Not a decision, a submission

When reading in Luke 7 the other day, I came across the story where the woman washed Jesus' feet w/ her tears, dried them with her hair and poured oil all over them. I've read this story multiple times and heard it preached numerous times in my life and it always shows the sensitivity of who Jesus is. This time while reading it, the last statement Jesus makes to the woman after using her as an example to Simon was, "Your faith has saved you, go in peace" opened up my eyes to a clear understanding.

Jesus' statement jumped out at me. It simply shows that her faith in him saved her. She simply believed that he had what she needed and she was willing to give any dignity she had as well as any possessions that she held to get it. Her belief wasn't a decision, it was a submission. Faith isn't something that we can just decide to do, it is something that we have to submit everything we have to. It's not a mental condition, it's a heart condition. A decision that we make can be changed, but when we submit to something we hand over our rights. This woman handed over her rights, prostitute or not, she released who she was and what she had for Jesus to now have. She, as Simon saw, had no right to be before Jesus doing what she was doing. She didn't deserve to wash his feet, let alone have him acknowledge her, but thank you Jesus that you don't see us by what we deserve but by how you love us.

He told the woman to "go in peace." Because of her faith, she was now free and not under the burden of her sins and she came to know the real Jesus. She was able to walk in peace because eternity in Heaven was hers. That day she submitted her rights and  knew her life was secure with Christ.

Don't just decide to follow Christ, submit your life to him and know him in a whole new way.

Empowered because...

There are so many ways to describe who Jesus was and is, but if we can capture just some of his personality traits and live a life where we are approachable to everyone, and that means everyone, like Jesus was to the leper after he had delivered his Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 8:2-3), we will begin to connect with the power from God. And in being approachable, we provide love that has no boundaries, no social status, race differences, disease concerns and so on, we can be used to touch people from the Hand of God. So we must grasp the determination Jesus had in fulfilling his God given purpose and know that we are not alone when we choose others first; we are empowered.

Merry Christmas and love others!

Servant Leader

Being a servant is not the typical explanation of being a leader. However, a leader is exactly that. Christ is who we make the choice to follow and allow to lead us when we commit our life to him. But there is no greater servant than Christ. He is our true example of a servant to the point he laid down his life for us. God wants us home in Heaven so bad that He sacrificed His son and sent him to the world to serve us, teach us, love us and die for us. For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). The word gave doesn’t just mean that he just died for us; it also means he lived for us. Living a life serving others will always put you in a place of honor and respect. Jesus told his disciples; whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else (Mark 9:35).


This an exert from the Unfailing...Impact curriculum for men


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Obedience is a Decision to Please

      Obedience is not a ‘yes sir, no sir’ action but a decision to please. Parents can have a tendency to confuse this and inflict demands on their children instead of teaching on pleasing. God never wants to inflict any demands on us but does desire for us to live a life worthy of Him and please Him in every way (Colossians 1:10). Paul goes on to say, that living a life this way strengthened with God's glorious might…we are qualified to share in the inheritance of His holy people.  When we come to know that our Father is not demanding anything from us but desires to be close to us, our approach to the way we live changes. We begin to want to obey His Word instead of trying to act as though we can do it our way.

     ---this an exert from the Unfailing...Impact men's curriculum on being a Leader in the Home

      The Unfailing...Impact curriculum will be launching this coming February through Small Group's in Birmingham, AL. Please email unfailinglife@gmail.com if interested in finding out more.

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Knowing My Dad

Tonight while at Carson's basketball practice I got the opportunity to help assist the coach. I was tasked with getting to help these 4-6 year old's learn how to pass. While teaching and encouraging these kids I just started talking with them about there dad's. I got to hear them cheer on there dad's even though the dad's weren't there to hear it. Really made me proud for so many dad's out there. As a new group of kids worked through my rotation I would tell them, "your dad rocks," just because (I believe we can impact kid's and their family relationships with those kind of comments). Well I had this one boy come up, cute as he could be, shortest fella there. He had this awesome spirit and peace about him that was hard to explain. When he made it to the front of the line and it was his turn to come work with me I just blurted out, "I bet your dad rocks?" He looked at me with the same peace he did the rest of the time and said, "my dad is in Heaven." Okay, so you can imagine how that hit me! I looked at him and said, "well then your dad really rocks!" and he went on to the back of the line after a high five. Well, that stuck with me. After practice I saw him leaving and I shouted out, "see you little man! Great job!" The elderly lady with him walked up to me and said, "I'm not his mom, I'm his grandmother. I have custody of him." I told her about the encounter I had with her grandson during practice. She started to tear up and said, "well, his father isn't in Heaven. His biological father is alive, but he say's that because he knows his real dad is God." I told her she was doing an amazing job with him and she thanked me and she went on.
That hit me so heavy because I just got to experience an innocent child refer to our Heavenly Father as we all should. He didn't recognize an earthly dad first and then use God as a filler in his life, he saw God as his first dad, in his case maybe his only dad, but to him that didn't matter because he had a peace that said having God as his Father is all that mattered. WOW! Right?
I talk with God everyday and call Him dad as we talk, but tonight's moment with that little boy has changed me forever. I pray I get to know my Dad like that little boy knows him. I pray my boys see God as their true Father and see me as second. If your a dad, I just want to say to you, know our Heavenly Father as that little boy does and show your kids Who is even greater than you, me, any of us so they always find comfort and peace like that little guy has.

May our Dad bless you!

To Live 'Unfailing'

The word ‘unfailing’ is something that we refer to God as and a word none of us believe we can live up to. We’ve all heard the scripture in Genesis where God said to His angels, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness…” (1:26). We’ve also heard where when Jesus was speaking to his disciples to comfort them he told them “whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12). Never are we to confuse being unfailing as being great or something for our glory but we should realize that God our Father has put in us not only the desire but also the power and ability to live a life unfailing for those around us; to show them the way to the Father. Living an unfailing life is nothing more than being who God created you to be so that you can continually point others towards Christ.

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Unfailing…Impact is designed to help you understand how you are significant. But in order for us to realize our own significance in life we must first understand true significance. True significance is not what you know or how you feel, but what God created you to do. God created each one of us, especially men, to make a difference in life. Ephesians 2:10 tells us “For we are God’s workmanship(handiwork), created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Significance is directly related to Impact. If we as men realize the significant impact we can have in our Homes, Community and Church by living out the passion God put in us, we will reshape the culture around us.


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