BRINGING BACK GOD, PASTOR JOHN COLLINS, BRISTOL AND MARIETTA: Fear and pride

We all have fear of something.  We fear loss-job, family, money marriage.  We fear the future, we fear the unknown. Because we react to that fear, we respond in some way to control it. According to PASTOR JOHN COLLINS, while preaching at BRINGING BACK GOD in BRISTOL and MARIETTA, “Fear is a sign of the enemy, it triggers a sense of self protection, which creates a web of pride. The real truth is, elevated proud people don’t take responsibility for their own problems. Instead they put you in fear to their advantage. When you’re elevated in yourself, without even knowing it you are under the influence of a spirit of fear and a spirit of lying. Unconsciously you will intimidate and manipulate others to protect your position. The person will sense this intimidation and manipulation (often sub-consciously) and begin to fear what you think of them or get annoyed that you are using them instead of taking their own responsibility, thus becoming trapped in the web of pride. You could argue that the recipient is innocent but, the real truth is that they are proud too.

The issue isn’t what people are doing to you; it’s principalities and powers that oppress you.When someone tries to put fear on you or manipulate you, know that you are being attacked by a spirit of fear, and when you succumb to a spirit of fear, know that you have stepped out of the love of the Father. It’s not wrong to feel fear, it’s wrong to surrender to it.

Don’t react to the fear; let it drive you to faith. Love suffers the fear attack trusting God’s outcome; pride tries not to have fear, and love stops and recognizes where the attack is really coming from. Paul had a thorn in the flesh: And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).

The answer to being intimidated and being manipulated and being fearful is to accept God’s strategy of the thorn in the flesh. Paul was given a thorn in the flesh to buffet him incessantly. He wanted it to go away but God knows the pride of man so He’s strategy was to leave it in place to keep him humble so he wouldn’t lose his salvation.” Don’t give in to fear, intimidation and manipulation.   Let Christ handle it for you.   That is when you will be your strongest.

Go to www.blogtalkradio.com/pastorjohncollins to hear more sermons by PASTOR JOHN COLLINS. You can view his sermons on YouTube.  To see what is going on with the church, BRINGING BACK GOD, visit www.bringingbackgod.com.  Need fellowship or to talk to someone?  You can reach PASTOR JOHN COLLINS by email at bringingbackgod@outlook.com.

God bless you.

BRINGING BACK GOD, PASTOR JOHN COLLINS, BRISTOL AND MARIETTA: Love like Jesus-selflessly

Jesus loved us selflessly-he suffered and then hung on a cross and died for us so that we can have eternal life.  There is no greater selflessness than to give your life for others. PASTOR JOHN COLLINS when preaching at BRINGING BACK GOD in BRISTOL and MARIETTA, tells us that Jesus loved selflessly all the time. And, since Jesus was the living God, acting on behalf of our Father in heaven, what Jesus did, He did because it was of God.  The Old Testament tells us in Leviticus 19:18 (KJV) “Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love the neighbor as thyself.  I am the Lord.” In the New Testament in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus preached “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. ” Matthew 5:44-45 (KJV). It’s easy for us to love those who love us.  That’s normal for us as humans.  Jesus loved everyone, he loved the unlovable.  That is what we are to do as Christians, to be Christ-like, according to PASTOR JOHN COLLINS.Loving the unlovable goes against what society teaches us.

One of PASTOR JOHN COLLINS‘ favorite preachers is David Wilkerson.  Wilkerson went from a mountain town in Pennsylvania and began a ministry among the heroin addicts of New York City.  In the 1960’s. His story sounds like it could be happening today.  Wilkerson loved the unloved.  He gave hope to young men and women who were addicts by giving them and showing them the love of Jesus.  So many of those addicts had no hope.  Loving selflessly like Jesus gave them hope and brought them out of the desert of wilderness.  It isn’t impossible to love the unlovable.  You can do anything through Christ.  Just ask, pray for it with heartfelt desire and you will know how according to PASTOR JOHN COLLINS. We Christians need to love the unlovable. It means not doing what will bless us, but doing what will bless them. It will save ourselves and the world.

You can hear sermons by PASTOR JOHN COLLINS by logging onto the website www.blogtalkradio.com/pastorjohncollins. You are sure to hear a preacher like never before. You can hear and view clips of PASTOR JOHN COLLINS on YouTube. See what church  BRINGING BACK GOD is doing by visiting www.bringingbackgod.com.  You can write to PASTOR JOHN COLLINS at bringingbackgod@outlook.com.

God bless you.

BRINGING BACK GOD, PASTOR JOHN COLLINS, BRISTOL AND MARIETTA: Love like Jesus-forgivingly

According to PASTOR JOHN COLLINS in sermons at BRINGING BACK GOD, in BRISTOL and MARIETTA, Jesus loved forgivingly, sacrificially, selflessly, and understandingly. PASTOR JOHN COLLINS encourages us to be Christ-like as Christians. One way to be Christ-like is to love like Jesus did. For us, because we are human, it does not come naturally.  We sooner take the easy way and give in to the ways of the world…..we say “I’m having a bad day, I just can’t take this, they did this to me” and turn around and take our bad day out on someone else-in turn they respond in kind and choose to have a bad day as well. The Holy Bible says to “love thy neighbor as thyself”. Do we love ourselves so little that we want to make someone else’s life miserable because something happened? Jesus loves forgivingly. Daniel 9:9 says “To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him”.  Jesus was the living God, and all that He did, He did by God’s command.  He loved forgivingly. If Jesus loved forgivingly, then God loves forgivingly.  If God wants us to be Christ-like, Christian, then we need to learn to love others forgivingly.

We can easily take offense at what other people do or say. It’s our nature. But God wants us to forgive others, like we forgive ourselves-love thy neighbor as thyself. Someone at a business made an error the other week.  A pretty big one, one that affected people directly and indirectly-it spread like a web.  The individual who made the error was busy gossiping about the town-where to go, what to do, someone who misused a church.  While she was doing this, she made an error that had pretty far reaching effects. The individual who had to deal with the fall out from the error chose not to dwell on it or make a big deal out of it, they chose to forgive the person who made the error. The opportunity to fix the error by someone else came quickly-a blessing from God– so that no one suffered for the mistake.  The person who made the mistake was committing sin by gossiping. In that moment, Satan had a chance to create pain and misery. Giving forgiveness to that person stopped Satan in his tracks.  There was no route for him to follow.  None.  Genuinely loving your neighbor and giving forgiveness is Christ-like. Jesus was willing to die to cleanse us of our sins.  Being bitter and holding resentment would have been the normal response for most people…giving Satan free reign in our hearts. With Christ-like love and forgiveness, it stopped him in his tracks.  What an outcome.  How much better off we all would be if we could do that! Peter in Acts 3:19 said “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” PASTOR JOHN COLLINSpreaches the same thing-that we seek forgiveness from God through Jesus, so that we can have eternal life. Seek that relationship with God, be like Jesus.  Love everyone forgivingly.

You can hear more sermons like these by PASTOR JOHN COLLINS by going to www.blogtalkradio.com/pastorjohncollins. You can see what BRINGING BACK GOD is doing by visiting the church website at www.bringingbackgod.com.  Fellowship is an important part of being Christian; you can talk to PASTOR JOHN COLLINS by emailing him at bringingbackgod@outlook.com.  Have a blessed Sunday.

God bless you.

 

 

BRINGING BACK GOD, PASTOR JOHN COLLINS, BRISTOL AND MARIETTA: Really, 3 days in a week?

PASTOR JOHN COLLINS, while preaching in BRISTOL and MARIETTA, teaches us that we need to give ourselves 100% to God. That means that we give everything: our love, our trust, our fears, our sorrows, our attention, all of ourselves. God wants it all. He is a jealous God….nothing comes before him. What we are to do and what we actually do are two different things.  PASTOR JOHN COLLINS pointed out that so many diseases are associated with worry.  We are a society of worry and anxiety.  There are drugs to numb our anxiety and classes to reduce stress.  We worry about everything: what we look like, how to pay our bills, what our children are doing, what our elderly parents are doing, where our kids go to school, will they grow up and be successful, the list goes on and on.  We worry endlessly, and that worry takes our attention away from our Lord.  We need to learn to trust Him. PASTOR JOHN COLLINS says that worry is the ultimate act of rebellion against God in a believer’s life: when we worry as a believer, we are saying God is dead, he won’t do anything to help in our situation.

PASTOR JOHN COLLINS says that even though the calendar gives us seven days a week, there really are three.  Two of them we can’t do anything about, and we need to trust in God: we can’t do anything about yesterday, it is over.  We can’t do anything about tomorrow, we have absolutely no power over it. Today is the only day we have.  We need to be thankful for it, and with God’s help, we can face whatever comes. Philippians 4: 13 says “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (KJV). Trying to quit smoking?  Give it to Jesus.  Need to find a way to put food on the table?  Give it to Jesus.  Found out you have an incurable disease?  Give it to Jesus…He did heal people through their faith, it’s everywhere in the Gospels of the New Testament. When you give it to Jesus, who was the living God, you are saying you trust in God completely. In Matthew 6:25-34 (KJV) Jesus says “Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.  Is not the life more than meat, and the body then raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them.  Are ye not much better than they?  Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?  And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cst into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith.  Therefore, take no though saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink, or Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these thing do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.  Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.  Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”  He said this during his Sermon on the Mount.  It is wise advice for the believer then and for the believer now.  You cannot change anything by worrying.  Each day has its own troubles and worries.  You can only deal with today, with the help of God.  Give him that chance.

Hear more sermons by PASTOR JOHN COLLINS, from BRINGING BACK GOD at www.blogtalkradio.com/pastorjohncollins.  Visit the BRINGING BACK GOD website at www.bringingbackgod.com.  You can follow PASTOR JOHN COLLINS on facebook at www.facebook.com/bbg40. Need fellowship?  Email PASTOR JOHN COLLINS at bringingbackgod@outlook.com.

God bless you.

 

 

Bringing Back God: Don’t look back

 

PASTOR JOHN COLLINS, BRINGING BACK GOD uses a phrase repeatedly through his blogtalkradio.com sermons and his church sermons.  As a Christian, you aren’t a recovering anything.  You are just plain Christian. You are a new creature. In the Holy Bible, Ephesians 4:23-24 says “And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man , which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” (KJV). Philippians 3:13 it says “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before.” (KJV). And Colossians 3:9-10 says “ Lie not one to anther, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; an have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.”

These passages are from letters by Paul of Tarsus, encouraging those to whom he is writing to remember that once you become a Christian, you are a new person-new everything. This is exactly what PASTOR JOHN COLLINS, BRINGING BACK GOD means when he says you aren’t a recovering anything.  You are just plain you, a Christian you.Don’t say you are a recovering alcoholic, you’re not recovering, you are new in Christ.  Don’t say you are a recovering addict of anything (this can be drugs, food, cigarettes, whatever you are addicted to), you are the new you of Christ.  You have given yourself a new life by accepting Jesus into your heart.  You are finding your way to the cross, as PASTOR JOHN COLLINS says.  Looking back at what you were, in a manner of worrying that you will go back to it or pick up those habits is of Satan.  PASTOR JOHN COLLINSencourages you as a Christian to look at that life and use that experience to tell others what Jesus has done for you in your life.  He helped you kick that addiction to whatever it was.  Use that experience to help others find their way to salvation.

If you have a question or want to speak to PASTOR JOHN COLLINS, you can email him at bringingbackgod@outlook.com. He will answer you. For more sermons by PASTOR JOHN COLLINS, go to www.blogtalkradio.com/pastorjohncollins.  If you’d like to see what is going on within the church, go to the website at www.bringingbackgod.com.

God bless you.

Bringing Back God: don’t laugh at me

A man stood outside a church in ragged jeans, a dirty shirt with many holes, and looked like he didn’t have a bath in days.  It was Sunday, and many people were filling that church that day because they were about to meet their new pastor.  No one took the time to offer help or speak to the man who was hanging around the entrance of the church.  The church service began, and a church elder spoke to the congregation, introducing the new pastor.  As he was introduced, he walked down the aisle, everyone turned to look at the new pastor, as only the church elder who introduced him knew what he looked like.  Walking down the aisle was the man in ragged jeans, torn shirt, looking like he needed a shower.  When he got to the front of the church, he looked at the congregation and told them what hypocrites they were: not one had taken the Christian action of saying hello, offering him to come in, offering a cup of coffee-no hospitality, no Christian kindness.  They had absolutely broken the commandment of love thy neighbor.  He then dismissed the church for the day after only five minutes. PASTOR JOHN COLLINS, BRINGING BACK GOD, told this during a sermon as example of how Christians, people who think they are truly Christians, judge other people.  Jesus says in Matthew 7:1-3 “Judge not, that ye be not judged.For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?” (KJV).

PASTOR JOHN COLLINS explained the story of the new pastor and compared it to Jesus’ teachings of not judging others by their appearance, their manner, their actions. A Christian does not condemn others for what or who they are.  BRINGING BACK GOD is a church that opens its doors to everyone, regardless of whether they are a bank president or a tattooed biker, a woman who has had a abortion, or someone who is an alcoholic.  PASTOR JOHN COLLINS  wants everyone to be welcome at BRINGING BACK GOD, to be part of the church family, to be accepted for what and who they are.  We all are sinners, and we all fall short of the cross. The mote in your brother’s eye is a speck of sawdust, the beam in your eye is a plank of wood…like a support beam of a building.  Don’t judge someone: you are a sinner just like they are.  You aren’t any better than anyone else. We all come together for the same reason, to find our way to salvation through the cross that Jesus died on.  He took our sins, the perfect Son, so that we could have eternal life.

So back to the church members who ignored the needs of the man standing outside that door……what if that was Jesus, looking to see how He would be received?  What if the pastor really was a ragged looking bum, and not dressed up as one? What difference did it make?  What truly matters is not what is said about someone as hearsay or gossip, not what someone looks like, with tattoos or ragged clothes, but what their heart is,  how they act, and who they are now not their past, according to PASTOR JOHN COLLINS, BRINGING BACK GOD. Don’t let what you are today determine what you are going to be tomorrow.

God bless you.

Bringing Back God: Forgive others

Forgiveness.  It is one of the steps to becoming a Christian.  PASTOR JOHN COLLINS, BRINGING BACK GOD,says it during every sermon.  To find your way to God, you need to go through Jesus and the cross. You need to take a U-turn in your life, repent your sins, seek forgiveness.  Obey God and listen to His Word.  Love thy neighbor, giving a hand up not a hand out. Be baptized with water. Tell others about the love of Jesus and his sacrifice so that mankind can be saved.

Forgiveness is one of the keys to salvation.  You pray for forgiveness for your sins, you pray for forgiveness from God.  Pretty straightforward.  Don’t forget to forgive others.  According to PASTOR JOHN COLLINS, during sermons at BRINGING BACK GOD, the Holy Bible is the blueprint for what to do when it comes to forgiveness.  In the book of Mark, 11:24-26, it says: “Therefore I say unto you, what things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught to against any: that your Father, also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive you your trespasses.” (KJV). Jesus teaches us faith, prayer, and forgiveness through these words.  We must have faith in God and Jesus, that when you pray for what you want, you will receive it.  If you ask for forgiveness, and mean it, you will receive it.  But, you must also forgive others, or God will not forgive you. Forgiving others humbles you, and opens your heart so that you can find your way to heaven through that narrow gate.  Peter asked how many times do you forgive others.  Jesus answer was 7 times 70-in other words, unlimited forgiveness is what He expects of us.

Don’t forget to forgive others as you pray daily.  As PASTOR JOHN COLLINS says, there are no 23 1/2 hour Christians in heaven.  God bless you.

Bringing Back God: Pray

 

PASTOR JOHN COLLINS MARIETTA PA and BRISTOL TN, BRINGING BACK GOD has preached in his sermons about bringing your troubles and problems to Jesus and the cross through prayer.  Prayer is what we need to do as Christians when we are happy, when we are sad, when we are scared-pray ALL the time. Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 (KJV) says – “Pray without ceasing.” In other words, pray all the time.  Pray to Jesus for forgiveness, pray for others who pass in your path, pray for your family, pray for thanks for everything God has given you, PRAY. If you need guidance, wisdom, direction, PRAY. It’s how God hears us.  The Holy Bible says”If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all [men] liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him” (James 1:5, KJV). Your salvation relies upon prayer-prayer is asking for forgiveness, repenting your sins, and seeking guidance in how to love thy neighbor.  Praying for others is loving your neighbor.  If you can’t do anything else for them, you can pray.  The power of prayer is awesome, according to PASTOR JOHN COLLINS MARIETTA PA & BRISTOL TN.

Giving thanks is something that God wants us to do all the time.  The Bible says God is a jealous God.  This means he wants our full and undivided attention and that he needs to hear that we love and appreciate him.  He needs to hear that we love and appreciate him in prayer and in action.  Action is by putting on the armor of God and defending Him no matter what. Believing in Him 24 hours a day, no matter what. No exceptions. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (KJV)- “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” Good or bad, give thanks.  In everything bad that happens, there is something good that comes of it.  Tornadoes strike, people are killed, does this draw people to God?  Yes.  Does this draw people to help their neighbor?  Yes.  That is the good side to a disaster. You make a terrible mistake, a lesson is learned and the next time something similar happens, the good side is that you won’t do it again.  Give thanks for the lesson, after you’ve prayed for forgiveness.

God wants to hear our prayers.  Pray to Him through Jesus Christ.  Find your way to the cross, like PASTOR JOHN COLLINS preaches.

God bless you.

 

Bringing Back God: Mistakes

We’ve all made mistakes: we re all sinners.  Some mistakes are worse than others, but we can’t seem to help ourselves-we re human.  There was only one perfect human that ever existed, and his name is Jesus Christ, according to PASTOR JOHN COLLINS BRISTOL TNand MARIETTA PA, BRINGING BACK GOD.  PASTOR JOHN COLLINSsays that he wasn’t always a preacher, and that he was as big a sinner as there was, but since he found his way to the cross though the love of Jesus Christ, that he is saved.

God knows that we make mistakes as humans.  He tried to give the Israelites hope by giving them Moses and the commandments to follow.  They couldn’t follow them even long enough to let Moses get off the mountain with them.  For centuries man tried to save himself through the laws of Moses, but temptation to the idols of other counties won because man just could not obey.  Obeying the Word of God can be simple or it can be complicated.  Ezekiel the prophet was directed by God to eat a scroll so that the Word of God would fill his belly.  To us today, and likely then as well, this would be a difficult task to eat a scroll of paper.  But-he did it and found it to taste like honey.  How much easier it is to obey God’s word in spite of our fears or our ignorance-the outcome is so much better for all of us.

Because we had such a difficult time following the laws of Moses, and so much sin still existed, God sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for us on the cross for our salvation.  Our redemption is because of his sacrifice on the cross.  He died so we could have our mistakes-sins-forgiven.  We need to seek Him for forgiveness so that we can be with God in heaven.  It’s really simple.  Repent, believe, be baptized, obey God, help your neighbor, and do this 100% everyday.

The Holy Bible directs us not to fear God: “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” (Isaiah 41:10, KJV).  All we have to do is believe and know that God really is right there beside us, and once we ask for our mistakes to be forgiven, let it go.  It’s done.   Don’t make the same mistake twice, or sin the same sin, though.  God knows when we mean it. Peace be with you.

God bless you.

Bringing Back God: Let it go

Ever hear the phrase “if you love something, let it go, if it comes back, love it forever?” We as a human race have a hard time letting things go, whether it is relationships or our belongings. As Christians, we need to let go of our old selves, to be born again and become a new person, according to PASTOR JOHN COLLINS, MARIETTA PA 

PASTOR JOHN COLLINS, MARIETTA PA and BRISTOL TN, BRINGING BACK GOD,tells us that he used to be so far from the cross that he needed binoculars to see it-we need to find the path to the narrow gate that will let us in to eternal life.  Find our way to Jesus.  Seek forgiveness and repent those old habits and relationships that hold you down and that could drown you in sin.  Ask Jesus to help save you in prayer.  Be baptized in water, love thy neighbor, repent your sins, perform works and deeds that will help keep you on that path to eternal life.  “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Matthew 6:19-21.

“No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.  Ye cannot serve God and mammon.  Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.  Is not the life more than meat and the body more than raiment?” Matthew 6: 24-25.

Don’t hoard things here on Earth, let them go, whether it is a bad relationship or ‘stuff’ that you accumulate.  You can’t take it with you, and it doesn’t do you any good at all to hold onto it.  PASTOR JOHN COLLINS tells us that we all are given hope through the crucifixion of Jesus, that he helps us find eternal life.  We need to let the material go, and seek the hope that Jesus brings us:  Hope is like sunshine, everyone needs a ray of it.

God bless you.

 

“