Just thinking on some things...

I have a hard time understanding some people and churches. Don't get me wrong, I am not a negative person and I am not on here to criticize. Someone was telling me about a church who had a dictitorial pastor. He did not want his people to visit other churches (even on nights there church had no services). He also rebuked his people for missing church even if it was worked related.

Now look each pastor/church leader has to do what they feel in there heart. However, scripture teaches it better to have a millstone around your neck than hurt one of God's children. Too many good people have left churches because they got hurt or ordered around. Look no man of God wants anyone to miss church or to leave there home church. However, if you rail on people, your not gonna to keep them.

The church's that have a controlling spirit, only end up hurting themselves.

May I be committed to love unconditionally. May I be certain that my church family will stick in my church, even if they visit other churches,

It is a pastor/church leader's job to encourage people and not make them feel inferior or inadequate.
Yes, there will be times of chastisement, but if administered in love it will work. If it is administered in arrogance it will only result in trouble.

May we learn to love and except people for who they are, and let God do the clean up.

From then...too NOW!

I remember as a boy the power of God moving in our services. It was nothing to see people shout and give real praise to the Lord. Men and women would cry and fall under the power of the Holy Ghost. We would see people come of the streets under conviction, and repent of there sins. We used to say the church was on fire. I remember my Dad would preach and things would happen. It was not unusual to see the manifestation of the gifts of the Spirit. Sadly these things that was the norm in my childhood.........have turned into the rarely seen in most churches.

Churches that we would attend and visit as boy, now are closing. The older saints have died off, and there are no children to fill there vacancies. Those old praying grandma and grandpa are become few and far between. God is calling that older generation home....and someone has to stand in the gap and make up the hedge.

I look at the MISSION...and I can see a people hungry for God. We are not perfect and this is not a perfect church. However, God calls us to endure until the end. We don't see much endurance in the church world today. In the day of fast food and fast living, people want a fast service and a quick move of God. God does not move when we want, and it is not always quick. There are times God wants us to wait, so our faith can build up.

Sunday night I saw a new wave of the THEN...NOW. Don't get me wrong I have seen real moves of God. I have even seen the supernatural. Yet, God is pleased with a unified body. That what we have at the mission. We have learned that there are no big U's and little i's. Everyone is equal and entitled to take there liberty in the Lord (as long as it's in order). God moved in waves of Glory. A real power was viewed and I pray that those touched by God have continued to move in Him. I can't wait till tomorrow night to see what God is going to do next at the MISSION. Just watch and see!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Steve

Our President

I have not said anything about President Obama, because I believe this is who God has destined for this time. We are told to honor the king in scripture and the powers that be are ordained of God. So from that view point I thought to say "If you can't say anything good don't say nothing at all!" However there are few things I would like to say about our president.

First, I would like to say it is a historical moment that we have the first black president. However this is still a racial issue, until it doesn't matter what race our president is. According to his own heritage President Obama is bi-racial having a Caucasian mother and an African father. I'm sure all African Americans feel somewhat vindicated for the plight there ancestors suffered.

This said; let’s go on to my second point. We have a man who is president that is a generic "talker". His campaign was based on very little specifics. He is doing the same thing since coming in the white house. He offers an executive order (which means he is suppose to draft this himself) and signs it, but doesn't know what it included in it. He repeals laws that limit abortion. He has proposed a large spending bill that is suppose to be a stimulus package. Thank God the GOP is sticking together on opposing this one. This is the same old liberal democrat politics and we will see more of this in his remaining time in office. I am not saying President Obama is not a nice, knowledgeable man. However he is not my choice and his policies are bad for America. My children and grandchildren will be paying for all his and this liberal congress policies.

Now, spiritually...He claims to be a Christian, yet part of his heritage is Muslim. By no means am I saying that he is a Muslim, but I feel he may be able to sympathize with this faith. I don't care if it was President Bush, President Obama, or Rev. Billy Graham, the Muslim religion is false doctrine and heresy. Yes, all Muslims have freedom of religion to practice there faith in America, and I have no problem with this. I have the freedom to practice my faith. However, the religion is a religion of hate. I understand not all Muslims are radical or terrorists, but there Holy Book the Koran is instilled with teachings of Jihad and hate. We don't need a sympathizer in the White House. (I really do believe we will see this eventually.)

Lastly, let’s look at the meaning of his 3 names. Barack means a lighting flash. Some have mistakenly have said his name means blessed, this is not true. Hussein means small and handsome. Obama means crooked. I believe some names have great meaning. Is it a coquincidence names means these things. President Obama came on the scene quickly like a flash of lighting. I really believe his presidency will also be a quick one (one term). I also believe he is small in the eyes of people. What I mean by small is that his persona is a common man. However he is far from common, being a community organizer (lobbyist) and Harvard grad. He also has a handsome package. Not just a nice looking gentleman, he also come off with a nice handsome package. He has a beautiful wife and two little girls. He speaks eloquently. He is a good communicator. Yet there is no substance to most things he says. Obama means crooked or bent. I think this sums up President Barack Hussein Obama. He is somewhat bent in his look at America. It is as if a site on gun is bent, even if you aim for the bull’s eye the site will throw you off.

I want you to think of the story of Barack in scripture. He was called of God to lead his chosen people, but would not step up to the challenge. God had to send a woman Deborah to be the judge of Israel and lead the people to victory. (I hope we see a repeat of this story, but our Deborah may have the name "Sarah".) I really believe President Obama is comparable to Barack in scripture. He looks for the approval of someone else. He will not go out and make a decision for himself. Watch his presidency over the next four years and see what I mean.

With all this said, I believe we as Christian are called to pray for President Obama and our government. We want God's perfect will for the United States. This could be a great time of revival for our country. When someone is in office so anti-Christian in there policies we need to stand up by falling to our knees. Now, God may have let us have President Obama to allow this country to see some hard times (especially financially and morally), so we can have a revival. All we can do is pray!

God promised he would pour out his Spirit in these last days. It just pays to be ready. God Bless President Barack Obama and God Bless America. Even So Lord Jesus Come Quickly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Steve

Please pray about this!!!!!!

As most of you know my wife Paula has heart failure. The doctors have told us she needs a heart transplant. However, there is a new procedure called the heart net. The pic is shown at the left. We discover this just this week and there is a clinical trial right here in Cincinnati. We have already talked with the research center and are waiting to here if Paula is eligible. Please keep this in your prayers, as this may be a way to help her health.

Thanks,

Steve

The article from the Enquirer Follows

Christ tests new heart net

By Peggy O'Farrell
pofarrell@enquirer.com

An experimental device being studied at Christ Hospital aims to strengthen hearts damaged by congestive heart failure.
Doctors at the Mount Auburn hospital are recruiting patients for a clinical trial of Paracor Medical Inc.'s HeartNet device, which one doctor likened to support hose for the heart.
In congestive heart failure, the left ventricle - the heart's main pumping chamber - can no longer pump enough blood to deliver adequate oxygen throughout the body.
The HeartNet, made of a smart alloy mesh, is permanently implanted around the pumping chambers. The mesh gently constricts around the heart, compressing it to help it pump more efficiently, said Eugene Chung, principal investigator for the Lindner Research Center at Christ Hospital.
"It provides a little bit of support for the heart so it doesn't dilate as much," he said.
Doctors hope the device will slow the heart's deterioration, preventing the need for more drastic treatments - including transplant surgery.
Gary Carpenter, 62, of Guilford, Ind., underwent surgery in October to receive the implant. He learned that he had congestive heart failure in 1999 and was forced to retire early from his job driving a truck as he grew weaker.
"I'm feeling a lot better with it," Carpenter said. "I had a lot of breathing problems before I had it in there. I couldn't hardly walk around the house, but now, I'm walking out to the mailbox every day, which is 70, 75 yards from the house."
Doctors showed him a model of the HeartNet shortly before his surgery. "You look at a roast with that string netting on it, that's what it looks like, really," he said.
Chung and surgeon Thomas Ivey are heading up the local arm of the HeartNet trial.
Ivey said the HeartNet could prevent the need for more invasive surgeries.
The device is implanted around the heart through a small incision made under the left breast. Surgeons use a tiny plunger-like device to guide the implant to the heart, then wrap it around.
Earlier versions of the technology required a major incision and were rejected by the Food and Drug Administration.
In the trial, patients will be assigned at random to receive the implant or to receive standard medication therapy.

Bragging on the Church

I feel we have the best church around. I know I'm biased, yet our service this past Sunday night made me proud. Our church is not just a building, but it is people who really love one another. The Spirit was really high last night through out the whole service. My wife, Paul had come and she was feel really bad. Our pastor and saints, stopped the normal flow of the service to minister to my wife and love and encourage her. That's all it took. The power of God's love flowed through everyone in the church. Even those who had not been coming long, came an prayed with a heart of love of compassion. They not only prayed for my wife, they came and prayed for me, understanding what a load I have been under. This caused the whole church to really unify themselves. Our pastor Bro Wayne, exhorted a little and had Paula testify, as best she could. Then instead of dismissing service, he said there were others who lives needed to be touched, just like mine. He told the congregation, who ever needed to be dismissed they were free to go and then called for those who wanted prayer to come in the altar. The whole church flooded the altar, and what started with my wife, broke out for everyone. That's God at work. That is taking the scripture when one rejoices we all rejoice and when one weeps we all weep. That is comforting and caring for those weaker than us. What a great testimony for our church. I am looking for great things from the Mission.

Steve

A New Year....A New Season

I thought about titling this blog I made it through the holidays. December was crazy, and that is an understatement.

In one week we had a school nurse file bogus charges with Child Protective services that Isaiah and Joseph was not getting proper care. It was totally false and the nurse has been reprimanded. A couple of days later Nathan did not get off the bus. We called the school and they did not know where he was. It was a little over and hour before we found him. He had gone home with a little boy at the school. This in turn caused Paula's nerves to be frazzled. She didn't sleep right for over a week. Then Robert had to start, and make his mom almost lose it. Finally, Paula went to the hospital a few days before Christmas. They gave her some new meds and that seems to be working.

Christmas was great. We had 3 different times to open presents. The Newport Fire Department adopted our family this year. Santa and 40 firefighters came to my house Christmas Eve night. You can imagine big, tough fire men crying along with my family. Our kids were really blessed.

They left and Santa came again (our family's Christmas). Then we found out Paula's adopted parents were coming to KY. Friday morning Christmas came again with Grammy and Grandpa.
It was a good Christmas.

New Years I got to sing with my buddy Richard. Rich came to the Mission and we had a great service. I came home from Church and celebrated with my family.

Now all that brings us to the present. God is so good to us. No matter what valleys or storms we may go through, we have the promise of the Father. If we endure to the end we will be saved. That is assurance to be proud of.

Till next time....God Bless.