@bricarroll laying it down to a full house on VBS Sunday. So thankful for her! Also @GinnaCarrol, @Amber&TimMitchell, @JeffMcCullough, and all who helped make this the best VBS ever! (at Escondido Christian Center)
Sweet Spots and Comfort Zones
There’s something magical about connecting a golf ball with the sweet spot of a golf club, especially with forged irons. Next to putting the ball in the hole (in as few strokes as possible), it’s the coolest feeling in the game! The ball goes higher and farther with no extra effort. The club head is doing the work.
While it occasionally happens by accident, to regularly hit a golf ball with the sweet spot of the club takes practice, lots of practice. Hours, days, months, and years of practice. This is why sweet spots can never being confused with comfort zones. Nothing this good comes easy…but the results making it worth all the work.
When people settle for what’s comfortable, they disqualify themselves from experiencing what’s amazing. But, when people exchange being comfortable for seeing the power of God work through them, they began to accomplish things they could have done on their own. The things they have dreamt about doing all their lives start to become reality.
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Your life may seem to have turned out differently than you’d hoped for, but the bible says God’s ways are higher and better than our ways. Inside of you is a God-given potential that is only unlocked when you step out of your comfort zone and into the sweet spot of His calling on your life. Even when things haven’t worked well or don’t seem to amount to much in your life, remember, God is with you. He’s for you, and He’s working on your behalf.
God knows how to connect you with the sweet spot of His calling and take your life higher and further than you could ever imagine. That’s better than any golf shot!
Waiters Loved My Dad
My dad was something else. To know him was to love him. But also, to know him was to learn something. He was one of the best teachers you could ever meet. He knew more about the Bible and its application then anyone I’ve ever known.
The great thing about my dad’s teaching abilities was how he put things in practical terms. He used all sorts of unforgettable sayings that would bring every lesson home. For instance, get him talking about diets and health food, and it wouldn’t be long before you hear him say, “It ain’t whatcha’ eat, but wud eats you.” That’s a classic.
He used another saying often,
“There’s a direct nerve between your heart and your pocketbook.”
I didn’t fully understand the depth of that quip until the first time I did some teaching on tithing. To say the response was cool is an understatement. However, I’ve come to firmly believe that the principle of tithing is one of the most important keys to blessing in our lives.
Dad’s teaching, however, was not limited to folksy little one-liners. Everything my dad taught he lived. Being generous was something he said was important to being a blessed person, and one could see his generosity within a few moment of being with him.
When you’d go out to eat with dad he’d fight you for the check. And then when it came to the tip, forget all those little calculators, he just rounds things up to the nearest ten, or more. You may think that’s extravagant, but dad would tell you, “Put yourself in that waiter’s position. Trying to make a living. I want them to know that there’s a God who not only loves them, but wants to bless them.”
Jesus put it this way,
“For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.” (Mt 7:2, NLT)
Standup for Jesus
In 1858 a revival occurred in Philadelphia. The leader was a 29-year-old Episcopal minister named Dudley Tyng. It began in a series of noonday talks for men that he led. On March 30, 1858, he addressed a group of 5,000 from Exodus 10:11,
“Go now ye that are men, and serve the LORD” (KJV)
During his talk, he came to a climactic point, raised his right arm and declared,
“I would rather have my arm removed at the stump than to fail to declare God’s Word to you.”
At the close of his talk, 1,000 men gave their lives to Jesus Christ.
The next week he visited a farm outside the city. Fascinated by a mule-drawn corn thresher, he reached out to pat the mule. As he did so, the sleeve of his jacket got caught in the thresher and his arm was badly mangled, severing the artery and doing severe nerve damage. Several days later doctors amputated his arm, but it was too late. Infection set in and he quickly declined. Before he died, he spoke to a group of family and friends gathered around his bed. Knowing he would soon be dying, he exhorted them with these words:
“Stand up for Jesus! Go back to the church and tell them to always stand up for Jesus.”
When those words were repeated at the funeral, they made an enormous impact on a man named George Duffield, who later put them to music:
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Stand up, stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the cross;
Lift high His royal banner, it must not suffer loss.
From victory unto victory, His army shall He lead,
Till every foe is vanquished, and Christ is Lord indeed
“I knew something was wrong…blah, blah, blah”
Randy Travis sang a song back in the 80’s called, “Forever and Ever, Amen.” There’s a tenderness in that song that’s special to married people. It echoes what the bible says that we are to not let anything take apart the relationship, which God has put together.
This isn’t a coincidence.
It turns out that Randy Travis had some genuine godly influences in his life. His dad persuaded him to start playing guitar and sing in church. At 8 years of age he began playing worship music.
Randy tells of reading his bible one night in bed and feeling God’s love. He gave his life to Christ and was later baptized.
But there was a dark side.
Randy was arrested several times in the 70s. He ran off with another man’s wife, who he eventually married. Yet in spite of lots of personal turmoil, his career continued to take off. His album, Storms of Life sold over 4 million copies. In 1988 he won the Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance.
Then things started unraveling.
After 19 years of marriage, Randy and his wife were divorced. Then in February 2012, Randy was arrested for public intoxication while sitting in a stolen police car at a Baptist church. He paid a fine and was placed on a 90-day probation.
In August of 2012, police in Grayson County, Texas responded to a call that an unclothed man was lying in the road. Police reported that they arrived to find Travis unclothed and smelling of alcohol. Travis threatened the lives of the officers. Travis was subsequently arrested for driving while intoxicated and retaliation against law enforcement officials.
Randy’s troubles continued.
On August 24, 2012, he was arrested for assaulting a man early one morning in a church parking lot . Both men had to be taken to the hospital. One witness stating that Travis appeared to be “extremely intoxicated.”
I read an interview of a man who claimed to be a lifelong friend of Randy. He was quoted saying,
“None of Randy’s troubles surprise me. I knew something was wrong a long time ago.”
As I read this, I became so angry! That is singularly the most deceitful, garbage-filled waste of time statement you could ask for!!! A lifelong friend who claims he knew something was wrong a long time ago???
WHY DIDN’T HE DO SOMETHING???!!!!!!
When people fall into some kind of sin or calamity, there are always those who claim they knew something was fishy all along. They act as if they had some kind of “spiritual discernment” that showed them something was wrong. Unfortunately, the only thing that usually transpires are whispers and gossip that are all after the fact. This is totally contrary to what the bible teaches.
“Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, ‘But we knew nothing about this,’ does not he who guards your life know it?” (Proverbs 24:11, 12, NIV)
We are not to sit around and watch people train wreck their lives and then say, “I knew something was wrong.” We are to reach out to them. We are to rescue them. And we are to do this and hopefully save them way before the wreck happens!
I pray God sends those kinds of friends into our lives…and Randy Travis’.
God Burns the Nest
Wildfire is terrifying! It is indiscriminate and totally destructive. People who have faced the power of a wildfire tell of leaving everything and running for their lives, only to return to the ash heap of what used to be their home, possessions, and keepsakes.
Everything is gone.
When you think of fire in these terms, it may seem strange that the movement of God’s Spirit would be likened unto fire. Yet, the removal of things from our lives is as much a part of the work of the Holy Spirit as is the giving of power to us.
God appeared to Moses through a burning bush. It happened while Moses was in a place called Midian watching his father-in-law’s sheep. He had been there for 40 years and was now 80 years old.
He had found a wife in Midian. He had started a family in Midian. He had learned how to survive in Midian. Midian had become his home. Midian had become a nest that Moses was quite content to remain in.
But God was setting everything on fire. God was burning up all the things that were keeping Moses from fulfilling his destiny.
There are people, places, and things in your life that you highly value. You can’t even begin to imagine life without them. But there’s a danger that these things which seem so important can actually keep you from experiencing the new things God want’s to work in your life, potentially missing the purposeful destiny that He has for your life.
God’s fire burns that which you really don’t need, to make room for what you could never have otherwise. His fire gets you out of the nest and soaring into what He created you for.
Against the Odds
Some people actually make a living at gambling. They’re professionals. At the casino you’ll see these expert gamblers at the poker tables and the blackjack tables. They know how to play the game. They know the odds.
But you’ll never see them at the slots. They know the odds.
Although some people claim they have strategies for winning at the slots, the masses of folks seen pulling the one-armed bandits are doing so primarily with the hope of winning. For the most part the odds of winning at slots are totally stacked against you.
God’s a gambler.
Not for money, but for lives. He knows the odds. He knows who will guarantee the best return on His bet. But time and time again He casts His lot with the riskiest ones. In fact, He’s bet His life on those whose likelihood of success is totally against the odds.
The broken. The weak. The foolish. The despised. The least likely to succeed. The ones who could never pay back His investment.
But God doesn’t sit mindlessly hoping that there’ll be a lucky payout someday. He knows the lives that He’s betting on. He has seen beyond the false veneers and promises of big jackpots, or the warnings of guaranteed losses. He strategizes. He sends the influence of His love and presence. He allows pain and relieves it with healing. He causes the lives of those He’s won by His grace to intersect with those still lost in sin.
His fingers aren’t crossed, but He is praying for a win. He’s hoping there will be a great return on His investment. And when it happens, no bells, no sirens, no flashing lights, just a heart and soul brought to life.
Unchanging God
Over and over…
God has proven Himself faithful to His people.
Answering their cries.
Delivering them from the enemy.
Working in ways where there seems to be none.
The Lord of mercy.
The God of covenant.
Backing every promise with His Word.
Bringing hope to the hopeless.
Joy to the downcast.
Light into darkness.
And…He never changes.
Let us remember the God we serve.
He is a God of miracles. Nothing less.
We come with brokenness, but He is faithful to heal…restore…and set free.
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A miracle confounds natural law. It’s a baffling reversal of inevitable consequences and outcome. It’s statistically unlikely…scientifically impossible…totally Illogical.
A miracle is an act of faith that puts into motion God’s Word, promises, and power. Miracles require people who are daring, audacious, crazy enough to trust God and believe that He is more than able. To believe nothing is impossible for Him.
The problems. The difficulties. The impossibilities. That which quenches your soul and presses down on your heart actually sets the stage for God’s intervention. Every problem is a potential for a miracle. God can’t fix what’s not broken. He can’t heal what’s not sick. He can’t save what’s not lost. He can’t forgive what’s not wrong.
No matter what you’re facing, how intimidating it is, how impossible it seems, how long you’ve been looking at it, YOU’RE LOOKING AT A MIRACLE!
God Owns Dia de los Muertos
Dia de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead) is a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico and around the world in other cultures, that focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died.
People go to cemeteries to be with the souls of the departed and build private altars containing the favorite foods and beverages, as well as photos and memorabilia, of the departed. They believe that the souls will hear the prayers and the comments of the living directed to them. Dia de los Muertos is also seen as a day that brings good luck to its participants.
Evidently Disney wants to own it.
Trademarks can be useful legal tools when creating a company or marketing a product. The Walt Disney Corporation filed several applications to trademark the Mexican holiday, which is the subject of one of their upcoming films. After a massive amount of criticism, Disney backed off. But God isn’t backing off.
The day of the dead is owned by God!
God created life, and God saves lives. He will raise the dead in the same way that He raised Jesus. The resurrection of the dead will not be a spooky cultural event, but a day unlike anything we’ve ever seen.
“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:52)
After the crucifixion, the discouraged followers of Jesus came to visit His grave. They were surprised to find it empty. An angel then asked them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” A few moments later they came face to face with Jesus.
One day we will not only see Jesus face to face, but we will also see anyone and everyone who has loved Jesus and has died.
“And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them…” (1 Thessalonians 4:17)
If you want to hang out at the grave of someone who loved Jesus, that’s okay but their soul isn’t there, they’re with the Lord. There’s no need to pray for them either, they’re with the God we pray to. And while we may be saddened by the loss of someone close to us and miss them, we can be recharged with the hope of the fact that we will soon see them again.
Also, while your at the cemetery if by chance you hear the loudest shout you’ve ever heard, watch out because there will be bodies flying up all over the place! Now that’s something Disney should make a movie about!