Myron Speaks

God Created You for Marvelous Purpose

  • Victor or Victim? Your Choice.

    What if you just blindly accepted that everything that occurred in your past was to prepare you for what God has planned for your future?

    I am old enough to remember meeting many WWII veterans and people who had their lives interrupted by the psychotic goals of madmen in Germany and Japan. It was such an epiphany for me that these men and women that I looked up to with gratitude and admiration for literally saving the World, were young boys and girls when they accepted the greater call of service and sacrifice. These boys and girls put their lives on hold. Too many suffering incomprehensible trauma and yet too many more, giving their life for the greater good. So humbling to consider.

    “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” John 15:13 NLT

    As I was privileged to get to know some of these WWII veterans a common theme emerged. As I asked them about the war, about their experiences, about their heroism (and they were/are heroes), there was a beautiful, humble, acknowledgment of their brothers and sisters and always a deflecting of attention from what they did to what all those around them did. Beautiful.

    “Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.” 1 Peter 3:8 ESV

    The amazing veterans saved the World as young boys and girls. They suffered and were exposed to trauma too horrible to comprehend and quietly, humbly, purposefully came back to their homes with the singular desire to build a life. There was a commitment to the greater good. There was a desire to leave the past in the past and focus on the current and future. These boys and girls accepted the calling on their lives to become fathers and mothers, citizens, leaders and for many, Christ followers.

    For these veterans and those who followed in Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf Wars, the lesson is accepting the circumstances that we are placed and using these experiences for good. I realize that issues resulting from these traumatic experiences exist. I also see that from these groups have emerged great leaders, great providers of love. Great builders of our County and countries around the World. From these groups we can see and learn that how we start does not determine how we finish.

    We determine how we finish. We decide to trust, accept and take steps forward in faith. Or, the decision can and is all to often being made to blame past experiences for lives limited and purpose unfulfilled. Consider that a victim mentality denies God’s deity and purpose for our lives.

    “How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He’s the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.” Ephesians 1:3-6 MSG

    So my question to you again is what if you chose to accept your past as a training ground for your future? What if your prayer becomes ‘thank you, God, for the life experiences and roads travelled as preparation to help others dealing with similar trauma and confusion?’ What if you choose to live a regret free life? What if you surrender the ‘victim’ and accept the empowered and experientially blessed person that you are? What if you choose to use bad for good? What if your past is worth the future that God has for you?

    You can! You can! You can! It is!

    “I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:12-13 NLT

    You’ve got this.

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  • What will you do with this day?

    “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do;for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:15-16

    Good Morning,

    Wherever you are physically, mentally, spiritually financially, health-wise, God is here. He stands beside you. He holds you. He carries you. He desires to live within you through the Holy Spirit. The greatest truth is he loves you.

    Whatever is occurring within you, God knows. He knows your heart. He knows your desires. He knows your needs. He is already where you need to go. He understands your wants and like a good father, the Heavenly Father loves to provide all that is good for you.

    So today look in the mirror and acknowledge whose you are. This affirmation in Christ will cause you to become who he says you are. This day, this week, this month, this year…this life, walk as the child of God. Walk in the confident knowledge of whose you are. Walk in the humble example of our Savior, Jesus and love the loveless. Help the helpless. Bring hope to the hopeless. Care for the careless. Forgive the unforgivable. Pursue the righteousness that you have inherited as a child of God.

    “But as for you, O man of God, flee from these things; aim at and pursue righteousness [true goodness, moral conformity to the character of God], godliness [the fear of God], faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith [in the conflict with evil]; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and [for which] you made the good confession [of faith] in the presence of many witnesses.” 1 Timothy 6:11-12 AMP

    So today and every day for however many days that God has given you in this life, acknowledge you are His creation. Who or what can come against you? You are God’s and he is yours. The power that created all things, that controls all things, that provides all things, loves you. As you love him, you will begin your love yourself. As you love yourself as God loves you, the immeasurable gratitude as his child will invade all areas of your life. Doubt replaced with confident expectation. Purpose replacing wandering. Undeniable hope driving away despair and doubt. Oh can you feel it? The blood of Jesus beginning to course through your veins as righteousness permeates your body, your life, your witness.

    Today is the first day of the rest of your life. What will you do with it?

    You’ve got this.

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  • The Love of the Maker

    Mamaw would get up about 4:30 am to make her homemade and World famous biscuits. Well, they were famous in our family and that was my whole world as a little boy.

    I remember there would be groans and begging from the teenagers and pre-teens aimed at Mamaw to ‘please start making the biscuits later, to which she would smile and stay with her schedule.’ Anyone who knew my tiny little grandmother would tell you she was stubborn (resolute in today’s “proper” definition) and maintained her schedule.

    The flour would be sifted and mixed with just the right amount baking powder, water, Crisco (only Crisco), rolled out with the same rolling pin that she had had for decades. I know there is a story about her rolling pin that may have gone back to she and Papaw’s wedding. Then the biscuits were cut out using a Clabber Girl can that had one end cut off, precisely cutting each biscuit perfectly round to fit exactly on the baking sheet to maximize amount. I am guessing the amount made on Christmas Eve morning was less than the 100 dozen that my mind recollects. I’m not sure who has that Clabber Girl can but it was a treasure among our family and we asked Mamaw every year ‘how many biscuits she had cut with that can?’

    “For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” Psalm 30:5

    The groans of the early morning surrendered to the aroma of those heavenly inspired circles of pure love. The desires to prolong the night and delay the morning soon gave way to the joy of splitting the biscuits in half and drowning them in homemade gravy (still don’t like gravy), or adding butter or some type of homemade jam, or just using them to sop up some of the eggs. Yes, ‘sop’ is a word in the Crooked Creek Christmas, Ky and now, Lenoir City, TN language.

    I remember Mamaw being asked by my aunt and mother “if she was going to eat,” as she sat back and watched her beloved family devour her hard work. As a young boy I thought that was a lot of work for 20-30 minutes of eating. Now as I look back, I can see the absolute love and joy in her face as she watched what she created with love be ingested in love by her most beloved. Tear rolling down my face as I write this.

    Grandma’s biscuits were discussed for decades to come after she graduated to Heaven. There were many attempts to replicate them but the truth is we could not replicate being 9,12,13,14 & 15. We could not replicate the sounds of Mamaw, mom & Aunt Lorraine talking and reminiscing. We could replicate dad, Uncle Monroe & Papaw discussing the events of the area and extended family. We could not replicate those delicious biscuits made most delicious by the beauty of love, kindness and serving. Joy invaded our Christmas Eve and the gateway was most certainly Mamaw’s biscuits.

    This Christmas Eve, take a moment to read the Christmas Story with whoever you are with. It can be found in Luke 2:1-20. Recognize that the joy of life is in the process. That God created us for a lifetime of growth and gain. That the ingredients of your life will prove to be someone’s source of hope and joy if you will allow the Baker to mold and make you.

    This Christmas Eve, recognize the simple and inexplicable beauty in the way that the only true King came and dwelt among us. See Jesus for exactly who he was and is. The Son of the most high God who taught us the least will be first and the first will be last. He showed us that royalty washes the feet of the broken. That the Creator of all most often speaks to us in whispers as Elijah learned because He wants to make sure we are listening. The Omnipotent does not have to announce himself and you, his daughter of son can rest wholly in the knowledge the he loves you so much that his son was born for you this night. Oh, holy night. Oh night when God came down for his children through his beloved son.

    “Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.” 1 Kings 19:11-12

    Mamaw’s biscuits were made without bright lights, photos, Snap, BeReal or other attention drawing desires. Mamaw made her biscuits as an external outpouring of her amazing internal love for each of us. She did not have to say “I made these because I love you.” That was more than understood.

    You are loved by the only King who came to earth. That is enough.

    You’ve got this. Merry Christmas Eve

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  • Experiential Ramblings

    I’m not sure why God has placed upon my heart to reminisce about my childhood Christmas memories this year. Maybe it’s the loss of my father and facing this and every Christmas to come without his physical presence. Maybe it’s the profound sadness that all of the grandparents and parents are gone. Perhaps it’s the absolute celebration of knowing exactly that all of our family’s leaders are in Heaven celebrating the King of all Kings every day in inconceivable worship, joy and praise.

    “No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.” John 16:27

    I wrote earlier this year the beautiful African proverb that says “when an elder dies, a library burns down.” I have lost Smithsonian-sized libraries over the past few years but they left indelible wisdom and faith within me that causes the library to continue. The truths shared and taught have not changed, just the messenger.

    “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

    I don’t know why and I don’t need to know why. I just need to remember and share. I just need to willingly accept a new role of leadership within my family, my extended family and anyone that God chooses to place in my path. A role that conveys the Savior’s love. A love so deep, so wide and so long that he desires for every person to choose him, whether early in life, mid-life, or in the last season of one’s life. Choose him. Matthew 20:1-16

    I have lived in seasons where phones still sat on a table or hung on a wall. Where cars used leaded gas and paint contained lead that covered our walls. I have lived in times where friendships and relationships were formed based upon parents schedules. A time of parents leading families. A time where the value of eating around a table for dinner was recognized and protected. A time when mothers felt comfortable and compelled to be mothers to all kids around them. Where fathers were present and leading, not fleeing. Regardless of socio-economic status, race, political leanings or spiritual beliefs, people were valued. I lived in a time that your kindness and genuineness mattered more than your wardrobe or achievements on a grass field. I lived in a time where disagreements were handled face to face, not by the fickle mob. I lived in a time when we walked up to one another’s doors, knocked and were accepted in without numerous layers of pre-meeting vetting. We were a community that existed for one another.

    “Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.” Romans 13:8

    I feel compelled to write this year about Christmas memories because I was and am blessed beyond blessed to have had deeply flawed and incredibly kind people love me despite, not because. My family loved me and provided me a safe, kind, loving, encouraging, environment each Christmas, regardless of how I had failed them during the year. It was a sweet time where we set aside issues and personality conflicts because Jesus came so that all who chose him were welcome. In similar manner, our family welcomed all who were present regardless of issues preceding or proceeding those blessed days of celebrating the birth of the only true King. The Son. The Savior. Jesus. Christmas

    “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6

    We’re in a next Season of confusing days. A Season where we are saying we’re not religious, we’re Christ followers. (Someone’s clever semantics that I have used.). A Season where we use terms like ‘my truth,’ ‘your truth’ and refrain from sharing the only truth for fear of rejection or offense. A Season that says if I disagree with you, I am rejecting you. A Season that rewards ambiguity and rejects absolute truth. A Season that is calling Christ’s daughters and sons to become loud bearers of truth through incomprehensible love that comes only through the Father. A Season saying the World desperately needs hope like never before. What will you do?

    I guess I have felt compelled to write about my blessed childhood Christmases as I witness the continual dilution of the greatest Christian event in the history of humanity. God sent his only Son, who he loved and loves with a greater love than any human mother or father can ever possibly love their child. He gave us the blessing of Christmas to remind us of the greatest gift that would ever be given. Hope. Grace. Mercy. Salvation. Eternity. His only begotten Son.

    “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 NLT

    I know many will read my posts as that of an old man “who just doesn’t get that times have changed and that he needs to change with the times.” You are correct. I am a man turning 60 in seventy days. I am a man blessed to have lived long enough to tell you that everything of limited meaning or human assigned value will change, but the steadfast love of God never changes. That God never changes. That the reason why Jesus was sent to earth as a baby has not and will not change. I am writing to assure you, as a man with some years of experience, that the love, joy, hope and offer of eternity with the Father in Heaven is the same today as it was when Jesus rose from the grave and ascended to Heaven.

    “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.” Lamentations 3:22-24 KJV

    I encourage you to accept the opportunity that God has placed in front of you this Christmas Season. Set aside the bling and focus on the only true thing. Jesus and salvation.

    You’ve got this. Merry Christmas

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  • The Most Valuable $5 That I Never Received

    The Most Valuable $5 That I Never Received

    “And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ” Acts 20:35 NLT

    “Myron, I will give you $5 if you can guess what I got you.” The words and challenge that would live in infamy for decades to come.

    For years in those Crooked Creek Christmases, we would buy a gift for everyone else. So each of us would buy 10 gifts for the ten family members. I believe the gift limit was originally set at $2 per person, then upped to $5 as the years went by. It was awesome. I remember my mother taking me to places like Gold Circle, Ben Franklin and if in Mt. Vernon, Hyatt’s Five & Dime. Each store laden with treasures too marvelous to comprehend.

    “He does great things too marvelous to understand. He performs countless miracles.” Job 5:9

    The learning and incredible value in these gift limits and buying for all ages from 10 to 70 was in the thought. In the effort. In the anticipation. In the beauty of giving from limited resources to express one’s unlimited love. It is really quite remarkable as I recall those Christmas mornings so choked full of presents, that the only present I distinctly remember is the one given me by my Aunt Lorraine. My mom’s only surviving sister, who was in many ways a second mother to me.

    We made the gift-giving fun by making the giving and receipt a production. The preparation of the gift included disguising the gift with large (or small) boxes, placing things like bricks, coins, things that rattle, etc., inside. Using wrapping paper and various types of tape that made the gifts difficult to breach, and on and on and on. We always took turns, either from oldest (person) to youngest or vice versa. I always dreaded the oldest to youngest because the wait was brutal for a young boy.

    There were ten rounds of gift opening that always involved a bathroom break. Yep, head out to the outhouse or for the boys, one end of the porch. Usually involved gathering up the massive amounts of boxes and wrapping paper at halftime. Getting a drink, a snack or whatever was needed. How could anything be ‘needed’ while gift giving and opening was occurring? The agony of halftime! Almost too much to bear.

    So the gifts were given and received. Miraculously as God always does, the love for one another grew exponentially. Those limited value, by the World’s standards, gifts became priceless. Valued because of the giver, because of the effort, because of the thought, because of the time expended. Valued because the giver loved the recipient and they switched places during the gift opening process where giver became receiver.

    On that infamous Christmas morning around 1976, my aunt threw down the challenge whose value was equal to or greater than the value of the gift. $5 if I guessed the gift. $5! A fortune. So I held that gift. I shook it. I smelled it, as we were all prone to do. I lifted it high to see if light might shine through and reveal a key detail. I thought and then it hit me: ‘it’s a ball.’ My aunt’s face fell and revealed that I had solved the mystery. It was indeed a ball. Specifically, a football. And that’s where the great disagreement began. And it was great for decades to come.

    My aunt refused the payment with laughter and love because I had not specifically identified a football. I harassed her for decades to come that she owed me $5 for the correct guess. And it struck me after several years that the $5 offered was worth infinitely more because of the joy, love and laughter that the giver represented in my life. She was a priceless gift from God to me, throughout my life until God called her home last year. I never received that $5 dollars, but received a lifetime of love and encouragement from my sweet aunt and those 10 people giving gifts each Christmas morning.

    My prayer for you is that this Christmas you become acutely aware that your presence in someone’s life is worth exponentially more than the present you might hand them. That your life is a gift to those around you. That Jesus came to earth on Christmas morning because you were and are worth his life, his death and his resurrection. That Jesus looks at you, rubs the scars in his hands and comments to his father (God), “dad I would die for them all over again.” I pray that this Christmas $5 shows up in your life.

    “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” 2 Corinthians 9:6-7 ESV

    It is truly more blessed to give than receive.

    You’ve got this. Merry Christmas

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  • Dashing Through the Snow

    “Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand.” Psalm 73:23 ESV

    I remember vividly coming to mamaw and papaw’s house for Christmas when we lived in Fort Worth, TX, while dad pursued his Master’s Degree (and graduated) from seminary. This would have been around 1969 or 1970.

    The travel time was really long in that old Ford Fairlane station wagon. We drove through Texarkana, Little Rock, Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville and into Kentucky. As we came out of Jellico, TN the snow started. We were within 60 miles of our destination.

    In those days, road plows were rare and especially rare during the holidays. I remember mom being nervous. My sisters and I being awestruck by the snow, at first, then becoming increasingly worried as the inches piled up. Dad kept driving. Resolute. Focused. Assuring. Carefully passing those who had pulled over or who clearly lacked his ability to navigate this white gift.

    As we got to the Mt. Vernon exit it hit me that we had to go down ‘Big Hill.’ So named because it truly was a big hill. For those with knowledge of road grades, probably a 10-degree slope for at least a half mile. The road down Big Hill had literally been cut into the side of the mountain, with turns and twists for that treacherous 1/2 mile. And I guess for budgetary or lack of proper machinery reasons, a guard rail had never been installed.

    My questions spewed out as my nervousness grew. ‘Dad, should we stay somewhere else tonight?’ ‘Dad, are we going to be okay?’ ‘Dad, what happens if we slide over Big Hill and down the mountain?’ And on and on. My father, in that moment patiently answered my questions, allowed me to snuggle up right next to him, sans seatbelts or car seat. Apparently I grew up during the period of negligent parenting, yet miraculously survived. Ah, another story for another time. Dad knew that in that moment, his presence was paramount for my little heart’s peace and feeling of safety.

    As we crested Bill Hill and began the descent, my heart raced, my anxiety became outright panic and my fear of the unknown almost too much to bear. Dad kept driving. I look anxiously around the car and my sisters were calm and looking at the beautiful snow all around. Finally, beautifully, assuringly, lovingly my oldest sister said “Myron, we’re fine. Dad knows what he is doing. He would never allow us to get hurt.” Immediately, her words of assurance and wisdom, because she is 5 years older than me, released all my emotions of fear and dread. Dad had us close and safe.

    Dad skillfully went to the side of the road closest to the mountain and furthest from the edge and drop off. He put the driver’s side wheels in the rut that water runoff had eroded and that rut served as a guide and guard as we conquered Bill Hill, which when we reached the bottom was not so big after all.

    Christmas that year was especially awesome because we played in the snow for what seemed like eternity. Forgetting the stresses and time of the journey and experiencing the joy, love, play and laughter of the destination. Papaw and Mamaw’s little green oasis tucked in that little Kentucky holler.

    My prayer for you is that you see that the obstacles placed in your life’s path are there to draw you closer to our Dad in Heaven. That you see and understand that what causes us to fear, God has already conquered. That by releasing your anxiety of the unknown to the Author of all, allows hope and joy to invade your life with the refreshing blanket of new fallen snow. That by surrendering your life’s journey, the eternal joy and love awaits to reward you in infinitely greater ways than those moments or seasons of worry.

    The lyrics to that beautiful hymn ring out “trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, than to trust and obey.”

    My prayer for you this Christmas Season is that a blanket of safety and an understanding of a life surrendered to Jesus becomes more than enough. It is.

    “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10 ESV

    You’ve got this.

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  • My Bethlehem

    “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)

    I remember driving up that little holler in Appalachia, KY called Crooked Creek, oftentimes with snow glistening or heavy frost saying ‘yes’ it’s Christmastime.

    In Crooked Creek the houses were mostly heated by coal and the smoke would lay horizontally in the air as it escaped the pipes from which the pot belly stoves heated the home. This little area deemed insignificant by most was my whole World of joy, love and connection as a boy, during the most significant time of the year. When hope given was celebrated. Crooked Creek was my Bethlehem. A quiet place of little significance until the invasion of my family, where it became the epicenter of my universe.

    “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.” Micah 5:2 ESV

    As we would drive up the 5 or so miles, my mind would race thinking of the gifts that would be given and gotten. The endless biscuits that grandma would make from scratch. My saying yet again, “no thanks, I don’t care for grandma’s sawmill gravy,” to the absolute shock of all around. The games of Jacks that would reveal exceptional skills and lack thereof. The laughter at my mom and aunt struggling yet committed to reciting the Night Before Christmas. My father or uncle reading the Christmas story because my papaw could not read or write and loved to hear the story of God’s immeasurable love given through His son, the baby named Jesus. A time absent TV, phones, video games, social media. A time of socialization among three generations of family with the common bond whose name is Jesus.

    In the early years our family of 11 gathered and each bought a gift for each other. The gifts were inconsequential by the day’s standards but the love and anticipation of the giver and the recipient held beauty, care, love, laughter and represented time. The gift of time spent. Time taken. Time surrendered. Time. The statement that you, the recipient of my gift, are worthy of my time and effort. Much like the Father in Heaven tells us each day as he awaits our prayers and petitions. He awaits and desires our discussions with him through time surrendered and time valued.

    I cannot recall the gifts unwrapped, but I know the reason for the gifts. I struggle to remember the conversations, but I remember the laughter. I’m not sure of the number of days we were together but count as priceless the days we were together. I was never privy to the financial challenges that our families getting together caused but recall with complete clarity the joy that invaded that little green house that became home and hope each Christmas.

    I am so grateful for the idyllic Christmas experiences that I was gifted as a child. Very little money. Never magnificent trips. Home cooked meals, void of exotic dishes. The gift of laughter, love, time and Jesus that were ever present in those precious moments.

    Today I pray that this Christmas will bring you hope, joy, laughter, purpose and promise. The promise that is Jesus. The assurance of God’s redeeming love given in the form of a baby, whose birth, death and resurrection reconciled us to God and God to us.

    “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” Isaiah 7:14 KJV

    And 700 years later

    “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” Matthew 1:23 KJV

    This year commit to creating Christmas traditions that place Christ at the epicenter, surrounded by love, laughter, joy, uninterrupted time and your presence in these precious moments of eternal promise.

    You’ve got this. Merry Christmas

  • There are No Victims Where Victors Roam

    I love when I am blessed with someone who shares simple, beautiful, true wise words on social media.  (It doesn’t happen often.)

    Recently I have seen a lot of posts about church hurt and the solicitation of things like ‘tell me your story’ or ‘share your church hurt.’  Pastors preparing to preach sermons on the topic.  Church staff feeling wronged by their particular church wanting to exact an ounce of flesh for being ‘wronged.’  A mob mentality emerging that if enough of us feel victimized, band together and share our story, elicit sympathy from the equally broken, then we must be victims.

    Then I see a wise, humble man and Bishop in his denomination simply write something to the effect of ‘I have preached and shared the Gospel throughout the World for the past 50 years and choose to focus on spreading the good news of Jesus rather than focus on the hope limiting topics like church hurt.’  Wow!  Thank you, my brother and friend in Pigeon Forge, TN, selling jewelry as a source of income but most likely, as a source of spreading the hope that is Jesus Christ.

    I am not looking for any kind of fight or disagreement.  I am not judging because I am too busy struggling with the log in my own eye.  “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?”  Matthew 7:3 NIV

    My question for you to consider is are you approaching a church situation from a victim’s mentality or a Kingdom commitment?  Here is why I ask.  I have worked with organizations for decades and find those committed to impact choose to move past the roadblocks of human failings.  Leaders emerge and do not have to be assigned or defined.  Leaders choose to either lead forward or lead astray.  Victims and a victim mentality are tools of Satan empowered to lead in wrong ways and in wrong directions.  Just a hard truth.

    “Anyone who has an ear should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I will give the victor the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in God’s paradise.”  Revelation 2:7 HCSB

    Serving in this new season of life, God has assigned me the role of helping men walk into the identity that he (Almighty God) has given them.  That is imbedded within them.  That is desperate and desiring to rise up in and through them.  That their past experiences are fuel cells for the task that lays before them.  That as Believers in Christ Jesus, our role is to build the Church.  To serve the Church and the church.  To be a source of hope, love, peace, perseverance, consistency and Christlike example in the Church and the church.

    Why do I write the capital C Church and the lower-case, church.  The capital C church is the body of Christ.  When a member of the Church is hurt, the body that is the Church heals.  The body that is the Church, circles around and protects.  The body that is the Church empowers and embraces the member who is hurt.

    “In the same way, the victor will be dressed in white clothes, and I will never erase his name from the book of life but will acknowledge his name before My Father and before His angels.”  Revelation 3:5. HCSB

    There is risk in relationships and especially relationships that we voluntarily associate with.  My own experience is that there is infinitely more risk in disassociation and separation.  A physical church body is a beautiful group of broken individuals committed to having supernatural impact because of the King they serve.  The local church should be filled with people in various stages of recovery and more important, in various stages of victory.  Personalities differ.  Life experiences differ.  Expectations differ.  Needs differ.  Deliveries differ.  Expectations differ.  Blended together, the differences create a tapestry of life and hope so needed by each of us.

    “I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd.”  John 10:16 NLT

    If you belong to the body of Christ, the Church, you are a victor.  There are no victims in the Church and in Heaven.  Grace and Mercy remove all victimization and replaces those lies with the truth that is Christ. 

    “I am an overcomer and I overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of my testimony.”  Revelation 12:11

    The hope is this.  We serve a consistent God who never differs and whose love never waivers.  That is enough.

    “Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world.”  1 John 4:4

    Trust in this.  Great new church bodies were and are formed by brothers and sisters in Christ, who may have left their last church for wrong reasons that God has and is using for good.  Perhaps your negative experience is God’s pressing you to be the new wine that becomes a new body of His kids.  That is enough!

    You’ve got this.

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  • Join Me

    ‘I can’t wait for you to get here.’ What if God is saying that to you right now?

    “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.” Ephesians 1:11-12 NIV

    I was talking with a couple of friends yesterday about moving from God sees who you are to a definitive, God knows who you are. This is your identity. That the Creator of all things knows exactly who you are.

    Now take it a step further and consider that God is already where your life is headed. He is. He is waiting. He is providing the tools for your journey into the person he has created you to be.

    God the Father is the god of today and tomorrow. He is omnipresent, in our today’s, tomorrow’s and yes, in our yesterday’s. He is forward facing and patiently waits for our faith to overcome our insecurities and our limiting thoughts.

    So my question and encouragement to you this morning is simple. How would you choose to face today and the coming days if God says to you, ‘I am at the destination that I created you to achieve and you are marvelously living in victory and impact.’ He is. This is and has always been his plan. For your impact. For your influence. For your example. For your leading. For your peace, love, joy. For your contentment.

    Recognizing that God is already where we are headed provides the answer to any questions of our future. Accepting that God is already there is the catalyst that causes us to walk into our future, free of fear and without hesitation.

    The great general, Robert E. Lee, never feared defeat because he accepted that God’s providence had already determined all outcomes. Do not fear your future with God, because he has already predetermined your life’s outcomes. He is saying walk in the life journey he has planned and come to the home that I have for you. Every journey starts with one step. Today is your first step.

    “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” James 4:13-15 ESV

    You’ve got this.

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  • Purpose in All Things

    “As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous— not even one.” Romans 3:10 NLT

    Did you know that Romans 3:10 was quoting Psalms 14 and 51, written over 1,100 years earlier? The point here is that God’s word is timeless and his message never changing. Be steadfast because God is steadfast and know without question that God is without time. God is never changing and always loving. Also accept that a healthy fear of the holiness of God is wise and true.

    I recall listening to a former and then shunned elder/senior leader of the Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormon) describe why he left that group/religion/cult. He described how their belief system required pursuing righteousness/holiness and how achieving Heaven was based upon works of the father/husband and subsequently his family, based upon his actions. He then told of a dream where he was shown a sheet of paper laying flat next to the Empire State Building and in the dream was told, “this is how high you can achieve Heaven though your own efforts.” The lesson that led him to a relationship with Jesus was Grace and Mercy and the unfathomable free gift of Heaven and eternity that we are all offered.

    Gratitude is easier to expand when we accept that we simply cannot earn what is freely given. That supernatural things can and will be done through us when we surrender and trust. That Grace and Mercy allow our limitations from past memories (sin) to be thrown as far as the East is from the West. While also allowing our past to be a catalyst to our future. Gratitude grows when we acknowledge that our life’s learnings are a gift to be used. That our story is truly unique and a powerful hope to others.

    I have heard this statement many times and rest in its truth. “God does not call the qualified, He qualifies the called.”” So good. So freeing. So empowering. So true.

    So today, walk into God’s appointing on your life. If you’re not feeling anything, then pray and listen for his still, small voice. Be keenly aware that the battle for a Believer’s life has been won and now the battle is for your faith, trust, belief. Your impact. There is a purpose for each of us and plan for each of us walk into the purpose of our life. God qualified those he appoints.

    Be grateful in all things. Be expectant in a things. Be open to all things. Be giving in all things. Be accepting in all things. Be ready for all things. Be loving in all things.

    “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.” John 13:34 NLT

    Walk into the fresh and freeing winds of Grace and Mercy given by the Creator of the winds that carry you.

    You’ve got this.