God  Offers  Love  &  Forgiveness 

Which is something we all need. 

In my own life, just like John Newton wrote in Amazing Grace "I once was lost, but now I am found, was blind, but now I see" and now I aim to share the gift of God's love and forgiveness with everyone I can.

Take a trip down the "Roman's Road" to see why this is so important:

1. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23) as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; (Rom 3:10). 

As good as we might think we are, the ugly truth is that apart from God, even our righteousness is like filthy rags. When our eyes have been opened, it's not too hard to see this when we look around at the world we live in, and if we're honest, at ourselves. This world, that was originally created for good, has fallen from grace into condemnation. Sin entered the world through the first man, Adam. Because of Adam’s sin, we’re all incapable of meeting God’s standards. Sin isn’t just something we do. It’s our nature. “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all people, because all sinned” (Rom 5:23)

2. “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 6:23). 

The consequential payment for our sins is far more severe than we realize. We like to think we're off the hook if no one notices our wrongdoing, but nothing is hidden from God. When sin entered the world, along with it came death, which was not merely a just punishment, but also an act of mercy in itself, so that we might not live eternally in a state of corruption. Worse than this, however, sin leads to spiritual death, which is eternal separation from God, who is the source of all life and goodness. This verse ends with good news, however! We’ve earned death. It’s what we deserve. But we’re offered a free gift that we don’t deserve—“eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

3. “God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). 

There is nothing we can do in our own power to save ourselves from what we rightly deserve, but in the riches of his mercy, God bore our punishment upon himself. Imagine racking up a mountain of fines you could never repay in a million years, and the merciful judge out of his own kindness, pays the penalty on your behalf. That's what Christ did for us. He paid the ultimate price by laying down his own life in exchange for ours, to give us the gift of salvation from sin and death. "For our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Cor 5:21) 

4. “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation” (Rom 10:9–10)

How can we accept God's free offer of salvation? We cannot do anything to earn or merit it, so we shouldn't think of confessing and believing as "works" but as a faithful response to the offer. When we believe in our heart and confess with our mouth that "Jesus is Lord" (which means that you not only accept that he is who he says he is as God incarnate, but also that he is the Lord of your life and you submit to his authority) he is faithful to fulfill his promise to save us, and that very day we can be "born again" moving from spiritual death to life. The Bible also describes this as repentance, or turning away from our own wickedness and turning towards the righteousness of Christ. This is followed by believers baptism, where our old selves are symbolically buried with Christ in the water, then we are raised to walk in newness of life. 

5. “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Rom 10:13)

Finally friends, let's remember that this offer is for everyone. No matter where we're from, what we've done, how smart or wealthy we are or aren't, God's offer of salvation is for all of us.

If you've never made Jesus the Lord of your life, you can today. Call out to the Lord in prayer, ask him to forgive your sins and commit to follow him for the rest of your days. Find a local church that faithfully teaches the word of God to get involved with to begin being discipled in Christ.

My wife and I along with our two daughters have recently joined Faith Baptist Church here in Princeton, TX, and it has been a huge blessing to us already.

You can check them out here if your in the area and would like to visit, or watch their messages online:

http://www.faithprinceton.org/

One warning about finding a church; there are many places out there that call themselves Christian churches, they can look convincing and claim to preach the truth, but are peddling a false gospel in one way or another. There are many types of deception out there that have done great harm to countless people over the years. Learning more about the true gospel will help protect you from these errors. I'll include one resource here:

The Four Essentials of the Gospel

https://bridgingthebible.substack.com/p/the-four-essentials-of-the-gospel

If you're still unsure, I would encourage you to search the Word of God for yourself. We don't just read the Bible, the Bible reads us. It reveals to us who God is and who we are. 

And that's how I know that:

God Offers Love & Forgiveness.

Which is why I play:

GOLF

The game of golf is a wonderful metaphor for life, with its ups and downs, twists and turns, challenges and triumphs.  You may have walked with the Lord through those hills and valleys for many years, or you may not know him at all yet, and if not, I would encourage you to start getting to know him today. 

Golf can teach us many things about God's ways if we pay attention.

"The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. " (Genesis 2:15)

There are a great many well-maintained courses whose groundskeepers, whether they know it or not, are cultivating their properties in a very "Eden-like" way. When we are afforded the luxury to step into one of these spaces, it is no wonder the therapeutic effects it can have for our souls... 

If we can overcome the frustrations of the game.

If you've played the game for any length of time, most players can identify with a specific pattern of misses. Here are a few of the most frequent I typically see:

#1. "Over the Top" - Slice/Pull/Chunk/Heel

If you struggle with this one, don't worry, my friend, you're not alone. This problem has plagued countless golfers over the centuries, but that means it's also one of the most well-documented ailments. There is more content out there on "quick tips for fixing a slice" than just about any other golfing problem. The truth is, there is no one-size-fits-all solution, and the adjustments one person needs to make can be completely different from another. We need to find out why this is happening in your unique swing in order to address it properly.

#2. "Under the Bottom" - Hook/Push/Thin/Toe

Far less common than the first, and typically a problem for better players. As the polar opposite, this type of swinging can often be prescribed as a solution to the slice, and it can certainly produce rapid results on that front; however, if left unchecked, the motor patterns developed from this move can be very difficult to unlearn and require more advanced knowledge and nuanced drills to work out.

#3. "2-Way Miss" - Ball curves both ways. 

This problem can be extraordinarily detrimental to scoring and is one of the most frustrating ways to play golf. At least if you fall into one of the first two categories exclusively, you know what to expect and can plan accordingly. If you know you're going to slice it, and you do it every time, you can play golf. If you slice it on one hole and hook it on the next, big numbers are bound to crop up and ruin what might have been an otherwise solid round.

#4. "All over the place!" - Anything could happen!

The opposite of boring golf! To the left, to the right, came up short, then went too long, chunked it 2 feet, then bladed over the green, shanked it off the hosel and then again off the toe... just wait till you hear about the back nine!

Golf is hard. 

Although many golfers can identify with one of these categories (or more, depending on the day), there are as many different types of swings as there are players, and you may have a different set of misses entirely. I aim to "custom tailor" my instruction to fit the golfer in front of me.

I guide my players through an ongoing evaluation process where we talk about your unique goals, your specific frustrations, and what you would like to accomplish during your lessons, so that I can best understand how you learn and the approach to take that will be the most beneficial for your improvement.

Developing a consistent shot pattern is a big step toward playing your best golf.

Equally important is our decision making process on the course, ensuring we select the correct shot for the the moment.

If you feel that you are striking the ball fairly well, but still not seeing the scores you would like, poor course managment may likely be causing more dropped shots than you realize.

During playing lessons, I can observe and assess your course management skills and work with you on implement more effective strategies. Things like target selection, pre-shot routine, and keeping a level head.

There is a massive mental side of the game and I can help coach you on that, getting you out of your own way so you can start playing your best.

Hitting the ball solid and selecting the right shot to put ourselves in a good position are both key, but we can't neglect the scoring clubs either. 

Once you're in a good position, being able to execute a solid short game to capitalize on the hard work it took to get there and convert more bogeys into pars and pars to birdies. 

I like to spend a good deal of time with my players working on pitching, chipping, and putting to ensure confidence in those skills when you're under pressure and need them the most.