Unhealthy Churches or People??????

Today, I had the privilege of being part of the "capital C" CHURCH....It was a very surreal experience.  God taught me a lesson that will ever be etched in my heart.  As my wife and I headed to a very special place hidden away behind iron bars and doors locked with electronic keys, I prayed God would open my heart to be used the way He would need.  I prayed God would help me talk to young people who have been through more in their short lives than most of us will ever go through in a lifetime.  I prayed God would use me to reach these young people, to let them know there was a group of men and women who love them, who pray for them, and who will be what the bible says a "Christian should be"....

Little did I know, God had other plans in mind....

As I stood before young men and women, I poured out my heart.  I shared why I believe God is the one true God.  I told them what Jesus did for us on the cross.  I told them about being arrested and how God used that experience to change my life.  I showed them tattoos I have to symbolize the experiences I have had.  I told them how there were 2 others hanging on crosses beside Jesus.....One of which we assume didn't make it, One we know would be with Jesus in paradise.....I stood before young men and women who are in a different world than most of you reading this could ever imagine.  You are probably thinking, "here he goes again....telling me how bad everyone else has it...."

I am glad you are thinking this way....Please continue to read....

As we ended our time together, my prayer over the group was a prayer of heartache and mercy for the kids and staff.  It was a prayer for guidance and the mighty hand of God to protect this group.  When we finished praying, all of the group said amen together...

I walked over to the administrator in charge and explained how, as a non-profit, we would like to help with shoes and hoodies for each and every child in their care.  I told her to forward anyone who wanted to donate moneys to their program our way and we would make sure they got what they needed....

Then it happened....

I was told of a church wanting to help provide items for the young men and women...As we spoke back and forth, God opened my heart by what was said next.....

"We would like to get this group healthy enough to get them all to church."

I felt the Holy Spirit open my heart and mouth at the same time when I replied.....

"We need to get the church healthy enough to come out here."

If you are reading this blog, you may very well be reading it on Easter morning....the very day we as Christians should celebrate our existence.

Why have we allowed ourselves to be programmed into thinking we have to get healthy before we can come to church to hear what God has for us???

Why have we programmed the world we live in, you have to be healthy before they can set foot in our  doors???

I have been thinking about this all day long...

Jesus gives us an example of what the Church is supposed to look like...What I read in my bible, shows me Jesus went where the people were....

All of His 12 disciples were chosen....asked personally be Jesus...the records I see show a Savior going out and finding fishers of men...are we doing that?

Look at how Jesus' at the age of 12-13 was in the temple talking to the priests...He went to them...are we doing that?

Look at the Samaritan woman, she was not who he should have been hanging out with all by himself, but he went through Samaria just to have an intentional meeting at the well....are we doing that?

Look at when people were healed of blindness, leprocy, lameness, or death....All show a Savior who went to people who needed what only He has...are we doing that?

Look at when he taught His disciples lessons on the sea, he went to them, walking on the water....Just to save Peter as he sank and teach them lesson after lesson...are we doing that?

He didn't sit in a sanctuary with high tech videography, awesome music, great speakers, and a program taught out of the next best book that some of the worlds best theologian has written(I love it too)....are we doing that?

He went and did what He was called to do....When it was all said and done, He even carried His own cross to His own death...

After he was risen from the grave, He still was on the move...talking and sharing what He had with everyone around Him...

I'm not knocking the church I attend or any other church in general....I am knocking the lack of willingness and the programming we have allowed ourselves to become subjected to...to busy, to hard, need some time to myself, need some time for my family....all excuses I have used too....

It's Easter....What are you going to do about it?

Maybe, as a church, we should get healthy and go find the unhealthy and share what only God has....

I know as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord....

Justin Presley




If you would like to support our cause, please donate....


https://inoroutfaith.cloverdonations.com/homes-hunger-hoodies-kicks/

Just the plain simple truth.....

This blog isn't a feel good one, so if you can't handle the truth, stop right now....just a warning...


I am sitting in my living room at 12:02 am in complete darkness listening to the kids tv blaring as they sleep, the wind is whispering outside the windows, a humidifier is buzzing down the hall, and I can't sleep.  My mind is racing in several different directions.  Occasionally the sound of a car races by my house.  I'm wondering why I feel so lost.  I have felt like something in my life isn't as it should be.  I am not doing anything wrong.  I am just so overwhelmed with ideas and strategy I can't move.  It is like I am frozen in time and just getting lost in the shuffle and hustle of baseball tournaments, tball games, end of year programs, field trips, business decisions, ministry decisions, working out, and anything else you throw at us on a daily basis.  I know none of you reading this feel the same way.

I met with a dear friend of mine this week and we discussed all that was going on with our lives.  We talked about all the things interfering with what we should be doing.  I began to feel a strong sense of stress and conviction in my heart.

You see, the reason I am so out of sorts, God isn't where he should be in my life.  I have allowed time, effort, energy, and desire to get in the way of His place in my life.  I haven't been the spiritual leader in my home that I should be.  My quiet time has been taken over by sleep and car rides for work.  My scriptural desire has been replaced with strategic planning sessions and a desire of success.    I have replaced God with DVR recordings and conversations about business decisions.  I haven't done it on purpose, but it has happened.  My wife and I have replaced good conversation about the direction in our marriage with deciding where the kids are going so we can make all the events we have placed at such a huge priority in life.

Where is God in all this?  I think we have just set him on the shelf and forgot Him.  I truly believe we have done this without malice towards our beliefs and love for Him.  We just have gotten too busy.

Tonight I laid in bed and prayed to God to help me. To guide me.  To give me the courage to make the changes necessary in my life to be what I told Him I would be when I answered the call He has on my life.  I begged His forgiveness.  I asked Him to work in Heather's heart and my heart and bring us closer to Him and each other.  I pleaded with Him to help me stand as a man of God in front of my children no matter where we are.  I prayed he would give me the courage to leap and become the leader He needs me to be outside of the home.  I asked Him to guide me in the decisions I need to make.

Maybe you feel the same way I do....But tonight, God has taken over and I am resting in the shadow of the Almighty...

It is time for us to do what God has called us to do...No matter how crazy it may seem....

Psalm 91

1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
    will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.[a]
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
    my God, in whom I trust.”

3 Surely he will save you
    from the fowler’s snare
    and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
    and under his wings you will find refuge;
    his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night,
    nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
    nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
    ten thousand at your right hand,
    but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes
    and see the punishment of the wicked.

9 If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
    and you make the Most High your dwelling,
10 no harm will overtake you,
    no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
    you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

14 “Because he[b] loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
    I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;
    I will be with him in trouble,
    I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him

    and show him my salvation.” 

"You want to know how big GOD is?"

I am absolutely amazed at how big God is.  All we have been through in the past year and where we are right now is like night and day.  It was about this time last year I finally decided to start a ministry and follow God's call on my life.  It wasn't long before all hell would break loose and God would show me exactly how he needed to use me in this world.  Up until the lowest point in my life, secluded from friends and family, my job, and what I thought was important,  I was going to use God to get what I wanted out of life.  I was going to use God to make a name for myself.  I was going to use God to get riches and glory from man….

I know none of you reading have ever thought that….I just hope lightning doesn't strike close to you….

So how big is God?  Let me tell you…

2 months ago I decided to raise money for kids in the Ada area who do not eat after they leave school.  The only meals they get are at school each and every day.  The schools are aware of the problem and every friday selected kids gets back pack to take home with enough food to last throughout the weekend so they won't go hungry.  I didn't know how, what, or when, but I did know God was calling me to raise money to feed hungry children.  I started reading my bible and praying about how we could do this?  What would it take?  What did I need to do?  One day as I read, I found a story where Jesus fed 5000 people strong.

The disciples were in the same place I was…How, Where, Why….they asked Jesus…He replied,"You go feed them…."

There was no debate…Then I read a little further in the scripture.  It says that Jesus took what they had and blessed it and it fed everyone and there was enough left over for 12 baskets full of fish and bread…

Wow, thats how big God is…

We just decided to go feed them….

Over the past few months, I have seen people donate money, time, energy, and effort they didn't have too for our cause.  I have seen God provide interviews on TV and in the newspaper so we didn't have to spend money and take away form the reason we are doing this.  I have seen God change peoples heart by bringing awareness of the needs in our own town.  I have seen God move in schools and groups of students who are donating time to help at our event.  I have seen churches donate without question of obligation or affiliation.  I have seen young children willing to give up money so they can help their friends that don't get to eat.  On Saturday night, November 23, God is going to bless our efforts to raise money for hungry children in our area…

Thats how big God is…

As I walked out of the Pontotoc County Agri Plex yesterday, I looked across the north parking lot and stopped and stared at the Pontotoc County Justice Center…where just 10 months ago, I sat in a jail cell at the lowest point in my life.  In an instant, I was brought back to how big God is.  How he provided a way for truth to shine through.  You see, God doesn't need any help doing His job…He is the boss, we just need to work…

I challenge you today, to make a difference…I challenge you today, to check yourself with God's word…I challenge you today, to let God take over…..

For more information on how you can help go to www.inoroutfaith.com or you can register for our event @ www.signmeup.com/95798

We got to be BOLD!!!!

As I read my bible this morning, I was reminded of how bold the disciples were.  I read where Peter addressed the crowd after Jesus went to heaven and over 3000 people were saved.  After I read that passage, I began to think about all the others in the bible and in life that were bold.  I thought about Stephen.   I thought about John the Baptist.  I thought about Elijah.  I thought about the young lady from Columbine who said there is a God.  I thought about my grandmother who has always looked to heaven for direction.  I thought about David taking down Goliath.  I thought about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendigo.  I thought about how bold it was for Mary to birth the King of Kings.  I thought about how bold it was for Jesus to come to earth to be just like us only to die on a cross for each of our sins.

I thought about all the times I have had the chance to be bold for Christ and I have not took the opportunity.  Why do we, as followers of Christ, not want to be bold every day?  Why do we not want to listen to the call of God on our life?  Why do we not want to let our light shine?  Why do we not want to bring our God to a lost and dying world?

All of us have our own excuses and cop outs to not take responsibility for not being bold.  I know until recently being bold wasn't something I even thought about.  I felt like God was there for me to use to get by daily when I needed Him.  I thought God was there for me to call on when I needed something. Maybe talk to him when something or someone was sick or even died. I thought God was at church and thats where we meet him each week and then we leave Him there and go back home.  I think there are several reasons we are afraid to be bold for Christ....

Here are some of my reasons....

1. I didn't want people to know the real me.
2. I was scared it might not be as cool as joking around all the time.
3. I didn't fear God like I should.
4. I was focused on me.

Over the past few months, God has shown me several things.  One thing He has challenged me to do is BE BOLD!  He has challenged me to tell my story of how He has changed my life and continues to do so.  He has challenged me to be REAL.  He has challenged me to be BOLD about my faith with everyone I can.  He has taught me to fear him.  He has challenged me to focus on others and not myself.  He has challenged me to do something I never thought would happen.  

Start a ministry!!

 I ask you to be bold and pray as Heather and I, along with several others, develop a ministry designed to be the hands and feet of the body Christ to serve a lost and dying world.

"Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess."

Hebrews 4:14

We are planning an "Community Wide Candle Light Service" at Kerr Dome in Ada, Oklahoma on Easter evening.  We ask you pray that God will move across our community and teach all of us to be Bold....

Details will follow as they develop....If you would like to help and be involved, please email us @

 In or Out Faith Ministries, Inc.