When you reclaim something, you are essentially taking back what you once had. Life has its sweet moments when everything seems to go your way: You got that scholarship you've been praying for; you win an all expense paid vacation; you marry the man or woman of your dreams; you get the promotion you working toward; cancer is in remission. But there are other moments when nothing seems to go your way. Everything that could go wrong does go wrong. When life happens, it can take away your smile, passion, wiliness love, and even your desire to live. Where does JOY fit in between those scenes in your life? Authentic Joy is a gift from God for the most difficult moments in your life. Joy is not intended to render us insensible to problems, it fits between the scenes of your life where things are not going your way. This kind of joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit and works independently of your circumstances. But, you must choose to have it! We have the option of choosing any of our emotional responses to the circumstances we are facing. Why not choose JOY!

Church is not just about what happens on Sunday mornings. Church is the people of God doing life together. It is easy to cheat one self out of all the benefit of church by building walls around us to insulate ourselves from other people. But that would be wrong. Why, because each one of us are unique; God made us that way. Because we're different don't make other people weird. Gateway exist to breakthrough this mindset. We want our church family to value their uniqueness and welcome it in others. Different ain't bad, it's diverse. If you feel this way, you belong here!

In Mathew's gospel, and chapter twenty-four, Jesus tells his disciples that there will be signs of the times. These signs will confirm the scriptures, and affirm their faith and trust in the Lord. The signs of the times that our Lord spoke about are frighten and down right alarming.  These events will shake the foundation of men's souls and compel them to become tribal by instinct. People will form allegiances; public opinion will shape prevailing beliefs; the love of many will become cold, or a lack of civility; The Lord gave his disciples a heads up so that they could remain calm in the midst of a lot of stupid stuff going on. There is a lot of stupid stuff going on today. From the white house to the church house, people have no problems calling other people out. Shaming is the new game in town. The people of God shouldn't fall to the level of the beast and react to what they hear and see in the news. God got you! In the midst of craziness, stand still and see the Salvation of the Lord. Jesus told his disciples, and I am telling you, to stand firm in the gospel of peace. The Kingdom of God will make its greatest impact in a world with a whole lot of craziness going on!