It's Never Over

So tonight I was watching and listening to the Indians game. I turned on the game at the point where we were down 8-0, which quickly went up to 10-0. I gotta say that I wasn't overly thrilled with the team's prospects for the evening. In fact, most of this season hasn't been all that promising....which is hard for me to say as I'm a die hard Tribe fan.

Well, what happens you may be asking? Yep, the Tribe bullpen finally has been pulling themselves together and get us into the 9th inning with us down 10-4. They've gone 5 scoreless innings to get us to that point. So, the Indians get a few players on base and I'm still ho-hum about it. Then they score a few runs, and I'm starting to try not to get my hopes up. Then, all of a sudden it's 10-9 and we've got the bases loaded! But, then I realize that Victor Martinez is up, who's in the middle of a 0-18 slump. So, what happens, YES the improbable! He gets a base hit which scores two runs, and the Indians win!

So, why do I bring that up in a blog that is supposed to be uplifting for Christians on their journey? I use this as a great example of why you shouldn't hang your head down low no matter what is going on in your life. You could be getting attacked by the enemy in 20 different ways. You could be the subject of most country music songs where your Truck just broke down on your way to bury your dog who died of a broken heart after your girlfriend left you! Yet, there is the promise of Our Father that he'll be there taking care of each one of us. He's there in it all with you, and although you feel the entire weight of the world if you give it over to Him, he'll help you through it all.

My family has recently gone through something similar. Last week I didn't write here because I was focusing on my wife's lost purse. Had to check credit reports and put alerts on our accounts. We had to stop all her debit cards, checks, and file a police report. That had me all freaked out, and I didn't handle it well right away. I tried to take care of it all myself and was extremely frustrated. Once I gave it up to God and allowed him to work in the situation everything went smoother. So far nothing has happened to us through all of this. I praise Him every day for that, and will continue to do that. It wasn't just luck that the deposit of money we were going to do wasn't in that purse. It was His grace that allowed it to be this way.

So, in conclusion if I try to do this all myself then not much good comes of it. Just like with the Indians tonight. If every player tries to hit a home run, then no one is on base for the rest of the players to hit in. They were down 10-0 people, and they won the game! What kind of odds do you have against you, and would it be easier to get through what you are with His help?

Changing Some Focus

Do you have anyone in your life that just makes you want to do this:

Traci and I were looking at the week we had coming up and discussing things, then praying together as we do every Sunday night when in the discussion we were talking about someone that was going to lead me to go crazy all week. So, I asked for prayer in dealing with them. When she heard the request she looked at me and asked if I ever prayed for the person as well as myself in dealing with them. Man, talk about getting hit with something big eh?

So, here I've been thinking about this since she said that. Sometimes we're way too focused on ourselves aren't we? No matter how much we as Christians try not to be a part of what the world is doing, it still gets us one way or another. Here I was asking for prayer in dealing with someone when I should have also been praying for that same person! It was all about me wasn't it? Well, I'm going to resolve to be better at that from now on. Sure, I still need prayer for dealing with some things that will come up, but they also need prayer in order to some day become a Christian themselves. All it took was my wife to nail me for all of it to sink in. I'm sure that no one else has had the same thing to happen to them right? Next time you have someone who you need prayer in dealing with, remember to pray for them as well....it'll help bridge that gap. All in God's timing that is.

Tend The Fire!

Man, I’ve recently been in a rut lately again. It happens every here and then, almost like the changing of the seasons. It’s a gradual slide that leads me here. I’m sure you’ve all been there at one time or another where you just let something go one day, which turns into a week, etc. It’s very easy to do, and most people I talk to have done that from time to time. It’s almost like a diet right? You take that one day to break the diet because one day won’t hurt, or you are at a special event and you can’t be the ONLY person there not eating all the great foods, right? Now I think we’re all on the same page.

Well, my rut hasn’t been food, it’s been a spiritual life kind of rut. As I said before, I don’t know how it happened, and it’s not really severe at this point even as I’ve learned to figure out early when it’s happening and how to fix it. You see, that spark I had is heading towards just a smoldering brush fire. I don’t always do the things that is necessary to keep the fire fully burning. I took a day off from my devotions, I spent all day watching sports one day, I focused entirely on the kids instead of God, something like that happened! So, one day probably I lost my focus, and that probably lead to two days, three, or four days in a row. Before long, a rut began!

So, how does one get out of a rut like this? Well, the first thing is realizing it. Secondly you have to go and find a way to build back the momentum. For me, the rut isn’t deep at this point, but it will get worse if I don’t get moving – something I’ve already started to do again. If you ask me, it starts with my prayer life. Some days you pray so you can feel all warm and cozy inside. You tell yourself if I pray to God about this then make my decision myself on the issue I at least can say I prayed about it – I know no one reading this has done that, right? That is like throwing a piece of newspaper on the fire you built. You get a couple seconds of flame, and then it goes right back to what it was before.

Ok, now that we realize there is a rut, it’s time to build back that fire. Time to focus our lives back on God. As I said yesterday as Elder of the Day, prayer is integral. God put Sunday as the start of the week to get your attention people! Prayer, Worship, Teaching all is there on HIS day to help prepare you for the week! He’s helping to fill us up with him so that the events of the week don’t take his His place in our lives. Start your week off right by spending time with him in church or outside of it, as long as you dedicate time to him. Then, start off each and every day in prayer. As I said yesterday, it doesn’t have to be on your knees at the bedside (although that is awesome if you can do that!). Instead, pray when you get ready in the morning, or do your morning work out. Pray in the shower, or the car on the way to work. What is important here is the focus that you are giving your day. Invite him to be a part of your day and to walk with you all day long. He’s there anyway, but when you focus on Him being there your day has a totally different look to it.

Next, throughout the day as you have a free minute, as you use the facilities, or as you struggle, find time to seek God! He doesn’t have the answers people, He IS the answer! Doing this will help you build momentum through your day and week. You’ll find that you are more in tune to what God’s doing in your life, and what He has in store for you. I know that recently I’ve gone back to doing these things and the momentum is coming back to my life. I’ve learned over time to see it slipping earlier in the process than ever before. I’ve learned to put more logs on the fire if I want to keep an ongoing, lasting flame. I now do what I can to tend to the flame, do you?

Building Momentum

How often do you see a child run before they learn how to walk? Do most athletes get to be professionals without ever playing in high school? I know, most teens get their drivers license before they ever get a lesson, right? Then why do new Christians often think that they have to completely change everything in their lives the day they are saved?

I'm not saying that it's not a good idea to get rid of a lot of things from the old you, but I think that sometimes people try to get rid of everything so fast that they end up forgetting what drew them to Jesus in the first place. I think that people really need to see this as a process instead of an inhalation of their former self. When people make such drastic changes in their lives many find that they don't like who they've become ,and end up falling away from God all together.

God knows who you are, and who you are going to be. He knows that you are not perfect. In fact people, he made us this way. Yes, there are changes that you are going to find inside of yourself along the process, and many things that were in your past life will be gotten rid of in time. He has a plan for you in all of this and the transformation will take place in his time. For some that may be right this very minute, but my thinking is that it's step by step.

I know that it has taken me a long time to get to where I am now in my life. When I first became a Christian I still listened to the same music, watched the same TV shows, had some of the same friends, etc. It was over time that these things changed. I've found I don't want the sports magazine just because of the once a year swim suit magazine. I've found that I don't watch the same movies as many had a lot of language I don't need to hear, or sex I don't need to see. I lost a few friendships because our goals in life just didn't meat up any more. Yet, this all didn't happen all at one time - it was gradual. I also didn't have to get rid of everything that made me who I am, I just had to adjust some things. I'm still a big sports fan, that only changed in that I don't spend all my free time eating up all the sports knowledge I can get. I'm still a big music buff, I just changed the music's lyrics by changing to bands, singers, and groups that had God as the focus instead of sex, love, and rock and roll. Traci and I still enjoy watching TV and movies, we just don't have to watch the stuff that makes it seem like life is all about sin, greed, and stuff like that.

I know that some times it's been hard to give things up to God because they use to be so important to me, but I've realized that he's even more important than anything else in this world. It's not always easy, but that is why he's right there walking with you the entire process. It's also why he's filling your life with good things that in time you'll really learn to appreciate. Keep on fighting the fight, it's worth the struggle. Take the process one day at a time, stopping to smell those roses God planted along the way.

What Are You Chasing?

We make fun of animals that chase their tales. We enjoy infants who chase after their older siblings. We chase after the next promotion or pay raise at work. The question is, are you chasing the most important thing of all: Jesus!

Of the things that we follow in life, I know that I personally am more than willing to check in on my favorite sports teams and see how the game is going or what the score was if I missed it. I read the paper to make sure I'm following what is going on locally in politics, sales at the local stores, and local sports teams. Yet, I'm not quite as good at keeping up with the one thing that is most important, I'm not the best at daily reading the Bible.

A lot of people don't think that it's important, and I was one of those people for a long time. Yet, here I sit thinking that I need to do something in the word every day. Yes, I read a few devotions every day, and I try (and I mean try, as I hate reading more than you'll ever understand) reading a book focusing on him. Yet, I realize more and more every day that I don't know the Bible the way I should. How can I keep the enemy from getting a foot hold in my life without having the proper weapons to fight him off? The answer is, I cannot.

So, overall, what am I saying here? I'm saying that although I'm an Elder at the church I'm not perfect and don't do everything I should do every day. I will say this, the first step to taking care of that is figuring that out. I'm striving to get better and chase HIM on a daily basis. Yes, doing a devotion is a good start, and doing my book reading is good as well...but if I'm not fully involved in the word then I'm just taking the easy way out. So, are you chasing Him, or being like I was and not fulling preparing for today's battles? Let's work together in strengthening God's army by making ourselves better prepared warriors: Let's chase Him every day.

It's Time For A Resurrection!

Today's title is due to my love of the movie Leap of Faith. You gotta see that movie, it's pretty funny.

That is right, it's Easter this Sunday! I know that to many in the world, that means only one thing: The Easter Bunny!

As exciting as the funny bunny ,baskets filled with candy and gifts, and coloring Easter eggs can be, I wanted to make you aware that Mr. Bunny there isn't the reason we have Easter at all.

Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead for everyone one of us. He bridged the gap between us here on earth and our Heavenly Father. He knew that we were all sinners, and yet still was willing to do this for everyone one of us over eating, too much stuff buying, over tanned sinners! (Sorry Lep, had to do it - I'm jealous of the cruise man)

Now, the question for many parents is how do we teach that to our children? How do we show them what it means for Jesus to be placed in a tomb that was closed off to the world and him rise to be with His Father? One thing that we do with our kids is called Resurrection Rolls.



These are not only a great teaching illustration for your kids, but they taste pretty good as well. Now, I did the work for you, and found a web site that you can use to get the directions, which also has what all the parts represent, etc. You can find that here: http://www.dltk-kids.com/recipes/resurrection_rolls.htm. It's very cheap to make and doesn't take that much time either.

Now, I'm not saying this should be the only thing you do to celebrate Easter, but I am suggesting that if you have kids, this is a great teaching tool. Oh, and another great thing you can do with your family. Happy Easter, He Is Risen!

You Are Who You Are...right?

Have you ever thought about who you wanted to be before you became who you are?

I know, you are sitting there thinking that it's a strange question. But seriously, what did you want to be "before you grew up"? As a child you probably thought about being a police officer or firefighter, a princess or a doctor. Did any of that happen? I'm sure everyone thought to themself that they wanted to be a Christian, right? Did you even know that that meant way back then?

I'm here to tell you, that your heavently Father knew all along what you were going to be when you got all grown up. He knew the struggles that you'd face, the good and bad times that laid ahead, and that you'd sin "from time to time". Yet, through all that, he loved you when you were easy and difficult to love. Now I don't know about you, but for me that shows some major love. I also know that it's that love that draws me closer to him every day. Sure, there are days that I'm not perfect (ask Traci, she has a running list going I'm sure) but his love guides my life, and I pray that if you don't have the relationship with Jesus that I have found that you take the time and ask me. I'd love to talk to you about it, and maybe we can "grow up" together!