We flew into Dallas to spend Thanksgiving with my sister, brother and our Mom and Dad. As we were riding back to my sisters we started talking about where we are as a Nation, as a whole. During this time someone brought up if only we loved each other. The conversation continued, and we got deeper. What if the world only loved each other like Jesus and if we are truly followers of Christ shouldn’t we show love to everyone and not only people “WE” think we should love to? I thought wow, this is a view from someone who is actually 30 years younger than most of us in the car. How come a child can get it right, 1 John 4:4-12. They were teaching us out of 1 John 4:4 and we didn’t even realize it. So, I ask you this question “How is your Love Life?” Remember the song from the Beetles “All you need is Love,” well sometimes this is where we hang out and then you have the other song by Tina Turner “What’s Love Got to Do with It“ and we know this is where we tend to hang out a lot also. We can go between both of these statements and it depends on where you are in life either, with kids and relationships this is going well or going bad, having a job verses not having a job, and I could go on and on, but you get the idea.
One thing I do know is God’s love for us never changes for us and God always been Love. You can see this when Moses asked God to show him his glory in Exodus 33:18-23 and remember Moses as seen big things God has already done by parting the red sea, but what Moses really wanted by this question was to really know God not just see his miracles. So, God did this for him you will have to read the story it’s a really cool story. But most import God showed love. See to know Love is to know God and to know God is to know Love and if you don’t know love don’t know God. A few years ago, I used to teach in the jail and this is something that is fun and can be scary at the same time, because they will tell once you’re in your own your own and if something breaks out we are not coming in until we get our team together. Which is always great to hear before you walk in and hear the gates shut and lock. However, there was this African American guy that was in my class who was about 6’9 and about 330 LBS. He had Tattoos all over him and running up his neck and on his face. To be honest if I walked up on him on a dark street I would probably be scared. However, I got to know him really well and He told me one day “you don’t have to worry about anything in here because if something happens I will protect you because I Love you and he meant. Fast forward some 9 years and I was standing downtown with my daughter. The girls were facing me and all of a sudden, their eyes got really big and about that time these big arms wrapped and around me and picked me up off the ground. I’m no small guy myself being 6’0 and 240lbs. I couldn’t see who it was and about that time he sat me down because I think he saw the fear in my daughter’s eyes LOL. It was my buddy that I taught in Jail and I was so excited to see he was out. We talked for a while but what he said to my kids is really what hit home. He looked at them and said the only reason he is where is at (meaning out of jail with a Job) is because your Dad showed me what love looked like and didn’t judge me. No, I’m not perfect but are we showing others love even though they look different, act different or even live a different lifestyle then we do? It goes back to love and are we showing love to other we disagree with? Because to know God is to know love and to know love is to know God. SO HOWS YOUR LOVE LIFE?
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What’s your Brand?
Working in the world of advertising I’m always working with our clients to help them show case their brand through the world of marketing. As I was working with a client a few weeks ago we were talking about what brand do they want their potential customers to remember. As we talked and worked on this I had the client ask me a question, and the question was (What’s your personal Brand and what do you want people to remember about you?) I sat back in my chair and thought about this question. I leaned forward and answered it by saying I hope people will see me as someone who cares about our clients and does the right thing to help their business grow. He looked at me and said that’s a great work answer. However, I want to know about you personally outside of work? When he asked me this question I really sat back in my chair across the table from him. I looked at him and said now that’s really a great question and so we talked a lot about that. Later that evening when I got home I started to think more about that question. So, lets step back and think about Coke and their logo. When we see the logo of Coca Cola what do we think? Coca Cola has done a great Job creating their brand because most of us think when we see that logo of fun summer days, Kids having fun, and even families spending time at the beach. There are a lot of companies that have great Logos but most important they want to build a brand around that logo. This is why companies show case their logo with a story around it through advertising. As I thought about this and the question my client asked me, I thought about my personal walk. See if you look in the mirror your logo is your reflection in the mirror, but the question is what your brand around that logo is. Let’s go to another imagine that we see each day as we ride by Churches and that the Cross that is usually on top of the Church. When we as Christ followers see that we usually think of the event of when Christ died for everyone because of us love. However, let’s think about what maybe some folks think about when they see that cross. We live in a world where everyone has their own opinion about the cross and what it stands for. I’m sure we have all heard many thoughts and stories of the brand around the Cross. However, let’s go back to us as individuals and what is our brand. As I studied and thought about this question. Christ has called us to have a brand of LOVE. In John 13:34 Christ calls us to love others the way he loved the Church which is his new commandment. Yes, we have a logo and that logo is our face, but our brand needs to be love. People that don’t follow Christ needs to see us loving each other and we need to show love to them. We are in a place where it feels like everyone is against each other. As Christ Followers our brand is Love. The question we need to ask are we showing Love or acting as if we are better than others. Because I’m glad Jesus showed his love for me by dying on the Cross that stands as an event not a story! |
AuthorJust a man who follows Christ and writes for fun.. Archives
September 2024
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