Letter To My Friends

Here’s just a few word’s God gave me about life
He said to put it in a letter to my friends
Just a few words about all of our trials in life
You see, a life of chaos is not what He intends

God wants you to know true happiness
My love you were not meant to live in misery
Maybe I’m not the one to be giving advice
When my own life’s been such a mystery

But these words are not mine, but from above
Words given by our Lord and not my own
Our Father wants you to know the truth of His Word
And give you a life like you’ve never known

You see, His Son told us of His grace and His love
Every single word the He taught us was the truth
When we take it to our heart it brings us back from the dead
And restores our hearts to the vitality of our youth

So He gave me this message for you all my friends
He laid on my heart for you these few words and rhymes
He told me to share with you the gospel of His truth
The truth that will get us through all of these hard times

Jesus is the way the truth and the life for us all
Everyday His Word gives us a little something to inspire
He wants you to open up your eyes and your minds to His word
Trust in Him and your hearts will be filled with Holy Fire

Moment Of Prayer

I spent my life running after worldly pleasures
I spent my time gathering up worldly treasure
But I don’t do that anymore
I spent my days running, trying to find myself
I spent my years running through a private hell
But what’s all this running good for

I spent my life living an playing a sinning man
I spent my life living and dying fast as I can
I was living a lie for what it’s worth
I spent my life living for someone else’s dreams
I spent my life living and busting at the seams
I was dying for a rebirth

I spent my life living in shadowy shades of grey
I spent my life living it my own twisted way
A life that left me begging on my knees
I spent my life living broken, so weak in the faith
I spent my life living with no sense of a better way
Until a word and a touch set my soul so free

I spent my life living weak and deceived
I spent my life living what the world believed
Until a prayer showed me I’d been so wrong
I spent my life living it out so cold and alone
I spent my life living in a world of my own
But now my soul sings out a different song

I spent my life living as a wreck and a mess
I spent my life living refusing to confess
So lost I didn’t know where to begin
I spent my life living bound in chains
I spent my life living wrap up in my pain
But I was set free while praying to God amen

Finding Him

Over the years I’ve found God in the strangest places Places most people never thought of looking for Him I’ve found Him among people that most have forgotten People hurt by those who are happy to ignore them I found God on a sidewalk listening to a homeless man’s hurt Ministering to a man because other preachers didn’t want to His situation wasn’t much different from the rest of us All he wanted was somebody to listen to what he’d been through I found God in the voice of an addict as he testified Much of his testimony written in the lines on his face He told of how many had given up and written him off as dead But then a brother in Christ had shared some of our Lord’s grace I found God in a Hollywood actor’s heart Even after living a life of sin and debauchery He remembered where his life and blessings came from He listed God as his hero in his biography I found God in a rock singer’s words and music His lifestyle lead him to the grips of death and back again God’s grace lit a spark in his heart he had to share But many ‘Christians’ still only remember his sins I found God in the heart of a girl who had a past A young woman shamed by her tarnished history But she found grace while at her lowest of lows Now she shares Jesus and raises a family I found God in a fellow preacher’s heart But you say isn’t that the way it’s supposed to be But you haven’t seen the things that I have seen Preachers fueled not by love but by greed I found God up in the starry sky at night All of His creation on display for us all to see He created the wonders of the universe But He still took time to a man like me I found God while down on my knees in prayer Begging Him to please help me let go of all this hate I felt His hands on my shoulders and heard His voice As He saved my soul and assured me of my new fate I found God just in time to change my life The day I realized He had always been all around He saved my life and set my new course He gave me a new life to live a life unbound

The Remnant

A little over a week ago, I wrote a blog entitled 'Sick Day'. In it I spoke of my discouragement with the United Methodist Church and had basically decided to leave. In the time since then, much has happened. My friends returned from General Conference with news that all of the agendas being pushed by the ultra-liberal groups within the denomination had been shot down. Our church's laws in our Book of Discipline would not be changed to something contrary to the bible. It was due mainly to our brethren from Africa standing firm on biblical teachings that this happened. Though not everything went as we had hoped, enough happened to give many of us renewed hope in the UMC and a renewed vigor to continue to fight for our beliefs. I have decided to continue to fight the good fight. Even though some within our denomination view us as crazy and some even accuse us of being hatemongers, we will continue to stand our ground and stand for the Holy Bible being God's inspired Word.We simply believe that the bible is the truth. It means that what God calls sin in His Word is still sin to this day. It doesn't mean we hate anyone. We simply will not back down from our beliefs. Aside from this, the outpouring of love from my church family melted my heart. They understood my reasons for feeling the way I do, but truly did not want me to leave. Some of what they said broke my heart. I had to remind them that is was nothing of their doing that made me feel like leaving, but my discontent at the governing body of the denomination itself. That feeling continues, but I know that more good can be done from the inside, than looking in from the outside. So, my friends, I will not be leaving my home church. I will continue to stand for my beliefs. I will continue to be a part of the remnant. God bless you my friends, Pete.

Walking On The Edge

Why would a minister call his blog 'The Edge of Darkness'? Well, as a minister it is my calling to reach out to the lost, those souls who don't know God. Many people of the world have never had God witnessed to them or have never been witnessed to in a manner that connected with them. In many cases, they've been approached so aggressively that it actually drove them away from God instead of bringing them closer. They weren't shown 'the light', which is God through His Son Jesus the Christ and therefore have never recieved the Holy Spirit so that they may experience the spiritual rebirth needed in order to start walking in God's ways. So, in order to reach out to the lost and open their eyes to the deceptions of the world, you must walk along 'The Edge of Darkness'. God bless you my friends. Pete 5/5/12

Streams

For some reason I have streams on my mind tonight Like the ones I remember playing in as a kid Wandering down seemingly endless pathways Like paths we could have taken, but never did Streams that can flow so strongly at times But dry and fade away in times of drought Just as our life has it's own unique flow That dries and fades in times of doubt The streams can carry reviving waters to the fields Turning what was dead and brown back to vibrant colors Our lives can carry such love and joy through us When it shines, we're a light to countless others The streams carry precious water out to great rivers They become part of a larger body a greater whole We too are part of something greater than ourselves When we take part in life and join with other souls The stream that once struggled on it's lonely winding path Fighting such a treacherous world to make it a little farther Now it is part of a great river moving across the land Until it rests by fields of green in the still waters Just as the stream had to fight against the world by itself We too face many tribulations when we choose to walk alone But we can join our souls to something greater when we believe We can claim an inner peace, a peace we've never known We can allow our life's stream to continue to flow alone Or we can choose to join our souls to something so much greater We can allow our lifespring to fadeaway in the passage of time Or we can choose to spend eternity with our creator

Sick Day

I'm at home sick today. For those of you that know me, you know that I have chronic sinus problems that I deal with pretty much daily. This is one of the bad days. Sitting at home sick, gives me time to think. Something I don't know that I really want right now. I'd rather keep my mind occupied at the moment. You see, I'm getting ready to leave my home church that I love very much. I know what you must be thinking; 'If I love it so much, then why am I leaving?'. Well the past few years I've been part of the United Methodist Church. When I first started attending there, everyone just made me feel so welcome. They made me feel like family and to this day, I love several of them just like family. The thing is though, the governing body of the church at the highest levels is supporting agendas that go against my beliefs. They support allowing things into the church that go against the Holy Bible, against God's Word. This grieves me to my very soul. My faith is most important to me in life. Though I am compassionate toward people who are dealing with problems in their lives and those who are living different lifestyles, I'm also very hardedged about my beliefs. I believe to love the sinner, hate the sin. If someone isn't trying to live a Christlike life, I can still show them love even though I don't agree with how they're living. On the other hand, I don't believe in changing the church to accomadate a lifestyle contrary to biblical teaching. Either you believe in the bible in full or you don't believe in it at all. You don't put aside parts of it in order to make the church 'more inviting'. When you do that, you adopt a false religion. That is something I will not be a part of. Aside from that, I just don't feel I'm growing spiritually in the place I'm at right now. It quite simply is time to move on. A season of my life has ended and a new one is about to begin. It's time to once more step out of my comfort zone and follow the calling that God has placed on my heart. I'm still affiliated with several ministries, including my own, so I won't be out of church. As far as what I will call my home church, we'll just have to wait and see. I hope this hasn't discouraged any of you my friends. I hope it encourages you to take steps toward your own spiritual growth. Maybe it's time for you to begin a new season in your life as well. I'll leave you with this scripture. Ecclesiastes 3 New King James Version (NKJV) 1 To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: 2 A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted; 3 A time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up; 4 A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance; 5 A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones; A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing; 6 A time to gain, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to throw away; 7 A time to tear, And a time to sew; A time to keep silence, And a time to speak; 8 A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace. God bless you my friends, Pete 4-30-12