Unchanged

It is been over 6 months since I have updated my blog.  I guess with the new year approaching it is time to create a new post.  So here is my review on some areas that I believe need serious improvement.

1.  If you are a Christ follower, then you should forgive!  I am tired of people holding on to grudges, hurts, pains, and then they go to church and remain unchanged.  Look, Jesus did not have to forgive you of your sins, die on the cross and come back again.  BUT HE DID!  The fact that you have accepted it means you need to follow it and that begins with FORGIVENESS!!!  Colossians 3:13

2.  If you are a Christ follower, then you should trust God...TOTALLY!  I know, I know...this is another tough one.  But the fact is no matter what you are going through, no matter what part of you is broken, we need to trust God...SERIOUSLY!  Paul was shipwrecked, beaten and left for dead.  DEAD!  How many of you are DEAD to God right now?  Why?  Because you are unchanged!  2 Corinthians 1:8-11

3.  If you are a Christ follower, then you need to love...EVERYONE!  Okay...I hear you.  There are some people who are hard to love.  Especially those you know!  A family member, a friend or even someone in church!  I find it almost laughable, that people will say they love like God does.  The fact is God loves EVERYONE, but He does NOT like the sin.  When Jesus walked on this Earth, he loved everyone.  A tax collector, a prostitute, a leper, the blind...yet we set ourselves apart from those God loves.  1 John 4:6-8

4.  If you are a Christ follower, act like Jesus!  I am guilty of this.  My feelings (aka the flesh) gets to me sometime.  It is difficult for me to be angry, but sometimes I do.  But I am always reminded to pray and talk to God.  Not only that, but to listen to His voice.  His voice can come in the form of another person, a situation, a thought, or an opportunity.  Too many of us (admit it right now) say we love, trust and follow Jesus but yet we do not want to act like Him.  Why?  Is it too hard?  Is it too difficult to give?  Is it too difficult to process your reaction? 

The bottom line is that in this post, it seems to me that many people want to remain unchanged.  This means unrepentant, this means living for the Enemy, and this means an unhealthy way in all areas of your life.  I write these things so that you can totally fall in love (for some of you again) with Jesus.  He has help me change and I pray He helps you change.  Make a conscious effort to change.

Peace Always,

Waldo

4000 emails...seriously?

I subscribe to a lot of different blogs, websites, and of course Facebook.  Therefore, I accumulate alot of emails which consists of special offers or general announcements.  But there are alot of people that I go back and forth on my email account.  Needless to say, I have accumulated over 4000 emails.  That is too many for the average person to have.  Do I really need emails from 2 years ago?What I realized today, is that I have alot of junk in my email.  Unnecessary emails that I have held on to without removing them and therefore keeping a cluttered email box.

Isn't that how life is?  We keep our hurts, pains, disappointment inside of us.  We hold on to hate, unforgiveness, and worries?  We keep them bottled up inside of us.  There is no legitimate reason to do so!   What good is it for you to be angry at someone from your high school days?  What good is it to not love a person you know you should love?  All these can be summed up in one word...SELFISH!

So today, begin with a new attitude.  Get rid of the selfish part and get going with Jesus.  Let go of those things that have bogged you down for weeks, months or maybe even years.  Let go of guilt, anger, and disappointment today.   Let go of those things that are keeping you away from a relationship with Jesus. I like the way The Message speaks about Matthew 11:28:

Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life.

 We are told to come to Jesus.  Give him your emails in your life and he will give you a recovered life!

Until next time!

Pastor Waldo

To Save A Life

Going to show this awesome movie to our youth on Wednesday, April 13th.

Stay tuned...

Blog will be updated in the next few weeks!

21 Day Experience

For the past 21 days (3 weeks or 504 hours or 30,240 minutes...okay...it was a loooong time), my wife and I have been fasting.  We were challenged by a recent online message we saw at Life Church by Pastor Craig Groeschel.  Pastor Craig spoke about fasting and provided different examples of how it could be done.  So for my wife and I, it was not food that we gave up.  It was something that indeed would be difficult for us (especially me).  We gave up watching no TV.  No sports highlights, news, weather or traffic updates.  No DVD movies or online TV shows.  No Netflix online or anything else.  When others had the TV on, we could not watch it.   So my "fasting" was different than most others and I would like to share a few things I learned from this 21 day experience.

1. I discovered YouVersion.  During the message and the online chat, it was recommended to sign up for the 21 day reading plan.  The idea was there would be 21 bible verses and also some encouragement in your fast.  I had heard of YouVersion, but have never used it.  But it helped me tremendously, because instead of turning on the TV very EARLY in the morning I would use the mobile application and read my lesson for the day!  What a great way to get up and read God's Word first!
2. I struggled.  I watch alot of TV, no doubt!  I enjoy certain programs and watching sports.  It has become my relaxation time.  Those first few days were difficult.  TV had become an early morning and late night habit.  In fact, I moved the remote control from the side of bed to a dresser where the TV was so I could not easily grab it.  I am sure some of you struggled with whatever you gave up.
3. I messed up.  I know, we all mess up.  But I was doing really well for 14 days and then BAM it hit me.  Subtle as it was, I was watching a late night TV program that someone else was watching.  I didn't thinking anything about it at the time and it was only for a few minutes, but once I left the TV I realized I had done wrong and messed up.  I definitely felt bad and convicted.  But isn't that how we should approach those things that are wrong against God.  Bad and convicted?
4. I could do it!  Despite the temptations and wanting to watch the last two playoff games before Superbowl, my wife and I did it!  We learned that we can put God first.  We learned that there are other things we can do together instead of TV (shopping or even a puzzle).

So I shared what I learned and I pray that you too will challenge yourself to participate in a 21 day fast.  If you participated in this fast, what did you learn? I would love to hear about your experience.