Happy Tuesday Everyone!

I have a confession to make… ready for my confession? Ok… since you are so politely attentive this morning, Im going to tell you. I’ve been eating like a pig lately… yeah it’s true… and I haven’t run in something like a month or more. And since accountability is a great motivator… I thought to blog about my laziness today!

I think it all started for Emily and me back when we had to miss the Virginia Beach Rock-N-Roll Half Marathon due to a very stressful situation. That race was supposed to launch our race season of something like 6 races… a few 10K’s… a few half marathons… and a full marathon. We had trained for about 6 months, all through the winter… we were all registered and ready to go… only to cancel our plans just 5 days before the race.

Emily was far more bummed out than I was… but since she is my trainer… I stopped running when she stopped running. And here I am today just a few months away from vacation at the beach… and I’m eating like its fall… storing up insulation for a LONG WINTERS NAP! And if I don’t make some changes REAL FAST, Emily’s brother Jeff is going to TEAR ME UP all vacation long. 

What shall I do… how will I break this destructive pattern? Is there any hope for me? YES, THERE IS! And since it sounded so good, I’m going to SAY IT AGAIN… YES THERE IS!

There is no doubt about it… healthy eating and regular exercise increases the quality and length of our lives! And healthy eating and regular exercise CAN be FAR MORE FUN than living without an ounce of self control. Let’s face it… we always FEEL BETTER when we make healthy choices!

So here’s my inspirational food for the day: to increase the quality and length of your life, start making healthier choices TODAY! 

From personal experience, I can say that unless you exercise, you wont be able to eat healthy… and unless you start eating healthy, you wont be able to maintain a fun and long term exercising routine. The two are connected!

Start by changing the way you think and feel about healthy foods and heavy breathing! Start telling yourself, “I love vegetables so I eat delicious vegetables each and every day! I exercise 3 to 4 days a week because I love exercising!” We must reprogram for a better life! 

Next… you’ll need to create an achievable 6 month plan… and start somewhere! If you’re WAY out of shape… start with a short walk every morning and lengthen that walk each week or two. If you’re addicted to sweets… replace the junk food with FRESH FRUITS! Clean out your cabinets… get the junk out of the house so you are no longer tormented with temptations you’re not yet able to overcome! 

When we started training for our first marathon… Emily had NEVER run a mile in her entire life! And within 11 months she was able to RUN 26.1 miles! Not only did we achieve a lofty goal… we HAD A BLAST getting to that destination! Exercise is VERY FUN when you have a FUN PARTNER. Get outside when you can… join a gym if you can afford it… gyms are so much FUN and GYM PEOPLE are HAPPY PEOPLE… because HEALTHY PEOPLE ARE HAPPY PEOPLE! 

I wanted to write this blog because I want YOU and ME to live a LONG and HEALTHY life! It breaks my heart when people I care so much about die young… when diabetes, clogged arteries, various forms of cancer, and other conditions arise as the result of not gaining control over their health. I leave you with the words of Richard Simmons, “YOU CAN DO IT!” LOL

Have a healthy day! Tootaloo!

Happy Sunday Friends!

Instead of going to the office for my final sunday morning sermon preparations as my usual 7 year routine requires… I have broken my chain everyone! For the past few Sundays, I have been staying home and working from my family room. That way , I am here when my family wakes up. I couldn’t do this without my new Macbook Pro… so thank you God, for my new beautiful aluminum laptop! 

Today… I decided to prepare out on the patio. The weather is perfect for it. Right now it’s still dark… the birds are already awake, the fish are all fired up, thinking I am going to feed them… it’s a beautiful day… you guys are going to LOVE IT! 

My reason for mentioning all of this seemingly meaningless bloggage is to make a very good point about ROUTINES. 

Whereas routines are healthy, making it possible for us to settle into productive patterns and build up momentum towards achievement… routines have a shorter shelf life than most people realize… they need to be altered usually while they are STILL WORKING for us!

What I mean is this: Most humans create routines that become the death of them. We set a routine that starts us heading toward something beautiful… and because we fail to challenge these routines frequently enough… what started out as a blessing becomes the rut that sends us plummeting into a ravine!

Because we are created by God and we have been given so many of his amazing qualities… we crave for new sights and new experiences. Routine then, should SERVE us as the means to these NEW SIGHTS and EXPERIENCES… the happy journey to a beautiful destination. And when the routine becomes LIFE itself for us… our inherent craving for sights and experiences becomes smothered… sucking the life right out of us! 

For SEVEN years, my routine has been to go into the church at 5am EVERY Sunday morning to pray and study for the 10am service. I must confess how little I have enjoyed this routine for upwards of two years or more. Yet, it was my routine and I was DEDICATED to this routine! And, as I analyze this routine, I see that location is of VERY little importance. The real importance of this routine is the fact that I pray and study for my 10am Sunday service. 

So for me… coming out here on my patio to cary out my Sunday morning Sermon preparation changes EVERYTHING! I feel happier and FAR MORE CREATIVE! My prayers feel so FRESH… because I have updated a lifeless routine! Granted, I couldn’t have made this change of routine without the new laptop and it’s not going to work on rainy days. What will work is the fact that I am out of the office… and for now, this is a change that’s breathing LIFE back into my Sunday morning routine! 

How about your routines? Any of them SCREAMING out for CHANGE? I’m not suggesting you stop reading your Bibles, or praying, or going on date nights with your spouse, or serving in the church, or any other thing you are being CALLED to remain faithful to! I am simply suggesting that there may be a FAR MORE ENLIVENING WAY OF DOING THEM!

Have a super day everyone… church at Destiny Family Center @ 10am… after that… GET OUTSIDE and HAVE THE BEST SUNDAY OF YOUR YEAR! Tootaloo…

Happy Friday Everyone!

Hmmmm let’s see… how do I top yesterdays INSPIRATIONAL message? We set some records with that one… most unique visitors in a single day! And already today… record numbers of new visitors are standing in lines to see what all this hoopla is all about! Who would have thought that we would be able to take out MINISTRY to ANOTHER LEVEL by opening our bathroom door to the world! 

Ok so what’s going on with you guys? I write all these SUPER spiritual blogs every single day and we have moderate levels of interest… and then YESTERDAY, I blog about three brown demons wrapped in paper turbans blowing up our innocent little potty and the WHOLE WORLD PUSHES IN FOR A WHIFF! It must be the compassionate side of you guys… or the fact that YESTERDAYS BLOG WAS WAY TOO CLOSE TO HOME for EVERYONE! I mean, one can only imagine the UNTOLD potty rescues SOME OF US have experienced in our lives! LOL

Thanks for LOOSENING up and allowing yourselves to LAUGH OUT LOUD YESTERDAY! It was HEALTHY for all of us… don’t you think? I was a little nervous that some CONSTIPATED Christian would try to get all grown up on us and spank me for being so childish. So I had my trusty PLUNGER in hand all day long just in case I needed to UNCLOG a few clogged souls along the journey. But I must say how IMPRESSED I am with your levels of HUMOR these days!  

One of the very best ways to defeat stress is to SMILE and LAUGH on purpose! The only problem with this strategy is that we never FEEL LIKE laughing when our lives are falling apart do we? In fact, we get mad at people for trying to CHEER US UP don’t we? That’s right… we just want to be left alone to feel defeated and be angry. And in doing so, WE TURN OFF THE STRENGTH that breaks the chains of our oppression!  

Nehemiah 8:10 And Nehemiah continued, “Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!”

Many times when I scold my daughter Heaven… she looks at me and says, “Daddy you’re so handsome when your mad” and she smiles at me REAL BIG! Yes, I realize this is probably some form of manipulation… but its very effective and I believe there is a spiritual principle locked up in her actions. It’s very difficult to defeat her as long as she keeps on smiling! If she gets nasty and starts falling apart and defending herself… things get real bad for her. But EVERY TIME she turns up her smile and says things like, “Daddy, I think you’re so handsome when you’re mad… and Daddy I know I was wrong and I should get in trouble here… but I’m not going to let this steal my joy…” I am drawn into her PEACE and JOY and things go SO MUCH BETTER for Heaven!   

Even though JOY is a spiritual fruit of the Spirit of God… it flourishes only in a HEART THAT REALLY TRUSTS GOD. My daughter can keep on smiling because she tells herself a few very powerful things when she is in these kinds of circumstances. She has JOY because she knows that Daddy LOVES her! She has JOY because she knows that Daddy is just! She has JOY knowing that the pain is only going to last a short time! And she has JOY trusting that this whole thing is only going to make her a better person!

In all our circumstances of life, whether disciplinary, or hardship, or sickness, or personal attacks… we cannot change things that have already happened… but we CAN change our attitude and that WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING! As long as we keep our SMILES SHINING, problems cannot TAKE US DOWN! So much of our victory is WON right here in this attitude realm. As long as we keep trusting and smiling… we WIN! Look everyone, I’m still smiling… I’m still happy… I’m still trusting God in this… I’m not going to get grouchy and mean spirited… I have the JOY OF THE LORD because I trust that he is working all things out for my good and the good of his divine purposes! 

I hope this blog helps you through your next painful circumstance… try this out you guys! You’ll be AMAZED at how well it really works! 

Oh… Don’t forget – Destiny Family Center 10am Sunday morning… come LIVE or tune in to the LIVE webcast!

Good Wednesday Everyone!

Over the past few days, I’ve been hearing from a bunch of amazing people about how much you’re enjoying the blog site. I mean the stats are pretty impressive and I can tell that lots and lots of people are reading away… but it’s VERY encouraging to find out specifically WHO is out there in this growing circle!

DAILY blogging has been a VERY big challenge for me. This is because of the JOURNAL factor and the fact that most of us have a very hard time separating our FEELINGS from the thoughts, words, and actions we need to pass on to the people we are influencing.

I remember when this challenge was on a much smaller level. Way back in 1991 right after Emily and I had given our lives to the Lord and we were going to a tiny store front church. Since there were only a few of us… guess who got asked to teach Sunday School to the toddlers? Yes, ME!

These kids had been growing up in “Christian” homes and their moms and dads were all about “family devotions”… and all of them KNEW the BIBLE like a pack of snot nosed theologians! LOL And since I was NEW AT THIS… they chewed me up and spit me out. Every time I mispronounced a bible character, one of them would start giggling and a few hands would go up to correct me… in front of a bunch of 8 year olds!!! It was very humbling and very educational. So, there you have it everyone… I learned the Bible from a group of lovely tots!

The real challenge at that time wasn’t the lesson or the correct pronunciation of Biblical terms. It was being able to teach on an early Sunday morning after SCRAPPING with Emily the night before! I mean, we had some pretty bad fights in those early days… it was REAL BAD at times… ok, I admit it… I was a horrible person back then… and Emily was a beautiful little angel! LOL

I remember calling my Pastor at like 1:00AM to tell him I wouldn’t be able to teach the next morning because I was an evil person. And he would always explain to me that I was a working progress… he would pray with me… and explain that teaching when my heart is broken or right after I have eaten a great big piece of humble pie was a healthy thing for me to do! He told me that nobody is perfect… and that God wanted to use MY WEAKNESS to showcase HIS STRENGTH! 

Little did I know that THIS would be the story of my entire future! That someday, I would be teaching and inspiring people EVERY SINGLE DAY OF MY LIFE… and that my imperfect life would put GODS STRENGTH on display OVER AND OVER AGAIN! 

Transparency is not about putting our weaknesses on display… it is all about showcasing GODS OMNIPOTENT STRENGTH! To live DAILY in front of a world thats desperate for a message, we must be able to SHOWCASE Gods strength over our weakness… Gods love over our hatred… Gods mercy over our judgment… Gods ability over our inability… and the million and one ways GOD ALWAYS BRINGS US THROUGH everything we face! 

Even though we are not all DAILY bloggers… we are all LIVING DAILY in front of an audience. Our lives are OPEN to our friends, families, co-workers, neighbors, and all the other people we have to LIVE in FRONT OF EVERY SINGLE DAY OF OUR LIVES. And we cannot quit life… so we have to figure out how to showcase Gods attributes as DAILY MESSAGES to all who READ OUR OPEN JOURNALS! 

2 Corinthians 3:2-3 “You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”

So then, we are ALL LIVING BLOGGERS adding tremendous value to everyone else’s amazing life! I pray you have a super duper day… please leave a comment, let us know where you are from and what you’re all about… tootaloo!