"The Excitement of March Madness"-

It's that time of year again!!! It's March Madness time as the NCAA tournament has already begun as of today!!!...This is the favorite time of year for so many people across the country...waiting with anticipation to see what's going to happen with their favorite college basketball teams to see if they will end up victorious in unarguably the biggest basketball tournament of the year without a doubt. You should see it...people go crazy as each team assembles together in their respective regions to compete with each other toward the goal of a National Championship in arguably one of the most popular sporting events ever, it generates such a crazy buzz all across the country.

Here's Why:
1. There's a chance our favorite team will win it all
2. We always like to see what happens when you assemble the best 65 teams.
3. There's always a chance at a "Cinderella" story of one of the underdog teams from an inferior conference knocking off the larger school teams that are supposed to be dominant.
Finally #4

There will always be the suspense of the competition as you unite for a few weeks with fellow fans of your favorite team and it never matters where they are from, what they look like, what they do for a living, or what their favorite color is, during the NCAA Tournament, WE'RE ALL IN IT TOGETHER!!!!

Sound familiar at all? Isn't that what the body of Christ is supposed to be about? Gathering together for one purpose...WORSHIP OF OUR SAVIOR JESUS!!!! We're supposed to be all together gathered together with our goal of living for Christ in mind and the hope that we will come away victorious in Christ?

Guess What? WE ALREADY HAVE THE VICTORY SO WHY NOT CELEBRATE?

Have you ever thought about that? We already have the victory over sin and death all accomplished by Jesus Christ's sacrifice of Himself on the cross for those who it doesn't matter what they look like, where they are from, what they do for a living, or what their favorite color is, if we're in Christ, WE'RE ALL IN IT TOGETHER, LET'S CELEBRATE!!!-GRACE AND PEACE

"Life Was Never the Same"-John 3:1-3

Have you ever thought about Nicodemus? If not, go read John 3:1-3, and then come back and read this again...ha ha jk.

But think about that for a second, It says that "there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus,"...understand one thing for a second, this man was well educated, well-versed in the Old Testament Law, well-respected among all the other Pharisees and here he was coming to Jesus (who the other Pharisees grew to hate) because he was curious...He recognizes that Jesus was from God and that all the miraculous signs that Jesus had performed were real...which that in and of itself was huge for a guy like this to recognize.

Well it then says that Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." HUH? WHAT? UM...SURE...WHAT IN THE HECK DID HE MEAN BY THAT?

Here Nicodemus was talking to the Son of God who just told him that he had to be born again to enter heaven...was there some underlying meaning to that phrase, was there some truth out there that he didn't know and how could he NOT know it, he was so educated.

The reality is...Nicodemus' life was never the same after that...he had so many questions about that very 18-word phrase...yet he was never to be the same again after that, he had encountered the very person of Jesus and he was changed ETERNALLY, forever, for all time, or however you want to put it, he was never the same again ever!!! My question for you guys.....are you still the same? are you born again?...do you still remember the shock and awe of that?...just a thought to ponder.....Grace and Peace.

"Crucified with Christ..."-Galatians 2:20

"For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me."-Galatians 2:20


Have you ever wondered what the Apostle meant here when he said, "I have been crucified with Christ...?" This is such a great verse in that it has so many messages behind it...One, it says that we who know Christ have been crucified with Him, which means that we identify ourselves with His crucifixion, we identify ourselves with His suffering and shame and we know that it was all for our sake that He did it. It was all on our behalf that Christ was willing to lay His own life down so that we would know not only how much He truly loves us but also that we would know eternal life to come one day. It's awesome to know that Jesus Christ laid down His life for us and was willing to be the sacrifice on our behalf.

Paul then goes on to say... "and I no longer live but Christ lives in me,"...HOW AMAZING...Christ in us, the Hope of Glory, it truly means that Christ is in us in every sense of the word, He dwells within us by His Holy Spirit and it's no longer about us anymore...our life is no longer identified as being "ours" it is now ALL "HIS"

Just want to encourage you guys that this verse speaks volumes to the love that Christ has for us...don't take that for granted-Grace and Peace.

"Do We Crave Him?"

Hey Guys!!! We are back from Mission Arlington and I'll tell you what...WHAT A CRAZY WEEK!!!

We had an absolutely life-changing time this past week at Mission Arlington and we were so blessed to be a part of this past week, seeing lives changed in the name of Christ...Sharing the Gospel of Christ...and not to mention just having the opportunity to spend some time with children that are craving relationships with anyone.

Guys, it leads me to challenge all of us that call ourselves Christians to something...do we crave God like these children crave love? It was heart-breaking to see these children simply wanting some attention from us...they would've done anything they could just to get some time with us and you should've seen their faces light up when we were there...it was awesome!!! But, the question remains...do we crave God the same way? Do we long for Him to be here with us...do we wait with anticipation for the time we get to spend with Him? Do we take advantage of every opportunity to spend as much time with Him as possible while He's with us? I would like to say that I do all these things...the truth though is that I'm the guiltiest of them all when it comes to becoming lazy with my walk with Him...I'm lazy when it comes to spending time with Him and I am nowhere near where I need to be with craving to know Him...How About You? Just a question to ponder...love you guys...Grace and peace.