Joplin tornado and psychological first aid

Last night Joplin Missouri was hit with an F4 possibly an F5 tornado.The devastation appears to be prolific. The trauma that many in Joplin are experiencing will only be worse based on the weather report. There has been nonstop rain and thunder since the original tornado struck. To make matters worse, they are predicting weather patterns that are indicative of producing more tornadoes all day and into the evening tomorrow and Wednesday.

I found out this evening that I will probably be going to Joplin. While there, I will be working with those who were impacted either directly or indirectly by the tornado. In order to do that, last night I read a field operations guide for psychological first aid. Psychological first aid intervention strategies will allow me to work with children, adolescents, parents, caretakers and families.

The guidebook discussed how to be nonintrusive and compassionate in making connections with those who were traumatized by the event. It also looked at providing emotional and physical comfort as well as how to remain calm as it orients emotionally overwhelmed survivors. Giving assistance and gaining information are important to allow us to assess people's needs in order to address their concerns and allow them to feel more comfortable.

In a disaster situation you attempt to take care of people's basic needs. To explain this, let's look at Maslow's hierarchy of needs. For those unfamiliar with Maslow, he developed a pyramid that represented a biopsychosocial perspective of the needs that humans have. He felt that we all had five basic needs. They needed to be met from top to bottom, because without the one below the one above was impossible to meet.


Let's look at each level of the pyramid from bottom to top:
1. Physiological needs – water, food, sleep
2. Safety needs – security, order, family
3. Belonging and love needs – friendship, family (psychological)
4. Esteem needs – self esteem, confidence, achievement
5. Self actualization – can only occur when the four lower levels are met

If we do not take care of the physiological needs such as water, food and sleep the safety needs are immaterial. They will not be met. So offer them water, something to eat or a blanket to insure that their physiological needs are taken are of. After the physiological needs are met we begin to look at their safety needs (calm them down by being calm and talking slowly and maintaining eye contact), and then they're belonging and love needs (also called their psychological needs) by listening to them if they want to talk and validating how they feel. Those are the main  things that we focus on in psychological first aid, the bottom three levels. The top two levels will seldom be reached over the first several days and weeks while we are on scene.

There are some things that need to be remembered when doing psychological first aid with disaster survivors and those who have experienced traumas. Never assume that you know what the person is experiencing, as everyone reacts differently to the same situation. Also never assume that the survivors want to talk about the trauma they have just survived. This can actually cause more harm than good.

Sometimes it is best just to be supportive and to remain calm. That allows you to be seen as a person who can give survivors the physical and emotional comfort that they need. Some of the survivors will simply want to be left alone, while others will need to talk. Be prepared to listen, as people will generally tell you how you can assist them and what they need if you listen without interrupting.

The most important goals of psychological first aid are to allow the survivor to function, assist them with their current needs and reduce their distress to the situation. We're not there to debrief the survivor. If we ask them to give details of the traumatic experience of loss they have experienced this could traumatize them even more. We are not there to help them work through their trauma. There are generally many survivors, and we do not have the time guide each of them through their grief. We're there to do psychological triage.

We should reassure them that how they feel is to be expected. We should let them know that they will be angry at times, sad at times and lonely at times. We also need to let them know that if they continue to feel depression, they should talk to a grief counselor.

Never tell them that you know how they feel, that they will feel better soon or that they need to grief. They already know that they need to grieve. Also do not discount how they feel, by saying things like it could be worse or they're better off where they are or everything happens for a reason. Instead allow them to grieve, show them compassion and empathy.

There are some things that will allow survivors to overcome their trauma. Having a strong religious belief, positive beliefs, remaining optimistic or seeing others acting altruistically to support them. We need to find ways to empower them by giving them hope and allowing them to have some dignity.

Finally treat people the way you would want to be treated. Don't talk down to people, don't spread rumors, if you don't know the answer admit it, don't label people and do not guess what people are thinking or feeling. When listening to someone lean in, make eye contact and give them your complete attention. Never forget to let them know you understand what they're saying by reframing questions/active listening and then validate how they feel.

Remember to try and stay calm. This may be difficult because you are in a disaster area. This can be very overwhelming for you. Realize that you may need to talk to somebody. Always use the buddy system. Rotate shifts with them, take breaks and always monitor your own level of stress. If you are stressed out, how can you possibly help someone else destress. Hope this helps anyone who is attempting to volunteer in disaster relief and traumatic situations.

My prayers go out to all of those who were impacted by the storms and tornados that swept across the United States over the past two days and today as well. I hope that you will join me in praying for those impacted as well as the volunteers who are rushing to help out either in person or by donating goods and giving blood.

Tithing Part 2

Let me tell you a very interesting story about tithing. I had began tithing after I got saved. I made it a point to round up my tithing, because when it comes to tithing I want God to round up for me (figuratively speaking, of course). I had trouble tithing when I first decided to. There was no possible way that I could, but God had given me a life again so I owed it to Him to step out in faith. So I put my trust in Him, and tithed 10%. It worked out in the end.

I will tell that story in another blog entitled Tithing Part 1. I know that it probably should have came before a blog entitled Tithing Part 2, but it will not. I guess that I am not very good at chronological order, nor am I able to do simple addition very well. That for me would be true to form, because I have never been that great at history or math. Math was actually the only non-A grade on my transcript for my Associates Degree. Segue over, now on to the story.

After I got saved, the song "I'm Not Who I Was" impacted me. You could say that it was my anthem as a drug addicted convict who found hope and changed my life completely. I no longer was who I used to be. I found out that Brandon Heath, Francesca Battistelli and Leeland were performing in Springfield. The tickets were $10 for general admission, or $50 for VIP tickets. I wanted to get the VIP tickets, because with them came a meet and greet. I wanted the opportunity to give my testimony to Brandon Heath and let him know how much his song had impacted my life.

So when my paycheck came, I payed my bills and then set aside my tithe. After doing that I discovered that after my car and insurance payments came out the following week and after I tithed on Sunday I would not have the $100 to get the VIP tickets for my fiance and me. I would have the $20 for regular tickets, but not the extra $80 for the ones that I wanted.

I made a promise to myself and to God when I had gotten saved about tithing, and I was not about to backslide. The last thing that I wanted to do was lie to the one that I owed my new life to. I lied in my addiction, not in my recovery. I was not about to begin lying again. I refuse to give the Devil a place to start getting back in to my life. I worked for two decades to get him out of it. At least, that is how I see it.

So I went to church and tithed and tithed on Sunday. It was one of the hardest decisions that I had made in my early recovery, other than tithing at all. It did not make sense to me to give my money to God and the church at first. In Tithing I I will look at the Biblical reasons that I began tithing when I first got saved.

I just decided that seeing Brandon Heath would be amazing enough without meeting him, and that is what I was going to do. I loved his music, and really enjoyed the other two performers that he was touring with. I would tithe, and the following week I was going to see the concert with my fiance. I would buy the tickets the following day after I got off of work.

The next day I went home after work, changed and grabbed my mail before going to get my tickets. In the mail was a letter from my car company. I was in the middle of filing bankruptcy, and my car company wanted to give me the option to finish paying off  my car instead of writing it off. The letter said that the automatic payment that they would normally be taking out in two days was not coming out. I needed to fill out papers that stated I still wanted to buy the car. They were willing to allow me to miss a car payment and were dropping the percentage rate of my car loan if I completed the paperwork and called them. Not only was I able to not pay my car payment for that month, but the drop in the interest rate they were giving me dropped my car payment almost $100 a month.

To this day, I do not know why I went home and changed, or why I got my mail and opened it immediately. I never went home and changed, nor did I ever get the mail. I always let my roommate get the mail out of the mailbox and would grab it off of the end table where he put my mail. On that day I did not. To me, this was all a God thing. This was God showing me that if I put my trust in Him, He would provide for not only my needs but some of my wants.

Needless to say, I got to go to the Brandon Heath concert. It was amazing, and so was telling him my testimony. That too is another blog that I will write someday in the future. Cannot wait to share with you tomorrow morning. Hope that this week is a blessing for all of you!

As Good As It Gets- From an addict to a drunk to Christ

I guess that I was always a hard case, ever since my first fight in first grade. At least I though that I was. I have even had some people tell me since I got saved that they had always prayed for me, because I was a hard case and they saw something in me. I have no idea what that something is. I  always hoped for it all just to end. At first my lifestyle was fun. Over time it began to get worse, my depression continued to mount. I had to depend on the drugs just to survive. I could not function without them. It got bad, and then it got worse. I finally got to the point that nothing really mattered, only the high.

I often hoped for death. I tried to commit suicide once, but my sister came by. Found me passed out on the bathroom tile, surrounded by blood next to a bathtub full of bloody water. After that, I swore that I would never kill myself. That said, I would put myself in situations where I knew that I might die and always hoped that someone would kill me. I flew a car 97 feet and got 37 feet in the air, but I still survived. I have been shot at, and I have several holes in me that I was not born with. I have had more C/T Scans than I can count because of head trauma. I have relapsed three times that I know of.

Still I could not die. It got depressing. Then I hit my rock bottom, or so I thought. I got off of the drugs, moved, stopped dealing drugs and started my life over. Pretty soon I was in college. Then I had my Associates Degree, then I got a double Bachelor's. I had a beautiful son. I got my Master's Degree. I was an alcoholic. I was still fighting. I was sleeping around, cussing every other word. I lied all of the time, and I probably stole things too. But I was not doing drugs.

What I managed to do was become an alcoholic, but I could justify that because it was not drugs. It was even legal. I was miserable, and I had to drink to function. Every time that I looked into a mirror, I still saw a convict, a junkie, a drug dealer and I despised myself. I hated who I was.

I had to drink just to get through the week. I could not function on my own. I should have had a better life. Most people would say that I did, yet I could never figure out what was missing. I had started a job that was not in a restaurant. It was actually a career, yet I was miserable. I had a beautiful son who loved me, and co-workers who honestly cared about me and had a passion for what they did. I thought that life sucked.

Then one day I had a turning point. I gave my life over to Christ and overnight, everything changed for the better. I was a changed man at work, in my leisure time and in my behaviors. People took notice and would ask why I was so much happier and I could only tell them that if not for the Holy Spirit I would still be were I was. But I wasn't. I was no longer consumed with hate for myself. I could see the positive in things and no longer dwelt on the negatives. When I looked in the mirror, I actually liked who I saw. For me that was an amazing change.

The change happened for several reasons, but the most important reason is this. When I was an Agnostic and I woke up in the morning, I knew that this was AS GOOD AS IT GETS. I had nothing to look forward to. My life was terribly disappointing days followed by drunken nights. If I did not drink, I would get into my depression and isolate and feel miserable.

After I got saved, my entire outlook changed. I finally realized that I was forgiven. I could never forgive me before because I felt unforgivable. That is the smallest part of it though. The biggest thing for me is what I will end this discussion on.

I did not believe in life after death. I believed that we returned to dust, and that would be the end. I would one day die, and this sinful, hateful world would be all that I would know. When I got saved I realized that even if this life where to be completely miserable for the next 30 years, after I died if I kept my faith and walked the narrow path that I would live an eternity in bliss. That was overwhelming, and it was enough to cheer me up........finally, I can smile and it is not fake!

It's the End of the World............Not

I am deeply disturbed. Apparently the rapture is tomorrow and I am going to have to miss it. Instead I am taking my son to Walt Disney World for his birthday, which takes precedence. So instead of the rapture, I have to instead be part of the 5 months of torment that Harold Camping has oh so prophetically foretold. I cannot even really be a part of the worldwide earthquake that he has predicted for tomorrow, as I have plans then too. I am bummed that I miss it, but that is life!

I remember the both the story of the boy who cried wolf and chicken little with his falling sky. When I think of them I am reminded of Harold. This is not the first time that he has predicted the rapture and the end of the world. The last time that he predicted the sky was falling was September 6th back in 1994. He turned out to be wrong. Maybe since I will be on vacation for this one I can catch the next one Harold predicts.

So what happens when you misinterpret the world's ending? Do you admit that maybe you were wrong and you do not know more than the angels in heaven or Jesus Himself? Not if you are Harold. He decided that he had done some faulty math, but is convinced that this time he is right.

The sad thing is that there are people who are getting caught up in his prophetic falsehoods. We are warned about this in Matthew 24:11, "and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people." It is said again in Matthew 24:25, "For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect." as well as in Luke 21: , "He replied: “Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them."

Finally, in 1 Timothy 4:2-5 it says, "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things..." I don't know about you, but I feel that guys like Harold are predicted in the New Testament repeatedly. In an act of fairness, let us look at how he gets his dates?

Let us look at the Biblical insight that is used here. For starters, the date of the creation of the world as well as the flood is known by Harold based off of........conjecture and some faulty math? He has listed his method, but it would appear to be pretty faulty pencil whipping mixed with speculation that he calls Biblical truth, just like the last time. Take a number here and a number there, pull from the New Testament then the Old Testament until you get what you want. Pretty standard, really.

He then talks about the church age. Never read about a church age, yet Harold claims that it ended in 1988. He claims that the Spirit of God left the church in 1998 and that Satan has ruled the church ever since. Don't know about my church, maybe he means that his is ruled that way.

 So anyway, after the church age ended Harold claims that we began the first 23 years (???????) of the great tribulation. The first 2300 days of the great tribulation began and ended conveniently in 1994 (his first end of the world date). This we will call Great Tribulation I (GT I for short). Then GT II began, which ends in 2011. According to him, Judgement Day then comes on May 21st, 2011.

He says that the world will end 150 days after May 21st based off an irrelevant quote from Genesis about the flood. Yet in Revelation 11 it says that there will be 2 who will witness for 1,260 days and then will be killed and not buried for another 3 1/2 years. I have not heard of this happening in any great city as foretold in Revelations. Maybe God talked to Harold and told him not to worry about the prophets?? Harold takes parts of a whole and tries to mix and mash them where he wants them, omitting what does not fit when it does not agree with him and banging the pieces with his hammer until they fit if he wants them. This is faulty reasoning at best, and false teaching at its worst.

Just to clarify, I am in no way claiming to either be a historical or a Biblical scholar, nor do I claim to be a prophet. I'm just saying that much of the research that I have seen does not mesh with this guys claims last time or this time. I too used my hammer in kindergarden to make the pieces fit where I wanted them to. I can relate, but in this case I believe in the words of Christ and the apostles over Harold. Sorry Harold :(

Back to being serious for a minute. The clincher to his untruths is in the Bible itself. In Matthew 24:36 it says,“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." 1 Thessalonians 5:3 says, "For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, 'Peace and safety!' then sudden destruction comes upon them..."

It is reiterated in Matthew 24:42-44 ,“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."

According to the New Testament, we are to not know the time that the end will come because we should be ever vigilant. If we knew when the end was coming, some could rely on not serving God until the last days. By not knowing when the end comes, it will be easy to separate the faithful from the unfaithful and the just from the unjust. Do not be misled, live each day following the two truths that Christ laid out for us. Love God with all your heart, strength, mind and soul and love your neighbor. Talk to you all Sunday!!

The First Step - Denial

The first step of AA, that has been slightly reworded but is also used in NA and other 12 Step recovery programs, states, "We admitted we were powerless over alcohol- that our lives had become unmanageable." Celebrate Recovery says, "We admitted we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors, that our lives had become unmanageable." It then lists Romans 7:18 - "I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out."


This is a pretty hard concept for some to grasp. I want to do what is right, but I cannot do it. I cannot control my actions. I am an addict, whether it is to relationships, sex, food, stealing, money, shopping, drugs, alcohol, codependency...........you get the point. The word that is not listed here but should be is denial. We have to admit a) that we have an addiction, b)that we are powerless and c) that we cannot manage our lives properly. The first thing we have to do is step out of the darkness of denial, or we will never be able to begin getting better.

So what is denial? Webster defines it as, "refusal to admit the truth or reality." That is what happens in our addiction. We cannot admit reality. We often either hide our issue, hang out with others who have the same problems, or we play it off as not as bad as it really is.

In denial our pain continues, never ending. In Narcotic's Anonymous they have a saying that I have always liked, "Drugs gave me wings then they took my sky away." In the beginning partying is great, but in the end it only ends in shame, guilt, depression, anxiety, isolation, deception, jails and death. Psalms 16:4 witnesses to that when it says, "Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more." Eventually, our addiction is our center of focus, the god that we worship. Only by accepting the help of the big "G" God can we begin to change.

God cannot help us if we do not admit the problem. John 3:20,21 says, "Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God."

1 John 1:5-7 adds:  “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

If we continue to deny the issues we have, then God's light will not shine on us. If I am content on where I am at in life then I will be unable to change. Denial says, "I don't have a problem." If I do not think that I have a problem, then I have nothing to work on. The truth is that we are only as sick as our secrets.

If we keep living a lie than we keep ourselves away from the only power that can truly make us better. The only power that can break the chains of addiction that have us wrapped up so tightly that we cannot move. Hebrews 12:1 says, "let us strip off anything that slows us down or holds us back, and especially those sins that wrap themselves so tightly around our feet and trip us up, and let us run with patience the particular race that God has set before us."

We need to walk out of the darkness into the light of God. We must step into Jesus' unconditional grace and love. Only there will we be able to begin our journey into recovery. In Romans 6: 14, 22-23 states, "For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under GRACE. But now that you have been SET FREE from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but THE GIFT OF GOD IS ETERNAL LIFE in Christ Jesus our Lord."

If that is not a reason to cry out to Jesus I do not know what is. Here is the first worship song that I heard after I got saved that truly gave me hope and allowed me to step out of the darkness of denial and into the light of salvation!

Is Your Jesus Plastic

There is a question we must all ask about our faith. Do my works match my words? If they do not, where does that place us? In a world of watered-down Christianity, that says that sin is okay and we are going to do it anyway, does our personal theology match the theology written about in the Bible? If it does not, does it really matter? A lot of churches today say that it does not matter. The say that if we only do as much as we feel that we have to do, we will still be saved. Just give a little effort and everything will be fine. That is a pretty common message.

Titus 1:16 says, "They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good." Does this truly sound like we will be saved if we only are going through the motions. God knows hypocrisy, and you have to know it is not high on his list of character traits to have. 

Churches preach come as you are, and I fully believe that. But if you are truly saved and born again, don't expect to stay that way. God loves us, and at first expects us to stumble. He knows that we will have to take some spills before we learn to walk as a Christian. But He strives to make us perfect, if we allow Him to do His work.

George McDonald has a great way to look at our walk with God. He says that every father is pleased with the first time their child attempts to walk. I know I was, I actually got it on video. When he was in his infant stage that was amazing to me. But as he got older I expected him to walk. George McDonald says that when your child gets older, "what father would be satisfied with anything but the manly steps of a full grown son/"

Now what I am asking you today is how is your walk with God. To quote a t-shirt, will the preacher have to lie at your funeral. When you stand in front of God, how do you explain to Him that you were going to start living right tomorrow. Give me a break God, at least I tried. God is not satisfied with a little effort. He does not want some of us, He wants all of us.

Matthew 7:21-23 says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’


If you know something is wrong and continue to give in to temptation, where does that leave you? According to the scripture above, even those who do right may be doing so falsely. The verses before this passage in Matthew state that you will know them by the fruits they produce, because a bad tree cannot produce good fruit. So our faith is displayed by our actions. 


James 2:26 says, "As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead." We might as well be dead if we do not try our best. Will we slip, yes. Will we occasionally stumble, probably. Will we continue to live our lives today as we did yesterday? Hopefully not! Jesus paid it all so that we could change it all. 


We are not who we used to be. Ephesians 4:22-24 says, "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

God wants us to back up our words. God looks at our lives, and He sees inside our hearts. How do we truly feel? That preacher might be able to lie at your funeral, but you can guarantee that you will not be able to lie to God. Don't talk about it, be about it!!

Setting Positive Examples for Our Kids

I do not know about most of you, but I grew up with pretty hypocritical adult role models. I was always told to do one thing and then saw that same person do the exact opposite. It did not matter whether it was my dad, my mom or my mom's dad. I never saw what I was told to do put into action. If I did, it was for small periods of time only. It was really frustrating to see that happen over and over again.

I guess that you could say that I followed the examples that were set for me. I had free will to act however I wanted to when I grew up, but my foundation was built upon sand. There was no bedrock to build my foundation upon. I did not learn how to construct a life where I achieved positive results. Although I guess I tended to be an overachiever, it was in the opposite direction. I became a great example to others.........of how not to be.

I was taught that drinking and drugs were bad, but my father was an alcoholic when I was a child (until I was in the 5th grade). I was told that if I had nothing nice to say, to say nothing. Then I would hear my mother and father yell and scream at each other all of the time. I was told not to hit others, but welted and bloodied with belts and switches and occasionally hit. Are you seeing some mixed messages here?

I went to live with an abusive grandfather in the 5th grade. I went to school and began beating other kids up, in the fifth grade. My mother had always told me not to smoke, that it was bad for you. I saw her smoking when I was in the 6th grade, and I began smoking cigarettes too. I smoked them for 26 years before I could finally quit, and I just stopped fighting when I got mad or frustrated at people 2 1/2 years ago. Hopefully you know, this is not uncommon. It is more the normal than we would like to believe.

The statistics are horrific. Children who grow up with parents engaging in domestic violence and/or drug and alcohol abuse are statistically doomed to repeat the cycle. I want us to take a look at the mixed messages that we are sending our children. There are probably many of them, and we might not even realize some of them. When I get upset, I say shoot. It could be better, it could be worse. When my son got upset this weekend, can you guess what he said. You guessed it, he threw down the bat and yelled out, "Shoot!" It made me very thankful that I don't cuss.

I try my best to never do anything that I would not want my son to do. I have found that this has gotten easier and easier since I turned my life over to Jesus. The more that I put my focus on Christ, the less likely I am to put my focus on things that I should not be doing. The more that I do the next right thing, the less I have to focus on my actions each successive time. My child is worth me making every extra effort to set a great example.

If I begin to slip into my old ways and do not keep my sights on Jesus, then my parenting will slip and my son will not learn how he should behave. I am his role model. He will grow up to be a lot like me. I should live as I want him to turn out. If I am doing something that I don't want my son to do, I should not do it. It is a really easy concept that is often hard to apply to our lives out of indifference. If I love my child/children and I am not setting them a good example, can I really say that I love them? Jesus loved us enough to die, and we should love our kids enough not to get high. Be the person you want your kid to grow up into.

If you want the cycle to change, you have to become that change yourself. I think of a Ghandi quote here, "We must become the change we want to see." We cannot parent with a do as I say, not as I do attitude and expect our children to be different from us. Over time the best way that I have found to parent is to always act like my son is on my right side and Christ is on my left. I would ask myself, "If Christ were here, would I say/do that?" and if the answer was yes, I would then ask myself, "If my son were here, would I say/do that? Would I want my son to say/do that?" If the answer to all 3 of those questions was yes, then I knew that it was okay to do.

Over time I no longer had to ask myself those questions. I knew for a fact that Christ was always by my side. There was no need to pretend anymore. Furthermore, I did not need to ask myself if my son were there would I do this because my Spirit-led morals always lead me in the right direction. In fact, when I put Christ first, I know that I am setting a great example for my son. If I follow the principals of a true Christian and put Christ first in all that I do, I will be a great father and a great husband.

Here is a video I saw that I think shows my sentiments exactly.

How to be a GO Christian

When we think about being a "Go Christian," what does that truly mean to us? Do we think that it is knowing the Bible, attending church, going to small groups, tithing, wearing a suit/dress to church, sitting in the front row and singing the loudest with your hands raised in worship. I would call these ingredients that we can use in our life, but not the recipe for being a go Christian. 

In order to say go, we have to say no! We have a cross to bear, and that cross is to say no to ourselves. We have to deny ourselves the immoral and worldly things in our lives. Our nature is to sin, and we have to be willing to deny our baser instincts. We have to try to become dead to sin, or have a death before sin lifestyle. The early Christians did. Many of them were tortured and executed for their beliefs that they would cling to in the face of death. Sin is bad, and to think of sinning is bad too. So do not do it. Christ did not try His best to die on the cross, He accomplished it. Why should we be happy if we do not give our best. 

That is where I may lose some. Some may say that I am talking about not being able to have any fun. If this is how you feel, than you do not understand what I am saying, and you truly do not understand the sacrifice that Christ made on the cross. We will have joy, we will have eternal life. We are honestly giving up very little for so much. 

We also have to be willing to talk about Christ and our beliefs even when it is not popular. We need to stand up for what we believe in. They say you have to stand for something or you'll fall for everything. We have to take a stand for our faith everywhere we go: home, school, work, sporting events, restaurants, vacation and in our neighborhood. If we do not do this, we will be open (fall) for all kinds of sin to come into our lives. 

When we take up the cross we become dead to the world. Before I was a Christian and entered into a relationship with God, I was a sinner. I lived to fulfill my will, to make myself happy. I smoked cigarettes, drank to inebriation, fought all of the time, had premarital sex, lied all the time, cussed as much as I wanted and listened to music and watched movies that would make a sailor blush. I was going to college to prove to everyone that I was right and they were wrong. I lived for me, I was all about worldly achievement and self-fulfillment. That got me drunk almost every day and I was an example of how not to live your life. 

I did not know Christ then. Since the day that I got saved and gave my life to Christ, I have not smoked a cigarette, gotten drunk, had premarital sex (even though my wife and I dated for a year before we got married) or gotten into a fight outside of a ring. I now only listen to worship music because it puts me in a great mood. I pray in between sets at the gym on a consistent basis, and I wear worship shirts almost exclusively. I read the Bible daily and pray all of the time. I am by no means perfect, but I make an effort every day to not succumb to my sinful nature. It is a start, and I can build on that. 

Being a go Christian means that I will never do or say anything that I will look at my son and tell him not to repeat it. It means that I do not have to be a hypocrite. Being a go Christian means I realize I represent my church, my son and wife, my employer, my deceased father, my pastor, Celebrate Recovery and Jesus Christ every where that I go. I will not get caught up in gossip, I do not cuss (maybe twice in traffic in the past year), I do not yell, I don't lie, I talk to others about the changes that the Holy Spirit have made in my life and I live like I love Christ to the best of my ability. I hope that this is not seen as boasting, but instead as me saying that I could not live this way were it not for the Holy Spirit in me and the sacrifice that Christ made. 

Is it always easy to love Christ and live to show it? I would say yes, that it is now. But it took me over a year at church before I was saved, and that was a nerve racking year. During that first year I thought that it would kill me to live life different. The cross symbolizes pain and suffering, yet we think that Christ wants us to live in comfort and ease. Our lives should be living sacrifices to Christ, and that is not easy. That said, since the night that I turned my life over to Christ and gave control away it has gotten a lot easier. 

So ask yourself these question to see if you are a go Christian: 

1. Is my life about self-fulfillment or Christ fulfillment

2. Do I live as one in this world or one who is of this world

3. Am I ashamed of my faith, or do I profess the gospel to all who would hear it

4. Is my life a living sacrifice to Jesus

If you answered yes to these questions, then congratulations. You are a go Christian, keep it up. If you did not answer yes, then I would recommend a lot more prayer, meditation, reading of the Bible and spend time with those who are where you want to be, not where you already are. God bless you in your journey!!

Stop or Go

I went to  a couple of different churches for services on Easter Sunday. I went to the church that I attend, which is New Life Church. I then went to a church in Branson that is my father-in-laws church, which is called Woodland Hills Family Church. I really enjoyed both services that I attended.

I always love the lessons at my church. We are blessed with Pastor Dan Call, who gives some of the most informative and passionate lessons I have ever heard. During worship and the service I can feel the Holy Spirit working on me. If that is happening to me, I know that it is happening to others. In future blogs I can guarantee that I will expound on the virtues of my Pastor, my home church, my brothers and sisters there as well as the worship team. We are truly blessed at New Life.

The true reason that I am blogging about an Easter service 3 weeks later is that Pastor Ted Cunningham at Woodland Hills had a great sermon. There were a couple of visuals that he handed out that were quite memorable. He handed us a piece of red candy and a piece of green candy as we came into the church.
There was a purpose that is pretty easy to understand. "The red piece stands for stop and the green piece stands for go," he told us. "Ask yourself if you and your family, does your life reflect a resurrected Jesus. I want you to ask yourself, am I a stop Christian or am I a go Christian."

That is some pretty heavy stuff to discuss during an Easter service. There are many that come on Easter that do not usually come, and based on his service there are many will not come back. He said that there are many driving the roads who would leave church that day who think that they are Christians, and they are not. If he were asked to pick a color, that color would be red. He then said that he was not judging, he was fruit inspecting (I found that to be a pretty funny way to look at it).

The best part of his sermon was his acknowledging the truth. He said that he knew that he might offend some of the people there, but was okay with that. "I have not seen some of you since Christmas, and I will not see you again until Christmas. How do you explain to your kids why you only go to church twice a year." He did not talk about heaven or hell, instead he asked everyone to think about what motivates them.

What he talked about was a way to try and get the people who were there that day to think. Christ loved you enough to die, and He did not die a peaceful death. He died one of the most horrific deaths that is possible, and He did not have to. He chose to! That is huge, and the question is.......Do we live our lives in a way that says thank you to Jesus for his sacrifice (a go Christian), or do we slap Jesus in the face with the actions that we make (a stop Christian).

Tithing, showing up at church several times a week and even volunteering make a good church member, but do not make you a go Christian. We are to make disciples of others. We do this by proclaiming the good news that Jesus extolled. We do this by talking to that family member who does not know Christ, even if it makes them mad.

Jesus stated that He would divide families. If you love your family more than you do Jesus, He says that you are not worthy of Him, and that if you do not take up your cross and follow Him is not worthy of Him in Matthew 10:34-38. This is pretty hard to do, if you ask me. Choose Christ over our families if it comes down to it. I am sure it was also hard to walk the Via Dolorosa on the way to Golgotha, but Christ did. To quote a song, Jesus paid it all, yet we seem to be content to ride on his coattails instead of picking up our cross.

So ask yourself this question, are you a stop or a go Christian? Tomorrow we will look at what it means to take up Jesus cross and become a go Christian!!

Carmen Burgess

Buy this CD and sample a few of her other songs at her site: www.carmenburgess.com

Matthew 5:14-16

The Sermon on the Mount has some powerful words in it. Jesus was letting people know what will be important in the heavenly kingdom and how we should conduct ourselves while living in the worldly one. In Matthew 5:14-16 Jesus lets us know how we should present ourselves while we are in the worldly kingdom when he says, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

To begin, why would we need to be light in a world that was already lit brightly? The first part of verse 14 lets us know that this world is shrouded in darkness. This is not visual darkness, but a spiritual and moral darkness that covers the world. When there is darkness, there is only one way to remove it. Since light is the absence of darkness, the only way to remove darkness to add light. That would be us as Christians.

What does it mean to be the light of the world? We know Christ and have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Due to this, we as Christians have had the spiritual veil lifted from our eyes. We know longer live in darkness. More than not living in darkness, with the aid of the Holy Spirit in us we have the ability to glow like beacons of hope to others.

We glow like beacons by living for Christ. That is easily said, but what does living for Christ entail? This is the difficult part. We live for Christ by being the city built on a hill, the lamp placed high upon a stand. That may sound like an ambiguous answer, and it is. This means that because of the light that we have been blessed with, we should stand out from the rest of the world. We should not blend in with everyone else. Our light should shine before men!

My light shines before men in many ways, and there are many ways we think cause our light to shine that do not. First, going to church twice a week does not make my light shine. Getting dunked in some water by a pastor does not cause my light to shine. Doing the right thing out of obligation or guilt isn’t the way to brighten the world, neither is living my life well so that I can look down upon or pity others. Sitting in the front row/pew, having the Bible memorized, singing the loudest and raising that hand in worship do not cause light to shine on those around me.

If I want to illumine those in the dark, I must live dynamically. Dynamic living is getting yelled and cussed at, yet talking back to the person in a calm tone. It is not joining in the gossip at work during lunch, but instead putting an end to the gossip when it occurs. It is saying something nice about everyone, and if you can’t not saying anything. It is not judging someone by how they look or dress, or what they have financially. It is saying a kind word to the person you least want, to because they need to get accolades too.

If I live dynamically, I will apply the golden rule. Do not treat others the way that you think that they will treat you, or even the way they have treated you in the past. It says treat others the way you want to be treated. I would challenge you here and say treat others BETTER than you want to be treated. That is stepping out on faith, and I think that if we apply that then the way that others will improve.

Being dynamic is being open and honest about my relationship with Christ. Living dynamically and having a personal relationship with Christ that I keep to myself are diametrically opposed ways of existence.

I can no more hide my relationship with Jesus Christ than you could hide that city on a hill in broad day light, and why would I want to. I want others to know the incredible power of change, of optimism, that comes from the Holy Spirit. Yet, we have to make it sound and look appealing. If I am always miserable, than my light is dimming and others cannot see it.

Sin also begins to extinguish our light. Thou shall not lie means that we should not even tell little white lies, and thou shall not steal refers to cheating on our taxes too. It is still fornication when you take matters into your own hands. It is still adultery when you watch pornography. Lust is cheating. Pride, greed and coveting almost seem like the American way. Here is the clincher, the sin of omission. DOING NOTHING!! Inaction is a huge sin. When we see a wrong and do nothing to make it right, that is a sin. Being silent about my faith when it is my duty to be vocal and lead by example, to always be the bigger person when a situation could go south, that is a sin.

If we are the light of the world, we should let others know what that light is. In truth, they may actually come up and ask us about it. “Why are you always so positive” is a question that I have been asked before. My answer, “I am positive because I know even if I live 30 of the most miserable years here on earth, I have an eternity of bliss awaiting me. I always have something to look forward to.”

Matthew 5:13

I was looking at the Sermon on the Mount last night, and it really got me thinking. I am pretty sure that many of us have read this passage, but have we actually applied it to our lives. I think that I will spend my next few blogs discussing it in part due to the relevance of the scriptures to all Christians but also because of how interesting it is to dissect. I will start with Matthew 5:13, which says, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”

We are the salt of the earth. That is a profound statement when you think about what salt’s purpose is. Salt has several beneficial uses. One of the ways that we utilize salt is to enhance the flavor of other foods. When Jesus says that we are the salt of the earth He is implying that we can enhance those around us, even the places that we go. We can make them more flavorful. Read that as saying that those on the earth will be bettered by us because we can enhance them.

We are to make those who are around us improved. It should be easy for us to do. After all, we have the Holy Spirit in us as a guide, to lead us so that we are positive examples to others. As salt has a beneficial effect on food, we should have a beneficial effect on those around us. We are to be the meek, the merciful, the pure at heart even the peacemakers according to the beatitudes. We are to lead by example and continue to follow the example that Christ has set for us.

Another way we employ salt is to preserve food so that it does not get rotten, so that it does not go bad. We live in a world that is strongly urged on by sin, which is ruled by Satan. How does this affect us? People are leaving the church at a horrific rate. In 1990 86% of America professed Christianity; in 2009 it was 75%. As the devil tries to take over, we need to try to preserve what is still good.

We can cause others to stumble, and we can cause them to prosper spiritually. The choice is ours. This is made apparent when the scripture says that salt can lose its saltiness. Salt can become weakened and/or watered down. I think that for many of us the Gospel has become watered down because our faith has become watered down. We only want to know how much we have to do in order to be saved. Since I was baptized and go to church twice a week, I am good.

Francis Chan challenges that America has become filled by lukewarm (I read this watered down) Christians. We try to see how much we can get away with, we make excuses, and “Surely God meant do not murder, but it has to be okay to lie.” We rationalize our sin. We imagine that since the Bible states in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” that it is okay to sin, since we are doomed to do it anyway.

The true question is not how do I lose my saltiness, for that is as easy as becoming part of the world, of allowing the world to take hold of you again. The scripture says that if we lose our saltiness, we cannot regain it again, we become good for nothing. I personally don’t care how I lose my saltiness. If I am playing baseball, I do not train to not lose, I train to win. The most important question we can ask ourselves on this verse is HOW DO I KEEP MY SALTINESS!!!!!

If the world truly accepts you and all that you do, you are not keeping your saltiness. If you do not drop to your knees multiple times daily in prayer and meditation, you are not keeping your saltiness. If you think that church is only for Sundays, if people would not know that you are a Christian if they did not see you in church…..you are not keeping your saltiness.

God has called us, Jesus died for us and the Holy Spirit lives in us. What more do you need. If the Holy Spirit truly lives in us, we should not be comfortable in our lives. We are called to evangelism, discipleship, ministry, worship and praise. If we are always comfortable, then we are reaching out to the wrong people. Honestly, I would say that we are probably not reaching out to anyone.

We are called the salt of the earth. That means that we alone have the ability to influence those around us, to flavor this sinful world by giving others hope that not all is lost. We need to restore those who have lost their faith, and bring to Christ those who have never met Him. If you wonder how to do this, the answer is simple. Be Christ-like! Do not be a complacent Christian! Lead by example. Remember Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”

Holy Spirit

Today I was thinking about the Holy Spirit, which is a very regular thing for me. I have noticed the huge impact that the Holy Spirit has had in my life, and I cannot help but think on it all of the time. But today, I was thinking of how blessed we are in this day and age. When Jesus was here, He walked with the disciples. Can you believe actually getting to walk next to Jesus. I have some friends, that have visited the places that Jesus walked when the disciples were with Him, and they have always talked about how life changing that experience was.

That sounds amazing, walking beside Jesus. I would argue that we now have something even more powerful than Christ walking beside us. Something that is more life changing than walking the same paths that Christ walked, and we do not have to go anywhere to experience it. I am talking about the Holy Spirit and the amazing power that we are blessed with. It came when Christ left the Earth, and has been here ever since.

Jesus told the disciples that He had to leave so that the Holy Spirit could come.  He discusses this in John 14:16,17 – “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be IN YOU.”

This means that the Holy Spirit does not just walk beside us in our lives as Jesus did with the disciples, but instead lives inside of us. The Holy Spirit permeates our body and will guide us in all that we do, and can give us the power to do all that God has planned for us in our lives. Would you be a better basketball player if Michael Jordan coached you or if he took over your body and played through you? The last, of course. The same is true with the Holy Spirit. Jesus walked beside and coached, the Holy Spirit lives inside of us and guides! 

Jesus speaks very highly of the Holy Spirit. In John 16:7,8 he says,  "But I tell you the truth:  It is FOR YOUR GOOD THAT I AM GOING AWAY. Unless I go away, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.  When he comes he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment...."

I would say absolutely no excuses can we truly make when it comes to sin for one reason. Jesus took our ability to make excuses away from us. In John 14:26 He says, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will TEACH YOU ALL THINGS and will REMIND YOU OF EVERYTHING THAT I HAVE SAID to you.”

We were not only taught by the words of Christ and his disciples; we also have the Holy Spirit inside of us to remind us of what is right. The Holy Spirit is like a moral compass. We will know right from wrong, and we will know our sin is sin before we do it. Christ does not give us a way out. Will we all sin? Of course we will, sadly it is in our nature. But the Holy Spirit will guide us away from doing wrong and towards doing right!

We must rely on the Holy Spirit in our lives. We must learn to listen for its whispers in all that we do. If we can begin meditating that is a great start. Take solace in silence and prayer. That way we have a much better chance of hearing how the Holy Spirit would direct our lives. The Holy Spirit actually convicts us of right and wrong. To be convicted means to have a firmly held belief or opinion. That is what the Holy Spirit provides us with. Look at how it convicted the disciples:

The disciple that claimed to love Jesus the most denied that he was his disciple when confronted 3 times in Mark 14:66-72. He loved Christ, but yet could not stand up for the person that he loved out of fear. In fact, Mark 14:50 says, “everyone deserted Him and fled.” These are the same disciples that all agreed with Peter in Mark 14:31 in saying that they would never disown or desert Jesus. This is how the disciples behaved before the Holy Spirit was here.

After Jesus left and the Holy Spirit came down to dwell inside of the disciples, look at how strong and unwavering their faith was. Eight of the disciples were executed. They were martyrs when they died, which means that they were vocal about their belief in Christ, and never backed down when questioned. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit bolstered their spiritual strength and they became steadfast in their belief.

So never forget the power of the Holy Spirit. It will lead us into victory and allow us to accomplish things both great and small. It will mold us and make us more like Jesus every day. The Holy Spirit will guide our actions so we can be God's hands and feet every day. The Holy Spirit will show us how to be salt and light to all that we come in contact with, if only we listen and follow where we are led!

Leap of Faith

I need to thank one of my friends, Greg West. He is a pretty smart guy that I have liked since our first meetings, and yesterday I was truly inspired by him and what he is doing. He is the leader of the small group that I am involved in, The Truth Project. He is also someone that I have found myself talking to at church, along with his wife Brooke, for several reasons. The primary reason is because they always seem to be happy and (my personal favorite word) optimistic. That makes them two people that I seek out to speak to. I find joy in my optimism, and I know that it could always be better. If you want to continue moving forward in life, be around people who have things that you want. Maybe they will rub off on you! Greg and his wife have been rubbing off on me.

This is where Greg comes in. He has a site that is awesome and I would highly recommend looking at , www.thepoachedegg.net. I found out something that I did not know about Greg. As I talked about the situation that Julie and I found ourselves talking about, Greg’s wife Brooke got a look on her face. When I inquired about her look, she gave me a big smile. She told me that Greg had taken a huge leap of faith several months ago, and told me what it was. I will not get into what his leap of faith is. That is his story. What I will tell you is that Greg put himself in a position where he had to rely on God or face some monumental struggles, and God has come through for him. It gave me the added inspiration that I needed to continue doing what I am doing, as well as renewed my faith in the people around me. I love the people that God is surrounding me with.

I did begin to ask myself whether or not there are many people in the United States who would take a huge risk. How many of us would be willing to throw down what we do? How many of us would quit our jobs to do what we feel God is leading us to do if it would place not only financial strain, but put us at risk of complete and utter financial ruin. I mean the kind where you might lose all that you have. I do not think that there are many out there who would risk this. I began to think that there might not be any. When have many of us here in America had to truly rely on God, put complete faith in Him? How many of us abroad have had to do that, would do that, if they felt that the Holy Spirit was leading them that way?

I thought it through, and the way that I saw it was that God provides when we do His will. She was quick to ask me if maybe I am doing what God wants me to do where I work currently. I will admit that I may be doing what I am supposed to. I was built from the ground up to do what I do; it has been what my past has molded me in to. The career I have now is not enough for me, I want to do more with the rest of my life. I feel that I spent so much of my life taking from society, and I want to give back. I want to be able to reach people on a grander scale than I do now. I told her that I would wait until after my book is published, but that I may not make the decision that she wants after it gets published.

So, I throw caution to the wind, and I do not think of the consequences.  My wife is just the opposite. There is a reason that she handles the money and pays the bills, I can’t. I could try, but I am generally too busy with some project to do something as important and practical as paying the bills. I am a changed man, but not a responsible one. There are definitely many reasons that I have been blessed with Julie in my life, and this is one of them. I started thinking that I could just do this full-time and money would take care of itself. My wife decided in the evening that she would remind me about bills, house and car payments, groceries, taking care of DJ, etc. and that maybe we would not have those things if I did not think it through.

When the idea first struck me and I talked to my wife about it, everything went great. She was smiling and agreed that this sounded like a great idea. As the day progressed and I began to do what I do, which is completely throw myself into everything that comes my way, there started to be a voice of reason in my ear. Yes, it was my wife’s voice. Just so you know, my wife is practical and I am very much a manic prone Bi-Polar type person. This means that on occasion I would actually agree with at least one of my mental health diagnosis.

With that said, I must tell you that Sunday when I had my epiphany there was a dichotomy that occurred between my wife and I. It did not happen right away, but it gradually developed. I was overcome by what I was to do with my life. Suddenly I knew that my purpose in life was to finish my book, then to travel and share my life’s history. To share with other’s the incredible power that the Holy Spirit has been as it has worked in me to recreate who I am so that other’s can be blessed and filled with hope and inspiration. That is what struck me on that bicycle ride as my purpose in life.

Welcome

This is the very first blog for my web site, www.spiritualspackle.com. I am really excited, because this web site means that my book is progressing well. As I said, this is my first blog, and it is the first of many that will grace this site. I will have my biography on this site soon, and it is the life that I will briefly describe in my  biography as well as the concepts that allowed me to stop being an agnostic and instead step into a relationship with Christ, how I forgave myself for the choices that I made in the past, step ped out of my many addictions, stopped living a criminal lifestyle  and instead began living my life as an example to the people in my life of how a Christian should live  that will be the basis for my forthcoming book entitled, “Spiritual Spackle.” I have the titles for each of the books  chapters and the introduction written, and I am beginning the first chapter. That first chapter is at least partially dictated. It is a tough chapter, as it is my life from birth to the beginning of my 5^th grade year. Right now I am at work, and using this as a test for my first entry to allow my wife who is designing the site for me to see how blogging posts as she begins to put the website together. This blog may be very scattered and disorganized, like a jig saw puzzle that was thrown out of the box on the ground and the pieces left as they fell  as I am writing it between client’s sessions for ten minutes at a time.  I can guarantee that the writing will get better and be more cohesive in the future, so bear with me.

I have high hopes that this site can be used by many different people, from those who do not know Christ to those who are curious about Christ, from those who are new to Christ all the way to those who have been Christians their entire lives. It will be useful for those who need inspiration for life’s challenges, be they big or small. I want to be able to use this site to encourage the person who had a flat tire today all the way up to the person who lost their Dad. I want to introduce new ways of thinking to the visitor’s on this page, and encourage those who visit here to build their faith and have hope that is insurmountable through mediums from blogging to music, books to movies and everything in between.

I am looking at the various pages that I want to have on my site.  Those pages will include a page on Celebrate Recovery,  a page on Living Free, a page blogging my reading the Bible in a year and how I am affected by each of the readings that I read each day, updates on my book(s), and random thoughts that I have which are heavily influenced by my relationship with Christ. It will also have reviews of inspirational books, movies and music.  I also plan to blog each program that I work through, so there will be a page started in June after I get back from Florida where I will blog the Purpose Driven Life as I work through that over 40 days, then One 2 Won crosstraining will probably be next. I want a site that reviews small groups that people have facilitated and/or attended and how it has impacted their lives.

I want a forum so that people who have questions that they are having problems answering can get the information they need so that they can comprehend everything  that they want to know when it comes to God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I had many questions when I first began going to church that were answered for me, such as why is there evil, why do good people in my life die and the people who are the worst such as me still live, how do we know that Jesus walked the face of the Earth, can I truly be forgiven of my sins, etc. People took the time to answer my questions, so I will try my best with the help of the other’s who will contribute to this site to answer yours.

This site will also be linked to Facebook, and I may even have to begin twittering so that can be on there also. I am excited about the opportunity to get to know some people really well, as I will hopefully have several contributors that will help get this site going and regular visitors that share their lives with us. I also will have the opportunity to give people a glimpse into my life as it was and how it is now, and can share my strength, hope, inspiration and faith with you the visitor.

One of the main focuses of this site is giving people a window into the live’s of people who are in recovery from all that this sinful world has to throw at them. I would argue that everyone has demons in their live’s that they need to overcome, whether it is food, relationships, childhood physical/sexual abuse, rape, shoplifting, codependency, divorce, lying, being unable to show empathy/compassion, compassion fatigue, PTSD, depression, anxiety, drugs/alcohol, gambling, shopping, debt, overworking, pornography, grief/loss, etc. I want you to know that you are not alone, and that there is hope for all of us. Saul of Tarsus at one time hunted down Christians and executed them , then was redeemed of his sins and after a Pauline conversion went on to write over half of the New Testament. If there is redemption for Paul, forgiveness for King David after committing adultry then having a man murdered, even grace for the criminal crucified next to Jesus Christ, then there is surely a loving Father who can forgive.

This website will impart hope to those who suffer by allowing them to see the wonderful transformation that is possible through God’s grace. It will open other’s eyes to the wonders that God is able to create from the trials and tribulations that life throws at us. I have seen God by way of the Holy Spirit begin to make changes in me that I never dreamed were possible. In the first 30 years of my life I had sometimes intentionally and other times unknowingly conspired with the devil to destroy people’s lives. In the past several years I have used the Holy Spirit to help rebuild my life and used that new  life which I have been blessed with to help other’s overcome isses since I was saved. I have seen and met many incredible and wise people through programs such as Celebrate Recovery, Teen Challenge, Church Army and Living Free who have through the power of Christ made wondrous changes in their live’s and learned the true meaning of being born again.

Thanks for coming to visit, and I truly hope that this is the first of many times that you will come to this site. I look forward to getting to know you as you get to know me.

Serena Woods

Visit Serena's website: http://www.graceisforsinners.com/

Mike Dutze

Steve Donaldson

Visit Steve's Ministry @ www.ruralcompassion.org

Julie Stoecker