2 MINUTE WARNING

I am not an artist.

But I want you to visualize a terrible painting.  Ugly.  Without color.  Hard to look at.  Without life.

Visualize the most ugly painting that you could ever lay eyes on….

When God says this:

Revelation 21:5  He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

Your life is a picture.  It is a work of art, and the Lord is (as He says in Hebrews 12) the “Author and Perfecter” of our faith.

The problem with this is that we have been given the most important gift that one could have:  Free Will

And with freedom we get to walk into our destiny and make our own way.  And when we make our own way we make a mess of things.  And the reality is that we can make our life look very much like that painting:

Ugly

Without Purpose

Void Of Color  

Hard To Look At  

Without Life

But God has the solution.

And that solution is Grace.

Grace is a scandal….it is not only NOT getting what we deserve–it is getting promoted.

In the world of paintings, His Grace is what you paint over that terrible painting…..and no matter how ugly it is —

And that terrible painting becomes a different picture……..It is now

Beautiful

Purposeful

Colorful

Full Of Life

So put your brush into the paint can that is full of God’s Grace…..and your painting will change.

It becomes a masterpiece….better than any in the world.

In The Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

Hebrews 11  1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

As I worshipped in church one day I was meditating on that verse and I became convicted……….what happens when we “don’t know what to hope for”?

When hope is gone it is hard to do anything.

All of us have faced a day or a situation or a relationship when we were low on, or had lost, HOPE…..and without HOPE life can be …. IMPOSSIBLE.

Where do we go when we have no hope?

Jesus understood this.

And He proved it by giving His life to bring hope to a world that did not have it.

He saw the temple…the cheating and greed…the religiosity…the broken and hopeless people…and so He cleared it.

He saw the hopelessness in Lazarus’ family…so He raised him from the dead….AFTER….He wept.

Again and again….He showed up to free the broken and give hope to the hopeless.

But His word does not stop there…..His word is not about 2000 years ago….it is about TODAY.

His word is about bringing hope to us today…..and then for us to give that hope away to all we know—-so that we, as a people, can be sure of what we hope for.

But we cannot give away what we do not have.

All of us are in a different place on this issue.

Some of us are walking out our daily walk without a care in the world….

And some of us are carrying a pain that only He can know or understand…..

And most of us are somewhere in between.

But there is a truth out there that all of us need for each and every day of our lives….and that is this:

Romans 8

38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

May the Lord come and convince of you of His love.

May He cover your steps and protect you.

May He give you strength and energy.

But above all things…..

May He put hope on you and in you.  May He show you a purpose that will put a dream on your heart and a spring in your step.  May He fill you with His love that you are able to find not only joy in your day….but happiness.

And may His spirit flow out of you in a way that it would bring hope to others.

In The Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

I want to continue on in my attempt at putting a Jiu Jitsu spin on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

It is easy, at least for me, to judge Jonah but today I am convicted with a different perspective.

Yes, he ran in the opposite direction of where God wanted him to go.

No, he did not want to bring deliverance to the Ninevites.

Yes, he “talked back” to God.

But we must ask ourselves:

• Do I have a heart that is really that different than that of Jonah?
• Do I want to see ALL people delivered or do I sometimes hold back on certain groups because of some personal conviction?
• Do I have the ability, the relationship, where I am even able to talk to the Lord?….Do I know Him well enough to “talk back” to Him?

What the Lord asked Jonah to do was similar to Him asking a Jew to give the gospel to a leader at a Nazi concentration camp.  

They were the enemy of Israel.

Our cold reality is this:  We all start off as God’s enemy.

We are sinners….not because we sin.  Just the opposite:

We sin because WE ARE SINNERS.  From the moment a baby is born into this world—he or she is born with it.  Those of us who are parents know this….how many of us have asked our kids:  “Where did you learn that?”…..only to find out—-they did it all on their own.

And because we were His enemies He had to make a decision:

Punish….and give Justice

OR

Disregard….and give Mercy.

At the cross……He managed to meet the requirements of both.

And Jonah drops a word that we should never, ever, forget:

Jonah 4:2  ……. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.

We don’t hold some special “power” that no one else can have.  We hold a gift that God wants everyone to have.  Either He forgives all sin or He doesn’t forgive any sin.  This is so hard for us to comprehend and yet He draws a crystal clear picture for us in Matthew 20.  The owner shows up and pays the guy that worked from 5 pm to 6 pm THE SAME WAGE as the guy who worked all day……

What INJUSTICE!

But the reality is that WE ARE THE PERSON WHO SHOWED UP AT FIVE!

The Gospel is so rich.

And our God is so good.

The enemy has us whipped and defeated.  He has accused us and we are guilty of every accusation he makes.  Death is our destiny and punishment is our deserved paycheck.

And then Jesus shows up.

And He does the unthinkable……He pays the debt by punishing the perfect man as guilty so that the sinner can be set free.

How frustrating it must be to be the enemy of God…..just when you have your opponent pinned down and you get ready to pummel him……you end up a in a wrist lock—-and from the top of the pile—-you are in a submission hold that you cannot escape……

There is no victory in standing in opposition to the King of the Universe…….because even when His people are down—–

He Reigns Victorious!

And there is NOTHING anyone can do to change it.

The bigger the underdog……the greater the victory.

In The Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

I am fascinated by Jiu Jitsu…..

And I am even more fascinated by what the Gracie family did with it…..which is to give a person in a somewhat dangerous position a chance against a bigger, stronger, faster opponent…..even using a situation where the person using the Jiu Jitsu looks like he is in grave danger.

I think what drew me in was a guy named Royce Gracie….who seemed to be a hero for any underdog out there…..showing the world that you don’t need to be enormous and strong to be able to defend yourself……

But this is not about martial arts.

Or Royce Gracie.

It is about the greatest defeat of a bully we have ever known.

And we get a precursor for it in John.

John 7 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.”

Sometimes the enemy has us cornered.  He calls us out and we are surrounded by men with stones waiting to “hold us accountable”.  And sometimes we need to stand up and defend ourselves…..

But other times….I think Jesus allows us to stand up and say:  “Yes…that’s me.  I blew it and I was not who God called me to be.”  In that act….we focus the credit of our salvation on the only One we have ever needed…..Jesus.

In our weakness, He is strong.

In our darkness, He brings hope.

In our lack of belief, He brings faith.

In our death, He brings resurrection.

And….

In our sin, He brings victory.

It wasn’t too long after this failed confrontation by the pharisees that Jesus settled it once and for all:

Colossians 2  13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

He didn’t just stand there passively as the enemy called you a thief and a liar and a failure and a loser.

He swung in from the balcony, kicked him in the head, and told him to never mess with you again……

And He did it at an incredible cost.

So drop the stones that may be the very things that are thrown at you…..and spend none of your time looking at the sinner—-and all of your time praising the One who can set the sinner free…..

In The Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

There is something about these movies or shows about superheroes that draws me in…….and each hero has a story:

One is bitten by a spider.

Another is struck by lightning.

Still another is an alien from another planet.

They are time travelers.

They are protectors of the weak human race…….

And the villains have great stories too.

I have often wondered what draws me into all of these….because what is drawing me in seems to be drawing others in too.

I think that all of us, when it comes down to it, know that we are vulnerable and broken and in need of help…..that we, as people, might not be able to overcome or defeat the things that come to break us……and that we are waiting for something or someone to come and rescue us or aid us in our battle.  And the idea that they can somehow sprint around the world in 5 seconds or swing from a building or fly somehow attracts us.

Several stories in the Bible have this “idea” connected to them.  

David defeats a giant.

Lot is aided by angels to flee Sodom.

Gideon leads an army into Jericho.

In all of these—-the people are in desperate need of a miracle—or a helping hand—and the Lord is there to provide just that.

And for for every story of a miraculous victory in a battle, there is yet another that is God simply coming and saving His people from being squashed like bugs due to their circumstances.

Esther rescues the Jews from execution.

Joseph goes from prison to royalty.

Daniel survives a night with hungry lions.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are able to survive the blazing furnace.

Some might even argue that these stories are no different than the ones that Marvel or DC have generated to capture our attention….but I would point your eyes to just the opposite.  WE ARE DRAWN to these comics because He has put it on our hearts to be drawn to things that resemble our nature, our history, and our creator.

Our reality is that we have generated these stories because the Lord has put the gospel on our hearts ….. And whether we come to accept it or not—-it is inside of us.

So my question for you today is:

What Is Your Story?  Because, ultimately, that is the only one that will matter…..and I can assure you—-it is the only one that matters to God.

Don’t get me wrong—He loves everybody.  But never forget—He wrote this Bible SPECIFICALLY for you.  He came for you.  He died for you.  And He rose again for you.

And I can tell you from personal testimony that:

He Shows Up…Because He wrote this story for me too.

• He showed up outside of a locker room in 1987 and put a courage and love in me that I could not come to on my own will.
• He showed up when I asked Him to come and show me what to do in my relationships to make them ….. Right ….. And soon after that—after I had submitted to Him through a period of testing—I met Angie.
• He showed up when I lost my house and was over a million dollars in debt and rescued me from financial ruin.
• He showed up and gave me my only sanity when I was literally going insane in 2002.
• When I asked Him to bring me a man of another race to follow a mandate from Promise Keepers in 1996—He did that.
• And in February of 2010, when my dad died, He showed up then too…..showing me a glimpse of my dad as he looked into the heavens on the day he died AND showing me later in worship that He had my dad in heaven.

Again and again……He Shows Up.  And He Shows Up AT JUST THE RIGHT TIME.

Do you need Him to show up?

Galatians 6  7Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

I do read this verse as a warning….it is a loud and clear message to each of us that we can sometimes “sell Him short”….that we underestimate His power and forsake Him—and that we try to sow in the flesh.

But I would encourage you today to also read this verse from the positive perspective and:  SOW IN THE SPIRIT.

Because our reality is this:

Satan is a villain.

Jesus is a superhero the likes of which the world has never seen (even in the comics).

Our battle, according to Ephesians 6, is NOT AGAINST PEOPLE.

If we build our lives around eternity we will begin to see what God has in mind—not just for later—but for now.

So I would discourage you from testing God in the flesh…..

But when you “test” Him in the Spirit by sowing in the Spirit…..He shows up, and shows up big, 100% of the time.

In The Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

No one wanted justice more than Peter.

He cut off the ear of the man who dared arrest Jesus.

He asked Jesus to send destruction to a community of people.

He actually rebuked Jesus when he spoke the word.

And he promised to stand by Jesus no matter what…..even if everyone else would leave him.

And then he…..left him.

He denied he knew him—even swearing to his accusers that he never knew him.

We all want justice.  We all want someone held accountable.  And we all backslide.

And when we come to face the truth of who we really are….the truth hurts.

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.”  16Again 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.”  17The 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.”  18Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.

I love Jesus….He asks Peter three times and restores him…..but I always ask the question:  How did he miss it?  The son of God was right there and he missed it…….

But the reality is that we all miss it.

In Revelation 3, Jesus says:  “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. 21 To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.”

And he says that because—-we ALL miss it.  He is standing right there and we miss it.

And so where does He meet us?…..just like Peter He meets us when we have come to the end of our rope.  When we realize who we are—we find that there is a hole inside of us—or maybe a chasm inside of us—that no one else can fill.  And that is where Jesus wants full occupancy.  The Holy Spirit can change us.  He can come do a work in us that no medicine, no therapy, no man made item can do…..and He can do it better that we ever would have thought.  Sometimes we just can’t receive Him in our greatest moments because that spot is occupied by pride.

And after all……our only gift is to RECEIVE HIM.  “To those who would receive Him—He gave the right to become children of God…”

So if God has shown up….and you have missed Him….if He has stood at the door and knocked—and you did not invite Him in in that moment because of fear, or pride, or distractions, or pain, or laziness ….. Just …. Invite Him in now.

He can work miraculously TODAY…….

And don’t listen to the enemy tell you that You Missed It or It Is Too Late To Go Back Now or I Will Never Measure Up …. Because although those might be the truth …. They are not the TRUTH…..

Because His timing is perfect….It is never too late…and His purchase on the cross paid for your inadequacy……

So open the door…..and change your life……

For He—-and He alone—-holds the keys to eternal life.

In The Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

I had the privilege of having a great American History teacher my junior year in high school:  My Dad.  As we celebrated as a family yesterday at his brother’s cabin–I thought of him a few times.  He had an incredible influence on my life and I am so glad that he was my teacher.  At our home one night, I can remember my dad telling me about an American Indian warrior’s great testimony about George Washington…so I looked it up.  I just wanted to see if I could read what he was telling me about.

http://home.portervillecollege.edu/jwiens/george_washington.htm

As details of the battle emerged, it turns out that either George Washington was extremely lucky, was bulletproof, or was being supernaturally protected. One Indian warrior testified that he had shot at him 17 times. He exclaimed that “Washington was never born to be killed by a bullet!” Another Indian, Red Hawk, had shot and missed him 11 times. He had not missed a shot before, and became convinced that Washington was being supernaturally protected by the Great Spirit. In 1770, fifteen years after the battle, an old Indian told Washington that he had sought out to meet him. He had been fighting in the battle that day, and he had told all the Indians with him to shoot at him, and make sure that he died. When they all missed, he told them to stop. On that evening, he predicted that Washington would never die in battle, and would be “the founder of a mighty empire.”

Perhaps this was the article that my dad was referencing…..but I think the spirit of this story holds to what we talked about on that night many years ago.  The testimony of our great nation, under God, from a people who were our adversaries.

As we take in the memory of the fireworks, the barbeque, and the gatherings—we should fondly make note of how we came to be a nation.

I tell my students all the time that they are free.  They can worship freely, they can live freely, and they can work as hard as they would choose to better their situation.

This is what my father and his brothers and sisters did.  They grew up in Hugo poor and made the most of what they had material-wise:  Nothing.

This is because when you combine freedom, hard work, family, and God’s blessing—-great things can happen.

What brings God’s blessing?

That is something we each need to look into as we move forward……

A few things on my heart today would be:

Strong Families

Hard Work

Gratitude

Generosity

Loyalty

I know that there could be many more things on that list so I will leave them for you to fill in…..but my point is this.

Jesus gave us freedom from three things that we could never have defeated on our own strength:

• Satan
• Sin
• Death

What could our country look like today if we truly acted on that freedom?

Our country is in a period of transition.  We have many things on the horizon that will make or break us.

But here is the good news:

2000 years ago Jesus sealed up our freedom on a cross between two thieves.  He poured out His blood and took the punishment that we deserved that we might live again……..Satan, sin, and death were defeated in one act of incredible love that we could never talk about enough…….

So go forward in freedom…..and seek God’s blessing in your walk.

Because in those things—-great nations are born.

In The Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

I have no idea what lead my daughter Jordan to read Judges 19 but a few nights ago, in her quiet time up in her room, that is exactly what she did.

Sharing with her sister and her mom—-she was a little upset by the reading.

Not being familiar with the passage by memory, I opened the Word to read it myself before advising her……and understood why she might be upset.

Some passages in the Old Testament could be described as:

• Brutal
• Unforgiving
• Disgusting

And this passage met exactly those qualifications.  In the one chapter, by my assessment, we have:

• Rape
• Murder
• Child Abuse
• Sexual Perversion
• Sexual Slavery
• Child Trafficking
• Mutilation

It is a disturbing portrait of not only who they were back then…but who we are today.

What can we say?  What can I say to my daughter who went in to read her Bible and came away deeply disturbed….

I can say to her what God says to us:  The Truth.

Sooner or later we must all face it.  And, personally, I want her to hear it from me.

Hey I get it…..sometimes the truth hurts.  But, as we know, the truth can set us free.  Actually, I should say:  The TRUTH can set us free.

And so here it is:  

Without God, we are Brutal, Unforgiving, and Disgusting.

This word today is not about the Old Testament.  It is about how the Old Testament shows us who we truly are without Jesus.

Now I know that there is more to Judges 19 than what I am touching on here, but what I am touching on here is simply to say that we must know who we truly are.

We are backsliding, disloyal, duplicit, perverted, murderous, slanderous, unreliable, detestable, and every other thing we can describe because we belong to the world.

Sin is our natural action.

Satan is in charge.

Death is our future.

We are no different than the men described in that chapter….although we sometimes find the sins that we do not struggle with and condemn those actions while reading over or denying the things that we do own.

Is it any wonder we have so many problems in the world today?

It is a simple matter that we were born into it.

When my children were younger, I used to ask them:

Where did you learn that?

Something in me wanted to know who taught them some of the things that they did ……. But the reality is that most of us find it on our own or in our own heart ….. OR …. They learned it from me.

I think I have made my point.

So today, let’s see what the prophet Isaiah had to say about all of this:

Isaiah 53  6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,

each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

So if you need a good story about man’s failure, God’s patience, and our incredible need for Jesus, read Judges 19.  And if you want to see these things acted out in 2017—-go and look in the mirror.

But don’t stay there long and condemn yourself….just stay there long enough to ask:  who would I be today if Jesus hadn’t gotten a hold of me yesterday?

And when you see that great need for Him…grab onto it and don’t let go.  Raise your hands to heaven and give Him His place on the throne of your life….and give it to Him with gratitude, with love, and with adoration.

Then go out and give that love that He has given you to someone else….they need Him just as bad as you do!

In The Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

As I was driving home last night, I was convicted by a thought:

Never have we had a more vital time to pray than in 2017.

Yes….we are fattened up by food….we can get whatever we want to eat whenever we want it.

Yes….we are lavished with all of the modern luxuries.

In the palm of our hand we have phones that have more information than we can process.  We can be in contact with anyone in a matter of seconds.

I can’t help but think that this is what Jesus is talking about in Revelation 3.

Revelation 3  17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.

The thing I love about the Lord is that He is full of grace—ready to forgive and redeem and restore and deliver…..but He is also honest and straight up.  He is, after all, perfect.  And He sent His Son to show us a different way to live—to call us into our destiny that we would not look back and that we would live out the call that He has placed over our lives.

So what are we to do with the condition of our communities as they currently exist?

Marijuana.  Suicide.  The breakdown of families.

Politics will not fix the situation that we live in.

Only God can fix it.  And I think that Jesus warns us in Revelation because we can do something about it…..and He tells us what to do about it in 2 Chronicles.

2 Chronicles 7 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

As ugly as things can be—we have hope.  Because if we have God we have hope.

We can not fix our issues with new policies, or new political leaders, or new laws.  But we can fix our issues when God changes our hearts……..

We need to humble ourselves and realize that we can not change people….only God can change people.

So the next time you feel like going on a political rampage…..remember that you might only be worsening the problem…..

Humble yourself

Pray

Turn from your wicked ways

…..and He will hear from heaven…..and heal our land.

Father~

Have mercy on all of us.  Lord, forgive us for not being who you have called us to be.  Move on our land and move on our hearts.  Heal our land and give us hope….and a future.

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