Fathers and Mentors 2021 Party….

Intentionally Establishing More Biblical Fathers & Mentor Today

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‘Respectfully admitting to our youth, we need you, because there is no future without you and without vision’

A Good Word For You Today….My HOPE

‘When you put hope in the wrong things, we set ourselves up for disappointment’

Why do I sing and acknowledge the birth of Jesus who is my present and future hope?

I am glad you ask bro!

I remember the old hymn that I was taught and have found to be true today, it goes like this:

My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness  My hope is built on nothing less  Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness  My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness

My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness I dare not trust the sweetest frame But wholly lean on Jesus’ name

This HOPE came many years ago and was told about before he got here.  Some call him Jesus and some call him Immanuel (God with us).  Here are some facts I found.

  • Immanuel brings salvation from sin.  What does salvation mean?  In the Hebrew language it signifies freedom from what binds or restricts and thus effects deliverance.  In the Greek New Testament it means to provide recovery, to rescue, to effect one’s welfare.

In other words MY HOPE  transforms a soul from the grips of eternal and present doom

Psalm. 3:8-Salvation belongs to the Lord; Thy blessing be upon Thy people! Selah.

Matthew 1:21..He shall save His people from their sins

  • Immanuel comes to reunite all nations with joy.  E.g. Germans, Americans, Africans, South Americans, ALL PEOPLE!  Hosea 11:1

God established diversity in the church and demonstrated that Salvation was opened to all of mankind without favoritism and racial divide as told to us by Luke a disciple of Jesus

Acts 13: 1-2..Now there were in the church that was at Antioch Certain prophets and teachers.

  • Simeon that was called Niger.—The name indicates the complexion of Africa; but nothing more is known of him. The epithet was given to him, probably, to distinguish him from the many others of the same name, possibly, in particular, from Simon of Cyrene. (Acts 11:20.)
  • Lucius of Cyrene.—Probably one of the company of “men of Cyprus and Cyrene” (Acts 11:20) who had been among the first evangelists of Antioch. On the ground that Cyrene was famous for its School of Medicine, and was an ancient Greekcity on the North African coast near present-day Shahhat, a town located in north-eastern Libya. 
  • Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch –Manaen had been raised in royalty with Herod. So we see a man who had been educated by the high courts of the Roman government and was a close friend of Herod the tetrarch (Herod the tetrarch had the title of king (Matthew 14:9).
  • And Saul — later be known by his Roman name, Paul, but he is first introduced in Acts by his Jewish name, Saul.  Paul, the “Apostle of the Gentiles,” was born in Tarsus, capital city of the Roman province of Cilicia, in southeast Asia Minor. A strict Pharisee who was educated at the feet of Gamaliel, we first find him in Jerusalem, where he was present at and consented to the death of the Christian martyr Stephen.

I thank God for a gospel that is open to all men and NOT exclusive to any human being!

A Good Word For You Today…A Word To The Wise

The young Father sat from across the table and said these words to his children before they left for school….This was not the first time but just a reminder to all of his children that day…..

  

And REMEMBER there are five things that you cannot recover in life:

 (1) The Stone……….after it’s thrown,

 

(2) The Word………..after it’s said,

 

(3) The Occasion…..after it’s missed,

 

(4) The Time…………after it’s gone, and

 

(5) A Person…………after they die.

A Good Word For You Today….Ladies did you know????

 

A man will entertain coming to church because you invite him to come HOWEVER….

 

MEN ONLY CHANGE BECAUSE THEY ARE IN RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER MEN

 

MEN RESPOND TO PERSONAL INVITATIONS FROM OTHER MEN, SO MEN GO AND GET THEM!

Oops…Let me give you scripture for what I just said that I found in my Bible.  The book that cannot lie.

It’s better to have a partner than go it alone.  Share the work, share the wealth.  And if one falls down, the other helps, But if there’s no one to help, tough!  11 Two in a bed warm each other.  Alone, you shiver all night.  12 By yourself you’re unprotected.  With a friend you can face the worst.  Can you round up a third?  A three-stranded rope isn’t easily snapped. [ECCLESIASTES 4:9-12 MSG Translation]

or

Two are better off than one, because together they can work more effectively. 10 If one of them falls down, the other can help him up. But if someone is alone and falls, it’s just too bad, because there is no one to help him. 11 If it is cold, two can sleep together and stay warm, but how can you keep warm by yourself 12 Two people can resist an attack that would defeat one person alone. A rope made of three cords is hard to break. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 Good News Translation]

I am not trying to become a man.  All I am doing daily is discovering intentionally the manhood God (HIS IMAGE) has given me in Christ that is on the inside of me since I have accepted his son Jesus not only as my Savior but MY LORD as well–Travious

 

A Good Word For You Today….Do You Practice What You Say You Believe??

According to Paul Trip, “The enemy of your soul will happily allow you to have correct doctrine, if, in your practical daily life, he can control the thoughts and motives of your heart, and in so doing, control the way you act, react, and respond.”

These historical accounts have been retained for us by the God of grace because they are about people just like us, and God does not want us to fall into the same traps they did.  Read what happened in the early church and what the Apostle Paul did about it.

 

Later, when Peter came to Antioch, I had a face-to-face confrontation with him because he was clearly out of line. Here’s the situation. Earlier, before certain persons had come from James, Peter regularly ate with the non-Jews. But when that conservative group came from Jerusalem, he cautiously pulled back and put as much distance as he could manage between himself and his non-Jewish friends. That’s how fearful he was of the conservative Jewish clique that’s been pushing the old system of circumcision. Unfortunately, the rest of the Jews in the Antioch church joined in that hypocrisy so that even Barnabas was swept along in the charade.

14 But when I saw that they were not maintaining a steady, straight course according to the Message, I spoke up to Peter in front of them all: “If you, a Jew, live like a non-Jew when you’re not being observed by the watchdogs from Jerusalem, what right do you have to require non-Jews to conform to Jewish customs just to make a favorable impression on your old Jerusalem buddies?”

(Galatians 2:11–14) Message Translation

 

We know from Acts 10 that God had made it clear to Peter that Gentiles were included in his plan of redemption, and they were not to be excluded in any way or treated as second-class citizens.  But Peter, who had been in open fellowship with the Gentiles, withdrew from them when a Jewish circumcision group showed up. In so doing, he acted in direct contradiction to the gospel doctrines he had been taught and had professed to believe.

It is important to note that what happened here was not the result of Peter changing his doctrinal position. The problem was not first theological; it was moral. Fear of man was a more powerful motivator in Peter’s heart than what God had taught him was right and true.

Where in our hearts is there a war of allegiance between what the doctrines of Scripture call us to and what we want for ourselves? Are there places where we have become comfortable with a dichotomy between what we say we believe and how we live?  We must always shine the light of the doctrines of Scripture on the thoughts, desires, motivations, and cravings of our hearts.

 

 

For more understanding on this read:  Do You Believe?: 12 Historic Doctrines to Change Your Everyday Life.

A Good Word For You Today…Money, Money and More Money

 

 

Without the Gospel, I am only projecting behavioral modification. Changes of the heart must trump mere change of behavior. So, the goodness of God through the gospel must trump all other thinking in me and in every area of my life.

As a father or a mentor of someone I must learn to think from a biblical perspective for my life?  How?  By studying and searching for Kingdom principles with help of the Holy Spirit within as HE confirms the Word as it speaks to us.   It is God’s desire that his living Word impacts every area of your life to show off his glory and the proof of a living savior called Jesus Christ. 

The Holy Spirit is waiting to help guide us but He will never do the work of walking out the gospel in our lives through us, that is only done by living daily by Faith and not by the circumstances around us. According to John 14: 16…Jesus told his disciples before he left this earth…’I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, who will stay with you forever’

Illustration:  Manuel found himself in a bad position at work.  He was asked to lie on his accounting statement regarding the numbers that were spent working on a job that his company did for a billionaire.  What made it more challenging is that the person who asked him to lie was his boss. Manuel was a believer and he did not feel right about what he was asked to do.  He knew that this act could cause him his career, job and set him up for public shame if the truth ever got out.

What was he to do?

Manuel recalled the sermon from Sunday morning regarding ‘Integrity’ and that God is always there for us.  He recalled the story of how Daniel prayed when he was set up by people whom he worked with and was sentenced to death by being thrown into the Lion’s den to be devoured.  He also remembered reading how this same man Daniel was put in a position to compromise his faith when asked to eat foods sacrificed to pagan idols.  Manuel decided to fast the evening meal and pray and ask God for a strategy.  He knew that anything that he felt to do that was sin according to the Bible was not from God but from the enemy of his mind, the devil.

After he prayed he did not sense God giving him a solution to his problem.  He went to bed and before he closed his eyes he said, ‘Lord I am giving this matter to you because you will be up all night, I am going to sleep.’  When he arrived at work the next day he was surprised at the new he was told.  The company’s accounting department was conducting an impromptu audit of all financial records.  This not only exposed the fact that Manuel had been keeping excellent records he was placed in a position of not compromising his integrity.  His boss was brought into question because it was found that there had been past transactions that showed a story of fraudulent practices.  When his boss could not justify the records that he was in charge of he was removed from his position.

Manuel was relieved and later promoted to a senior position, however he declined the position to negotiate a position that placed him as a mentor to other accountants.  He used this platform to teach and show integrity in business and he used the opportunity as it allowed to share his example of trusting God with those who felt that God and work did not apply to one another.

Meaning:  As I continue to include the principles of the kingdom of God in every aspect of my life by studying the scriptures, the Holy Spirit will give me direction from within for every situation.  We have to search for passages, verses and stories in the Word where God showed himself strong and ask the Holy Spirit, ‘what are you teaching me through this passage for my life today’.  Taking notes and writing down in our journal what he speaks to us specifically for that day.

Reference Scriptures he used:

 –-trust in the lord with all your heart lean not on your own understanding

–Proverbs 6:16-19, NIV There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness (dishonest person) who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.

–Proverbs 20:17,  Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth will be full of gravel.

A Good Word For You Today….Truth not lived is truth not believed

 

By the power of HIS illuminating and enabling grace by the power of the Holy Spirit, may God expose as I close gaps between my mouth and the life I live every day in front of people and behind closed doors.

May my life not reflect the man who found grace with God before he died but he did not control his passions for the opposite sex and violating the vow that was on his life.  Who is this man you ask?

 

SAMSON

 

By closing the gap giving the enemy less opportunity to do his evil work.

 

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