I don't normally answer the taunts of my enemy but today I do... The last time you tried to kill my My King and you and your vile horde paraded and danced around His cross chanting your evil misguided cries of so called victory - the very sky created by Him went black in disgust, the earth itself cried out in pain and writhed at the sheer madness of its origin being unjustly murdered before it. Then... In such fury and power My King decended to the darkness in an indescribable blaze of light and plundered the very bowels of Hell itself, depositing my sins there and snatching back the keys to Death and Hades from you. His love and power then led a train of your prisoners out of the gloomy mist now under His rightful command. You were defeated once - yet you keep coming back for more. You afflict, steal, kill and destroy but I've read of your end. It all happens so suddenly. He speaks in thunderous unmatched authority and you and all your mighty armies of evil cease. The armies of light triumph under the strong arm of the one whose eyes burn like twin suns and on His thigh the Name "King of Kings and Lord of Lords". My King wins. His Name is JESUS! 

Hey you, you're so much more than how you feel right now. Don't let your feelings dictate your identity today. It doesn't mean what you feel isn't real and doesn't hurt - but what's more important and far more powerful than your feelings is The Truth. Here's how powerful the Truth is... Even if you don't feel it or believe it....The Truth remains the Truth. It's immovable, immutable and invincible. And the Truth is this - You are loved by God. You are worth far more than you know. Far more than what's happening around you and far more than how you feel. You have such immense untapped potential far more than you could possibly ever dream or imagine. Rise above how you feel and take hold of the Truth with both hands. God loves you.  

I come across a lot of different people in my life. Life's like that, it's one big adventure with so many variables at play. I do my absolute best not to judge people because the truth is none of us are called to do that - were called to show love and help each other. What I do try to do is understand people and why they do the things they do. Once you have that understanding you can better respond to peoples actions, words and emotions towards you. Without God's help though this is virtually impossible so we need to have that divine insight to be able to discern what's really going on behind just the physical representation people give out. God can help you to do this, it's a gift He gives to those who seek Him. A very useful gift indeed. So I'd put it simply like this - were called to be discerning - but not called to judge. The difference is simple. To discern is to observe, evaluate and then choose the best course of actions based on the information gleaned from the situation. This may lead you to ignore, avoid or respond in a completely opposite way to what happened to you. To judge on the other hand is to decide upon someones guilt and then to enforce the required retribution for their deeds. For us to judge others accurately and justly is impossible for one very simple reason - we don't have the authority over others to do so. We are all simply little children in the eyes of God. All on the same level. God sees past all our possessions and accomplishments and sees our naked hearts without any respect of our assumed position. We are all just sinners that need His love and mercy to just get by even a day in life. The only one that can judge purely and in justice has to be the origin of all things - The Creator. His Name is JESUS. So if you get that urge to judge others and dish out what you feel they deserve for their actions - stop and think for a moment who might be motivating you to do that... Jesus wants us to love and help each other but we also have an enemy the devil that is always trying to start drama, fighting and incite hatred between us as humans. The choice is ours as to who we will listen to... Will it be the quiet, unwavering, love-guiding voice of God - or will it be the selfish, hate-fueled impulses of our enemy? Choose wisely. God loves you. 

[ James 3:9&10 - "With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be." ]

Hey, so I know a lot of you that follow me on here are probably Christians. I'm hoping you've come from a great home with parents and family that love you openly. Be very thankful because there are many that don't come from homes like that. Just two days ago I heard a tragic story of a client of mine who's family I know that was married with two kids who lost his mind and took the life of his toddler child then attempted to take his own life. He's now serving a sentence in prison. Just yesterday I heard of another guy who I went to school with that grew up in a Christian home and has a 4 year old kid and a wife that's pregnant with their second child. He's decided that he's had enough of his marriage and had an affair and has just walked out on his family. Theres now two families hurting very badly because of the brokenness and corruption in this world. For those of you who've followed me for any amount of time you've probably already realized I'm not your average guy that talks about God. I don't consider myself righteous or anything special at all. I'm just a guy that found God's love and it set me free.


I've seen darkness more than most will ever in their lifetime. Things so evil I can't and am not allowed by God to repeat. I've suffered the pain of a broken home and the hatred of many for most of my life. What I'm here today you tell you is this... There is a answer for your pain. You may have been presented a Jesus that's a light blue one piece garment wearing soft spoken kind eyed pacifist. The truth is He did come as that once, a servant that died for us. But that's just small part of His immeasurably diverse identity. Who I'm here today to present to you is the Jesus I met that set me free from my pain. The conquering King. The consuming fire. The Beginning and the End. He is the answer for your pain. He is the open hand to your clenched fist. He isn't afraid of your anger, your shame or that dark cloud of pain that sits in your heart day after day. The truth is this... He says "Come...bring to me all that hurts you... All that makes you heavy... And see the power I hold to change you..." This is why He's called The Consuming Fire. He absorbs darkness, pain, suffering and death. Here's the last bit... You might be thinking "But what I've done is too much, I could never be redeemed from what Ive done..." Can I just put this challenge to you? What if you're wrong...? What if He holds the absolute power to change the very blackest of night into the midday sun? I have confidence in Him so much to say that whoever reads this and no matter how many of you read this... He is your answer. How do I know that? Because I was that darkness until Jesus found me. So when you're done carrying that pain, drop it at the feet of the painkiller. See what My God can truly do. God loves you. You're Worth More.  

This worlds like a trampoline. Just so up and so down with no true equilibrium. Then there I am in the middle, lost in your love. Floating effortlessly in your grace. Upheld by your peace in defiance to the systems and pull of this world. Bathed in the living armour of God, a pure white fire activated only by your voice. A weapon in waiting forged for the battle of freedom. They stare, mock and fear me just like they did to my Master. They hide from me and exclude me like they did to the lepers of my Lords day. Even those who call me brother - plan my demise behind me. But I cannot hate them, they only fear what they don't know or understand. For I am no longer of this world, I am no longer a child of darkness. I am born of the Spirit of God and such I walk in the hidden paths of wisdom by His voice. My heart aches to see more of my kind... More lights in the darkness...More hope to the hopeless...More Children of The Kingdom of God... The Army of Light spoken of by the Prophets of God.  

Stand strong. Don't bow to anything but the King. Don't listen to or follow anything but His voice. Wait for His commands. If He issues no new command, then continue with His last command for you until He says otherwise.


Good soldiers don't live by emotion, they aren't motivated by the pay or a reward, they don't fight for themselves and they don't seek recognition.


They fight for a higher cause than themselves. A Kingdom that's not of this world and not built by mankind.


You are not alone. Your brothers and sisters are scattered across this world stationed in their outposts just like you. They look like normal people. Men and women, young and old, boys and girls. Despite their humble appearance - they represent the very Kingdom of God.


Your Commander will return one day in full power and glory with justice and peace along with the most majestic angel army ever seen. Redemption is coming...


So stand. For the King. For His Kingdom. And for love...


STAND SOLDIERS BORN OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD!


2 Timothy 2:3 - (NLT) Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 

The longer I live in this world... All the pain, suffering, corruption, greed and selfishness just breaks my heart. The systems of this world are broken, you only have to take one look at politics, economics and even humanity as a whole to see that we as humans are dying. Only 50 years ago it was commonplace for children to be enrolled in etiquette classes to teach them how to interact politely with other people - these days most kids don't even know what the word etiquette even means. I go to a skatepark in my own city and say "Hi" to a couple of the locals only to be greeted with a threatening glare or to be completely ignored. Sadly, kindness and selflessness seem to be such rare commodities these days. People who do help others seem to make a huge point of making sure their actions are noticed by others and that their own personal kingdom advances here on earth. It was never meant to be like this...

It's very easy to get down about it all - to think what's the point anymore? It's so easy to become weighed down by all the sadness, misery and hopelessness that's all around us. Apathy is right there at the door giving you every reason to just sit back, ignore the problems and make your own life as comfortable as possible while others suffer in silence. I prayed to God about this and asked Him to help me see things His way. In God's amazing way He did something quite extraordinary. He changed my heart from the inside out.

What He did was shift my focus from the problems to the solution. It's difficult to explain it in detail but in essence He gave me a gift. It's the gift of seeing others pain, others greed, others injustices, others crimes, others hopelessness and others hatred - and using it as motivation to be even more and more of light to the darkness. He made it that all this swirling darkness around me became the catalyst for the light. Fuel for the fire that warms this world.

He changed me so that the more hopelessness I see, it prompts me more and more to be that hope that this world badly needs. The more hated I become the more it fuels my heart out of selfless love for others. All the unjust greed and excess I see moves me more and more to speak up about the Truth and to give selflessly to others seeking no reward or compensation for my actions.

I'll say this plainly - the world doesn't need another new best seller book, another new world religion, another popular well known leader or anything like that for things to change for the better. All it needs is for each one of us to listen to and obey the voice of The Creator when He told us to be kind to one another. Consider one another. Forgive one another. Give to one another. Normal people doing amazing world changing things.

I'll save you the trouble if you're looking for a new way to find peace in this life - it's not new. It's very, very old - in fact... It's timeless. It's called LOVE. And His Name is Jesus. He is the way, the truth and the life this world so badly needs.

Be kind. This world needs it. God loves you.  

Obedience over understanding.
Wisdom before emotion.
Keep my steps true-
Eyes locked on You...

Decision then action.
Relationship over rule.
Help me keep it real-
Purpose more than feel...

Faith ahead of vision
Destination then excursion.
Heart never roam-
Father guide me home... † 

I was driving back from work today and just had to pull over and take a few snaps of these amazing almond blossom trees in a front yard. It's a really windy day today and there was a constant stream of spinning and tumbling pink and white blossoms floating across the road that was absolutely impossible to miss. I'm sure I wasn't the only one that noticed how awesome it looked - as a matter of fact Japan has a whole festival set aside for this type of beauty.


Here's the thing though... Outside of the blossom season an almond tree isn't exactly the most beautiful or comely tree to look at. It's dark, lumpy and has ungainly twisted craggy limbs and I doubt any kid out there is dying to climb it either. On any normal day you'd just walk right past it - never even looking twice and dismissing it as unremarkable and possibly even ugly. But when that God given time to bloom comes - an explosion of whites and pinks, grace and beauty, elegance and art bursts out for all to see. An unmissable spectacle of the true Creators hand at work. A masterpiece of timing and effortless poise made for one single purpose - to bring glory to the One who made it.


We are all just like that almond tree. There are times when we feel useless, ugly, forgotten, denied and even worthless. But everything has a season and when He gives the word you will bloom just like the blossoms of the almond. Your time will come because our God is a God that makes rivers in the desert, He makes beautiful things from burnt and charred ashes, and breathes life into dead, long forgotten bones. You are known, loved and planned. God loves you.

I'll let you in on a little secret Jesus taught me when I finally gave up my pride, called out to Him and He set me free from all my pain and addictions and changed me into what I am today. Wanna know what the biggest thing our enemy the devil fears about what Jesus can do? It's called REDEMPTION.

Jesus has the power to change anyone into something truly amazing in a single visit, a single touch, a single word. Our enemy whispers "you'll never change...this is the way you are and the way you'll be forever..." Jesus on the other hand says "Give me your pain and the things that weigh you down and I'll give you rest. I'll show you the power of redemption to make you into a new creation by my love and mercy".

I was that lost boy in the story of the prodigal son - feeding pigs and trapped in a prison of pain and shameful addiction until I gave up my pride, called out to Him and finally saw the unchallenged power of His love to save and redeem. A lost prodigal - hurting and alone - but today I am a son...found, secure, known and loved all because of Jesus. Don't believe that lie that you can't change. Of yourself you won't be able to achieve it... But with Jesus and the immense power He holds... All things are possible.

God loves you and youre worth more. Have an awesome day.