I recently went to a great concert where I heard God speaking to me.  He said that this world we live in is constantly moving in fast forward.  I know this to be a fact because I myself live in the fast pace as well.  I struggle with the job that I have because of the busy break neck speed in which I have to move to keep up with my competition.  I am in the sales game where getting an order means that you underbid all of your competition and try to service the customer the best.  So far I am doing pretty well though there have been my share of mistakes and that goes hand in hand in the way that I have to move really fast to keep up.  But enough about that, the real reason God asked me to write this is because of the fast food world that we are living in.  Now you probably think that this is a funny title for something so serious.  God gave the title to me.  At the concert, the artist said that she felt satisfied with her spiritual walk with God but that later God gave her the words “Do not be Satisfied”.  She began asking God to give her a real hunger for seeking God.  Right now you are probably asking yourself,” What does this have to do with eating fast food?”  I am glad that you ask that of yourself.  In America we live totally on fast food.  In most of the commercials on television and the radio, we constantly hear that families do not eat together anymore and that the basic sit down meal with the entire family is usually going to some local fast food restaurant.  We as Americans do not worry about going out to the barn and killing a chicken or a cow for food.  Nor do we have gardens in the backyard to gather vegetables or fruit off of the tree. All of this is prepared for us, all we have to do is go to the grocery store or we, like most people, go to the local fast food joint to get a burger and fries.  All of this is great to save time and energy but if you could slow down for just a moment and notice how the supersize combos make us weak and weary.  They make us obese and malnourished.  This directly affects our thinking and how we process thoughts.  How we make decisions.  If we put this in the realm of spiritual thinking then it is much like we as Christians going through life feeding off of the fast food that satan has led us to believe is so much better than the Bread of Life and the Living Water that God has for us through His Word.  In the Bible it says that we are not to live on bread alone but on every word of God.  We become malnourished through the food which satan offers.  These are guilt, shame, worry, lust, murder, lies, gluttony, greed, sorrow, anything that will take our eyes off of God and onto that which makes us feel satisfied.  We as Christians become satisfied with the way things are and do not really want to see a change in our life because we feel as though if there needs to be change than are we truly children of Christ.  

So I ask for all Christians to see where they are in their own lives and take a test.  How many times do you eat out at the spiritual fast food restaurant.  Are we satisfied with the food which satan offers or are we going to seek out the best food which only God can give?  Only God knows exactly what our body needs to be fully nourished, and that is through His Word.  I am speaking to myself as well as other Christians.  I know that there are many times where I feel very satisfied in my walk with Christ and there are other times where I can not get enough of His true love and compassion and forgiveness and just being with Him.  My prayer is that the men and women of the cloth would never give up seeking the nourishment that only God can give through His Word.  I pray that the pastors and preachers of America would see fit to make sure that the nourishment they give to their sheep would come directly from God and not themselves. I pray that all of the Christians in this world would give up their satisfaction and truly seek out the Bread of Life and the Living Water so that they may pass it on to the next hungry and thirsty soul.  May God give peace and comfort to those who truly seek His righteousness and His Glory.  

AMEN

I apologize for not writing very often in the last couple of weeks.  There have been some trying times at work and I have not had many words from God until now.  Tonight while driving home from church I was thinking how when we are in the dark there is always that feeling of wonder. I wonder where I am going, I wonder how I am going to make it there, I wonder how long it is going to take me to find my way, I wonder if there are things out there that are going to hurt me. There are those short moments of light from street lights or marquees that light the way.  Though it took me back to the time when I was trapped in sin and I felt helpless. not knowing if I would ever get out of the darkness that surrounded me, it enveloped me with it’s power, with it’s intrigue, with it’s wonder and awe.  There were so many lies wrapped around my soul as if I was trapped in a spider’s web of deceit and discontentment.  My life was surrounded in love by family members though they never knew the things going on inside of my heart and inside of my head.  I still have times where satan finds his way into my life and disrupts the tranquility and joy that Jesus brings. I run off of the track at times and mess up and that is a way of life.  But the joy of Jesus is that no matter how bad you mess up, no matter how many times you mess up, He is there to forgive you and love you as if you had never done those things.  The other great thing about Jesus is that no matter how far you supposedly run from Him, He is there always to help you and guide you.  I pray that if there is anyone out there who reads this and does not know Jesus Christ as their saviour, stop what you are doing and get down on your knees and pray to Him and ask Him to come into your heart and make a change in your life so that you will be dependent on Him and no one else not even yourself.  I ask that you truly trust in Him and let Jesus be the Lord of your life and be the God of your joy.  If you truly do these things and believe in your heart that Jesus can make these changes in your life then He will do it and you will see the evidence of a God that truly loves you and wants what is best for you and will bring you to his home when he is ready for you to live with Him in Eternity.   

To the pastors of Southside in Wilmington, North Carolina,  I congratulate you on the fact that you have not let go of your wild side.   you have truly lived your lives to the glory of God and he is encouraged just as I am of the great things happening in this little out of the normal church we call Southside.  God has called each one of you here to be a part of the wonderful things happening in a small beachside town.  Pastor Kelly, you have a passion for the lost and the college kids at the campus of one of the most notable universities in North Carolina.  Pastor John, you have a passion for worship and missions.  Pastor Derek, you have a passion for the youth of this world and to see children grow up in Christian homes.  When you put all three of you together, you guys make the best shepherds that a congregation could ask for.  I believe it to be a privilege to work beside you in the trenches of the day to day.  I ask that you keep me and my family in your prayers as we will keep you and your families in ours.  We love you and your families and though we do not get to say all of the time.     THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING YOU DO.   YOU ARE THE BEST, FRIENDS AND FAMILY.

AMEN

Heavenly Father I ask that at this time You would encourage each pastor, each preacher of the Word, each preacher of the Truth.  I pray that each one of these pastors and preachers would ask You to fill their entire lives and spirits with Your Holy Spirit.  I pray that they would seek You in everything they say and do.  I pray that they would be so close to You that they would lose themselves and become more like You. Father God I ask that you hide each one of the pastors and preachers of the Word behind you and let them be a reflection of the One true God.  May they truly be a reflection of the loving God who has given us everything.  We stop to thank our parents for who we are and how we have turned out.  Sometimes we even blame our parents for the same outcome.  I ask when are we going to stop being so busy and praise our God for all of the great things He has done for us.  Father I praise you right now and I thank you for everything in my life, good and bad.

 Father here on Earth there are all types of races.  You even paralleled our life to being in a race running to the finish.  I pray that we would run the race set before us “drafting” You not trying to step out of line and pass You and try to win the race without You. 

 Father I pray that the President of the United States and the rest of the government would be so much like You that every one of their decisions would not only include You but come directly from You. 

Father I ask that if there be anyone in leadership that does not know You, they would come to know the saving Grace and Forgiveness of our God.  The One true God.

 AMEN

I would like to take this time to send out a word of encouragement to all of our pastors and preachers and teachers of the Word of God.  I ask God to fill them with His Holy Spirit so that they may be able to stand against satan and his angels that are here on this Earth.  Father God may You use these men and women to the best of their ability.   May You be the motivation that sets them ablaze.  Father God may it be You who truly receives the glory that You truly deserve.  Father I ask that You send Your heavenly Angels to guard them against the attacks of the devil, that the pastors will be surrounded by Your warriors, Your prayer warriors.  Heavenly Father You see what goes in our lives and yet You love us unconditionally, Father You truly know the word of forgiveness, for You show it everyday towards those like myself who truly do not deserve it.  Father I thank You for showing kindness and love and mercy and forgiveness towards me and all of those who do not deserve it which would encompass everyone.  Father keep the pastors and preachers strong in their physical and mental states, as well as their spiritual states.  I pray that You would give them great one on one times with You that they become recharged to be able to battle the likes of the darkness for you say that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against the powers of darkness and principalities and beings from the spiritual realm.  Father may You send new people to Wilmington North Carolina so that they may come to know You as their personal saviour, their Lord, their God.  Lord I ask that You would use Southside Baptist Church in a great way in reaching the lost here in Wilmington and across the world.  Lord I thank You that we are going to be able to continue spreading the Word of God to young people through our youth Pastor Derek Davis and there are going to be many coming to know you through the talents of Pastor John Mcintyre who leads our worship, and we can not say enough about the likes of our senior Pastor Kelley Stanley who is going to be a dad soon.  Who knew that you wanted him to wait this long but you have given him and his wife a great reason to wait.   I can not wait to see him holding his two daughters.  He will be a great dad. 

There are so many reasons to thank you God.  We put our hopes and desires and dreams in You.  Father God I pray that you will keep our Pastors safe and on track with You.  Father You say that once we are in Your hand that no one can take them from You and I am so thankful for that.  Father I pray that all who read this will become encouraged in the fact that no matter how far we run from You, You are always there. I thank You for that.

AMEN

Why do we as Christians continually allow satan to control our lives?  Why do we allow satan to control our cities, states, governments, and countries?  We say that we have no control over satan.  We are wrong.  The Bible tells us that as long as we have Jesus in our lives then we can control what satan does in and around us.  This country was based on the fact that we did not want to be governed by a king.  We wanted to be governed by the King;the king of kings, the Lord of Lords.  Yet, we the people who have certain unalienable rights have used our rights to leverage satan right back into the picture just as Sodom and Gomorrah.  We have allowed satan to take our cities, states, governments and most of all ourselselves.  Our children do not stand a chance against ourselves because we are the ones allowing satan to over take them.  

I have heard preachers use the illustration from the Bible that Jesus leaves his 99 sheep to seek out the one which has gone astray.  Why do we care as His followers not to do the same?  Why do we not seek out the one who is lost?

When will we the people relinquish control over our own lives and allow Christ to resume control?  What would it take for us as Americans to relinquish control of the country?  I have heard that Obama and McCain wants to make changes but do they really have our best interest in mind?  When will the president, the Senate or House release control of this country and allow God to make the changes.  When will we as Americans ask God to intervene?  We turn to God only in destruction and only in turmoil.  Until we turn to God for everything this country will continue in constant turmoil.  Continue to pray for our country that we will let God take control.

 

There is a great song out there called “Set Me Free” by Casting Crowns a video that I like about it is:

www.metacafe.com/w/1273190/

It is about the man in the Bible who called himself Legion because of all of the demons which were inside of him.  He asked Jesus to come and set him free but not out loud.  He cried from inside and Jesus: being the Son of God, knew within His heart that there was a man in need of help.  I wish that we as Christians could be that intuitive to be able to see when people are in dire straits and in need of help.  If we could just get in tune with the Holy Spirit then maybe just maybe the Spirit will take over our thoughts and actions and take charge of the situation and help those who are hurting and in pain.  Whether it be physical pain or psychological pain or even spiritual pain.  I ask those who read this blog that they seek out the Holy Spirit and ask Him to show them the ones who are truly hurting inside.  In Isaiah 61:1 

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me,

      for the Lord has anointed me
      to bring good news to the poor.
   He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted
      and to proclaim that captives will be released
      and prisoners will be freed.[a]

The Lord has anointed all of us to help those in need.  This is what we the Church need to see everyday.

I pray today that God will use this verse of the Bible to gain attention of those who read this blog.  I pray that all who read this blog will listen to the Holy Spirit and that they will allow the Holy Spirit to show them who it is that is around them that are hurting and need to be comforted and released from the clutches of the demons inside of them.  I pray, dear God that you  will direct their paths to making good decisions.  I ask that God will bless them in a great way and that He will use them to bring others into the Kingdom of Heaven.  Father, in heaven,  there are so many people out there who do not know you on an intimate basis and I ask that You will send your children- your sheep to gather in those who are astray.  I ask that You will continually use me as a broken vessel to comfort those around me and be a binder of broken hearts.  I ask that You God will use the words that you have given to me to be used in creating a passion in others so great that there can only be one outcome— REVIVAL—!! I ask that the words You give will continue so that others may come to know You on an even greater level.    Father God, come and save all of us from our own pride and arrogance that we will become humble and ask for forgiveness. Only You can save us from the clutches of ourselves and the demons we allow to come inside of us and take over.  AMEN

 wanted to write down the words of my God who is the great God of the universe.  He has given me great ideas and great stories to tell so that others may know of the great forgiveness he has for all who come unto Him.  He wants to be able to give us everything we desire as this is the first blog I have ever done so I hope that all who venture into the world of forgiveness will also show forgiveness if I mess up.   I have to say thank you to a great friend of mine for putting this great idea into my head. I have always long as it is His desire also. What I mean by that is that as long as we obey Him and do as He has said in the Bible then he will bless us beyond measure.  I have heard on many occasions that where our heart is there our treasure lies.  so I ask that whoever reads the words that are on my blog will seek out those who have hurt you in the past and pass along the eyes of forgiveness that only God can give.  If we do this then God will surely forgive us for the thing we have done against Him and give us the things we need and not the things we deserve.  I look forward to a lasting relationship with my Heavenly Father and with all who read and inspire me to continue to listen to God and let others know how He wants to help.  I was told by an aquaintance  of mine that Isaiah 61:1 is for all of us who are Christians.  We are here on this Earth to bind up the brokenhearted and to help those in need.  Though only Christ in the book of Luke says that when He came the prophecy had been fulfilled though now it is up to us who are left on this Earth to continue the prophecy through the Holy Spirit.