Peace

What is peace? The dictionary defines peace as the absence of mental stress or anxiety. The Hebrew term for peace is Shalom and it is used in the Old Testament of the Bible to signify soundness, health, and prosperity. As a follower of Jesus Christ, and a believer that God's Word is truth, I am blessed with peace from God. Psalm 29:11.

Isaiah 54:10
"Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed," says the LORD, who has compassion on you. This verse tells us that the world will fall apart one day, but God will always stay faithful, and if we trust in Him we can find peace in Him.

Do not be anxious over anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication along with thanksgiving let your petitions be made known to God; and the peace of God that excels all thought will guard your hearts and your mental powers by means of Christ Jesus. — Philippians 4:6, 7. This tells us that if we are consistent to pray to the Lord and with whatever we ask of the Lord, we ask with thanksgiving, then God will be our peace and He will guard our hearts and minds through the power of Jesus Christ.

Patience

What is patience? The dictionary defines patience as the power of suffering with fortitude, uncomplaining endurance of evils or wrongs, as toil, pain, poverty, insult, oppression and calamity. The Bible has many examples of our need to have patience and endure the hardships in this life so we can experience eternal life that can only come through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Isaiah 40:31
But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint. This is one of my personal favorite verses in the Bible. It tells us that if we are patient and rely on the Lord during the troubling times of our lives, we will then be able to have our strength renewed by the Lord. Because our strength is renewed by the Lord we will be able to run the race the Lord has given us and He will keep us away from becoming tired of the work He has set out for us, and we will be able to soar like eagles, so beautiful.
Romans 12:12
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. This verse is very self-explanatory, but can be accomplished through faith in the Lord, and perseverance in all His ways.
Psalm 37:7-9
Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes. Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper—it only leads to harm. For the wicked will be destroyed, but those who trust in the Lord will possess the land. God has told us to not lose our tempers at those who are evil to us. We need to trust in the Lord and allow Him to take care of us during tough times.
Colossians 3:12-13
Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. God is full of forgiveness, and He calls us to forgive those people who have broken our hearts, hurt our feelings, and pushed us away when we were in need of a friend. God is the best friend we can ever have so if we let Him work in our lives we can be the friend that someone needs.

God is patient with us,
Mark Cannon

Kindness

What is Kindness? The dictionary defines kindness as the qualities of being warmhearted, considerate, humane, and sympathetic.

“An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.” (Proverbs 12:25) This shows us that we can be the person who can offer a kind word to someone in need of kindess, and we can brighten up their day by being there for them.

(Luke 6:35 NKJV) ""But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil." This tells us to love our enemies because the Lord is kind to them. I have to continue to trust in the fact that the Lord loves all His creatures and He wants us to show kindness to those who are evil toward us.

…Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Matthew 25:40 KJV. Jesus tells us that whatever we do to those less fortunate than we are, we are doing it to the Lord. God is perfect and He wants us to be in a relationship with Him. Part of this relationship is showing love and kindness to those in need. It is my prayer that we can all show a little more kindness to each other, and care for those in need.

God is kind to us,
Mark Cannon

Goodness

Goodness is defined as- The quality of being good in any of its various senses; excellence; virtue; kindness; benevolence; as, the goodness of timber, of a soil, of food; goodness of character, of disposition, of conduct, etc. If goodness is defined as excellent and benevolent then the Triune God- the Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit are the only beings who can be considered to be good because God is in His essence excellent and through Him flows every good thing, including kindness, and most importantly an eternal love for those who accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. God is good all the time and all the time God is good.

Faithfulness

What does it mean to be faithful? A person who is faithful is firmly devoted to someone or something, worthy of being trusted, and consistent with truth. Christianity teaches that we can be saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. As followers of Jesus Christ we are called to be faithful in all we do, whether that be our friendships with one another, our relationships to our parents or siblings, our marriages to the person God has blessed us with, or most importantly, we are to be faithful in our relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who gives an eternal life filled with glory to those who accept Him as their personal Lord and Savior. Mat 25:21- His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.' This verse says that if we are faithful in the little things, such as taking care of the house by taking out the trash, mowing the lawn, or continuing to be faithful in growing in your relationship with the Lord through reading the Bible and consistently praying which is our way to communicate with the Almighty God who wants to have a relationship with us. We cannot just be faithful when the times are good for us, those are the easy times to be faithful because we are experiencing happiness in life with good friends, a good home, a good family, a good job, and good food. We must, let me say it again, must be faithful in the tough times of our lives. We will face persecution because of our faith in Jesus Christ, because quite frankly, Jesus Christ faced persecution. He was laughed at, mocked, crowned with thorns, whipped 39 times by Roman guards, pierced in the hands and feet by being nailed to the cross at Calvary. Jesus Christ tells us to continue to be faithful because he overcame the cross, grave and death to save our souls. So if Jesus Christ was faithful to God to the end of His earthly life in which He lived without sin, why can't we be faithful to Him.

God is Faithful,
Mark Cannon

Gentleness

What does it mean to be gentle? A gentle person is considerate, kind, and tender, and they are not harsh or severe. Proverbs 15:1- A gentle answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger. This verse clearly tells us that if you are gentle and kind with your words that you say to other people than you will turn the wrath, anger, and hurt of other people away from the current situation.
Ephesians 4:1-2- Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love. This verse is a tough one to continue in because problems come up in families, friendships, relationships, jobs, and life in general. As followers of our Lord Jesus Christ we are called be humble, gentle, patient, and show tolerance to every one we meet. People might say things to your face that you will have trouble forgiving them for, that has happened to me, but God calls us to have peace with them, be gentle toward them, and not return evil for evil. We are to pray for those who hate, disrespect, and verbally abuse you, because they are made in the image of God as well, and as long as they have a pulse and are breathing, they have an opportunity to come back to the Lord and follow Him. We are not going to be able to change the feelings of people toward us, only God can, but we can change ourselves, and follow more closely to the Lord, and pray that others do the same.

God is gentle,
Mark Cannon

Self Control

What does it mean to have self control? A person who has self control is able to control their feelings, emotions, and reactions to certain situations. We can have self control in many areas in life including the amount of television we watch, the amount of food we eat, the amount of time we spend with people, and the group of people we spend our time with, but most importantly we can have self control in the amount of time we spend every day in communication with our Triune God, Heavenly Father God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and we can spend time with them through the power of the Holy Spirit. The ways we spend time with God are through reading the Bible and praying. 2 Pet 1:6 - Knowing God leads to self-control. Self-control leads to patient endurance, and patient endurance leads to godliness. This verse says that the closer we are to God and the more we know Him, the more self control we can have as a result of our knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Self control is also called discipline. Discipline in sports leads to consistent improvement and non-discipline leads to brutal failure. Same with life, if we are disciplined in the truth of God's Word, then we will live productive lives that are holy and acceptable to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If we are not disciplined in God's Word, then we will stumble and become caught up in earthly things and end up like the world, eternally separated from the glorious joy that we can have through the work of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God is in control,
Mark Cannon

God's Army

God is Lord of all and He wants us all to come to a saving knowledge of Him. When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, we are accepted into the heavenly family of God. This family is also an army. As Christians we are fighting with forces in the spiritual realm as well as the physical realm. The spiritual battle is that of the Lord and His angels verses Satan and his demons. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are battling the spirit world over people in the physical world. The souls of those in the physical world are in need of Jesus Christ's power to save. We are to recruit those in the darkness into the light of the Lord. This is not easy because Satan tempts us with good things like boyfriends, girlfriends, jobs, money, sports, and careers. These things are good, but if Jesus Christ is not at the center of all of these then they fall apart and are of the world. God calls His own to be in the world, but not of the world. Clayton McDonald told me that as long as we have breath, we have a job to do, and that job is to recruit others into the Lord's Army. We know as followers of Jesus Christ that He has overcome the grave to save our souls, so we must in turn overcome our temptations in order to be used as vessels of God to save others. God took Clayton McDonald to his eternal home on 3/16/09, and God recruited him into His Holy Army. In honor of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and my good friend Clayton McDonald, I will do all in my power given to me by God to recruit others into God's Army.

God is recruiting, will you be ready
Mark Cannon

Christian Lyrics

There is no such thing as Christian music as strange as that sounds. It is the lyrics that make a song Christian. Music is a part of who we are and it is a way that we bring glory to God. God does not care which type of music we use because like music we are all different. God made us all in His image, and because we are all unique people we have a unique choice of music that is special to us. Some people prefer Jazz music, some prefer Rap music, some prefer Gospel music, some prefer Country music, and I prefer a variety of music including Rap, Gospel, Comedy, and Country. God is glorified through our music if the lyrics are glorifying to Him. What music do you prefer? Feel free to write on my wall and tell me about your music collection.

God is glorified through lyrics that bring Him glory,
Mark Cannon

Hands

Why did God choose to bless people with hands and what is so significant about them? Hands can be used to hold food with while we eat, throw baseballs, shoot basketballs,and catch footballs. Hands can also be used by God in tremendous ways. Hands can give people encouragement through hugs, hi 5s, and pat's on the back. Hands can be used to build churches and homes. But the most significant pair of hands belonged to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He used his hands to make the blind see, the mute talk, the lame walk, and the dead rise. His hands were also pierced and flowing with blood on the cross at Calvary, so that those who call upon His name can be saved from their sins, and enjoy perfect glory forever with Him in heaven.

God has plans for our hands,
Mark Cannon