There is no doubt that I am caught in the middle of what I always though it meant to be “holy” and where I am heading. The journey has been a struggle for me for sure, but as of this moment, I like where I am at and where I am heading.

When I am in my car, I usually listen to Pandora radio, I have a pretty big selection of stations I listen to. I discovered this unknown for the most part country boy, his name is Colter Wall. I LOVE his music even though it is Country music. This guy is the real deal, storyteller that captures your attention right away. One of his songs is called “Living on the Sand” and boy did it catch my attention. (it’s not my favorite song by him but….) Here is part of the lyrics, I will also post the video with all the lyrics.

Forgive me, forgive me
Don’t it sound more clear
When I’m screaming it day after day?
I’ve lost all my patience
I’m wasted on waiting on
Making my next mistake

I’ve been living on the sand
Don’t take much to guide my hand
Far from promised land
On the sand

Of course, this song is based on Matthew 7:26:

And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” Matthew 7:26 ESV

Basic Christianity! This is probably one of the very first Scriptures that I learned as a new believer 40 years ago. And yet today it is as fresh as ever.

Don’t be deceived you cannot purposely live in sin and have the Spirit dwell within you – we as Christians have come to believe we can live on both sides of the fence and still walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. There is a blatant difference between knowingly living in sin and falling down…..the difference is repentance!!

God defiantly has me on a journey, where am I headed? I am not sure, what am I supposed to do? I am not sure yet. I DO KNOW that something within my heart and spirit has shifted.

For the last couple years, it has been very difficult when it comes to my spiritual life. Slowly I have moved away from Church, worship, the word and I’ve started finding fault with the church in general. Listening to people talk about coming out of the structure of a church for various reasons. I struggle with this on many levels, I am not sure how I feel about this moment.

There are many flaws in the church, and I’ve written about them, preached about them and prayed about them. The focus it seems always ends up on “growing the church numbers, growing the finances, building a new building. There are good points in all of this and bad points in it. I sit in a big beautiful church building, with millions of $$ worth of sound equipment, camera’s, lights, a coffee shop and well the list goes on. While right outside people are sleeping on the street, hungry, broke, addicted and mentally unstable. SO, I look at the budget of the church the bulk of the money they bring in is to just support the church building, staff etc. with a fraction going out to the community. Most denominations support some type of “Mission” program, and they HAVE to pay their part of the total budget to this.

I will never forget the church I was pastor of in California. A building that was about 50 years old and in serious need of many upgrades etc. Over the stage, ceiling tiles started to fall out because they were rotten and would not hold any longer. For me as a young pastor, wanting to make a mark in the world wanted to change everything, make it more appealing to a younger generation. Update everything, take out the old and put in the new. Now we were a pretty small congregation and already lived on a tight budget, but this HAD TO BE DONE if we wanted to grow. So, I convinced the board to take out a loan to pay for it all. Of course the next few years we had to cut “ministry” programs and tighten up to pay for all of this. NOW, with all that said it’s not all bad, of course we want a nice building, after all this is the HOUSE of GOD!!

A couple weeks before we started construction, on a Sunday morning a new young family visited our church. I was pretty excited to see this, that is the goal for us. After service I hurried over to make sure I could introduce myself to them and invite them back. While talking with them, I asked “how did you find this church” they said they just moved into the neighborhood and decided to try us, then he said, “when I walked in and saw the ceiling tiles had fallen and a few of them hanging on by a thread, I knew that you cared more about the people in the neighborhood and community than pouring money into this building, and we love that”

Here I am February 1st, 2023, and I’m wondering what happened? My life is so out of balance, my spiritual life is out of balance, and I don’t know why. Well, the truth is I didn’t really look for a reason why, I just kept getting further and further away from who I am and who I was created to be. I kept asking God to help me come back to where I have peace and joy in my life no matter what is going on around me. I’ve had a bad attitude about Church and what goes on within the walls of church etc etc. Slowly and surely, I’ve been creeping back searching and praying. Yesterday I went to the Prayer room for the 1st time in a couple months at least. While I was there, I realized that it’s not a magic wand that God waves over me to get my attention, but it is me that needs to humble myself and make the moves back to my place in the kingdom. Not that I feel like I lost my salvation or anything like that, just felt dead inside and to be honest a little judgmental of everything and everyone. SO, today is the first day of my journey, I thought I would document it and share it with whoever wants to see it with the hope that it will help someone else. After all if a man who pastored for 20 years can come to a place like this anyone can.

Every year for years I would make resolutions, do this and do that, don’t do this and don’t do that blah blah blah — and just like most of the world by the middle of January it’s out the window and mostly forgot about as life moves on.

A couple years ago I decided to stop making promises and always start my year off with some type of learning/teaching etc. For the past few years I have done a 21 day fast like so many other Christians and it has always been awesome and life changing for me.

This year I am doing 2 things:

1. Doing a 3 month class called “In Christ Image” training level one. This is put out by Francis Frangipane, he is one of my long time hero’s of the faith.
2. Doing a 31 day study out of the book of Proverbs focused on “wisdom” – As you can see there are some teaching by some INCREDIBLE men and women of God.

I do know one thing we have NO IDEA what this new year will hold for any of us. There will be illnesses, deaths, births, moves, loss’s and gains, we just don’t know!!! SO I say live your life like it’s your last day on this earth – with family, spouses, friends, co-workers, school mates, buying and selling etc etc….

Have a very happy new year!!!!

“God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth”

Matt. 5:5

What does it mean to be “blessed”?

*endowed with divine favor and protection

As you build your business, further your education, grow your finances always remember to remain or stay humble. Any business person living and walking in humility will ALWAYS rise to the top. What you achieve, the successes you have are not because you are all of that, trust me the world will go on without you, business will go on without you. In fact it is said that after 1 generation your name is forgotten!

Humility is knowing that it’s not about you, in reality you are nothing without Him and that is where your gifts come from, your talents come from etc…. Are there haters of God that are successful? YUP and plenty of them, but sit down and ask them if they are blessed? If they are happy. Just watch one episode of  Undercover Boss and you will get a glimpse of what it means to be humbled.

This Scripture is better known as “Blessed are the meek….” Meek and humble are the same thing…. the best way to think of this is to be a SERVANT to all. If you are the owner, a manager or anyone with authority – have a servants attitude and what and see what happens. 

Have a fantastic DAY

 

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

This is from Matt. 5:3 – known as the Beatitudes. Here is how St. Gregory of Nyssa described what a “Beatitude” is:

“Beatitude is a possession of all things held to be good,
from which nothing is absent that a good desire may want.
Perhaps the meaning of beatitude may become clearer to us
if it is compared with its opposite.
Now the opposite of beatitude is misery.
Misery means being afflicted unwillingly with painful sufferings.” 

So how do we take this idea into the business world? How does this make a difference in my dealings with public, people and transactions in the business world? Take the following ideas of what it looks like to be poor in spirit and translate it into your business world…..

How can we know if we are poor in spirit? Here are some characteristics of someone who is poor in spirit:

1. Always lowly in his own eyes. He does not exalt himself; he is not proud. Even though he may be considered insignificant by others, he sees it all as God’s will and rejoices that he is allowed to share in the sufferings of Christ. It becomes natural for him to go the way of the Lamb; humiliation becomes his nourishment, exaltation his reward. (1 Peter 5:5; 1 Peter 4:13; 1 Peter 5:6)
2. Loves to do all his work in the hidden and does not receive honor from men. (Matthew 6:1-4)
3. Loves to occupy the lowest place, not because he desires to be more esteemed, but because he thinks that this is precisely the place that it is suitable for him. (Luke 14:7-11; Philippians 2:3)
4. Reserved in his conduct – neither aggressive nor demanding.
5. Loves to give up his advantages for the benefit of others. (Philippians 2:4)
6. Does not seek to be anything great, whether it is on an earthly or a spiritual level; his only desire is to do God’s will from moment to moment.
7. Does not seek to gain influence with people, yet his entire longing is that people might come under the influence of God. (1 Corinthians 2:1-5; 1 Corinthians 9:19-23)
8. Time is precious to him – he has none to waste; yet he is calm and is never led to do anything in haste. (Ephesians 5:16-17)
9. Sanctifies himself so that others, by his example, can sanctify themselves in truth. (John 17:19; 1 Timothy 4:16)
10. Denies himself so that his life may not be an offense to others in any way. (Matthew 16:24)
11. Satisfied with the cross God gives him to bear, and he does not complain when others bother him.
12. Does not draw back in the sufferings of Christ, so that after he himself has been tested, he can be of help to others. (Romans 8:18; 2 Corinthians 1:3-5)
13. Just as happy wherever God puts him – whether it is among the teeming masses or in a solitary place – because he meets God in each place by doing His will.
14. Places great value on the fact that wherever he is or has been, others should find only the truth, be it in spiritual or in earthly things.
15. His love compels him to contribute to the others’ good; he feels that he is indebted to everyone. His life evolves as the life of a servant, and he is more than willing to bear the others’ burdens.
16. Never dreams about great things, but rather takes heed to the small things. No work is insignificant, and no one is too small to be served.
17. He does not discriminate and is a servant to all. Therefore, he goes just as willingly to where sorrow prevails as to where joy is overflowing. (Mark 9:35; 1 Corinthians 9:19-23; Romans 12:15-16)
18. Lives his life for the purpose of laying it down as a sacrifice. (Mark 10:45; John 15:12-13)
19. Willingly steps on thorns if only he can refresh the others in their sufferings by doing so. (2 Corinthians 1:3-6; Colossians 1:24)
20. His ear is open to God’s voice, not just to enjoy it in self-satisfaction, but in order to do what he has heard. (James 1:22)

Poverty in spirit is really something to strive after – “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven!”

Have a fantastic day today

Sometimes in our jobs, careers, businesses or ever schooling we are doing very well, seeing things in production rise, finances rise, great grades in school, our lives start to change as things grow. It’s awesome when it happens but the danger is not keeping yourself humble and in the right standing of the entire situation. We start to get a little bigger ego and end up worshiping our abilities, talents and leadership.

I have been there a few times in my life and I have to tell you EVERY TIME it all came crashing down on me and I had to start over.

Jesus said in Matt 4:10 —

“Get out of here Satan, for the Scriptures say:”…….. “You must worship the Lord your God and Serve Him only”

I want to encourage you in this — first of all keep your eyes on the right thing and never forget it is the enemy that wants to trip you up and take you down. YOU WILL NEVER LOSE if you Worship and Serve Him ONLY!!!!

Be the best you can be, drive hard to attain your goals, be successful and make a mark in this world. Keep your eyes on the Lord and your heart always for Him and watch what happens.

I’ve been in different types of businesses over the years. I have signed up for so many different multi-marketing get rich and live the life companies over the years. I have never made a dime doing it but I have personally met MANY people who have and are very successful. It has always been the reason I was drawn to it.

For the most part it always sounded like easy work and get rich…. they have it all mapped out so all you have to do is sign up and pay your money and BAM you are on the road to riches. One thing most and I want to emphasize the word MOST incorporate God into the equation. Honor God and he will help you be all you can be in this business!! They make Him part of the “values” in the business.

On the surface this is a good concept, God does bless those who honor him. But what happens people end up using God to help them get what they want, I really don’t think that it’s that way on purpose for many they just don’t know any better. When the business fails, God is left behind in their lives for the most part.

What is missing is the “relationship” with God, if you do not KNOW Him there is NO WAY POSSIBLE to have a relationship with Him. And that is where the problem becomes an issue.

Here is the Word (in red) that I think of when I see this taking place…

“You must not test the Lord your God” Matt. 4:7

Some people have the natural talent and gifts to be a strong leader in sales, management or recruiting people into a business, other’s do not but can develop it. The first thing in life, business, family, school or anything we set ourselves to should always be a relationship with the Father God. Build your business with Him as the center or the rock on which it is built. Make it about Him not you, not your talent, not your $$$’s and the list goes on.

Like I said in my very first post — I believe that Christians (followers of Jesus, lovers of the Father) should stand out in the business world, should be the MOST successful in the business world.

Never test him, never try to use him to make it in this world. HE IS YOUR WORLD and everything else will be added.

Have a fantastic weekend and stay healthy

In today’s world people think that they can accomplish anything if they have enough. If you work hard and make lot’s of money your life will be easy or at least easier. Some even think that they can avoid depression or sickness….I think of big Hollywood stars, when they make it big in the business and they have all they need plus more, all of a sudden so many of them become the “voice” of humanity, how to live, what to believe, what not to believe, how to vote, what is right and what is wrong.

This takes place in all of our lives to some degree we all think we are experts in some area of life. In some respects this is a good thing, people need to have role models in life. Right?

I LOVE talking with people about how they ended up in the career they are in or how they started the business they own, it’s inspiring to me. MOST I have found kind of stumble into where they are. We all need to have vision, we need to have goals, we need to have a plan and know how to execute that plan and vision. But in everything we do we have to have a center, a place in our lives that keeps us grounded, keeps us knowing what is important and what is not. I have found that if we learn to think bigger than ourselves and we see and understand the “big picture” in life we will go into success with a firm foundation that won’t allow us to be moved to the left or the right.

Jesus spoke these words in Matthew 4:4

“It takes more than bread to stay alive. It takes a steady stream of words from God’s mouth.”

We do not have life and life abundantly by what we can purchase, we may be able to buy the world but that will not give us life. God’s Word will give you life and life more abundantly. (full life)

I want to encourage you: if you are starting your business, career, schooling, or what ever it is, stay focused, know the source of your life. IF you do make it and become rich enough to help others and life a nice comfortable life…..remember it’s not your riches that give you true life, it’s God’s very Word. This one simple, small little verse could change your world.

Blessings