Month: April 2023

One of the greatest emotional gifts that God has given us is passion. Being passionate about something can be a wonderful feeling. And there are different types of passion. For example, I had a passion for playing basketball years ago. I loved it. Now, I have passion now when I go hunting. I love it. Having passion for what you do can be motivating. It can get us excited about what we are doing. There can be passion in our marriages. I have deep passion for my bride. I love her wholeheartedly. And I also think that as believers, we should have passion when we serve God. To put it clearly: Men/Women of God should have passion.

Have there been times in your life that you have stepped out of your comfort zone because of something you were passionate about? Some thing that you did that was out of the ordinary? Maybe even considered extreme by others? Possibly dangerous? Let’s think about our Lord and Savior. Let’s think about Jesus for a moment. He had passion. He lived with it. He died with it. Movies and plays have been called The Passion. Go back in your mind to when he was on earth. Think about the things that he did that were extreme for that time. Would you have touched lepers? Would you now? Do you associate with “known” sinners? See where I’m going!

When I played and coached basketball, there was no doubt that I was going to leave everything I had on the floor when I was done. I gave it all that I had. I try to do that now with my family. I try to do that now with the ministry. I’m sure I come up short sometimes. But I still try my best. That’s what God wants for us. He wants us to live a life full of passion. Full of spirit. And he wants us to serve him in this manner. With all that we have! It’s easy for us to get caught up and going day by day. Paycheck to paycheck. Nothing wrong with keeping that in mind. But, maybe today would be a great day to start letting the Holy Spirit move your heart in a way it never has. Maybe today is a day to step out of your comfort zone and live life full of passion. Maybe today is a day to at least give it a try. Maybe today is the day…To love God passionately.

Easter Sunday! It’s here. This is the day that we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior. As believers, this is the most important day of the year. We are celebrating Jesus ascending to heaven. Going there to prepare a place for us. Waiting for us. All the while, he’s guiding us on earth. Watching over us. Giving us hope and joy. But, as we celebrate, let’s not forget what took place days before. The crucifixion.

Last night, the message at church was on the Four Calls of the Cross: Universality, Conviction, Compassion, and Forgiveness . I find it very fitting to share these today. It’s important for us to remember these things. These are the reasons why Jesus paid the ultimate price. So today, let’s work on these four things. Let’s follow the example led by Christ.

First, let’s be united. Let’s be united in serving one another. There is strength in numbers. Let’s be united in our mission to show others grace. Second, let’s follow our convictions. God‘s not going to stop convicting us. We can choose to act on it or not. Up to us. But, I suggest we follow our convictions. Third, let’s have compassion. Compassion towards one another. Let’s break our hearts and be open to serving others in this manner. Finally, forgiveness is the key. It’s the key to heaven. The key! What Jesus did on the cross for us was of his own doing. Not ours. We made the mess. He cleaned it up. He did so for us to be united with him. Universality, conviction, compassion, and forgiveness. All for us. All done on the Cross.

Today marks the Saturday after The Crucifixion. That moment when Jesus paid the ultimate price for us. Enduring a pain that we can never imagine. By now, Jesus has been placed in the tomb. But we know, that was temporary. He rose from the dead. Left the tomb empty. And ascended to heaven. All of this was done to give us a hope. To show us love. To pave the path. To prepare a place for us next to him. How humbling is that!

The sad reality is this though, none of this makes life easier for us on earth. We are still living in a human world. Everyone goes through difficult circumstances at one time or another. We find ourselves discouraged. Losing jobs. Our health taking a turn for the worse. Financial struggles. Relationships ending. Facing death. So many things. And it’s during those moments that we can lose sight on God. We can lose sight on the hope that he provides. I believe that is when Satan creeps in and tells us God is not there. Telling us that if God loved us so much, why would he allow us to struggle. He is the ultimate liar.

No matter what we are going through, let’s remember that this is temporary. Let’s remember that God promises hope and love. No matter the struggles, let’s remember these things. Just remember that eternity is waiting for us. Take rest knowing this. Let’s never turned a blind eye on the sacrifice Jesus made, but let’s always believe in the joy that awaits us. The pain and struggles we face or temporary. And they are nothing in comparison to what awaits us in heaven.

Today is Good Friday. Today is the day that we commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus. We commemorate his death. Today is the first day of a three day weekend in our country. Schools close. Offices close. Businesses close. Leading us to Easter Sunday. There’s no doubt that what Jesus went through had to have been terrible. The pain and suffering is beyond our imaginations. There’s no way that what he went through can be called what we say is “Good”. Then why is it that we call today Good Friday? If you don’t mind, I’ll give you my simple explanation.

As Christians, this has to be the most momentous weekend in history. Even more important than Christmas. Think about why it is that we are celebrating this weekend. What it is really about. This weekend is about three things: Jesus’s death, burial, and Resurrection! That’s it. Those three things. And those are for us. He died to pay the sacrifice for our sins. The ultimate sacrifice for our sins. So we can then inherit eternity with him. Read that again. He died so we can have eternity with him. Wow! This was an incredible victory over sin. A victory over death. A victory for us. And that is why it is “Good”.

Now, I would like to pose a more important question for you. I’m not saying that this is more important than his death. Or his resurrection. But it’s something that we must truly consider. As you read this, be honest with yourself. Be truthful. Analyze yourself. Look deep inside. Here it is, “What are you doing now…that honors Jesus?” We cannot sit back and let his final act on earth just be considered a final act. We must do all that we can do show others the importance of it. There’s one way to heaven. And that’s through Jesus. And there are people out there that don’t know this. There are people out there that do know this, but do not care. It’s our job to teach them. So as we go about celebrating this weekend, let’s remember what happened some 2000 years ago. Let’s keep that in our minds and in our hearts. And let’s do what we can to help others come to understand that too. Let’s remember that Jesus loves us so much, that he suffered for us, so we can be united with him.

Sometimes we catch ourselves getting caught up in doing things just to do them. It’s easy for that to happen. It’s a very busy world that we live in. Technology has made things easier. But it also has made things happen quicker. And with that, we find ourselves doing “more” things. There’s nothing wrong with being busy. We have heard the saying, “An idle mind is a dangerous mind.” But there is a danger if we’re not careful. The danger of being too busy is that we can lose sight of our relationship with God.

Sometimes we need to just sit back and take a moment to refocus. To make sure we keep our sights on God. Sometimes we need to simply reset. Reconnect. In the Bible, we learn about being still. I may be wrong, but I think that’s God‘s way of telling us to make sure that we are seeking him in all that we are doing. Because, it’s in that moment when we are sitting still, that we can truly turn our eyes towards God. Focus on listening to him. 

So today, let’s take inventory on what we are doing. Let’s make sure that we are not simply doing things to say we did them. This year, the ministry is focusing on keeping the mission on point. Simply striving to make sure that everything that we do is in line with showing hope, love, and a personal meaning that comes from God‘s grace. We can also align this mission in our personal lives. No matter what we are doing. We can always strive to show God‘s grace. Let’s make today the beginning of doing this. Let’s strive to listen to his voice every day. Because he loves us. He always has. He always will.

Most of us wake up each day, and we have a pretty similar schedule to what happened the day before. Especially during the work week. We wake up. Get ready. Have breakfast. Head to work. Next day. Repeat. Often times, our weekends can also seem to be a routine. Even though we get caught in the rhythm of repeating ourselves, I still believe we always have an end goal in mind. We keep in focus why it is we’re doing what we are doing. Everything is geared towards the purpose. The reason we’re doing it.

Today, Barbara and I are going to go to Sedalia, Missouri. And there is definitely a clear purpose for this trip. I have had issues with my hips for quite a while. Without going into great detail, my range of motion has decreased significantly over the past few months. Today’s trip is to go get stem cells put into both hips. I had this process done years ago on my shoulders. With great success. So the end goal today is to get this procedure done. Ultimately, we are hoping that the deterioration of my hips slows. Maybe even stops.

Our spiritual life should also have an end goal in mind. Our spiritual life should have a purpose. Our purpose should be to serve God. We should live our lives daily like this. Routine or not, we should follow the plan that God has in place for us. We should take steps each day towards the purpose. Towards the end goal. Obviously, we want to spend eternity in heaven with our Lord and Savior. But while getting there, I believe we should spend our time trying to show others who he is. That should be our purpose. Worshiping him. And showing others who he is. Whether we’re going to work each day. Or we spending the weekends relaxing. The end goal should be our focus.

This past Saturday, we hosted Operation Spoonbill. For those of you that don’t know, this is a fishing event we put on for veterans. Basically, you troll through the river or the lake trying to snag these fish. We had half a dozen boat captains and around 20 veterans there fishing. Two things about this day stuck out to me: Serving others and Snagging. Let me explain.

Jesus tells us to serve others. There are several reasons why. Here are a few. We do so to help them. To show them love. And to show them the grace that only comes from Jesus. Ultimately, trying to lead them to a relationship with Jesus as well. And that is what our boat captains did. Served others! Placed their needs before their own. Doing what they can to show them grace. 

Now, as you read this, realize that I am not saying anything negative about what we were doing. I think you will get the point. Snagging shows us something else. If we’re not careful, we can find ourselves in the traps of the evil one. If we’re not careful, we can find ourselves in a hopeless situation. He’s out there. Waiting for the opportunity to trap us. Often times, baiting us into traps. Other times, chasing after us. However he may be pursuing us, we must be vigilant and not get caught up in the snags. 

Now, here is something that’s even more incredible. If we do catch ourselves in the traps of evil one, Jesus will still be there to pull us away. To lead us out of the snags. He will not forsake us, even when we are undeserving. He is always there. Waiting for us to seek him. And he will accept us, even when we have gone astray. So maybe today is the day for you to seek him. Maybe today is a day for you to get out of the snags of the evil one. Maybe today is the day for you to receive the grace that only comes from Jesus. Make today…The Day.

As I have gotten older, I have gotten better at this one. Don’t get me wrong. I still have a long way to go. Probably something that I will be working on for the rest of my life. And I know many of us have a very difficult time with this. But, we have to work on getting bitterness out of our hearts. We have to work on getting it out of our hearts as soon as we begin to feel it. If we catch it early, it’s easier for us to move past it. If we let it sit, it will begin to fester. And then we will have a bigger mess just like a wound that has festered for a while.

Now…we might question why this is important. Why should we remove bitterness as much as we can? After all, we’re seeing people hold onto anger and hatred towards each other like never before. Even among some of our elected officials. We are seeing backbiting. We are seeing sabotaging. Deliberately trying to discredit each other. It’s a real ugliness. Not everyone is doing this. But we’re seeing enough, especially in the media, that it looks like it’s the majority. It may or may not be. That is not the point though. The point is, we need to do what we can to get out of our hearts. We need to move beyond it. But why?

We are called to serve others. We are called to love one another. We are called to look past the faults of others. We don’t have to like what they’re doing. We don’t have to agree with it either. And nothing says that we must say it is ok. But holding on to the bitterness, can overtake the joy in our hearts. Holding onto it doesn’t make the situation better. Actually, maybe just the exact opposite. Seeking revenge doesn’t solve anything. If we let it go, it releases us. We can move past it. If we can let it go, we can focus on much glorious things. Much more beautiful things. And that is such a Release! More than I can explain. So today, let’s work on releasing the bitterness. Let’s focus on Jesus. Let’s focus on joy. Let’s focus on love and serving others.

This morning, as I was reading, I came across an interesting question: Who is Jesus? It made me sit back and think for a second. Who do I think Jesus is? Who do I think he was? Then that leads me to ask you the same thing. Who do you think Jesus is? Who do you think he was?

Historians have proven that Jesus lived around 2000 years ago. We don’t question that. And the Bible teaches us about the miracles that he performed. We learn about the throngs of people that followed him around. Wait  for the moment to hear him speak or just to see him. The personal accounts of stories where he changed peoples lives. We read about him being a carpenter. A simple man. Leading a simple life. And more importantly, we read about him, and learn about him, being our Lord and Savior. He is the way, the truth, and the light. He is the key to our salvation. He is the one who died for us so we can inherit eternity with him.

So let’s go back to the questions I asked. And really think about this. Who do you say he is? Who do you believe he is? If you don’t have a relationship with him, maybe today is the day for you to start. Maybe today is the day to really dive into the Bible and learn about who Jesus was. To read more about the man that he was. Maybe today is the day for you to begin to know him. Really know him. To understand what he did for us. To know that he left paradise to come to earth to be human for us. That’s pretty powerful. To know that he paid the ultimate price for us. So maybe today is a day for you to go to your knees, and pray to him to show you who he is. To ask him into your heart. To ask him to guide you. Then I promise you, you will learn who he was. And you will learn who he is.

Growing up in a military family, we were constantly being moved. Missouri, Michigan, Colorado, Texas, Germany, etc. My mother and I counted one time. I had 25 different addresses in the first 15 years of my life. I remember being situated for two weeks, then being told to grab your things. Time to move. It was actually an exciting lifestyle. Everyone around us was doing the same thing. That’s just what we thought was normal.

It really wasn’t until we moved into the civilian world that I began to feel unaccepted. The first time I remember that was in Colorado. Although I tried and tried, I wasn’t accepted. I think it was because we lived off base while we were there. I didn’t relate to the civilian families. The second time I felt that, was when we moved back to Missouri. My father was medically discharged due to leukemia. Small-town clicks are hard to break into. Eventually, I was welcomed. It took a couple years. I was welcome, but…I’m not sure I was myself trying to fit into the crowd. It’s hard to look back at that time in my life and determine if I was being myself or not.

But just imagine with me for a moment. What must be like to constantly try to gain acceptance by others? No matter what you do, you are not welcome. No matter how you treat others, you are not welcome. You don’t meet their expectations. Although you try, and try, and try. It’s never enough. There are people going through that all the time. It is unfortunate. What we must realize is that we will only feel true personal satisfaction when we find our identities in God. His love for us will never waiver. We will always be welcome. So today let’s focus on God. Let’s pray to God. Let’s surrender to God. Let’s find our identities in God. And let’s feel welcome and have a real sense of personal satisfaction.