All was lost.  EVERYTHING. There was now no hope.

 

The healer did not show and now Lazerus was DEAD.

 

John 11  32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 

33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked. 

“Come and see, Lord,” they replied. 

35 Jesus wept. 

 

I am not sure why Jesus wept.  But these two words tell us with clarity that He cared deeply and cared to the depth of His soul.  He showed that love for Mary.

He showed that love for Peter.

He showed that love for Lazerus.

 

And He shows that love for you and everyone that you know.

 

The flood of compassion that comes FROM Jesus and FOR YOU can never be understated.  Never believe that He is not there, that He does not care, or that you are alone.  Because Jesus has a plan for eternity that was set to save you.

 

You see…..He Shows Up.

 

Mary confronted Jesus with “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”  But the reality is that Jesus was about to raise him from the dead and change her world.

 

A world with Jesus in it does not have LOST ….. It has FOUND.

A world with Jesus in it does not have NO HOPE ….. It has ABUNDANCE.

A world with Jesus in it does not have DEAD ….. It has ETERNAL LIFE.

 

I have never much cared for or entered into the “predestination” idea — the thought that it is already decided.  We Were Predestined As Enemies Of God until a guy named Jesus showed up. And He gave us the right to be WITH HIM, FOR FOREVER, IN HEAVEN–and we will not be able to question that.

 

Because 2000 years ago, on a cross on Calvary, He SHOWED His love for each and every one of us.

 

Are you Alone?  Without Hope? Wondering who your Friends Are?  Worried about Tomorrow?

 

I don’t know the answers to any of the questions you might have.

 

But I know the Answer.

 

And the answer is the Answer because…..  

He cares …..

He weeps ….. 

And He Shows Up.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJGgAHOiL2E

 

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

I can remember the day my father marched into my room and told me in a very bold tone:  “Get your butt out of bed right now…we are going to church.”

 

It was September of 1987, and I had just receive the news that I had torn my anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).  I was expecting a pity party and I got a stern admonition.  

 

There would be no pity party.  

There would be no “poor me”.  

There would be no feeling sorry.

 

It was time to get up and move on.

 

My father’s demands led to me adopting a toughness that has served me well in life.  Laying on the ground was not going to be an option that I could use with him.

 

This was Tough Love.  And my Dad was my hero in every way and I never looked back.

 

Our Father in heaven sent us Jesus with the same mandate.  He came to give us a chance to be something greater than what we could ever do on our own accord.

 

John 10  9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.  He will come in and go out, and find pasture. 

 

This is not a sugar coated verse.

 

And Jesus repeated it throughout John in as clear of terms as you could express.  If there was ANY WAY INTO HEAVEN it would be through Him—and through HIM ALONE.

 

This is not a popular sentiment in 2019.

 

We want to do it our way.

We want to live the way we want to live.

We want to eat what we want to eat.

And we want to write our own playbook and play by our own rules.

But that will not fly.

 

And the God of the Universe has made that clear.

 

Jesus is the only way to the Father.

There is not an alternative option or a different entrance.

There is not a recalibrate the map directions as a cell phone does.

 

It is Him….and Him alone.

 

“I am the Living Water”

“I am the Ladder that goes to heaven”

“I am the gate”

 

He goes on in chapter 10 to let us know that you “can not sneak into the sheep pen” by a different means.  We simply can’t get to God without Him.

 

WE MUST SURRENDER

WE MUST BOW BEFORE THE KING

WE MUST UNDERSTAND THAT WE ARE FULL OF SIN

WE MUST UNDERSTAND THAT WE ARE BROKEN

 

AND WE MUST UNDERSTAND THAT JESUS–AND ONLY JESUS–IS OUR ONLY HOPE

 

SOME WILL TELL YOU THIS IS INTOLERANT, BUT I SAY IT IS JUST THE OPPOSITE

THE GOD OF THE UNIVERSE HAS GIVEN YOU THE CHANCE TO BE KNOWN BY HIM!

SO TAKE HIM UP ON IT

 

What a gift this song is.  It exemplifies what Jesus truly offers.

 

These words cut to my heart as I drove in my car and listened to this song.

 

It’s so unusual it’s frightening

You see right through the mess inside me

You call me out to pull me in

You tell me I … can start again

And I don’t need to keep on hiding

I’m FULLY KNOWN AND LOVED BY YOU

You won’t let go, no matter what I do

And It’s not one or the other

It’s Hard Truth And Ridiculous Grace

To Be Known–Fully Known–And Loved By You

I’m Fully Known–And Loved By You

 

It’s So Like You To Keep Pursuing

It’s So Like Me To Go Astray

But You Guard My Heart With Your Truth

The Kind Of Love That’s Bulletproof

And I Surrender To Your Kindness

I’m Fully Known–And Loved By You

You Won’t Let Go—No Matter What I Do

And It’s not one or the other

It’s Hard Truth And Ridiculous Grace

To Be Known–Fully Known–And Loved By You

I’m Fully Known–And Loved By You

 

https://youtu.be/xckDgX8xNfg

 

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

Sometimes the evidence is right in front of us.

 

In John 9, Jesus healed a man who had been blind.  But the Pharisees REFUSED to acknowledge that the Lord might be standing right in front of them……

 

John 9 24 A second time they (the pharisees) summoned the man who had been blind.  “Give glory to God, “they said. “We know this man is a sinner.” 

25 He replied (the man who was healed), “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know.  One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” 

 

ONE THING I DO KNOW:  I know that Jesus can heal everything He touches…..And I am so convinced that I challenge you to test Him in this.

 

The Healer is here for you…..from now until the end of eternity.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDKkC-Qv4Mw

 

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

I heard a pastor say that Justice and Mercy have the perfect intersection on the cross.

 

Jesus lived perfectly and was the perfect atonement for our sins.  Justice was fulfilled.  And, in that action, we were given forgiveness that we might be free to live out the call that He has put on our lives.  Mercy was given.

 

And John gets to view it and writes about it in John Chapter 8:

 

John 8 1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. 

7 But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. 

9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 

11 “No one, sir,” she said. 

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” 

 

Two things are on my heart as I read this today.  And Jesus says both of them:

1.  “Then neither do I condemn you”
2.  “Go now and leave your life of sin”

 

Evil men planned to trap the King of the Universe and attain their permission to kill Him.  The enemy had them convinced that murder was the best option for a Jewish itinerant preacher who made them feel like they weren’t doing their job.

 

But God’s plan was bigger.

 

He was there to save a woman who had completely failed.  And He was there to save you.

 

The Bible is not a weapon.  It is not written that we might use it to inflict punishment on others.  It isn’t our legal case to be used against those we disagree with…and it is not to be used to trap others.

 

The Bible is also not to be used as permission live in sin.  We don’t get to change it, or adjust it to our culture, our time era, or our fleshly desires.  I mean…..Jesus was way ahead of His time. He crossed all the boundaries that we continue to be imprisoned by today.  From a political, cultural, strategic, socio-economic, religious, or nationalistic perspective, His plan was a disaster:

• Two women discovered Him and give the first testimony that He is risen.  His plan, all along, was to elevate women and hold them in high honor. This was not received well.
• Racial division?  When Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan it offended all who stood and listened.  The Jews believed the Samaritans were “dogs” not worthy to even be talked to. Yet Jesus had chosen to honor them.
• Money, Power, Religious Status? …. None of these things held any weight with Jesus.  He cared nothing of any of them, nor was He afraid of how others viewed how it looked when He befriended others.
• And those “evil” Roman soldiers?  They weren’t out of His circle either.  He ministered to them and even healed them or those in their circle without hesitation.

 

So He was either totally ahead of His time or had the worst plan you could have to start a movement.

 

The mere fact that you are reading this blog actually PROVES, beyond any doubt that I could muster, that He is actually God.  Because His “movement” started from nothing and yet we worship Him today.

 

And what He look like today?  Let’s start with just a few things:

1.  He loves democrats and republicans.  He would find a way to both rebuke and honor—both.
2.  He would have no issue walking inner city Detroit or Beverly Hills or London or Rome or Damascus or Tehran…..and there are people in each of those places who follow Him.
3. He would speak, eat with, laugh with, and minister to homeless men, ambassadors, kings, peasants, prostitutes, hardened criminals, elite businessmen, or anyone else.
4. There would be no VIP’s because everyone would be a VIP.
5. There would be no “outside” the inner circle or “not dressed well enough” or “not good enough” or “not smart enough” or any of those things.

 

And yet, He is calling us to perfection.

 

He is calling us to find a pursuit of Him and give up our own selfish ambitions and desires.

 

And He is calling us to change the world…just like He did…One person, or several people, at a time.

 

What are you going to do with that?

 

I would hope that you would leave your sin and go find her.  She has been caught in adultery and is getting dragged out in front of the masses to be accused and punished.  And she needs you to stand up for her and tell her about the cross…..and a guy named Jesus who has called her to something greater. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oncIQo5ub0c

 

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

I want to encourage you to read the greatest piece of literature in the history of the world:  The Book of John

 

Written by an uneducated fisherman

About a man with no political, military, or economic power

At a time when the Romans ruled the world with an iron fist

To a people that crossed all human barriers–to ALL PEOPLE

In a place where new movements would be nearly impossible to start

 

And yet…….

 

This book can and should:

 

Change Your Mind

 

I talked with a former player several days ago who told me that he was not religious…to which I replied:  “Neither was Jesus. The people that He fought with the most were people of religious attitude.”

 

This is not a bash on modern or past day religion….it is an implication of the entire human race.  And my accusation is simple AND true: We are as guilty as the day is long. And, quite frankly, without Jesus, we have ZERO CHANCE in the here and now or in eternity.

 

So READ THIS BOOK.

 

This blog simply takes us to Chapter 7.  But I want to challenge you to read from Chapter 1 out of a non-electronic Bible and catch up.

 

It could be the most important thing that you ever do.

 

John 7 45 Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?” 

46 “No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards declared. 

 

Shocking.

 

Those who go to arrest Him simply can’t…..because NO ONE EVER SPOKE THE WAY THIS MAN DOES.

 

And it is a common theme.

 

The fisherman.

The religious zealot.

The Samaritan outcast.

The Roman Centurion.

The rebellious, murdering, political zealot.

The thief of all citizens.

The outcasted leper.

The crazy man who was possessed.

The wise man who lived hundreds of miles away.

 

What did they have in common?

 

Nothing.

 

Absolutely nothing.

 

But an encounter with Jesus somehow changed them so radically that we now live in the year 2019……

 

How could this possibly happen?

 

I have a theory:

 

He was EXACTLY WHO HE SAID HE WAS.

He did EXACTLY WHAT HE SAID HE WAS GOING TO DO.

He fulfilled EVERY WORD WRITTEN ABOUT HIM.

He is WHO YOU NEED TO FIND WHEN YOU ARE LOST.

 

Build a foundation.

 

Read this book from Chapter 1 all the way through.

 

And ask Him to do something in you that He has never done before.

 

His standards are HIGHER.

His grace is GREATER.

His peace is STRONGER and MORE FULFILLING.

His love is UNCHANGEABLE.

His time line is UNCOUNTABLE.

His offer is BEYOND YOUR FATHOM.

 

You can do no better than Jesus.

 

Change Your Mind.

 

https://youtu.be/4W-St_nxyFc

 

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

The overall perception of Jesus within society is that He was SOFT or “touchy-feely”…I like to describe this as “Sunday School Jesus”.

 

But nothing could be further from the truth.

 

He cleaned out the temple with a whip.

He told His own brother the equivalent of:  “You make no difference”

He told Peter:  “Get behind me Satan”

 

From a political standpoint, His plan was a disaster.  Even though people were drawn to follow at the surface level, He aligned Himself to no group that could back Him up.

 

And so we have to decide for ourselves where we will stand with Him.

 

And in John 6, this is just one example of how Jesus began to make His followers individuals—not a collective group bonded by politics, religion, military, social structure, age, economic status, or position.

 

John 6 53 Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.

 

No earthly thing will bond us together when it comes to Jesus.  He is above all things. And when you read verses like this you have to begin to think:  This guy might have been nuts. And you could make a case to me that He was. I would much more readily accept that “He was nuts” than “He was soft”.

 

Another argument would be that He was a liar.  That He walked around telling everyone things based on deception.

 

But, to me, neither of these make any sense.  With all of the crazy things He said we must take a step back and ask if He was crazy or SO FAR ABOVE US THAT WE DO NOT TOTALLY GET IT.  In my mind, His comments make this an easy decision.  Think about these statements made some 2000 years ago:

It Is Paid In Full

I Am Jacob’s Ladder

I Am The Gate

I Am The Living Water

All of these things make sense IF HE WAS WHO HE SAID HE WAS….  He paid for our sins (In Full), so that we could be transported up to heaven (Ladder), and enter (Gate), into a Kingdom that would satisfy all of our needs (Living Water).

 

It is not a coincidence that we might be offered freedom on July 4.  And I am not downplaying the freedom of America—because it is the closest thing that we can do on this earth.

 

But the FREEDOM offered by Jesus is above anything that we could ever have…..and it will never, ever, ever, return void.

 

FREEDOM isn’t free.  And Jesus chose to pay the cost that you might live.

 

Choose Him.  It will be the greatest decision that you could ever make.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBcqria2wmg

 

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

God knows who we are.

 

And His word states that over and over and over again.

 

In Psalm 139 and Jeremiah 1 He says that He knew us as we were being knitted together in our mother’s womb……

 

And in Romans 1 He says we are without excuse.

 

This is because God gives us control over our destiny.

 

We are not some cosmic accident.

We are not the victim of our circumstances.

We are not destined to be ruled over by our biology.

We are not what are temptations tell us to be.

 

But society today would tell us different.

Society would tell us that we are the very victims of the earth, and our thoughts.

 

The entire faith comes down to this issue.

We are either who our biology tells us to be and ruled by our own thoughts and temptations……OR we are ruled over by God.

 

IF God is right, we had better take heed of that.  Because He warns us that the enemy will look to steal, kill, and destroy.  He warns us that we are to follow Him–not our lusty desires. He warns us that we are not the victims of where we are born, or how much we have, or who we are known to be—but that we are His children.

 

I believe the latter.

 

I believe that I am a child of God and that my God bought me at a price and that my God is the ruler over my universe.

 

Yes…I will be tempted to do the wrong thing and sometimes do the wrong thing.

Yes…I am born into sin and live in a world that is full of sin.

Yes…Our world is broken.

 

But guess what?  I have a choice.

 

I can choose God.

 

I can choose life.

 

I can choose to be born again.

 

This means that my temptations do not get to tell me what to do or who to be.

It means that I can be forgiven and begin to think a new thought and live a new life.

It means that I have the right to born (as John 1 says) NOT of a human decision–but born of God!

 

This contradicts everything the world is currently now preaching.

 

And it is exemplified by what Jesus asks the man in John chapter 5.  “Do You Want To Get Well?”

 

John 5 1 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews.  2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades.  3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie–the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.  5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” 

7 “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” 

8 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”  9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. 

 

We must decide if we want to be well of what we are tempted to do.

We must decide if we want to be a child of God or a victim of our own biology.

We must decide if we want to have God—or not.

 

God does not, and will not, adjust who He is to what we want Him to be.

He is going to ask us to turn away from the things that we want to do and trade them for the greatest life we could ever have.

He is going to ask us to live as HIS child, not a child of the earth.

 

I have tried to do it myself.

I have tried to live out my call through my own works.

I have tried to be who I wanted to be–and not who He wanted me to be.

And 100% of the time…..I have failed.

 

I choose Jesus.

I choose who He has called me to be.

I choose to follow His leading.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjhANyrKpv8

 

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

In The Blink Of An Eye

 

As I drove into the stadium this morning God put that phrase on my heart.

 

How quickly a life can change……

 

It has taken many of us YEARS to even process what happened in the fall of 2017.  Jared and Genevieve Sommervold were killed in a horrible car accident.  Both were teachers, both were parents, and both were full of life.

In our school, Jared was a teacher and coach who was loved by staff and students alike.

 

It took me a long time to feel like ANYTHING I did, in teaching or coaching, mattered.

 

Making copies…..

Grading papers….

Coaching practice….

 

It all seemed so ridiculous and unimportant.

 

And when I started to feel better—I felt guilty.

 

In The Blink Of An Eye the entire world had changed.  To this day I find no rhyme or reason for how or why something like that makes any sense.  The wounds of this senseless tragedy will never totally be healed…..

 

And our enemy loves that.  The Bible says that “he will come to steal, kill, and destroy” and I truly believe that he loves chaos and disorder and unforgiveness and impatience and hatred.  He prowls about like a hungry lion looking for something to devour.

 

I thank God every day that the enemy does not own the “rest of the story”.  

 

And, in fact, he doesn’t.

 

Jesus made sure of it.

 

In the middle of the day, He made an incredible choice.

 

He took no regard for the law OR the Jewish rules OR the simple fact that He would be disgracing Himself.  

He went and talked to a Samaritan woman.

 

It wasn’t an accidental meeting and He did not “stumble” upon her.  He sought her out.

 

And when He was done speaking into her wretched existence—she changed so much that she influenced an entire town:

 

John 4 39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers.  42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”

 

What is your destiny?

 

You have a choice.  And in a fallen world you do not know how long you truly have to pursue it.

 

I want to encourage you to leave your fate in the bruised and broken hands of Jesus.  Because if you do, He will rewrite the final chapter of your destiny….

And, in Jesus, you are GUARANTEED an enormous victory.

 

I have to believe that if a broken, rejected, and hopeless Samaritan woman can change a city—-

 

Then you can too.

 

And every time I think of Jared—–I am ALL THE MORE MOTIVATED TO DO JUST THAT.

 

Use your time wisely, my friend, it goes fast.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp6oeFDLcpU

 

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