The Secret to Surrendering - Part 1

A while back I was thinking of this line that us Christians use all the time. It's sort of become apart of our Christianeese language. We say it so often we seldom stop to think, "What does it REALLY mean?"

So I asked the Lord, "What does it mean when we tell people 'You just need to surrender it to God!'?"

As I sat there the Holy Spirit reminded me of something in II Corintians 10:1-5. It says,

(1) Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you: (2) But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. (3) For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (4) (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) (5) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ."

It's in this passage that I found the secret to surrendering, and what it means to surrender something to God. But before we get to that, I want to quickly lay a foundation.

We are in a war. Each & everyone one of us are. We find ourselves fighting daily no matter if we realize it or not. That war that we fight in is not physical. It's spiritual.

Notice that in verse 3 that Paul says that "...we do not war after the flesh." We are at war, folks, but this war that we fight in we do not fight using physical tactics. We must use spiritual tactics because the battle that we're in is spiritual, as you will see here in a moment.

In verse 4 Paul writes that our weapons are not carnal. And our weapons can't be carnal! A physical weapon will not work on a spiritual enemy! Our weapons are spiritual, because our enemies are spiritual!

Ephesians 6:12 says, "...we wrestle not against flesh & blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

Our enemies are not people. Are REAL enemies are spiritual & they are evil, ugly, & demonic!

"Are you telling me that I have to fight against evil, demonic spirits?" Yes - I am. And if you didn't already know this then I'd like to inform you that you've been fighting these things your whole, entire life. You just never gave it any thought before.

The first thing that I'm asking is for you to get any images out of your head that Hollywood's placed in there. This is not like that.

The Bible talks about these things called "familiar spirits." (Click here to see the scriptures.) The job of the familiar spirit is to just simply follow you around, take note of your life. It becomes familiar with those things that terrify you. I becomes familiar with those things that tempt you. It hears the words that come out of your mouth. It sees how you react to certain situations & circumstances. It recognizes patterns in your life. It knows you so well that if it wanted to it could imitate you. (This is one of the reasons why people think they see ghost.)

So, these familiars spirits collect all this information concerning you, and it shares your information with other evil spirits. Such as the spirit of fear. The spirit of fear then comes to you & simply influences your thinking.

"You're not good enough."
"Nobody loves you."
"You're too fat! Nobody wants you!"
"He's going to leave you."
"You don't make him happy."
"You're too ugly."
"How can he respect you? You don't even respect yourself!"
"He's just going to do you like all the others."
"You're always going to be alone!"

I can go on & on & on & on. I'm sure some of you can, too!

But this is what the spirit of fear does. It prophecies to us! It tries to paint a picture of our future by telling us lies & half truths. Fear is a prophet. It's a false prophet. It doesn't even care if it's prophecies come to pass. All it wants is for you to apply your faith in it's words.

And it's easy for us to do that because our emotions are quick to agree with fear. For example: It's easy for us to imagine ourselves always being alone because we feel so lonely! So we attach our faith to that statement & accept it as truth.

However, it's not truth. It's still a lie. We just believe it.

---------> To read Part Two of the "Secret to Surrendering" click here! <--------

The Secret to Surrendering - Part 2

-------> To read Part 1 of the "Secret to Surrendering" click here. <-------

So, what do we do about this? How do we fight this?

We use what God has given us: His word.

If you keep reading in Ephesians 6 Paul goes on to talk about the armour of God. Ever piece of the armour serves a purpose defensively, except for one piece: The Sword of the Spirit, which Paul tells us point blank is the Word of God. It's an offensive weapon.

So, how do we use this Sword? Easy. Learn the Word of God & believe it. Apply your faith to it.

When fear tells you that you're always going to be alone, know what God's Word says about that. And instead of attaching your faith to fear's words, attach it to the Word of God & watch as fear's influences begins to get cut off!

Fear tells you that you're always going to be alone. God's Word says in Genesis that it is not good for man to be alone. God's Word tells us that He is ever present. Jesus said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." "My God shall supply all of your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." The list can go on & on!! :-)

Back to II Corinthians 10:4. He says, "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds..."

Strong holds are like a fortress. It's all those lies that you've believed about yourself. You see yourself as being unwanted & ugly. Someone tells you that you look pretty. That compliment cannot get through that wall. In otherwords you cannot accept it as truth.

Paul tells us that the weapons of our warfare are mighty to the pulling down of strong holds. The word that Paul uses there in the Greek for the words "pulling down" is the word "kathairesis," which speaks of demolition. In other words when you pull down strong holds by simply appling your faith to God's Word instead of fear it's like blowing the thing up!

Fear doesn't want you to give access to God's Word. That's why it builds up strong holds.

The word "strong hold" in the Greek is "ochyrōma" and it means, "a castle, stronghold, fortress" But it also speaks to "of the arguments and reasonings by which a disputant endeavours to fortify his opinion and defend it against his opponent."

See, the disputant is fear. Fear disputes with you what is truth so that you can believe it's lies.

You are fear's opponent. It's not Jesus. It's not God. It's you! God has given you His Word to use as a weapon against fear, worry, depression, anxiety, lust, greed, etc. Those are the disputants. We oppose them with the Word of God. We're the ones who have to do the fighting to tear down those strong holds that these spirits have built & fortified.

Moving on to II Corinthians 10:5. Paul tells us that the Word of God is mighty unto "casting down imaginations..."

Isn't it funny that when these evil spirits start prophecying to us that we let our imaginations run wild, acting out scenes in our mind of what's going to happen or how something's going to happen. It often plays out like a movie.

The Greek word for "imaginations" here is the word, "logismos", which speaks of reasoning or thought process. It's how we put our thoughts together, like a chain. This is how these evil spirits get us to apply our faith to their words. They simply make the suggestion & then we let our minds run wild until we see things from the point of view that it wants us to see it from.

He also tells us that the Word of God is might unto casting down "every high thing." The word Paul uses here for "high thing" is the Greek word, "hypsōma," which speaks of "elevated structure i.e. barrier, rampart, bulwark." You can look at it as sort of high-minded thoughts, meaning that we can become arrogant or haughty in our thinking when it comes to these issues. In other words: "I'm ugly. I'm unloveable. I'm too picky. This is the way that I'm always going to be. I can't change. Nobody can tell me different."

See the arrogance in that? We're the expert on our own condition & we don't want to believe that anyone or anything can help our condition change for the better.

The Bible says that these "imaginations" & these "high things" exalts themselves against the knowledge of God. Where do we find the knowledge of God? We find the knowledge of God in His Word (aka The Bible.)

In other words these "imaginations" & these "high things" try to make themselves look bigger, badder, & more powerful that God's Word. It plays out like this: "I know God's word says that I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me. And I know that God hasn't given me a spirit of fear, but of power, love, & a sound mind. I believe it, but....this is me we're talking about. This sort of thing happens to me everytime. This time won't be any different, so why even bother?!"

You've got the knowledge of God, but you've just let these things that you've imagined or these high minded thoughts exalt themselves against the Word of God! There's only one thing to do from here. Paul says right there at the end of II Corinthians 10:5 - we have to bring into captivity every thought.

Here's where the surrendering comes in.

Surrendering is allowing something to be taken captive by something else with greater power & authority. You have to surrender in order to be captured. Likewise you have to surrender your thoughts in order to bring them into captivity.

What do you surrender them to? You surrender them to the Lord. He's the One who has greater power & greater authority.

Fear tells you one thing. God's word tells you another. Who's the greater authority on the subject? Fear or God? God is. Trust God.

Fear tells you to go left. God tells you to go right. Which way do you go? Sure, it's not easy. Fear paints a picture of what's around the corner if you go right. He doesn't want you to go that way. Your emotions agree with fear. Your emotions "feel" like you should go left.

You take those thoughts captive by making yourself go right anyways. You surrender by no longer fighting, but by giving in to God & His Word. After all, He's given you His word. You can trust Him.

But not only has He given you His word, He's also given you something else. It's another weapon of our warfare, and it's found in Luke 10:19. It's there that Jesus says, "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you."

Now here's the crazy thing: Jesus uses the word "power" twice in this verse, but he's actually using two different words there that mean two different things.

He says, "Behold, I give unto you power..." That word, "power" in the Greek is the word "exousia," which in short means "authority."

The next time Jesus uses the word power he's talking about the enemy's power or in the Greek "dynamis," which means "power, influence, strength, ability."

So in other words Jesus has given us exousia (authority) over the enemy's dynamis (power)! The enemy's power is not greater than the authority in which Jesus has given to us! So, I can take those thoughts captive. They do have to surrender to the authority in which Jesus has given to me. At that point I can attack these strong holds, imaginations, & every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God with the Word of God, pulling them down, destroying them so that the enemy can't use them again to gain a foot hold in my life.

WOW! What good news!

So, fear - you have to go in the name of Jesus!
Depression - you have to go in the name of Jesus!
Jealousy - you have to go in the name of Jesus!
Addiction - you have to go in the name of Jesus!
Dispair - you have to go in the name of Jesus!
Hopelessness - you have to go in the name of Jesus!
Lust - you have to go in the name of Jesus!

Rage - you have to go in the name of Jesus!
Hatred - you have to go in the name of Jesus!

What troubles you? Call it out by name! Use your authority given to you by Christ! MAKE WAR!!!!



Matthew 11:12 - "...the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force."

Speaking to the Storm

It's funny. The last blog I posted was about Jesus speaking to the storm.

This blog isn't so much a teaching, as much as it is a testimony of God's awesome power.

August 21st, 2011, I was doing a show in Louisville, Ohio called Rock the Park. I was hired to be the host/MC for the event featuring Oh Tear the Veil, Chasing Chariots, Shine Bright Baby, & Hawk Nelson.

It was a picture perfect day, weather wise. I mean you could not have asked for a more beautiful day for the month of August. Not too hot, blue skies, sunshine. It was nice!


Shine Bright Baby performing at
Rock the Park 2011 - Louisville, Ohio
©2011 Taylor Nervo / TVN Photography
www.wix.com/tnervo12/tvnphotography

 The concert started at 6pm. It was looking like it was going to be a beautiful night for a show, and it was! Everything was going well until Shine Bright Baby's set. That's when the clouds quickly started coming in & things started getting dark.

After Shine Bright Baby finished up their set, Pastor Jeff Bogue took to the stage to deliver an evangelistic message. As he was up there speaking, the clouds kept getting darker & darker. You could feel the winds start picking up. There were even a few sprinkles.

Backstage, I think anyone who had a smartphone had a radar up on their phone, watching the situation closely.

Hawk Nelson was scheduled to go on stage promptly at 8pm, followed by fireworks at 9pm, but with the weather situation quickly changing & the severity of it uncertain, a decision was made to delay Hawk Nelson.


So, I took to the stage to announce to the crowd that due to the storm Hawk Nelson would not be out for another 10 to 15 minutes. After that I did my best to keep the crowd pumped up & focused.

As I started into one of my jokes, something just hit me deep down inside: Speak to the storm. I knew it was God. I had to do this.

So, with mic in hand I told the crowd, "I want to do something here. In the Bible Jesus spoke to the storm & it worked. I know it will work here. I want to ask every single one of you to turn around and look up at the clouds. And on the count of three I want you speak to the storm & say with me 'No Rain in Jesus Name!'"

Here's a picture of me speaking to the crowd of 4,000 at Rock the Park 2011.

©2011 Taylor Nervo / TVN Photography
www.wix.com/tnervo12/tvnphotography

 I looked out across the crowd as people quickly turned around. Some even pointed up at the sky. I counted "1-2-3" and all at the same time over 4,000 people spoke to that storm & said with me, "No Rain in Jesus Name!"

I immediately went back into comedian/host mode, telling jokes & trying to keep the crowd pumped up for Hawk Nelson. I assured them that the show would go on, that Hawk Nelson would be out in a couple of minutes, and that we would be having fireworks tonight.

As I was talking an amazing thing started to happen: the clouds started breaking up!

A few minutes later one of the backstage volunteers came out onto the stage and tapped me on the shoulder. I stopped talking, & turned to listen to what the man had to tell me.

You should have seen the smile on this guys face! It was PRICELESS!! He was obviously pumped up about something!

Rainbow! A true sign from God!

©2011 Taylor Nervo / TVN Photography
www.wix.com/tnervo12/tvnphotography

After he told me what it was that he had to tell me, I quickly moved the microphone up to my mouth & proudly announced to the crowd that if you looked off to the side of the stage up in the sky you will see a rainbow!

It was so cool, because everyone was pointing up at the sky! You could hear them say, "Ooo LOOK! It's a rainbow!" They were absolutely amazed!

I said, "In the Bible the rainbow is a sign of God's covenant with Noah. Today 4,000 people spoke to that storm & God heard you! He placed that rainbow in sky so that you would know that He heard you!"

"Guys, remember this day, and never forget! Speak to your storms! God hears you!"

Jesus & the Storm

Have you ever found yourself caught up in one of life's many storms?

Do you feel trapped? Are you begining to panic? And you find yourself

desperately looking for a way out?

If so then this message is for you.

 

Jim Tressel

Today I had someone that I love, someone who's VERY close to me question my character over a post that I had made in regards to Jim Tressel. I was told that I was acting judgemental & from this person's perspective it appears as if I harbor hatred towards Jim Tressel.


I am writing this, today, to address what was said & to clear the air about my thoughts on this whole Jim Tressel situation.

First off, I don't hate the man. Now, grant it I'm no Tressel fan by any means! I never have been, & I can't say that currently I'm a fan of his. But I want to make myself clear - In no way, shape, or form do I hate Jim Tressel.

I was accused of reveling in Tressel's troubles. Now, I admit I was. Football is football & anyone who follows football to the slightest degree does get emotionally caught up into it. Many of us allow football to bring out the worst in us. We get emotionally attached to our teams, to certain players, & even to certain coaches. And then there's our "bad guys" who we love to see get what we feel they deserve.

I'll admit that I allowed football to bring out the worst in me & I'll also admit that I was reveling in what's going on with Tressel. To me, with all that's coming out in the media about him, he is getting what he deserves. I confess that I have been enjoying it a little too much.

The fact is Jim Tressel's not enjoying himself right now. His sins are being exposed to the world, & that is a hard thing for a man to deal with. It's harder than most of us can understand because many of us have not had our sins, our mistakes, & our shortcomings exposed on such a grand scale as this. Most of us, if we want to be truthful, still keep our sins, mistakes, & shortcomings hidden. The difference between us & Jim Tressel: We haven't been caught. He got caught.

One of the issues that I've always had with Tressel is I've always questioned his character. He has put faith & integrity out there so much, but I always had a feeling that he wasn't on the up-and-up.

While I've questioned Jim Tressel's character, I've never questioned the man's Christianity. I believe that Jim Tressel has a relationship with Jesus Christ. I believe that Jim Tressel is not perfect. I believe that Jim Tressel, himself, probably feels like the world's biggest hypocrite right now.

I John chapter 4 verses 20-21 say this: "If someone says, 'I love God" but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don't love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And He has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their Christian brothers & sisters."

If anything that I've said or done in regards to Jim Tressel have appeared to be hatred, I want to apologize. I'm sorry that my words and/or actions have given anyone that impression. I do not hate him.

Because I don't know Jim Tressel on a personal level, I am in no place to determine if he truely is a Christian or not. He says he is, & I will take him at his word on that. Tressel must work out his own salvation with fear & trembling just as I have to. So, I won't even take his faith into question. Jim Tressel is my brother in Christ.

With that being said, I am a Christian before I am a football fan. I'm a Christian before I am an Michigan fan. I'm a Christian before I'm a husband & a father. Pretty much I'm a Christian before I'm anything else.

My Christian family comes before my football family. While Tressel's not apart of my football family, he is apart of my Christian family & I will pray for him & support him starting right now!

So, Lord....first I want to confess my own sin. I've allowed myself to be caught up in all this hoopla surrounding Jim Tressel. My words & actions have came across as hatred towards a Christian brother, & even though Jim Tressel will probably never see them, Lord Jesus you have. Other's have, as well, & I haven't done a really good job of letting the world see You in me, Lord Jesus.

Lord, we get so blood thirsty sometimes. We want to see justice served. And while you are the God of Justice, it's not your will that any should perish, but that all should repent. You would rather see someone repent & turn back to you, Lord, than to recieve what it is that they deserve. We all deserve death, but your will is for us to repent & have life. Lord, please forgive me for lusting after Tressel's punishment.

I ask you, Lord Jesus, to please forgive Tressel of all his sins & tresspasses, too. Lord, bring restoration to his life! Use this situation, Lord God, to bring all those impurities to the surface & for them to be gone out of Jim Tressel's life. Let him be purified like silver, Lord God, so that in Your mighty hands he can be a mighty weapon in this world.

Father God, for his family I ask that you strengthen them. Let them feel Your presence during this hard time. Let them know that you're near. Quickly bring peace, Holy Spirit, to the Tressel house hold.


Lord, Jesus, please, surround Jim Tressel & his family with men & women of God who are going to speak truth into his life, who are going to give him Godly council, & who are going to give him the love, support, & correction that he needs & that can only come from You.

Above all, Lord, protect him & perserve him for your future. May the world see Your glory in all of this!In Jesus' name. Amen.

Rapture Jokes

The Date: May 21st, 2011
The Time: 10am to 5pm

All day I had been making rapture jokes along side of my co-workers. We were having a lot of fun joking about the end of the world, and even teasing each other about it. Being a comedian & a youth pastor I probably had the best jokes out of everyone, mostly because I knew what I was talking about.

The Time 5:00pm
After work I bump into a local pastor who I haven't seen in a while. I sat with him at his table in the resteraunt & we talk a while.

The Time: 5:50pm
We're walking out the door of the resteraunt together. Harold Camping had predicted that the rapture would take place at 6pm that day.

Our Conversation:
Local Pastor: Well, guy, it's been good seeing ya! Hope to see you again, soon!
Comedian Eric Johnson: Don't worry. You could see me in another 10 minutes!
Local Pastor: Hahahahahahahaha! That was a good one!
Comedian Eric Johnson: Hahahahahaha!! Thanks, Pastor! See ya in a few!

The Time: 6:02pm
I'm driving home from work & I'm reflecting on the day's events, or should I say at this point lack of event. I'm thinking about all the jokes I cracked, how I sat with the local pastor & how both of us were even cracking jokes & then the Holy Spirit hit me:

"...in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth..."

I quickly examined myself & discovered that I had done wrong in the eyes of God. The Rapture is apart of the Truth, & here I was making a mockery of it, scoffing at it infront of non-believers!

The Holy Spirit began convicting me, quickly sending me the message that if I don't take the Rapture seriously infront of non-believers, they will never take it seriously. My laughter & my jokes is actually HURTING them because I'm showing them that Christ's return is nothing to take seriously.

I thought on this all weekend. Finally Monday afternoon I go & grab my Bible. I look up in II Peter where the apostle Peter talks about "in the last days scoffers will come..." and I discovered something: Peter wasn't so much as talking about the world as he was talking about the church!

I read the whole book of II Peter about 4 times. Just kept reading it over & over & over. Just about everything that Peter has to say in this book applies to the whole "May 21st - Rapture Prediction" thing we got going on right now.

In II Peter 1:12-19 we're encouraged & instructed to pay close attention to scripture. Then in verses 20 through 21 Peter says something really cool:

"Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophets own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God." (Emphasis mine.)

Harold Camping used math formulas to make his May 21st prediction. That's both human understanding & initiative.

Peter goes on in chapter 2 to talk about false prophets, & he goes on to describe what kind of damage a false prophet does, & how to recognize one.

Then in chapter 3, Peter warns us starting in verse 3:

"Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. They will say "What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created."

First off, who has the promise that Christ will return? The church. Jesus made the promise to the church, not the world. The world can not talk of having a promise given to them. Only the church can.

Secondly, who believes that the world was created? Surely it's not the athiest! It's not the science community! It's not Hollywoood! It's not the media! It's believers! Peter is talking about Christians. He's talking about mockers & scoffers within the church, not outside of it!

He ends the chapter & book with these words:

"I am warning you ahead of time, dear friends. Be on guard so that you will not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people and lose your own secure footing....."

What wicked people is Peter talking about? He's talking about the false prophets, mockers, & scoffers. He's talking about people in the church who can cause us to "lose your own secure footing...."

Folks, it's not people in the world who can cause us (Christians) to lose our secure footing, it's people in the church.

And likewise, it's people in the church like you & me who can cause those outside of the church to never get a footing in the first place, much less a secure one.

Let's be careful.

Karma vs. Grace

If there's 2 words that I hate hearing Christians use it's the words "Luck" & "Karma." These words simply shouldn't exist in a Christian's vocabulary. (Editors Note: To read my views on "luck" please read my blog titled "Luck.")

The Law of Karma is basically this: If you do good, good things will happen to you. If you do bad then bad things will happen to you. Depending on your religious views it will happen to you either in this lifetime or another, & what happens to you today could be the result of things that have taken place in a previous lifetime.


The idea of Karma is found in many religions, chiefly Hindu & Buddhist. Karma is actually foundational to both systems of belief, and can even be found in Wiccan & other "new age" type of religions.

But karma is not just exclusive to those systems of belief. Many Christians & people of other religions who believe in God or a "god" also subscribe to the belief known as karma. You hear it in the way they talk

For instance ever heard someone ask the question:

"Why does good things always happen to bad people? And bad things happen to good people?"

That, folks, is karma. I think most of us are guilty of thinking that way at one time in our life. Some of us are there right now & that's why I feel that now is the time for me to address the "Law of Karma" in relation to Christianity.

To get a true perspective of karma you first have to look at it through the perspective of God the Father. The perspective we currently have of karma is through the eyes of man, and unfortunately man's eyes never have the best perspective.

Let's take a look at some of the things from God's word, so that we can get His perspective on it. But before we do, let me remind you what "The Law of Karma" says. The "Law of Karma" says if you do good, good things will happen to you & if you do bad then bad things will happen to you.

Here's what God's word says:

"As it is written: There is none righteous. No. Not one." - Romans 3:10
"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." - Romans 3:23
"The wages of sin is death..." Romans 6:23

Ok. If karma is true, then we're all screwed. If good things happen to good people, & bad things happen to bad people then in God's eyes we're all bad (sinners) people and we all deserve death. If karma is true then it's a merry-go-round that we can NEVER get off because we're all bad people, and we should expect nothing but the worst from God.

It's a good thing for us that karma is not a true "law" as some believe it to be. God the Father made a way for us to get off of this merry-go-round & it's summed up in one little word called "Grace."

The Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8-9

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."

It's by placing our faith in Jesus (the gift of God (See John 3:16)) that God's grace is extended to us. It's Jesus that pulls us off of this merry-go-round of works that Satan spins with his lie called "karma."

Karma is a lie because in order for karma to be true it would have to be a law established by God, which simply can not be found in the word of God.

Instead what we find is the law of grace. The Apostle Paul says it like this in II Timothy 1:9 (NLT):

"For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it,  but because that was His plan from before the beginning of time- to show us His grace through Christ Jesus."

From BEFORE the beginning of time....GRACE. Not karma. Wow. Enough said.

Plunder Hell to Populate Heaven

Today marks a first in both my career as a comedian & my ministry as a minister. Today I booked a show at a bar.

Normally most Christian entertainers mostly stick to entertaining at Christian venues.  We stick to church events, & other "church" type functions. Yet if you talk to the entertainer they will tell you that their "ministry" is an "outreach."

Who are they fooling? They're preaching to the choir!! In some cases they're not even preaching - they're only entertaining.

I know it sounds like I'm being pretty critical. I am. But this blog is just as much directed at myself as it is them.

I'll be honest here, folks....I'm scared!! Even though I'm taking my Pastor with me, it's still me in front of all those people, most of them intoxicated, with a microphone in my hand talking. This is my Elijah & the 450 prophets of Baal.

I've heard this term used over & over again: You've got to plunder hell to populate Heaven. Going into enemy territory is never easy, but it is necessary. There's people in there who are dying mentally, physically, emotionally, & especially spiritually. They need Jesus, but they're not going to find Him in that bar unless someone brings Jesus in.

Please keep me in prayer as I prepare myself for this 1-night mission trip. I do need to hear from God on what to say & what to do. I need to hear from God while I'm there. Not only that, but there's someone there who needs to hear from God, and that's what is most important.

Thank you guys for your continued love & support!!

Many blessings,
Eric