Throughout my life as a Christian I have encountered many different reactions to my walk faith in Christ. Some have been very pleasant and some not so much. One thing I have realized is my faith has propelled me to experience the supreme truth of 2 Timothy 3:12, “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” Honestly, when I became a believer I was not really prepared for the things awaiting me when I made it my aim to be obedient in sharing my faith. But there I was and there they were—my Jerusalem—the lost souls of those the Lord placed in my path.

Becoming a Believer:
After kneeling before God in prayer outside of my place of employment, God made Himself known to me in a very meaningful way. I have to admit that I had come to a point of brokenness before God. The previous two weeks had found me in a fallen and severely depressed state–despairing even of life. By age nineteen I saw my life going downhill with no clear hope to end the spiral.

That evening, in humility, I prayed, “Lord, if you are real, please come into my life and change me. I know I have not been a good person and have sinned against You. Right now I feel my life is meaningless and going nowhere. But now I realize I need Your help. I know I cannot change myself…I have tried. Lord, if you will change me and bring peace into my life I promise I will live for you. Please forgive me of my sin. I turn my life over to You.” That was all I prayed, but it was all that was needed. I wasn’t stricken blind like the Apostle Paul on the Damascus road, but Jesus touched me unlike anything I had ever known and I knew then He was real. Because of this encounter with God, the next ninety days found me wearing the cover off a couple of New testaments as I read through the Bible three or four times……READ MORE HERE

WRITTEN BY PASTOR/AUTHOR MIKE HENDERSON

“This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:8-9
THE SITUATION: 

Every Sunday morning as I drive by the lake on the way to church, even in the winter, there are always guys out on their boats fishing for fish they can’t eat (because of mercury in the water), and most often, so small they have to throw it back into the water anyway. If there ever was a pointless exercise, this is it.
From Spring to Fall, the brand new sports complex, with its six baseball/soccer fields, are packed with children and their minivan-driving parents playing the town version of little league baseball, or some community soccer thing. Sunday mornings are their favorite time to be overflowing with humanity. Afterwards, they may go through the Steak and Shake drive-thru for burgers and shakes and head home to relax for the next week’s activities. 
Golf courses are full on Sunday mornings. The over-priced Starbucks and others like it are packed with brunch-eaters and their electronics. The upscale set visit their favorite brunch or lunch place at the Crowne Plaza or the local Eatery or Bistro. Some just sleep in from the Saturday night hangover, or the late night movie watching so they can watch sports all day, cuss at the TV and eat nachos. This is Western “Civilization”. There is the alternate universe- people who are saying for all the world to hear, that their islam is NOT “the religion of peace”, are systematically wiping out God’s Elect – Christians – across the Middle East and Africa, Asia and Southeast Asia. This is happening in full brutal color while the turban-clad sad excuses for humans persecute the “people of the Cross”, thinking they are getting back at the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
CLICK HERE FOR THE REST OF THIS MESSAGE ON HOPE