A Christ Follower: The Journey

Dad To Those Who Have No Dad "… Father to the fatherless…"      One of the most difficult things to observe over the years has been to observe the impact of someone who -- for all intents and purposes--is fatherless: Some are fatherless because their Daddy simply died.   Some are fatherless, while dad is living, because he simply is not available. It maybe   because he has too much pain of his own to have time to help this child live a full life. It may be that he is addicted to drugs or alcohol, and these chemicals have become his closest friends. It may be that he's geographically separated from her children, and he simply did not take the time to parent them. It could be that he had an affair or he simply was a victim of his own upbringing, and so he abandoned his children.      Whatever the case may be, it is clear that huge numbers of children, in the last generation grew up, without their biological Dad in the hom...

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash!   Jesus         Over the decades, I have had the privilege of providing Pastoral Care and Counseling to people whose lives seemed to be out of control.  I used the best of Psychology, and I used the best of Sociology as tools in my ministerial tool chest. I did so  to help folks find the freedom, hope and life they so earnestly sought; however, the very underpinning of it all, which guided my everyday love f...

Things Bless Your Life Matthew 5:3-12 When God Is Blessed Your Stress Is Blessed.   1.      Blessed Spiritual Bankruptcy. Mt. 5: 3 2.       Blessed Grief   Brings Comfort/Relief Mt.   5:4 3.      Blessed Surrender Joy Never Ender. Mt.5:5 4.      Blessed Hunger. Mt.5:6 5.       Blessed Mercy Means Mercy For Me.   Mt. 5:7 6.      Blessed Purity = A Visionary.   Mt.5:8 7.      Blessed Peace Maker Calling Maker Mt. 5:9 8.      Blessed Pain A Reward Gained. Mt. 5:10-12   Now Reflect On These And See How Blessed You Are To Be Today. SoJourner

Dear Lord Jesus, Son of the living God, have mercy on me and hear my prayer:   I surrender myself to you today to be a child of God,  who lives by the grace of God to experience the power of God. I yield myself to you to become the light of the world and the salt of the earth that you call me to be. I give up myself   to become, today,  one who freely recognizes the will of God and has the ability and power to do the will of God.   May Your Holy Spirit produce abundantly  the fruit and gifts of the Spirit (in me and through me) that I may demonstrate to the world the very character of God, and that I will be the Ambassador of Christ whom you have called me to be. In Jesus name. Amen! Pray This Prayer In The Morning When You Awake. Pray This Prayer During Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner. Pray This Prayer At Night.   Habitually Surrender By Praying This Prayer, And Be Blessed Today And Be A Winner   SoJourn...

THE ADDICTION TEMPLATE: WHAT IS SIN PART B. Once Jesus was talking to some real religious guys.   And he confronted their addiction/sin.   He confronted their toxic religiosity. These were the same folks that he had also told that they make the rules so difficult that no one can keep them; thereby placing an unnecessary load on other people’s backs.   I suspect the load would be felt in the form of guilt and shame.   These are the TR folks (Toxically Religious Folks or TRF) who made these rules, but they were not held accountable to keep them for themselves.   Their whole life style of religion was based on lies that they believed others should do.   Kind of like, “Do as I say and not as I do.” They gave themselves the “right” to do this because they viewed themselves as “Abraham’s children.   But there was no resemblance to Abraham’s faith perspective, which Jesus attempted to point out; nevertheless, like addicts or sinners- who don’t wan...

What Is Sin? Part A      In modern times the word “sin” has become a sort of antiquated or archaic word. Many in our culture do not even want to use such a word; however not knowing what it is can leave a person extremely vulnerable. So for the next couple of days I would like to simply blog about, in part A the definition of sin. In the next blog-- or part B --I want to talk about what Jesus said about sin and how it can impact a person's daily life. You might be surprised to hear that he has a very unique take on what habitual sin does to us… It “ain't” a pretty picture.       Sin is not temptation. First Corinthians 10:13b tells us that everyone is tempted when “ the individual is drawn away by their own lust and enticed .” Therefore, temptation is an unhealthy utilization of healthy desires. Notice what comes next "then when lust hath conceived, it brings forth sin."   Even Jesus was tempted; for example, in the book of Hebrews w...

God does not give to us the spirit of fear,  but God does give to us the spirit of  power, love and a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7     God is a giving God. James tells us that "every good and perfect gift comes down from the father of the light."   There are also things that people say that God gives us that He does not give us at all.  When bad things happen to good people,   many times they credit God as the source of the badness.  I don't think that this  is correct; for example, sometimes people go through a pattern of being anxious or afraid. Then they say, "I don't know why God is doing this to me." This has always puzzled me because God is a loving heavenly father; why would a loving heavenly father place fear on His child? Fear is certainly NOT " a good and perfect gift." The fact of the matter is that God is not giving them that spirit of fear; nevertheless, because they believe God is givin...