Dislocating my knee cap 16 times

Two months in a brace, fluid filling up in my knee with no mobility, would I ever be the same again? I remember like it happened yesterday the first time I had reconstructive knee surgery. Awaking from surgery, pondering how bad the damage was in my knee?  I was told I could be playing ice hockey in 3-6 weeks before going under the knife, caused optimism. After surgery, I asked  how long was I out for? The doctor told me three months, I thought they meant from ice hockey, they meant from walking without a brace.

I had a problem with my left knee cap dislocating from second grade to my sophomore year college. About every six months my knee cap would dislocate, I would throw it back in myself and by the time my senior year of high school I was back up to about 90 percent after a week. Every doctor told me my major knee ligaments were fine, go to physical therapy and I would be better. Finally I saw a good doctor. Dr. Dodds and Amy Worthing (Name could be misspelled) saw pictures of my knee and I will quote Dr. Dodds, “Dude, it doesn’t look good.” While she told me the same thing every doctor told me, she said there is something wrong with your knee. They went out of the room to check on some of my x-rays and I heard them talking outside the room before entering in. Dodds said, “Man it sucks to have to go into a room and tell someone they need surgery.” She then opened my door.

My knee was jacked up but it wasn’t until they opened my knee up to see how bad it was. Each time I dislocated my knee cap they found a crack on my knee cap. I had so much scar tissue floating around with torn cartilage, it was a mess. After going to physical therapy for two months without much change. I wondered if I would ever be the same again? It’s scary to think that life can change and you don’t know if it will ever be the same again.

If I didn’t improve, I would have the same exact problems, this can happen in others areas of life and even the church. Just like I put everything I had into making my knee strong again, Paul did the same with the Corinth church. The Corinth church just like many churches today, had issues. He spent a lot of time and a couple mission trips there to help the church out. Paul put all his time and effort into making the church succeed. Yet he was worried about the church and if they ever listen to what he told and worked with them on.

Paul was concerned, 2 Corinthians 20-21…

“For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder. I am afraid that when I come again my God will humble me before you, and I will be grieved over many who have sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual sin and debauchery in which they have indulged.”

The church can have issues. Just like we need to work on different area’s of our own life, so does the church. If we didn’t work on issues with our own lives we would grow stagnant. Paul was worried the pride, gossip, division and disorder would still be prevalent in the church. If the church didn’t work on these issues, turn away from sin things wouldn’t improve. We all need to try to improve.

Looking back in time can be a blessing and curse. I was worried when my physical therapy wasn’t going well, but it got better and my knee fully recovered. When issues happen in the church they need to be address and if they are swept under the rug, nothing will improve. The same can be said about life. Improvement needs to happen in all aspects of life.

Where do you need improvement in your life? If you feel like you are stuck in a rut, what can you do today to start improving? If there are problems be part of the solution not the problem.

Have a great day.

Car shows crush my soul

One of the most boring times in my life was going to car shows as kids. You will look at a whole bunch of beautiful cars but won’t touch. A marathon of Golden Girls sounded better then this. Yet there was one aspect I loved about it, the pictures of the car. When we would go up to the car and they showed the car when they got it all the way through the restoration. A vehicle from a complete beater to a work of art, an amazing transformation. This is what happens to us with Christ, a complete change.

A restoration of a car is beautiful, a restoration and reconciliation of the soul is even better. 2 Corinthians 5:17-19…

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here. All this is from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹ that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.”

When our life is given to Christ, we are new. The bitterness we had in the past is gone and a new start is here. Gone is sin and selfish desire. We have a new life dedicated to Christ and this changes our attitude and actions. We get a change to go from a life of wrath to a life of blessing. You are a blessing of God.  God doesn’t sit up in heaven counting the sins of your life because Christ took those sins on the cross with him. Christ has a new plan for you, a chance to reconcile.

With a new life of Christ we get a chance to make resolutions. We get to improve and make better the burned bridges in our lives. Those situations that drove us apart we can resolve and make better. Christ resolved our issues with sin by dying on the cross. All our sins and mistakes are gone and we are new. What are you going to do with this new life? Paul ends verse 19 with the message of reconciliation. What can you do to reconcile with people in your life?

Just like an antique car being made new, so are you. The rust and damage from the past has been clean up and is gone. You are a new person. Reconcile, bring together those who have differences. Spread love instead of hate. Make it happen.

Have a great day.

The devil made me do it

Just because you are shown the wrong way to go, doesn’t mean you have to go that way. Before GPS, I was going to cover a basketball game with my friend Eddie. We headed to a small town in the middle of nowhere. I printed off my directions and we were on our way. We were confused and ended up asking for directions.

I thought I was about a mile from the school and driving around. The attendant said to go down the road we were on, go around a couple of long turns and the school will be right there. I followed the directions and ended up 10 miles into the middle of nowhere. After realizing we were lost we pulled up to the nearest gas station which happened to be about 10 minutes away.

He told us we drove by it, it was almost a half a mile from the previous gas station. We got to the game by tip off but it was close. After a minute we thought we were going down the wrong direction, but thought it was going to be right there. Our dark path ended up leading us far from where we needed to be. In life we can head down roads we don’t plan on going down. We can be lead far away. Even though we went in a direction we didn’t want to go, it was ultimately our choice to go down that road. If you think about doing something bad, it doesn’t mean you are going to do it. You have a choice.

Temptation is not a sin. The devil might present you a way to go but ultimately it was our choice. 1 Corinthians 10 some of 12 and 13…

“So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”

This is hard to study sometimes. If you are tempted it doesn’t mean you will fall into sin. You have a choice. I know in the past I have been tempted to do some pretty ungodly things. You can feel like you have the whole world on your shoulders when it comes to these temptations or urges. You think it’s all on you to defeat this, because this scripture says you won’t be tempted beyond what you can bear. Know this, in order to overcome some sins/desires, it can take help from other people. God can help you through what you feel the Devil is making you do.

What is a temptation of yours? What is keeping you stuck in guilt, making you angry and being withdrawn from other people? You don’t have to bear the weight of the world on your shoulders. We have a God who loves and cares for you. He wants you to overcome the bad in your life. No matter what you feel tempted by, Jesus is there for you. We can over come being deceived by the devil. Start heading in the right direction today.

Have a great day.

I trust everyone. It's the devil inside them I don't trust.

Sunday morning can be so peaceful compared to the rest of the week. Everyone puts on a smile and is happy. I often wonder how many people are not happy or not doing something good? Everyone can do so much good and yet have so much bad going on. Even those with the best of intentions can mess up.

Paul goes into an interesting couple of verses in Romans 7:21-25…

“It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge. I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question? The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.”

Pornography, gossip, lust, hatred and all the seven deadly sins pop in my head when I think about what Christians struggle with. I don’t know of one Christian that truly loves to sin but it feels like we are our own worst enemies. Part of me is working against myself. You can love Jesus, go to Church every week, try to live a good life and still be a screwup.

Through the devil inside us there is a cure, Jesus Christ. We don’t have to be wrapped up into the person we were. We were made to change through our deepest struggles and that is because of Christ. Sin will always be there and at times it overcomes us.

Yet there is Jesus who overcomes sin. Jesus was put there to take care of our sin, no matter how much we are tempted we can still rely on Jesus to overcome. Will you trust in Jesus today?

Have a great day.

Good or bad

We have a chance to be good or bad. My son Ty can be one of the most lovingly and sharing kids. It's normal of him to go somewhere and not eat all of his food so he could share some with brother and sister. He will go to the doctors office and always get a little sticker for his siblings. Yet while he can be good, he can also be bad.

Ty had some issues with listening to his Sunday School teachers. He bent one of his teachers fingers around and also was repeatedly hitting his teacher. Not the behavior we expect. For the good he can do, the bad he can also do. We can be the same way. While we might not hurt our teachers like Ty did, we have plenty of choices to do good or bad.

What we do can effect us in positive and negative ways. Listen to what Paul says in Romans 6:21-23...
What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

There are bad things we do that result in bad. This is what happens with sin, we can do things and face the punishment in the end. When you do bad things, bad results often happen. When you do good, good things can follow. Doing bad things against God's will is sin, nothing good happens from sin. Yet with faith in Christ, we are offered something even better, eternal life. You don't have to be ashamed anymore when you have Christ. You can be good.

You can do bad or you can do good. What do you regret in life? What if you didn't have to be haunted by those regrets? This is what Christ offers, no matter how much bad you have done, you can be modified. You don't have to be the person of your past and you can be a better person in the future. I love Ty, hopefully we will see him do more good and less bad. What about you?

Have a great day.

You think you’re better than me

Who rules? O’Doyle rules! O’Doyle rules! O’Doyle rules! If you have no idea what I am talking about…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsNgRmsx-14

A family thought they had it best, sadly their run came to a tragic end. You could say, that’s not me. I never did anything like that. While it’s just a movie, there is enough bullying you have experience in one of three ways, as the bully, the bullied or the stand by guy (Person who just watches but doesn’t do anything about it). Who is at fault more, the bully or the one who stands by and doesn’t nothing about it? Either way, it’s still wrong.

What makes one wrong better then another one? Paul talks a lot in chapter 3 of Romans about sin and how we all sin. I am not perfect. I am not Jesus, yet I live my life for him. Christians have a tendency to struggle with different sins and yet are completely judgmental against other sins. We pick and choose what is the deeper sin. Some might say…

·         I might smoke but I never watch rated R movies
·         I get drunk once every while but I have never done drugs
·         I look at porn but I didn’t have sex before marriage
·         I lie and gossip but I always encourage people when I see them face to face

Hypocrisy can look different in someone else’s eyes. This is a point Paul brings up in Romans 3:19ish-20 (The Message), “And it’s clear enough, isn’t it, that we’re sinners, every one of us, in the same sinking boat with everybody else? Our involvement with God’s revelation doesn’t put us right with God. What it does is force us to face our complicity in everyone else’s sin.”

Just because you claim God and Jesus doesn’t mean you are perfect. Christians should never come across as perfect. One of the sad stories you hear is when a couple with kids goes to get divorced or live in a sham of a marriage and nobody has a clue. People are shocked and have no clue. Why? With all of the Sunday School, small groups, life groups, c groups and whatever else groups Church’s come up with, if you’re not honest, it doesn’t create true community. People put on a show that they have it all together, I noticed the one’s that think they have it all together are usually the opposite when people aren’t around.

There is a book for parents with young kids Everyone Poops, there could be one titled Everyone Sins. Paul makes sure we understand this from the greatest to the least, everyone sins. If you think you are better than anyone else, you are wrong. If you’re a Christian you are still a sinner. Shoot, Christians are attacked more because you know some things you do are sins.

Just like a bully, you can be wrong for being a bully and wrong for not doing anything to stop a bully. Generally, no one sin in greater than any other. You are not a greater person then your neighbor. So get of the judgmental horse and have a huge piece of humble pie. Rather than being so quick to judge others, what are ways you can improve as a person? Maybe it’s time to be honest with someone, or to quit judging and focus on getting something that is wrong with you right. You can’t expect others to improve when you aren’t even willing to improve yourself. You are a sinner just like everyone else, so there are still things in life you can improve. Don’t judge, just focus on what you can improve in.

Have a great day.

Wearing your varsity jacket years after you graduate high school = living in the past

"You can't focus on the past to be the future."

This was a line I heard on ESPN radio coming into church today.

So much truth behind this.

If you want to do something in the future you can’t focus just on the past.

It's like wearing your varsity jacket years after graduating high school, nobody cares about what happened in your high school.

Sorry if you just found this out.

Does this mean the past doesn’t matter?

No.

I would say the past does matter.

There is a line, “When you forget the past you are destined to repeat it.”

If we don’t learn from the past we could make those same mistakes again.

Our church has been going through the Bible in a Year program as an entire Church.

This is usually the time when people that make this commitment give up on it.

It can be hard to learn from something you don’t understand and quit.

There is benefit behind studying this.

Paul knew this and he was able to sum up over 1,000 years in about 12 paragraphs in Acts 13:13-52.

He sums up going into slavery in Egypt and continues on to sum up the entire Bible until his time.

If you have never read the Bible, check this several chapter out for a little history.

This is pretty impressive.

One of the lines I love through this section is verses 39-40…

“There, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.  Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.”

Paul is talking to some people that know this history and others have no clue on the history of the world and the Bible.

He focuses on this part Jesus is the reason sins are forgiven.

I am guilty.

I am a sinner.

Anybody who knows me for longer than five minutes knows that I am a guilty sinner.

We all are.

Yet through Jesus and only through Jesus are sins are forgiven.

People grasp this section of scripture and comeback to Paul to hear more.

Many gave their lives to Christ.

Someone died for you.

They didn’t deserve it and face one of the worst deaths imaginable just for you, your sins and mistakes.

Jesus loves you.

He cares for you and wants you to have eternal life.

Life doesn’t end on earth.

It does go on for eternity.

The choice of where you get to spend eternity is up to you and your faith in Jesus or not.

There is no other way to heaven other than through Jesus.

I thank God for giving up his sons life for a sinner like me.

How about you?

You can’t focus on the past to be the future.

You can’t live in the past, but you can live on in the future.

Where do you want to live past this earthly life?

Have a great day.

Can Christians go to strip clubs?

Jesus was known for ticking people off.

He would go and meet people that nobody else would acknowledge, especially if you were a spiritual person you would not associate with the people Jesus did.

At that time you didn’t hang out with sinners and people who made huge mistakes or had huge issues going on.

It would have been an insult to your faith to go and meet with these people.

People complained to Jesus and were ticked at him for this.

Peter went through the same thing in Acts 10 just for going and eating with gentiles (Those without faith).

Believers came up to him and asked how could this happen?

They were not thrilled with this idea of him hanging out with these type of people.

He explained his vision and how God told him it was alright.

He goes in detail through this in verses 4-17 in Acts 11.

Acts 11:18…

“When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

God’s grace and forgiveness is for everyone.

Is it alright for Christians to go to strip clubs?

I think it would be okay for some Christians to go to strip clubs.

I myself could not do it.

Lust would be too prevalent and over take anything I could do to share the gospel and the love of Jesus.

But certain people and organizations make this their goal to reach these people where they are at.

Organizations like XXX Church and some of their counterparts will meet people who are in strip clubs, prostitution an d brothels.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CW7fFc3SzE

XXX Church will go to the adult porn conventions and help people there as well.

They have been known for giving gift baskets to strippers and sharing the love of Christ.

If going into this place will make you greatly sin then I suggest not going into it.

Jesus, Peter (at this time) met people where they were at and became their friends.

Christians were not meant to hide in a building.

Love your neighbors as yourself.

I think if Jesus would be here today, he wouldn’t have a problem going into bars, strip clubs or any place.

Every person has places they could go and show the love of Jesus too and places they shouldn’t.

I would never send a drunk to a bar but if you can go there and not struggle with alcohol, go there.

I have a minister friend that once went to for a church interview and they asked if he drank alcohol.

He told them, I drink one beer at a time.

They were flabbergasted.

He said, “You wonder why I drink one beer at a time?”

Still shocked they replied, “YES.”

He replied, “Have you ever tried to drink two beers at one time (He motioned what it would look like)? It’s impossible.”

They were not happy with his joke and said, “What do you think it looks like for a Christian to drink alcohol?”

He replied, “That I can drink responsibly which is not a sin and I have no problem going to bars to meet people where they are at.”

They did not want him for the job, and he didn’t want to be there if they didn’t get his joke and who he was.

We are called to meet people where they are at.

I have no problems going into bars and such places like that.

As Christians, we create more activities to keep us outside of places to reach people for Christ then going out for people.

Rather than playing sports in a rec league where we create relationships, we have to create church leagues for everything.

Church league softball, basketball, shoot I even had a student ask me to start a Christian disc golf league (Which in a stern tone I said NO!!!!!!!!!!!)

We create so called leagues to reach out to non-Christians but instead just create activities for Christians to come together and act in non-Christian ways to other Christians (Craig Groeschel wrote about this in his book “It”) .

People in many different places need the love of Jesus and the gospel.

We just aren’t willing to go there.

If we are trying to be more like Jesus, this requires us to go outside our comfort zones and show the love of Christ.

What do you think?

Have a great day.

Can a product be new and improved?

Advertisements can crack me up.

I love seeing those commercials where they talk about a product changing.

Often they say it’s new and improved.

It cracks me up because how can it be both new and improved?

The product is either new or it’s improved but it can’t be both.

That is just one of the little things that make me laugh that I cherish everyday.

The company that does this, wants to make sure you know there is a change in the product.

Can people be the same way?

Saul was a ruthless man when it came to him and Christians.

He was known for throwing them in jail and killing them.

Now because of the grace of Jesus he was a changed man.

People were still hesitant about this major change.

Acts 9:19-22….

“Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.”

Saul was the guy who was 100 percent against Christians and now he was claiming to be one of them.

Christians didn’t buy it and thought otherwise.

They didn’t think this man would change and the Jews at the time thought the same thing, how could this man change?

Yet that is how God works.

He can take those that are completely far from him and make them close to him.

Nobody is too far from God and Jesus.

People thought there was no way Saul could improve or become new again, but that is the beautiful thing about faith, God’s grace is for everyone.

You can be new.

You can be improved.

There is nothing you can’t do to be forgiven by Jesus.

Saul was a murderer and killed Christians, now he was one of them.

Jesus’s grace extends to everyone who accepts him as Lord and Savior.

You can be new and improved.

Your sleight oops I mean slate can be wiped clean and blank and blameless when you believe.

Forgiveness is always there for you no matter how far you feel from Jesus.

Are you ready for a clean slate and a chance to be improved?

You don’t have to carry those burdens anymore.

Saul was a murderer, but that is not who he is known for anymore.

Who do you want to be known for and would you like to be known for something greater.

Today can be a great new start for you.

No matter what Jesus love you and wants to know you more.

Make a decision that can have an eternal difference.

Or maybe you can share this amazing story with another person, Jesus love isn’t just for you, it’s for everyone.

Share this amazing story of Jesus, it can make another new and improved.

Have a great day.

Buying off God

Let’s make a deal cracks me up.

I don’t really get to watch the show very often, when I do, it’s hilarious.

People have either a deal right in front of them or they could take what’s behind the curtain.

It’s a guessing game with cash and giving up the sure thing for something special.

Sometimes the people risk it and get behind in the curtain.

Sometimes it’s amazing and sometimes a zonk.

What if they were able to see what they were able to get and they had to pay accordingly for it?

Might make the game kind of pointless unless they could get a great deal.

What if you saw something like miracle, would you try to pay for it?

Would you try pay to get what God was giving to the people?

A guy named Simon tried this.

He was a Sorcerer, but gave his life to Christ and got baptized.

He witnessed the miracles performed by Phillip and saw people receiving the Holy Spirit.

Him being a sorcerer and amazing people, he wanted this gift for himself.

He offered the apostles money so he could receive this special ability.

This was the response in Acts 8:20-23…

Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”

Tough love.

You can’t buy off God.

This goes along with the false pretenses of an oath to God such as…

God if you allow me to pass this test I didn’t study for I will show up in Church every Sunday for the next month.

It doesn’t work.

Peter responded boldly.

You can’t buy God off.

There is nothing you could give to God that would be worthy enough, crazy how this can work.

You can’t pay off God but he can pay off you.

Paying the price for our sins Jesus died on the cross.

We cannot pay to have faith or to get rid of sin and get to heaven.

Yet Jesus did this for us.

He died on the cross a horrifying death for us and our sins.

He paid the price for us to get into heaven.

All that is required is that we have faith, repent (Turn away from sins) and turn our life towards God with action.

No amount of money can pay off sin.

No gift God gives like the Holy Spirit can be purchased.

Faith doesn’t work like that.

All we have to do is ask for forgiveness for our sins, have faith in Jesus as the Savior and the one who died for our sins and we will be saved.

That is the best deal we could ever make.

Someone else died for you and accepting this is the one of the first steps you can make to guarantee you can get to heaven.

You can’t buy off God, but through Jesus, he paid the price for your sins.

Where are you at with God and Jesus?

Have a great day.

Some betrayals hurt more than others

Would you rather have a friend betray you or someone in the distance?

Betrayal and things happening behind your back are bound to happen.

I am reading through an interesting section of scripture titled Jesus Predicts his Betrayal.

Honestly, it messes with my mind.

Jesus is having a meal with his disciples and during this meal he tells them one of them is going to betray him.

The disciples are thrown off by this.

These were 12 men that have followed Jesus around for close to three years.

They shared their life openly with Jesus and were very close to him.

Yet one would betray him.

They asked “Who is it?”

John 13:26-27…

“Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.”  Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, son of Simon.  As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.”

This scripture beats me up the more I read it.

Afterwards it mentions how the disciples are confused at what Jesus says and why he mentioned this to Judas, to us today, the answer is duh, but at that time they did not know.

How can you be so close to someone and still betray them?

I know that I am not perfect and I have let Jesus down multiple times.

I struggle with sin and it’s hard to believe Jesus would still forgive me.

Judas was the one who betrayed Jesus and the others couldn’t figure this out.

It hurts when someone betrays you and I couldn’t imagine what it was like for the group of believers or Judas during this time.

Really interesting scripture and I am still wrestling with it.

Have a great day.