My goal

When I started writing this blog a few years ago, I really only one goal in mind.
Actually, I only had one person in mind.

I found this thing called "Stats" on my blog page about a few months ago. I'm not sure if it is new or if I just now noticed it, but this thing is amazing.
When you click on it, it shows you how many people have read the blog and where people are reading it.

Without giving details and appear like I am bragging, I will just say that this blog has been read on 6 of 7 continents (and several islands that I never knew existed). That is so amazing to me.
God embraces technology!!!

The problem was this though: That was not my goal.
My goal had not been achieved........

..........Until now.

2 1/2 years later.

I began writing this blog with my friend in mind.
Only my wife knew the reason.
My idea was that through this blog, I could show her that God is not a God of rules but a God of grace.
I wanted to show her that not all Christians are hypocrites, just flawed humans like everyone else trying to make sense out of this life and clinging to the only hope we know....Jesus.
I know sometimes we screw up and say the wrong thing and we pretend to have all of life's answers.
When questioned why bad things happen to good people we want to spew something spiritual, when in fact the person would be content with an "I don't know" response.

Knowing that she has been hurt in the past. Knowing that when she lost her father, she was angry at God. After all, why would a loving and caring God take this little girl's daddy away from her.

I don't know.

But I knew if I wrote this blog, that because she is my friend and we have had conversations about God at times, that she would read it.
I knew that if she felt pressured to believe something, she would walk the other way so our conversations never got to deep.

So I began this blog. Read it when you feel like it.
No pressure.
I just kept praying that at some point, God would tap her on the shoulder and let her know that He is real and that He loves her.

The other day, I received an e-mail from her.

These are her words:

[ Our house was broken into on Friday. Luckily no one was home. They took lots of electronics and some sentimental items. I was wrecked that my first engagement ring that ---- bought me was missing. For the first time in my life I prayed and questioned...

Dear God, why? We are good people, we do no wrong to others and we try very hard to raise our son to love everyone and not be biased. The little we have, we have worked hard for.

I prayed to make this incident go away quickly and without a lot of aggravation.
I believe I have been answered.
As of 9PM last night my claim with the insurance company has been closed and a check mailed to us for replacement of our items. This might not be traditional in the sense of prayer for you but I asked for help and received it. Not only will I get to replace what was missing, I will also make a little money to help with some other things. ]

FREAKING SWEET!!!!!!!

I'm not saying my friend joined a local church and plays handbells now (I actually pray God never let's the handbells thing happen), but it's a breakthrough.


Christians reading this, I know you have someone on your heart and it seems like there is no way they are ever going to believe.
Stop acting like God is small. His timing is perfect. Keep praying.

If you are a skeptic, atheist, or agnostic, my friend prayed to God and in her words...." I asked for help and received it".
What do you have to lose?

Since receiving this e-mail, I haven't really felt like posting anything else and to be honest, this blog will change going forward. I probably will not post as often as I have been and when I do, it may not even be anything spiritual.
I'm just not sure. I just know that I am thankful that it helped my friend inch closer to a relationship with God.

It's a beautiful day

Some friends and I were at the U2 concert in Minneapolis this last week.
It was amazing!

60,000 + people in the brand new TCF outdoor stadium.
The lights went down and Bono's voice came across the speakers, and when the lights came on the place went absolutely nuts.

The sky was threatening but it had remained dry into the evening.

About 3 songs into their set, I felt it.
A drop of rain hit my head.

Midway throughout the song, it was thundering and lightning was flashing and it was pouring down rain.
Wise people pulled out their ponchos and threw them on quickly.

Not me.
Not wise.
No poncho.

My first thought was "This sucks.....this is gonna put a damper on the night for sure".

I was completely drenched, but just when I was beginning to be bothered by it, something amazing happened.

From outside the stadium, fireworks began exploding in the air.
Inside the stadium, on the giant screen, a video played of an astronaut named Giffords, who floated cutout words toward the camera from zero gravity.

The words: "It's a beautiful day".

You may remember his name. His wife, Gabrielle Giffords was at a political function at a mall a few months back when a man showed up and shot her in the head.

The band started singing "It's a beautiful day".

60,000+ people erupted in dancing, screaming and applause.

.........And in the midst of a storm

.........Joy!

I thought to myself, why?
Why would a crowd this big in the middle of a huge storm be joyful?
How could they be this excited?

Here is how.

The fans at this concert saw a bigger picture.
If there was nothing happening but the rain, people would have been running for cover and miserable.

But there was more than rain happening.
U2 was playing live for them. Fireworks were going off. There was an awesome stage and an amazing light show.....and an astronaut that had every reason to be depressed and miserable, telling them that today is a beautiful day.

Christians reading this listen to me.
This is how we are to live our lives.

You may have just been handed divorce papers.
Maybe you just got laid off.
Maybe your world is crumbling down around you...

Rain

We need to live our lives seeing the bigger picture.
Jesus came. He was crucified for you and I.
He rolled the rock away and came out.

He did all of that so we have a bigger picture than the huge storm hovering over us from time to time.

In the end He wins, and we win right along with him.
Like the old hymn goes, "Trouble don't last always".

In the midst of the storm...

May you see the fireworks.
May you hear the music
And may you hear the voice of God telling you, "It's a beautiful day"

The body slam is coming

Not too long ago there was a news story about this kid who was getting bullied in Australia.
The video went viral and it was on every major news channel by days end.

The kid that was being bullied was just standing there in an outdoor hallway while this smaller bully kept taunting him. The bully threw a couple of punches and the kid just stood there and took it.....

Until the kid decided that enough was enough.

The boy that was getting pushed around and taunted finally just grabbed the bully around the waist, picked him up in the air, and body slammed the bully down on the concrete.

Something snapped in that kid and he decided that he was not going to let the bully disrespect him any longer.....and when it was decided, it ended very bad for the bully, who had trouble getting his footing back, and limped off.

I don't know that bully, but I would be willing to bet that he has learned a lesson, and if he were speaking to you and I he would tell us, "Be careful who you disrespect, A body slam is coming".

You need this warning.
So do I.

Most likely, just today you poked God in the chest with your pointer finger and told him, "Look pal, I'm doing this thing my way"!
Most likely, just this week you got up in God's face and told Him, "You make me sick with all of your rules".
Most likely, recently you pushed God out of your way and said, "I don't need you in my life"!

You need this warning.
So do I.

God will take being pushed aside.
God can handle the disrespect of the finger to His chest.
God can shoulder the hurt of us edging him out of our lives.

But there comes a point when He is done being bullied by us.

You may not have received it yet, but if you are bullying God around, it's not too far away.

You need this warning.
So do I.

A body slam is coming.

The disappearance of Lazarus

It doesn't matter if you are Christian or not, you know the name Lazarus.
You know the story.

He was Jesus' friend.
He died.
Jesus wept.
Jesus made the journey to Lazarus' tomb.
Jesus shouted for Lazarus to come out.
Lazarus came back to life and exited the tomb.

We remember the story because it was an amazing miracle.

Lazarus was a part of one of the greatest miracles ever witnessed.
And then...........

Lazarus disappeared.

You might be reading this now and saying to yourself, "Tom, you're missing the point. The story is about Jesus and the miracle he performed. Lazarus is insignificant".

I would respond by saying, "You're right".

However, I also believe that is only half of the reason this story exists in the Bible.

My opinion is that this story is not just to inform us that Jesus raised somebody from the dead.......He has done that before.

You don't hear anything else about Lazarus after that day (except once, where someone mentioned his name along with Jesus, as people that they wanted dead).

This story of the raising of Lazarus from the dead is more than just about the miracle that Jesus performed.

Lazarus disappeared!!

Here was a man that had been given a second chance at life.
A new beginning.
HE WAS BROUGHT BACK TO LIFE!!!

What did Lazarus do with his second opportunity?

We don't know......Lazarus just vanishes into thin air.

Now, let's say that Lazarus did something awesome with his second chance.
Wouldn't you think it would be recorded in the scriptures?

Of course it would.

Here is what I think. Lazarus went on living a normal life.
And he totally blew a second chance at life.

I can't prove it, but it makes sense to me.

If you are reading this and you are a skeptic, I pray that Jesus'. Miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead leaves you in awe and that maybe you decide that if Jesus truly did that, that He may actually be God incarnate.

If you are reading this and are a Christian, I want you to think about this.
There was a day when Jesus called you out of the tomb as well.
HE CALLED YOU OUT!!!!!

What are you doing with your life now?
Are you alive but still have the stench of death on you?
Or have you charged out of the tomb with a bucket of ice water looking to push back the gates of Hell?

Christian, Don't you dare just come out of your tomb and live an ordinary life.
Don't you dare!

Jesus has called you out!

Leave the disappearing act to Lazarus........and you go change the world!

I just have 2 questions

There was a rabbi back in the first century named Rabbi Akiba.
One day he was walking along the Sea of Galilee, reciting scripture out loud.

He was so deep in thought that he made a wrong turn and darkness had fallen.
He ended up in front of a large gate.

As he was standing there, a loud voice echoed out to him.
"Who are you and what are you doing here".

Startled, the rabbi stood in silence trying to figure out where the voice came from.

Again the loud voice boomed, "Who are you and what are you doing here?"
The voice was that of a Roman soldier standing guard over the gate to a fort.

Rabbi Akiba thought for a moment and then spoke.
"How much do they pay you to ask these questions"?

The Roman soldier replied, "3 Drachma".

Rabbi Akiba responded, "I will pay you double if you agree to stand outside my house and ask me those same two questions every morning".

It's easy to forget who we are isn't it?
It's easy to forget as Christians what our purpose is on this planet isn't it?

Think about those 2 questions for a moment and ask them of yourself.

Who am I?
What am I doing here?

We hate questions don't we?
We love answers but we hate questions.

That's because questions force us to examine ourselves.
We can lie to someone in our answer to their question, but the damage has already been done once the question is posed.

Internally, questions like "who am I", and "what am I doing here", can rip our soul apart looking for the truth.

It's uncomfortable ground we are on now isn't it?

Rabbi Akiba knew who he was.
He knew what he was put on Earth for.......

What he wanted was a reminder. Something to move him from comfortable to uneasy.

That's where growth happens.

So I will end with just 2 questions for you.

Who are you?
What are you doing here?

May you be confident in your answers but more importantly, may you be made uncomfortable through the questions themselves.......

And may you grow as your soul dives for the truth.

As is

I have never been the kind of person to purchase something "as is".
I like to have the ability to return the item if something is wrong with it.

The only reason someone wants to sell something "as is", is because they know something ain't right with what they are trying to sell.

Trust me on this:
If you are buying a shirt and the label says "as is", a button is missing.
If you are buying pants and the label says "as is", one leg is longer than the other.
If you are buying food and the label says "as is", you need to be slapped upside the head.

What I'm saying is that the "as is" label is telling you something.

"As is" is jacked up.
"As is" has some issues.

"As is" is imperfect.

In short, I want nothing to do with "as is".............but I am imperfect too.

I am "as is".

I am jacked up.
I have issues.
I am imperfect.

So who in there right mind would be interested in us who are "as is"?

Well I just so happen to know somebody who specializes in purchasing "as is" people.
He seeks them out.
He hangs around the clearance rack.
He is not concerned about imperfections........not worried about a return policy.

Jesus is an "as is" God.

You don't need to clean up your act before he takes interest in you.
He is interested in you now. With all of your imperfections.

He is waiting for you......"as is".

7 Deadly sins (Laziness)

I will write about this later.

7 Deadly sins (Lust)

Lust: To have an intense desire.

Ok, so of the seven deadly sins, this is the one I struggle with the most. I am a night and day difference from where I was 5-10 years ago, but I still have my moments.

I call lust the silent destroyer because unlike other sins, you can hide lust within the depths of your being and nobody is privy to your issue......but it destroys you from within.

I could be talking to a woman and looking her in the eyes and sincerely listening to her intently, all the while catching glimpses of her body and wondering what it might look like with nothing else on.

I can recall when I really started trying to remove lust from my life. My wife and I were watching an award ceremony on TV and my wife said, "Tom look at the dress on this woman, she might as well not even be wearing anything".

She was actually helping me along in my sin without knowing it.

At that moment I sat her down on the couch and told her that I struggle with lust. I explained that I had no desire to act on any of it, but it was a real struggle and I would need her help to get me through it.

I am convinced that the majority of my lust issue stems from having intercourse with other women before I found my wife and got married.

God doesn't tell us not to have sex before marriage to be mean.

He tells us not to have sex before marriage because He knows that the road afterwards is going to be so much more difficult to travel down afterwards.

What truly helped me out of it was I had a great mentor in Christ named Pastor Jake (He is still a great mentor in my life). He shared with me and listened to me and told me about this book called Every Man's Battle that he thought would help me even further.

It did.

To any man that reads this that struggles with lust..........which is every man that reads this, I highly recommend that book.

I still have my moments.

I am imperfect..........but my marriage is so much better now that I am in the trenches fighting against the sin instead of being buddies with it.

When you lust after another woman. You steal from your spouse. You steal the thoughts that she and only she is entitled to.

Lust.

Get in the trenches, men.

7 Deadly sins (Envy)

Envy: painful or resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another joined with a desire to possess the same advantage.

Did you ever know anyone that no matter what they did in life it resulted in a win?

It seems like no matter if they make a bad choice or a good one that they come out of it smelling like a rose.

I knew this guy that life just happened right for him. Anything he touched turned to gold.

We were friends.

It was at a stage in my life where I felt like everything that came to me I had to work extremely hard to get it. Nothing came easy for me.

That alone is a tough thing to go through but add to the mix a guy who seemingly worked hard for nothing, and everything just showed up on his lap.

It began to drive me insane.

I seriously remember praying one day:

"God, why are things so difficult for me? I am trying to live my life the way you ask me to and this guy doesn't pray, doesn't read the Bible, doesn't go to church, and you are bending over backwards to make sure he has it all"!

Well God wasn't listening to me that day. This dude just kept reaping things he wasn't sowing.

I began to despise this guy even though he did nothing wrong to me.

My friend turned into my enemy, not because of something he did to me, but because of my perception that I was more deserving of good things than he was.

I would almost guarantee that if my envy had not gotten in the way, that he and I would be good friends to this day.

Do you see the danger of envy?

God tells us, "I am sufficient".

Envy shouts back, "I deserve more".

Envy leads to destruction.

Countries go to war all the time because of what another country has and they feel entitled to it.
Proverbs 14:30 -A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.

Perhaps you are feeling uncomfortable today.

Maybe you are in need of some inner peace.

I would ask you, are you suffering from spiritual osteoporosis?

Do you need to let go of some envy?

Let it go.

It will give peace to your soul.

7 Deadly sins (Wrath)

Wrath; Vengeance or punishment as the consequence of anger.

Back in the 80's there was a Star Trek movie called "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan".

It has a ring to it doesn't it?

Khan wouldn't have sounded nearly as threatening if the title was "Star Trek II: The anger of Khan", or "Star Trek II: Khan is really mad now".

That just doesn't work as well. That's because the word "Wrath" has some weight behind it.

When we hear the word, we get a picture in our minds don't we?

Wrath is something that we fear from others, but we fantasize about those that have wronged us, suffering under our wrath…….maybe that's just me.

So why is wrath considered a deadly sin? If someone has wronged you then they deserve your wrath right?

Well, there are a couple of problems with that.
1.) In the Bible, God says, "Vengeance is Mine". That's fairly self-explanatory.
2.) When Jesus was asked how many times we are to forgive someone who has wronged us, His answer was 70 times 7 (That's 490 times). Nobody has ever wronged you more than that……deal.
3.) When we seek vengeance on someone who hurt us, we never truly seek to just get even, it's always done with the intent of hurting them slightly worse than they hurt us just so they are certain that we got the best of it.

God tells us that He is just and He will deal with people on His terms. Wrath tells God that we have a better way of handling it than He does.

Do you see the danger?

If God created us (and I believe He did), then where do we get off telling Him that we have a better way of handling those that have wronged us. He created us. I think He should probably have the say so on vengeance.

What if you baked a cake and you made it exactly how you wanted it, and when you put the cake on the table it stood up and started telling you that you didn't mix the ingredients correctly, and the oven heat wasn't set right.

The first thing you should do is call a psychiatrist, but after you hung up the phone you would smash that cake and throw it in the garbage.

"No cake I made is gonna talk to me like that"!

I know it's a crazy example but it truly is the same thing when we tell God that our wrath is just what the doctor ordered.

Let's let God be God and we can just spend our time forgiving those who have wronged us, and trying not to wrong anyone else.

Wrath is a heavy word…….and I just don't think we have the strength to support it.

Forgiveness.

That has a pretty good ring to it as well.

7 Deadly sins (Greed)

My wife and I took the kids to this annual sale at the local high school this last weekend and my son found this Pac-Man game that plugs right into the TV, for $1.00.

Some of you reading this are like, "What's Pac-Man"?

If you said that, you need to wash your mouth out with soap, and not just any soap, Lifebuoy.

Pac-Man is one of the greatest video games ever invented.

We used to hang out at this corner store after elementary school and drop quarters into that game like our life depended on it.

We got to be fairly good at the game but I had a downfall.

It was no doubt a downfall that plagued millions of unsuspecting kids world-wide.

Some of you know what I'm talking about.

It was the fruit.

You see, on every level there was a moment when a cherry, or an orange, or some other random piece of food popped up on the screen and if you ate it, points were rewarded.

The goal of the game was to clear the screen, the fruit was just a bonus.

But the fruit was so tempting.

How many times had my Pac-Man met it's fate by my magnetic movement toward the fruit, when all I had to do was eat one more dot, and advance to the next level?

It's funny because it's a game, but all too often it's our downfall in the real world too.

Greed.

We seek more when what we have is sufficient.

The quest for one more is a dangerous quest because sooner or later we end up with more than we can handle.

Greed is an ugly sin too, because when greed comes to the surface in our lives, it reveals our heart to others.

Satan could have used any tactic to get to Adam and Eve in the garden, but he appealed to their greed.

Adam and Eve had it all.

They had everything they needed.

They were living the good life.

They didn't have to worry about bill collectors. When April rolled around in the Garden of Eden, they had no fear of the IRS.

They had it good!!

But Satan told Eve that he could give her more and just like Pac-Man, she went for the fruit.

The rest is history.

Satan chose to appeal to their greed because it's an innate characteristic....so it was easy.

Given enough time and a place where we think nobody can see us, and we will exhibit all kinds of greed, won't we?

The truth is that God's grace is sufficient for us.

We don't need anything above and beyond that, and when we start looking for more than we need, God is very good at teaching us that greed is not an attribute we should have.

He threw Adam and Eve out of paradise for it.

Allow God to be sufficient for you.

Just clear the level and forget about the fruit.

You will be glad you did.

7 Deadly sins (Pride)

Proverbs 16:18 - "Pride goes before destruction.."

Most people have a particular sin that continually trips them up.

For me, it's pride.

That's even tough for me to type. I don't get to watch much TV usually, but the other night I got to catch a show called "Bully Beatdown". It is basically a show about people who get bullied all the time and they bring the bully to this show to give them a taste of their own medicine. The Bully agrees to enter this cage with a professional MMA fighter in the hopes that they can survive the few rounds and win some money.

In the episode I watched, the fight was extremely one sided. The bully was just getting what we used to call back in the day, a "First class butt whoopin".

The professional fighter was just toying with the bully and basically kept closing the bully's windpipe, forcing the bully to "tap out" repeatedly. The host of the show kept asking the bully, "Do you want to quit now? Do you want to give up?", and the bully just kept coming back for more punishment.

He absolutely refused to just quit even though it was extremely apparent that he had no chance. In the second round the referee called the fight over.

Pride comes before the fall.

Pride is what got Satan thrown from the luxury of Heaven.

In my opinion, it is the most dangerous sin there is.

God says to humble yourself. Pride says, "God, get outta my face".

At least in my case, pride is attractive and something I tend to run towards because it feels good to get the credit and glory and recognition for something. That's the truth.

Maybe you struggle with pride like me. The following verse should make your knees buckle: Matthew 23:12 - But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

I don't know about you, but I do a fine job of humiliating myself, I really don't need God's help.

So it is my goal to be completely pride free.

You might be saying to yourself, "That is impossible".

But I would remind you as I remind myself what Paul said in Philippians 4:13 - "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Regardless of your struggle I hope this encourages you, that you too, can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.

7 Deadly sins (Gluttony)

You won't find the seven deadly sins list in the Bible. It's not there.

All 7 are sins to be sure, but the list was conceived by man.

The 7 deadly sins are: Wrath, greed, slothfulness, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony.

The reason that these 7 sins made a list is because they are thought to be the root for every other conceivable sin known to man.....and we know plenty of them don't we?

A friend of mine said, "why don't you blog about the 7 deadly sins and how they affect people and why we succumb to them."

So let me tackle the "why we succumb to them" portion first. This should cover the "why" for each of them. We succumb to sin simply because we are born with a natural bent toward sin. Think we aren't?

Have any of you ever had to teach your kid how to disobey?

No, you never had to do that. You had to teach them to obey, they already knew how to disobey.

We give into sin because we want to. Our human nature desires sin.

Now, I am not going in any particular order, but thought I would start with Gluttony because of something I saw this last weekend that struck me as odd.

Gluttony: Excessive eating or drinking -dictionary.com

First of all, the Bible says this in Proverbs 23:21, "..for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags."

I know there are non-believers that read this blog, but I don't think I have ever run across even a nonbeliever that looked at any proverb and said, "That's stupid".

So regardless, if you're a Christian or not, I think we can agree that there is a ton of wisdom in Proverbs, and this particular verse is saying that gluttons become poor.

How does this happen? How do you get from gluttony to the poorhouse?

Think about your last Thanksgiving dinner. After your third plate you unbuckled your belt and went and laid on the couch watching the football game.....occasionally waking up to see what the score was.

There was no work getting done around your house for the next 24 hours. Am I lying?

Maybe you drank too much beer or wine. You woke up the next morning with a hangover.

How much work did you get done that day?

Gluttony leads to a lack of motivation, and a lack of motivation can certainly lead you to the poorhouse, can't it?

The biggest problem with the sin of gluttony, is that you don't hear many sermons about it.

I think the reason is because it's acceptable by the world's standards.

America is one of the most obese nations on the planet. Many pastors are included in that statistic, and it's difficult to talk about the kettle being black when the pot is too.

The church has helped make gluttony acceptable.

This last weekend I drove by a church with a big sign out front. You have seen this church too. Maybe not the same one, but they are all over the place.

The sign simply said, "Friday night - ALL YOU CAN EAT fish fry."

Nothing like encouraging sin huh?

How well would it go over if the same church sign said,

"Friday night - ALL YOU CAN WATCH PORN."

Just because it's acceptable, don't make it right.

Try something today. Start paying attention to what you put in your body, and how often.

Cut back your calorie count. Cut back on your portion size, and see if you don't find some energy that you haven't had in a long time.

I would bet you would be a better parent and spouse for it.

More energy to play with your children.

More energy to do..........that thing with your spouse!!!

Now, that's what I'm talking about!

Caller ID

The most amazing invention on the last decade.....hands down....CALLER ID.

It's awesome isn't it? Don't lie! You know I'm speaking the truth.

That phone rings and you pick it up to see who is trying to reach you, and you have about 2-3 seconds to decide if this person on the other end is worthy of your precious time.

You know I'm right, that's why you're smiling right now!

So there are times you answer the call. There are times when you don't.

Either way, the call comes. Jesus calls each one of his children at some point.

If you are reading this, you are not exempt. The call has been placed to you.

At some point, the call has come.......and you have done one of four things.

1.) You didn't even bother to look at the caller ID, and kept on doing whatever you were doing.

2.) You forgot to look at the ID and yelled at the person on the other end and warned them of the danger they were in if they aver called you around dinner time ever again.

3.) You looked at the caller ID and decided not to answer.

4.) You have decided to pick up the call.

If you responded with #4, then you can stop reading.

If you chose #1, #2 or #3, then I hope you lean in and read this very clearly.

THE PHONE WILL KEEP RINGING UNTIL YOU ANSWER.

Jesus is not known for trying once and moving on.

He made you.

He is interested in you dropping what you are doing and listening to what He has to say.

Maybe you heard His call to turn to Him and you didn't even bother to answer.

Maybe you felt Him calling out to you and you yelled at Him for bothering you during dinner.

Maybe you felt Him calling you but you looked at the caller ID and it said: "Jesus, what up homie?", and you laid the phone back down and picked up the X-Box controller again.

I just want to share something with you.....JESUS HAS REDIAL!!

Sooner or later, when you least expect it, He is gonna hit that redial button, and you are gonna have to talk.

He presses the redial button because he doesn't have an option.

He loves you.

He is love.....and love never fails.

He will track you down, and when you finally answer that call, I pray that the conversation ends in conversion.

Stop avoiding the call. He can be a pest when He wants to be.

Just skip a few steps in between and engage in the dialogue He has been waiting to have with you you.

Caller ID.

Please just pick up the phone and save yourself the trouble of His redial.

Trust me. He is extremely busy and there are plenty more calls to make.

Don't write 'em off

I have this friend who I have known for around 4 years.

Before he was my friend, he was an employee.

He came into my office one day looking for work. Very blunt and very raw.

He said, "I'm a convicted felon, and I need a job".

Do I offer this guy an opportunity? What would he do with a second chance to get his life on track? Could I offer this guy a different ending to his story?

Hanging next to Jesus on the cross was a convicted felon. I'm sure most of the people walking past him thought that he was worthless.

Jesus thought differently though, and gave the man's story a different ending.

He was one of the best hires I have ever made, and through his employment I got to pour into him and help him figure out life.

He would call after hours with questions or concerns and it was the after hours conversations where I was able to share the Gospel with Him.

I was able to give him advice and give him scriptures to look up to help him on his way.

About a year ago though, trouble found him once again. We parted ways from a business standpoint and he was now living in prison.

My thoughts were: I really wanted to give him a different ending to his story and now this.

I received a letter from him though shortly after he went in, and it made a grown man cry.

It was one of the most beautiful letters I had ever received. I keep it in my nightstand.

The best line of the letter was, "Can you send me a Bible?"

I visited, we continued to write back and forth, and I even received calls over the months to come. He is out now. Again.

But something is different this time. He knows who Jesus is.

He comes to church now every Sunday. Sometimes to the main campus, sometimes to ours, where he helps tear down after service is over.

He still reads the Bible I gave to him, and he still has questions. He is helping others now that were once in his position and he is doing it with love and grace.

I am going to baptize him soon.

He has a new ending to his story. It is still being written but the ending is amazing and it goes like this:

He dies, and now stands face to face with his Creator, and Jesus smiles and says, "Well done my good and faithful servant."

Maybe you have been trying to reach someone and you've had setbacks, or maybe it seems like no matter what you do, you can't get through to them.

Don't write 'em off.

They are gonna need help writing the end of their story.

And it's a beautiful thing to be able to help hold the pencil.

Get Kre-8-tiv

My cousin owns a company. It's a pretty unique business.

Party buses.

They are customized school buses for the most part. The seats as you remember them have all been removed to make way for long benches that go all the way around the perimeter.

For the most part as you would guess, the big business in these buses is done on the weekend. People will rent them out for bachelor parties or just to go bar hopping in the Cleveland area.

Some of them are even equipped with a stripper pole.

The business has been successful and has been expanding over the last several years, but I got a call from him the other day.....

In so many words he said to me, "I'm just getting tired of dealing with drunk people.......I am trying to come up with some ways to do something positive with the buses"

Yes sir.

He is trying to work out a way to use the buses to transport inner city youth to places like the Kalahari water park or other places that they may never get to experience otherwise.

How awesome is that?

Creativity. Using something at his disposal for something greater. Simply amazing.

We talked about holding and art competition where the winner, or the one with the most improved grades would be able to take their artwork and use the bus as their canvas to reproduce the artwork in a moving bus size piece of art.

He is still looking for more ideas. Feel free to send some of yours.

But more importantly, what do you have at your disposal that can be used for something greater?

You may not have party buses but you have something.

Get Kre-8-tiv. Change the world.

Lessons from Home Depot (part 2)

My daughter wanted to carry the bag with the candy and everything else in it, so I warned her that the bag is heavy and it's a long walk to the car, but she wanted to do it on her own.

So she began her journey. Taking short steps. Switching arms. Growing more and more frustrated with each step…….until finally she realized that the burden is too much for her little body to handle on her own.

The Book of Matthew in the Bible records a statement from Jesus.
Matthew 11:28 - "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

We all want to carry the bag.

Pride tells us we can do it all by our self.
Truth reveals that we can't.

I love what my daughter said to me when she had enough. "You can carry it now, Daddy."
I was happy to. She is my child.

I specialize in taking care of her needs…….she just had to let me help her.

You are no different.

I wonder if anyone reading this has found that life's burdens are too heavy. You started off wanting to carry your own bags but lately it has become to much to handle on your own.

You need to know that there is someone right beside you who would be delighted to take that bag for you.

He specializes in taking care of His children's needs.

May today be the day you say, "You can carry this now, Jesus"

Lessons from Home Depot (Part 1)

I took my daughter with me on a quick run to the Home Depot this week to pick up some paint and a few other odds and ends for a project.

As I was waiting at the paint counter, she lost interest and began wandering over to the checkout counter.

She is a candy freak. She could sniff out a Skittle in the center of a 10' thick block of concrete, so finding candy on an end cap at her eye level was a given. She also managed to grab a 20oz. Sunkist from the refrigerator right next to it.

She took them over to the checkout all by herself and she handed the items to the young lady behind the counter. The lady looks at me as if to ask, "Do you want her to have these?"

I nodded to the lady that it was alright and gave her the finger........you know, the I'll be there in 1 minute finger.

Once the paint was ready I went over and paid for everything, including the pop and candy.

I'm a sucker.....and she knows it.

My daughter is only 3.

She has no source of income. She is flat broke. No matter what she did or how hard she tried, there is no way she could pay for the pop and candy.

But none of that matters. She got the pop and candy anyhow.

How is that possible?

Because my daughter has an ace in the hole.....her daddy.

I paid the cost for something she couldn't.

Because I love her.

We live in a fallen world. When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, sin entered the framework, and it has driven a wedge between us and God ever since.

So how do sinners like ourselves get into the presence of a Holy God?

We can't do it by ourselves. We don't have the resources.

Someone else has to pay for our pop and candy.

Jesus paid for our sin the day he was pinned to the cross.

Jesus paid for our pop and candy.

And just like my daughter, all we have to do is accept the gift.

My daughter took the pop and candy, smiled at me and said, "Thank you daddy".

That was good enough for me.

It is good enough for God too.

Holy Ship

Christian-

We have all seen them before.

The ship in the bottle. Some of them are pretty amazing.

Do you know what I noticed after looking at them over the years though?

The bottle is insignificant in the big picture. Sure it holds the ship, but nobody is looking at the bottle.

The sailboat inside of the bottle is what’s so amazing.

The detail of the ship and the awe of how it got into the bottle is what lures people in.

Now, I want you to pretend for a moment the the bottle was opaque.

Close your eyes for a second and imagine that all you can see is the bottle and not the contents.

The bottle sucks doesn't it.

It’s boring.

Nobody gives a rip about the bottle.

It’s just a freakin’ bottle!!!! There is nothing special about it.

Christian-

When we made the decision to allow Jesus to be the leader of our life and the forgiver of our sins, our boring opaque bottle was filled with something magnificent.

Something alluring and attractive and full of awe resides in us.....in our bottle.

Did you know that we have control over the opacity of our bottle?

We do.

We can either choose to let the opaque color give way to clarity and reveal Jesus dwelling inside of us, or we can pretend the boring opaque bottle is what people want to see.

Thank God, I am no longer the person I once was. People that knew me a while ago are still trying to figure how something so awesome got inside of my bottle.

But they wonder it because they can see the ship.

Christian-

There is a ship in our bottle

Can people see it?

Does the way we live our life allow people to see the ship?

Reveal the ship and your neighborhood will change!

Reveal the ship and your city will change!

Reveal the ship and your country will change!

Reveal the ship and your world will change!

Reveal the Holy ship!

Inviting the other ones

So my middle child (Caiden) was working on a list of people he wanted to make sure he invited to his birthday.

My wife handed it to me when I walked in the door from work.
"Look at your son's birthday invite list", she said.

In order, it went like this:

God
Jesus
Angels
(And a boy from his class that I will call Joe)

I was blown away by his desire to invite the God to his birthday. I was so proud of his little heart that I got choked up. I don't think I ever invited God to anything.

Perhaps that is why I have made so many mistakes in my life.

So I ask my wife, "Who is Joe"?
She answered, "Joe is the special needs boy from Caiden's class".

Even as I type this I fight back the tears.

"I thought Caiden said that Joe spits on him all the time (an issue that comes with Joe's disability that my son interprets as dislike for him.)", I said.

"He does", was my wife's response.

So I went to my son before bedtime and I asked him, "Caiden, why did you invite Joe? I thought you felt like he didn't like you because he spits on you from time to time, and he is the only kid you have on your list".

Caiden: "It's easy to invite people you like and people that like you. We are supposed to invite the other ones too though".

Yeah.....we are.

You might not like your neighbor.
They might dislike you.
Either way, they are a child of the King just as you and I are.

This world changes only when you and I invite the other ones.

Tonight, my son the student became the teacher.
And I am thrilled to be in his class.