Recently, I’ve been going through a lot of training for my new job, and the content of the training material amazes me. The things that I have read have an underlying Christian viewpoint. The acronym found in, “Start Right….Stay right Everything Employee’s Straight-Talk Guide to JOB SUCCESS” by Steve Ventura is R-E-S-P-E-C-T. I find it important that we discuss this because it is something that you will use both in your walk and your everyday interaction with the world. Below is the acronym with the definition.

R-ecognize the inherent worth of all human beings.

E-liminate derogatory words and phrases from your vocabulary

S-peak with people-not at them..or about them

P-ractice empathy. Walk awhile in others’ shoes

E-arn the respect of your coworkers (and friends) through your behaviors.

C-onsider others’ feelings before speaking and acting.

T-reat everyone with dignity and courtesy

I couldn’t believe it; why don’t we consider all of these in our lives and the way we interact with people, Christian and non-Christians? Should it matter if we went to a Christan school, a public school, or if we were home schooled? I don’t think so. Roman 8:12 states “The commandments, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not covet,’ and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” If you look in Psalms, there are numerous applications for this word called RESPECT. It amazing how this concept can be missed. It’s easy thinking that our lives are the center. I think if we treat people like we would like to be treated, the majority of the time we will be okay. If we learn to respect each other, we will have no problem. Love others as we love ourselves.

I leave you with this quote by Jackie Robinson, ” I’m not concerned with your liking or disliking me… all i ask is that you respect me as a human being.”

Sometimes we forget that it’s ok to be alone. Just right now, there are three different ways to contact me: my cell phone, my computer, and house phone. If you count coming over, that’s four.

Have you ever just wanted to get away from all of that? I think of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane before the Guard came to get him. The text says that He went to a peaceful place to pray and get away (Mark 14-32-42). I also think of him going out to the desert away from everyone. This was where Satan tempted him ( Matt 4:1-11). Additionally, David wrote numerous psalms while tending to his sheep, times when it was just him and God.

It is so important for us to get away. Personally, I wish I was able to go into the wilderness every once in awhile or even just a beautiful place and just sit and think, to do those things that I like to do with God. It is amazing when you actually get a chance to be away. This is another way to rest. To recover and rejuvenate our minds and hearts through him.

We are so easily accessed that it scares me sometimes. If i tried to really get away from my blackberry or technology could I do it? Is this something that controls me?

If you are like me, you forget to take time for yourself and God. I urge you this week to take that time to rejuvenate alone in the word and with God.

If you are from Michigan or have been around Michigan, you’ve probably heard the name Ernie Harwell. As a kid, I used to listen to this man as he would announce the Tigers game. My father and grandfather used to tell me stories about listening to the announcer, reflecting upon how great those times were. It wasn’t until later that I found out the faith that Ernie had and his the willingness to be a man of God became evident to me. Even with his fame, I have heard that he was so humble.

I am amazed and sad as I think about his death, but I feel like I owe him thanks for showing who he was. Ernie once said “I praise the Lord here today. I know that all my talent and all my ability comes from him, and without him I’m nothing and I thank him for his great blessing.” He was a normal guy who lived for the Lord and through that, blessed others and was blessed by others. I was reading people’s honor for him and I could see countless examples of how he gave the truth of the Savior. I leave you with a quotes from Ernie, and I urge you to look him up and read about him. He showed love, united people, and showed the faith.”

“I’m ready to face what comes,” he said at the time. “Whether it’s a long time or a short time is all right with me because it’s up to my Lord.”

“I’ve got a great attitude. I just look forward to a new adventure,” Harwell told the Detroit Free Press when in August when he disclosed his illness. “God gives us so many adventures, and I’ve had some great ones. It’s been a terrific life.

“In my almost 92 years on this Earth, the good Lord has blessed me with a great journey,” Harwell told fans, “And the blessed part of that journey is that it’s going to end here in the great state of Michigan. I deeply appreciate the people of Michigan. I love their grit. I love the way they face life. I love the family values they have. And you Tiger fans are the greatest fans of all.”

“Whatever happens, I’m ready to face it,” Harwell said last summer. “I have a great faith in God and Jesus.”

Isaiah 40:30-31 says, “Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” The NIV version says “Those who hope in the Lord…” Hope is defined as to cherish a desire with anticipation. In this sense we are saying that by hoping in the Lord our strength will be renewed. We have a longing for God and an anticipation of him.

The cross reference to this is Psalms 103:1-5 “Blessed be Lord…who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” As we hope or wait upon the Lord, it will give us wings and will renew us and help us as believers not become weak. It will strengthen us. We will not be weary. It will release us.

These past few weeks I was able to coach a little at a local high school. I saw kids who worked hard to the best of their abilities, but I also saw wasted talent, athletes waiting for someone to tell them what to do. I prefer the hard worker. They listen and tend to be leaders. This is a maturity process, with the younger athletes often learning from the older ones.

I look at this analogy and see how it may benefit our walk with Christ. By hoping in Christ we learn daily what is right for our walk and it gives us confidence to help lead others who were in our same position (younger believers). I see the older Christian being able to mentor and support younger Christians in their lives. Hoping and waiting upon the Lord strengthens us so that we can be confident; we can be leaders. It frees us so we can move forward with out any restrictions. It frees us so that we may benefit the kingdom with hope, joy, and love which was shown to us by our fellow believers.

We are not waiting in the sense of remaining stationary, but rather, cherishing a desire for the Lord so it will strength to us and let us loose on this world. In this way, we are not tentative, but strong, ready to move forward in the Lord and his kingdom.

John 4:7-15 (ESV) A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”(For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

I am an avid runner and after I get done with my run, I have this thirst that is unbelievable. Water or Gatorade taste so amazing, as if I’ve never tasted water before. As I was thinking about these verses, it made me think about times that I didn’t have that thirst for Christ. I was going about life without the thirst for him. No matter how many times I run I’m always thirsty, but through Christ Jesus I do not always have a spiritual thirst. It floored me. As I read through the verse these things came to mind.

In these verses, Jesus is talking to a Samaritan woman, and at this time Jews wouldn’t even talk to Samaritans. That’s why this women asked why he was talking to her. We shouldn’t be afraid to talk to anyone for and about Christ. There are people out there that never get the word because no one is interested enough in these people to have that conversation. We can apply this story anywhere now. It is relevant to today society. We thirst after things. We hunger after things but Jesus states “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” As believers we have a well that is full because we have eternal life through Christ Jesus our Savior.

My friends I leave you with the following verses in Revelation that speak of this living water. Go forth and know that we have a Living Water which is great; we have no need to hunger or thirst. We are his. It has been bought, and we will be with Christ singing to his glory.

Revelation 7:11-17 (ESV) And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Over Easter weekend Nick Harris, the Punter from the Detroit Lions, gave his testimonial at the Troy Campus. He spoke of how he became a believer; then he urged people to become a follower of Christ. He also explained that this year one of his teammates was lost at sea. He also stated that one of his teammates, who was planning on attending the services, wasn’t able to come because his father had a heart attack. You could hear it in Nick’s voice; he had urgency and he wanted to people to have the same thing that he had.

This hit home with me yesterday. While looking at Facebook, I noticed one of my college buddy’s posted something unusual on my other buddy’s wall. It was a condolence for the death of his father. This buddy of mine was a rival in football in high school, a teammate in college, and a good friend; he had visited my grandparents with me on spring break during my freshman year. Needless to say I had spent a lot of time with him and his family. He ended up playing in the Canadian League and then settled down in the Toronto area. His family was amazing and treated me with the utmost respect and care whenever I visited. It pained me to see that his father had passed away.

As Nick stated in his testimonial, you never know when you last day will be. Now that his dad is gone, I know my friend is going to go through a hard time. I don’t know if my friend’s dad was a believer, but I do know that Christ has risen and that is the most amazing part of Easter weekend. We know we have a life which is through Christ Jesus who died and washed away our sins.

As Nick said, consider making a decision to follow Jesus. You never know when your last day will be and what will you say when you meet Jesus. I don’t want it to be I didn’t know.

One of my favorite items in my house is this piece of art that has Jesus knocking on a door. This is so significant to me. I grew up in a Christian home. I went to a Christian school. I did the right thing and talk the right way. I knew I was saved. I did the majority of things that good boys and girls do. Then, I transferred to a public high school. I was doing well, but during my sophomore year I started to choose the wrong paths. Count it to peer pressure or wanting to fit in or be loved by something that was never as good as God. I don’t know I can’t explain it. I knew what was right and wrong, but I still wrong things, which made me feel even more guilty. I knew Jesus and knew what he was and how much he loved us, but I still moved forward down the wrong path. I had the cops come to the house a couple times on some things. I was drinking and hanging around the wrong crowd. I was told that I either straightened up or I was out of the house at 18. Not seeing any other way, I cleaned up just enough and was just good enough to stay in the house and for harmony to exist. This existed all the way to college.

During college I still did the bad things and it got worse. I was getting drunk each weekend or more. I spent a lot of money, and I was partying while going to school and playing two sports. I was living life, but in my busy schedule I didn’t have time for God besides asking him to help me stop drinking because i drank to much. This happen all through my freshman year. I ended up getting mono from all the activities and not making time for rest. This led to the end of my football career because i didn’t have the strength in my shoulders. The same year (sophomore), I found out my father had cancer. So that year I lost one of my favorite activities (football) and found out my Dad cancer. I had talked to God but it was more topical in the past. This time it was intimate. It was tearful. I cried out to my God asking for help, and I remember praying for him to make me His! During this time that I was praying I could hear or have this thought in my head, basically saying that I needed to find a church. I was still praying, and my life was changing. I was having fun, but there was something missing. Something didn’t feel complete. This thought was constant even as i graduated and moved home. It finally was so big that I couldn’t bear it. This was 2005 summer, and I finally got the courage to ask someone about a church. That’s when they pointed me to Lighthouse.

I feel like God was knocking at my door saying, “Brian I want you. I love you. Come back to me.” It has been crazy to see things change and things move in and through me because of things that happened. I am not going to say I am perfect, but I can say this. I have been responding a lot faster and not waiting for the yell, but listening for the whisper. God is there knocking with the answers. He loves you and adores you and wants to love you unconditionally. I am so lucky he was persistent and knew my story and knew that I need him. I leave you with this: My voice cries out to you, but my souls cries are so loud for you that I can’t hear my voice. I want to hear you knock and I want to answer. I want to follow your lead and be willing to show unconditional love.

Free at last. We are free. Free bird. There are plenty of songs talking about freedom, but how often do we let things put us down? I was thinking today about how I used to be more easygoing and free. Life can really pull us down. It can put chains on us. It can make us overwhelmed, stressed-out messes. Oh, you see it in peoples faces. Even our own view of ourselves can hold us down like a dog on a chain. Imagine running to greet someone and realizing you don’t have enough chain to say hello. We tug at it but never can make it.

God isn’t here to constrain us but to set us free. It is our false views and peer pressure that make us think that God means to contain us. God wants us to fly, but we are to afraid to be set free. Think of all the excuses: Oh, I sin too much; It can’t defeat this hold me; I’m not good enough; God doesn’t care about me - these are all lies! I don’t know all of your stories but I can tell you this: DON’T LET LIFE WIN. It can break you down. It can be unbearable, but I hope we realize that we must push forward. I know you might not know this, but we are the next leaders of the church. We already have people watching us. Little eyes, little ears, little mouths - the little ones of your church are watching what are you doing. Are you free or oppressed? Are you loving or pushing them away? Are they family or just strangers? You are free of sin! We can make a impact. Paul gives Timothy a charge, and I believe it applies to us now.

1 Timothy 6:11-12 (New International Version)

Paul’s Charge to Timothy
“But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”

Why are we subjected to things that torment us? Sometimes I wonder why would God put us in these situations. Why don’t we notice the idols in our lives until after they’re broken?

I believe it’s through these things that we grow as believers and mature to the point that we are prepared for the next battle. The passage below occurs just after God allowed Job to be tested and his property and children taken from him.

Job 1:20-21 (ESV) “Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”

I want to know how to be more like this. How does a man have this steady of a faith? If Job can do it, we can too. We have the tools to fight through anything with Jesus by our side. Realize your life will change, but this verse is amazing - Job recognizes that the Lord gives and takes away and then he gives a blessing to his God. I don’t know about you guys, but this is such an encouragement from a fellow believer that has been persevering in the faith. No matter what happens, we have our God. As you go through the book of Job you see more trials and he still has reassurance of his faith in God. As you read you see that he calls out to God and loathes his life, but comes back with confirmation that this is what God has for him and he can be used.

Most of us will not go through as much as Job did, but we can reflect on this when we get put in those pits of despair. God is great as has bigger plans for us. We may die, but our stories live forever and can affect generations to come in our Lord Savior.

I have been struggling with the concept of forgiveness for a while. Forgiveness is not always the easiest thing to do. Things happen that make it so hard. I’m not sure everyone can relate to this, but I know some of you can. You harden yourself to it, thinking that you have forgiven, but you realize you haven’t let it all go.

It scares me a little, because sometimes I feel like it’s impossible to forgive completely. I feel like I just can’t do it. I internalize things so much that I think I’ve gotten rid of it when, in fact, I really haven’t. Yeah, you know what I am talking about. That spot in your heart you don’t want to go to nor breakdown and let God take control. I realize that first you have to forgive yourself and then forgive others that may have created or caused this hurt. It’s hard - maybe these issues involve divorce, relationships, etc. Those things are painful, but the forgiveness grows with God’s help; we truly can’t do it on our own. I don’t have to tell you that God forgives us and He forgets about it. He washes us white as snow. Can we let go? Will we choose to let go? Let’s let go and be people who forgive. Know you’re not alone; God is with you. Below is the Lord prayer:

Matthew 6:5-12 (ESV)

The Lord’s Prayer
“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done,on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts,as we also have forgiven our debtors.”