Sheep Food

  God never expected us to walk out this journey of faith on our own; because for one, He knew we were incapable of doing it in a manner that would honor and please Him. That’s why Jesus promised to send us the Holy Spirit to dwell within so we could be endued with supernatural, miraculous ‘power from on high' (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8). Did you catch yesterday’s message, by chance? Look what He told His disciples there at the very end of His earthly ministry before He returned to heaven: “I am with you always” (Matt. 28:20). Then, flip over to Mark 16:20 as we learn how those disciples “went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs”. How do you think we can do the same thing if we are lacking that same Holy Spirit who empowers and equips us to ‘walk just as He walked’ and to ‘love others as he loved us’ (1 John 2:6; John 15:12). You do realize there is nothing wrong when you are traveling somewhere, and you pull ov...

  When it comes to walking out your faith on a daily basis, have you ever given pause and asked yourself – ‘what am I missing here?’...or perhaps – ‘what am I not doing right?’; because it seems as if there should be ‘something more to this’...if I’m supposed to be ‘walking as Jesus walked’ (1 John 2:6) and ‘loving others as He loved us’ (John 15:12). And just what if there is...’something more’ to all this that you are lacking? Would you be open to discovering just what that might be, and then maybe drawing near to God and asking Him for that which you might be lacking? Jesus spent three years training a handful of men who were, for the most part, ‘unpolished’, unlearned and ‘rough around the edges’ ...when it came to matters of the kingdom of God. But something happened to them and their lives were forever changed as they then went out themselves and delivered this same message they had received...to others throughout the world. And please note - this messages was not designed a...

  I would invite you to look over yesterday's post once again, maybe for the first time. And may we all remain humble as we examine our own hearts (2 Cor. 13:5).  Do you remember when Jesus foretold His disciples that one of them would betray Him? (Matt. 26:21)  The only finger pointing that followed was at themselves asking: "Lord...is it I?" Have a blessed day.

  “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” – Jesus. (Matt.12:36-37) So if I’m not wanting to make these recent messages about ‘immigration’, then why do I keep bringing it up and ‘stirring the pot’? I’ll tell you why – because it is the ‘issue’ staring our country in the face right now...and we can either be like those religious men who walked around it...or be like the Samaritan and face what is before us. (Hope you are caught up reading here from the past two days). And when I say ‘face what is before us’, I mean we first better stop and examine our hearts... as we are admonished to do in 2 Cor. 13:5. We read in Jeremiah 17:9-10: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fru...

  At the risk of being misunderstood once again, and likely to stoke the coals of heated debate, I am  compelled to wade back in to this topic that has hit a nerve with so many people; and if you do respond, be nice...it’s my birthday today ;-) This has to do with the complicated dilemma of what do we do with the untold numbers of undocumented people who currently reside in this country. As I mentioned the other day, I don’t know what that actual count is, because everything I read suggests between 10-12 million, but the administration continues to insist 20 million crossed over during Biden’s presidency; so I just don’t know how many are here. This is going to be like juggling tennis balls as I walk a tightrope here, because I still want to be clear that my messaging of late is not intended to focus on ‘immigration’ or undocumented immigrants who entered this country ‘illegally’; but it is going to sound...at first, like that is what I am wanting to ‘discuss’. Can we all a...

  Did you know there are many noble and good things that we ‘believers’ can do...”in the name of the Lord”...that God could be unimpressed by? Things like ‘prophesying and casting out demons’ along with ‘having faith to move mountains, bestowing all our earthly goods to feed the poor...and even offering our bodies/lives to be burned at the stake’...and it still ... ‘profit us nothing’? (Matt. 7:22-23; 1 Cor. 13:1-3) Yeah...take a moment with that one, if you would. Jesus was the one who drew this ‘line in the sand’ when He proclaimed that “not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’, will enter the kingdom of heaven; but only those who do the will of My Father who is in heaven.” (Matt. 7:21). Which may lead one to ask: “So what exactly is...the ‘will of the Father’? Well for starters, how about we ‘keep the commandments of God’? Jesus said if we loved Him, that’s what we’d do (John 14:15). And you see this echoed throughout John’s first epistle- (1 John 3:-6; 2:17; 5:2-3) Perhaps y...

  That tiny bar of soap in the image I posted was made from the human fat of Jewish prisoners who were killed in the concentration camps during WW2. I actually held that bar in my hands 15 years ago. I spent six months working on a photo project with living Holocaust survivors in the Dallas area back in 2010. I will never forget the day Mike Jacobs placed that in my hand and asked me if I knew what it was, and I began to weep and tremble when he did...because I knew exactly what it was. Most estimates agree that nearly 6 million Jews were exterminated in various Nazi prison camps during the 1930’s and 40’s located throughout Germany and Poland. That is just the number who actually suffered horrific deaths in gas chambers before having their bodies cremated in the ovens that burned 24/7. Clearly, many more were apprehended and eventually survived. I had the privilege to meet a few dozen of them personally, even becoming good friends with one of them. Were all 6 million of th...

  Do you know about the ‘ICE Agents’ that God is sending out? (Matt. 13:41) Whether you see yourself as a ‘Christian’, a ‘Conservative’, or perhaps a ‘Christian Conservative’...please hear my heart as I struggle to make sense of what is happening in our country with our immigration policies and challenges that are ripping this country apart. There's nothing wrong for any sovereign country to have stringent immigration policies, nor is it wrong to stop the flow of ‘illegal entries’ which has been a huge campaign issue and talking point here in the U.S. for decades. But never in a million years did I ever see it being even remotely feasible to 'round up and remove’ countless numbers of people who ended up here year ago (‘not the legal way’) and who have established families and businesses and livelihoods in this country and are living decent productive lives here. It's one thing if we’re apprehending violent criminals that are not citizens and we kick them out... fine; or arr...

  Picking up from where we left off yesterday and the discussion regarding what really is happening in the ‘spirit world’ where we have an ‘enemy’ who goes about like a ‘roaring lion seeking to devour’....I had a few other points to bring out but thought waiting another day to share, would be better. The story found in Matt. 12:43-45 really took on new life and revelation for me a few years ago when I was looking it over. And it occurred to me that the reason prayers of many desperate believers go unanswered, I suspect...is more of an act of mercy on God’s part because He loves us and doesn’t want any to perish (2 Pet. 3:9; John 3:16). Allow me to explain... I don’t think we truly realize how serious the situation is that we find ourselves in today, given the diluted, misguided, and yes, even ‘deceptive’ teachings that takes place in many of our churches. So let’s just take the words of Jesus at face value in that illustration He gave as to what happens when an ‘unclean spirit g...

  Can we circle back and revisit that short passage I cited the other day, found in Matt. 12:43-45, where Jesus gives us a play-by-play as to what happens when an ‘unclean spirit goes out of a man’? There are several important points to consider here, especially if you are beginning to see the reality of what is being unleashed in increasing measure these days. This is not a call for us to be overly preoccupied and obsessed with our ‘enemy’, rather a strong reminder to recognize who the ‘enemy’ really is and to ‘resist him’, given we are ‘not ignorant of his schemes and devices’ (1 Pet. 5:8-9; 2 Cor. 2:11; James 4:7; Eph. 6:11-12) When we fail to do what the word commands us to do, like ‘resist the devil’, then we can end up suffering  from 'undesirable' consequences, just like our man did in this story above. And while church members sit around adamantly assure themselves that ‘Christians can’t have demons’, there is an enemy on the prowl just looking for opportunities to ga...

  You are certainly entitled to having your own opinions and personal ‘points of view’ on just about any given subject matter, topic...or even ‘current events’ of the day. And...according to the 1st Amendment as provided in our U.S. Constitution- you are free to voice and share... those opinions and thoughts; but that doesn’t necessarily mean that God always wants you... to voice those opinions and thoughts. Hello? [long dramatic pause here] I know how easy it is for professing believers to ‘slip, stumble, and sin’ on an regular basis over the course of time, yet are also quick to follow up with this form of ‘self-assurance’ by adding: “But I’m still ‘saved’, though!” And I will continue to beat that 'drum of a message' suggesting we ought to be more preoccupied with the question of ‘are we abiding in Jesus’...more so than whether one is ‘saved’ or not. Care to guess which scripture reference always comes to mind when helping identify whether I am abiding in Jesus or not...i...

  [The message... some of you may have to ‘shelve’... until the Lord gives you further understanding /confirmation - 2 Tim. 2:7; Acts 17:11] Jesus did not come to ‘change’ the world; He came to save us from it. So why do we think it’s our mission to go out and try to change it? “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world- the lusts of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life- is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” (1 John 2:15-17) ....'and the world...is passing away...' “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Rom. 12:2) “Seek first, the kingdom of God...(and HIS righteousness” Matt. 6:33)...and by the way - “My kingdom is not of this world....