Stop Buying The Lies!

I was watching an episode of Bones the other night where the remains that Dr. Brennan discovered ended up being her mother that "left" her years earlier.

I only saw bits and pieces of the show, but the investigation led them to some pretty shady mob guys and seemed to point to a hit man as the killer of her mother.

As she and Booth interrogated this hit man, he unfolded the events that led to her mother's death.

He told them that Dr. Brennan's father had caught the hit man with Brennan's mother and that her father proceeded to kill her.

Brennan was shocked and caught herself believing this lie about her father.

Thanks to her partner and good friend, Booth, they realized that this hit man was lying and that it was likely the hit man who killed Brennan's mother.

Unfortunately, it was hard for Dr. Brennan to know the truth about her mother and father.

Someone was continually telling her lies.

The same happens to us as Christ followers.

It can be hard to know and believe the truth about our heavenly Father, God.
Someone is constantly telling us lies about Him and about ourselves.

The Bible tells us that Satan is a liar and the father of all lies. (John 8:44)

He has told lies about our Heavenly Father from the beginning.

He has lied to man about Christ since Christ came to this earth.

The devil is on a mission to destroy God and people.

How many times do we deal with lies about ourselves?

I'm not good enough.
I don't deserve to be forgiven.
I'm ugly.
I'm worthless.
Nobody could possibly love me.

These are all lies from the devil that are intended to destroy us and pervert the truth of who we truly are in God.

1 Peter 5:8 tells us that "our adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour."
He is a liar!

1 John 3:8 says, "...The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil."
Jesus came to destroy those lies.

We have victory in Christ Jesus!

We do not have to believe the lies of the devil anymore.

God is who He says He is, Jesus Christ is our resurrected Savior, and we are children of God through Christ!

Here's the truth about how God sees you -

Psalm 119:14 - YOU are fearfully and wonderfully made.

Ephesians 2:10 - YOU are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus.

Stop believing the lies about you and Your Father.
Stand strong in the truth of God's word!

Coffee and Donuts

A couple weeks ago a dear friend and spiritual mentor, William Verlan Houseman passed away. As I reflected on the impact he had on my life, I recollected many wonderful times together.
Doing projects around the church together.
Countless meals.
Golf!
and most importantly, coffee and donuts.

I chose to follow Jesus on December 24, 1994.
6 months later God called me to be a pastor.
As I began to walk that calling out in my life, Mr. Houseman came along side me as a friend and mentor. Just being around him encouraged me in my walk with Christ.
His passion to worship and serve Jesus was an amazing example and very contagious.
When I began serving as the youth pastor at New Hope Assembly of God in Three Rivers, MI, Mr. Houseman started stopping by the church on a weekly basis to take me to Village Market for coffee and donuts.
At the time I thought he was a bored, retired guy looking for an excuse to go somewhere and have a captive audience to practice his corny jokes on.
As I grew in my faith, and especially now that he is gone, I realize that our time together was not about coffee and donuts.
It was about so much more.
He taught me to love God passionately.
He taught me to be a good husband and father.
He taught me to be a servant.
He taught me to love, honor, and respect my pastor.
He taught me how to pray.

But most importantly, he taught me to obey God.

When I told him that God called me to be a pastor, he said,
"Don't ever run from God's calling. you will regret it the rest of your life."

I am happy to say that I have been obeying God's call for the past 14 years, thanks in no small part to coffee and donuts with Mr. Houseman.