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Recently the season of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s started to invade my mind I had to wonder about value of the spirit of the holidays.

It seems that Thanksgiving has turned into a starting line for an Olympic sprint for the rest of the season.

The advertisers start to tease us with the great deals that are coming up, loudly proclaiming, "On your mark"!

The ads continues through Thanksgiving week adding, "get set"!

And at the very moment at our Thanksgiving dinner, when we put the final bite of pumpkin pie in our mouth,…  ( Click for more )

The heart beats faster with every gaze into the eyes of your love. Your hands sweat and it's harder to breath. The excitement level is near maximum capacity and you wonder how you could ever live another year, day or moment without the love. It's beyond passion and purpose. It's what you were made for. It's internal and eternal. It's consuming and it's more than desirable. To live without your love is to die daily and it's to wade in the deepest darkness of the shallow waters of an empty and directionless life. Yet we dodge our love daily for fear of rejection and we lay aside the…  ( Click for more )

Am I hearing the sound of applause?

Do I hear the sound of victory?

Do I ever hear the sound of praise for a good days work?

Does my heart ever shout out loud simply because I took action toward my purpose in life?

Does my heart ever give me a standing ovation because I did something courageous.

These are the questions I've started to ask myself.

Why is this important?

We all want to be praised, noticed or acknowledge. Whether it's for the work we do or the sacrifice we made or the clothes we wear. All we have to do is look at Facebook. We see all the selfies…  ( Click for more )

It's true. I see dead people.

It's not a daily occurrence but, on average, every couple of weeks or so. I have to wonder why I am privileged to see them. I didn't ask for this, and I certainly didn't expect it to happen. When it first happened, I was quite shocked and moved emotionally. …  ( Click for more )

It was the same pattern as before. Subtle, stealth and snipe are the staple words for how He works. It’s His modus operandi to apply maximum damage with little visibility.

Who is this guy?

He is God.

But not just any god, He is the God of army angels. In the beginning He spoke the stars, moon, sun and earth into existence. But when it came to mankind, the reflection of Himself, He took special attention. Silently He molded the future of the earth’s existence, keeping the fallen, in anxious terror.

It was a stealth move.

We see it from time to time…  ( Click for more )

Two men were escaping from their enemy. At one point they made a small make shift raft in a river so it would help pull them down stream. It was working pretty well until they realized there was a waterfall not to far in front of them. They suddenly panicked as the water current got stronger and was pulling them faster and faster to the edge of the deadly waterfall. With the sound of the waterfall haunting them they narrowly escaped as they desperately struggled to swim to the rivers edge.

This is how life is concerning self-development.

Let's clarify the meaning of self-development.…  ( Click for more )

I recently read a very interesting article about people who live in, “The City of The Dead”. The City of the Dead is a four-mile stretch of tombs and mausoleums in Cairo, Egypt. The article states that tens of thousands live in the tombs without water or electricity. Yet they have a satellite dish and a television because it’s free. What a contrast of living and dying.

In the book of Mark, chapter 5:2-5, it describes a man who lived amongst the tombs.

1. He was under the power of an unclean spirit

2. He continually lived among the tombs

3.…  ( Click for more )

Jeremiah 18:3-4

3Then I went down to the potter's house, and behold, he was working at the wheel.

4And the vessel that he was making from clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he made it over, reworking it into another vessel as it seemed good to the potter to make it.

I am intrigued with these scriptures. They are very telling of Gods authority and great love.

In context, God is talking about Israel. But I’m thinking of Job. Job is described in Job 1:1 (Amp) as a man that was blameless and upright, and one who [reverently] feared God and abstained…  ( Click for more )

1Lord, HOW they are increased who trouble me! Many are they who rise up against me. 2Many are saying of me, There is no help for him in God. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]! 3But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. Psalm 3

"When it rains it pours" is how the old saying goes.

The scripture above has a sense of this saying weaved in it.

I'm sure you, as I have, experience this when you go through a difficult time in your life. It seems as if more problems heap on top of others.

But it's not just the problems…  ( Click for more )

"If this be treason, make the most of it."

Treason: Violation of allegiance toward one's country or sovereign, especially the betrayal of one's country by waging war against it or by consciously and purposely acting to aid its enemies.

It was His willful act and purposeful violation to wage war against the sovereign religious force on the earth. The religious powers had to be taken down for the freedom for those freedoms were chained to the grave by the mindset and ideology of the religious elite. It was given them the laws of God in times past but through coaxing…  ( Click for more )

He must have seen the glory beaming out of the one named Adam. He had to see the sunrise and sunset, creativity and passion, strength and love in the muddy mixture. He must have seen the majesty of untold greatness and the beauty of wholeness in this unfamiliar work of creation. Lucifer, in all his anger, resentment and bitterness must have seen Adam as a reflection of Almighty God. He must have shook in fear as he watched the Creator from a distance form, mold and shape the mud into man. Questions and worry must have invaded his mind as God etched away all imperfections to create…  ( Click for more )

The greatest tragedy is not death but a life without purpose. Rick Warren

For we are His workmanship [His own master work, a work of art], created in Christ Jesus [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used] for good works, which God prepared [for us] beforehand [taking paths which He set], so that we would walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and…  ( Click for more )

Genesis 19:26 But his wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

This is a crazy scripture to me. Lot’s wife became a pillar of salt all because she looked back at the city of Sodom. My question has been what was so terrible about looking back? Why the strong punishment of death?

Read Genisis 19, and you will see Lot and his family were being taken out of the city by angels to save them. God was going to destroy the city by brimstone and fire out of the heavens. It was a very urgent matter.

Remember:

* Our future is never behind…  ( Click for more )

There is this gravely false notion that once we commit ourselves to following Christ, life will just be better as a whole in a short period of time. This is not true. Once a decision has been made to make a change in our life for the good, whether we are followers of Christ or not, life will get more difficult just as sure as the sun rises every morning. God, the creator of all that is, has set in motion a natural order of things. And one natural order is the very decision and act to make an improvement in our lives requires us to go through a series of difficulties to prepare us…  ( Click for more )

2Corinthians10:5 AMP…and we lead every thought and purpose away captive…

Next level thinking will cause you to check your every thought and take it captive until you clear it with a very high set of standards. This can be exhausting at times but very rewarding.

Some things that change as you learn to take every thought through your set of standards. 1. You notice change in yourself 2. You see the world differently 3. You notice more negative and unproductive language in yourself and society.

The bible is clear that the Lords…  ( Click for more )

I love Hot Dogs! I know they’re not good for me but I don’t care. They taste great and they bring back good memories of my parents taking me and my brother to a local drive through hot dog joint. It was the best place in town to get a dog with chili, cheese, pickles, onions and mustard.

OMG, I loved those dogs.

A great thing about hot dogs is the vast variety of ways to prepare them.

With a little online research I found several ways to eat dogs. Here are a few worth mentioning:

- Killer Bacon-Cheese Dogs (I can’t wait to try this one.)

- Twinkie…  ( Click for more )

James 1:4 AMP

But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing.

The best long distance runners not only need to be physically tough but also mentally tough. They must be patient or have much patience to get to the finish line. What does patience mean? This is how the dictionary defines patience: The quality of being patient, as the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or…  ( Click for more )

Shane Krider from Polaris Global Marketing wrote: "In general, people way underestimate that they could change if they just believed they could. There seems to be a learned fear of taking control. There seems to be a general agreement that there is safety in numbers. People seem to be looking for anyone who is willing to stand up and lead the way. People seem to be quite satisfied to follow someone they really don't agree with just to avoid leading themselves."

To me this is an alarming truth. Leadership, in my estimation, is in part the goal in life. Leadership encompasses…  ( Click for more )

But he knows not that the shades of the dead are there [specters haunting the scene of past transgressions], and that her invited guests are [already sunk] in the depths of Sheol (the lower world, Hades, the place of the dead). - (Proverbs 9:18)

This scripture sounds like a scene from an old horror flick. I see it as a warning; there is an evil that is subtle as a ghost. The definition of ghost in this particular scripture is: a returning or haunting memory or image.

Our Christian life can be a living dichotomy. We have this lingering ghost that follows us and his name is…  ( Click for more )

There is a flash light craze going on in about every store you walk into. Some are small enough to fit on a key ring and some come with tri-pods. Some take double "A" batteries and some take 6 Volt batteries. Some are in-bedded in hat rims and some come mounted on glasses. It is really kind of phycotic on the focus put into the creating of uses for light.

I had to write and give a speech last week and it seemed everything I was preparing was out of this world boring. I had the concept of what I wanted the audience to go home with but didn't have a compelling visual.…  ( Click for more )

Architect: One who designs and supervises the construction of buildings or other large structures.

Builder: One who builds; one who develops or gives form to according to a plan or process; create.

Many years ago (more than I want to admit) I was in the construction business: block laying, carpentry, superintendent, but was mainly in the residential concrete business. When working in all phases of construction, you have to be able to read blueprints. If you can’t read and understand them, you will fail to correctly do your job. In turn, your work may not pass inspection…  ( Click for more )

Much of what holds us back in life is of our own doing. It may be the bad decisions we made in our youth. Perhaps it was the career or job of choice. Maybe it was the lifelong mate we chose in the guise of infatuation. Possibly it was a religious belief implanted in us by our parents and grandparents.

Mostly I would say it is the belief of the theories spoken to us from those around us and of the voices from our haunted past. The theory of: we cannot change our future for the good. I should say that it would not be fair for me to say that you don't believe you can change…  ( Click for more )

This article is a repeat article. This tradegy took place on December 14,2012. Let's remember to pray for someone else today. I at times get so caught up in my own issue's and I don't think of others much. Sad but true. Lets change that today. Lets get out of ourselves and remember the victims of Sandy Hook. I gaurantee you they are still dealing with this at some level. The pain of loss elevates during the holidays so let's lift them up in prayer.

Tragedy struck Newtown, Connecticut just two days ago. I'm sure most of you know the story of the 26 people murdered at Sandy Hook…  ( Click for more )

One warm day while walking on a trail, I saw an etched message carved on the path. It read, “TURN BACK”. For a moment I actually felt a touch of concern. Then I had to laugh at the humor.

But isn’t this what we often hear in our minds when we want to try something new or when the Lord is showing us a bit of our future. I’ve heard this voice many times in my life. It was loudest when I went parachuting. Everything inside of me yelled, “STAY IN THE PLANE!” Obviously, it was a false alarm.

I remember opening night of a play in which I had a…  ( Click for more )