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Be Focused!

Pastor D — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 17:30:27 +0000

Wow! It has been a long time since I have said anything on a blog. I knid of feel crazy, but I have a boatload of things to say and topics to blog ab out. It is just about getting the time to say them all. At any rate, I did want to share a few things today about focus. That is a condition permitting clear perception or understanding. Sometimes in life to other we may seem callous and insensitive we are focused or in a zone. More of us on a daily basis need to be focused. Our vision, mission and drive is often compromised when we lose focus or do not have focus at all. I am thinking about this because of the particular place I am in my own life. I have nnot for the past few months been focused in any way, shape or form. It is my lack of focus that has caused some things that need to happen to progress pretty slowly. There have been too many other things allowed to enter as I sat idly by unfocused. I have been re-assessing things and looking at what to do to be more focused. What have you done or waht are you doing. Focus does not often leave time for other things that do not contribute to the goal in sight. I was watching a TV show recently (you know I love my TV) and there was a shooting that took place. Afterwards one agent asked another agent, “Aren’t you bothered?’ He said, “Yes, I am bothered, but I am focused.” That was amazing to me. This person had all of the feelings associated with something traumatic happening, but they could not hold a candle to the focus that this agent had in completing the assigned task. That is where I need to get to. How about you?

Confessions of a Ball Dropper

Pastor D — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 12:01:41 +0000

Talk about honesty. Who out there would admit that they have a thing for dropping the ball. Obviously, it is not a point of pride or bragging, but it is what it is. I have looked over my life and have said to myself I have had some great ideas and made some great starts that did not pan out exactly as planned. Do you ever look at life and say “whatever happened to…?” I am not sure what that would be for you, but many times we are great starters and not the best finishers and do not exercise the best follow through. I can see that has been an issue for me over the years. I can count on my hand things I have started, but have dropped the ball on. I say this in an effort to be transparent and to get better to where this is no longer a problem. The most recent thing has been in ministry where I knew there was follow through needed and I seemed to drop the ball a lot eventually causing things to be benched and revamped. The whole thing about dropping the ball is that it was in your hands to complete the play and butter fingers makes its way in and then the play becomes incomplete. I dare not say I am the only one who has been a ball dropper, but I might be the only one to say it. At least today … My plan is to get much better. My family and future depend on me not being a ball dropper. The future of ministry for me depends on there being great follow through. I look at examples of non ball droppers and see what their lives have amounted to and I am inspired.

At least for me, dropping the ball happens with preoccupation and business with other things that have nothing or much to do with completing the play. By the time I get back to the original plan the ball has been dropped and the other team is now in possession. I look back on my ball dropping regretfully because it represents so many failed opportunities. I am inspired, however when I look to the future and see what it looks like to not drop the ball. So, today was my confessional blog entry. Are you a ball dropper?

Protecting The Crown

Pastor D — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 14:12:57 +0000

There is a show that I watch called Human Target, which is a pretty good show by the way. The recent episode was about the Princess of Wales. There was a negative twist in the plot, but one of the lines said was, “I am protecting the crown.” There was anger over some things the princess was doing and the thought was that she was disgracing the crown. The premise behind protecting the crown is that there is a reputation there that must be maintained at all costs. This is an idea that does not just stay in the monarchy, but makes its way into several sectors. In the mafia or La Cosa Nostra there is an ideology that no one is above the family. What each person has to do us uphold the family. In New Jack City it was said that “No man is above the crew.” This is what it is all about. It is the responsibility of each person to do whatever possible to uphold, uplift and maintain the rep of the crew, gang, mafia, monarchy or family.

As beleivers we have the exact same responsiblity. Everyday and in everything we need to do what is withn our powers to porect the crown. The crown that was worn as Jesus died on the cross and the crown that He wears as king. If we wake up every morning with it on our minds that we are protecting the crown I wonder how our actions, thoughts and words would vary and change. There has to be an understanding that we are representing a kingdom. With this in mind we understand that it is not about us as individuals. Most time our decisions are all about us rather than the crown that we are protecting. This needs to change. This is something I remind myself of everyday because I want to do a good job for the crown.

You’ll hate it, but it works

Pastor D — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:02:00 +0000

A while ago my daughter was pretty sick and did not feel well at all. As with any sickness there is a prescription that comes with it. You know, medicine. My children, especially my daughter does not enjoy medicine. She goes bananas when having to take certain medicines because she says like all kids “they are nasty”. With this particular time of not feeling well we gave her something a friend recommended we give her. She did not like it and our response to her was “You’ll hate it, but it works.” This is something we learn in life and in medicine. Often times the things that help us the most hurt the worst and are not pleasant. It does not mean that things that are pleasant are not helpful. It just means that it is sometimes the uncomfortable things that help us the most. In this day and age we have sought to make everything palatable that needs to help. That logic does not always work. We take children’s vitamins and make them gummy. Really?!?! Do not get me wrong, the medicine does not need to taste like dirt, but can you naturally make something healthy like a vitamin taste like a Skittle? I think you can kind of see where I am going. Let’s not immediately shy away from the things that are not beautiful, fragrant and palatable. Let’s face it, sometimes the good stuff hurts. See ya’ later…

All Money ain’t Good Money!

Pastor D — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:32:25 +0000

First let me start by saying, “Sheesh! I have not blogged in about a month. What is wrong with me?” Okay, now let’s get back on topic. I live in the South right now, but I am a Cali boy at heart. That being said I enjoy an occasional game of dominoes. How about you? When people are new to dominoes they make immature plays just to get on the board. They make panic plays when they are pressed into a corner. Can you see where I am going? Maybe now, let’s continue. We all know that the scoring in dominoes is by 5′s. With this in mind the lowest you can score is, you guessed it ~ FIVE. Many times the immature players will try to score quickly and all the time. All they want to do is score. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with scoring. You need to if you are going to win, but dominoes more than scoring is a game of strategyas well. I remember the early days of playing dominoes I would try to score quickly and small and one of the other players would say to me, “All money ain’t good money.”

Here is my point… Many times in life we go for the easy way out because we are backed into a corner or we do not clearly see all of our options. What we end up doing is opting for a temporary or easy solution. It is harder to wait for and strategize for the good money so instead we shoot for the easy money. Remember, according to what are called dominologists“all money, ain’t good money.” Our lives should be strategized and patient. What are the fruits of taking the easy money? There are get rich quick schemes, lotteries, gambling and one night stands. It is easier to pull a lever and spend a few dollars than it is to work, save, sow and invest. It is easier to pick someone up at the club and have sex than it is to court them, get married and have your life partner with lots of days of sex. Can you hear me now? Good…

Let’s live our lives out with strategy and patience and not chasing after the next hot thing. Hot things become cold. I’ll see you at the domino table.

No Ordinary Day

Pastor D — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:51:53 +0000

The other day as I was putting my kids to bed on Valentine’s night they said, “Daddy what is the next special day after Valentine’s Day?” I said to them, “Tomorrow is just an ordinary day.” As soon as I said that it was like God smacked me in the head and I had a light bulb moment. What came to me was that, “There is no such thing as an ordinary day.” That was simple, but monumental. Even with all of the various things life throws our way there is nothing ordinary about any of the days of our lives. Many times we allow the things we are in to determine the ordinary nature or extraordinary nature of our days. This is not the determining factor. What makes our days worthwhile is the fact that it was given to us byt the Lord. The bible says to use, “This is the day that the Lord has made.” Seeing as the Lord made each day is has an intrinsic value all its own. What needs to happen then is that we need to prepare our hearts to meet our un-ordinary days. Everyday that we wake up in the morning needs to be one where we wake up on the right side of the bed. Drama may have carried itself over to the next day, but what do you take over to the next day? We are told in the bible that everyday bring new mercies. How cool is that? I love the fact that God gives us reason and incentive to have a great day. Now, you decide… What kind of day will you have? Peace

Who Is It About Anyway?

Pastor D — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:13:02 +0000

Let me warn you… This is a little bit of a rant for a Wednesday afternoon. I was driving by a church recently and saw a huge billboard with a picture of the pastor and the church slogan. Not even the church name, just a huge picture of the pastor. The picture took up over 80% of the entire billboard. I know, I know, that was a little extensive right there, but it speaks to my point. It seems that many times we lose out on what the focus of the church should be. The church becomes hugely person and personality driven. Do not get me wrong, I understand that the church many times is a reflection the personality of its pastor, but it is not supposed to be about the pastor. So with all of this my question becomes, “Who is being promoted in your ministry?” It is this kind of promotion that causes the people to be scattered when a moral falling happens. The people were zeroed in on the pastor and not Jesus. Do I sound a little dogmatic? Maybe. However, I think over the last few years many of my ideas about the church have evolved. I have gone to some church websites where you have to search to find a picture of the pastor. In my estimation the focus is being intentionally focused on the church and the Jesus of the church. I am not going to go on for a long time, but I just want us to check our intention as pastors when it comes to who is being promoted. Peace!

The Untouchables!

Pastor D — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:09:26 +0000

Okay, show of hands. Who likes The Untouchables? I love that movie. It talks about a great era, which I love. I love the 20′s era gangster stuff. This movie detailed a group of lawmen called the Untouchables. They were tasked with the mission to stop Al Capone in prohibition eta Chicago. As usual for me I find something in a movie that works as a ministry point. I think it may be a preacher thing where lots of things can be illustrations. At any rate, there is a scene in the beginning of the movie where Ness is selecting officers and law enforcement to be a part of the Untouchables. As he looks through the classroom type space where the officers are he says, “I know many of you take a drink now and then, but since that is what we are fighting against let’s not do that anymore” (paraphrase). His whole point in saying this was to say that the Untouchables had to cease participating in the things they were supposed to be rallying against. This speaks volumes to believers.

How many believers have done or do the things that their code (the bible) says that they are supposed to be against. I know many people criticize the church because they say they are always against something. The truth of the matter is that there are things that believers are against and are supposed to be against as well as things that believers are for. In order for the witness to be the most effective believers need to make it a point to not participate in the things they are going to have to stand against. Elliot Ness wanted there to be a moral authority to their crusade against prohibition. How do we live that out in our everyday lives? Sometimes it seems that we want so much to be a part of the crowd that we put down what the original instructions were. Elliot Ness said to stop doing what they were doing if there were going to do what they needed to do. We need to live right lives and be an example. The question for us needs to be what are we wanting to be an example of? Elliot Ness has an important message for us from the 1987 movie that should work its wat into our 2010 lives.

Just A Thought

Pastor D — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:08:44 +0000

Just a thought. I was sitting here thinking about the church. As much as we are supposed to be reflective of God’s Kingdom we are decidedly divided and marginalized. I have been having lots of conversations and thoughts on church diversity these days. Listen, I am not naive enough to think the on any given day the local church will end up being 100% diverse. However, the startling thing to me is the lack of willingness among “church people” to even be open to it. No one wants to “work across the aisle” borrowing from political terminology. I find that many things are less likely to happen when we are not even open to them. There seems to an entrenched idea of not worshipping together and then we become content worshipping within our own bubbles. I am not downing church or any church in particular. I am merely addressing what seems to be an prevalent ideology that works within church membership.

One thing I have noticed is that idea has not permeated the younger population of the church. This is a good thing. What they seem to want is Jesus and His will for their life. It does not matter to them who they are next to as they do this. I know some of you may not feel where I am coming from, but like I said earlier… It is just a thought. Peace!!!

No Quitters Allowed

Pastor D — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 19:26:36 +0000

My family joined the vast group of wii owners during this past Christmas season. Everyone has their favorite game on the wii or better yet, the game they each excel at. However, my son is still trying to find the game he likes the best. While he searches for what suits him best he went and played a few of the games. After a while since it took so long and produced a little frustration he said, “I QUIT”… Duh, duh, duh (dramatic movie danger sound track). Things got a little hard and required more effort, determination and work and my little man said, “I QUIT”. My son is not a quitter, but in this instance he was. I had a quick thought when that happened. I asked myself, “What am I?” In addition to that I asked, “What are you?” Are you a quitter?

Once thing I have seen with people is as soon as things get a little hard and a little inconvenient we bail out and quit. It seems easier to quit and throw in the towel than it is to scratch and fight to finish what we started. When we look at many marriages we see it all of the time. Either spouse will stand before a preacher and invited guests and declare their undying love for each other. They will share endless and heartfelt vows. About a year later the spouse finds out some not so good things about the other spouse and the spouse bails. What? What happened to, “Till death do us part?” Somehow the commitment had become inconvenient to keep so we bailed. Life requires that we fight and fight hard. Life will throw things at you that make you want to quit, but that is not what we do. We fight! Look at those in Haiti and all they are experiencing and fighting through. So many of them have hope and are still fighting. Which of you reading this blog is going through anything even close to what is happening in Haiti? My thoughts exactly.

So, the next time life gut punches you and you experience trying times do not back out and quit. I know it is an old school cliche’ saying, but “winners never quit and quitters never quit.” Do you want to win?