Bluebonnets

Springtime is almost upon us. In Texas, we mark the arrival of spring with the blossoming of our beautiful state flower, the bluebonnet. If you've never been to Texas, these are beautiful wild flowers that grow all along our highways and fields during the springtime. I was driving down to San Antonio today and saw them all along the road. Spring had arrived.

But in order for the flowers to bloom, there had to be a seed planted. You can't have the beautiful flower without having to plant the seed. The Bible tells us that we 'reap what we sow.' That means that whatever we plant, we will reap. If we plant love, we'll get love in return. If we plant patience, we'll get patience in return. But if we plant anger, we'll also get that in return. My pastor wisely put it in a sermon that still sticks with me. Your actions are like an ATM. If you show love, you're depositing money into your account. Everytime you show patience, you're making a deposit. And when you need those virtues, you can go to the ATM of life and withdraw them. But if you plant jealousy, that's all that will be in your account when you go to make withdrawals.

Don't expect a rose if you planted a cactus. The seeds we plant today will determine the types of flowers we reap tomorrow. Be blessed.

Finish it

My to do lists seem to get longer every day. I don't know if its the winter weather thats caused me to fall behind. It's been cold. Then it's been hot. It's rained. And then it has snowed. I come up with many excuses as to my sluggishness. One things for certain, I'm not getting as much done as I should.

As I sat in church for communion on Sunday, I was reminded that Jesus too had a to do list. Jesus had a purpose He came into this world to serve. He came to heal the sick, to restore the broken and to free the sinner. And in his last words from the cross, He uttered 'It is finished.' Those were words of victory. He shouted those words. After all the beatings He received, with his last breaths he summoned up the strengt to utter those words. He had done everything His father assigned to Him. He is the only human to have completely finished His to-do list.

Jesus died to give us an opportunity to finish our to-do lists. So we must take advantage of that precious gift. Don't put off to tomorrow what can be accomplished today. To tell someone I'm sorry. To tell someone I love you. To tell someone thank you. He died so we can forgive and let go and finish the unfinished. Don't let Him die in vain. Finish it. Be blessed.

God's timing

I ran into a former student of mine the other day. I asked how he was doing since he graduated from high school. When he was a student of mine, he had big plans. He said he wanted to own his own business and make lots of money. He shared with me his frustrations about how he was falling behind the timeline he laid out for himself. He expected to be a certified technician and well on his way to owning his own business. Here's was a young man, who is only 25, and already he feels he's behind. It gives us a sense of the crazy speed our word goes by.

I told him that the Lord knows what time is best for us. That all would be worked out in His right time. Sometimes God puposely delays things that are harmful for us. Or sometimes he steers us in a differnt direction to fulfill one of His purposes.

If you have an unanswered prayer or an unfulfilled promise, dont give up. God hasn't forgotten you. He said He will never forsake us. When the time is right, He'll show up. God's timing is always perfect. Be blessed.

Trust and obey

Our pastor spoke about trusting and obeying God. These are two critical ingredients for a Christian. He spoke about two examples the Bible gives us; Abraham and Bartimaeus. The story of Abraham is well known. God told him to leave his land, where he had been successful, and move. He was old in age, yet he trusted God knew best and obeyed the call. When he arrived at his new home, God now asked him to sacrifice his only son, the one he'd waited nearly a hudred years for. Yet, he trusted and obeyed. He was rewarded by God for his faith

In the New Testament, blind man named Bartimaeus begged Jesus to heal him. He called out to Jesus knowing full well Jesus could heal him. People rebuked him telling him to stop, but he persisted. Finally, when Jesus called him, he jumped to his feet. He didnt hesitate. He was blind, yet he jumped with the faith that Jesus was going t heal him.

God calls us to a life of faith. Faith is believing what is not seen and trusting God. When he calls us, our only response is to jump. We may not see solid ground or where we're going to land. But we must trust that the One who called us will provide a safe landing spot for us. Listen for His voice, trust His calling and obey His instructions. Be blessed.

Be grateful

I had an application rejected the other day. I had worked hard on it and thought I had it. When I got the notice it was rejected, it hit me like a punch in the stomach. It kinda took the air out of me that day. It depressed me all day because I had looked forward to what it would provide for me and my family. I kept thinking about what I did wrong.

Getting into my car that evening, a co-worker said, 'nice car Al.' When I heard the words, a feeling came over me. I stood there and felt as if God was talking to me. Then it hit me. I had focused all day on what I didn't have. I was moping around feelng sorry for myself. But when I really thought about it, my problem was minor. There were people without a car, who lost there homes to foreclosure, who are unemployed due to the recession. I know people that are batting cancer. I have a friend, a member of our youth group who just lost her mom. I have students whose parents are deployed for the fourth of fifth time. And here I was being ungrateful all day. I felt really guilty.

At that moment, I thanked God for my blessings. I asked him to forgive me for being selfish and not appreciative of the things I had. Yes, my life would have been easier if I had gotten what wanted. But in my disappointment, I wasn't seeing all the blessings in my life. The pain of disappointment is soothed by a heart of gratitude. Be blessed.

Our Goliaths

During the Olympics, we were reminded again of the Miracle on Ice, when the US defeated the Russians for the first time in hockey. This was the top upset in US sports history. They compared us to David taking down the Goliath of Russia. This was the height of the Cold War

That story of David and Goliath continues to inspire people. It is the ultimate upset in history. A small teenage boy who had no training as a soldier or warrior, takin down the most feared giant in history. And he did it with no armor. Not spear. No shield. Bus just his slingshot and five pebbles.

Each of us face our own figurative Goliaths today. It may be an illness, or a broken relationship. For others in this tough economy, it could be financial hardship. Many people have been layed off, don't have health insurance or have lost their homes. At times it may seem that your Goliath seems unbeatable. We seem overwhelmed at times not able to see how we can take down this giant. But attack him as David did. Tell your Goliath that he may have a spear, armor and a shield but that you come at him in the name of the Lord and this day the Lord will deliver you into my hands. The name of our Lord and our faith that He will deliver your Goliath into your hands is more powerful than any weapon he may have at his disposal. Dont be scared. The Lord is with you. Be blessed.

Empty piece of paper

Many of us use calendars or appointment books to put our daily schedules in. If I didn't have one, I don't know how I'd function. Now with modern conviniences, many of us have them on our phones, PDA's and other devices.

A few month ago, I read about a person who took a different approach. This person that has a blank page every day. He would not write anything down, but will fill out his "calendar" throughout each day. Each morning he prays that the Lord gives him strength and uses him as God wishes. Then whenever he does something good, he writes it down on that blank paper. He would put 'to day you enabled me to help comfort someone' or 'today you enabled me to overcome my fear.' He uses the word enable because he knows he couldn't have done those things without God. It also allowed him to stay humble. By writing down that God had enabled him to do great things throughout his day, he was deflecting praise for his actions and returned all the glory to God.

As you enter each day, ask God to strengthen and use you. If we allow it, God will use us as His vessels for His purposes. God's strength is greater than our problems. Be blessed.

He's waiting for us.

My pastor spoke about the unconditional love of God yesterday. He used one of my favorite stories, the prodigal son. Each time I hear this story, it speaks something different to me depending on the stage I'm in at that time of my life.

I've identified with both brothers in this story at one stage of my life or another. I was the younger son who was disobedient and brought shame to my family. There are things that I've done that I am deeply ashamed of. And for a long time, I thougt I would never be forgiven. I've also been the older brother who was angry at the attention others were getting. I've been bitter about the blessing that others got and was envious at times. But what was always the same was how my father treated me. My father always loved me, whether I was the prodigal or his older brother. I always wondered how he could love me after all the things I've done in my life. Today, for the first time in my life, I could empathize with my dad.

I look at my daughter and I see instantly what that Father went through. No matter what she does, I will still love her. I will never abandon her or forsake her. Sometimes I need to punish her and redirect her behavior. But it doesn't mean I will stop loving her. My prayer is that I am as merciful and full of grace towards her as my father was to me and God is to all of us.

Paul said nothing in this world can separate us from the love of God. Nothing makes Him happier than for us to come home. Let's not keep Him waiting. Be blessed.

Stand in the gap

A friend wrote asking what I meant by saying we must 'stand in the gap' for people yesterday. In the days of Ezekiel, God was going to punish Israel unless someone stepped forward to stand in the gap, to be an advocate for the people. God said He would not punish the people if anyone could make a case as to why they shouldn't be punished. Sadly, no one came forward.

Let's not repeat the mistake. There are so many people that need our prayers. Let's continue to stand in the gap for a relationship to be restored, for the health of a loved one to be renewed, for the heart of a loved one to change. People in our lives, whether family, friends or co-workers need our prayers. People in our church need our prayers. Particularly those that are in leadership positions. They're the ones attacked the most by the enemy. And also those in other positions of leadership, like our political leaders.

God didn't give up on the people until no one stepped forward. It's not too late. There's still hope if we stand firm in the gap for each other. Be blessed.

A milestone

This week has been a milestone for our text ministry. We went over a hundred people on the list. This all stared last year as a way for me to encourage members of our youth group during Lent. We were fasting and I sent out little words of encouragement to them. We started out with seven. When you add the close to 400 friends on Facebook that see these messages daily, thats close to 500 people.

I had prayed to God to use me as a vessel to get His Word out. And that was His answer. Afte Lent, the kids from our Youth asked if I could continue to send those out. And they told friends and they asked to be added to the list. And the rest, a they say, is history. Praise Him.

Then about 6 months ago I read a story about a girl who prayed for people in her address book on her cell phone. I decided that that was the next step in this text ministry, I would start to pray for everyone on the list. So every morning as I'm sending the messages out, I pray for each person on the list. We're called to stand in the gap for others and praying for them is the best way. I encourage you to do the same. Pray for God's blessings upon the people on your phone. Be blessed.

Prayer and fasting

I've been away from the blog for too long. So many of you have emailed and asked if the blog was inactive. It isn't. I'm glad I'm free enough now in my responsiblities to be able to blog again. I promise I will try to blog daily.

My family has started a fast. We have a lot of prayer requests to put before the Lord. We fast from 4Am-4PM. I encourage you to join us. Fasting is when you refrain from eating, but you can drink. You use all the free time you have to come before the Lord in earnest prayer for whatever your heart desires. At 4PM CST, our family has alloted for everyone to pray together. We've chosen this time because it's lunchtime back home in Samoa, our homeland. So it's 4PM where I live, but if you want to participate, you can figure out what time it is where you live. If it is at all possible, stop what you ar doing and go before the Lord in earnest prayer.

God desires a relationship with us. He wants to know the intimate desires of our heart. The Bible says that we should, by prayer or request, present our requests to God. Jesus said to ask and we will receive. But often when we don't get an answer right away or don't get the answer we desire, we begin to question or doubt God. But we must remember that God has a plan and His plan is perfect. We must trust His answer to our prayers will meet our true need. He always hears our prayers. But keep in mind, though, some of the biggest blessings in life are unanswered prayers. Be blessed.

Day 40: Living Wih Purpose

We've finally come to the conclusion of the book. It's taken us way more than the 40 days allotted. We've hit a few bumps on the road, picked up readers and lost some readers. But I thank God for this journey. It has taught me so much and God has opened new perspectives into His Word that I had never considered before. So grateful for all the input and different perspectives. The great thing about this is that there's a permanent record for anyone that wants to read the book to come on here and take the journey anytime they want.

Point to Ponder: Living with purpose is the only way to really live.

Verse to Remember: For David...served the purpose of God for his generation.

Question to Consider: When will I take the time to write down the answer to life's five great questions? When will I put my purpose on paper?

This is the great question posed. When are we going to put our purpose on paper? It's one thing to talk about our purpose, but it adds an air of officialness when we put things down on paper. It's like a commitment, a contract.

We want to write it down because it holds us accountable. 80% of the things we say, we don't remember. But we remember what we write down because it's a record. How will we serve God? How will we worship Him? How will we fellowship with fellow believers? How will we take His message to the world? And how will we minister to the needs of others? Each of us has our own answer. I encourage you to write it down here and leave it as a permanent record and as an open testimony to the world that you've made a commitment as to your purpose in Christ.

I commit that I want to serve Christ through ministry to the youth. I commit to serve Christ as a servant to his church in Ft. Hood. I commit to live my life as a living testimony to the grace of God, who sent His only child to die for my sins. I commit my life to Christ and to live according to His will as given to us through His Word. Be blessed.

Day 39: Balancing Your Life

I'm a person that tries to compartmentalize my life. I try to keep things in their own box. I keep my professional life separate from my personal life. But sometimes trying to strike that balance is difficult. One of my goals this year is to try and balance the physical life with the spiritual life. I know the physical is one of my weak areas and it's something I pledge to change.

Points to Ponder: Blessed are the balanced.

Verse to Remember: "Live life with a due sense of responsibility, not as those who do not know the meaning of life but as those who do." (Ephesians 5:15)

Question to Consider: Which of the four activities will I begin in order to stay on track and balance God's five purposes for my life?

My response:

As I started the new year, a cousin of my wife sent us an email about balance. He knows that we are spiritual people and are heavily involved in the ministry. But he has always encouraged us to take a more balanced approach to life. He too is a person of faith. He said that we should balance the spiritual as well as the physical element.

I thought of him when I was reading this chapter. He is correct. The Bible says that we must have balance in our lives. God doesn't want us to lead boring lives. He has given us province over the entire planet for us to take care of and enjoy. We must have balance in all elements of our lives. Even in our spiritual lives, we must have balance. There are different elements of our spiritual life: prayer, meditation, fellowship, worship, evangelism, etc. There are different styles of worship as well. Sometimes I enjoy good gospel music. Sometimes I love the old LMS hymns. Sometimes I worship by studying the Word. Others I enjoy sitting sitting under the sky on a beautiful day and enjoy God's creation.

We must balance the different purposes of our lives: worship, evangelism, mission, fellowship and discipleship. We all have our favorites, but we must balance the others. Some of us are gifted for particular ones, but we must not neglect the others. One of my goals for this year is to live a more balanced life.

One of the best pieces of advice I received early on in my life is to have a couple of hobbies, or things you're passionate about. My priorities are God, family and career, in that order. But two things that keep me grounded are my love of sports and politics. It gives me a good outlet in life. The best of all worlds is when I can combine all areas of my life. I love my daughter. I love the Longhorns. Now my daughter loves the Longhorns. Now if I can only get her to agree with my politics. Be blessed.

Day 38: Becoming A World Class Christian

My pastor had a wonderful message yesterday about the power of the voice. It can be an agent for good, such as encouraging people and building them up. But it can also suppress people and abuse them. He talked about the baptism of Jesus and how at the end the heavens opened up and a voice boomed from up above: This is my son, whom I love. I am happy with Him. He said in 2010 we will encounter many voices that will demean us and bring us down, telling us what a disappointment we are, what shame we bring. When we hear those voices, try to block them out and think of the voice of God at His Son's baptism. He said we are His sons and daughters and that He loves us. And nothing can separate us from the love of God.

Points to Ponder: The Great Commission is my commission.

Verse to Remember: "Send us around the world with the news of your saving power and your eternal plan for all mankind." Psalm 67:2

Question to Consider: What steps can I take to prepare to go on a short-term missions experience in the next year?

My response:

This was a very challenging chapter. Throughout the book, we read certain things that make us think, "ok, we're on the right path doing what Christians should be doing." But in this chapter, I'm thinking, wow, I'm no where near fulfilling my calling from God. But the more I read about it, the more I think of each of us having different callings.

I was struck by the emphasis of different mission work and the advantages we have today from a technological standpoint. The book says our world has never been "smaller". What he means is that transportation of people and especially data has never been faster. And with the advent of the internet, we have a unique opportunity to minister across the globe. I've had some direct experience with that over the past year.

The first was with text messages that I send out weekday mornings to encourage people on their walk with the Lord. It started out as messages of encouragement during our fasting period of Lent. When it ended, some of the Youth asked if I could keep sending them out. I was happy to do it. We started with just 17 people receiving them. Then people would tell other people and pretty soon we had over 40 people on the list. Through word of mouth, by the end of the year, we have close to a 100 people receiving these messages directly from me. But I have heard many of them say that they also forward them on to friends.

Another opportunity opened up when I decided to sign up for the social networking site Facebook. I did it mainly to reconnect with old friends and family I hadn't seen or communicated with in years. My friends list started growing fast. I then decided to use these messages as my status updates daily. So now they weren't only going out to the hundred or so people on my phone text list, but they were also going out to the close to four hundred friends I had on Facebook. I thank God for opening these new avenues to do His mission work using new technology.

Then in the end of spring, an idea came forward to expand on the text messages. I found myself spending so much time trying to cut down the text messages to manageable length to send them out. But there was so much I had to edit that I had so many thoughts left out. Then the idea of a blog came up. With the help of my wife, we set this blog up to expand on the daily messages. And then towards the end of the year, the idea of doing this virtual study, where people from Turkey, Iraq, Afghanistan, Tennessee, Samoa, California, Texas and Hawaii have all participated. Praise God for opening up these new ways to reach people all over the world and do mission work for them. As of today, the blog has been visited over 15,000 in about eight months.

The challenge for all of us is to find different ways to do God's work for and to fulfill the great commission: Go tell. Be blessed.

Day 37: Sharing Your Life Message

Last night was an awesome night. The Youth from our church were the speakers for last night's fuifui lotu and they did an outstanding job of giving God praise and honor. Their words of encouragement, testimonials and goals for this year confirm again that God is working through the Youth of our church. It's wonderful to hear it from them telling us about what God has done in their lives. Vi'ia le Ali'i.

Points to Ponder: God wants to say something to the world through me.

Verse to Remember: "Be ready at all times to answer anyone that asks you to explain that hope you have in you, but do it with gentleness and respect." 1 Peter 3:15-16

Questions to Consider: As I reflect on my personal story, who does God want me to share it with?

My response:

This chapter talks about being ready to witness. After reading it, I went to our youth service last night and it was like this chapter was on full display. The chapter says that you should be ready with your "story" when people ask you why Christ is so important in your life. There should be four parts to your story: testimony, life lessons, godly passions and good news. Each of these plays an important role in bringing someone to Christ. But you should be prepared to share it with people at a moments notice.

Your testimonial tells what your life was like before Christ and what he's done for you since you've accepted Him into your life. And as speaker after speaker went up last night, I realized that all of the Youth had their testimonies down pat. God had done great things in their lives and they see the mercy, grace and love He's shown them. Through all the hardships they've faced. Through all of the troubles, He was there. They said they've been on the road with God, gotten off and want to get back on the road. They declared how some of them have fallen away from the Lord, but many pledged last night to recommit their lives to God. What a wonderful testimony. I pray that the Youth step up and live up to their name, Ambassadors for Christ and are not ashamed to share their story and testimony to the world. Be blessed.

Day 36: Made For A Mission

I've really enjoyed these last few days as we work towards the end of the book. What a way to start off 2010. And it's really helping to put things into focus. As I said yesterday, this first week is our Praise Services at church. I keep going from one message to another as I'm reading the daily readings. Whatever God puts in my heart to give to the church, I pray that it is given with a humble heart and received as such.

Points to Ponder: I was made for a mission.

Verse to Remember: "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:19-20

Question to Consider: What fears have kept me from fulfilling the mission God made me to accomplish? What keeps me from telling others the Good News?

This is the last purpose and the most logical one. We are called to praise God, to worship God, to fellowship with other believers, to serve God and to finally to tell others about God. It's what I call the "inside out concept". Our spiritual journey starts from within. We start by accepting Christ for ourselves. It's a personal thing where we ask Him into our hearts and make Him our Lord and Savior. Then we start to build our spiritual life by reading His Word and finding a good church family to be a part of and to help us on our journey. Finally, as we mature we must begin to manifest that faith through service to others and spreading the message.

Our journey really isn't complete without telling others about what we've found in Christ. We must not only come TO Him, but we must also go FOR Him. We must go tell. The first way to tell is by our actions. Before we can even witness to people with our personal testimony, how we live our lives already has witnessed to them. There is no more powerful testimony than our actions. Remember, actions speak louder than words.

The motto of our youth group is ambassadors for Christ. It makes no sense to represent Christ in word when our deeds don't match those words. And the mission is so vital. It's as if we've found the cure to a disease and don't want to share it with others. So this is the ultimate culmination of the journey. Go tell. Be blessed.

Day 35: God's Power In Your Weakness

Our New Years Praise services started tonight. We call it fuifuilotu in Samoan. It's a wonderful way to kick off the year. This is the time when members of the church get to stand up in front of the congregation and encourage each other and give messages of hope and words of advise for the new year. I learned a lot tonight and feel fired up for the new year. Praise God.

Points to Ponder: God works best when I admit my weakness.

Verse to Remember: "My grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9

Question to Consider. Am I limiting God's power in my life by trying to hide my weaknesses? What do I need to be honest about in order to help others?

The verse to remember for this chapter is one of my favorite verses from the bible. My nephew passed away about 14 years ago. It was the most traumatic thing to happen in my family's life until that point. He was two and a half years old going on 20. He brought so much joy and love to our family. The first grandchild. And then in an instant, he was gone in a tragic accident. My family was devastated. We were grieving for my brother and his wife, but we were also grieving for ourselves. One of the things that stands out to me about the whole ordeal was the strength my father showed. They say one of the hardest things to do in life is to bury a child. But I think my dad had a harder task. He had to bury a grandchild. He not only grieved for his grandson, but more so for his son. And he had to officiate at the burial.

His theme for the funeral was this passage by Paul. He said God's grace is sufficient for us. At the time I was thinking, no it's not. Nothing is sufficient to take this pain away. But as time went on, I realized how powerful and correct those words were from Paul. The pain has never completely gone away, but God's grace was and is sufficient for us. I know His grace enabled the healing process to begin. In the midst of our pain, His grace shone through the love and support of our family, our friends, and especially our church.

When I read this chapter, I thought about that. I tried to be strong for my brother and family. But I realized that weakness is not something bad. Showing our vulnerabilities allows God to heal us and use us for His purposes. The world teaches us the opposite. That to show weakness is bad, because it allows others to take advantage of you. But God doesn't operate that way. He says our most effective ministry comes out of our deepest hurts.

One of the ladies at our praise service last night said that 2009 was a rough year for her. She lost both her husband and her mother. But she holds no grudges. She's not angry. The pain is real, but she said that the love from her church and community is stronger than the pain. Then she closed out her testimony by singing the classic hymn, A Sousou le Vasa. It's a Samoan hymn that says when the seas are rough, and you feel like giving up, think of what Jesus has done and you'll be amazed that He can carry you through. What a powerful testimony of the love of God. Through her pain, she realized that His grace was sufficient for her. Be blessed.

Day 34: Thinking Like A Servant

I want to wish everyone a Happy New Years. I know our timeline was to finish the book by Christmas, but things happened and I wasn't able to do it. I am sincerely sorry about that. I am committed to finishing the book this week Friday. A chapter a day this week. Thank you to those who sent helpful reminders that I wasn't updating as I should have been. But it has been a wonderful journey and I pray that you're getting as much out of the book as I am. On to today's reading.

Points to Ponder: To be a servant, I must think like a servant.

Verse to Remember: "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus." Philippians 2:5

Question to Consider: Am I usually more concerned about being served or finding ways to serve others?

This chapter is a wonderful illustration of what God expects from us. He wants us to be real servants. And real servants think less of themselves and more of others. Many of us, and I'm guilty of this myself, tend to serve with ulterior motives sometimes. When I was in high school, our National Honor Society had a service component. We were required to do community service work. It had a good purpose, teaching young people the value of serving the community. But I felt that with it being compulsory, it wasn't as valuable as if it were voluntary. But I guess the aim of the program was to introduce us to the concept of service, and then after the program we would do it on our own. Service should never be about you. It should always be about others.

Another important lesson I got from this chapter was not to compare our service with anyone else. Don't get into the habit of saying, well I'm better than so and so because look at all I'm doing compared to that other person. We were all called to serve and we all accepted the call. If my brother doesn't show up for his obligation, it shouldn't mean that I don't have to go either. Don't get mad if other people don't fulfill their service obligations. Worry only about yours. You committed to serve IRREGARDLESS of the commitment of others.

And finally, expect to be criticized. When we serve Jesus, the world will criticize us because they don't understand where our service comes from: a deep, abounding love for Christ. Even His disciples criticized Him. So don't let the critics mute your service. You made a commitment to God. Keep it.