Category Archives: Faith

Remember

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Background-

My mom passed away recently after a long fight with cancer. Needless to say, it has been a challenging time. I deal with the pain daily and God has blessed me immensely through this experience. 

I am writing this to explain some of the best advice I can give in general. And I have only learned this recently, but it is a piece of advice that I have given to a few of my friends in the last few weeks. 

Remember. 

We live such fast paced lives, things become routine and we take them for granted. I encourage you to pause, take a moment, and remember the little things.

For me it was remembering how it felt to hug my mom. How it felt to touch her hair. How her voice sounded. What it was like when she said I love you. Her laugh…

The little things.

For you it may be something different. It may be the sound of your dads voice, or the feeling of your son or daughter. It may be hearing your spouse say I love you. Or hearing their laugh or seeing their smile.

I promise you this, we do not appreciate these things enough. Appreciate them before they are gone. God forbid that they be taken tragically, but it happens everyday.

I want to take this one step further. Remember God. Remember the times when He carried you and when He redeemed you. Remember how it felt when He was near, and Remember the times when He felt distant.

Let it not be said of us, as it was said of the church at Ephesus-

“You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.” Revelation 2:3-4

So, the next time you see a loved one. Pause for an extra moment, and Remember. Imprint the feeling in your mind and save it for a rainy day.

Thank you and God Bless.

– B

Coming Down From the Mountain

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Background- I wrote this over a year ago during a mission trip to the Dominican Republic. I wrote this to address the spiritual highs that are inevitably created during events like a mission trip. I call them “Mountaintop Experiences”.
Now, Mountaintop Experiences are wonderful. But so often they are temporary. It is difficult to maintain the high that we felt during our experience. We are often left disappointed and discouraged when we come off the mountain and  back to the real world, or the “valley”.
This particular journal became significant recently when the youth group at my local church came back from youth camp. Lives were changed and God truly moved. It has been dubbed the Revolution. I was given the opportunity to share with a Sunday School class, and God reminded me of this journal. The timing could not have been better. Students were energized and motivated, truly seeking the Lord. But they returned to a world that had not changed. A world full of challenges and doubt. Doubt from friends, doubt from family etc.
I want this to serve as encouragement to you. God does meet and change people on mountains. We just have to remember that our experiences cannot be driven by emotional highs and lows. They must be driven by a passion for the Lord. Remember, God will sustain the Revolution.
1 Corinthians 3:7- So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.
Reference-
Genesis 22– Abraham
Matthew 17, Mark 9, Luke 9- Jesus Transfiguration
Matthew 4:8 – Temptation of Jesus
John 17, Luke 22:39– Praying on Mount of Olives
Key Points
Mission trip was a mountaintop experience
  • Constant praise and fellowship
  • serving God actively
  • Away from normal lives
  • God met and changed men on mountains
    • Abraham
    • Moses
    • Jesus
  • Men were tested on mountains
    • Abraham- Isaac
    • Jesus- Satan
  • Were you tested this week?- yes
Questions-
  • How will we be when we come down from the mountain?
  • Will we be truly changed or will we return to business as usual?
  • When the challenges, comforts and stresses of life return, how will we respond?
  • We must return to the valley- no choice. Because,  Where are the lost?
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
         I will fear no evil;
         For You are with me;
         Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:4
Encouragement- Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.1 Cor 9:24

Welcome

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Welcome to my blog. My name is Brian and it is my prayer that this blog will bless you in some way.  I am a Christian and I enjoy reading and studying the Bible. This blog will serve as a place where I will share my notes and thoughts on a wide range of topics.
Before I go any further, I want to make this statement-
I am not a Biblical scholar or anything like that. I have not been trained in any theological seminary. I do not know all of the answers. In fact, the older I get, the more I realize how limited my knowledge truly is. 
But I do know this- There is a God in heaven and He loves you.  He loves you enough to send His most beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to die on a cross for you.  The only way to obtain eternal life is through Jesus Christ. Salvation is not by works. It is not about being a “good” or “bad” person.  The Bible makes this clear in Ephesians 2:8-9 .
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Everyone is seeking truth.  Everyone is seeking life after death.  The truth can be found in the Word of God. 
I hope by now you can see where I am coming from.  I am just a normal guy, who enjoys writing and is seeking to glorify God in any way possible.
Thank you and God Bless.
– B