Author Dan Crenshaw, in his book “Fortitude” raises some good questions on who you want to be vs what you want to be. As a high school teacher for 40 years there is no doubt that schools put all their energy in preparing students for “what they want to be”. Very little time and instruction goes into educating students on “who they want to be”. What class did you take in school that taught good character traits like honesty, responsibility, tough-mindedness, decency, politeness, good manners, being humble, saying please and thank you, being disciplined, being even tempered, reliability, being productive, etc. Think of the benefits to the person and society if we took the time to teach these to our kids. Its not just the parents responsibility. Its all of our responsibility. Every adult in America should want their child to be exposed to these good teachings. Whether at school or at home or how about at both places, we need to help one another find out “who they want to be”. AMEN

1Peter 3:3-4…..Do not let your adorning be external —the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or clothing you wear— but let the adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.

God Bless You and have a great week……

The mystery of God is unsettling to all of us. We want to have an answer to everything. We need to learn to live with the understanding that mystery is where God works because if He only does what we understand is he God? Throughout the Bible Jesus urges us to lean not on our own understanding. One of my favorite scriptures is Proverbs 3: 5-6 which reads, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him and He will direct your paths”. We all should enter into the mystery of God. God Bless You.

We all have a story to tell. Our lives are our story. Unique and different from everyone elses. But there is a bigger story than ours….way bigger and Jesus is the main character in this story. We all need to take a serious look at this “biggest story of our time” and see what it is all about. Find out for ourselves. I really don’t care what someone else says. I want to learn what Jesus says about my life. I want to hear what he says about eternity, forgiveness, purpose, truth and wholeness. I want as much about the big picture as possible. We should not settle for anything less. We should go to the cross and kneel before Jesus ourselves and not rely on someone elses opinion on Jesus. GO AND SEEK GOD.

Jeremiah 29:13 – You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.

God Bless you and have a great week………….

Henri J.M. Nouwen writes, “to be grateful for the good things that happen in our lives is easy, but to be grateful for all of our lives…..the good as well as the bad, the moments of joy as well as the moments of sorrow, the successes as well as the failures, the rewards as well as the rejections –that requires hard spiritual work.” My whole life has revolved around sports. I coached for 40 plus years. I will be honest, it bothers me still today when an athlete gives honor to Jesus in victory, but never in defeat. We all hear them praise Jesus for their victory, but seldom if ever in defeat. They go to Disneyland if they win the big one, they go no where if they lose. I am still waiting for that one ‘star’ player to give thanks to Jesus in defeat. Thank you Henri Nouwen, well said and a very important message.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 – give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

What I would like to share with you is something I’ve talked about many times before. Its something I struggle with as do most people who believe in God and even those that don’t. Its this idea of what do we believe we should do next once we have accepted the fact that Jesus is God. Writer James Bryan Smith has this to say about our dilemma. He says, “I was afraid God would look at my faults and withdraw his love. I was afraid my weaknesses would separate me from the love God has made visible in Jesus. I see now how foolish it was to think that my feeble attempts at righteousness had anything to do with how God feels about me. For too long I was impressed with my ‘commitment’ to Jesus; now I am impressed only with Jesus’s commitment to me.” So what do we do now that we believe. A good start would to be still and know that Jesus is God. Believe and trust that he will guide our lives in a direction that will give meaning and purpose and wisdom to us daily.

Romans 8:38-39…….I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God Bless You and have a great week………

Christian writer Max Lucado put the importance of Christmas in perspective when he wrote the following words……”when it comes to goodies and candy, rosy cheeks and red noses, go to the North Pole. But when it comes to eternity…Forgiveness…Purpose…And Truth…go to the manger, kneel with the shepherds and worship the God who dared to do what man dared not dream. Heaven opened herself and placed her most precious one in a human womb…God became man…the Creator of Life was created. AMEN

HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND GOD BLESS YOU ONE AND ALL.

In the Bible Jesus says, “Do not conform to this world, But be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect”. I believe that if we are paying attention to the world today that it is pretty obvious that it is not what we desire in life. I have never in my life seen the truth compromised as much as it is today. Our leaders and our media have destroyed the truth and their credibility especially over the last few years. It seems like there is no truth anymore. Just say whatever or do whatever you want and call it the truth. I don’t want to be a part of that world. I want to be in the Kingdom of God where God’s Truth is the way and the life. I believe that God’s word is the one and only Truth. Its not that bad really, try it and you will probably love it.

Romans 12:2 – Do not conform to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

God Bless You and have a great week…..Stay Safe.

Hilliary Scott sings a song titled “Beautiful Messes”. Her lyrics reminded me again of this crazy idea that Christians are “Perfect”. Where did Christians and Non-Christians get the idea that Christians are “Perfect”. I believe in Jesus and He is my God. I don’t really care to even be called a Christian. I am just a guy who believes in God and that Jesus is God. I can guarentee you that I am far, far from being perfect.. Following are some of the lyrics to her song…..

We ain’t perfect no…We ain’t even close…We got holes in our hearts…We got scars we don’t show…Lay it down at foot of the cross…Give it to the one (Jesus) who can carry it all…Even at our worst, to him we ain’t lost causes…just beautiful messess.

Romans 3:10 – As it is written, There is no one righteous (Perfect) not even one.

God Bless and Have a great week

The problem isn’t the U.S. Constitution or the American Flag or the Pledge of Allegiance ( which says one nation under God, indivisible, with LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL). And burning the American Flag is not going to change anything. The problem is us, all of us and we need to get better . We need to change. And most importantly, our leadership needs to get better. Our flag and country are not racist but some of the people in our country are racist. Millions of Americans already know this but our leaders are selling us out for power and greed. This is the greatest country in the world and we the people need to get better. We are still “one nation under God”. That God is Jesus who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. We need to turn our eyes towards Him.

2 Chronicles 7:14 – Then if my people will humble themselves and pray, and search for me, and turn from their wicked ways I will hear them from heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land.

I believe this and need to change and get better. God Bless You and have a great week.

Dignity…….Probably the most important 7 letter word to our self-esteem. Dignity is defined as “the state or quality of being worthy of honor or respect….a sense of self-respect”. When we lose our dignity, everything goes downhill. Personally, I feel that every person should be shown respect. Every person counts. We should always be on the look-out to restore a person’s dignity. If a person feels he has no self-worth, no sense of belonging, then I believe his dignity is in danger. You lose it and its hard to find it again. If you want to help the addicted, the homeless and the down and outers, then help them restore their self-image. Give them back their dignity.

1John 3:17 – But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?

Have a great week and God Bless you…..