PTL Wednesdays

Today is the most incredible day of your life! Pick any special day you’ve had and it doesn’t compare to today. Wedding day? Nope.  Graduation? Not even close. You could have eaten the best meal of your life while dining with your biggest idol who liked you so much they decided to give you a million dollars…and that day couldn’t compete with today. What amazing thing happened today that blows everything else you’ve experienced so far in your life away? You woke up. Congrats...You opened your eyes and took your place among the living.  Obviously you’ve experienced waking up before but not on April 24, 2024. Over 150 thousand people who saw yesterday didn’t get to see today. That’s an astonishing number. The world’s largest stadium can’t seat that many and I’ve checked. So what are your plans for this incredibly awesome special day? Hopefully, in everything you do today it will be to the glory of the one responsible for every breath you take. God should be first in our lives so ...

  We've all had times when someone surprises us by revealing something about themselves. I almost fell out of my chair when my cousin told me that he doesn't like chicken. I know it's a stereotype but what Black person doesn't eat chicken? It seems everyone has a surprise or two but there's one thing no one should ever be surprised to learn about you— that you're a Christian.  As a Christian, you're suppose to "set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth" (Col 3:2 ESV). That means your life should be dedicated to doing God's will and not your own. You may think you're following Christ but does your lifestyle reflect it? Are you sitting in church Sunday mornings but have strippers sitting on your lap Saturday nights? Perhaps your thing is gossiping or do you have a bad temper? Some of us curse better than a sailor and it doesn't take much before we "set it off." Of course all of us commit sins but i...

  A few weeks ago I was nervously sitting in the optometrist chair as the nurse asked me to read the chart. The row of letters might as well have been written in Chinese because I couldn’t read any of them. She went to a larger row of letters but it still looked foreign to me. Finally, the nurse pulled that little pin-hole wheel over my eye and ta-da. The letters were in English again! I could see them all so clearly. Did you know you can get the same kind of clarity about your life as the pin-hole wheel gave me during my exam? All it takes is for you to look at life through your spiritual lenses. Your spiritual lenses refer to how you view the world as a child of God. God is a spirit and we need to look at everything the way God does– spiritually. “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.”‭‭(Rom 12‬:‭2‬ ‭NLT‬)....

Have you ever asked yourself where does sin come from? If you haven't, you should because the answer impacts every aspect of your life, especially the end of it. The origin of sin really is a head scratcher. How can sin exist if God, who cannot sin (James  1:13 ), created a perfect world free of sin? The answer most people think of is the story of Adam and Eve. Although the Devil enticed Eve to sin, the origin of sin goes back even farther. Don’t get me wrong, Lucifer is the first to sin and he’s currently doing his best to keep us separated from God but he isn’t the author of sin. The answer is something we exercise everyday– free will.  God gave both the angels and humans free will. Why? Because God is the embodiment of love and you can’t have love without choice. Imagine if your boy/girlfriend admitted they were being paid to date you. Any thoughts of that person genuinely loving you would instantly fade. Choice is essential for love. Guys don’t demand, they ask for a lady’...

Every good Christian knows where to turn when they’re in trouble. We go to God for help and if you're like me, you want God to fix the problem right away. When my car payment is going to hit my account before my paycheck, I want God to fix it. When people mistreat me, I want God to fix them. When I'm sick I want God to fix me. No one likes to deal with stressful situations and waiting on God to do His thing often seems like it’s taking way too long. I’m sure you’ve discovered by now that God's timeline is not the same as ours but why? We work hard, we go to church and we help people in need so what’s the hold up with God helping us? The answer can be found in the three H's. God desire is for is us to be  holy ,  humble , and  hopeful .  God wants us to live holy  because God is holy (1Peter1:15,16). That doesn't mean you’ll be perfect but it does mean you should strive to live as Christ-like as you can. Studying the Bible builds our relationship with God which i...

  “Move over! You’re blocking the tv!” Your best friend exclaims. Just as you begin to back away from the screen you hear those life changing words, “And the final number is seven.” The announcer’s voice echoes through your mind as you frantically scan the ticket to make sure all the numbers are really there. Yep, the numbers do indeed match and you break out into your happy dance. The realization of knowing America’s newest multimillionaire hits everyone and a small gathering turns into a wild celebration. In the time it takes to snap your fingers you go from dodging bill collectors to collecting checks.   Everyone wishes for that kind of scenario which is why millions of people waist their hard earned money on lottery tickets. But what if I told you there’s something far more valuable than money or gold and the best part is you only have to ask for it. If it sounds too good to be true, just open your Bible to Proverbs. “Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who ge...

Only 2 out of 10 people answer this question correctly so let’s see if you’re in the genius category. Ready? What connects, takes a long time to build but can collapses in seconds? Before you answer here’s a hint: It’s built to withstand heavy loads. Okay, what’s your answer? If you guessed “a bridge,” you’re not a genius but that’s good news because now you won’t have to be right all the time. If you answered “relationships,” you’re hence forth and forever burdened with being brilliant. Yep, relationships take a long time to build, can carry the weight of helping someone but are so fragile they can be destroyed in the blink of an eye.   We all know the importance of our relationship with God as He’s the foundation from which all good things are built. Our relationship with God is so vital to our identity that our closeness to Him is shown in our relationships with everyone else. When your union with God is strong you’re a more compassionate, loving and forgiving person. Which make...