Search

Building A Dream Life

Extraordinary Things are Done Every Day by Ordinary People

by

You’ve Been Given Everything You Need to be Extraordinary, It’s Up to You to Use it

This past Sunday was Pentecost. This is the Christian commemoration of the coming of the Holy Spirit, celebrated the seventh Sunday after Easter. The coming of the Holy Spirit happened suddenly and came in a strong wind and fire, Acts 2:1-21.

The people who were together when this extraordinary thing happened, were just ordinary people. These followers of Jesus were feeling lost and alone after Jesus left. They no longer had their leader. How would they go on?

This small group of ordinary people are the beginning of our Christian faith. They are the core of the Church today.

These ordinary people did extraordinary things.

They didn’t think they had what it took to do the mission before them, but they did. Most of us feel this sense of inadequacy when we look ahead to our own missions.

It is amazing what long-range effect the little things we do, both good and bad can have. We rarely know what long term affect we will have and how those things will affect the future. Seemingly irrelevant things can make a huge impact.

In the book, The Butterfly Effect, Andy Andrews tells how the decisions you make and the way you treat others impact the world. This short book is a powerful story about a decision one man made over a hundred years ago, and the ripple effect it has on us individually, and in the world, today.

God will not ask you to do anything more than He knows you can.

Just like Jesus’ followers, we’ve been given the things needed to accomplish our mission. –

  • Power – Nothing is impossible with God. We’ve been given the strength needed to do the things we are supposed to. The power has been promised to us. It is available…not delivered. It is up to us to access it and use it.
  • Purpose – Just like the disciples were given their purpose on Pentecost, we’ve been given a purpose. Like power, this doesn’t work without our participation. We need to open our ourselves to God’s vision and do something. Without a vision the people parish, Proverbs 29:18.
  • Presence – The Holy Spirit is God’s presence in our lives. This is us inviting God in, to be an active part of our everyday lives. Once again, we have a responsibility, if we aren’t open to It and accepting of It, we won’t get It.

It is up to you every day to use your gifts and abilities doing ordinary things, letting God turn them into something extraordinary.

We All Have Different Strengths, Find Yours and Use Them for Good

by

Where Is Real Strength Rooted?

Everyone of us is unique. Our abilities and talents are also different. The problem is, too many people don’t use their gifts…or even bother to figure them out. This makes for a very mediocre world.

There is so much more available to us if we will just find and use our strengths!

Like the wind and the oak tree, strengths come in a variety of styles. The wind blows and carries on doing damage and causing havoc. While the mighty oak tree stands there swaying in the wind and weathering the storm with its roots firmly planted.

The Oak Tree

by Johnny Ray Ryder Jr

A mighty wind blew night and day
It stole the oak tree’s leaves away
Then snapped its boughs and pulled its bark
Until the oak was tired and stark

But still the oak tree held its ground
While other trees fell all around
The weary wind gave up and spoke.
How can you still be standing Oak?

The oak tree said, I know that you
Can break each branch of mine in two
Carry every leaf away
Shake my limbs, and make me sway

But I have roots stretched in the earth
Growing stronger since my birth
You’ll never touch them, for you see
They are the deepest part of me

Until today, I wasn’t sure
Of just how much I could endure
But now I’ve found, with thanks to you
I’m stronger than I ever knew

Having deep roots will make weathering storms more likely.

Navy SEALs are trained to swim miles under water in complete darkness, unable to see anything. Then they swim to the lowest, darkest part of the enemy’s ship to attach the explosives and then swim back to where they started. All of this is done in the dark. Their training prepares them for these types of missions.

We need to get trained and be prepared. It is likely that we will encounter dark times as we work to carry out our mission.

If we are prepared…we will be at our very best in our darkest moments.

Regular communication with God is the best way to get trained and prepared for whatever life throws at you.

In John 17:6-19 Jesus asks for strength to endure, not that problems be taken away. One prayer that God always answers is strength to endure. We just have to ask.

Plant your roots in God’s Word so that you can weather the storms of life and use your strengths wisely.

Moms Love Us a Lot, But God Loves Us More

by

True Happiness Comes from True Love and True Love Requires Sacrifice

A police chief was in the middle of a press conference when his mother called. He knew that she normally watched his press conferences, as any proud mother would. Knowing this he felt there must be an emergency, so he excused himself to take the call. When he answered, his mother asked, “Are you chewing gum?” After a short pause he responded, “Yes”. She came back in a sharp tone, “I taught you better than that. You know you shouldn’t chew gum when speaking in public.”

As funny as this example of a mother’s love is…

Mothers will go to great lengths for their children.

Love can go both ways. Here’s a true story of a son who put his life on the line to save his mother.


35-year-old Jermaine scaled a burning 19-story building in West Philadelphia to the 15th floor after receiving a call from his sister and finding out that his bed ridden mother’s building was on fire and she couldn’t get out.

Rushing to the scene, Jermaine said, he first tried to enter through the front door, but it was blocked by police.

“They said the elevators are not working,” he said. He told officers he could just take the stairs. “They were like, ‘we can’t let you in.’

“I took it upon myself because that’s my mother. There’s no limits. That’s my mother.” said Jermaine.

He’d hurt his hip earlier that day, “but adrenaline took over.” He started climbing the fenced-in balconies of the building.

“When I grabbed a gate, at the top of the gate, there was a ledge. Then I could step on top of the ledge and reach up to the other gate and keep climbing my way up,” Jermaine said.

He said he was worried about his mother’s safety, not his.

“She can’t get out of the bed or walk around, so if there’s a fire, she needs help out,” he said.

Once he made it to his mother, she told him that she was OK and that the fire was contained.

“She was more shocked,” he said. “She’s not surprised by the things that I do for her. She knows I’ll go over and beyond for her.”

He said that he thought he would be arrested as soon as he got down, but the Philadelphia Police Department said, “there was no crime committed.”

“The Police Chief actually did cut me a break,” Jermaine said. “He understood the circumstances. He knew – when your adrenaline is pumping and your mom is up there, you thinking she’s dying – you’d do anything you can.”

This is love going above and beyond.

Jesus went above and beyond by giving His life on the cross for us sinners that don’t deserve it.

True love is willing to make sacrifices for others. True happiness comes from true love.

Be willing to make sacrifices for those you love and experience true happiness.

Strong Connections Help Us to Accomplish Our Mission

by

The Important Thing is to Be Clear on That Mission

There is strength in numbers. We don’t have to look very hard to find evidence of this. Fish gather in schools, bees in swarms, birds in flocks, cattle in herds, wolves in packs. These connections can help avoid being eaten by predators or by joining forces they can take down bigger enemy.

The same is true for the military. Research has shown that groups who collectively experience pain, turmoil, catastrophe, or significant life events tend to form stronger social bonds and become more cohesive.

I’m currently reading the book, “Lone Survivor”, this is the story of Marcus Luttrell. He was the only survivor of the extraordinary firefight on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border which led to the largest loss of life in Navy SEAL history. The strength of the bond between these SEALs was evident before I even finished the prolog.

God knew there was strength in numbers from the very beginning.

At each point in the creation story, God steps back and says that what He has made is good, up until He makes human beings. Having made Adam, our Creator steps back and says that something about the first man and his situation is not good: “It is not good that the man should be alone”. To make things right, God creates Eve…  Genesis 2:7, 22

In Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, we’re told that, Two are better than one…

Three strands of rope are harder to break.

The importance of community is as evident now as ever, after this past year. The value of online masterminds and the connections I’ve made through the virtual groups has been amazing. Not to mention the connection of my family and my church.

Jesus tells us that He is the vine and we are the branches in John 15:1-8. Whatever vine the branches are connected to will determine what kind of fruit the branches will produce. He also says that if we aren’t bearing fruit, we will be cut of and thrown into the fire.

The clearer we are about what our mission is and the better connection to the vine, the better the fruit will be.

Get connected to the Vine and to other good branches and produce good fruit.

Talk is Cheap…Actions Are What Matter

by

Practice Makes Perfect

It’s much easier to say that we’re going to do something than it is to actually do it. I think most times the intention is sincere, but too often we’ve said yes to too many things. You know what they say…

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

We often find ourselves on runaway trains, wondering how we got there. Know this…it’s nobody’s fault but our own. We made the choices that got us there. We can make choices that will change that.

It’s important to have realistic expectations. Just because I want to do something and say that I’m going to, doesn’t mean that’s possible.

You need to have clear expectations.

There was a fisherman in town that caught more fish than anyone else. Every time he went out, he would come back with a boat full of fish. No one could figure out how he did it. One day a man came up and asked him how he did it. The fisherman told him that he would take him fishing the next day.

Once they got to a secluded area of the lake the fisherman opened the tackle box and took out a stick of dynamite, lit it, and threw it in the water. After the explosion fish started floating to the top of the water. He took out a net and started gathering up the fish.

The other man reached into his pocket and took out his game warden badge and told him that this was illegal. The fisherman took out another stick of dynamite, lit it and handed it to the game warden and said, “Are you going to fish or talk?”

As funny as this story is, there are other options to blowing up the boat or fishing.

Too often we find ourselves holding a lit stick of dynamite not knowing what to do.

In 1 John 3:16-24 we’re told that Christ loved us so much that he sacrificed His life for us. His actions matched His words. He knew what the cost was going to be before He ever agreed to it.

We need to practice this kind of love when we make promises to others. We need to say what we mean and mean what we say. This isn’t easy, but needs to be done.

We need to be clear about what we say yes to.

Having Your Debt Paid, Means You Have to Accept It and Share It

by

Just Because It Was Paid, Doesn’t Mean It’s Free

There is a lot of debt in the world today and it continues to grow. I’m not talking about only financial debt (even though this is a major issue). I’m talking about the debt of life.

We’ve done nothing to earn this life we’ve been given.

It’s not like we went to the life store and bought it. One day, we just showed up here on this planet. We did nothing to deserve this opportunity. So how do we pay that debt?

The first thing is to be aware. We need to realize what an amazing thing we have.

We’ve been given sight, sound and breath…skills, abilities and knowledge. It’s our responsibility to use these things to pay the debt we owe.

Just like life, our abilities and skills don’t start out being fully developed. As we use them, they improve. These improvements come with bumps and bruises as we learn and grow. Too often we try to hide these scars. We don’t want anyone to know about our failures or mistakes.

It’s okay to show our scars.

When others see those scars, they can see that we have been paying our debt. It makes our message more relatable.

In Luke 24:36-48, Jesus appeared to His disciples. They didn’t believe it was really Him. They had seen Him die and be buried. He showed them His scars. These scars were proof of the price He had paid for their eternal life, but it was still up to them to accept this payment.

Even though He has paid the debt, it’s up to us to accept it and share it.

If we don’t it was paid in vain. Don’t let the price that was paid for our eternal gift to have been wasted.

Fear is Easier to Deal with When You’re Not Alone

by

We’re All Afraid of Something…What is it That You’re Afraid of?

Fear and anxiety are a part of life. It comes in a variety of places and levels for each of us.

A lady who was afraid of flying was on a plane. This fear was amplified when the plane was delayed a few times before takeoff. While in the air, the cabin lights began to flicker. The lady asked the flight attendant if she could please do something to fix the lights. The attendant went and turned them off. The person across the aisle leaned over and said, “Whatever you do…don’t say anything about the engines.” 😊

I don’t know, but I doubt that turning off the lights did much to help the lady’s fear.

In John 20:19-31 we see how Jesus’ disciples were afraid and hiding from the Romans. Their world had just been turned upside down with Jesus being killed.

Jesus’ followers, except Thomas, were meeting behind locked doors when Jesus shows up. This helps to subside their fear…for a little while. The group kept telling Thomas how Jesus had shown up.

He wasn’t going to believe until he saw for himself.

Then a week later, the followers were meeting again. This time Thomas was with them. Jesus showed Thomas the proof of the holes in His hands and side. Jesus told Thomas, “You believe because you have seen…blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing.

Believing without seeing is hard.

Whether it’s flying in a plane, spiders, roller coasters, not having enough money, being stranded in the middle of the ocean, snakes, letting people down, there is something we’re afraid of. For some this fear can be debilitating. For others it’s more of a nuisance. Regardless the fear is real.

A class of seminary students were shown a picture drawn by a boy that was sick and dying. The boy had not been talking since he went to the hospital.

The picture was fairly typical of pictures drawn by children. It was a picture of the boy’s family. It had a house, dad, mom and his siblings standing in the front yard. The part that was different was him standing by himself off to the side facing a tank that was about to run over him.

The class was given copies of the drawings and asked to make changes to the picture that might help the boy cope. There were several changes that were shown to the boy. The one that got the boy to open up and talk was the one that had a picture of a person simply standing beside him in front of the tank.

We all need someone to stand beside us when we’re facing tanks.

Jesus will stand beside us when we’re facing tanks…if we will just ask Him.

It’s Friday, but Sunday’s Coming

by

Jesus has Risen, He has Risen Indeed

This past Sunday was a celebration.

It was a celebration because more people are continuing to gather together. We had a large turn out for the Sunrise Service and the largest group at the regular morning service in a while.

It was celebrating Christ’s resurrection from death.

That first Easter started with a lot of sadness. Jesus’s followers had had a rough few days with all that they had gone through. They were feeling lost and alone with no hope…BUT SUNDAY’S COMING.

When in a meeting last Friday, a friend said something that I hadn’t heard for a while, “It’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming.” It reminded me of a message I had heard from Tony Compolo in which he referred to a sermon by Baptist pastor S. M. Lockridge.

This message reminds us of the crying at the tomb, the giving up of Jesus’ followers. We can’t appreciate the Easter message if we can’t see the risen Jesus.

Easter was not born in the light of the day, it was born in the darkness of the night, we all have periods of darkness, the light comes again in the rising of the Son, our greatest strength is in hope

It’s Friday but Sunday’s coming!

It’s Friday. Jesus is arrested in the garden where He was praying. But Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. The disciples are hiding and Peter’s denying that he knows the Lord. But Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. Jesus is standing before the high priest of Israel, silent as a lamb before the slaughter. But Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. Jesus is beaten, mocked, and spit upon. But Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. Those Roman soldiers are flogging our Lord with a leather scourge that has bits of bones and glass and metal, tearing at his flesh. But Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. The Son of man stands firm as they press the crown of thorns down into his brow. But Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. See Him walking to Calvary, the blood dripping from His body. See the cross crashing down on His back as He stumbles beneath the load. It’s Friday; but Sunday’s a coming.

It’s Friday. See those Roman soldiers driving the nails into the feet and hands of my Lord. Hear my Jesus cry, “Father, forgive them.”

It’s Friday; but Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. Jesus is hanging on the cross, bloody and dying. But Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. The sky grows dark, the earth begins to tremble, and He who knew no sin became sin for us. Holy God who will not abide with sin pours out His wrath on that perfect sacrificial lamb who cries out, “My God, My God. Why hast thou forsaken me?” What a horrible cry. But Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. And at the moment of Jesus’ death, the veil of the Temple that separates sinful man from Holy God was torn from the top to the bottom because Sunday’s coming.

It’s Friday. Jesus is hanging on the cross, heaven is weeping and hell is partying. But that’s because it’s Friday, and they don’t know it, but Sunday’s a coming.

And on that horrible day 2000 years ago, Jesus the Christ, the Lord of glory, the only begotten Son of God, the only perfect man died on the cross of Calvary. Satan thought that he had won the victory. Surely he had destroyed the Son of God. Finally he had disproved the prophecy God had uttered in the Garden and the one who was to crush his head had been destroyed. But that was Friday.

Now it’s Sunday. And just about dawn on that first day of the week, there was a great earthquake. But that wasn’t the only thing that was shaking because now it’s Sunday.

And the angel of the Lord is coming down out of heaven and rolling the stone away from the door of the tomb.

Yes, it’s Sunday, and the angel of the Lord is sitting on that stone and the guards posted at the tomb to keep the body from disappearing were shaking in their boots because it’s Sunday, and the lamb that was silent before the slaughter is now the resurrected lion from the tribe of Judah, for He is not here, the angel says. He is risen indeed.

It’s Sunday, and the crucified and resurrected Christ has defeated death, hell, sin and the grave. It’s Sunday. And now everything has changed. It’s the age of grace, God’s grace poured out on all who would look to that crucified lamb of Calvary. Grace freely given to all who would believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross of Calvary was buried and rose again. All because it’s Sunday.

It’s Friiidaaaay! But Sunday’s coming!

As Long as We’re Alive Our Picture is Still Being Painted

by

And It Will Be a Beautiful Picture When It’s Finished

This past Sunday was Palm Sunday. This is the Sunday before Easter and commemorates Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Mark 11:1-11

As Jesus rode into town people spread coats and palm branches on the road in front of Him. This is the way the people would celebrate the arrival of kings and victorious leaders. His followers expected Him to take over the Roman government and begin ruling like David.

Looking back, we know this did not turn out as Jesus’ followers expected.

They had a picture in their minds of how they thought things would go and couldn’t see past that.

We do the same thing. We get a picture of what we think our lives are going to be…and we know how that turns out.

A man was scrolling through programs on TV when he stopped to watch a man doing a painting. He thought the painting has finished. It looked amazing and he didn’t think it could look any better. As he watched, the artist took a brush with black paint and smeared it right through the middle. It looked like it was ruined. As he continued watching, the artist used the black paint to make the painting better than it had been.

Leave the painting of your life to the Master Craftsman and it will turn out beautiful.

This is similar to our lives. Sometimes there is black paint smeared through the middle. If we will just leave the painting to the Master Artist, our lives will be better than we thought they ever could be.

This doesn’t mean that we don’t have a part to play in the painting of our life picture…it just means that we need to know who the Master Craftsman is. Keep painting as long as you live.

How Will You Ever Get Where You Want by Walking in One Spot?

by

The Only Way to Get There is to Step Off the Treadmill

Did you know that treadmills were designed for punishment? This explains a lot.

In 1818 an English engineer named Sir William Cubitt, who was the son of a miller. Noting idle prisoners at Bury St Edmunds, he proposed using their muscle power to both cure their idleness and produce useful work.

Cubitt’s treadmills for punishment usually rotated around a horizontal axis, requiring the user to step upwards, like walking up an endless staircase. Those punished walked around the outside of the wheel holding a horizontal handrail for stability.

Punishment treadmills remained in use until the second half of the 19th century; they were typically paddle wheels with twenty-four steps around a six-foot cylinder. Several prisoners stood side-by-side on a wheel, and had to work six or more hours a day, effectively climbing 5,000 to 14,000 vertical feet. While the purpose was mainly punitive, the most infamous mill at Brixton Prison was installed in 1821 and used to grind grain to supplement an existing windmill which Cubitt had previously installed nearby.

This continuous repetitive act of walking and walking and never getting anywhere does sound like a little torturous.

Many people feel like their lives are a treadmill.

We’ve all felt this feeling of being tired of the routine of life. There is a German word for this. Lebensmüde is a compound noun made up of the words Leben (life) and müde (tired). It therefore translates to ‘life tired’. This is not how we are to be living our lives.

We all have a purpose and when we live life ignoring it we find ourselves slugging along unaware or ignoring our surroundings. The longer we walk back and forth without a destination the deeper the rut gets. When it gets deep enough, we can’t see out. It’s been said that “A rut is a grave with both ends kicked out.” It’s up to us to not get stuck in a rut.

Something is wrong when ‘life-tired’ becomes the norm.

We all have a purpose. Something that we were meant to do. If you don’t know what it is, you need to check with God. Find out what He wants you to do and then stop walking around in circles and move toward it.

Knowing our purpose is not some form of magic. It’s a direction to a destination. It’s up to us to find it and start walking.