Conversations with Ray Martinez

Today's story is really a sad one, but life lessons are taken away from Absalom's ego, and hatred, along with David's carelessness of not being a dad to Absalom.  The story of Absalom's rebellion against his father, King David, is told in the Second Book of Samuel (chapters 14 to 18). The handsome Absalom is distinguished by his extraordinarily abundant hair, which is thought to symbolise his...

My mother, Gloria Ager, passed on to heaven on January 31, 2023 at 11:48AM.  She is one of the candles in my life that God gave me to enjoy and share about her love for people and her family.  I hope you can listen in for a few minutes to hear more about her legacy.  For 92 years, she lived a great life of discipline.

Leaders often forget the four R.A.R.E. things of genuine leadership, which are:  Responsibility, Accountability, Relationships, and being an Encourager.  If you want to grow in your leadership style, listen to this simple and transparent message about your leadership style.

Any power attributed to the name of Jesus originates in the Person of Jesus. When we “believe in Jesus’ name,” we are trusting in the finished work of the risen Christ on the cross.  Jesus is not a magic word. There is nothing special about the arrangement of the letters in His name. By simply calling out the name of “Jesus,” one cannot expect a special power, outcome, or better standing with...

The term Godhead is found three times in the King James Version.  In each of the three verses, a slightly different Greek word is used, but the definition of each is the same: “deity” or “divine nature.” The word Godhead is used to refer to God’s essential nature. We’ll take a look at each of these passages and what they mean.  We are the offspring of God, not by images made by men. We w...

In Solomon’s day information was mostly limited to books. In our day information takes many other forms. If Solomon could say this when there was no printing press, Internet, television, radio, and only a fraction of the books we have what would he say if he lived in our day? The amount of information in our day is overwhelming and untrustworthy. Plant yourself in the Bible where “the words of the...

The Holy Scriptures clearly shows us Christ’s attributes.  We can certainly identify about 20 or 30 attributes of Christ right off the top of your head. However, we’re going to focus on the four main categories that are directly attributed to Christ. So let’s zoom out and look at the big picture. We will talk about that he is: OMNISCIENCE (all-knowing), Omnipotence (all-powerful), Omnipresenc...

What irony that Jesus was born in Bethlehem.  Bethlehem means “house of bread”.  Jesus is the bread of life, “ Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst” (John 6:35).  On the night when was betrayed Jesus instituted His Supper, that the bread He blessed and gave to His disciples, and us is His bod...

We celebrate Christmas because, as the angel said, the birth of Jesus Christ is “good news.” Good news is meant to be celebrated. In fact, the angel said the news of Jesus’ birth would cause “great joy” and would be “for all the people”—the joyful celebration would be universal. People around the globe would be glad for this occasion.

We celebrate Christmas because, as the angel said, “A Savior h...

The powerful story of Hagar in the Bible underscores how messy and complex God’s work in history really is. As people of faith, we believe that God answers prayer and keeps his promises, but this story will shake us out of simplistic notions of God’s call, God’s promises, and God’s faithfulness. Hagar is not just a supporting character in the story of Abraham and Sarah. She is not just the mother...

Yahweh is the principal name in the Old Testament by which God reveals himself and is the most sacred, distinctive and incommunicable name of God. Within all of us there exists a strong desire to be known and to know others.  We all like to think we are an influencer to others.  Jesus was the King of influence and sometimes in controversy.  The key to truly knowing God is found in w...

When the scripture says that God transcends or passes all understanding, this refers to the only known knowledge or capabilities of mankind. God rises above any man’s law. If God wants the law of man to work in his peoples favor, he can cause that to happen beyond circumstances that we cannot understand. So we refer to them as coincidences. There is no such thing as a coincidence. I refer to them...

Have you ever had a conversation and then all of a sudden, both of you are quiet…that sound of silence…what’s going on during that silent conversation?  Oswald Chambers talks about, His silence. He notes that God has trusted you with His silence – a silence that has great meaning. God will give you the very blessings you ask if you refuse to go any further without them, but his silence is the...

One of our greatest needs is to know that we are loved. Each one of us has to feel certain, deep down in our hearts that someone loves us, cares for us and has our best interests at heart. Intimacy in a relationship is a feeling of being close, and emotionally connected and supported. It means being able to share a whole range of thoughts, feelings and experiences that we have as human beings. Tha...

Being alone and being lonely are two different things. One can be alone without being lonely, and one can be lonely in a crowded room. Loneliness is a state of mind, an emotion brought on by feelings of separation from other human beings. When we are lonely, we lose the sense of “will”.  We wonder what our purpose is in life. We can become bitter against the world. Lonely people tend to argue...

Twenty foolish advisors are no better than one, so the kind of counselors one seeks makes all the difference in the outcome. The bible gives many examples of people that received bad advice and reaped disastrous results. Saul died because he was unfaithful to the LORD.  He even consulted a medium instead of asking the LORD for guidance. Human beings are fallible. No one gets it right 100 perc...

Today, our discussion is about the five fold use of Scrpture. 1. Reproof, 2. Teaching (Eph 4:14), 3. Correction, 4. Training in righteousness (Col 3:16), 5. Consultation (Rom 15:4). Jesus used two teaching methods—storytelling and a teachable moment—to illustrate and summarize this truth into three words: The Good Samaritan. These three words bring to memory an example of what it takes to be a goo...

The power of the breath of God is divine inspiration that spreads throughout the Scripture. God breathed “the breath of life” into Adam (Genesis 2:7), and Jesus “breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’” (John 20:22). As we all know, every breath that we take is a blessing from God, and when  we are speaking about our Savior, we are breathing the Word into people just as Jesus breathed...

The Muslim and Christian views of God have some similarities. Christians believe in one eternal God Who created the universe, and Muslims apply these attributes to Allah. Both view God as all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-present. Christians believe that Jesus was the incarnated Son of God, divine, and sinless.  Islam teaches that Jesus was one of the most important prophets of God, but not...

What is a sin of omission?   It is generally used in contrast with the corresponding phrase “the sin of commission,” or sins that a person actively commits. Paul contrasts the two concepts in Romans 7:14-20 . He decries his tendency toward both types of sin. He does what he doesn’t want to do and knows is wrong—the sin of commission—and he doesn’t do what he knows he should do and really...

Today is an everyday event. So we must treat it accordingly and try to do the things of God today and everyday.  Heb 3:13 You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. “Don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today.” I love this quote from Benjamin Franklin, it encourages me to seize the day, life and o...

Stewardship defines our practical obedience in the administration of everything under our control, everything entrusted to us. It is the consecration of one’s self and possessions to God's service. Stewardship acknowledges in practice that we do not have the right of control over ourselves or our property—God has that control. It means as stewards of God we are managers of that which belongs to Go...

The belief that baptism is necessary for salvation is also known as "baptismal regeneration." Baptism is an important step of obedience for a Christian. I strongly believe that each and every Christian should be water baptized by immersion. Baptism illustrates a believer’s identification with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. The action of being immersed in the water illustrates dying and...

How can I forgive those who sin against me? Everyone has been wronged, offended, and sinned against at some point. How are Christians to respond when such offenses occur? Why do we forgive? Because we have been forgiven! Those who are not Christians, however, have not been forgiven by God and have neither the power nor the desire to forgive others. Forgiveness would be simple if we only had to gra...

A couple of years ago we talked about this in another podcast about the power of fasting. Today, we will talk about the purpose of fasting. So you can consider this part two of the message on fasting. In the OT, fasting often accompanied prayer as a demonstration of need before God (1 Kgs 21:9; 2 Chr 20:3; Neh 1:4; Dan 9:3). Throughout the Bible we most often find God’s people turn to fasting as t...