focus

I shared a bit from the book I read on visualizing yesterday, but the next chapter was an even better one on focus. It talks about the different ways to focus and how to use visualization in the focus realms.
Each morning the players they studied start out the day by playing a game in their heads. They play a mental movie of themselves picturing their at bats, their plays in the field and how they want them to occur. Obviously they picture them as bringing positive outcomes for themselves. Then, as the game time approaches they replay little pictures and portions of that movie from the morning, this helps them approach the game with the right attitude. But, once the game starts it is more about focus than it is about the visuals. As hitters many of them don't stand on deck swinging the bat or going through the motions, instead the focus on the release point of the pitcher. In the field they don't just stand around and await a ball to be hit to them, instead they watch as if every pitch is going to be hit to them. THey play in their minds what they will do when they get the ball, where they will throw it and where the next play is. The really good players do all of this subconsciously and that is where I am headed with this today.
These players do this so much that it becomes second nature, each day they do each of these things and they don't need to think about it or plan for it. SO, I ask you how is your focus on God? Each morning do you wake up and pray through your day, pray for those who are sick and for those you will have contact with that day? Do you go to work or school and focus on opportunities for others to see you as a believer, or do you just wait and think if it happens you are ready? There is a difference you know!
Some people go through life hoping no one asks about Jesus, because they aren't sure they can answer all the questions. The second group goes through life prepared to answer and prepared to share but they do it as a reaction. The third group watches and looks around for an opportunity to share, waiting for the very second someone asks a question about their walk or their faith. They not only want it to happen, they jump on every opportunity to make it happen.
Each day we should start our day out with prayer, and then set ourselves up to share as often as possible. Not going door to door on a bike or shaking the bushes so to speak, but honestly and openly awaiting a chance to share with anyone who gives us the opportunity.
So don't just wait for the opportunities, create the opportunities and stay focused on the reason for your faith. The true reason for your faith is that someone actually shared with you about Jesus, that is where the seed was planted.
Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Visualizing

So I picked up a book while I was in Tampa a few weeks ago for a conference for work. It's a baseball book and rarely do I read books that aren't religious in content but it peaked my interest. The book is called "Mental Toughness, baseball's winning edge" and it looked interesting. Besides it was writting by some top notch baseball guys, actually the guys that put together the Oakland A's team of the early 90's that had Mark Maguire, Jose Canseco, Walt Weiss and Dave Stewart all together on one roster. That team was a powerhouse and they put it together based more on mental toughness and attitude than on actual ability. I've enjoyed the read, and I have read it here and there but not seriously like usual. The last several chapters I have read are about visualizing and playing a movie in your head before competing.
Here's an idea of what I am talking about. Before a hitter goes to the plate to hit he goes through a series of positions that are named for them. First when your team is at bat you are awaiting your turn in the batting order you are considered "in the hole" when you are second from the batter who is hitting. After that you stand outside the dugout with a bat in hand and you take practice swings, during this time you are called "on deck". Normally, when a player is in the hole he begins getting his batting gloves on, his helmet and bat and prepares to be "on deck:. Then while on deck he swings the bat timing the pitcher and getting practice swings in before going to the plate to hit. THey break down what great hitters do to make themselves better.
First, while they are in the hole they already have their helmet, bat and gloves ready and they start to visualize what they will do at the plate. This is normally a time to relax or goof off a little, but they have discovered that the truly good hitters play a little personal movie inside their heads to prepare themselves to face the pitcher. By visualizing they set themselves in a positive frame of mind and prepare mentally for the at-bat. Let's think about that on a daily basis, what can we do to visualize our days?
I can tell you that I start my day off praying over the things that I will be involved in. I pray for the kids at the lunch I will be going to, at the school I may be speaking at and at the practice or game I will be attending that evening. On Saturdays I pray for the day and for the races that evening and on Sundays I pray through the roster of people that I hope to have in attendance at worship that day. In effect this is spiritual visualizing and it is imperative that we have it in our lives. I can honestly say that when I print the bulletins and get things put together for worship I visualize a full house, not a half full sanctuary and not empty pews. I have done this since day one at Freedom(yes during the days of 20-25 in worship) and it has been a positive influence on my preaching and preparation.
IN life we need to prepare for our days with God at the center, and we do that by praying through our day long before we start it. Pray for co-workers, for jobs and things you will have to accomplish at work that day, pray for lunch meetings and afternoon phone calls and even your evening with your family. Pepper it all with prayer and visualize God right there with you every step of the way because He is.
Thanks for reading and have an awesome Hump Day!

God's method

So don't tell the water police but just about every other day when I get home and I am waiting for the girls to get home from school I water the plants. I work my way around what has become quite a collection of plants and flowers watering each of them with the hose. I start over by my parents' house and work my way accross the front of the house, around the tree and the flower bed in the front, then down the other side of the house. I water them extensively at the very least 3 days a week. The flowers and palm trees at times had times of a little droop to them, but the watering keeps them upright for the most part. I start to feel good about how I am sustaining life in these most dependent plants and keeping them going through my personal efforts. THen it happens, it rains and I don't have to water them. It rains for maybe only 20 minutes, not a real shower and hardly anything to get excited over but atleast I won't have to water the plants that day. The next morning I get up and on my way out the door headed to the truck I notice the flowers standing out more. Then, as I back my truck out of the driveway and get ready to drive off I realize that all of the plants look much perkier than before, all because of a little bit of rain.
The church is the same way, I have been working my tail off for 2 years attempting to build a church with God's empowering all along the way. I have pastored a football team, coached girls softball, hung out in lunch rooms and attended little league games for years now. Something just clicked recently and I can't tell you anything but that it was God's resources once again trumping mine. Just recently we have had families start attending church that I have worked on for years, some I have worked on since childhood. They just all of a sudden started coming to church, and are regular attenders. I even had someone get in touch with me on Facebook and ask when our services are, they have been back twice since. Then, out of the blue someone that I haven't spoken to since elementary school for the most part found me on Facebook and got information about the church and attended just this past Sunday. Again here I am working hard, laboring for love and trying to build something that God will increase with the snap of a finger! We have nothing to boast about, and nothing to brag on in ministry it is all God all the time.
Jeremiah 9:23-24 Thus says the Lord, "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practice steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth; for in these things I delight says the Lord."

God delights in bringing blessings to those who do His work, and He does it in His timing. We have nothing to be proud of outside of the fact that God is in control and we are His children. As long as we realize this we will never feel unimportant.
Thanks for reading and have a great day.

pride striking again and again

I was fortunate enough to grow up with a father who was a good mechanic. I would have friends that would have car trouble, and for the most part I was able to fix a lot of it myself. There were always people with little things wrong that would come to me to get me to fix them. I did so graciously and regularly. One particular time I had a friend with a problem with his truck, I went to his house and started taking some things apart and working on it. I worked for almost an hour just getting things apart and got ready to put it all back together, each piece right where it had been, the new pieces right where they had been needed and so on. We cranked up his truck to test drive it and it was still running just as bad as before. So, I fought it for another good hour or two before I finally caved in. I bit the bullet, sucked up my pride and called my dad. He rode by my friend's house and had the truck running like new in about 20 minutes. What was the problem, why did I work so hard the whole time to fix it myself? Pride, I didn't want to admit I was inferior to the problem, or that my dad would be able to get the job done.
This Sunday we will be talking again about pride, something that Paul liked to address especially in the lives of believers. In James 4 it says "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."
If you really break down this one sentence it is about the Gospel and God's grace being poured out on us. If God opposes the proud, and God loves His children what is this verse saying to us? Think about that moment when you accepted Christ as your Lord and Saviour. What were you really saying? What was really at war inside your heart? It was your dependency, when we get saved we are admitting our dependency on God and His saving grace and throwing all of our dependency out the window. You are admitting that you are a sinner(for some this is not an easy thing to do, for me quite simple) and that you cannot combat that alone. Your pride is shot, you have thrown in the towel so to speak. You are realizing your needs and the only place that they can be met.
Just like me trying to fix that truck two things are at battle within your heart. You are striving to fix a problem with sin and emptiness in your heart and you are realizing there is a simple solution, a Savior in Jesus Christ.
GOd opposes the proud, in this instance those who won't admit there's a problem and won't submit to Him to have the problem fixed. But He pours out grace to the humble the moment they admit they need His grace He pours it out like rain!
Thank GOd we serve a God who understands us and meets our needs with loving Grace!
Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Real genuine faith

It's no great secret that my 2 favorite hours of the week are Wednesday night at youth and Sunday morning worship. I don't know that I can chose between the two so I won't attempt to. I love Sunday morning worship because it is a time when the whole Freedom family is together to worship and praise God. I must confess one of my favorite parts of Sunday morning worship is the childrens sermon. I love the opportunity to bring the kids down and let them be a part of the service. I love looking into their eyes as they listen and pretty much sponge up everything I say. It's an amazing feeling to be talking to someone and see them getting it and loving it. What happens after they leave? Well, I am left to a room full of teenagers and adults and most of them are listening to the message. But, for whatever reason there seems to only be a few sponges leftover. Why is this? Why is it that as we grow we lose the focus and the faith that we once had. Faith of a mustard seed can move a mountain, yet children get this and adults forget it.
"He replied, 'Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, "Move from here to there" and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.'" - Matthew 17:20
Truth be known I think many adults don't even possess a mustard seed worth of faith. They have been hurt so many times believing in so many things, and they are tired and just want to hear a good sermon, sing some good songs and go home. This is sad, because faith is meant to be cultivated, watered and grown each week so that it is apparent in our lifestyles, instead it is put in a box and left there until the need presents itself to use it, and even then rarely do we use it.
I can honestly say that my faith has grown tremendously over the period of trying to rebuild a church. God is doing big things in and through our church family and my faith is growing as I learn more and more that I just need to get out of the way and let Him drive this bus. Faith is about knowing who you are, what all God has done for you and what He wants to continue to do for you.
Thanks for reading and have a great day!

judging

Have you ever watched American Idol? Odds are if you are an American with cable television at some point you have sat down and watched this show. It's a huge hit with Americans of all ages, I am amazed at the number of people who watch it every week just to hear people sing, get critiqued and then voted on. It's a very simple premise and a very simple thing to pull off.
Some people tune in because they like to see musical performances, others because they like competition but I can honestly tell you that the majority of people turn it on because they like to judge. Let's face it we all like to judge at certain points in our lives. We all like to put ourselves in a position of power and decide whether we like someone or something or not. That is what American Idol does, it allows us the opportunity to vote on whether we like someone or not. Then, we pick up our phones and dial a number to vote on whether we like them or not.
1 Corinthians 4:3 I care very little if I am judged by your or by an human court;

Paul makes it very simple, he just doesn't care about anyone judging him in any way. He cares very little if people like what he does or not. All he cares about is if he is living for Christ or not. Is he sharing the Gospel or is he not. He wants to be judged by GOd and God alone. We need to put ourselves on that scale of simply wanting to measure up to what GOd wants us to be, not what the world says we should be.
The bottom line is this: each and every night we lay our heads down on our pillows and talk to God. Paul even goes on to say that he has a clear conscience but that he does not even judge himself.

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

have you ever been enslaved?

The answer to the question have you ever been enslaved is an easy one: Yes ofcourse you have. We all have been slaves to sin, slaves to many things in life that have even at times taken us to our knees. As humans we are born to live selfishly and in our own ways. We like to chase after silly things that we think bring us pleasure in reality they build barriers between us and God. I see so many people who are great and strong people being enslaved by sins. Anywhere from sexual sins, to other immoral behaviors to drugs and alcohol, gambling you name it. These are things that can take root in our lives and absolutely ruin us. God has a plan for us, and many times it takes conquering these sins and these lifestyles to make us realize what that plan is and how wonderful the plan is.
Genesis 15:14 says, "But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions."
True the Israelites were slaves and they were put in that situation by many of their own selfish actions, but God wanted them there. And in that time as slaves they built up so many different qualities and possessed so many great things that they learned to conquer so much.
The Israelites learned many more lessons on their journey out of being slaves. BUt God says that He will see to it that the things that we have overcome, and broken free of as slaves will leave us with great possessions. The greatest possessions we ccan have is that of conquerors. Think of the things that you have conquered in life. It may be having paid of your car or house, think about the power and freedom you felt that very moment that last payment was made, you conquered it. The next month when that payment was normally due you felt so much freedom and so much relief. It is the same way with sin, I have seen people who were struggling mighty with a sin and trying all they can to overcome it. Then, they overcome it and it is liberating, but it is far more empowering when they go to the place or near people struggling with that sin. They possess so much power in those moments that the sin seems like a distant memory.
So allow God to help you out of the things that are enslaving you, and realize the possessions that are awaiting you the moment you turn those things over to God. Power is yours for the taking, but you have to truly want it.
Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Finished

So we are all given deep inside a passion for something, that passion comes from God. He gives us the desires of our heart and the desire that drives us. God alone knows before you are even conceived that there is a plan for you and a job for you to do. You passions can be for any of over a million things, but it is how you use those passions that counts.
I obviously am called into the ministry, I was called by God into ministry at a young age and never looked back. But, God also gave me several other passions in my life. For one, I love drag racing and I have a great deal of passion for the drag racing that my family and I participate in. I take the car to schools to show it, and I am able to witness to people all over the state because they connect with a drag racer or classic car owner more than they would just a pastor. Secondly, I am passionate about sports. I love sports, I am especially drawn to the game of softball for some reason. God gave me that passion and that drive and I am currently using it. I coach girls softball at St. Augustine high school and love every minute of it. I enjoy ministering to the girls through a connection involving softball. Any given Wednesday night or Sunday morning you can come to church and see a couple of our pews filled with young softball players. I am using each of my passions to reach the community for Christ.
Now, think about your passions and your desires in life. Are you using those things to bring God the glory? Or are you just using them to bring happiness to your own life?
I have brought You glory on earth by completing the work You gave Me to do.John 17:4
Now obviously these are the words of Jesus and none of us will come close to accomplishing 1% of what Jesus did during His time on earth. BUt, can you honestly say that if you were to die tommorrow you have accomplished what God put you here on earth to accomplish? I hope so, if not pray that God would guide you to use your abilities more for His glory than your own.
Thanks for reading and have a great day! I won't be blogging tommorrow as I am leaving for tampa at 4am and returning late Thursday night on business.

More boasting!

So here I was it was Wednesday afternoon, and I was reading over my lesson for youth that night. I had put it together and felt pretty good about it and now it was time for me to go and deliver it. When I printed it out I went ahead and printed out my sermon for Sunday.
Thursday came and went and I had not done a whole lot but research notes over the next few chapters of 1 Corinthians which is where I am preaching right now. THursday night we have a softball game so I go and while we are there P.J. gets hit in the eye with a softball and she seems to hurt most of the night. The next morning she gets up and she sees spots and lines everywhere so I take her to the doctor. They examine her eye at the eye doctor and then rush us over to a retina specicalist. THere we sat for the majority of the day waiting to see what was to become of our little bulldozer. We are finally seen by the specialist and relieved that there is no surgery needed just rest and a lot of eye drops. So I rush to our softball games, get through that and go home for the night.
I got up Saturday morning and read over my ceremony and notes for the wedding I was performing that afternoon for some family friends. We get through with all that and teh reception and go home where I am going to just read through my sermon for Sunday and go to bed. And here it all falls apart, I cannot find it anywhere. I looked all over the house, my truck, Tara's car all the places I could have misplaced it and it is nowhere to be found. No sweat, I'll just get up early Sunday morning and go re-print it from my computer at the Betty Griffin House. I get there and it is not saved, I have to basically take notes out of my commentaries, and take things from my head and put together a sermon in about 30 minutes and it usually takes me upwards of about 4-5 hours. As I start, I figure I have some extra time to work on it at the church because I can work during Sunday School and then my cellphone rings. I normally don't answer while I am working on sermons but I thought it may be important and it was, my mom and dad were up all night with my dad's blood pressure and would not make it to church. So, now I am going to spend that hour in Sunday School.
To make a long story short I was embarassed and started out my sermon Sunday morning with an explanation of all these things. We go through the service and went to lunch. I got compliments on teh message, I had several kids at softball practice tell me it was a good message, and I was baffled.
At the end of the day, when small group was over with and I was sitting in the house I just laughed at myself. THis verse came to mind.
1 Corinthians 1:31 Let he who boasts, boast in the Lord.
In other words I can do all the work I want on a sermon, I can pray over it, type it, study it and so on. But until I fully grasp the power of God and know that it is His message that I share, and understand that His message will prevail I am just being silly. THat sermon flew because I prayed that God would use me that day, and He did end of discussion.
So work hard at whatever you can, whatever you do and remember God has the final say and if He is in it, your work is futile.
Thanks for reading and have a great day!

no good without the Spirit

So all my childhood life there were very few things I wanted to do worse than drive a race car. My father had raced since he was a teenager and I had been to the track since I was a few weeks old. Every Saturday as long as I can remember that was where we headed, we loaded up in the morning, ate lunch and then we were off to Gainesville. As I got older and the time for me to drive got closer I started saving my money for a race car. Eventually I saved up enough money to go buy my first car, but my dad talked me into buying a new truck instead so that I would have a way to get the car to the track. I bought the truck and after a year or two of sharing dad's race car with him I was finally able to purchase my own car. I bought it without an engine or transmission because dad already had all of that ready for me. We got the car, and slowly put together basically one of my dreams. I had my own car, painted the way I wanted it to be painted, on my trailer behind my truck. This was a huge step for me to be doing this I can't even put into words my excitement.
Well, we took it to the track, I unloaded it off the trailer went through technical inspection and then drove it down the return road to get the transmission and rearend warmed up to race that night. Then, as I got to the end of that road the car just shut off for no reason. I couldn't get it to fire back up, what on earth had we forgotten to hook up, or what has gone wrong I wondered? Well, guess what. In all of my excitement for that day, that most eventful occasion I had forgotten to put gas in the car. So there I was walking back to the truck to get my gas can and bum a ride back to the car to put gas in it. Because no matter how much excitement, how much horsepower or how beautiful the car looked it wasn't going to budge without gas.

"These have come so that your faith-of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." - 1 Peter 1:7

Just like this verse, my life is no good without the Spirit of God inside of me. A religious experience is great, believing in God is important, but without praying and receiving GOd's Holy SPirit within us we will have no drive. It would be religion with no relationship and that will leave us stranded at the end of the return road one day. We'll be all excited and pumped up, yet so empty and weak inside all because we chose to believe but forgot to recieve.
So think about your life, do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, or do you just have religion. There's a huge difference and you will know the answer without putting much thought into it.

Thanks for reading and have a great Hump Day!

Catching their eye

This year is going to be a fun one in the lives of Pedro Menendez High School. A young man by the name of Tony Steward is betting offers from every major college in America. From Oklahoma to Florida, Miami to USC, and everywhere in between they all want him to come and play football for them.
It's the other kids that get the golden opportunity to shine. Every year there are coaches on campuses looking at different athletes. A few years ago there were scouts from the University of Florida at a St. Augustine High vs. Nease High School football game. They were there to watch Tim Tebow and a corner for St Augustine Jacquez Rickerson. THose scouts saw all that they had anticipated and then some, they walked away wanting a guy by the name of Brandon James who would have never in a million years got a chance to play at a big school because of his size, but he had an awesome game that night and go their attention.
Ephesians 5:15-16 Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as the wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
We as Christians need to be careful how we live, and make sure we cash in on every opportunity. If we are having a bad day, or if we are living engulfed in some sin we cannot be used by God at that time. Because somewhere there will be a non-believer watching our every move, and we may disappoint.
God is looking to use us, but not until our walk is consistently showing a love and respect for Him. We can't preach to our friends, share our testimonies and not live them out, because the number one thing the world despises is hypocrites, the church should despise them too!
Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Church growth

So I am a firm believer that God grows churches and ministries as He sees fit. THere are so many variables that we as humans think have to fall into place such as worship, children's ministries, youth ministries, building appearance, ushers, greeters, and so on. We would work ourselves to death if we tried to get every piece of the puzzle put together before we experience growth. But, we do it anyway don't we. I will admit I had a strong feeling, and a great vision from God that we would walk into Freedom Baptist Church and it would explode on arrival. I had all the drive and passion and charisma I felt was needed to assist in God's growth of a church. We had 5 members, worked hard to reach more and slowly grew into a church of about 40-50. Then we studied through the book of Acts and gained greater understanding of GOd's plan for evangelism. Now, we have landed in the book of 1 Corinthians and the first few chapters talk about boasting only in the Lord. Is that the key ingredient that was missing for us to start experiencing growth? I don't know, only GOd knows but I do know that in recent weeks we have seen and experienced much growth. We have seen families joining, a teenager accept Christ and a father rededicate his life to Christ. We are seeing more and more unchurched families walk through our doors and we are slowly filling up all those empty pews. Easter is always a good gauge because I have told my dad several times that if everyone was there just one Sunday we would pack the house, and I was right. God placed a desire in the hearts of everyone that is a member to regular attender and we were just over 90.
I'm excited about all that God is doing in our midst, but the funny thing is physically nothing has really changed. We are singing the same kinds of songs, preaching the same types of messages, and doing the same things we did as we struggled for the first 2 years here.
1 Corinthians 1:31 Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord! It's God's timing, it's God's ministry, and in the end it will truly be God's glory!
Thanks for reading and have a great day!