Tag Archives: #leadership

Spirituality

Awards

This morning I will be receiving the Governor’s Volunteer Service Award as the Windham School District Volunteer of the Year. It’s a great honor, but the true honor goes to the Windham employees.

Inside most Texas prisons, there is a school that inmates can attend. This is Windham’s district. I wish everyone could see what I get to see. People’s lives are redirected through the blood, sweat and tears of the teachers in Windham. This is where the magic happens.

Horace Mann, the man who founded the school system in America, set the curriculum to teach the head, the heart and the hands (intellect, emotion and application). Windham accomplishes his vision for public education. It works!

Today is a nice day, and the work continues. I will continue volunteering in the prisons as long as I have a breath in me…

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Spirituality, Uncategorized

Lead Me

Our world needs strong leaders. The kind of leadership I’m talking about are people who are moral, ethical, and they do what’s right. And those types of people are rare.

It has always fascinated me when I see the actions of cult leaders. Jim Jones enticed and forced over 900 people to drink liquid laced with cyanide. Three hundred of them were children. Everyone died from the poison except Jones, who died from a single bullet to his head.

The kind of leadership we desperately need is found in Proverbs 3:5-6: “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 paths straight.” In other words, dedicate your life to serving God and follow His guidance in everything. It’s difficult, but possible.

Keep your focus on things above. You will not be led astray…

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Spirituality

Rising Against

It takes courage to take a stand for what is true and right. There are seen and unseen forces against the one who does.

We are living in a culture that, according to some, believes God made a mistake when he created some people. A biological male believes he is a man trapped in a woman’s body. This is a lie, yet I have some warped people argue with me about this. God doesn’t make mistakes. He’s the only one who doesn’t.

There’s a group of people who pervert Scripture. The same people who support open borders use Bible verses to justify their claim. The law doesn’t matter to them as long as they get their way. I guess they forgot that Jesus told us to obey the law. “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and give to God what belongs to him.”

There will be moments in your life where you’re going to be faced with standing up for the truth or going along with the crowd. My encouragement to you is, find the courage to take a stand. Dig as deep as you need to find it…

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Spirituality, Uncategorized

Your Very Best

We like the best. When we travel we want the best hotel, restaurants and local attractions. We wear the best designer labels, showing off our taste for the best.

But what about how we live our lives? Are we giving our best effort every day? The people who get the most accomplished are separated from the rest by one trait: commitment.

Although they are often related, accomplishing much in life doesn’t necessarily bring wealth. Mother Theresa dedicated her life to the poorest of the poor in India. She had worldwide acclaim, yet very little money. She gave them her best.

Commit to one thing and do it well. It should be something you love doing, even when it’s not fun. Your focus must be on making a difference, not creating wealth. Wealth may come, but it should be secondary.

Start each day with a quick prayer of gratitude for another day. Then go give the world your very best…

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Spirituality

Considering The Impossible

A survey of 50 adults over the age of 95 revealed three interesting themes. As the oldest generation looked back at their lives, they wished they had risked more, reflected more, and they wished they had created something that would last, a legacy.

If you are reading this, it’s not too late for you to pursue your dreams. Even if they have been dormant for decades, they still exist in your mind and heart. Look forward thirty years and think about how you will feel when you have done what you were sent here to do.

We pursue our purpose for fulfillment, not fame or personal glory. We give the glory to God. After all, he’s the one who gave us our unique talents we use to make a difference in the world. If we keep it to ourselves, we have lived selfishly. There’s no fulfillment in selfishness.

The excuses will flood your mind. “I’m too old. It’s too late for me. I don’t have enough education.” Those are just a few of the excuses, and they are all lies you might tell yourself. Ask yourself, “how big is my God?” Then go do what he put you in this generation to do, even if it seems impossible to you.

Henry David Thoreau wrote, “the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation and die with their song still in them.” It’s time to let the world hear your music…

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Spirituality

Givers and Takers

You have probably heard all the sayings: “it’s better to give than to receive.” And “it’s the thought that counts.” If these are true, and they are, then why are we so damn greedy?

The culture of the United States is greed. Yet, we are the most benevolent country in the world. Greed and kindness can coexist. The greedy part of our psyche is insecurity while the benevolence comes from the heart. The heart is what really matters. It’s the heart of mankind that God searches.

Publications like People Magazine give us a glimpse into the lives of our favorite celebrities. The images are showing us a carefree life with no worries. It’s a created image that doesn’t exist in real life. Everyone has challenges in their lives whether they are famous or not.

Giving of yourself and your resources is good for the spirit. When you help someone who can never do anything for you, you get a feeling that is impossible to describe. I believe this is how we were created in the image of God. He’s the only one who gives and gives.

My encouragement to you is to try to be more giver than taker. Find a cause that touches your heart. Get involved. See how your life gets even better than it is already…

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Spirituality

Unseen Protection

It’s estimated that there are around 1,000,000 law enforcement officers in the United States. They have one of the most dangerous careers you can have. Even a simple traffic stop for speeding could be their last.

Law enforcement is a calling. It has to be. Any of us would risk everything to save our families. Police do it for strangers. They keep the peace when insane, chaotic conditions exist all around them. They protect the people who are protesting them as well.

In 2014, Michael Brown was shot and killed in Ferguson, Missouri by a police officer. The officer, Darren Wilson, claimed that Brown assaulted him and made a play for his gun. After an intense investigation, the grand jury found no evidence to indict the officer. Same for the DOJ. Yet, Wilson had to move his young family away from Ferguson.

Say a prayer for our brave officers. They have a sometimes thankless job, but I am thankful for them every day…

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Spirituality, Uncategorized

The Hunger for Truth

In May I was speaking in a men’s prison. Somehow I brought it up that I was taught that Christopher Columbus discovered America. Then I told the crowd that I was shocked to find out it was a lie when I took history in college. A few of the inmates were surprised to learn this lie we were told.

People want the truth. We want people who will tell us the truth, without bias. We want the truth about why we are here. We want to be able to go to church and not hear a perverted Gospel message.

In today’s society, people talk about “my truth.” There is only one truth. You cannot bend the truth to fit what you want it to be.

The sole source for the truth is the Bible. It has stood the test of time for multiple generations. It is true today and it will be true in 1000 years.

Accept nothing less than the truth. Turn the television off at the first sign of a political narrative. Do the same with newspapers. They aren’t telling you the truth. News media are telling you what they want you to believe.

Look through a biblical lens. The truth might startle you, but at least you can count on it…

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Spirituality

Demand More

You and I are in competition, but not with each other. We are competing with ourselves, striving to do better. I can only run my race and it’s the same for you.

Comparison is a dangerous trap. When we compare ourselves to others we have a tendency to look at life through an out of focus lens. God gave us our life, and he created us to do his will on this side of eternity. When the day arrives when we meet our maker, God will ask us what we did with the talents he gave us. He’s not going to compare us to anyone else.

If you feel like you are just going through the motions in life, it’s time to change. We aren’t going to find fulfillment if our life consists of going to work, coming home and watching television, going to bed and doing it again the next day.

It’s time to demand more from yourself. God won’t put us in a position to fail. But he will stretch us and grow us into the man or woman he created us to be.

The time is now. Don’t wait and don’t worry. God doesn’t demand anything of us he hasn’t equipped us for. It’s time…

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