You Can Come Home NOW

For the past few weeks I've been reading a really great book entitled, "The Youth Worker's Guide to Helping Teenagers in Crisis.  I found this story in the book, and it really inspired me to write this....


Maybe, you've heard the story before about a soldier returning home from combat, that called his family to see if he could bring a friend home for an extended visit.  At first the family's response was welcoming, until he provided more details. 


The conversation goes like this...."My friend was hit by a grenade that blew off one of his arms." Although hesitant the solider's mom still encouraged him to bring his buddy home.  "You should know also that he lost one of his legs in the attack." there was a long pause on the line but they still encouraged him to bring his friend home.  "I think you should also know he's pretty disfigured because shrapnel tore up the left side of his face."


"Well you know," his mom replied, "maybe it really would be better if you just came alone for a while, and then when things stabilize, we can talk about your friend coming to visit for a bit." His mom heard a click on the other end of the line. 


A few weeks later the soldier's family received notification that their son's body had been found, the victim of an apparent suicide. Confused and wanting to be certain it was really their son, the soldier's father asked how positive identification was determined.  The officer said, since the boy had no ID, they used dental records. "Why," replied the father, "couldn't you have just used a photo from his file?"


The officer's response was devastating. "Unfortunately sir, your son sustained sever injuries in combat--he lost his right arm, took shrapnel in the face, and lost his left leg.  His face was so disfigured that a photo would have been very little help."


As you can see, the soldier wasn't asking if he could bring a friend home. He wanted to know how he would be received when he came home....


To be honest there are a lot of soldiers out there that are very hurt...hurt by some many things that they have experienced in day-to-day combat.  Combat that has left limping, yes you may look good on the outside, but inside you have been devastated and hurt.  But praise be to the Most High God, because He stands with arms wide open, I know you can hear Him say, Come unto me, all ye that  heavy ladened and burdened." The Message Bible puts it like this....“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”


I love it....God wants you...Desperately wants to give you a fresh start, and a new walk again. Rest from all your worries and heartaches.  So here's how it works....


1. Come right now...don't wait until you feel better to come, come to Jesus and then you will feel better.  Some people wait until they are good enough to come to Jesus, if that was the case none would be able to make it. 


2. Recognize, that you are sinner, and repent....


3. Focus on the cross...just dwell on it, think on it, look at it, read about it....


4. Invite Christ into your life. 


Follow these steps EVERYDAY...and believe me, you'll start seeing a difference....


Be Made NEW!!!

On Purpose for a Purpose

On Purpose and For A Purpose

You know what, you really are all right.  Psalm 139:14 says, “You are fearfully and wonderfully made.”  You have come such a mighty long way, you ought to give yourself a standing ovation.   God has been doing a great thing for you, and through you.  As Dr. Cleveland would say, God took nothing, and made it into something.  Think about it, at one point you really were nothing, but then in a moment a cell from your daddy, and a cell from your mommy came together and bam you began to grow in your mothers womb.  Check this out, you started out smaller than a grain a salt, and for nine months you were growing inside of there.  At one point during your growth, you began to develop eyes, and inside of that womb, a perfect incision was made, and your eyes were opened.  On average you produce 200,000,000,000 red cells per day, 10,000,000,000 white cells per day, and 400,000,000,000 platelets per day.  You know what check that….You ought to stand up and give God a standing ovation, because He’s worthy of the praise.

I want you to know, that you are not a mistake, you are not an accident, but you were created on purpose and for a purpose.  Sometimes we tend to lose track, and forget about where we were, and we keep focusing on where we are.  So whenever that happens we tend to lose focus of where we are going. Nine times out of ten we tend to hate where we are in our lives, which in turn makes us raise the white flag and throw in the towel, but I want to tell you that the same God that formed you in your mothers womb, is still forming you today.  I love the song that says, “Don’t give Up on God, because He won’t Give Up on You.”

Okay that sounds nice and all, but how do I know God is with me? How do I know God is still forming me and shaping me? How do I know that God still hears me? When will my tears stop, or this pain go away? How do I know God hasn’t forgotten me, because truth be told that’s how I feel right now.

It’s easy, every time you wake up, every time you take a breath, every time you walk in and out of your house, God is covering you, God is loving you, and He’s doing a new thing for you…..

Man This Hurts

Man This Really Hurts

All these things are the beginning of sorrows

Matt. 24:8

We do everything in the so little power that we have to avoid pain.  Nobody likes it.  I’ve never seen a child fall on the floor and laugh when they look at their knees bleeding and begin laughing hysterically (ok maybe you have).  I’ve never heard of anyone saying, “You know what doc, forget about the anesthesia just operate on my right now.”

If we could, we would live our lives pain free, but we all know that’s impossible. No matter who you are, how old you are, or where you are, you are going to experience some type of pain, some type of hurt, whether it is physical, or mental.  Sometimes it can be self-induced pain, or pain that we inherited, pain that was passed down, pain that came because of a certain situation that you probably had nothing to do with.  As a matter of fact, the only thing you did was be born, and now you are caught up in this whirlwind of agony, torture, and torment.  Right now you are going through, and you don’t know what to do. You’re probably asking yourself when is all of this going to end?

You know what the disciples had the same question too?  They asked Jesus,  “What will be the sign of your coming?”  Let me put the Pastor J remix on that, when is all of this stuff going to end, when are we going to have some peace, because we are sick and tired of being sick and tired.  Jesus looked at them with loving eyes and said, “There will be people coming in my name acting like me, wars, and rumors of wars, nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom, people starving, sickness all over….the list goes on (you should read the chapter).

Jesus says, these things must come to pass, but then in verse 8 He says, “These are the beginning of sorrows.” I decided to do a little bit more research, and realized that the word for sorrows in the Greek is oudin, it also means birth pangs. Okay so what are you saying? Reading the text I realized that Jesus says that you must go through these things, before the end can come.  I thought about mothers, when they have babies.  You can’t give birth unless you go through some pain. You’ve gotta have some contractions, before that baby is born. But guess what when the baby is born, it makes all the pain worth it, because you gave birth to something beautiful.  Okay lets jump back into our text, did you realize that Jesus said, that you have got to go through this pain, before the end shall come.  But if you hold on, we will see Jesus Christ, and it will make all the pain worth it. 

Look I know life hurts right now…I know that things are really going the way you would’ve liked them too, but if you would hold on, just know that you are about to give birth to something greater.  You are about to give birth to something better.  You’ve come to far to let go.  Know that that pain won’t always remain. Every time you feel like giving up, just think about the sacrifice Jesus made for you personally.  The Cross shows us that God can take the worst things, and use it to bring the best things.  Greater is He that is in you, than He that is in t