In my spiritual journey, God has prompted me on numerous occasions to be more deliberate in my discernment when the Word of God mentions a directive more than once. Did you notice that the Apostle Paul made it a paramount issue when he told us to rejoice twice?
Read MoreAlthough we are children of God and followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are not exempt from trials, tests, and temptations. Listen to what the Scriptures say:
“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 (KJV, emphasis added)
A few years ago, several men from my church and I went down to Hard Rock Stadium located in Miami Gardens Florida to watch a college football game between my alumni the Syracuse Orange and the 8th ranked Miami Hurricanes. After a brief shower the sun appeared and we were hammered by the humidity! The temperature was 85 degrees but it felt like 92 degrees! We had excellent seats but the sun gave us a beat-down. It was sweltering! I was sweating a mini-shower. A cold bottle of water was a great blessing to me as it was extremely refreshing and invigorating! As I reached out to receive the reward of my bottled refreshment it gave me power to pummel my thirst.
Read MoreThe past two weeks we have been considering spiritual heart failure, reviewing its definition and examination. This week we will turn our thoughts to the third element, which is contamination. The word contaminate is defined as “to taint, pollute, or defile, meaning to make impure or unclean.” Contaminate also implies intrusion of or contact with (for a substance such as water) dirt or foulness from an outside source.
Read MoreWhen I turned 50 years of age the word examination went to a new level of understanding, specifically as it relates to my personal health screening. My physician told me that it was time to have my prostate examined. No big deal, I thought until I had the processed explained to me. Let’s just say I wanted to pray for another way! And I had to choose to put on my big boy pants that day as well as drop all my concerns and personal comfort. At some point, most men will either be offered a prostate examination as part of general health screening or it will be advised by their doctor because of their age.
Read MoreHas your heart ever gotten you into trouble? I am willing to bet that there are some of you that would reply to my initial question with: “Oh yeah! I am married to my heart trouble.” The reality is that our hearts are responsible for many of our practices or decisions. For example, spending, eating, watching, listening, speaking, thinking and living are all connected with the attitude of our hearts. This fact is why the Scriptures issue a warning about keeping our hearts.
Read MoreIn our first blog of this series, we identified pornography as a pit that people jumped into. We then examined the problem of porn and the power of a pure heart. In addition, we assessed and acknowledged the adverse consequences of porn in both a single and married person’s life. Now we will come to a close of our consideration on the pit of pornography by discussing the cure.
Read MoreIt has been said, “Whatever captures the mind captures the man.” All throughout the ages Satan has used the lust of the flesh to capture the hearts and minds of men and women as well as demolish the mighty, the wise and the simple; from Adam to Sampson to Israelite Kings David and his son Solomon, as well as your common Joe and JoAnn Public. Pornography steals, kills and destroys relationships. The most important relationship that is incredibly injured and severely severed is our personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. The sin of porn punctures and separates us from God.
Read MoreWhat seems to be the problem? Maybe you have had a medical professional ask you that question or it is possible that you have found yourself in front of your Pastor or spiritual advisor that asked you something similar. When it comes to counseling, for the most part when an assessment process is engaged, a mental health professional, counselor or clergy member will utilize a variety of methods to arrive at a diagnosis. They will employ an inventory of questions, rely on visual observations and collected personal data in addition to drawing from their own experience and training. The bottom line is that the issue must be accurately diagnosed in order to address and solve the problem.
Read MoreWe are undoubtedly living in an unprecedented period. Pornographic pictures and explicit erotic material are more assessable than at any other time in history. Case in point, consider the illicit images that are insidiously in our faces in shopping malls at stores such as Victoria’s Secret, advertisements on the road, internet, television and movies, fliers and magazines, iPhones, iPads and electronic devices. I mean these salacious sources are an enormously large hole of lawlessness and a duplicitous deep ditch!
Read More