He Has Risen

Christ died on the cross and rose from the dead!

Being a Whole-Hearted Person

Here we are in-between the day Christ went to the cross and the day He was resurrected. I read an article in the Omaha World Herald Living section today, April 20th , called “‘Courage’ special brings author Brown to Netflix.” The article was about a lady named Brene’ Brown who is a research professor at the University of Houston’s Graduate College of Social Work. It mentioned in the article that she had done a Ted Talk on Vulnerability and that had been viewed by more than 39 million people. I became the next viewer. While watching this video, I thought about what she was saying about “Whole-hearted” people and the fact that “Whole-hearted” people live with a deep sense of worthiness.

Brene’ states in the video that people who have a sense of worthiness have a strong sense of love and belonging. And people that have a strong sense of love and belonging at their core believe they are worthy of belonging.

 She goes on to say “Whole-hearted” people live out of three C’s, Courage, Compassion and Connection.

Courage – to tell the story of who you are with your whole heart, courage to be imperfect. Compassion - to be kind to themselves and then others. Connection - because of their authenticity and willingness to let go of who they thought they should be, to be who they are.

 One last point she made was that whole-hearted people fully embrace vulnerability. They believe that what makes them vulnerable makes them beautiful. They have the willingness to say I love you first and do something where there are no guarantees.

 She suggests that we

• let ourselves be seen – our true selves, our vulnerable selves

• love with our whole heart

• practice gratitude and joy

• and finally believe we are enough.

 I suggest you watch this video and reflect on Jesus Christ, who came to this earth, died on the cross for our sins, defeated sin through His resurrection and through that gives those who believe in Him eternal life. What Brene’ Brown is describing in the “Whole-hearted” person is the Co-heir with Christ. While she does not reference Jesus Christ in this video, she is describing how a believer in Christ should walk, His way!

 Happy Easter – He has risen, He has risen indeed.

My Mission Statement

My mission is to love the Lord my God, with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my mind and with all my strength. Not only do I want to love my neighbor as myself, but I want to follow Jesus’ command to love one another as He has loved us.

I desire to be a loving husband to my wife and a loving father to my kids, their spouses and my grand kids. I want to serve my family by passing on God’s wisdom concerning how we should live our lives. To my wife, I want to be her best friend, her encourager, her ear, and her protector.

I want to always remember if you think you are more than you are, you are less than you were. Powered by this statement I want to stay humbly grounded in my faith and give back to God what is His and be unselfish with my resources, my money, my time and myself.

Career-wise, I want to continue working in a leadership role and follow the prayer of Jabez, “Oh Lord bless me indeed and enlarge my territory, that your hand would be with me, that you would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain.”

Now that I have completed God’s calling to write Walk This Way, Walk His Way and its complimentary study guide, I want to carry out the mission I believe God has called me to complete. I have formed Maker Ministries, LLC, with the purpose of helping disciples of Christ be more effective in walking His way. God has placed on my heart to continue work around Jesus’s commands in a secondary book or sequel to the first, Walk This Way, Walk His Way: Jesus’ Commands. I also have visions of another book to reach golfers, Golf: God’s Game. Through these works, I hope to help people grow in their faith and their walk with Jesus Christ. I ask God that my writing would come alive, and that He would give me finishing power so that His mission for me would be fulfilled. May I live to teach people and help them experience the freedom and power of Jesus Christ in their lives, the freedom from sin’s bondage and Satan’s grasp and the power of a life lived through the Holy Spirit.

May I live my life not by word and tongue, but by action and truth! May it not be about me, but about God and His Will for me! Help me to be Christ-like, help me to be selfless in my nature. 

Choice Not Chance Determines Destiny