Can we still have a Merry Christmas? (click here to listen to this blog)

So, how many people have you wished a Merry Christmas? OK - How many have wished YOU a Merry Christmas. As Doctor Phil would ask, "How's that working for you?" For you - was wishing someone a Merry Christmas just a phrase of the season - simply being polite with the expected salutation of this time of year. Or, are you hopeful, really hopeful, that things go well for them - that they are, and will experience, (for at least a season), a time of joy, rest, peace and a fresh reflection on all the things that are good. And what about you - are you going to have a "Merry" Christmas? ...here's the rest

A Close Dagger Can't Change God's Love (or click on the title to listen)

"Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ's love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture"

"Backstabbing" described a dagger that is used in close combat to kill - or even that which would be used by a butcher to slaughter animals

You know if we can see trouble coming we tend to deal with it better. But when trouble gets "close" to us, especially from people that are close to us. more

God Breathed Inspiration (click here to listen)

What is inspiration and where does it come from?

I believe that all inspiration comes from God - and that includes the wonderful business ideas I hear coming from Carl as he attends and coaches many seminars and webinars - AND THEY WORK!

The bible is - in and of itself - an inspired book. The bible says that each passage is inspired of God. The word inspired literally means "God breathed". That is to say that God breathed "inspiration" into us to give us wisdom that we didn't learn, ideas that we didn't think of and creative ways of doing things that we couldn't possible have thought of on our own. the whole thing

Words that Encourage (click here to listen)

Our word Encourage literally means to put something into someones heart (that is their mind)

What do you say - or "PUT IN" to your children, your family or even you subordinates? Is your correction designed to encourage them, support them, give them confidence to do better or do your words simply tare down and assault their character and abilities to perform to your level of expectation. When you and I speak we are putting something into someones heart...more

Should Christians Vote for a Mormon?

so we have a mormon running for the prez job. actually i believe the preferred term of our friends from utah is L.D.S (ladder day saints). before I begin let me give the disclaimer. i will not be endorsing any candidate. what i am going to address here is whether or not i think christians should worry about having a Mormon - sorry - an LDS as the leader of the free world... perhaps the better question would be why not. right up front i will say that the fact that mr. romney has some very different theological beliefs as me, these differences would not be a deterrent for me. BLASPHAMY!?! ...read the whole thing

You think Madison Avenue has an image and the church doesn't?

Madison Ave is "worldly" (whatever that has come to mean)."Driver, take me to our latest creation - (in the name of Jesus of course). I want to go to Christian Ave."

Christian Avenue is the ONLY place on the planet where you can have your pick of gaudy furniture that would only be used in a Christian setting. Christianize dictionaries and robotic responses from those that we trade with are readily available so you can feel good about shopping there. ...More

86,400 opportunities every day! (click here to listen)

It takes only a second to say, “Thank you.” Of the 86,400 opportunities you will have today to say, “Thank you,” how many of them will you choose to take advantage of? How many lives will you cheer up by this simple sign of appreciation? ...more

Achieving Your Goals - as simple as oil and water (click here to listen)

Zig Ziggler once compared goals to an old hand operated water pump on an old farm well. He said that as a boy he would pump and pump just waiting on the water. If you stop pumping, he went on to say, the water goes back down and you have to start again. You never know where the water is in the pipe so you just pump until the water finally comes to the top. But once it's at the top all you have to do is keep a nice steady pressure on it to have more water than you could ever need...more

The Christian and Halloween (part 2)

Halloween is just one example of a major issue I have with the church; that is "different = separate." Just look at the life of Jesus how he never found time for "church" people unless he was training them to get among the "sinners." He found company in prostitutes, tax collectors and others. I can't imaging Jesus doing anything less then allowing those costumed children of Halloween to come to Him to be loved and blessed and yes - even receive a piece of candy. Don't we give the church kids snacks on Sunday mornings and at church socials? view the rest

Halloween, RUN CHURCH RUN!

I am not happy about the way the mighty army of The Living God handles Halloween –“Satan’s Day.” As Christians usually do, we hide. Many went home turning off their lights indicating that the evil children of darkness, those that are caught up in the Devil’s web, are not welcome here! The evil of this night must move past us. We are way too holy to be close something and someone so unclean. What if “these whom we do not speak of” see us or worse touch us! We will get a demonic impartation? ...more

Lattes, Whoppers and Variety (click here to listen)

an interesting question came to my mind, "what exactly is a latte?" So I looked it up. The word "Latte" comes form the Italian word for milk and Café is the word for - you guessed it - the word for coffee. Put them the 2 together and what do you get? Coffee plus milk equals a "café latte"- what most of us affectionately call, "a latte". But the latte doesn't end there! You can add your favorite flavor to the café latter creating a white chocolate mocha latte, a hazelnut latte, vanilla, or a coconut latte. Our local coffee shops are both currently serving the "pumpkin spice latte," (how good can this really be)? A LOT MORE here

Experience VS Mentors

Recently I had the opportunity to observe a young lady (late teens - early 20's) who was going through a very difficult separation with her boyfriend. I heard one family member say - (well meaning of course) - "I had to learn the hard way too." The idea of that comment stems from the old phrase "Experience is the best teacher." But I am here today to offer an alternative philosophy. Do we really want experience to be our mentor? No my friends experience is not the best teacher - mentors are the best teachers. more

Our Need to Connect

Today I am at a local coffee shop in Albany GA. This is brand new place in the area and is already catching on. I spend about 10 hours a week here doing emails, writing blogs, working on my book, and visiting with pastor friends and such. But why? Why don't I do the normal pastor thing and go the office? Because people connect here. ...more

Perspective - Its all in how you look at it (click here to listen)

I want to talk about perspective.

I am the proud father of three wonderful daughters. The youngest is just 15 years old. Well, a few days ago, Brianna challenged me on something. This was not a real big issue but non he less important to me…or at least it use to be...now that an 11 year old was gone.
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Tracking the storm of the NEW divorce

I am making a proclamation today that will shock some, cause confirmation to others and others to doubt. There is a storm that I am tracking called divorce. This storm is worse then the 50% divorce rate inside the church that already exists. The storm that I am tracking is woman divorcing unbiblically...more

By THIS shall all men know that you are my disciples (part 2)

Next, Jesus spoke of a woman who had a valuable coin that went missing. There is some controversy surrounding the coin and why it was so valuable. Some say it was the precious metal itself. Some historians have said that the coin(s) where given by the temple priest to the “virgin” each year. When she went to be married, she presented the coins as a token of both her value to him and how valuable he is to her. Either way, she lost something of great value and searched until it was found. That’s how God sees you and me. Whether you loosing your way were your own fault, as in the first story, or by the fault of another as in this story, you are of great value to God. read the whole article

By THIS shall all men know that you are my disciples (part 1)

Jesus was identifying the one undeniable fact that would separate those that are His. This came to mind for me a few months ago when I received a strange email. Caring for both my own personal website plus the church's web site have brought some odd email before. But this one was different. This email asked a question that only one person on planet earth would have known to ask. This email came from my friend Carl more

I have proof....God makes mistakes

Over the years, there have been several things that have caused me to question the idea that God makes no mistakes. Take mosquitoes for example. Better still, we here in South Georgia have gnats. We even have a local community that has an annual Gnat Day! I am serious about that. But surely, even the gnat has a place in our eco-system. more

invest before you invite

Before Jesus invited Peter to go with Him, Jesus invested into Peter's business of fishing and then simply offered Peter an invitation. First He invested – then He invited Peter. We have a bad tendency to invite and then invest once we know that they are “with us.” I wonder where in our church history we got this backwards?
read more here

Recidivism - Do you have this problem?

do you ever do the wrong thing over and over again? The Apostle Paul did as well, (see Romans 7). This is a very common occurrence in the prison system. It is so frequent that there is a name for it: Recidivism. It was a new word for me too. I was somewhat glad to see that I was not alone in the world that didn't have daily issue to deal with. I began to pray about this matter, I asked the Lord to show me in His word a way to defeat this enemy. Was I going to be bound for ever? Is it true that once a sinner always a sinner? What to do... Acts 9, the well known conversion chapter of Paul, has the key...more

Are you busy or are you productive?

If you haven't noticed - I start a lot of my blogs with questions. Questions invoke thought. Questions help us to ask, "Why." That's why I am asking you to examine yourself with the title of this writing. Our lives are busy but I dare say that many of us are not productive. We run from here to there and back to here. We make for good taxis for our kids - off to church and back home. Hurry and get changed - we going to the cheerleading competition. (I know this one personally) Intramural sports have kept more families out of church then any other one thing in modern times. Everybody works hard and harder because gas for that SUV is 100.00 a pop. Where will this end up? Is life better now? Are families closer than 5 decades ago? Or, are we just busier? Church is no different. Unlike Noah who knew when it was time to let go of a ministry, the church will hang on until death-do-us-part. I wrote a blog on Noah that asked the question, "Why did the ark float?" It's purpose was for you to consider all that you are doing and line...the rest of the story

Are we getting too good at ministry?

Here's an excerpt:

The whole concept of excellence is limiting. The rule of excellence states that we should do nothing until all the research is complete, the money is available, the people are in place, and we have a head for it. Until we can operate that program in excellence (in other words look good doing it), we must table it. In golf we have a saying, "its not how but how many." We feel as if we can't just run with it and figure the rest out as we go. BUT WHAT OF OUR IMAGE? The hungry and needy do not care. They want dinner and they will take it anyway they can get it. I say bake some chicken and serve it. If you make a mistake learn form it. Face it - you will never be perfect anyway so let it go. more

Do you see what I see?

This line is best known from the Christmas carol, "Do you hear what I hear?" The idea behind the hymn was to look, listen and know that more was happening that night then could be processed through our human senses. It was something that had to be understood in the Heavenly. this is one that you need to read...

Do you want to be made well - What kind of a question is that? (John 5)

That is what I often think about when I am reading an encounter that Jesus had as recorded in John 5. There we have a man that had lame for 38 years. 38 years! What does Jesus asking him? "Do you want to be made well?" According to the Amplified Bible Jesus was asking him, "Are you really in EARNEST about getting well?" What kind of question is that? Who wants to be sick or handicapped? What would provoke such a question? more...

Loosing our religion? Maybe a good idea!

Here we are in our 40's...secure in our jobs, our careers, family and frankly our theology. Some of us have married children and others can claim the right of grand parenting and the joys thereof. We are the THEE generation of church! AMEN! No bondage in us-no sir. We are free! Less is more! We are not bound up like those silly old people who need hymns and suits. The 40 something's understand the concepts of faith, excellence in ministry, prosperity and more. Yet I have found that this generation is so stuck in the teachings of the 80's that we are not open to the revelation coming through the 18-35 demographics.
Read more here

Why did the ark float?

The Lord told Noah exactly how He wanted that boat to be built. He told Noah, "and this is the way you are to make it." God took into consideration how long this enormous project would take, how much it would cost, and what purpose it would serve in the future. 
Imagine if Noah seasoned the ship with a few of his own ideas. When Noah was told to "pitch" (or seal) the great ship - what if he took a couple of short cuts? Did Noah really need to water seal all the seams on all decks? What if we save a little lumber and reduce the number of compartments to save The Lord a few dollars? And, if it was going to rain, why in the world would we build a window? I bet once those animals got in there they were happy that the window was nearby. By the way, did you know that the word translated pitch or covering comes from the Hebrew word most often used in the bible to describe the atoning act of the sacrifice? That was a free-be.
You see, Noah's ark did not float because he was a master shipbuilder. Noah did not have a naval career or a degree from M.I.T. to fall back on. Noah had something better - a blueprint from God! Noah built his ministry by "divine design"
Let me ask, "Do you want you're life to float in the worst of storms?" If your answer is yes, then your ministry and your family in addition to anything else that you may have under construction must be built by God's standards. I have never seen a family sink when storms came IF the leaders in that family turned to the scriptures to find their answers to their questions. Never in my ministry have I seen a divorce where the husband was truly, "loving the wife as Christ loved the church and giving himself for her," and that the wife was honoring the husband in his role as the head of the relationship. I have seen churches split NOT over the color of carpet or weather or not the church should permit tongues or not. The reason churches split is because its people do not "consider others above themselves." 
Can you imagine a car salesman that sold in with the same dignity as Daniel? What did Daniel say in the first chapter of the booked named for him? In essence he said, ‘look, if you will let us eat and do what is in accordance with the divine design of God, we will be healthy and wise.' My friend that is exactly what happened. Those who followed the dietary plan of God grew to be noticeably healthier and wiser. Imagine your sales at an all time high! How will you respond at the meetings when you are asked, "how are you out performing everyone in you area?" Will you answer be that you are running your business by divine design? I was selling cars during the 911 attacks. Although business was notably slower for a season, my family never lacked. We never stopped believing that God had thing under control. We continued our giving. Why? Giving is the "divine design" method of receiving. 
I submit that we can advance the Kingdom of God in any career we are working at, whether we are the worker on the floor of the processing plant or the leader of the free world, we can shine with enthusiasm knowing that the Lord God is directing our steps. Wouldn't all of our sociological questions be answered if we allowed the Lord to establish the definition of family and of life? How well we could learn if we, as fathers, didn't "provoke our children to become angry people"? 
Jesus said that a wise man builds his house upon a rock. What is a rock (as He contrasted) to a foundation of sand? Well, we know it wasn't the storm. The storms and floods were the constant factors for both builders, the difference lays at the foundation. The rock is Jesus himself. Listen friends, as a pastor I have many opportunities to speak into the lives of those who are facing financial, emotional and physical floods. My counsel is sometimes as simple as quoting David by saying "trust in the Lord and do good," ...and build your life by divine design. 

Doug

God can still afford to but fuel

I remember, when I was 12, taking a family trip to Miami Fl. Why did we go to Florida. Because that's what northern people do! Besides, Grandpa and Nanny moved to Coral Gables after retirement. On the way down we stopped at a Texaco gas station on Interstate 95. I recall my father saying, "fill it up with whatever you got" The attendant stretched the hose to the center pump as far as he could. Fortunately for him the premium reached the family station wagon.
Here's the rest

What the world needs now is love sweet love...not another church

Thanks to Burt Bacharach - I truly loved this song growing up. Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't it recorded by Dionne Warwick? This, of course was long before her days as host of the now infamous friends psychic network. In the song she prays, "Lord we don't need another mountain." I would also add, "Lord we don't need another church."
read the rest here

WWJD

For years we have all seen the "What Would Jesus Do" bumper stickers, bracelets, necklaces and such. I am sure that the intentions are good. Jesus always did the right things. He was a perfect role model of the faith. But why did Jesus do the right things? How did he define right from wrong? read the entire post