Welcome Home!

I have no idea when this video was produced, but I just had it emailed to me. Let this be a reminder that as Americans, we ALWAYS owe a debt of gratitude to those who serve in the Armed Services. For well over 3 decades that service has been a choice that those men and women have made freely. Never forget that even when the U.S. is at peace, which seem to be less and less often, many of the volunteers still serve in places far from home. Places that may not necessarily be "safe."

God Bless all who serve, have served or will serve. May we never forget that they serve US and we owe them for that service!

Born Again American

This one seems like a no-brainer to me...

...And All who agree said...

I was reading Matthew 18:19 when a powerful thought occurred to me. In the verse Jesus tells the disciples, "I also tell you this: If two of you agree down here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you." I thought, gee, I know quite a few Christians and we actually do agree on a thing of two. If I could only figure out how this thing works...!

DUH!!!! Bill Hybels, senior pastor at Willow Creek Community Church, ends EVERY prayer with the following; "... and all of God's people agreed, Amen!" Sometimes, I guess that I am just a little bit slow... ;-)

I'm off to a room that will be filled with 30 or more believers, gathered in His name. Let's see what we agree upon.

God & Humans, the response (then & now)

I am in a One Year Bible reading plan. Last night, the two primary passages I was reading was Exodus 2:11 - 3:22 and Matthew 17:10-27. The Old Testament piece describes Moses' burning bush experience and the New Testament segment sees Jesus instructing Peter to pay the temple tax with a coin from the fishes mouth.

In the first, God speak to Moses in a burning bush and says to him...what? "Take off your sandals, for you are standing on Holy ground." Now I have read and heard some very interesting commentary on that single verse, but that is not really where I am going here.
The point is that God spoke. Scripture doesn't confirm the action of Moses, other than to say that "...he hid his face in his hands...", but we can assume that he followed God's instruction and removed his sandals.

In Matthew I want to focus on a verse that is actually just ahead of the temple tax story. In 17:17 Jesus says, "You stubborn, faithless people! How long must I be with you until you believe? How long must I put up with you?

Now lets establish a little timeline. The burning bush story occurred about 1420 BC. Here we are in 2009 AD. Matthew 17:17 is just about in the middle, give or take a few hundred years...
Scene one, God spoke, human listened. Scene two, Jesus spoke, humans refused to believe. Scene three, God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are speaking to your heart every day, what are you doing? Are you removing your sandals daily? Or are you left wondering, "Why couldn't we cast out the demon?"

HTG19

Today was a GOOD day. It began with about 30 HTG members gathered in the Presidential Suite of the Omni Mandalay hotel in Dallas. These folks gathered early, before the meetings began for a devotional time led by Jeff Wood. Jeff spoke to a committed group of business leaders about the importance of being an Ambassador for the Lord. The message was rooted in 2 Corinthians 5:20-21. It was very appropriate for a group that was about to spend the day interacting with nearly 200 business leaders.

I met with six of those leaders, founding members of HTG 19. Collectively, we will invest in one another for quite possibly years to come. As the facilitator of the group, I was privileged to introduce them to the "HTG Way."

Arlin Sorensen stopped by to present the "Big Picture" and to elaborate on the Mission, Vision and Values of Heartland Tech Groups. After that we jumped right in! The guys were well prepared and we set about addressing the topics on the agenda and setting the foundation for many meetings to come.

Mike Murphy from the Microsoft Local Partner Engagement team hosted a Lunch & Learn. I think that it is safe to say that his presentation was well received and relevant to all.

A long day was capped off with a pleasant dinner at a restaurant walking distance from the hotel. All in all, I think these guys "get it." I'm looking forward to watching as they work together to grow their businesses and improve the balance in their lives.

Today was a GOOD day.