Everyone knows about the saying red sky in the morning, sailors take warning. It means that a storm is approaching. And red sky at night, sailors delight. It means that the storm has passed. As I got into my car this morning, the sun was rising. It was beautiful. The only thing was the sky was red. As I drove to work, the storm clouds began to gather. We have had the most unusual weather pattern this year. Do you know where the saying comes from? Jesus said it over 2000 years ago. The whole saying is: when you see a red sky in the morning, you know it is a storm. Or when you see a red sky at night, the storm has passed. You can discern the face of the sky, but you can’t discern the signs of the times. What is He talking about? What He’s talking about is the wars all over the world, earthquakes everywhere, the immorality that has even reached the Christian world, abortion that is accepted as normal and every perverse and degenerate thing that people turn a blind eye to. Jesus disciples asked Him when the end of the world would come? His answer was what I just described. There is no escaping it. The end is upon us. It is time to get your house in order. And it all begins with you. You must take the first step toward God. God isn’t going to shoot a lightning bolt at you to get your attention. God says if you draw near to Him, He will draw near to you. So, it is up to you to move first. Cry out to Him and He will answer. I don’t know how long you have left. But time is short.

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I was raised in church. I can remember mom and dad getting ready every Sunday morning. Then they would get us ready. I didn’t really understand what was going on. I just watched everybody. I knew that there was more than what people said. I knew that I wanted to learn the truth. So I had to search for it. You ever listen to someone talk and you know that it is the truth. It is because it rings true in your heart. Whether or not it is the popular belief. I have talked to many people. Some believe and some don’t. But I have always found that people want to believe in what is good and right. Once you collect baggage, like a lost love or hurts that you can’t forgive, it is hard to go back. I wanted to believe so badly, but the pain got in the way. Thank God, He didn’t give up on me. When I was 8 years old, I gave my heart to the Lord. But by the time I reach college, I had walked away. God had a plan for me. When I was 28 years old, God called again and I answered. This time God had me to study and build my faith. One day I was stopped at a railroad crossing. I was waiting for the train to go by. God spoke to me and told me to get out of my car. He wanted me to tell everyone stopped that God loved them. I froze and the hand of God lifted off me. I thought I had really messed up. God was teaching me a lesson. This one was a practical lesson. God was going to send me to people to tell them what He said. I learned quickly. People want to believe. It is our job as Christians to give them that chance for life.

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It is simple question. How much do people love you? You parents loved you enough to raise you. You know that it is estimated that parents will spend over $250,000 in one child’s lifetime. A quarter of a million dollars on 1 child’s life. By any gauge that is still a lot of money. But how much do people around you love you? Would any die for you? Would any lie for you? Would any protect you? Are your friends and family here today and gone tomorrow? You might find 1 or 2 people in your lifetime that would actually die for you. You are blessed if you have those people in your life. If you find a wife who believes in you that much, you are truly a blessed man. That is something to be protected and cared for. In my life, I could never find a person who was willing to be that close to me. One reason was I wasn’t that loveable. But still I looked and looked. Until 1 day I found a person who had loved me just because I was me. The relationship turned my life around. I was just so angry about not being loved that it made me unlovable. As I began to walk with this person, my angry began to fade away and love in my heart began to blossom. What it did was awake the love in heart not only for Him but for people. I began to care about people and what has happen to them. Of course, I am talking about Jesus. As I walk with Him, I prayed and prayed. As God changed people’s lives for the better. And all the time God was changing me.

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Throughout our lifetime, we see and bear witness to many things. There are many things I wish I didn’t see and want to forget. Most of the time it is what I have done or said. Our mind stores everything that comes before us. All this information is what shapes and molds our lives for good or bad. This is why our parents tried to protect us from the world as long as they could. They set a standard for us to live by. Hoping that we would live a good life. As you well know, forbidden fruit seems to be the most desirable. But like anything forbidden, there are consequences to our actions. So, we bear witness to our mistakes, which seem to last a lifetime. As my life went on, my mistakes and consequences began to mount up. Until they became so unbearable, I thought, and rightly so, they would crush me even unto death. I needed and wanted to find an answer somewhere. I found a man who was bearing witness to how his life change from an alcoholic to a normal healthy life. I couldn’t believe at first. But I kept on listening as he explained to me how he changed and who helped him. It took almost three months before I was even ready to change. This man’s testimony was no different from the Apostle John’s. When in 1 John, he explained how his life changed. And he was bearing witness to that change that was brought by the same person that changed my life and my friend’s. And I am bearing witness to that the change in my life. If you don’t know the name of that change, it is Jesus.

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How important are words? We speak over 10,000 words daily. That is a lot of words. So, how important are the words we speak each day? Or, do you remember all the things that you said. I have always been taught by my parents and others, that there are words that are more important than others. Words like honor, duty, integrity, honesty, valor, compassion, mercy, tenderness, love of family and country are just a few that I can think of. I strive to live with honor, to do my duty with integrity, to be honest in every situation. I believe I am a compassionate man with both mercy and tenderness. I love my family and my country. I never said that my life was easy. But I have always said that my life was simple. These words seem to be out of date and old fashion. But I don’t know any other words that are more important for today. There are other words that are important. Those words are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance. If they sound familiar, they are the way that the Holy Spirit wants us to live. And interesting fact, the US Congress passed a law declaring that 1983 was the Year of the Bible. It was an amazing year. The GNP rose to over a 100%, higher than it had been in previous 20 years. Gallup took a poll and asked what were the three most important things in people’s live. The answer was just as surprising. People responded and said that love, joy and peace were the most important things in their lives. God said that life and death are in the power of the tongue, words to live by.

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The bible is quite specific about God listening to prayers. God doesn’t hear the sinner, except for the prayer for salvation. All God has ever wanted is fellowship with man. Adam walked with God in the garden of Eden. Cain and Abel both talked to God, until Cain killed Abel. When God chose the Israelites as a people, they could if they would, talk to God. Most people don’t want to talk to God. Because it means shining God’s light on our lives. This is where you see everything, including all the flaws. But God has had a people, who would talk to Him no matter what. These people, we would call prayer warriors, because they have God’s ear. The bible says that we first must believe that He is and a rewarder of them that diligently seek God. it also says that if we believe that He hears us, we have the petitions we ask of Him. But, if we harbor unforgiveness in our heart, it will block our prayers. The bible says that if you are going to church and your brother has ought against you, go to that brother and be reconciled. Then come to church and offer your prayers and gifts. It also says that if a husband is angry with his wife or the wife with the husband, it will cancel out their prayers. No one who is in sin can approach God with any prayer, unless it is the prayer asking for forgiveness. There are many ways to hinder your prayers, but only one for God to hear you. That is the prayer of repentance from sin.

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The blind leading the blind, you have seen it more than you want to recognize it. There are people who can’t see anything because all they want is what they want. Everything else is just irrelevant. I feel sorry for those people. They have no grasp of what is really happening in the world. Sometimes these people can be very dangerous. Because they get to a point where the only way they can achieve their goals is to destroy everyone else. And they will burn the world down just to get their way. You would think that only in this century do we have these kind of people. The Apostle Paul ran into these characters in the first century. Hate starts when a person is afraid or disgruntled or is jealous of another person. When it takes root, it becomes bitterness. Do did you know that hate causes cancer? So does anger. It is a spiritual condition that moves into the physical realm. We are spiritual beings that can bring things from the next world into our own. Unfortunately people don’t take that into consideration when they hate people. The Apostle Paul talk about this very condition and how to deal with people who live in their own reality. He said that you can’t fight them with their weapons. You have to fight them with truth, God’s truth. How can we fight ideas or people in this world with God’s truth? God said if you want to change a situation, then pray. What you need to do is ask God to change the situation, then believe and stand. Standing in the knowledge that God has heard you and is answering your prayer. What happens when you do that? The world changes. It is time to do the will of God and change the world.

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It seems that I am always talking about what man is doing on this earth. It is because man is always trying to burn this world down. I have never seen so many people try so hard to destroy everything that exist. Shall I delineate? Let us take the last 50 years. In the 1960’s, there was the counterrevolution, the Vietnam War and the Israeli war. The Israeli war went into the 1970’s. So did the Vietnam War. Then there was the plane hijackings. The bombing of embassy’s. Let’s see, oh yeh, Grenada, Panama, the Cubans in South America, Desert Storm, the Iraq war and of course the Afghanistan war. Let’s not forget the war in Syria. You may look at the world and think, why even try. They are all going to hell in hand basket. Well God sees it differently. In 1967, the Israeli’s took Jerusalem back. It was over 2000 years since the Jews owned Jerusalem. What did God do? He began to have revivals all over the world. The baptism of the Holy Spirit began to be prolific. Everyone who wanted could be baptized in the Holy Spirit. Missionaries went to every country. In the 1980’s, the United States had in 1983 the year of the Bible. Not since the times of Jesus, had a nation declared such a year. The GNP increased over a 100% in the United States. Churches began to fill up and enjoy peaceful times. When Elijah was running from Jezebel for his life. He said to God that there is no one serving God that they had all gone astray. God told Elijah that there were 7000 people in Israel that remained faithful to God. So even though you don’t see God working in your life or ours, don’t believe it. God is there before you even get there and He won’t leave until His job is done.

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When Israel was taken captive by the Assyrians, they were in captivity for 70 years. The number isn’t random. God had set up agricultural laws to benefit the Israelites. Every 7^th year, the ground wasn’t to be tilled. It was to lay fallow, so the nutrients could return to the soil. But the Israelites didn’t listen to God for 490 years. So, God removed them from the land and only left shepherds. There are such examples of looming disasters throughout the bible. Do you know why there is such a great debate over global warming? Because this is a looming disaster. God destroyed mankind, once before by water. But He promised that He wouldn’t do that again. The rainbow is the sign of His covenant. God did say that He would destroy mankind again but by fire. God is telling people that it is coming. Just like the Israelites of old, knew that a disaster was coming. Since the year 2000, there has been a disaster after disaster. It has been nonstop. God is speaking to mankind, telling them to prepare the end is coming. And whether it is tomorrow or in a 100 years from now, it is time to prepare for the end. One of the signs of an end to a people is immorality. This country is rack with immorality. People are excepting it as normal. When in fact, it will kill you both physically and spiritually. Then it will cast you into hell. There is a looming disaster of which no one will escape. We will stand before God to answer for this life. Then what will you do?

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When I started walking with God, I was just like everyone who believed that God doesn’t talk to us. He answers prayer, but not in a conversation. As I looked at the Old Testament, I saw that God spoke to the prophets. But that was a select few. The disciples talked to Jesus, but He was standing next to them. I must confess that I really hadn’t read the bible before I started with God. All the religion classes that I took were about me being as good as I could. It was never about how much God wants to fellowship with us. So, I began reading the bible, as fast as I could. I had a bible at home, one in the car and one at work. I would stop at a red light and read a verse or two. I have never read the bible through as a book in 40 years. Whenever I began to read, God would stop me and explain a verse. It took a while for me to trust that it was God talking to me. God began by quoting scripture to me. I have always like the KJV bible. I like the old English and how flowery it was spoken. I went looking in the New Testament for a scripture that said that God speaks to us. In 1st John, chapter 5, the discussion is about the Holy Spirit bearing witness of Jesus in our life. In Luke 12:12 and John 14:26, Jesus said that He would send a teacher to instruct us in the ways of God. So, God does talk to us. But most people don’t recognize His voice. You remember when you were young and want to do something bad. There was a voice inside of us that told us not to do it. Who do you think that was? God Himself talking directly to you. To answer the question, yes, God does communicate with man.

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