God Knows What He’s Doing

If you belong to God, you are God’s workmanship, knit together in your mother’s womb by the One that made the universe.  (Eph2:10 & Psalm 139:13)

Even before God made you, He knew you and He has and is preparing you for good works in the future and now.  He has a mission for you and listening to Him is vital to His leading you.

The first thing you have to listen to from Him is that you are special to Him and He has a plan for you.  It’s hard for Him to speak, lead, and guide you unless you believe that for your life.  Each of you are God’s kid if you belong to Him.   That’s pretty cool.

Your Father isn’t surprised by the things that happen and effect you.  We don’t understand, but if you understood everything, that would make you God.

Your job then, is to trust our Father in all things.  Even when we don’t understand.  He is shaping you for things that you have no clue about at this point.

When we don’t understand, we trust Him.  When we hurt, we lean on Him.  When we are confused, we take one step at a time as He leads us.

Psalm 73: 2-4 says,

“But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;
    I had nearly lost my foothold.
For I envied the arrogant
    when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

They have no struggles;
    their bodies are healthy and strong.

 

There will be things that happen that you don’t understand.  We don’t get the position that we wanted.  We get a bad diagnosis.  We are misunderstood.  All the while those that aren’t following Christ may seem to be getting ahead.  You can’t let that make you slip.  If you are following Christ, you have a foundation that will stand even when you are shaken.

The Psalmist says, “Whom have I in heaven but you?  And earth has nothing I desire besides you.  My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”  -Psalm 73:25-26

God made you for a purpose.  Never forget that and hang on forever.

April 16-The Most Important Day in My Life

Today, April 16, is the anniversary of the most important day in my life. I’ve had lots of awesome days since then.  Marla and I got married.  Rebecca, our first child was born.  We’ve been blessed with 4 other great kids since then.  I was baptized when I was 16. I’m a blessed guy if it all ended today.

The days that those events happened were all great blessings, but April 16th blows them all away for me.  In fact, I’m pretty convinced that April 16th made all of the other awesome days in my life a possibility.

I was 12 years old.  My friend, Barry Steelman, lived up the street.  The previous week, Barry asked me to get on the church bus in the neighborhood and go to church with him. 

It’s funny that we never know what following a simple act, led by God, can lead to in someone’s life. We were just two dumb kids hanging out and having fun. We had no idea that eternity was about to change for me and others. All this….. because a 12 year old kid invited a friend to church.

(The pic below, as embarrassing as it is, was us that year-5th grade.  That pic is at least proof that I did have hair earlier in my life.)

We climbed on the church bus that Sunday and I wasn’t sure what to expect.  What I found was several other kids that I knew and some adults that I didn’t know, but they seemed to really like us.  

Upon arriving at the church with a bus load of loud but happy kids, we were all ushered into a large room.  We sang some songs and then the speaker came up.  After sharing some Bible verses, he told us all something…. he told ME something that I had never heard before in my 12 years of life.  Jesus actually wanted to “Come into my heart” and be my friend.

I knew about and believed in God before that Sunday, but I had never heard that he wanted to be my friend.  I had always seen God as a cosmic sheriff that was only concerned about me being nice and listening to my parents.  The fact that the Creator of the universe actually cared about me never really crossed my mind until then.  I never knew that a person could be friends and be led by God.

Even though it all sounded good, it caught me by surprise and I sat there thinking but not moving when the invitation was given.  I wasn’t sure what was happening.  I only knew that it sounded good.

The next week, April 16th, I jumped on the church bus again.  When I went into the kid’s room for worship, I didn’t sit with Barry or any of my friends.  I sat in the back of the room and couldn’t wait until the end of the service.  I knew that’s when they would ask if anyone wanted to ask Jesus to “come into their heart” and those that responded would go out the back door.  I sat by the back door by myself.  I wanted what they talked about and went to church on a mission that week.

I asked Christ into my life that week.  I can honestly say that my life has never been the same since that day.  Most of the decisions that I’ve made since then have been shaped by my relationship with God that began that day.

My relationship with God has shaped who I married, how I do my job, and my attitudes towards others.  God has shaped my convictions that I live by today.  April 16th is the reason that I invite people to church, talk to my kids about God, and have been remained sane for most of my life.  lol

April 16th has made me a better person than I would have been without Christ in my life.  If you think I’m a jerk, think of what I would have been without Christ.  (That’s a joke- but actually true.)

I remember that day like it was yesterday.  I found out it was April 16 because I went back to the church when I was in college and they actually found the card that was filled out that day that recorded my decision.  The adult that talked to me was Scott Marshall.  I found Scott years later and thanked him.

April 16 was made possible by a 12 year old kid that invited his friend to church.  April 16th was possible because of some adults who listened to God’s leading and decided to let Him use them on a mission that wasn’t always convenient for them.  They drove the bus, set up the room, and just did what they felt like God was leading them to do.  I’m sure it wasn’t convenient.  I’m thankful they let God lead them to reach a kid that they didn’t know and tell him about God that day.  I’m thankful that Barry asked me to go to church with him.

Most of all, April 16th was made possible by a God that loved me so much that He sent His only Son to die on a cross so that I could live.

I’ve spent most of the rest of my life trying to let God use me so that others can have their own April 16th.

(Barry and I recently- We’re a little older now.)

2017: Books I Read This Past Year

Every January, since 2012, I’ve made a list of the books that I read the past year.  The list contains some titles that I listened to audibly through Audible.com and it contains some that I read the old fashioned way.  Some were really good and a couple were duds that I don’t recommend.  Some were Christian books and some were business books.

My favorite books out of these 19 include “Devine Direction”, “Through The Eyes of A Lion,” “Swipe Right”, and “The Last Arrow.”  My favorite non-Christian books this year was “The Captain’s Class”, which is a leadership book and “The Power of Broke.”

Here’s this year’s list:

1.  “Give and Take” by Adam M. Grant:  This book was a very boring business book but it did have some good principles.  Basically, if you serve others and don’t worry about yourself, good things will come back to you.  Some people are givers and some are takers.  Be a giver.  That’s all you need to know about this book.  (That’s actually how I run my real estate business.)
2. “You Are A Bad ____”, by Jen Sincero:  Author tries in a very crass and unnecessary way (As the title suggests) to encourage you to believe in yourself more.  The was recommended by a business blog that I read but I don’t recommend this one at all.  There are many business books better than this one.
3. “Through The Eyes of a Lion”, by Levi Lusko:  Luskos first book was very moving and inspiring.  He tells the pain of his daughter’s passing and how God helped himself and his wife through the pain.  This book is excellent and I will now read just about anything that Levi Lusko releases.
4. “Divine Direction,” by Craig Groeschel:  This may be Craig’s best book yet.  If you’re looking for God’s leading, read this book.  I’m going to read it again.
5. “Swipe Right:  The Life and Death of Sex and Romance”, by Levi Lusko:  I meant what I said about reading anything Levi Lusko releases.  I loved this book too.  God’s dreams for your life are not meant to kill your joy but enhance it.  This book helps everyone see what God’s view of sex really is.
6. “The Power of Broke:  How Empty Pockets, a Tight Budget, and a Hunger for Success Can Become Your Greatest Competitive Advantage,” by Diamond John:  The author shares how he became successful and also shares the stories of other entrepreneurs that became successful.  He stresses that if you really hunger for success, you won’t stop until you get it.  Really good book.
7. “Seven Mile Miracle,” by Steven Furtick:  This wasn’t my favorite Furtick book, which surprises me.  I may go back through this one again.  Maybe my mind wasn’t right for this one at the time.
8. “This Is Our Time:  Everyday Myths In Light Of The Gospel”,  by Trevin Wax:  The author calls the church to maintain it’s distinctiveness from the world.  We’re called to be different.  Thoughtful book.
9. “Love is the Killer App”,  by Tim Sanders:  This is a business book.  Sanders encourages everyone to become a “Love Cat”, which means you devour as much knowledge from books as you can, network like crazy, and share as much knowledge as you can with others.  He encourages those in business to do whatever they can to spread the love to others in business situations.
10. “If You Can Keep It,” by Eric Mataxas:  Mataxas points out that the founding fathers were very much devoted to the Christian faith and founded our nation on those principles.  We must keep our thinking in line with our nation’s founders or our nation will become a very different place than they intended it to be.
11. “Walking from East To West”, by Ravi Zacharias:  This book is the story of the author, detailing his early life and how he came to be a world famous Christian apologist.  Very interesting to hear of his upbringing in India and his transformation to a life in Christ.
12. “Parting the Waters:  America in The King Years 1954-63” by Taylor Branch:  This book is very interesting and tells of the struggles of African Americans as Dr. Martin Luther King led the nation for civil rights.  I’m glad I read this one.
13. “No God But One:  Allah or Jesus”, by Nabeel Qureshi:  I read this one right after hearing of the author’s death from cancer.  He shares more about the differences between Allah and Jesus.  He comes from the point of view of a former Muslim.  I really hated to hear about his passing away.  Nabeels other book, “Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus” is one of my all time favorite books.
14. “The Seven Levels of Communication”, by Michael J. Maher:  This is a Real Estate Business book and I enjoyed it very much.  Written as a story, the book outlines how I already strive to lead my real estate business.  I read this book as part of a small group of Real Estate agents and was encouraged by this book and the experience.
15. “The Captain Class:  The Hidden Force That Creates the World’s Greatest Teams”, by Sam Walker:  The author takes look at some of the greatest teams, led by great captains.  The captains weren’t always the best players on the team but they had that little extra something that helped their teams to greatness.  This book was hard to put down!
16. “Play The Man”, by Mark Batterson:  Batterson is one of my favorite authors.  In this book, he challenges men to be men and led by God.  If you’re a man, read this one!
17. “The Last Arrow,” by Erwin McManus:  Erwin takes a passage in scripture and uses it to encourage us to live for the day and squeeze every drop out of life.  Don’t leave any regrets behind.  Give life all you’ve got.  I loved this one.
18. “Killing Kryptonite”, by John Bevere:  I couldn’t get into this one and don’t think I even finished it.  I tried!
19. “From Darkness to Sight”, by Dr. Ming Wang:  I had heard Dr. Wang speak a few times and met him, so I decided to read his book.  Dr. Wang overcame great odds to accomplish all that he has in his life.

Can Christians Say “SH**!”?

One of the first spiritual decisions that I remember making as a new Christian kid in the 7th grade concerned my mouth.  Even though I did a pretty good job at hiding my language from the adults in my life, my language did not reflect the Christ that I was then claiming to represent.

 

I realized that if I wanted to reflect Christ I needed to clean up my words so I asked my friend, Mike, to hit me in the arm anytime I cursed.  (I didn’t realize it at the time but that was my introduction into peer accountability.)

The bruised arm eventually worked and I didn’t have to worry any longer about slipping up and saying a 4 letter expletive in the presence of an adult or teacher.

If I’m honest, I have to admit that every once in a while if I slam my hand in a door or if a crazy person dares to get in my way while I’m driving something may slip out.  More often than that, I’m very liable to think a bad word even if I don’t say it.  I’m not proud of that, but it’s true.

Now that all of that is on the table, here’s something that I just don’t get:  What’s the deal with those who say they are Christians flaunting their sin these days, like cursing, and nonchalantly chalking it up to “nobody’s perfect” or “Jesus loves sinners”?  (Sadly, it seems there are those that claim to follow Jesus flaunting any sin you can imagine these days.  I’m just picking on language right now.).

The truth is that Jesus does love sinners and nobody is perfect, including me, but that doesn’t give us a license to curse like sailors.  I know.  I know.  Some people accept Christ and they just have a habit.  I get that.  I just told you that was the case with me.  What I’m talking about is those who just accept that as a part of their life and carry one.

I’ve seen tweets from a well known worship leader cursing like that’s just the cool thing to do and he’s proud of it.  Sometimes we can actually become too cool for God in our quest for “cool”.

God wants to take us from where we are to where God wants us to be.  If anyone doubts that God wants us to let Him clean up our language, there are lots of scriptures that support that.  (Ephesians 4:29, Ephesians 5:4, James 1:26, James 3:10)

If we are following Christ, we’re supposed to be encouraging and lifting others up.  What I’ve found is that most of the time when someone uses these words, that’s not what’s happening.  In fact, those that use them constantly  seem to be unhappy people in a lot of ways.  That make me sad more than anything.

No one is perfect but that doesn’t mean that we should just stay in the same gutter that we were in when we met God.  If we follow Christ, He is calling us to something more.

2016: Books I Read This Year

This year I listened to more podcasts and read a few less books than years’ past.  Some of the books I read the old fashioned way and some of the books, I listened to through Audible.com.

I tend to read books in a couple of different categories.  I enjoy reading business books.  I find they help me be a better Real Estate Agent and they also help me to be a better pastor.  My favorite business book this year is probably “Extreme Ownership.”  This book tells stories that the author experienced as a Navy Seal.  He then relates them to business applications.  I think I love this book because I respect Navy Seals and I found it very interesting and applicable.

Another type of book that I enjoy are biographies that relate a person’s life with their faith.  I enjoy hearing their struggles and how they grew in their faith as a result.  That was
the case with “Shaken,” by Tim Tebow.  I’m a Gator Hater but as a believer in Christ, it’s hard not to like and admire Tim Tebow.  He is honest in this book about what he has learned in finding his identity in Christ, as opposed to finding it in the world.  He also shares about some of the people that he’s been blessed to know that have gone through trials.  Tebow is very honest about his walk, struggles, and faith, which is refreshing.

I also enjoyed “With My Eyes Wide Open” and “Save Me From Myself” by Brian “Head” Welch, guitarist for band, Korn.  Welch is also very honest about his journey to Christ.  By the time I was finished with the book, I felt like I knew Brian personally.

Other books that stand out to me from the list:  “Wild Goose Chase,” “The Pastor’s Kid,” & “Unashamed.”  (Two of the books on the list are “Unashamed”.  Both are good, but I prefer Lecrae’s book.)

1.  “Outliers”, Malcolm Gladwell

2.  “If”, Mark Batterson

3.  “I am N”, Voice of the Martyrs

4.  “Wild Goose Chase”, Mark Batterson

5.  “Extreme Ownership”, Leif Babin, Jocko Willink

6.  “The Measure of a Man”, Gene Getz

7.  “The Sons of Liberty:  The Lives and Legends”, Bill O’Reilly

8.  “The Pastor”, Eugene Peterson

9:  “Unashamed”, Lecrae Moore

10.  “The Most Excellent Way To Lead”, Perry Noble

11.  “Amish Grace”, Donald Kraybill, Steven M. Not

12. “Peculiar Glory”, John Piper

13. “Unashamed”, Christine Caine

14. “Through the Eyes of A Lion”, Levi Lusko

15. “All Roads Lead to Heaven”, Robert Jeffries

16. “Got The Life”, Fieldy

17. “Save Me From Myself”, Brian Welch

18. “Answering Jihad”, Nabeel Quereshi

19. “God’s Smuggler”, Brother Andrew

20. “The Sons of Liberty”, Bill O’Reilly

21. “Kidnapped By The Taliban”, Dillip Joseph

22.”The Pastors Kid”, Barnabas Piper

23. “Help My Unbelief”, Barnabas Piper

24. “Think and Grow Rich”, Napolean Hill

25. “Shaken”, Tim Tebow

There’s not a bad book in the group.  Honestly, if I start a book and it bores me, I don’t finish it and it’s not on the list!

If A Christian Converts to Islam, Does He Go To Heaven?

I had a friend recently ask me the question, “If a person accepts Christ, is baptized, and then converts to Islam, does he still go to heaven?”

That’s a tough question.  There are two schools of thought and interpretation of the Bible by Christians and I think they both end up with the same conclusion.

This is very similar to asking “if a person is once saved, are they always saved” or “can a person loose their salvation.”  There are scripture passages that can argue both cases for these questions so instead of providing all of the Scriptures, let’s just take a moment and assume that each is true.

If salvation can be lost, as the Assembly of God and other denominations believe, then person was a Christian but they lost their salvation.  They denied Christ and they are no longer going to heaven.  They have tasted the goodness of God and turned their back on Him when they became a Muslim.

If salvation is eternally secure and there is nothing you can do to loose it once you have it, as Southern Baptists and others believe, the person never really had eternal life to begin with.  Though it may have looked from outward appearances that he knew God, you cannot really know God and totally turn your back on Him, as in becoming a Muslim.  This isn’t to say that you are perfect or that Christians don’t make dumb mistakes.  It’s just that they repent when they do and return to Jesus.

I could perhaps even see a case where maybe a believer in Christ was misled, “flirted” with Islam or another religion, and was led back to the True God.  Jesus said that if we seek Him, we will find Him.

In either of these cases, a person who “converts” to Islam and never returns though they have opportunity and time, either never knew Jesus or doesn’t know Him anymore.  The result is the same.

 

 

Heaven: Who Gets To Go?

I had a friend ask me the question, “If a person asks Christ into his life, is baptized, and then converts to Islam, does he go to heaven?”

I have to say real quick that I’m not the gatekeeper of heaven.  All I know is what the Bible says.  I believe it is God’s Word and I believe it has the answers, so that’s where I go for most answers like this.

There are actually two ways to get to heaven, according to the Bible.  Before you burn me at the stake, hear me out.

2 Ways To Heaven

1.  Perfection:  This is the first way to get to heaven.  If you’re perfect, you get to go!  Yay!  Now here’s the bad news…only Jesus was perfect.  Everyone else has been born into sin so they aren’t perfect.  Even the best person that you can think of was born into sin so that rules the first option out.
2. Jesus:  The Bible says that the wages of sin is death.  Jesus also said, “I am THE way, THE truth, and THE life.  NO MAN COMES TO THE FATHER BUT THROUGH ME.”  (John 14:6)  The one perfect person is the only one that could pay the debt for our sin and Jesus did that.  He offers eternal life to us as a gift.    All we have to do is admit that we’re sinners (Romans 3:23), believe in our hearts that Jesus paid our price and was raised from the dead (Romans 10:9-10), and give our life to Him.

The question now is, “can a Muslim go to heaven? ”  A Muslim believes that Jesus was a prophet, not the Savior.  He believes that Muhammad is the greatest prophet.  Muslims do not believe that Jesus should be worshipped and most believe that Jesus didn’t die on the cross.  Their faith is in Allah and they have to please Allah and keep his commandments to be saved.

Even though there are some good Muslims who are neighbors, just like there are other good people, the Bible says that the way to God is narrow and only a few will enter through it.  I didn’t make this stuff up.  It’s above my pay grade.  I can only go by what God’s Word says.

If we don’t follow Jesus, we spend eternity away from God.

For the second part of my friend’s question, check out my next blog post.

 

 

Memories & Lessons Learned From Sugar

 

It’s always surprising to me who is there when you need them and who isn’t. My dog, Sugar, was one of those “always there” friends. In fact, she was good for a snuggle for each person in our family when we needed it. We lost her today after 16.5 years.

Sugar taught me more about God than most people that I know. Here are a few examples:

Disobedience

During our first year with Sugar, she was WILD! As fast and beautiful as a deer running and jumping, she continually jumped our 6 foot privacy fence. That act was always followed by me, Marla, Rebecca, and little Matthew chasing her all over the neighborhood. Once I caught her after an hour or so of humiliation and chasing, I would take a newspaper to her rear. That didn’t work too well.

(Daniel and Sugar when they were about 3 and then at around age 14)

A friend (Thanks Rick Theobald) then said, “If you knew that you were going to get the newspaper, would you come or just keep running?” He suggested “throwing a party” with her, including plenty of hugs and rubs when I finally caught her. It worked!

Love had more effect on her than hardcore discipline and unkind words. She wanted to please me.  Once I got that figured out, she would follow me anywhere and always came running when I called. People can be like that too if you love and encourage them. Lesson learned.

Watching Her Master

When I walked into a room where Sugar was, I automatically had her undivided attention. She would raise her head and was attentive to only me, watching my every move and waiting for me give her the command to come with me. Usually she wouldn’t even move until I told her to do that. She loved just being with me.

It was like she was always just waiting to hear my will. She wanted to know it and she wanted to follow me. If I was going to walk in the backyard or neighborhood, she came. If I was going to the car, she would jump in on my command. She would sit, roll over, stay, or even get my morning coffee. (Ok. That last one was an exaggeration.) She did it all because she loved me.

 

I desire more than anything to be that focused on my Master and want His will. I want to go when He says go and follow His commands. I’m not always as focused as Sugar. I can get distracted from my Master sometimes. Sugar was an example to me on how to relate to my Master and Creator.

Tender With The Weak

Sugar loved the kids. She was very high energy but Daniel used to actually lay on her as a toddler. She didn’t care. They were almost like twins. They were only about 6 months apart in age. I used to say that they were identical twins and you couldn’t tell them apart unless they were walking.

She was also protective and had an uncanny ability to know who was friends and who really wasn’t supposed to be at our house. She would put herself in between the kids and danger. I saw that several times. She was a protector and a shepherd of kids, in a sense.

Even in her later years without teeth, she was willing to “gum” to death any intruder that she perceived as a threat to the kids.  (Since her teeth were pretty much gone.)

As I lead my family and my church, she was a great example to me. There is an enemy that wants to destroy those that belong to Him. I am the shepherd, appointed by the Shepherd. I pray that I am as attentive in protecting my flock against the wolves as Sugar was.

Last Days

Sugar’s last days were tough. She had to drag her hind legs to walk. Her food seemed to go right through her and she looked like skin and bones. She couldn’t hear but she would still follow my command to “come.” Because she had grown deaf, I had to begin motioning for her and she would respond, although a lot slower than she used to.  It was like she didn’t want to leave us.  16.5 years is a really long life for a boxer.

On one occasion during the snow this past winter, Sugar went out to use the bathroom. She wandered into the neighbor’s yard and had trouble getting back because the snow was so deep and it was snowing so hard. When I found her, she had actually just laid down in the snow. I think she was giving up at that point. She would have frozen to death if I had not gone to her.

I went through the snow to her and with my encouragement, she decided to keep trying to get home. She got up from the snow and followed me to the warm house. Lesson from Sugar: Sometimes our friends need our encouragement to keep going.

Today I had to help her into the car for our last car ride and our last walk together. We laid in the grass a while, together hung out in a field, and then we walked together to the vet from the field next door to the church.

As always, no leash was needed. She followed me slowly when I gave the motion to “come” as we walked to the vet’s office. (I felt alot like Abraham must have felt as he walked up the mountain to sacrifice Issac to God.  Issac had no idea what was happening but he followed his dad.  Sugar followed me because I asked her to, just like always.)

She went to sleep as I rubbed her. She was a good dog. She was a good friend.  I will miss her.

2015 Books I Read

I’m a little late this year in publishing my list of books that I read this year.  The number of books that I read is also down a little bit.  I usually read or listen to about 25-30 books in a year.  This year I enjoyed 23 books.  Here’s the list:

1.  Jesus Prom, John Weece
2.  Mere Christianity, CS Lewis
3.  Before Amen, Max Lucado
4.  The Energy Bus, Jon Gordon
5.  Dreamers and Deceivers, Glen Beck
6.  Jesus:  Pure & Simple, Wayne Cordiero
7.  Point Main, Steve Farrar
8.  Zillow talk, Spencer Rascoff
9.  Tender Warrior, Stu Weber
10.  Dinner With A Stranger, David Gregory
11.  Jesus, Jihad & Peace, Michael yousef
12.  The Advantage, Patrick Linceoni
13.  10 Answers For Atheists, Alex McFarland
14.  3 Big Questions for Frantic Families, Patrick Lencioni
15.  Hiding In The Light, Rifqa Bary
16.  God, Guns, Grits & Gravy
17.  Truly Free, Robert Morris
18.  Defeating Isis, Michael Weiss, Hassan Hassan
19.  Prescription For Life, Richard Furman
20.  Killing Reagan, Bill O’Reilly
21.  Cracking Your Church’s Culture, Samuel R. Chand
22.  Culture Shock, Chip Ingram
23.  It IS About Islam, Glen Beck

My favorites from this year are probably:

• Hiding In The Light, Rifqa Bary:  Biography of a teenager in the U.S. that accepted Christ against her Muslim family’s wishes.  The book goes on to tell how she felt her life was in danger so she sought emancipation from her parents so she could live out her faith.
• 10 Answers For Atheists, Alex McFarland:  Great read if you like studying apologetics.
• It IS About Islam, Glen Beck:  Beck shares the real danger of Islam that the media will not share.

 

 

Take A Step!

Sometimes when you’ve sought God, prayed, and asked for wisdom you still may not know what to do.  You may just need to take a step!

https://vimeo.com/119368160