If we don’t make a small move toward God’s road, we’ll remain imprisoned on our current road. The only commitment we have to make is to begin. As Martin Luther King said, “You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”    There are no shortcuts to the top. We climb the highest mountains one step at a time. If we take the first step, God will do the rest.   ...

During my time as a Corporate CEO, I used to think that if I kept the “right things” in my mind I could chase the negative voices away. I was trying to make up for my “un-Christian” thoughts and the guilt they produced by staying busy and chasing worldly success to force all of that negativity into retreat or cover it up. I was playing a no-win “activity management game,” and I lost.   ...

I have never met or heard of anyone who leverages the power of visualization better than Pastor Rick Warren. He has no filter or governor on his vision engine. There are no restrictions on that car’s carburetor and his vision gas pedal is always pressed through the floor.    Rick’s visualization prowess has produced two very important results over 30 years of ministry: It maximizes the quantity...

Earlier in my faith walk, I DEFINITELY was playing it safe. No prayer. No action. No commitment. That makes me sad now. But it makes me thankful, too, because God taught me how playing it safe minimizes his love for us and thwarts his ability to perform the supernatural in our life.    It gets worse if we play it safe.    Playing it safe also buries the talents God gave us. The...

I woke up this morning with a deep sense of peace as the new day emerged from a charcoal sky. I ambled into my quiet time with an extra bounce and a simple thought: “God’s Protection Promise.”    I can’t really say how or why that line slid into my consciousness, but it did, so I embraced its power to thwart the worry and doubt that would surely greet me this day. (Make sure you read all...

I know from years of experience that being busy sounds great until you realize what comes with it. Always being frenetically occupied is what many people aspire to, until you wake up shaking and sweating in the night worrying about keeping your life’s deck of cards from tumbling into a heap.    It sounds great until you have to live through the anger and yelling that spews forth from the...

Have you heard negative thoughts whispered in your ear?    I have.    They come from Satan, aka the “Voice Villain,” who spews negative and destructive messages in my head that wreak havoc with my ability to live out God’s purpose for my life.    BUT HERE’S THE TRUTH: Despite our best planning, tests and trials are inevitable in the life of all believers. They crash into...

NEWS FLASH—If you are feeling like that…you are in a very large group!    Man, did it ever take me a long time to get this right in my head and realize that life is a journey of joy in the here and now. Every minute. Every day. Always.    I can understand that at a surface level. Heck, I’m writing about it right now and I even teach it to my kids. But it is, nonetheless, common...

NEWS FLASH—If you are feeling like that…you are in a very large group! Man, did it ever take me a long time to get this right in my head and realize that life is a journey of joy in the here and now. Every minute. Every day. Always. I can understand that at a surface level. Heck, I’m writing about it right now and I even teach it to my kids. But it is, nonetheless, common for me to feel like I’m running...

Sometimes it feels like my life is nothing more than enduring one test after another. One day it’s family. The next finances. Then something about an uncertain future. And that’s just three days! Sounds familiar, right?    Of course, but I’ve learned that enduring is not something to avoid. Life is all about ENDURANCE! This is not heaven. It’s earth and our ability to endure will be tested....