ImNoBetterThanU

Due to not being aware of any true encounter with God in life, many individuals have allowed doubt and lack of faith creep into their lives. Oftentimes I have heard, if there is a God I would see Him. I could just say look around, but that will be for another post another time. Do you really have to see something to believe in it? True faith that something exists is what I am talking about. Do you believe in snow?  Do you believe in the sun? Do you believe there is blood pumping through your veins? Seriously...when it is 106 °  outside do you still believe in snow? When the darkness of night overtakes the atmosphere do you still believe in the sun? When there are no lacerations, abrasions, or any other open wounds on your skin do you still believe there is blood pumping through your veins? Now I know what some of you may be saying..."I have seen all those before, I have never seen God." OK you got me...or did you? Have you ever seen the process of a tree becoming paper?

This morning I went to the car wash to remove from the hood of my car the unpleasantly large gift left by what was apparently a large flock of birds. TMI? Sorry. Anyway...while I was using the high pressure thrust of the water to remove the aforementioned aerodynamic obstructions from my vehicle the Lord was showing me something about our own lives. As I washed the dirt and filth away I noticed several new blemishes from chips, to scratches, and scrapes in numerous areas. Whereas my initial reaction was one of lackluster emotions including frustration, disappointment, maybe even a dash of anger I quickly stopped to ask myself why. Take every thought captive... I know, I know. Some of you are now thinking that I have gone super-spiritual. Hear me out. What good does it do to have any negative emotions about something so minor? I get it, you pay tens of thousands of dollars for something and we are told to be good stewards of what God blesses us with. I get that. However, I have no

As this Thanksgiving day is rapidly coming to a close I have been reflecting on the last year. It has been the most amazing year of my entire life. The physical and emotional healing that God has done in my life would have previously been unimaginable had you asked me one year ago. The emotional, psychological, mental, spiritual, and yes even physical growth I have experienced over the last year has been miraculous as you consider where I have been in life. At this point in my life I could give you a long list of current circumstances in my life that would have had me stressed, worried, angry, and bitter (just to name a few) just twelve months ago. In fact, my overall circumstances in life were much better than they currently are and I still allowed many of the aforementioned emotions and feelings to control my life at this time last year. However, today I can say I am joyful and at peace with myself and my life. I am also being used daily to impact peoples lives in incredibly positive

Have you ever been faced with the daunting task of restoring something that is old, rundown, falling apart? Something that is in the poorest condition after years of abuse and being misused? Was it discouraging just thinking about it? I can relate. Sometimes we never complete the task...maybe we never even start the task. Well, I am here to talk about something that was abused, mistreated, malnourished, etc. All of this went on for well over a decade. Can you imagine the condition of something after more than ten years of this? How do you view that looking, feeling, projecting to others? You know what that something is? My soul... For years sexual immorality, drugs, alcohol, gossip, slander, manipulation, tearing others down, making fun, etc. These are the things I was doing and/or exposed to for over ten years. The very thing that is a gift to us all I abused. I filled it with lust, lasciviousness, envying, revellings, etc. Corrupting my soul to the point of disgust... However

Sometimes I feel that individuals keep trying to fix something without knowing the root cause of the problem. I know for a fact that I have done this myself on many occasions and as a human on this earth will likely fall victim to this very act again. For, example a lack of feelings of self-worth, belonging, [ insert your own personal struggle here ], etc. Below is a great example found in an excerpt from a sermon taught by Matt Chandler of The Village Church . "Recovering sight is what Jesus is going to bring in the gospel. I don't know that you can get through life without being hurt and wounded by something. You know, daddy didn't hug you well enough. And it's really not your daddy's fault. Dr. Hannah was here this week for a pastor's conference. He told a great story about his wife when she was sixteen—mowed the lawn, trying to surprise her daddy, and she left this one little strip undone. And when her daddy got home, he re-mowed the whole lawn. But he wa

What is the difference? ...between me and everyone else you know. Many people that know me may answer that question by saying "nothing". I wholly desire that everyone  that knows me (and those that do not know me that I simply come in contact with) would answer the opposite. I realize that there is but an interstice between my alterity and me being utterly familiar to those that encounter my presence in my life. That interstice is simply the difference between radical obedience and selective obedience. I want to be radically obedient at all times. Even if this radical obedience causes non believers to call me a Bible thumper or even if it causes my friends at church to call me a super-spiritual geek. None of this matters. Assiduous attention should be paid to our actions in life. Jesus had asked that we consume Him; be preoccupied with Him day and night. That is what I want. I want to make a difference in this life. A difference in the life of my son Andrew, his mothe

Are you a talker? ...or are you a thinker and a doer? I think oftentimes we talk a lot about what others are doing and how great that is? I also believe that oftentimes we talk about what we are going to do and do not do it. You may feel led to go pray for someone for healing. Do you do it? I know recently I was talker...and that was all I did. I can personally tell you of an instance where I was a talker and not a mover and shaker. Now with this being common in our society you may be asking what the big deal is. Well for me, at this time in my life I feel that I am to be going boldly out into the world to be a part of the walking revival that is taking place. What revival you ask? Well, if you know me personally that is all the more reason that I should be doing my part! I sincerely feel that I am being called to be much more bold in my life in reference to not only sharing the gospel, but simply showing Christ's love to everyone I come in contact with. Just earlier this mo

Do you raise your hands during worship? Do you pray out loud? Why? Why do you do these things? Is your heart in it? Often times the aforementioned actions are done to impress those around you. Or maybe you do those things to hide the lies of your "private" life and private sin from others. Or you do them just because you feel like it is what you are supposed to do. When this occurs these all become ritual idols . You spend so much time thinking about these things that they themselves become an idol.  Others may be thinking that there is no need to raise your hands during worship or no need to pray out loud. Be careful, do not let these actions become idle rituals either. There is meaning behind the lifting of our hands. It shows surrender and we are designed to worship. Just send anyone to a sporting event, concert, (or whatever it is that gets someone excited. You scream, raise your hands, jump up and down, just to name a few). Praying out loud (or even just speaking c

I feel like that is what God is wanting me to do these days. He has been doing such an amazing work in my heart over the last month. For several months now he has been telling me to be a better steward. Not only of my finances, but of everything He has blessed me with. My job, time, friends, family, health, etc. I feel that I have been doing a great job of being a better steward in all areas...but we all know God will allow trials to enter our lives in order to stretch us as individuals and make us more mature in the physical realm as well as the spiritual. Well, Friday July 30th my income dropped over $12,000.00 year. This is a significant amount of my net income. This happening at a time when my insurance renewal is due, vehicle maintenance is rapidly approaching, the need for new tires seem to be on the horizon, and that is just expenses related to my car! Needless to say, this is one of those trials. It was extremely discouraging initially, but I have an amazing peace about it

So I realize it has been a while since I have written a post. So much has happened since then. There is much to rejoice about! Will you rejoice with me? I will start with some great things about my son Andrew. I have kind of kept him out of the blog for a while, but this is worth sharing. Recently he graduated pre-K; at that time they had a math test of 100 problems of addition and subtraction. The children were then told they had five minutes to complete as many problems as they could. Well, my son Andrew completed all 100 and got them all correct! How incredibly exciting and awesome is that! WOOOHOOOOOO! I got to talk to him about it and he spoke to me longer than he ever had previously. We must have talked for a total of fifteen minutes or more. He told me about a medal he got and then he sang to me! It was incredible. Then a couple of weeks ago when we spoke he was reading with his mother when I called. So when he got on the phone he asked if I would like for him to read to me. A

Breath brings life... God took dust from the earth and with the breath of life  formed man. ( Genesis 2:7 ) He also provided the  breath of life  to bring dry bones in the valley to life. ( Ezekial 37:9   - 10 ) Are you asking how we get the  breath of life ? It is easy. You read His word. It is our  breath of life . It will cleanse the soul, mend the heart, strengthen us emotionally, etc. The power of the living Word is beyond limitation as we know it. It will cause a fire to burn within us, feeding our passions ans desires that are God given. Once that fire is ignited you then need to feed the fire. One way of doing so is to live life with godly people. Keep them close and dear. Share your struggles so they can support you through prayer. Share you successes so they can rejoice and praise with you! This is one of many ways to feed the fire. I for one am very grateful for the people I have had brought into my life through divine appointments over the last two to three months.

Do you ever find yourself boasting about future events? Yeah me too. Should we? Absolutely not.  Should we faithfully plan for a better tomorrow for ourselves, our family, and friends? Absolutely. We should simply do so in humility, faith, and with much gratitude. The reason I write this is; what if you sustain a fatal bite from a viper ? I know what some of you may be saying...there are no vipers around me. Well more specifically it was a highly venomous snake that sank its fangs deep into his flesh and injected a fatal amount of poison. What did Paul do? He shook it off. Will you do the same if this occurred? Could your viper be a devastating tornado, drunk driver hitting you, or heart failure? Let's even tone it down a notch. What if your viper is losing your job, losing your home, losing your significant other... Will you allow that circumstance to gain control of your life or will you remain steadfast in thanking our Father for His inherent goodness? My intention here

I want to preface this post by stating that last Tuesday was a ministry night for leaders and emergin leaders within the church. During that time Alan Smith  had an amazing word for me that spoke directly to my heart at just the right time in my life. It gave me a new perspective on life in general and has been yet another turning point in my life that I can add to all the great advances that are occurring in my life over the last couple of years.  Memorial Day Weekend, this used to be one of my favorite weekends because there were plenty of parties. For me this weekend consisted of ingesting drugs, alcohol, and likely times of being sexually immoral...oftentimes with multiple partners (or the same numerous times). Sounds fun right? Wrong!  None of it was ever enough. Tuesday (if I even made it in that day) I would drag myself into work feeling as though Mike Tyson had his way with me in the ring. All for what? To go out again Tuesday night after work to try to fill the glaring lacu

Well, I know it has been a long time since I have posted anything here and for that I apologize. In our society, it is quite common that we get so caught up in our day to day routine that we rarely have a moment when we do not have some "important" matter inundating our minds. I too fell victim to this. The good news is that I am now moving beyond that point! I am beginning a new season in my life. I just auspiciously moved and I am quickly getting settled into my new place. In addition to this, a lot has happened in my life over the last two and half years and I can honestly say that I am in a better place and doing better as a person than I have in well over a decade. I am looking to get back to writing more often and sharing my thoughts with you all by 'Typing Out Loud'. I hope I have not lost all my readers and hope I can grow larger whereas I feel this is a tool that I am to use to reach out to others and impact my friends, acquaintances, the community, and even

Lies, deceit, secrets, deception... I think we can all agree that none of the aforementioned are going to lead to any positive progression in our lives. Yet we are human and our fleshiness will lead us all there at some point in our life. The key is moving on past it; not allowing those times to drag you down. You must also make a choice to turn your life around (repent) and stop those actions. You must realize that regardless of what you have done in the past you can be free and live the life you were designed to live. Oftentimes people believe that because of their past that they can never be a part of any kind of ministry or make a positive difference in the lives of those around them that they come in contact with. That is a complete and total lie. In biblical historical times David is viewed as one of the greatest men of his time; and throughout all of history to this day. However, go read 2 Samuel 11-12 . A mighty man of God, a favored king of a powerful and mighty nation, a

So this was in interesting evening. After an amazing church service kicking off the new series " The One Thing " with Vernon Wells being the guest, I proceeded upstairs to go to the Bible study as I have so many times before.  Only it was not happening tonight...LOL So... I proceeded to try to find something to do; it seemed as though every one had something going on. I thought I would go eat. Well, as I was driving I thought I would go check out Nordstram Rack whereas I have been told on numerous occasions it is a great place to shop. Well, I discovered a couple of things... First, I must have horrible fashion sense. The reason I say that is because I would not wear most of the things I saw in there. I guess I am too much of a simple man for "true fashion" HAHAHA Secondly, I had been told it was cheap (or at least more inexpensive) well from the prices I saw it must be the equivalent of a ROSS or T.J. Maxx for Bill Gates and Donald Trump. Again, I guess I am

I realize I have not posted in quite some time and it is something I trying to get worked into an extremely hectic schedule that I have had in 2010. I am in class Monday through Thursday evening and get home late. Thursday begins early for me (4:00 A.M.) so I try to get to sleep earlier. Then Friday night I try to get out and do something relaxing. Then the weekends too have been packed full of training, classes, groups, etc. I believe my schedule will loosen up here int he next few weeks. Anyway, I digress... below are two links to two different posts from two different individuals that are not even connected in any way. However, these two posts should cause you to think and reflect more before being so quick to judge those around us. Reminds me of Philippians 2:3-4 . Check these two posts out: One by Brad , someone I went to high school with back in the day. The other by Babs , whom I do not know personally. But, she is a sister in Christ!

So the last month I had been under severe attack and it was a very difficult time for me to remain positive and optimistic. Well, that time is over! Last and first of year offerings to Him and my first fruit offerings through denying and devoting ( fasting ) are already paying off in dividends! Whereas it was much more than I had anticipated or ever previously given up; I know that as a result I will experience a great breakthrough in an area(s) of my life as a result of my obedience . The  First Conference has been incredible this far and I look forward to the remainder of it. I wish I could take the next three days off just to focus on the devotional and  The Word in preparation for the message. When pressing into Him over the last three days I am encouraged to further my actions with great fervor.

Let me start by telling any and all readers happy new year. So December was a truly rocky month for me emotionally, spiritually, physically, psychologically, and physiologically. What? You think I am a mess? Well, we all are if you want to be honest with yourself. One thing I can say is that over the last year I have made huge strides to being more healthy in all the aforementioned areas and I am. However, life is a continual process of progressive sanctification and I am aware of that. I know that at this time last year and especially just 18 months ago I was doing drugs, getting drunk often, and very promiscuous to top it all off. Well, thankfully I can say those  days are behind me, but now time to work on resolving other problems...again this growth should be  progressive.  This brings me to an issue with which I have gotten much better than I was, say fifteen years ago yet still need some work in this area. Whereas my impetuous behaviors are typically good and work to better my