Deliver Me

I was on a road trip the other day to go surfing off the coast of Vancouver Island in Canada and this song came on. It penetrated my soul so I thought I should share it with you all. It struck me as a prayer that could be for me or for you or even for our entire world. I think most people would interpret the song as a love song from a woman to man, as it was sung by Sarah Brightman. But the more I listened to it the more I realized that to me it was a prayer to GOD asking him to please deliver me. Life can be cruel and we can be overwhelmed at any time. It is so easy to look at people and think that everything is going so well and assume that all is good for them.

Read these words, download the song if you want to feel them, and then close your eyes and ask God to deliver you. Surrender to his love and grace. It is a safe and gentle place where there is no more pain, no more sadness, no more shame and no more reasons to hide.

Deliver me, out of my sadness.

Deliver me, from all of the madness.

Deliver me, courage to guide me.

Deliver me, strength from inside me.

All of my life I've been in hiding.

Wishing there was someone just like you.

Now that you're here, now that I've found you,

I know that you're the one to pull me through.

Deliver me, loving and caring.

Deliver me, giving and sharing.

Deliver me, the cross that I'm bearing.

All of my life I was in hiding.

Wishing there was someone just like you.

Now that you're here, now that I've found you,

I know that you're the one to pull me through.

Deliver me, Oh deliver me.

All of my life I was in hiding.

Wishing there was someone just like you.

Now that you're here, now that I've found you,

I know that you're the one to pull me through.

Deliver me, Oh deliver me.

Won't you deliver me.

I hope that you will listen to the song and let it move you as it did me! Ask and ye shall receive!!! It is finished! Jesus is real and he is here to take away all our pains. Accept him and what he has done then invite him into your life.

“Please God come into my life and be my personal Lord master and savior”. AMEN

You Are a Healer

I was on the phone tonight with a close friend of mine talking about helping people through painful events in our lives. One of our conversations was wrapped around why so few people show up to help when someone is clearly hurting. About two years ago a friend of mine asked for some personal time to address a character issue that he was dealing with. I was very sad for him because clearly he had deep remorse, shame and a sense of doom over his future. We talked for hours and discussed Gods sovereign grace and some things he could do to start building new habits that would take him on a new path for his life. It seemed as though the time was a good investment and I felt like he was definitely going to be off to a fresh start. Tonight we had another long conversation and it didn’t go as well. He had felt that I had somewhat abandoned him and not followed through on what I had promised him during his recovery stage. I felt really bad and realized that I had made an error in judgment of what he really needed from me. It was painful to hear but also helped me to realize how important our time and words are. What I learned tonight through both of these conversations is that we all really need to reach out a lot more than we think we do when it comes to people that are hurting. I had stated that it is really ridiculous and insensitive that so few people go out of their way to reach out and help the hurting souls of the world. I seem to often take this personally as I go through things as well. Have you ever heard the quote “you may think you are just one person in this world, but to one person you may in fact be THE world”. Well I think this is really the key to what my friend was telling me. We often think that we are really nothing important. We don’t realize how helpful our little comments really help the hurting! We think that “well, who am I” “I am just one little person in this big persons life. Surely my thoughts don’t matter and there is nothing I can do to help this person. I hope we can all deeply embrace the knowledge and discipline to remind ourselves of this fallacy. Every one needs to be loved and nurtured. You may be the only one that reaches out, or you may be the perfect friend they need at that time. You may finally find the reason for your testimony. To really be able to reach out and touch a sole as a result of the pains in your life is truly one of the most therapeutic things you will ever do. You really do count. Please take the extra time on a frequent basis to reach out to the hurting and fragile. Make the time and take them to lunch or find a way to bless them with love and kindness. As I was in the turmoil of my recent life change my good friend Phil Kirschenmann came up and took Braden and I to a Mariners game. That was actually the first time out in the public in 30 days. Amazing but true!! It took the prodding of a good friend to bust me out of the safe confines of my home. So I would like to leave you with a little advice and challenge. I want you to think for a bit about all the people in your life that are probably hurting for any reason and either give them a personal loving phone call or take the time to go be with them in a way that will help them heal. If you are the person that is hurting or feeling a bit forgotten then I would encourage you to not take it personally. My friend is right, and if not this is still a healthier way to think, your friends are either giving you space, making an innocent mistake or don’t realize how important they are and how healing your reaching out to them could really be. My challenge to you all is to make a list of your hurting brothers and sisters, post it in a private but visual space and take the time to either call them or be with them at least once a week until the issues have clearly passed. Thank you my friends you will save a life out there and it might just be your own. You are loved, you are forgiven and you are worthy!! “To one person you may think you are just one person in this world but to another person you may be the world”. please make that call!!

Persistence Pays Off!

For the past 6 years I have been blessed with the opportunity to coach baseball in the NorthWest. Many of our players are now getting the opportunity to play college ball and a few are getting professional offers. It has been really amazing to watch these boys grow up into fine young men. I have always believed that it is more important to learn life skills than it is athletic skills. However, sporting environments can be one of the best ways to keep kids attention while quietly teaching them about life.

One of the primary focus points of my coaching is that hard work beats talent when talent won't work hard. That talent is never enough! We have invested years into these boys teaching them that there work ethic will take them much farther than their natural abilities. Persistent and consistent work will always take over and carry you to your ultimate destiny.

One of the boys I have worked so hard with is my sons best friend Chris Clarke. He was criticized most of his teenage years for not being very motivated or willing to work hard enough to get the job done. He got a pretty bad rap and was treated unkindly by so many people. I watched and coached him for years and could never really understand why he was treated so unfairly. He never missed a practice, was never late and never left early. He may have lacked in hustle but I believe he was just a little afraid to fail as a result of the constant criticism. But this kid never gave up. He had a dream of playing quarter back for the Mt Si Wildcats football team. He went to every practice, every meeting, weight lifting classes, summer clinics and anything else that was ever available. He quietly worked harder and longer than anyone else. I don't think anyone but his family and few of us ever gave him a chance at being the starting quarterback for one of the best High schools in the state. A school with nearly 2000 students and talent from Senior to Freshman year after year.

Well, with great pride in my chest I am happy to announce to you the starting quarter back of Mt. Si High school is Chris Clarke!! I have tears in my eyes writing this message to you all because I remember all those years of criticism and frustration. I remember him battling injury after injury and standing on those sidelines for three years only taking a handful of late game snaps. Last night he carried his team to a 42 to 6 victory with nearly 400 yards of offense of which 52 of them came on the very first play of the game where Chris launched a bomb to strike first on the way to their playoff clinching performance. He is so humble and I am truly so proud of him.

I also had the opportunity to stand next to his Dad during the game where I was able to see that wonderful God inspired spark of love and pride well up in his eyes. Warren has always believed in him and has done everything a father could do to help Chris become the young man that he is! I cant even tell you how many times I have heard the echo of "CHRIS" as Warren would walk through my house yelling his name in order to pick him up and take him to another practice or training session of some kind. Warren is truly a great Dad that lovingly guided Chris to be the young man that he is today. After every play my ears would ring from the shreeks and shrills of Jennifer who has to constantly fight back tears when she watches him play or talks about his climb. I think there is a special place in Heaven reserved for the Moms of high school and college quarterbacks. They hold their breath every play and live and die with every success and failure. Thats her baby and she just cant help it! Even though chris is 6'3" and nearly 200 pounds he is still her baby and you will never convince her differently.

So here I sit telling you this story of a young man who never gave up. hope to encourage you to fight for your dreams. There is nothing you cant do if always do your best, be faithful to the process and never give up on your dream.

I am so proud of you Chris and honored to be able to watch you overcome, grow and now live the fruits of your persistence. We can all learn something from this young mans journey. Where are you now? On the bench, are you injured, are you overlooked, are you being criticized? Or are you in the weight room, training, studying, praying and working as hard as you can with the faith that dreams do come true to those who are willing to do whatever it takes?

I love you and I am willing to stand with you!!

Revenge Is a Trap!

I can only guess that you have all noticed the radical increase in tension in our society these days. Clearly the economic challenges we are facing today are adding up and we are reacting in ways that are not our true character. Fear is a powerful force in our world and causes many people to say and do things that they would not normally do. The unfortunate result of this is a huge increase in the amount of unfair and unkind conversations and actions taken toward our fellow brothers and sisters. This can be a trap because we can all be in bondage to human justice. All of us are susceptible to seeking revenge or justice when wrongs are done.

For those of us that share the Christian faith we are told in the book of Romans to not avenge ourselves, but rather give place to wrath, for it is written, ”vengance is mine, I will repay”. Now I am not clear on what that means God will do, but I am clear that we are not to seek revenge. Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. Rom 12:17 I think it is safe to say that Jesus removed any gray area about grudges. In fact he teaches that we are to be so far removed from avenging ourselves that we willingly risk being taken advantage of again. WOW. When we refuse to forgive we are carrying out a form of revenge. We are not to judge!

Now this is really easy to say but much more difficult to carry out! I have experienced that the justice/revenge double standard is the one that gets most of us. One of us could have failure in our lives or could be perceived to have failure in their lives and immature Christians choose to pass judgment or gossip and add to the pain. Then in return the one who is hurting and is being judged turns around and judges those that are passing judgment on them, consequently committing the exact same sin. We can all say it is wrong to judge but for some reason we allow ourselves to judge the judger. Obviously this is a trap and one we all want to avoid. James 4:12,5-9 “there is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another? Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the judge is standing at the door” WOW!! When we set ourselves up to correct the wrong done to us we set ourselves up as a judge! Be careful, judge not less ye be judged.

I will say it again “don’t put yourself into the bondage of human justice”. Our hearts are like soil and they will only produce what we plant into it. If we plant the seed of anger, resentment, unforgiveness or judgment the root of bitterness will spring up in the place of the love of God. If roots are watered and fertilized they will grow stronger and deeper to the point that they will quickly be very difficult to pull up. Then we run the huge risk of seeing the harvest of deep anger, jealousy, hatred, strife and discord!! St. Paul told the collosians “ even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do” and to “be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as god in Christ forgave you”. I believe that if we do not pursue peace by releasing offenses we will eventually become consumed by anger and bitterness. Read the story of King Saul and David then his son Amnon and Absalom in the book of Samuel if you really want to see a very clear path to follow and avoid!!

Who is the judge- you or the Lord? Remember that if you sow strife you will reap it. Please, let’s all be willing to examine our hearts. Lets not be afraid to allow our own consciousness reveal any unforgiveness or bitterness. The longer we hide the stronger it will become and the harder our hearts will grow. We cant help to heal the soul of the universe if we are full of issues that sabotage love and grace.

“Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God forgave you” eph 4:31-32

I love you all and I forgive you all! Many great things are being thrown around these days and many hurtful things are being said by people. I love you! I forgive you! I hope you can do the same for me and all your fellow mankind!

Peace is found in grace!!

Always Too Soon To Quit

It’s always too soon to quit! Ever have one of those times in your life when you can’t decide whether to push on or just quit? Well I have! Unfortunately I have done both! When I was a young man I dreamed every day of being a professional tennis player. Literally every day I would work on some component of my game. People told me I was too slow, or too late or not good enough but I knew different. I practiced with the best players I could find every day. They would beat me 6-0 6-0 on a daily basis but I just kept working. I would condition when they were sleeping and I work harder when we were side by side. Everything in my life was about this dream. I was in better shape than anybody I ever played against and I knew that if a match went into 3 or 5 sets I would win because I had put in the hours to prepare for those situations. My senior year I went undefeated and had the opportunity to earn my USPTA (United States Professional Tennis Association) certification. I was the kind of kid that always came off the court bleeding somewhere because I was willing to dive for anything and everything. It was amazing the balls I could get to when I threw my body and heart around. I was all heart with a little bit of talent. The unfortunate reality was that I had not trained my mind as well as I had trained my body. One day I lost in the finals of a regional event and completely lost my mind! I jumped in my car drove wildly out of the parking lot and a few moments later crashed horribly into another car. The accident was bad but the injuries to my body were minimal compared the scars on my mind. I never played again and often times I think back at what I could have done differently. I gave up on a dream that I had carried all my life.

I know now that God had a different plan for me so I am grateful for how things have worked out but I have never forgotten the feeling of quitting and the ache in my soul that it left for years. It was the emotional drama of the whole mess that broke my spirit and killed my dream. It was my choice, but I made that choice from an undeveloped mind.

Well here I find myself 20 years later, a multi millionaire and living my dream of financial independence, until a few months ago when my world got turned upside down. While I am not quite ready to talk about these events I find myself having to decide to continue pursuing my dream or folding up the tent and moving on. It is like a flashback to the car accident and all the rush of emotions that twisted my mind. The advantage I have today is that I have read hundreds of books, been to hundreds of seminars and developed my mind to a point where I feel like I have been prepared my whole life for this moment in time. I am strong, My God loves me, I have an awesome family and I know God has a plan for me and will use this time to make me stronger. It is the valley and I know He is here!

I know many of you out there either have or are experiencing difficult times right now and I believe that you are also searching for some answers. Don’t quit! There is a message in our mess and a testimony in our tests. I have been through the darkest days of my life and I know that there is a light coming through and its Gods promise. Join me and cast a new dream. I am ready to run or at least jog again and I want you to come with me. I know it hurts, it hurts in my soul too but we are all together, and with God for us who can stand against us. I am so excited about re-launching and finding that inner strength to serve again. Some will judge, some will doubt, some will watch and some of you will run!!. The only way the enemy wins is if we stay down and have no story that could inspire others to also get up.

It is always too early to quit! What do you dream about? The question is not can you dream, but do you have the courage to act on it one more time?? When we begin to dream people will always emerge to try and steal it. Usually this resistance happens from people who have never really had a dream before but sometimes it comes from people who are very close to you. For some unknown reason they feel you should suffer longer or hang your head for an allotted time. Or maybe they will try to constantly remind you of your mess. Well I say don’t listen to them but listen to God. He wants us to get up and be used! He needs our testimony a lot more than he needs our depressed or defeated spirits. God is the giver of dreams and the mender of broken ones. Pleas join me in transcending above the walls of doubt, pitty, envy, jealousy, fear or any other internal or external force that wants to keep you down. Is there a dream in your heart? Has life buried it? Have others told you its too late or you can’t or shouldn’t? Don’t believe it!! Pursue your dream no matter how far fetched it might seem to others. Be careful of the dream assassins or the pharisees of today that want to keep you down.

You are worthy, you are able and capable, now just be willing. Learn from the past, be humble but passionate and go claim your destiny. I am with you all the way and if you want some help just let me know and I will do whatever I can!!!!

God bless you my friends I am SOOOOO grateful for YOU!!!!

Loyalty or longevity??

One of the more difficult things any of us will ever have to deal with is the difference between longevity and loyalty. When I was a little boy my best friend lived across the street. We spent every waking moment together building forts, climbing trees, riding bikes and any other outdoor activity two boys could find that created excitement and adventure. For over half my life we were very best friends, I thought we would be buddies for life! One day he told me that his family had decided to move to a new neighborhood. It was only 10 miles away but when all you have is a bike that is another country. We committed to stay in touch and create every opportunity we could to spend time together. We were brothers!! I remember crying incessantly as they packed up the moving truck and drove away. All my life up to that point he had been my best friend. Well that was the last time we ever spent any time together. He was a year older so when he moved he made new friends and I was no longer a priority. ....

So it goes with so many of us as adults. It is easy to confuse longevity with loyalty. We tend to think that since we have known someone or spent so much time with someone that there is a bond of loyalty that transcends all things. Unfortunately that just isn’t true for most people. Loyalty seems to be conditional on “what have you done for me lately”. Truly one of the most painful experiences we will ever deal with is to realize that your “loyal” friends were really based on what value you added to them. When there is little value you add or a time that actually you are in deep need of a friend as a resource of time, love or grace these friends seems to disappear. As we get older this can become very unsettling. I have found that unless you can find some sort of loyalty, you cannot find unity and peace in your active life. We are all connectors, God made us this way, we are designed to share this experience called life, and without loyal friends as a witness to our testimony our lives lose a little purpose. I want to encourage you to never give up on building deep meaningful relationships. There may be times that you have been so hurt that you say to yourself “forget it, I am done with friends, I will keep the few I have and never experience that pain again”. Please don’t let the enemy convince you of that lie. We all need each other and someone out there right now needs you and your painful experiences. Your testimony will be their inspiration and strength.....

Carl Schurz, a loyal friend of Abraham Lincolns said “My country right or wrong; when right, to keep her right; when wrong, to put her right”. This is what I call loyalty! To stand by a friend or country no matter what! When things go wrong they stand by their side and help make it right or love them through their hardship. Theodore Roosevelt said “I would rather be faithful than famous”. So many people choose popularity or profit over loyalty and brotherhood. All of us have probably been guilty a time or two when it comes to our absolute loyalty but I am hoping we can make some adjustments from this day forward. Every one of us will some day need the love and support of our friends. Join me in making a decision that no matter what goes down for your true friends you will be there for them. True loyalty breeds deep peace. Knowing that God loves me no matter what give me deep peace in my life. Lets represent this same attitude with our brothers and sisters in Christ.....

Lets embrace grace and restoration over guilt and condemnation. Ask yourself a question; is there someone you need to call? Is there someone that you have not been there for? Can you decide to make the choice of loyalty over profit or popularity? The question we should be asking is not what have you done for me lately but what can I do for you now! How can I help you get back on your feet, serve you or add value to you? Just a simple phone call or email can change a life. Reach out, go past the 50/50 style, it is never right to do the wrong thing and never wrong to do the right thing. You are good people! Decide today and call someone, you might just change his or her life. You may think you are just one person in this world but to one person you might just be the world! the definition of loyalty is “The willingness to make an investment or personal sacrifice to strengthen a relationship.” Lets live it!!!

We All Need Each Other!

Archbishop Desmond Tutu often speaks of an African concept called “ubuntu”. He describes our existence as a community. “A person is a person through other persons; I am human because I belong, I participate and I share”. Our life is not a solitary journey but one in which people join in and share in our experiences. It is in this place that we are the strongest and most vulnerable. When we allow people to share in our lives we either gain great strength and courage or experience great pain and abandonment. I have experienced, and frankly probably caused, both! It is my prayer that I have learned from these experiences so deeply that I will walk with much more enlightenment and compassion for all!!

We all need one another but we must learn to operate within a circle of mutual respect, not a chain of command. The basis of all gatherings must be love and respect, and to embrace each other as brothers and sisters. Every one of us is broken in one way or another. Therefore we all need each other in order to complete who we were designed to be. The Greeks used the word “ecclesia” to describe gatherings of Christian brothers and sisters, later to be called the “church”. The problem with most churches is that they become a power and control source. It seems that whenever we pull together a group of people in any kind of structure someone feels it is necessary to appoint a leader and therefore make rules and take control of where they go and what they do. We all need one another but we do not need to be controlled. The African concept of Ubuntu is a common sharing of all to extend the community. It’s the companionship that carries us through the stages of life that are most painful and without these rich relationships we would probably never make it. My heart aches for those that have had to walk the path of pain or shame alone.

I would like to extend the concept of “ecclesia” to any group of people that are committed to the community of brotherhood. Martin Luther King defined love as “understanding and creative, redemptive goodwill for all mankind”. Christ told us to “love one another as I have loved you”. He laid down his life for us and our sins. “one love, one blood, one life; you got to do what you should. One life with each other; sisters, brothers. One life, but were not the same. We get to carry each other, carry each other” to borrow a line from arguabley the greatest band of all time, U2! “Love is a temple love is the higher law”.

I believe the ecclesias of the future will be virile, courageous, nurturing, grace filled communities that center their practices on helping each other not controlling each other. The ecclesia is a group not a building! It is all of us coming together to carry each other. I believe that many of us will gather and carry the true message of Jesus to the world. Grace, love, acceptance and a true brotherhood that is committed to each other no matter what. That we walk in communion with the spirit that no one will be left behind. As God will never leave us, we in return will never abandon one of his children. The turn off of modern church and organizations is the judgmental and controlling nature of most leadership. It is these very groups that repel people from God more than accomplishing the great commission. Many people can’t imagine ever trusting another community enough to want to return to any kind of faithful practice. I am a Christian and I love Jesus but I often feel I have more in common with people outside the church than inside the church. Most of us get just enough religion to inoculate us from it! We get force fed rules through fear tactics! It becomes about power and control instead of relationship and liberation. It has gotten to a point where religion has nothing to do with Jesus and the message of his life and death.

Lets gather in love! Lets embrace our differences and carry each other. We do need each other but we don’t need to control each other. Lets commit to serving, healing and representing the true message of love and grace. You are worthy, you are beautiful and I am proud to call you my friends!!!!!!!!!

Be a Visionary Leader

When I was 23 I met a young man by the name of Brad Duncan. He was full of life, dreams and ambition. I worked very hard to earn his respect love and trust and I can honestly say he has been the most influential person in my life. In the early days of our development he taught me to really let go of any restraints on the size of my dreams. He was clearly a great leader and I bought into his vision for life. I would like to share with you what he taught me.

We started off with taking the time to really identify a clear picture of exactly how I wanted to live. He encouraged me to think out as far and wide as I could. My dreams included children that I didn’t have yet, in laws that I have since lost and ministries that now touch children all over the world. It is amazing now to look back after so many years and realize how powerful that broad scope of thinking really was. Secondly Brad then helped me share this vision with thousands of people around the world that have joined in on this cause to live a life of significance. We have been able to reach over a million people now all over the world. We have shared stages with hundreds of thousands of people, made recordings of messages in 7 different languages and now share this blog with over 40,000 of you. To make a vision come to life clearly you have to inspire other people to join in on your quest. Finally he helped me structure a work habit of passionate calm persistence. That may sound like a oxymoron but it is like the swan going across the water. Calm on the top but with the feet paddling like crazy underneath while maintaining a complete focus on finishing the mission. All three qualities of equal importance! Ever watch Jordan in the final 30 seconds of the game, or John Elway in a 4^th quarter two minute drill or even catch an old recording of Muhamad Ali? Each of these athletes stayed totally calm with a fire burning inside at an extreme level and only one thought on their mind.

All great leaders, including you, need to develop this inner strength in order to make great impact. After you have developed these characteristics and accomplished your goals the second challenge arises. Learning to never abuse your power and genuinely motivate people instead of manipulate people becomes the real test of life. There are many ways to crash as a leader but the top three that I have seen seem to be the most difficult to avoid. First of all learning to restore people instead of destroying people. When you are in a position of leadership it is easy to forget how difficult life can be. It is easy to sit on our self appointed throne of judgment and discard people instead of the time consuming and transparent efforts it takes to restore people that struggle in life. We must always remember that the only reason we have ever been able to accomplish anything is because of Gods blessings and these very people. A second common tripping point for leaders is to lead people into confusion instead of leading them into a cause. When we reach our personal milestones we can forget that others are still in the middle of their climb. We can become consumed with wanting to maintain what we have instead of being committed to learning and growing and changing in order to help the people around us achieve their dreams as well. Preservation vs. growth becomes the battle. We spend all of our time teaching what we did, instead of continuing to evolve and develop new methods for helping the next generation of leaders. This typically leads into the third point of failure, which is the distortion of justice versus the upholding of justice for the common man. John Maxwell goes into great detail on these topics is several of his books. We can easily slip into manipulation over motivation. We begin to distort the truth to preserve our own little empires. Some even abuse the Word of God in order to keep people in fear and under control. Manipulation means moving people for the advantage of the leader while motivation means moving together for mutual advantage.

Be committed to never forget the common man and his battles in life. Be humble in your approach to servant leadership. See it in your mind, say it to everyone, show people the way and never forget where you came from! We all have so much to do, so lets all serve, love and lead with grace, humility and compassion.

Convert Your Energy

I recently was blessed with the opportunity to start my own little vineyard and wine business. It’s more of a hobby than anything else but I am really enjoying the opportunity to work with the earth and all its elements. To turn something that appeared to be unfertile, baron raw land and turn it into something as beautiful as a vineyard is truly an amazing experience and metaphor for life. When I first walked on the land I was struck by the incredible contrast. The land is bordered by a half mile of frontage on the mighty Columbia river. The landscape is etched by the finger of God with massive mountains and rock cliffs surrounding this epic valley that was a lake over a thousand years ago. Fossils can be found hundreds of feet up the canyon walls. It truly takes my breath away every time I step onto the grounds. However, the land itself seemed so void of life. There was nothing but sage brush, weeds, piles of rocks and old relics from the structures of the migrant Indians from over a hundred years ago. If you didn’t know better you would say that nothing could possibly grow here. The contrast of the living water and baron sage lands were breathtaking.

I find that there are so many similarities in our world that we participate in every day. The number of chronic drug addicts that live near the greatest hospitals in the world, the people that beg for money outside of banks and the homeless person that stands off a Microsoft freeway exit asking for a hand out.

One of the first things we had to do at the vineyard was to access the water resource from the ground and convert the energy from the earth into power to run our electrical needs. We have learned how to take a negative source like the cold from a well and turn it into a power source as it changes temperature. We have harnessed the power from one and turned it into another through geothermal dynamics.

I would like to ask you to do the same with your life. I would like you to take an inventory of all the things that are creating negative energy in your life and find a way to turn them into a positive resource that fuels your passions. If there is someone that is causing you emotional pain I would ask you to be still and pray for them. There is no way you can have negative emotions towards someone you are praying for. This will fuel your heart. If there are destructive habits in your life I would ask you to start speaking wellness and better decision making. Claim how great it feels to be an overcomer and a witness in life. Confess how great it feels to be living a testimony of grace and love. This will fuel your soul and set you free. You are converting the negative energy into a resource that is accelerating your life. Start calling a problem a challenge, a failure a source of wisdom and a seasonal cold into a warm (a positive cold). All things can be converted into a resource of energy. Energy is life, life is love and love is God. Everything works together for the greater good if you just convert your energy.

Life is a decision. We are all surrounded my epic beauty and devastating failure. We will all end up somewhere, the only question is where? You have everything to do with this destiny. Thoughts, words actions, habits, character, destiny, legacy!! Your life is yours for the making. Develop the mental discipline and muscle to convert your energy and turn everything into the resource of choice!!!!

Don't Function within Your Disfunction

My Northbend property is entered by a quarter mile driveway that winds back into a mountain paradise surrounded by massive 100 year old fir trees. It truly is heaven on earth with a view of the mountains, a 14 acre lake, field of dreams baseball field and a ropes course we use to help young people. At the entrance to this driveway is a small house with what appears to be the meanest dog on earth. Every time someone walks by, this crazy dog comes ripping around the corner as fast as it can barking and frothing at the mouth like he is going to eat you for lunch. To this day every time I walk by this dog he scares the stuff out of me. For years this dog was controlled by an invisible fence and shock collar. It was designed to keep the dog in the yard and prevent it from attacking passers bye. If the dog got to close to the fence it would give It a little shock and as it got closer and closer the shock would become more severe until virtually dropping the dog to its knees. The dog became so aware of this invisible fence that it would charge at us like a carnivore, but pull up like and F-14 in a combat maneuver just before getting debilitated. This concept worked so well that the dog became totally conditioned to its limitations. The owners of the house turned off the system years ago but the dog has never changed. He still flies at us barking his head off and ready to rip us up but comes to a screeching halt every time! It still scares the heck out of me but the dog honors this limitation that doesn’t even exist anymore!

So many of us are just like this dog but perhaps not quite as extreme. There are so many limitation we have on ourselves because “we have always been this way” or “it’s just the way I am”. These things are just simply not true. You have learned to function within your dysfunction. Do not embrace anything that is not your best. The only real competition in this world is our own belief system and the only ageing process is the erosion of our dreams. We don’t stop dreaming because we grow old, we grow old because we stop dreaming. Learn to break free of these things by first of all recognizing them then agreeing to no longer tolerate them. You can never change what you are willing to tolerate. As long as you accept and accommodate these issues, you will stay right where you are. Once you recognize it I want you to take little bite size moves away from it. Try drinking one less cup of coffee a day, or shift to tea for the afternoon then build up your changes until you have broken the addiction. Try giving up one cigarette a day for a month. Think about it, within a month you are free! Forgive one person a week for a year. Start with simple affirmations in your car. Tape them to your steering wheel and say them once in the morning and once on your way home.

Most people take too steep of a curve to break free and then quickly fail and lose hope or interest! We need to learn to take baby steps in order to run like a champion. Action leads to confidence and confidence leads to bolder actions and the results of this fuels the fire to being even more bold, and so on it goes till the issue is gone! I call this the little win/wind theory. Every little win puts a little more wind in your sails. With each win we get a little strong and a little closer to our designed intentions. The power is within you and it is greater than the addiction or apathetic habits. But you’ve got to change your attitude, affirmations and little daily habits. Great people are not made in a day they are made daily!!!

Rise up in your authority, and be the one to break these chains, set yourself free and then be the witness to change others. Be willing to show the enemy that you are more determined than he is!! Remember, the same power that rose up Christ is deep inside of you! Your collar has been taken off; there are no more limits in your life. The price has been paid in full! No longer function with in your dysfunction for the sake of ease and comfort. Rise up and live in confidence, authority and peace.

Dis Changes Everything

About a year ago I wrote a blog about how the word “dis” changes everything. It was a play off the statement that we use quite often when epic events happen in our lives. “this will change everything” Sometimes during our life events happen that change the course of our life. Then there are those things that change everything but nothing at all. “everything’s changed but nothings changed”....

Most of you know my life has just gone through one of those events. Some things change everything in a physical sense but nothing on an internal sense. It is very important to be able to separate the two. We may have a lot of changes on the outside but they don’t have to change what we believe at the core of who we are. Many people would like to say that when radical changes happen on the outside that they suddenly have a clear view of what’s going on in the inside. That the actions they have taken clearly point out what’s going on in the inside. I believe we should always remember that we cant judge a book by its cover or even the first few chapters. The events of a persons life may only be preparing them for what is to come. The past does not predict your future, like others would like to predict, it simply prepares you for it. Dis allows you to place distance between a stance! Time cures a lot of things. ....

I know that in my case my world was rocked and I had to really take some quiet time and get away from all the noise in order to hear the inner voice in me. What I learned was that it hadn’t changed at all. I still deeply yearn to add value to peoples lives, I am enriched by the opportunity to help heal those that have pain in their lives and that the faith I have in God, family and friends haven’t changed in the slightest. In fact they are deeper and stronger than ever before. A failed relationship does not make you a failure but it does make you more compassionate to the hurting people out there in this world. ....

If we aren’t careful these issues can really begin to affect our health. We can turn ease into disease if we aren’t careful. When we have peace in our hearts we radiate energy that is called resonance or charisma. But when we are not in peace it looks like we are unhappy and perhaps infected by a disease that people don’t want to be around. This would be called dissonance! Another dis that changes our lives. ....

I find it truly amazing that three letters can make so many positives into a negative. Respect to disrespect, courage to discourage, honor to dishonor, obey to disobey, ability to disability, engage to disengage. Is it really that simple that three letters, which are primarily controlled by our minds and the decisions we make, can change our lives forever? My studies over the past 60 days have revealed to me that clearly we are destined for greatness. But, we have to decide to fulfill Gods purpose for us. We have to have the courage to show up and be willing to do what ever it takes to fulfill this destiny. We have an appointment with significance, lets not make it a disappointment!! Cut dis out of your life if it’s a negative. Take off the cover and discover what God has in store for your. Find the courage to connect where you have disconnected.....

You have what it takes to make your desires come true. In the latin translation desire means “of the father”. This tells me that when we are in a quality state of mind that our desires came from God and that what he has placed on our hearts no one can ever erase. Listen to the quiet whisper and know that you are loved and that there is a great plan for your life. Start by listening, then praying, writing, speaking and ultimately taking action that will lead to your habits, character, and destiny. I am proud of you!....

Anybody got anymore dis’s you want to discharge!!:)....

Proud Foot Prints

My mom used to have a picture on the wall in our house that often times confused me as a little boy. It was a picture of the beach alongside the ocean with a set of foot prints embedded in the sea shore. I really never took the time to read it so I thought it was a bit of a lonely picture and all I remember was a question in the writings about why did you leave me? It wasn’t till much later in life when I learned it was a story about someone who felt that God had forgotten them and he thought the footprints were only his. As most of you know the story actually went on to explain that at these times in their life that God actually carried him.

I would like to send all my love out to my friends from the North. Today is their Thanksgiving, and being a culture that is focused deeply on their families I would like to send my prayers and sincerest respect. You are all like family to me and I love you very very much. It is times like these that we carry each other through life! You have all been there for me and I promise to always be there for you! It is our faith, love and grace that has brought us together and it is our willingness to embrace these beliefs in our long term relationships that will keep us together. All of us are searching for ways to better serve our loved ones, our community, our nations and our God. We are all making footprints with every step we take. I am proud to say you are developing a legacy that your children’s children will be able to follow in so many ways. You are all charting a course for significant impact because you are willing to listen, strengthen and inspire. It is your testimonies that are shaping our lives and leaving proud footprints. As we know the only way you can have a testimony is by your willingness to overcome the tests of life. We are under construction and living in a constant repair shop where God and family are putting us back together.

I pray that God delivers me from pride and consumes my soul with his love and grace. I may not be able to change the world but I CAN change the world in me as I dance between unity and diversity! We are all so different yet we all want the same basic things. We want peace, happiness, security and to know that we have made a contribution in this world. I would have to say the attribute that I love the most about my family in Canada is how well you dance between unity and diversity. Your willingness to be bold and strong in who you are and how you think while at the same time totally accepting, loving and respectful of your neighbors that think completely different! It is truly inspiring to me and penetrated my spirit at the deepest level.

I am honored to be your friends and very proud of your footprints in the sand. Clearly, you are all willing to carry each other! My only prayer is that all of us down here in the States are infected by your humble graceful approach to life. I sense a great awakening in the hearts and souls of my fellow countrymen. I am proud of you and excited to see where our paths will take us and what our footprints will look like many years from now.

Dont fear the unpardonable sin.

It seems that so many years of my life have been spent dodging fear and the consequences of living an imperfect life. My greatest fear was not the earthly punishments but the eternal price of making bad decisions or worse yet of having bad thoughts that might cost me my eternity. Nobody should have to live under this kind of fear and pressure. There is no joy in this life and certainly not the way God wants us to live. I really believe that this is why perhaps so many of you have avoided God and his word. I really don’t blame you if you think that a relationship with God includes such fear, pain and judgement. What I want you to know that this is simply not true and purely the teaching of people who use fear as a technique of strong influence and control. However in most of our cases it only pushes us farther away!!. I remember as a young Christian fearing that I had performed or thought the “unpardonable sin”. Blasphemy of the holy spirt. I thought that my thoughts of doubt or anger were interpreted as that, or that if I used the Lords name in vain or walked away for a season that I may be destined for Hell. My friends this simply is not true. Gods love and eternal life are about a relationship that once agreed upon can never be broken. Be in peace with this and never live in fear again. We all sin every day but our sins are not greater than Gods grace! I am convinced that beyond a shadow of a doubt that a Christian can not commit the unpardonable sin. It is only through a decision to continually reject the person of Christ that this could happen. And, even that is correctable with a simple prayer and confession of the Lord as your savior!!

There are so many leaders that love to keep people in fear in order to maintain control. The apostle Paul called them a “brood of vipers”. They were the pharisees that wanted to hang the law over every ones head instead to the finish law of grace in Jesus. They were losing control and the only way to maintain it was through confusing the word of God and using fear as a tool of manipulation. I have seen this so often today that it makes me ill to realize how long I bought into it and perhaps how many of you steered away from a relationship because of this painful teaching.

You would think that if the unpardonable sin was really possible that Paul, who wrote two thirds of the new testament, would have made if a focus point. But, in fact he never mentioned it in his writings.

When you hear teachings that put fear into our heart and place you under bondage you need to do some homework. Starting off with is it from the old or new testament? Then look it up in the proper context. Because if you get the wrong text you are only left with a con! Nothing can separate you from the love of Christ. Not even sin, because his blood is greater than your sin. Knowing that ALL of your sins are forgiven is crucial for our health and peace of mind.

God does not keep an accounting of your failures so neither should you. Only the evil, you yourself, and the people around you will bring these things to your remembrance. Never forget the main clause of the new covenant, “he will merciful to your unrighteousness, your sins and your lawless deeds”.

Be a king

Each year in either July or August I take my sons and a group of boys on a trip to the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. This is a group of boys that have had some struggles or lost their Daddys to tragedies. It is a trip I look forward to every year. We are in search of the elusive yet mighty Kenai King. Actually, we are there to have a great time, drink in the majesty of Alaska and help these boys heal. But the great treasure is to catch one these mighty 70 pound plus King salmon. The Kenai is the homeof the world record caught on a rod and reel at 97 1/4 pounds. It was landed near the mouth of this amazing river less than 20 years ago. The biologist say that the reason these salmon are so much bigger than any other salmon in the world is because they spend up to 7 years in the ocean as compared to 4 or 5 years like the typical salmon does. This would translate into more nets avoided, more whales and salmon sharks have either near missed or eaten one of their buddies, countless attacks, assaults and of course a lot more meals. To be the king of the species and the greatest they have had to endure a lot more life than all the others.

Sound familiar? We all have to be willing to endure the heat if we want to enjoy the warmth and light of the fire. All greatness had to go through similar tests in order to become a leader. The greater the challenges the greater the growth and opportunity to impact others. I am sure if you look in your history you will find that all of the significant people of your family tree had to go through tremendous amounts 0f adversity. Moses had to free the slaves and part the sea then spend 40 years in the desert. David had to slay the giant and then deal with massive grief as he wrote the psalms. Sampson had to topple buildings and deal with his shame and blindness. Daniel had to spend an entire night in a lions den. Nehemiah had to rebuild the walls of Jericho against all odds. The bible is full of great testimonies of struggle, defeat, failure and then a great rebirth of strength, compassion and impact. Hallelujah!!!

It doesn’t matter where you are right now. You and I have made mistakes! We may have failed a thousand times, but understand that it does not dictate your future nor does it change how God looks at you!! We are all programmed for greatness and victory. However, at the same time most of us have to go through multiple years of pain, struggle and growth in order to be prepared to lead. Rise up and claim what is yours. Repeat these words “I have what it takes, I am more than a conqueror, I am intelligent, I am talented, I am successful, I am attractive, I am an overcomer, I am worthy!!” doesn’t that feel good!! Its true and your spirit rejoices when it hears the truth!! You are an original, the only one of its kind. You are valuable and there is a great need for your story to be told! Only you can help certain people that are similar to you. If you don’t then who will. Please stand up and be counted. Heal and go become a healer! The universe is waiting for you to stand up and overcome so it can applaud your great comeback. A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. Take that first step by writing down a few things that you want to do to help others. Go ahead write them down and let those marinate in you spirit for a bit. Your thoughts are the seeds that become your words that ultimately lead to the actions that will change our life.

Say this “ I may have a lot to overcome, people may have tried to push me down, maybe I dint get the best breaks, I know I made a few bad decisions but that does not change who I am, I know I can fulfill my destiny”!! once again I am proud of you for saying these things out loud. We have all made mistakes, all we are charged with is the responsibility to learn from them. We may have to make the same mistake multiple times in order to really learn the lesson and how to avoid it. Just learn to humbly digest what you need to from these events but for Gods sake don’t walk around in fear or shame. Thank God he doesn’t keep an inventory! We all have things to overcome but when God is for us who can be against us??? God says he will bring you out with two times what you had before!!! Stop waiting for God and realize that maybe God is waiting for you! Your thoughts, words then actions are the key to getting up. You can do it! I can do it! We can do it!!

Pease feel free to comment hear and let me know how I can pray for you and add value to you!! We are family and family never gives up on each other! Remember, just like the Kenai King, the greater the adversity the greater one can become.