Pastor Odie Kennedy's Pearls

We are living in dangerous times.  When people are afraid to go to church because they might get shot down in worship, these are dangerous times.  Children are reported missing and we have wonder if they have been taken for sex trafficking.  People are looking for ways to fill the void of love, and drugs are being legalized and sanctioned as a remedy.  There is so much going on around us, but the believers have hope.  We have the answer to the problems of today.  We have a God that will bring us through.  All we have to do is keep on pressing.   In Luke 13:10-15, we find a woman that has suffered with an infirmity in her body for eighteen years.  She was bent over and unable to function normally.  She entered the  synagogue where Jesus was teaching, and he healed her.  The religious leaders were upset because Jesus healed on the sabbath day.  Can you imagine coming to church, but you can't receive healin...

Habakkuk 3:17-19 Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet will I rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.  The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places.  To the chief singer on my stringed instruments. No matter how hard things may get around us or what may be happening in our lives, we have a God that will get us through.  It may seem like at times that God is not answering our prayers, but we have to know that God has been good to us.  God is listening. I was raised that it was wrong to question to God, but I've come to find out that God wants relationship with us, and with that comes communication. It's hard to look at the cruelty of humanity and our political...

And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD.  And Samuel said, what meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? 1Samuel 15:13-14 You don't have to look very far to see that people still want to do things their way. They don't want to be told how to live or how to conduct themselves.  For some, taking instruction has become optional, but this should not be so for God's people.      In the scripture, God told Saul to kill all of the Amalekites. He was thorough and specific in his instructions, when he said "Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass".  Instead of doing exactly as God said, Saul decided to spare the king and the best of the sheep.  When Saul spoke to Samuel, he proudly proclai...

Still waters run deep -Latin Proverb I have fond memories of my recent trip to Hawaii.  The scenery was breathtakingly beautiful, the food amazing, and the company second to none.  Traveling with my daughters created memories I will treasure forever.  Our time on the water was exciting although the boats were small and the water sometimes choppy.  You can imagine the butterflies in my stomach!  Sometimes our lives can feel small and choppy, but what do we do when the water is still?  What do we do when it seems like God isn't moving? We've learned how to multi-task when life gets busy.  We've learned to try new things when life seems small.  Have we learned what to do when we can't see any change in our situations? Let me encourage you! Still water runs deep.  Things may look still right now, but there is some troubling under the water.  When we can't trace God, we have to let our faith be our compass.  God in His sovereig...

We're wrapping up January but it still feels like a new season.  I still have to remember to get the date right.  When I write 2018 instead of 2019, it reminds me that I can't bring the struggles of 2018 into my new year. To make a natural change is one thing, but what about the spiritual change?  Is your spirit man still in 2018? So many are proclaiming that 2019 is their new season.  New year, new me.  There's nothing wrong with making the proclamation as long as we are willing to move to the destination.    We serve a great God and nothing he does is small or ordinary.  When he brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, he sent plagues before their release.  Every plague was worse than the last, but Pharaoh was unmoved.  I wonder how many of the Israelites were also unmoved. When God is taking us to a new place, old things cannot go.  It takes a forceful determined effort on our part to go where God is calling us...

Fast. (verb) Abstain from all or some kinds of food or drink, especially as a religious observance. www.dictionary.com So many people begin the year with resolutions of losing weight, being more active, and starting new adventures.  The motivation is a longing to improve one's life.  Beneath this motivation is often feelings of disappointment and discontentment.  For some, these underlying reasons aren't shared for fear of being rejected, judged, or dismissed. My church begins every new year with consecration.  For three weeks, we go before God as one body, fasting and praying.  Our motivation is also to improve our lives.  We fast to bring us into the presence of God.  Truthfully, some will undertake periods of fasting when they feel disappointed or discontent in their spiritual lives.  With food readily available, naturally, fasting can be challenging.  I'd like to share five things that make fasting more achievable and most impo...

2 Chronicles 5:11-14 11 And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place : (for all the priests that were present were sanctified, and did not then wait by course: 12 Also the Levites which were the singers, all of them of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, being arrayed in white linen, having cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them an hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets:) 13 It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick, and praised the LORD, saying , For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD; 14 So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the hou...