Some Accountability in our life....how serious do you want to answer...?

Do you have to say “NO”  to any of the questions below?  If so, share what you are dealing with in your life and how we can pray for you and keep you accountable:

• Are you walking intimately with God and spending time consistently with Jesus?
• Are you loving and serving your wife/family/friends/community church in a way that honors the Lord and brings joy to their heart?  Would they agree with you?
• Are you making time to love and raise each of your children in a way that blesses the unique way God made them and helps them grow to be more like Jesus?
• Are you guarding your heart by avoiding books, magazines, TV shows, videos, web sites, phone lines or anything else that contains explicit sexual images or content?
• Are you honoring your relationships (marriage vows and covenant( by upholding clear and responsible boundaries in your relationships with women other than your wife?
• Are you handling your personal and church finances in a way that honors God?
• Are you making time to care for your own health and body through regular exercise, good eating and appropriate sleep?
• Are you connecting with non-believing and non-church people in a way that allows you to engage in personal evangelism and model it for your congregation?
• Are you living a life that models a healthy balance in marriage, family, ministry, recreation, and spiritual growth?

So what do you want to do in 2012?

What kind of man do you want to be?  Father?  Spiritual Leader?

Let us know,

Dante

Vision for 2012...

Christmas has come and we have celebrated the wonderful birth of Jesus who came to this earth to save the lost and to heal the sick and brokenhearted.  I am thankful that he has chosen to love and die for me and that his death and resurrection is what I need to believe to be saved.  As we approach this New Year I was hoping that we could all look back over these past twelve months and reflect and what we have done, what God has done and where we are going in 2012. 

My father came up for Christmas this year and we took him to one of our 6 Christmas Eve Services at our church and he was just telling us how much he missed my mom and how tough it really was on him.  Friday Night (12/23) at the service, our Senior Pastor informed the congregation that this message was really tough on him because that morning his administrative assistant had died. 

I texted him later that night and shared with him how I think he used the day’s event to share the “severity” and “sincerity” of his message.  That is, it is all about Jesus.  No other name, no other religion – without him there is no hope!  This is what brought me to this post.  I could choose to talk about the New Year and resolutions:  Spiritual Growth, Physical health and mental well being, but I want to talk about the “severity and sincerity” of the Message – it’s all about Jesus.

I think in our every day worlds we can sometimes lose focus on that.  I think with the technology and the demands of our daily jobs we get lost in the shuffle, we lose focus on what should really matter.  I think if I could fast forward all of our lives to the Judgement Seat of Christ, most Christians would be left wanting (thinking they should have done things differently or done more or loved more or given more).  I do not know about you, but for me and my family, I realize just how selfish I can be with my time.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to take away from steps that you, have taken and degrees of change in your lives that have brought you and your family closer to God.  I want to sharpen us further – I want to end this post with a challenge – go further – go deeper – grow deeper!  Psalms 37:3-4.

Happy New Year,

Dante

Merry Christmas from Legacy Dads

We want to wish you and very Merry Christmas!May God bless you and keep you and make his face shine upon you.

Blessings,

Dante

Stronger then....

If for nothing else through the course of the week, I look forward to my Saturday Mornings.  Albeit, today was a tad hard waking up to a cold room (snow outside) and and comfy bed, however, I managed to remember that a "brother" of mine said that he may go to men's group this morning so I got myself up and to men's group.

I am so thankful that I came today.  Every third Saturday we have two facilitators that have been doing this for the past two and a half years and going on three.  They continued their theme on Anger and we split the group (as it was too big for all to share).  We read Scripture from Genesis to Colossians and touched on some key things relating to anger and to ways around and through anger.

I have the privilege and honor to be the men's ministry leader (co-leader) of this flourishing ministry in our church.  As one elder recently told me it is a "hotspot" for spiritual growth in our church - To God be the Glory forever and ever, amen!  Our formula is simple on Saturday Mornings:  Open with worship, read scripture, discuss relevant and real-life experience and see what wisdom and scripture has to say on this.  The Holy Spirit does the rest.  (that is our success to our men's ministry).

The two discussions on anger have really energized me in my walk and our walk with like-minded brothers.  The coolest thing is seeing some of the "younger spiritual" brothers (not necessarily in age) growing and sharing and really putting their ideas and scripture that means much to them.  They think that more mature Christians gain more by talking more - I don't agree with that because when we see brother's and/or sister's turning away from the world and growing spiritually - that is awesome.

I love it when I see spiritual growth in people - it energizes me - it excites me. I want to thank any of you legacy dads out there that have changed course and submitted to God's will in your life - you are already winning the battle through obedience.

This morning brought me to a really healthy place in realizing that we don't have to react to the world in a worldly way.  Instead if we choose to Set our hearts and minds on things above (Where Jesus Christ is).  Put away the earthly things that turn us away from Him.  Clothe ourselves in love and kindness and putting on the love that binds us.  Giving thanks to God our father.

When we do this and we humble ourselves before a Holy God and realize that in Him we can have the abundant life that he has planned for us then we realize that all things are possible with God.

Saturday Mornings are a beautiful thing!

Dante

This is discipling...

Matthew 28:18-20

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Do you know the reason for the season?

This week I have read through the entire Gospel of Luke and have be recharged with the miracle of Christmas and the teachings of Jesus.  I have to confess that sometimes I feel distant with my prayer life and with my walk only to realize that there is more at play than meets the eye.Luke Chapter 1 & 2 gives us the setting and story of the Birth of Jesus and John the Baptist, along with Jesus as a boy in his Father's house.  Luke 3 & 4 tells about John the Baptist in the Wilderness and the lineage of Jesus along with the devil tempting our Lord Jesus (yeah, good luck with that one :)). Luke 5 through 22 tells us about his teachings and fulfilling of prophecies along with life lessons for you and I.

I cannot even begin to tell you how I am really looking forward to Christmas Day with my family.  I will admit that this year has been a very bittersweet year for me.  My mother died in March and my wife's 100+ grandmother just died as well.  On the very night that we were at the wake, our friend called me to tell us that she found our dog dead on the kitchen floor.  We left the wake early to tell our kids about our dog Sammy dying and to allow them to say their goodbyes to him.  Needless to say, my heart aches.

The good news here is Jesus - he makes things new everyday.  I am amazed that a God would love us this much to send His only son for us to die on a cross and to take our sin away.  The beautiful thing for me this week was reading through the entire Gospel of Luke.  I am renewed and refreshed with some more things to share along the way.

Are you willing to be a true disciple of Christ - no matter the cost?  In Luke 14:26 Jesus gives us clear understanding that when we choose to follow Him we may have to decide to choose Him over family members and even more so over our self. That is, are we willing to die to us and live for Him no matter the cost.  One thing that struck me as profound is when Jesus was watching the rich give tithes of their abundance but watched the widow give all that she had (two copper coins).  She gave out of her comfort zone while others only give what they are willing to lose.  How much more should we, as disciples be willing to give up? I read a "tweet" this week that made me laugh hard.  It said, "I was thinking about how people seem to read the Bible more as they get older, then I realized:  They are cramming for finals!"

What makes me wonder the most these days is when we get to Heaven (and the Judgement Seat of Christ), how many Christians will realize that they got this life wrong.  They could have done more?  They should have gave more!  They should have thought of self less and others more.  Pure religion in the eyes of the Father is that which takes care of widows and orphans and avoids the ways of this world (paraphrasing James 1:27).

This Christmas, I want to wrap my arms around Luke Chapter 2 and spread the gospel to my family, friends and community more.  I want my life to be that light that says Jesus is the only way.

Blessings,

Dante