Pastor Odie Kennedy's Pearls

We have been studying faith for over a month now.  There are so many things going on around us that we must have faith to survive.  Faith is the ingredient that you have to have to please God.  We want to please God in spite of what happens around us.  Every day won't bring sunshine.  In fact, some days will bring fire! When I read the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Daniel 3ch) being thrown in the fiery furnace, I was upset. When I was fourteen years old, I had a problem with God.  I asked God, "Now why would you even put them in there in the first place?  Why would you allow them to suffer?" I thought he was teasing them.  It just didn't make sense that he allowed them to go through those problems, but as I got older, I realized that we have to survive the test! Have you ever asked God why he let your heart be broken? Or why did he let your health fail? God needs us to move from drinking milk to chewing meat.  We have to grow up so we can help other

And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.   Mark 5:15 Early in ministry, our church seemed to have more young people than anything else.  Sometimes our congregation was criticized because we had gang members and unchurched people.  My late husband, Superintendent Lamar Kennedy was not phased by the mocking or judgment.  He used to tell us, "If you don't have some folks from the street, then you don't have a church. You got a social club!"  Today that might offend some people, but the truth is, the church is supposed to be a hospital.  It's supposed to be the place where people come to be healed, delivered, and set free.  Well, how can that happen if everyone in the church is perfect?  Whose sins did Jesus die for if everyone is sinless already? Jesus told us to go and bring in the sinner.  We have become so pious that we look down our noses a