(i have lived these and can assure you they have all left knuckle prints in my forehead and have changed, and continue to change me) THINK! If the King of the Universe is gracious enough to speak to us then, i figure, we should be responsible enough to write them down.

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1. God comes “to you” before He goes “through you.”
2. We often confuse character with accomplishment.
3. Forgiveness restores the standard, but boundaries keep the standard. The standard is not a country without borders.
4. Silence can speak volumes if we are willing to listen.
5. There is confusion over loyalty vs. obligation.
6. An oath is only as good as the person behind it, and authority is only as good as the weight behind it.
7. Anytime we turn on the bright light of scrutiny, somebody is sure to cry. Sadly, it is necessary sometimes.
8. Anytime God turns on the bright light of scrutiny, weeping is only for a season, but joy comes in the morning.
9. A can of worms is for catching fish. Let’s be bold and open the can.
10. If we have to rev it up to keep it going, once we start revving, we must continue to rev things up.
11. If we can’t outrun problems, turn and embrace them.
12. Holiness is not keeping the rules. Rule keepers never win.
13. Faith is not having answers.
14. Maturity and experience drastically improve our ability to assess risk.
15. Unspoken doubts never get answered. Put your voice to it. Doubt and confusion are of the same blood. “Confusion is a picture of an untethered sail, whipping back and forth in the wind.”
16. Sometimes our ears need to hear what our mouth says. Loud.
17. Many call “being content” what is often “being complacent.”
18. Indifference and peace often look the same from a distance.
19. Having good boundaries is not the end of a relationship, but should strengthen relationships if everyone is willing to participate.
20. Honor requires love of the truth, and honesty. Honor banks on honesty.
21. A culture of honor contains an expectation of reciprocation. A one-way street only goes just so far. No one can be a culture of honor by themselves. “Culture” speaks of “community,” and there is no such thing as a community of one. A one-way street only runs just so far.
22. Honor, honesty, and the truth are transparent and accountable. Do I want to hold hands with a community who has an unspoken agenda, isn’t transparent, and isn’t accountable?
23. Justice is VERY inconvenient. The enemy banks on us not wanting to be inconvenienced. Western Christianity is largely a culture of convenience.
24. With closed thinking there is an unwillingness to be self-critical about any irresponsible thinking or behavior: it comes from an emotionally vacant person who really doesn’t care how they hurt others. It results in a decision to withhold information by not telling the whole story, because the exposure would mean full accountability. “Twisted Thinking,” Jerry Price.
25. Godliness is VERY inconvenient. Faith is the eternal optimist.
26. Risk is the eternal pessimist. Truth is VERY inconvenient.
27. Wounds require binding, and binding takes time.
28. Conflict plus commitment equals change, but sometimes the conflict is so great we must go another path for a little bit for the sake of peace.
29. How many have raised “impulsive necessity” into all-commanding, over-ruling energy, turning opinion into law? And then add “God said” in order to legitimize their “impulsive necessity.”
30. God calls us to faith, out of a world which only sees risk and the potential of loss.
31. Overcorrection is a fear of failure.
32. Our need to be safe is directly tied to our ability to risk.
33. God says “Give me your heart.” Mammon says, “NO! Give it to me!”
34. Love says “Be content with what you’ve got.” Mammon says, “Get everything you can by fair or foul.” Love says, “Be honest and just.” Mammon says, “Cheat your own father if you can gain by it.”
35. Over-focus on failure potential skews risk assessment.
36. Love says, “Be giving.” Mammon says, “Hold your own.” Love says, “Be careful for nothing.” Mammon says, “Be careful for everything.”
37. Pay attention to your bent and bias, your frame and temper!
38. Godly conception gives birth to godly perception! Godly imagination gives birth to right understanding.
39. There are things which are pleasant in the evening but are ugly in the morning light.
40. Defending, offending, contending, and pretending are all born of insecurity.
41. Jesus did not need a defense because He did not hold an offense.
42. Arrogance and insecurity are both still all about me. Playing the victim is as much about control as being a controller.
43. Never contend with a contentious man. Let him go his way.
44. God is very organized, never random.
45. Faith is better than risk, thus obedience is better than sacrifice. Having a contingency plan doesn’t mean we have no faith.
46. What was once risk, through Christ has become faith. We live by faith, not sight.
47. Service to God first, then others. No. 2 flows out of No. 1.
48. Evil wisdom always loses momentum for lack of motivational unity. Doing nothing says something and saying nothing does something.
49. A one-way street only runs just so far.
50. Silence as a safe haven is not safe, and the understanding is solely up to the listener. Job 33:33, Elihu takes Job’s silence as “tacit” approval.
51. I am never God, and He is never me. He is distinctly God, and I am distinctly me. He is always with me, we are closer than brothers, and He lets me share in His attributes, but that does not make me Him.
52. We mistakenly apply our human behavior patterns to God, then blame Him for what we think is Him being like us. NOT!
53. Because we prophesy doesn’t mean we are prophets.
54. Priests face God on behalf of the people; prophets face the people on behalf of God. Beware calling yourself a prophet—they were usually the first to die.
55. God is here! Oh yes He is. Just because I don’t see or feel doesn’t mean He is absent. Ever.
56. Silence is NOT always golden. I am accepted in the beloved.
57. Honor, authority, and character are intrinsic of divine character. I am betrothed to God, presented as a chaste virgin.
58. All legitimate children of God are heirs. Not everyone is a child of God.
59. Just because we have dirt and the ability to choose in common doesn’t mean you’re my blood relative. (“We’re all just children of God”—foolishness)
60. We want rain without clouds, gardens without plowing, a house without the work of building, forgiveness without repentance, love without commitment, receiving without giving, wisdom without suffering, joy without sorrow, offspring without pain, and Heaven without hell.
61. We want a calculable outcome and a predictable crisis.
62. Giving someone the silent treatment is a power struggle in pain tolerance… meaning whoever wins shows who could care less the most the longest.
63. Convenience short-circuits conflict, which seems good, but convenience NEVER produces character.
64. Not every blue sky is from Heaven, nor is every storm from hell. Conflict + commitment = change. Not always, but quite probable.
65. Love is never passive. Love is never complacent. Love is never indifferent.
66. It was bad that Noah was drunk and naked. It was worse that Ham pointed it out.
67. The only conscience which is silent is a reprobate conscience. Without a conscience, conviction has no foothold, and condemnation has full run of the field!
68. I answer the phone sometimes when no one has called. I sometimes pretend a “special” phone call so I can appear more important than I am. Isn’t that sad?
69. Three imperative questions: 1—Did God speak to you? 2—What exactly did He say? 3—What are you going to do about it?
70. If the Lord did not tell me to speak, why are my lips moving? It is not that God does not speak; it is us who do not listen.
71. Jesus did not offer a defense, because He held no offense. Just because we breathe doesn’t mean we are alive!
72. Pride & arrogance will make us cut off our ears to hear only what we want to hear, to slit our eyes to see only what we want to see, and will turn the song in our mouths into the braying of a jackass.
73. The dead, and soon dead, only see and hear what they want.
74. Risk alone includes fear perception; we have not been given a spirit of fear. The just shall live by faith, not fear nor risk alone.
75. Hope, the expectation of becoming and overcoming, generates a vision of transformation.
76. I’ve concluded no man of sound conscience willingly and knowledgeably dies for a lie.
77. First is wisdom, then character, authority, then ministry—that is God’s order. Not—first is ministry, then authority, character, and wisdom—that is the world’s order. Money follows ministry; ministry does NOT follow money.
78. No begging allowed! We shall not shear the sheep so closely they bleed.
79. If you love God you’ll do what He says. That is normal. If you don’t love God, you don’t do what He says… that is abnormal.
80. If you do, you do, and if you don’t, you don’t. If you will, you will, and if you won’t, you won’t.
81. People will do what they want. When it hurts too much to stay the same, they’ll change. And when it hurts too much to change, they’ll stay the same. That is being pain-driven instead of Love-led. Led by peace or driven by fear and pain?
82. I would rather be led than driven.
83. I am a battleship, not a cruise ship. I am special forces, not a tourist. Teaching the Gospel without demonstrating the gospel is not enough. Good preaching, good doctrine, and being good people is not enough.
84. Having good Bible studies is good, but not good enough. Just making it to Heaven is not my goal, and knowing about God without truly knowing and experiencing God is meaningless.
85. Having good programs, events, and activities is not enough. Change without transformation is intolerable; staying the same is not an option. Gifting without character is useless.
86. The enemy deceives us into believing we must do more, which would be believing we need “Jesus AND…” to qualify. Jesus only, not “Jesus and…”. God wants our heart, not our performance.
87. Believing in deliverance without people being delivered is absolutely ridiculous.
88. It is impossible to have scripted spontaneity, just like it is impossible to have a “required–suggested donation.”
89. Living saved but not supernatural is living below my privilege in Christ and short of what Christ died for.
90. I am not a squatter… a squatter is someone who takes up space others have fought for without improving it.
91. I have decided to be infectious instead of innocuous, contagious instead of quarantined, deadly instead of benign.
92. I am a mission station and not a museum.
93. Confidence is often perceived as arrogance.
94. Confidence is often misinterpreted as competence. A man’s confidence is not a reliable gauge of his competence.
95. We often ignore the evidence that contradicts our conclusions concerning our own superior abilities. Thus a leader may be confident, but the people around that person may see it as a pattern of superior ability, thus expecting more from the leader than the leader can possibly live up to. Can you say, “fertile ground for burnout”?
96. Good performance does not necessarily reflect superior ability. Again, God wants our heart, not our performance. Metric-based Christianity will leave us sad, depressed, and exhausted.
97. We tend to think earlier events always cause later events because we are people who tend to think in and expect patterns, often perceiving patterns where there are none. THINK!
98. The better we are at a task, the greater the probability of our knowing our limitations.
99. Who better to know when it’s gone far enough than those who have been too far.
100. We are primed to see patterns that fit our beliefs and “well-established” expectations.
101. Looking at something does not guarantee you will notice it!!
102. Love lifts us up; lust chokes the air out of us. Love is concerned with the whole person and all their appetites; lust reduces us to one appetite and one craving. Love is considerate and kind; lust reduces people to tools or toys—something to exploit. Love has inherent durability; lust dies at dawn. Lust may quicken during the day, but every morning it dies. Love isn’t an itch or a twitch, but it lasts. Lust degrades whatever it touches and keeps on degrading until something becomes disposable. Love, the Love of God, is a true love story; lust is a lie masquerading as love from the beginning. Will your heart follow after your eyes?
103. Never allow yourself to reduce repentance to a low-cost transaction. We often affirm relationships with trinkets of endearment and trifling tokens of mock sincerity.
104. “Sorry” tossed over our shoulder as we leave the room is completely dismissive of the one we hurt while throwing them a “breadcrumb apology.”
105. Commentators, podcasters, influencers are NOT God. The young adults group and word of leadership is NOT God.
106. Most fears, it seems to me, are about not living in life, but more living in our minds. It’s always about “what’s going to happen next.” And seeing as how “what might happen next” is not here yet, “next” does not actually exist, and if the fear is about what does not exist, the fear is 100% imaginary. AND—if we fear what does not exist, our psychological medical community calls that insanity.
107. True discernment is based on Scripture and Spirit-led perception, the ability to distinguish good from evil, truth from error, and it flows from intimacy with God.
108. Relational suspicion is fear-driven, assumes the worst, projects negative motives, and operates out of insecurity and past wounds.
109. Relational suspicion breeds isolation, judgment, barriers, and fear, whereas discernment breeds clarity and good boundaries.
110. Boundaries are not barriers. Two very different things.
111. We make value judgments based on personal prejudices all the time, and it’s all rooted in fear and not having all the facts or truth.
112. Because God doesn’t lie, His promise is a reality, not a potential. God’s promise is more sure than tomorrow! Tomorrow does not exist yet, and in that place where things are truly non-existent, God’s promise still stands!
113. We are silent when the enemy threatens to expose our past. We are silent for fear of rejection, persecution, being marginalized or minimized. We are silent many times to justify our own behavior while citing someone else’s. We are silent when words are about to be spoken and shouldn’t.
114. When God steps into the middle of our circumstance and makes a statement and a promise, His Word trumps all our experience and circumstance.
115. Again, God makes us promises about our future, and His promise is as good as accomplished in the things which are not yet.
116. God’s promise of “WILL BE” trumps the fear of “MIGHT BE.
117. Functional authority does not require relational armor.
118. When we declare, verbally or by posture, “I’m the wounded one”, it uses past pain as a shield that excuses current availability.
119. Seems to me, saying “I’m busy” often uses past pain as a shield which excuses current availability. i’m busy says that access must be earned.
120. “I’m the teacher” turns every interaction into a lesson and pre-defines the  parameters of the relationship. It either hardens into self-righteousness or collapses into quiet cynicism. i’ve been cynical quite enough thank you!
121. If both parties do not come palms up to the table, there is no resolution—only management, containment, or quiet resentment.