Deuce

I remember exactly what I was doing 2 years ago today.
I stayed the night at my dads house, anxiously waiting
to marry my bestfriend the next day. I'm not sure that I could
adequately describe my feelings that day with any letter ,
nor with any language for that matter.
I was simply amazed ,
both by you
and at how blessed I was.

Our wedding was beautiful,
and you were gorgeous and stunning.


Shortly after our marriage, I remember getting the news
that I was now Conner's
legal father! What a day that was!!  Conner is such a gift of grace,
It's such a blessing being his father.

Last year , our youngest was born, and I could not believe
how beautiful that was! Chase is yet another gift of grace,
that I get to call mine! My cup runneth over!!

Some will say thay marriage only gets worse the longer one
is married. I'm sure some would say that being married two years
is no major deal.

Here is what I know , I can't breath without God's grace.
 Without grace , our marriage would fail, as well as our lives.
I don't live my life according to man's opinion, but God's.
According to His word, a happy , faithful, and pure marriage
is possible, only by and through Him.

I'm a sinful man , who can be selfish and hard headed, yet
God gave me a humble and beautiful wife who walks alongside
 me in this life and towards Christ.
God has sustained us and our marriage, and He will continue to
do so.
God has richly blessed us beyond what I could have imagined!
Praise be to His Name!
Happy Anniversary!!

The Cole's - established 9/6/13

P.S. I love you
Thank you for loving me Jessie Lynn

The Reason

It's your hair,
no, it's your eyes.
That sexy grin
that gets me every time.

It's your beautiful body.
It's everything about you.
What is it?
Can I narrow it down
to one thing?

Chase turned around,
and looked at me
the other day.
He just stood there,
smiling at me.

Then I realized what it is,

Your heart

I know every Bible verse
that tells me our hearts are wicked.
Bad wicked.
I know all that very well.

So maybe its called something else,
whatever it is , yours is beautiful,
selfless, and it shines bright.
It radiates and changes those around you.


Thank you for the radiation.



I love you so much Jessie Lynn

You are mine

You are my treasure
I found the most wonderful beauty
And made you mine

You are my love
I earnestly long to be with you
All of the hours of the day

You are my passion
The feelings I have for you
Belong to no other

You are my joy
You bring me delight
Every minute , every hour of every day

You are my strength
When I feel weak
You build me up

You are my grace
I deserve the depths of hell
But I have heaven in my arms

You are my Enjoyment
There's never a dull moment
We have crazy fun
Doing life together
I enjoy every second with you

You are my desire
I want you, and no other

You are my pleasure
Only I could know
How you enrapture me

Jessie Lynn
You are my life
I'm the man I am because of you
I'm the father I am because of you
I'm the husband I am because of you

You are mine

The old Word says
Praise a godly woman
So I praise you

I love you beautiful

I wish I'd forget

The past , I wish I'd forget 

It haunts me. 

The fool I made of myself .

I wish I'd forget 

The times I'd  hurt , I wish I'd forget 

No care in the world ,

My heart turned to darkness, 

I wish I'd forget 

The hypocrite , I wish I'd forget

I hated who I was,

Yet I kept diving in.

I wish I'd forget 

The time I wasted , I wish I'd forget.

I wanted to stop, 

Yet I continued. 

I wish I'd forget 

No matter how hard I try to forget, 

I always remember.

The memories are always here.

I wish I'd forget.

But it's Grace that reminds me where I was,

So I never tread that ground again. 

I'll never forget. 

Grace isn't always easy , 

buts it's always worth it. 

Sola Gratia 

Why I left the ministry, for God's glory

There may be many things that drive a man, but one thing above all is his purpose in life. Without knowing your purpose you will feel lost and tirelessly search for answers. Due to that,  life will feel pointless to you, and depression and hopelessness will set it. I know , because I've been there.

I had many tell me what they thought was my purpose in life as I grew up . Many family members and friends believed I was called by God for the ministry.  They said I was gifted in speaking, preaching, and in theology, therefore I must be called.

They were wrong, and I'm so glad they were.

I believed for many years while that I was called. I preached many sermons , studied hard and began looking into seminary options. Until one night , and I remember that night like it was yesterday.... I was memorizing First Timothy , and I got to Chapter Three. In that Chapter it reveals a set of qualifications for anyone who believes they are called into the ministry. I saw the evilness of my heart, and realized that although I thought I was called and that my intentions were pure, they were not. That day, God showed me that I wasn't called to be preacher.

It devastated me. I saw myself as a fake, and a failure. It took me a while to come to the realization that God had others plans for me, and that those plans were better than the ministry. It was so hard for me to see that. Could I glorify God doing something else besides preaching? I Found that answer to be an emphatic yes. If I were to continue in the ministry , I would not be glorifying God.

There were many who told me that I was making a mistake, and  I should stay in the ministry. I would answer by saying " I follow God's Word, and according to God's Word, I am not called". That usually shut them up. Most of them had no idea about anything in the Bible to even make such a statement, and from that I realized something very important.

One major reason why many thought I was called was my knowledge of , and my devotion to the Bible. But, is that a trait only for preachers??? That's the problem. Today, just about the only one who studies the Bible is the preacher.

Men, we are all called to be preachers of our home. It is not just the job of the preacher to train my family up in God's Word or to watch over their soul. There will be many who will have to answer for this. "Oh its not my responsibility to know the Bible, that's my preachers job." That came directly from Satan and I abhor it. It is our job Men, and we will be held responsible. Brush the dust off  your Bible and stick your head in it until you go blind, and then get the audio version. If you were to get cut, you better bleed the Bible. You cannot survive without it, and your family won't either. Every Husband is this pastor of their home.

So I glorified God by leaving the ministry. Sounds crazy right? It's so true though. Plumbing isn't exactly what I had in mind. However , I love my job, and I'm good at it. I'm Happy and I know I'm in God's will. It's such a liberating feeling. I'm free to live, and I'm not constrained by what someone else thinks I should do with my life. I'm just free now, living in God's grace.

Suicide and God's grace

Nearly 30,000 Americans commit suicide every year. It (Suicide) is the 3rd leading cause of death for 15 to 24 year olds, and it is the 2nd leading cause of death for 24-35 year olds. On Average, 1 person commits suicide every 40 seconds, somewhere around the world. 1 in 65,000 children ages 10 to 14 commit suicide each year. There are two times as many deaths to suicide than HIV/AIDS.

There are seven recorded Suicides in the Bible
1.Judges 9:54
2.Judges 16:30
3.1 Samuel 31:4
4.1 Samuel 31:5
5.2 Samuel 17:23
6.1 Kings 16:18
7. Matthew 27:5

Growing up, I was oftentimes taught this main theme : You make your dreams come true. You get out there, You go get it. We were all taught that. If you want it , go get it. How many celebrities say this when receiving an award?? It is ingrained within us. The sense of making life happen. We make who we are, that's the American dream. Then, when we come to Christianity, it's so easy to think the same way. "I do good, I'll get to heaven".

There is one problem. God made it so that the only way to heaven is completely outside of us. We can't do it, but He can and will. How amazing is that!? You see, through God's eyes no one does good, Everyone deserves utter damnation. Only complete perfection can enter heaven . So obviously that's bad news for us. However , He ,through His pre-determined plan , sent His perfect Son to die on the cross and be resurrected  on the third day. By doing so, the sins of His people were atoned for, and God's justice was satisfied. Therefore salvation is not by man's doing, but by God's grace alone. No deed can send us to hell, and no deed can help us get to heaven.

Remember the Pharisees? Yea, the ones who crucified Jesus. I would argue, the majority of so called "Christians" are actually the modern version of the Pharisees and are turning the great Faith into something that its not, either intentionally or unintentionally. It's Spiritual suicide. It's a turning away from Christianity and putting your own twist to it ( by "new rules" or "new teachings").There is a growing trend now-a-days, well really its been going on for a long time, but there are many who say by committing suicide, you doom yourself to hell. This angers me. These people who make this claim , they themselves claim to be Christians. They don't realize , however, that by doing so, they are claiming that they themselves are doomed for hell. Let me explain.

If suicide sends us to hell, then  human civilization  as a whole is doomed. Isn't Jesus' blood strong enough to save His people?  "Yes, but". No , there is no exception . Nothing can separate us from God's love. I'm pretty sure that's in the Bible somewhere. If one sin can damn us , then we are all damned. We all deserve the darkest and hottest part of hell. We deserve God's fiery wrath.  Jesus' blood is sufficient and strong enough to save all that are His. None of His children will slip from His hands. Think logically , it doesn't add up. It doesn't make any sense in light of God's Word.Who are you? You who cast judgment upon a weary soul? Stop casting judgments on matters that you obviously have no idea about, and start looking at your own spiritual state.