Lead The Lost

I don’t think there’s anybody who hasn’t dealt with that question.  I’m sure it has come up and maybe you haven’t quite known how to answer it. I t is one of the hardest questions ever…  Have you ever met someone from another religion and after being around them for a while you felt like they were nicer, a better dad, more conscientious than you?  Maybe they weren’t even religious at all and they are one of the nicest people you’ve ever met; you’re like, “So, the Bible teaches these people aren’t going to heaven because they haven’t accepted Jesus?”  Doesn’t really seem fair for God to choose this one, arbitrary characteristic and pass over people who are every bit as morally good.  In addition to that, if you ask people today what the biggest cause of division and violence is in our world, your most likely answer would be radical religion; especially a religion that claims to be the only way to God.  Believing that your way is the on...

My Life Before Christ: For as long as I can remember, I was always involved with church, in fact, my earliest childhood memories are of singing in service, playing with friends, and Sunday School. I used to really enjoy the experience, but as we're all very aware of, things change, I grew up and my views changed with me, as well as my interests. I got into high school and started hanging out with the wrong crowd, drinking a lot, having sex, smoking weed, and just "living the life." Nearly a year and a half out of high school I was married, and every weekend, for years, consisted of hanging out with another married couple and their friends, getting wasted, and just having fun. Over time this all really began to weigh on me, I began to fall into depression and wonder if this was all really fulfilling to me, and if this is how I wanted to live the rest of my life.  How I Received Christ: Well, late 2011 we all took a trip to Miami Florida for a New Year's celebr...

Well, it's National Star Wars Day, you know, "May the Fourth be with you" as they say; however, I say, "May the Father be with you." For what is Star Wars if not a pale imitation of Christianity? You have the light side with their Jedi, the Christians, ambassadors of peace, bearers of justice, and wisdom in all areas of life, drawing their power from the force, big 'G' God of all things. Then you have the darkside with their Sith or sinners who are unsaved, thirsting for power, hungering for wealth, wishing to destroy the Jedi, drawing their power from the force as well, the little 'g' god of this world, Satan. While the Sith want nothing more than to kill and destroy the Jedi order, Jedi simply want to save the Sith and convert them to good, meaning, that the Christians want to convert the non-believers to Christianity. How do Star Wars fans not see the connection here? For those die hard fans who are unsaved, but have praised the series their w...

My dearest Father, I feel something stirring within me that I haven't felt in a very long time, drive, motivation, and a goal. I can only imagine it being the Spirit, Your Spirit, moving inside of me, urging me to take action. I feel like I know what I have to do, I have a voice, I have a pen, I have a purpose swelling within. This is our world, You are our God, these people, Your people, don't have any idea what they're buying into. These demons, these powers, Satan and his forces of evil are moving swiftly, and I need to finally take my stand. No more hiding in the dark, no more fearing persecution, no more tip toeing around peoples feelings of pressure, for if I don't begin now, then I never will. The end is coming, the Lord is drawing near, I have to act, I cannot remain silent. Perhaps this is my calling, maybe this is my purpose, what I've been saved and protected for, and why I was chosen as a child of God. I know I'm not the hero of this story in life, ...

Over the past few days I've been doing a lot of reading and a lot of learning. When I say reading, I don't only mean the Bible, and when I say learning, I'm not only speaking about the things that I find in text. No, over the past week I guess we'll say, I've been learning a lot about God in general, who He is, what He really  wants from us, and many things regarding me personally; which I will gladly share with you all to hopefully shine some light into your lives as well. A week and a half ago, I walked into the office of the care pastor at my church and told him that my relationship with God was not where I wanted it to be, "I desire to be able to hear from God the way He hears from me." Now, before I go any further, many of you may or may not believe in this kind of thing, but I can promise you this, it is  real and available to every person who genuinely seeks it. He suggested a book to me called, 'Drawing Near' by John Bevere, and from abou...

"So you're just going to walk out on me?!" I asked. "That's not what I'm doing, I told you that when I have enough money, I'm moving out, and I would like for you to come with me." responded my wife. "That's not the way you made things seem like last night, you said that you would be leaving because you just couldn't take it here anymore." "Well, I can't take it here anymore, I need my own place, but I never meant that I would just leave without having a plan; you're the one that said you wouldn't be coming with me if I left!" "That was before you made it clear that you weren't just gonna walk out the door without a plan, of course I'd like to get back out on our own, but that's only if the money is there to support it." This is the argument I had with my wife the other night, all revolving around the fact that my wife is no longer satisfied with simply living with my parents while I...

Aaron, What's up? How're things on the inside? Everything out here is the same as always, nothing ever really changes. You're right though, taking Mom and Dad out for lunch was good, we had a great time; even paid for the bill. We also bought them each a $25 iTunes card for their birthday presents, we ended up spending quite a bit overall, but it was all worth it. I've been serving up at Lifepoint quite a bit lately, Monday through Thursday, from about 10am to 5pm or so. They don't really have any opening at the moment, but it feels good to get out of the house and go help out. It feels good to be a part of something that matters, like what I'm doing is important. They've had me doing all kinds of stuff, life: taking out all the trash, configuring/wiping computers, stocking, inventory, cleaning up around the building, running errands, and a lot more. I talked to the care pastor there, about communicating with God, he hooked me up with a link to some r...

We all know what sheep are, at least I hope we do, the white fluffy looking things that frolic around in grassy fields; which are also very docile, gentle, and easily frightened creatures. But what exactly is a shepherd, well, the Bible defines it as the caretaker of the sheep; meaning that a shepherd watches over and protects his flock. For those of you who have already given your life to Jesus Christ, you know that he is our shepherd, and we are his flock of sheep; correct? We are meant to follow the teachings, lifestyle, and example Jesus laid out for us, but, what if I told you that we are meant to do so  much more than that? What if I told you that we weren't meant to live as sheep alone, that we were meant to go on to become shepherds ourselves; in a manner of speaking. I was reading out of the Gospel of Matthew today, chapter 10 specifically, where Jesus instructs his disciples on what they should teach, what to expect, and who to teach to. First, Jesus blessed them...

For the past couple of months, since September of 2011 to be exact, I've been out of work and unable to find a job. I'm sure that many of you are going through the same thing right now, perhaps you've been looking even longer than I have, yet your endeavors leave you wanting and with a feeling of disappointment. Perhaps some of you have faced a lot of financial problems due to your lack of work, maybe you didn't qualify for unemployment benefits or they have already run out; luckily this hasn't happened to me yet, but I do have my concerns at times. However, there is a person whom I've come to know and place my trust in, someone who will provide for me when times are tough and I know He'll never leave me all alone; this person's name is God. At the beginning of this year, I realized that my life was in the crapper and that I was completely unhappy with how my life had turned out; it was time that things changed, for the better, and high time that I beg...

WHAM! "Stupid alarm clock, waking me up on Sunday morning; why is my alarm clock even on? Oh.. that's right, I forgot, it's Easter Sunday; we always  go to church today as a tradition. Alright, it's time to get up honey, we've gotta get the kids up too so they can get dressed up and ready for church." Rolling out of bed you rush around the room getting your clothes ready, you begin to put on one piece at a time as your spouse heads to the children's rooms. About an hour later, a little behind schedule as usual, you skid into the church parking lot. As the dust settles from the abrupt stop, everyone piles out of the minivan and heads to the church entrance. Quietly opening the door, you usher your children in ahead of you and instruct them to find a pew in the back; where hopefully nobody will notice you sneaking in and sitting down. Luckily everyone is still singing their hymn and doesn't notice your family tip toeing into the last pew; score, now y...

Looking back over the course of the last year, I can't remember being sick or having poor health for more than a day. Take a moment, pause and think to yourself, when was the last time that you got sick? Was it serious or just something minor? Did you have to miss a day of work because of it or could you manage the symptoms while at your job? Did you have to visit a doctor or could you just throw back some Tylenol and ride it out? The reason I ask is that today my wife isn't feeling well, she's facing a severe headache and possibly a low grade fever, yet she has decided to stick out her day at work; what a trooper. But I remember a time, not too terribly long ago, when she was laid up on the couch and didn't want to do anything except rest and watch television; ahh, haven't we all experienced that at some point and time? When you're facing these kinds of symptoms, such as a fever and body aches, what's one of the things that you desire above all other thi...

When it comes to our relationship with God, are we patient, or do we expect immediate results from Him? With our requests, do we expect to receive right away or in God's timing? Are we humble in our position or do we sort of treat God like a goody basket; always expecting something when we ourselves do nothing? In all honesty, how many times have we prayed for something from God, whether it be: healing, strength, love, needs, desires; then lost faith in Him when we didn't receive it in a timely fashion? I'm reminded of the story of Jonah, a man who was thrown overboard from a ship, then swallowed by a giant fish. Can you imagine the horror of that experience on him; feeling that you would never escape and die a slow death of starvation and thirst?! Put yourself in his position, what would you do? I'm not sure about you, but I would pray, and earnestly at that; I would probably also go into shock or panic. Now after the first day or possibly even the second of serio...

Who is Jesus Christ? The way this question is often asked is done so in the correct way, instead the opposite wording of who was  Jesus Christ? But I'm getting a little ahead of myself, the fact that you're here seeking an answer to this question shows that you're on the correct path to a better life; but again, I'm getting a bit ahead of myself and need to slow down a bit. To answer this question in short, Jesus Christ, was the Son of God and also the Son of man. Well how can that be possible you might ask, how can someone be God's Son and  man's Son? God chose a woman, Mary, who was a virgin, to give birth to a baby boy who would be named Jesus Christ. Now, Jesus was not conceived through the normal method of conception, which needs a woman and  a man; instead, the Holy Spirit placed Jesus in Mary's womb to be born through a miracle. In this way, he was given birth to by a human, making him the Son of man; but since he was placed in Mary's womb by t...