ponderUpon...

cops.usdoj.gov Hello my dear friends. This past weekend I was able to witness a convicting film titled  8 Days   which deals with the very real, present situation of human trafficking in the United States. For those of you who don't know, human trafficking is sexual slavery concerning both sexes. Everyone probably below the age of 24 is a target. No matter race, class, background, etc. anyone in that young age range is a target and this is not just an expanding but a booming business.

Lately I've been waking up, thinking, what if today I just exceed who I've been and be the person God wants me to be. Yes, I desire to live for God everyday, but there are areas where I am severely lacking. The areas where I fall short may be different than the areas where you fall short. But I'm afraid the trap we can fall into is becoming blind to these areas. We have a tendency to put ourselves first without realizing it. We may be great people, but we may only be great people in certain parts of our daily life. Think about it.

Carlito's Way is a 1993 crime-drama directed by Brian De Palma and stars Al Pacino as the titular character. It has been a number of years since I have seen the film, but from what I remember the plot is as follows: Carlito has recently been released from jail and swears not to fall back into his old criminal ways. He begins to run a night club with some old connections who promise the business will stay legit. Eventually, this proves to be detrimental for Carlito with his path to going clean. Ultimately, (without giving away any spoilers of course) Carlito is lured back into his old habits.

I am sure by now everyone who has taken the time to look into it has read what those with a prominent voice are saying about the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church shooting in South Carolina. The three main topics being pulled out of this situation are gun-control, racism, and domestic terrorism. These three topics are deferment for accepting responsibility. However the country is led those are the ways it will go. I have not heard this country being led in the ways of love, not by our prominent leaders anyway. The truth only resides in love and love only resides in the truth. Sadly, this country, I believe, has lost sight of the truth. "I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life..." were the words Jesus gave to his disciples so they may go out through the world sharing this core belief. If we do not believe this then all is lost. If we cannot look at our situations with the eyes of Christ, we cannot understand where the truth lies and instead we will substitute

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, and the beginning of Lent. With this article I want to introduce to you a few concepts to keep in mind throughout this season of Lent. First, I want to say that we keep in mind that Lent is not a game. I am sorry if that is offensive; I do not mean to insult anyone's intelligence, but what has come to my mind this past week is the potential for people to get caught up in what they are giving up instead of why they are giving something up. It is important to remember that we, as followers of Christ, should be living in a constant state of Lent. This period of time is set aside for deeper denial and reflection we normally don't enact in our life. God calls each of us to different levels of denial so it is pointless to compare what people give up. This brings me to my second point of this paragraph. Lent is not about what we are giving up, so much as it is about why are we giving something up. When Christ journeyed into the desert he didn't say to hi

This week I want to share with you a short verse along with a short piece of advice. One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me". I believe this is one of the most powerful verses in the New Testament. It clearly defines our nature as Christians along with how we should live from being born again. Ultimately, the concept of Christianity comes down to love. Christ, the Son of God, literally gave his life so that we may live holy lives just as he did. So we should not consider our bodies, words, actions, etc. as our own, but we should be submissive in love to our Father who is embodied through Jesus Christ. This week I want you to ponder this scripture and see what God shows you. Lately we've been talking about temptation and how to understand it. Galatians 2

Recently I've been writing on the necessity of temptation and how we should view it in our individual lives. Temptation is a daily, mind you, daily occurrence that every human being goes through. Before I get to the meat of this article I want to remind everyone that throughout your day temptation will surely come. At times our temptation will be great while other times our temptation may seem less significant, and finally we will have moments where we are not tempted (in the fashion we've been speaking of i.e. to draw away from God and do our own will). Nevertheless we must always through the power of Christ persevere. Does perseverance always pertain to temptation? I believe through the writing of this article I'm coming to the conclusion that yes perseverance always pertains to temptation. Let me explain why. Temptation is anything that causes your attention and desire to serve God to be diverted to your own will. It seems to me most people think of temptation in the