Pause: with Pastor Aaron

12  For our  struggle is not against  flesh and blood, but  against the rulers, against the powers, against the  world forces of this  darkness, against the  spiritual  forces  of wickedness in  the heavenly  places .  Eph 6:12 Do we believe that we are engaged in a daily spiritual battle?  I am sure that if you have read the Bible or understand some of its basic tenants, you are aware of this fact.  The question is do you believe it?  Belief is measuring your life by the truth you  accept. Belief is being able to see this truth in the midst of crisis. Satan hates the church and hates when the church of God progresses. Satan has been using the same playbook for thousands of years.  He has become an expert of what the church looks like before his influence on them is in jeopardy. When he sees the characteristics of holiness, of godliness, of divine hunger, in a body ...

We need to acknowledge the elephant in the room.  It is a sin to hold onto grudges. There I have said it.  It is a sin to hold onto grudges.    I can hear the replies of people who would argue.   "Wait a second! You don't know what they did!"  "I have forgiven, but I will never forget!" "I have to make sure that they can never hurt me again!" "I have to make sure they will never hurt someone else again!"  All these responses, I am sure, are seen as legit by the ones who make them.  Deep hurt breeds harsh responses.  Any of these responses can make a lot of sense, except... I once was told, "Hurt people hurt people, but healed people heal people." By holding onto a grudge, do you find yourself on the healed side of the spectrum, or on the hurt? By holding onto a grudge, are you committing yourself to healing others around you, or are you hurting them?   It doesn't matter if you don't intend to.  Does it really ma...

When I was a boy I was involved in an organization like the Boy Scouts. In this group we boys were taught valuable tools of life, things like how to handle a knife or a hatchet. We were also taught about the compass. It's an amazing instrument which, if you understand how to read it, can get you though through perhaps the most stressful and difficult times in life, the times when you are lost. The first part of the training taught us that every compass recognizes magnetic north. That is a place that does not change. This becomes very valuable especially when you are at a place where you can not see the sun. To know that you can always find God's magnetic landmark, helps to give you wisdom for the direction which you are to travel. It helps to keep you from walking in circles. Combined with a map, it should keep you going the direction necessary to eventually walk out of the lost place you find yourself in. What of the times when we are lost in life; when we look fo...

The church is meant to be a hospital for the healing. When we forget this, we often become consumer minded and lose the heart of God for why He created this second institution. Remember that the first institution He created was the family. The family was His first pathway for good to be carried out upon the earth. The family provided the living illustration of His love for humanity. It modeled intimacy which brings forth new life. It showed us perfection in the roles each sex was to thrive in. It provided a road to maturity and prosperity, as the parents were to pass on their values to their children. God also created the family that a love and knowledge of Him would be passed on to each generation. He was to be God to the family. The church was the second institution He created.  Just like the family, it was created with a purpose and a design. My former youth pastor spoke its purpose into my life when he once said, "The lost need to be saved and the saved need to be heale...

Working in the people business can be some of the most challenging careers to find satisfaction. If you think that you are going to change a person, you will quickly find great frustration. People establish habits. People are the by-product of their upbringing and their culture. All the wisdom in the world will often never negate these facts. Every medical professional has seen it. A person suffering from heart problems is told to change their diet and to exercise. The doctor, who has gone to school almost a decade and then years of residency, explains to them the downfall of their habits. Do most listen to their counsel or do they return to the doctor again showing symptoms of the same problem? Every school teacher has seen it. They tell the student that they are smart and can achieve, yet what they have known all their life is a culture which has affected how they see themselves. A teacher can often have a hundred affirming conversations, but a student remains behind beca...