I am returning to writing some “psalms” type poetry again. Let me know what you think. If it is bad I can just keep it to myself ( :

Holy Father, in Heaven above
Tender Shepherd who comes near to us
Thank you for the guidance You give
We appreciate Your constant pursuit of us

Create in me ears that hear Your call
Design in my heart a clear direction
With all this is in me I desire to follow
I choose to trust the path You light

My heart breaks in two whenever I stumble
The spirit within me falls a bit more each time
Like a child who fails and upsets a parent
I am saddened by the pain my actions cause

But in repentance there is grace that is given
Forgiveness rains down from Your merciful heart
Though I must bear the results of my choice
In the end I will trust and You will continue to love

Throughout my life, I continue to long for you
My heart deeply desires relationship
I am grateful for grace, mercy, and love
May my life grow to reflect more of you every day

Holy Father, in Heaven above
Tender Shepard who comes near to us
May You love continue to rain down
May our trust in You continue…

This is the final post of 3 as we examine James 4:8-10 and look at steps to the “all in” lifestyle

3. It’s important to know your place in relationship to the God of the Universe and let Him lift you up – don’t you do the lifting.

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. – James 4:10

An “all in” lifestyle will only work with someone who has been humbled by a full understanding of who God is, what He has done for us, and an awareness of our own imperfections.

Someone who has taken the first two steps seriously will be in a good position to be used by God as He lifts them up. God can only use those who know their place. That they are not the center of the universe but are a tool that God has created to work with to reach a world that desperately needs to be in relationship with Him.

It’s not just awareness of this fact. It also requires a choice by this person to do what God is calling them to do. They have the option to say “yes” or “no”.

A truly humbled person will understand that God has a bigger vision than we can see (Jer. 29:11) and that everything He does will work out for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28). Faith and trust are key to a humbled person working at their full potential for God.

The “All In” Lifestyle is one of full commitment to the God of the Universe and his plan for redemption. It means responding quickly to times of sin and brokenness and getting back on track with God in humility. It is when we are at that point that God can begin to open doors for us and begin to move mightily in our lives.

We need to make a choice to live an “All In” lifestyle or not… Read Jesus words about this in Revelation 3:15-16

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

Not making a choice to follow God with everything or to not follow God with everything basically makes Jesus sick. The word “spit you out of my mouth” actually means “to Vomit”

By riding the fence – keeping one foot in each world, if you will… you make Jesus puke…

Are you stuck on the fence? Are you neither hot nor cold, are you luke warm? Stop making Jesus vomit and make a decision and go ALL IN.

This is post #2 of 3 as we examine James 4:8-10 and look at steps to the “all in” lifestyle

2. Even after we do a “180″ and commit our lives to God, we will sometimes fall pray to our “old life” – We must use these times of brokenness as reminders of God’s grace and forgiveness.

Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. – James 4:9

In this verse, James is NOT saying the “all in” lifestyle is not one of mourning and saddness. I think the important point here is that we need to take a realistic look at the journey we are embarking on. We are called in James 4:9 to “greive, mourn, and wail” about the sin in our lives that keeps us from a full relationship with God.

Even after we repent and do a “180″ back toward God, we will still struggle with the old habits of sin that we’re attempting to put behind us. James is saying sin – whether at the time we repent or when we slip back into “old habits” – should cause us grief and to mourn because we’ve broken our relationship with God.

As long as we don’t get stuck in the mourning, this brokenness should serve to push us toward the third step to an “all in” lifestyle. And we will discuss that one tomorrow…

Do you mourn or regret when you fall back into old sinful habits? Just remember, don’t get stuck there… Pick up the pieces and keep moving forward!

Well, it’s early on a Saturday morning and I am sitting here reflecting on the last 24 hours of my life. Why? You might ask… Well yesterday I have a friend in a Bible study challenge me to look at every day, after it’s over, and look for how God’s hand had moved in my life that day.

He suggested doing it every evening before bed. Well, those who know me…know our crazy lifestyle and how tired I get. Evening does not work for me because sleep hits me before my head hits the pillow. So since God sees fit to wake me up early every morning (I don’t set an alarm clock), I figured He must want me to utilize that time better. So here we go…

As I look over all that happen yesterday, one encounter I had definitely has the hand of God all over it. Yesterday afternoon I had the opportunity to pick up a new friend from the airport. He flew into Grand Rapids from Dallas, TX and was speaking in Jackson, MI this weekend. The funny thing is that we had never met before face to face. We had talked via linkedin, email, and phone, but God finally saw fit to connect the two of us together in person. His name is Blake Porter (Visit His Ministry Website).

So when Blake finally got into town yesterday (after airport issues cause delays for him), I picked him up from the airport and we went to a local starbucks and hung out for just over an hour. I was amazed at Blake’s energy and passion for God and his ministry as he shared his story of how he came to be doing what he’s doing. The whole encounter was incredibly refreshing, exciting, and inspiring for me as I look to follow God completely like Blake has been doing for years.

As l reflect back on the conversation we had over tea at Starbucks, I was struck with the question that is now the title of this post… Am I “all in” like Blake is – completely trusting God and passionately pursuing my calling with everything in me or am I only “half in” – not fulling putting my faith in the God of the universe, who may be calling me to so much more – am I caught up in the worries of this life?

I think wherever we are in our walk with God there is always room to improve. The question is am I/are you taking the steps we need to take to improve? Are you coasting through life comfortable and content with the security you have built up or do you feel a sense that there is something more God is calling you too?

If it’s the latter, then you just need to take a baby step forward and God will begin to lead you.

Come near to God and he will come near to you. James 4:8a, NIV

If you have chosen to remain “comfortable,” in the life you’ve built, I would argue that you are not being as effective in your calling as you might think. If you are not experiencing some challenge to your faith or life, then you have to ask the question “Are you a threat to the enemy?” Is Satan leaving you alone because he does not feel that you are a danger to his efforts to defeat God?

God calls us to storm the gates of Hell, to be on the front lines of the battle making a difference for His kingdom – are you doing that if you’re solely focused on your comfort and what you need? If you’re not a threat to the enemy, you’re not effective in God’s calling for your life.

What ever God has uniquely designed you to do – are you doing it with all that is in you? Trust me, if you jump in and make that kind of 100% commitment to Him that he calls us to then He will be there for you in ways you can’t even begin to imagine…

Where are you in your life… Are you “comfortable” and “safe” or are you living life on the edge of faith, opening new doors of opportunity for God to move through you and impact lives for eternity?

It’s Your Choice…

Days like today are milestones that I will look back to on my bad days to remember how GREAT God is. God moved and provided for us today in, not one, but three different ways today!

This whole “faith step” thing has been quite a wild ride over the last two months. From moments like today where we see God move in ways only He can to dark days where, if it was not for Kim’s faith, I would have thrown in the towel.

So you’re probably all wondering what happened… Well,

1. God answered a deep concern of mine on the financial front by providing not one but two checks just in time to pay some upcoming bills!

2. For those who don’t know, one of my kids is going on a “trip of a lifetime” as a student ambassador for the United States (contact me for the details – don’t want to put them on a public forum like this). Well this child has been selling Hula Hoops as a fundraiser. It turns out that my wife told her mom, who told her co-workers, and one of her co-workers told a friend who overheard a lady in the nearby store complaining about their cheap hula hoops. So this friend of a co-worker of my wife’s mom told her she would put her in touch with my wife about getting some hula hoops – Turns out she works for a daycare and wants about 20 hula hoops! YEAH BABY! only God could orchestrate that one!

3. While watching Pirates of the Caribbean with one of my kids this evening, I felt this prompting to pray for a friend of mine living in another state. So I did and then text messaged him to let him know…Turns out he’s on a 5 day retreat learning about listening to God (It gets better…) He literally just finished a chapter in the book he’s reading on praying when God prompts you to pray… WOW, God is Amazing – His Timing is perfect.

My faith and trust in God is flying high today. This day will be a “stone marker” like the nation of israel set up after God parted the Jordan River so they could enter the Promised Land of Canaan.

God, please me remind me of today in those dark days when worry and fear creep in, AMEN…

Over the last year, I have been in a study of the book of Revelation. I know this is a controversial topic to post about, but I  feel I need to share my thoughts on this because we are living in unprecedented times. I believe that if we don’t understand what is coming and how to discern the Truth from deception we are in trouble.

With the chaos that is happening all over the world, we see a growing evil.

I challenge you to know God, don’t take my word for it…research what is truly going on in this world. You will begin to see a pattern that suggest at a minimum we are experience the “birth pains” that Jesus talked about in Matthew 24. And it’s not just starting, it is increasing in intensity quickly.

The whole idea of labor in the birth process is that it starts slowly and as the birth gets closer the pains increase in frequency and intensity. That is exactly what is going on now…It started with Greece and the Chaos there, then a while later Tunisia, than a couple weeks later Egypt, and most recently Libya. Now we are looking at chaos breaking out in several other countries in the mid-east and even in some states here in the US.

We need to be aware of what is going on and how we can be prepared to discern the Truth of God’s word from the deception of the evil that is growing.

This morning I was listening to Glenn Beck. Please don’t get hung up on that. Whatever you think about Glenn Beck, he has an important message that is similar to the one I feel God is calling me to. Please continue reading…

On the heels of listening to a sound clip by  Louis Farrakhan, he said the following, “There is a great evil growing on this planet…We are on the eve of terrible things and great, great things…” – Glenn Beck

In the sound clip, Farrakhan told a large crowd that “God is causing the revolutions” He is saying that the current chaos in our world is being caused by God.

God is not a God of chaos but of order and love, do you know God well enough to refute the deception that these sort of people are putting out  there?

“Jesus stood for something… but he was about peace and love…I’m convinced many of our brothers and sisters will lose their soul…” – Glenn Beck

Don’t fall prey to the hate that the evil out there espouses. Do what God is calling you to do. Make sure you know what you believe and what you know is Truth.

“Have no fear and stand where the Lord tells you to stand…You will see the power and the hand of God…make sure you are on the right side.” – Glenn Beck

“My cry is this, know where you stand, know what time it is…know who  you are, know what is true…” – Glenn Beck

Glenn Beck ended his first segment with a challenge that I pass on to you who read this today…

“The chips are on the table…the question is, ‘Are you all in?’”