Congratulations, Sharvetta!!!

Sharvetta is a recent graduate from Claflin University in Orangeburg. She has accepted a job with PriceWaterhouseCooper, one of the big 4 largest accounting firms in the world! What a blessing! Our prayers are with you!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

If your mother is still breathing, treat her with the utmost respect.  If you disagree with her sometimes, disagree respecting who she is.  Remember the sacrifices that she made for you all of your life.  So don't just give her one day out of the year as Mother's Day, make her Mother's Day, everyday.  If your mother has transitioned to her heavenly home, cherish the wonderful memories you were blessed with.  And if you are a mother, you know what to do.  Enjoy your day!  God bless you!

The Gift of Charles

I don't know if anyone will read this story but it's a wonderful journey to be shared.  To me, this is what being a christian is like.

http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2012/05/us/gift.of.charles/?hpt=hp_c1

What Does It Mean To Live Without God?

For many of us, most experiences teach us important lessons.  We usually learn something from it, if we pay attention.  Next time, when similar situations come up, we’ll know how to better deal with them.  Yeah, some of those experiences were so overwhelming that not only we didn’t know how to deal with them; we still don’t know how we managed to get through them.  One minute you’re sitting on top of the world and next, the world is on top of you.  What heavy burdens we carry.  We become cautious about making certain decisions reminding us of the past.  We are so scarred by life that we’ve forgotten to see the good.  Some trials and tribulations we’ve been dealt with will not give us a chance to give others a place in our lives.  Some of us bounce back and move on.  Some become “saved” and now can quote every book in the Bible.  They can judge others because they now know the Word.  They just don’t know how to quite live it, yet.  They don’t understand how to forgive and love but they can tell you that you aren’t living right.  I digress.  We should be happy that the lost sheep came back to the flock.  Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches.  If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.  If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.  This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”  (John 15:5-8).  Jesus said, “apart from me you can do nothing” in verse 5.  We are nothing without God.  Our trials draw us closer to God.  We are not in control but need the help of God, Who is the only one that can order our steps.  Nothing is guaranteed, we walk by faith.  We should thank God for every moment in our lives.  He knows our purpose even if we don’t.  God has made so many promises to us and we are afraid to remind Him of them, because we are not good enough, pure enough, and not successful enough, to boldly approach Him.  We also have to live up to His commandments.  Love Him above all else and treat our brothers as we want to be treated.  Don’t forget that God loves us so much that He allowed His only son, Jesus, to sacrifice His life for us.  God is our Father, who loves us more than we’ll ever know.

Faith, Trust, and Wisdom!

Don’t sell yourself short.  You are worth more than what you think you are.  Many of us are at a plateau in our lives, that we begin to think that this is as far as we can go.  This is it, it’s all over now.  We settle down in our comfort zone and lay back waiting to see if anything will come along to change our situation.  Our problem is that when something does come along, we don’t want to change.  And we really don’t want it to change us too much.  I’m generally speaking about others but the only person I can talk about is me.  Sound the "wake-up" bell.  Don’t be complacent, don’t just settle on contentment.  Let’s get out of the box and do something different!  If you can’t dance, try it!  If you don’t like exotic foods, try something!  If you can’t sing, sing, anyway!  Let’s have some fun and enjoy what life has for us!  I’m not asking anyone to hurt themselves or anyone.  I just want us to look back at our lives and have very little regrets.  We’ve all been hurt emotionally and it is hard to forget those bad relationships.  But, why is it that some people are ready to try again?  Why can’t we?  Let’s exercise our faith, trust that it will work!  We’ve used it at our lowest peaks in our lives but we should keep it going even during our highs.  Pray for wisdom and develop our relationships with God.  We need to understand His character more by reading more of His word.  To find peace in the turmoil that surrounds us, we must first find peace in ourselves.

Grateful – Bishop Hezekiah Walker, L.F. Crusade Choir, Dave Hollister

Somebody Prayed – Vanessa Bell Armstrong