WORDS

WORDSWATCH (Watch your words)

Ephesians 4:29-32 English Standard Version (ESV)

29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

1 Peter 3:8-12English Standard Version (ESV)

Suffering for Righteousness' Sake

8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. 9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. 10 For “Whoever desires to love life  and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; 11 let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. 12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer.  But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

[endorsement]“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” ― Maya Angelou[/endorsement]

OBEY (Obey God’s Word)

Deuteronomy 4:1English Standard Version (ESV)

Moses Commands Obedience

4 “And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules[a] that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you."

James 1:22English Standard Version (ESV)

22 "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves."

[endorsement]Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions, they become habits. Watch your habits, they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny. -Frank Outlaw[/endorsement]

REPENT

Colossians 3:12-14English Standard Version (ESV)

12 "Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony."

Romans 12:1-2English Standard Version (ESV)

A Living Sacrifice

12 "I appeal to you therefore, brothers,[a] by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.[b] 2 Do not be conformed to this world,[c] but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."[d]

 DO (DO TO)

Luke 6:31English Standard Version (ESV)

31 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

Matthew 7:12English Standard Version (ESV)

The Golden Rule

12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."

SERVE (SERVE OTHERS)

Philippians 2:4English Standard Version (ESV)

4 "Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others."

Galatians 5:13English Standard Version (ESV)

13 "For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another."

Vision

“Where there is no vision, there is no hope,” - George Washington Carver.“The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision,” - Helen Keller.

Vision gives leaders a purpose and road map to where they need to be, to go, to dream, and to end up.  A church that follows a leader who uses vision to have others take ownership in that vision is both humble and God-honoring, with structure and purpose.  In the book Courageous Leadership, Bill Hybels quotes Romans 12:8,  “the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads,[a] with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.” (ESV).  He states that when we read this, those of us that have the gift of leadership better sit up and take notice, and we better lead with diligence.  “Why, because the Church, the bride of Christ, upon which the eternal destiny of the world depends, will flourish or falter largely on the basis of how we lead.”

Through Jesus Christ, who is the Author of our salvation, we find the hope in him and through His Spirit to boldly approach his task to go and make disciples and to preach and teach the good news.  In addition, we are to train others to love, to be in community and to carry each other’s burdens, and to be in relationship with others.  An effective leader can dream and cast vision, but is doomed if he/she cannot convey this vision to others in such a way that they fail to take ownership in that vision.  Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained.”  Bill Hybels states, “They can’t focus, can’t reach their goal, can’t follow their dream.  An older translation says, “Without vision, the people perish.”  Hybels says “Vision is a picture of the future that produces passion.”

In Men of Faith, we worship, read scripture, pray and carry each other’s burdens.  We created an environment that yields to the truth: God’s word!  We share with each other our most honest feelings, and we have set a tone that trust is there and what is said there stays there.  In other words, we see community and relationship.  The vision that Men of Faith has is to bring men to the Word of God, pray to God and watch the Holy Spirit change men.  The word of God encourages, convicts and comforts men in their daily lives.

In Legacy Dad, both Lance and I have a heart for men and women and our hope is to use the blog as a tool to share God’s word and our life experience through ministry.  Also, to challenge and use biblical truth in application.  Our vision is to see this ministry turn into a full-time ministry using our gifts and talents to make a difference in others.  The purpose of Legacy Dad is to share real men’s journeys, Biblical-based wisdom and the latest research on what works in life – in easy to read weekly life lessons and devotionals.  We are transparent, Bible-based and give you the latest advice on manhood, parenting, marriage and faith.

Our hope is that we can equip as many men, fathers and parents as possible and create a generation of leaders that leave a real legacy for their children and the generations to come

How would I measure success in ministry with the vision of its leaders:  1) What fruit is it bearing?  2) Do others own the vision?  3) Are others being listened to?  Are they sharing their fears and desires with their leader? If so, does the leader weigh those and incorporate that into the path of their vision? 4) Most importantly – is the vision pointing others to Christ?  If not, why not?

Blessings,

Dante

Final Charge to Legacy Dads

Final Charge to Timothy

^{1 Timothy 6:11} But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. ¹² Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. ¹³ In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you ¹⁴ to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵ which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords,¹⁶ who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.

Legacy Dads (and to those who journey it is to be this man of God)

Things you can do right now to start this process:

• Prayer (ask for the Lord to reveal those things in you that need to change)
• Repent
• Pursue God (through prayer and the reading of his word)
• Pursue Godliness (God is holy!  Put your own sin nature to death daily)
• Pursue Faith (Believe and receive the Holy Spirit and God's testimony)
• Pursue Love (how do others see Christ through your behavior and attitude - do these need to change?)
• Pursue Endurance (train yourself in the way that God's word tells us to go)
• Pursue Gentleness (this does not mean to be a whimp) - Be pure in heart and encourage, comfort and urge those
• If you are a believer, a disciple, a legacy dad THEN Fight!  Fight the good fight of faith because Ephesians 6 is not lying about spiritual warfare
• Take hold of your faith!

In all that you do, let the Word of Christ dwell in each of you richly.

Be blessed!

Dante

HE IS RISEN!!!

HAPPY EASTER!!!

Another Hallelujah

The Crucifixion of Jesus[youtube id="0HSYxDTWUVw"]

Mark 15: 21 A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. 22 They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). 23 Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. 24 And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.

25 It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. 26 The written notice of the charge against him read: the king of the jews.

27 They crucified two rebels with him, one on his right and one on his left. [28] [a] 29 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30 come down from the cross and save yourself!” 31 In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! 32 Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

The Death of Jesus

33 At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34 And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).[b]

35 When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.”

36 Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said.

37 With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.

38 The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died,[c] he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”

40 Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph,[d] and Salome. 41 In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there.

The Word of God changes lives

In the Book of Titus we read how the Apostle Paul has left Timothy in Crete to with a big to do list:

• 5 The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished
• Appoint Elders in every town
• Train Elders to be God's man
• Rebuke those parties that need rebuking (Cretans and the Circumcision Party)
• teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine
• Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.
• Teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. 4 Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.
• encourage the young men to be self-controlled
• In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness 8 and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us
• Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, 2 to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone
• avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless
• Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them. 11 You may be sure that such people are warped and sinful; they are self-condemned

When Paul first leaves Titus with these men in this church, to the average eye, this would seem like a hopeless task.  But with God, everything is possible as we read in the following texts in Titus:

• Titus 2:11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
• Titus 3:3 At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone

Remember this:  For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

Left on our own devices we can be overwhelmed, stressed and left hopeless, but with the Word of God we can see how Titus takes these men in Chapter 1 (those who are lost, liars, Cretans and evildoers) and we see the Word of God,  a Man of God and the Spirit of God changing these men to God's men!

The Word of God changes lives!

The Word of God can teach us!

The Word of God gives us Wisdom!  (The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom).

Don't leave home without the Word of God.

Blessings,Dante

Completed Devoted

What if we trained for a marathon race at 25 percent?  What if we committed to our partner 30 percent?  What if we paid taxes on only 30 percent of our income?  What if we spent very little time investing in our family and our marriage?  In all of these questions what do you think the likely end result would be?  Would it be a happy ending?  Would it be edifying?  Would it be worth it to change these questions to what if I gave it my all?I don't think very many of us would even remotely try to argue that results would certainly be much different.  All this being said to ask our question of where does our devotion truly stand with the Creator of this Universe?

Some key verses for you to ponder:

• Deuteronomy 6:5 "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
• 1 Samuel 12:24  "Only fear the LORD and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you.
• Proverbs 3:9 Honor the LORD from your wealth And from the first of all your produce;
• Romans 12:1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
• 1 Corinthians 6:20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
• 1 Corinthians 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?
• 2 Corinthians 5:15 and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.
• 1 Thessalonians 2:12 so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.
• 1 Peter 4:2 so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.

If we were to honestly look at the daily journals of our lives (Our time:  How are we spending it?  Our Treasure: If we were to show everyone in our lives and our churches how God really matters, would our checkbooks show it?  Our Talent:  When we are saved, Scripture tells us that the Spirit gives us fruit, so how are we sharing that?)

Some of us need to take serious inventory of our lives:

• Ask your spouse to list the top 5 things that are important to you (Where does God line up with that?)
• Ask your children to list the top 5 things that are important to you (Is God even mentioned)
• Take a look at your time (Where is God on that list)
• Take a look at your treasure (What does our checkbook and spending tell us?)
• Take a look at your talent (Are you using it for God's kingdom?)

My next post will be on prioritizing...

Blessings,

Dante