From December 1st-25th visit The Bearded Christmas for a daily Christmas Bible reading, discussions about the season, videos, and Polaroid pictures. Hope to see you there.

The Bearded Christmas

Do you have a screen protector for your phone? You may even have one of those phone tanks, also know as, a case that can protect it from a nuclear explosion. Ever since I have owned my first smart phone, it has had a screen protector on it. After a few months I replaced it. When I pulled off the old one it was all scratched up and hazy. It did it’s job protecting the phone screen from my spare change, keys, drops, and everything else about my life that can be hard on things. When I looked at my phone, it was still brand new. The screen was perfect. A phone screen protector is a very simple addition. It is just a piece of plastic with a sticky side.

We are willing to go out of our way to protect our phones. Are we willing to go out of the way to protect our lives? Are we willing to do small things to protect our spiritual lives? Screen protectors in our lives take the brunt of the abuse so we do not take them directly. What is a life screen protector? Any method, habit, object, etc that we put in the way of us and temptation to sin. My objective is not to list a bunch of rules to help you obey the rules. Rules on rules only mess things up. What I am talking about are putting practices in place to guard yourself. These practices are for you. These are not things that you force on someone else. That promotes legalism.

One example that I use, at home I leave my email, Facebook, etc open on my computer. This leaves these items open for my wife to see. This leaves me accountable for my correspondence. The things I do with my life naturally bring on correspondence with people. Many are women. Do I have to do this? Of course not. If I did not, I would not be sinning. The idea is to give me an extra buffer if I am tempted to head down a road I do not need to travel. Even if I closed them, I am pretty sure my wife knows my password. This “transparency” stands between myself and temptation. If my wife all of a sudden notices that I have closed everything and changed the passwords, she then can confront me.

Rest assured that I only do this on my home computer. Plus, my computer has a password. If you get any ideas coming over to my house, forget it.

It is true someone could abuse this screen protector and hack my Facebook while at my house. The “scratches” that I would receive on this protector pale in comparison to the “scratches” that could be permanently applied to my actual screen because I gave in to temptation.

Do you “screen protect” your life?

What we can learn from Conan O’Brien’s difficult and premature departure from NBC:

• Things ending in a difficult manner do not erase all the good of the past.
• Be grateful for what you have.
• Working hard and being kind incubates amazing things.
• Cynicism will get you no where.
• It takes a team of amazing people.
• Make sad moments happy ones.
• You do what you love, even if it’s in a 7 Eleven Parking lot.
• He did the dream job of every comedian for seven months, and is thankful.

Why are there not more Christians in America this thankful for the lives God has blessed them with? Everyone in America is more wealthy then most of the world. Why do we complain so much?

The devotional My Utmost For His Highest has had a profound influence on my life. God has used the words in this book to speak to me on several occasions. Often a statement from the book leaves me thinking for days. The quote above is one such statement.

Wisdom is important. Knowledge is useful. Faith is mandatory. Works are a must. Worship is life. Prayer is essential. Yet, Jesus told us in Luke 9:48 ”Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.” In Luke 18:16-17 He said, ”Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” Let us also mention what Jesus said in Matthew 18:4 “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

When Jesus talks about being great He always refers to a child as an example.

No matter how much we grow in our faith and walk with Jesus, always remember we are a child of God. We are not God’s brother or sister. We are not God’s sidekick. We are not going to impress God by what we know or how holy we make ourselves. God will never love us any more or any less than He already does. We can be called God’s children because of what Jesus did for us with His life, death on a cross, and resurrection.

Have faith and pray like a child. Remember this.

That is the question.

The National Novel Writing Month, a.k.a. NaNoWriMo, held every November. It is a yearly challenge to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. That is the equivalent of a 175 page book.

The idea is not perfection. The idea is output. As Steven Pressfield says “There’s a secret that real writers know that wannabe writers don’t, and the secret is: It’s not the writing part that’s hard. What’s hard is sitting down to write.”

NaNoWriMo states on their website, “Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that’s a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.”

We have to take the perfectionist out of us an let ourselves start for the sake of starting. We can never get in the position of producing good work unless we start. Pressfield also states, “We can always revise and revisit once we’ve acted. But we can accomplish nothing until we act.”

This post is really a pep talk to myself. It is just being done publicly. I have a million excuses just like you why not to do it. Everyone around me will probably think I am crazy. That means I will probably have zero support. Like you, I work. I live a musicians lifestyle. I have a family to attend to. I have not really written much fiction (it is National NOVEL Writing Month). I can’t even type very fast. Yes, I can go on and on.

To NaNoWriMo or not to NaNoWriMo? That is the question.

NaNoWriMo Website. NaNoWriMo Facebook.

There is no way I could have predicted the past three years. But, the past years have come as a natural result of decisions made and principles followed.

Over the recent years my musical career is actually starting to look like a career. I have met people that I thought I would never have a conversation with. Opportunities have came that many people would give up body parts for. I have traveled to places many people long to visit. And I can go on and on about the many blessings that have come my way.

When I update my Twitter and Facebook about some of my opportunities, I get responses like “I’m jealous,” “Lucky,” and “How did you get that hook up?” Sometimes I get the impression from people that I am just more “Lucky” than them and I just randomly had these opportunities handed to me.  Or God has supernaturally opened doors for me and not others; which is true, but not in the way that you think.

I am no one special. I want to make that clear. That can be confirmed by all the people who have scratched their heads at how I have these opportunities and they do not. They scratch their heads because they know I am no one special. My sins are many. My imperfections are countless.

People who live interesting lives, do interesting things. Those who get interesting opportunities are those who follow certain principles and make certain decisions. It really is that simple.

You can not be an interesting person if you do not do interesting things. You can not expect amazing things in life if you live in safety. You can not expect to go to interesting places in life if you do not step out of the front door. What would of happened if Bilbo Baggins never stepped out of the door?

Do you sit at home watching the TV wishing you could have the opportunities that those on the TV have? Do you see friends achieving their dreams as you go nowhere?

I get to do all this cool stuff, not because I have special skills, but because I step out of the front door. Stepping out of the front door means stepping out of comfort, familiar settings, and security. Most interesting things in life live beyond your front door.

Recently my Pastor talked about his experience going skydiving. He said the hardest part was letting go and taking the step out of the plane door. He even claimed it was one of the hardest things he had ever done, to let go of the bar and step out of the door. When he did he said the 5000 feet free fall was one of the most amazing experiences he has had.

God desires that we step out of the front door. God wants to send us into the world to live an interesting life as His representative. The credibility of the Gospel will come into question if we live mediocre lives. The call of God is to everyone. Isaiah 6:8 says,  ”And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I! Send me.’” This calling was not directed at Isaiah specifically, but he was the one who responded. Isaiah stepped out of the front door and lived a life that still echos today. Because he was willing to step out of safety and security he had the honor to foretell many of the prophecies about Jesus.

If you want safety and security then do not expect to live an interesting life. If you are fine with that, then be sure not to be a critic of those who do step out. Finger pointers usually do not live interesting lives.

We may not echo through history like Isaiah or find an amazing adventure like Bilbo Baggins. We will live an interesting life if we answer the call of God and say “Here I am, send me.” Who knows what God will choose to do with a sinner like you and me? Only Him.

Is this how the Bride of Christ is to act?

And Jesus said to all, ”If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. – Luke 9:23-26 ESV

Will we pick up the Cross of Christ or will we worship ourselves?

While we are at it, I must share my favorite church service video. Enjoy!

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Age 9 – Mother died.

Age 22 – Failed in business

Age 23 – Defeated for legislature and could not get into law school.

Age 24 – Declared bankruptcy and spent 17 years paying off debts owed to friends.

Age 25 – Defeated for legislature again.

Age 26 – While engaged to be married, sweetheart died and heart was broken.

Age 27 – Had a nervous breakdown and spent the next six month in bed.

Age 29 – Defeated in becoming the speaker of the state legislature.

Age 31 – Defeated in becoming elector.

Age 34 – Defeated for Congress.

Age 37 – Defeated for Congress again.

Age 39 – Defeated for Congress yet again.

Age 40 – Rejected for the job of Land Officer in home state.

Age 45 – Defeated for Senate.

Age 47 – Defeated for Vice-President (received less than 100 votes).

Age 49 – Defeated for Senate again.

Age 51 – ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

“My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.” – Abraham Lincoln

“When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.” – Anonymous

It is very possible that you have seen Abraham Lincoln’s list of failures before. I have come across it many times in my life. It has always encouraged me. Lately, I have been wondering what went on between the lines. What kept him going?

What did his wife tell him? Did his wife help him get back up or did she hold his failures against him? Did she encourage that he keep pursuing his passions or did she tell him to start playing it safe and get a stable, secure job that he could retire with?

What did his friends say to him? With every defeat did he lose trust from his friends? He ran for office many times and it takes a group of dedicated people to get someone elected to an office. How many of these people did not come back to help with the next election because they lost confidence in him?

What was Lincoln thinking to receive less than 100 votes in the Vice-Presidential election (yes they used to hold a separate race for this at one time) and then run for President four years later? My guess, more people told him NOT to run for President than encouraged him to run.

It would have been a priceless education about living life if you could have been a fly on the wall of Abraham Lincoln’s life.

We will never know of what happened between the lines of Lincoln’s failures. What we do know is he never gave up. Lincoln probably faced many of the same challenges we face when we have failed. I am sure he was bad mouthed, gossiped about, misrepresented, mistrusted, and the list can go on. I am sure that Lincoln probably even reacted badly at first to some of his failures, but he moved on.

How are you handling failure in your life? Are you moving on? Or are you dwelling on it?

” Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” – James 1:4

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