Just some early morning thoughts from me to you…

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

Joshua 1:8 (ESV)

In that verse, involving one of my favorite Bible personalities, Joshua, God lays out the template for the life that He wants us to follow—right there. To live the life of significance, the life of impact, of good success, we were created to have, we need to follow Him and His Word. A pathway for each of us to follow today—no matter our age or station in life.

Yet it’s a template for a life much different than, and often in direct contrast, conflict and contradiction to the one which society today lays before us. A worldly plan which always seems to lead us to a need for more and bigger, and even more immediate and momentary satisfaction; and in the end people are left empty, unsatisfied and unfulfilled. Too often we end up looking back and seeing that we have played out the given string of years we have been given without ever getting close to the impact God intended us to have, and as a result, never living the lives, or leaving the legacy God intended for us to leave.

We come up short on all we could have been and done. (more…)

 Just some early morning thoughts from me to you…

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:

a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot…

a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance…

a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-2, 4, 6-8 (NIV)

In his book “Don’t Waste Your Life”, John Piper re-tells a story first published in the February 1998 edition of Reader’s Digest about a couple who “took early retirement from their jobs in the Northeast when he was 59 and she was 51. Now they live in Punta Gorda, Florida where they cruise on their 30 foot trawler, play softball and collect shells.”

Piper wondered at first if it was a joke—a spoof on the American Dream. But it wasn’t. It was reality—and tragically, Piper shared that their dream:

“You come to the end of your life—your one and only precious, God-given life—and the last great work of your life, before you give an account to your Creator, be this: playing softball and collecting shells.”

Think about that, as they look up into His face, with hands outstretched toward Christ, and say: “Look, Lord. See my pretty shells.”

That would be a tragedy. (more…)

Just some early morning thoughts from me to you…

“But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Matthew 6:20-21 (ESV)

He is now a Lt. Colonel in the United States Air Force, standing in the gap for you and for me and our families defending our great nation.

The contribution he is making, and the legacy he is leaving began long before this moment. When my Godson Kevin James Fletcher was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force, his contribution took on new direction and impetus. It continues to this day as he lives the legacy he is leaving through his work, with his family and friends, and in his journey in this world.

We may remember some of their names—Clark, Williams, Hall, Wilson, Harrison, Jefferson, and Hancock who—along with forty-nine others—signed The Declaration of Independence over two centuries ago. We should know them all—they deserve to be remembered for what they did for us more than just one time a year as we did a few weeks ago on Independence Day. They knew full well that as they signed that noble document it would mean the death penalty if they were captured by the British. They were not wild ruffians, but men of means, educated men, and men of profound faith and character who valued liberty more than they valued their own lives, and whose legacy has impacted the lives of so many in so many places since those moments of commitment years ago. (more…)

Just some early morning thoughts from me to you…

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.

Philippians 4: 8-9 (NLT)

I wonder what Francesco Molinari was thinking yesterday during the course of his final round over the links in Carnoustie, Scotland which secured his title as “Champion Golfer of the Year” in the 2018 (British) Open Golf Championship.

I suspect it wasn’t thoughts of disaster or demise as he began his round three strokes off the lead. If thoughts such as that began to creep into the perspective of his next shot, or his approach to the next hole, I suspect he or his caddy would have quickly replaced them with positive, can-do thoughts.

Here we are beginning another week, in the midst of yet another round of life. Let’s be honest with ourselves for a moment—what is your vision and perspective of the week before you? Honestly. (more…)

Just some early morning thoughts from me to you…

^“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

Romans 8: 28 (NKJV)

Paul wrote that verse, inspired by the heart and mind of God.

Paul, the same guy who at one time was known as Saul and killed those who claimed a belief in and followed Christ.

Until his conversion experience, that is. Until that blinding-light experience which hit him on the Damascus Road—where he met God’s full force in the face.

After that encounter, and then as a new disciple of Christ, Paul’s life was something a bit more difficult than just easy. Scripture accounts paint a journey of travels on behalf of Christ, where Paul was beaten, imprisoned, stoned, whipped, slandered, starved, and shipwrecked along with numerous other things of various levels of difficulty happening to him.

Not too fair, it would seem, simply for believing in and following Christ.

But what a privilege.

And he never wavered in his belief and mission.

He continued to share with everyone he met words of hope, conviction, optimism and encouragement about what Christ had done—not only in his life, but in the lives of others—and what Christ would do for everyone. He was fulfilling God’s purpose for his life in some of the worst places, some of the toughest moments, and in some of the most difficult of circumstances and challenges. (more…)