Real Life

Something to think about.

Real Life 

48 but Jesus said to him, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” Luke 22:48

We Christians want, even portray Christianity as being a wonderful harmonic belief system. We do everything we can to make it as attractive as possible. We try to accentuate the great things about Christianity.

The reality is Christ was betrayed by one in His inner circle. His disciples were persecuted and killed. His believers were hunted, tortured and killed. His followers to this day are being abused, persecuted and murdered. His teaching are under attack. There is infighting among us.

Why am I writing this? If we deal with the reality, we might not lose so many to the deception that is our enemy. If we better prepare ourselves for these conflicts and realities, we will be in a better place to help the lost. 

Christianity is a mess. It is a mess because we are dealing with flawed humans and we are flawed humans.  There is no fault with the bible and its teaching. The fault is with us who have turned the word of God into a mirage of a painlessness utopia. 

We should be telling everyone the truth. Christianity is hard. You will be disappointed you will be hurt. The biggest blows will come from those you learn to love. You will fail you will hurt someone either out of ignorance or with intent. We need to tell each other and everyone we are not perfect, we don't have all the answers. Please forgive us when we fall short. Do not judge Christ by what we do judge Christ by what he has done. Forgive us for our misrepresentation of the gospel. Let it be known we will make mistakes. Christ has made a way despite our errors to redeem the lost and restore the broken hearted. Let us tell the world we will mess up but there is still a Christ that can fix it, but only He can fix it. Let us stop trying to portray a clean conflict free Christianity. Let us display a true Christianity with all of its faults and short comings. Let us allow the God we proclaim to be glorified by His restorative power and grace. Let's point others to the one that is perfect and true.

It is in our weakness that He is strong. It is in our faults that He shines. It is when we fall that He can pick us up. It is in our battles that He can bring peace. It is in our hurt that He can bring healing. It is in our defeat that He can bring victory. It is in all the things we hide that He is visible. Christianity is indeed a mess, But Jesus Christ died to clean the mess. To bring order to confusion peace to those at war and life to those that are dying. Jesus is in the business of cleaning up our mess. If we hide it, deny it, cover it or ignore it, Christ cannot be glorified by it.  Remember Christ came for those that need a savior, not for those who are saved.

• Mark 2:17 (NKJV) When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

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Testimonies of Faith

Testimonies of Faith

Five years ago I had a major heart attack. I was in the hospital for six weeks and had serious complications. My kidneys failed, I had emergency surgery due to internal bleeding caused by a section of my bowls had become necrotic. My blood pressure all but disappeared.  About a week after I was released from the hospital I had another heart attack due to an artery completely clogging.  When they performed the bypass surgery, they were not able to bypass one artery because of where it was. The arteries in my heart are not normal, so a stent or angioplasty was not and option.

I wanted to share my experience with my family, however, do to the some of the side effects of the bypass I could not put two words together in a sentence in writing. It took two years before I could write coherently again. So I decided to start a blog for the sole purpose of sharing my experience with my family. I wanted them to know what happened as well as how God had brought me through.  To my surprise, other people started to following my blog.  It occurred to me that there probably were other people in the church that had a similar experience.  I started a writing group in the church to put these stories together, but it was not the right time. I could not get enough interest in the project. Our group did some other things, and members of our group did go on to publish books. But the testimony book was not done.

In May of this year, a new pastor took over the ministry which oversees our small group, and he suggested we write a book of testimonies.

Five years after my heart attack, the book is a reality.  The book is titled 'Testimonies of Faith." For those of you who attend Faith Assembly of God in Orlando Florida, the book will be available for sale this Sunday, Dec. 18, 2016. For everyone else, the book will be available on Amazon in the next few days. Since I am one of the authors and contributors of this book, I am very excited to see it in print. The testimonies in this book are stories that show how God is involved in the lives of your neighbors and friends. They are great moving stories that will encourage and inspire you in your faith or bring you to faith. All of the proceeds from the book will be donated to the youth ministry at Faith Assembly Of God in Orlando Florida.
  

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It Is Not a Sunday Thing

Something to think about.

It Is Not a Sunday Thing

11 Seek the Lord and his strength;

   seek his presence continually! 1 Chronicles 16:11 (ESV)

What would it be like if we were in constant communion with God? Do you realize God is alive? Every living thing interacts with its environment when you’re in the presence of God His presence will interact with you. It can’t be helped. 

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Redeemed

Something to think about.

Redeemed

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
   for his steadfast love endures forever!
2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
   whom he has redeemed from trouble Psalms 107:1-2

God Is good, for he has redeemed me from my trouble. He is my redeemer, my saviour my Lord.  Are you redeemed and if so have you said so.

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The Widow Maker

The nurse informed me that the heart attack I had was referred to as the widow maker. I had three blocked arteries. The arteries of my heart are not normal. Which made a stent or angioplasty impossible. As a result of my heart attack, I had insufficient blood flow to my intestines, which culminated in a section of my intestines dying. After my heart bypass surgery, though unrelated to the surgery, my bowels started to bleed internally which required emergency surgery to remove two feet of intestines. During the surgery, my blood pressure all but disappeared. My Kidneys shut down. I was put on dialysis.  I lost 48 pounds in six weeks. When I left the hospital I left with a colostomy bag. Before this I had never heard of nor knew what that was. A few days after being home I had another heart attack. My doctor told me the artery they could not repair had completely clogged and that section of my heart was dying.

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28  (ESV)

Blessings...
First was my wife. Without her I would have most likely died. During the internal bleeding, she stood up and fought for me forcing the gastroenterologist to act when he wanted to wait. If she had allowed him to wait I probably would have bled out.

As they were rolling me down a hall for a test I asked myself am I ready to meet God. I realized I was. I had accepted the sacrifice of Christ on my behalf. The peace that passes all understanding came over me and I was ready for whatever the Lord had for me.

One dark night in my hospital room I was tired and exhausted physically, emotionally and spiritually. God told me I’ve heard their prayers for you and  I will be with you. He lifted me from my exhaustion and gave me strength to go on.
With this limited space I cannot fully explain, God assembled the staff that was to care for me.
One of the most memorable moments of my recovery happened when I was in ICU. A young nurse was walking down the hallway and looked in. She stopped with tears in her eyes and asked me if she could hug me. She explained, “I am one of the nurses that cared for you, we didn't think you were going to make it, I’m so happy you're alive.”  When I returned to the cardiac care unit, after being in the ICU, the nurses referred to me as the miracle man; they also did not expect me to survive. I am still here because He has a purpose for me being here. God, as usual, is glorious.

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Completion

Something to think about.

Completion

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:6

It is God who is working in you, through you and for you. It is He who will bring you to the fullness of life in Christ Jesus.

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Reaching For Healing

Something to think about.

Reaching For Healing

For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” 29 And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Mark 5:28-29

She had the audacity to believe that Jesus could heal her. Do we have the same audacity to believe he can do the same today?

34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.” Mark 5:34

6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. Hebrews 11:6 (ESV)

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