Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! In 1859 Charles Dickens wrote "A Tale of Two Cities" about the French Revolution of the late 1700's. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. If you lived anywhere near London or Paris, you knew what that meant. The world was filled with turmoil, different classes, and unpredictability. Dickens note...

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! I'm really enjoying a new book, The Slight Edge , by Jeff Olson. I recommend it to you. It is purely secular but gives tremendous tips that believers can use in every part of life.  His early material drives our study today. He speaks of a life cycle, a wavelength of living that falls to desperation, then goes up to stab...

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Everybody has heard this phrase: "It is not how you start, it's how you finish." Do you believe this? And how does it make you feel about the rest of the life God will gift to you? So many of us define ourselves by what has happened, or even who we are now. But Christ has not yet returned. Our time with our fam...

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Happy Thursday to you! Two quick things to share. I will be at the Campbell Road church of Christ in Garland, TX June 17th-19th. Friday night at 7pm. Saturday beginning at 10:30am. And Sunday beginning at 9am. Come join us as we sing and pray and study renovating our spirits to go on beautiful missions of mercy in Jesus'...

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Have you ever read the Francis Chan book, Crazy Love? It will challenge you. He really makes us look at our life here in America and if we let our prosperity harden our hearts and keep us in a lukewarm state. Actually, it is a super challenging read and exposes a lot of work needed in most of us. But it also asks you to renov...

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Today is a hard one. I need to talk to you about the school shooting in Uvalde, TX on Tuesday May 24th. An 18 year old young man shot and killed 19 kids and two adults. 17 others are currently in the hospital with injuries. Sadly, this is not an altogether isolated event. Increased violence by damaged, angry youth is more app...

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Today we turn our gaze toward the future. One day you and I will leave this earth. When we do, most likely, the letter of our lives will be fully written and handed to our family and friends to live with for the rest of their lives. We aren't sending a letter back to ourselves but forward to our family. The question is,...

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! What would you write if you had the chance to pen a letter to your younger self? What changes would you make? Would you try to avoid bad decisions? Would you direct yourself to lucrative investments? Okay, cool. But what if it risked what you have now? Would it be worth it? We are going to dig in on all of those questions tod...

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Do you remember what it felt like to start something amazing? Do you remember the first day of marriage? Or what it felt like to be washed in the blood of the Lamb? Wow, that was truly the best. For those who are exploring new things and feeling the joys of discovery, drink in every ounce of that! As for the rest of us, let&a...

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! First, special thanks to Kinsey Fountain for a terrific idea! Second, thank to Bob Goff for his quote and life and work.  There is a deep and different richness when our value is connected with our acts of kindness, not what people say about our acts of kindness. We all crave validation, and we live in a social media age, whe...

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Big Promise Today - A little bit of questioning can go a really long way. Just a few simple questions, asked at the right moment, can lead you to better decisions and fewer regrets.  First, let's overcome some simple decision making mistakes we all make. Then we will look at the power of "want." After all, most...

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Two Big Things Today: First, I'll be at the Twin Creeks church of Christ on May 1-4, 2022. This church is in Allen, TX, just North East of Dallas. Everyone is welcome as we study Missions of Mercy and making sure we have emptied our vessels so He can fill us with the Spirit.  Here is a link to the church website . Second...

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Most Christians are familiar with sentences like this: "This is a salvation issue." Of course, only Jesus decides such things. And while it may be alright to say such at times, it is often more about my personal convictions and, by the way, my side of the issue is always the saved side! lol. There is room to show pe...

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Everyone wants to do their best, no matter what they are trying to accomplish. In order to do that, we have to prepare. There is physical and intellectual work. But all of that can go to waste if we aren't in the right mental state at the moment of the performance. It can be sports, presentations, or conversations - ther...

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Do you know what if feels like to be totally powerless to stop sin in your life? I understand that we have free will. But have you ever been so trapped, so held, by sin that you could not find your free will, or had absolutely no ability to access it?  I know that feeling. Maybe worse, is when you see it happening to someone...

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Today is a big day! This is the very first Excel Still More Interview! I couldn't think of anyone better than Hal Elrod. A you will hear today, his story is incredible! Three times he went through traumatic events. His attitude through those things, and growth after them... well, it is simply transformational. Today Hal...

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! It was a nasty, cold, rainy, windy day. He was in a really tough spot and very upset about it. It wasn't the first time. On both occasions I was there with him. And on both occasions he calmed down enough to answer a very important question. This question is needed in the lives of us all. We are all prone to emotional re...

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! S.A.L.S.A. - San Antonio Leadership Service Action April 1-3 - O'Connor Road church of Christ, San Antonio, TX Fri 7pm / Sat 10am / Sun 9:30 and 2:30. "I'm fine." How often have you said this, but it wasn't true. Why is it so hard to admit when we need help? Do we think people don't care? Or mayb...

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! "You are a vessel, built and restored by God, to be filled with the Spirit, so that you can pour the Spirit into the lives of everyone you meet." Sounds great, right? Like a mission of mercy, laid out before you every day and everywhere you go! Well, how many of us understand that this includes our home? In fact, it...

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! I hope enjoy this excellent stuff from Dr. Jim Kirby! He is truly a great and godly man. His positivity and wonderful personality are exactly what most of us need. But... it is also exactly who most of us can be. Positive thinking unlocks your best attitude and greatest potential.  Walk with me through the speech given by Jim...

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! The world is a mess. Everyone knows it. People are getting hurt. Power struggles prevail. But where is the strength? Where is the strong man who can do what is needed? We often associate strength with power, wealth, influence, and ability. But the truth is, there are far too many weak people, in leadership roles, who just so...

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! I apologize. I have used some epic cover art from Tombstone: Say When. I found this after the episode and wished I had mixed in Doc Holliday at some point! But as it is, I want to focus on the value of saying WHEN in conflict resolution and especially in authority relationships.  Many parents use the IF / THEN construct with...

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Welcome to bonus episode number 2 for this year. As indicated, I want to let you know of places I hope to be preaching this year. If you are in the Tampa/Orlando area, I hope you will come and worship with us at the Brandon church of Christ on March 4-6. Friday and Saturday night at 7pm, as well as Sunday AM and PM. https://b...

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! In the financial world, all goods are divided into two categories: assets and liabilities. Both can be good and bad, have highs and lows, and bring value and sorrow. But time tends to cause a serious divergence. Over time, liabilities start taking value away, and costing more than they are worth. But assets actually grow in v...

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Let's talk about that soundtrack playing in your head. You know what I'm talking about, that set of thoughts that are always there. These constant reminders about who you are. They can encourage you and tell you that great things are coming... or... they can sabotage growth by playing failures over and over again. W...