This was the day the Power came to us.

John 14:12 gave foresight to it.
Acts 1 reads that Jesus told of the Power to come.
Acts 2 tells of it happening and the result is still being played out.

Read it.

I hope you are living it.

The works Jesus did, we can do, because He went to The Father.

He told us The Holy Spirit would come, come into us…when He went to The Father.

These statements told us The Power would come to us.

We need to be more cognizant of that.

We need to rehearse that in our minds, hearts, souls and spirits.

The Disciples were called and chosen by Jesus.

So were you….
if you are His follower.

The same Power that rushed in like a roaring wind upon those chosen and called fishermen…. will come to you ….
as a chosen and called church-age believer.

The Spirit came upon them in the
Church age …for when Jesus ascended …it became the Church age.

We are in the Church Age.

The Spirit is here for the Church Age.

For us.

This should be a day believers celebrate as much as when Jesus was born.

For on Pentecost ….
an equal Gift was given to us.

If The Trinity is three-in-one and all are God… as Jesus was the Presence of God on earth…
then the empowering gift of The Holy Spirit is the Presence of God in me…in you.

Jesus walked with the Disciples.

The Disciples saw Jesus minister, preach and perform miracles.

They became more than spectators
though when the POWER came upon them …as Jesus had told them earlier.

They were empowered to do those same things….
back to John 14:12.

They were empowered because they were filled.

We can be empowered that same way because we can be filled the same way.

The Disciples watched, walked and learned from Jesus for those three years. They were trained, not to be spectators, but to carry out the same work Jesus did… after being filled with His Spirit.

We watch and learn and are trained as well. But as The Twelve, we are not trained to forever be spectators watching from the seats.
Being filled…
we are to be putting the gift to full use.

It started in Acts …
and It’s still being played out today.

Pentecost….
the day the POWER came to us.

 

On Monday,  we traditionally remember those who served in the Armed Forces, who served and defended our country.

Concord, Tripoli, Cantigny, Omaha Beach, Iwo Jima, Khyber Pass… all battles fought and eventually won….for our security.

I would recommend something…

take this “Memorial” and before remembering American soldiers… remember the Soldier who gave His Life for you physically and spiritually.

 

Those men and women who have served and sacrificed for our country deserve honor and acclaim and remembrance. They trained, prepared, traveled, fought and hopefully realized the victories and freedoms we have enjoyed.

The Spiritual Soldier Who won freedom for all people of all nations deserves HONOR, ACCLAIM and REMEMBRANCE. Unlike the trained soldiers who did not know what was out there before them…He knew what was to come. He knew there would be victory, but a great price was to be paid.

 

Those American soldiers physically defended our country and won wars against aggressor nations who attacked us or our allies.

Christ battled physically and spiritually the common enemy of every nation, every tribe, every person who has walked on the ground He created.

 

He, Himself, won our freedom.

Our Eternal Freedom.

 

Those who have served America won wars and battles which sometimes have had to be repeated.

Generals and Admirals have strategized and led troops into battles ….achieved victory … and then gone home.

And in the twentieth century, sometimes had to go back and fight on the same ground their soldiers’  blood was spilled on earlier.

Wars fought and won between nations have many times not been permanent. Ground has been taken, only to be vacated and fought over again.

My father called me in 1972, after I had been involved in the last Draft…
and told me never to consider signing up to go fight in Southeast Asia because the war was not being fought to win…. he said it was not worth the lives being lost.
And he was a MARINE.

The ground taken by Our Single Soldier was won forever and always, and that War will never need to be fought again. The blood spilled was His, the Price paid was and is permanent.

Only one life was lost…
or voluntarily sacrificed…
and that was temporary.

As in the battles between nations…
ideas and philosophies are debated afterwards…and other wars may later arise.

Ideas and philosophies may be and are debated in regard to what Christ achieved…by people who hold those varying thoughts.

However…

that spiritual struggle for the souls of every created being …

was decisively and convincingly
won when the Single Soldier rose
out of Joseph’s tomb.

If Douglas McArthur intended to humiliate the defeated foe at the signing ceremony of surrender…on the USS Missouri

how much more did The Greatest Warrior humiliate His and our enemy only three days after the most important battle began.

While not discounting the honor and esteem due so many
American Soldiers…

remember
commemorate
never discount
pronounce and acclaim

the Single Soldier Who won the War for our souls.

 

May, 2017

 

I have been thinking about how we,
as a nation, have become so
permissive.

So permissive of so many things.

And my train of thought betrays that very topic.

I have time and comfort to THINK about something like this.

That must mean I am not threatened with harm or hunger, and that I am not worried enough about shelter for tonight or income for next week.

Going back into history, when a nation is on the edge of survival,
when a threatening strongman hovers over them or food lines are the daily normal … there are more immediate necessities that must be dealt with.

These immediate necessities lead to a more strict adherence to rules and measures that help meet what is needed that day.

When a nation is in a conflict for survival, when a military is in the midst of war….there is no time for social experiments or rationalizing about existence.

It’s all about simply preserving that existence.

Since the cessation of hostilities in 1945, our nation has been progressing toward the comfort we enjoy today.

It was interrupted in September, 2001. The sense of fear, threat and harm became real… for a period of time.

Church attendance spiked for a short time.

Prayer was no longer taboo in public and political forums.

Fear was present…therefore the presence of God was sought and His Name was invoked often.

But even then…our personal dwellings and daily provisions were not threatened.

We are a comfortable nation.

When one grows more and more comfortable there is a tendency toward an increasing level of permissiveness.

The thought that ” it will be okay”
or ” what’s so bad about that”….
becomes common thought.

In those times, we have seen that stretching the accepted norm toward an extreme fails to interrupt our level of comfort.

We fail to see the long term effect of a short term decision.

An example……
when Harry Blackmun,
made up the discovery of a clause in the Constitution that gave him the backbone to push his agenda …
we arrived at the approved decision that taking a unborn life for the convenience of the mother was Law. Yet there was a failure to see that there would eventually be about 59 million young lives never realized since that time.

For those who say we need more workers and revenue….
that number is roughly equivalent to the current populations of California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada and Arizona.

Reread that.

For a child born in 1973 would today be a voting taxpayer of 46 years of age. Probably with at least one or two children. Add that up.

Might there have been one more Steve Jobs or another Martin Luther King in that number…who could positively impact society…?

 

Comfort does bring good things.
Comfort is what we seek.
We should not negate the comforts we enjoy.

However, comfort can also bring a relaxing of both the adherence to and the acceptance of rules and guidelines that worked in the past, therefore are time-tested.

It’s a cycle which brought down the strongest civilizations.

Consider the temporary problem
Nebuchadnezzar had and the shortened life of Belshazzar….in the Old Testament.

My point is made….if you are thinking  that reference to be out-dated, or not applicable today.

Comfort causes human nature to rationalize that everyone should be allowed to engage in or practice whatever leads them to be “happy”….and that old ways no longer apply because we have “evolved”.

The pursuit of happiness.
It’s in the Constitution.

May we be in pursuit of comfort and happiness, though, without forsaking those behaviors  and practices which brought us to the level of comfort we enjoy today.

If one forgets what led to the success of a business….the success will eventually disappear.

Absolutes,
of which there are many,
do not fail to exist and matter,
merely because they have brought about success.

May we not permit the comfort we now enjoy to draw us away from those things we did to get here.

That brings to mind Paul’s  words …
in Hebrews 2……
“Therefore, we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip”.

A Supreme Court justice nominee once called it….
” slouching toward Gomorrah”.

Slouching is not attractive or allowed in your child and
Gomorrah is universally accepted as a place where comfortable decadence brought destruction.

It’s a place to stay away from.

Had to spend a week in the hospital in March.
Felt fatigued, thought it to be the flu.
Was checked, no flu.
Flu-like symptoms.

After three days of more fatigue and
being mostly in the bed, and upon a 100’+ temperature and an infected spot on my left foot… my wife insisted I go back to the hospital.

She was wise.

Staph infection in my blood.
Not knowing if its was MRSA or
simple staphylococcus…
I was admitted to the hospital.

Immediate infusion of antibiotics and blood tests were done on a consistent basis for the next several days.

A trans-esophageal echogram was performed on me to determine if the staph had gone to my heart.

After the blood work and cultures
had been done for a few days a particular approach was developed by the infectious disease doctor.

He visited me and outlined the infection in the blood, what that meant and the method of treatment he was considering.

Two days later he visited again with his determination and the results of the echogram done inside the esophagus.

The staph had not attached to the heart and he outlined the next round of antibiotics.

I had a chance to ask him questions about the infection.

He told me I was the cause of it.

He said I was my own worst enemy.

Having varying levels of atopic dermatitis since I was 23 years old,
the Doctor relayed to me that this infection came upon me because I had scratched open a place on my skin. Staph… which exists in so many places… entered the bloodstream through the open wound in my skin.

He said I had probably had this before but it had not risen to this level.

My skin, which is supposed to be a shield against germs and bacteria, protecting all of the inner elements of the body, had been compromised….
and the intended protection it is created to provide,
failed.

It failed …. not of its own accord…
but because I compromised it myself.

I was sick….
and I had brought it upon myself.

We talked about diseases and their origins and then I asked the Doctor a question I have had in my mind for about a year.

“If I had lived in earlier or ancient times ….with the condition I have currently…how would I have survived without steroids or modern skin treatments???

He answered….and it’s what I thought might have been the case.

“You would have been a leper”.

“You would have damaged your skin and without modern medicine, you would have contracted Leprosy.”

I thought about that conversation during the next few days of the hospital stay… once again the Grace of God led me to another realization of Thankfulness.

As I have resumed normal life, with a renewed appreciation for modern medicine ….the events of March and April have led me to another thought.

As the skin is created with the intention of being a shield and a protection against the harm of bacteria and infection…
so the Armor of God is intended to be covering us and shielding us against the approach of the germ and destructive infection of evil.

And just as I broke my own shield of protection by opening the skin, I caused it to fail.

It did not fail on its own accord.

The Armor of God does not fail if it is allowed to do its work as it is intended to do.

We can fail to put it all on….

We can fail to ALLOW it to do its powerful work…

It….in and of Itself
does not
and will not fail.

For it is forged spiritually,

We are, however,
spiritual beings in physical bodies.

I brought and caused weakness in the protective shield of my skin.

I can break my body….
I cannot break Armor forged by God.

The only breakage possible in the
functioning of God’s Armor is in our
role allowing It to do Its work.

Initially, we fail the potentiality of It if we refuse SALVATION.

Or by failing to use the SWORD of the SPIRIT….and not knowing or using SCRIPTURE.

Or by not appropriating the SHIELD of FAITH….
by not operating in TRUTH…
by not walking in PEACE.
by not living in the given gift of
RIGHTEOUSNESS.

As I might have in earlier times
suffered physically from leprosy…
I have an Advocate Who will not allow a leprosy of my spirit.

As I recall the Doctor telling me that I am my own worst enemy in maintaining the protection my skin allows…

I realized I don’t need a second enemy…for I have a spiritual enemy seeking the theft, death and destruction of all God has gifted and given me.

Therefore,
may I be further committed to
hear everyday and
consistently obey
the urging of Gods Voice
to put on His Armor
to stay in my place
to allow His Armor It’s Work.

I have read many books in my many years.

When I was young and living at home I read a good bit.
Whenever we traveled I had a book with me. Now, it was not always Dostoyevsky, but it was not always Sports Illustrated either.
In my college days I read for classes in Literature. I read The Classics, both English and American.

Later on I read simply to learn and also for enjoyment. I determined in Graduate School that I would read every afternoon for at least 90 minutes.

When you read a good or great book… you probably remember a great deal about it.

Have you ever gone back and read a great book again?

I have read
LOOK HOMEWARD, ANGEL three times. It has never meant as much as it meant to me when I was a 20 year old college student wondering what life was going to be like and what it held for me.

At that time, at that age …
that book meant more and spoke to me more than any novel and any book ever had.

Some people would never read a book twice.

How do you feel about reading books in The Bible…??

If you have read The Gospel of JOHN , would you say….
“I have already read that book,
I don’t have to read it again”…???

If you have read PROVERBS….
would you read it again???

I have heard long-time church-goers say …”I have heard that before, I have already read that…. I got that.”

In my mind, that attitude is a limited outlook of an unfathomable opportunity.
There are some books I read with a pen in my hand … because I know there will be memorable phrases.

My copy of Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steven Jobs…is
half underlined because of the memorable words and comments of Jobs, Gates, Jonathan Ivie and a few others.

I encourage you to read The Scriptures with a pen in your hand.

There are memorable phrases.

I have read Psalms, Proverbs,
The Gospel of John, James,
Paul’s epistles….
at different times and at different ages in my life.

These books and other Scripture hold current application at whatever time I have read them.

LOOK HOMEWARD, ANGEL was most applicable and held the most meaning to me when I was on the cusp of adulthood.

Scripture holds applicability and
meaning for each and every moment and stage of life….
because we are consistently on the cusp of eternity.
Novels are written by man’s hand guided by man’s heart and mind about man’s limited experiences.

Scripture was written by man’s hand guided by The Almighty God about God’s Unlimited Plan for and Eternal Role in man’s experiences.

Man’s hand can write about a life and the events contained within that limited existence.

God’s Guidance directed man’s hand to write about Creation, the life of a nation,  Christ’s Walk on the earth, time splitting eternal events, angels doing battle, fulfilled prophecies,
and the unlimited forecast of the eternal life that will be realized by everyone.

If one has any sense of the spiritual
significance of God speaking to man and desiring communion with His created beings…..
then the re-reading of His Word to us should never be shunned because of a previous exercise.
I have not heard my fathers voice in 33 years.

I can remember his words and can read them.

I have reread them.

They hold great meaning because they are his words…but they are not everyday applicable and directive.
I can say that I have already read
LOOK HOMEWARD ANGEL…
and that
I don’t need to read that book again.

Scripture speaks to us today as it did to the believers in Corinth, Ephesus and Thessolonica when Paul’s letters were read to them.

Because It is given to the writers by an eternal and omnipresent Spirit…. Scripture holds eternal and ever-current Truth.

In your life,
I hope there is always a need and desire to read that Book again.

 

Do you know the power in your voice?

Do you know the influence in your voice?

My father has been dead since 1983, but if it were that he could call me and speak…I would know and recognize the sound of his voice.

I have an Uncle whose voice is close to being identical to that of my Fathers…..

I recognize the similarity because I knew 

and stilll know 

my Father’s Voice.

Would you not recognize your Mothers voice….no matter the time since you have heard it?

It most likely was the first voice spoken to you and most familiar voice you heard in your first years.

Your children know your voice.
They recognize it when you speak.
They can tell your attitude by the inflection or tone.

The volume of your voice carries meaning as well.
“Raising” ones voice carries meaning and attitude.

Your Spouse can tell many things from the tone, inflection and volume of your voice.

And you know their change in tone, as well.

My father used to tell me that the problem was not necessarily WHAT I said….but the WAY I said it.

Know that your voice, in your house…and in the lives of those in your family….carries great weight.

Therefore, use it properly.

For several weeks, I have started reading aloud the Scripture to my wife when we get into bed at night.

I want her hearing my voice….
the voice of her husband,
reading God’s Word to her as she ends her day.

My desire is that the Assurance and Authority in God’s Word, and the Familiarity and Comfort of her husband’s voice… bless her as she passes into the rest granted her at the closing of the day.

I would believe your wife would benefit from the same thing.

Even if she does not admit initially,
your voice carries great meaning in her heart and in her spirit.

She needs to hear your voice.

It breeds confidence and assurance in her.

Your children need your voice in their ears. For through hearing your voice they gain the centerpiece of authority and assurance in their existence.

Though your audible voice, they will begin to hear and understand God’s usually inaudible voice as He speaks through His Word.

With the Power and Authority in our voice….we need to always be aware of the words we speak.

Our voice, carrying condemning words can cause massive damage.

Our voice, conveying correction,
can instruct and guide with proper authority.

Our voice, with words of blessing,
can cultivate and generate great balance and encouragement in those who hear our words.

The sound of your voice can bring
Peace, Destruction, Assurance or
Encouragement.

It can relieve, it can burden.

It can harm and hurt…..it can uplift and heal.

Understand the power in the sound of your voice.
Know that it has great effect on those closest to you.

Allow it to be governed properly.

Exercise the usage of it properly.

Just as Mary’s head and heart and hopes were lifted when she heard Christ say her name after His Resurrection… outside the tomb…..

your voice,
speaking to those who love you
can lift, love and lead their lives.

Put the power of your voice to good use.

Proactive.
Purposed Instruction.
Intentional Intervention.

Yesterday, I mentioned Mentors in my life and the respect I possess for them.

The active and kinetic movement of a Mentor is what they do to affect change. 

To Mentor is to teach. To Mentor is to coach.

To Mentor is to exhibit the traits taught earlier.
To Mentor is to “lifestyle” the things spoken.
To Mentor is to walk out and example behaviors conducive to success in a given field or activity.

Being a Mentor is not a passive act.

The neophyte needs active and interventionist behavior.

The first Mentor in life is a parent.
If a parent is passive then they have abdicated their role as leader and Mentor.

Bring a Parent/Mentor is the most difficult role because for the 18-25 years you teach and instruct them the one being instructed lives with you.

Therefore, consistency in your message and method is essential.

Preaching a message is a good thing.

Practicing the preached message is where the “rubber meets the road”.

That is a secret for all Mentors…

to consistently model the lessons
being taught.

It says you really believe it.

If you take your pre-school child to
bible school and they learn about Jesus…and you teach them that as well…
and you do not behave as if that message is important… 

the words spoken and the mentoring will be eventually seen as false.

You would be MENTORING a message
without MODELING  the needed behavior.

Mentoring is active ….kenetiic…
always watching the student…
and always being watched by the student.

It’s an everyday thing.

It’s an everyday active verb when it’s being exercised….
only becoming a noun when it’s accomplished.

Who is your “spiritual mentor”?

Not a preacher or a Bible character.

Is there a man or woman who was a spiritual role model to or for you?

Did you try to live like them?
Have you walked by them, learned their ways and grown to reflect them??

They may have taught you in a Class, they may have preached sermons which you heard, or they may have simply lived and modeled a life or lifestyle which showed you how to be more like Christ.

Think of the spiritual models in your life.

Mine are, initially, my Father. 

Then my paternal Grandfather and my Mother.

John J Buell
Harry Piland
Terri Taylor
AT Scott
George Green
Wallace Henley
Bill Venz

At different times and in varying ways, and two of them for just a short time, these people influenced me and modeled for me a spiritual behavior or trait that has greatly influenced or moved me toward What and Who Our Father desires for me to be.

I celebrate those people.

Not one of them is in my life today. 

However, their life and influence, cast and exerted when they walked in and spoke into my  life remains a living and fully functional existence which breathes in me and speaks through me to those I have the opportunity to touch today.

I am thankful for each of them.
Who are yours???

Think of them and celebrate them, express gratitude for them and to them.

Tomorrow……MENTOR, the Verb.

It’s called Investment.

If you do invest,
you deposit money over time and it yields value….maybe quickly, history reveals it always does, eventually.

For many people,
the most important element in their investment program is the proper use of their current income.

Walking away from money…
what is the most important investment you can make?

Time invested in The Scriptures.

What would be next?

If married,
It would be the investment made into the heart, eyes, ears and spirit of your Spouse.

Statements, actions and prayers…
made incrementally into your Spouse creates fertile ground for a great return….and yields the opportunity for great gains.

In every way you can name.

Just as you can place things needed later… on the back burner because they are not urgent…

You can ignore these deposits into your Mate because of “busy-ness” and eventually reach a point where you cannot make up the deficiency.

See your Spouse as you see your retirement account… if no deposits are made and little or no attention paid, there will eventually be no value.

And, if you only make withdrawals…
you will go into default.

No matter the time of life or the “busy-ness” of your current existence… invest in your Spouse on and with purpose….
with your ATTENTION
with your WORDS,
with your TIME…
with your HEART.

Know this…
You make time and you sacrifice for what you consider most valuable.

February, 2017

Follow me.

Sunday, a sixth round draft pick, the
199th player taken in the 2000 NFL
draft played in his seventh Super Bowl.
He has won five.

He has won over 200 NFL games.

More than one win for every player chosen before him in that draft.

He was MVP for the fourth time in the most intense sporting event in American sports.

He did not receive a plethora of offers out of high school.
The main way he attracted attention from college recruiters was from a highlight video his father made and sent out to 54 schools.

This year, maybe his best year, while he trained and prepared…
his efforts have been effected by knowing his mother has been undergoing chemotherapy and fighting a great battle herself.

Emotion has added additional fuel to Tom Brady’s fire.

Follow me.

In 1958,
Johnny and The Moondogs changed their name.
After playing in a cellar at lunchtime dates, they traveled to Germany to play. Upon hearing their single,
“My Bonnie” and realizing they were not a German band their new agent brought them back to Britain.

After going through two drummers and another couple of other guitarists, they settled on a name and The Beatles became popular in England before conquering America in February, 1964.

No band….NO BAND… has ever had the initial impact or lasting influence as they have had over the past 50 years.

Follow me, please.

Six NBA titles.
Six Finals MVPs.
5 seasonal MVPs.
10 time scoring champion.
The universally accepted position as the G. O. A. T.
The first athlete to achieve billionaire financial status.
The first athlete to be given a brand and legitimate equity in a sneaker company and propel the sneaker industry into financial legitimacy.

He was cut from his high school basketball varsity as a sophomore.

His father was murdered in a car at a roadside rest stop..

He was labeled a ball hog and a team killer in his early professional career.

His rivals teamed up to frustrate any progress toward a title for the first six years of his professional life.

The JORDAN RULES was the effort to knock him down and blanket him on the court.
Those RULES eventually drove him to the weight room, an everyday training regime …. and unmatched, successful fury.
These are three examples of undeniable GREATNESS.

These are examples that reveal there is always a backstory to Greatness.

Those successes that appear to come easy… as it did for Michael Jordan…as it does for Tom Brady… as it seemed for The Beatles…
only appear that way.

Things are not always as they appear.

Hard to equal “hard work” has been
exercised by these three examples.

Malcolm Gladwell says we become great at something after doing it 10, 000 times.

That might be right.

Ask Brady.
Ask MJ.

Ask the ones who have learned from them.
Kobe Bryant, a disciple of Jordan’s,
ended his career with 5 titles and is the 3rd all-time leading scorer, passing Jordan.
He was known for having the best fundamentals and most efficient footwork in the NBA.

He was also known as the player who out worked everyone else. … for twenty years.

Research Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Glenn Cunningham, Billy Graham.

There is always a backstory to greatness.

If you have achieved an accelerated level of success …
you have a backstory.

My encouragement is to be open to sharing it.

Frustration will grow in those around you who try to emulate your results if they do not understand the effort, sacrifice, and dedicated work which you engaged in to arrive at the point of success you now enjoying.

Share your backstory.

Because of that pyramid of work and extended effort you built… pride should not keep you from
allowing those following you to hear and learn that you did not sail easily to this point.

Easy sailing may occur now…
it never would have if not for your
earlier dedication and commitment.

And it will not last for long,
if you fail to continue that exercise of effort you built your success on.

Brady is probably beginning his workout regime tomorrow…
for next season.
I bet he is ALREADY into it.

If you are young and just beginning…
you might not develop patience if you are continually hungry for success… but know that a backstory takes time to develop.

Do not think with the initial taste of
success that it is accomplished.

None of these examples were satisfied with one title, one victory, one gold record, or one award…
that one accomplishment made them want more.

It’s why Saban has a 24 hour rule.
Enjoy this victory
or hurt in this loss….
for 24 hours.

Then begin the work again.

Brady woke up early this morning thinking ahead.
He is working on his next title …
by working diligently on the body gifted to him and on the developed craft that got him to that very visible stage he stood on last Sunday night.

He will most likely be there again.

His backstory will get him there.