Ron Carpenter Jr. begins Part 5 of The Necessity of an Enemy by discussing what he terms ‘weapons of mass destruction’ that the enemy uses to sabotage God’s purpose for our life. Unlike more devastating forms of adversity that show up as Goliaths, Ron notes that these weapons “. . . tend to be unobtrusive. […]
In the conclusion to Part 4 of The Necessity of an Enemy, Ron Carpenter Jr. bases his comments on Matthew’s account of Jesus calling the first disciples (Matthew 4: 18-22). Noting that Peter began his career as a boat fisherman before he met Jesus, Pastor Carpenter compares the image of a boat to comfortable, even […]
Near the conclusion of Part 3 of The Necessity of an Enemy, Ron Carpenter Jr. discusses the potential influence of negative people in our life. If we allow their words and actions to influence us,God’s intended purpose for our life will be thwarted or destroyed. Yet, why should we meekly cede power and control to […]
Commenting on Mark 4: 35-41 (Jesus Calms the Storm), Ron Carpenter Jr. (The Necessity of an Enemy) notes that although Jesus told the disciples they would make it to the other side of the lake, He didn’t tell them how they would get there. Similarly, although Jesus hasn’t told us every detail of how our […]
In the Necessity of an Enemy, Pastor Ron Carpenter Jr. observes that many people think God puts them through a test to teach them something. Ron believes otherwise: “A test measures what you already know.” Jesus, the greatest teacher of all, wants to assess what we already know and have learned in order for us […]
Using the analogy of a planted seed reproducing under the proper conditions, Ron Carpenter Jr. (The Necessity of an Enemy) reiterates his earlier assertion that enemies are indicative of new seasons in our life: “The fact that an enemy has surfaced in your life is an indicator that there’s unborn seed in you. The enemy […]
Ron Carpenter Jr. states in The Necessity of an Enemy that our assignment in life is not just to do something , but to be something. The ultimate purpose of our be-ing, he states, is to glorify God through our life. Keeping that in mind, Pastor Ron asserts: “Real trouble will not come in life […]
In the opening section of his book The Necessity of an Enemy: How the Battle You Face is Your Best Opportunity, Pastor Ron Carpenter Jr. defines the enemies in our lives and discusses how they can enlarge our capacity through external challenges as well as internal changes. The author defines enemies as “the people, mind-sets, […]
Pastor Steve Mays states in Chapter 12 (“Overcoming Deception”) of his book Overcoming that during times of adversity it is critical that we examine our faith. We need to honestly determine whether there is any self-deception relative to our relationship with the Lord. In New Testament Greek, examine means “to prove or test under fire”. […]
In Chapter 9 of Overcoming, Pastor Steve Mays, who has had multiple surgeries over the years with resultant agonizing pain, proclaims that when God desires to do something unbelievable in our life, He often will bring us to “a place of difficulty in which things do not make sense.” In the time of transition following […]
The second eternal perspective on overcoming fear presented by Pastor Mays is based on the very familiar words of Romans 8:28- “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Beset by adversity and in the midst of our […]
Pastor Steve Mays presents 3 eternal perspectives on conquering fear in Chapter 3 of his book Overcoming. The first of the perspectives is that God will hold us together. As a result of his Damascus Road experience, St. Paul knew with certainty that God had delivered him, always was with him and was working on his […]