King David had one awesome group of army commanders. In fact, the Bible calls some of these men his “Mighty Men”. Pretty cool name, huh? Two of David’s leaders were Joab and Abishai. And in two different places in the Old Testament – 2 Samuel 10 & 1 Chronicles 19 – it records Joab saying to Abishai, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you are to rescue me; but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will rescue you.”
Joab and Abishai had a brotherly love for one another. Proverbs 17:17 says, “a friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” As these men were headed into battle they essentially told one another, “I’ve got your back!”, “I’m your friend & brother in these hard times and I will fight with you, and for you.”
I’ve got your back! Who needs to hear these words from you today?
]]>Okay…
What is your reaction when you arrive at a problem in your life without knowing exactly what to do?
If you’re anything like me or the man in this video then you’ve been guilty of the following:
1. Staring at the problem for a period of time
2. Realizing you’re ignorant of what to do, and then…
3. Moving forward anyways!
This system typically creates a mess, which can potentially effect others around us.
So why do we create messes in these situations? One word, “Pride”.
- We don’t want to admit we’re ignorant.
- We don’t want to show our ignorance by asking others for advice.
- We can be impatient with God’s timing.
So, here are my questions:
- In what areas do you need to be seeking wise counsel?
- Are you pleading for God’s wisdom?
- Are you waiting on God’s timing?
- Do your actions show trust in God?
He wrote a blog recently titled, “Preparation H and Confession”. And let’s just say that it greatly challenged me. So I thought I’d share. Click on the title [...]]]>
Perry Noble is the senior pastor at Newspring Church in South Carolina. And I absolutely love reading his blog. It’s refreshing, uplifting, challenging and convicting. Plus, he’s hilarious!
He wrote a blog recently titled, “Preparation H and Confession”. And let’s just say that it greatly challenged me. So I thought I’d share. Click on the title to read.
To repeat a key question from the blog:
“So…do you have people in your life to whom you can talk with…REALLY talk with…about what is going on in your life?”
I recently witnessed two children combine to win a whopping 5 stuffed animals from one of those money-sucking claw machines. After their conquest with the one-buttoned joystick they laughingly said to each other, “That machine wasn’t a rip-off at all!” Would the next kid that walked up share the same success? Probably not. Seasoned gamblers know this fact all too well.
But isn’t it funny when we find pleasure in things of this world with no immediate repercussions we think, “Hey, there was nothing bad about that! In fact, I enjoyed it!”
So since we found satisfaction in earthly pleasures once-upon-a-time we allow ourselves to go back for more at a later date. And we eventually find that no matter how many times we plug a dollar into this world’s machine looking for joy…it just AIN’T gonna happen dude! It’s temporary. It’s fleeting. And it’s never enough.
Hopefully, we can be “stuffed” so full of God that the desires of this world fade away. Only He can give us everlasting love, assurance, peace, fulfillment and purpose.
]]>Those who lie to themselves make it easy to have pity on themselves. How? Because if you constantly lie to yourself then you can alter anything you wish into truth.
So when something that is actually truthful pops [...]]]>
Those who lie to themselves make it easy to have pity on themselves. How? Because if you constantly lie to yourself then you can alter anything you wish into truth.
So when something that is actually truthful pops up and really hurts your feelings (because truth hurts), then you can feel sorry for yourself. What to do next? You lie to self in order to cover over the truth.
So it’s a double-bonus! You get to pity yourself, and you get to believe your lies! And an added sweetener is that there is no regret or remorse for having ever lied to begin with. Why? Because it was all solved by what you’ve grown accustomed to doing…LYING TO YOURSELF! So now you’re comfortable because your good friend LIE has taken care of everything and you actually believe it!
And in the meantime, Satan giggles as we deceive ourselves of our true spiritual state. God, please reveal to us through your Spirit when we lie to ourselves.
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Man I woke up hungry today! There was some added excitement by the fact that I had a new box of Wheaties calling my name, but I was hungry. That of course got me thinking about my hunger for more of God and just thought I’d throw down some of my thoughts:
- We are all created with an inner hunger for God whether we ever acknowledge that it’s Him our soul desires or not. It’s part of His imprint on His creation.
- I hunger for more of His life-giving Word, but in times of “self-feeding” from the things of this world I can tend to forget about God’s diet plan for my life because I’ve become so full of myself. So…
- I MUST empty myself in order to understand just how much I need Him. If I’m not hungry for Him, then it’s a hint I’ve filled myself with something else that never truly fills me anyway.
- Cheesy quote… God is the Breakfast of Champions! Ha!
- If I’m not HUNGRY FOR MORE then I’m probably trying to hang on to LESS and claim that it’s enough to get me by for the sake of not having to become more OBEDIENT to His will.
Do you have anything to add to the list? I love hearing other’s thoughts!
]]>When talking to people about Eureka Springs, a frequented comment is “they have gay pride parades there”. It almost sounds like a warning, and it might be. But something interesting that Pat [...]]]>
My wife and I went on a recent vacation to Eureka Springs, AR. And we had a blast! No children, no work, no worries.
When talking to people about Eureka Springs, a frequented comment is “they have gay pride parades there”. It almost sounds like a warning, and it might be. But something interesting that Pat and I found out about the earthy/hippy folks of Eureka Springs is that they are a community! And they share life together in a powerful way. And, yes, they also have gay-pride parades. But that got me thinking…
When was the last time the Christians in your community packed the main streets to passionately celebrate their King? Is he not worth celebrating? Is he not worth the recognition? I guess we’re all too worried that we might offend somebody! That sure hasn’t stopped other groups.
I’m not exactly certain of this, but maybe as Christians we’re offended because homosexuals show more public celebration about their lifestyle than we do about our reason for living.
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Philippians 2:5-115Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. ]]>
I came across this video on another blog, you might have already seen it, but: What does this mean for our children’s futures? How do you think this will impact children’s ministry? Parenting? Personally?
]]>I came across this video on another blog, you might have already seen it, but:
What does this mean for our children’s futures?
How do you think this will impact children’s ministry? Parenting? Personally?
First off, “Yes”, I definitely recommend this book. Especially if you work with children, teens, college aged, adults…wait, that’s everybody. With great humor, Biblical examples, and personal life stories, Andy Stanley introduces a very simple yet profound principle [...]]]>
The Principle of the Path: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be
First off, “Yes”, I definitely recommend this book. Especially if you work with children, teens, college aged, adults…wait, that’s everybody. With great humor, Biblical examples, and personal life stories, Andy Stanley introduces a very simple yet profound principle that applies to all. And it’s a quick read as well.
Each of us are on our own “happiness quests” seeking to fulfill our wildest dreams. So we make decision after decision telling ourselves that the decision we’re currently making is set apart and unrelated to the rest of our life. If we were on a “truth quest” instead, we would see that all of life is connected and that we cannot separate one event from the rest. We daily choose a path to follow, and every path has a destination. But are we headed towards the right one?
“The Principle of the Path” is an incredible tool for marriages, parents and student ministers alike. Stanley strongly encourages the reader to listen to wise counsel, pay attention to the signs, and to ultimately submit to God’s will. To get where we want to be spiritually, relationally and financially, we must follow the right path in order to live a life of legacy.
I recommend this book because if taken seriously and applied it can have great impact. Plus, there’s a study guide in the back to go even deeper. Bonus!
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