Recent Blog Entries
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My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand. John 10:27'29 WEB.The hero of t... -
When they began to sing and to praise, Yahweh set ambushers against the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were struck. For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to utterly kill and destroy them. When they had finish...
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A Living Sacrifice from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. Various sacrifices were required under the old covenant. Some of the sacrifices helped feed the priests and those who worked at the temple, but a burnt offering was placed on the altar and completely consumed by fire. You can read about...
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- led by Lynn BrownThis is a group for RHM sponsored events like corporate fasts. Everyone is welcome to join and participate in things currently going on in the ministry. We love you and thank you for being a part of Refreshing Hope!
The World's Greatest Dad
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He said, 'Abba, Father, all things are possible to you.' Mark 14:36 WEB
After growing up in the Bible Belt, my image of God was as a complete disciplinarian. An angry, white-haired, lightning bolt throwing super being who stalked me. He was rightly called: 'The Lion of Judah.' He was always watching, ready to pounce on the unsuspecting soul that broke one of those precious commandments. There were a lot of those in the Bible, and no one here seemed to know for sure which ones that we should keep, so each family kind of pick and chose what fit them.
I mean animal sacrifice was out in the traditional sense, but we happily ate pigs and catfish. Looking back, I am pretty sure that 'love your neighbor' wasn't on our list as I never head it mentioned. God didn't seem to notice all of the bad things that were happening in the world either, but if you were to go dancing, to an R rated movie, or spend a night on the town with friends, you would surely burn in hell.
It was rare for me to go to church at all when I was little, and never once as a family. When my older brother Randy once invited us all to a revival, my stepmom made Dad choose between taking her, or his kids. So He took us.
I remember visiting the local church with a friend one night and they showed a movie called: 'The Burning Hell' which showed people like me, on fire and screaming. It made God seem sadistic. He sure had put an awful lot of work into developing methods that brought the maximum torture to sinners. Horrific pictures of Jesus, nailed to a cross, wearing a crown of thorns and bleeding, only enforced the idea.
In stark contrast, my Dad on earth was the greatest. In fact, that is what we engraved on his tombstone: 'The World's Greatest Dad.' My mom left when I was one, and dad struggled to raise three boys on his own and work full time. He made huge sacrifices to keep us together when social services tried to adopt us out, but that is too long to share here. Suffice it to say that he would have given his life for his children.
In Aramaic 'Abba' is the English word that we use for 'Daddy.' Jesus called His Heavenly Father, 'Daddy.' This is an intimate, personal connection. Jesus could have used a dozen other names, but the night that He needed His Father the most, He chose this one. So I had a great Dad, but from my distorted childhood viewpoint, it seemed like Jesus had an awful one. My Dad was loving and forgiving, where His lived for the day of the great white throne judgment.
Somehow, the church had managed to reverse the roles of God and satan. Then as I grew older and began to build a relationship with our Heavenly Father, instead of just hearing what others said about Him, I learned that He was even better to me than my own Dad. He loves me. As I began to intentionally invite Him to be a part of my life, we grew closer, and He began to move in my life. He is the world's greatest Dad and full of surprises. When I do mess up, He helps me get back up instead of destroying me in a fiery explosion of 'Righteous anger.'
God is tender hearted, and He has feelings. He is loving, caring, forgiving, merciful, faithful, patient, kind, peaceful. He keeps His promises. He really does love you, and He has the best plan for your life. He will remove your past and wash you as white as snow. He will leave the ninety-nine sheep to seek the one that wandered off. Invite Jesus to be a part of your life. Read the gospels and learn about what He was like. It turns out that He has more in store for us here than punishment. We have hope and a future.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, please reveal Yourself to me in a special way like only You can. Draw me into a deeper relationship with You and speak to me in a way that I understand. Help me to see the real You, in the name of Jesus Christ I pray.
Note: Good morning! We will be continuing to the next chapter of our online Bible Study tomorrow morning, but for those who would like to catch up, here is the link to all of the chapters. You are welcome to start any time :)! Bible Study> You can subscribe to our daily devotional here <
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Amen
Whoa what a story!! Ah you came out in the end one Hell of a Man--Amen!!! Bless You!! I LEARNED PRETTY EARLY ON, GO WHAT i FELT INSIDE!! rECALLING i FOUND PEACE SERNITY, COMFORT IN hIM!! hE GREW BECAME mY FRIEND!! i IGNORED MUCH i HEARD!! Yes love Thy neighbor, seems most were scared of father! He didn't like neighbors--His childhood hurt growing up on a farm with 7 sisters!! Cussing was the Norm for Him! Fighting Irish, drinker!! He didn't particuly like Church! Giving of money which was very hard to come by, didn't sit well! He had a lil problem with lust, insest-ah so I try to understand! That set off hate from My sisters!! It could have been all lies jes to hurt Him!! For Me I loved Him!! Very direct totaly honest fair!! He hated the Government and rich people!! He saw noticed the corruptness in society! It hurt Him bad!! Ha quick shot from the past! Felt good!! God is good all the time, never changing! Up to each of Us to connect to Him and listen!! Amen!! Great sight Pastor! Lil rough morning starting off! Its smoothing out! Correct thinking, great Gospil Music!!
I too had the idea that God was cruel and that He was just waiting for me to sin so He could punish me. My family and I attended church regularly and catecism on Saturdays. The church services were in Latin as I was brought up Roman Catholic. I always dreaded confession and feared I would commit mortal sin which was unforgiveable. Then as a teenager I got my hands on a KJV Bible and made comparisons to the Catholic Bible I had. After reading the KJV and discovering that the two bibles had a lot of differences, I chose to quit attending church. When I found Jesus in my twenties, I learned that the God I had feared, was not my Abba Father. I learned that the true God , was represented by Jesus, who was His divine image and I began to truly understand that He was my loving forgiving, compassionate, Abba Father, I realized He was my Abba Father of seventy times seven forgiveness, my God of endless chances. I learned that as I embraced His perfect, unchanging love for me, that I had nothing to fear. I found the One True God and the heart of my heavenly Father.
Amen Lord Jesus
Amen...nice one Pastor! Thx!