2 MINUTE WARNING

And we shall call Him Emmanuel

(which means “God with us”) Matthew 1

Mark 1  40 A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”

41 Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” 42 Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.

When the debt comes due, there is only One who can pay it.

And it is none other than Jesus of Nazareth.

If the God of the Universe will put His hands on a leper, He will put His touch on your life.  And He will do it without hesitation or regret or fear.

All of us—ALL OF US—will stand before creator God.

All of us—ALL OF US—will give account of who we were, what we did, and why we did it.

All of us—ALL OF US—will fall short if we have no advocate.

The gospel of Mark is very clear.

Jesus came to planet earth so that planet earth could choose to come to Him.

Without His willingness to get dirty—-there is no gospel.

Take a moment today to thank Him–to worship Him–to put Him ABOVE all that lies in front of you.

In Jesus–you are FREE.  

FREE of the Enemy’s power over your life.

FREE of your inadequacy.

FREE of death.

There is no greater gift than that.

Jesus Paid It All

Kristian Stanfill

Lord Now Indeed I Find

Thy Power And Thine Alone

Can Change The Leper’s Spots

And Melt The Heart Of Stone 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FHwdx5BIvc

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

And we shall call Him Emmanuel

(which means “God with us”) Matthew 1

The gospel makes no sense at all–until it does.

2000 years ago, in a remote village, Jesus changed the course of human history.

And for those who would dare proclaim Him King, He changed their individual eternity.

His GOSPEL–It is free, but we must choose it.

His GOSPEL–It is for all, but it must be chosen.

His GOSPEL–It does not discriminate, but it divides.

And it is rooted

In LOVE~ His love saves us

In COVENANT~ His death seals our eternity 

In COMPASSION~ His decision to save us is rooted in Him knowing EXACTLY who we are and saving us anyway.

In HOPE~ His life opens up all of our options.  We now have a future, and a God who loves us just as we are.

As we read through the gospels, we see that each of them use different lenses to tell us this same message.

• Matthew tells His story inside the theme that He (Jesus) is the King of the Jews.

He is the King of the Faith

• Mark tells His story inside the theme that He (Jesus) is the Humble Servant of the Nations.  

He is the Servant of All

• Luke tells His story inside the theme that He (Jesus) is 100% man, born into sin, into flesh, and into imperfect humanity.  And yet, He found a way to overcome it and STILL be perfect.

He is the Firstborn of all Mankind

• John tells His story inside the theme that He (Jesus) is 100% the Son of God Himself.

He is the Son of God

The teachings of Mark:

Mark 1 4And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

All of us…ALL OF US…come to the end of ourselves.  We realize that we simply are not good enough. We realize that we fall short even of the standard that we set for ourselves.  How can we possibly meet the standard of a perfect God?

And yet…that is why He came.

And that is why John baptized.  So that we can die to ourselves and confess that we simply do not measure up.  So that we can be clean. Baptism is the symbol of us being clean–Jesus is the way that it actually happens. 

Come To The Fountain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL6eCfEQrQ8

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

God loves EVERYONE.  And a guy named Rod Olson told me one time that He was looking for the FAT-C

Faithful

Available

Teachable

Committed

People that are all in.

You become FREE when you realize that you aren’t the center of the universe…the center of your world.

When we realize that we need something greater than anything that we could possibly have.

Luke 3 16 John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

Our God…by Chris Tomlin

Our God is greater

Our God is stronger

God You are higher than any other

Our God is healer

Awesome in power

Our God

Our God

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5d_gm9zrnY

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

Timothy was young.  But he was no foolish kid.  And he wrote one of the most inspiring verses in the Bible.

1 Timothy 3  16 Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great:

   He appeared in a body,

       was vindicated by the Spirit,

   was seen by angels,

       was preached among the nations,

   was believed on in the world,

       was taken up in glory.

When we couldn’t save ourselves.

God chose to come and do it for us.

We can say many things to God on the judgement seat.

But we won’t be able to say that He doesn’t know how it feels to be us.

When a King leaves His throne so that He can go and dwell among the peasants–people should take notice.

And we should take notice of God.

What a concept:

He MADE SURE That We Could KNOW How Much He Loves Us By APPEARING IN A BODY.

Sometimes we just need to bow down and say:  I Believe.

There are 10,000,000 steps between US … and God.  But the reality that we must live by is that He has taken 9,999,999 of them so that He could come and meet with us.

Jesus, I Believe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eflxrL-c8rY

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

If you are looking for an encouraging word from “Sunday School Jesus”, you won’t find it in Revelation 3:16.

In addressing the church of Laodicea, Jesus uses the aquifer that provided the water for the town.  That way, they all KNEW what lukewarm was.

And the reality is … we all can easily wander into the spiritual realm of LUKEWARM.

Revelation 3 16 So, because you are lukewarm–neither hot nor cold–I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

It is not where He wants us to be.

At some point in our measly existence, we must confront the truth.

• He either died on a cross (which saved us and freed us and gave us hope and a future) … or He didn’t.
• He either climbed out of the grave on day 3 … or He didn’t.
• He either created us … or He didn’t.
• He has either called to be a Royal Priesthood … or He hasn’t.
• He has either freed us from our sins … or He hasn’t.

And so we get to decide who we are.

We are either A Child Of The Eternal King … or we aren’t.

The gospel is a gift, and it is free, and it is the answer.

     But it isn’t there if we don’t open it …

     And it costs something …

     And it doesn’t mean we don’t have to study …

What it means is that our response would be like that of a man who just won the Powerball …

Everyone would know about it.

Our life would change.

We would not be lukewarm.

Jesus Paid It All.

All To Him I Owe.

Sin Had Left A Crimson Stain … He Washed It White As Snow.

O Praise The One Who Paid My Debt And

Who Raised This Life Up From The Dead.

O Praise The One Who Paid My Debt And

Who Raised This Life Up From The Dead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ymkl0t0FOcw

May your Monday be filled with joy, and hope, and peace, and faith, and love, and grace.

May He work in mighty ways in all that you do and all that you say.

May others be be blessed to be around you and to have your encouragement.

May you be filled with energy and the desire to serve and encourage and love on others.

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

Exodus 3 16 …….. I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt.

• Many of us have sat and wondered…..”No one knows what it is like to be me.”
• Perhaps we have wanted to tell Him:  “Why don’t you come down here and see what this is like.”
• Or:  “Why don’t you just come and fix this?”

He Does…

He Did…

And He Will…

The Exodus of the Egyptians was a historical event.  And yet, it is the story of each of us. And God makes this very clear in scripture.

You see, FREEDOM means absolutely nothing if we are not FREE SPIRITUALLY.

Think about it.

A man who sits without HOPE could have everything–yet he has NOTHING.

He who lives in FEAR is in constant assault from the next random and unexplained thought.

To be without A PLACE TO BELONG makes a man homeless.

He who has no ETERNITY simply sits and waits for the inevitable—for himself and everyone else.

Freedom from slavery is not a physical desire—it is a basic human need.

And yet…many of us walk enslaved.

We walk out only part of, or pieces of, the very call that He has placed on us.

But that is not His plan.

He came to set the captives free.

Isaiah 61  1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me

to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim freedom for the captives

and release from darkness for the prisoners,

And scripture warns us of this AGAIN and AGAIN.  Read about the Exodus. The Hebrew people struggled mightily in their trek out of Egypt.  And they struggled not because they were slaves or because they could not get themselves out of slavery in the physical…..but because they could not get themselves out of slavery spiritually.

And that is because ALL OF US face this.

How easy it is to read the Bible and judge Abraham or Moses or Peter or Paul or Judas or Jonah ….. Each lacked or fell short or simply did not measure up to certain situations.

And yet, who do we think that we are?  How often do we truly measure up?

As you watch this video, take note of the freedom that lives in that room as Zach Williams sings to a room full of inmates…there is freedom in that room that cannot be measured.  Freedom in Harding Prison.

I remember Pastor Tony Evans once said:  “If God’s will is for you to go to prison (referring to Joseph) … then being in prison is where you ought to be.”

And that’s because SPIRITUAL FREEDOM is what we all need.

More than anything else in the world.

Isaiah 61 is ABOUT JESUS.  And it is a gift offered to each and everyone of us.  Cry out and, ASK FOR, what already belongs to you.

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDnA_coA168

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Coach J

Running from God is not an option.

There is no place to go, and no place to hide.

He is in your inner thoughts.  He is in the darkest places of your soul.  He is in the secret places of your thought life.

Psalm 139 7 Where can I go from your Spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence?

8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

if I settle on the far side of the sea,

10 even there your hand will guide me,

your right hand will hold me fast.

What you decide to do with this truth is totally and completely up to you.

Is He your enemy … or is He your friend?

Is He intruding on your life … or the only hope that you could ever have?

Is His hand on who you are a curse … or is it a blessing?

When Jesus called out a huge crowd (John 6) and almost compelled them TO LEAVE — many left.  Jesus then looked at Peter and said: “What about you, Peter?”

To which Peter replied:  “Lord, where will I go? You, and you alone, hold the keys to eternal life.”

Where do you stand with this question:

What about you?  Do you want to leave … or stay?

God has given us a choice.  He is there and His offer is right in front of us.

We get to choose to have Him … or we get to reject His offer.  It is a simple offer into an “all in” life. It is not easy — but it is simple.

What about you?

Remember, as you make this choice, all that sits in front of you:

• He owns the cattle on a THOUSAND Hills (Psalm 50)
• His mercy for you is new at the start of EACH day. (Lamentations 3)
• He wants to prosper you.  (Jeremiah 29)

Many have turned and ran.

Solomon chased women, partied, and lived life to the fullest—only to end up calling life meaningless.  (Ecclesiastes)

Jonah (Jonah) HATED an entire town of people and ran from God … shipwrecking a crew and causing pain on many — including himself.

Peter slept when he should have been praying, fought when he should have followed, spoke when he should have listened, and made promise after promise that he simply did not keep. (John)

Moses reacted in anger and caused himself, and others, great pain (Exodus).

And yet … ALL OF THESE … Are WITH GOD.

What about you?

We know many things about God and many things are still a mystery.

But this is one thing that we know without hesitation—He Is The God Who Stays.

John 3  16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

He Is:

The God Who Stays

My Shame Can Separate

My Guilt Can Separate

My Past Can Separate

My Sin Can Separate

My Scars Can Separate

My Failures Can Separate

No Enemy Can Separate

No Power In Hell Can Separate

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

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

There is something incredibly special about the Bible, and it is far beyond my shallow and incredibly simplistic view of it.

66 Books, 40 Authors, 3 Continents, 3 Languages, 1500 Years

And yet, all of it is tied together with incredible unity.   

• How did David know (Psalm 22) that Jesus would be crucified, betrayed, mocked, and have His clothing gambled over?
• How did Moses know to foretell (Genesis 22) that “God would provide the Lamb to be sacrificed”?
• How did Isaiah know everything about Jesus?  That He would be born of a virgin (Ch 7), in the line of Jesse (Ch 11), and declared by a messenger (Ch 40)?  Who helped Isaiah describe Him (in INCREDIBLE detail) in Isaiah 53?
• How did Micah know that He would be born in Bethlehem?
• How did Zechariah know that He would be called king (Ch 9), betrayed (Ch 11), and that Judas’ betrayal money would be used to buy a potter’s field (Ch 11)?

These are just a few of the questions that I have as I stand in absolute marvel of the Book that God has written us.

When Hebrews 12 says that He is the Author and Perfector of our faith—I think He means it…..LITERALLY.

God has given us a love letter.

It is written outside of space and time.

It breaks all of the human rules of wisdom and logic, yet fully tells us how to be JUST and MERCIFUL—-AT THE SAME TIME.

And ALL of this is in this book—-which is far beyond our comprehension and well above all of our meager accomplishments.

In a small attempt to honor the BIG BOOK—I will spend a season writing about the “THREE SIXTEENS”, verses connected by the same number in different books, by different authors, on different continents, in different cultures, and in different seasons.

And yet—–all of them are tied together in perfect unison.  God has written us a PERFECT LETTER. One that we would do well to appreciate, learn, and meditate on…….

AFTER ALL—-He is our ONLY HOPE.

As the three men stood before a tyrant, contesting their very lives, they understood something that we would all do well to learn:

God Is Our Rescue

Daniel 3  16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

Three men stood up to a King, and a kingdom, because they understood that there was something FAR MORE VALUABLE than the lives that they had.  HIM.

You see, without God, we have nothing.  We can’t keep our lives—we will lose them.

And we can’t have eternity.  It is the Lord’s.

And yet, all of it works if we let Him rescue us.

And it works because 2000 years ago, on a cross on Calvary, He made sure that it would work.  He made sure that we had a chance to be ROYAL.

And He sealed it with His life.

Worship Your King Today

He Is Your Only Hope

And He Is The ONLY One………

Who Can Rescue You

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CZeBKTq1Yw

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

I want to finish the series on taking every thought captive with the writing today.

2 Corinthians 10  5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

God wants more than people on the defense.

He wants more from us than to sit in defense mode trying to deflect the plots of the enemy.

I think this is why He tells us this:

1 Peter 2 9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

We are Set Apart.

We are not sent here to be victims of the culture, cowering away from evil, hiding in the rocks from assailants, walking in quiet submission.

We are (as Romans 8 says) MORE THAN CONQUERORS.

We Are Sent From Heaven

Bought By The Blood Of The Lamb

Written In The Lamb’s Book Of Life

Honored In The Holy Place

We Are Not Perfect—

But We Are Loved By Someone Who Is

Father,

Set Us Apart

Help Us To Walk In Honor and Power and Holiness

Put Something Inside Of Us That Will Show Up Outside Of Us

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDgmJFw6F64

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