You could be him...

Proverbs 3:1-4
1 My son, do not forget my teaching,
but keep my commands in your heart,
2 for they will prolong your life many years 

and bring you prosperity.
3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you; 

bind them around your neck, 
 write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Then you will win favor and a good name 
 in the sight of God and man.

I once had a friend who I really liked a lot. One day I thought to myself “It’s like Jason is friends with everybody”. After that I started watching him more closely. I watched how he talked with teachers, I listened when he talked to new kids at school and I heard how he joked around with his close friends. Know what I found out? Jason was a friend to everyone. It wasn’t because he was the football star, or because he was popular or had money or was cool. Everyone liked Jason, because he never talked bad about anyone. He never went behind anyone’s back. He was always making people smile and he would always go out of his way to do something kind for anyone.

SO WHAT?
Because of how Jason lived he was responsible for 100’s of kids from his school seeing that Jesus was real and full of love. Everyone knew he was a Christian and he showed everyone what a true Christian is really like. He didn’t conform to the rest of the kids at his school, he let God transform him into a amazing Christian. How can you show your school that Jesus is real and full of love? What do people who know you say about you when your not around. People always talked about how Jason was always smiling and how he would always say hi to them and ask them how they were doing. Something as simple as that can make you a Jason in your school. Try it! There is no reason not to.

What it has to do with your actions!

The first day of football practice, I can remember it just like it was yesterday. I had no idea how to put on my pads, so I had to have my coach and my friends help me get it on. Then after I got it on, I remember that I couldn’t even move, it felt so weird having this huge piece of plastic hanging on me and I looked really funny too. Before long though, I was getting used to it and after I took that first big hit, I was like “Thank God, I’m wearing this stuff”. The Bible talks about this same thing. When we first become Christians it feels different than how we were used to living. We need Jesus (our coach) and other Christian friends to help us. Here is what the Bible says:

Colossians 2:6-7
And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.

Just like I had to learn how to play football, we need to learn how to live as Christians. We need to keep following Jesus and everyday we follow Him, He is going to teach us more and more. It is the greatest adventure we will ever go on. Better than a roller coaster, better than a safari, better than a haunted house. Living and growing with Jesus is mind blowing.

SO WHAT?
Think about an area of your life that you need to follow God more closely in. Are you overflowing with thankfulness like the verse says? Are you able to live and be kind to your friends and your family all the time? Today, commit to follow God more closely in one area and keep following Him in that area until you can live it the way God wants you to.

"I have long since come to believe that people never mean half of what they say, and that it is best to disregard their talk and judge only their actions."
Dorothy Day

Burn bright

"Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it onto future generations."
George Bernard Shaw
Irish Playwright
1856 - 1950

SO WHAT?

You are a light. You have the option to shine or to hide! What will you do?
Choose today, if you will be a willing disciple or if you will run for cover and hide.

There is a right choice to make and I know you will make the right one!

It's our Legacy!

"I want to leave a legacy. After all my hopes and dreams have come and gone, and my children sift through all I've left behind, may the clues that they discover and the memories they uncover become that light that leads them to the road we each must find. Just as those who have gone before me have illuminated my way, I long to hold a brightly burning torch that leads the next generation to their created purpose. Jesus said it this way, 'Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven.' I am convinced that the only way to leave a legacy is to live a legacy. So, my friend, let's live a legacy today!"

Moving front and back (is still moving front)

There is a famous book written in the 1980's by Chuck Swindoll. The title was 'Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back.' We can relate to that, can't we? The problem is that we are prone to focus on the two steps back and not the three steps forward. The flubs, failures and fiascos capture our attention to the point that we lose heart and wonder if it's worth it. But can I remind you that three steps forward followed by two steps back still equals a net gain of one step forward? Sure you're not what you want to be ultimately. None of us are. But thank God you're not what you used to be. You are being formed by God into a world changers. Way to go!"

MONDAY YEAH!

"T.G.I.M. Thank God it's Monday! Are you ready to throw something at me? Garfield the comic strip cat said, 'Mondays are a terrible way to spend one seventh of your life.' But I have learned that God can open my eyes to miraculous Mondays.

Every day is a good day when it's a godly day. This IS the day that the Lord has made.

Why not join me in resolving to rejoice and be glad in it. It's another blank page of our lives to fill in. A day to continue the quest of following Christ. As you begin your day and week, hear these sincere words that come from the heart of the Mat, lindsey and I: YOU ARE A MODERN DAY WARRIOR FOR CHRIST!"

You Will be the difference!

"I sense that many of you are struggling with feelings of failure. No matter how many times I write you and label you a "man" or "woman" of God, you're not buying it. You say to yourself, 'He doesn't even know me. How can he call me a hero?'
Well, I have proof: you get on Jesus Time. You read it. You are attending Fusion and BattleFront. You are striving for change and reaching for the prize. Those realities are what separates you from the vast majority of men and women who never even try. I honor you. I look up to you. You are a key reason why I have hope for the future. You will be there making a difference!"

What kind of person are you?

"A man has honor if he holds himself to an ideal of conduct though it is inconvenient, unprofitable, or dangerous to do so."
Walter Lippmann
American Journalist
1889 - 1974

SO WHAT?

What hard things do you face? Issues at school or in your family got you frustrated? You know what is true and you know how God has called you to live... What that means is that in the midst of all the hard times you are going through you must be a person of honor and character and do what you know is right.

I believe in you!

I'm talking about you!

"Our world is full of men and women who shy away from the challenges and demands of life and family. They hide inside hobbies and work, politics and pleasure. When confronted with the truth they tend to whine and wimp out.
Hallelujah! An army of authentic Christians are being raised up in the world. Hundreds, dare I say thousands have heard the call to a better way of doing God's children, and they have heeded that call. They are rising to the challenge. The message of authentic Christianity has appealed to something that has laid dorment in their souls for a long time. They have dug deep, reached high and dreamed big. They are changing the world. In case you haven't guessed, I am talking about YOU!"

He is the best

Pray this prayer for yourself today.

The more we call on God
the more we can feel God's presence.
Day by day we are drawn closer
to the loving heart of God.

Lord, you created me to live in freedom.
Mostly I take this gift for granted.
Inspire me to live in the freedom you intended,
with a heart untroubled and with complete trust in you.

Knowing that God loves me unconditionally, I can afford to be honest about how I am. How has the last day been, and how do I feel now?
I share my feelings openly with the Lord.

SO WHAT?

Today open your heart up to the reality that God will love you no matter what.
Nothing you have done can change the love He has for you!
Trust in the goodness of Jesus---He is the Best!

Still Taking this City

Pikes Peak.
In Colorado Springs where I lived before coming to Georgia there is a massive mountain that overlooks the whole city called Pikes Peak. It towers over everything and you can see it from pretty much anywhere in the city. When you climb or drive to the top of this 14,000 Foot high mountain, there is a café and look out where you can see far and wide. But my favorite view of Pikes Peak is at night. Many nights I would be driving home from a long day and would look up to the top of the mountain. On the very top of the mountain is a light. It shines all day, every day.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 5: 14, “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.”

Every night as I looked at this mountain and the light on it, God reminded me that I am suppose to be a light to all those around me and it takes sacrifice and hard work to get to the top of that mountain to shine your light.

So What?
Where has God asked you to sacrifice so you can be a light to those around you? Has he asked you to step out of your comfort zone to talk to people or to be more excellent with how you act around people so they can tell there is a light inside of you that shines on them? Think of 5 ways that you can be a light to those around you today.

Popular Nonsense

This is not to say the heart is only swirling emotion, mixed motives, and dark desire, without thought or reason. Far from it. According to Scripture, the heart is also where we do our deepest thinking. “Jesus, knowing what they were thinking in their hearts,” is a common phrase in the Gospels. This might be most surprising for those who have accepted the Great Modern Mistake that “the mind equals reason and the heart equals emotion.” Most people believe that. I heard it again, just last night, from a very astute and devoted young man. “The mind is our reason; the heart is emotion,” he said. What popular nonsense. Solomon is remembered as the wisest man ever, and it was not because of the size of his brain. Rather, when God invited him to ask for anything in all the world, Solomon asked for a wise and discerning heart (1 Kings 3:9).

Our deepest thoughts are held in our hearts. Scripture itself claims to be “sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Heb. 4:12). Not the feelings of the heart, the thoughts of the heart. Remember, when the shepherds reported the news that a company of angels had brought them out in the field, Mary “pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19), as you do when some news of great import keeps you up in the middle of the night. If you have a fear of heights, no amount of reasoning will get you to go bungee jumping. And if you are asked why you’re paralyzed at the thought of it, you won’t be able to explain. It is not rational, but it is your conviction nonetheless. Thus, the writer of Proverbs preempts Freud by about two thousand years when he says, “As [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Prov. 23:7 KJV). It is the thoughts and intents of the heart that shape a person’s life.

(Waking the Dead , 44–45) John Eldredge

Intimate Allies

God created us in freedom to be his intimate allies, and he will not give up on us. He seeks his allies still. Not religion. Not good church people. Lovers. Allies. Friends of the deepest sort.

I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart. (Jer. 24:7)

It is the most beautiful of all love stories. On the other hand, Kierkegaard’s tale The King and the Maiden doesn’t capture the cost the King will have to pay to ransom his Beloved. He’ll have to die.

Have you noticed that in the great stories the hero must often die to win the freedom of his beloved?

William Wallace is slowly and brutally tortured for daring to oppose the wicked king. He is executed (upon a cross), and yet his death breaks the grip that darkness has held over Scotland. Neo is the Chosen One, faster and more daring than any other before him. Even so, he is killed—shot in the chest at point-blank range. His death and resurrection shatter the power of the Matrix, set the captives free.

Aslan dies upon the stone table for the traitor Edmund and for all Narnia. Maximus dies in the arena to win the freedom of his friends and all Rome. They are all pictures of an even greater sacrifice.

The Son of Man . . . [came] to give his life as a ransom for many. (Matt. 20:28)

Remember, God warned us back in the Garden that the price of our mistrust and disobedience would be death. Not just a physical death, but a spiritual death—to be separated from God and life and all the beauty, intimacy, and adventure forever. Through an act of our own free will, we became the hostages of the Kingdom of Darkness and death. The only way out is ransom.

(Epic, 66-67) John Eldredge

ULTIMATE!

"It's amazing how we ascribe the word 'ultimate' to so many things that aren't. Can I give you a list of things that I classify as ultimate?

The ultimate need? Peace with God.

The ultimate solution? Jesus Christ.

The ultimate joy? Serving others just for the sake of serving.

The ultimate goal? Being conformed to Christ's image.

The ultimate nobility? Exercising righteous energy and doing the right thing even
when it isn't popular.

The ultimate battle? The person who fights for thier God and everything they believe is right with courage and determination.

The ultimate love? Sharing your heart with another without reservations.

The ultimate friendship? A communtity or fellowship like Fusion where we can be real and love each other with holding nothing back.

The origins of the word 'fellowship' come from medieval times and literally means 'two people on the same side of a struggle'. Welcome to the 'fellowship and community of Fusion." We are fighting together!

Who you are Becoming

"Self-respect cannot be hunted. It cannot be purchased. It is never for sale. It cannot be fabricated out of public relations. It comes to us when we are alone, in quiet moments, in quiet places, when suddenly realize that, knowing the good, we have done it; knowing the beautiful, we have served it; knowing the truth we have spoken it."
Whitney Griswold
American Historian and Educator
1906 - 1963

SO WHAT?

"Respect the fact that you have chosen to be a part of a movement that is changing what a follower of Jesus Christ looks like to the world. Take pride in the knowledge that you are not what you once were, that you are a work in progress. You have climbed atop the heap of past failures and have seen the 'promised land.' You have charted a course to reach it. Each day brings you closer to the heart of God. You are undoubtedly a HERO!'"

Rise Up

"The self talk we engage in after a failure is critical. I remember years ago being in a grocery store. I passed a man in an isle who obviously had some psychological issues. When he reached for something on a shelf, he'd say, 'No you dumb thing, you dumb thing!' He put that item back and reached for another, saying again, 'No, no, you dumb thing, you dumb thing!' While we may be tempted to laugh at my memory from the past, have we not spoken similar demeaning messages to ourselves at our moment of failure? Why not try some of David's words from the Psalms as he cried out to God after his greatest failure? 'Search me and know me. Try my heart. See if there be any wicked way in me. And lead me in the way everlasting.'

SO WHAT?
Men and Women, when you fall, get up, brush yourself off, and get back in the race! While rising say, 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!'"

How do we Fail?

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."
Sir Winston Churchill
Noted British Statesman and Orator
1874 - 1965


"Oh how we despise failure! We fail at projects; we fail others; and perhaps the most painful of all, we fail God and ourselves. But can I be open with you? My failures have taught me more about myself and life than my successes ever have. Handled properly, they bring us to a new awareness of the fathomless mercy and grace of God. They reveal deficits in our character that we can give attention to and improve. Since Adam blew it in the garden, men have been born with failure in their NATURAL DNA. So, we all have failed, are failing, or will fail. The trick is to learn how to FAIL FORWARD and to not get STUCK on the failure. Man that's hard, isn't it? Let's start looking at failure as a way to begin again more intelligently. We may be flawed heroes, but we're still heroes! Oh, by the way, we also have SUPERNATURAL DNA: 'Christ in us, the hope of glory!'"

Hope in Him

"And so it's been told, that at the end of WWII when allied troops liberated Nazi concentration camps, where unspeakable atrocities had taken place, they found scrawled on the wall of a crude cabin the words of a desperate man reaching for hope:

'I Believe in the sun even when it is not shining...
I believe in love even when I don't feel it...
I believe in God even when He is silent...'

My prayer for you today is that our Father would infuse you with fresh hope. Hope, is more than wishful thinking. It is a powerful force likened to an anchor that sets itself in the very throne room of God. Your hopes of achieving something incredible in your life and your God-dreams are rooted in the very heart and character of God. Hang in there. It WILL come to pass. God bless you hero!

SO WHAT?

Today, hope in God's power to help you conquer your biggest challenges. No matter what they are God is waiting and ready to help you overcome them. Trust and hope in Him.

Will you go towards the Battlelines?

"The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it."
Thucydides
Ancient Greek Historian
460 - 404 B.C.

The model of the Jesus is the only vision worth following. This vision produces two emotions in me: excitement and fear. Excitement because I know what can await me when I pursue and attain that vision. Fear because I know how much my flesh is prone to fail. What if I don't make it? What if I fall? What if I lose heart? Hmmm. There seems to be an excessive use of the personal pronoun 'I' in the last few sentences. It isn't ALL about ME! 'It is no longer I who lives but Christ who lives in me.' (Gal. 2:20) 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.' (Php. 4:13) God said to Paul, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength works best in your weakness.' (2 Cor. 12:8-9) So therein lies the answer. Lean hard on your God. Daily acknowledge your inability to accomplish ANYTHING of eternal consequence without Him. As we surrender to Him daily, He gives us the strength and wisdom we need to live as true disciples. Have I told you lately that you are incredible? Well, you are!"

Fight On

"These are tough times. Mega changes. Slumping economy. Crises. Stresses on the family. If we have learned anything at Fusion it's that we are warriors fighting for a righteous cause. I don't know about you, but sometimes I get weary. At that moment, wimping out and backing down would be so easy. But then I think of what's at stake, and I tap into a source of strength that is both within me, and at the same time beyond me. I find the courage to fight one more day. God has been shaping you into an authentic disciple. You have done incredible work and have come so far. Heaven applauds you and your efforts. So do we. You are a champion. The heat is on hero - so fight on! "

BREAK OUT!-Nothing is Impossible...

"When you say a situation or a person is hopeless, you're slamming the door in the face of God.”
Charles L. Allen
Ordained Methodist Pastor
1913 - 2005

Break out... Write down something that you want God to do in your life and put that piece of paper somewhere you will see it everyday. And every time you see it, pray for it. Because nothing is impossible with God.

You can do Something

"It's been my observation that many people fail, not because they are doing the wrong things, but because they don't do the right things long enough. While it is a theory that I have never tested, they tell me you can break a rock with a pencil if you tap it enough times. The lesson? Perseverance. Getting back up. You are so important to this world and the plan that God has for it. Don't let discouragement rob you of your destiny. Have you deemed yourself little Mr. Nobody from Nowhere? You say, 'But I am only one!' Edward Everet Hale wrote, 'I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.

Never Give Up!

"I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.”
Michael Jordan
Professional Basketball Player
1963 - Present

SO WHAT

"As I sit here alone with my thoughts tonight, I remember some of the times I have failed, fallen and messed up. Some of those events were more than flubs; they were fiascos. One could wonder why I am still here, enjoying the blessed life. The answer is twofold: first, it's because of the grace and mercy of a loving God Who is not the God of a second chance, but the God of another chance. Secondly, I am still here because at the point of my most grievous and embarrassing fall I made a decision to get up and give it another shot. When you fail, you will hear the voices of a crowd who is eager to brand you 'Failure'. But please know there are other voices to be heard; the voice of God and those of hundreds of other christians who are cheering you on. Never give up!"

A little something More.

"No man has ever risen to the real stature of spiritual manhood until he has found that it is finer to serve somebody else than it is to serve himself.”
Woodrow T. Wilson
Twenty Eighth President of the United States
1856 - 1924

SO WHAT?

"Jesus Christ, the ultimate person who has ever lived said, 'I came not to be served, but to serve, and to give my life for many.' Let's follow His example." Everyone of us could give a little more to someone we know. Today I dare you to find someone who you can give a little something more too.

Your a Champion

"Some people have called me Champion. Why, then do I sometimes feel like a Chump? Could it be the culture around me that puts me down rather than calls me up? Perhaps it's the mocking voices of past failures. It's been said that we tend to believe the opinions of the most significant person in our life. That's why I have to make Jesus Christ my Hero and Mentor. He speaks to me about the culture, reminding me that I am in the world but not of it, and I am a citizen of heaven. Regarding my failures, He says 'Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.' To my feelings of inadequacy He declares, 'You can do all things through Me.' When I allow His voice to be the predominant one in my life, the Champion within bursts forth and propels me to victory. Regardless of how you're feeling this morning, I know, He knows, you ARE a Champion!"

RESCUE Is God’s Plan

On the day Adam and Eve fell from grace, they ran off and hid in the bushes. And God came looking for them. He called to Adam, “Where are you?” (Gen. 3:9). Thus began the long and painful story of God’s pursuit of mankind. Though we betrayed him and fell into the hands of the Evil One, God did not abandon us. Even a quick read of the Old Testament would be enough to convince you that rescue is God’s plan. First with Noah, then with Abraham, and then with the nation Israel, you see God looking for a people who will turn to him from the heart, be his intimate allies once more.

The dramatic archetype is the Exodus, where God goes to war against the Egyptian taskmasters to set his captive people free.

Four hundred years they have languished in a life of despair. Suddenly—blood. Hail. Locusts. Darkness. Death. Plague after plague descends on Egypt like the blows of some unrelenting ax. Pharaoh releases his grip, but only for a moment. The fleeing slaves are pinned against the Red Sea when Egypt makes a last charge, hurtling down on them in chariots. God drowns those soldiers in the sea, every last one of them. Standing in shock and joy on the opposite shore, the Hebrews proclaim, “The LORD is a warrior” (Ex. 15:3). God is a warrior. He has come to rescue us.

(Epic, 61-62) John Eldredge

So What?
What do you need rescued from? Write a list of the things you are struggling with and give them to God! He wants to Rescue us! But we have to let him.

Chasing after Him

We all share the same dilemma—we long for life and we’re not sure where to find it. We wonder if we ever do find it, can we make it last? The longing for life within us seems incongruent with the life we find around us. What is available seems at times close to what we want, but never quite a fit. Our days come to us as a riddle, and the answers aren’t handed out with our birth certificates. We must journey to find the life we prize. And the guide we have been given is the desire set deep within us.

The greatest human tragedy is simply to give up the search. There is nothing of greater importance than the life of our deep heart. To lose heart is to lose everything. And if we are to bring our hearts along in our life’s journey, we simply must not, we cannot, abandon this desire. Gerald May writes in The Awakened Heart,

There is a desire within each of us, in the deep center of ourselves that we call our heart. We were born with it, it is never completely satisfied, and it never dies. We are often unaware of it, but it is always awake . . . Our true identity, our reason for being, is to be found in this desire.

SO WHAT?

What do you desire your relationship with God to look like? That is a desire that you can not let go of. You must chase it with your whole heart. Today chase after God with your whole entire heart and don't ever stop chasing after Him.

What Were You Created For?

"Everything--a horse, a vine--is created for some duty...For what task, then, were you yourself created? A man's true delight is to do the things he was made for."
Marcus Aurelius
Roman Emperor
121 - 180


"We have found the answer! We were created to be possessed of righteous energy. We were made to be warriors, winning the right battles with conquering energy. We have been wired to be friends, using our connecting energy to establish and maintain meaningful relationships with other Christians and Non-Christians. That's what we were made for.

SO WHAT?

Today you were made to know God and show God. Nothing will ever change that. So today spend sometime getting to know God better. Talk with Him, worship Him and tell Him how much you love Him. Then go and show Him to everyone you meet today. Live in such a way that people will see that there is something different about you.