Kings of the Cage

25 10 2008

Sorry I haven’t written in a while but lots of cool stuff going on. Just won a trip for two to Las Vegas to meet Nassiri and $1,000 for a Peace Poster Contest I entered! So I am pretty stoked about it. Thanks to all who voted to help get me noticed and in the top 50! Check it out here.

This teaching below is something I had the opportunity to share with our Men’s Discipleship class this past Wednesday night. I based it on one of the points Pastor Danny used in his “Beat the Bull” series. Check it out by clicking here.

Check out “Kings of the Cage - Becoming a Real Ultimate Fighter” below. I hope you get some great stuff out of it… enjoy!

The Bull: Grown Men Don’t Need to Fight.

The Truth: There’s Always a Battle for Me to Win.

I love the UFC. I love mixed martial arts, combat sports, extreme sports, adrenaline sports. I always wondered why. Is it the violence? Is it just watching a good fight? Maybe it’s deeper. Maybe it’s because I’m an Indian and I have a long lost warrior spirit that is wanting to break out.

But I think I have figured it out. It is similar to my spiritual walk. My spiritual walk is not easy. It’s actually pretty hard. I’m glad nobody said that living for Christ is going to be easy… because I would have probably would go find them and punch them in the face! It’s a fight, there’s always a battle to win.

Being a man and living for Christ is not an easy thing to do. It’s not a burden or an obligation but at the same time it’s a battle. Externally and Internally. So how do you win the fight?

3 Things You Need to Do to Win a Fight

1. Train Hard.

1 Corinthians 9:25-27 NIV

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

Developing a Solid Training Regimen

Pray Daily - this will keep you strong in the heat of the battle
Study the Scriptures - this is how Jesus fought the battle… knowing the written word
Worship Privately not just Corporately - worship is the key to great warriors
Have a Good Coach - surround yourself with the right people
Exercise… literally! - your body is the vehicle of your destiny

2. Don’t Give Up Your Back.

When an opponent gets your back, you are at one of the most vulnerable positions. It exposes your weaknesses…. punch you in the head, choke you out, etc.

One of your greatest assets is not just knowing where you are strong, but knowing where you are weak.

2 Corinthians 12:8-10 NIV

Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

We don’t like talking about our weaknesses because we think we are supposed to be tough.

Staff your weaknesses and focus on strengths.

3. Keep Your Guard Up.

1 Peter 5:8 NIV

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

There will always be an enemy that will always bring a fight. The best MMA fighters go in with a strategy. They know their opponents moves and their opponent knows theirs.

The devil is stupid and smart and has a strategy. He will always tempt you in the area of your weakness. He won’t tempt you in the area of someone else’s weakness!

He’s stupid because he uses the same temptation. He’s smart because he uses the same temptation!

Every good fighter knows when you walk into the fight, you have to keep your guard up and look for when the temptation is coming.

Proverbs 4:23 AMP

Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life.

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Categories : COMMUNICATE, Christianity, Mixed Martial Arts, Stuff I Like

Marco!

30 08 2008

Another observation from life…I’m out here catching some rays on a beautiful Saturday and my wife and I bought this little kiddie pool for our girls. We aren’t rolling in dough yet so our version of a ‘pool day’ looks kinda like the trailer edition of Cribs… lawn chairs and kiddies pools… our poor neighbors. As I am feeling my skin bake and enjoying the sound of family, I hear a loud, very pronounced, “MARCO!” followed by an equally enthusiastic “POLO!” I look over at my kids and they are playing Marco Polo in a pool only about 6ft wide in diameter. Catch the picture… playing Marco Polo in a kiddie pool.

At first I laughed, but then I thought about how many of us as Christians don’t see the big picture… we just don’t get it. We don’t get how big God is, we don’t get how important the Great Commission is, and we just continue to play Marco Polo in a kiddie pool. This picture represented to me that we can be so spiritually inept that we miss the greatness all around us. We continue to be spiritually blind and stay in our 6 foot round pool of life, never venturing into the “BIG” pool to really reach out and to really stretch our faith. Who knows?… maybe I am the only one that needs to hear this but I think we could all look in our backyard and see ourselves playing Marco Polo in our own little, tiny, small kiddie pool in our own little way.

Anybody ready to jump in the “BIG” pool?

Comments : 2 Comments »

Categories : Christianity, Family, LIFE

Bumble, Bumble

27 08 2008

Ok, so I am sitting here on the patio at Starbucks… writing. I look up and there is a group of about 3 typical soccer moms gathered chatting over whatever. All of a sudden, like an alien from outer space, a massive bumblebee comes flying through the air and completely dive bombs the group of women! They scatter… I mean tables moving, chairs are flying, children are flying. And I… well… I am just sitting here watching the whole thing. I mean I could be chivalrous and get up and go try and bash the thing, but three soccer moms are having a go at it and it is not turning out well, so I figure I am definitely not going to get up look like some tool trying to bash a bee (hello, youtube anyone)… by the way, we are outside… I am pretty sure the bee will go away.

Bumblebee 3, Soccer Moms 0.

One thing I notice about this bee is it’s persistence to aggravate. It didn’t sting anybody, but it definitely brought fear and aggravation to the lives of 3 people who are just trying to mind their own business. Man, I can’t tell you how many times I have felt like that. I am doing life and little aggravating, irritating things come along and don’t sting, but bring fear. I do react like a freaked-out soccer mom at times throwing a fit over a ‘bee’ and missing the point, and I think God is sitting there watching… kinda getting a kick out of the whole thing (glad he’s not blogging about it), knowing that if I just relax and continue to do life the way He intended the bee will go away.

Philippians 4:6-7 The Message
Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

Any ‘freaked-out soccer moms’ out there?

Comments : 3 Comments »

Categories : Christianity, LIFE

5 Ways to Kick It Old School

22 08 2008

I am checking out all the Creative Chaos at RagamuffinSoul.com every Thursday… so here’s my creative contribution for this week…

I spoke at our youth ministry last night, Velocity. I had a blast, what a great group of young people we have! We were in a series called “Old School”, so I kicked it Old School with some Old Testament. We had a couple kids respond and make decisions for Christ!! It was a great night! So I thought it would be cool to post my message as a blog, check it out…

5 Ways to Kick It Old School

The Law - there is something inside ever person that wants to break the law.

Getting pulled over or seeing a cop… you SLOW down even if your not speeding!

A No Swimming sign… makes you want to go swimming there.

A No Trespassing Sign… makes you want to jump the fence just to walk around where you aren’t supposed to

You draw a line, someone wants to cross it

Morgan or Ashton when asked to do something… NO! What is that?! It is an inborn natural rebellion. Is that taught? Is that ‘learned behaivor’? Of course not…. it is born within us to be broken and sinful.

Christianity is not about modifying your behaivor to please God… It’s about transforming your life to please God.

In Exodus, God gives His people a little chat… the first thing He says is that He is God and He is the One Who delivered them out of slavery… “basically saying I love You.”

5 Ways to Kick It Old School

1. Have no other gods except Me & don’t make an idol for yourself. - Commandments 1&2

God is loves us so much that He wants to have a relationship with us. He also loves you so much He force you into a relationship with Him. He allows us to choose. Loving God seems like a no-brainer, but we can slip into idolatry so easily! It’s so slick that we slip into this on a daily basis.

I can’t live without_____________________!

Starbucks, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, my celly, iPod, the internet!, whatever it is that you feel like you couldn’t live without has the potential to become an idol and eventually become your God. Where you spend your time and your money tells where your heart is. Jesus said where your treasure is (YOUR CASH) where your heart will be also.

2. Respect my name. -Commandment 3

The name of the game is respect. When you say God say it with a sense of awe. Don’t ever get careless with His name. When you say the name of Jesus, say it with a sense of power. For it is with that name blind eyes open, the sick are healed, the power of God flows in the name of Jesus.

Don’t pay money to listen to someone dishonor the name of the God that sent His son to die for you!

3. Honor your Father and Mother. -Commandment 5

This is where all authority begins. Those who walk with disrespect for their parents usually never carry any authority because they never submitted themselves to authority.

It’s easy to honor Mom & Dad when it’s Christmas morning and the loot is coming your way. But what about when the discipline is coming your way or when they say “NO”. I would nopt be able to operate in the position I am in if I hadn’t honored my Father and my Mother first.

4. Don’t Murder. -Commandment 6

This seems pretty simple… don’t kill anyone. Easy. But let’s take it a step further… The heart of murder is rage. We can’t allow our emotions to get the best of us where we walk around angry all the time. God is telling us this will lead to a life of destruction.

5. Don’t commit adultery. -Commandment 7

I think most of us will make it through life without committing this one, but like murder let’s get to the root of it. The root of adultery is lust. Jesus said if you look at a woman in your heart and imagine or fantasize, basically lust over her. You’ve committed this sin. This focuses more on the purity of your heart than the rightness of your actions.

God is not about a list of rules… He is about a relationship.

So these things are Commandments He gave to the Israelites to help keep them on track with Him… but if you don’t have a relationship with God, keeping these commandments just makes you a really nice person.

The Law is there to protect you from harm. When you stare deep into the heart of God and understand why He even gave these commandments you can understand that He has unmatched love for you.

Comments : 2 Comments »

Categories : Christianity

Jesus, Obama, & McCain

18 08 2008

The Saddleback Civil Forum… anybody see this out there?

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/17/forum/index.html

Let’s hear back!

Comments : 1 Comment »

Categories : LIFE, Uncategorized

Is Your Church Chick-i-fied?

1 08 2008

Not sure who out there likes Driscoll. He can be a bit brash but he hits the nail on the head right here!

The Third Reich put young men to use in the Nazi Party, even Hitler saw that the next generation are leaders. If such an evil man can take the next generation and use it for such an evil purpose, how much more should we be focusing on them for the cause of Christ?

Is your church Chick-i-fied?

If so, step up and start finding the young men who can lead, put them in charge of something and help them become the leaders of today.

Comments : 4 Comments »

Categories : Christianity, LEAD, Uncategorized

The First (Fruits) Post

10 06 2008

OK… so the first post… what to write?

So much pressure.

Hmmmm…. how about first fruits?

Brilliant! (Just typing out loud here.)

I figure this blog should be about honoring God and the creative Force of Who He is. So the first post (like many others) will be all His.

Tithing, First Fruits, Stewardship… calling it what you want, but the bottom line is about the God-Father. Think of it… the movie. Yes the movie, Godfather. We give to him and he provides protection to us. I love it! Of course first fruits is way deeper than that, but the protection of God is one amazing aspect of the blessing of tithing. Because it means we trust that He will take care of us.

We trust that we are his children. We trust that we are protected… because we are “part of the family”.

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Categories : Christianity