Growin' Up Gregory

I feel that many people who do not believe in God, and even some who do, think that once you become a Christian your life is just an easy road.  Now, once you accept Christ as your savior, he does watch over you, and is with you wherever you go.  But that doesn't mean you will never face adversity.  There's a story in Mark 4 about Jesus and his disciples.  As it became evening, Jesus told them to go across the sea to the other side.  So they left the crowds that had been following them, got in the boat, and headed out to sea.  As they were in the water, a powerful windstorm hit and began sending waves into the boat threatening to capsize it.  But as the disciples faced this storm, Jesus was asleep in the stern of the boat.  They became frantic and woke him saying, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?"  Jesus got up and said to the wind and the sea, "Peace!  Be still!"  And all of a sudden the winds and waves stopped.  Jesus then questioned why

"Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in You?" - Psalm 85:6 The thoughts below were in my devotional this morning by Dr. Lee Sheppard: "So how can we know if we need revival in our lives?  Well, we need revival when our salvation has lost its joy, when our sin does not break our heart, and when we make little to no effort to witness to the lost.  We need revival when worship becomes boring, when we are at odds with believers and see no need for reconciliation, and when we fail to believe God for the impossible.  We need revival when we have to be begged to give and serve in church and when we would rather make money than give money.  We need revival when we have to be entertained to be drawn to church and when we are indifferent to the fact that there are 2.5 billion people on the planet who have never heard the name of Jesus.  We need revival when we don't regularly see the supernatural evidence of God's power and when we los

"And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap." - Joshua 3:13 In this full passage in Joshua 3-4, the Israelites are preparing to cross over the Jordan River into the Promised Land after 40 years of wandering in the desert, and not long after their leader, Moses, has died.  So here they are, under new leadership, and in unchartered waters facing what seemed to be an insurmountable obstacle.  Have you ever been there?  Facing a death of a loved one, a job loss, a financial burden you don't see a way out of? I would imagine most of us have.  These are usually times when even non-Christians may turn to God in prayer for his guidance.  Sometimes it's hard to know what that next step should be, but there is always a next step.  Look at what God told Joshua,

As we conclude looking at the story of the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15:21-28, you may have noticed something.  She is always referred to as woman or mother, and that is because... Mark # 7:  They don't need a name to be great mothers. We can gather from this story that the woman here was likely poor.  She did not come offering gifts to Jesus if he would heal her daughter, only asking him.  She also traveled out to him alone, without other family members or servants.  You do not need money or possessions to love your children, that is more determined by your actions that your assets. She was also an outcast, being a Canaanite and a Gentile.  This mother was not the top echelon of society, she was an outsider, a lower level citizen by those standards.  But that did not determine how much she loved or cared for her daughter.  Though other members of society may not have looked highly upon her, she knew that her child did.  Mothers, the most important set of eyes that are on yo

"Then Jesus answered her, "O Woman, great is your faith!  Be it done for you as you desire."  And her daughter was healed instantly." - Matthew 15:28 Mark # 6 of a great mother is that they triumph because of great faith. The mother in our story received great commendation.  Jesus said you her, "Great is your faith."  How awesome is it when someone notices what we've done good and encourages us like he did her.  Jesus often tested people through rejection in an effort to test their faith and this mother had passed.  She was living out the parable of the Persistent Widow (Luke 18:1-8).  The lady in that story was so perseverant and faithful in going to the judge requesting justice that he finally gave in to her request, not necessarily because he agreed with her, but so that she would leave him alone.  This parable concludes with the words, "Will he find faith on earth?" which really got me to thinking, how faithful and persistent are we i

If you've missed the others scroll back through to find the other days.  But we are now on to the fifth mark of a great mother. "And he answered, "It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."  She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table." - Matthew 15:26-27 Mark #5 - Great mothers acknowledge their own great spiritual need. She admits she is unworthy being a sinner before God.  Jesus has just compared this mother to a household pet, and she knows that she is so unworthy of his mercy that she agrees with him by saying "Yes Lord."  Are we willing to admit how undeserving we are of the Lord's mercy?  Or have we become so self-righteous that we believe we deserve an easy ride to heaven compared to some people.  We are all sinner and in great need of a saving God. She was humble enough to acknowledge her hopelessness without God, that she was like dogs left to

Still working through the passage on mothers found in Matthew 15:21-28.  "But she came and knelt before him saying, "Lord, help me." - Matthew 15:25 Mark #4 - Great mothers know the power of great prayer. This verse is short and simple, but so packed with insight on the power of prayer that I really had to just let it soak in.  There aren't very many words here, but there is a lot of information so read it slowly or a couple times.  The mother in this story acknowledged the Lordship of Jesus as she came and knelt before him.  She was literally able to kneel at the feet of Jesus, are we doing that in our prayer lives?  She knew who could get the answer for her great need, the Lord.  If you don't know who can help you with your problems, He can.  Cry out to Him when you need answers. She confessed that she needed God personally when she said "help me."  Don't we all need a hand sometime in our lives, a pick me up, or a boost to get through

"But he did not answer her a word.  And his disciples came and begged him, saying, "Send her away, for she is crying out after us."  He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel...and he answered, "It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." - Matthew 15: 23-24, 26 Mark #3 - Great mothers are armed with great determination. She conquered the test of patience in silence.  When the mother cried out to Jesus for help, he did not respond at all, basically ignoring her.  We know through more accounts that Jesus was not being rude to this mother, but that he was testing her faith.  How do we respond to silence?  Do we assume that means no and give up when God doesn't answer our prayers on the first try, or within a week?  She didn't let that stop her, she continued to pursue Jesus and the disciples for help for her daughter. We see in the second part of that verse that she conquered the test

I don't know if this truly is Mother Appreciation Week, but it sounded good, and I'm sure they could all use a week of being honored so I made it one.  Today is focused on the second mark of a great mother still in Matthew 15:21-28. "And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, 'Have mercy on me, Or Lord, Son of David: my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon."  But he did not answer her a word.  And his disciples came and begged him, saying, "Send her away, for she is crying out after us." - Matthew 15:22-23 Mark #2:  Great mothers are empowered by great love. A mother's love is more powerful than her fear.  This woman loved her daughter so much and desired for her to be healed that she was willing to pursue and approach this large group of Jewish men to ask for their assistance.  That took courage considering the restrictions on women during this day.  Her love is also more powerful than her shame.  When she m

This article is from the Spartanburg Herald, May 6th and was too good not to share. The Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act, signed into North Carolina law last month, otherwise known as the "bathroom bill," has touched off a firestorm of debate and dialogue. Many Christian leaders have chimed in with various perspectives concerning the law, the transgender community and teachings of Scripture. As is always the case, opinions and convictions vary even within the faith community. I could summarize my feelings in three statements.   First, as an American I believe all citizens have the right to express themselves, dress themselves and carry themselves in any way they wish as long as it does not cause harm to another. So I stand with my transgender neighbors and affirm their right to live according to their desires. I do not have to agree or accept their lifestyle to uphold their civil right to live as they choose.   Second, I also recognize that every perso

I know I haven't posted much lately but between moving, spending a week getting my computer to decide it could be friends with the internet again, and just being busy in general, time just kind of slipped away.  Yesterday was Mother's Day, and I had the opportunity to preach at Tabernacle which was an awesome experience with so many friends and family there.  But in that message, we looked at 7 marks of a great mother so to extend the appreciation for mothers, I figured we could hit on one of those each day this week.  The full text I used is that of the Canaanite Woman found in Matthew 15:21-28. "And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.  And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, 'Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.'" - Matthew 15:21-22 Mark #1 - Great mothers overcome all barriers. This mother overcame the barrier of inferiority.  Early

Our Declaration of Independence begins with these words: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." The founding fathers of the United States of America believed and put it in writing that we were CREATED, and that our rights were endowed to us by our CREATOR. So all the rights that you want to claim and feel you are entitled to were made legal by the godly men who founded this country but were made into existence by our creator God.  That is the history of our country period.  If you do not believe in what we stand for as a nation then you are free to leave.  This is not a country where you are imprisoned, killed, or tortured for not agreeing with our foundational beliefs.  But, I will not as a proud American and as a Christian, become persecuted for my beliefs eithers...especially when they are