Daily Reading - "Tomorrow The Lord Will Do Wonders Among You." Joshua 3:5 NAS

Here is how it read today...

Mon. Aug 31

"TOMORROW THE LORD WILL DO WONDERS AMONG YOU." (JOSHUA 3:5 NAS)

Don't discard your tomorrows!

Your yesterday have made you what you are today, but your tomorrows can make you what God always intended you to become. Joshua was talking to a nation whose yesterdays were a long list of repeated failures and rebellion against God. They had been convicted, judged, punished and reinstated frequently by the God they'd flagrantly sinned against. Surely, they ought to have been cut off from Him, stripped of any future blessing. But "Joshua said to the people, 'consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.'" Consecrate yourself, realign yourself with God's plan and watch Him begin to work in your life. Just when the enemy has you convinced that with your past God couldn't possibly have a future for you, He calls you to prepare yourself so He can bless you. God is fully aware of your yesterdays, but He's much more focused on your tomorrows. Why do we discard our tomorrows when we so desperately need them? When Jesus cried, "It is finished!" (Jn 19:30), His disciples misunderstood and concluded it was all over. So they slipped away to contemplate the tomorrow they thought would never be. But with God, every ending is a new beginning, and three mornings later the angel announced the resurrection and the new tomorrow that would guarantee the future for all believers. "It (your yesterday) is finished!" Don't give up your tomorrow by building monuments to your past failures. Acknowledge, confess and release your yesterdays to the crucified Christ. "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you."

J.M.T. "The Industry They Not Gon' Take From Me (N Word)

Where I'm At/It Is What It Is 8/29

Trials & Tribulations of a 3% Child

Growing up I took a liking to being above average in various ways. I was an above average athlete overall, no matter what the sport I could do better than most, given time. In school I was always a straight A student and would literally cry if I got a B. Making friends for me was easy due to both of those things as well. When it came to other things such as video games I took a deep interest in being able to do better than others as well and would go through fits when I couldn't figure out a way to beat certain people and would rather lose to that person 20 straight times rather than play someone I knew I could beat easily. To say I was an overachiever would be kind, I just looked at it as a challenge and early on I figured it's better to stick out for being above average than anything else.

Summertime for most kids growing up involved summer camps, family vacations, sports camps and all sorts of stories of trouble you may have got into with friends. In my early years that definitely wasn't the case. My family didn't have much money to take family vacations or send 5 kids to any kind of summer or sport camps. Also, my cousins would basically live at my place during the summer as well for multiple reasons. So where that may be a recipe for disaster, we on the otherhand came up with many fun and productive things to do. We actually had school and would go through the day as a shortened and of course more fun version of school. My older sisters and brother designed our classes and graded our work. We had a nice variety of things, math, english, current events, social studies, art and gym.

My younger brother and cousins often did work that would get them ready for what they were going to be doing the upcoming year. Me being me however would end up doing math almost at the level of my older brother and sisters and I took a deep interest in a certain part of current events, that being anything having to deal with money. This would become my two main areas of interest that I focused on as I got older. I figured if you want to make money you have to be good with math and knowing what's going on now involving different aspects of how it is made and spent. So that's what my summers consisted of in my early years and they were very memorable and I appreciate them til this day. I learned a lot, had a lot of fun with my brothers, sisters and cousins, and went into the next school year beyond prepared to tackle the course work.

I started playing organized football at the age of 5 and I guess this is where the overachieving really started. My older brother played the year prior and at that time I was told I had to wait a year. When I eventually came out to play I mistakenly ended up on a team that was intended for kids older than me but still I ended up making a name for myself. I excelled way beyond the talents of many of the players who had already been playing for a number of years. When I was informed that I was on the wrong team the coaches of the younger team were eager to get me to play, although it was my choice whether or not I wanted to move down or not. Let's just say they knew how to sway a kid easily. I ended up playing about 5 different positions, one of which was of course running back. I dominated at every position they eventually put me at and this is when football became my first true love. As I grew older I learned many lessons from football alone that help groom me for life and that's another reason I will always love football.

Special Selection - "You Don't Know"

Daily Reading - "Oh, That They Were Wise...That They Would Condsider Their Latter End!" Deuteronomy 32:29 NKJV

Here is how it read today...

Sat. Aug 29

"OH THAT THEY WERE WISE...THAT THEY WOULD CONSIDER THEIR LATTER END!" (DEUTERONOMY 32:29 NKJV)

Be wise - prioritize (1)

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The Bible says: "Oh, that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!" One of life's greatest challenges is thinking and doing the things that ultimately matter and bring success. A life in which anything goes, is a life in which nothing goes. Wisdom means having the discipline to prioritize and the ability to work toward a stated goal. The question is not, "Will my calendar be full," but "Who will fill it," and "What will it be filled with?" To know your life's priorities you must frequently pause and ask: (1) "Lord, what do You want me to do?" (Ac 9:6 NKJV). (2) What is required of me that nobody else can do? (3) What will bring the greatest return? God doesn't reward wasted effort, He rewards wisdom.

The story's told of a lighthouse keeper on a rocky stretch of coastline who received a new supply of oil each month to keep the light burning. Being close to the shore he had lots of guests. A woman from the village needed some oil to keep her family warm; a farmer requested some for his tractor; a mechanic wanted some to lubricate a wheel. All the requests seemed legitimate so the lighthouse keeper tried to please everybody. Before the month was over his oil was gone and the beacon went out. As a result several ships were wrecked and lives were lost. When the authorities investigated, the man was very repentant. But to his excuses and pleading their reply was, "You were given oil for one purpose - to keep the light burning." Be wise - prioritize!

Daily Reading - "The Beauty Of Old Men [And Women] Is...[Wisdom And Experience]." Proverbs 20:29 AMP

Here is how it read today...

Fri. Aug 28

"THE BEAUTY OF OLD MEN [AND WOMEN] IS...[WISDOM AND EXPERIENCE]." (PROVERBS 20:29 AMP)

Words to live by

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The Bible says: "The beauty of old men [and women] is...wisdom and experience," so listen up! An elderly man gives us words to live by: "Time has a way of catching you unawares. It seems like yesterday I was young, just married and embarking on my new life. Where did the years go? I know I've lived them all, and I get 'glimpses' if how it was back then...my hopes and dreams. But here it is...the winter of my life...How did I get here so fast? I remember seeing older people thinking winter was so far off I couldn't fathom or imagine it. But here it is...my friends are retired and getting gray...they move slower...I see great changes. I remember when they were young and vibrant, now we're the 'old folks' we never thought we'd become. Each day I find that taking a shower is a real target, and taking a nap isn't a treat anymore, it's mandatory, otherwise I fall asleep where I'm sitting! I'm unprepared for the aches, pains, and the loss of strength and ability to do the things I wish I'd done and didn't. Winter's here and I'm not sure how long it will last. If you're not there yet, let me remind you it'll be here faster than you think. Whatever you'd like to accomplish in your life...do it today. Don't put it off, because you can never be sure if this is your winter. There's no guarantee you'll see every season of life, so say all the things you want your loved ones to remember. Your life is a gift from God, how you live it is your gift to Him and ensuing generations."

Special Selection - "Listen"

Daily Reading - "The Integrity Of The Upright Will Guide Them." Proverbs 11:3 NKJV

Here is how it read today...

Thurs. Aug 27

"THE INTEGRITY OF THE UPRIGHT WILL GUIDE THEM." (PROVERBS 11:3 NKJV)

Integrity (2)

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We all suffer from something psychologist call "fundamental attribution error." It works like this: if something good happens in my life I tend to explain it by taking credit for it. But if I fail, I explain it by blaming my circumstances. If I do well on a test I think it's because I'm smart; if I do poorly, it's because I was distracted. If people like my sermon it's because I'm a good preacher; if they don't it's because they're too shallow. What makes the fundamental attribution error even worse is the way we explain the behavior of other people, while explaining our own bad behavior in terms of mitigating circumstances. We say other people's bad behavior is because of that would exhaust the patience of Job. If you yell at your child, it's obvious that you need to see an anger management counselor. If I get a speeding ticket, it's because the policed needed to fill their quota so they set up a trap when they should have been out catching criminals. If you get a speeding ticket, it shows you're not qualified to be behind the wheel.

What's the solution to the fundamental attribution error? The way of grace and repentance. We need God's help to see the truth about ourselves. And He gives it to us in three ways: (a) Through prayer. (b) Through reading and applying His Word. (c) Through people who love and know us well; people who don't tell us what we want to hear but what we need to hear.

Special Selection - I'm Not Tired Yet

Daily Reading - "The Intergrity Of The Upright Will Guide Them." Proverbs 11:3

Here is how it read today...

Wed. Aug 26

"THE INTEGRITY OF THE UPRIGHT WILL GUIDE THEM." (PROVERBS 11:3 NKJV)

Integrity (1)

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Psychologist speak of an integrity blind spot in each of us which is called "the self-serving bias." Here are some examples of it: 800,000 high school students were asked whether they were above or below average. Now if they were accurate they'd have split 50-50. Guess what percentage rated themselves below average? Zero! 20% rated themselves in the top 1%! The self-serving bias extends to every area. The majority of people in the hospital suffering from crashes that they themselves caused, rated themselves as above-average drivers. You might think that education would make us more honest and self-aware, but no. 88% of college professors rated themselves above average; 25% rated themselves as truly exceptional. Another survey of 200 sociologists found that half of them believed they would become one of the top ten sociologists in the world. No wonder there are such conflicts around tenure and promotion. And the church is not exempt. George Barna did a survey of pastors - people who are paid to teach on texts such as: "Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgement" (Ro 12:3 NIV). "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time" (1Pe 5:6 NIV). Guess what? Ninety percent of all pastors in the survey considered themselves "above average" preachers. Perhaps most ironic of all: when people have the concept of the self-serving bias carefully explained to them, the majority rate themselves as "well above average" in their ability to handle the self-serving bias. Wow! Our problem is not just our lack of integrity, but that we can't see how badly we lack it.

Special Selection - "Souled Out"

Daily Reading - "Another Jesus...A Different Spirit...A Different Gospel." 2 Corinthians 11:4 NKJV

Here is how it read today...

Tues. Aug 25

"ANOTHER JESUS...A DIFFERENT SPIRIT...A DIFFERENT GOSPEL." (2 CORINTHIANS 11:4 NKJV)

What "sells"

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In an old Peanuts cartoon strip, on the first day of the new school year students are told to write an essay about returning to class. Lucy wrote, "Vacations are nice, but it's good to get back to school. There's nothing more satisfying or challenging than education, and I look forward to a year of expanding knowledge." The teacher was pleased and complimented Lucy on her essay. In the final frame of the cartoon Lucy leans over and whispers to Charlie Brown, "After a while, you learn what sells." The temptation to preach "what sells" is always with us. Paul warns the Corinthian church to be on guard against anyone who preaches "another Jesus...a different spirit...or a different gospel."

Like Jonah, we are called to preach to people who'd rather hear something different. But running away didn't work for Jonah, and it won't work for us. "The Lord sent out a great wind on the sea...so that the ship was...broken up" (Jhn 1:4 NKJV). If He has to, God will shipwreck our plans in order to get us to go where we need to go, and to say what He's called us to say. One pastor recently acknowledged that his messages was attracting big crowds but not turning people into disciples, so he changed direction. The first thing God told Jonah to say when he reached Nineveh was, "Repent." The Gospel does two things: It comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable. The truth that sets us free will make us feel bad before it makes us feel good. God's goal is not our comfort; it's producing in us the character of Christ so the world will be drawn to Him.

Daily Reading - "This Is The Victory That Has Overcome The World - Our Faith." 1 John 5:4 NKJV

Here is how it read today...

"THIS IS THE VICTORY THAT HAS OVERCOME THE WORLD - OUR FAITH." (1 JOHN 5:4 NKJV)

You'll win if you don't quit!

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The Bible is a "David and Goliath" book. It's filled with stories of ordinary people whose faith overcame great obstacles and impacted the world around them. That's why John the Apostle writes: "Whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith."

If you haven't heard of Irwin Rosenberg, here's his inspiring story. As a junior officer he was discharged from the Navy when he was diagnosed with cancer. That was the standard military procedure at the time. But he was determined to get back both his health and his job. At one point he was given only two weeks to live. But through faith and dogged determination his cancer was eventually brought under control. Irwin then focused his attention on becoming a naval officer again. But he discovered the navy regulations forbade reinstatement of a person discharged with cancer. Everyone around him said, "Give up. It can't be done. It would take an Act of Congress to get you reinstated." Their advice gave him an idea - he'd pursue an Act of Congress. After years of waiting, petitioning, cutting through the red tape and battling bureaucracy, President Truman eventually signed into law a special bill that allowed Irwin Rosenberg to reenlist in the Navy - and go on to become a Rear Admiral in the United States Seventh Fleet!

The poet writes: "You can never tell how close you are, it may be near when it seems afar; so stick to the fight when you're hardest hit - it's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit!"

Daily Reading - "We Are Hard Pressed." 2 Corinthians 4:8 NIV

Here is how it read...

"WE ARE HARD PRESSED." (2 CORINTHIANS 4:8 NIV)

Resilient people (2)

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Two other traits resilient peoples share are: (1) They allow pain to spur growth: At the peak of her career when photographer Linda Joy Montgomery learned she was going blind, an inner voice said, "This isn't the end; it's the beginning," She began writing poetry, discovered her calling as a motivational speaker and created the True Vision Institute, teaching kids to tap into their inner resources. The Bible says: "Though good people may be bothered by trouble...they are never defeated" (Pr 24:16 NCV). Finding purpose in your pain isn't a new idea. Survivors of life-threatening illness, natural disasters and the Holocaust, and parents of chronically ill children continually demonstrate how overcomes find the proverbial silver lining by reinventing themselves. Paul talks about being "battered by troubles, but...not demoralized...thrown down, but [not] broken" (2Co 4:8 TM). Meeting challenges helps develop confidence and a can-do attitude that says: "I've been there, done that, and I'll survive." Michael Jordan once said, "I've missed over 9,000 shots in my career...lost over 300 games...26 times I've been trusted to make the game-winning show, and missed. I've tried and failed over and over again. That's why I succeed."

(2) They insist on changing what they can: Paul says: "Whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord" (Eph 6:8 NKJV). Workers digging through the rubble to help rescue survivors of the Oklahoma City bombing, though understandably distressed, showed fewer symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder later on. In concentration camps POW's who routinely gave away their last morsel, proved that you can choose your attitude in any given set of circumstances. How? By drawing strength from God and learning to control the one thing you can control - yourself.

Special Selection - "Yes"

Special Selection - "Yes"

Daily Reading - "We Are Hard Pressed." 2 Corinthians 4:8 NIV

Here is how it read today...

"WE ARE HARD PRESSED." (2 CORINTHIANS 4:8 NIV)

Resilient people (1)

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When a back injury paralyzed Angela Madsen from the waist down, she vowed to do whatever it took to get back up. As a result she started training to be the first woman with a disability to row across the Atlantic. Journalist Denise Foley writes: "Madsen is what researchers call 'resilient - able to rebound from whatever life brings. She's one of those people who make us wonder how we'd fare if our mettle were tested. Would we bounce back?" Paul writes, "We are hard pressed...but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed."

Resilient people: (1) Take control of their lives: Drs. Stevens & Sybil Wolin write, "It's easy to blame others for your problems and wait till they fix them. But then you never get to rise to the occasion...When you see yourself as a problem-solver life goes very differently. Identify your strengths. Recall those moments when you triumphed over adversity. Focus on what you can influence instead of what you can't." (2) Surround themselves with the right people: The Psalmist said, "They...treated me badly all my life, but they have not defeated me" (Ps 129:2 NCV). Ned Hallowell grew up with a bipolar father, an abusive stepfather, an alcoholic mother, and two learning disabilities - a history that's often a precursor to jail or a mental institution. Today he's a prominent psychiatrist, a happily-married father and a successful author. It happened largely because at the boarding school he attached himself to teachers who cared about him and took him under their wing. So in rough times, lean on God, take control of your life, and surround yourself with the right people.

What "Big Daddy" Couldn't Agree With: "The Vick Issue" - The Whole Story

Special Selection - Oh Give Thanks

Daily Reading - "Do Not Be Anxious About Anything." Phillipians 4:6 NIV

Here is how it read today...

Thur. Aug 13

"DO NOT BE ANXIOUS ABOUT ANYTHING." (PHILLIPIANS 4:6 NIV)

When you feel anxious (2)

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We all face times when we must choose between faith and anxiety. A woman trapped in an abusive relationship must choose between getting help, getting out or staying stuck. A young person being pressured to do drugs can choose to give in, or say "no" and walk away. A person anxious about death can read God's Word, talk to a friend or counselor, or continue to be anxious.

The Bible says: "The righteous are bold as lion" (Pr 28:1). You say, "Right now I don;t feel too bold." Courage doesn't eliminate anxiety, it rises above it! David said, "Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart" (Ps 27:14). When your cause is right and you're committed to God, He gives you the courage needed to act. But you must learn to face the thing you fear. This can mean standing up for what you believe, making a phone call you've been putting odd, expressing your opinion, acknowledging some character flaw and asking God to help you change. What you must remember is, doing always comes from before the feeling of increased confidence. Each time you confront your anxieties you take a step forward. But when you allow anxiety to control you, you retreat into your "safe zone" and start seeing yourself as somebody who can't handle life. Here's some great advice for living: analyze the situation fearlessly, figure out the worst that can happen. Once you've accepted that, you experience a release of energy and you can begin doing something about it, even if all you can do is - leave it in the capable and loving hands of God.

Special Selection - "No Weapon"

Daily Reading - "Do Not Be Anxious About Anything." Philippians 4:6 NIV

Here is how it read today...

Wed. Aug 12

"DO NOT BE ANXIOUS ABOUT ANYTHING." (PHILIPPIANS 4:6 NIV)

When you feel anxious (1)

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Anxiety starts as a trickle, then creates a channel in our mind through which all our thoughts begin to flow. Most of our anxieties fall into three categories:

(1) Anxiety about things we all face: like aging, disability, retirement, loneliness, financial uncertainty, accidents, illness, losing a loved one, and death. (2) Anxiety about things we all must do: like making decisions, starting and ending relationships, losing weight, changing careers, making a mistake. (3) Anxiety reflecting our inner state of mind: These anxieties reveal how we feel about our ability to handle things. For example, fear of rejection can affect every relationship in your life. In order to avoid being hurt you shut others out, your world grows smaller and your opportunities for personal growth are more limited.

Many of our anxieties can be reduced to one question, "What if I can't handle it?" Your mind is the battlefield where victory is won or lost. So ask yourself, "Would I still be anxious if I knew for certain I could handle anything that came up?" The answer is no. Anxiety can't immobilize you and steal your joy when you know you can handle whatever happens. You say, "That sounds too simple." Not when you bring God into the picture! Here are two great anxiety eliminating Scriptures you can stand on when times are tough: (1) "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Php 4:13 NKJV). (2) "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds" (Php 4:6-7 NIV).

Special Selection - "I'm Still Standing"

Daily Reading - "Live A Life Of Love." Ephesians 5:2 NIV

Here is how it read today...

Mon. Aug 10

"LIVE A LIFE OF LOVE." (EPHESIANS 5:2 NIV)

The call to love (2)

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There's a condition called "Active Inertia." It happens when we stick to old commitments that no longer make sense. In some cases, they are actually detrimental to our health, our family and our spiritual well-being. This goes on until we hit a crisis. For example:

A busy father whose neglected daughter runs away from home and gets sucked into a life of addiction suddenly finds the time to scour the country looking for her, and then spend weeks looking for treatment clinics. A couple who were too busy for each other suddenly find massive amounts of time for counseling and lawyers and legal bills and apartment searches as their marriage falls apart. A workaholic suddenly finds time to ask what life really means when a lab report comes back from the doctor's office marked "Malignant."

Dr. Timothy Johnson writes: "Part of the pleasure of reading a novel lies in not knowing how it will turn out until we get to the last page - and then thinking back on how the characters might have lived differently had they known what the end would be like. But real life has an urgency so different from fiction; at the end, it cannot be changed. The meaning of life is that it stops. We will never figure out how we should live our life unless we understand the significance of the fact that it will end. And then what?" So, pause and ask yourself what you're doing (or not doing) with your life right now that will lead to regret later. Life is always played in a forward direction; it never goes backward. Paul's advice on this subject is, "Live a life of love."

Special Selection - "Blessed & Highly Favored"

Daily Reading - "Live A Life Of Love." Ephesians 5:13 NIV

Here is how it read today...

Sun. Aug 9

"LIVE A LIFE OF LOVE." (EPHESIANS 5:13 NIV)

The call to love (1)

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When we take stock of our day-to-day actions there's often a big gap between what we say saw we value, and how we spend out time, money, energy. Couples spend four times as much time watching television as they do talking to each other. Parents spend an average of four hours a day watching TV, one hour shopping, and six minutes playing with their children. And with each day lost, the gap widens.

In the movie City Slickers, actor and comedian Billy Crystal stands before the children in his son's school class and decides to teach them a lesson they are perhaps not ready to learn: "Value this time in your life, kids, because this is the time in your life when you still have choices, and it goes by so quickly. When you're a teenager you think you can do anything , and you do. Your twenties are a blur, your thirties - you raise your family, you grow a little potbelly, you grow another chin, the music starts to get too loud, and one of your old girlfriends from high school becomes a grandmother. In your seventies you spend most of you time wandering around malls looking for the ultimate in soft yogurt and muttering, 'How come the kids don't call?'... Any questions?" If you sense a growing gap between what you say matters most to you and what you are actually doing with you life, take action. Get radical if you have to, but seize this moment while you still have it. The call to love rarely comes with urgency.

Special Selection - "Declaration (This Is It)"

Daily Reading - "PRAY FOR THEM WHICH DESPITEFULLY USE YOU." LUKE 6:28

Here is how it read today...

Sat. Aug 8

"PRAY FOR THEM WHICH DESPITEFULLY USE YOU." (LUKE 6:28)

Always take the high road

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Don Shula, head coach of the Miami Dolphins football team, always held his players to "the 24-hour rule." He gave them 24 hours to celebrate victory or sulk over defeat, then put it behind them. What a great rule to live by!

When you're criticized it's human to want to retaliate, but when you take the time to try and understand people it's easier to forgive them. Many of the negative people in our lives just lack intimate relationships, so they keep others at arm's length, rarely share their feelings and are uncomfortable with those who do. It's easier for them to condemn than accept. Their hard and fast views make them inflexible. Often these people can't handle freedom; they need rules that limit their choices, and only feel secure within their own boundaries. Abraham Lincoln said, "If I tried to answer all the attacks made against me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business. I do the best I know how. If the end brings me out right, then what is said won't matter. If the end bring me out wrong, then ten angels declaring I was right would make no difference."

In dealing with others, always take the high road laid out by Jesus: "Pray for those who spitefully use you. To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either...just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise" (Lk 6:29-31 NKJV). Is that always easy to do? No, but it always pays off!

Trials & Tribulations of a 3% Child

I forget what company the commercial was for but it was a commercial that asked, "What if?" and it asked about a store/business that transformed or totally changed from one to another several times during the day. Most people may not remember it, but it was a really interesting commercial to me for a number of reasons. One, the way they did it was very futuristic in a Power Ranger type transformation, with the buildings and layout of products changing and what not. The other main reason was because this reminded me of my 1st original idea I had for a company when I was about 7 or 8 years old.

I always managed to keep it to myself for the most part, and share it with a limited amount of people but right about now, I could care less. I have many ideas floating through me now and even if someone took my idea I would take appreciation in seeing it actually come to a realization. I've revisited the idea, regrouped some thoughts and possible expansions as well. Knowledge and capital were always my hurdles in holding me back from even getting this thing off the ground. So if you like the idea and can maybe do something with it or help the cause feel free to do so.

For my birthday I became acclimated with going to Chuck E Cheese and having a party there. It was always a fun time, games, pizza, cake, and the annual beat down of Chuck E. What more could a kid ask for? Well the last year I attended I got home and went to thank my mom and started another line of questioning. "Mom, what happens when my party is over and all the kids leave?" She replies, "They clean up and then close." I continue, "Well what do all the older people do, like where do they go?" She replies, "They take the kids home, maybe stay home or go out somewhere else." Still I continue, "Well why doesn't Chuck E Cheese just switch some things around and make it for older people after we leave?" She replies, "Because it's a kids place, it's not really for older people." Still I ask, "Well why don't they just make it for everyone?"

This conversation would eventually lead me to explain to my mother my idea of a place that would serve as a family fun center during certain hours and a young adult playground during other hours. It would be a 24 hour running establishment that would hopefully be incorporated, thus allowing it to be a franchise. There was a lot to it and as I got older I would learn of the Dave & Busters and the Sahara Sams and so on. Still I saw none of them that fully grasped my idea to the fullest concept so I continued to research and expand on the idea. I would notice different locations for different establishments as I would travel around the city.

When I shared these ideas with my mom she always responded with what she thought was good advice which was for me to go to college and we will revisit the idea at that time. Until then, she suggested that I just write it down and work on it as much as possible until then. Now this may have been the best she had to offer, but of course if I was talking to an actual business owner it may have been a tad bit different. Anyhow, I have no regrets with the things I've been through and opportunities that may have passed me because at the end of the day I love where I am now with my relationship with God. I'm pretty sure if He would have blessed me beyond my means back then, I would have not come to know Him like I do now.

So from this young age I continued to think outside the box on ways of making money and different business ideas. I would grow up gaining three different sets of education which were sports, school, and my own personal wealth principles. At times the other two dominated my wealth principles simply because that's the way my environment designed it and I would eventually come to realize this, and find out that's what made me the 3%.

"SHE BROKE THE JAR AND POURED THE PERFUME ON HIS HEAD." MARK 14:3 NIV

Here is how it read today...

Fri. Aug 7

"SHE BROKE THE JAR AND POURED THE PERFUME ON HIS HEAD." (MARK 14:3 NIV)

Don't keep your love in a box!

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Luke records: "A woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume...She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head. Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, 'Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold...and the money given to the poor.' And they rebuked her harshly. 'Leave her alone,' said Jesus...'She has done a beautiful thing...The poor you will always have with you...But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. I tell you...wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she had done will also be told, in memory of her'" (Mk 14:3-9 NIV).

Joseph of Arimathea brought a hundred pounds of ointment to embalm Jesus after He was dead, and not a word of praise is spoken about it in Scripture. This woman brought one pound of ointment and poured it on Him while He was still living, and Jesus pointed out two things: (a) "She did what she could." Acts of kindness are usually not about doing great things, but about doing small things with great love. (b) "What she has done will also be told, in memory of her." What will you be remembered for, a life of service or self-centeredness?

If you think good things about someone, tell them. Go out of your way to fill their lives with joy while there's still time. Those expressions of appreciation, those words of forgiveness, that special gift you've had in mind, give it while you can. Don't keep your love in a box!

Daily Reading - "A Champion Went Out From The Camp Of The Philipstines, Named Goliath." 1 Samuel 17:4 NKJV

Here is how it read today...

Thur. Aug 6

"A CHAMPION WENT OUT FROM THE CAMP OF THE PHILISTINES, NAMED GOLIATH." (1 SAMUEL 17:4 NKJV)

When it comes to giant-problems

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When it comes to giant-problems:

(1) Their size can intimidate you. And it doesn't help when everybody around you, including your leader, is running for cover. This is when you need to recall the victories of your past: Red Sea-sized ones, Jericho Wall-sized ones. How big is your God?

(2) Their words can cause you to doubt. "When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were...greatly afraid" (1Sa 17:11 NKJV). Words like, "The tumor's malignant, the company's down-sizing, I don't love you any more, our child is hooked on drugs, the bank is foreclosing." How do you handle such words? By turning to the living, life-changing Word of God which transcends all circumstances and trumps all opinions. "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever" (Isa 40:8 NKJV).

(3) There is an "opening," look for it. It was said Goliath could throw his spear half the length of a football field, so that's probably how far David was from him. Furthermore, Goliath had body armor protecting him from head to toe, except for a small opening between is eyes and his forehead. That's what David aimed for. There's a lesson here. When you ask God for a solution, it may come as a small opening rather than the size of half a football field! When He shows it to you, trust Him to get you through it. God's response to you is not designed to increase your sense of comfort, but to build your confidence in Him. That way you'll not only be able to handle this giant, but the ones waiting for you in the future.