There are so many times that we want to hear the Lord speaking into our lives…..so many times when we need direction.

And yet…..we don’t listen.

Proverbs 27 Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.

What should we do when someone we love says something that we don’t like?  

We should listen.  

It might be the very thing that God is trying to tell us.  It might be the very thing that we need to hear.

And what should we do when someone who has no part in loving us tells us things?…..we should proceed with caution.

It is an age-old proverb and yet it is one that is as important today as it was the day that it was written.

So many times in life we seek counsel from someone so that they can tell us what we want to hear.  We want to confirm our position or solidify our stance or get encouragement as we head down a prideful path…..

But what we really need is to be told the truth……and the truth sometimes hurts…or disagrees…or is not what we want to hear.

Who is the person in your life that God has put in place to advise and support?  Who is the person who is connected to the Lord with wisdom and has nothing to gain from your position?

That is the voice of God in your life.  He has put them there to keep you on track and to help you seek counsel.

So pray.

And read the word.

And seek counsel.

But do not stray from the words of those He has placed in your life to give you the wisdom that you truly need.

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

God moves on behalf of those who have great courage……..

And by courage….I mean FAITH in the Lord.

There are many miracles in the Bible—-but perhaps none greater than the one that happened as a result of Nehemiah.

Jerusalem was in ruins.

The wall was broken and the gates were unguarded.

The city was a sitting duck for all who would oppose them.

But Nehemiah ……..

It is always a man (or woman) who stands in faith that changes the world.  He (or she) activates the Living God…..because God moves on behalf of His people.

Nehemiah 2  17 Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem

It sounds all too familiar…..

A man sees something in ruins.

He prays and asks the Lord for help.

He walks out and believes Him who is the author of our lives.

Nehemiah got permission from a king.

He influenced a few strong leaders.

He sold a crazy idea to a large group of people.

He influenced individuals to work as a team in a construction project that had no large blueprint.

And a wall was built that created a safe haven for those who might DARE to recognize GOD as the King of the Universe.

INCREDIBLE….

Miraculous…..

When people who follow God get together and pray and obey…..walls can be built that will defend our “city”.

So I say to you………

Do not be dismayed by the decay around you.

Stand up.

Pray.

Find your cause.

And build your wall.

People acting in great faith do great things….and those things last for an eternity.

Cry out to the Savior of the world and “build your wall” …. whatever that might be.

Because our world is crying out for a safe haven….a covering….a place where we do not defile and dishonor and rebel…..

Our world is crying out for a Savior…….and He is the only hope we could ever have.

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

The Book of Psalms is a great place to go when our emotions are overriding our thinking patterns.  They are encouraging writings that bring direction over us……..

And if there was one truth that I wish we could give to all man….it would be this:

You Are Not An Accident

When man thinks he is worthless, when he thinks he doesn’t belong, when he thinks he has no purpose….this is when, I believe, that the enemy begins to alter and influence his plans for the worse…….

In the investigations and study of the cell….we have discovered so much…..In a cell we have design and order that we can not comprehend…..many systems working together to organize, clean, communicate, and restructure…..all within a structure that is about 1/10,000 the size of a head of a pin.

It is hard for me to fathom that people think that these systems, these processes, came to be without oversight……which is why I try to communicate to all that I know that You Are Not An Accident.

And so should you.

Imagine what the Lord could do through each of us if we came to the realization that He has us RIGHT WHERE WE ARE so that we can do something great…..

He does and we can……

Psalm 139

11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me

and the light become night around me,”

12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;

the night will shine like the day,

for darkness is as light to you.

13 For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.

I don’t know where you are today.

I don’t know if you are walking in pain or in joy.

I don’t know if you are struggling to climb a hill or gliding down one.

I don’t know if you are in great health or struggling.

But this I do know:

Even the dark is light to God

He knows your thoughts before they come to you

You are Fearfully and Wonderfully made

I pray that today….

He would bring order to your chaos

He would bring clarity to your thoughts

He would bring you to a place of worship and awe

Because He has you…..and He has those you love.

And a broken world, a legitimate enemy, and even the end of life as we know it here on earth…..can do NOTHING to loosen His grip on both you and all you hold dear.

So take a moment today to find your knees and worship…..because He has a plan for you that is better than what you have for yourself.

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

I am sorry for not being consistent on the blog……But I remain steadfast in my encouragement to all that Jesus is the ONLY WAY…..

In life.  In death. In sickness.  In health. In all that we experience in this fleeting life……

My mom can not remember what happened 10 minutes ago.  She does not know what year it is. She does not always know who I am.

She spent two nights in the ER last week and did not remember being there……

Alzheimer’s is her new reality.  It is the curse that has stolen her mind.

I often ask…..where did this begin?

And the answer is still, and will always be, the same.

This began in a garden ….. With a man and a woman …… and a choice.  (Genesis 1)

It began with a temptation ….. And a lie ….. And a baited hook like that a fisherman would use to catch a fish.

And it ended with an entrance ….. And in they came.

    Satan.

    Sin.

    Death.

And I am not sure which one is our greatest adversary……but I really don’t care……because we have an option……and that option is the hope of all mankind.

Because whenever we are faced with looking at the reality of darkness, we must also realize that we can look at the reality of truth.

2000 years ago, Jesus showed up in Jerusalem and offered all of us a new option…….

And that option was to RECEIVE HIM.

And so as often as I might hang my head and see what lives in the darkness, I am reminded of what lives in the light.

Our hope is Jesus….and to all who might wonder why is this happening?  Where did this all begin? Where is our hope? …. I say this: We have the option to have the power of God LIVING IN US if we choose to RECEIVE HIM.

And if we choose to receive Him…..then Satan, Sin, and Death’s entrance into our world virtually mean nothing….because we get to carry the power of God.

2 Corinthians 4  7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

Every time I pray over my mom, she cries.  It is a testimony to God’s power within us.  A woman who no longer understands, no longer comprehends, and no longer remembers…..can feel the power of God within her.  Yes, she may be crushed and perplexed and pressed in……but she carries the power of Jesus….and she always will!

A man named Chuck Coalson was sent to prison after being convicted in the Watergate scandal of the early 1970’s—and it turned out to be the greatest thing that he could have encountered.  He had a mid-life conversion and RECEIVED HIM. He then said this:

“The hope that each of us has is not in who governs us, or what laws are passed, or what great things we do as a nation.  Our hope is in the power of God working through the hearts of people, and that’s where our hope is in this country; that’s where our hope is in life.”

Amen, amen, and amen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4C6b5i_ypdI

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

I could tell right away that Moses was a hero……not the Moses from the Bible……Moses the sprinter from Skyline.  He had honor on him. But that did not stop him from being injured……a torn hamstring in the conference championships.

Life is not fair.

Jesus tells us:  “In this world you will have trouble…but take heart!  I have overcome the world!” And He has!

You see….the enemy can disrupt and delay and discourage God’s plan over your life—but he can never destroy it.

Sin….and human choice……and the enemy trying to steal, kill, and destroy can all put roadblocks up…….but if you stay your course you can walk through them, over them, and around them.

Just look at Moses (the one from the Bible).

I am sure that he had no idea how God could use him after his angry response led to the death of an Egyptian slave driver.

But God did use him.  He introduced Moses to his wife.  He made sure to have an encounter with him.  He sent him back to Egypt to free the slaves……..and free them he did.

Midian was not a great option at first glance…..but God is a GREAT option.  And God had a plan for Moses…..and He has a plan for us.

Have you had to “flee to Midian?”

Remember this:

Jeremiah 29 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.   13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

God has a plan for you.

So if you are down like Moses (the Skyline runner) I declare to you this day:

Rise up o man of God!

Do not stay down for long.

Ask God to heal you or your situation or your destiny….and believe that He will come through…….

And if that does not work out the way you have planned….then ask for something greater…..

Because our God is the God Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

He is the God who frees slaves and calls out kings and conquers our enemies.

And He is who He says He is………..

And He can do what He says He can do.

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

It is a tough world out there……

And when you have been in the grind, and failed, it is hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I can remember the man who hired me as a football coach told me in jest:  “I am 100% behind you if you win or tie.”

…..it took me a minute to process…..but when I did we had a good laugh……

What is not a laughing matter is how quickly this becomes our reality…….the world wants perfection….and when it does not get it it pours out judgement and condemnation……and when we couple that with the incredibly high expectations that we put on ourselves………it can bring us to our knees.

What could be worse?………Not caring.  In my opinion, “not caring” is worse.

So what are we to do?

If one side of the coin is a standard of expectation that no one could ever meet and the other side does not care, then what should we do?  How can we ever win?

A man who mentored me named Rod Olson gave me a third option.

It went something like this:

If one side of the coin is RESULTS and WINNING, COMPETING and GRINDING, WORKING tirelessly for an outcome that will never be good enough and the other side of the coin is seeing how silly our toil truly is and giving up…..

Then what are we left with?

We are left with putting the coin on its edge and spinning it with the flick of our finger……

We are left with giving it all to Him…..and loving who we are because He loves who we are……

And if you, like me, struggle in this competitive cycle….be encouraged….all of us do…….and so did many in the Bible……..We simply must put His call on our lives and read that love letter that He wrote us……

Be encouraged:

Paul tells us in Romans 8 Therefore there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus….

Peter met a resurrected Jesus and was forgiven for his total and epic failure to stand with Jesus in His darkest hour.

Solomon, in Ecclesiastes, found his pursuit to be the best utterly meaningless.

And so it is.

Until we let go and let God, we toil in a pattern that will never let us enjoy what we truly have or who we truly are….

But people who let go and live on the edge?

Peter let go of trying to strive to be the best and just started living for Jesus with reckless abandon……and he changed the world.

Paul was pursuing religion, and power, and status, and wealth at the highest level….but after he met Jesus on that road into Syria he began to live a life of love and fulfillment, a life filled with hope and TRUE RICHES……claiming all that he had before Jesus was TOTAL TRASH.

And what about you?

Are you running a race that never ends or have you stepped out of the action all together?

Don’t stay there……..

Live on the edge for Jesus and let God have the results…..let Him have the glory…..and let Him hold the measuring stick…….

Because 2000 years ago on a cross He made a statement to the entire world about you that no one but you can ever revoke….

He said you are worthy

That He is for you

That He will never leave you

He said, and SAYS NOW, that your best is good enough

That He is proud of you

And that He will stand by you

And at the end of His journey, He called you conqueror

And holy one

And Champion

So live on the edge of that coin for Jesus….with all you do and all you aspire to do…….

After all, there will come a day very soon when you will not look at what you accomplished……just who you belong to…..

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

Competition can be difficult.

I think that many of us who have competed could say that some of our highest, and lowest, moments have happened in competition.

I know that in football, we literally put in blood, sweat, and tears……and to come up short can feel devastating.

But that is what it is all about.  It is where we learn to face our fears, our failures, and many of the obstacles that we will face in life.

And the failure piece is just as important as the success—if not moreso.

Learning to live with, and overcome, failure is so important.  Think about it with baseball: Many hall of fame players were .250 batters (or very close)…….which means they failed 75% of the time when they came to the plate!  Learning to deal with that failure, and coming back to fight again, is so important……perhaps the most important lesson that we can learn.

In an earlier blog, I referenced Luke 16…and in verse 3 the man says:  “I am not strong enough to dig and I am too proud to beg…” The man is examining his options:

1. Beggar
2. Digger
3. Steward

Competitors are what that passage (Luke 16) would refer to as a “Digger”.  We cover every scenario. We work and toil. We eat and breathe our dream. And we live and die by our outcomes.

And when it all comes crashing down it all seems like such a waste…….

I can assure you today….it is not.

To the men and women out there who have come up short and wondered, I say two things:

1. You Were Built To Reign.  Your desire to be the very best was put in you by the Lord.  He has wired you to seek to be the best. Romans 8 says that we are “MORE than conquerors” in Christ Jesus.  God tells us in 1 Corinthians 9:24 to run the race to win.
2. Remember Who You Run For.  Without doing this, point 1 means nothing…..because our striving and working to reign, our desire to win, and our goal to be the best means nothing without the Lord.  He tells us in Colossians 3:23: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for man.”  We are striving and working TO HONOR HIM…..not for ourselves. Not to beat someone else. Not so that we can stand on the throne.  Not so that we can be arrogant and better than those around us…..FOR HIM.

Now that is a good word.  

Colossians 3:23 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for man.”

And in today’s society, we as Christians need to be modeling this.  We work HARD. We show up every day and put in a great effort. And we do it so that we can bring HONOR to the LORD.

He hasn’t made us champions so that we can take the credit….He has made us champions so that we can declare Him King.

Just like the end of the Lord’s prayer:

For Thine Is The Kingdom, And The Power, And The Glory Forever.  Amen.

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

Why Do I Believe What I Believe?

These are facts about Jesus of Nazareth that no one would argue with:

• About 2000 years ago a man named Jesus lived, traveled, and ministered in Samaria, Galilee, and Judea.
• His teachings were controversial:  they drew people to follow Him, made others respect Him, and angered those who opposed Him.
• He was baptized in the Jordan river by a man named John The Baptist.
• He was crucified by the order of the Roman Prefect Pontius Pilate.

I might be crazy…….but I think this Jesus is the Son of God….

That He is the Savior of the world…..

That He is the hope of nations and the hope of individuals…..

He has saved me in every area of my life—not just from others—but He has saved me from myself….

In my eyes….He is the Answer…..

To ALL IDEAS….

To ALL THINGS….

To ALL PEOPLE….

Matthew 27 46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” –which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Okay…..as I read this I concluded:  The moment of weakness for Jesus. He wasn’t as perfect as He claimed.  He cried out and asked God where He was as Jesus was suffering.

Not so.

And what I discovered made me even more convicted of Jesus, of this Bible, of this word.

He was quoting scripture!  He was quoting Psalm 22…..and I just thought:  As He hung there….as He was being mocked…..after He endured an unfair trial…..after being abandoned by all the disciples……He was hanging on that cross FULFILLING His mission….for me.

As you read the 22nd Psalm it is shocking……David paints a picture of Jesus on the cross…….and I can’t imagine what he must have been thinking as he was writing it……

But he was obeying God and predicting the future.

As I ran into this incredible scripture, I began to find more predictions about Jesus imbedded into the Old Testament.

Here are just a few:

Micah 5:2 said he would be born in Bethlehem

Zechariah 9:9 said that He would declare Himself King on a donkey

Isaiah 53 said that He would be pierced for our transgressions

And then there is the 22nd Psalm….which talks about His betrayal, His being mocked, His clothes being gambled over.

And these are just a few…..after reading these I started reading the Old Testament and saying:  That’s about Jesus. So is that. And so is that.

Pretty soon, I ceased to be amazed and just started telling God…….”Look—I am so sorry that I did not see this before.”

And I began to be in awe of what He had done.

He had written me a love letter from before I came to be…….and I had treated it with none of the respect that it deserved….nor Him.

So here I am…..and I am here today…..and as I write these words I ask the Lord to show me…..Here I Am!  Lord…..

Matt Redman’s song sums it up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0646vaI45dA

Set me on fire….

Here I am, God, arms wide open

Pouring out my life….gracefully broken

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

Why Do I Believe What I Believe?

These are facts about Jesus of Nazareth that no one would argue with:

• About 2000 years ago a man named Jesus lived, traveled, and ministered in Samaria, Galilee, and Judea.
• His teachings were controversial:  they drew people to follow Him, made others respect Him, and angered those who opposed Him.
• He was baptized in the Jordan river by a man named John The Baptist.
• He was crucified by the order of the Roman Prefect Pontius Pilate.

I might be crazy…….but I think this Jesus is the Son of God….

That He is the Savior of the world…..

That He is the hope of nations and the hope of individuals…..

He has saved me in every area of my life—not just from others—but He has saved me from myself….

In my eyes….He is the Answer…..

To ALL IDEAS….

To ALL THINGS….

To ALL PEOPLE….

Guarantees Are Ridiculous Displays Unless You Back Them Up With Action

That being said…there is something special when someone guarantees something and then backs it up with action.  I believe that there is something in all of us that so badly wants a hero. Many times this happens in sports……

• It happened when Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) filled a bus with people and drove over to Sonny Liston’s house in the middle of the night to call him out.  The intimidating Liston went from “bully”, and champion of the world, to a defeated man. And Ali used his words followed by action to knock him off of the throne.
• It happened when Larry Bird played basketball.  He shot left handed to make a point. He told guys, with the game on the line, exactly what he was about to do—-and then DID IT EXACTLY LIKE HE SAID.
• It happened when Joe Namath played football.  He guaranteed a win in the Super Bowl…..and then delivered against a team that was greatly favored to win.

These men were incredible champions in their sport….but even in their greatness, they were unable to back up every word they said.  And, eventually, they could not back up their claims and it was time to move on.

These men drew fanatical fans and they were heroes for a short time because of their great ability to back up their guarantees with actions………

But they were nothing compared to a lot of bold claims made 2000 years ago by a man named Jesus.

In addition to saying:

    I am the Ladder

    I am the Gate

    I am the Bread of Life

    I am the Living Water

He had the audacity to say this:

John 2 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”

I am not sure what this means at face value……..but when I look at the big picture—-I see this:

A new “religion” started in Jerusalem and the followers who ran away were now shouting in the streets….the cowards had become champions.  And this “religion” bonded people that the culture could not—-it valued the testimony of women, it allowed or even demanded that the Samaritans be allowed to worship with the Jews, it did not place any value on money, or power, or status, or popularity, or anything else that selfish men could “lord” over others……

It simply championed this Jesus.

You can do whatever you want to do with this……

But these blogs are not done yet….. I have MORE……. and as for me—–I declare this:

Jesus wasn’t crazy…..

He was God.

And after clearing the temple…

After declaring Himself AS God…

He showed up alive in Judea and a bunch of people became transformed and DELIVERED

The bottom line is this:

We don’t need a vape pen

or

A bag of money

or

A new car

or

Fame

or

To change who we were created to be

We need to realize that we are covered in sin and in dire need of the very thing that Jesus offered….to be born again into a Kingdom that reigns eternal.

God can, and will, do every bit of the work to bring you to Him.  If there is 1,000 miles between you and Him, He will travel 999.99 of them to come and meet you.

If there is 1,000,000 miles between you and Him, He will travel 999,999.99 of them to come and meet you.

And so on…..

But the part that is required to close the deal requires YOU.  You must RESPOND.

Do it today.  RESPOND and be born again.  And if you don’t know how to do that then call me:  720-448-2628…

I would be more than honored to walk with you through it.

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