Preparation

I was flipping through the channels the other night and something caught my attention, the New York Philharmonic on PBS. I'm really not much of a symphony kind of guy but there was something about this program that made me stop and watch the entire show. The music was amazing, but that's not what held my interest, it was the precision and complexity of the performance. Being a musician myself I know how much time is spent preparing for a concert. To play an instrument at this caliper one would spend thousands of hours of individual practice to hone the gift God has given them to share with the world. Then there are hundreds of hours spent practicing the music for the performance. Add in the many hours of rehearsals with the full orchestra and you have a lifetime devoted to this one moment in time, opening night.

What would happen today if we spent thousands of hours honing the gifts that God has given us to share with the world? What would happen today if we spent hundreds of hours practicing for the performance? What would happen today if we rallied together as men of God to collectively prepare ourselves for that one moment in time, the day Jesus returns?

What would happen today...?

1 Peter 1:13

Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.

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Incredible

Last week a friend and I made trip to the hospital to visit a woman and her husband who are very active members of our church. They have been instrumental with the set up and operation of the first multi-site location that our congregation has attempted, it has been a great success. They're a good christian family that home schools their 8 children. They own a very successful small business and are loved by their peers. They're the kind of people that you like the first time you meet them.

Earlier this year she was diagnosed with breast cancer. After surgery and several weeks of chemo treatments she was released with a clean bill of health. But a few weeks ago she came down with headaches that where unbearable. She went back to the hospital and found that she had a very aggressive brain tumor.

We made our visit on Tuesday knowing that she was in a coma and could pass at anytime. We went there to support her husband. Our intent was to talk with him, console and be there for him. But what we witnessed was an incredible declaration of faith. Here he was facing the death of his wife yet he put his faith and trust in the Lord. He had come to peace with the fact that she would pass soon. He was ready to let her go.

She passed on Thursday.

What would happen today if we trusted the Lord? What would happen today if we were able to have peace about the awful things that life throws at us? What would happen today if our faith was stronger than our pain? What would happen today if our devotion was more than reading prayers in a book everyday?

What would happen today...?

Romans 15:13
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

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Focus

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary one of the definitions of focus is: directed attention.

In my last post I said that I've been a little sidetracked lately and I have. Do to a series of events I've lost focus on some of the things that are important to me, like this blog. I've let my attention be directed by a weakness that has plaque me for years. Even though I've spent a lot of time working through this lust the enemy knows how to use it against me. I was being led down a path that I knew was not good for me, but I went along anyway. This is nobody's fault but mine. Fortunately because of my awareness of this weakness , the years of lessons learned, and the support of a close friend I've been able to take the proper steps to curtail the repeat of old unwanted behaviors that obstruct God's blessings for me.

In my last post I also stated that this obsession was not necessarily unhealthy, that was denial. I thought it was no big deal and that I could handle it on my own, I was wrong. The enemy knows how to play games with the mind, even though I knew what was happening I let it go on much longer than I should have.

I apologize for my loss of focus and letting you and myself down. Helping men through the struggles of life has been my mission for some time now and I intend to continue to do so. The good news is that out of this experience I have a heightened awareness of the enemy's ploys and I can use this in the future to help other men through a similar struggle.

What would happen today if we were so in-tuned to the enemy's games that we could resist his distractions? What would happen today if we set up clear boundaries and adhered to them at all costs? What would happen today if we talked through our struggles with each other as men in the brotherhood of God? What would happen today if we followed our hearts instead of our lusts?

What would happen today...?

Romans 7:18-20 (NIV)

I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature ( my flesh). For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. ¹⁹For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. ²⁰Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.