The Apostle's Blog

 To Holy Name Cathedral (Chicago, Illinois) The Christian life includes both hardship and blessings, often at the same time. Suffering allows us to better relate to Jesus, but we are promised that with every degree of suffering we face, we have greater comfort from him when we depend on him. Paul learned through experience and went on to share with us in  Romans 8:38-39  that no suffering, no matter how severe, can separate those who wholeheartedly follow Jesus. Paul’s sufferings included many tribulations, deep distress at society’s defiance and opposition toward God, beatings, shipwrecks, imprisonment, grief over saying goodbye to loved ones, anguish over those who refused to accept Jesus as their Messiah, and distress over wondering if some might be tempted to abandon their  faith . Rather than focusing on his sufferings, he shares the encouragement he received from God with us. He had firsthand knowledge of God’s comfort, and through the words he writes, he exten...

 To First Congregational Church of Los Angeles  Peace is a commodity that can only be found with time spent seeking the face of God. The world can’t offer us peace because it has nothing in which to place its hope, trust, and security. Kingdoms come and go. Leaders move in and out of power. What societies value changes like the passing of the tides. Our only constant is God. He has been, is, and forever will be the Creator, Sustainer, and Lord of all. All authority has been given to him. He governs the change of seasons. He thwarts the plans of our enemy. And he longs to offer total and sustained peace to all who place their hope and trust in him. Isaiah 26:3 says,  “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”  Our God has peace in store for us in every situation if we will choose to keep our mind stayed on him and trust him. The world says that peace can only come when you’ve worked your fingers to the bone and have finally ...

 To the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City  "O be careful little ears what you hear ... for the Father up above is looking down in love, so be careful little ears what you hear." Sometimes, our children's songs say things in the easiest ways to understand. God doesn't want just to be heard aloud; he wants his Word to enter our systems and change our lives. We must carefully filter out things we don't need to hear and focus more intentionally on what we do need to hear! The more we receive the gift of God's words and apply them, the more they will change us and bless us.

  Whether you’re currently weighed down by responsibility or expectations or you’re drained due to disappointment and discouragement, I’d like to encourage you to take  one step with God . Go to church when you feel you can’t offer a song of surrender and praise, make a list of what you’re thankful for, memorize an encouraging Bible verse, or consider pausing for five minutes of prayer in the mid-afternoon. Take just one step with God. Gather small moments from him and with him when you’re feeling weighed down with heavy loads. And little by little, day by day, you will taste and see that the Lord is good as his presence and promises to lift the weight and uplift  you . Keep turning to him and walking hand-in-hand with him, and he will fuel your joy and restore your hope. 

  God makes us new when we become disciples of Jesus ( 2 Corinthians 5:17 ). Most of us, however, have moments when the old way of life erupts, makes its presence known, and tries to drag us back into the old way of living. So, being new is a lifetime decision we must make each day, offering ourselves to God, putting off our old self, and inviting the Holy Spirit to renew us ( Romans 12:1-2 ). Throughout Ephesians, Paul talks about the Holy Spirit's power working in us ( Ephesians 1:17-20 ,  3:14-21 ,  5:15-21 ). As we commit daily to following the Lordship of Jesus, the Holy Spirit empowers and matures us to be more and more like him ( Ephesians 4:12-16 ;  2 Corinthians 3:18 ). The newness of our life in Jesus never has to become old or stale!

 To The Healing Place Church  As God’s children, we are not to grumble. We must remember that, ultimately, grumbling is complaining against the sovereign God of the universe and saying He isn’t good, which is sinful. When we complain or have a sour, ungrateful attitude, we should repent, reset our mind by thinking about things above, and rejoice and give thanks to God for His graciousness and goodness towards us. There are new mercies available to us every single morning. Perhaps it would be a beneficial habit to create a daily list of things that you are grateful for to help cultivate a heart of contentment and joy. Despite hardships and inconveniences in our lives and relationships, we are called to rejoice and find our joy in Christ alone and all that He has done for us. It all comes down to the attitude and posture of our hearts, which God is shaping to look more like Jesus every day. The God of hope has given us Himself through the Holy Spirit, and the fruit of ...

 Michael Reid Mahoney Jr ( April 23, 1977 -  ) of Baton Rouge, Louisiana called to be an apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ set apart by the gospel of God It’s been said through  research  that the average person thinks anywhere from 50,000-70,000 thoughts a day. Eighty percent of those thoughts are negative, and 95% of our thoughts are repetitive, meaning they are the same things we thought about the day before. It’s as if we are stuck in the cycle of negative thinking since most of our thoughts are shown to be negative. And to take it further, how many times have you thought of something negative, only to realize that one negative thought has sent you down a spiral of a hundred other negative thoughts, and before you know it, you’re in a state of worry, fear, or insecurity that started from just one thought. As believers, we know that there is an enemy, and he roams this earth daily, “prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour,” as we are told ...

 

  The people in the Corinthian church who claimed to follow only Christ felt they had superior wisdom, revelation, and spirituality to other people and tried to win the Corinthian church over to their way of thinking. This group likely believed that God’s grace brought them freedom from the restraint of God’s law and from the demands of any moral code, which is in direct opposition to the message Paul taught about Jesus Christ.  Churches and misguided individuals have the same pull toward a certain pastor, speaker, evangelist, author, or YouTube teacher as the Corinthians did. Some members of the Corinthian church grew attached to certain church leaders rather than to Christ’s message. This led to division and if not checked, to betraying Christian principles. Paul condemned this attitude and reminded the Corinthian church that only Christ gave himself and is the rightful head.  We can see this same attitude creeping into our churches today, which leads to a prideful and ...

  Soul of Christ, sanctify me. Body of Christ, save me. Blood of Christ, inebriate me. Water from the side of Christ, wash me. Passion of Christ, strengthen me. O good Jesus, hear me. Within Thy wounds hide me. Separated from Thee let me never be. From the malignant enemy, defend me. At the hour of death, call me. And close to Thee bid me. That with Thy saints I may be Praising Thee, forever and ever. Amen.

  Every one of us has a choice in how we will react to the hard things we face. We receive a less-than-comforting diagnosis. We come home to find that our spouse lost their job. We get a call that our child got in trouble at school and is being sent home. We hear that our friend said some unkind words about us.  Yes, there are so many painful things that we will experience in this life. Finding contentment and focusing on the positive doesn’t erase the realities of our pain, hurt, and suffering. But when we choose to set our hopes on the Lord, to focus on His promises of deliverance and eternal hope through Christ Jesus, we can experience true contentment in all circumstances when life is easy and hard. Let’s pray: Heavenly Father, thank you for how you bring blessings to Your Children. We often neglect to acknowledge all the ways you provide for us, coming to you only when we have a need or desire to relieve our present suffering. But, Father, we know that You are the author ...

 

  As Jesus began His longest recorded sermon, He started with the Beatitudes. Each of the eight statements says, “Blessed are…” Following the sixth beatitude is blessed are the  pure in heart.  What does it mean to be pure in heart?  From the beginning of time, when Adam and Eve chose to sin, the heart of humanity has been corrupted by the sinful condition. Scripture tells us that the heart is deceitful above all else. ( Jeremiah 17:9 ) The truth is that our hearts are not pure. Nothing about us is holy. We were all once deserving of wrath but because of God’s great love for us, we have been saved by His grace. ( Ephesians 2:3-5 ) God says in  Ezekiel 36:26-27 , “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.” When we ponder our own heart...

Having a grateful heart seems to be rare these days and at a premium to find. Social media is full and overflowing with discontented hearts--hearts that are angry, disappointed, hurt, grieving, and more. Still, God calls us to be thankful. So where and how do we gain gratefulness in such an ungrateful world? Many individuals are living with an outlook of lack, seeing all the things they don’t have because it’s much easier to look at our glasses half-empty than half-full. Seeing our lives as lacking leads us to believe that if we only have more—more of the things we believe we need to be happy— our lives and our attitudes would be different. But it’s not true. Grateful hearts don’t come from owning things, holding positions, or having everyone love us. In an ever-changing world, there is no guarantee of hanging onto earthly possessions, especially in the shadow of natural disasters, wars, and more.  It’s Up to Us to Choose Whether we believe it or not, especially as Christians, it’s...

  Why wish upon a star when we can pray to the One who created it? The Bible says that in the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth ( Genesis 1:1 ) and that He knows the end from the beginning ( Isaiah 46:10 ). I believe this means that not only does God know everything about us, He knew how human history would end before it began! He made everything, including us, and He has our best interest at heart. God knew no matter how hard we tried, we would never be perfect and sinless. That is why He sent His Son (Jesus Christ) to save us. The Bible says in   John 3:16-17   (NIV), “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” God is the Creator of all those billions of brilliant stars we see shining bright against the backdrop of the midnight blue sky. The Bible says He knows ea...

 Michael Reid Mahoney, Jr. (April 23, 1977 -    ) of Baton Rouge, LA. called to be an apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ by the will of God our Father and the Holy Spirit