Cast your nets in the deep!

1And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,

2And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.

3And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.

4Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.

5And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.

6And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.

7And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.

Luke5:1-7 KJV

I noticed today that there was a larger than usual congregation in church,but given the current state of current events, it doesn't surprise me. I recall that around 1980 there was an increase in church attendance too, and during that time there was also problems with the economy, and this weeks grim news along with increases in unemployment arecausing people to look where they don't usually go looking. Prayerfully, they will find something and come back for more.

The above scripture was the text for this morning's message. Our pastor, Jeff Ball, urged everyone to follow the Lord's command and cast our nets in the deep. No matter what the need is, the Lord will supply.

Simon Peter had his doubts. He had been fishing all night and caught nothing. Surely human logic told him that there wouldn't be any fish out there. But it wasn't just any one who told him this. This man was just preaching the truth,as he had never heard it proclaimed before. This man was from God.

Peter then took the boat into the deep and cast his net. He then caught s much fish, he had to call another boat to help bring them in.

Jesus wants to do the same for us. If we are behind in our bills, He wants us to cast our nets. He is willing to supply all our need. He will supply these where we wouldn't expect. All He wants is for us to hear and obey His Word. The same goes for other needs we have.

Don't put your faith in politics. Put it in the Son of God.

Imitate Christ

Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. Ephesians 5:1 NKJV
One of the features at Promise Keepers on Friday night was comedian John Morgan, who did a dead on impression of President George W. Bush. He gave a humorous performance, saying things like, "the republicans are represented by the elephant, the Democrats by the donkey, or as my friends south of the border call then 'burritos."

As a Christian, John Morgan wondered how he could honor God while going around doing impressions of George W. Bush, and the Lord impressed upon his heart that this is a gift that He has given to John Morgan. John also challenged all of us to use our gifts to glorify God.

Most important "convention" of the past week....

In the past 2 weeks we saw the Democrats and Republicans have their conventions to nominate their choices for president. People everywhere are full of hope because they could effect change at the top therefore making Americans lives better.

Not gonna happen.

This past weekend, my son and I went to the Wolstein Center in Cleveland to participate in the Promise Keepers conference. We were with thousands of men, there because we all disire to be better husbands, sons, and men. We know that the way to do that is to put trust in our Lord Jesus Christ. We heard from 6 excellent speakers, ways to draw closer to God, ways to avoid temptation. We saw the power of God by praising Him led by Steven Newby. We laughed at comedian John Morgan, who did a dead on impression of George W. Bush. We also were treated to the comedy of Cleto Rodriguez.

I took pages of notes and in the coming days I will try to write about my experience on this blog.

I say this is most important because we have to get our men together, make us men again. Bring us to our knees. Bring us to the realization that it will not be a political party that will "fix" America. It will be the power of the Lord that "fixes" this country.