Content WITHOUT Conviction

It's just plain refreshing listening to someone who speaks, not only with passion, but passion rooted in principles.

Dennis Prager is one of those 'refreshing someones'. He's a guy who speaks not only with passion and clarity, but with an actual CONVICTION. (Remember when politicians used to do that too?:) My Great-Great-Great Grandpa said "Those...were the days."

Take a couple minutes to check this out:

A few thoughts:

1) Talk Radio is great and all, but it may need to die so that Dennis Prager, after finding himself jobless, can become who he's called to be...the 45th President!  :)

2) When you hear someone speak from their conviction...you know it. You feel it. Dennis makes ME wanna be American! (Ohh wait, I mean...Double American:)

3) Conviction is combustible, and will set your words on FIRE! "Content" communicated without conviction is the definition of CLICHE. It's lifeless and ultimately imparts nothing more than recycled, room-temp platitudes that fail to captivate or compel anyone to change.

4) I love hearing Dennis speak because he delivers SUBSTANCE, not SLOGANS. 

5) His diagnoses of America reminded me of what Proverbs 29:18a says:

"Where there is no vision the people cast off restraint."

Is America's VISION up for grabs?

What the Bible is NOT

A sweet reminder that I came across on the Gospel Coalition blog:

"Contrary to what many Christians have concluded, the Bible does not tell two stories: the story of Israel in the OT and the story of the church in the NT. No, the Bible tells one story and points to ONE figure: it tells the story of how God rescues a broken world and points to Christ who accomplishes this. In the OT God revealed himself through types and shadows, through promises and prophecies. In the NT God reveals himself in Christ who is the substance of every shadow and the fulfillment of every promise and prophecy. In other words, the OT predicts God’s rescuer; the NT presents God’s rescuer. Therefore, the whole Bible–both the Old and New Testament–is all about God’s rescuer"...JESUS CHRIST!



Read more here

Today, I got fired.

Today, I got fired.

Actually, a more accurate way to put it would be: Today, I fired myself. This isn’t the first time I’ve had to do this…and it probably won’t be the last.

I continually find myself employed by this thing called pride…hired on to manage peoples perceptions of me. It’s never ending, grueling work with a horrible salary and zero benefits. Yet I can’t seem to avoid its allure.
Being a people-pleaser has been, for most of my life, a part-time job. I can’t believe how many precious minutes of my life have been spent trying to please others, trying to fit in, and trying to be seen as someone who “gets it”…whatever “it” is.

The truth is, the harder I try to constantly maintain my image to the people around me…the more I’m really just slaving away in a dead-end job.
The more time I spend trying to manage the perception that others have of me…the more I stay stuck.

-Stuck in old habits.
-Stuck in old patterns.
-Stuck in the same routines.

Why? Well, because they work.
How do I know? Well, people seem to like me, accept me, and look up to me. Why would I want to change that?

Well, if my purpose was to merely appease and pacify people, then there would be no reason to change…no reason to fire myself.

But I know and am convinced that 1) I ultimately CAN’T please people and 2) I wasn’t CALLED to. My calling in this life is fixed in pleasing God, which only through Christ is possible, and leaves zilch room for my “pride factory” and people-pleasing tendencies. Living out this calling has implications.

It means:
-Saying the hard thing to someone, even if it puts our friendship at odds.
-Doing the hard, unpopular thing because it’s right.

It also means:
-Being willing to receive admonishing words from a mentor, even if it hurts.
-Being vulnerable and allow people I trust to speak into my life, even if it’s uncomfortable.

Living out the Christ-centered calling God has placed on my life won’t always bring comfort and popularity, but will always produce completeness and fulfillment.

Stop slaving away for your pride. Stop living your life to merely keep people liking you. You were called for something greater than yourself!

Pride doesn’t pay. Fire yourself.

Reality...not religion

Today, I was reminded…
I was reminded that my faith isn’t something I DO, it’s WHO I AM. Yes, as simple as that sounds, actually living life in that truth alters everything for me.

I remembered that my faith isn’t a hobby...it's a HABIT.(in a good way, of course:)
I remembered it’s not about WHERE I am…

At church…
At home…
In the grocery store…
In the DMV…
At a wedding or at a funeral…
In a croud or in my room…
In the voting booth…
At dinner with my friends or family…
In the mountains or at the beach…

...my God isn’t my religion, He’s my Reality. WHERE I am doesn’t and never will determine WHO I am.
My reality is sealed. You can’t touch it. This world can’t touch it. It belongs to the One who bought it FOR GOOD…the Lord of my life, my Creator, my God! He alone gives my life meaning, purpose, and significance. Nothing else.

Don’t believe the same isn’t true for you!

Consider yourself reminded.