This verse is worth memorizing:

Hebrews 12   1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Today, let’s talk about:

“the author and perfecter of our faith,”

Why is this important?  

Because if you are like me, you are saying something to yourself along the lines of:  “When will I ever learn?”

The spirit of stupid comes upon me sometimes, and I get fully activated.

And I totally screw up.

Sometimes I am so disappointed in myself that I can not even look up to the One who has saved me.

But God …

The greatest two words in all of scripture.

But God …

But God knows and He does something about it.

Only God can do what God does.

And He does this:

Hebrews 10  14 because by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

This is a contradiction.

And yet it makes perfect sense.

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQWgEjdCd6w

Know anyone who might like these?  Encourage them to jump on to 2minutewarning.blog and hit the FOLLOW button!!!

Coach J

This verse is worth memorizing:

Hebrews 12   1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Today, let’s talk about:

2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus

How do we fix our eyes on Jesus?  We pay attention.  

We pay attention when David writes about His final time on the cross, referencing “My God my God why have you forsaken me?”

Psalm 22 16 Dogs have surrounded me;

a band of evil men has encircled me,

they have pierced my hands and my feet.

We pay attention when He shows up to minister to Abraham 

Genesis 14 18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, 19 and he blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth.  20 And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.”  Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

We pay attention when He appears at the time a son is to be sacrificed.

Genesis 22 8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.

God HIMSELF will provide the lamb.

We pay attention when He tells us how He will declare Himself king.

Zechariah 9 9 Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!  Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!

See, your king comes to you,

righteous and having salvation,

gentle and riding on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

We pay attention when Isaiah talks about Him before He ever existed.

Isaiah 53 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

We pay attention when He tells us where He will be born:

Micah 5 2“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.

We pay attention when He tells us about His betrayal:

Psalm 55 12 If an enemy were insulting me,

I could endure it;  if a foe were raising himself against me, I could hide from him.  13 But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend,

14 with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship

as we walked with the throng at the house of God.

What do we do in 2020?

I am not always sure.

But one thing I do know:

Jesus Loves Us … 

And We Should Pay Attention

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37wV6D49iEY

Know anyone who might like these?  Encourage them to jump on to 2minutewarning.blog and hit the FOLLOW button!!!

Coach J

This verse is worth memorizing:

Hebrews 12   1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Today, let’s talk about:

“and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

How do we truly run this race that He has marked out for us?

That is the question of the ages.

Matthew 6 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46FfDLI369Q

Know anyone who might like these?  Encourage them to jump on to 2minutewarning.blog and hit the FOLLOW button!!!

Coach J

This verse is worth memorizing:

Hebrews 12   1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Today, let’s talk about:

“let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles,”

What is everything that hinders?

As my wife and I spoke to one of our children yesterday she said something so profound that it impacted me immediately.

She said: 

“First you obey … then you understand”

Nothing could be more true.  And this is the reason why Christians are mocked, misunderstood, and even hated by some aspects of society.

But the reality is that if we do not do that then we sometimes miss out on what God truly has for us.

The Bible is filled with people who OBEY … and THEN UNDERSTAND.  They have no idea WHY they are doing something … they just do it.

     I can remember I was driving, alone, to California.  I felt a strong prompting to pull off at an upcoming exit.  As I talked audibly about “why would I pull of at this exit?” I soon decided to just do it.

     When I did, I was humbled.  A man in a wheelchair was unsuccessfully trying to change the tire on his car.  It was easy for me to get out, help him, and send him on his way.

     Had God prompted me to help someone that He cared about?  I believe with all of my heart that He had.  Nothing can change my mind about that.

OBEY … Then UNDERSTAND.

And what about:

“the sin that so easily entangles”

I think that, if we are truly honest, we all understand that.  And God assures us that our sin is REAL.

1 John 1 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

And part of this is realizing that sometimes, if not all the time, we ARE the problem.  Not a result of the problem.  Not a response to the problem.  Sometimes we ARE the problem.

Jeremiah 17  9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.

I would also like to mention that we must even mention our STRENGTHS in this.  Sometimes the very thing that “hinders” us is what we do well.

Solomon knew this.  And he has so eloquently passed this concept to us.

Ecclesiastes 1  16 I thought to myself, “Look, I have grown and increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.” 17 Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.

None of us wants to end our days here on earth and realize that we have done EVERYTHING and yet nothing.  That we were chasing after the “wind”.

“let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles,”

This is not an easy word.

• Finding that we might actually be the problem.
• Discovering that, even in our best moments, we might be pushing Him out of our lives.

But as, my wife encouraged my daughter, I want to encourage you:

OBEY … then UNDERSTAND

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE8f0OaPSEQ

Know anyone who might like these?  Encourage them to jump on to 2minutewarning.blog and hit the FOLLOW button!!!

Coach J

This verse is worth memorizing:

Hebrews 12   1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Today, let’s talk about:

1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses,

What is this “great cloud of witnesses” that we are surrounded by?

We need look no further than Hebrews 11, a clear and beautiful picture of those who acted in great faith before us.

In our journey as both Christians and Americans, we must know our history.

We must know where we came from, why it matters, and how it must play out today if we want to preserve our way of life.  If we don’t, we could very well lose our way of life.

So where did we come from, Christian-wise?

We come from a creator.  We are beautifully made and highly adaptable.  Never let someone convince you that the 1965 Ford Mustang evolved over time to be the 2020 Ford Mustang.  After all, the 2020 mustang looks the same and has many similar characteristics as the 1965 model.  That being said, we know that they are similar because they had the same DESIGNER.  Connect this to our universe and you can see my point.  The human cell is nothing like Charles Darwin thought.  NOTHING.  It is as complicated as the city of Los Angeles, with numerous systems working together in perfect harmony in order to carry out incredibly complicated processes.  We do not look at building and say, “wow, there must have been an explosion where metal and concrete and carpet and cooling systems and doors mysteriously blended together to make this wonderful building.”  We should say the same about the cell.  We are DESIGNED.

Hebrews 11  3  By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

We come from Abraham, who believed in resurrection before anyone even talked about it.

Hebrews 11  17 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18 even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” 19 Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.

We come from Moses, who left the tyranny of slavery in Egypt and traveled to the promised land.

Hebrews 11  24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.

We come from a group of people who NEVER GOT TO SEE WHAT WAS PROMISED but set us in motion to what we have now.

Hebrews 11  39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. 40 God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

As I read these stories, I am compelled and motivated to read my Bible.  People died in their pursuit of God so that I might be able to read it.

And I challenge you in the same spirit.  Since you are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses …

Read Hebrews 11, and then this first part of 12.

Thank the Lord for where you live, who you are, and the freedoms that you enjoy today.  Thank Him for the freedom to worship and praise Him.  Thank Him that you are free to work and succeed and prosper.  Thank Him that He chose to send His son to give you grace, and mercy, and a new life.

Don’t sit as a follower of Jesus. 

Stand … and RUN.

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIXa7FzmXFE

Know anyone who might like these?  Encourage them to jump on to 2minutewarning.blog and hit the FOLLOW button!!!

Coach J

Nothing has changed.

Not one thing.

Sure, we wear masks.

And we are locked down inside our houses.

And we might be short on face time because our face is in a screen.

And yes, we might lose something, or someone.  My mom said goodbye in February.

But let’s put things in perspective.

There will come a day when we are going to remove these masks.

And we will walk without them and anything that they might represent.

But let’s be sure to ditch those things RIGHT NOW.

Maybe those masks represent Fear

Maybe they are our inability to understand that we are mortal.  That are bodies will someday break down and stop working like my mom’s did.  Maybe they make us feel protected, and secure, and free from harm.  But they do not.  We are just as vulnerable as before we put them on.  And our adversary might not be Covid-19, but cancer or old age or …

     In Jesus, we are above all of those things.  Free to die and be born into a life that IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN THIS ONE.  My mom told my wife days before she died:  “There are plenty of helpers” as she looked throughout the room.  These were not the words of a woman who had lost her mind.  They were the words of a woman who was transitioning from flesh to spirit.  Hallelujah.  She is in heaven.

Maybe those masks represent Shame

Maybe they are the sins and ugliness of of our terrible choices, resulting from terrible thoughts, and originating in a terrible person.  Maybe that mask can cover all of our mistakes, and humiliations, and shortcomings.  But it won’t.  We are just as sinful covered up as we are exposed.  And our adversary has ample evidence to convict us of high treason — and we will be found guilty.

     In Jesus, we have nothing to hide.  As He stood in front of the woman who was to be stoned and called out the priests, He will stand in front of you and call out your accuser.  And when He does, He will be a hero IN SPITE of you.  Hallelujah.  You have a ticket to the show — and you didn’t even need to pay.

Maybe those masks cover up the Truth

Maybe they can stop us from seeing the smile, or frown, of the person we speak to.  They certainly will cover up someone talking to us on a screen in some other location.  But maybe, if the truth is ugly, this is a good thing.  For just like snapchat or facebook or instagram or whatever else — we can show exactly what we want to show and nothing else.

     In Jesus, we find that TRUTH is everything.  You see, we don’t live in the world of “my truth”.  “My truth” is a lie from the pits of Hell.  There is only one TRUTH — none other than Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

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

Take off the mask, Play the song, and Approach the throne of grace.

Nothing Has Changed

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYkZE8AogDE

Know anyone who might like these?  Encourage them to jump on to 2minutewarning.blog and hit the FOLLOW button!!!

Coach J

Nothing is more important than the gospel of Jesus Christ.  NOTHING.

In 2020, we have taken a few steps backwards:

Creation, Individual Identity, and the idea of Marriage and Family are all under attack.

But none should be.

The Gospel is before you.

Jesus laid down His life freely that you may be free.

He laid down His life freely that you may have Him.

He laid down His life freely that you may be able to lay it ALL at His feet, forever surrendering your ties to the world and all that it has to offer—and this is because the world has NOTHING to offer.  NOTHING.

Solomon tried IT ALL.  He denied himself NOTHING.  Sex, Parties, Wealth, Wisdom, and everything else.  To which he concluded:

Ecclesiastes 2  10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;  I refused my heart no pleasure.

My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor.  11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;  nothing was gained under the sun.

To which Solomon replied:  “Life Is Meaningless” and “He puts eternity on man’s hearts yet no man can fathom His work from beginning to end.” 

The meaning of life has been sought and pursued from the beginning of time.

And God has responded, and responded in full.

In Job, He questions the broken man with:

Job 38  4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?  Tell me, if you understand.

To Moses, He declared:

Exodus 3  6 … “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

To the great Nebuchadnezzar, He stopped him mid-sentence and changed his destiny:

Daniel 4  31 The words were still on his lips when a voice came from heaven, “This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you.

The God of the Old Testament IS the God of the new testament.  

He is above the world and all of our desires.

He speaks to Prophets.

He is above Kings.

And He is waiting for us to accept His Son, who went to the pits of hell that we might have life.

Go into God’s House.

Lay down your possessions and your dreams and your pride and your sin … and put them at His feet that He might put a freedom on you that you can never receive from anything on this planet.

Revelation 4  10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:

   11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God,

   to receive glory and honor and power,

   for you created all things,

       and by your will they were created

       and have their being.”

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rBDIVYEzJE

Know anyone who might like these?  Encourage them to jump on to 2minutewarning.blog and hit the FOLLOW button!!!

Coach J

Nothing is more important than the gospel of Jesus Christ.  NOTHING.

In 2020, we have taken a few steps backwards:

Creation, Individual Identity, and the idea of Marriage and Family are all under attack.

But none should be.

Here is what the world needs to, but doesn’t want to, hear.  

In God’s world, you have total and absolute freedom.

You can do what you want, say what you want be what you want.

• You Are Free.  You are totally and unequivocally, FREE.  You have freedom.  
• You Are Loved.  Not just loved in an “I Love You Bro” sort of way.  But truly loved and understood and empathized with.  It is not conditional or based on your actions or based on your race or gender.
• You Are Never Abandoned Or Forsaken.  Ever.  In any circumstances.  You can count on God to be there for you, through thick and thin.
• You Are Known … And Understood.  Not just a little.  But all the way through.  Listened to?  Every word.  Understood?  Every emotion.  Empathized for?  Every tear and every hurt.

John 18 11 Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”

And there it is.

It is the moment, or decision, that Jesus made.  It was not one made in haste.  It was, like many of the sins that you have committed, made in all the choices that He ever made.  He was going to make a payment of the highest order.

And He did.

On a cross on Calvary, He began a journey of misery like the world had never seen:

• Tempted in every way.  Your temptations.  My temptations.  Their Temptations.  The perverted ones.  The meaningless ones.  The will-breaking, life destroying, utterly irresistible ones—ALL of them were given to Him.  And He overcame them all.  Whether being starved or falsely accused or ignored or doubted or betrayed.  None of that stopped Him from making the choice.  And that choice was YOU.
• Betrayed and abandoned, He even asked God:  “Why have you forsaken me?”  And yet, He stayed the course.
• Mocked and ridiculed as He was suffering, He bled, and suffocated, and tried to balance on spikes between His hands and feet.  As His nervous system failed, His breathing failed, His heart became overloaded, and the pain became too excruciating to bear—He INVITED a hardened criminal to join Him in paradise.
• At the final moments of life, He proclaimed:  “It Is Paid In Full.”  What was paid in full?  Your Debt.  Your Debt was paid in full.  In Full.  Why?  Because a perfect man chose to die in your place—an excruciatingly brutal death in a humiliating way.

Now, you might not like the last bullet point, but you need to be presented it anyway:

• • You Are Free.
  • You Are Loved.
  • You Are Never Abandoned Or Forsaken.
  • You Are Known … And Understood.

  • You … Get To Choose To Follow or Not To Follow

You are not the center of the universe

OR 

The greatest thing that ever walked the earth

OR

Someone who deserves the best

You are a sinner.

The Bible says that “our hearts are, above all things, deceitful.”

The Bible says that “ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

The Bible says that “There is no one worthy.  NOT ONE.”

You may not like the truth, but today you must read it:  Your God loved you so much that He gave everything FOR YOU.  And He said:  “Follow me”.

This is not easy, but it is simple.

This is not a prison, it is freedom from the three things that you could never, ever, defeat:  Satan, Sin, & Death

This is not the end of your life as you know it, it is the beginning of the Lord’s Prayer.  THY KINGDOM COME.  Not my kingdom come or your kingdom come, but His Kingdom Come.  It is you saying to Him:  THY KINGDOM COME.  I surrender.  And I surrender EVERYTHING.

He is not asking you to give up some things.  He wants EVERYTHING.  All that you have.  And once you give it, you realize that it wasn’t worth keeping in the first place.

This gospel offends.  And I pray today that it offends you to the point of breaking you.  I pray that today you would be so angry that you would come to the end of yourself, fall on your knees, and repent.

Because your ways are not His ways, and more importantly:

His ways are not your ways.

If there were 10,000 steps between you and Jesus, He would make 9,999 of them—uphill, through peril, and without hesitation.

But He loves you too much to take the last one.

That last step that connects you TO Him …, is completely, up to you.

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Know anyone who might like these?  Encourage them to jump on to 2minutewarning.blog and hit the FOLLOW button!!!

Coach J

Nothing is more important than the gospel of Jesus Christ.  NOTHING.

In 2020, we have taken a few steps backwards:

Creation, Individual Identity, and the idea of Marriage and Family are all under attack.

But none should be.

What should be under attack is the sinful things that have destroyed our livelihood and our communities.

I want to talk today about sin.

It is universal.

It is lethal.

And it discriminates against the individual.

What does this mean?

This means that you are hunted by an enemy who takes the time to find your individual weaknesses and shortcomings.  He plants thoughts in your head, he discourages you that you can not make it, and he encourages you to try new things—to do what feels good … And then he stands and accuses you with the highest intensity.

Scripture assures us that he is here to steal, kill, and destroy.

I have personally seen him succeed.

So where do we go?

We Go To Jesus

When Jesus came to earth, He was in a bind.  He wasn’t just hunted.  He wasn’t just hated.  He wasn’t just overlooked.  He was given EVERY temptation.  EVERY ONE.

You see some of us struggle with lust or greed or depression or substance abuse.  He was given the full measure of all of them, plus many more.

I can say, without hesitation, that I struggle with some of these things but not all of them.  But Jesus?  He was given ALL of them.

Hebrews 4  15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet was without sin.

This is the good news of the gospel.  It is for all men.  It is for rich and poor, for black and white, for male and female, for kings and peasants.  And most importantly, it is for ALL SINS.  

     Because it is for everybody, the elite might not want it.

     Because it is for everybody, the arrogant might sneer at it.

     Because it is for everybody, the prideful might not see a need.

But all will need it.  ALL OF US.  You, me, everyone.

And it is not an optional entrance into heaven … It is the gate that we must walk through.

1 John 1  8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.

As you reflect on the importance of all of this, I want you to consider a few things:

• Because He walked in all of it, and because it is individualized, your sins are not better, or worse, than anyone else’s.  1 John 1 tells us this.
• Because He walked in all of it, you must understand that He died for you — and you alone — if necessary.
• Because He walked in all of it, He expects us to have mercy for those who struggle in different areas than we do.  We must understand that just because we don’t fail in an area doesn’t mean that it is easy.  We have ENOUGH sin to condemn us and have NO RIGHT TO JUDGE SOMEONE ELSE’S SHORTFALLS.

Jesus is worthy.

He stood in the middle of a war.  And as bullets flew by Him and the enemy advanced, He rose up with glory and defeated him — for ALL OF US.

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8AB0vUU038

Know anyone who might like these?  Encourage them to jump on to 2minutewarning.blog and hit the FOLLOW button!!!

Coach J