Debt is Dumb

I dispise debt. If you're a frequent reader of this blog, you already know that.

Earlier this year, my wife and I took a good sized sum of money that had come into our possession, and followed Dave Ramsey's steps to paying off debt and saving for the future. His Seven Baby Steps are easy to understand, and with a good dose of determination, they will get you out of debt.

It took several weeks of hunting down change to pay bills before I got, as Dave says, "Sick and tired of being sick and tired." Once a person reaches that point, they become determined to end their debt slide, and work toward freedom.

For some, this means getting a second job, or an entirely new and better paying job. For us, it meant throwing everything we had at our debt, regardless of where it came from.

We could have easily blown that large amount of cash and left our debt in place. That's what most people would have done. But, we understood the truth of Proverbs 22:7 where it says "...the borrower is the slave of the lender."

When you are in debt, you lose a great deal of your freedom, even though we live in the country devoted to personal freedom. When debt is a part of your life, you are forced to sacrifice some of who and what you are in order to pay someone else. In the words of Proverbs 22:7, you are forced (like a slave) to work for your lender before you can work for yourself.

Take my advice, get yourself out of debt. Or, if you have never been in debt, steer away from it. You don't need that brick placed on your shoulders.

People Matter To God

I have chosen a new look and name for my blog. I trust you will enjoy the new feel and theme.

I had been discontent with my old site for a while, because the blog had taken a shape that was outside of the original intent. That happens as things grow and mature.

With this change, my focus is going to primarily sharing my thoughts on the things God is doing, the ways he is working, and my thoughts on Christianity. I may delve into other areas from time to time, but telling you that people matter to God is the main priority.

Why this title? It's rather simple. I see a lot of churches and Christians that don't really live like people matter to God. We have a tendency to say all the right things, but our actions sometimes betray our words. We talk about the fact that people need Jesus, but then we do nothing to lead them to Him.

People matter to God. That's a phrase I've heard pastor Herbert Cooper use in some of his messages as Peoples Church in Oklahoma City, and I'm going to borrow it for this site.

Let me know what you think of the changes.

Monday Ten

1. I know I haven't posted much lately, but that is because I have been busy with real life. It has been a very busy week.

2. Most of the work this past week has been prep work a big re-wiring project at KWFC this past weekend.

3. We got the majority of the re-wiring finished, but there are a handful of things left to do.

4. Our church debuted the renovation of the worship center. New lights, a big screen re-alignment, and better cameras. It's all in preparation for a future video campus.

5. This is going to be an exciting week for us.

6. Our two oldest kids are getting baptised this weekend at our church's Freedom Splash event.

7. My middle son turns seven this week. He's super-excited.

8. Independence Day is Sunday. I love my country. Thank you to all who have served in our military to protect and defend out country.

9. We will be celebrating July 4th at the I Love America event.

10. I hope to do a better job of posting thoughts this week. Stay tuned.

Monday Ten

1. Father's Day is always great around our house...mainly because I get treated.

2. Breakfast was at Golden Corral.

3. Having church services on Saturday night makes it possible to do the breakfast buffet in a timely fashion.

4. After breakfast, my wife and boys bought me a new baseball glove. I can't continue to play catch barehanded with my boys.

5. After that, we spent most of the day watching NASCAR and the U.S. Open. It was too hot to do anything else.

6. Notice that I didn't say anything about the World Cup. Soccer is a terrible sport. IMHO!

7. The message that I preached last Sunday aired on the radio in the Mountain Grove area yesterday. I'm praying that someone's life was changed by it.

8. I'm also trusting God to open ministry doors for my family and I. I have no plans...only God.

9. A friend at another radio station gave me a pre-release copy of Hillsong's upcoming concert album. I've been taking it in over the past week. It is good, but sadly there are not many differences between this album and the previous four or five. "Mighty To Save" was the last really good Hillsong album. Again, IMHO!

10. I have golf fever!

Tony Dungy: I Am Second

Guest Post: Handing Over the Keys

This is a re-post of my wife's blog from today. Enjoy!

How many of you like control over your life? Most of us, right? You may like your life just the way it is, and think "Why should I hand over the keys to God?" Christians hesitate to just give God their all. We make excuses as to why we can't do that. God asks us to live by faith. It is a hard thing to do for most Christians. It's hard to say, "Here God, I totally turn my life over to you and will live by faith." But, when we do, we reap huge benefits. I have not always been faithful at letting God totally have the keys, but when I do he always takes good care of me, and I am blessed.

To convey how important it is to hand over the keys to God I will tell you what happened to me. Two-years-ago I was was in a violent roll-over crash. It was the most terrifying night of my life. I can still hear the boys screaming, "Mommy, help me!" Just heart breaking for a mother to know her babies are that scared and in danger.

A young girl had hit a guardrail and slammed into the side of my van, sending me up under a bridge and hitting the top of the bridge support. I went airborne for 50-feet and then rolled end-over-end for three or four times before stopping. I had my two youngest sons with me that night. They were 2 & 4 years old. They were fine other than a few little bumps & bruises. I took the brunt of it with a concussion, bruised lungs, head & neck soft tissue damage and my right hand was sliced open by the shattered windshield. My right hand had three finger tendons shredded, nerves damaged and bone exposed. It was not a pretty sight.

I tell you all this to tell you this. That night I thought I was almost home with my babies. I had just looked in the mirror a few minutes before, and they were sleeping peacefully in their car seats. Next thing I know, I am being pushed up the bridge. At that moment I handed over the keys to God. The one I trusted could help us! You say, "But Rebekah, you were still hurt." Yes, I was, but my babies were fine, and we all survived. It's a miracle! So see when we truly let God take control, He takes good care of us. Who better than to trust your life with. So, I challenge you today to give it all to God. The one that made you. The one that loves you more than anyone. And if you're not a Christian turn over your life to God today! You will never regret turning it all over to God, but you may regret it if you don't.

To show you what a miracle our accident was, I'm going to share some pictures of my wrecked van! I'm so glad that I let "JESUS TAKE THE WHEEL."For I know the plan I have for you," Declares the LORD, " Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you Hope and a Future. Jeremiah 29:11

Blog Suggest

If you're in leadership, no matter how high or low on the totum poll, you'll get hit with criticism. John Maxwell writes "When You Get Kicked in the Rear, You Know You're Out in Front."

Planting Guardrails

This past Sunday I taught at the church where my wife and I met when we were teens. The subject was on "Guardrails," and I talked about the importance of establishing solid boundaries in our lives to protect us from what the Bible calls sin.

A lot of times, we refer to these guardrails as personal convictions, and no matter the label you place on it, the Bible points out that it is important to safeguard our hearts and lives against the evil that is in the world.

Paul, in a round-about way, lists an example of a guardrail in Ephesians 5:18 when he talks about drunkeness leading to debauchery. The Bible tells us that drunkeness is a sin, and this verse essentially says that it leads to debauchery (aka, a lot of other sinful actions). So, the guardrail to protect against drunkenness must be placed in the safe area away from getting drunk.

For some people, this would mean only consuming a couple of alcholic beverages, but for others it would mean no alcohol at all.

You could actually insert any activity that leads to sin in the place of alcohol. In most places, there can be some gray area of activity before hitting sin. The only solid exceptions are in the area of sexual immorality and temptation. The Bible is very clear that we are to flee from these.

Additionally, guardrails are great to put in our relationships, since the people we associate with have a direct impact on who we become. Proverbs tells us that the wise hang around wise people, but that people of poor character will lead others toward danger.

What's cool about the verse I mentioned, Ephesians 5:18, is that Paul not only tells us where the danger area is, and what we need to avoid, he also suggests a substition. He says that instead of getting drunk with wine, we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Jesus didn't come to this world to end the fun that your heart desires. Instead, he came so his followers would have life abundantly.

Monday Ten

1. I preached yesterday for the first time in two years. I spoke at the 1st Free Will Baptist Church in Mountain Grove, Missouri. It was a wonderful experience.

2. My message was titled "Guardrails," and was designed to get people to set protective barriers in their lives in order to avoid making bad choices.

3. Passage that struck me as totally awesome, Proverbs 13:20 - Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

4. I gave some radical tips for married folks to safeguard their marriages and avoid the temptations that lead to sexual immorality.

5. One of the best tips is to not ride in a vehicle alone, have meetings alone, or eat alone with a member of the opposite sex if you aren't married to that person. To do that is to swing the door wide open, and to invite tempation to come into your life. By the way, our culture scoffs at this type of guardrail.

6. Personal guardrails (aka: personal convictions) don't make sense to the culture. The culture tries to lure us to the edge of the moral cliff, then mocks us if we step off.

7. I spent the weekend without a cell phone. Service issues. I won't say more, because I'd say something I would probably regret.

8. I'm playing golf today with a co-worker and friends from another radio station. It's media day for our local golf tournament, so all the media folks will be hitting the course.

9. Then, on Tuesday, I plan to take a college buddy to the driving range. Good times!

10. Finally, I am entertaining invitations to come speak/preach/teach for your church, organization or club. I'm trying to decide if this is really where God is calling me, and can use your prayers as my wife and I seek God's direction.

Something to Ponder

I read this last night, and couldn't contain myself. Many of us are familiar with Romans 3:23, but we rarely read beyond it.

Sinners, that's all of us, get back on good terms with God ONLY by believing in Jesus. Jesus was the sacrifice that closed the gap that existed between mankind and God since Adam & Eve introduced sin into the world.

That's amazing stuff.

Blog Read

Steven Furtick recently wrote about "The Easy Things Are Hard For Me." Check out what he says here.

Monday Ten

1. Today's Monday Ten has been delayed due to some issue with Blogger. But, it's back, and so am I. So, here's the remaining nine.

2. It was two years ago today that my middle son found salvation in Jesus Christ. We're going to celebrate that tonight.

3. We're also celebrating life, because my wife and my two youngest kids were in a violent, roll-over crash two years ago today. The boys walked away, but my wife had three tendons sliced on her right hand, and sustained numerous other injuries. She's mostly healed, but still deals with problems in her hand, and the after-effects of the concussion.

4. Our lives turned up-side-down that night, but the life changes that resulted have been positive. My wife has made sure of that.

5. She determined to accomplish something before the 2nd anniversary of that crash. She wanted to learn sign language or playing the piano, but those are difficult with out the use of the right hand. Instead, she learned how to swim. I'm proud of her.

6. Last night, my youngest son started asking how Jesus can live in your heart. That is very encouraging to know that we could soon all be headed to Heaven after our lives end on earth.

7. Our church is participating in the One Prayer campaign this month. This past weekend we watched a sermon from Lifechurch.tv's Craig Groeschel about Unstoppable Courage. Very good!

8. This past weekend was also promotion weekend at North Point Church, which meant that my oldest child left my class and entered the Middle School area. He got to join us for the 2nd service on Saturday nights. He was very excited to go to "big church."

9. Promotion weekend also meant I gained a lot of new kids moving into the 4th grade. It's time to show them who's boss.

10. Finally, I won't be teaching that class this weekend. I have been asked to preach at the First Free Will Baptist Church in Mountain Grove this Sunday. Looking forward to talking about personal convictions.

Bible Stories That Mess You Up: Part 4 of 4

Jesus gave the religious establishment plenty of reasons to conspire his demise. He constantly pointed out their hypocrisy. On a few occasions, they plotted to grab him, but because it wasn't time for him to die, God prevented it.

But, the Bible records for us a single event that became the tipping point in their hatred of the Messiah. We find it in John 11 in an event that showcases God's power like none other.

Jesus' friend Lazarus had died. His sisters had pleaded with Jesus to come heal their brother, but Jesus delayed. His reason for delaying? He told his disciples it was all happening so they would finally believe. If all the miracles and teaching hadn't convinced his followers, then this event would.

At the same time, it was also going to seal his fate.

The event was phenominal. Lazarus had been dead for four days. His body had begun to decay. And, with a prayer, Jesus spoke three words that changed Lazarus' life, "Lazarus, come out!"

And, he did.

This single event led the Pharisees to start plotting the death of Jesus. And, they didn't keep quiet their plans. With orders out (and wanted posters) that they wanted to arrest Jesus, he stopped his public ministry and stayed away from public areas until it was time to go to Passover.

This single event led many more to people to follow Jesus.

This single event fueled the jealousy of the religious leaders, because all the people flocked to Jesus.

As a result, this single event also led the religious leaders to plot the second death of Lazarus.

This event set the stage for the final act to be played out in God's plan to provide salvation to the world.