All These Things...

Bible Application for Android. Iphone Has It Too!

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Mike) — Fri, 20 May 2011 22:43:00 +0000

I've been using Bible and I think you might like it. Check it out from your Android phone: http://market.android.com/search?q=pname:com.sirma.mobile.bible.android

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Still Here...

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Mike) — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 15:26:00 +0000

Going through a little bit of life right now. But we are still here. Back to Homepage

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Time to Take a Break

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Mike) — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 02:49:00 +0000

John Piper (the Pastor of a very large church in Minneapolis, Minnesota), announced in March of this year that he was taking an eight month sabbatical from preaching, speaking, and writing. The sabbatical began in May and will continue through December 31st, 2010. You can read his official statement at this link: john pipers upcoming leave . This includes no book-writing. No sermon preparation. No preaching. No blogging. No Twitter. No articles. No reports. No papers. And no speaking engagements. Instead, he would use the time to invest in his relationship with his wife and family. He basically said that he needed the time to do some spiritual soul searching and resting without the pressures of ministry. This is a pretty big event in the life of his church and his ministry. It was also the first one that I have ever heard about to this magnitude. I don't know a lot...

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Proper Prayer Acronym (A.C.T.S.)

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Mike) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 01:16:00 +0000

I was trying to remember this acronym while writing about prayer the other day. Then I heard it on the radio when I was driving to work this morning... Thanks Chip Ingram! The proper prayer includes A.C.T.S. A- for adoration C- for confession T-for thanksgiving S-for supplication Read this link that I copied off of prayerguide.org. I think it says everything properly. Please note that everything below this line was taken from the site. ACTS One structure for prayer is given by the acronym "ACTS", representing adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication (or intercession.) This is one order, where we start off focusing on who God is, and praising him for that. Others find a CATS pattern helpful, beginning by clearing out of the way the things that sadden God in our lives, before we can go onto praise him. Let's look briefly at each in turn : Adoration is to adore God, to worship him and to fulfil the commandment...

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New Album "Rehab" Coming this Tuesday From Lecrae

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Mike) — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 05:06:00 +0000

I'm always excited to let you know about new Christian Rap. Music my six year old and I can jam out to... Lecrae’s highly anticipated fourth album REHAB is now available for pre-order! The album features Tedashii, Trip Lee, Sho Baraka, Sonny Sandoval, Anthony Evans & more. REHAB hits stores and will be available on iTunes on September 28. Place your order today and be among the first to receive your copy and also qualify for a chance to win an exclusive pair of REHAB Nike Dunks! Pre-order here. To listen to the latest singles go here Back to Homepage

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Practice Makes Perfect

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Mike) — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 04:57:00 +0000

Sorry I haven’t posted anything for awhile; but it’s a very crucial time of the year for me. It’s FOOTBALL SEASON!! Mainly I haven’t had anything to say lately. God has blessed me to be able to get some things out of my system through this medium and it has definitely been therapeutic for me. But after watching the first two weeks of the season I had a thought and I wanted to share it with you. Many football fans watched with great interest to see if two phenomenal players would play this year. Darelle Rivas of the New York Jets held out almost the entire training camp because he wanted a new contract. And Brett Farve of the Minnesota Vikings waited until the end of camp to decide whether or not he wanted to come back for a 20th season. Both men were highly desired for by their respective teams and both men eventually reported to camp. Revis got his deal; and Farve decided that he did want to play after all. During each ordeal I listened to talk radio as the “experts” discussed why...

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Faithfullness

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Mike) — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 02:34:00 +0000

Those of you who know me and my church will recognize these hands immediately. They are the hands of our head musician. I am told that he has been playing for our church for at least the last twenty years. You can usually find him at the church during the week working with the choir members. Sometimes he holds rehearsals for the individual sections. Sometimes he holds the rehearsals for individual members of the choir. But he is always working on the music for Sunday morning worship. He has the ability to pick songs that match the theme of the service even within the midst of the service. And he is always bringing in guest musicians and singers in order to add to the worship service. He is a pure musician in every sense of the word. Working with him is like working with any other musician that is good at his craft. Because he is a perfectionist in...

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Getting To the Heart of the Matter

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Mike) — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 00:27:00 +0000

7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." I Samuel 16:7 Have you ever been driving through a neighborhood and seen one of those "Yard of the Month" signs posted at one of the houses? The winner is typically picked by the Homeowners Association, the neighbors, or a combination of both. They usually have certain criteria that they look for in their perspective winner: yard cut and manicured properly trees and hedges trimmed and cut flowerbeds free from weeds attractive painting and landscaping free from trash and other debris I put the phrase, "criteria for determining the yard of the month" in my search engine and found a common trait in many of the criteria lists. The judging was restricted to lawns in front of the house and along the side of the house. The back yard was...

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Christian Rapper of the week: Trip Lee

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Mike) — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 01:46:00 +0000

The new Trip Lee album just dropped yesterday. I scraped my Itunes pennies together and purchased it last night. Very excited to get some new music from him. Enjoy. Back to Homepage

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Father's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Mike) — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 20:16:00 +0000

My Dad, James Thompson Sr. I didn't really know my father that well. My father got involved with alcohol before I was born and it pretty much took him from me and my family before I had the chance to get to know him. I've said it before on this blog that my brother taught me almost everything I know about being a man, husband, and father(read Father Figure). I say that my brother taught me almost everything about being a man, husband, and father because I am still learning what it takes to be all of those things. Two things that I have recently learned from older fathers when I have asked for advice: 1. Don't give your kids everything that they ask for. Instead, make them earn some of the things that they want. That way they don't feel entitlement to receive things without working for them. 2. You can work 5 jobs to provide all the material things in the world for your children. But they want your time and...

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Father's Day Shout Out

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Mike) — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 20:12:00 +0000

This is just a thank you to all the men that have made an influence in my life. Some of them taught me what to do. Some of them taught me what not to do. But all of them have been a blessing in my life in one way or another. Here they are in no particular order: James Thompson Sr., James Thompson Jr., Larry Coppage, Floyd Stinson, Henry Barber, Wilbert Ellis, Mr. McDougal, Clarence Hicks Sr., Harold Clay Sr. , Anthony(Top) Dowell, O.D. Thurman, Mr. Pervis Carter, Otis Mitchell, Kenneth Allen, Larry Anderson Sr., Roy Mayfield, Felix Goins Sr. and Jr., Joseph Goins, Robert Lee Goins, Alvin Bradley, Jerry Bawldwin, Leon Martin, A.J. Green, Charles T. Lewis, Joe Henderson, Kevin Harris, Clarence Thompson, Charles Martin, Benjamin Martin, James Keown, James Miller, Clyde McCray, Reginald Wade, Clyde Parker, Willie Culpepper Sr., Al Thurmon Sr., and others. Time has taken away some of the names from my memory, but I will continue to add names as...

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He Who Finds a Wife...

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Mike) — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 20:54:00 +0000

Proverbs 18:22 (New International Version) 22 He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD. I met a remarkable woman the other day at work. She was in her late 60's or so and she was telling me about her husband. He was terminally ill and had to be taken care of day and night. She and her sons took turns watching over him, bathing him, feeding him, and changing his clothing. He had not been able to do anything for himself for the past year because he had a stroke. So his family was taking care of him. He also had diabetes, high blood pressure, and Alzheimer's disease. When I commented on how much of a blessing she was to him, she simple stated that he had taken care of her and the children for over 40 years and it was her pleasure to take care of him now. She told me that he had always been an excellent husband and father and that he had done everything that he was supposed to do as the head of the house. She even told me that other people had advised...

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Behind the Fence

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Mike) — Mon, 31 May 2010 16:55:00 +0000

Take one turtle... Place it behind a wrought iron fence..... and I promise you that God can make a good analogy out of it. So here goes... I was going to pick up a customer a couple of weeks ago and was sitting out side of his house when I noticed something in the yard next to the house. The yard was closed off by a wrought iron fence (kind of like the one in the picture above), and there was an unhappy turtle in the yard on the other side of the fence. How do I know he was an unhappy turtle? His shell was blue! Ha ha ha get it? OK... never mind. I figured that he was unhappy because he was trying his best to get out of the gate. He was trying to maneuver his body through two of the iron bars, with very little success. Even though it was obvious to me that he was never going to get out of that fence, he kept trying. After maneuvering for a couple of minutes, the only thing he could accomplish was to...

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Training Your Heart: Why We Must Evangelize

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Mike) — Sun, 30 May 2010 03:30:00 +0000

This is a paper that I wrote for the Evangelism class that I am taking at a local church. The day a person receives salvation is a wonderful day. We are very excited about our salvation and we bask in the glow of our direct experience with Jesus Christ. At this point, we usually do one of three things: 1. We run out and tell everybody that we know about Jesus. 2. We take all of that joy and excitement home with us, lock the doors, and wait for the rapture to come. 3. We do both. We start out excited. We go and tell a couple of people about Jesus. Then somewhere along the way life takes some wind out of our sails, and we begin to hold on tightly to our salvation as though it’s the only thing of value that we have in this world. We’re still saved; but we don’t tell anyone about it. We simply hold onto our gift, suffer in this “mean old world”, and wait to die so that we can finally be happy with Jesus in Heaven. But no matter what we do, very few of us die...

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Help Me! I'm a Pornaholic!

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Mike) — Mon, 24 May 2010 04:20:00 +0000

That got your attention, didn't it? The pornography business is a multi-billion dollar industry that makes a lot of money selling the fantasy of sex. But when the fantasy is over, it leaves behind the reality of pain, suffering, dysfunctional relationships, STD's, suicide, and other negative consequences including death. The church itself is no exception. Many men and women in the church are dealing with porn in their homes, and it is destroying their relationships and their family life. And since you can't really have honest, no-holds barred conversations about sex in the church, a lot of people in the church are suffering just as much as the rest of the world. I've found some sites that I think may be of help to anyone that is dealing with pornography. There are a lot more out there than just these three, but I think they are a good start. Please be advised that some of the content is really graphic. ...

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Something Lite: The Insinkerator and the Popsicle Stick

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Mike) — Tue, 11 May 2010 01:26:00 +0000

This is a story in the life of my family. Our garbage disposal stopped working about a week ago. Not all at once, but over a couple of minutes. I was running it and heard an interesting noise coming from the inside of the sink. It sounded like the sound me having to spend money to repair something. Then it went silent. I flipped the switch a couple of times and nothing happened. "Oh great," I thought. "Something else to fix." I decided to not touch it for a couple of days and pray that it would just decide to work later. Two days later, my wife Stacey decides she really likes the concept of a working garbage disposal in the house. So she tells me to call our home warranty company. You know who they are don't you? They are the people that charge you $60 per visit just to tell you that you should pour vinegar down the pipe. Well, I didn't want to spend $60 dollars. So I did the...

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Christian Rapper: R Swift

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Mike) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 16:11:00 +0000

I have been hearing R Swift as a guest rapper on some of my other CD's and finally had the chance to showcase him. Another example of exceptional talent. Enjoy. Back to Homepage

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Every Christian an Evangelist

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Mike) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 15:57:00 +0000

There is a doctirne in the United States Marine Corps that is known as "The Rifleman's Creed". It states that every enlisted Marine, regardless of their military specialization (MOS), is trained first and foremost to be a rifleman. And every Marine officer, regardless of MOS, is trained as an Infantry Platoon Commander. This doctrine is in place so that no matter what happens in combat, every Marine and officer is prepared to continue the mission to close with and destroy the enemy. This way if a cook is in the kitchen and a fire fight breaks out, he or she can stop cooking, grab a rifle and help their fellow Marines deal with the adversary. Hoo-rah!! The Christian should have a similar mentality in life. We should use "The Evangelist's Creed". That means that every Christian (whether a Pastor, Deacon, Elder, or Layperson) is first and foremost an Evangelist. We should all be able to communicate the plan for salvation to our peers, regardless of our age,...

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Modesto Manifesto

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Mike) — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 18:31:00 +0000

Do you have any idea who this energetic gentleman is? I'll give you a hint. He is one of the most respected evangelist in the country; if not the world. That's right. These are pictures of a young William Franklin Graham Jr. (AKA Billy Graham). These pictures are from the 50's. I had never seen them before this week. It's quite a difference from the gentleman that I remember. I found this information at the Lifehouse Church website. It is something that I think every Ministry Leader should read. You can click HERE to to see the information in it's original form. I copied it directly from the website. Modesto Manifesto (A plan for holiness) Perhaps no other leading church figure of the past 50 years commands as much admiration and respect from both the Christian and non-Christian world as does the Rev. Billy Graham. While he has suffered some criticism over the years, no scandals have rocked his...

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Image is Everything

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Mike) — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 02:00:00 +0000

Do you know what this shoe is? It's a brand called Starbury; and it was designed by professional basketball player Stephon Marbury a few years ago as an alternative to the expensive basketball shoes that were being marketed to young urban youth at the time. I say that they were an alternative because he wanted to sell the shoes for less than $20. His reasoning was that he wanted to provide a shoe that working single mothers could buy for their children without spending over $100 per pair. The shoes looked nice enough, but didn’t attract main stream appeal. And why do you think that was? I asked some of the kids in my church if they would buy a pair of Starbury’s and it took me about 10 minutes to get an answer from them. The reason it took me that long was because it took them about 10 minutes to stop laughing at me. The kids told me that they didn’t want to get clowned (made fun of) by their friends for wearing such a cheap shoe. Now some of the kids that I know are fortunate...

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Sho Baraka's New Album Lions and Liars

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Mike) — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 10:43:00 +0000

I picked this album up on Tuesday and have been listening to it nonstop. Please pray for the entire Reach Records organization and continue to support Christian rap. Official Press Release Thats right Sho Baraka's Lions & Liars is available in stores now! Featuring Lecrae, JAMM, Trip Lee, Tedashii and many more. Pick it up your copy at Walmart w/bonus tracks for only $9.99 Also available at: Family Christian, LifeWay, Berean, and Mardel Christian stores Deluxe versions are available here. There are five versions to choose from. For more information on Sho Baraka visit http://reachrecords.com/news/10320 For promos and snippets go here Here's the first video from the album. And just because I haven't put up any music in a while, here is D.J. Official featuring J.A.Z & Magellan. This is from the Entermission Album.

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Me and Rev. Wade (aka Rev. W.)

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Mike) — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 12:36:00 +0000

This is a picture of me with one of my favorite people. This is Rev. Reginald Wade, our Emeritus of Pastoral Care and Visitation. He is the gentleman that I made reference to in my A Lifetime of Ministry post back in January. He told me last night that he was a Pastor in Kyle, Texas for over 27 years before serving as the Minister of Pastoral Care for our church. He he truly a great friend and mentor to me and to others. I just wanted the world to know who he is. Peace and Love, Back to Homepage

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Closing Ratio

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Mike) — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 02:12:00 +0000

In the business world, salespeople are usually evaluated by their closing ratio. What is a closing ratio? A closing ratio is defined as the number of completed sales that a person makes in relation to the number of sales presentations that he or she makes in a given timeperiod. As an example, let's say that you speak to 10 people about a product and 8 of them buy the product from you. Divide 8 by 10 and you get .8 (or an 80% closing ratio). What if you only sell 1 of them? Then your closing ratio is 10%. Guess which closing ratio would be looked upon more favorably at a sales job; and which one would get you reprimanded? The 80% closing ratio would be considered a huge success. Now, I have recently left the car sales business (thank you Lord!), and an average closing ratio for a car salesperson was about 25 to 30%. If you were really good, then your closing ratio would be around...

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Energy Source

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Mike) — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 01:19:00 +0000

Imagine that you have a brand new home entertainment system. It includes a fifty inch high definition television with surround sound and blue ray movie player attached. It has every possible feature you can imagine a system having along with every cable station you want at a super low price. It also comes with a unlimited supply of blue ray movies, a super remote control with voice command, and an expresso maker on the side. Ok, maybe not the expresso maker. But it has everything else that you could possibly think you need in a home enertainment device. Last but not least, it has the ability to play Itunes, CD's, HD radio, and satillite radio. I think it would look a little something like this: Now imagine that you have all of that available to you for your enjoyment; but with one small problem... You don't have any electricity in the house. That would...

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A Bike Ride With God

noreply@blogger.com (Rev. Mike) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 02:13:00 +0000

I heard this on the radio this morning and had to share.. Author unknown Written sometime between 1910 and 1985. At first I saw God as my observer, my judge, keeping track of the things I did wrong, so as to know whether I merited heaven or hell when I die. He was out there, sort of like the president. I recognized His picture when I saw it, but I really didn't know him. But later on when I met Christ, it seemed as though life were rather like a bike ride, but it was a tandem bike, and I noticed that Christ was in the back helping me pedal. I don't know just when it was that He suggested that we change places, but life has not been the same since. When I had control, I knew the way. It was rather boring but predictable ... It was the shortest distance between two points. But when He took the lead, He knew delightful long cuts, up mountains, and through rocky places at breakneck speeds, and it was all I could do to hang on! Even though it looked like madness, He said,...

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