9 Things You Simply Must Do – notes from a book of the same name by Henry Cloud.
Principle #1 – Dig it up – All of our life – good or bad – springs up from the inside of us and begins as spirit/thought.
Principle #2 – Pull the tooth. – Resolve negative things quickly, lovingly, thoroughly, effectively & let go of things you can’t resolve.
Principle #3 – Play the Movie
If I do “A” then “B” will happen. & not only will “B” happen, but so will “C” & “D” & F,G,H,I etc.
The wise person asks, “What will I reap if I sow _(whatever)___?”
How long would it take to have a dream (college degree, new career, closer walk with Go, etc.)? X amount of time.
Do you plan on being alive for X amount of time?
X amount of time IS GOING TO COME!
When X amount of time comes – do you want to have your dream accomplished or do you want to still be waiting – hating your life?
How long will it take for you to choose?
The passing of time is NOT a choice.
You can foresee good and bad futures.
Play the movie…
What will my family experience if I keep smoking and get cancer and die in 15 years?
What will happen to my marriage if I have this affair?
How will it affect my children?
“Worry” for the future. Not worry in a way that you CAN’T change the outcome, but envision potential problems and how you will deal with them.
Build strategies in your life to expect problems and failures.
Do you have a group of people to “goto” when the bottom falls out?
Do you have things in “order” (emergency fund, insurance, etc.)?
Do you have accountability people in your life?
“Play the Movie” in all areas of your life.
Relationships – Prov. 19:19
If I continue to treat this person in this way… what will happen to the relationship?
If I kiss this person, what will they think and where will this relationship go? Do I want it to go there?
How will my anger affect my children? How will they relate to me when they grow older?
Parenting -
If I always give my children everything they want without giving them opportunities to work for things, how will that affect their future marriage, job, etc.?
Instead of helping your children resolve conflict, you give him his favorite ice cream and try to ease his pain? How will that affect the way they handle conflict or misunderstandings in the future?
Morality -
Look ahead to the day you have to tell your children that you are getting divorced because of an affair.
How will your friends (parents, family, etc.) trust you when they find out that you have been lying to them constantly?
Health -
Am I ready to deal with lung cancer because of my smoking habit?
Am I ready for heart surgery because my overeating is clogging my arteries?
Diabetes?
Not all movies are bad.
A man with a family history of heart disease got in shape so he could be there for his daughters weddings.
Tiger Woods practiced daily so that he could succeed.
Do I have people in my life to support me in my “movie making”?
I am so tired of people calling Christians, judgmental for calling other religions wrong, as if we were the only ones who ever did that! So I made a video blog about it.
So I made a video for our meeting on Wednesdays. I wanted to look at the presuppositions of hard-core atheists. Here’s what I came up with. It is a comedic/philosophical look. Have fun!
I have decided to start posting video blogs. I like making videos more than writing. Hope this is just as enjoyable – or even more! Number 1 = pennies.
A few weeks ago I spoke at Church on a subject I have no right to talk about, parenting! I have no kids, but have had many disciples and have worked with teens for many years. So here is my message. Enjoy.
Here is a video we made for our mission trip this year. I sent a few e-mails while in Mexico that I will include here.
This is John David e-mailing you from the small town of Creel, Mexico.
We have been having an incredible time! Thanks for all your prayers for safety!
Our flights were fine on the 5th! The kids didn´t sleep one wink the night before we left! I am so proud of our kids! The next morning I told them we would leave to the Birmingham Airport at 2:00 a.m. In youth group time that means we wake up at 3:45 and force the kids to pack the van and if we are lucky (or predestined – depends on your theology) we will leave at 2:30! I was so proud of our group, they paked the van without adult supervision at 1:45 and they were ready at 2:00 on the nose! We drove to Birmingham and loaded up on our planes.
We have four in our group who have never flown before! Chip almost tore another kid´s arm off as the plane took off. Later he said, “That was the COOLEST THING!”
We arrived in El Paso on Saturday morning at 9:45 El Paso time. We went to the Morgan´s house, some friends of mine Delsol Church.
The kids crashed out , ate, crashed out, and ates some more. Needless to say the day of sleeplessnes and the next day of travel wore our kids out! I didn´t have to tell them to sleep. They were knocked out by 11:00 p.m.
We woke up at 3:30 a.m. and were on the road at 4:30. We passed over the Mexican border at Juarez and had a rather uneventful trip to the 30 Kilometer point outside of Juarez where we got our visas. We drove through to Chautemoc. There we ate civilian MRE´s (meals ready to eat) that Bob from delsol Church provided for us. The kids loved it! After a quick stop at the bank where we exchanged a few dollars, we were on our way. Looking for a bathroom in Cuatemoc, Trish found a lady. After a few moment´s of conversation Trish shared with her the good news of Christ. She wasn´t sure God could love her, after so much sin. As they spoke Trish reassured her of the grace and love of God. The woman told Trish that GOD sent her specifically to help her. The team praised the Lord, and played a lot of “I Spy”. We arrived at Creel last night at 4:30 p.m. We met the Pastor here named Earnesto Santiago. We ate and hit the beds hard!
Today was our first day of the campaign. One team started in Areponapuchi and the other was in Apachochi. The Apachochi team had an incredible experience. Perfecta, our local team host took us to her school room in Apachochi. We played with the cutest kids in the world. I have never been so proud of a youth group as I am of all of the kids on this trip. They loved on those children. We sang Bible songs, had a Bible story and did a craft with John 3:16 on them. On our way home most of the girls were dying to use the restroom, because they “held it” in Apachochi. Maybe tomorrow they can use the outhouse. Bob from delsol gave our team a wonderful military training on how to use a hole in the ground as a restroom, “Stand at attention! Now SQUAT!”
Right now I am at an internet cafe in Creel and the kids and other leaders are “shopping the strip” here in Creel. I´m going to help a few of them use their phone cards…
Thanks for your prayers! We need more prayers. God is doing great things! The trip is not over yet. We are all humbled at the grace and goodness of our GOD! As we approached the Copper Canyon area we saw a bunch of rocks on the side of a mountain. They were painted white and formed in the shape of letters, they said SALMO 121.
I teared up as one of our kids in the van pulled out their Bible spontaneously and read this passage!
Psalm 121
A song of ascents.
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD watches over you— the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life;
8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
After two days of travel and one heck of a fight to get here, I teared up and thought, “How appropriate!” I wiped away my tears and smiled at my God, How great He is…
Then I asked for a piece of Bob´s home made beef jerkey…
Then I told a the kid who read the Bible how awesome they were…
We are not home yet! Keep us in your prayers!
Pray for open hearts. Pray for safe travels. Pray for health and strength. Pray for God´s favor and Satan to be hindered. Pray for positive attitudes and protection of our stomachs. PRay for a safe return…
Tires – The Areponapuchi team had a flat tire the first morning they woke up. They too the tire to the local town called San Rafael. Later that day after they got the tire fixed, it was flat again and had a bulge in it when they re filled it. When they took the tire to Creel to get it looked at, the tire mechanic in Creel said that the other guys in San Rafael cut the tire when they took the tire off and broke the sensor. So, I will have to go to Chautemoc (a 2 1/2 hour trip) to go to the Chevy dealership and get a new tire and a new sensor. Praise GOd the tire didn´t blow while we were traveling with it full.
Pray for safety of our teams and vehicles.
Praise God for the safety we have already experienced.
The Arepo team had 45-50 children the first day of VBS
THe Apachochi team had around 35-40!
The teams are having a great timme together!
PRay for continued team unity. As we continue on pray that we will keep patient and calm. As we continue on Satan would love to divide us and make us irritated with each other and lose focus on our mission and purpose together.
Sniffles – Bob Cossel, a leader of the Apachochi team started getting a sore throat yesterday. This morning he slept in. His throat, head and chest hurt real bad. Pray for his healing and quick recovery.
Pray for the rest of the people on our teams to stay healthy.
Pray that we continue to feel good in our stomaches. Nobody has gotten any stomach bug yet – pray that it stays that way.
Whoever is out there praying that our teams and teens get to bed on time and sleep – THANKS!
I have never seen a group of teens go to sleep “on demand”! At 11:30 when we hit lights out – our kids crash!!! I am amazed at this miracle!
In Apachochi, we prayed for our hotel owner. He told us his heart is giving him problems. The next day after we prayed for him, he went to get a check up. His heart is doing great! Praise GOD! He thanked us for the prayers!
Welp, gotta run and get Bob some cough drops and medicine.
Pray for Areponapuchi and Areponapuchi today! We share about the blood of CHrist and his Cross today. Satan is mad at us for doing that! PRay that the people respond in a big way and we see revival fall on these humble loving people who live in these mountains.
The trip was amazing! Our youth and young adults did great. We were blessed with many opportunities to share Christ with many people. The children in the two Vacation Bible Schools that we held in Areponapuchi and Apachochi were beautiful. They were touched by our presence and the very presence of God.
We were able to find a tire for the flat incurred on Russ’ minivan. We were able to bring the group back home with no injuries (thus breaking the Martin Curse – everybody was expecting Caius to get hurt, just because he is a “Martin”). Ross was second on everybody’s “I pray that he doesn’t break an arm or two” prayer request!
The fellowship that everybody experienced was amazing. We all saw THE BODY in action. We met pastors from two nations, missionaries from all over. We worshipped in Creel, Mexico, El Paso, Texas and everywhere in between.
Name/John David Delgado - Wife/Patricia
- Gathering/The Church at Woodland - Employment/Body of The One (Christ = Anointed One) - Religion/The Pierced One
The real Jesus is not what you may expect. He still surprises me! So I have stopped trying to figure Him all out and I just enjoy Him. I believe that most people don't have problems with Him - rather with people who claim to speak on His behalf.
I used to try to speak for Him, but I found out that He doesn't need me to defend Him or to speak for Him or to judge for Him (btw He didn't come to judge the world but to save it) - He can do all of those things fine without me. I have purposed to follow Him and try with the power that He gives to live like He did and make His teachings real in my life. You might be surprised that He likes you! And that following Him is way different that what you may think.
