Do Some Good

"Do good with what you have or it will do you no good." - William Penn

You need to be able to do some good for others.  That should be a given.  The believer is to serve as a blessing.

Who was the last person whom you blessed?

I am talking about folks beyond you immediately family or even your extended family.  I mean people who do not go to your church or work on the same floor as you.  Who? I am talking about people who could not pay back the blessing.  I am talking about people who are in no position to even think about giving you anything except a kind word like "Thank you" or "god bless you."

Do some good.  Hook up with some others and do some good.  Show the world your faith by doing some good works.  Don't let this summer go by without reaching out and helping out someone else who is in need.  Start right where you are today.

Who is Your Gomer?

And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms...- Hosea 1:1

Then the Lord said to me, “Go and love your wife again, even though she commits adultery with another lover. This will illustrate that the Lord still loves Israel, even though the people have turned to other gods and love to worship them."- Hosea 3:1 (NLT)

God utilized the prophet as an object lesson for others to see.  He put Hosea's entire life on display for all others to view him.  He did so and Hosea's life stands out from the lives of other Old Testament prophets in a special way.  Hosea was used by God to show God's tattered relationship with Israel.

It wasn't bad enough that Isaiah's prophecy referred to Israel as a harlot.  It wasn't enough for Ezekiel to eat the scroll or go to a valley and view dry bones.  Surely, it was not enough for Jeremiah to lament after being the weeping prophet who said he would no longer preach the message that the Lord had for him to share with others.  No, God used Hosea differently.  He used his children and his wife, Gomer, to display that God who is perfect and pure was in love with a woman who turned out to be a prostitute- Israel.

So who is your Gomer? Who is God calling on you to seek, to reach and help? Who is your Gomer?

Find out who God is calling on you to reach with His message.  See who God is calling on you to go out of your way and reclaim for Him.  Let God use you.

In Your Own Words

 Meeting people where they are does not mean leaving them there

It is plastered on nearly everything that Life Path puts out there.  It is a mantra that is designed to keep us operating on a mission rather than remaining meaningless.  It is our vow to remain meaningful and missional while making a difference.  It is at the core of Life Path's mission and existence.

I was recently forced to revisit my whole venture into ministry and social services.  I question the notion that the two are not the same.  If we are engaged in true ministry, we will perform some sort of social service to assist those around us get what they need to go further and grow to become more and more of who God has destined them to become in this life.  I truly have a problem seeing a difference from where I stand today.

Nevertheless, after searching my soul and looking deeper and deeper into what I have been called to do, I realize that I have to work further to maintain this mantra as a check-in to start and end my day.

• Have I met people where they are?
• Have left people where I met them?
• Could I do more or better?

In ministry, I must ask these questions.  At work, I must ask these questions.  I must ask these questions of every faith-based effort that I engage in daily.  I must ask these same questions of every community-based venture that I am involved in daily.  I have to ask it of myself as work in a nonprofit setting.  I must ask these same questions of myself as I work on for-profit models that will support the youth work that I plan to offer the youth within my community.

It is reflected in my work.  It is reflected in my writing.  It is reflected in the ministry and service that I aim to offer beyond anything that I have done so far.  Join me in the journey.

Don't forget to help us help youth! http://200club.chipin.com/200-club-youth-sponsors

Time Well Spent

Recently, I spent some time away at a training in the La Jolla area of San Diego.  Known for its picturesque beaches and scenery, this area makes one recall thatlife is a great adventure.  You begin to wonder how much of the adventure you have taken advantage of or simply avoided over the years.

The training refreshed me spiritually and otherwise.  Also, it renewed my vision and focus.  I even made a connection with an old friend who had been just as busy as I have lately.   We committed to getting together and making things happen for the benefit of our communities and the generation coming up after us.

All in all, I would have to say that it was truly time well spent.  I thank God for the opportunity to have been selected from among my peers to gain this training and experience as well as the responsibility to bring back what I have learned to the larger group.

Pages on Prayer

"Prayers never die."- E.M. Bounds

Prayer is a powerful subject.  Read about it.  Research it. Prayer fills countless pages of books, magazines and other publications.  Rediscover the power of prayer that lies within the Bible, especially books like Psalms.

Use prayer as your spiritual weapon to withstand the attacks of the day.  Stay rooted in prayer.  Hold fast through prayer.  Let the pages on prayer guide you safely through the day.

"Prayer is the daily work of the Christian."- Martin Luther

An Open Appeal to Writers and Poets

To my fellow writers and poets,

I humbly submit this as an appeal to you to do more.  Do more with what you have been endowed with as natural gifts and abilities as well as the developed and enriched skills that you have worked on for years. 

Do good with what you do, offering creative writing classes and assistance to at-risk youth and juvenile offenders, court schools and alternative schools, even group homes.  Donate copies of your books and publications to be placed in site libraries at senior centers, charter schools and community libraries.  Partner with local youth-serving nonprofits to raise money through poetry slams, spoken word events, open mic shows and similar ventures.
Let us still be creative artists, but let us work towards becoming difference-makers.  Let us become activists as well as artists.

Visit Writer's Digest Community

Used to be Useful

When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.
- Hosea 11:1 (NIV)

The prophet Hosea does not seem like a likely candidate to offer a prophecy on Jesus Christ.  Nevertheless, this biblical prophecy about the Messiah emerges from the object lesson emerges from this minor prophet.  God uses Hosea just like he can use any us to accomplish anything that He desires to do.  I learned after reading Andrew Murray's God's Plans for You that God can use us in all sorts of ways.

Those of the faith are the "called out." God calls us out from among the world to stand out among the world.  He causes us to live differently.  He calls us out to make us useful. 

God calls on us to use us.  After making us useful, He can choose to use us for His glory.  He can call on us and He should be able to count on us.  If God gave you an assignment like He did with Hosea, could He count on you to through on it?  Would you bring glory to God by how you handled it?

Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.- Psalm 115:3 (NIV)