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And the Winner is….

Saturday, February 28th, 2009 By 6 Comments

Happy Saturday Everyone!

Hope you’re all enjoying the weekend so far. Don’t forget about tomorrow morning at Destiny Family Center… 10am… Sunday is upon us and it’s going to be amazing!

Thank you… for sending all your creative header image ideas this week! It’s always fun seeing life as it could be through other people’s eyes. Contest’s like this one invite us into the minds of our friends… and it was super fun for me to catch a tiny glimpse of what is going on inside of your minds! Special thanks to Vickie Rankin for sending her own personal photography… beautiful work Vickie!  

Just in case any of you want to look back through each of the submissions, I’m listing them all right here in this blog.

As I mentioned in the contest blog, we were looking for something happy, colorful, and modern that exuded adventure, and the feel of spring. For those of us who made the final decision, it came down to three entries.

And the winner is… http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup/concepts-and-ideas/religion/6546852-unity.php?id=6546852 submitted by Nuala Williams of North Carolina.

Congratulations Nuala! Please send us your mailing address so that we can mail you your prize! Your image suggestion will be posted as the new chuckslife header in the next few days! Thanks again everyone! Chat with you later and see you tomorrow at DFC!

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Contest Ends @ 5pm… Hurry- Send Something! Anything! :)

Friday, February 27th, 2009 By 8 Comments

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Good Morning Everyone!

It’s Friday… the last day of the CONTEST for our NEW blogsite header image! Send your submissions by 5pm today… it’s EASY… so everyone, go the contest blog for more info… the winner will be announced tomorrow morning!

Our trip to the Atlanta Catalyst One Day Conference was amazing… hope you enjoy the photos!

My computer is running SOOOO SLOW TODAY! Still DREAMING of a MacBook Pro! In light of this SLOWNESS, I’m not writing a life lesson today… just posting these few photos and loggin off before I FLIP OUT.

If you have the time, go back read something from the past two weeks… this blogsite is on fire and there is PLENTY of transformational content recently posted. I just finished praying for you guys and gals to have a most amazing day!! Thanks for being my BLOGGER FRIENDS! Please send your header image suggestions… everyone send something… chat with you later!

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Becoming a Super Student… 4 Life!

Thursday, February 26th, 2009 By 4 Comments

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Happy Day Everyone!

I’m in Atlanta today… left my laptop at home so I’m in the business center at 5am. My hair is WILD and there is a strange fellow at the computer beside me… but hey, my teeth are brushed!

I wasn’t able to upload photos from my iphone… so sorry. Since we arrived early enough for some free time, we went to the Coke Cola factory… had one of the most amazing experiences of our lives! I’m wondering if today’s conference is going to be able to teach us more than we learned during that tour! I just know there is a way to make ministry THAT FUN and THAT HAPPY… and our lead team is going to find a way to make it happen!

Ate at Hard Rock Cafe… this one in Atlanta is not near as fun as the others we have been to. Just a restaurant with a few guitars… pretty dull but still FUN.

Today, we’re attending the Catalyst ONE Day conference at one of the largest churches in America… Pastor Andy Stanley is a leadership master Jedi… so I’m pretty stoked about capturing some of his ministry innovation and mixing it with all the powerful strengths that God has given to me! I love to LEARN… EVERY DAY my spirit CRAVES LEARNING!

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Todays Inspiration Questions: Are you a teachable person? How teachable?

When I was in high school… I hated the classroom. I refused to read… I felt like I already knew it all and school was a waste of my precious time. Then I hit the real world and STRUGGLED! It didn’t take me long to realize how much easier life could become if I became a master STUDENT!

By the time I was 21, I had read the bible through from cover to cover SEVERAL times… I was reading a proverb of the day EVERY DAY and soaking up every drop of wisdom I could fathom at the time! By the grace of God, I’ve been able to maintain this very same commitment to the Bible for more than 18 years now… LIFE CHANGING!

At 24, my real estate coach Mike Ferry imparted to me his love for reading… and I began reading upwards of 4 books a month. A habit that stayed with me for the past 13 years!

Even before business, I began Bible College in my early 20′s and haven’t stopped studying theology and ministry since then! I’m now working on my Doctorate and I’m writing a book!

Sounds like a bunch of bragging and it almost makes me sick… until I affirm to myself that this blog is written to INSPIRE! Here’s a guy that barely made it out of High School… never read a book in his life before the age of 19… was a big know it all when he knew very little. And 18 years later EVERYTHING has changed!

Today, I awoken the dawn and headed to this business center to IMPART my passion for LEARNING to you guys! I pray that someone reading this blog will make the very same move towards LEARNING that I made in my early 20′s. Today… I can get enough! I love to sit at the feet of the Bible, other great books, and great people… I love to LEARN from their experiences, their wisdom, their passions…

Make it one of your life goals… to become on of the most teachable people you know! It’s never too late to start… and everyone has a craving to learn! It just needs to be uncaged… SET IT FREE! Because there is a great big world out there just waiting for those who SEEK WISDOM!

Proverbs 9:1-6 says this about LEARNING, “Wisdom has built her spacious house with seven pillars. She has prepared a great banquet, mixed the wines, and set the table. She has sent her servants to invite everyone to come. She calls out from the heights overlooking the city. ‘Come home with me,’ she urges the simple. To those without good judgment, she says, ‘Come eat my food, and drink the wine I have mixed. Leave your foolish ways behind, and begin to live; learn how to be wise!’”

Now this blog can change your life! I pray you all have another super day! Chat with everyone throughout the day!

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Building a Celebration Delegation!

Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 By 4 Comments

Dont forget the CONTEST… deadline is THIS Friday at 5pm… HURRY with your submissions!!

praise-1Happy Wednesday Everyone!

Keep the image header suggestions coming… a winner will be recognized on Saturday morning… make sure you post your submissions on the contest blog… follow the link above or scroll down the page… EVERYONE send something… and may the BEST man or woman WIN!

I’m flying to Atlanta this morning for a one day conference… will be back tomorrow night. Since tomorrow’s blog will be sent from my iphone, it may be a little shorter than usual… but it will be powerful… and I will try to post photos from the trip if I can figure out HOW to do that! A dear friend of mine is speaking at Destiny Family Center in my absence… so don’t miss the midweek BOOSTER service tonight at 7pm! Come on, admit it… you NEED a SPIRITUAL FIX and you need it TONIGHT!

Today’s Inspirational Thought: Praise and worship God with a friend EVERY day of your life!

Living in this crazy dark world can be a real bummer at times. That’s why we need to spend focused time EVERY day making sure that God is STILL BIGGER than our circumstances. Yes, I know that God is never bigger or littler than he always is. I’m talking about our perception of Him. And this perception can mean the difference between victory and defeat.

When God is BIG in our minds… our trials become equivalently smaller! We will never have a BIG GOD and a BIG DEVIL at the same time! Whenever we magnify our problems, we minimize Gods ability to solve our problems. When we magnify God, we magnify his power in our lives… and we simultaneously minimize the size of our problems!

I have found that MAGNIFYING GOD is always easier, when we have a worshiping partner… a fellow praiser! This can be a spouse, child, parent, neighbor, church friend, co-worker, and anyone else we come in contact with throughout our weeks! Instead of complaining in the break room about the injustices of life with the rest of the disgruntled folks in your company, you’re on a mission for a few HAPPY PEOPLE! You’re searching for someone who will HELP YOU GET YOUR PRAISE ON EVERY SINGLE DAY OF YOUR LIFE!

Take the time to declare your intensions to these folks… explain how you want them to help you celebrate God for the good things even in the darkest moments! Make a reciprocating commitment to be on their celebration delegation… and watch how FAST IRON WILL SHARPEN IRON! Watch how all your current problems will go from BIG… to small… to tiny… to tiny-er… to non existent! Watch how much happier you will live each day… and how you will thrive and succeed. Don’t ever underestimate the POWER OF MAGNIFYING GOD!

Psalm 34:2-4 KJV “My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together. I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.”

Ok… there is nothing left to do but DO IT! I pray this blog adds great value to your amazing lives! I will chat with you all from the Atlanta throughout the day!

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We’re Just Growing Up… That’s All!

Tuesday, February 24th, 2009 By 10 Comments

Don’t forget the contest… deadline is THIS friday at 5pm!

growing-tallHappy Tuesday Everyone!

When Jesus was physically in the earth… he asked his disciples, “Where is YOUR faith?” He spent so much time mentoring them and utilizing every coachable moment to help prepare them for his physical departure. Jesus didn’t plan to stay in the earth hand feeding these guys forever… he wanted his disciples to learn how to CALM their own storms… he wanted them to use their own faith and MOVE their own mountains… he wanted them to HEAL the sick people in their own world long after he would return to heaven!

Let’s face the truth… it’s never easy keeping our eyes on Jesus, especially when we’re walking on water with the adventurous tasks he’s called us to embark upon. I believe this is one of the tests of spiritual maturity… for each of us to master the art of KEEPING OUR EYES ON JESUS, even in the stormiest of circumstances.  

Only in recent years, has this been an issue for me. When I was young in the Lord, everything was fine. In fact, when I look back to those early days, I seemed so much stronger than I am today!

Even with a beautiful prayer life, and a DAILY commitment to consume the pages of my bible… even with that, I am left with a LESS than manifest awareness of Jesus than his 12 disciples had. Believe me, I know VERY well the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit and I am not under estimating the awesomeness of the way he COMFORTS us. I’m just stating the reality of this challenge we all face… STAYING IN THE AWARENESS OF GODS COVERING over us as we mature.

When I was a little kid in the Lord, I had a child-like faith that carried me through to victory after victory. Maybe my trials were much smaller back then, even though they were GIGANTIC at the moment. Maybe those kindergarten trials, mixed with my toddler depiction of Daddy God made me feel like NOTHING COULD EVER TAKE ME DOWN… so it never did! 

What if my trials weren’t really all that tiny back then? What if God works with us is the same way he worked with his 12 disciples. What if… in our early days, he calms the storms FOR us. And what if, eventually we are supposed to LEARN how to take our delegated authority and CALM OUR OWN STORMS! This is where we stumble isn’t it? We want to be kids forever… and we want Jesus to do everything FOR us. And all along, he is trying to RAISE UP MEN and WOMEN OF GOD.

The goal of a maturing Christian is the same goal that Jesus had for his 12 disciples.

  • As babies, Jesus does everything FOR us.
  • As toddlers, Jesus does everything WITH us.
  • As mature adults, we do what Jesus has trained us to do, the way he has trained us to do, with the power and authority he has given us to do it with…everything under his direction, everything for his glory!

So, you see… God is not abandoning us these days as it may seem. He is teaching us to spread our wings and fly like the eagles! Maybe this trial you’re facing today is just not going away until YOU rise and DO WHAT JESUS HAS BEEN TRAINING YOU TO DO! You’re not alone… you are well covered… and well able to do this… so rise and be mighty, for the LORD IS WITH YOU and he has promised that he will NEVER LEAVE YOU or forsake you! We’re just growing up… that’s all!!!   

Hope this adds great value to your lives… have a super day! Chat with everyone later…

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