Growin' Up Gregory

The story of Cain and Abel begins at their conception when Genesis says that Adam knew his wife Eve.  She later had a son named Cain, and again his brother Abel.  Some people believe the brothers may have been twins since there is not much of an element of time passing between their births.  Abel became a herdsman and tended the sheep, while Cain became a farmer and worked the ground.  Over time, Cain began to bring offerings to God from "fruit of the ground," which is basically just the generic produce.  Abel on the other hand, brought choice cuts of meat from the firstborn of his flock as sacrifices to God.  The Lord accepted Abel and his offerings, but He had no regard for Cain and his offerings.  Cain became angry and his face was filled with rage toward God and his brother.  The Lord asked Cain why he was angry, and explained that if would do good things by God he would be accepted by Him.  But if he continued in ...

Our Sunday school lesson this past week was based on the word moderate.  The word moderate is defined by Webster as average in size or amount, so average is found right there in the middle.  Did the words moderate of average ever cross your mind when you were a child  playing sports, or dreaming of what you wanted to be when you grew up?  Likely not, we all wanted to be professionals at whatever sport we played, or to become the president of a company, or country, one day.  So as we grow into adults, why do we start to settle for average?  What causes us to lose that passion and desire to be the best?  What parent wants their child to make average grades, have average success, and have an average life when they grow up?  As parents, we want the best for our children; their friendships, sports teams, grades, etc.  How much greater love do you think our Heavenly Father has for us?  God doesn't tell us to settle f...

Some people know my daily routine of waking up early, having my quiet time, then going to the gym.  It's not easy.  Honestly the waking up part isn't the hardest part, it was training my mind and body to go to bed earlier.  That change in my life has cost me relationships with people who I'm just not able to hang out with at night, and activities I often have to skip out on due to the time.  I haven't lost any friendships over it but that time together is impacted by things.  It takes discipline to do the hard things in life, but to strive for greatness it takes sacrifices.  A verse that helps me keep going when it's not fun is Hebrews 12:11, "For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." When that alarm clock goes off in the morning, some days I'm amped and ready to get to the gym.  Some days though, I'm tired, stressed with too m...

Anyone who has been in church, or been a Christian, for any length of time was likely invited there by someone who witnessed to them about Jesus Christ.  And I'm sure that many of us have heard preachers or teachers try to explain to us how to be a witness to others as well.  Throughout much of the Bible we are encouraged to be a witness for the Lord.  Jesus tells us in Mark 16:15, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation."  And in Acts 1:8 we read, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." But what does that really mean?  And how do we do it?  I've been blessed to be a part of prayer walks and other outreach type ministries in efforts to witness to people.  While it can be rewarding and all, it can also be stressful.  I would often times put too much pressure on myself feeling like it was my...