Tanner-price Ame Church

In the North American black church, where, unfortunately, we operate from a tradition of struggle and lack, it's difficult from us to wrap our minds around the idea of approaching worship with the mentality of seeking to render something unto God, rather than seeking for what God can give us. Yes, we all have things burdening us, financial and/or otherwise, but what we must remember is that as born again believers, we operate from an advantage in that we know Who has the power to heal our situations and alleviate our struggles. Armed with that knowledge, we must begin to seek God and ask what we can do for God and for others, and as we glorify God by using our gifts to meet others' needs, God will, in turn, meet ours.

Learning doesn't take place in a vacuum. You can read, listen, watch, and take in information all you want, but the only way you really learn the information you're taking in is by doing it, by putting what you've learned into practice. The same can be said for our faith, in that our faith is not strengthened by what we hear about God or by what we read about God, but what we experience that brings life to what we've read and heard. To experience an ever-increasing faith, we must learn by doing, and the best way to do so is to follow the leader and adept the posture and attitude of Jesus in all things. (Mark 4:35-41)

Father's Day is often one of dubious distinction because while plenty of good fathers do exist, so many people either came from fathers from whom they were displaced, who didn't show them the love they needed as a child, or who simply weren't present in their lives. With that in mind, whether Father's Day is a positive or negative day for you, let us all work to maximize the opportunities of people over whom we have influence. David, a man after God's own heart, became king because God saw something in him his own father didn't see. Let's similarly look beyond the surface and seek God's best in all people. (1 Samuel 16:1-13)

When trying to draw people to Christ, we have not a more effective witness than our personal testimony. It's so easy to get comfortable in our salvation and be content with sitting under the feet of Jesus, but He's calling us to do more than that. Our call is to go home--where we're from, where we are most often, and where we have the most influence--and tell somebody about Jesus and draw others to Him.

The secret to success, the key to getting all God has for you will not be found in a book, a 12-step program, or a motivational DVD, but can be gleaned by getting in the presence of God, for it is there where we find our success lies in being forgiving ourselves and moving forward, being available to God, and walking confidently in the gifts with which God has blessed us.

05/27/2012. Pentecost Sunday

05/25/2012

Pentecost Revival, Night #1

05/20/2012

05/13/2012

05/06/2012

04/29/2012

04/22/2012

Above all, God desires to see our consistency. The way we minimize our susceptibility to the highs and lows of life and allowing those extremes to distract and discourage us from serving God and walking in our calling completely is by shifting the manner in which we view our Christian journey. There's an unconventional perspective we can have that is key in maintaining our consistency in every season. (Psalm 116, Philippians 4)

The heart of the April Fools' Day tradition ought to make us remember that things aren't always as they seem and people aren't always who they appear to be. The key to victorious living is keeping our eyes on the prize and not allowing tempting situations and people take our focus off of Christ and our purpose in Him. (Mark 10:32-45; 11:1-11)

The gospel still would have been a wonderful, inspirational story of unbelievable sacrifice, even without the resurrection, but since Jesus got up, He proved, in the flesh, that God's people have the victory over everything. Since Jesus defeated death, He showed us that no matter what we've been through, no matter what anyone has said about you, no matter how bad it looks, God is not through with you yet. As long as your hand is in God's hand, the story of your life is not over yet! (Luke 23:44-56; 24:1-12, 44-53)

The times we're living in today mandate that we, the church, return to the relevance we enjoyed during the civil rights era, when the church was truly the center of the community. We are raising our young people in such a time of demonic attack on their future. We, the church, must stand up to this attack and protect this and future generations. Let the church be the church! (Acts 2:43-47)

The Word of God is the ultimate game changer, not just for how powerful and indisputable the Word is, but also for the importance of words in our lives. The Word of God changes minds, bodies, plans, circumstances; the Word of God changes us...when we let Him. (Psalm 107:1-6, 17-22; Numbers 21:4-9)

03/11/2012

03/04/2012