It’s a family affair! Remember that song by Sly and the Family Stone? Today, I want to talk about family and what it means to be adopted into the Royal Family of God.Before we dive into this discussion, let’s be clear that Christianity is not a religion, but a relationship between a loving Father and His beloved children. We are called “family” because we have one Father, which also makes us brothers and sisters in Christ.There are certain benefits and privileges that we get to experience from being a part of God’s family, like unconditional love, forgiveness, grace and compassion. We also benefit from serving one another and doing the work of ministry. But sometimes as children we can be selfish and forget that our brothers and sisters also deserve the same privileges. I need you. You need me. We’re all part of God’s family!Feel free to donate if this has helped you at all, Thank You! CashApp: $Arigato416

Some of my most profound memories of personal encounters with God occurred in my childhood. I spent the summers with my grandparents on their farm in South Georgia and would learn first-hand the meaning of “herd mentality” by feeding cows and the principle of “seed time and harvest” by watching my granddad’s crop come to harvest. But the most powerful and profound of all my experiences on the farm was the day of my first encounter with Jesus!Stop relying on what others say about Jesus. Find out what he is saying to you. Get to know Jesus personally. “Be still and know that I am God.”Feel free to donate if this has helped you at all, Thank You! CashApp: $Arigato416

In today’s episode I want to discuss something dear to my heart: The practicality and wisdom of Jesus and the gospel. Jesus used practical things to teach spiritual things. For example, Jesus taught in parables – simple stories used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson. He understood that people came from different backgrounds, races, and vocations and he spoke to them in a language they could understand. When you sit under practical teaching, your faith grows. A gifted and experienced teacher helps the Word come alive practically in your life.Feel free to donate if this has helped you at all, Thank You! CashApp: $Arigato416

The Holy Spirit is many things, one of which is our Helper. He helps us to unlearn what we thought we knew about our God. He was sent by God to be with us until we have been redeemed. He is the deposit that guarantees our inheritance from God. Holy Spirit is a comforter, not the author of confusion. He is a perfect gentleman in complete control who teaches us control. We have ignorantly dumbed Him down from being a friend to a feeling and from a helper to a hit. Reverence Him and invite Him to be a part of your daily affairs. He will!Feel free to donate if this has helped you at all, Thank You! CashApp: $Arigato416

Holy Spirit is the most important person in our lives on this earth. He is not a thing or it. He is the Spirit of God that lives in us. When Holy Spirit descended on the day of Pentecost, he never left but remains with us until this day. And low I am with you always even until the end of the world. It is a misnomer to think the Holy Spirit has to be sent from heaven again. We don’t need to pray, “Lord, send your anointing.” He is already here. If you are born again and have not activated Him in your life, all you have to do is ask for Him. Learn to cherish your relationship with the Holy Spirit – He is Christ in you, the hope of glory!Feel free to donate if this has helped you at all, Thank You! CashApp: $Arigato416

We ended the last segment discussing the process of growth in Christ and the law of progression. In order to live and flourish you must progress. Anything that ceases to progress, dies. Just as there is a progression in the natural, there is also progression in the spirit. As a babe in Christ, you need someone to feed you, but eventually, as you get to know God for yourself, you should grow to thrive on your own testimony by a sustained relationship with the Holy Spirit.Feel free to donate if this has helped you at all, Thank You! CashApp: $Arigato416

Let me reiterate why I’m here. I’m here for the Scattered Sheep of the fold. I’m here for people who really love God but are totally disenchanted with church as we know it. I want you to know that you are free! And with your freedom comes one basic right that you have as a child of God: You have the absolute right to approach the throne of God for yourself. You do not need anyone’s permission or approval. Under the law, you needed a priest to represent you before God, but under grace, we have direct access to God for ourselves. We have been indoctrinated to depend on men and to seek their approval, but God has made it possible through His Son for us to seek Him for ourselves. Yes. God has put processes in place for our growth and maturity, but we are not to use an office or title as an opportunity to manipulate or control. Know your rights!Feel free to donate if this has helped you at all, Thank You! CashApp: $Arigato416

In this episode I share my first revelation of the things I had to unlearn. Paul says in Philippians, “I count everything that I thought I knew as nothing.” A lot of the things I thought I knew I now realize I didn’t know. I did not know them for myself as an experience with God. Because of my strict upbringing I only knew God as Father-in-law. I never knew him as Daddy Grace. I thought God was strict, too. But it wasn’t until my defiant moment that I came to know God as Daddy. It’s much easier to serve someone out of adoration than it is to serve them out of fear. Father-in-law or Daddy Grace? You decide.

Today, I’ll be wrapping up the synopsis of law and grace in this segment. I think we can agree that you cannot be saved through the law. There is no salvation power in the law. The best the law can do for you is make you a good man – some may call you righteous. But even that is not enough. Your good works won’t save you. Only by grace are we saved, not of works (which is law), lest any man should boast. We love to compare ourselves among ourselves, but the scripture tells us that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Nobody is better than anyone else.This is one of the issues with the organizational church. We have hierarchies, rankings, and levels and if you don’t meet my standard, you’re not good enough. It’s a lie. It’s the law. It’s bondage! Sin is the culprit, not the law. We were all born in sin and shaped in iniquity. Jesus is the only remedy for sin. The Spirit of God exemplifies freedom. Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty! If anyone goes to hell it won’t be because they sinned, but because they did not accept the remedy!

In this episode we will continue our discussion on the law and our fallen nature. We learn from the plight of Adam and Eve that our fallen nature causes us to want the things we shouldn’t have and can’t have and to want more than we need. We are incapable of keeping the law in our flesh. Law is bondage; grace is freedom. If God’s children really knew they had the freedom to love Christ in their own unique way, the church would truly be free to flourish.