Seek First The Kingdom of God and His Righteousness

    The Born-Again Christian life is a joyful life.   John 15:5 “I am the vine, you  are  the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.   Psalm 16:11 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence  is  fullness of joy; At Your right hand  are  pleasures forevermore.   Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  23  gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.     If we understand these 3 verses we will never, ever have a joy problem.  Starting with John 15:5 if we are abiding in Jesus than we are abiding in His presence thus we are abiding in the fullness of joy, Psalm 16:11. If Jesus is abiding in us than The Holy Spirit is abiding in us and if the The Holy Spirit is abiding in us His fruit is being produc...

  Report from 2 nd   Trip to Ireland Part 4 Monday thru Thursday morning I stayed in Westport.  I was able to take part in the morning prayer meetings that take place at Castlebar Christian Fellowship on Monday and Wednesday.  On Tuesday I met with the Pastor of Castlebar Christian Fellowship, Cathal Duffy, for lunch and a personal tour of Westport House.  Pastor Cathal used to work at Westport house when he was growing up in Westport.  He also shared with me how he came to Christ back in the 70’s and how the Christian church got started in Westport. Very powerful testimony.  During my stay in Westport, I was able to meet and speak with many people who worked in the stores.  I was able to give out some tracts and pray with a few of them as well. On my final night in Westport, I attend Amazing Grace Fellowship’s midweek Bible study which was held in the home of Mark and Rose. Their living room was packed with people as we s...

  Report from 2 nd   Trip to Ireland Part 3   Friday, I stayed in Kildare Town because it would be close to a gathering that started back in January at a place called the Cowhouse which is in Inchaquire, co. Kildare. On my journey there and back the roads are VERY rural and in one section the sheep have no fences.   One of the people I got to see again was Peter who introduced me to an answer to prayer, her name is Lorain. Lorain is a wonderful answer to prayer for Peter.  A woman who is joyful and loves the Lord. Peter and Lorain got engaged a few days later.  After sharing a meal together, we sang a few songs together.  I was asked to share my testimony of why I came to Ireland.  With the treat of severe storms moving into the area we then moved into a time of prayer for one another.  Saturday was a very busy day. I drove an hour 15 minutes drove to Meath Christian Centre for Outreach Ireland meeting before their outreac...

  More Faith in Amazon???   Most everyone who is reading this has at one time or another ordered something from Amazon.  Many of you order frequently enough that you even have Amazon Prime which gives you access to free two-day shipping on thousands of items.  What a wonderful thing to sit at home, your place of work or anywhere you have internet service and purchase just about anything.   I wonder how many of you have ever wondered how much faith it takes to do this?  Faith? What does faith have to do with ordering from Amazon, you might ask?  Let’s look at the facts.  You are purchasing something based on a picture on your computer.  Unlike shopping in a store like mine, you pay for the item before you actually see it in person and that days to a week or more in advance.  At the time of purchase you believe that your item will be delivered within the delivery window they give you even if they hav...

  Report from second trip to Ireland Part 2 Monday December 2-Thursday December 5.   After having breakfast and prayer walking in Athlone I traveled to Birr to meet with Pastor John Bulfin and his wonderful wife Arja. The pastor the New Life Church in Birr, County Offaly which is a church plant out of Oasis Christian Fellowship, Roscrea.  I first went to Pastor John’s home, which is working on renovating. It was built in the 1600’s and has been in his family since the 1800’s and here people back home think I live in an old home because it was built in 1890’s.  (Our “old” homes in America are new construction compared to homes like John’s.)  We talked about the joys and challenges of planting and pastor a small church. They then fed me a wonderful supper of Pumkin and vegetable soup, lamb and potatoes.  As I was waiting for John to change for the bible study we were going to that night Arja, who is originally shared with me how she and John met....

  You can’t give what you don’t have. Acts3:6 Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” At the beginning of Mark 16:17 it says And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will and the of the signs listed in the next verse it says lay their hands on the sick and they will recover. It doesn’t say that they will pray, beg God to heal and wish that they will be healed. It says that those who believe in Jesus name will lay hands on the sick and they will recover. That’s what Peter and John had, faith in what Jesus said, and that is what they gave and the man was healed. Acts 3:7 we see the proof of their faith. And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. The man received healing not based upon his faith but the faith that Peter and John had in Jesus and Jesus name. Look at what Peter tells the religious ...

  Mentor   In looking up the definition of this word there is no definition for Mentor in the Noah Webster 1828 dictionary.  I found this very interesting.  It leads me to believe this word is something that has developed since that time.  Thus, the importance is more on what this word means and represents more so than the word itself because the meaning has been around longer that the word itself in our context.  As I explored the meaning of what mentor means I found that the word itself was actually the name of the friend of Odysseus entrusted with the education of Odysseus' son Telemachus.  I found this knowledge very enlightening.  I believe that it shows the character traits necessary of a mentor.  Friendship/relationship, trust, experience, knowledge and ability to pass that knowledge and experience on. To be a true mentor, I believe, one must have all of these characteristics.   In looking at the...

  Report From second Ireland trip.     Arrived in Ireland on time and very blessed.  The Lord provided me access to an airport lounge for my layover in Washington DC and for a row by myself to stretch out on the plane flight over.  Superfast pick up of the rental car and off I went to Castledaly.    Castledaly is a wonderful retreat/summer camp facility.  There was actually another retreat going on the same time as Outreach Ireland’s retreat.  The European Christian Mission and I the great privilege of meeting and speaking with Jonathan McCracken who is a church planter currently planting a church in Claremorris, Ireland.  Being that church planting is a passion of mine and part of my calling/mission this was indeed a divine appointment.  I was able to exchange contact information and am hoping to build relationship with him. Outreach Ireland’s retreat was a Holy Spirit filled time of connection, relati...