COMPASS

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

Well another summer is upon us. Time for trips and what not. 

If you know me, summer comes in a solid 3^rd when it comes to the "season preference" slate.  Fall and spring are safely ahead with fall holding a commanding lead.  

No need to speak of winter, it is an also ran at best. 

And this past Sunday our last before summer officially "kicks in" I had the chance to worship at home and hear from our Senior Pastor Mark who has been sharing an ever-evolving little series about the "WORD".  And as he was closing out this week’s installment he commented that the WORD is like a compass.

I wrote that down thinking that I had stumbled across that analogy a time or two before.  And I was right.  It even included a little about summer. 

Fancy that.

“Summer is the ideal time for travel, but whether we hop on a plane or stay home, we’re all on a spiritual journey. The question is, do you know where you’re headed or even whether you’re on the right path? We could all use a little help figuring out which way to go. Throughout my travels, I’ve relied on a compass to guide me. If I’m ever uncertain about my course, I just pull it out and check the direction. In the same way, God understands we need a spiritual compass. That’s why He’s given us His Word. – Charles Stanley

Figures it was Charles.  

As many of you know, my wife has a deep affinity for Charles.  She was even afforded the chance to meet (and selfie) him back before the first of the year.  So for me to remember that he had said something similar is no surprise.

And it is good word regardless of origin.

GOD has provided a spiritual compass.  The WORD.

Not sure which direction to take?  Check the compass.

Not sure which way to respond?  Check the compass.

Looking for some guidance?  Consult the compass.

I will instruct you (says the Lord) and guide you along the best pathway for your life; I will advise you and watch your progress. – Psalm 32:8 (LB)

When the WORD is uppermost and has priority in our thinking, it will accurately guide us in every situation. However, if we neglect it, we’ll be like a summer hiker lost in the woods.  We will.  

We will rely on our feelings, emotions, our under-equipped intellect, our experience regardless how limited or even seek counsel from less qualified sources! And yes we CAN BE led astray when we trust others’ advice instead of consulting the WORD don’t you know!

The truth of the matter is this…

Every day various voices try to lure us off the right path. If we listen to them rather than God’s Word, we’ll find ourselves in a heap of trouble. – Charles Stanley (again)

Therefore a trustworthy compass is especially vital when life is clouded with difficulties and uncertainties. Any pilot can tell you that it’s unreliable to let feelings guide him. He may be totally convinced he’s on course, only to discover he’s flying away from his destination, not toward it.

So get out your WORD

Hide it in your heart to keep you from sinning and also set your course!  For whatever is ahead, the Lord knows the direction you should go.  He truly does!

Never forget!

GOD’S WORD is infallible even when it flies in the face of culture or feelings. 

It will never fail to lead you in the right direction because it always POINTS toward GOD

And that is ALWAYS the RIGHT way to go!

...To stay on course with the Lord, you need a Spiritual Navigation System guiding your destiny. In other words, you need God’s Compass, his WORD (D.Rhodes)

I love you ALL!

Opportunities for Hope (Champions Charge)

LIGHT AND LOVE

LIGHT AND LOVE 
Have you thanked Him?
Have you praised Him?
Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?
Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?
1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)
The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

“They sold their kids Christmas gifts to the drug dealer. I watched it in disbelief." – BJ – Marion Police

I don’t usually try not to share too much about the conferences/meetings that we do around the OPIATE Epidemic on the blog, but that statement yesterday caught me like a unexpected right hand to the chin.

And no it is not because I haven’t heard some remarkable stories of desperation in the 10 months or so I have been traveling around talking about this epidemic or in the seven years intersecting and interfacing with addicted communities rather it was just the timing and the environment that caught me a little flatfooted.

For I will tell you when you pull into the city of Marion , the place my new partner Matt and I were sharing yesterday, the town is “dark”; even on a sunny day. There is such heaviness on that town that it literally feels like the sun is on a dimmer switch. And as the community leaders affirmed the challenges that they (and quite frankly every town/county in the State) were facing, I couldn’t get the visual of a mom or a dad selling out the kids Christmas for just one more fix, one more high.

That is darkness at its darkest.

That is why we must keep being LIGHT!
That is why we are here!
Jesus said so!
You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16 (MSG)

There is no question I operate in some of the darkest corridors of our culture. Heroin/Opiate addiction and dependency is no joke. It does its best to snuff the light out of people, families, kids, grandmas and grandpas.

In fact during our lunch break I sat across from a dear sweet grandmother whose grand-daughters (sisters) had just been incarcerated for drug charges.

Grandma was emotionally rickety from all of it.

And for the longest time she suffered about her grandkids in the darkness and isolation of shame, guilt and hurt. Yet yesterday she shared with me that she is not longer staying in the dark!

NO!

She is resolving to be LIGHT for not just her grandkids but her community! She is beginning an ALANON group in her church and invited our CHAMPIONS team to share with her congregation about adding a little more light to that lamp-stand!

Friends, we have to take this call from Jesus to be light SERIOUSLY. The enemy is casting a shadow on our world. People are seeking relief not just in drugs but in other “lightless” enterprises!

It is TIME for us to take grandma’s lead and to ALL REFLECT the LIGHT of the WORLD and BE that LIGHT on the HILL!

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." – John 8:12 (NIV)

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.

So let’s be BOTH today!
Light and love!

I love you all!
Be blessed!
Opportunities for Hope (Champions Charge)

ENEMY LOVE

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

Matthew 5:43-48 (ERV)

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies. Pray for those who treat you badly. If you do this, you will be children who are truly like your Father in heaven. 

It was a late night.

Rolled in a little before 1ish this morning hence the “delayed delivery” today.

I was extra late because she came up following a little Champions presentation at a church in “the middle of GOD’s country”, Roseville, Ohio and she was shaking. 

She had heard the quote that I use in my “inspiring Champions” talk about loving others regardless of “religion or culture” and she was a little vexed.

And it led to this...

“Do I need to love that alcoholic in my home?  He has become my enemy.  I believe GOD is calling me to love others in addiction but do I have to love him too?”

Wow.

She was dead serious.

She wants to be a Champion, a person who has their face to the world and offering healing to a community of challenged folks in and around her church but she wasn’t sure she could do it because she “couldn’t love him”. 

She said she had tried. 

Many times she let him back into her life only to be hurt time and time again. 

Was she to love him?  

If she didn’t was she not a CHAMPION?

This was a question for the Pastor not the presenter.

And “my oh my” was I thankful to be able to lean on the Pastor of Pastors in this case. 

So I quickly took my opinion out of the equation and called up that passage from Matthew. 

Yes. She was to love him but she didn’t need to love “what he was doing or what he had become.”  That was the fight!  That is what Champions do. 

They love the sinner but go to battle against the sin; the sickness!

I then used that little nugget from Jesus affirming that when she did love, she was truly like her FATHER in heaven; that she was emulating the best of GOD. 

I knew that was “her heart.”  

You could just tell.

With tears in her eyes I told her we would just pray and we did.

I told her we would continue to pray for him to find the place of brokenness, for her to find the courage and discernment to set boundaries without bitterness and for GOD to deliver them both. 

I mean think about it, what a powerful story could be written if he were to surrender and they were able to share the faithfulness of GOD to others; to other struggling marriages and failing relationships bound by addiction?

It would be amazing.

So here is the question of the day.

Got any “enemies” that could use some forgiveness or love today?

Swallowed any bitter pills of late that aren’t agreeing with you? 

Is it time to remember the love that GOD has for them and you? It is time to show it; to share some compassion without enabling perhaps?  

It is time to emulate the love of Jesus?

“Now there is a final reason I think that Jesus says, "Love your enemies." It is this: that love has within it a redemptive power. And there is a power there that eventually transforms individuals. Just keep being friendly to that person. Just keep loving them, and they can’t stand it too long. Oh, they react in many ways in the beginning. They react with guilt feelings, and sometimes they’ll hate you a little more at that transition period, but just keep loving them. And by the power of your love they will break down under the load. That’s love, you see. It is redemptive, and this is why Jesus says love. There’s something about love that builds up and is creative. There is something about hate that tears down and is destructive. So love your enemies. – MLK

Have a great weekend!

I love you all!

Be blessed!

Opportunities for Hope (Champions Charge)