Truth and Grace Above All Else

Joshua Study Two I think it’s important to note that Joshua did not have time to celebrate his promotion. Why? Because he was the right man for the job and that job needed to be done. That’s why people get promotions. For instance, in business, a man gets promoted into the office of “Head of Marketing.” It is then expected by the company for him to get going. To dive into the job and make things work. Even if it is just to ensure that what is currently being done continues. Which brings us to our life in Christ. Many times we are brought into a “new season” with Jesus. He has worked with us to bring our maturity and spiritual wisdom to a place where we can do more than just warm a pew in church. Does that mean we won’t make mistakes? Of course not. Try to remember that at no point in our life is God un-aware of what we will do in the future. Take the act of disobedience in the Garden of Eden for example. God was not happy that his new creations disobeyed Him. But H...

A cup of coffee I have an obsession. Some people like to watch their favorite football team on certain days. Some people like to listen to music without ceasing. Others prefer to draw a world that once only existed in their minds, but me, I am obsessed with coffee. There, I said it. Those dark caramel colored magical beans produce liquid that cheers the eyes and the soul. I could talk about the science of why this magical bean juice makes me happy, but that is a conversation for another day. What I want to talk about today is how the elegance of a cup of coffee gives us an example of what it means to be intentional with our lives. Select your method From pour over to french press to the traditional brew, there are tons of ways to make coffee, but we are not here to discuss the nuances of brewing coffee. I want to use different methods of brewing coffee as a metaphor for how you are choosing to serve others.   Brew it This is what most consider the method o...

The End of the Beginning Memories of your years in school can be a mixed bag of emotions. Some of sorrow, some of happiness and some of inspiration. This part of many peoples lives shapes them into who they are today or at least lays the groundwork for what they believe to be true. This is true in my life as well, but recently as I reflect on the experiences of my college career and my high school years, something sticks out.  Onward and Upward As I stand on the precipice of this new chapter in my life, I see how each action that lead up to this point has pushed me to greater and more lofty accomplishments. This drive to surpass those who came before me was kindled by those who taught me. As the great Jedi master Yoda once said, "We must become what they surpass.". So I take to heart that there is something more to education then just learning. There is are subtle nudges throughout that push us all to do better, be better and accomplish what those before us could n...

Precision counts Making of a masterpiece...sort of About a year ago I was talking with one of my cousins about what he was doing those days. Somehow we got on the topic of hobbies and what hobby he was investing the most time in recently. We discussed a couple different things until he brought up something that caught my attention: precision spinning tops. These are not your ten cents spinning tops that you get at the arcade though, no, these are works of art in their own right. These tops will spin for upwards of fifteen minutes and some go even longer then that. I asked my cousin what it cost to acquire such a precisely made piece of art. He kind of chuckled and told me that most of these tops go for a few hundred dollars each. My mouth fell agape and I thought, "How in the world can someone justify spending that much on what is the equivalent of the adult version of what you owned as a child?". I was hooked though. I wanted to learn more about these simple yet elega...