Category: Faith Fix

Atheist Epiphany (ATP)

“Pastor Renee, at what point when you were an atheist did the Holy Spirit come upon you and “make” you start turning toward God?”

I was raised in an atheist home. My parents were wonderful, hardworking, and loving people but they didn’t believe in God and never took us to church. We never had a Bible, a prayer, or even a Noah’s Ark story book in our home. I didn’t know any different and it was very much normal to me to live life without any sort of religion. This being said, I had an aunt who went to church and my cousins were my best friends. On several occasions, I went to church with them but I never tuned in to what was being preached, plus I don’t recall really sitting in the message part of the service anyways because they sent the children downstairs. My parents never looked at church very kindly and Christians were weird, hypocritical, etc. I remember the Gideons group handing out mini Bibles on the street corner on my way home from school and coming from a home that didn’t have a lot of “extras” I loved getting those free Bibles. I used them to teach my dolls and stuffed animals but I never read them. That was the extent of my upbringing with the Lord.

As a child, I was different. Maybe people didn’t notice, but I noticed it on the inside. I pondered the meaning of life and what we were here for. I recall on several occasions looking around and realizing everyone around me was going to die one day and weeping to myself with pain too great for a child to bear. I was tormented in my dreams and even experienced many dark spiritual manifestations in the waking hours. Some I spoke of, others I did not.

The point to me sharing this is that I believe looking back the Lord was dealing with me from a very young age. I was always intrinsically motivated to succeed and to learn. I knew from a very early age that I wanted to be a teacher and worked towards that goal. While in college, I studied courses like world religions, philosophy, psychology, sociology, and ethics. I learned many theories and ideas. Nothing made much sense to me and all seemed false. It wasn’t until I graduated college and met my husband, a then backslidden Christian, that I ever considered setting foot in a church. He asked me to come with him expressing that he knew it was the only way for a relationship to work, and it was my love for him that brought me in. When I listened to the scriptures and the message being preached I compared it to all I had remembered learning in college and this suddenly didn’t seem so far fetched. It didn’t take long for things to be brought to my remembrance like those moments as a child where I pondered the meaning of life and my purpose. It was two weeks into going to church that I became so intrigued by the practicality of the Word that I began reading my husband’s Bible. I began tuning into Christian radio. I began asking questions. I guess you could say I was intrinsically motivated to learn, something I believe the Lord put on the inside of me.

I love Matthew 13:44 (The Message), “God’s kingdom is like a treasure hidden in a field for years and then accidently found by a trespasser. The finder is ecstatic—what a find!—and proceeds to sell everything he owns to raise money and buy that field.” It was as if a treasure had started to be revealed on the inside of me. One night I was driving home from graduate school and I heard a salvation prayer on the Christian radio station. I had heard the same prayer the last two Sundays at church. I thought, “OK. I’m going to pray this. I’m going to jump in and see what happens.” Romans 10:8 (NASB) says, “…THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching.” The words of salvation were right there, ready for me to grab. There was no making me do it, just this gentle nudge on the inside. From that moment on, I never turned back. I never stopped coming to church. To this day, I’m still listening to Christian radio. I’m still reading scripture, but now I’m understanding it more and more.

I said earlier, I believe looking back that the Lord was always dealing with me, from a young age. After I got saved, the Holy Spirit reminded me of many times I heard the gospel preached without realizing it. Two of the most prominent recollections were my favorite teacher in high school, the reason I became an art teacher, always telling me about her faith and always testifying in her great love and kindness. She wrote “God Bless” on the back of all my artwork as she graded it and would give me notes and gifts of encouragement always sharing her faith and her love for me. I recalled a young girl in my college history class who stood up and told the class the only way to Heaven was through Jesus. Matthew 5:14 says, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” This fellow student of mine was opposed, booed, and purposely put on the stand to be made a mockery of, but she didn’t care. She calmly proclaimed Jesus. It spoke to me, but I never mentioned it to anyone. The Lord reminded me of that moment after I became a pastor. I believe both of these witnesses were the Holy Spirit moving me towards Him. I believe both of these individuals have rewards for all those my life will impact and bring into the kingdom of Heaven.

The Word is near that atheist friend, family member or acquaintance. Your light matters. As you live truly on fire for Him, not dim, but shining in His glory, it will speak to them. Trust Him.

Be Blessed,

Pastor Renée

What Is Truth Anyway? (ATP)

I found Proverbs 18:9 in the Amplified version while reading a book and was startled to discover that not taking good care of yourself is referred to as the “brother of suicide” in this verse, but when I read it in the NKJV this line of Scripture is not there. Is this verse really referring to how we take care of our physical bodies?

Proverbs 18:9 “He who is slothful in his work is a brother to a great destroyer.” (New King James Version)

Proverbs 18:9 “He who is loose and slack in his work is brother to him who is a destroyer and he who does not use his endeavors to heal himself is brother to him who commits suicide.” (Amplified)

There are a lot of things to unpack in this question so please bear with me as I attempt to do so. First of all, I purposely did not use the author or title of the book. We have to be very careful when it comes to pointing out “error” in other people, ESPECIALLY publicly. As with anything, we cannot always know the heart of a person just from one reading. I believe that the questioned statement, from the context I can see (and I have not read this book), is in error. I will come back to that.

Before I go forward, I want to say some things and I’ll start by giving a scripture. Hebrews 13:17 instructs us, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.” I want to draw your attention to the middle part of this verse: “for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account.” God places us in a local body of believers under a pastor for a purpose. That purpose is to have someone to look out for us, especially when we are being trained in Godly pursuits.

No pastor is perfect, we will all make mistakes. That said, this is still a relationship God has ordained and has done so for our protection. I say that to say this; it would do us well to submit our studies under the guidance of those that WE KNOW God has connected us with. The very nature of a true pastor is that which looks out for the best interest of the sheep. The book in question, is probably one I would not have suggested.

Now back to the specific question at hand. Again, I have not read the book and I don’t know through what line of reasoning the author (other than perhaps the Amplified versions addition of the words) came to this conclusion. I will say this, I too at times use the Amplified Bible in addition to my Bible as a reference. There are things in this Bible that are meant to enhance or draw out what is being said, and are therefore helpful in understanding scripture. The part of this particular scripture that reads “and he who does not use his endeavors to heal himself is brother to him who commits suicide” is not in the original language. You can know this because in part, the Amplified Bible has it in italics. I do not know where the place that the author draws this from is but I don’t see it in the text.

In context, this scripture is talking about being lazy and that one who is, is equal to one who destroys. In other words, laziness will destroy. It will ruin your life. There are plenty of scriptures that do tell us to take care of our bodies. The truth is, if you don’t take care of yourself it is like slow suicide but we don’t even need scripture to tell us that, common sense will. So from that stand point I guess you could draw a line from laziness to suicide by over eating, I probably just wouldn’t use that scripture to do it.

When we look at scripture there are two basic ways we can look at them, through exegesis and through eisegesis. The first means to draw out of scripture what is there, the second is to draw out what is not. We have to be very careful on drawing from scripture what is not written. Most revelational error comes from this place. Too many people take too much liberty with this. People so often get “revelation” on something but never test it to see whether it matches truth. This is similar to those who go around always claiming “God said”.

Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5:21 (NASB), “But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good.” I try and live by this to the best of my ability. Will I miss it sometimes? You bet I will, however I attempt to combat that by doing my best to stay correctible. This is my heart as a Christian and in my humble opinion is the only way to be an effective one.

In conclusion, God’s word is truth, not what we think or hear about it. If we are reading things that are not His word, we need to do so with a certain level of scrutiny, even this Faith Fix. Our hearts are not to declare that what we say is truth, but to help point people to God and His truth. If we will do that, He will work it all out.

Be Blessed,

Pastor Jeff

Secret, Secret, I’ve Got A Secret (ATP)

“In the Bible when Jesus performed miracles he often told people not to tell anyone. What can we learn about this and how can we apply it to our lives as Christians and what we do?”

This is one of those real curiosity questions, often called the “Messianic secret” that doesn’t have many great answers, scripturally speaking. As I studied it out I found two things. One, scholars have no real consensus on why specifically Jesus said these things and two, a lot of people have their own ideas about it.

As I searched for an answer I saw the question really has a few different kinds of occurrences. He spoke it to the lepers who were healed, He spoke it to demons, He spoke it to others who were healed from various things, and He spoke it to His disciples. Now while the answers I give will be more in the realm of speculation and not for each occurrence, I believe that they can at least be considered in the running for any good answer. Though there are quite a few times that Jesus said this, I am going to focus on just a few scriptures.

Let me start by saying that at least one plausible idea is that Jesus was trying to keep from being swarmed by people thus hindering His ability to move about. When the news that One carrying the power to heal is having success and is traveling around, you are going to see huge crowds. We have to remember Jesus did specific things, in specific times, to accomplish specific tasks. He didn’t just wander the hillsides with no purpose. He went, purposefully. He didn’t always intend on doing certain things, but as He went He was moved with compassion on people. It seems to me that many of the healings took place from this stand point. It wasn’t what He intended yet, because of His love, He did it anyway. What a loving God!

In Mark 1:42-44 we see speaking of the lepers, “Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. And He sternly warned him and immediately sent him away, and He said to him, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.’” Now, this may be hard to understand but Jesus, though He saved the world, wasn’t here just for that purpose. He said in Matthew 15:24, that He came for “the lost house of Israel.” Though He became the savior for all, His purpose was the Israelites, He was their promised messiah. Though He opened the door for all of mankind, they had no promised messiah nor knew they needed one. When He healed the lepers He commanded them to go right to the priest. First of all, they were not allowed to mingle with others until they were pronounced clean. So Jesus, not a law breaker, instructed them to do as they were commanded. He didn’t say “never tell” He said “go to the priest first.” He also told them to offer a sacrifice according to the law. Jesus was fulfilling the law here.

Another account found in Mark 7:31-37, we see Jesus heal a deaf, mute man. The Bible says that “they” brought the man to Him. Specifically who they is I’m not sure but I think it shows us something. Jesus didn’t seek this man out, He was brought. In verse 33 it says, “Jesus took him aside from the crowd, by himself…” I think it’s a curiosity that at times Jesus did things openly, and at others in secret. For whatever reason here, Jesus did not want this miracle broadcast. In His compassion, He healed the man. In His Spirit led wisdom, He did it in secret.

We have to remember that all God wanted to accomplish through Jesus was not done while He was here. He said in John 16:12, “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” Jesus did not come to do all the work, He came as a way for the work to begin. This is why He said “you will do greater works.” God never desired to just do everything but always desired that humans would partake in His labor.

In closing I want to leave you with another thought. John 20:29 says, “Jesus said to him, ‘Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.’” Jesus always put a premium on teaching and believing, even more than healing or miracles. He sums up faith (which is most important to God) in this above scripture. Believe because He said and not because He did. There are many reasons why Jesus could have said to keep silent, though I am not aware of specific scriptures that tell us. I believe this is one of those things we can really only guess at though we can do so fairly well through our understanding of why God does anything. This we know, Jesus always followed the Heavenly Father by His Spirit and He has called us to do the same. As far as what we can take away from the Messianic secret; trust God and do good (Psalm 37:3). Do everything for the glory of God and in due time He will do the exalting (1 Peter 5:6)!

Be Blessed,

Pastor Jeff

Nerves In The Way (ATP)

“Sometimes when I go up to have hands laid on me I get nervous and feel like it gets in the way of me fully receiving. Can this happen?”

There are many reasons this could be, so let’s do a short diagnostic to see if we can get to the bottom of this. The Word tells us to examine ourselves to see whether or not we’re in faith. (2 Corinthians 13:5) Ask yourself: Are you doubting that it’s real? Are you worried you won’t “feel” anything? What if I fall? What if I don’t fall? Are you afraid some secret or hidden sin will be spoken out prophetically for others to hear?

Let’s address first, are you doubting that it’s real? Though I don’t have time or space to include every scripture in this Faith Fix, the laying on of hands can be seen throughout the entire Bible. We see in the Old Testament laying on of hands for anointing purposes, at times of sacrifice, etc. In Acts 9:17 Ananias laid hands on Paul to receive back his sight lost on the road to Damascus. In the book of Acts and in the Gospels of Jesus, you’ll see the laying on of hands for healing purposes. 1 Timothy 4:14 says that Timothy received a gift through the laying on of hands. Then, 2 Timothy 1:6 reminds Timothy to stir up the gift he received when Paul laid hands on him.  My point is, if it’s doubting that makes you nervous to come up, then it’s the Word which will help you not to doubt. Romans 10:17, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” Get into the Word and confirm these things in your heart.

Are you worried you won’t “feel” anything? What if I fall? What if I don’t fall? We can tend to feel pressure when we’ve seen other people’s reactions to hands being laid on them. I know from personal experience that there are times I’ve felt it tangibly and other times I’ve felt nothing tangible at all. There are times I’ve fallen under the power of God and times I’ve stood perfectly still. Does that mean God isn’t working or is only working sometimes? Certainly not. In Matthew 17 when Jesus was transfigured on the Mount and the glory of God “shone like the sun” and the voice of God spoke, verse 17:6 lets us know that,  “When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground and were terrified.” The power of God and their reverence for the Lord brought them to the ground. Looking back at the Apostle Paul in Acts 9:4, “he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” There are other examples of the power of God manifesting tangibly on people but there are many, many examples where we aren’t told anything about how the person “feels” or reacts at all. The point in this is that how it makes us feel shouldn’t be the focus! Do we trust God for His power and impartation or don’t we? Remember doubting Thomas? He wanted to know through his senses that Jesus was real. We can’t let our natural senses tell us whether or not to trust God. We must trust Him according to His Word. Do I have faith that He’s getting something over to me whether healing, help to get through some thing, etc.? If so, whether you fall or don’t fall, or feel or don’t feel, it doesn’t matter.

Are you afraid some secret or hidden sin will be spoken out prophetically for others to hear? Sometimes we’re in a service right after we fought with our spouse or yelled at our kids and we think, “everyone’s gonna know” or “great, now I can’t receive anything”. God is not looking to keep us from the blessing, but to help us walk in it!  I love the account of Jesus with the woman at the well in John chapter 4. He was alone with her while His disciples went to the city to buy food. He read her mail, showing her in which ways she was living wrong, that she had had 5 husbands and even a new man that wasn’t her husband. He showed her in which ways she was off, but notice He didn’t do it in front of others to embarrass her, but privately to help her. The Holy Spirit, like Jesus and like God, the Father, is a perfect gentleman. Let’s not worry that He’s going to spread our business with others, unless of course He needs to to help us. If that’s the case, praise Him for it!

2 Corinthians 3:17 tells us an important truth, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” That Word liberty means without bondage, even including the bondage of our minds. We need to try not to overthink our experiences with God. Let’s not get distracted by our minds and instead renew them to the point of faith so that when we come to God for prayer or to have hands laid on us, we simply come with expectation. All this being said, if you’re still feeling nervous when you come to the altar, but your heart is fully trusting in the Lord, it may be reverence that you’re experiencing. Sometimes I come to God in total awe of how wonderful He is, it’s almost a jittery feeling on the inside because I’m so humbled to be able to be touched by God, that He would love me and care for me so much. If this is the case, don’t beat yourself up, just let Him do in you what He is trying to do! Amen?

Be Blessed,

Pastor Renée

“What does the Bible say about mothers and their roles? It appears that our culture seems to look down upon mothers a lot.  They’re judged very harshly even by one another and are often seen as less than their husbands, especially if they don’t work and stay home to take care of the kids.”

Before I answer this question, I think it’s important to note that we are living in entirely different times and an entirely different culture than that of which the Bible was written. Even the Bible spans a timeline of diverse generations and cultures. With that understanding, we must note that there’s no hard fast rules for motherhood, meaning, motherhood specifics will change. We should also take a minute to consider this truth, for every perspective we view situations from, there’s always multiple perspectives we aren’t viewing them from. Some mothers choose to stay home to rear their children, while others may choose to go to work. Often  mothers who go to work feel judged similarly for that choice, as if they’re not good mothers because they chose to hold a job. I myself have experienced judgment from this alternative perspective. We’re typically more sensitive to critique that comes against us personally. Neither choice is right or wrong in and of itself, but must be considered case by case. 

The real question in order to get to the bottom of this, is why do we want to be mothers? (And fathers for that matter.) God created man and woman to be able to multiply, to fill the earth and subdue it. He wanted a family to love. We likewise may feel that we are drawn to have a family. That’s good. But notice nowhere in scripture does it say you must have one child or five children or ten children. I believe that’s purposeful. Everyone’s life will look differently. Some will choose to never have any children, others will have many. One thing is true in parenting, regardless of the number of children one decides to have, sacrifice is key. With this, mothers are designed differently than fathers and often feel more of a natural, emotional draw to be with their children. This isn’t wrong. We were designed to want to tenderly care for our children. No one should fault a mother for this. In fact, we know alternatively that something is wrong if the mother doesn’t lean this way.

In each and every situation, the well being of the family must be considered. We have known many families who wanted many children, but they knew they wouldn’t be able to properly care for more than one or two. It was a sacrifice for them to stop having children. For a family where the mother feels called to stay at home, the sacrifice may be material things and financial security that comes along with a two-income home. The sacrifice may be to live with one vehicle, a less expensive home, less vacations, less expensive recreation, etc. Many people refuse to live with less, but won’t do what it takes to have more, often bringing strife into the home. In those cases, one must ask, how is that a better way to raise a child? Again, sacrifice is key. It isn’t always the case that this is a necessary sacrifice but it may be. For others, the sacrifice may be less time with your children in order to supply them with health insurance, food, and a quality place to live. For others, a sacrifice may be less time with your spouse because you work opposite shifts so one parent can always be raising the children. For me, this latter example was my upbringing. Regardless, we must seek more than anything to be as sacrificial for our family as our Heavenly Father has been for His. And as always, agreement within a marriage and home is key. Strife is never a blessing to the children and when it comes to marriage and raising children, two must become as one and make a decision.

The Bible has a lot to say about how children are supposed to be raised. First and foremost, they must be raised in the admonition of the Lord. Proverbs 22:6 says, “train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it.” As we raise our children, regardless of who’s working, who’s at home, etc., our hearts should be to raise them to know and love the Lord so when they’re adults, they’re His servants and they’ll raise their children in the same manner. Isaiah 54:13 shows us that the level of this kind of teaching will correspond to the level of their wellbeing. Besides this, discipline is an important part of raising children. Proverbs 23:13-14 lets us know that a bit of discipline never kills a child, but instead rescues them from hell. Hebrews 12:11 lets us know that there’s momentary sorrow in discipline and correction, but that afterwards it yields the “peaceful fruit of righteousness”. The Bible leaves the responsibility of training, teaching, leading, and disciplining to both the mother and the father. In Biblical times, this responsibility fell more on the mother, especially with different cultural norms, but it takes two to both make and raise a child. 

To sum this up, we must be careful not to worry about the approval of man when we make decisions in this life. Romans 14:22, is so important, “The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.” Seek the Lord, get in agreement with your spouse, and make decisions without regret, when it comes to raising children and all the matters of this life that aren’t specifically spelled out in scripture. We worship the Lord, not man, not anything else.

Be Blessed,

Pastor Renée

Onward Christian Soldiers! (ATP)

As Christians can we bibicaly ask for a “religious exemption” from getting the vaccine?

This is an interesting question, one that might cause some debate.  As asked however, I am going to attempt to answer it from the Bible.

The debate over the vaccine is raging in our country, no less so in the church amongst Christians. Should this be? I would first put forth, ANYTHING that causes division amongst brethren is not of God but the devil. The devil loves strife, God despises it but, you want proof to this, right? Proverbs 6:16 & 19 says: “There are six things which the LORD hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: …A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.” Peace and order define our Heavenly Father, therefore He hates strife. So what do we do when there are so many ideas about it?

Step back. 1 Corinthians 7:15 tells us, “…but God has called us to peace.” Yes I know, this scripture is referring to believers being married to unbelievers, however, the last few words are still clear, we are called to peace. Some things we simply will not agree on because we have consciences and what yours allows you to do (in line with God’s word), mine may not allow me to do (in line with God’s word). In an area such as this it’s best to agree to disagree and move on to something else.

People are arguing so many things but what I have witnessed, on all sides, is that most of the arguments are not based in much other than emotions, stirred up by shameless politicians. This I can say, the vaccine is not the mark of the beast found in Revelation 13. You might not like the idea of it, and you may be justified in that, but that does not mean you can make it something it clearly is not. Herein lies the problem. When people get stirred up in their opinions and emotions they go on a witch hunt and that is not right. Remember, God also hates a false witness.

So, what is the vaccine? It is medicine, or at least that’s what it’s sold to us as. Some people don’t believe this but truly, all we know about it is that it is indeed some kind of medicine. And this is where the debate might take off but if you hate that I’m saying that, at least try to hear what I am actually saying. I did not say it was good medicine or bad medicine, but simply medicine. I am not a doctor. Most people that I know also do not fall into that category. This being said, as we were making the decision whether we should get poked or not, we consulted people we trust, those we know personally who are in the field of medicine. When they told us what they thought, we made the best informed decision we could based on that knowledge and also what our hearts told us. We had complete peace in the decision we made (and I am purposely not saying what that decision is)!

So is the vaccine SCRIPTURALLY wrong? Let’s look at a few scriptures. In 1 Timothy 5:23 Paul instructs Timothy to take a little medicine (wine for the stomach). In Revelation 22:2 we see that near a river in the New Jerusalem God will build someday, is a tree whose leaves are medicine. In Isaiah 38:21 the prophet instructs Hezekiah’s servant to make a healing ointment. Colossians 4:14 calls Luke the beloved doctor, so obviously that’s not bad. 1 Corinthians 10:23-24 instructs us that, “All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor.” And in Romans 14:23, “But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and WHATEVER is not from faith is sin.” Of course, these are just a few of many scriptures but the point is, medicine in of itself is not wrong, and conscience goes a long way. I will say this about conscience though; if you are saturated with opinions of man (even your own), your conscience will not be able to lead you accurately. This trap gets many believers.

All of this said just to answer the question, “Can we ask for a religious exemption?” You can ask, but you won’t be able to back it up with scripture. Nowhere in scripture do I see anything that says we are specifically not allowed to take any particular medicine. In order to qualify for religious exemption on anything (and I am also not a lawyer), you would first have to prove that your religion is opposed to it. Christianity is not opposed to vaccines, or medicines of any kind, in and of themselves.

I want to leave you all with a simple thought, that has been playing over and over in my mind. When we decide we are going to fight something we need to ask ourselves this question: “Is this the hill I want to die on?” If you feel completely justified in what you do, then do so in faith and accept the consequences. When you stand before Jesus, you will know for sure whether you were right or wrong.

Be Blessed,

Pastor Jeff