Author: Kevin

I am a follower of Jesus, husband, pastor, author, and caffeine addict. Please follow me on Facebook or Twitter. You may also want to consider subscribing to the RSS feed.

Hall of Heroes

God blessed me with a wonderful opportunity this afternoon. I was the speaker for a worship service held at Raja Soliman High School. This particular event was for the faculty–it was the first hour of an afternoon workshop/training.

I started off by telling these teachers that they are my heroes. I know I am biased on this, because I come from a family of educators. My grandmother was a teacher and my dad was a high school administrator (now retired). Many other family members (aunts, uncles, cousins, etc) made their living as educators. Without competent teachers, none of us would be where we are in life. What an honor it was to minister to these unsung heroes!

I shared a message from John 4, explaining that only a relationship with Jesus could quench our “spiritual thirst.” I hope and pray that what I shared was a blessing to them. Special thanks to University Baptist Church and Raja Soliman High School for inviting me!

We will be ministering to the entire student body of this school on Friday, March 2nd. Please pray for this event.

A Life Lesson from American Idol: Do We All Need a “Simon?”

Another season of American Idol is here. Yes, this show is very popular here in the Philippines (just explaining for my American readers). I tend to lose interest once the finalist are competing, but I love watching the first auditions. Some of the “talent” and judges’ comments just makes me laugh out loud.

I really can’t believe the naivety of some of the contestants. Some of them confidently assert that they are American Idol material, yet their audition sounds like the drunken karaokey I hear while wondering through Manila. “This poor guy really needs to pursue another life dream,” I think to myself. The judges’ comments may seem harsh, but maybe it keeps some from wasting their lives on unrealistic goals.

If you have watched the show, you know that the most straightforward, humorous, and rude criticisms usually come from Simon. Love him or hate him, you probably can’t wait to hear his critiques. Simon, of course, may be a little too straightforward. At the same time, you know his compliments are 100% sincere. When he tells someone they have talent, you know it is not just flattery.

A few months back I wrote an devotional entitled We All Need a Nathan. This devotional was based on the many roles Nathan had in David’s life. Sometimes I wonder if we could all use a “Simon” in our lives from time to time.

Here’s what I mean. As I pointed out in the before-mentioned article, “A true friend will love us enough to tell us the truth, even at the risk of hurting our feelings.” Proverbs says it this way:

Wounds from a friend can be trusted,
but an enemy multiplies kisses.
-Proverbs 27:6

Whether we want to admit it or not, we can be just as foolish as some of those Idol contestants. As I mentioned in the devotional about Nathan, we can have “blind spots” in our lives–sometimes everyone can see them except us!

Hopefully you have at least one friend in your life who is 100% honest with you. This type of friend will be just as straightforward as Simon, but speak from a loving heart. If you don’t have someone like this in your life, ask God to send him/her to you. You will hear things that may make you uncomfortable, but you will be a better man or woman in the long run.