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Johnny Comeback Lately

7/25/2016

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    The 2016 football season is fast approaching, and many of this off-season’s headlines have involved 2012 Heisman Trophy winner and former NFL quarterback Johnny Manziel. Nicknamed “Johnny Comeback” for his late-game heroics in college, Johnny Manziel is in desperate need of a different kind of comeback. Instead of making highlights in the NFL, he has made headlines for repeated incidents involving drug use, alcohol abuse, and other destructive and violent behaviors. As a result, the NFL has suspended him, no team is willing to sign him, Nike dropped him as their endorser, and two agents ended their representation of him within a matter of three months. 

    The good news is that Johnny Manziel recently linked July 1 as the start of his sobriety and return to the NFL. The bad news is that he announced this on June 29. For Johnny Manziel, there is no moment like the future. Reports over the past several weeks sadly indicate that his comeback story has yet to begin. 

    Unfortunately, this is the condition for so many people’s lives. Their problems may not be as severe or attention-getting as Manziel’s, but many of us have made his mistake. “I’ll get better when                  happens.” “I’ll start making better decisions soon.” “I’m going to do what I need to do, but before I do . . .” The future has been used throughout human history to keep us from doing what we need to do today. The problem is tomorrow never comes. Today is all we have.

    Since He made us, God knows how we use the future to make excuses for our present. For that reason, a refrain found in Scripture says, “Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts . . .” (Psalm 95:7; Hebrews 3:7, 15, 4:7). Instead of listening to God’s voice, we too often are convinced by Satan that we have more time and more chances to do right. As we keep putting off doing the right thing, our hearts become harder to change, and the hope we place in the future is only a figment of our imagination.  

     Have you put off until tomorrow something you need to do today? Comebacks don’t start tomorrow. They start today. Live in the present. Be blessed and be a blessing today.

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My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

7/18/2016

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​    “Breaking up is hard to do.” But there is a way to make break-ups easier – vilify your ex. You can call this the “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Effect.” She really wasn’t crazy, but it’s easier to cope with the breakup when you tell yourself she was. This phenomenon doesn’t just happen with dating partners. It can also be former employers or friendships that fade. It might even be a church you once belonged to. Actually, it can be any relationship that once-was but no longer is. And it’s a mindset that plagues many people today. 

    Here’s how it works: The relationship begins with hope, blossoms with shared experiences and good times, and appears to be heading towards “forever.” But then something happens. An impasse is reached. A disagreement exposes a significant difference. Or two parties just decided to travel two separate paths. Whatever the cause, the breakup hurts, and we don’t like to hurt. So what do we do? We find a way to vilify the other party. The flaws that we once overlooked are now what we highlight. And on a superficial level, that vilification makes us feel a little bit better about ourselves. After all, the breakup happened because the other party had his/her/its issues. Right?

    In Acts 15:36-41, we read of two close friends who had a significant difference of opinion. Their names were Paul and Barnabas, and they disagreed over whether to take Barnabas’ cousin Mark on their next missionary journey. Barnabas’s conviction was for Mark to join them. Paul adamantly opposed. An impasse was reached. The two missionaries decided to travel separate paths. They each continued to proclaim Christ to the world, but they did not view one another as rivals or enemies. In fact, one missionary team became two, allowing for more cities to be reached, more souls to be saved, and more future missionaries to be trained. I’m sure the breakup was painful, but it was a very good thing for God’s kingdom.

    While Paul and Barnabas had a difference of opinion, I am convinced that neither felt the need to vilify the other. At the end of Paul’s life in 2 Timothy 4:11, he asks Timothy to bring Mark – the source of his “break-up” with Barnabas – to him for one last time together. If Paul and Mark’s relationship meant that much to Paul, I am confident that his relationship with Barnabas was strong too. 

    We don’t marry every person we date, and very few of us stay with the same employer throughout our working lives. There are occasions when two parties need to travel two separate ways. But we never need to vilify our “ex.” Yes, our exes had their flaws. But guess what? So did we. Rather than focusing on what went wrong, everyone would be better served if we remembered what went well.

    While we’re on the subject, let me add one more thing: We need to be careful how quickly and how often we break-up with others. In our throwaway culture, we are too quick to end relationships when imperfections appear. We look for the perfect spouse, friend, job, or church. We temporarily think we found it. Then we see the flaws and are disappointed. We break-up, quit, leave, and move on to the next “perfect” thing. This cycle will continue without end until we realize that perfect never comes in this life. We need love and patience in our relationships BECAUSE we are imperfect. We never realize the potential of these qualities when we quit every time something or someone is imperfect.

    Have you been guilty of vilifying relationships from your past? If so, you are not hurting them. You’re hurting you. Bless yourself and bless others today by showing grace and mercy to all, even your exes.

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"God Is Dead"

7/11/2016

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“The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.” While Mark Twain didn’t exactly say that, it has become one of his most-attributed quotes. 

With the potential for false news going viral on social media, many celebrities in recent years have been reported as dead while being alive and well. This is just more evidence of how quickly hearsay spreads. 

Beyond the internet hoaxes, there’s one other prominent figure who many believed has died: God. You might be hard-pressed to find a meme stating “God is dead.” This piece of false news has gone viral nonetheless. 

It is true that some people do not believe in God, but they are not to be blamed for the absence of faith, hope, and love among us. Those who have most spread the rumor that “God is dead” are Christians. Every time we let the world’s darkness overwhelm his light in our lives, we buy into the myth that God is dead (see John 1:5). Every time we believe that the world’s problems can only be solved through man’s means, we declare “God is dead” (see 1 Corinthians 1:18-31). Every time we appeal to fear rather than love, we act as if God is dead (see 1 John 4:18-21). Every time that we decide something is more important or more powerful than God, then to us, He really is dead because that thing is now our god. 

You and I might be guilty of writing God’s obituary, but he is and always will be alive and well. Neither our attitudes nor our actions can change God’s vitality. What might have changed is our willingness to let God live in us. He wants to, but the choice is ours. Don’t let Satan’s rumors and the world’s darkness cover-up God’s life in you. 

The Gospel of Jesus is about how death was swallowed up by life. When more Christians resurrect that good news in our lives, the world will realize that “God is dead” was only a lie. Be blessed today through faith in God, and bless others along the way.

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    Blaine Kelly

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