The American Dream

Before I came to the US I remember how slow life was in Romania. I actually took the time to enjoy everything around me. I was so happy. Since I moved here ( not that it is America's fault) my whole life (and I noticed I am not the only one like that here) is a run.
Yes. Americans are very busy people. Remember that saying, "Take time to smell the roses?". Yeah, right! From going to work, making microwave dinners, and telling ourselves to spend time with our kids or they are going to be gone in no time, etc. , we run everywhere to make sure we live the American Dream. I don't believe God is against us having money and food on the table. God is not against family.

The problem I see is the way we do things and how addicted we are to this "running back and forth". Yes, addicted. I believe we are hooked to live this way because we do not know anything else.

I also believe that it is not entirely our faults. If you look at the prices for rent, insurances, utilities, and let's not even talk about college, it is obvious that in this country you almost have no choice but to go into debt if you are going to make it. Everything is so expensive. Really. Who has 100,000 lying around to buy a house. Unless you are a famous actor/actress....or a millionaire. So, then we go to the bank. Debt.  Master degrees cost a fortune.So, we need school loans. Debt. If you do not want to be in debt then just forget about going to school and further your education. Just work at Walmart. No disrespect to those who do work there, but I bet that they know that with that kind of salary one cannot live.

American dream...hmm....I do believe Americans have a dream. I believe they dream about being free of debt and spending more time with their families. I know I do.

That is why I wrote this blog. I want to show you how Gary Keesee, one of my favorite preachers who knows about God and money and faith, teaches how to live the American dream just as YOU dream it and no debt.

Please take time to watch this video( click on link below "The Big Disconnect) Be blessed!

The Big Disconnect

Most of the American "Church" is NOT Going to Heaven

I have not seen this until I went through .a divorce I really did not want: most of the so called church is living in adultery. If most of the people in these buildings are living in adultery, then how can they believe they are going to heaven? Yes, most of the people in the church are divorced and remarried. Remarriage is adultery and it is not forgiven unless you leave that relationship. But we have pastors and leaders that are not preaching the truth, therefore sending their congregations to hell. Please check out www. cpr-ministries.org to learn more about how remarriage is adultery. People bring up a lot of excuses with this, but the fact is if we did not love people, we would not tell the truth. If I stay and keep quiet about the truth while I see you going on the wrong path and towrds your destruction, then what kind of true love do I have for you?

Please  do not take this as an attack, but as love that shouts out to help you. None of us are perfect, that is true, but it is one thing to make mistakes and another to live in sin and without any change and thinking we are ok.

The statistics show now that more "christians" are divorcing than non-believers. How can we do that? How can we say Jesus is Lord in our lives and yet hate our spouses? How can we find an excuse to leave them when Jesus shows us our sins and that we are no better than them? How can we point at them and not see the log in our own eyes? How can we say we love God, yet we hate our own flesh and blood, our spouses?

I have pondered and pondered this question and asked the Lord, " Lord, how can a country like America be saved if  she refuses to obey after hearing the truth? How can a people be saved if the Gospel doesn't affect them anymore?" Unless America will go back to the basics, most will not enter heaven. We sit deceived in our pews. We lead worship with idolatry in our hearts. We pastor while we are divorced from our spouses and they struggle to make it while we have other girlriends and boyfriends. How can Christ do that if He is really living in you?  We cannot claim that He lives in us when we do all this stuff. He is not living. We are.
We need to repend and get back to basics, but that will only happen when we really start loving Jesus. Are you in love with Jesus? Really in love with Him? I am asking myself the same question.

Joseph Webb teaching about marriage

http://www.cpr-ministries.org/

Pastor Ray McMahon Teaching Against Remarriage

New Year Resolutions

One of the things we like to do as a new year approaches and the old one ends is to make resolutions. Next year we will lose weight. Next year we will read the whole Bible, we will visit that lonely parent, we will be a better spouse, a better parent, etc.

This year I do not want to make resolutions for the coming year like that, but I want to make resolutions in light of my temporary life. What is all I had was next year? The truth is we do not know when our lives will end. It doesn't matter how old one is.  A suddnent death out of the blue, due to a sickness, accident, etc. can happen any time. Are we leaving a legacy? I would like to not make resolutions, but leave a legacy. We should be ready any day and with every person in our lives at peace and with everything in order. I know I am not there yet, but I am planning on doing this ASAP.

What are some things you believe God would want you to leave behind? In what ways could you impact the world even after you are gone? Write those things down because unless we write them down, we are not very organized to carrying them out.

I pray that we have a purpose; a mission. Jesus did. When He was born into the world, He was born with a purpose. He did not just come to waste time and breath in the fresh air. He came to make an impact and leave a legacy.
I believe God wanted you to be born with a purpose. If you really listen to Him and look at your life, you will know what that is. Then why are you running from it? Why are you doing things just to make you money and not follow who He created you to be? Why do you keep putting things off? You might not have much time.

Today is the time. Listen to this song and I pray God moves your heart. I pray you make a decision to really obey Him. That involves more than a Bible Study, a prayer, a Sunday morning attendance,etc. It involves healing the sick, helping the poor, cleaning the lepers, basically loving practically on people. Jesus commanded us to obey and love. It is NOT an option. Why do we take His command lightly?

Outreach Schedule

January 8-HearthStone Assisted Living-3PM

January 15-Fair Haven Retirement Center-2PM

January 21-Kirkwood by The River-1:30PM

January 29-Saint Martin's in the Pines-1:30PM

I Am An Eternal Being...

From the beginning God created us to be eternal beings. That means, when we die we will still not be really dead; our spirits will live somewhere: heaven or hell. That is our choice. But I am not here to talk about hell or heaven, but about your life and my life here while on Earth.


I believe sometimes when things are not going so well in our lives, we wish that there was one way out. So many people choose suicide as an answer, but they have not realized or have forgotten that we cannot really kill the real us. We last forever and what we do here will " haunt" us in the future to come.


The Bible talks about how we will all be judged for the GOOD or BAD we have done. I thought there was not going to be a judgment for those who did good, but I was wrong. There will be.


In 2005 I found out I had cancer. I just had my little girl a year before that and she was born with some birth defects. She is doing pretty well now, but she still has things she struggles with because of what satan has done to her. We are praying and God is working. I have seen God work in her life miraculously. I will not give up praying for her.


When I found out I had cancer, it wasn't so much the fear of dying that gripped my heart, but of facing Jesus and not having left a legacy, of having done enough. I wondered if I had done everything God asked me to do here on this Earth.


So, I decided since then that I will not let satan surprise me anymore. When my time comes, I want to be ready. I want to be able to say, " I can go now because I really have done all He wanted me to do here on Earth". How else will He say, 'Well, done!"?


We were sent here on Earth with a mission: to fulfill our destiny. You and I have a mission on this planet. There is more to life than going to school and having a job. There is more to life than going to church on Sunday morning.


Life can end in a second and I believe that just as Jesus left us the New Testament( His Will), we need to leave a "WILL" here on Earth. I am not wanting to sound morbid, but it is true that we will all face the Lord one day; we will all face Him one day whether we believe it or not. And we need to make sure that we leave something behind. I am not just talking about money and something for our kids, but something that people will talk about for generations to come and that will change their lives. See, we can make a long-term difference, not only while we are here, but even after we are gone. I do not know about you, but some of the greatest people that impacted my life are already dead. Their lives and words are still speaking to me and others, too. They invested in me and I wasn't even alive when they were. Jesus did the same things. His Word speaks still. The disciples wrote the Gospels. They still change lives.


Don't you want to make an impact that will change the world even after you are gone?


One of the things I have started doing is to write my little girl letters and put them in a box for her to read one day. Some letters have job ideas, others short sermonettes, and others a mix of sharing my heart with her and also my struggles.One day she will treasure those and realize I can still help her after I am gone.


Another thing I started doing is to visit nursing homes with my small group. We go and share, sing, and pray for healing for the people there. God wants them healed , not die in a nursing home, but I am afraid we have settled to the idea that these elderly people will die there and that is how it is. We are afraid to change the situation. Satan's lair is there: people full of diseases. They need Jesus. If Jesus walked by there today, He would heal them all. Guess what? Jesus is IN you and He wants to go there today. Are you going to let Him?


We need to leave a legacy. We need to take our children with us when we minister and show them what we do. We need to plant in their hearts the words of God and teach them the Scriptures. They will only succeed if they know Jesus. We can be gone any second, but Jesus will stay with them and one day we will see them in heaven IF we have done our part of teaching them about Jesus. This is a matter of life and death. Christ is a real person. Just think about that, because I honestly believe sometimes we just think of Him as an idea or a vapor or something. He is a person. He is just and one day we will all go an give an account.


Do not let any day go by anymore without living your destiny. Quit wasting your time with a job you hate and that God did not even destine you for. Quit wasting your time on TV. Quit hanging out with bad friends. And quit being just a Sunday Christian. Seize the moment. Take every opportunity and bless people. Serve God. Serve those who come after you.