Scoring More Than Par

Golf is more than a sport.

Golf is the type of activity that can lead you down tree-lined fairways and into the serenity of winding rock canyons.  It can cause you to endure the lay of the land as well as come face to face with the majesty of God's creation.

All the while, you learn just how feeble your humanity really is in true perspective.

Just look at your scorecard after a round of golf.  Even on your best day, you may not make par on every hole.  It's a reality for many of us weekend golfers.  We do not excel on each and every hole.  We may do better on par 3's than par 4's.  We might do better on executive golf courses than others.  We just might not being having a good day.

Our business may be just like our golf game.  We may not make every move with precision.  We might get hung up on whether to swing a big-headed driver or play it safe and lay up with a long iron.  How we decide to make certain moves will lead to how things play out based upon the given conditions.

Remember Kevin Costner's blunder in Tin Cup? He took too much club and it cost him.  He went for it rather than playing it safe.  He wanted all of the gusto, but it ended up costing a penalty when his ball rolled into a water hazard.  The same thing happens to us as we go through the the course of life.

God wants us scoring more than par.  He wants us trying our best with obedience to His instructions.  If we stay in His Word and in communion with Him, we can stay on course.  That is more than scoring par on every hole.  That is spiritual success throughout this life.

Fish for the Lost of the World

And Jesus said unto them,  Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.

- Mark 1:17

Jesus expects us  to become fishers of men.

Have you been fishing lately?

How can you reap if you do not sow?

How can you have an expectation if you do not make an effort?

We are to fish for the lost by seeking them out and sharing the gospel with them.
No one can get saved if you never share.

How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

-Romans 10:13-15

Read my latest article on Spending Time with God

Reaching Others Daily

For the Son of man has come to seek and  to save that which was lost.

- Luke 19:10 (ASV)

•Initiate Contact

•Ignite Contagiousness

•Invite Consistently

•Inspire Community

•Increase Contacts

Daily Deliverance

22Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,

for his compassions never fail.

23They are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness

Lamentations 3:22-23 (NIV)

God offers His children new mercies morning by morning.

That should satisfy us.
New mercies "every morning" mean that we can experience God's love with a daily newness.  We do not have to do anything but accept His gracious love and mercy for us.

That should sustain us. 
We are "not consumed" because of what He offers us and does for us.  He makes it possible for us to remain here due to His faithfulness, love and compassion.

That should strengthen us.
His preserving us with new mercies daily should give us strength.  We should become strengthened due to what God has to offer.

Take Charge of Your Writing Career

“I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.” 

― Upton Sinclair

I recently started to read Upton Sinclair's The Jungle once again.  As I began reading through this classic novel, I came to realize that my desire to assist others with their artistic goals like creative writing is a major undertaking.  I can see how my contribution to others, especially my community's youth, can lead to someone actually exploring a career of working with words.

Sinclair's works exposed the corruption of capitalism and the muck and mire of materialism.  We can hardly imagine anyone except the enigmatic Daniel Day Lewis in his oil baron portrayal of the main character of the cinematic version of Sinclair's novel Oil! (also known as "There Will be Blood").  Such characters are the type of signature that makes the struggle of The Jungle's Jurgis as engrossing as the Joads in Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath.

Join me in an effort to nurture young creative talent who will soon give birth to a new generation of literature and journalism that our world desperately needs.  Our fundraiser will support young creative writers develop their talent and skills to create new works worthy of satisfying our hunger for quality literature.

Seven days left before our fundraiser closes. . .

Seen Just like the Savior

"As he is, so are we in this world." 1 John 4: 17

We cannot expect others to seek Jesus as their Savior if they cannot see Jesus in us as the saved.

Let that one sink in just for a moment.

Saved folks (Christians) are to be regarded as the work of salvation's masterpieces.  Yet, we are quick to share that we are a work in progress and how God's not finished with us yet.  However, we do bear the name of Christ and proclaim His name because of the work that He has already done for us all on the cross.

The world sees that.  They cannot see Jesus since He has ascended into heavenly places, taking His seat of power at the right of God the Father.  However, they can see us.

Yes, brothers and sisters, we are on display.  God has us in plain view of every Dick and Jane in the cosmos.  Truthfully, all of the talk about Christians being hypocrites is truthful if we believe that Christians actually believe that they can be sinless.  We are not called to be Christ; we are called to become more Christ-like in our daily walk.

Somebody's watching us.

God is watching us.

Other Christians are watching us.

The world is watching us.

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Finding the Strength to Love

"Evil is stark, grim and colossally real." - Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength to Love

With MLK Day approaching us, I thought it would help to remind us of the prophetic words of Dr. King that still echo from the past.  Through his sermons on Christ-like love, Dr. King offered us a solution for the prevalent evil that exists on earth and among mankind.  In essence, Dr. King urged us all to seek the higher calling of living lives that offered the love of Christ to others.

Imagine if we found the strength to love in ministry.  We would embrace the lost souls who returned to Christ with repent hearts and restore them back into the fold with joy and forgiveness.  Look at how Dr. King took on the example of Jesus Christ.

Picture how it would be if we found the strength to love through our businesses.  We would extend love to our employees and business partners as we held ourselves and those under our authority to a higher standard of customer service.  We would show our customers and vendors how Christians in business could operate a business with God as the ultimate authority over all matters.

Can you find the strength to love? Is it still possible to overcome evil with the love of Christ? You will only know by trying to imitate Christ and His love in all of your ways for all of your days.  Find the strength to love.