One Shining Moment

 “The ball is tipped, and there you are. You’re running for your life. You’re a shooting star.”  This line gets sung by every college basketball player during the tournament. All of them hoping to win a championship, but all of them desiring that one shining moment that they get to be in the spotlight for that montage of great plays at the end of the tournament.

For some, like the players at Grand Canyon University, they know they will not play professional basketball. For others, they hope that their shining moment will propel them into the professional league. Whatever it is, it’s good to recognize our shining moments.

Throughout my life, people have noticed and pointed out my flaws. I have many of them. I know that. Many times, including Christians, people do not recognize our shining moments. Since other people don’t recognize them, we think that they don’t exist or that we just need to humble ourselves and sweep our shining moments under the rug, but that’s not letting our light shine.

Our shining moments reveal the use of our gifts and talents that God has given us. We can be humble and still acknowledge our shining moments. If we don’t recognize our shining moments, we then struggle to repeat them, and they need repeating because people need the light of Jesus.

So, how do we acknowledge our shining moments and remain humble? I wish I had put this into practice better than I do, but I have seen this set as an example, and it has a unique beauty. My professors at my colleges that saw my abilities had that unique way of letting their light shine without bragging. They accepted praise and didn’t apologize for it. They continued to grow and move forward.

 Moving forward disables bragging and acknowledges what you have done well. When you stay stuck, you just want to repeat the shining moment and live in that moment forever, but you can’t. You must move to the next level.

Society will try to silence you. They get on social media and tell you to be quiet and let others, who have not helped anyone, shine. They claim that you speak too much. They don’t want you to be successful in your talents and gifts because they are filled with envy. If we don’t share our light, then we become greedy. Greed and envy will destroy any society.

If we don’t share our light, which consists of our gifts and talents, then we hoard the love of Jesus and have become greedy with our faith. Just because some people in society want to silence others doesn’t mean Christianity is under attack. It means we allow other people to monitor and control what we do. We cannot hide.

We don’t have to stand on the street corner and scream at people. We just need to use the gifts and talents that God has given us to bring someone into the presence of Jesus. The more we use those gifts and talent, the more people see Jesus.

Our talents could be baking for others, painting, creating homemade cards, singing, balancing budgets for individuals or churches or other groups that desperately need a balanced budget. We can write, meet with others, and empower them with our encouraging words. We can read and research the truth. We can have conversations instead of trying to prove to everyone how right we are. Whatever we do, we can use our strengths to bring glory to God.

So, this week, find your shining moment. Document it. Share it with a friend or family member. Let it be in the montage of your memory. In the end, you will be able to sing. “And when it’s done, win or lose, you always did your best because inside you knew that One Shining Moment you reached deep inside. One shining moment, you knew you were alive.”

 

Palm Sunday-Living by Faith and Not Fear

Having knowledge of the events of Palm Sunday did not increase my faith. Experiencing a church taking a risk and moving on Palm Sunday increased my faith in God and the church. The church decided to move, literally. The pastor, Erwin McManus made the announcement at the end of the service. “Join us next week for Easter at our new location in Hollywood.” I would like to explain the reaction of the congregants that day, but I can’t because I wasn’t there.

Our church met on the campus of Beverly Hills High School. The announcement of the move would create commutes for the people who attended the services at the school campus. In Los Angeles, commuting can be an inconvenience. You can leave with time to spare and get caught in a traffic jam on side streets and arrive for the worship service to start in the evening. I had no idea how this move would end.

Not only did the congregants go to that worship service on Easter, they took time out of their week to go to the location and prepare the old church for an Easter service. With all the sweeping and dusting, we could see the particles of dust shining through the windows in the service, but God worked in ways because we moved.

Since that move, Mosaic Hollywood has made an impact on the community in Hollywood. People from all walks of life came to Jesus. The tour buses stop at the front of the church and explain how the church renovated the old building and has many services. The praise team created their own praise songs that many churches have added to their repertoire.

That Palm Sunday that the pastor informed the congregation about the move allowed God to work in my own faith in the church which had been tarnished after sixteen years of full-time ministry. I come from a home church that fought over the color of carpet. I worked in churches that whenever people wanted to do something innovative, they created committees that sat around and talked but did not act. This time, a church acted.

Having a church service in a school requires payment for rent. The owner of the building on Hollywood Blvd. offered us a year of free rent. We moved in on the first week of that free rent. God supplied and the church responded. We must all move when God calls us.

On the first Palm Sunday, most Christian teachers focus on the people waving palm branches for Jesus when he entered Jerusalem on a donkey. What most people omit is the part that since Jesus brought Lazarus back from the dead, the religious leaders wanted to arrest and kill Jesus if he entered Jerusalem. Jesus didn’t just enter, he came in with pomp and circumstance. He exemplified living by faith and not fear.

We had to move. It meant that we would change. Our small gathering grew into many gatherings because we added more people. Change comes because we have grown. We must always grow. We can only grow and change when we take a step of faith and leap and not fear what the future could hold.

Too many Christians choose to live in fear. They want to be comfortable. Jesus said that the peace he gives is not of the world. He gives us contentment throughout our trials. He doesn’t take the trials away from us. He gives us the tools to thrive during trials. We must decide if we will choose comfort and fear or faith and risk.

Risk, change, and growth bring trepidation, but they all create a way for God to work in our lives. Palm Sunday will always be the day that God worked in my heart and revealed people who step up and step out.

This next week, many Christians all over the world take time to remember the sacrifice Jesus did for us. He died for us. He could have had angels rescue Him, but he took the leap of faith and died for us. This next week, find a way to live in faith and not fear. It may be inconvenient and uncomfortable, but it will be life changing.

He Gets Us

 “Jesus doesn’t Hate. He Gets Us.” The words filled the screen after the plethora of images of people washing other people’s feet. Then, the Internet blew up. “Heretics!!!” “He doesn’t condone sin!!!!” Did the ad say that he condoned sin? Did Jesus ignore and judge sinners or did he eat with them? Did he wash the feet of eleven, no ten, righteous disciples, or did he also wash the feet of Judas who betrayed him hours later and Peter who denied him three times hours later? Jesus loves everyone. He wants us to serve others to reveal the love that Jesus has for them. That’s where it BEGINS. 

“But they showed washing the feet of a woman outside an abortion clinic!!! Jesus wouldn’t do that!” So, your church would accept all sinners except women who have had an abortion? So, Jesus can’t forgive those who had abortions? Are you limiting the grace of Jesus? Does your church limit the love and grace of Jesus? I’ m not condemning those who have screamed, and I’m not condoning sin, but I am going to proclaim that those behind this campaign got it right this time. 

People get offended if you breathe wrong, so I’m done with people being offended. I got this because Jesus does get us. Some of you get ready because you will get offended. 

Jesus loves all of us with all the filthy sins that we obtain. I never understood why so many Christians expected people to clean up their lives on their own before they came to Jesus who forgives all sin. Jesus healed people when He walked on earth, but He also forgave their sins. Jesus came for the sinners not the righteous. Although Christians believe in the love and grace of Jesus, we struggle for sinners to walk into our presence and especially our churches. 

“You have to stop letting the BAD kids come to this youth group. Church is for the good kids whose parents come here.” Said the parent of one of my students in youth ministry whose kid wreaked havoc everywhere he went. I looked at her confused. I said something like, “Jesus wants all the children to come to him.” I then walked away disappointed and confused. My youth ministry just started reaching the kids in the community, and the righteous church goers didn’t want them. So, when I say getting fired was the best thing that happened to me, this was just one of those reasons. 

In my years of attending church, Lakewood Christian, Mosaic Church, and Eastside Christian have always allowed sinners to enter. They allow Jesus’s power to work. People don’t come to Jesus because they see Christian’s super righteous behavior or ideals. They come to Jesus because they experience His love. The only way people can experience the love of Jesus is through Christians demonstrating His love by serving them. 

We cannot limit who we serve. We cannot just serve the righteous. The Dream Center in Los Angeles has served anyone and everyone without any questions. The community around them changed for the better. The love of Jesus spread into the lives of people who many would deem undesirable. 

So here comes the righteous. “If we love them, then we tell them the truth.” That’s correct. Ephesians 4:15 informs us to speak the truth in love. We serve and wash their feet. Then, they see the love of Jesus. Missionaries told me people come to Jesus when they trust you. Trust takes time. For the people screaming, it’s taken many of us time to trust and love you. 

Others criticize those behind this campaign that the money could be spent on the poor. Don’t quote Judas. If you want money to go to the poor, give your money to the poor. This commercial reached people. It made people think. That’s why people screamed. We don’t want to serve. We want others to see our great righteousness, and then we become confused that they just see our flaws and sins. Let’s love with serving. 

Here’s the challenge. Rewatch the commercial. Find that person in your life that you need to wash their feet. Don’t lecture or give a sermon, just serve them and their needs. Then, watch Jesus do His work. Then, maybe you will see that, "He Gets Us." That is the true love. Now, have a Happy Valentine’s Day with chocolate and an attitude of humility to love. 

“Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, so not boastful, is not arrogant, is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs. Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.” (1 Corinthians 13: 4-8a; CSB) 

Revisiting the New Year's Goals

 Th gyms have become empty which make me wonder how everyone is doing on their New Year goals. We have completed one whole month of the New Year. How are you doing on your goals? Did you set any goals? Did you create habits to reach your goals in the beginning of the month, and did not keep up with them toward the end of the month? Did you even start? Many people see the month of February as the month of love. We focus on loving others and doing kind things for others that we forget to focus on loving ourselves. Jesus even made it clear that we must love ourselves. 

When I grew up in the church, they tried to teach me that loving myself went against the Bible. When I went to Mosaic Church in Hollywood, Erwin McManus revealed to me an important part of the second greatest commandment. The first command is to love God. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30; CSB) We all strive to love God in all these areas. It’s the second command that many people struggle to read. “The second is, Love your neighbor AS YOURSELF.” (Mark 12:31; CSB) You cannot love others until you love yourself. 

Jesus lived in a society where people loved themselves. They understood how to love themselves. They struggled to love others. Today, we struggle with both of them because if we can’t love ourselves, how can we love others? Having goals and creating healthy habits to reach our goals are ways that we can love ourselves, which in turn becomes loving others. 

It may not be the first day of the New Year or even the first day of the second month, but it is a new day. Set goals for yourself and create daily habits that will push you towards your goals. This reveals just one way that you love yourself. When you can work towards your goals, you can help others in your life. When you get too busy helping others and forget about yourself, you become useless to both others and you. I know because I did that in youth ministry and my ministry and I struggled. 

People grow. When you stay stuck and think you can help others, the growth becomes stunted. When you grow, others around you see it, and they want to grow too. Find the time to work on your healthy habits. Take one thing away or spend less time on an unhealthy habit like mindlessly watching television or binge watching or social media or playing games on devices. These can all become my vices. I have discovered that with less time on my unhealthy habits and more time on my healthy habits, I have become better at reaching my goals. 

So, take the time to revisit your goals or make goals. Decide to grow in 2024 and work on creating healthy habits. You can always start fresh and new every day. God created each day for us. Let’s honor him with our time and habits to create a better life so others can see the love He has. When we love ourselves, we can love others, and that connects to God’s love. 

The Strength of Brotherhood/Sisterhood

 Many people can recite the words of Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech about black and white children walking hand in hand as sisters and brothers. He also had a dream about former slaves and former slave owners. “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, sons of former slaves and sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.” (Martin Luther King Jr.) The table of brotherhood can be powerful with uniting any group of people. 

We live in a divided society. Some people believe we cannot speak to those who think or believe differently than them, much less look differently than them. Others believe that they cannot tolerate those whose political views differ from them because they do not have knowledge, wisdom, or anything worthy of being a human being. Maybe social media divided us. Maybe our schools have failed our young people. Maybe people just found unique ways to remain prejudiced against people who live differently, think differently, and believe differently than them. 

No matter how hard you try to justify it, prejudice ruins a society. We cannot fight prejudices alone. We must work together to slay the incorrect ideas that lie in the depths of the heart of the nation. Martin Luther King Jr. wanted justice for all people. He wanted justice and equality. He didn’t want us to be enemies, but to join in brotherhood. Brotherhood. The word brotherhood means we stand together knowing that blood is thicker than water with those with whom we stand. 

I am a Duke basketball fan. Any basketball player that ever played at Duke has become part of the brotherhood. The blood of the Duke basketball family runs thick, even for players that may not have had good relations with other players. When a Duke basketball player, current or former, excels or fails, the entire brotherhood rejoices or mourns. They stand together. 

Brotherhood means you stick together and work together to build a dynasty. Duke basketball receives hate from other college basketball programs. Do you know why? A Duke hater admitted that everyone hates Duke because they are so darn good. Imagine if America followed Martin Luther King’s dream of people working tighter in brotherhood and sisterhood. Imagine the force and dynasty our country would have. Other countries may hate us, but hating someone because they use unity to build a dynasty comes from jealousy. 

Building bridges brings strength. Tearing down bridges creates chaos. Chaos brings fights and wars. People in our society, dissatisfied with their own lives, want to create chaos, fights, and wars. They create chaos over words, names, and religious battles that they don’t understand. They do this all in the name of justice and equality. Division does not bring justice or equality. 

I may not understand all the words of Martin Luther King Jr. I may not understand all the injustices that have developed in our society or still remain in our society. I do see the injustices in education, and instead of the leaders working to fix them, they decided to fight over issues that have nothing to do with injustices, and the real injustices stay in place, but with a united group of people fighting for children, they will end.  

People will criticize how you celebrate this holiday. Let them criticize. Challenge yourself to right a wrong. It can be within your family, church, schools, or community. If individuals would begin to work on injustices within their own lives, then the world will become the place that they desire. It just takes a little bit of work. Find a way to create a community of brotherhood or sisterhood around you. The strength of others will strengthen you. May we find the strength to fight for the freedom and justice for all.  

A New Year's Resolution

 “No one ever keeps their New Year’s Resolutions.” The pastor who stated this listed all the things that people put on their resolutions list that almost all end before the end of January. He even gave statistics of the low percentages of people keeping their resolutions. I have no idea what else he said because I decided right there and then I would prove him and all those statistics wrong. I would keep a New Year’s Resolution all year long. 

That pastor spoke in the end of 2014, and when the New Year began in 2015, I began on my resolution…to write every single day. On December 31, 2015, I had written for all 365 days of the year. So, what did I do that year that made it different from other years? I set up perimeters so I wouldn’t quit, even if I did miss a day, which I didn’t that year. 

I set a perimeter that if I did miss a day of writing, I would pick up the next day and continue my year of writing. This perimeter helped me a few times in the last eight years, even if I didn’t use it in 2015. The difference began the moment I switched my thinking of missing a day would be a failure to miss a day and pick it up the next day and not give up on the entire idea of my ultimate goal. The idea is to not give up. 

The other part of keeping that resolution required an end goal. To keep a resolution, you have to have an ultimate end goal. You can’t just do a resolution without an end goal. You keep your focus on that end goal. I wanted to write every single day because I had heard published authors and produced screenwriters say in every seminar that they write every single day. The one thing that improves writing is to do it every day. My end goal was to finish a book and get published. I did finish writing the first draft of that book. 

For any goal, you have to practice every day, but if you miss a day, you cannot just quit. You must continue where you stopped and pick it up from there. Anyone who has lost a significant amount of weight, became a professional musician, an artist, a baker or chef, or sports player has perfected their craft with working on it every single day. 

Don’t listen to the naysayers. Don’t listen to those who would rather you not reach your ultimate goal. They don’t have ambition, so they don’t want you to work on yours. Set goals for the New Year. Then write down the steps that you can do every single day to reach that goal. 

Make the goal doable. I didn’t set a goal that required me to sit and write for a specific time every day or even at a specific time. With my schedule with teaching, that cannot always be attained. I made my goal simple that first year. I challenged myself to write every day. I made other perimeters. I didn’t want my writing to be in my journal, my quiet time journal, or any lists. It had to be writing that would further my career in writing. 

Along with making my daily task attainable, I created a path for myself to do the task when I could. I would either write first thing in the morning or when I returned home. Make your goal attainable for you to reach with your lifestyle. 

That year I wrote every day for the first time in my writing career. It would begin a new habit for me. In fact, the habit of writing every single day developed by the end of January. Habits begin when you set a goal that you can attain. It became more than a challenge. It became something that I had to do every single day, like brushing my teeth. 

Make 2024 the year that you accomplish one goal. Whether you do something every day, or every week, or every month to reach that goal, make a resolution to achieve that goal. With every goal that you attain, the more you will grow and change. The more you grow and change as a person, you will have the change you want to see in 2024. Happy New Year! 

The Chaos of the First Christmas

 Christmas brings chaos. People rush through the shopping malls trying to buy the perfect gift on a budget. Children scream and cry because something didn’t go the way they wanted it. Relatives surprise you with a visit that they swear that they informed you. Something goes wrong with baking or cooking and burnt is now on the menu or pizza. You run out of paper just before you need to wrap the last gift. Finally, the family pet chases his ball and somehow the Christmas tree comes down. 

When people look at the manger scene at Christmas, they think of peace and calm. We want that peace and clam that Mary and Joseph had. If we look closer at their account, they had a chaotic first Christmas. First, they had to go to Joseph’s hometown for the census. When they got to Bethlehem, there was no room in the inn for them, so they lodged in a stable, a barn. Jesus was born in a barn. 

I questioned why they didn’t stay with relatives since Joseph came from Bethlehem. Mary’s pregnancy had everything to do with it. How was Joseph supposed to explain Mary’s pregnancy to anyone in his family? So, they lodged in a barn with sheep, cows, and horses. The scents of Christmas should be that of manure instead of pine trees. (Just kidding!) 

When the shepherds came to visit Jesus, the peace came. Mary pondered everything in her heart. Then she sang “Away in the Manger” and wondered why Jesus still cried. I guess our interpretation of the first Christmas is far from the truth. Jesus came to earth fully human and fully God. His humanness made him cry because he had to communicate to his parents that he needed food or a diaper change. 

At some point, the Magi came with three weird gifts. They brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh. I know those gifts have symbolism. I also discovered that those gifts could be used for Joseph to use for money to escape to Egypt to keep Jesus alive from King Herod, who wanted to kill him and all the male babies two years old and younger. That chaos happened too. 

Imagine having a baby and being warned in a dream that the leader of the country wants your baby dead. That’s not peaceful and calm. Joseph and Mary escaped to Egypt until King Herod died, and then they went to Nazareth, which fulfilled scripture that the Savior would come from Nazareth. Running for your life does not have an element of peace. You have to know who to trust and who not to trust. Joseph kept Jesus alive through that chaos. 

When you look at the manger scene, remember Jesus brought peace into the world, but not the peace that the world seeks. He brought us peace when he died for our sins. We have peace because we know that he sacrificed his life for us. Jesus encountered chaos throughout his ministry. He slipped away from the crowds because the religious leaders wanted to kill him before it was his time. He had to do this several times. 

When life becomes chaotic, look at the manger scene. See the strength of Mary and Joseph doing whatever it took to keep Jesus alive. See the hope that Jesus brings. Encounter the peace that Jesus gives with his love and sacrifice for our sins. That can make you breathe and bring you the peace that you seek during this season. 

“In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said them, ‘Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be the sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped tightly in cloth and lying in a manger.’” (Luke 2:8-12; CSB) 

Have a Merry Christmas with peace and joy because you know that Jesus came for you, and his sacrifice brings you the peace you need in your soul.