Are You the Salt?

Is prayer an integral part of your life? Prayer should be one of the most defining characteristics of us as Christians. We should strive to be known by our willingness to pray, no matter the time, the place, or the circumstances. Prayer for many of us has become something we just do, another task amongst the myriad of demands on our busy lives. I have been guilty of not praying as often and as earnestly as I should, and it is something that I'm still working to improve upon. Once I was under the impression that prayer was only formal, I've realized that it can be less formal and more personable. Don't get me wrong; there still has to be a sense of reverence, because when we pray, we are entering the Holy of Holies and ultimately inviting the Presence of God to fall upon us as we seek His face. That said, it comes back to that personal relationship that He wants to have with us as His children. Formal prayer still has a place and is always pleasing to our Father in heave

"Dear Heavenly Father, let everything I do today be pleasing in Thine sight. Equip me with the strength and the discipline to allow Your Will to be done in and through my life. Let those that cross my path see a reflection of Your love in my heart."                                                                                   -Amen. I often start my mornings with a prayer similar to this one, with the anticipation that God will, in some capacity, use me for His glory. When we ask Jesus for forgiveness from our sins and invite Him to live in our hearts, no longer are we to approach life as we did in our past. We are to strive to be more like Christ, sharing His perfect love with all those around us. I have found this to be a difficult task in our flesh. Though we have made the conscious effort to change, no one is perfect, our human nature is ever ready to spring up at the first sign of weakness. I want to focus on one thought Jesus has put on my heart, something we face d

What are the lowest gas prices that you can remember paying? Gasoline is the beating heart of the modern world. Every facet of our society relies on the production of gas to keep on spinning. Essentially gasoline is what fuels the world. I remember hearing my dad talking about how gas was $0.25 per gallon when he was a teenager, if only it were still that way now! When I first started driving, gas hovered between $1.00 and $1.30 for what seemed like forever. So for me to drive to school, work, and anywhere else I wanted to go, I had to factor in the cost of fueling my car. Just like a car, we are fueled by something. I'm not meaning the chemistry of how our body's work, I'm talking about that which feeds our ambitions, dreams, and desires. In this context, the word "fuel" is synonymous with the word "motivation." Some are fueled by success in a career, a marriage, or a sport. Others are driven by friendships, hobbies, or the use of talents. None of thes

Half of the readers just cringed after reading the title. The other half probably perked up and said let's go. Which half do you fit into? I fit into the group that cringed. It's not that I don't like exercise, I just never have the time, with church, kids, work, house and yard work, etc. Diet on the other hand, is not even in my daily vocabulary. I like food that tastes good more than losing weight as evidenced by my weight. I just "love" when I go to the doctor and have to weigh in for the nurse and she says I don't look that heavy and that I carry it well. What does that mean? Is that just an indirect way of saying your fat? I'm literally laughing out loud as I write this. I'm by no means an expert of nutrition and exercise, but what if I told you that I have a diet and exercise regiment that only takes two days a week, allows you to eat and do as you please the other five days and is guaranteed to have you in the best shape of your life? Many of us

"You have been weighed, you have been measured, and you have been found wanting. In what world could you possibly beat me?" Quick movie trivia moment, do you know what movie this is from? It's from one of my all-time favorite movies. This quote is from the antagonist of the film, just as Satan is the antagonist of our lives, and we could easily hear this same quote from him at some point during our time in this life. I would say, as of right now, I'm as close as I've ever been in my relationship with Jesus. We walk and talk together daily, and my soul is at peace, though life may be kicking up dust all around me, I know He is right here with me no matter how the enemy may try to tell me otherwise. I recently had a close friend of mine approach me with this one simple statement, "brother, your whole countenance has changed, you're always smiling," but it hasn't always been this way. There was a time in my life where I was so consumed with my wants

Who are you? Who do others say you are? And most importantly, who does God say you are? These are deep and powerful questions for us as Christians to explore. Who we are is who we choose to be. This is one of the few things we have control over in this life. This ability to choose is God's gift to us, and it is His will for us to choose Him, but He will not force that choice upon us, we have to be ready and willing. When we make this choice to serve Him, it needs to be a full-hearted dedication to letting Jesus use us to spread the truth of His love and all-sufficient grace. Once this choice is made, we must proverbially wear it in the open for all to see. Take a moment and contemplate what your opinion of the following analogy means: "A Closet Christian." In my perspective, using "closet" to explain something that has been hidden from plain sight is sorely overused, so I want us to look at this from another perspective. I want us to view Christianity as a physi

When I found Jesus... I was in the darkest of hours, all alone...Had all but given up hope of ever seeing the dawn... Caught in the swell of life's raging sea...Not knowing that He heard my every plea... He heard my faintest cries...He dried the tears from my eyes... Freed me from the enemy's lies and deceit...Picked me up and placed me back on my feet... Filled my heart and soul with His love...Living in me, keeping my life as pure as a dove... Leading me to serve His purpose for my life, when I found Jesus... ...no He found me!

Is "listening" a natural talent or a skill that has to be learned? I don't know about you, but listening is not one of my strong suits, as pointed out by my wife at ALL times. Recently she has accused me of not listening to her, so I decided to take some time to explore this phenomenon. In the past and present, my wife has been astonished by how well I can hear. For example, I was once working in the crawl space under my house, and my phone dropped out of my pocket and was left there and had been left on vibrate. I completed working under the house and came back in; it wasn't until later I realized my phone was missing. We turned the house inside out looking for it and could not locate it anywhere. As a last-ditch effort, we called the phone, and I was able to hear the vibration of the phone coming from under the house. After examining the acuteness of my hearing and finding it to be more than adequate, we can infer that it's not my hearing that is the problem. So

Have you ever been lost? Whether on vacation or maybe even somewhere in your hometown area, the feeling of being lost is not a great one I can assure you of that. Being physically lost in today's society is nearly impossible with all the technological advances such as GPS devices and smartphones. I have often made comments about how much easier it is to find your way now than it was even ten years ago, but even technology fails and you can still wind up lost. In order to use a GPS device, no matter the type, you have to do something that you may not consciously realize. You have to step out on faith that the device in question is going to accurately direct you to your intended destination. Bet you have never considered using a GPS device in that sense before, but you can't deny this as truth. We put in the destination we wish to go to and then have faith that we will arrive where we want to go. How much different is this than that of our "spiritual direction?"

Any fisherman understands the meaning of the term polarized. When fishing, sunglasses with polarized lenses help to reduce glare and allow for you to see into the water clearly as opposed to traditional lenses. This is beneficial as you get a clearer picture of your surroundings. I once walked through this life with the traditional worldly lenses, utterly oblivious to God's purpose for my life and was just merely existing. This is not the life He wanted me to lead, nor was it fulfilling. Once you have had a taste of how it feels to live with God's presence on and around you and His Holy Spirit residing inside of you, you can't just sit idle; you have to seek His face and follow the path He has set before you! At this time in my life, I had slipped into a rut, knowing precisely what was missing, but not willing to sacrifice what I thought was necessary at the time (my selfish wants and desires), to pick up my cross and carry it in His name, if for no other reason than to glo

How many of you remember when your parents would read to you as a child? I remember this rather vividly. I would pick out a book and then climb into one of their laps and position the book, so I could quickly turn the pages as they read. Sometimes I would get scolded because I was too impatient and would try to turn the pages too soon. This would eventually lead to the ultimatum that they would turn the pages as they read. Now that I'm older and have children of my own, I know how it feels to be on both sides of the page (pun definitely intended). When my girls climb in my lap to read a book, we go through the same struggle as my parents did with me, I have to lay down the gauntlet that I'm going to turn the pages, or we won't finish the book. We are so blessed that God has perfect patience to deal with our impatience concerning His timing. Our lives could be compared to a book, divided into many pages. For instance, they both have a beginning, middle, and end. For believer

Disappointment is something that touches all of us in some form or fashion throughout our lives. We can all sit back and recollect a time when we have faced disappointment, whether something as simple as losing an item or as complex as a friend who has betrayed our trust. I want to share an example that happened in the past concerning my wife and our 10-year-old daughter, who was only four at the time. My wife and her father went on a unique father/daughter vacation to Colorado. Before her departure to return home, my wife decided to purchase a few keep-sakes to give to my daughter and me. One of the items that she brought back for our daughter was a snow globe. Granted, our daughter had seen snow globes before; this one was special because her mommy had been away for four days and I can only imagine how long this must have seemed in her mind (After her asking me at least 100 times how long will mommy be gone and is she coming back today?). As my wife presented the snow globe to our