Excel Still More

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...

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Two things have value in and of themselves: posture in communication, and prayer in your daily life. Posture makes us a good communicator. It makes lengthy, needful conversations possible. Aligning mind and body can change a marriage, and can mend a broken friendship. Prayer is the process of talking with God. It should be a...

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! BONUS THURSDAY EPISODE - The second one ever. Yeah, I dropped the ball on this. But thanks to the constant pestering of a certain friend named Jim Kirby, I'm committed to rolling a few of these out in the coming months.  Let's take 10 minutes and learn how to make every day more rich. In particular, find things you...

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! The devil is always at work. Most of us are aware of the tools he uses, though we will brush up on those today. And Jesus can help us see how to refute them. But the most important think Jesus shows us is the power of mission orientations. Jesus was living with purpose. He knew why He was here and what He was growing into and...

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Okay, I really put this one off. It feels off brand to talk about downers in our lives. However, they are a reality in our lives. There are people who just seem to be negative, who don't believe in us, and who render judgments against us that simply are not fair. The truth is, in such cases, there is something not well i...

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Hal Elrod has become an important influence in my life. I came across a presentation he gave several years ago. This led to reading his book, The Miracle Morning, and making important changes in my life by making important changes every morning.  It is my pleasure to detail his system, S.A.V.E.R.S. to you today. As I have alw...

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! God's hand is mighty and amazing. He reaches farther than we can imagine, and can also handle the smallest, most intricate of problems. He is present always and always active. These are the kinds of things we believe by faith. We lean into these truths when life is hard. We understand there is no success in life without...

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Well, here we are - 2022! Also, this starts seasons 4 of the ESM podcast! Thank you so much for your support. It has been fun. And I have high expectations for this year.  Do you? I pray you have goals, aspirations, direction, and optimism. Today we will talk about the power of New Year's Resolutions if they are set up w...

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! I need to appeal to your heart. Both your love for Christ and the nature of Christ's love within you. Jesus loves people so much. He loves those who are His and those who are not. Those who have left Him hurt Him and He wants nothing more than to find them and bring them home. But what does that have to do with you and m...