Evident Church

7 Ways to Cope with Pain Dr. Roger Barrier I’ve had my share of pain. I have spent hours in the “devil’s grip” when my heart contracted so violently the strongest painkillers couldn’t dull the pain. I have ridden the “lightning” of a defibrillator at highest strength. I have been through multiple surgeries… I understand pain. So, I’ll give you my thoughts about the things that matter most to me when I’m in pain. I’ve always found the book of James to be helpful in handling the subject. 1. I remind myself of the purpose of pain. James reiterates the purpose of pain succinctly in James 1:1-4: “Count it all joy when you fall into all kinds of trials and troubles, knowing that the trying of our faith has a design.” God ultimately intends to mold us into the image of Jesus. There is no growth apart from tension. Spiritual maturity comes quite slowly when all is well. God knows that the best climate for making us just like Jesus is the crucible of fire and testing. After all...

LGBTQ "I will accept all people in the LGBTQ community, or that are LGBTQ. However, accepting does not mean I will endorse or enable their lifestyle. I believe that marriage is to be between a man and a woman per God's design. I will not waiver from that. However, just because you may be LGBTQ does not in anyway devalue you. You are a person with value, gifts, and talents. Created by the same God that made me. He loves you just as He loves me. Sin entered the world and man/wo man have perverted God's design in many ways. But no sin, wrongdoing, is any worse or better than any other. Sin, wrongdoing, going against God's design, is sin. Murder, lying, hate, bigotry, sexual perversion, etc., are all sin in God's eye. And there are no varying degrees with God, they all are wrong, sin. I can say, I know, even I have sinned today. Hence, (because God loves us so much) Jesus Christ came into the world and bore all our sin, wrongdoing, for us -undeserved grace and merc...

Attaining Happiness  The number one goal of mankind is to achieve happiness but why is this emotion so fleeting and short lived? Since the 'fall of mankind' and our subsequent fallen nature it is the practice of people to live 'in the flesh' and not 'in the spirit' as was the original intent of our Creator. Even the majority of believers live according to the drives of the flesh. Living in the 'flesh' means that person's main focus in life is directed toward the circumstances of their daily living. But worse than that is the added burden of spending most of their time and thoughts in remorse over the past leading to depression and wringing their hands in fear over the future producing stress and illness. No wonder happiness comes in such small doses only to be drowned out by the next soon coming calamity. 'Living in the spirit' first of all requires 'living in the present'. Everything about us becomes habit and habits can be sta...

Armor of God The Armor of God is our defensive barrier against the temptations of the devil and the sword of God’s living word is our offensive weapon whereby the darkness is overcome by the swift light of truth. Ephesians 6:13-18 tells us of the Armor of God and our teacher, the Holy Spirit, gives us deeper understanding about the attributes of the Armor of God. Beginning then with the girding up of our waist with truth: it is essential, yea even critical that we are bound up, supported, and committed to the absolute truth which is the Living Word which has no other name under heaven except Jesus the Christ. On this point we must be unashamed and closed minded, even to the point of death. Next, we put on the breastplate of righteousness that our hearts are made new by the conviction of the Holy Ghost to transform us with an unconditional love nature that bears witness of our conversion and gives evidence of the indwelling Holy Spirit; because it is not possi...