whatever it takes . . .

Latest

That’s Quotable . . .

“People who avoid ALL criticism fail. It’s destructive criticism we need to avoid, not criticism in all forms”

-Timothy Ferris . . .

. . . Bio in the back of his book says this:

“serial entrepreneur and ultravagabond, has been featured in the New York Times, National Geographic Traveler, Maxim and other media. He speaks six languages, runs a multinational firm from wireless locations worldwide, and has been a world-record holder in tango, a national champion in Chinese kickboxing, and an actor on a hit television series in Hong Kong. He is thirty years old”

WOW!

Push uphill . . . coast downhill

Ministry is all about seasons of LIFECHANGE . . .

For this reason there is no way you can maintain one constant pace . . .

This is becoming reality to me in my marathon training . . . Real life is a series of different types of topography and terrain

. . . nothing like this (by the way I hate training on those) . . . but more like this . . .

In training you’ll learn to follow this principle:

Push uphill . . . coast downhill

Push uphill . . . coast downhill

This means kicking tail to get to the top of the struggle . . . and then riding the momentum downhill

Bonus: the bigger the organization/movement, yes the harder it is to push it uphill, but the more steam it picks up blazing to the bottom!

Oh the truth in this . . .

Shown last Sunday at NewSpring . . . what’s sad is how if many people were honest, this is how their wedding ceremony should have been . . .

Temptation 2000

God messed me up this morning through a message by this guy from this church . . .

We all struggle with temptation but we usually don’t just wind up in sin by chance. It’s usually through a series of bad choices that on the front-end look enticing, good, and beautiful . . .

. . . Satan is obsessed with DERAILING the mission of Jesus no matter what the cost . . .

Look at Jesus’ temptation in Luke:

1. Stones to Bread: Satan likes to take what God created to be GOOD and tempt us to make it ULTIMATE; it dethrones Jesus in our lives and replaces him with other “gods” (success, sex, money, relationships).

2. Ownership of City: Satan likes to get you to manipulate everything in your life so that you THINK you have CONTROL

3. Proving Authority and Safety: Satan wants us to pursue comfort and pleasure so that you’re not UNCOMFORTABLE, VULNERABLE, EXPOSED, and RISKY.

For so long we’ve tried to combat temptation with scripture verses (as if it’s some kind of dual where Satan throws his darts and we throw back the “right memory verse”)

Scripture is there to help us REALIZE who Jesus is . . . SEE the world as he sees it . . . change our perspective of REALITY . . . and thus flip our desire for our FLESH to a desire for . . .

. . . A RELATIONSHIP WITH A LIVING, BREATHING, SUBSTANTIAL GOD!

FLE

I didn’t get a chance to attend the FLE (Financial Learning Experience) class that was put on here at the GVL Campus Wednesday night by this guy . . .

. . . but Amanda Grace and I have had the chance to meet with him right when we got married for a personal counseling session and the rumors are true . . .

. . . HE’S ON A CRUSADE!!

Here are some principles about Finances that I learned from him:

  • When you give God your firstfruits (at least the first 10% of your gross income) he will provide for your needs and more . . . In fact He’s so adamant about this, he asks us to TEST HIM!
  • Spend your money on paper (using a BUDGET and MINI-BUDGET system) before you ever spend it in real life
  • Plan for the big expenditures (Christmas is an under-estimated expenditure . . . if you plan on it, it won’t bite you in the butt . . .
  • Put money aside in an Emergency Fund so you don’t go in-debt if something were to happen
  • PAY OFF YOUR DEBT . . . AND DON’T USE THESE!!
  • Put 10% away for your retirement
  • SAVE, SAVE, SAVE! Do not buy something that you don’t have cash for.
  • Don’t put your savings in a bank account where it sits and does nothing for you . . . Open up an ING-Direct or other interest accruing accounts
  • IT’S GOD’S MONEY . . . NOT YOU’RE MONEY . . . YOU’RE JUST A MANAGER OF IT!

Take a look at Joe’s site . . . he’s got some really useful tools for you to use FOR FREE!! You can’t pass that up!

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.