Hannah woke up at the crack of dawn this morning, so I took her with me to take Josh to school.  She was in a good mood and we had a little chat on the way home.

Hannah: “Daddy, are you going to stay at the house when we get home?”

Me: “No I have to go to work.”

Hannah: “No!”

Me: “Well I have to go to work honey.”

Hannah: “No, you have to sit down for a little well, so we can talk about it.”

Me: “Okay, we can talk about it.”

At three years old, Hannah is teaching me the longing she has for a little extra time with me.  In her own way she wants to have one on one time to “talk about it”. 

As parents do we value time with our kids as much as they value time with us?  Just sitting around and shooting the bull is more than just chit chat when it comes to our kids.  Chit Chat is valuable time that let’s our kids know we care about them and their lives.

I am a huge fan of the Houston Astros.  I have been since I was a little kid.  I have loved them in good times and in bad.  In recent years, since their World Series try a couple of years ago, the Astros have been slacking. 

When a team begins to go downhill, they look for people to blame.  In professional sports we hear the terms, “we are in a rebuilding season”, “next year is our turnaround year”, and while those things are true, eventually you have to come up with the goods.  At some point you have to actually turnaround.

Such is the case with the Astros.  We have been hearing these phrases the last couple of years.  If something doesn’t change, someone has to make a change.  Today, Manager Cecil Cooper was dismissed.  In his playing days with the Milwaukee Brewers, Cecil Cooper was a hitting machine, one of the greatest in Brewers history.

The first year with the Astros, fans had a love affair with Coop.  He was the greatest thing since cotton candy.  But when the team did not turn around, someone had to pay.  Today was payday.  Every organization has to have a scapegoat and here he was.  I did not care for Coop’s coaching tactics, but it is always easier to coach from my living room than from the bench.  I have often wondered if it is hard to coach a group of guys that make four times as much as Coop did.  Nonetheless, the coach is the guy that goes first.

In business and church it is the same scenario.  Everything rises and falls on leadership.  Yes in the church, we play by different rules, but every pastor should take seriously his or her role of leadership.  As goes the leader so goes the church.  I have often said, we are in a season of revitalization or rebuilding. We indeed are!  Recently though, I have began to seek the Lord for what is after this season.  I want to look ahead to where we are we will be after our rebuilding season.  I can only use the rebuilding phrase for so long.  Somewhere, we must begin building and this is where leadership comes in.

For me as a leader, that leadership begins with being under the leadership of the Holy Spirit.  If the church doesn’t continue to move forward, I must seek the heart of God to determine why.  The Bible says that it is His church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.  If we are lined up with God and His Word, growth will come in due season.  Certainly there are different seasons for the growth of the church.  It is following God where He leads us so that we can build the team that He desires.  As the leader of RFA, I want to put our team on the winning track.  I am looking for God to lead us in the ways He has for us.  Let’s build the church!

I haven’t been able to finish this book yet, but so far it has been a great read.  Wilkinson has authored another easy reading, fast moving book.  It is written in the same style as his Prayer of Jabez book, however, You Were Born For This is longer and, I believe, surpasses his first book.

The author challenges the readers to live beyond the normal Christian life and encourages them to change their mindsets.  He engages the reader with stories that can easily be applied to our own lives.  To sum up the challenge, “Live in tune with God and expect him to use you to deliver miracles to others.”

Summary

His New York Times phenomenon The Prayer of Jabez changed how millions pray. Now Bruce Wilkinson wants to change what they do next.

Anyone can do a good deed, but some good works can only happen by a direct intervention from God. Around the world these acts are called miracles—not that even religious people expect to see one any time soon. But what would happen if millions of ordinary people walked out each morning expecting God to deliver a miracle through them to a person in need? You Were Born for This starts with the dramatic premise that everyone at all times is in need of a miracle, and that God is ready to meet those needs supernaturally through ordinary people who are willing to learn the “protocol of heaven.”

In the straightforward, story-driven, highly motivating style for which he is known, Wilkinson describes how anyone can be a “Delivery Guy” from heaven in such universally significant arenas of life as finances, practical help, relationships, purpose, and spiritual growth.

You Were Born for This will change how readers see their world, and what they expect God can do through them to meet real needs. They will master seven simple tools of service, and come to say with confidence, “I want to deliver a supernatural gift from God to someone in need today—and I expect to!”

Author Bios:

One of the world’s foremost Christian teachers, Bruce Wilkinson is best known as the author of the New York Times #1 bestseller The Prayer of Jabez. He is also the author of numerous other bestsellers, including A Life God Rewards, Secrets of the Vine, and The Dream Giver. Over the past three decades, Wilkinson has founded several global initiatives, including organizations that recruited and trained thousands of Americans to address hunger, AIDS, and poverty in Africa. Bruce and his wife, Darlene, have three children and six grandchildren. They live outside Atlanta.

David Kopp has collaborated with Bruce Wilkinson on over a dozen bestselling books, including The Prayer of Jabez. He is an editor and writer living in Colorado.

You can order you can order a copy of You Were Born For This at www.christianbook.com.  You can also view a introduction video on the christianbook site.

For many years I have tried to find the perfect formula to lose weight.  The truth is, I don’t want to give up anything in order to lose weight.  I want to eat what I have always eaten and still lose weight. 

I have recently made a discovery that has proved helpful.  Ice Cream helps me lose weight.  Two or three scoops a night of Braum’s Cookies and Cream is sure to help me lose all the weight I need to lose.  You see, for me Ice Cream is my comfort food.  It is like an anti-depressant.  So here is my theory.  When I get down in the dumps I like to eat.  Eating, to me, is not only a hobby but it is a comfort.  Because I eat more when I get depressed, I find that Ice Cream has the tendency to wipe away my worries and foul moods.  If I have less depression, I will  not eat as much.  Ice Cream keeps me from being depressed.

So here it is, eat Ice Cream at least once a day and it will keep me from being depressed which in turn will help me to eat less.  The Ice Cream Diet is the way to go.  Move over Atkins and Maker’s Diet, this is the new fad.

After writing all of that it sound preposterous.  Why?  Because it is ridiculous to think that we can eat Ice Cream all the time and lose weight.  It is an indulgence that has to be kept under control.  My theory that it makes me eat less is my own rationale.  I think that because I want to believe it.  Ice Cream will not cause me to lose weight, no  matter how much I want to believe it will.

In our lives, we somehow think that we can flourish spiritually, with out giving up some of the pleasures of life.  People in our world today, want to be spiritual but they are unwilling to give up their old lives of sin.  They want to go to Heaven but they give the least of the cost to get there.  We buy into the notion that because God desires that we be saved that He will somehow allow us to be saved and still live like we aren’t.  We can rationalize everything.  We can use excuse after excuse of why we cannot give up certain things, but in reality is that what God allows or is it what we want Him to allow?

What is it in our lives that we have excused because it is too difficult for us to overcome? 

I often go through phases in my life where I get the idea that I need a new Bible.  If you look in my office, you find that I have alot of phases that lead to alot of new Bibles.  I research Bibles on the internet and find one that I think will be the perfect match for me.  I find a good deal on it and I buy it. 

When I get a new Bible it is a love affair.  New pages that look so clean and fresh, the smell of new leather,  the gold gilding still in tact on the Bible paper.  For a couple of weeks I read the new Bible and then something changes.  I have yearning for my “old” Bible.  The Bible that I have had for years. 

In fact, this trusty “old” Bible is a faithful friend.  We have been companions for a long while.  The Spirit Filled Bible is my trusty old Bible.  It continually draws me.  I purchased my first one in 1995 and I wore it out.  I bought my second one in 2001 and wore it out.  I was about to buy another one when Thomas Nelson published a Spirit Filled Life Bible in their Signature Series.  It was Calfskin leather and over $150.00.  I would have to sell my first born to get me one.  However, I decided to keep Josh, and I was able to sell a set of commentaries and bought the Calfskin Leather Spirit Filled Life Bible and my life has been good ever since.

I have an infatuation with Calfskin Bibles (although they are too expensive to have too many).  The way they feel in your hand as you read it is a great experience.  They are soft and supple, flexible, durable and age well.  Even though I buy new Bibles, I  always come back to my trusty old favorite. 

Do you have a favorite Bible that you have used that you cannot replace?

This morning, I read a moving article about a 20 year old man who died in a tragic automobile accident.  Pastor Ronnie Floyd, a fellow pastor in Rogers, wrote about the legacy that this young man left because he was an organ donor.  Read the words of this article and think about what it would mean for others if we would decide to be an organ donor when we pass away.  I have been designated as an organ donor for years now, but this article solidifies for me the importance of such a decision.

Pastor Ronnie Floyd writes:

“Yesterday afternoon, I had the challenging responsibility of preaching the Memorial Service for 20-year-old Aaron Webster. Aaron’s life was taken through an automobile accident. While his family prayed at his side in the hospital for a miracle, it did not happen the way they had so prayed for it to happen. The miracles came through his death and I want to tell you about them.

Before I tell you about those miracles, I want to insure you understand that his family has confidence that Aaron knew Christ personally. Aaron is in heaven today. He is in the presence of God today. It was this assurance that calmed the broken hearts of Aaron’s parents, his fiancee, his two sisters and family. Being blessed with God’s peace about where he is today, let me tell you about the other miracles that happened through his death. Get ready: what a story!

Aaron was an organ donor. Ten percent or less of the people who give organs upon their death are able to give all that Aaron was able to give. Aaron was very special and in his death, God even affirmed that more. These miracles happened through Aaron’s death. When Aaron died, he gave much away and miraculously, all of the beneficiaries of his organ donations are progressing at this point.
What did he give to people?

*Aaron gave his heart to a 32-year-old man in Texas
*Aaron gave his liver to a 55-year-old man in Arkansas
*Aaron gave one lung to a 61-year-old man in Wisconsin
*Aaron gave one lung to 70-year-old man in Illinois
*Aaron gave one kidney to a 15-year-old girl in Arkansas
*Aaron gave one kidney to a 9-year-old boy in Arkansas
*Aaron gave intestine/pancreas to a 56-year-old man in Pennsylvania

Additionally, the corneas of his eyes will be placed soon and will give sight to the blind. Powerfully, grafts of his skin will provide skin grafts for 200 children who have suffered severe burn or accidents.

Therefore, all of these people have become beneficiaries of Aaron’s death. While this brings the Webster family comfort, their hearts still break with major pain as anyone’s would in the loss of a child.

His family shared with me the other day: “While we prayed by his side for a miracle, we did not get our miracle, but others did.” Yes, many others received their miracles through Aaron’s death. Sitting in Texas, Arkansas, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Pennsylvania, there were individuals and families praying for a miracle. Yes, God gave them their miracle. May it all bring God glory in this deep moment of loss and sadness for Aaron’s family. I cannot even imagine the pain they must feel. May God give them the power to praise Him in the midst of this storm.

Thank God for miracles that can happen, even through death.”

Since I love history it was not hard to be engaged by this well written book.  The author does an outstanding job of proving how this great nation was founded and that our forefathers intended for our nation to be formed by the pages of Scripture.

Jerry Newcombe seems to be on a personal journey to save America from secularization.  With a precise historical background, Newcombe gives the reader a picture of the key players of early America.  From politicians to judges, from clergymen to businessmen, it is clearly evident that these men used the Bible as their main reference in writing the founding documents of America.

If you enjoy American history or are interested in the spiritual foundation of this nation you will thoroughly enjoy this book.

Book Info

The Book That Made America: How the Bible Formed Our Nation (Nordskog Publishing) by Jerry Newcombe is a definitive volume on the Christian roots of our nation. Those who want to restore knowledge of our Christian heritage have their work cut out. As secularism continues its stranglehold on American education, we move further and further away from retaining our Christian roots. The Book That Made America will challenge anyone to know the true origin of our Nation and to fight to keep it. Newcombe hopes to educate Americans by providing the facts of history, proving that America began as a Christian nation and American’s have every right to preserve and uphold that heritage.

All that is positive in our foundation can be traced back to the Scriptures. Recently, President Obama declared that America is not a Christian nation, while Newsweek announced the demise of Christian America. This book is the answer to America’s critics with the facts of history.

Jerry Newcombe, D. Min., is senior producer for Coral Ridge Ministries and has produced or coproduced more than fifty documentaries. The host of two weekly radio shows, he has also been a guest on numerous television and radio talk shows – including Fox Business News, C-Span, USA Radio and Moody Radio. He is the author or coauthor of twenty two books, including with Dr. Kennedy, What If Jesus Had Never Been Born?, How Would Jesus Vote?, and The Presence of a Hidden God.

Coral Ridge Ministries is a media outreach founded by Dr. D. James Kennedy. Its programming reaches a national television, radio, and Internet audience at www.coralridge.org.

Purchase Online:
-  www.Amazon.com <http://www.amazon.com/>
– http://www.nordskogpublishing.com

Today we are celebrating Hannah’s 3rd birthday.  She is excited!  She is looking forward to opening presents.  Her heart’s desire this birthday is a princess bicycle.  Guess what we bought her?  A Princess Bicycle!  I hope she doesn’t read this and spoil the surprise.

Tonight is the night she has been waiting for.  Chuck E. Cheese!  She has been telling us for days, Chuck E. Cheese is going to sing to her.  She loves Chuck E.  Now as for me, I like Chuck E. Cheese about as much as the dentist.  But I will be going to the party anyway, after all I am Hannah’s dad. 

Hannah has been a gift from God to us.  We were told that we could not have any more children and God miraculously worked on our behalf.  We are thankful for Hannah.

Happy Birthday Princess Hannah!  (For those of you that don’t know her, that is what she calls herself)