The Voice of Truth

This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. (John 17:3, NASB) My purpose in life is to know God and to make Him known; to love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love others as I love myself.  I often get caught up in the "other things" of life, a plethora of daily activities most of which are necessary to live out this life here on earth.  But all that is really required is my relationship with Jesus.  I am not saying that those other things are bad in and of themselves, indeed they are necessary, but when they become the focus at the expense of the greater thing (my personal relationship with Jesus), then they become evil, or at the very least, meaningless endeavors. With each new day I become more acutely aware of my need for Jesus.  Spending time with Him in Bible reading, prayer, and self-examination is not a luxury I allow myself or a simple ritual, rather it is basic.  It is...

This post is from the Exodus International Blog dated September 27, 2012 Holy Sexuality (Batman)!

It is a very important question.  For me, the question easily could have been "Am I convinced of the love and goodness of my wife, my father, my friends?"  My wife and I during a recent argument (which I like to refer to as "passionate discussions") discussed this very issue as it related to us.  The honest answer for me was, no I am not 100% convinced of the love anyone says they have for me, not 100% of the time.  The reason I say that is that my actions indicate that I am not convinced.  I think it is just a moment to moment thing.  In a weak moment when I am feeling threatened in some way, or someone sins against me, or inadvertently does something that wrongs me in some way, it is easy to feel unloved.  This happens to me all the time.  It is a learned behavior.  My defenses go up immediately and I try to protect myself by distancing myself from the offender.  I assume they do not love me and don't care so I tell myself this person ...

"For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not" (Romans 7:18, NASB) "Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary" (Galatians 6:9, NASB) My flesh is consistent and persistent.  It wants what it wants, when it wants it.  It wants to be lazy first thing in the morning.  It wants to lust just before I start my quiet time in the morning and sometimes during it.  It is very controlling and manipulating and has no regard for other people.  I believe God when He declares that "...nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh..." The Bible doesn't teach me to strive against the flesh on its terms, but rather to remove the flesh from the equation all together through faith by setting my mind on the Spirit and counting the flesh as dead.  The world tries to convince me that living in the Spirit (thinking about God, meditating o...

"Come now, you who say 'Tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.' Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow, you are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.  Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.'" (James 4:13-15, NASB) "Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.  So then, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is." (Ephesians 5:15-17, NASB) The news of my cousin Sheila's death has got me thinking about eternal things.  The things that really matter that I so often take for granted have come to the front of my mind.  I am becoming increasingly aware that there are many sideline activities in my life that rob me of precious time I could be using doing more important things.  It is not so...

I don't really know what to write today.  I just received news from my mother that my cousin who is about the same age as me, passed away today.  I do not know any of the details about how she died, but it certainly reminded me how fragile life is, that I am not guaranteed tomorrow.  A lot of recovery thoughts have flooded my mind: living one day at a time, trusting God for each moment of each day, etc.  But more than anything, the importance of knowing where I stand before the Lord is so important and that being settled, I need to be about the Lord's business--telling others about Him.  I know that I am called to serve Him in the area of recovery and specifically with those struggling with same sex attractions, but I can't help but think that His purpose for my life is even higher than that.  I pray that my zeal for telling the truth about the issue of same sex attraction and lust never gets in the way of loving people and telling them the even greater tru...

"Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, NASB) "Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them." (Psalm 139:16, NASB) Over the last five years God has directed me into some things that have become the primary activities of my life; almost without me even noticing.  I believe that my leadership in Celebrate Recovery, my work in Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, my job structure at the college where I teach (part time classroom teaching and part time administrative work), and the list of the many other aspects of routine activities in my life, have been ordained by God.  This is the life He has called me to.  In some ways I feel I am uniquely gifted to perform the duties of each of these responsibilities, but in many other ways I feel inadequate.  Knowing however, th...

"Change isn't the absence of struggle, it's the freedom in the midst of that struggle to make a different decision" Alan Chambers, President, Exodus International Exodus Freedom Conference Opening Night General Session Saint Paul, Minnesota June 28, 2012

As a young man growing up in Georgia, all I could think about was graduating from high school, going to college to study music, and then living out the remainder of my life as a high school band director.  I was absolutely certain that was the way my life was going to play out.  I did graduate high school, and I did go to college, and I did study music.  It wasn't until my tuba professor at college, Dr. David Randolph, encouraged me to pursue performance and college teaching did I ever entertain the idea of doing anything else with my life.  Sure, I did investigate other career paths while I was a high school student (engineering, military science, and others) but nothing captivated my heart and spirit like music.   I knew I was good at it and I sincerely wanted to share that gift with others through teaching.  I had just assumed that high school teaching was the only avenue available to me. Dr. Randolph convinced me otherwise.  He must have seen ...

How else can one live?  Is it possible to live two days at the same time?  Of course not!   But I sometimes try to do just that by focusing my attention on the past with its mistakes and failures.  Or I try to control through worry what will happen at some point in the future.  How crazy is that!  God continues to teach me this lesson of "one day at a time" as He did when I first started recovery, when I finally surrendered my life to the Lord.  The temptations to sin that I face each day of my life are a constant reminder of my need for the Lord's strength in every moment.  I have often prayed that God would remove these fleshly temptations from me, but I think they remain because they are a great tutor to keep me close to the Lord, and they keep me from becoming prideful about any changes God has made in my life.  I have to surrender my life to God not just in the morning when I have my quiet time, but also throughout the day; sometimes man...

 "...for the  weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but  divinely powerful  for the destruction of fortresses.   We are  destroying speculations and every  lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and  we are  taking every thought captive to the  obedience of Christ..." (2 Corinthians 10:4-5, NASB) Of the three things that are possible for me to change (my attitude, my my acceptance, and my actions) I believe what is most needed in my life is a change of attitude or mind.  I need to pay closer attention to those things that quietly steal little pieces of my serenity without me hardly noticing.  It can be something as simple as a passing thought that I allow to take residence in my mind before taking it "...captive to the obedience of Christ."  Just yesterday a friend reminded me during a conversation about recovery that I cannot prevent a bird from flying over my head, but I certainly can stop it from n...

All of my life I have been told that if something is not right or if I do not like my circumstances or my situation, change them.  I have come to realize that changing those things and changing people is not as simple as it sounds nor is it even desirable that I try.  I cannot change my wife or her behavior, though I try sometimes or get very frustrated when she does not think or act in a way I think she should.  I try to change the students I teach, to get them to place their education on a higher level of importance and priority.  I also get frustrated when they seemingly reject my efforts to instill within them personal values such as personal responsibility, respect for others, being on time, etc. With my wife especially, but also with those with whom I serve in ministry and with friends, I sometimes do not take what they say (or what they do not say) at face value, often choosing rather to project in my own mind underlying meanings and motivations to what is s...

In our leadership meeting for Celebrate Recovery yesterday, our training coach challenged us to take a fresh look at the Serenity Prayer and gain a better appreciation for what we are requesting from God when we pray it.  I thought I would post my personal perspective to the different parts of the prayer as a way to refresh my memory on what the prayer means to me. The first part says "God, grant me the serenity..."  To me, serenity is an inward confidence that God is in complete control of my life.  Everything that happens to me is either engineered by God is allowed by Him to bring Him glory and to bring about good in my life.  Serenity means I can have joy in the midst of any situation, good or bad, by resting in the Presence of Almighty God.  Life is full of troubles, trials, heartaches, sadness, temptations, distresses, problems..., but my serenity tells me that those things are simply tools used by God to bring about peace in my life.  Surrendering ...