I'm glad you've come to my website! If you are a hurting soul...if you've ever felt that you've let down the people you love, whether by carelessness and neglect in tending well to life and people, or by even worse deeds...then I encourage you to take a look at the pages here. Perhaps you know by now that the true answers in life are not to be found in shallow, short term fixes, nor are they found in all our scheming and dreaming, and they are definitely not to be found by hiding our heads in the sand and putting off facing things until a "better time. There is an answer to life's crushing difficulties...will you look with me into some things into which "angels long to look?" (1 Peter 1:12)

First of all, on this page, I'd like to tell you...

...that this website is dedicated to the life and memory of my dear son, Joseph Emmanuel Pollard, who went to be with the Lord on October 2nd, 2004, at the age of 23 (see Joe's story, above)...that it is offered in light of the glorious hope we have of the coming resurrection of the dead (1 Corinthians 15), of the redemption of our bodies (Romans 8:23), and of the final end to sin and death, suffering and sorrow (Revelation 21:4)...that my hope and prayer is that God might be magnified (made much of!) through all that is written here. And it is also dedicated to you, the reader...especially if you have ever lived, or find yourself living now, a less than sober-minded life...in the fervent hope that our merciful God will open the eyes of your heart so that you may better see His truth, and so learn to live better and finish well. 

I first started this website as a blog called Sober Minded because I had begun seeing the desperate need I personally had to change, to start living life in that way--to live in my "right mind" (right thinking about God and life), as opposed to the way I had found myself thinking and living for some years. The Bible contains many references to living soberly. Here are just a few:

"Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 1:13

"The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer." 1Peter 4:7

"Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God." 1 Corinthians 15:34

To be sober in mind and in body, according to the definition of the Greek word as used in Scripture, is:

to be dispassionate - free from passion (of the destructive kind, that is!); not warped, prejudiced, swerved, or carried away by passion or feeling; judicial; calm; composed; 

to have a moderate estimate of one's self;

to be circumspect - that is, to pay attention to all circumstances and probable consequences; to be cautious and prudent;

to be sane.

To live carelessly before God--that is, to neglect the clear commandments and directives of His word--is to live less than soberly. We can so easily become intoxicated and led astray by our own wrong desires. As a Christian wife and mother, I once became careless before God. I began to think, then to live carelessly.

Rather than living dispassionately, I began to give more and more free rein to the passions of flesh and mind (first come the thoughts...then come the actions! Proverbs 3:27 tells us that "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he." What's lurking around in there in the dark, nurtured and cherished by us, will eventually be exposed in the harsh light of day.)

Rather than keeping a moderate view of myself, I began to think too highly of myself (and not highly enough of others.)

I left off being circumspect, failing to give thought to the long-term consequences of sinful choices I made. We will not forever escape the consequences of such living. As Galatians 6:7- makes clear: "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever  a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life."

And none of that is sane!

But there is grace, forgiveness, mercy and restoration that we can receive. Our aim in life can become, rather than to continue in our death-producing, shallow, self-seeking ways, instead to live for the honor and glory of the Lord's name--because of His indescribable and matchless worth. We can become promoters of the truth that His word, the Bible, is our inerrant, infallible and trustworthy guide in all things, and we can learn to live in the fear of the Lord, (Proverbs 1:7) for without this fear there can be no sobriety or true knowledge of Him. As mothers, wives, followers of Christ, we can discover that the power is there in Him to enable us to want to faithfully live out the mandate (not the suggestion!) from the Lord found in Psalm 78:

"Listen, O my people, to my instruction; incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not conceal them from their children, but tell to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and His strength and His wondrous works that He has done.

"For He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should teach them to their children, that the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, that they may arise and tell them to their children, that they should put their confidence in God and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments, and not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that did not prepare its heart,  and whose spirit was not faithful to God."

Father, help us through the gospel of Your own dear Son Jesus Christ to think with our right minds, so that we can live soberly, circumspectly and with great joy before You. Bring us to our senses so that we can teach Your testimonies and Your law to our children, before it's too late...so that the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, that You alone are God!

Please click on the links above and read more, or bookmark this site and come visit again. God bless you!

Please feel free to e-mail me at jeri@sober-minded.com... I'd love to hear from you.

Jeri

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