Unapologetically Apostolic

This past Friday night, I had the privilege of going with a friend of mine and her youngsters to a youth service in Cowan, TN.  We knew the young evangelist who was leading the service that evening and wanted to be there for support, along with his family.  Let me just say, this young man PREACHED!  He brought a message from a passage of scripture that we are all familiar with, the feeding of the 5,000 in Matthew 14,the title, "The Revival that No One Wanted.". He shared how the disciples repeatedly tried to get Jesus to send the multitude away. They were in a desert place, meaning that there was nothing around. Think about a desert for a moment. It's dry and desolet with only scrub brush and cacti growing. There is no water or anything to offer substance. But here they were: Jesus, the twelve disciples and a mass of people that just would not stop following them.  The disciples asked to send them away. Realistically, these folks had traveled many days already from t...

When a person finds new life in Christ, a favorite verse to quote is 2 Corinthians 5:17. They revel in the newness which they feel growing inside of them. You often see pictures depicting a butterfly spreading it's wings to take flight with the scripture emblazoned across it in scrawling calligraphy. But I ask you, is the butterfly a new creature? When you examine the most infamous of all butterflies, the Monarch, you can find what is considered the life cycle. From birth to death, the DNA of the Monarch remains the same. It is created as a larvae to endure the growth process of becoming a butterfly. This includes the chrysalis as it enters into the cocoon to metamorph into the butterfly. But is it a new creature? The answer is emphatically no. The butterfly is only becoming what he was created to be. In Hebrews 9:16-18, we read "For where a treatment is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is ...

Let's all be realistic, we are fearful of severe weather. Especially after the events of April 27, 2011 when we saw violent long track tornadoes and epic destruction. At the thought of the possibility of a storm now, our nerves get wound so tightly and we begin to panic over what may or may not happen. I was a product of elementary school in the 1980's. There were no early dismissals or cancellations due to weather. We had our tornado drills where we lined up in the hallway with our heads tucked between our knees. I recall the ice storm so bad in 1993 that kids were stranded on school busses trying to get home. My how times have changed.  I have watched as businesses, schools, even churches closed their doors for the threat of a storm. My how times have changed. I read a devotional today written by a friend and it challenged me. Then I read a post by a friend on Facebook and it provoked me. I'll get to that in a moment but let's go to the word first. In Ezekiel 3: 1-9, ...

I've heard it said of those who are seeking the baptism of the Holy Ghost that the Spirit of God was ascending and descending upon them as they prayed. Picture it like the cars of a roller coaster 🎢 f you will. As I contemplated that, I had a different vision come to mind, that of the ocean tides 🌊 as they ebb and flow. The tides ebb and flow because of the tidal pull. There is a gravitational attraction between the moon and the Earth. Besides the moon, the gravitational pull of the sun, the depth of the ocean and the shape of the land also effect how high or low a tide will be. Looking at this from a spiritual standing, we as individual worshippers are like the Earth. We are in a fixed position where we are effected by the gravity of the moon, in this sense, the Holy Ghost. As the movement begins, there may only be a few ripples visible on the surface of the water (within the worshipper). This can be especially true if we are trying to worship on our own. However, when we come t...

It's not something that I watched on a regular basis, but I thought about the show The Big Bang Theory. This show followed a group of physists that were very knowledgeable in their fields of study. Leonard, Howard and Raj, while smart and having knowledge, were still able to function in the everyday things of life. Sheldon, however, had such a level of knowledge that he was incapable of operating outside of that knowledge and schedules.  The pursuit of knowledge is not a bad thing. We can't go through life ignorant and dumb. But when knowledge keeps us from living, it becomes an issue.  In 2015, I got into trying to do some art projects. I was drawing and coloring things which I felt God was showing me at the time. One of the things I drew was the outline of a person's head filled with book after book of knowledge. The books were all from the neck up, all in the head and moved no farther than that. There was a pitcher of water being poured into the open skull representing t...

When talking about faith, everyone loves to turn to Matthew 17:20, "And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you."  Most will condense it down to say, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can do anything. However, the word size is not mentioned in scripture. Luke 17:5-6 is another, "And the apostles said unto the Lord, increase our faith. And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamore tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you. But faith is not the only thing which a mustard seed is used to describe. In Mark 4:30-32, Jesus says, "And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? It is like a grain of must...

All around us we hear that our world is in crisis mode. There's a crisis of humanity, a global health crisis, we just saw the end of coronavirus pandemic, the economic crisis, the list goes on and on. But the greatest crisis we face in the world today is a crisis of faith. What is a crisis? Defined as a time of intense difficulty, trouble or danger; a time when a difficult or important decision must be made; the turning point of a disease when an important change takes place, indicating recovery or death. The crisis of faith we are experiencing is seeing record numbers of people walk away, sighting a change of beliefs or church hurt as their reasons. People who had been devout for years, some even serving in the ministry, now deny there is a God. They have, in a sense, died. I can remember old songs from growing up which talked about being satisfied with Jesus and songs about your past, some almost glorifying the things you had done previously. These types of songs and mentality se...