Ferris Bueller

Posted on by
Reply

Remember that old movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off? Where Ferris (played by Matthew Broderick) decided he needed a day off from school, then convinced his best friend who was sick to help get his girl friend out of class to join him? Yes that was a classic and I still enjoy watching it as it is a good clean movie.

Genesis 2:3  So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation

As we see in the bible even God felt it necessary to take a day off to rest. Some times we can get to worrying and working so hard on our problems that we forget to just take a break. I assure you that in doing so you will gain a clear perspective on what ever is bothering you and give you new energy to go forward to victory over your problems.

Matthew 11:29  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Even Jesus offers us rest as you see above, so lay your burdens on him and he will carry you through and regenerate your strength to over come what burdens you.

God Bless,

Pastor Paul

Twitt

The Void

Posted on by
Reply

Death and Taxes they say are truly the only things you can count on happening in life. I say that if that is the only thing you can count on then you obviously don’t have Christ in your life. When you have Christ in your life it brings with it purpose and direction. You are filled with love and affection. You realize so much more than you ever thought possible.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

You see and with the new comes great gifts and great responsibilities that fill in the Gap of just death and taxes.

God Bless,

Pastor Paul

 

 

Twitt

Christmas and Celebrations

Posted on by
1

The Daughter of a friend of mine was given some material by another that had to do with the religion of Jehovah witness. I normally don’t knock things like another’s religion, but there is a major aspect of this one that I will never understand and feel the need to address it and that is the celebration of Birthdays and Christmas.

First off if you know God and Jesus the way I know them, you would know that it would  warm their hearts to see us all getting along and having a good time loving each other. Regardless if it is a Birthday or Christmas. There are too many bad things in the world like violence and murder that should be in the limelight instead.

Colossians 2:16-18 16 So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. 17 For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality. 18 Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels, saying they have had visions about these things. Their sinful minds have made them proud,

Like it says above don’t let anyone give you a hard time about celebrating responsibly and happily regardless of the occasion. They may try to tell you that “God is a Jealous God and wants no other worship than to him” Yes that may be in the Old Testament; However, since Jesus is Gods Son and a part of Him, as we all are, I think it is safe to say that God wants us to love and honor Jesus just as well as loving and honoring the people that are down here on earth with us. We are all apart of God and His children.

Matthew 2:11 11 They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

So if you ever find yourself confronted by a follower of another religion trying to shame you for the celebrations you partake in within life, just smile and tell them you love them anyway and move on with your day.

Maybe one day they will get it……

God Bless,

Pastor Paul

Twitt

Unbelief

Posted on by
Reply

Mark 9:23-25 23“What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.” 24 The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”

This really made me stop and think today, especially the last part “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” It has left me wondering all day How he can believe then follow it up with help me in my unbelief?

Unfortunately many of us followers are tight in faith when things are going our way with no problems, but the minute something happens our faith can start to waiver or come to a halt. That’s when we start asking God to make us believe again and start praying and begging for a solution.

Remember all things are possible through Jesus. You need to truly believe that your problems have already been solved for you. (just like I posted the other day in The Power of Prayer)

Mark 11:24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

This is the way that believers are meant to think. Not It might happen or I think it will happen, rather it will happen. I will get that job, I will have better finances, My child will get better. When we stay in faith and know that things will get better the tests we endure end up being just that tests of faith.

I will leave you with this verse.

Lamentations 3:22 The Unfailing love of the Lord never ends! By his mercies we have been kept from complete destruction.

Click to listen to Newsboys – I Am Free

God Bless,

Pastor Paul

 

 

 

Twitt

Aggravation

Posted on by
1

It was Saturday afternoon and there I stood along with the other thousand people inside Costco getting as aggravated as humanly possible. You might be thinking to yourself that I am just about to start ranting, I assure you this is not about that.

Anyway there I was with all these people inside Costco and it seemed as though I was the only one with any manners and goodwill for my fellow man…. It seemed like no one had any manners, they weren’t watching out for anyone they would just stop and stand in the middle of cart traffic or they would just leave their cart to go gobble down some free treats. I was going out of my mind. I thought to myself “am I the only normal one here, I would never do that!”

Titus 3:2 To speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.

Then I was reminded about Tutus 3:2 and realized that at the moment I was the one being a little less than courteous. The people were just being people, maybe I should have been concentrating a little less on being frustrated and  a little more teaching courtesy and kindness.

You see even though all of my comments were kept to myself, I was still projecting negativity and an overall bad will toward my fellow man. That is just as bad as speaking the words and pushing others out of my way.

 1 Corinthians 13:4-5

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;

The next time I start to feel resentful or aggravated, I will stop and realize that God is testing me. He wants to see if I will step up and show good will and strong character when others may not be doing so around me. This is the ultimate teaching that I can do for another is to be kind with manners to those who may not be doing the same to me. Maybe just maybe some of it will catch on.

God Bless,

Pastor Paul

Twitt

Power of Prayer

Posted on by
Reply

Mark 11:24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

The wisdom in Marks writing surpasses all others I think I have read regarding prayer. So many of us pray, but I do not think we pray with a positive conviction in that we truly believe what we are praying for will be given. When we pray we have to believe above all else that it has already been done for us.

I had a situation that took place just this week where I had this meeting with a potential new client. The business that they have can change my whole life financially. Oh and did I tell you that this came to me in the form of a lead from my corporate office? Anyway the moment I heard of it I prayed, then deep in my soul I knew it was to be mine. I kept praying and thanking God for the business that was meant for me, without even meeting these people yet. The whole week while preparing I kept thinking in my head that it was mine and thanking God for what he had given me. The day leading up to the meeting I started to get a little nervous as I had to speak in front of a panel of people. (this is why I am an Internet Pastor) So I reached out to some friends and relatives to pray for me.

Matthew 18:19  Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven

All this prayer did the trick, not only did I give the best sales presentation of my life, but I wooed them and won the business.

So remember Pray as it has already been done for you and have others chip in and pray for you as well and you wll be amazed at what the Lord Will do for you.

God Bless,

Pastor Paul

 

 

Twitt

When We Were Kids

Posted on by
Reply

You know God is always working in our lives, even as kids. I know that before I was born God had a plan laid out for me. Just knowing that is the easy part, the hard part is knowing that as a kid. Most of us go through adolescence bumping into walls (so to speak) just kind of following Gods plan by chance, or so it seems.

When I was in the 8th Grade I had a class where I sat next to this girl. Yes we were both shy so our flirting was glances when we thought the other wasn’t watching, then just smiling. I remember going home each day and having this feeling deep in my soul that one day I would marry her.

Well time passed and we lost touch, both going to different high schools. One day I was out being a kid and wrecked my dads car, I was all of 15 and no licence. My dad was out of town and we did not have cell phones back then. All I could do that day was freak out at the unknown of what will happen and plan my escape.

At some point a friend of mine showed up at my front door to comfort me and he had this amazing girl with him that made me kind of tingle in side my soul. As it turned out it was that girl that I had prayed about those years back. The rest of the story is history and we have been married for 18 years now with 3 children.

It wasn’t until I was an adult that the realization took hold that it was all Gods plan in the first place and not the product of chance.

Jeremiah 29:11  For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

God Bless,

Pastor Paul

Twitt

Oh God

Posted on by
1

With all the bad news swirling around I guess it can make it easy for an Atheist or non believer to argue. When people ask me why bad things happen, I am left shrugging my shoulders sometimes as I just don’t have the answers. I recently came across a clip from the movie Oh God Book 2 with George Burns that kind of explains it very simply and I think he nails it on the head.

Oh God Book 2 Clip

I know that there will always be the ones that watch it and say it is ridiculous, but they don’t want to listen anyway. I love the clip and the way it is all explained simply.

I think that this verse is very re asuuring and helps to support the argument about bad things happening.

Revelation 21:4  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

We are all tested in many different ways here on Earth and sometimes it includes pain, suffering and even death. Believe it or not but even the non believers are tested as God loves them too whether they care or not.

We see in the above verse Revelation 21:4 that god is not denieng that we will have suffering and bad things happen, but he will wipe it all away. He may wipe it all gone while we are here on this planet or he may do it when we go with him.

The important thing here is that everything that happens to us while we are here is made for us to grow in some sort of way. Just go through it with Faith and he will wipe it all away.

God Bless,

Pastor Paul

Twitt

Evolution

Posted on by
1

As I was searching the Internet for some content regarding a message I came across a You Tube video with Kirk Cameron that was on Date Line regarding his debate with 2 Atheists. As you can imagine the debate is about whether or not God exists. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Qx6Xs-IK8dg)

I must say that I liked what Kirk had to say and how he said it all without quoting scripture or faith. However I think that both sides may need to broaden their thoughts on God and evolution.

I Will attempt to explain my thoughts in a very simple way without scripture.

Let’s start with the creation of all life and substance, yes I am talking about the Big Bang. Now keep in mind I don’t know if this ever happened, but everything that we have and see came from somewhere. What if the Big Bang was the birth of God himself?….. Think about this for just a moment without prejudice…… They say that before the Big Bang there was nothing, just empty space. Then Kaboom a huge explosion and all matter is thrust outward into the blankness creating the universes and everything in them. If God is all things then this could be a correct. Or what if the Big Bang was the start of Gods works like an artist putting paint to a blank canvas, either way something came from the Big Bang.

Now fast forward to the creation of earth. Science says that gravity brought in all the raw material and squished it all together forming our planet and everything in it. Well if God is all things (as I believe) then he is gravity and like a potter using his hands to squish raw clay together then why is it so far fetched to think that God created the earth in much the same way?

Now take life on this planet, it started with simple creatures as God most likely had to make ingredients to go into his works, just as any creator here on earth would. (except we use the ingredients that God has created) Then he used the ingredients and created Dinosaurs. Now let me stop that thought for a moment and address the time lines. God as we know and have heard has no beginning and no end. Time to God is meaningless, with that being said millions or billions of years could be just a blink of an eye. There is a reason that God created Dinosaurs and the answer could be as easy as to give us something to debate in our time or fuel for our future.

Then beyond the Dinosaurs there was the creation of animals of all kinds. I am sure that when making them he had all kinds of varieties which is why some seem to hold on to an evolutionary path as we say, rather than he made different things for a variety on earth or simply he was like an engineer making one thing then making it better due to circumstances or he found better ways or ideas. Then when he realized that what he really wanted was people in his likeness he created us leaving what we call evolutionary gaps. Since we are made of all things found on this planet and the solar system, yes all he had to do in a sense was pick up dirt and mold it into who we are today. Then he allowed any other being that was close to us perish as we see that the Neanderthal or so called cave men had gone extinct. This left him with us his prized creation.

You see God is so complex and so vast that I think that is why scientists and atheists cant put their hand around it. Then there are the fanatics that just believe what was printed in a book (the Bible) by man telling the story as told by God. However back then and even now God is so vast and complex that he probably felt that the best way for us to understand things was in simple terms and with faith.

Just food for thought……….

God Bess,

Pastor Paul

 

Twitt

Defending God

Posted on by
Reply

Remember when you were a kid and someone said something bad about your Mother? Most likely you got angry and retaliated with either physical or verbal violence. I know I did I am not immune to it, but I was a kid incapable of controlling my emotions at the time.

Do you know the same thing happens to this day with adults, except instead of feeling like they have to defend Mom they are defending God. Usually going o the extreme with verbal abuse, physical violence and sometimes death all in the name of God.

An article that I came across the other day on MSNBC was exactly what I described above when a young man in Indonesia wrote on his Face book that “God Didn’t Exist” ( http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/20/10200732-indonesia-man-attacked-by-mob-faces-jail-for-writing-god-doesnt-exist-on-facebook ) Although the religion was Muslim it is all the same, I have also read articles about Christians doing similar things in the name of GOD. Just last year I am reminded of the crazy pastor in the south that was protesting at funerals of fallen solders, this is disgusting and without morales.

God needs us to speak his word with Love, not put our dukes up and say I am going to harm you if you do not believe. God wants us to Love our enemies and we should love his to by praying for them.

Matthew 7:12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them.”

If memory serves me right, I never read a passage where Jesus lifted a hand in anger or protested funerals with hatred and yet he was persecuted and prosecuted for his beliefs in our Father God. If being a Christian is all about Jesus and worshiping God through Jesus, then why don’t we act like Jesus would?

When I hear of situations that take place retaliating against non believers it makes me think of:

2 Corinthians 11:14 “And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.”

So the next time you are confronted with a non believer do not feel that you need to defend God, he does not wan’t you to take his name in vein nor in violence. God is the supreme being, the mightiest of the mighty, the here and now and the then and what will be. He certainly does not need you to defend him in the playground with the other children.

Instead let the feeling of Love over power you and maybe some sorrow. Sorrow because those that do not have Jesus in their life and God in their thoughts are empty through and through and that is something to be sad about. Then pray for them and I assure you God will fight his own battles in the end.

God Bless,

Pastor Paul

Twitt