2 MINUTE WARNING

1 John 2 ¹⁵ Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. ¹⁷ The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

The Greek word Kosmos that is used for “world” is not to be confused with the word Kosmos that is in John 3:16.  This Kosmos is describing the word humanity, our fallen nature, our flesh, and our sin.

We are not to love our fallen nature.

And whenever God tells us something, as I have learned over years of failure, it is because it is difficult to do.

As we begin a week anew, I want to challenge you to join the fight.  And when we join the fight with Jesus, it always involves getting closer to Him.

So here are three pieces of advice to you as you join the fight this week:

1. Align Your Life Around Who He Is … Like Peter.
   1. John 6:67-68 ⁶⁷ “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 
2. Take Captive Every Thought … As Paul advised us to do.
   1. 2 Corinthians 10 ⁵ We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 
3. Answer With Your Life … Like all who brought us this Word at the cost of their lives.
   1. John 14 ¹⁵ “If you love me, you will obey what I command. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 

And when you fail, hit the reset button.

Reflecting on my life … I failed this week in so many ways.  My nature and love of the world will sometimes overwhelm my pursuits and habits and thoughts … this is not a guilt confession, it is my way of facing the Father and allowing Him to rework me, to rebuild me.

If you are in the same boat, join me in that.

As the lyrics of this song say:

“Holy … there is no one like You, there is none beside You, open up my eyes in wonder “

Hit reset and try again.

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

As I drove home from Fort Collins last night, I was convicted to send out an invitation.  I invite you to listen to this song and to consider the lyrics.

A Few of the Lyrics:

“I’ve heard the accusation and I’ve heard the propaganda.  I’ve heard the lies they whispered to my soul.  I have been forsaken and I’ll always be forgotten.  No matter what I do, it’s not enough.”

“I am your beloved, you have bought me with your blood.  On your hand you’ve written out my name.”

“The One who knows me best … is the one who loves me most.”

These words came into my heart like a flood.

They are the words for Freedom and Truth from the only One who can offer them … for Jesus did not just make an entrance into Jerusalem, He finished His mission.

And He gives us an Invitation that goes beyond all we can fathom.

Matthew 4 ¹⁹ “Come, follow me,” 

That invitation can change eternity.  It is the only thing that can save us and get us to a place of peace and rest.  It is our only hope to even have hope.

And we get to respond.  We get to be born into an eternal kingdom.  We get to be born again.

Our response to this is the only action in our life that means anything.  My response, when put into the corner, wants to run and hide.  I am not worthy to follow.

But David’s response is how I choose to respond:

Psalm 139 ²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.

²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

Not long after declaring Himself King, Jesus was brutally executed on a cross of wood.

He was betrayed and abandoned, He was mocked and tortured, and His clothes were gambled over by His captors.  And yet, there was no victory for the enemy.  The curtain of the temple was torn from top to bottom and He rose from death itself.

In the face of all the ugliness that we could conjure, He rose to defeat our greatest enemy–ourselves.

And He invites us to “get real”.  He invites us to stand up and be accountable for who we truly are:  broken, unreliable, weak.

As I play these words out this morning, they convict me all the more … I accept His Invitation.

And I encourage you to do the same.

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

As we enter into the year 2024, I am reminded of another entrance … the entrance that changed human history.

Mark 11 ¹ As they approached Jerusalem … Jesus sent two of his disciples,² saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there … ⁷ When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it.⁸ Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields.⁹ Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,”Hosanna!”  “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

Jesus declared Himself King.

As you read the gospels, Jesus tells those close to Him “my time has not yet come” many times.

But on this day, He orchestrates His entrance.

And it is much more complicated than you might imagine.

Daniel knew this:

Daniel 9 ²⁵ “Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.

Referencing Chuck Misssler and Koinonia House, I share the following information: 

On March 14, 445 B.C., the decree came out to restore and rebuild, and 173,880 days later, on April 6, 32 A.D., Jesus entered Jerusalem.

https://www.khouse.org/articles/2004/552/

Daniel knew that Jesus was coming.

He knew when Jesus was coming.

And on the day that Daniel said that He was coming, Jesus showed up and declared Himself King.

Our God is not off of our timeline.  He is not late and He is not unaware of the battles before you.

As you go about your days in 2024 make sure that His entrance into Jerusalem is the most important event … make sure that His entrance into your life IS …

Because He … is our only hope.

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

Proverbs 3 ⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;  ⁶ in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

I Will Pursue The Savior

In all my quiet time and prayer and reading of the Bible, I will avoid theological garble, political maneuvering, and worldly distractions…..

I will pursue the Savior.

In my coaching of kids I will demand perfection and discipline, commitment, passion, and teachability, but above all…..

I will pursue the Savior.

In my dealings with my wife I will seek to put her above all worldly issues, value her above all worldly things, and treat her as the most valuable thing I own.  In loving her…..

I will pursue the Savior.

In raising my kids, I will show them the face of Jesus:  I will correct, I will love, I will be honest, I will forgive, and I will serve.  In my parenting…..

I will pursue the Savior

When I fall short in EVERY single one of these areas, I will fall to my knees, ask forgiveness, repent, and seek His grace.  In my failure…..

I will pursue the Savior

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

The question will often come up:

How Can You Afford To Do This?

This follow Jesus thing.  It takes time.  It takes money.  Sometimes it feels like you are going in reverse in terms of keeping up with the world.

So that question arises, especially in my head.

How can you afford to continue to do this?

As I ponder this question, and this God, and this world that He has put us in, I can only be drawn to the exchange between Jesus and Peter.  Tired of being followed by a crowd that was only interested in signs and wonders, Jesus told them that they must eat His flesh and drink His blood.  As they left, Jesus turned to His disciples:

John 6 ⁶⁷ “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.

⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

There are days when this gospel simply does not make sense.  Sometimes, the skeptics will even attain the momentary power to make us question … but we must stand up and be accountable … every day.  Jesus has given us so so much.  And He has given us the power to overcome.

When the question comes up in my mind, I respond in my mind by saying:

The question is NOT:  How Can You Afford To Do This?

The question IS:  How Can You Afford NOT To Do It?

“Thank You Jesus.

Where could I possibly go?  You, and You alone, hold the keys to eternal life.”

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

All 66 Books contribute to the story and give us a picture of God’s Love for us

Satan’s Lie…THE FATHER’S WORD

You Are An Accident…YOU WERE CREATED FOR PURPOSE

Genesis 1 God created the heavens/earth

Psalm 139  I knew you in your mother’s womb

Esther 4:14B You were made for this time

Song of Solomon 8:4 Don’t awaken love before it stime

1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of the faith

2 Chronicles 31:21 Hezekiah sought God & prospered

John 1 The word became flesh                 

Colossians 3:23 Work for the Lord and not for man

1 Corinthians 15:58 Work for the Lord    

Micah 6:8 Act justly, love mercy, walk humbly

Joshua 1:9 Be strong and courageous      

1 Peter 3:15 Be prepared to give an answer

Ruth 2:12 Reward from Father for trust   

3 John 1:8 Show hospitality to the believer

Philemon 1:6 Share your faith                  

Mark 10:43 Live as a servant

A Loving God Would Not Allow This…WE LIVE IN A FALLEN WORLD

Genesis 6:5-6:6 He regretted the creation.  

Job 3:25-26 no peace, quiet, rest-only turmoil.

Exodus 16:3 They longed to go back         

James 1:13 God does not tempt us

Jude 1:18 In last days there will be scoffers

Ezekiel 36:31 You will remember your detestable ways

1 John 2:16 Lust, pride NOT from God     

John 16:33 I have overcome the world!

Have Fun–You Only Live Once…YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN (BBA)

Ecclesiastes 12:13 Love God and Obey.    

Ezekiel 11:19 I will give them a new spirit/heart.

Jeremiah 31:33 I will forgive them           

Deuteronomy 30:6 I will change their hearts

Habakkuk 3:18 Rejoice that He is Savior

Malachi 3:16 The Lord heard those who honored Him

John 3 You must be born again                 

Acts 1:8 You receive power when the Spirit comes

It Is Too Late To Go Back Now…THE FATHER WAITS FOR US

Hosea 14:4 I will heal and love them.                  

Lamentations 3:22-23 Love/Mercy new

Jonah 4:11, Numbers 14, Nehemiah 9, Joel 2 He is merciful

1 Chronicles 29:11 Everything is YOURS!

Haggai 2:9 The future glory will be greater

Luke 15:11-32 The Prodigal Son                

2 Peter 3:9 He waits patiently for us to repent

Romans 5:8 While sinners, Christ died for us 

Revelation 3:20 He stands at the door and knocks

I Can Do This On My Own…I AM LOST WITHOUT MY FATHER

Psalm 51:10 Renew me                             

Romans 3:23 all have sinned

Matthew 12:34 Out of the overflow         

Proverbs 17:3 Gold and Silver tested

Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful.     

Isaiah 64:6 Our good works are like filthy rags

Ezra 3:11 They praised Him for the foundation

Nahum 1:7 The Lord cares for those who trust Him

Phillipians 4:13 He is my strength             

1 Samuel 2:3, Obadiah 1:3 Our pride hurts us

2 Kings 4:7 He is provider/pays our debt  

1 Kings 8 He is Promise Keeper and God who hears

Titus 3:5 He saved us because of His mercy

Daniel 2:20 Praise His Name FOREVER

I Will Never Measure Up…I BELONG TO PERFECTION

Ephesians 2:10 We are His workmanship 

2 Corinthians 5:17 In Christ you are new creation.

Leviticus 23:28 Atonement for sinners     

Galatians 2:20 Christ lives in me

Zechariah 13:2 I will remove idols, impurity

Amos 5:14 Seek good and the Lord will be with you

1 Thessalonians 5:18 Grateful in all things  

2 Timothy 3:16 Scripture is God-breathed

2 John 1:6 Walk in love                             

Judges 6:12 The Lord is with you, mighty warrior

2 Samuel 22:3 The Lord is my stronghold 

Hebrews 4:16 Come boldly to throne of grace

Zephaniah 3:16-17  He will rejoice over you

2 Thessalonians 2:13 Do not tire of doing what is good

Our Bible tells a story. And this is my LIMITED and BROKEN summary of the story that it tells.

The greatest book ever written~

A Love Letter Written Outside Time and Space, recorded by people who knew the Author

66 Books, 40 Authors, over 1500 years, in 3 different languages on 3 different continents

You were created by a Father who knows you and loves you anyway.  He wanted you to have all that you needed and freedom.  Freedom to access all that He had that was was good:  a place of perfect love and protection, a place where all you needed was available, and a place of perfect family.

But your freedom was not good, because you were not good, and in that came a desire to crave things that were not good for you.  This was true of your great, great …. great grandparents, their children, their children, their children …. their children, and now, you.  For all of us it is simple:  We crave what is not good, we chase after things we don’t need, we do things that bring dishonor to a normal person, much less a Perfect Father.  We are born into that which is broken.  In this broken place, the love is not there, the protection is not there, what you need is not there, and families are broken.  And when you live in a place that is broken, things break.

Now in that broken place there is often three things that happen:  People either party in excess and continue their cravings, they fix it with all the work they can ever do, or they give up.

And so we can choose the YOLO lifestyle and crave all the things that we could ever want.  But in that place, there are some truths that you should know:

There is no drink strong enough, no drug potent enough, no love deep enough, no bank account big enough, no party fulfilling enough, no fame great enough, no appetite satisfied enough, and no longing small enough that any of the things that we chase could EVER, EVER be filled.  And in that pursuit we come to the end of ourselves, and we have to ask, even in our greatest moment, is this AS GOOD AS IT GETS?

Our second option is to choose work.  And so we find ourselves trying…..We try to harvest a field that does not grow, We try to sell a product no one will buy, We try to build a house that will not stand.  

We try, and we fail, and we come…to the end of ourself.

Or perhaps we go to option three, and we simply give up… and we come…to the end of ourselves.

All this time the Father who gave us everything waits for us to come home.  He waits and He waits, yearning for His child to return home so that He might cover us in all the love He can give.  He has to wonder, “why did I give my child the choice to leave?  Why?”  But He knows that if you love something…you set it free….  And so He cries out from the perfect place and waits for the child who has the choice—the choice to perish in bitterness…OR the choice to come home and LIVE.

And so we can choose to come home.  And if we do choose to come home we must find a way to come to the end of ourselves and stay home.  This is not an easy part of the journey….because when you are dropped out of good and into not good, you have a part of you that constantly will try to pull you back.  And you have to ask yourself, why in the world would He want me here?  How could a Father that is so good not only welcome me back, but FORGIVE ME, ADOPT ME, RESTORE MY WASTED EXISTENCE, GIVE ME AUTHORITY, PROMOTE ME, and even ask me to call Him Father, or Dad.  It is simple:  He sent someone to stand up for us.  A Defender, and Advocate, a Friend.

  When we align with Him … The enemy that filled us with his lies is DISABLED.  

When we align with Him … The debt that could not be paid is PAID IN FULL. 

When we align with Him … The sin that could not be forgiven, IS FORGOTTEN.  

When we align with Him … The death that is inevitable IS CRUSHED.  

When we align with Him … The wounds that could not be healed ARE WITHOUT EVEN SCARS OR MARKS.

ALIGN YOURSELF WITH HIM:  Come to the end of yourself, Communicate with Him, Read His Word.  Be born into a new life.  Connect in love with the Father, the Son, and the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead!

Remember Where You Came From, And Who You Are, So That You No Longer Live As A Victim Or A Judge.

Paul said:

1 Timothy 1 ¹⁵ Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners–of whom I am the worst.

Today, I will make reference to the Victim portion.

God has called us to great things.

He has called us to dwell into the uncomfortable.

He is offering us a life of meaning.

And it is the greatest deal that we could ever have.

Jesus made reference to this in numerous parables.

But none is more compelling to me in this moment than the response of the prodigal son to his Father when he returns home:  “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.  I am no longer worthy to be called your son.  Make me one of your hired hands.”

Returning home from our sin and facing the Father to repent.  It is the return from the victim’s mentality.

When we ask the Father to give us our inheritance … we are living as the victim.

When we squander our inheritance … we are living as the victim.

When we try to fill our lives with sin in order to fill up for something that is lost … we are living as the victim.

But …

When we come home …

When we own that we are broken …

When we own that we have not measured up …

When we own that we are not worthy …

We are correct.

But we are received into the Kingdom.

And our life … becomes both amazing and infinite.

And it is the greatest thing that we could ever have …

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

Roy Williams grew up poor.

And as all the kids he played with got a coke, he stood on the side and knew that he couldn’t afford one.

Years later, as the University of North Carolina’s head basketball coach, he never for forgot that.

And so, when he had money, he put a pop machine in his garage that was free to anyone that came up to it.  And the kids in the neighborhood knew that it was there.  The coke was free.  He didn’t want those kids “standing on the side” as everyone else got their coke.

He never forgot where he came from.

As I meditated on this verse last week, God put this very idea on my heart.

Paul said:

1 Timothy 1 ¹⁵ Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners–of whom I am the worst.

Paul never forgot where he came from.

And God had him put this in the Bible so that we would also recognize it … and so that we would also recognize that this APPLIES TO US.

It is true that Paul was the “chief of sinners”.

But it is also true that we are too.

And it is important that we remember this very thing.  Not in shame, but so that we understand who we truly are.

As I spoke this Sunday at Peaceful Valley Church, God convicted me to say:

Remember Where You Came From, And Who You Are, So That You No Longer Live As A Victim Or A Judge.

Today, I will make reference to the Judge portion.

When we remember that we are the “chief of sinners”, we do not have judgment for others.  We do not have judgment because we have been forgiven a $1,000,000,000 debt.  And when we have been forgiven that debt, we aren’t out looking for others to pay us $10.

We are looking to get them out of the debt that is consuming them.

We are looking to set them free.

Never forget that.

And let the Holy Spirit guide you as you share that with EVERYONE THAT YOU COME INTO CONTACT WITH.

It IS The Kingdom Of God.

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