Absolute truth

Absolute Truth


What is truth? How do we define truth? I believe that truth is a word that has been watered down a lot lately? Is truth relevant?
Does truth depend on the individual or the circumstance? Or is it an Absolute, something unchanging, something real, something that can be measured! When we testify in court, we are to tell the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Why do we think this is different when we are dealing with God, or God’s people? Scripture teaches in Galatians 1:10 “Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.” To often today, we compromise the truth, to satisfy someone else! So concerned about pleasing man, wanting to gain approval! So many times, we turn the situation around to fit our own needs! We manipulate the truth! When we do this we fail to realize, what we are doing to God! I honestly believe that our manipulation of the truth hurts God! I know that when my children did something that was wrong, it hurt me! I can only imagine what it does to God, when we as His children repeatedly do things over and over again. Let me ask you a question? Do you tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth? In all circumstances, in all situations…or do you compromise the truth! Are you living a life that is pleasing to Him? Are you going in the right direction? Close your eyes and spin around 10 times and then stop the direction that they think is north. It doesn’t matter what direction you think north is, it matters which way the right direction really is! Which way are you going? My prayer for you is that you totally sell out? Stop trying to please others! Try pleasing the creator of the universe! He is the way (the only way) He is the truth (Absolute truth) and He is life! Without Him, we would be nothing! If there were any other way to heaven, I would throw every bible that I own away, and I would never preach or write again! But since He is the only way! I am going to proclaim Him from the Mountaintops; I am going to shout His name in the streets! Because His name is above all names! The world needs to hear, they need to see, and understand! Do you know the Truth? I pray that He has set you free!

Without faith, it is impossible to please God!

Without faith it is impossible to please God!

“Now without faith it is impossible to please God, for the one who draws near to Him must believe that He exists and rewards those who seek Him.” Heb 11:6 (HCSB)
There is something about a wood fire…
In my life many memories can be rekindled, by the smell of wood smoke. Memories around campfires with people that I love, memories from the past…a charcoal fire, I can remember sitting around them over 40 years ago…times change and my body changes, but the smell of the fire remains the same…
Scripture teaches that without faith, it is impossible to please God! We say we have faith…but do we?
Do we have faith in what we believe, or do we have faith that Jesus is who He says He is? It is easy to boast about our faith, boast about being a Christian or boast about being a part of a church! It is easy to say that we love Jesus more than anything, we can write it on our Facebook page, blog about our love and faith…but I want you to consider today that when it comes down to it, our faith is all that we have!
I have often said, you have to stand for something or you will fall for everything! What are you standing for? Are you standing for Jesus? I love the Apostle Peter! He is one of my favorite Characters from the Word of God! I believe that there is a little Simon Peter in all of us! Impetuous, Zealous, fervent! He was a hard charger, a man of action, someone who loved God. I am going to ask you a question, so I want you to be ready to answer…think about the question that I am going to ask! It is not a trick question, I want you to think and answer! Can we agree that Simon Peter was a believer? Can we agree that Simon Peter loved Jesus? What did our Lord say about him? He said, “You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephas”, (Which means Rock) (John 1:42) He said, “…you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the forces of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven…” (Matthew 16:18) Jesus knew Peter, Peter knew Jesus! I want to remind you that without faith, it is impossible to please God! Is your life pleasing God? Are the things that you are currently involved in bringing honor to God?
READ ALL JOHN 21!
There is something about a charcoal fire, a wood burning fire, and the smell of the smoke…Let us set the stage and see what was taking place here in scripture. John 21 is an epilogue, a final statement from John the beloved. John is writing these things from a first hand experience. He knew Jesus and Peter; he was there when these things took place. First of all, when did this take place? I believe that it was about 2 weeks after Jesus was crucified. Is this important? You better believe that it is because Peter must have been carrying this agonizing sense of guilt and shame! We go back to the night that Jesus was betrayed! Jesus said, “Tonight all of you will run away because of Me…” Peter told Jesus “Even if everyone runs away because of You, I will never run away!” Peter goes on to say, “Even if I have to die with You, I will never deny you! Peter being arrogant and prideful told Jesus “I am ready to go to prison with you and death!” Then in the Garden, it is Peter who pulls his sword and cuts off the ear of the High Priest servant…Jesus is arrested, and all of the disciples scatter…Peter hangs close, following the mob that is taking Jesus to the High Priest…We now find Peter, standing by a fire in the High Priest Courtyard. He is warming himself by a wood fire; the smell of charcoal is in the courtyard. This is the place where Peter denied our Lord three times. Scripture teaches that on the Last time, he cursed and swore that he did not Know Jesus. Then the rooster crows…
Scripture teaches that Peter wept bitterly…he realized that he had denied Jesus. He realized that his prideful zealousness had caused him to do the very thing he said was impossible. Peter, who loved Jesus…Peter who knew Jesus…Peter who claimed to have rock solid faith, denied Jesus. Without faith, it is impossible to please God! So here we are standing on the seashore late in the afternoon! Pacing, impatiently waiting. We see seven fishermen waiting on the resurrected Lord. They have been waiting for sometime, Peter probably pacing up and down, weighed down in guilt, a broken man. His impatience comes to a head, he makes the statement I am going fishing…the others tired of waiting says we’ll go also. They get into the boat, and fish…impatience turns into frustration…they fish all night, these professional fishermen and catch nothing. The sun comes up; they are about 100 yards from shore. This time of the year there is probably a mist rising in the warming morning air off the cool water. They smell the smoke of the wood fire. And someone calls from shore, “Men…you don’t have any fish do you?” Their answer is short, probably muffled in anger and frustration. “No!” Without faith, it is impossible to please God! I believe there will be a time when we stand before God, I hope that He never makes that statement to us; we are called to be fishers of men. “No we don’t!” “We have been fishing all night long and we have nothing to show for it!” “Cast the net on the right side of the boat…” Scripture teaches that a great catch was made. At this point John tells Peter…”it is the Lord!” Peter has been here before, he remembers the all night fishing trips with Jesus were the nets were filled with so many fish, and they tore. He had been here before, on that stormy night when Jesus walked out to them across the raging seas, remember, he took the steps toward Jesus, and did all right until he looked at the storm and not the Maker of the storm! Peter, ridden with guilt from his denial, grabs his coat and jumps in to swim…He had to get to Jesus. He was not going to wait for the boat. Arriving on the beach Peter notices the fire; he notices the fish and the bread. The boat now arriving, Jesus tells Peter to bring some more fish…Peter hauls in the net and scripture teaches there were 153 large fish…without faith; it is impossible to please God. I want you to realize that God all ways meets our needs! He does to the excess! Jesus, who tells us all to preach the Gospel to the entire world, first invites us to breakfast. Then Jesus serves the men! He now reverts back to Simon, not Peter…we know these are the same people, but Jesus calls him by his given name, before he became the “Rock Man”. “Simon, son of John…do you love (agape) me more than these?” (Speaking of the other disciples) Peter responds, “Yes Lord, you know I love (phileo) you!” “Feed my lambs” Jesus told him. “Simon, son of John…do you Love (agape) me?” Peter responds “Yes Lord; I (phileo) love you.” “Shepherd my sheep.” Jesus ask a third time “Simon, son of John…do you love (phileo) me?” Scripture teaches that Peter was grieved, which literally means pained, he was hurt, cut to the quick, his pent up guilt and pride would surface no more. He was broken before a holy God! Peter responds, “Lord, You know everything! You know that I love you!” Peter understood at this point, that Jesus did know everything! He knew that his faith before had been in self, now his faith was totally dependant on God! What kind of faith do you have? Without faith, it is impossible to please God. We are standing before a Holy God this day, and I want to remind you that He knows everything! So the question is not do you have faith in God but what does God know of your faith? Peter said that he was willing to go to prison, that he was willing to die for his faith, but we know what happened there! I said at first there is a little Simon Peter in all of us, can I tell you that it is easy to say we believe and walk through life under our own power. Lordship comes from giving everything up for God. Oswald Chambers said of God “All He wants from me is total surrender”. He understood that we must abandon self, and take a hold of Christ! Where are you this day?

There is something about a wood fire…

Waiting on the rain

Waiting on the rain

Illusive rain, weatherman promises it, skies cloud up and offer it…no rain

Our life is fair to partly cloudy…promises of rain…waiting on the rain

Cool, cleansing, carefree…rain

One of the problems living in the sunshine state…guess I’ll have to move to Seattle

Remeber when

Remember when…

I used to be your hero
When everything I did caused you to smile

Innocent walks, rides in the country…ski ball

How I long for those days again…a return to innocence and great expectations, what does life hold…what direction will I choose

How I long for those days…

Remember when

Everything we did mattered, driven by purpose, pursuing hope, living life with excitement and gusto!

I so long for those days….

Choices

The Choices we make

Every day’s a day we make them
Always before us, always waiting to be made

They affect us sometimes in ways that we did not intend!
Does anybody really set out to make bad choices…of course not!

We have all made them…we all wish that there were a time when we could take them back…but that’s the problem

Once we’ve made and acted on them, they are made

We can change the circumstances of our choices…we can fix the problems we have created…so be the opportunity cost for choices…

Surprise

I wonder if some Christians will be surprised? Think about it, I wonder if some will make it to heaven and find out that God did love the world. He died for the whole world! People from other races and nationalities will also be worshiping the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. We American's sometime think that we have a corner on Christianity. Heaven is a place where all believers will worship! Remember, the narrow gate leads to life! One of the saddest things in the bible is that only few will enter by it! Don't be surprised! I love you all!

Little Ben

Ben, little Ben. What a wonderful baby. Handsome smile, eyes of wonder, taking it all in, not missing a moment, or movement. What has God planned for this wonderful baby boy...I cannot wait to see...

Key Essentials for impacting your community for Christ

Impacting your community for God

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Key Essentials for impacting your community for God!

Power, in the culture in which we live, people are searching for power! The millennial generation puts a great deal of hype on power…Money, status, and material things often keep us from being what God truly intends us to be! I want to propose to you, that in order to understand true power…you have to be in a real relationship with Jesus Christ. It has to be a real relationship!
I know that there are many people who know about Jesus! Jesus asks the question of His disciples over in Matthew Chapter 16. He asked them “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” It was a valid question 2000 years ago; it is a valid question today! If I were to walk the streets of any town USA today and ask the same question, I would probably receive the same answers the disciples received so long ago! Many people think that Jesus was a good man.
For year’s people have talked about how good Jesus is, but they fail to realize that He is not only the Son of the Living God, He is God! Jesus goes on in His questioning, He makes it personal. He asks the question “Who do you say that I am?” If I were to walk on any campus, and ask students, what would their answer be? What would you answer be? What are you going to say? How would it be with you, if you were to stand before the judgment throne of God, what would your answer be?
Jesus is asking, “Who do you say that I am?” If you are going to impact your community for God,
if you are going to impact your city, your school, your church for God you are going to have to answer the question that Jesus asked. Who do you say that He is? In thinking about you, I began to think about Characteristics that we must possess in order to impact our community for God!
I began to think about how the Holy Spirit could use us to be witnesses in our community.
So I have come up with six characteristics that will help you impact your community for Christ!
The first essential is…Dream Big! The Sky is the Limit! Jeremiah 29:11 says “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” God wants you to prosper. He wants you to dream big! (We are to have a confident expectation) He wants us to do great things for His Kingdom. He wants us to be part of the movement. The great Evangelist D. L. Moody wanted to be a part of a movement! One night the young evangelist heard Henry Varley say, “It remains to be seen what God will do with a man who gives himself up wholly to Him.” And from that day on D. L. Moody wanted to be that man, and the world did marvel to see how wonderfully God used him. He has plans, sovereign plans, and you are a part of those. He has tailor made plans for every one who knows Him as Lord and Savior. If you choose or have chose to follow Him, He wants you to dream big. The sky is the limit. No limitations can be placed on God. He wants you to succeed! He really does, He knows you better than you no your self! DREAM BIG! I think about being part of the movement, to see Christ glorified on School Campuses, all across the State of Florida, all across this nation, the world! To see Him High and lifted up! Shining in the Light of His Glory. Jesus said “If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto my self.” Our Goal is not to draw people to our churches, because the church cannot save people! If we are going to impact our community for God, our goal is to draw people to Jesus! Dream Big! God does not have little plans for you; He has plans to prosper you. To give you HOPE and a FUTURE! Set Goals, Dream, He has expectations. Dream Big.

The next essential characteristic we need to impact our community for Christ is to Work Hard! He wants us to work hard. There are so many people with so many needs, God wants his people work hard. Don’t confuse this! The Bible teaches us “It is by Grace you are saved, through faith, and that not of your self, so that no man can boast.” Salvation is a gift of God. You don’t have to work for salvation. Jesus; has already taken care of that. It is a gift, freely given. But He does want us to work. He doesn’t want us to get saved and cruise. We need to sing like we are saved! We need to smile like we are saved! We need to smell like we are saved! We need to search like we are saved! He wants us to be like Him. (Ephesians 5:1) He wants us to reach out, to offer hope to the hopeless; he wants us to encourage those who are down and out. He wants us to “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and to teach them to obey everything He commanded us.” Work Hard! Do what is right! Everyone can have an opinion, but God needs to be the one who gets His way. Don’t be lazy! One of the biggest problems for professional ministers today is that they are lazy! Work for Jesus! Remember what He has done for you! We are to submit to Him! (Lordship) let Him be Lord! We have to instant in season as well as out of season. (Be Ready) We need not to conform to the patterns of this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. How does Jesus expect us to do this…by spending time reading His word? By spending time praying! By spending time involved in the work of His church. (Missions)(Campus Clubs) If you spend time in prayer and study, you will be motivated to work. Work hard!
The next essential characteristic is to Get It Done! “Don’t put off till tomorrow, what can be done today” God wants us to Dream Big, He wants us to Work Hard, and He wants us to get it done! I don’t know how many times God impresses something on me to do.
And sometimes, I let it slide. Put it off. There are people reading this blog that are having a difficult time. There are people who are reading this blog that are putting spiritual decisions off. Today you need to get it done, and make the decision! You need to choose!
So many times in many of our lives we put off things that God impresses on us to do. Maybe it is talking to a friend, or sharing your faith with a family member and we put it off. We look for the opportune time can I tell you this? There is no time like the present.
Get it done! You’ll feel better! Get it done! It’s the right thing to do. “But be doers of the word and not hearers only. If you are only a hearer you are deceiving your self! Dream Big, Work hard, Get it done and
Play Fair…God wants us to play fair. In life, in the things that you do, in the people that you come into contact with, play fair.
Ephesians 5:1-2 “Be imitators of God, therefore as dearly loved children (2) and live a life of love just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” God is fair. God is just. If we imitate God, we are going to be fair and just. To many Christians are not playing fair. They are cheating people. Taking advantage of people. Play Fair. Do what is right.
Could you imagine Jesus taking advantage of someone? Of course not! He is Fair, He wants us to play fair, to be real, to daily evaluate our lives and search for those things that are not fair or real and quickly make corrections. Do what is right! Dream Big, Work Hard, Get it done, Play Fair and…
Have Fun…It is ok to have fun! It is ok to laugh. Being a Christian is loads of fun. I love to have fun; I love to be around fun people. By the way Jesus came so that we could have life. The Bible tells us this; he came so that we could not only have life, but an abundant life. I don’t know about you, but an abundant life sounds pretty fun. Think about it. An abundant life! A life that is full of joy and peace and love. Have fun, smile every once and a while. Christians have what the world is searching for. We must never forget this; we have what lost folks are searching for. Have Fun! It’s ok.
Dream Big, Work Hard, Get it done, Play fair, have fun and finally…
Make a difference…In someone’s life! Make a difference for the Kingdom of God. What are you doing that is significant for God’s Kingdom? Anything? Are you making a difference in someone’s life? Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (21) I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained by the law, Christ died for nothing.” Make a difference! Do what is right! Live for Christ!

What will your answer be? Who do you say that Jesus is?

I love you all!

Wonderful Grand daughters

Beautiful smiles,
open arms
reaching, grinning, happy
Characteristics of my grand daughters
unassuming, always ready to make my day...

Pure, lovely, wonderful
these precious little girls

what an impact they have made on their grand daddy!
I love them so much!

The Gospel and lifestyle

Addicted to lifestyle…

I have been in ministry for a long time and lately I cannot help wonder why we (believers) are not making headway in winning new converts to Christ! The message of the gospel is timeless, but times change! I believe today that we must do a better job at getting the gospel message to the masses, how do we do this? By stepping out of our comfort zone! We have become too comfortable with where we are in life! Can I preach to you a little this morning? I often tell people that if I could give them five minutes of my life with Jesus, they would never give it back. I believe this! Christ Jesus made a difference in my life! If you cannot tell people about the difference that Jesus made in your life, then what good are you to Jesus? He died (according to the scriptures) on a cruel cross so that believers can live! What is your excuse? Are you actively sharing your faith with the people you come into contact with? Or, are you addicted to lifestyle? Tell someone about Jesus and the difference in your life today! I love you all!

You say you want a revolution...

I believe in America…even though our country is extremely polarized and McCain and Obama are making promises they can never keep. I believe in America, we must overcome, we must find resolve, we must dig deep and rekindle our patriotism, which has moved into a dormant phase, and America has become a cemetery of hope!
At some point in our history we have developed a culture of losing. America, whom at one point could overcome any obstacle. In our short history as a country we during times of trouble have sat down at the table of discussion and developed plans that help us overcome any problem that our nation faced. We were a family, we had each others interest at heart and we had each others back! We are Americans! Even though our political views may be in opposition we would table personal agenda’s and look for common ground. Selfishness and unwillingness to agree on major issues have forced us into a political gridlock that hurts everyone in the long run!
Morality and ethics have become a distant memory as people are trying to get the entire pie other than just one piece. Where will it end? Corporate greed and crooked politicians has left us with no consensus on where we are as a nation. We are not sure on the direction that we are heading. Something has to give.
I am proposing complete political and educational reform! “You say you want a revolution?” We need to throw the bums out! Democrats and Republicans who have had their hands deep in our pockets for way to long and we need to put a stop to it! As for education, we are doing a horrible job at educating the future because we have taken the competitive spirit that made our country strong and replaced it with low expectations. Something really needs to give. Minimum requirements are to low and our future is routinely losing against other nations.
I realize that pride comes before a fall and believe this may be the reason that we are in the position we are currently in. I also believe there is a good pride…the pride that causes you to well up when you see old glory or hear our national anthem played. America, we truly need to love her! We need to look back to the foundation of this republic and dream! We need to dream and put into place a mindset that will benefit future generations. We need to turn to a Holy and Sovereign God and ask Him to restore us. America…more than anything…we need to pray!

Significance

Significance (October 3, 2008)

It was the best of times…it was the worst of times. At age 48, quickly approaching 49…my mind and body sometimes feels like Charles Dickens quote in the beginning of “a tale of two cities.” This morning I thought about my life! I reflected on how God’s hand has constantly directed the events that have played out in my life. I am beginning to realize that I am on the backside of life. I am not ready for retirement, not ready to look for a cane and a good whittling knife, but I do find my self more and more desiring to hang out with the old guys at down at Hardee’s in the morning. Do you think about your life? I loved Bob Buford’s statement in his book “Half Time” where he wanted to turn success in to significance! The Church needs to be significant in today’s culture! We need to reach out like never before! God has placed expectations on each of us! He has directed us to “Go therefore and make disciples…” We need to be about God’s business! We need to tell more people about Him, pray more and be significant! I want my grand children to be more significant than successful! Success is fleeting; significance is eternal. Are you making a difference for the Kingdom of God today! I love you all!!

Spiritual Lethargy

Spiritual Lethargy (October 2, 2008)

Time…a precious resource. Something that we often squander! Overwhelmed, over worked and over challenged. We live in a weird time! The world is constantly throwing things at us! Satan loves it when we are busy and burdened! We (believers) know that we serve the King of Kings and the Lord or Lords! We are people of faith. The problem is that much of the time we are not sure of what we believe in! Lethargy has entered the North American Christian Church. The church is experiencing spiritual lethargy. God’s word teaches us to “Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving.” We can overcome the sluggishness! God wants us to succeed! The Apostle Paul instructs the church at Colossae to “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of time.” What can we do to make the most of time? I believe the church needs to wake up! We need to realize the most effective tool that Satan has is to clutter and busy up the lives of Christians. We get tired and turn to self! Wake up! We must count on the God of the Universe! Are you spending the time that God gives you wisely? Take time today to talk with God! I love you all.

Bro. J <><

Spiritual Heritage

A spiritual heritage…(6/10/2008)

“We have become an object of reproach to our neighbors, the source of mockery and ridicule to those around us.” Psalm 79:4 HCSB

I recently heard that Tom Cruise is supposedly being called the “Christ of Scientology”. Higher ups in Scientology are convinced that in the years to come that he will be worshiped like Jesus all over the world. They feel that he will become a prophet for their religion. I wish to make this statement this morning; I will never worship him or anyone like him! As a matter of fact, I will never again go to any movies or watch any TV that he has anything to do with! I am also going to make this statement! In 50 years no one will remember him! He is just a man involved in a cult and because of his notoriety he pushes an agenda that is irresponsible and false! Jesus’ life literally changed history! Think about it! For over 2000 years He is remembered as God’s one and only Son! He is more than that though; in John’s gospel we read, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God! He (Jesus) “the Word” was in the beginning with God! He will always be remembered! In His word we can see that every knee is going to bow and every tongue is going to confess that He is God! I somehow doubt that this will ever be the case with Tom Cruise. Scripture teaches that we (the church) have become an object of reproach (discredit) to those around us. The world makes fun of us because of our beliefs! The church takes a beating almost every night from the late night shows that so many people watch! Can I tell you today, that Jesus is still Jesus! His word is still the only absolute! Let the world see Jesus (the one and only Messiah) through you! I love you all!


Bro. J <><

Pura Vida

Pura Vida…(4/10/2007)

“Life was in Him, and that life was the light of men.” John 1:4 HCSB

Pure life! Many of us dream about the “Pure life”. Something about changing the latitude that changes the attitude. Costa Rica is one of the most wonderful and beautiful places that I have ever visited! Its diversity attracts families to its shores looking for the pure life. This paradise of tropical jungles is home to unique species of flora and fauna for family travelers. Rich in culture and tradition, Costa Rica offers life and sunshine for anyone who has time to kill and doesn’t mind getting away. The problem is that we cannot always get away! Jesus offers “Pura Vida”. Scripture teaches “life” was in him. Since He created all things, He is the Fountain of life! He is the life giver. The Greek word for “life” is Zoe, and the Zoe being spoken of in John chapter one has exclusive reference to a spiritual life! So through His life, we can experience a spiritual life. The Greek word for “light” is “Phos” and it is not being used in a spiritual sense. What does this tell us then? It tells us that each person has been given the light, but not all will accept it. Light is the revelation of who Jesus is! He is the light of men and only in Him is the “life”. Are you experiencing “Pura Vida” with Jesus? Ask Him to give you life and light today! I love you all!