Turning The Tide

I'm excited about Dr. Stanley's newest book and I pray it reaches everyone and has a huge impact towards restoring our nation for Godly principles once again.

Check out the videos below for more information.

Book Trailer


Interview


The Sermon

Who Am I?

I am your constant companion,
I am your greatest helper or your heaviest burden.

I will push you onward or drag you down to failure.

I am at your command.

Half of the tasks that you do you might just as well

turn over to me and I will do them quickly

and correctly.

I am easily managed,

you must merely be firm with me.

Show me exactly how you want something done;

after a few lessons I will do it automatically.

I am the servant of all great people and

alas of all failures as well.

Those who are great I have made great,

those who are failures I have made failures.

I am not a machine, but I work with all the precision

of a machine, plus the intelligence of a person.

Now you may run me for profit or

you may run me for ruin.

It makes no difference to me.

Take me, train me, be firm with me,

and I will lay the world at your feet.

Be easy with me and I will destroy you.

Who am I? I am called Habit.

~ Author Unknown

How To Grow Chest Hair

1.) Eat meat with every meal. (Preferably cow meat) or BACON if you really want fast results!
2.) Shoot guns
3.) Zone out on sports
4.) Drink Beer
5.) Watch Sons of Anarchy
6.) Mistreat your wife or girlfriend
7.) Neglect your children
8.) Never attempt anything great
9.) Waste your money
10.) Did I mention eat a lot of cow meat?

Men, is this really what we’ve become? Are we really setting the bar this low? Do we call ourselves men because we do “such and such” and “this and that”? Do we call ourselves men because we focus on ourselves and no one else? I hate to think that is truly what we’ve become.

A man is more than chest hair, associations and eating habits. A man is more than certain hobbies, skills and coveted status. REAL men are defined with words like…

Honest, Noble, Faithful, Humble, Determined, Disciplined, Blameless and Wise

I’m tired of all the stereotypes men have gotten over the last few decades. Since when did we settle for trading Jack Arnold (Kevin’s dad on the Wonder Years) for Homer Simpson? Why did we allow Dr. Huxtable (the Cosby Show) to be replaced by Peter Griffin? If our culture is any indication of what kind of role men play in today’s society then we are in big trouble.

Men, it’s time to step up and reclaim what once was sacred, what once was respected.

We need to step up to the plate and show the world what it looks like to be a Godly man, father, and husband. It’s not going to be easy to right this ship but how much longer can we allow this to go on?

Just because you might have chest hair (or think you know how to grow it) doesn’t make you a REAL man!

How Valuable Is Jesus?

I ran across this quote this morning...
"Jesus Christ is not valued at all until He is valued above all." ~ Augustine

It really shook me up reading this.

WHY?

Why when it's something I already knew?

Perhaps it's because I thought I knew it already. I thought I understood how valuable Jesus is in my life but I think I was wrong. At least that's how I'm feeling now.

You see it's easy to see this quote make sense when it comes to comparing him to people or respected positions in our lives. That parts easy. To be a Christian you have to place Jesus above your parents, your wife, and even your children. I get that.

BUT

Have we forgotten to put Jesus above our things?

Ahh, I see.

Did I strike a nerve?

Did I make you stop and think for a minute?

Can you be honest with yourself (like I am now doing) and ask what position Jesus holds on the scale of things in your life?

Where does He rank on a list of the following?

1. Facebook
2. Twitter
3. Blogger
4. TV shows
5. Sports
6. Hunting
7. Shopping
8. Knitting
9. Fantasy Football
10. Reading
11. Politics
12. Video Games
13. Music
14. Education
15. Work

This list of things isn't a bad list. It isn't wrong to do or participate in any of these things.

Unless of course, you put them above Jesus.

That's where I've been messing up lately. That's where I've been missing the mark. I've been looking at Facebook while watching a game on TV all before I even spoke one word to the God of the universe!

Have you?

Do you get so caught up in any of these things that they take up more of your time than your relationship with Christ does?

I had this conviction the other day..

I refuse to pay my cable bill again before I tithe my 10% to the Lord from now on!!!

How messed up is that?

I was paying the cable bill before I gave 10% to the Lord? What does that say about me? What does that say about the position Jesus holds in my life?

And then when I read that quote this morning it all made sense to me. I knew what I was doing wrong. Satan has been fooling me long enough. It's time to put Jesus in His rightful place again. Not only among all the people in my life, but also among all the things as well!

I pray this speaks to you in some way or another today.

"Jesus Christ is not valued at all until He is valued above all." ~ Augustine

Be Blessed!
Joe

How To Walk Wisely

Here are some notes I took from a sermon that Charles Stanley did recently.

How To Walk Wisely

1.) Determination - We must first be determined to walk in wisdom.

2.) Meditation - Meditate on God's word. Read it, think about it and ask questions. Joshua 1:5-8

3.) Sensitivity - Learn to be sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
                                   
                                             - Learn by failing!!

4.) Believe - We must believe that God is ALL wise. We have to trust Him.

                                             - He knows present, past and future all the same!!!

5.) Courage - We must have courage to do what he tells us.

                                             - Don't neglect God because you fear failure more!!!

                                             - It's better to fail in front of people than to disobey God!!!

6.) Perseverance - We must persevere no matter what the conditions are.

God told Joshua 3 times, "Be strong and of good courage." He is always with us!

Be Blessed,
Joe

How To Distinguish Good From Evil

As Christians, one of the things we must learn how to do is to be able to distinguish good from evil.

Luckily for us, God gave us the perfect plan for us to learn how to do this.

Hebrews 5:12-14

12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

This scripture should jump out of the pages at us. Because in order for us to be able to distinguish good from evil we need to be CONSTANTLY in the word!!

Makes sense huh? Seems like it's such a simple concept that we should have guessed that one on our own even. But, most of the time I would say that we get distracted and make excuses to not be in God's word as much as we should be.

Perhaps the enemy knows this scripture better than we do. Perhaps he knows that this scripture carries a lot of power and he sets out to do whatever it takes to distract us and keep us constantly OUT of God's word!!!

So where do we find we are at? Are we more often IN the word or OUT of it?

Perhaps one of the best ways for you to answer the question is with another one - How well can you distinguish Good from Evil?

Learning Is Humbling

I feel like I've been in a crash course lately. I've been learning a lot of things - mostly about who I really am.

Isn't it funny how that happens? Just when you think you understand and you finally get it you learn that you only just begun.

I always hated math in school. I remember when my math teachers would introduce us to new ways of solving problems and how frustrated I would get. Just as I was finally figuring out how to do something and getting the hang of it - BAM - something new would be introduced for us to have to learn. I didn't like math all that much needless to say.

But recently I've been feeling the same way in my spiritual walk. Just as I think I have it all figured out then - BAM - out of the blue something new is introduced to me. Don't get me wrong, unlike the math classes this time I really like learning all the new things. The only thing is, it's been teaching me that I DON'T KNOW HALF OF WHAT I THOUGHT I KNEW!!!

I guess I thought that scripture that says, "The half has never been told," didn't apply to me for some reason.

And that is another lesson in itself. How when we hear about or experience something through other people we foolishly automatically think, "well that doesn't apply to me." But I'm learning the opposite is true. You would be surprised just how much things that other people are experiencing applies to you too - if you only think about it.

I'm loving all the learning I've been doing, but let me just say it's also the most humbling thing for me as well.

How's class going for you lately?

Quote Of The Week

"Soldiers in the barracks will bicker and fight with one another. But soldiers on the battlefield stand united because they need each other. One of the reasons Christians often bicker among themselves is that there is no challenging goal that binds them together. A church that is arguing over traditions has forgotten its vision. But a challenging purpose can help people put differences aside and join forces for the advancement of Christ's kingdom."

- Bob Russell

If 99.9% Is Good Enough, Then...

If 99.9% is good enough, then...

12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents daily.

114,500 mismatched pairs of shoes will be shipped per year.

18,322 pieces of mail will be mishandled per hour.

2,000,000 documents will be lost by the IRS this year.

2.5 million books will be shipped with the wrong covers.

Two planes landing at Chicago's O'Hare airport will be unsafe every day.

315 entries in Webster's dictionary will be misspelled.

20,000 incorrect drug prescriptions will be written this year.

880,000 credit cards in circulation will turn out to have incorrect cardholder information on their magnetic strips.

103,260 income tax returns will be processed incorrectly during the year.

5.5 million cases of soft drinks produced will be flat.

291 pacemaker operations will be performed incorrectly.

3,056 copies of tomorrow's Wall Street Journal will be missing one of the three sections.

__________________

Never underestimate the power that lies behind how much effort you put into something. You never know what the result might be if you just put your trust in God and give it your very best!

Proverbs 16:3

3 Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.

Feeling Tested?

I read this verse this morning and can't shake it....

Proverbs 27:21

21 The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold,

but man is tested by the praise he receives.

The crucible purifies silver and the furnace purifies gold. So does that mean man is purified by the praise he receives??

In other words, does praise test our purity?

Does how we handle praise show our level of maturity?

This scripture has really got me thinking this morning.

What do you think about it?

10 Life and Leadership Lessons from Chuck Swindoll

1. It's lonely to lead.
2. It's dangerous to succeed.
3. It's hardest at home.
4. It's essential to be real.
5. It's painful to obey.
6. Brokenness and failure are necessary.
7. My attitude is more important than my actions.
8. Integrity eclipse image.
9. God's way is always better than my way.
10. Christlikeness begins and ends with humility.

(Borrowed from Mark Batterson's blog)