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Today I really struggled - I just didn't know what to write. It's not that I didn't have an idea of what I wanted to say, but I just couldn't say it. We've all struggled with writer's block before I'm sure, and it's in those times you wish people could just look into your heart or your mind to know what it is you're feeling or thinking. Well...that's exactly what the Holy Spirit does when we struggle with what to pray. He searches our inward most parts, and even if the words don't come out, God knows what we're thinking and feeling. Thank God for his intercession! 

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Children want their parents attention. Constantly my kids are asking, "Dad, are you watching?" or, "Dad! Look! See me?" The idea of me watching them does not cause them anxiety but great joy, why? Because no matter what they are doing, they want to please me. Well...as children of God, how does the idea of Him watching make us feel? If the answer is fearful, then we are not walking like children as we should be. If we make it our aim to be pleasing to God in all that we do, then we should desire for him to be watching. 

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We have a CFA coming to Danville finally!!! I have passed by nearly every day and while you couldn't tell at all what they were building at first, now it's starting to take on the very prominent features of a stand alone CFA location. The more it comes along, the less it will be mistaken for anything else. Well...do we recognize that this is how discipleship is supposed to go? Being a Christian means that we, you know, actually follow and look like Jesus. The gospel breaks ground, and at first you can't tell much. But as we grow in Christ, we should continue to grow until we are easily recognzied to act, feel, and think like Jesus. 

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At Starbucks today, a former disgruntled worker came up with a clipboard asking me to sign a petition against his former employee. He said that they had broken over 200 labor laws and that he was wrongfully terminated, and with my signature and others they could help to stop union-busting for baristas. I didn't sign his petition. Not because I didn't want to help, but because I didn't know the full story. Before I would put my name to something, I wanted to hear both sides of the issue. Well...how quick are we to just believe what we hear sometimes without investigation? Things about others? Things about a church? Things about God? The Proverbs teach us that such behavior is not only foolish, but dangerous. Before we say yes, before we say no, before we say anything - make sure we've heard the whole matter and looked into it ourselves. 

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I was golfing with some brothers this past weekend when a ball came flying our direction right next to our tee box. Being ingnorant of golf etiquitte as a novice, I leaned over to pick up the stray ball and thrown it back towards the party in front of us. "Don't touch that ball!" my friend hollered at me. Apparently, that's a no no in golf. I had no idea. I thought I was doing the right thing, but could have ended up doing the wrong thing. Well...isn't that true of ourselves with cultures and people we are ignorant towards? Paul says that he became all things to all people, in order that by any possible means he could save some. This meant Paul was willing to learn about others, and mold himself, not demand others become like him. Do we have this same attitude? Or would we rather remain ignorant? 

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I tried to get Scott Beyer on the program last month, but both of our recorded sessions had technical difficulties. Luckily, his essay made it through - and I wanted to share that with you today. Behold, the year of free beef! I hope you get as much out of this episode as I did, and be sure to subscribe to both Scott's "Love Better Podcast" and his free biblical video courses at www.biblegrad.com. 

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We're back after an extended break! 

We were in Oregon for almost three weeks, and most of the time we were there, my son Dane he kept saying how much he missed home. Well we finally got back home, and now he says how much he misses Oregon. Go figure - he couldn't wait for what was coming, and now he misses what was. Well...we can be the same way. But if we spend all of our time focused on the past or obsessing over the future, we will actually end up missing what is right in front of us. We need to be grateful and content in the present situations we find ourselves in, or else we will miss the blessings God is giving us today. 

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We had a package delivered last night that was full of breakable things: picture frames, glass soap pumps, etc. The way it was delivered, however, was mind blowing. He came to our front porch, stopped, and then threw it onto our porch and it rolled until it slammed into our door. Luckily, nothing was broken, but he could have damaged everything inside because he didn't handle it with care. Well...we do the same with people sometimes, don't we? We don't recognize that they are fragile as a result of a broken heart or trauma, and so we assume otherwise and are thoughtless or insensative. This is not how we are called to behave. In fact, if we are Spirit led, there is a quality we are called to exemplify in all of our interactions: gentleness. 

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I pulled through Starbucks today, and the car in front of me paid for my drink. It was a small, sweet gesture - a random act of kindness. I was asked, "Would I like to pass it on?" Well, of course! How could I receive a blessing, but not turn around and also then give that same blessing? Well...such is the case with every blessing we have been given in Christ. We have been given forgiveness, grace, patience, love, and the list goes on and on. But do we take the same things God has given to us and give them to others? How can we receive such blessings but not in turn give those same things to others? The expression normally goes, "If you're gonna dish it you have to take it." However, in this case, the inverse is true. "If youre gonna take it, you have to dish it." 

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4 years ago we planted a little southern magnolia tree in our front yard, and since then it seems like it has done just about nothing but hang on and survive. No blooms. Very little growth. I was just about to rip it up until the most amazing thing happened...a single bloom appeared on our little tree. This whole time I thought it was doing nothing, but as it turns out it just needed a little more time. Well...how often is this the exact lesson we need to remember when it comes to our other relationships? We often have wrong expectations of others or even ourselves...our children, prospective Christians, other Christians, etc. We assume that they aren't growing or won't bear fruit, when in reality, we just need to give it a little more time. 

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