tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-295013872024-03-13T16:11:14.059-04:00We-AmbassadorsWalking the walk beats talking the talk.The 67 Mustang Convertible http://www.blogger.com/profile/04140678834293179660noreply@blogger.comBlogger583125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29501387.post-65479363635946565482017-06-03T20:46:00.000-04:002017-06-03T20:46:04.198-04:00He's Back<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />The 67 Mustang Convertible http://www.blogger.com/profile/04140678834293179660noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29501387.post-41406500401102208872015-09-07T20:51:00.000-04:002015-09-07T20:55:47.971-04:00Mom was ridiculous…<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px;">
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Growing up, I had a rule: DO NOT CROSS THE STREET. As I think back on this: it was ridiculous. There was nothing wrong with the street, nothing wrong on the other side of the street, noting wrong with my legs, but for some reason, this was a solid rule for me. If I broke this rule I would get in serious trouble. My older brother could cross the street, but not me. What difference was a few years? What would change in me the day I became “old enough to cross the street”?</div>
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The street was only a few hundred yards from my house. I could go twice this distance in any other direction but I was not to cross the street. What was it about this one direction?</div>
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I know you are thinking this is stupid, that at my age I could get hit by a car. And you would be right. </div>
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Sometimes rules are made to protect us. Not to restrict us. Was I restricted? YES. Was I protected? YES!</div>
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Over the past few months I have seen a lot of people posting out how ridiculous some of the rules of the Old Testament are (were). Things like eating pork or shellfish, others like wearing different woven clothes and even tattoos (marking the body), to name a few. But what if the rules were not as restricting as they are protecting? Maybe the rules are there to teach us something, maybe teach us about the heart of God? </div>
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What most people don’t know about these rules is that they came shortly after God introduced himself to an entire nation. A nation that had adopted rules, habits and customs from surrounding nations. These rules were set to establish Gods people with direction, protection and an insight into the very heart of God, rules to set His people apart. After all, wouldn’t a rule restricting a person to clothing of a single material teach us something about purity? One material would be pure-only one material-Like God, only one.</div>
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I really don’t think God cared much about their fashion but much about their loyalty. And to a people who was surrounded by nations who sold out to the latest greatest god with the most to offer, they needed to learn loyalty. To a nation that would one day hear that there is only ONE Son, ONE sacrifice and only ONE way to God, they needed to become a nation of loyalty. </div>
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So when reading these “rules” Ask yourself these questions: Would breaking them hurt me? Would breaking them hurt others? if the answer is no, ask: what was/is God trying to teach us through this rule? After all, every rule falls into two areas: Love God or Love others. So if breaking the rule does not hurt others, does it hurt/offend God?</div>
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The New Testament changes things. And when it comes to sin, this really is where we should be reading. In it we read that we all fail at the rules (sin) and that’s when the ONE Son came, lived, died and rose to pay the price for my sins and everyone else's. </div>
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So before we are quick to determine for ourselves what is and isn’t sin, knowing how much it hurts God and the price he paid for it, We might want to really dig in and see what He thinks sin is. After all, God gave His Son. Thats a pretty serious price for our sins. One we should take pretty serious. </div>
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Out of 27 books in the New Testament, the word repent is in them 66 times in 60 verses. Sounds like there might be a message here.<br />
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P.S. this is about our personal sins, not the sins of others! How we handle others can be a sin in itself if not done through the love others command!!!!</div>
The 67 Mustang Convertible http://www.blogger.com/profile/04140678834293179660noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29501387.post-38978588156180641772015-07-05T07:13:00.000-04:002015-07-05T07:13:02.902-04:00In my neighborhood...I have 4 neighbors. I’ll call them number 1, 2 3 and 4.<br />I speak to 1 a lot. We often have long conversations about any and everything.<br />I speak to 2 less than 1 but whenever they come or go, I always say “hello” or “have a great day”.<br />Number 3, I don’t speak to very often at all. Once or twice a year we will have a conversation or if something happens in our neighborhood, we will certainly talk then.<br />Then there is number 4. I never speak to him. There are no hard feelings, I just never really connected with him.<br />
<br />So I feel closer to number 1 than the rest even though they all live exactly one house away.<br />How can number 4 who is so close feel so far away? It is simple: distance is not just the amount of length it is also the amount of relationship. We feel closer to those who we know the best, spend the most time with. We feel distant to those we never talk to, listen to, care for or even acknowledge.<br />A side effect of my lack of relationship with number 4 is that my perception of him is entirely based on my assumptions and not the facts. I assume he is quite, I assume he doesn't really like me. In fairness to him, I should get to know him. It is not fair for me to place assumptions on him that may or may not be true.<br />
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You have probably figure out by now that I am talking about us and our relationship to God. Some people feel really close to Him while others feel miles apart. In reality, He is right there. He is right where he has always been and will alway be. The more time we spend together the more I understand Him, the more I hear from Him and the more I trust Him. When there is distance, it is because I have walked away, not Him.<br />
<br />So I ask: Is God more like number 1, 2, 3 or 4 to you?<br />
<br />The fact that number 4 and I never speak does not change the physical distance at all and it does not change the fact that number for is real. At any time I can walk over and start the relationship.<br /><br />
Here is my simple challenge: start tomorrow and give God just 2 more minutes more each day than you do now. That’s 120 seconds! If you spend 10 minutes now, make it 12 minutes. If you spend no time with Him, then 2 minutes will be easy. I promise He will seem closer and closer to you.<br />Give him one minute of prayer- thank him for whatever is good in your life, ask Him for help with the stuff thats bad and give Him one minute reading His word- read Luke then James in the Bible. Its kinda like one minute of Him listening to you and one of you listening to Him.<br />Once that is habit for you, feel free to add another minute.<br />
The 67 Mustang Convertible http://www.blogger.com/profile/04140678834293179660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29501387.post-82534372290852245272015-03-06T13:41:00.001-05:002015-03-15T08:43:46.648-04:00Saving the Titanic<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: large;">A short story: 2100 People from point A going to point B</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">A complicated story: 1250 People from point A never make it to point B</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">What sank the titanic? Was it her speed after the final broilers were brought online?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Was it her lack of turning radius?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Was it the size of the iceberg?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Lack of proper radio communications?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I venture to say it was simply: the timing. The ship could turn, and did, too late. The ship was designed to do exactly what it did. It was well aware of the hazards of ice. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">So it wasn't a malfunction and it wasn't the unknown. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">It was the time they started the turn that sank them or it could be said: the amount of time the ship did NOT turn.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We know our crisis: obesity, illiteracy, crime, poor choices and we more than know how to avoid them. Then why, as a culture do we wait till it is upon us to react.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">It is believed that a mere 30 seconds sooner and the titanic would have been spared the icy depths.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">30 seconds! </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We respond in the 30 seconds (or when the crisis is upon us) when what would it have looked like if we had 3 minutes, 3 hours, 3 days, 3 years sooner?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">30 seconds sank the Titanic after extreme panic and efforts to save her. 60 seconds would have resulted in the exact same maneuvers and panic of operators but saved the ship (this is also where we respond) but why don't we start a dock? When mapping out the course? that is exactly what the Boys & Girls Club is doing. We know the crisis and we know the results of subtle maneuvers and how they don't just save lives, they avoid the whole panic mode by avoiding the problem years in advance. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">If Titanic would have left port with just 1/4” of a variance in her course, she would have missed the iceberg by miles. We are not looking for collisions or even near misses, we are looking for a clear path to a successful future and that is accomplished by knowing the obstacles, knowing our capabilities and reacting in the proper time: when setting the course.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This is the simple effect of a well placed encouragement, a recognized achievement, help with homework and a pat on the back for doing the right thing. These little gestures result in slight course changes that save lives. I still remember, and feed off of, the encouragement I received as a child. It fueled future behavior and some of these course changes have guided me past what could have been a crisis but instead was an amazing view off the port side.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">One kid at a time, we can…and do avoid crisis.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Just my thoughts.</span></div>
The 67 Mustang Convertible http://www.blogger.com/profile/04140678834293179660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29501387.post-86377222693343793532014-10-22T23:29:00.000-04:002014-10-22T23:30:10.400-04:00The answer to many questions is: Keep doing what we are doing. And do it well.<h4>
<span style="font-size: large; font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">We were asked at our weekly leader meeting: what can we do to put a dent in poverty and hunger?</span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-size: large; font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">After much thought, that very mission is, in reality, the answer to the question. Our local organization sees over 1000 kids a day. When we achieve our mission, those kids, some of which are living in poverty and are hungry, will grow up and break the unfortunate cycle they were born into. </span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-size: large; font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I cannot think of one person who reached their potential, who is productive, who is caring and who is a responsible citizen, that is in poverty and hungry. Oh it is possible, just not probable.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Those thousand kids will grow up. Lets assume we meet our mission. These kids will marry and likely have kids of their own. Now our 1000 kids and the values we instill have impacted another 3000 people (their suppose and at least 2 children), not to mention any friends they might have mentored along the way. So we, by simply following our mission will put 4000 plus people our of poverty and hunger. </span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-size: large; font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">In the grand scheme of things, 4000 isn't a lot. But according to the Boys & Girls Club of American: <i>“In 2012, Boys & Girls Club youth development programs, training and services impacted nearly 4 million children and teens.”</i> So what if these 4 million kids grow up and get married and have 2 kids of their own: thats 7 million people that may have been on the path to poverty but are now productive, caring, responsible citizens. 7 million is a dent!</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-size: large; font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I read somewhere that if you feel your job matters to someone, you will find satisfaction in it. Couple that with a good team, measurable goals and a strong since of community and now you know why I love my job. </span></span><div style="font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 13px;">
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The 67 Mustang Convertible http://www.blogger.com/profile/04140678834293179660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29501387.post-35644549626142331912014-09-12T08:10:00.002-04:002014-09-12T08:10:44.167-04:00The opportunity that becomes a offense.<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Once upon a time: I had the opportunity to sit in a training with a group of other people. This training was one of those that-while it had to do with my job-really doesn’t offer practical every day chances to engage it (or </span>does it?)<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> Still, If its important to my superiors, shouldn’t it be important to me, regardless of my assumed relevance? The same people who made the decision to provide this training also made the decision that I was (at one time) the best person for the job. Why would I doubt their decision making now? Hmm...</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">So I pull out my notepad and prepare to take anything from this speaker that I could put in my tool belt. As the speaker began to equip me for success, between dribbling down as much gold as I could, I looked up and around the room for some sort of confirmation that the information was as good as I thought it was. What greeted me? A few people also taking notes but what alarmed me was a few ‘glazed over eyes’ looking past the speaker and at some imaginary spot on the wall behind him. I thought to myself “They just tuned out for a second, they will surly reengage in a second.” After several more points, and several more minutes, I saw these same glaze. One that continued throughout the presentation.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Perception is the known facts and then imagination filling in the blanks. So my mind started filling in the blanks for them: “Why am I here?”, “Couldn’t this been a little later?”, “Don’t they know how many hours I work?”, “Does this guy do that to his hair on purpose?”. What I was pretty sure they were NOT thinking was this: “This is going to be awesome.”, “Slow start but it’s about to get real.”, “I’m up, I’m ready, bring it on and set me up for success.”.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Now, after time has passed the person is not as much a concern for me now as the lingering attitude. One that, I am sure, was years in the conditioning. One that I am sure to encounter in the future. It is these attitudes that really concern me. Can they be fixed?</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Here we have people mere feet from the boss, the one who invited this person in to share, the one who hires, fires, promotes, demotes and will later either tell others of our good work or maybe never speak of us again. Do these attitude holders not think the boss is watching them? Do they not care? Do they think they know everything the speaker is saying? Do they think this is useless information (For the record: any information that we refuse to use, is useless information)?</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Can this attitude be fixed? Why was mine different? While I am not wanting to be on a pedestal, I think the answer is: the box. Mine is opened. theirs was more than likely, closed. See, I have a pretty big tool box in my garage. And it is full of tools. Some I may never need and less than relevant in my typical environment. But if and when I ever would need that tool, I have it. It may need some cleaning or greasing to get it to work, but it is there because I was willing to put it there and keep it there. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">All this to say: An open box will always be more desirable than a closed one. Can a close one be opened? Yes, but each one is different and has to be willing to be opened.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">My box isn’t perfect and the tools there will always be limited by my knowledge and use of them. But I will keep it open, I will learn as much as possible from anyone willing to put a little something into it and I will always be willing to share it.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">So the next time you find yourself in a mandatory offense, ask yourself: is there an opportunity here? Are there any tools here that I can collect? And if all else fails and you decide to keep your box closed and taped up, at least learn to fake it! Act like you care and that just might hold your paycheck for a few months more.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">By the way, with a little time, I could deliver this guys presentation if I was asked to (not as good as him of corse). Not because I am smart, but because I am open and willing. Are you?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">"Culture eats </span>strategy<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> for breakfast" 'Peter Drucker'</span></span><br />
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The 67 Mustang Convertible http://www.blogger.com/profile/04140678834293179660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29501387.post-20550151540863979682014-09-01T20:06:00.001-04:002017-03-23T02:00:55.211-04:00Beauty and the Beast Rewind: the typical relationship.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This classic is filled with inspiration and romance. It captures the hearts and awakens the imagination. But the story is different than real life in only one way, yes one: Its backwards from the “typical” relationship. If we were to play this film backwards, we would see an all to familiar synopsis. One, most of us have been in close proximity to, if not played a major role in. Let me give you the rundown, backwards:</span></div>
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We have a couple that are madly in love, happy and destine to live happily ever after. A prince and princess. They have learned to love and earn the love of the other. But then one of them starts to change (maybe both of them change) and selfishness set in. The once prince charming now is prone to being alone, doing his own thing and even becomes mean. He has lost his manners and looks less and less like a gentleman with each passing year. Soon the love is a forgotten skill and self is the only motivation left. Now the transformation is complete. The man has become the beast. The woman tolerates it in hopes that things will get better, hopes for a small glance, a small jester, but the longer it goes, the home slowly becomes a prison: The beast, it’s warden. The request have been replaced with demands. The two were so much alike and in love-now are almost different species and incompatible at best. Things get so bad that all signs of love are gone and fear has taken its place. Questions fill her mind: How did he get this way? Why is he so mean? Can he change? Should he change? Is it may fault? The only thing left to to is flee, to run, to return home into the comfort of family, leaving the beast alone and lost. But the home of our youth cannot fill our souls of our adulthood. We need a helper, a true love, a friend for life.</div>
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So we have the classic story told backwards. A fairy tell turned around and into real life. This story happens too often. The culprit: complacency and selfishness. See when we have been exposed to something for a long time, that something becomes expected and even deserved. We forgot what it was like to earn the love of others because, well, it’s just been there all this time…and it’s MINE! This is our mistake and this is where the cures of the beast set in. Complacency leads to selfishness. Selfishness is a trait for beast, not couples.</div>
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So all along, the cause of the curse is the cure for the curse. Unselfish acts earn the care of others. Not demands, not expectancies, not arrangements. Nope, just unconditional love. That means, regardless of the way they act, I choose to love them. REGARDLESS. Once we set conditions, we are not being unconditional and unselfish. Conditions like honesty, kindness, and loyalty. If all these fail, unconditional love is there to win the day. And make no mistake: setting a number of times he/she can fail at any of these is a condition.</div>
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The great thing about unconditionally love is that it starts with the only one in the relationship that you can change: YOU. But rest assured, it is contagious. </div>
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SO there is hope for the beauty and hope for the beast, as long as YOU are willing to set the new unconditional standard in the home.</div>
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And they lived happily ever after…</div>
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P.S. I choose to focus on the man to stay true to the fairy tail but this is a gender neutral problem. The man or the woman can become the beast, sorry ladies.</div>
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The 67 Mustang Convertible http://www.blogger.com/profile/04140678834293179660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29501387.post-29676528404349274302014-08-19T08:13:00.001-04:002014-08-19T08:13:17.405-04:00It's been a wile but I'm still here.A quick update on the Cannons: we are loving life. We both have health, good jobs, an amazing church family with <a href="http://www.crosspointenc.com/">Crosspointe Fellowship Church</a>. I have been too busy to be on here much but I see you are still checking out the blog so I will try to post something soon.<div>
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Thank you!</div>
The 67 Mustang Convertible http://www.blogger.com/profile/04140678834293179660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29501387.post-34319781841711606022014-03-15T20:42:00.000-04:002014-03-15T20:42:25.459-04:00Thats my judgement and I’m sticking to it!The other day I was checking out one of our Boys & Girls Club buildings and the custodian, who happens to be a retired roofer, offered to take me up on the roof to survey some leaks. We proceeded to set up one later, climb to the first level roof, pulled up another latter and set it up on the second level roof. Now I am not afraid of heights but I have extreme respect for them. I stay way off the edge and as safe as I can be. This retired roofer was very comfortable near the edge. Too comfortable for my taste. I asked him to step back and to be careful and he laughed at me. I’m so glad he got a laugh out of me but I was serious. He made me nervous. He informed me that he has been on roofs his whole life and was very aware of his footing. His confidence was not contagious at all! We checked the roof and climbed back down to solid ground and (in my opinion: safety).<br />
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What is my point in this story? Well, I am glad you asked. See, this man claimed to be careful and skilled but I didn’t care. I wanted him to be careful and step back. He claimed he was safe. I saw things another way. I wanted to absolutely ensure his safety. Now in the Christian world, this same scenario plays out every day-all day. You see someone approaching danger and try to warn them and help them and they jump and call it “judging them”.<br />
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Never once did this man assume I had anything other that his safety in mind. He didn’t mind my caring for him. He did, as I mentioned, find it humorous.<br />
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Please don't assume people are judging you when they try to help or point out a possible pour outcome of a situation. We are not judging you, we are trying to protect you. After all, it is our job:<br />
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<i><span style="color: blue;">Galatians 6:1 Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. 2 Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. 3 If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important.</span></i><br />
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And if by chance you do call yourself a believer, you are baptized and claim to follow Christ and you do fall into sin and are fine with it; You can expect to be judged by other believers. Again, it is our job (in love, always in love):<br />
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<i><span style="color: blue;">1 Corinthians 5:12 It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning. 13 God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.”</span></i><br />
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So please don’t get offended when I ask you to step away from the edge. You may be safe, you may think you are in control but why chance it. Step back where we all know you will be safe.<br />
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“Based on the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data, there are 70 annual fatalities for Roofers per year”
The 67 Mustang Convertible http://www.blogger.com/profile/04140678834293179660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29501387.post-60072079239240590742013-11-04T20:41:00.000-05:002013-11-04T20:51:05.023-05:00Why We Fail<span style="font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;">You have head it and I have heard it. Time and time again: You have tried and I have tried and we both fail. So much so that the next time, we don’t really even attempt. I am talking about the challenges we get from so many churches today. You know, after the three points and after the blanks are all filled in, there is the big “take-home challenge”, The “what to do”, the “how to live it out”, the “this week” or “next 40 or 90 days” and on and on. Really though, we have no reason to fail: we have just been showed where the Bible tells us to do it, we were told how Jesus or the other Bible characters did it and if they did it, surly we can. But we fail, I fail.</span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">So why do we fail? In my opinion, we fail because we cannot succeed. Now, I know that sounds like a “duhh” statement but think about it for a minute. We cannot succeed in living a life that is pleasing to God. If we could do it, do you really think God would have sent Jesus to die for my sins? Our sins? If there was any other way, don’t you think that our creator would have taken that way. It is through the perfect life of Christ, his death and his resurrection that our failures are wiped away. Not through my success (or lack of) in meeting a challenge. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Now don’t take this as a free pass to live a life of foolish choices and stupidity. But also don’t just try to live better because myself or some pastor told you to. You try to live a life pleasing to God out of sheer gratefulness for what Jesus did for us on the cross! But know that you will mess up and know that His grace is still sufficient! </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">But also know that Jesus didn’t leave you here to fail. And unfortunately, with 3 solid points, an acronym or two and 3 to 5 blanks, there isn’t enough time in Sundays message for this part: Jesus gave you everything you need to succeed: The Holy Spirit. It’s truly sad that Jesus’ work on the cross isn’t talked about in a service every now and then, but the Holy Spirit gets no love in a lot of church messages (except for the charismatics!). See we were left with a helper, The Helper! We sing about him when we quote from </span><span style="color: #367da2; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Zechariah 4:6 ….’Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">But we don’t share it in our challenges. Look, it is God’s will that you live a life pleasing to Him. Don’t you think He wants you to succeed at that? Every good and perfect gift is from above and the Holy Spirit is a good and perfect gift!. Instead we tend to convince you that we are right and you should meet the challenge because of that. We word it in cleaver ways so you can remember it, heck sometimes we say what God said SO MUCH BETTER than when he said it (Ok that was a little sarcastic but just listen sometimes.), we use creative visuals, movie clips and images. And it works, you and I walk out saying: “I’m gonna do it this time!” And we leave the Helper out completely and we fail. When will we learn to lean on Him? When will we accept the entire gift that God gave us? I don’t know about you but I am tired of trying to do something on my own that I was never meant to do on my own! My might is not enough and my power is weak, but by His spirit! </span><span style="color: #367da2; letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>2 Corinthians 2:4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Jesus was and is the greatest thing to ever happen on this planet but even he said that it’s best if he leaves because something else is coming:</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">John 16:5 “But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 But I tell you the truth, </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px; text-decoration: underline;">it is to your advantage that I go away</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. 8 And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; 11 and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">12 “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px; text-decoration: underline;">He will guide you into all the truth</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I am not knocking on any challenges you are given at any church. I repeat: the challenges are good! We should try to live better, we should be growing in spiritual maturity and we should repent of our sins. But what I want you to know is this: weather or not the challenge is offered with the assurance that we have a great Helper to get us through it, WE DO have just that: A great Helper, the Holy Spirit, to get us through it. So take the challenges but lean on the one who can and does succeed.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">If we could have done it on our own, we wouldn’t need the Cross.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">If we could do it on our own, we would not need the Holy Spirit.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">So next time you think you cannot do it on your own...you are right, you cannot do it on your own and you don't have to!</span></div>
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The 67 Mustang Convertible http://www.blogger.com/profile/04140678834293179660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29501387.post-89118525208524835152013-09-02T08:57:00.001-04:002013-09-02T19:56:55.584-04:00They all got it wrong!<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I have noticed a trend in the social network arena. This is not a new trend and it most definitely is not limited to Facebook and Twitter. What is this trend you ask? Well, I am so glad you asked because I am about to answer: the trend is people feeling the need to find their identity in their relationships. It seems that people don’t feel complete or even relevant if they do not have a person to call their own. We seem to think that a significant other is all we need to be happy, to be complete, to be who we were meant to be. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Disclaimer: Now being married to an amazing wife for 19+ years, you may be thinking: “What does HE know about being alone?” Well as of right now, I was alone longer than I have been married. And Don’t get me wrong, I love having my bride at my side and would not want it any other way but we cannot limit our identity to our relational status.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I think a part of the problem is what we have been fed. I am not talking about our food, I am talking about our other great intake: TV, Music and Movies. I am not going to tear them apart as some “Christians” do, I love entertainment! Just last night I went to a double feature and I enjoyed it. But when this intake starts to mold our core beliefs, I start to worry.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">So here is the problem: The fairy tales messed up! The fairy tales got it all wrong. Our little girls and boys are watching them and idealizing these stories based on one major misconception: “And they lived happily ever after”. They base the whole movie on its climatic ending where the princess gets her valiant prince and they take the throne. As awesome is this happy ending is, it seems to teach us that we are not complete until our prince charming shows up and saves the day. See we forget one important thing in almost all of these movies/stories: The princess’/prince’s identity is not found in the end after the dragon has been slain and the evil witch has been conquered, NO! The princess’/prince’s identity is found in who their father is! See Snow white, Sleeping Beauty, Prince Charming and the rest, were BORN with their identity in place because of the family they were born into. Somehow we have changed that to them not being complete until the princess is united with her knight in shining armor.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS7ES0W-1113Ys6Oz0ZaWvvHXS9rGOK6_OrPehwF-nCKCeg6k3f9uRbY8PJ69RIAsT4MrUTXm87CVn51oEJZ-UhwVCVhfXSyVc0pZqMPh7ZUHwAtb8YWu9fy4OF_-IF2SilwUG/s1600/beauty_and_the_beast_movie_image_4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS7ES0W-1113Ys6Oz0ZaWvvHXS9rGOK6_OrPehwF-nCKCeg6k3f9uRbY8PJ69RIAsT4MrUTXm87CVn51oEJZ-UhwVCVhfXSyVc0pZqMPh7ZUHwAtb8YWu9fy4OF_-IF2SilwUG/s200/beauty_and_the_beast_movie_image_4.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">So naturally we have all learned to look for our happy ending, our ride out into the sunset on our white horse with our princess/prince at our side. We want the happy ending but I fear it is because we have forgotten about our “Happy Beginning”.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWv2fnm6kKMrZQbBkOPC3_Wgd7sdr2Irm978JgxZL-qa7XX7lgFUUd5XpSALBUVWu2rV5sqVJw5bXqNje0jXpR8mf1EYMPSVlZvX1crWiF9_ooPWrfGaygLiqh0jTvAeYDiHs-/s1600/Sleeping+Beauty+kiss+and+make+it+better.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWv2fnm6kKMrZQbBkOPC3_Wgd7sdr2Irm978JgxZL-qa7XX7lgFUUd5XpSALBUVWu2rV5sqVJw5bXqNje0jXpR8mf1EYMPSVlZvX1crWiF9_ooPWrfGaygLiqh0jTvAeYDiHs-/s200/Sleeping+Beauty+kiss+and+make+it+better.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Let me tell you right here and right now that:</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">You are not who you are because of who is at your side! </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">You are who you are because of the One who died!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqARf-mKs-pjBvy5W5znHaWpL7NXjwWnlrUVoisXrqza-w0Mji_0YzPzT0JRk8Zhd3SnaIIl5VxLxRS_5yngpgo5jUYgfSt4HxKiC_7pZUW52f_Rn4qv-sVlFFVkX8fIYHY4Ei/s1600/snow-white-and-the-seven-dwarfs-wallpaper-snow-white-and-the-seven-dwarfs-6492768-1024-768.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqARf-mKs-pjBvy5W5znHaWpL7NXjwWnlrUVoisXrqza-w0Mji_0YzPzT0JRk8Zhd3SnaIIl5VxLxRS_5yngpgo5jUYgfSt4HxKiC_7pZUW52f_Rn4qv-sVlFFVkX8fIYHY4Ei/s200/snow-white-and-the-seven-dwarfs-wallpaper-snow-white-and-the-seven-dwarfs-6492768-1024-768.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Lets see how Christ sees you (Who you are!):</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>1 Peter 2:9 But you are a </i><b><i>chosen people</i></b><i>, a </i><b><i>royal priesthood</i></b><i>, a </i><b><i>holy nation</i></b><i>, </i><b><i>God’s special possession</i></b><i>, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Lets see who your Father is:</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Romans 8:14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the </i><b><i>children of God</i></b><i>. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your </i><b><i>adoption to sonship</i></b><i>. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that </i><b><i>we are God’s children</i></b><i>. 17 Now if we are children, then </i><b><i>we are heirs</i></b><i>—heirs of God and </i><b><i>co-heirs with Christ</i></b><i>, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Lets see what your identity is:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #021eaa; letter-spacing: 0.0px; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.openbible.info/labs/cross-references/search?q=Galatians+4%3A7"><i>Galatians 4:7</i></a></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i> So you are no longer a slave, but </i><b><i>a son</i></b><i>, and if a son, then an </i><b><i>heir through God</i></b><i>.</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Lets see who your family is:</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Romans 8:29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the </i><b><i>firstborn among many brothers and sisters</i></b><i>. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he </i><b><i>called</i></b><i>, he also justified; those he </i><b><i>justified</i></b><i>, he also </i><b><i>glorified</i></b><i>.</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">So:</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">To the Cinderella who feels like a slave, you are a daughter of the KING! </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">To the Snow White who feels forced into servanthood, you are a princess of the GOD!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">To the Sleeping Beauty who feels dead and un-useful, you are alive in Christ!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">To the warrior looking to be knighted for slaying the dragon, you are already in the LORDS army!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">To the Beast looking for true love before the last pedal drops, True love died in your place and finds you perfect when His (Jesus) blood dropped!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">What the fairy tales got wrong, God got right!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Stop looking for your </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px; text-decoration: underline;">happy ending</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> and lean on your </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px; text-decoration: underline;">happy beginning</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">!!!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">If you want to know more or have clarity, message me and I will be glad to talk to you, after all, I would love to spend time with such royalty as you!!!!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">And no, dating is not bad….until you are defined by it.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Thanks to Kyle Idelman and Chris Hopkins for the thought. </span></div>
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The 67 Mustang Convertible http://www.blogger.com/profile/04140678834293179660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29501387.post-878135008805066092013-08-31T22:36:00.000-04:002013-08-31T22:46:04.888-04:00Barrel of Monkeys<br>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Ok, so I don’t really remember having and playing with the “Monkeys” when I was a kid. I am sure at one point or another: I had a set. I am sure I never knew there was a game you played with them and I am equally sure that there is just something fun about the very sight of these little plastic hook armed chimps!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">For whatever reason, the other day I was thinking about leadership and these monkeys, linked together by the arms, came to mind. I think they say a lot about leadership and couldn’t get the thought out of my mind. So I trekked across town and into the toy store, I had to have a barrel of monkeys! Low and behold there they hung-right on the end of the isle front and center as if calling my name. Now I had to choose a color. Ok course I walked out with a red set and the receipt. Now as an owner of a brand new set of monkeys, I saw on the label “Instructions on bottom of barrel”. Was I the only one that didn’t know this was a game and not just a goofy toy? </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Well I just had to play it. My opponent would be Sheila (who I am sure owned monkeys as a kid). I thought I would be cleaver and let her go first so I could watch her monkey hooking technique….I was wrong! She hooked all 15 in a long chain of monkeys without dropping one! So now it’s my turn to be the hook master! I choose my lead monkey carefully-picking one that would be hard to hook with another. Now for my very first (possibly ever!) hook! And I dropped it! I couldn’t hook the very first one! Sheila beat me fair and square! Sheila is the monkey master and I am the 46 year old fool who just bought a barrel of monkeys only to be beat by my wife!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">So Just what do these monkeys have to do with leadership? Well the top monkey is the boss or the leader and the rest are the team being lead. There is work to do: get more monkeys on board without dropping them! A successful leader team is one where all of them are strung together and hanging safely by the leader. Here are some observations I saw:</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The leader carries more weight than the rest. The burden is on that top monkey! Try to sympathize with them and their weight.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">All of the monkeys have a smile on their face. At the end of the day, is your team happy? Even in adversary or differences, a good leader, who responds well, will have a happy team of monkeys!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The team is able to handle the weight on each of them. While the leader does hold all of the weight, each team member has a job to do and a weight to hold. If you cannot handle the weight, move to the bottom of the monkey chain and work your way back up!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The Leader/team is boring and no fun as long as it is in the barrel. Get out of the barrel and do what you were made to do!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Each monkey has a lead arm and a load arm. I think every part of a team has a lead role and a follow role to play. What areas are you leading and what areas are you following?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibTQPc-F4mVcaWOmiIneC7brnx9PItQ1Q12ccXHzdG69LPLmr83PH5iYtwAyWKKvwkpEVp5Ul9wURTVjMzOYTjQKxm6SHVM4i6AxjpoGL1ZcI0TgsUpvOI50xMQ-Vzh2HeECY6/s1600/barrelOfMonkeys_preview_featured.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibTQPc-F4mVcaWOmiIneC7brnx9PItQ1Q12ccXHzdG69LPLmr83PH5iYtwAyWKKvwkpEVp5Ul9wURTVjMzOYTjQKxm6SHVM4i6AxjpoGL1ZcI0TgsUpvOI50xMQ-Vzh2HeECY6/s200/barrelOfMonkeys_preview_featured.jpg" width="200"></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">A good leader uses his entire team and understand each of their positions. Sheila got the feel of how the monkeys responded to her movement and the role that each of the played. She used this to her advantage and won!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">All it takes is one not doing its job for the rest to suffer. One monkey not hooked right or hooking right will cost the whole team. Are you doing your job? Is your team working with their strengths? </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">How can you, where ever you are in the chain, help the rest of the team?How can you support your leader? Are you the leader? Are you handling the weight?</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I know this is just a kids toy but I think the chain of monkeys holds a lot of truth to the way leadership works. Don’t be afraid to reach out and take someone along with you and help them take someone along with them.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">All in all, we are all just a bunch of monkeys trying to hold on and hang on!</span></div>
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Disclaimer: This isn't leadership in it's entirety, just one aspect of it.</div>
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The 67 Mustang Convertible http://www.blogger.com/profile/04140678834293179660noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29501387.post-74114998216149459932013-08-14T09:47:00.000-04:002013-08-30T22:03:45.805-04:00A possibility as to why we flee:<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I have worked in children’s church for close to 20 years. On some Easter messages, I would get a live lamb as a visual in church. We would head out to a farm and pick one, then the shepherd would go in and get it. First of all, this experience was very humbling.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">See to represent the sacrificial lamb, we had to pick a spotless one without fault. Now this farm had hundreds and hundreds of sheep. You would think, that out of that many, a perfect one should be easy to fine: nope. The shepherd would finally catch one and bring it to me and I would tell him that that one wasn’t good enough or right and I would ask him to get another. This gave me some insight on what it must have been like before Jesus. It also taught me that perfection is something to be highly valued. It was these lambs that you wanted to breed and grow a better flock. So to give up the good ones was hard and costly. But this really isn’t my point.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Something even more interesting I learned was that as the shepherd, the man who raised these sheep from birth, the man who fed them every day, the man who protected them, as this man stepped into the fence the sheep did something interesting: they fled away from him. Which ever way the farmer went, the sheep would go the other way. At first I thought the poor guy would never catch my needed sheep but the farmer was smart. He would move one way to get the sheep to go the other way (the way he wanted them to go). If he needed them to the left, he would go to the right. He would pick a corner to trap them in and then move in to grab the sheep. Now I had no reason to think the sheep would act different...or did I?</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><i>John 10:2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and </i><b><i>the sheep listen to his voice</i></b><i>. He calls his own sheep by name and </i><b><i>leads them</i></b><i> out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, </i><b><i>he goes on ahead of them</i></b><i>, and </i><b><i>his sheep follow</i></b><i> him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I want to point out a few things in the passage:</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">First: “<b>the sheep listen to his voice</b>”, now these sheep I am talking about did not listen. As a matter of fact, the farmer used his voice to run the sheep where he wanted them to go. But with Jesus or a “good shepherd” the sheep listen to his voice, not run from it.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Second: The shepherd “<b>leads them</b>”. I think that a good shepherd will know how to lead and not chase, trick or trap the sheep to get them where they need to be. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Third: “<b>he goes on ahead of them<i>”, </i></b> this is probably the first clue to the real life problem that this shepherd had AND many churches have with the leaders or shepherds. When “he goes on ahead of them”, I see several things: he is exposing himself to whatever dangers they may come to, then he is also between the sheep and the potential threat. I also see a good shepherd not leading his sheep anywhere he himself is not going! Notice I didn’t say “willing to go” but going. When you “go out ahead of them”, you are going there first! Anyone would say they are willing but do they go out ahead?</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">And lastly: “<b>his sheep follow</b>”, These sheep did not follow. they fled. But here Jesus says they will follow! Now I know that our pastors today are not Jesus and cannot be expected to be Jesus but I do see a problem with the church today: people are fleeing away. Now most of them are fleeing towards other flocks (other churches) but rest assured: they are fleeing. It’s been found that 83% of first time church visitors are from another church. You have probably done this too, it’s ok. But you do have to figure out if the problem was with you the sheep or with the shepherd.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Questions to ask:</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Do you listen to his voice?</b> Before I get into this first question, never take your faith solely from the mouth of any one man other that Jesus and His Word! Always write down the passages and look them up! If information comes from outside of this, don’t be afraid to ask for the reference and look it up! All of that being said and assuming the Word is being preached, are you listening? and by listening I mean listening and obeying? Or are you resisting what is being said? Do you lean into the messages or are you pulling away? Are you accepting the challenges or rejecting them? Because if you believe the Word is being preached and have checked and still resist, you are not just fleeing the church but also God. Repent now!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Are you being led by your shepherd?</b> Are you drawn in by the church leading you or are you being tricked into the corner? I find that when we experience the true gospel in others, we want to follow them. But too often the church plays another game: good coffee, fun music with a secular song thrown in every now and then, exciting lights and decorations. One thing you have to notice is that in John 10, Jesus never mentions using the sheep pin as a tool. The environment will not matter when there is a good shepherd. He didn’t say to clean up the pen, to paint the gates, put up better signs or give them better food in the trough. Nope everything here points to the good shepherd. It is important to have a good environment but that should not be the tool to get you there and keep you there. It’s all about where the healthy focus is. Is it on Jesus and reaching the lost? The sheep that is under a good shepherd will feel more like part of the family than it does part of the flock.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Is your shepherd going ahead of you</b>? Do you see your church/leaders doing what it is asking you to do? Are they doing it ahead of you? The shepherd here did not join the flock, he led it and went out before it. We should see every challenge in full effect by a good shepherd before we are asked to meet it. We should see the love of Christ first in them. Are they preaching on humility? Are they humble? Honesty: are they honest, integrity…. Are they cutting the path for you? </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Know that the leaders today are human and the person speaking in John 10 is Jesus (God) and know that we humans will fail. I am not expecting a perfect pastor or leaders in all of this rant. That, I know I will never find. <b>I am simply saying that this may be why so many people are fleeing instead of following.</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Who is who: You are a shepherd if you lean someone (and you should). I am not talking about just pastors here but any shepherd. The shepherd in John 10 is clearly Jesus and while we are not The Good Shepherd, we are called to follow Jesus and do what he did. and he lead people and you are a sheep if you are following under someone (and you should).</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Please don’t be offended that I call you sheep. Jesus did it first and it is an honor to be a sheep under a good shepherd! But as a sheep, are we following our pastors? Are we following our Good Shepherd: Jesus? If not, start now! </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">As a pastor/leader are you a good shepherd? Are the sheep your true concern or is your job or your paycheck, your comfort or even your pride? Are the flock more apt to flee or follow? I find that a good shepherd needs no tricks or methods to get the sheep to listen. Being good is all.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i><span style="color: #0b5394;">John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. </span></i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">That is a shepherd worth following! One more concerned with the flock than his own life (whether it be his safety, his comfort or his paycheck).</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">If you find that more people under you flee than follow, you also have to ask: is it bad sheep or am I a bad shepherd. Jesus has given us everything we need: The example of following him, the instruction in His word, the gifts and the power through the Holy Spirit to accomplish the work He has already set aside for you to do. Stop trying on your own and start leaning on the Son. </span></span></div>
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The 67 Mustang Convertible http://www.blogger.com/profile/04140678834293179660noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29501387.post-8533202492449528712013-07-22T09:47:00.002-04:002013-07-22T09:54:40.943-04:00The Trek Through the Woods<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Years ago, Sheila’s Grandfather (a very huge man in every sense of the word) purchased a piece of property. He was very eager to show me the boundaries of this new property. I should add here that a good portion of this property was heavily wooded. I’m not just talking trees. I am talking trees, bushes, vines, briars and bamboo. It was thick. Grand-Dad marched into the uncut woods: no paths, no machete not even a stick to knock spiderwebs out of the way. Just this big man bulldozing through the brush. And he wasn’t taking his sweet time. He was plowing through the woods with me trailing behind: at the same pace he would if he was walking through the mall (not that you would have EVER gotten this man in a mall!). He seemed to be having no trouble at all. Me on the other hand: I was struggling to keep pace. Mosquitoes all over me, spider webs in my hair, limbs that he pushed through were slapping me like an offended Wal-Mart shopper. My arms and neck were being cut from sharp branches and briars. It was the hardest thing I have been through in a long time and it hurt. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span>Why am I telling this story? Well if you follow my FB post, you know that I just finished a few books on discipleship: ‘<span style="letter-spacing: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">Not a Fan</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> by Kyle Idleman’ and ‘</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">Follow Me</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> by David Platt’. Both of these books talk about truly being a follower of Christ-not just the invitation but the warning that goes with it. As I reflect on the challenges of both of these books, I couldn’t help to remember this journey into the woods after this great man. See, we are called to follow and the path that Jesus took and it is not easy: It is rewarding but by no means easy. If you think it is, you’re probably doing it wrong. Well back to my story: This trek happened many many years ago, Grand-Dad has gone on to be with Jesus and we are left here missing him but after all this time, as I closed this second book I realized something about that walk: As hard as it was for me to follow, Grand-dad (like Jesus) had a much tougher job leading! See there is nowhere in following Jesus that he has not already been before you. If you are attacked by mosquitoes, he was first and probably more, if you got spider webs on you: you got what he left behind, if you got hit by limbs: he was hit first and had to push though them. See Grand-Dad made a path of sorts. While it wasn’t a clean path, it was way cleaner than when he went through ahead of me. This is the same with Christ. When He said his yoke was easy, it is because He has already been there before you and did the work. It is through Christ that I can succeed.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>So whatever your struggles, whatever your burdens, if you are following after Jesus, he has made the journey easier by going before you. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Thank you Grand-Dad for leading the way so many years ago. I’d have never made it through without you.</span></span><br />
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Thank you Jesus for leading the way every day. I'd never make it through without you.</div>
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<br />The 67 Mustang Convertible http://www.blogger.com/profile/04140678834293179660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29501387.post-49450164999371247212012-10-21T05:55:00.001-04:002012-10-21T05:55:07.262-04:00Display a life of Grace....and they will want a taste!<br />
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Here are the Bible verses used in the sermon today (10/21/12). I certainly hope you find them useful.<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Luke 9:23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. </span><span style="color: #ff6251; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> 26 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>Display a life of </b></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"><b>Grace</b></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b> and </b></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"><b>People</b></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b> will want a </b></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"><b>Taste</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></b></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">1 Peter 2:12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>We are </b></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"><b>Christ ambassadors</b></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">, not “we should be” we are, like it or not</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">2 Corinthians 5:20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #0056d6; letter-spacing: 0px;">Our worth is defined by what we follow</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #b51a00;">.</span> If I spend all my energy on _____, I am only good to those who want ______</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">2 Kings 17:15 <b>NIV</b>...they followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless?</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>People are not our </b></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"><b>projects</b></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>, they should be our </b></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"><b>passion</b></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">, after all, they are His passion</span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Romans 10:1 it is my desire</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">27 Then the king of Assyria gave this order: “Have one of the priests you took captive from Samaria go back to live there and teach the people what the god of the land requires.” 28 So one of the priests who had been exiled from Samaria came to live in Bethel and taught them how to worship the Lord.</span><span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the <b>excellencies</b> of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">We want to be like Jesus? <b>Hunger</b> like Jesus</span><br />
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">He was weary, it was lunch time, disciples went for food, she left her water jar</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">John 4: 31Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Our commission: </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Matt 28:19</span><span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> [feed, heal, water, save trees? NO] </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">It’s the great commission</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Not the great suggestion, or omission </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">James 4:17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Romans 10:14-15 (NLT) <b>Reference only on screen</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">14 But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? 15 And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!”</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">So How do we</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">: <b><i>Display a life of Grace and People will want a Taste?</i></b></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">1 Peter 2:12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good<b> (not deserved)</b> deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.</span></div>
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Thank You for stopping by: Leave a comment and let me know you were here.</div>
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The 67 Mustang Convertible http://www.blogger.com/profile/04140678834293179660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29501387.post-88428806689857803352012-03-15T10:39:00.000-04:002012-03-15T10:39:19.468-04:00Would you treat them different?I am amazed that I know people and treat them one way, then I find out something about their life, a tragedy, a problem or a struggle, and then the way I treat them changes. My heart is now invested in them. My actions are more intentional and my conversation with them deepens. My concern is: why did I change with more or new information about them. I mean, shouldn't I treat everyone the same? The person didn't change, my information about them did.<br />
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Am I wrong to feel a little guilty about my difference? Sometimes maybe but that is what relationships are really all about. Our investment in others needs to be growing and true relationships will bring new information that will bring more Opportunities to better invest into that relationship.<br />
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My take away is to try to treat people as fragile valuables and not be carless with my words. God, teach me to see what YOU see and to feel what YOU feel. Those souls were purchased by the blood of your Son Jesus Christ and I need to treat them like it.<br />
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Thank you for life lessons!The 67 Mustang Convertible http://www.blogger.com/profile/04140678834293179660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29501387.post-36683658893040243142012-02-18T13:05:00.002-05:002012-02-18T13:05:32.251-05:00Heart to Mouth<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;">Matthew 15:11: "Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man."...</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;">18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.</span></div>
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We cannot escape the simple truth that our words point to the our heart. The two cannot be separated. They are a reflection of each other. When my word are damaging to someone, I have to ask how my heart values that person.<br />
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We were to have died to sin but this is an area that I continue to resurrect over and over again. When instead I need to put it away once and for all!<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e;">Colossians 3:8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. 9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e;">10 And have <b>put on the</b> <b>new man</b>, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him."</span><br />
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So my challenge for me (join if you want) is to change my heart about people. Increase their value to a higher level. After all: Jesus came and died for THEM! How dare me think anything less of anyone (including myself). Once the heart is changed, the mouth WILL follow.<br />
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Thats all for now, I love you guys and thanks for visiting.<br />
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<br />The 67 Mustang Convertible http://www.blogger.com/profile/04140678834293179660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29501387.post-77442995173582385212012-02-15T13:11:00.000-05:002012-02-15T13:11:43.580-05:00Try this, I will too:In every situation, ask yourself: How can I humble myself during this? Am I taking the highness place of honor with the risk of being asked to step down? Or am I taking the lowest place and leaving room to be asked to step up?<br />
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How are my feeling about the people involved? Am I treating the people around me like they are valued by our Lord? Because they are. My thoughts about others will manifest in the way I treat them and respond to them. If we look down on people, we are not being humble.<br />
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Take a knee!<br />
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We-Ambassadors<br />
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<br />The 67 Mustang Convertible http://www.blogger.com/profile/04140678834293179660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29501387.post-86422010963929319022012-02-04T15:44:00.001-05:002012-02-04T15:44:39.824-05:00Impressed By ThemI am so pleased to have so many amazing and different people in my life. I love it when someone can talk to me and not think I will judge them for their mistakes. They feel free to talk to me and I never want to change that.<br />
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We have such a hug verity of friends that we see all kinds of things from mistakes to bad habits to people who just do wrong things.<br />
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I ask that you all pray for me that I handle each and ever one of them well. That God will give me wisdom to hear their mistakes and NOT support them for doing them but encourage them to move away form them. For em to lead them out of that and into the light. To show them love and trust and even respect them at the same time.<br />
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I love it when people own up to their mistakes.The 67 Mustang Convertible http://www.blogger.com/profile/04140678834293179660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29501387.post-23924214547701806792012-01-30T09:37:00.001-05:002012-01-30T09:37:33.731-05:00We AmbassodorsYou can still find my blog at the same old www.claudecannon.blogspot.com but now you can also find it as www.weambassadors.com. Why this name change? Well I believe that we all make an impact on people around us, tho sometimes this impact can be just as negative as positive. We need to be constantly trying to be a positive example of our faith (Christian believers).<br />
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It is based on 2 Corinthians 5:20 We are therefore Christ's <b>ambassadors</b>, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.<br />
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and Ephesians 6:20 (really 6:19-20) 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an <b>ambassador</b> in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.<br />
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What exactly is an ambassador? Well I am so glad you asked, here is what Merriam-Webster thinks it is:<br />
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am·bas·sa·dor</h2>
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<span class="pr" style="color: #717274; display: inline; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 0px;" xmlns:mwref="http://www.m-w.com/mwref">\am-<span class="unicode" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; font-family: 'lucida sans unicode'; font-size: 0.9em; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">ˈ</span>ba-sə-dər, əm-, im-, -<span class="unicode" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; font-family: 'lucida sans unicode'; font-size: 0.9em; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">ˌ</span>d<span class="unicode" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; font-family: 'lucida sans unicode'; font-size: 0.9em; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">ȯ</span>r, -<span class="unicode" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; font-family: 'lucida sans unicode'; font-size: 0.9em; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">ˈ</span>bas-dər\</span></div>
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<h2 class="def-header" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0% 50%; color: #7b7b7b; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; padding-right: 15px;">Definition of <em style="font-style: normal;">AMBASSADOR</em></span></h2>
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<span class="ssens"><strong>:</strong> an official envoy; <em>especially</em> <strong>:</strong> a diplomatic agent of the highest rank accredited to a foreign government or sovereign as the resident representative of his or her own government or sovereign or appointed for a special and often temporary diplomatic assignment</span></div>
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<span class="ssens" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;"><em class="sn" style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold;">a</em> <strong>:</strong> an authorized representative or messenger</span><span class="ssens" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;"><span class="break" style="display: block; height: 10px;"></span><em class="sn" style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold;">b</em> <strong>:</strong> an unofficial representative <span class="vi"><traveling abroad="" as<em="">ambassador<em>s</em> of goodwill></traveling></span></span></div>
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Now that seems a little odd to liken this definition to our faith, yet 2 times Paul did just that. Lets see what God's Word has to say about this definition:<br />
'<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">an official</span>' is one with authority:<br />
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2 Corinthians 10:8 So even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than tearing you down, I will not be ashamed of it.<br />
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Titus 2:15These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.<br />
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'<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">envoy</span>' is a messenger or representative<br />
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Romans 10:14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?<br />
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'<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">highest rank</span>'<br />
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1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.<br />
Romans 8:29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.<br />
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sent to a 'foreign government':<br />
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Philippians 3:20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,<br />
1 Peter 2:11 11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.<br />
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And finally our '<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">diplomatic assignment</span>':<br />
Matthew 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”<br />
Hebrews 13:1-3 1 Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. 2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. 3 Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.<br />
Luke 10:16 “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.<br />
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So we are ambassadors, Sometimes good, others, well, not so much. But the more we try to remember our 'mission' the better ambassadors we will make.<br />
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If you get anything from this get this: Our actions tell people more about our "Lord" than our words do. Proof = Truth, we say we are followers of Christ, great...lets prove it.<br />
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We-ambassadors<br />
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The 67 Mustang Convertible http://www.blogger.com/profile/04140678834293179660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29501387.post-1702820790093672452011-10-10T21:01:00.001-04:002011-10-10T21:01:37.516-04:00just a little troubled...In the middle of a Romans 12 study and how this passage relates to discipleship, I am curious as to when discipleship became merely knowledge. The first thing a lot of churches do to feed ones desire to improve their walk with God is to offer some type of class- Discipleship 101, so to speak. <br />
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Furthermore the standard for getting a job at a church is pretty much the same as getting a job anywhere. The more school you have, the better position you can obtain. So with this rational: the more you know, you better disciple you must be...right? We like to throw around words like Armenian and Calvinist and even missional, we like to toss around the latest books we read and use authors names like they are friends of ours. And let me tell you, this is impressive. But honestly It is bugging me a bit. Don't get me wrong, it is good to read and study but reading and studying isn't always the best answer (or first). Sometimes action is. When the 5000 needed food, Jesus didn't hand out the latest small group study on how to feed the hungry. No, he put them into action. He asked them what they had to offer then told them to get to work passing out the food. (yes Jesus taught them something but it wasn't a 200 page book).<br />
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I just think that we may be missing it a little. When I hear a church friend tell me that he cannot get a raise until he gets his next degree, I am troubled. When I hear of a church opening that requires a degree, again, I am troubled. It's kind of like David offering to fight the giant but Saul sending him to fighting classes and the gym to bulk up first. With all of our available knowledge at hand, are we leaving room for action? Or even faith? When we demand that someone is perfectly qualified for a task, are we leaving any room for God to work? If I am able to do the job without God, I will possibly do the job without God! <br />
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Are we pouring into ourselves so much that we are actually delaying or even avoiding the action? Is reading a book or doing a study really letting me love my neighbors more? Sure I know how to love them more through the knowledge but when do we put it into practice? Are we waiting to complete the study before we commit the service?<br />
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I can honestly tell you that I am part of a church that seems to have a pretty good balance of this. My church encourages both the learning and the serving. I know we are to study to show ourselves approved but there are way more verses calling us to meet needs and love others than there are to study. I love my reading time but if I went out and served as much as I read (which isn't really that much) I think I would make a bigger impact on the kingdom.<br />
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My challenge to me is to get up more, get out more, read as much, blog less, love more, attempt things that are too big for me and try to make sure my growing as a disciple isn't merely knowledge.<br />
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Sorry for my rant. Just being honest whit what I feel.The 67 Mustang Convertible http://www.blogger.com/profile/04140678834293179660noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29501387.post-71196560883153186862011-09-29T09:01:00.001-04:002011-09-29T09:01:17.272-04:00Free Brakes for my friends...I have done a lot of brake jobs on the cars and trucks of friends. People wonder why I do it: I do not do it because I like working on cars. I don't like sweating over greasy tools or messing up the house with my greasy hands and clothes. I don't like cutting up my hands and getting brake dust in my eyes. I do it for a few different reasons:<br />
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1) I do it because I can. If I have been so blessed with knowledge or a skill, isn't it silly to hold it back from the people that are close to me?<br />
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2) I do it because it allows me to hang out with them. I refuse to have a car dropped off to be fixed, nope! If you want me to fix your car, you are going to help (after all, that's how I learned). I like the company. I don't think people visit enough anymore (including me). When I was growing up, at least 3 people a week would show up at the house randomly to talk to my step-father. People are fun (most of them). I love it when people want to just hang out.<br />
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3) I do it to serve. We are supposed to be ambassadors of Jesus, and he helped people any way he could. Since I really stink at healing the blind and multiplying the fish and bread, I will work on their cars, fix their computers and whatever else I can offer. It is what we are supposed to do and who we are supposed to be. I don't always get it right but at least there is an effort.<br />
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4) I do it to save them money. Brake jobs and most repairs are costly. If you just get the parts, We can do the rest for free. Thats $40 vs $150 or more because they always find other stuff to fix.<br />
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5) Sometimes I simply do it because you asked. Are we willing to say yes to each other? I think saying yes can be an act of worship. Don't get me wrong: Saying NO can also be an act of worship. My wife too often has been left on the sidelines when I "help" people. So when I can, I will. When I shouldn't, I will not...at least not then.<br />
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If you haven't figured it out by now, you may never. This post is not about brakes but serving. I hope it has encouraged you to look back at yourself and ask: What am I doing for _________? If anything, why am I doing it? Is my heart right?<br />
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I think serving is like vitamins for our spirit. If we are not doing something, we are not "getting" what we need. Thats right, I said "getting". We get by giving but we shouldn't give TO get.<br />
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If you need your brakes don't, ask but don't be surprised if I ask you who and how you are serving.<br />
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<br />The 67 Mustang Convertible http://www.blogger.com/profile/04140678834293179660noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29501387.post-31969318415449177612011-09-28T09:17:00.001-04:002011-09-28T09:56:01.648-04:00Red light Green light<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">How is it that my heart can be so full and thrilled and yet at the same time hurt. Well I think that just may be the heart is supposed to be. I think there probably should be a balance between the two. Too much hurt is depression and too much joy is...well.. It's kinda annoying! Really: they both, in abundance, are not the best of company. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There is good in this world and there is bad in this world. We must learn to embrace the good and the bad alike. When there is a win, we should celebrate it. We should honor God for providing it but never forget that there are hurting and lost people in this world too. So let's try to rejoice with the good and hurt for the bad. After all, isn't pain simply a call to action? When our bodies hurt, it is telling us that there is something wrong and it needs fixing. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> What brings this up? I am glad you asked:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This morning was the See You At The Pole where Christians are to meet at the school flag pole ate 7am. We had an amazing group of about 12 Crosslink teens and at least that many from other churches. Yes, 24+teens up early to pray for unity in the schools and for their leadership, well, that is awesome. It is exciting for believers (of different churches) to gather together to pray. Truly amazing. I was and am honored to stand with these teens and adults. I pray that this day made a difference in the lives of these teens.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then the flip side: (after all, you didn't think I was only going to focus on the good did you? </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />There is over 2000 students at South Central (where we met) yet only 24 at the pole for prayer? I know for a fact that over 45 of Discovery Church teens got the message. Where were they? Not just my other 33 but the ones that go to all the other churches! It brakes my heart to know that they couldn't set aside a few minutes to stand up and bee seen and to pray together. Hostly if someone had told them there would be doughnuts there, I am thinking the turn out would be better. I have often found pride in how many teens get up early for Ihop on every single early release day yet only 12 of my students came to this. once a year I ask, no I expect my teens to be at the pole for prayer, to unite with other believes and to show the school where they stand. We average 38 on any Sunday night and I have to tell you that only a handful showing up hurts. It will be better next year (or before that). I will continue to pour into the people in my reach, to be here for them and to love them. I celebrate that 12 came out that may not have ever been there without people like the Discovery church staff. After all, that is what we are supposed to be doing. Pouring into others. That is the way we show Gods love. That is the door that allows the message of Jesus' death burial and redirection to be received. I thank those who came out today, I pray for you and those who didn't. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Next year we will make our stand known loud and clear. Hold me to it! Let the loving begin. </span>The 67 Mustang Convertible http://www.blogger.com/profile/04140678834293179660noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29501387.post-22052254740696083892011-09-21T16:43:00.000-04:002011-09-21T16:43:13.953-04:00What's the difference?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Spoiler alert: I will not attempt to answer anything with this post. Instead I promise you only more question. So if you came here searching for answers, you might want to leave now. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Let's go:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have been to a ton of movies. during which I have seen too many stores, characters, heroes, villains , disasters, miracles and mysteries to mention. Some really good, some really bad. I have been comfortable and very uncomfortable in theaters, both cold and hot. I have been late to movies and I have been early. Lots of variables. But there is one constant in all of this: </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I always leave unchanged.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I go home merely being entertained and possible with a little more knowledge that I probably will not ever put to good use. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So what is this all about? Well, I have done the exact same thing at many churches.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(Ok I guess I did answer at least one question) </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Too many people (including me) leave Sunday afternoon unchanged from Sunday morning. I dare to say it is possible to encounter Jesus and not be even a little bit changed. I mean: He said He came to give us life and that more abundantly didn't He? So where is the change. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was once told that I had a tire going flat. with nowhere to fill it up, I had to drive it that way. The information of a low tire certainly changed my driving. I was more cautious and aware of my surroundings. I drove careful. I changed. When I got a particle in my eye working on a car one time, I changed, now I wear safety glasses. Why is it we can sit and hear what we claim is the word of God and yet still walk out of church unchanged. With warnings and promises coming straight from our Creator, i would think we would change.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Well I for one am ready for some change.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am so glad that Discovery Church is starting this new r12 series. We are digging into what God wants from us, what true spirituality really is. And I hope I come out of it changed. We will be studying Romans 12 and looking at what the Bible says about who and how we should be. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One more thing about the movies and church</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I always leave unchanged yet willing to come back. Just because I come back, don't mean I come back different from the last time I left unchanged. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So my prayer is that God will change me, That I will allow Him to, and that in six weeks, I will be a better disciple that I am today.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thanks for reading...hope it challenged you to change.</span>The 67 Mustang Convertible http://www.blogger.com/profile/04140678834293179660noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29501387.post-48647660933376082032011-09-08T09:46:00.001-04:002011-09-08T09:46:33.457-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
This Month on September 28th Students all over the USA will meet at the school flag pole to unite in prayer. Last year I had the honor of meeting up with South Central High School students and it was an amazing sight. The longest prayer Jesus made is recorded for us in John and 17 and has a reoccurring theme of UNITY. This event is a picture of just how powerful unity in the body of believers can be. So On Wednesday September 28th be at your schools flag pole with your friends and be a part of the unity!</div>
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<a href="http://www.discoverync.com/">Discovery Church's</a>, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Crosslink/146026115791">Crosslink teen ministry</a> will be there in force!</div>
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<a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=246354042072766">Link'rz click here to RSVP</a></div>
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<br />The 67 Mustang Convertible http://www.blogger.com/profile/04140678834293179660noreply@blogger.com0