I have a friend that has been going through the fire lately.  His marriage is on the rocks, he lost his job earlier this year and the financial pressures are mounting.  I have been praying for him that God would open a door so he can provide for his family.  Well the other day we were talking and he told me some great news.  He said that his old employer wanted to hire him back.  I said “Praise God.”  Then he said, “but he can only hire me part time.”  To which I replied, “well that is still a step in the right direction.”  Then the next thing he said just blew my mind.  He said, “yea I don’t know what to do.”  What do you mean, you don’t know what to do?  “Well, I am getting unemployment and that is $350 a week, my job part time is only $300 a week.  By the time I pay for gas, I might as well just stay unemployed and wait until he is ready to hire me full-time.”

What! Your kidding me right?  I hung up the phone and I couldn’t believe what he just said.  I really wanted to rebuke my friend becasue, the bible is clear on this issue. 1 Thessalonians 3:10 If a man will not work, he shall not eat.  Paul goes on to say in (v.11) “We hear that some among you are idle, they are not busy, they are busybodies.” 

When we are idle, the the devil can creep in and tempt us to do things that we should not be doing.  We have been commanded since the beginning of time to work.  Genesis 2:15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.  I didn’t rebuke my friend when he told me that he was considering staying home and collecting unemployement, I simply told him that I would be praying for him to make the right decision.  The very next day my friend called me and said he was taking the job.

 Here is the main point of this whole thing.  I wanted so bad to rebuke him for being lazy.  I even began to look down on him as if he was more of a sinner than I am.  I was also tempted to gossip and tell someone else, do you know what so and so told me.  But instead, by the grace of God, I just prayed that the Holy Spirit would convict him and guide him to make the proper decision.  And guess what, He did.  Too often we forget that the Holy Spirit can do a far better job of convicting than we can.  We also have a tendency to look down on others that struggle in areas that we do not.  So let this be a lesson to us all, “if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall.” (1 Corinthians 10:12) 

I have been somewhat following the Mel Gibson drama that has been unfolding over the last couple of weeks.  As I was flying back to DC this weekend on Jetblue airlines, I turned on the TV to Entertainment Tonight, yes I watch it every now and again….deal with it. ET has uncovered yet another tapped conversation of Mel going into a profanity laced tirade.  What’s up with that?  I mean seriously, does anyone know what is going on with Mel Gibson?  Here is a man who produced one of the best Christian films in history, The Passion of the Christ, only to be caught doing some un-christ like things.  I mean seriously, “What’s up with that!”

Well yesterday I was reading Exodus 32.  This is the chapter that deals with the children of Isreal and the golden calf incident.  If you are not familar, Moses goes up on Mt. Sinai to meet with God and Aaron is left with the people of God.  They start to get restless because Moses is taking too long and so they ask Aaron to make them another god that will help them.  And Aaron, who should have known better, actually does it.  He tells them to break off their gold and he fashioned together a molded calf.  Then says to them, “This is your god, O Isreal that brought you out of the land of Egypt.” (v.4)

When Moses comes down from the mountain the bible says he was angry and he asks Aaron, ”What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?”  Essentially he said, ”hey Aaron, what’s up with that?”  What were you thinking?  That is my question to Mel Gibson, what are you thinking? 

But then I realize, we all sin and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)  We all are sinners saved by grace.  I don’t know what is going on in Mels life, but I pray that he will get it right before it ends up costing him a whole lot more than he is wanting to pay.   That is what sin does to our life.  It takes us down roads we never imagined we would be traveling on.  I’m sure Mel never thought he would be in the position he is in right now.  Let his actions serve as a wake up call to us all, we can easily be lead estray if we are not on guard. 

Finally, lets look at Moses response to the golden calf.  (v.20) He took it, burned it, ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the people drink it.  Or in other words, he destroyed it.  What ever is causing Mel to act the way that he is, I pray he will identify and destroy it. 

What about you?  Is there something in your life that would cause others around you to say, What’s up with that?  If so, you too need to identify and destroy it, so that you can be free to become all that God has designed your life to be.

I have a friend who is struggling with some real life altering decisions.  We have been praying through some of these decisions for almost a year now.  Recently we talked and he told me that he was still unsure of what God’s perfect will is for his life.  I encouraged him with the following words that really helped me when it came to making some life altering decisions of my own, just two short months ago.

Leadership guru, John Maxwell says, “If you want to reach your God-given potential and fullfil your God-given destiny, then sometimes you have to run away from security and chase after uncertainty.”  Many of us don’t experience breakthroughs in our lives, because we refuse to move out of our comfort zone.  We are afraid to step out into the unknown and risk making a mistake.

I often quote to myself Proverbs 3:5 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” Now, my friend is one of the most Godly men that I know, so I believe he is delighting himself in the Lord, but he still feels there is no clear direction from God.  A couple months ago, I felt as if I was delighting myself in the Lord, but I also didn’t have any clear direction from God as to which road I should choose.

Maybe lately you have found yourself at a similar place and so you can totally identify with these words and now you are wondering what to do.  My answer to you is the same as it was to my friend, “its time to get off the fence and make a decision already!”  I can tell you this, when I made the decision to take my new job, I didn’t have a clear word from God that it was the right or wrong thing to do.  There were just as many negatives as there were positives.  It wasn’t until after I made the decision and started the job, that I knew I had made the right decision.

After making the decision, I held on to Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”  I believed with all my heart that if I was making the wrong decision, that God was more than able to turn it around for my good and His glory. So JUMP already!!!!

I will leave you with one last thought.  Someone told me once, “the greatest breakthroughs happen when you push through the fear.”  He went on to say, “all defining moments generally tend to also be some of the scariest moments of our lives.”

May God bless you as you are obedient to His word, His will and His way.

Sorry this blog is a couple of days late.  Now that I am working in DC, my already busy life has gotten even busier.  This weekend Yannette and I celebrated ten years of marriage.  She deserved my undivided attention as we talked, prayed and cried through memories of our lives together.  So I am just now getting the chance to sit and write. 

Some of our closest friends came to our house last night to help us celebrate our anniversary.  One of our friends gave a toast and said that Yannette and I are an inspiration to her for what a marriage should be.  Now I don’t say that to brag, I tell you because it got me to thinking on the plane ride back to DC what my marital legacy will be?  What do my two daughters see when they look at our marriage?  Are we setting a good example for our children to follow?  When they look at their dad do they see the kind of man that they one day hope to marry?

If you are married, have you ever thought about what your marital legacy will be?  If you are not married, what kind of legacy did your parents leave for you?  Yannette and I both come from a long line of broken marriages and unkept promises.  So we have not been given a good foundation on which to build.  In spite of that fact, we are committed to being first generational legacy builders.  My prayer is that the legacy we pass on will be marked by three main things. 

1. Friendship.  Yannette is my best freind. We laugh, love, cry and fight together.  We share our hearts, dreams, hopes and fears.  We know the best and worst of each other and at the end of the day we both wouldn’t want to be with anyone else in the world.  We really don’t understand those folks who don’t like to be around their spouses, because we truly enjoy each others company.  I pray that is what our girls see.

2. Faithfulness.  I often joke with Yannette because she has what I call an “overwhelming sense of fairness.”  She totally believes in an eye for an eye, so you better watch out if you cross her!  But seriously, she is the most faithful person I know.  The number one thing that she expects from those closest to her is loyalty.  It is my hearts desire to leave a legacy of marital faitfulness.  

3. Fidelity.   This probably should have been number one on the list, because if you don’t have trust, you can’t make a marriage work.  Yannette has my entire heart.  I can remember the day we met, I started out attracted to her, then she won my affection and now she has all of me.  While I did not have the honor of presenting myself pure physically to her, I can tell you that she is the first and only woman to have all of me.  I pray that my girls one day will say to their husbands you are the only man to have all of me, mentally, physically and emotionally.

These are the building blocks that I hope will mark our marriage and will be passed on to my girls.  I pray these same values will be part of the mark of your marriage as well.

Many will be celebrating Independence Day this weekend.  I find it interesting that this week the story broke about the Russian Spy scandal in the United States.  If you are not familiar the government has just uncovered a group of Russian spies living in America.  Exactly what they were planning is unclear, however what is clear is that they are not loyal to America.  They are here enjoying the freedoms of living in our country, but are in no way thankful for those freedoms.

Similarly, the children of Israel were in danger of falling victim to the same mentality.  God had raised up Moses to escort the people out of Eygpt to the land of Canaan.  However they had to go through the wilderness first.  Why? Deuteronomy 8:2 says, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 

After going through the wilderness for 40 yrs, the people were entering into the promise land and God had one message for them.  (v.11) Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments.  God knew that when times are difficult, then many will turn to the Lord, because you have no where else to go.  But when times are good it is easy to forget the Lord and become self-sufficient.  When this happens we begin to take things for granted. 

This Independence Day lets make sure that we are not taking for granted the fact that we live in a country that provides us with certain freedoms that others don’t enjoy.  But more importantly we must understand, that no freedom is as worthy of praise as the freedom that we receive through the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for our sins so that we can be free from the penalty and bondage of sin!

Since taking my new position with the NFLPA, I have been forced to rely on public transportation which is truly fascinating.  Every morning when I get off the metro I have the same routine that I use to get to my office.  It’s funny how we can become such creatures of habit. 

Since the District of Columbia is so busy I hardly ever see the same people each morning and to be honest most of the time I am not even paying attention, but this morning it struck me that I always see this one man every single morning.  He also must be a creature of habit, because he is always sitting on the same bench in the same spot with the same black trash bag next to him.  He also has the same look on his face every morning that I walk past him. 

I find myself wondering every morning as I pass him on the street, how did he get here?  Was it his fault or circumstances beyond his control?  Does he have a family or friends?  How long has he been homeless?  Does he wish for a new life?  All of these thoughts are running through my mind.  Then after I get about a block from him, the thoughts fade into what I have to get done for the day and generally I don’t give him another thought until the next morning when I see him in the same place on the same bench with the same look of hopelessness on his face. 

This morning I decided to do something different, I was going to find out his name and tell him that I would be praying for him.  So I approached him and said hello and not a word was spoken.  So I just continued on my way. Now every morning I plan to speak in hopes that maybe one morning we will have a conversation and I will be able to tell him about the love of Jesus Christ.  Explain to him where he can find hope again.

Peter and John had a similar encounter with a man as they were headed to the temple for prayer. (Acts 3)  The difference was this man that they passed was crippled and he begged them for money to which Peter replies, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I give you.  In the name of Jesus Chris of Nazareth, walk.” (v.6)  Then taking the man by the hand, Peter helped him up and instantly the man’s feet and ankles become strong. (v.7)  The bible says that the man immediately began jumping up and praising God. (v.9)

Peter and John prayed to the Lord and God provided healing to the man’s body, but more importantly they gave the man hope.  Hope for a new life, a better life with Jesus taking control.  That is what we all need.  That is the cure to all of our problems today.  When we have no hope, I think it is worse than any disease or  circumstance that we could ever find ourselves in.  Jesus is our hope.  I pray that I will have an opportunity to share with this homeless man that fact that can change his life.

Yesterday the Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints received their championship rings.  Having played in four super bowls, I can tell you that there is no greater feeling in the world than getting those rings after all your hard work.  This weekend being Fathers Day weekend, I began to think will I recieve ring for being a championship father?

The Apostle Paul who wrote about the similarities between athletics and our spiritual lives, gave us fathers some keys to assuring that we will recieve a ring for our work here on earth.  1 Corinthians 9:24-27

1. We need to Run to Win. (v.24)  For some of us that might mean that we spend a little less time at the office or playing golf and spend more time with our kids.  Remember kids spell love T.I.M.E

2. We need to Remain Self-controlled. (v.25) A wise man told me once that I need to learn to reflect and respond instead of reacting and rejecting to everything that my kids ask or  do.  That has been some great advice.

3. We need to Rely on the Fundamentals. (v.26)  The first fundamental of a championship father is loving your wife.  One of the best things we can do for our children is treating their mother with love and respect.

4. Finally, championship fathering Requires a Disciplined Life-style. (v.27) No father can be a champion unless he is living what he is preaching.  If we are living lives that lack discipline it is highly unlikely that we will win a ring for being a championship father.

Championship Fatherhood doesn’ t mean you do everything perfect.  Your kids won’t remember the things you did perfectly, however, they will remember the things you did period!

Whether you are a baseball fan or not you have to be impressed with Detroit Tigers pitcher, Armando Galarraga.  This week, Armando would have pitched a perfect game had it not been for the umpire’s incorrect call on a play at first base; which would have been the last out of the game for Galarraga.

First base umpire, Jim Joyce admitted after the game that he made a mistake and wished they could overturn the call and give Armando his perfect game.  Commisoner Bud Selig said he will not change the call, but did say that the Tigers organization showed “dignity and class and that their conduct was admirable and embodied true sportsmanship.”

Over the years we have seen plenty of stories of little league parents getting into it with coaches and officials over their kids games, especially when it relates to a bad call against their child.  How refreshing was it to see a professional athlete respond to a unquestionably bad call that cost him a perfect game say, “nobody’s perfect, everybody makes mistakes.  The more important thing is for my heart, I know I threw a perfect game.”  No pouting or profanity laced tirade, just a simple act of grace on the part of a true class act.

The bible is filled with men of integrity, but none more than Joseph.  In Genesis 39 we see that his bosses wife cast longing eyes at him and one day when no one else was around she threw herself at him. (v.7) But Joseph responded the way only a true class act would by saying, “How could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God.” (v.9)

Who you are when no one else is looking, will be the same person that is going to come out when times of testing and trials come your way.  Both Armando and Joseph showed by their actions they they are the real deal.  Both are true class acts.

I have never been a fan of social networking sites.  Many people I know are addicted to facebook.  I am just not a facebook fan.  I only have a small group of people that are in my inner circle, and everyone else; well lets just say I don’t need to talk to them on a continual basis. 

The other day I was talking to a friend who has a facebook page and it got him into some trouble.  You see he got a friend request from one of his best friends ex-wife and he accepted her as a facebook friend.  Now you might be saying what’s the big deal?  Well turns out that the wife had cheated on his best friend and then after they got divorced she trashed his best friends name.  Once his boy found out that he was friends with his ex-wife he was not happy. 

Which leads me to this questing, where is the loyalty?  If one of my inner circle had beef with someone, I would have a hard time accepting them as a friend on my facebook page.  Especially if the person that requested me as a friend was talking trash on my friend.  But today’s society doesn’t seem to believe in loyalty.  We change cars, jobs, houses and spouses like we change our underwear.  If we want to learn a little something about loyalty we need to read the book of Ruth.

Just listen to some of the words from the mouth of Ruth to her mother in law.  Entreat me not to leave you; or to turn back from following you; for wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.  (Ruth 1:16)

Ruth’s husband has died and her mother in law, whose name is Naomi told her to go back to her hometown and find herself a husband.  But Ruth was loyal.  She refused to leave her mother in law and she was eventually blessed for it.

I don’t know what your facebook status is, but I do want to leave you with this advice, be careful who you allow to be your facebook friend.  If I pull up your facebook page and you have a bunch of “shade trees” for friends, then I will be tempted to think that you are also a shade tree.  You know how the old saying goes, “birds of a feather……”

I have recently accepted a new job with the National Football League Players Association.  For those who don’t know the NFL Players have a union that was started in 1956 for the purpose of protecting the rights of the players.  I have been hired as a Regional Director and will be responsible for 8 of the 32 teams.

The NFLPA is the first line of defense for the players against any unfair treatment from outside parties, specifically the NFL Owners.  I will handle all things that relate to the players of the National Football League; past, present and future.  This is a job that I sought after two years ago and so my family and I are excited to take this new journey.

This means that we will have to move to Washington DC, where the offices of the NFLPA are located.  And yes, this will be our fourth different state in 10 years, but who’s counting.  I actually know a person who has lived in only two houses in her 40 years of life, whereas my family has had 6 different homes in 11 years.  Needless to say, we are used to moving.

I will continue the ministry because I feel like Paul who said, “Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.” (1 Corinthians 9:16)  I will also continue my work with Pro Athlete’s Outreach, because I have been called to minister to the athletes. (Romans 12:6) Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is give to us, let us use them.

So pray for us as we start this new journey and that we will continue to give God all the glory. (Ecclesiastes 3:1)