The Long Way Up

A father plays a major role in the lives of his children. An understatement? An overstatement? Well, whichever your preference, it's a true statement; one that has been poorly heeded, greatly ignored, or severely missed out. Anyone can biologically sire a child -- we got a lot of that going on these days; but to be a father in every sense of the word is, for sure, such a tall order, which is why many men -- for several varying and valid reasons -- opt out of their responsibilities. One such responsibility inherent to the paternal role is the privilege of representing the Heavenly Father to his children. This wouldn't be much of a stretch if men, to begin with, had an existing relationship with their Father in Heaven growing up, and have spent their season of singleness practicing being God-conscious in whatever form of relationship they had with other people. But sadly, that isn't the case most of the time. So, whatever a man learns during his bachelorhood he usually carrie

When I was just a fledgling preacher/teacher speaking in front of lots of people from a pulpit,  printed or written down outlines were a necessity since I hadn't had a wealth of preaching experiences to draw from and speak out of. This is one of my earlier 'teaching' outlines that I used in our now defunct Saturday night service. - - - - - Text: 2 Chronicles 20:1-30 Jehoshaphat was the fourth king of Judah and the son of Asa. As one of David's descendants, he had a lifestyle of devotion to God, seeking God, crying out to God, and instructing people in the ways of God. 2 Chronicles 17:3-6, 18:4, 31, and 19:9, 10 give glimpses of this. Here are seven things we learn from Jehoshaphat's life, particularly during an impending war described in 2 Chronicles 20:1-30. 1. WAR WILL ALWAYS COME UPON YOU (v. 1-2) Life is a battlefield between two kingdoms -- the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of God. Whether you seek it or not, ask for it o

My life has it own set of ironies and conundrums that have left me scratching my head for a long time. Ironies like why a guy like me gets thrust into positions of leadership. I'm not naturally commanding as a person, and I don't ask much from people, which is the very reason I'm still wondering why I have been put in charge of certain leadership responsibilities in the last eight years of my life. In my estimation, there are other, more qualified people out there who'd fit the leadership mold far better than I ever could: individuals who are goal-oriented, results-oriented, program-oriented, or career-oriented; people who are dripping with so much charisma and authority that they'd have multitudes hanging on their every word and eating out of their hand; men and women who know every twist and turn of the whole "follow-my-lead" routine. And then there's people like me: people who always feel ill at ease when it comes to urging people to fall in