Forwarded Messages

This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Please, LORD, please save us. Please, LORD, please give us success ( Psalm 118:24-25 NLT). The really good coaches are smart cookies. Forget the "dumb jock" jokes, and pay attention to their ability to motivate — and focus on what matters. One of several nicknames carried by the late UCLA basketball coach John Wooden was The Wizard of Westwood. During his eventful career, he mentored — not just coached — dozens of men who went on to success both in the NBA and in a variety of careers outside athletics. Along the way, his teams won a record ten national titles and set a record 88-game collegiate winning streak. He died in 2010 but remains one of the most respected figures in all of sports. Wooden was a reflective man whose speeches, books, and occasional interviews scattered gems of practical wisdom. A Christian who read his Bible daily, many of those tidbits mirror the teachings of the Master Tea...

I'm afraid of what might happen to the church if abundance comes to the island." That's how one of my Christian friends in Cuba described his country's situation. People in Cuba are going through a time of hardship, with the weight of international disputes falling on the shoulders of ordinary people. In these difficult times, people are looking for God. They are hungry for hope. Churches are growing at a fantastic rate. My friend is concerned that some of that could change should conditions improve. He doesn't desire suffering on anyone; he's just aware that abundance brings its own problems.

If you're going to spend over $650,000 building a new house, there's one important thing to do before you begin: make sure you are building in the right place. That's the lesson a Missouri couple learned the hard way. While building a luxury home in a beachfront development in Florida, they accidentally constructed on the lot next to the one they owned; they built on land belonging to someone else. The initial survey of the property was wrong, leading to the misplaced construction. Hopefully an acceptable agreement can be reached with the neighbors on whose land the house was built. You may also have heard the news about the Rhode Island developer that mistakenly built a $1.8 million house on public park land. Again, the survey was wrong. The error came to light when prospective buyers had their own survey done of the property. In that case, no settlement could be reached, and the Rhode Island Supreme Court ordered the house removed from public land. Jesus talked a...

We are connected to our iPhones, iPads, iTouch, iTunes, iMac, iChat, but have we lost the connection to the I AM?

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone.  Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.  (James 1:5-6 NLT) Father, give me wisdom as I begin this new day.  Help me to use my time,the time You have allotted me, wisely, not wastefully. Father, give me wisdom as I write these words. Please put words into my mind and allow them to flow into thoughts that are good news to the poor, that announce pardon to the imprisoned, recovery of sight to the blind, words that set the burdened and battered free, and words that announce, "This is God’s year to act!" (Luke 4:18-19 MSG). Father, give me wisdom so that when I speak I will say things that are pure and clean and words that help and give life to those who listen. Father, give me wisdom to lead my fami...