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My Thoughts On Our Divided Nation

My Thoughts On Our Divided Nation

Post Presidential election, America is still a very divided nation where people — not happy — with the results of the election have resorted to violent protests. The lives of people living in these areas have been turned upside down, police officers are being threatened, protestors have been shot, many others have been arrested and property is being destroyed. There are some that have been able to keep their protest of the 2016 election civil, but unfortunately many others have spiraled out of control with very few voices calling for peace.

With almost every major urban area in chaos, the divisive rioting is heading towards civil war. The atmosphere is so negatively charged, people need only the slightest “justification” to mark another person an enemy creating “lines” between us and them. Whether its black, white, Christian, Muslim, secularist, atheist, Republican, Democrat, LGBT, fill in the blank ______, we’re extraordinarily adept at creating a framework that allows us to “justify” making another person our target of violence.

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November 15, 2016 Filed Under: Journal Tagged With: broken, courage, crisis, featured, God, hope, Jesus, life

America Has Spoken, Now Let The Healing Begin!

America Has Spoken, Now Let The Healing Begin!

America has spoken by choosing a new direction and different leadership…so hopefully we can set aside our differences and pray for President-Elect Donald Trump. I also pray that the Lord will give him the wisdom and courage to do what is truly right for America.

This election has been long, tough, very divisive and it’s time to put all that behind us. The tough reality, as a deeply divided nation, no matter who won there was going to be disappointment and anger. Hopefully we can shake off the dust, beat our partisan swords into peacemaking plowshares, shape our verbal spears into loving pruning hooks…and come together as Americans.

Some takeaways I wanted to highlight:

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November 9, 2016 Filed Under: Journal Tagged With: featured, God, hope, life, seasons

How A Stump Can Man You Up

How A Stump Can Man You Up

Life is a journey. At times everything can be going great and life’s good, but often there are times when life gives you a solid throat punch! In tough times we can often feel alone and without any sort of compass to guide us. The boy in the legend below is symbolic of you, of me, and what he discovers is an important reminder for all of us on our road to manhood.

There is rite-of-passage into adulthood story for a Cherokee Indian boy where his father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him, and leaves him alone. To pass the test, the boy is required to sit on a stump (or log) all night and not remove the blindfold until the morning sun shines through it.

He cannot cry out for help to anyone. If he survives the night, he is a man. He cannot tell the other boys of this experience, because each youngster must come into manhood on his own.

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October 25, 2016 Filed Under: Faith Tagged With: courage, faith, featured, God, Jesus, journey, stepup

Why God Uses Symbols To Communicate To Us

Why God Uses Symbols To Communicate To Us

When we begin to explore God’s word, it doesn’t take too long to discover that God uses tangible symbols as a way of communicating to us. Often God’s people are instructed to make use of symbols to help them understand or remember what God is teaching them. Some examples of symbols include

  • the rainbow as the sign of God’s covenant to us that He will never again destroy the earth by a flood (Genesis 9:13),
  • the placement of the twelve stones in the River Jordan to remind the Israelites of the crossing God had provided for them “as a sign” and “memorial” (Joshua 4:3-7),
  • the star of Bethlehem to signify the birth of Christ (Matthew 2:2),
  • the dove to signify the Spirit’s presence at Jesus’ baptism (John 1:32),
  • water to signify one’s commitment to Christ at baptism (Romans 6:4),
  • bread and wine to signify Jesus’ body and blood (1 Corinthians 11:23-26),
  • the symbol of a lamb to represent Jesus Christ (John 1:29), and
  • my heartstone (Joshua 24:27 NLT).

Also, we still use symbols today to communicate important moments of significance such as wedding rings, birthday cakes, birth stones, and red roses. They are used today as a natural way of communicating significant meaning. There are also many references to the symbolism of stones in the bible, but here are some that I have collected that have significance for me.

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October 11, 2016 Filed Under: Faith Tagged With: featured, God, life

How God Trains His Soldiers

How God Trains His Soldiers

O tested soul, perhaps the Lord is sending you through this trial to develop your gifts. You have some gifts that would ever have been discovered if not for trials. Do you not know that your faith never appears as great in the warm summer weather as it does during cold winter? Your love is all too often like a firefly, showing very little light except when surrounded by darkness. And hope is like the stars, unseen in the sunshine of prosperity and only discovered during a night of adversity. Afflictions are often the dark settings God uses to mount the jewels of His children’s gifts, causing them to shine even brighter.

Wasn’t it just a short time ago that on your knees you prayed, “Lord, I seem to have no faith. Please show me that I do”? Wasn’t your prayer, even though you may not have realized it at the time, actually asking for trials? For how can you know if you have faith, until your faith is exercised? You can depend on the fact that God often sends trials so our gifts may be discovered and so we may be certain of their existence. And there is more than just discovering our gifts, we experience real growth in grace as another result of our trials being sanctified by Him.

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September 27, 2016 Filed Under: Faith Tagged With: featured, God, guest

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Things that go wrong can shape us or scar us -Bob Goff

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Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. -Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)

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