This evening I have been packing and getting prepared for my trip to San Diego. I'll be flying out early in the morning to spend the next few days with my brother, Kyle, who is going through Navy Seals BUDS training at Coronado. I'm really looking forward to seeing him and spending some time with him.

He has been training for the last several months since boot camp in Great Lakes, IL. I'm really proud of him for pursuing his dream. I really can't fathom the amount of dedication, both physically and mentally, it takes to even make it as long as he has. These guys are the best of the best and that's what he's striving to be. I have been praying for him and several of his buddies in his class. One of his good friends recently dropped and that has been tough, but it doesn't diminish Andrew's hard work and dedication. God has some great plans for that young man.

I'll get to spend the Saturday and Sunday with Kyle, we'll get to go to church together, and hopefully I'll get to hang out with him Monday evening after his training. I'll be flying back Tuesday evening. Monday I'll be checking out the city - something I'm very excited about since I haven't been to Cali since I was a kid. I hope I'm able to encourage him and be a blessing to him since he's fixing to get into some next level stuff.

As I was driving tonight I spoke to a good friend of mine in Fayetteville. He has been going through a trial of his own. His wife was diagnosed with cancer a couple of months ago. She had surgery and has been going through chemo. They have a little boy, and I'm constantly encouraged by their strength and faith in God. I love to see people who exhibit real, active, living faith. Their very lives are testimonies to how Christ's disciples are to live.

In the midst of that, today was very busy. I took my dad to the V.A. hospital in Fayetteville this morning. He was having surgery on his foot from an injury he suffered in Sarajevo a few years ago during a tour of duty with the Army. He came through it well. I got to visit with a friend of mine that I grew up with, and whom I haven't seen in probably ten years. He is a pharmacist at the hospital and it is always neat catching up with old friends. On the drive back home I recounted with my dad some of the ways God has brought him through some life-threatening situations. He was a Marine in Vietnam and at one point was spared from serving as a door gunner. The man who was called on to go in his place was killed three days later. My dad was in Danang in 1968 and 1969. He is also a veteran of Desert Storm and the Gulf War. At one point about 11 years ago he survived a blackhawk helicopter crash. God has certainly been good to him.

Lastly, I spent some time in prayer with one of my closest friends. Satan is trying to attack him spiritually and emotionally. I am learning that some of the most severe spiritual attacks can come through people, even people in ministry. I love this man's resilience, his perseverance, his commitment, and personal sacrifice. To see Satan at work in this way is very familiar, but we won't let him get the victory. Our God is stronger. I loved a quote I heard yesterday: "When Satan reminds you of your past, remind him of his future." We are more than conquerors my friends. Life is hard for many on different fronts, but God is always faithful towards us. Our God is long-suffering towards us and He has some incredible plans for us. Don't lose faith! God bless you in whatever your current battle is!!

Not in the least to vaunt what I am doing, but the last few days have been devoted to fasting. I will be the first to admit that fasting has never been anything that I have heard discussed or preached upon from the pulpit. In fact, several years ago when I was really growing in Scripture study my pastor really denied the significance of fasting.

I have often been curious about fasting. Why in the world do that? Don't people need to eat in order to gain strength? I brushed the practice off to one of those biblical ideals that people just don't do anymore. Sure, Jesus did it for 40 days in the wilderness, but come on, He's Jesus! People just don't do that sort of thing in our culture today, do they? Well, that's what I thought as a teenager and well into my twenties.

Today, I am realizing more and more the physical, emotional, and spiritual benefits of fasting. I just finished a book by Dr. Don Colbert entitled "Fasting Made Easy". Certainly the title does not minimize the effects of fasting on the body, but it gives guidelines to different types of fasts, as well as many of the medical and health benefits of partaking in a fast.

The purpose of this fast has been a renewed desire in our church to partake in a communal, corporate 3-day fast in order to seek God. We have desired to seek God's face and not His hand in this fast, meaning we desire not to fast in order to receive something or ask of God, but rather to simply be in His presence. The blessings that stem from closer communion and fellowship will be immense.

In the next few blogs I hope to outline some additional information on fasting. In the meantime I will continue to withhold from eating. My flesh is strong and it desires food. Sometimes it is necessary to practice mastery over our bodies in certain areas. Unfortunately for me, many of my conversations and social interactions revolve around food. I need to manage what I do. In addition to that I believe the fasting will help my body heal from the sickness and fatigue I have been going through in recent weeks.

Personally, the last couple of days have been very difficult at times. I know that I need to replenish my stomach's cravings with spiritual fulfillment (prayer, Bible study, listening to worship music, or visiting others). I am striving to maintain a diet of fruit juice, herbal teas, and water. I am also praying for the many people who have much more strenuous jobs than I do that are participating in this fast. I believe spiritual breakthroughs, answered prayers, healing, guidance, growth, and godly wisdom for us all will ensue.

David Nasser has a recommended book list on his site D.NasserOutreach.


A Violent Grace by Michael Card
All of Grace by C.H. Spurgeon
Desiring God by John Piper
Fields of the Fatherless by C. Thomas Davis
Finding Peace for Your Heart by Stormie Omartian
Free At Last by Tony Evans
From Orphans to Heirs by Mark Stibble
Future Grace by John Piper
A Godward Life 1 & 2 by John Piper
Grace Amazing by Steve McVey
Hell's Best Kept Secret by Ray Comfort
Kingdom Authority by Dr. Adrian Rogers
Knowing God by J.I. Packer
Let the Nations Be Glad by John Piper
Lifetime Guarantee by Bill Gillham
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
My Hearts Desire by David Jeremiah
Putting Amazing Back Into Grace by Michael Horton
Saved From What by R.C. Sproul
Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem
The Grace and Truth Paradox by Randy Alcorn
The Grace Awakening by Charles Swindoll
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren
The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
The Sovereignty of God by A.W. Pink
The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn
Wisdom Hunter by Randall Arthur

Plagiarism: pla⋅gia⋅rism -–noun
1. the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work.
2. something used and represented in this manner. (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/plagiarism)

I wouldn't even begin to lie and say I haven't cheated on a test or on school work before. I have. I wouldn't dare be so arrogant as to say I hadn't cut corners in a race in track when I was in school. I have. I wouldn't ever say I haven't stolen ideas to get a competitive advantage, used someone else's words as my own, or quoted from a literary work without giving due credit. I have done all of those things.

Why? I like to be seen as creative. We all want to be seen as creative and innovative. It makes us look good and feel good about ourselves.

The thing is, I have grown up a lot. I'm not so blinded by a greedy desire to be seen as the best that I just steal and claim it as my own. That is actually a pretty despicable thing to do. I read a quote today that said: "Being sorry is the highest act of selfishness, seeing value only after discarding it" Douglas Horton (I took that from Jamey Lynne's facebook page by the way). There's a lot of truth to that statement. Most people are only sorry after they get caught. They may truly be remorseful (aka, seeing the value in what they did as wrong after the fact) or they may just be upset and embarrassed that they got caught.

I think this hits home when you really work hard at being creative and innovative and someone steals your idea as their own. This has happened a lot to me in the last 7 or 8 years. Now, I'm not saying I'm some kind of genius or creative guru, but I take a lot of happiness in knowing that God has blessed me with a mind that doesn't think, well, normally. haha

I have ideas, dreams, creativity all flowing through my head. I used to have a hard time focusing because I would get side-tracked by new thoughts. I love the fact that I don't have to steal someone else's thunder to feel good about myself. God gives each of us different abilities and gifts. One of mine has always been thinking differently and using my imagination.

Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 1:9, "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." Ideas, performances, strategies, and the like have probably been done at some point in the past (or at least thought by someone). We constantly do what others have done, most of the time unknowingly. There's nothing wrong with that either.

Steve Jobs said, "Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower." Likewise, George Bernard Shaw said, “Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will.” One of my favorite quotes is by John Piper, who said, "Imagination may be the hardest work of the human mind. And perhaps the most God-like. It is the closest we get to creation out of nothing."

For some people creativity is impossible, therefore they go around taking other people's inventions, words, stories, and ideas. That is stealing, especially and undeniably when you fail to give the proper source credit. When people find out that you've been making a living off of other people's ideas, they usually don't think much of you (therefore your run is short-lived), and with the internet discovering this is much easier.

My point in writing this blog today was originally to blow off some steam from getting angry. This morning I found out that someone has taken a few of my ideas and hard work in planning and claimed them as their own. They aren't the least bit remorseful about it either. What could I do? Well, I could have a face-to-face confrontation with the person, take the matter to their superior, or I could take myself out of the situation and distance myself and my ideas from that person. I will do the latter, as well as pray for them. God has already relieved me of my anger. Oh yeah, I'll also try to live by what Albert Einstein ruminated some years ago, “The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.” :)

Since I'm sick and at home for the next week or two I've been watching a lot of t.v. Well, a lot more than I want to. Anyway I was watching the History Channel and caught the show "Decoding the Past - Cults: Dangerous Devotion". It is frighteningly amazing what people will do and to whom they will devote their whole-hearted allegiance.

I had heard of several of the cult leaders, men such as Charles Manson, Jim Jones, and Vernon Howell (aka David Koresh). But one I hadn't heard of was a twisted pedophile named Paul Schaefer. He, like the rest, had similar plans of a socialist paradise or purity or apocalyptic fulfillment, yet each one's ultimate obsession led to madness and murder. The cult leaders seemed to have a God-complex and almost all of those the show portrayed derived their need for power by sexually molesting or raping young children.

One survivor of the Mount Carmel incident associated with David Koresh said he knew of the sexual escapades of Koresh with children (many as young as 12 or 13). He said that the whole compound so believed Koresh was the Lamb of God that they didn't bother questioning his authority or decision-making.

Similarly, the German Schaefer set up a Lutheran evangelical ministry and a children's orphanage in Germany in 1959. The children's home was merely a front for his horrendous molestation, and consequent conviction, of some of the children there. This caused Schaefer to flee to Chile, but remarkably many of his followers followed him there, where they established an agricultural commune called the Colonia Dignidad ("Dignity Colony"). Unbelievably he had a children's hospital built there as well. His followers blindly followed Schaefer and revered him as a god. This monster spent years molesting young children and performing scientific tests/torture on people, especially children (all in the name of God - ha).

What leads people, sometimes very good, and maybe naive, people to follow a person to the ends of the earth? I just don't see it, but I realize that I've been taught from very early on to ask questions and not trust everyone. I am appalled at the sickness, brainwashing, sexual atrocities, and blind loyalty to carry out tortures and murders. So much of this nonsense is done "for" or "in the name of" God. It couldn't be further from the truth.

People need to teach their children to run from the very appearance of evil. It might sound cliche to some to teach their children the Bible, but honestly if all of the people involved in all of the cults ever formed had truly read the Bible for themselves they would have seen and remembered such scriptures as:

Galatians 1:6-10, "I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to Himself through the loving mercy of Christ. You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ.
Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you. I say again what we have said before: If anyone preaches any other Good News than the one you welcomed, let that person be cursed.
Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant."

or

2 Peter 1:20-21, "Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God."

or

Ephesians 2:8-9, "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast."

There are a lot of scriptures on this. I am quitting there. The Bible is Truth, absolute truth. I don't downplay that belief. I'm not brainwashed. I believe it to be non-fiction, historically accurate, inspired, relevant, spiritually motivating, and most of all God's Word. I have questioned it - I don't accept that blindly, yet I also believe by faith. The pity is upon those who misuse, misrepresent, or never even bother to read the Bible before they juxtapose THEIR beliefs upon it.

Careful to those who are weak-minded and naive; for you will be played upon. Strengthen yourselves and be alert!

Can we be real? People seriously act like God is bad, but the real reason they do is because there are so many clowns running around calling themselves by His holy name. Listen, it's not funny!!! We can't continue to take Christ for granted. Stop mocking Christ.
All God wanted was for us to be loved. He wants to endow us with grace and joy and boldness. He wants to save us. From what? From our paths of destruction that we are running down, from our addictions, our diseases, our pollution, our hatred, our political jockeying, our envy, our self-deficiencies, our self-sufficiencies, our myopic visions, and especially from hell. Hell is eternal and it is BIG. It's not a trivial issue that we can perpetually procrastinate from dealing with. What if your life was demanded of you right NOW? Where would you spend eternity?
Now, what if your life continues to go on? Don't you want it to be better than it has been up to this point? I do! I experienced this several years ago. My joy is growing, my hope is bigger than it ever was, I feel loved and accepted, and I have faith that God is with me - ALWAYS!
Won't you believe? All God wants to do is give - and it does take a sacrifice to accept what He gives, but it's worth it, totally!

World Vision really is a great organization. Upon my recent return from northern India, I was convicted by a book that I read called "The Hole In Our Gospel". Richard Stearns, the president of World Vision wrote the book. He really challenges people to take an active approach to our faith.

I realize now, more than ever, that social activism is incredibly important if we are going to alter our world. It's truly a hands-on approach, but it worked to bring about the 3rd great awakening in America through men such as D.L. Moody. And, when you stop and think about those today who are making the biggest waves in helping you realize they are doing it through social interaction, relief efforts, and volunteerism.

Why is this I wondered? Well, people honestly don't care how much you know (especially about the Gospel or God) until they know how much you care about them. Our platform is really relational.

With that said, I recently decided to sponsor a child through W.V. The boy's name is Pavan and he is 6-years old.


Another amazing thing that World Vision is doing is it's relief effort in Haiti. Here's a video to give everyone a glimpse into what's going on (and on-going):

37 Who is there who speaks and it happens,
unless the Lord has ordained [it]?

38 Do not both adversity and good
come from the mouth of the Most High?

39 Why should [any] living person complain,
[any] man, because of the punishment for his sins?

Nothing comes to pass in the world, but by the disposal of divine providence.

Some time I know I will be asked to prove what I always say, namely, "God is in control!" If I truly believe it, at that moment I must prove it; I must enact faith. I believe that God has a very real purpose for our lives - whether through our living or through our dying. Either way, the Lord has ordained it, right? Our life has been designed to glorify God. We don't often think that our lives will be of much use to God if we cease to exist, but think about the martyrs and how their legacy has persisted. Their bodies may have returned to the dust, but their spirit persists. I want my life, as short as it may be, to change the lives of others for God's glory - be that walking upon the earth, or laying within it (at which point I will be in the presence of the Almighty). Life is too short to waste!

After all, to live is Christ, but to die is gain...

You know you hear a lot about Zacchaeus being a bad guy in the Bible. But from what I understand he was really a petite little man. If people hated him so much, why didn't they just punt him when he came to the door? I mean I know plenty of guys with "short man's complex", but none, ahh, except for one really ever came to my door.

This is also the first time, to my knowledge, that an LP is mentioned in Scriptures. Also, did they even have Sycamore trees in that part of the world? Hmm?

We humans are distinguished in many ways, but it is not the peculiarities that make us so attractive to God as it is our common likeness to His Son.

Don't be fooled about your sphere of influence. People take notice when you act like Jesus. Take, for instance, Peter and John in Acts 4:13-20, "When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. "What are we going to do with these men?" they asked. "Everybody living in Jerusalem knows they have done an outstanding miracle, and we cannot deny it. But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn these men to speak no longer to anyone in this name."

Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.""

Standing with Jesus may make you a minority, but it makes you stronger than the majority as well! God bless you today as you stand apart and shine as a light in a dark place.

Authors Phillip Jensen and Tony Payne wrote a book entitled "Guidance and the Voice of God". In it they present the idea that God speaks clearly and forcefully into the world we live. One of the reasons God speaks in such a way is so that we may know His will for our lives.

Personally, knowing and understanding God's will for my life is difficult at times. I tend to take a traditional approach, one that says: God has a specific ideal blueprint for every person’s life which that person may either discern and follow or deviate from and therefore miss God’s ideal plan for his life. If that happens, of course, God has another plan waiting in the wings, but it will not be His “first-choice” and therefore not as fruitful or as fulfilling.

First, let me say how a traditional approach to God's will is usually discerned. God, of course, wants us to know His will, but the normal way of finding it is through reading a combination of signs, both internal and external. Those signs are the Bible, an inner Witness, personal desires, circumstances, mature counsel, and common sense. When a decision needs to be made, the Christian is to look at all of those “road signs” and determine from them what is God’s unique, ideal will for that person in that particular situation.

I am coming to the conclusion that I may be going about trying to determine God's will for my life all wrong! God's Word is our all-sufficient rule for faith and practice, right? (I know so). However, where do I draw the line about God's will? Is it only for really important decisions that I will allow Him to tell me what to do, or should I allow Him to make every choice for me (the 'all-sufficient' part)?

Is God really concerned with mundane matters such as what vehicle I decide to buy, what I eat for dinner that evening (yes, I know there were Levitical laws in the OT), or what I wear that day? Is he concerned with what mattress I buy or what sport's team I root for? (I don't think so). My point is this: what qualifies as a decision important enough to seek God's will on? Who even determines that - me or God?

You see, we go about setting in place what we deem important (and some things rightfully so) such as what church to attend, where to work/live, whom to marry (if we are to marry at all), or where we should attend college. Those are important decisions, but in the grand scheme of things God is more concerned about something else, something much more grandeur. Greg Gilbert, reviewer for IX Marks says it succinctly:

"If you want to have a right understanding of God’s guidance, you must understand that God’s will about which job you hold down for the next fifty years pales in comparison with His determination to present you spotless and blameless before Christ on the last day. In fact, everything else is simply a handmaid to that one great aim. Whether and who you marry, what job you have, which church you attend - all these are simply tools in God’s hand to fashion you into a pure and spotless member of the body of Christ. Not only that, but we know that God will accomplish that purpose."

So what are we to do? Do we try to read the 'road signs' from God, spend hours in prayer, and then seek godly counsel on whether to wear the black polo shirt or the blue one? No, not unless you are crazy. Instead, God has given us free-will and the capacity for intelligence for a reason - namely, so that we can make wise decisions on our own. Yet those wise decisions will seek Him continuously in life's pursuit. We fret and worry and boggle our brains wanting to do exactly what God wants when sometimes He just wants us to live and love like Christ. We can live and love like Christ in a large number of ways - the method is not as important as the action!

But, one thing I still wonder is if I would be the same person I am now had I not made the same decisions I did in the past. What if I chose to take that scholarship to the University immediately instead of going to the community college? If I hadn't done that I wouldn't have met the girl I dated throughout college. If I hadn't met her I might have made some big mistakes and not grown into the person I am now. Had I not grown into the person I am now I wouldn't have the life experience I do now. So on and so on...

Well, the decisions we make do influence who we become. They are good teachers. They help us to avoid previous pitfalls and to survey the landscape ahead in order to determine the better course of action. Were the bad decisions part of God's will? I don't necessarily think so, but nonetheless He saw us through them and continued to guide us on in His sovereignty. We can't dwell in the past - no matter how intriguing it might be to think what we could have been or might have done differently. We live now! In this moment we are living. We don't live in the past, just as surely as we don't live in the future. Now may be determined by our past and the future may be determined by our now, but what is most important is that we are making godly decisions based on all the tools God has provided at the current moment!

Gilbert says, "God does in fact guide His people, and that He is leading them all to one great end—righteousness and subjection to Christ at the Last Day." On top of that, God is sovereign and He is the Great Shepherd. A shepherd guides his sheep - and truly God IS guiding us! Gilbert continues, "By directing the events of our lives, prodding us with his shepherd’s staff, arranging circumstances, He will finally bring us to the place He wants us to be. Our God is not one who is limited by our mistakes. When we look back over our lives, we can know that for whatever reason (Romans 8 says it is always ultimately for our good!), God planned that our lives should work out precisely as they did. He doesn’t make mistakes; He doesn’t use a “second best” or third best, or thousandth best. We know from the Bible what our destination is—union with Christ, and we know that God is working and moving to take us there. Not only that, but we can be fully confident that all the circumstances of our lives were divinely orchestrated to the end of finally bringing us to that destination."

I hope to make it clear that I am not persuaded that we are robots by any means. I do not hold to the theology of hyper-calvinism that declares unrelenting predestination or foreordination. I do believe that God is in complete control, however. He has already finished human history - He has already defeated Satan and He has described exactly how it occurs. We are in the midst of His story right now. It's all about Him anyway!

Quite simply, in summary to this post, we can know God's will for our lives. His will is of the utmost importance. However, sometimes it is not completely visible how He performs His will until we look back on our lives from a distance. God uses all sorts of means to guide us - primarily His Word, the Holy Spirit, prayer, godly counsel, people, and even circumstances. According to Hebrews 1, God has in these last days spoken to us through His Son. Through Christ, God has revealed himself and his great plan of salvation. He has also inspired the Scriptures, and it is to those Scriptures that we should look for guidance. Concerning questions of guidance, we must be sure that we are asking God the right questions when we seek Him to reveal His will. What are the right questions? Well, a hint is that they center around kingdom purposes for our lives more than selfish desires for ourselves.

Finally, one of my dilemmas in life to which I have been seeking God's will is whom to marry. I'm ready for a relationship, I have the desire to love a woman for the rest of my life, and I want a family. I could spend my whole life fretting over who the right girl is, naively believing that there is only one right choice in all of God's creation. OR, I could understand that there may be several girls that I could choose from that would be excellent, godly life partners. The Bible makes it clear that God wants me to marry someone that is a Christian, who is not already married, and who is of the opposite sex. Additionally He wants me to love that woman like Christ loves the church. Within those parameters, I can assume that God would allow me to marry anyone I please. So, I am coming to realize (slow as I may be) that if my life and decision is conformed to the guidelines laid out in the Scriptures, I cannot make a sinful or wrong decision. Anything within those guidelines is good and right.

Jensen says, "We are terribly concerned about choosing between Druscilla and Mary-Lou. We think the success of our whole married life will depend on the right choice, and we agonize over it. However, God’s priority is for us to be godly, whether we are single or married, and whether we marry Druscilla or Mary-Lou" (85-86).

I have found that laughter truly is the soul's best medicine, well that and the encouragement offered by the Lord, prayer, waiting on Him, friends that love you, the support of those whom you've met in your journey along the way, and even a momma.

Smack dab in the middle of a week that could have easily brought tears, resentment, anger, and the like God has made a way. He has a knack for making a way when there seems to be no way. I love it that we have an adventurous God. I also love the fact that God has a sense of humor.

Therefore, this post is about a journey and about humor.

Some might think that a person in the midst of a trial like this that laughs is crazy, or at least a little off. Well, I'm not. Not off course, off track, or even off in the head (yeah, debatable right? haha). I am along for the ride. It's bumpy, it's full of potholes, it has archers firing arrows of mistrust, lies, and even hatred. Fortunately, they can't hit a target cloaked in God. Besides, even if they did they couldn't penetrate the armor He has arrayed me in. It is not only functional, it is dazzling in appearance. It really does set me apart.

Back to the post! I have had a couple of nights of sheer enjoyment recently. It's really nice to have those after long days of stress, heartache, and pain. Wow! You know this has all the makings for an incredible story. There's friendship, deceit, villains, heros, martyrs, strength being discovered in weakness, foreshadowing, adventure, disloyalty, and discovery. There are several other elements, but those should not be revealed except to those that care about the story. The story, by the way, that God is currently penning, aka my life.

I'm definitely intrigued to see how this all plays out!

What is around the next corner? What lurks in the shadows? Will our main character fall victim or will he be revived? Is he even the main character in this tale? What will he discover and what type of man might he become? There is certainly more to come...

The humorous part isn't really funny at the moment it occurs. Instead, it become funny in retrospect. It is, nonetheless, laughable. Can a man laugh at himself and the folly of those who really think they carry out their own plans to fruition? God is not mocked. Nope, not one bit! Rather, He is in complete control. To those whom passionately and continuously lust for position and greed, He gives them over to those devices. To those foul characters there is no justice too swift. Yet, to those showing themselves faithful to His Majesty, there is an eternal reward.

I have discovered many along the way deserving of such reward. Not that I deem them to be rightful heirs. No. They themselves have truly submitted their allegiance to an unseen, yet unavoidable King. They prove their kinship to Him with every note, text, email, phone call, card, conversation, and deed. Their very actions speak as their personal witness to godliness.

The unseen King looks on with an out-of-this-world smile of approval. These faithful few are in for a treat. They have been loyal, authentic, and trustworthy. They see through fiery plans designed to thwart the kingdom's progression. They even, dare I say it, mount up and help put out the fires so that destruction is minimized. For some, they do receive injury. Minor as these may be, they know that risking it all for the sake of another is more noble and righteous than sitting still and letting havoc be wreaked upon some. One is more valuable to these faithful few than ninety-nine.

Why you might ask? Because the King has sent His Spirit to indwell the righteous. He has accepted them. Why not, after all? These are the ones that know His Son. Years before they were even born, the King's Son was alive and well. First in another kingdom far away. Later He came to the current kingdom that these peasants call home. The most meager and meek of the kingdom's inhabitants found the truest meaning to their lives. It was not a daily progression of work and toil, nor was it even raising and admonishing a family. The pursuit was much more noble. It was to accept the King's Son.

You see, the King's Son came and lived among the people. He taught them the ways of His Father, the King. He showed them how to love, how to find peace amongst the many wars that emblazoned about them, how to know truth, where to go for forgiveness for their misdeeds and trespasses, and how to possess the kingdom forever. The King's Son was wise. And why wouldn't He be? He was of His Father, after all.

The King came to the appropriate time in His life when He knew that He must do something to save His people. He knew that the only way to ensure victory was to send His valiant Son to a battle that would most likely cost Him His life. The Father, without hesitation, sent this Prince off to bring peace and overwhelming victory. The Son fought. The Son then died in the ensuing battle. Yet, His death, which seemed lost on the people He went forth for, ceased the evil that prevailed in the kingdom. It did not cease all evil, but it did set in motion the battle plan for victory over evil that still floundered about. For all of those that looked upon the King's Son and called on His name, salvation was theirs. They could trust in the King and believe that what His Son did for them would give them new hope, new life, even a new Spirit. To those that accepted the Son's vicarious death, the King called them His own. They became children of the most high Lord.

At the very moment that the inhabitants of the land received this special anointing, they were overwhelmed by the very Spirit of the King. They were given full rights as heirs to the kingdom and set apart for new and glorious purposes. They were cleansed from all their former uncleanness and promised future blessings in the kingdom that would exist forevermore.

It seems strange, at this juncture in the story, that all men would not readily line up for such admonition. Sadly, the majority did not accept the King's Son, nor His ransomed life. They thought, and to this day think, that they are strong enough to find this kingdom on their own. Many have tried, but every single one that sought the King's kingdom on their own failed. No one has ever made it to the King apart from accepting what His Son did for them that fateful day.

But many have found the kingdom. They dwell there even now. They have left legacies and testimonies that proclaim of its greatness and how to find the way. The King even penned an epic journal of His plan - past, present, and future. He had his most noble and forthright men and women pen the book. In it he proclaimed how the foundations were laid out, how the men and women came into being, how the Son would come and offer His life as a sacrifice, how to live daily in a manner that pleased the King, and how to make the kingdom available to all.

I am a witness to the power and magnificence of the King's transforming power. I never spent a day in the physical presence of the King's Son, yet I believed what the King said. Because of my belief I was given a new chance at a life I had previously squandered. I was marked as one of the King's sons. I even gained entrance into the most majestic and breathtaking kingdom anyone has ever known.

To those of you whom might not believe me, or the incredible numbers of those who have also found the brilliance of this kingdom, I invite you to believe. It is not a fairy tale. It is as real as each of us. It is as real as the King's precious Son. He lived. He died. But the most wonderful part is that the King's Son was raised from the dead and took up His post as ruler of the kingdom. He is alive today - not visible, or even approachable from where we live, but He will be one day. He is calling with a resounding voice, "Come to me my child. Come and experience the fulness of life that you have always longed for. Believe in Me. Accept Me. Find hope in the hopelessness of life. Find peace in the midst of struggles. Join Me in a kingdom, expansive, exquisite, and eternal. For in Me there is life and true love."

If it sounds too good to be true, it most certainly is not. It is good and true. Call on God's Son Jesus Christ and you will be saved (Romans 10:13). Admit that you have sinned (fallen short of the King's glory), believe in the King's Son (Jesus), and call upon His name. Say, "Oh Lord, I believe. Save me. Change me. Allow me to be a part of Your kingdom forever and ever." Once you have done this, you receive the King's Spirit. He will be your loyal Guide and Counselor along the way. Never lose hope. Read the King's book (the Bible), for in it all manner of life is described. Find others who believe and join them in offering your lives as a daily sacrifice to the King. Worship and live for Him. Tell as many as you can how to find the great treasure you have found in Him. Speak boldly about the blessings you have received. Encourage and love with great hope and an eager faithfulness for the kingdom in which the King exists immortal and eternal. Wow! It's yours and mine!

"It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons." - Hebrews 12:7 - 8

I would have been a better behaved kid if I could have been a parent first.

Kids just don't understand what parents try to do for them. If you're a parent, don't you wish that your kids could see that every action that you take towards them, even imperfectly, is out of love? But they don't always get that.

When I was an adolescent, I remember thinking my parents were so confused. Then I grew up and, as Mark Twain mused, I was amazed at how much they had learned.

I thought it was hard when I had to discipline my kids when they were young. Little kids are a quite a handful. When your kids get older and you must let them experience the consequences of their choices, they become quite a "heartful." Especially when you can't step in and keep the pain from happening. You have to watch them suffer the cost of their decisions. For sure, "heartful" is harder than handful.

How is it with you today? Are you in a difficult circumstance as a discipline from your loving Father? Do you feel His sadness that it had to come to this in order for you to learn? I don't want to get older and still be an adolescent Christian. I want to grow up in the Lord and trust my heavenly Father even when I don't understand what He's doing. I want to believe that the Lord is way smarter than me. He gets it. His discipline is for my good.

Hebrews 12:7-8 tells the good but hard truth: “It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.” Your Father loves you. Everything He allows is for your growth and good. He sees the long picture, even when you can’t. I wonder how I make God’s heart sad when I don’t understand that He lovingly draws near to me even in times of learning (See Psalm 34:18).

--James MacDonald

"I want to introduce a new sociological category: failers. That is, people who fail on a regular basis. People like me. I am a lay pastor of a small, not growing church. I am not ordained. I am not seminary trained. I was asked to leave both bible colleges I attended. I am divorced and remarried. On any given day I am capable of being a jerk with my wife and family. I am terminally insecure...At times people irritate me, and I hide from them. I am impulsive, which causes me to say things I shouldn't and make promises I cannot keep. I am inconsistent.

"My walk with Christ is a staggering, stumbling, bungling attempt to follow Him. At times His presence is so real I can't stop the tears, and then, without warning, I can't find Him. Some days my faith is strong, impenetrable, immovable, and some days my faith is weak, pathetic, helpless, knocked about like a paper cup floating on the ocean in the middle of a hurricane. I have been a Christian for 45 years...But I am still a mess. I am light years away from being able to say with Paul, 'copy me.' I am 56 years old and still struggle, a flawed clumsy, unstable follower of Jesus and a bona fide failer. That bothers a lot of people...Some have abandoned me...Not Jesus. He refuses to give up on me. Sometimes late at night when I'm about to give up and go to sleep, I know I have heard Him weeping for me.

"You see, Jesus has a fatal flaw: He can't stay away from failures. He is a friend of failers, a lover of failers. Everyone else has given up, He seeks them out - the woman who failed at five marriages; the blind man by the pool, who had failed to get his timing down for 38 years in a row...the disciple who failed at following; the thief who failed at keeping the law; the adulterous woman who failed at moral purity; the doubting disciples who failed to believe.

"In Luke 14:15-24, Jesus told a parable about failures. A wealthy man prepared a party for his successful friends. When the day of the party arrived, all of his 'friends' decided they
couldn't come. So the host told his servants, 'go out and invite all the losers you can find - the drunks, the prostitutes, the homeless, the lame.' The host threw a party for all the failers. Jesus was defining his church. He was making it very clear that the church is more than a safe place for losers; its membership is made up of losers, failures like you and me.

"Why is it, then, that so many Christians don't like failers very much, unless they are reformed long-ago failers? Ex-failers. Practicing failers seem to be an embarrassment to today's upwardly mobile Christianity. I don't understand why. As Henry Nouwen points out, Christians have always been downwardly mobile. We're unified by our common weaknesses, our common failures, our common disappointments, our common disillusionment, our common inconsistencies. It is 'while we were yet sinners - Romans 5:8 - that Jesus is attracted to us. It is our common failure that makes us desperate enough to look, finally, to the cross, to the body of Jesus, whose blood flows and mingles with ours and graces us with His forgiveness. That is why I love Jesus so much. But He was so irresponsible with grace, so indiscriminate and reckless with forgiveness.

"In contrast, modern Christianity is so responsible with grace. It is almost as though Christ's church is afraid to squander grace, as though it were a limited resource that must be protected and dispensed cautiously. The Grace Dispensers worry that grace might be wasted or misused. Sure, go-ahead, the church can forgive one divorce, maybe two, but five? OK, Christians can forgive adultery, but...uh...we can't have sinners running wild in our churches can we?

"...Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?...You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love."(Rom. 6:1,2; Gal. 5:13)

+Dangerous Wonder by Michael Yaconelli

taken from: http://epistle.us/articles/reckless.html

17 For the Lord your God is living among you.
He is a mighty savior.
He will take delight in you with gladness.
With his love, he will calm all your fears.
He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”

This is one of the many verses of encouragement offered to me over the course of Thanksgiving break from one of my students, Shelby. This verse speaks of God's renewing love. It is amazing! I am blessed!

12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.

16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. 17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.

One of Satan's weapons against the believer is accusation. Satan is known in the Bible as the accuser of the brethren:
"Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens,

“It has come at last—
salvation and power
and the Kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Christ.
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters
has been thrown down to earth—
the one who accuses them
before our God day and night" - Revelation 12:10

Satan is not happy when he merely tempts us or even leads us into sin. You would think he would be satisfied with our mistake and then leave us to suffer the consequences. However, Satan isn't satisfied until a believer who has committed sin or made a mistake is soundly whipped. Satan stands like a prosecutor before God, the almighty Judge, and heaps evidence of our guilt and wrongdoing before God. (As if God did not already know what was occurring!) The almost childish behavior of tattle-telling on someone is evident. Whatever foothold Satan can grasp for against us he will use. His protest to God is that we should be judged and punished.

Warren Wiersbe says, "When you and I have disobeyed God, Satan moves in for that finishing stroke. He attacks us in our heart and conscience. "So you are a Christian?" he sneers. "You are not a very good Christian! You go to church, read your Bible, you even seek to serve the Lord. And look what you have done! If your friends at church knew what kind of a person you really were, they would throw you out!

See how subtle and merciless Satan really is. Before we sin - while he is tempting us - he whispers, "You can get away with this!" Then after we sin, he shouts at us, "You will never get away with this!""

In talking to us about God, Satan always lies, but when Satan talks to God about us he usually tells the truth. Why? Because he knows our situation of being redeemed yet living in the flesh. He knows that we are prone to mistakes. If Satan has accused men like Abraham, David, Elijah, Peter, and others (as he has done with every biblical figure), he will accuse us as well.

This is why it is important to learn to distinguish between Satan's accusations and the Holy Spirit's conviction. If it comes from the Spirit of God, feelings of guilt and shame can be a good thing. However, coming from the devil, these feelings (especially when you dwell on them and are haunted by their recurrence) will only lead to regret, remorse, and defeat.

When the Holy Spirit convicts you, He uses the Word of God in love and seeks to bring you back into fellowship with God. When Satan accuses you, he uses your own sins in a hateful way, and he seeks to make you feel helpless and hopeless. When you listen to the devil's accusations (all of which may be true), you open yourself up to despair and spiritual paralysis. The helpless, hopeless, guilt-heaping, no way out feeling is most assuredly a sign of Satan at work. See, Satan wants you to feel guilty and experience regret and remorse, but NOT repentance. He wants to keep accusing you so that you focus your attention on yourself and your sins. Once this happens, you move your focus from Christ.

On the other hand, true conviction from the Holy Spirit will move you closer to the Lord. In looking by faith to Jesus Christ, you will repent, confess your sins, and find cleansing and restoration of fellowship. As a body of believers, we are not called to assist Satan in his work of heaping guilt or making judgment. We are to stand on the side of Christ, our Advocate, who has shown us mercy and forgiveness and love.

1 John 2:1, "My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous."
Hebrews 13:20-21, "Now may the God of peace - who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with His blood - may He equip you with all you need for doing His will. May He produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to Him. All glory to Him forever and ever! Amen."
1 John 1:9, "But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

See, the God that I serve - the God of the Bible - He has a perfecting, refining ministry. He is my High Priest, and as such Jesus Christ provides the grace necessary when I am tempted and tested. Yes, I still make mistakes because I am a redeemed man living in the flesh amongst fallen creation, but I don't want to sin or fall short of God's commandments. Nevertheless, if I turn to Him by faith, He will see me through to victory. Even when I give in to temptation and sin, He still ministers to me as my Advocate. He forgives and restores me to fellowship once again.

God does not defend His children's sins - He defends His children. He forgives their sins!

Born and raised in Jackson, Miss., Owens was discovering melodies on the piano almost before she could complete a sentence. Sunday school songs and common childhood tunes began to emerge from her fingers even as vision began to leave her eyes. By the age of three, a degenerative eye condition left Ginny completely blind.

Despite her physical challenge, music just made sense to her, quickly becoming a lifeline for both understanding and communication. Songs provided a window into a world Ginny couldn’t see, but they also offered an outlet for her to express her own thoughts, dreams and questions.

“My songs are my journal entries,” Owens said. “Sometimes they’re simply my observations of the world around me; sometimes they’re the conversations that I’m neither brave nor articulate enough to have with others.”

In the mid-‘90s Owens moved from Mississippi to Nashville to attend Belmont University where she majored in music education. However, upon graduation, she discovered potential employers were reticent to hire a blind teacher. Of course, what’s the old saying? When one door closes, a window opens?

The window that opened for Ginny Owens brought refreshing winds of change, a career not as a music teacher but as an artist. She was discovered by a Nashville label and signed to recording and publishing deals. Since her debut album release, Without Condition in 1999, Owens has sold nearly a million records and performed more than 1,500 concerts, including sets at prestigious events like Lilith Fair, the Sundance Film Festival and the White House. Garnering honors such as the Dove awards for New Artist of the Year in 2000 and Inspirational Song of the Year in 2001, Owens’ music has found its way to the top of the radio charts and into scenes in television shows.

“I’ve always felt strongly about not wasting words in songs, but I feel it even more now than ever…I realize that I don’t make the ultimate decision about what people take away from my music. However, my prayer is that they always hear hope. It is so easy for each of us to imagine we have no specific purpose for being here. I want people to look at me and my music and realize that this couldn’t be further from the truth. I believe God intends for each of our lives to be filled with meaning and purpose, and my desire is to communicate that through the lyrics I write, the music I sing, and the life I live.”

http://ginnyowens.com/about-ginny-owens

I doubt I can recount all the pain and suffering and tears and heartache and brokenness that I have felt and endured over the past 48 hours. I have made a mistake. I have lapsed in judgment and made a poor decision. My pillow is soaked from tears. My voice is almost gone. My heart has raced and my body has shaken from nerves. My throat is, and has been, dry. My lips so desire to drink from the fountain of God. I am laid low.

In this time of unending, perpetual prayer I have been before the throne of God. I have knelt before rulers and leaders and men. And I have found reliance on the Source. I am not preaching, though I am called as a preacher. I am not teaching, though I am gifted in this area. I am appealing. I am being stretched. I am breathing and continuing and hoping. My entire hope lies in my heavenly Father. Oh, that men would be more like Him. Psalm 119:50, "My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life."

These are the scriptures that are pulling me through. Psalm 51, Psalm 119, 1 Peter 5:7, "Cast all your cares on Him because He cares for you." Proverbs 15:14 tells us that if we have God's understanding, we can ask Him for the knowledge to overcome every trial and problem we face. God is bigger than our grief, sorrow, pain and every problem that any of us could face. He is faithful, even when we may be faithless.
John 8:7, "When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."
Not a biblical text, but the strengthening saying, "This too shall pass."

God's mercy is new every day. Out of the lives of broken men came great things. Men like David, Peter, Paul. I will abide in the Vine and I will bear much fruit (John 15). If you are suffering, like I am in this low point, live in the Word. God is in control. He has great plans to prosper and bless.

"The rewards for those who persevere far exceed the pain that must precede the victory" - Ted W. Engstrom

"There is no coming to consciousness without pain." - Carl Jung

"Age wrinkles the body. Quitting wrinkles the soul." - Gen. Douglas MacArthur

"Many of the great achievements of the world were accomplished by tired and discouraged men who kept on working." - unknown

"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are important. The slogan 'press on' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race." - Calvin Coolidge

"Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did." - Newt Gingrich

"By perseverance the snail reached the ark." - C.H. Spurgeon

"The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." - Nelson Mandela