Welcome to Nolan's World

Fear or Enjoy, You Choose

"CLICK!"

That is the moment of commitment in the world of roller coasters.  Once that harness or bar that holds you in comes down and "clicks," your options become very limited--you can scream like a little boy or girl, hide your eyes, pray for it to stop, or...

you can realize that it's what you signed up for the minute you heard the harness click, and just enjoy the ride.

  

One of the things I have been reminded of this week is that we "sign up" to lose control when we follow Christ.  When we say, "You are Lord," we have allowed the harness to "click"and the ride of a lifetime awaits us.

It will often be terrifying, make us feel a little queasy, and at times we will all want to scream, "Please, just let me off this thing!!!"  

I wonder how sick Jesus is of the fact that so many of us try to turn the Christian life into a kiddie ride with no thrills, chills, or dangers? 

 

When you look at the Scriptures, do you see a safe ride for the those who chased after Jesus???

  

If you signed up to be a Christ-follower, you have two choices: 

stay terrified (Exhibit "A")

 

or

 embrace and enjoy the ride (Exhibit "B")!

 

What is your choice???

May you find exhilaration as you follow Christ into the darkest places to proclaim the light of His Love.  Fear is momentary and the fact that the Holy Spirit is with us ALWAYS should put our nerves at ease even the scariest times.  Embrace a life that may take you into circumstances that just may terrify you...that may very well be EXACTLY where God wants you!

If a life of adventure is too much for you, don't follow Christ...just stick to the kiddie rides!

How Big Is Your Faith?

I have been thinking quite a bit about how Jesus compared faith to the size of a mustard seed: "I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, `Move from here to there,' and it would move. Nothing would be impossible."--Matthew 17:20 (NLT)

The lesson I am learning: The size of our faith is connected in direct proportion to our view of how big God is.  Small God=Little Faith.  Big God="Nothing is impossible with God"-sized Faith.

Could your world use a dose of Big God "Nothing is impossible with God"-sized faith??? 

I love the term that I first heard from Craig Groeschel--Practical Atheist!  It takes virtually no faith be be a practical atheist because you pray to God, but you live like the weight of the world rests on your own shoulders.  Sound familiar, oh follower of Christ?

How many of us can 'fess up and say we have lived like that at least once this week (if not today)?

I WANT to trust that God can do exactly what He says--the "otherwise" impossible!!!  I can only see Him show up in that way when I allow Him the opportunity to use life in a way that may terrify me!  I desperately long to have a heart of faith that reflects back my view of a Gigantic, Unstoppable GOD!

How big is your faith?

 

Stunned and Saddened

Hands down, Steve McNair was the epitome of greatness on the football field.  It didn't matter how beat up he was, he always gave you the best.  The word "warrior" is used a great deal for football players; in my mind, Steve McNair embodied that definition.  If the ball was in his hands, you always felt like you had a shot at winning.  

I am stunned and saddened by his tragic death.  I will proudly wear my number 9 jersey this year for Titans games.  

If Today Was Your Last Day

I have not been able to get this song out of my head over the last few days!  Today is a gift from God...what we do with that time could be our gift back to Him.  This is an anthem worthy of living out.  Enjoy...

Tick Tock, Tick Tock

You crossed over a significant threshold today at noon, whether you realized it or not.  At that time, you began the SECOND HALF of 2009!!!

Time is FLYING!!!

Half of another year has come and gone...

...how did you use your time?

...who did you impact?

...what did you accomplish?

...did you make a difference?

and the granddaddy question of all:

...how will I make the most of the second half of 2009???

Make a plan to make a difference...don't let time slip through your fingers without using it as an opportunity to make a mark on someone's world for God's glory!

FINISH WELL!!!

My Biggest Life Change Commitment

Been writing alot about what is going on with my changes physically...I wanted to tell you today about the biggest lifestyle change I made this year.

I began on a journey to read the Bible cover to cover...and it has been the best decision I made all year.

Starting on January 1, I began following the One Year Bible Reading Plan laid out in this pdf.  Following this plan will take you through the entire Bible once in a year and through the New Testament twice.  Some of you are saying, "That's great, but it's too late for me...I missed your boat...maybe I can jump on in January."

Please don't wait until January to do what you ought to be doing today.  My Bible reading is a lifeline where I tune out what I want to say to God and allow Him to speak directly to me through His Revealed Word.  Even though I have read through the Bible before, there are passages that are allowing me to see God's greatness in a completely different light through practicing this spiritual discipline of hearing and digesting His Word.

Tomorrow is a great on-ramp for you if you don't already have a Bible reading plan.  Download the pdf and start reading ONLY from Column 3.  If you do this everyday between July 2 and December 31, you will have read the entire New Testamant in six months.  

No excuses.  If we have time to watch tv and exercise, have time to read the Bible.  Make this happen.  

As powerful as exercising and healthy eating has been for me, I know that personally it is because of my deeper spiritual connection to my Heavenly Father that I have the strength to make those changes.  

Take the challenge.  Get in the Word.  

Anybody with me???

Bueller?  Bueller?  Frye?  Frye?  :)

Things Christians Don't Have to Pray About

Christians so often use prayer as a crutch.  I know I have.  We say we want God to make things so crystal clear that we don't miss His will; what many of us are saying when we say this: God you do all the heavy lifting and make what I want to happen be what happens.  God, so many times, has made His will abundantly clear, but we are petrified to take that first step.  So we wait...and pray.

Can we continue to call ourselves people of faith if we are not willing to take even one step in the dark?

There are several things I thought of that you and I should be doing as Christians that we don't even need to pray about.

Things Christians Don't Have to Pray About:

1. Following God even in the dark.  You signed up for it the minute you became His follower.
2. Giving your family your very best.   Love them above all else.  Serve them.  Make eternal memories with them.
3. Being a person of integrity.  
4. Working hard at your job (even when you don't really like your job). 
5. Having friends who don't know Jesus!  You should have them.  A relationship with the lost world will break your heart and change your walk with Christ in a good way.  Stop praying about it.  Find a lost person and start loving on them.  Seriously, pastor friends, you probably need this message the most.    
6. Helping the poor every chance you get.  We are so blessed.  We have no excuse for not being a blessing.  
7. Forgiving the people who have really hurt you.  It's the right thing to do, but wow, it is so hard.  I am processing through this one right now.  If we want Jesus to forgive us fully, shouldn't we do the same for others? 
8. Setting boundaries to protect your marriage and family.  Not doing this is a sign of immaturity and stupidity.  Build high moral fences!  If you value your spouse and family, you WILL do this!  
9. Gathering a handful of wise friends who will help you on your spiritual journey.  You should do this.  Stop living as the lone ranger and find yourself some super friends (okay, that sounded a little cheesy, but I like it, and I am leaving it). 
10. Thanking God for the current trial facing you.  If we can't praise God through the tough times, we have missed the point of HIs greatness and sovereignty! 

Fresh New Start Report, June 29

Weigh-in Report: As of today, I have lost 28 lbs!!!!  This journey started 4 weeks ago...I need to lose 22 more lbs. in the next 2 1/2 months to make my original goal of 50 lbs. lost by September 15.  Depending on how this month goes, I may modify my plan and add another 10 lbs. into the 9-15 goal.

Exercise Report:  Exercise has been amped up to an hour a day six days a week.  I found out you can burn a ton of calories vigorously treading water.  Almost two weeks ago, I overdid a walk/run and was confined to pool work until yesterday, but I can tell that the pool work has really helped my walking and running.  I ran over 20 minutes on the treadmill this morning, in fact I ran a 12 minute mile and then later did another half mile in six minutes.  FOUR WEEKS AGO I WAS WATCHING THE BIGGEST LOSER AND EATING ICE CREAM AND CHEETOS!  What a difference a month can make!!!

Food Report:  Still drinking lots of water and keeping the food journal; we are on a planned "break" since we are out of town and have eaten real food the last couple of days.  Yes, Cheesecake Factory was really good, but I couldn't eat nearly as much of my meal as I could have a month ago.  To be honest, I am looking forward to being back home and getting back into my routine.

"Sacrifices": I don't know everything going on w/ Jon and Kate.  I finally finished a book that i have been trying to read for a month.  I started another that I have a commitment to blog about on July 21.  I don't know everything going on in the sports world, but football doesn't gear up until September so we are going to get caught up when it matters more.  On the flip side, I have been listening to some really great music when I work out!

Benefits:  I am really enjoying eating veggies...until recently, I used to think that bacon was my favorite vegetable, but I love any vegetable that I can put in a salad or grill.  My body went through the rigors of a busy week (60 hours of work) but I MADE myself exercise, and I did not stress-eat, in fact, when I was stressed I wanted to exercise, not eat!!!  What is happening to me???

Fun Finds: Yoplait Thick and Creamy Fat Free Yogurt, Individual Microwave bags of popcorn (100 calories each)

Reward: I mentioned our Cheesecake Factory celebration.  We also had a Father's Day dinner at one of my favorite restaurants that is not calorie friendly.  I also purchased quite a few new workout songs on iTunes to keep me burning up calories.

IT'S NOT TOO LATE: Make today the day that you change your life!  Take that first step that scares the daylights out of you.  28 days ago I was eating Cheetos and laying on the couch watching tv, praying for a change.  28 days later, I am living proof that change CAN happen, but you have to MAKE IT happen!  My mind is so much clearer, my self-image is improving, and my clothes are fitting much better (in fact, several things are getting to baggy).  I was actually watching a P 90 X infomercial while working out at 5 AM yesterday and thinking, "I could do that if I want to."  A month ago, that thought would have never popped in my mind!  When I was running this morning with relative ease, I visualized myself crossing that half-marathon line in December.
Your dreams CAN become reality!  Make that first step of life-change that terrifies you.  What's the worst that could happen???  MAKE A CHANGE TODAY!!!

Take that first step today!  Let me know how I can pray for you in a comment or an email.

When 2 Jobs Aren't Enough...

Sorry, if the blog has been a little quiet, but life got really interesting last week.  I was approached by a church in our town about the possibility of doing a project with them.  They are opening a new building in a little under two months and asked me to be the point-man for getting their coffee cafe up and running.  After double-checking to make sure this would not be considered a "conflict of interest" with my current coffee ninja barista job, I whole-heartedly agreed (I LOVE start-up projects AND any profit will go toward missional efforts world-wide, another thing I LOVE)!

So, I am going to be "tri-vocational" for the next twelve weeks.  Yes, I am still going to make time for my family and for exercise.  Yes, my schedule at Starbucks and Papa John's will be cut back quite a bit to make everything work.  Yes, my tv watching and leisure reading will unfortunately be severely impacted...as well as twitter time, facebook, and at least for most of this week, blogging. :(

Prayers would be appreciated for this week in particular; this is my last week "full-time" at Starbucks (38.5 hrs.) and I need to work as close to 20 hours as I can at my new job.  I also deliver pizzas one night this week.  Oh, and I am preaching in Alabama on Sunday.  A little more study time would be nice (although things are coming together early, praise the Lord).

It's going to be crazy, but I am super-excited about some of the amazing things God is already doing through this transition time!  

More on that next week.

Hope your week will be eventful...I am guessing mine will be!!!

Just How Valuable You Are...

“You weren’t an accident. You weren’t mass produced. You aren’t an assembly-line product. You were deliberately planned, specifically gifted, and lovingly positioned on the Earth by the Master Craftsman.”--Max Lucado

Glorify your Maker by being uniquely you today!