Take time, to take time!

My granddaughter brought tears to my eyes last night. She wrote a 9 page paper dealing with Alzheimer disease. When you wonder if people notice, and how the family deals with the issues of life. We may need to stop and read a 9 page paper on the subject. Alyvia came down and ask me to proof read her paper, by the way it was due today, and make any corrections I may find.

It was such blessing to see how much she had taken notice in what was happening to her Great grandmother and the family.  She actually interviewed her grandmother to learn how this disease effects caregivers, those closest to the family members struggling. Her paper was not only touching, but had so much information.

She had done her homework for sure, researching the causes, and expressing her concerns about this disease. Never really knowing how this all impacted her until last night. She shared how she has lost the exciting great grand-mom she remembered when she was younger, and her struggles with understanding that loss.

Her concerns that people be made aware, this disease is real and effects everyone, not only the caregiver, but the entire family! What I learned last night, reading her paper, was the importance of staying in touch now! When things are going fine we seem to take life for granted and family is doing alright. Wrong! We need to do a better job communicating with each other before life becomes a loss issue.

What I mean by that is, never assume we have mom and dad forever. You never know when a disease like Alzheimer's will strike, it may be happening to them right now. Take time to pay attention, take time to take time. Those you have not talked with in a while, now is the time! It is never to late to catch up with family, unless, you don't take that precious moment, and take time!

Not about the "I" but about the us!

Being in the Marine Corps, you could never say I in boot camp. We thought it was always some dumb thing the drill instructors  harassed you about!  What we really learned from that is, it is not about I it was always about the team! We were a platoon, not a one man show, it took everyone in the platoon to execute an order!

Funny how the same thing we learned in the military would be effective in my walk with the Lord! Though we are one part we are also part of a body, we have our function but it has to work with all the other parts to be effective! Would have never guessed, being trained by the Marine Corps, was preparing me to serve my Lord and the church!

Funny how life does that if we are open to learn from it. Who would have known that being in mans military would prepare me for being in God's army? Looking back many times and comparing my life to today. There are many moments, no matter how bad, that God has transformed them to His good purpose!

Just like the Marine Corp needing and creating a few good men, through rigorous training to face a physical enemy. So God through His rigorous training, prepares us for that spiritual battle we face daily! But we are not to do it alone. Though we are one, we are part of many! There is a reason for that, it reminds us we are never alone.

God never leaves us or forsakes us. He never sends us into a battle without the proper back up, and equipment! Life always has it's lessons. They are training tools for the bigger things that will come our way! But remember it is not about the I, it is always about the us! You may have never been in the military, but you can still learn the us way of life.

Stop thinking it is all about you alone. There are people around you that care. They are part of your life. They are there for a purpose. Try today, to break the "I" syndrome you may be trapped in. You are truly part of a bigger team if you are willing to see and look beyond yourself a bit! Don't let the "I" in your life blind you from seeing God's bigger plan for you!

Romans 12:4-5 (NIV)

4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

Never Alone In Marriage!

Marriage is not something you do alone, marriage is the beginning of many things you will do with your new best friend! Marriage, becomes a glorious adventure as you both search out the mysteries of life together. She may not understand all you do, and you may be confused at times to her actions and emotions!

But that is what makes this journey you are beginning together, exciting and intriguing!  When the bumps of life  throw you off, and they will, that is when you hold on tighter than ever. That is the time you turn to each other and say together we have this. You are now the team as God intended. A team that endures even when wining seems to be out of grasp, because losing is not an option!

You hang in because there is always another game to be played! If you look at each other everyday with the same eyes as when you met, you cannot lose, but only gain! Love is not always smiles and laughter, sometime there are tears and pain! But it is through those time together you grow closer to being one!

Genesis 2:24 (NKJV)

24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

Captivated By Your Freedom?

Though I am confined more than most, I am free more than most! There are some out there that are captive to their freedom, because they are not grateful for it! They are so lost in that freedom, they truly lose sight of how free they really are! In my, somewhat of a confinement, I have learned to understand true freedom.

It's not just the ability to come and go, but how you handle not being able to, that is freedom!  It is when we get so busy in our freedom that we lose sight of it! We need to start remembering we are free not to be too busy! It is not freedoms fault we have lost time, but ours, because we have lost sight of our freedom and what it truly means!

Jesus said, you shall know the truth and the truth will set you free! (John 8:30-36) So what truth are you hanging onto? If your own, and your freedom seems to have you captive, and you are more overwhelmed then not! You may need to check what truth you are following. Jesus says He offers you a truth that sets you free and you will be free indeed. A freedom that does not hold you captive, but a freedom that give you release, clear and reasonable thinking!

Ask yourself this question, has your freedom captivated you, or truly set you free?

John 8:30-36

30 As He was saying these things, many believed in Him.

31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed Him, "If you abide in my words, you are truly my disciples,

32 and you shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

33 They answered Him, "We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone.

34 Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.

35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever.

36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

When Tragedy Strikes!

It is hard when Tragedy strikes us. It hurts, and sometimes leaves us confused and asking questions. God wants us too! He wants us, at that very moment to come to Him and ask. He is our Father and He wants to comfort our pain and dry our tears! Yet what we forget, is how God wants to also use us during these times!

It is not always how tragedy touches our lives, but how through tragedy God can touch others through you!  We may not understand all that happens and why, though sin plays it's part, but the pain does not last. It is through these times we come boldly to the throne of Grace ask the tough questions and receive His grace and mercy!

We hold to the memories of loved ones gone, their smiles, warmth, and laughter! If we know for sure of their relationship with the Father, we hold onto the times we will see them again and anew! Don't hold onto what we think we have lost, hold onto what we have gained by knowing those who have gone before us! Allow their memories to touch the lives of those who are still with us! 1 Thess. 4:13-18, Hebrews 4:12-16

Humble Pastor, really?

To be a better pastor you truly need to follow the John 13 model Jesus set. He gave an example of true leadership and servant hood. It is called servant leadership. A leadership of serving others, not only leading the way, but living the way. Jesus taught His disciples, being good leaders you need to be good servants.

Meeting the needs of those by doing and not by just saying it! Jesus set the model when He humbly girded Himself and got down before the men He loved and taught them be example! Humility is not easy for leaders, though they think they have it. Peter is a good example of how tough humility can be when Jesus started to wash his feet.

John 13: 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to Him, "Lord, do You wash my feet?" 7 Jesus answered him, "What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterword you will understand."

Most of us know what took place following, Peter tried to refuse Jesus service, and Jesus told Peter if He did not wash his feet he had no part or share with Him. What Jesus meant was he needed a leader with humility. True servants, men who would not only teach the flock but touch them personally. Jesus is the truest picture we have of a humble servant all the way to the cross. (Philippians 2:8)

If Jesus set the example why then do we not have the humble servant in the pulpits we need? Men who think of others more highly than themselves? What we have are job seekers, book writers, and lecture and life experts who are daily struggling themselves, sadly watch the news!

We need men in the pulpit who follow the Jesus servant leadership model. Men who know exactly what God called them to do. Watch the flock! Feed the flock! Serve the flock! Care for the flock with the love of Christ! Doing these things Pastors will also be served by the flock, it is a natural process God set up in scripture, and Jesus led the way in John 13.

I am not saying don't write books, lecture, etc... What I am saying, if you are a Pastor those are all secondary to the flock! Know your calling, if indeed you were called, if the other things are more important than the flock of God you may need to seek God's true calling on your life!

We need foot washing Pastors again. The church is struggling and fracturing people are leaving because of the lack of compassion in the church, which starts right in the pulpit! How about you Pastor? Foot washing beneath you? Well maybe it's time for a lesson in humility re-read John 13 often and be reminded of your call to be like Jesus!

Never Give Up!

I know a man who was born to fail, never succeed, destined to quit everything he attempted! His father told him always he would never amount to anything. He was stupid and he should just quit! So he did, he lived down to those expectations and never finished anything he started. Sports, school,  friendships, even the Military kicked him out!

The only thing he did well was quit! It became so easy as life went on to just quit, give up blame everyone else for his failings! He quit so much even his father who taught him so well became disappointed in him! A mother who loved him even came to the point of acceptance that her son would probably not live long, most quitters do not, and that is so sad!

It became so easy to give up that it was the one successful thing he could do, and do well! He had no friends, except three he could think of yet ran them off for years! Again he was successful, again it was easy to quit even close friendships! Quitting became the norm of success for this man, he was taught well and encouraged by family, though that was not really so!

He acted so badly most times his family came to expect nothing less or more from him! His family loved him, but there was nothing they could do. They just watched as he spiraled into drugs and alcohol, bitterness seized him, anger surrounded him like a cloud! He could not be reasoned with at all. Confusion would set in as he did all to please his father, lived down to his expectations, did exactly what his father taught him.

Only to see disappointment and more discouraging looks and comments from his dad! That confused and certainly angered him more. If he was doing all his father had expected of him than why was his father not proud? He would later find it was all in reflection, he was the reflection of his father, a mirror image that reminded him of his failures!

Though he raised his son to fail, it reminded him of his failings, something he never wanted to deal with either! Watching his son fall apart and nothing he could do made him helpless, so it gave him more reason to quit also! His son knowing this and feeling the pain, wanting so much for his dad to just love him and be proud on anything, failed even more!

Nothing he did mattered, not anything he could do well would make a difference, people just knew it would not last! He would quit, because the one person he sought to please, the one he sought to prove things too, could never come to the place or find the words, son I am proud of you! You see, his father was a quitter also, for him to expect any good thing from his son he would have to see some good in himself and it was just not there!

His son did not know these things because his father could not share these things. So this man continued down a road that was destined to kill him if he did not change something! Thoughts reeled in his head how he could do things people would remember him by! The sad thing, these were all thoughts of how he could die in a big and exciting way people would remember him for!

Little did he understand, people would only remember the sad life this man lived, he would be leaving them nothing else! But who would know that this man had a plan for his life? A plan that would change peoples thinking of him. Even he would be amazed, though hopeless now, he would come to see how valuable he would become!

Though he was rejected, as he felt all his life, it would be through rejection that his life would be transformed! Being asked to leave a place he loved so much because his actions were so bad. He felt he had failed again, letting down a man who loved him so much! But being a quitter by profession it was easy to leave, but this time he left with something no one else gave him.

It was something that would take another ten years to grab him. But it would change his life forever and make him a winner he never thought was possible! Through what he thought was rejection, being asked to leave, was actually an invitation to be accepted. An acceptance that would make this man hunger and desire to go back to the father, who had done so terribly raising him and seek his forgiveness!

It would be an acceptance that would give this man a purpose in life, a reason to live, a reason to never give up and quit again, at least not without a fight or a right reason! As I said though, it would take another ten years from that day he was asked to leave! Another ten years of failure, quitting and rejection of many! A time when he would even move away from his home town to escape his life.

Little did he or would he understand until later. No matter where he would go, he was always and be would be always there, there is no escaping you! Yet being away did not change the fact he still wanted to impress his father, do that one thing that would get his attention and show him how wrong he was! Remember the man who asked him to leave his property?

I hope you do, I hope you are asking, just what did he give this man when asking him to leave? He gave him hope, he gave him purpose, he gave him love, he gave him what he had been given years before when his own life had none of these! He introduced him to a man who had also experienced rejection from his own people.

A man who was sent by his own father to these people, a father who would have to turn his back on his own son for doing what he sent him to do! A man who would love him and bring him out of despair. Teach him to love those who had rejected him and forgive those turned their backs on him! Deliver him from the anger he had for his own father and to fall in love with him!

Desiring to share this mans life with his father because his father deserved better! Sharing this man with his wife and children because he failed them miserably and they deserved better! He shared this man with others because it was through this man he was able to hope again! Never wanting to quit, never wanting to give up he had hope.

He found he had a future! Today is no different for many, there are many like this man, who have felt the pain of rejection and loneliness. The put down of fathers and mothers! A life of quitting and failure never seeing a life worth living for! But there is a man who wants to make a change in your life, a man who gave it all so you can have it all! A man who loves us like he loved the man in the story above! Before having been asked to leave, an invitation was given.

An invitation and introduction to the man who could change his life! It was a life changing introduction to a man named Jesus Christ!  The man in the story was told if he would ask Jesus into his life he would be transformed! One day in a little room next to a bed this man fell down broken beyond broken! Cried out to this Jesus he was introduced to, claimed the promise of a new life!

That day would never be forgotten, for when he stood up he was changed! Nothing he could do himself, he tried everything, but the best he could do was just quit and give up! This day in 1979 was different, it was a day he emerged from his room different, changed from the inside out he was changed! He wanted to share this change with his father.

How do you know he was changed you ask? He never quit, he never gave up til he got to his father many miles a way, and many months after his change! Quitting was not an option anymore! Something miraculous had happened he felt like a winner for the first time in his entire life! He no longer wanted to go out in a blaze of glory, he just wanted to share his new life with others!

People saw the change yet watched for a time, they knew him, they knew it was just a matter of time and he would quit and let them down again. But this time was different  as years passed he remained the same, not perfect but changed! What happened to his relationship with his father? Well he first shared his faith in Jesus, asked him for his forgiveness!

His forgiveness, really? Yes, he need to move on with his life, so whether his father accepted it or not this man could move on and not look back! His life would be free from his fathers baggage, he could begin with a clean slate! But the one thing he did not receive that day he so desperately wanted, just one thing! To hear his father say four words, I love you son! It did not happen that day, But he man never quit, never gave up!

With every phone call, before they hung up, the man would say I love you dad! Dad's response would always be, me too son! Never quitting, one day after a phone call, the man finished by saying I love you dad. His father for the first and last time said, I love you too son! The man just wept and thanked Jesus for that one special gift he still carries with him in his heart!

Sharing Jesus with his father was the nest step, every time his father's response was he did not need a Savior! On the day of his father's death, four hours before, he got a call from his sister, dad just got saved he knows Jesus! The man wept thanking Jesus for this gift, not knowing in four hours his father wold be gone! He did not give up, he did not quit praying!

This man was a quitter never finished anything gave up on it all, had no hope was a failure destined to a life of no hope nothing! Jesus made a difference, Jesus gave him to hope to hang on and never give up, even on the man he had come to hate! He never gave up! How about you?

Quitter, hater, hopeless, are you like the man in the story? By the way this story is true! Come to Jesus, He never gives up on you, so you never have to quit or give up! You are special, so special to Him that he died for you, yes he gave it all so you could live! John 3:18, Romans 10:9-13, 2 Corinthians 5:17-21