2 Corinthians 9:6-7

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

2 Corinthians 9:6-7

Ephesians 2:8-9

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

An End to Habitual Sin by Charles Stanley

Thursday, December 02, 2010

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.

Ephesians 6:10-11

Satan looks for weak spots in a believer’s life where he can set up a stronghold. Once his fortress is established, he knows that the person will justify it, defend it, and keep adding bricks to it, one sin at a time. The appeal can be so strong that we return to a habitual sin even after confessing before God. Satan whispers, “One more time won’t hurt,” and we fall to temptation again.

Just as in medieval times when armies warred over high rock fortresses, a sin stronghold is usually the ground for a skirmish. We might expect the fight to be primarily between God and Satan, but that’s not the case—the Lord can knock down the Devil’s walls instantly. Instead, the struggle goes on within our spirit: Do
we want God to break our habit or not?

Giving up habitual sin is hard. The sinner finds comfort, pleasure, and/or satisfaction in the practice. Hot on the heels of those emotions, however, are guilt, shame, and despair, which drive a person to plead for help. But holy God cannot cleanse unrighteousness until people genuinely repent. True repentance means that a believer sees a sin for the wickedness that it is and turns his back on it. And we turn away as often as it takes—one time, a hundred times, or every single day for the rest of our lives.

Just thinking about giving up a sinful habit brings some people to the brink of despair. They want to be free of a stronghold, but the thought of resisting temptation makes them feel weak. Here is good news: the Holy Spirit’s power is enough to enable any believer to walk away. That includes you.

Copyright 2010 In Touch Ministries, Inc. All rights reserved. www.intouch.org. In Touch grants permission to print for personal use only.

Favorite Christmas Song...

Hola Folks...

Riding to work this morning, the radio DJs were talking about what song REALLY gets them in the mood for Christmas and it made me wonder what Christmas song really made me feel "Christmas-y" ...

What song really lets you know that it is Christmas time?

The radio DJs said their favorite Christmas song was "White Christmas" by Bing Crosby

Why Wait? by Dr. Charles Stanley

Came across this post on Dr. Charles Stanley's website InTouch.org and wanted to share it!
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Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Read | Psalm 25:4-5

⁴ Show me your ways, LORD,
   teach me your paths.
⁵ Guide me in your truth and teach me,
   for you are God my Savior,
   and my hope is in you all day long. 

On life’s road, crucial decisions are like intersections that call for a choice of direction. If we barrel through without seeking the mind of Christ, the road we pick may lead to regret and heartache. Although the Lord is ready and willing to offer clear direction, He doesn’t always give it quickly. Knowing that He has very good reasons for withholding immediate instruction can help us wait patiently at the intersection for His guidance.

At times God leaves us in our confusion because He wants to get our attention. When everything is running smoothly, we tend to forget the Lord. But uncertainty draws us back to Him like a magnet. By aligning our steps with His and walking in submission to the Spirit, we open our ears to hear His voice.

Our waiting time is God’s preparation time. In bringing about His sovereign purposes, He may put us on hold while He coordinates events to line up with His will. Sometimes the Lord has work to accomplish in us before we are ready to handle what He has planned for our future. If we instantly received His direction, we would never grow in faith. Spiritual maturity is evidenced in the ability to wait in peaceful confidence, trusting that in His time, we will know what to do.

If impatience tempts you to jump ahead of God’s timing at a crossroad of decision, you risk stepping outside of His will and missing His blessings. But by waiting until He gives clear direction, you will walk in His peace with certainty, instead of stumbling around in anxiety and confusion.

Click here for the original post from InTouch.org

Copyright 2010 In Touch Ministries, Inc. All rights reserved. www.intouch.org. In Touch grants permission to print for personal use only.

Simple Ways to Pay it Forward...

Came across this list online today for simple ways to "pay it forward" in our daily lives...check them out...

-When getting off of a long airplane flight, leave that magazine you bought at the airport. The next flyer won't be stuck with nothing to read but the boring airlines magazine.

-This idea didn't even used to be considered a good deed, but common courtesy. Sadly though, I am truly shocked when someone stands and holds open a door for me nowadays. Try it sometime. It's not a sexist thing. It doesn't matter if you are man or woman, or the other person's gender either. Simply hold open the door for someone behind you and let them step in first. Bonus points if it's cold, raining, or you're in a really big hurry.

-If you have a great waiter or waitress, go out of your way to let them personally know how much you appreciate them. We humans are quick to complain, but usually accept great service with no recognition. Try asking your waiter for the manager. When he or she brings back his/her boss, tell the manager what an excellent employee they hired. It doesn't hurt to give a generous tip as well.

What are some other simple ways we can "pay it forward" in our day-to-day lives?  To post a comment click on the "Comment" link below, or click on the topic header "Simple Ways to Pay it Forward..." at the top and follow the on-screen instructions to post your thoughts/comments.

Romans 8:38-39

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39

Reading these verses this morning had me thinking...if nothing can separate us from God why does He sometimes feel so distant? I feel like God told me that I/we distance ourselves from God...not Him from us.  We get so wrapped up in our own little world that we feel we don't need God for the day to day stuff...we only want Him around when something "big" happens.  Because we have gotten in the habit of doing things our own way when things are good, when we feel like we really "need" Him, we aren't sure where to look, so He feels distant...God is never far away from us...in the good times and the bad!  

It is our pride and our selfishness that makes us believe we can do things our own way and that we don't need God...it is only when reality kicks us in the face that we realize how screwed up we are as humans and how much we really need God to guide us through the highs and lows of life!  Surrendering our lives to Christ is hard...something that has to be done daily, hourly, or maybe even minute by minute!

God Bless...

FEAR...

So I'm reading...IN A PIT WITH A LION ON A SNOWY DAY...and I just got through a section on fear and it had me thinking..."Thinking what, Jon?"

The author, Mark Batterson, says that "psychiatrists posit that we're born with only two innate fears: the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises."

That is crazy to think that every other fear (fear of the dark, fear of failing, fear of spiders, etc...) are all learned!  The author goes on to say that if a fear is learned, it can be unlearned, and that is our goal if we want to lead fearless lives...we have to unlearn our irrational fears.

I'm interested to see what other people think about this...Can we "unlearn" our fears? 

Adding Gyms to Your Church by Jon Acuff

We love adding stuff to our churches. A lot of mega churches are starting to call their buildings, “campuses” because they are. They’re installing gyms, coffeehouses, schools, and dozens of other things that make the church less of a temple and more of a community. Which is good on some level, but the challenge is we’re also called to go out and reach people in the world. And that’s difficult to do when your kids take karate at the church, you buy your morning latte at the church, you do your financial education classes at the church, you take aerobics at the church, you … the list goes on.

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Check out the original post here!

What are your thoughts on church "campuses" ... ?

Doing Dating Detective Work

Doing Dating Detective Work

Came across this post on the site "StuffChristiansLike.net" and thought it was funny...click the link above to see the actual post on the website or read it below...
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(Lyndsay Rush is hilarious. Her last guest post blew up and I think this one is even better. She shares some great ways to identify a potential Christian when it comes to dating. (Unless of course, you feel called to date hot, non-Christians and win them over for the Lord with your dates.) I’m a big fan of Lyndsay. Enjoy!)


“I feel very blessed…” said our waiter as he cleared away our empty appetizer plates. He was responding to one of the many questions we had asked him throughout the night as we flirtatiously tried to determine if he was single and–even more important–a Christian.

I couldn’t tell you what he said after that because with one distinct word he had told us all we needed to know. Let’s just say he had us at ‘blessed.’

You may be rolling your eyes at this ridiculous assumption but the chances are you know exactly what I am talking about. Truth is, when you are a single Christian person in your 20s or 30s, this amateur detective work comes with the territory.

Whether you have Facestalked someone in order to examine their “religious views,” invited them somewhere on a Sunday to ascertain their church involvement (or lack thereof) or dropped your Christian school background to study their reaction, you’ve undoubtedly played a part in the Christian dating version of Clue; Professor Hot Guy with the Donald Miller Book in the Religious section of Borders.

And like any good Christian single, you know the importance of this due diligence. If you don’t nose around for a few weeks and read into specific word choices, you’ll miss your chance to determine their ‘pursue-ability’ and probably miss out on your future husband/wife.

Or at the very least the chance to evange-date them for a few weeks.

With that in mind, I bring you some helpful hints for discerning whether or not the hottie at Starbucks/guy in class/girl volunteering at the soup kitchen is in fact a Jesus lover.

1. Show them your ‘Beloved’ tattoo and see if they get it.

2. Put your hand on their back when you say hello and see if they bow their heads and assume you’re praying over them.

3. Pull a ‘Paul’ at the beach and slyly draw half of the Christian fish in the sand and see if they complete the symbol.

4. Try and drop Darwin into small talk and see where they stand on evolution vs. creation

5. Invite them to watch a Harry Potter movie to determine what they think of the dark arts.

6. Go in for a full hug and measure the seconds it takes for them to switch it to a side hug.

7. Say, “Oh rats, I forgot my Bible at home–do you have one in your car?”

8. Observe if they have ever Retweeted @CSLewisDaily or @OswaldChambers

9. Do a quick Facebook photo scan and see if they’ve been out of the country helping children at least once in the last 3 years

10. Hum “Come Thou Fount” and see if they join in.

11. Keep your eye out for encrypted scriptures in their graphic T’s

12. Drop a “my body is a temple” line near a group of the opposite sex at the gym and see who takes the bait.

13. Pay attention to his/her email sign off. Look specifically for “His,” “Decreasing as He Increases,” “Addicted to Jesus,” and “Warmly,”

14. Slap them in the face and see if they turn the other cheek.

15. In the facial hair arena, be on the lookout for the “spiritual scruff” aka a soul patch.

16. See if she owns a tank-ini or wears a XL t shirt over her bikini at the beach

17. Check to see if he put a ring on it, and by he I mean her dad and by ring I mean promise ring.

18. Ask him about his career and listen for him to use the words “will”, “purpose” or “calling”

19. Drop a homeschool bomb and see how they react.

20. Watch him greet his friends, if he ever uses the word ‘brother’, you’re gold.

21. Check their DVD collection for, “Fireproof”.

22. If you’re feeling bold, ask him to draw his dream woman. If he simply writes ‘Proverbs 31′ on the paper and passes it back to you, you’ve got your answer.

23. Pretend you need help figuring out a math problem involving 10%. Her speed at calculating will let you know if she tithes or not.

Armed with these tips and more, you will have no problem determining your crush’s Christianity, and consequently, their date-ability.

Happy hunting my friends. And godspeed.

For more great stuff from Lyndsay, check out her blog http://www.lyndsights.com/

My take: Jesus Loves Porn Stars by Craig Gross

My take: Jesus loves porn stars

Editor's note: Craig Gross is the founder of XXXchurch.com and the author of 7 books. His latest two books Eyes of Integrity and Pure Eyes release this week. His previous book Jesus Loves You This I Know explains more about his relationship with Ron Jeremy and other outcasts. He lives in Las Vegas, Nevada with his wife and two kids.

By Craig Gross, Special to CNN


I met Ron Jeremy at a porn show. A few years later we were sleeping on top of each other in a bunk bed on a tour bus. My family was with me, at times there were swingers on the bus and on occasion had some other pastors as well. We were on "The Porn Debate" tour of 7 cities in 7 nights.

Ron is arguably the biggest porn star in the world with 2,000 XXX rated videos. He claims to have had sex with over 5,000 women.

I started XXXchurch.com 8 years ago, created a software called X3watch that is keeping almost 1 million people accountable online and I am most often known as the Porn Pastor. I have only had sex with one woman who happens to be my wife.

Ron says we are just alike. He has been with 5,000 women and I have been with my wife of 12 years almost 5,000 times.

Just alike… Well not really.

Ron is for porn and I am against porn. We are opponents on stage. In fact we have debated each other over 60 times in the last 4 years. We have debated at Yale, Ohio State, University of Southern California, Texas Tech, and in a few weeks we start the school year off with another debate at the University of Tennessee.

We are opponents on stage but off stage we are great friends. That's really what this is about. Jesus dined with tax collectors and befriended prostitutes. I don't want to be known as the guy who debates Ron, I'd rather be known as the guy who loves Ron.

Love wins. My old pastor in Grand Rapids said that a lot. I have come to realize not only does love win, but love works and love waits.

Last year, Ron was in Vegas for Easter weekend. Before he hit the topless pool at Mandalay Bay, he said he was free so I picked him up in my minivan with my two toddlers in the back, and wife as well, and we all headed to church.

Ron loves worship music. If you don't believe watch this YouTube video.
He loved the song "Let the Redeemed of the Lord Say So."

Ron and I travel quite a bit on for the porn debates.  When we see each other at porn shows across the country we go out and when he is in Las Vegas or I am in Los Angeles , we connect up for a meal or just to hang out.

Ron and I talk about sex, the Bible, marriage, family, kids, heaven, hell, turtles, and so much more. He is never short on words. He has told me he is afraid to die. What if he is wrong and Jesus is really who he said he was?

For the last four years we have hit up college campuses and a few nightclubs with the porn debate. We have never been to a Christian university or a church.

Why not?

I am always the underdog and I kind of like it that way. Although, I think it would be great to bring Ron into my world just a bit, no one invites us.

The great thing about the debate is it is fair. I speak for 20 minutes, then Ron for 20 minutes then we do an hour of questions and answers.

Why is the church so afraid to hear the other side? I think it would be a great outreach to bring the debate to a church but every time I pitch it to a church or Christian college they say, "We could never let him on stage at church."

I don't get it. But then again, these are often the same people who say I should not even be friends with him, let alone on a tour bus with him. I know Zacchaeus was a short dude in the Bible but how can we overlook that story and see the example Jesus set for us to go after people?

Two friends of mine, Miles McPherson and Ryan Meeks have agreed to do the unthinkable. On October 9, Ron and I will do the unthinkable and head over to The Rock, a church in San Diego. A few months later on March 5 we will bring the debate to Eastlake Church in Seattle, Washington.

My friend Ryan is a bit out there. That's why we are friends. He traveled with Ron and me last year for a couple of debates. He said he would host the debate but only if Ron came back on Sunday and shared with the congregation about faith, God and his life.

Ron does not claim to be a Christian.  Why share a church stage with someone that does not claim to be a Christian yet? What can we possibly learn from that?

A whole lot I believe. I believe if Christians and others would listen to more people who are not just like us, and give them opportunities in our environments, we both might experience change.

What do you think?

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Craig Gross.

Psalm 27:11-14

Teach me your way, O LORD; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors.  Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, breathing out violence. I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait or the LORD.

Psalm 27:11-14