Thank you for reading this with me. Let me remind you of the last four blogs. 

1. An Unbalanced Schedule
2. An Unused Talent
3. An Unconfessed Sin
4. An Unresolved Conflict

A number of people have been asking me if I have been writing specifically about them. The answer is, "NO." The reason it seems that way is that all of us are sharing something in common.  We are human and we live in a broken world. Because of that, we have a lot of shared challenges. We have to be very aware of all the things that steal our energy in order to accomplish a great goal no matter what your circumstances.

Let me personalize this blog. As most of you know, I have a lot of physical challenges.  I would be allowed to lay down and give up. People would not fault me and they would say, "This man has ALS, poor guy!  The question is, do you think that I feel that way?  The answer is,"Absolutely not!"

The better question is, how do I maintain a positive attitude under extreme conditions? This would be impossible if I would try to do it on my own. The only way that I am so passionate about living my life and helping others is because I am surrounded by cheerleaders. 

By the way, when leave comments on my blog, you are part of my cheerleader squad!

The bottom line is, I would not be this happy if I did not have a support group, people who are passionate about me and God.

Sometimes you lose passion for God because you’re not spending time around other people who have a passion for God. You’re not spending time around other Christians. You’re not getting any fellowship. I love this incredibly practical verse in Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, it is just common sense from the Bible. "Two are better than one... because if one falls down his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!" We need each other. We all fall sometimes. We all stumble at times. So we need people to help us up in our lives.

Those of you who have thought many times, "Maybe I should join a small group," maybe this is the day when you realize, "I am going to join a group!" Do not wait until the crisis comes to do it.  You’re not going to have time to get in a group then. We all fall sometimes. We all go through crises in life. So you find a small group. You get the support system in your life so you can keep the passion alive even during the difficult times. 

 I have seen a lot of people continue with their passion for God and a lot of people lose their passion for God. When someone loses their passion for God there’s a predictable pattern. You can see it the same way almost every time. I’ll tell you where the pattern begins. The first thing that happens is the person stops coming to church. I’m not talking about the ritual of coming to church. I’m talking about that they draw back from the relationships of being around other believers. There’s a lot of reasons we tell ourselves that’s ok. Summer... I’ll watch it on the internet... I’ve got other things to do... I’ll get back to it soon... but whatever the reason, you start not spending time with other people who have a desire to have passion for God. 

The next thing that always happens is your heart starts to turn cold. You start to feel far from God. You start to feel like God’s far from you. What you really need is to be around other people who can warm up the love that you have for God in your life. It’s a need in all of us to be around other people to spark this passion for God in us. If you have no inspiring contact with other believers your heart wills grow cold. It’s inevitable.

For me, to keep the fire going, I have to communicate with all my cheerleaders. You should be gathering your own squad of cheerleaders now. Remember, Noah did not build an ark while it was raining. You should not be gathering your squad when you need them. Do it now, when you don't.

Conflict just drains the passion right out of you. Do you ever start a day and it’s going to be a great day -- you know it? You just fly out of bed. You’re awake from the moment you get up. You shower and eat breakfast -- you’re ready. You’re on the way out the door and you have a fight with your husband or your wife. All the zip goes out of your doo-dah. It’s like the air going out of a tire when the conflict comes. That’s what conflict does to us. It takes all the passion out of our lives. Your attitude all of a sudden just goes flat. 

Let’s be honest about this. Some of you are in situations at home or at work where the conflict is constant. Maybe you’re even doing all that you can to minimize the conflict, but it’s coming from the other person. How do you keep your passion in a situation like that?

You decide to protect yourself from the three passion killing emotions that can come into your life in conflict. You cannot control the other person, but you can control the kind of emotions you have in the midst of the conflict. The three emotions that kill your passion in the midst of conflict are resentment, jealously and prolonged anger. 

You must make the decision when it comes to resentment, jealousy and prolonged anger - to let it go. This is why forgiveness is so important. God who knows you, who made you, who created you knows that you can’t carry resentment. So He says here’s a way to let it go. Even logically you know that the resentment that you have in your life is not hurting the person you’re resentful against. They don’t even know you are resentful. It’s hurting you. The anger is hurting you. 

If you want the passion to be restored in your heart, in your life, you have to forgive. You have to let it go.

 I know what some of you are thinking. "Let them off the hook? How can I do that?" I’m not telling you to let them off the hook,  I’m telling you to put them on God’s hook. Let them off your hook. Just put them in God’s hands.  If you don’t, then that unforgiveness is going to kill the passion in your life, the rest of your life. If you do not forgive then the resentment that you have for that person is controlling your passion and by that it’s controlling your life. And you do not want them to control your life. So you forgive and you let it go. That’s how you resolve the conflict in your heart.

Be careful of your thoughts, because they will become words. Be careful of your words, for they will become actions. Be careful of your actions, they will become your character. Be careful of your character, because it will be your destiny. That is why your thoughts are so important and you  have to discipline what you think about. When you are young,  you think thoughts just come and go randomly, but as you get older,  you realize you can train your mind and you can control the "random" thought.

Now let's talk about my situation. As you know, I have ALS and the thoughts that go through my mind are all over the place. From asking, "why me?' to "I know that I am going to get better." So you see, my thoughts run the gambit. The question is, where do I choose to focus? Trust me, it is easy for me to live the whole day in the thought, "Why me?" but that really gets me down. and I find myself without any energy.  I feel like a dead man walking. 

Yet, when I change my focus to think positively and control my thoughts, not only does my attitude change but I can again dream and imagine life differently. I need to spend more time talking to myself and less time listening to myself. Because of my physical disability, I am unable to serve other people which is my passion. The only outlet where I can serve others is with my weekly blog. I think about it throughout the week and Lori puts it on the internet every Monday.

If what I write about means something to you, you should let me know with a comment. Even one sentence will tell me that I am making a difference in your life -  which will make a difference in my life.

You may not want to read this blog because it might be too close for comfort. As I was writing it,  it really hit me between the eyes.  Talking about sin is very personal and makes you feel vulnerable.

This passion thief is a big one. Few things rob you of joy, rob your confidence or rob your passion more quickly than guilt.

 Here’s how it works with guilt regarding the sin in our lives. We don’t walk around thinking, "I have a sin in my life. I am a guilty person." No, we rationalize it consciously. Consciously we think, "It’s ok. Everybody’s doing it. It’s no big deal." But subconsciously it gnaws at us.

 Subconsciously whenever it gets quiet that guilt pops into your mind. Subconsciously right now as I’m talking about it, it begins to pop into your mind. 

My sin is one that is very difficult for me. But before I tell you what it is, let me rationalize it.  I have ALS and I can't really move my hands and legs.  I am dependent on other people for the most basic things in my life. Basic things like, eating, drinking, going to the toilet, showering - do I need to go on?

My situation takes a certain level of humility, asking someone to take me to the toilet is a very humbling experience.
In all of these things, I find myself feeling impatient and angry with those taking care of me.  I become overly demanding and not forgiving when they make a mistake. 

The problem with this sin is that I think about it when I go to bed at night and I feel horrible about the way I treated the people who are doing their best in a bad situation. People that obviously love me and want to do nothing but good. Also this horrible feeling robs me of a good night sleep and leaves me with no energy for anything worthwhile.

Here’s the truth about us as human beings. We cannot feel enthusiasm and guilt at the same time. You can’t feel guilt and passion at the same time because guilt by its very definition robs you of passion. Psalm 38:4,6 says, "My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear... I am bowed down and I am brought low."

A lot of you work on computers. Anybody besides me ever had your computer crash? Sometimes they crash. They stop working. Some program tries to write the wrong thing to the wrong place and it’s gone! Guilt does that to us as human beings. We’re not made to live with guilt. God did not make you to carry guilt around in your life. He made us to deal with it immediately. He sent Jesus to this earth to die on a cross to say, I want to offer you a gift -- freedom from guilt. That is God’s gift. 

But some of you right now, you’re in the midst of a personal system crash. Truth of the matter is the joy in your life has crashed and you’re trying to keep the enthusiasm up, you’re trying to keep the passion alive. But the guilt keeps crashing your system. So what do you do?

Fortunately this is a problem that can be remedied quickly. You can do something about it right now. Because Jesus has already completed all that’s needed to be done to deal with our guilt. That’s why He came to this earth. 

1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins He [God] can be trusted to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." That’s His promise. To confess just means you agree with God. 

I would encourage you -- do it now! Don’t wait. Sometimes we carry guilt around for days, weeks, months. You shouldn’t carry guilt around even an hour. The minute that you realize that the red warning light is flashing, do something about it. Don't carry it. So right now in your mind, in your heart, take it to God.

Let me tell you what I do.  I stop beating myself up over this sin . It doesn't mean that I give myself license to  be angry and impatient. No, I forgive myself and  say, "Tomorrow will be a fresh start." I ask God for patience and more importantly, peace. Amazingly this remedy works. When I let go of my guilt, all sorts of wonderful things start happening to me, including a good night's rest and the courage to share my faults with you.




My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end: they are new every morning.   Lamentations 3:20-23

We are continuing on with our journey on Passion. Learning  what we have to do to keep it and make it grow!

An unused talent will cause you to lose your passion for life and your passion for God. 1 Peter 4:10 says "Each of you has been blessed with one of God’s many wonderful gifts to be used in the service of others." 

So use your gifts well. The gifts and talents that God has given you  are not for your own benefit, they’re for the benefit of other people. My gifts are for your benefit. Your gifts are for my benefit. You are to use those gifts in the service of other people. God has given you a special role in this world. He wants you to make a contribution with your life. 

If you don’t use your talents you’re going to lose your passion. God did not give you special abilities just to sit on them and do nothing about it. God says I want you to use it or you’re going to lose it. 

Let me get real specific. If you are stuck in a job that does not use your talents to any degree you are inevitably going to lose your zeal and zest and passion in life. It’s going to burn you out. Studies have shown that 70% of all Americans are in a job that does not use their talents. That’s tragic. That makes God sad. Because God did not give you talents and then say, "Don’t use them. Just go make some money." There’s something more important than money. That is using what God gave you. God is grieved when He looks and sees you in a job that’s not using your talents. He’s going, "What do you think I gave you your talents for? Just to sit on them?" No. If you do that you’re going to lose your passion.

If you’re in a job right now that uses only 30% of your talent that’s going to give you what I call a 70% boredom factor. Does that make sense? You’re bored by your job because it’s not using the talents that God put in you. A lot of guys are stuck in a job they hate, that aren’t using their talents. They lose their zest for life. Why? They aren’t using the talents God gave them.

1 Corinthians 7 "Each one should live his life with the gifts that the Lord has given him." God gave you gifts and abilities and talents to use.

The reality is you’re never going to find a job that uses 100% of your talent. You’re never going to find a job that is 100% fulfilling. Why? Because God never meant for you to find 100% fulfillment through your job. Your life is more than your job. He wants you to have a ministry. That’s why you need a ministry in your church to use the talents you’re not using in your job. Because no job could possibly use all the talents God has given you. So you need a job but you also need a ministry that expresses what you’re good at. 

If you are in a job right now that is killing your passions, get out! Get out! This is America, folks. Nobody’s holding a gun to your head. In a lot of countries you don’t have a choice on where you work. But you do in America.  It is not good stewardship and it is not a wise use of your time and life to be in a job that doesn’t use the talents that God gave you. It’s no wonder you lose your passion and zest. 

You probably can’t do it over night -- can’t go out tomorrow and quit. But you could start planning for the transition. You can start making preparation. Part of your church family’s role is to help you find your niche in life. 

The next part of your journey is to make a decision. Do you want to improve your life and get passionate or go along like the majority of people wandering in the desert? The choice is yours.

The first step is to find out what unused talent you have and try to put it into practice. Remember it should be fun. The idea of a talent should make you feel good when you use it. People admire that talent in you and you will inspire others. 

Look for next week's blog to continue on the journey.

 For we are God’s [own] handiwork His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].                                                               Ephesians 2:10

Everyone has asked me to write more on my blog. I decided to write more about a subject that is dear to my heart: Passion. 

You might ask why passion is important to me,  that is a good question.  I am glad that you asked! When you have a debilitating disease the only thing that keeps you going is an internal fire. That fire is stoked by passion.  If you don't have it your fire dies, and in a small way so do you.

The problem with passion is that we have to purposefully keep the fire alive while the world is trying to steal it away. There is an old saying, "Forearmed is forewarned." Therefore my next seven blogs will prepare you for the enemy who is trying to quench the flames. 

Thief  #1, an unbalanced schedule  means if you’re either overworked or you are under worked you’re going to lose your passion for life and lose your passion for God. Life is a series of seasons. The Bible says, there’s a season for everything. And there’s a rhythm to life. You need both in your life -- both input and output. You need both rest and work. Too much of either will cause you to lose your passion. Too much work will cause you to lose your passion. Too much nothing -- boredom -- will cause you to lose your passion too, if you’re not working enough. 

My guess is half of you need to work less and half of you probably need to work more. We’re all different in our personalities. You can go to either extreme. Psalm 127, "It’s senseless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, fearing that you’re going to starve to death, for God wants His loved ones to get their proper rest." That’s a good verse for your refrigerator door. God wants you to get your proper rest. 

For some of you the problem is you’re always giving out. You’re always helping, you’re always sharing, you’re always serving, you’re always working, you’re always being generous. And you never take time to recharge. If you never take time to recharge you’re unbalanced on the ministry side, on the work side, you’re going to eventually get compassion fatigue. 

What is compassion fatigue? You just stop caring. You don’t care about God any more, you don’t care about other people any more, you don’t care about anything any more. Why? Because you’re burning out from too much work, from too much service. When you care and care and care, eventually you get this compassion fatigue.

Others are the exact opposite. You’re always taking in but never giving out. You go to Bible studies, you listen to teachers on the radio, you listen to tapes, you go to seminars, you go to Christian concerts, you go to workshops, you come to church all the time. You’re always learning, always taking in, always growing in the input. But you’re not giving out any. You don’t have any ministry, you don’t have any mission. You’re not really helping anybody. You’re just taking all this food in getting fatter and fatter and fatter till pretty soon we’re going to have to roll you down the aisle. And that’s where we get the term holy rollers. Some of you are holy rollers. You’re taking in all the time and you’re never giving out. 

You either have too much output and not enough input. Or you’ve got too much input and not enough output. You’ve got to decide that. I’m sure God can help you out. 

Let me give you a little shock though. Bible study without ministry is extremely dangerous. Because the Bible says in James 2:17 "To him who knoweth to do good and doeth it not it is sin." Do you realize that the more you know about God’s plan for your life the more responsible you are to God for that knowledge. And the more you know, if you don’t do anything about it, you are simply increasing your judgment. You’re increasing your responsibility. Because God holds you accountable for what you know. So the Bible tells that you need both in your life -- input and output. You need work and you need rest. You need balance in your schedule or you will become a constipated Christian! 

What’s the antidote for that? 1 Timothy 4:7 "Take the time and trouble to keep yourself spiritually fit." 

How do you do that? One word. Balance. We all know to be physically fit you have to have a balanced diet. And to be spiritually fit you have to have a balance of God’s five purposes for your life in your life. You need to have time to worship with God private and corporate. You need to have times when you’re fellowshipping with other believers. You need to have times when you’re reading God’s word and growing as a Christian. You need to have times of ministry -- service -- where you’re giving out and using your abilities. You need times of mission where you’re sharing your faith with others. 

If you tend to go to seed on one of those purposes -- you have a lot of fellowship but nothing else. Or a lot of Bible study and nothing else. You’re going to get imbalanced. And you will inevitably lose your passion. You’re going to go, "How come I don’t feel as close to God as I used to be?" Because you’re out of balance. That’s the number one reason.

Bringing it home, we always need to keep our focus on the reason we are here. Although some people might think it is for our entertainment or even a perfect health, it is not. We are here to perfect God's mission for us. For me it is obviously through ALS. Not the route I would have chosen; however, I have to trust the master. He knows what He is doing. He does all things good for His people.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.     Ephesians 3:20