It Is NOT Over!

 

It is NOT over!!!

 

Dec 31^st 2010

 

I’m sitting in my living room listening to Ricardo Sanchez’s song, I Call Your Name playing silently on my Ipod which plays around the clock in my house and reflecting on the past year.  The good times…The not so good times… The laughter… The tears… The fun… The Pain…and I’m thankful.

 

Things didn’t always go the way I wanted them to go or even the way I thought that they should have gone… But, as I sit here and reflect, through the good and the not so good, I’ve been blessed.

 

The lyrics of the song really convey my heart and the emotion that I feel as I reflect back over the past 12 months that seemingly flew by…

 

Holy
Lord God Almighty
ancient of days
giver of faith
Lord I need you
Worthy
Lord your deserving
of all I have
I lay me down
Lord I need you

I call your name
Lord you reply
You bring your kingdom
To stand by my side
giver of life
all that I need
father your everything that is precious to me
There is no one like you lord in all the earth

 

 

I’m not sure where I would be or in many cases how I would have made it  without Him…As I said earlier, I am thankful…  I’m thankful because I choose to be… I could focus on what didn’t happen in 2010 and if I chose to allow that to be what I highlighted in my mind and heart for 2010 then I would enter 2011 with an ungrateful attitude…  But I CHOOSE to see how much good there was in this year and let the things that weren’t on my “happy list” simply be a small part of a greater whole.  God is so faithful!

 

I stood two feet from where I am typing this yesterday holding my almost 3 year old son, listening to music and carrying him around a dark living room praying over him remembering the day he was born… the weeks following in the NICU when machines were breathing for him and I couldn’t hold him or let him put his head on my shoulder like he was at that moment… and I was thankful…. Just him being here and all the fun experiences that I had this past year that he was a part of is enough to have made 2010 a good…a GREAT year!

 

The memories created with my family and friends… The people that I was able to influence… The lives that were saved and changed because God used me to be his hands, feet, and/or voice…. I choose today to remember those times… and I believe that 2011 will be full of MORE of those kinds of memories!

 

I believe that the rest of my life is the best of my life… I believe that seed sown always produces a harvest… I believe that what God observes in secret He rewards openly… I believe that my tomorrows are filled with hope and destiny!  …I believe!

 

I heard my pastor say yesterday, “Once you are where God needs you to be, you are one day from stepping into destiny”… He was referencing Joseph in the old testament who at 17 was sold into slavery by his brothers who told his father he was killed by an animal, then he was lied about, he was lied to, he was cheated, he wronged, he was put into prison for crimes he didn’t commit and he spent 13 years in that repetitive cycle that he didn’t deserve…but he was being molded and God used that season in his life to prepare him for the responsibility of becoming the second in command over all of Egypt (the most powerful nation on earth at the time) under Pharaoh…and that promotion took place for him overnight.  That promotion saved Egypt from starvation and devastation.  Although, the road to the palace was not paved with gold…It was that season that positioned him to save the lives of every one of his family members and an entire nation… I believe that, in spite of what we have had to endure, each of us has destiny to fulfill!  If you are still here, you still have a voice of influence!

 

A friend of mine recently said to me, “Aaron, I’m convinced that God never wastes pain”… I love that and am actually a walking model of it!  I’m not saying He is the author of it…I’m not saying that He is the reason for it…I’m saying that He will use it to better you and propel you beyond where you have been to where you need to be to have the most significant impact…I, for one will not be satisfied leaving this life without changing the world…Literally!  As the scripture says, “He works all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to his purpose…So, as we close out a year that many have struggled through with blood, sweat and tears…Be encouraged!  He who has begun a good work in you IS FAITHFUL TO COMPLETE IT!  It may be the end of a season called 2010, but IT IS NOT OVER!!!  2011 is MINE!!!  Who’s coming with me?!

 

The rest of your life IS the best of your life!

 

I love you all!  Happy New Year!

 

Aaron

 

Victim or Investor…You Choose

Because I have been following a direction from God (I believe) to “Document the Journey” of my life in this season, it seems many of these chapters have arisen from conversations that I have had with people that God later gives me instruction or a download into my spirit regarding some application to my own life experiences.

I had a few hours this week to talk with a friend of mine who is a pastor and motivational speaker on a drive back from Paducah, Kentucky .  While driving, my medical retirement from Law Enforcement came up. I told him, “Even though I knew my season in Law Enforcement was coming to an end, it is still difficult for me (now years later) because of HOW it ended, ultimately because it did not end on my terms.  Even though God has taken and worked it all together for my good, I can’t help but feel like I was robbed…”

This conversation took place two days ago and this morning while making coffee I had a flashback to that conversation.  Then, I heard my pastors’ voice in my mind and a quote that he will often say in reference to his family and our church… “We don’t ever lose anything…We sow it…”

For those who do not understand the context of that quote, what he is referring to is that some people have a victimization mentality as it pertains to what has been taken from them…Instead, the way he chooses to view life is that he doesn’t allow things to be stolen, taken or lost…Instead he chooses to sow those things…Now, here is why that mentality is beneficial…

For years I have heard pastors say, “What the devil has stolen from you, he must return 7 fold” (Referencing Proverbs 6:31)… Which is a good thing to stand upon and believe for…I mean, a 7 fold return is a good return no matter what system of math and accounting that you are using… BUT, when you understand the law of “Seed, Time and Harvest” when seed is SOWN the return is 30, 60 and 100 fold (referencing Mark 4:20).

Mark 4:20 (Amplified Bible)

20And those sown on the good (well-adapted) soil are the ones who hear the Word and receive and accept and welcome it and bear fruit–some thirty times as much as was sown, some sixty times as much, and some [even] a hundred times as much.

So, the minimum return on what is sown is at least 23 times more that the return on what is allowed to be stolen or taken…From a victims perspective, there is a 7 fold return, from a sowers perspective there is at least a 30 fold return…

Now, it doesn’t change the fact that something was taken or stolen, but, from this perspective, the source of the return is different based upon how you perceive and choose to receive.  If you place the demand on the thief, then the thief pays back 7 fold…If you give it to God and allow Him to use the circumstances and SOW it into the lives and kingdom of God…then, GOD repays on the seed sown… It’s a pretty intense perspective…

As all of this flew into my mind at the speed of thought today, I immediately went to the words of Jesus in two separate scriptures.  The first was instruction given in Luke 6:29 pertaining to how we should handle offense and disrespect…

Luke 6:29 (The Message) 27-30

“To you who are ready for the truth, I say this: Love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer for that person. If someone slaps you in the face, stand there and take it. If someone grabs your shirt, gift wrap your best coat and make a present of it. If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.” Another version of this scripture that is commonly quoted is “Turn the other cheek” …

Is this WHY Jesus was saying what he said in this chapter…? Is he saying, Don’t let ANYTHING be taken from you… SOW IT because the return is so much greater for the seed sown…Is He saying, if you allow anything to be TAKEN then the only return is what you demand… if someone strikes you in the face, and you strike back, then that fulfillment of fighting back is your return…IF you give them the other cheek, now you have sown, not allowing anything to be taken and are choosing to allow God to repay you for the seed sown…If someone takes your coat…You can demand your coat back with interest or you can give them your shirt as well, at which point, they have no longer stolen from you, but you have SOWN into them!  It is an interesting consideration for me…

The next scripture that popped into my head was Jesus speaking in John 10:18 where He says, “No one can take my life… I lay it down voluntarily…”

Upon consideration of what was being revealed, I believe that Jesus was actually modeling the very lesson that was relayed in Luke 6 saying, “You can’t take from me what I am willing to give…It will be sown by me before I ever allow you to steal from me and void the greatest portion of harvest!”

When things are stolen, the thief is given the glory of having victoriously overpowered and taken something from you…When it is sown, God gets the glory as the one who richly blesses and returns handsomely on all that we have sown into His kingdom…

As I considered this today, in a moment’s time, my paradigm changed… My career and money and time and insurance was not stolen from me… I choose to sow it!  I choose to put it in Gods hands and allow Him to multiply it to the Nth degree as He takes all of the circumstances and all of the hurt and all of the frustration and all that was attempting to destroy me and multiplies it by accelerating my growth, increasing my potential, compounding my favor and placing me above and not beneath because my return doesn’t come from the one who stole from me… Vengeance is not mine, it’s Gods… I don’t want a return from a thief, I want a return on INVESTMENT from the seed that I choose to have sown in this past season of my life…I want my return to come from the blessing of God!

I’m not a victim…I’m an investor… Even these chapters of this book are fruit of that investment… If any of them have helped you or if any ministry that has come through me in this season has benefited you…Then, you are recipients of that seed sown…

No more victim mentality… I sow it voluntarily for the furthering of the Kingdom of God and the progress of my family!  God is FAITHFUL!!!

If you can dig it…Say Word!

AFTER THOUGHTS:

After reading some of the comments left both publicly and privately about this chapter there are a few things that I would like to point out.  Each person is in a different place having experienced completely different circumstances,  This chapter is about me, my circumstances, how I have navigated them, what I have learned from them (and more specifically how I think that they would directly affect me based upon how I continued to navigate them..) and how it may apply to others in similar or parallel circumstances…

I have had time to heal…The wounds are not as fresh…The pain is not as pronounced as it once was and definitely not as severe as others have experienced.  Recognizing this, I realize that what is said in this chapter may not be compltely applicable to everyone on every level in every circumstance or every situation and it is not intended to be insinuated as such.  It is certainly not a “blanket” that covers all aspects of all levels of pain and/or abuse…As I stated before, this is about me documenting MY journey and lessons that I am learning along the way as it pertains to my circumstances… If you can derive some wisdom and/or direction from what is writen…GREAT… If not, that’s ok too…

Still, with that said, I do believe that, when taken in context, it can parallel many lives on many different levels depending on where a person is at in the healing process.  I understand that some may not feel that it is applicable in their parrticular circumstance and in that event, this chapter may be something to put on a back burner and re-apply when they are in a  different position.

This is simply an example of how I believe God spoke to me as it pertained to my situation…and I believe that there is probably “something” that can be taken from it and applied to nearly everyones life in some capacity or at some juncture, even if they do not believe that it is applicable to every circumstance…Whatever the case… I’m confident that it is worth pondering…and applying where applicable…

…And know I AM God

…I Am God!

Remember seeing the little kid that is lost in the mall, frantically looking for his parents? “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!!!!” He is so perplexed, overwhelmed and distraught that there is little that you can say or do, short of showing him his father…

I was pondering a scripture earlier…

Matthew 11:28 (Amplified Bible)
28Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.]

As I pondered that scripture in a prayerful state, I saw the scene I explained above with the lost little boy play out in my mind… I knew God was trying to show me something so I asked Him, “What are you trying to convey to me?”… The answer tugged at the heartstrings of my own “father” nature…

This is what I believe He was showing me…For any number of circumstances, so many of God’s children run around frantically looking for God like some lost child… Crying out, “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy…” Running this way and that way completely perplexed and without any guidance or intentionality of direction… They are acting as though somehow, GOD is lost and THEY have to find HIM…

God is NOT lost…and the frantic, anxiety driven, blind pursuit is NOT the solution to the problem…As a matter of fact, it will likely make it worse!

Here is the point… I KNOW my son’s cries… I could be in a room with 10,000 people and if he cried out “Daddy” I would immediately tune in to the ONE voice that matters… the voice of the one that has my heart…My Son’s!

YOU are God’s Son or Daughter…HE ADORES YOU…YOU HAVE HIS HEART! God hears the cries of His children, He is concerned about that which concerns you, He asks you to call unto Him and confirms that He will answer you…Time and time again, throughout scripture, there is confirmation of this desire of His heart to hear, answer and intervene… This is the FATHER nature of God!

As I considered this entire scenario, the scripture hit me… “Be still and know that I AM GOD…” The God who created the UNIVERSE with billions of light years between its ends, cares about YOU… He is saying with that simple statement of “be still” … “I am your loving Father! I know exactly what you need! I know exactly who you are! I know exactly WHERE you are… Be still…You’re not God, I am…So quit trying to do MY job!”

When we know who our Daddy is, and that He is watchfully aware of us… In that time of anxiousness or even disillusionment , we can be still and wait on our Father who has promised to watch over, protect and provide for us…He WILL answer and will come to us and take our hand…

Running about blindly when we feel “lost” only makes it more difficult for us to hear HIS voice calling us to the direction that He IS…

When we STOP with all the emotion and commotion, we can hear HIS voice saying, “Come unto me… You don’t have to run yourself ragged trying to find me…I’m right here and I will give you rest…”

Isn’t it amazing how when a distraught “lost” child finally slows down enough to hear their “Daddy’s voice” or see their “Daddy’s face” , the entire atmosphere changes for the them…? Everything that so perplexed them just moments before melts in the presence and realization of their Father…

Jeremiah 29:11 (Amplified Bible)
11For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome…

HE has plans for YOU! The God who created everything that we understand from the smallest atom to the unfathomable vastness of the universe has a plan that is unique and specific to YOU!!! Once that reality REALLY sinks in to our finite minds and we even vaguely understand the intense weight of who we are to the God that is THAT immense and intense… it almost seems ridiculous to concern ourselves with the circumstantial!

So at the point where we go, “I don’t know what else to do…” Just BE STILL and rest in the work that He is doing on your behalf… It’s His plan, so until He gives you a directive, simply rest in Him … Busy is not always better…particularly when, like the lost child in the mall, it’s driven from a place of fear, anxiety or lack of direction…

…and know I AM GOD!

If you can dig it…Say Word!!!

People, Prayer and Provision

It was tough that first year of marriage.  Lisa and I were married for 6 months and then moved away from our families in Detroit to pursue ministry in Nashville.  We packed all of our stuff into a small U-haul and my dilapidated little Plymouth horizon (that first and second gear was completely stripped out of) and drove to Nashville!  I lived here for a month by myself trying to find work and a place to live and then after a month, Lisa joined me.  We lived in a bug-infested apartment, slept on sleeping bags and did what we had to in order to make it work.  It was hard!

 

Lisa got a job working in the office at a car dealership and I was selling advertising for a radio station.  Money was tight but we were getting by.  One day Lisa called me excitedly and asked me to come up to her work because she wanted to show me something.  When I arrived there was a 3 cylinder 5 speed Geo Metro pulled up to the parking area.  Lisa took me to look at it and pointed out what a great deal it was…As I recall, it only had about 12,000 miles on it, it had air condition (which her vehicle didn’t have) and it was a really nice vehicle for the money…She explained to me that the payment would be $100 a month.  I knew what our bills were, and I quickly shot her idea and excitement down with a, “We just can’t afford it Lisa…”

 

I hated to see her disappointment as she very sweetly looked down and said, “Ok”…

 

As I drove home, I had one of those moments where God puts you in your place and kicks your butt all at the same time… I heard Him say, “HOW DARE YOU TELL HER NO!…IF YOU DON’T HAVE ENOUGH FAITH TO BELIEVE ME FOR AN EXTRA $100 A MONTH THAT’S ON YOU, BUT DON’T YOU PUT LIMITATIONS ON HER FAITH!”… Yeah, I pretty much felt like a horses butt at that point!

 

I turned the car around, went back into the dealership and told her, “If you’ve got the faith to believe God for the money to afford this car, I don’t have any right to tell you no on this…”  She was so excited…she bought the car and long story short, we never missed a payment…God provided just fine!

 

That’s a bit of a lengthy intro, but it was necessary to make a point that I’m re-contemplating some 14 years later as it pertains to people, prayer and provision…

 

I recently wrote a chapter talking about the difficulties that we had when Rocky was born and the life threatening health issues that he faced.  As you recall, he had to be placed on a full ventilator to keep him alive.  I NEVER knew pain like that… at times the grief was nearly incapacitating.  It affected my emotions so adversely that I couldn’t look at pictures from that season or talk about it for over a year…

 

As his father, I did everything that I knew to do to war against what was transpiring with him.  I fasted, I prayed, I had churches around the globe praying, I did everything I could to keep my faith encouraged…It was so hard!

 

Here’s the kicker, during that season I had two separate friends (who happen to be pastors) call me to check up on me.  I spoke with them at length about what I was going through, the battles that Rocky had to overcome, the overwhelming pain that I was feeling…and both of their responses were, lets just say, less than encouraging…as a matter of fact, it bordered on making me mad…“Well Aaron, we are just going to pray that God’s will be done in this situation…”

 

Pastors, I want you to take very close notice to what I am about to say…and I say it in love and with much compassion in my heart as I write… If you do not have the faith to stand with someone who is hurting, then just don’t speak at all into the situation…People look to their Pastors to offer them hope…We are there to help lead them through difficulties and to encourage them with the Word of God when they are struggling to stand and fight…Don’t be a stumbling block to someone else’s prayers of faith if you do not have the faith to stand with them…

 

There is no hope or encouragement in the statement “We’ll pray that Gods will be done”… I understand the pressure to “have all the answers” and how we can feel responsible when we tell them what the Word of God says only to have something that no one was expecting to happen, shatter their world…

 

Understand this, the job of the Pastor is not to make things come to pass, nor is it to make excuse… The Bible says what it says and sometimes we simply cannot explain why things happen the way that they do…it’s OK to say, “I don’t know” if you DON’T KNOW the answer to their question of “why”… But faith in God and His Word is the basis for EVERTHING that we stand on and for as Christian ministers… If we cannot encourage someone who is hurting with the Word, then there needs to be some serious soul searching going on concerning where we stand with it all… If you can’t actually stand as a support, joining your faith together with theirs in a season like the one that I was going through with my son, then here’s a great line that you can use that will keep you from adding insult to injury… “Aaron, we’re praying for you and for your son”… No elaboration needed…

 

Saying “We are just going to pray that God’s will be done in this situation” implies that we don’t know what the will of God is for that situation… and from a biblical perspective, at least in the case of my son, that’s just not true… God’s Word IS His Will… He put it out there for us to be able to draw from and to be able to offer hope with… It’s not our job to fulfill the Word, it’s our job to invoke it…

 

My friends didn’t say, “The Word of God is the Will of God” so let’s pray according to the Will of God and believe to see the miracle working hand of Almighty God reach into your circumstances and turn them around…  No, on the contrary, with a sad, “I’ve already given up” tone in their voice, it was “Let’s just pray that God’s will be done…”

 

So many people (pastors included) have experienced faith altering situations where they prayed for something and it didn’t happen the way they prayed…as a result they simply derive that “It must just be God’s will”… I personally don’t agree with that line of thought… In fact, at least in the present text, I think that those words are often used as a simple cop out to keep from admitting that they don’t know or understand…

 

Personally, I have a bit of a different hypothesis… If the Word of God says something that is not happening the way it says that it should, I think the fallibility/failure rests in my ability to discern something that I am not…The fallibility does not rest on the Word… Like I’ve said in previous chapters, I believe THAT THE WORD IS TRUTH PERIOD!  So, either it’s truth or it’s not… but we can’t have it both ways… If something is happening outside of what the bible says, then there is something that I obviously do not know or understand somewhere… That does not make the Word “wrong” it makes my ability to discern the situation properly, possibly flawed somewhere…

 

I’ve written extensively in previous chapters about “if-then” statements and prerequisites throughout the bible… I contend that there can be a thousand unknowns relating to why things happen a certain way and many times we just won’t know the answers because we are not privy to all of the information surrounding the situation…

 

On the day I was almost killed, God told me 3 different times that something was wrong and I needed to turn back and go to the Sheriff’s office…Had I died that day, people would have made statements like “God failed Aaron, I know him and how much He loves God and look what happened to him…”  Well, the good thing is, I’ve lived to tell you the part of the story that would have never been told if I hadn’t made it…

 

People’s assumptions would have been derived from only a partial understanding of the facts if I had died… but it’s in the TOTALITY OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES that clarity comes… God was faithful…He tried to warn me… I allowed pride in my ability to handle the situation to trump what God was telling me to do…and I paid a steep price for it…

 

To get back on track, if someone is hurting and facing an attack and you don’t know what the bible says or what to tell them to encourage them in that season, let me give you a few ideas of things that you could say to actually build up their faith instead of tearing it down…

 

Isaiah 53:5 (Amplified Bible)

Surely He has borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains [of punishment}…

5But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole.

 

 

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (Amplified Bible)

3For though we walk (live) in the flesh, we are not carrying on our warfare according to the flesh and using mere human weapons.

4For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds,

5[Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)

 

Psalm 91:1

1HE WHO dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty [Whose power no foe can withstand].

 

Psalm 91:10 (Amplified Bible)

10There shall no evil befall you, nor any plague or calamity come near your tent.

 

Psalm 34:7 (Amplified Bible)

7The Angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him [who revere and worship Him with awe] and each of them He delivers.

 

2 Timothy 1:7 (New King James Version)

7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

 

Hebrews 4:12 & 14 (Amplified Bible)

12For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart…14Inasmuch then as we have a great High Priest Who has [already] ascended and passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession [of faith in Him]

 

Proverbs 4:20-22 (Amplified Bible)

20My son, attend to my words; consent and submit to my sayings.

21Let them not depart from your sight; keep them in the center of your heart.

22For they are life to those who find them, healing and health to all their flesh.

 

Ephesians 6:10-18

10In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [be empowered through your union with Him]; draw your strength from Him [that strength which His boundless might provides].

11Put on God’s whole armor [the armor of a heavy-armed soldier which God supplies], that you may be able successfully to stand up against [all] the strategies and the deceits of the devil.

12For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the despotisms, against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere.

13Therefore put on God’s complete armor, that you may be able to resist and stand your ground on the evil day [of danger], and, having done all [the crisis demands], to stand [firmly in your place].

14Stand therefore [hold your ground], having tightened the belt of truth around your loins and having put on the breastplate of integrity and of moral rectitude and right standing with God,

15And having shod your feet in preparation [to face the enemy with the firm-footed stability, the promptness, and the readiness produced by the good news] of the Gospel of peace.

16Lift up over all the [covering] shield of saving faith, upon which you can quench all the flaming missiles of the wicked [one].

17And take the helmet of salvation and the sword that the Spirit wields, which is the Word of God.

18Pray at all times (on every occasion, in every season) in the Spirit, with all [manner of] prayer and entreaty. To that end keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance, interceding in behalf of all the saints

 

1 Peter 2:24 (New King James Version)

24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.

 

John 10:10 (New King James Version)

10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

 

Matthew 10:1 (King James Version)

1And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease

 

Mark 16:17-18 (Amplified Bible)

17And these attesting signs will accompany those who believe: in My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new languages;

18They will pick up serpents; and [even] if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will get well.

 

James 5:13-16 (New King James Version)

13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

 

Psalm 84:11 (Amplified Bible)

11For the Lord God is a Sun and Shield; the Lord bestows [present] grace and favor and [future] glory (honor, splendor, and heavenly bliss)! No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

 

Matthew 17:20

For truly I say to you, if you have faith [that is living] like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, Move from here to yonder place, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.

 

Philippians 4:19 (Amplified Bible)

19And my God will liberally supply (fill to the full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus

 

John 14:13-14 (Amplified Bible)

13And I will do [I Myself will grant] whatever you ask in My Name [as presenting all that I AM], so that the Father may be glorified and extolled in (through) the Son.

14[Yes] I will grant [I Myself will do for you] whatever you shall ask in My Name [as presenting all that I AM].

 

I could go on and on with these scriptures.  The point I am attempting to make is that the Word of God offers hope! You don’t have to have the answers, just give them the Word…It is LIFE to those who find it!

 

This is on my mind heavily because recently I have been guilty of doing the very thing that I faulted my friends for doing in my case.  My friend Steven is going through a very difficult time in his marriage.  He asked me to stand in agreement with him for his wife and his family as he is believing for God to restore his marriage.

 

I’m privy to a lot of the “circumstances” surrounding what is transpiring and from a natural perspective it does not appear that things are going to change.  Naturally, I’m concerned for my friends well being and the possibility of him being further devastated by these circumstances not working out…So, during my times of “encouraging him”, occasionally, I have said things like, “But if it doesn’t work out…blah blah blah”…

 

Well, he didn’t ask me to offer him a “full perspective”… He didn’t ask me to help lighten the blow right now so that he doesn’t get his hopes up and then get hurt more… He asked me to join my faith with his and to pray for/with him as he is fasting and praying and believing God to work a miracle in his marriage…

 

It would be different if God gave me some kind of Rhema word for him about the situation, or if God enlightened me about something specific that I needed to speak to him about… but that’s not the case… If he asked my thoughts, I would be at liberty to share them…but as the situation stood…I was at fault in how I responded to his circumstances…

 

While driving down the road recently, God reminded me of how upset I was with my friends who were not there to encourage me and be a strength for me when I needed their support and how their words actually accomplished the dead opposite…as I reflected back and I felt that emotion again, God showed me my role in this current situation and the times that I did the same exact thing in regard to Steven’s current battle…

 

When I realized this, I immediately called Steven and reiterated to him the story about Rocky and my pastor friends who functioned as Job’s comforters during my season of much needed support… I explained to him how I saw a parallel in my own actions recently concerning him and I apologized to him for being a “sucky friend”… I told him I was out of line and functioning outside of the parameters that he asked me to function in.  I then let him know that this was not going to be the case in the future… I told him that I would stand with him and join my faith together with his and pray for the restoration and reconciliation in his family that he is asking God for…for as long as it is in his heart to stand believing…

 

You see, I KNOW that ALL things are possible to him who believes… Sometimes I just have to get my head to wrap around what my heart already knows… If the Word is the same yesterday, today and forever…Then God is still in the business of performing miracles.  So, if my friend is placing his faith in that direction, I’m going to join my faith with his…Regardless of how things appear…Period!

 

People everywhere are hurting and as Christians, they are going to look to us to offer them the hope that we have in Christ!  How we respond in those seasons is vital!  We can uplift or tear down by the words of our mouth…the Bible says that “the power of life and death are in the tongue”.  It’s important that when we speak to people’s pain, the words we use are LIFE!

 

When we recognize that the Word of God is LIFE, then we realize that have at our disposal the very tools needed to actually make a difference when ministering to hurting people.

 

Proverbs 4:20-22 (Amplified Bible)

20My son, attend to my words; consent and submit to my sayings.

21Let them not depart from your sight; keep them in the center of your heart.

22For they are LIFE to those who find them…

 

If you can dig it, Say “Word!”

 

When the Rug is Jerked!

When the Rug is Jerked…

 

Last year I had some very unique opportunities arise. I’ve always been a networker and as a result have met a lot of individuals in all lines of work. While speaking with a new contact, I was asked if I knew anyone who traded or dealt in commodities. I did and was asked to connect my contact with this distributor. It seemed insignificant but within a few weeks I had people that I did not know calling me and asking questions about selling everything from jet fuel to uncut precious stones… I knew nothing about this business but wasn’t going to let grass grow under my feet so I started making phone calls and connecting some people with others within my network.

 

In short time a friend of mine called me with a proposition on raising capital for a multi-film deal with a very significant Hollywood producer. If I could close the deal, my commission alone would be VERY SUBSTANTIAL! (To the tune of wiping out all of my debt (house included) and having enough to run on for several years afterward.) I figured “why not”, if the opportunity arises and you don’t try, “you miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take”…So I started making phone calls.

 

To everyone’s surprise “producer included” in a few days I had connected with an investor who was interested in this proposal. He flew to LA, and met with the producer. Everyone was seemingly on the same page and ready to pull the trigger and I was weeks away from being “debt free”…

 

The idea of being “debt free” to me was nearly unbelievable… In recent years so many difficult situations had arisen taking me down a twisty-tourney road of frustration and “unfair” (to say the least) circumstances…and this felt like it could be my “season of reaping for all that I had sown”… I was so excited!

 

The day of the deal signing came…all the players were at the table…everything that we had all worked toward for several months was just about to pay off HUGE, and one of the “players” underhandedly changed some of the terms of the deal. Upon receiving this information, my investors immediately packed up their toys and went home…No questions…No deal…

 

I have been told that often times “Rejection is Protection” and I don’t know how that may have applied in this circumstance. Obviously, there were some “shady” things being done in an attempt to deceive my investors but where the rubber met the road, I had the rug jerked out from under me in a bad way!

 

How does one navigate those kinds of MAJOR disappointment seasons? Are there feelings of anger? Are there feelings of frustration? Are there “why God” moments? Yeah…DEFINITELY! I can’t tell you how bad or for how many reasons I needed that deal to go through… I had already been planning how I was going to bless others…How I was going to finally pursue a buried dream of my own…How it was going to free up “strings” that were more like ROPES holding back progress in my family…

 

I had prayed EXTENSIVELY! I literally spent weeks fasting about this deal! I even sowed the largest monetary seed I had ever given during this season… I just knew that this was my breakthrough moment! …and when it didn’t go like I thought it was going to…Like I BELIEVED it was going to… It took some wind out of my sails to say the least!

 

Outside of just a small group of people, I have never shared any of this with anyone! It was a disappointment of mine that ran painfully deep… Even though it had nothing to do with me, I felt like somehow, I let my entire family down…and failed…again…

 

I could have thrown a fit. I could have gotten mad at God. I could have spent YEARS questioning “why?”. But, honestly, this wasn’t my first rodeo with disappointment and it wouldn’t be my last. I realized that there were 100 ways that I could handle this let down. As I considered all of my options, I went back to the one I KNOW! I went to a friend of mine who promised me that, although the world was full of tribulation, HE had overcome the world! I went to the one who promises that my faithfulness to Him will not go unnoticed or unrewarded. I went to the one who told me to “cast my cares upon Him”. I went to the one who promises to be my shelter in the times of storms. I went to the one who promised that He will never leave me or forsake me. I went to the one who told me that I am more than a conqueror. I went to the one who writes the pages of my destiny… I went to my God who has brought me through every other disappointment and will once again take my hand and lead me through…And I told Him, “Yet, will I trust YOU”… The one who holds my world in the palm of His hands… Yet, will I trust YOU! And it wasn’t the last time I had to tell Him that… His Word says that God is a rewarder of them who diligently seek Him and although my circumstances appeared to be “less than a reward”… I still KNOW that He is FAITHFUL! …His joy still comes in the morning! And it is His joy that is My strength!

 

I’m so confident that many reading this have experienced their own form of having the “Rug Jerked” from under them. You may even have had it happen SEVERAL times, as if you are traveling from “rug to rug”… I’ve been there… Hear me when I say, the circumstances do not change the truth of God’s word!

 

If we could time travel back in time from the future, I’m betting that we would tell ourselves something like, “Just wait til you see what God has planned…You’re gonna LOVE IT!”

 

I have often heard this phrase in the back of my mind when everything seemed to be crashing around me… “This too shall pass”… That’s the thing about storms…As violent and as overwhelming as they are while we are in the middle of them…Eventually, they pass…and if we keep on pressing on, we will see the sunshine again…

 

I challenge you with this final thought: Remain postured for blessing…

 

Proverbs 3:5-6

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart

and lean not on your own understanding;

6 in all your ways acknowledge Him,

and He will make your paths straight.

 

If you can dig it, Say Word!!!

 

Protecting the Worship

Protecting the Worship

 

Today, I am contemplating a conversation that I had with a worship leader friend of mine a few days ago.  During our conversation we were talking about the whole “leadership paradigm” as it pertains to those who lead worship and some of the difficulties of working with other “worship leaders”.

 

Most reading this probably don’t know this, but I spent 14 years leading worship in some capacity as a Vocalist, Bass Player or Pianist…Every week, usually twice to three times a week for 14 years… I laid it down intentionally about 6 years ago when I went through a really difficult season of ministry and I needed to become anonymous and “blend in” for a while so that I could simply “receive” from God… I was wounded and broken and needed a season away from the stage…and after I laid it down, I never had the release to pick it back up…

 

Then about 4 years ago, I had an event take place that pretty much secured me leaving it at the alter, permanently.  For no known reason and without catalyst, my vocal cords became paralyzed…It was terrifying… My vocal folds would freeze shut and I couldn’t breathe for sometimes up to a minute…There were times I thought I would die (literally) as I would come to the brink of passing out.  The last “bad” bout left me unable to sing at all and barely able to talk for several months…My vocal cords were damaged from these freak occurrences.  I consulted the worlds #1 vocal specialist, went through therapy but never regained the range that I once had.

 

I don’t want to leave you with the wrong impression, I was never a “great” vocalist or musician for that matter… I wouldn’t even call myself a vocalist or musician in mixed company because I understand the level of talent that is out there and I came nowhere close to being on a professional level…Still, it was something that I was passionate about…I loved worshiping God and I loved leading worship…and I dedicated thousands of hours to it…

 

All of us have heard the quote, “You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone”… and I get what that means all too well!  For the several months that I was unable to clearly speak and absolutely couldn’t sing, I would stand in worship services and weep as I simply lip synced the songs and worshiped from the heart…Silently… I refused to allow the circumstances to steal my worship or hinder my praise… It was painful (emotionally and sometimes physically)…  I can say authoritatively, it’s interesting how you view things once they are gone…

 

(I’m going to lay a little ground work here that may seem very trivial and WELL understood to the seasoned worship leader but I am reiterating what should be obvious to set up what God showed me last week, so just follow along with me for a second…)

 

It is often said that a worship leader is “sharing their gift”.  But I believe that it is more than that.  A worship leader is also PRESENTING their gift to God.  I’ll tell you, I didn’t see it that way every time I led worship.  There were many MANY times that I went on stage and “used” my gift” to offer a performance to people rather than presenting worship to God.  There were times I viewed it as an obligation or even a frustration (when my attitude wasn’t right).  I became complacent and saw the ministry as simply another song presented or another note played on an instrument…

 

I loved worship but, at times, didn’t prioritize it like I should have, and now that it’s an understood “past” season of leadership… I miss it.

 

I’ve heard it said and have even said it myself, “We worship for an audience of ONE”.  But sometimes I know that we can lose focus concerning the depth of what it is that we are doing when we allow trivialities to divert our attentions away from the heart of ministry and on to ourselves or our problems.

 

It’s not that we can’t worship God THROUGH our circumstances… I actually believe that this is one of the primary ways that we can navigate rough seasons successfully… But when we take our focus off of God and allow our circumstances to influence our attitude DURING our worship… It cheapens the gift (if you will)… The purity of praising and worshiping a Holy God is lost in our own self-absorbedness (I’m confident I just made that word up but you get what I’m saying).

 

Spirits of comparison, pride, jealousy, insecurity, bitterness, strife, envy, territoriality, anger, offense, unforgiveness, etc… Are all common pollutants in the springs of worship.  When these things are in the heart of a worship leader it is reflected in the presentation of their gift and even projected into the environment of the service!

 

I have heard AMAZING singers “perform a song” in church and feel absolutely no connection to them, their gift or God in the presentation… Then, on the other hand, I have heard mediocre (at best) talent enter into a flow of worship and feel as though I were ushered into the very throne room of Almighty God!

 

How does that happen?  Why does that happen?  I believe it has to do with the heart of God being touched by the heart of a faithful man or woman who is genuinely worshiping Him for who He is.  They are presenting their gift to God unadulterated and unblemished.  And God inhabits the praises of His people…

 

I am writing this today, in an attempt to add perspective to perception.  I understand all too well the difficulties of working with people on any kind of a team, let alone in a ministry capacity.  If there are personality differences they will be sure to be magnified on a worship team.  If there is an opportunity for offense, the devil will make sure to magnify it within the worship team because of the value that God places upon worship.

 

We’ve all heard, that “worship is the only part of the service that does ANYTHING for God”, so you can bet if there is going to be opposition, it will definitely be directed toward the worship leaders who are setting the stage for the entire service!

 

Then, couple the opposition with rotating positions and different personalities, and you have a prime breeding ground for dissension if it is not proactively opposed and each member of the team is not actively pursuing unity.

 

The “spirit” of unity on a worship team must be made a priority or strife will enter in. And the bible says “where strife is, every evil work abounds”.  Strife can’t exist on a worship team and it not effect the climate of worship.

 

I read something the other day that I personally NEVER saw from this perspective…but when viewed in light of what we are talking about here… it completely changed my perspective on the scripture.

 

Matthew 5:24-25 says,

23″Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.

 

Do I really need to elaborate any more on this scripture?  Worship leaders are presenting a gift to God that actually has the power to influence the entire climate of a service.  This places a significant responsibility on them to make sure that their gift is an acceptable offering.  And based upon what we read above, apparently God places conditions on us and how/when we bring a gift to Him… He actually expects our best…

 

“Will a man rob God?”  Our worship belongs to God and the quality of that offering is directly connected to the heart of the worshiper.  Don’t withhold from God what He is so worthy of receiving and rob Him of what is rightfully His…YOUR WORSHIP!  Pure Worship!

 

A worship leader has a very high calling!  And part of the responsibilities of that calling is to protect the environment surrounding the presentation of the gift…

 

If you are a worship leader, I would encourage you to meditate on this topic for a little while (particularly in light of the Matthew 5:24-25 perspective) and ask the Holy Spirit to show you some things about what can be learned and applied in your life from this simple teaching. Hopefully, something here challenges you…I know that it has me…

 

I love you all…thank you for sharing your gift and Love for God with the world!

 

Aaron

 

To Receive or NOT Receive…That is the question!

To Receive or NOT Receive…That is the question!

 

We have to reach a point in our spiritual walk and relationship with God where we simply allow God’s word to trump our circumstances.  It comes with maturity and understanding who we are to God as well as who He is to us.  But at some point we simply have to allow His Word to be the authority if we want to reach our intended destiny.

 

If our feelings dictated our salvation we’d all be JACKED wouldn’t we.  God knows that about every 15 minutes, most of us don’t “Feel” saved… It doesn’t take much for our feelings to boot the “Jesus high” right out the door does it?

 

We kick the floorboard of the bed and break a toe…Not feelin so SAVED now are we?  We get a call from our Ex about the kids…Yep, there’s goes our SAVED feeling!  The principal calls home to tell us that lil’ dude just got suspended… and our spiritual “pulse” flat lines…

 

Thank God that our feelings don’t dictate where we stand with God in this arena or we’d all be up the river Hades without a paddle.  We’ve come to understand that God’s Word trumps our feelings in the arena of “salvation” and we comprehend that just because we don’t feel “Saved” every second of every day doesn’t mean that we are not… We understand that our salvation is faith based and not feeling based.  We thank God under our breath when all hell breaks out in our lives and we feel so much less than “saved”, that His mercies are new every morning… Because, THAT’S WHAT THE WORD SAYS!

 

So why is it that we can believe God’s Word over how we “feel” when the subject is being “Saved” but we can’t seem to rationalize that this same “Word of God” is truth for other aspects of our lives apart from salvation?  Or maybe even better put, that the rest of the aspects are INCLUDED in our salvation!  (that just rocked somebody’s world)

 

Recognizing that God’s Word is the authority in our lives, why is it that we don’t go to that word and figure out what it says for ALL of our problems and situations and not just redemption from sin?  Why is it that God provided our salvation but when we run into financial difficulties He’s not pursued as our provider?  I mean His word SAYS that He is… but for some reason, what we “feel” in this circumstance, becomes more of our focus than God’s Word.  Why?

 

We don’t stop believing that He is our Savior just because we don’t feel saved, but when we don’t feel healthy we often stop believing that His Word says that He’s our healer.  We have no problem justifying how God has written our names in heaven and forgiven us of our sins but when faced with other opposition where we become fearful or confused or angry or just don’t understand… all of a sudden, “God’s Word doesn’t hold the same power as it did yesterday and it’s not the same “Truth” as it was when the sun was shining and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky”…Why?

 

Either God is who His Word says He is…Or He’s NOT!  It’s not rational to look at one circumstance and make God the final authority and then look at another and base our belief on our present emotions that fluctuate with the wind.  If God’s Word is truth for your salvation, it’s truth for all the other circumstances that oppose you!

 

Sometimes we need to just find out what the Word of God says about our present difficulties and then stand on that Word just like we do on our “salvation” scriptures.  If I asked any Christian why they believed that they are saved, they would say, “Because the bible says…(insert the rest of the gazillion scriptures here)”.  Just because we don’t “know” what the bible says about our other issues does not mean that there is not an answer.  Furthermore, what we feel or even experience does not change what “Truth” is.

 

For those of us who teeter totter on these issues of life (which is ALL of us at some point depending on the season that we are in) let me tell you what the bible calls that back and forth, up and down, emotional rollercoaster… It’s called being double minded.

 

James 1:4-8

Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

 

Sometimes, in the face of adversity, we just have to decide what is truth and who we are going to believe!  If God’s Word is truth, then find out what it says concerning your current circumstances, and stand on that Truth!

 

There comes a point where we simply believe what God says because He said it…and regardless of how we feel, we simply believe that God’s word is truth…  I’ve lived this…let me rephrase that, I LIVE this every day!  Focusing my faith and prayers away from what I “feel” and redirecting my attention and faith on what God says about my circumstances.

 

I make Him the authority and not my emotions…I make His Word the final say in my life and choose to not focus on what is currently attempting to destroy.  I cast my cares upon the Lord because His Word says that He cares for me.  I seek wisdom from God on how to navigate my current difficulties knowing that He sees me not as I “am” presently, but as who I “will be”.

 

When I look around and feel frustrated as a shepherd boy tending to my fathers stinky sheep, God sees how my faithfulness in this season is preparing me to be the King that He created me to be in the future (a little King David analogy there).  God doesn’t see the shepherd boy, He sees the King…

 

When we determine to allow God’s word to be the final authority in our lives, we put away double mindedness and become single minded.  In the single mindedness we release Him to be able to move on our behalf.  We actually posture ourselves to receive from God when His Word becomes the authority in our lives.

 

If God’s Word is good enough for our salvation, it’s good enough for the rest of the “work”… as I’ve quoted so many times before… He who has begun a good work in you is faithful to complete it!

 

Posture yourself for completion by allowing God’s Word to be the foundation that you stand upon in EVERY circumstance!!!

 

Y’all know I love ya…and as always, If you can dig it, say WORD!

 

Addendum from my Dad, The Original “Tattooed Preacher”:

 

WORD! I think that there is a “spirit knowing” that we experience when we stay our minds on God, what He has said (Scripture), what He is saying(an acquired and developing ability to discern what God is revealing).

 

That “spirit knowing” is something our emotions and rationale will need to “catch up to”…and that happens when we SEE things from God’s perspective. When we SEE from His perspective then Body, Soul, and Spirit are proportionately balanced…”God Sense”and “common sense” become one…Nothing missing!…Nothing Broken!….”God Sense”and “common sense” are synonymous…PEACE in spite of circumstances!

 

To Be A Man…

To Be a Man

 

In a previous writing, Embracing the Momma’s Boy, I briefly alluded to a subject that I would like to address in a bit more detail today… The “balanced” man…

 

To be a man…

 

Society, movies, television, music videos, rap, heavy metal, country music, the preacher, the politician…all paint a different picture of what it is to be “a man” and seeing the drastic differences in what is portrayed, it’s no wonder there is so much confusion on this issue.

 

There is occasionally some balanced examples but for the most part, there is only fragmented examples of what should be… there seems to be an ever missing balance of what it means to be “complete” as a man…

 

I have seen two extremes in the area of the “unbalanced man” The first, based upon what is often exampled to us as the “stereotypical male” is the one who fits into the “tough guy” persona… The “Manly man”, equipped with the rock hard abs and the hair that goes right back into place after the wind quits blowing…right?

 

As men, many of us were raised to view emotion or visible pain as weakness… We were taught to suppress what we felt because to acknowledge it, verbalize it, or God forbid SHOW it, through tears was the ultimate betrayal of the “man code”. Even if you were not taught this at home, it didn’t take you long to learn the code from your peers. The pointed fingers, laughter and put-downs from your elementary aged classmates were a quick teacher on what you did or didn’t do as a “man”…

 

It’s what has been ingrained for generations. “Suck it up”, “Real men don’t cry”, “Don’t be a pansy”, “Sissy’s show emotion”, “Tough guys rule with an iron fist”, “Don’t be a crybaby”… Our grandparents were taught this, they taught our dads, and it’s what many taught us…

 

The other extreme, and on the complete “other side of the scale” is the man who is completely passive or at least “not tough”, often times, perhaps wishing he was the “tough guy” that so many of the other young men seem to be… Doing everything in his power to suppress the emotion that he feels so pointedly makes him “different than the other guys…” and not knowing how to fit in as a man because, like his tough guy counterparts, he doesn’t really understand what it even means to “fit in as a man”…

 

Truth be told, on both sides of the fence, there is this weird, unnatural expectation to hide an aspect of ourselves that, as men, God intended for us to embrace… We embrace one side of our personality while rejecting the other or viewing the other side as a weakness…

 

Let’s forget about personality differences right now… There are certainly aspects of how we are wired that make us different than the next person… It’s that individuality that makes us special. But there are some characteristics of being a man that transcend personality and speak to the nature of who and what we are created to be as men.

 

Reading the bible one day, the words, “David, a man after God’s own heart” stood out to me… I pondered heavily the weight of those words, “After God’s Own Heart”… and after much consideration came to believe that the phrase can mean several things…

 

1. A man who follows after God’s instruction.

2. A man who seeks God and understands the heart of God.

3. A man who embraces the “nature” of who God created man to be…

 

And it’s in the combination of the three that I believe we can actually understand what it means to be a man “After God’s Own Heart”…

 

David was the youngest of his brothers. He was also described as kind of a runt. As a matter of fact, when his father Jesse was instructed to bring his sons in for the prophet Samuel to look at (because God told Samuel that one of Jesse’s sons would be the next king of Israel), Jesse didn’t even consider enough of David to put him in the line up and left him in the field tending the sheep…

 

His brothers were Soldiers! Jocks, Quarterbacks, Wrestlers, Racecar Drivers!

David was the one who cared for the sheep. He wrote poetry. He played the harp and sang. (You know, “tough guy stuff”…) But to everyone’s surprise, (including the prophet, Samuel), God said, “This one is my pick!”… On the surface, I’m sure everyone asked “why”…But time would show that David was more than JUST a shepherd/poet/musician… God understood that there was a balance in David that most men lacked. One that He could use…One that identified with the very “Heart of God”…

 

Most of us know the story. David goes on to kill a giant named Goliath and in the preparation for the battle it is revealed that the Poet/Songwriter/Harp player, could also take care of business when he had to if a Lion or Bear attacked his sheep.

 

Over years of connecting with God on a deep emotional level through worship, music and poetry he had come to develop a faith and understanding of not only “who God was”, but who he was as a child of God! David, the man who embraced his God given emotions while also embracing his God ordained election as a defender and protector, examples to us what it means to be “A man after God’s own heart”…

 

And check this out…David screwed up… A LOT! As a husband, a king, as a father… as A MAN! But still, he is acknowledged as “a man after God’s heart”. There is something to be derived from that.

 

Those of us who naturally lean toward the “Warrior” side of manliness need to explore avenues to better relate with and embrace the emotional side of being a man that God has placed in us…(and I believe that starts with ALLOWING ourselves to feel and show emotion) In order for there to be balance…

 

Those of us who naturally lean toward the “Poet/Harp Player” side of manliness need to explore avenues to better relate with and embrace the protector/defender side of being a man. In order for there to be balance…

 

Interestingly enough either of these characteristics in excess become weaknesses, but within the structure of proper implementation, the balance of the two create wholeness in a man…

 

“Wholeness” will be different for everyone… I’m not sure that a 50/50 man exists based upon how God has uniquely created us…For some, wholeness is a 20/80 implementation, for others it is a 70/30 implementation… However, where we run into problems is when the fraction is 0/70 or 85/0 … In those times we function in a capacity that is less than whole and ultimately less than what God intended for us as men…

 

When I was a young boy, I leaned toward the “emotional” side…I was ridiculed for it and over time grew to hate that side of myself… As I got older I developed the “warrior” side but continued to despise the “momma’s boy” of my youth… I viewed it as a weakness.

 

A few years ago, a friend asked me, “Aaron, why do you hate that side of yourself so much”… He asked me, “who do you think God can use more, the “you” that YOU created, or the “you” that GOD Created”… He was referring to the sensitive “me” that I had all but buried… He then went on to tell me, “Until you embrace that side of yourself and become balanced, you’ll never reach your God ordained potential”…

 

Until that point, I didn’t understand that, the emotional side of “me” was actually a strength… and once those lights came on, I had a complete paradigm shift on what it actually means to be “A Man”… A balanced man… A Whole Man… A man “After God’s Own Heart”…

 

Many of you have struggled with this same question and warred with the same emotions described above… if you haven’t, you’re probably a woman…HA! No, seriously! (I’m not calling any of you men, “Women”…I’m jokingly addressing my female readers…) I believe ALL guys, at some point have had to deal with this on some level and many of us go into adulthood with no resolve on the issue. I believe that the resolve starts with recognizing that there is an area where we have been lacking balance in the “man” department and then taking our concerns about it to God…

 

You know where the balance is lacking in your own life… If you will pursue God wholeheartedly and allow Him to help you strengthen the area where you are weak or to fill the void where you are lacking, He will fill your area of insufficiency and create in you the wholeness that you desire for yourself and ultimately that He destined for you to walk in… I believe that… I’m one who has experienced it first hand…and I’m walking it out daily…Ever learning, Passionately pursuing the destiny that God has placed in me… So Can You!

 

If you can dig it, say “Word!!!”

 

Me…Naked…

Me…Naked… (originally posted October 2010)

I used to fight bad guys.  I spent my days following up on their mistakes until my investigation yielded enough evidence to convict them.  I had a daily purpose. One that gave me a significant sense of worth.

I’ll admit, sometimes the case load of petty bullcrap where Mr. WelltoDo (who contributed to the bosses last campaign) complained because some punk kids smashed his mailbox or rolled his yard with toilet paper often took me off task from those issues that were “important” and it irritated me immensely.  As did the politics involved in the job, sometimes crossing the ethical lines that I had drawn in the sand.  Or when someone in administration would screw up what I was working on for weeks because they couldn’t keep their nose or hands out of it long enough to let me do my job effectively… (Man, I could tell you some stories).

I never compromised my integrity but some of the things that I saw definitely jaded me and my perspective on the law and even right vs wrong.

Even with all of the imbalance, I still felt like I was making a difference.  Kind of like I was a light in an otherwise dark place. Many of the officers I worked with, expressed to me that they felt the same.  When I announced that I was going to have to retire, one of my close friends on the S.W.A.T. team came to me and said, “Man, I don’t know what I’m gonna do without you being here.  Who am I going to bounce things off of?”  At the time I was honored at his sentiment.  Today, I wish… Well, let’s just say, there’s a lot that I wish…

I go through seasons where sometimes I don’t think about it at all, and other times, it’s all I think about… Recently, I’ve been a little more on the “thinking about it” side of the fence.  I don’t get depressed about it anymore but I would be lying to say it doesn’t weigh on my emotions at all.  It’s not so much that I am mourning what was, but at times, more weighing what isn’t…YET!

As I was leaving the grocery store a few days ago, I watched an officer drive by.  As he did, he waved at me and my family and smiled.  My wife said, “Aaron, wasn’t that nice, that officer waved at us”… I smiled and looked down at the ground… I used to be him.  Sometimes I miss it…

Yesterday was a bitter-sweet day for me.  I was in proximity to a very successful and influential man.  He often shares the stage with the likes of Colin Powell and Rudy Giuliani…I had the privilege of taking care of the man for the day, listening to his wisdom and experience as he addressed business and success principles with others, and finally driving him to the airport at the end of his day.  I was challenged, I was inspired and…I was deflated.  There is nothing like being around successful people who are doing what you desire to do and being who you would love to be to really inspire you to reach for the bigger and better… and to also make you realize how far you are from being who you wished that you were…

God must’ve known my internal tug of war and how I was warring with the picture as a whole and sent a bit of a “perspective check” for me… I was standing off to the side, quietly observing the crowd, when a young lady walked up to me.  “Aaron, I just want to tell you how much I appreciate you.  When I tell people about our church or invite them to come, I tell them about you…”  She went on to thank me for the impact that I have had on her and her husbands lives, how I was there for them and inspired them when they were new to Nashville, new to anything church related, new to Christianity… This young ladies story is particularly special to me because, when I met her, she was fresh out of the Porn Industry…She and her husband were searching for something, and God lead them straight to a place where they would be loved and accepted just as they were, without judgment… She was expressing her gratitude yesterday while excitedly telling me how she is moving into a leadership position with one of our ministries at the church… I don’t know if I have ever had a more difficult time holding back tears than when she was talking to me… “and the student becomes the teacher”…

On the ride to the airport, casual small talk led to my most dreaded question.  “So, Aaron, what do you do for a living” asks the man who owns 9 businesses, travels the country teaching business seminars to the elite in the Fortune 500 arena, is overseeing the building of a 28 million dollar church facility, while also juggling the responsibilities of being a father, husband and Pastor… (I take a deep breath and let out a sigh as I try to think of the best way of putting it.  He didn’t ask me the simple question of “what do you do?”, I can navigate that one half way without feeling like a dreg, but he added the words “FOR A LIVING”… and dog-gone-it my integrity will not let me be anything but honest… and, technically, I’m not “making a living” at anything right now…)  I replied, I’m unemployed… It’s not so much that I concern what he or anyone else thinks (not so much) but when you are talking to someone you respect, words and perceptions do carry more weight than they casually would have otherwise with someone you just didn’t know and having to admit that to him only reaffirmed the feelings that I struggle with on my own…It’s just kind of like pouring salt into the wound when you have to tell it to someone that you respect. (I’m sure you can feel me on that one)

To be fair to myself, I am taking care of my son, and I don’t begrudge that AT ALL!  I cherish the time I have had with him and am thankful that I have not had to put him in a daycare program for the first 2 years of his life…but as a father and husband, I can’t say I even come close to feeling content with the current set of circumstances.  It’s not like I was irresponsible, or did something to deserve to be where I am… I didn’t punch the boss, I didn’t cuss out the judge, I didn’t overstep my authority…I got hurt on the job in a “right to work” state. My restrictions kept me from going back into that line of work and the laws in a right to work state protect the workplace from having to compensate me for my loss of income.  Did I get dealt a bad hand?  Yeah, I did… Does it merit talking about… No.  It is what it is… Complaining doesn’t change who God is or His ability to work on my behalf, and the story sounds more like a bag of bad excuses when you try to explain it… So the readers digest version it was… “I’m unemployed because of a medical retirement…”  It still bothered me to say it though…

I dropped my guest off at the airport and then headed home…

After being home for about 15 minutes, my wife, who reads me like a book says, “Is something on your mind”… (Everything that I’m feeling, weighing and thinking about, she’s heard before 100 times and I’m in a season where I’m trying to no longer allow what “isn’t” to influence what is…) I just respond, “Sometimes, when you get in the proximity to successful people, it gets you thinking”… It was the truth without voicing all of the internal turmoil…

As I sit back and weigh the circumstances I reflect back on a few things that I have recently studied and took to heart this past week…

I’ve come to understand that we value what we have to fight for.  With God, easy answers produce shallow convictions.  I read a quote by Pastor Mark Batterson in Washington DC that nailed this into my head… “The longer I live, the more I think that spiritual maturity is less about figuring out the future and more about moment by moment sensitivity to the Spirit of God”.  Being sensitive to the Spirit of God is NOT always easy or quick, or in time with “my wishes”…

Life is a series of uncertain and unpredictable experiences.  When we are neck deep in the middle of what feels like insurmountable circumstances is when God can show us who He really is.  We may feel the urge to just dunk ourselves under and take a deep breath of water to speed up the process or we can take on the perspective of so many “hero’s of faith” who put their circumstances in God’s hands and allowed Him to work it out when they couldn’t.

People like the 3 Hebrew children who were given the option to compromise their faith and bow to a Pagan God or stand their ground and declare to the king and all who were watching that God was able to deliver them, creating an environment for God to show Himself strong on their behalf.  Or a small shepherd boy named David who heard a giant mocking his God and convinced the king to allow him to fight the giant on behalf of the people of God.  It didn’t make any sense, but in those seasons that make no sense is when God can honor the faith of those who are willing to charge when everyone else is retreating…There are so many more: Moses, Gideon, Benaiah, Noah, Esther, Jonathan, Nehemiah, Peter, Paul and Silas…Men and women who were willing to believe God irregardless of the obstacles or the odds and saw miracles take place because they were willing to confront and press through seasons when most would simply throw in the towel…

In those seasons when we have done all that we know how to do and it appears that the only thing left is to trust God, realize this, “Our job is to believe, God’s job is to do the impossible…” (another Mark Batterson quote- yeah, I’ve been studying his stuff for about a month)

In the seasons of apparent hopelessness, when all of the gauges on my instrument panel look like they are going through the Bermuda Triangle, the one spiritual recalibrator (I think I just made that word up) that I have found is worship.  Worshiping God in the midst of my problems allows me, God and whatever opposition I may be facing know that I refuse to put my trust in what is temporary.  God is eternal and my circumstances ARE NOT!  When we raise our hands to God in the midst of the fire and tell Him that we trust Him and love Him anyways, we show the entire universe that our worship is not circumstantial!  That God is God to us regardless of what life may hold.

I have heard it said, God does not honor “need”, He honors “Faith”… That is a lesson in and of itself, but I believe that our FAITH (inside this physical realm where God has given US authority) is the catalyst and the very thing that allows God to move on our behalf.  I believe that worship in the midst of adversity is the ultimate expression of our faith in God.  It is the only thing I have found to bring peace to me in seasons where I felt completely out of control.  In essence, I was telling God, “I’m out of control, but I surrender to your control”.

Where worry and circumstances are the chains that bind you, worship is the key to freedom.  When our compass is broken, worship points us back true north is and gives us the bearings to continue toward the goal by placing in perspective that God is bigger than what we are facing and He will get us through…

We all have days when the compass feels broken… I believe what separates the good from the Great is their willingness to Worship God through their storm instead of wallowing in it…

Today, I worship God because He is God… If He NEVER did another thing for me, He is worthy of my praise because He purchased my freedom when the wages of my sin was eternal death YET His word still says that He takes notice of me and cares for what concerns me and His mercies are new EVERY morning.  He delights in my good pleasure, He laughs when I win, He cries when I hurt.

I place my focus on the one who loves me because I am His son… I thank Him for His faithfulness in the midst of the adversity.  I’m blessed because He will never leave me or forsake me…that doesn’t mean that life will never have challenges, but through the challenges I am advanced and will press on to victory because He is WITH me through it all… and the work that He has begun in me, He is faithful to complete!  He wants me to get where He created me to be more than I want to get there myself!  He is my Father…

Do you see the process here?  I’ve been asked, “Aaron, how do you do what you do emotionally?”  This is how I do it!

I’m intentionally allowing you to see how my vulnerability over the past week has been traversed.  I’m human with real human emotions, real human frustrations, real human difficulties…But WHY do I share all of this with you?

For one, I’ve found that transparency is the most effective form of ministry for me with people.  Secondly, I’ve been on the side of the fence where I look at the person in the lime light telling me how things “should be” but often neglecting to express to me the “process” for getting there or how it has applied to them.

We assume, because we haven’t heard of the “turmoil” in their lives that they simply haven’t had to navigate it.  We assume, because we only see the “end result” that the road to a place called “There” hasn’t been lined with similar potholes to the one that we are on.  We think that our struggle is unique… But it’s not.  EVERYONE has problems!

Many times our leaders shelter their vulnerabilities and struggles in order to keep you from being weighed down with a burden that you aren’t equipped to fix or carry…And rightfully so!  I agree that would be proper protocol in or during the season of difficulty, but on the other side of it, I am certain that airing their “humanness” and how they navigated the struggle is not only beneficial, but essential for others to hear so they themselves can learn and grow…

I think sometimes the “polished” leader image leaves people who are still scrubbing the tarnish off with the perception that they are somehow “Less than”… but it’s important to realize that the rain falls on the just and the unjust… We all are weathered from storms…We all have to navigate the rough seas… and we are all better sailors for having done it… Redemption is an all inclusive aspect of salvation…I actually believe that God wants to take our adversity and REDEEM it for His Glory… We can carry our own burdens and navigate our tempests OR we can worship God in the midst of it all, give it to Him and allow Him to lead us through…

Ultimately, the ball rests in our court.  Do we take it upon ourselves to try to make it on our own?  Or do we yield the control to the one who loves us and knows best what is needed for us to succeed?  The choice is yours…Choose wisely…

“Embrace relational uncertainty.  It’s called Romance.  Embrace spiritual uncertainty.  It’s called mystery.  Embrace occupational uncertainty.  It’s called destiny.  Embrace emotional uncertainty.  It’s called Joy.  Embrace intellectual uncertainty.  It’s called Revelation.” Mark Batterson- In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day

Honey, You Just Ain’t Fat Enough!

Honey, You Just Ain’t Fat Enough!

Over the course of the past week I believe God has been speaking a number of things to me… I’ve got the itch to write a few of my thoughts although I’m confident I could write a thesis if I included all of what I am contemplating.

Have you ever met someone that favor seems to follow? I’m not being arrogant or bragging when I say that for a large part of my life most of what I have put my hand to has prospered. (Don’t tune me out, I’m setting the stage for what is coming later…Understanding what has been the norm will give you perspective for why I’m writing this)

When it comes to work and employment, I’ve almost always been the one who received the “favor” with people of influence and administration. I’ve been the one promoted ahead of seemingly more qualified candidates, I’ve been sought after and recruited by “head hunters” in similar job fields (some even being jobs that I was unqualified for but were offered to me with the understanding that they would help me “get qualified” if I took the job), I’ve been sought out as a consultant by people of much greater renown and influence than myself…blah blah blah…

The point is, for whatever reason, I have understood what it feels like to be on top and have even jokingly told friends that I had a “midas touch”… In the midst of the favor, it was always a bit of an ongoing internal joke realizing that it had to be God because “on paper” I’m really not that special… Just a guy with a decent personality and maybe a slightly “above par” work ethic…

However, after years of successes, I hit a brick wall a couple of years ago that sent me into a whirlwind of, “Atypical” (to say the least) experiences.

Since that period of time, I have had a number of disappointments, discouragements, let downs, frustrations, you get the picture… For those of you gardeners out there with a “Green Thumb”, maybe you will understand my personal analogy of having a “Brown Thumb”.

One of the most difficult and personally discouraging of these experiences was when I signed on with a new company in the spring of 2007. This company had a PHENOM product, an AMAZING marketing plan, an OUTSTANDING compensation plan and seemingly, the sky was the limit for success. I knew with my background, experiences and influence that there was no way I could fail and I believed that in short time I would be among some of the most productive and respected in their sales force. It wasn’t long and I was rubbing elbows with ALL of their top producers, the VP’s, the President of the company… I was being mentored by the TOP guys in the company and in my mind was slated for success on the fast track!

Strangely, things didn’t quite work out the way I had planned… In times past, what was so easy for me to navigate now left me feeling like Frodo trying to walk through the bogs on my way to Mordor with the “One” ring growing ever heavier around my neck…HA! “My Precious!” (If you just said “WHAT?!” It’s Tolkien…Lord of the Rings…Bygones)…

I literally had the VP of marketing for this company tell me once that he had never seen someone work harder without success. (Which he meant as a compliment, but to me was like saying, “Something must be REALLY wrong with YOU if people with half your ambition, talent and skill set can be successful and you can’t…”). It was harsh and I felt like a failure.

This same VP also offered me some insight that seemed so far from logical to me at the time when he said, “Aaron, maybe God is just keeping you from success in this company”… My thoughts at that point were something along the lines of “Don’t patronize me…I don’t need your pity” … but time would reveal that perhaps this really WAS the case.

I ended up leaving this company, with my head down and tail tucked between my legs, but still over the course of the next couple of years, continued to follow this company to watch their trends and see what became of them. For a while they continued to see success, but then something happened at a corporate level that few saw coming. Those who “made the decisions” began to change the way they did business and how they treated their “producers” and in short time the company began to fold. Lawsuits arose, stocks plummeted, and sales crashed! None of this was foreseeable when looking at the company from a product or growth perspective, the problem was “internal” and the companies demise solely rested upon the shoulders of it’s founders.

I had no way of knowing what the future of such an apparently promising company held. But God, existing outside of my knowledge parameters did…

Now I know some will immediately say “So God protected you, but what about the others who got burned”… I don’t know about the others, perhaps there were aspects of what transpired that would have effected things for me far beyond the monetary aspect of the “loss” had I been successful in that company. Perhaps it would have distracted me from a lesson that I have had to learn in that season. Perhaps lives that have been impacted wouldn’t have been if I had been trying to keep a sinking ship afloat… Who knows?!

All I can say is, considering the totality of the circumstances, maybe God was sheltering me from something even though, at the time, it felt like I couldn’t win for losing…

So, why share this story? Because, like me, many of you have been in or ARE presently in seasons where the “success” is seemingly just out of reach and for the life of you, you can’t figure out why! I’m realizing now that sometimes there is a “protection” in the rejection.

In my own experience I was really depressed at my own lack of success…But I’m believing now that perhaps my lack of success had NOTHING to do with me or my ability and EVERYTHING to do with God and his Omniscience.

Perhaps the entire experience has motivated me to greater levels of tenacity where maybe success and then failure in that season would have kept me from reaching for the “REAL” success that God has for me in the next season…

Maybe what I am understanding right now about God is preparing me for the “GREATER” thing, when success in that season would have actually held me back from progress in this season…

It’s true that every persons experience is different, but one constant remains…God knows what’s needed and right for each of us INDIVIDUALLY in order to meet our God ordained potential! That place is where and how that “God works all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose”… This is How and Why that success and failure are subjective based upon calling, election and season…

We are ALL more than we have become when seen through our Father’s eyes… If we continue to trust and follow Him regardless of how things appear, we will see with our own eyes what that really means…

I read in a book today that God wants to get us where God wants us to be more than we want to get there ourselves! If this is the case (which I believe it is), then the only way we can lose or fail is to refuse to proceed or quit altogether…

I had a funny thought today that “Fat, is a matter of perspective”…I’m sure that seems out of place at the end of this blog until you consider the phrase, “It ain’t over til the fat lady sings…”

Sometimes you just gotta look her in the face and say, “Honey, You Just Ain’t Fat Enough!”

If you can dig it, Say WORD!!!