Living Above the Sun Ministries

"In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes." -Judges 17:6 One of the problems the children of Israel had was going back and forth from monotheism(belief in one God) to polytheism(belief in more than one god). Though the God of Israel was with them and met with them, and provided, and directed, and loved His children, they still rebelled. It's easy for us to read this today and think how stupid were these people?! We can clearly see God among His people, lavishing them with love, yet, for some reason they would sacrifice to other gods, and worship idols, and forget about the God who brought them out of bondage and slavery. But, I ask you, are we any different? Selah. Was the children of Israel's problem a faith problem? Or was it more of an obedience problem? It was both. It's not that they didn't believe in God, but they didn't want to obey. I heard this analogy given recently. Imagine your

"A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people. 25 Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth. 26 Then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil’s trap. For they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants." -2 Timothy 2:24-26 Every Tuesday night I serve in my churches Addiction Ministry. Many people get squimmish and shocked when I mention the word addiction and ministry all in one sentence. I can only imagine what mental image they have in their mind. Some people joke, and say things like, are you going to see the addicted people tonight? Some other people question why I serve in this particular ministry, what do I have in common with these people? God has taught me a lot through this ministry, and even more He has lead me to some wonderful friends. He is growing me in this ministry. Go

"Peter said to Him [Jesus], “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” 29 And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and *said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?" -Matthew 14:28-31 Last night as I was emailing a friend of mine, my thoughts came together, and I quickly realized I have a Peter problem. I was telling her some of the things the Lord has revealed to me the past few days. I am ADD so I do 100 things at one time, because I can't focus long enough to do 1 thing and take it all in, then on to the next. Hard to explain. When I write I'm on several other sites, and doing other things and my posts eventually get done. It's ridiculous really. I've always liked the disciple Peter, because I can id

" Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. Soldiers don’t get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them. " -2 Timothy 2:3-4 In the last post we discussed how suffering is the mark of a true disciple. In this post we will look at how being a soldier is another mark. This is how the Holy Spirit describes us: "He is not his own. His time belongs to his Master, so does his body. He goes where he is told, he eats what he is given, he wears what is supplied. He has no will of his own, but is an implicit servant of the military forces. He studies the ways of the enemy, he finds means of defense from the enemy, and of offense toward the enemy. This should be true of every believer." Before we can go to war, there are a few questions we must ask ourselves. We can't go into war unprepared, we must know what is required of us. 1. Are you spiritually fit? " Do not waste tim

"For indeed when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction; and so it came to pass, as you know." -1 Thessalonians 3:4 The true mark of a disciple of Christ is suffering, it's apart of our job description given to us in scripture. It's really not preached much anymore in the pulpits across America because the pastors of our day have fallen in the mindset of wanting everyone to like them, so they preach messages that will draw crowds and make people want to join "their" church. This is not what discipleship is, nor is it the way of the disciple. When Jesus our teacher; Rabbi, calls us, He does so with the intention of us becoming like Him. John 15:16 says, " You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. " Jesus' last moments with His disciples b

"And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid." -Mark 16:8 Last night I went to a lecture given by one of the worlds most renowned Greek scholars, Dr. Daniel Wallace. His topic last night was, "Monks, Muslims, and Manuscripts: The Story of Sinai. One of the interesting things he discussed in relation to Tischendorf, the modern day, Indiana Jones, and his founding of the "Codex Sinaiticus." In the earliest found manuscripts of the gospel of Mark, verses 9-20 are not included. Scholars are now debating where 9-20 came from, and explain that Mark intended to end his book with the women leaving the tomb in the manner they did to pose a question to the audience reading. It's an open ended conclusion asking, "What are you the reader going to do with Jesus? Will you share Jesus, or will you keep Him to yourself in fear and doubt?" He further went