A man's finest hour...

"I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious."

Vince Lombardi

We'll said, by one of the most respected names in American Football, EVER. This is the person, that the Super Bowl trophy is named after. This is the heart and spirit of a champion.
Nuff said.



"

Runnin outta gas???

I can't count how many people I've heard say, "I'm sick and tired of my life, I am going to do something about it".

Then what?

I must sadly say, they normally keep at it for a week or two and then quickly run outta gas. It's like that spark that they felt in that brief moment of "false revolt", was just not enough to keep them going.

You see, when a person is really sick and tired of things, they can't rest until they see change. It's like the classic example of a person walking and feeling like they have a rock or something in their shoe... It doesn't matter how much they try to ignore it, that rock is going to hurt, irritate, upset and frustrate them until they take action, by stopping, taking off the shoe and getting the rock out. In fact, the more they try to walk with the rock in the shoe, the more it will hurt.

What this means is that when a person is REALLY uncomfortable with a situation, even if they try to ignore it, they will not be able to. It is like a rock in the shoe, and the pain won't go away. They will have to take action.

But those who are not truly fed up, normally spend more time talking about how upset they are, than they do doing something to change their situation.

In short, I'm saying, if you feel like you're running outta gas, when it comes to pursuing your dreams or solving your problems; perhaps, the truth is, there was no real petrol there in the first place. Maybe you've mistaken flatulation for motivation?


P.S. If you don't know what flatulation is, just google it. At least that's a start to taking action.

You're gonna give your very BEST???

If you are going to do something, you have to learn not to look at how big the challenge or difficulty is ahead of you. You have to just give it your very best. But not just say you're giving your best. You must really give your best.
You who say you are Born and Bred for War, you are in this challenge of Israel, or you are just fighting for a better life; you need to make sure that you are putting 100% into whatever you are doing.
As the old saying goes, "no pain, no gain". It's ALL or Nothing in life.

"That's why no one will remember your name"

Even though this film is fictional, there is a statement at about the 3rd minute of the clip that I find to be soooo true. The young boy says something to the extent of "the Thessalonian you're going to fight is the biggest man I've ever seen, I wouldn't want to fight him". And Achilles replies "that's why no one will remember your name".

It's that exact line that is soooo true. Those who back down from great challenges will never be remembered. You can be someone that looks small and weak, but if the courage in you is great, you can face the biggest problems in the world and overcome. But if you have a cowards attitude, even if you look strong outwardly, you will be defeated easily.

Who can decide how you will be remembered? You. Only you.

Can't you just SHUT UP!

Have you ever noticed how great most people are at giving "advice"? Sorry, let me make a correction... I meant, BAD ADVICE.

If you want someone to tell you what they think you need to do with your life, you don't need to go far. Just pick a random friend or family member and they will be more than happy to oblige.

But the frustrating thing is, people love to tell you what you need to do to fix your life, but they can't seem to apply the same advice they give, toward their own life.

You know, the thing that gets me though, is how willing us as a people are to run to others who can't help themselves, and ask them what their opinion is about our life struggles. But what since does that make?

I was in the barber shop recently, when a guy walked in. The guy basically looked a mess, and the stuff he was talking about was a mess too. The point is, as he sat in the barber chair across from me to get his hair cut, I couldn't help but hear him start giving the barber so-called "advice". Talking about "why black people don't succeed, and what everyone needs to do to make it". Sure he made a few good points, but do you really want to listen to someone who has a bunch of knowledge, but no power to use it? Why give ear to someone who doesn't have the first clue of how to apply what he knows? Of course not! What you really want to say to that person is "can't you just shut up". And why? Because you want to learn from someone who is successful at what they are telling you to do.

And this is exactly why we all should be more than just a little upset with the way our lives are going. Can you say that your life screams for attention? I mean, without you saying a word, does your life grab others attention, due to how successful it is. This can be in marriage, at work, at school, in you neighborhood, etc. Do people look at you like the guy from the movie Pursuit of Happiness, and say "what do you do, and how do you do it?" Probably not. And that is the problem.

You believe in God, you know some good things. You may even be able to tell others how to solve problems. But what about your own? If you are still living a sub-par life, then you need to get angry enough to do something about it. As long as you accept it, you will always have it. You have to refuse what is less than great, and fight for better.

And please, if you don't have something yourself, to back up the advice that you are giving, please, just don't give it.

It's like the old saying goes "put up or shut up". In simple terms, that means either DO something, or STOP talking.

Now or Never!

I've heard it said a long time ago, that "everyone has a limit".

Now the question is, how long will it take you to reach yours? A lot of people mosy around day by day like everything is A-O.K., but the reality is that nothing is O.K. I get so fed up with hearing people say "I'm blessed and highly favored" or "God is good, allll thhhheeee tiiiimmmee".

It's like people become puppets to cliches. They just say what they think they are supposed to say at that moment, but not what is true to how they feel.

Think about it, how many times has someone asked you, "how are you today"? And you simply say, "I'm good" or maybe even "I'm great", when in reality you are feeling horrible that day.

Now don't get me wrong, you don't need to go shouting your problems on the rooftop for the first person who comes by to hear. But there is a time to be straight up and honest. Especially when it comes to dealing with God. He knows what you feel inside anyway, but if you don't express it outside, how can you get help?

There is a verse in the bible that I was thinking about. It says "there is a time for everything under the sun... a time for peace and a time for war."

Nothing will ever change in your life until you reach the point where you say " enough is enough! something has to change, NOW!"

Now is the time for war my friends. It's all or nothing. Now or never.

My wife's anniversary gift to me. I was really touched.

Run, PO-PO, Run!!!

When you are out in the streets, living the fast life, everything seems fun and exciting at first. But sooner or later reality has to strike. And most people can't handle it, when it does.

I remember being out in the streets gang banging and selling dope to make a fast buck. In the beginning, I wasn't afraid, I didn't care about the risk I was taking. Nothing seemed to move me. All I knew was that I was getting paid, and I liked the power that it made me feel. All the long nights hustling on the block and the rival gang fights was just a big adrenaline rush. And don't even get me started on the music. I mean, the music just fueled me on. I knew just what to play to get in the mood to do this or that. Oh, and the girls... They seemed to be so interested in the "bad boys". It seems that the fast life just made them flock to us.

Sure I was packing a pistol and a sack of crack. Not to mention the marijuana I smoked everyday, all day (I was like a walking chimney for nearly 10 years). But ask me was there peace in my heart? NO! Ask me if I slept well at night? NO! Ask me if all me friends were there for me when I needed them the most? NO! I found myself alone and rejected. It is sad.

Going back to the block for a second. I remember like it was yesterday, the times when the police would raid the block trying to catch one of us. It's like no matter how hard they would try, they could never get us all. Because we were always on our toes. The first sign of suspicion and all you heard was "run, po-po, run". For you who don't know, po-po is a nick name for police. Anyway, when someone would shout that the cops were close, we would run for our lives and usually get away.

But the key word there is usually. There were many other times that we did get caught, and normally in the silliest way. And when you did get caught, you were pretty much on your own. Until you got out at least. The fact is, no criminal is smart enough to escape 100% of the time. Sooner or later he gets caught by the police or by rival criminals (and either way that's a problem).

And the same applies in life. You can get away with doing wrong only for so long. It will come back to bite you sooner or later. God sees everything we do. Don't think because you haven't faced consequences, that you are Scot free. You aren't! Some wrongs are quickly discovered and punished, but others are not. But ALL will be dealt with in time.

Just like you can't outrun the law forever. You surely can't outrun Gods law forever. He sees your every move and knows exactly who you are.

So the next time you want to say run, run, run to try and get away from consequences, remember, you may escape for now, but God saw the whole thing. And you can't escape Him.

Whoa! That's Freaky!

Take a good look at this picture. I don't know what you think, but to me it's pretty freaky. I think I would have been praying my heart out if I had seen this in real life.

This is a picture of the volcano eruption in Chile. Actually it was after it started erupting and then began to lightning. So you had lava and lightning mixed together.

It looks like a scene from an apocalyptic movie. It really makes you think about the end of the world.

The bible says:

³⁰ “ And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth:
Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.
³¹ The sun shall be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD." (Joel 2: 30-31)

What the Dallas Mavericks reminded me about...

If any of you got a chance to see at least one of the last 3 NBA Finals games, you would have to agree with one thing. The Dallas Mavericks sure seemed to have it together a lot more than the Miami Heat.

Now as everyone who reads this blog knows, I am a Heat fan, not Mavericks. But the truth is the truth. These guys were older and supposedly less talented than the Heat. But look how they handled them. They did not cheat, or have every call in their favor, or anything else unfair. They simply WON. They Beat them. Period.

So enough with the obvious. You may ask, what is my point? Well, the point is, though the Heat were young and talented, they could not handle the wisdom and experience or the Mavs. Sure the Heat were faster, could jump higher, and play much more beautiful ball than the Mavericks. But the Mavericks with simplicity and self control, chipped away at the Heat little by little. They didn't do many beautiful dunks or fancy passes, but they shot with accuracy and played as a team.

You still don't get the point?

The point is, in life we need to learn to show respect for and learn as much as possible from those who are wiser or hold more experience than us. It is easy to say," I know what I'm doing, I don't need anyone to tell me what to do". But you sure could save yourself a lot of pain if you are willing to listen to what others who have "been there and done that", have to say.

All of our talent and strength makes no difference, if we don't know how to us it. It will end up misguided and will be of no use. We need to be humble enough to learn. In fact, we should never stop learning! We should be willing to accept advice and constructive criticism. No matter if we want to hear it or not. And we should always learn from others experiences. Dirk Nowinski and and Jason Kidd knew very well what the pain of failure was. And not just that, they knew this could be their last shot. But because they were experienced and wise, this bunch of "old guys" spanked a young talented Miami Heat team (I guess my boys need to respect their elders and go back to school so to speak). In life we will also get spanked if we don't learn from those who God puts in our life to guide us.

Give it some thought, and you may save yourself some disappointment.

P.S. I haven't given up on you Miami Heat. Just eat a slice of humble pie and come back next year.

Make the Most of It

Life's too short to waste whining about what could or would have been.

Whatever happens. whatever comes your way, you just need to learn to make the most of it.

If something really good happens, great, embrace the moment and see how you got to that point, But don't let your guard down and think that everything is OK. You must make the most of that good moment but brace yourself for the struggles that will eventually come.

If something really bad happens, you should do the same as you did with the good. Try to see if there was something you could have done differently to avoid what happened. If not then endure it with total resolve that it will end. If there is something that you have to change or fix in order to turn that moment around, then put the effort and strength into making the change. But make the most of it.

Learn from the bad, but make the most of it, in the since that, maybe a bad can be turned into a good learning experience to reflect on in the future. So if you learn from it and use it to teach you and possibly others not to do a certain thing, then you have made the most of it.

As well, with the good that happens, you should make the most by sharing the experiences and what God has done for you with others, and teach them how to conquer too.

So whether good or bad comes your way, make the most of it. Like the old saying goes, "you gotta learn to make lemonade out of a lemon."

Is it all worth it?

Is it worth it, to embrace a faith and a God I can not see?

Is it worth it, to become a slave for a promise to be free?

Is it worth it, to forget the past and ignore all that I know?

Is it really worth the friends I’ll loose and all the places I won’t go?

Is it worth it, to forgive someone, who hurt me oh so deep?

Is it worth the fight to hold your tongue, when silence seems so weak?

Is it worth all that I’ll sacrifice to walk this path alone?

Is it worth becoming an alien, in a world I once called home?

Is it worth it, if I change my habits, just because He said?

Is it worth it, to give up the lead in order to be led?

I wanna know it’s worth, please, before I pay this price.

I need to know, that I can trust this Jesus with my life.

The answer came so short and sweet, yet easy to receive.

It’s not worth it, to a worldly man, who’s stuck in his beliefs.

It’s not worth it, to the selfish man, who lusts for evil things.

It’s not worth it to the proud at heart, who doesn’t want to change.

It’s not worth it to the world itself, because the world can’t see.

But to those who look through eyes of faith, it’s worth it to believe.

Renato Cardoso's Blog: Blood Has a Voice

Renato Cardoso's Blog: Blood Has a Voice: "There are many voices in the world. There are even louder cries of pain — from those who suffer injustice, the hungry, the rejected, the for..."

What I learned from the Miami Heat

Being from Miami, I have always been a Heat fan. Long before they were a great team me and my brothers used to wear the Heat starter jackets.

Anyway, there is something I payed attention to, that I see is a trait in every great team and every great individual. And that is a never-say-die attitude. A it's only over when it's over mentality. A don't give up till the very last second mindset. This is a quality that is hard to beat.

For those who saw game 5 of the Conference Finals you will know that with 2mins and something seconds left in the game, the Heat were down by 10 points (77-67). But to no ones surprise, they began to attack with furious determination, which led to a comeback. And with under a minute left in the game they took the lead. So in less than two minutes they completely turned what should have been a lost, into a great victory. The funny thing is the Dallas Mavericks had done the same thing a few days before. And the Heat have done this time and time again.

This is the heart of champions! You want to win in life. You want to overcome the toughest battles. You want to make it to the highest places in this world. Fine, you can, but you must have a never say die attitude too. You must have a grit inside of you that stares defeat in the eyes and says "I will take you down". I love seeing turnarounds. There I was building something for my wife whilst watching the T.V. thinking "I guess there will be a game six". Then all of a sudden one 3 pointer, then another, then a steal, and then they are tied, then the Heat win!

Life is like this. Problems, challenges, struggles will come. Sometimes the odds will be totally against us. But never say die. Especially us who believe in such a great God. Because the world can put the odds against us, but really the odds are always in our favor, because our team is divine. If you fight back, God will back you up. Just as long as your fighting for what's right, what's good, what's fair.

So when you seem beat, take a lesson from the Miami Heat. It's not over time the last buzzer sounds. Fight till the end.

God bless you all, and may you never stop fighting.

Distractions- Part 2 (Don't let me get me)

When talking about distractions, there is one that we can not forget, because we stare it in the face everyday. That is obviously ourself.

We can be our own best friend or our worst enemy. Because we are so easily sidetracked. Just think about it, how many times do you have a deadline and you know you need to stay completely focused on it, but instead you take a call from a friend and end up on the phone for an hour? Or you go onto Facebook and spend 30-45mins just chatting or looking at other peoples page.

We are all too curious! That is why as soon as you open your Yahoo or Hotmail account, the first thing you will see is some sort of advertisement or the latest news. I'm not saying that it is wrong to look at an interesting article of take a minute to read a short funny story. But if we add up all the time that those little distractions take out of our days, we may be amazed at how much time was just plain wasted.

If we allow ourselves to look aside at everything that seems funny or interesting in some way, then our day will be wasted on those things. And the more important things that we NEED to get done will fall between the cracks.

So the solution is discipline. We have to learn when to take that break or that call or watch that 3min video, and when to say NO. There is a time to tell ourself, you can not have this right now. Or not at all! Depending on what it is.

This will not happen overnight, but the more you work at it, the stronger you become in terms of resisting distractions.

Let us watch ourselves, and not always let "our" will be done.

Distractions- Part 1

Satan's meeting (read even if you're busy)

Satan called a worldwide convention of demons. In his opening address he said, "We can't keep Christians from going to church." "We can't keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the truth." "We can't even keep them from forming an intimate relationship with their savior." "Once they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken."

"So let them go to their churches; let them have their covered dish dinners, but steal their time, so they don't have time to develop a relationship with Jesus Christ." "This is what I want you to do", said the devil:

"Distract them from gaining hold of their Savior and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day!" "How shall we do this?" his demons shouted.

"Keep them busy in the nonessentials of life and invent innumerable schemes to occupy their minds," he answered.

"Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, and borrow, borrow, borrow."

"Persuade the wives to go to work for long hours and the husbands to work 6-7 days each week, 10-12 hours a day, so they can afford their empty lifestyles."

"Keep them from spending time with their children." "As their families fragment, soon, their homes will offer no escape from the pressures of work!"

"Over-stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still, small voice." "Entice them to play the radio or cassette player whenever they drive." "To keep the TV, DVD, CDs and their PCs going constantly in their home and see to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays non-biblical
music constantly." "This will jam their minds and break that union with Christ."

"Fill the coffee tables with magazines and newspapers." "Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day." "Invade their driving moments with billboards." "Flood their mail boxes with junk mail, mail order catalogs,
sweepstakes, and every kind of newsletter and promotional offering free products , services and false hopes."

"Keep skinny, beautiful models on the magazines and TV so their husbands will believe that outward beauty is what's important, and they'll become dissatisfied with their wives." "Keep the wives too tired to love their husbands at night." "Give them headaches too!" "If they don't give their
husbands the love they need, they will begin to look elsewhere." "That will
fragment their families quickly!"

"Give them Santa Claus to distract them from teaching their children the real meaning of Christmas." "Give them an Easter bunny so they won't talk about his resurrection and power over sin and death."

"Even in their recreation, let them be excessive." "Have them return from their recreation exhausted." "Keep them too busy to go out in nature and reflect on God's creation." "Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, plays, concerts, and movies instead." "Keep them busy, busy, busy!"

"And when they meet for spi ritual fellowship, involve them in gossip and small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences."

"Crowd their lives with so many good causes they have no time to seek power from Jesus." "Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health and family for the good of the cause." "It will work!"
"It will work!"

It was quite a plan! The demons went eagerly to their assignments causing Christians everywhere to get more busy and more rushed, going here and there. Having little time for their God or their families. Having no time to tell others about the power of Jesus to change lives.

I guess the question is, has the devil been successful at his scheme?

You be the judge! Does "busy" mean:
B-eing
U-nder
S-atan's
Y-oke?

Everyone makes Mistakes.

We always hear people saying "everyone makes mistakes, it's OK".

Well I have to disagree. Sure it is true that none of us will ever be perfect. And indeed we do all make mistakes. But that doesn't mean that it is OK.

If we do wrong, we need to acknowledge the fact that we have done wrong. Not just say, it was a mistake, that's OK. And by the way, when does it stop being a mistake and become intentional?

Some people keep doing the same silly things and calling them mistakes. But it's not a mistake if that is exactly what you were planning to do the whole time.

What I am trying to say is that it is extremely annoying to keep hearing and seeing people fake like they want to change, and pretend to be such innocent little angels in front of those who are an authority figure, only to become the devil when they are away from plan sight. That is fake and disgusting. We all need to take a hard look at ourselves and do something to better ourselves. Not just keep making sorry excuses for why we are not half of what we should be.

And by the way, the first step is sincerity.

NO! Are you out of your mind!

I can't seem to get my head around how so many people give up so easily.

Why even start something that you are not willing to put enough effort into completing?

Let's be more specific... Why profess to have faith in God and say that you give your life to Him, but after things get a little hard, start to pout and say I quit? I'm sorry, but I just don't get it.

Every since I was a small child, there was one characteristic that I learned and kept with me. That is to never start something you are not planning to finish. And once you have started, no matter how hard it gets, don't give up without a fight. Really it's to fight to the death.

Your never a failure, until you stop fighting. If I was trying to become a famous designer and I pursued it for years and years, but then I died before ever making it. No one could say that I failed. I simply died before succeeding. But I died trying. The most important thing is to never stop fighting.

Many times people will come at you with negative words to discourage you. And your own thoughts will try to create this negativity as well. So you have to know when to be nice and when to be strong. For someone to give up on their faith or on a dream, something had to happen along the way to discourage them. And normally it was someone or something that happened or came into their life and started to pollute them. That is why we need to be careful with who we call friend, and with who we start a relationship with.

Whoever and whatever I allow into my mind will certainly plant seeds, and if not soon, then later those seeds will sprout and bear their destructive fruit.

So what should I do with people who come to me trying to discourage me, or trying to break me down? I can tell you what I would do. I would tell them to get out of my face with their negative words or discouraging words. And if that person is trying to get me to turn my back on my dreams or my faith, I would tell them " Are you out of your mind!"

There is a time to be nice and a time to be strong. Even Jesus Himself did not play with His faith. He was very sharp with those who tried to discourage Him. For example when Peter tried to stop Him from going to die for us, He said to Peter "Get behind me satan!". I guess you wouldn't say that was polite. But he had to protect his faith.

There are some things that are more important than feelings. Our future is one of them.

Just one of those days...

Sometimes you have those days where a minute feels like an hour. It seems that if anything can go wrong it will!

No one wakes up in the morning hoping for a bad day. But bad days do happen. Their just seems to be days that no matter how hard you try to turn it around, there is another "surprise" just around the corner. It's awful! You wake up and the iron is broken, now you have to go to work or school wrinkled. Then you get to the bus stop and some "wonderful" person speeds by kicking water up onto your already wrinkled shirt. Then you get where you are going, only to find your superior is in a bad mood today, so she is giving attitudes like free lollipops. So you go through the dreadful day at work, and trying to be positive, you say "this day is going to end well". But when you leave the job, someone picks a fight with you on the way home, because you brushed against them on your way off the bus. By this time, you are thinking, could it get any worst? Oh yes it can! You get home expecting to find some peace of mind. But no no, not today. The family! Yes, it could be the wife or the mom or siblings. But someone has to start complaining or nagging or asking what seems to be 1000 questions, when you are not in the mood. So of course, an argument starts. By now you are thinking, "when will this day end?"

The good news is, it will end! No matter how bad of a day it has been, you can close your eyes at night and wake up and start over. Who knows the next day could be the best day of your life.

We can't avoid problems. It doesn't matter how hard we try. If we don't go looking for them, they will find us. So we can't be afraid to face problems and hardships. Of course, it is never pleasant to go through a frustrating moment, but it can build character. If you just put the past behind you and start each new day afresh, you will learn a lot. It takes a lot of will to lay down after a horrible day and say, "tomorrow is going to be a great day!" Because normally after a bad day, you dread the thought of tomorrow, assuming it will be the same or worst.

Please understand this. Everyday will not be good, but we can go into each day expecting it to be. And if it is not, then we can expect tomorrow to be. But we must make sure that we also do what it takes to make it good. Because sometimes the day goes wrong because of our own decisions.

And the same applies to life itself. Problems do come. But we have to decide how we will deal with them. We can either get down and discouraged, or we can pick our head up and say "come on problem, I'm gonna deal with you". The choice is really ours.

Remember Jesus said, "in this world you will have tribulation (problems), but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world". If our Lord overcame, can't we? Think about it.

P.S. Have a GOOD day!

What if I had...?

There's a nice song called "I don't wanna go through the motions" that I have been thinking about in the last couple of days. I actually haven't heard it in a while, but I keep thinking about it.

You may ask what is the point? Well, it's not really the whole song that I keep thinking about. It's really just one line. The singer says "I don't wanna spend my whole life asking, what if I had given everything... instead of going through the motions".

How deep is that line? "What if I had given everything?"

I know one thing. I don't wanna spend my whole life asking that question. But many people will.

Right now all over the world there are people doing this 21 day fast from secular distractions. And some will do it right, and really go all the way, and be truly filled with God's presence and receive the Holy Spirit and change inside.

But others will just go through the motions, meaning just do it any kind of way. Just caught up in the hype of everyone else doing it. That is sad. Because on the 17th when nothing happens for them, they will be left asking, "what if I had given everything...instead of going through the motions"?

And the same rule applies to life. Many people talk so much about what they will do, or what they will change. But they are just going through the motions. They are not really ready to make the commitment to change at all.

And that is why we have so many defeated people in this world. Especially those who are Christians. They say they believe in a great God, but they just go through the motions, they don't act on their faith in a bold enough way to make something happen. It is almost as if Jesus is just a comforting fairytale king to them. It's as if God were a bandage for a bleeding wound. The bandage covers the wound, but doesn't heal it.

It breaks my heart to see how many people start stuff and don't finish, or worst off, are not even willing to start something because it is "too hard". They just go through the motions in life, and that is it.

Listen dear friends, this 21 day fast that we are doing is not a joke. It is not just for the old or for the young. Not just for members or just for pastors or bishops. This is not just for people who are very holy or have been in church for many years. This is for everyone!

There is death and devastation all over the world right now, and the signs of the end are evident. Now ask yourself this question; one day when you have to stand judgement, do you want to spend ETERNITY asking "what if I had given everything...instead of going through the motions?"