Monday, September 28, 2009

Be an Encourager: You are Fearfully and Wonderfully Made!

Be An Encourager is a group that I contribute to on Facebook that was created by some friends of mine from college. It follows the instruction of Hebrews 3:13: "Encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called ‘Today,’ so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin”.

Be Encouraged! You are Fearfully and Wonderfully Made!

Psalms 139:14: “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well”(NKJV).

Do you know that you are fearfully and wonderfully made by God? What does that mean? God made you fearfully in His image. Fearfully made means that God was careful with you when He made you in His image. He was careful with you because He wanted you to be a beautiful representation of Himself. God also made you wonderfully. Wonderfully means that you are a one of a kind, unique specimen. You are a work of art! There is no reason that you should ever feel inadequate because you can rest assured that you have been created exactly the way that God needed you to be made.

Why is that important? There is not another person in the world that can do what you can do. You bring a different set of characteristics and gifts to every situation. You don’t have the same attributes that your friends and colleagues have. And they don’t have the same gifts that you have. The beautiful part about this is that when you combine your gifts to the gifts of others; the entire body is enriched by the sum total of all people involved. If everyone was the same, the body would never look at things from a different point of view. Thus, the body would never stretch and grow. The body of Christ is stretching and growing because you are stretching and growing!

As you become more comfortable with the fact that you are fearfully and wonderfully made; you can see the value in yourself as a child of God. As you begin to appreciate the value in yourself, you can better appreciate the value in others. As you appreciate the value in others, you can use your uniqueness and their uniqueness to reach new people that need to be reached. That means that you can continue to help others grow in God as you are growing in God. So be encouraged and be excited! You are fearfully and wonderfully made! You are a perfect creation in the Lord!


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Friday, September 25, 2009

The Importance of Showing Your Scars

If this post looks familiar, it's because I wrote it when I first began the blog. I deleted it by accident while I was doing some blog-maintenance and could not place it in it's original location. Maybe someone needed to see it again.

In the movie "Jaws" there was a scene where three of the characters were sitting in the bottom of a boat, drinking beer and talking. The characters were Quint, Brody, and Hooper. Quint and Hooper had been fighting with each other throughout the movie because Quint thought Hooper was too soft, and Hooper thought Quint was a pain in the... back. Well, in this particular scene, the two men began to bond with each other by showing their various scars and sharing the shark stories behind them. One of them would show a scar on the leg and the other would show a similar scar on his leg. One of them had a scar on his hip, the other showed a scar on his head. You get the point. The quincher was when Hooper opened his shirt and pointed to a spot over his heart. "Mary Ellen Moffit," he slowly murmurs. "She broke my heart!"

There is something that I will always remember from that scene. Here were two people who really didn't like each other discovering that they had more in common that they originally believed. Sharing their scars with each other allowed them to relate to each other; thus causing their attitudes to change.

How can we as Christians show our scars? II Corinthians 1:3-7 states: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort. (niv)

In II Corinthians , Paul was saying that we go through the trials of life so that we can help our brothers and sisters when they go through the same things. Have you ever been going through a tough stage in life, only to have someone you didn't expect to see tell you that you could make it because they had gone through the same thing? I recently shared a hardship with one of the members of my church. They smiled at me and let me know that they had gone through the same thing. They then told me to hang in there and know that God would bring me through it. And as I made my way through the hardship, I was encouraged by her testimony and felt better about my situation. She had shared her scar with me.

By definition, a scar results from the biologic process of wound repair in the skin and other tissues of the body. Thus, scarring is a natural part of the healing process. If that sounds really intelligent, it's because I got it from Wikipedia! Your scars remind you of the events that caused them. But more importantly, they remind you that you survived the event. By showing our scars to other believers, we let them know that we survived the trials and events of our lives. That will encourage others to keep trying, and keep healing. Who can you think of right now that would be encouraged by your testimony? Don't be afraid. You have your scars for a reason.

Peace and Love

Rev. Mike

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Altered Minds Fall Concert Tour

Reach Records artists Lecrae, Sho Baraka, and Tedashii are teaming up with a couple of groups that are new to me(After Edmund and Mikeschair) for a fall concert tour.
They have several dates in my home state of Texas and I look forward to seeing the show. And since I am not familiar with After Edmund and Mikeschair, I put up a video for each of them for you to check out.


video credit by: awesomeallyson6692



video credit by: NxtPh3n0m





Here's a link to the Tour's concert dates.



Also check out the Reach Records Link Under my "Favorite Blogs" list on the right side of the blog.

Peace and Love,



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Thursday, September 24, 2009

Books You Have to Read

I have a couple of books that I am going through right now. The first one was recommended to me by my father in law. I'm about four chapters into it. The second book is part of the curriculum in an Evangelism class that I am taking at a local church. Click on the book titles for more information. I would recommend both books because they will help us in defining what makes us Christians and the examples that we should be as leaders in our homes and our churches.



Here is the synopsis of the first. It's called "The Character of Leadership":

Seminary president Jeff Iorg believes that character, and character development, are essential foundations for effective leaders. In The Character of Leadership, he writes about how God ever shapes character in the life of every leader, and in relation, how continual spiritual formation is a process to which every good leader must pay close attention.

Iorg puts insightful chapter-long emphasis on nine important character-shaping qualities that help readers in “becoming the leader God intends me to be rather than doing the leading God intends me to do.” The nine qualities are: Integrity, Security, Purity, Humility, Servanthood, Wisdom, Discipline, Courage, and Passion.



The second book is called, "What Christians Believe". It is produced by Moody Press. This is an important answer book for everyone, from seeker to long-time believer. It is essential for Christians because it systematically covers the fundamentals of Bible doctrine and Christian living.

What are you guys reading? Shoot me a title and I'll try to check them out.

Peace and Love,





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Perfect From Imperfect? I Don't Think So

We have always been taught that all men were born sinners and that all men have sinned. And we are taught that Jesus was born as a human baby to Mary and Joseph. But we have also been taught that Jesus was the only man to live a sinless life. Although I have always believed this fact, I had a hard time putting it into words if I had to explain it to someone. I mean, how can that be correct? If Jesus was born to Mary and Joseph (born of man), and man is always born a sinner, how can Jesus be born of man and not be a sinner at birth? Did God do something to keep Jesus from being a sinner? The answer is a resounding yes!

You see, way back in the Garden of Eden, God told Adam that he could eat from any tree except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And of course we know how that turned out. The serpent talked Adam’s wife, Eve into eating the fruit of the tree and she gave the fruit to Adam to eat. It was when Adam ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that sin entered the world. It did not matter that Eve ate the fruit. God specifically told Adam not to eat of the fruit. That is important to remember. When Adam ate of the fruit, sin entered into the world. At that point, Adam became infected with what I would like to call a “sin gene.” A gene is “a hereditary unit consisting of a sequence of DNA that occupies a specific location on a chromosome and determines a particular characteristic in an organism.” That means that a certain characteristic that is inside of an organism can be passed onto another organism. These genes can be passed on from a parent to their child. Some examples of this are character traits like eye-color, baldness or sickle cell anemia. Because Adam was the one that possessed the sin gene, he passed it onto Cain and Able (his sons). And because babies are born from the result of a man and woman, the gene is passed from the parent to the child(male or female) in every situation; resulting in all children being born sinners. So I get back to my original question. How can Jesus be born as a human and not be born a sinner? And how can someone who is born a sinner from the start be perfect? The answer is in the fact that God did do something to keep Jesus from being born a sinner.

Remember that Mary was a virgin when she became pregnant with Jesus. She had never had sex with a man therefore the “sin gene” that all men carry was not passed onto her unborn son, Jesus. Because Jesus was born directly from the Holy Spirit, He avoided being infected with the sin gene because Mary herself could not pass it to Him. Thus, it was possible for him to be born as a human baby, with a Heavenly Father, a virgin mother, and a pure and sinless body. Why is this an important point? The Bible tells us that the wages of sin equals death and the only way to pay for sin is through a blood sacrifice. The sin sacrifice in the Old Testament was typically an unblemished lamb that did not have any flaws. Because Jesus had to die as a sin sacrifice for us, He needed to be pure and unblemished. God had to follow His own laws to the letter. Because sin entered into the world, God needed a way for sin to be defeated in the world. And that way was through the perfect death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Peace and Love,

Rev. Mike


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Christian Rapper of the Week: Thi'sl




The name is pronounced like whistle, but with a "th". His new album is titled "Chronicles of an X-Hustler". I have the entire album. It is extremely intense but it gives a true depiction of how God can save you from a life in the streets. It is definately worth checking out.

Peace and Love,




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Wednesday, September 23, 2009

What is the Unpardonable Sin?

picture credit by chadman0420

Check out this link. There are a lot of people who debate whether certain sins can or cannot be forgiven by God. This article by James K. Bridges does a pretty good job of addressing the issue.

By the way, I'm sorry that I've been away for a while. There have been a lot of episodes of life happening lately. Please pray for me and my family.

Peace and Love,




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Ready! Fire! Aim!

Does anything seem odd about the title above? When you watch those old movies with the firing squads they always ways have the solders line up and get ready to shoot the condemned guy with the blindfold over his eyes. The commander in charge of the firing squad will call out, “Ready…Aim…Fire! And the firing squad would get ready, take aim, and fire in unison. What do you think would happen if the squad fired their weapons before they took aim? They would probably not hit the intended target. Not only that, but they might even shoot something that they did not intend to shoot.

Sometimes, we do the same thing in our lives. And that is very similar to what Moses did in his early life. There was something inside Moses that made him know that he was responsible for the welfare of the children of Israel; but he initially went about it in the wrong way. In Exodus 2:11-25, the story is told of Moses killing an Egyptian and then being chastised by one of his own people about the incident. Verse 13 states that the Israelite asked him, "Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?" Moses did eventually become responsible for all of the Israelites and it was because of him and his brother Aaron that the Israelites were freed from Egypt. And it was Moses that led the people to the Promised Land. This was God’s plan for Moses. I want to repeat that Moses knew that he had a purpose. But because that purpose was not completely revealed at that time, he went about it the wrong way and made a mistake. And because of that mistake, he ended up running away from the very people that he was trying to protect.

How are you like Moses in your life? Have you made any mistakes? Did you think about that mistake and say to yourself that you could have avoided some pains if you had just waited a little while longer before taking a particular action? Did you go Ready…Fire…Aim? And then did you look at the damage and realized that you should have aimed first? Don’t worry if you did. I have done the same thing as well. There are some things that I wish I would have thought out a little bit more before I committed to a particular action. But here’s the good news. Even though Moses made a mistake early in his life, he was still able to go ahead and be the man that God destined him to be. You and I can still be the men and women that God has destined us to be. All we have to do is listen for his voice and be obedient. After Moses had been out in the desert for a time, he met God in the form of the burning bush. It was at that moment that Moses was RE-AIMED into the correct direction. We have an opportunity to be re-aimed in the direction that God wants us to go. All we have to do is listen to God when He speaks to us and allow Him to direct our path. We too can be pointed in the right direction. God has a destiny for all of us. Just remember to be patient and allow Him to aim us.

Peace and Love,

Rev. Mike



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Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Christian Rapper of the Week: Phanatik


video credit: TruSouljah712

Phanatik is one of the founding members of The Cross Movement rap group. The Cross Movement ministry and rap group are widely credited with starting and promoting the Christian Rap movement.

Who are you guys listening to? Let me know (even if it's not Christian rap). I might post a video of them.

Peace and Love,

Rev. Mike





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Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Daily Reminder of Death

I work at a car dealership that is located just off of a busy highway in San Antonio known as Loop 410. Less than ten miles away from our dealership is Fort Sam Army base. So we usually see a lot of traffic coming off the highway and along the access road. Most of the traffic consists of your typical crazy road rage driver. But at least once every two days we also see a funeral procession go by. It’s easy to tell when it’s a funeral. You usually see the motorcycle police flying down the ramp with their lights on and they park in the middle lane of the access road so that all traffic has to stop. The next thing that you see is the hearse, followed by one or two limousines containing the family. After that, you see the line of cars that make up the funeral procession. But you have to look carefully to tell which cars are in the procession and which cars are simply traffic coming off of the highway. The easiest way to tell is that the funeral procession cars are typically the ones with their hazard lights on. This is so each car can tell which cars are going to the grave site and which cars are not. It’s not like Ruston, Louisiana where I’m from. Back home, it’s easy to tell which cars are in the funeral because the other cars pull over to the side of the road when a funeral procession goes by.

Whenever I see the procession go by, I always look to see if I can see the people in the cars. Most of the time the traffic is moving slow enough that I can see the expressions on their faces. The drivers are typically leaning forward and focused on the task at hand. The passengers are either helping the driver navigate, or are staring blankly out of the window. And those are the people that I find the most intriguing. I wonder what’s going on in their minds. I have attended many funerals in my life and I know the things that go through my mind during those drives to the grave site. I typically think about the person occupying the hearse, I think about their life, and the things that have been said about them throughout the day. I also think about the day that people will come to my funeral and the things that they will say about me. I know that sounds a little morbid but it’s the truth.

On one occasion, my friend K. and I were outside watching the latest procession go by and he made an interesting observation. I was telling him about people that I knew who were relatively young, but facing some pretty tough odds concerning sickness. I also told him about a twenty-nine year old minister that had recently died of prostate cancer. He was living the life that God desired of him (as far as we all knew) and then just like that…he was gone. I was thinking about that and saying that life was just not fair sometimes. And K. looked at me and said something that I had not thought about before. He said that we get so caught up in thinking that life is the top of the mountain when it is not. The top of the mountain is actually being able to see God’s face. We spend so much time investing in our lives here on earth that we sometimes forget that this is just a temporary mode of travel, not the final destination. Heaven is the final destination. This life on earth is simply the road that we must travel to get there. The important thing to focus on while we are living is to make sure that we do the things that we need to do in order to get to Heaven. And that is making sure that Jesus is the head of our lives.

To be sure, I don’t want to see God face to face just yet. But I don’t want to get so caught up in holding onto life that I forget that my life is only important in regards to what I am doing for the Kingdom. My job is to make sure that Mike is going to Heaven; then to make sure that my wife and son are being led in the same direction that I am. Finally, I am supposed to make sure that as many people as possible are led to receive Jesus in their lives as well. And that helps to put my focus back in balance. So remember what is most important in life. To be saved, and to make sure others know Jesus for themselves. I hope that this little story will help you to appreciate life fully for what it is. Life is our opportunity to get closer and closer to God until we can see Him face to face.

Peace and Love,

Rev. Mike



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