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)

This is the famous bigest loser traininer Jillian Michaels, who recently told Women’s Health Magazine that she will never get pregnant because, “I can’t handle doing that to my body.”  Jillian does go on to say that she would prefer to adopt and says her reasoning is because she was an over weight teen tipping the scales at 175 pounds.

Then on the internet site popeater, they polled women to ask their opinions.  I was shocked at the number of women that agreed with Jillian, saying, its a personal choice and I don’t want to do that to my body either. One 24 year old woman says, her family chastises her and tells her she is selfish and will regret her decision not to have children, but she doesn’t agree.

Now whether these women are being selfish or not, all I can say is ”if it walks like a duck, then…..” But lets look at the deeper issue here.  Our society is now starting to place a higher value on looks than on life.  We have become so focused on the way that we look on the outside, its as if what’s on the inside no longer matters.

1 Samuel 16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him.  the Lord doesn’t make decisions the way you do! People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at a person’s thoughts and intentions.” (NLT)

I wonder how God will judge us as a society based on our thoughts and intentions?

Have you ever found yourself at a point in your life where you were standing at a cross in the road?  You have to make a decision that is going to drastically effect the rest of your life.  That is the position I am in right now.  I have a decision to make and the two choices are as different as night and day.  I am praying and God seems to be silent.  One day I think left is the right choice then I go to bed and wake up the next morning thinking no right is definitely the right one.  How do you know?

Moses was at a crossroads in his life in Exodus 33.  And I was meditating on his prayer to God in v.13.  He says, “I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight.”  Then in v.18 he says, “Please, show me Your glory.”  Then God answers Moses prayer with these words in v.21-23 “Stand on the rock, while My glory passes by, and I will cover you with My hand.”

If you are like me and are at a crossroads, and you don’t know which way is right, then we have to stand on Christ the solid rock.  Then we must do the hardest thing in the world, wait for God to lead.  Too often we move out in front of God and tell Him to catch up to where we are going.  He told Moses, “No man can see my face and live.”  I think when we get out ahead of God that is when our lives are a mess.  But oh, if we learn to wait and follow, how sweet the fellowship becomes.  May God bless you as you continue to follow Him.

One bad choice, one foolish mistake, one time you can try or do something and it can cost you more than you are willing to pay.  Such was the case with high school football All-American Matt James.  James had signed a letter of intent to play football next year for the Fighting Irish of Nortre Dame.  Last week,  seventeen year old James who is from Ohio was vacationing in Florida for his spring break when he fell from the fifth floor of his hotel balcony.  Sources say that he was drunk and belligerent while engaging in a conversation with someone on another floor before his tragic fall. 

When you hear stories like this your heart just aches for the family members involved.  So much potential, so many possiblities only to be cut short by one foolish decision.  None of us are immune to the consequences that come from foolish behavior.  So we must learn to gain valuable wisdom from other peoples mistakes.

Tragically many of us have an Esau complex.  What is an Esau complex you ask?  In Genesis 25:29-34 we read of two brothers Jacob and Esau sons to Issac and Rebekah.  Esau was a hunter and the older son, so he was in line to inherit most of the family fortune.  One day Esau comes in from hunting and Jacob is cooking stew.  Esau is hungry and demands that Jacob give him some food.  Jacob tells Esau he will trade him food for his birthright.  In the end Esau sells his birthright for the stew.

An Esau complex is one that is focused only on the present and never on the future.  Don’t be like Esau and trade away future blessings for temporary pleasures.

This weekend many will be exposed to the greatest love story in the world.  That story is that Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God was crucified for our sins.  He voluntarily gave up His Spirit and died on a cross.  The devil thought he had won, but three days later on Sunday morning, Jesus rose from the dead.  He defeated death, hell and the grave and we can now have access to the Father because of what Jesus has done.

Now many will hear that message this weekend and there will be four different types of people with four different types of hearts and Jesus told us this parable before He died.  In Matthew 13:1-23 Jesus says there are four different types of soils and the soils represent different types of hearts. 

The first type is the hard heart which is the one that Satan keeps from understanding.  The second is the shallow heart which is one that receives the word, but as soon as problems come they turn away.  The third is the crowded heart.  This is the one that has too many things in their lives that are choking out the word.  Finally there is the fertile heart.  This is one that is open to all that God the Father has to teach. Jesus said, this is the one that will produce a good crop “some hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

So what type of heart do you have?  I must warn you to be careful, because the devil is crafty and can have us thinking we are something that we really aren’t.  I pray that the word sown in your heart will produce tons of fruit that will last into eternity.

It probably won’t shock you to learn that popular rap artist Sean Carter who goes by the name Jay Z, doesn’t believe in Hell.  If you don’t know, Jay Z is one of the most financially successful hip hop artist in America.  It was said in 2009 he was worth $500million!  You may know him better for his highly publicized marriage to R&B diva, Beyonce Knowles.

Jay was recently interviewed on an XM talk radio station and he was asked by the host if he was a devil worshiper.  Wow!  Talk about cutting to the chase.  Jay said ”no of coarse not.”  He did say however, that he does not believe in religion, but he does believe that there is only one god.  Now before you start downloading his latest album on itunes, you should know that while he believes that there is only one god, he also believes that all gods are the same. 

What I find so interesting about those who share this believe in heaven without a hell, is that most if not all would not disagree with Sir Issac Newton’s Third Law of Motion which states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.  I bet Jay believes in evil, so if that is the case why not believe in hell?  Because hell makes us accountable.  If there is no hell, then I am free to do whatever I want with no consequences to my actions.  

Romans 14:10 We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. (v.12) Each of us shall give account of himself to God.

Luke 12:5 Jesus says “Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell.