God bless!

                I think the title of this devotional says it all. Being Christian is not winning a popularity contest at all. Many will put you down and many will try to persecute you but, at the end of the day we must all realize what God has prepared for us. "What is that?" you ask. Picture your happiest moment ever and multiply it times eternity, it's the ability to not worry about anything or anyone and take a deep breath because of the joy of life rather than the anxiety of pressures. It's like the moment when you are served with your favorite dessert and you quickly forget about everything else around you. The moment I'm trying to describe is wholeness, fulfillment despite the circumstances. If we can feel joy for silly little things like a favorite food can you imagine what we should feel knowing that for every curse the devil throws at us God lays up 100 blessings to restore us. God today wants us to know that most people may not like us now and may never like us for that matter but God will always love us. As a matter of fact, God loves us so much He gave His only begotten Son so that you and I may have everlasting life with Him. With all that said,  is it really worth stressing out over a person that does not like you? I don't think so!

Throwing up the peace sign to those that don't like me,

Pastor Joell  A. Perez

Mark 13:13 "Everyone will hate you because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved."

God bless!

                Who do you listen to? As the verse below states many will come in His name but at the end of the day they are not from Him, how can we tell the difference? ACTIONS! These days there are new doctrines and revelations by the ton, someone will get up every other day and claim to have an inside track on God and His desire for humanity but they all seem to fade away. Why is there so much confusion? The confusion is not from God. God is a God of order as we all know and due to this we have to all be clear that there is no change in Him nor is there any hesitation from Him to us. All the tools that we need to be successful today have been gifted to us by God and were given to us even before we were born.

                So how do we get convinced by imitators? Lack of relationship, I know many may think "this guy is always preaching on the same topic" and you are right, I do. If we can get this point of our lives right and establish a true relationship with God then we have everything figured out. Why was David considered a man after Gods own heart?  His prayer and worship life, why did Abraham get the title "father of faith"? His obedience and proximity to God was the key. What are we going to be known for?  Today is a new day and a fresh start for our journey back to Him, are you coming?

Getting ready to know Him more, A. Perez

Pastor Joell

Mark 13:6 "Many will come in my name, claiming, ?I am he,' and will deceive many."

God bless!

                Many people these days get so hung up on doing the religious thing that they don't invest the time into doing the right thing. I know that may sound a bit weird but it is very important that we understand that God seeks us to have a knowledge of right based on His terms rather than us to do what's right based on our terms. In other words, too many of us today are manipulating and justifying what is right and what is wrong, to accommodate our flesh (there I said it!). I know many may be nodding their head in disbelief at what I just said assuming "I would never do that" but we all do. It's like when we know we are doing something border line wrong but we are so good at convincing ourselves that we actually walk away feeling good about doing bad. Makes sense? As I write today I'm being convicted, it's tough at times to try to do right but the beauty of the verse of today is that Jesus evaluates this man's proximity to the Kingdom of God by his knowledge rather than his current actions. In other words Jesus knew that as long as this man recognized what was right he would be able to walk in it. The problem for us today is we don't want to recognize His right but instead want to recognize our own. (SELAH)

                With all of this said today there is one fundamental thing that we must all understand: God is patient and loving and He wants us to return to Him today. Let's all begin today to put down our tools of justification and begin to man up and woman up to what has to be done in our lives to get right and get happy. Is it easy? You know it's not, but as long as we recognize the true right then all the other issues and requirements will fall into place. Let's walk away happy from this email today knowing that there still is hope if we believe. How close are you to the Kingdom?

Evaluating my positioning,

Pastor Joell A. Perez

Mark 12:34 "When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions."

God bless!

                As a pastor I am asked questions constantly about my style of living and what things I have to do because I'm a "Pastor", I chuckle at this because we are all in the same boat! Many people get hung up on titles and therefore feel that they can have a lower standard of responsibility than those with "titles", I have bad news for some of us today: we are all liable to do the same thing. Of course there is a greater level of responsibility (that goes without saying) but at the end of the day the verses below really encapsulate the point of being a Christian. We have to LOVE. As I express openly from my part this is quite hard at times, especially in the moments when the love tank is running on empty.

As many are familiar with the five love languages, I will share that the same way we have love languages with people we also have it with God. The major difference is that He speaks all of our Love languages yet we at times seem to fail to speak His. What is His? QUALITY TIME. No doubt about it, don't try to analyze it too deeply because all HE wants from us is our time, priority and a sense of importance. I know many of us don't want to hear this but it's my job to speak in truth. At times I want this to be easy but I realize I wasn't called by God to be "Loved" by everyone and I know this because neither was His Son. Today I share with you that if we really want things to change in our life then we need to begin to spend time with Him. Love Him above all things and think of Him before all things. This is the greatest commandment. Are you up for it?

Trying to court God,

Pastor Joell A. Perez

Mark 12:29-31 ""The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: ?Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' 31 The second is this: ?Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."

God bless!

                This is such an awesome time of year, the sun is shining, the birds are chirping and the sound of fireworks takes over the atmosphere. As so many people are celebrating the independence of this great country today I encourage you to also celebrate your own independence. Have you ever taken the time to consider where you would be if it were not for God? Has He not done immense things in our lives? When I think back of all the "issues" He freed me from I nod my head and once again re-connect with Him. We all forget from time to time of all the things He has done and though it's awful to take Him for granted it's something that happens over and over. So what do we do now? Well the first step in celebrating something is recognizing its existence, I challenge you today to write down three things God has done for you since you received Him as your Lord and Savior. After you write them down post them on your wall at home so that the memory of His great victories in your life are not easily forgotten.

Thinking of His great Love

Pastor Joell A. Perez

God bless!

                The timer is ringing, the alarm is sounding and the voice inside says "its too late, you failed!". Im sure many of us have felt this kind of pressure throughout our life and sometimes this pressure has actually helped us to realize our potential. Was it easy? Of course not but, today I come with a short message for us, to let us know that God is holding the time still for us to get right! I know you and I have messed up many times, we have made the wrong decisions and even walked in the wrong path but that never stopped God from loving us and it never will. Now that doesn't mean we should continue to do whats wrong, quite the opposite it should motivate us to do whats right. This Sunday be prepared to get a jolt from the Almighty, He has been waiting for this day for a long time and the time for you and I to receive what we are in need for is now! Im not just typing today im giving you a free word from the throne room itself. You and I have a date with God, will we stand Him up?

Putting on my Sunday shoes!

Pastor Joell A. Perez

God bless!

                Once again we find ourselves at the close of a month and the beginnings of another. What has changed over the last month in your life? If your answer to this is nothing then there is something wrong. As children of the Most High God there has to be a renewing in our life daily. You may say "how is that supposed to happen?" My only answer to you is that your feelings have to change for the better daily even if it is a little bit. I'm not saying we are not going to have off days, we all do! What I am saying is after a month we should be able to look back and say I felt this but now I feel that, I was this but now I am that. The first step in changing our situation is prayer, this Sunday is our monthly congregational fasting and prayer service. What a better time than this to get change rolling in our lives? I encourage you over the next 24 hours to email me your prayer requests and I mostly encourage you to get to church this Sunday and be part of the motion and movement to a blessed July. I don't know about you but I rather be a participator than a mere spectator. Don't let change and blessings pass you by.

Praying for major breakthroughs in my life!

Pastor Joell  A. Perez

God bless!

                Can you really live on love? I know most of us would respond to this question "are you crazy?", love? What is love? The question of love is one that has been debated for centuries but at the end of it all the word love is not a feeling but an action. It's not the butterflies in your stomach or anything like that. Love is the ability to do for someone else regardless of what that someone else can offer or provide to you. Community service is love, the efforts invested into the work is the exact definition of love. Now some do community service because they have to where others do a community service because they remember when they were in the community and had a need that either was or wasn't satisfied and they can recall how they felt due to that.

                Is this all a hoax to get you to do something in church? Of course not, this is an alert to all those that want to serve God that the best way to His heart is through His little ones. Do you want to show God you love Him? Can you remember all the things He has done for you? Do you appreciate Him? If the answer is yes then today with all of your strength and all of your soul, commit to serving His little ones. How do I know this will work? I try to do it every day and I feel He has blessed me for it. It's not always the blessing I may desire but then again maybe I'm not ready for it. When all is said and done if I truly love Him the way I saw and think I do then I will show it with my actions, will you?

Trying to do the right thing,

Pastor Joell A. Perez

Mark 12:30 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'

God bless!

                Today we will start the day right! Today I challenge you to look in the mirror and see not your flaws but rather your positive attributes. Look around at all God has given you, think of your job, your kids, your home, etc. Is there really any reason to be unhappy? So he left you, so she left you, so he cheated, so she cheated, so your mom and dad weren't around, so what! Can crying about any of this change the situation? Of course not so let's put on our big boy and big girl pants and look at life straight in the eyes and tell it "my time is now!". Don't wait till it's too late to start enjoying your today!

Getting ready for change,

Pastor Joell A. Perez

God bless!

                Have you ever had a conversation with someone that you knew was analizing your every word? You felt so uncomfortable you started stuttering and you became confused? I'm sure like I have, you have found yourself in very similar situations. So what is this all about today? As a believer your words, actions and even thoughts will be second guessed, analized and "interpreted", though this is a difficult process it is life nonetheless. What do we do? The same thing Jesus did, look at the face value of the topic as well as the face value of the individual and answer or ignore accordingly. In other words don't explain yourself if you don't have to and don't try to pretend to be someone you aren't to please others. Its Monday and with no doubt the hardest day of the week for most of us but let's start this week right!  Today I encourage you to break the trend of trying to be a religious defender and instead become a religious offender by simply loving..

Eliminating toxic thoughts,

Pastor Joell A. Perez

Mark 12: 13-17 "Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words...."