I'm a Failure

Everyone has failed at something in their lives.We do not like to admit that we have failed in some way. To admit failure is to admit weakness. We do not like to admit weakness because it means that we are flawed in some way. What we need to understand is we are flawed and apart from the grace of God there is nothing we can do about it.

I want to share the story of someone in the bible whose character was full of failures and yet Christ changed him by the power of the Holy Spirit. Through the power of the Holy Spirit he became a mighty spiritual warrior.I want to share with you the story of Peter.

Peter was a man of absolute surrender. When Christ told Peter to launch his boat into the deep waters and let down his net, Peter never protested. Although they had been fishing all night and had not caught anything, Peter responded "At thy word, I will let down the net."When Jesus said "Come follow me." Peter left his boats, his family, and his hometown without question.

Peter was a man of spiritual insight. When Christ asked "Whom do you say I am?" Peter replied " Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God." Jesus made Peter aware that this great revelation had not be revealed to him by flesh and blood but by His Father in Heaven.

So how could someone who was so obedient and with such great spiritual insight fail? The answer is simple; Peter was also a man of self will. When Christ revealed to His disciples that He was going to suffer greatly at the hands of the Jewish religious leaders Peter said "Be it far from thee, Lord; this shall not be unto thee." Christ immediately rebuked Peter. "Get thee behind me Satan; for thou savorest not the things of God, but those that be of man."This was Peter in his self will, Peter trusting in his own wisdom. Peter had left his boats and his home but not his old self.He was allowing self to come between him and his Lord.

We may be the most earnest, godly believer, but we still struggle with the flesh. We struggle with living the self-life. When we fail we become utterly ashamed of our actions and fall broken before God.

In Matthew 26:29-35 we see Peter make a bold proclamation.Jesus reveals to the disciples that they will flee from Him when He is arrested. Peter proclaims "Though all will be offended because of you, I will never be offended. Jesus tells Peter that before the rooster crows in the morning hour, Peter would deny Him three times. Peter again proclaims "Though I would die, I will not deny you." We all make rash proclamations in our lives without thinking of the consequences of our words. We must never speak rashly of our faith without understanding our need for God's strength to accomplish what we speak of.

The story continues in Matthew 26:36-40. We see the reason for Peter's failure. They go to the garden of Gethsemene where Jesus asks Peter, James and John to watch while He goes a little further to pray. The disciples fall asleep while Jesus prays. Jesus reminds them of the importance of prayer, watching and being prepared. It is so they do not enter into temptation.

When Jesus is arrested the disciples flee. They were not ready for what occurs. Peter and the other disciples failed to pray. They failed to prepare. We must understand that we do not wait until we are in the middle of a crisis to pray but pray for strength to face any crisis that may come our way.

We see Peters failure in Matthew 26:58, 69-75. Peter follows Jesus at a distance. Many of us want to follow Jesus at a distance in order that we might not be easily associated with Him. Once in the courtyard, Peter faces great temptation. When confronted with his relationship with Christ, Peter, the one who said; "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God," said "I do not know the man." He takes it a step further with the third denial. He began to curse and swear; "I know not the man." We are told in Luke 223:61 that the cock crowed and Jesus looked into the face of Peter. Peter remembered Jesus' words and went out and wept bitterly.Sin is betrayal. When we rebel, we sin against God.

Peter had followed Christ for three years. he was a part of the inner circle.How could he commit this great act ofdenial? Peter was overconfident;"I will not deny you." Peter was SELF CONFIDENT.Peter was prayerless. When he should have been vigilant, he was negiligent. We all fail spiritually when we forget the most important part of our spiritual walk and that is our relationship with Christ.

Now we see Peter's repentance. He wept bitterly over his denial. He wept because in his heart the Lord was gone. He wept because his hope was gone. We can only imagine the depths of humiliation and despair Peter sank into. When we fail, we run from God. We cannot face Him. We have no desire to look upon His disappointed face and admit our sin. Like Adam and Eve we hide from Him. The good news is the Lord seeks us out.

John 21:14-17 tells us of Jeuus' third appearence to the disciples after His ressurection. Peter must have been ashamed to face his master. He had denied his Lord in the face of opposition. He had turned from his Lord for fear of what man might do. Now Peter is given a second chance.

Jesus asks Peter " Do you love me?' Peter replies "you know I do Lord." Jeus replies; "Then feed my sheep." Jeus forgave Peter and entrusted him with His flock. Now Peter was prepared for deliverance from self.

Peter became a great preacher, a great leader in the church and an obedient and faithful servant of God. We all fail spiritually. The key to recovery is to admit our failures and sincerely seek forgivenss from God. Look to His mercy and you will receive it. May God Bless You.              

Ghost Child

As most who read my blog may know, I am a School Resource Officer in the schools. SRO is just a fancy name for a police officer in the school. I have many jobs but I feel the most important job is simply being there for the kids. There are so many hurting kids in the world today. Kids I like to refer to as ghost kids. Kids who seem to get lost in the midst of the everyday hustle and bustle of life.

Some are very obvious. They are the one's who are usually by themselves, being targeted by other, more popular, students. They may be emo. They may be the "trouble makers." They may be the "nerds." They may be the "slow learners." there are many labels we place on them but they are simply kids who just don't seem to fit in with the "in crowd."

Then we have the kids who seemingly have it altogether. They are popular, involved in many activities, "well liked" by their parents and admired by many of the teachers. The problem is that nobody knows what they are going through. Mom and dad are to busy with their social lives, careers, or simply themselves to know what their kids are doing. So thge kids find outlets to help them vent their frustrations. Sadly many times the turn to drugs and alcohol for their relief.

Ghost kids are very visible but are not really seen. Teachers are to caught up in the "teaching game" to notice. Administrators are too busy with meetings to notice. The victims are the ghost kids. They cry out in their own ways for just a little attention. The 8th grade girl dresses provocativlely in order to gain any attention they can. There are those who cut to deaden the emotional pain. The so called popular kid wants to be known as the go to kid for a "good time."

My point is simply this we need to take time to know all of the kids in our schools, churches, neighborhoods, or wherever we may encounter them Look into their eyes. They will tell you their stories if you but see.

Souled Out

I was watching a movie titled To Save a Life. The movie centered around a young man who seemingly had everything  going his way. It had not always been that way. When he was a freshman in high school, he had one friend, a young black boy who had been his friend since kindergarten. The friendship was so strong that when they were still in elementary school the young black boy shoved him out of the way of an oncoming car and was hit by the car instead. The black boy was crippled for the rest of his life and walked with a pronounced limp. The young man went on to be a star athlete and one of the most popular kids at school while his friend became a target for the other kids. Things got so bad for the black boy that he committed suicide in front of his former friend.

The young man attends the funeral of his former friend and is befriended by the youth pastor who preached the black boy's funeral. As the movie progresses and the youth minister and this young man grow closer, we find that this popular young man does not live the idyllic life. His parents are on the verge of divorce, his girfriend is pregnant and he is tortured by the thoughts that he turned his back on his friend in his greatest hour of need. The young man begins to attend the youth minister's classes. The classes center around the theme Souled Out. We will talk about the rest of the movie later in the post.

I had wondered if \Souled Out was a fictional ministry or the real deal so I looked it up on the internet. It turns out that Souled Out is the real deal. Souled Out Youth Ministries was founded in 1993 as an interdenominational youth based organization in Chicago. It is now a worldwide ministry. The message is simple. God is faithful and His grace endures forever. This is based on Psalm 100:5.

What does it mean to be souled out? When you think about the term "sold out," you think of someone selling out their principles to accomplish what they desire but Souled Out means something completely different. Let us go to the book of Acts for a better understanding.  Acts 2 41 tells us that when the people heard Peter proclaim "Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost," the people gladly received his words and were baptized and 3000 souls were added to the church that day. This is not the end of the story. We must look at verse 42 to see what really took place.

The scripture tells us that the people continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine (teaching) and fellowship and in the breaking of bread and in prayers. We are also told that they sold their goods and gave to those in need, They worshipped daily in the Temple, shared fellowship meals from house to house and was continually praising God.

Once again I ask what does it mean to be Souled Out? When we are souled out God's Holy Word is the most important book in our lives. Communion is more than a ritualistic practice every Sunday, We long to fellowship with others of like mind spiritually. We communicate with our Heavenly Father frequently through prayer, not setting up a traditional time of prayer, but talking with God when we feel the need to share with Him We pray for family, friends, co workers, neighbors and yeas even those we may not love or even like..We look to the needs of our brethern and give God the praise for our success and our struggles for in all things God is with us.Souled Out means a total, uncompromising, commitment to our Heavenly Father and Creator. How I wish that we all fit into this category, but sadly no one comes close to being the committed, convicted, uncompromising servant that we should be.

Now for the rest of the story. The young man in the movie challenged the youth of the church to take their faith beyond the walls of the church. He accepted the responsibility of his girlfriend's pregnancy, he confronted his father regarding the way he treated his mother, he admitted his failure in not helping his friend when he was alone and in need  and finally he put everything secondary to following God, including the scholarship that he had longed for. My challenge to myself and whoever reads this blog is to be Souled Out in a very real way, in every sense of the word. May god bless you this week.

Cobwebs on the ceiling

Have you ever been in someone's home who was an immaculate housekeeper? You wander how someone could be so perfect and you find yourself looking for cobwebs on the ceiling. There are many people who live in immaculate homes with well manicured lawns and dress in a way that indicates that all is well.

What we need to understand is that all of us have spiritual cobwebs on our ceilings. Things that we need to work out with our heavenly Father. I would like to share some thoughts regarding what we need to do to clean our cobwebs off of the ceiling.

Start with cleaning our hearts. Draw close to God  and allow our hearts and bodies to be cleansed. David asked God to create in him a clean heart and to renew a right spirit in him..We need to have a heart in full assurance of faith.

We must clean our mouths inside and out.It is a cleansing from within as your thoughts are cleansed so shall your language be cleansed. I am not just talking about profanity but negative speech and pessimistic talk that contradicts the truth of God's Holy Word.

We must take out the garbage from our minds. Jesus described the Pharisee's as whitened scepluchres, clean on the outside but filled with corruption on the inside.We need to capture every thought and make it obedient to Christ and His ways.

Finally we need to clean out our spiritual closets.We need to confess our sins to our Lord and Savior and seek his power in overcoming our sins.

I hope this has been thought provoking and spiritually uplifting to you. May God richly bless each and everyone who work to clean their cobwebs off of the ceiling.

The myth of the student athlete

A principal receives a call from a parent regarding one of her son's classes. She conveys her concern to the principal over the fact that her son is failing this particular class. When you first hear this, the first thought is that this parent is doing the right thing. She is calling the principal to see what she can do at home to encourage her son to work harder in this class to achieve success. That is not the case.

The parent was calling the principal to ask that her son be removed from the class in order that he might not fail. She was concerned that if he failed the class, he would give up in his other classes and become ineligible to play football in the fall.Sadly there are many parents who are like this woman. Academics takes a back seat to sports. They want their children to be athletes first and foremost. In their minds sports is how their children will get into college. The reality is that very few athletes from this particular school go to college on a sports scholarship.

Most of the students who attend this particular school usually attend a local community college in order to get their grades to the point that they have a chance at getting into a four year college. Those who had success in sports at this particular school were simply "big fish in a liitle pond." They were successful at the level in which they played but did not have the athleticism to succeed at the next level.

Now before anyone thinks that I am pointing fingers solely at the parents or the athletes themselves, I would like to share a few thoughts about a system that sets student athletes up for failure. I attended high school from 1974 through 1978. The Virginia High School League at that point in time required a student athlete to maintain a C in all of their classes. There were seven class periods at that point in time. Also if a student athlete dropped below a C in any of their classes during the particular sports season they were participating in, they were ineligible to participate until their grade returned to a C.

These rules remained in place until the early eighties when parents from some of the larger schools began to complain because many of their children were ineligible because they would not try to keep up in the classroom. The Virginia High School League caved into the pressure and changed their standards. the student athletes were only required to maintain a passing grade which meant they could pass the class with the lowest possible D and still compete in sports. When many schools switched to block scheduling that meant that all they had to do was pass four classes with the lowest possible D to be eligible to play sports.

This was not good enough for many of the parents. they did not believe that their children should have to pass all of their classes in order to participate in sports. Once again the Virginia High School League caved into the pressure and changed the rules to accomaodate these parents. The new rules state that a student athlete is only required to pass three out of four classes with the lowest D possible.

The message being sent is that academics does not matter. Mediocrity in the classroom is becoming an acceptable standard. This would be bad enough but mediocrity does not end in the classroom. Once a student accepts a mediocre effort in the classroom it wont be long until he or she  accepts a mediocre effort in the particular sport in which they participate. This then carries over to every area of their life. What results is the school systems graduating students who are not ready to step out as adults and accept responsibility. They do not understand why they can't keep a job or they are passed over for promotions. They believe that it is the fault of their superiors.

What is the answer? I beleive that we must turn back the clock to a time when academics mattered. A time when parents supported the system that was in place and challenged their children to work to achieve success. Sports are very important in the development of a young person. They teach teamwork, cooperation, discipline and the need to do your best, not only in the particular sport but also in life. But when the sport takes precedence over everything else then we fail every student athlete that participates without expectations of responsible actions.

Who is responsible for their children's behavior?

Recently a special friend of mine told me that an individual in their church blamed the government for our children's behavior. This is not a new mindset. Many believe that the govenment, through our school systems brainwash our children into believing that their parents are idiots and that they should not have to listen to them or anyone one else in authority.

I would like to prove that myth wrong with a few examples that I have personally witnessed or read about. I am a School Resource Officer at Craig County Middle and High School. That simply means that I am a police officer in the school. Although I love my job and am glad that I have this job I still find it sad that we have came to a point in history that police officers have to be assigned to work in schools on a daily basis.

Why has it come to this? Is it the fault of the government? Is it the fault of the school systems? Is it the fault of the children themselves? I used to be one who blamed the government for everything. A kid goes out and shoots someone down in the street; the government brainwashed them into doing so by not censoring violent movies. A kid becomes a drug addict;the government did not do enough to educate them. A kid becomes pregnant; the government told them sexual promiscuity was ok.

Recently certain situations and events have drastically changed my mind. A teacher recently shared with me that a student told her taha the student's mother told her she did not have to listen to any teacher or anyone else in the school. She could do what she wanted. A school teacher in another county put his hand on a student's chest to prevent him from coming into his classroom due to the student's disruptive behavior. This young man's parents petitioned for charges of assault against the teacher.Thankfully common sense and sound reason prevailed and the charges were dismissed against the teacher.

This would have been a great lesson if the story ended there but the parents of this student have filed a civil lawsuit against the teacher and the school for causing their son emotional stress, embarassment and undue fear for his safety. They stated in the suit that their son has not been able to deal with the stress of being pointed out as a troublemaker in front of his classmates. What the lawsuit does'nt state is that their son  is a regular visitor to the principal's office for various unaccepatable behaviors.

I learned of a parent who came to the school to complain about her daughter being bullied by other students. This would have been a legitimate complaint if not for the fact that the student has missed over fifty days of school this year. The parent blamed the abscences on her daughter's fear of coming to school.

Upon close examination of these few short examples I believe that we can safely conclude that one of the biggest contributions to student misbehavior and disrespect is the parents themselves. They have empowered their children by encouraging them to openly defy authority, defending them even when it is clear that they are in the wrong and making excuses for them when they refuse to grow up and deal with the daily pressures of life.

That being said, I would like to conclude by pointing a finger directly at the children themselves. There comes a time in the life of every human being when we must accept responsibility for our own actions and decisions. I know this flies against all that is politically correct but guess what it has been like thsis throughout history and it will never change.

Parents let your children grow up and quit crippling them mentally and emotionally. Children quit making excuses for your WRONG choices and accept the consequences for your WRONG actions. I think that you would see that life would be much better for evryone involved.

What's really important?

Recently I was in a car wreck. I suffered 3 broken ribs and cracked sternum and torn cartilage in my chest area. When I finally got to go look at my car, I realized how bad the wreck could have been. I also began to think about what is really important in life.

This year has been very stressful due to some people who did not like the way I did my job. They were constantly complaining about something regarding what my duties were as a School Resource Officer. One went as far as complaining to the Sheriff in an attempt to get me fired.I felt angry, frustrated and bitter because I have always believed that if you do your best, no matter what people do or say right will always overcome wrong.

I found out that is not always the case. I know that I don't always have the support that I feel I need and that some will believe anything they hear without facts. I also found out something else; true friends stick by you no matter what. What does this have to do with my car wreck? I am going to explain to you.

During my time of recovery I had plenty of time to think about what is important. I realize that I can only control my conduct and actions. No matter how badly I would like for people to change the way they are, I can't do anything about it. I also found out that the people that mind the way I am don't matter and the people who matter don't mind how I am.  I also realized that no matter how hard I may try I can't please everyone, even those who mean so much to me in my life.

I've also learned that life is more than jobs, careers and everyday tasks. There are times we must do the things we enjoy for our health, happiness and overall peace of mind.
My philosophy is serve God to the best of my ability and live life in a much simplier manner.