The Voice of Truth

“Commit your works to the Lord and your plans will be established.” (Proverbs 16:3, NASB) “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.   In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6, NASB) “The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9, NASB) Before I got into recovery, I managed to find the time to devote to the sexual addiction and same-sex lust that ruled my life for so long.   It never mattered how busy the other parts of my life were, I was fully devoted to making time for those habits.   My productivity at work suffered greatly.   I rarely had enough energy at the end of a day to spend engaging with my wife or other people who were important to me.   I would often use my lunch hour to pursue my habit—forgoing lunch in favor of getting my sexual high.   I was willing to sacrifice anything and do anything it took to satisfy those inordinat...

"For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.   For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.   But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good.   So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.   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.   For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.   But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.   I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.   For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my...

“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.   So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself.   Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:33-34, NASB)   I am writing this post not on the topic of having random thoughts but just as some random thoughts I am currently having—if that makes any sense.   My nature is to try to be organized and orderly in everything I do, so it is a little out of character for me to write something so haphazard and random as what I am about to write (even this introduction shows how uncomfortable I am with just writing whatever comes to mind, I have to preface it with an explanation!) This time of year is always a challenge for me in my Christian walk.   It is the end of the school year (at least for us college types) and instead of winding down, activity is picking up.   End of the year meetings and paperwork and student projects just to name a few,...

I found out this past week that my mom has cancer. It has been a roller coaster of emotions for me and all of my family ever since. I have been praying a lot for her and all of us since I found out and would ask if you are reading this to pray also. I will probably write something soon about my mother as my next post, but I don't know when that will be. Thanks to all of you who read my blog and thanks for praying. God bless!

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear?   The Lord is the defense (stronghold) of my life; Whom shall I dread? ” (Psalm 27:1, NASB) Maybe it is because I am stubborn, or just resistant to change, but I spent a lot of time looking up the word “stronghold” in several different resources simply because each definition I saw did not fit with what I thought the definition was!   I am glad I stuck with that process because it made me realize, and in a sense meditate on the word and what it truly means.   I had always thought that a stronghold was some mysterious force that had an overpowering grip on me.   I used the word loosely to label some struggle or difficulty I was experiencing in my life.   As I kept reading various definitions, I had enlightenment.   As part of the definition, a stronghold is a “ place ”, or a “ location ”.   The Free Dictionary online ( http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ ) defines stronghold as “a fortified plac...

This was so good, I coudn't resist posting it on my blog.  A dear friend taught about Step 3 and Principle 3 in our Celebrate Recovery Meeting on Monday night and it was truly inspiring! I am very proud of you dude!  Check it out! Celebrating Recovery at NLC: Step 3 Practical Applications : "Practical surrender: Reminders for ACTION - “B’s Attitudes”(from Assimilation Coach and Men's Mixed Issues small group leader - Br..."

“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21, NASB) "...and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead." (Philippians 3:9-11, NASB) Jesus wants all of me.   In my own strength and in my own way, I am woefully inadequate (in matter of fact, I am powerless) to do anything God would have me to do in thought, word, or deed.   Whether it is prayer, worship, relating to my wife or to a friend, ministry, forgiveness, eating sleeping…, whatever I may do, I need Christ Jesus to do it in me.   Everyday I wake up in the morning I am faced with a choice: Do I begin to tackle the myriad of tasks that await me in my career, at home, in min...