​How do we understand God's sovereignty and our free will when it comes to marriage?
In Genesis 2:18 it says, "Then the Lord God said, 'It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him."
The Lord took charge and directly involved Himself in making from Adam's rib a woman fit for him. Eve wasn't just any woman but was fashioned and created to be a complete and perfect fit for Adam.
In our society today we generalize the story of Adam and Eve to such an extent that we don't believe that God would involve Himself to lead us to the person of his choosing to be our husband or wife.
Our society manifests our unbelief in God by the way we approach dating and marriage. Dating is something we do to try different people out to see if they're the right fit or not. If not, we discard them like we would a bad iphone or android. If we like them for the time, we may or may not marry them and if somewhere down the road we come to the belief they are not the right fit then we divorce them.
Sex before marriage, in dating, and marriage without Christ at the center make for a fatherless society where morality is reinvented out of free-will and God's sovereignty is set-aside as nonsense.
Isn't it time for the Church of Jesus Christ to teach the generation coming up that the Lord can be trusted to lead us to the one who is the right fit for us and we for them. God does redeem, heal and make all things new but let us teach our children that they don't have to rely on self to pick the best out for themself but can trust the Lord to do that, if they will but wait and follow Him.
If God did it for Adam, will he not do it for you?

by: Pastor Lonnie Phillips
​The Big question of the day: What kind of Sheep are you?
John 10:27 Jesus says, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me."
When Jesus says, "My Sheep" this involves ownership or what we call today "Lordship". Is Jesus Lord over yours and my life?
If He is Lord then our ears have been opened and we hear His voice call our name. We are intimately known and cared for by Him. Even this very hour scripture reveals that our Shepherd lives to make intercession for us as He sits at the right hand of God the Father.(Hebrews 7:25)
If Jesus is Lord then we are continually setting our hearts and minds to follow him. We cannot follow Jesus if we have not first been born of water and Spirit.(John 3:5) We cannot follow Him if we aren't surrendered to the Holy Spirit's leading today and set on discovering His commands for us through His word.
Life can get busy and even chaotic as we deal with issues in the family or at work. Maybe the issues we deal with are things going on inside of us that no one can see but the Lord.
If Jesus is our Shepherd and we are His sheep then may we live to hear His voice speak into our lives and issues so that He can lead us and we are following Him! He knows the way because He is the Way so may we put our trust in Him today!

by: Pastor Lonnie Phillips 
I remember at around 9 or 10 years old my parents had built a house in Friona, Tx. We had been in our new home for just a few months, when I discovered that my aluminum baseball bat could write on the wall of my new room. I, therefore, proceeded to write in big grey letters my name across my room, right above my bed.
Although I was impressed, not only with the discovery that I could write with my baseball bat but also how incredible of a job I did in writing my name, my dad did not share my enthusiasm. I received, perhaps, one of the most painful whippings I ever received from him. However, before the whipping, he did tell me how much he loved me and that this whipping was going to hurt.
I cried and my bottom and feelings hurt for some time, but I never wrote on my wall again. I had learned the lesson and it came with pain but from my earthly father who loved me and whom I respected.
It is so hard for many to think that God, who is love, would actually discipline us, who belong to Him. There are false teachers and false pastors who teach a love that doesn't involve discipline but only acceptance of whatever behavior one wants to exhibit, as long as no one gets hurt.
Hebrews 12:9-11 "Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Let us praise God the Father who loves us enough to discipline us and call us back to what is right in His sight. May we truly celebrate being His children, bought by the blood of Christ Jesus, our Lord.