As I reflected on today’s writing, I thought about the many battles that shaped our world today.

 

The battle of Midway, a naval battle that shaped the war in the Pacific during World War II.

 

The battle of Gettysburg, the results of which stirred Abraham Lincoln to the very depths of his soul…..inspiring him to write the Gettysburg Address on the back of an envelope.  And his speech is now written on the Lincoln Monument.

 

Battle of Stalingrad during World War II.  A war of attrition that ended up taking the lives of millions of people.

 

With all due respect, a battle is brewing in our communities that might be the most important in human history.  

 

It is the battle that brews in each of our minds.

 

I am not writing in hyperbole here…..it is a battle that is of colossal importance.  And each of us must step up and begin to war in ways that we never have before.

 

Children…..step up….and protect your parents.

Fathers…..wake up….and protect your daughters.

Sisters…..stand up….and protect your brothers.

Wives…..open up….and protect your husbands.

Friends…..hustle up….and protect your squad.

 

The enemy has launched an assault on the hearts and minds of millions—looking to sway their hearts and demolish their minds.

 

Via the internet, he has taken full assault on all of us to attack the very core of all of us.

 

When I was in high school, I had a friend who was beautiful in every way you could describe.

 

She was kind.  Patient. Loving.  Loyal. And physically, she was as attractive as anyone I knew.  And yet, the enemy had her convinced that she was overweight, that she was ugly, that she was worthless.

 

Before anyone knew what to do or how to help, she was gone.

 

The enemy had invaded her mind and demolished her worth.

 

As I reflected on this situation last week, God broke my heart.  He brought me back to that place in a way that broke me. And He has asked me to write this today.

 

And so I say, STAND UP.

 

STAND UP and speak the gospel.

 

Jesus did not die on a cross 2000 years ago so that we could sit in a peaceful meditative position and allow the enemy to wreak havoc on our society.  He died so that we might have life, and have it in abundance.

 

As Paul says to all of us:

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.

 

Think about that line:

Take Every Thought Captive

 

Take them captive!  Literally—throw them in prison and throw away the key.

 

Imagine if we released 100 hardened criminals into your city or neighborhood?

 

They would cast a shadow of fear over all who lived there and certainly change the dynamics of our everyday lives….

 

And yet….many of us do this very thing every day.

 

We do it when we do not control our thoughts.

 

I had not considered this principle until last week, and this verse that I had read and uttered hundreds of times began to come to life.

 

Think about it!

 

In the spiritual realm, Satan can wreak havoc without one action.  If he can, in fact, plant a thought in our head, then how we react can actually empower his evil.

 

Satan works at the speed of thought.

 

And what we do with a thought either cripples or empowers him.

 

Take your thoughts, and treat them like a hardened criminal.  Throw them in prison! Take them as your captive. And DO NOT LET THEM OUT UNLESS THEY ARE OBEDIENT TO CHRIST.

 

The more I think about this very simple principle the more I believe that we need to be doing this with all of our hearts.

 

How much do we worry about, or anticipate, or fear, or assume.

 

What would happen if we truly monitored our very thoughts?

I challenge you today to take your thoughts as your prisoners.  Lock them up and ask God to help you process them.

 

The Battle in front of us can be won.

 

It can be won with worship.

It can be won with love.

It can be won by a body of believers standing in unison.

 

Jesus is the only hope.  He activates things that we never thought we had.  He heals things that we thought could never be healed.  He loves people who are unlovable. He conquers kingdoms that are impenetrable.

 

He is, after all, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.

 

Take Them Captive!

And then give this gospel to someone else–so they can do the same.

 

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

 

Jeremiah was 15 or 16 years old when God called him to a different life.  And he must have thought—I can’t do this!

 

But guess what?

 

That is the answer that ALL of us give.

 

The reality is:  We CAN do it.

 

It is true when we say:

I don’t have enough money … 

but He says:  “I own the cattle on a thousand hills”

I am too young … 

but He says:  “Do NOT LET ANYONE look down on you because you are young”

I am not a good speakers … 

but He says:  “I will give you the words”

 

No excuse you give is too great for you to put fear in the Creator of the Universe.  He is the Master of ALL THINGS….even you!

 

Joshua 1  4 The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart;

I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

6 “Ah, Sovereign LORD ,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.”  7 But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the LORD .

9 Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “Now, I have put my words in your mouth.

 

Thank God Joshua listened to the call.  He has words of wisdom that I use EVERY DAY in my life.  And because He listened and responded to the call, he got to be a servant and leave a legacy.

 

Do you want to leave a legacy?

 

You must make a conscious choice to do what He has called you to do.  And it IS your choice. You can walk into what He has called or delay your own progress, your own life, your own legacy.

 

When Jesus told the rich young ruler to “sell everything and give it to the poor” he walked away sad because he was very rich, and he left his legacy that day.

 

Imagine if he would have done it?  Do you think that his life would have been a life of pain and poorness and insufficiency?

 

I doubt it.  Heaven is described as having streets of gold because God lavishes riches upon us that we could never acquire on our own accord.  The rich young ruler walked away from riches that were beyond anything that he could comprehend.

 

And so I say to you:  

God Doesn’t Care About Your Resume

 

According to an old mentor of mine, Rod Olson, He is looking for the FATC.

 

The Faithful

The Available

The Teachable

The Committed

 

And all of us can do that.

 

We must simply RESPOND.

 

Respond

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkMDL-pyZOA

 

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

 

 

He is no fool who loses what he cannot keep to gain what he can not earn.

     Jim Elliott

 

I don’t know who Jim Elliott is—but I have always LOVED this quote.  And nothing could be more true.

 

YOU have a terminal disease.

YOU will not make it out of this life alive in the flesh.

YOU must confront the reality that you are either an accident or a beautifully designed organism with a heart, a conscience, and a destiny that is different than all other living things.

 

I recommend the book of John.  

 

Written by an uneducated fisherman turned author.

In a time where people were deeply punished for taking a stand.

In a place where he had no political, military, or economic power.

 

John 12  27 “Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name!” 

 

If what John said is true……Jesus chose YOU.

 

HE chose to go to the cross.

HE chose to forgive you.

HE wanted to create a place for you.

 

The disciples (including John) went ALL IN to make this book be known that you might read it.

 

You can’t keep your life.  It is not yours. It is either a random act of nature and you will soon be expired OR it belongs to God.

 

Who will you choose to Give It to?

 

Give It

He is no fool who loses what he cannot keep to gain what he can not earn.

     Jim Elliott

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kseRKxkq5iY

 

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

 

Know anyone who might like these?  Encourage them to jump on to 2minutewarning.blog and hit the FOLLOW button!!!

Coach J

 

I want to depart from the Book of John and grab a verse from Luke today because the Lord has put it on my heart.

 

When religious leaders confronted Jesus, He told them the truth—and He told them what was right, and it cost Him His life.

 

Luke 10:25-37  25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”  27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”  28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”  29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”  30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’  36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”  37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”  Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

 

To use a Samaritan as your example of doing what was right had to be an incredible insult to the very people who were trying to trap Jesus.  And yet, Jesus was speaking the truth.

 

“Religiosity” and “looking good” were simply not what He was looking for…..He was looking for real people that wanted to seek Him with all that they had.

 

And so, He stood up to them in the midst of an evil plot to get rid of him….and it would ultimately cost Him His life.

 

His desire to save us far outweighed His desire to save Himself.

 

Jesus is easy to commit to, but sometimes hard to follow.  This is because He will ask us to do the same.

 

As He says in Micah 6:8

“He has showed you, O man, what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

 

To ACT JUSTLY and to LOVE MERCY are impossible without Jesus.  So thank God He paid the cost Of Being Right.

 

 

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

After years of hard work trying to build a foundation in other people’s buildings, a pastor was given $100,000 of seed money to plant a church.

Excited about what was to come, he dreamed about the building they would use, the church they would build, and the souls they would save.

And then he was convicted by the Lord.  And it wasn’t what he wanted to hear. He was to give the money to a ministry setting up safe havens for pastors in India that were being prosecuted, even hunted.

Many times we are convicted by the Lord and we do not listen.  And the pastor had known that he was the same way. But in this case, he did listen.

After frustrating years of continuing to use borrowed buildings and renting, he began to doubt.  Had he truly heard from God and done the right thing?  When the frustrations of our own desires push us, we begin to question our faith.

     But he had done the right thing.  As he and his wife sat down to watch a movie years later, they saw the house that the money had built and watched the testimonies of the people he had helped, even saved.  As they sat and watched it play out, the pastor and his wife cried tears of joy.  They had heard God.  God had answered.  The kingdom had been built.  They had SPENT IT.

 

Mary might have thought the same thing.  She had lavished Jesus with an enormous amount of perfume.  And it probably did not “look” right. It might have even been an awkward scene—-a woman “wasting” money, perfume, and dignity in front of others.

And, of course, Judas saw it immediately.

 

John 12  2 Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor.  Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 3 Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair.  And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 

 

But what she did is the entire point of this writing.  When you find the One who can save your life, the One who can save your eternity, you realize that there is nothing else.

 

I want to encourage you today to snap out of it.

 

SNAP … OUT … OF … IT

 

We live in a rat race.  And in that race it is easy to be consumed, and distracted, and lost.  

 

But in Jesus …

     People are raised from the dead. 

     Lives are restored.

     Broken pieces are put back together.

 

He is no fool who loses what he cannot keep to gain what he can not earn.

     Jim Elliott

Spend It

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FHwdx5BIvc

 

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 I began to journal and pray this Sunday morning in church, God showed me that others might need to pray it as well.

Father,

Restore me.

I have been delinquent and inconsistent.

I have been inconsiderate and distracted.

I have been without focus, without direction, and full of carnal politics but not spiritual love.

Release your love over me that I might live out the call you have put on my 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 was lost.  EVERYTHING. There was now no hope.

 

The healer did not show and now Lazerus was DEAD.

 

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

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

“Come and see, Lord,” they replied. 

35 Jesus wept. 

 

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

He showed that love for Peter.

He showed that love for Lazerus.

 

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

 

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

 

You see…..He Shows Up.

 

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

But I know the Answer.

 

And the answer is the Answer because…..  

He cares …..

He weeps ….. 

And He Shows Up.

 

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

 

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

 

Know anyone who might like these?  Encourage them to jump on to 2minutewarning.blog and hit the FOLLOW button!!!

Coach J

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

 

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

 

There would be no pity party.  

There would be no “poor me”.  

There would be no feeling sorry.

 

It was time to get up and move on.

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

This is not a sugar coated verse.

 

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

 

This is not a popular sentiment in 2019.

 

We want to do it our way.

We want to live the way we want to live.

We want to eat what we want to eat.

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

But that will not fly.

 

And the God of the Universe has made that clear.

 

Jesus is the only way to the Father.

There is not an alternative option or a different entrance.

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

 

It is Him….and Him alone.

 

“I am the Living Water”

“I am the Ladder that goes to heaven”

“I am the gate”

 

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

 

WE MUST SURRENDER

WE MUST BOW BEFORE THE KING

WE MUST UNDERSTAND THAT WE ARE FULL OF SIN

WE MUST UNDERSTAND THAT WE ARE BROKEN

 

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

 

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

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

SO TAKE HIM UP ON IT

 

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

 

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

 

It’s so unusual it’s frightening

You see right through the mess inside me

You call me out to pull me in

You tell me I … can start again

And I don’t need to keep on hiding

I’m FULLY KNOWN AND LOVED BY YOU

You won’t let go, no matter what I do

And It’s not one or the other

It’s Hard Truth And Ridiculous Grace

To Be Known–Fully Known–And Loved By You

I’m Fully Known–And Loved By You

 

It’s So Like You To Keep Pursuing

It’s So Like Me To Go Astray

But You Guard My Heart With Your Truth

The Kind Of Love That’s Bulletproof

And I Surrender To Your Kindness

I’m Fully Known–And Loved By You

You Won’t Let Go—No Matter What I Do

And It’s not one or the other

It’s Hard Truth And Ridiculous Grace

To Be Known–Fully Known–And Loved By You

I’m Fully Known–And Loved By You

 

https://youtu.be/xckDgX8xNfg

 

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

 

Know anyone who might like these?  Encourage them to jump on to 2minutewarning.blog and hit the FOLLOW button!!!

Coach J

Sometimes the evidence is right in front of us.

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

 

Know anyone who might like these?  Encourage them to jump on to 2minutewarning.blog and hit the FOLLOW button!!!

Coach J