TRANSFORMING YOUR WORLD

Greetings and Blessings;

Recently I began a series on one of humanity's, including or especially Christians, biggest hindrances to a fulfilled life. An infectious disease that has caused the fall of so many. PRIDE.
I noted that there are perhaps three manifestations of pride. The first is the kind of pride a parent feels when their child excelled in something that they could not do before. Or the pride of a spouse when the other got the promotion. That kind of pride is fine unless the parent now feels that their child is better than any other and their child can do no wrong. Not good. The second kind of pride is the pride that causes someone to not reach out for help when they need it. Perhaps this is one of the reasons men tend to die sooner than women. Though sick, some men can't admit something may be wrong and by the time they see a doctor its too late. What's worse is when someone is having emotional or psychological concerns but won't get help for fear of others thinking they're crazy. The third pride is the pride of arrogance. When someone thinks they are superior to others, can do all things better than others, are brighter than others, are more sophisticated than others, even thinking themselves super spiritual with a false sense of humility, they are setting themselves up for a fall or worse, destruction. Pride can cause persons, families, churches, businesses and even nations to collapse under the weight of their on arrogance. Throughout Scripture we find warnings about the sin of pride. My opening text was from Daniel 4:28-37. Here King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon who saw himself as all sufficient and godlike had a lesson in pride. Prophesy was given to him concerning the lesson he would soon learn. As a result of the lesson the king became insane but in the end openly praised and worship the Lord our God and humbled himself before Him. Its always better to confront our own pride issues before our Lord loves us enough to confront it for us. That may not be pleasant at all. In 2 Chronicles 7:14, the Lord declares: "if my people who are called by my name would......" Then before He says .....If they would......pray, seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, He first said " If they would humble themselves." All else follows humbling ourselves. Full of pride and little or no humility? Then their is no need to pray. I admonish you with the sermon title "Lay the Pride Aside."
God bless you all.

TRANSFORMING YOUR WORLD

Greetings and Blessings,
Just a year or two ago there was widespread concern in Atlanta about a severe drought. There was talk of water rationing and there were states fighting over shrinking lake water to be used for drinking. Now as I write hundreds of roads are closed including major interstate highways, entire communities are under water and at least seven have died due to flooding. One video shows a home completely surrounded by water while burning to the ground. Just a few yards away in front of the burning home sits a fire truck.......under water. Today the flooding continues and in some areas has worsened while the sun shines bright, the sky a picturesque blue and the temperature just right. The irony of it all. Pray for those who have lost so much including loved ones and pray for those who need to get around but are trapped by so many road closings. God, abundant in grace will bring them all through.

While it is my desire to release a new posting each Tuesday, look for a special posting this coming Thursday September 24th. I want to devote that post to a topic that I believe will bless all who receive. Congrats TMI-ATL! God is so Faithful!
Until Thursday, God bless all who follow these blogs and remember "He that began a good work in you will see it to completion."

TRANSFORMING YOUR WORLD

Greetings and Blessings to you all;
Purpose, new level, new season, new dimension, breakthrough, prosperity, covering, destiny: just a few of the words popularized in the last decade or so in the Christian church. All important, all good, but all too often each has become the goal in and of themselves. Many celebrate with great exuberance when these words or phrases are proclaimed. Many wait on the edge of their seats for the moment when in the sermon these words are spoken so they can leap for joy at what they just heard. Some will go home disappointed if no mention was made of at least one of these words. When there doesn't seem to be much reason to be hopeful and when there is so much uncertainty, many people will grab at anything, even a phrase, and hold on for dear life. Some desire a new dimension but are not sure what dimension they are in, or even what a dimension is. Others seek a new level but have no clue what level they are on, let alone what the next one should be. New seasons are great when you know what season it is and have gleaned from all that season has to offer before going to the next. What ever happened to "seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you." Wouldn't it just be easier and more fruitful to seek God first since He alone holds our seasons, breakthroughs, dimensions, destiny? He is our ultimate covering, while in church people will fight over who should be a covering without knowing the order and the purpose of such. Our Lord is the better way. Prayer, fasting, thanksgiving, petition, supplication........seeking Him will answer all questions. When we make churchwide or personal decisions that seem good but we have not sought God, how can we expect to reach that next level? Hebrews 11:6 tells us that: "without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone that comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those that diligently seek Him." While those popularized words have their place, don't get lost in the hype. It's really not that difficult to understand, seek God with all your might and He will guide your ways.
Please continue to pray for the next worship location for TMI-ATL. Our search team is working very hard and others are praying hard, and we know that next place is soon on the way. We are grateful for a very informative finance workshop last week. Everyone was blessed. I thank Evangelist Katrina Cooks, host and presenter, Tim Young, Deputy Controller for Atlanta City Government, both members of TMI, and Emily Mowis, Senior V.P. for investments for SunTrust Banks. Great workshop.
God bless each of you and remember, you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.