My sweet wife loves to shop. She will shop until she drops. It is all in an effort to collect things. I don’t really like to shop, but I like to be with my wife. In my own way, I shop for things. I love gadgets. I will go into a hardware store to browse. Also, I like to go to nurseries to look for new plants. So, I collect things as well. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t. Everyone has a hobby. You have heard the old saying, the different between men and boys are the price of their toys. Things make the world go round. It only seems that the more you collect the more you are worth in this world. Unfortunately, people look at the things of God the same way. God has power. So much that He can change anything on this earth, in the blink of an eye. People see that power can bring prosperity and man wants to be in control. The only thing about that is that God doesn’t share His power with anyone. You can ask God to do something for you and He will. The power of God is activated by faith, not force. Outside of delivering you out of the pits of hell, all other request have to be made in His presence. God uses the privilege of prayer for His children to fellowship with Him. All the things of God aren’t made to increase your wealth or power. The things of God are tools that God gives to us to further the kingdom of God. The greatest man of God is no more important than the lowliest servant, who opens and closes the doors at church. For God is no respecter of persons. We are all the same in the kingdom of God, children, heirs to the kingdom. Praise His Holy Name.

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The part of my family that were privateers was my mother’s side of the family. My dad’s side are also French. They left France in in the late 1500’s because of the civil war. They moved to England and found that the English didn’t want them either. So, my 9^th great grandfather, Joseph, came to America in 1637. His younger brother, Thomas, followed 2 years later. Most people don’t know that Boston had a large French population in the 1600’s. Both the Pilgrims and Puritans knew that community was how they were going to survive. There is a popular saying that it takes a community to raise children. It is a true statement. It is important to have a stable community to live in and raise your children. You don’t have to go far to see an example of this. Syria comes to mind. People took their families and fled that war-torn country. Most people just want a peaceful place to live and raise their family. The sense of community is a choice that we must make. It doesn’t just happen. You must work on having relationships with people. The closer the bond between people, the more there is a sense of community. I hold doors open for strangers. I tell people please and thank you. It doesn’t take any more effort than not to do it. When you decide to make that choice, people feel that sense of community. It is a sense of belonging, that everyone wants. Everybody seems to want to point out how we are different. But with the sense of community, it brings out how we are the same. God says that He is no respecter of person. Which means that God see us as the same. Today, choose to build a sense of community in your area. The effect will be almost immediate.

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The basic unit in this world is the family. It was instituted by God, Himself. The next unit is the extended family. Then comes the village around us. Then it moves to an area of villages and/or the state we live in. Because of our ethnic background, we will prefer the people around us. Even if the people around us are obnoxious, we will prefer them to strangers. Though, they may be obnoxious, but they are ours. Depending on the area that you live in, it will dictate how you will reaction to strangers. A good remnant of the Old South that is still prevalent down here,  is hospitality. We like to talk to strangers and welcome them among us. That is why south Louisiana is popular among tourists. There has always been a strong sense of family among Louisianans. It has to do with our culture, ethnic and religious background. The French and Acadian French people have that strong sense of community. Because it is life itself. If you look at their history and see how they were dispossessed and pushed from continent to continent. Family is the reason they survived. If you look at man’s history, a sense of community has allowed people to not only survive, but to grow and prosper. The French side of my family were both privateers and governors of the Louisiana Territory. They had to do both to survive in this wilderness call America. I’ll continue the story tomorrow.

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How do you know that you have changed? Several years ago, a woman, a celebrity, who came out of pornography, was projecting an image of Christianity. The people around me said look how she has changed. I said that it may not be so. It may be just that pornography may not convenient for her. Change isn’t proved by the way you act. It is proved by the fruit you leave behind. Mary Magdalene was a prostitute. She came to Jesus and wash His feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. She became an integral part of Jesus’ ministry. She took of Mary, Jesus’ mother. She was at the cross when Jesus died and at the tomb when He rose from the dead. Matthew, Jesus’s brother, a tax collector and friend to prostitutes, gave up his life and follow Jesus to the grave. Change isn’t putting on a show. It is a choice, changing your lifestyle. As people can see you, it will show through everything you do. God said, He would change us into the image of His dear son, here a little, there a little. Until, we become, what God intended us to be from the beginning, the image and likeness of Jesus, Himself. Because the bible says, unless we become that image, we will not see Jesus when He returns. So, change is important in our lives. Have you looked in the mirror lately? What do you see?

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Bonding two distinct objects together requires glue. Did you know that glue is 100’s of years old? The first glues were made of bone. It isn’t a very good glue but it worked for their purpose. Today, we have super glues. It will bond anything together almost permanently. Ever glued your fingers together with super glue? Only acetone, finger nail polish remover, will dissolve the super glue. If only bonding between two people would be so simple. There are bonds between people that will last for a lifetime. The bonds of parents to children, the bonds between husband and wife and bonds of friendship are just a few. A bond is built on a trust between the parties and built on for a life time. There are many things that will strain or even break a bond between two parties. The first and foremost is stress causes by finances, work, other people or even their own selfishness. The second reason is caused by the first and that is fear. it is the fear of the unknown, whether or not there will be enough money or the separation by work or even other people. It becomes insidious when other people try to separate two people for their own selfishness. Marriage is a bond that no one should try to break. It is popular today to get a divorce because of another person or people are unwilling to try to solve their problems. Marriage is not just a bond, it is a covenant with God. God says woe to the person who breaks a covenant. That means they are in for hell on this earth as well as the world to come. Marriage was the first covenant God ever made. And He says, let no man divide asunder the marriage covenant. Bonding takes effort on each person’s part to bring it together and keep it there.

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It doesn’t matter what you know, if you can’t trust or believe it. There is a saying that has been prevalent in past few years. The saying is buyer beware. It is a commercial retail philosophy, that say you can sell anything to anyone at any time and it doesn’t make a difference. Therefore, there are so many recalls on retail products across the globe. The philosophy is make money and the hell with everyone else. It doesn’t gender much trust. But that is what it is supposed to do. Just look at the media, they are trying to gender mistrust in everyone. Therefore, people are upset and afraid. Not knowing who you can trust will create anxiety. People will begin to doubt what they believe, because of the lack of trust. The world’s assault on Christianity is ongoing and savage. It is there to make you doubt what you believe. Just look at how many people have left the church and gone into the world. When I came to the Lord, my trust level was low, but I believed that God would help me. God was going to have to prove to me that He was trustworthy. God set out on that very mission. Day by day, God proved to me that He was working in my behalf. It didn’t happen overnight, but it did happen. God did say in His word, to prove Him true. So, day by day, God proved to me beyond a shadow of doubt that He was working on my behalf. As He did, my faith, belief and trust grew to a place where I could approach Him and ask almost anything. And then He would answer me. I have seen God answer my prayers in a split second. The longest time for prayer God ever answer was 22 years. If you turn to Him and ask, God will respond.

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We are three in one, exactly like God. We are body, soul and spirit. Our body is made from the dust of the earth, our soul is the life of God and our spirit is who we are. Our spirit is also known as our heart. It is where all information is stored from the day of our birth through eternity. Not only do we remember everything we have done, God will at the end of time open the book of life and ask us why. To continue the story, when I met Jesus, my heart still was in pain with much anger. But Jesus gave me peace enough to work on the pain and anger. Nothing is ever easy, but it is always simple. I had to walk through the pain and anger to get rid of it. it didn’t disappear all at once. God had to root it out of me. That was a fun time. But what God was doing was freeing me from the anguish to be able to serve Him. Though I was raised in church, I knew nothing of God. He had to teach me step by step, line upon line, here a little and there a little. Slowly the picture of who Jesus is came into focus. I asked God for wisdom. He gave me understanding far beyond anything I see or know. Another one that He gave me was the ability to see people’s hearts. When I look at a person, I see their hearts. If you will listen to a person speak, you will hear who they are within 10 minutes. And everybody does it. The heart of man is a lonely hunter. And what each person is hunting for is God, Himself. God put that desire in us. Don’t brush it aside. It is most important in your life. Find out what your heart can actually see.

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Have you ever looked at a hardened, grisly person cry? It will touch you heart because you see the real person coming through. As much as our exterior has walled off the world, when a person cries, their heart is coming through. When you see their heart, you see the real person. Therefore, most people hide their heart. It is vulnerable and can feel much pain.  I learned early in life to hide my heart. I could play the game and nobody knew the difference. If anyone got too close, I would launch a volley of insults to chase them off. I got so good at insults, that no one wanted to be around me. I wanted people to like me, but I wasn’t willing to risk the pain I would suffer. One day I found one person, who wasn’t afraid of the insults and saw my heart. I fell in love with this person, but eventually, the hardest of my heart drove her away. but I never stopped looking for a person to love me for me. My heart was always hunting. Years later, a friend introduced me to someone that I saw might give me peace. I wasn’t sure about all of it. But I listened for three months. Finally, I decided to meet this person. You know what is funny, that person wasn’t afraid of my insults and saw my heart. When I went to meet this person, I was in a crowd of five hundred people. But it was like I was the only one there. And this person was waiting for me to come and meet Him. If you haven’t guessed who He is, His name is Jesus. I’ll continue the story tomorrow.

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We are made up of three parts, body, soul and spirit. As God is three in one, we are three in one. We as human beings are made in the image and likeness of God. Our body is made of the dust of the earth. Our soul is the life of God that joins our body to our spirit. Our spirit is who we are, mind, will and intellect. We were born of God and conceived by man and woman. All information that we learn over our lifetime is processed by our senses and stored in our heart. Whether it is good or bad. Our parents try to protect us from the world by limiting the amount and quality of information we receive. But that doesn’t stop the world from coming in. In recent years, there has been a major assault on the family. It is to capture the heart and imagination of children. Because the future is determined by the children growing up. Mao Zedong used comic books, graphic novels, to indoctrinate the masses of people to Communism. In the 1950’s and 1960’s, music was used to indoctrinate the young people into immorality. When women became pregnant, the solution was abortion. Not only did it destroy the bond between parent and child, it destroyed the sanctity of life. Today in the US, the murder rate is at its highest and immorality is accepted as normal. Winning the hearts and minds of the people has always been the objective. But as much as man wants to believe that he is god, it just isn’t so. I’ll continue this discussion tomorrow.

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There are countless video of babies and baby animals on social media. Everyone loves those videos because they are babies and have a need. Babies can’t take care of themselves. They need someone to feed, clean and teach them. It is a natural attraction for us. Some would say it is the cycle of life. It is dear to our hearts. Babies have a need. And our heart cry out to fulfill that need. It isn’t an accident. That need in our life was put there on purpose. The need is called compassion. Whether we are adults or children our need for compassion is always there. We want it all of our lives. It doesn’t stop when we grow into adults. It just is more apparent when we deal with babies. Most people believe that is because of what we see with our eyes. But that isn’t the truth. It is because of what we see with our heart. Needs are intangible. You can’t touch or feel it. But it reaches out to our hearts and we feel it strongly. It moves us to do something about that need. Compassion is what the world needs today. Everybody is fussing about this, that or the other. No one is listen to each other. Fear is stopping people from reaching out. Other people are not so different from us. Their heart is the same as ours. God looked on man and had compassion, because He saw the need in our lives. Look at people with your heart and you will see a different person. You might even see yourself. God says, Do unto other as you would have others to do to you.

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