God’s plan

I was once told that as time goes by everything changes with no reasons why, explanations we won’t receive we’re just told we must believe…. the Lord has a plan for each of us this I believe this I trust…. doctors-lawyers-teachers-wives, Lord what’s your plan for my life…explanations I don’t expect just some guidance on the right track, show me Lord your plan for me I ask you this while on my knees…praying to you helps me to see the wonderful plan you have for me, the Lord has a plan for each of us, this I believe this I trust.

Silence is Deadly

Dating an Unbeliever?

Dating an unbeliever?  Let’s hear what Pastor Justin Cox of Passion for Christ Movement has to say to the church about it…

16 Year Old Ex-Cutter Testimony

Spontaneous Worshipper

Spontaneous worship.  Would you? Could you, without the prompting of the praise leaders on Sunday morning– just worship?  Could you really lose sight on yourself, your situation and the things around you and simply worship?  I’m not referring to the automated hand claps and victory laps that we have been programmed to think are “real worship.” Not just physical worship because the praise team just sang our song–it has to be more.  Our hearts and minds have to no longer be so cognizant of who we think we are.  We must make a decision to worship God for who He is!

Today, I ran across an interesting video that I believe captured worship. An up and coming musician, Carlos Whittaker, was attempting to record a promotional video for his upcoming release when a homeless man, Danny, walks up to him as he prepares to sing.  Danny appears to kneel in reverence as he worships through song. It is difficult to ignore the sincerity in both of their voices.  The result is amazing.

Carlos shares some more on his blog that is hard to pick up from the video:

If you listen carefully at the end you hear me saying this to Danny. “Keep trying to make it man.”

He looked me square in the eye… cocked his head sideways with a confused look on his face… and said, “Trying to make it? No man. I ain’t trying to make it… I’m making it. Jah puts his soldiers everywhere. Jah says, Yea though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death… So he places some of us, in that valley.”

What is so amazing is that this obviously homeless man understands that he might just be there for a reason.  I know that would be a hard pill to swallow for most of us.  Yet, with humility he seems to have accepted the call and continues to simply worship.  Could you?

What’s with the Eggs and Bunnies?

Pastel colored, cute, fuzzy, big, small, caramel, peanut butter and chocolate flavors will fill Easter baskets everywhere. Hats, gloves, shawls and shirley temple curls will be must have accessories.  This Sunday pews everywhere will be  filled with the best dressed bottoms they will be graced with all year long.  Family members and friends will make cameo appearances bright and early Sunday morning as if they were in a music video giving Jesus a shout out.  The occasion …Easter of course.

We love Easter because it is not only one of the most spiritual holidays, but a time for reflection and family to come together. It is the remembrance of Jesus’ rising from the dead, known as His Resurrection.  If you are anything like me, having grown up in church, you knew early on the significance of the resurrection and why Jesus rose from the dead.   I only knew that I was getting dressed up for Jesus and I would say a nice speech to let everyone know I knew what he had done for us all.

What I did not know however, was exactly where the bunnies and eggs came in.  Why and how did the eggs become pastel colored and how did they relate to Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection?  Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed each and every Easter egg hunt and the Cadbury bunnies that I got to enjoy.  My cousin even penned a song about the Easter bunny that over 20 years later, I can’t forget the lyrics to.  Was the Easter bunny good to you?  Was he good to your mama and your daddy too?  Was he good to your sister and your brother too?  Was the Easter bunny good to you? Catchy isn’t it?

A Little History Lesson

Easter is named after Eastre, a pagan Saxon goddess!  Eastre (earlier, Eostre, derived from the Saxons’ Germanic heritage) was the Anglo-Saxon name of a Teutonic goddess of dawn, spring and fertility. Our word, “east” is related to this deity’s name.   Her male consort was the Sun god, and the sun does rise, after all, at dawn and in the east.   Rites of spring were celebrated in her honor at the vernal equinox (first day of spring). The first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox was also sacred to her, and this pagan holiday was given her name — Eastre.   The full moon represented the “pregnant” phase of Eastre — she was passing into the fertile season and giving birth to the Sun’s offspring.

Eastre’s symbols were the hare and the egg. Both represented fertility and rebirth.  Rabbits are more common in various parts of the world than hares so, over time the rabbit has been substituted — not without merit, since rabbits are notorious for their fertility. This is where the  “Easter Rabbit” or “Easter Bunny”  tradition comes from.

Dyed eggs were already being used as part of pagan rituals at the dawn of history in the Near Eastern civilizations. These were the first “Easter eggs.” As the traditions of the Easter Bunny and Easter eggs evolved, they were lumped together. As a result, in our modern Easter tradition, although the Easter Bunny is sometimes thought of as laying the Easter eggs so eagerly sought by children, the Easter Rabbit is usually regarded as male.   Since rabbits don’t lay eggs there isn’t much point for us to debate over its gender.

When the emerging, Christian religion, with its emphasis on rebirth (through the Resurrection), found it expedient to continue celebrating Eastre’s holiday. The focus simply switched to Christ — and the spelling, eventually, to “Easter.”

It is now, in retrospect that I caution parents to not allow the commercialism of this most sacred of celebrations to overshadow the message that we need to convey to our children and to anyone that has not been introduced to the Messiah. Galatians 2:20 reads: “I am crucified with Christ. I no longer live but Christ lives in me, the life that I now live I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.” NKJV It was not the Easter Bunny that bore our sins and suffered the shame of the cross for us.  This most selfless of acts deserves our undivided attention and it our responsibility to share with the world the truth about the greatest of love stories.

Let us not get so caught up in all of the images that we are literally being force fed.  Chicks emerging from their shells and chocolate bunnies emerging from eggs are just a couple of the ways the world celebrates the birth of spring as opposed to the resurrection of the Son of the true and living God.  Is it not God who creates all things and gives them life?  Even if we wanted to just celebrate the season it would still point to Him because we are surrounded by His handiwork continually.  He created it all!    Psalm 24:1  The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.  Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.  Psalm 19:1-2 While you’re searching for eggs don’t forget to seek first the kingdom of God and all of its righteousness.  Moreover, in all thy getting, get understanding.

Good Friday Poem

by Alan Allegra

“What makes Good Friday good?” you ask.
A challenge! A rather daunting task.
Some may dismiss it with a shrug and a smirk,
And consider it another day off work.
Others, religious, pious as such,
Take a few minutes for a mournful watch;
Merchants unlock their doors with glee,
Anticipating the pre-Easter shopping spree.
A bunny here, a chocolate egg there,
Symbols of a society that doesn’t care.
“Care?” you say, “Do you mean me?”
“What’s there to care; how can this be?”
It’s the cross, you forget, that rugged wood,
That makes Good Friday eternally good.
What’s so good about the death of an ancient man,
Who died long before my life began?
This man, who on this earth once trod,
Was not only man, but the Son of God.
That wood, that tree, that old rugged cross,
Was the symbol of gain and the symbol of loss.
To those who believe, it is the promise of gain;
The hope that, like Jesus, we’ll rise again!
For the skeptic, the doubter, the meaning is loss;
An eternal gulf, which no one can cross.
Good Friday is good, because of the death
Of Jesus the Savior, who gave His last breath
So you, friend, and I, could be cleared of our guilt,
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb that was spilt.
Mourn not, my dear soul, for the death of the Lamb,
For that cross made the bridge to the Great I AM.
Christ paid the price, rose again to God’s side,
And brought us next Sunday: the Resurrection-tide!

Source:  http://www.faithwriters.com/article-details.php?id=67564

Spoken Word: Soul Ties

My husband and I teach a purity workshop and we spend a great deal of time searching for innovative ways to convey the spiritual dangers of sexual impurity.  So many confessed believers still struggle in the area of purity and cannot understand why.  Kirk Franklin’s very public struggle with pornography is just one example of a confessed believer still struggling with the open wounds left by impure relationships.  The soul truly is vexed when the flesh is at war with spirit, especially in the area of purity.  I praise God for the verbal picture these two anointed young people paint as they describe soul ties, their aftermath and the road to repentance.  Be blessed!

Follow Me

Many people often compliment my husband and I in regards to the eating habits of our children, especially our three year old.  She doesn’t eat candy.  In fact, she refuses it!  She has just begun to experiment with very small pieces of chocolate but, that’s it.  She prefers carrots, celery, apples and grapes, etc.  Of course, we don’t mind, its good for her.

But, when and how did this happen?  How did we do it?  She simply mimics the behaviors modeled before her.  We don’t really do junk food.  Yes, we have the occasional dessert but, it is not an every evening event.

Just as she mimics or rather imitates our good eating habits I have also noticed her exhibit some of our areas of opportunity (that’s the PC way to say negative).  She watches us even when we are unaware and we have an indelible effect on her.

As believers we must recognize that we are always on display before the world.  We have an effect on their attitudes toward salvation.  If we really think of every unbeliever as potentially part of the harvest what kind of believer would they become if they imitated you?  Would they be Christlike?  And what of our brothers and sisters in Christ, especially those that are babes?  We can easily cause them to stumble because of our behaviors and attitudes.  It should be our goal to exhibit the Fruit of the Spirit and not be a stumbling block in their way.

Some of us actually desire that people follow us–mimic our behaviors.  Such desires should be put in check immediately and we should lay hold to the position of our brother Paul when he said, “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.“ (1 Cor. 11:1)  Paul was encouraging us to follow his example of imitating Christ’s behaviors, not his own.  Paul’s one desire was to walk a path that would lead others to Christ, even at the risk of forfeiting personal satisfaction. (1 Cor. 10:33)  He didn’t want any detours that would cause himself or others to lose their way. In fact, in Phil. 3:17 Paul encouraged the Phillipian Church to take note of those who lived according to the pattern he had given them.  So, if they felt they might be losing their way they had already noted examples of those who were truly following Christ.

Take note of those around you and ensure that you are following Godly examples.  More importantly, ensure that you are being a good example yourself.  If we allow our steps to be ordered by the Lord and stop leaning to our own understanding we will not have to worry about who is following us–it won’t be us they are following at all.  They will be following Christ as we imitate Him.

Heritage Mass Choir

Heritage Mass Choir is a group of young Koreans who have adapted the Afro-American style of contemporary gospel music and have made it there own.  I was amazed when I saw this!  Sometimes we forget the influence, the affect, and wide spread appeal that music has.  Even though I don’t understand Korean, the music and the message shine through.  If these young people live with the power and conviction they sing with, they are a force to reconed with!  Listen and be blessed…

Next Page »