NCarolinian

We all know how to shout, cry and experience loneliness at times. A good leader is one who manages these same times to influence others toward the passion he/she has for a mission. The leader shouts, but raises his/her voice positively. The leader cries, but anguishes in a productive manner. The leader, when faced with being alone with his/her dream and passion, can weather the challenges with a great attitude by themselves. “A leader who is not passionately committed to the cause will not draw much commitment from others. The world will make way for someone who knows what he or she wants, …” (p.51, Jesus, CEO , Laurie Jones) “Jesus said, ‘It is better to be hot as fire or cold as ice, because if you are lukewarm I will spit you out.’” (p.51, Jesus, CEO , Laurie Jones) “Jesus asked His staff members, ‘Can you really follow me?’ As it is with so many leaders, everyone wanted to sit next to Him at the banquet, but nobody wanted to help Him clean out the basement. Everybody w...

Over the course of history, many people have sacrificed their lives for others because of their deep care, dare I say love, for others. Whether the sacrifice manifested in the form of patriotism (saving someone in war), humanitarianism (saving someone out of common, negative experiences), or heroism (saving someone in the heat of an emergency) – the life of the sacrificed did not return. Believers in Christ Jesus have a unique hero. Jesus Christ died for our fatal flaw and three days later arose from death and the grave with the keys to Hades promising a return to rule and reign this earth. Jesus’ superhero name in this instance is The Good Shepherd.   “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one...

Isaiah 53:3 says, Jesus would be "despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain." Yet in addition to this description of Christ Jesus we can find celebration surrounding Him in many instances of His life. Right off the bat, we can observe a celebratory atmosphere at the birth of Christ. An angel appears to declare the good news to shepherds near-by and then the excitement is so great, more of the angelic host split the night sky to sing and/or holler God’s Good News! Wise men show up bearing gifts. A star stops overhead for a supernatural lightshow. The birth might have been humble, in a manger, but it did not go unnoticed by earth or Heaven – there was a party. As a young adult, do you remember what Jesus’ first miracle was? He mastered the elements, because He is Master of the Elements and turned water into wine. Do you remember where He was? At a wedding party! And Jesus’ life would flow like that – invitations from one househol...

God knows what you and I need to grow and mature in our relationship with Him, but do you? Much of my time I execute Paul’s Dilemma . To the believers in Rome he communicated, "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate, I do.” (Romans 7:15) This is why one of the prayers God put on my heart to pray at the beginning of this year (2016) was and is – “Lord, help me be a better husband, son to you and my parents, brother to my brother and my Christian family, brother-n-law, co-worker and all-around person.” Wrapped up and included in this personal prayer is Scripture that God gave me to pray. When you start asking God for improvements to be applied in your life, look-out God will assist you in the next heartbeat. For me, He gave me two passages out of Psalms added-on to my original prayer – Psalm 51:10 and Psalm 139:23-24 . Psalm 51:10 says, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” The word “creat...

I admit – I like to be patted-on-the-back once-in-a-while. Truthfully, more often than not I like for this to occur. However, I like to think I am reasonable about it. If I do not deserve praise, then I should not receive any. But if I should deserve praise and not receive any, a part of my ego feels slighted. It makes me second guess my work, talent, or skill whether I am on the job, at play, or serving The Lord. God is addressing this issue with me. There was a poster I read just recently on Facebook that prompted this lesson from the Holy Spirit. The poster read:  “Stop waiting for people to recognize how hard you work, God sees the sacrifices you make and will bless you accordingly.” In order for this to work, I have got to put forth more of an effort in making people my work-field with a harvest for The Lord in mind. The idea is that my audience is only One – God. The Holy Spirit taught me that if I keep God as my Audience of One , not humanity (non-believers and beli...