Hello Everyone,
Right now the Jesus Musik video I would like to bring to you is called "Trust In You" by J.R. Enjoy folks!
Right now the Jesus Musik video I would like to bring to you is called "Trust In You" by J.R. Enjoy folks!
April 28, 2010
April 27, 2010
Who's Giving You Advice These Days?
Good Morning Family,
I hope everyone is doing good this fine Tuesday. I am happy to be able to share with you what God has placed on my heart today. Yesterday, I mentioned that last week was a spiritual struggle for me. Friends and family are always there to give you advice and to encourage you, but it is important to note who has your ear.
As you probably have already experienced, there are a slew of people out there ready to give you their opinion and advise you on what you should do in certain situations. It is very important that you pay close attention to whom you listen and not believe every person who has an opinion (see 1 John 4:1). You see, there are just some individuals who are not qualified to give you advice on certain situations. Again this may seem obvious, but when you have problems on all four corners we tend to want an emergency rope thrown to us from any where.
So what qualifies a person as an advice giver? That's easy. Someone who has experienced what you are going through or who is on your spiritual maturity level! Sounds simple enough, right? Like I said, we can let some of the craziest folks give us some wacky advice. Here's an example. If I want to learn how to be a carpenter, I do not go to a chef for advice on how to build furniture (unless for some strange reason that chef is experienced in carpentry). That just would not work. Or how about when you ask for directions in a strange place? If I stop at a gas station to ask for directions, if the person looks like they aren't sure, chances are you need to ask someone else for directions. If they have not ventured to that part of town, then they probably cannot get you to your destination.
My last example is from the perspective of being married. I am happily married to my wife and I would like to boast in the name of Jesus that we have a great marriage :-) (hey if you're happy, you're happy). Granted we have a great relationship, there are still times when we have to call on the advisement of others. The biggest mistake that a married couple could make is calling on the help of someone who is not married. It does not matter if it is a Doctor with a PhD in marriage counseling. Unless that Doctor is married and can know first hand what you are experiencing they can only give you theoretical knowledge and hypothetical advice of what they have learned. Your best solution would be to talk to a married friend, couple, etc. who has been where you are.
The same thing applies to your spiritual walk as well. We grow spiritually by talking to those who can minister and mentor to our souls. You need to be very careful to what you let influence you because the very thing that sounds good may not be good for you. Know the direction from which your advice comes so that you are positive about the direction you are going.
Be easy folks and have a good one.
Regards,
Antoine E. Hall
Blog: http://toinebo.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AntoineHall
"It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect." - 2 Samuel 22:33
I hope everyone is doing good this fine Tuesday. I am happy to be able to share with you what God has placed on my heart today. Yesterday, I mentioned that last week was a spiritual struggle for me. Friends and family are always there to give you advice and to encourage you, but it is important to note who has your ear.
As you probably have already experienced, there are a slew of people out there ready to give you their opinion and advise you on what you should do in certain situations. It is very important that you pay close attention to whom you listen and not believe every person who has an opinion (see 1 John 4:1). You see, there are just some individuals who are not qualified to give you advice on certain situations. Again this may seem obvious, but when you have problems on all four corners we tend to want an emergency rope thrown to us from any where.
So what qualifies a person as an advice giver? That's easy. Someone who has experienced what you are going through or who is on your spiritual maturity level! Sounds simple enough, right? Like I said, we can let some of the craziest folks give us some wacky advice. Here's an example. If I want to learn how to be a carpenter, I do not go to a chef for advice on how to build furniture (unless for some strange reason that chef is experienced in carpentry). That just would not work. Or how about when you ask for directions in a strange place? If I stop at a gas station to ask for directions, if the person looks like they aren't sure, chances are you need to ask someone else for directions. If they have not ventured to that part of town, then they probably cannot get you to your destination.
My last example is from the perspective of being married. I am happily married to my wife and I would like to boast in the name of Jesus that we have a great marriage :-) (hey if you're happy, you're happy). Granted we have a great relationship, there are still times when we have to call on the advisement of others. The biggest mistake that a married couple could make is calling on the help of someone who is not married. It does not matter if it is a Doctor with a PhD in marriage counseling. Unless that Doctor is married and can know first hand what you are experiencing they can only give you theoretical knowledge and hypothetical advice of what they have learned. Your best solution would be to talk to a married friend, couple, etc. who has been where you are.
The same thing applies to your spiritual walk as well. We grow spiritually by talking to those who can minister and mentor to our souls. You need to be very careful to what you let influence you because the very thing that sounds good may not be good for you. Know the direction from which your advice comes so that you are positive about the direction you are going.
Be easy folks and have a good one.
Regards,
Antoine E. Hall
Blog: http://toinebo.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AntoineHall
"It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect." - 2 Samuel 22:33
April 26, 2010
A How-To on Choosing a Church
Hello Family,
It's been a while, but I hope you all are doing pretty good. Last week was a trying week and the devil had an 800lb guerrilla on my back but I shook that monkey loose! Thank you to all those who continue to pray for me and my family and to those who continue to encourage me. I will definitely return the same support!
One of the last times we spoke, I mentioned us being in the hunt for a church in the Milwaukee, WI area. Well I think this weekend our search came to an end and THANK YOU JESUS! Trying to look for a new church is stressful and if you aren't careful you could turn into the individual searching for a new spouse at the wrong time! We had been there before, but we had kept looking so we went back. It just so happens that in yesterday's sermon, the Pastor talked about 3 things that preaching should do to you (the individual sitting in the pew). Preaching should stimulate your Intellect, Emotions, and Will.
Intellect - If you are sitting in a pew at a church you should be challenged to think. You should have an "a-ha" or "aaaaah" moment. It should be something that makes you look at things in a different perspective. We should all be thinking and learning new things every day and this should not exclude the church. If your intellect is not being tapped into then how can you grow it?
Emotions - I have been to many emotion-filled church services. If you have ever graced a church where shouting is prevalent on a common basis, then you know what I mean. I have been to churches where the music is uplifting, the spirit is high, people are crying and you can feel a great move of God and this is a good thing. The preaching should stir our emotions and cause us to feel something because the Word now has penetrated our hearts.
Will - Now this one is a tough one and I think we as Christians tend to fall off the bandwagon. The preaching of the Gospel should make you want to do something about what stimulated your intellect and stirred your emotions. You should feel an obligation to better yourself and others. You should feel like you have the responsibility to NOT let what you've learned go a different direction than you when you leave the walls of the church. You should now have more WILL-power because of the preaching and service.
There are many times where I have seen lots of emotions in the church, but not much intellect stirring. Granted, we all learn at different paces and we are at different stages in our walk with Christ, therefore, what works for me may not work for you. Whatever ever it may be, you should look for all 3 attributes from a church. If you don't get them from where you are then you are probably in the wrong place.
Be easy family and have a great one!
Regards,
Antoine E. Hall
Blog: http://toinebo.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AntoineHall
"It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect." - 2 Samuel 22:33
It's been a while, but I hope you all are doing pretty good. Last week was a trying week and the devil had an 800lb guerrilla on my back but I shook that monkey loose! Thank you to all those who continue to pray for me and my family and to those who continue to encourage me. I will definitely return the same support!
One of the last times we spoke, I mentioned us being in the hunt for a church in the Milwaukee, WI area. Well I think this weekend our search came to an end and THANK YOU JESUS! Trying to look for a new church is stressful and if you aren't careful you could turn into the individual searching for a new spouse at the wrong time! We had been there before, but we had kept looking so we went back. It just so happens that in yesterday's sermon, the Pastor talked about 3 things that preaching should do to you (the individual sitting in the pew). Preaching should stimulate your Intellect, Emotions, and Will.
Intellect - If you are sitting in a pew at a church you should be challenged to think. You should have an "a-ha" or "aaaaah" moment. It should be something that makes you look at things in a different perspective. We should all be thinking and learning new things every day and this should not exclude the church. If your intellect is not being tapped into then how can you grow it?
Emotions - I have been to many emotion-filled church services. If you have ever graced a church where shouting is prevalent on a common basis, then you know what I mean. I have been to churches where the music is uplifting, the spirit is high, people are crying and you can feel a great move of God and this is a good thing. The preaching should stir our emotions and cause us to feel something because the Word now has penetrated our hearts.
Will - Now this one is a tough one and I think we as Christians tend to fall off the bandwagon. The preaching of the Gospel should make you want to do something about what stimulated your intellect and stirred your emotions. You should feel an obligation to better yourself and others. You should feel like you have the responsibility to NOT let what you've learned go a different direction than you when you leave the walls of the church. You should now have more WILL-power because of the preaching and service.
There are many times where I have seen lots of emotions in the church, but not much intellect stirring. Granted, we all learn at different paces and we are at different stages in our walk with Christ, therefore, what works for me may not work for you. Whatever ever it may be, you should look for all 3 attributes from a church. If you don't get them from where you are then you are probably in the wrong place.
Be easy family and have a great one!
Regards,
Antoine E. Hall
Blog: http://toinebo.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AntoineHall
"It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect." - 2 Samuel 22:33
April 16, 2010
Keep It Fresh
Happy Friday!
We made it through another week and today I just want to encourage you to remember to "Keep It Fresh". What do I mean by this? Well, try to add some freshness to all that you do in life to break up predictable routines. We all love routines - at least I know that I do.
I am not here to bash routines because they are good and they have their place, but there is always a bad side when there is too much of one thing. For example, we are all told to eat a well balanced meal. The reason is that you do not want too much of one type of food group. Over time, the neglect of the other food groups and the over indulgence of one starts to have a bad affect on your body. In this case, it would be a good idea to freshen things up a little bit...you know add some variety to your diet.
This holds true with your marriage, friendships, and other relationships. You should do something different to keep those relationships from going stale and avoid the inevitable boredom. Christ wants this same freshness with us as well and we should be careful to NOT fall into repetitions in our walk with Him. Mix it up a little bit and add some spontaneity to your prayer life....talk to Him about different things rather than the same old things (see Matthew 6:7). The moment we get stuck in the rut of a routine is the moment we stop growing in the things of God and that is something we never want to do.
Be easy folks and have a blessed weekend!
Regards,
Antoine E. Hall
Blog: http://toinebo.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AntoineHall
"It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect." - 2 Samuel 22:33
We made it through another week and today I just want to encourage you to remember to "Keep It Fresh". What do I mean by this? Well, try to add some freshness to all that you do in life to break up predictable routines. We all love routines - at least I know that I do.
I am not here to bash routines because they are good and they have their place, but there is always a bad side when there is too much of one thing. For example, we are all told to eat a well balanced meal. The reason is that you do not want too much of one type of food group. Over time, the neglect of the other food groups and the over indulgence of one starts to have a bad affect on your body. In this case, it would be a good idea to freshen things up a little bit...you know add some variety to your diet.
This holds true with your marriage, friendships, and other relationships. You should do something different to keep those relationships from going stale and avoid the inevitable boredom. Christ wants this same freshness with us as well and we should be careful to NOT fall into repetitions in our walk with Him. Mix it up a little bit and add some spontaneity to your prayer life....talk to Him about different things rather than the same old things (see Matthew 6:7). The moment we get stuck in the rut of a routine is the moment we stop growing in the things of God and that is something we never want to do.
Be easy folks and have a blessed weekend!
Regards,
Antoine E. Hall
Blog: http://toinebo.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AntoineHall
"It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect." - 2 Samuel 22:33
April 15, 2010
Incompetent? Are you Serious?
OK, I typically do not do two posts in one day, but I have to get this one off my brain. While I was reading my morning news on CNN, I ran across a few comments about a particular article. In the comments section, someone made reference that God is incompetent.
Errrrrrrrr! God and incompetent in the same sentence?! I understand that there are people who believe in God and there are people who do not believe in God. I understand that and know there are some who will just not believe, BUT......for someone to call God incompetent tells me two things:
Something....I mean something must have gone really wrong for this individual to give God this type of description, because out of all things we know that He is all-powerful. If anything He is all-knowing and no words exist in our language that could accurately describe the Lord. I would only have to say that God tells us not to be lukewarm for Him. In Revelations 3:16, it says "So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth." In a nutshell, God rather for you to be on fire for Him or nothing at all. To be lukewarm about Him is an insult.
Be careful of your thoughts and what you let come out of your mouth towards God no matter how you may feel "wronged" by Him. God is still God and at the end of the day we still answer to Him.
Regards,
Antoine E. Hall
Blog: http://toinebo.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AntoineHall
"It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect." - 2 Samuel 22:33
Errrrrrrrr! God and incompetent in the same sentence?! I understand that there are people who believe in God and there are people who do not believe in God. I understand that and know there are some who will just not believe, BUT......for someone to call God incompetent tells me two things:
- The person recognizes that God does exists, and
- They do not claim to be an atheist.
Something....I mean something must have gone really wrong for this individual to give God this type of description, because out of all things we know that He is all-powerful. If anything He is all-knowing and no words exist in our language that could accurately describe the Lord. I would only have to say that God tells us not to be lukewarm for Him. In Revelations 3:16, it says "So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth." In a nutshell, God rather for you to be on fire for Him or nothing at all. To be lukewarm about Him is an insult.
Be careful of your thoughts and what you let come out of your mouth towards God no matter how you may feel "wronged" by Him. God is still God and at the end of the day we still answer to Him.
Regards,
Antoine E. Hall
Blog: http://toinebo.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AntoineHall
"It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect." - 2 Samuel 22:33
JM: Made to Worship
Hello Family,
I hope that you all are doing well this fine Thursday. Today, I wanted to share with you the song "Made to Worship" by J.A.Z. God made us to worship Him and I this song highlights this fact. Isaiah 43:21 says, "the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise." The "I" in that scripture is God and the "they" is us. If you lose sight of all other purpose in your life know that we were made to praise and worship Him. Enjoy.
I hope that you all are doing well this fine Thursday. Today, I wanted to share with you the song "Made to Worship" by J.A.Z. God made us to worship Him and I this song highlights this fact. Isaiah 43:21 says, "the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise." The "I" in that scripture is God and the "they" is us. If you lose sight of all other purpose in your life know that we were made to praise and worship Him. Enjoy.
April 14, 2010
Silence from God
Hello all and happy hump day to everyone. Today, I do not have an original, but rather a link to a topic that I think we all have wondered. Silence. Not just any silence, but silence by God. Have you ever been through a time in your life where you heard God every where you turned and then all of a sudden it was like drop dead silence? I have and I am not afraid to admit that I am there right now, but I am happy to know that He has not left me. It is funny through all the noise in life we crave just peace and silence, but when it is God who goes silent, we freak out!
The sermon below is one that best sums up this subject and rather than re-inventing the wheel, we'll use the one we have.
Delivered by: Dr. Ronald W. Scates
Sermon: When God Is Silent
Link: http://www.centralpc.org/sermons/1999/s990704.htm
Be easy folks and have a good rest of the week!
Regards,
Antoine E. Hall
Blog: http://toinebo.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AntoineHall
"It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect." - 2 Samuel 22:33
The sermon below is one that best sums up this subject and rather than re-inventing the wheel, we'll use the one we have.
Delivered by: Dr. Ronald W. Scates
Sermon: When God Is Silent
Link: http://www.centralpc.org/sermons/1999/s990704.htm
Be easy folks and have a good rest of the week!
Regards,
Antoine E. Hall
Blog: http://toinebo.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AntoineHall
"It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect." - 2 Samuel 22:33
April 12, 2010
Two, Not One
Hello Family,
I hope that everyone is doing well on this fine Monday. Things are well with me and my family with the exception of trying to find a church home. Goodness, this is a tough thing to do but meanwhile, we cannot let our learning be stifled no matter how discouraging it can be. "Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime". We have learned how to navigate through the Word and I must keep myself fed until we find a new church home. Anyway, that is not what I wanted to talk about today, but I just wanted to put my frustrations out there *lol*.
Actually, today I want to talk about two words. The first is Lord and the second one is Savior. The word Lord has several meanings, but one of them is "a person who has power or authority over others." In our case, we would replace "a person" with Jeus and "others" with "us". So we could rewrite this to read, "Jesus has power AND authority over us". The word Savior means "a person who rescues another from harm, danger, or loss." Again, we would make a substitution for "a person" with the name Jesus and "another with "us". Now, this definition could read as "Jesus rescues us from harm, danger, and/or loss".
In 2 Peter 1:11, is where we first see the phrase put together to identify and describe who Jesus is to Christians. It says,
We often here people say something to the affect, "Giving honor to the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ....". So we know who He is, but the my question to you is do you live your life like Jesus is both your Lord and your Savior? It is easy to claim He is our Savior because we call on the name of Jesus when we need something.
The twist comes into play when we have to be reminded that Jesus is also Lord. That means he rules our lives and has authority and power over us. Do you allow Him to have this authority over you or do you think you have things under control? If you have not relinquished control to the very one who you claim to serve then something is wrong with your formula for being a Christian. When we accepted Christ into our lives, the deal was all or nothing....not partial like a buffet to where we can pick and chose what we want.
So, again I like to ask you, what is Jesus Christ to you? Is He your Lord and Savior or have you demoted Him in your life to only be a rescuer in a time of trouble?
Be blessed fam and have a good one!
Regards,
Antoine E. Hall
Blog: http://toinebo.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AntoineHall
"It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect." - 2 Samuel 22:33
I hope that everyone is doing well on this fine Monday. Things are well with me and my family with the exception of trying to find a church home. Goodness, this is a tough thing to do but meanwhile, we cannot let our learning be stifled no matter how discouraging it can be. "Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime". We have learned how to navigate through the Word and I must keep myself fed until we find a new church home. Anyway, that is not what I wanted to talk about today, but I just wanted to put my frustrations out there *lol*.
Actually, today I want to talk about two words. The first is Lord and the second one is Savior. The word Lord has several meanings, but one of them is "a person who has power or authority over others." In our case, we would replace "a person" with Jeus and "others" with "us". So we could rewrite this to read, "Jesus has power AND authority over us". The word Savior means "a person who rescues another from harm, danger, or loss." Again, we would make a substitution for "a person" with the name Jesus and "another with "us". Now, this definition could read as "Jesus rescues us from harm, danger, and/or loss".
In 2 Peter 1:11, is where we first see the phrase put together to identify and describe who Jesus is to Christians. It says,
"and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."
We often here people say something to the affect, "Giving honor to the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ....". So we know who He is, but the my question to you is do you live your life like Jesus is both your Lord and your Savior? It is easy to claim He is our Savior because we call on the name of Jesus when we need something.
The twist comes into play when we have to be reminded that Jesus is also Lord. That means he rules our lives and has authority and power over us. Do you allow Him to have this authority over you or do you think you have things under control? If you have not relinquished control to the very one who you claim to serve then something is wrong with your formula for being a Christian. When we accepted Christ into our lives, the deal was all or nothing....not partial like a buffet to where we can pick and chose what we want.
So, again I like to ask you, what is Jesus Christ to you? Is He your Lord and Savior or have you demoted Him in your life to only be a rescuer in a time of trouble?
Be blessed fam and have a good one!
Regards,
Antoine E. Hall
Blog: http://toinebo.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AntoineHall
"It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect." - 2 Samuel 22:33
April 8, 2010
JM: Jesus Musik
Hello Family,
I hope you guys are doing well this fine Thursday. Today I want to start a new type of post I would like to call "Jesus Musik". This will be where I post video, audio, and/or lyrics to songs in which I am listening. It will be something like, "What's playing in my headphones now". With that said, I figured what better way to start this than with the video, Jesus Musik by Lacrae. Enjoy!
Be easy Family!
-Antoine
I hope you guys are doing well this fine Thursday. Today I want to start a new type of post I would like to call "Jesus Musik". This will be where I post video, audio, and/or lyrics to songs in which I am listening. It will be something like, "What's playing in my headphones now". With that said, I figured what better way to start this than with the video, Jesus Musik by Lacrae. Enjoy!
Be easy Family!
-Antoine
April 2, 2010
What Killed Jesus?
Good Friday to you all. Seeing how this is Good Friday, I figured what better time than now to bring up the subject of "What Killed Jesus?". I first would like to preference this with the point that I did not figure this out on my own, but I did put this together myself *lol*. I was listening to a Pastor on the AM radio again and of course I like to share with all of you as usual.
By now, we all should know that on this day, Jesus was crucified by the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. Over the years, people have analyzed what really killed Jesus. When someone was crucified, nails were placed in both of their hands and feet. Typically, the individual's legs were broken so that they could not stand up. Each hand nailed to either side of the cross coupled with the broken legs would cause the body to slump down cutting off oxygen supply to the lungs -- the result equaled suffocation.
Jesus' legs were not broken, but he was flogged and stabbed in the side by a spear. He also had the infamous crown of thorns pressed into his head. If you are unfamiliar with the term flog, it is a method of being beaten/whipped. The end of this whip would have multiple straps with sharp objects infused in the ends. This meant that every time you were whipped, the flesh was torn and ripped away. As you could imagine this could probably cause lots of bleeding and probable infection later on down the road.
This brings us back to the question. What killed Jesus? Did He die from...
Despite what science or any graphical sermon may say, let the speculation end. No physical or emotional condition could kill Jesus. He had to make the choice to die.......and that He did for you and I.
I hope this helps someone on this Good Friday. Be blessed fam!
Regards,
Antoine E. Hall
Blog: http://toinebo.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AntoineHall
"It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect." - 2 Samuel 22:33
By now, we all should know that on this day, Jesus was crucified by the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. Over the years, people have analyzed what really killed Jesus. When someone was crucified, nails were placed in both of their hands and feet. Typically, the individual's legs were broken so that they could not stand up. Each hand nailed to either side of the cross coupled with the broken legs would cause the body to slump down cutting off oxygen supply to the lungs -- the result equaled suffocation.
Jesus' legs were not broken, but he was flogged and stabbed in the side by a spear. He also had the infamous crown of thorns pressed into his head. If you are unfamiliar with the term flog, it is a method of being beaten/whipped. The end of this whip would have multiple straps with sharp objects infused in the ends. This meant that every time you were whipped, the flesh was torn and ripped away. As you could imagine this could probably cause lots of bleeding and probable infection later on down the road.
This brings us back to the question. What killed Jesus? Did He die from...
- ...bleeding out from the flogging?
- ...bleeding out from the spear being stuck in this side?
- ...suffocating from being tired of just hanging there?
- ...the shear pain, shock, & agony
- .....
Despite what science or any graphical sermon may say, let the speculation end. No physical or emotional condition could kill Jesus. He had to make the choice to die.......and that He did for you and I.
I hope this helps someone on this Good Friday. Be blessed fam!
Regards,
Antoine E. Hall
Blog: http://toinebo.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AntoineHall
"It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect." - 2 Samuel 22:33
