What is Favor?

Hello Friends,

I have noticed a lot of people that say they are blessed and
highly favor. Some of whom may not be able to give a clear answer to what favor
is. However what some may call favor may actually not be favor. In order to
know if you have favor or not, you first have to understand what it is. Favor
as defined in dictionary.com:

Favor -

1.	something done or granted out of goodwill, rather than from justice or for remuneration; a kind act

..

2.	friendly or well-disposed regard; goodwill

.

3.	the state of being approved or held in regard

4.	excessive kindness or unfair partiality; preferential treatment:

So from the definition we can see that favor is not fair.
Also we can see that it is not something you rightfully own but it is granted.
Now lets get an understanding of the meaning by looking at some examples. This
reminds me of the children of ....Israel....,
because of the faithfulness and obedience of one man, Abraham, a nation of
people were blessed and highly favored.
From this example we can see that favor is transferable. This is also
depicted other occasions in the bible: David to Solomon, Noah and his children,
Elijah and Elisha. Therefore we as Christians should be careful in how we live
because we can either transfer favor or curse to our offspring or to the people
around us. Yes curses are transferable too. Look at the children of Israel in
Joshua: 7, due to the disobedience of one man, Achan, the children of Israel
was defeated by the people of Ai, an enemy they were supposed to defeat easily.
Another example is David and Bathsheba (II Samuel 11); because of the evil that
David did in acquiring her, the first child suffered the consequence, death.
Not to mention the inheritance we received from Adam.

Now that we have some type of understanding of what favor is
lets look at some situations/scenarios and see if it is favor or not

I am blessed and highly favored, I got a new car with no
money down and I did not even have the income needed in order to get it on my
own. It was nothing but the favor of God

I was praying that God would bless me with the money
necessary to get the rent paid. Then the Lord placed it on a person heart to
give the money and more. It was nothing but the favor of God

I was doing 85 in a 55 and I pass a police car. Then say the
lights flashing and I had slowed down and the police car passed me. It was
nothing but the favor of God.

Now from what you read before these scenarios would all of
them be considered favor of God moments? A quick hint, it also will have to
agree with the word of God and some of the scenarios are vague. If you want the
answer we can discuss it further.

To recap favor is transferable preferential treatment that
is granted to a person, place, or thing.
I hope this help in understanding what is favor and as stated before I
leave the scenarios to you to figure out and if you would like to more insight,
you can always contact me or just look through the word.

May the spirit of the Lord bless and prosper you as your
soul prosper,

Greg

Look out for the Super Saved Christians

A lady walks in the building, she receive cold stares and even receive bold comments like you are not suppose to be here or What are you doing here? Discourage by the way people received her she walked out and never returned to that place again. The lady was never heard from again by the people because she later died of a drug overdose.

Sad Story, eh? However this type a thing happen a least once a week. This place that the lady was coming to sad to say is the church. It is sad situation that one would condemn one to coming into the place where they should receive comfort. This can be understood because that can be the same church where Jesus is knocking at the door and they will not let him in.

I am writing this note because I am sick and tired of hearing stories like the one above. There are people who are hurting in the world. Who gives one the right to turn away someone from church because of the way they dress, background, or even what their lifestyle. What is funny Jesus dealt with the same type of church people. In the bible they were called the Pharisees, Sadducees, and the scribes. These were the people who made it hard for one to be believer. Instead of giving the sinner a chance and encouragement in the walk of the Lord, they would be the first to condemn, and punishment eventhough they commit the same sin. Is this really what God had sent us in the world to do?

God Forbid, we serve a merciful God. As stated in Matthew 11:30, "For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Why is it that the church try to make one do all these rituals and they themselves have not went through themselves. Do you not know that you are yet a sinner but saved by grace? Would you like it if when you came to Christ others treated you the same way? For as it is written, "And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise." (Luke 6:31). I do not think anyone would be too happy to hear "what are you doing here?" in the church. Also who are you to turn up your nose to anyone? Don't let pride set into your spirit, for pride made many men and women fall. For as it is written, "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall." (Proverbs 16:18). You are never saved to the point where the devil will not tempt you. If that was so then you are more saved than Jesus. Sad thing is that there are people who think that way not that they are greater than Jesus but cannot be tempted by the devil. Keep in mind it is the Holy Spirit within you that give you the power to resist temptation and the works of the devil not we ourselves. Therefore Jesus had to send the Holy Spirit to transform/sanctify us while through His blood we were justified.

Therefore if God can do it for you, he can do the same thing to a willing person, for God will not force anyone to serve Him. If you are one of the people that will turn away someone because they are not in the will of God and want to come back home, I beseech you that you turn away from this wickedness. For it is easier to win a brother or sister through love then by punishment or force. And if you do not operate in love and say that you are a Christian, you are a liar and the truth is not in you. For as it is written, "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." (I John 4:8). Therefore it is easier to win your brother and sister in love because they will be able to see the God in you. Because there are people who do not want to go back to church or to God because of the way they were treated by the believers.

I pray that these words will help you and minister to you. If this note stepped on your toes, I hope you will be able to say Amen and harden not your heart so the words can set in your heart to show love to others. For as it is written, "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity." (I Corinthians 13:13). Charity also means Love in that scripture.

May the glory of the Lord dwell with you and keep you in perfect peace.

Clarification Letter

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I have been told by some on the lines that I am too spiritual or think I am better than others or perfect. I would like to clarify. I have never said that and I am not sure if I am saying that body language wise either. If it is in regards to the notes I write. I am not considering myself above anyone. I am fighting in the battle along with you. If anything I pray and look at different sources (the bible being the main one) especially where the spirit leads. Am I without sin? God forbid if I say I am without sin. For if I say that I am a liar and the truth is not in me. For the bible states there is one man who walked the earth without sin and that was Jesus. Am I trying to condemn others? Again God forbid, I do not have a heaven or hell to put you in nor am I able to save you from your sins. So what is the purpose? I am glad you asked. I am only trying to enlight and share knowledge from what I have received. I do not know everything but I hope through sharing the Word of God others will take it in and hopefully help you and others in the walk with Christ. For in Hosea 4:6 states, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge......"

Therefore I hope if you are one of the people who thinks the way the first line of this note, please look at my previous note and look at them as ways to help equip you against the works of Satan, which I hope will help you fight off the devil more effectively. For it is hard to go to war against an enemy whom you know very little.

Also I would like to take the time to encourage you in the Lord. Even if you think your situation is hopeless or you may not feel worthy of coming to God. I will like to tell you don't worry nothing is too hard for God. If you come to Him with a sincere heart and repent; He will receive you. Actually He will meet you while you are coming like the father did for the prodigal son (Luke 15:20). Also try to get to a church with a good leader/pastor. What is the point of going to church? Well look at it this way studies show that if one hang around a group of people the person pick up some characteristics of the group. Same as the reason stated in Amos 3:3 and II Corinthians 6:14 in the bible. An eagle cannot expect to learn how to fly and soar hanging around the chickens. Therefore it would be helpful to be around a group that is trying to follow the Lord.

Also as a warning, I beseech (beg) you brethren and sisters please please please please ( I hope you will see the importance of what I am about to say next) do not let the people who been in church 10, 15,....., 50 years try to discourage you away from God. People in the church that try to give rules to those coming to Christ in which they themselves are not keeping or even trying to keep. These people are in a dangerous state/mindset which is that they have arrived. I have some bad news to tell you as long as you are on the earth you will never arrive. Sanctification is a continual process and the Holy Spirit with us on inside so it can show on the outside.

In essence, I am a sinner that is saved by the grace and mercy from the Lord through the washing of my sins through the blood of Jesus. If you are in the Huntsville area and you do not have a church home, I would like to invite you to my church where our pastor is lead by God. Also those who have church homes are welcome to visit as well.

Finally if you have comments, have a prayer request, or just need someone to talk to you can leave me a note on myspace or email me at greg_stargell@yahoo.com or greg.stargell@gmail.com and I could give you my phone number where you can reach me.

May God bless you and direct thy path,
Greg Stargell

Lasciviousness Was the Charge That They Gave Me

Dear Friends,

I want to start by saying I apologize if I had spoke with you about coming into the modern dance realm if you are not married. I had started feeling discomfort in my spirit about Salsa dancing as I had felt when I was doing Hip Hop and Jazz dancing. I found myself finding ways to justify why it was right and it made me kind of forget about what the discomfort I felt. This all started when someone asked if something was in God’s Will or not (the thing I do not remember). I prayed about it and this is what came to me: If Jesus was to come back and see the thing/action you do or perform, would He be pleased with it?

It came to a point were I sat down and listened to the words of the songs, and they even have the same theme as Hip Hop and other club music. Therefore I looked for a gospel alternative. It was then that it was brought to my attention that mixing Salsa/ Bachata/Merengue with church music will be wrong. It will bring sensual movements in the church. Then I remember how one person told me that, “They trusted that someone knew what the artists of the songs were saying”. I tried to justify it more and more, but the more I tried to justify it the guiltier I felt, till the point I just decided to stop. It was then that I decided to spend more time in His word and research while asking the Lord why I felt this guilt. Therefore I looked at different sources about dancing and the life of a Christian. I will consider dances like Salsa, Jazz (Swing), Hip Hop, and other dances done in the club as Modern Dances.

As of Friday, after reading many sources, The Lord revealed that the guilt I was feeling is me being convicted of Lasciviousness. I had an idea of what Lasciviousness was but I did not know exactly what it was. Therefore I looked up the definition of this big word:

Lascivious – 1. Given to or expressing lust; inordinate indulgence in sexual activity (lecherous).

2. Exciting sexual desires; arousing or appealing to sexual desire or imagination (salacious).

Wanton; Lust (Merriam Webster)

(King James Version dictionary)

1. Looseness; irregular indulgence of animal desires; wantonness; lustfulness.

Who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lasciviousness. (Eph. 4)

2. Tendency to excite lust, and promote irregular indulgences.

I was like okay what do wanton mean:

Wanton - 1 a: one given to self-indulgent flirtation or trifling —used especially in the phrase play the wanton b: a lewd or lascivious person

And Lewd:

Lewd - sexually unchaste or lacking legal or moral restraints; especially : disregarding sexual restraints (licentious); obscene, vulgar

I can go on and on but Lasciviousness is also come from the Greek word aselgeia, which is any excess of any form of evil one indulges. Which can deal with more than sexual or sensual acts, but other sinful deeds as well?

Examples of Lasciviousness come from a site that I got the definition of aselgeia, http://www.christiancourier.com/articles/read/what_is_lasciviousness

· The use of sexually explicit media materials is a form of lasciviousness. This would include pornographic visuals, such as live productions, books or magazines, movies or videos, audio tapes, etc. This is a growing problem in American society—even among some who profess Christianity.

Counselors affirm that porn material is highly addictive, and numerous marriages have been ruined by people who have indulged in sexually explicit filth.

Too, statistical evidence indicates that sexual predators, child molesters, and even some murderers (e.g., Ted Bundy) have begun their careers of crime by ingesting a diet of salacious materials.

· Lasciviousness occurs frequently in work places where men and women are constantly thrown together in close contact. Flirting, suggestive touching, language containing sexual innuendo, sex humor, provocative dress (skin tight apparel, the display of cleavage, thigh-revealing skirts, etc.) are forms of lascivious conduct that very often lead to fornication and adultery.

· Lascivious communications are common on some web sites. One of the more prominent used by youngsters is known as “My Space.” It is prolifically punctuated with the vilest forms of language and salacious photographs. Amazingly, these frequently are employed by those who identify themselves as “Christians,” though they obviously have no understanding of the significance of that term. Some teens use the site innocently, but they are in a “mine field” of danger and evil influence. Christian parents should supervise carefully what their youngsters are viewing, as they spend hours of their leisure time on the “net.”

Another site, http://home.att.net/~jackthompson/page166.htm , goes into how Lasciviousness and most of our dancing today are tied to together.

Yes, Lasciviousness is a sin and it appears in the bible nine times, most noted is Gal. 5:19 where is it described as the fruit of the flesh. The other eight times Mark 7:22, Romans 13:13, II Corinthians 12:21, Ephesians 4:19, I Peter 4:3, II Peter 2:7, II Peter 2:18, and Jude 1:4.

So are you saying is dancing wrong?

No, as the sites that support the modern dances they use that David danced. However David was not dancing on a female or a male. Second he was dancing to praise God so that throw their credibility out the window. It is okay to dance but make sure it does not have any sexual/sensual acts in it. Also if it is a dance you do not feel right do in church, there is a strong chance it is wrong. If you really like doing that type of dances (Modern Dances), then take you a wife or husband and do it with them. It will still not be good to do it in church though.

Again I would like to apologize to those with whom I recruited or danced the modern dances. I did not know the error of my ways but as a way of atonement (ask forgiveness from you) I tried to inform you about the revelation I have received. Therefore you will not be in the dark as I was. Eventhough I was found guilty, through the blood of Jesus I know the Lord forgives me but please do not let the actions I had performed make the words void.

God loves you and I believe He gave me this revelation to give to you all. I pray that when you hear His voice, harden not your hearts. Sit down and ask yourself honestly, If Jesus was to come back and see me doing a certain thing, would He be pleased with me? May the Lord of our salvation grant you grace, mercy, and His Spirit with you.

Take care and be blessed,

Greg Stargell

The Right One? Part 2

I did not expect to come up with a part 2 when I wrote the first one. However one friend from Iowa State, Dr. Jefferies made a comment on the first one on the lines of the following, what did the people who marriage did not work do. I asked different people and pondered from previous observations (I have seen a much significant amount of marriages that had failed or at least one of the party is not happy in the marriage than happy marriages). It was not really that when I got to Iowa I really start seeing a better number of people that are married and actually like each other. Especially when I became active in the church. However sorry about the tangent but the question at hand is what not to do when looking for the right one. I used the observation, divorce records (data about divorces from lawyers), etc to answer this question. I have seen numerous things however it took an article from Gillis Triplett Ministries to some of the reasons to the following:

1. They become the wrong mate
2. They chose the wrong mate
3. Their marriage was established on a weak foundation, (i.e. sex, unplanned pregnancy, her biological clock, his need to control women)
4. They didn’t properly get to know each other
5. They were unequally yoked
6. Their past relationships/marriages came back to haunt them
7. One or both spouses:
o Made false assumptions about the other
o Brought harmful baggage or unresolved issues into their union
o Had soul ties with past: spouses, lovers or sex partners
o Did not know the “Art of Communication”
o Were too immature to marry
o Could not accept the other’s child(ren)
o Entered the union infected the HIV/AIDS virus or some other STD
o Harbored bitterness toward the opposite sex prior to their wedding
o Had a defective/bad character
o Married for the wrong reason(s)
o Were bound by a generational curse of divorce
o Had an improper vision for the family
o Had unrealistic marital expectations
o Didn’t comprehend the financial responsibilities or marriage
o Never had proper marital role models
o Never submitted to pre-marital training, counseling of mentoring
o Didn’t know, understand or comprehend what “True Love” is
o Didn’t know or understand what commitment is
o Didn’t know, understand or respect the sacredness of the marriage covenant
http://www.gillistriplett.com/rel101/articles/marriages_fail.html

When you think of it reason 1, 2, and 3 are the result of 4. All these reasons could be solved with CCG (Communication, Compromise, and God). What about Love, you might ask. Well if God is in both parties life then they will have love for is written that God is Love. I have written a note earlier titled “What is Love”, explaining the three types of love. However the love that is giving by God is considered to be AGAPE (unconditional) Love. Also based on I Corinthians 13: 4-7 is a summary of that love:

Love is patient
Love is kind
Love is not jealous
Love is not boastful
Love is not arrogant
Love is not rude
Love is not self seeking
Love is not easily angered
Love does not hold grudges
Love does not delight in evil
Love rejoices in the truth
Love protects
Love trusts
Love hopes
Love preserves

For those who are worried about the biological clock or who is planning on getting married in the future, I beseech you to take the Love list and everywhere the Love is located place your name( and your pattern if possible) there for the one which is carried out. Whatever one that you cannot put your name by, then it can be an eye opener to what is needed to be worked on. I believe that the more attributes that a couple possess the better there chances a having a successful marriage.

I hope this has been beneficial and enlightening for you. I pray that the Lord that the words will at least be taken to heart. Also as usual questions, comments and concerns are welcome. Take care and may the Lord bless you. Remember God loves you and I do too.

DISCLAIMER: I do not claim to be an expert or a know-it-all. I am going off of observations and other support material for the following message.

The Right One?

I had went to a Convergence Event. This is where the women and the men came together and talked about different issues eventhough the issues mainly dealt with relationship between a man and woman. I am glad to see so many men and women with their head on straight. The Dean of Student and his wife got up and talked about marriage. I ended up asking them the question I had been asking just about every successful Christian marriage I see (Not only been married for long amount of years but happy as well). The Question is: “How did you know that the person you are married to was the one?”. I even read an article by Bishop T.D. Jakes which should be something I had posted in 2006. As you can imagine I have received many different answers but they a common base which is they Trusted God. There may be different things that brought them together but all in all they trusted God. This makes sense looking at Matthew 6:33, along with the verses before it explains that if you seek God first and his will, he will take care of the rest. The following are some of the answers I have received.

Men

- She remind me of my mother
- She was everything I was looking for
- We had a spiritual connection
- I was able to bring my defenses down around her
- She helped me to be a better person
- I could not help but to love her eventhough I tried not to
- Both sides of our family get along
- We had been through so much together anyways

Women

- He helped me be a better person
- He showed me Christ-like love
- He had the characteristics of a good father
- He is able to communicate well
- He remind me of my daddy
- I feel real comfortable around him
- He has a heart of gold
- He was able to treat me the same when he is around his friends like he would when we are alone

I hope this observation will help you in your search for the mate that you want to marry. Also as always any questions, comments, etc. are welcomed. Take Care and Be Blessed.

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS AN OBSERVATION, I AM NOT CLAIMING THIS WHAT IS NEEDED TO GET MARRIED BUT THIS IS BASED ON MY EXPERIMENT THAT I MADE.

Enough Is Enough

“Go ahead and have sex, you can always ask God for forgiveness afterwards, God know our hearts”
“I can’t help it”.
“I went before the church to be saved and I was told once saved will stayed saved”
“I do not need to go to church; I can praise Him at home”
“Well at least I am not as bad as others”

These comments are comments I heard while growing up. What is interesting is that these are some comments by people who profess to be saved at least 10 or more years. So what is the problem, you ask? These comments are expected from a person in the world or just got saved. (Stop, see you are judging people, you are not God) I know I am not God, but I am stating fact, if you had a child that was 10 years old and he had not learned to walk, talk, or any other things a child should learn by the age of 2 then you would think there is a problem. (Well the child could be a slow learner) If that is so then probably the child may be classified as mentally retarded or special to be politically correct. That is the same way with some of the Christians in the world, they are spiritually retarded. What is sad, these Christians end up being evangelist, deacons, choir members, and even preachers. No wander when people from the world look at the church they say look at those hypocrites. These spiritual retarded people we will call them the Carnal Man. These people confess Jesus to be in their life and maybe at the head but their life states differently. For actions speaks louder than words as I heard many times, so if a person living the same way as the world live then there is a problem. Not only would a carnal man not heed to sound doctrine but will give some of their own. Therefore they will tell people doctrine or twist God’s word to make a loop hole to accommodate their lifestyle, hence the quotes above.

“Go ahead and have sex, you or we can always ask God for forgiveness afterwards, God knows our hearts”
I personally have been guilty of a quote similar to this in the past. I was not informed of Romans 6:1-3 at the time:

1-3So what do we do? Keep on sinning so God can keep on forgiving? I should hope not! If we've left the country where sin is sovereign, how can we still live in our old house there? Or didn't you realize we packed up and left there for good? That is what happened in baptism. When we went under the water, we left the old country of sin behind; when we came up out of the water, we entered into the new country of grace—a new life in a new land! (Message Bible)

We got to recognize that Jesus paid the debt so that we do not have to live under the slavery of sin. I do not remember hearing about any slaves after they escaped and obtain freedom, came back and said, Master I want to be a slave again. However that is what we do when we make these comments like these, it is like saying to Satan I want to be a slave of sin again. (I believe would be on my side if I say I can’t help it) Oh really, the bible states differently ( Matt. 5: 17-20; 29-30).

29And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
30And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
This does not mean to dismember your body literally. This mean whatever you are weak in try to do all you can to get away to be put in the situation. Let us take Superman, his weakness is Kryptonite. It would not be wise for Superman to fight villains in a Kryptonite Warehouse. Same for us, if we have a weakness of fornicating, it does not make sense spiritually to be alone with a female or male you are attracted to in your room or house especially at times you should not be alone. Now think about it, who calls someone to come or go to their house at 1:00 A.M under normal circumstances just to talk. Therefore in the example if someone causes you to fornicate then you have three choices: Stay with the person and sin, Get married to the person, or cut them off. The same with all sin: stealing, backbiting, gossiping, hatred. The Lord gives you choices, He will not force you to choose the right one, but He will help you to do right if you choose the right way.
“I went before the church to be saved and I was told once saved will stayed saved”
“I do not need to go to church; I can praise Him at home”
These phrases I heard from people that I just randomly spoke with at different times. Some of them had said they had been saved for numerable years and can quote scriptures out of the bible. However ask them what the scripture mean you either get a blank stare or an outrageous meaning. The common one is Romans 3:23. I heard some interesting meanings like on the path of “since we all had sin. I can sin all I want to and God will forgive me.” Unfortunately people forget the keyword, repent, you have to repent of your sins in order to be forgiven.

Repent is defined as:
1: to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one's life
2: to feel regret or contrition; to change one's mind

So if you repent, you are turning yourself away from the unclean thing. Once you get saved, there are two parts you go through which are simultaneous to each other.
1) Justification: You are pardoned of your sins
2) Sanctification: You are in the process of being made holy.
What people miss out is the Sanctification part, which includes letting the Holy Spirit inside and working the inside. Then there is some who let the Holy Spirit in but do not deny the flesh DAILY. Therefore, they backslide and thinking that living anyway is okay because they eventually become reprobate. If you don’t believe me, look at Romans 1:28, II Timothy 3:8, and Titus 1:16 and reprobate mean to condemn strongly as unworthy, unacceptable, or evil. Also it is interesting to hear saints say that they don’t need to go to church. Sometimes it you will downtrodden and weak spiritually, and when you get the word of God it refreshes you and you can out to battle again. I doubt anyone would go on a road trip in a country town and pass by a gas station with the gas hand on the car at a quarter tank, because you do not know where the next gas station will be and risking running out of gas. Same thing is true with a church with a preacher that preaches the REAL Word of God, not what makes you happy all the time. I can understand that it can be hard choosing a church because of False Teachers. However read my not note titled Salvation on some tips. As Christians we are needed in the church because when new believers come then can learn how to live in Christ’s way. I like how Rev. Knight says,” You may be the only bible that anyone would ever read”

“Well at least I am not as bad as others”
What is funny is that this was a reoccurring phrase one week during my time in Iowa. I mean it seem like I was hearing this from everyone I spoke with that week. Sometimes I do not know how it fit into some of the conversations. It is interesting how we get on the Phelps family about judging others when we do it ourselves. Maybe not like they do it, but that phrase is a perfect example of it. People remember sin is sin and the wages of sin is death, Romans 6:23. It does not matter if you steal a million dollars or a stick of gum. If you do not repent you are in debt to the same wages, death. So comparing yourself to another person is kind of useless since they are flesh like you. I would think it would be better to compare oneself to Jesus especially if we are CHRISTians. I know some of you may just be starting off in the faith, so I will give you a starting point, put yourself in the Pastor’s shoes. If your pastor did a particular thing like commit have sex with women in your church would you follow them. If the pastor preaches a sermon drunk or high (not to mention smelling like alcohol) would you come for Bible Study. People naturally put high standards on a Pastor, those similar standards one should make for themselves as well to reach, since the Pastor should be following Christ.

I did not write this note to judge anyone, just to give truth and from that truth you examine yourself. So I encourage you to keep growing in Christ. I hope these words will help anyone to open their eyes if they are not living in God’s Will.

Stay blessed and remember to that God loves you and I do too,
Greg "Da Spokesman" Stargell