Heroes

Hi All.

So today I want to talk about heroes. One of my favorite heroes is Paul.

What do we know about Paul? Right off the top of my head I can tell you:

1) That Paul used to be Saul

2) He was an apostle

3) http://www.prlog.org/12303782-bringing-back-god-youth-group-with-pastor-john-collins.html

4) He changed his ways and became a very strong believer of Jesus

5) He wrote many letters in the New Testament

That is the basics of Paul. But there has to be more to his story than just those five points. Think about it to yourself, what do you know about the apostle Paul?

Did you know that he was studying to become a Pharisee? Did you know that he believed in the Old Testament and everything that pertained to God? Did you know that he had a vision on the way to Damascus of Jesus? Did you know that he was blind for three days? Did you know that in today’s world we would have seen Paul (Saul) as a terrorist for all the acts he committed before he was changed?

Saul went around killing followers of Jesus Christ in the name if God. He had a declaration from the Romans stating that it was okay for him to kill Jesus followers. In today’s world that is a terrorist. Is there any other way to look at it? Not really. Would you say that any of this work is the work of a hero? My answer would be no.

PASTOR JOHN COLLINS stated at church service the other day, “God does not recruit heroes. Not many mighty are called, not many noble, not many powerful, not man great as the world count greatness are called. God doesn’t go for big names to populate heaven. He takes ordinary folks and then does extraordinary things through them. But even that isn’t the full story. When God wants to recruit some front line soldiers for his army, he goes into the enemy camp and rounds up a handful of the orneriest, meanest, toughest, roughest, and wildest looking sinners he can find. The he draws them to Christ, saves them, justifies them, converts them, sanctifies them, cleans them up, fixes them up, dresses them up, and then sends them out to do battle in the service of the King of Kings.”

Think about that. He picks ordinary people that are sinners and converts them so that they can do His will and one day makes it into the Kingdom of Heaven. If God would choose someone like Paul to do His will and convert then that gives all of us hope that we can change to do His will too.

So if you ever feel down and out or like there is no hope left for yourself I want you to think about Paul. Think about what his life used to be like until God entered it. Think about how God chooses ordinary people. Think about how God chooses sinners. If Paul can be saved and do great things than so can you and I.

If you want to learn more about Paul or have any questions about the bible, check out PASTOR JOHN COLLINS at BRINGING BACK GOD in BRISTOL, TN. Also check out BRINGING BACK GOD, MARIETTA, PA

Love you guys and God Bless You!

The Church Girl

It's Never Too Late

It's never too late to find God.
Do you know the story of the prodigal son? If not let me give you a brief summary of it. There is a father that has two sons. One of them leaves the family and the house to go out on his own. Later on down the road he realizes that he wants to go home. So he returns home and is welcomed with open arms and a feast.
A little further looking in the Bible tells us that the brother that left actually asked his father if he could have his half of the fortune that he was to share with his brother. Of course the father being a loving man gave his son what he was asking. So the son leaves, spends all the fortune and falls into hared times. Because he is ashamed of not making it on his own he doesn't want to go home and tell his father what happened. Finally, though, he realizes that he should go home and take what he feels he deserves. What happens is his father not only welcomes him home with open arms but he also sends for the finest robe, rings for his fingers, and the fatted calf for a feast because his son has come home.
This is the story about the Prodigal Son. So if we were to look at the story in a different way we can see that God is the father and we are the son that leaves. When we come back to the Lord, He will welcome us with open arms, a robe and a ring. This is true for no matter how far away from God you fall. If you are willing to show that you believe in Him and His Son Jesus and are willing to do the works and deeds, then He will welcome you back just like the father in the story. If your faith is not strong when times are tough then you are in thinking in your head and not listening with your heart. That's the thing your mind is very good at overriding what your heart is saying. So when times are tough that is when your faith needs to be the strongest. Get off the pity pot, stand up and do Gods will.
The biggest thing that challenges us and tries to shake your faith, is peer pressure. The prodigal son probably felt peer pressure when he was down and out after spending all that he had. We get it too. Everyday that someone says you're one of those christian types. Who cares. PASTOR JOHN COLLINS at BRINGING BACK GOD in BRISTOL, TN says, "We are making it cool to be a Christian again. Forget peer pressure, get God pressure." What a good line. God pressure. I want more God pressure in my life. That is what the prodigal son finally got when he realized he should go home. And what happened? He was welcomed back and the fact that he went away, fell off the path, or however you want to look at it didn't matter. The point was, he came back. That is all that God wants and is asking of us. So here today let's all get some God pressure and go back to Him. He wants us and we need Him.
Check out either location of BRINGING BACK GOD, in BRISTOL, TN or MARIETTA, PA.
Love and God Bless You all,
The Church Girl