​This month, we’ve been focusing on engaging in what we believe is worth fighting for. This past week, I spoke of how our hearts can deceive us into believing things that simply aren’t true, either about ourselves or others. There are some undeniable truths that we need to embrace. Truth #1: all of sin and are in need of God’s grace. We’ve all messed up. We all need a Savior. Far too often we degrade ourselves because of mistakes and failures. Remind yourself: if you were perfect, you wouldn’t need a Savior. This is not license to sin; it’s reality. Truth #2: because we all need a Savior, the Gospel is for everyone, not just the ones we believe would make “great Christians”. Our responsibility is to sow the seed of the Gospel. I’m sometimes amused at how folks believe a person is “ready” to obey the Gospel. There’s no way any of us can completely know what’s going on inside a person’s heart. Sometimes they don’t even know! Remember, the heart can deceive us at times. Their Creator does know, however. It’s God responsibility to prepare the soil. It’s not that we don’t have the ability to pray for a person to become more receptive, but God is responsible for the soil. Our responsibility is to sow seed. Far too easily we become discouraged if we spend time on someone and they obey the Gospel only to walk away from it later on. The Parable of the Sower reminds us that these things will happen from time to time but that doesn’t excuse us from sowing seed. I’m sure there’s been opportunities you’ve had to share the Gospel with someone but you’ve not done it. You’ve been afraid you won’t know enough or that you’ll say something wrong. You might even think you’re not good enough to share because you would feel like a hypocrite because of sin in your own life. Satan will make us believe so many lies about ourselves! Live your life in such a way that sowing the seed is as natural as speaking generalities to others. If God is truly the Lord of our lives it won’t be difficult to speak of Him. Who knows? The person you share with may have the type of soil in them to allow the seed of truth to take root.   
Have a blessed day and remember the One who gave it to you!     Kevin 

Call it what you will; a song, a quote or just a really nice saying. “Just a little talk with Jesus makes it right”. Every day our God gives us life should bring us to our knees. The very breath you just took was a gift from Him to keep you alive. There will be days you and I feel pretty good and then there’ll be those days we wish we had another 30 minutes to sleep. There will be good times and there will be bad times but through it all we have a loving heavenly Father watching over us, directing us and leading us in the ways best meant for us. I’m convinced that prayer is one of the most precious blessings God has ever given us. Even if you’re confined to bed, a wheelchair or a prison cell no one can keep you from conversing with your God! Last night many of us had the opportunity to enjoy watching “War Room”. It’s an incredibly powerful movie designed to bring us to the understanding of how precious a prayer closet can be. It shows the importance of spending time with God, alone, undisturbed and unabated. When was the last time you can say you’ve had an all-out pouring out of your heart to God? And when was the last time you engaged in that type of prayer on behalf of someone other than yourself? It’s one thing to pour out our hearts for our own issues…it’s a POWERFUL thing to wrestle with God over someone we love and it’s a FREEING thing to engage in spiritual warfare over the things God wants most for His creation. God is waiting. He longs to hear from you. He wants you to acknowledge Him in prayer. Take the time. Find your closet. Grab a pillow to cushion your knees and pray. Pour your heart out to your Creator and watch what happens to your faith, your spiritual strength and your willingness to bless the lives of those around you.
 
Have a blessed day and remember the One who gave it to you!                                                                    Kevin

Today marks the end of the first month of the New Year. I’ve heard folks say that life speeds up as we grow older. Is it possible that life isn’t truly speeding up but that we’re slowing down? Truth hurts, doesn’t it? As I’m sure you’ve heard, this year’s theme is: ENGAGE. Joel and I will be sharing messages this month on engaging in things worth fighting for in your life. So, what are some things in your life worth fighting for? I’ll mention some of mine here. First and foremost I believe the relationships I’ve formed in life are worth fighting for; my relationship with God, my wife, my sons and daughter-in-loves, my parents, my mother-in-law, my siblings, relatives, my church family, close friends, etc. All these relationships are worth fighting for! Yet another thing worth fighting for is the salvation provided to me through Christ Jesus. The only one who can jeopardize that is ME. Yet another thing I see worth fighting for is the nation in which I live. The freedoms we enjoy in this country are NOT free. Men and woman throughout history have paid dearly for the opportunity we have today to live in peace. Isn’t it strange how as we grow older some of the things we thought so important at a younger age now seem rather insignificant? Because February is upon us and we’ll be celebrating Valentine’s Day on the 14th with a covered dish get together. I also wanted to mention that we will be showing a movie in the auditorium titled: War Room. I’m not sure how many of you have seen the movie, but it’s a keeper. It shares the importance of prayer, the value of relationships and the sanctity of marriage. I really hope you’ll be able to join us!  Tentative date for the movie will be Saturday, the 13th. Depending on how many are able to come, we might be able to show it again on another Saturday. As we begin this new month, prayerfully ask yourself: what (in my life) is truly worth fighting for? Make a list, if need be, and lift those things up to God. After all, the battle really doesn’t belong to us, it belongs to Him!
 
Have a blessed day and remember the One who gave it to you!                                                                                           Kevin