PASTOR JOHN COLLINS DAILY THOUGHTS: I'M FINE

"It's okay.  Really."

We tend to brush off people who truly are concerned with how we "are".  We don't talk as family, preferring to stare at screens in front of our faces.  Too many times avoiding issues leads to hurt and anger.  It's time to learn honesty and transparency, beginning with the ones we love most~Pastor John Collins, John Collins Ministries.

From John Collins Ministries:

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20 (NKJV).

‘What’s wrong?’, ‘Nothing.’, ‘How are you?’, ‘I’m fine.’ 

How many times have these questions and answers been given in your life? How many unsaid issues get brushed aside, pushed down and built up? How many avoidances have you given or received? Why is it so hard to express what is going on inside? Our children don’t talk, we don’t talk, everyone avoids the real issues and ignores what is really going on. Is it any wonder why there are so many therapists out there? When did it become necessary to talk to strangers in order to express the truth? Why can’t we be honest with our loved ones? When did they become the enemy, the judge, the jury and the executioner? Is that how we feel about them, as if they couldn’t handle the truth of our souls?

Honesty has been buried in a wave of ‘I’m fines.’ Small issues and hurt feelings become grudges and hate. This world is turning on itself one person at a time, one family at a time, one neighborhood at a time, one city at a time, and one country at a time. Everyone is at war. No one wants to be honest and no one wants to find a solution and our reality has become a shell game of existence of hiding one part of our lives from the other. Where is the transparency of life, the simplicity of truth and the willingness to share all of who you are with the ones you supposedly love?

Avoidance breeds distrust and distrust breeds suspicion and suspicion breeds assumptions and the process undermines love and relationships are lost in the desire to avoid confrontation which leads to an explosion of emotion and words said that cannot be taken back and actions that follow that cannot be taken back when honesty and a willingness to listen and really hear what is being said can resolve so many issues in the first place.

Jesus taught us to listen with our hearts as He does and as God does. You would be surprised how many times your heart would have you forgive someone and your mind stirs up hate over and over again, how your heart would have you take time to help someone in need but your mind spreads fear and you give that instead, how many times your heart would have you humbled and apologize but your mind demands that you are right and deserve that apology instead, that your heart would have you reaching out for help but your mind isolates you into a world of despair.

Become more Christ-like today and begin to listen to your heart instead of your mind.

“Finally, brethren, farewell. Become complete. Be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.” 2 Corinthians 13:11 (NKJV).

LOVE THAT CROSS, PASTOR JOHN COLLINS

Pastor John Collins and John Collins Ministries are determined to change the face of Christianity and redeem the truth of the Gospel and the word of God. 

You can hear Pastor John Collins broadcast on AM and FM stations across the USA.  John Collins Ministries has a Youtube channel that posts regular podcasts of Pastor Collins.  John Collins Ministries has a channel on Blogtalk radio.  This country needs to hear the truth of God and Jesus. This world needs to hear and understand what the rules are in order to get to heaven.  They aren’t preached and they aren’t taught, and it’s time for people to hear to hear that truth.  Pastor John Collins and John Collins Ministries is bringing that message with passion and fervor.  Take the time to listen.  If you want to reach Pastor John Collins, contact him for preaching, prayer, revival, guest speaking at jcollinsministries@gmail.com. We need to get it right.

PASTOR JOHN COLLINS DAILY THOUGHTS: THE BATTLE WITHIN

Pastor John Collins writes:

“The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lords’; But the earth He has given to the children of men.” Psalm 115:16 (NKJV).

God has given you life and you need to enjoy it. As you walk the path that leads to righteousness, you will face many situations that make you realize that it is a battle not just outside in the world and with those you encounter but also within yourself. God wants you to fight the good fight. God wants you to seek to please Him and to do the right thing in life. Be charitable, be good, be kind, be forgiving, be loving and compassionate toward others. As you go about doing these things you will have to battle your own demons. We all have them. We all think of the easy path, the shortcut and the darker temptations in life and it is that battle that you must encounter each day.

So, what are you fighting for? 

Is it just to get to heaven? That narrow focus can make a person crazy, burn out or just give up. If you cannot see that life has meaning, that you can enjoy life then it is easy to lose your way and fall off the path of the faithful. You have to take the time to live, to feel really alive and to acknowledge that your life is a blessing for all of the struggle. What makes you feel alive? Is it standing in the rain, walking on a beach, riding on a four-wheeler in your swimsuit in the middle of winter surrounded by snow, or maybe it’s a candlelight dinner with your most special someone followed by a dance? Whatever gives you pause and delights your soul is what you should take the time to do. It does not have to be often and it does not have to be so planned that the moment gets lost but you should be looking for those moments in your life that become the memories that you prize. You will take those with you because they belong to you forever.

In your day to day life you may feel run down and overwhelmed with the mundane. In your day to day life you may become discouraged. You need to allow yourself those special moments where you catch your breath and you even need to make the effort to recognize the moments that you have already had and seek out more. That is what you are fighting for in your faith. You see, heaven is full of joy and people who feel that intense awareness of love and hope and happiness every day. You will never truly seek to become a righteous person if you don’t believe in that promise and in order to truly believe in the promise you need to trust and believe in God. It is easy to believe in the truth of God when you can glimpse joy in its perfection in experiences in your life that touch your soul and become engraved on your heart. That is a blessing from God and you should never underestimate His greatness and your connection to Him.

“May the Lord give you increase more and more, you and your children.  May you be blessed by the Lord who made heaven and earth.” Psalm 115:14-15 (NKJV).

LOVE THAT CROSS!!  PASTOR JOHN COLLINS

Pastor John Collins and John Collins Ministries are determined to change the face of Christianity and redeem the truth of the Gospel and the word of God. 

You can hear Pastor John Collins broadcast on AM and FM stations across the USA.  John Collins Ministries has a Youtube channel that posts regular podcasts of Pastor Collins.  John Collins Ministries has a channel on Blogtalk radio.  This country needs to hear the truth of God and Jesus. This world needs to hear and understand what the rules are in order to get to heaven.  They aren’t preached and they aren’t taught, and it’s time for people to hear to hear that truth.  Pastor John Collins and John Collins Ministries is bringing that message with passion and fervor.  Take the time to listen.  If you want to reach Pastor John Collins, contact him for preaching, prayer, revival, guest speaking at jcollinsministries@gmail.com. We need to get it right.

PASTOR JOHN COLLINS DAILY THOUGHTS: HATE THE SIN NOT THE SINNER

John Collins, Evangelist:  Sin and sinner

Sin happens, we have the hope of
repentance with salvation
Pastor John Collins

The phrase "hate the sin, not the sinner"  is not a direct biblical quote, but it is the message that Jesus taught as He found His way among the people of Israel over two thousand years ago.  Sin is what is needed to let go of, to try to avoid.  We will all sin, we will never be perfect.  It is our choice and our work to strive to be perfect, to be like Christ, to overcome our nature that matters to Jesus and to God.  That is why we ask for forgiveness daily, and work to overcome our shortcomings.

From John Collins Ministries:

Hate the sin and not the sinner is all well and good to do but a sinner who continues in his sin without repentance and submission to the will of God through the salvation of Christ will eventually be judged as an enemy of God.

It has become easy to say that Jesus was the only perfect one and therefore there could never be any expectation for anyone else to live up to those standards although Jesus Himself said to be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect. It has also been noted that Jesus would be hanging out with the sinners and not with the righteous if He were to be here today and although that is true He definitely would not be hanging out with them to condone their sin but to heal them and to help lead them to righteousness in order to provide them with salvation.

Salvation does not come packaged with an acceptance of sin. God may have mercy and love for His people but He definitely does not have an enabling heart and He does not reward rebellion. He is slow to wrath and longsuffering but eventually His perfect and righteous judgment will fall on all and everyone will receive what they deserve.

It is time to stop making excuses by just saying that we are all sinners because Jesus knows, God knows and every sinner knows that they can do better, be better and can influence others to do the same. Righteousness is very achievable in life and begins with humility and a willingness to sacrifice. Each person chooses their destination in the end and it is necessary that the standards of God begin to be met because there has been too much loss of souls already and it just doesn’t have to be that way. It matters what you do here on earth and it is possible to go to heaven, you just have to want that more than you want to enjoy your existence while you are here and you have to want to obey God and know that He is right more than you have to want to be right yourself.

“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:6-7 (NKJV).

LOVE THAT CROSS, PASTOR JOHN COLLINS

Pastor John Collins and John Collins Ministries are determined to change the face of Christianity and redeem the truth of the Gospel and the word of God. 

You can hear Pastor John Collins broadcast on AM and FM stations across the USA.  John Collins Ministries has a Youtube channel that posts regular podcasts of Pastor Collins.  John Collins Ministries has a channel on Blogtalk radio.  This country needs to hear the truth of God and Jesus. This world needs to hear and understand what the rules are in order to get to heaven.  They aren’t preached and they aren’t taught, and it’s time for people to hear to hear that truth.  Pastor John Collins and John Collins Ministries is bringing that message with passion and fervor.  Take the time to listen.  If you want to reach Pastor John Collins, contact him for preaching, prayer, revival, guest speaking at jcollinsministries@gmail.com. We need to get it right.

PASTOR JOHN COLLINS DAILY THOUGHTS: WOMEN AND CHRISTIANITY

From John Collins Ministries:

Women through the centuries have struggled to validate their place in the world.  Pastor John Collins, Evangelist with John Collins Ministries, recognizes that Jesus and God value women.  Women are strong and courageous.  They have never been taken for granted by God.  Strong faith is what women need to face the world today, that faith in Jesus and in God will guide them.

“A woman’s role does not have to be one thing or another but it should always be a role of strength and dignity with love and compassion at its core.”~ Pastor John Collins

Pastor John Collins writes:

“Jesus said to her, ‘Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’ Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.” John 20:16-18 (NKJV).

Mary Magdalene believed in Jesus, sought Him out, anointed Him with oil, wept on His feet and wiped those feet with her hair. Mary sat at the feet of Jesus, learned from Him and was a disciple of His. Mary was the one that Jesus chose to see first after He was resurrected. Mary was brave and humble when she went to Him in that house of the Pharisee as she cared not what others thought of her, nor spoke of her but cared only to go to Jesus and kiss His feet and seek His forgiveness and His acceptance and Jesus not only gave that forgiveness, accepted her love for Him but spoke that she would be remembered for her actions and He demonstrated her value when He chose to go to Mary first and to give her the honor of knowing He was alive and to relate that information along with her witness of Him to his brethren.

It took courage to follow Jesus during His ministry and it took faith to know Him as the Son of God. Mary had that courage and had great faith in her Lord. There were dark centuries that followed the beginnings of the Christian faith. There have been centuries of oppression of not only the uneducated but of women as well. Women have come a long way from the days of the dark ages, of the days of education denial (for many parts of the world, anyway), and from the denial of equality of the genders. Women push forward in their search for that equality and for the opportunities to make their mark in this world but I want to remind women that their mark has been made and has never been taken for granted by God. God values women and Jesus demonstrated the love that He had for Mary by going to her first, by teaching her and standing up for her. Women should never forget that their value begins in the home, for they are the caretakers, the bringers of life and the mothers of our children. Do not underestimate the value of those things as being a mother allows you to teach your children how to get to heaven, how to live boldly and with faith in this dark world and being a wife allows you to help your husband be a part of a family that relies on God. A woman’s role does not have to be one thing or another but it should always be a role of strength and dignity with love and compassion at its core. That is the love of God within you and God has provided women with the complex ability to keep a family together and to guide it in love and faith with trust and truth at its center.

There always seems to be an agenda on the table and as progress ticks away and women continue to fight for what they believe to be most important to them I can only hope that they remember to value what has always belonged to them from the beginning. Family is everything and while equal pay may seem to be the biggest priority to some this world seems to be allowing the family to fail. Industrial success will never replace the failures of our homes and women need to find the courage, like Mary, to believe in our Savior and to brave the opinions of others to declare their loyalty to Him as they live up to the great responsibilities that have been entrusted to them. It is not easy to choose faith over finances, faith over popularity, faith over apparent success or faith over personal gain but in the end heaven is waiting and families need strong women to guide them.

“And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.  But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15 (NKJV).

LOVE THAT CROSS PASTOR JOHN COLLINS

Pastor John Collins and John Collins Ministries are determined to change the face of Christianity and redeem the truth of the Gospel and the word of God. 

You can hear Pastor John Collins broadcast on AM and FM stations across the USA.  John Collins Ministries has a Youtube channel that posts regular podcasts of Pastor Collins.  John Collins Ministries has a channel on Blogtalk radio.  This country needs to hear the truth of God and Jesus. This world needs to hear and understand what the rules are in order to get to heaven.  They aren’t preached and they aren’t taught, and it’s time for people to hear to hear that truth.  Pastor John Collins and John Collins Ministries is bringing that message with passion and fervor.  Take the time to listen.  If you want to reach Pastor John Collins, contact him for preaching, prayer, revival, guest speaking at jcollinsministries@gmail.com. We need to get it right.

PASTOR JOHN COLLINS, DAILY THOUGHTS: 1 CORINTHINIANS "LOVE"

No matter how hard we try to deny it, we need love.  We are programming in our DNA for it, and that comes from our Father in heaven.  Love that is pure is holy, and that is what God expects from us.  We lost it, we messed it up pretty bad.  Too much hurt, too easy to say nothing and turn away from those around us rather that put the effort in to make things work or make it better, makes it all too easy to give up on true love.  That's the love God offers us, what He offers us through His Son Jesus Christ.

EVANGELIST JOHN COLLINS WRITES:

“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NKJV).

The love that Paul describes here is holy and pure. It is not the love that so many speak of in this life. Too often people will claim to be in love, then out of love, then in love with another, there is puppy love, your first love, your last love, lust described as love and the list just goes on. You have marriages without commitment and parents without the desire to parent and you have the greatest love of all: the love of self but you do not have an abundance of holy and pure love.

Why is it that people do not have the capacity or desire to embrace a lasting relationship based on love and have a life that is committed to love? People are not committing their lives completely to God is why. It is when you truly understand the gospel of Jesus Christ and have committed to living your life as God has instructed us to live that you begin to know the love of God.

Having given your life to Christ does not make you exempt from hurt in this life but it does soothe the wounds that come. We learn from those things that cause hurt and we grow in our capacity to love. We must first dedicate ourselves to learning how to love in a pure way and that means that we must purify our hearts and forgive the old wounds so that we can heal. We need to be willing to lift others up and not ourselves and be willing to be patient in our lives. This generation of people carries around self-entitlement like a badge of honor. It is shameful and we need to get back to humble roots.
Jesus was humble and always had His priorities straight. Let this generation be willing to learn from Him and be willing to slow down and learn to desire the grace of God. Let your heart swell with love and pray it lingers and sheds light on another in the name of Jesus Christ.

“And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13 (NKJV).

LOVE THAT CROSS, PASTOR JOHN