Alive and Active

Gambling is like playing with fire and there will be consequences. The Bible says that wealth gained hastily will dwindle. God desires to take care of us because he loves us. We can trust that God will give us what we need. Let the Lord take care of you in every way. Don't risk your paycheck for a quick fix. 

The gambling industry is like an uncontrollable fire.  It doesn't honor God and it ruins people's lives. The world tries to normalize gambling and it is easier than ever. The Bible says if you don't work, you don't eat. Gambling risks our resources. We are called to steward God's money. Gambling clashes with the command to love our neighbors. Philippians 2:4 says to look to the interest of others. We have a responsibility to our neighbor.  A quick hook isn't the way. Do we believe that everything we need comes from Him? Colossians 3 says whatever you do work hardly for the Lord and not man.

God called Jeremiah to extract the precious from the worthless since he was living in a declining culture. In the NFL in the 1960s, Gale Sayers and Dick Butkus were all pros on bad Chicago bears teams. Despite the circumstances of being on bad teams, they rose to the occasion and excelled. We too should trust God with where we are at and we should let adversity test our faith. Let Jesus be heroic. Instead of saying why me God, let's say why not me.

The Bible makes it clear that deception is going to happen in the end days. We must eat (read & study) from God's Word  so we are not deceived. We should be prepared to identify false teaching, in unity with our brothers, and we must be  opportunistic in order to not fall into being deceived ourselves.

An Umpire in baseball has to call a ball or a strike accurately in the game of baseball. Coach George Darlington was an assistant football coach at the University of Nebraska and he coached multiple positions. George loved Jesus and he shared Christ with many people. George was like an umpire in that he didn't care what others thought, but his job was to call a ball a ball and a strike a strike and he did that exceptionally well. We can all learn Coach Darlington's example of doing the same.

Richard Bell was told he would never graduate, but he "answered the bell", gave his life to Christ, and turned his friction into traction. Richard Bell had the right attitude and he was a servant who maximized his talent that the Lord had given him. He had great discipleship and he was a hungry learner. Bell went on to be an NFL draft pick,  but more importantly he is a child of God because He is a Christ Follower and trusts and believes in the finished work on the cross of Christ and that rose again on the third day. Have you trusted & believed in Jesus?

We are called in God's word to finish strong in our walk with Christ. This episode recapped the fourth quarter event that Alive and Active Radio held in Lincoln this summer. We all play an important role in the Kingdom of God, especially those who are in the fourth quarter of life. Don't settle for mediocrity, but instead follow Christ all the way until your last breath and trust & believe in Him & His finished work He did for us.

In Genesis 25 Esau is overwhelmed with his own hunger that he sells his own birthright for a bowl of soup. When you allow different hungers (temptations) in your life and you don't pray and seek wisdom, you are certain to make some bad decisions. We should look to Jesus Hebrews 12:2 and what he does for us so that we can serve others and have a clear Christ focused mind and as we remember to renew our mind daily (Romans 12:2).

A wide receiver must be willing to do the dirty work and he must be precise and technical in blocking for his teammates. Paying attention to detail will maximize a wide receivers ability. We do the same as Christians when we study, learn, and apply God's Word  in our lives and in the lives of others.

In football, perimeter blocking is when wide receivers unselfishly block the defensive backs in order to open up a hole for the running back to run through. God gave Coach Brown an incredible attention to detail and he learned from the best coaches to perfect the craft of perimeter blocking. Colossians 3:23 says "whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the lord, not man."