The world does not need our talent. There are singers that can out sing us. There are musicians that can out play us. There are men and women of talent that can out do any that we may have. But we have the sprit of the living God within us. The worlds problems are not going to be solved by talented worldly men. The solutions to the world's problems begin at an alter with the submission of a man or woman to the will of God. So many churches today are changing their message to be more "relevant' There are those that think that if we were not so Pentecostal, we would not scare so many people away. Across the world the Pentecostal belief is taking over continents. The world needs what we have. They may not understand our worship. According to the book of Acts, they never have. Our text says that those who saw what was going on in the upper room, mocked and questioned if the men were drunk. In order for us to be the church that God intended us to be, we must emulate those original 120. They were in the proper atmosphere. They were in the upper room waiting as they had been told. Those in the upper room were willing to become the vessels that God wanted them to be. God's spirit is greater than the environment we live in. The men in the upper room were in a hostile environment. Jerusalem hated them and had just crucified Christ. In spite of this, they were transformed and began to transform their world. We need to stop apologizing for we are and what we are and let God work through us to save the lost. The church cannot change to fit the times. Bro. Hughes says that if we do, that the world will not want what we have. The world needs the radical transformation that the Holy Ghost provides. There are people in each of our lives that are hungry for what we have. It is time to quit hiding what we are. A Pentecostal church is what our world needs. Not a denomination, but a spirit anointed and driven body.

We live in a time when it seems that all of the old guidelines of life have been torn down. Our moral standards have been swept away and replaced. It seems as the fabric of who we are has been ripped apart. We seem to be a confused and drunken nation that has drifted off the path and find our self stumbling toward an unknown destination. Bro. Hughes reminds us that as Christians we have to guard against only seeing what is wrong with any situation. No matter where we go, or what we are seeking, the answer to life is found in God. In the pages of God's word we will find life, encouragement and the answer to every problem in life. Life at its best is confusing for everyone. It can be burdensome and painful. If we are not careful, we can buy into the idea that there is no way out. Bro. Hughes has read the second chapter of Acts many times, but this time, something new revealed itself. In it, Peter quotes a Psalm written by David many years before. The psalm he quoted was written at at time when Saul was after David to try to kill him. On a number of occasions, David narrowly escaped Saul's pursuit. Psalm 16 is believed to be written just after one of these close calls. God kept David in that situation. That same God who protected David when he was in the same cave as his enemy, can protect us in our trials. God showed David something in the midst of his trial. Life from David's perspective was bleak and dire. But God, showed David the situation from God's perspective. Far too few of us are hearing what God is trying to reveal. What God showed David moved him from survival mode to victory mode. When we live in the presence of God rather than the presence of our enemy, we have a promise of victory.

We live in a time when it seems that all of the old guidelines of life have been torn down. Our moral standards have been swept away and replaced. It seems as the fabric of who we are has been ripped apart. We seem to be a confused and drunken nation that has drifted off the path and find our self stumbling toward an unknown destination. Bro. Hughes reminds us that as Christians we have to guard against only seeing what is wrong with any situation. No matter where we go, or what we are seeking, the answer to life is found in God. In the pages of God's word we will find life, encouragement and the answer to every problem in life. Life at its best is confusing for everyone. It can be burdensome and painful. If we are not careful, we can buy into the idea that there is no way out. Bro. Hughes has read the second chapter of Acts many times, but this time, something new revealed itself. In it, Peter quotes a Psalm written by David many years before. The psalm he quoted was written at at time when Saul was after David to try to kill him. On a number of occasions, David narrowly escaped Saul's pursuit. Psalm 16 is believed to be written just after one of these close calls. God kept David in that situation. That same God who protected David when he was in the same cave as his enemy, can protect us in our trials. God showed David something in the midst of his trial. Life from David's perspective was bleak and dire. But God, showed David the situation from God's perspective. Far too few of us are hearing what God is trying to reveal. What God showed David moved him from survival mode to victory mode. When we live in the presence of God rather than the presence of our enemy, we have a promise of victory.

The world does not need our talent. There are singers that can out sing us. There are musicians that can out play us. There are men and women of talent that can out do any that we may have. But we have the sprit of the living God within us. The worlds problems are not going to be solved by talented worldly men. The solutions to the world's problems begin at an alter with the submission of a man or woman to the will of God. So many churches today are changing their message to be more "relevant' There are those that think that if we were not so Pentecostal, we would not scare so many people away. Across the world the Pentecostal belief is taking over continents. The world needs what we have. They may not understand our worship. According to the book of Acts, they never have. Our text says that those who saw what was going on in the upper room, mocked and questioned if the men were drunk. In order for us to be the church that God intended us to be, we must emulate those original 120. They were in the proper atmosphere. They were in the upper room waiting as they had been told. Those in the upper room were willing to become the vessels that God wanted them to be. God's spirit is greater than the environment we live in. The men in the upper room were in a hostile environment. Jerusalem hated them and had just crucified Christ. In spite of this, they were transformed and began to transform their world. We need to stop apologizing for we are and what we are and let God work through us to save the lost. The church cannot change to fit the times. Bro. Hughes says that if we do, that the world will not want what we have. The world needs the radical transformation that the Holy Ghost provides. There are people in each of our lives that are hungry for what we have. It is time to quit hiding what we are. A Pentecostal church is what our world needs. Not a denomination, but a spirit anointed and driven body.

Discouragement can hide behind a lot of things. It can even hide behind a smile. Discouragement can walk into any house at any time. Discouragement can tell us that life is not worth living. It can lie and cause us to think things that we normally don' t think. Our mouth might be saying praise the Lord, but discouragement can hide right under that. We look and see people that do not seem to be living right, but that are blessed while we deal with struggles and storms in our own lives. It becomes not our test that baffles us, but the trying to understand how they can succeed. David warns us that the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. David spends a lot of time in our text talking about steps. The word steps implies process. It is going take a while. We cannot take shortcuts to the destination. We must go along the path that God has for us in order to reach the goal. A blessing given too soon is not a blessing. We need to learn patience with the process. Most of us do not like the process. We don't like waiting in line. We don't want God to order steps. We want Him to order blessing, healing, and opportunity. God has a pace for our lives. Too often our prayers are to short circuit the process or to speed it up. In God's economy, we cannot skip steps. If we do, we will have to go back and do it. God uses these steps to prepare us to receive His blessing. He is not preparing the blessing, He is preparing us to receive it. We must go through the process to get it all lined up. Even Jesus had steps. They tried to crown Him too soon, and He had to withdraw to maintain the process. What God is trying to teach us is that we do not have to be at our destination to praise Him. We have to praise Him on the steps. We have to praise Him for the process. The devil hates step praises. Our flesh fights praising on the steps. Like Paul, we must learn to be content in whatever step we find ourselves, because it is only a step.

Discouragement can hide behind a lot of things. It can even hide behind a smile. Discouragement can walk into any house at any time. Discouragement can tell us that life is not worth living. It can lie and cause us to think things that we normally don' t think. Our mouth might be saying praise the Lord, but discouragement can hide right under that. We look and see people that do not seem to be living right, but that are blessed while we deal with struggles and storms in our own lives. It becomes not our test that baffles us, but the trying to understand how they can succeed. David warns us that the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. David spends a lot of time in our text talking about steps. The word steps implies process. It is going take a while. We cannot take shortcuts to the destination. We must go along the path that God has for us in order to reach the goal. A blessing given too soon is not a blessing. We need to learn patience with the process. Most of us do not like the process. We don't like waiting in line. We don't want God to order steps. We want Him to order blessing, healing, and opportunity. God has a pace for our lives. Too often our prayers are to short circuit the process or to speed it up. In God's economy, we cannot skip steps. If we do, we will have to go back and do it. God uses these steps to prepare us to receive His blessing. He is not preparing the blessing, He is preparing us to receive it. We must go through the process to get it all lined up. Even Jesus had steps. They tried to crown Him too soon, and He had to withdraw to maintain the process. What God is trying to teach us is that we do not have to be at our destination to praise Him. We have to praise Him on the steps. We have to praise Him for the process. The devil hates step praises. Our flesh fights praising on the steps. Like Paul, we must learn to be content in whatever step we find ourselves, because it is only a step.

Beginning late last year and Bro. Hughes was reading the book of John, he realized that there were several phrases that appear but they didn't need to be there. The story about the healing of the man by the pool concludes with the statement that it was on the Sabbath. It was not consequential to the story other than it points out the attitude of the leadership at that time. At the time of this writing, John has all of the gospels available to him. So he has the perspectiv of being able to add his perspective about the events that had taken place. His comments illustrate that Jesus was keenly aware of all of His actions and the totality of the affect of what He was doing. God is not relegated by any clock. He knew what was going to happen because time has not meaning to God. As John writes, his accounts highlight to us that we need to pay attention to the details. The healing of the man by the pool, the feeding of the multitudes, and other miracles didn't happen by chance. Bro. Hughes explains that the religious leadership knew Jesus was who He said he was, but they could not accept Him because He had not come as they expected. They wanted to make Him king, but Jesus knew that could not happen because it would not fulfill HIs purpose. John's account tells us that Jesus escaped to the mount of Olives. We are not told what He did, other than that He went. Jesus would escape to the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives. John account illustrates to us how human Jesus was because He needed a place of escape in order to meditate and pray. Jesus worked to make sure that the garden was not desecrated. The next day would be the story of the woman caught in the act of adultery. Jesus knew that it would happen, but he controlled the environment in which it would happen, so He arose at daybreak to go to the temple. His garden was so important to Him that He wanted to protect it. Adam failed to protect his garden. God had given Adam two jobs to keep the garden safe and clean. Adam chose to let his garden to be defiled. He allowed Satan into that garden. Bro. Hughes ask "what are we allowing in our garden." What are we allowing into our homes? What are we allowing to our lives, our children's lives and the lives of our loved ones? We have to learn to protect the people around us from the things that would destroy them. This includes the influence of our own flesh. We have to protect our garden.

Beginning late last year and Bro. Hughes was reading the book of John, he realized that there were several phrases that appear but they didn't need to be there. The story about the healing of the man by the pool concludes with the statement that it was on the Sabbath. It was not consequential to the story other than it points out the attitude of the leadership at that time. At the time of this writing, John has all of the gospels available to him. So he has the perspectiv of being able to add his perspective about the events that had taken place. His comments illustrate that Jesus was keenly aware of all of His actions and the totality of the affect of what He was doing. God is not relegated by any clock. He knew what was going to happen because time has not meaning to God. As John writes, his accounts highlight to us that we need to pay attention to the details. The healing of the man by the pool, the feeding of the multitudes, and other miracles didn't happen by chance. Bro. Hughes explains that the religious leadership knew Jesus was who He said he was, but they could not accept Him because He had not come as they expected. They wanted to make Him king, but Jesus knew that could not happen because it would not fulfill HIs purpose. John's account tells us that Jesus escaped to the mount of Olives. We are not told what He did, other than that He went. Jesus would escape to the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives. John account illustrates to us how human Jesus was because He needed a place of escape in order to meditate and pray. Jesus worked to make sure that the garden was not desecrated. The next day would be the story of the woman caught in the act of adultery. Jesus knew that it would happen, but he controlled the environment in which it would happen, so He arose at daybreak to go to the temple. His garden was so important to Him that He wanted to protect it. Adam failed to protect his garden. God had given Adam two jobs to keep the garden safe and clean. Adam chose to let his garden to be defiled. He allowed Satan into that garden. Bro. Hughes ask "what are we allowing in our garden." What are we allowing into our homes? What are we allowing to our lives, our children's lives and the lives of our loved ones? We have to learn to protect the people around us from the things that would destroy them. This includes the influence of our own flesh. We have to protect our garden.

When we discuss or think about the coming of the Lord, many are more concerned with the day and time of HIs coming, but Bro. Hughes explains that we should be more concerned about the events that will take place preceding HIs return. In our text, Jesus and the disciples have left Jerusalem and look back to view the city. Jesus said that the city would be dismantled and no stone would be left stacked upon another. He said that there would be many that would be anointed and who would call themselves anointed who would come; but they will be deceivers. This prophecy was hard for them to believe. Bro. Hughes says it is not too hard to understand. Who could have imagined a time in America when we would become so wicked? Our world has moved to the point where is becomes easier and easier to sin and to accept sin in our daily lives. The world no longer convicts us for sin, lying, or immorality. Because iniquity abounds, we know that the Lord is soon coming. Bro. Hughes focuses in on the issue of offense in our text. Offense is rampant. We have been offended by politics, by jokes, by schools, our neighbors and now more easily by others in the church. Jesus said that offenses will come. As we move toward the end times, it will not get better, and will only get worse. Offenses will come in life. Offenses will cause some to look at life and rationalize that if that can happen, then other things may be okay too. It is not too difficult to question why God is involved in these offenses. The truth is that God is not in the offense business. God will allow things to happen in our life, but He does not want to offend us. God understands where our real issue are. Offenses are the biggest battle that most of us face. Our temper exists just below the surface and it does not take much to reveal it. Whatever we allow to offend us will eventually produce the tree that will be used to build our casket. If we do not deal with offenses, we will perish. There is only one way to deal with offenses and that is forgiveness.

When we discuss or think about the coming of the Lord, many are more concerned with the day and time of HIs coming, but Bro. Hughes explains that we should be more concerned about the events that will take place preceding HIs return. In our text, Jesus and the disciples have left Jerusalem and look back to view the city. Jesus said that the city would be dismantled and no stone would be left stacked upon another. He said that there would be many that would be anointed and who would call themselves anointed who would come; but they will be deceivers. This prophecy was hard for them to believe. Bro. Hughes says it is not too hard to understand. Who could have imagined a time in America when we would become so wicked? Our world has moved to the point where is becomes easier and easier to sin and to accept sin in our daily lives. The world no longer convicts us for sin, lying, or immorality. Because iniquity abounds, we know that the Lord is soon coming. Bro. Hughes focuses in on the issue of offense in our text. Offense is rampant. We have been offended by politics, by jokes, by schools, our neighbors and now more easily by others in the church. Jesus said that offenses will come. As we move toward the end times, it will not get better, and will only get worse. Offenses will come in life. Offenses will cause some to look at life and rationalize that if that can happen, then other things may be okay too. It is not too difficult to question why God is involved in these offenses. The truth is that God is not in the offense business. God will allow things to happen in our life, but He does not want to offend us. God understands where our real issue are. Offenses are the biggest battle that most of us face. Our temper exists just below the surface and it does not take much to reveal it. Whatever we allow to offend us will eventually produce the tree that will be used to build our casket. If we do not deal with offenses, we will perish. There is only one way to deal with offenses and that is forgiveness.