God Bless Us One And All

Today I am traveling home for Christmas...and I am traveling on a Greyhound Bus. I do expect it to be an adventure; of sorts, not like hunting big game in a distant land kind of an adventure, but an adventure none the less. And as a reference point I feel like I need to share with you all that this is "not" my first time to board a Greyhound Bus for places unknown...I have traveled by bus many more times than I would really care to admit.

For those of you that went to School with me, either Junior High School OR High School...most of you weren't privy to the fact that by the time I was 13...8th grade(?)...I was nearing the "Professional" status of utilizing buses as a mode of transportation. One of the things my younger brother Joey and would do as children; was to travel to where ever my oldest brother was during the summer and spend the summer with him....AND one such adventure was when I was 9 and Joey was 8 (you see Mom and Dad got "busy" when they got married, and Joey and I were born 1 year and 18 days apart). Our Little ol' Momma; Thelma, for those of you who do not know her. Put us on the Greyhound Bus bound for Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Now Momma being "our" Momma (the little Cajun gal that she is) told us all about "those men" who liked little boys, and for us to always stay together, AND to never...never go to the rest room alone, under any circumstances. We were from then on armed with the essentials that we needed to know about traveling alone - and that was all she needed to do. Because "we all" listened to Momma's when she told us to do something back then...didn't we? And OF course she also told the bus driver to make sure we got from one bus to the other. It was almost like the bus driver "knew" Momma would hunt him down and "slay" him if anything happened to us, and being the little Cajun that she is..."that" is exactly what would have happened, BUT he did as he was asked and we did wht she told us, and he lived (hopefully he live a long and productive life), and we made it all the way there and back.

Now jump ahead a few summers when I was 13...after baseball season - I started a new summer tradition and I would go to Houston and work as an Commercial Insulator's Helper with my Uncle Pick (which is a whole story in itself). I bought my first dirt bike, and kept it in Houston at my Aunt and Uncle's house, SO Momma would put me on a "Greyhound Bus" on Friday afternoon and pick me on Sunday afternoon - just so I could go and ride my dirt bike. My Momma is truly the bomb (thank you Momma)...and I did this for a number of years every few weekends until I got my driver licenses and I started driving, and working after school and of course cruising the Nederland drag. All the things that children (young men and women) did when we were growing up. But that in a nut shell that is how I gained the Professional status at such an early age of riding Greyhound Buses.

Now you guys are most likely trying to figure out what this has to do with my walk in Christ by now...and to be totally honest - I was just sharing a little about my crazy childhood; some of my fond memories. But it all really ties together, because it played a large roll in getting me to this place I am at today (Dec 23, 2009)...riding a Greyhound Bus. While on this particular bus ride...of course there is the perpetual people watching of all types, sizes and shapes. But I got to witness an exchange between two totally different people from two totally different walks of life. AND it was glorious in the eyes of God.

And it all started out with the most fundamental aspect of being a Christian. Which is: "we", as Christians are suppose to share with others our love for "our" God through how we carry ourselves, and to being a witness for God through the sharing of His word(just to name a couple). And we are suppose to be on stand-by for when God opens that door for us. I got to witnessed a simple exchange between two "extremely" different cultures...two totally different people, and as I said it was a testimony of how great God is. I don't know what religion is prevalent in Nepal...BUT I am thinking it isn't Christianity. I believe it may be something like Hinduism, Buddhism...doesn't really matter, but what does matter is I had the pleasure of meeting a gentleman from Nepal, and his name was Broon(I believe that is what he said). Broon had sat a few rows ahead of me after this one stop so he could enjoy the countryside, and an Amish gentleman sat next to him.

How different could two worlds be? One man lives where the sky and the earth become one. While the other one lives in a world of farming here in America and of simple-ness, or as they say - they live "plain" lives. BUT after thinking about this for just a moment; maybe there worlds aren't really that different after all...just a thought? I have to say that my arsenal is not that strong when it comes to testifying, or guiding people to God...I try, but I am lacking in this aspect of my walk for now. BUT before I knew it the Amish gentleman was showing Broon his bible...I found this totally amazing and I loved it. It was an awesome witness to the glory of God...and I sat there in amazement of the glory that was being shared between two total strangers...calmly...peacefully and with a total lack of concern with what was going on around them or who was around to see what was going on. Now that was a priceless moment - to me anyhow.

I sat there and thought just how appropriate that was for me to witness in the Christmas season...the "giving" that took place on a crowded Greyhound Bus in the middle of America, the melting pot of the world founded on the love of God for us all to be a part of; if we choose to do so.

Until next time...

Father God I can't thank you enough for putting me on that crowed uncomfortable bus to witness the love that only You can be the center of. For bringing Your love to the forefront for all to see in this season that You created for us. As You shared Your love by giving us Jesus all those years ago. We come to You to acknowledge that Your love still reigns in this world. Father we ask that You continue to show us Your love, Your peace, Your never ending truth...and for You to continue to be our purpose, our Guiding Light in this time of encroaching darkness. We come to You today Father seeking the truth in all You do for us, and thank You for your never ending love. In Jesus'' name we pray, Amen

Glory To A Newborn King

Our growth in Christ is not an easy one, BUT it is one that we rejoice in. Christ is fluid, but at the same time He is never changing...HE is the same today as He was yesterday and will be a million years from now, but He keeps moving forward. So it is up to us to modify our beliefs, our patterns of thought, our actions to the will of God's. And the rewards are, and will be great...never ending and His children will all come to live at that place called heaven someday. I went to church today at a different church than I normally do. I am out of town, and not close enough to go to my normal church to venture over to it.

The pastor and the congregation are a little different than the church I normally go to, but in this case - the change is good (NOT all change is good - if you haven't checked the papers lately). The congregation as a whole is "happy" to be near God, and in His home. They were a blessing for me to be around. The pastor; while not like my usual pastor - who is a mighty solider of God, was in his own right; also a mighty solider of God. And it was so very refreshing to enjoy his sermon and know I was in the presence of another brother of like mind in Christ. And he delivered a great sermon. A small portion of his sermon revolved around "how Mary's life changed once she received word from God that she was going to be the bearer of His son incarnate." She accepted this role - thank God; for all of us, even though she could have very easily been stoned to death, or shunned from her family and village. Which would have been a slow death, because she was promised to Joseph, and she showed up pregnant. The point of this was to show how once we accept Christ into our lives in initially things may "not" be so good for us, and that these may come from the people that are closes to us. BUT in time through Christ - we will be led to that place of peace in our lives, and complete the things in our lives that He has set out for "us" to do.

Another point that he made was that "our" God belittled Himself to become a mortal baby, and He experienced the same life that we live from our birth to the day we die. He did this so that He could experience everything that we will/would have to experience in our life, but mainly (always putting us first) He wanted to give us an example of how we should live our life's. Thank you Jesus!

Since this is the Christmas season, one of the other things that he did - that really stood out in my mind was to sing the song "Hark The Herald Angles Sing"...not that I have never sang the song, but he took it a step farther, and broke it down...and pointed out things about the song that I had never taken into consideration. I've included the lyrics below for you to review, and maybe you will see things that you have never seen...it may possibly be that I am a Christian this year; while I wasn't last year, Or maybe that I am closer to God than ever before...I know that I have grown in our Lord during this past year, and I know that I will continue to grow in Him...He has chosen me/us for a reason...and I have so much to learn...it gives me goose bumps to think about all that I have yet to experience and learn, and I long for the chance to continue growing, learning and becoming closer to you Father...I love you Father, Abba, Jehovah - Jireh.

As I mentioned we kind of dissected "Hark The Herald Angles Sing", and it has a totally new meaning to me now...here is the entire song, but my favorite passage has to be part of the second verse (and the third verse just drives it home). Where Charles Wesley (brother of John Wesley founder of the Methodist church in 1739) really describes what God...OUR God; has done. Like I said I have never looked at it like this, but it is so beautiful now that I have seen what God had done for you and me...he became a baby for us, so that we would have an example to follow, He didn't have to go through any of the hardships that he inevitably did on His way to Calvary, and during His crucifixion. Go ahead and take a look at the song below...hopefully you will be able to see the meaning of the song from a new perspective as well.

Hark the herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled"
Joyful, all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With the angelic host proclaim:
"Christ is born in Bethlehem"
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"

Christ by highest heav'n adored
Christ the everlasting Lord!
Late in time behold Him come
Offspring of a Virgin's womb
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see
Hail the incarnate Deity
Pleased as man with man to dwell
Jesus, our Emmanuel
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"

Hail the heav'n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings
Ris'n with healing in His wings
Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"


Father God we come to you during this time of the year; as we do everyday to recognize You and You alone as OUR Lord and Master. May we all as a nation, as a world, as a race come to know you better, and to be molded by You in Your likeness Father. Thank for coming to us, and being the
God that You are. We will never be able to repay You, but as we grow closer to You we will Lift you up higher and higher ever try to become more like You Father. These things I pray in Jesus' name, Amen!

The Peace Of God, And our Search For It

God how do I continue? How do I find the strength? I know through You I am covered (You will provide), but how do we deal with the pain of losing someone that is dear to us…someone that we care for here on earth. No matter how we lost them...whether it is through death, separation or divorce...we are but flesh and bone Lord how will I find peace?

Paul covers this in Philippians 4:6-13. I feel like it is summarized in Phil 4:11-13 where he tells us to “be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be know by God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4:6-7 KJV).

The answer is to turn it over "completely" to God. And once again; this is easier said than done. Even though we know that He is the answer to all of our hurts and pains and will give us the peace we search for. So once again it comes back to our ability to let go of the reigns and give it all to Christ, and to trust Him with all our heart. That is where it becomes difficult for us to take “us” out of the equation. But He has given us an arsenal to combat everything that we will ever have to deal with in our life…in His word. This is where a daily immersion into the bible comes into play. And this is not only to be able to deal with loss of people that we love, but for every facet of life…I know that personally I don’t read the bible anywhere near enough, and that is a goal of mine…it will be easier soon however there is no privacy here where we are presently. But God is taking care of this as I speak…it is my faith that has to come through at these times. To get me to the next position that God needs me to be at.

The fact that God has an understanding that “surpasses all understanding”! Should be more than enough, but as I mentioned before, we are but flesh and bones, and we can’t do it with out Christ in our life. And we just can’t imagine things that seem so out of reach for us to be within His grasp…let alone for us to be able to comprehend that He understands our pains completely. We can, through Him, constantly move forward continuing to grow just as He needs us too. His word is so powerful and it brings us strength in Him. We can also immerse ourselves in constant contact with brothers and sisters in Christ, because we are all striving for the same thing. And that is being more like Christ.

We all have pains for various reasons. The one common factor is that as Christians (and pre-Christians; I don’t believe that is no such thing as a non-Christian; just people who haven’t come to know Christ yet); we all have access to the greatest healer ever known, and He has the cure for what ever ails us…all we have to do is seek His guidance to find His peace. And He can share this peace in any way that you can imagine, and a whole lot that you can’t – remember His understanding…“surpasses all understanding”…He can also use whatever He wants too to take away our pain…we just never know. What we need to do is to continue to have faith in Him and His infinite abilities to take care of us as only He can.

Until next time…


Father God I need You in my life; to take away this pain and give me peace…to lead me where You need me to go Father…so I lay my heart at Your feet knowing that You will fill it once again with peace, joy and love...and for this I humbly thank You Father God. Please send your angels of strength, wisdom and peace out to ALL that are in need today and everyday Lord. These things I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

He Is There For Us

Today is another day...and hopefully we are all closer to God today than we were yesterday. This takes constant work on our part, but God knows that we will all slide in one way or another. We will all fall victim to our flesh, but it is what we do after the slide that is important to Him. He wants us to know that He is there for us no matter what, and that He is ready to accept us back into His open arms. My brother was sharing some things that God had shared with him the other day about the Prodigal Son. If you remember he asked his father for his portion of the wealth then he traveled to another country, squandered all his money, became a womanizer, gambled…in modern terminology all he did was party. Until one day he woke up in a pig pen eating out of the trough with the pigs…at this point in time he knew that he had made many serious mistakes. And as ashamed as he was; he knew he had to go home.

When his Father saw him coming the distance, he ran out to meet him, and had servants bring him the finest cloak, and sandals for his feet, the ring that held the family crest and kissed him on the neck. Signifying that his loved his son, and that his son was welcome in his home no matter what he had done…all these things that he did for his son; God wants to do for us.

He knew that he had “sinned against heaven and before his father” (Luke 15:11-32 KJV), but his father still accepted him back…and not just accepted him back, but WITH OPEN ARMS…no matter what we do, or how far away we get away from Him. God wants us to come back to Him…AND when “we” decide to do so, no matter which pig pen we are residing in…He will get the finest cloak for us. And don our feet in sandals and give us our ring with His crest on it AND give us our kiss on our neck, because He wants us to be with Him…no matter what mistakes we make.

The thing that we have to battle is our own perception of what we have done…because in our eyes…our human fleshy eyes we can see ourselves as “not being deserving” of God’s ability to forgive us. As we grow in Christ, and we understand more about His ability to forgive us, we gain strength in Him knowing this. And; I am sure that as we grow, and learn, we will move farther and farther away from making those same mistakes…we will always make mistakes, and in this we learn humility. As humans it is inevitable that we are going to make mistakes of some sort in the eyes of Christ, but we need to continue to come back to Him, because He is our Father waiting with open arms for our return to Him.

So continue to have faith in Him: because He will not let you down…EVER (while men or women will); continue to pick yourself up: because “OUR GOD” has a never ending ability to forgive us no matter what we do (or more importantly – how "WE" feel about what we did); continue to move closer to Him: because the more you do this the more it will become THE natural thing to do, and before you know it; it will be something you do all the time without even thinking about it.

Until next time…

Father God we are all human and we have to strive to be more like you each and every day. As we strive to be more like You…we will continue to ask you to forgive us for our shortcomings. We will continue to pick ourselves up, come back to You knowing that you are OUR GOD, OUR ROCK AND OUR PROVIDER, and only You will be there for us in the end. These things we pray in Jesus’ HOLY name, Amen.

Just in case you were wondering...God is good.

As you can imagine...now knowing where I am in my life presently (see previous post), I have my good days and days that are not so good...and while it is good to know that God is now in my life, and that He is in control of me and everything in my life. I have not been able to totally let God have "total control" of my life. My flesh still wants to try and control everything. I figure it may be like going through withdrawals, or more like a reprogramming process of sorts.

Because once you become a Christian...your life is no longer in your hands...that may be something that you don't realize at the time you chose to "give" your life to Christ, but that is the reality of it. SO - let me say it again...once you "give" your life to Christ..."YOUR LIFE" is no longer yours. Now with that said, not once, but twice...I have to say that there is nothing better that you could ever do; other than to give your life to Christ. It is not the easiest path to follow however, and if Satan has his way about it he would have you fail...BUT remember; "OUR" God is a good God, and if He gave His only begotten Son to die on the cross, so that we can be forgiven for our sins; then don't think for one minuet that He would ever let Satan have control over your life. In God you have control over Satan, and God is in control over your life at all times.

So let's not forget this reprogramming that HAS to take place...and it can be painful at times. But this would be dependant upon your personal ability to totally give up control on your life of course. But us being humans and thinking that we are actually in control...HAHAHAhaaaa - that is God laughing at us all...we tend to try and hang on to our perception of "us being in control" as long as we can...thus prolonging that reprogramming process sometimes for years. From what I can see atthis stage of my Christian walk.

So, this weekend I am dealing with a heavy heart...I am just tired of being where I am presently in my professional life, with my relationship and most certainly my financial life...out of the clear blue on Thursday; I received a phone call to attend a prayer meeting at my church (Grace Community Church, South Campus), and I accepted the offer...it sounded fun and I have been wanting to get involved with the church more. But little did I know that I was going to be dealing with this heavyness in my heart this weekend. BUT God knew, and once again He put me at the place that I needed to be, so He could take care of me as He always does.

So I inserted myself into God's equation today and I am a better person/Christian for it...it is all part of the reprograming process that God has in store for us as we grow in Him. And we need to allow Him to take total control of our lives. And as I personally see it, as a Christian; what we are suppose to do is to have an open heart (always listening for the Holy Spirit), be curious, joyful and to be brave enough to see just what God has in store for us.

Until next time...

Father God I pray that You continue molding me into a better Representative of You, and that You continue to guide me to the places that You want and need me to be. That You use me each and everyday anyway that You see fit. And Father I ask You today to send out the Holy Spirit like never before. Seeking new souls to be lead to You, that You touch the lives of people who have never known You, or the ones that have known You but have walked away from You for whatever reason, and lead them to You, and back to You Father God. For you Father are a good God that will care for us at all times and see us through the darkest of times. These things I pray in the name of Jesus', Amen.

First Blog Ever

This is my first attempt at Blogging, and I am a baby in Christ. I feel as if God has something for me to share with you guys out there in cyberspace; about God and His infinite wisdom, glory and provisions.

This has been a most peculiar year for me. I met a beautiful woman in November "08" - who I fell in love with, I got laid off in December of "08", Got saved at the beginning of "09"...I have had my truck repossessed, my townhouse has been foreclosed on...I'm presently at a Days Inn here in Houston...and while we still love each other my girlfriend is having a rough time with my being unemployed (which I understand from a secular point of view).

However I must say that God has been faithful to me this entire time (He has not let me down for one minuet), while it may not seem it to many who read this, but there is so much that God has done for me during this time. He has been teaching me things about His glory, and about me being patient, He has been a caring Provider and through "HIM" I am about to make a serious life altering move into missionary work starting out in Africa...something that I never imagined myself doing. BUT that is how Our God works, He has you do things that He needs you to do. And I owe all these changes and alterations in my life to God...

I give Him all the glory for everything that is taking place in my life. I try and wake up every morning and Praise Him...thank Him for giving me another day to serve Him. It isn't easy and there are those days when Satan gets a hold of me and just tortures me. By inserting doubt, shame...hopelessness...it is truly a roller coaster ride, but one that I will continue to ride the rest of my life, because it is better than the alternative. The thought of being in a place like heaven for eternity...walking side by side with God...WOW...it is the only way to go...you see before I made the decision to "give my life to God". I feel like I was the worse kind of sinner. I didn't have an excuse of having a drug addiction, nor was I an alcoholic. I drank like a fish...and that adversely effected my life in many ways...but I was not a Christian because I "CHOSE" not to be. I ask you; how lame is that?

I didn't live for anything but me....

I am starting this blog to log my growth in Christ, to log my journeys with Christ at my side, as I walk with the Master. He is guiding me and He is the reason that I am going to get to do something for Him by me going to Africa. This is truly going to be an experience of a lifetime and I am going to share it with all who want follow my journey in life, and in Christ. I hope that it will be interesting for you to come along with me on this journey that God has chosen me for, and that I will be able to share the greatness of God through the adventures that He is allowing me to experience.

Until next time...

Father God I come to You today to ask You to guide my words so that they are able to show Your Greatness and Majesty. I ask that You use the Holy Spirit to touch the souls of everyone who reads this blog in the way that only You know Father, and for whatever reason that You would have, for You are our God and our Provider, these things I pray to you Father God, in Jesus' name...Amen.