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Starting tomorrow, and ever day for the month of October, I am going to be blogging on hope. Each morning when you get up, there will be something here to help you find more hope in your life. Now with that said I want to ask you, "Have you lost hope?" Some of you may scoff at even answering this question. But before you dismiss me, read on. Losing hope isn't a sin nor is it symbol of weakness. There are many great people in the Bible who lost hope at one time or another. For some reason through we think that if you have lost hope it has devalued you in some way - that you less of a person, a parent, a spouse or a follower of Christ. Now there are those who are in another camp. They have lost hope and they blame their source of hope for it. "You promised to give me hope - so where is it?" If it was that easy! Hope isn't delivered by UPS. Hope is cultivated, cared for and embraced. So what do you need to do? Consider what you have chosen as your

Ever since my daughter could pronounce the word "allergies" she has been asking God to heal her of them. Now she is 6 years old and this has been going on for a couple of years. Every time we have a prayer line in church, she is there. She walks up, I say, "Allergies?" she nods her head yes and we pray. So here are a few things that I noticed about this. Why did she do this. Well there are a couple of reasons. First of all she really does believe that God answers prayer and that God heals. One of the things which I allow in morning worship is children. Now I know that all churches cannot do this, so don't get the idea that you are going to try the same thing - I'm just saying that it works for us. They get to see what we see. So Anneka has seen people worship, pray and she has seen God answer prayer right before her very eyes. That's all she needs! She believe God answers prayer. The other reason why she seeks Gods healing is really, really

If you are depressed then how do you get out of depression? Depression has been called the common cold of mental illness. All of us have been depressed at one time or another. However, there are those who suffer with it to a greater extent. A cold you will eventually recover from. But depression isn't that easy for most. So what do you do? A - Don't analyze to long. Yes, you do need an accurate and realistic view of your life. But if you spend all your time analyzing you are just going to wallow in the depression. B - Disown the depression. This isn't living in denial. I didn't say that you should just ignore it or live like you don't have it. I said disown the thing. Don't desire it, want it or do anything to let it think that it can take up residence in your heart. C - Get on the resolution side of depression. What steps do you need to take to start pulling out of this. Yes it looks like you in a deep pit, but it probably isn't as deep as yo

We live in a time when we are most concerned about our physical bodies. Exercise, diet and healthy habits are the focus of our lives. Now before you start throwing darts at my picture, let me say that I don't have anything against any of this. I have seen how this is good for your life. My point is this, what are we doing about our spiritual and emotional health? We live in a time that has promised us a lot of hope. The reality is that this world can promises anything, but it can deliver nothing. Things like hope, love and joy are not ours to own or possess. It is ours to receive and enjoy. This world says it owns hope and can give it away as long as (Fill out for 29478/C in triplicate with proof of insurance and a letter from your doctor stating that you are indeed void of hope and that you can receive an appropriated portion. This portion of hope will be evaluate relative to your environmental conditions and reviewed by a panel of hope experts. Please allow 3 - 6 month

Back to blogging. Wow! It has been a whirlwind week. We arrived at the All Church Ministries Conference one week ago today. Still trying to get my legs under me. With that said, let's look forward to what God is going to do. From time to time God calls us to do something for Him. Some have a life long calling while others are called for a specific time and place. There are times that God calls a person and other times that He calls a corporate group of people. Sometimes God calls us to do something for Him that blesses someone else, and sometimes He calls us to do something that changes our lives. In this day, this hour, this time of our lives and of our world, what is God calling you (or us) to do? "I don't know." isn't an acceptable answer. That's like saying God doesn't have a plan. God ALWAYS has a plan for our lives. It's our responsibility to discover, embrace and accept what God's plan is for us. So, what is God asking you to d

So what do we do while the Ministers and Spouses Track part of the All Church Ministries Convention going on? Oh, and after the Minister Track, this is what Teneal did. We really did A LOT to prepare for tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing what God will do. It's going to to be a great day!

We leave today to go to All Church Ministries Convention in Lakeland. We are looking forward to 3 days of ministry and encouragement. It's a lot of work, but I think that it is well worth it. Pastor Tom has everything covered tonight. Youth Services and Comissionary Kids are a go for this evening. Check back here during the week for updates about the conference and also follow me at Twitter.

What kills vision? Vision killers are like the swine flu. You never know that they are that close, until they sneeze on you. The reality is you are surrounded by vision killers 24/7. The secret is to not let them get close enough to kill you with their vision killing tactics. Emotional Defeat - When we allow ourselves to be wrapped up in depression and hopelessness, we lose focus and thus begin to spend our lives in areas that don't promote the success of our vision. I'm not bashing people who are suffering with these maladies. These are real problems that need real solutions. I am just saying they will suck the life out of your vision. Dim Eyesight - When we don't see what we think we ought to see when we ought to see it. Or, when things don't happen in our time frame. This will steal vision away from you. Discouragement and despondency begin to set in and thoughts like, "Why bother?" begin to enter your mind. Busyness - When we are so busy do

Vision is the image of your future. Some have a vision to start a family, some have a vision to start a business or become a world class fisherman. Some desire a career to go into politics while others have a vision to change the world with their invention or great idea. How do I know this? I've met them all, more than once. Some of them made it, others are still trying - nevertheless, they had vision. In the midst of hopelessness and depression vision can become one of the first causalities. Where there is no vision, the people perish, the Bible says. So what is your vision? I have spent A LOT of time over the years trying to answer that question. One thing I have concluded is that I'm not alone. Depending on ones definition of vision - what the purpose of that vision is, etc. etc. etc. Blah, Blah, Blah. Really, the rhetoric after a while is numbing. So what can I tell you? Vision is more of a passion than it is action. In other words, it is what you are passionat

How is Jesus fair to us? That was the question I left with you yesterday. I am blogging two times today so don't miss my blog on 9 11 either. 1. Healing - When life brings any kind of disease remember that Jesus died on the cross for your healing. Don't focus on the disease, focus on the Healer. 2. Salvation - To know that every sin you have ever committed has been removed from the eternal records of heaven, never, ever to be recalled against you ever again. 3. Hope - Hope is living in the promises of God, enjoy the blessing of living under His authority and protection. 4. Wisdom - God generosity gives to those who ask the wisdom they need to live in this world. It is our protection against it's schemes and plans to deceive and destroy us. 5. Miracles - To know that God can and will suspend the laws of nature if necessary is always a comforting thought. 6. Promises - Throughout the Bible, God has made promise after promise. Stand on those promises and believe

Today is 9/11. It is a day I hope never repeats itself ever again. It was a day that everything in the world collided. Culture, finance, religion, politics, etc. Some of that was for the good - and some if it was bad. I was standing in the living room getting ready to go to the church office. Betty for some reason was staying behind that day. As I was just about to go out the door I saw the TV and a building was on fire. Hold it! That was one of the twin towers? I sit down and began to listen as the events unfolded. In a few minutes then the second place hit the second tower. I knew then that we were under attack. I knew then that this was going to change my life and the life of every person on the planet now and forever. The tragedy as it unfolded was just one nightmare after another. People jumping out of the building. Towers falling. Planes crashing. The Pentagon was hit too. The nightmare went on and on. As I drove to church traffic was light. No business was t

It's true that life isn't fair. Ever since Adam and Eve took the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden life hasn't been fair. There are many of us who think that life isn't what it should be. We regret past mistakes that would have made our lives "better". We struggle to get what we think will make us happy. Only in the end - we are left searching for more. That is what makes life unfair. After all the pain and suffering. After all the work and sweat. We want more and more and more. This world promises to meet our needs. This world says it will keep its promises. Never going to happen. We will be left in want and wondering why promises were not kept. Why do you think that Jesus said that the poor will always be with us? I don't think it is because He made people to be poor. It's because he knew that people who put their faith in the world were going to get robbed of their life. The question is, who is keeping your promises? In other w

I love surprises. Well at least most of them. You know surprise birthday parties. Yea! When the IRS agent says, "Surprise!" Probably not a good thing. So what is so surprising about 9/9/09? As far as I can tell, nothing. Some people are really using it for marketing purposes, you know, movies and such. China thinks it is a lucky number, but Japan thinks it's very unlucky (like our number 13). But as a day, it is like any other day. However, there are some days that really stand out to us. 9/11 for example. 1/1 - New Years Day. 12/25 - Christmas. The 4th of July! My favorite 9/21 - my birthday. We build up to each one of them (Even your birthday if you will admit it.) We wait and watch with anticipation as to what each day will bring. But there is another day that no one really pays any attention to. It is a very important day to everyone on the planet. When this day comes, the world as we know it will end. On this day, people like myself will be rejoi

I posted this on Facbook - Change is inevitable. Some good and some . . . well. What we do with the change that happens to our lives matters. Doing nothing isn't an option. One of the misnomers about life, that I honestly think is a lie from Satan is, change is bad. Change isn't bad, change is inevitable. I have told people again and again that if you don't choose the changes in your life, you will always get stuck with the one you don't like. Then again, there are some things that happen to us that we don't get a choice about. Accidents, diseases, etc. But then we can choose the attitude to embrace that either gives us hope or despair. The question is this. "What kind of change are you looking for?" Supernatural or Natural Supernatural change - It is what it says it is. Supernatural, God initiated and created change in your life. What have or can we ask God to do? Anything. When we asked Him into our hearts and lives through repentance - sup

Haven't been able to blog because I can't get online. After days of "we're working on it" A tech comes out to visit. He tells me, "Well I think I know what it is, the other option almost never happens, in fact it has only happened to me 2 times in 9 years." Today make three - Grrrrrr!

So I was awaken with this thought. Where do you place your faith? I immediately answered, "With You God!" As the Holy Spirit speaks to my heart in the quietness of the morning when nothing else matters and the day isn't screaming for my attention - I get it. Placing ones faith in God means to trust Him with my faith . Here are a few things about faith that I have discovered over time. God give it to ME! Wow that is something else that God gives something to me. What an awesome idea that the Creator of the heavens and universe (Think about it - He made dirt!!) gives me something that He owned, created, and possessed for Himself. it isn't like God takes faith from one person and gives it to another. He gives you and me something that was once His and it is now ours! Unique, specific, and qualified to our needs and demands of life. Now what do you do with it? Most people will say, "Believe for more!!" "Pray and let God be God!" "Re

Are you a morning person? I apparently am not - but need to learn how. Doing some casual reading on the subject hasn't produced any thing that says night owls or morning people are psychos or suffer from some kind of brain disfunction. That's good news, but morning people still irritate me with their up an at em enthusiasm. So why do I need to change my ways? Well, using caffeine as a stimulus to get my heart started in the morning isn't a sign that I am a night owl. It is a sign that I either didn't get enough sleep or that I didn't sleep well. BIG difference. So I am working on my sleep structure to help improve my daily performance. There isn't much that frustrates me more than running out of gas in the middle of the day. Secondly, the foods I eat do have a lot to do with my mind and strength. This one is a little harder to deal with for a couple of reasons. One is bad habits. Oh we all have them and we promise to do something with them someday.