SecondIron's Blog

Sharpening Iron to Live Second

Have You Won the Faith Versus Fate Battle

As Christians, we are raised in the Church to believe in Faith Versus Fate. This belief in a Higher power can sometimes be a battle. Many of us go through life believing in coincidences and destiny. They call their life plan, their spouse,  even their dream job..FATE. This creates a constant internal battle of faith versus fate. FATE defined as “the development of events beyond a person’s control, regarded as determined by a supernatural power.” Hmm that really sounds familiar to what we Christians believe… FAITH … “makes us certain of realities we do not see” ~ Heb 11:1 Seems to me very similar in definition. And yet we are quick to declare something was of fate rather than giving God the glory in our faith. I spent many years blindly going through life thinking “everything happens for a reason.” I would be so focused on my own fated plan that I ignored His plan. Allowing others’ opinions of me interfere with my own believing. Fate beat out faith every time in my reasoning for quite some time. “There is an appointed time for everything,     and a time for every affair under the heavens.” ~ Ecclesiastes 3:1-15 Raised in the shadows of an older brother. It was common to be compared to him (not the best example). I grew up believing that it was my fate or destiny to fail. Hearing words of discouragement and comparison spoken into you at a young age can change the way you see yourself. This self-doubt caused me to depend on fate versus faith. The […]

A New Journey to the Cross

Everyone that is a Christian understands the Cross …right? Since Pentecostal Sunday there has been a journey towards the Cross that has shaken my core into a new brokenness.  We, as Christians make the sign of the cross at church, when we pray all without thinking of its power.  The Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the Spirit that crosses our hearts and sets us on fire. Spending a few days in the hills of Georgia serving thousands of other Christians spreading His love and word at our annual trip to AtlantaFest at Stone Mountain can bring anyone to their knees.  Between the Christian artists, speakers and guests there were moments of profound brokenness and healing that all were directed toward the Cross.  Through pain, joy, tears and repenting, lives were changed and redemption found. Starting with singer Matt Maher on opening night describing how broken people can be saved by the healing power of Christ and how broken hearts can be mended by taking our sins to the Cross.  The theme continued throughout the festival, from artist like R3D, Thousand Foot Krutch, Rhett Walker Band to Kari Jobe there were four days of phenomenal worship and testimonies of healing. Professor and Apologist Ergun Caner broke it all down in a real ‘honest’ way describing how a Muslim was saved by one person that showed him the way to the Cross.

How Network Marketing Saved My Soul

Most people reading that headline will shiver at the thought of network marketing and some of you will quit reading at this sentence just because of the word. For those of you that have braced yourselves for rest of the story, I thank you and promise there will be no opportunity being pitched for you to buy into the next big thing in this post. You see my experience with network marketing was probably similar to many of you.  I remember going with my mother as a kid to go pick up her Amway orders from the local distributor who also happened to be a long time family friend across town.  I knew nothing about the business model itself, all I knew is all the products in the house from laundry detergent to deodorant and toothpaste all had the same  packaging and were not the name brands everyone else was using. Many, many years later I was introduced to another product that contained a bunch of juices blended together and well I drank the Kool-Aid and was sold.  I learned everything I could from the people who were successful in network marketing.  For several years I was that guy that everyone ran from when they saw me coming because I had something new to sell them.  The funny thing was I was not a people person but yet if I believed in a product I could sell it to my grandmother without blinking an eye.