This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him

I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.My soul shall make its boast in the Lord;The humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me,And let us exalt His name together. I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces were not ashamed.This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them. (Psalm 34:1-7)

More than four years ago when walking the campus of Liberty University with a group of our ministry teens, I asked the Lord to somehow allow our son Michael to be able to attend Liberty. You see, as missionary/teachers, we do not have the funds to pay for a college education. It would have to be God or Community College! Our son is a great kid, loving son, caring for friends and family, but is challenged in the classroom. Occasionally he would make honor roll. He would even take and do well in a few AP courses along the way. I must say, even while playing four years of varsity soccer, he made it through by the grace of God, servant prayers of his parents, and meeting some late night deadlines!

Yes, this poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him! Not that my prayers are any better than anyone else's. I often wonder why He even bothers listening to me! Yet He did! Now we sit here at the end of June 2020 and our son has been accepted, has enrolled, and will be attending Liberty University in the Fall of 2020, Covid-19 and all!!!! Look at my God!

So yes, magnify the Lord with me! Let's exalt His name together! Oh yes, I will praise Him and bless Him at all times . . .good and bad . . .but especially now! When I began to plead with the Lord, many in my circles doubted, but I said wait and see . . .

Well, now they can see! See what God can do! Eye has not seen and ear has not heard what the Lord can and will do for those who love Him. (1 Corinthians 2:9) This is all for the glory of God! 

«Now God, please continue to work in the life of my son as he travels along the path of life. Keep a watch over Him and as he stumbles and falls, and he will, please be there to pick him up and place him back upon solid ground . . .the solid Rock! (Proverbs 3:5-6)

God Desires to Give Grace, not Punishment

I will extol You, O Lord, for You have lifted me up, And have not let my foes rejoice over me. O Lord my God, I cried out to You, And You healed me. O Lord, You brought my soul up from the grave; You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. Sing praise to the Lord, you saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name. For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life . . . (Psalm 30:1-5)

I do praise You God, because unlike people, You forgive and forget! I tend to forgive, but seem to always to hold on to the memories of the hurt. But You God . . .WOW!

You desire to give grace, not punishment. Even Your consequences are graceful. leading to repentance and renewed fellowship. I should be dead, as the psalmist wrote, yet You offered grace, forgiveness, friendship, and eternal life!

Your discipline may last for a time, but compared to eternity, it is gratefully accepted. So Lord, take away my pride and keep me humble. Help me to see others as You see me . . . in need of grace, empathy, compassion, and mercy. (Micah 6:8) God desires to give grace, not punishment.

God Alone When I am Alone

To You I will cry, O Lord my Rock:
Do not be silent to me,
Lest, if You are silent to me,
I become like those who go down to the pit.
2 Hear the voice of my supplications
When I cry to You,
When I lift up my hands toward Your holy sanctuary. (Psalm 28: 1-2)

 Despite my failings and shortcomings . . .my SINS . . .God continues to be my Rock and my Strength. He is faithful when I am not . . .which is way too often. 

Yet, He is still God . . . still understanding . . . still forgiving! It is God alone even when I am alone in my sin. When others abandon me, shun me, reject me (and rightly so), He remains open to my pleas for mercy and grace. His mercies are new every day and His grace is available to all who call upon Him with a genuine heart. Only God . . . .

Yet, He demands excellence. Jesus told his disciples that if they loved Him, they (we) would keep His commandments. I strive to be holy, because He is holy, yet only by His grace am I able to stand before Him. I thank God for hearing my heart even when my words and actions fail Him. 

Please honor Your Word Lord and forgive me, cleanse me, renew my heart for You Lord!(1 John 1:9)

Have Mercy Upon Me, O God!

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness;
According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,
blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions,And my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned . . . and done this evil in Your sight—That You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge. (Psalm 51:1-4)

Every now and then, sin creeps in, but even more boldly, God brings His mercy to my remembrance! While I acknowledge my sin before Him, He always forgives . . ., but do I take advantage of His grace and mercy often! While I know of my sin, I also know He will forgive me. 

However, when will His grace run out? When will His mercy cease?

Do you ever pray as Paul, that the thorns would be removed? (2 Corinthians 12:8-10) While my sin keeps me ever repenting, I do often pray for temptation of sin to be removed. Then I realize it is I who must decide to allow the Holy Spirit total control of my decisions. Grace needs to be sufficient . . . needs to be enough!

Lord, thank You for Your grace, mercy and forgiveness. Holy Spirit . . . You are invited to take over!

LOVE sets the pace!

Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us.

If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also. (1 John 4: 17:21)

 LOVE sets the pace! ♡ How can we ever be one, as Jesus prayed in John 17? With so many differences of opinion and so many choices . . . within the Church . . . we need a point of reference! So much anger . . . so much mistrust . . . so much injustice . . . so much confusion . . . so little LOVE!

It is the LOVE of God! God IS LOVE! (1 John 4:8) He defines LOVE. Without a relationship with God through Christ Jesus, there is no LOVE! So LOVE must be the starting point in any movement, policy, even relationship among those calling Jesus Christ their Lord.

As we LOVE, people will see Christ in us. They will feel His compassion. They will understand His grace. They will receive His mercy. They will want to know Him through us and our LOVE for them!

Please . . . family of God, disciples of Christ, Body of Christ . . . LOVE must set the pace in everything we do!

Be saved from this perverse generation.

And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.(Acts 2:40-47)

No doubt we are living in troubled times! Who is right and Who is wrong? What is right anymore? What cause do we support? Whom can we really trust? Who really loves me and Who is just using me? These are questions I hear not only from teens and young adults, but from grown folk!

Too many questions . . . for the believer . . . for anyone . . . well at least for me! I have only one simple answer: stay in the Word and trust Christ alone (Acts 2:42)

False teachings, twisting words,  manipulating minds, tweeking itching ears, posting inviting pictures, tweeting interesting phrases, stirring hearts, and exciting the masses . . . May we be as the Bereans and and test everything by Scripture to see if it is lining up with God's Word, if things are right to join. (Acts 17:11) Let's take Paul's advice and keeping thinking (and listening) on things that are pure, noble, right, lovely, admirable, and worthy of God! (Philippians 4:8)

There is a lot of good happening today in our society . . . needed change for sure! Let's just be sure that we, as believers, are honoring God above all we do so others may see Him, give Him praise, and even come to know Him as their Lord and Savior!!!!

Happy Juneteenth 2020!

Celebrate Juneteenth!

Inner thoughts . . . . .

No, I am not black or brown, but my wife, kids, and grandkids are every shade thereof. I do not have a clue what is is like to be in darker skin. I am white and was raised in a discriminatory culture to say the least. I have a white experience, yes white privilege! I did not ask for it. It just happened. As I matured in high school and was able to be the " minority" on numbers of sports teams, I began to question what I was exposed to....lies, misconceptions, evils of society. Living side by side with my brothers of color and varying other cultures, my eyes and my heart were opened to truth. I hurt for my friends.

As I  began to coach and invited kids of every culture to play on my teams, I had to defend my kids from racial taunts, embarrassing words written on church busses, and physical confrontations. I was not welcomed anymore! Even the church was guilty! (Some things never change!)

I matured. When dating, color did not matter to me, but it did to my "friends"! I received all kinds of reactions from honest questions (What is it like to kiss a black girl?), dirty looks, to having our mailbox blown up with M-80's! Once I married a black woman, even my family asked "Why?" In fact, few came to my wedding and many began to totally ignore me. My own flesh and blood! Wow, were my eyes finally wide open!

Once my daughter began school, she was once asked, "What color are you"? She was called names. I simply told her to only answer to "Nichole". Then, after a sudden divorce, I became alone, not trusting anyone really. But one day a minister shared with me Romans 10:9-10 and the Light went off! I accepted Christ as Lord and Savior and The Truth became alive within me!

So here I am, after twenty-three years in my second marriage to a beautiful God-fearing and honoring woman of color with now four black/brown children and six beautiful and handsome grandchildren of differing hues. We've had dozens of children over our 23 years of teen ministry, many now adults,  whom we consider our own....white, black, tan, and in between. I have degrees from three CHRISTian institutions. I teach the Word to high school kids of color and love them all dearly. I belong to a ninety-nine percent black church and it is my home.

Yet I still feel somewhat alone! I still mistrust. I still have doubts. I ask myself if I even have a voice. Is anyone listening? In a world of so much evil, should I even speak? Would it do any good? Maybe just being there helps.

God knows. He cares. He sees. To God . . . to me. . . . BLACK LIVES MATTER!

What can man (this world) really do to me anyway?

Let brotherly love continue. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels. Remember the prisoners as if chained with them—those who are mistreated—since you yourselves are in the body also. Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge. Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say:“The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:1-6)

Covid-19. . . Protests . . . Jobs . . . Family . . . Future?????

All things seem to in flux today in our society! Yet God reminds me today to stay in His presence more than ever! What can man (this world) really do to me anyway? I am reminded to love the Body (yes...church is back!), keep caring for the less fortunate and depraved, cherish my marriage, and TRUST GOD!

I admit I am a bit frustrated! Right at my 60th birthday Covid-19 began to arise here in the States. I then began feeling pains of a hernia but could not see a doctor (since surgery has healed it). There was no real anniversary celebration in May, nor Mother's Day, no typical senior celebrations for our son, racism and injustice raised its ugly head bolder than ever, and now no real Father's Day (rain on top of Covid-19). To top it off, no one knows what school will look like in the Fall....

I feel trapped!

What next? God only knows. . . and in this I must place my trust! I fear only God, Who holds me (Luke 12).

What can man (society) really do to me? 

Fellow workers.....True Companions?

 I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.(Philippians 4:2-7)

Familiar verses to most believers, but in today's world they may be the most relevant for us! In a society where everyone seems to believe they are right, we know there is only One right! In a world full of darkness, hatred, bitterness, injustice and mistrust, there is only One trustworthy! His Light must shine in order for this darkness to diminish.

So we, followers of Christ, fellow workers, true companions, co-laborers, we need to be such so the world will see His Light in and through us! We must be one, trusting one another as we trust our Lord and Savior. This is no time for division, discord, discontent, or denial. . . . not in His Church!

The Lord is at hand! Fellow workers and true companions, can we start acting like it please!?!?!?

God's Will. . . I Want That!

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. (1John 5:14-15)

 God's Will. . . I Want That! But how in this world do we know what God wants? Well, it starts with knowing God through Jesus Christ! (John 14:6) Then we must read of Him in His Word, learn from those who know more, and then put it in to practice. As we learn about God over HIS-tory, we get in to know His character. God will never do anything against His character.....He simply cannot!

As we seek to please God, we begin to live in His will day by day. Oh yes, we will fall and tumble at times, but this too is a learning process. . . learning of His grace and mercy! We ask God (James 1:5) and we seek after Him (Hebrews 11:6). Even our failures and evils of this world teach us of God and His love, compassion, and willingness to be one with us (John 17). As we grow and mature, our desires

becomes His desires for us.

God's will. . . I want that for myself, my family, my church, this world. . . but it starts with just God and me! What about you?

asking the Lord

You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.(John 15:16)

Just when I think I am something special, God reminds me that it is He Who is the only really special thing in this life!  Oh sure, I have a special, beautiful and precious bride, special children and grandchildren indeed, and what we have as a family is indeed special! However, God chose to save me for His work and for His glory and for others to see Him at work in me, not my work for Him! I am what and who I am today because of what God has done!

Three years ago I began asking the Lord

to allow our youngest son to attend Liberty University. I knew the leg work I would have to do as far as letter writing, interviews, etc, to walk out this faith in God. Not many beloved me when I said, "God will do it."

You see, we adopted Michael at birth in 2002. We named him Michael Gerard (gift from God and mighty in battle) while He was still being formed in his birth mother's womb. We dedicated him at Woodstream Church at six weeks and He was saved at five. He has attended CHRISTian schools his entire life with the help of God and His people: God even granting me degrees to teach at those schools!

Now, three years later, Michael has graduated high school and has registered at Liberty University for the fall of 2020! He has provided what we have asked! God has granted my prayer!!!

Lord, now work in and through L.U., its instructors, the staff, and the students to prepare Michael for what you have planned for him! He is and always has been Yours!!!!

Stay focused upon Christ and His will

Paul, in writing to those believers in Colosse, wanted to encourage them in their faith. They faced many challenges, as we do these days! What is a CHRISTian to do with so much uneasiness, so many challenges, so much evil, with so much anger on one side and apathy on the other?

Stay focused upon Christ and His will . . . . above all the other schemes and plans, we must put Him first!

For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.(Colossians 1:9-14)

 Above all, WE, CHRIST followers, must put God and His For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and [c]conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption [d]through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. first! I will pray for you and I ask that you pray for me so WE, as a Body and as individuals will do just that!

see....and seek

“Cry aloud, spare not; Lift up your voice like a trumpet;
Tell My people their transgression, And the house of Jacob their sins.

Yet they seek Me daily, And delight to know My ways, As a nation that did righteousness, And did not forsake the ordinance of their God.
They ask of Me the ordinances of justice; They take delight in approaching God.
 
‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and You have not seen?
Why have we afflicted our souls, and You take no notice?’“ In fact, in the day of your fast you find pleasure,

And exploit all your laborers. Indeed you fast for strife and debate, And to strike with the fist of wickedness. You will not fast as you do this day, To make your voice heard on high. Is it a fast that I have chosen,
A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush, And to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Would you call this a fast, And an acceptable day to the Lord?

“Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke? (Isaiah 58:1-6)

Fasting.....Praying....Reviving!

I believe God is right here in the middle of the Covid-19 epidemic, the injustices, the demonstrations, all the recent activities across our world. He is allowing it all for us to see....and seek! But see what....seek whom or what?

If all we see is sickness, immorality, death and continued injustice, and simply seek cures, than we are blind and lost! It begins with us Church! We must see God in the middle of this culture and seek His Face....His will....His heart! The world must see Jesus!

In addition to demonstrating, boycotting, singing and shouting, we have to fast and pray as never before. God is laying out the groundwork for a world wide revival, if we have the heart and guts to see and seek God over everything else.

Only God can truly remove the stain of sin! It

Evil is everywhere...It begins with us, not them!

Who will rise up for me against the evildoers?
Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul would soon have settled in silence.(Psalm 94:16-17)

Evil is everywhere.....in the courthouse, in the State House, in the White House, in your house and my house. How long must we keep calling out evil yet still face the systematic injustice? Who really cares? God cares! God sees! God will have His justice!

Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer.  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,  that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.....( 2Corinthians 5:16-20)

Yet despite the ongoing evil, we have hope. As believers of every culture and color, we have been instructed to administer the gift of reconciliation. The biggest evil is SIN! Sin on top of sin, evil for evil, a death for a death, until what....we all die?

Until we seek God's solution, oneness within our very own Body, the world will never experience justice! As AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST, we ALL must seek reconciliation to Christ. Then we will look injustice in the eye and call it SIN.

It begins with us, not them!