God | Heartstone Journey

Do You Know Him?

Wanted to share an inspiring video (that you’ve might have seen before) to kick off the week after celebrating Easter. The video called “That’s My King” shares the highlights from Dr. S.M. Lockridge’s sermon and powerfully describes the King of kings and Lord of lords – Jesus Christ.

Dr. S.M. Lockridge was the pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in San Diego, CA from 1952-1993. As a minister, he participated in the Civil Rights Movement during 1960s and was a prominent speaker and Baptist leader. His legacy includes years of faithful service preaching in a variety of settings around the world.

This is the true gospel – that God is relentlessly pursuing us with his love. This is why God stepped into human history as a man. That’s why Jesus is God Himself who walked among us, because in matters of love you have to go yourself! Jesus came to us, engaged us, and pursued us. He bled for all mankind sacrificing Himself to set us free, to set the record straight and to pave the way for relationship with God Himself – because He loves us that much.

Watch the video, soak in the sermon and be inspired to know Him!

Moms, You’re Holding On Too Tight!

Unfortunately we live in a time where the “accepted normal” is kids having to grow up in a fractured family due to divorce or without fathers who are active in their lives and often the heavy lifting is unfairly burdened on the mothers. The other unintended consequence of this trend is the dilemma of weak or emasculated men reaching epidemic proportions in society…where many are asking, “where have all the men gone?”

Because of this, I’ve noticed that mothers are becoming more over protective and controlling of their sons, which is causing significant tension when it comes time for them to stretch their wings and leave the nest. The other dynamic that’s rearing its ugly head is these sons are finding it harder to cleave to their wives and step up to lead in their homes. Too often I talk to men who cannot make decisions for themselves or their families, have no real direction or plan for their life, choose a path of passivity and are paralyzed of their future. They are carrying a broken compass and have absolutely no mission in life!

When you dig deeper into these issues, you can often connect the dots to not having a fully present father figure in their lives and/or a mother who never allowed her son the opportunity to stop being her “little boy”. Of course a mother’s efforts are well intended, but they unknowingly stand in the way of their son’s father (or father figure) ability to provide a path for them to become men by keeping their “little boys” under their constant protection and control.

To all the mothers out there who doing much of the heavy lifting these days…

How Picking Up Stones Changed My Life

We finished lunch with a couple of other hikers on the back deck of the AMC hut and began our final ascent. It was getting colder, and we began putting on warmer gear as we navigated through more snow and ice. With the thinning of the air, the tighter gripping of the cold, and the thickening silence, an overwhelming desire to run ahead came over me. I motioned to my friend that I was going to run up ahead a bit, which he had no issue with. Closing in on the summit, with my heart pounding and my lungs stinging from the cold air, I somehow knew that a milestone of this journey was at hand. I saw a large rock come into view, converging with my path, and I soon found myself standing upon this large rock. It was as if the Lord had gone ahead and had prepared this place of peaceful solitude and comfort so I could clearly hear His voice without all the other distractions. Standing there upon the rock, I took a deep breath, lifted my head to the Heavens, and began to have a conversation with Him. Time relaxed for a moment. It was awesome.

It was here at this place of desolation, on this rock, on this mountain, where He spoke to my heart. Do you want to know what He said to me? He asked me to collect four stones when I got to the top of the mountain. So, standing in my own strength, leaning on my own understanding and ending the tranquil scene He had prepared for me, my response was, “You want me to do what?”

Why Self-Promotion Disqualifies You

God has given me a calling with ‘Heartstone Journey’ and there are days that I struggle with wanting more of my portion. It wasn’t until I came across the story of Gehazi in 2 King 5, where I got a reality check on the dangers of adopting this heart attitude. Sad reality is…many of us have it.

We don’t like being in the process and want more…or we want to become the “head guy” before we’re ready. We convince ourselves that we’ve put our time in and we should get what’s “owed” to us, right? This is the heart attitude that began to take hold of Gehazi. He was a servant of the prophet Elisha and served him with honor for many years until on day, he used Elisha’s name for his own dishonest personal gain — self-promotion.

But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, thought, “Behold, my master has spared this Naaman the Aramean, by not receiving from his hands what he brought. As the Lord lives, I will run after him and take something from him.” So Gehazi pursued Naaman. When Naaman saw one running after him, he came down from the chariot to meet him and said, “Is all well?” He said, “All is well. My master has sent me, saying, ‘Behold, just now two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothes.'” -2 kings 5:21-22

Let’s see what happens…

It’s True, God Does Care About The Details Of Our Lives

Wanted to share a page of my journal from the Winter of 2005. A little bit of the backdrop here…I was in the middle of going through divorce and these words are my reflections of a journey I took into the unknown.

Darkness rules the heart of man until the light of Jesus Christ shines upon him.

That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good. -Romans 8:28

The long cold winter of this lonely and difficult journey is slowly coming an end, where the springtime of the Lord will restore creation back to life. As God allows me to see glimpses of this restoration throughout His creation, I’m blessed with a vision that He’s about to make all things new in my life.

I was led into the wintry depths of the forest on this brisk Sunday. For some time, I could not escape the vision of the lake I stumbled upon in my adventures last summer. I also knew that a milestone of this vision was finding a stone along the shores of the lake. Not remembering how far away the lake was, I instinctively set out to once again to stand at its shores, wondering what “stone” I would need to hunt for.

Do You Know Him?

Moms, You’re Holding On Too Tight!

How Picking Up Stones Changed My Life

Why Self-Promotion Disqualifies You

It’s True, God Does Care About The Details Of Our Lives

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Never Out Of The Fight!

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