What's Going On At Starting Life

This month we have had the pleasure to volunteer at the local nursing home and I was able to connect with some wonderful people. 

Our "Friday Night Live" service is a new service I began last month that I'm excited about. Last month it was great and people were truly

blessed. 

Our church will be involved in a local MLK event which will be awesome and we are currently working on a small project for National Day of Service.

Additionally, we have teamed up with local community leaders to assist with DoSomething.org's "Teens for Jeans" Campaign.

Finally, at the end of this month we will be going out into our own community to distribute free food. These are just a few of the exciting things we have going on inside and outside of the church this month. 

Taking On A little To Much?

Are you Stressed? Something we all have to deal with and go through weather it's with a job or at school or even at home. If we can be honest for a moment its something we all have to deal with or have dealt with in some way in our life. There are different signs of stress you may ask what they are for starter's panic attacks which causes shortness of breath, dizziness. Secondly there are physical Symptoms such as headaches, stomach cramps, and chest pain and many more... Thirdly depression which is feeling empty and wanting to be alone and last but not least suicidal thoughts and we all know what that means!

50-90% of people in there lifetime will experice some type of traumatic experience. What am I saying we can't avoid problems or issues we are human. The Bible says in Psalms 51: 5 "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me."  So since we understand we were born into stress, born into worry, born into pain. The question should be how can we manage that??

Matthew 6; 34 "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus tells us here not to worry and I know you're saying well that's easy to say but hard to do. Why? Is it because the devil has brainwashed you into believing the same God that created you and knows every hair on your head has some how forgot about you. God didn't make us to worry or to stress we have to learn to lean on him with our problems and situations because they are big to us but little to him. After this day live stress free put your trust on Jesus the one who tells us in Matthew 6; 25-34 to not trip over stuff we can't handle and he tells us that he has it all under control. So after today what's your excuse??

It Is Never Over

At some point in time we have all felt as if we have been forgotten and no one cares about us. There is a story I read about a guy in the bible who had leprosy. Leprosy is a disease that causes your nervous system to shut down and eventually causes your nervous system to shut down causing you to lose your ability to feel. Back in those days those who had lepers were forced to wear clothing that was torn and had to reside outside the town.These people weren't allowed to have contact with anyone including their family or friends because these people considered the "living dead" were constantly being rejected and left with thoughts of suicide. So the depression rate during that time was amazing.

Much like this story we all at some point in our lives have felt despised, forsaken, forgotten, ignored and judged. The good news is we don't have to stay depressed. In the story Luke 5 12-16 Jesus came along and healed the man from his condition. But the man first asked Jesus if he was willing to heal him. So many times we don't open up our mouth and ask Jesus to meet us at our needs and then wonder why we still are going through the same problems.

Just because things are bad today and you seem like there is no hope always keep your faith and understand who is in control of your life. We forget this when things get hard and we trust ourselves don't let this be you. First we have to know that problems come and go and what doesn't kill us will make us strong. God will never put you in things that are to big for you because he promised not to put more on you than you can bear. The moment it becomes unbearable is the moment you must realize he didn't put it on you.

Series: "Things Have Changed"

This month I've started preaching a series entitled "Things Have Changed." The first person to invent the wheel only discovered what God had already designed, for the Lord created things in circles. Life moves in cycles, every one hundred years, we have a new century every 365 days, we have a new year and every 24 hours we have a new day. God has created the potential for new beginnings. Often we get so caught up in our past that we can't see what God wants to do in our lives. We must make our lives simpler and stop complicating things. If we will learn to just commit, submit and believe we can start moving to where God needs us to go. In this four part series I'm showing and teaching people how and what steps to take in order to see a real change in your life.

 

Human Trafficking Is Real

It is National Human Trafficking month, when we hear the words "sex trafficking," as Americans we immediately think of women and children overseas who are being forced into the sex trades or who are brought into the United States for the purpose of sexual exploitation. But you will be surprised to know that it's many sex slaves that are right here in the US. 

And you may be asking how is this possible? Pimps prey on young women by finding their weakness and then exploiting it. It is easier to manipulate younger people, and by the time children become adults, they are broken down. They allow the pimp to get into their mind, it's easy for him to maintain control, this is a real problem going on and we must all pray for anyone going through this or has.

I want you to understand that it doesn't matter where you're from or where you live, sex trafficking is everywhere and is a serious issue everywhere just not overseas but in America as well.

Few numbers to think about:

27 million – Number of people in modern-day slavery across the world.

1 million – Number of children exploited by the global commercial sex trade, every year.

32 billion – Total yearly profits generated by the human trafficking industry.

Pastor Punished For Telling The Truth?

Louie Giglio, the pastor of Passion City Church in Atlanta, was asked by the Presidential Inauguration Committee (PIC) to give the benediction because of his work combatting human trafficking but then Giglio suddenly told the committee that he was no longer interested.

Pastor Giglio was asked why and he responded "due to a message of mine that has surfaced from 15-20 years ago, it is likely that my participation, and the prayer I would offer, will be dwarfed by those seeking to make their agenda the focal point of the inauguration." 

Giglio, where many of his sermons present a traditional view of gender roles and marriage is only guilty in this case of telling the truth and preaching the bible. I just find it interesting that the inauguration committee came to him first without understanding where he stood on the issue. In this generation there are so many pro-gay pastors; however, it's nice to see a man that doesn't mind still preaching the bible and telling the truth no matter what. 

I am looking forward to seeing what pastor they pick to participate in the inauguration and being a pastor myself I can understand and not blame Pastor Giglio for being true to himself and his church by standing for what he believes to be unbiblical doctrine.

2013

It's the first month of a new year and that means it's time for a new attitude and approach to how we think about things. The stuff that we struggled with last year we should keep those things in the past. In 2013 focus on how you can better yourself and the people around you. I hear and see people who say they are going to change this and change that but their mind set hasn't changed. Let's focus on what we can control this year and let God handle what we can't. Let's put our mind set on the things of God and when we do that we won't stress as much or worry about the unknown because we understand where our help comes from. When we do this our approach will change and we will build faith in God. Let this year be a new year that is not like any other by seeking God first and asking him to order your steps.