Tag: faith

Categories
Uncategorized

The Aerodynamics of Faith

Through the Looking Glass        Well, a much belated spring finally showed up here in the Tennessee Valley. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, the pollen is out in force, and as a result, so are the bees.

This reminds me of an observation by Mary Kay Ash, the founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics. She said…

“Aerodynamically, the bumblebee shouldn’t be able to fly… but the bumblebee doesn’t know it, so it goes on flying anyway”.

That sounds just like a lot of us. Many times in life, we face overwhelming odds. Regardless, we refuse to give up when things seem hopeless, and we believe when the issue in question seems to be a lost cause. We hang onto faith when those around us can’t decide if we are too stubborn or too stupid to give up.

So why the tenacity???

Because we have hope.

As Christians, we stand on the words of Paul when he said…

“I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me“.

Got an obstacle that seems unmovable?

Find your strength in the promise of a God who makes the impossible possible

Categories
Healing Living It Out In Real Time The Life of Faith The Mysteries of God The Secret Place

No Fear

After following the news in the wake of this week’s terror attack at the Boston Marathon, it is obvious and understandable that emotions in our nation are running the gamut.

We are saddened by the physical and emotional pain that our friends and fellow Americans are facing as a result of those killed and injured. Our prayers for healing and comfort go out to the victims and their families during this time.

We are angry that someone had the audacity to commit this heinous crime on a day (Patriot’s Day) that was about everything that is right with our nation (courage, honor, freedom), on our own soil – our home.

We are confused as to why and how this could have happened. Who committed this act? Why did they do it? As our fine law enforcement officials investigate, we believe that answers will be forthcoming.

We are afraid. Many people in our nation are now living in fear on a variety of levels:

People are in fear that it could happen again.

Witnesses may face fear from the memories of that horrific day.

Victims are fearful of moving forward into a future of uncertainty.

Terror, by it’s very definition, is about eliciting a fear response. Terror means “extreme fear”. Terrorism is not simply about killing and wounding innocent men, women, and children; it is about inciting fear in those who remain, and causing people to live in fear.

The problem we face is that fear (terror) is a vicious cycle. Fear is a magnet to demons. The more we discuss and voice our fear with our lips, the more demons are attracted to the atmosphere of fear. Fear is more than emotion… fear is a spirit. 2 Timothy 1:7 tells us that…

“God has not not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind“.

In the Bible, Job was considered a righteous man. However, Job had a fatal flaw. In Job 3:25, Job confesses:

“For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me.”

Job feared the loss of his children and his treasures, and Satan was drawn to that fear. And while we may think that fear is an unavoidable part of life, living in fear is an existence that we do not have to settle for. 1 John 4:18 tells us that “perfect love casts out fear“, and in Proverbs 29:25, we have this promise:

The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe.

Abraham Lincoln is arguably the greatest president our country has ever seen. However, history bears out that he lost every single election he ran until he ran for president. What if he had allowed fear from past experiences to convince him to quit? How different would our country look today.

Former South African President Nelson Mandela once said, “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.” For the believer in Jesus Christ, the opposite of fear is more than courage… it is faith and hope.

For those of you that watch my television program, Ron Phillips from Abba’s House, you are familiar with my co-host, Angie McGregor. What many of you may not realize is that Angie is a gifted songwriter and singer. Several years ago, in the immediate shadow of 9/11, Angie released a song that resonates today. Having faced down some fear in her own life, she penned the song simply titled, I Will Not Fear. After the events of 9/11, this song took on a whole new meaning for all of us that heard it.

— from the CD Could We Dance? ©Copyright 2002 FacePlace Music

Categories
Healing Living It Out In Real Time Miracles Out of Nowhere The Life of Faith The Secret Place

When The Diagnosis is Defeat

“When adversity comes, you praise God.”

That was what my friend Terry had always been taught. When those tough times come, you just stand there, stare down the storm, and praise God.

However, on January 8, 2012, praising God was not very high on Terry’s priority list. After experiencing some problems, and noticing a lump that had developed only over a couple of days, and that ran from his chest up toward his shoulder, Terry decided to visit his doctor. His doctor was pretty blunt with the assessment:

“You have extensive small cell carcinoma (a very fast growing and aggressive form of cancer). You probably only have 6 to 12 months to live.”

A very shocked Terry had little time to process this news and the implications. He began chemotherapy immediately… the next day to be exact. While the prognosis was grim, doctors were going to try to do what they could to try to help him.

In her book, On Death and Dying, psychiatrist Elizabeth Kubler-Ross outlines the 5 stages of grief for someone who is dying: Denial (isolation), anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.

“I immediately began going through the stages. In the coming weeks, I dealt with anger, denial, and depression.”

But after some initial grieving, something miraculous happened:

Terry found a spark of faith.

He found out that people all over the country were praying for him, praying for his healing. People from all walks of life were joining together in faith for a husband, father, and brother many had not even met.

“I was at my sister’s barber shop”, Terry recalled. “A Christian lawyer was there and asked if he could pray for me. As he prayed, I felt some long-seeded emotional pain begin to disappear. I felt healing – emotional healing – beginning to take place.”

Terry was sent to MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX for more treatment. During his numerous visits to MDA, he would undergo radiation therapy… for three weeks at a time.

After his first stay at MDA, Terry came home. That Sunday, while at Abba’s House for the morning service, Terry came forward for prayer. “As Pastor prayed over me, I could feel the anointing of the Holy Spirit.”

Drawing on these prayers, Terry began to spend more time in personal prayer, time in the Word, and listening to anointed worship music and healing Scriptures. Through his Lifegroup at Abba’s House, Terry was introduced to the book, The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson. The book teaches that, if we will just keep “circling” the promises of God through prayer, that God will ultimately deliver. One of Terry’s favorite quotes from the book is “God has determined that certain expressions of His power will only be exercised in response to prayer. Simply put: God will not do it unless you pray for it.”

Holding on to the prayers that had been offered up on his behalf, as well as the belief that his mission on this earth was not over, Terry refused to stop believing in a loving Father who wanted to heal him. He continued to “draw the prayer circle” around his need, and continued to believe for his healing.

On February 13, 2013, Terry was declared “cancer-free” by his doctors! At a time when medical science had all but written him off, Terry believed God. “Don’t stop! Don’t give up,” he says. “God will answer your prayers. It may take a while, but his promises are ‘yes and amen (so be it)’. Hold God to His word, and don’t give doubt the tiniest foothold!”

As you can imagine, the medical cost of a catastrophic illness such as this can be astronomical. However, Terry just smiles, “God has met our needs. Not one bill has gone unpaid. I haven’t worked in over a year. However, we continue to pay our tithes and give, and God miraculously meets our needs”.

God is true to His Word. Throughout Scripture, He gives us His promises to heal and deliver, and His promises are as good today – as “yes and amen” now – as they were when He originally breathed the Word to those who wrote it down.

So here is the question? Do you need healing? Do you want to be healed – physically, emotionally, spiritually?

If the answer is YES, I hope you will join me at this year’s Fresh Oil New Wine Conference. We are believing for a mighty, healing outpouring this year.

Come and get into the circle! For more info, just click the image below…

FONW2013

Categories
Living It Out In Real Time Miracles Out of Nowhere The Life of Faith

Angels, Architects, & the Not-So-Perfect Storm

Angels.

We hear about them in church and Sunday school. We see images of them during holidays like Christmas and Valentine’s Day. We see them depicted (often unflatteringly) in movies and TV shows. But do we recognize their hands in our lives? Would we know an angel if we saw one? Have you ever experienced an angelic visitation?

Several years ago, a couple of friends of mine did… and in a big way.

March 6, 1996

Dana and Julie had almost completed building their brand new two-story home. The lower level would house Dana’s recording studio and business, while their family would live on the second level. Dana and Julie had done much of the work during the construction of their dream home, along with the help of friends and family. The house was 98 percent complete; all that was needed were gutters, drainage, and some backfill work.

When they went to bed that spring evening, a storm was starting to brew. By 3:45 a.m., it had reached full force. “There was a huge clap of thunder that shook the house and woke me up,” recalled Dana, a very sound sleeper who had actually slept through an earthquake once. “Something inside of me told me to go to the basement. I looked out the window, and it looked like a waterfall coming off of the roof—a solid sheet of water.” Dana went down to the then-unfinished recording studio. “We had just moved in four days before, and the studio space was just a big, open room.” Except for a couple of support walls and some boxes stacked against the east wall, there was nothing there.

Dana walked across to the opposing wall and looked at it. First shock gripped him, then horror set in as he saw the first signs of impending disaster. “When I looked at the wall,” Dana said, “I saw a crack beginning to form.” The crack was about five feet up the ten-foot block wall and was running horizontal the entire length of the fifty-two foot foundation wall. When the rain came off of the roof, it poured down along the foundation of the new house. Several tons of loose fill dirt unexpectedly settled instantly and created a trap for the water where it could not escape from around the foundation. More water poured off of the roof, but with no place to go other than to put extreme amounts of pressure on the foundation walls—walls that were never meant to withstand the untold tons of water pressure being exerted on them.

Dana ran up the stairs and woke Julie with the news that the walls were cracking. Julie got out of the bed, put on a robe, sat down on the couch, and began praying. Dana was immediately on the phone with Mike, his good friend and builder, who assured him that he was on the way. Within ten minutes, Mike was there, assessing the situation. “This is really bad. I’m going to get my work van [with all of the tools], and I will be right back,” Mike declared. The crack in the wall had  opened up to about a half-inch and showed no signs of stopping. To make matters infinitely worse, the thirty-two-foot end wall was beginning to show signs of stress and was beginning to crack as well. As Mike flew down the dark, wet streets, formulating a plan of action in a mind that just went from peaceful sleep to waking nightmare, Dana went out into the maelstrom to attempt to divert the potential disaster that was coming, fighting the rain, mud, wind, cold, and the desire to fall facedown in the mud and scream.

But all the while, Julie prayed.

And God showed up.

Actually, to be more precise, He sent His angelic messengers. As Julie sat inside praying, wide-awake at this point, she suddenly had a vision.

“I saw the downstairs, and there were angels standing around the perimeter, lining the walls of the basement.”

She initially thought that they were there to support the walls so they would not cave in. As their true purpose was revealed, the reality of the situation became even more miraculous.

At about 4:30 a.m., forty-five minutes after the whole series of disastrous events began, Mike pulled back into the driveway with his work van. A cold, wet, and muddy Dana met him as they walked into the basement (the house was built into a hill, so one end of the house actually had an  outside door, with three sides being predominantly underground). When Mike saw the wall and the crack that had tripled in size since the time he left, he exclaimed, “Get Julie out of the house NOW!” Dana sprinted up the stairs, picked Julie up, and got her out into Mike’s still-running van. Mike escaped right behind them.

Then it happened . . .
House 1996Within sixty seconds of getting out of the house, the entire fifty-two-foot span of foundation wall collapsed. A tidal wave of mud, rock, water, and various other objects came flooding into the basement. As Dana stood in the rain and watched his dreams cave in with the wall, he recalls thinking, “God, if the whole thing is coming down, just let me be in there when it does.”

Now, normally in such a situation, once one wall caves in, the house above it would, at the very least, sag several inches. This would create a chain-reaction of cracked drywall, broken tile, misaligned doorways, broken glass, and a host of other problems. However, since the far end wall had extreme amounts of pressure against it, was cracking, and had already lost one side support wall, once the end wall collapsed, the house would basically shift, and the whole thing would cave into the hole that had been the basement. “I was at my wits end. I was just waiting for the other shoe to drop,” Dana recalls.

It never did.

Julie later realized that although she thought the angels in her vision were there to keep the walls from collapsing, they were, in fact, holding the house up. God supernaturally showed her the angelic hosts who were there protecting them from what could have been catastrophic loss. The end wall, as damaged as it was and with as much pressure as it was bearing, never let go. The side of the house that was suddenly left with no support under it sagged less than three-eighths of an inch. There was virtually no damage to the inside of the house. “Unless you knew exactly where to look,” Dana stated, “there was no damage. In fact, all of the damage that was done was hairline fractures in drywall joints and a couple of bathroom tiles that have almost unnoticeable fractures in them. Basically, the kind of stuff that would have happened over time as the house settled anyway.”

Over the next several hours, as the cavalry of friends and workers arrived to help, the house was shored up, and the situation was downgraded from “life-threateningly dangerous” to “how many wheelbarrows full of mud can you remove from a basement?”

        Through the whole experience, and to this day, Dana is still amazed: “Through the whole day and through all of the chaos, Julie was the rock. I was exhausted and ready to throw in the towel, but God had given Julie the vision and had allowed her to see that the angels were there protecting us and supporting us. There was peace in her that, at the time, I  didn’t understand. I could only see in the natural the chain of events that happened and what the logical conclusion should have been. God showed Julie what the true reality of the situation was.”

       Just as Jacob had a dream of angels, so did Julie at Sea Level Studios, and their home still stands. ~ from the book Our Invisible Allies

       So, what are those unexplainable things that have happened in your life? What are those things that have happened that defied logic? Who knows? Maybe angels are closer than you think. Want to know more about angelic protection and the role of angels in our lives? Click here.

Categories
The Life of Faith

got favor?

Gas GaugeIn May of 2002, I was preaching a crusade in Nigeria. After about a week of wonderful meetings, it was time to once again climb aboard a plane and head back across the Atlantic. As we were about to leave, we were praying with our host pastor, Dr. Nick Ezeh, and rejoicing in what God had done in the meetings. After saying our goodbyes, we turned and walked into the terminal only to be confronted by these disturbing words on the flight schedule screen:

Flight #— to Lagos: CANCELLED

Now, in the U.S., this is not really a huge issue. When a flight is cancelled, most of the time, there is another flight within hours. However, since we were in Calabar, Nigeria, and not Cleveland, Ohio, this was not the case. If we missed our connection in Lagos, the next available flight was FOUR DAYS LATER!

At this point, our team shifted into overdrive, trying desperately to speak to someone who might have a solution to our dilemma. We quickly discovered that there was a flight to Lagos from another town called Port Harcourt. The flight was scheduled to leave in 3 hours and 45 minutes. Great, right? Except for one small problem…

Port Harcourt was 3½ hours away.

If we left immediately, we would have a fifteen minute margin of error. If we hit traffic, had any mechanical issues, or were in any other way delayed, chances were good that we would not make our connection, and would have to get comfortable for a four-day layover. Our team quickly gathered all of our gear, and got back into the vehicles for the long ride to Port Harcourt.

Now, one thing about Nigeria is that twice a year they shut down all of the oil refineries for a week or two for scheduled maintenance, thus creating shortages, rationing, and gas station shutdowns all over the country. It just so happened that that shutdown fell during our visit. The whole time we were there, we witnessed lines at gas stations that made the U.S. gas lines of the 1970’s look like the express line at Wal-Mart. About an hour into our drive, I glanced down at the gas gauge of our borrowed vehicle, and noticed that the needle was below empty. Our driver, a very nice Nigerian gentleman by the name of A.G. Bright didn’t seem too concerned. I leaned forward and asked him if the gauge was broken.

“No, my brother,” he answered, “but God will provide, for we prayed for mercy on this journey. Also, you and Dr. Ezeh are God’s men… He will surely see us through.”

It is difficult to admit this, but my faithless soul was not comforted. As we drove on, my mind was filled with visions of our stranded team, standing by our vehicles in the middle of the sweltering Nigerian jungle, or worse, being taken captive by rebels or robbers.

As my mind raced through the worst possible of scenarios, all of a sudden, I heard the sound of singing. Mr. Bright had started singing praises to God, and was quickly being joined by others in the vehicle. As the praises went up from our SUV, my faithless heart still continued to fret, expecting our engine to come to a grinding halt at any second. However, after another HOUR of unrelenting driving, we came to a crossroads, with a gas station that stood like an oasis at the intersection. As we pulled in, we questioned whether or not it was even open, since it was without the massive lines we had witnessed everywhere else. Upon discovering that it was open, we soon found out from the proprietor that the station had been closed for a week due to the fuel shortage, but that he had just received a shipment, and was actually re-opening his station AS WE PULLED UP!

A smiling A.G. Bright looked at me and said, “See, Pastor Phillips… God always takes care of His servants. You are in favor with God!”

Now here we are in 2013, and we face challenges like never before. Turmoil in our financial markets, uncertainty and unrest about the state of our nation politically, and chaos and disquiet in various hot-spots around the globe make it difficult to have faith. Yet having the favor of God is not dependent upon who is king, prime minister or president. The favor of God does not hinge on “bull markets” or diversified portfolios. The favor of God is not even affected by our immediate circumstances… our job, our family, or even our gas gauge. The favor of God is about His goodness and His faithfulness. We receive God’s favor, not because we are good, but because HE is good.

Driving down those dirty, pot-hole infested roads of Nigeria that day, Mr. Bright became a shining example of how we get ahold of that favor.

Mr. Bright prayed… He prayed a prayer that said, “God, here is what I am expecting, and no one will be more surprised than me if You don’t come through.” (Contrast this with the prayer that many of us pray: “God, here is my need, and I will be shocked if You actually answer me.”

Mr. Bright walked by faith… He put his proverbial “money where his mouth was”. He had no choice but to move forward by faith, and he did it with gusto, literally driving into the unknown with nothing but a belief that God is true to His word and to His children.

Mr. Bright worshipped… He didn’t sit there and fret about the gas gauge. He opened his mouth and declared God’s goodness and faithfulness in advance.

What a powerful lesson! I want to be like Mr. Bright. I want to be the one who walks in favor, stands in favor, and lives in favor! I want to be the one whose life is centered in His presence, and in the blessing that God gave Moses for the children of Israel…

“The Lord bless you
and keep you;

The Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;

The Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.

So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

(Numbers 6:24-27)

That is the kind of favor I want.

How about you?

Pastor Ron

Categories
New Year

Faith, Philippians, & Fleetwood Mac

Happy New Year!

As with each New Year, for most of us, this one probably started with watching the crystal ball drop in Times Square (we miss you, Dick Clark), a kiss from a loved one, and a string of well-intentioned New Year’s resolutions:

“I’m going to lose that elusive 40 lbs”.

“I’m going to finish that never ending remodeling project .”

“I’m going to quit smoking.”

The list can go on and on for most of us. A New Year is a time for new beginnings… a time at which we contemplate the person we would like to be – a thinner, kinder, healthier, more organized person. However, by the first couple of days into January, any failure to strictly adhere to our good intentions spells doom for the other 363 days. We begin to look at the big picture through the lens of our failure at keeping last year’s resolutions, and the spiral of defeat begins before the last of the spiral-sliced ham (and other Christmas leftovers) has found its way to the garbage can.

But hold on a second! Before you give up completely, and start looking for a yard stick and paper towels with which to construct the white flag of surrender, please allow me to throw a sound-bite of reason into your intellectual quagmire.

Fleetwood Mac.

Christine McVie of the band Fleetwood Mac put it this way…

If you wake up and don’t want to smile
If it takes just a little while
Open your eyes and look at the day
You’ll see things in a different way

Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow
Don’t stop… it’ll soon be here
It’ll be better than before
Yesterday’s gone, yesterday’s gone

Years ago, the news media was interviewing soldiers on the front line of Vietnam. It was the Christmas season and the reporter asked a question of a grisly, old Gunnery Sergeant.

“What gift would you like this season?”

The old soldier answered – “Tomorrow”.

Stop trying to bite off a mouthful that it is going to take 365 days to chew. Start with that one thing that this old soldier understood all too well…

Tomorrow.

In Philippians 3, the apostle Paul talked about how he approached the future…

Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do,
forgetting those things which are behind,
and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,
I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (v. 13-14)

Sounds like good advice to me. However, in spite of the blank page, uncharted waters, open doors, and genuine hope that 2013 offers us (which, incidentally, I am running with), many of you reading this right now have already resigned yourselves to defeat. Because of things such as personal problems, taxes and inflation, wars in the Middle East, and the uncertainty of the stock market, many of you have already decided that 2013 is going to be a bad year.

I, for one, haven’t. But let’s go with this line of thinking for a moment…

If you are bound and determined that this is going to be a bad year, here are several ways to guarantee that outcome:

Keep your eyes on the rear-view mirror.

John Maxwell says that there are four bridges that we all must burn if we want to have a better life.

  1. Wrongs done to us. Successful people let the past go. Ignore the little stuff… forgive the big stuff.
  2. The unfairness of life. Determine that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, you are NEVER going to live with a victim mentality.
  3. Bad habits. Break unhealthy patterns from the past.
  4. Our own stupidity. Become intimately acquainted with the phrase, “I was wrong”.

There is a story told of an old black man, age 85, down South, sitting on his porch one summer evening, slowly rocking in his rocking chair, with his pipe, blowing circles into the motionless air. A young hyperactive salesman approaches him and shouts from the sidewalk:

“Grandpa, I got a book for you here that will help you remember everything from your whole life. It costs only five dollars.”

The old man sat there in silence, reflecting, not saying a word as he rocked, and finally, after what seemed like an eternity, said:

“Sonny, I’ll give you a thousand dollars for the book that can help me to forget.”

A really great way to sabotage your year: Don’t pray – Worry instead.

In Matthew 6, Jesus says ten times, “Don’t worry”. The Apostle Paul encourages us:

“Don’t worry about anything, but pray about everything” (Philippians 4:6-7).

     So why do we? Why do we worry about tomorrow when it can do nothing but destroy our today? Dr. Charles Mayo of the Mayo Clinic said, “Worry affects the circulation, the heart, the glands and the whole nervous system. I’ve never known a man who died from overwork, but many who died from stress.”

Someone once said that, “Today is the tomorrow we worried about yesterday.” So what did all of that worrying gain you? What was it about today that had you so in knots yesterday? Was it really worth it, or do you think that a little less worrying and a little more praying might have given you, if nothing else, a little more peace of mind?

Remember: Nothing kills a good year like having a bad attitude.

“If you don’t think every day is a good day, try missing one.” ~ Cavet Robert

So, you walk into a room, and the very first person that speaks to you begins by sneezing in your face.

That is exactly what a bad attitude is like. It is a virus of ill-will that is spread every time you open your mouth. Just like passing a cold, a bad attitude has the potential to infect all of those it comes into contact with.

Life is full of things over which we have no control… where we were born, who our relatives are, what we look like, any physical limitations. The one thing in our life that we have TOTAL control over is our attitude. People cannot make you have a bad attitude. Your job cannot make you have a bad attitude. Your church or pastor cannot make you have a bad attitude.

Attitude is ALL up to you.

       “A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.” ~ Herm Albright, Reader’s Digest (June, 1995)

     But if you are determined to have a bad attitude, then by all means…

  1. Be a fault-finder. Go out of your way to find fault with everything and everyone God puts into your path. Family, co-workers, church leadership… make no one exempt. For the true fault-finder, there are always plenty of targets. However, anyone who wants to be like Jesus will find potential, not pessimism. They will focus on the positive, not the negative.
  2. Kill your passion. You were created for greatness, but if you have your heart set on killing your God-given passion, it can be done. If you never question why you were created, avoid people with passion at all cost, or just shift the transmission of your creativity into neutral, that’s a good beginning to the end of passion. However, if you have a dream you can’t stop talking about, or a vision that excites you, it could be that God is trying to tell you something. As Nelson Mendela once said, “There is no passion to be found in playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living”.
  3. Blame others for your situation. This is the one that permeates society. There is never a shortage of people or circumstances to blame for our misfortunes. If your business fails, blame your downline. If you don’t like your looks, blame your parents. If your kids are a mess, blame the church for not raising them right. If you get a speeding ticket, blame the policeman for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. However, if you want to break the cycle that has made us a nation of “victims, crybabies, and fault-finders”, take responsibility for your life. If something is not working, be willing to change.

     “The greatest of faults, I should say, is to be conscious of none.” ~ Thomas Carlyle

Good intentions won’t carry the day (or year) if you don’t finish what you start.

Success in anything starts with a determination to finish what you started. No runner ever won a race by lying down on the track 20 feet shy of the finish line. Don’t let mediocrity weaken you… set goals, make a plan, then work the plan.

                  Write them down.
                  Embrace them by faith.
                  Give it your all.
                  Do not be afraid.

If you make your plans for “someday”, just remember this… Someday never comes.

START TODAY!

A promising year will end in a big pile of nothing if you have all of the answers, and never listen to others.

It is what you learn after you know it all that really matters. No one knows less than the “know-it-all”. Be teachable… be humble.

Live out your year with an attitude of defeat… Never take the risk of faith.

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” ~ Paul (2 Timothy 1:7)

“Greatness, in the last analysis, is largely bravery. Courage in escaping from old ideas and old standards and respectable ways of doing things.” ~ James Harvey Robinson

Taking the risk of faith begins quite simple, requiring just three things… power, love, and a sound mind.

Hopefully, in the process of reading this New Year’s blog, you’ve changed your mind, and have made the decision to make this the best year ever. The future is full of promise, and tomorrow is (as Annie sang) “only a day away”. Using Philippians 3:12 -16 as a model, we can have a simple formula for not just a great year, but a great life as well…

Stay Hungry – “not as though I had attained”
Stay Focused – “This one thing I do…”
Stay on Course – “… forgetting… reaching…”
Stay Determined – “I press”
Stay Disciplined – “toward the goal”
Stay Open – “God will reveal…”
Stay Together – “be of the same mind”

So have a great year, my friend, and may faith and the favor of God find you wherever you are.

Pastor Ron