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About 15 years ago, I had a disagreement with one of my best friends in ministry. The disagreement got a little out of hand and he eventually lashed out and yelled at me! I couldn’t believe it! But, I pushed his buttons and he let me have it!

My mom used to say, I’m a piece of work, and that I could make a priest cuss! Ha!

I’d like to say, my buddy and I quickly worked through the issue in a healthy Biblical way, but, my heart was sent for a loop. And I describe my response this way; …

I tend to get lazy at times and do things half way. And I know when I am, and it weakens my heart. So, I fight to bring excellence. Excellence in my walk with God. Excellence to my family. Excellence to my work and to this blog.

Sometimes, when I’m fired up about something, I just get in a hurry, and neglect to do things in their proper order and then present a half baked product to the table. Then regret sneaks in and that old worthiness wound I’ve written about.

So, to combat this, I’m attempting to slow down, …

Winter. I love winter! You might remember we got a 15 inch one time snow this year, and it was awesome!

I love everything about snow! The cold, the beauty of it. I love going on long walks in the evening when everyone is inside warm, and it’s just me and the falling snow. It’s peaceful and makes me feel alive!

However, there comes a time when I’ve had enough. Winter can get long. I begin to long for the trees to bloom their leaves, and my gardens to spring back to life in my backyard.

I enjoy mowing the …

“I run in the path of your commands, because you have set my heart free.” Psalm 119

“Have you ever put those two things together—freedom of heart and the passionate pursuit of God’s commands? The two go hand in hand. Genuine holiness restores human beings; restored human beings possess genuine holiness.”-Eldredge

After I read the book “The Utter Relief of Holiness” by John Eldredge, I felt hopeful.

Hopeful, because I felt relieved that holiness was attainable, not because of what I’ve done, but because of what Christ did for me.

It’s quite a relief to know my heart is forgiven, …

“Soak continually in the one great truth of which you have had a vision; take it to bed with you, sleep with it, rise up in the morning with it. Continually bring your imagination into captivity to it and slowly and surely as the months and years go by, God will make you one of His specialists in that particular truth.” Oswald Chambers

“Your Calling is not about what you can do, but about who you are. This is not about what you are good at, but what the good is that God has created in you.” Gary Barkelow, It’s …

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 1 John 5:14 NIV

Part of having a strengthened heart as a Christian, is having a healthy and balanced perspective in our relationship with God as we live our lives.

And part of having a healthy and balanced perspective is knowing with confidence that God hears us, especially when life seems difficult. That always brings me confidence. Knowing God hears my prayers and wants a relationship with me is comforting in many ways. Especially when His will doesn’t always …

Sometimes, and it’s rare, doubt creeps into my heart. I believe this is a normal feeling that inches it’s way into the hearts of people. Jesus accomplished His mission over two thousand years ago. And we are anxiously awaiting His return. I also sometimes think about God’s Word and the reliability of it, and some of the stories told. It’s a fact that we must live by faith. But, I have found a few ways to help combat this feeling.

As I’ve walked with God, there are two teachers I’ve leaned on that bring my …

“…Being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance… Colossians 1:11 NIV

As I have made disciples, there have been a few “A Ha” moments that God brought to my attention.

And one of them is the power of repetition. repetition helps build endurance in the marathon of our Christian life. As I’ve been praying about this post, I’ve been reminded of all the different areas of our lives where repetition is key to success. And, I have a horrible memory. So, repetition is my middle name.

I work in sales, …

”Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:2-4 NIV

I ran a marathon in October of 2005. I can’t believe it’s been that long ago. I learned a lot of life lessons from running a marathon. One of the lessons I learned was, I was going to need to develop a plan to finish the race. Part of the plan …

“…For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.” Romans 8:11-13

Several years back, a new resource was published titled, “Every Man A Warrior.” And a good friend of mine became the COO of the ministry. And as the author of the material was writing the study, John and I would get a rough draft copy of each chapter, and study through it and then give our feedback. There are 26 chapters. This study is now published in over 26 …