ManUp Moment - Jay Cookingham

1st Chronicles 16:27 give us a destination… Splendor and majesty are in his presence. Strength and joy are where he is. This joyride is first and foremost about the friendship and shared experiences we can have with Father God.

A father’s expression of love delivers a message of value and relational closeness.

2nd Corinthians 4:1 reminds to do just that! Therefore, since God in his mercy has given us this new way, we never give up.

I love baseball and believe or not the Apostle Paul has something to say about baseball. In 2nd Corinthians 4:17 he writes… For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.

Joshua Harris says this about connections… “Every relationship for a Christian is an opportunity to love another person like God has loved us.”

Our words have a tremendous impact on people. It's important to communicate with wisdom and meaning.

Chances are if you haven’t forgiven someone…your hands are full and so is your heart. But none of it is any good. What we need is a heart like Jesus. 1 Peter 2:23 says this about Jesus… “He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly.”

When God uses NOW, it’s an invitation. Salvation was a NOW moment that God used to rewrite out spiritual DNA to look like His. Salvation offers an opportunity to mirror the Father’s heart. NOW… is that moment when God invites you into the miracle of forgiveness.

The disciples found forgiving like Jesus challenging….in Luke 17 we read about it. 4 Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive.”

In her book…Out of Africa, Karen Blixen wrote this “You know you are truly alive when you’re living among lions.” Dads have this wonderful paradox living inside them. On one hand, we strive to help our children grow up, to become men and woman of character and then…You encourage them to walk through the door of adventure.

Who the Father is making me into is stands in complete opposition to what the world would like me to be. I refuse to be domesticated, tamed by a world system that devalues and destroys life. God is using my life collage to send a message counter to that system.

Matthew 5:8 says this… God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God. WOW…Jesus is saying we get to see God! Not just when we get to heaven…now!

Today I ache all over. It’s a deep feeling, one that stays with you, not necessary a pain but it does hurt a bit. It tends to keeps me up at times (OK, a lot of times) and distracts me in other ways I can’t really explain. I ache for my children

George McDonald, a Scottish minister in the late 1800’s, said this about our name. “Who can give a man this, his own name?” - George MacDonald

I question God all the time…it usually sounds like this. God…what are you doing? In my mind there are two ways to ask this question. One is a fear-controlled response to an unpleasant situation or the other way is with childlike faith.

I recently made a remarkable discovery about myself. It seems that for 50 years now I’ve been in show business…yep…show business. April 23 marked my 57th year on this planet and 50 years of following the Messiah. Titus 2:7-8 talks about showtime

In basketball and football games the outcome is often determined by the number of “touches” the key players have in a game. Dads, we need to have significant “touches” in the lives of our children. Here are five areas of needed touches to give as key players:

Patience gives muscle to understanding our family. It takes time to build healthy connections in a family, that’s not a big secret. Yet, our kids need to know that we understand them or are willing to make the effort to do so.

“Blessed are the peace makers, for they shall be called sons of God.” Matthew 5:9 To be a peacemaker means there has to be a war going on someplace. Often there are small skirmishes or large-scale battles going on in our home. Restoring peace in the family atmosphere is huge and it falls to us Dads to be that agent of peace.

Actually the Bible has lots of career advice In 2 Timothy, chapter 2 we’re given 3 examples to model

In Galatians 5 we read about the fruit of gripping. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, (23) gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Gal 5:22-23 The Greek word for self-control means “to get a grip on oneself.” Simply put, Discipline is extreme self-control.

"You do not wake up one morning a bad person. It happens by a thousand tiny surrenders of self-respect to self-interest." ~ Robert Brault Proverbs 14:12 puts it this way. "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." Proverbs 14:12

You know…Scars are strange. I still brag about one received from trying a jump, on my bike, off a Jerry-rigged ramp in my friend’s backyard when I was 13. I wear it like a badge of honor, a tribute to youth’s, (somewhat stupid), adventurous spirit. Basically…Scars are showoffs.

Lately I've been thinking about forgiveness…and the Green Berets. The Green Berets are some of the toughest men on the planet…they are the “special” of special ops. Their training, their dedication, the sacrifice is off the charts.

Alexander Pope (the author of the poem, An Essay on Criticism) penned one of the most quoted lines of poetry. “To err is human, to forgive divine.” Alex caught the essence of the Bible' message in that one line. Forgiveness is the core of the Gospel. Scriptures are dripping with forgiveness. Depending on what version you read, there are up to 700 verses containing the word forgive and its variants...