Maybe this word today is for you…..or maybe it is meant to be given to someone you know and love……someone who really needs it.

What is it that compels us to keep our faith in secret?

Is it

     FEAR?

     EMBARRASSMENT?

     PRIDE?

     INTIMIDATION?

     INDECISION?

Whatever it is….it has been happening for 2000 years.

Nicodemus was a well-respected religious leader who KNEW that Jesus had something that was special.  But he also knew that it might break him to expose himself by being seen with him.

So he met him at night.

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

3 In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”  4 “How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!”

5 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” 9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. 10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven-the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. 16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”

The Lord has made us an incredible offer.  And He realizes the pressure that we have. That is why He met Nicodemus at night and it is why He will meet you in secret as well.

His agenda is clear.

He showed up 2000 years ago and declared Himself to be God.

He healed the sick and pushed a movement that the world has never seen.

Without military power, or popularity, or money, or support, He sold a few men that He was God.

He backed it by coming back from the dead after a brutal execution.

And now we have this word, written by one of His followers, and preserved over thousands of years.

There is a reason that wolves hunt the way that they do.  They invoke fear in the caribou herd. They isolate their prey.  They make sure that they can make their target run from the protection of the rest.  And then they move in for the kill.

The enemy has the same strategy.  He wants to get you away from those who might be able to help you.  He wants to isolate you and shame you. He wants you to live in hiding.

But God has a different plan.

God’s plan is to present to you in the privacy of your heart so that you can come out and declare Him king.

It is the reason that He is convicting you right now.

It is the reason that He is King.

“Born again” means that you get to start over with a new life–free from Satan, sin, and death.  It means that the wolf has no power over you. It means that you can actually be good with who you are and ask God to begin to do a new thing in you.  It means that He can begin to speak a new story over the life that you constantly mess up. It means that you are a child of the covenant.

Cry out to God and ask Him to write a new story.

It will be the best one that you have ever read…..because it will be yours.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2qzxY5a37o

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

This is not a word for 2000 years ago–although it is history.

It is not a word about Jesus and His perfect life–though He did live one.

It is not about religious leaders ripping people off–though they can and they do.

It is not about politics and how the political climate can rule over common sense, basic human needs, or even truth.

It is not about Jesus having a bad temper.

This word today is about you.

John 2  12 After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.

13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!”

17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

18 Then the Jews demanded of him, “What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”

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

20 The Jews replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

23 Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. 24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. 25 He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.

This word is about you.

All of us have been overlooked or ripped off or cheated.

All of us have worked hard for something that has disappeared in a fleeting moment–only to see our hard work completely become irrelevant.

All of us have tried to reach out to God and then felt that He was simply not there for us.

But Jesus would never have us believe any of that.

The enemy’s influence on a man’s evil heart can never be understated.  Men will steal, kill, and destroy because they are influenced by a spirit who is all about doing those three things.  And when the enemy is successful in converting men to evil, the outcome is not bearable.

But Jesus is not about that.

Jesus is about Justice, Mercy, and Power.

And He wants Justice, Mercy, and Power for YOU.

He wants Justice over you for all the times that you have been ripped off.

He wants Mercy over all of your stupid choices, your evil choices, and your selfish choices.

And He wants Power over your life so that you can make a difference in the people around you.

And He is willing to give everything to offer those to you.

Many say His first public act was to turn water into wine as He did in the beginning of John 2, but only the servants saw that act.

And much like many of Jesus acts, they were not seen by people if they were not serving Him.

But clearing out the temple was a move as bold as the day is long.

No man would dare do what He did without giving His life in return.

And, indeed, He did.

But before He did He made it abundantly clear to you that He was all about one thing:

Making Sure That Those Who Ripped You Off Were Held Accountable

So if you have ever wondered where He might be working in the broken part of your life……

Be rest assured of this…….

The man who cleared the temple has seen you from on high.

He has seen your broken and jacked up situations.

And He is well able to come and put life back into things that you thought were dead and gone.

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

I want to continue in my slow walk through the book of John and all that it gives us in the way of connecting with the LIVING God.  Other religions can claim all that they want—-but the “religion” of Jesus is no religion at all.

In Jesus, we have something that no others can claim.

In every other religion the followers are called to make themselves right with God……but, with Jesus, we have a God who has chosen to make us right with Him.

John 1  43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”

44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote–Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.

“Come and see,” said Philip.

47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.”

48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.

Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”

49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”

50 Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that.” 51 He then added, “I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

There are several points I want to make regarding this very compelling verse.

The first, and the most important, is that we all must have a “Jesus sees you under the fig tree” moment.  He has seen everything. He knows us. And He is well aware of who we are. There is no escaping that.  If we think that we are able to hide things—we are greatly mistaken. He knows what is going on, why it’s going on, and how it’s going on.  At the end of our lives, we will stand before Him, and scripture refers to this as the judgement seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10). All will be known.  All is known. And all will be held accountable for what is known.

We live in a culture that does not honor authority.  The Bible is clear: Honor your elders. Honor your parents.  Honor your leaders. And yet, we as a society, do just the opposite.  The sad reality is that this is the “trickle down” of our lack of respect for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  You see, we were created by a God who knows everything. And the sooner that we discontinue running from that, the sooner we can walk into true freedom.

It is also worth mentioning that even though Jesus does know Nathanael—He loves him and shows him honor.  I have to think that this was the defining moment in Nathanael’s life—to meet someone that KNOWS HIM yet LOVES HIM ANYWAY.  The proof of this is that Nathanael dropped everything to follow Him.

The second point I want to make is this:  Jesus descends on a rabid culture, and begins to formulate a plan to change the world.  He has three groups of people that He must deal with: The Romans, The Jews, and The Gentiles.

• The Romans ruled with an iron fist.  They are probably the greatest kingdom to rule that the world has ever known.  When people opposed them, they stripped them naked, beat them, humiliated them, and crucified them in the town where everyone knew them.  It was a simple agenda: No one could oppose them without paying the ultimate price.
• The Jews were God’s people.  They followed His rules, honored His word, and went to great lengths to worship Him.
• The Gentiles were considered dogs to the Jews.  In the eyes of the Jews, they were dirty half breeds that were not to be associated with under any circumstances.

Unifying a people from these three groups would be impossible……and yet Jesus did.  His followers were Romans, they were Jews, and they were Gentiles. And they unified into a new movement of spirituality that exploded out of Jerusalem like nothing the world has ever seen.

You see, the Gospel of Jesus is about three things:  Justice and Mercy and Power.

The Jews were all about JUSTICE.  People who broke the law of God were punished—some stoned, some slapped and kicked out of the temple, some ostracized.  They dressed up in robes, followed the letter of the law, honored all of the traditions, and always looked holy.

The Gentiles understood MERCY.  Many worshipped God but most followed no rules in the process.  They lived freely and without judgement.

The Romans were about POWER.

In Jesus, we have an opportunity to capture all three things.  You see, Jesus wants JUSTICE. He wants people held accountable for their actions and He wants wrongs to be made right.

Jesus is also about MERCY.  He sees the need, of not just one of us–but ALL of us, to receive both a second chance in life and in the eternal realm.

Jesus is also all about POWER.  No one has ever lived a life so extraordinary as the life described in John.

So what is left to say?

I would end with this:

God is calling you.  He is laying down a call over your life to receive Him, to repent, and to start living in a way that is radically different than the way that you have chosen to live up to this time.

He is calling you to live a life of JUSTICE and MERCY and POWER.

Now, living out even 2 of the 3 of those is IMPOSSIBLE.

God wants us to follow the rules.  He wants us to live a life of Honor and Holiness and Standards of Integrity that the world has never seen.  He wants us to be sexually pure, and honest, and to speak with kindness and patience. But He also wants us to be full of mercy.  He wants us to forgive and to love. He wants us to worship without reservation and to love deeply.

Living with BOTH of those is IMPOSSIBLE.  And living with God’s POWER over our lives is yet another topic altogether.

At the cross of Jesus, MERCY and JUSTICE met in full force.

And both were, in impossible measure, met to the fullest degree.

It says that the temple curtain, at the time of Jesus’ death, tore from top to bottom.

That Curtain Tore So That You Could Approach God

Be Forgiven

And Live A Life Of JUSTICE

AND Mercy

So Fall At The Feet Of Jesus & Be Born Again

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7bD02ZmTqk

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Coach J

A fisherman from the sea of Galilee makes a radical decision.  He leaves the family tradition, follows an itinerant preacher, and watches from the sideline as the man he chose to follow is brutally executed on a hill by Roman soldiers—another example that NO ONE can get away from the tyrannical rule of an evil empire that rules with an iron fist.

And yet…..MANY got away from that tyrannical rule.

You see—-the world has a grip on us.

We are destined to die.

Those we love are destined to die.

Our work is hard.

Our days are long.

Our lives are often times broken and discombobulated.

And that is not the worst of it.  No one can escape the tyrannical earthly threats of the enemy of God—-Satan.  Satan is constantly calling us out as a failure, continually urging us to fall short, and unhesitatingly telling us to do the wrong thing.  Jesus even goes so far as to say that he has one mission: To steal, to kill, and to destroy.

All of this is true.  And all of this was true for that fisherman 2000 years ago as well.  He had to think: “The enemy has won again”…….

And then—-something changed.  The man who He saw die a brutal death on a cross rose again.  And He reappeared and began to teach about what was coming.

John was changed by Jesus.  And He was changed in a radical way that compelled him to write the gospel of John.

A radical change of events.

An uneducated, unholy, and ill-qualified fisherman begins to write like an author who knew nothing else.  And he writes the greatest book I have ever read. The book of John.

You see…..our world can be great.  But it can also be very tough. We live under a tyrannical rule and sometimes are denied the opportunity to ever get ahead……..

But that truth only exists without Jesus….and that is exactly why John wrote this book.

John 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.

3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

I encourage you to read this sentence over and over again until you truly understand it.

This was not written by a scholar from Cambridge.  It was written by a fisherman from Galilee who had just discovered that he was walking beside the living God.

In the beginning tells us that THIS is the beginning of the Bible and I have always treated it as such.  John wrote those words so that we could read them on May 22, 2019 and be compelled to reach out to Jesus with all that we have.

Never forget where you came from.

Yes, you have an earthly mother and father and an earthly life and an earthly plan—–but you will find that your plan and all that is around you has holes in it that cannot be filled by anything on this earth.  And if you have ever felt that you have the cards stacked up against you and that you can’t make anything work……..you are correct in that. It is called the curse of Adam.

John walked his days and toiled and he discovered that his only hope was in Jesus……and because of it—he began to put the broken pieces of his life back together—not just for him—but for everyone around him.

Are You Ready To Make That Commitment?  Because I know a Jewish Carpenter that can change your world.  And all you have to do is invite Him to come and do it.

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

I would like to focus the next few blogs on the most important verse in the Bible (besides all of the other ones)……

1 Corinthians 13 1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.  4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

I had read this verse hundreds of times….even memorized it….yet I did not focus on what it really said until a man “showed me” what it said.

He walked up to the drum set at the front of our church and POUNDED the symbols as hard as he could for 5 seconds….and it sent all of us in the crowd into an instant state of distaste.

Hearing someone smash symbols was repulsive…it was disgusting…it was hideous.

And that …….

IS THE ENTIRE POINT

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

Imagine living out the call on your existence perfectly?

A biologist said this in a show I was watching and I began to ponder that very question.

For a created Sockeye Salmon….it is easy.  He or she simply lives out who God has created him or her to be….but that does not make it easy.

They swim over 6000 miles in their lifetime.

They develop and grow in the rocky beds of an inland river and move on, slowly, to the ocean as their size increases.

Then, at just the right time, they return.

And they swim upstream 200 miles and literally kill themselves to send forth the next generation.

Wow.  And all that from being a total accident of nature.  (Sarcasm emphasized)

They live out the call perfectly.

But we do not.

But that fact could not be more clearly conveyed as Paul does in Romans 3:23.  We all sin.  We ALL fall short of the glory of God.

And that, is why we need Jesus.

He is the human bridge for us living out our existence perfectly.

Never forget who you are or why you need HIM.  God will hold you accountable to that very truth.

He sent Him to die because it was the only way.  It was our only hope. It was the only chance that we had to be right with Him.

Jesus died on a cross so that we would not have to be rejected by a perfect God.

Today is Good Friday.

It is good because Jesus has allowed it to be so……

It is good because we have no hope without Him.

Romans 8  28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

God has a plan for us and it is GOOD.

If it isn’t good, it is because He is not done yet.

If it isn’t good, it is because He has not yet put His hand of freedom on it.

So be encouraged.

He will win.

And He will win in a landslide.

And as you wait for Him, wait with peace…and hope…and love.

For in Him, you can have eternal victory.

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

“David Was Greatly Distressed”

No kidding.

David had turned back a Philistine army, taken on a giant, and lead a people with great integrity.

But when things went south, people did what people do.

They turned and looked for someone to blame.

While David was away……the enemy had attacked and taken hostages.  When David returned—they were devastated to see what had happened.

And then this:

1 Samuel 30  6 David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God.

God is many things…..and God teaches us many things…..

But one thing that He teaches us is COVENANT.

When God makes a deal—-HE makes a Covenant.

He doesn’t turn His back on you when things don’t go well.

He doesn’t take sides after circumstances.

He doesn’t wait for the popular vote, or the results, or the influence of men to pick a side.

He takes your side from the getgo and stands by you for all eternity.

Now that……is a good word.

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

“We Have A Secret”

I can remember something that one of our coaches told our team right before we went out on the field nearly 10 years ago.

“We Have A Secret”

He went on to remind the entire team that we knew something that no one else knew….that we were pretty good and totally ready for the game we were about to play.

Though we were sadly overmatched in the playoff seedings (#15 versus #2), we had made some massive changes to our schemes on both sides of the ball that had adjusted to some injuries and some bad coaching on my part…..and the team had responded.

All we needed was BELIEF.

And we followed it up with a stunning (to everyone but us) victory in the first round of the playoffs.

Today’s society has gotten more evil.

We have lost our identity.

We have lost our values.

We have lost our respect for the LORD.

As I watched the news today it did nothing but discourage me.

A woman was stabbed.

A fifth grade female student was beaten to death in a school fight.  (5th Grade!)

Politicians were yelling at each other.

Very DISCOURAGING.

But God knows us.  And He knew this was coming.

Romans 5  20 The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.

When Jesus carried that cross to His execution, He knew exactly what was necessary to make things right.

And so He did what was necessary.

He knew that we would become more lost.

He knew that we would become more wicked.

He know that the great deceiver would be more deceptive.

But Jesus knew that His blood would be greater.

And it is.

Do no be afraid to stand up.

Your God has given you full access to the throne and when He made this decision, He knew that you would not be worthy of it.

My word for myself after watching that news cast?

Do Not Be Afraid.

Do Not Be Discouraged.

Do Not Hang Your Head.

The fight is already won.  It was won 2000 years ago by a God who knew what was coming yesterday, today, and TOMORROW.……and those with Jesus are on the winning team.

We Have A Secret.

And All We Need Is Belief.

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

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

“Because I Sin….

I Am A Sinner”

Think about that statement.

Many believe it.

Many think it is the absolute truth.

And yet, it is not where God wants us to live…..because it is absolutely false.

And the Bible says it over and over again.

When we live in that truth it leaves us in a place of “sin management” that no one can escape from…..

God did not intend it that way….He wants us to be free.

And those who the Savior frees are free indeed!

Let’s seek freedom today….

Let’s seek freedom every day….

Colossians 3  1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

2000 Years Ago

On A Cross On Calvary

Jesus Hung On A Cross

Not Because Nails Put Him There….Love Put Him There

Not For Politics…He Lost The Vote To Be Set Free

Not For Status…He Stood With The Unpopular

Not For Money…He Had None

Not For Military Power…He Rejected The Conquering Spirit

Not For Citizenship…His Citizenship Is In Heaven

His Love Put Him On The Cross For Your Freedom

You are not a sinner because you have sinned.  You have sinned because you are a sinner. And you will continue to sin AS A SINNER.

But you are free the minute you accept His freedom.

You are free because you can be Born Into Freedom.  Ask Him to put FREEDOM on you. And when you do, accept His freedom…..

We are not called to live a life of SIN MANAGEMENT.  We are called to live a life of love and FREEDOM.

We are called to live a life of worship.

In our life of worship, we will not become sinless….but we WILL SIN LESS.

Oh Praise The One Who Paid My Debt……

And Raised This Life Up From The Dead….

Oh Praise The One Who Paid My Debt……

And Raised This Life Up From The Dead….

Oh Praise The One Who Paid My Debt……

And Raised This Life Up From The Dead….

Amen.  Amen. And Amen.

If you are not living in this word…..be FREE!  In Jesus Name!

If you are living in this word….spread it—that all might know the Freedom that comes from Jesus.

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