This has to be my most favorite message that I have ever preached! I have had quite a few people asking for a copy of the CD so I thought that I would put it up here to make it easier. I hope that it Blesses you!

Jeff

I accomplished something this week that, at the age of 43, I feel pretty good about. For the first time in my life I tried and was able to complete an entire 5k. I can't say that I ran the whole thing, but I at least ran the majority of it. I can say that if I had tried this a few years ago that I would have wound up laying in the side ditch somewhere along the way calling Glenda to jump in the car to come pick me up. (I carried my cell with me just in case:) This, to me, has been a pretty major event in my life. I couldn't, until this morning, really tell you why it was so significant.

Over the past several months the Lord has been dealing with me concerning "Healing" and our perception of God's Word in regards to it. I must admit that in some ways this appeared to be one of God's mysteries that is not meant for me to understand. However, I do believe that we serve a loving and kind God who would never allow us to walk in confusion or misunderstanding. Remember that the Word says that God is not the "Author of confusion…" but instead says that He is the "Author and finisher of our Faith".

Over the past couple years I have noticed many churches from several different denominations (Baptist, Pentecostal, Apostolic, Catholic, Evangelical, etc….) are proclaiming and even advertising that they are a "KJV" only church. I have to say that from the very beginning this didn't sit well with my spirit because it seemed so "religious". So, I decided to do a little research on the subject, including the belief that reading from any other translation is somehow offensive to God.

In preparing for the marriage conference this past weekend, I have spent a great deal of time simply thinking about the message that I would like to impart to the couples that attend. Glenda and I tossed around a number of conference names before we finally settled on "Will You STILL Marry Me!". The reason that this one struck a chord with me was that, my own desire for my marriage is to get back to the passion, hope and enthusiasm that was bubbling out of me when I first asked Glenda to marry me.

What is it that makes a man a man? Is it being the toughest guy around? Is it having the most ladies, the most money, biggest house or best job? What do you esteem as the thing that makes you everything that you want to be? Maybe you are a "good Christian" and what makes you measure up as a man is how good you can be.

Sometime yesterday afternoon I was scanning over the headlines of the day on Foxnews, not really reading very many of the articles but at least trying to stay up on the World that I am responsible for praying for, when this headline caught my attention; "U.N. Prepares to Debate Whether 'Mother Earth' Deserves Human Rights Status". (the link to the article is posted below) I did not fully read the article yesterday since it never seamed as though I had the time to complete it.

Jdg 11:1 Now Jephthah of Gilead was a great warrior. He was the son of Gilead, but his mother was a prostitute. 
Jdg 11:2 Gilead's wife also had several sons, and when these half brothers grew up, they chased Jephthah off the land. "You will not get any of our father's inheritance," they said, "for you are the son of a prostitute." 
Jdg 11:3 So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Soon he had a band of worthless rebels following him. 

The list is almost endless of stars in the music industry that first received their talent for singing or playing a particular instrument at a home town church. They have a desire due to the abilities that God has blessed them with before they were formed in their mother's womb. In their eagerness to be who they want to be, they make commitments to the Lord to always sing (or play or speak) for His Glory and nothing else.