John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

God loves you and me today, and if we truly realized how much it would probably break our hearts and fill our eyes with tears.

You can’t keep God from loving you, but you don’t have to receive God’s love! Let me give you an example: You walk outside this morning and the sun is shining. You can’t keep the sun from shining, but you can put an umbrella up and keep it from shining on you!

There are two umbrellas we can put up to keep from receiving God’s love. 1. The Umbrella of Resistance to His Will! It is God’s will that no one perish and go to hell, but people are dying and going there everyday. They have said no to the one who died for them, and because of that they’ve refused to receive His love. 2. The Umbrella of Sin. Sin separates us from God. Sin keeps us from receiving His love and it breaks all communication with Him!

If you have your umbrella up, take it down so that you can receive the love God has intended for you!

I’m staying in Lawton, OK. with the Peterson’s. They are a very nice couple who loves the Lord and loves sharing their home with those of us who are in the ministry.

The Peterson’s have a little dog named Pepper and she’s a delightful little creature. She reminds me of Miriam’s dog named Tinkerbell. After the Peterson’s arrived home Sunday afternoon Pepper went straight to my room and peed on the carpet in my room. 

I called Miss Peterson in and showed her the yellow spot informing her that Pepper had done the deed and not me. It’s funny how God uses things like this to make a point to His people.

I shared the story with the folks at church that evening. I told them that Pepper had made her mark, it wasn’t a good mark but she did it anyway. I then said that we as Christians make our  marks in life to, some good, and some bad! Everyday you and I make an impression or leave a mark on someone!

Think about King David! The Bible says he was a man after God’s own heart, but what do many people remember him for? They remember David as thief, he took another man’s wife and played kissy face with her.

There are consequences to the marks we leave! II Samuel 12:13-14 says, “And David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said to David, the Lord has forgiven you of your sin; you shall not die. However, because of this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, and the child also that is born unto you shall die!”

Last night Robin and I pulled a good one on Miranda. She went to a friends house to eat and she was told she needed to be home by 9:30. She called Miriam later asking what time she was to be home because she had forgotten. Miriam told her 9:30.

She walked in the house around 9:26 and I said to her, “Miranda, you are late! You were suppose to be home at 9:15! You are now grounded for a month! She said, “I called Miriam and she told me I was to be home at 9:30!” I said, “She made a mistake, you should have called me!”

She looked so shocked and so sad that I couldn’t yank her chain any longer. I said, “April Fools!” April Fools Day comes once a year, but people are being fooled every day of their lives. They believe money, cars, homes, and fame will bring them happiness, but they are fooled, because true happiness comes only from knowing the Lord!

Psalms 144:12b says, “Happy are the people whose God is the Lord!”

As I travel across the United States it surprises me about the number of Christians who are so sad and so depressed! Some folks look like they’ve eaten a whole jar of soured pickles, for there is no joy in their lives!

I can understand getting down in the dumps every once in a while, but living in the dumps is out of the question for me! Folks, we serve a risen Saviour and and he lives within us today. If you can’t find great joy and happiness in that fact then something is dreadfully wrong!

I have the answer for depression and sadness! Get busy and go to work for the Lord. Love your brothers and sisters in Christ, pray for people, and tell them about Jesus. When God starts using you to change the hearts and lives of others you’ll have unbelievable joy!

It’s time, no, it’s past time for Christians everywhere to stand up and proclaim the joy of their salvation!                  

Psalm 32:11 says, “Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!”

No diving! No Swimming! No U-Turns! No Talking! No Cell Phones! No Running! No Speeding! It seems like everywhere we go there are signs that says NO, NO, NO! We call these Warning Signs and these Warning Signs are placed in strategic places to keep us from having fun! These are rules that are meant to be broken, right?

I know a man who ignored the No Diving Sign and jumped in head first. He is now in a wheelchair and he’ll be there for the rest of his life. I’ve heard of people who’ve ignored the No Swimming Sign and now they are long gone or missing a limb because some gator tried to eat them.

Warning signs are placed everywhere, including the Bible, not to restrict us, or to keep us from having fun. They are put there for our benefit! God says, “Do not lie, Do not Steal, Do Not Skip Church, Do Not Covet, and the list goes on and on!”

When we ignore mans warning signs and God’s warning signs we commit sin, and there’s always consequences for our sins! The problem is this, when we ignore warning signs, it gets us into trouble and it has an effect on those around us, especially our families.

People might think they are getting away with lying, stealing, cheating, or speeding, but remember this, God keeps the books and there will be a payday, someday!

Believe it or not I played 10 years of football and I enjoyed every minute of it with the exception of three a days! I practiced hard and I played hard, I was always on the move.

I had a deep desire to please the coaches, especially W.D. Strickland. A player always knew when Coach Strickland was pleased with their performance on the field by what he said and did. He’d slap you on the helmet or rump as you walked by and say, “Good Job!” I always wanted to get that slap and hear those words of encouragement!

Now, we as believers are in a different game, called the game of life! We’re not dealing with touchdowns or dropped passes, we’re dealing with souls that need to be saved. When I stand before the Lord in glory I want to hear Him say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant!”

2 Timothy 4:7-8 says, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”

Do you know someone that’s hard to love? Shoot, I have, and I’ll have to admit, I’m hard to love most of the time. Sometimes I throw a fit like a kid in a candy store wanting their favorite sucker! There are times when all I think about is me, me, me and what I want, want, want!

I will have to admit, this doesn’t happen very often but when it does, it’s Katy Bar The Door!  The person I’m describing doesn’t sound like our Lord at all. The Lord never acted that way. He always loved others more than Himself and had a deep concern for their welfare!

Some folk are downright unlovable but we are to show our love to them by giving them the gospel.  We are to present to them the gift of life just like God presented it to us!

John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life!”

I just got back last night from Wakita, Oklahoma. I’ve been in revival there at First Baptist Church. The church is small, and the town is small, but the hearts of the people are as big as the great outdoors.

In this little town of 400 our great God showed up and did some exciting things. There were 34 decisions made for our Lord with 11 of those being professions of faith.

The pastor there is Bob Smith and he’s  a hard working man. Every afternoon he was in the homes of those who had prayed to receive Christ, talking to them about the importance of baptism. He already has 6 of those people lined up to follow our Lord in believers baptism in two weeks.

He told the church that this was the greatest revival he’d seen in 42 plus years of being in the ministry.

God is the one who saves and changes the hearts and lives of the people. God allows me to go fishing while He does all the cleaning. I’m been blessed.

I thank all of you for  your prayers. Please remember, your prayers pave the way of an old sinner like me to spread the gospel. Your part is just as important, if not more so than  mine! Be blessed!

What does it mean to be saved? Do you need to be a member of a certain church or denomination? Do you need to be sprinkled or baptized?

I do believe in the importance of being a church member and being baptized, but I don’t believe either one of these saves a person and gets them into heaven.

Faith in Jesus is what gets a person into heaven. That has been God’s plan from the beginning. 1 John 5:1a says, “Whosoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God…”

This is the method, this is how one is born again. The Bible makes it very clear, a person becomes a child of God when they place their faith in Jesus! This method works, it ain’t broke, and we shouldn’t try to fix it!FacebookTwitterLinkedInEmailShare

As I travel across this country I see billboard after billboard. Each has it’s own message and that message is to reach the public!

Your life and my life is a billboard. Every single day someone is watching you. What do they see? I hope people see the love of Jesus in me and I hope they see His love in you!

Christian love is not sloppy and sentimental; it is not sexual; it is not social. It is not something that you get at the church dinner on the grounds.

Our love is revealed when we take Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world. That is the way we demonstrate our love for others!

I John 4:14 says, “And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world! This is the gospel message which needs to be presented on the Christians billboard of life! The Question Is, “Do Others See Jesus In You?”