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Unlocking the Door to an Extraordinary Life

January 22, 2015 by

Number 25 in the series “God Rocks: 101 Amazing Everyday Gifts!” Stories and promises of the awesome blessings God gives us each day. I hope it encourages you today!

 

I see so many people settle for mediocre. Just live average. Get by.

 

Photo Credit: Thomas Hawk

Photo Credit: Thomas Hawk

 

Working at a job they hate so they can just get a paycheck.

Going through the motions of a marriage that long ago lost all excitement.

Vegetating in front of a TV for hours every night with no recollection days later of what they even watched.

So some try religion. Yet, frankly I don’t see much difference. Most church services are boring. Pastors preach about stuff that maybe interested them in seminary but seems irrelevant to life.

At the end of their life so many look back and wonder, “Where did it all go? What was it all for?”

 

And they regret the wasted years.

 

[Read more…]

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The Perfect Gift at the Perfect Time

January 20, 2015 by

Number 24 in the series “God Rocks: 101 Amazing Everyday Gifts!” Stories and promises of the awesome blessings God gives us each day. I hope it encourages you today!

 

I see several misperceptions of God that keep people far away from him.

 

Photo Credit: Bradley Dean

Photo Credit: Bradley Dean

 

First, obviously, believing he doesn’t exist or if he does he’s some impersonal life force that has no awareness of my existence. So really there’s little point in praying.

Second, believing perhaps he does exist but he’s way too busy with major world issues to be concerned about my day to day problems.

Third, if he exists he’s like an omnipotent traffic cop just waiting for me to screw up so he can slap me with a ticket. Frankly you just want to stay off his radar.

Fourth and I see this one in the church all the time. God sends trouble my way to test me so I can prove whether I’m really faithful. That one really irritates me. [Read more…]

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Insights When Life Grows Confusing

January 13, 2015 by

Number 22 in the series “God Rocks: 101 Amazing Everyday Gifts!” Stories and promises of the awesome blessings God gives us each day. I hope it encourages you today!

 

I find life can be really confusing at times. Challenges blind side us without warning.

 

Photo Credit: Henry Burrows

Photo Credit: Henry Burrows

 

Relationships explode suddenly sometimes with little advance notice or possibility of reconciliation.

Surprise health issues hit us and continue to spiral down.

Economic setbacks slam us and leave us struggling to stay ahead.

 

Suddenly we’re reeling from the blow. We feel confused, angry and depressed as we think about our situation.

 

I think part of the problem today also which adds to this is we all live somewhat isolated lives. So we lack the support networks of previous generations.

Often our extended family is absent or at a distance. We tend to not join support organizations as people once did.

So when we’re faced with those challenges we can feel really alone. We don’t have the support and collective wisdom from others. And that can feel daunting and overwhelming. [Read more…]

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Unexpected Answers to Prayers

January 8, 2015 by

Number 21 in the series “God Rocks: 101 Amazing Everyday Gifts!” Stories and promises of the awesome blessings God gives us each day. I hope it encourages you today!

 

Let’s be real. We all face struggles that simply seem insurmountable.

 

Photo Credit: Kim Seng

Photo Credit: Kim Seng

 

A health issue that can’t be fixed with a couple of pills.

A marriage that implodes no matter we do.

A job that dead ends no matter how hard you work.

Financial setbacks beyond of your control.

And I see commonly one of three responses.

“I don’t need any help. I can fix it myself.”

Or, “I don’t know why God did this to me and I want nothing to do with him.”

Or, “God here is exactly how I want you to fix this.”

 

The problem with all three? They often end in frustration and despair.

 

Why?

Because the first two leave God out of the equation so he won’t answer.

And the third makes God the genie in the bottle. And when God answers in unexpected ways either we don’t recognize it or we’re angry because it wasn’t according to our plan so in a way we don’t accept it. [Read more…]

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Advent #1: The Impossible Becomes Possible

December 16, 2014 by

A short series in Advent focusing on a few significant snapshots of the Christmas story and the amazing gifts they reveal.

 

What are you facing today that seems impossible?

Health issues?

An imploding marriage?

Financial struggles?

Emotional upheaval?

A loved one’s or your own imminent death?

 

Photo Credit: Cary & Kacey Jordan

Photo Credit: Cary & Kacey Jordan

 

We all go through challenges.  No they don’t all look alike. And for some they’re certainly more severe. But none of us get through this life unscathed.

 

So the question isn’t if we’ll face struggles but how?

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Heaven, Significance, Success Tagged With: ,

God Rocks #14: The Joy of Living a Life that Counts

November 28, 2014 by

Part of the series “God Rocks: 101 Amazing Everyday Gifts!” Stories and promises of the awesome blessings God gives us each day. I hope it encourages you today!

 

As I watch people do some of the most bizarre things to get attention I often wonder, “What are they thinking? How could they do that?”

 

Photo Credit: nicdalic

Photo Credit: nicdalic

 

From a radical Muslim videoing horrific acts. To gang bangers wantonly hurting others. To a movie star promoting herself with seemingly no shame. To a business executive who gives up everything to climb the ladder. To the star athlete who takes life shortening drugs to gain performance. To the exhausted organization volunteer that neglects all to keep volunteering for more.

 

I stop and ask, “Why?”

 

[Read more…]

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God Rocks #11: Seeing God Everyday

November 4, 2014 by

Part of the series “God Rocks: 101 Amazing Everyday Gifts!” Stories and promises of the awesome blessings God gives us each day. I hope it encourages you today!

 

I was having lunch with an atheist friend a few weeks ago. He said, “I look around at our world and universe and I don’t see God.”

I replied, “I look around at our world and universe and don’t understand how someone can’t see God.”

 

Photo Credit: Steve Levi

Photo Credit: Steve Levi

 

I have friends who are Christians who talk about karma and luck. Then say, “I never see God act.”

Occasionally I’ve replied, “I don’t believe in karma or luck. And frankly I see God everyday when I’m looking.”

I’ve had people tell me, “I get along just fine without God.” [Read more…]

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God Rocks #6: Discovering Power When You’re in a Crisis

October 16, 2014 by

Part of the series “God Rocks: 101 Amazing Everyday Gifts!” Stories and promises of the awesome blessings God gives us each day. I hope it encourages you today!

 

Have you ever come simply to the end of yourself in the midst of a crisis? Maybe you’re there right now.

Perhaps your marriage is struggling. Or your finances have imploded. Or your health isn’t.

 

Photo by Ivana Vasilj

Photo by Ivana Vasilj

 

You’ve tried everything. You’ve gone through counseling. You’ve read books. You’ve taken the treatments. But nothing works. And you don’t know what else to do. And you can’t see the way forward.

 

So here you are at the end of yourself feeling defeated and frustrated and hopeless.

I’ve been there too–several times. [Read more…]

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God Rocks #4: Miracles for Our Insignificant but Important Needs

October 9, 2014 by

Part of the new series “God Rocks: 101 Amazing Everyday Gifts!” Stories of the awesome blessings and promises God gives us each day. I hope it encourages you today!

 

The son of close friends along with his wife and two young children just left on a medical missions project.

We attended their church for a send off with their family and friends. Tears were shed and hugs given.

I can’t imagine embarking on this with two small children but they felt God’s calling and went.

When they arrived at the training facility in Hawaii one of insignificant but important items they had to leave behind was the jumper for their infant.

 

Baby in Jumper

 

Remembering our children at that age it seems insignificant yet can be so important to have something like a jumper or windup swing. Put them in it. They’re happy. And you can fix dinner, use the bathroom or even glance at a book for five minutes.

 

But they couldn’t bring it so now what? [Read more…]

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God Rocks #3: Home Safe Again

October 7, 2014 by

Part of the new series “God Rocks:  101 Amazing Everyday Gifts!”   Stories of the awesome blessings and promises God gives us each day.  I hope it encourages you today!

 

I could hear the whine of the F-15 fighter jets as they passed over the airport runway a couple of miles away. It grew quiet but then in the distance growing louder. They had turned off the end of the runway and headed for our home where they bank overhead turning onto their base leg.

F-15 Flying Over

 

Suddenly, I saw one burst into sight above our eucalyptus trees which line our backyard. Graceful war birds returning from a daily training sortie. The pilot banked nearly a ninety degrees directly overhead applying throttle. The engines roared then chirped as he let off feathering it into position to line up for landing.
Immediately another followed his pattern.

And I breathed a sigh and said, “Thank you Lord for bringing my son home safe again.” [Read more…]

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