Game Plan for Life

Joe Gibbs asked eleven of his friends to help write this book. The friends include: Josh McDowell, Ken Boa, John C. Lennox, Ravi Zacharias, Charles Colson, Don Meredith, Ron Blue, Os Guinness, Walt Larimore, Tony Evans, Randy Alcorn. Gibbs and friends covers topics that are important to all men. My wonderful wife stood in a line at the Charlotte Lifeway bookstore to have my copy signed by Joe Gibbs himself. Joe coached the Washington Redskins to several Super Bowls and has had several successful NASCAR racing teams. He now lives here in Charlotte. I know anyone that reads this book will be blessed. Enjoy!

We must care for our bodies as though we were going to live forever, but we must care for our souls as if we are going to die tomorrow. p. 23

This is an easy thing in the eyes of the Lord. p. 33

The concept of stewardship appears often throughout the Bible. Stewardship is more than just giving a certain percentage of our income to the church or other ministries. The biblical concept is that God owns everything and we are temporary managers of what He has allowed us to have. If you agree that all we have is from God's hand, you'll quickly grasp my definition of stewardship: Biblical stewardship is the use of God-given gifts and resources (time, talent, treasure, truth, relationships) for the accomplishment of God-given goals. p. 189

If it's true that God owns it all, then He has the right to whatever He wants, whenever He wants it. It's all His. Owners have rights; stewards have only responsibilities. p. 190

The second implication of God's ownership of everything is that not only is our giving a spiritual decision, but every spending choice is a spiritual decision. p. 190

To help you on this journey, I have created an evaluation tool that allows you to examine your four health wheels. www.Dr Walt.com p.244

The one who dies with the most toys is still dead. p. 254

First, there the highway of passion. p. 259

Second, there's the highway of abilities. p. 259

Third, there's the highway of personality. p. 259

Fourth, there's the highway of experience. p. 259

So don't despair because life has been unfair. God knows how to take your good, your bad, and your ugly and use them for His purpose in your life. p. 260

Fifth, there's the highway of opportunity. p. 260

Christians are not in the land of the living on our way to the land of the dying. We are in the land of the dying on our way to the land of the living. p. 261

God wants to write your eulogy as well. Despite all our activities, honors, and recognition, God desires our hearts. He wants men who will function according to His design and influence their generation for Him because they are committed, above anything else, to doing His will. p. 261

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The Treasure Principle

The little book, The Treasure Principle, by Randy Alcorn is a helpful book that helps and reminds me how to handle money. I trust the quotes below will challenge you to treat your money as God's.

A steward manages assets for the owner's benefit. The steward carries no sense of entitlement to the assets he manages. It's his job to find out what the owner wants done with his assets, then carry out his will. p. 25

Nothing makes a journey more difficult than a heavy backpack filled with nice but unnecessary things. Pilgrims travel light. p. 53

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God Came Near

Max Lucado's God Came Near is a wonderful devotional book. I trust you will enjoy the quote below.

Christianity, in its purest form, is nothing more than seeing Jesus. Christian service, in its purest form, is nothing more than imitating Him who we see. To see His Majesty and to imitate Him, that is the sum of Christianity. p. 13

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Jesus Loves Me

This is the first Calvin Miller book I have read. I enjoyed it. He wrote this book based on the song, "Jesus Loves Me." Very interesting and also helps and reminds you how much Jesus really loves us. I trust you will enjoy the quotes.

Jesus Loves Me

Jesus loves me! This I know,

For the Bible tells me so;

Little ones to Him belong;

They are weak, but He is strong.

Jesus loves me! He who died

Heaven's gate to open wide!

He will wash away my sin,

Let His little child come in

Jesus loves me! He will stay

Close beside me all the way,

If I love Him when I die

He will take me home on high.

Anna B. Warner, 1860

But why is life so hard? Could it be because we work so hard to stay in charge of it. p. 50

Roosevelt wrote in 1899:

It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done then better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; who does actually try to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly. Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat. pp. 50-51

Self-sufficiency isolates our need from God's supply. Better we should approach God with empty bowls, begging him to fill our insufficiency. "We are weak, but He is strong." p. 124

Confess to God, "Lord, I suffer from an inferiority complex," and you will hear God reply, "Well, of course you do. That's because you are inferior. If you want to be all you can be, trust me and let me fill you with my power. Once I fill your life, you will not be able to feel inferior; all your insufficiency will have been filled with my sufficiency." p. 140

A second way the cross is presented is wearing the letters "I.H.S" -- an abbreviation for In Hoc Signo (Vinces) or "By this sign (the cross) you will conquer." p. 153

King Jesus! When I say these words I confess I am a servant. Greatness, perhaps even fame, rarely originates in either heredity or environment. It is born when I catch a view of what I can do or am willing to become often by serving Christ in the most mundane of circumstances.

But I must not see myself as special. To do so is to deny Christ's total control of my life. The most extraordinary people never saw themselves as great. In fact many of them struggle against a negative group opinion. Albert Einstein for instance, didn't talk till he was four years old and he didn't start to read till he was seven. One of his teachers labeled him as "mentally slow, unsociable and adrift in his foolish dreams." Thomas Edison was considered "too stupid to learn anything," said some of his teachers. The rookie coach Vince Lomardi was said to possess minimal football knowledge and to lack motivation. Walt Disney was fired by a local newspaper because he had a "lack of fresh ideas."

What is it that changed these ordinary souls into icons of heroism? Their inner view was strong enough to stand against their belittling critics. p. 155

Solitude gives God a mouth by making us an ear. p. 195

But in the cross Jesus not only said, "Lo, I am with you always." What he really said was, "Lo, I am with you regardless!" p. 207

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The Noticer

Someone loaned me the book,The Noticer by Andy Andrews. What an excellent, encouraging book. I'm only listing a few quotes, but I know this would be a good book for everyone to read.

"Think with me here . . . everyone wants to be on the mountaintop, but if you'll remember, mountaintops are rocky and cold. There is no growth on the top of a mountain. Sure, the view is great, but what's a view for? view just gives us a glimpse of our next destination - our next target. But to hit that target, we must come off the mountain, go through the valley, and begin to climb the next slope. It is in the valley that we slog through the lush grass and rich soil, learning and becoming what enables us to summit life's next peak." p. 8

"Here's the connection," Jones said. "One way to define wisdom is the ability to see, into the future, the consequences of your choices in the present. That ability can give you a completely different perspective on what the future might look like. p. 65

"Five seagulls are sitting on a dock. One of them decides to fly away. How many seagulls are left?"

"Well . . . four."

"No," Jones responded. "There are still five. Deciding to fly away and actually flying away are two very different things."

"Listen carefully to me. Despite popular belief to the contrary, there is absolutely no power in intention. The seagull may intend to fly away, may decide to do so, may talk with the other seagulls about how wonderful it s to fly, but until the seagull flaps his wings and takes to the air, he is still on the dock. There's no difference between that gull and all the others. Likewise there is no difference in the person who intends to do things differently and the one who never thinks about it in the first place. Have you ever considered how often we judge ourselves by our intentions while we judge others by their actions? Yet intention without action is an insult to those who expect the best from you. 'I intended to bring you flowers, but I didn't.' 'I meant to finish this work on time.' 'I was going to be there for your birthday . . .'" p. 111

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What the Bible Says About Angels

Another great book about Angels. David Jeremiah does a wonderful job in teaching about angels in his book, What the Bible Says About Angels. I trust you will enjoy the quotes below:

• The Bible gives no indication angels will respond if we pray directly to them for help. p. 18
• In fact in Scripture we don't find any instances of people even asking God to send them an angel's protection. And the only person in Scripture who tried persuading someone else to seek help form an angel was Satan, who quoted an Old Testament verse about angelic protection while tempting Jesus in the wilderness (Matthew 4:6). p. 18
• Scripture gives no basis for assuming angles will serve and help non-Christians. The Bible describes angels as "ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation." (Hebrews 1:14). p. 18
• The only sufficient aim in a study of angels: that you might draw closer to God. p. 25
• Notice the proportion: Four wings for worship and only two for work - twice as much attention to being in God's presence as compared to carrying out other responsibilities. It seems like we today often reverse his ratio. We would do well to be more like the seraphim. p. 147
• Apparently angels and believers alike all have their own perfect jobs in carrying out God's perfect will. p. 153
• Some worship, rightfully stressing the joy and confidence that the believer has in relationship to a loving heavenly Father, goes beyond that point to an excessive familiarity treating him as an equal, or worse yet, as a servant.... While there are room and need for enthusiasm of expression, and perhaps even an exuberance, that should never lead to a loss of respect. There will always be a sense of awe and wonder.... Although there are love and trust and openness between us and God, we are not equals. He is the almighty, sovereign Lord. We are his servants and followers. (M.J. Erickson) p. 173
• Mature believers know that a heart full of thanksgiving is the most fertile soil for freedom in worship. But offering thanks isn't reserved just for redeemed mankind. We see the twenty-four elders demonstrating this for us in 11:16-17. They fall on their faces and say,

We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,

the One who is and who was,

because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign. p. 176

• Again and again in the Scriptures we see this pattern: Those who are given the privilege of a direct visible or audible ministry from angels are those with mature hearts who want to encounter God---not angles. p. 192

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Angels

In preparation for Sunday School I am reading a few books about angels. Billy Graham's book is a classic. I trust will enjoy the quotes below:

Yes, there are angels in our very midst-but not all supernatural forces are good, and not all angels are from God. Paul warns that "Satan transforms himself into an angel of light" and he deceives many people-including many spiritual leaders. p. xii

Some biblical scholars believe that angels can be numbered potentially in the millions since Hebrews 12:22 speaks of "an innumerable [myriads-a great but indefinite number] company of angels." p. 32

But no matter what the traditions, our frame of reference must be the Scripture as our supreme authority on this subject. p. 36

While angels may become visible by choice, our eyes are not constructed to see them ordinarily any more than we can see the dimensions of a nuclear field, the structure of atoms, or the electricity that flows through copper wiring. Our ability to sense reality is limited: The deer of the forest far surpass our human capacity in their keenness of smell. Bats possess a phenomenally sensitive built-in radar system. Some animals can see things in the dark that escape our attention. Swallows and geese possess sophisticated guidance systems that appear to border on the supernatural. So why should we think it strange if men fail to perceive the evidences of angelic presence? p. 37

After all, the Scriptures mention their [angels] existence almost three hundred times. p. 45

At the same time, both angels and the Holy Spirit are at work in our world to accomplish God's perfect will. Frankly, we may not always know the agent or means God is using-the Holy Spirit or the angels-when we discern God's hand at work. We can be sure, however, that there is no contradiction or competition between God the Holy Spirit and God's command of the angelic hosts. God Himself is in control to accomplish His will-and in that we can rejoice. p. 48

The holy angels will never die. The Bible also teaches that angels are sexless. p. 52

We cannot study the subject of angels in the Bible without becoming aware of ranks among angelic beings. The evidence shows that they are organized in terms of authority and glory. Though some see the ranking of celestial powers as conjectural, it seems to follow this pattern: archangels, angels, seraphim, cherubim, principalities, authorities, powers, thrones, might, and dominion (Colossians 1:16; Romans 8:38). p. 79

While Scripture designates only Michael as an archangel (Jude 9), we have biblical grounds for believing that before his fall Lucifer was also an archangel, equal or perhaps superior to Michael. The prefix "arch" suggests a chief, principal or great angel. Thus, Michael is now the angel above all angels, recognized in rank to be the first prince of heaven. p. 80

Gabriel, in Hebrew, means "God's hero," or "the mighty one," or "God is great." p. 82

Gabriel is primarily God's messenger of mercy and promise. He appears four times in the Bible, always bearing good news (Daniel 8:16, 9:21; Luke 1:19, 26). p.82

The word seraphim may come from the Hebrew root meaning "love" (though some think the word means "burning ones" or "nobles"). p. 85

The ministry of the seraphim is to praise the name and character of God in heaven. Their ministry relates directly to God and His heavenly throne, because they are positioned above the throne - unlike the cherubim, who are beside it. pp. 85-86

The Scriptures do not, however, support the common belief that all angels have wings. p. 86

God's angels often protect His servants from potential enemies. Consider 2 Kings 6:14-17. The king of Syria had dispatched his army to Dothan, learning that Elisha the prophet was there. Upon dressing in the morning, the prophet's helper exclaimed excitedly to Elisha that the surrounding countryside bristled with armies and implements of war. Elisha assured him, "Don't be afraid!...our army is bigger than theirs" (verse 16, TLB). Elisha then prayed that God would open the eyes of the young man to see the hosts of protective angels: as He did so, the young man "could see horse and chariots of fire everywhere on the hills surrounding the city."This passage has been one of the great assurances and comforts to me in my ministry. pp. 135-136

Some believe strongly that each Christian may have his own guardian angel assigned to watch over him or her. This guardianship possibly begins in infancy, for Jesus said, "See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven" (Matthew 18:10). pp. 136-137

The most important characteristic of angels is not that they have power to exercise control over our lives, or that they are beautiful, but that they work on our behalf. They are motivated by an inexhaustible love for God and are jealous to see that the will of God in Jesus Christ is fulfilled in us. p. 137

"There are many times when God withdraws to test your faith. He wants you to trust Him in the darkness. Now, Son, reach up by faith in the fog and you will find that His hand will be there." p. 147

In the same way any evangelistic ministry sounds the note of urgency concerning the gospel. We have no time to waste because we can never claim this moment. We may never have a second chance to witness if we neglect the first. p. 185

Satan always directs his sharpest attack at his victim's weakest point. He knows where the Achilles heel may be and he does not fail to strike at the opportune time. p. 192

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