New Garner Show Added! - June 1st - Aversboro Coffee
Where: Aversboro Coffee
1401 Aversboro Rd # 103
Garner, NC 27529
(919) 779-9337
What: June 1st we will be taking the WHOLE BAND into Aversboro Coffee to do a really neat acoustic set! Everybody PLEASE spread the word! Let's PACK IT OUT! We are looking forward to a great time! Hope you all are as well. Thanks for all the support!
See ya soon. - Josh
God works in mysterious ways...even through our children!
With this being said, every night for the past four and a half years, I have gotten Carter to sleep. We do our usual talking about the day, what we will do tomorrow and we pray. We pray for the ones we love, the sick people and all the animals. We pray for his real and stuffed animal as well as the people he wants to specifically pray for. When we were in Minnesota, we kept telling Carter that "Jesus was going to heal him" and that "Jesus will make you feel better" and that "God was going to show the doctors and nurses how to take care of you". Most of the time, we felt like Carter wasnt really listening or didnt really understand, because he would never say anything.
When the chemo started and Carter was feeling really bad in the hospital, Carter would look at me and say "mommy, make it go away! I feel so yucky!" and as much as it broke my heart I knew that I could not make that feeling go away, but I would tell him that "Jesus was going to make you feel better". I believed and hoped and I wanted him to also. So over the next several months and even up until recently, he would tell Josh and I that "Jesus healed him" and "Jesus made him feel better when he was in the hospital".
Tonight as I was putting Carter to bed, he looked at me and said "Mommy, who is in your heart?" I said puzzled, because I didnt know where he was going with this, "well, I love you, and Ethan and Daddy. You are all in my heart." He waited a second and he said "No, mommy, who is IN YOUR heart?" I waited a second and I said "well, Carter, who is in your heart?" He said "God". I said "yes, he is baby. He is in my heart too. He lives there." Carter said "yes, mommy, he does. And did you know that God made the sun?" I said "yes, you are right, Carter, he did." Then, Carter proceeded to tell me that "And God made the sandbox and the sand and everything!" I giggled but knew how right he was and for a good 15 or 20 minutes, my 4 year old son and I talked about all the things God made and how he loves us. At the end of the conversation, he said "God listens to us when we talk, mommy." I told him "yes, that is what we do when we pray. We talk to God." Carter nodded his head and then we prayed together. Right before he fell asleep, I asked him who had been talking to him lately about all of this, he looks at me and says "Daddy did." and then he waited a minute and said "and Mommy, you told me that Jesus would make me feel better, and He did."
This was the best conversation I have ever had with my child! It was so rewarding that this whole time, Josh and I have tried to instill in Carter that God is real and that God heals and loves and listens to us. Yet, we never thought he was really listening! I am so proud to not only have a son that loves Jesus and sees how God has healed him, but also to have such an amazing husband, that talks to our son about God!
God has blessed our family beyond belief! We have two beautiful sons that have enriched our lives more than we could ever have imagined! My advice to anyone who has children...you may not think that your children are listening to you or that they hear what you say or see what you do, but they know a lot more than you think! They see the good you do, they see the bad you do, they hear the words that come our of your mouth-good and bad, and they follow in your footsteps, even when you may or may not want them to---do right by your kids! Give them a role model that we should all strive to be like---Give them Jesus! Show them the power of God and how with God, they can be and do amazing things in their lives!
A Few Examples Of God in Our Lives...
OK everyone...I want you to think about something...think of something for me...how has God worked in your life? how many miracles has God either performed in your life or given you? how many chances has God given you? Now that I have you thinking, isn't God truly amazing! Just think, there are people who dont know Him and aren't you glad that you do?! Share your God with everyone! Let them know the Man who has given you hope, life and love!
With this being said, I want to share with you just a small piece of what God has done for me and my family! I got pregnant with our first son, after being married only 6 months. We were ecstatic! We knew we wanted to have at least three kids and we knew we were ready. However, our 13 month old son, Carter, we would soon learn, had a life-threatening disease, that without a bone marrow transplant would kill him. We were devastated! Then, a few months of learning our son had this disease, we found out that I was pregnant again, with our second child. We were very happy but terrified at the same time. With all the stress and worry, I miscarried at 10 weeks. Again, we were very upset but at that point, knew that God had different plans for us!
Over the next few years, we attempted IVF twice to have another child that was a match to Carter. Some people may think we were trying to make a perfect baby, but the only thing we were trying to do was have a baby, because we wanted one anyway, that was a perfect tissue type to Carter, so that he would be able to have the transplant and not have to have radiation. Also, the outcome for transplant with a perfectly matched sibling was 90% and a unrelated donor was 70%. We wanted to give our son the best chances at surviving this transplant. We prayed to God and asked Him what was right. We asked him to give us the means to be able to afford the IVF, IF it is what He wanted...so, we were able to try twice. Then, we asked him to show us what we needed to do next...His answer, "Be Carter's parent and his advocate!" Within a few months, we learned that Carter would have to go to transplant. That his marrow was failing. We had run out of time. Also, I learned, that due to complications from the second IVF attempt, we would not be able to have more children. This news was devastating to us...not only was out three year old son about to undergo a transplant that could kill him, but we weren't going to be able to have more children!
We questioned God, but quickly learned that He knew what He was doing. We left it all in His hands! We worried and prayed and worried more and prayed harder. When we left for transplant and during the five months we were there, we saw children lose their lives with this same disease during transplant...seeing that was hard. We always worried, "Would Carter be next?". But then, we knew we had left in God's hands this long, we had to keep trusting and placing our faith in God. So, we did.
We got home and there were a lot of ups and downs. Carter was admitted several times with pretty serious complications. There were two instances where he was admitted for a month at a time. It was hard on us financially, emotionally and physically. We just kept praying!
We had accepted the fact that we would no longer have more children. We gave away all of Carter's baby stuff and knew that there was a reason why we couldn't have more children. Maybe God wants us to adopt? So, we looked in to it and knew that it would take a while to save the money to do that. But we were OK with that. I mean, God did bring our son through transplant, so why not keep trusting? We had no reason not to put our faith and trust in God! Even during the hard times, we did question, but we ended up leaving it all to Him. Two months after being home, I called my husband with the most amazing news...I was pregnant! We were overjoyed and scared. We had already lost one child and we didn't want to lose this one too...
Long story short, I gave birth to our second son, Ethan, in February! He is beautiful and healthy and has completed our family! Even though we were told we couldn't have more children, God gave us yet another miracle! IF you dont believe in miracles after reading this...
Our miracles are great! I married my best friend, we have two amazing little boys, we have food on the table and a roof over our heads, our son, Carter, came through a transplant that we knew there was a good possibility we could lose him to, and we are together as a family of FOUR! And thats not all....but I will finish that another time...
What are your miracles?????
How do I/You know that God is real?
Want to know how I know that God is real?
He said things that I feel thousands of years ago and redirects me to them at 4 o'clock in the morning for no apparent reason what-so-ever.... Last night/this morning while feeding my 3 week old son, I stumbled across this verse - Psalm 119:167 - My soul keeps your testimonies, And I love them exceedingly. - NKJV
Isn't is AWESOME when God surprises you by putting words in your mouth from thousands of years ago? It is to me! It kind of fires me up.
Tell me why God is real to you! Leave your comments below!
Just Another Song??? Worship/Praise
When I found out that my family had to pack our stuff and move to Minneapolis last Christmas for Carter's bone marrow transplant I had one of those moments! I remember sitting in my truck thinking about what was to come and begging God for comfort. I put in Jeremy Camp's unplugged album and Walk By Faith came on. It was just what I needed, just when I needed it!!!
Have you ever been in a great mood? Everything was seemingly going right and you just started singing to yourself...or out loud for that matter!!!
Worshiping God through song is a powerful and useful tool in the life of a christian. It is SO MUCH MORE than just singing a couple predetermined songs at the beginning of a service. Just as a preacher receives "insights" from God on what to preach about, so too do we when a song just "hits" us out of nowhere and strikes us.
When I asked God to help me figure out my purpose in my christian walk there was no doubt that using my talent as a singer/songwriter/musician was part of His plan for me. With that comes the responsibility for everything I do musically to be more than just "singing a song". Just as a pastor preaches on, lets say, peace and tranquility for example, so too can a worship leader, but through song!!! It can be just as powerful. Even more so in some occasions and circumstances!
My goal with my music is not to write songs to benefit myself...it is to convey a message that will touch people on a level that simple preaching may or may not not be able to reach. Some people that can be reached by my music may not have been reached by a sermon on any given sunday...however, after that initial breakthrough has been achieved, the sky is the limit.
Although music itself comes in all shapes and sizes, styles and genres, one thing remains the same...Music is universal. Everyone loves some sort of music and it can reach anyone in ways that other tactics may not. I've always, somewhat jokingly, said that music and sports are the only two things in life where adults can act like kids...and it is OK!!! It is so pure. It is so beautiful. It should be used to glorify GOD.
The power of singing praises to the Lord can be found throughout the Bible...the one example that really sticks out in my mind, other than and entire book called the Psalms of course, can be found in 2 Chronicles 20:20-22 when Jehoshaphat gathered up a group of singers to go before the army to sing praises to God...The Lord answered and sent an ambush! Look what was accomplished here, with a song! God hears us when we pray, when we talk, when we preach...and when we SING!!!
I want everyone to know that what I do is so much more than music and a song to me. I don't want to see people hurt or in need, but I know that the Lord has given me a talent, which I have given back to Him to glorify His kingdom. The Bible says that through Jesus we have the ability to heal the sick, soothe the weary and cleanse the unclean.
The next time you are singing in your car or opening Sunday morning service, think about this...God has given EVERYONE a talent and a purpose. When those talents are used to glorify God, NOTHING is impossible. To me it truly is MORE THAN JUST A SONG...That feeling in my soul is real. That feeling in my soul is the Holy Spirt. It was brought about by just another song...and that is why I do what I do!
God Bless and Faith Always
Josh Pepper
Stopped by Hope Cafe in Raleigh....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyHW-4EwAlk
Welcome to the NEW and IMPROVED FAITHALWAYS.COM!
TALKING CHURCH OR WITNESSING FAITH???
God had put another person in front of me, and led our conversation down the path of spirituality, God, church and FAITH. Rather than to take that opportunity to praise Him and tell about the wonderful things that He had done in my life over the past year, I had allowed myself to go where we all go a lot of the time.
It’s easy to talk about the Church you go to and think you are witnessing to the person. Truth is, that YOUR CHURCH WILL NOT GET YOU INTO HEAVEN. It’s easy to talk about the choir you sing in once a month around town.THAT CHIOR WILL NOT GET YOU INTO HEAVEN.
We all have things that we don’t love about our churches…nobody LOVES every single little detail of what goes on at their church…
…This conversation should have never gotten to this point! I didn’t even know this person! I now know that she is a Christian and that she has a church that she somewhat reluctantly attends regularly. But what If she wasn’t a Christian…
If this person whom had not been a Christian and God had thrown in my lap the perfect opportunity to witness to her, I would have just missed it! All because I talked about CHURCH and not FAITH!
We HAVE TO GET PERSONAL.This conversation should have gone very deep. As Christians we need people to know that we can be trusted. As I said earlier, your church will not get you into Heaven. Your personal relationship with Jesus Christ, however, WILL get you into Heaven.
I wasted 25 minutes talking politics of religion to a complete stranger the other night. Thank you Lord that she was a Christian already. Thank you Lord that you made me see this conversation went down the wrong path. We can all be better witnesses for the Gospel of Christ. Let’s get personal. Let’s show the world how much we really care for each other on a personal level! And let’s also remember that it’s not the things of the world that get us to Heaven, it’s the PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST. I believe if we share that message first, and show the compassion that He showed many years ago and we can truly SAVE LIVES!!! Next time a conversation like this one falls into my lap I vow to do just that. I pray that you all will too!
God Bless and Faith Always
Josh Pepper
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