Just Hold On, You Shall Overcome

Check out my most recent sermon online

"Just Hold On,

You Shall Overcome"

(Sunday Sept 17, 2006)


http://abundantlifecares.org/lifecast/audio/listen/39

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Swimming Upstream

Tonight my mind reflected back to a phrase that my Pastor Dad says all the time.
"As Christians we are swimming upstream".

I think that statement is soooooo true, we're like Salmon. Why..... well because this world and the people of this world are on a slippery slope course headed downstream. The bible declares that believers are IN this world, but not OF this world. Therefore we must strive and press our way upwardly.

It is NOT enough just to say "well, I don't hang with those people. I don't smoke that, drink that, or lay with that!... I don't swim downstream".... because the reality of it all is that doing NOTHING can be just as bad. People are always quick to say what they're NOT doing.... but what ARE you doing???...Nothing???? Well I've got some shocking news for ya'. You can be sitting idle in a rushing stream (doing nothing) and get swept away by the current. That's why being a Christian involves a proactive attitude. We must fight and press our way, through the crowd, through the majority vote, through the "everybody's doing it" movement, through the downstream current. Trust and believe that the three Hebrew boys were swimming upstream when they decided not to bow to King Neb's statue.

Don't just stop swimming downstream, proactively pursue to grow upwardly.. Read you Word... (you know that ol' book sittin on your shelf with the words "HOLY BIBLE" on it!) yeah that one...., oh yeah.. .and please take some time to pray and worship the Lord. Too often our quiet times with the Lord are more so "accidental".... we accidentally got tied up in traffic so we have quiet time with the Lord... now nothing is technically wrong with this but we've gotta start DELIBERATELY scheduling God into our lives!!!!!!

Swimming up stream and going against the grain is never easy. It will cause you to stand when everyone bows, turn right when everyone is turning left, and speak up when everyone else has shut their mouths.

I pray that God would increase your strength to stand strong against the current, give you the overwhelming victory to battle the raging seas, equipping you with his supernatural endurance to continue in this Swim upstream.

T H I S........S U N D A Y ! ! ! !

S E P T E M B E R

Hey, I've been asked to preach this Sunday at my church and I would love it if you came out to support me.
I'm sooooo excited and I can't wait.
See you there!

Here are the details:

    Date: Sunday September 17, 2006
   Time: 10:30 AM Service
Where: Abundant Life Church of God
            19561 Scenery Drive
            Germantown, MD 20876

For more information, including directions, just visit our website:

http://www.AbundantLifeCares.org

Who Uses The Middle?

Well everybody.... Gas prices are now dropping! and trust and believe "I Ain't Mad!". But the recent change has left me sort of puzzled. Should I get regular and pocket the change or super size it and get supreme???

Well this question lead me to the topic of this post.

"Who Uses The Middle?". What is the middle? Is the middle safe? What does it look like?
I must say that to the best of my feeble recollection I can NEVER recall a time where I was with someone at the gas pump and they said "Yeah Jay, fill her up with the middle!". I've gotten Regular (89) and even Supreme (93), but what the heck comes out of that pump that they put in the middle there?? What number is it? Does anybody even use it?? Do they ever run out of that stuff? I wonder how old their stash of that stuff is? hmmmmm...... Well, maybe, just maybe, I'll venture out and try it. Pray for me!

If you use "the middle", please leave me a comment below.. it won't cost you as much as gas does.... it's FREE!

Pause for the Cause (40th Post)

Today,
In honor of my 40th post, I take a Pause for the Cause.
The bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 "In everything give thanks for this is the will of God concerning you".
So today, we pause and give thanks!

Today.....
Today was a pretty rough day at work. Tropical storm Ernesto was hampering down all day long causing our power to fluctuates and flicker. Being an IT guy, I quickly recognized that this meant trouble. Not necessarily for the servers but for all of the other countless computers not connected to a battery backup. Unfortunately for me things started going bad early on. And to make matters worse, they never got any better but slowly snowballed downhill as the day progressed on. Not surprisingly, I ended up staying really late to fix some problems, only to then drive home on the cold, dark, rainy slick-wet, roads of 270.
So today, we pause and give thanks!

Why Pause?
I'm thankful not so much that things went wrong, but I believe the bible. And in Romans 8:28 it says "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are the called according to his purpose." And because of this scripture, I can give thanks because no matter what happens to me, no matter what kind of hell I go through, God has promised me in his Word that it's ALL got to work for my good!!! Hallelujah.
So today, we pause and give thanks!

Yesterday.....
I remember this one time in college. I had been living right, doing what I was supposed to, playing the keyboard in church on Sundays, teaching bible study on Weds, everything. Well I got a letter from the Gas company telling me that they was cutting my gas off. I know I was paid up and for the life of me I could not figure out what was going on!........ Long story short I got everything worked out and the gas company called me to do a pre-cut-on walkthru.... Well, I was totally unaware about the details of this, but check this out. In order for the gas company to turn my gas back on, it was MANDATORY that they do a walkthru and inspect all of the pipes. Well, I hadn't been able to cook for a while, it was cold outside and I really didn't feel like waiting for them to bring their slow butts out there (draggin' and everything) just to look around and tell me that everything is okay, only to drag their butts back to headquarters and give them the "A. Okay" to turn it back on, only to have them drag their butts flippin' on the switch....Wheeeeew. Well, well, well..... come to find out my pipes broke countless code violations, my emergency water heater spicket was improperly mounted (so that in the event of an emergency, hot water would spray eye-level directly into my face), and carbon monoxide was leaking into the house!!!! YIKES.... I got it all fixed, but talk about ALL things working together for good. Had the company not incorrectly shut off my service, I might've died in my sleep!
So today we pause and give thanks!

Everyday.......
Don't miss your opportunity to thank God. Thank him right now. Lift your hands in reverence ( \ / ). He's so worthy. No matter what you're going through, no matter what your facing. Just remember, it's all working to your good. Had my gas never been cut off, I might be dead ....
BUT GOD ( \ / )
So today we pause and give thanks!