We need all hands on deck on Saturday at 9am to go to assist another church in Austell, the worst hit area. Remember the Clarksdale Elementary School you saw on the news....the one that was completely under water??? Well this is that neighborhood. Some houses flooded half way up the second floor. We will be going to this church on Ewing Rd off Powder Springs....we will be sorting donations, feeding the community, and distrubuting water, and cleaning out houses. It is a huge effort, we need everyone's help.
We will meet at the Kroger off Exit 14 of I575 at 9am on Saturday morning and travel down to Austell.
Email me at Kevin@therevolution.tv
Here is the actual rally point church for ALL volunteers and all donations and free meals....
Ewing Road Baptist Church
4699 Ewing Rd
Austell, GA 30106-1631
For even more info check out this site...
http://HopeATL.org
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Flood Victims....
Atlanta Flood Relief Efforts Partner with Revolution to help flood victims Hello Revolution Church! As we all know, the Atlanta area was hit with severe storms over this past weekend. Hundreds - maybe even thousands - of families have lost everything from flooding. These people need your help. Revolution Church will be taking up much needed supplies for these families this Sunday. We will be collecting mens/womens underwear/socks, all bedding materials like blankets/sheets/pillows and other basic necessities. Some people in Atlanta are also in more immediate need. Courageous Church in Atlanta already has a great disaster relief program in effect, and they could use your support. If you have the time and/or resources to help them, you can find more information at ShaunintheCity.com. Let's show Atlanta the true love of Christ by lifting our neighbors up in their time of need. If you'd like any more info on how to help, contact Kevin at kevin@therevolution.tv.
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Saturday, September 12, 2009
Self-Forgiveness
When I was reading my bible today, I prayed to God that He guide me to what He needs for me to hear. He guided me to the back of the bible, looking up Forgiveness, more so, self-forgiveness. What God revealed to me was just this.
There is not a single scripture in the Bible that incites, invites, or implies the act or need of self-forgiveness. There is not a single story in the Bible that even remotely points to such a thing. The Bible has a great deal to say about God forgiving us and us forgiving one another, but it says nothing about forgiving ourselves, because forgiving oneself is not the answer to sin. If an unbeliever forgives himself, for instance, he is still in his sin. If a believer forgives himself, he is taking the place of God. If he says, "I know God has forgiven me, but I just can’t forgive myself," he is placing his own judgment above God’s merciful provision.
The Bible clearly commands us to love the Lord our God, our neighbor as ourselves, our brothers and sisters in the faith, and even our enemies. It also tells us to forgive one another, as God has forgiven us.
Forgiveness is meant to be an act of love between persons rather than within one’s own self. Self-forgiveness is just one more symptom of worldly self-love, and self-condemnation is just one more symptom of self as god.
When we sin against God, it is God who forgives us.
When we sin against others, it is others who forgive us.
When others sin against us, it is us who forgive them.
So I ask can a person sin against himself, and then forgive himself?
Forgiving or not forgiving self is based on pride. Confessing our sin to God and to one another and then receiving forgiveness from God and one another should result in humility and gratitude. By not receiving and faithfully believing God’s forgiveness in us, either by not confessing sin or by holding onto a self-righteousness that says, "I can’t forgive myself," is prideful and ungrateful. It places one’s own evaluation over God’s, and when we’ve been forgiven by others, it says that their forgiveness is not adequate.
Christians have been saved and forgiven on the basis of the sacrificial death of Jesus, who died in our place. Thus, when God forgives His children, it is finished, signed, sealed, and forgotten.
(1 John 1:9) "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness".
(Psalm 103:12)"As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us."
I know for me I struggled for so long with not being able to "Forgive" myself for my past. NOT ANYMORE. I am not God, I repented my sins. The bible tells me these sins are forgiven, and forgotten. So who am I to tell God that He is smaller than me. The God I serve way bigger than I could ever imagine.
So I ask you, what is it today that you think you are BIGGER than God, and think you can judge yourself better than Him? If He says you are forgiven, because you have repented with all your heart, than is this not enough for you? Even the big stuff, the awful stuff, the skeletons that are deep in your closet. Repent with your heart, and you are forgiven.....we are not God, so stop judging ourselves!!!
Jeremiah 29:11
“I know the thoughts that I think toward you,” says the Lord, “thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
Psalm 130
1 From the depths of despair, O Lord, I call for your help.
2 Hear my cry, O Lord. Pay attention to my prayer.
3 Lord, if you kept a record of our sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive?
4 But you offer forgiveness that we might learn to fear you.
5 I am counting on the Lord, yes, I am counting on him. I have put my hope in his word.
6 I long for the Lord more than sentries long for the dawn, yes, more than sentries long for the dawn.
7 O Israel, hope in the Lord; for with the Lord there is unfailing love.
His redemption overflows.
8 He himself will redeem Israel from every kind of sin.
There is not a single scripture in the Bible that incites, invites, or implies the act or need of self-forgiveness. There is not a single story in the Bible that even remotely points to such a thing. The Bible has a great deal to say about God forgiving us and us forgiving one another, but it says nothing about forgiving ourselves, because forgiving oneself is not the answer to sin. If an unbeliever forgives himself, for instance, he is still in his sin. If a believer forgives himself, he is taking the place of God. If he says, "I know God has forgiven me, but I just can’t forgive myself," he is placing his own judgment above God’s merciful provision.
The Bible clearly commands us to love the Lord our God, our neighbor as ourselves, our brothers and sisters in the faith, and even our enemies. It also tells us to forgive one another, as God has forgiven us.
Forgiveness is meant to be an act of love between persons rather than within one’s own self. Self-forgiveness is just one more symptom of worldly self-love, and self-condemnation is just one more symptom of self as god.
When we sin against God, it is God who forgives us.
When we sin against others, it is others who forgive us.
When others sin against us, it is us who forgive them.
So I ask can a person sin against himself, and then forgive himself?
Forgiving or not forgiving self is based on pride. Confessing our sin to God and to one another and then receiving forgiveness from God and one another should result in humility and gratitude. By not receiving and faithfully believing God’s forgiveness in us, either by not confessing sin or by holding onto a self-righteousness that says, "I can’t forgive myself," is prideful and ungrateful. It places one’s own evaluation over God’s, and when we’ve been forgiven by others, it says that their forgiveness is not adequate.
Christians have been saved and forgiven on the basis of the sacrificial death of Jesus, who died in our place. Thus, when God forgives His children, it is finished, signed, sealed, and forgotten.
(1 John 1:9) "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness".
(Psalm 103:12)"As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us."
I know for me I struggled for so long with not being able to "Forgive" myself for my past. NOT ANYMORE. I am not God, I repented my sins. The bible tells me these sins are forgiven, and forgotten. So who am I to tell God that He is smaller than me. The God I serve way bigger than I could ever imagine.
So I ask you, what is it today that you think you are BIGGER than God, and think you can judge yourself better than Him? If He says you are forgiven, because you have repented with all your heart, than is this not enough for you? Even the big stuff, the awful stuff, the skeletons that are deep in your closet. Repent with your heart, and you are forgiven.....we are not God, so stop judging ourselves!!!
Jeremiah 29:11
“I know the thoughts that I think toward you,” says the Lord, “thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
Psalm 130
1 From the depths of despair, O Lord, I call for your help.
2 Hear my cry, O Lord. Pay attention to my prayer.
3 Lord, if you kept a record of our sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive?
4 But you offer forgiveness that we might learn to fear you.
5 I am counting on the Lord, yes, I am counting on him. I have put my hope in his word.
6 I long for the Lord more than sentries long for the dawn, yes, more than sentries long for the dawn.
7 O Israel, hope in the Lord; for with the Lord there is unfailing love.
His redemption overflows.
8 He himself will redeem Israel from every kind of sin.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Newness....
Its been awhile since I have blogged, but I promised myself I would blog at least once a month. So here goes....
A lot has happened in the last couple of months. I have continued my walk with God, serving Him to the highest. I felt like He was calling me to quit my career of being a firefighter where I served for three years. So I did, with nothing to fall back on, with no applications, no interviews, nothing....I just felt Him calling me to clear my schedule so I quit. That was probably the most scariest thing I ever did. What would I do for money, ins for my family, what kind of man was I to ask my wife to go back to work full time, so I could quit, with nothing to back up on. No security blanket, heck that is how I lived my whole entire life. Didn't make a move without a security blanket, without a pretty good idea of what was next. Not this time. NOPE, this time I was trusting in God, and it felt great. I was happy with my decision and so was Karen...she supported me the whole way. For that I am forever in debt to her. So I quit my job, went out on faith and faith alone. I started going through the hiring process with an old job I had at a hospital in Forsyth....When I got a call from the pastors of my church. They wanted to meet with me.
So two weeks after I left the fire Dept, with no idea what was next. I met with the pastors of my church and they offered me a position on the church staff. Now I must tell you this was such a shock, cause I always asked to work at the church and they said they didnt have a position. So I was shocked to say the least. OF COURSE, I took the position. I would now, run the Celebrate Recovery Ministry and also responsible for the Set-up/Tear-down of the church every Sunday. Needless to say I was psyched about the CR position and nervous about the Setup/teardown position. All and all almost 2 months later and I am still plugging along. CR is making some huge strides. It is all God, I seek His face on every move I make, and He makes it happen.
So now I am working at the best church in the world www.TheRevoltution.tv Karen went back to work fulltime, which when she went back she got two promotions. So now she is the ER Manager or something big like that. Right now she is the top dog in the ER, and I could not be mroe proud of her. She is doing what she always said she wanted to do. To be challange and use her skills and knowledge to make a difference, and she is doing just that. I am very proud of you Karen.
Aiden is turning into a little man already, he is now 3 1/2 y/o.....and he is just talking like someone is paying him to do it. He says the funniest stuff and he is my best friend right now. He now prays at night, and talks about going to church. He loves going to church, and talking about God and Jesus, and seeing all his friends. It makes a dad proud to watch this go down. Yea, he might not be the fastest kid or he might not be able to dribble a basketball, BUT, he can tell you his ABC's and all their sounds, and what word starts with what. He says he loves Jesus, and thanks God, and for this.....he makes me the proudest Daddy ever.
My memorial sleeve tattoo is almost complete, been working on it for some time now. I miss my little girl so much. Think about her everyday, miss here little smile and the smell of her bald head. I wonder if she will still smell like that in heaven??? Do people grow up in heaven, will she always be a baby in heaven? Will she recognize me in heaven?? These are questions I ask myself sometimes....dont know the answer, but still ask them none the less. I try everyday to make my daughter and God proud. I do what I can to serve God to the highest, and spread His kingdom. The biggest fear I have in life is that I will not do enough for His glory, and in turn allow my daughter to die for no reason. "Reagan I promise I will do everything in my power not to let that happen." I dont know how I will feel in the future, but right now I love God, my family and my life, I miss my daughter and Soemtimes I wish I could have her back. I know she is in a better place, but sometimes I just wanna be selfish....sometimes, I am jealous of Reagan, and sometimes I am jealous of God. but I knwo I will see both of them one together. Then I will grab my little girls hand and let her mead me to go hug OUR father together. I heard a new song that absolutely choked me up. It is "Heaven is the Face" by Steven Curtis Chapman....check it out on youtube. Its about Steven's 5y/o daughter who died last year, from an accident at home, where she got run over by an SUV driven by her older brother....sad to hear about this, and my prayers go out to the family. I now feel connected in someway to everyone who has buried a child. Buring my child is the hardest thing I have ever done, but it will not keep me from living out the plan God has for my life. I can't let it, Reagan would not want me to, and God is bigger than this event, and has given me strength to pick up the peices.
So why then do I talk about newness.....maybe it is because my wife and I found out we are going to be giving birth to a new baby in 8 months. So this is a true blessing. This is newness....What also is newness is the mixed feelings I am having now. I am so happy I get to be a dad to another child. I can't help but feel guilty though for being excited about a new child. I had/have another child and her name is Reagan. She will always be my little girl, and I will never forget her. I pray she understands that daddy is not moving on without her, but she is always in and on my heart. I carry you with me everywhere baby girl, I look down at my arm and see you pretty face on there smiling up at me. I say this, but it stills hurts to know she is not here. I am pleased and thankful for this new baby. I will love this baby, with my whole heart, this baby will not replace my Reagie Girl just simply add to our family. Reagan noone could EVER replace you, and noone ever will. Daddy will not let it happen. You and me, we will always be....forever and ever.
So I am totally shocked that I am gonna be a new dad, but very excited. That was until I started having "The Feeling". You see before Reagan died, I could feel that God was preparing me for something "HUGE" and not in a good way. I literally though my mom was going to die, and I was preparing for that. I told this to Karen and Andrea before Reagan died, then 5 months later I buried my daughter. So about a week ago I started having the same feelings, and to be honest it is scaring the CRAP out of me. There is nothing I can do except Hold tight to the cross, no matter what happens in my life. See there is nothing that is gonna change the past, and there is nothing that is gonna change my faith. I trust in God completely, this doesnt mean I cant be scared. As long as I dont live out of that fear. I pray to God everyday, that He uses me to the fullest, that I am radically changed for Him and in Him and that He always me to make a difference in this world through Him. As long as I live this out, I think He will be proud.
In closing, there is gonna be even more crap that I go through in my life, but God is still God. he is still the God I worshiped when He freed me from the chains of addiction, so He'll be the same God I serve and glorify for the rest of my life. My love and Faith in God is not circumstantial!!!! It is undivided and everlasting, and true. So if I gotta go through hard times to glorify God, then I say Bring it....cause you can't stop me, and you can't break me with the grace, love, and forgiveness of Jesus Christ.
God,
I come before you Father, thanking you. Thank you for allowing me to be able to have true faith in you, to be able to trust in you for everything. Father, thank you for the strength to live on another day just to glorify your name. Father, I dont care how it looks, you define the design for my life. I pray only for your guidance and wisdom onto your plan for my life. Father, allow me to be courageous, strong and dangerous against the evils that will attack me, my friends, and my loved ones. Father help me to be the man you need me to be to further you kingdom, one life at a time. I love you God, I thank you, I praise you, and I know I am nothing without you....in Jesus name.
Amen
A lot has happened in the last couple of months. I have continued my walk with God, serving Him to the highest. I felt like He was calling me to quit my career of being a firefighter where I served for three years. So I did, with nothing to fall back on, with no applications, no interviews, nothing....I just felt Him calling me to clear my schedule so I quit. That was probably the most scariest thing I ever did. What would I do for money, ins for my family, what kind of man was I to ask my wife to go back to work full time, so I could quit, with nothing to back up on. No security blanket, heck that is how I lived my whole entire life. Didn't make a move without a security blanket, without a pretty good idea of what was next. Not this time. NOPE, this time I was trusting in God, and it felt great. I was happy with my decision and so was Karen...she supported me the whole way. For that I am forever in debt to her. So I quit my job, went out on faith and faith alone. I started going through the hiring process with an old job I had at a hospital in Forsyth....When I got a call from the pastors of my church. They wanted to meet with me.
So two weeks after I left the fire Dept, with no idea what was next. I met with the pastors of my church and they offered me a position on the church staff. Now I must tell you this was such a shock, cause I always asked to work at the church and they said they didnt have a position. So I was shocked to say the least. OF COURSE, I took the position. I would now, run the Celebrate Recovery Ministry and also responsible for the Set-up/Tear-down of the church every Sunday. Needless to say I was psyched about the CR position and nervous about the Setup/teardown position. All and all almost 2 months later and I am still plugging along. CR is making some huge strides. It is all God, I seek His face on every move I make, and He makes it happen.
So now I am working at the best church in the world www.TheRevoltution.tv Karen went back to work fulltime, which when she went back she got two promotions. So now she is the ER Manager or something big like that. Right now she is the top dog in the ER, and I could not be mroe proud of her. She is doing what she always said she wanted to do. To be challange and use her skills and knowledge to make a difference, and she is doing just that. I am very proud of you Karen.
Aiden is turning into a little man already, he is now 3 1/2 y/o.....and he is just talking like someone is paying him to do it. He says the funniest stuff and he is my best friend right now. He now prays at night, and talks about going to church. He loves going to church, and talking about God and Jesus, and seeing all his friends. It makes a dad proud to watch this go down. Yea, he might not be the fastest kid or he might not be able to dribble a basketball, BUT, he can tell you his ABC's and all their sounds, and what word starts with what. He says he loves Jesus, and thanks God, and for this.....he makes me the proudest Daddy ever.
My memorial sleeve tattoo is almost complete, been working on it for some time now. I miss my little girl so much. Think about her everyday, miss here little smile and the smell of her bald head. I wonder if she will still smell like that in heaven??? Do people grow up in heaven, will she always be a baby in heaven? Will she recognize me in heaven?? These are questions I ask myself sometimes....dont know the answer, but still ask them none the less. I try everyday to make my daughter and God proud. I do what I can to serve God to the highest, and spread His kingdom. The biggest fear I have in life is that I will not do enough for His glory, and in turn allow my daughter to die for no reason. "Reagan I promise I will do everything in my power not to let that happen." I dont know how I will feel in the future, but right now I love God, my family and my life, I miss my daughter and Soemtimes I wish I could have her back. I know she is in a better place, but sometimes I just wanna be selfish....sometimes, I am jealous of Reagan, and sometimes I am jealous of God. but I knwo I will see both of them one together. Then I will grab my little girls hand and let her mead me to go hug OUR father together. I heard a new song that absolutely choked me up. It is "Heaven is the Face" by Steven Curtis Chapman....check it out on youtube. Its about Steven's 5y/o daughter who died last year, from an accident at home, where she got run over by an SUV driven by her older brother....sad to hear about this, and my prayers go out to the family. I now feel connected in someway to everyone who has buried a child. Buring my child is the hardest thing I have ever done, but it will not keep me from living out the plan God has for my life. I can't let it, Reagan would not want me to, and God is bigger than this event, and has given me strength to pick up the peices.
So why then do I talk about newness.....maybe it is because my wife and I found out we are going to be giving birth to a new baby in 8 months. So this is a true blessing. This is newness....What also is newness is the mixed feelings I am having now. I am so happy I get to be a dad to another child. I can't help but feel guilty though for being excited about a new child. I had/have another child and her name is Reagan. She will always be my little girl, and I will never forget her. I pray she understands that daddy is not moving on without her, but she is always in and on my heart. I carry you with me everywhere baby girl, I look down at my arm and see you pretty face on there smiling up at me. I say this, but it stills hurts to know she is not here. I am pleased and thankful for this new baby. I will love this baby, with my whole heart, this baby will not replace my Reagie Girl just simply add to our family. Reagan noone could EVER replace you, and noone ever will. Daddy will not let it happen. You and me, we will always be....forever and ever.
So I am totally shocked that I am gonna be a new dad, but very excited. That was until I started having "The Feeling". You see before Reagan died, I could feel that God was preparing me for something "HUGE" and not in a good way. I literally though my mom was going to die, and I was preparing for that. I told this to Karen and Andrea before Reagan died, then 5 months later I buried my daughter. So about a week ago I started having the same feelings, and to be honest it is scaring the CRAP out of me. There is nothing I can do except Hold tight to the cross, no matter what happens in my life. See there is nothing that is gonna change the past, and there is nothing that is gonna change my faith. I trust in God completely, this doesnt mean I cant be scared. As long as I dont live out of that fear. I pray to God everyday, that He uses me to the fullest, that I am radically changed for Him and in Him and that He always me to make a difference in this world through Him. As long as I live this out, I think He will be proud.
In closing, there is gonna be even more crap that I go through in my life, but God is still God. he is still the God I worshiped when He freed me from the chains of addiction, so He'll be the same God I serve and glorify for the rest of my life. My love and Faith in God is not circumstantial!!!! It is undivided and everlasting, and true. So if I gotta go through hard times to glorify God, then I say Bring it....cause you can't stop me, and you can't break me with the grace, love, and forgiveness of Jesus Christ.
God,
I come before you Father, thanking you. Thank you for allowing me to be able to have true faith in you, to be able to trust in you for everything. Father, thank you for the strength to live on another day just to glorify your name. Father, I dont care how it looks, you define the design for my life. I pray only for your guidance and wisdom onto your plan for my life. Father, allow me to be courageous, strong and dangerous against the evils that will attack me, my friends, and my loved ones. Father help me to be the man you need me to be to further you kingdom, one life at a time. I love you God, I thank you, I praise you, and I know I am nothing without you....in Jesus name.
Amen
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