I had the privilege this morning of attending a retirement ceremony at our city’s Police Department. One of our finest was giving up his badge after 29 years of faithful service.

The room was full of officers in uniform, friends, and family. I had served as chaplain of our fine PD for many years and felt honored just to be present. Many accolades were given to the retiree but 3 words stuck in my mind that I hope can be said of all of us one day.

Of course many things could describe any of us. Someone could say of Jorge Acevedo, “he loved to chill under the umbrella at the beach” (above picture). I’m cool with that! But I’m thinking about a portrayal of a person that carries a bit more substance than that of bumming it and catching a serious tan in the process.

The first word is laughter. It was said of the officer being honored that he had a great sense of humor and a contagious laugh that could be heard in the distance.

A sense of humor is vital to survival. Daily troubles and bad news tend to suck the gusto out of us. We need to make a daily choice to turn our frown upside down.

If you’re the serious type, challenge yourself to have a good laugh at least once a day. It’s worth it. Also, pay attention the lighter side of life.

If you have a pet dog at home, make sure you laugh out loud at the silliness of it chasing its own tail or doing the boot-scoot-and boogie on your carpet. Things like that show the wonderful sense of humor that God has. The weird ways of animals come straight out of the mind of the One who created them. And if He can smile so can you.

The story of Jesus Christ dying on the cross for your sins (and mine) and then resurrecting from the dead is referred to as the Good News. Good News make us feel….well…good. God knew we needed something to feel good and grin about so He gave us His Son Jesus.

Go God!

All I’m saying is that we need to be quick to chuckle, snicker, and howl. Develop your sense of humor and just laugh more.

The second word is team player (sorry…that’s actually 2 words).

Others need to know that you have their backs, that  they have a friend in you.

You can go at life as a Lone Ranger if you want, but even the gun-slinger needed Tonto by his side.

Teamwork, someone said, makes the dream work:  your dreams, your friend’s dreams, your church’s dreams, your company’s dreams, any dreams.

Doing life together with others is key. Value others enough to give of yourself to them and they will, most often, reciprocate your efforts.

The last word is passion. This word was not particularly used at the ceremony I attended but the fact that the officer worked his patrol, taught our youngsters about the dangers of drugs, and did community work, all with a smile on his face for 29 years, speaks of passion.

Passion moves us into action. Dullness is the opposite of passion and you don’t want to go there. Whatever is dull is unattractive, boring, and unusable.

Be passionate and motivated about life!

When it comes time for you to hang it up, whatever you do for a living, so you can start a new chapter in your life, will others use words like laugh, team player, and passion to describe you? I hope they do of me.

What’s your take on this?

Please make sure you leave me a comment. Thanks.

The picture above depicts a seafood platter at our family’s favorite seafood restaurant. Their claim to fame is that fresh seafood is flown in to Central Florida every day from the northeast… and you can tell. This is eating for the serious seafood appetite.

If you hate seafood you may be tempted to jump to another site. Don’t do it! Keep reading. You’ll be glad you did.

Regardless of what we’re hungry for, we love to feel full and satisfied. I think it’s one of the reasons we love Thanksgiving so much.

For some of us, the turkey with all the trimmings (with pork on the side for us Puertorricans) and assortment of pies may come only once a year. So we pig-out at the feast. That is followed by a serious regret for eating too much.

Then, after the feast’s been eaten and the table cleared, is football, football, and more football. Man…it doesn’t get any better than that. Amazingly, by the beginning of the third game we are ready for more turkey and whatever goes with it (including desert). God bless America!

It’s human to dine like kings and queens and feel hungry again just a few hours later.

Did you know there’s also a hunger inside us that has nothing to do with food? It’s like a hard to pinpoint emotional emptiness deep within.

People try to fill that void from every angle and with every thing, including food, but nothing seems to satisfy. Have you been there?

Maybe right now, while reading this, you are experiencing what some call, ‘a hole in your soul.’ I can identify. I, too, was there once.

I want to pass on to you something Jesus Christ said that will fill that hollow vacuum inside you.

At a time when He was extremely hungry for food the Lord said,

“Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4 NIV) 

He was simply saying that the most necessary thing you and I need to plug that hole in our soul is not food or sex or an addiction or a never ending vacation or anything else we can think of, but God.

Experiencing His power, wisdom, presence, forgiveness, peace, guidance, joy, hope, and anything else you can think of results in a happy, satisfied life.

Check me out on this, if you want, but I have never met a true believer that walked away from the Lord as a dissatisfied customer.

The folks that say, “Oh, I already tried Jesus but He didn’t work for me” didn’t go to the Jesus I know. And if they did, they went about Him the wrong way.

Real satisfaction comes only from God through faith in His Son, Jesus. Those who tried really hard to get it experienced an epic failure because they were trying to reach the Lord in their own strength.

A lady came to our worship service years ago with her family. All of them got saved, were later baptized, and became part of our family of believers. She pulled me aside once and said, “Pastor, through the years I have tried many of the religions and philosophies out there including Eastern Mysticism. I researched them and tried them but they all left me searching for more. Jesus is different. He satisfies completely.”

Hey, enjoy your family get together later this week, if you go to one. Share among your loved ones what you’re thankful for. Eat to your heart’s content. Watch a game and go to sleep while at it. But, remember, if you’re looking for lasting happiness and satisfaction go to the One Who alone serves the spiritual meal you’re longing for. Jesus Christ!

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You’ve heard many times that life is a journey and not a destination.

I got to thinking about my journey recently, the places I’ve been. But rather than sticking pins on a world map I  went outside the box by asking myself the following questions (by the way, ask yourself these same questions and see where your journey has taken you):

What was my happiest place? Honestly, it wasn’t a cruise (although I love those) or a vacation I was on, it was the place where I met the girl of my dreams (we met in the middle of a football field, by the way). Other places of great happiness were the place where I married that girl, the rooms where each of my girls were born, my backyard when I was growing up (where I played basketball with dad and laugh, laugh, and laugh some more). You get the picture…being with the people I love is usually my happy place.

What was a painful place? For me it was the scene of a motorcycle accident I had when I was eleven years old.

What was a scary place? Being inside my car with my wife and baby, upside down and under water. Great story! I will have to write about it another day.

What was a quiet place? My office can be very peaceful and quiet. Sometimes its a nearby park where I sit in my car, read my Bible, meditate, and take notes of what comes to mind.

What was my challenging place? In front of my computer writing my first book, Hecklers In Your Choir: Silencing The Voices That Hold You Back. I’ll let you know when it gets published (hopefully next year).

You and I are on a journey through life. Celebrate it!

We have so many memories stored up in the hard drive of our minds. Some make us smile, others make us cringe, while still others manage to squeeze a tear from our eyes. But, regardless of where our journey takes you and me, there’s one idea that should supercharge our life experience regardless of wherever we find ourselves. Ready?

Wherever you’ve been, wherever you are, and wherever you are going, Jesus is there. He was there, is there, and will be there in the future.

In the Bible God makes Himself known as the ‘I Am’ because He is ever-present. The bottom line is that we can’t get away from Him. Check out this great Scripture,

Where can I go to get away from your Spirit? Where can I run from you? If I go up to the heavens, you are there. If I lie down in the grave, you are there.  If I rise with the sun in the east and settle in the west beyond the sea, even there you would guide me. With your right hand you would hold me. (Psalm 139:7-10 NCV)

Think about that for a moment and let it simmer in the recesses of your brain for a moment.

If you try to run from God you run right into Him!

When you try to hide from the Lord you find Him in that very place. You can try to get alone but it won’t happen because God won’t let you. He loves you too much.

There may have been times when you felt forsaken by God but He has always been there reaching out to you and me.

The good thing about the uncertainty of where our wings take us is the certainty that the Lord is in flight with us.

Fly high on your journey! Soar! And keep your eyes on your always-there Savior and Friend.

Please leave me a comment and if God is using this to encourage you please tell others about my blog. It is much appreciated.

There’s a certain thrill in the air that comes with election day. The excitement of voting is hard to explain, isn’t it? After casting a vote we feel invigorated while at the same time uncertain about who is going to win and what the future holds.

By the time many of you read this America’s 45th president will have been selected. If your candidate won you’re extremely happy but if he/she lost the future may look dim and uncertain… but don’t let it affect you!

One early evening my amazing wife captured this rockin’ picture of an owl (above).

Owls are great predators especially in the dark. Their eyes are similar to that of humans but they are large with big pupils and cornea that process light in such a way that gives them high tech night vision.

Because of the bone structure in their heads owls can’t roll their eyes or move them from side to side (as we can) but their necks are able to rotate 270 degrees on either side (almost all the way around) without moving the rest of their bodies. Also, owl’s ears are cut in such a way that they can determine the movement and distance of their future meal below. This makes owls deadly accurate.

Think about that bad boy on top of the tree (above pic). As darkness falls he’s just getting going!

When your future seems dark, dim, and uncertain refuse to shy away from the challenge.

Go on attack mode!

Don’t listen to your mind telling you that you don’t have what it takes to succeed or that the odds are stacked against you so you better play it safe. Keep in mind that nothing worthwhile in life ever comes easy. There’s also no such thing as a free lunch (that’s what my economics professor in college said).

A successful enterprise will require both motivation and hard work determination. Do  you have that? I hope I do. I so often feel like quitting but my inner drive prevents me from kicking life into neutral.

One word comes to mind as I visualize that owl eventually pouncing rapidly on some poor mouse or rabbit later in the night, ‘POW!’ (if you’re my age, that’s a word that would appear on the screen in the old Batman tv series when a fight broke out).

POW stands for 3 things: Possibility, Opportunity, and Wham (I’ll explain this last one later).

Even in uncertain times you must think of the possibilities that lie ahead. There are always possibilities even in the worst of times. Look for them.

At a store this election morning I heard a customer say to the lady behind the counter, “Today America dies.” What a bleak prospect of the future.

The first 2 verses of Psalm 121 come to mind,

I look up to the hills, but where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. (Psalm 121:1-2 NCV)

The author there shows a momentary bit of concern about what lies ahead. Criminals hid on mountainsides in order to attack travelers. But though he showed some fear he quickly recovered by remembering God’s presence and help. Think of the possibilities you have because of God.

The ‘O’ in POW stands for Opportunity. An opportunity is a set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something.

Pay attention to opportunities that become available to you. Psalm 121 was written by a pilgrim on a journey to Jerusalem. His opportunity was that of worshipping at the temple site on the other side of the hills.

Sometimes it’s through a define purpose, or a conversation or through research or through someone you know that something profitable opens and hope is reborn in you. Look for those even during uncertain times!

Once you spot possibilities that become opportunities,

WHAM! (another Batman word) Make the best of whatever’s before you.

Be an owl! Conquer! And if your candidate did not win, trust God for what’s next.

Thanks for reading and please leave me a comment.

I was leaving Popeyes (best fried chicken in town) and caught a glance of the little frog in the picture above. Now, I don’t have a love affair with frogs; as a kid I never enjoyed holding or manhandling frogs. I’m just not a frog person. They may taste like chicken but I’d rather not mess with them in any way.

This tiny frog, though, grabbed my heart. It seemed so lonely in that great big tree.

Giving animals human qualities is called anthropomorphizing and I may have been feeling some sort of poetic melancholy when I captured the scene with my lens but loneliness in humans is serious business.

Of course lonely people often isolate themselves but you can find lonely people even in a crowd.

I read somewhere recently that over 60% of those who report being lonely are married.

The social media explosion is obviously a direct result of people wanting to interact with others.

God created us for relationships. But when those are lacking, when there’s a disconnect with others, our psyche reacts to it…often times in all the wrong ways:

• Staying away from others
• Thinking others don’t really care about us
• Being negative about life in general
• Becoming skeptical of our abilities and positive traits (we think we have very little to offer others)

My mind goes back to the last letter the apostle Paul wrote when he was living in a dungeon awaiting execution in Rome. His words give us a glimpse into his heart,

Timothy, please come as soon as you can. Demas has deserted me… only Luke is with me. Bring Mark with you when you come, for he will be helpful to me in my ministry.12 I sent Tychicus to Ephesus. 13 When you come, be sure to bring the coat I left with Carpus at Troas. Also bring my books, and especially my papers. 2Timothy 4:9-10a, 11-13 (NLT)

Some try to minimize Paul’s basic human need for companionship by laying on some thick theology to those simple words, but let’s not go there for now. 

Simply speaking, Paul wanted renewed closeness with his good friend Timothy. That’s why he asked Tim to hustle and get there. Paul also wanted a coat for warmth in that dungeon he called home and something to read while in jail (no one really knows for certain which parchments Paul requested). 

When I’m feeling lonely I need to reach out to someone I love. You do the same! Refuse your inner drive to disengage from the rest of the world. Call, text, email and interact. If you’re married, your spouse may lend the listening ear you need.

Just opening up a little with someone you trust can make such a difference. Deep conversations can be reserved for a later time.

Also, make God’s church part of your security blanket. A sweet fellowship can warm up a heart that’s growing cold in a hurry.

Through the years there have been many times when I didn’t feel like going to church on Sunday. But I’m the pastor… so I show up. One hundred percent of the time the Holy Spirit uses someone or something during the worship hour to embrace my heart and remind me of how much Jesus loves me.

One more thing, when you start feeling down, find something positive and fun to read. It’s part of what I do. Let the Bible be your first option. Its stories are literally out of this world. You can also read a book from your fave author.

Don’t remain a lonely tiny frog on a tree. You’re much too valuable and your smile much needed.

I realize that what I just shared are very basic thoughts. Loneliness is a deep subject that requires lots of work and sometimes professional counseling.

Can you share any other simple ideas on dealing with such difficult emotions? Please leave me a comment.