The Growing Spirit

Christian Leadership: Views From The Inside

2012-01-17T17:05:00.000-05:00

It's been a few weeks since the Christmas holidays and for my North American brothers and sisters, and today is the first day after Martin Luther King Day.

What do holidays have to with anything? Well, for one, they afford you the opportunity to take a break from your daily routine.

I used to think that The Bible was written by folks who had nothing better to do except write really detailed accounts of what God said, how it turned out and the testimonies of some of the people who happened to be there when miracles took place.

To a degree, that is true. What makes it significant is that when you read what I just wrote, you very likely are reading from the perspective that I down-played God's Word.

Let's try this again:

The Bible is written by men and women who eventually came to understand that there was more meaning to life than the way most people live it (without God as a priority). We can read accounts of the Beginning, the Psalms, the Proverbs and the End. Miracles are detailed, council is given in simple language - line by line in a book conveniently written in chapter-a-day format. Demonstrations of faith are in there that give us hope because we will relate to at least one of the persons in the Bible.

What I wrote in the blue paragraph and what I wrote in the burgundy paragraph portray one thing: a more mature perspective. This perspective is completely attributed to a patient walk with the Lord and the assisted guidance of a few Christian leaders. Which brings me to another observation that I needed to correct.

Generations of people are usually marked by 20-30 years age difference. In the average case, people are generally 20-30 young than their parents. Their parents tend to be 20-30 years older then them. The average 20 year-old has a 60, 70, or 80-something year-old grand parent. Something easily observable in well-adjusted families is the way parents soften up with their grandchildren. This is usually a problem with their children (who are now the new parents). Why? Simple - when they were children, they didn't get the same treatment.

Parenthood is largely a lesson in gentleness and responsibility. The responsible parent feels COMPELLED to discipline children right way; not allowing for any misbehaviour no over-indulgence of sweets. Grandparents (especially behind the backs of parents) have a tendency to offer that "free-reign" with their grandchildren. In families where the elder kids have to help raise the younger kids, the elder kids feel very similar to new parents - "I didn't get that break growing up; why should they?".

Christian ministry isn't a whole lot different. Leadership is not for the perfect. "Perfect" was on Earth for some 30+ years, over 2000 years ago. Spiritual leadership is not taken, nor given - it is developed. The paradox: He who serves, ultimately leads.

My pastor touched on the term "born again" and he gave some history and explanation to the term we commonly use to refer to the new life in Christianity. There was a time when "born again" was a catchphrase. It referred to a psychedelic feeling one got that I can only imagine was very close to ecstasy. Within the same week, Chuck Swindoll taught a lesson during the Insight for Living broadcast in the series "From Creation to Corruption", described something that happens all-too-often in churches today. That phenomenon is "idol worship". Basically, the pastor becomes "perfect".

As I developed the maturity to appreciate the Bible and even the graceful humility in observing parenthood through the generations, I also came to accept the walk of the Christian faith through generations. Paraphrasing Chuck Swindoll's words, I learned to stop viewing the pastor as more than a willing and submitted servant doing the Lord's work. Each of them has personal flaws, but even more than that, they have Christ and God is with them.

Christian Leadership looks a lot different when you're on the inside.

Conquering Lifestyle (extracted)

2011-12-30T19:48:00.002-05:00

I personally wish everyone a happy holiday season. :)

2012 is a matter of hours away and though I don't personally wait until January of any given year to make changes, I realize that many people do.

This year, I encourage you to consider a Conquering Lifestyle. (write-up is based on a study from 'Streams in the Desert' -- December 18)

When Dr. Moon, of Brighton, England, was stricken with blindness, he said: "Lord, I accept this talent of blindness from Thee. Help me to use it for Thy glory that at Thy coming Thou mayest receive Thine own with usury." Then God enabled him to invent the Moon Alphabet for the blind, by which thousands of blind people were enabled to read the Word of God, and many of them were gloriously saved. [SELECTED]

God did not take away Paul's thorn; He did better - He mastered that thorn and made it Paul's servant. The ministry of thorns has often been a greater ministry to man than the ministry of thrones. [SELECTED]

In all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us (ROMANS 8:37)

I've faced a number of personal challenges in the last 2 years, and as my grandmother says: "some situations and some people aren't worth God's peace to me". I decided to learn to conquer the things and the people that presented themselves to me. Why? Not because they upset me personally, but "... for His name's sake" (PSALMS 23:3)

I wish you all well as you decide what you'll do this year, why you'll do it and for whom.

Calling All Students of The Bible: Simplify to Advance

2011-12-06T04:26:00.001-05:00

I my brief few years as a born-again Christian, I've encountered a number of trials. What caught me most off-guard was realizing that as I read the Bible, I had habits that were defeating my Christian walk. The only kicker was - I didn't understand that they were hindering me at first.

Have you ever shifted your car in Reverse intending to drive forward and pushed the pedal to the metal? What about mashing gas while the emergency brake was on? Did it feel stupid when you did it? It did for me just about every time I did.

The longer I commit to this walk, the more I realize two things stand out:
1. To attempt to live the Christian life without Christ guiding you and your brother to hold you accountable is to guarantee yourself a religious, but dangerous walk. This is the summary of self-righteousness and the Word of God speaks very heavily against it.
2. The Bible was never intended to be understood without the guidance of one who has studied it and been trained in living it out.

After talking with Christians a little newer and with a little less understanding that I've been given, it appears to me that the Bible isn't simple enough to grasp in all aspects without some help. How many people do you know are living either vicariously or too loosely citing Bible verses to support their lifestyles? I don't blame anyone, but I offer this one challenge to the more mature of you:

- Take the time on a week-to-week basis and ask God to help you understand the simplicity of His Word so that you can help someone else grow in the faith.

Once a person has been saved by grace through faith, isn't that the point of the Gospel after all?

Please: Chime in.

Christianity: Not A Spectator Sport

2011-10-31T22:56:00.002-04:00

The Christian faith is not a spectator sport. From time to time you can learn how to live life as a Christian by watching those that are more mature in the faith as they stand on the Word of God striving to live as a better example today than yesterday. Then there are the other times when you, personally must simply pass through an experience for yourself.

Wisdom = learning by listening to someone else
Experience = learning by paying the personal price of your own life

Yes: listen to wisdom. No: there is no shortcut; no bargain price for the righteous life.
Yes: you were saved personally. No: you weren't saved by yourself.
Yes: it is a worthwhile journey. No: you will not go through without being attacked.

Humans, by design work best in groups. Christians, by faith are at their best as one body.

Eph 4:4

P.S. To the student preachers that spoke yesterday during the 11:00 am "1" service, you guys did an awesome job. Be encouraged and keep the faith.
(That would be none other than Dexter Kerkulah, Nadia Cash, and Taniqua Adderley. And a great job leading by example, Pastor Cindy Rolle.)

Leadership:responsibility, not preference

2011-10-16T00:35:00.002-04:00

It can be said that leadership is a responsibility and not a preference. It can also be said that leadership is simply based on the three step learn-do-teach model.

You lead because it's needed, not because you like it. You may manage because you have to, but you lead ultimately because someone needs you to. When you make an impact that inspires people to action, you're leading. When what you say inspires a tweak in the way people live, you're leading. When what you do inspires people to duplicate you, you're leading. How you lead people can happen in a number of ways.

Here's a simple, but life-changing way to observe leadership:
How promptly you respond to the conviction to do what needs to be done indicates how promptly other follow your example.

P.S.: To the family that just shared with me this weekend that this blog has influenced them, thanks for letting me know! :)
You've impacted my life in a wonderful way since getting to know you.

Luke 12:48

New International Version (NIV)

⁴⁸ But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.

Weird times are the God times

2011-09-14T21:07:00.001-04:00

When things make the least amount of sense, when things appear to be most unfair, when the order of the day is what is weird to you, you certainly don't call them the "good times".

I challenge you to see these experiences as the invitation to grow and mature. It's in this time that you till the soil of your soul with the wisdom of the ages, spend time with a limitless God.

The Bible warns of signs of the end of all times (Mark 13, for emphasis, v5-8). Many have argued that it is metaphorical and some believe that these times have already happened.

Regardless of what you do and do not believe, these are truly some "weird times". It is in these moments (each and every one of them) that we are faced with an opportunity. That opportunity is simply to decide whether we will prepare for what lies ahead or simply complain and act as if it is merely the passing of time.

I urge you as one that has walked the road of the complaining and even pondered down the road of complacency - consider well that these are the times orchestrated by God and He has a purpose (Mark 13:18-20)

NOTE:
God times are relatively easy to identify - it's usually when you want to talk to people about your pain. Those unaware seem to give you advice unrelated to the situation, and those who are God-fearing will simply advise you to spend time in prayer and meditation ("be still and know that I am God.").

Spend quiet time with him and those in your prayer circle. You will hear and learn simple things that will change your life for the better.

Grace and Peace,
B

Speak and Call those things ...

2011-08-22T11:16:00.003-04:00

¹⁷as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations"—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.

Romans 4:17 (ESV)

Improvement: the (nearly) transparent process

2011-07-07T02:07:00.000-04:00

As a friend to many people getting their lives together (while I am also getting my life together), I've come to realize a very powerful truth.

Building Construction is fairly easy to spot:
- it's visibly watching something being developed where there previously wasn't anything
- in most cases, all persons involved in the project are visible at some point
- for the most part, all materials for the project are 'new'

Building Renovation (improvement) is not as easy to spot in a building that people live/work in:
- there are only slightly more people on-site than who are normally there everyday
- most of the work being done must be done on the inside
- some of the work is outside and usually, it's very brief, but it's the part most people see and are interested in seeing
- only those deeply interested or deeply involved know what's happening on the inside

Improvement of one's self is a continual process. It should never be relegated to a few months of the year as are hunting and fishing seasons. You as a human being should remain "under construction", but without remaining in a messy state.

One of the most difficult things for most people to accept is that the improvement process is nearly invisible. During this time, many people have complaints, suggestions and all the best advice. The few people that are involved with the actual improvement are the ones that are closer to the details and usually only say enough to get the current job done to complete the bigger picture.

Improvement is evident, but because of the mess it creates, it seems to be a nearly "transparent" process.

Values - the guide during good and bad times

2011-06-20T03:30:00.000-04:00

Have you ever heard that the only thing that prosperity and adversity have in common is that they both reveal the character in a man?

Well, if you didn't, it's true. People who are decidedly evil will do evil things with wealth and power. People who are decidedly evil will also do evil things justifying it with their abject poverty.

The next time you see someone have a 'slip of character' or an act of 'misjudgement', remember their character is only being revealed for what it is.

What makes our lives worth living is the commitment to values that go beyond our situations and circumstances. Our values are the things we believe in so seriously, that you would turn down a 'sweet opportunity' if it weren't aligned with what you truly believe in.

Yes, we sometimes step away from our values, most of us more often than others. These values are what ultimately shape our reputation here on earth. That's a pretty big deal to have on the line -- that's why there's grace.

Here's the Good News - if it weren't for Jesus (the Vessel of grace), I'd give up on you and me both. My character is under continual improvement for the service to all mankind. Is yours?

How Powerful is The Mind?

2011-05-31T11:50:00.000-04:00

"All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts."
- James Allen

James made a profound statement that holds true to this day. The mind is like the "decision room" of your life. "The General" is your sense of will. Your emotions are the "Department of Defense". Your beliefs are your life's constitution.

If you failed your family, you first failed them in your mind. If you did well for them, you first did well for them in your mind.

James Allen is better known for his work that comes from Proverbs 23:7 named:
"As A Man Thinketh"

There are two scriptures that summarize all of James' work -

Proverbs 4:23

"²³ Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of life." (NKJV)

Proverbs 23:7

" ⁷ For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. " (NKJV)

The Talents: Your Words

2011-04-18T01:46:00.000-04:00

In Matthew 25:14-30, we are learn the parable of the talents. Some think it's a story with no literal meaning however, it does.

For starters, 1 talent was worth 20 years' wages. That's pretty valuable!
Secondly, the message can also be applied symbolically to other "gifts" we've been given by our "Master".

One of the things that I've come to appreciate as valuable as the talents mentioned in this account in Matthew are our words.

Have you ever thought why it is that out of 100 people, 20 people will be paid significantly greater than the other 80? Well, one reason is the way those 20 people use words.

If you don't use your words as investments for what you expect in time to come, what you actually do get is mostly undesired results.

Classic case: If you fuss your spouse, they may be docile and endure it for a while, but at best the relationship will not be enjoyable by you and your spouse. However, if you both maintain a habit of simple, encouraging, uplifting and wholesome words towards and between each other, you get a much more enjoyable life than most people will ever experience.

This is applicable in marriages, jobs, friendships and all relationships and situations. The Master will return and ask you to account for your life. Your words can make that 20 years worth of wages a pretty penny if you invest them properly.

Now that's a word. :)

Make sure you know Word - Then Use It

2011-03-10T00:16:00.000-05:00

Surprisingly, many Christians do not know the meaning of the words they speak. Am I a Christian that was guilty of what I just mentioned? Yes - at some point.

Now that I've learned better and have dedicated to the process of studying better usage of my words and The Word, I can make the recommendation.

Taking a page from the legacy of my mother, I've adapted a philosophy of hers that states:
"If you cannot take someone with you as you progress through life, why am I here?"

My #1 recommendation:
- Get a clear understanding of The Word (the Bible)

Start with Proverbs and the four gospels. As you learn the words of Solomon and the Word in Jesus' mouth, you will learn how to user your own words properly and begin to replace your words with God's Word.

God says in Hosea 4:6:
"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge ..."

#2 Recommendation:
- Unless you've read a passage of scripture and understand it, don't walk around proclaiming what you heard someone else say.

God says through Solomon in Proverbs 6:2:
" you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth ..."

As you live and read, speak, listen and learn remember that words have power - The Word has ultimate power.

Not my words -- The Word (such were some of you)

2011-03-07T14:17:00.000-05:00

A rarely mentioned passage of scripture came to mind within the last few days. Originally I saw it in a writing by Milan Ford (www.milanford.com) on 1 COR 6:11.

I was taught to read the Bible in context. By that, I mean that I was taught to read a few verses ahead and a few verses after the one I was looking for - just so I would capture the whole intent behind the writing.

Here's the link to the scripture: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20cor%206&version=NKJV
(graciously hosted by BibleGateway)

It's absolutely interesting that the Apostle Paul starts the chapter off with instruction not to sue your brother, and then segues into who will inherit the Kingdom of God from who won't. Deep stuff.

The lifestyles built on habits of sin *cannot* and *will not* be "looked over" and pardoned. What's more -- those who decide to live the habits of sin may contribute to the cause of the church, but ultimately, they're not "counted in" until they make up in their minds to submit to Christ's example and change their lives.

Having knowledge of God is only complete through a daily walk with Christ. It becomes clearer as you continue the walk.

Verses 9 and 10 list off categories of people that will not inherit or "be part of'" the Kingdom of God. But in humble fashion, Paul - inspired by God reminds us that "such were some of you". In simpler words, we did those things before.

I encourage you to read the whole chapter. Take note of the verses 9,10, and 11. Toward the end, Paul sheds light on a very powerful understanding on sexual immorality - a very *hot* topic (pun intended) that many people would like to treat with a lukewarm approach.

These are not my words, but The Word "... and such were some of you ..."

Do not take them lightly.

Purpose: right, wrong or does it matter?

2011-02-01T10:39:00.000-05:00

Lately, there seems to be a flood of appeals for everyone to do something. Because they don't know what to do, once the commercial tells them what they're selling, people just act on the clearest thought they have. With a product/service in your face, and a known need or void in your life, you stuff it with whatever's being advertised.

But why, though?

Simple: your decisions lead to actions. Actions not only require energy, they transfer energy.

What's this all about?
Well, simple. If you're caught up in just "reacting" to things that happen in life, you don't really have much time to think aboutwhat you're supposed to be doing.

Brent, what's the big deal? We all have things in life we have to deal with and we figure them out as we get to them. We've got enough things to think about as it is.

Well, to keep it simple and clear - each of us was created for a specific reason, to live a designated time that was established by God. God has plans for each and every individual one of us. You may feel mass-produced, but in actuality, you're a limited edition regardless of how big your family is.

Think about this:
Special people are identified by different treatment, loving environments, specific tasks, recognition and so on.

If you're not feeling like that, it's probably because you don't "know" that you're special. Not just "saying" you're special, but knowing you're special. We're talking like "knowing" your name. Anyone can argue with you all they want, but you know that you know your name.

The same goes for knowing you're special and then knowing why.

You're special because of who you are and Whose you are.
You're special because there's something that only you can do the way you do to help others.

I heard a profound statement by Dr.David Jeremiah on TBN Sunday past. I'll paraphrase as I don't have the exact wording:
"Purpose is the reason why something was created. As much things as that something can do, if it's not doing what it's designed to do, it is a failure. You are not a success if you're doing something other than what you were created for."

Why the commericals? Because the commercials actually help to distract you from your purpose. They're only 15 or 30 seconds a piece, but that's long enough to plant a thought.

Thoughts ultimately lead to decisions; decisions to actions; actions to habits, habits to character and character to lifestyle.

If all your frequent thoughts and actions were added up, what would it amount to?
Would others clearly be able to indentify the difference your life makes?
Would your children be able to tell the world why their mother and their father were created?

Find God. Find your purpose. As a result, you find you and the life you'll live.
Purpose does matter. Even more than your income.

Problem or no problem?

2011-01-16T12:55:00.000-05:00

Friends of mine a few years ago went through a trying time with the delivery of their twin girls. They already had 2 so this "Make one, get another one too" deal made them the proud parents of 4 girls.

They experienced roughly 1 year of their twins being in ICU. Anyone that is aware of private medical coverage knows that there's a "dollar cap" at a certain point.

Well, to put it simply, they reached their "cap". As with any trial, the star(s) of the story are usually the least aware of the "moral of the story" or the purpose for the trial until they've gone through it and reviewed it.

With a pleasant spirit and pure heart of gratitude, the wife (the more outspoken of the couple) simply said to me:

"Only God fixes problems."

"if money can fix your problem, you don't have a problem"

So, whatever your challenge is, I leave this question in your memory:

"What exactly is your problem?

(NOTE: The twins are healthy and the family couldn't be happier. Praise the Lord!)

Habits: Defeat or Success?

2011-01-12T10:31:00.000-05:00

The world we live in is not neutral. It is quite negative and pre-dominantly so.

Those who believe that the world is neutral are so "blended in" to the negative, they don't even know that they're putting in their own two drops of negative 3 times daily.

To succeed is to advance ahead of or take the place of whatever was in a given place. In terms of human roles, to be succeeded is to be replaced by someone else; either in responsibility, importance or respect.

Here's what's weird. Success is a positive word, relating to a positive experience, but is easily cast off (surprise, surprise!) by the negatives as the cause for greed.

Defeat is a general term used to communicate that someone or something has lost at the power of someone or something else. Armies (of countries) defeat other armies (of countries). Defeat is not used as a positive word, but its purpose can cause positive effects.

Regardless of which word you use, one thing or person replaces another thing or person. The question is, are you succeeding yourself or defeating yourself?

* HELPER Quote:
To defeat a person, defeat their thinking. To succeed a person, succeed their thinking.

Thoughts create Actions. Actions create Habits. Habits create Lifestyle.

A Generational Succession

2010-12-31T02:52:00.000-05:00

It is oftentimes difficult to accept change in any form. Nowadays, things change so quickly that the generation you live in can be identified by the degree of resistance you possess against the current trend.

In our local Bahama Land, there's a phrase used to refer to a people raised by a certain traditional standard. That phrase is 'ole people chirren'.
(translated into internationally-readable English, the term means "old people's children".)
It basically means you were raised with an understanding that was rich in tradition and even richer in folklore and tales used to explain why we do the things we do. Many times, we are tempted to let tradition alone determine how we treat others. The danger here is that tradition, strictly maintained is still influenced by a degree of change intended to maintain the tradition. When we refuse to adapt to the times, our approaches have a tendency to seem 'stale-dated' and feel 'ancient'. But it gets interesting ...

One of the greatest challenges as Believers in The Way (The Truth and The Light) we have is that we don't currently link the gaps between the types of people and the generational (or time-marked) people.

We are admonished to become all things to all men that we might save some (following the Apostle Paul, which in turn is following Christ; ref: 1 Cor 9:19-23; Philippians 2:5)

In some nations, it is already 1/1/2011. There are people in 2011 that in some cases do not know they're waiting for others to 'cross-over'.
(This is one of the interesting things I LOVE about the way God made the Earth; this is about to seem quite "coincidental", so keep reading.)

With 24 timezones, millions of people will countdown their last hour and celebrate their transition to a New Calendar Year. Emotionally some will be leaving behind acquaintances, relationships and failed attempts at many things within 2010 to succeed towards the greater goals of their lives.

The saddest thing is that of all the things that get left behind, there are two groups of people which I am most concerned about:
a) the older, wiser generation that has yet to engage and mentor the younger generation responsible for today's decisions for tomorrow's outcomes.
b) the younger, more excited generation that has yet to honor and acknowledge the older, wiser generation for wisdom to advance the quality of life for humanity from this generation forward.

Why do I feel for them more than the others? Well, for the others to be OUTSIDE of the aforementioned groups, they've already engaged each other. Foster fathers and adopted mothers have connected with the young adults to guide them through the difficult "crap" ("chaos" for those that need a euphemism) that we face today. If they've already figured that part out, this reading is a mere "pat-on-the-back" and congratulations. I encourage them to keep up the great work.

Young adults (18-45):
Please take the time to acknowledge that you've got something to contribute to while you're at this age. You may have to pay your dues in a way that you may not initially appreciate, but imagine how your parents must've felt when you created a few "first moments" for them. Take some time, swallow your pride and seek out an older, wiser (godly) person to listen to. Take their advice and appreciate them.

Older adults (46+):
Please understand that we're here to do the brunt work of this generation. We need to make *some* mistakes in our time, but not necessarily the same ones you made before us. We like different music, movies and actors. We like different books. Part of the reason we flood our brains with so much entertainment is to drown out some of the shouting and screaming we've heard for years. Take the time to pray aloud for, admonish and encourage us based on God's promise to you for each of us.

We (from each side) need you (on the other side) to continue succeeding as the People of God in EACH AND EVERY GENERATION.

As you sip through the days of 2011, be mindful and prayerful for the generations that live and breathe amongst you. They're God's gift to you.

Carve Your Life with Your Words

2010-12-21T13:33:00.000-05:00

"... Calling those things which are not as though they were ..."
- Romans 4:17

It only takes a few years to realize that the world and all that comes from it is predominantly negative. Indeed, it took me about 5 years to realize that words had more power than I initially thought.

Some of you have already begun to piece together a plan for the new year. I encourage you to do the following:
- dislodge the word "try" from your vocabulary.
- stop believing this age-old phrase:
"Sticks and stones may hurt my bones, but words can never hurt me."
[This statement should be followed by a Surgeon General's warning every time it's said. It has deceived more people than narcotics, alcohol and false religion combined. It is indeed false belief.]

The Bible (as mentioned earlier) admonishes us to speak what isn't as though it were.

So let's change our lives and the things we experience by changing our words first. Considering the high rate of failure most people have with resolutions, I encourage you to put at the top of your resolution list:

1. Speak what I want, not what I don't want.

Don't report, prophesy!

... In Jesus' holy name, I wish for you all a Personal Merry Christmas with protection, the blessings of joyful merriment, quality time with family, friends and loved ones, and a much clearer sense of why you're here on earth so you can REALLY ENJOY THIS (coming) YEAR.

Responding to God's Design of Life

2010-11-09T00:02:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since my last post and with good reason.

As each one of us walks the daily trek of life through time, there is an inevitable process each of us must experience. That experience is valuation. Each of us will either ask ourselves what the meaning of our lives are, or someone will ask us.

We are the only creation of God designed to dream. Dreams and automatic routines are directly opposing forces in our lives. When our lives have too much routine, we become mechanical (as is the case when a person begins to blame others for the discipline they have in their own lives.)

Here's the challenge with that thought. We're created with imaginations, the desire to dream, and a sense of will to choose how our lives will be lived. With all the things we already must do, it would seem very contradictory that God would give us an imagination, desire to dream, and a sense of free will. But that's the entire point. You have to tools to dig yourself out of the rut.

If you find yourself "in line with" any of the following traits, you may want to take a break and evaluate your life:
a) you blame others for what you *must* do
b) you choose to maintain bad habits, but often chat with others about how little choice you have in your life
c) you go around talking people out of being different from the crowd
d) you literally invent reasons not to do things and once someone isn't around to check your response, you literally process your "excuse" the way you would if you were checking your own breath
e) you choose what everyone else is having when you really mean to be different. You then resent yourself for "fitting in".

If you winced or blushed or got upset at even the littlest thing in that list, you might do well to take a break of silence for a time (an hour, a day, a weekend, etc. - whatever works for you). During this time, let your everyday thoughts run through your mind like weekday traffic clearing at 9:30 am. Then, the real part of you will start to come to life. You will start to think about things you normally wouldn't if you were"on your routine".

During this time, I'd highly recommend carrying a notepad, sketchpad or journal. Anything that would help you to develop self-dignifty, write it down or sketch it.

NOTE: DO NOT REASON WITH IT; JUST DO IT. DO NOT SCRATCH IT OUT OR TEAR IT OUT.
NOTE 2: DO NOT LET YOU TALK YOU OUT OF IT.

Each of us were given specific abilities, challenges, features and ways of thinking from the time we were born to this day. Our skills (which we learned) help to enhance our potential. Our habits (which are also learned) either bring added value to our skills, talents, abilities and feature or reduce them to less than nothing in life.

Take the time to slow your life down. According to analysts, time's are already hard. Why should you go about making it unnecessarily harder by introducing more "meaningless"activities. If it's not helping you to become more valuable to people and representative of the God that fashioned you, minimize and eventually eliminate it from your daily life.

This is a time to respond to God's design for your human life. Slow down, listen to your heart - it's always talking to God; but do you know what the conversation's all about?

Everything has its time

2010-09-23T00:54:00.000-04:00

Most of us have heard Ecclesiastes 3 so many times, that we could just about recite it by heart as easily as the Lord's prayer.

What's become of lesser value is the message or the meaning of the words themselves. Imagine for a second that you took the brief writing speaking about times and seasons for all things to mean just what it says: everything in its time.

If you did, you'd find it was easier to accept and get through most of life with little to no stress. If you didn't however, you would feel the immense frustration of trying to re-invent the laws of the universe starting with this planet and all its rules (a good starting point is gravity and time).

If gravity didn't operate without regard, and time stopped, no one would learn to obey gravity an certainly things would occur without a decent sense of order.

Imagine you falling in love and being heart-broken at the exact same instant. It would wreck you. Imagine being hired and fired in the same instant (this one is a little closer to home for some, stated for emphasis). Imagine being born and dying the same time. That would be just weird.

Imagine this though: time and gravity are some of the laws that create order in the universe as we know it.

Just as there is a time for speaking, there is a time for listening. There's a time for reading and a time not to read. This writing will be followed by a break from publicly posting my writings as there are some things that require my time.

For the next few weeks, I will not be posting anything, but will return afterward. Perhaps this is a time for you to consider some of your own priorities and the time they need from you.

Be blessed and speak The Word.

Grace and peace,
- B.

Check yourself ...

2010-09-18T02:56:00.002-04:00

Are you prophetic or present?

Dream or Nightmare: Your Choice

2010-09-11T22:52:00.001-04:00

If you're not chasing a dream, you're running from a nightmare.

Either way, you've got work to do.

Life: the Big Joke

2010-09-04T23:34:00.000-04:00

If life really was a big joke:

a. are you the comedian or the audience? (are you making it happen or watching, talking and listening?)
b. if you're the comedian, is your punchline worth remembering? (did your purpose leave a legacy?)

Thoughts are things: Choose your concerns wisely

2010-09-03T12:34:00.002-04:00

Your thoughts are the beginning of a cycle that flows through your entire life. They form your belief, influence your feelings and are at least partially responsible for what you experience in life.

Choose your concerns wisely.

Desire leads to success (David Schwartz)

2010-09-03T11:49:00.000-04:00

Desire, when harnessed, is power. Failure to follow desire, to do what you want to do most, paves the way to mediocrity.
- David Schwartz

The Destruction of Man: How it plays out

2010-08-19T22:26:00.000-04:00

In my earlier post (about 2 and a half pages of scrolling) I laid a foundation of understanding for the destruction of man with a focus on the family.

If there is no man, there's no husband. No husband, no father, no father, no grandfather, no legacy. No legacy, no inspiration, no example or hope. You can say "there is still God", but that would imply that you took him out of perspective in the first place. You wouldn't want that now, would you?!

The long and short is this: should you choose to "follow God" without respecting your father (mother and father that is) you'll eventually painfully realize that you're stuck on step away from moving forward and that step requires that you come to grips with your parents and love them for who they are. If they truly could've done better, they would've. Let it go.

You can't be your best until you learn to believe the best in people. It starts with your parents, then you, then your children. Everyone else comes after. If you don't, you will soon realize that the people that *DO* apply the principle of respecting their parents are succeeding in ways that you're not.

If you're fine with how that plays out, you can do yourself a favour and stop reading my blog. How can I make such a statement? I'm living proof of this principle and refuse to do otherwise.

Be blessed. :)

The Destruction of Man: The Family Plan

2010-08-19T22:01:00.000-04:00

From the beginning of man's time here on earth, there has been one war in progress. The purpose of that war is the destruction of man.

As much as some would like to argue how valid this writing is, the evidence in today's society is undeniable.

Man was designed to maintain a solid and promising relationship with God - simply put.
Because of man's own decisions and for the most part "weak" dedication to God, man has fallen into slavery to many things. For womanizers, man is enslaved to the wiles of women. For drug addicts, man is enslaved to the effects of substances - organic and synthetic. For the lazy, man is enslaved to excuses, depression, oppression and lack of ambition and responsibility.

What's been so puzzling is how quickly over time, out-of-perspective women and un-enlightened men have made it their mission to denigrate and further discourage the men of today's society. For years, we've seen the gradual decline of responsibility shown by many men, some of them being fathers. What's worse is that for about as long as the problem has existed, we've been using the wrong approach to the issue. We (men and women) have been bashing men (and more specifically fathers) citing such crimes as emotional and familial abandonment (leaving the family).

I've had it with the failing approach. After reading a few scriptures and having a few counselling sessions, I discovered something that I don't think I would've understood as quickly if I were not a man myself.

The way God setup the Universe is quite simple, but quite evident. Read on for the simple, powerful truth.

God put men here to take care of responsibilities. God designed man to be able to make more people that are like him. God designed woman to expect man to be responsible. God designed children to seek support and guidance from their parents.

Now, before you click that "Comment" button, read on.

Just because He set it up this way doesn't mean everyone follows the rules. Keep this in mind:
Principles are polar or binary rules. This means either you agree or disagree with them. If you're not sure that you agree, you automatically disagree (whether you like it or not).

Man was designed to need respect. Notice I didn't say man was designed to "earn" respect. He needs it. That means that there are times when he won't be able to ask for it. He wasn't designed to ask for it. He simply needs it. If he doesn't get it, he behaves "out of character" and unlike the man he is.

Just as women (they're going to love this part) desire love and affection and they figure men should *know* this, men *need* respect.

Whether a man is right or wrong, he is to be respected. When he is disrespected, especially by his own family, he gets worse than he was before you disrespected him. What you speak creates what you live, how you feel and can change how you think.

All belief is based on assumptions. Let's assume that God's Word says that man is the head of the wife and therefore the family. Let's assume that God's Word says that Jesus Christ (the only way you can receive and follow God) is the head of the man. Let's assume that God's Word lays out an historic account of Jesus being led by God throughout His life. Based on these assumptions, as far as humans are concerned, man is of top rank in the family.

If he's the one that has the DNA, the last name, the responsibility for the bills, the protection and provision of the family, the sense of direction for the family he created, the history of the family that preceded him, that makes him a pretty vital person to each person in his care. Let's be honest, when you look at a single mother with one or more kids, if they're good kids, you say that the lady's done a good job. You then AUTOMATICALLY start to question the negligence of the father. What happens from this point is either good or bad. There is no in between.

If the man is out of place, the women is out-of-line, the children are out-of-control, the neighbourhood is in disrepair, the city is in chaos, the nations are at conflict and the world dies one child at a time.

Simple Approach:
You're still reading this because it strikes a chord either in your life or because you're looking for an answer for someone else. Try this:

1. Accept whatever has happened so far between father (him) and child (you) as HISTORY.
2. Acknowledge that if you're still reading this and you understand so far, that you alone have the ability to change the situation.
3. Remember that it takes just as long for the father to be restored as it takes for you to be healed and to forgive him.
4. If you have known that father to be out-of-alignment with God, start with getting yourself together (growing in responsibility and understanding) and then approaching him with love and grace (nothing he has to earn, but something you give because he needs it.)

Unlike our Heavenly Father, our earthly fathers need help being fathers. How you help them is by being the best son or daughter you can be. Improve on whatever example that he set. Do better for him than he could've done for you.

Proverbs 17:6 reads:
⁶ Old people are distinguished by grandchildren;
children take pride in their parents.

Let's love our fathers and respect them. They may not deserve it, but you don't deserve your blood and oxygen everyday either. Let's get on with it - no excuses.

If you must say it ...

2010-08-12T12:26:00.000-04:00

Criticism without a name or signature is an arrow shot from the crossbow of cowardice.

Pray Perfect Prayers in The Spirit (Joseph Prince)

2010-08-09T01:28:00.000-04:00

I was blown away by the clarity and simplicity of the message written by Joseph Prince on Saturday.
(link below)

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/notes/joseph-prince/pray-perfect-prayers-in-the-spirit/108953965825105

When Words Get In The Way ... (on Relating to God)

2010-08-09T01:19:00.000-04:00

Although there are people that pray convincing, influential and powerful prayers in a crowd, not many people are even comfortable praying in a two-person gathering. It all boils down to an issue that is best put in Gloria Estefan's song title: "Words Get In The Way".

Words don't have to get in the way of your effectual and fervent prayer.

DISCLAIMER:
My aim here is not to claim a mastery of prayer but to share a framework to improve the effectiveness of your prayers (which is as much a skill as learning to have a good conversation *hint hint*). This is something that I learned from various teachers along my Christian journey and it is repeated by many of the leaders in the Christian faith.

Consider these prayer basics to develop a more effective prayer life.
1. Understand that words are created to "share a message"

2. Believe that God himself is waiting on your current prayer and is waiting on your second prayer (Matt 6:8)

3. God has answered your prayer (don't think in terms of our timing) before you thought to pray about it. God wants to see and hear your gratitude. Most of us grew up learning to say "please" and "thank you" when asking for an receiving something. Those rules of politeness matter to God as well.

4. Learn to focus on the relationship you have with God. Make it a practice *not* to worry about how someone else prays. (Matt 6:5-8)

5. What gives the most credibility to your prayers is how your words in prayer agree with your heart. If you're wrong, you and God are the first people to admit that to. If you need help, you and God are the first people that should hear it. (Matt 12:34; Luke 6:45 "... out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks")

6. Pray from where you are to where you desire to be in God. If you prayed only about your challenges, you are speaking about how big your challenge is. God has no reason to step in until you acknowledge that He can change it. If you haven't read through the entire Bible, don't worry. Start by reading on matters closest to your life situation - you'll learn it quicker this way than probably any other (ie: adultery -> David and Bethsheba, etc.). As you read about similar life-stories, you will learn how to pray about your situations and build the faith to see the answers to your prayers.

Just like any other skill, habitual and frequent application of these basics will eventually instill a "prayer-reflex" that kicks in even when you are mentally unconscious. This is because your spirit is being taught how to care for the rest of you. When your spirit has been taught how to be responsible for your mind, you will learn more advanced things about God and eventually words will no longer "get in the way".

*scriptures referenced are from the NKJV of the Bible

On recognizing your circumstances

2010-08-06T00:32:00.002-04:00

Perhaps you've lost your footing because it's time for you to fly.

Response or Reaction

2010-08-05T16:11:00.000-04:00

Everything you do in life is either a response or a reaction.

I'll share what I mean.

Reaction
[taken from Merriam-Webster's definition at www.m-w.com]
b : resistance or opposition to a force, influence, or movement

Response
[taken from Learnthatword.com]
IN BRIEF: An answer; something said or done in reply.

The key difference between a reaction and a response is that one happens without thought and the other requires thought. A reaction is what happens instinctively (ie: the way you say "ow" and give mean looks at someone that hurts you). A response requires thought. An excellent response comes from habitually thinking wisely about how to deal with a situation (ie: how a nerdy-type deals with a known bully).

Reactions make for conflict. Responses restore order.

Either your life will consist of constant conflict, or you will find the proper response to the things that happen and restore order. The world is filled with negative because of this one reality: many of us during our lifetime are careless with our actions and even more careless with out words.

James 3:4 (NKJV) says ...
"Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires."

verse 5 ...
"Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles!"
Use your words to respond to your life and the things around you.
... And remember, even silence is a response.

Your words, your decisions, your heart.

2010-08-03T09:36:00.000-04:00

Your words may lie for a moment, but your decisions always tell the truth about your heart.

Belief. Desire. Imagination.

2010-07-20T13:47:00.000-04:00

"Belief is the capacity to create reality. Desire is the tool of big achievers. Imagination is the workshop."

"Belief and Desire are gifts you were born with. You use belief whether or not you think so."

"Desire set after a worthy goal is seldom used by the majority of people."

"Dreams are the things given to Life when you are born. As you learn yourself, the Dreams light a fire in you that doesn't go out until you accomplish it or put it out."

"Nightmares are free. Dreams will cost you all your perseverance."

A Dream, A Plan and Everyday Routine

2010-07-18T21:50:00.000-04:00

In a few years, I will be able to show proof of the statement that follows:

A dream, a plan and an everyday routine will carry you further than any profession will carry you.

Freedom and Power

2010-07-18T21:35:00.000-04:00

Freedom belongs to those who know the rules and work the game.

Power belongs to those who show others the way to freedom without enslaving them in the process.

The Key to Mastery: Simplicity

2010-07-17T20:55:00.002-04:00

To master anything one must simplify everything about it.

On Communication

2010-07-17T16:04:00.000-04:00

Two things refine the quality of communication:

1. Well chosen words.
2. Appropriately timed silence.

Cooperation: Working Together

2010-07-15T11:30:00.000-04:00

About two decades ago, there was a brief song on a children's T.V. programme called "Cooperation".

Basically, it feature a bunch of muppets singing:
"Cooperation .... makes it happen, cooperation - working together."

There seems to be a rather high level of dissatisfaction amongst today's people (ie: divorce rates are higher, teams are breaking apart rather than forking interests, etc.)

I used to believe in reaction-based living before I learned what mature unity looked like. Let me explain:

REACTION-BASED LIVING
In a very short phrase, this is the philosophy of life that defeats the golden rule. The golden rule in human relationships is 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you'. Reaction-based living means to do unto others as they do unto you (see: an-eye-for-an-eye). I soon realized with the eye-for-an-eye approach that the world would be blind in about a day and a half. Besides, I like my eyes. ;)

MATURE UNITY
This is the concept that the Christian faith is built upon. All throughout the Bible there are stories about wars and fights and family feuds. Those stories are used to offset the example that Christ wanted us to recognize. The Old and New Testament alike mention that we as Christian believers should be more cooperative than those who don't know Christ. Sometimes, it doesn't happen quite that way in our everyday life. Not that it can't, it just doesn't always happen.

The big idea of "mature unity" can be put like this:

"When you know and understand yourself and other people, you act wisely. This is mature unity (read:maturity)."

IF YOU WANT TO LIVE LIFE WITH BETTER RELATIONSHIPS, ADD THE FOLLOWING BELIEF TO YOUR OWN BELIEFS AND WATCH THE DRASTIC INCREASE OF JOY.

'Being responsible for your own emotions gives you the power to handle others' emotions.'

When you can control your emotions and train your mind to resist reaction-based living, you can benefit from a world of resources that you can only get with the help of others.

From the Bible:

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (New International Version)

⁹ Two are better than one,
       because they have a good return for their work:
¹⁰ If one falls down,
       his friend can help him up.
       But pity the man who falls
       and has no one to help him up!
¹¹ Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
       But how can one keep warm alone?
¹² Though one may be overpowered,
       two can defend themselves.
       A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Cooperation is a simple thing to experience, but it is not easy until all involved agree.

Amos 3:3 (The Message)
Do two people walk hand in hand
   if they aren't going to the same place?

Cooperation isn't about my way, your way or anyone else's way. It's about the way we both need to think, speak and do to get where we're both going. If we're not thinking the same thing, and speaking the same thing, we're not doing the same thing and not going the same place.

Philosophy; The Art of Words

2010-07-14T16:38:00.001-04:00

Philosophy is the art of words; painted so beautifully it changes the lives of those who 'get the picture'.

Belief and Reality

2010-07-05T11:51:00.000-04:00

Have you ever tried to help someone that felt that everything in their life was just draining and impossible? What about the person that has lofty dreams but no self-confidence to achieve them?

Maybe this sounds familiar:
"These are all nice things, but they will never happen. The people in charge will never let it happen."

One statement someone shared with me changed my attitude to wanting to help people:
"What you believe becomes your reality"

Another statement cleared my conscience for people who wanted to drag you into their unbelief:
"Never try to convince anyone of anything and your time will be better spent."

As much as you might want to argue otherwise, what you believe is your own reality.

Courage is not equal to Confidence

2010-07-02T12:58:00.002-04:00

Contrary to popular belief, courage is not something you're born with. It's something you accept as a challenge approaches.

Courage is what motivates you in the face of fear when you lack confidence.

Father's Day example as set by the Holy Trinity ...

2010-06-19T09:35:00.001-04:00

(Copyright Gospel Communications International, Inc - www.reverendfun.com)

Quote: Wisdom and Planning

2010-06-17T00:57:00.000-04:00

Quick quote for those with ears to ear:

"Wisdom is to time what a plan is to opportunity."

Relationships: Expectations

2010-06-15T14:36:00.000-04:00

When the topic of 'relationships' come to mind, there is not shortage of advice from anyone that you ask. More often than not, those that counsel couples in the basics of successful relationships usually mention the words:
communication, money, beliefs.

I'm willing to say that all of the "building blocks" of a successful relationship regardless of class, religion, language, culture or even race are built on expectation.

From the time you were formed, you were psychologically and biologically wired to expect certain things. You may want to challenge it, but your body taught you to expect food when you cry. You may not have understood why you were crying, but those who were responsible for you understood. When you learned about gifts, you learned to expect to receive one from those you loved. The list goes on until you die.

Expectation is inherent to human beings. Knowledge (of any type) changes what you expect in the present and the future. If you get incorrect or false knowledge of a person, a place, or a thing you develop an unhealthy and usually unwanted result. If you get correct or true knowledge of a person place or thing, you develop a healthy or desired result.

Many will want to challenge this simple truth, but remember this: in a democracy where the majority rules, it doesn't matter "what is right" for the majority rule says "most people are right" even if their knowledge and results are wrong.

So, in regards to relationships (with persons, organizations and things):
When expectation exceeds understanding, disappointment happens. When expectation meets understanding, communication and cooperation happens.

Quote: Peace and Grace

2010-06-15T10:31:00.000-04:00

I couldn't resist posting this simple quote. It's usually the simple things that are the most profound.

"Peace keeps what grace gives."

Forgiveness: The Give-and-Take Medicine

2010-06-04T05:46:00.000-04:00

Forgiveness is the medicine one takes by giving freely to another against one's own feelings that the person does not deserve it. As it is freely given, it greatly heals the person who gave it.

Forgiveness was a universal law that God created for us to help ourselves when we feel someone else should.

Forgiveness is the gift God gave us that we only recognize through grace to do better the next time and every time thereafter.

God doesn't need to be forgiven for anything. He gave it once; we receive it as much as we need it.

Powerful Quote: Freedom

2010-05-25T12:05:00.003-04:00

As a writer at heart and a philosopher at the mouth, I have a penchant for quotes. Essays and poems have their place, but it is still a wonderful thing to see how a few words can change people's lives forever, one moment at a time.

One such quote I found follows:

Freedom is the will to be responsible to ourselves. ~Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols, 1888

Given this definition of freedom, I'd say the majority of earth's population aren't free at all.

Q: Are you?

To the public: On Addressing The Youth

2010-05-17T09:58:00.003-04:00

A generation of youth have decided to go it alone wanting to learn everything for themselves and taking other clueless youth with them. Following are a few words to the youth and some more pertinent ones to the rest of us.

To the youth: you are right - we're not going through what you went through. We've passed through most of it and decided not to continue.

To the youth: you are right - we're not going to feel the same way you feel. We felt responsible for what you're going through when we were going through it. We made a change.

To the youth: you are right - we will do things differently than you're doing right now. We understand that there's a whole lot more to life than you wanting to see that person, go to that big event and buy that really fancy thing all your friends are talking about.

To the seasoned: screaming and yelling will not work when communicating with today's youth. Neither will utter silence.

To myself and many others that have an ear:
TAKING ADVICE
Listen when you're being advised. That wise person may not be around when you decide to change and need help doing so.

GIVING ADVICE
Also, when your care leads to you give advice to someone whose life may be better knowing it, don't let your lifestyle stop you from telling them. Though you may not want to save your life, you may have what it takes to help someone recover theirs. You may sound like a hypocrite, but at least you helped improve someone's quality of life.

Straight from the heart ...

To Be Right Is To Be Left

2010-05-13T17:06:00.003-04:00

Enough e-mail forwards have said it with all the pretty pictures and a long list of chain-letter ultimatums (ie: Pass this on to 15 people ...)

When it comes to relational intelligence, keep this in mind:
If you're always right, you will also be the only one left (behind).

Working and winning with people requires the art of relational skill (otherwise termed relational intelligence). The reason it is called a skill is because it is something that all can learn. Winning with people is not a matter of identifying who's right or who's to blame. Winning with people is a matter of understanding what it takes to work together.

Either someone's to blame for everything OR everyone's working together. Both situations cannot be true at the same time.

11 Realities of Life

2010-05-12T11:58:00.002-04:00

In my brief 28 years on earth, I've come to a few realities which are hard to ignore:

1. If you're not living your dreams, you're slowly living a nightmare.
2. If you cannot say what you feel, you're trapped within your own emotions. Trying to make someone else feel it will not achieve anything.
3. Waiting until things "feel right" is not always a good idea. Remember when your stomach was misbehaving and you had diarrhea? What happened when you thought "it felt right"? You were wrong.

Decide what you want to do; learn what is needed for you to do it; put a deadline on it and do it.

4. Big dreamers are the ones living big and enjoying it.
5. The people that succeed are the ones that are consistent. Regardless of their goals.
6. Philosophy isn't gathered from the most eloquent writing and neither is it correct the first or second time someone reads it.
7. Whatever is the truth will bring results.
8. Having "guts" nowadays doesn't mean the same thing it meant 20 or more years ago.
9. Honesty is indeed the best policy, but tact makes more meaningful relationships.
10. Trivial intelligence will always be outdone by emotional, spiritual and relational intelligence.

* Please note that all of these truths are gathered from philosophers, writers, leaders, speakers and coaches. I have simply re-worded some of them so that I remember them better.

... and

11. If you needed to remember everything, God would not have gifted you with the ability to forget.

:)

A Lesson On Failure: The Foundation of Success

2010-03-31T23:39:00.006-04:00

There are much too many writings about success that do not accurately address a more common truth - failure.

Though it took me 10 or more years to find a working definition and understanding of the word and the experience of failure, today I heard one that I finally excepted.

To drive the point home so that you the reader never remain at the stage of failure again, read on.

If you drive through most populated cities/towns in the world for 20+ mins, you will eventually see a building that got stuck at its foundation. The site of the building is likely to rouse the feeling of disappointment for the person who started construction whether you knew the person or not. Why?

We are psychologically and emotionally wired to continue growing, adapting, succeeding, and progressing. When we see that another human being or even a project that someone started has stopped progressing, you begin to feel indifferent and shameful just seeing it.

If this same principle is used by all educators, trainers, mentors and parents when influencing the lives of the this generation and those to follow, the world is likely to experience a better way of living, if only in tight groups across the globe.

A video that brings to light some of the world's most famous failures that kept failing until they succeeded can be found here.

Failure is the foundation upon which great structures of success are built.

And as the narrator put it:

"If you've never failed, you've never lived."

You know the rule. What you know and what you understand, you are responsible for living according to.

There is no "Try"

2010-03-29T00:37:00.000-04:00

I stumbled upon an interesting reality after a few short years of studying successful habits of the masters who preceded me.

They hardly ever mentioned the word "try" when they spoke about how they got where they did and what went through their minds along the journey. The only "trying" that was mentioned was done by the people that discouraged them from reaching their goals, living their dreams and helping other people to do the same.

Exhibit A.
God Almighty.

His name isn't Bruce or Evan. This is not the guy you send your vacation request to for approval. This is the Big Guy upstairs. If you read the documentary of His greatest work (the Bible) you will notice that from Genesis 1-2, He never "tried" to do anything. He "did".

Exhibit B.
Your parents.

You know their names much better than I ever could. I am speaking on your behalf and saying that you know them all (for those of us with extra parentage ;) ). In case you didn't realize it, you have proof that they made good on something they wanted to do. They wanted to get together. Your exhibit of that proof: YOU. In most cases, your parents didn't "try" to make you. They got to work; result - here you are.

Exhibit C.
You.

This is where the ball drops in your court. It is true (though seldom said) that whatever you know, you're responsible for acting upon. What you now know is this:

- God didn't try to do. He spoke and it happened.
- Regardless of your choice of belief you were created with the same power namely "the spoken word".
- "Try" is not a functional word. It is a hypothetical (hype + pathetic + al) word that gives you an excuse not to do your best.

My words today are not intended to tell you what to do, when, where or how to do anything. If you plan to do something (intent), the only way you will achieve it is by lining up your actions with that intent.

Strangely, Yoda put it best using his condensed grammar in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back -
"Do, or do not. There is no try."

Challenge: Starting today, remove the word "try" from your decisive lifestyle. You will either do or not do. That is the only way to be better and live better.

Grace and peace.

Decision: Power best used now

2010-03-06T14:02:00.004-05:00

The power of decision is one used more frequently than most of us imagine.

Myth 1:
Lazy people do not use the power of decision

Fact:
Both the lazy and the proactive use the power of decision several times daily.
[The lazy just decide to do it later or not at all.]

Myth 2:
To make a decision requires time.

Fact:
Decision only requires initiative. After initiative, commitment. Commitment to results requires time.

The next time someone presents something to you, or life brings you a decision, remember that decisions themselves don't require time. You require time. Usually, you require time to decide when you lack the information to make the decision.

I don't claim to know it all. But I've decided that I'd share what I've learned rather than wait 'til I'm older. The power of decision is one best used now.

Learn to live with yourself (The Man in The Glass)

2010-02-09T10:50:00.002-05:00

A business professional put the question to a crowd of people that shouted excitedly when he asked "Do you want to be where I am next year?"

His response was: "You say you do, but you don't really want to. Why would I say that to you? Because I said the same thing myself."

Then he recited something that was powerful. He wanted each person in the crowd to know that he was not about short-change or to hype any of them.

The Man in The Glass ...

When you get what you want in your struggles for self
And the world makes you king for a day,

Just go to a mirror and look at yourself
And see what that man has to say.

For it isn't your father or mother or wife
Whose judgment upon you must pass,

The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the one staring back from the glass.

Some people might think you're a straight-shooting chum
And call you a wonderful guy.

But the man in the glass says you're only a bum
If you can't look him straight in the eye.

He's the fellow to please, never mind all the rest
For he's with you clear to the end

And you've passed your most dangerous test
If the guy in the glass is your friend.

You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years
And get pats on the back as you pass

But your final reward will be heartache and tears
If you've cheated the man in the glass.
- Unknown Author

In brief, if you're more busy "saying" what you want rather than "becoming" and "achieving" what you want, then you likely you don't want it for yourself or if so, not badly enough.

Have you decided and done so little that you choose not to live with yourself?

Consider a more realistic way to read the Bible: YouVersion

2010-01-05T14:45:00.004-05:00

I came across an interesting website while reading through a blog. It offers calendar plans to help you read through your bible.

A few things are different about this site and the method:
* you can customize your reading plan (read the whole Bible through in 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, etc.)
* you can share your reading plan with others to help keep you accountable to your reading plan
* your reading plan is synchronized between your desktop, laptop and mobile (should you choose this method)

So, before you over-commit and under-accomplish this year with that "Bible-in-1-year" reading plan and forget what you read, consider a customized reading plan and an accountability partner at http://www.YouVersion.com

(For some, this may be better than twittering all day long)

The oxymoron with a meaning

2010-01-05T14:21:00.003-05:00

To give life to someone or something during one's personal dying process is to explain life on earth from the perspective of eternity.

Living proof: Jesus Christ.

Who else do you know was born specifically to die?

Quotes in retrospect: On fear and courage ...

2009-12-30T09:39:00.003-05:00

From emails to blogs to online art galleries, the more you read the more you realize that online content is simply not as life-changing and valuable as most people make it out to be.

I found two quotes that summarize two important aspects of everyone's lives but in one sentence each, accurately describes what some if not all of us feel.

"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends"

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear"

Unusual things cause peace

2009-11-02T22:45:00.001-05:00

When the unusual equates to understandable, there will be instantaneous peace on earth.

Keep it out of your heart

2009-09-30T18:13:00.004-04:00

Whatever pain you feel, whatever disappointment you experience, whatever derogatory statements you hear, whatever overwhelming emotions may flood you, don't let it get into your heart. You may not be able to stop thoughts from passing over your head, but you can surely stop them from becoming resident. Whatever it is, whoever it is, however it happened, you may remember it, but keep it out of your heart.

To constantly speak from heartfelt bitterness is to maintain and attitude of intentional suffering. Hate follows and finally death.

Scripture ref.

Proverbs 4:23-27 (New King James Version)
23 Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.
24 Put away from you a deceitful mouth, And put perverse lips far from you.
25 Let your eyes look straight ahead, And your eyelids look right before you.
26 Ponder the path of your feet, And let all your ways be established.
27 Do not turn to the right or the left; Remove your foot from evil.

Living a milestone life ...

2009-09-17T18:34:00.003-04:00

Throughout the course of human life, each of us encounters at least one milestone. It could be a great accomplishment marked by hard work, strategic planning, teamwork and savings or it could be a tremendous personal mistake that resulted from poor planning or just simply poor habits. Whatever case suits you, know for a fact that you a living a milestone life.

Milestones in your life are set whether you plan to or not. For those who feel as though they are not living life, a milestone could be the point at which a bad habit or negative situation recurs. For the ambitious "he's" and "she's", milestones are the prizes or desires that indicate a level of status among their peers in their profession (industry) or class-of-society.

The truth is, we all determine the kind of life we experience. Though you may struggle through a challenge (sickness, emotional issues, prejudices, financial potholes, etc.), mentally dying in that situation is entirely up to you. The most frequent and easily-recoverable test of what milestones you set in your life is criticism. Everytime someone says something to you or about you, it is a pop quiz to test how well you know and stick to your milestones.

Though it's tough, positive milestones can be set by you, but usually require a small group of supporters to keep you reaching them. Though it causes you to think the unimaginable, see the impossible, remember that those are the requirements for doing the impossible. When "impossible" becomes "believable", "achievable" becomes "reachable". "Reachable" then becomes "next", and "next" becomes "now".

That said, for you to get where you want to be, embrace it now and make the daily changes required for you to get there. You'll find that a milestone life doesn't just move mountains, but makes daily journeys out of them.

AIM: Excuses – The Trademark Of Mediocres (Part II)

2009-08-24T12:44:00.000-04:00

AIM: Excuses – The Trademark Of Mediocres (Part II)

Determination, Excuses and Focus

2009-08-24T12:12:00.003-04:00

Determination sets apart the mediocre from the extraordinary.

Focus is the mind's determination set to one thought, the heart set to one passion and the soul to one rhythm.

Excuses are the tools of the incompetent. They build monuments out of nothing. Those who use them are seldom successful in anything.

(The definition for "Excuses" is attributed to a writer/speaker greater than I and one whom is called "Unknown" a.k.a "Anonymous". Their words have set the pioneers free.)

Why Do You Do What You Do?

2009-08-17T00:54:00.003-04:00

Good morning net-izens.

This message is about you living your life everyday for what it's worth. For you to see it that way, you need to start with motive. Motive determines the outcome of everything in your life.

More importantly, the purer your motive and the more inline it is with God's plans and His desires, the better the outcome.

This excellently written devotion is the work of Cindy Beall's contribution to the Streaming Faith subscribers.

Cindy Beall is a Christ follower who uses her gift of exhortation by writing and mentoring women. She uses her past experiences, including the near death of her marriage, to encourage people that God truly does redeem. For more information about Cindy, log onto www.cindybeall.com

*Cindy Beall is a 2009 StreamingFaith.com Guest Columnist.

Her devotion is here.

It's in your nature: Worship by God's design

2009-08-11T23:40:00.007-04:00

In each of us God created a need for worship. Who we worship is identified by how we worship and what we spend the most time doing, thinking, speaking and feeling about. God's intention for worship was for us to give Him persistent attention and focus throughout our lives.

Worship is what you live, eat, breathe, sleep and think about. If God's not that priority, it's safe to say you've not had a God-focused worship experience yet. When you've given all you've got, you've had a worship experience. If God's not there, and he's not who you are focused on and he's not who you're representing then you've found what you replaced Him with and you're not worshiping God.

A popular quote can describe the life-cycle of worship in each of our lives:

"Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny."

Your worship is a lifestyle. Though you may think worship is only when you're praying, singing or spending time in fellowship with ministry workers, I pray you soon realize that worship is a lifestyle that starts from the frequent and lasting thoughts in your mind. As the quote above says, "it becomes your destiny". You frequently spend time on focus on the thing, person or experience that you worship.

Worship is implies a devotion that goes-for-broke. You can't afford to have anything left when it comes to worshiping God. Give it your all - it's in your nature. Watch Him give it back with more.

Now that we have new understanding, it's time for Q&A. Don't answer me; answer yourself (by doing so, you answer God - you gotta love the way He designed worship). Be honest: it's the quickest way to make changes to your lifestyle.

Q: What do you worship?
Q: How many things have you put before God?
Q: What things do you do that you don't put your all into?
Q: Why are you doing those things?
Q: What do you do that you put your all into?
Q: Is God the focus of that? Would He be proud of that?
Q: If you haven't been able to give God credit from the answers to the previous questions, who's been getting the glory?

Embracing Your Life's Purpose: Advancing Against All Odds

2009-07-02T21:32:00.008-04:00

Pilot scripture: Matthew 9:36,37

Opening Question: "Why aren't we working?"

Throughout the journey of Christian discipleship (all of your life from you accepted Christ until you die), each of us encounters a work load that seems greater than what we can handle. At the time of this writing, any man or woman of God can see that not enough is getting done to represent God well in the earth. We see more men slipping into sin and having a sip of God every now and again. We see more women dominating men and being frustrated with the weight of total or major responsibility. We see kids (stagnated or premature adults) advancing in age but not growing up because they've spent more time learning to deal with trauma than learning to fulfill purpose.

There have been many messages preached from pulpits and television platforms that not enough souls are being saved. There have been even more strategies discussed and from within churches the world around to get people interested in God, church and applied ministry. It all stems from one issue:

Lack of vitamin "P". P is for purpose.

God's structure for kingdom living on earth follows this basic set of equations:
God + man + woman + purpose = marriage
God + marriage + purpose = family
God + family + family = neighbourhood
God + neighbourhood + purpose = community
God + community + conviction + purpose = church
God + church + purpose = ministry
God + ministry + purpose = Kingdom of God

Once the man is operating in a manner other than directed by the Word of God, the rest of society is bound to crumble under pressure. Once the women is operating in a manner other than directed by the Word of God, the household and subsequently the rest of the world spirals into a chaotic mess.

At the time of this writing, the world seems to have demonstrated the very same chaos you just read about. If purpose were to be removed, you have a valueless group of people living for nothing and therefore discouraged and corrupted by anything and possibly everything.

Workers are persons hired or chosen to complete an assignment. People who don't know why they are on earth and what they are supposed to be doing are lost. Matthew 9:35-38 (and Luke 10:1-3) speak about how Christ had compassion for the many lost people who are like sheep needing a shepherd. His words were "the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few".

Every problem in life is an equation looking for someone to solve it. When you solve these types of problems your purpose is unveiled, identified and activated in the earth. Solving these the problems humanity suffers from is not something you can feel like doing. Be wise about your desires and your goals in life. If they are not rooted and established in purpose, they will ultimately be changed. Proverbs 19:21 says:

"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails."

Failure is an event that identifies the weak areas of success. Accept it. Without failure, you would not have a reason to succeed. The only way you can embrace your failures and use them to move on, is to live everyday with the mentality that God's purpose for my life is my life's work and must be my dream. God's purpose is the fail-proof career for every man, woman and child on earth. God's purpose is the only thing that will advance against all odds and appreciate in the face of every single economic shift.

And when you think you are your own, you can make up your own mind and choose what you want to do and who you want to be, remember the Apostle Paul's words to the Philippians in chapter 2, verse 13:

"For it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure."

If you're unsure of your life's purpose, which is rooted in your loving service to humanity all your best efforts are like a sounding brass and a tingling cymbal to society.

Reflective question: Ultimately and truthfully without honour and glory, what do all your works amount to? Building your own name and harvest your own crops, or building God's kingdom, harvesting His crops and tending to His sheep?

Acknowledging Purpose: "We are not our own"

2009-06-30T20:19:00.005-04:00

As we all pass through the different phases of life, we gain understanding reflective of the experiences we've overcome. One of the least accepted truths of human existence is that we do not belong to ourselves. This statement of wisdom when fully accepted, causes a level of influence, favour and courage that sometimes it is hard to believe.

Our brother James in his fourth journal entry of the New Testament wrote that wars and fights amongst men start from the desire for pleasure (James 4:1). He goes on to say that as much as a man covets, he still cannot gain because he desires to please himself. This is the behaviour and lifestyle of a worldly person.

Another statement of wisdom commonly repeated, but seldom demonstrated is found in verse 6:
"God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble"

Simple instruction is given once again in verses 7, 10:
"Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."
"Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up."

It is impossible to taste the grace of God and experience His promotion and His blessing until you first acknowledge that you are His.

Accepting that we have been bought with a price is not easy. In fact, this is probably the longest and hardest lesson to learn in the journey of Christianity. After accepting the truth that each of us was paid for by the greatest credit record in human history (one perfect soul: read "Jesus Christ") then and only then can we begin to acknowledge the true value and purpose of our lives.

Your purpose is to serve. As James reminded is in verse 1, as long as our desires are for self-pleasure, self-seeking, and aggrandizement then we shall surely always be at war with each other.

Your desires establish the guidelines by which you live. Your desires determine what you put trust and love into. Ultimately your desires determine the total value of your life.

God is the greatest investor. He pays full price for everything and everyone He owns. If He owns the precious land that wealthy people pay extravagant premiums for, don't you want to be at least that valuable? Your purpose is your value on this earth. If you don't know who paid for you, you cannot appraise your own value. If you cannot accurately appraise your own value, you're literally living at less than market value and according to any investor, that's never a good idea.

Humility and grace establish your purpose and increase your value everyday.

Question: Are you willing to risk your life being only worth the things you owned, when you don't even own yourself?

Unity in the Body: The Kingdom Family

2009-06-11T19:16:00.002-04:00

Unity in the Body of Christ is a very serious issue. It’s so serious, that it requires a series of writings to address it completely.

Family
The first institution God created on earth to demonstrate unity is family. Some may argue and say that it was marriage, but the whole purpose of marriage is to build a family. God established a Kingdom (read ) that His family would establish, maintain, and prosper.
(see Genesis 2,3)

Your family is the group of people that you are connected to by blood or affinity. Each member of a family has a title or name based on responsibility in serving the others in the family. Each title has a job description and certain liberties, gifts, abilities and authority to satisfy the responsibility.

Kingdom
A kingdom is the territory under the responsibility of a monarchy. A monarchy is a government which gives supreme power absolutely belonging to an individual. In the context of the Gospel (the Holy Bible), this kingdom is God’s own. The weird part is that He owns it, but He left it in the care of the people He created and called His own. The problem is the royal family behaves as if they are out of their right minds. And rightly so, because they don’t know who they are, what they’re made of, what’s required of them and what they are truly entitled to.

God began the mental re-alignment and re-education of His kingdom citizens when He sent Jesus to live on earth. All Jesus did and said concerned “His Father’s business” and “the kingdom” that was at hand. Timothy declared Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords. This statement reveals that all those under the guidance, promptings and the order of God’s kingdom are kings and lords in the earth.
(see 1 Timothy 6)

Jesus knew His role in the body, which family He was connected to, His gifts, abilities and His authority. Jesus knew His role and His place. Therefore, He brought unity where unity could not previously exist.

Too many of us who call ourselves the citizens of the kingdom of heaven do not know what it means to be kings and lords in the earth. If you don’t know your gifts, abilities, authority, identity or purpose, it is impossible for you to be an agent of unity.

What’s embarrassing is that there are unbelievers that are living the lives of kings and lords right among us. The only thing they lack is the very thing we have – knowledge of God and His Kingdom through family relations.

Ques: Do you know your identity in the kingdom? Do you know what your abilities, gifts, liberties, authority and purpose are?

If you don’t know, you’re hindering the entire Kingdom Family from restoring and establishing its notoriety in the earth. And that means you’re in direct opposition of the Lord’s Prayer you’ve been praying all these many years. Since you were not cultivating unity, you were creating disunity. That’s not of the Kingdom of God, nor of His family.
(see Matthew 6)

We’ve got good news for you though! There’s repentance, a process of re-identification and re-colonization to get back into the flow of the Kingdom’s order. Ready?

Prayer:
Lord, I apologize for hindering my own life and the efforts of the kingdom by misrepresenting you in the earth. Create in me a clean heart, a right spirit and a mind in Christ Jesus that I may come to know all of me as I continually learn who you are. Help me this day to exemplify all the attributes of you as I discover my kingdom-unique, specially-crafted genetic makeup in body, mind and spirit. You are my Father, and I am the lord and the king in the earth over which you rule. I believe that you have a tremendous kingdom within me, I desire to manifest it starting right now to cultivate unity in the Body of Christ, in Jesus’ mighty name, AMEN.

Unity in the Body: Know Those That Labour Among You

2009-06-11T19:08:00.004-04:00

Pilot Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:12 (context: 5:12-19)

In my written work entitled “Unity in the Body: The Kingdom Family”, I mentioned that it is impossible to be an agent of unity if one does not know his/her abilities, authority, identity and purpose. I stand corrected; one’s identity is comprised of your abilities, influence (authority) and personality (the way you think and what you like and dislike).

For the sake of this devotion, the word “man” is not gender-specific, but refers to every man and every woman.

One of the primary purposes of a unified (read married) couple is to reproduce after their own kind. When a child is born, the parents are responsible for giving that child’s identity to him/her.

In some cases, the parents have to learn the destiny of a child and protect the identity to make sure the child achieves it. That said, a man’s identity serves to explain his purpose in the earth, thereby justifying his very life.

Identity is important. Identity is so important that when you don’t have it, you will borrow or steal one just to say you have one; just to give your life value to those around you. Though not often thought as such, identity theft was the beginning of conflict and therefore sin as we know it.

If you recall, the Bible states that Satan was cast out of heaven along with the fallen angels that supported him. This was the first documented coup d’état in history. Can you guess why? Satan had an identity crisis. He thought that there could be two ultimate deities. He also thought that he could overthrow God. We know what that got him. What many of us did not learn is the underlying issue: his distorted view of his identity caused disunity. Though he was supported by many he caused disunity, giving birth to sin.

The world’s first identity crisis
The temptation to fall into and participate in an identity crisis is a lot closer to each and every one of us than we would like to admit. On the one hand, one who has fallen into the identity crisis believes they are less than who they are supposed to be. On the other hand, that same one could believe that they are to be much more, do much more, have much more and control much more than they are supposed to.

Abilities and Gifts
The purpose of your abilities is to identify the work you should be doing, or helping others to do. The gifts that you have are an indication of the areas you are to provide leadership to.

Personality
The way your mind works most effectively details what you will pay the most attention to; this is directly tied to the tasks you will excel in. God designed you to be excellent concerning these tasks so that you assist and serve others with special or exceptional ability.

Your likes and dislikes reveal to you the challenges you will face as well as the things you are weaker in. These weaknesses are as important as your strengths because they identify where you need others in your life. Think of this as a way to make sure that you live as a team player.

Keep this in mind:
When you know your limits (the bounds of your identity), you know why you need others. When others know their limits (the bounds of their identities), they know why they need you. If everyone knows their identity, unity is maintained and ultimately purpose is fulfilled. Unity is the mindset required to appreciate and celebrate differences as the glue of community (common + unity).

Your identity reveals to why each person is needed in your life. As a spiritually-minded individual, throughout your life you will identify your spiritual family. They serve as the brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers and children of your God-assigned spiritual purpose here on earth. As you care for people and learn their identity, you will begin to live by the principles in 1 Thessalonians 5:14-22.

To know those that labour among you is to learn the different abilities, gifts, limitations, likes and dislikes of the people in your life. Regardless of how seldom or frequent you encounter a person, each person requires that you celebrate their identity so they can fulfill purpose. Some people are lacking this kind of insight, therefore they cannot ask. Some will not ask regardless.

You must act in your belief of unity regardless.

Behind Enemy Lines: United States of America

2009-06-04T10:23:00.004-04:00

Though many may not agree or even view the following comments from the same perspective, read this article. To some, the issues portrayed in the linked article are commonplace and "normal". The Kingdom of heaven indeed suffers violence and the voilent taketh by force. Certainly this is a continued manifested wave of Christians realizing that they are engaged in active warfare behind enemy lines.

Proof:
The child in this story has the Bible considered as one of his favourite books and cared to share from the Bible during a show and tell session. The teacher, the governing education board and the judge are all saying that the Bible itself is too extreme and too powerful to be used for show and tell. Show and tell is a mild introduction used to teach children how to share what thye believe in and to allow others to see things from their life perspective. If this child is discouraged from sharing his faith, what more might the leaders in the educational system be shaping our kids to grow in?

As I am very adamant about issues like this and the underlying attacks of spiritual warfare, please seek understanding of this situation. Christians for too long have taken a casual approach to the kingdom of heaven. Now, as the enemy has taken the territory of the whole earth by complacency, lewdness, lasciviousness and manipulation, we must take back the territory as the pre-destined kings and lords of God's order.

Though the U.S.A. is not the first nation to experience this, the U.S.A. does represent one of the largest census groups of humanity as the population of earth. We are behind enemy lines and by the rules of engagement of the spiritual realm, acts like this are declaring war on your future and your current life. What will you do?

The article may be found here:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31086135/?gt1=43001

Responsibility – Understanding and Responding to the Call

2009-04-30T15:15:00.001-04:00

Throughout the history of mankind, there have been people who are called to the work of God. Some have been satisfied by the feeling of doing simply a “good work” and calling it God’s work. Then there those that even other Christians question their actions and if they actually heard from God concerning their lives.

Good works often look like God’s work, but a seasoned Believer is able to identify the difference usually at first glance. There have been a torrent of testimonies concerning people who failed to do God’s work, with few pardons afforded them to be encouraged to get back up again. There’s shame to be felt on the part of both parties – the person accused of failing to complete the work of God and the person accusing the fallen who bear the name of God.

Over the course of time, the divide between the sinner and the believer in his/her infancy has diminished. In some cases, it becomes difficult to identify the life of a new convert from the life of a determined sinner. In stark contrast, the divide between the infant believer (new convert) and the mature believer (disciple) has grown from a crack in the sidewalk to a canyon.

Q: How did this happen over time?

I dare to submit that this happened because people do not understand their salvation and the call of God on their lives; therefore do not cultivate and care for it.

Let’s identify some facts concerning the call of God in man’s life:
- the call of God is lonely
- the call of God is challenging
- the call of God is without repentance
- the call of God requires gentleness and boldness
- the call of God requires flexibility and discipline
- the call of God is irrespective of circumstances
- the call of God serves to perfect the person called, and prove them during the process
- the call of God brings value to the person who is diligent and intentional about their focus on the call

Q: What does all of that mean? How can you prove this in the Bible?

You cannot predict in and of yourself, what God has planned. The Word of God says that His ways are past finding out. This means that as much as these things seem to work against the current logic of the world’s systems, God has called you to do is be different in a world where the norm is for people wanting other people to be the same as them.

Lonely – Noah was called to build an ark and was teased by pretty much everyone. I imagine some of his family joined in on the fun as well.

Challenging – David went up against some unprecedented odds facing Goliath when his own God-assigned king was not prepared to.

Without repentance – The prophet Samuel rebuked Saul for gross disobedience and self-justification after Saul ignored God’s command to kill Agag.
Gentleness and boldness – Jesus served with an attitude of meekness (servant’s behaviour without shedding one’s authority) when he washed the disciples’ feet; Paul boldly declared the word of God until he would ultimately be

Flexibility and discipline – Abram only became Abraham through the fulfillment of God’s instructions to cause God’s promise to happen quickly in his life. Abraham was asked to depart from his family to move into a promised place by God. Abraham was also asked to sacrifice his only son on Mount Moriah. Both of these commands required Abraham to demonstrate flexibility in his behaviour and plans just to obey God.

Irrespective of Circumstances – Isaac sowed in a time of famine and received RAPID results of great increase. The “financial climate” was more than likely worse for him than it is for us now, but because he heard from God and obeyed, he got more than he could ask for.

Serves to Perfect the Person Called – David was a man of many mistakes, but he was man of many prayer prayers and great repentance. The Apostle Paul was very similar in this regard and he voiced this when he spoke about his thorn in the flesh. Did Bethsehba stop David from being king? Did Abner stop him from praying to God? Did Paul’s thorn stop him from ministering to the Gentiles, Jews and others? Did the thorn stop Timothy from serving, honouring and learning from Paul? No. God used the thorn and the repentance to perfect those whom He called.

Brings value to the person – There are way too many men and women who have been obedient to the call of God that were considered nothing or in some cases, less than nothing before they got saved. Their greatest and most eternal value in life to humanity through God’s work came by obeying the call of God on their lives and being consistent with it.

T o understand anything, one must:
1. be present
2. be attentive
3. be aware
4. be willing to learn
5. ask questions
6. make mistakes
7. desire to learn more than was is said, shown, heard and written – this is where the power of prayer comes in.

As tough as it may be to obey God, it is difficult NOT to respond to the call of God once you can hear Him and understand what He is saying. This may only be 2 pages worth of written and information, but this is a lifetime of revelation and dialogue through prayer. This is a living, written piece of work. You don’t finish all this in a week or a year. The call of God is a lifetime career. That’s why above all things, those the leaders in the faith may be professionals in their temporal or earthly disciplines, but their life’s career is “man of God” or “woman of God”. Your whole life belongs to God, and therefore, your everyday job is unto God. Unfortunately, there’s no formal performance review and no formal date or time for evaluation or promotion.

Solomon advised time and time again – “… in all your getting, get understanding… “ Proverbs 4:7
Understanding unveils responsibility. Responsibility is determined by purpose, and purpose by God. God requires 1 thing of you – committed relationship. You cannot be committed if you don’t understand why you need to be; this part is your responsibility until you die.

Q: Seeing as He’s called you, what is it that He left you responsible for that you haven’t done yet?
Q: Did you make an effort to understand that instruction?

I pray these words help you gain a greater understanding of the call of God on your life. They helped me.

The Right Perspective: Righteousness and Stewardship

2009-04-28T23:51:00.001-04:00

Pilot scripture: 1Timothy 6:7-11

God has shown His love for us by providing the earth, its irrefutable laws and its resources to us to take care of. In 1 Timothy 6:7, Paul’s advice to Timothy is that:

“…we brought nothing into this world, and it certain we can carry nothing out.”
V8 reads: “And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.”

Should we look back into our upbringing, each of us has been trained to get good grades in order to get scholarships, to get better educational opportunities and so on. This ultimately had one focus in mind: “Get grades to get more money.” This has been the life-long lesson for so many people, we should not find it surprising that people are more focused on what they can get rather than what they can give.

This mentality gave birth to what I agree to call “consumerism”. The mentality can be summed up into a short, powerful phrase viz., “make more to get more”.

Gaining profit in itself is not wrong, but given the wrong perspective can be very damaging to the financial rulership that God wants us to exemplify. When God told us to occupy [carry out business] in Luke 19:11-27, Paul was in just agreement with Jesus’ words to the Pharisees. Jesus gave a parable that was likened unto to the kingdom of God. Each of us has been given resources to manage and develop for a profit or gain. One thing that Paul as echoed and extended from Jesus’ ministry was that love and the fruits of the spirit were always to supersede the arbitrary instruction of profiting of resources. Needless to say, this is a devotion for those who are prepared to mature in the things of God and the dynamics of leading class lifestyles here on earth.

Paul advises Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:9,10 with these words:
“But those who desire to e rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.”
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

Paul does not leave us or Timothy for that matter, hanging without some hope and guidance. 1 Timothy 6:11 reads:

“But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.”

In this day and time, this message can easily overlooked because it doesn’t state the “7 secrets to spiritual success” or “5 steps to prophetic prosperity”, but it is nonetheless a powerful and dynamic instruction (note that was NOT A SUGGESTION). God truly has proven Himself to be a ridiculously loving Potentate and friend. Though we are encouraged to abandon the desire for money, we still need it. Though we need it, it should not need us – it should not need to possess us so much that we cannot live life and have a sincere worship towards God.

HOW WE CAN ACTIVATE THIS RIGHT PERSPECTIVE:
Pray that God teaches you the understanding of righteousness, godliness, faith, love patience, and gentleness.

Learn to be content with what you have. Thank God for what He has given. Ask Him to guide you in the profitable and successful use of the resources He has placed all around you. As He instills godliness, faith, love, patience and gentleness, what becomes of you is a king in the earth of whom He is proud. Kings who honour and love kings always provide gifts to create lasting memories.

Why did I leave out righteousness? Because you need righteousness to begin to understand this message and to manifest this “right perspective”. Paul warned you; God promised you; I simplified it for you and dare it be an example for many. What will you do? How can you begin to change your perspective on the way you look at your life and all that you do?

Tell God the answers if they’re that shameful to you. Tell yourself what you desire to change and ask God to help you follow-through on the methods to changing your perspective.

" ... Remember me ..."

2009-04-09T21:26:00.000-04:00

Luke 23:39-43 reads:

39 Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ,[a] save Yourself and us.”
40 But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said to Jesus, “Lord,[b] remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”
43 And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

Remembrance is something we as humans normally think about regarding something or someone that has past us some time ago. To remember something is simply to think of again at a later time or to keep in mind for attention or consideration. To bring the most lasting clarity to this message so that you will remember it, I must lean on the adage "if it is important to you, you will remember it."

During Jesus' brief appearance upon the cross on Calvary, He changed the world with the seven last sayings. It has been long known and honoured that the number seven (7) is symbolic to completion. In my belief, the fact that Jesus' most revered words were summarized into seven sayings is proof enough that the hand of God moves in complete and undeniable works.

What's interesting about this saying is it is the third one. This was confirmed by the fact that three men were crucified that day and of the three, Jesus made the third. The first criminal spoke to Jesus and "..blasphemed Him" the scriptures mention in Luke 23:39.
"If you are the Christ, save yourself and us."

This man was not paying attention, so he was incapable of remembering what Jesus had said prior to the promise to the other criminal in v. 43. Jesus' first saying was "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" (meaning: "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?") The number one (1) is symbolic to unity, but also isolation. Jesus was on point and He paid attention in class. Even if Jesus was not the Christ, He acknowledged God in all His ways and especially in this time of persecution. Jesus remembered His Father and acknowledged Him as God.

The first criminal even forgot the second saying "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing". Once again, the words of Jesus are echoed in His greatest moment of suffering, but this time, He remembers the plan tha God has for humanity and pleads on our behalf. The number two (2) is symbolic to partnership, witness and covenant. Everything God intends for man is documented between 2 covenants: the Old and the New. On Calvary, Jesus turned not only the Old Covenant into the New Covenant, but He began a whole new era in time. With the new era (in historian's terms "the Common Era" reflects 30 AD = 30 CE) Jesus brought a new dispensation and a completed example of His new model for mankind. God even began the pages fresh with an interceding prayer for the forgiveness of humanity. I thought the criminal would've caught on by now.

The other criminal shocked me though, as he probably did the people who were actual witnesses to that most powerful moment. he rebuked the first one asked "Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation?". At this point, I must stop and ask you this question and pray you never forget this as long you live:
"Do you not even fear God, seeing you are being judged as every other believer in the eyes of the world?"

Even in the last moments of life, the second criminal exercised great wisdom, humility and and God sense of righteousness. He reminded the other criminal that they were serving the sentence of punishment due unto them by their own actions. I believe that at this point, even the second criminal was inline with the symbolism of the second saying. Firstly, he bore witness to the understanding of who Jesus was and how significant it was for Him to be among them. Secondly, He bore witness to the fact that Jesus was up there because of no other reason than purpose. Ask yourself:
"Who knowingly undergoes punishment that they know they do not deserve?"

My answer is someone who knows the purpose of their sacrifice and someone who knows that the sacrifice is for other people's benefit.

What insues after this line in my opinion is probably the most-documented, shortest near-death prayer of repentance in sincerity and reverence I have ever seen or heard.

"Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." This man by the power of integrity in his words and sincerity of heart spoke one line to Jesus. This one line summed up all the concerns of this man. "Lord, remember me ..." he said.

Jesus wasted no time delivering on the promises made to mankind in His word. Those who would call on His name and believe in their hearts would be saved, and by no other name under heaven would man be saved.

"Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise." Jesus told him. The criminal didn't have time to have hands laid on him, to sow a seed or even to purchase a leather-backed old testament scroll. Jesus took him in the same crucified state because the man submitted to the laws of salvation, right on the cross.

The man knew about Jesus, His purpose and His kingdom that was before Him. All it took for Jesus to offer Him forgiveness of sin and entrance into Paradise was for the man to remember Him. By this remembrance and the lifestyle of continual repentance, many were saved, are being saved and will be saved until Christ returns. Until then, are you a "Once Saved, Always Saved" Christian that believes the only effort required to get into Heaven is to pray the prayer of repentance once and then the model prayer (Matt 6) daily?

Let me challenge you; everyday of your life, throughout the day, from your waking to your sleeping, remember Him. This requires diligence, and He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek His face.

When was the last time you remembered Him? A better question might be: When was the last time you forgot Him? Where did you leave Him last?

Living the Word: Teaching by the Love in Your Life

2009-04-07T18:12:00.001-04:00

We are halfway through Holy Week and as is customary for many believers, you might be reading through the synotpic gospels. Some read to keep up the tradition, some read to re-live the experience of Jesus’ final days on earth. As I’ve discovered, there are even some of us that “take the crucifixion to heart” by making it a current day ritual of salvation. Yes, they are literally crucified on an actual cross for a limited time on Good Friday but tied, not nailed.

The one word explanation for Jesus’ voluntary suffering on Calvary was atonement. Atonement is a termed held almost exclusively for Jesus dying on the cross to represent the whole of humanity in the spiritual courthouse with Satan as the accuser. Atonement can be broken down into a few simpler (likely easier to remember) words.

AT + ONE + (with) MEN + (by the power of the) [then draw the "t" into a crucifix]

Although these acts of worship and reverence have their place and time, it would be a waste if we left our most earnest and evident show of faith at calvary and on a visible, physical crucifix.

In John 13 (v1-30) Jesus demonstrates His love and puts His hands where His heart is when He decides to wash the feet of the disciples. When He gets to Peter, Peter gets pious and asked Jesus why was He washing Peter’s feet. My para-phrasing of Jesus answer was “You do not understand what I am doing at the moment, but in due time, you will.” Peter maintained that the Lord should not be washing His feet (as to say that He was so great, that He should not be performing such a lowly task). What was important was the Jesus corrected his behaviour and spoke wisely, but briefly in His following reply:

“If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”

After which, Peter wnated both his hands, his head and his feet washed. Yet again, Jesus had to correct this over-zealous behaiour by saying:

“He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.”

At this point, Jesus knew who would betray Him. Of particular importance for this written work is that Jesus was establishing the principle of an attitude and lifestyle of service.

In v. 34 and 35, he says so plainly:

” A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”

Jesus puts His hands where His heart is ...

Living everyday with the attitude of piety and lifestyle of worship towards God, honouring and reverencing the fact and reason why Jesus died on the cross is not difficult to understand, just difficult at times to do. To bear your cross is to accept responsibility for the love you owe humanity (everyone you know, including yourself) and to literally show it. This is seen by how you are of service to humanity. Though there are many ways this can be taken the wrong way, I am not fearful.

Jesus showed the disciples that He loved them enough as a leader, being confident in His identity and His role concerning humanity, to serve them. This service while He was alive was to lead a powerful example that would prove itself time and time again throughout the lifetime of mankind. The greatest leaders of all time, served the people.

Jesus did it best. Who’s gonna be next?

Quote: Making the most by doing the best

2009-04-01T22:37:00.001-04:00

"Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment!"

Oprah Winfrey

Prayer: The Means and The Assignment

2009-03-19T11:25:00.003-04:00

“… men out to always pray and not lose heart …”

Luke 18:1

God uses the profound simple things to overwhelm the intelligent. This morning during devotions, God brought me to the revelation that prayer has so many aspects to it that it requires a lifetime of study. Luke’s account of Jesus’ principle regarding prayer was simple. Jesus advised the disciples that men (mankind) should always pray and not lose heart.

I was thinking back on the way prayers are said and I questioned the purpose of prayer. I pondered:

“When did prayer first start?”

“Who is responsible for prayer?”

“Can prayer literally be taught?”

“Can prayer be studied?”

“If prayer is communication with God and you find that you need to learn how to pray, where do you start?”

I had to think for a second – {If I am saved, I work in ministry and I have some exposure to church, what kinds of questions or thoughts are running through the minds of unbelievers?}

I came to a conclusion: Prayer is the only tool that teaches the user how to use it. There several methods of learning how to pray. To give yourself the best head start, identify your best learning method. If you learn best by reading, pick up the Bible (with a concordance) and read the scriptures that reference the word ‘prayer’. If you learn best by observing (visibly and audibly), then stick closely to someone who is at a level in their prayer life that you want to get to. If you learn best by instruction, there are many books on prayer.

Books on prayer that I’ve read and used:

The Power of a Praying® Husband Book of Prayers (Power of a Praying Book of Prayers)

Books that are recommended based on quotes applied or otherwise:

Understanding the Purpose and Power of Prayer Study

Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference?

Prayer has since become not only the assignment that Jesus enabled us to do, but also one of the vital tools we need to carry out and complete the assignment for each of our lives. I used to over-hear mature Christians tell younger Christians “the only way you’re going to get better in prayer is to keep praying.” I thought was so silly. How could I get better at something I am not doing well at? Apply it to learning your job, and it will eventually make sense.

One aspect of the importance of prayer is exemplified by a principle that I haven’t seen explicitly stated by Jesus, but has been shown by Jesus (hence the power of observation). Jesus didn’t pray because He said “My Father requires Me to pray.”

Jesus prayed because He understood that relationship with God was an intentional process. God even fashioned life on earth such that each of us would eventually discover this very same dynamic. When Jesus got upset, He isolate Himself to pray. When Jesus was glad, He exalted God (prayer-exaltation). When Jesus needed to rejuvenate His commitment to His assignment in the midst of discomfort, He Prayed (see “let this cup…” and “why has Thou forsaken Me?”)

Below are some principles for a productive and fruitful prayer life:

Principle 1 – All things can be prayed about.

If you don’t know how, ask the Holy Spirit to teach you (it’s as simple as calling the Holy Spirit by name and asking Him “teach me how to pray”).

Principle 2 – Prayer is not suggestive; it’s intentional.

Whether your situation is favorable or not, remember that prayer is the active conversation between you and the God you serve and love. If you think, He’s in on the thought. Your thoughts are prayers. If you don’t keep Him in mind, and actively pursue Him you will experience life with Him actively pursuing you (remember that He is a jealous God).

Principle 3 – Prayer is the only means by which you can offload life’s burden.

When we acknowledge that God is Ruler and Master of our lives, we say to Him that we trust Him to take care of everything because only He can make a lasting difference. This also means that if there is something you cannot carry or handle by yourself, that it was intended for God’s mailbox. Unfortunately, many of us forget that God has allowed life on earth to get out of control that we would find him again. When we come into the knowledge of our delegated authority by His power, we then inherit the burden for His divine order. When things are out of order, it begins to feel like an emotional, mental and spiritual weight. The only way to deal with that is to walk in His precepts (found in His Word) and to continually offload your burdens at the cross. Leave the weights at the foot of the throne. If He truly is King in all things through your eyes, then He can handle it all and loves you enough to take care of it.

Principle 4 – Prayer is a part of your job description as a God-fearing earth-king. Keep Him appraised of your work on earth.

When you go before God to ask Him for anything, He checks against your performance record. He checks your list of duties as a prophet, priest and king in your life. It isn’t like He is ignorant of your life, but He wants you to actively acknowledge Him in conversation concerning all of your life. That’s the only way you can show Him He is welcome to be involved. When He is welcome, He has freedom to make changes (promotions, increases, delegations, expansions).

Principle 5 – Ask Him what He thinks and what He wants.

When you tell God what you want to do, it gives Him something to work with. Whatever we do of ourselves will ultimately fail and die off. When He gives an assignment, He makes the provision and usually from avenues we couldn’t make happen ourselves. Give God the credit for building timeless dreams. Give Him credit for holding the world together, the seas from swallowing the land, the earth from spinning into other planets. What He wants ALWAYS PERSISTS FOR AN ETERNAL BENEFIT.

So now that we have been better educated, we are not only psychological empowered, but spiritually empowered. Because of this spiritual empowerment, we now have a stronger prayer life. Seek God on how your individual prayer life needs to be structured to reap the most harvest for the Kingdom of Heaven. His wisdom persist throughout time. This is the Master of All Time we’re talking to.

Devotion to God grants opportunities like these to help people grow. From devotion comes prayer; from prayer comes the desire to learn and study; from the desire to learn (and expectation of wisdom and understanding) comes the gift of wisdom, knowledge and understanding. These things God uses to overcome haughty intelligence and the ways of man; Forever.

I encourage you all to continue praying. Give God time to talk. He always has something to say. We just need to learn the ways He answers us.

Understanding God’s Power: The power of spoken word in the Right Name

2009-03-17T22:35:00.003-04:00

In the book of Acts 3, it is recorded that a lame man was healed by a decree that 3 men believed in. Healing within the Body of Christ has only been possible by faith in the name of Jesus. The person who needed to see Jesus’ power realized in their life had to believe in the power of Jesus’ name before they could receive his power.

What kind of power is in the name of Jesus?

I’ve realized that there was a time when I really thought I had prayer figured out. A couple of casting-out’s, a couple of blessings, some decrees and finish up calling Jesus’ name and it was said that you knew how to pray. That’s what I learned over the course of my years as a Christian. It may be said to some, crude and even sarcastic to others, but that was the reality.

Over the course of my Christianity, I’ve seen people healed with paraphernalia that was sold after ministers prayed over them. I really thought the power was in the object. I later began to understand what would change the way I viewed my prayers (which inevitably changed my Christianity) and that is: DIVINE HEALING comes through faith in the name of Jesus

Peter and John spoke to the lame man at gate Beautiful who was asking for alms. The man asked for alms, to which Peter and John spoke those timeless words “look at us”. Peter said “silver and gold have I none, but such as I have, I give to thee”. The next few words would in a simple way improve the quality of people’s prayer lives forever if they understood it.

Peter said ever so plainly “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” After this, Peter took him by the right hand , lifted him up, and strength came to his ankle and bones.

What’s the big deal?

The big deal is that the man couldn’t receive healing until he believed in the power of the name that was called to heal on his behalf. The Scriptures state
“For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” Matthew 18:20

Keep in mind 3 things every time you call Jesus’ name.

1. He’s there if you’re talking to someone else or with someone else and call His name.

2. When Jesus was crucified, was buried and resurrected, He came back up with the keys to death, hell and the grave. This meant that he had restored power to ALL realms LEGALLY.

3. As a result of this reclaimed authority, He has given us the power to raise the dead, heal the sick, make the lame to walk, make the blind to see, the deaf hear, etc. This is only possible by utilizing something that He left here on earth – the power of attorney. This gives a person the right to use someone else’s name and to do business as if the person were there themselves.

Peter and John used the power of attorney because they believed in the power of the person whose name they used to heal and deliver the lame man. The man received the healing by nothing less than the belief in the power of the man whose name they called. Peter knew the power of the name because he walked with Jesus and so did John. They knew what Jesus could do.

Consider this: if you don’t know the personality of the name you call in prayer, that might easily explain the effectiveness of your prayers. If you don’t know Him that well, don’t stop praying using His name, but ask Him to reveal Himself as a more real-to-life experience for you. When you have a revelation and experience of who Jesus is, all the power that He has is available to you in prayer when you are in agreement with his plans.

I believe that a unified Body of Believers is going to restore unified church leadership is being restored In Jesus’ Mighty Name. I believe that marketplace ministers (some of us already are) will be committed to their call to influence the secular world by living a Godly example of stewardship, discipline and innovation.

So until all have heard (thanks Q), remember that I love you all and decree and declare prayer and relationship unity amongst not only BTF, but all intercessory ministries all over the world.

All this in none other than the most powerful name, Jesus Christ.

QUOTE: Hearing from God

2009-03-15T21:07:00.002-04:00

Still yourself to hear the whispers of God. They are not the sweet nothings you're used to hearing from someone you had a crush on.

Don't wait to care about what God thinks he's blaring his message over the loudspeakers in everyone's hearts.

God has something to say to you. Make time to hear Him. You may be very surprised to hear about what He has to say to you.

QUOTE: Leadership

2009-03-12T04:03:00.001-04:00

Leadership is the call to serve God through humanity from the position of authority.

Simply put.

Experiencing God: Divine Order (Mentorship)

2009-02-26T08:26:00.002-05:00

Every time God wanted to change the way the world worked, God created a brand-new human being and made sure that the chances of their survival were slim-to-God (most people say slim-to-none, but they’ve got it wrong). Reflection upon the Word on some very notable world changers reveals that each mover and shaker of their generation was not only different and unlikely, but was also a major work in progress even while God has them in the spotlight. God had his hands in one person’s life during each revolutionary change of humanity.

The good thing is this: when I said that God created a brand-new human being, we cannot exclude the born-again experience.

Divine order is the mandate or commanded rule of a sovereign with absolute instructions. God’s divine order is absolute, complete with instructions and provisions. Some of the key people in the Bible that God used to change the history of mankind are: Elijah, Elisha, Paul (was Saul), Timothy, Silas, Peter, James, John, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Esther, Moses, Daniel and Jesus.

One thing in common with all of these except one is that each one had their own issues and inconsistencies. The inconsistencies and the stigmas that traveled with each of their reputations were the limiting factor for what God wanted to do through their lives. When divine order is among you, the enemy also makes sure that chaos, pride and rebellion are present. For you to overcome these particular devices of the enemy, you need accountability.

Peter was known for not having enough faith. Moses was known as the murderer. Abraham was known for being fretful in the face of the king concerning his own wife. Joseph was ostracized several times from childhood to his governmental leadership appointment. Jacob was manipulated by his own uncle. Elisha was contested by three sets of armour bearers even in the last days of following Elijah. Haddassah (better known as Esther) was captured as a Hebrew girl in the town when her village was being taken over.

Each of these examples tells of crisis, the appointed, the grace of God and his divine order. Each of these examples also demonstrate the power of mentorship. No great work of God happens by one man or woman deciding to “do her own thing”. Every single excellent achievement that God ordained and blessed happened in His divine order and manifested through the kingdom leadership principle of mentorship (or servant-leadership and submission).

Even before most great men and women recognize the calling on their lives, they come to a point where they realize that hardly anyone or no one, can help them. What they end up doing at some point is praying to God asking for help to continue living life, knowing that there’s something special and extraordinary about their life’s experiences. They asked for help and God sent them an answer – a leader. In some cases, the person who prayed for help doesn’t recognize the leader as the answer for help. This is because the leader functions as an agitator for the purpose, gifts, mantle and service within the individual and in many cases, doesn’t allow him or her to “be normal”.

This means that what is acceptable in terms of accountability is above average and not mediocre. Tremendous blessings come with tremendous trials. Dynamic ministry comes through dynamic trauma. Excellent Leadership comes from excellent servanthood. The scriptures show this with Jesus’ own words when he says:

For he who is least among you all—he is the greatest.

Luke 9:48 (NKJV)

To lead, one must serve. The greater the appointment of leadership, greater accountability shall be required of such one. Whenever God wants to raise up a man or woman of God to do exploits, He makes it such that the one cannot advance unless they follow and serve ONE person to learn the principle of submission Jesus mentions in Luke 9:48. God will close EVERY SINGLE DOOR until you understand without question what his divine order is for your life. It is said that God’s grace is sufficient. It is less frequently said that His grace runs out.

If the doors of opportunity to have your way are closing, or people seem not to be able to maintain healthy cohesive relationship with you, God is more than likely talking to you. If you seem not to be able to excel in life except for when you are serving or submitting to “this one person” in your life, you may be having an Elijah-Elisha experience. If you are frustrated because you feel like an eagle amongst chickens (regardless of what area of your life you are thinking about), you are a prime candidate for a mentor.

Mentors are God’s way of saving you time while learning life’s lessons and receiving his divinely-ordained power to fulfill your purpose. How will you know who your mentor is? Pray about it. How do you know how to pray about it? Read about a pair who’ve “walked the walk, and talked the talk.” Who might such a pair be?

Try:

Elijah/Elisha: 1 Kings 17 - 2 Kings 13

If you’re interested in a deeper study of this principle of mentorship (leadership in service), post a reply or send me an e-mail. In the meantime, be blessed for this is the great day of the Lord and you have been opened up to the new measure of God on this day.

A New Approach to Celebrating Life: Birthdays

2009-02-18T19:35:00.003-05:00

On Monday February 16th, 2009 I turned 27. For some folk, it seems after you're 13 years old, all birthdays seem to be are times when people make apologies for things they wanted to do for you and couldn't, or when you have that one day when nothing goes right. For other folk, it's the day your family and friends make a bigger and bigger deal that they can celebrate your life and use that day as an excuse to lose control having a blast.

Well, I can surely say that I have had my share of both feelings in the past decade. I don't feel like like I am dying a slow death neither do I feel like I am aging into worthlessness. A philosophy inherited from my mother had almost everything to do with my approach to my birthday for the last 7+ years.
This philosophy is a collection of adages and thoughts surrounding the celebration of life that we have come to call birthdays.

Firstly:
1. Make some time to be by yourself and ONLY REFLECT ON YOUR POSITIVE MEMORIES over the last year of your life.
Keep a journal of your life's accomplishments and on the day(s) you celebrate your birthday, start from the last entry and read towards the front. It's a slightly different approach to the typical eulogy, but it gives other people a guideline to follow if they outlive you and need to celebrate your home-going.

2. Your birthday is actually represented by more than one in a few hundred days. You are older than you behave and younger than you think.
Take a page from the optimistic approach to leap year babies. They have to celebrate a human year every 4 calendar years. When you're 32 years old (if you weren't born on February 29th) then they're 8 years old. You don't have to act 8 years old all the time, but there has to be some part of you that would really like to enjoy as much out of life as possible.

3. Your birthday is actually more than once a year - if you say so.
I don't encourage lying. The next statement is my eyes isn't a lie either. Your birthday is as frequent as you want and as exciting as you can afford it to be.

I celebrate my birthday with (2) principles as a foundation:
a. I celebrate my birthday on the 16th of EVERY month.
b. I celebrate my birthday for the whole month of February.

4. Your birthday is about YOU celebrating you. Other people shouldn't have to teach you how to, but you can always learn new things.
Instead of waiting on friends and family to call you, call your closest friends (who may have forgotten) and tell them "Happy Birthday" on your birthday. It will cause 2 things if nothing else:
a) They will tell you that it's not their birthday:
This gives you an opportunity to tell them it's yours and you thought of them on your birthday
b) They will wonder what would've been behind you calling them in the first place:
You can simply tell them that seeing as you couldn't have the party you wanted, and couldn't buy them a gift for your birthday (remember you're celebrating your life here, and they are a part of it) that you wanted to share the cheer and excitement. Seeing as you didn't have the drinks, food and dessert to share, you'd spread the love.

And lastly, but certainly not least...
5. Pray and give thanks for everyone that was responsible for getting you where you are today. Pray giving thanks for the resources available to you.
a. Your enemies for aggravating you to the place of purpose and authenticity. if they weren't intentionally mean and wicked, then there would be no way for your friends and family to tell the difference between you two. ;)
b. Your temporal family and friends (though some may fit in the above category) because as much as they have tested the limits of your love and the authenticity of your intentions, they were God's choice for your life. You cannot request a friendship from purpose-filled friends. You find them. You call them friends, Life calls them partners for the journey. They fulfill what they mean to you because they walk with you through life. They don't always say what you want to hear, but they are most times if not all times, the conduits to voice what you need to hear.
c. Your spiritual family (which includes some friends if you're thinking straight)
These people will always push you to grow spiritually in the Divine Order of God. They will push you to learn the attributes and personality of God as God (kneads) needs you to. The Body of Christ is a huge family. We all can call on Jesus' name, but we sometimes don't act like we share the same household, genetics or responsibilities for one another, but that doesn't stop us from being family.
d. Your co-workers (your family in the fields)
These people are required to work with you to get certain things done for an organization that pays you to learn to excel. You may not see it that way, but trust me. Before long you will realize that the easiest way to learn is to help others learn to excel and to do so building a bigger vision while you learn to develop your own.
e. Your resources.
Your salary is always going to be much less than you're worth. Your car, house, and job are only representative of your current place on the journey to fulfilling destiny. It will not always remain the same. You always have more resources than you believe you do. Only God knows EXACTLY what he has amongst Him and maximizes ALL of it ALL the time.

It will be difficult to be ungrateful if you're busy thinking consistently about even one of these things. These are things I have gathered from the 27 years I have already completed. Hopefully before 30, there will be lots more to share.

Thank you all and have a happy birthday. :)

Experiencing God: Hearing God - Realizing Pt.2

2009-02-05T14:06:00.004-05:00

I remember a time in the Christian journey when I prayed with no understanding of the effect of prayer. I had no understanding of why prayer existed. I had no appreciation for the "realm" that prayer worked in. Basically, I was praying ignorantly. As a result this ignorance marked my whole life in everything I said, thought, felt or did.

Now, let me disclaim before I proclaim. I don't know everything there is to know about prayer or about God. I proclaim that in my passionate pursuit to learn God, I will make mistakes and so will others around me. I do my best to focus on my mistakes long before I speak to the mistakes of others. I am learning as we all are as long as we live on this earth. I have come to realize that the easiest way to learn is to acknowledge that one does not know everything. What amplifies one's ability to learn quicker and with more clarity is knowing when to say "I don't know" or "I am uncertain".

To this day, my prayer life is growing. God began to reveal to me a whole new level of understanding concerning my purpose on this earth. This current revelation of His plans for my life is consuming. He lifted the covers off my life and showed me how I speak, the meaning behind my words and the intentions of my heart as I spoke. Needless to say, this had me quiet for a while as he shone the light on my life and my language.

Herein lies a deeper sense of the human experience of living on earth. In a phrase, everything you do is an expression of language. Typically, we are used to hearing with ears and speaking with lips and tongues. As far as most of us are concerned, the only language we know is what we say and hear. The Good Lord above has designed life on earth so well, that every single system is supposed to teach us more and more about His Kingdom. The Word says that the ways of the Lord are beyond the limited understanding and efforts of man (Job 11:7)

Throughout Job 11, it is established that God wants to show Himself to man (Job himself) through the happenings of life. Zophar speaks to Job advising him how to prepare his life for God to use him as an example to mankind. We all know that Job was a man that was tested greatly. In fact, it common to hear someone say:
"I need the faith of Job to get through this one ..."

Though there was great emphasis put on Job for the tribulations, God also used him as an example of the rewards of devotion to God and learning His ways. God used a whole book in the Bible for the sole purpose of teaching us to get to know Him. God uses many examples from Genesis (Testimony 1) to Revelation (Testimony 66) to teach us His language.

Disciplines required for you to develop a full awareness of God and His great works (Job 11:13,14):
- Prepare your heart (maintain a lifestyle of sincerity, pure intentions and a loving attitude)
- Seek to keep your hands/heart/mind/soul free from sin (accidental and intentional)
- Be proactive and aggressive about maintaining and life environment free from wickedness of all sorts

Benefits of these disciplines (Job 11:15-20 from The Message):
- You'll be able to face the world unashamed and keep a firm grip on life, guiltless and fearless.
- You'll forget your troubles.
- Your world will be washed in sunshine, every shadow dispersed by dayspring.
- You will be full of hope, you'll relax, confident again; you'll look around, sit back, and take it easy.
- You will be expansive, without a care in the world, you'll be hunted out by many for your blessing.
- But the wicked will see none of this. They're headed down a dead-end road with nothing to look forward to - nothing.

God's language is one of sovereignty and love; one of authorship, ruler-ship, grand design, wisdom, knowledge, creativity, innovation, spiritual and temporal dominion. Though He speaks one language, He has moved mightily in humanity using several thousands of languages, with many more dialects and creoles (languages that originate from others and are usually simpler than the original.)

For you to realize what someone is communicating, you have to appreciate them. For you to appreciate someone (that is: what they do, say, feel, and think), you must be able to learn their language. To learn, you must be able to acquire new knowledge, behaviours, skills, values, preferences or understanding. So for us to experience God, we have to be able to hear Him. After we can confirm that we can hear Him, we need to be fully aware of Him and all things that He does. Now that we have a better understanding of how God communicates with us, we now can communicate better with Him.

Scripture References:
Job 11 (Foundation and Pilot Scripture); Mark 7: 24-30 (example of realizing God's power by communicating with Him); Mark 8:14-21 (example of realizing how God answers prayers in obvious methods and simple matters)

I encourage you to comment or ask questions as you are led.

* All scriptures unless explicitly stated are taken from the New King James Version of the Holy Bible.

Experiencing God: Hearing from God; Realizing

2009-02-03T05:16:00.006-05:00

Based on my communication with Believers in different cities the world across, Joel 2:28 is literally happening. So we’ve only just come off 21 days of corporate consecration at our church as well as many churches of the world have done. During the consecration, what I came to understand is that many of us Believers do not progress (especially in spiritual matters) because we do not realize what’s happening in our relationship with God. We also don’t realize how God answers us. We don’t even realize what He has already given us to work with.

What are you talking about Brent?

In this day-to-day walk with God, every Believer that is expecting to have the kind of power that the Bible speaks of (ie: raising the dead, healing the sick, making the lame to walk, the mute to speak, the deaf to hear, etc.) One thing is stopping us from getting there. We know that we are saved, but we don’t realize what that means. This is a pretty outlandish statement; almost judgmental, but true. Have you ever planned to do something and thought to yourself that you didn’t know the right people or have the resources to make it happen? If you spent enough time expecting the solution or the assistance, usually you will find that your provision (human resources, funds, opportunities, etc.) was actually right within reach, but you weren’t prepared to use them yet, so you couldn’t see them. You had no plan.

I would even venture to say that most things that you are supposed to do in life starts with you connecting with someone to help you get it done, meet someone else to get it done, or to support you as you get it done. The challenge with this statement is that we tend to blame other people for hindering us, when only we can hinder ourselves. Bob Marley is a character of mention for his powerful lyrics that has roots in a Godly principle whether he would’ve chosen to honour that or not. The Godly principle is putting faith to work in a real-life way. His words from the song Redemption Song were: “emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds”.

Now, there are numerous examples of men and women of God growing faith as they walked with God, many times falling short and having their cowardice recorded in the Great 66 (the Bible as I like to call It.) He even simplified the 66 by splitting the characters up between history naming them the Old and New testimonies (Testaments). The excellent and exciting part of these accounts of God’s testimonies is that though He has their failures recorded in detail, He makes sure to also tell us how their faith grew. As a result of their faith growing, they were able to perform miracles, prophesy and lead the great people of God through trying and dire circumstances.

The Key

How were they able to make the dynamic difference in their lives and the lives of others in so few verses? Between every “oh hell” and the “hallelujah” in each of their lives, there was a reality shift. A few examples are:
Genesis 24:12-14, 21 (Moses servant tests God with a faith-limited prayer)Exodus 3:1-5, straight through to the end of Ch 12 (Moses dealing with his own unbelief several times, but realizing what God was doing as he prayed to God and had conversation with Him.)
Every single time a man or woman of God advanced from fearful to faithful, there was some spiritual fire ignited by one changed thought or one different understanding of a repetitive experience. If we do not know what we are dealing with, we cannot recognize patterns; if we cannot recognize patterns, we cannot realize what needs to be done. We cannot realize what needs to be done until we understand a better example before us. This applies to all areas and aspects of life.

I looked up realize in a concordance I use to study the Bible with, and it refers me to wist or wit. In almost every one of those scriptures, wit is synonymous with the usage of the word know. What amplifies the meaning of this word realize are two definitions taken from www.m-w.com:
1 a: to bring into concrete existence : accomplish
3: to conceive vividly as real : be fully aware of

Now, we can begin to realize what the scriptures are teaching us about growing our faith to experience God. When we pray, if we listen to or record, or have someone else record the things we pray about as we learn to pray earnestly, you would concentrate more on your thoughts. Your thoughts stem from your heart and the scripture says that out of your heart flows the issues of life. Whether you pray frequently or infrequently, God’s answers to your prayers are based on your willingness to realize His power, authority and influence responding to your prayer.

NEWS FLASH! God actually talks back to you in Prayer! He actually answers you back, but most people don’t know what prayer is about, so they never realize that He’s still on the line after you’ve given Him your 5-minute spiel and hung up.

Before you begin, understand that you don’t need to get a degree to learn to pray. You only need a desire to develop AND MAINTAIN RELATIONSHIP with Him and a willingness to learn what makes God tick (refer to the facts numbered below for an idea).

Now, back to this young prophet named Joel and the things God said He would do. Remember these facts if you don’t remember anything else about prayer time with God and praying to God:
1. God’s Word cannot fail, return void or bounce. It must be realized (ACCOMPLISHED).
2. God may not respond to whining, but when you pray His Word back to Him, especially when it applies to your situation, read #1.
3. Time you give to God should be just as valuable or more valuable than time you would take for yourself. He honors sacrifice (giving when it hurts to do so) but He adores and cannot ignore your obedience (that you spend time with Him and intentionally maintain relationship with Him). Think on the lines of that guy or that young lady you love(d) so much. You got her number right? God’s numbers are listed in His Directory (refer to the Great 66, or “The Holy Bible”)
4. God’s Directory Assistance (The Holy Spirit) is heart and voice activated so you can pray silently with your hear and mind focused on Him, or you can take it a step further and speak out and up to Him.
5. The Power behind Prayer is the level of expectation you have of Him to answer.
After you’ve left prayer, begin to seek God in everything. Sometimes this means asking Him to reveal Himself as He did to Moses, Joseph, Daniel, Joel, the Apostle Paul, etc. Remember, if you don’t take the time to learn how God did it for the prophets and prayer-masters of the Great 66, how can you experience God as the walking, breathing 67th book of the Holy Bible?

There is more to this, and in a few days, you will get more understanding of the power behind realizing what is already among you.

A Perfected Life: Opportunities Abound

2009-01-15T15:06:00.002-05:00

Over the last few months, I've come to realize that there are many things I used to do that I can no longer commit my time to. My concerns have also shifted. Helping to build a church doesn't look like a favorable experience while many people are experiencing an economic crisis. I cannot re-iterate enough that 2009 is a year of judgment and manifestation. In times of trials and crises, only those with determination to improve their quality of life and focus on God will not worry about the state of the world's economy.

As with any other aspect of my life that I share with you all, I must ask you questions. In the midst of what is reported as an economic crisis, what are you focused on? Is there something you're determined to make happen this year? Whatever it is, this is going to be the year it happens. There is something that few people take notice of. The ripest opportunities to perfect anything is when crisis is present.

From what I hear from others, 2008 was a year of major adjustment, uprooting, severing-of-ties and deviation from the standard. Based on the meaning of the number eight, we should have expected it and embraced the season. As this year is the year of judgment and re-alignment, I would challenge some to stop and recognize that the re-alignment started last year. This is a year to test or to judge what your life is about. In the balance are your personal goals, your personal net worth, your personal group of friends, how you value your faith, the level of service you provide to fellow humanity, how much you care about your job, how much family means to you, how determined you are to succeed in a time of crisis and many other aspects of your thoughts, feelings, actions and language. Your life is summarized by the exhaustive list of concerns that weigh on your heart and mind and how you manage them while you have the breath of life in your body. Those concerns are from either you, or the people in your life. The people in your life are selected by you and God. God put some people in your life and you selected some people.

Crisis in the English language denotes a trying or pivotal moment when the unprepared suffer and the prepared survive and thrive. Krisis in the Greek language denotes a decision making time. Globally, the leading and influential secular economists have been declaring that we are experiencing a financial or economic crisis. As many of us should be aware, the platform of broadband media (television, 3gp, and IPTV) has been the pulpit of the enemy for many years. Have you noticed that lately more and more Christians have developed the mindset of disciples?

"How so, Brent?"

Disciples learn more and more about their leader so that they can learn even more about themselves. God uses Jesus to seek lost souls through those who carry the gospel. If you are saved and you actively seek God, then that means you are carrying the gospel. Seeking God everyday with an appreciation that you cannot fulfill God's intention for today without God shows a lifestyle of perfection - proactive perfection. Let us consider that perfection is to be blameless, to have integrity and to be in healthy, productive and effective relationship with God.

Opportunity realized:
When In Acts 16:16-34, Paul demonstrated a level of resourcefulness and innovation that could have only come from the guidance of the Holy Spirit. When Paul and Silas were imprisoned, they held a Jail Revival Service from within their cell. What they were doing was demonstrating their worship integrity to God amongst men. They prayed, had song service and worship that literally shook the foundations of the jail. As a result of this, the cells opened essentially freeing the prisoners. Paul and Silas didn't wait for someone to free them to celebrate God. They did what they would do if they were free.

The jailer had woken up, he saw the doors of the jail opened and the prisoners' chains loosed, he prepared to kill himself with his own sword. Paul was innovative with ministry and called to the jailer not to waste his soul for everyone was still in place. He had a clear opportunity to do what anyone else would naturally do - run - but he did not. Paul's and Silas' integrity were tested. They used the opportunity for kingdom advancement. They delivered the message of the gospel to the man, and not only did he get saved, but his entire household baptized immediately the Bible says.

There are many examples in everyone's lives where opportunity was the silent volunteer that showed up in the vehicle of crisis or trials. Naturally, for anyone that has ever traveled using public transportation, if we don't know what time it is, don't know what the traveling schedule is, or don't recognize the vehicle as the one we need to get where we're going, we stay in the same spot and miss the proverbial bus.

On this journey of discipleship towards a whole lifestyle of perfected relationship with God, remember that it is to our advantage to learn the vehicles God uses to deliver opportunity to us. I challenge you to appreciate the crisis amidst you. You are in the midst of a crisis, but you don't have to experience it by internalizing its effects. See it for what it means to all people in the Will of God - a dangerous or critically-timed opportunity. Once you and God have an excellent communication love life, He will tell you what to do with the opportunity and when to do what. The test of your integrity is if you actually do it.

Be blessed disciples. God has given us opportunity.

A Perfected Life: The Journey of Discipleship

2009-01-13T00:23:00.005-05:00

In this year of 2009, many people have their own individual focuses and aspiration of what to expect this year. A handful of folk have already made up in their mind that 2009 is going to be 365.25 days that they are going to literally change the way they experience God. As the number nine (9) represents manifestation, judgment, distinguishing, and testing.

I have a few questions to leave in your meditation today. How do judgment and manifestation relate one to another in my walk? What is the purpose of judgment (testing) and what does manifestation mean to me?

Everyday in the Christian walk and is a new and living experience. Each day, no matter how long you were saved has its own fingerprint or signature. I've been re-dedicated and on fire for the Lord now for 5 years. There has been no 2 days alike, and I thank God Almighty that the days do not get worse and worse as I live on. What I can say though is, the longer I live and walk this walk, staying committed to this relationship with God and loving His greatest creation (humanity), the harder it is to stay the same.

Everyday there are tests. The tests may look similar from time to time, but they are really not 100% the same. Your ability to make mature and improved decisions as you go from trial to trial determine how drastic your shortcomings are and how frequently you experience them. I would like to remind you that failure is a part of life. It is the indication that we as humans need to remember that as long as we're alive, there's something to improve because we're all growing.

Discipleship has it's roots in two words: discipline and relationship. Those two words alone could easily lose any pastor or evangelist the "best preacher" award in many audiences. Discipleship is the lifestyle one chooses to have someone else teach them how to live and how to grow. Essentially, it's university for life. Everyday you wake up, you fellowship with a group of people that have also committed to growing and learning under the tutelage of a greater person that has what you need to succeed.

Many people don't know they are in this scenario while on the job, or in a degree programme. They are stuck in a quagmire trying to figure out how to get out of this uncomfortable state of mind. Had they remembered that there are constantly evolving and revolving cycles of testing and reward, they would know that we are all in classrooms as we live. Some of us skip class by refusing to grow. Some of us harass the teacher by mocking His methods and His substitutes (our bosses, our customers, etc.).

People dream of "perfect" lifestyles. They clip pictures out of magazines and print photos of their "perfect" houses, "perfect" spouses, and "perfect" vehicles. When all these things come together, they call it a "perfect" life. For too long, we've been brainwashed into devaluing the meaning of the word "perfect". In a few words, we were taught that perfect means "without flaw or error". The Bible states that perfect means "blameless"or "having integrity". Being born in the dispensation of change, my renewed mind is grasping for everything from the original plan from God. So now, I am re-writing my mind's understanding of the word "perfect" as I strive to live a perfected life as a disciple of Christ. This is by no means easy. Everyday in humility, one has to deny the knowledge he already has in exchange for the new day's knowledge he must learn . This also means there is always something that needs adjustment. Some days, more adjustment is needed than others. Sometimes major re-alignment is in order.

The relieving thing about discipleship and perfection is that if you're being perfected while you are a disciple with brethren alongside you, you have a few advantages.

1. You grow quicker because there are more people learning from the same experience.
2. Because you a growing together, you must help those who are amongst you to grow.
3. You will be weak when someone else is strong and vice-versa.
4. No wrong is ever too serious to be forgiven and recover from if you are dedicated to growing in relationship with Jesus and your brethren, and are repentant.
5. God's grace abounds so greatly that everyone has a chance for someone to see them at their worst. ...and that person's day will come too.

In striving towards a perfected life, I am rooted in the scriptures of Genesis 6:9 and the Book of Galatians. Genesis marks Noah as perfect and one who walked with God. Now if walking with God led to his family surviving the Great Flood, I want to strive to live a perfected life. The Book of Galatians teaches us how to grow as Christians in fellowship. It encourages us to live lives as inter-dependent disciples ensuring that each other has the best chance at pleasing God and growing as we live each day with each other.

Consider your spiritual walk today.

Do you have someone to be accountable to?
Do you have someone that knows you well enough to love you through your mistakes, but will not let you repeat them senselessly?
Do you have a group of people that care enough to be intentional in supporting your walk with Christ to walk with God?

If you don't, but this message means something to you, you might be in a prime position in your life to ask God for fellow disciples to walk with you. This life is already difficult. You will need others to keep you from beating yourself down, but also to keep you from lifting yourself too highly.

As trials come, your integrity will be tested. As temptations come, people will see how blameless you truly are. God made us perfectly and wonderfully. Since Adam's fall we were prone to sin. Now, we must strive to perfection. This striving cannot be passive and cannot be done alone.

PERFECTION: Change is necessary for life.

2008-12-30T22:15:00.003-05:00

After many days of waking up, driving to work, taking lunch, playing phone tag, and leaving work for the day, my daily life seems to form a strange pattern. No two days are alike. Everyone I deal with changes at least one little bit every single day.

I may be pondering on the concept of change too much, but I've realized that the only things that aren't ACTIVELY changing are dead things. This brought me to a reality. A very profound but gradual reality. It didn't hit me. The whole concept of change became clearer and clearer as each day went past. I would be lying to say that this all happened within the last 2 weeks. I have been asking myself one question for many years and to some degree, only portions of my curiosity have been answered thus far.

The question:
Why is it that we as humanity, in the midst of many advancements refuse change so much?

It turns out that after many years of study and even more years of lectures, psychiatric and psychological scientists have summed it up rather nicely: We don't want to change.

We have so many symptoms of our apprehensive nature to change even the littlest of things in our lives, that it would seem there must be a whole encyclopaedia written on the subject. A few years ago on a drive on a U.S. interstate, a friend of mine shared a simple explanation with me on why we as humans do not like change. He said to me that fear is based on uncertainty and uncertainty on ignorance. I dare to take it a step further. The experience of ignorance is one we cannot avoid as humans.

As much as we'd like to believe differently, many times we avoid change, we actually directly avoid progress and advancement.

For many years, I had a hard time growing up because I hated to be corrected. My biggest challenge came when I had to fit a mold or preset expectation as I passed through high school. From elementary to junior high to senior high school, I had various challenges, but all were based on not wanting to change. What's weird now is, from time to time I am reminded that change is an ongoing requirement for growth and success.

Some call becoming born-again a "change of life". If it truly is a change of life, how come so many of us (yes, us Christians) don't resemble the change within and bring the change without? There is one truth I've found that transcends personal goals, time and even the validity of any one person's opinion:

Change is necessary for life.

Until change is expected, embraced and included in whatever you do, you will be in constant pain, ever too familiar with unmet expectations and valueless failure. As a human, to strive to be perfect requires constant change in some way shape or form.

2009 is a year of PERFECTION.

Whole Submission: Belong To You

2008-12-08T02:05:00.006-05:00

This week marks my first week back since vacation. Last week marked my second U.S. road trip in life. It wasn't as long as what most may call a road trip, but I don't need people to validate certain experiences in my life. The road trip was fun. I flew to Florida to meet up with a few friends of mine and we had a ball. To some degree, I am still having some of that fun.

This being my second road trip, I am starting to realize that whenever you travel, especially when on vacation, you have the opportunity to stretch your thoughts out and take things one experience at a time. The first road trip I was 1 of 3 guys in my family driving to an uncle's funeral. The ironic part is that I had the same experience I had on the first road trip on the second one, except the distance was shorter.

On this trip, I was able to reflect on lessons and teachings from many experiences. That reflection became very timely and valuable to a friend of mine who hit a low moment. This friend is saved, loves the Lord, studies the Word, and serves in ministry. What I call a low moment is when you feel a wave of depression or a feeling of unworthiness when you're busy doing what you've been called to do. Some people reading this are already confused by the statement "what you've been called to do", and for those people, I encourage you to find purpose. This friend of mine was busy in the everyday business of living life and hit a moment where they were so low, they were behaving uncharacteristically discouraged. This was the lowest I'd ever heard them.

So it turns out, they hit a point where many people find themselves when life no longer satisfies their desires. Many Christians hit this point and some even succumb to the temptation to commit literal and spiritual suicide. Literal suicide is taking one's own life. Spiritual suicide is best seen when a die-hard Christian seems to give up "all-of-a-sudden" and lives the way everyone else is living. Sometimes, that Christian doesn't bounce back. Sometimes that Christian goes even lower than what most of us call a "deadbeat" life. I've seen Christians that told me: "I want to pick it back up, but it's not worth it." I've even heard "You just don't understand how hard it is; you keep trying and keep failing. Everyone's always expecting us to do better. It's as if we can't fail."

I don't have much to say to any of those statements. The only thing I can do I speak to the part of that brother or sister and ask them a few questions that I was asked when I sought help on the same matter. I was asked some of the following questions.

Who made you feel this way?
What did you do that made you feel this way?
When did this first start happening?
Is this situation everlasting?
How come this situation all of a sudden seems to be so weighty on you and you've shaken off bigger things?

I can't promise anyone that they will feel better right away, but then the story gets even juicier. When you hear things like:

"Everyone expects me to be so perfect." "Everyone's watching me. So many people tell me they look up to me and it's not easy living my life for me." "I can't be saved and make mistakes"

The single most frightening reality of all this experience is that usually, the person whether saved or unsaved doesn't recognize what is at play here. At the point when someone says these things, I encourage you to pay attention to where their focus lies. Most times, the focus is based on society's measure of expectation of that person. This never gives a person the opportunity to live their life. That person cannot live his/her life because another person's expectations are governing their very thought life. Imagine how miserable this whole world would be if the underlying thoughts each person has was determined by someone else AT ALL TIMES. We would soon have a planet of men and women going berzerk every few moments. What's weird is that it sounds like we're not too far from that reality even now.

Basically I asked my friend to answer those same questions. As a result of the conversation, my friend identified that they had never given themselves an opportunity to genuinely make a living experience from their mistakes. Because they never allowed themselves to make mistakes with a healthy mind, they couldn't learn how to properly benefit from the experiences.

What's weird is when you're thinking like that, you usually cannot pay attention to the big picture. Each of the small issues you failed at become big problems in and of themselves, and after a while, you end up with a pile of unresolved issues. You cannot allow someone else to enjoy life being around if you have these issues piled up. Imagine this: You cannot give someone a complete and joyful moment of your life if you cannot accept yourself, your accomplishments and your mistakes collectively. This phenomenon is called "self-acceptance" or as I like to term it: "belonging to you".

Please tell me (this really means think and answer to yourself) how is it that you don't want someone to short-change you when it comes to giving their best to you, but you don't bother to give your best to others? Your best does not exclude the mistakes you made. Your mistakes add value to your wisdom bank account of life. As you make mistakes, you are to learn how your life could be improved and how your time and your love can be made much better. If you never made mistakes, there would be nothing to learn which means you don't need to change. The only things that don't change are lifeless things. As long as you are a card-carrying member of the human race and live on God's Green Earth, you will without a doubt, make mistakes. The longer it takes you to accept it, the longer you live a huge senseless lie.

I cannot leave you without a scriptural reference. Matthew 5:1-12 outlines what bible-studying-Christians recall as the Beatitudes. Of key interest are the following verses:

3 “ Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Verse 5 states that "blessed are the meek", verse 6 mentions "those who hunger and thirst for righteousness", and verse 10 mentions "those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake" and all these refer to either inheriting some territory or being fulfilled. I challenge you to think differently about how you live. God wants all of you. You cannot give Him whole submission without wholly accepting yourself. You cannot wholly accept yourself if you're not willing to forgive yourself for mistakes big or small. To be meek is to endure injury with patience and without resentment (according to definition 1 at www.m-w.com).

If you cannot forgive yourself for mistakes, how will you be able to completely and sincerely forgive someone else? Let's try starting this week to stop approaching righteousness and joy from what others say is perfection. Sometimes, we have to let go of what we ourselves call perfection. Let's approach life from the God's view of perfection. God's method of perfection is based on a journey through life in relationship with Him. Keep going after God and as He teaches you to learn from your mistakes and add wisdom and value to your life, you will begin to enjoy life a whole lot more. Belonging to you gives you the opportunity to give God more of you. That type of whole submission gets God's attention and grace to abound forever.

If you remember nothing else, remember that "success is moving from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm". This applies to the Christian walk too. God bless you and thank you for taking the time to support this blog.

God ... is in the midst.

2008-11-17T01:12:00.004-05:00

If you've read the news, if you purchase your own food, or pay for your own gas, you probably already realized that the world has changed very much in the past few months. It's not hard to imagine that a few hundred or few thousand people are holding the rest of the world "hostage" unless we did something about it.

Joshua in the Bible set a very excellent example that was very similar to Daniel. Both men had to assume leadership responsibilities early in their lives. Both men led a generation by obedience to God in ways that were unpopular at the time God was performing a peculiar work amongst all men. Joshua and Caleb chose to be obedient and faithful to their assignment in the face of peer pressure. Moses had sent 12 spies into survey the Promised Land, but only Caleb and Joshua had optimistic reports of their findings. Joshua was a military leader and judge of Israel during the course of his life

Daniel was a man with a serious calling on his life. He was carried to Babylon as a political "hostage" due to shifts in government while he was still very young. He along with three other Jewish young men were taken into Babylonian territory and were "drafted" if you will to learn the ways of Babylon. There was one MAJOR challenge: the Babylonians had to worship their leader as God. This was a challenge because Jewish law (in some cases Jewish law would also be the religion of the people) stated that God was their God no matter what. Daniel had to master everything about the Babylonian system without compromising his worship to God and without compromising the purpose for which God called him.

We would later discover that Daniel's gift of prophecy, interpretation of dreams and mastery of knowledge would bring him into excellent favor with the Babylonian leaders. Several times he showed up his Babylonian peers and this caused life-threatening persecution. Remember the Den of Lions? That was his testimony of God's omnipotence. He even had to interpret messages and dreams that reveal calamity for those who asked for the interpretation. Basically, he ended up at death's door several times, but God took his passport until He saw fit to greet him at the pearly gates. Daniel would ultimately end up gaining enough favor with the Babylonian leaders that he would have the Israelites freed.

On both accounts, God used young people to change nations and peoples. God knew what he was doing. God was simply waiting on those whom He assigned to figure it out and to carry it out. I am very much concerned with the mind of God during this Economic Shift. This is no accident. This bears the symptoms of decades of planning, but ultimately, this bears the hand of God. Many people are still in disbelief when the issue of God "permitting" or "allowing" certain stressful situations to happen.

I thought for a moment last week - "God, if the mariners headed for Tarshish had enough sense to question who caused the storm, and if Joshua had enough sense to stand up and have hope against a mighty people, and if Daniel had the guts to stand for your sake in the face of people who could have him killed, and if Jesus willingly remained on the cross until his flesh-man died, and all that was in the plan... then even in this incomparable economic shift that affects the whole world, you must be in this too. What are you saying, God? Speak - your servant is listening."

I'll put it to you simply. Other people are good for listening to when you know that they're helping you. Soon you will realize that no one can help you. No one else but God. This goes for relationships, this goes for finances, this goes for psychological health, and this goes for spiritual help. Other people cannot help you the way you're going to soon realize you need help. Imagine this: you think you'd be better off if you had more money, and you worry about how you're going to make do. The wealthy are trying to be even more quiet so that the attention stays off them. They're concerned about losing their money. Layoffs are abounding, and employers are starting to lockdown on available jobs.

In the midst of all this, considering that there have been prophets and disciples before us, who are you going to seek? Are you going to seek a lion-calming and all-ruling God? Or are you going to allow the media and your government and the powerful governments of the world to be your god?

This applies to everyone. Seeking God while you have a choice makes it a much more rewarding experience than seeking Him when there are no more options.

In the midst of this work of God, I encourage you to be blessed and seek God.

If you think you might need some help hearing from God, send me a comment or email me. I'll be glad to assist you with communication with God.

A Thought on Purpose

2008-11-08T01:15:00.004-05:00

A team member of mine (brother actually) stated in one of his posts:

Happiness is the pursuit of a follower; purpose is the pursuit of a leader. Followers do what others do because they can’t think otherwise. Leaders think otherwise and people follow. If you seek purpose, you obtain a greater commodity than happiness; you obtain fulfillment.

For the past few years, I've been mentored. I can tell you with no uncertainty that the process of fulfilling purpose is a humiliating and painful one. If there's no other thing that symptomatically identifies that purpose is the root of your life, there's a determination to continue submitting to the process. When purpose defines your attitude and response, you will admit your shortcomings without shame, you will endure embarrassment, you will isolate yourself to feel pain and you will continue pressing on.

It is said that success is shown when one can pass from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm. Based on that same thought, purpose would probably be moving from experience to experience with the wisdom that as long as you're still alive, you're growing wiser and fulfilling your destiny.

Think about what you desire to do that allows you to endure ridicule, sleepless nights and even isolation. Whatever you are passionate about, disciplined about, sleepless about, and determined about that benefits a greater number than your own self, in a God-glorifying way, is your purpose. Only you can do it the way you can do it.

My sister and team member identified a biblical example of purpose in the book of Ruth in a post. I think to grasp what purpose in real life can look like, you should read Lorneka's post, then the book of Ruth.

Purpose is not easy, but it makes life's challenges worthwhile.

I am not the expert on purpose, but I am available for clarification if you have questions.

Intentionality: the quality behind relationships

2008-10-14T03:14:00.006-04:00

In my brief 26 years on Earth, I gained some experience in relationships. I've had 3-4 mentors, I've had a few girlfriends, several best-friends and without trying, a few enemies. But only in the last few years have I been able to appreciate the meaning behind the relationships and why most, if not all suffered.

As many times as I've had conversations with people, I've come to recognize one virtue that seems to add "the special touch" for all people in relationships - Intentionality. By nature of human design, we are all taught to look out for self first, everyone else second. In marriages, it is noted that spouses appreciate their loved ones more when he/she does something to show that they were thinking about the spouse. This requires thinking of the other person usually when it is not convenient or easy.

There are several studies by doctors all around the globe on the scientific validity and usefulness of the power of intention. Intention is faith in action. Faith is fairly difficult for most to understand, but some of us have had the opportunity to experience it. Faith itself is not easy to cultivate especially when there are so many pessimistic people doing most of the talking. Faith is what you believe in you heart even when your mind doesn't know what to believe. Intention is what happens when action feeds off the faith that is within a person or a group.

Jesus' ministry was made exclusively effective because of the level of intentionality in His life on Earth. By Merriam-Webster's definition, intentionality means:

1: done by intention or design : intended <intentional damage>
2 a: of or relating to epistemological intention b: having external reference

If you were to read John 4:1-30, you would read an account of Jesus speaking to someone in an awkward situation. This awkward situation was one of several stories in the Bible where God uses someone in the Bible to prove a point. Jesus asked this Samaritan woman for a drink of water by the well in Sychar (a Samaritan city). Now, there was a tradition that basically stated that Jews were to have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus not only spoke to the woman but asked her for a drink and then He offered something even more meaningful when she reminded Him of the tradition.

Jesus in this passage was doing something not many of us are willing to do - help someone up by breaking pre-conceived understandings. As a Samaritan, this woman would've been considered a Gentile. Gentiles were all people who were not born into Jewish lineage. Salvation was being offered with an "autograph" from the Saviour. I cannot say that Jesus didn't know He was headed to the well, as He was the Son of the Father. The Father knows all things and Jesus was in consistently excellent communication with Him at all times. What Jesus did deserves appreciation from all humanity - He made it possible for all of us to build and maintain regular relationship with Our Father.

As I mentioned earlier, the quality in enjoying relationships comes from intention. Had the woman intended to avoid Jesus, she would not have had that encounter. Had she not had the encounter, she would not have had the revelation of who Jesus was. The revelation of His identity led to her confronting an issue in her life - serial marrying. This woman had 5 husbands before she even met Jesus and she was living with yet another man that was not her husband. I can only conclude in my limited wisdom that Jesus was offering wholeness in her life while revealing His omniscience. His omniscience may have shown her that amidst her shortcomings, Jesus was still interested in her well-being. This quality requires intention.

In my personal quest to become more Christ-like everyday, I realize that the simplest stories in the Bible explain basic and powerful principles for healthy and progressive living.

I want to encourage everyone that reads this message to be more intentional. For men, be intentional about leading your home - not just in authoritative responsibilities, but in servitude and in expectation. Husbands, serve your wives and demand a home environment where love and righteousness are the order of the day. For women, be intentional in understanding that men are typically not as emotionally rooted as you are. Be intentional in showing that you support your husband once he is living the Will of God and is working towards being a better husband everyday. Singles, be intentional about your circle of friends and your worship to God. This will determine to a degree what your married life will be founded upon. Your plans to marry are based on what the other person's life looks like too.

Being intentional in relationships with others usually means at some point, it will be very difficult to be in relationship and will REQUIRE that you know WHY you're in that relationship.

As you go about the rest of your life, remember that no one asked to be here. As long as we all are here, we might as well be intentional about enjoying each other and building relationships that mean something and hopefully those realtionships are healthy and lasting. Your relationships on earth usually represent the type of relationship you have with God. So if something is severely off down here (point from me-to-you) then something may very well not be right between you and Him (point from you to Heaven).

Be blessed - live an intentional life.

Passion: Consistency. Intent.

2008-09-24T11:36:00.004-04:00

I've been struggling with consistency. I do realize that it is a serious source of embarrassment for most, but I want to do better. In my growing and learning, I've come to appreciate that the only way to overcome a besetting behaviour is to be accountable to someone for it.

So in my efforts to improve my consistency, I make my self accountable to all who know me. I accept no excuses for half-way participation, and therefore I refuse to deliver half-way participation.

I no longer strive to post every week. I will post as consistently as I have something that can help. That is the way I serve in ministry and that is the way I will serve in writing and sharing.

I encourage all bloggers to post on a consistent level of writing and sharing excellence. Post with passion. When the passion well is dry, post from experience. Whenever someone reads your blog, they learn something. Even if they are learning that there are many literate and expressive fools.

From this moment on, be intentional and consistent at one thing until you die. At least you will be known for being passionate about it.

May God Bless you all.

The Difference Between Management and Leadership

2008-04-21T01:45:00.003-04:00

Management is simply the process of overseeing someone's decisions.
Management tells a person when to say yes or no and when to do or not to do something.

Leadership is simply the art of decided servitude and mentorship.
Leadership is an osmosis of advice and experience through time with the full intention that a person can advance that much further from someone else's time here on earth.

Leadership teaches a person how to make the decision and what to do once the decision is made.

Much love from the mountain-climber. Enjoy your week and be blessed.

Strength in the process: Talk me through it

2008-03-22T23:52:00.004-04:00

This is not the day or the hour for many of us to be falling and staying down. This is not the day to hold regrets and pity parties; all truth told, you only ever invite the wrong folk anyway.

This is an hour in our lives (read this paragraph symbolically) when much of what you experience cannot be discussed with those conveniently available in times of need. Discernment has become your sniper rifle on the battlefield of your mind. You have the training. You have the weaponry. You have the right to kill on sight. You still have a responsibility to take care of yourself in harsh conditions.

These harsh conditions are the tests in your everyday life. The weaponry is the whole armour of God.

Much like the men and women that fight in the armed forces of their countries without regular socials and family visits, you develop scars from your fight for Jesus and the righteousness of God. This is a real fight. This fight is more real than the stripped down version of holiness that many people stick to when people walk their daily Christian walk. This fight after growing in responsibility and maturity exists constantly within the mind and the soul of the Believer.

Warriors and soldiers alike are trained to a level of assertiveness, strategic attack and defense, and logistics. After many years of actual combat, it becomes extremely difficult to graft an everyday warrior or soldier into civilian living. Many have suffered traumatic experiences that only another warrior or soldier would appreciate. If you think you are so different, read on. If you think you aren't too different, sit tight because you're right.

The minute you made yourself responsible whether it be to yourself or someone you look up to, you decide to engage in a fight for your life. The tricky part is most people don't tell you things like: you have to kiss your enemies once their assigned to you, you must learn to listen twice as intently as you would speak, and that certain things that have challenged you for years simply won't go away - you're just going to have to kill them.

Consider that everyone and every system put in place in your life was designed as an employee or protocol of God's design. This would mean that Satan was Director of The Kingdom's Waste Management, enemies are answerable to him with misery as their benefits package, your promotions won't require you to sleep with the boss, and the best part yet: if you are a Kingdom Investor, you have the benefit of legal insider trading information.

Now, it is easy to get lost amongst these elements of The Truth. In fact, quite a few saints you and I both know are already lost in them. Whom I really feel deepest sympathy for are the men and women that are struggling to live holy, reclaim their part of the world's system for return to Kingdom Reign and Ownership and are being picked apart by members of the same team.

It is not easy fighting to live the lifestyle of holiness with all you've got. It's not enough enough to try to do it on your own. God might not have told you this directly, and some of us had to learn this by experience, but you can be wise and learn it from us: for some of the way, you will need someone to keep you covered.

Every army I have ever studied utilizes an offensive-defensive combat tactic called "cover fire". The entire purpose is to allow one or many soldiers from one point to another in the middle of enemy fire usually to breach territory or setup decoys. Everyday of your life you are under this type of fire. What changes from day to day and moment to moment is how much cover-fire you actually have.

In case you weren't aware of the process, intercession is a form of cover-fire. One of the forms of intercession is fellowship. Fellowship is not only packing up the crock pot with the family's secret recipe and driving to your church's convention center. Fellowship is also recognizing that there is someone is either at your level or near your level that needs help to get to the next stage in their walk. Fellowship can simply mean "talking someone through it". In many war movies, you see examples where troops are deployed for hours, days, weeks months even years to a location with a task. If it were a favorable assignment, they would've been dropped there with mittens and spatula's and the "Hi, my name is:" stickers on their shirts. This life is not a favorable assignment, but we must appreciate why we endure. We must also appreciate how to survive, so that we may enjoy the trials.

I realistically can never say God has gotten rid of pain in my personal life. He has done something greater. He taught me to drop unnecessary pain, and made me numb to the necessary pain of process. Each time I go through the same process again, I become more immune to the pain, but more irritated at the repetition because the reason is not apparent.

You yourself may not know the pain of process, but ask anyone who is challenging the moniker or the mould of their generation, social class or race. They walk alone, but when it really counts, they get cover-fire even if they don't know who's got them covered. Without that cover-fire, their efforts would've been wasted; either on worrying about being attacked or on their own mind working against them.

"Encourage yourself" is a song that was written to inspire people to cover themselves when no one else could cover them. It works best when you've had someone do it for you before-hand. If you ever went through the process of weaning off a bad habit, you know how important therapy is. Guess what another word for therapy is? Intercession. There is absolutely no need for any pioneering or striving brother or sister in the faith to walk alone for the entire journey before eternity. Each of us were made to work well with at least ONE other person. Yes, they will be able to upset you in a moment's notice. No, they cannot hurt you without hurting themselves. Why? They were assigned to intercede for you. They were designed to provide your cover-fire. They were also assigned to talk you through it when no one else could.

You would be surprised of the number of hostile plans that were foiled or aborted because someone (even hostages) talked the offender through the situation. Imagine how much better you - who's decided to live righteously for the eternal cause with a focus on building the eternal Kingdom right in the midst of this temporal environment - can benefit from this simple piece of advice.

Pray for guidance and discernment so that you:
1) Get your cover-fire
2) Have your strength built and refined constantly

Get over the fact that the person(s) that will do this for you are not many and there are still things they should not know and times when you won't have them. Just remember, you need them and they probably need you as well. Arms of flesh will fail you, but that does not disqualify their purpose in your life at the right time. Pray for wisdom to know which time and season calls for you to call them. It will build your relationship with God and it will add great value to the Kingdom through you.

I hope I talked you through a few years of your desert experience and now you can grow further into the things of God. More importantly, I hope you will do likewise and talk someone through it when God reveals your assignment to you.

Find your secret place

2008-03-10T01:24:00.003-04:00

There exists a place in the earth for each of us to find what we need.

I live on an island in a country consisting of several hundred islands and cays. The island I live on is the most populated of the country, but believe it or not, there are almost some totally quiet spots for those willing to venture out of the city.

I've discovered that your secret place can actually have people present, but it allows you the freedom of thought and the creativity. Creativity and freedom of thought are requirements for progressive living and a successful and productive lifestyle.

I've been able to think through very much of the chaos of my life and pull out of my own experiences and the experience of others, a wisdom that I could not get from someone else's words. This place is the place where I can meet God. I have learned to block out anyone when I go there. I have learned to pay attention to small details to help me solve big issues.

If you never find your place to allow your mind and heart to communicate, you will never find God and will never manifest any of the potential that is within you.

With that said: find your secret place.

Lifelong truth tip

2008-03-10T01:20:00.001-04:00

I read something that was put simply, but held so much meaning, it was hard to forget:

God answers knee-mail.

A Word on Lust

2008-03-10T01:19:00.001-04:00

Lust is the experience of human desire for someone or something without any intentions of relationship.

Purpose and Pain: Meeting your future face-to-face

2008-02-28T20:43:00.003-05:00

Some days are absolutely beautiful. Some friends cannot disappoint you because you don't expect them to do anything. Some days you get disappointed when your plans don't come to fruition. Some days you dream that the greatest things that can happen to you should really be happening to someone else.

Perhaps only I know those particular pinches in everyday life. Regardless, someone out there can benefit from today's experiences. Some days you will realize that the most evil things can come out of your mouth. If you're human and actually care about yourself, you've probably already told off a few people and lost your cool in public recently. I've begun to notice an all-out full-on attack on the lives of the Believers. In case you hadn't noticed, more of us have had more responsibility on our shoulders in the last 18 months than we have had in our entire careers considering our spiritual maturity right now.

I've heard so many things from the voice of God, I don't even care to share some of those things. If you have ever heard from God on a constant basis during your walk, you may have noticed that He tells you the most ridiculous things at a time when they seem most impossible to believe. That is, unless of course you are accustomed to His insane promises and the way He totally disregards any protocol man has set in place.

I've had an increased amount of pain realized in my life over the last few months. I've grown to hate some of the very same things I loved doing for years. I've grown to pay attention to some of the slightest details about the way I treat people. After all these years of treating people the best way I know how, I realize now that pain only serves one purpose is the human shells: to provide focus.

Point-in-case:
You normally earn your pay on commission. You for months only get the minimum agreed payment. Gradually, you whittle down your expenditure to a point where you eat day-by-day because all of your bulk payment goes straight to monthly payments. That tightness of cash flow causes you to evaluate what you REALLY need to be spending money on.
PAIN: little cash to work with.
FOCUS: learning how to budget.

Second Point-in-case:
You get diagnosed with a condition that requires 2 weeks of hospitalization. You cannot work for 2 weeks and still need to make the payments. Some business places and people may understand a medical need, but the bills still need to be paid. You find out that your diet needs to drop a few choice and favourite foods. You also need to do more exercise. This lifestyle change is really about your health.
PAIN: your food intake, your means of income and your daily activity requires more of you and less to give to anyone else.
FOCUS: taking care of your body, external(financial) responsibilities, and improving your food choices based on medical consultation

None of these cases would have any true value or even concern you if you truly had no intention of living a better life in times to come. All truth told, if you didn't care to see the next 5 years, you would ignore all caution, disregard all the lessons of life that the pain in your current situation were revealing to you and suffer an even longer season of drought. Afterwards, you would pay a greater price to improve your state of living.

When you are pushed through these seasons of life, you sometimes want to scream at God and make Him accountable to you for the pain. Keep in mind; pain is God's way of making sure you don't do the same thing the same way again. Many may argue that God is a God of love and that He would cause us no pain. I rebut, God has allowed even Job to lose his whole family once, to double his estate. God's wisdom is so expansive and unexplainable, many even believers would refuse my next words of wisdom. God's power is both causative and permissive. Because of this principle, much of what you go through as a Christian on this Earth serves to encourage us to ask God "what is it that I must focus on here?" God is so interested in your future that your past can be as ugly as you want it not to be, and He can still turn your image right around for His Glory.

Abraham lied to the king that his wife was his sister. Now, not many of us would understand the condition of his personality or even the condition of his heart, but God influenced the king NOT to touch Sarah. During this process, God even proclaimed to the king that Abraham was His prophet. This is not to endorse intentional sin while under the banner of the Born Again Believer's Faith. This shows you that no matter how much you fall once you are in right relationship with God, stay connected to God. If you have to argue with God on your personal time, just remember that when you are right, He was right before you started and will be right when you're done. Everything He allows and will allow, and everything He strips away and every burden He lays upon your heart are all for a purpose.

That one purpose is to refine relationship and add value and quality through character, integrity and submission. Even when your faith fails, He wants to hear it. Why? Because His strength is made perfect in your weakness (also read weakness as "be-setting sin" or "tormenting issue"). The apostle Paul (prophet and seer) in the bible speaks in his letter to the Corinthians (2 Cor 12:1-10 specifically) goes into details. In his divine wisdom, he admits that He must boast of the great works of God in the lives of other spiritual leaders. He also refuses to boast of himself because of his all-famous "thorn-in-the-flesh".

Whether you recognize your thorn or not, I can promise you this: no thorn comes without His promise. In fact, the moment you find your purpose and God has imparted His promise for you (your purpose for living), you can mark that day and time. For soon it shall be revealed to you, your thorn in the flesh. By this time, you will have also realized in your spiritual maturity that you have come too far to turn your back on the promise, and you must accept within your own self that you have to fight that thorn until you cease to exist in this mortal body. That thorn need not be everyone's business; for neither is your promise. Every person you hear call the name of Jesus with tears in their eyes will not help you carry the vision the Lord your God gave you. Let it rest. That is also a device of pain so that you may focus on Him. For your future itself is to return face-to-face with God. What happens at that meeting is a discussion of the affairs of your life and matters of your heart.

Be blessed and seek Him. If you don't know Him, just ask Him:

"Lord Jesus, reconcile the relationship between me and God. I recognized that only you can correct my sinful lifestyle. I retired from Satan's lifestyle and want to honour God. Renew my life and keep me in righteousness. Amen."

What is your time worth?

2008-02-21T00:09:00.000-05:00

If more people knew the value of their own time, they'd stop wasting it on people whose time meant nothing.

I've found that the people whose time is worth more than others generally show up on time, schedule to do more in less time, at least most of the time, not some of the time.

The value of your time is directly relative to your knowledge and appreciation of what all is happening at the moment.

I have much to be grateful for

2008-02-18T23:42:00.002-05:00

Saturday past makes 26 years that I've been enjoying the breath of life. I truly am glad that I am alive in the midst of my challenges, struggles and my enemies. My enemies remind me of the value my life has. My challenges remind me that there is something in me worth trying to prove wrong. My struggles remind me that there is great purpose and the struggle keeps that in check.

A good friend of mine sent me a link to a video on the Internet's largest preview channel. you guessed it, YouTube. It is a 20minute long video displaying the convicted hearts of people that are now grateful, grace-bound brothers and sisters frm slightly different walks of life.

I don't have their stories to tell as my own. I have my own story which no one can tell for me. But this is powerful.

Take the opportunity to watch this video all the way through. The sincerity of heart that is shown in this video should at the very least spark some gratefulness on your own part.

Why Your Gifts Were Given To You

2008-01-31T09:12:00.000-05:00

Keep one thing in mind for the next few months:

Your gifts are useless if they are not used in the time they are called on.

There's a reason 'gift' and 'present' are interchangeable in meaning. As I grew up, I understood that no matter what you do, and what you are taught, you will feel that someone else has a gift that you should have been given because you have the passion to use it. If there were ever a more convincing strategy to lie to yourself, it's the one I just described. That feeling has roots in jealousy itself, and unless it is crushed with the reality of a mental sanity check, could be the beginning of you ruining a relationship with someone that is supposed to help you.

If you are an adult, there's a very good likelihood that you've felt this feeling, and experienced that thought. It's not fair to you or to the person with the gift that you want(ed). Life doesn't hand anything to you. Life is not in control. God is. He gave you something(s) to survive life with that no one else can manage the way you can. For some, He gave the gift of conversational negotiation; for some others, the ability to guide a tall boat through a narrow channel, paint a masterpiece, polish metallic surfaces to their original pristine condition and even product design. The bottom line is this: Everyone has been given something that only they can do the way they can do it. That ability or that passion is rooted in who the world (the entire universe) needs you to be.

Imagine the great discomfort I would feel if I were sitting in an accountant's seat for 5 years, painting indoor rooms for 10 years, or even install roof shingles for 6 months. Now imagine if my gift were for interior decoration and feng shui. I would be pissed watching other people who have to study professionals and constantly sit at their feet to learn how to put furniture and elements in the right places, of the right sizes, using the right colors. Imagine if you were gifted to architect multi-storey buildings, but for the last 20 years you were selling insurance packages. Everytime you lost a client, it would either frustrate you or continue to push you down Non-Chalant Lane everyday you walked into the office.

This my friends, is the lifestyle of someone living out of purpose. It is no coincidence then when we make what we think are big mistakes, we say O.O.P.S. and cover our mouths. Oops can be considered the abbreviation for "Out Of Purpose, Sorry". Everyone gets ideas, but when you are submitted to the Will or the Mind of God, ideas take on entirely new life. Even the ideas you had when you were carnal or of "natural thoughts".

Ideas are the inspiration of God signaling a responder (responsible person) with a gift, to a need in order to provide a solution. This solution has a pre-ordained time to happen in, regardless of any personal objectives and/or plans. The idea, even if stolen by someone with malicious intent is best handled by the person inspired by the spirit of God. That person is required to deliver the solution. The need becomes a decaying ache to the mind and soul of the person responsible the longer it is unresolved. The gift is something one has the patience and passion to tolerate, or an ability to provide a service with more consistency than others nearby effortlessly.

These specialists can be called from near or far depending on the need. What they came to do is what they are called (designed or born) to do; they must do it. They must do it with passion to completeness. For without completion of the assignment, an echo constantly rings in the heart and soul of that person. Completing that assignment with excellence guarantees the responder with a quality of life and meaning of life that no sage could promise. This same understanding and wisdom focused on the original plan is what allows loved ones to lull their crying and live through the parting moments when a responder moves to another place. This other place could be a city, or even into eternity itself.

Regardless of where that next stop may be, all assignments well done command promotion. Such is the nature of life's design and as God intended.

Concern yourself with finding your own gifts. There is always someone you least expect to have that same feeling about something you do so well. Find your gift. Use it the way it's supposed be be used: given to others as a service. 'Gifts' and 'presents' are inter-changeable because gifts are given, not withheld. What better time to give gifts than the 'present'? The gift of life is always 'present'.

The basis of this post is Jeremiah 29:11-14

11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.

The Growing Spirit

Christian Leadership: Views From The Inside

Conquering Lifestyle (extracted)

Calling All Students of The Bible: Simplify to Advance

Christianity: Not A Spectator Sport

Leadership:responsibility, not preference

Luke 12:48

Weird times are the God times

Speak and Call those things ...

Improvement: the (nearly) transparent process

Values - the guide during good and bad times

How Powerful is The Mind?

The Talents: Your Words

Make sure you know Word - Then Use It

Not my words -- The Word (such were some of you)

Purpose: right, wrong or does it matter?

Problem or no problem?

Habits: Defeat or Success?

A Generational Succession

Carve Your Life with Your Words

Responding to God's Design of Life

Everything has its time

Check yourself ...

Dream or Nightmare: Your Choice

If you're not chasing a dream, you're running from a nightmare.Either way, you've got work to do.

Life: the Big Joke

Thoughts are things: Choose your concerns wisely

Desire leads to success (David Schwartz)

Desire, when harnessed, is power. Failure to follow desire, to do what you want to do most, paves the way to mediocrity.- David Schwartz

The Destruction of Man: How it plays out

The Destruction of Man: The Family Plan

If you must say it ...

Criticism without a name or signature is an arrow shot from the crossbow of cowardice.

Pray Perfect Prayers in The Spirit (Joseph Prince)

When Words Get In The Way ... (on Relating to God)

On recognizing your circumstances

Response or Reaction

Your words, your decisions, your heart.

Belief. Desire. Imagination.

A Dream, A Plan and Everyday Routine

Freedom and Power

Freedom belongs to those who know the rules and work the game.Power belongs to those who show others the way to freedom without enslaving them in the process.

The Key to Mastery: Simplicity

On Communication

Cooperation: Working Together

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (New International Version)

Philosophy; The Art of Words

Philosophy is the art of words; painted so beautifully it changes the lives of those who 'get the picture'.

Belief and Reality

Courage is not equal to Confidence

Father's Day example as set by the Holy Trinity ...

Quote: Wisdom and Planning

Relationships: Expectations

Quote: Peace and Grace

Forgiveness: The Give-and-Take Medicine

Powerful Quote: Freedom

To the public: On Addressing The Youth

To Be Right Is To Be Left

11 Realities of Life

A Lesson On Failure: The Foundation of Success

There is no "Try"

Decision: Power best used now

Learn to live with yourself (The Man in The Glass)

Consider a more realistic way to read the Bible: YouVersion

The oxymoron with a meaning

Quotes in retrospect: On fear and courage ...

Unusual things cause peace

Keep it out of your heart

Living a milestone life ...

AIM: Excuses – The Trademark Of Mediocres (Part II)

Determination, Excuses and Focus

Why Do You Do What You Do?

It's in your nature: Worship by God's design

Embracing Your Life's Purpose: Advancing Against All Odds

Acknowledging Purpose: "We are not our own"

Unity in the Body: The Kingdom Family

Unity in the Body: Know Those That Labour Among You

Behind Enemy Lines: United States of America

Responsibility – Understanding and Responding to the Call

The Right Perspective: Righteousness and Stewardship

If you're not chasing a dream, you're running from a nightmare.

Either way, you've got work to do.

Desire, when harnessed, is power. Failure to follow desire, to do what you want to do most, paves the way to mediocrity.
- David Schwartz

Freedom belongs to those who know the rules and work the game.

Power belongs to those who show others the way to freedom without enslaving them in the process.