Are you going to die,,,,, I guess not..

     Christina and I have a plant that sits in the floor in the corner by our dining table. I will admit that we will get preoccupied from time to time and we will forget to water it. You may have one of these plants in your home. After a few days without water, it looks like it is on the brink of death. The leaves are all folding over and drooping down. Some of them are even laying on the floor. I go get a pitcher of water and soak it. You know what happens. After about 2 days of watering, the plant looks vibrant again. The stems are strong and holding up those leaves like it is proud of each and every one. The plant looks like it is suppose to look. It fills the room with beauty. It occupies its corner with dignity and purpose.
     This plant reminds me of us sometimes. What happens to us when we neglect to spend time in God's word. We grow dull and lifeless. We seem to be a drooping existence of ourselves, But if we spend time in His word, we become what He wants us to become. We become proud of who we are and demonstrate our strength we find in Him and His Word.
     When Jesus was speaking to the woman at the well in John chapter 4, She came seeking ordinary water, but what she found was living water. Jesus told her that if she drank water from this well, she would thirst again. However, if she drank from Him, she would drink from the well that would never run dry. If she drank from Him, she would never thirst again. That's the water that we need today.
     That plant is very dependent upon me for its existence. I am very dependent upon Jesus and His Word for my existence. I must trust Him and allow Him to work on me so I can stand proud of who I am in Him.

I am John Sowders and I am Second...!!!

Going to the Father.....

     Have you ever felt that you were at a distance with God. You know things just aren't quite where they need to be, but you don't really know what to do about it. You know you have reached a point in your life that you want to get close to God but He seems so far away. I don't know about you but when I have been in that situation I knew it was my fault because God never moves nor does He pull himself away from me. What did I do to cause this? For me anyway, It came about through selfish decisions. I wanted what I wanted and nothing was going to change my mind until I found out what I wanted wasn't what I wanted at all. Does that sound familiar?
     Well if you feel that way, you are not alone. Many have been in your shoes. I believe if we were honest with ourselves and each other, we have all been there at one point or another. We can also look in the scripture and find a very familiar story in Luke 15 about a son that wanted it his way so bad that he pretty much told his dad he wished he was dead and asked him for his inheritance. The father gave his son what he requested and the son left the comfort of his father's house and went into the world. Scripture tells us that he wasted it all away until one day he looked up and he had nothing left. When he woke up with the pigs, he knew that he had done wrong and wanted to return to his father.
     I want you to notice something very important in this story that I think we overlook because of its familiarity. In Luke 15:18, the son says, "I will arise and go to my father". He did not say he would go to his fathers house. He said he would arise and go to his father. I want us to realize that it is about a relationship and not a residence. Our encounter is with the Father not the church, not His house. I truly believe this is why you find many people in and out of church. They attendance is based on their relationship to that church and its people. The relationship should be focused on God and Him alone. My relationship with others stem from my relationship with God. As my relationship with God grows so does my faithfulness to and concern for His church.
     May we arise today and go to the Father........ May we fall in love with the person of God and who He is.
I am so thankful for the relationship that I have with God that was made possible by My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who died for my sins and arose from the grave and is seated at the right hand of the Father.....Praise Him, Praise HIM....... Listen to this song presented by the Prestonwood Baptist Church Choir in Plano, Texas.... AWESOME!!!!!!!......

All I can say is WOW!!! I simply love this song and this church pastored by Dr. Jack Graham is solid,,,
I am John Sowders and I am Second..!!!!

Where do I go from here.......

     I was watching a cartoon pirate show the other day with Reese. They were trying to find Captain Hook who had taken something that belonged to them. They were following him then they lost sight of him just about the time that the road broke into three separate paths. They stood there for a minute then they started listening down each path trying to hear Captain Hook so they would know which path to go down. When they heard his voice they went down that path.
     I have been like those young pirates trying to decide which path I am suppose to go down. However, I am pointing my ears down the different paths trying to hear from God. I don't know about you but I have never been able to get it all resolved in 30 minutes. I have been listening down those different paths for months waiting patiently to hear from God.
     Have you been in the same situation? Maybe you are in one right now. Just know that God is faithful and He will tell you what you need to know. Stay in His word and take counsel from wise friends. I have also found myself many times listening to a song by Third Day, "Revelation". It gives me comfort as I seek out what God would have me do.

I am John Sowders and I am Second...!!!!

We must make the first move.....

     How many times have we been in a situation where we needed something from God? Not just something, we needed something supernatural. You know one of those moments where if it was going to happen, it was going to come from God. What did you do? Did you just wait patiently on God to answer that prayer or did you try to figure it all out by yourself? I believe there are a couple of events in scripture that teaches us what to do. I find in scripture where God is waiting on us to demonstrate true faith in Him and then He will move in a mighty way. In both examples I am going to share, God could have done it all but He gave man the opportunity to demonstrate their faith.
     Moses had died and Joshua was now leading God's people toward the promised land. They are standing on the banks of the Jordan River and they are needing to go over but how will they do it. God instructed them to carry the Ark of the Covenant into the water first and then He would part the river so they could walk across. Could you imagine looking at that moving water and then having the faith to step in, but when they did what they could do, God did what what only He could do and moved the water back so they could cross. God could have parted the water without them but He wanted to see their faith.
     Martha had sent word to Jesus that her brother Lazarus was sick and she wanted Him to come heal him. By the time Jesus got there, Lazarus had already died and they had buried him. Martha cried to Jesus and told Him that He was too late. Jesus knew better than that. He told His disciples to roll the stone away from Lazarus' tomb. When they had removed the stone, Jesus called for Lazarus to come forth and he did. Lazarus walked out of the tomb alive and well. We must understand this important truth. If Jesus could call a dead man to life, He could definitely move a stone out of the way. Jesus could have suspended the stone in mid air if He wanted to but He chose to let the disciples do what they could do and then He would do what only He could do.
     Don't forget we serve a supernatural God with supernatural powers, but He may be waiting on us to make the first move. Go ahead, make that first move of faith. It may unleash a supernatural movement of God. The Israelites carrying the Ark didn't want to step into the moving water. Martha wanted Jesus to come while Lazarus was just sick and heal him. However, God had a different plan, but in both circumstances, what God did was far greater than what they could have imagined. Your movement may not come the way you want it but just step aside and watch God use your faith to do something awesome!!!

I am John Sowders and I am Second..!!!!

Cleaning from the inside out......

     King Hezekiah was chomping at the bit just waiting on his day to become King Of Judah. When the day finally arrived he made no apologizes for the changes he was to bring to Judah. Hezekiah's father, Ahaz, had made a mockery of the Temple and the God of Judah. Hezekiah was going to change this. In 2 Chronicles chapter 29, you can read of the story of the cleansing of the temple to restore the worship of the one true God, the God of Israel and Judah.
     The part in the story that I want to draw attention to today is how they went about cleansing the temple. If you and I were cleaning a room or the garage, we would start at the door and work our way across the floor. This was not the way they cleaned the temple. They went into the inner most part of the temple and worked their way out. The cleansing took place from the inside out.
     This is a beautiful picture of how Christ cleanses us. He cleans us from the inside out. Our outside appearance doesn't change nor do even some of our bad habits. It is a work in progress. I am sure on the first few days of cleansing the temple, noone standing on the outside could even tell the difference they had made, but on the inside an incredible work was taking place. The Levites who were cleaning the temple did make it out to the porch of the temple and there was a definite noticeable change.
     As Christ works on us and in us, the change begins to work its way to the outside but the temple structure is still the same. My outside appearance doesn't change though sometimes we would like a new makeover. We are who God created us. Our body, His temple, may even bare some wounds and scars from sin, but the inside is what is gloriously saved and changed. However, the change is noticeable and obvious to all around us.
     I want to share a video for you today of Brian Welch, former guitarist for the hard rocking band Korn. As you will notice, the outside hasn't changed, but listen to his story and you will learn very quickly God made a change on the inside.

I am John Sowders and I am Second...!!

A New Baby.... A New Boy.... A New Beginning...

     I want to apologize to all my blog followers. I have not posted a blog in the last few days due to being away from my computer while my wife was giving birth to our son, John William Riley Sowders.

     John- John is obviously my name but the name in my sons name comes from Christina's dad. My Father-in-Laws name was John. We wanted to honor the memory of John by naming his grandson after him.

     William- This was my Fathers name. Dad would probably be mad at me for naming my son after him because Dad never the like the idea of naming kids a Jr, I will wait for my whipping when I get to Heaven. We wanted to honor the memory of Dad by naming his grandson after him.

     Riley- I am not quite sure where this name came from but Christina was set on the naming the baby Riley whether it was a girl or boy.

John and Dad, neither of you will get to set your eyes on your grandson Riley this side of Heaven, But Christina and I will work hard to raise a grandson you will both be proud of. Don't worry we will raise him in the knowledge of the Lord and he will know him as savior. You will get to see him one day......

We miss you and Love you both.......
We also give God our Father, Jesus our Savior, and Holy Spirit our sustainer all the praise for allowing us the opportunity to have such a blessing in our home............

I am John Sowders and I am Second..!!!!!!!

Are you there?..... Hello?......

      I don't know how many of you are fans of texting, but I must admit I have turned into a huge fan of texting. Texting gives you the opportunity to talk to someone when we actually cannot audibly converse with them. It also allows to talk to many different people at the same time. Texting is a great invention. I know that when my father-in-law was alive it gave him the vehicle to talk since he was not able to speak audibly due to his cancer. We no longer had to use the one beep for no and two beeps for yes communication.
     However, have you ever sent someone a text and you didn't get the immediate response that you were looking for?  You wait but no reply. Do you do what I do and send another text that says, "hello?"? I also send the "are you there?" request. We never know why they are not responding. We just know that we need a reply and we were hoping that it was going to come soon. When they finally reply, we get the usual answers and explanations as to why they are just now getting back to us: my phone was dead and on charge, I left the phone laying in the other room and forgot about it, or I left the phone in the vehicle while I was in Walmart. All of which are legitimate reasons for them not replying to your text, but you don't really care about the reason. You simply want a reply to your question or thought.
     Have you felt this way with God? You keep talking to Him and asking Him questions, but you do not feel He is replying to your request. Have you ever looked up and said "God, are you there"? I know I have looked up and said in dismay "hello?". There are times that God does seem at a distance or seem that he is not listening to us. Who knows why he isn't answering at that moment. I know its not because he is on charge or He is busy in Walmart, but He is God and sometimes He chooses not to answer. He may be teaching me that I need to learn patience more than I need an immediate answer.
     I do not know why God reserves the right to not answer us sometimes right away, but I do know this one eternal truth. Silence from God does not mean that He is not at work in and through our lives. Let's remind ourselves of an event in the life of Jesus Christ, the very Son of God. When He was on the cross with His hands outstretched dying for our sins. He felt like His Father had deserted him. He cried out to God and said, "my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?". Had God left Him alone? Of course not, while God was silent, He was working on the salvation plan for the human race. God's silence does not mean He isn't at work. Just be patient, God may be working on an awesome plan that involves you that will impact the entire human race...or at least your community or family...

I am John Sowders and I am Second...!!!!!