Once! Only one time have I posted in this blog this year. Shame on me. Something I set out to be diligent about and here we are concluding 2016 and I have simply 1 post. I am looking back and this year and am truly confused on how it went so fast! The end of any year is always a great time to take stock of things and begin to plan out the path for the upcoming year; and for me, this year is no different. It is hard for me to sum up 2016 in a word much less a sentence. Heck, I don’t think I could write a book explaining this year. From difficult closures of one season to the new beginnings of another 2016 has been scattered with so many different experiences. When you sum them all up together, this has been one crazy year. One thing that …
Tag: Purpose
Let me start with the moral of the story: Your past does not dictate your potential. In life, we are trained to believe that your accomplishments and your past define your worth. You almost always have to prove yourself before you are taken serious. I take comfort in the fact that we are in good company. Even Jesus had to overcome His past and in a viable sense, “prove” Himself. And Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Phillip said to him, “Come and see.” (John 1:46 NKJV) This statement was made by one who would become a disciple. Instantly, Nathanael judged the book by its cover. Ironic that the book he was judging was the King. Have you had that happen to you? I know I have experienced this. First impressions are key. It is said that people form their opinions within the first 30 seconds …
Today’s post is a guest post courtesy of my amazingly talented wife, Alisha Anderson. You can follow Alisha on twitter at: @AlishaAnderson7 There seem to be a sweeping attitude in our American culture today that upholds, admires, and respects individuals for their extreme commitment to science, industry or work accomplishments. However, when put in context of ones religious or spiritual beliefs, that is held lightly. You see this all throughout popular culture; in our films, newspapers, magazines, etc. Characters and individuals are praised for what they do – but not what they believe (ironic, considering what they believe is likely at the core of why they do it). We have become focused only on the earthly and temporal and have not given credit to God. This attitude says, “I’m a Christian, but if that offends you, I won’t act like one around you.” Or, “I’m a Christian, but that’s just …
Thanksgiving has come and gone. All that remains are the leftovers sitting in the fridge (and the added weight from all the desserts). I am sure that many of you spent time reflecting over the weekend about what you are thankful for. My list is extensive. I am thankful for my amazing family. I am thankful for my wife who constantly supports and encourages me. I am thankful for our beautiful Son – a proof that God does do miracles! And, I am particularly grateful for all of the hard seasons in my life that have led me to where I am. That last statement might sound absurd to some. Why on earth would I be thankful for hardships? Simply put, they have developed my faith and strengthened my resolve allowing me to constantly focus on the fact that God is in control – my life, after all, is His story, …
So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. (John 19:30 NKJV) Those are three of the most powerful words ever spoken in the history of the World. “It is finished”. At the time, the disciples watched in horror as their teacher took His final breath on that fateful Friday. Everything they had been taught over the previous years was now being put to the test. Little did they know that this was just the beginning. Some followers fled, and some even denied ever knowing Jesus. To many of them, those final words meant exactly that – “it is finished”. What we had hoped for, dreamed of and desired are gone. Everything was shattered. But Jesus meant something completely different. Those three words were not a statement, but a proclamation. A deceleration of Freedom, Forgiveness, Grace and …
I am one of those people who is motivated by simple words of encouragement. Even in my employment, it is not the financial opportunities that drive me nearly as much as a simple acknowledgment of a job well done. The reality is, I think we are all in that same boat. Each and every day we seek acknowledgment and approval from those around us; strangers, co-workers, family and friends. We seek validation of our accomplishments, hopes and dreams. Some days, we receive it and some days not so much. The problem arrises when we rely only on what people say about us and we forget what God says – after all, it is His opinion that truly matters. So what does God say about you? He says you are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14), He says you “are the apple of His eye” (Psalm 17:8), He says you are …
“Not me Lord” or “I am not able Lord.” How many times do we see that in the Bible when God calls forth His people for a purpose or cause? I spoke about this last year in my post “No More Excuses“, but this morning I was reading in 1st Kings 18 and couldn’t help but pause and reflect on a few points in that chapter. I will give you the back story in one sentence: Elijah is a man of God, who told Ahab ( the King of Israel, evil in the sight of God) there would be a famine and Elijah has been gone for 3 years now returning. As Elijah begins his journey back in encounters Obadiah. The Bible tells us that Obadiah feared the Lord greatly and even hid and saved 150 prophets of God from Jezebel. Obadiah knows that Elijah is a man of God …
This past week we took our first out of state trip (which included a 3+ hour plane ride) with our almost 3-month old. As we approached our trip, I spent countless hours canvasing through blog after blog digesting the wisdom of brave parents who have traveled before with an infant. I will admit, I had some fear about this task (ok veteran parents, now is your time to laugh at me for dreading travel with just 1 baby). Needless to say, everything went even smoother than I could hope for. It was on this trip that a concept my wife discussed with me weeks ago came to light. On this trip we submitted our little one to numerous new encounters; planes, hotels, car rides, museums, and the worst of them all, a carnival midway. And along the way, it never mattered to him where he was – but rather, who …
Before we jump in, it is important to note there have been 2 parts to our topic already posted last week. I encourage you to read them first if you have not done so: Part 1 and Part 2. Numbers 14 starts off in a very interesting way: 1So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. 2And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! 3Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” 4So they said to one another, “Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.” Wow. …
Earlier in the week I posted Part 1 of our discussion “Learning From Spies“. If you have not read it, I encourage you to do so now, as this post is simply a continuation of it. We left off in verse 31 of Numbers 13: 31But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” 32And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. 33There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” I cannot …
There has been one verse that has been running in my mind all week: Then Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.” (John 7:6 NKJV) This statement comes on the tail of one of Jesus’ largest public miracle – the feeding of the 5,000. Following that miracle, you can see a chain of events in John 6. I recommend reading it in its entirety – but I will provide the readers digest version here. We see Jesus make some very bold statements throughout John 6 that He is the bread of life and whoever seeks after Him will be redeemed. These statements perplexed many and offended others resulting in somewhat of a dissension in the ranks. John 6 tells us that many of His disciples turned away and stopped following Him. His own people rejected Him. This statement in John 7 is …
