A CONFEDERATE FLAG MADE MY HEART KNEEL

          A man walked into the gym with a Confederate Flag on his shirt and the name "Gettysburg" printed above it. Immediately a sadness washed over all of me. I was on a stationary bike and my legs went weak. I lost the will to continue physically exercising, I felt spiritually wounded.

          In Gettysburg I walked on battlefields that were once covered in blood. I still hurt when I think of what slavery did to generations of Black families. In Selma, Alabama, the Holy Spirit had me apologize to a man for what my Race had done to his Race. I wanted to kneel in sorrow and ask God for mercy and grace to cover folks who don't know what they're doing.

          All of us are made in God's image and He does not show favoritism to any race, neither should we. My wife and I had to leave, so I (grudgingly) uttered a prayer and asked God to show the man love as we left the gym.

          In the meantime, I hope I see him again and I will pray that God gives me words from His Word that will give the man the desire to kneel before God.

Thanks for your time. Go do something nice for somebody.

Jesus loves you and so do we.

#JLYASDW

 Mark 12:31 The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.

Philippians 2:3-4 Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

1 John 4:19-21 We love because He first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For the person who does not love his brother he has seen cannot love the God he has not seen. And we have this command from Him: The one who loves God must also love his brother.

WHAT IS SIN?

          Everyone has done it. Everyone is still susceptible to it. Everyone is surrounded by it. Sin is in the world. If you knew what sin is, could you avoid it? What actually is sin?
          The easy definition of sin is "Anything that separates you from God." A better question might be, "What separates me from God?"
          The devil is a separator whose goal is to bring you to hell.  He's a deceiver who's best described as a thief, a killer and a destroyer. He's the poster-child for hate and the opposite of love. The devil and sin go together like cake and ice cream.
          Sin begins as the seed of selfishness. We put our own desires ahead of our relationship with God and other people. The Bible says we are to "love God and love our neighbor as our self."
          In the following two selections from The Message Bible, you will find a good definition of what sin looks like and then a beautiful glimpse into what love is supposed to look like.

This Is How Sin Behaves

"It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex;
a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage;
frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness;
trinket gods;
magic-show religion;
paranoid loneliness;
cutthroat competition;
all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants;
a brutal temper;
an impotence to love or be loved;
divided homes and divided lives;
small-minded and lopsided pursuits;
the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival;
uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions;
ugly parodies of community.
I could go on. This isn’t the first time I have warned you, you know.
If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God’s kingdom."

Galatians 5:19-21 The Message

This Is How Love Behaves

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.

When I was an infant at my mother’s breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.

We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.1 Corinthians 13:4-13 The Message

Thanks for your time. Go do something nice for somebody.
Jesus loves you and so do we.

     Bob Kuebler is the Director of Youth With A Purpose. Bob has spent the last 15 yrs. learning about pain and perseverance from inner city young people and their families. Healing starts with love and encompasses compassion and empathy.
     Our mission at YWAP is to inspire inner-city young people to develop as God's leaders who overcome the mindset of poverty and gang violence and mentor the next generation. Bob is the Author of six books, several magazine articles and blogs including The Bright Spot Report. He regularly shares with audiences about how God is redeeming our cities through young people.

Bob can be reached at 716-830-8240 or ywapbuffalo@yahoo.com.
www.youthwithapurpose.org

 

 

TWO THINGS I WANT TO DO WITH MY LIFE

          My "bucket list" of life goals is more like a coffee cup. Sure, I'd like to finish climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, finish hiking all 50 United States high points (32 so far,) and accomplish a few other things. But they all pale in comparison to what's really in my heart.

          Two things overwhelm all the other thoughts that take up space in my life.

1. "I want to tell as many young men as I can,
how much God loves them."

2. "I want to tell as many young men as I can,
how cool it is to be a dad."

          Everything else flows into my bucket list from those two things. Knowing the love of God will tell a young man how to love and respect a woman. I want my relationship with my wife to be a model of a man loving his wife the way Christ loved the church.
          God's love provides a road map for a young man's purpose in life. It's a game plan for greatness in demonstrating a more excellent way to live. God is an all-loving, all-forgiving Father who allowed his son to demonstrate how to lay your life down.
          I love being a Dad, though I never claim to have the role perfected. To remain teachable is a life-long pursuit. I want to learn more about God's love. I want to learn more about being a better dad. I want to learn more about how to do two things.

Thanks for your time. Go do something nice for somebody.
Jesus loves you and so do we.

     Bob Kuebler is the Director of Youth With A Purpose. Bob has spent the last 15 yrs. learning about pain and perseverance from inner city young people and their families. Healing starts with love and encompasses compassion and empathy.
     Our mission at YWAP is to inspire inner-city young people to develop as God's leaders who overcome the mindset of poverty and gang violence and mentor the next generation. Bob is the Author of six books, several magazine articles and blogs including The Bright Spot Report. He regularly shares with audiences about how God is redeeming our cities through young people.

Bob can be reached at 716-830-8240 or ywapbuffalo@yahoo.com.
www.youthwithapurpose.org

.

ARE THERE ENOUGH MEN WHO CRY IN BUFFALO?

Bibles surround a street side memorial for a murdered young man.

Who are the men who cry in Buffalo, New York? 

• Some men are in jail crying to get out.
• Fathers who don't know their children, cry for lost years.
• Fathers of dead boys cry over son's in caskets.
• Men whose brains are fried from drugs cry for sanity.
• Men live under bridges cry for some coin to buy a drink.
• Wounded men cry for revenge.
• Senile men cry for lost memories.
• Divorced men cry over their loneliness.
• Diseased men in pain cry out for a cure.
• Guilty men cry over lost innocence.
• Young men cry out for a father figure.
• Confused men cry out to be understood.
• Men of truth cry out for justice.
• Broken men cry out for forgiveness.
• Humble men cry out in compassion.
• Married men cry deeply for their brides.
• Widowed men cry over lost love.

          There is a future for weeping men in Buffalo. There is a future for the young men in Buffalo who don't have a father. There is a future for guys who want to stop shooting other guys in an attempt to fill the hole in their souls.

Jesus wept.

John 11:35

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, 

and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb.

John 20:11

Fear not, for I am with you; 

be not dismayed, for I am your God; 

I will strengthen you, I will help you, 

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:10

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, 

and death shall be no more, 

neither shall there be mourning, 

nor crying, nor pain anymore, 

for the former things have passed away.”

Revelation 21:4

          May the fathers of Buffalo cast their former things upon the cross of Jesus and become strengthened as men who become compassionate fathers to the next generation of fathers in Buffalo. Amen.

          Please share this Blog with someone you think might have a need to read it. If you would like to learn more about getting involved in helping young people experience a life-change, please leave your email on the comment section below. 

          Youth With A Purpose has a plan with a program already in action. We help young men become Christ-centered role models who mentor the next generation.

Thanks for your time. 

Go do something nice for somebody.

Jesus loves you and so do we. #JLYASDW

Bob Kuebler is the Founder & Director of Youth With A Purpose. Bob has spent the last 15 yrs. learning about pain and perseverance from inner city young people and their families. Healing starts with love and encompasses compassion and empathy. Our mission at YWAP is to inspire inner-city young people to develop as God's leaders who overcome the mindset of poverty and gang violence. Bob is the Author of four books, several magazine articles and blogs including The Bright Spot Report. He regularly shares with audiences about how God is redeeming our cities through young people.



Bob can be reached at 716-830-8240
or ywapbuffalo@yahoo.com.
www.youthwithapurpose.org

IS IT I LORD?

"In the same way death spread to all men because all sinned."

Is it I Lord?

I can't imagine enslaving a man,
because his skin is black or tan.
I can't imagine letting a baby die
before he's had a chance to cry.
I can't imagine people inhaling poison gas,
Hatred swiftly killing whole families en masse.
I can't imagine selling innocent children for sex.
I can't imagine a knife slicing people's necks.
I can't imagine yelling crucify,
and condemning Jesus to die.
I can't imagine just standing by.
What is the opposite of the word deny?.

IS IT I LORD?

Have my thoughts, words or my actions ever denied Love?
Have I ever stood by while justice, mercy and truth were denied?
I may only be a sojourner in this world, but I can't be a denier. I'm responsible, I'm accountable - to me belong the guilt and shame. No longer can I ask; "IS IT I LORD?" I know the Truth and the Truth has set me free. My eternal fate is sealed, indelibly etched in the heart of God. I've been made in the image and likeness of God. He sent His son to take on the guilt of all mankind. Should I be anything less as a believer in Christ?

Thanks for your time. Go do something nice for somebody.
Jesus loves you and so do we.

++++++++++

“‘Master, you are our God, for you delivered your people from the land of Egypt in a show of power—people are still talking about it! 

We confess that we have sinned, that we have lived bad lives. 

Following the lines of what you have always done in setting things right, setting people right, please stop being so angry with Jerusalem, your very own city, your holy mountain. 

We know it’s our fault that this has happened, all because of our sins and our parents’ sins, and now we’re an embarrassment to everyone around us. 

We’re a blot on the neighborhood. 

So listen, God, to this determined prayer of your servant. 

Have mercy on your ruined Sanctuary. 

Act out of who you are, not out of what we are.

“‘Turn your ears our way, God, and listen. 

Open your eyes and take a long look at our ruined city, this city named after you. We know that we don’t deserve a hearing from you. 

Our appeal is to your compassion. 

This prayer is our last and only hope:

“‘Master, listen to us!
Master, forgive us!
Master, look at us and do something!
Master, don’t put us off!
Your city and your people are named after you:
You have a stake in us!’

Daniel 9:15-19 The Message

++++++++++

Tuesday, February 7, 2017, 2:06 AM
Chandler, Arizona, USA

I FAILED GOD'S FOUR QUESTION TEST

   

 
          The test was short - only four questions. It was man and woman's first test; and they failed. They needed to answer correctly on three questions to get a passing grade. They bombed all four questions and then God told them to get out of paradise.
          In my life I've failed that "Four Question Test" innumerable times. Take a look at the Test and then I'll tell you about my failures.

1. “Where are you?”
2. “Who told you that you were naked?"
3. "Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”
4. “What is this you have done?”*

          As a boy and then as a young man, several things happened to me that caused me to walk away from God. The details aren't necessary and the events happened before the age of maturity. Lack of maturity may be a lame excuse and I don't blame anyone but myself for my failures during God's tests. Still, as a youngster I walked away from any type of organized religion because of my experiences. 

          I was like a tree with my roots in the world. Even though my branches could feel the cool breeze of God asking "Where are you Bob?" I ignored Him. My conscience felt guilty, I knew I was naked and devoid of God's covering because of my separation from Him. That separation is sin.

          Instead of reaching for the sun, the tree of my life began receding into a sinkhole of self-righteous indignation. When I had reached my lowest point of emptiness and loneliness, God asked me His fourth question; "What is this you have done?"

          Last year I used a Bible Reading Plan that covered the Bible in 90 days. I noticed the rapidity and regularity of man's falling away from God. I also noticed that my first few decades of life mirrored that same destructive cycle. Staying in the Word helps me immensely, but I still get asked those same four questions from time to time.

Thanks for your time. Go do something nice for somebody.

Jesus loves you and so do we.

* The Four Question Test is taken from Genesis 3:9-13. New King James Version