Author: danlewiston

I am a Christian! I am a Husband! I am a Father! I love my family, baseball, food, and people!

I Met 3 Warriors Today…

January 9, 2023

Today in the GREAT State of Texas, I met 3 warriors. I would like to tell you about them…

The 1st Warrior, wow what a warrior he is! At the age of 15 & 16 & 17, he made a series of bad decisions. Drugs, Alcohol, Rebellion, and Anger caused him to lose his freedom and spend time in the the Juvenile Courts, “Juvy” Detention, and then as the Judge said to him, “Big Boy Jail”. So he joined the Army, then became an Army Ranger and served in US Special Operations for over 10 years. In his post military career, went back into a life of mischief, then Christ changed his life. Now he Pastors one of the nations largest Prison Ministries, and completely has an ETERNAL lease on his call. He said to me today, “I am ADDICTED to Prison Ministry!” He went from fighting the law, to fighting for freedom, to taking it to the enemy of our souls! As of today, I get to call him friend!

The 2nd Warrior, wow what a warrior he will be! This warrior is young, and still finding his way. At age 15 & 16 & 17, he made a series of decisions that didn’t land in jail behind metal bars, but has landed him behind bars of an emotional and spiritual nature. He is plagued with rejection, insecurity, fear, and loneliness. He is surrounded by people that desire to see the King work in him and through him, but haunted by a past of mediocrity and lack of excellence. He feels like he doesn’t measure up in many avenues of his life, yet he hears all the time that he is Kings, and that there is a plan that will be great, if he will simply stay on His path. He is going from “How will I make it, to I hope I make it, to I know the King is not giving up on me – I WILL MAKE IT! This warrior is finding his identity, and you will know him soon enough!

The 3rd Warrior, wow he doesn’t feel like a warrior most days, because he feels like inside the armor he wears, there is just child. Scared, humbled, confused, paralyzed by fear, called by God, overcoming the noise of his own mind, ready for the calling and the passions to line up, hoping, yearning, grasping for constant truth, longing for a relationships that surpass the surface of life, and so many other self afflicted wounds. Yet with all of it, he has a confidence, still that the King has called him and desires to fulfill that call. This warrior, is me.

Today, I realize that warriors come in all shapes and sizes, in all stages of life. Warriors believe they are never out of the fight. You see the warrior keeps on fighting and never gives up. The warrior never surrenders. The warrior doesn’t leave their brother behind. The warrior carries the warrior that is wounded, broken, on his last breath. The warrior gives quickly and receives only what he has to in order to live another day. The warrior is not afraid to stoop to a place of humility and service, and not afraid to give their life for another. The warrior doesn’t keep a record of wrong, but lives his life in love. The warrior fights for the heart of the King, because the King is LOVE. The warrior is powerful, because the warrior’s King is LOVE! The warriors greatness is not in his own ability, but in the GREATNESS of the KING!

You see the 2nd and 3rd Warrior, want to be like the 1st Warrior, fiercely fighting for the King.

The 2nd Warrior is on his way to being like Warrior #1, as he fights for the King.

The 3rd Warrior is simply try to stay in the fight for the King.

But here is the real TRUTH…

All three of us are SIMPLY the King’s Sons!!!

The King loves His Sons, and simply wants the Sons to keep their eyes on Him!

Because, the King is Worthy!

Because the Sons lead the way to the King!

Because the King gave His life for them!

Because the King is Love!

So how about it WARRIOR – SON… Never Give Up, Never Surrender, Never Quit! You are more than an overcomer!

Tossed Salad

November 10, 2021

This morning I got my morning routine going. Alarm, Shower-n-Shave, make my lunch, and then breakfast!

Most of the routine was “normal”. Then I started making my lunch…

Lunch, normally is a salad. I have (in my opinion) mastered the art of salad making. A handful of Spinach, some diced Tomatoes, a stick of Celery, 5 small Red & Orange Peppers, 1/3 of Cucumber, a couple slices of Smoked Ham, a dusting of Parmesan Cheese, a drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and a splash of Balsamic Vinegar. Then 4 or 5 sprinkles of crushed Red Pepper!

A salad made in Heaven, well Tennessee…LOL!

I typically chop and dice everything on a plate. Put my Spinach in the square Rubbermaid bowl, then combine the contents of the plate into the bowl. As I was chopping the Red & Orange Peppers – around an already full plate of other diced veggies – I put a little too much pressure on the edge of the plate. 2/3 of the content of the plate…right to the floor!

I didn’t cuss, I didn’t erupt, I didn’t even gasp. I paused, gathered the “tossed” salad into a pile, put it down the disposal, washed the kitchen floor, and started again, putting each ingredient into the bowl, so as not to repeat my blunder!

2nd attempt – SUCCESSFUL! I cannot wait for lunch today!

As I sat to eat my breakfast, I began to replay the mornings mishap, and I asked God, “Why?” As I sat in silence, the scriptures began to speak to me…

1 Peter 5:6&7 (NIV), “6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

Just like my tossed salad this morning, I want to encourage you to “TOSS” your anxiety on Jesus, because he CARES for YOU!!!! 

The word “CAST” in 1 Peter 5:7, literally and figuratively means to throw upon, toss to, give away quickly – I think you get the picture!

Give Him your anxiety today! 

Give Him the mishaps today!

Give Him the “I can’t believe that just happened to me” moments today!

Give Him all of you today!

Why…

He cares for YOU!

So, go make yourself a salad, put all the things in it, and enjoy the masterpiece you created. And the Master will enjoy caring for you today!

His Better Words

October 29, 2021

The words we say…

The words we hear…

The words we read…

What about the words He speaks over us!

Eph. 3:20 (MES), “God can do anything, you know – far more than you could ever imagine or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around, but by working within us, His Spirit deeply and gently within us.”

Listen to His Better Words for you life!!!

Then Decree Them OVER Your Life!

Blue Skies Are Coming!

October 28, 2021

These 2 pictures are taken literally 30 seconds from each other.

The ”Orange Sky” is what I saw when I opened the door this morning to leave at 7:15 AM.

I literally walked down the driveway & looked left 90 degrees towards the end of our street, & I saw these “Blue Skies”!

Same sky, different direction!!!

Ps. 119:1-3 (MES), “1 You are blessed when you stay on course, walking steadily on the road revealed by God! 2 You are blessed when you follow His directions, doing your best to find Him. 3 That’s right – you don’t go off on your own; you walk straight along the road He set!”

“Stay on Course”, Blue skies are coming!!!!

Make Your Mark

June 4, 2021

Are you a catalyst? Do you change your surroundings or do they change you.

Let’s do a science experiment today. Take a pot, any size and boil some water in it. First take some sliced carrots and put them in the water, 11 minutes later, what happens – the carrots get soft. Next take same boiling water and put some eggs in there for 11 minutes. What happens – the eggs get hard. In both scenarios the surroundings changed the product.

Now take some boiling water and put some coffee grounds in for 11 minutes. Amazing what you find, the water is completely changed – taste, color, and smell. The product completely changed its surroundings! Sounds like a catalyst to me!

Webster’s Dictionary says, “Catalyst: something or someone that causes events to happen with itself being changed.”

Kathy Lee Clifford once talked about the lasting impact that her late husband and NFL Great Frank Gifford had left on people. She said, “Frank’s world got smaller, as his God got bigger!” She then went on to talk about a trip that she and her husband went on the Holy Land. They visited the spot where David defeated the giant Goliath. For Christmas that year, graduation, and birthdays – Frank gave people stones. A picture of faith that represented to Frank of making your mark, having purpose, and being whom God made you to be! 

You can find that video here: (http://www.today.com/video/watch-kathie-lees-touching-tribute-to-husband-frank-gifford-506707523589) 

Many of us are looking for the next place to leave our mark. To make a difference. To be the next greatest in the field that we find ourselves in. I want to challenge you to something a little more meaningful than money, position, sport, or title. Something deeper than all of that stuff that you cannot take with you when you die.

I had a mentor/coach tell me once, “Dan, you are going to the wrong thing – people will be mad at you. You will do the right thing, people will be mad at you. You will do nothing at all, people will be mad at you. So you should just go ahead and do the right thing after all!” You are going to leave a mark, a good one or a bad one. The important part is are you going to make your mark for yourself or for the Kingdom of Heaven!

Acts. 13:36 (NLT) says this, “…after David had done the will of God in his own generation, he died…”

We all end up in the same spot when it is all said and done, standing before God, facing the music as to how we “Made our Mark”. So, the question of the hour is will we live for us or will we live for the One who died for us? One you answer that question. I just know that I want to live for the One who died for me and saved me and changed me!

Don’t settle for letting life soften or harden you, but take “the will of God for your generation” – and change it!

A Great Father’s Day Gift…

June 21, 2020

I remember so vividly the months preceding my mom’s marriage to the man that I call dad today.

He put a ring on my mom’s finger, and a beautiful one at that. Then, he took me to the mall and bought me my very first and only pair of Air Jordan’s! I am talking about the Red, Black, and White ones…the originals! Not only was it my first and only pair of Air Jordan’s, it was my first pair of “real” athletic shoes. I thought I was in heaven, it was simply to good to be true. He put a ring on mom’s finger, and pair of good looking shoes on my feet!

To be honest, no other gift Dad has ever given…(new water heater in Memphis, a couple of car repairs over the years, money in the cards – wired – or otherwise)…have ever matched that gift! Sure the monetary value was greater than the shoes, but the life changing example of what he did, has never been matched. You see, he adopted me. He loved me as his own. He cared, and cried, and fought, and loved – ME! And he didn’t have to…HE CHOSE TO!!!!!

Brad Paisely has an old hit that he wrote called, “He Didn’t Have to Be” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjO1F6oCab8). That song encapsulates the story of my story with my dad! All that to be said, I love my biological father. He was as good of a dad that he could be. I look like him, I have some of his traits, and love him. But the dad that didn’t have to be, I am marked my him in a way that is intangible. He showed me Christ the way he loved. He should be integrity by the way he lived his life. He should be what a student of the Bible is all about. He taught me to love sports, simply my being a band major that never played an inning, quarter, half…yet he showed up to every one of my games. He showed me what tenacity is all about, he never gave up – on anything – that I ever saw. He showed me what a servant is, for he is the true definition of what servant is all about!

He is the perfect example of the scripture, James 1:17(NLT), “Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.”

Now the catch for me, to pass on all of this to my three kids, whom I Love and Cherish with all my heart! I get to me their dad. I love being their dad. I Love You Isaiah, Bella, and Ian, I am better for you – because of you!!!!

Thanks to my Heavenly Father for being the giver of the greatest gift ever – His Son Jesus Christ!

Thank you Jesus for giving your life, so that I can live my life for you!

Thanks Mom, for knowing how to pick a GREAT Dad for Phil, Nate, and myself!

Thank you Jen, for being my soul mate in this journey of life, marriage, ministry, and PARENTING!

Thanks Dad for being the giver a great gifts!

Thanks for giving of yourself!

Thanks for Being the Dad You Didn’t Have to be!

I Love You Dad!

Happy Father’s Day 2020

Stand!!!

May 27, 2020

I don’t post a lot about current events or political things. Today, as I have thought, and prayed, and talked with some, I come to the following conclusions…

1) The tragic death of George Floyd is not a current event. The way people of any Ethnicity other than white, have long been handled in a manner that is anything but at the very least decent. And this has been happening since the days of Bible, and it has to stop!

2) This is not political, social justice, police or any grouping of people issue. This is a heart issue!

Simply stated the founding principle of our great land is this, “All men are created equal!” Jesus loved this way, so should we! If it weren’t for a police officer, a gun, a racial divide, drugs, or crime, or any other thing that steals the center stage – we would all see the heart of mankind is growing increasingly more evil. Folks this is Bible. The hearts of man are in the balance and people that do not deserve to die are dying.

3) There is simply only one hope – The GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST!

The fact that we are called to love like Jesus loved, but don’t. The fact that Jesus came to give new life, but live our life without that hope. This completely robs the connection, the dash, it robs you and I, of not just civility and equality – but of true relationship between men and women that don’t look like each other, but can truly love each other!

4) Please know this…

It is long past time that the church of Jesus Christ stand for not just evangelicalism, but for LOVE of ALL MANKIND! REGARDLESS!!!!!

It is time for us to link arms with each other and LOVE like we have never loved before. Even as the example of Christ, “no greater LOVE than man would lay down his life for a friends!”

It is time to STAND AGAINST THE PLAGUE! Please hear me out. There is a plague that is far more painful than Covid-19. That plague is racism. It has been a plague that has killed more through the centuries and has never been given the complete eradication from our planet, simply because men and women will not agree to the root and the symptoms. Let us remember the words of scripture found in Numbs. 16:48, “There he STOOD, between the living and the dead, and the plague STOPPED!”

So will you STAND? Standing is the answer! Standing with and for each other. We don’t have to condone the actions, but we HAVE to love selflessly!

Will you stand with a brother or sister that doesn’t look like you, come from the same place you come from, have the same upbringing you had, or doesn’t value all the things you value? Will you stand in love? Will you stand so that these last words of George Floyd, will not be uttered in vain?

Today I stand with the family of George Floyd! I stand with our police, there are far more moral and upright than crooked and evil. I stand with my brothers and sister that are not like I am. I stand on the LOVE OF ALL MANKIND, THAT TOOK JESUS TONTHE CROSS FOR US – ALL!!!

Jesus is the cure to the heart condition of mankind, and He wants to take ALL THAT PAIN AWAY!!!! And HE WILL if we give Him the chance!