Calling REAL men...

Say to the nations far and wide: "Get ready for war! Call out your best warriors. Let all your fighting men advance for the attack. Hammer your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Train even your weaklings to be warriors." Joel 3:9-10

I'm gonna go on a rant for a little bit here, but please bare with me. It is time for men to step up and be MEN!!! Not the men you see on tv or in the movie theater, but men the way God created us. Big, burly, loud, loving, protecting, honorable men. For the past three or four generations the men of the United States have been attacked and castrated by the media and organizations that think we should roll over and play woman. I say no more, let the real men stand up and lead the way. Let me follow that thought up with this, I am not being sexist. I believe men should be men, and women should be women. Sometimes, men don't follow their God given call to lead their families, businesses, churches, etc., and the women have to take charge. However God has called men to lead the way, and men have not been doing that.

Men have let the world creep in, and it has stopped us from chasing our wives and loving them the way we should. We no longer are the strong men that protect them and our children. We have become a generation of weaklings with limp handshakes. The world of pornography has caused men to live in a virtual reality of a computer screen in stead of in the real world sharing a passionate bed with our wives. Did that make you blush? I'm not sorry. Real men chase and lust after their wives and no other woman. Too harsh? Nope! Real men enjoy sex the way God intended, in the marriage bed with your wife. Not with your hand fantasizing about the most recent nude female you have found. If this offended you, then you don't realize the effect that the media and pornography has had on you or (for the women reading) your husband.

The world expects us as men to be bubbling, babbling idiots that can't take charge and change the world. We have been castrated and are allowing the world to tell us who we are and how we should act. Well, put on your pants, strap your belt on tight, and hold on. It's time to plow forward as men and lead the way. How? That is a good question.

If you looked at the scripture at the beginning, it said "train even your weaklings to be warriors." This means even the wimpiest sissy of a man can be a great warrior and lead the way. God has given men the charge of being the head of their household, but to also love and care for your wife. Sounds kind of like and oxymoron, but it can be done. Stand your ground and make a decision, but listen and support your wife. Teach your children right from wrong. (This part might be unpopular) When your kids need discipline, sometimes it takes more than a timeout! I received spankings as a child, and I turned out just fine. I don't hate my parents or have trust issues. I love my parents for bringing me up with respect and integrity.

Now, this part may sound a little preachy, but read it through. As men we must lead our families as Godly, Christian men. God created us to be honest and live with integrity. Don't just drag your family to church on Sunday. Teach them to love Christ and his word daily. Pray with them, and do a devotional with them. Don't just stare at the flat screen on the wall every night. Be a father and a husband, not a warm body. This takes effort and energy, but if you don't think your family is worth the energy, then you might need to re-evaluate your life. The more you lead your family and teach them as a man, the more complete and happy your family will be. The more you seduce and chase your wife, the more she will love and enjoy your private life. The more time you spend in the Bible, the more God will speak to you and show you what to do in life.

Ok, I am going to stop this rant now, but I have more to share on this subject. Oh, and I will share it soon. So here it is: Men put on your big boy pants and be men!!! No more being a little sissy boy that the world runs over. Lead the way!!!

Thanks for stopping by and God Bless...

So simple it is hard...

Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5 (NLT)


Why is it so hard as humans to just take things at face value, or do the easiest things asked of us. Why do we always look for the hidden meanings instead of believing exactly what was told to us. The simplest answer is that we are human, but like the previous comments, it is also the most complicated.


God made humans complex and with free will. We can decide what we want to do, and this doesn't always translate to what God has for us. Jesus said: ‘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.’ Luke 10:27 (NIV). This is the simplest, most straight forward commandment from the mouth of Christ, to love. If we can't love God, how can we love our neighbors? We have taken this and twisted it to I love myself, then my neighbors, finally God. Sounds messed up huh.


Back to Proverbs. We have tried to explain God, life, love, and everything in between. We have stopped listening for God to speak. We shove our minds full of the daily noise of life and the things of this world. I believe it is time for us to stop trying to explain everything, quiet our minds and listen for the voice of God, or like Pastor Chad has been teaching, the whispers from God.


In the movie I Am Legend, Will Smith's character thinks he is the last human alive after a virus de-evolves the human population. After his dog is killed by these monsters, he tries to kill several of them while also knowing this will kill himself. He is rescued by a woman that had heard his radio transmission looking for survivors. The next day she tells Smith that God told her where to look to find him. With doubt on his face, Smith questions her sanity. Her reply to this was, "The world is quieter now and it is easier to listen to God" (or something close to that). The point of this, when you get other noise out of your head and away from your life, it is easier to hear the whispers of God and the direction he wants to take your life.


Why do we have to complicate life, because we are human. Why don't we listen for God, because we are human. We take the simple things in life and make them complicated. Maybe we should be like children again and just believe what God said is what it is, no if's, and's or but's.


I hope this slaps someone in the face like it did me. Try to quiet your mind and find time for God to speak to you. Don't forget, once he speaks it's time to take action. Don't stand still, move forward and go where God leads. Anyways, sorry this is so long, but I just had to get it out. Thanks for stopping by and God bless...

Numb...

Numb is a curious word. At work it is my greatest ally, but in my personal life it is my nemesis. Numb is defined as: deprived of physical sensation or the ability to move; incapable of action or of feeling emotion; lacking or deficient in emotion or feeling; indifferent. Sometimes a blessing, and sometimes a curse.

While at work I have seen many things that would cause most people to break. Emergency services are not for the weak stomached or weak minded. I have seen peoples insides on the outside, decapitation, child deaths and deaths of those that were way to young, along with a host of other disturbing images and smells. One of the main reasons I have survived is due to my “switch.” It seems that I was born with, or developed over time, a switch that shuts my emotions off. In essence, making me numb to everything and able to concentrate on my job. Here numbness is my ally and a great friend. It has kept me sane and focused on my job throughout my years in emergency services.

At home is where the numbness turns on me and becomes my greatest foe. I love my wife and kids with every fiber of my existence. Other than my relationship with God, they are the most important things on this earth to me. However, when little bumps in the road start to occur in our personal lives, my switch gets flipped on. This does not cause any major problems in my relationship with my wife, because she knows that it is there and can tell when it has been thrown. Where being numb really becomes a problem is when the little bumps don’t stop for months, and when the bumps keep getting bigger and more frequent. That is when the switch gets stuck on.

When this happens, I almost reach a point of depression. I get very close to shutting down. My motivation disappears. I can’t sleep. I either can’t eat or I eat until I want to throw up and feel miserable. Somehow during these feelings, I continue to function as a husband and father, but I am numb. My joy feels zapped, jokes are not as funny, the world just looks and feels distant and different. When this happens, I thank God for giving me a strong wife to love me and stand by my side with complete understanding.

The only way that I get my switch to turn back off is spending time with my wonderful family and spending time with God. Yes I said God. I pray, listen to praise and worship music, I get deeper into studying my Bible. I try to shut out the entire world except for God, my family and my church family (the things that make me the happiest in the world). I surround myself with life-giving things and I slowly make my way back into the world emotionally.

I guess with all things in life it comes down to this: balance. Finding the balance where my switch is only on at work and is off when I walk out of the firehouse. I haven't struggled with this much lately, but I felt a great desire to put this out there. So, I hope this helps someone see that they are not alone in their struggles and with God and great family support, you can break the cycle and no longer be numb.

Thanks for stopping by and God Bless!!!

From burnout to warrior...

The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is his name. Exodus 15:3

I know I've said this many times (and this probably won't be the last), but we have an amazing leader in Pastor Chad at Destiny Church. He delivers such relevant teaching and many times spoken words for many at the perfect time. This past Sunday was one of those perfect times.

First, let me say I am going through a very difficult time in my life. I have reached a point of burnout. I find it very hard just to get out of bed in the morning, but by God's grace I get up and make it through the day. I hope you don't mind if I am completely transparent for a bit, but I really need a time of refreshing from God really bad. However, I don't really have the time to get away or the financial means to get away. So here I go, trying to continue doing the work God has called me to do and go from burnout to warrior!!!

Back to this past weekend. I am gonna try to make this short and sweet. The challenge that Pastor Chad has put on the men of Destiny Church is what I think needs to happen in every home. So here are the cliff notes. It is time for men to be men. Step up and be a MAN!!! Stop letting this world try to make you a female and be a push over. The world (especially the American mentality) is trying to castrate men and take away our natural tendency to be dominant in all we do. Men are made to be the leaders of their homes; physically and spiritually. One of the best quotes from Pastor Chad this weekend was, "The world is trying to turn men into women and the results are in: MEN DO NOT MAKE GOOD WOMEN." It is time for men to go from being forced into this unnatural role and become warriors.

Now, I'm not saying a woman has to stay home and be "bare foot and pregnant in the kitchen." It is just time for the men of the church to step up and lead their families. Men, it is your responsibility to lead your family to Christ, to provide for their needs and protect them from this world. We have to stop being pushovers and letting our families be beaten down and run over by the perversions of this world. It is time for men to spend time with their children (this one is for me too). It's time to stop sitting in front of the tv or video game and play with our kids or love our wives. Get up, go for a walk, play catch, go to a playground, have a date. Just be the head of your family and be there for them and with them.

Here is going to be a tough part to swallow. Men and women, you are your children's PARENTS not best friends. It's time to stop letting our daughters leave the house in clothes that advertise their physical attributes. It's time to teach our sons to be gentlemen and treat females like ladies, no matter who they are. It's time to teach our daughters to be ladies and not act like they are for sale and to save themselves for marriage. It is time for discipline, when our kids do something wrong they need to learn what they did is wrong and accept their punishment. Our kids must learn that WE are in charge of our homes not them, and we will not be pushovers anymore.

Bottom line, men be MEN!!! You can be loving, compassionate and strong. You can be fathers, protectors of your families, and lovers to your wife. You can do these things, you just have to be a MAN, a warrior, a leader.

There is your challenge and it will not be easy, but it is time to go lead and love your kids and wives!!! Thanks for stopping by and God Bless!!!

Working through vacation...

1 Peter 4:10 (NIV)

Each of you should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in it's various forms.

I am very lucky in my job at the fire department in the fact that I get lots of vacation time. So much in fact that I had to take the entire month of May off so that I wouldn't lose any vacation that I was accruing. My family and I had several plans of fun things to do during this time, but unfortunately every single plan we had made was cancelled for some reason or another. This really bummed me out and made me want to pull my hair out.

So, during my vacation time, I worked at church to get better at setting up all of our technical things for services. I have even learned to set up the stage lighting during this time. I have worked more hours than my wife really wanted me to, but I have been getting a lot of stuff done. I have been joking that I need to go back to work to get some rest.

A major part of the work that I have done in the second half of the month has been to help those affected in the Joplin tornado. On the evening it happened, I was called into work at the FD. I joined the crew that was requested to go to Joplin. I spent all night in staging at Joplin after getting to see some of the devastation. Unfortunately, it took so long for rescue to get organized that we had to leave before being allowed to do any search.

After we got back, I went home, changed clothes, came to church, and we loaded a 24ft trailer with water and food and went back to Joplin. We handed out half of it in the damaged area and dropped the rest at a drop site to be handed out later. Needless to say, I had been up for about 40 hours and was exhausted when we got home.

The next day, Pastor Chad and a few others took the 24ft trailer back again. I went to church and helped load a 53ft tractor trailer with even more supplies, this time included clothes, diapers, and toys. We delivered the semi load to Messenger College just on the outskirts of Joplin.

Needless to say this has been the best worst month of vacation. Yes, all of my plans got cancelled and I worked way too much, but I got to use my talents and the desire God gave me to help others. Now, I don't want to sound like I'm having a pity party, but sometimes I feel like I am the most overlooked person at church because everything I do is behind the scenes, however when these days that I get to help happen, God takes all that away and his joy and love overflow from my heart.

So what is all this rambling really about? I know I have said this before, but wherever God has you is where he wants you to be. Do what God has asked you to do not what you want people to see you do. No matter how little the task, in God's kingdom it is huge. Just remember this (this has become my motto for serving at church), God may be the only one who sees what you do, but everyone will see when you don't do what he has asked you to do.

I hope someone can get a lift from reading this. I know that it has lifted me just writing it down. Thanks for stopping by and God bless...

Fork in the Road...

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Matthew 7:13-14

Ok, so at Destiny Church we have an amazing leader in Pastor Chad, and every once and a while one of his thoughts gets completely stuck in my head and I mull over it for a while. His most recent series is called Roadtrip, and this last week he spoke on asking forgiveness then turning around and going back to our sin (aka, Dead Man Walking).

As I have thought about this, I have had a few sayings and thoughts come into my head. The most notable would be: like a dog returns to its vomit. That is how most of us are with our Christian lives. We want our sins to be covered by grace, but we won't stop living in sin. We ask God to forgive our sins and then we turn back to our lying, cheating, lust, porn, bitterness, or whatever it is that is a sin in your life.

Question: How stupid can we be? We have been offered the greatest gift ever in existence and we turn our back on it as soon as we walk out of the church doors. It's no wonder this world is going down the drain. If the world can't tell we are Christians, how will God know.

A line that has become famous from the movie Batman Begins is: "Why do we fall? So that we can learn to pick ourselves up." Well, here is my question, why do we have to fall repeatedly? We are all sinners and fall short, but why must we continually choose to sin? Forgive me for saying it this way, but we are the most stupid animals on the face of the earth. We are the only beings on this planet that do things against our better judgement and that hurt us or the people around us.

It's time to choose. Everyone is at a fork in the road. In one direction, a wide and easy path that leads to death, and many take this road. In the other; a straight, narrow, harder path that leads to life, and very few choose this road.

I'm not saying you cant have cool clothes or have a nice car. I'm saying that we have to choose God. It's harder than what it sounds, but aren't the hardest things in life the most rewarding? We must find time for God each day. Get in his word, pray, do things for others with no strings attached. We must be Christ for this world until He returns for us!!!

I have decided to take the narrow path and make a more conscious effort to avoid sins in my life. I don't expect to be perfect. I may stumble and fall, but I can still strive for His perfection.

You have now been challenged, I hope you will join me on this path. Together we can make it. Thanks for stopping by and God Bless...

Endurance: The New Virtue...

Hebrews 12:1-2

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.

It seems that here recently I have been put through the ringer more times than I care to count. I have repeatedly wondered and asked God why I have had to endure these situations. My wife and I have had to fight depression, loneliness, feelings of being pushed away from our friends, and at times feeling like God had turned his back on us. At one point it was so bad, we almost decided to sell everything and move somewhere else and start over.

Slowly I have started to realize what has been going on. During this time we continued to seek God's will in our lives and stay in his word. I have continually ran across scriptures that talk about enduring the race of life and making it to the finish line. Our endurance and resolve continues to every day because we continually look to Him for our strength and guidance. I'm not talking like what should we have for lunch or exactly how we should spend our money, but the stuff that needs guidance not discernment or conscience.

Needless to say we are following what God wants us to do, not what our emotions have been telling us to do. Things are becoming easier, not perfect but easier. Like a long distance runner in training, our endurance is making us stronger in Him. Maybe not all at once, but a little each day.

God has something big planned for our little family, and if you follow him and let him stretch you and point you in the right direction, you will find your endurance in life growing.

My prayer for today: God don't let me stumble. Let me endure on in what you would have me do today. Surround me with friends and loved ones that will strengthen me and lift me up. Let me be there to lift someone else up as well and help them run the race of life.

Thanks for stopping by and God Bless...