DAY 72

I like to start my day in the Word and then read a devotional or two. I thought I’d provide an entry for you from my most recent devotional, A Daily Encounter With God, on this, the 72nd day of the year.


But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ. —1 Corinthians 15:57

Any sin in our lives defeats. That’s just the nature of sin! Yet God never intended for His children to be defeated. His desire is that you walk in spiritual victory each day!

Yet one of the greatest barriers to experiencing that daily spiritual victory is hidden sin in our lives. Because not only will hidden sin zap you spiritually, it will drain you physically and emotionally. Not only will it diminish your witness, but it will also impact your relationship with those you love.

The Scripture even says that before God can hear our prayers, we must deal with the sin in our lives. David tells us this in Psalm 66:18 when he says, “If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.”

The only way to deal with sin in your life is to strike at it immediately, before it gets you in its grip. You must treat sin as ruthlessly as it will treat you! The moment you are aware that there is an unclean desire in your heart or evil thought in your mind, strike back at it in the power of God and the power of prayer.

Remember, there is no sin that God can’t forgive! No matter what you have done, God always forgives when we come to Him in true repentance. First John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

If there is something in your life that you are clinging to...be it a sinful habit or an ungodly attitude... my prayer is that you will deal with it and ask for true forgiveness. God is waiting with open arms to bring about a new beginning... a new hope in your life today!

GOD DESIRES THAT YOU WALK IN SPIRITUAL VICTORY EACH DAY!

Baseball, Burgers and Borinstein

Greetings from Surprise! It’s been a great couple of days here in sunny Arizona, watching my Rangers in spring training at beautiful Surprise Stadium, stopping by In-N-Out and enjoying one … or … two … or … three burgers, and spending time with a great friend, Bill Borinstein.

Bill, a former minister at Prestonwood, is now the senior pastor at Harvest Bible Chapel North Phoenix—a church plant of the great Chicago-area Harvest Bible Chapel led by my good friend James MacDonald. I was pleased to meet with Bill and some of the church leaders regarding everything that’s going on at this dynamic new church. At Prestonwood, we’ve been blessed to be able to help this young church with portable equipment that helps them set up for services each weekend.

Just speaking to them, you can sense the incredible excitement they feel about reaching this region for Christ. If you live in the Phoenix area, be sure to visit Harvest Bible Chapel. If you have friends or family who live there, encourage them to go check it out.

Well, the Rangers’ pitching is still Up-N-Down. But In-N-Out is as good as ever.

Pat Summerall: On and Off the Air

I had the privilege and honor of sitting and talking with the legendary Pat Summerall yesterday for PowerLunch, the weekly luncheon we host at Prestonwood that features a great lineup of guest speakers. It was just like sitting in my living room ... only we had more than 850 people there with us!

As a member of our church, I’m still caught by surprise when I hear that unforgettable signature voice of his in our hallways on a Sunday morning. That smooth baritone and great knowledge of sports, as a former professional football player and outstanding tennis and baseball player, led to an amazing broadcast career that spans four decades. He could tell a lot of stories—and believe me, I’ve heard many of them and they are unbelievable—but it’s the story of what God has done in his life that he loves telling most.

Click here to listen to our conversation, and please be sure to point others to this site whom you think would enjoy listening.

"The Rest of the Story"

Our nation lost one of its most trusted and respected broadcast voices with the passing of Paul Harvey on Saturday. The amazing thing about this radio legend was that in just a few minutes of daily airtime, he made millions of Americans feel like they knew him. He wasn’t just on the radio. He was a friend. I’ll personally miss that easily-recognizable voice telling an incredible story, then punctuating it with “And now you know ... the rest of the story.”

A great friend of Billy Graham’s and a true conservative voice, I thought it appropriate to include a prayer Paul Harvey aired on his program several times. Though attributed to Billy and others, it was actually authored by my good friend Bob Russell. Bob is the retired pastor of one of the great churches in the country, Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Ky.

Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, "Woe to those who call evil good” but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem. We have abused power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Amen!

MLB, Josh Hamilton and Me

Have I mentioned yet my new favorite channel on TV? MLB Network—every baseball fan’s dream station … all baseball all the time.

I get to watch classic games, games I remember watching as a boy, and get to see some of the greatest players of all-time looking back on their careers. (In fact, there was a great interview just the other day with Tommy John, the guy the famous pitching arm surgery was first performed on and named after.) And, now of course, there are spring training scores and highlights and in-depth features on each team.

And just last night, MLB aired a great piece on Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton and his amazing story ... from out-of-this-world prospect to cocaine addict, and by the grace and mercy of God, now one of the best players in the game.

As a kid, I always dreamed of making it to the MLB, being a five-tool talent like Josh. Well, last night I made it to the bigs. I was on the MLB Network! In the story about Josh, they included a clip of the two of us talking at PowerLunch here at Prestonwood last fall.

I’m sure I’ll see a lot more of Josh on MLB Network. As for me … not so much.

P.S. If you missed the MLB Network piece, it will re-air Wednesday, March 4, at noon. Set your DVR!

The Cody Novak Story

Every once in awhile, I open the newspaper and read a story that touches me deeply. What a blessing it was this morning to see a story about one of our own young men on the front page of the Dallas Morning News. Now, I knew the story was running but was pleasantly surprised to see it grace the front page.

The story is one of faith and strength and courage. It’s a story about a great love for the game of basketball, for teammates and most importantly for our great God. It’s the Cody Novak story.

Cody is a 17-year-old senior here at Prestonwood Christian Academy who is an outstanding athlete and a wonderful young man. While his PCA basketball teammates will be battling tonight to reach the TAPPS 5A state championship game tomorrow, Cody is battling something much bigger. He recently found out he has a very rare and aggressive cancer. I’ve known Cody and his family for many years, so it isn’t surprising to hear how he is dealing with this. He’s not scared. His God is greater than this, he says.

Cody’s story is the most e-mailed story in the past 24 hours at the Dallas Morning News. Countless will be blessed by a boy who’s not giving in or giving up but holding fast to his faith in Christ.

Click here to hear Cody interviewed by Greg Hill on KRLD-FM 105.3 The Fan.

Hope Springs Eternal

For fans of the great game of baseball, nothing matches the hope of spring, when no one languishes in last place and everybody can dream of the World Series. If you’re a fan, you know what I’m talking about and you know that today is the official start of Spring Training, when all players report. And it’s always a great day (even though the game has been tainted as of late).

No matter which team you follow, the anticipation leading up to Opening Day (47 days away) makes every fan a school kid again. And, really, baseball is a lot like life—filled with ups and downs, victories and defeats. Sometimes our hopes are swept away by a Mariano Rivera cutter and sometimes our joy soars on a Josh Hamilton walk-off homer in extra innings.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Christians savored the hopeful joy that baseball fans find this time of year...that they would share the Good News casually around the water cooler or with friends and family, or that they would religiously read God’s Word just as fervently as fans read boxscores? And wouldn’t it be great if Christians looked forward with a baseball fan’s zeal to the great day of salvation?

Because...after all...for a believer, the greatest Opening Day is yet to come.