Breaking the addiction …

Looks good … doesn’t it!  I think it does.  Unfortunately, I think it looks TOO good.  You see, I was in the habit of drinking 5 or more cups of coffee a day.  You may not think that is much until I tell you that my cup is a 24 oz. Dunkin’ Donuts coffee mug.  That’s a lot of coffee!

The problem with my coffee drinking is that it controlled me.  Not to mention the effects it has on me physically – raises my blood pressure, keeps me awake at night, and it messes with my stomach.  I mentioned how it affects my blood pressure to a professor where I go to school, and he asked “why would you continue to do something that is obviously causing you harm?”  At first, I just blew that off … but then, I asked myself, “why ARE you doing something that is obviously causing you harm?”  And the only answer is the addiction.  I have to have it!  It affects the outcome of my day!  It gets me going in the morning!  It is my juice of life!  But then … we start thinking about that whole “who’s your master” thing.

Matthew 6:24 (NLT)
No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

While this verse speaks of money, it is true for anything that has mastery over you.  You CAN NOT have two masters … period!  That means money, coffee, sodas, cigarettes, tobacco, soap operas, reality TV shows, TV in general, eating, and on and on.

But since mine is coffee, I want to speak a little more on that.

Who can guess what this is???

If you said caffeine, you are correct!  This is a caffeine molecule and it’s logical diagram.  My problem is caffeine.  Yes, there are studies that say caffeine is good for you.  People are all the time telling me that one.  And they are partaking in caffeine BECAUSE it is good for them.  But guess what … EXERCISE is good for you too.  And those same people will not exercise.  The point I am trying to make is let’s not make excuses for the things in our lives that have mastery over us.

So … I’m trying to quit.  Today is my 4th day without caffeine.  The withdrawal symptoms are heavy upon me.  Fortunately, I don’t get head aches … but I do get constipated (sorry for having to share that), I have a lack of appetite (which is a big thing for me), and I am VERY fatigued.  I noticed it BIG TIME when I tried to go running today.  I am a runner.  Running 5 – 9 miles a day is something that I’ve grown to enjoy.  I was shooting for 6 miles today.  I made it 5 minutes.  I have never felt so drained in my entire life.

It almost made me want to get a cup of coffee. 

So … how do we overcome?

By daily being filled with God’s Holy Spirit and allowing Him to work in us and through us.

 Ephesians 5:18 (NLT)
Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit

(While getting drunk is a no-no … drinking wine is not forbidden … so, focus on the last part of the verse.)

INSTEAD, BE FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT!

For me, I might be able to paraphrase this verse to say … Don’t be dependent upon coffee to keep you going.  Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit.

By immersing myself into God’s Word and praying to Him continuously (begin the morning in prayer, pray as you drive, pray when you feel weak, pray when you are bored).

In closing … I hope this has helped you.  And I also covet your prayers!

Go with God,
Donald B

Just a quick note …

Just in case you were looking for a next post from me, I wanted to let you know that I am still here.  The one thing I do not want to do is post something just for the heck of posting something.  Usually, I post because of a devotional thought that I’ve had or because of something God is doing in my life or teaching me.

 So … check back again later.  I’m sure I’ll have something to post about soon! 

 Go with God,
Donald B

New Year’s Resolutions

Originally posted in a previous blog on January 10, 2007.

What kind of resolutions have you set? Do they center on losing weight or getting into shape? Maybe you want to reduce your financial debt? Some will try to stop smoking. Others may want to cut back on sodas. Maybe you decided to get a little spiritual with it and you say “I want to be a better Christian” … or “I want to grow in my relationship with Christ.” Or maybe, the penultimate spiritual resolution … reading your Bible through in a year.

Let me first say that I believe all of these are admirable resolutions, and I too try a few of them each year. But I have recently been smacked in the face with something that should be pretty obvious to one who has been a Christian for more than a year … much less to one who has been a Christian for 26 years.

This smack in the face that I received came from a book I have been reading called Growing True Disciples by George Barna. Barna is the guy who does all of those religious polls that you find in other books when they say “1 out of 10 witness” or something like that. You can click the book image and purchase the book for yourself if you would like. Any way … in this book, Barna points out that when most Christians are asked what their main goal in life is, they do not respond with answers like “I want to be more like Christ” or “I want to be a true disciple of Christ” or “I want my life to be what Jesus wants it to be.” In fact, it seems that our life goals as Christians more reflect those of the secular world. We want to be able to retire when we are 50 or we want to be able to ensure we have enough money to carry us until we are dead or we want our kids to grow up not going to jail or anything like that.

So, the first thing I resolve to do is to answer questions about my life goals with “I want to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ.” I figure that if I say that, and I think about that then I will begin to do things that will take me in that direction. Will I be perfect at getting there? Not a chance. But I’m going to try. The book points out one more thing that we seem to not do as well. What does it take to be a “true disciple?” How do we get there? And there is the problem. Yes, I want to be a true disciple of Christ as I lay on my death bed many years from now (I hope). However, if I’m going to get there, I need to take active steps to point me in that direction.

Therefore, I have set a few goals for 2007. And I will encourage you to set some goals yourself … spiritual goals.
1 – I want to verbally witness to at least 7 people this year with the intent of having them respond to Christ’s invitation to eternal life
2 – I want to find 2 people that I can begin discipling on a consistent basis.
3 – Our church has a goal of seeing 20 people baptized this year. I would like for 1 of those people to be someone that I have had the privilege to lead to the Lord.

I dare you to actually write down some kind of goal like this. For some of you, this is cake walk … so take a few minutes to find that thing that scares you spiritually … and verbalize it.

Then, think about it everyday and pray to God for his help to accomplish these things.

Go with God,
Donald B

I Finished!!!

 Originally posted in a previous blog on October 24, 2006.

For those of you who prayed for me … I say thank you! My official Champion Chip time was 5:18:51. My clock time was 5:51 and some odd seconds. The clock time differs from the chip time because I crossed the actual start line about 30 minutes after the official start of the race. It takes 34,000 people a long time to get going.

I have already decided that I am going to run it again next year. And I would love it if you would commit to running it with me. I’ll provide my services to help you get ready — free of charge!

How did the race go?
Glad you asked. I maintained an 11 minute pace for most of the race. The 11 minute pace was forced upon me for the first 7 or 8 miles because of all the people. After that … it was just something that I liked. I had to make 2 portajohn stops. And again … because of all the people … the first one took 7 minutes and the second one took 6.5 minutes. About the 12 mile mark, I started to get tired. However, I was able to maintain my pace. It was at the 19 mile mark that my legs said, “ok now … we’re done.” It was here that it became a very mental race. I was able to convince myself to go 1 mile at a time by rewarding myself with short walks at each mile marker. The pace from here on out was about 15 – 17 minutes per mile. But when I hit mile marker 26, I got some juice from somewhere, and I sprinted up that hill across the finish line. Overall, it was one of the greatest experiences in my life.

How did Kristie do?
She ended up walking about 9 or 10 miles just trying to be a good spectator. When it was all over, I think she may have been a little sorer than me. Next year, there will be Marathon training … and spectator training.

Spiritual Thoughts …
First of all, I am always amazed at how everything seems to come with a spiritual analogy attached to it … as if God created it that way. (Of course He did!!!) And a Marathon is an easy event from which you can draw spiritual analogies. Quickly … from the actual event (compared to what God has called us to do), to the training (compared to God prepares us to accomplish His work), to the pace of the race ensuring we don’t over do things to early (compared to how we need to wait on God for His timing), to the problems such as legs shutting down (compared to the obstacles we will face in life), and overcome that and finishing strong. That probably was hard to read and not very quick … but there is a lot there.

Finally … again I say thank you! Thank you for your prayers, encouragement and support!

Go with God,
Donald B

Donald B … called by God to speak his word

My name is Donald and this is my first post on this blog.  My hope is that – over time – this blog can become a useful place of information regarding different aspects of the Christian life that you will be able to use for your own edification and study or as a source for a Bible study you may be leading or something to that effect.

I will be adding categories relevant to each topic in order to make this blog more useful.  If you ever see something inaccurate or a little off … just let me know through the comment section.

If you would like a little more info on me, check out my “Why I blog” page.

Go with God,
Donald B