Article by Dr. Les Hollon, Pastor, St. Matthews Baptist Church

Living requires courage.

Courage for you to be the person whom God is creating you to be.  Courage to do that which God is calling you to do.  Along the way of courage, fear always shows up.

God speaks directly to our fears.  David wrote in Psalm 23:4, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for the Lord is with me; thy rod and thy staff they do comfort me.”  In the shadow lands - not able to see clearly, overcast by death - temptation lurks to give way to evil.  But David, reassured by God, said fear would not control him.

Putting one foot in front of the other is the key to getting through the valley of the shadow.  Trusting God with each moment of every day means that the Shepherd, not evil, will see us through.

Fear paralyzes us in the grip of the shadow.  Faith frees us to walk with enough light to see & feel safe in God’s rod & staff.

Left to ourselves there is a lot to fear.  We live in a world where there is no perfect safety net that catches us from everything.  Our society is characterized as the information age, in which the knowledge base that we have now may only be 3 percent of what we will have in 2020.  The average American changes his/her address every seven years, and with most people changing jobs seven times before retirement, there are future challenges people may fear.  

Even so … we may have a confidence, in the midst of momentary fear, that as we follow the Shepherd our fear turns into faith, and our faith into faithfulness.

Pastor Les Hollon

“We don’t want to feel helpless, so we use fear, anger, addiction … to block out our helpless feelings.  The fact is that if we cannot openly face our feeling of helplessness, we cannot receive help.  It is important that we accept our helplessness, taking it to God and allowing Him to be strong where we are weak.  When we let Him be God, we receive continuous healing …”
-David F. Allen

This article was written by Les Hollon, Pastor of St. Matthews Baptist Church.  For more information about turning fear to courage through faith, St. Matthews Baptist Church, or to contact Dr. Hollon, click over to St. Matthews Baptist Church.

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Article by Make The Days Count Contributor Stefanie Johnson

Editor’s Note: This is the first in a regular meditation exercise that Make The Days Count will publish.  These are meant as exercises you can do without much preparation and are therefore excellent for home or office.

There are magical places that exist within each one of us, inside our minds, hearts, and souls.  By visiting these places, we can tap into the infinite and bring peace and abundance into our lives.

Each journey will be unique, as we are unique, so you may want to have a notebook and pen nearby to record your experience afterward. You may choose to have another person read the meditation to you so you may experience it more fully.  Find a comfortable place, close your eyes, open your mind, and prepare yourself to travel within.

This week, let’s explore the Ancient Forest.  Inside the Ancient forest, you can be cleansed and replenished, connect with your spirit, and reclaim the abundance that is rightfully yours.

It’s a beautiful, sunlit day.  You are walking on a path through a lush forest … Read More »

Article by Make The Days Count Contributor Blake Cothron

The darkest hour of the black night slowly begins to change … first shades of black become dark blue, and the stars fade from view.  Birds awaken and joyfully sing choruses to the awakening sun, like songs of appreciation and delight.  The glowing moon becomes faint as the great sun slowly rises over the horizon, beaming warmth and light over the landscape … another day has begun! 

In the midst of this epic scenario happening right outside your walls, where are you, and what are you doing?  Are you jolted by a blaring alarm clock, dragging yourself out of bed and wiping the crust out of your eyes, in a hurry to make it to work … did you hear any birds singing today? Read More »

Article by Dr. Les Hollon, Pastor, St. Matthews Baptist Church

What does “getting ahead” mean?  

A man, once called Saul, who is better known by his later name, the Apostle Paul, said it is not by living on one’s own terms; not by seeking social prestige; not by trying to win people’s approval; not by advancing ahead of other people his age; and not by burning with passion that is disconnected from right purpose.

Figuring out the best answer for the “getting ahead” question determines where and how we “end-up” in life.  The answer shapes our vision for life, our relationship with family & friends, our connections to money and possessions, and our pursuit of opportunities.  

Simply put … what we are willing or not willing to do is guided by our ambition.  God’s best for us is the right ambition to have.

Ambition (from the Latin, meaning “to go around”) means to put out the effort to accomplish what we desire.  What we consistently desire is crucial.  Good desires craft good ambitions.  Bad desires lead to bad ambitions.  Jesus said be careful to know what you treasure because it will shape your heart (Matthew 6:19-21).

The question is not whether we should or should not be ambitious.  But how do we ensure our ambitions are rooted in God’s character - so we don’t come up short after we get what we want?  Hence the phrase “be careful what you want for you will surely get it.”

 Jesus told us to want - after we’ve grounded ourselves in the Kingdom of God (Matt. 5:48, 6:33) - for good wanting = good ambitions which = good efforts which = true fulfillment.  Spiritual ambition is finding out what God wants us to do and then “to go around” doing it.

Paul’s life was changed when God “called me by His grace” (Gal.1:15).  From his failures he learned how to be successful.  We can also!  

Together, let’s commit to “By the grace of God, I will do what I can do and I will be who I can be.”

Pastor Les Hollon

“We must nurture our dreams like we would a child.  They are God-given and just as precious.  Without ambition how would a child learn to ride a bicycle, play an instrument or whistle?  We deny the spirit of God when we as adults settle for less than our dreams!”
-Conway Stone

This article was written by Les Hollon, Pastor of St. Matthews Baptist Church.  For more information about life lessons, St. Matthews Baptist Church, or to contact Dr. Hollon, click over to St. Matthews Baptist Church.

If you liked this article, please share it on del.icio.us, StumbleUpon or Digg. Thanks!

Article by Make The Days Count Contributor Marie Monroe

I read somewhere about the 50 or so names an arctic indigenous people have for various types of snow.  Being a fan of weather (that’s a long story … I can watch the weather channel for hours.  I think it all started in Ms. Pitcock’s 3^rd grade science class in, say, 1964?  Anyway …) 

Back to precipitation.  So, I’ve carried that fascination for decades now.  50 names for snow?  50 types of snow?

I took this in as fact.  I decided instantly that, of course, there are that many types of snow and if I only knew them … it’s still on the “Things-To-Do-Before-I-Die” List – or Bucket List -  to learn them.

However, way down here in the lower 48 (apparently Hawaii doesn’t count; it’s too far West and not contiguous), I’ve translated the concept in my own way into my own favorite form of precipitation - Rain.

Rain and I have been friends for a long time.  I like songs about rain.  I like movies that have rainy scenes.  Oh, and I like to talk about it.  And yes, write about rain.  I’ve even done art about rain. Read More »