Guiding the lives of our sons

A father's role in his son's life cannot be overestimated. Sons look to their fathers as role models, and every child's first image of what God is like scaringly reflects his relationship with his father.

I'm trying to be the best role model for my son, and it's very helpful to have other men involved in that journey. That's why the men in my Heart of a Warrior group and our sons are getting together for breakfast tomorrow. Hopefully this will be a regular event, so we can guide and lift up our sons to the Lord.

A job. . .just in time

I have written in the past about how God guides my career. Well, a friend of mine from church recently experienced God's hand in his work life as well! He had a feeling that he was going to be let go from his job, and he indeed was let go last Wednesday. He and his family were very sad and scared. Then he had a job interview on Thursday, was offered a contract position on Friday, and the new company wants him to start on Monday!

God's provision was definitely evident in this situation.

Refuting the lies

I have let the lies that my stepdad told me growing up ("I'm ugly", "I don't belong", and more) toxify my life for too long. His lies have stayed in my subconscious, and ruin my relationships and self-esteem because I have not dealt with them.

I now have started finally refuting my stepdad's lies by writing out each lie, and then writing out the respective truth. I have found myself literally sick at times when writing out the truth (e.g., "I'm lovable"). There's an aspect of my brain not being able to accept the truth after so many years of lies, but I'm sure that the evil one wants to keep me down as well. I -- and God's truth -- will persist in spite of the resistance.

Change comes with a cost

I just finished watching the movie "Luther". It's really quite an interesting story. I remembered hearing the story of Martin Luther from confirmation class at my church, but I guess that I didn't recall hearing about all the bloodshed that took place.

In the movie, Luther points out that change comes with a cost. He made a huge change by providing the New Testament to people in their own language -- German. And the establishment, which did not want things to change, made sure that there was a cost.

Surviving Tropical Storm Fay

Because of Tropical Storm Fay, which contributed to 11 deaths in Florida, one in Georgia and one in Alabama and caused millions of dollars worth of damage, affected areas have been declared major disaster areas by President Bush.

Beyond the flood of rain, there also have been a flood of prayers. Florida Today looks at how pastors have been addressing the devastation in their sermons. One example was from Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church:

Pastor Harvey Riley spoke of patience through adverse times. Many shouted praises to God and stood as Riley talked about waiting on God.

'This week we anticipated that the rain would stop,' Riley preached. 'But God let it go on. Then God spoke to Fay and told her to move on. We just have to remember to be patient.'

Let's pray that some FEMA funds become available to those affected by Tropical Storm Fay.

God's hand in leading Katrina evacuees out of New Orleans

The Austin American-Statesman ran a really cool article on the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina about evacuees who trusted God's plan to lead them to Austin. Their stories are really fascinating -- particularly Nicole Marie Barriere's story. She said that God spoke to her: "Leave, because I'm about to destroy the city."

Celebrating 10 years of the LifeLight Music Festival

For a decade, Christian music fans have been flocking to Sioux Falls, S.D., to celebrate Christ at the LifeLight Music Festival. The festival's origins lie in a mission trip to Mexico taken by founders Alan and Vicki Greene:

'It really started because my wife and I went on a missions trip with a group of other people from here. We went down to Mexico and God spoke to us.' (KELO-TV)

Five years ago, the Greenes quit their jobs to take on LifeLight full time, and now their mission has evolved to more than the festival. They have organized mission trips, brought food to countries in Africa, and organized student-led clubs in high schools and middle schools.