Letter to Federer

dear mr. federer,

oh, how i hope you win tonite! i really would like you to break pete’s record, and you’re already 27 so i know that you won’t be getting any younger.

i like nadal.  i really do.  however, he’ll be around after your done.  he can wait a second.  let’s shatter that record!

here’s some advice.  now, i know that you really have no reason to take my advice.  anyone that has 12 slams under their belt probably shouldn’t listen to a guy like me.  however, what i lack in skills i have in brains. so, just give me a second to voice my point.

here’s the deal.  forget about being number 1.  i know, i know.  it’s a great place to be.  however, the goal right now is to win slams.  to alter a phrase from a famous televangelist “SLAMS, SLAMS, SLAMS!”  after the US open, take some time off.  forget about challenging for the #1 ranking…let nadal have it!  rest for a few weeks and gear up for the atp finals in november.  then, get ready to make a charge for the next year.

here’s what you need to make sure is working in your game at all times:  your serve.  it was your serve that kept you alive as long as it did during the wimbledon final.  even though that didn’t turn out the way we planned, you gotta take that as a positive.  also, you gotta make those forehands.  you never used to miss those.  now, you do.   let’s fix that.

when, and i do mean WHEN, you break the record can we hit around afterwards.  it doesn’t have to be right after.  shoot, it can be years after.  just mark me down for one day at one given time.  that will make my life smile like this .

go get ‘em fed.  i’ll be rooting for you from qdoba tonite.   murray can wait a little longer for a slam as well!!

With your best interest at heart,

Verdell

(But you can call me Dell)

Back for the Third Time…

Hello fans,

sorry that i’ve been slightly (very) ghost lately. all types of stuff has been going on! i’ll update you as the days roll on.

first on the list, however, is this Stuck series that Zion Church has been going through. it’s been awesome. even though i’m not a regular attendee anymore, i still love that church and i’ve learned a lot from it. this past sunday, the message was about forgiving people and letting go. to represent the emotional bondage that unforgiveness causes, we were given a tied up shoestring at the door.

man! do i have some ties to unbind! most of them are recent too! i should’ve asked for more at the door. this one they gave me will definitely not be enough. sigh…and one of them i thought i had already forgiven…but clearly my face frowns whenever they appear. so clearly, there’s work to be done.

one thing pastor battle said that rang so true was this: your offender probably has no idea how much they’ve hurt you. i know one in particular doesn’t. they have the emotional aptitude of a brick. at some point though, you gotta accept people for who they are, not what you want them to be. that’s what god does for us, nah mean?

so…here’s some of the thoughts that i have to untie. usually, i’m not a fan of putting my personal BI out there. but, in this case i will b/c maybe you’ll find some of your voice in the words i’m venting. i encourage you to search your heart and forgive from the heart so you can experience freedom:

• are you serious? what i really want to know is are you participating in this? i trust you, probably too much, and that’s my fault. however, i wonder if you disagree with any of this? do you think it’s wrong? so much of it runs counter to what i’ve been taught…and what you’ve been taught (i think, but now i’m not so sure), and what YOU’VE taught ME. your answer will determine my next question…either way i have to forgive you…and i want to.
• i don’t think you’ll ever understand how much you’ve hurt me…sorry…how much i’ve allowed you to hurt me. i blame myself more than you…and i’ve forgiven you for the past. however, i sincerely don’t trust you as hard as i can throw (which isn’t very far, trust me). i really feel like you should reimburse me for all the time invested. however, if god called in that same debt on me, i wouldn’t be able to repay. so, i forgive you and pray the best for you.

Slightly Random Rant About Persecution and Growth

“Concluding Thoughts: Martyrdom and mistreatment are a reality for the body of Christ, especially in those places that are longstanding strongholds of the enemy. With that said, it is foolish for us to expect poor relationships with people. Often our “persecution” is just the result of poor people skills” and a lack of wisdom. It is important to understand that the expectation of favor or the expectation of “persecution” can attract either to our lives. We would do well to expect the force of favor to open many doors to us for the kingdom’s sake.”

amen and amen!

most of what we call persecution is just the result of bad choices.  putting jesus over a character flaw doesn’t make it okay.  if anything, it leaves no excuse for you to be the same!  stop being rude!  learn from your mistakes!  sometimes we care more about being right then representing Christ…

and you know what else?  sometimes we overcompensate to maks our lack.  for example, let’s say that someone is corrected in public.  They have to “remind” everyone that they are man, and how they should be free to “be themselves.”  in reality, they feel insignificant cannot take cricisim because it threatens there already shaky sense of sense.  

if that’s the case, it’s time to go to jesus.  that’s what i had to do.  get some emotional fortitude and realize that it’s time to grow.  critisicm, can help you grow, when done correctly.  don’t let your personal issues shield you from the growth and wonder that’s in christ. 

did you know that out of the 15 works of the flesh that are listed in Galatians 5:19-20, eight of them have to do with how you treat people?

Tips from Dell

Hello world,

i always like to share some of the tips and tricks that still help me out to this day.  i hope some of them help you.

Tip #3:  When it’s all said and done, He loves me.

Kingdom principles work (even for people that aren’t in the kingdom).  However, sometimes the tides of life rage so strongly you can barely think straight.  When those times come, it’s difficult to draft an intercession plan or a weekly fast.  When things get too confusing,  I jsimply rest in the fact that God loves me, and He’s going to take care of me.  End of story.  If I get some cool third-heaven revelation in the midst of that, fine.  If angels appear, awesome.  But if none of that happens, just knowing that He’s faithful is enough. 

Tip #3:  Obey Quickly

Conviction is a good thing, but people usually get it backwards.  When someone stands firm on a topic, they are noted as having strong convictions.  Usually, believers equate conviction with feeling bad.  Don’t forget that believers have a new nature.  Did you know that if you are a believer, you have convictions that you don’t know about?  Your spirit believes things that your mind doesn’t.  That may sound crazy, but 1 Peter tells us that we’ve been giving a godly nature.  Your spirit man agrees with God totally.  Your mind, however, needs a tune up.  That’s why Paul tells us to renew our minds in Romans 12:1-2. 

When we do things that conflict with our godly nature, our born again spirits recongize it and we feel bad.  At times we allow this to take us into shame, but that’s not the point.  Believers are convicted of what’s right in God’s eyes; the conflict we feel when we step outside of His will can be equated to pain in the natural.  It lets us know that something is wrong so that something can be done to fix it.  God always convicts us with what we can do right; he doesn’t shame us with what we’ve done wrong.

As soon as you feel convicted about something, seek it out.  Find out what it is.  Obey quickly.  Do whatever you can to get on the right side of the fence.  The more you resist those pangings, the harder it will be to respond to them.  You may stop feeling them all together.  Instant obedience makes our heart soft and ready to move for Him.

Tip #3:  Learn how God speaks

God loves to talk!  he wants to talk more than you want to listen.  however, most of us approach hearing God as if it were a telephone call.  and then, even more of us expect him to speak in english.  clearly, he does; butenglish isn’t god’s first language. hebrew isn’t either. god’s slightly stubborn (in a good way of course); he actually wants you to adjust to how He does things.  usually when we can’t hear him talking, it’s not because he isn’t saying anything, it’s because we aren’t listening.

i was asking the lord about some trying situations that i’ve recently been involved in.  i wondered if i should back out, but i asked god for his permission.  he didn’t speak to me directly, but in a series of three days i’ve never heard so many “stay in the race” sermons in my life.  everything i saw was about endurance or perserverance.  god spoke to me, but it wasn’t a voice.  sometimes you have to “look” for his word. i’ll get into that on another post.

Failure? Or the Father’s Love…

WARNING…

THIS BLOG CONTAINS GRAPHIC (BUT NOT CRUDE) DESCRIPTIONS OF A SEXUAL NATURE.  IT’S ALL WITH THE INTENTION TO HELP PEOPLE…CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED.

 

 

if you hadn’t figured it out by now, one of my goals is to raise up men to walk in the sexual purity that god’s made available.  hope this personal anecdote helps someone…

 

 

 

as i slept in my bed, the dreams started to nag me.  the graphic thoughts ran through my mind.  images of things that i used to watch, thoughts that i used to dwell on.  all of the mess that i worked so hard to distance myself from came rushing back. 

and then i was welcomed by another…ahem…rush.

now, i was totally awake.  i was scared, annoyed, and angry at the same time.  it’s been so long!  could i possibly have been so stupid to drop my guard?  what did i do to trigger this?  am i caught in another rut again?  is my freedom real, or was i just holding off the inevitable?

i’ve felt this many times before.  it was the stain of defeat, literally and figuratively.  pornography that leads to masturbation…a way for me to get a release or to comfort myself.  to deal with issues that were stressing me out.  i’ve given all that up, though.  god is my source of comfort, strength, and peace.  the guilt and shame you feel from sin far outweighs the short amount of time it feels good.

fortunately, this recent occurance wasn’t the case.  it’s been a long time since i’ve been involved in any of that.  however, it’s natural for men to have a release…a nocturnal emission, a wet dream.  it’s our body’s way of getting rid of extra semen.  if you regularly masturbate or have sex, you don’t have extra.  if you don’t, you will.  usually, the emissions are accompanied by dreams and/or erotic thoughts.

note:  still be mindful of those thoughts.  pay attention to what you’re taking in media wise, b/c what you’ve placed in your spirit could be surfacing.  i used to watch A LOT of stuff.  i haven’t found the prayer that erases all the images just yet.  when i do, i’ll sell it…i mean, i’ll you all know

there’s a natural way that god’s built into men to receive that sexual release that we need.  just enough to stop us from going crazy.  we don’t have to take the matter into our own hands (pun intented).  knowing how good He is makes me continue the fight to stay pure even more.  He loves me…and He understands and wants to fulfill ALL (yes, even the sexual) needs in His pure and good way.

with clean hands,

dell

Magazine…

i couldn’t resist.

dang.

as i walked through the asile of the store waiting for my friend to arrive, my eyes began to roll throught the magazine section.  i always liked books; reading was never a struggle for me. 

unfortunately, sexual sin in the past was a struggle for me.  sorry, not a struggle, a failure.  struggle means that some sort of resistance was a work…for years there was none.  just loss after loss.  the cycle’s finally been broken though, and it’s been broken for a while.  praise god for that.

i picked up a magazine and began to read it.  i skirted through the articles and came across one of those “how to make your woman happy in bed articles.”  i read a few paragraphs.  it was a few paragraphs too many. 

despite all the growth, all the changes, it was still a little too much.  i felt like a total failure after i read it.  i was tired, and had been for a couple of weeks.  i’m always the most vulnerable when i’m exhausted or angry.  i’m not married.  i don’t need to know how to have better sex. 

i repented, and suddenly the Lord showed me that I shouldn’t look at it as a failure.  i saw the growth that was evident in me.  if it were a while ago, i would’ve never put that book down.  then, i would’ve been fighting temptations until i fell…sorry, until i gave in.

as far as i’ve come, there’s farther to go.  sexual purity is a reality in my life…and it must become one in the lives of those around me.  my personal breakthrough will become the breakthrough of those around me…my purity isn’t for me…it’s for Jesus and for you.

again, if you see those tags down there, dont’ be upset.  hopefully someone that looking for those things will find this instead.

Dell’s Theology…

i was talking to my old friend kimo yesterday.  it was nice.  haven’t talked to him in a while.  he’s currently in seminary, and i want to go to divinity school, so we started talking about that.  i stated that i tend to convulse when i consider the thought of becoming a theologian.  kimo said that in one of his classes, he learned that we are all theologians.  we either actively demonstrate what we believe about god, or we demonstrate our believes based on our inactivity. 

the thought was intriguing.  so i thought, “what is my personal theology?”  more importantly, what is my theology about Jesus.  many people believe in Jesus, but what you believe and actively walk out is the most important thing.  so, this entry will be devoted to a piece of what i’d like to call, “Dell’s Theology.”  as you’ll see, it’s vital that my theology, to the best of my ability, revolve around scripture.

Bedrock #3:  God is Good

this is really the corner stone of everything for me.  god is good…all the time.  scripture affirms it very openly in Naham 1:7 by stating that “god is good.”  very few would disagree.  i mean, he did create grass, starbucks, and all the other things we (i) treasure.  but i believe that you have to get specific about the goodness of god.  how do i see His goodness in every day life?

in my personal study of the word and experience w/god, here’s my specific view of the goodness of god.  god=good; devil=bad.  if it’s good…god did it.  if it’s bad, it’s not Him.  now, i understand how simple minded that sounds, and my words may not have done it justice, so let me further explain.  in john 14, Jesus fussed thomas out for asking to see the Father because Jesus Himself was showing them the Father.  hebrews 1:3 states that Jesus is “the exact representation” of the Father’s glory.  so, i base my actions on what i see in Jesus’ life in the gospels.  since jesus only did what He saw the Father doing (John 5:19), all the good stuff that Jesus did wasn’t even His idea, it was the Father’s.

So, riddle me this…

Would Jesus give you Cancer?

Does Jesus kill people to get there attention?

Nope.  I don’t believe so.  jesus never did that.  does Jesus discipline? absolutely.  the same Christ that healed all those sick people is the same one that made a whip and cleared the temple.  however, i believe because of our lack of understanding, we confuse discipline with the effects of living in a fallen world that’s begging for the touch of God. 

that point of view poses a challenge.  if god is good, then why does He just take all the bad stuff away?  why doesn’t every person i pray for receive healing?  i’ve learned that i don’t need to have an answer for everything.  if i get it in the process of submission to his will, then so be it.  all i can say is that god’s good, the world’s a mess…i suffered a loss.  jesus suffered a loss.  john, his cousin, was murdered.  how ironic that jesus was the one that came to set people free, to die for people’s sins, and the one that preached about him first was thrown in prision and died on account of Him.  pretty contractory.

yeah, i think i rambled some.   but the goodness of god is a vital thing to understand.  it makes the love of god a personal thing instead of some abstract concept. 

questions?  ask away.

Lakeland

So…have you heard about what’s going on in Lakeland?

There’s been an outpouring in Lakeland, Florida for over three months now.  It’s being led by Todd Bentley, an evangelist from Canada. 

Now, if you look at a picture of him, clearly he doesn’t match your normal thought of a preacher.  He has tatoos and piercings.   When he prays for people, he sometimes yells “BAM!”  Sometimes the things that he talks about sound more like a Final Fantasy side quest than biblical truth.

But guest what?

Look at the fruit.  People are being healing.  Most importantly, people are being saved.  I would provide the stats here, but leave that to you all to do.  There’s documented facts on all of this.

I’m interested in things like this because my ministry could come under the same scrutiny.  I make it my business to allow the Lord to do exactly what He wants when I minister.  God actually likes restoring things.  He makes all things new.

But what do you think?  I encourage you to read and learn about the cool things that God is doing all over the earth. 

 

The Reason For Miracles

Annoyed at the propsect of the person limping around with a bad knee, I typed back to them, “I don’t like it when knees are hurt.  Jesus heals knees.  Can I pray for you?”

The person said that I could, and I proceeded to type the command over the internet.  After a pause, they responded with an “OMG” and began to testify how their knee was almost back to normal.  As we chatted a little more, the knee in question began to get even better.  Jesus likes healing knees.  In fact, He’s very interested in your knees because He said that “every knee shall bow” to Him [insert studio audience laughter here].

This is reality, Christ’s reality.  Jesus still heals, and He still does miracles.  As the writer of Hebrews declares, Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  It’s an awesome thing to watch God be God.  I can testify that I witness the Lord healing or restoring something on a somewhat regular basis.  Probably once or twice a month.  I’m praying for it to be everyday, numerous times a day.

It’s vital that believers are able to demonstrate the reality of God’s kingdom in everyday life to everyday people.  Why?  Because that’s what Jesus did, and that’s what He taught His disciples to do.   Power is the distingusishing mark that gives weight to the good news.  It does matter what we tell the world, but it makes more that we back it up with.

So, to make my thoughts legal, let me present some biblical examples.  In Exodus, God charged Moses to openly display the power of God to confront Pharoah.  The goal was to prove God’s sumpremacy to Pharoah so that he’d let God’s people go.  The enemy had power as well.  Pharoah’s magicians were able to reproduce the miracles that Moses performed…but only to a point.  It came a point when the power of God  was shown to have no equal, and Pharoah had to loosen his grip on God’s people.  The result was the instantaeous release of over one million people as a result of God manifesting His power.

When Jesus comes onto the scene, we see Him begin the New Testament parallel of the same event:  openly displaying the power of God to release God’s chosen people.  This time, however, the charge to display God’s power wasn’t just in Jesus’ hands, but in the hands of all that followed Him (read John 14:10-12).  And the point wasn’t just to free one group of people, but the entire world.  Lastly, Jesus didn’t display the power of God to plague people, but to show the love and compassion of the Father to a dying world. 

The word says that Jesus was manifested to “destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8).  Jesus didn’t come bearing a plauge; but He used the power His Father gave Him to dispell them.  The works of the devil are disease, torment, broken families, and all the other plagues that haunt mankind.  This truth tells us that the display of power through Jesus’ life was intended to reveal one of the main intents of all of scripture:  God’s intense fiery, love for His most prized creation:  man.  Whatever God loves is a target for His power and presence. 

What do miracles sound like?  They sound like breaking chains.  Every believer is destined to experience their Father’s power and give the people around access to His goodness.   Do you need a change in your life?  Ask God to show you His power today.  Have you already experienced His power in your life?  Open the door for someone else to.

Gun In The Holster.

i was reading an article on this new website i found called boundless.org.  it has really some really good information on here for singles.  since i currently am single and eventually want to be married, i figured that i would check it out.

the article is about why premartial sex is a bad idea.  i mean, most christians would agree that it’s wrong.  but we often have trouble locking down the specific reasons why you should keep your gun in the holster.  personally, it makes it difficult to obey something if i don’t see the immediate relevance for me.  i think a lot of people can relate to that.  and since that’s the case let me give you some free advice…

GROW UP.  if you have that mindset you’ll ultimately walk into a trap.  if someone trustworthy tells you something, you should listen because it’s ultimately for your benefit.  now, all people don’t care for you, so i’m not saying to blindly trust people. however, God’s concern and love for us is totally pure.  our inability to take Him at His word isn’t a show of our independence, but our lack of knowledge and trust in our Father.

anyways, here are some of the reasons why the article said that you should wait until marriage to have sex:

“Couples who engage in sex before marriage are far more likely to divorce. According to a study by the National Survey of Family Growth, women who have the kind of sexual experience Hax advocates — the premarital kind — increase their odds of divorce by about 60 percent. It is, McManus notes, “secular evidence for St. Paul’s injunction, “flee fornication.”   (Dell’s dish:  me no likey divorce.  it’s too expensive.)

and here’s my favorite!!!

People who have premarital sex run the chance of marrying someone who’s not right for them. Why? Because sexual intimacy can be emotionally blinding: it makes couples feel closer than they really are. “Real love,” McManus says, “can stand the test of time without physical intimacy. The sexually active lose objectivity.”

God, Father, Jesus on the Throne!  i think this speaks volumes.  sex is the ultimate spiritual glue.  it’s suppose to unite two people together for life.  unfortunately, it does that whether you’re in God’s will or not.  it’s like tape.  it sticks to whatever it’s placed on.

i honestly believe that sexual immortality clouds your judgement.  it’s compromise, and compromise is cancer to a christian.  left unchecked, compromise will bring your whole house down.  maybe i’ll get into that on another note.

speaking as someone who’s yet to engage in sexual intercourse, it inspires me to stay pure.  imagine all the heartache!  the drama!  living for the moment in that way will make me suffer for days and days to come.  not worth it.  the safest place in the kingdom is radical obedience, right on the front lines.  that’s why there’s no armor on your back in Ephesians 6; the fight isn’t behind you but in front of you.  we’re just too caught up in our past to look forward, rendering us ineffective to advance the kingdom.

now, if you’re already had sex, God is good.  read 2 corinthians 5:17.  if ANY man (that includes people that have had sex before) be in Christ, he is a new creature (an entirely new person altogether), old things are passed away (your current lifestyle and the bondages that come with it), behold, all things are become new (insert newness here).  dive into Christ and experience His freedom!

Sidenote:  what topics/questions do you all have?  i love addressing stuff.  so, send me a message if you have a particular question.  it’ll find it’s way into a post eventually. 

chow.