Children of God...how great the love the Father has lavished on us!

I did something that I've never done before last night...I went to a concert alone.  I know that sounds kinda weird, but I feel that God told me to.  You see, around the first of the year, I found out that a favorite Christian band of mine, Third Day, was playing in the Fox Theater.  I put off buying tickets because I wasn't sure who I might want to go with.  About a month ago during my usual morning "quiet time" with the Lord, I was reminded that Third Day was playing and I needed to buy tickets before they were sold out.  So, I got up, turned on my computer, and went to a web site to buy tickets.  My plan was to buy two tickets and see if one of my friends wanted the other one, but as late as I was in attempting to buy two tickets together, there were none to be found.  There were only single seats left.  My first thought was to just log out and not go, but a "still small voice" said, "Buy a single ticket and go by yourself".  So I did, and what a blessing it was.

The young married couple that sat to my right was an awesome blessing.  They were both sold out disciples of Christ and were so in love with each other and God.  They both looked like they were still in high school, but they were twenty-nine and had been married five years.  I just know that their marriage will be a success, because they are putting God first in it.

But, the biggest blessing of the night was one my favorite Third Day songs, Children of God.  I heard Mac Powell sing this song a couple of years ago just before Christmas at Free Chapel.  He did it with the children's choir and that was a huge blessing, but last night was even more of a blessing.  Mac explained that the inspiration for the song was one of my favorite verses in the whole bible, 1 John 3: 1.  That verse says, "How great the love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God and that is what we are!"  Did you get that?  The Heavenly Father has LAVISHED love on us by sending His son, Jesus to die on the cross for us so that by believing in Him we can be adopted into God's family as a son or daughter, with all the rights and privileges that Jesus himself had.  That is hard to comprehend, but it is imperative that we do!  In order to live the abundant life that Christ promised us, we have to understand who we are!  We who believe are sons and daughters of the Most High God, the Creator of the Universe!  Get your head wrapped around that and it will change your life.

As they sang the song, it sounded like everyone in the Fabulous Fox Theatre was singing it, too!  I know I was at the top of my lungs...that is, when I wasn't bawling thinking about 1 John 3: 1 and the lyrics of the song!  As the song progressed, I felt God's presence envelop me in warmth and love.  What an awesome song!  Now I know why I went alone...you see I'm never alone.  God is always with me.  The Holy Spirit lives in me and I am in Christ.  How sweet is that?!?!

I'll leave you with some lyrics from the song to ponder. Here is the song's bridge:

We are the saints,

We are the children.

We've been redeemed, 

We've been forgiven.

We are the sons and daughters of God.

Have a blessed day my friends!

Yours in Christ,

Joe

Do you want to get well? What kind of question is that?

At first glance, that seems like a strange question for Jesus to ask, doncha think...but is it?  I thought so as I read the book of John while leading a bible study on it several years ago.  John 5 begins with Jesus in Jerusalem at the pool of Bethesda where the bible said a great number of disabled people hung out every day.  It seems that they were waiting there for an for an angel to stir the water in the pool, because according to the NASB translation of the bible, an angel of the Lord stirred the water in the pool during certain seasons, and the first one in the pool after it had begun to be stirred, got healed of whatever his or her infirmity was.  There was one man there who had been there every day for thirty eight years.  When Jesus saw him there and learned that the man had been in his broken condition for that long, the first thing he asked the man was: "Do you want to get well?" (John 5: 6)

When I read that statement, the first thing that I thought was: "Really Jesus, what kind of question is that?  Of course, everybody wants to be healed!"  I almost felt as if Jesus had insulted the man by asking him that, but of course, it would not align with the character of Jesus' to insult a paralytic in that manner. As I thought and prayed about Jesus' statement, I realized that my healing process has taken a long time.  I'm fifty-five years old and realize that I didn't even know that I was broken and un-healthy emotionally until I was forty-nine.  I'm much better now, but still a work in progress.  So, as in my case several years ago, some people don't even know that they are sick.  That, however, was not the case for that man; he knew he was broken.  That was why he showed up at the pool, waiting for the water to be stirred every day for thirty-eight years.

So, I asked myself and God this question, why would anyone not want to be healed?  I'm sure that man had gotten pretty used to hanging out at the pool all day during the thirty-eight years he had been there.  He probably had a routine that he went through and had a lot of friends there to talk to and commiserate with.  He had become accustomed to living the life of brokenness.  These are the reasons I believe God showed me for people not wanting to be healed:

1.  Many people have been in their broken condition so long that it has actually become their comfort zone.  They get used to it, and it may be safer for them and take much less energy if they just continue to stay in their dysfunction. If you actually get healed you won't be able to just sit on you mat all day and watch life blow by you. You will actually have to take part in life and life can be painful, because I have discovered that life is all about relationship and relationships can be very messy and very painful. I know a lot of people in that "safe" boat.  In John 10: 10, Jesus says the that he came to give us the abundant life, but that the thief would try to steal it from us.  The thief wants us to stay broken.  He knows that grace is all about relationship and doesn't want a healthy bunch of disciples running around showing people how great loving relationships can be when Jesus Christ is the head of them.  The abundant life is not safe, I know that by looking at how Jesus lived his life.  In living the abundant life Jesus modeled for us, you probably will get hurt.  He got crucified, which from my understanding is one of the most painful ways to die.  But, if you want to be a true disciple, you have to step out of the boat and follow the rabbi that walked on water, or get up off your mat and walk when He tells you to. Neither one of those things seem very safe to me, but, oh the thrill of living life walking in the way Jesus has asked us to and modeled for us!

2.  The healing process is hard work, may be painful, and may cost money.  The main message of one of my favorite books, The Shack, is that in order to be healed, we have to allow God to take us back to our place of pain, because that is the only place where true healing can occur.  Pain is not fun, and most of us spend most of our life trying to avoid it at all cost.  But, to be healed we have to be willing to face the source of our pain and allow the Great Physician to heal us.  After reading a book called, Healing the Masculine Soul by Gordon Dalby, I was prompted to use a process called theophostic (meaning "God light") prayer where one asks God to show him or her situations in life where the enemy deceived them into believing a lie and, once God reveals that, to ask Him to show you the spiritual truth of that situation.  Another way to facilitate healing is professional counseling, which I have found to be very helpful in my life.  I went to counseling for several years after my third divorce and have never regretted one cent I spent on it.  My counselor was a man in Roswell named Skeet Stokes and he is the one that turned me onto the book that I just mentioned.  A third option is a group such as one that I went to for about 3 years called the Samson Society or one of the many groups such as divorce care that are offered by local churches.      

3.  You may have to allow someone to help you with the healing process.  I sure the man at the pool had to have someone to bring him to the pool, but why didn't he ask the person to stay at the pool and help him get in when the water was stirred.  He probably didn't want to be a bother, but as Christians, we are called to care for one another and consider others as more important than ourselves.  Knowing this why wouldn't we ask a brother or sister in Christ to help us.  Could it be pride?  Please do not be too proud to allow someone who cares for you to assist you in your healing process if you need it.  I promise, if they love you and care for you, it will be a blessing to them to be able to help.  The help they can provide may be anything from keeping your children for you while you go to a meeting or helping you pay for counseling.

We all know that Jesus came to save us from our sins, but the Greek word translated "to save" has a much deeper meaning.  The word translated "to save" in the New Testament is "zoso" in the Greek, which not only means to save us from our sins but also to make us well and whole again.  Many churches have "zoso" ministries that work in much the same way as theophostic prayer, but is done through others praying for you and hearing words from God for you.

In Luke 4: 16-20, one of the first things Jesus did in ministry, if not the first thing, was to read from the book of Isaiah.  He was handed a scroll of the book of Isaiah and read chapter 61 verse 1 and 2 (very interesting that he left off the second part of verse two...that could be an upcoming blog).  Here is what he read (my emphasis in italics):

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,

because the Lord has anointed me

to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim freedom for the captives

and release from darkness the prisoners,

to proclaim the year of the Lords favor...

Jesus came to give us abundant life and heal us so that we can live it.  The question he is asking is: "Do you want to be healed?"

Yours in Christ,
Joe

Tear down the wall! Not to be confused with the song by Pink Floyd. :)

I know that I haven't blogged in a while, but I believe that God is telling me to start back. I actually believe that He has been telling me to for a long time, but in true, Joe Henderson form, I've been wrestling with him and putting it off. I have duly repented of that, so here I go!

This morning as I was reading the book of Isaiah in chapter 49, verses 14 - 16 jumped off the page at me. Here's what it says:

But Zion said, "The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me."

"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!

See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me."

Wow...a nursing mother may forget her baby, but God will never forget me! Hey, even though I'm not a mother, I know something of a mother's love, because my mom loved me so very much and it was obvious. Even in nature, everybody knows not to get between a mother and her offspring, such as a mother bear and her cubs. That scenario probably wouldn't turn out too well for you! And, God even amps it up a bit and relates this to a nursing mother. Again, I don't know from experience, but I understand that when a woman is nursing, it becomes uncomfortable in between feeding times as her breasts fill with milk, even to the point of being painful. So this along with the love that a mother has for the child makes it impossible for the mother to forget her child.

In this verse, God says that as unlikely as it is that a mother may forget her nursing child, it is even more unlikely that God will ever forget us, even when we are rebelling and in bondage to our sin! How many times have I (Zion), believed that I was forgotten by God because I was just not good enough. That is a lie straight from the mouth of hell! The truth is in this verse and in Deuteronomy 31: 6 where God says, "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." The key word there is NEVER...sweet!

All that is awesome, but then I read and meditated on the next verse, "See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me." In the King James version of the bible, the word which is translated "engraved" is "graven". So, I pulled out my trusty Strong's Concordance and looked up the Hebrew word for graven; it is "chaqaq", which means "to hack". I then looked up the word, "hack" in the dictionary and found this definition: "to cut, slice, chop, or sever as with heavy irregular blows". Wow...in my head I immediately saw Jesus' hands being "hacked" into by nails as He was hung on a cross to die for my sins. For those of you who know me, this won't be a surprise, but tears of joy began to stream down my face thinking about how much love it took for Jesus to die such a painful death on the cross for ME! Yes, we are forever engraved on the palms of His hands and this was to show us how much He loves us! He has already paid for all our sins the day that the nails were "hacked" into his hands.

Then I started thinking about and meditating on the part of the verse that says, "your walls are ever before me". The context of this is that Israel is in captivity in Babylon, but my thoughts went to the many years that I was in captivity to my sin and broken-ness, all the while, trying to medicate using the world's prescription of accumulating stuff, power, and chasing sensuality. Then I visualized Jesus standing outside the walls of a city of captives, with outstretched arms showing the nail scars in his palms--without a word saying, "I love you, I want to heal you; tear down the walls you've built around your heart and let me in so that I can". I know that this was me for years. Even after I became born again, I still had little "Babylons" or strongholds in my heart that I was holding onto, "just in case"! "In case what," you may ask. In case God had forgotten me and was not there. I think many other people are like me. Holding onto earthy things because they think that God is going to somehow forget them. The best decision that I've ever made was to give my whole heart to God. I know He is right here with me. Philippians 4: 19 says, "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus". When I get up in the morning to read His word, pray, and just soak in His presence; He shows up and meets my need to be loved just like He did this morning! Because He is faithful to meet one need, I know that He will meet all my other needs as well. Since I have given my whole heart to Him, He has shown up in dreams, prophetic words from complete strangers, and in the many amazing and beautiful, like-minded friends that He has placed in my life. Second Corinthians 3: 17 says, "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom." I know this is true! When you know that the worst thing another human can do to you is take your life; but, if that happens you will immediately see the face of your Lord and Savior, and will be in the presence of pure Love that heals completely...that my friend is freedom!

In Christ,

Joe

The Blog I Didn't Want to Write (Part 1)

That's quite a strange title, don't you think? It may be strange, but it's also very true. The reason that I haven't blogged since August, is that sometime in August, during my quiet time with God, he told me to write a blog on what he has been teaching me on a particular topic and because of the subject matter I have been putting it off. The reason that I have put it off is twofold. The first reason is that it is a very controversial topic and the second reason is that I have not always held true to the words that I am about to write, and it grieves me to confess that.

You see, the topic of this blog is sex outside of the covenant of marriage. Over the past year or so, God has been teaching me much about the sanctity of sex and marriage. As a follower of Christ, I know that I am called by God to set myself apart from the ways of the world and live by standards set by God; not by the current cultural norms and mores prevalent in society. As I talk to many singles, it seems that sex outside of marriage is almost as common in the Christian community as in the community of non-believers. I have talked to many Christian singles who believe that sex between two "committed" partners is all right with God. I have to confess that at one time this was my position on the issue, even though deep down in my spirit, I knew that it was not right in God's eyes. I have talked to many single women that are committed to sexual purity who say that it is hard to find dates because "Christian" men won't go out with them once they find out that they are saving sex for marriage. So, let's take a look at what God's word says on this topic.

In Genesis 2: 24 we see that the context in which God created sex was marriage. That passage states: "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and they will become one flesh." In ancient Jewish marriage rituals, the first thing a couple did after the formal ceremony was to go into the "bridal chamber" for seven days to consummate the marriage. At the end of those seven days, the couple came out and the wedding party commenced. I have come to believe that whenever there is a "one flesh" union between a man and a woman, they are married in the eyes of God.

Romans 12: 1-2 says: "Therefore, I urge you brothers in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will." This verse tells a follower of Christ that in order to worship God, we must present our bodies as a holy sacrifice to God. It also tells those who profess to be followers of Christ to appear different from the rest of the world in the way we conduct our lives. Then in 1 Corinthians 6: 18 it says: "Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but the one who sexually sins, sins against his own body." Wow...this passage says we sin against our body if we are sexually immoral! In light of the previous passage in Romans, where we are told that our spiritual act of worshiping God is to present our bodies as holy and pleasing sacrifices to him, it seems plain to me that followers of Christ should abstain from sex outside of God's context for it.

Finally, in Ephesians 5: 3 it says: "But among you there must not even be a hint of sexual immorality, or any kind of impurity or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people." I think this passage is self explanatory. If I profess to be one of "God's holy people", then I cannot even give the illusion of sexual immorality.

This is what I have come to believe about why God reserves sex for marriage. In a potentially great relationship, the false intimacy of sex prevents the couple from developing the friendship and true intimacy needed to sustain the relationship through the trials that they will face if they get married. Conversely, the false intimacy of sex prolongs a bad relationship and usually leads to one person or both being hurt due to the breakup of the relationship.

So, what does this mean for me...how do I live by this teaching? Each day I must die to self and allow the Holy Spirit to live in and through me, conforming me more and more to the image of Christ. Romans 8: 9 states: "You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you." Thank God that I don't have to do this on my own, because, in that case, it would be impossible. Only through the power of the Holy Spirit can we live out the righteousness of Christ and thus be true followers of Him.

In Christ,
Joe

Recommended reading: "Sex God: Exploring the Endless Connections between Sexuality and Spirituality" by Rob Bell

I'm an "alien", how about you?

I have found myself getting really homesick of late. I am finding that I have a deep longing for my true home and that is with my God in glory. You see, I look around me and see pain everywhere. I know awesome Christian women that desperately want to meet a Christian man to share their life with, but can't seem to meet one that wants to be with a lady that desires to honor God and stay pure until they are married. I see people that call themselves followers of Christ mistreating others in ways that I think would make Jesus very sad, if not angry. I see people that call themselves Christians, living their lives in the same manner as the rest of the world and going to church on Sunday, acting like it doesn't matter to God. One of my favorite posts going around Facebook is the one that says something like, "going to church on Sunday doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car".

You see, in 1 Peter 2:11-12, the bible says: "Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us." Also, Philippians 3:18-21 says: "For, as I have often told you and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction and their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so they will be like his glorious body."

Why do people that call themselves "Christians" live like unbelievers. One option is that they don't really know Christ. 1 John 2: 3-6 says: "We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know that we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did."

A second option, in my opinion (and mind you, this is just an opinion) is that many of us have misplaced hope due to wounds we have received in life. I have learned that biblical hope is not just the anticipation that some desire of ours might come to fruition. If that's all biblical hope is, why then would it be listed in the "big three" of 1 Corinthians 13: 13 which says: "And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love." I have learned that biblical hope is when the conclusions of you heart lead you to believe that something can fulfill your needs. Whatever this is for you is your hope. As followers of Christ, our hope should be in Christ himself and in the promise that one day we will be with him in glory. A Christian's hope should be lived out as stated in Colossians 1:27: "...Christ in me, the hope of glory". I think that this misplaced hope comes as a result of wounds of the heart received before we became followers of Christ. I know that it did for me. At the time we received the wound or some time after, we may have learned to "self medicate" with things like sex, power, money, alcohol, or drugs. All these thing may give us some relief for a while by deadening the pain but then they leave you empty because they can never really fulfill the innate desire placed in us by God to be intimate with him. Only God can truly fulfill our needs. In the book, "The Sacred Romance", John Eldredge calls these things our "less wild lovers". In this he is saying that our only true lover is God, the author of love and the only thing truly worth pursuing in order to fulfill the longing God himself has placed within us.

I know that I chased many of these things for years, which led me from one broken relationship to another and caused much pain to many people that I truly care about. If one really thinks that any of the things that I mentioned above can be truly fulfilling, they are believing a lie straight from the mouth of hell. From the very beginning in Genesis, the evil one has been using the same game plan. His plan is to give us a partial truth that hides a lie. All the things that I mentioned above; sex, drugs, power, money, and alcohol do take away the pain we feel and make us feel better for a while, but inevitably they will all leave us empty. That is why some people go from one relationship to another, one drug to another, one deal to another, and so on. I have come to the conclusion that none of these things is what I want. I want the Real Thing and all the best that he has to offer. That is where I am placing my hope from now on! As the apostle Paul so eloquently stated in Phillipians 1: 21: "For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." I am choosing to live as a citizen of heaven, after all that is my true home.

Live in the light...confess your sins to one another! (Part 2)

In part one of this blog, I mentioned that in the last message of the series "More" which is about human "appetites", Joel Thomas, one of the ministers at Buckhead Church, broke our appetites down into three basic types. In my opinion, the ones that he listed today are the three basic ones that all our other appetites arise from. They are:

Hunger

Significance

Intimacy

As I told you previously, I've never had a problem with overeating, so I don't quite get that one. I was on a quest for significance, but when I was born again, God changed my reason for living. But the third appetite, intimacy...that is the one that was my Achilles heel up until about a year ago.

The scripture that Joel used for this message was Ephesians 5: 8-14 which says: "For once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of the light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of the darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible." He also used James 5: 16 which states: "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed."

Yes...ever since I was a teenager, I had struggled with a type of "false intimacy" that runs rampant among men today. I managed to control it much of the time, but I was never really delivered from it. It's really embarrassing to admit my problem now, but it is awesome that by admitting it, I was healed and delivered from it. About a year ago, I confessed to a friend that I knew loved and cared about me that I was having problems with it again and that I was ashamed that I had given in to it. This person did not judge me, but simply told me that they were "disappointed" in me. Later, as I contemplated what they said, I thought, "If they are disappointed in me, just think how Jesus feels about it." Right then and there, I repented of it and a asked God to forgive me and then called my friend and asked them to forgive me. It's really amazing, but I haven't even had a thought of participating in it since! This is something that I have struggled with all my adult life and I have been completely healed and delivered from it simply by confessing it and bringing it into the light. It's just not what I am as a child of God.

I am finding more and more as I go through life, that many people that call themselves followers of Christ are doing things in darkness that they shouldn't be doing. Like I just explained, I know I was at one time. We are called to be "children of the light" and "have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness". I would like to propose that if you call yourself a follower of Christ and are doing things that you have to keep in secret, your might want to consider changing that because you probably shouldn't be doing it. As an adult, if you can't tell your children things you do, it is probably something that you should "have nothing to do with" as it says in the verses from Ephesians.

Another thing that I have done in my life that has helped me bring things into the light is to join a group of Christian men that I meet with called the "Samson Society". It is not a bible study, we just get together every Thursday and talk. Much of the talk is about the difficulties of living a Godly life in todays society. This group has helped me in my walk with Christ as much as anything I have ever done. I know that no matter what I say, these men will love me and not judge me, and there is a great amount of healing in that! I urge everyone to find a group of Christian men to share your struggles with if you're a man and a group of Christian women to share your struggles with if you're a woman. Without community, it is hard to live the life that Christ has redeemed us to live. Look at the example of the early church in Acts 3: 46-47. As the body of Christ, we must depend on each other for support and love.

I know that bringing things into the light to be exposed is a huge part of the healing process because it has really helped me in my quest to be whole and holy. What a great message series at Buckhead Church and all the other of the Northpoint Church group of churches. If you didn't see it, I suggest you get online at http://www.northpoint.org/, go to messages, and click on the messages series, "More"...it just might change your life for the better!

Yours in Christ,

Joe

Live in the light...confess your sins one to another! (Part 1)

Wow...I just loved the message at Buckhead Church today! It was the third message in a series called, "More", which is about our "appetites". The message series is called "More" because, as it was explained to us, that is all our appetites know how to say. For example, people who have the appetite for power, want more power; people who have an appetite for wealth, want more wealth...and so on and so forth. Plug your favorite appetite in there and I think you will agree that yours says "more", too! Today, Joel Thomas taught that we are given many appetites and in the right context they are good because God gave them to us. They become bad when taken out of context and used by the evil one to enslave us and prevent us from living the life we were created for by God. In my opinion, the three appetites that he listed today are the three basic ones that all our other appetites arise from. They are:

• Hunger


• Significance


• Intimacy

Joel started out talking about what I think is the most basic of our appetites, hunger. We all need food to live, but when we use food as a source of comfort it can cause problems such as obesity and heart disease. It is hard for me to identify with this, because I have never been one to eat to make myself feel better, but I know it occurs quite often. Heck, you don't have to look to hard to observe that there are way to many people in our society that are overweight. Other underlying issues present themselves when someone has an eating dosorder such as bulemia and have to plan for purging so that no one can see them or detect that they have a problem.

No...I haven't had a problem with overeating; but the other two...well that's a different story. For years, I looked for significance in the field of coaching. My goal was to be a high-school head football coach and win a state championship. I jumped from school to school trying to find better jobs and was applying for every decent head football coaching job that came open. You see, I thought that being a head coach and all the accolades that went along with it would make me feel good about myself. I wanted everyone to look at me and say, "what a great coach, he's really a winner". That changed when I got saved and was "born again" through the power of the Holy Spirit. At that point in time, my whole outlook on life changed and, of course, it affected my attitude toward coaching. I realized that my identity was not in coaching, but in being a child of God and a follower of Christ. I quit applying for head coaching jobs and focused on loving my position players and being the best coach I could be for them. Several years ago, I completely got out of football and haven't missed it at all since. That was God's easy job I guess...the third appetite was the hard work he had to do in me.

Joel said today that the evil one knows where your real weakness is and knows how to exploit it. He said to think about where he hits you over and over...its always with the same appetite isn't it? I know it has been for me. The appetite that has been in control of me for most of my life is the appetite for intimacy. I have only recently been able to control the appetite for intimacy by coming closer and closer to God through Jesus. I will explain further in my next blog.

Yours in Christ,

Joe