Starve your eyes challenge. Change your life!

http://www.wedared.com/

Want to change your life? Want a better marriage? Want to be a better role model for your kids? Take thirty days and do this challenge. I can tell you that I did it. I’m still doing it and my life will never be the same. Read the book Every Man’s Battle too. I encourage you all to do it. Man up men and see how He will bless you.

Freedom of religion, NOT freedom from religion

Freedom of religion is not the same as freedom from religion.

Think about that. God doesn’t want to be ignored, he wants to be worshiped. Those who Want America to be great again, perhaps it’s time to get back to where we started. All we need to do is turn around and walk purposely back to the Lord. We need to stop letting the loud minority silence the overwhelming majority of Americans who believe in God. Why do we let the ignorant few dictate the terms of our societal culture? We allow them to openly mock the Lord, our faith, even what was once common decency. We are falling further and further down a path of filth and destruction on a horse of entitlement and self gratification. When will those who believe stand up and take a stand?

American Colonies were founded largely because families were looking for a place to practice their religion freely, not because they didn’t want anything to do with religion. Those colonists were trying to escape religious persecution, not live in a godless wicked land. I wonder where they’d go today as they try to escape the ever hostile and God free climate brewing in our once great nation. I wonder if one day I will move there too. I pray for America all the time. I hope our people will repent and turn to the Lord and follow Him again. I want so badly for America to be what it once was. It can be again, if it so chooses. God help us.

We’re not all going to Heaven, Hell is the default

“We’re all going to Heaven.” How many times have I heard it? It’s a popular lie. Who you believe in and what you believe is not relative. There is one truth, not many.

What makes you think your religion will save you? It wasn’t good enough for the Jews, hence the need for Jesus to come and be the Savior. The Jews are God’s chosen people, so if religion isn’t good enough for them, what makes you think your religion is good enough to get you to Heaven?

I think you should humble yourself and consider the words of the Bible. The words of Jesus in John 14:6 (just one example) “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

I hate to see people trying to be good and doing their best to follow religion misguided and ultimately on the road to Hell because no one is telling them the truth. Don’t take my word for it, but please consider the source of your beliefs. Why do you believe what you believe?

Trust God, not religion. Trust your Bible not the traditions of your religion. If you are spending more time doing rituals than reading your Bible perhaps you might want to consider the possibility that you are being misled.

Heaven is a real place and so is Hell. Going to Heaven is as easy as asking Jesus to be your Savior (if you mean it) and going to Hell is even easier. All you have to do to go to Hell is not ask Jesus to be your Savior.

You can go to church everyday of your life. You can be the world’s best person. You can help the poor, love your neighbors and donate all you own. Without Jesus you’ll still go to Hell.

I didn’t make the rules, but those are the facts according to God. Trust in Him, follow Him and go to Heaven. I beg you to consider.

My Priorities Have Changed. It’s NOT All About Me!

Sometimes the priorities in your life dictate where you are and what you do even when you really want to do something else. Today I was all set to attend a conference about evangelism. I’d been looking forward to it for over a month. I absolutely love sharing the Word of God with people and feel called to be used in this way. But the events of the past week have made it necessary I stay home serving my family instead. Family trumps ministry to me. We all live by priorities, even if we don’t verbalize them or even think about them. My priorities used to be more common. I put myself and my job first and gave my left overs to my kids, wife and God. The Lord has changed my thinking and I believe my priorities now are much more in line with what God wants them to be. So what is the order of my priorities you ask?

1) God. He is first. I trust Him, worship Him and follow Him irregardless of circumstances.

2) My wife. Other than God, she’s my priority. She comes before everything and everyone. My partner for life, whatever she needs is always crucial to me.

3) My children. They need me to provide and protect but also discipline, guide and set an example for them. Showing my boys how to be men and my girls what a man looks like for them when they are considering their future husband. Yes showing my kids what a godly marriage looks like is one of the many important things I must do. I’ve struggled with that but the Lord continues to help me. My goal with the kids is to help them know the Lord and then encourage them to choose to follow Him on their own volition. Law abiding and productive citizens able to provide for themselves while loving their neighbors and fearing God, yup that’s the goal.

4) My job. Seriously many people have this in the wrong spot. They believe their job provides for their needs so they live like their lives depend on it and put work above all else. Actually God provides for your needs through your job (amongst others methods) so you insult Him by turning your job into an idol. I used to to think this way too, so I understand the mindset but I’m glad to have my priorities in line. The job is important but not above the people above. I trust the Lord more than my boss.

5) Ministry work. I love to serve the Lord by doing volunteer work however my job does come before these activities. Sharing, singing, teaching and manual labor all are ways I feel compelled to serve but when my wife, children and or my job need me, they come first.

6) Self. My hobbies and or resting. This is where I stand. Last on my list. My needs are met. The Lord takes care of me. My wife takes care of me. My children help me. My job helps me. My church family helps me. It’s so easy to be selfish and put yourself first and I did just that for far too long. God changed my mind for the better and I’m glad.

So here I am not at evangelical conference this morning, after missing four days of work. I’m here at home, looking forward to a day of service and providing my wife a much needed rest, to encourage her to heal from her surgery and at the same time train up my kids by example. Lessons about life come from more than just words or thoughts expressed on Face Book. Priorities aren’t just what you say and write, but they are mostly what you do.

My priorities are securely in place, even though I still struggle to execute them the way I want. I thank God for putting them in the proper order in my brain, so I can live more closely the way He wants me to. He is good. His ways are perfect. I’m not perfect, but I’m trying to be better. I’m so glad the Lord has never given up on me. Oh what a Savior.