With All Apologies to the Black and Silver…

The Oakland Raiders are undefeated in their division (AFC West) but they have 6 wins and 7 loses overall (.462).

Now look at a team like the Atlanta Falcons (11-2) or the Chicago Bears (9-4) who are also undefeated in their respective divisions but they also boast a winning season record.

In life, we can have substantial influence within our division but little or no influence in the big picture. Make it your goal to not only make a difference internally but to make a difference externally. Decrease the DI-VISION and increase the VISION. Tear down the walls!

(Luke 9:6 NIV)

So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere.

Two Negatives = a Positive

I never really understood this –

When multiplying or dividing two negative numbers the result is always a positive.

I just accepted it.

What if this were true in life? What if two negatives could always equal a positive? What if we could all grasp the take away from every bad situation and really learn from it?

I recently had words with someone that I respect very much. Both of us could have handled the situation differently. We created the math problem with two negatives and that negativity was multiplying while it was dividing us.

I’m thankful to report that all is well between us now. We were both able to admit our faults and we learned something about each other in the process. I truly believe that our relationship is stronger now than it was before our disagreement.

We’re not all math geniuses out there and we’re not all relationship gurus either. But let’s all try to remember that one rule of math and apply it in our daily lives – When multiplying or dividing two negatives the result is always a positive.

Music INDUSTRY vs. Music MINISTRY

I’ve been playing music for a long time now. I’m no virtuoso – no master of any instrument. But I do like to think that I can “hold my own” so to speak.

It’s been tough. I set out to make it in a business that will break you down. I’ve had a couple of near-hits that I won’t bore you with here. What did strike me this morning is that there are some major differences between music industry and music ministry:

1. Music industry (for most of us) is all about REJECTION; music ministry is all about ACCEPTANCE.

2. Music industry is about TAKING; music ministry is all about GIVING.

3. Music industry can DRAIN the life out of you; music ministry is all about FILLING you and others with life.

So for all of you music ministry folks out there – be encouraged. Allow God to use you to show acceptance, generosity and life!

#2

It is important to know when we are leading others and when we are being lead.  Check out this excerpt I read today about LeBron James and Dwyane Wade (read the whole article here)

When D-Wade is on the bench and LeBron on the floor, the Heat are plus-18.2 in point differential; reverse that, and they’re plus-9.8.

But put them both out there together, and Miami’s just plus-2.8. Which means the team’s better off when James and Wade aren’t on the floor at the same time. Why? Because neither knows how to deal with being No. 2.

Iron Sharpens Iron part 1

July 2, 1998. It was the last day I was able to spend with my Dad here on Earth. He was recovering from heart bypass surgery and was a day or two from going home. I spent the day at the hospital hanging out with him. I remember getting frustrated with him over this breathing device that he was supposed to do every hour. He wanted nothing to do with it but I was making sure he would use it. I have often wondered if I would have been a little more persitent if he would still be here today.

Fast foward to July 2, 2010. Here I am in a hospital room with my Mom after she had a different kind of bypass – gastric bypass. She needs to do the same breathing device every hour. Don’t think that I’m not insisting on it either!

We need people in our lives to look out for us. God didn’t create us to do life alone. Check this out:

Proverbs 27:17
As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

We need people in our lives that we can trust. We need to allow certain people to speak into our lives and help make us better. And it’s not always going to be easy.

to be continued…

Fear

“The path to your greatest potential is often straight through your greatest fear.”

I couldn’t believe that these words were coming out of Pastor Ricky Grant’s mouth; especially after what I just went through.  Just a few minutes prior to hearing this, I faced a fear of mine head on. You see, I am a guitar player that can sing – not a singer that can play guitar.  In other words, I need to have a guitar as a security blanket.  The only time I have ever sung without wearing a guitar was at Disney Hollywood Studios doing the American Idol Experience attraction (which doesn’t really count).

Anyway, our praise team had just finished our first song and our church went into a time of greeting each other.  That’s when I realized that my guitar quit working.  I tried a new cable – no luck.  I grabbed the acoustic – the battery was dead.  “Guess I’m not playing guitar on the next few songs…”  I sat it down and grabbed my mic from the stand.

I could tell that people thought this was planned.  Not true.  I have to admit – this was very uncomfortable for me.  This was something that I NEVER thought I would do.  But you know what?  There was something freeing about not having that guitar on.  I didn’t have to think about what was going on.  I could let God use me in a different way.  And even though I was extremely uncomfortable, it was one of the most powerful times of worship our church has ever had.

Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, who performed great exploits. He struck down two of Moab’s best men. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. 21 And he struck down a huge Egyptian. Although the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, Benaiah went against him with a club. He snatched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear.
2 Samuel 23:20-21

Did you read that?  He went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion!  I’m sure there was some fear involved.  But, Benaiah was able to plow through that fear and take it up another level.

What do you fear today that is holding you back from what God wants for your life?

Second Chances

In the summer of 2009, my church had a baptism/church cookout where about 8 people were being baptized.  I was in charge of the hot dogs so I made sure we had plenty of hot dogs and buns.  One huge problem – no condiments!  People starting asking for mustard and ketchup and I just wanted to die.  I couldn’t believe that I overlooked something so obvious!

A year later, we had another baptism event.  The food was all taken care of (pork barbeque, hot dogs, and hamburgers) and I wanted to redeem myself from the embarrassment of the previous year.  I wanted a second chance!   So, I signed up to bring all of the condiments.

The day of the event, I was up early slicing tomatoes and onions, leafing lettuce, and putting pickles, ketchup, mayo, mustard, and relish on ice.  I had it all!  I put all of it in a cooler and made my way out the door.  This was my second chance and I wanted to do a good job.  Through all of this, I was reminded about how exciting a second chance can be.  When we get a second chance, we try harder; we want to do better.  We start to feel good about what we’ve done and we want to share it with others!  I am so thankful that we serve a God of second chances and people are getting second chances at life every day.

Take time today to remember how exciting a second chance really is.

Funky Water

John 2:1-10

1 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there,

2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.

3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

4 “Dear woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied, “My time has not yet come.”

5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.

7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.

8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so,

9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside

10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”

In this passage of scripture we see the first of many miracles that Jesus performed.  He turned water into wine.  The cool thing is HOW he did it.

The stone jars for ceremonial washings had to have been very heavy.  I’m sure there was no way to get all of the dirt out from the bottom.  That being said, when they filled them up with water it had to have been pretty funky!  But that’s the best they had at that point in time.  What does Jesus do?  He took the best they had to offer up at that point in time and not only turned it into wine – He turned it into the BEST wine.

That holds true even today.  All we can do is offer up our best and ask God to bless it –  put it in His hands.  When we turn to God and give our best, great things can happen!

Back To The Future

John 1:45-46

45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote–Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.
“Come and see,” said Philip.

Our backgrounds (where we are “from”) sure have a way of following us in life.  People tend to look more at where we come from rather than where we are going.  This was also true at times for Jesus.

Phillip tells Nathaniel that he has found the Messiah – the one that Moses and other prophets wrote about.  And he just happens to be from Nazareth.  Now Nazareth was a very small and insignificant place and Nathaniel has a hard time with the fact that anything good can come from there.  But Jesus was able to rise above where He was from and God used Him to do great things!

We all probably have a Nazareth – some insignificant place in our past.  The good news is that it doesn’t have to define who we are today or where we are going.  We can all rise above our past and be used by God.  Remember:  God isn’t concerned with your past – He’s concerned with your future!

Love is patient

One line of scripture is stuck in my head today – “Love is patient…”  I know why it’s there.  It is something that I struggle with.

I am not a patient person.  Here’s the definition of patient:

1. able to endure waiting, delay, or provocation without becoming annoyed or upset

2. able to persevere calmly, especially when faced with difficulties

That’s definitely not me; not today.  But – I claim to LOVE my wife, my children, my Mom….  Yet I’m not very patient with them.

To take the power of sin away we must confess it.  Well, this is my confession.  I am an impatient jerk to my family.  I hate it.  I can’t stand it when I lose my temper with the ones I love the most but I can manage to keep it together around people who annoy me to no end.

Not anymore.  I claim right now in Jesus’ name that I am a patient man with my family.  I strip the power from the enemy and claim victory over this area of my life.

Love is patient – and so am I from this day forward.