So, what does God look for in a man? Is it level of success? Does God measure a man by what he has accomplished? Perhaps. I know God rewards success. We have a perfect example in Jesus’ parable of the faithful servants (Matt 25:14-30). Clearly those who were successful, God rewarded with greater responsibility.

Success though, is multifaceted. You need to have a level of success in several areas of your life, (i.e. marriage, fatherhood, career, etc.) in order to be truly successful. So, clearly, God wants us to be successful in those areas of our lives. Yet, the only way to truly be successful has not to do with what you do, as much as it has to do with who you are.

What God looks for in a man is character. Without a Christ like character, you will never achieve success across all areas of your life. As a Christian, your character represents who you are in Christ. With a Christ like character, the Lord can guide you to fulfillment and contentment in your life, which is the final evidence of true success.

I took the summer off from writing, but now i’m ready to start back.  For the last few weeks i’ve been teaching on Spiritual Warfare.  Ever since I started, i’ve encountered battle after battle.  I guess I should have expected that.

I’m also glad that football season has started–even though it’s just preseason.  I felt like a junky needing a fix.  I’m also looking forward to basketball season for the first time.  I can’t wait to see how the Heat will do this year with their new lineup.

Anyways, hope you’ll check in.  I’m planning to write once a week on topics that I hope will interest you.

If you are old enough, you would remember the old Get Smart TV series.  It was the battle between Control and Kaos (Chaos).  During the last two weeks of my life, Kaos defeated Control.   Between moving out of the Media Center, emptying our storage container, moving my mother-in-law out of our home, moving my office into our home, and setting up a mobile command center for Life Church, I was about to go off the deep end.  Did I mention we had Easter Sunday somewhere in the middle of all that?

Fortunately, I think the worst  is over.  We managed to store everything in one location and my new home office is pretty sweet.  I’m hoping to be able this week to get back to “normal” with all of my duties and responsibilities.

On the bright side, I was able to learn a great lesson…well, maybe not.

I just spent five days doing jury duty.  No, I wasn’t selected, it just took that long for them to reject me and send me home.  It was a nightmare to find parking each morning and I spent a lot of time sitting around waiting—fortunately I had my kindle with me and was able to catch up on some reading (also played solitaire on my phone).  The seats were uncomfortable and my legs kept falling asleep (not to mention my rear end).

And yet at the end of the day, I felt good about my service.  I realized that one of the things that make this the greatest country in the world is that we are presumed innocent and are judged by a jury of our peers.  As I looked at the defendant I thought to myself, “If I was sitting were he is, I would hope that 12 people would put their schedules, work, and plans aside—that they would look pass the inconveniences and give me a fair shake.”  And so I did.

God told me … REALLY?  Did he send you an email or text message?  Or was it a phone call?  Perhaps He communicated to you through His blog.  Anytime I hear someone say, “God told me…” I cringe.  I’ve heard pastors say things like, “In my conversation with God he said to me…”  They say it so confidently, so nonchalantly as if they just got off the phone with Jesus.

I believe its presumptuous to say that you know exactly what God wants you to do outside of those things which God has prescribed in His Word.  I can say without a doubt that God wants me to be holy; He wants me to honor my parents; He wants me to love my neighbor.  I also know for a fact that there are things He doesn’t want me to do (i.e. lie, steal cheat, etc.)  All these things are found in His Word.

For me to say that God TOLD me to move to New Jersey—no.  An opportunity for me to move to NJ to do ministry may have opened.  And since I’ve been praying for an opportunity in a new city, combined with advise of other believers and in accordance to God’s Word, I may strongly feel this is the direction God wants take.

I have had times in my life when I have strongly believed that I was doing exactly what God wanted me to do.  I have believed that I was right at the center of His will or my life.  But I hesitate to say that God TOLD me anything.

I’m not saying that we cannot know God’s will.  On the contrary, I emphatically believe that through prayer, fasting, other believers, and His Word, God speaks to us.  And with a HUMBLE heart we step out in faith believing that God will direct us.

So, next time someone says to you, “God told me…” ask them to see the memo or to hear the voice mail.

I was talking with my daughter the other day and she shared with me that her religion professor said that anyone that wouldn’t marry someone just because they are of another religion is prejudice.  I guess he would be right if the person is someone who simply has added a little religion to his or her life.  But, if the person has true faith, then marring someone of a different religion is a major mistake.

The bible says not to marry unbelievers.  The reason is quit clear.  First of all, the unbeliever is going to pull you away from the faith.  I’ve seen it more times than I care to mention in couples.  The unbeliever resents the believer’s faithfulness to his/her church.  If the believer wants to get involved, teach, or give, usually the unbeliever will have a problem with it.  Eventually, either the believer gives up and turns away from his/her faith or the unbeliever leaves.

On very rare occasions, the believer will bring the unbeliever to faith.  In my 17 years of pastoring, I’ve only seen that happen once.  What usually happens is the believer gives up and basically puts his/her faith on the shelf.

Another major problem occurs when they have children.  If the believer has TRUE faith, then he/she is going to want the children to become believers.  The unbeliever, sometimes just by example, will steer the children away from the faith.

Again, if you’re just looking to add a little religion to your life, you’re better off choosing some other religion besides Christianity.  That way it doesn’t matter who you marry.

Our church is coming together to pray together at noon & 6pm everyday for 21 days. This week we are praying for God’s provisions & blessings (pray21days).

One of things the early church did constantly was pray together.  There is so much power in united prayer.  We understand that in order for Life Church to be blessed, our people have to be blessed. And if our people are blessed, then we can  bless others.  Also, our prayer this week is not for ourselves, but for others.  We are praying a prayer of blessing for others in our church family.

Next week we are praying for a Spiritual Awakening to happen in our church.

I was listening to Joel Osteen the other day. He was talking about the importance of keeping the vision God gave you in front of you. He talked about how when God spoke to Abraham, He had him come out of his tent and He said to him, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars, … So shall your offspring be” (Gen 15:5). The point was that God gave him Abraham a picture of what was to come. Likewise, when God gives us a vision, we need to keep it in front of us regardless of our present reality.

I agree with him, but I feel that Osteen didn’t really tell the whole story. Keeping the vision before you IS important, but WORKING toward that vision is equally important. So often I hear preachers talk about believing God for this or that. The truth is that I can believe God for many things, but if I don’t work towards it, it’s not happening.

For example, he went on to say that if you are in debt keep the vision of financial prosperity in front of you. That’s great, but if you don’t STOP spending and running up your credit cards, and living above your means, it ain’t happening! There is something to say about STEWARDSHIP. You can believe God for good health, but if you smoke, drink and eat like a horse, odds are you’re going to have health problems. It’s called CONSEQUENCES.

Bottom line is that God does want to bless and prosper His children, but he is more concerned with your CHARACTER then your bank account. His goal is that we become more like Jesus, not just live an easy life hear on earth.

Let me know what you think.

Fantasy Football – holy cow – what a mind melt. It’s torture! It’s like a high-stakes chess match in Vegas where the grand prize is a Dolphin jersey. I’m not even sure what NFL team i’m going for (other then Dolphins of course). FF has fundamentally changed the way I watch football.

p.s. did I mention I picked up Ricky off the waiver wires about 3 weeks ago

Have you ever felt like there is a greater purpose for your life, but your not sure what it is? Recently, I’ve been thinking about this more and more. Maybe it’s a mid-life crisis, but it’s such a strong feeling that sometimes I feel like i’m going to have an anxiety attack.