Be Initiative, Evans Olang

Genesis 39:1-23, “And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand.” 

What would you do if what you always dreamed for wasn’t coming to pass?  instead of things getting better, you got  further and further away from it. Joseph is a good example, he had a dream at the age of 17 and his dream was not that one day he would fail but that one day he will be great and that his family and many people would bow to him. Talk to any teenagers today and hear all their dreams and desires of success. You must have had dreams at that age too. Joseph had a good dream but he was naive, boastful and insensitive towards his brothers. He did not even realize that the dream was not about him but a picture of Christ. In his case, a lot of character building was needed before God fulfilled all that He planned.

Who Is The Trouble Maker? Evans Olang

1Kings 18:1-45, “17 Then it happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, “Is that you, O troubler of Israel?” 18 And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and have followed the Baals.”

Whenever you are dealing with happenings, we need to get to the starting point, the root. Without understanding the starting point, finger pointing can easily be done. In our day, people are finger pointing politicians, mother nature, religious leaders, young people, Hollywood etc. In the midst of finger pointing, we try to deal with the symptoms ignoring to address the bigger issue lying underneath those symptoms.

God Can Give You Favor With The Ungodly, Pastor Phil Sessa

Colossians 3:22, “Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord”

We all desire to be liked by others. As you look through God’s Word you will certainly see that God’s people especially His leaders, were not always given positive treatment as some were mocked, threatened, beaten, and even killed.

Do You Hear What I Hear? Pastor Phil Sessa

Matthew 1:18-20, “18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. 20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit ”.

In this day and age there are a lot of voices speaking, but none as important as the voice of the Lord.

God And Sinners Reconciled, Pastor Phil Sessa

2Corinthians 5:20, “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.”

Merry CHRISTmas! I love saying that. We live in an age where the world wants us to be culturally tolerant, and politically correct. All other religious “holidays” are not really holidays if we agree that the word holiday is really the word HOLY DAY. How is Kwanza, or Ramadan holy? Kwanza does not focus on Christ, because the focus is on culture and man not on Christ the Lord.

Redeemed Through His Blood, Evans Olang

Ephesians 1:7, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace”

Of late I have been thinking about the saving grace of our Lord Jesus and I am constantly amazed at what He has done for a wicked wretched man that I am. I am forever thankful to Him for what He has done.

There are some truths that continue to humble me in learning of saving grace and here is the biggest one, Jesus did not suffer and die on the cross because man was worth saving, He suffered and died on the cross because He was worthy to save. No one’s sacrifice was worthy to satisfy the demand of the law death.

But For A Moment, Part 2of2, Evans Olang

Esther 4:14, “… Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

We know of opportunities that present themselves when least expected. At the very moment they present themselves, you weigh the possibilities of being the person to rise to the occasion while looking at who you are. I watched a comedy where this young man was afraid of swimming, he did not feel he could do it because he was just too terrified. On one particular day, he saw this girl fall in the pool drowning, he swallowed his fears and jumped into the pool to rescue the girl not knowing that he had fears before. But for a moment of time, he stepped into the occasion and did what he was afraid to do so as to rescue someone else.

But For A Moment, Part 1of2, Evans Olang

Esther 4:1-17, “9 The girl pleased him and won his favor.”(NIV).

I am a firm believer of kingdom principles. If you carefully look at how good things happen on a day to day basis, you can trace the attributes back to God’s kingdom principles applied knowingly or unknowingly. For today I would like to take a principal from the book of Esther and apply it to our day to day life. I had a different direction to go with the book but I am prompted to approach it from another angle.

Who Craves Your Spirit? Part 5of5, Pastor Phil Sessa

Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

This series focus has been on the spirit of one being passed on to another. It started off with Elijah and Elisha, then Moses, and it can certainly go on and on. Training people is a key element if one wants their legacy to live. Military leaders train soldiers to engage enemies in war, and place their lives on the line if need be. How does a man convince another man to be in a place that bullets are flying all around?