Tag: Love

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

1 Peter 2:9

Good morning or evening friends around the world!  I want to tell you a ministry story this morning.  I have been thinking about it since breakfast.  It was even busier this morning because my wife and kids had to leave at 6:30 a.m.  My wife teaches at the same school our kids attend, and that is a huge blessing.  I am usually up by 4 or 5 a.m., so I was ready to rock.  In any case, I am finally in my cozy den in the basement and I am excited to tell you this story!

I will never forget the night that God showed me that verse in action, particularly the part about calling people out of darkness.  I had only believed in Jesus for about a year, and that Spring Break in 1997 I signed up for a mission trip to minister in the inner city of Denver.

I grew up in Littleton, Colorado just down the street from the Capitol in Denver.  We lived in a little brick house real close to Santa Fe and Littleton Blvd and on the other side was Federal Blvd.  It was a great place to grow up in the 80s!  It was a mix of safe and tough, kind of like a city suburb.  I lived there from 1981 to 1991.

Growing up we always heard about the violent crimes happening up and down Colfax Avenue in Denver.  Colfax Avenue is Colorado’s Main street.  It runs all the way from Golden out West in the foothills all the way east to Aurora.  It has a long history and I recommend looking it up someday.  Colorado history is pretty cool!

Our parents would always tell us to stay away from Colfax.  They knew we rode our bikes everywhere and they knew we went all the way to the Capitol sometimes.  Well, the Capitol is right on Colfax.  We would go to 7-11 in Littleton to get snacks, then we would ride up to Denver.  We saw a lot of crazy things.  There are homeless people everywhere in City Park and drug users openly sticking needles in their arms in broad daylight.  I once saw a man passed out (or dead) in City Park with a needle hanging out of his arm.  The other homeless guys were laughing and mocking him as the ambulance came to get him.  He was only about a hundred yards from the Capitol.  Yes, very rough and dangerous area.

We did most of our ministry in City Park right across the street from the Capitol and the surrounding neighborhoods around Colfax.  The old five points neighborhood is right next to the Capitol.  Up and down Colfax in that whole area people can find just about any vice they want.  There are gang members fighting for territory, prostitutes walking the block, and homeless people and drug addicts wandering around.  It is a horrible sight, and there are plenty of opportunities to help people and share the Gospel.

I hope you enjoyed that little tour!  I love my State, my City, and my Country!  Colorado is one of the best places to live in the United States.  Every city has crime and problems.  That is a product of the fall.  Colorado is a beautiful state though, and our ski resorts are top notch!  Denver is a cool city with a good laid back vibe, and there are plenty of great things to do.  You just have to be careful like in any city.  When we are down there for ministry, we go into the darkness looking for the lost on purpose.  Don’t do that if you are just a tourist.  You could get hurt.  Most of the homeless people carry knives down in D-Town.  Be aware, be smart, and do not ever be naive, ever.  That’s what I learned growing up around these streets!

So, now you have an idea of what the area is like that my ministry story took place in.  The Spring Break trip was part of the Campus Crusade for Christ ministry I was involved with at the University of Northern Colorado.  It was the first time I had ever done any Christian ministry work, let alone street ministry.  We worked with Crusade’s inner city outreach called “Here’s Life Inner City” in conjunction with the local church off Colfax called “Church in the City.”  There were students from all over the country and we all met at the church.  We stayed there for a week doing some of the most incredible street ministry I have ever been honored to be a part of!  We also worked with another inner city ministry called “Christ’s Body Ministries” that we still support today!  They are awesome.  Check out my “Great Ministries” page for details!

Church in the City moved locations, but this was the old location we stayed at:

Every night we would go out around midnight to minister on the streets of Colfax.  I was loving it!  Here I was out in the middle of the night on the street my parents and the news had warned me about my whole life.  It was pitch black, very late, and very gritty.

One night we split into teams.  There were about four or five people in each team.  The girls in the group were never alone and we always made sure we were together.  Don’t be naive as you minister to people.  Watch out for each other.  Some people do like to attack Christians–we know this.

I was with four other guys and we decided after praying that we would head over to the road bridges over by Speer Blvd.  That is just down the street from the Capitol over by the Pepsi Center where the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche play.  There are always homeless over there.  It is real close to the Denver Rescue Mission.

We walked down the embankment and up the other side to talk to the guys under the bridge.  There were several men all stuffed tight under this one section right by the road.  It smelled awful, like urine and liquor, and it was dark.  It didn’t matter, Jesus says to love them anyway.  We introduced ourselves, told them we were serving Jesus, and asked them if they wanted some food and clothes.

They were very happy to see us and received us well.  We fed them and gave them warm clothes (Spring Break in Denver is usually freezing), and began sharing the Gospel.  As we finished, a Native American man in the back got very angry and started trying to crawl towards us.  He was deep at the back under the bridge stuffed in the corner.  He started cussing and telling us to leave, but his homeless buddies started laughing at him and told him to pipe down as they held him back.

He finally calmed down, and we continued to minister.  We prayed for them and talked with them, and it was awesome!  I was in the city at night serving the Lord and I felt alive!  It was the city I grew up loving, and now I was deep in it!

Before we left, we asked if anybody would like to go home and told them we could help get them back home.  Everyone was quiet, then a voice that had been quiet the whole time spoke up and said softly, “I do.”

He crawled out from under the bridge and walked over to us.  He was a tall white guy about mid 30s and he looked like he had been through it all.  He told us he was from Ohio and he wanted to go back home to his family.  We took him back to the church, gave him more fresh clothing, money, and packed him food, then we drove straight to the bus station.  We bought him a one way ticket back home to Ohio, and that night that man was not homeless anymore!

God called him right out of that darkness and it was a great honor to be a part of it!  He took us straight into the heart of darkness that night, and He cut through it with His Glorious Light!  He pulled that man out from under that dark nasty bridge, and I will never ever forget that!  Glory to Jesus!

I still pray for that man, and I often wonder what he is doing today.  I hope and pray he is doing great and living victoriously in Christ now!  That is the kind of redemption Jesus is all about!

What darkness would you like Jesus to pull you out of today?  Whatever it is, I guarantee you, He can and will rescue you from it!  I have witnessed it and experienced it myself!  Even on the streets of Denver in the pitch black Colfax night!

Grace and Peace to you all!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I want to tell you about one of the most wonderful and intense events in my life that changed my life forever.  It stretched my faith to the limit and it was heart wrenching in the beginning of it.  I had to trust God and keep walking even though I didn’t know what was going to happen.  I had never been in a situation like it before in my life, so I had to completely rely on my faith, not my sight (or rather what I had experience with).

I am talking about the birth of my baby girl.  Our daughter was our first born.  She was born a month early and she arrived into this world only weighing 6 pounds.  She was as small as a little Teddy bear, and she was the most beautiful gift of God I had ever seen.

When the nurses laid her down on the warming table to clean her up, I noticed that her tiny chest was heaving up and down like she wasn’t getting enough air.  I asked the nurses who were helping her what was wrong, but they said she was healthy and fine.  I would not give it up and I persisted to ask what was wrong with her.

The emergency unit nurse heard me and she came over to look at our daughter.  The very moment she saw her, she said, “Okay sir, you need to come with me.”  As she grabbed the wheelie cart my daughter was on, the other nurses backed away immediately.  The emergency nurse is the head nurse and she was the boss.

She quickly, but safely took our daughter to a room where they put her under an oxygen hood.  It’s like a plastic box that goes over them and fresh oxygen is pumped into it.  The head nurse told me that she was having a little trouble breathing and she was glad I said something.  She told me it was normal and everything was going to be okay.  Colorado is at high altitude, so kids who are born here sometimes have trouble breathing due to the thin air.

I was a mess.  I could not stop the tears and I felt broken inside.  There was nothing I could do for her.  I could not comprehend why this would be happening with our first child.  My wife couldn’t even hold her yet.  I was crying out to God deeply inside my soul and clinging to my faith.

I sat down next to my daughter as she lay there just barely a few minutes old struggling to breathe.  She still had her eyes closed and she was so little, so soft and precious.  The weight of fatherhood was on me, and I accepted it with an open heart.

As the oxygen filled her lungs, I could see her chest beginning to calm down and not strain so hard for air.  I was praying for her quietly and digging deep into my faith.  There were openings on the sides of the oxygen hood, so I put my pointer finger inside and touched her tiny left hand.  At once, her little fingers wrapped around my finger tightly.  I whispered very softly to her, “It’s okay honey, Daddy’s here.”

The very second I spoke to her, she turned her head towards my voice.  Her eyes were still closed, but she was turned so that her face was looking right at me.  I said again, “It’s okay honey, Daddy’s here.”

After that, I was in tears and trying not to cry hard.  I stayed like that with her for the next two hours until she was able to breathe on her own.  That was my introduction to fatherhood and I was just a young man in my early 20s.

When the nurse gave us the all clear, she took us back to the birthing room (which was like a hotel suite) and she immediately gave our daughter to my wife.  It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen to watch my wife hold our daughter.  I will never forget it.

I was there for the whole birth, and I even assisted the nurse.  I watched God bring a new life into the world, and it changed my entire life!  It was amazing!

I was there for my son’s birth too, but his birth is funny!  He came flying out in one push and the doctor actually bobbled him for a second and then caught him.  I told the doctor, “Good catch!”  Seriously, he came out like he was on a water slide healthy and strong, praise God!  The second child is easier I guess!

Our daughter grew stronger and stronger by the day, and she is now a beautiful 10 year old girl who loves music, art, and dance.  She plays piano and french horn, and she is the kindest person I have ever known.  I love you Rosie girl!

I call my son Biggie Son, or Bigs for short!  That is because he is a strong athletic boy with a big heart.  I tell him, “You are going to be a big man someday, and you need to use that to help people.”  He has an extroverted type personality and he loves theater and music.  When he walks into school, just about every kid knows and says hi to him because he is nice to everybody.  I love you Biggie Son!

Being a father has stretched my faith to the limit many times.  Many times I could not see how things were going to work out or why things happened the way they did, but I just dug deeper into my faith in Christ.

It was Jesus who anchored me that day my daughter couldn’t breathe.  It was Jesus who helped her in the power of the Holy Spirit as I prayed over her.  It is Jesus I glorify for all of it!

No matter what you are going through right now, you can trust that Jesus can and will get you through it victoriously!  Walk by faith in Him.

Grace and peace to you all!

 

 

I always take a deep breath after reading that verse because it gives me serious pause to reflect on how I act, what I say, and how I say it.  I am a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ!  There I go again taking another deep breath.

There is another verse that causes me to have serious reflection.  In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthian church, he explains to the believers how they should now regard all people and who they actually are in Christ as they serve Him on earth.

“So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view.  Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!  All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.  And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.  We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.  God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

That is an incredible responsibility for every believer in Jesus Christ!  Our main job is to represent Jesus Christ as we wait for His Glorious return.  We are ambassadors for our King!  I am very glad for the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8)!  Just as Paul said, we are to look at all people through the eyes of Christ and offer them this reconciliation with God at all times.

We implore people on Christ’s behalf, “be reconciled to God!”  Through Jesus Christ He is not counting men’s sins against them!  If you do not know Jesus today, please know that He loves you and He died for you.  No matter where you live in the world, he died for you so your sins would be forgiven!  See my invitation to join God’s family in my post “The 116 Family!”

In Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus, he gives the believers some practical ways on how we should be representing Jesus:

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

Ephesians 4:29-32

Sounds impossible, and it would be, except believers in Jesus are able to live and love like that because of the power of God’s Holy Spirit.  We can speak what is helpful, build others up, and even forgive just as Jesus forgave us!  That is a big one too!  Forgive each other just like Jesus forgave you.  That is so crucial to represent Jesus in victory!

Paul continues his advice on how to live in chapter five:

“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

Ephesians 5:1-2

Paul makes it very clear that believers in Jesus are to represent Jesus by living a life of love like He did.  To be like Him and help people like He did.  In the most simple terms, that is how we are to be ambassadors for Jesus.

“But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.  Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.”

Ephesians 5:3-4

I want to focus on “coarse joking” for a moment.   The Greek root of the word sarcasm means “tearing of the flesh.”  Remember that next time you feel like being sarcastic.  If you joke with someone in a mean way, it is not funny.  You are tearing their flesh.

We are not going to be perfect at all of this.  We walk in grace by faith in Jesus.  We are not working our way into Heaven (Ephesians 2:8-9).  Jesus paid the full price for our sins for us.  Always remember that!

God will empower you to live in victory like this when you receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior.  You will be able to love, live, and forgive like He did, and He will use you to take His message of reconciliation to the world!

I plead with you and implore you in my time as Paul did in his time, be reconciled to God!  Find peace and healing in Jesus.  He is making His appeal through all of His followers and reaching out to you this very moment!

It has been such a great encouragement to see all of the different blogs for Jesus!  It is incredible to see how He works through each one of His followers.  I pray the Lord will combine each work He is doing through us into one giant powerful work of the Holy Spirit!  Pray for each other!

Here is one more crucial piece of advice from Paul.  It is important to note that he is not saying you can’t have wine.  He is saying do not get drunk.  Just wanted to make that clear.  I don’t drink because of my past and how I came to Jesus, and because of Celiac Disease, but it does not bother me if one of my brothers in Christ wants to have a beer or a glass of wine.  I am not judging you.  Just be very careful how you live.  You know if you are drinking too much, and if you are, then honor Christ and stop.  These Holy God-breathed Scriptures are not about guilt.  They are about wise instruction for living a righteous life.  We are to represent Jesus well as His ambassadors, and I pray that we all do that in the power of the Holy Spirit!

“Be very careful, then, how you live–not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.  Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.  Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery.  Instead, be filled with the Spirit.  Speak to one another with  psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.  Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

Ephesians 5:15-21

Jesus is Lord!  Grace and peace to you all!

Here is some music to speak to you with spiritual songs.  I watched this on the blog of a wonderful Caribbean Christian Sister in Christ!  This is Holy Spirit filled African praise!  Enjoy, it is beautiful!  Thank you sister for posting it!

Holy Ghost Air

“Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

1 Peter 1:13

 

That is one very powerful verse!  I am not ashamed of Jesus Christ!  He saved my soul and redeemed me!  He defeated very real darkness and evil in my life!  I gave my life to Him in 1996 and have served Him ever since.  Have I been perfect at it?  No way!  I’m human just like you.  I have always walked in the Victory of Christ though, and I keep marching forward unashamed!

Read that verse again please.  The Gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes!  That is good news!  It is not just for a select few.  It is for every single person on this earth, and that includes you!

It doesn’t matter where you live, or what your skin color is, or what culture you are from.  Jesus died for everybody!  Jesus wasn’t a religion invented by Europeans.  Jesus grew up in Nazareth.  Christianity started in the Middle East near Jerusalem!  He started His ministry of preaching the Good News, healing the sick, driving out demons, and raising the dead when He was 30 years old.  History records that His ministry lasted three and a half years, and when He was 33 years old the Romans crucified Him.  These are historical facts.

After His resurrection and ascension into Heaven, his followers went out into all the world to preach the Good News that Jesus Christ died for the sins of all people on earth.  For example, it was the Apostle Thomas (yes, the doubting one), one of the original twelve disciples, who took the Gospel message to India.  They did this because Jesus commanded them to do it before He ascended into Heaven.  At the end of the Book of Matthew, Jesus and the remaining eleven disciples (because Judas was dead, so minus one) gather at a mountain in Galilee. There Jesus gives them a powerful command and authority to preach the Gospel to the world.

“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Matthew 28:18-20

It is pretty clear that the Gospel message (which is that Jesus came to die to forgive your sins and through Him and through Him alone you can be saved and given eternal life) is to be preached worldwide.  It is not a white thing or a black thing or any other color or culture’s thing.  It’s a Jesus thing!  It’s for all of us!  Are you feelin’ me on this?

Jesus died for everyone no matter where you live.

“You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

Galatians 3:26-29

That means when you receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you become part of the family of God!  Paul says it this way in his letter to the church at Ephesus:

“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s  household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.  In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.  And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”

Ephesians 2:19-22

God lives in His people through the power of the Holy Spirit that He gives to each person when they accept Jesus as their Lord and  Savior.  Check out my post on “Who is the Holy Spirit?” to learn more about Him.  When Paul talks about the whole building being joined together in Jesus and rising to become a holy temple in the Lord, he is talking about all the believers together filled with God’s Holy Spirit.

So no matter where you are in the world right now, or what culture you grew up in, Jesus died for you too.  I want to shout out to all my brothers and sisters who I have met through this blog in the U.S., the U.K., Russia, India, France, Italy, Ireland, the Philippines, Turkey, Australia, South Africa, Kenya, Canada, the Caribbean Islands, and Vietnam!  Thank you all for visiting and following my blog!  I appreciate all of you and my prayers are with you all!  I hope that someday that list will include every country in the world!  You are all my brothers and sisters!

Jesus loves you and you can be part of God’s family today!  All you have to do is accept the invitation!  Come join the 116 family and rest in the love of your Father in Heaven!

“That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Romans 10:9

Grace and peace to you!

P.S.

Shout out to Lecrae and the whole 116 crew!