My wife and I like to try different restaurant. I should say occasionally. For the most part, we like to go restaurants that we have been to before. Because we can relax and enjoy a meal that is familiar to us. Now, my wife has been in most retail stores in our city. She likes to shop and will go hunting for hours. And usually buy the first item she saw and liked. But it also is about being familiar with the stores to find what she needs. Being familiar with something is a character trait. We want what makes us comfortable. The strange or unusual we will tolerant, sometimes. This applies to most everything in our lives. We are adaptable, but like a habit it takes 30 days to make or break one. It is easier to go with the familiar than the strange. God doesn’t always do anything the same way. But He does start us off with familiarity. Even the most ardent heathen knows if desperate times, God is the one person go to for help. And He also sends friends or family to talk to us about the Lord. God knows that we will respond to familiarity better than the unknown. God took me from my comfort zone to the living in the unknown, so that I could be effective in His kingdom. But even in the unknown, I have God with me every step of the way. So, you see that I still walk in the familiar all the way back to heaven.

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How can you tell who or what a person is? You look at a person and will judge them by what you see. Many people you won’t even talk to them because they look bad or smell. It is funny, I like to laugh a lot and some people don’t like that. I have been surprised many times by people who don’t even look like anything. Being a good judge of character is an important asset for us. We need to be able to tell whether or not they have the right stuff. I also have been surprised by people who I thought were good and weren’t. There are tricks to the trade. If you talk to people, listen. Listening is one of the best way to hear the truth from anyone. Even if a person is trying to deceive you, if you let them talk, you will hear the truth. Learning how to tell who is truthful or not is important. In the Old Testament, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon was ruthless man. He conquered the middle East and had evert god from every country in his capital. Yet God called him a servant. It was because Nebuchadnezzar served God and recognized Him as the God above all gods. Jesus said that you will know a person by their actions. What they do is as important as what they say. Because out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.

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I was at a restaurant, when a little girl came running by calling for her grandmother. She was calling for her because she said, someone was trying to get her. Her mother was following the little girl. When they finished eating, the little girl was calling her grandmother to make sure she was coming with them. It was obvious that the little girl loved and felt secure with her grandmother. We all remember that time in our life when we were safe and secure and loved. So, what happened? We all grew up and found that were on our own. And that security, we had as a child seemed to vanish in the morning mist. And the real love we had also seemed to vanish. Being secure and secure in love are a large part of our lives. We search for this all of our lives. Some people seem to find this easier than others. It seems that what this world offers is only conditional love and security. It is where you do this and I’ll do that. It is temporary and not worth much. But I was fortunate, that some friends lead me to real love and security. It took a while for me to understand the difference. But when I did, I found my way back to God. Then, I finally realized that God had loved me unconditionally from the beginning of time. And He offered me the security of heaven and the angels. You know what is funny, all you have to do is to ask God. You see it is for every human being.

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People don’t start out afraid of things. Fear creeps in after experiencing trauma. We have a built-in response called fright and flight. It is there to keep us safe in any situation. That response can trigger a greater amount of fear. Learning to control this response is an on-going task for us. And overcoming this response seems to be a very hard task. Lately, people in this country have found their lives to be uncertain. This is due to the loss of jobs, money, stability and trust in our country. The last political/presidential group promised the world and delivered nothing. They blamed the group before them for all the problems and created more trouble than it was worth. All of this began to destabilize this country. But I really think that was the plan all along. And I am not talking about the best laid plans of mice and men. I really believe this was God’s plan all along. It was about putting fear in the heart of man so he would listen. If you haven’t noticed, for the past 16 years, there has been disaster after disaster. They are growing in intensity. And most people just shrug them off as part of life. Let me tell you a story of courage. On the third day after Jesus was crucified, Mary Magdelan and Jesus’ mother went to the tomb to finish burying Jesus. They had to bury Him in a hurry before Passover started. The Religious leaders were still looking for the followers of Jesus and the tomb was guarded by the Romans. But they were going to give Jesus a proper burial. They didn’t care what anyone said or did. They were going to do what was right even if it cost them their lives. They weren’t afraid of doing right.

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I was not always willing to do things that were different. In some ways I still am not willing. I was afraid of getting out there on my own and failing. I always saw the possibility of things that could done and I was genuinely interested. What would happen more often than not, people would challenge me. Then I would do it on a dare. I tell you the truth that is the hard way to do things. I had a job by the time I was 13 years old. I kept it all through high school. I worked 6 days a week. In college, I carried 12 hours a semester and worked 40 hours a week. I was doing fine until the fraternity and girls get in the way. That is when it all went sideways. I became somewhat willing to go on an adventure. When I got out of the Air Force, I traveled the country. I wanted to see America. I did for almost a year. But things have a way of catching up to you. I came home to straighten out my life. Everybody was trying to help, but nothing seemed to work. I started praying asking God for help. He sent 2 men to invite me to join their business. I would listen to these men talking about their life in Christ. It interested me and I listened. After about 3 months of listening, I knew that I had to do something. One of the men invited me to his church. I went. It was strange to me. I just listen and look at all the people. The preacher stopped in the middle of his sermon and said hello, anybody out there. I didn’t know then but that was God talking to me. I turned to the pastor and I heard, what more do you want? I knew that I was at the right place and the right time. And that is how it has been. God talks to me and I listen. He said, if you are willing, I will do the rest. And so I have been willing to do what God says all my life.

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We are made up of three parts: body, soul and spirit. Our physical body is made from the dust of the earth. Our spirit is born of God. This is where we are the image and likeness of God. Then we have a soul, which is the life of God that brought together our body and spirit. With these three parts, we become a whole human being. Our body is made from the cursed earth and fights against God. Our spirit is our mind, will and intellect. It is immortal and looks like God. For us to become like God, we have to have faith, trusting and believing God. This is the only way for our spirit man to control our physical body. Faith has to be real to be effective. God gives each of us gifts. These gifts are part of our lives, whether or not we serve God. There are people in the church that look, talk and walk like Christians. They can quote the bible and do many good works in the church. But there is no faith. God calls them wolves in sheep’s clothing. They have no faith in God. Jesus talked to the disciples about this very problem. He said that many will come and say, Lord, Lord. Jesus will reply and say, depart from Me, for I never knew you. This is about belief and unbelief. You can only believe with your spirit or heart. It is time to check your heart for belief. Because once you die, it is all over but the crying. If you don’t believe on this side, you won’t make it into heaven. Faith in God is where you start and it can take you home. Believe and trust God with your life.

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There was a religious leader who came at night to see Jesus. He came at night so no one would see him. All thought, this man understood and knew that Jesus was real and spoke the truth, he didn’t want other people to know that he understood. This is such an indictment against man-kind. Knowing and understanding and not choosing the right way because other people might see also. Several thousands of years ago, God wrote His laws and commandments in the heart of man. He did it so man would understand and have an easier time following God. God made it convenient for man to do the right thing. But man, has refused to follow. It is unfortunate because God has so much to give man. Most of man-kind will not make it into heaven, because of his own choices. It isn’t easy, but it is always simple. Did you know that even disasters will not bring people to Jesus? It has to be a choice that each person must make. This choice has to be made each day of your life. God said in His word, that salvation isn’t in making the decision. It is in living the life until the end of our lives. Just as the wind blows from here to there, so we understand God’s plan and purpose for our lives. Make the choice each day of your life. And you will see and receive the reward God has planned in our lives.

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Everything has a cost. It has value because it has a cost assigned to it. Every man-made object was built with planned obsolescence. It means that at some point in time, it will be thrown away. Even though, it cost a fortune in the beginning. Technology is a good example of this. We had one of the first calculators. It cost over $300. Today, it is less than $10. But there are things that cost more than life itself. People want what they want. They will try to acquire things that aren’t worth the price paid. Drugs are one of those things. It has cost many a person their lives. What is the cost-benefit ratio to that? What is real and beneficial many times isn’t sort after. Because it is perceived to be either too costly or having no value. What value would you assigned to someone that saved your life? I know many people that are trying to save people from themselves. These people got into trouble with wrong choices. And they became trapped. Some people’s lives have taken a wrong turn and they are stuck. This is the story of man-kind. It repeats itself throughout the centuries. God understood that man could never remove himself from his own problems. So, God made a way. First, He had to redeem man from the cost of his problems. God’s solution was the death of His son, Jesus. Then He resurrected Jesus from the grave and gave Him the authority to bring the rest of the family home. Understand, no man can pay the cost of redemption. But it has been paid by Jesus. Now is the time to turn and face God and yourself, because you can’t pay the cost.

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When something breaks out and captures people’s imagination, people follow. There are multitude of new things out there at any given time. And depending on how exciting it is will depend on how popular it is. I can remember when the Twist by Chubby Checker came out. It became so popular that it spread across the country, not only to the young people but to older folks also. Everybody was doing the Twist. Chubby Checker became a one hit wonder. And the Twist died out as fast as it came. There have been many fads that have come and gone since then. It is funny how these things captured people’s imagination. It seems that people aren’t satisfied with the latest trend. It seems that people aren’t content at all. They are always searching for something that will satisfy their soul. There is nothing on this earth that will satisfy your soul. It is a fool’s errand. I played the game for 30 years of my life. Then I found the real reason I was here. Then I found what really did satisfy my soul. What I really wanted was someone who would love me unconditionally. I wanted real joy in life. But most of all, I wanted peace in my life. I found the peace of God that passes all understanding and I followed after. God is calling you home. Follow after Him and He will give you all that you are really looking for.

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Yesterday, we opened our home to our family. We celebrated Easter when the people who are dear to us. It was the first time we really relaxed since we lost our home in the flood. Our new house became home. Easter is many things to different people. It is a celebration of Jesus freeing us from the burden of sin. But not everyone joins in the celebration. As part of God’s family, Jesus opened the gates of heaven to welcome us home. I had a lot of people in my home, but when heaven was opened to the family there was millions of people. Just think if you had to cook for that family. It seemed that everyone enjoyed themselves. I am glad they came to celebrate with us. I just wish all my family in the world would came and celebrate with our older Brother Jesus and our Father, God. There is peace in knowing that you belong to God’s family. Of course, we are loved unconditionally by our Father and older Brother. And God is preparing a meal for us at the end of time. It is called the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. But unfortunately, not everyone will be there. It time to plan ahead and to be home for that celebration. It begins with you turning and facing God and yourself.

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