I recently came across and article that was about actress Alicia Silverstone who stated she is leaving the Democratic Party and becoming a registered Independent. She also indicated that she was supporting Robert F. Kennedy jr. for President.

I say good for her. I was previously a registered Republican, but I became a registered Independent around 2000. I vote Democrat if he or she is closer to my viewpoints than a Republican, and I will vote Republican if he or she is closer to my viewpoints than the Democrat.

The last two articles I posted were regarding my early experiences as a Christian. All Things Have Become New was about my salvation experience with Jesus Christ. The River That Flows From The Throne of God, was about the experience I had when I was baptized in the power of the Holy Spirit. In both articles I stressed that it is not my intention to make myself appear as someone more special than anyone else, or that I am more spiritual than anyone else. I have been sharing these experiences to show that if God can move in my life as He has, He can move in anyone's life in similar ways.

In my previous article, “All Things Have Become New,” I mentioned that the Lord had placed on my heart to share some personal experiences I've had particularly in the early days of giving my heart to Jesus. Once again, the point is not to show how spiritual I am or to impress anyone. The point is to show if God can move in my life the way He did and has, He can move in anyone's life in the same manner. Perhaps not in the exact same manner, but at the very least in similar ways.

To be quite honest I have been having a hard time coming up with an article to post this month. I had several ideas, and as I considered them I did not feel right about posting any of them. There was no inspiration. As I prayed prior to composing and posting this article, The Lord gave me the inspiration to share various personal experiences that I've had in my life with the Lord. It is not to show how special I am or to make me seem so spiritual. On the contrary, I am as ordinary as anyone can be. And let's face it, most people for lack of a better way of putting it, are ordinary. Hence, the reason I believe the Lord put the inspiration in my heart to share these experiences is to bring home the point that anyone, ordinary or not, can have these encounters with God because it is God who desires relationship with us. From the beginning of the Bible to this very day whether people want to believe it or not God is in hot pursuit for all of us. I am no more special than anyone else.

Happy New Year to all who read this article. We all know that New Year's Day that all of us look forward to thing being better than the year before, whether to previous year was a good year or not. We always look forward to the New Year with hope.

When I accepted Jesus into my life as Lord and Savior in December of 1975, I was very hopeful about the upcoming year of 1976.