Feeling Blessed To Be A Christian In America

II Timothy 3:11-17
(11)“Persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. (12) In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,(13) while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. (14) But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, (15) and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. (16) All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, (17) so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Matthew 5:3
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Recently, I have read some commentaries/blogs preaching that a true Christian is a persecuted Christian. They often say, “We must always feel persecuted as Christians, if we do not, we are not truly in Christ and we serve another Jesus” then I usually see verse 12 of II Timothy 3 used somewhere in their context along with the second scripture I noted Matthew 5:3. Now, Matthew 5:3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit…” is mainly perceived in three different ways. Some perceive it as saying that Christians should not be financially rich, where they get that meaning in this verse is hard to say, but others, which I am referring to in this post, perceive it as feeling persecuted (poor) in the spirit for Christ. The third meaning, which I believe is what this verse is truly saying is that we as Christians should be poor or weak in our own human spirit or to say that as Christians we need to have a humble spirit and recognize that we can not just rely on ourselves in this life, but we need to seek God’s help in our lives in all situations to guide us.

Now concerning II Timothy 3, Paul noted in verse 12 that if we choose a Godly life for Christ we “will be persecuted,” not that we should feel persecuted. Yes, persecution will happen when we chose a life for Christ, though I believe, the persecution experience will happen on different levels. Some Christians will barely scratch the surface of persecution or just experience verbal persecution, and unfortunately others will experience horrific persecution, but no matter the level of persecution in which one will experience does not make us any less or any more a Christian. Also, note that Paul said in the previous verse (11) that The Lord rescued him from his persecution, not that he is still enduring it. My question to those who believe a true Christian is a persecuted one, especially, those who live in America--What is the extent of your persecution in the “Land of the Free and The Home of the Brave.” We live in America, for goodness sake, how can any Christian living in America even perceive persecution. What--did somebody call you a name, taunt you, or say, “God is not real?” Big deal is that persecution--not even at its least. True persecution to me is being thrown in prison for our faith, beaten/tortured for our faith, and dying for our faith in Jesus, read the book of Acts--the first century Christians were facing this everyday: Is that going on in America? I haven’t seen that lately in news. What do we know of persecution in America than just mere words? Remember the saying, "sticks and stone may break my bones, but names will never hurt me," I think this can apply here. I know and I pray for Christians in other countries that are being imprisoned, beaten, and even dying for their faith in Jesus Christ. It is sad and horrible, the ultimate test of faith, but Christ in them keeps them strong, upholds their hope that in Him this life is just a mere vapor compared to eternal life with Him. Now, they are experiencing what a lot of us will never experience-- so please place it in your heart to always pray for them.

Is it so hard to thank God everyday for living in America?--I do. What a great and glorious feeling it is being able to worship and believe in our Lord without any true persecution that other believers experience. I have always believed that God from the beginning has blessed America for recognizing the importance of His principles, though currently, American is turning its back on those principles and turning to Godless principles such as greed and self-satisfaction. My pledge to you dear Christian of “persecution” in America and to all Christians not only in America, but other Christians in other countries living free to practice our faith. Make it a point to praise and give thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ for blessing us to be able to walk in a Christian book store or any other store to buy a Bible, feel blessed that you can wake up on your day of worship without any consequence of imprisonment, and feel blessed that we can walk in faith without true persecution. Please if you are not already to always pray for our brothers and sisters that do not have our same freedoms and pray that we all will keep strong in our faith, love and hope in Jesus Christ. So, that when the day comes that we might experience true trials and tribulations for Jesus, the Spirit of the Lord within us will help guide and protect us. Being in Jesus brings joy, whether there is persecution or not.

I Thessalonians 5:16-18
"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

Ecclesiastes 7:14
“When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future.”

To Those Who Do Not Know...Are You Interested?

The Romans Road to salvation is a way of explaining the good news of salvation using verses from the Book of Romans. It is a simple yet powerful method of explaining why we need salvation, how God provided salvation, how we can receive salvation, and what are the results of salvation.

Romans 1:20-21: "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened." We must acknowledge God as the Creator of everything and accept our humble position in God's creation.

Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God." Everyone is born with the nature to sin or to do wrong and because of that sin we are distant from God's presence in our life.

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His love toward us, in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Even though we all sin, God still loves us and He showed His love by sending His only Son, Jesus, to earth to die for our sins.

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The consequence of sin is death. And Yes, we all die, but the gift is eternal life in paradise when we believe and trust in Jesus Christ.

Romans 10:9-10 “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." This is how we receive our gift from God, when we express with our mouth and believe in our heart that His Son, Jesus Christ, died for our sins and by the power of God Jesus rose from His death, only then will we receive God's gift, which is salvation

Romans 10:13 “For whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” That is it and nothing more--to receive salvation from death to eternal life. But remember, you have to mean it. It is not only the words you say, but also the absolute belief in your heart.

Romans 11:36: "For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen." Determine in your heart, today, to make Jesus Christ the Lord of your life.

If the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ is truly something you want in your life--right now is the time, please do not put it off. Here is a simple prayer that you can say right now to receive the great blessing of salvation. If you stumble with the words do not worry, Jesus knows your heart with what you are asking--

"Dear Lord up in Heaven, I have heard Your great message of salvation and I believe with my whole heart. I realize that I am a sinner and that through your death on the Cross my sins can be forgiven: please forgive me. I believe in my heart that You have rose from the grave by the power of God to be my everlasting Savior. With my belief and acceptance of You come into my heart. I commit my life to You, my Savior. Amen"

Now, if you have prayed this prayer and committed your life to Christ--Praise The Lord!!!! Let me know by commenting, so that I can pray for you, to ask the Lord for His guidance in your life as a new follower. Being a Christian does not mean we are made perfect or that you will never sin anymore. We are still only human and have the human nature to sin, but as Christians when we do sin, God opens His door to us at any time that when we come to Him in prayer we can ask Him for forgiveness: He will forgive. In addition, Jesus does not just leave us hanging without anything to help us, when we accept Him we receive His Spirit (Holy Spirit) within us to aid in our walk with Him and to help and guard us against sin. The keys in our walk as Christians is having faith in Jesus, a faithful prayer life, reading The Bible, and finding a good Bible believing church--and remember, Jesus is always near to help us in anyway. If there is any other questions that you might have please feel free to ask?

BELIEVERS BAPTISM: Not Salvation, But A Testimony of Salvation

"And Jesus said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age" Matthew 28:18-20.

Baptism is not an act that gets us into heaven--it is faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord that offers that assurance. Baptism (by full immersion as taught in the Bible) is an act of obedience that should be an important part of our acceptance of salvation offered by Jesus Christ. Baptism symbolizes our relationship with Jesus Christ as well as our discipleship as a follower of Jesus Christ. But it does not mean that one who truly gives their heart to Jesus on their death bed, in the heat of warfare, or in a crashing airplane, will be kept out of heaven because they failed to be baptized. The thief on the cross next to Jesus did not have time to be baptized before he died, but he had an opportunity (as we all do) to believe in Jesus and put his trust in Him, and Jesus responded by saying, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise" Luke 23:43.

A Love So Deep, Even The Just Did Not See

We know that Jesus told us to love and to keep that commandment. That one commandment of love is the foundation of all commandments and is the foundation to everything we do as believers in Jesus Christ. We all know that Jesus showed that ultimate sacrifice of love to a world that did not deserve it, which was His punishment and death on the Cross. And when we accept His love, He will give us eternal life.

I was thinking today about that love and how deep His love truly is. We all have heard the scripture to, “love our enemies,” if you are like me that is the hardest area of love to express. It is easy to love those who love us back, who care for us, who help us, but to love those who rebuke us, do not care for us, and treat us like dirt--that is a tough one. Though this can be tough for us, it was so perfectly demonstrated by our Savior with no flaw or hesitation in one passage that we often over look as an example to loving our enemies.

In John 13, The Last Supper, which is also seen in all the other Gospels. John, though, gives us a little extra. In verse 21, Jesus says to the disciples, "I tell you the truth, one of you are going to betray me." And because of this statement, the disciples become very confused. Then in verse 25 one asks, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered in verse 26, "It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish." Well, take in mind that Jesus is saying this to the point for all to hear. Jesus goes on in the rest of 26 by dipping the piece of bread and giving it to Judas Iscariot. Jesus then goes in verse 27 to tell Judas, "What you are about to do, do quickly," In this passage or any other Last Supper passages in the Gospel there is no mention that the disciples were shocked to learn that the betrayer was Judas, they only realized this later when Judas brought the Roman soldiers to imprison Jesus.

Now, did you see the love in this passage? To be honest, I never saw it either until about two weeks ago. Why didn’t the disciples make the connection that Judas was the betrayer? Jesus, point blank, told them, "It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish." and then He gave the bread it to Judas, but still the disciples never once made out the Judas was the one. Why? Is it because they lacked common sense or they were ignorant, of course not, it was the ultimate love of Jesus that blinded their connection. Jesus knew who His betrayer would be from the beginning of His ministry up to the Last Supper. However, He always demonstrated His desire to love even to the one that would betray Him. Now, that is truly a perfect example of loving our enemies. Think about, if you were in a similar situation and you knew someone that you walked and talked with everyday was going to stab you in the back and betray you, which to me can be the worst enemy, wouldn’t you act very different towards him or her, I am sure I would be guilty of that. However, Jesus did not; He showed His unconditional love to the one that He knew would bring Him to unbearable pain and suffering and eventually to His death. Would you and I show that same kind of love?

Singing Praises To God. Is There Really A Wrong Way?

Psalm 33:3, "Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy."

From a toddler to teens, I went to a Baptist church and attended a Christian school that was connected with the church. The church along with the school had a very strict policy about the music that was played: traditional hymns accompanied only by the piano or organ; no basses, drum, or guitars. Now, as an adult, my own family and I attend a Vineyard church, which is probably one of the most noted protestant churches promoting Christian Contemporary Music (CCM) in the church today.

One day, I started thinking, “What does The Bible truly say about the whole subject of music and instruments and is there such a thing as "proper music" to be played in church?" Well, growing up in the Baptist church and the Christian school I was taught along with everyone else that secular music (non-Christian) was wrong because it never glorifies God, it only glorifies self or man and the style emphasizes the music not the words. So, as Christians, we need not to be conformed to this world based on this verse:

Romans 12:2, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."

Well, you might ask, "What does this have to do with CCM--the music may sound like the worlds music, but the message of the song is about God?" This is a great question that was asked by many and the answer was always--even though the message is about God, the entertainment side of the music is of the world; therefore, the message is lost and it is no longer good or pleasing to God. Being a kid growing up in this, you pretty much accepted the answer, and never questioned it.

Well, as I got to my late teens, my attitude and thinking towards this subject was that all music either traditional, CCM, or even secular music was fine as long as the message of the music was decent. After graduating high school, I started walking my own path and not God's and I stopped attending the Baptist church; and frankly, stopped attending church all together. From 18 to my late 20s, I was big into secular music. When I was 29, I started attending the Vineyard church and it was there when I gave my life, completely, back to Christ. Soon after that decision, my interest for secular music faded and my interest for to CCM grew, it soon became everything I was playing, singing, writing, and listening too and is still that way today. Moreover, if this is so wrong according to how I was taught than why does it feel so right in my life.

Now, getting back to my question, "What does The Bible truly say about music and instruments?" Well, seeing that the internet is a great way to find information, I searched for articles and references about music in The Bible, and to my surprise, tons of articles came up about the matter. There were, actually, more articles contending that CCM is in no way Biblical. Most of the "anti" CCM articles were doing there best to rip to shreds the music and its artists, by what they called "clear cut scripture against it." The majority of these articles, in my opinion, were very argumentative and attacking by using words like: satanic, demonic, worldly or evil, and then at times would even relate it to some kind of paganism. Most of the verses that were used to derail CCM had nothing to do with music; they were, mainly, verses like Roman 12:2. Even the verses they used that had something to with music were the verses referring to "singing praises to God" or verses that referred to having a "new song," which are all great verses that deal with spiritual matters of the heart, but never, specifically, point to a style of music or instruments preferred by God. I am not going to get into the details about every example about why critics of CCM feel its wrong, but from what I see, most of the articles are very opinion based, more about assuming intentions on the music or artists, and they tend to only go with Bible verses that could backup their opinion, but they seem to leave out other verses that contradict their opinion.

Mainly, the critic’s over all theme tends to be that any music that has a beat or rhythm is wrong. They contend that according to The Bible, music should never appeal to the "flesh" and when that happens music brings out a physical responses, which is no longer a heart expression to God; therfore, that physical expression is wrong. These critics must forget or overlook the fact that all music either with or without instruments has rhythm--sound in time ; plus, The Bible explicitly has verses that correlate instruments with dancing as praising the Lord, example, Exodus 15:20-21 and there are several others in Psalms and the New Testament, note: these are the verses they usually leave out in their argument. Concerning the drums, the critics often state that drums are not even mentioned in The Bible because back in The Bible times the drums were often related to pagan rituals; therefore, because of that reason the drums must be wrong. Well, I guess the critics would also have to agree that because the name of God is never mentioned in book of Esther, we must conclude that God was not around during that time: right. Of course, we all know that is not the case--do you see my point? God is not the author of confusion, man is and when we fall into only using some of The Bible to make our point sound valid it can cause contradictory, confusion, and mis-leading statements.

To conclude, when you clear all the smoke that the CCM critics have on this issue, it all comes down to a pure and simply dislike for the style of the music, let me repeat, the style of the music. The Bible does not, specifically, dabble into the style of music that is proper for Christians or the proper music to praise God, and to say so--is an error. Music and/or instruments in themselves are in no way wrong according to what I read in The Bible, it only becomes wrong and not pleasing to God when we choose to glorify ourselves with it, rather than God, and God knows our heart when we come to Him in praise and worship. God, also, tells us as Christians not to judge each other and for the critics to say that CCM and its artists are in any way wrongfully enticing, misleading, and leading others down the wrong path away from God is assuming intentions of the heart. Clearly, spiritual matters of the heart and judgment, for that matter, is God's department: not ours. This verse has always helped to give me a clear understanding to what is right or wrong according to God concerning not only music, but everything I do in my Christian life, and I believe, in general, it can help us all as believers.

Philippians 4:8, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or
praiseworthy—think about such things."

"I Will Never Leave You..."

The feeling of being alone is a tough one, especially, when you are looking for comfort and finding no answers. One day, about two months ago, I was browsing at blogs and I came across a blog post called, "Concerns of the Heart." The beginning of the blog post was about a concern that the writer was having with the condition of her heart, and not knowing if her heart was right with God because a sense of feeling alone, spiritually, crept in. She then started to wonder if she was doing something wrong to make God feel so distant.

While dealing through her dilemma, she thought of a fellow friend who was going through the same problem--then a verse of scripture came to mind.

Psalms 22:24, "He has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; He has not hidden His face from him, but has listened to his cry for help." [NIV]

She goes on further to say that this verse is a reminder to us all, in general, to keep steadfast in our trust in the Lord and that no matter what, He hears us.

The second half of her blog goes into a spiritual conflict of trying to understand the line between believing in the Lord in mind, and believing in heart: "What's the difference?" She goes on to quote the verse:

Romans 10:10, "For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." [NIV]

This was really something, personally, I have never thought about, but once I sat down and thought about it; it hit me: One, "it is with your heart that you believe…," separate from the mind, inward expression of faith in our heart. Two, "with your mouth that you confess…," outward expression of our heart's decision. This is a great verse to believers that shows our heart and our mind and the true relationship between them, not only do we receive the Spirit of Christ in our heart by our faith, but we also need to be express it outwardly. She follows up and concludes her blog post with this verse:

Philippians 4:7, "And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your mind in Christ Jesus." [NIV]

Philippians 4:7, to me is an excellent follow up verse to Romans 10:10. These two verses should give us confidence as believers that with our inward and outward expression of faith, God will, not could, can, or might, but will gives us peace that He will always be there guarding and protecting us.

My heart soon after reading this post was convicted. It was as if I was meant to read it because at that time I going through the same dilemma; namely, the feeling alone and finding no answers. Reading this post reminded me that no matter what, God is always there listening to my every cry for forgiveness, strength, knowledge, and understanding for His will in my life. However, at the time, I could not hear or feel His presence. I was constantly asking myself what was I doing wrong, but I never come to any justifiable answer, but there had to be something.

This post was perfect for what I needed at the time, a reminder of my never-ending relationship with my Savior, Jesus Christ--"I will never leave you nor forsake you." Hebrews 13:5. This verse has always been a special verse to me and after reading this post, this verse had found new clarity, in general, this verse along with Roman 10:10 and Philippians 4:7 are just a few great verses to all believers to help guide us to understand, once again, that no matter what God is always there listening. He will never turn His back on us: it is we, as believers, who do not completely open ourselves to Him. Sometimes I can get so concerned and caught up in the trials of life and then turn around sit back dumb-founded and say, "Why God, why does it feel You are not there?" And the simple fact is He has never left, I am just blocking Him out with my life's little distractions. When I feel like God is not there, it scares me, but I need to never forget that it is not God who is distant, it is me who is distant from God; and this was my prayer to Him at that time and is still at times today:

"Dear God, You are always there even in my weakness, there are times I can loose sight of Your presence because I am so distant, but because of Your never failing love, grace and forgiveness, I can come to you with an open heart, and in-turn You will open my eyes to Your direction and presence. I thank You for Your love, Your grace, and the salvation You gave me: Amen."

Humble Witnesses

I Thessalonians 4:11-12

V. 11, "Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you,

V. 12, "So that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody."

Lately, I have been going through a personal study of the New Testament. As I was reading through I Thessalonians, I came across these two verses, which immediately stood out and spoke to me. Though this letter was written 2000 yrs ago, the principles of it were not only important for Christians back then, they are still even as important today; moreover, I think giving the background of this letter helps us to see the concern that was needed at this time in The Bible. This was a letter that Paul the apostle wrote to the Thessalonian church. The Thessalonian church was experiencing a lot of stresses and anxiety at this time. One in particular was that the people of the Thessalonian church were so excited and motivated for Jesus Christ, that excitement drove them to quit their jobs because they thought the second coming of the Jesus Christ was on the horizon and they wanted to be ready with no distractions. Paul, in his earlier missionary work of spreading the Gospel of Christ established this church, but when he heard that they quit their jobs and were not following other principles he gave them, he grew concerned, so he sent this letter to further institute the principles he originally taught them.

Though the whole letter expresses great instructions and principles to all Christians then and even now, these two verses stood out the most to me. When Paul said, " to make it our ambition to lead a quiet life," I do not believe he was saying to live in silence or not to speak at all. I believe he was instructing them, which can surely be applied to us now, to lead a humble and calm life as Christians; in other words, do not be a loud mouth and an arrogant person. The second instruction, "mind your own business," is probably self explanatory, we need to be, only, concerned about matters of our own life and not be concerned or butt into others lives though as Christians I think if we see a concern in someone elses life where we could help: HELP, but remembering to show kindness and respect. Even though the third instruction, "work with your hands," was directed mainly towards the people of this church, Paul makes it clear to them that he never told them to stop working, he reiterates that they should strive to always work hard; in addition, this principle is so true for Christians today. Even in the book of Proverbs, it instructs us to work hard.

At the closing of verse 11, Paul continues with verse 12 by bringing the application of living by these principles, at which if we as Christians strive to apply these principles in our lives daily, it will only help us to gain the respect of unbelievers. These verses taught me that the only way we will properly reach out to those who do not believe in Christ, is to maintain a proper testimony by showing kindness, compassion, humbleness, hard work, and respect to others everyday, which in turn, will help us as Christians to have a stronger chance to witness to those who do not know or understand that they can, as well, reap the freedom of eternal life through Jesus Christ.

Posting My Thoughts

Throughout my whole blogging experience, it has given me a new sense for challenging writing. I am not just writing for myself or writing another paper to be graded, but I am writing to an endless audience where there are no grades or positive feedback to encourage better writing. The audience can be at times strong and cutthroat and if they have a strong opinion or find loopholes about my writing, they will make it known. Therefore, I have to write as if I am on my best game to gain the acceptance of the blogger community. The tougher the critic the better, when they find the loop holes in my writing that is what truly makes me strive to be a better writer.

I decided to name my blog, Truth Perceived. It is a walk through my life and thoughts as a Christian in today‘s society. I wanted to create to the reader that I am not just another “Holy Roller Christian” that is so caught up in religious doctrine and standards that their thinking clouds their eyes from the reality of the real world. I want people to see that I am a Christian that people can relate too, not a person that people avoid and look at as someone weird or annoying. I enjoy the fact that others who might agree or disagree with what I am writing are reading my posts and finding them interesting based on my style, format, and content and if they happen to learn or gain some insight out of them I have accomplished my goal in my blog.

What I enjoy about blogging the most is that I can show whoever is reading that I have something to say. Most of the time, just in general conversation, I find myself as being more of a listener and not the talker. Now do not get me wrong, I like being the person that everybody comes to, to speak on whatever is on his or her mind, while looking for my insight in whatever way they are looking for. However, with blogging I can show that I have something on my mind as well. I can write without any interruptions and get everything out first then I can send it out for everyone to read to get their insight: it is great.

One interesting issue I discovered was that blogging was stressing me out. I was almost to the point of oppression with my posts and the comments towards my post. I had to make the posts perfect in both grammar and content, leaving no loose ends. I enjoy writing, but I was getting so strung out around the fourth and fifth post that the enjoyment for writing turned into more of an obligation to write just for a grade.

My breakthrough to overcome my dilemma did not happen until I was reading the class handbook, The Weblog Handbook. In chapter 7--“Taking a Break“, the writer was talking about the very same thing I was going through. It was like the writer was saying: know when to say when with blogging. The writer states that there are periods of time when we get so caught up on blogging, it can effect us physically and mentally. We need to learn when these periods pop up to shut of the computer and walk away for a few days. Though the stakes were a little higher than your average blogger experience because I was being graded too, I went ahead and took the books advice and I took a needed four-day hiatus from blogging.

After my four-day vacation from writing, I felt refreshed and rested. I found myself once again wanting to write again. My enjoyment for writing had come back and writing became easier. My enjoyment for writing started six months ago and the one thing I learned is that I can get so bent out of shape to make my writing perfect and that striving for perfection can affect me in a negative way in all aspects of my life. I learned that I need to take breaks and relax because the best writing I have done has been when I want to write not because I have to write. I write songs and play the guitar and there has been times when the same type of feelings of stress and lack of enjoyment have came up. A friend of mine who plays guitar once said to me that the best thing he has done is to know when to put the guitar down and take a break and then when the feelings come back to play, that is when he knows it is time to pick up the guitar again. This advice was given to me three years ago and it seems to be good advice in everything that I enjoy. With the handbook and my friends advice, I have learned that it is okay to take a break and getting stress out and striving for perfection can just make things worse. My love for writing is best served to everyone including myself when I am enjoying it and that is what I will always strive for.

God's Grace To A Wayward Child

I grew up in church my whole life and was blessed with the opportunity to go to a Christian school, from kindergarten to graduation; Thank you, Mom and Dad. When I was sixteen, sitting in a pew at my church, I felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit for salvation during a sermon by an Evangelist visiting the church. During the invitation, I asked Christ to save me and that day will forever be a day, I will never forget. The first two years after that day were great, but the Devil proved he was not going down without a fight. Around my senior year in high school, the Devil's fight became strong and I started on a downward spiral into darkness, ignoring the Holy Spirit’s convictions.

For the next eight years after graduation, I was doing my will and not God's. I was no longer attending church and alcohol and drugs ruled my life. In the mist of all of this, I never realized how my actions were killing my parents and destroying my own family, but God in His mercy and faithfulness was always there whispering in my ear, "Turn around and come back." One day, just a couple of years ago, my neighbor came over and invited my family an I to their church and right away I felt the need to go, so the following Sunday I went. Thank God for His grace, a dedicated and loving wife, and two parents who probably prayed their hearts out for my family and me because soon after that Sunday I gave my life back to Christ and stopped doing it my way. It has never been the same since. That decision spawned a domino effect in my life; my wife committed herself to Christ and all three of my boys did the same and my life once again had joy and purpose. "THANK YOU GOD, MY HEAVENLY FATHER, FOR YOUR GRACE AND NEVER GIVING UP ON ONE OF YOUR WAYWARD CHILDREN."