PASTOR JOHN COLLINS: SEEING OUR BIG PICTURE
Pastor John Collins: our resilient spirit
How many of us have not felt despair asks Pastor John Collins of John Collins Ministries?
Things happen in this life we live here that
are sad, dark, scary, ugly and leave us feeling like we want to curl into a fetal
position and just stay there. That
darkness is of Satan and it is meant for us to be separated from God who
loves us. It gives that evil being
pleasure to know he can torture God’s creations. We know pain because it’s part of this world,
says Pastor John Collins. So many of us do not know how to handle the
pain because society has driven God from church, family, and home. There is an epidemic of narcotic and opioid
use that is out of control. Alcoholism
destroys families and individuals. The
agony of this life is overwhelming at times and we simply are at a loss to
understand how to cope.
Pastor John Collins reminds us: the answer is faith.
Believing in something
that we cannot see can be discouraging if we don’t have immediate positive
feedback. The false hope that is often
preached by those who only want to line their own pockets through snake oil style
methods is sadly the most prevalent voices we hear from the pulpit and the
media. Faith in God, faith in Jesus is
what will pull us through the shadows of fear and darkness, preaches Pastor
John Collins. It is the only way.
“We need to choose to not allow pain to overwhelm us when we will be confronted with pain every day, whether or not that pain is our own personally or collectively. You see, when there is hurt in this world we need to make an even greater effort to love more. The more that we can genuinely love, beginning with loving God, who in turn allows us to love ourselves, not selfishly but with compassion and the ability to forgive ourselves so that we don’t go on punishing ourselves for past mistakes, bad choices or tragedies that we internalize and take on guilt for and that allows us to be able to love others with sincerity and truth.” Pastor John Collins (January, 2018).
Pastor John Collins,
evangelist and head pastor of Love That Cross Ministries and Pastor John
Collins Ministries, does not and never has preached false hope. Pastor John Collins preaches truth. It has gotten to the point that the Gospel of
Jesus Christ now needs to be redeemed because those in the pulpit over the past
two thousand plus years have watered it down and turned it into something to
serve man, not God and His Son, Jesus Christ.
Pastor John Collins redeems that Gospel, telling it like it is so that
we can learn what each of us needs to do to get back to God. Pastor John Collins is not going to tell us
what we want to hear, he will tell us what we need to hear. Hope will come from faith, and as Pastor John
Collins continues to preach, faith as small as mustard seed can move
mountains. God will take that tiny bit
of faith in us and teach us lovingly to become strong and overcome the agony
that we endure here in this world.
Pastor John Collins writes:
“Cursed be the day in
which I was born! Let the day not be blessed in which my mother bore me!”
Jeremiah 20:14 (NKJV).
Who has not felt
despair pulling on their world that seems to outweigh any hope that may exist?
This life is full of ugly truths and disappointing days that will rip your
heart out if you let it. There are valleys and shadows of a darkness that is
uncompromising. People who find themselves at low points may turn to
substances, whether prescription or illegal or over the counter in order to
dull their pain and put off the agony of reality. It is at these low times when
you feel as though you have nothing to hang on to, nothing to live for and
nothing to pull you out of the darkness that faith is most important. For some,
it is these dark spaces that create faith and for others it is the place that
creates the doubt that challenges one’s faith. Sometimes it is hard to hold on
to what you cannot see.
The human spirit is
amazingly resilient. We are tougher than we realize. The truth is that there
will come a time or many times in a person’s life that will leave you low and
wanting to curse not only the world but your place in it. We are created with a
great capacity to feel great emotions both high and low and we are capable of
great compassion for each other and need to find the ability to have compassion
for ourselves, not in any superficial or selfish way but in a way that allows
us to let God into our hearts in order to be healed by Him. We need to choose
to not allow pain to overwhelm us when we will be confronted with pain every
day, whether or not that pain is our own personally or collectively. You see,
when there is hurt in this world we need to make an even greater effort to love
more. The more that we can genuinely love, beginning with loving God, who in
turn allows us to love ourselves, not selfishly but with compassion and the
ability to forgive ourselves so that we don’t go on punishing ourselves for
past mistakes, bad choices or tragedies that we internalize and take on guilt
for and that allows us to be able to love others with sincerity and truth. We
have to be able to see the big picture as well as the little picture at the
same time. Not only do we need to realize that God does have a plan and that He
has not forgotten us nor forsaken us but know your life matters, what you do
and who you love matters and that love needs to allow for forgiveness,
acceptance and hope to shine through the darkness.
If you have not
experienced pain of the soul that sucks the breath right out of you then you
have not lived. If you have not stood back and felt awe for the world we live
in then you have not awakened to the truth of God. The entire human experience
will bring both despair and joy beyond imagination and knowing both allows you
to be a better person and a person of compassion and truth. God is good and
will not leave you alone. Do not grow bitter for having known the darkness
because without it you could not appreciate the light.
“Through the Lord’s
mercies we are not consumed, because His compassion's fail not. They are new
every morning; great is Your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my
soul, therefore I hope in Him!’” Lamentations 3:22-24 (NKJV).
LOVE THAT CROSS PASTOR JOHN COLLINS
Pastor John Collins is
a nationally and world known evangelist.
You can listen to Pastor John Collins live, Sunday mornings on Heaven’s
Country radio, broadcast on www.heavenscountry.com at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Mountain Time. Pastor John Collins’
messages are to the point and compel us to examine ourselves and our hearts to
draw us closer to God who loves us.
Pastor John Collins regularly posts thoughts on Facebook and Twitter. The answers we are looking for can be found
by looking up, not looking in. God sent
Jesus Christ to teach us and then save us from ourselves, Pastor John Collins
preaches that Word every Sunday. Pastor John Collins is available for
personal contact for prayer, encouragement and hope through his personal email
jc65777@yahoo.com or if you need a guest preacher or revival. Pastor John Collins is in it to win it for God: it is time for a change.
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