Christlike

The idea to be “Christlike” or “more Christlike” is a falacy of your own mind. Adam was a decendent of God formed in God’s image. Eve was formed from the rib of Adam as a helper. As a Christian you believe you are decendents of Adam and Eve therefore you are already as Christlike as you can be. It is your behavior alone that holds you back in your own mind that you aren’t Christlike.For it was by grace alone that you were saved from your own transgressions through God’s abundance of mercy and love. When you finally embrace the grace of God with your whole heart you will be at peace.

Faith and Doubt

The opposite of faith is doubt and without some doubt, faith wouldn’t be authentic. Some doubt if perfectly fine. It’s when you change the direction of life away from God is when doubt becomes an issue.

Just thinking…

One of the hardest things for me as being a Christian is living in a world where the people around you can't understand how you have faith in a God that can't be seen, quantified, or fit into the constraints of this world while living in a time where you will be shamed for loving someone so much that you would devote and give up your whole life for in hope to share your life in the grace and glory of Jesus Christ in victory of overcoming sin and the world.

28,500!

28,500! That’s not a really big number. Think about what you could do with 28,500 dollars. That might be a good down payment on a house or buy you a decent car or maybe a college degree but that isn’t what I’m talking about.

28,500 is the approximate number of days, ~78 years, a human being who was born in the United States will live on this Earth. Sounds kind of depressing now right! You’ll spend the first 6,570 days going to school and learning to become an adult. That leaves you with about approximately 21,930 days to make an impact on this Earth and give something back. You’ll spend the next 12 years or until you are around the age of 30 gaining enough wisdom to realize all the things you should have done now in a race to make the last 17,550 days on the Earth count. But what about sleep! There are so many things left to do, so many people left to help and guide, so many books to read, and all you have left is 17,550 days left to do it.

How are you going to make those days count? Are you going to invest a little now taking care of yourself so you can live out the last of days as fruitful at the first or are you going to spend it siting on the couch watching TV and surfing the Internet? Time is ticking and no one knows when the clock will stop. What you do with your time is the most valuable thing you will do in life. Are you going to use it selfishly or selflessly by investing in the next generation? Every day counts!

Mother and Son: The Respect Effect ~ Review

This post is a book review for the book Mother and Son: The Respect Effect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs. My idea behind reviewing this book was that I figured a lot of Mothers would end up reviewing this book leaving all the reviews one sided. I am a Husband, Father of 3 kids, and a Son so I really wanted to validate Dr. Eggerichs’ writings against my own feelings and thoughts as a Son and as a Husband giving a review from a different side. I have read Dr. Eggerichs other book for couples called Love & Respect: The Love She Most Desires; The Respect He Desperately Needs a few times and thoroughly enjoyed it. I also wanted to see if this book was just a reiteration of the points he mentioned in his other book or if this book brought on new ideas and new concepts.

I found this book to be quite enjoyable. Going in I had this preconceived idea that I was probably going to be bored to death since this book wasn’t directed towards me but as I listened to the audio book every day while driving to and from work (I drive almost 1 hour each way every day) I found myself smiling, laughing, and at times making key notes that I could have used this concept with my own Son. Almost every time I agreed with what Dr. Eggerichs concepts on building a better relationship and understanding with our Sons. Many times I even wished my own wife used some of these same concepts in communicating with me. Something I noted that was different in this book versus the Love and Respect book was that he went into far greater detail on various concepts and ideas with building a relationship with your Son through respect but also with men in general using verses from the Bible to back up what he has just said. I feel like this book would greatly benefit Mothers in their relationship with their Son(s) but also greatly improve their relationships with their Husband. I hope you find this book as enjoyable as I did. I’m sure I will end up reading or listening to this book again in the future.

Below I am running a giveaway for 1 FREE copy of this book. A winner will be selected in the next 7 days.


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Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway.  If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win.  Or if you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.

Hope

A hospital is a scary place for someone who hates to see others suffering. I've spent my whole life watching others suffer for various reasons and the older I get I slowly see the people close to me move on. Sitting here, I watched a young woman come into the area in a wheelchair complaining she couldn't feel certain body parts and crying because she was scared. God only knows what was stirring in that woman's head but I felt for her. I won't lie, I wanted to cry myself. She reminded me of one the kids in my youth group. I wanted to walk up and hold this lady's hand and tell her it will be ok. To say a prayer for her that gives her hope that she wasn't just another barcode in the sea of patients. Hope. That's really all we want in life when we go to a hospital or a doctor with an uncertain problem is a little bit of hope.

This weekend at Revolution I watched a young girl stand there crying after a powerful testimony. A testimony that included an attempt to end their own life. As I watched her cry I knew she had connected with that testimony on a deep level. Maybe she too has thought about suicide at one time. I really know how that feels. It's not a feeling you ever want to have to ever look back on. I know when I had those thoughts the only thing I ever wanted was someone to come along and tell me everything will be ok. After about 30 seconds of watching this girl try to hold her arms up in praise while trying to wipe the tears as fast as she could. Almost if she didn't want anyone to see her crying, I got up. I walked over to her and held her just like I do my own daughters. She just leaned in me and cried her heart out. This went on for about a minute. Eventually, she stood back on her own with her head down. I ask her if she minded if I prayed for her. I put my hand on her shoulder and she leaned into me as I began to pray for her. I prayed for her to have peace. I prayed for her to have hope. I prayed for Jesus to walk beside her because I knew this wasn't the end. She still has an open wound in her life that she's going to need God's guidance and God's unfailing love for. After we prayed I asked the girl her name and introduced myself just to remove any awkwardness. We shook hands, she said thank you, and then a few seconds later her friend ran over to give her the biggest hug. She was smiling again but I could tell there was still some reserve in there. I hope that my presence wasn't just some weird guy holding me but the arms of God letting her know that there is hope. Hope for another day. And a person will go a long way on a little bit of hope.