Tue, Jan 29th - 8:00PM

Matthew 19:21-24

21 Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

 22 But when the young man heard the saying, he went away sad, for he was one who had great possessions.

23 Jesus said to his disciples, “Most assuredly I say to you, a rich man will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven with difficulty.

24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God.”

Jesus told him if he wanted to be perfect go sell all of his possesions.  That is contrary to what a lot of preachers are preaching today.  They preach if you follow Jesus he will bless you by giving you possesions.  It is true God blesses his servants but the Bible preaches over and over again against greed and pursuing worldly possesions.  Besides if your motivation for following Christ is to prosper materialy your heart is certainly in the wrong place. 

Mon, Jan 28th - 11:11PM

Matthew 19:3-6

4 He answered, “Haven’t you read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female,

5 and said, ‘For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall join to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh?’

6 So that they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, don’t let man tear apart.”

Some where along the way we have lost the meaning of marriage.  The Bible says the two shall become one and it is to last forever, not until you are tired of each other, not until you have a big fight, not until you find someone better.  I have been married for 14 years and I stll thank God everyday for my wife and my family.  I am totally dedicated to my family and I would never think of abandoning them.  The mark of a real man is that he takes care of his family.  To many men live for themselves, they spend their paycheck on gadgets, rims for his car, loud speakers, the newest clothers or CD, or video games and neglects his wife and children.  If that describes you, you aint much of a man.  The Bible discusses so much the role of the man as a husband and a father.  He is to be a provider, he is to discipline his children, he is to instruct his children in the way of the Lord, he is to be faithful to his wife and so on, I can go on. But back to the main point marriage is a lifelong commiment between a man and a woman under God.  If you aint ready for that then you aint ready to get married.

Sun, Jan 27th - 10:50PM

Matthew 18:6,7

 7 “What sorrow awaits the world, because it tempts people to sin. Temptations are inevitable, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting.

Temptation is a part of living in these world, these verses are a warning who would cause others to sin.  The business of selling vice is a big business; alcohol, drugs, prositution, lust, porn.  There is big money in selling vices to your fellow man but you have to ask is that money worth the price of your soul.

Wed, Jan 23rd - 8:41PM

Matthew 15:17-19

18 But the things which proceed out of the mouth come out of the heart, and they defile the man.

19 For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual sins, thefts, false testimony, and blasphemies.

You might fool the people around you but God knows your heart.  When our heart is focused on the things of the world then that is what comes out of our heart but if we are focused on God then Godly things come from our heart.

Tue, Jan 22nd - 11:39PM

Matthew 14:28-30

28 Peter answered him and said, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the waters.”

29 He said, “Come!” Peter stepped down from the boat, and walked on the waters to come to Jesus.

30 But when he saw that the wind was strong, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”

We have all probably heard the story of Jesus walking on water and Peter trying to come out and meet him and Peter coming scared and sinking.  But you know there was 12 disciples in that boat and Peter was the only one to have the courage to step out of the boat.  He only lost his faith after taking a look around him instead of concentrating on walking to Jesus.  It is when we take our eyes off of Jesus that we begin to sink.  It is when we start concentrating more on the things around us then on Jesus that we lose sight of where we are going.  It happens to all of us from time to time.  We all have our weaknesses that we sometimes allow to get in the way of our walk with Jesus.  We all have those temptations that we sometimes give in to.  That is why it is so important to concentrate on our walk with Jesus.  It is when we lose focus that we begin to slip under the waters and have to call out for forgiveness and the Lord for help.

Fri, Jan 18th - 10:53PM

Matthew 12:33-37

34 You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say.

35 A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart.

36 And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak.

37 The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.”

Think about that your very words will either acquit you or condemn you.  When you are sitting around with friends what kind of conversation do you have?  Does it turn lewd and filthy?  Do you curse?  Do you try to sound tough with tough talk?  If someone over heard you would they know you are a Christian by the way you talk?  I am also asking these questions to myself.  I work with nothing but men and the talk can turn quiet vogue sometimes and if I am not careful I can sometimes find myself caught up in the same behavior.  The people I work with know I go to church so if I am not careful I can ruin my credibility, because after all as Christians we represent Christ and our actions reflect how people perceive Christians. 

It also says our speech comes from what is in our heart.  So these is a good way to examine where our heart is.  If our heart is in the right place then good things should be coming out of our mouths. I realize I come up short of where I need to be sometimes but thank God we have a father that understands our shortcomings and offers forgiveness when we come up short of his will.

Tue, Jan 15th - 8:51PM

Proverbs 3:16-18

16 Wisdom offers you long life in her right hand,
      and riches and honor in her left.
 17 She will guide you down delightful paths;
      all her ways are satisfying.
 18 Wisdom is a tree of life to those who embrace her;
      happy are those who hold her tightly.

It must be understood we are talking about Godly wisdom not the wisdom of mankind.

Mon, Jan 14th - 11:10PM

Proverbs 3:13-15

13 Happy is the man who finds wisdom, The man who gets understanding.

14 For her good profit is better than getting silver, And her return is better than fine gold.

15 She is more precious than rubies. None of the things you can desire are to be compared to her.

Thu, Jan 10th - 10:45PM

Proverbs 3:6

6 Seek his will in all you do,
      and he will show you which path to take.

The Lord wants us to seek his will not ours.  Our will is often sinful and contrary to God's will.  We are sinful creatures.  Even if our motives aint sinful God often has a plan for our lifes that is different then our plan.  We have to be faithful and trust in God and let him show us his plan for our lifes.  That is often hard to do.  It is common to be anxious about the future, about carreers, family.  When things don't go according to our plan we often become discouraged but I believe everything happens for reason.  It might be years before you see that but it all happens for reason.  I believe I am where I am right now in life because God has a plan for me that I might not see yet.  As it says we have to seek his will first.  I believe their is two paths set before each of us.  The path God has set before us or we can try to go our own way and suffer the consequences.  For me I try to trust God and follow his path, I stray off that path sometimes when I allow myself to be led astray by temptation but I regain focus and get back on the right path.  If you read the Bible you know that path is narrow compared to the wide well used path to hell.  The path the world is blindly following.  Don't follow the crowd trust God, do his will and he will show us the right path to follow, the path that leads to his reward in Heaven.

Sun, Jan 6th - 10:45PM

Matthew 5:27,28

27 “You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery;’

 28 but I tell you that everyone who gazes at a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.

This is a sin I am sure every man is guilty of.  I know I am.  I have been married for 14 years and have never physically cheated on my wife.  But I have lusted after other women and I have looked at porn.  And I will confess lust is a temptation that I really have to fight.  According to this verse lusting after another woman is just the same as going thru the physical act of adultery.  You are being unfaithful to your spouse.  It aint easy keeping those impure thoughts away but we know as Christians we strive to be like the father.  We don't always succeed but we keep on trying.  And I say try because we know we can never live the perfect life that he did because we all make mistakes but we confess those mistakes and strive to do better.

Sat, Jan 5th - 11:02PM

Matthew 5:14-16

14 You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill can’t be hidden.

15 Neither do you light a lamp, and put it under a measuring basket, but on a stand; and it shines to all who are in the house.

16 Even so, let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

We are a light unto the world.  Have you ever been outside in the pitch black when all of sudden a light comes on and shines so bright.  That is us a bright light shining in a world of darkness.

If you were to go into a dark forest and shine a bright light the creatures around you may react in several ways.  They may be drawn to the light, they might be scared of the light and run away or they could become anger because the light has interrupted what they were doing.

Well the world reacts the same way to the light either they are going to be drawn to the light or they are going to run from the light or they are going to be angry because the light has exposed what they were doing in the dark.

Pray that they might be drawn to the light but in order for that to happen we have to shine bright in the darkness around us.

Fri, Jan 4th - 11:26PM

Psalm 4:4

4 Don’t sin by letting anger control you.
      Think about it overnight and remain silent.

Ever felt like your anger was controlling you and your life?  Do you have a hard time letting things go?  Anger is a dangerous thing.  People are serving time in prison for things they did spur of the moment when they was angry.  We all get upset and frustrated over things but we can't let it control our lives.  Recently Rosie was rated the most annoying celebrity.  Well I will say she is one of the most angry and hateful.  She is mad at the world and full of hate.  And where has it got her?  Fired from her job, joked on endlessly.  Look how unattractive as a person all that hate makes her.  Nobody likes being around a person with that much hate and bitterness in them.  We as Christians are representatives of Christ and his love.  People aint seeing that love if we as Christians only show anger.  We should be showing compassion to a world that is in some serious need of some compassion and love.  We can still take a stand against immorality and sin without all the hate.  Christians have been accused of hating homosexuals.  I think the homosexual lifestyle is sin but I don't hate homosexuals.  Athiest have showed a lot of hate to the church.  I think they are wrong but I don't hate them.  Christ had compassion to the very people that nailed him to the cross.  We should always follow his example and show love to a world full of anger and hate.  Because anger always leads to hate.  And Christ didn't preach hate he preached love and compassion.

Wed, Jan 2nd - 10:05PM

Proverbs 1:7

7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; But the foolish despise wisdom and instruction.

Tue, Jan 1st - 10:42PM

Psalm 1