2 MINUTE WARNING

He was absolutely certain that he was following the right god….until he wasn’t.

On the way into Damascus, Syria…..Paul was planning on taking yet another step towards exterminating the scum of the earth…..Christians.  And he was doing a great job.

Educated.

Rich.

A Citizen of Rome.

Respected.

Feared.

Popular.

The world was at his fingertips.  He had the respect of the Jews and the respect of the Romans.

He was living the good life.

And then it happened.

Paul had an encounter with the King of the Universe:  Jesus Christ.

The gospel that I have claimed can not be false….there are too many holes in the arguments against it.

Discovered by women,

Championed by the lower class,

and Carried by people who gave their lives….

The gospel of Jesus is just so SOLID that I can’t turn away from it……and Your options are not very good outside of the one that He gives……and when Paul found that out he tossed all of his earthly privileges in the garbage and COMPLETELY CHANGED TEAMS…….

Because he wanted…..

To Follow The Right God.

Paul found out he was not only not doing right by God…..he found out he was actually an ENEMY of God.

And this is true of all of us……when we are not born into being a child of the King….we are an enemy.

Romans 5  8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:  While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

We all need to take account of who we are and where we are going…..Paul found out that he was correct in his path as far as getting to Damascus……But when he looked at where he was going with God…..it was the wrong way.

The word REPENT has to do with turning, with changing direction……

And we all need to check our own direction from time to time…………and make sure that we are headed toward something we can live with……..

When Paul found out where he was going…..he through it all away and started rewriting the book……

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

At the exact time when He was prophesied to be there….He showed up:

John 1  29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

When there was a problem with the heart of all man and people were desperate……..He showed up.

In a time when no one had hope to stand up to a tyrannical government……..He showed up.

And when the debt came due—and we did not have the money to pay it……..He showed up then too:

John 19 30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

And when He said “It is Finished” —- what He really said was that it was “paid in full”.  PAID IN FULL.  He showed up and paid the bill.

This isn’t just words in a book.  

This is an eternal promise and a move to set your existence in stone.

When He shows up everything changes:

The enemy doesn’t own you

Death can’t keep you

Your eternal destiny is set

Your family line is written

Your punishment is taken

Your shortfalls are forgotten

And it goes on and on and on.

And it’s not just for your eternal destiny although that should be enough.

It is for the now.

At a moment in my life when I was completely broke……. and broken….I cried out and asked Him for help……

Not surprisingly…….He showed up.

And that is my testimony today……He Will Show Up.

So don’t be afraid to cry out and ask.

Ask Him for a lot….and give Him all you have in doing so……Because His timing is perfect……and He is going to be there right when you need Him.

He Will Show Up

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

It is easy to follow the crowd.

It is easy to take the path of least resistance.

It is easy to be mediocre.

But God has called us to greater things….even in our times where we think we are not needed.

I am sure that David, as he watched over the sheep, wondered if he would ever do anything meaningful.

But the reality was that God was training him to take down a giant ….. And he didn’t even know it.

The world will tell you many things:

1. You Only Live Once
2. You Are An Accident That Is The Result Of Some Cosmic Explosion
3. You Don’t Matter

But the reality is this:  You DO Matter

And what you do:  It Matters

Take that responsibility seriously-

What You Do Matters

So Be A Leader

What does that look like in your personal life?….I don’t know.  But the Lord—He KNOWS. And He will lead you.

A good friend of mine who I respect VERY MUCH….had this read at his wedding:

Psalm  1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.

2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water,

which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.  Whatever he does prospers.

I see this verse written all over his life—and I always have.

I think it is because the Lord has put so much honor on him because the Lord knows that he will carry it.

And he does……..

He does not follow counsel from evil men

He does not mock people

He does not condone, or entertain, or water down….sin

And he is very committed to being right with the Lord

Is he perfect?  No.

But he does inspire me to do the one thing that all of us should try to do:

He inspires me to be a better man.

So I challenge you today…

Be A Leader

Ask God to show you what that means specifically to your life.

And then go and do your best.  Because when God impacted my friend He changed his life…..

And God working in his life has inspired me—-to be a better man.

So….Be A Leader…..because you never know who is watching.

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

This goes out to the one who is searching for where they want to put your chips on eternity…….

I can say that because I came to that place and have already placed my bet…..

So with bias, I give you this:

1. You have an encyclopedia worth of code written on your DNA that says YOU ARE DESIGNED.  And if you are designed, then that means you have a designer.
2.  A guy named Jesus showed up in the middle of nowhere some 2000 years ago and made some claims as bold as anyone could ever make.  He was crucified and AFTER He was claimed to have been risen from the dead—the entire world changed in a radical way. Men, and women, without power, prestige, or money sold out to spread the word that this Jesus is the ONLY WAY.
3.  If you read what this guy did, you can come to one of three conclusions (according to Josh McDowell–More Than A Carpenter) about who He was:
   1. He was Lord
   2. He was a lunatic
   3. He was a liar

John 3  1Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

3In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”

It must have been pretty hard to understand how a man could be “born again”…..and yet, that is exactly what Jesus shared with Nicodemus….”You must be ‘born again’”.

But looking at it from where I sit, He knew exactly what He was saying……

We have a chance to throw in with the greatest man who ever lived.  To follow Him. To talk to Him. To worship Him. We have a chance to completely change our mindsets and be who He has called for us to be.

This offer is not for the perfect…….and He spent no time sharing that His offer was to people who had it all together….

He was offering it to:

  Thieves

  Prostitutes

  Money Mongers

  Murderers

  Adulterers

  And anyone else who had not measured up IN ANY WAY to what might be holy

So how will you respond?

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.

This offer is all about freedom.  It is for everyone. It is the most important offer that you could ever consider.

He will not only change your eternity…..

He will change your today.

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 once spent a great deal of time studying end times….Jesus’ return….the tribulation….and so on….

But I am not sure that God has intended for us to make that our priority……

1 Corinthians 15 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed–  52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.   53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.     54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

What I do know, in reading that passage, is this:

1. Things happen quickly
2. We can ALL move from a perishable body to an eternal one
3. Death will no longer be the victor

John lays it out in his first book…..in his first paragraph.

John 1-

He showed up

He was not recognized

But He still offers ALL of us a chance to throw in with Him:

    “To those who will receive Him…..He gives the right to become children of God….”

We don’t need anything else.

We don’t have any other purpose.

Our future, in Him, is a lock.

And that my friends….IS ALL THERE IS TO FOCUS ON…..RECEIVE HIM and go and spread the good news…..not a message of rules and guilt….but a message of hope and forgiveness….

I had a very wise friend once tell me……”Do FIRST things FIRST…..and second things….not at all.”

Pretty good advice.

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

As Moses marched through the desert to his probable death, I am sure that he considered how he had ruined his life.  He had snapped and killed an Egyptian soldier.

Exodus 2  15 When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh……

Like many of us, his heart was trying to aim in the right direction…..but his flesh had lead him to murder.

And so Moses’ life was going to be radically different.

God had set the table.  He was an Egyptian prince and in the perfect position to free the slaves.  And now….he was a nobody.

How can a nobody do anything significant?

With God…..All Things Are Possible

As two modern day men were looking for the possible path of the Hebrew people out of Egypt, some local villagers pointed them to the “caves of Moses”.  You can watch this interesting expedition in a movie called: “The Search For The Real Mount Sinai”…..

But my point here is this:

God saves Moses from being butchered by Egyptian soldiers

Moses is raised in privilege

Moses loses it and kills someone

Moses flees to become a nobody

Moses is God’s man to free the Egyptians

In a shocking twist of circumstances, Moses does what he was destined to do …. ANYWAY.

And so will you.

All you have to do is say YES to the LORD.

And that is the point of this blog today…..it is to tell you….that God has a plan for you…..and it is better than the one that you have made for yourself.

He has a plan.

If you are like me….

You look at what is lost.  When we do that….we can begin to live:

in Fear, in Hopelessness, or in Despair.

Fear is losing sight of our ability to be a conqueror.

Hope is not seeing the end of our pain.

Despair is believing that tomorrow will be JUST LIKE TODAY.

But Moses …. He said yes to God.  And when he said yes……God began to rebuild his destiny.  He began to rebuild and restore the broken things. He even began to use Moses’ path for good.

And it is the same for me…..and the same for you.  Never let the world determine your destiny. Get your eyes up on the Lord and say yes to Him.

He is……always….MORE than you think He Is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ov76Qjk98GA

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 dude I think I most identify with in the Bible is Peter.

He, in his worst moments, is just like me.

It is astonishing….and it gives me hope.

Jesus tells His disciples about the tough road ahead and Peter assures Him—that he will not leave His side….And then he abandons Him.

Jesus tells Peter he will deny Him….and Peter assures him that he will not…..And then he curses to make a point to deny Him.

Jesus asks Peter to go pray—-BEGS him to go pray….and Peter responds by going to take a nap.

And so here is this undependable, disloyal, and lazy friend—-who basically does EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE of what God tells him to….and I am reading it thinking:  That’s Me.

Jesus is mocked, beaten, given an unfair trial, and executed between two thieves ……. And, to add salt to the wound, He is ALONE.  Almost all of His followers, including Peter, have run off like scalded dogs.

But then….we have a resurrection, and an encounter:

John 21 15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?”  “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” 16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?”  He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”  17 The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”  Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”  18 Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” 19 Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God.  Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

This Peter….this guy who abandoned and ran….is not only forgiven…..He is PROMOTED.

He is the “rock” who is chosen to start the church.

He is the one who will step forward and champion the gospel.

That my friends….is a scandal.

That my friends….is like a business owner catching a thief who has been robbing him blind and PROMOTING HIM TO BE THE COMPANY PRESIDENT!

That my friends…..gives me hope……and it should you to.

Because the word says that WHILE we were still sinners….Christ died for us.

We that choose Him…..that receive Him…..are given the greatest promotion you could ever imagine…..

And it is all due to His Loving Grace.

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

We serve an unfair God.

And here is what He says to prove it:

Matthew 20  1“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. 2He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.  3“About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5So they went.  6“He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’  7” ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.  “He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’  8“When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’

9“The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. 10So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’  13 “But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

If you did not follow this passage, as told by Jesus, then read it again…..I had to…..

And my first thought, in all honesty, was:

“So this guy who shows up at the end of the day and only works for one hour gets paid the SAME as everybody else?”

And the answer is:  YES.

And thank God it is.

One of the greatest lies of the enemy is that classic line:  “It is TOO LATE to go back now”…..

It is NEVER too late to go back now.

In fact, it is the perfect time to meditate on those three vital words:

GO

BACK

NOW

Your Lord is waiting for you.  He is waiting for you to come back to the very thing that you need to get everything fixed…..Him.

Go back to Him!

You see….you have someone very close to you who does something to sabotage just about every plan you have ever made…..and that person is YOU.

YOU are the problem.

And YOU are the very thing that prevents God from doing the very thing that you need.

Please know that I am not preaching at YOU….I am writing this to myself…….

And referring back to the story…..Jesus is making the same offer to all of us…….

Life is not fair until we realize that the we can very quickly find the man who shows up in the 11th hour and receives the full benefit of salvation and kingdom and forever.

And that’s because God would say:

It’s YOU.

Now come into the kingdom this very day…..and receive all that Jesus has for you.

I PROMISE…..it is ENOUGH.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtnE_e1LylY

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

Imagine trading currency in a foreign land and getting a fraction of what you money is worth?

You use a $10 bill to get $3.58.

And imagine using that money that you exchanged to buy something 5 times its value?

You pay $30 for a $6 item.

If you can envision those things, you have an idea of what the Jews were experiencing at the temple.

Oppression from the Roman empire was one thing…..but then to be ripped off by their own people—that was another.

Matthew 21 12 Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13 “It is written,” he said to them, ” ‘My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a ‘den of robbers.’ ”

Proverbs 11:1 says that “dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord”……

But here is a greater truth:  The Lord hates it when people get ripped off…..

He hates it when YOU get ripped off.

The world can be a tough place.  We can be chewed up and spit out so easily by people who care nothing about us…..and we are often measured and identified solely on our performance….

It makes it so easy to lose track of the one thing that we should really be focusing on:  LOVE.

God’s LOVE for us and our LOVE for Him and for those around us.

And yet…..that is the only thing that really matters.

So remember today…..

God is not against you…..He is for you.

He is not punishing you for falling short……He is receiving you for who you are.

He is not expecting something from you…..He is desiring to give something to you.

When you receive the Lord….when you are as John 1 invites…..born again…….

You are no longer a slave……you are a son.

You are no longer an enemy…..you are a child of the king.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8TkUMJtK5k

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