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His Grace is Sufficient, Alexandria, LA (2026)

11/12/2024

Wow... It's been a bit.

Has there ever been a time in your life where you just find yourself exhausted. You have used every bit of energy you have to try and please those around you. You work 9-5 and then overtime just to please the boss. You do everything in your power to keep your spouse happy. You make time to help your friends. You contribute to your community by volunteering.... and at the end of it all you are physically and mentally exhausted and all you have are a bunch of complaints of how you didn't do enough or how you missed the mark.

Being a people pleaser can be an exhausting and low return job.

Until we begin to realize we were not placed on this earth to please people we will continue to come up short. We were placed on this earth to glorify God in all that we do. We were placed on this earth to please God.

I want us to latch on to one verse today and chew on it and let it digest.

Hebrews 11:6- It's impossible to please God without faith because the one who draws near to God must believe. that he exists and that he rewards people who try to find him.

The first step to finding our identity is recognizing that God is who he says he is and having faith that he has done enough pay off our sin debt. We accept that he has paid that debt and we live a free life because of that payment.

So today's goal (and everyday's goal) is to recognize that Jesus is enough. We do not have to please those around us, all we must do is please God. To please God all we have to do is have faith in who he is and what he has done.

09/05/2024

I think I have mentioned it before, but there are periods of time where I wake up in the middle of the night in a minor panic. So like most nights when this happens I recite some of my go to verses to help calm my mind. I repeat them over and over and over again until I feel the panic and anxiety flee from my thoughts. Sometimes I recite the full verse and other times I condense the verse to words that feel more genuine to me.

Stop being anxious. Pray, Be Thankful, Accept the Peace that God gives you even if it doesn't make sense: Philippians 4:6-7 (Eric Standard Version)

Last night was no different.... And I eventually fell back into a peaceful sleep.

When I woke up this morning I did my usual routine, self care, coffee, breakfast, watching funny videos before having to leave for work.

But one of the videos that I scrolled through hit me hard. A guy was talking about what he would ask or say to Jesus if he had 5 minutes to sit and talk with him.

"First I would thank him and tell him all I am grateful for"

The next part hit me hard though.

"Second, I would ask him to show me all the things I SHOULD be grateful for."

That sits on my heart and mind and soul. How many times have I complained about something only to realize I was actively complaining about a blessing straight from God and instead making it out to be a curse.

My utility bills are so high..... So you have utilities
Gas is so expensive.... So you have a car
Ugh, I don't want to go to work..... So you have a job
I'm tired of eating leftovers.... So you have food
My spouse is really getting on my nerves today.... So you have a partner.

We have so many opportunities to be grateful for all that we have and yet, it never seems to be enough...

So today let's make this our prayer.

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18.

08/06/2024

When my wife and I pray one of the things I always ask God is for him to give us opportunities to touch the lives of the people we come into contact with for the day or week. I ask God to give us a platform to glorify him.

I'm not going to lie. Sometimes it becomes routine to pray for the same things over and over and to not even think of what you are asking for. That's obviously not a good thing. But that's not really what I am going to speak on today.

Instead, I want to highlight how God answered this prayer this week.

On Monday I was speaking with a man and around the time the conversation was coming to an end, he said something that caught me off guard. He was telling me how busy his schedule has been and how it's about to get a little more difficult.

I asked him what he meant, and he opened up to me. He told me that his wife was recently diagnosed with Lymphoma and they were awaiting the next steps for her treatment.

My eyes suddenly filled with the weight of tears and I apologized because sometimes when speaking with people I get a bit emotional.

I hurt for him, and without thinking I asked if it would be ok if I prayed with and for him. He agreed, so I placed my hand on his shoulder and I prayed for healing, I prayed for the peace that surpasses all understanding. I prayed that they would have guidance on how they should approach the coming days, weeks, and months. I prayed hard. Honestly It was probably one of the hardest prayers I've prayed in a while.

Now, I'm not saying this to toot my own horn because I know there have been probably 1000 other opportunities that I just missed... But I caught it this time.

Honestly.... there are times when life really sucks. There are a million things I can complain about and be grumpy about each day. But in those moments when you see some one who is really struggling. Those are the moments you realize how good you have it.

I don't know what you are going through personally, but I know that God placed you on this earth for a purpose... That purpose is to glorify him. It's to find those people who are hurt and broken. It's to show those people the love of Christ in a way that can supernaturally change them from the inside out.

Find someone this week that you can sew into.

07/31/2024

When I was younger and in the first few years of my career, I remember a situation where I was treating a patient for shoulder pains. I remember after treating her for a few weeks, I asked how she was doing. She replied, "Oh you guys have helped me so much, my shoulder is doing much better".

She went to the doctor's office a few days later for a follow up. The doctor promptly reached out to me and said "Hey that shoulder patient told me she's not going back to you."

I asked him if she gave a reason. His reply "She just did not feel like it was the right place for her."

I was pretty surprised since I vividly recall the conversation we had maybe a week earlier.

That stuck with me for quite a long time. Even to this day it confuses me.

Early on I was confused and a little sad. But that sadness quickly shifted to anger, deep deep anger.

A seed had been planted and the coming fruit.... Disdain, Anger, Jealousy, Pride, and a spirit of unforgiveness.

In the Bible, Jesus uses parables to explain complex thoughts. He has an exceptional gift at crafting a story that is relatable and easily understood.

Jesus used the idea of a seed many times in his teachings, and I find that easy to understand and I suppose it has found its way into my own teachings whether on this page, or in the other areas I find myself teaching others... whether at work or at my recreational activities.

If you take a seed and you put it in an empty jar, and you store it in a dark shed... it's going to remain just that.... a seed. But the moment you start to water and nurture that seed, something spectacular happens. At first all you see is a tiny green shoot. Then it gets bigger... More and more leaves grows. Branches shoot off, and if you give it the right TLC and enough time, You get fruit. I'm not going to pretend that I have a green thumb but even my wife and I in our gardening ineptitude can grow a few cherry tomatoes. When you cut open that tomato you see something. You see hundreds of little seeds just waiting for their own fresh start.

Anyone who has had to cut grass knows that keeping it looking nice can become a chore. One of the things we may struggle with the most is an invasion of w**ds. Have you ever looked across your yard and noticed a patch of grass that is just a bit taller with a bundle of black seeds at the top waiting for a windy day? In a perfect lawn it can be an eye sore and if it isn't dealt with quickly it can spread and what was once a pristine yard is now a field of yuck.

Holding a grudge is like planting a seed. But it isn't of the cherry tomato variety, its the nasty w**d that's quick to ruin your beautiful lawn.

When we focus on how other's have wronged us and allow that seed to take root, it will spread to every part of our life. It can quickly ruin the efficiency of a workplace, the peacefulness of the home, the fellowship of a church, and the love of a family.

There is a lot to learn from these situations and without delving too deep and making this post far too long, I think the number one thing we can learn from this is that the seeds we plant will bear the fruits of our heart.

If we plant seeds of love, and forgiveness, and kindness, and patience... we will reap sweet sweet fruits.

If we plant seeds of unforgiveness, hate, and hurt.... the fruit will be quite bitter.

So today, what seeds are you planting?

07/26/2024

Some tough words today for myself as well as for all followers of Christ.

Matthew 16:24– Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to follow me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.

Seems so simple right? Of course I want to follow you Jesus, I got my Bible. I’m gonna be early to church, I’m gonna sing all the songs, probably drop a few bucks in the offering plate and make sure to tell people I’m going to pray for them. We’re gonna pray before lunch and before bed.

But I ask you to ponder upon this verse a bit longer. Read it. Chew on it.

Here’s Jesus sitting with his closest friends and he lets them know that he has to make his way to Jerusalem. He has to go to Jerusalem and it’s not going to be a good trip. Jesus needs to go to Jerusalem because he being God knows that the time has just about come for him to serve his ultimate purpose. It’s time to die.

Let’s pause here for a second and just consider something. Let’s imagine that you and your family are getting ready to head over to a relatives house for thanksgiving. You make some casserole, you drive over. You’re laughing, and eating, and drinking, and having a wonderful time. Then your cousin lifts his glass as if to propose a toast and instead he tells everyone his time on earth is drawing to a close.

That’s going to put a pretty big damper on the festivities. The reactions would range from shock to horror to maybe some simple eye rolls.

So here is Jesus meeting with the people he is closest with and he’s telling them exactly this. And here they are reacting exactly as you’d think. “Oh goodness Jesus you don’t have to do that.” “If anyone tries to harm you, they are gonna have to sea with us first”

And then a few short verses later we get our verse of the day. “Guys things are about to get bad. I want you to follow me, but you need to understand that if you follow me, you can no longer focus on your own selfish ambitions, thoughts, and dreams. If you follow me you are going to have to take up your cross and follow me.

Denial of oneself.

This is not a verse that just applies to the first apostles and disciples. This a command to us all.

You have a choice. If you choose to follow me you have to deny yourself. You have to place your whole trust in me. You have to let go of your past, present and future and recognize that it is now in my hands.

You have to deny your job

You have to deny your family

You have to deny your ambitions

You have to deny your attitudes

You have to deny your prejudices

You have to deny your political affiliations

You have to deny your hobbies.

You have to deny anything that comes between you and your relationship with God.

“You have to deny every single part of yourself because that “self” is the self that is completely and utterly consumed by sin, and regret, and hurt, and anger, and sexual immorality, and lust, and greed, and hate…. And that’s the “self” that I am dying to save you from!”

When the rich man asked what he should do to inherit the kingdom of God he was told to follow the laws. When he said “I already do all that” he was told, then get rid of everything you have and follow me.

The rich man went away sad… because he had many things.

Heavy words today for Christians and Non-Christians.

07/11/2024

Today's Post is a little different, but I think there will be a lot of value in the information being covered.

I want to explore Galatians. There are a few lessons that I think we as new and old Christians can learn from this letter. But I also think it's important that we get a little bit of background.

The book was written by Paul to a group of Gentiles that he had previously visited.

When we read the New Testament we sometimes read it as if it is a chronological book but that really is not the case.

Without going in to the specific dates of all of the individual books, there is evidence to show that Galatians was written around 48-49 AD or maybe shortly after that. Historically, things that were presented to us in "Acts" were directly tied to Galatians.

The big theme of Galatians is Paul reminding these Gentiles that the gospel that was presented to them by Paul was the ONE TRUE GOSPEL. The gospel of Grace and Mercy via the blood of Christ.

Sometime after Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus he begun to bring his message to the Gentiles (just a term for people who were not Jewish).

There are a couple of theories on where these people resided but in reality, I don't quite think the exact location is important for the modern day believer.

So at some point Paul brings the Gospel to the Galatians. At some point after he left, another group of people came behind Paul and told the Galatians that not only do they have to believe in Christ they also have to start practicing Mosaic Law.

These people basically challenged Paul's ministry and basically say that he did not have the same authority that the teachers and elders in Jerusalem had.

A couple of the big things that these "other teachers" were trying to present to the Galatians was the importance of following through with Circumcision and following the dietary restrictions of the Mosaic Law.

Paul argues that Jesus' sacrifice is what fulfills the law and that when we commit to following and believing in his teachings as well as his death, burial, and resurrection that we have found salvation and that these Mosaic Laws and traditions are no longer required.

So the overarching theme of Galatians is a reminder to these people that we are saved by Grace through faith.

I'd like to highlight a few things. Galatians has a few of my favorite verses.

Galatians 2:20- I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

I love this verse so much because it's the entire gospel condensed into a short verse.

I no longer live a life tied to my own sin and selfish ambitions but instead I live a life devoted to Christ because of Christ!

For a new believer I think Galatians is such an important book because its quick to remind us that we are not saved because we are circumcised or because we abide by a certain diet. We are saved because Christ died for us and we recognize our own sinful nature because of Christ and we choose to turn from that path and follow a new path dedicated to Christ.

Galatians also highlights that when we are truly saved by Christ we change from the inside out.

Following the law is attempting to change from the Outside In!

So in Galatians 5 we see that what it looks like to be a changed individual. Just like a pear tree will give off pears and an apple tree will give off apples. The fruits of the spirit will flourish from within us when we truly find salvation in Christ.

Galatians 5: 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.

It is not the law that produces these fruits it is the Spirit within us.

Again we are saved by grace through faith and once we are saved, we are changed from the inside out and will begin to produce the fruits of the spirit regardless of our standing in the Mosaic Law of the Old Testament.

I do want to hit on one more interesting thing that we can see in Galatians and I think it can help us as Christians.

So Paul tells of an Incident at Antioch. In Galatians Chapter 2, Paul starts to tell us of this situation where he publicly called out Peter (yeah, that Peter) for being a bit of a hypocrite.

So in Antioch Jew and Gentile were sharing a fellowship table together as the Church grew. At some point a few new Jews (maybe some old fashioned Jews) joined in and basically went all "Mean Girls" you can't sit with us. Peter and some of the other Jews that had been regularly sharing a fellowship table with the Gentiles in Antioch also got caught up in the "high school drama" and sort of separated themselves from the Gentile lunch table.

Paul calls out this hypocrisy and reminds Peter and the bunch that through Christ, Jews and Gentiles have equal standing before God and trying to split up the Cafeteria is wrong.

I think we can learn from this. It's so easy to give into peer pressure and worry about what we look like. It's so easy to be a 3 piece suit Christian and feel like we are better than the t-shirt and shorts Christian.... but we should remember that Christ died for us all and we all have equal standing before God not because of what we eat or how we dress but because the blood of Christ covers us all.

I'm really enjoying exploring Galatians and I am really enjoying exploring it not only from a spiritual context but also historical context. I plan to continue this type of learning throughout the rest of the Bible.

God Bless and remember.... It isn't the law that saves us, It is God's Grace.... And His Grace is Sufficient.

06/27/2024

I think sometimes we think as Christians forget that God's grace started well before Christ's death. The truth of the matter is that God's grace and mercy is shown even moments after the fall of man. Here we have two people created by God from the soil of the land. They were placed in a perfect garden with all of their needs. The instructions were quite clear and yet these two people still found it within themselves to defy the creator. They defied a creator that provided them all they would ever need. They were in absolute perfect communion with God but gave it up. It's like each and every evening God would make his way over to Adam and Eve's house and sit on the porch and have coffee with them and just talk to them about their day, and then they just decided to give that up. Now we are not told how long Adam and Eve lasted in perfection in the garden. Maybe it was years, I don't know. Regardless, in a moment of weakness they chose themselves over God.

And yet they did not die.... atleast not immediately. God still came to them. God still searched for them. When he found them he made them clothes to cover the nakedness of their bodies but I think also too provide them protection. I think God knew that because they were no longer living in perfection the harshness of the world would wear on their bodies, so he took it upon himself to make them clothing for the long journey called life. And each day they woke up. They were able to find food, they had a family, they probably laughed and cried and struggled and found success. And all of this was because of God's grace... because in those initial moments after sin had entered the world, God would have been totally justified in striking them down. The fruit could have easily been a fast acting poison. And yet, each day they woke up until the last.

God's Grace is shown throughout the word. You just have to look for it.

I think today's challenge and really everday's challenge should be to look within ourselves and recognize our failures and truly appreciate how gracious God is for making a way for us when there was no way.

Because while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

06/05/2024

"Forgive that person, it will set you free"

I'm going to be honest with you. I hate this line of thinking. It's a sweet sentiment that by forgiving those who have wronged us we lift this weight off of our own shoulders and we are finally able to go about living that perfect life we always imagined.

The truth is, forgiving someone usually doesn't make me feel better... at least not in the moment. I can agree that many months or maybe even years after, I may finally feel at peace, but in the moment I'm gritting my teeth as my blood pressure rises at the thought of the INJUSTICE that has come upon me at the hands of another.

Injustice... It's quite the popular word in today's society. As Christians we should know that justice is the last thing we should be striving for, at least in the spiritual sense. Justice would mean death to me, my family, and everyone I ever knew. Because justice would mean we pay for our crimes. the Bible is very clear that the "wages of sin is death" and it also says "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God".

Without the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, the scales of justice always weigh against our favor.

But by grace we have been saved through faith.

We have been saved because Jesus took it upon himself to balance the scales of Justice and in fact tip them in our favor.

When Jesus was bleeding out on the cross, he did not say "I forgive you because I know that if I forgive you it's going to make me feel better"

In his agony he cried out "Father Forgive them, for they know not what they do". Such grace and mercy in his words. The words of love.

So today, my prayer for each of us is to learn to forgive those who have hurt us not because they deserve it and not because we want to set ourselves free from the weight of the situation. No, we forgive each other because Jesus first forgave us, and who are we to without the same mercy that Jesus showed to us.

05/30/2024

How do we please God?

Hebrews 11:6 tells us that "without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must be live that He is, and the He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him."

In order to please God we must have Faith. We must believe who He says He is and we must believe He will do what He says He will do.

In verse 1 we learn that "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen"

Our faith gives life a purpose. It gives us something to look believe in. Without faith, life is nothing but a series of events that ultimately leads to our death. But it is our faith that tells us that there is more to our existence than just "wake up, go to work, eat lunch, come home, eat dinner, go to bed, rinse and repeat".

What a depressing existence to believe that our short time spent on this earth (100 years if you are lucky) is all you will ever experience.

But Faith in Jesus gives our life a new meaning. It gives our struggles a meaning and it gives our triumphs a meaning. We no longer live a life in which the desires of the flesh are all we live for. We know that God who created all things has made a way for us to be set free from the curse of sin and death.

One of my favorite old hymns is "It is Well". I think the most powerful verse in the song is this:

My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought
My sin, not in part but the whole
Was nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, o my soul

To please God is to have faith that He and He along has nailed our sins to the cross so that we no longer have to carry that burden. To please God is to have faith in the "namesake" of this blog...

That His Grace is sufficient.

05/23/2024

I remember a time when I was in 6th or 7th grade. My family lived in a house on Hooper road, where for the first several years my brother and I shared a bedroom. At the time, we were extremely into professional wrestling. Our halloween costumes were based on wrestlers. Our grandmother would record all the wrestling shows for us to watch. We wanted wrestling video games, and we wanted wrestling toys. Across the country boys were practicing their favorite moves on each other, and in our house it was no different. I remember a particular day when my brother and I were wrestling in our room and my brother took a particularly hard fall smashing his face into the rail of the bed. His tooth nearly went through his lip and of course blood was everywhere.

There was a rush of fear and panic grabbed at my heart, not because I was worried about my brother but because I was worried about myself. I was about to get in serious trouble.

"You're ok!, Don't cry! Don't go tell, I'll give you my allowance for the next 3 weeks"

Self Preservation mode had kicked in.

When we know we've done something wrong, it's natural to want to run and hide. But our parents seem to always know where to find us. But the self preservation does not end there. The next stage is blaming.

"I didn't really want to wrestle, but he did. So it's really his fault"

"You think his lip looks bad, look at my eye, it's turning black"

Some of you are sitting here reading this and you remember an exact situation you were in.

And even though you tried to run and hide, you were still found. Even though you tried to pass the blame, you still were punished.

You'd go to your room and as soon as the door would close, you'd back talk your parents behind their back, roll your eyes, flex your muscles, because You didn't deserve this. It's not your fault. They just don't understand.

When Adam and Eve willingly disobeyed God's one and only command, they ran and hid. They tried to make clothes to cover their nakedness in order to be seen as clean and righteous before God. But their works were not enough. God did what any good parent would do and he disciplined them.

I can just imagine that as Adam and and Eve were leaving the garden, them speaking under their breath that "oh he just doesn't understand", "He doesn't get me", "It's not that big of a deal".

I'd wager to say that even now, many Christians and non-Christians find themselves saying the same things when they do something wrong. "It's not my fault I said that to them, they made me mad."

But God is so patient with us. He is so gracious to those who cry out to him. In all of our unfaithfulness he is still faithful.

I don't know who all these little snippets reach, but I know that even if one person is reached, then the posts were worth it.

Someone is reading this and they are running from God.

Someone is hiding from God.

Someone is blaming someone else for all their struggles.

It doesn't have to be this way. God's word tells us that where the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom.

The grace and mercy of God is strong enough to break even the strongest chains.

Whoever you are, I'm praying that today you find that freedom and that you submit to the grace and mercy that God has for you.

05/21/2024

"But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver." -2 Corinthians 9:6-7

People grip the seats and bite their lips when finances start to get mentioned in church.

The truth of the matter is this.... God does not need your money. He does not need to pay a light bill, He does not need to fill refrigerator with food. He does not need to buy gas to get to work. God does not need your money.

What God wants is our hearts. He wants to know that we trust him above all else. Without getting too political, the nation and in fact the world is in one of the most trying economic times in the modern age. People are struggling. People are worried about rising energy costs, rising food costs, healthcare costs, and whether they will ever be able to retire.

So when someone hears a preacher on stage saying "God loves a cheerful giver", it's hard to put aside what's going on outside the church walls and remember the truth in the verse. Our human nature questions "Why is this guy asking for money?" But that thumping in our chest, that heavy breathing we do during the offering portion of the service, is more than our sympathetic nervous system firing in all different directions.... It is our soul crying out to God saying "God I believe you but help my unbelief".

I have heard people say "Oh tithing is part of the old covenant, that doesn't apply to me."

They will show you

So with that in mind lets go back to our verse today. "God loves a cheerful giver".... "Let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver"

When we accept Christ for who he is, The Savior of the World, and we truly give ourselves over to his calling. I personally think that the "tithing is part of the old covenant and that doesn't apply to me" argument goes out the window.

We have a heart for Christ. Because we have a heart for Christ we want others to share in all the same blessings. We recognize that the money that we give to the church will be used to spread the gospel, to reach those who are far from God and bring them close to God.

Should we pray about what we should give? Yes

Should we pray about who we give to? Yes

Should we pray that God provides the means for us to give? Yes

Should we trust God with our finances in the same way we trust him with our salvation? Yes

So, let's take one last look at our verse today from 2 Corinthians 9. But lets pick up from verse 8.

And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

God will provide the means.

05/12/2024

Just a short video for today. A reminder that our works do not buy our salvation, but our works may help someone else find God.

His Grace is Sufficient

11/12/2024

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