Prayer Requests

I wanted to take a second and ask that you pray for a few people that are in the hospital now or will be in the hospital in the next few weeks. These people mean an awful lot to me and I would appreciate your prayers for them. Drop them a note and tell them that you are praying for them as well.

My Father – Having prostate cancer surgery on July 31. You can follow me on Twitter to get up-to-the-minute updates on my dad’s progress. Just click here.

Tami Clabo – At Duke Hospital with heart issues. You can read about her updates here.

Anne Jackson – Heart surgery in the upcoming weeks. You can read about her adventure here or you can follow her progress on Twitter by clicking here.

Missing My Kids!

My children have been visiting their grandparents in Alabama since Sunday and Lori and I have thoroughly missed them. I have even contemplated strowing some toys across the floor and cranking up the Disney Channel to a deafening tone but so far have restrained myself from going to these extreme measures. While Lori and I were eating last night, she said something VERY profound. We were talking about how much we missed the kids and she said, ” even though we miss our kids like crazy, imagine how much more, Jesus misses us when we choose to not spend time with him?” WOW! Praise God that I have a wife who challenges me.

So, has Jesus missed you lately? Does His heart hurt from not talking to you for a few days? A few weeks? A few months?

One Wish

If you could make one thing (anything at all) happen, what would it be?

Joyful Giver!

This one made me think today…

The Bible tells us that “the Lord loves a cheerful giver!”. It appears that Bro. Franklin has taken this to a whole new level.

Though we may not have the dance moves that Bro Franklin does, I believe that when we give our tithes and offerings to Jesus, this should be what we feel like doing.

What if everyone at your church enjoyed giving as much as Bro Franklin does?

How do you learn?

I make it a personal choice everyday to try to learn something. Sometimes, it’s simply a fact but other times, it is a principle or a concept to adapt to my daily walk with Christ, professional life, family life, etc.

I learn quite a bit from books, blogs, and talking to people wiser than me (that includes A LOT of people). But I wanted to know how do you learn?

I believe it is imperative for us to find people who stretch our thinking and improve our overall view of life and the Christian faith.

Drop me a comment here and tell me how you learn the most?

A few blogs that help me learn and stretch:

Anne Jackson

Jim Crooks

Carlos Whittaker

Jenni Catron

Need Your Input!

I took the first step today in beginning to write my first book. Now I need your help….The book is going to be about christian discipleship. I need you to leave a comment and tell me what you think about discipleship. What does it look like? What do you like about it? How do you do it? Why is it important?

Now, your turn, go!

The “C” Word!

 My dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer a few months ago and since it was caught early and the cancer mass was small, he decided to try an all natural diet to see if his body would fight the cancer. The family has all waited patiently for the results from his PSA tests and the results were not favorable. Please pray for my dad as he decides what his next step should be.

 I still think I am numb from finding out that dad has cancer and I don’t think that I have accepted it yet.  As you can imagine, this is a very hard time for the family so please be in prayer for us.

Have you had to deal with cancer before? How did you accept it?

Lonliness as a Christian

As believers of Christ, there are times/seasons of our life where we know that Jesus is with us but we feel weak and all alone….During those times, how do you handle the lonliness? What do you do?

Acknowledge God

Romans 1:28 (The Message)

  ^28-32Since they didn’t bother to acknowledge God, God quit bothering them and let them run loose. And then all hell broke loose: rampant evil, grabbing and grasping, vicious backstabbing. They made life hell on earth with their envy, wanton killing, bickering, and cheating. Look at them: mean-spirited, venomous, fork-tongued God-bashers. Bullies, swaggerers, insufferable windbags! They keep inventing new ways of wrecking lives. They ditch their parents when they get in the way. Stupid, slimy, cruel, cold-blooded. And it’s not as if they don’t know better. They know perfectly well they’re spitting in God’s face. And they don’t care—worse, they hand out prizes to those who do the worst things best!

WOW!  This seems like a comentary of today’s society. If you don’t believe me, watch some of the award shows and see who wins the awards…Is it the best or is it the one that shocks/pushes the limits the most? Even shock jocks like Howard Stern aren’t shocking to us anymore because of how our society has socially accepted the vilest debauchery that you can imagine.

The thing that worries me the most is in the first part of verse 28. It said because they (unbelievers)  fail to acknowledge God, that God withdrew from them and allowed them to do what they wanted to. God did not turn His back on the sinner but we must remember that GOD HATES SIN AND SO SHOULD WE!!! We should always love the sinner and reach out to them just as Christ did but we have to learn to hate sin. Even the sin that our flesh so craves.

So what is God asking you about today even as you read this? Do you acknowledge Him in your life consistently? Are you praying and learning to hate Sin more and more each day? Is there a certain sin that you can’t live without?

Why Do You Read My Blog?

The purpose of my blog is multi-facted…

1) I want to bring humor to some lives

2) I want to encourage and inspire other believers to strengthen their spiritual walk with Jesus.

3) Sometimes to get things off my chest.

4) To help personal friends keep up with my life.

5) To encourage others with quotes/books/videos that inspired me.

 

So, I wanted to know the main reason that you read this blog? Please leave comment.