This result threw the dental surgery out of the window, and the only thing we could do was keep him on anti-biotics for the rest of his life and hope the infection doesn’t move towards his heart. The amazing vet (Dr B. at the Complete Pet Animal Hospital ) suggested we have an echocardiogram performed to see what level of heart disease he had, and what medications he might need to be on. Ug! Due to vacation, Harry finally got his echocardiogram done about 2 weeks after the blood results. You could imagine the amount of somberness and praying Denise and I did over Harry while we were on vacation.

Amazingly, the ultrasound of the heart showed it as completely normal. In the doctor’s words “his heart is dynamite”.  

He mentioned it’s very rare for a dog with the values from that blood test to have a perfect heart, and he was very pleasantly surprised as it was not what he was expecting.

Therefore he was cleared for surgery which happened last Friday and everything went great. Here he is waking up in Dr B’s lap.

Sometimes it’s so easy to look over blessings as blessings and see them as entitlements, or write them off completely.  At first I didn’t see Harry’s heart as a blessing, but when I thought more about it, I am convinced this was a work of God, and a blessing passed down onto Harry.  It almost went un-noticed. Who says God doesn’t do miracles anymore ?    In that weekend’s service at Central Christian,  Pastor Cal mentioned “Gratitude begins where your sense of entitlement ends”. Sometimes we forget to “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  

Formula of the Week

Level of Gratitude = Your Attitude

Question of the Week

When/what was the last blessing you received, or overlooked at one time? Did you give thanks, or did you feel entitled to it? Drop us a comment and let us know.

Which Child?

The child of the law is an unhappy child.
Who in a web is caught.

All that he sees or does, or feels,
is “I should, I must, I ought.”

He is never free to make a choice,
he is pushed and shoved and caged.

And inside where he should have joy,
There is a smoldering hidden rage.

He may proclaim that he is free,
As free as a soaring bird.

But he is bound by the absolute,
By the letter of the word.

The child of the Law is a lonely child
With others he cannot blend.

Too busy shoring up himself
To have a loving friend.

But the child of love knows no bounds,
though he claims himself a slave.

The slave of love who is perfectly free,
For he will naturally behave.

He is free to feel all that he feels,
Laughter, grief, and pain.

Every blessing to be enjoyed,
Every loss a gain.

He does not think of his own path
of how he ought to walk.

He does not mark his sense of time
By another’s rigid clock.

He is free to give, to live, to love,
For in others he does see.

A golden chance to heal the hurt,
To set the captive free.

His world enlarged, his spirit renewed,
He soars in heaven above.

For he is not the child of the law,
But the grown up son of love.

This past week I was invited to be an official reviewer for the Dice Tower. They are the most well respected board game reviewers in the industry and have more subscribers than all the other reviewers combined. For example their videos have been watched over 16 million times! That’s huge considering how the board game hobby is a niche market.

After my initial reviews came out, there were trolls everywhere! By “troll” I am not talking about when you see your Mother-In-Law getting coffee in the morning before her makeup. Essentially they are someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as a forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.

At first I was a bit shocked as I’ve never had any of my creations (music, blog, reviews) be in front of that many people on the internet. My initial reaction was to reply to these 40 something men living in their Mom’s basement.

The problem is when we act this way we are not living our lives for God’s approval, we are living it for other people’s approval. That is backwards. I have recently realized what the cure is. Only God’s approval matters in our lives. We need to start acting like it.

Here is where I turned when I wanted to see the right way to approach the different types of criticism.

1. Constructive Criticism – Proverbs 15:31-32 - If you listen to constructive criticism,
   you will be at home among the wise. If you reject discipline, you only harm yourself;
   but if you listen to correction, you grow in understanding.
2. Dismiss Invalid or Unjust Criticism - 1 Peter 2:23 - When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.

Formula of the Week

God’s approval > People’s approval

Question of the Week

When was the last time you faced either constructive or invalid criticism, and how did you handle it? Drop a comment and let us know.

With that being said, earlier this week I was reading through the book of Proverbs and a passage just hit me over the head. At the time it sounded so cool, that I actually tried to commit this one to memory. The next day I was able to repeat it. But last night I was on a plane to L.A and wanted to tell it to Denise, but I could only remember half of it which is “Lean not on your own understanding and submit your ways to him.”I sent a queue out to my brain hoping it would come to me a few min later.
After we landed we went to In-n-Out burger, and I was having a Neapolitan shake (from the secret menu). I looked under the cup to see which scripture was there, and it said Proverbs 3:5.

I jumped out of my seat and yelled to Denise (and apparently the rest of the place) that’s the passage I was trying to remember (although I couldn’t remember the chapter or verse on the plane either). Then the entire verse came to me verbatim.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him and he will make your path straight.”

When I checked to see if that was the verse I was trying to remember you can imagine my excitement when it was confirmed. It’s crazy how God works and can speak right to you in the craziest places (In-n-Out Burger) using the craziest ways (the bottom of a shake cup).

I also can’t help but think about the irony of this situation. I was trying to lean on my own understanding to remember this passage, and he showed me that no matter how good my memory is, I still need him.

Formula of the Week
Neopolitan shake + God = his work in us

Question of the Week
What’s an interesting way God has spoken to you recently? Drop a comment and let us know!

Dark tint can make us do crazy things! Today I helped a friend pickup his car from having the windows tinted. It made me think how window tint helps people from seeing you at all, or seeing a clear image of you. I think our pride does the same thing. So often we see someone posting how wonderful their lives are on Facebook when we know deep down that’s a farce. It’s a pride thing. Pride is an issue we all deal with at one level or another. It warps our sense of accomplishment and puts us first.

By allowing our pride to blind where we need to work on ourselves, we are doing nothing more than tinting ourselves with #5 dark limo tint.

My favorite verse in the area of pride is this one:

For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

Formula of the Week

We < we think (there’s more to life than me)

Question of the Week

When is a time you’ve been prideful in the past that you look at now and just shake your head? Drop a comment and let us know.

As a green thumb you essentially are tossing seeds, and then caring, watering, feeding, and nurturing your plant. Some plants grow faster than others, and sometimes the slower plants frustrate the green thumb.

The same thing can happen as we pour our lives into others. With countless hours of listening, counseling, giving advice, and helping them make decisions, we want to see them grow. I’m terrible at the waiting part, and always want the seeds that I’ve planted in that individual grow fast. I wrestle with these questions all the time. It’s time to stop thumb wrestling with my green thumb. Recently after not seeing many seeds grow that I’ve planted and cared for in people, I began to be frustrated wondering if I am making a difference.

Well God gave me two answers one day apart about whether I am making a difference. The irony of it all was it happened while I was in bed with the Flu and unable to even get up and care for myself. Essentially I was useless at the time. But God showed that he can use what I did in the past for good even when I’m not doing anything for that whole week. he can do the same for you too!

A friend of mine asked if I could send her the book I wrote to give to a another friend. I mailed it out right before I got the Flu and didn’t think about it again…until I got this message via email.

“Dear Mr. King, My name is xxxx, xxxxx and I received your book today included in a box of treasures from anonymous angels. I have to say, I have been struggling this week to find the strength to keep fighting. I have been sad and lost since finding out I had cancer and watching my families life fall apart. Thank you for being a part of this extremely kind act. Your friend is an angel and I will never forget this. God Bless you sir and thank you for the book! And please hug your amazing friend for me and tell who ever it is that I feel my spirit renewed and feel so blessed today. I don’t know how you all knew I needed every item in this box but all I can say right now is that God hasn’t forgotten any of us – especially with such angels among us”

Then the next day after my blog came out about the Flu, I got this email.

Dan, this is xxxxx. You helped me when I was on the side of the road out of gas. I really needed this. Wow! God has used you twice to send me a message. I had been backsliding and depressed. Thank you

Immediately my questions to God about the growth of the seeds that I was laying down were answered. Not only was it in His timing, perfect timing, but He showed me that we truly are God’s  masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

You see, even the seeds we plant long ago keep working for their good, and His good. Even sometimes when it seems like they aren’t, and that we aren’t making a difference with every individual that we pour into.

Formula of the Week

Our Timing is  ≠(not equal)  to God’s Timing

Question of the Week

Have you ever wondered if you are really making a difference? Have you gotten the answers? Let us know by dropping a comment.

Yeah…I know, even Oprah ran it faster than me! Probably while eating cookies. Anyway…. My goal was to break 2 hours. Obviously I did that. But did you notice how close it was? A mere seven seconds. Was this pure luck or ridiculous planning?

I had my GPS running watch set for what speed on average I needed to run in order to break the 2 hour mark. This calculates to 9.16 min/mile. Much like the rocket ship when I was ahead, I slowed down a little, and when I was behind, I sped up a little. I used the GPS to stay on course and on time.

I use the bible as my GPS for life. It constantly shows me which ways I need to adjust things. Not from laws, but through the heart behind the message. The longer I go without reading it, the farther off I typically need to adjust. Going just 3 days without reading it can feel like going 3 miles in the half marathon without looking at my pace.

There are so many cool ways to experience the Word these days no matter what your preference of learning style. If you’re an audio learner, the Word of Promise audio bible is read by Hollywood actors, and the music and sound effects make it feel like you are right there. It’s great while driving to and from work.

Video learners can see photos, artwork, maps, and virtual tours using the Glo bible on the PC, Mac, or iPad.

Give one of those two a try if reading black and white pages isn’t your thing. I found that consistency is better than overall time. For example 10 min each day for three days in a row is better than 30 min one day and 0 for the other two.

Formulas of the Week

Minutes / Mile = Pace

Minutes in the bible = Exponential change

Question of the Week

Which way do you learn the best? Reading, audio, video? Drop a comment and let us know.

As I continually transitioned from feeling like I was in Africa in the summer, to the Arctic Circle in the winter, it came to me that you can’t spell Flu without F-U! Of course that means forget you . During one of my Eskimo phases, I went in the back yard and laid in the sun. As you can see I was joined by the fur-kids.

The sun’s light gave me the most wonderful physical feeling I think I have ever felt as my entire body was reverberating. I though about how the sun is our only source of natural light, and even the moon can only be seen because it’s reflecting the light from the sun. I couldn’t help but think about one of Jesus’ “I am” statements. This one is John 8:12:

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

I then began to think of the parallel of physical and spiritual euphoria. At that time I felt as amazing physically from the sun’s light, as I did spiritually from Christ’s light the day I decided to consume his light, as opposed run from it by deflection.

In comparison, however, for over half of our lives we don’t experience the sun’s light, but we can constantly experience Christ’s light, even when we are in darkness. We just have to invite him in.

Formula of the Week

The speed of light < the speed of the Holy Spirit

Being a follower of Christ, I believe the Bible is the Word of God and the Bible is clear on this issue. However, I believe I feel different on this than most Christians do. I don’t think the government should push to keep gay marriage outlawed  as I feel that you can’t legislate morality. Slapping laws (or taking away laws) on issues like this has less chance of changing their heart than loving them does. I don’t think Gay marriage would ruin the perception of what marriage is any more than the Christians that divorce at close to the same rate (50%) as non Christians. If we (Christians) as a group hasn’t taken Gods word about marriage seriously, why should we expect people that don’t even believe in His word to take it?

If we try to push our own personal moral ways that we get from the bible onto their lives (who don’t believe in the word of God) it will only separate Christians from non believers even further than we are now. We are already against them in their mind and to many of them, it’s why they don’t give God a chance in their lives. They could open their heart to God if we weren’t so against them and just loved on them.

Jesus never tried to change the laws, or stop new laws being implemented that followed his beliefs. Given the playing field as it were, he loved everyone despite the laws. In fact if he were here today, I’m willing to bet my life he’d have a gay person as one of his disciples. Why not? He had a tax collector (Matthew) as his disciples back then which were even more polarizing than gay people are today.

There are a ton of ways to sin, so why are we so infatuated with legislation to keep their sin outlawed while we go on sinning our own sins?  All sins are the same, we are all of flesh and therefore sin which puts us in the same boat. Jesus made it perfectly clear that none of us are perfect and we all sin when he said “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart”. If the people that are spending their time and energy protesting and trying to keep gay marriage illegal used that same time and energy loving on people, and blessing others, I think that would do more good than they are currently doing.

Formula of the Week

Sin = Sin (they are all the same)

Question of the Week

I’d be curious to see if this helped you change your heart towards this issue or not? Drop a comment and let us know

Nothing says $100,000 like a diploma eaten by your dog. My German Shepherd puppy Katie ate my diploma shortly after getting it before I had a chance to frame it. Now if I only could go back to my college professors and get my transcript updated after they finally agreed I wasn’t lying to them!

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses…..

Excuses are like your butt. We all have them and they all stink!

We all have our excuse as to why we shouldn’t or can’t follow Jesus right now. Some think they need to get right with God first, and clean their life up. Others think they don’t know enough to follow Him. First of all Jesus came to save the world, not judge it. Your life will never be totally clean. He takes us as we are, no matter what! Second, we don’t need to know everything, just take the step and go one foot at a time. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.

No excuse is real enough to not follow him. Check out these extreme excuses that are all better than yours and see Jesus’ responses. Whoa….

Formula of the Week

Excuses = Lame

Question of the Week

What excuse have you been telling yourself  that has hindered your walk in following Christ? Drop a comment and let us know.