God is alive in my church!

The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. (Psalm 19:7 NIV)

We had a perfectly wonderful church service today at CLCG. I am awestruck how God can use our own deepest dark days to bring light to the world. Today our Worship Arts Director opened his heart about his life of anxiety and depression. There wasn't a dry eye in the house. It takes so much to open up like that. I praise Kevin and Erica for being open to God using them in this powerful way and I thank God for using our services to speak to the lost and those struggling with life.

I often talk about my perfect life on this blog. I also mention how sometimes it's even embarrassing to have it so good. I don't want the struggles, I don't want the pain, no one does. I know that God does use all things for his good purpose. He uses the good and the bad times in my life. I have struggled at times in my own life. I have never dealt with anything as powerful as anxiety or depression. I am grateful. He has taken all my life experiences and molded them into my testimony. I can tell of his great love through the events like the birth and loss of our children. I have seen his powerful right hand through financial struggles, job stress, and other daily trials. He is with all of us with no trials, great trials and small ones. I am forever in his debt for these things and sending his son to die for me, a flawed sinner.

Praise God for his control of my life and the lives of my brothers and sisters inChrist. I praise you for your love, mercy, and grace. I love you and need you! Praise for Kevin and Erica. Bless them and their family. Heal Kevin and bring peace to his life and the lives of those who are dear to him. Continue to use him for your wonderful purposes! Show him your presence and your wisdom every day of his life. Be with our church as we continue to grow in number and in our relationship with you. Amen!

Wrestling with myself!

Psalm 13:2 (New International Version, ©2010)

² How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
   and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
   How long will my enemy triumph over me?


I tried wrestling when I was in junior high. I didn't last long. I just couldn't get past the idea of grabbing someone else's sweaty body and them grabbing mine. I was very uncomfortable with the whole idea. When you add on top of that the "interesting" uniforms, I had a very short career. But, I love watching wrestling. It is such an intense sport. Strength is important. But, Strength without technique can be easily defeated. The regular season for our wrestling team is about to end and the tournament series will begin. It will be intense. All of the training they have gone through, all the strength development, are for this purpose. The real battle is about to begin.

It can be just as intense when I wrestle with my thoughts. I battle with my own thoughts all the time. It doesn't matter how strong I think I am, I can easily be defeated by my own thoughts. Have you ever convinced yourself of something that was just not true? Have you ever gotten overwhelmed by an unreasonable worry? The evil in this world, worry, stress, and my own sinfulness can really drag me down. I can be driven to panic, to depression, to more worry, and more stress, just by my own thoughts. The only way to defeat these thoughts is to constantly spend time with my savior. Like a wrestler needs to develop his technique, I need to develop "skills" to listen to God and not my own sinful, hurtful thoughts. When I don't spend that time with my savior, I can get trapped in sorrow, depression, and darkness. Many times my own thoughts are the real enemy. I can defeat these thoughts through Jesus. But, I can't do it on my own.

In the shadow of Mordor

Revelation 2 (The Message)

To Pergamum

 ¹²Write this to Pergamum, to the Angel of the church. The One with the sharp-biting sword draws from the sheath of his mouth—out come the sword words: ¹³"I see where you live, right under the shadow of Satan's throne. But you continue boldly in my Name; you never once denied my Name, even when the pressure was worst, when they martyred Antipas, my witness who stayed faithful to me on Satan's turf.

Do you remember in the Lord of the Rings -- Mordor. It was so depressing

You can just feel the evil and the gloom. When I watch the news or deal with broken families at school I get the feeling of gloom and doom. When you see the way that our country has turned from God and how anti-christian our society is getting, it is easy to get depressed. When you see the murder and senseless  destruction of babies, or the extreme poverty, homelessness, and famine, you can be overwhelmed with depression.
But, we/I need to continue boldly  in the name of Jesus. Even when the pressure is at it's worst and we fight our battle on Satan's turf, God is with us. We need to persevere. We need to realize that God is in control. God defeats Satan. These earthly battles are only fleeting. They are mere puffs of wind. God is the wind, he will blow away the evil around us for all eternity. We need to defeat the depression in our lives. In the midst of the shadow and in the midst of the darkness is a perfect Light. The Light of the world is Jesus! AMEN!