? If serving Jesus has become an inconvenience to me because of time demands in my busy schedule its little wonder that the world, my little world, the sphere of people I associate with, does not consider my faith relevant when I'm not even willing to give my time and energy to what I say I believe in. If I tell others that I would die for Christ am I willing to also live for Him? It is so hard for me to believe that there are places in the world where believers in Christ can still be jailed for sharing their faith or face the death penalty for leading lost souls to Christ. I have all this freedom of religion, freedom of press, freedom to assemble, and freedom of speech and use very little of it to promote the thing I value most, my relationship with the One who has saved me from my sinful ways and has shown nothing to me but His grace and mercy. So, here I am again reexamining my faith in Christ to see if it measures up to the consideration of what I think is valuable to me. Lord, please help me in what little time I may have to value you more than anything else.

Steadfastness

I recently read an article concerning the Scripture found in 1 Corinthians 15:58 using the word steadfast. In fact the Scripture tells to "be ye steadfast, unmovable" as we work for the Lord. Steadfast means that we will be totally reliable and stationary in the rolls God has called us to fulfill. In short the Lord wants us to become people He and others can depend on. Overcoming any instability in our lives and overcoming every weakness in our characters. Just like we look to others for stability we need to become stable people that others can come to when they need our help. Like many others I have a lot of room for development in my life, if I'm willing to be changed. I want to be taught and corrected so I can be taken to a higher level in my walk with the Lord. When people hear our name being mentioned they should think of someone on whom they can rely.