We were returning some table to the elemetry school, here in the Metropolis of Flippin, When a Little Boy Ran up and said “Hey, You’re Braydens dad!”. I thought for a minute about that and laughed about how I am now recognized by My Children. But I couldn’t get his words outta my head for some reason. Then it hit me.

If God Walked into your Day to Day life would people say “Hey, There is So and so’s Dad”?  I was curious how the young  Boy knew who I was, but The longer I thought about it…I came up with a few things…See what you think:

My Son Told Him—Maybe that was it…And it hits me again Do people know that God is my Father because I tell them. I remember the Playground when I was  Kid…”My dad is Bigger, Smarter, Faster, etc. than your Dad”. Remember those days, We used to brag on our fathers and tell anyone who would ask about them. Do you do the same with your heavenly Father? Do you tell them He is bigger than their problem, He is Faster than their Fear, He is Smarter than they are? Maybe more people would know our Father if we would tell them about Him.

There was a resemblance—In some ways Brayden looks like me. Do you look like your Heavenly Father? Does your life resemble His? What have your actions this week told people about your Father? I know you all have seen that Kid in the supermarket acting like a “caged badger” and you’ve thought “I wonder who or where their Parents are?”. Are people saying the same things regarding your walk with God? I have to wonder if there are people I should apologize to for giving them the wrong idea about My Father because of the way I’ve acted. Jesus, I pray that I resemble my Heavenly Father.  Help People know you through me.

How about you? Are you Braggin’ on your Heavenly Father? Does Your life look Like one He would be Proud of? I Hope So. If you have a Home Church Have a Great Weekend serving the Lord. IF you don’t and are needing a place to find answers…Come hang out with us at Real life.

God Bless

Over the next 4 weeks at Real Life  we are gonna be diving into the “Vintage” traits that these folks had. What I would like is some help and some testimony. Do any of you have people that come to mind when I say “Vintage” Faith, Prayer, or Worship.  Let me tell you about a “Vintage” Life that impacted me.

Virgie Simpson…sounds simple, but don’t be fooled. When My family moved to Mtn. Home AR. it was new experience for a kid who was used to living on Lake Michagan. I met Virgie at our First Church service and had no idea the effect she would have on Me. Over the years Virgie’s Faith kept shining through, either with her prayer life or her encouraging words or just her Smile and sense of humor she was just “right”. When I graduated from High school I left for Los Angeles, CA and was a little scared and worried and that was when Virgie gave me a note and told me not to open it till I got on the Plane. It wasn’t till I was flying over the Rocky Mountains that I remembered the Note and I opened to find what would become my favorite verse in all of Scripture…”Have not I commanded you? Be strong and of Good Courage. Be not afraid or confused for the Lord, Thy God, is with you, No matter where you go.” Joshua 1:9. I was encouraged and empowered by her words and strength. Someone told me one time “When I pray the Devil gets mad…When Virgie prays the foundations of Hell Shake”. Lord give a “Vintage” Faith like Virgie’s and the many that have gone on before.

So tell me yours…was it a parent, a friend, an anybody here’s your chance tell your story. Leave a comment below I wanna know about these “Vintage” lives that have impacted you.

God Bless, Vince

The Command…

Colossians 2:6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,

I love this because is so simple to wrap my little mind around if you call yourself a Christian act like a Christian. Make sense to everyone? But yet this is one of the biggest problems that we have today is the people’s faith or Christianity only shows on Sundays. If you haven’t told your friends you were going to church or that you got saved would they know by your lifestyle? As you have received Christ…WALK IN HIM.

The Instruction…

 Col. 2:7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

The main focus of verse 7 is that we take the Next Step.  Be rooted or have some deep roots into what you believe. And then come the part that we touched on in the first point…established in the faith. Are you established in the Faith or are you still walking around in your probationary period…You know what I am talking about right you get a new job and they say well we want you to work 90 day so we know what we got. Some of you do the same thing with God. “Well I feel like God is talking right to me this morning I will try it, and see what I think, but if it isn’t as fun or doesn’t make me feel as Good then I will just go back to my lifestyle”. God doesn’t require a probationary period. If you are serious about Faith in Him then God will establish you.

 The Warning…

Col. 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits  of the world, and not according to Christ. 

“IF I am a good person, God wouldn’t let me go to Hell”. “I believe that as long as you believe something God will understand”. “All Gods point to the same thing”. “If you hug a tree then you will gain the energy from the tree”. Anybody else got one???

The world will do everything that it can to throw you off the track and the Devil does that thru philosophy and empty deceit…Notice it says human traditions and then elemental spirits of the world. Sometimes there is a demonic or spiritual influence at work and then sometimes we make the devils job easy by just following what everyone else says…tradition. Let me be clear here. Cause this gets twisted. There are traditions that are not bad. But if they get in the way of the spirit of God then they are.

The Promise…

Col. 2:9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, (10) and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.

It is in Jesus we can win this battle. Verse 10 tell us we are complete in Him. Finished in Him we don’t need anything else but Him. “But Vince I am flawed and bmroken and the sin in my life is too much and to bad and to often what Can Jesus possibly do with me…” I want you to look at another verse with me this morning…

  Col. 2:13 And you, who were dead in your Sin…(now Check this out!), God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our Sin, (14) by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

Let Him Take your stuff…The sin, the doubt, the fear and Nail it where it belongs on His Cross.  That is how you can take your next steps… Now take them.

1. God will find you where you’re at.

Acts 12:6 The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance.

A lot of people doubt the idea that God can reach them. Well Peter proves those people wrong in this passage. God searches for us and what a wonderful thought that the

God of all creation wants to find you. And sense He is God He will.

Jer. 23:24 Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?” declares the LORD. “Do not I fill heaven and earth?” declares the LORD.

2. Regardless of Circumstance if you’ll be obedient, God will provide the means.

Acts 12:7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.

8 Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him.

I love the idea in this passage that the angel tells Peter to get up and then the Chains fell off. I think that a lot of people doubt the idea that if God calls then He will equip. God has never ask anyone to do anything that He hasn’t given the tools.

3. Follow God even if you don’t understand.

Acts 12:9 Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision.

If I could explain all the blessings I have seen in the church I would be a rich author, but sometimes the fact that God is just God needs to be enough.

4. Make sure God gets the credit.

Acts 12:11 Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating.”

When the God thing happens in your life please recognize that it is God and not anything you have done.

5. When you submit to be great for God. Reactions will be different.

Acts 12:13 Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer the door.

14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”

15 “You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”

16 But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished.

I want to Challenge all of you by touching on something that I hit on in our Engage Class on Sunday afternoon. In the Book of Acts and the 3rd chapter there is a story of a man who has been layin’ outside this gate his whole life asking for money. Now in society this man had no worth at all. He just sat outside the gate and Asked for money. Now Peter and John were on their way to church and saw this guy, we know this because Peter tells the guy to “look at him”. I wanna encourage you this week to “see someone” this week. I know we are all busy, but just a little bit of your time can mean the world to someone else. Who knows you may run into someone just like this guy…no they may not be handicapped like this guy, but they may feel just as alone and helpless.

The next thing we see Peter do is give the guy what he has. The text says “Silver and Gold I don’t have, but what I do have I give it to you…in the name of Jesus Get up and walk.  I wonder are you giving people what you have or are you giving God excuses. You know the ones I am talking about “I don’t know enough bible to tell people about Jesus” and “I don’t know if anybody will listen to me”. I love it that Peter wasn’t stressin’ about what he didn’t have, but focused on what he did. You may not be a bible scholar or the next Great Preacher, but you got something that Jesus has done in your life…right? So…Give them what you have. Tell them YOUR story. Tell someone how your life has been changed. See what happens when you do.

This Guy stood up and went into church “leaping and running and Praising God”. You have no idea what will happen if you just take some time and give people what you got.

Go ahead love someone outside your box.  See how God uses YOU.

Hope to write again on Wed.  Hey let me know if your reading this stuff, leave a comment.

God Bless

In Mark 10 we see the sory of the blind beggar. I love the story because for me it clearly illustrates that God is interested in giving vision if we will do our part…

1. Cry out to Jesus-

Mr 10:47 And when it came to his ears that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he gave a cry, and said, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.

Notice the man Cried out to Jesus. when he heard that it was Jesus walking by he got making noise. It is no secret that Jesus knows excactly where we are, but often we miss out on his blessing because we don’t invite him into the situation. So the the first step in this text “Invite him in to your situation”. He gives us opportunity…

Re 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

Let’s be brave enough to take it.

Tomorrow I will touch on being discouraged from recieving vision

I want to challenge all those that attend Real Life and those of you who pray for us…and those of you who don’t do either…START!!!lol We are gonna dive back into growth in the next few months and I am sure that God will bless our effort. So be prepared and Ready for what is about to happen. you may have to move to the front, so that a guest will have the back row, you may need to park further from the door so that a new family can have your spot. Let’s Get One More. God Bless have a great Week.