One Brick At A Time

 Athletes – God’s Process for Building Men Learning to “Trust the Process” “…and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”  (Hebrews 12: 1) Out of the gate, I may lose part of my audience due to comments on what has become, in the last decade or so, a time-consuming area for men in the months leading up to the next major sport season, especially football, the draft.  The amount of hyperbole surrounding star ratings of young men for their athletic prowess is (in my humble opinion) over the top.  In some circles (not all), there…

The King of Kings on a Donkey’s Colt – The “Un-triumphal” Entry First, I should write that I looked long and hard for the origin of the phrase “triumphal entry” used to refer to Jesus’ ride into Jerusalem on a donkey of all things.  I could not find any specific references other than the words were assigned based on the response of many Jews to Jesus riding into Jerusalem accompanied by a crowd. His arrival seemed “triumphal” to observers.  These people (not their leaders or the Romans) were shouting and singing—praising God and calling on Jesus to “save them now” (Hosanna in the…

  So many great and wonderful things have been written, posted, and said concerning Billy Graham, such an amazing, faithful man of God who finally arrived safely Home today. I can only add to such beautiful testimonials what the Holy Spirit impressed upon me this morning as I sat praying and praising the Lord for his life during my QT.   I found myself in Isaiah 50—a passage that is both poetic and prophetic.  The Servant (Jesus) spoke clearly—calling out the unfaithful nation of Israel, reminding them (us) of His power and willingness to help.  He was faithful and obedient to…

Gigi and I attended the Christmas Eve service this morning, had lunch, and  checked our list (one more time) to make sure I did not need to join the hoards of last-minute shoppers.  Thankful I did not, my mind turned to hear what the Holy Spirit would breathe into mine regarding “just another Christmas Eve”.   All I knew was I really wanted to share a brief word of encouragement on this joyous eve of expectancy – for little children who cannot wait to see what Santa brings and Christians who manage to clear our heads of all the “Christmas clutter”…

ACCOUNTABILITY A Powerful Weapon for Demolishing Strongholds “Secret Sins” Series  (Part Three) A Sad Story. Hard to believe it has been twenty-plus years since that awkwardly, sad time.  Our accountability group was composed of a few men from church—friends and golfing buddies.  One was an associate pastor—a terrific man with a great family.  At that point in the life of our group, I seem to recall we were not drilling down very deeply into our personal lives. The first troubling key was our pastor friend began to join us less frequently. When we did see him, his countenance was not…

“Secret Sins” – Finding Forgiveness  “…be sure your sin will find you out.”  (Numbers 32: 23 ESV) Pastor Thomas got caught.  The fourth desperate man character in the book, All Men Are Desperate Whether They Admit It or Not, Thomas made a rather stupid mistake that uncovered his “secret sin” of pornography—forgetting to close out one of the porn sites he frequented on his computer.   One day when her iPad battery was dead, his wife decided to check Facebook on the computer in his study.  Uh-Oh! What she saw stunned her.  As she checked the URL history in the drop-down…

“Secret Sins”  – Things We (Think We) Hide from God  “For nothing is hidden…nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light.”  (Luke 8: 17 NASB) When our youngest son was a toddler if he could reach the cookies, left too low on a shelf, he would grab the bag and take off.  He had two hiding places—in the curtains or under the comforter on our bed.  It was comical to watch the covers shake and hear giggles coming out while he celebrated getting away with something because he “hid” himself from us. As funny and silly…

All Men Are Desperate Whether They Admit It or Not opens with a number of sobering statistics about ‘man issues’ in the U.S.  That is followed by the introduction of five desperate men with whom you will connect or identify in some way as their stories unfold.  As I always say when introducing such ‘numbing’ numbers, you must read them as names, not numbers.  Insert your name, names of your sons, father, brothers, fraternity brothers, golf or hunting buddies.  Only then will such statistics hold your attention. The focus of this lesson is addiction, so I decided to share just one…