Sunday, January 25, 2009

The Memphis Tigers Are Getting Their Act Together!

The Memphis Tigers Are Getting Their Acts Together!

Get ready for another long tournament run by the Tigers!









Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Expecting Breakthroughs in the Age of the Breakdown!

Expecting Breakthroughs in the Age of the Breakdown!

I think we are living in a time where it is incumbent for people of faith to draw on that faith in a greater manner than we ever have before. We are walking daily in one of the most challenging times that man has ever seen. The hearts of men have grown cold, and many of the tenets of old are fading so soon that it would make one’s head to spin. This is not a time for the fearful and the feeble. If there was ever an age for good men to stand up and be accounted for it is now. How many people have started out on this grand old Christian journey with us only to fall by the wayside and join the ranks of the hopeless? Why are so many choosing to breakdown in this day?

Why does the pain hurt so badly? Will I ever turn the corner? When will my day ever come? Many of these are questions that befuddle so many. People are throwing in the towel and waving the white flag in numbers that time itself has never seen before. That doesn’t make these people bad; they are just individuals who want the incredible pain that accompanies being a traveler in this world to stop. God why does it have to hurt so badly? God when will my day come? Lord do you see me here barely able to breathe? Where are you Lord while I am going through all of this mess? The punches that many of us having taken in this life are so excruciating that many of us didn’t know of any other way to get the pain to stop, but by our breaking down.

Isn’t it amazing that depression, and mental maladies afflict so many in this day? Some individuals have been treated so unfairly in this world that they literally want to put their shoes on their head, and their hat on their feet. Why does it seem like all of the 24 robbers from your days of playing hide and go seek; are now seeking to torment your soul? Many have released childhood dreams of greatness because of the pains that they have suffered. They are now popping pills to wake up, and to go to sleep. There are millions upon millions that don’t even know how it feels to have a good night’s sleep. The hearts of so many have fainted because of fear and apprehension. It is indeed a challenging day when many of our 401K’s now resemble a 101A! Many have seen their nest eggs which took an entire lifetime to save all go down the drain. The stability of the workplace is at an all-time low! There are millions that are jobless. Entire industries are feeling the pinch from the economic hard times that we are living in.

Child of God there is good news amongst all of the bad news. We serve a God that is literally the Lord and Master of every Breakthrough. The same God that delivered the sages of old in The Holy Writ is still on the throne to deliver you. So stop biting your fingernails, stop waving the white flag, and stop popping pills. God can break you through whatever lines of resistance that the enemy may have set in your path. We serve a God that relishes in talking out the forces of the enemy of our souls. Even though we are not fighting Philistines, Jebusites, Hittites, and Amorites in this day, we are still left to fight depression, despondency, and hopelessness. Are there any that are busy fighting the good fight of faith? Why are so many scared when our God can breakthrough the forces of the enemy? Are we comparing our big problems to a small God, when we should be comparing our small troubles to our great big God! We serve a God that is bigger than anything that you may be going through. God is ready to explode a wave of his favor on you!

God is ready and willing for his favor to become commonplace in your life. Are you bold enough to trust him? God is able to run his favor over your life, like waters that flow from a busted pipe. Can you grasp that God’s favor can make you flourish in such a manner? Can you believe that God can do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think? Can you believe that God can run though the ranks of resistance that the enemy has tormented you with for so many years? Can you believe that God can heal that part of your body that has bothered you for so long? God has an explosion of his goodness and his mercy that he is ready to shower your life with! God is ready to bust the bubble, and release you out of all the boxes that have kept you trapped for so long. Keep your ship running even when others are choosing to break down. You should never breakdown once you get a real revelation of how tremendous our God is. Don’t weary in well doing, don’t break down on the side of the road.

God is ready to break you through any and every form of opposition that you may face. God is ready to increase you on every side. Are you bold enough to grasp this truth in the age that we are now living in? Can you stretch your faith pass the level that most in this day have? Can you expect more than the norm? Can you believe that God is ready to stretch you? Can you believe that God has a quantum leap in store for you? Can you summer up the energy to walk by faith, and not by what your see, hear, and experience every day? Isn’t God bigger than your malady? Isn’t God bigger than your financial hardship? Don’t you believe that God is bigger than any stalemate that has kept you from greatness? Will you let the obstructions in your path hinder you from experiencing God’s best? Is there anything too hard for our God? Can you believe that God can rescue you from limiting restrictions that have left you living a second tier life? Can you believe God for a breakthrough in an age that others are breaking down?


Let me introduce you to my God who is the Master and the Lord of your every breakthrough. He is the God of no limits! Our God eats the impossible for breakfast, and our God dines on the improbable on a daily basis. The God whom we serve is still a miracle worker! God is ready to break you through the ranks of all of the enemy’s opposition. Never let the harsh pains of living in this world make you lose the gift of expectation. This is a gift from God. We all claim to have faith, but there is no faith where there is not expectation. You must see things getting better. You must see good coming your way. Once you lose expectations of things getting better then you are well on your way to the ranks of those who are breaking down. Expect a miracle each and everyday and you will soon find yourself breaking through in an age where others have chose to breakdown.

Respectfully Submitted,
Pastor Stephen F. Smith
www.stephenfsmith.org

Friday, January 16, 2009

Can You Pass The Strength Test?

Can You Pass The Strength Test? One's strength is not determined by mountaintop experiences! It is determined by how one deals with the valleys of life! How can you possibly know how strong you are, if you haven't been through anything? The proof is in the pudding, don't call yourself a prayer warrior when the times are peaceful. Who attends motivational seminars by those who haven't gone through anything? Grace and Power usually follow those who are not afraid of being in the heat of the battle! Success usually follows blood, sweat, tears, and pain most times!

How can one know God as a healer if one has never been sick? How can one know God as a way -maker if one has never needed to have a way made! God's strength is made perfect(Mature,Whole, Complete) in weakness! Maybe we should thank God for the thorns, thistles, and sticker bushes we have to face in life! You are better because of it! Let that valley that you are going through right now prepare you for the sheer greatness that I am praying will come your way real soon! I see you in the future looking a whole lot better than you look right now!
Stay in the Chase,
Pastor Stephen F. Smith
www.stephenfsmith.org

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Does My Wonderful Public Profile Cover Up My Private Pain?

Does My Wonderful Public Profile Cover Up My Private Pain?

The social networking world is such a blessing to many. The opportunity to network with seemingly like minded people all over the globe affords many priceless opportunities. In the midst of the wonderful profiles that grace Facebook, Ning, MySpace, Twitter, WordPress, Blogger, Linkedin, BlackPlanet, and any of a myriad of other social networking sites are many people that are dealing with secret struggles, and private pain. I once mentioned in a sermon that many of us are hurting in places that others simply can’t see! Do our powerful public profiles cover some of our private pains! Does anyone else see my struggles?

We all go through, we all have struggles! Even that person who has that great looking profile on the social networking sites that has all those friends, yes they also have struggles. A good looking personal photo doesn’t exhibit all that another may have gone through, or may have gone through. The picture may show the glory, but believe me the picture doesn’t tell the story. In the midst of any social networking site, are the profiles of many who have been through hell and high water! Yes you are not the only person that is going through! When one writes his or her bio for any social networking sites, one tends to highlight the highpoints of one’s life! Very seldom would one list their bottom of the barrel experiences, their valley experiences on their profiles. Here’s my prayer that God would bless all of you folks who have all of these wonderful profiles in the social networking world. It is my prayer that God would heal any private pain that you may have! It is also my prayer that God would alleviate unbearable burdens that may be tormenting you!

Yes, I am sure that we all have some private struggles that only God can deliver us from! That pain that torments, that thing that keeps you from sleeping is limited from affecting you from this day forward. That thing that you have carried down the halls of work, school, or church will no longer torment you any more. There is a God that can heal even those whose struggle, and don’t even whimper about it. I don’t have to know what you are going through, but I do know that you are going through! Behind that wonderful looking profile is a person that is struggling with something that very few even know about! Those tears that have been shed, that no one else ever sees are almost over. The tide is getting ready to turn! Those insecurities that have limited you over the years will soon give way! I am telling you with Holy Boldness that you are ready to turn the corner!
I am seeing you a few days down the road in the future, and you are looking and feeling a whole lot better than you look right now!

After all of the flossing online, there are many people who are going through just like you. You are not born under a bad sign; you were not born in an awful sign, or an awful season. God has not frowned on you! God has not tuned his back on you! Your best days have not been seen yet! Your happiest days haven’t been seen yet! The sleepless nights will soon pass away! The biting of your fingernails will soon be yesterday’s news! I see you overcoming each and every private struggle and private pain! I see boundless joy in your future! I am earnestly praying for your complete and total deliverance from any private struggle, and private pain that may be in your life! God is ready to take you from the places of torment, and deliver you to a place of triumph!


Respectfully Submitted,
Pastor Stephen F. Smith
www.stephenfsmith.org
www.preachsteve.com
www.preachstephen.com

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

This Pass by Pau Gasol Was Sick!

This Pass by Pau Gasol Was Sick! How do you describe this pass?

Seems Like Pau's Post-Memphis Grizzlies days are going just fine!