Clear The Board

It is almost New Year's Eve already! The last day of the year, the last day we have until we clear the board off, so to speak. A new year brings to many the ability to start over with a clean slate.

You do realize that this isn't real, right? The only way you can really clear the board is to start a relationship with Jesus who loves you more than you'll ever know.

Do you have a relationship with God yet? Do you know others who need a relationship with Him? If anyone truly wants to clear the board, then I pray that in this upcoming new year you are able to start a relationship with Him.

The Final Preparations

So, we have less than a week before Christmas comes. Are you ready? Have you wrapped all the presents, made all the food, traveled all over to events, etc.?

This week I won't take up too much of your time. Instead I just want to remind you to also prepare your heart. Prepare for Him to continue to use you for His glory. Prepare for Him to reach others for His kingdom. Trust me, this final preparation will be worth it!

God bless you all, and Merry Christmas!

Christmas Music Part 2

Christmas Music Part 2 - December 15th

So, has God put a smile on your face through any Christmas music this last week? He has done that to me many times. I don't know about you, but I have some real favorites when it comes to Christmas music, and all of them I love for different reasons. Here are three of my favorites, in no particular order:

A) “Wonderful Christmas Time”

I've always loved this song. I like the upbeat melody and the words that speak of simplifying this time of year. Isn't that a goal we should all have this season? Simply enjoy the season and everything about it! We often complicate the season, and this song reminds me to sit back and enjoy.

B) “Feliz Navidad”

This song is in some of my earliest Christmas memories. My parents use to play 94.5 (a station out of Port Clinton at the time) on the radio every Christmas morning. It never failed that this song would come on while I was opening my presents. This song is always positive and reminds me of all the other people in the world celebrating the birth of Jesus at the same time.

C) “The Little Drummer Boy”

I've loved this since I developed a bass voice. I have always enjoyed singing this song more than any others because of all the bass notes. Yet, more than that, I enjoy this song as it reminds me that often times the best gifts that can be given are often those that are the simplest. Using the gifts that God gives us is one of the best gifts we could ever give Him.

So, what does God lay on your heart this time of year? What songs do you keep encountering when He wants to put a smile on your face? No matter the song, or the meaning to you I pray that you are touched by Him this season and that He touches others through you as well.

Christmas Music Part 1

I don't know what it is about Christmas music, but hearing it almost always puts a smile on my face. In fact, if it wasn't for the snow, I think I'd have a smile on my face 24/7 through New Year’s Day. I love the time with family, time off work, various gatherings, giving gifts, etc.

To many, Christmas music resembles something else. They see crowds at stores, more work they have to get done, places they have to be, and money to be spent.

What does Christmas music mean to you? Do you hear it and envision all the positives of the season or the negatives? Do you remember the true meaning of the season?

I hope that you remember this quick devotional every time you hear any Christmas music this season. If you feel yourself focusing on the more difficult things this season, try to think about God instead. I know that He'll make the negatives go away and put a smile on your face as well.

The Plan

This time of year it is very easy to make plans for almost every day of the month of December. Most of us have family events, sporting events, kid's school events, church events, etc. It get to be the busiest time of the year in fact. Day after day we run from one item on the to-do list to another.

In the busyness it will be very easy to forget the real meaning of Christmas. We plan for all of the events, we plan all of the meals, we plan the presents, but do we plan to make sure God is at the center of everything we, especially this time of year?

As all of us plan our ways through this advent season, I wanted to just throw out a reminder to make sure you plan time for God in your day-to-day events. Without Him at the center of all you do, you'd easily get the plan wrong and forget the true meaning of Christmas.

Crossed Signals

I don’t know about you, but I’m really confused. As far as I can remember the TV companies have been telling us how much better our lives will be with bigger and bigger TV screens. They’ve made them thinner, wall mountable, and even 3D in today’s market. Then, all of a sudden these same companies start to try and sell us on these hand-held TVs! Is anyone else confused?

This is a lot like what many Christians do in the world. They go to church and say and do all the right things. Then, they go to work, ball games, and other events and act like Christ isn’t a part of their lives at all. There is no wonder non-believers don’t have a clear understanding of God. He isn’t shown in people’s day-to-day lives!

I understand that there may be reasons why a smaller hand-held TV may be nice to have, but I can’t understand why a true believer can’t live the life that they say they believe. Are you crossing the signals you give out to others in the world?

Leadership

Two weeks ago Americans went to vote, and although I’ve already covered that topic a bit, it did get me to thinking about a movie that I’ve enjoyed for years, "The American President". Michael Douglas as President Andrew Shepherd and Michael J. Fox as one of his staff people named Lewis Rothchild. They are in a limo on the way to an event discussing the President’s re-election campaign and the character attacks that the President is under from his challenger. The following statement is made by Lewis:

Lewis Rothschild: You have a deeper love of this country than any man I've ever known. And I want to know what it says to you that in the past seven weeks, 59% of Americans have begun to question your patriotism.
President Andrew Shepherd: Look, if the people want to listen to-...
Lewis Rothschild: They don't have a choice! Bob Rumson is the only one doing the talking! People want leadership, Mr. President, and in the absence of genuine leadership, they'll listen to anyone who steps up to the microphone. They want leadership. They're so thirsty for it they'll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there's no water, they'll drink the sand.
President Andrew Shepherd: Lewis, we've had presidents who were beloved, who couldn't find a coherent sentence with two hands and a flashlight. People don't drink the sand because they're thirsty. They drink the sand because they don't know the difference.

I think the biggest part of that exchange is what I’ve highlighted above in italics. Think about this in the context of Christianity and the world today. Why is the world in the state that it’s in? Why are the children of today becoming more and more lost? I say that a lot of it is because we as Christians are not giving them a choice. The people of the world are seeking leadership. Yet, those speaking the loudest to them are the evil forces of the world instead of us Christians! We’re not speaking loudly enough for the lost to hear!

How do we fix that? As we’ve been saying at church, it’s not going to be through programs. It’s not going to happen in the building that we have either. It happens where the people are each and every day. You have to not just be Christians on Sundays but all week long, in every dealing you have. It doesn’t matter if the person you are talking with is a Christian or not, you shouldn’t change. You have to be a Christian every moment of every day and demonstrate that to the world. You have to go out and make an effort and step up to that microphone and declare to the world that He is the Way, He is the Truth, and He is the Life.

My question today: Are you willing to lead?

The Team, The Team, The Team!

As most of you know, I’m a big University of Michigan fan. As a big fan, I subscribe to many e-mails from the school. One of those e-mails comes right after every home football game and contains the intro video used by the team as they run onto the field during introductions. The big theme of this year’s intro videos is a very well-known pregame speech called "The Team". Every game they show video of players, coaches, fans, etc. doing parts of that speech along with team video from previous games. It’s this video that gave me the idea for this week’s Mo-Mentum.

Quite often we think that the Christian life is all about what we are doing ourselves. Yet, it’s the entire body (team) that is most important. It’s about every one of us doing our part for the team to function completely and for that team to accomplish the victory. A sports saying is that a team is only as strong as its weakest links, and so none of us should be that weak link.

My question today: Are you a weak link? Do you know your part, and are you doing your best to help the team? When you aren’t doing what you can for Christ, you are letting down your teammates and making it harder for all of us to win. It’s about the team, the team, the team. Every one of us are players in the game of life doing our part for the head coach Jesus. We should be striving every day to make the team stronger by growing in our abilities and recruiting others to the team. Are you on the field, or are you a bench warmer? Get in the game today. It’s about the team.

Choice

Every day we are faced with choices that we all have to make. The first one every day is whether or not we get up when the alarm sounds. We then continue on through the day with hundreds of choices, often about very trivial things such as how much cream and sugar to put in out coffee, which pen to use, etc. Yet, there are also larger choices that we have to make. When driving we have to decide whether to turn in front of a car coming down the street, or maybe we should wait and let it go by first.

Even larger choices come in the area of faith. Do you decide to be a part of the Kingdom? Do you talk to that neighbor and lead them into a personal relationship with Christ? Do you trust God enough to answer your prayers, or do you think that you know better than He does?

On this Election Day, I’m not going to tell you which choices to make. You know better than anyone else where you stand on all of the issues. You know who you think are the best persons for all the jobs, and I’m not going to sway you in those matters. Instead, all I ask that when it comes to the election, you pray before you vote, and trust that God knows which choices are best. Of all the choices you make every day, the most important choice you have is to follow Him, and making sure that God is a part of all of the choices you make, even on Election Day.

Step Over the Line of the Box

Over the years one of the biggest buzz words in the business world has had to do with a box. People are now supposed to think “outside the box”, however not too much or you’ll be called crazy. Have you ever wondered what “the box” really is?

I think that “the box” is that comfort zone that we all live in that we’re all familiar with and can easily move around in on a day to day basis. We have certain people we can talk to without any problems, certain places we can go and know them well, etc.

Today I’d like to challenge you to step out of your comfort zone and get out of “the box”. We often get so darn comfortable that we miss opportunities to witness to others in the world because we don’t think or look outside of that box. Now I’m not going to tell you how to do this, but instead just ask you to look for opportunities. There is a whole big world out there and God didn’t just ask us to only evangelize those in the box with us. He wants everyone reached with the gospel, and in order for that to happen we have to step over the imaginary lines we put in our lives and reach for those in the world who do not know Him yet.

Temperature Settings

Does anyone really understand the weather? Let’s just examine the last few weeks. The first week of October was rainy and cold, and we all started to prepare ourselves for the upcoming winter. Then, the next week it was warm and almost like spring was coming once again. Last week it wasn’t overly warm, but it wasn’t cold. In fact, it was actually fall for a change.

So what does any of this have to do with anything? Well, I think it’s very easy to relate this to our own lives. Have you ever found yourself on fire for Jesus, only a day or two later to be cold again? Then you get warm for a few days, only to cool off again?

Unfortunately, I think this is entirely normal. Life throws us curve balls and finds all kinds of ways to distract us. Yet, you do have to find a way to keep that core temperature rising and keep it warm in your spiritual life as much as possible.

Much like turning on the furnace keeps your house warm in the winter, you need to have the same kind of set-up for your spiritual life. Find a way to keep the fire burning. If the one source of heat isn’t burning as much as it did before, find another source. The goal is still the same. Maybe last week listening to a certain CD got you going, but this week it doesn’t. Instead you start reading a certain area of the Bible that keeps the fire burning. As long as the focus is on God, you will be rewarded.

So, enjoy the temperature changes outside, as before long it’s going to be cold, the snow will be falling, etc. Just don’t let those changes affect your spiritual life. Find new ways to keep the fire burning, and keep that spiritual thermostat set high – it’ll cost you a lot less than those gas company bills will!

A Confession

I have a confession to make to all of my readers. You see, for quite some time I’ve been very addicted to something that I just can’t shake. This is an addiction that I can’t just go to meetings for and get all better. It’s one of those things that has been a part of my life for quite some time, and there are still times that I don’t know how to deal with it because it can really control me. It often impairs me from seeing everything that is in front of me and instead only focuses me on the addiction.

You see, I’m addicted to being a follower of Christ. I’m addicted to living my life the way He wants me to and showing others in the world what it’s like to be a part of His Kingdom. The relationship (or addiction) I have with Him is always on my mind and controls all of what I do every day.

Doesn’t that sound like a wonderful thing to be addicted to? Have you ever thought of your relationship with God as an addiction? At least this isn’t an addiction you’d want to get rid of, right? This is an addiction that instead you wish would grow more and more every day.

I dare you to confess to the world your addiction to Christ. Show everyone what it’s like and how powerful the relationship you have can be. Take a stand and declare it from the mountain tops so that all may hear. The world needs more people brave enough to confess their love of the Lord. Can you get addicted and hook others as well?

All Show, No Go

The other day I was following behind a car for awhile on my way to one place or another. As I was following it, I had opportunity to look at the car and one thing stuck out at me. They had a Jesus fish on the back of the car. I first thought it was cool, although uncommon around Norwalk. Then, as I looked further at the car, the owner had a bumper sticker that I found a tad bit offensive, though I’m not going to say more about it in order to not incriminate someone who just may be reading this.

At this point I was wondering who this person really is. Are they a Christian, as they tried to show they were, or are they more in line with the bumper sticker? Although I may never know who the car’s owner is, or what he really stands for, I did start to examine my own life and get something to take away from this event.

First off, it’s very easy to wear a garment, put up a sign, quote the bible on Facebook, or even have something on your car that expresses your faith to the world. However, it’s entirely different to live the life that you are professing to have. Remember that the world will see that quick glimpse of who you profess to be, but the long lasting impression will be from the way you actually live your life. the way you actually live your life.

Next time you do any of the above things to show the world what you believe, make sure that you are living that way too. The truth is out there for all to see, and you don’t want to be a “generic Christian”, which Pastor Bruce described very well this past Sunday. God bless.

Attention

As most of us already realize, the kids in school who get the most attention are either the kids with the very good grades, or those who get in trouble a lot. No matter how good the teacher is, that scenario plays out the majority of the time, especially with younger and younger kids. So, while those kids are getting the majority of the teacher's attention, what happens with the other children who are in the middle? They can feel left out, not loved, or not good enough, etc.

Thankfully God isn’t that way with us when it comes to our relationship with Him. You can be the most spirit filled pray-er, the person who falls back into old ways only to ask God for forgiveness time and time again, or the person who most of the time does their devotions, prayers, etc. Any and all of those people are not only loved by God, but constantly the focus of His love.

So, don’t worry about not being the best Christian that you know. Don’t worry also if you slip from time to time, as He still loves you as well. Instead, know that God loves you for who you are and is happy that you have a relationship with Him. Like any good relationship it takes work, and you should always be doing that. Know that He will love you the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow, and that He will always be there to give you all the attention that you desire.

The Cream Always Rises

I don’t know about you, but I watch a few reality TV shows. I watch America’s Got Talent, Top Chef, The Apprentice, Survivor, MasterChef, and Hell’s Kitchen, to name a few. The one thing I’ve noticed with a lot of these kinds of shows is the variety of different kinds of people on each show.

Last week America’s Got Talent had its finale. We watch this show as a family and we really enjoy it, so we’d watched this whole season and we really were excited for the finals. Yet, it’s what got the show to that point that was the most interesting to me. During the auditions you see tons of different acts; most of them are just horrible. Yet, there is always some outstanding undiscovered talent out there, and of course the act that somehow gets through to the next round. The judges see some acts and for some reason just push through some bad ones, probably to give them someone to make fun of later, right?

Well, as it always happens, by the time they got down to 20 or so acts, the cream had risen to the top. Sure, you still had your singers, magicians, dancers, and other variety acts. Still, by far they were the best in the competition, even though they were so different. They were all worthy of their place, and worked their way into these positions. No matter who won, it was going to be one of the best people from the auditions, be it the child opera singer, the too cool Mr. Grimm (who won it all), the Prince who supposedly is the next Lady GaGa, or one of the others who remained.

My question today is this: If God had a reality show and you were auditioning, would you rise to the top? Are you striving to make yourself better every week in order to remain in the running for the top prize? In shows like AGT the cream always rises to the top. Those people work hard every week in order to get better and better and seek out the votes of others. Are you worthy of other people’s votes? Are you improving yourself in order to get better as a Christian, or are you just coasting along hoping that you won’t be the one voted off?

I pray that you strive to make yourself a better Christian every day/week. Constant progress in your walk will allow you to stay in the competition and allow you to be the star that God has envisioned you to be.

Uncontrollable

In service on Sunday Pastor Bruce talked about men proposing to their girlfriends. I thought back to when I was going to propose, and man, was I nervous! Let me tell you our story.

I set up asking Traci for a few months. We were going to Europe as chaperones, as my dad (a French teacher in Port Clinton) takes a group over every other year. Before we left I had asked Traci’s dad for his approval. I had bought the ring and had arranged for my mom to hold it during the trip so I wouldn't lose it, and it wouldn't be seen if my bags were checked by security. I had even circled the date on the itinerary and arranged with my parents for pretty much everything I could plan ahead of time.

So, through all of that planning, there were still things I couldn’t control. First off, I couldn’t be 100% sure she’d say yes! I mean, I was aiming for the sky in asking such a wonderful woman to marry a guy like me. I also couldn’t control the environment we’d be in. 1998 was the year that France hosted the World Cup and there were crazy drunk people from tons of nationalities all over the place. Oh, and the weather. For some reason I can’t control the weather either.

Now it’s the day I had planned to ask Traci to marry me. We were in Paris (gotta go with the romantic city, right?) and it’s raining at the time we’re suppose to go up the Eiffel Tower. My dad knew what lengths I’d gone through to set this up, and as the group decided to go to the Eiffel Tower another day, he worked it so they would go up the tower with us, giving some crazy excuse to Traci which she said she believed. We arrived at the observation deck and my parents went to another area, leaving us alone. I took Traci over to look out the window , and as I pointed something out to her, I got the ring out and asked her then and there (still reminded that I didn’t kneel down – in my nervousness I forgot!) asked her to marry me. Now the moment of truth came, the biggest variable, if she’d say yes. Thanks to God’s grace, she said yes!!!

So, what did I get out of this other than getting to spend the rest of my life with this great woman? That day it really hit me that I couldn’t be in control of everything. I had planned out just about everything I could, yet not everything went as planned. I didn’t plan for it to rain that day. I didn’t plan for the group not to go up the tower that day. I also couldn’t control what her answer would be. I had no back up plan if she said no, though I’m sure it would have put quite a damper on the rest of the trip. Yet, God worked out the details for everything to work out. We were still able to go up on the tower, and although the view wasn’t as great as normal, there were a lot less people around and we were able to just enjoy the moment. My parents could also be there and just enjoy the moment without having to worry about the students on the trip at that time. (Don’t worry, they were in good hands.)

In our lives, there will always be things we can’t control. Yet, through it all, God has a pretty good grasp on things. The problem is that sometimes we try to get in the way. We try to handle it all ourselves and keep Him out of it.

The next time you have something big to plan, pray for God to be in control and allow Him to manage it all for you. Sure, you’ll have work to do to prepare – but allowing Him to be in control will make it all run better than your control could ever do.

Health Inspection

The other day, as I was reading the paper, I came across the section recent health inspections of local establishments. There are schools, restaurants, gas stations, and many other places listed there. I’m always surprised with the number of times these places can be listed week after week. Then again, as I think about it, I realize that these are surprise inspections, and many times things can get easily missed in the day to day operation of such establishments.

Of course, this got me thinking about my life. What if God sent an angel down to do a surprise inspection of my life? What kind of stuff have I just kind of put to the side and let linger there because I just don’t have time to deal with it in the daily busyness that I call my life? Have I checked lately the amount of heat I put on my family in regard to the tasks that they need to complete daily? Is the cooler in my life the right temperature? Have I left something out too long that should have been thrown away a long time ago?

This week look at your life and start to prepare for an inspection. You never know when it’ll come and who will be doing it. Remember that our lives are on display for the whole world to see and examine. If we want to truly shine into the world for Jesus, we have to show to everyone that we’re ready for these inspections. Sure, we may have a dirty counter from time to time, but if we put in the work to keep up the maintenance and cleaning projects we’ll easily allow others to see Jesus in us.

Writing Again About The Church

So I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what makes up the church. I know that I’ve said it quite a few times up front when I've been Elder Of the Day at church. I also blogged about this in May, but yet god keeps talking to me about this subject. The church isn’t a building. The church isn’t the songs that are sung on Sunday morning, or programs run throughout the week. The church isn’t just the staff that makes the building run.

Instead, the church is all of the people that are a part of it. You are a part of the church, I am part of the church. Our sharing of our lives and experiences with one another is what makes us stronger as a unit. If you don’t get something out of the sermon or other teaching this week, does that mean that the church has nothing to offer you?

What if instead of trying to get something from the teachings you instead go and try to invest in the lives of those around you. Start with just one person you know on Sunday and just spend some time getting to know them better. Then week after week try that with another person, then another, etc. At that point you’ll be invested and truly working to make the church stronger. Through that you will probably find yourself being enriched as well.

So, as I say quite often, the church is more than just a building, programs, teachings, etc. We’re all a part of the church, and when we work on building a stronger foundation we’re able to grow and show the rest of the world how great it is to be a part of His church. If you want to expand the kingdom, work on the relationships you have with others around you at home, at work, at school, etc. You’ll find that you’re helping spread God’s love to everyone around you.

Start or End?

Well, it’s that time of year for just about everyone now. At least, everyone who has kids, or is a teacher. It’s school time again. As I’ve been thinking and planning for the school year to start I began to look at it two different ways. Let me explain.

First off, I saw the negative. I will miss the freedom that the summer gives for family time. There really isn’t much of a problem having the kids stay up late because they can sleep in the next day during the summer. We can throw the ball around all night after I get home from work and not worry about homework, or anything else for that matter. I also saw the money that it costs to get all the supplies, and all the time that it was going to take to make sure we were organized and ready to go. Then add onto that the school calendar of events, sports, etc. Wow, that is a lot of negatives!

Then I saw the positives. We get the family back onto a routine. I’m more of an organized person, so having a routine suits me better than not having one. I also enjoy some of the school events and watching my kids participate in them. It also means that my wife gets some sanity back, which is a bonus – added onto the fact that she’s teaching preschool this year and bringing in some extra cash, which can’t hurt! Oh, and there is my favorite – the house will not be a wreck every day when I get home! Yeah baby!

So, what kind of lesson can someone get out of school starting up? How about the fact that there are two sides to a coin, as they say. When any event happens, the majority of the time it will be an ending point of one thing, and the starting point of another. Sure, we’ll miss the last “season” of our life, but the new one brings a lot of positives as well. It’s all in the way that we approach these starting points that really shapes how we deal with them.

This week, since school starting effects everyone, even if you don’t have kids of your own in school, try to take a positive approach to the start of the school year. Yes, there will be adjustments that need to be made. Yes, it’ll be a roller coaster for awhile as we get adjusted. Yet, through it all this, like all things, happens for a reason. Embrace the change and make the best of it. Look to the positives and know that through the good and the bad, God will be with you as we enter another start of the school year.

Planting

So, all last week I had thoughts on weeding out the garden and not only used that here on the blog, but also discussed it during Unscripted at church on Sunday. So, wouldn't you know it - God had me working on landscaping with Traci Sunday afternoon.

We were working on the driveway side of our house where a weed had taken over in the past month. We haven't planted anything there since we bought the house so the area was pretty rough. We found that previous owners had pretty much just used stone in the area, and that someone eventually put some dirt over it.

So, what are we to do? We've found that the flower bed needed some work in order for the transplants to have solid ground to work on. Yes, we could have planted them there in the dirt and stone, but more than likely the roots wouldn't have found anything to work with and the plant would have died.

Instead of trying with what was there, I ran off to the store to get the topsoil we'd need. The new soil worked to fortify what was already there, in addition is builds up the area making it look better over all. The transplants now have a place with rich new soil that is free of weeds and that can give those transplants the best opportunity to grow and flourish in the future.

This reminds me again of our spiritual walks. There are times in people's lives that it's best to refortify the ground in order for the flowers to grow. I think that is what we do by getting into the Word of God. Every time we learn scripture we're building up the area around the items we plant in order to allow them to grow. We grow stronger plants in the flower beds of our lives that will help the light of God shining upon them.

I don't know about you, but I often take a second look at a house that has a lot of flowers growing in their flower beds. I enjoy the many different colors and admire the homeowner's willingness to work hard for such beauty. Think of yourself now as the flower bed showing off the many different flowers that God has gifted you with to the entire world. Do you think that others will take a second glance? Do you think that makes others want what you have in your life? Take some time this week to work on your flower bed, and allow all that you are planting to blossom through all of your hard work, it'll be worth it!

Weeds

One of the things I really dislike about owning a home is the yard work. I don’t mind doing some good hard work, but it never seems to last very long, which is the very annoying part for me. Weeds just seem to take over the yard if you don’t watch things for even a day. Check your flower beds at home and I bet you’ll find something there as well. Then there are also the weeds in the grass, and anything along the edges of your house, garage, kid's equipment, etc. No matter how much you work on them, the weeds are fighting to find a way to make their way further and further into the yard.

I realized as I was outside this weekend that once again this is just like our lives. We are a freshly planted flower bed when we’re born. We’ve got new dirt and have just been planted with something nice. As the days go on eventually weeds start to invade. They start out small and are often taken care of quickly at first. Then, as time goes on there are times when the a weed finds its way into a more permanent position. It not only gets a good hold in the flower bed, but then the weed starts to spread to other areas. If that isn’t kept in check, eventually that one weed can take over the entire flower bed.

Have you ever had that happen in your life? Where a weed (sin) came into your life and you didn’t get rid of it right away? Then that one weed spread and took over? This week I’d like to challenge my readers to check over your flower bed and see what weeds are there and start to get rid of them. Take out a few and see if you can clean up the entire thing. After that you just have to maintain it….which will be a lot easier than the initial cleaning of the flower bed. If you can clean your flower bed and keep it clean of weeds, the more Sun (or should I say the Son) the flower bed can get – and the more you can grow!

Positive Power

They say that people who put on a happy face get more positive reactions when out in public. Happy smiling sales people are also said to get more sales than those that aren't so happy. Happy spouses seem to like us much more than when we aren't smiling. We know all of these things, and yet we still have problems being positive. Why is that?

Let's not look at the negative today, but instead let us focus on the positive. You can exude happiness to everyone around just by smiling here and there. That positive power that you have inside of you has a way of attracting other positive power. You end up lighting up the area around you thanks to something as simple as a smile.

So, this week let's work on showing off that smile a bit more. If we progress on that a little bit every week, we'll get to a point where it shows off more often than not. Try it with me, let's try to make the world a happier place - we have to be here for awhile anyway!

Good Intentions

How many times in your life, when you have seen a new invention, have you said to yourself that you had that same idea years ago? Or even better, you wish that you’d have had that idea and made the money for something so simple? How about this? How many times have you wanted to help with something at church? How often have you seen a need and thought you could be the person that who could fill that spot? Need another? How many times have you thought about talking to a loved one or neighbor or friend about Christ?

The next question, how many times have you actually taken action on those ideas? IF you had actually done something with the idea you had, what would have that invention been like, and how rich could you be? What if you stepped up and helped with the youth, teen group, or started a ministry of your own that you see a need for in the church? What would that other person’s life be like if you took action and talked to them and attempted to lead them to Christ?

You see, it’s all about that word there isn’t it? Action. We’re all full of good intentions and have great ideas. The problem is that very few of us take action. Very few of us see an idea through, even if it fails. We all do it all the time, especially with spreading God’s love for others. Why is it so hard to take action?

I’m not here this week with all of the answers. In fact, I think that this week the answers will be different for every one of us. We all have our own reasons, although probably few are really any good. What I’d like you to get out of this week’s message is that the next time you see an opportunity to do anything, at least start to think about taking action. You have to first ackowledge that the possibility is there and that action can be taken before you can react. After you do that, pray. If God wants you to move further with it, then you’ll know – he’ll make sure you get hit over the head with it. The question is, will you be willing to act?

The Decision

So, it has been a week since "the king" has announced "the decision". Have you been able to get over the way it was done yet? Are you still hurt by his leaving?

As I started to evaluate the whole situation a thought came to me - What if #6 did all of this to announce a different kind of decision? What if he went on ESPN to announce that he's finally figured out that God should be the one calling the shots in his life, and not LBJ himself. Would people in Miami be so happy? Would people in Cleveland be so hurt? Would 9 million people have watched it on TV? Would all of the sponsors have paid money to be a part of that show, one that ESPN might not have even shown?

It's funny to me the things that we find important. Now, I'm a huge sports fan too, but I don't let it run my life (at least after a day or two...After all ... I AM a Cleveland fan!) Yes, I watched the show since Noah wanted to and sat there stunned like everyone else in Cleveland, even though I expected it to be bad news for us. Yes, I was critical on Facebook to a point. However, I wasn't throwing rocks at a sign on a building, burning jerseys, etc. I've let it go, as frankly he had every right to go. No, I don't like the way he did it, on national TV and all without really thanking the fans, but he did have the right to leave.

So, today, more than a week later, what is important in your life now? Are you still a Cavaliers fan even if the name on the back of the jersey is changing? Better yet, what does it really matter in the larger scope of things? Will this hurt your advancement of the Kingdom of the one true King because Lebron left? In fact, it may just help the advancement instead of hurt it. Now you'll have nights free that you use to sit by the TV and watch the games. Now you may have more money as the tickets will get cheaper to games.

In the end his "decision" doesn't mean anything to God. It's not the decision that he really needs to make in his life. Don't waste your time on wondering what could have been, but instead focus on those things in the world that you have some control over. Use the time that James' flight to Miami will give you to advance the Kingdom of God and watch how it advances. It's a much better show anyway.

Into Muddy Waters

On Saturday Traci and I took the kids to Huron Beach for a fun day of swimming and family togetherness. Now, this wasn’t the easiest thing for me to do since I’m not huge on the lake any more as I really prefer swimming in a pool, etc. However we have no pool, so I thought that the idea was a very good one as it was something different that we don’t normally do and it’s cheap.

So, we arrive at the beach and a few things become apparent to me right away. 1) It’s as rocky as Traci said it would be (I’d never been there, while she had) and 2) The water is quite nasty.

That is when it hit me. This is a small comparison of what Jesus headed into when he came to the world to save each and every one of us from our sins. Here I am looking at all the different reasons why this could be a “not so much fun” experience like the nasty water with the dead fish floating in it (we found that after an hour or so in the water), the crowd that kept building at the beach, the rocky beach itself, etc. It would have been so easy to look at all of that and just want to turn around and say that the family time is off and we were going home. Jesus could have done the same thing as well. He could have just seen how nasty the world was at that time and tell his Father that He didn’t have the heart to go through with it. Instead, He stayed, knowing the outcome of His time on earth and still willing to follow through with all that was planned for His life.

Now, I’m not comparing myself to Jesus, but instead, noticing how little outside things can easily keep us from the things that God has planned for our lives. That family time we spent on Saturday could become a memory that they’ll remember for the rest of their lives. It could easily be my last weekend event with my whole family, not hoping that I’d die – but instead just pointing that out. If we all don’t take the opportunities that are presented, we never know when the next one will come. I pray that the next time you are presented with an opportunity that you fully embrace it, just as Jesus did when He came to earth for all of us.

Video Games

You know one of the great things about a video game? You have control over the character in the game and get to make all the decisions. You can make him/her go left, right, up, or down. You can make them stop and go on demand, jump, fly, whatever else the game allows. You get to determine the course of the character’s life in the game. You get to say how much the outside forces of the game can control the character, which is another plus!

Now look at your life. How much in control are you? How easy is it to keep those outside influences from making you do what you want? Why is it that in real life those influences seem to be so much stronger and have more weight in our decision making than in the game we were just discussing? Why is it that we so often find ourselves doing things that we don’t want to be doing?

Maybe, just maybe, the answer is in who has their hands on the controller. You are trying to control everything that goes on with the “you” character, instead of allowing the person running the game to do their part. Can you imagine playing Super Mario Brothers and fighting with the game to control Mario? How many levels of that game would you complete at that rate? Yet, every day all of us try to keep control of our lives away from the one who has the best ability to make sure we win the game: God.

This next week, start to loosen your grip on the controller of the game of life. Let’s see what He can do when you aren’t fighting Him to run the course of the main character’s life in the game – it just may help you win every day.

Broken?

I think we are all well aware of the term “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” My question today is what do you do when that something is actually broke? When it comes to your spiritual life, I think you have at least these 2 options:

1) Just let it be – Yep, you are disconnected from God, and instead of doing anything about it you just let it be what it is. You don’t work to fix it and instead you just stay in the dark not caring about being in the light any more. This is too often what people do because they don’t see a value of the relationship they had with God in the past. The relationship they had in the past was fun while it lasted and now that they feel that they have worn out their welcome they leave and don't worry about what they've left behind.

2) You work to get it fixed – This is the one that takes a lot of time and effort some times. Your relationship with God might be totally blocked by the many obstacles you have allowed to come into your life and it’s going to take awhile to work through all of them. You've let TV, friends, sports, sex, work, and many other things come between you and God. Yet, you find it worth fixing the problems and making that relationship whole again. As you work towards repairing the brokenness of your heart you will find that the best glue you can get to put all of the pieces together again is to trust Him completely again. When you give the repair job in God's hands it will amaze you how the pieces of your life will come back together again.

Which option are you taking right now? Take the time to examine your options and where you are today and get back to putting the puzzle of your life back together today, trusting God to fill in the gaps and fix all of the brokenness in your life..

Flamingos

As most of my readers already know, Norwalk Alliance Church does a fundraiser for the youth that, quickly summed up, is a flock of flamingos showing up overnight in someone’s yard. You can buy insurance so if it happens the youth will pick them up, or you can put a hit out on someone else, or pay to have them removed if you didn’t want to do it yourself. It all started back when Andrew Berry was Pastor and, long story short, it’s come back a few times as a fundraiser.

This past weekend our house got hit with a flock for the second time. The first time I quickly had them fly off to another house; however this time they came too late at night and we didn’t find them until morning. Now, true to myself, I was bound and determined to make sure they found another place to play that evening. I planned out my hit and waited all day to finally send them off to their new location. That was the easy part, though, as when I got to the place I was going to leave them, I encountered a few issues.

Issue number one was that the lights were on at the house and it looked like people were moving around. Second was that the garage door was open and it was probable that someone would be leaving at some point and spot the flock. Though, despite all of that, decided to go on with the hit. I was walking towards the house to guide the flock to their home for the evening when I spotted a neighbor who had probably seen me way before that. Instead of turning and calling it all off, I instead went and talked to the neighbor, told them what I was up to and why, and everything was good with them. After that I finally was able to get the flock into location and then got out of there myself.

Now, why do I bring up this fundraiser on my blog this week? It’s because of a lesson that I learned while doing this, or should I say was reinforced. It’s always easy to find a reason to quit and not continue on with something. No matter the preparations that were put in place, there was probably going to be something that I didn’t think of, and it could have easily been the thing that threw off the entire event.

The same thing goes for the work that we are to do for God. The devil is out there trying to throw up road blocks for us that will cause us to turn away from God’s plan and give up. If you give up enough times you’ll be defeated as most don’t continue to try. Yet, if it’s really worth doing, you can find a way around the issues that come up and still complete your mission.

No, the task of placing the flamingos in someone’s yard isn’t a vital task for God, but it does have a part. Yes, I could have easily turned around after seeing the obstacles and gone to someone else’s house and gotten them instead. Yet – I found solutions for the issues I was presented with and completed the task. When I focused on the mission at hand instead of the problems I was presented with, the solutions became easy to find.

The next time that a road block is presented when you are trying to do God’s work, change your focus. Focus on the mission and the value that He places on you completing your tasks. The results of that completed task will be great, although you may never see them in your lifetime. The Kingdom will advance….and it’ll be because you did your part – despite the obstacles that presented themselves.

Born Again

This week I wanted to turn once again to the music industry for my inspiration for this blog. It’s easy for me to do as I listen to Christian radio almost all day during the work day, and songs often hit me over and over again while I’m listening. Today the song that has been hitting me is “Born Again” by the recently revamped Newsboys.

Here are the lyrics to the chorus of the song, which is on a soon-to-be-released CD of the same name:

This is what it is

This is who I am

This is where I finally take my stand

I didn’t want to fall

But I don't have to crawl

I met the One with two scarred hands

Giving him the best of everything that’s left of

The life inside this man

I've been Born Again

To me this is extremely powerful wording. To me they are describing that time in all of our lives when we finally come to an understanding of what it is to follow such a wonderful God. A God who doesn’t judge you for what you have been before you found Him, but instead wants to have a relationship with you. How many people in this world won’t hold anything against you from your past but instead see you for the person that you are now and is willing to take that? Our Heavenly Father not only sees you for who you are but loves you despite all that you’ve done in the past, and all the scars you have because of it. He knows you better than you know yourself and still is willing to accept you and make you a new person in Him.

To be “Born Again”, as the Newsboys put it, is very powerful stuff. They are not only willing to write this lyric about it, but scream across the world as they tour that not only are the members of the band Christians and new in Him, but that all those in the sound of their voices can be as well.

When was the last time you and I were so proud of our faith that we screamed from the mountain tops that God saved us and made new beings?

If you get a chance check the video below on YouTube and get a sense of what it feels like to really be Born Again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuaavycxU1Q

2 Hands Can Get You To The End Zone

Currently there is a very popular song out by the group Jars of Clay called “Two Hands”. The message that I get from this song is that the song writer struggles with giving only a part of himself to God while other parts of him are not, in this instance represented by his two hands. He wonders what work he could do for God if both of his hands were actually working together. As I was listening to the song today I really started to think about it more closely.

Are we all as Christians in that same predicament? How many of us hold something back from God when in fact if we would give it all to Him he’d make our lives so much better? How often do we say, "Here, God, please help me with this, but well, let me keep this away from you as I don’t need you there." How about when working for God, how often do we all go forth completely and give all that we have?

I want to give another illustration to this as I think it’s very pertinent to the discussion. Last week our family had a movie night and the kids picked out the movie Facing The Giants. Now, I love that movie anyway, but one part really hit me watching it for the 3^rd or 4^th time, as we were. That part is when the football coach picks his best player out from the team and has him carry another player on his back while that star players is on all 4’s and blindfolded. The coach asks the player how far he’ll make it and he said the 30 yard line (starting from the end zone). The coach asks him to give a little more, and that player then says the 50, he thinks he can make the 50. Well, long story short, when that player gave everything he had to his coach, and when he kept going even when he thought he couldn’t go so far, it was amazing what he was able to do. That star player, the player that the coach wanted to be the leader of his teammates, made it to the other end zone. He went a full 100 yards!

These are powerful examples of what we can all do with God urging us on and our not just being willing to give up when we think we’ve done enough. What will you do the next time God asks you to put your two hands together and do more for His kingdom than you have before? Will you get to that point where you think you did enough and stop there? Will you push yourself to go a little further so you can feel really good about yourself? Better yet, will you pray for Him to come along side you and push you to the goal that He’s set for you in the first place?

Everything is Spiritual

What a simple phrase, right at the top there: Everything is spiritual. Have you ever stopped to consider that before? Let's look at it a little closer:

Losing Weight - spiritual by far. Ask God in prayer to help you feast His Word instead of that bag of chips or carton of ice cream.

Budgeting - spiritual again. Put God first and ask Him how to control your finances. You'll see Him at work in that area of your life in no time, and your debt will start to shrink because you put Him in control of it instead of you.

Parenting - You have a father in heaven who sets the example of how to love, so why wouldn't you take advantage of that? It's not easy, but when you allow God to control it, this is more manageable as well.

Your Job(s) - Working can be spiritual, even when you are at a place that isn't so "religion friendly". If you want to be the best worker you can be, then you can't do it alone. You may be asked to do things that you aren't qualified to do and with His guidance you can get through anything at work, when you allow Him into this area of your life as well.

I've just listed a few different examples above, and I've done that to remind you that no matter what area of your life you are thinking about right now with God in control you can do great things. We often allow God into one area or another of our life but keep Him out of others thinking we've given enough to Him as it is. If you want the life that He's set out for you why don't you go ahead and lay it all down at His feet - your life will only get better and better from that point.

What Is Your Channel?

So I was sitting in front of the TV the other day watching two different channels at the same time. That is right, as a guy I have a need to watch two sporting events at once here and there, and this night was just one of those evenings. I was able to keep up with both games very well and picked which one had the most of my attention (and the screen) based on the events in the games and commercials, etc. I was definitely in my element.

Of course, this gets me to thinking.... thinking about all of the different choices we have when it comes to the channels we tune in to. With Time Warner in Norwalk we have the local channels, the news channels, the sports channels, the music channels, movie channels, and they go on and on. That is a lot of channels to choose from, and 80-90% of the time there is nothing on at all on any of those channels. Yet, we stare at the TV anyway, making do with whatever we find that can keep our attention at the moment.

Is your spiritual walk that way? In the midst of the many different channels that your mind can be tuned to, do you find yourself choosing alternative channels that just occupy your time when you could turn off the channels and tune into something more meaningful in your life? The world is like a TV with so many different options for each of us to choose. There are good and bad things that can occupy our time in it, but they all seem to distract us from a higher calling.

I challenge everyone who reads this to get out the old "rabbit ears" and make sure you don't lose that reception with God, who is just waiting to give you His attention. I think you'll find that this channel will be the most rewarding thing you will tune into this week, and the most meaningful to your life as a whole.

The Church

How many of you, when you think of church, think of a building? If I asked for a show of hands I’m sure most of you would raise yours, right? We’ve been conditioned over time to think that way by the world. Yet, this isn’t what the church is at all!

You see, the building at NAC is just that...a building. God’s church expands way past those walls. Yes, we are Norwalk Alliance Church and we’re living the call together as we say weekly. That is very true. However we’re a part of something bigger. No, not the Christian and Missionary Alliance denomination (although it is bigger, so you’d be right there as well) but instead we’re a part of a world full of believers. That group is gigantic, isn’t it? Here is the very daunting part of that: each one of us is important in that group!

As a part of the church you are asked to go out and teach others about Jesus. Have you been doing your part? Without you, how will the church become stronger? You see, your efforts affect everyone else in the church. If you are to make contact with someone for God, He wants you to do that because He has a plan. Maybe your efforts this time will get them to that relationship. Maybe it won’t today, and instead, someone else’s efforts will accomplish it tomorrow or 20 years down the road. Yet, without you making the efforts as a part of the church we could all fail.

So, as you start to see yourself as a part of something bigger than just our building, I hope that you’ll start to realize your place in the church as a whole. Every contact you make, every ministry you take part in, or every conference you attend means something to all of us. You are not just a low level employee in a huge corporation but instead a part of something bigger than any of us can ever imagine. We will all do great things because you are working for Him. Keep up the good work and continue to strengthen your relationship with Him, and we’ll all grow stronger because of it.

Welcome to the Masquerade

I’ve been pondering that sentence ever since I first heard the new CD from Thousand Foot Krutch. TFK is a Christian rock band that recently came out with this CD. The cover shows a person’s face covered by a mask. The song with the same title talks about how we all have a fire for God, yet we live in this grand ball room called the world where many Christians find themselves hiding instead of stepping out for God. They encourage us all to take off our masks and show the world what lies underneath. These thoughts have haunted me since I first heard them.

Have you ever seen your life this way? Have you ever thought that you were mask-less at home and church, yet when you were faced with opposition in the outside world, instead of standing and fighting it off, you ran away to put your mask back on? Well, I have to tell you that is what many of us do on a day-to-day basis.

Each one of us has the power to fight off this opposition and yet we cower away. I’d like to encourage you this week to stop wearing your mask. In order to “Live the Call Together” each of us has to be willing to put that mask aside and use His word as our protection. We have to be willing to be there and be the fire that He wants us all to be.

Can you do this? Can you live up to this expectation and stop acting like every day is Halloween with that mask on? You can still go to the ball and dance, but stop hiding out amongst the rest of the crowd. It’s time to show the world who you really are and who you trust with your life.

Prank You Very Much

I recently heard about a group of kids who were prank-calling random people, and how frustrated those receiving the calls would get as they couldn’t understand what the caller was trying to tell them. Now don’t ask me to explain why, but it made me think about those who are lost and their encounters with God. Let me explain:

Let’s say that the prank callers are God, and the recipients are the lost. The lost people pick up the phone thinking they are going to hear from someone they know or at least can understand.However, what they hear is often like a foreign language to them. They can’t make out what is being told to them, they become frustrated, and eventually hang up. This is often the response we get from people we witness to. They just can’t grasp what is being told to them, and instead of trying harder to understand, they take the easy way out and deny Him all together.

So, what can we do to reach these people? Why not try to speak their language? That is what we are trying to do at NAC through outreaches like Food Bank, our sports ministries, Tag Clubs, and Apprentice House. We try to go to where these people are and try to get to know the language they speak. Then, we attempt to reach them through something that we have in common. Once that relationship is formed we can start to speak the same language. Does it always work? No.Does it eventually work? Maybe. Yet we MUST keep trying. If these people are never contacted, what good are we doing for Him?

We as Christians are called to reach into the world and get as many people to a relationship with God as we can. Think of yourself as that stupid crane game (I always lose at this) they have at arcades. The grasping hand is at the top of the machine (that would be you and me) and the prizes at the bottom of the machine are the lost. God is the one at the controls of the crane. He has us dipping into the world and trying to gain a prize that will be sent out of the machine to His kingdom. We don’t always grasp something, and sometimes it takes multiple attempts before we get the prize that we wanted. Yet, every effort gets you closer to gaining it eventually through more experience, etc. Also, some machines turn out more prizes than others. Yet, every machine that is working towards gaining prizes allows more and more prizes to be won through all of the combined efforts.

So, in summary we have to try time and time again to gain more people to His kingdom. We have to try over and over again to learn what will work in order to penetrate their world and get them to know Him. This is why I advocate all genres of Christian music and the artists that go “main stream” with their music. Music is yet another language that is spoken worldwide, and be it rap, rock, country, or anything else it’s yet another way that Christians are trying to speak a language that others in the world will understand and get them interested in God.

Are you willing to do what it takes in order go get the prizes that God covets? Allow him to take control of your efforts and you might find yourself speaking a different language and plucking up more and more prizes for His kingdom.

Get Over It - You're Not Perfect

You do know that you are a sinner, right? I mean, c'mon…. About 90% of you reading this have already sinned at least once today. Want me to prove it?

-Maybe you checked out that person of the opposite sex walking by you with that second glance.

-Maybe you lied to someone, even a little white lie. Maybe you even lied to yourself, such as speeding on the way to work is just fine because it’s only a couple MPH and they’ll never pull you over for that.

-Maybe you cursed today

-Maybe you were jealous of someone else as the drove by you in a better car, or had better clothing, or even what looks on the outside to be a better life.

-Maybe I could name about 30 other things, but I think that is enough to get us started, don’t you?

So, now that you realize that you are more of a sinner than we seem to think that we are at times, what can you do about it? First off, stop lying to yourself that it doesn’t matter. It does matter. Secondly, stop telling yourself that since they aren’t big things like killing someone that it’s not that big of a deal. It is a big deal.

Sin is sin, no matter how big or small. The biggest problem with sin is that we often do it and don’t even see it as sinning. Yet, here we all are sinning every day. Yes, I included myself there,didn’t I? I’m no better than any of the rest of you – I’m not perfect. There has only been one perfect person on this Earth, Jesus.

Now that you fall short of being Jesus and are getting over your God complex, seeing your life for what it is, now what? I think now you need to start realizing when you actually do sin. That is half of the battle, knowing that you did it. It’s kind of like being an addict – you have to admit that you have a problem before you can take care of it. So, knowing that you sin and when you do it will allow you to find a way to stop doing it. Find a way to change and stop doing that sin.One by one you’ll eventually be able to get rid of at least the big ones.

Now, you’ll never get rid of them all, as we were made in the image of God – we weren’t made to BE God. You’ll always be a sinner in one way or another. Yet, if you are continually working to remove sin from your life you’ll not allow the devil to have a foothold in your life. Our goal as Christians should be to improve ourselves daily and work towards a closer relationship with He who forgives our sins – Jesus Christ. I pray that this week you’ll start to take a closer look at your life and start to take out the weeds from the garden called your life.

The Second Meal

I’m sure each and every one of you have made a meal in the past that has in which you have made a little bit too much food. Of course, you didn’t want to waste that food, so you put it in the fridge in order to have a second meal at some point later in the day or week. Yes, those seconds are called leftovers. We all have had leftovers at some point in our lives and I don’t know about you guys, but unless it’s something I really love, leftovers are not something I really want to be having. Those leftovers just never seem to taste the same reheated, and most of the time at least some of them get thrown away because we’re never going to finish them all before they go bad.

So, we’re all so against having leftovers, then why are we so quick to serve them to God? What do I mean, you ask. Well, how many of us put God off to the side while we work towards the many ambitions that we have of our own? You know, you have someone in your life who does not know about God, but today you can’t go talk with them about it because you have to get your hair cut, stop at the store, etc. Or, maybe you put off reading the Bible or doing your devotions until after the game is over on TV, or you mow the lawn first, etc. Did you even realize that when you did that, you put God second, and in the feast of your attention you now forced God to have the leftovers? The left over minutes of the day that you have left.

I’m guessing that if any of us had God over for dinner, the first things we’d do is look in the fridge for leftovers to warm up, right? No, you wouldn’t? Oh, so you’d be willing to cook Him a brand new meal and put all of your attention to making that meal just perfect for Him? Then why don’t we do that every day? Why do we not start our days focused on Him? Why don’t we prioritize reading the Bible and doing things for His kingdom first before all the other little things? Why do we let the world get in the way of God?

We talk a lot at church about prayer and being closer to God, but I don’t know if we always put it in such plain terms for people. If you truly want to be closer to God you’ll start making Him a priority and stop serving him what ever is leftover.

Get The Message

So, on Sunday I was the "elder of the day" at Norwalk Alliance Church. I expounded upon a message that I have felt God screaming at me to talk about during my time in front of the congregation. I feel so strongly about this right now that I am going to include a written version of this in today's blog....I hope you don't mind.

First off I'd like you to take out your cell phone. I'd like you to put that in your right hand, and get our your Bible and put that in your left hand. I want you to look at your hands right now, as we compare these two items.

Both the Bible and the cell phone both have messages for you. On the cell phone you have voice mail messages, text messages, and most even can get e-mail messages these days. Some people even have a Bible application on their cell. Now, I want you to look at your Bible. This book also has a message for you. It's a message of hope, peace, and your salvation. It's all about how you should live your lives, bringing others along the journey.

My question for you today is, why do we all spend so much time with the messages on the cell phone? Why is it that we'll drop everything else we're doing in order to check out the message that is on that cell phone, but we're not willing to do the same with the guidebook for each and every one of our lives? I've seen people check out their cell because it sounded or vibrated everywhere from a concert, a sporting event, a restroom, to even in church. Why do we continue to allow these distractions into our lives when we aren't so quick to answer His call? His message is just waiting to be read every day, and yet we aren't nearly as fast to check out the Bible as we are our cell phones.

When we start to make Him a priority in our lives, maybe then we'll start to see a change in our focus. Maybe then we'll allow God to work more and more in our lives. I'm not saying that the messages on the phone aren't important, but I am saying that they need to be prioritized correctly. When we get that under control and allow God into our lives more and more, then we'll feel His presence more and more each and every day.

I Want A Second Try!

I don’t know about you guys, but man I’ve really messed things up in my life. I mean, I’ve done some really stupid things that I’d really like to go back and correct. You know, kind of like getting a mulligan while golfing. That is right, I want another try,God… Do you think he’d give me one?

Everyone once in awhile I look back at my life and think about all the stupid things I’ve done. I’m sure everyone has similar stories like when I was jealous of another guy for talking to a girl I liked and hit him at a football game. Oh, and there was the time I was sucker punched on the playground because of a really stupid argument with another guy in junior high. And then there was the flowers I sent a girl and didn’t put my name on them….how stupid is that? Yes, those are only a few of the stupid things I’ve done, and yet every here and there they come back into my head for some reason. I wouldn’t mind a do-over on most of those.

Then I start to think about that a little more. What good would a do-over do me? If I got a second try at any of those what would I be like now? You see, for each of us, every one of those blunders we’ve made, as well as the positive experiences, have helped shape who we are today. We go through the good and the bad of the earlier parts of our lives in order to prepare ourselves for who we are today. God had us in those situations then in order to allow us to have experienced things that we may not have any other way.

Try thinking of that the next time you are in a hard spot in your life. Maybe you will see your experience in a different light. Maybe you’ll be able to get out of a situation because you got through something similar in your past. Then again, maybe He’s building up for something that will happen later on instead.

So, although it sounds great to look back at our past and think about all the things differently, in retrospect that may not be the wise thing to do. Those experiences made us who we are. It’s easy to be a “Monday Morning Quarterback” and know what should have been done differently. But, God made us who we all are today because of the things we have gone through in the past. If it’s not to help us, it may be to help someone else. Maybe you can help your kids out with something they are going through because you have gone through it as well. Maybe the person you mentor needs help with something, and you just happen to have lots of experience in that area. Whatever the reason, God crafted every part of our lives, including every good and bad experience. You have trust Him and not ask for a do-over, but instead embrace who you are and what He has made you to be. When you do that, His kingdom will be even stronger because you now are even more accepting of who you are and your role in His world!

Are you willing to get hit?

I was recently asked by someone how to not focus on the bad things in a person’s life.

Now, after some quick consideration, I came up with this idea – one that I thought might benefit others.

Think of yourself as standing in the middle of a long road. There isn’t much on that road that keeps you from seeing into the distance. A bad thing in your life is an incoming car. That car is coming straight at you, at a speed that really doesn’t matter at this moment. Now, you think that you can distract yourself from that bad thing (car) and so you put up some sort of barrier – we’ll go with a brick wall – between you and the car (bad thing) in order to keep it from getting to you. The problem is, you are only fooling yourself. That little brick wall isn’t going to keep that car from getting to you. It’s only a temporary barrier with no support structure and when that car hits it, well the car will just get through it and get to you. All you did was fool yourself that you could actually keep away from that bad thing in your life.

Now, instead let's look at that car coming at you again on that same road. This time you see that car coming and decide to trust God. Now, trusting in God doesn’t mean you stand there waiting for the car (bad thing) to hit you! Instead, you change your focus from the car that is coming your way to the fire hydrant on the side of the road directly to your side. You take a step of faith and step towards the object that God placed there for you instead. And, now because you stepped towards the item that God had you change your focus towards, you barely even notice when the car goes whizzing past you on the road.

Now, that probably dog-pee-stained fire hydrant isn’t really a hydrant. It’s something good that God has placed in your life. It may be a ministry that you are a part of, a loved one, or possibly Him in another form such as a good Christian book, song, or even the Bible. He placed that there in your life because he knew that if you walked towards it that your life would be spared from the bad things in it - and that your ultimate goal of focusing on Him would be achieved.

Wouldn’t you like to change your focus and stop looking at the bad things that can mess up your life? Wouldn’t you rather have more of Him in your life instead? If so, stop focusing on the things that aren’t any good in your life. Change your focus to the things that He has given you to make your life better. When you change your perspective and focus on the good things, you may not even notice the bad things in your life any more – and you’ll have more of Him in your life instead.