Author: Scott

I one read an article about Shaun Alexander. For those of you who don’t know who he is, he was a running back for the Seattle Seahawks. One season he led the NFL in rushing and was named the MVP. In the eyes of many, he was a man’s man. What many men long to be. The article was talking about not only his football talents, but more importantly his off the field life. Including his faith.

They were discussing the NFL lifestyle. All of the things that can come with that. Money. Fame. Women. Etc. When the reporter asked him about those, his response was along these lines. I won’t get this Word for Word. But in essence he said that he avoids placing himself in situation‘s that he will find temptations. For example, he tried to avoid going to bars where he knew that that could lead to going home with someone he didn’t know. You can imagine how many times he was asked to go out by his teammates. The reporter asked him why he didn’t go, his response was he knew that he wasn’t man enough to avoid giving in to the temptations. Wow!

Made me think about me trying to be a man of faith. What I think we should all do when trying to work on our faith. We need to protect what we think about. Which is our hearts. We need to protect what we say. Which is our words. We need to protect ourselves from where we go. Which is our feet. I think if we do these things, we can work on building our faith. To help with this, surround yourself with others who will help you stay on track. Those that love you and hold you accountable through love. And while you’re doing this, strive to keep them on track as well. Hold them accountable through love. If we do these things, and ask God to guide us, he will show us the way. Because he loves us. Always has. Always will.

For those of you that follow us, you saw that yesterday was a big day for the ministry. We bought the Clubhouse. Is it going to be our home office. And we did so while staying debt-free. That is so awesome. Such a joyous day. There are several things that bring me joy. Truly bring me a feeling of happiness. My grandkids definitely do. Whenever we FaceTime them, or we get to see them in person, it just brings pure joy to me. Hard to explain to somebody who doesn’t have grandkids. But Joy is a great word for it. And I think we are all looking for joy in our lives. 

I also think we are all striving to find peace. True peace in our lives. And there are different ways for us to achieve that. One way for me is to be in the deer blind. Early in the morning. Or late in the evening. Even mid day. There is such a calm out there. That’s my time of healing. That’s my time of aloneness with God. That’s a time of peace for me. That’s where I find it. I was questioned a few years ago by one of our board members. What is it that every man is searching for? He says the answer is peace. And there’s a lot of truth in that answer.

Something even more powerful about joy and peace. Something that I read about both of them. Joy and peace are both signs of the kingdom of God. They lead to hope. I want to quote something that I read: “Joy and peace are evidence of the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives! These words do not just describe a cheerful, contented emotional state. They point to something profound at the very heart of our Christian life and witness.” As much as my grandchildren bring me joy, and being in the blind brings me peace, nothing brings me more of either one than knowing I have eternity waiting for me with Jesus in heaven. Nothing! I don’t wanna take anything away from what my grandchildren and the blind do for me. But my true hope comes from the joy and peace that is provided through our Lord and Savior. Or should I say, our true hope. Because you can have it too. God will provide it. Because he loves us. Always has. Always will.

Last night we were having a conversation about investments and insurance. The different options we have for putting our money into. Made me think about what we are fully invested in. And I don’t mean money. I’m not talking about our retirement accounts. I’m talking about our hearts. I’m talking about what we are fully invested in spiritually. What is it that our hearts are focused on? Where do we find ourselves serving with all of our hearts?

I can tell you this: God is fully invested in his plan. 100%. No doubt. He is fully invested. He is going to see it through. He will never waver. He can’t be stopped. He won’t be stopped. Whether we are in tune with that or not, he is going to see it through. He has up to this point. He is doing so now. And he will continue to do so. It’s up to us to join in. That’s one of the most amazing things about being part of the creation. The choice. We get to choose. He gave us the ability to choose. And that’s awesome. Unfortunately, sometimes we choose the wrong choices. We make the wrong decisions. But FORTUNATELY, there is still time. We can choose correctly.

Seek God and he will show you what to do. Have a heart to do his will and he will show you what to do. Ask him to show you his will and he will show you what to do. We are promised that. And God keeps his promises. Fully invest your heart into his plan and he will show you what to do. Isn’t that awesome! We have a God who is so accessible to us that he will show us what to do. We have a God who loves us this much. But it takes us stepping out and fully believing in the plan. We must break our hearts and put all we have into serving him. And he will use us wherever we are to fulfill his plan. If we serve him, there’s no doubt we are where we’re supposed to be. And he can use our situations to serve him and to serve others.

Recently, scrolling through Facebook we see a lot of people we know going through some very hard times. Including some very serious health concerns. It’s hard to read. Sometimes we go through periods of suffering. Sometimes we suffer physically. Other times emotionally. Even spiritually. I am sure there are other ways as well. But these are a few. Suffering is never good if it is just suffering. But we all go through it at some point. Then why does God allow suffering? After all, he’s a loving God. Why the suffering then? This is a tough topic. Believers, philosophers, theologians, have all struggled with this. There is no clear-cut answer. 

God can use our suffering in a number of different ways. He can use it for good. Ultimately, he can use it to show others his glory. As difficult as it may be, we must have faith and be strong through times of suffering. We can pray for it to be removed. We can pray for it to go away. But instead, I would like to suggest that we pray to have the strength to get through it. I think we should pray for him to be there with us. To show us the way. Then we can show others how he did so. That is for his glory. Not ours.

We must know and realize we are going to go through times where we are shaken. There are gonna be times when we are tempted to throw them in the towel. To give up. There are going to be times where we want to know why. But we should also know and realize that God‘s hands are in everything. We must understand that suffering is part of his plan to defeat evil. And the Bible tells us that God works for the good of those who love him. We have been called according to his purpose. And let’s not forget the ultimate example of suffering. The crucifixion. We should learn from what took place on the cross 2000 years ago. Jesus went through tremendous suffering. All in order to show us the glory of God. That is magnificent and humbling! He did so because he loves us. Always has. Always will.

I have always been interested in history. I think that came from being raised in a military family. My parents made sure that when my father was home we would travel around Germany seeing the castles. My interest continued into college where I graduated and began teaching history in the school system. One thing I know is that history repeats itself. Maybe not exactly. But, “maybe” exactly. Human behavior also repeats itself. 

One way we realize that human behavior repeats itself is by simply looking at how we question whether we’re right with God or not. Thousands of years ago large crowds were following Jesus. They were questioning the same thing. The book of John shows us this. The crowds wanted to know how to be right with God. Sound familiar? Are you asking the same thing now? Maybe as you read this, you are wondering. But…how do we know if we are right with God? That’s a great question.

You could quite possibly be strong in your faith. You could be right with God. But lack peace. Or maybe you have both. You know you are right with God and you have peace as well. What an awesome place to be. Or maybe you don’t have either. You know you need God in your heart. You know you are not right with God. And you know you don’t have any peace at all. But the good news is you can have both. The key to having both is simple. It is clear. The key to having both is believing in, and striving to be like, Jesus. Do that, and you will be right with God. You will know it. And that can give you the peace that we all long for. So maybe today is the day for you to start believing in Jesus. Maybe today is the day for you to ask him into your heart. Maybe today is the day for you to start feeling that peace that only comes from him. It starts with us. He’s waiting. Because he loves you. Always has. Always will.

This is a memory that I love to share. It always makes me smile whenever I think back to it. Years ago I had to fill in on the 4 x 400 relay team. One of our premier runners had torn his hamstring a weak earlier. Our coach was brilliant. He put me at the third leg knowing that I would be the weakest. Ha. When I received the baton, we were every bit of 30 yards ahead of the second place team. I took off in a full sprint. My adrenaline was pumping. 100 yards, 200 yards, 300 yards, I was doing great. Then I came off the last turn. I hit the wall! Big-time! It was like it just popped up out of the track. I came in about 20 yards behind the first place team when I gave the baton to the fourth leg. He was amazing. I even said I’m sorry as I gave it to him. He took off, passed the lead runner, and we won the relay. Or should I say…he won it.

Have you ever done that in life? Ever have times when seems like everything you’re doing is going well? Things are smooth. And then all of a sudden: The wall. Ever feel like you’re doing a good job serving God? You are doing your best for God. Seems like you’re in a good place doing good things and then all the sudden it stops. All the sudden you can’t move forward. All of a sudden nothing you do is working. All of the sudden you feel lost. You begin to question why it is happening. You begin to question God. You need a sign. An answer. You need God to show you the way.

In the Bible we learn about Moses at a time like this. He was being chased by an army. All the way to the Red Sea. Now he was up against the wall. And he knew he needed help. We read in Exodus 33:18: “Please, show me Your glory.” Moses knew he needed to turn to God in that moment and ask for his help. He was desperate. Life will get that way for us too. We will get desperate. But never fear. God will hear your prayers. He will hear your cries. I’m not suggesting that he will part the Red Sea like he did for Moses. What I am saying is that he will provide you with what you need. At that moment. Whatever it is. He will help you overcome. His help may not be in the form you think it should be. But it will be what is best for you. Maybe today you should ask for wisdom and strength. Maybe today you should ask for guidance. Maybe today you need to ask God into your heart. Maybe today! Know this, he is there for you. Always has been. Always will be. 

Here is an interesting question. Something to really think about. As believers, we should strive to feel it. The question is this…”Would you like to experience God?” I imagine that most of us probably have. And I also imagine that some people really don’t care. And that is so unfortunate. Not sure why anyone would not want to experience God. But there are people out there that don’t. They have no desire to. But I do think one of the main reasons why is because they have never experienced God. And I bet there are several reasons why that’s the case.

Now, this part might step on toes. And I don’t apologize for doing so. But I’m going to suggest that many people have no desire to experience God because they have encountered “religious” people at some point in their life. I put that word in quotes for a reason. Because there are people out there that do not represent what God stands for. Even though they proclaim to do so. They say one thing, and they do another. They act one way in public, and they act another in private. And that is why I say that some people have been turned off to wanting to experience God. I say it is because they have come across people that behave the way I mentioned. Sound familiar?

Let’s finish with something that’s more uplifting. God really loves you. God really loves me. God really loves everyone. And everyone means…Everyone! So that means God loves everyone that you know. Know of. Hear about. Etc. God loves everyone. And that means that God wants to have a relationship with you. God wants you to experience him. That’s part of being part of the creation. He is waiting for us to turn to him. And I fully believe and trust this: Once we experience God, we’re going to want to experience him more, and more, and more. Then that will dictate how we act in our daily lives. And then other people should be able to see that in us. Which should lead them to want to experience God, and not be turned off by religious people. 

One thing I love about what I get to do, is when I have conversations with those that support us. Those that believe in us. Those that are part of the ministry’s family. It’s really very humbling. Sometimes the conversations are keeping me accountable. And I love that as well. During one of the recent conversations that I had, we were talking about trying to figure out the best way to serve our Lord and Savior.

As we were talking, we were discussing Paul. How in Philippians, he talked about people knew that he was “there” for Christ. That people knew that he was doing all he could to serve God. We agreed that we hope that others think the same of us. That when people see us, or hear us, that they know that we’re serving God. 

I often say if you give me long enough, I can mess things up pretty well. I also believe that if I get out of God’s way, he will do amazing things. If I just let him take control, lives will change. Including mine. In Proverbs, we see that God will lead the way. We can make all the plans we want. We can set up all the opportunities that we want. We can make all the preparations that we want. We can have all of the conversations that we want. But only God can provide the steps to make it happen. And it will be for our good. And for the good of those around us. For the good of those that we come in contact with. And then, there will be no doubt that people will see that we are here for Christ. And that is awesome.

Sometimes it is so easy for us to get caught up in the worldly things. So easy for us to put our priorities in the wrong places. So easy for us to lose sight of what truly is important. We catch ourselves longing for what we don’t have. We look around and we start comparing ourselves to those who have more. Wishing we did too. The world tells us success is built upon possessions. Success is built upon material value. Success is built upon financial wealth.

Now…I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with these things. I have said that before. Many times. God will bless us in different ways. For some it is financially. Because he knows that they can handle that type of success. He knows that they have worked to achieve it. And he knows that they understand what it took to get there. And they stayed humble along the way. Others of us are blessed in other ways. Maybe it’s a job where we get to serve dozens of people. Maybe it’s with a larger family. Where we get to raise children to be servants of God. Or maybe it’s a life lived alone. Because he knows it will grow our faith in him and show others who he is. There are so many examples. Too many to mention here.

Point I’m trying to make here is that whatever we are blessed with, we should stay humble. Whatever situation we are put in, we should stay humble. Whatever the world says about us, our status, we should stay humble. The Bible tells us to do so. If we do so, and we keep our eyes on the Lord, he will show us a glory we will never be able to comprehend. He will honor us. And he will bless us. Continually. I believe that is because that will be part of our witness. Our testimony. We will be able to show others who he is. We can show them what he has done. And what he will do. We will be able to witness to others in ways we never dreamed. Humility is a blessing. It truly is. Serving God is a blessing. It truly is. Be humble, and watch your life be blessed. Because God loves you. Always has. Always will.