I often think of everybody in this world as a bunch of people who just keep butting heads. We are a society full of people who can't agree on things and whose feelings get hurt so easily. It's like there is a constant friction.
What do you see when you turn on the news?
What do you see when you get on Facebook?
What do you see when you get on Twitter?
It's often a mess...
You see people going wild over police officers doing their jobs...professional athletes who get pain millions sitting out because they aren't getting paid enough...and now all this talk about how college athletes aren't even looked at as people.
What if I told you I knew the secret to solving all the issues we have? I do - and it's Christ Jesus.
What is happening in our world is that people are becoming so accepting of the way that this world works. We are constantly changing our beliefs and values just because we feel like we have to and that times are changing.
I am sticking to what the bible says and nothing will ever change that and I am willing to go to the guillotine for Christ.
When we start to conform in one area of life, it becomes easier to do it a second time, and a third, and a fourth, and next thing you know it you are just like everyone else fighting over this constant friction. The secret to ending it is not conforming to this world.
If anyone teaches others and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain. (1 Timothy 6:3-5)
If we so simply don't live by the word of God then we are wrapped up in constant friction, which is a battle already won.
We often forget that this battle we face everyday has already been won. Christ won when he died on the cross for all of our sins. So if we already won why do we get so wrapped up in this world and everything in it.
It's like replaying an entire basketball season knowing you already won the national championship. Why go through a grueling 9 month season if you already know the outcome? That simply isn't worth the pain knowing you're already a champion.
My thing for you today is that I hope you understand that the secret to ending the constant friction we are faced with everyday is living obediently by the word of God, not conforming or changing your beliefs just to fit in, and understanding that the battle has already been won.
Friday, October 11, 2019
Thursday, October 10, 2019
The trails we leave behind
Growing up in the country we had a couple of four wheelers and some property to drive them on. I loved riding them with my brother and my friends. We would spend hours driving all over the place. There were some good things about them and some bad. The good was quality time with my brother outdoors and our four wheelers were pretty nice. There were also many awesome trails that we got to drive on. The bad was that often times Jack and I would try to make our own trials. We also had the bad habit of trying to drive them through water and places we simply shouldn't have even tried.
My dad did not like when we would break the four wheelers, get stuck, or even get them really muddy. If I was a betting man I would say this made him a little more upset than lots of things. I could write an entire book about all of the times Jack and I thought it would be funny to make some new trials or try to drive through a part of the river. We made him pretty upset and it was rightfully so.
I am not sure if you have ever gotten the chance to go four wheeling somewhere, but usually the trails are pretty easy to see. The same trails have been driven on for years and they're usually pretty nice. I don't know why we ever thought we had to make some more.
When I walk through our woods I can easily see the trials that we have had since we moved in and I can see some of the mistakes that we made when we tried to make our own. When we tried to make our own trails it never really worked out. When we made our own trails that is when we usually made a pretty costly and timely mistake. We were so used to driving on the good trails that we would forget they were there because we would remember our mistakes more times than not.
This is the same way with our good deeds vs. our sins. I feel like at times in my life I was doing everything right but I made one mistake and that is what was hung over my head. Same way with anybody though. We often forget the good that people are doing after one mistake.
A lot of the times that guilt that we feel can make us forget about all of the other good deeds we are doing. The good deeds are always going to pan out because good deeds come from people whose hearts are focused on Christ. I've done good things, and I have messed up, but those good deeds are always there and are going to continue to matter what.
It's just like the story I told you about my brother and I riding four wheelers. We knew that there were trails that we were supposed to drive on and we drove on them all the time, but when we silly and tried to do our own thing, we often forgot about the good trails that were going to be there no matter what.
The sins of some are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them. In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not obvious cannot remain hidden forever. (1 Timothy 5:24-25)
Our sins, are mistakes, and mess-ups might trail behind for a little while but the good deeds will never remain hidden forever.
Keep on doing good things my friends. We have the ability to do good things everyday with the freedom that we have in Christ. We are going to have the ability to do good things unit Christ returns and we go to heaven so keep doing good deeds before it's too late.
I know for a fact that our trails will always be in our woods, but if we go a couple years without driving down them they might become a little overgrown and filled with debris. The good will be there, we just have to keep on doing it.
My dad did not like when we would break the four wheelers, get stuck, or even get them really muddy. If I was a betting man I would say this made him a little more upset than lots of things. I could write an entire book about all of the times Jack and I thought it would be funny to make some new trials or try to drive through a part of the river. We made him pretty upset and it was rightfully so.
I am not sure if you have ever gotten the chance to go four wheeling somewhere, but usually the trails are pretty easy to see. The same trails have been driven on for years and they're usually pretty nice. I don't know why we ever thought we had to make some more.
When I walk through our woods I can easily see the trials that we have had since we moved in and I can see some of the mistakes that we made when we tried to make our own. When we tried to make our own trails it never really worked out. When we made our own trails that is when we usually made a pretty costly and timely mistake. We were so used to driving on the good trails that we would forget they were there because we would remember our mistakes more times than not.
This is the same way with our good deeds vs. our sins. I feel like at times in my life I was doing everything right but I made one mistake and that is what was hung over my head. Same way with anybody though. We often forget the good that people are doing after one mistake.
A lot of the times that guilt that we feel can make us forget about all of the other good deeds we are doing. The good deeds are always going to pan out because good deeds come from people whose hearts are focused on Christ. I've done good things, and I have messed up, but those good deeds are always there and are going to continue to matter what.
It's just like the story I told you about my brother and I riding four wheelers. We knew that there were trails that we were supposed to drive on and we drove on them all the time, but when we silly and tried to do our own thing, we often forgot about the good trails that were going to be there no matter what.
The sins of some are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them. In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not obvious cannot remain hidden forever. (1 Timothy 5:24-25)
Our sins, are mistakes, and mess-ups might trail behind for a little while but the good deeds will never remain hidden forever.
Keep on doing good things my friends. We have the ability to do good things everyday with the freedom that we have in Christ. We are going to have the ability to do good things unit Christ returns and we go to heaven so keep doing good deeds before it's too late.
I know for a fact that our trails will always be in our woods, but if we go a couple years without driving down them they might become a little overgrown and filled with debris. The good will be there, we just have to keep on doing it.
Tuesday, October 8, 2019
You are never too young
I don't want you to ever think that you are too young to be in the spot where you are at right now. I don't want you to ever think that just because you are young that you won't have an impact. You will always be younger than most other people...think about that. The best way to have an impact is to be disciplined in many, if not all, areas of your life.
I want to tell you a couple stories about people who were younger than me that had an impact on my life.
My brother Jack
My younger brother Jack is the first person that comes to mind for me. I never used to be disciplined about reading my Bible until my later years in college. In high school I was pretty pathetic when it came to reading my Bible. One of the things I remember is that every night when I would walk up stairs I would see Jack sitting in his room reading his Bible. I didn't understand him for the longest time. I always thought that he had better things to do... I couldn't possibly think about reading my Bible instead of watching the big game or shooting some hoops outside. But you know what? His daily habits impacted my life. I see now why all of those things that he was doing paid off.
B - Will
The next person that comes to mind is Bryce Williams. He was one of my point guards when I was as senior in high school. Bryce was a skinny little freshmen who probably weighed 100 pounds soaking wet. Since he was probably in 3rd grade him and his siblings were in the gym everyday. I remember thinking that they were crazy. I was in the gym a ton but at their age it didn't make sense to me. I didn't want to be outworked by a kid who was four years younger than me so I was motivated to get in the gym even more than I already was doing. The past couple of years when I would go back and watch occasional Archbold High School basketball games I saw all of that work paying off by his success and the amazing success of the teams that he was a part of.
My younger clients
I am motivated by everyone I meet with but am very impressed with some of my clients who are a couple of years younger than me. To see what they have done with their money and what they aspire to do in their lives at such a young age is so motivating. They are going to be so much further ahead of everyone else their age. Their success at a young age isn't just happenstance. They have made smart decisions their entire lives that have led to where they are at right now.
All three of these examples have one thing in common and that is daily disciplined habits and routines. I don't preach often but I am preaching it right now. Everything that I am today is because of having a daily routine that is centered around God. Being disciplined about my walk with the Lord has led me to being disciplined in all other areas of my life.
Being disciplined will guarantee you success. Mark my words. You can't just do something good for a week and expect it to pay off for the rest of your life. It starts with doing a couple of little things and then your life will be transformed and you will become a machine operated for success.
"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity." (1 Timothy 4:12)
The people who motivated me were excellent at setting an example in all that they do. We are called to set an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity. My challenge for you it to keep doing those little things and that will lead to success.
Honestly the most important thing is to be spiritually disciplined. Once that is taken care of everything else is going to naturally fall into place because we serve a God who is faithful, loving, and caring. Trust him and trust the process.
I want to tell you a couple stories about people who were younger than me that had an impact on my life.
My brother Jack
My younger brother Jack is the first person that comes to mind for me. I never used to be disciplined about reading my Bible until my later years in college. In high school I was pretty pathetic when it came to reading my Bible. One of the things I remember is that every night when I would walk up stairs I would see Jack sitting in his room reading his Bible. I didn't understand him for the longest time. I always thought that he had better things to do... I couldn't possibly think about reading my Bible instead of watching the big game or shooting some hoops outside. But you know what? His daily habits impacted my life. I see now why all of those things that he was doing paid off.
B - Will
The next person that comes to mind is Bryce Williams. He was one of my point guards when I was as senior in high school. Bryce was a skinny little freshmen who probably weighed 100 pounds soaking wet. Since he was probably in 3rd grade him and his siblings were in the gym everyday. I remember thinking that they were crazy. I was in the gym a ton but at their age it didn't make sense to me. I didn't want to be outworked by a kid who was four years younger than me so I was motivated to get in the gym even more than I already was doing. The past couple of years when I would go back and watch occasional Archbold High School basketball games I saw all of that work paying off by his success and the amazing success of the teams that he was a part of.
My younger clients
I am motivated by everyone I meet with but am very impressed with some of my clients who are a couple of years younger than me. To see what they have done with their money and what they aspire to do in their lives at such a young age is so motivating. They are going to be so much further ahead of everyone else their age. Their success at a young age isn't just happenstance. They have made smart decisions their entire lives that have led to where they are at right now.
All three of these examples have one thing in common and that is daily disciplined habits and routines. I don't preach often but I am preaching it right now. Everything that I am today is because of having a daily routine that is centered around God. Being disciplined about my walk with the Lord has led me to being disciplined in all other areas of my life.
Being disciplined will guarantee you success. Mark my words. You can't just do something good for a week and expect it to pay off for the rest of your life. It starts with doing a couple of little things and then your life will be transformed and you will become a machine operated for success.
"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity." (1 Timothy 4:12)
The people who motivated me were excellent at setting an example in all that they do. We are called to set an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity. My challenge for you it to keep doing those little things and that will lead to success.
Honestly the most important thing is to be spiritually disciplined. Once that is taken care of everything else is going to naturally fall into place because we serve a God who is faithful, loving, and caring. Trust him and trust the process.
Sunday, October 6, 2019
What are your aspirations?
What are you aspiring to be? Are you an overachiever that loves to go above and beyond the things that you normally have to do? Or are you in underachiever and just do what you do in order to get by?
I write this because you have that choice everyday. I believe that we all have the unique opportunity to be an overseer. But what is an overseer?
It's a church leader. To be an overseer is a heavy responsibility because the church belongs to the living God. I also believe that we have the full ability to be an overseer outside of the church and that is why I am writing this post today.
"Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task."
(1 Timothy 3:1)
There is a noble task out there for everybody. That task it to lead other people in a Godly manner. When you do that you are doing everything that you do for a bigger purpose than yourself. I want you to aspire to do things for more than just yourself. I want you to aspire to put others needs before your own.
When you aspire to do such things you are naturally going to become an overseer.
Here are what some of these things look like:
- view others as more important than yourself
- don't judge
- smile when you see other people
- make eye contact
- treat everyone the same
One thing I aspire to do is view everyone equally. I know that I have mentioned it before in previous blog posts but I want to have the same amount of respect for the house keeping lady I see when I workout every morning than I do to my managing director at our office.
When we start to treat other people in the sort of way it's amazing how you naturally become an overseer. Being an overseer is contagious as well. When I see people aspiring to care for other people it motivates me to do the same or to even try and do a better job than they do. It's like a fun, healthy, and fulfilling competition.
I simply hope that this post plants a seed in both your mind and your heart to aspire to be something greater than yourself. Every person created was created by our living God. Aspire to treat everyone like God's special gifts that we are.
I write this because you have that choice everyday. I believe that we all have the unique opportunity to be an overseer. But what is an overseer?
It's a church leader. To be an overseer is a heavy responsibility because the church belongs to the living God. I also believe that we have the full ability to be an overseer outside of the church and that is why I am writing this post today.
"Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task."
(1 Timothy 3:1)
There is a noble task out there for everybody. That task it to lead other people in a Godly manner. When you do that you are doing everything that you do for a bigger purpose than yourself. I want you to aspire to do things for more than just yourself. I want you to aspire to put others needs before your own.
When you aspire to do such things you are naturally going to become an overseer.
Here are what some of these things look like:
- view others as more important than yourself
- don't judge
- smile when you see other people
- make eye contact
- treat everyone the same
One thing I aspire to do is view everyone equally. I know that I have mentioned it before in previous blog posts but I want to have the same amount of respect for the house keeping lady I see when I workout every morning than I do to my managing director at our office.
When we start to treat other people in the sort of way it's amazing how you naturally become an overseer. Being an overseer is contagious as well. When I see people aspiring to care for other people it motivates me to do the same or to even try and do a better job than they do. It's like a fun, healthy, and fulfilling competition.
I simply hope that this post plants a seed in both your mind and your heart to aspire to be something greater than yourself. Every person created was created by our living God. Aspire to treat everyone like God's special gifts that we are.
Friday, October 4, 2019
The goal beyond the goal
What is your goal beyond you goal? I know and I understand that we have all have goals for ourselves. It's a naturally human thing to have goals.
What I am trying to get to is why do you have goals? It it to achieve success? Help other people? Make a lot of money?
Our goals can be concentrated around all of those things.
I believe that our goals should always be centered around love. When you love what you do, you will achieve success, help others, and sometimes make a lot of money. But what is the point in anything you do if the goal isn't love?
"The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith." (1 Timothy 1:5)
Love coms from a pure heart, a good conscience and a sincere faith. Do you have all of those things?
You can't have love with only a good conscience. You have to be three for three with this one....a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.
I encourage you to have all of those things in all that you do and your goals will naturally be centered around love. I mean seriously think about the impact that you are going to have on this world when your reasoning behind every thing is love.
Going into this weekend, I really encourage you to try to have a pure heart, good conscience and a sincere faith in all the you say, think, and do and really pay attention to how you feel. My guess is that you are going to feel pretty fulfilled when you do those things and the people you are interacting with are going to notice a difference.
What I am trying to get to is why do you have goals? It it to achieve success? Help other people? Make a lot of money?
Our goals can be concentrated around all of those things.
I believe that our goals should always be centered around love. When you love what you do, you will achieve success, help others, and sometimes make a lot of money. But what is the point in anything you do if the goal isn't love?
"The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith." (1 Timothy 1:5)
Love coms from a pure heart, a good conscience and a sincere faith. Do you have all of those things?
You can't have love with only a good conscience. You have to be three for three with this one....a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.
I encourage you to have all of those things in all that you do and your goals will naturally be centered around love. I mean seriously think about the impact that you are going to have on this world when your reasoning behind every thing is love.
Going into this weekend, I really encourage you to try to have a pure heart, good conscience and a sincere faith in all the you say, think, and do and really pay attention to how you feel. My guess is that you are going to feel pretty fulfilled when you do those things and the people you are interacting with are going to notice a difference.
Wednesday, October 2, 2019
Next up mindset
I love having a career where I can relate nearly everything I do to my beliefs and why I do what I do.
As many people as I reach out to everyday, a lot of people don't reply or they just say no. I have been taught to have an onto the next one mindset. If I hung my head and got worried or upset about every person who said no, I would really have an attitude problem. That one bad thing would cause me to miss out on the abundance of what is in front of me. There are thousands of people that I coach reach out to and if I got upset about one person telling me no, I would miss out on so much.
I believe that we can relate this so our walk as Christians. There are a lot of people out there who aren't believers and it is our job to witness to them and to be disciples. Think about all of the people you have wanted to talk about Jesus with and I am sure that there is one person that you got caught up in. Of all the people you would witness to that one person was on your mind and probably even in your heart.
I am here to tell you that timing is everything.
When I reach out to people about connecting, you never know what they might be going through. Same in regards to our walks with the Lord. The best thing we can do is pray about that person and simply move onto the next.
When we become so shallow minded and focus on one person, we miss out on the abundance that is it from of us. There are billions of people who walk this earth and we are all like a grain of sand...like like it says in the bible.
"And we pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil people, for not everyone has faith."
(2 Thessalonians 3:2)
Not everyone is going to have faith. Imagine getting so wrapped up in someone with no faith that we miss out on the abundance. The best we can do is that situation is just to pray. Pray for God's timing, pray for their hearts, and hopefully someday that person will come to Christ.
My one thing for you today is just to remember that it is okay to move onto the next. It's not a bad thing at all, there is an abundance out there waiting for us.
As many people as I reach out to everyday, a lot of people don't reply or they just say no. I have been taught to have an onto the next one mindset. If I hung my head and got worried or upset about every person who said no, I would really have an attitude problem. That one bad thing would cause me to miss out on the abundance of what is in front of me. There are thousands of people that I coach reach out to and if I got upset about one person telling me no, I would miss out on so much.
I believe that we can relate this so our walk as Christians. There are a lot of people out there who aren't believers and it is our job to witness to them and to be disciples. Think about all of the people you have wanted to talk about Jesus with and I am sure that there is one person that you got caught up in. Of all the people you would witness to that one person was on your mind and probably even in your heart.
I am here to tell you that timing is everything.
When I reach out to people about connecting, you never know what they might be going through. Same in regards to our walks with the Lord. The best thing we can do is pray about that person and simply move onto the next.
When we become so shallow minded and focus on one person, we miss out on the abundance that is it from of us. There are billions of people who walk this earth and we are all like a grain of sand...like like it says in the bible.
"And we pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil people, for not everyone has faith."
(2 Thessalonians 3:2)
Not everyone is going to have faith. Imagine getting so wrapped up in someone with no faith that we miss out on the abundance. The best we can do is that situation is just to pray. Pray for God's timing, pray for their hearts, and hopefully someday that person will come to Christ.
My one thing for you today is just to remember that it is okay to move onto the next. It's not a bad thing at all, there is an abundance out there waiting for us.
Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Don't be easily unsettled or alarmed
Why do we let crap get in our way?
Let me walk you through a situation. You wake up for a day that you are super excited for, and everything goes just as planned. You accomplished everything you set out to do. You're basically on your high horse and could not be happier and then somebody makes a comment about someone or something that you can't get out of your head. The comment was most likely a load of crap but for some reason with the way that we think, we can't get that one bad thought out of heads.
It is so common for that to happen all of the time. In 2 Thessalonians Paul talks about how we should never let any false comments throw us off.
"not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us - whether by project or by word of mouth or by letter - asserting that the day of the Lord has already come.
(2 Thessalonians 2:2)
Paul is writing to address that Thessalonians to not believe anyone who says that the day of the Lord has already happened. Satan is trying to make us believe that it already has happened and that is completely false. We will know when it happens...trust me. Imagine how much excitement that would take away if we would've believed that the Day of the Lord had already happened? It would've ruined everything that they were hoping for.
That really got me thinking, how often do we become easily unsettled or alarmed by the false words that we hear everyday. If the Thessalonians believed those false teaching, literally all they ever hoped for in life would be taken away from them. It would be like you knowing what you're getting every Christmas for the rest of your life. I know some people are weird and would like to know that, but imagine knowing every gift you would get for the rest of your life.
When we believe the silly things that people are saying out there, it's possible for us to loose that hope. I am writing this post because I don't want you to ever loose that hope. I want you to be hopeful of the things to come until Christ returns someday. I never want what other people are saying to throw you off and cause you to loose all hope in the things to come.
We are blessed to live a life every day with that sense of hope that the best is yet to come. No matter how good thing are for you right now, know that the best is always coming.
Don't let the naysayers trick you into believing that the best has already come.
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