I Refuse To Be Discouraged,

I refuse to be discouraged,
To be sad, or to cry;
I refuse to be downhearted,
and here's the reason why...

I have a God who's mighty,
Who's sovereign and supreme;
I have a God who loves me,
and I am on His team.

He is all wise and powerful,
Jesus is His name;
Though everything is changeable,
My God remains the same.

My God knows all that's happening;
Beginning to the end,
His presence is my comfort,
He is my dearest friend.

When sickness comes to weaken me,
To bring my head down low,
I call upon my mighty God;
Into His arms I go.

When circumstances threaten
to rob me from my peace;
He draws me close unto His breast,
Where all my strivings cease.

And when my heart melts within me,
and weakness takes control;
He gathers me into His arms,
He soothes my heart and soul.

The great "I AM" is with me,
My life is in His hand,
The "Son of the Lord" is my hope,
It's in His strength I stand.

I refuse to be defeated,
My eyes are on my God;
He has promised to be with me,
as through this life I trod.

I'm looking past all my circumstances,
To Heaven's throne above;
My prayers have reached the heart of God,
I'm resting in His love.

I give God thanks in everything,
My eyes are on His face;
The battle's His, the victory is mine;
He'll help me win the race.

Philippians 4:13 (NKJV)   "I can do
all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Paying The Bills

A scraggly looking guy goes into a restaurant and orders some food. The waiter, looks at the man’s appearance, and says: "No way. I don't think you can pay for it."

The guy says, "You're right. I don't have any money, but if I show you something you haven't seen before, will you give me the food?"

"It's a Deal!" replies the waiter.

The guy reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out a hamster. Then he places the hamster down and it immediately runs to the end of the counter, jumps down on the floor and runs across the room. Then it hops-up on the piano stool, and then up on the keyboard, and starts playing Gershwin songs. To everyone’s surprise, the hamster is really good.

The waiter says, WOW, "You're right. I've never seen anything like that before. That hamster is truly a good piano player." The guy downs the hamburger he ordered and asks the waiter for another.

"Money or another unique surprise," says the waiter.

The guy then reaches into his coat pocket again and pulls out a frog. He puts the frog on the counter, and the frog starts singing. Again, much to the surprise of everyone, the frog has a marvelous voice. Truly a very good singer. Suddenly, a stranger from the other end of the counter runs over to the guy and offers him $300 for the frog.

Without hesitation, the guy says, "It's a deal!" He takes the three hundred cash and gives the stranger the frog. The stranger runs out of the restaurant, shouting with joy.

The waiter says to the guy, "Are you crazy? You sold a singing frog for $300? That frog is probably worth over a million dollars."

"Not really," says the guy, "the hamster is also a ventriloquist."

Wal-Mart VS Heaven

I consider Wal-Mart to be God's gift to shoppers. Literally, here are the similitudes I have noticed between the kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of Everyday Low Prices.

1. Heaven: St. Peter greets you at the gates.
   Wal-Mart: Some old geezer named Peter greets you at the automatic doors.
   
   
2. Heaven: Eternal.
   Wal-Mart: Open 24 hours.
   
   
3. Heaven: Where old people go when they expire.
   Wal-Mart: Where old people go when they retire.
   
   
4. Heaven: Plenty of Room for everyone who loves God.
   Wal-Mart: Plenty of Parking for Everyone.
   
   
5. Heaven: Golden-haired angels shouting the glory of God.
   Wal Mart: Purple-haired obese women shouting for a price check on diapers.
   
   
6. Heaven: Salvation and redemption no matter what your sin.
   Wal-Mart: Full money refund on no matter what your complaint.
   
   
7. Heaven: EDLP = Every Do-gooder lives peacefully.
   Wal-Mart: EDLP = Every day low prices.
   
   
8. Heaven: Sam Walton -- now a resident!
   Wal-Mart: Sam's choice cola -- now on sale!

"You Can Make It-Part 2-Five Keys For Living Right In These End Times"

John 17:15-18 "I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world."

Today’s world is fast becoming a very frustrating place to live and maintain any sense of security and comfort.  But in Jesus we have hope, a hope that does not fade away.

I want to talk about how we has Christians can maintain our hope and certainty in a world where our sense of certainty in what this world has to offer is decaying rapidly. 

(1) Hold fast to your confession of hope!

Through the Word of God we are given many promises of God’s provision for our lives.  We must center our lives around what God’s Word says to us not what the conditions of the world are saying.  The Word of God is the truth that we must align our confession and faith with.

2 Peter 1:3, 4 "…as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, ⁴by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."

Hebrews 10:23 "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful."

James 2:5 "Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?"

1 John 5:4 "For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world; our faith."

We must set the thermostat of our faith in the position that God has promised and hold it there till the temperature or the fulfillment of the promises rise to that point.

(2) Don’t Let Possessions Become Your Center of Focus.

We must not allow ourselves to get sucked into measuring our success and possessions according to worldly standards.  God’s standards are altogether different.  In the world, possessions are the center of most people’s focus.  We cannot afford to be conformed to the world in this area otherwise our focus gets turned to what we don’t have rather than what God wants to pour into our lives through His promises.

1 Timothy 6:7 "For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out."

Hebrews 11:13 "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth."

(3) Live For God’s Will and Purpose.

James 4:13-15 "Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit"; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that."

1 John 2:17 "And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever."

(4) Remain Loyal and Faithful To God No Matter What.

2 Peter 1:10, 11 "Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

Revelation 3:10 "Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth."

(5)Keep Your Focus on Eternity.

1 Peter 1:3-5 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."

If we are going to be a part of a kingdom that cannot be shaken, then we must endeavor to put these kingdom principles into practice in our lives.  They will insure us of a life of certainty in the midst of a world that is drowning in uncertainty.

John 17:15-18 "I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world."

A Little Laughter for the Soul’s Sake

Don't Say This To Police...

-Sorry, Officer, I didn't realize my radar detector wasn't plugged in.

-Aren't you the guy from the Village People?

-Hey, you must've been doin' about 125 mph to keep up with me. Good job!

-Are You Andy or Barney?

-I thought you had to be in good physical condition to be a police officer.

-You're not gonna check the trunk, are you?

-I pay your salary!

-Gee, Officer! That's terrific. The last officer only gave me a warning, too!

-Do you know why you pulled me over? Okay, just so one of us does.

-I was trying to keep up with traffic. I know there are no other cars around.

-That's how far ahead of me they are.

-When the Officer says "Gee Son... Your eyes look red, have you been drinking?" You probably shouldn't respond with, "Gee Officer your eyes look glazed, have you been eating doughnuts?"

"You Can Make It-Part 1-Dealing with Changing Values In Today's World"

2 Timothy 3:1-3 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good..."

There are many issues that are relevant to the changing times in which we live.  How do we as Christians deal with the changing values that our

culture is going through?

It's time to focus on the importance of adhering to and remaining firm to Biblical values and convictions in a world whose values are constantly changing.  Because we live in a world whose values are constantly changing makes it a more difficult and complex world in which to live our lives in harmony with God’s plan and purpose.

Aside from all of these areas, we are also living in an era when evil is being called good and good is being called evil.  Sin is running rampant in our culture and society, which is why the values and morality of our culture are deteriorating before our eyes.

Isaiah 5:20 "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!"

As we can see, our cultural values have changed over the years.  They have been eroding steadily and will probably continue to do so.  The question is – How do we as Christians contend with these changing values?  How do we keep from becoming desensitized?  How do we keep our values simple and Biblical in today’s complex world? How do we overcome in a world that has gone awry?

-Is Christianity still the champion of purity and godly values or are we being swept along in the tide of cultural change as well?

Does Christianity still have the punch that it had twenty to twenty-five years ago in the realm of purity and values?  It’s not that Christianity has begun to lose its punch over the past 20-25 years; it’s that more and more Christians (it seems) are now either compromising or opting for lower standards when confronted with the choice of living in a moral purity as set forth in the Scriptures.

The battle of choices is not new. Two sections of the New Testament, written in the first century describe the internal warfare quite vividly.

Romans 6:6 "...knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin."

Romans 6:12, 13 "Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God."

Galatians 5:17 "For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish."

Yes, Christianity is still the champion of purity and morality, but the challenges and attacks against purity and morality have never been greater, and this complicates the problem and makes it more complex for us.

How then do we make it as Christians in a world that is constantly changing its values?

-We must believe the values given in God’s Word are still relevant in today’s culture.

Psalms 119:105 "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."

2 Timothy 3:16 "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness..."

There are those who say, “The Bible and its values and standards are outdated.  We live in a progressive culture, the Bible is no longer relevant to the society in which we live.”  The answer to that response is simple.  As the writer of Ecclesiastes said, “There is nothing new under the sun.”  There have been ancient cultures that have been just as corrupt as our culture.  It was in the midst of some of these cultures that God’s word came forth.

Ecclesiastes 1:9, 10 "That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which it may be said, "See, this is new"? It has already been in ancient times before us."

As a people throughout the generations of time we have continuously moved through cycles.  Nothing is new.  Clothing styles are an example of this.

Our values and morals are molded by our belief system.  If our belief system begins to decay, so will our morals.  This is what has happened in our culture.  As Christians we must come to a firm belief and adherence to God’s word and its relevancy for our lives.

For Christianity to retain its role as “the champion of purity,” the Christian is expected to be above reproach.  The same is as true today as it was in the first century.

Philippians 2:15, 16 "...that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain."

-We must determine values that are not so black and white.

There are many areas in which our societal values have simply become immoral and evil according to God’s Word, but there are other areas in which values have simply shifted to more self serving and pleasing.  As Christians we are often able to discern when something is outright wrong and evil and is being promoted as good, but what about values that have become more self gratifying?  How do we discern and make right choices when society’s values are constantly shifting and changing?

-We Must Consider The Consequences. Living right morally means living in ways that bring good things to people.  Is my decision going to hurt them or help them?  What really matters morally is whether we are adding to the goodness of people’s lives.

Philippians 2:3, 4 "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. ⁴Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others."

-We must choose to live in the realm of God’s grace rather than the permissible.

The more we adhere to and practice God’s Word in our lives, the more discernment we develop to discern the appropriate response in the many different situations that come up in our lives.

Discernment is often simply being awake and having a nose for what is going on beneath the surface, and having a sense for the more fitting response to it.  This is what makes for a class act on the moral stage.

But like everything else, discernment takes practice; it doesn’t come easy.  It is a gift, and like all personal gifts it comes only with exercise.  It is not a gut reaction; it comes with using our eyes, our ears, our minds, our imaginations, our empathy and, yes, our intuition.

Discernment can be one of the most essential tools that we have when it comes to making good value judgments.  What we have to be careful about is editing out the segments of reality that will cost us something.   We have a tendency to whittle and chisel reality into nice shapes that fit our needs.  We abridge our consciousness to protect ourselves.

-Our founding fathers declared that all people were created equal, but they screened out of their own consciousness the reality of thousands  of black people living without freedom before their eyes.

-German citizens refused to discern the reality of Jewish people disappearing from their neighborhoods and villages, and thus refused to know that the Holocaust was happening just around the corner.

-A suburban mother refused to see the clear signs that her son is taking drugs; it would be too painful to let the reality inside her consciousness.

Because of our sensitivity to pain we distort the reality around us and we cannot give genuine responses to what is really going on around us and as a result we make the wrong moral decisions.

We are living in an era in which our values are constantly changing.  But God’s Word never changes nor do His values.  If we purpose to live our lives in accordance with His Word we will escape the corruption that is in this world.  Christianity is still the champion of godly values.

Psalms 119:89 "Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven."

God hasn't changed but we sure have!

I seem to remember when life here in America was simple. Sure we've always had problems here in the South, but they seem to have escalated to an all time high. I will be 59 in about 5 months and man the things I have seen change in my lifetime are frightening. It makes me wonder what my Grands will have to face in the future if we don't have a moral revival or the Lord doesn't come.

-Schools are different. I keep hearing this stuff about taking education seriously and all we seem to be worried about are test scores on achievement exams that qualify us for more federal/state assistance.

-Neighborhoods are different with latch-key kids, single parents, common law relationships, gay and lesbian couples, gang related activity, with no solid spiritual or moral teaching or upbringing.

-Jobs are different since the economic slump. They go something like this-more work=less pay; more volunteer hours+less benefits; You're too old, too young, or you are over-qualified.

-Family relationships are increasing in division, lack of destiny and desire for the future, and with the idea that everyone on the inside is disposable.

So when we Pastors talk about pastoring today being harder than it ever has, believe us. We deal with things affecting people today, trying to lead the to Christ, that some of our forefathers would have walked away from shaking their heads. They didn't have answers then because the truth would have gone against the teachings of the church, so that had to just shut the door on many who could have been saved with just a little bit of direction.

The church has to find it's identity again:
-It is not about buildings or properties. I agree those things should be nice and taken care off, but it's about more than material things.

-It's not about building a ministry on a man. Men have fallen and always will. According to the statistics the greatest danger facing the church is not the young people leaving us, but the older folks of my generation and the Bridge Builders of the generation before getting "soft"in the relationship with God. Paul never talks about coasting in to heaven, but fighting until it was time to lay his armor down. Too many who have built their relationship with God or with the church on a man are faltering in their latter years of the serving the Lord and it must stop.

-We must quit talking the game and start living the life. It's easy to talk about holiness and clean living, and then go out and cut your brother's heart with harsh words of bitterness. It's easier to lie about your relationship with God than it is to live like you should and let the world see who Christ is in you. It's time to step up to the plate and swing for the fences-be a child of God that the world can identify with daily.

The Bible says that God identifies Himself and makes a declarative statement:
"I am the Lord thy God...I change not!"

If you believe that can we somehow change back to what we used to be. I sure would fee good about it!