Living Above the Sun Ministries

" 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...

"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...

Last night some friends and I went to the Rock and Worship concert at Bojangles Arena here in Charlotte. We were mainly there for our favorite band, "Disciple." (www.disciplerocks.com) It was totally worth $10.00 to see them perform their song,"Rise Up" they killed it! They did a few more too. The song is about Christians rising up together, and it totally rocks. There were some other bands there as well that I liked, Jars of Clay, Mercy Me, Hawk Nelson, just to name a few. Mercy Me did a good show too. It was very powerful at the end. The lead singer for Mercy Me spoke straight to our hearts and challenged us to stand out from the World, to be the change because the world isn't changing much. Just as we were singing with Disciple, "Rise Up" lets rise up as Christians and give the world Jesus, a change not even Obama can give you! I vote for that kind of change! I vote for Jesus. It was also during his talk that I was reminded that I am a...

Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. Psalm 103:1-2 Today in my Sunday School class at my church I became very convicted by the truth that I don't nearly give God the praise He rightly deserves. As a friend prayed this morning we just merely "try to make it." But we were not created to just "make it," the scriptures say we are more than conquerors! We have so much to be thankful for. In the last few minutes of class we just sat still in the presence of God, at His throne worshiping, and verbally expressing our thankfulness to Him. In the service later on the story of the 10 lepers came to mind. Luke 17:11-19 New Living Translation (NLT) Ten Healed of Leprosy: 11 As Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem, he reached the border between Galilee and Samaria. 12 As he entered a village there, ten lepers stood at a distance, ...

Yesterday afternoon I watched an episode of Spongebob Squarepants, most of the time the show wears me out it's so dumb and annoying, but this particular interest caught my attention because it lined up so well with the way a Christian is deceived, but also how we should act. The character of Plankton was trying to teach Spongebob how to be assertive, he tries to manipulate SpongeBob into becoming aggressive and mean in order to get more out of life. SpongeBob discovers that just because people obey you they don’t necessarily respect you. Besides, it’s just more fun to be nice to people and have them like you. Watch this clip. http://spongebob.nick.com/videos/clip/walking-small-clip.html In this clip Plankton is like Satan, he tempts us with good things to get our attention and get us interested. As Plankton is trying to teach Spongebob how to be assertive and get his way and the things he wants, Spongebob takes everything Plankton says the wrong way and ends up being nice to ...

"Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead- and Christ will give you light." Ephesians 5:14 After reading a devotional that I get daily on my e-mail I read this comment from a fellow reader who was touched by the devotional. It was about finding no condemnation in ourselves because we belong to Jesus. “Can’t express what this means to me today. I haven’t spent “be still” time with God for so long now; it used to be something I did every morning after waking up. Nowadays Facebook has taken the place of my time with Him. Today I felt Him asking gently, “Don’t get on Facebook, not yet.” So I sat propped up against my pillows & talked to Him from my heart about where my life is & how I thought I’d missed His leading in my life. I’ve made choices that I’m not proud of & I have weighed myself down with guilt & shame, but through it all I know He’s never left me. I felt lighter in spirit as I got up to get ready for work. A few minutes later, I heard the Word in ...

When we accept Jesus as our personal Savior, we are instantly called into ministry. We read in Acts 1:8 "But when the Holy Spirit (what we receive when we are saved) has come upon you, YOU will receive POWER and will tell people about me everywhere." I recently heard a pastor put it this way, "Missions is that which we are. It's not an option." So we know that we are to share Jesus at all times, but how to we determine our exact calling and our exact ministry. We will quickly learn that Jesus wasn't joking with his disciples when He said leave everything you own and follow me. We have to at times exchange our comfort to be a blessing. It is part of the humbling experience. H umble your heart before the Lord. He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them His way. ~ Psalm 25:9 Humility is an absolute necessity for a teachable, moldable heart. To discover our calling, we must be willing to set our agendas aside and surrender to God's. W...

Last Friday as I was visiting my Grandmama in Kingsport, TN, I got up and got the paper from the porch. I did not know that the Kingsport Times News would contain such an article that would leave me sleepless as tonight, and somewhat of a haunting thought that the future of our churches are diminishing. What a shame! Here are some quick facts I'd like to share with you that I read in this article which by the way this is from a Methodist standpoint, an article based on Methodist church interview: -In the next five to ten years, 1/3 of all churches across all denominations will close. -In the last 10 years in the United Methodist Kingsport district, membership, and numbers of professions of faith and attendance all have declined and 8 United Methodist churches have closed. -Statistics say that 74% of people in Sullivan Co. don't attend church on Sunday morning. The population of Kingsport according to a 2010 census was 156,823. Stunning. Heartbreaking. The article...

I do my best thinking in the shower, I do not know why but I have come to decide I'm hanging a white board above the shower so when Jesus starts talking to me and revealing things to me I can start writing! I have so much I want to share! I am also excited to be blogging from my new house in my new living room in the perfect spot, my little thoughtful corner... This semester, more than ever at my school, I have been stepping out boldly in my faith proclaiming that Jesus is the way. This is so important to understand, and I hope what I am about to lay out here will make sense to you. These are wonderful insightful things to think about I feel. Also know that whatever I say, I say with experience; the whole been there done that, learned now I'm teaching you. ;) When we step out in faith God blesses us, and gives us honor. My sister and I were talking about this. This is what she said, "Each time you step out in faith you grow spiritually. Your character grows, your p...

One of things that we notice most about Jesus' ministry here on Earth is that He met people where they were. He did not expect people to come to Him for help, they didn't know they needed Him. Jesus came to their level and met them in where they were. This morning, I trained for my new Volunteer job at Elevation as a Greeter. In the time's I have visited Elevation, the whole experience has been incredible from the parking lot to the service. One of the things they tell us is you are preaching a sermon in the parking lot, people start to form their opinions from the moment they pull in the parking lot. It has meant so much in the times that people have come to greet me where I was and say it's so good to see you today, I'm glad you came to church! We as greeters are encouraged to speak words of blessing over people. We all need words of life spoken over us, our weeks are filled with enough people putting us down and slandering us. The last place people need...

"Stand up, Stand up for Jesus ye soldiers of the cross. Lift high his royal banner, ye shall not suffer loss. From Victory unto Victory His army shall he lead, till every foe is vanquished and Christ is Lord indeed." I wrote a song called "The Stand" 7 days after a traumatic circumstance occurred in my life February 13, 2007. The day this song was in composing mode, I remember being at the alter all day in hopes to understand and talk to God about the whole circumstance, and hear from Him. I wondered if anyone cared and would walk with me through this pain and hurt. We tend to need people in our lives to help us walk these deep valleys. But, there are times when it's just going to have to be you and God doing the nasty stuff in life, the things that can't be talked about. There are times when people just can't feel what you feel. The first 2 verses of this song are the questioning and crying out to God. Almost like a Job moment. Can anyone see t...