The Ugly Truth

"Ugh..."

That's really all I can say.

Have you ever been forced to look at yourself? I mean, your real self... not the self that you project to others at the job, or at church, or at school. I mean the self that those CLOSEST to you see on a regular... as well as the self that NO ONE sees... except you.

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN FORCED TO LOOK AT YOURSELF?

I have. And what I've seen is not pretty. I just recently saw the movie The Ugly Truth, with Katherine Heigl (Grey's Anatomy, 27 Dresses) and Gerard Butler (300, P.S. I Love You)... a movie that depicts (very badly, I must say) the ugly truth about men and women and romance (read that, lust). The main thrust of the movie is that we must face the ugly truth about what the opposite sex is really looking for.

In the same way, we must face the ugly truth about who we really are... deep down inside. And believe me... to face it, is NOT pretty. I am coming face to face with the fact that I am prideful, I am selfish, I am lustful, I am angry, I am moody... I am a lot of things that I've pointed my finger at others about. In short, I... AM... SINFUL!

There it is... I've said it! The "S" word! We don't like to say we're sinful... we just "have issues." Yeah, we do have issues... and at the top of the issue list is that WE'RE SINFUL!! I hate the fact that I'm such a sinner... because I'm so daggoned good at it!! I don't wanna be, but it seems I was born an expert at this thing...

But you know what? Having seen the real me... and having recognized me for who and what I am... I feel a little better. No, I don't like what I see... but I feel better, because acknowledging there's something wrong is half the battle. There is a REASON why the Bible says that the "heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick" (Jer. 17:9); there is a REASON why the apostle Paul said that "nothing good dwells in" us (Rom. 7:18). Because the UGLY TRUTH is that we're sinful, we need Jesus to save us, and we need Him to live His life through us... because we simply cannot do it on our own. I can't. You can't. And that's the UGLY TRUTH.

But that's not a totally bad thing...

... knowing the UGLY TRUTH is half the battle.

God Our Provider

My Pastor, Bernard Fuller (Sr. Pastor of New Song Bible Fellowship Church), always told me, "Where God guides, He also provides." That has been a mantra for me, my family, and my ministry for many years... and God has never proven us wrong.

12 years ago, my family and I relocated to Atlanta, GA where I took a position at a Bible College... as well as being a full-time student there so I could finish my degree. The first 18 months were rough, to say the least... promises had been broken, and we were trying to make do on $500 a month ($350 was our car note... $150 was car insurance... you do the math). CRAZY!!!! But God was ALWAYS faithful!! Through speaking engagements, music engagements, and gifts from friends, we were able to make it until God brought in steadier income for us. We learned to trust Him... and stay up under the adversity until He moved. Hard lessons were learned... but they were also GOOD lessons, because they taught us more about Him.

Recently, the church that sponsored Mosaic's startup suffered a church split. We hadn't come out of that church, but they believed in the vision God gave us and were more than willing to partner with us. But not only would the split cause the church problems, it was going to take a toll on us... they were covering roughly 25% of our salary! But there was no worry, no anxiety, no discouragement on our part... because where God guides, He also provides... He'd done it before, He'd do it again! So, after praying, we sent out support letters to a handful of churches and just a couple of individuals... all whom had already been praying for us and encouraging us along this journey. And the response has been awesome! In just a little over 2 weeks, we've received commitments to almost cover that shortage... with more commitments to come! YAY, GOD!!!

Praise God, who ALWAYS shows Himself strong on behalf of those who trust Him (2 Chron. 16:9)... WHERE GOD GUIDES, HE ALSO PROVIDES!!

Fill 'Er Up!!

I'm totally convinced that God wants more from our lives than He's presently getting. And I'm not talking about serving Him, although He may not be getting a great investment in that area, either. But I'm talking about the type of lives we're living: our we living life to its fullest? Our we living out our God-given purpose? Do we even know what our purpose is??

Too often we're content to settle for a "settle for" life, when God wants us to have a life of promise and provision. And not just in the sense of material things, but spiritually and emotionally, as well!

One of the greatest things I'm learning is that God wants more for us than we can ever imagine: He says to us, "Open wide your mouth, and I will fill it!" (Psalm 81:10) He's the God of provision... He's the God of satisfaction... He's the God who fills us in our emptyness...

... and He fills us with something we can never, ever get enough of...

... He fills us with Himself!

Even a Caveman Would Get This...

Have you ever prayed that God would "make His will clear" to you? Have you ever wondered, "What does God want from me?" I've prayed that at times... and have pondered at times why things aren't a little more clear... then at least I'd know which direction to head. That's normal (and, btw, God does make His will clear to us... He doesn't play "Let's keep 'em in the dark!" games)

But there are some times, when we read a verse or passage of Scripture... and God speaks to us as though through a trumpet!!! There are alot of passages in the Bible where we don't have to ask ourselves, "What does this mean? What does God want me to do with this?" We read the passage, are wow'd by it's clarity and conviction, decide to look for another passage to read, and... almost instantaneously... the Holy Spirit says, "Don't even try it... you know what this is about." (Haha! I just LOL'd when I read what I wrote... but isn't it true???)

That's how THIS PASSAGE hit me... it is SO CLEAR... God says, "Wanna know my will? Here you go! Chew on this!"

There are some things that we just don't have to pray about. Clear... as crystal. Some things really are simply black and white.

This is one.

Ponder on that passage... chew on it. Then read this... and this. And you tell me: What does God want?

Preparation Pays

We don't often go through our day thinking about every moment we live, but the future we experience later depends on our preparation today. Here's an awesome quote by former Olympic champion sprinter, Michael Johnson:

"Success is found in much smaller portions than most people realize. A hundredth of a second here or sometimes a tenth there can determine the fastest man in the world. At times we live our lives on a paper-thin edge that barely separates greatness from mediocrity and success from failure.

Life is often compared to a marathon, but I think it is more like being a sprinter: long stretches of hard work punctuated by brief moments in which we are given the opportunity to perform at our best."

-- Michael Johnson, Slaying the Dragon

One Thing

I was going over some of my posts from a couple of years ago, and came across one that I think is timeless in it message. I can use the challenge again, and I'm sure you probably can, as well... so enjoy! :-)

What is Your One Thing?

Over the last couple of weeks, I've been meditating and studying this passage about Jesus' story of "the talents." One thing that stands out to me is that the master gave his servants one thing to do. He gave them, each according to their own ability, money to invest.

He didn't give them sheep to shepherd...
He didn't give them buildings to build...
He didn't give them other servants to oversee...
He didn't give them soldiers to train...
He didn't give...

You get the picture.

He gave them one thing. They were to be focused, centered, and concentrated on that one thing.

The problem is with many of us that we either 1) try to do so many things that our "one thing" gets diluted, or 2) we don't even know what our "one thing" is!

No wonder we're often ineffective...

Steven said it well: "You won't be judged on what you did, but on what you were called to do."

God is not looking for us to be a jack-of-all-trades. Find your one thing... be faithful in that one thing...

And watch God bless others - and you - through it.

One thing. That's it.

What Does Your Heart Say?

Doctors today have incredibly precise technology that allows them to diagnose certain ailments almost perfectly. They can use various scopes and machines to look inside of us and tell us what's going on. But because of human - and machine - error, they can always be wrong. Man, and his machines, are not infallible...

... such is not the case with God. When God looks into our heart, it tells him exactly what's going on inside of us. Even if outwardly we say or do one thing, our heart will show the genuineness of what was said or done. We can fool the people around us, but our heart never lies.

Join us at Mosaic this Sunday as we continue in our INFLUENCE series, with a message on "Leading Ourselves" - before I can effectively influence and lead others, I have to be able to lead myself!

Can't wait til Sunday... see you there!!

French Fries & Fur

Yesterday, for lunch, I sat in our minivan in a neighborhood park not far from where our church meets... just to get some "alone time" and be able to study (read) in quietness. Just didn't feel like being in a Starbucks or Borders atmosphere. But, of course, I had to wrestle with distractions: first, a guy playing frisbee by himself... in the cold... weird... and then, along came Sammy... the squirrel. Ok, I don't know if that's really his name... but I guess he smelled my Five Guys fries and decided to get a little friendly. I haven't had very many positive experiences with animals, so this was pretty interesting to me. And Sammy and I enjoyed some fries "together".

As I reflected later on this rather cheesy incident, it amazed me how God sometimes uses the littlest things to remind us of Him. Sometimes, we worry ourselves ragged over how we're gonna pay this bill or meet that deadline... and yet, for those who've placed their trust in God, He promises to meet our needs. In fact, He tells us not to even worry about such things... that we're more valuable to him than birds, yet they never "worry" about where their next meal comes from... they don't horde up food for "slim times"... and He takes care of them (Matt. 6:26).

And I got to thinking about little Sammy: he had no idea that he was in for a french fry smorgasbord yesterday... he was running around, probably looking for acorns! Yet, the God who created him provided his meal (and some entertainment for me).

What is it that has you worried today? What woke you up this morning (or kept you awake last night), that you really have no control over? What is it that is bombarding your mind with worrisome thoughts? Can I get you to do something? Read this passage of Scripture, and allow God to flood your heart with His peace... and turn over to Him that thing that's bothering you so much. It's way too big for you, anyway... but He can handle it. He took care of Sammy yesterday... I think He can handle taking care of you today. ;-)

Funny (but ultimately FRUITFUL) Day...

Twists and turns... isn't that the way our days go at times?

Yesterday was a really funny day for me. Not funny as in "haha", but kinda weird. I just couldn't get anything going... almost like a "mild depression" that I couldn't really figure out nor put my thumb on. Nothing major happened to warrant it. I did kinda "jump all into the stuff" of my son's bus driver, though - she deserved it (she was way over the top, yelling at him for something, and I let her have it! But I probably went overboard... hopefully, God will give me a chance to redeem that. "Man's anger doesn't bring about God's righteousness" (James 1:20). I know that... and I know better.

But I was feeling "the blues" even before that... strange day for me. Definitely not normal, and hopefully not a regular thing.

The evening ended better, though (although I got home much later than I wanted) - I had a counseling/mentoring session with a couple who just recently got married and who are pretty new in the faith. We had a really wonderful discussion about the truth claims of Jesus/Scripture, and the "narrowness" of the Gospel... and we rolled for almost 3 hours! Very rich... and very uplifting. It's awesome to see people raising questions and being honest about the doubts they have. The conversation went in a totally different direction than we had planned... but ended up right where God wanted us.

Then, while on the way home, I almost hit a deer again! The durn thing just walked out on the road, very nonchalantly... as if to say, "I'm not worried about it... he'll move." AUGH!!!! I had to swerve BIGtime to keep from hitting that rascal, and almost drove into the woods! I had to pause for about 5-6 minutes just to get my faculties back (really thought I was a goner on that one). Thankfully, I was okay... I still left very grateful, 1) that I was alive; and 2) that I had a chance to speak into the lives of a really wonderful couple... and had I (God forbid... especially for my fam) been critically injured from an accident, God would have been honored by my having just poured into the life of a very wonderful couple.

It was a rather strange day... another "twisty" day in the life of D-PLUM. :-)

New Message Series: INFLUENCE!!

We start a new message series this weekend at Mosaic... INFLUENCE! This is going to be an incredibly life-changing series for people, and I'm really looking forward to it!

God has given each one of us the power of influence... and we influence people all the time, for good or for bad. My desire is to see our people grow to be passionate followers of Christ, who use their influence - no matter where they are - to spread the fame of Jesus' name! Our influence can have a domino effect on the lives of people everywhere, as we seek Kingdom opportunities wherever we go!

We all influence someone... Who are you influencing?

And how? ;-)

I love Him, I love Him not...

"If you love Me, show it by doing what I've told you" (John 14:15, The Message)

Spiritual schizophrenia.

Ever heard of it? No? Well, you probably have it... I do. It's when you say you love God one minute, and the next minute your actions betray whether you really do. Like, have you ever been on a serious spiritual high... maybe you just shared the gospel with a friend or you just served the homeless or came from a good service at church... just to find yourself giving in to anger or temptation or jealousy or whatever, only a short while later? Sure you have... we all have... but, if we're honest, it happens because we're not really convinced that God's worth loving with all our heart.

See, if we were convinced... really convinced that following God wholeheartedly is the best way to live (and the only way to truly enjoy life), we would "turn [our] eyes away from worthless things (Ps. 199:37); we would not allow our "hearts to plot evil, and [our] feet [to] race to do wrong" (Prov. 16:18); we would set a guard over [our] mouth... and keep a "watch over the door of [our] lips" (Ps. 141:3).

But what's so tricky about some of this is that these things often come sandwiched in-between times of intense spiritual passion! And, usually, it's because we've been caught off guard... and we're caught off guard because we simply haven't made up in our minds that we're going to obey God... no matter what.

Sometimes I wish I was more like Daniel, who "was determined not to defile himself," by going against the commandment of God? God loves it when our hearts are fully His (see this passage)! How much better off do you think we'd be if our hearts fully belonged to God? If we were fully engaged in pursuing a life of obedience to Him?

Wouldn't it be awesome if the flower of our life that we present to God never lost any of its pedals?

Thanks, Ryan...

I met with my friend Ryan earlier today... he's white and I'm black, so the conversation naturally gravitated very quickly to the issue of our newly-elected President. We haven't known each other for very long, so we shared about some of our upbringing, and what role race/prejudice played in our lives as we grew up.

Then, he shared something that I thought was very enlightening...

He said (not in these exact words), "Many of us (whites) are scared, because we're so used to seeing a white guy in a suit running our nation. Having a black President is something that's SO new, it's just thrown us off-balance, and we don't know what to do with that."

Thanks, Ryan... I appreciate your honesty. It's very refreshing.

Of course, I (and others) had a hunch that that was an issue... but it was good to hear it voiced. We often don't realize how much quicker we'll move down the road to healing when we simply are honest with each other. "Hey, man... this is new territory for me! We've always run this country... and, in the back of our minds, that's the way it's supposed to be! It just is!"

See, I can work with that (and, no, Ryan didn't say that last part). And I was able to speak to Ryan's concerns thoughtfully and in love, because I knew he was being honest and transparent. That's why we're friends... that's why our relationship will get stronger. If only we could do this as a nation...

The apostle Paul said, "But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another" (Gal. 5:15). Sooner or later, this whole thing is gonna get out-of-hand if we're not careful... and I'm speaking to myself on this one, too. I've never been as cynical and sensitive in my whole life as I have been over the last few weeks. Truthfully, some people have deserved D-Plum's criticisms (you know who you are); their comments have been both unguarded and untimely. But others have received responses from me, and were left shaking their heads... "What did I say??" Hindsight allows me to see why... unless one can walk a few miles in your shoes, they just don't understand; they must be shown and not just corrected. So, if I flair up on someone, but don't really help them to see what it was that angered me, neither of us is helped in the situation.

Dialogue precedes dismantling.

I really believe good things are in our country's future... whenever change is on the horizon, the opportunity is there to move forward as a people. As Christ-followers... black, white, yellow, brown, red, whatever... let's use this opportunity to show a world without Christ that He is preeminent and supercedes all our petty differences.

C'mon... let's stop biting and devouring one another.

Make It All About Him!

One of the things we have to regularly fight against is compartmentalizing life: we have a box for God, a box for family, one for church, one for work, another for our friends... bunches of little boxes that oftentimes become incongruent... as well as sometimes competing for time and attention. Be honest... haven't you experienced this before? We have a set of friends for school, and a set of friends for church... we wear a mask at church or with our friends, but take off the mask at home. We smile at our coworkers, and scowl and our spouse (or, for some of us, that's flipped, lol!)

Why is that? And how do we make our "boxes" congruent with one another? How do we align our BELIEFS with our BEHAVIOR?

We make it all about HIM!

When we begin to understand that Jesus doesn't want to be just "resident" in our lives, but wants to be PRESIDENT OF our lives, we become more intentional in making everything we do about Him. So,...

... our marriage becomes more joyful and filled with peace, because we begin to understand that what we have is a reflection of Jesus and His Church (His bride)...
... we become more intentional in building influence with our friends who don't know Jesus, as well as those who know Him but need to grow in their relationship with Him...
... our jobs take on more significance, as we realize we're working to please Christ, not our boss...
... our parenting becomes more of a joy than a burden, because we realize the responsibility and privilege we have from the Lord.

We have to make our lives all about Jesus... otherwise, the little boxes of our lives just get in the way of one another. Doesn't it make sense to have... just one box? ;-)

"So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" (1 Cor. 10:31).

We'll Keep Crawling For Now...

I have to be honest - sometimes the "slow growth" of our church drives me crazy. In this day and age of "the faster, the better," I've been so conditioned to see meteoric growth as "successful" that anything less than that, for me, sometimes can be less than satisfactory.

But, in reality, most church plants grow slowly. The Elevations, Mars Hills, and New Hopes - who all grew to THOUSANDS in a very short period of time - aren't the norm. They're the exceptions to the rule (very good exceptions, though, they are). Most church plants don't grow that way... and some don't even make it.

Really, though... our growth has been somewhat (as compared to the above rockets) slow, but very steady. The excitement's high (always has been), friends are inviting friends, and we're seeing lives change. And we know we won't always be at a "crawl"...

... one day, we'll hit a major growth spurt and begin walking. But that's in God's time. Don't get me wrong, we're not content to crawl... but we know that it's ultimately God's responsibility to get us to the walking stage. And then, soon after that, we'll fly. For right now, though, if He says crawl... we'll keep crawling.

After all, you have to crawl well before you can walk. It's all a part of growing. While you're crawling, you're developing muscles, and coordination... and you're discovering new things.

So, if you're crawling right now, that's okay. Don't settle for that... keep pressing forward... do what you do well... keep developing... keep growing. You'll be walking soon enough.

And then, after that, you'll FLY. ;-)

Life is Short!

"Teach me to realize the brevity of life, so that I may grow in wisdom" (Psalm 90:12).

Life is one of the things that most of us take for granted. We wake up, we go about our day, we work, we laugh, we play... but rarely do we stop and consider that our life - when compared to eternity - is SHORT. In fact, the Bible compares our life to be like a breath, a passing shadow (Ps. 144.4). In other words, in comparison to eternity, our lives are like the snap of a finger... they're just that short.

So, it would seem to go without saying that we should be careful as to how we live our lives. I mean, if life is really short, then there's not a whole lot of time to waste, right? Yet, many of us live as though we've got forever to get this thing right, when the truth is - we don't know what tomorrow holds for us (Jam. 4.14). That's why the Psalmist in the verse above asks God for the proper understanding and perspective of life, so that he may be able to live his life with wisdom.

Wayne Cordeiro writes in one of his books about a college student who was nearing the end of his final semester, and he had a research paper to finish before he could graduate. After some sleepness nights and many trips to the library, he finally finished and turned in the paper. A few days later, the professor handed the class their papers back, and when the student received his he found this on the back:

"Good research. Great illustrations. Thorough bibligraphy. Final grade: F... WRONG ASSIGNMENT!!"

That's a humorous story (unless you're that student), but there is a very powerful truth there for all of us: we can live our entire lives working hard at some things, only to hear God say to us in the end,

"Good job. Nice house. Great salary. Awesome retirement package. Final grade: F... WRONG ASSIGNMENT!!"

We only get one ife... what are we doing with it?

Living Like There's No Tomorrow...

Okay... so, yesterday I posted the question, "What would you do - or stop doing - if you knew you had only weeks to live?" I think it's a good question! (didn't originate with me anyway, lol) But I only got a couple of comments... so, maybe you all are still thinking about how you'd answer (hmmm?) SO, I figure maybe if I post my answer, more will follow. We'll see. ;-) Here goes:

If I knew I had only weeks to live, here's what I think I'd do (or die trying):

1. I'd take my family to Hawaii for a week... send the kids back home to one of their grandmother's, and then spend another week there... just ME and KEE. ;-)
2. I'd still preach every Sunday... but I'd spend less time "preparing", and more time praying!
3. I'd make it to one Cowboys game (glad it wasn't the last one...)
as I can...
4. I'd hug my family zillions of times more than my middle son, Shawn, hugs me now (which is 1,345,926 times a day).
5. Everyday, I'd set new "records" for myself in seeing how many people I could share Christ's love with... no, not as a competition, but as a passion.
5. I'd sing the National Anthem for somebody's game (I wouldn't care who, at that point!)
7. I would try to spend one full day each with this guy, this guy, and this guy (the last dude seems to be just bananas for Jesus, and I would wanna feed off that passion if I had only days to live!)

Okay. You don't have to give seven, just a couple. But let 'er rip! ;-)

Heads Up!

I'm really looking forward to our new series, One Month to Live... as we allow God to challenge and change us to live more with a sense of urgency! So... quick question for my readers out there:

What would you start - or stop - doing, if you knew you had only weeks to live?

Looking forward to some great comments... POST AWAY! :-)

Why Wait??

"This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than we we first believed." -- Romans 13:11

This has been a long week... and it's just Tuesday. But, in all honesty, I wish I could rewind time...

My friend Anthony and I had been talking for a few months about getting together. We met through a mutual friend at a nearby Bible college where he worked, and where I often went to study. Anthony had been reading and studying more seriously about the Church, and was really excited about what he was discovering. He'd always been excited about classroom teaching in a Bible college or seminary, but was now beginning to get excited about giving his life to church ministry. It was neat to see the light bulb going off in Ant's head, as we talked about Jesus' Bride and how much He loves His people... and how that should have a profound effect on the way we relate to people, especially those far from Jesus. So, we kept talking about getting together, and discussing more in depth (all of our dialogues were like 10-minute, in-passing conversations) about what we'd been individually learning. We'd say, "You know, we keep saying it... we just need to do it!"

I wish I could rewind time...

On Monday evening, I received a call from a friend (the same guy who introduced Anthony and I) who told me that Anthony had died earlier that day. "What? How??" He said he wasn't really sure... there weren't any concrete answers at the time. Anthony hadn't been feeling well for about a week or so, and he didn't come to work that day (they worked together). But sometime early that afternoon, he felt bad enough to call a friend to take him to the hospital... he never made it. He stopped breathing on the way there... his friend pulled over and called 911 and tried CPR, but Anthony was gone before the ambulance even arrived.

How could this be? Anthony's only 25 years old... in shape and apparent good health... what happened??

Man, I wish I could rewind time!! If I knew I wouldn't have but so much time with Anthony, I'd have been WAY more intentional about getting together and finding ways to help Christ's Church live more missionally. I wish I could rewind time...

... but I can't. And that's the way life is. We've been given "X" amount of time on this earth... we're to use it wisely... and we're to use it for Jesus. I've been asking myself since last night, "If Anthony knew he had a week to live... a month to live... what would he have done differently? Even as a sold out follower of Jesus Christ, would he have invested his time any differently than normal... knowing he didn't have much time left?" Truth is, Anthony has graduated to a better life. I already miss him alot, but he's home with Jesus now... and I know he's heard our Master say, "Well done, My good and faithful servant!" (Matt. 25:21)

But what about us? What if we knew we had a month left to live... how would we invest our time? Would that increase our desire to live more passionately for Jesus? What would we do differently, and how much differently would we live, if our days were numbered?

And if we know what we would do differently, what's stopping us from doing that... NOW?

Why wait?

"So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him." (2 Corinthians 5:9)

Shadowlands

Those who know me well, as well as those who follow this blog, know my great admiration and respect for Pastor Wayne Cordeiro. He's one of the wisest men I've ever met, and his messages speak to me in ways that are unlike any other pastor (in fact, the only other pastor that has had that type of impact on me is this guy). So, I was reading his blog today, and he wrote a statement that just floored me. It wasn't something I'd never heard before, but it really ministered to me at a time when I've been quieting my heart before the Lord... away from the "lights" of ministry. Here's what he said:

"Who I am in the shadows, rather than in the floodlights, is what God really measures."

DANG!!

But it's so true... as leaders, we thrive in front of people. We live for that... and that's not wrong in itself. But when who we are in the shadows is different than when we're in the spotlight, we're in a dangerous place.

There's an old song I used to like alot called When the Music Stops... and I loved it, because - as I was then primarily leading worship - the lyrics spoke to me so powerfully:

When the music stops... that's when I live my song
When the band goes home... that's when I live my song
When we've said, "Amen," and the crowd begans to fade away
That's when I live the life that I sing about in my songs.

To God, the dark is the same as the light... nothing is hidden from Him (Heb 4:13). When we step into the shadows... when the lights are dimmed, and the crowd is gone... is He pleased by what He sees from our lives?

Living Wisely...

This past Sunday evening at our gathering, we talked about wisdom... and how it's SO IMPORTANT to move beyond the question "Is this wrong?" to "Is this wise?" And it is of the utmost importance to learn to ask that on the front end of our decisions, because at the back end... we're there, wondering why in the world did we do what we did. Prov. 4:7 says that "getting wisdom is the wisest thing you can do." It's foundational for life. You can save yourself years of heartache and turmoil... or death.

When I was a college freshman at the Univ. of MD, we had one of the greatest basketball players in the country on our campus... his name was Len Bias. His future was set, having just been drafted #1 overall by the Boston Celtics. At the age of 22, he had already achieved stardom... and more was sure to come.

Except it didn't come. One night, while partying with his friends, Len used some cocaine. He wasn't an addict... wasn't even a frequent user. But this one, unwise, seemingly unharmful decision... was fatal. He overdosed... and all that could've been was now gone.

Some decisions embarrass us... some leave us scarred for life... and some decisions take our lives. And it's not just obvious things like drugs... it is our financial decisions, relational decisions, decisions we face on our job... every part of our lives. Learn to ask, and then act rightly upon, the question, "Is this wise?" It might save you loads of heartache... and it might just save your life.

(You can view a trailer of the upcoming movie that chronicles Len's life HERE)