The Often Untold and "Uncool" Testimony....

For starters, I don't believe that it has been an coincidence for writing this today even though it is on Mother's Day and a portion of the sermon I listened to this morning had everything to do with the subject. I believe it to be divine planning and I feel privileged to be a part of this.

A little background ----- Over the last couple weeks I have heard some amazing testimonies on how God brought ("or bought") someone out of tragedy and then opened their eyes to the truth of Christ. A vast array - varying from cancer survivors to underprivileged and non-educated people have voiced their stories. I along with most, are often taken back by the fact that when someone is at their worst, God is at His best and grants forgiveness. The more dramatic the story, the more amazed I find myself and the more likely I am to regurgitate the account to any and possibly everyone I come across. This led me to wonder about my own testimony.

If someone asked me today to share my testimony, would my story be "interesting" enough to captivate their attention. Better yet, have I even offered to tell someone about my path to Christ?  You see, there has been no palpable tragedy in my life (personally), no life threatening disease and I cant recall a time where I've reached that point of no return. So my second thought, do I even have a testimony? (--Don't get me wrong - I was a sinner --condemned to Hell before I accepted Christ.---)  The answer to this after a lot of thought (tractor time) is Yes!!  You see my testimony is by worldly standards - the uncool and boring kind! I am the product of a Christian home. One with a Father and Mother who were BOTH Christians and taught me about Jesus. How did my parents become Christians? They are the product of Christian homes with Fathers and Mothers that were all Christians and taught their children not just to recite a dinner time prayer but about who they were praying to! (Can you see a trend?) Rarely, have I heard an individual publicize their testimony when they coincide with mine (me included!) But why not? Have we got so hooked on the flair of the dramatic that we often over look the miracle which is the Christian home. With a divorce rate of 50%, is it not a miracle from God that multiple generations of a family evade separation? Absolutely!!( Before I go on --The important thing is that an individual knows Christ, not necessarily the path to Him.)

The point is this -- Teach your children to pray and about who their praying to in order that they may teach theirs the same!!


Train up a child in the way he should go;
even when he is old he will not depart from it.
(Proverbs 22:6 ESV)




An example (one of many in my life) of Christian parenting -- the day I left for college, I visited my grandparents. About the time I was to leave, my grandfather shook my hand and said this : "We're proud of you ---God gave you a good head and if you stay away from alcohol and drugs -- you can use that thing and go somewhere.." Two things with this... there was absolutely no Hypocritical statements made and due to this  - I believed him! Because of the example my parents and grandparents set in a Christ-like manor - I never once drank alcohol or turned to drugs - and still haven't!  Thanks be to God for this - and its one of many instances when Christian advice was passed along and displayed for my viewing!

If I had to tell you the one greatest thing my parents and grandparents have done for me - and Lord knows they've done a lot -- they not only acted like Christians, but proved that they were in the their actions and praise of Him - furthermore being a witness to me! This removed every last plausable excuse for me not knowing Christ!!


In you, O LORD, do I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame!
In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
incline your ear to me, and save me!
Be to me a rock of refuge,
to which I may continually come;
you have given the command to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man.
For you, O Lord, are my hope,
my trust, O LORD, from my youth.
Upon you I have leaned from before my birth;
you are he who took me from my mother's womb.
My praise is continually of you.
I have been as a portent to many,
but you are my strong refuge.
My mouth is filled with your praise,
and with your glory all the day.
Do not cast me off in the time of old age;
forsake me not when my strength is spent.
For my enemies speak concerning me;
those who watch for my life consult together
and say, “God has forsaken him;
pursue and seize him,
for there is none to deliver him.”
O God, be not far from me;
O my God, make haste to help me!
May my accusers be put to shame and consumed;
with scorn and disgrace may they be covered
who seek my hurt.
But I will hope continually
and will praise you yet more and more.
My mouth will tell of your righteous acts,
of your deeds of salvation all the day,
for their number is past my knowledge.
With the mighty deeds of the Lord GOD I will come;
I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.
O God, from my youth you have taught me,
and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.
So even to old age and gray hairs,
O God, do not forsake me,
until I proclaim your might to another generation,
your power to all those to come.
Your righteousness, O God,
reaches the high heavens.
You who have done great things,
O God, who is like you?
You who have made me see many troubles and calamities
will revive me again;
from the depths of the earth
you will bring me up again.
You will increase my greatness
and comfort me again.
I will also praise you with the harp
for your faithfulness, O my God;
I will sing praises to you with the lyre,
O Holy One of Israel.
My lips will shout for joy,
when I sing praises to you;
my soul also, which you have redeemed.
And my tongue will talk of your righteous help all the day long,
for they have been put to shame and disappointed
who sought to do me hurt.
(Psalm 71 ESV)


A closing thought: Even the Uncool testimony Glorifies God and needs to be told. As our world continues  on its Hell bound path, the Christian Family will continue to be a minority and a those that exist are Miracles!!

Feel free to comment at your leisure.


God Bless!!!

I hear Heaven is nice this time of year.....

Shall I pose a question to you... Why do you really want to go to Heaven? I recently asked our church youth group this in an evening bible study. I got what I would expect to be answers common to most of us. Read through this list:

I want to go to Heaven because...

- there is no pain or suffering.

- its the "finish line" to my goal.

- its paradise.

- I want to be reunited with friends and family already gone on.

- its a "mystical land" - amusement park of sorts, never rains out the rides.

- I want to see God.

I  think most would agree that you probably recited at least one of these in your mind. I'm guilty as well. But, as I read the book of Revelation - which is the account of an vision of Heaven given to John, as well as letters to seven churches addressed from Christ Himself - there is a noticeable repetition of events that reveal themselves. Time and again, John views people worshiping God and giving praise to Him. Several times through the text we see the phrase,"and they fell down and worshiped."(5:11-14,7:11-12,). After reading this over and over, I've come to the conclusion that if I love my Savior to the degree which He deserves, the weather in Heaven is meaningless. Furthermore, If I am reunited with family and friends, let us be there together in worship to Him. I should want nothing more/nothing less than to be able to fall down and worship. " Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and honor and glory and blessing!''(5:12). 

Since He has allowed my mindset to change from an personal accomplishment to an glorious opportunity, I have noticed a difference in how I valued my Christ and His duty on the cross. I find myself taken back - often to tears -knowing that He died not only to save from the depths of hell (which I deserve) but to give me an opportunity to praise my creator forever and ever! Its also at this point when I realize that He is growing (further occupying) within me. This leads me to the next realization that He has allowed me to decrease in order for Him to increase. Humbling is an understatement when searching for adjectives!!  

To tie all this together, lets, as Christians strive to be with our God, to praise Him and to glorify Him, rather that to take the selfish road of wanting to chill in paradise! Every knee will bow!!

Hope this provoked some thought..

God Bless!!!

Not Another Missed Opportunity!

I think (or hope) that at some point in most Christian's walk with the Lord our God, there is a crossroad encountered. That would be the one where our passive, politically correct thought process intersects with that of the mindset - "I have got to tell someone about Jesus - or I'm going to scream!!" I personally catch myself traveling through the aforementioned  quite often. It seems like I'm perfectly content with the day to day meaningless conversations until God abruptly reminds me I'm here for His service!! Its always a deflating realization for me when the "light bulb moment"  reveals the numerous opportunities to share His message that I neglected to do so! Yet, I always notice that after this turn of events, I come away with a deeper longing to speak boldly about my God as well as find greater confidence in my faith! I guess these neglected opportunities lately have been the focus of my thought and it angers me (internally) that I continuously fail!! My inward appraisal is one of the things that caused this blog to clutter your screen - but with that said, today I familiarized myself with the readership of this blog. I guess I was taken back by the fact that it has been read in 12 different countries as of today. Please understand, this is not a bragging point - (To God be all the Glory!) this is a point of opportunity!
It is my duty at this very moment to share the gospel with all those who take the time read these words. Yes, it is Easter, and I'm sure for some, this will be a redundant speech for you today but nevertheless, I dare not miss the chance!!

Jesus came to earth as the Son of God. He stayed among mankind and remained perfect, sinless and blameless to the temptations that we as humans fall trap to each day. God, being perfect - requires from us perfection to live in heaven with Him for eternity, not one person - other than Jesus, has or can accomplish this! So, through the un-describable love of our God, He sent Jesus as the perfect sacrifice for us! He took the place for us. We should one day, hang on a cross and die an agonizing death due to the despicable deeds we commit day to day - but because Jesus took that punishment for us - we may have everlasting life and the joys of worshiping our God in heaven if we have FAITH in the deed Jesus did for us!-- That's it, FAITH in the fact that Jesus died for us - that we may enjoy heaven with our Father. Just as on Easter morning when Jesus arose from the grave and only His stained garments were left, we -who have faith in Jesus's death and resurrection - will depart to our Heavenly Father leaving our sins and transgressions behind.   Understand this, I do not deserve to spend eternity in heaven, I do deserve a one way ticket to HELL!! But because of Jesus, in God's eyes, I will be found not guilty - Scripture makes that promise. You can have the same!! There is no one sin greater than another - nor are there any sins that weren't erased by the blood of Jesus-- You can have this too!!


(Romans 5:1-11 ESV)
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

After reading this, You may have realized that you need Jesus to take the cross for you, if so, I encourage you to pray the following prayer as well as find a Christian to talk to about your decisions. I will be more than happy to help anyone begin their walk with Christ --feel free to contact to me anytime, anyway!!

Believer's Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, I know that I am a sinner deserving of a life in hell, and that I have fallen short of the glory of God. I wholeheartedly BELIEVE and have FAITH that Jesus Christ died on the cross for me, that he arose from the grave - that my sins have been erased and want You  - from this point further - to live inside me, to take hold of my heart and draw me closer to You. It is these things I pray in Jesus's name, Amen.



God Bless!!!

Evan M Tate

I got a Bible and a Donkey..How Much Proof Do You Need?

Where to begin?? I guess I am amazed by people!! Why in the world do they meander without direction for an entire lifetime looking for the 'source' of life and/or the meaning of life. The human race has always been unwilling as a whole to accept that God created the earth and everything in it!!! The complexities of life and all the interactions on this earth just happened by random occurrence...... Bull Butter!!!!   My first semester in college, for extra credit, I attended a seminar one night. I had no clue what the subject was, but I listened intently to soon realize this cat was trying to sell the fact he found out how the earth was created.. My first thought was, "I could have saved him years by giving him the book of Genesis" (which in its name - means creation!). But no, if anyone who crossed this mans path in life had told him of our God, he had obviously rejected the notion that Someone (GOD) could be smarter than him! He(should be lower case) had it all figured out--- the world was created from a spark off of the tiniest of molecules which could only -barely- be seen with the strongest of microscopes!! Sounds great --- where did that molecule come from??? -- That's the problem!! As much of a fan of the Scientific process as I am, you only answer questions with other questions and hypothesizes. Scripture is much different. It is definitive! All answers and no questions!! The speaker was an SCA (stone-cold atheist)! He knew how the world was created(as he thought) --probably read the Bible in order to disprove it---but he had no clue about a Donkey!!! How about that curveball?? What does a Donkey have to do with an SCA and his nuclear phys. degree???  A donkey (yes the equine) has everything to do with it! First, the Lord our God created earth and its inhabitants for His glory. Next, let me remind you of the story of Jesus's birth! Mary, being great with child rode a DONKEY into the town of Bethlehem where our Savior was predestined to be born(Matthew 1:18)! Now take a good look at a donkey. No matter the color of the hair coat on a donkey, when viewed from above (His vantage point) has a stripe of darker hair running from the poll to the tip of the tail. Perpendicular to that is another dark defined line of hair that stretches from the animals shoulder over the back and down the opposite shoulder. Lets visualize: two lines that intersect at perpendicular angles form what? ----Pick me ---Pick me----- A CROSS!! To complete this thought, our God knew that Jesus (born of a virgin) who was carried in the womb on a donkey, would later be commissioned to a cross in order to save you and I 2000+ years later and the vary donkey he rode in on was stamped with a cross and still is today!! One of the coolest things to me about this is the fact I don't have to wrestle a donkey under a microscope to see the cross on his back - its there for the world to see!!

Now lets digress for a minute. First, if this man has not  come to have a faith in the fact that Jesus died on the cross for his sins, he is condemned to Hell.(Facts are Facts!)(Revelation 20:7-15) Second, I failed! Here is a man who I know does not know Christ, and I left there that night with out telling him about Jesus. (Matthew 28:16-20)-- I had the chance to use the knowledge He blessed me with to further God's kingdom  and I blew it!! Third, Even though we have a Donkey as a "sign" for lack of better terminology - We shouldn't need it! His word is ENOUGH! When He opens our hearts and lends our ear to His word, and gives us the ability to accept it, We do not need a sign!!! If we rely on signals from God, how stout is our faith? Not very!?!? Its my prayer that in all these ramblings, you see that what you cant see is most important and if you need teaching tools to help relay God's infinite wisdom and foreknowledge, just grab your Bible and a donkey--thats what they are for!

What about Jesus?????

Let me set up a scene for you: A while back, close friends came home to spend the week and visit. One of those evenings, we were sitting around just talking and catching up on the "goings on." The conversation was light-hearted and somewhat shallow. Then, a four year old playing off to the side of the room by herself and seemingly paying no attention to the conversation injected herself in the discussion quite abruptly!!! "HEY, HEY, HEY --- What about Jesus??" All of us considered to be adult were stunned and an awkward silence followed.. Where did that come from? As she went back to playing with her toys, we all congratulated her on the mention of His name and then returned to our meaningless(in the grand scheme) conversation. Since then, this question has plagued my mind and consumed my thoughts. I don't know if she in her childhood wisdom understands or not but there was a point to that question and it needed to be asked! In our entire exchange, not once did we ever reference our God and Savior, or give thanks for the chance to be together!!  This simple question has realigned my thought process. Every time I catch myself in "ego inflation mode," I often ask myself the humbling question "What about Jesus?" During the tournament this week, inherently we will hear the next great player giving praise to his "talents" - but What about Jesus? Why is it so hard to not only give thanks to the Lord, but to devote our thoughts to Him for His glory. This may remind some of you of the WWJD bracelet craze of the late 90's, but it is a legitimate concern in my mind for believers. Did my conversation/thought/action have anything to do with furthering God's kingdom and make His Son known? Most all of the time, the answer is no!
I'm continually amazed and perplexed by this simple question but I'm so thankful that He has allowed me the insight to analyze my past, present and future actions! As Christians, we must ask ourselves What about Jesus??!!!!!  Please let me encourage you with this thought --Every breath you take is His ----so take them for Him  -- and help others take theirs for Him as well!!!


God Bless!!!

My God starches his jeans!!

 In my pondering today I began to evaluate who God is, and who I've made him out to be. I would love to think He is just like me!! Maybe he runs a few cows on a nice little place in heaven, has a couple nice horses and chooses square toes over tennis shoes (sound familiar). How many times in day to day life do we often try to "water down" God's image and provide ourselves with a little self indulged satisfaction.

For example - and dramatic effect - I've compiled a list (test) of " My God .....".

My God.__________

...... likes to hang with his buddies (apostles and disciples??)after work.

...... has a sense of humor and laughs at my jokes.

...... drives a Dodge!

...... understands why I cant make it church - cause he's cool like that!

...... wears a Tuxedo T-shirt cause he's formal - but still likes to party (Talladega Nights Movie)

...... is (denomination).

...... is (race).

Its my hope that if anyone reads this, by now, they would notice a problem with the previous statements. Our relationship with Him is often the INVERSE of what it should be! We should be (as Christians) striving to be more like Him each and every day. This is easier said than done, obviously! It is not easy to continue to sanctify (further your knowledge of Him and His will through His word) your life and raise the bar every day. Even harder to grasp is the fact that any progress made is a gift from Him -its not because your that good! Unfortunately, there is any easier way to feel better about ourselves. We can build this perception of Christ that resembles ourselves instantly making us equivalent (in our minds) to Jesus. All of the sudden, we wrote the book, do nothing wrong and can justify each and every sin we commit.

So who is God? Well, I'm grateful to say He is NOT a cattle producer from Hardinsburg, Ky!! He is the Alpha and the Omega (Rev 1:8)! He is the beginning and the end (Rev 21:6)! He is the one and only way to a life with Him (John 14:6) in a glorious state known as Heaven and we will abide in Him, by Him and for Him (John 15:4)! He is love(Agape)! 

Notice in the list above, when we make statements such as these that we leave out the fact that He sent His only Son to die on the cross for our sins(John 3:16). This is the most important thing we could possibly understand and have faith in and I'm more worried about what race Jesus is? It doesn't matter!! It matters that His blood fell to the ground so that mine wouldn't have too and that my faith in that act is required to be Justified (not guilty) in His sight(Romans 5:1)!!

It should be our goal to decrease each day so that the Lord our God may Increase (John 3:30), not the other way around!!

The World's Strongest Man....

Over the last couple months, it seems that many of my conversations with men of my stereotype and age have been have been dominated by a single topic. What does a strong man look like?

If I were to look at our world's current view, this man should have the capability to pull a bus up hill using his teeth and he should be able to pick up an Honda Accord and walk around the block (Source: ESPN). He should be able to take a beating and get up on his own. He should be able to take a cussing and give one when needed, work nonstop to provide the material necessities needed to get through life and never ever show any emotion whatsoever!!

Where on earth did we get these ideas? Let me ask a few questions? What about the man who skips a meal so his kids and cows can eat? What about the man who tithes when he has no income? What about the man who humbly declines from unneeded conflict? What about the man who is criticized publicly for spreading the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? What about the man who tells another man he loves him (brotherly)?  How many times have we seen these things in real life and our reaction has been "He's a Sissy", "What a Wus" or "He'd make a good girl"??

Where do these men get their strength? Dare I say that the first does not derive his strength from the Lord. Lets recall the story of Goliath - who was still susceptible to blunt force trauma (notice clause).  David, a teenager at the time came into a conflict with a giant, but he came in the name of the Lord - his source of strength (notice lack of clause). Even though Goliath was monstrous (on earth) and had an arsenal of weapons, he fell due to a teenager strengthened by God! (1 Samuel 17) This is a perfect example of why to not  derive our "strength" from worldly items.  How about Samson (Judges 13-16)? He was a man set apart by God and blessed with phyiscal strength beyond compare, then he allowed his self to be persuaded to worldly sin. In doing so, he rejected God and was overtaken by men  of less strength!!  What would have been Samson's outcome, had he fixed his eyes on God and not gave way to sin?? (He later realigns his faith for the Glory of God!!)

The typical man of today - if statistics are correct-- and they are -- does not derive his strength from the Lord, nor does he lay his life down for his wife, lead his family spiritually, teach his children the way of the Lord and most likely never proclaims the fact that Jesus arose on the third day! Is there any doubt as to why we as men fail continually?? If your fixin to stand up and defend how successful your career is - don't bother!! Those dollar signs prove little to me!! At what point does this trend change? It changes when men of Christ unite and stand up for the Gospel so that they may prove time and again that strength is not related to how much you can bench press. It changes when the Christian man strives to live a life pleasing to God for the world to see. One that allows his wife, family and friends -- and complete strangers -- to see Christ doing work through him!! That's when it changes!! Notice it starts with the man who is already a Christian! I agree, we must encourage non-believers to seek Christ, but if they can't see Christ in me, how am I to convince them they need a Savior??

So, What's my point(s)??  As a Christian man - don't lose sight of what a man is called to be (Christ-like)! As a Christian man, ensure those around you that you gain strength from the Lord, and not a bottle of pills and protein shakes!! As a Christian man, in the face of adversity, proclaim the Gospel! As a non-Christian man, understand this, you are but a hollow shell without the presence of the Lord in your heart, and are sure to fall, and if you fall, so will those who depend on you!! You cant drink enough Muscle Milk and bench press enough to get into heaven!! Just like Goliath, the "unbeatable" will be beaten!!

A note to those who depend on a Christian man.... Encourage them in their effort to seek first the Kingdom of God and gain TRUE strength, and understand this - God does Bless his followers - but it most likely won't be with wealth!!