The power is there, even if you can't "see it"

Do we really understand the power of God that is in us? Can we? For the past several months I have been going over this and I'm currently studying the use of the word power when referring to what God gives to us. We pray so much, both individually and corporately, for God's glory, for God's power, for Him to manifest and work miracles through us. Do we realize the power for all of this is in us already? We don't have to continually pray and ask for it, we simply have to believe without doubting that it truly is in us. Then our prayers can be focused on what God wants us to do, rather than the power and ability to do it!

We should be praying for the ability to recognize God's power that is living us. This is the greatest power in the universe, what raised Jesus from the dead. Throughout the Old Testament God's power was used to bring victory to His people when everything visible in the natural said it could not be done.

When the twelve Israelites went to spy out the promised land that God had promised them, the report brought back by the ten was that of fear and doubt because they could see the power of the people in the land and they knew that their power could not overtake them. They declared they were as grasshoppers compared to the giants of the Land (Numbers 13). In the natural that is all they could see, they were blind to God's power because they didn't understand how something could really exist and not be visible with their own eyes.

Author Andrew Whommack writes Spirit Soul & Body that the Word is our mirror to see God's power in us. When we read it, does it read us? Do we see the reflection of God's power in us? We do not have to keep trying to earn this or gain it somehow, we simply have to believe and understand it is really in us, even though we can not necessarily see or feel it.

If we all get an understanding of this, I think we will see the power of God activated across our nation and lives truly changed.

Fall Semester begins

Well, today marks the official start of my first semester as a full-time seminary student. I am certainly learning the last couple of weeks that when God tells us we must live on faith he is not kidding. With the two leaps I have taken the last couple of weeks the gulp has been more than I could even come close to handling on my own power.

Last night I became well acquainted with the required assignments, research papers and books to read for this semester, WOW!

After several minutes of trying to convince myself I couldn't do it, that there was no way I could learn all of this information in the time I had, I turned off my computer and went to bed. The great part is this ended this morning when I remembered I wasn't doing any of it anyway. In 1 Corinthians 2:4, Paul declared that his preaching had nothing to do with him, but was all due to the Holy Spirit through him. His confidence was not in his ability to preach, his confidence was in the Holy Spirit. So I realized I was trying to my confidence in myself, thinking that I needed to be "great" so I could learn all the information. Well, I realize that is a horrible idea. I am going to put my confidence in the Holy Spirit living in me, that He will be the one who ensures I learn and perform... What a relief...

Christianizing America has made us non-Christian as a nation

We have all heard the talk about how far America has moved away from God the last 50 years and it is easy to point out the negative things that have caused this such as high divorce rates and the promotion of relative truth.

However, many what appear to be positive things have been created. For instance, there are numerous Christian TV shows now, Christian radio stations that talk about all the great Christian places you can go and the Christian businesses you should support. There are now many Christian bookstores, Christian cruises, and Christian clothes. So when does a "dedicated" Christian have the opportunity to bump into those who don't believe and share the love of Jesus?

Has anyone stepped back and said none of this stuff is helping to transform America? Is it only isolating Christians from the rest of America?

If we are going to see America transformed for Christ and make sure we do not support just another revival that goes down in history with the other hundreds of them, we must seek God on these issues and discovery what "good" things must be changed.

life change today

So today I guess it became official, I am retiring (I just love saying that) from Boeing and going on staff at Destiny Church and attending seminary at Regent University through Distance Education and modular classes.

Working at Boeing opened up numerous opportunities for us over the years including the ability for Megan to become a stay at home mom and paying for my seminary classes the last two years. Today was somewhat bitter-sweet as I realized many of the close friends I have made at work the last few years will no longer be a few feet away.

This is an exciting time for Megan and I. We have watched God line things up for us the past couple of years so we could make this transition; with each step of faith we took, he provided more than we could have imagined. I know that God is faithful and is the ultimate provider of everything we have. He knows everything we need and promises to provide, now that's as good as it gets. I look forward to the many doors and opportunities He will bring to my family in this new season of our life.

Is there anything still considered obscene

So I'm still having a little trouble consistently blogging, but I believe the tide is turning and August is the start of what I hope will be an interesting, informative, and thought provoking blog.

All afternoon I have been asking myself if there is anything considered obscene anymore in American culture? We all know television went off the deep end a few years ago, but we know we can keep ourselves from anything we do not want to see, by simply not watching TV. Today I saw something that I didn't know how to keep from seeing and it was nothing but words; a billboard for a used car dealership that said "Easier than your prom date." Immediately I couldn't believe it was really there and said that, then my thoughts went to "what are kids supposed to think when they read that?"

At my church we have been praying for revival in America, to truly see not just a move of God, but a society transformed by Him. Today was just another reminder of how far away from God America has gone, and how important it is for Christians to rise up and stand out against the things that are of this world. If we just let things go and don't press into God, things will keep on the downhill and who can really imagine what would be considered obscene in 25 years; my guess is nothing.