“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”
Confessing your sins will humble your heart and make you more aware of your actions. When you confess your sins to a friend you have to undergo self-humiliation due to talking about your own weaknesses. I find this to be very hard. It requires me to swallow my pride and put my manhood to the test. I have learned this is all part of putting my baggage down as I walk my path. After confessing our sins we need to pray for one another in order to be made whole. The word prayer appears 138 times in 130 different verses in the NIV Bible.
Why would God have the word PRAYER repeated so many times?
I believe it is to emphasize the importance of prayer in our Christian lives. Prayer and the humbling of our souls help us to become righteous (Acceptable to God).
As the quote from Guy H. King states:
“No one is a firmer believer in the power of prayer than the devil; not that he practices it, but he suffers from it”
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
John 4:24
“God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”
Growing up I always viewed worship as a work out “Stand up, Sit Down, Kneel Down, and Stand up”. Since being saved I struggle with true worship. In today’s society of getting everything done quickly I tend to worship through my actions and words. I have come to realize however that true worship comes from sharing your heart in spirit, you then feel God’s love more deeply. This cannot be done with actions or by words from our mouths. We have to open our hearts in worship followed by slowing down and listening to God.
Growing up I always viewed worship as a work out “Stand up, Sit Down, Kneel Down, and Stand up”. Since being saved I struggle with true worship. In today’s society of getting everything done quickly I tend to worship through my actions and words. I have come to realize however that true worship comes from sharing your heart in spirit, you then feel God’s love more deeply. This cannot be done with actions or by words from our mouths. We have to open our hearts in worship followed by slowing down and listening to God.
Monday, February 15, 2010
John 13:34
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
As a Christian this verse means so much. We need to be able to love the people in our lives who appear to be unlovable. Those who truly know me will say “I never have a bad day!” This is what being a Christian is truly about. I take time each day to reflect on the people I’ve come in contact with and ask myself, would they say “I am loving, I am always smiling, Nothing ever bothers me.” Always remember the true meaning of love as it is written in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.
As a Christian this verse means so much. We need to be able to love the people in our lives who appear to be unlovable. Those who truly know me will say “I never have a bad day!” This is what being a Christian is truly about. I take time each day to reflect on the people I’ve come in contact with and ask myself, would they say “I am loving, I am always smiling, Nothing ever bothers me.” Always remember the true meaning of love as it is written in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
“The Parable of the Lost Son”
A wonderful person came into my life recently and her words and faith began to inspire me. I listened to her talk about the word of God on her blog and was moved by the passion she had. During this time I asked if she needed any assistance and she responded that WE should do a video together. I immediately responded with a message that I was not prepared to take this step, however I would help her in other ways. I can truly say that within minutes of making that comment my mind was filled with messages. I picked up a piece of paper and began designing this page. I turned on the T.V. and there was Billy Graham in Black and White giving a sermon on “The Parable of the Lost Son”. My mind was going 110 m.p.h….. Immediately following this program Joyce Meyer appeared with John Maxwell. I knew at that point I was prepared to begin this journey. For years I have read and transformed John Maxwell’s leadership books into presentation to teach and train front line supervision.
God truly had the Holy Spirit give me a nudge (More like a slap in the back of head).
Luke 15:11-24 – “The Parable of the Lost Son”
"There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them.
I received my share of God’s estate when I was growing up attending Catholic Church, from Sunday school, CCD classes, being an altar boy and at one point even thinking of becoming a priest. I learned at a young age the rights and wrongs of life. I just did not always follow them.
"Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
This is where adolescents kicked into overdrive. As any young man faces it became Girls, Girls and more Girls along with alcohol. I fell in love with someone who was not equally yoked. I stopped attending church, stopped praying on a regular basis. Went through divorce, committed adultery as it is written in the Old and New Testaments. Worked in Strip clubs and dated the women who worked in them. Re-married the same woman and ended up divorced for a 2nd time.
“When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' So he got up and went to his father.
During my 2nd marriage I began to come to my senses. I truly tried to make this marriage work. During this time two spiritual men came into my life, Bob Cole whom I have coached football with for 11 years, and Gene Robinson who always has the Gospel at the tip of his tongue. Neither of these two hired men of my Father knew the impact they were having on my life. I owe stepping back into a church to Bob. He was always asking and was always prepared to be there for me. Gene always reminded me of the words God has for me. The other hired hand was a group of 12 and 13 year old athletes that I had the pleasure of coaching. I will not tell their story. It can be found in the book recently published “Charging Forward”.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.” The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' “But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.
During the time spent with Bob and Gene I was truly a long way off but the Holy Spirit was growing stronger inside of me. I finally called Bob and asked if I could go to church with him. The first service was about the vows of marriage. I still continued to go and on July 25, 2009 with my proclaiming in public that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior there was a celebration in Heaven because a lost (dead) soul had returned home.
I can truly say that during my life the Holy Spirit has always been present, I just was not in tune with his nudges. When I was 20 years old I toured Jerusalem, tried to walk on the Sea of Galilee, obtained a jar of water from the Jordan, visited Christ’s tomb. I can truly say I am looking forward to my next trip to the Holy land so I can see it through a glass clearly.
Thank you again for taking the time to visit this blog site. I look forward to the next story and the spreading of God’s word.
May God bless each of you and we’ll walk together again soon.
God truly had the Holy Spirit give me a nudge (More like a slap in the back of head).
Luke 15:11-24 – “The Parable of the Lost Son”
"There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them.
I received my share of God’s estate when I was growing up attending Catholic Church, from Sunday school, CCD classes, being an altar boy and at one point even thinking of becoming a priest. I learned at a young age the rights and wrongs of life. I just did not always follow them.
"Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
This is where adolescents kicked into overdrive. As any young man faces it became Girls, Girls and more Girls along with alcohol. I fell in love with someone who was not equally yoked. I stopped attending church, stopped praying on a regular basis. Went through divorce, committed adultery as it is written in the Old and New Testaments. Worked in Strip clubs and dated the women who worked in them. Re-married the same woman and ended up divorced for a 2nd time.
“When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' So he got up and went to his father.
During my 2nd marriage I began to come to my senses. I truly tried to make this marriage work. During this time two spiritual men came into my life, Bob Cole whom I have coached football with for 11 years, and Gene Robinson who always has the Gospel at the tip of his tongue. Neither of these two hired men of my Father knew the impact they were having on my life. I owe stepping back into a church to Bob. He was always asking and was always prepared to be there for me. Gene always reminded me of the words God has for me. The other hired hand was a group of 12 and 13 year old athletes that I had the pleasure of coaching. I will not tell their story. It can be found in the book recently published “Charging Forward”.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.” The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' “But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.
During the time spent with Bob and Gene I was truly a long way off but the Holy Spirit was growing stronger inside of me. I finally called Bob and asked if I could go to church with him. The first service was about the vows of marriage. I still continued to go and on July 25, 2009 with my proclaiming in public that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior there was a celebration in Heaven because a lost (dead) soul had returned home.
I can truly say that during my life the Holy Spirit has always been present, I just was not in tune with his nudges. When I was 20 years old I toured Jerusalem, tried to walk on the Sea of Galilee, obtained a jar of water from the Jordan, visited Christ’s tomb. I can truly say I am looking forward to my next trip to the Holy land so I can see it through a glass clearly.
Thank you again for taking the time to visit this blog site. I look forward to the next story and the spreading of God’s word.
May God bless each of you and we’ll walk together again soon.
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