A Christ Follower: The Journey

"Where there is no vision the people perish" Proverbs 29:18 When I see this passage, I sadly, and with grief, see churches all around that have no target, no plan, no vision, and while they may perform their weekly rituals, they accomplish little. Few, if any, find salvation through faith in Jesus.  Baptisms are virtually non-existence, except when a baby is occasionally baptized, and the church has very little impact on their community and the world at large. This is especially true when it comes to making disciples of Jesus or ensuring the salvation of lost souls. They do have a whole lot of business going on inside the "four walls."  And while the folks inside are having a great time, few really know what's happening in their elect or select community. A whole lot of what goes on inside is for the members at large. What happens in the Church stays in the Church.  The ancient wisdom written above literally can be translated, "When there is no vision...

He (Jesus Himself) called some to be Apostles, some to be Prophets, some to Evangelist, some to be Pastors and some to be teachers.  And He did so to equip the saints, or people of God, to do the work of the ministry. He did this to edify, or build up the body of Christ. Ephesians 4:11-12 God almighty is all about giving power to the Pastor to fulfill the Pastor's calling. This fulfillment of this sacred calling, in turn,  will empower God's people in each and everyone's ministry to which God is calling them; yet, somewhere along the line, something happened.  Pastors, for some reason, have become " The  Minister" in each congregation, and absolutely nothing could be further from the truth. As a matter of fact, Jesus actually hated this form of ministry style, which will disempower God's people, make a church's community impact highly ineffective, and the average Christ Follower's spiritual journey  will resultantly become anemic. MORE BANG FOR T...

Hi! Many folks are anemic in their life's journey because of their lack of daily surrender in Christ. The don't daily practice the spiritual practice(s) of  Armoring up - Powering up - Or Dressing Up.  They take all the time they need in the morning to get ready for the day,  and they put on the appropriate clothing for their day.  Not a one of them would fail to carry out these preparations just to begin the day. After all, it would be down right embarrassing to not get dressed for the day before leaving home. Going out without clothing is NOT an option; however, God gives us THE way to be ready for the facing of the day so that we can be,  "Strong in the Lord and in His mighty power, " and so that we can  "stand against the Devil's schemes, " and all too few take the time required to live for the Lord where the Lord blesses. So, eventually life gets all "messed" up, and folks cry out for God to  "bless their   mess, " when the...

THE REFRIGER-PRAYER Years ago, I learned just how powerful prayer can be.  I have seen a church explode with growth spiritually, emotionally, relationally, fiscally and physically.  This church was on the verge of closing, but God's people covenanted together to pray.  As their Pastor, God revealed to me what I call the  "Refriger-Prayer. " The covenant we all made was to put this on our refrigerator, or in our bibles or cars - and now it can be on a smartphone. And every time we would go to the refrigerator to get food, we would pray -- in agreement with our fellow congregants -- at least one or more or even all the prayers on the prayer list for our congregation.   You have to get food out of the fridge. Why not pray a short, secret, simple, sincere and specific prayer before you open the door? If your refrigerator is not magnetic, tack it close by or leave it on the nearest counter. By the way. Take time to read all the scriptures. The Car Prayer ...

Johnson Amendment Made Anemic Free At Last! Free At Last! Thank God Almighty! Free At Last! Please click on this site below. Get past the add and watch the short video. http://video.foxnews.com/v/5420579910001/ You might have to copy and paste this to your URL. Above is a video of a minutes long, but respectfully and well debated,  debate regarding the Johnson Amendment.  You may ask, "What is that?" The answer is as follows: In 1954 then Senator Lyndon Baines Johnson - Later President Johnson- was the majority leader in the U.S. Senate.  He was able to get passed an amendment that prevented charities from supporting political figures.  He did this to get back at a charity that supported one of his opponents over himself.  So, 501c (charities) came under the oversight of the IRS, and for all intents and purposes, under IRS scrutiny. In time, political leaders,  including Presidential figures like Presidents Clinton and Obama, used this to be a...

Dear Christ-Followers, Recently some rulings were made by the "Supreme Court" of The United Methodist Church that are totally unscriptural, bible phobic and blind.  Here are a few thoughts I have about this: God still offers His saving, sanctifying (transformational) grace, to all people no matter what sin has them in bondage to sin and death. As Jesus Himself said in John 8:34 committing oneself to sin makes a person a slave to that sinful life style. See also John 8:32, John 8:36 and Galatians 5:1 where the Word offers absolute freedom from slavery to sin and death, through Jesus. I am one such person set free. And literally millions are experiencing this delivering and saving grace around the world through the ministry and revival taking place in the UMC. Though revival is happening less so in The United States; nevertheless, NO sin is to big to keep God from loving the sinner, forgiving or saving the sinner from any and all sin. And GOD goes one step fu...

BREAKING IT DOWN Hello Christ Followers  Early this morning, I woke up briefly and started thinking about something all too many of us just blow through quickly when we read it, and we miss the powerful capacity, capability and competence the words of this ancient script promise and provide for us. They do so in order that we can live intimately with God. Even as I write this, because so many have heard this message, I can almost sense that some will emotionally sink and turn off because of this scripts familiarity; nevertheless, God inspires me to write this for someone somewhere in the world. So, I am going to break this down, and then look at the promises, and then give a challenge that just might change you life. Here is the ancient writing from the Psalmist David. Psalm 23 A Psalm of David.       1       The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.       2       He maketh me to lie down in green pasture...