Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by Mark Batterson (2011-01-18) in his book, Soulprint: Discovering Your Divine Destiny (pp. 139-140). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition. I love the story about a woman who said that God talked to her personally.  Her pastor heard her telling someone that and he took her aside to set her straight.  He wanted to prove to her that God didn’t talk to her so he said, “Now the next time you are talking to God would you ask Him something that He only knows about me, would you ask Him, ‘What was the last sin that I asked Him to forgive me for?’  Would you ask Him?”  She said she would. A few days later, the pastor met with her and he asked her if she had asked God, “What was the last sin that he had asked Him to forgive his for?”  She said she had.  The pastor then asked knowing that he had her now, “Well what did He say?”  She then said that He said, “I don’t remember.” Now of course that didn’t really happen but it does make a correct p...

A thought by Andy Stanley (2009-08-22) in his book, It Came from Within!: The Shocking Truth of What Lurks in the Heart (p. 115). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition. Jesus says that over and over.  He cannot forgive unless you forgive.  What does it say in the Lord’s Prayer, Father forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.  It goes hand in hand. So wouldn’t it be great to look into the New Year with resolved differences with the people around you?  Maybe it’s a parent or a brother or sister?  Could be your spouse or one of your children?  Maybe it is someone at work or even at church?  What about your neighbor or one of your friends?  Whoever it is, get on the phone and strive to resolve it now.  Of course you understand it takes two but you strive to do your part.  Another thing to realize is if they have died or if they don’t know you have ever had an issue with them then you resolve it in your own heart....

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Moment (Kindle Location 332). Kindle Edition. And it doesn’t stop at 64 or 24.  In each stage of life there is something that God has created us to do.  No one retires from God’s plan for their life.  Retirement just means I have more control of my time in order to focus on his plan.  My purpose in life is to seek the harassed and helpless and let them know that Christ can and wants to make a difference in their life.  That is my something to do and it doesn’t stop at 64.  I am no longer tied down to the expectations that a salary has but I have been released to do the something in a greater measure that God has given me to do.  Oh I wouldn’t trade my years as a church planter for anything else in the world.  My life has been exciting and has made significant differences in all the places I have served.  I was living out the something t...

A thought by Gabe Lyons (2010-10-05) in his book, The Next Christians: The Good News About the End of Christian America (p. 124). Doubleday Religion. Kindle Edition. Maybe you are searching for your purpose in living as you go into the new year.  Maybe you have been wandering and wondering through 2011 but you want 2012 to be different.  Now this is a good time to sit down with a yellow pad or your notes on your iPhone and start to do some God-directed thinking. A good place to start is evaluating your gifts.  I’m not talking about your Christmas gifts but those Spiritual gifts that God gave you when you became a Christian.  Check on the internet for a good Spiritual gifts test or go to your local Christian book store or ask your pastor.  Take that test and then do some self-assessment of your natural abilities.  Ask yourself and some of your closest honest friends, “What am I good at?”  That may be hard for you to do but it is an import...

A thought by Andy Stanley (2009-08-22) from his book, It Came from Within! The Shocking Truth of What Lurks in the Heart (p. 77). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition. I love the way life is set up.  There are 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day, 30/31 days in a month and 12 months in a year.  There is a beginning and an end in each one of them.  This week is the end of another year and it is a time of reflection and release. It is always good to look back at a point to reflect on what happened, to thank God for His gifts, to reinforce the lessons learned and to let go of and release the pain that has happened in this year.  I know that at some point you have been hurt by someone in 2011.  There is pain in relationships sometimes but you don’t have to take that hurt that pain into the new year.  That is a choice that you have and this is a good week to let go of that memory that hurt.   If you don’t you will carry that hurt into you...

A thought by Darren Whitehead and Jon Tyson, (2011-07-19) in their book, Rumors of God: Experience the Kind of Faith You´ve Only Heard Abou t (Kindle locations 713-714). Thomas Nelson. Kindle edition. I walk the mall every morning and I’m excited about the fact that we mall walkers are going to get our mall back in another week.  I mean I got to the mall a little after 7:00 am the day after Christmas and Macy’s and J. C. Penny’s were open and I had to go to the second floor in the parking garage to get a good parking spot.  We just need so much more stuff even after Christmas don’t we?  At least that is what we are told. Now I gave over 10 bags of clothes, coats and shoes to the Bowery Mission in New York City this Advent season.  If I listened to the advertisers I needed to run out fast and get more stuff to take its place but I didn’t and I’m doing fine.  If we as Christians would go into our closets and take all the excess clothing in there then w...

A thought by Greg Darley (2010-11-15) from his book, Passion Is Not Enough: Four Elements to Change the World (Kindle Locations 683-684). Backstage Publishing. Kindle Edition. Tomorrow we celebrate the birth of the greatest servant who ever lived on this earth.  His actions showed us what it means to be a Christ-follower.  By His acts of service He changed our world. Someone asked, how do I know if I am being a servant?  The answer is, how do you react when you are being treated as a servant?  I’m afraid we fail at this more that we succeed especially in our marriages. One of the main reasons God wants us to marry a Christ-follower is because if we don’t have Christ in us then we only have the capacity to live for ourselves.   Christ’s love is an agape love witch is unconditional love.  He loves us no matter what.  But without Him in our life we live with a conditional love.  I will love you if. Now most marriages are buil...

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Moment (Kindle Location 843). Kindle Edition. That is so true of Mary when the angel told her what was going to happen to her.  If she was just going to be a mother she could handle that.  I’m sure she had been prepared by her mother and maybe grandmother to do that.  That was what she was prepared to do but to be the mother of the Son of God that was something completely different.  No way was she or any other young women prepared for that God-sized challenge on her own but she was not going to have to go through it alone.  God doesn’t give us a task without support. The truth is being a parent is a God-sized challenge.  I have loved being a parent for these 30+ years but I needed God’s guidance and wisdom all the way through.  Yes, I had seen parenting modeled by two of the Godliest parents a boy could ever have.  But then that baby boy came t...

A thought by Andy Stanley (2009-08-22) in his book, It Came from Within!: The Shocking Truth of What Lurks in the Heart (p. 144). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition . Well it is getting close.  We will be opening our gifts on Christmas Eve and watching our family in Colorado open their gifts by Skype on Christmas night.  This is the season of giving gifts and receiving gifts.  Now this gift of forgiveness is not one we think about giving at this time of the year but if we do it has so much more far reaching benefit than most of the gifts we receive and give.  This is truly the gift of freedom.  It is both a freedom to the giver and also to the receiver.   Forgiveness frees us from so much pain. But here is the key.  Forgiveness is not a gift you give because you feel like it.  Most of the time the act you’re forgiving doesn’t deserve your forgiveness but you chose to give it because Christ forgave you also undeservedly.  It ...

A thought by Steven Furtick (2010-09-21) from his book,   Sun Stand Still: What Happens When You Dare to Ask God for the Impossible (p. 39). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition. What a tremendous thought to realize.  What impossible situation are you facing right now?  Let’s say you are down in a valley with high cliffs on each side of you and tall trees in front and in back of you and it is impossible for you to see what is behind, ahead or on either side.  But let’s say you are talking on your cell phone to someone up above you in a helicopter and they can see everything.  Now your situation isn’t impossible because of your connection. Let’s say something has happened and you are in desperate need of $10,000.00.  You only have $500 in your checking account.  You are in an impossible situation.  But let’s say your father is very successful.  He keeps $50,000.00 in an account for pocket change.  So you get him on the phone an...

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Moment (Kindle Locations 78-79). Kindle Edition. What a waste of energy and emotion when we seize and squeeze everything we can out of a past situation in our life.  What it can do is rob us of joy or fill us with pride depending of what happened and neither of those responses build value into our life.  Now the truth is we only have control of our present but a future moment can bring hope, excitement and challenge into our present.  It can help in making the decisions that need to be made today and helping in living through the sacrifices that need to be made in order to reach that moment. For an example, I live for the future moment when one day I step on my scale and it says 199 lbs.  Every day that I get up and head out to walk is controlled by that future moment.  Every time I decide at Starbucks against that pastry instead of the oatmeal is controll...

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Moment (Kindle Location 787). Kindle Edition. Now in our times of uncertainty we as Christians cry out to God to do something and the key is He already has.  He has given each one of us a mind and within that mind He has given us the ability to creatively come up with an idea or a new thought or new paradigm for the situation.    Now for the most part we don’t want to work that hard, we want the situation to resolve and everything to work out the way we want it to but sometimes God wants us to step outside the box of our usual solutions and come up with something new.  I know that is hard but it can be so rewarding. But you say, “I’m not creative,” and I say, “How do you know?  Have you ever tried?”   Now the key is you stop and just freely think.  Write down each thought that comes into your mind and then follow it until it hits a dead...

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Moment (Kindle Locations 436-437). Kindle Edition. I have two laptop computers.  One is a large one and the other is a small one.  The potential that I have to reach out to people around the world through them is limitless but if I never turn either one of them on they are useless. Right now I am sitting with my small laptop in the Oceanside, New York Starbucks putting down my thoughts about this quote by Erwin McManus so I can post it online so you can read it wherever you might be.  Just think of this.  Someone this past week from the United States, the Netherlands, Russia, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Latvia, Qatar, and Venezuela checked out this blog.  But it wouldn’t have happened if I wouldn’t have started writing. Now I also just finished my bill’s front porch and I will get up early tomorrow morning and post it on my large lapt...

A thought by Darren Whitehead and Jon Tyson, (2011-07-19) in their book, Rumors of God: Experience the Kind of Faith You´ve Only Heard About (Kindle Location 728). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. The truth is they both should be the same – financial abundance & spiritual abundance.  God is the giver of all that is good but He gives it for a purpose.  We have been given a financial abundance so we can take care of the financial needs of the world.  Now if we were spiritual abundant then we would take care of God’s purpose but because we are in spiritual poverty we keep it for ourselves.  And that is a great tragedy.  “Please forgive us for our self-focus.” Now wouldn’t you like to be the answer to some child in need’s prayer? 

A thought by Darren Whitehead and Jon Tyson, (2011-07-19) from their book, Rumors of God: Experience the Kind of Faith You´ve Only Heard About (Kindle Locations 620-621). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition . Do you ever give a gift and then wonder what you are getting in return?  If that is true of you then what you gave was not a gift but an upfront payment for what they are now obligated to give you.  That is not what gift giving is all about. Now to me the wrong spirit of Christmas is not the untold gift-giving that is done but it is the expectation part of what do I want and what so I expect/want to get.  Jesus came to us as a gift and the Wise Men gave gifts to the baby Jesus and both were done with no expectation of getting anything in return. I have found it so interesting that the one main symbol at this time of year in the secular world is a jolly old guy who gives and gives and gives with no expectation of anything in return.  And what do we try t...

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book,  Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Moment (Kindle Locations 475-476). Kindle Edition. Have you ever stopped and thought about the fact that God doesn’t want you to be anything else but you”?  Also do you realize that God took just as much interest in putting His stamp on you as He did with anyone else?  You and I are a masterpiece by God.  The truth is we don’t really realize the potential that God built into us.  The only thing that limits our potential is us. I know that we can play the blame game and say because of my parents or where I grew up or what I look like or my lack of education (you get the point) I am limited in my potential.  I can understand that point of view until I look at a Helen Keller which wakes me up to the fact of my unused potential that God has placed within me and you.  That shows me that I am limited by what I am looking at, circumstances or God. Yes,...

A thought by Mark Batterson (2011-01-18) from his book, Soulprint: Discovering Your Divine Destiny (p. 84). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition . I don’t know how you handled wrong and right answers on a test when you were young  or even if they mattered to you.  Maybe all that mattered to you was the grade.  But for me it was those questions that I got wrong.  I would find out which ones they were and then I would search the book or my notes and find out what the right answer was.  The right answers I had gotten right so I didn’t worry about them anymore but those I had gotten wrong I searched to find what was right. Our failures in life can be like that too.  There is always a invaluable lesson to be learned in life no matter what it is.  Now I chose a long time ago to not be controlled by the negatives of life but to change them into a positive.  Somehow in every negative in my life, God has helped me to see it from a positive standpoint...

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Momen t Moment (Kindle Locations 400-401). Kindle Edition . I’m sure that you have found that in the beginning days of your marriage it was so much easier to risk.  I mean you didn’t have kids, you didn’t have a whole lot of stuff and you had a whole lot of enthusiasm.  I mean, you believed you could conquer the world.  Get out of the way here we come.  But the older you got and the more responsibility you had made it a whole lot more difficult to risk.   It maybe made it more difficult to respond to God’s leading in your life. God blesses you with a great house.  You have a nice car or two.  You have finally gotten the furniture you’ve always wanted and of course you have the kids.  God has been so good to you but in the midst of all this He seems to be impressing on you that He has something unbelievable for you to do but it means giving ...

A thought by Steven Furtick (2010-09-21) from his book, Sun Stand Still: What Happens When You Dare to Ask God for the Impossible (p. 30). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition . In my quiet time every morning I read a Psalm.   I have done that for years.  I read the Psalm that corresponds to the date.  I am starting my 4 th cycle of 30 Psalms and today is December 1st so I read the 91 st Psalm so let’s see what Jesus said through the Psalmist today, Jesus is God you know. Verses 2- 4, (msg), Say this: “God, You’re  my refuge .  I trust in You and I’m safe !” That’s right—He rescues you from hidden traps, shields you from deadly hazards. His huge outstretched arms protect you— under them you’re perfectly safe ; His arms fend off all harm.     Maybe you are going through some tough times why don’t you claim what it says, personally believe it in your life.  Pray this back to Him.  Make it personal.  Aud...

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Moment (Kindle Locations 153-154). Kindle Edition. One of the things Margaret and I do when we live in an area is to do all we can to experience the area.  We have lived on Long Island in New York State now for three years and we have been to more places than most of the people who have lived here all their life.  Life is an adventure to be experienced but if we pull the shades down around us then we will miss so much of it.  Granted life can have some pain attached to it and life has some thorns in it but so does the beautiful rose.  You just need to know how to handle it to enjoy it.  Now for some it will take some help to get you unstuck from what is holding you back.  Take the risk to talk to someone about your fears, about your pain.  I know that they are real but I also know that they can be a foundation for you to stand on to make a differ...

A thought by Mark Batterson (2011-01-18) in his book, Soulprint: Discovering Your Divine Destiny (p. 140). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition . We each one have made them, haven’t we?  I went through what I call my three year jerk time quite a few years back.  I totally put what I wanted first over my family but God bought me out of that time and forgave me.  I am so glad that I am not defined by that time in my life. One way it does define us is when we relive the mistake over and over and never forgive ourselves.  That mistake can hold us emotionally captive but it only does that if we don’t let it go.  There is no do over.  If there is a confession to be made or a restitution to be done then confess and do whatever needs to be done then it is over.  We cannot do any more than that about it except to learn from it.  The key is to not make the same mistake in the present.  If you keep doing it then you will be defined by it but i...

A thought by Darren Whitehead and Jon Tyson (2011-07-19) from their book, Rumors of God: Experience the Kind of Faith You´ve Only Heard About (Kindle Locations 607-608). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition . Margaret and I moved to Long Island in New York nearly 3 years ago.  We moved here for a specific reason and we were glad we moved.  But one problem with the move is that it is so expensive to live here.  God has helped us and supplied our personal needs but we have not been able to give at the level we are used to or really want to.  So what do you do?  Well what we are doing is to make some changes in our life. The main one is we are moving to Florida and cutting our living expenses way down.  We are going smaller and we are going to own it.   God has been so good to us to allow us to live in some beautiful houses but we don’t need all that space anymore now that I have retired.  Our last home we had where I Pastored in Las Vegas w...

A thought by Darren Whitehead and Jon Tyson (2011-07-19) from their book, Rumors of God: Experience the Kind of Faith You´ve Only Heard Abou t (Kindle Location 1374). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. One of the greatest things that I am thankful for is His forgiveness.  I went through a three year period in my life that I call my jerk time.  I mean it a time that I should have put me out to pasture as a minister of God but He forgave me and set me straight.  Also because of that I was able to look at others in a new light.  Because He forgave me for things I did against Him I then was willing and able to forgive others for they did toward me. Asking for forgiveness is a humbling thing isn’t it?   You have to admit first of all that you did wrong, that you aren’t perfect.  That step makes you really look at yourself and to be honest of who you are and what you’ve done and that you need help.   Asking for and receiving forgiveness from...

A thought by Steven Furtick (2010-09-21) from his book. Sun Stand Still: What Happens When You Dare to Ask God for the Impossible (p. 63). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition. I know you have heard of the story of Charlton Heston leading the children of Israel through the Red Sea.   It really was Moses but there was another crossing of another river the again the children of Israel walked though.   It was just a little bit different. The river was the Jordan and the leader was Joshua and God gave the instructions to the priests, the religious leaders to the Ark of the Covenant, it was a kind of symbol of God’s presence, well God told them to start walking into the river.   Now the other time at the Red Sea God parted the waters right where they were walking but this time He did it up river.   Again He told them to start walking while there was still water.   They first got their ankles wet, “it’s coming, I know it’s coming”.    Then the water wa...

A thought by Darren Whitehead and Jon Tyson, (2011-07-19) in their book, Rumors of God: Experience the Kind of Faith You´ve Only Heard About (Kindle Locations 539-540). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. This act of accumulation comes into reality when you are in need of getting a U Haul truck to move your stuff.  I mean when we were moving after 15 years in Las Vegas to a much smaller house on Long Island we had garage sales for three weeks straight and we had the garbage truck guys on retainer.  We gave stuff away on moving day and we had to rent the largest trailer to go behind the largest truck that U Haul had.  With two families we also drove three cars with the truck and trailer for a combined total of over 10,000 miles (2,500 + per vehicle).  We had too much stuff and we still do. We are back to the same thing.  Margaret and I will be moving to Seminole, Florida and Andrew and Stef into Manhattan the first of the year.  The U Haul truck won’t ...

A thought by Andy Stanley (2009-03-31) in his book, The Principle of the Path: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be (p. 178). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. Now I may memorize the Bible from cover to cover and it may help me in winning some arguments but if I don’t see it as God’s personal living plan for my life and do what it says then it will not make a vital, everlasting difference in my life. Now I may know how important it is for an overweight 64 year old man who wants to live a productive, long, active, healthy life to exercise and eat right and I may propagate what I know but if I don’t do what I know then I will not reap the benefit from what I know. Now I may know that people don’t want to be around someone who is argumentative, self-focused and disingenuous but if I don’t do the changes in my character to make a difference in how I act then I will be a very lonely and probably angry individual who has no meaningful, close relationships. No...

A thought by Steven Furtick (2010-09-21) from his book, Sun Stand Still: What Happens When You Dare to Ask God for the Impossible (pp. 44-45). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition. There is a story in the New Testament about Jesus walking on water.  I’m sure you have heard about it.  Well Jesus had just spoken to a bunch of people and had even fed all 5,000 of them (that was also an extraordinary thing He did) and it says in Matthew 14.22&23 (MSG), “ As soon as the meal was finished, He insisted that the disciples get in the boat and go on ahead to the other side while He dismissed the people. With the crowd dispersed, He climbed the mountain so He could be by Himself and pray. He stayed there alone, late into the night.”    So they got in the boat and left.  Now after they had gotten far out in the lake the wind came against them and they were battered by the waves. They were having a rough time. Verses 25-27 (MSG), ”At about four o’clock in...

A thought by Steven Furtick (2010-09-21) from his book, Sun Stand Still: What Happens When You Dare to Ask God for the Impossible (pp. 44-45). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition. There is a story in the New Testament about Jesus walking on water.   I’m sure you have heard about it.   Well Jesus had just spoken to a bunch of people and had even fed all 5,000 of them (that was also an extraordinary thing He did) and it says in Matthew 14.22&23 (MSG), “ As soon as the meal was finished, He insisted that the disciples get in the boat and go on ahead to the other side while He dismissed the people. With the crowd dispersed, He climbed the mountain so He could be by Himself and pray. He stayed there alone, late into the night.”     So they got in the boat and left.   Now after they had gotten far out in the lake the waves came against them and they were battered by the waves. They were having a rough time. Verses 25-27 (MSG), ”At about four o’clo...

A thought from Andy Stanley (2009-08-22) from his book, It Came from Within!: The Shocking Truth of What Lurks in the Heart (p. 46). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition . The scandal that is now coming out at Penn State University sure proves the bad part of this thought.  The reputation of the football program was one of integrity.  They may have appeared to be upright from a recruiting standpoint but the fact that an upstanding, highly successful assistant coach was molesting young boys finally is coming out. The fact also that some in the administration were covering it up shows what the real heart of the program was.  Who they really are is coming finally to the surface. We are also seeing a part of that in our Presidential campaign.  Eventually it will come out who is good and who is bad, whether it is the attacker or the attacked.  Time will eventually show what the truth is.    Jesus says the same thing over in Matthew 12.34 (NIV), fo...

A thought by Steven Furtick (2010-09-21) from his book, Sun Stand Still: What Happens When You Dare to Ask God for the Impossible (p. 30). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition. We don’t usually have faith when things are going great.  What we usually have is credit.  We usually take credit for how much we have accomplished.  “Wow, look how smart I am.”  Or we give credit to the wrong thing.  Now here is the secret in handling the dark times.  If we give God credit for the good in the good times not ourselves or whatever political party is in power then when the dark times come, which they will, our faith will be strong enough to handle the dark times, our faith will shine bright.  How we Christians are handling these dark days tells a lot about how we handled the good days.  Our faith in these darks days should be brightest if our faith is and has been in Him. Somehow we need to see that the darker life gets is the best time to show tha...

A thought from Steven Furtick, (2010-09-21) from his book, Sun Stand Still: What Happens When You Dare to Ask God for the Impossible (Kindle Locations 230-231). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition. What an awesome, soul searching question.  I’ll be honest, I want as a 64 year old retired church planter to believe that even at this stage of my life the impossible can happen and I don’t want to sleep through some of the best parts of my Christian life.  I really don’t believe the effective time of my life is over.  I really don’t. But what is the impossible that God wants to do through me?  I am very serious about asking that question.  Oh I know I should just be satisfied with the life I have lived so far and to just settle in to living out my retirement but if I do that I just might miss some of the best parts of my Christian life.  I don’t want to do that.  I have been for the past three years getting my emotional and physical life in order...

A thought by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch Lance (2011-01-01) from their book, Right Here, Right Now (Shapevine) (p. 130). Baker Books. Kindle Edition. That statement tells a lot about the problems we are having in the world today.  We are not a “we” society but an “us and them” society.  Too many times those is control don’t see the responsibility for those they lead. I don’t begrudge those who have the responsibility of leadership to not get paid but this fact that one person has that much more value to a company is wrong.  No one person can run a business alone.  Yes there needs to be a leader but a leader is not a leader without followers.  And each is important.  Each company needs a team to make it happen. I am a LA Dodgers’ fan.  I love baseball.  This year there were two Dodger players who were outstanding, Clayton Kershaw and Matt Kemp but they couldn’t do it all by themselves.  No business, no team can win without a g...