Collaborative Transformation - Blog

don't conform to this world

10/16/2024

Isaiah 64:5 NLT
“You welcome those who gladly do good, who follow godly ways. But you have been very angry with us, for we are not godly. We are constant sinners; how can people like us be saved?”

Isaiah is sharing something that we need to grasp and understand. We have a choice to follow Jesus who God sent to cover our sins. So when we confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts we will be saved. The Holy Spirit is given and we start to listen and transform. He shares what Jesus told Him and we do good because we let go of ourselves.

This is what happened then and what is happening now in America.

Isaiah 64:6-7 NLT
“We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind. Yet no one calls on your name or pleads with you for mercy. Therefore, you have turned away from us and turned us over to our sins.”

When we desire our lives more than God, He lets chaos happens. We are in a chaotic world which loves pleasure and physical desires. Love to murder babies so we can do what we want and not be hindered. It’s all rooted in selfishness and no love for God.

We need to turn to Him and ask for clean hearts, ones that trust Him and seek Him and need Jesus as Lord and Savior, and Truth and love. We are deceived by the lie of the devil about what freedom is. Can you believe that so called intelligent people will argue that men can get pregnant. We have slipped into sin and God is just waiting for us to call on Jesus name. Don’t let His great gift sit there untouched because the love of self and flesh, take it and see how good it can be.

Romans 12:2 NLT
“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

Transformation is vital.

8/13/2024

Christ’s Church of Fountain Hills has a Monday group called PAL, Parents of Addicted Loved Ones. This program is set to help parents and loved ones that have a child for family members that struggle with addiction. There are many lessons that we get to go over once a week and give support and suggestions to help people through a tough time in their lives.

The man who created this, linked it with Biblical principles, prayer, and practical lesson which could help people get through and deal with one of the hardest things families can go through.

As a Pastor, I try and look at everything through His eyes and how in the Bible God has talked on most everything we could go through and how the free gift that He gave will still be difficult to understand. The narrow gate is shared in Matthew 7:13-14 “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. 14 But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.” Jesus shares in John something that is similar in Chapter 14:6 “Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”

Hopefully we get the picture, the amazing grace, which is Jesus coming, born of a virgin, teaching, dying, and being raised from the dead. That takes all of us who were created in their image in the beginning, to die to self and pick us our cross and live like Jesus. We are told to live like Jesus with every breathe and everything that we are.

Acts 17:28 “For in Him we live and move and exist.” And Paul shares in Philippians 1:21, “For to me, living means living for Christ and dying is even better.”

As we understand that we all need to change, and all of us have sinned and need Jesus, then we will be open to God transforming us into the new creations He desires.
Roman 12:2 says, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

How important is change? It is very important, because when we don’t let Him change us, we are saying that we know more and the world is what I want to follow. This next thing is from a PAL lesson and it fits perfect for what keep Christians lukewarm and headed to the broad road.
It’s a letter to our loved ones in addiction, but I believe it fits for the people on the fence about the truth about Jesus.

“Dear Loved One,
I’ve noticed your inability to make healthy changes in the way you’ve been living your life. I’ve learned that complaining about your willingness to change has not been helpful. Nor is it helpful to hope that someday you’ll “magically” change. Therefore, I commit to the following these changes that I, myself, will make.

I promise I will work to accept your resistance to change.

(When I accept that resistance to change (even positive change) as normal, it allows me to learn how to support you in overcoming your resistance to change. I believe that when you stop resisting change, you will make healthy changes in the way you live.)

I want to stop at this one because, that is why so many of us struggle, resistance to change with is not dying to self. We all need to let go of who we were and what we did, and devote ourselves to Jesus, fully. That resistance to change or the Transformation God wants will keep us in the same sinful cycle that Jesus died to free us from. Thus why the gate to eternal life is narrow and only way through is Jesus, and why we surrender all and start living new. Thank God, you have given us the way, the truth, and the life. Help me see repentance as the beginning of change and help me work out my salvation with fear and trembling. Amen

New Life, let it begin!

2/2/2024

2 Corinthians 5:17-18 states, “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to Himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to Him.”

We must understand this and realize that when we are Christians there is no acceptance of lifestyle that doesn’t line up with the Word of God. Being a Christian is saying you understand who God is and that He sent His one and only Son to be born, die and raise again for everyone who accepts this.

It’s not to want something and then say I feel I am this way for that, or that God made a mistake in how I was born. Do you see the problem with the thought of the progressive church movement? It goes against everything God has shown us in His Word. Now this is why you can believe in Jesus but not actually be a Christian. The demons believed in Him but had no desire to belong to Him. Paul shares, “…that anyone who belongs to Christ…” He died so we could die to our sin, not so we could push our sin and make people accept us. We accept Him because we needed Him.

We are new people, we let God transform us by not thinking the way of the world. Romans 12:2 say, “…don’t conform to the world…” why would you want a Lord and Savior and then not want to follow Him, He was the perfect spotless lamb of God. God in flesh who shows us how we could live for Him instead of ourselves. This verse says it was a gift from God, He gave us a way back to Him through Jesus Christ. Which means, our way will lead us to hell, whatever we desire that is contrary to His Word will be wrong. Even if we want it to be right.

Then we have a task to do, to share Jesus and His truth to the world. Share His truth to the world! It might be offensive to the world, that doesn’t matter because God gave us the gift and the task to share truth. That truth might feel hurtful to people who want to live for themselves, but God knows better than we do and we benefit when we let go and let God. Surrender and sacrifice will lead us to obedience which will move us to His will which is good and pleasing and perfect. Amen

Understanding Phobia

11/15/2023

We have managed to make up many things in our crazy world and we have done it lately with the term transphobia.
Here is what phobia means - Phobia is a type of anxiety disorder that involves an excessive, irrational, and persistent fear of a specific object, situation, or living creature 1. People with phobias experience intense distress and panic when they encounter or even think about their fear object 2. Phobias can interfere with a person’s daily life and normal functioning 1.

They want to say that anyone that does not accept the person that wants to be trans, is transphobic. Not true, they just have a different belief. I am a Christian trying my hardest to teach people truth and follow the teachings of Jesus, which is the definition of being Christian. I am not afraid of or hate or am I mad at any person and their choices, but I will share with them what I know is truth if they seek that. I will treat people the same way as I treat anyone.

They don’t have to believe what I believe, and I wouldn’t call them a Christianphobic. But I will also not vote for the things that promote mental illness, and things driven by selfishness. When you are born you have either male or female parts, in less than one percent there are people born with both and in that case, I believe you are which ever orans function in the way they are supposed to is the gender you are. Isn’t it strange that they want to say our genitals don’t define who we are but we want to surgery to make us the gender we want to be, doesn’t that show that they do? Again, no fear or anxiety just belief that a God that created everything in heaven and on earth can make that many mistakes is silly. If you don’t believe that God created everything, then it still doesn’t make sense that there are so many mistakes.

Our selfish desires and the hurt we gone through or a tragedy in life alter what we think and how we act sometimes, that is why we need a Lord and Savior who died, Not selfish, for all of us so we could have a chance. He shows us that we don’t do our own will, we follow Him and do God’s will, and God’s will is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:2.

When we start to celebrate all the stuff the people of this world want, we will keep burying reality for a lie and nothing will be able to be stopped. Rape will become ok because people need to do that. The murder of adults, not just babies, will be ok because that’s how they feel. Stealing will be ok because people want to and feel they deserve the same things as people that have more than them. Disrespect, lack of morals, no character, no integrity will not be acceptable, we will truly, like we have seen already, will do whatever it takes to get what we want. I desire, is a horrible statement which we are fighting to be our mantras, how dare we tell people their boys are boys, and their girls are girls. How dare we say that pregnancy is a medical condition. How dare we take moral values out to appease a small minority because we find it wrong to say no. a country without morals becomes led by terrorist, and terrorist are evil, always. It’s not the Palestinian people, it’s the Hamas which have run Gaza to hell. They purposely suppress and kill their own and then blame others. Then we have people that will protest for them because they don’t care about reality.

Again, why we need a Lord and Savior, without Him we are sheep who are lost and who are dumb. Sheep can’t make it on their own and we can’t either, so I will keep praying and I will keep believing that people will turn to God and accept Jesus. God Bless and Amen.

Being a Christian

8/16/2023

I love this: A Christian is someone who believes in Jesus, puts their faith in Him, knows Him and lives ‘in Christ’. It is also someone who *follows His example*. There is no greater example in human history than the example of Christ. Paul writes, ‘Follow *my* example, as *I follow the example of Christ*’ (1 Corinthians 11:1).

It’s not hard but we mess it up and make it hard because of ourselves. God said it was a narrow and difficult road because He knows we are driven by flesh. We make things harder than they should be because of our wants. If we just surrendered our will and said, here I am Lord use me, it would be easy. Look at the world right now: It wants diversity, equity, and inclusion but only the way It wants it. God sending His one and only Son to die is for every person that will ever live. That’s inclusive. And look what it says in 2 Peter 3:8-9 “But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A Day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed but wants everyone to repent.”

Then, diverse in Gods eyes looks like this. Colossians 3:11 NLT “In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.”

Then He considers us equal as the body of Christ. There is no one better than the other, we are all used and loved, He has no favorites. 1 Corinthians 12:18, 26-27 NLT “But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad. All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.”

See, it has nothing to do with what we want and how we feel, it is how God set us up perfectly to be right in His sight by following Jesus. In Christ we have eternal life, living trying to please ourselves we have separation for eternity. This country set the values on Christian morals and we knew if we deviated in that this country would be a mess. Welcome to our mess, we have opened the door to sin and the broad road to hell is wide open. Jesus is the way yet we want our flesh. God loves life and told us to be fruitful and multiply but we want to stop that by killing babies and telling people it’s ok to marry someone of the same sex. Life cannot continue like that, it’s outside of Gods design.

Then we want to push gender is whatever you want and that can have the same effect, no more life being born. The Creator of Heaven and Earth would not create us to go extinct. But in our selfishness, we are trying to get that done. God has given us free will and wants us all to benefit from His gift, but He will not make us. He is right there waiting for us to choose His Son and then He has given us the ability to work hard to stand against a fallen world that seeks everything but God. All this murder of babies is not new it’s just pushed as a medical condition. If we did what God set up, we would get rid of 99% of unwanted pregnancies. It wouldn’t be a condition anymore. If we believe God made them male and female, we wouldn’t have all this mental confusion which has led to us pushing a mental disorder as real life. We have no fear of our Creator that we want to change what He did in the womb because we think we are smarter.

We think equity is what needs to happen when that’s just not how God made it. Equality is what God wants, there will always be people that are better at things and it will lead to not having equity. The NBA is not equitable but we don’t care. The NFL is not equitable and we don’t care, why, because we want the best out there. Equality is making sure everyone has the same chance knowing some will just be better. Equity is giving something to someone who isn’t fit for that things and it hinders the outcome.

Selfish people want equity, God fearing people want equality. Thank you God for having no favorites and giving us all the tools needed for right living and eternal life. Help us to see that Jesus is the only way to make this country great.

He is Thrilling !

8/9/2023

Psalms 92:4 NLT
“You thrill me, Lord, with all you have done for me! I sing for joy because of what you have done.”

Can we get here and live with that awe of what He has done? I am excited that I get to serve the Lord and teach how He can make us grow. Transformation is real to me, and it can be for you if you let go of your desires to follow Him. I went from a fearful person who needed acceptance and needed people to like me to a person that only cared what God thinks. In my early days nothing meant anything but my happiness, I lived for my pleasure and didn’t care about God. I kicked the Christian clubs out of the gym when I was a teacher. Had them removed by the assistant principle and believed the lie of separation of church and state. To leading that same Christian group and sharing with student about the Bible. When you are thrilled with the Lord you will find ways to get things done for Him. I read my Bible at school and left it on my desk opened so when the students can in to talk, my Bible was there, and I shared when they asked me what I was doing. As long as they asked you could talk all day long and answer their questions. I couldn’t stop reading and sharing and God moved me out of teaching to be a pastor.

All I did was let that excitement help me live for Him and He has moved me to 4 different churches as adult Pastor, associate Pastor, executive Pastor, and now lead Pastor. All I desire is that people believe that Jesus is real and will make a difference when we surrender ourselves for Him. This takes us constantly needing Him. When we struggle, we keep seeking Him. It means that reading His word for transformation is key and praying is a must. We start to see that faith in Jesus is the only thing that can comfort us in this world and that He want us to be bold and courageous always, when it’s easy and tough. We need to remember He is truth and love. Truth that will set us free from ourselves, and love that will make us obedient to Him. Not a love that keeps us looking at ourselves. Remember to have this verse ready all the time, “you thrill me Lord, with all you have done for me…!” Amen

Christianity and the church

8/2/2023

As we see church attendance decline and the celebrating of sin rise, it makes for a lukewarm lifestyle that is no good for anyone. We are warned in God's word that it will get worse, and the believers should stay strong and not deviate from God's grace which is Jesus Christ our Lord.

2 Timothy 3:12-15 says, "Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. 13 But evil people and impostors will flourish. They will deceive others and will themselves be deceived. 14 But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught. You know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you. 15 You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus."

This warning to Timothy is what we need to remember as this world continues to fight for self-truth, it is His truth that will need to be lived and shared by believers. It's time to not just say we're Christians, it's time to actually be Christians.

The church should push through and stay true to the truth God set forth, in Christ we are saved, in the world we are dead in our sins.

In Christ means we desire His truth, and we seek that reality. In the world means we ok our way of living that contradicts what God says. It's hard to die to self and the churches are feeling the pressures and changing what God says to keep people happy. That is dangerous and what keeps this false narrative going.

2 Timothy 4:3-4 says, "For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will reject the truth and the chase after myths."

We are warned because it is happening, and churches are more excited to make people feel good than to challenge them to step up to God's standard. The latest Barna study has 28% of people 39-57 attending church in 2023. Before the pandemic it was 41% and in 1999 it was over 70%. What changed? there was the push to close churches and the over celebration of sin and the government's desire to get votes.

In 2022 and 2023 we have pushed the LGBTQ community and we try and make it the norm, and we have major companies pushing this illness as something that needs to be accepted. Churches fell into this trap and some denominations disregard the Bible for their belief of inclusion which is biblical exclusion from heaven.

The free will was given by God and this country is free to believe anything they want. Which will make it get worse like the bible shares. But just as a person believes their truth is truth and we should call them by their pronouns, Christian's should be able to share their beliefs without the backlash that we get. The world wants it their way but no one that disagrees can have their belief.

I love God and people, but I love God more and believe Jesus came to show us the way to eternal life, and that is only through Him. Why when Christians share that viewpoint, they are called names and cancelled? I believe the entire bible shares what is wrong and what to do right. It doesn't care about our feelings it cares about our eternal destination. We see in Leviticus what not to do in chapter 18 and it is clear when we start to do these things, we desire instead of what God shows us we struggle.

We get the same warnings to the churches in the New Testament because it is a great big personal struggle that keeps us lost. The fact that we keep pushing it more as a country shows why we see church attendance declining as it is. Romans 1:24-34 talks about what happens when we live sexually immorally. So does Galatians 5:19-21, Ephesians 5:3-8, Colossians 3:4-5, 1 Corinthians 6:18, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, 1 Timothy 1:10-11.
These are all books inspired by God and for our good. Jesus is the Word who became flesh, so if it's in the bible Jesus mentioned it. Unbelievers need to be reached but lukewarm Christians are the biggest problem with the numbers declining and I pray that we stand true and push forward in His truth and stop all this sin celebrating. God Bless and God be the glory. Amen

Church

7/5/2023

The Church:

Acts of the Apostles 16:5 NLT
“So the churches were strengthened in their faith and grew larger every day.”

This is because they taught truth and people wanted to hear it.

We have an obligation as Pastors to not only train and equip people to do the works of ministry, but we need to strengthen them as well. We strengthen them by teaching the truth and how we can keep growing to know Him more and more. We aren’t called to teach only the fluff that makes people comfortable and lacking in the salt needed to make change. We teach them the things that will strengthen them in this crazy world which we are temporary residents of.

Acts of the Apostles 18:23 NLT
“After spending some time in Antioch, Paul went back through Galatia and Phrygia, visiting and strengthening all the believers.”

They strengthened because we all need to grow. As soon as we are comfortable the devil has an opening and he will attack. Truth does not change, so we learn the truth so we can say no when the world tries to change what God set up for good. We are in a time that the church needs to say NO! The world needs God for sure, but we have an obligation to our home first.

Acts of the Apostles 1:8 NLT
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.””

We start in our Jerusalem (America) then we spread out to everywhere else. This is where the pastors step up and teach the hard parts that make us struggle in our flesh.

Like Paul, John, James, and Peter, they teach and strengthen so the churches know the truth, because the truth is the only thing that will set us free.

Romans 1:23-32 NLT
“And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles. So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved. Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.”

1 Corinthians 6:12-14 NLT
“You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. And even though “I am allowed to do anything,” I must not become a slave to anything. You say, “Food was made for the stomach, and the stomach for food.” (This is true, though someday God will do away with both of them.) But you can’t say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies. And God will raise us from the dead by his power, just as he raised our Lord from the dead.”

Galatians 6:14-15 NLT
“As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world’s interest in me has also died. It doesn’t matter whether we have been circumcised or not. What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation.”

As we keep growing and being strengthened we see the transformation as new and we embrace it.

1 John 2:15-16 NLT
“Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.”

The world is a dangerous trap and as soon as we desire our flesh we get lost in it and we struggle to see truth and we live and fight for our feelings. When that happens we start to think the morals we set this Country on are wrong and we add our own desires. It leads to insanity and people fight for that insanity to where nothing can be insane anymore.

1 Peter 1:13-16 NLT
“So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.””

When we seek we will find and when we find we will say no to the world and stand up against this craziness of gender dysphoria, same sex attraction and killing babies in the womb.

We teach on it to strengthen people and we unify so no yeast gets in to cause destruction.

There is much more so we keep training and learning how to be all we can be. The church cannot just teach topics of comfort and convenience, but of conviction and power. We must remember, it’s not how big our church is on earth, it’s how many get to heaven through the narrow gate. If you don’t hear the Gospel and the truth at church, get to a church that cares about your eternity not just your money.

His Standards

7/3/2023

Acts of the Apostles 20:28-30 NLT
““So guard yourselves and God’s people. Feed and shepherd God’s flock—his church, purchased with his own blood—over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as leaders. I know that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock. Even some men from your own group will rise up and distort the truth in order to draw a following.”

We are aware and ready because we read Gods word seeking to apply it to our lives. It’s never about getting people to church if we lower the standard of what God has done. God set it up perfectly and we share the truth with love, but we still share it. The truth will show us our sin, and we all fall short and have something. We need to die to self and that sin and remember what Jesus did. Our sin can never be okayed, it must be let go and we must repent. Anything that we think is more important than what God has shown us is sin. Our selfish desires are sin, let go and let God. Amen

pure and genuine

6/22/2023

James 1:27 NLT
“Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.”

When we understand who God is and what Jesus did for us we can understand what this verse means. Taking care of the ones that need it most, and not letting the world corrupt us.

Changing marriage to fit the worlds pleasure is corruption. Pushing that there are more than two genders and telling kids God made a mistake in how He made you is corruption. Trying to make abortion a medical condition is corruption. James finishes with telling us we must refuse this worldly nonsense and work on being like Jesus who would have loved them by talking with them about truth and the behavior they needed to stop doing.

Love is not acceptance it’s caring enough to share the behaviors that will hurt them. Sin separates us from God, Jesus came to show us what sin is and that it leads to death. Then He died and rose again to cover our sin so we know the perfect and only way to the Father. Thank you Jesus! Don’t let the world corrupt you, take care of orphans and widows. Amen