Man Drops Dead in Church

"News Worth Sharing"

Man Drops Dead in Church & Raised By Power of God

Pastor E Dewey Smith of Greater Travelers Rest in Decatur GA I came across this story on Facebook and fought tears as I watched this clip. We don't hear of testimonies like this anymore. While many may still choose to remain skeptical, I can't help be stand in awe of God's awesome power.  Towards the end of service Pastor E Dewey Smith asked the congregation to pray for a young man who had a heart attack during the service and quit breathing. The clip you are about to see starts after the EMTs were on scene.     You can see the entire service visiting their Facebook page by clicking here. As Pastor Smith said "They can perform CPR but only God can give breath!" God is real and his power simply cannot be denied! In Christ Pastor Travis and Bridgett Mack

Born This Way???

Born This Way

On May 23, 2011, Lady Gaga released her second album Born this Way. This album was a tribute to and affirmation for anyone living a homosexual lifestyle. The slogan "Born the Way" has become the reasoning behind same sex relationship. Their logic says since God made you this way, you should love who you are no matter what.   So the question is, are they born that way. The answer is Yes....but WAIT...WAIT...WAIT...continue reading please.   Adam and Eve introduced sin into the world the moment they both disobeyed God by eating from the Tree of Knowledge. Every person born since then entered the world with the generational curse of sin on their shoulders. David would come later to say in Psalms 15:5, Behold I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. So yes, we are ALL born One way or Another.   Your struggle might not be homosexuality, it might be with lying, disobedience, lusts of the flesh or anger. The beautiful thing about all of this is even though we are BORN that way, we don't have to STAY that way. Jesus paved the way for our redemption, salvation and living a life free from sin when he died on the cross.   We were given the wisdom and power to overcome any struggle or stronghold through the Holy Ghost. (I Corinthians 2:11-16)   Lady Gaga's song was another one of satan's lame attempts to give the world an excuse to reside in HIS demonic actions. God fearfully and wonderfully made you based on the potential he implanted in you from conception. satan's job is to tarnish that potential by contaminating your mind, body and spirit with ungodly ideals and logic. The wisdom of knowing the difference between the two comes once you give your life over to Christ (Romans 10:9), accept his Holy Spirit and actively pursue a relationship  with him and him ONLY.   You might be born that way but you CERTAINLY do not have to stay that way!

Life Forever Changed was a Blessed Success!!!

We would like the time to thank everyone who came near and far to see Life Forever Changed. The testimonies are already pouring in and we give God praise. We are so thankful for working with such an anointed cast and crew. Pastor Travis Mack and I love you all for your hard work and dedication. Hugs and kisses to our family for their love and support. Thanks again to our sponsors, to Pastor Gary Stutz for recording the play for us. The DVDs will be ready real soon!!! Special thanks to my panel sisters at Fox 31 Kelly D'Ambrosio, Janet Goree, Pat Fenner and Tracey Madsen. Thank you to Lesley Atkins and her hubby for taking the stage play pics. If I did not post your name it was unintentional, both my brain and body are tired from this weekend. LOL!While we did not fill all 400 seats, we came pretty close at 350. Look at God!!!

 Please visit the GO Ministries Facebook page to see more pics from the play!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Viewer Feedback 

 

I was really touched by this play, it really made me think about my relationship with my siblings, so much so that I called my brother today in Mississippi just to tell him "I LOVE YOU." Thanks to you and Pastor Mack for being willing and obedience servants of God. Much Love.

B. Jackson Americus GA 

 

Amazing play tonight, it touched me so much because I lost my mom when I was 12 and I never really have had a chance to release, I appreciate it soo much bless you and miss you! M. McCray

 

LOVE, LOVE, LOVED THE PLAY. ONE OF MY FAVORITE PARTS WAS THE 3 WAY PHONE CONVERSATION AND THE SONG AND DANCING PART. LOVED IT. GREAT JOB. P Price

  

Wow what a wonderful evening...Thank you so much to Bridgett Mack, GO Ministries and the entire family of Latoshia Henry Beard for sharing Life Forever Changed with us.

F. Gibson~Marriana Fla

  

Proud to be in the mist. My hubby and I enjoyed the play, the word and the prayer. What a time we had. Tears and laughter. God bless you and Pastor Travis. Your cast was awesome and anointed. I love seeing you, Tosha, Angela and Jr. role as kids. lol. Reminded me of my childhood days with my siblings. The play is worthy of an award much greater than an Oscar or Academy award. I will be getting a copy of the DVD and your poetry.

Pastor B Gilbert

  

v.i.c Wobble Baby...Not in My House

Disclaimer:

Please excuse the "grammer errors" you will find anytime you read the term satan. Capitalizing the first letter of a name is a sign of respect....I have none for him...

Soooo, lately I’ve been seeing a lot of Facebook posts showing a line dance to the song “Wobble.” Most of the video posts I’ve seen include our older generation doing a series of seemingly fun dance steps. The dance moves are so entertaining that if you weren’t careful, you would completely ignore the lyrics playing in the background.

The words “wobble baby” and “back it up” stood out to me. My red flags were raised because (at the risk of sounding a bit stereotypical) you generally don’t see older white women dancing in “back it up” videos. I decided to search YouTube for the official video and Google the rest of the lyrics to the song.The search results once again confirmed what I’ve already said a million times before “satan is wickedly clever.”

There are actually two official videos. One that takes place in a 1930’s jazz club scene with females twerk jerking and wobble dancing.

 

The second one sets the scene in a variety of places including a nursing home, a park, a high school gym and club. The dancers in this video comes from all walks of life ranging from backpack wearing school kids, teen girls, and urban street kids to nursing home patients and plus sized females. I watched these innocent children and impressionable teen girls wobble while the sexually explicit lyrics were subliminally implanted in their heads.

After watching both videos and picking my jaw up off the floor, I began to break the lyrics to this song. Here are some of them:

A girl told me that a man who that could dance.

Might could possibly get down with the tool in his pants.

Led em to the bed while saying my scriptures.

Cause I leave ya holy like  you pray in the temple.

Want beef? I move with the led of a pencil.
Get in there (repetitive vamp)

satan blindsides his hidden agenda in music with beats and dance moves that appear to be innocent fun. Before you know it, you find it yourself saying and doing things you wouldn’t normally do. It’s important to pay close attention to what you allow in your home and into the ears of your children.

Sexually explicit music like this puts us at risk of becoming victim to its message. There was a cunning attempt to make this song appear to be innocent fun by including young children, impressionable teen girls and older generational in the compilation.

People are so quick to forget satan was the minister of music in Heaven. He understands music’s powerful ability to set the atmosphere in any setting. There aren’t many places where music isn’t found. You hear music in elevator, stores, in movies, ring tones and even in car key ignitions. Music is a very important part of life especially for children of God. Psalms 150:3-6 tells us

Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.

⁴ Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.

⁵ Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.

⁶ Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.

Psalms 67:5-6 says when the praises go up to God, the earth will yield its increase. We need music. But only the kind that will edify our spirits and send praises to God.

Oblivious ignorance is not an excuse. It's a choice.  Are you willing to take that risk and let your family become infected with satan’s deadly antics?

 

v.i.c Wobble Baby...Not in My House!!!

Judgment Call

• Should I hire this person?
• Are they trustworthy?
• Should I join this church?
• Is this the right decision for me?

These are questions people everywhere face on the daily basis. In order to get an answer, some make pro and con lists, others pray to God for answers while most do a combination of them both. Whatever your preference may be, making judgment calls is a part of our daily lives. What tickles me is somewhere along the line satan has managed to take our right to make judgment calls away from us as children of God.

Our ability to teach, preach and live the word of God has been hindered by the fear of being called the overly religious judgmental Christian. While we have NO right to condemn a person to Heaven or Hell, we are obligated as Christians to warn people of actions that could lead them to Heaven or Hell. Satan has managed to twist God's instruction and the meaning of scripture by influencing the world to do the exact same thing our children do whenever they are confronted with the wrong they have committed. He has taught them to "pout" and his book "Satan's Excuses for Sin" is quickly becoming a number one seller in the world.

• You're judging me.
• Jesus hung with the sinners. Why can't I?
• It's a process. I'm still working on some things.
• Don't Trip. He Ain't Through With Me Yet (I hear this one even made it to the movies)
• That rule is in the old testament so I don't have to agree with that one.

Christians are ignorantly falling for this snare of the enemy. It is important that we continuously stay in our word for instruction on how to deal with these poor excuses.

The following scriptures require that we make judgment calls based on characteristics and the actions made by our personal selves or the person(s) we've been assigned to minister.

I Thessalonians 5:14
Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.

I Thessalonians 5:22
Abstain from all appearance of evil.

I Timothy 6:3-5
3. If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to the wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;
4. He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings,
5. Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.

It is time for children of God to reclaim their God-given authority to effectively and unapologetically minister his word boldly in spirit and in truth. Yes, God is love but never forget his love isn't always filled with milk and honey blessings. Sometimes, God shows us his love with hard core discipline and instruction. Remember God chastens those he loves. (Hebrews 12:6) God knows that by exposing the worst in us, he is actually bringing out the best in us.

Know your God. Know your Rights and operate in them both whole heartedly!!!

Become a Sponsor of Life Forever Changed!!!

 

With our next production only 45 days away, GO Ministries is still in need of sponsors. Our goal is to gain 40 sponsors who will donate $50 to help cover the remaining production costs for "Life Forever Changed."

(We are a verifiable 501 C3 organization) We invite you to help us make a difference in the lives of families who attend this production.

  

Sponsors can choose to participate in three ways:

1. Make a Donation in Memory of a Loved One
2. Make a Donation as a Supporting Business, Church or Organization  

Click Here for More Info

 

Click Here to Make a Donation

  

We are also working to raise awareness about the importance of making final arrangements by way of  buying insurance, writing a will and making funeral arrangements in advance. Information tables will be set up after the productions for families to visit. If you are an Insurance Agent, Funeral Home or Family Will Attorney who specializes in either of these fields, we need you as a sponsor!!!!

  

Please contact us by calling 229-942-5125 or via email us goproductionministries@yahoo.com for more info about sponsoring a table.

  

  

  

Ten Rules to Live By

So here I am. It's the wee hours of the morning and God woke me up just so that I could reflect on some things. A lot has changed for my family over the past three years starting with us moving from my husband's hometown to a new city. While we have no regrets about the move, we've lost a lot since we made that decision.

From the outside looking in, you would think everything that has happened would be the breaking of us but actually it was the making of us as family. Our ability to persevere comes our spiritual roots and the good ground in which they are deeply planted. Travis and I grew in a church were our parents, leaders and church mothers worried about our souls first and our feelings second. Their tough love and two-edged words of wisdom prepared us for the harsh world and the tough times to come. And believe it or not, our toughest times wasn't in our finances, marital issues, health scares or after the death of our loved ones. Our darkest hours came when those who we thought would love us forever decided they didn't need us anymore. Growing up, we were prepared for the persecutions that would come from the enemy's camp but when some of those from our church world turned their backs on us...we hit our breaking point.

But God.

God is notorious for always having that "ram in the bush" and for us, he had several. In the recent weeks, God reunited us with spiritual mentors from our past and introduced us to new ones for present day. Their words of wisdom, love, prayers, support has helped us to generate ten rules to live by. And here they are:

1.      When you don't know what to do, seek God. When you are in need, ask God. When you don't know what to say, be quiet and listen to God.

2.      Christians don't keep their friends close and their enemies closer. They keep their friends close and their enemies confused. Why? Because the enemy will never understand love.

3.      If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, be careful, it might be a wolf in sheep's clothing.

4.      Their "no" is God's not yet. Never lose heart.

5.      Remember Jesus didn't say a mumbling word while being persecuted. You'd better not either.

6.      Vengeance belongs to God and if you take action, he won't spare the rod....(against you that is).

7.      The battle is not yours but the spoils of war is if you let God fight it for you.

8.      Never cry over spilled milk or the "friends" that stole your cookie. Let them have it. God has better in store for you.

9.      You can't be a child of God and a punk too. Stand firm on his word no matter what.

10.  When the day comes to forgive those who have lied, betrayed, back stabbed, rejected, neglected and spat on you..do it quickly and with much sincerity of heart.

Please understand, this post was not written for pity. The post was written in praise. I once had someone to say, "Bridgett, you don't have to write about your bad experiences." To which I respectfully replied "Yes I do. This is my testimony"

My life is not picture but most of the time, it feels that way. If it had not been for the testimony of others who had gone through and overcame, we probably would have given up. I know that if God can do for them, he can do it for me too. I hope our testimony encourages those of you who reads this. Always remember, just because life may not always give you the roses you asked for, doesn't mean your blessings can't be found in beauty of daisies.

B

Life Forever Changed Donation Page

Addressing the Trials of Grief: An Interview with Pastor Riva Tims

As most you may know, on September 7, 2013, GO Ministries will be presenting our newest stage play "Life Forever Changed." Written in memory of my sister who  passed away suddenly two years ago, this illustrated message addresses the behind the scenes affects of grief. God instructed me to write this play so that it would not only minister to those who are grieving the loss of a loved one but those who are mourning the loss of marriage, relationship, job etc.

I am thankful to Pastor Riva Tims who took the time out of her busy schedule to answer my questions about how her family's journey through grief after the death of her former husband Pastor Zachary Tims. Here is what she had to say....

BMackWrites:  Someone said to me the Christmas after my sister died “She was saved..right? She went to Heaven…right? So what are you crying for?” What are some misconceived notions you feel people have about Christians who mourn?

Pastor Riva Tims: The Word of God is filled with scriptures that let us know if we accept Christ we have eternal life with God. John 3:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish , but have eternal life. And 2 Cor 5:8 tells us, We are confident , I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. What a joy for us to know when our body dies we crossover in the spirit to live in total peace.  The joy of eternal life, however, does not erase the desire to see, to hold, to communicate and be with a loved one that has passed.  When a loved one dies prematurely or at the hands of someone else a plethora of emotions become overwhelming regardless if that loved one made it to heaven. In an effort to demonstrate faith, Christians may forgo the necessary grieving process. Many mental health professionals use Kubler-Ross's model of the five stages of grief: Denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Everyone may not go through these exact stages, but everyone must go through a process of mourning traumatic loss including the loss of a loved one, a relationship, a job, a pet, a friendship etc.  If we do not deal with our losses properly then life events will continually trigger us back into depression, anger and other negative mindsets and emotions.  Months had passed since my divorce was final and I experienced triggers that took me directly to the time I lost my marriage. It was as if no time had elapsed at all.  It wasn't until I was healed that I could deal with certain dates, names and places.  My ex-husband's untimely death caused me to go through the grieving process yet again.  Allowing myself to grieve and mourn has afforded me a spiritual and emotional stability.

BMackWrites:  We teach our kids God will never let hurt, harm or danger come to us. When my sister died, it was difficult to explain to her children and our children why God took her so suddenly. In what ways have you been able to encourage your children while helping them to keep the faith?

Pastor Riva Tims: We don’t understand why God allows certain circumstances to happen in our lives.  Life is like a beautiful intricate tapestry; the back of the tapestry looks jumbled, loose ends, and hardly any connectivity and doesn’t resemble the beautiful front of the completed tapestry.  We must always trust God during difficult times and understand while God doesn't cause or inflict the pain, He may allow the pain.  God sees the finish product of our lives, and the lives of our love ones. When my children loss their dad, I encouraged them to focus on his life and the positive times they shared together.  To remember that their lives were a result of his life and his memory would live forever through them.  I also told them it was okay for them to express all of their feelings and to discuss them at anytime. I was quite honest to let them know life isn't fair but God graces us to go through the difficult valley seasons.

BMackWrites:  Most people don’t know what to say or do in another person’s time of mourning. What are some little things people did for you and your family that mattered the most?

Pastor Riva Tims: Things you may want to refrain from saying are:
Get a hold of yourself; You can't fall apart, Be thankful you have other children; The living must go on; She led a full life; or Don't cry. The most important thing to do is to let a person who has lost a loved one know that you are there for them.  Also, know it is ok to have moments of silence when you are with someone grieving.  Let the person share and talk.  We must listen and let them know that we hear them. When they ask the question why did this happen? Please don't try to give some spiritual explanation as to why it happened.  Be honest, tell them you don't know why but encourage them by prayer, comfort of the Holy Spirit and offer to do daily chores or errands for them. 

BMackWrites:  To this day, we still don’t know what caused my sister’s death. To some degree, it’s hard to find closure when there are so many questions left behind. What advice would you give to people who grieve with the possibility they will never get the answers they feel they need to move on?

Pastor Riva Tims: We know all too well about not having closure when the father of my children passed.  It is extremely difficult to move forward when you don't have an understanding of what happened.  I encouraged my children to begin the process of starting an enrichment center in honor of their father to continue his legacy and help other pastors.  It helped my children to gain closure to move forward with something positive in their father's name.  God will reveal to us all things in glory.  Our lives are but a vapor compared to eternity.  We may not get the understanding in this life, but we can have peace.

BMackWrites:  Mourning the loss of loved one is a true battlefield of the mind. How do you handle the highs and lows of grief?

Pastor Riva Tims: Besides the staple Christian prayer and spiritual encouragement through the Word of God, I suggest that anyone dealing with grief, go through a grief recovery class.  Incomplete recovery from grief can have a lifelong negative effect on the capacity for happiness.  Then enemy would love for you to isolate yourself but you need to connect with others to get through the grief.

BMackWrites:  Some people say “You never get over a person’s death. You learn to live with it.” Would you agree and why?

Pastor Riva Tims: You never forget a loved one's death but you certainly can be healed of the agonizing pain.  Recovery from loss is achieved by a series of small and correct choices made by the griever. The grief recovery curriculum that we use at Majestic Life Ministries is the Grief Recovery Handbook by John W. James and Russell Friedman.  Bishop Joey and Cathy Johnson of Ohio, assisted our ministries in implementing a grief recovery class and facilitated a class for our leadership to go through. Our leaders were then equipped to help others. You may always miss a love one who has transitioned to eternity and you may have triggers that remind you of your loss for the rest of your life.  However, you can learn how to cope with the triggers so that the reminders are not as painful.

BMackWrites:  Are there any words of encouragement you would like to give to those who grieve from the standpoint of a Pastor, Mom and/or Wife?

Pastor Riva Tims: For anyone experiencing a recent loss, I want to encourage you can be free of the pain, and you will experience joy once again.  Time does heal but it is necessary for us to make a concerted effort to move forward after the loss of a loved one. Matthew 11:28  says "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.  The Lord promises to give us rest or peace if we cast our cares on Him.  I would encourage anyone grieving the loss of a loved one to stay connected to vine.  Stay connected to your source, which is the Lord.  Also, participate in a grief recovery class and go through the deliberate process of grief recovery. It may not seem like it today, but you will be able to smile again.

Ms. Riva is the pastor of Majestic Life Church in Orlando, Florida. She is also the author of "When It All Falls Apart". A book that includes her personal testimony of healing through the pain. An absolute must read!!!

When They Tell You to Leave

Rejection is a painful experience felt by both Christians and Nonbelievers. Some people make the mistake of abandoning God and the church all together because of these bad experience. Click the video below to hear our testimony and a little spiritual advice on what you should do when they tell you to leave.

 

Be Blessed!

Behind The Scene Pics "Free" Skit

Special thanks to Pastor Smith and Berachah Fellowship Church, Inc. for inviting GO Ministries to come and minister our skit "Free." Check out some of the behind the scene pics!

God Smells You

During our morning devotion, my children and I discussed the story of Cain and Abel. As you all know, Cain became jealous of Abel after God accepted Abel's offering but not his. I continued to explain to my children that because Cain did not give from the heart, his offering was not accepted. Simply put, God turned his face from Cain's offering because it smelled bad.

 

Put Yourself in God's Shoes

 

Have you ever been talking to someone whose breath stank horribly? While they were speaking, you probably held your breath, look to the side, made an excuse to leave or even prayed to God for them to please stop talking. You were no longer interested in what they had to to say. God is the same way.

When a baby is born, it smells sweet, soft and innocent. As the baby grows older and begins to change, so does its body odor. II Corinthians 2:15 (NLT) says, "For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are saved and those who are perishing." When we are babes in Christ, we smell sweet but then we grow. It's important to maintain a sweet smell in the nostrils of God by consistently studying and obeying his word and maintaining a healthy prayer life. By doing this, we keep ourselves clean spiritually and in God's constant favor.

I was once told by someone that God accepts all praise no matter who it is from. At the time, we were talking about the BET awards and what seemed to be hypocrisy whenever an artist known for music and videos filled with profanity and promiscuity would thank God for blessing them with the win. As I'm sure you have already guessed, I STRONGLY disagreed  with this person. Yes,it is God's grace and mercy that keeps us all. And yes, I do believe God hears a sinner's prayers. HOWEVER, God does not condone nor grant prayer requests for anything that will fuel a life of sin.

Put Yourself in God's Shoes

 

How would you feel if one of your children grew up to live a life that displayed total disregard to the principles you imparted while raising them? How would you feel if they turned around and thanked you before millions of people, as if you condoned all of the wrong they had done?

Honestly, if my kids did that.....I would go off. My words would be "The devil is a lie! Sit yo tail down somewhere.You know I raised you better than that!" AND I would do it right there on nationally TV. Don't think I would? You'd better ask somebody. "I'm Bama Ole School God Don't Need No Matches" all the way baby.

.....ehem...excuse me...Bring it in Bridgett..

God not only sees sins but he can smell it. God can smell a rotting heart, evil thoughts, deception and manipulation. He can't be fooled. No matter how good it looks or sounds on the outside, God smells what's going on on the inside. So as I preach to my kids AND myself, I encourage you to always remember to give God the best and purest of you in everything that you do remember, God smells you.

The Copycat Christian

As most of you know, I grew up Pentecostal. I learned at an early age to accept being different. My schoolmates wore pants, I wore long dresses. On Friday nights when they were at the game, I was at a youth rally. Different was my norm and became the root cause of why one of my biggest peeves is copycatting. Growing up, we could pin point a child of God at the drop of a hat and not only because of the way they dressed, but by the way they walked, talked and the company they kept. That’s not the case these days. Somewhere along the line, somebody decided they knew better than the Preachers and Teachers before them. They decided that “it didn’t take all that”.

And so they got rid of testimony service and began to allow secular music to ring from the pulpits and sermons. Churches stopped fellowshipping with each other and began collaborations with the secular world. They put a cease to “hell, fire and brimstone” sermons and discovered the art of prosperity preaching. What was the end result? The number of school shootings, gay marriages, fornicating and or pedophile church leaders, murder suicides and blasphemous acts continue to increase.

Today’s youth shows little to no reverence for our older men and women of the Gospel; citing they are too old fashioned and judgmental. Instead rebuking their teachings and sowing seeds of discord against them. I was listening to “gospel” Hip Hop artist Lecrae do a “teaching” on YouTube where he was defending tattoos stating that if tattoos aren’t permissible then men shouldn’t shave their beards or eat red meat. I don’t think Lecrae realizes that by making light of these scriptures, he was also doing it for the entire Old Testament. You can’t rebuke one scripture and obey another. Even Jesus said in Matthew 5:17, I come not to change the law but to fulfill it.
 

I grew up during a time where you had to become seasoned in the word but you jumped and began a ministry. In today’s generation, a person can get saved and start a ministry by the end of service. And if there is something in the bible they don’t understand or agree with, they ignore or try to change it. The bible tells us that there is nothing new under the sun. As a matter of fact, everything God created began as pure in his eyes. Things changed once Adam and Eve sinned. So satan, being the wickedly clever devise that he is, decided to continue in his manipulation of the mind by presenting his evil as bountiful blessings. As God directed the writing of the bible, he gave clear and concise instruction on what we as his children were to refrain from. Warning us time and time again to stay away from the ways of the world; but being the hardheaded people that we are, we turned a deaf ear and we allowed satan in. Our excuse was “Well, I am going to take this from the world and add Jesus to it.”

My husband reminded me of scripture in Titus 1:15 where it says “Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is NOTHING pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.” So many times, I have heard people say “I can listen to this type of music because they are talking about marriage.” Still, the word, not Bridgett, says NOTHING the nonbeliever (unsaved) is pure. This new age generation of Christians feels like the “old school church” was too strict and extreme. I’m like this, at least their “strict and extreme” way of believing resulted in miracles, healings, blessings, spiritual growth and a church united. I know the bible has to fulfill itself but I refuse to be a part of the church’s decline when it comes to holding up the standard of God. There is nothing of this world that I want to be a part of or mimic in ministry. There is a fine line between hot and cold and I pray to God daily to lead and guide our family on what is of him and not of him. I know that I have not arrived. I know that it’s easy to become naive and seduced by the carnal pleasures of this earth. All it takes is a little of satan's poison to contaminate a soul.

I mean no disrespect to anyone when I say this, but I strongly disagree with two of the latest cliché’s we hear in Christianity. The first one: God hates religion. There is no scripture to back this up. The bible speaks against the traditions of men and those who SEEM to be religious but doesn’t bridle their tongue. God is not the author of confusion so I find it hard to believe that he would hate something and then define it in his word (James 1:27). IF God hates anything, I would think that it’s the many different denominations man created which resulted in a plethora of traditions that cause division among the church as a whole. Webster defines religion as the service and worship of God or the supernatural. Now if someone decides to serve another god and then steal the word “religion” from God’s word to create their own belief, then that’s on them. Identity theft is nothing new in the Kingdom of God. Satan has been doing it for years.

 

The second one: Favor ain’t fair. It’s fun to say and even lookes cutes on a tshirt but still…If God is fair and just, how can his favor be unfair? We might feel like its unfair when others get blessings in a split second after we’ve been praying for that same thing for years. But we can’t forget that God blesses us all in due season. If you eat a fruit before it’s ripe, it will be bitter and hard to chew. God knows if he gives us our blessing before time, it won’t be as sweet and enjoyable so he waits until the precise moment when the blessing is at its perfect peak.

I’ve got to summarize here because I could write a book on this. I’ll end with this. We need to flip the script back to where God intended and return to God’s pure and Holy standard. The world should be pursuing what we have as a body of Christ. Let us not be enticed by their false sense of beauty, pleasure and prosperity but instead see the rotting decay that’s hiding underneath. Will we be persecuted? Of course. Will God avenge? Definitely! If you are out of ideas in ministry, seek God for new ones. Stop trying to perfume the acts of the world with a little Jesus on top. That’s kind of like trying to put perfume on a skunk. No matter how much you spray, it will still be a bad aroma in the nostrils of God.

 

NOW THAT'S STINKING THINKING!