DNGILB: Trust me, I'm a doctor.

I feel that 98% of "Christians" do NOT really get how mind blowing Jesus really is. He is not "my homeboy"... he is the author of everything. He is master of everything, who humbled himself to enter his creation to redeem his creation. He was not created. He has never not been. He has ALWAYS been. he exists outside of time and matter. He loves an lives within me. A few years ago, I was exhausted emotionally and spiritually. Life, harder than ever fathomed it could be. I was ready to leave this world. Flying to vacations, I secretly hoped the plane would crash. From this place of exhaustion, pain, and destitution came help from a Jesus I claimed to know since I was a child... Claimed to follow. I claimed him to be Lord of my life. But he was not. I had not chosen to follow him. Not whole heartedly. My will opposed submission to his... Whatever it might be. When I reached a low point of personal exhaustion, I threw my hands up and said, "okay, I'll do i

What made today different? I don't know. But instead of moving through the day with hope and peace... I just felt angry and hopeless. I hurt. I felt like saying "Screw you God! What are you waiting on?! I'm just going to gratify myself in whatever the hell I want because you obviously aren't going to do anything for me!" After this tantrum passed, I resolved to not do all the crap my sinful nature wanted to do. I love my wife and I want to honor her. I love my God... the very one who I was blaming for not showing up. So, I diverted my evil and prayed. Then I basically just fell into some self-pity and depression. I sent out a text asking for some prayer. God seemed so silent and distant. My wife felt the same. She felt resolved to a belief that God had bad plans for her... And was taunting her with hopes and dreams... So he could defeat her. It made no logical sense, but the feelings were overwhelming. So, I acknowledge her feelings. I empathized with her.

We were flying back from California... Climbing in altitude. Passing through dense clouds. Visibility five feet. Peaceful. I love the ascent. I love the feeling of sinking back into the seat from the G-force.  Suddenly a loud crack. Flash of light right out of the engine! My heart races. The first thought through my mind, "ENGINE IS OUT! WE'RE GOING DOWN! This is it... I'm going to die!" A few seconds, it dawned on me. It was lighting. I am alive. David

True love is what you have for another person.  1 Corinthians 13:5 says, “[love] is not self-seeking.”  When most people say, “I miss you,” I feel like they are actually saying, “I feel lonely, and I want you here so you can make me feel better.” That is NOT true love. That is self-seeking.  If I were to tell you that I miss you, it could be conveying that I feel lonely, unloved, abandoned, bored, unfulfilled… and it’s your responsibility to make me feel better. You can even take it a step further and assume that I am blaming your absence for my negative feelings. This would be a guilt tactic and it is the opposite of love. I plan on trying to avoid that phrase. Instead, I will say, “I look forward to seeing you.” It takes the negativity out of the communication. If I have “true love” for you… I look forward to seeing you so that I can love ON YOU, serve YOU, make YOU feel better. That is the opposite of self-seeking. That is serving, much the way Jesus served the people he lov

I made this with the infamous Brian Franklin. It was a lot of fun, and I think it turned out pretty well. The Pour-Over Coffee Brewing Method (pourover) from DoubleShot Coffee Company on Vimeo .

It had been a difficult few weeks for my wife. First a really potent upper respiratory virus. After that finally cleared, there was what seemed to be a recurrence of C. diff and with it, an increase in abdominal pain and nausea. Couple that with pretty bad migraines almost daily. Oh, and for no apparent reason her left wrist swelled up and was exquisitely painful to the point she couldn't use her left arm at all! She felt "why me?!" But I saw her holding on to faith that God still has a good plan... for a little while. The final blow came in the form of good news of a friend becoming pregnant. While this is good, it was like a spotlight on my wife's fear that God did not have a family in the plans for her. With the news she felt defeated. Unloved by God. The lingering doubts about God's love for her just blossomed into something crushingly large. I lovingly tried to confront this quick change of belief, but she confirmed. She no longer believed God loved her.