outkicking our coverage 2019

Our nation was created with the admiration and fear of one true God and the respect for each other..... but now has decided God should only be in the churches.  We have gotten too wealthy, too proud, too shielded from the rest of the world.  Even people in government housing and some prisons live better than middle class in most countries.  When God is removed, people no longer serve each other.. but their own needs and wants.

The U.S. has outkicked its coverage and let the ONE reason we were so blessed become something our judges' rule against, politicians turn their heads when Christians and Jews are persecuted and think that we can govern 325 million free people without being led by God.  Each writing's purpose is to help people realize how blessed we are, pull back where we are overstepping boundaries and focus on the people around us that are in need.

The Truth about Eggs and Bacon - December

​It seems appropriate to end the theme .. Outkicking our Coverage with a common misconception.  In November I wrote about the illusion of control.... but I feel like there is more to it.

It is not just people who don't believe in God that seek control.... it is absolutely everyone.  So, as I wrap up 2019.... and ponder what theme to use for 2020.... I hope you will consider letting go your issues to God that you can't control.
 
The one and only thing you control is your own decisions and actions.  That is what God has graciously provided as what you control.  And while your making your decisions, hopefully the two most important commandments from Jesus are taken into consideration.  (Loving the Lord with all your heart and loving your neighbors).   Feeling better?, I'm not! 

As much as we want to puff up and own something.... we don't control our parents, spouses, kids, pets, job, boss, neighbors, kids' coaches, schoolteachers ...... and the list is anything but your own actions.  Not the weather, not your car, not your HVAC or roof... city or county water.  Notice I did not say you control you, because you don't control sickness, cancer, your heart.... you can try, but not really.  Great, sit back and let the Lord drive... um, no.  

God gave us free will so we can be free to follow God or not.  We decide to be diligent with his blessings, show peace in good and bad times to others, treat others with love and do the best you can.  God knows you can't let go and that you will certainly try to control most things..... your going to suffer because of it.... it is hard to try and control everything... there are endless people to blame and complain about.   

In Iron Forums (www.ironforums.org) this week, an analogy was used to determine between people that still try to control and people who have truly surrendered to God..... it's as easy as eggs and bacon.  The chicken has committed to give eggs, but the pig has surrendered all.   I am going on 45 years of trying to control as much as I can.... I pray a lot more and I ask God for wisdom.. and for help, but I am still more of a chicken than a pig. 
 
So, this Christmas season when your about to blow your top at Cousin Eddie or another family member....stop laying eggs and eat some ham, surrender... and just love them.
Merry Christmas and on to 2020!

2 Timothy 1:7
7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.


John 13:34
And now I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.


Ephesians 4:2-6
2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.



​

Control, the illusion of truth - november

​This is a tough one to simplify .... but I'll try.
 
Make no mistake, on earth .... the country or person who has control, has the power.  There are very powerful countries, companies and people that don't have much control... so don't confuse power and control.  A massive lion in a cage is powerful, but no control.

Control is the ultimate earthly goal for people without spiritual direction.  We see this all around us in business and personal relationships.  Look at the US congress.... powerful people, but all of them are losing their marbles to grasp at being in total control.  People like this refuse to work together if others have different views or opinions.
 
Those in total control, the truth does not matter to them because the truth is what they stay it is.  Anyone with a deep relationship with God knows that we are certainly not in control of our life, other people or our earthly possessions... and the real Truth comes from the Word (Bible).   We know that we should praise God for the good and the bad.... and understand we are all given different abilities, experiences and personalities to use for his glory.  God is always fair but people still think they can play God and control life.  The Bible makes it clear that from our decisions, we can please God, make God mad.... or even change the direction of God's plans through our prayers.
 
The point is to acknowledge that God's plan is the one we should be seeking and following (seeking truth).  The rest of our actions should fall into line with loving the Lord and loving one another... Jesus's two commandments that should be the basis for everything else.  We can certainly operate a job, family and function in society while doing our best to carry out God's wishes.  This no more shields a person from earthly disaster or props them up for success than anyone else in this life... but accepting Jesus and seeking him does guarantee a ticket to Heaven.  The "How" is clear, but the "Why" for each person and "When" will have to wait until God is ready.
 
The mysteries of God are not available to men, no-one can explain why the faithful and unfaithful see different levels of success and failure, why great and terrible things happen to both... and why faith comes easier to some.   One mystery we do know is that every event, war or disaster ultimately has a purpose for moving mankind towards God's plan.  A forest fire kills almost everything... but resets for all new growth.
 
So, we can control our spiritual future.. that has been defined and cemented by Christ.  It is our time on this earth that we only control our actions, not really anything else.  The Human reaction is that we don't know what is after death and we most certainly can control things on earth.  I think God's view is the opposite, you were born with an eternal soul and the only thing that you will take with you when you die.... is the actions/decisions you made while living that will define your path after death.
 
Mark 8:36
36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?
 
Life is tough and certainly not fair in our eyes..... it's Gods plan vs your plan...... which one will you seek?

2 Corinthians 5:10
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
​

Luke 16:10-11
“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?”


Colossians 3
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.  5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.

How the book ends - october

​How valuable would it be to know how the game ends, how the book ends and how life ends?  The Bible tells us how things end for the current earth and Heaven.... and how a new Heaven and earth are established.  For every person who has accepted Christ as their savior, it is very clear what happens.  We know that Christ returns - Revelation 1:7, every person will be judged and the new Heaven and earth will be established - Revelation 21.  We know that no person knows when - Matthew 24:36.  
 
Since we know the end.... what is the direction for us with the time we are blessed to have on earth?   Jesus was asked this question and his answer was:
Matthew 22:37-40.   37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.  40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
 
How could life be so simple in an increasingly complex world?
I recently watched the movie - Paul, Apostle of Christ (2018) free on Xfinity... this movie paints a grave picture of choices that early Christians had in Rome and an overwhelming theme that these Christians showed love to those who were killing their families.  They got it.. understood it.

The U.S. has long forgotten about our own history and Biblical history.  Our history is a country based on God and his blessings..... Biblical history shows clearly what happens when nations move away from God.  We are not far away from early times in Rome.
 
Folks, stop watching TV and read the bible... it has all the answers... look at 2 Timothy 3... it explains current times.  Do we not shake our heads more and more every day at the actions of people and our government?  They are the actions of people whose god is power and money; they have either no morals and ignore anything that does not have a benefit for themselves.  Is it no wonder the farther we get away from Jesus's most important two commandments.... the more it seems our society is breaking down.  
 
Amongst the madness, let's all get it..... let's understand it's all about the two commandments that Jesus says everything is dependent upon.

2 Timothy 3:1-5
3 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.


Revelation 1:7
7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail[a] on account of him. Even so. Amen.


Revelation 21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place[a] of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people,[b] and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

All right now - september

​In the early 1980s, the supreme court and other courts ruled on several cases against keeping the 10 commandments and other Biblical scripture in federally funded places.  This fight had been waging for some time... but what followed was a couple of decades where the federal government started taking control of areas that churches and communities had previously handled.  All sizes of cities, the churches understood the hunger, existing government housing and other needs of the community... and did a good job with managing the situations.   To keep it short, our government stepped in and said "we can do this better than churches can, we don't want anyone to have Christianity forced on them", so a massive amount of money was and still is appropriated for food stamps, housing, medical, education for those without... but not a trace of God in any of these programs.  So, what happens when you remove God and his works like the 10 commandments?  You have a nation, 40 years later... with huge metro areas with crime, homelessness, hunger and massive costs that no state can afford.  You have a nation with every age, religion, sex, gender, national origin and political affiliation against each other without a hint of respect.
It is what happens when the grace of God is provided, massive prosperity follows, just a few generations later... the leaders and people forget God and think they control the prosperity..... and the most powerful countries crumble from within.
 
We are there.... no-one wants to sacrifice now for the future....returning to God would mean people and government taking responsibility for their actions.... we are in an "All Right Now" society.   We want immediate positive results for our actions, but still expect immediate grace for our sins.

This is the same dilemma for each person, will you sacrifice/suffer now to show people respect that do not show it back?.... will you share our God with others that mostly return hatred, jealousy and greed?   Will you realize that you don't control your prosperity without the wisdom/blessings of God?

The future is very bright for those who fear, follow and trust in the Lord to be the most important focus of their life.

Matthew 10:32-33
32 So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, 33 but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.


Proverbs 21:2 
2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts.



2 Timothy 4
1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

Your kids are watching - august

Like most things in life, the more you do certain activities... the better you get.  Sports, cooking, work... maybe not parenting, but sometimes!  Rat race society and TV pulls important time away from us...... we simply do not think about needing God until there is some negative event (medical issue, death in family, job loss, divorce...something dramatic that shakes us to the core).... it is never a bad time to refocus on God, but why not focus on him all the time instead of when the world is crumbling?   Sooner or later, your kids will show a lot of the characteristics that they witnessed from you..... give them the spiritual base to deal with life's ups and downs.
 
The top three ways to start growing spiritually:
1. Praying alone
2. Reading the Bible alone
3. Group setting to pray and study.. learn from others
 
It is rare for the magic to happen or for your spiritual wisdom to be enhanced if your not spending time being spiritual.  I have mentioned before; we need to take small but secure steps each day/week to intentionally be closer to the Word of God.  I believe that once we are closer to God, our eyes are opened to how we can best help others and we are provided clarity to the real meaning of our life.   If you want a place to start, pray 5-10 minutes each day... pray for your family, wisdom, and then pray for the range of people ... starting with the ones you don't like and finish with the ones you do like.  

Get through a week and add reading one page of the Bible each day... if you are not sure, start with the book of John.  It is not easy to start... and harder to keep, but it does remind us that we need to have our priorities in line.  Involve your kids in your routine.... it might be one of the best things you ever do.

Matthew 22:36-39
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.

Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
 
1 Timothy 6:18-19
18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

spiritual trampoline - july

​Our spiritual life is almost guaranteed to have its ups and downs.... lessons learned and achievements enjoyed.  Hard issues and hard times visit all of us, so remember during the tough moments, days and even years that God is in control.  I call it the spiritual trampoline where the weights of the world push people down so they can better understand others with similar issues, seek God in tough times and spring higher once those weights are lifted.  Each journey is different as some people have small ups and downs.... and some have lives that go very low and high over and over.  Some of the most amazing people overcame persecution, extreme poverty, illness, drugs and other issues to promote God and his word.  I believe the only true way to remove issues is to give them to God and allow him to lift you up to pursue his plan for you.  Luckily, not everyone has to hit rock bottom with major problems to spring up.  In most cases, the worst things that happen in life are the things that eventually lead to a person becoming closer to God and a better life.
 
Worrying is the most common weight people carry during life.  Erick Erickson (talk show host in ATL) in one of his commercials for a heart attack medicine... says his motto is "why pray when you can worry"..... I'll say he was making fun of himself for why he had a heart-attack at a young age.  In May, I wrote (Remember Why) about why we are here in the first place..... and that goes along with this writing that we were created to trust God with our issues, pray for wisdom and go about our day.  God allows us to make decisions, bold ones too.... and sometimes we will be right and other times we will be wrong.  Please remember that doing the right thing does not mean it will be popular.   We are expected to trust God when thing go right or wrong in our lives.  We change, God does not.
 
Lately I am struggling with praying for a person who runs a Christian business and other ministries....he used that Christian calling card to attract business, deceive other Christians into helping him get business.... then stole the money, committing many felonies in the process.  I don't want to pray for him... I want him to pay in many ways.  There are few things that anger me more than someone hurting others by using Christ as the calling card.  It is a great example how we can carry the anger with us.....or we can pray for wisdom, take any actions that are in our control and give the rest of it to God.  If we keep the weight, it will not allow us to spring higher. 
 
There are a couple of lessons that stuck out to me this month:
1. Stay willing to always do what you feel is the Christian way to act....... "Willing" is the key cause right things can turn out wrong on the road to understanding Gods plan
2. God expects us to forgive others because he provided a way for each of us to be forgiven.  If we expect to continually be forgiven by God... then he certainly expects us to be able to forgive others.

Philippians 4:6-7
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Proverbs 3:5-6
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Dazed and confused - June

​I have been more and more surprised at people this month... for some reason I am digging a little deeper with people to understand how they spend their time (work, family, hobbies, free time).  Usually a person is complaining about weather, job, money... other people.. and it just gets interesting how their time is spent in relation to their issues.  Surprising to find that people are complaining about other people but have never tried to understand or help them...... complaining about a job but are not looking for other opportunities or try to change how they do their current job..... and a common theme is where people want good things to happen in their life... but are angry about how life is going.... angry about how other people are in better situations..... and just can't come to a peaceful place.  They are absolutely dazed and confused to the point where they would rather be miserable than change what they do.
 
I believe that every bit of our wisdom comes from God..... it is a blessing to have and he wants us to use the wisdom, clarity and abilities given to share his love and message with others.  That is the point of him providing people the abilities in the first place.  You and I can't snap dazed and confused people out of their situations... but we can share the fact that if they pray for wisdom each day.... that God is the only one that can provide the abilities for them to change it.  If they refuse and choose to rely solely on themselves.... then they will hit rock bottom at some point and hopefully remember your attempt to help.
 
So, this is where this topic always goes....a person says, well.... if God is going to provide me wisdom, then he either gives me enough to make good decisions or he does not.... I'm not in control, so I'm not responsible for my failures or achievements.  What a great 2019 answer, where no responsibility exists.  We won't solve the destiny/fate vs. freedom of choice debate but I'll share my thoughts.  God will provide for you to a point where you either choose to believe/follow/worship him OR you choose to worship something else (yourself, money, power, drugs, control).   It has never been more evident on earth that each person is pushed to make that choice.

1 Kings 3
5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”
6 Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.
9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”
10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. 11 So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, 12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. 13 Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings.

remember why - may

 I feel like this month needs to be short and to the point.  It is HOT and with kids out of school... time and patience are limited for all.
 
It is very difficult for people to take interest in God over their everyday life activities.  The reason is about immediate results... you can get a paycheck, eat good food, solve a crossword puzzle on your phone... and there is an immediate result you can touch, taste or see.  Spiritual benefit from praying, reading the bible, helping others and sharing God with others is often not immediate and you may not ever know the earthly result......it takes faith that those are actions that ultimately bring an eternal benefit.

From the start to the finish of the Bible, there are accounts of prophets asking/begging the people to listen and follow Gods commandments (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, many others) and then Jesus (perfect example)…..followed by the disciples spreading Christ's teachings.
 
The prophets/disciples would be saying the same thing if they were here in 2019 as they did 2,000+ years ago.  
Remember Why we are here in the first place?  God made us... and we each have a purpose....it is our amazing choice to pursue God's will or our own.  I really believe that most of us have to slowly change the way we think throughout each day, start to pray more often for others, open our eyes where we can help others and little by little.... it will be more about God's glory than our own.

Matthew 22:37-40
37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Romans 12:2 
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Proverbs 19:21 
Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

The war around us - april

My Papaw Robinson was a very smart man, he always had a book beside his chair. Around the early 90s, I ask him how his book by Stephen King was... he smiled and said “there are other dimensions we can’t see... there might be a train running through this room right now”.

Daniel 10:12 and 13 mentions where the angel Gabriel was delayed by the prince of Persia (evil angel) for 21 days before help came.

There are many encounters of angels in the Bible, countless accounts in modern history dealing with good and evil beings.  Some believe and others don’t.

Believe or not, the battle you can’t see does affect each of us.  Just like gravity, the pressures of good and evil push and pull constantly.

I believe we have guardian angels...and that a constant war between good and evil continues above us.…possibly around us.  Our prayers for protection, our efforts for others to be saved and the presence of the Holy Spirit with us are all connected to this war. We know the victorious ending of Christ has been written, but only after terrible times for Jews and Christians.

Point being... your faith matters, helping others with their faith matters too.... no matter how good we are at helping people with issues at work, friends, family...those good deeds have a shelf life...... the one thing that you can help people with that lasts forever is their faith in God.  It is the war around us that you don't see. 

 On a lighter note, our dog, Coal joins us each night in the basement TV room…he is a fun 90 pound black Labrador running everywhere....every once in while he is just scared of his shadow, he will look up at the ceiling and stare... look into the other room with an afraid look on his face. His favorite thing is to go upstairs ... and a few times he just refuses to go like something is in his way. No doubt he sees what we can’t.

Revelation 20:1-2
And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.

Daniel 10:13
But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia.

Revelation 12: 7-9
Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

When the power goes out - march

A good friend of mine and I had the conversation recently..... what would happen if the power went out in the U.S. for a month?  Cell phones with no service, no TV, no internet,  gas pumps don't work, no heat or air, no microwave oven, water and gas stove might work for a while.  Enough cheese puffs and items in the pantry to get by for a little while.  Every time we see a natural disaster, it is always followed by looting, crimes and total lawlessness until power is restored.  A month without power is unthinkable.... we lose our marbles when it goes out for a few hours. 

​We are so blessed in our country, people under the poverty line live better than middle class in most countries.   If this power outage happened, who will you turn to for guidance and support?  There will be people that assemble to solve problems, but where will your light come from in the darkness?  Our ancestors would laugh at how pampered we are....electricity was only in half the U.S. homes in the late 1920s.
 
If you ask the average American, if they would give up God or electricity.. I'm afraid of the results of that survey.  The interesting parallel here is that God is the ultimate power from beginning to end.....and he gives us the dial to control.  We can always be praying and seeking him.... or we can think we are in control.  When we take the reins... earthly issues take charge... and we think that an addiction, a debt, an illness, a death, a divorce... the actions of others rule our minds... God did not change, we did.  He sent Jesus as the perfect example to show us how to love, act and think. 
 
Here is the Power question that each person needs to answer:  Can there be good without God?   This question gets to the heart of what a person believes.

Genesis 1:31
And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.


Daniel 12:3
​And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.


John 8:12
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

 Love & selfishness - February

"Love and Selfishness" is a good topic for the month that includes Valentine's Day..... this is a simple writing at the surface but gets more complicated and personal and we go deeper.  The high level is that God is pure love... the earth, air, water, animals were all created for our purposes.  When Adam/Eve made their mistake, fear and shame was born.. and until this day it separates each person from experiencing pure love.  Some call it Pride, but it is two things: 
1. Fear/shame that life is not going as you planned. 
2. Fear/Shame that life is not going the way society expects. Key words there being you/society and not what God has planned.  The more selfish you are.... the less love you will know... is it not logical that life was setup this way?  The world did not have a solution for this selfishness until Jesus was sent to restore pure love for each individual (removal of sin and have everlasting life).
 
This year's theme is Outkicking our Coverage, and we have a Savior that can provide us pure love and put the pieces of our lives back together as God intended in the garden of Eden.   Wow, that ball was kicked so far..... most people don't even know they were supposed to cover the kick.
Here is the hard part.....the coverage on this kick, Jesus asks us to extend our love to all others here on earth.  Given our human condition (pride, greed, jealousy, hate) and the society we are molded by.... most people think about immediate family 95% of the time and others 5%.  Jesus did not mean for us to neglect our spouse and kids... but I'm fairly certain he wants us at a much higher % for others than we operate today.  Hey, I understand.... we have demanding jobs, elderly family members, money does not grow on trees and there are endless people/places with their hands out.  No-one said sharing our love was going to be easy.... it takes a mental shift in the way we think.   Once our thinking shifts, it can be as easy as stopping the car to pick up a neighbor's trash can that blew over while people walking their dogs have walked by it all day.  Keep in mind, the Biblical accounts of Jesus don't have him handing out money to the poor, he is sharing his love, which is God's love for all people.  Every one of us have this to share.
 
God's plan for each person is different, so pray and ask him to help you understand.... then keep your eyes and ears open because rarely is there a direct answer.  This may be the hardest part for most people... they just want to be told what to do.  Other people and society have no problem showing people what is expected, so it is a real battle with the fear of repercussions of doing what is right vs. what this world expects.  Rest assured, the pieces of God's puzzle for you are coming together.  A puzzle fits one way, so pray for the wisdom to make the right choices.  If things are going wrong... then maybe it is God's way of telling you the pieces don't fit.  While most of us wait to understand God's plan for us..... we must do the best we can at our parenting, friendships and encouraging others.  If you are trying to love/help others, the doors will open and you will be amazed at what God has in store for you.
​

1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
 
Galatians 6:9-10
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
 
John 13:34-35
​A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Walls - January

End of 2018 and starting 2019, the big political debate is over funding to build a wall along our southern border.  Highly ridiculous actions from both parties....one gains power from the wall and the other gains great power with no wall.... with issues like drugs, human trafficking and the cost of illegal aliens all in the conflict.  As of early January, neither side is budging because they have a death grip on the power they hold.  If this was just about doing what was right for America and our neighbors, there would be a solution in a matter of weeks.  This is just one symptom of the overall issue, that the U.S. is every year becoming more anti-Christian and anti-Jewish.  The government pushes God back into the churches/synagogues and tries to govern away the problems of the day.  Without God, it has unleashed a war of races, genders, ages and religions against each other.  This is no secret to people living in the U.S. today... the older you are....the more profound the changes have been.   If you think this is new, it is not.... read in the Bible the stories 3 to 4,000 years ago what happens when God fearing nations reach prosperity and decide they don't need him.  Read bible books Kings I, II and Chronicles.​

As countries and leadership goes, so do most people.  We put up walls as we see people around us more fortunate or less fortunate... the personal walls go up at work, sports, schools, neighbors for so many reasons that stop us from helping others.  God is love, love is giving/helping... without that, our country is a little darker each day.  This is simply history repeating itself.  There have always been people during these times that are the light to others, so let's do our best in 2019 to not build up walls, open doors, smile, seek out people to help... and I'm not talking about money..... your time and effort can go a long way to show people what our God is all about.  If you run out or need help deciding where is best to help out... give me a call to discuss.

Matthew 23:11-12
The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

James 4:1-3
What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.