Whew! Sundays Over!

May 26, 2018May 25, 2018 / Mark Brady / 2 Comments

Photo by Michael Wall of Wall2Wall Foto

A girl in my 11^th grade English class once said, “I love being Catholic! I can have my sins forgiven Saturday night, and then live like hell the rest of the week.” Now, I’m just quoting her and not saying a thing about the Catholic faith, so please, no emails. I’m not Catholic, but being honest, have had similar thoughts. Only mine are more like, “Ok. I got the Sunday thing done. Now, I can indulge my flesh.”

A fight, a struggle. I want to do the right thing. I want to please and obey God, but I find no matter how long I have been doing this, I still struggle with thoughts of wanting to do what I want to do. Some are just down right thoughts of being lazy.

The great apostle Paul struggled as well.

Rom 7:18 I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it.
Rom 7:19 I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. (MSG)

So how, or what are we to do then? 1) Of course ask God to help us. We will never be able to do it on our own. 2) Bring every thought into captivity. Be honest about the thought, and if it is a bad thought then start looking for the door that has a sign above it that reads, “EXIT”. God promises to make a way of escape. Sometimes that exit may be praying. Have you ever sinned while praying? I haven’t. Leave the room. See what your family is doing, or call a friend. And if they are a trusted friend, tell them you are struggling.

My classmate, I mentioned in the beginning, was married. Her husband shoved a shotgun in her mouth and pulled the trigger before that school year was over. I have often wondered what God thinks when people live like she did on a regular basis. I yield my opinions to God. This one thing I know for sure: I can overcome, because Jesus overcame first, and so can you.

Starved for God

April 22, 2017 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

Starving man “I’m looking for the next party!” One recently shared with me. The next day I read the following scriptures from the Old Testament book of Hosea 9: 1-6 (MSG).

Don’t waste your life in wild orgies, Israel. Don’t party away your life with the heathen. You walk away from your God at the drop of a hat and like a whore sell yourself promiscuously at every sex-and-religion party on the street. All that party food won’t fill you up. You’ll end up hungrier than ever. At this rate you’ll not last long in GOD’s land: Some of you are going to end up bankrupt in Egypt. Some of you will be disillusioned in Assyria. As refugees in Egypt and Assyria, you won’t have much chance to worship GOD– Sentenced to rations of bread and water, and your souls polluted by the spirit-dirty air. You’ll be starved for GOD, exiled from GOD’s own country. Will you be homesick for the old Holy Days? Will you miss festival worship of GOD? Be warned! When you escape from the frying pan of disaster, you’ll fall into the fire of Egypt. Egypt will give you a fine funeral! What use will all your god-inspired silver be then as you eke out a living in a field of weeds?

I feel sorry for the one who spoke those words to me. Their soul will always be starving for God. They will continue striving to feed their soul with the things of this world. I did my best to share this with them, but they didn’t want to hear the message, the Truth, and we know the Truth will set them free, and satisfy their soul.

Allergic to God

February 5, 2017February 5, 2017 / Mark Brady / Leave a comment

end-times-2 Don’t be naive. There are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. They’ll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they’re animals. Stay clear of these people.

Sound familiar? Like something right out of the news? Or remind you of people you know, work with, or even in your family? The above is a description of end times from 2 Timothy chapter 3, verses 1-5. (MSG) Those words were written over 2000 years ago.

GOD KNOWS WHAT WOULD, IS, AND WILL HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE.

I Tasted Sin

February 1, 2015February 1, 2015 / Mark Brady / 1 Comment

Now I know what sin taste like! I was buying some sparkling water in downtown Chicago when there it was. Its dark covering looked so appealing. It was as if the packaging itself was saying, “Mark, come hither.” It’s okay. You can eat just one. This one small bag won’t hurt you. Look, it’s a limited edition. You better hurry. You don’t want to miss out. You don’t want to be the only one that doesn’t know what this taste like do you?”

Isn’t that just like sin? I know these phrases have been used from the beginning of mankind. From satan tempting Eve with the forbidden fruit to this bag of milk chocolate Wavy Lay’s potato chips. “Milk” that’s healthy isn’t it? Doesn’t milk do a body good? “Yes!” I bought the bag.

Sin – it draws us in through the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. You see – you want. You imagine – you feel. You think – you become. All of this starts in the mind. That is why the bible instructs us to “bring EVERY thought into captivity.” Capture the thought, and let it become subjective to God’s words, God’s ways, and God’s plan.

Sometimes sin isn’t presented in obvious packages, but introduced to us subtlety, slowly. Watch, be aware, and be mindful of how satan tries to use your weaknesses to kill, steal, or destroy you. He doesn’t care about you, he is just trying to get revenge on God

Oh! In no way am I saying it’s a sin to eat chocolate covered potato chips, but find a group of people to share them with, so you don’t over indulge and become a gluten. Now that might be a sin.