How to Survive

Hello again to you all.  I am thankful once again for the opportunity to write again.  As I stated in my last posting, there are a lot of things going on in my life.  There are many new challenges that have to be faced, as all of us have.  And it seems like it never ends.  There always seems to be something changing or going wrong that we have to deal with.  And when it seems like nothing else could possibly go wrong, it does.  And many times in the heat of the moment we may question why God allowed certain things to happen.  We question that if He loved us, that He would not let those things happen to us.  But this is simply not the case.  Sometimes God uses those instances to get us to lean on Him more.  The question that we have to ask ourselves, is what do we really place our trust in.  And I am not saying this flippantly like I know that many do, but I want you to truly ask yourself, when the struggles of this life are upon you, what is the first thing that you do?

Matthew 7:24-27
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”

How many times in our lives do bad things happen, and the first thing we do is try to figure it out on our own?  Or we turn to that friend, or family member for support and guidance.  Yet we systematically tune out God in the situation.  Or the thought of what God would have us do completely slips our minds.  And when the situation is bad enough, we crack under the weight of it.  But, for the one that has his/her foundation fully settled on the Word of God, we find comfort in the midst of the storm.

About a month ago, our school was shaken with the tragic death of one of our students.  Thanks be to God that he had been saved before the accident.  But the school was in shambles.  It forced all of us to take a good look at our lives in light of eternity.  For no one thought that death could come to them because of their youth.  Many of them had no idea of where to turn for comfort.  No one could fathom the reason for his untimely death.  But was his death "untimely"?  Or was it something that God allowed for a purpose?  I was able to share with a large group of students about the importance of a relationship with Jesus.  About who He was, and what He did for us.  Many of the students that were believers had a certain peace about them that was evident.  They were sad, but at peace knowing that their friend was in the presence of God.  And some of the students took note of how they spoke and acted.  The deceased student's pastor was there with me, and though I had to go teach he stayed.  Later own he told me that a couple of students repented, and gave their lives to Christ.

God has a purpose for all the things we go through.  He had a purpose for taking that student home when He did.  I firmly believe He did for those few that were saved because of it.  But it is not for us to question Him.  We just need to trust in Him.

Psalms 46:1-2
"God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change"

I urge you to check your foundation.  If it is based on the Word of God in Christ Jesus, you will be able to stand firm.  If it is based in something else, it will not last.

Thanks for reading, and I pray that God will bless you all this week! 

Band Aid to a Broken Heart

I am blessed beyond what I shall ever deserve. I have a beautiful family, a wonderful church, a job doing something that I love, and the list could go on forever. However, today I want to focus on just one of the many blessings I have in my life, my daughter Lauren. I am devoting this week's post to her and her 1st birthday Friday. She is a band aid on a broken heart.

Back in 2008 when our oldest daughter, Morgan, was born, we were not sure if we wanted to be done having children. Along with our son, Keith, two children were a blessing in and of themselves. Our family was growing, but was it time to stop? My wife and I pondered and prayed about this for a long time. Finally we decided that one more might be a good finish if the Lord was willing to grant us that. I remember the day that my wife found out that she was expecting our third child. We were so happy and excited about the newest member of our family. We even went as far as to pick out names that very night.

Then, a few days later, a tragedy occurred. My wife was in the process of a miscarriage. It was the first time she had lost a child. There are no words to describe the pain that my wife and I felt. We were so happy about another child, that we had not entertained the thought of losing one. We were devastated. My wife and I prayed for comfort and peace. Was this a test of our faith? A couple of verses came to mind.

Romans 8:28
" And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

Romans 8:37-39
"But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

So we made it up in our minds that we would glorify God no matter the circumstances. We gave our sorrows over to Him, and trusted in Him that He would see us through.

Philippians 4:13
"I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."

We cast our cares upon the Lord about our suffering and the question as to was our family complete. And several months later, we had what we believed to be an answer to prayer. Jenny was expecting again. We were so elated at the thought, however, more cautious after what happened with the last pregnancy. Still, it was hard to suppress the excitement. Was this to be our reward for being faithful to God through a great tragedy? Then the news came. We lost this child too. Our hearts were broken. Our spirit was greatly weakened by this next loss. Was it meant for us to even have another child? Why was this happening again? The depression was so much greater this time. Two miscarriages within one year. My wife blamed herself, and I prayed for forgiveness thinking this may be some form of discipline from the Lord. But we still prayed. We gave this to the Lord as well. Every time that we faced this loss again, we prayed for comfort from our Lord.

Psalm 73:28
"But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord God my refuge, That I may tell of all Your works."

I was amazed at the chance that these situations gave us to witness to others. Many that I come into contact with were amazed at how at peace we were. They were amazed that we were not angry at God and turn away from our faith. Did we want to try again? Were we afraid of what would happen if we lost another one? What would we do? Around Christmas of 2010, my wife began to be sick. Not sure of what was going on I took her to the doctor. She was pregnant. This one was unplanned. We were not trying to get pregnant again. But, here it was. Fear struck us when some of the tests performed were not so good. We were at the point of extreme despair. We cried all night that night while we waited for the last test results to come in. I remember the chills I felt when the phone rang.

In May, my beautiful daughter Lauren was born. Words cannot describe what this blessing has been to us. Our hearts were broken at the loss of two babies that we will never see on this earth. But, God provided us with a band aid for our broken hearts in the angel that was born almost a year ago today. Not a day goes by that I do not praise God for blessing me beyond what I deserve. Was this a reward for our faithfulness through our time of suffering? I don't know. It sure feels like it though. Watching her grow has been a heart warming experience. Her first tooth, watching her crawl, her first steps on her own, and the first time she called me Da Da, burn in my mind.

I will do everything in my power to be the best Dad I can be to Lauren. I will never forget what she is to my wife and I. And I will never forget to give God the glory, honor and praise for sending her to us.

Lauren, for all that you are now at this age, for all that I hope you to become, know that your Daddy will love and cherish you always.

Happy Birthday.

Thanks for reading, and God bless you all this week!

What do we pray for?

I am forever amazed at the faith of a child. We have prayer time every evening with our children before we put them to bed. We start by teaching the "Now I lay me" prayers while they are small, and then we pray when they are finished. After a while my son stopped his usual prayers and started trying to pray like us. He prays for the sick, the lost, our pastor, and even "baby Lauren in mommy's tummy." And as he has gotten older, his prayers are longer. He even asks the Lord to bless the prayer that his little sister just said. It makes me stop and think about the things we pray about. We pray about the things that worry us all the time, but do we thank Him for our blessings? Have we ever thought about the fact that sometimes He allows things to happen so that we will grow and glorify Him? Sometimes bad things happen to get our attention. They help us see our need for Him. Do we thank Him for those as well? Acts 16:23-25 "When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely; and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them;" Paul and Silas were singing praises to God after a horrible beating, instead of begging for deliverance. We should condition ourselves to look to see what God is doing in our lives in every situation, and be thankful, not only for the good, but for the bad things that He has brought us through. I am going to close this with the lyrics of a song that I heard recently that moved me to think about what I pray for. The name of the song is "Blessings" by Laura Story.

We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home,
It's not our home

‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise

Thanks and God Bless You this week!

Ouch!

These past few months have been very trying for me. I have had a nagging toothache for the last few months, but have not been able to do anything about it. There always seemed to be something that I felt was more important. My wife is expecting, my son needed glasses, and my daughter needed her tonsils taken out. But finally, I was able to get the tooth cut out. Praise the Lord! I feel the best that I have felt in a long time. Yet, as I think of the pain that I have had, and the trials that my family has faced these last few months, I find myself in awe of what God is doing in my life. You see, God uses a multitude of things to get our attention, or just to let us know that He is there. Sometimes good, and sometimes painful. This reminds me of one of my favorite verses, Romans 5:3-5. The Apostle Paul writes "Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us." God does not want bad things to happen to us, but sometimes He allows it to test our faithfulness to Him, just as He did to Job. However, instead of looking at how bad things are, or how they are piling up, think about how blessed you are. An old preacher from my youth once said, "Instead of counting all of your problems, try counting your blessings and see how long it takes you to feel better." When we look to God in times of trouble, we learn to persevere, build character, and gain hope for better things to come. For instance, getting rid of that tooth!

Thanks and God Bless You all this week!

I refuse

These past couple of months I have been blessed to see some wonderful miracles in my life and in those around me. Praise the Lord we have had 8 people saved at our church in the last few months. Prayer really works. We have been actively praying for a long time for our new brothers and sisters. The sad thing is, you just do not hear of people getting saved like we did years ago. It is becoming uncommon in today's society. Many people are in a state of false assurance these days. Back in the 1980's Rev. Billy Graham estimated that 85% of all church goers are not saved. That is staggering! What is the reason for this. I have an idea that I would like you to entertain for a moment. How many of us are actively looking for ways to serve Him and be an active witness for Him in our daily walk? I know that I am guilty of this, being caught up in the worries and happenings of this life. Many times we seem to have our blinders on to God. We do not think actively every day of how best to serve Him. Because of this, the gospel of Christ has become diluted, and somewhat misconstrued by some "so-called" believers. The only way to combat this is to do what scripture teaches. In Matthew 28:19 Christ says "Go and make disciples of all nations...." He did not say when you feel like it, or when you have time in your schedule. He said "GO". In 2 Timothy 4:2-5, Paul charges Timothy "Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage - with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry." We have a job to do. These scriptures were not just for the recipients of the message, but to all of us. I refuse now to stand by and let others be an example for me. I refuse not to take a stand. I refuse to putting other things ahead of my bible reading time. I refuse to not witness based on what others may think of me. I hope that all of you that read this, will join me in a refusal to just stand idly by and "GO" to work for Him before it is too late.

Thanks and God Bless You this week.

Can this day be any worse!?

Matthew 5: 3-12
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Be attitudes for Christian life. Blessed is another word for happy. Try substituting the word every time you see the word blessed. Go ahead and read again. There are going to be many times in our lives, not just these last few and next few weeks, that our lives are going to seem impossible. Times when we are so mad that we just want to scream. As we look at what life deals us, remember that our reward in heaven is greater than all the troubles we face. Every one of these traits in the verses above all come with a promise. This promise is from above, and His are the ones that we know will be kept. So the next time you feel frustrated and overwhelmed, try to remember these ways to be "happy." Because our time here is short, and rewards and eternity in heaven with "Him that is Greater than he that is in the world" is something to look forward too.

God Bless You this week.