Yes or No Not "OR"

Have we lost the ability to tell each other YES or NO? It seems like we are so afraid of giving someone a definitive answer in fear of offending the other person or them thinking less of us. This is especially evident in the business world. The standard "great job, we'll get back to you." Then we spend the next few weeks with no answers either no or yes with numerous attempts and they don't even have the decency to return a call or email in fear of offending me with a "NO".


Jesus said "Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one." Matt 5:37(NIV)


Take a look at your life. How often do you sit on the fence, blow people off just because you don't have the fortitude to tell someone the truth with a simple yes or no? The truth is "NO I am not interested". Then sometimes we say yes and then quickly figure out we should of said no in the first place but by then we have blown them off hoping they will figure out by our non-communication that it should of been "no" in the first place.

Yes, Jesus was right on spot and the human condition has not changed in two thousand years. Nothing good comes from not sticking to our commitments. Say no and mean no and let others go on their way and in the end we will all offend each other less and keep more friendships.

Feeding God's People

We(family) spent a few hours the weekend of March 30th helping prepare and serve food at Central United Methodist in Kansas City Kansas. We served about 120 individuals and families most of which are homeless or less fortunate. This video clip is a compilation of some photos my daughter took that day. Try it sometime it is moving to know we are all just a few months financially away from being in the same position.

Movies To See

Here are some great movies I have watched over the last few years. I have ranked them 1=Good, 2=got to watch it sometime, 3=Put it on the list, 4=Must See, 5=Foundational go get it today

Freedom Writers 4
Luther(2003) 5
King David 4
How to Know God 3
Beyond the Gates 4
The Final Inquiry 4
Gabriel 4
Into the Wild 4
Last Sin Eater 3
Kingdom of Heaven 4
The Gospel of John 5
Off the Map 2
The Man from Snowy River 4
The Cowboys 4
One Night With the King 4
A Good Year 3
The Ultimate Gift 5
Conversations With God 5
Amazing Grace 5
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room 3
Jesus Camp 3
Sweet Land 3
The Passion 5
Water 4
The Nativity Story 5
A History of God 4
Born Rich 4
Peaceful Warrior 3
God Grew Tired of Us 3
Braveheart 2
Gladiator 2

This list is not meant for entertainment purposes but to offer you and I an opportunity to feel our hearts, see our faith, and experience love. Seeing the pain, joy, and love of other's stories moves us to discover our own hearts. There is some much for us to learn about how life really is not just this surface busy life, where we are all just trying to get ahead or keep from going backwards.

I hope will at least watch the movies with a 4 and 5 next to them. As always if you have a 4 or a 5 rated movie drop a comment to me so I make sure I add it my list. Most of these movies where recommendations from others and I am eternally grateful for their suggestions.

There is MORE!

Take a minute to listen to someone who has acheived it all. How many of us would want to have what he has $50 million salary and a super model for a girlfiriend. Could a man want anything more at the age of 30?

This is an excerpt from Tom Brady's Interview on CBS 60 Minutes New Magazine show at the end of December. Tom is the star quarterback of the New England Patriots football team. This audio is a little over 4 minutes long.

Yes, yes! Tom there is much more to life than attaining fame and fortune. We were all created by God with special unique gifts. I know by the way Tom talks in this interview that God has blessed him with a bigger and better gift than quarterbacking a football team. When he does find that within himself with the help of God's word, he will then find the joy he has yet to experience. This is evident in his comment that the next superbowl ring will be the best one. False, the next thing he will finding that means anything at all is his real purpose. The reason God created him for and once he gives that gift to the world so many more people will have their lives changed from versus the last game he won. So Tom if you read this and only by the Grace of God would you find this blog post, go ahead and read.

--Romans 12:3-8

3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. 4 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. 6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; 7 or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; 8 he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

Find your gift and give it!

Communication Break Thru

Once upon a time I awoke or better put opened my eyes, my mind, and my heart then did I hear God say to me “Mike my son I will Father you . I will show you your purpose. I will shine your gifts upon the world. You are mine and I need you build My Kingdom. Your prior attempts to fill your life with material things, and the pursuit of getting ahead, of financial freedom for yourself, career success, money and the useless pursuit of your ego. Those things of the self will no longer any part of you. I am the only thing that can fill you up and if you attain any of those things then it only happen through building My Kingdom.”

This simple summary is the story of how my life has changed dramatically. It’s not about some intellectual battle or revelation of my mind or something in particular I read or heard spoke but an overall communication from God. His deliver methods ranged from everyday experiences; conversations with friends and family, a movie or two, a bunch of great books including the Bible, and some awesome sermons in person and through podcasts. I must admit I laid everything heard and seen against the cold hard truth of my past life experiences. God’s communication to my human mind is somewhat like a puzzle. But once I understand how to arrange the puzzle pieces like organizing the straight edges first and so on does then God’s messages become much easier for me to understand. My only regret looking back is often he did communicate with me, I just did not listen or was unable for some reason receive his posts, probably because no one every taught me. It’s an amazing conversation now. Hey if want I will let you listen in!