So many gods to choose from…

The question I get asked the most by friends of mine who are unbelievers is, “Out of all the religions in the world, how do you know yours is the right one?” This used to be a question that scared me. I just didn’t know how to respond . And I feel that most Christians are the same way. So now that I’m a bit older/wiser… Let me share with you my opinion.

First, all the claims in the Bible are based on public events that can actually be historically verified. Any other religion, out the hundreds we see today, can’t be historically tested. You have to just have blind faith alone to believe it!

Think about it like this, someone of the Islamic faith has to trust fully in an encounter that Muhammad had. And there is no way at all to verify that this encounter ever happened! Buddhism and Hinduism aren’t historic faiths, and they have no claims of events that can actually be investigated by their believers. You can either adopt their philosophy or not. You can apply this logic to ANY religion other that Christianity and you will see, There are no historic events that lay a foundation of faith, and, none give historic details to important events.

Christianity was started after a PUBLIC ministry by Jesus Christ. Then He was crucified PUBLICLY. He then rose from a PUBLIC tomb and then PUBLICLY showed himself to a group of PUBLIC people! Then these people went out and told everyone they could! This was all verified by many witnesses and documented.

Every single other religion besides Christianity was started by, a PRIVATE dream about god, a PRIVATE idea about god, or a PRIVATE angelic encounter with god. Then that ONE person would go and tell people what they themselves saw.

The amazing thing about Christianity is there is so much historical data that can be tested! It’s absolutely amazing, and we are the only religion that can provide that!

Another point I like to make when questioned about this is, If Christianity isn’t real, If Jesus was just a man, and if the Bible is just a “book”, then why is the world so afraid of it? Why do other religions want to behead us? Why do they want to burn our book? Why do they want to take our ten commandments down from the front of our capitol building? Why can’t we talk about it or teach it in schools? Why are Christian’s being targeted and shot here in the US? The reason is, Satan is real, he roams our Earth and he hates us! People who don’t have Christ in their life have a sin nature and they hate the TRUTH. No other religion is targeted like us because they don’t have what we have!

If you go deer hunting in the woods and you see a dead deer on the ground, that’s not the one you shoot. You’re looking for the one that’s alive and moving. These other religions are left alone because they are dead. But Christianity, the Bible, and Jesus are so full of LIFE that we will constantly be attacked by those who don’t believe because Satan has blinded them and trained them to reject the truth!

And my final thought is this. I have a relationship with Jesus. He talks to me. I hear him. He loves me. I feel him. I had a physical disease on my face and he healed me the day I was supposed to go in for laser surgery. We canceled the appointment. This is just me. I have heard thousands upon thousands of other stories greater than mine of how Jesus healed them, delivered them, spoke to them, changed them, made their lives better! But I haven’t heard ONE story like that from a Muslim, Buddhist, or a Mormon.

I have no doubt my God is real, alive and with me everyday. If you cant say that about your god…. You may want to rethink what you’ve got yourself into. #justsayin

 

Remember your past? Jesus Doesnt.

I’ve met so many Christians that actually think that being born again just means to change your ways. To act better. To straighten up. And yet over time I see them go right back to their old ways. To the person they used to be.

The reason is, they haven’t grasped the concept of 2 Cor. 5:17 that says, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, He is a NEW Creation! The old has passed away; behold the NEW has come!” What this means is that once you receive Jesus Christ as the lord of your life, there is no more BEFORE! You have to truly see this as being born again! When a baby is born, he has no past. Nothing to compare to. Everything he does and learns is brand new! All a baby knows is the love of his parents! That is what the Bible is trying to show us. When we accept Christ, we no longer have a past. All we have is His love and a bright future!

It makes me sad to see people try to earn what has already been given to them. God is not about behavior modification. He is all about soul transformation! When I see people try and earn Gods love and salvation it reminds of an adult at Christmas. We try to think who will be buying us gifts. How much will they spend? Then we go out and try to buy those same people gifts for as close to the dollar amount as we think they will be spending on us. We are not giving or receiving out of love, but rather obligation. When truthfully, what God wants is for us to be like a child on Christmas morning! Tearing through gifts so fast with such great joy and extremely thankful that all this is for him! He never stops to think if he needed to get anything in return. Or maybe now he needs to do some extra work around the house to make up for all the money that was spent on these gifts. No, he receives freely with no condemnation or guilt whatsoever! WE need to be like that.

We need to realize that no matter what our past looked like… Its all gone now! Jesus knows your entire past and your entire future and he will NEVER hold either of them against you! One of the greatest scriptures in the bible has to be Romans 8:1. There is therefore NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. How powerful is that?! That scripture is so freeing! Why should you sit around and feel horrible about all the things you USED to do when Jesus isn’t even thinking, or worrying about that!

So now, once you realize that you are truly brand new, you have to walk it out! You need to live your life daily with a spirit of excellence. Because thats what God has given you!

Something I have really grasped recently is that you do not have to beg God for what he has already given you! This is a part of being a new creation that I am just fully recognizing. When I learned this a few months ago it was a mighty revelation to me! It has completely changed the way I pray. I am now thanking God daily for what His word says I have! This first day I started doing this I woke up speaking how blessed I was, and how His favor was on my life. I said that allowed and to myself all day. That evening I had a complete stranger tell me he felt like God wanted Him to bless me with $100! I was completely blown away! I couldn’t believe God was so quick to honor His word!

Now, I know it wont always happen like this. However, I felt in this instance God was just saying, Yes! This is confirmation that you get it! You’re doing it right! This is what I want for you! Every day since, I start my days by thanking God for what He has already set aside for me. I let Him know I choose to walk in His blessing and favor!

But there is a flip side, because I understand that every time you are given a revelation, you will be met with a challenge in that area. So while thanking God for being blessed and receiving his favor, He gave me a new job. I had been looking for 4 months and He brought me a job with the exact amount of money I need and the hours I need. However…. I do not like the work. I don’t like the location, the drive, the uniform, etc. So the first few days I started to complain, and let everyone know how much I hated it. I told God this is not what I was looking for!!! Then he showed me that this was a gift. This was where he needed me right now. And my attitude changed. Now I look forward to every opportunity while I’m there to talk about Him! To make this job a true blessing! Amen!!

So, all I’m really trying to say is, being a “New Creation” to me means, I have brand new start with Christ in my life! My past failures and mistakes don’t matter anymore! With Christ I can now chart my course with victory and success! I am not condemned and He who has begun a good work in me, WILL see it through until the day of completion!

Be blessed!! I AM!

Kelly K

 

Can I have some food? This completely broke my heart…

Lately I’ve been praying and asking God to break my heart for the things that break his heart. And I will tell you, don’t pray that unless you are serious about it, because he will answer it!  I’ve been driving down the road and just start crying thinking about people I want to help. It’s been intense.

Needless to say, THIS video completely broke my heart. As I watch and see people who seemingly have it all together not being able to give,  and then see someone who seemingly has nothing give what little they have made me wonder…. Why? 

And I remembered Luke 31 where Jesus says,  “Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then take the initiative and do it for them!”

I think the reason why the homeless guys were so open to give is because they understand this concept better than most of us. People who “have it all together”  don’t seem to need much from others so there is no need to take the initiative and do something to help someone else. But the people who have the most needs,  they know what it’s like to struggle. They’ve been  there before. And their hearts go out to others in need.

The Golden rule of do unto others as you would have them do unto you is an ACTION not a REACTION.  It’s something you have to make a part of you. It’s a choice. It means find reasons to help. Find reasons to give. Imagine what you would wish someone would do for you today,  and then go do that for someone else!!

I challenge you today,  pick something you want in your life and do it for, or give it to,  someone else. The joy you’ll receive is amazing and the blessing God will return to you will be well worth your time. And remember,  love needs to be an ACTION, not a REACTION.

How to get “LUCKY”

I would be willing to bet,  at some point today, you heard someone say one of these phrases…

He’s lucky! It’s my lucky day!  I wish I was lucky!  That was all lucky!  Lucky you!  Good luck! 

I’ve noticed people put a lot of value in luck. Everyone wants it,  and lots of people are jealous of those who seem to have it! 

Well,  it’s YOUR lucky day today friends! I’m going to show you how to get lucky….  Or, if you’re familiar with my writings, you may already know what I’m REALLY going to do is try and show you another perspective of what luck really is…..

Sometimes we see people who one day had nothing, was a nobody, nothing going on,  and then it seems in an instant they’re famous!!  Such as,  maybe there is band you had never heard of before and now everytime you turn on the radio that’s all you hear!!  And people always say, man that band was an overnight success!!  Or an actor who you had never seen is in everything now!  Wow!  An instant celebrity! Or let’s even take it to our level…  A guy at work gets a huge promotion over you…  He was so lucky!  Or the girl at school who made the team and you didn’t,  she must have just been lucky… These things happen all the time and I’m constantly reading on Facebook and Twitter about how jealous people are of other people’s “luck”. 

But God has been teaching me something…  And it’s so basic that we should all recognize this,  but we miss it so often in our everyday lives… When we see someone become a success, to us, it happened in that instant. But to them,  they may have worked for years for that moment to finally happen!  What you and I just called luck,  they may call perseverance. Or persistence.

Let me show you an awesome example of what I’m talking about… Last year in the NFL, Odell Beckham Jr caught an amazing, one handed catch against the Dallas Cowboys and he scored a touchdown. This catch looked nearly impossible!  It was an unbelievable catch! 

For weeks and weeks people talked about that catch. ESPN talked about it constantly! Everyone was saying what a lucky catch that was, and they can’t believe he got so lucky!!!

But what a lot of people didn’t see, was before the game,  they were also filming Odell Beckham practice. Take a look at this video HERE.

This was nothing new to Odell!!!  This is how he practiced!  This was something he had worked and worked and worked to be able to do!!! 

But we don’t see what goes on day in and day out. We don’t see that band that’s on the radio play in crapy bars for 5 years working and writing songs until someone finally notices them. We don’t see that girl who made the cheer team practice back flips and cartwheels all day every day in her back yard. We don’t see the guy who got the promotion coming in to work early and staying late. All we see is the moment of glory when they finally get the reward they have been working so hard for,  and then we call it luck!!

So I want to tell some of you who have been consistent, who have been faithfully serving God, you may be looking and waiting for that moment for God to bless you or show up in your life and make something happen. And I want to encourage you,  don’t stop what your doing!  Your time is coming!  What feels like hard work and a struggle today is going to turn in to an amazing moment for you,  and people are going to say, you’re so lucky!!  I wish I was lucky like that! And you can tell them,  it’s not luck! It’s God!! It was dedication, hard work and perseverance!!

God wants to give you everything! He wants to bless you beyond your imagination, but you have to be prepared and ready to handle it. He is the gardener, and to get you ready for the calling and blessing he has for your life He has to do some pruning first. It may not feel good at the time,  it might sting sometimes, but the fruit you will bare because of it,  will make people want to ask,  how did you get so lucky? Then you will have an amazing story to share about how awesome your God is.

I have dreams and I know I’m called to preach some day. I plan to preach to arenas and millions of people.  But this year the largest crowd I’m preached to was maybe 25. I preached a sermon to 14 kids not long ago. I read my Bible for hours and write blogs and lessons that God teaches me that maybe 50 people will read or maybe no one will read. Some days I cry to God and I tell him,  this is not what I had had in mind when I accepted what you’ve called me to do. When I told you I would serve you. 

But then I remember…  I have to go through the pruning, the learning,  the practice,  the struggles so that when the day comes,  that God puts me in the place he’s called me to be,  when he delivers on the promise he made  I’ll be ready for it!  And I hope someone says, he’s an overnight success!

It makes all the since in the world to me now when I read what James said,

Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

So to those of you are are with me where I’m at in my life right now,  I say,  don’t give up!  Let’s stay dedicated to the cause!  Our “LUCKY” day is coming!  And the best part is,  when your luck is actually Gods blessing and favor,  it will actually last, be permanent, and sustain you!! 

YOUR SUCCESS IS ONLY AS SUSTAINABLE AS YOUR SOURCE!! 

If your source is Jesus, you just found a way to make your entire life lucky, from now until eternity.

God is good.

“WHOSOEVER” – Dylann Roof included?

You know what I think is awesome?  Of course you don’t know,  so I’ll tell you!

Everyone knows John 3:16. If you’re confused, that’s the verse that comes pre written on football gloves and baseball mits…  Ha.  However as well as we all know that verse I think there is one word in there we all skim over without giving it the proper credit…

John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

We all understand the importance and the main point of the this message,  that if we accept Jesus we will have external life.  But what I think is so awesome is the “whosoever”  part.

Do you realize how amazing that is?  That means ANYONE who wants to be saved can be.

That means gay, straight, black white,  murderer, thief, good person,  bad person,  liars, rich,  poor,  Bruce or Caitlyn Jenner,  or even Dylann Roof….

Oh…  That kind of stings a little…  Cause he just shot and killed people in a church… Would God really forgive HIM!? 

Well,  he actually already did. Even Dylann Roof is included in that “whosoever”.  Now, I’m not saying God is pleased with what happened,  and I hope I dont get more comments about why do bad things happen…  Cause I don’t know why. But I know John 16:33 says,  “You will have suffering in this world.” He didn’t say you might – he said it is going to happen.

Anyway,  God doesn’t condone our sin, but because of Jesus dying on the cross,  all our sins are paid for,  so we can all be a part of that whosoever.

Now I don’t know if Dylann Roof will take advantage of this amazing gift,  but I do know he has the option. And if he calls on the name of the Lord,  and asks for forgiveness, weather anyone on this earth wants him to have it or not,  God will give it to him. Because Jesus paid for it for him so long ago.

I only my write all this because of this quote I read in this article HERE.

“I will never be able to hold her again, but I forgive you,” a daughter of Ethel Lance said. “And have mercy on your soul. You hurt me. You hurt a lot of people but God forgives you, and I forgive you.”

As I read that, I tried to put myself the best I could in that situation…  Would I be able to forgive him if he had shot my wife?  My son?  My mom?  As I sit here now and type this and think about it,  it brings tears to my eyes. The thought of someone so selfishly taking away someone I love for such selfish reasons… Could I forgive them?

I’ve been  thinking about this for over an hour as I work my booth at the trade show today and the  all of a sudden I looked up and saw this sign 2 booths down…

There’s another whosoever… So I as I ponder could I forgive him?  God straight-up told me,  “why not?  My son died for that already….  The same mercy and grace I’ve been extended in your life can belong to Dylann Roof just as easily.”

So as takes over the country,  and we all post horrible things on social media,  I want to challenge you to spend the time you were going to use posting that status to say a prayer instead. Pray for Dylann. Or pray for another “whosoever”  that you know that may need Jesus and his love and grace. 

I don’t want to downplay the horrible tragedy that took place. It was horrible. Absolutely. I just want to show you another perspective on how to react to it…

God has enough love and mercy and grace to cover us all. And weather we except it or not,  all our sins have already been paid for. You are the whosoever that John 3:16 is talking about.

Remember that,  John 3:16 was written about YOU.

Q&A – God can use just about anything.

Have you ever noticed that sometimes an idea will pop into you head,  in my case, ask people on Facebook for questions to write a blog… And you think the idea is as simple as it sounds, just ask for questions and answer them…  But then God shows up and you realize it was never actually about just asking questions and giving answer for a fun blog,  it was really about God setting up a situation so that he can do something awesome? 

I’m pretty sure that’s what’s happening here. Several of you responded to my post with questions yesterday for me answer. Some real, some humorous. But then last night I got a message in my inbox with a question, a serious question that had a weight on it that pulled at my heart, and God immediately said to me,  this is what this was for.

So I will answer the questions on my post, but I want to first take care of the matter at hand… 

The question is,  “I know every marriage is different and I know, no two problems are the same. I’m struggling, I have thought about turning to God to help me find a way throgh this.  My question is, how do u guys make your marriage succeed? If you had any advice for one sided marriage what would it be? I am desperate and ready to give up. You and Lindsay seem so happy, how do you make it work?”

First I want to say,  DON’T GIVE UP!  The main reason Lindsay and I are even where we are today is because when things got brutal,  and when things looked like they couldn’t get any worse,  and when we thought it was hopeless, we didn’t give up.

When you see our relationship on Facebook, or anyone else’s really,  what you’re seeing is the best moments. The moments we feel comfortable sharing. You don’t see the hours of crying and pain and heartache that went into the last 5 years to make those moments we post seem so amazing.

If you really want to know how we make it work,  you were already on the right track…. GOD.  Without God in our marriage I truly believe we probably wouldn’t be together today. We went through some extremely difficult times in our first 3 years of marriage where I think we were both at the place you are now. But in those moments,  I cried out to God. Even when I wasn’t really living a God focused life like I am now,  I would still cry to him and ask for help. Ask for his grace, and ask what to do!

And here is what is so cool about that… God LOVES marriage! He wants your marriage to succeed!  Even if you got married without seeking God or asking him if this what you should do,  he still wants to bless and honor the covenant you made!  So,  if you ask for his help in this, HE WILL HELP YOU!  He has an amazing way of changing people’s hearts that you wouldn’t believe!!  He will pour so much grace and love onto you that you will be able to get through this time! I know this for a fact because God did this for us!

Every marriage that has ever failed was due to 1 of 3 things.  1. Selfishness 2. Selfishness or 3. Selfishness.
It really is as basic as that. The opposite of love isn’t hate, it’s selfishness. Some people. Say marriage is 50-50. And I say no it is not. It’s 100% – 100%. You both have to be giving everything you have to make it work. Even the Bible says in 1 Corinthians,  Marriage is not a place to “stand up for your rights.” Marriage is a decision to serve the other…

And if you’re in a one sided marriage, and you’re the only one who wants to make it work,  you’re going to have to give that to God. Plead your case. Let him know you want this to work and ask him to change your spouses heart!  This is a simple task for him and I know he will answer your cry. I have learned that anytime I have an issue with someone,  if I pray and ask God to help change that person,  sometimes. He actually makes a change in me, and it turns out that’s what I needed to make it work with that person.

In conclusion, Lindsay and I have an amazing marriage. Now. It wasn’t always like this. And there are still times when we have issues. But now we are confident that God can help us through anything we come against because He has already proved this to us time and time again. So we don’t worry about if we are going to make it anymore,  we know we will,  so that gives us the freedom to work on the issue without the thought of, oh no,  arr we gonna get divorced!?  We know that’s not even an option so it allows you so much more freedom to work through issues.

If you align yourself under God,  get under his protection not only will he help your marriage work,  he will bless it beyond what you could ever have imagined it to be.

I’m going to be praying for you and your marriage, and I want you to know you can talk to me anytime. But I urge you,  talk God. Seek Him. If you don’t know how to pray, just say God,  I don’t know what to do!  And lay it all out. It doesn’t have to be elegant or religious. He is listening. I promise.

Now to the other questions…. 

“If the presidential election were held today, who would you vote for and why?”

If the presidential elections were being held today and I had to vote, I would vote for no one. In fact, in the 14 years that I have been of legal voting age, I have not voted in one single presidential election. I’ve taken a lot of crap for that over the years and I’m sure I will now as well. But I feel, and I have always felt, the presidential elections aren’t won, they’re bought. SO what good is it going to do me to go and check a box on who I think is best suited to lead our country when I don’t even feel that it matters at all. So I guess if I had to vote though, I would vote for Goldman Sachs.

“What is the single deepest regret you have from the past ten years?”

The greatest regret I have over the span of my entire life is that I waited so long before I decided to serve God with my entire heart, soul, and life. However, every bad decision, or stupid thing that I did in that time, I don’t exactly count as a regret now only because it’s one more thing that qualifies me to reach another person and help show them the love of Jesus. Because now maybe I’ve gone through what they’re going through or maybe I’ve messed up the same way they’ve messed up. But if I had to choose only one thing in the last 10 years that I truly regret, that if I could do it all over again….  It would have to be that I gave up on my weight loss goals a year ago. I had worked so hard last year for 5 months losing 50 pounds and I felt better than I ever had in my entire life. I was proud of myself, I was starting to enjoy being more active, I was feeling more confident, and then I let my life get too busy and I gave all that up. I think about it daily and it depresses me that I was on such a good track and I let it all go. That is the one thing or the one mistake that I’ve made that I can’t see working out for good in any way at all.

“What is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?”

The answer can be found HERE, but in short… The average cruising airspeed velocity of an unladen European Swallow is roughly 11 meters per second, or 24 miles an hour.

“What question do you hate to answer?”

This one.

“When are you gonna get your ass to Cali and reunite with your old childhood friend of 18 years who misses you oh so much?”

As soon as possible!!!  I miss you too and I want to come see you guys!!  I want Lindsay to see Hollywood and the beach too,  so I really do want to plan a trip to see you!!  I will try and make this happen!!!!

Annnnnnd there ya go!! 

Good times….. Good times….

THE WALMART FIGHT – why so many will watch and not one will help.

I have watched this Walmart fight video too many times today. I have read about it,  and I’ve seen it posted all over twitter and Facebook. I wasn’t going to write on this at all,  but as I lay here in bed, I just keep thinking about it…

Why film when you can help?  Why are so many people seen standing around watching this go on?  Why wouldn’t anyone step in? 

As I lay here trying to go to sleep,  those thoughts just won’t let me.

If I would have been there, I know without a doubt I would have jumped in and tried to stop that horrible mess from continuing on. Especially since a child was present.

But it makes me so sad to think that the way we treat others now is to stand back and watch. Try and get it on film and get a million views on YouTube. Try and catch the show!  I’m not saying if it were men fighting it would be ok,  but this was women fighting and men were just standing there watching!  What kind of man is that to let that go on! 

The more I thought about this, the madder I was getting at our society…. But then it hit me. All this is, is the devil, satan, the enemy,  whatever you want to call it,  trying to sift us away from what we were taught and make us so numb to what’s going on around us, that he can dismantle us piece by piece as we sit by and silently watch him do it without ever batting an eye! You don’t need war, and terrorists, to destroy our country if you can have the regular everyday citizens destroy each other with hate and apathy!

All I see and hear about on a daily basis just scrolling through Facebook is post after post of someone who has filmed some horrible act that one person has done to another. Why!?  Why are we filming these things and posting them on the Internet?!  Did you really feel you were helping more by just documenting the incident rather than trying to help? 

Now it seems, we are so numb to violence and hate, that as soon as we see it, we break out our phones. If someone is pulled over on the highway for speeding it’s normal now to see a guy on the other side of the road stopped with his phone hanging out the window, just hopeing this cop is gonna screw up in any way possible so he can catch it on film! 

This all blows my mind day after day!

Now,  I wouldn’t say all this without a point. It’s not just a rant, I promise. The title, and name of my blog site is, ” Love like your life depends on it”.  That is from one of my favorite scriptures of all time and I truly try and make that my  goal every day. We have all heard love others,  and do unto others as you would have them do unto you….  But why don’t we? 

If we would spend even a fraction of the time loving people,  that we spend on hating and trashing people, this entire world would be a different place. No this is not some hippy,  peace, philosophy thing I’m trying to preach…  I’m just saying,  if we could even just focus enough energy on only loving people enough to protect them from horrible things happening to them instead of just watching,  we could shift this entire country back into the right direction. It may not be much,  but it would be a start! 

Something has to happen. It has to. Or our country will tear it self apart from the inside out. We are turning into our own worst enemy. But the only way to prevent it, is to see what’s going on, be aware of it, and make a conscious effort to do what it takes for ourselves to make it better.

And maybe you think,  no,  not me…  I’m not numb to all this…. I’m not blind to what’s going on… I love people…. I help…  I’m doing what needs to be done….  Well, Let’s do a quick. “love”  check up…..

We have all read or heard 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 before….  Love is patient love is kind etc.  But now let’s read it with the word LOVE taken out, and YOUR NAME in its place….

______ is patient, _____ is kind. ______ does not envy, ______ does not boast, ______ is not proud. _____ does not dishonor others, ______ is not self-seeking, _______ is not easily angered, ______ keeps no record of wrongs. ______ does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ________ always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. ______ never fails.

So….. Does that sound like you?  Me either…  I’m a long ways off from making that a true statement with my name in the blanks.

But can you see now?  Can you see how if we would each try and make our name fit into those blanks, how we could change our entire city, country, and even possibly, the world!?  And all we really did was help ourselves! 

It’s so easy that it’s incredibly difficult.

I’ll end with this…  I cant change everyone’s mentality, or their perspective on how to treat others or how to behave. But maybe I can help you change yours…  And maybe you can help someone else…  And maybe they can help another…. And so on and so on and so on…. 

We could sit here and ask, why did no one help break up the ladies fighting?? Or perhaps we could take a minute and just show someone why, maybe, next time they should….

Love as if your life depends on it.  Because it does.

BIKINI GIRL GOES DOWN – a reply

Ok, so this is an open letter to someone who commented on my wife’s blog yesterday about the bikini girl getting taken down by the police. If you would like to read the blog she wrote or don’t know what I’m talking about, go here first.  Bikini Girl Goes Down Also,  make sure you read the comment that was posted.

This blog is a letter to the woman who left the comment….

Dear Outraged Human,

I wanted to reply to your reply on my wife’s blog because I found your comment so ridiculous that it was almost humorous. First let me point out something before I dissect your comment, I completely respect your right to post and say whatever you want. I also believe in loving people no matter what and I try not to judge anyone. That’s not my job, even though some people put me to the test….

That being said I do not intend for this to be a hate letter,  I just think you need to find a new perspective.

So let’s look at some of the things you said in your comment… Or even let’s start by looking at the name you selected to leave the comment. “Outraged Human”.  So you were so Outraged that you didn’t want anyone to know who was behind these words you were throwing around?  I said I defend your right to post whatever you want,  but at least be woman enough to own up to what you’re saying. We know you’re Outraged, I got that from the text. But how about instead let’s be real and open and have a conversation instead of just bashing someone you don’t know. Or do you know us?  And maybe that’s why you used that name?  Either way,  own your opinion. Don’t hide. That’s weak.

And what about “Please don’t post blogs about something when you don’t know what you are talking about.”  and, “Sigh just do yourself a favor and take this blog post down because this is just rubbish.”   Soooo you’re saying YOU can post any opinion YOU want but another person can’t write THEIR personal opinion on their own blog?  Hahaha this is hilarious to me!  You are, by definition, a complete hypocrite here!  I mean,  come on,  even the definition of BLOG is, ” A website containing a writer’s own experiences, observations, opinions, etc”.  Why would someone need to take down their opinion because of your opinion!?  I could keep going on this but let’s move to the serious stuff here…

You said,  “as a mother.. If you watched this and saw the way he Manhandled a LITTLE girl and your still saying that the children were being loud and rowdy.. Did you ever think the children were scared?”  Let me retort… 1. The children,  teenagers actually, I believe should have most definitely been afraid. If I saw cops run onto the scene where there is fight and other pandemonium going on around me, that would be scary. And because of that, I would be as good as I possibly could be and as respectful as possible to those officers so they could easily realize I’m not a threat….  2. We actually have 2 daughters, ages 14 and 10. And if either of them ever disobeyed and was completely defiant to a police officer out of nothing but rebellion, I hope he manhandles my LITTLE girl to the ground and handcuffs them, and teaches them that the law is the law, and it will be respected. However my daughter WON’T do that to a police office because they have been taught respect. So I’m not worried about this situation happening to my little girls. In fact, when I was 15 years old, in 1998, I was drinking at a party and some cops came and broke it up and arrested a bunch of us. Me included for drinking underage. I was a complete jerk. I was cussing him,  resisting, and then I spit in his face. And guess what?  I was slammed into the ground and pretty sure I took a few elbow shots to the ribs. Did I deserve it?  ABSOLUTELY!  To bad there wasn’t cellphone videos back in those days…  My video may have gone viral,  some kid might have made a fortune posting it on YouTube, people might have posted blogs about me!!!  But none of that happened. What happened was my mom met us at the police station, cleaned the blood off my face from where my lip and nose was busted and thanked the officer for handling the situation and assured him it wouldn’t happen again. And you know what?  Everything turned out fine! 

Oh I see, but I’m not black?  “don’t post blogs about things involving race when you are not going to be openminded.”  We are open minded. So open minded in fact that we didn’t view this as a black girl getting taken down by the cops. We saw it as a GIRL getting taken down by the cops. I don’t care if you’re black, white,  yellow, brown,  gay, straight, or Bruce Jenner. You’re a HUMAN. The blog you are commenting on had NOTHING to do with race,  just the actions of what took place. So do you think if this girl was white it would all be ok?  That’s racist…  But because she’s black it’s not ok?  That’s racist…  So in my story, if I was black would it have made the news?  That’s racist…  Its time to let it go!  It sucks, it truly does, that race has to be such a huge issue still in 2015. One day the world will be so mixed that none of this will matter. But until then,  the only people making the race issue a problem is people like you accusing others of being racist when they clearly are not!  Don’t be so hypersensitive!!  I can’t speak on the officers behalf but then again,  I’m  not commenting on what happened,  I’m commenting on your comment. So let’s move on. And please, let’s try and leave race out if it…

“Just because YOU most likely feel threatened in the presence of black teens doesnt mean an officer of the law that has probably been in the presence of armed criminals should be threatened by unarmed MINORS…” Now that’s just ignorant. I can speak for wife and myself and tell you, we do NOT feel threatened in the presence of black teens. Hahaha that’s just funny!  Where did you even come up with that!?  We love teenagers!  Any kind!  I used to be a youth pastor,  and I have hopes to become a pastor again and I will tell you this,  I have never felt threatened around any group of people of any age!  I serve such an amazing God that all I wanna do is show people love. No matter their age!  Was this comment about age?  It was wasn’t it?  Or was it the black part again…. And about the officer feeling threatened… Thats his job!  When you come into a situation, you should always prepare for the worst,  and hope for the best. He doesn’t know who is armed or not,  or what the ages of everyone in the area is…  but come on now, this is basic knowledge…  I bet if you were in trouble, and perhaps someone had a weapon on you, and a police office showed up to help but couldn’t see the weapon, I would be willing to bet you would want him to act is if he was threatened, taking all precautions necessary to protect you and himself….  Or who knows, maybe you wouldn’t…  Let’s pray it never happens so we don’t have to find out.

As I keep looking back at your comment to chose what I want to address next, it just seems that you are so blinded by race that that’s all you really care about here. Not right or wrong,  just race. I don’t even know how to keep replying to you.
I just don’t see the world the way you do, and that, I think, is why you need some new perspective! 

The point of what really went on here is a GIRL, no color needs to be stated,  was being rude and disobedient to a POLICE OFFICER. Now, it doesn’t take the smartest of people to understand if you disobey an officer of the law, their are consequences. Now did he handle this situation 100% perfectly, the way he should have?  I don’t know. I thank God I wasn’t put into the situation to find out how I would have reacted. Truth be told,  that’s an extremely stressful situation that no matter how many hours of training you go through,  you never know in the heat of the moment how things are actually going to go down. Tell me Outraged Human, in a moment of anger or stress have you handled every situation perfectly?  I bet there have been situations that you have reacted to that you’re glad were not caught on film. Lucky you huh? 

I have lots of friends who are cops. I have lots of friends who are felons. In today’s world I would hate to be either. Most people today just want to see someone fail. They just want to see someone screw up worse than them so they can point a finger and feel better about their own life. And Outraged Human, I feel that’s exactly what you were doing with your comment. You couldn’t just read someone’s blog, their own personal opinion and let it be exactly that. You felt the need to be aggressive and even ask them to take it down!  Did you feel better after that? 

If I could teach the world one thing, only one,  I would want them to know the feeling of living a life completely founded on love. Loving people,  lifting people up,  encouraging one another. This doesn’t always mean agreeing with their personal opinion, but saying hey,  I respect that, I just don’t see it that way.

So Outraged Human, in conclusion, I still respect your right to say whatever you want,  but I’m hopeing maybe you can see, by what you said,  you didn’t change anything. You didn’t make anything better. Maybe, actually worse. If you’re going to speak out, maybe try to do it in such a way that you can teach something to someone,  or show them how to see your opinion differently so perhaps they can relate. Not just bash them for doing exactly what you were doing,  expressing an opinion. The world is filled with so much hate as is,  it really doesn’t need any more.

I hope to get a comment from you Outraged Human, I really do. And I hope you don’t ask me to take down this blog. Because I won’t. But I do hope you have an excellent day and I hope someone shows you love today, even if you don’t deserve it.

Kelly K

Here’s a shovel full of GRACE for you bro…

Ok,  so first off,  if any of you reading this know me personally then you probably know my rage and anger against other drivers. Mainly because in my mind, most people drive like complete idiots. Except for me…  (maybe I need to change my perspective..)  (that’s another blog I’m working on)

That being said I’m TRYING  to be much better and not yell, scream, swear, and tell people to pull over so much anymore.

So last Sunday at church there was an illustration where the speaker had a shovel in his hands and was showing us how when God gives us,  and shows us grace, that’s how he does it. He shovels it all over us all the time!  Then he took a spoon and said,  but this is how we distribute grace to others. God gives us so much,  but in return we don’t give to others anywhere near the same as it is given to us.

This was huge to me!! I’ve literally thought about this daily since I heard it. Then this week,  someone in my life showed me a HUGE amount of grace. They blessed me in such a huge way that I didn’t even deserve. And it was amazing.

Then today, as I’m working I needed to come out to my truck to move it to another side of the building. And this is what I saw.

I was instantly filled with a rage and anger that I can’t even express into words!!  Furious is a walk in the park compared to what I was feeling! I couldn’t decide if I was going to shatter this guys window, or key his entire car. (both, regrettably, I have done in the past.) I finally settled on keying his car. I got a key ready that I wasn’t to worried about destroying, and I walked to the side of his car.

Then God said,  “man,  you’re not even going to use a spoon?”

And I just froze. In my mind I thought, BUT GOD!!!  PLEASE!?!  LOOK WHAT THIS JERK DID!?!  and He said, “but look what I did…”

So….  I fought for a few more seconds in my mind, then I walked to the passenger side of my car. I was about to climb over the seat to get in my side and I said to God, I can’t let him off without AT LEAST knowing about this… So I found some paper and I wrote this note to leave on his windshield.

Now, I’m not saying leaving the note was right. Maybe it wasn’t. But I didn’t damage his car. I took the time to listen to God and reflect on what he taught me.

It felt good.

So as I still struggle to show grace and love to people on a daily basis, who I may feel don’t deserve it… I’m still trying. I’m making the effort to use the shovel instead of the spoon.

I want to encourage you all to do the same. Everyday you’re going to have an opportunity to show someone grace…

Will you use a shovel,  or a spoon?

To those who use well what they have been given…

I’ve been on a mission lately to try and share my faith with as many people as I can on a daily basis. Not to try and push my beliefs on anyone,  but just to try and be a good example of the love of Jesus Christ.

In doing this I’ve had numerous people tell me things along the line of,  I’m not a Christian but I try and treat people the way I want to be treated. Or, I was saved a long time ago,  I don’t go to church or anything but I have my own sort of thing goin with God. Or,  yeah,  Jesus was a good guy, he had good principals. Or even, yeah I go to church,  so I’m saved. Basically lots of people are very willing to admit that they KNOW Jesus in some form or fashion,  and they want it to be known that they are good people. And don’t get me wrong,  there is nothing wrong with being a good person, or trying to live a good life. Those are both awesome things!! Let the record show,  I am for these things… Haha

However,  I wonder how many of us actually know there is more to it than that? Once you KNOW Jesus or even know ABOUT him, you now have a choice to make… 1. Serve Him.  Or 2. Don’t. There really is no in between.

Now I’m not trying to say everyone needs to be a preacher once they know Jesus, or you have to become a missionary now…  Nothing like that. But decisions have to be made and there should be a conscious effort on your part to do something with the knowledge you have about how truly amazing Jesus is.

Let’s take the story Jesus tells in Luke 19:12-27 for example. I want to post the text but it’s extremely long. So I will just give you the story in my words but I encourage you to read it on your own as well.

Jesus is basically telling a story to explain that he will be going away to heaven to be crowned but will then be coming back for us. But he has a job for us to do in the meantime. So in the story a man is going off to be crowned and prepare to rule the country. Before he leaves he calls his servants to him and gives them each a coin and tells them they are in charge of that till he comes back.  As soon as he leaves, a bunch of people in the city try and make a petition to not let him become the ruler  because they hate him….  Finally the man comes back,  crowned and ready to rule the country. He calls his servants that he gave the coins to and has them come back.

The first servant comes to him and says,  here I’ve doubled what you left me in charge of!  And the man says good job!  For that I will put you in charge of 10 cities! Then the second servant come and says, here, I’ve gained a 50% increase on what you left me in charge of!  And the man says,  good job! For that I will put you in charge of 5 cities!  Then the third servant comes and says,  I know how you are about your things so I hid your money while you were gone and kept it safe for you. Here it is,  exactly what you left me with. This made the man angry and he said, if you really knew me,  then why wouldn’t you have at least put this in the bank so it would have at least made a little interest!?  Then he takes away what he had given him and gave it to the servant who had doubled what he was in charge of. The people who were around were like,  he already has a bunch,why give him more?  And the man says,  to those who use well what they have been given,  will be given even more. And those who do nothing with what they are given,  even the little they have will be taken away. Then he address all those who tried and petition for him not to be in charge and he has them all removed/killed…  Depends on what version you read….

Anyway, this story is essentially a very plain and simple vision of what we are expected to do and what will be our reward for doing it.

Jesus was obviously the man going off to be crowned. Meaning he’s going to heaven but will be back soon. We,  as Christians, who claim we know Jesus are the servants. The coins he gives us are an example of the work he wants us to do.  Meaning, he has given us something very valuable and he wants us to make the most of it and increase what he has put us in charge of. Then lastly the people who hated him are the representation of the people who choose to deny or not follow Jesus. 

So God is giving us these coins. He is giving us a job to share with the world the amazing,  valuable, unbelievable love of Jesus. And one day he’s going to return for us. And he will ask us,  what did you do with what I gave you? 

If you look at your life right now, from the moment you decided to serve Jesus till today….  What have you done with that investment?  Have you shared it?  Have you helped grow God’s Kingdom?  Have you shown love to those who Seemingly don’t deserve your love?

I don’t know about you, but on the day Jesus asks me what I did, I do not want to reply that I hid his love away. That I kept it all to myself. I want to come running to him,  happy to show him what I did!  And again,  it’s not about being a minister or a missionary. It’s as easy as helping someone who needs help, praying with someone who needs prayer,  loving someone who feels unloved, inviting someone to church….  Its all very basic and it’s all very easy, but I think sometimes we get to busy, or feel to uncomfortable, and we let these moments and opportunities slip right past us.

So today I want you to remember what Jesus said,  to those who use well what they have been given,  will be given even more. The more you do for others, the more God wants to do for you!  On earth and in heaven!  God will most definitely bless you now for the work you are doing, but you’re also storing up rewards in heaven!! 

And also remember the flip side, And those who do nothing with what they are given,  even the little they have will be taken away. I can’t pretend to know the full extent to that statement, but I also don’t want to find out. I know that when God can trust us with little, he will give us a whole lot!!  So only makes since that if he can’t trust you at all,  it can easily be taken away.

I’m not into Christian scare tactics to lead people to Jesus. I’m just all about loving people and showing them they don’t need to change they just need to meet my amazing God. So don’t think I’m saying all that to scare you into telling people about Jesus. What I’m Actually trying to do is get you to focus on the awesome blessings God has for you for doing something that’s extremely easy and that you should want to do anyway!!!

I want to encourage you all today, to show someone how amazing Jesus is! In whatever way that is for you!!  Because I know for a fact,  that blessing someone else’s day, will actually bless yours even more!  And not to mention, God will be so pleased with even the smallest of actions, and I love to please the God who gave everything so that I could be free and saved forever! Amen!!

God is good,  oh so good!