Question

I've always wondered:

When two Christians argue and disagree, even when a wrong is committed, who does God side with?

God spoke to me yesterday while on the Harley concerning this... pretty cool finding here:

1. One who seeks Peace: Matthew 5:9
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

2. One who is quick to Forgive: Colossians 3:13
Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

3. One who doesn't harbor bitterness in anyway at all whatsoever: Ephesians 4:31
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.

God stands on the side of the one who controls his or her tongue and lays down all personal agenda's just to see who God is and how He will lead us without restraint of our own hang ups and short comings.

Trust God

Jump In. Ride the funnel. Trust God. A man plans in his heart but God orders his steps. And, as my good friend relayed it to me just an hour ago - It's the funnel style of serving God that's so fun. At the top or the start; the options are wide open with lots of choices. As you near the end of the funnel things pick up and move faster; your choices narrow and your only option is to Trust God and rest assured you'll always be dropped out at the right place.

Office Picture

I haven't wrote anything for about a week... schew. Today I sat in my office after some of our team leaders moved their office equipment out of my office so we and they could operate a little more smoothly. Anyway, I sat in my chair and stared at the picture on the wall in front of me. It's a picture of Jesus and a seasoned minister sitting at a desk in an office that my Mom gave me just before finishing Bible college. I had a ton of things on my mind and I looked up at the picture and my mind stopped in it's tracks. I sat and watched that picture like it was a movie clip. I saw Jesus reaching out his hand to the preacher offering suggestions, advice, even stern instruction. I saw that man listening to Jesus' every Word hoping to retain what he was hearing so he could apply it to his life and ministry. After just a short time of reflection in my own life, I was thankful I had those few moments with Jesus. I speak regularly of being still and knowing that God is who He says He is - and today I got to practice it with a few minutes of listening to Jesus speak to me while I sat still knowing He is God! Oh, I searched the net for that picture to add here, but couldn't find it!

Ole Swamp Hippie

When I was a kid my cousin had a big 1970 something Ford truck with the name "Swamp Hippie" tattooed on the top of the windshield to act as a sun deflector. Every time I saw that truck I thought of that big ole thing barreling through some dirty, filthy, smelly, wet land kicking up mud and water like a big clawed crocodile on some scrappy chase through 3 inches of water a top of deep clay like mud.

Come to think of it, the swamp never did give an impression of cleanliness.

A river without boundaries is just a swamp. Thanks to my good friend who presented this thought to me! What an extraordinary perspective! Are we a life giving smooth flowing river with a forward moving direction and a vision for the next great adventure; or are we stagnant, sitting around, waiting for the next inevitable drought to soak us up and carry us into the unknown where we'll be poured out of some cloud of doubt over the massive dry dead desert of Sinai.

Keep moving forward. Let it go, let it roll right off your shoulders. Don't stagger, don't worry, don't get scared, keep moving forward. Like a river, flow with God, period.

And, for boundaries sake - stay focused and know your limits or you'll find yourself far from the current of moving onward.

It would have been neat to take that big four wheel drive truck to the swamp and run it full bore. However, besides mudd'n, the only thing I can think of a swamp being good for is snake bites and jaw locks.

Don't let your life become like the swamp where there's no boundaries and only the dirtiest of animals live. Be a river, flow with life; like a river gives nutrients to the trees on the edge, let those who stand near you be able to find fresh ideas and positive thoughts to draw from.

Revelation 22:1
[ The River of Life ] Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb

Rollercoaster Ride 'N

I love roller coasters at the amusement park! However, I hate it when my mind takes on the roll of a roller coaster with my emotions! Let's strive to be sure and steady in our hopes for God's will to be done in our lives!

Our God is the same God yesterday, today, and forever. He's everywhere at once, even everywhere in history and in the future at once. Oh Yea, don't even try to wrap your mind around that, but our God is truly omnipresent and omniscient. He's knows how many hairs are on your head, he knows the root of your being better than you do; He knows all this and He still loves us and sent His son to die for us even while we were yet sinners!

Feel this out - hour by hour, day by day, let God be God. In other words, trust His every move while you live out the life He gave you. Stay in touch with Him and let Him sift and shift people, places, and things as He sees fit. Work on being honest, truthful, pure hearted, always ready to give an account for your actions and for your faith in God. Don't harbor bitterness when your mind starts tugging your emotions up the first big hill of that roller coaster of an emotional mood swing. Don't expect anything except God's will to be done; even more so, expect the unexpected - the Positive Unexpected! Plan in your heart and know that God still directs your steps! Meaning - God's will be done, not ours. Live as confidently humble as you know how. Make big plans, train much, study a lot... and then be ready for motion, moving, twists, turns, and many victories that you could have only imagined!

Well, now that I think of it... If God is the roller coaster operator; Let's Ride!

Team Effort

Leader - Don't chase your vision alone - it may seem like others go it alone; they don't - the best of the best always have a better team around them than who they are themselves. God gave Daniel 3 men; Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; David had Johnathon and Benieah just to name two; Moses had his hands full for years, and God raised up Joshua and Caleb for him because he was persistent, forward thinking, and motivated for God's sake.

Spiritually & Physically find yourself someone/some team who will challenge you, push you, someone you can make yourself accountable to. Then do something so big that it will require you to lean on God. Don't start something without God and then call Him to your rescue... Start with prayer & find your reason for being - which is your big picture, your vision; it's what you see completed. And... when you have that -

Chase your vision with prayer, discernment, recruitment, & a plan to accomplish it.

David became a man after God's own heart! Daniel became a chief in a foreign land; Moses split sea's, received the commandments, and made men out of boys to take a land that was promised as far back as Abraham! All these leaders accomplished great things with a team effort! You can too!

God's Team

IN our attempt to launch a new ministry I'm seeing God draw people together to accomplish His divine action packed desire for our community! God is awesome.... Thanks to all the people who are answering His call and joining this team to do and be the Love of God in Mid Ohio!!! All things work together for the good of those who Love God!

Romans 8:28
[ More Than Conquerors ] And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Wait a Minute

Here's what I'm learning this summer...

There's plenty of scripture that speaks of the importance of waiting on the Lord. For instance -

Psalm 27:14 Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.

Waiting is irritating. However, take irritating and turn it into a challenge and see "who can be the quietest" the longest. Remember those games when you were a kid? Sure you remember; And now you know that the adults that put that game on had good reason for wanting the kids to be quiet! Either it was rest time, or the parents simply needed a break from the chaos! I don't know if God needs a break or not, however, there's good reason for Him to challenge us to be still, to be quiet, and to wait on His perfect timing.

In the end, He will be glorified, not ashamed. Choose to wait on Him... The time will come to move into action and reap a benefit that you've prayed for oh so many times! -have a great day!

Upside of Breakdown

Job 22:21

Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you.

Submission to God is the upside of breakdown! When we are in need, we tend to call on God more fervently. My grandmother used to say "There's always something." So true, life never gives us a break! So, ...if there's always something, look for that something positive. Oh, it's not easy to see the positive, however; it's necessary! Here's something positive for you to consider...

Total submission to God relieves you of all anxiety!

Finally submitting to God is the upside of breakdown!

Legacy

Levi wanted top play with our old Dukes of Hazzard car top that in it's day, was attached to a hot little remote control chassis. I saved the body of the car and set it on a shelf. I got the car body down off the shelf and started to think of how awesome that car used to be in it's hay day.

When people remember you, be sure to leave a legacy that's reminds them how awesome you were in your day!

By the way: Your Day is Today!

Stay Focused on Your Vision

I have poor eye sight. When I was younger I was told that doing eye muscle exercises would solve my issue. Well, that's an incredibly long story... However, it relates well to spiritual focus. For one - it's crystal clear to me that in keeping my life focus; or what's referred to as my life vision for my household and for my ministry does in fact take spiritual exercises to ensure stamina while on my faith jog with Jesus. Those spiritual exercises burn just like lifting weights, running hard or doing visual exercises to strengthen the eyes. That's the point, without a challenge or a push back we typically just stand still. We don't push as hard forward when we're not in training or when we're not in the ring or on the field. Stay focused on your vision- your vision is simply your plan that will get you to your goal - reach for it, press hard for it. Keep your eye on the sparrow, keep your eye on the ball, stay attentive to your opponent, expect some push back- but expect to be victorious in Christ's name. At the end of the day, be sure to have stayed focused on what you set out for- not deterring from what God has set before you.

Building Excitment

Like an avalanche... are we ever building excitement in our church! It's so crazy, if you look around- there's just a few of us progressing forward; But if you look closely, you'll see we are as determined as Christopher Columbus. Don't tell them they can't! I like one of Mark Batterson's posts on facebook or who knows where I read it, it says this- "The good thing about inexperience is that you don't know what can't happen" Right on! Our team doesn't even know "No!" We're embarking on a once in a lifetime opportunity that none of us have experience doing and we're rolling strong with it! We've planned, and we're learning that God does in fact order our steps. He's so involved in our progress; God's timing is oh so amazing! Everything from adversity, accomplishments, first downs, touch downs .... God is great and His love endures forever!

Keep ur eye on Mansfield... something big is about to happen! God is setting the stage for spiritual renewal at home, spiritual revival in our relationships, and the chase is on for His most wonderful anointing to fill us who are willing to come and stand under the refreshing cleansing of His living water fall!

have a great day...

Fuel per Second

I met with my mom for lunch yesterday. Was awesome. We talked about life, cars, kids, church, people; the typical things! And when I got to the part of our current ministry circumstance in Mansfield, I expressed a few of my epistemological certifiable certitudes about the launch & how we need to best catapult our new ministry into existence - even though I'm feeling overwhelmed by following through with some decisions I know I have to make!

In short, our new ministry has to come off with excellence so that the community sees a confident attempt at being God's hands and feet in Richland Co. Ohio. After telling my mother every thing we need to have ready for our launch, plus expressing my concern of the cost...because I'm a tight wad at heart; my mother reminded me of something that will help me stay focused and confident during the start of this new ministry here in Mansfield...

"It takes more fuel to launch than it does to fly." -JGG This obviously means per second, or per mile, or while reaching an altitude. It takes more fuel per second to get up to speed than it does fuel per second to maintain speed. Or, it's more costly for fuel per mile when drag racing than when racing oval track. Keep in mind, as we launch this new ministry we're striving hard to create a drag racing machine that quickly transforms into a school bus for the long haul....if you follow that - I need you on this team!

When you pray, pray for our new church launch team here in Mansfield! We want our Father in heaven to be Glorified!

have a great day....