Posts Tagged ‘Faith’

Hypocrites In Church

Posted: October 12, 2024 in Uncategorized
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Now, I bet from the title many of you have different thoughts about what this particular post will be about.

Let’s get back to the beginning, my Mom & Dad raised me up in church; I mean we never missed a Sunday morning at least as far as I can remember. My Dad ended up out of my life for a long time and Mom continued to be a strong influence in my life and keep me active in church as well as many other activities including Bible studies and things at home and with friends and even my Boy Scout Troop. Needless to say, I was active and, in the Bible, even though I don’t know that I always understood everything as well as maybe I should’ve.

My Dad finally came back into my life when I was nearly 40… He was coming to stay with me for a week to catch up and visit. At this point in my life, I was extremely active in my church as I had been a part of a church plant in Austin and always participated as much as absolutely possible. It was something so important to me and even at that time, didn’t realize how integral to my life it was going to become… At that time, I felt I was so very involved… a few years later, I realize that I truly wasn’t as involved as I could have been or as I should have been… We’ll get into that in another post…

I told my Dad that we would be attending church on Sunday morning and asked him if that was okay. He responded as any good supportive Dad would, I suppose, “I am happy to go with you, but not sure I have anything fancy to wear.”

I told him he didn’t have to dress any particular way; it didn’t really matter…Just come as you are! So, he went to church with us and saw a different kind of church… I was raised in Southern Baptist, and this was different… We sang, danced, and really worshipped the Lord!! It was something he didn’t really realize what experience he was really in for.
Later, as we sat on the back porch, I asked him, “so, Dad, why do you no longer go to church because I remember going to church every Sunday morning?”
He simply responded to me, “In my life I’ve seen a lot and there are just too many hypocrites in church.”

This is an interesting perspective which got me thinking. He still believes in God but doesn’t want to go to church as there are far too many hypocrites there. The truth is that he wasn’t wrong. I started thinking about the idea of a gym and how a lot of the time, you envision a gym filled with buff, ripped, really fit individuals and occasionally see an extremely out of shape, overweight person in the gym and people say, “wow, that’s brave,” that he or she would be in the gym in that shape… How else do you get into shape and get fit if not in the gym?? Seriously people… How does it work? Are we expected to get into shape in private behind a closed door and only go out into public once we look great … I mean, this is the equivalent of what we expect from Christians… “Get ‘right’ with Jesus and stop messing up and then and only then may you enter the house of God.

Now the truth of the matter is that recently I heard an excellent sermon in which Pastor referenced the “names” Christians are called stating that “hypocrites” is actually the most often true. He expressed the reason behind this was that Christians often won’t admit they are not “okay.” Many of us are not okay at one point or another yet far too often won’t admit it. I found his perspective interesting also as it ties into thoughts I’ve had for many years and worked in my own way to articulate… I’ve been called out as “being hard on Christians” but I think the problem tends to be in that so many Christians take opportunities to find fault in others rather than seeing their own faults and flaws.

An interesting side note… two great psychologists world renowned for their innovation and intelligence exchanged letters back and forth over a span of about 8 years. these two men exchanged what began as respectful and friendly professional discussion on how they could better their care at their and offer the best possible help for their patients would only to serve as their biggest conflict. The one man began explaining to the other how they needed to take time to really analyze their own deep-rooted issues and through self-awareness they’d be able to see their patience through different light. the second man expressed how they needed to have no issues in order to be the best possible doctors and scientists. The first followed up by stating how no one is absent issues; it’s only a matter of whether or not you are aware of them. As I mentioned, this became their greatest conflict, and their friendship fizzled out and they were not able to overcome this disagreement. The first man was Dr. Sigmund Freud while the second was Dr. Carl Jung and they founded the International Psychoanalytical Organization Foundation right in the midst of their letters and shortly after, they parted ways due to this disagreement.

I find this interesting as it speaks to a secular perspective while I’m focusing on my faith… both are the same though because we are all human beings.

We all deal with issues, and we all go through times of refusing to be honest with even ourselves…sometimes mostly ourselves. It is only through honesty and self-awareness that we can truly grow and become better. This is important to understand if you really want growth…as a person and through your spiritual walk.

Back to where we started, the things is that yes, there are hypocrites in church. There are sinners in church. I’m glad they are in church and pray that God speaks to them and reaches them. Church is definitely the place for them to be so they can surround themselves with others who will help them learn and grow and get more connected with God.

Now, if you are spiritually “out of shape” the church is a perfect place to start. But that is also another key aspect of this… It is the place to start… It is not the end. Your journey is far from over. You’ve got to continue to seek God and chase after more. The more you seek a relationship with Jesus, the easier it will become to live the life He has designed for you.

Hypocrites in church…??… Of course, hopefully it si the first step on a long journey. Let’s go!!!

New Beginnings…

Posted: October 6, 2024 in Uncategorized
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It’s been just over two years since I’ve posted here… It’s crazy as I had been so dedicated to posting and so ambitious and truly love writing so much. I find it extremely therapeutic to be able to write and get my thoughts out.

This is truly a huge part of who I am and now being reincorporated back into my work as well as my ministry. This is going to be crucial to all that I’m doing and implementing in the future.

Let me catch you up just a little bit…

Two and half years ago, my lovely wife Kimberly took a job as a travel nurse which took us on the road…now the story is a bit more in depth than that…but that’s the jist of it.

While I continued to work remotely with my business partners back home in Texas and worked on growing and developing my business, I dove into some personal writing and grew my social media platforms as incredible ways for me to reach out to many people and share information and spread the Good Word.

As we’ve traveled and experienced many things along the road, there have been many amazing stories which I may share more with you here later…. but what’s most important is the fundamentals of who our lives changed so drastically. We were on the road with Kimberly having nursing contracts that could ultimately end at any given moment with little or even no notice. We were making good money, but it was also rather pricey being on the road with the boys and living in hotels or Airbnbs the entire way. And not even the financial situation but let’s get into the real challenges of it all… We found ourselves within these contracts that could end abruptly and at most, they last for ninety days, we had to make the tough decision to go ahead and homeschool our boys. Now, this was something I was determined to never do… Meanwhile, as I mentioned, I was working remotely with my partners in Texas and some of our work is in investments and trading which we had us emersed into the foreign market as we traded much in currency. This took lots of time and attention at odd hours due to the foreign markets and me being in a different time zone than my partners. All this was going on while trying to learn how to homeschool my boys… We’ll get into that on a later post… Y’all stay tuned in for all that as I got lots of stories to share regarding all of that.

Needless to say, I got my work more than cut out for me.

I’ve got so much happening and my hands are more than full…but that’s how I like things.

Now, I’ll get into more of the traveling and all of that alter as well…as I said, it has been two and a half years of catching up with all of you.

After all of this time, we are most definitely in a new place…with lots of new goals! God has definitely had His hands in our lives and lead us to this point. We can look back on everything and clearly see exactly how He was doing so many things and He was in control the entire time!!

God Is Good!!

So, I’ve got so much more to share with you…where our lives are now, where our lives are going, where all we have been, where our business is and where it is going, and where our ministry is and where we see ourselves in our walk with God.

When it comes down to it… What is most important is how things benefit my Kingdom…and how I can use my Kingdom to benefit The Kingdom and give ALL the glory to God!

Coronavirus Got Nothing On Us!!!

Posted: March 23, 2020 in Bayless Enterprises, Stimulating Thought
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Now, I want to I say all I say with the utmost respect for all those who have fallen ill or have died from this horrible virus… I say all I say not with insensitivity but rather with with conviction as this is a time for us to rise up and reach for more.

This virus is but a virus… and this but a mere moment which is only a glimpse in the span of our lives… If it were not blown out of proportion, it would be so much more easily forgotten… I wish not for it to be a moment that is forgotten. I also do not wish for it to be remembered as the moment when we were succumbed to panic based on the media or the silly things being posted across social media…

I desire for this to be the moment in which we remember rising up and overcome the moment. I want this to be the moment we can look back and say that was the turning point for my business, for my family, for my life.

The power is in your hands…let’s make this moment of reckoning…the time in which we took charge of things in our lives and in our businesses. We have a choice to be made. Will we look at this virus as a set back and allow it to disrupt our lives and slow down our progress, or will we take this opportunity and see it as set up to reach for something greater? I can tell you about it but I can’t make the choice for you. You have got to make the choice for your self.

Some of us are being sent home without pay while few others may be receiving pay but are still being sent home to be quarantined with the family. This is an opportunity for you to build something more. You have the chance to really think and devise that plan you have marinated on for some time now. This is the chance to really take a chance and grow and develop that business or even just a side hustle that you have pondered for some time now yet always found some excuse to not get it up and going… The excuses have been stripped from you; you have nothing but time and opportunity.

Let’s also take this time to reach out to one another… Let’s reach out in moral and emotional support… Lift one another up. Give regular encouragement as there is plenty of success to go around, but there isn’t enough encouragement.

This time is ours… it will not break us. Let’s show the world and ourselves just what we’re made of!

Get Cocky

 

Moment of Truth

Posted: April 24, 2019 in Bayless Enterprises, Mom
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I am taking this moment and using my platform to speak out about where I am and define a change. I will not be held by my situation but use it to thrust me in a new direction.
As I told you all a couple weeks ago in my last post, I have had my Mom on my mind which has been a bit of a distraction when it comes to my writing. I have found this strange and conflicting. Mom always encouraged me to write and be creative; she loved to write and draw. She was such an amazing woman, and I am so thankful for all she taught and the way she inspired me. She is still inspiring me every day. It is because of the thoughts of her lately that have driven me to take my business in new directions and grow and thrive but for some reason, my writing has suffered…
It has seemed that when I sit to write that my thoughts are either on her and my focus is lost or my thoughts are all over the place keeping me distracted from my writing. That ends today. That is not who she would want me to be. She would want me to grow and thrive…she would want me to express myself. She loved that she was able to do that with her art work. She also wrote songs and played guitar… She has taught me to be inspired by music and the things in this beautiful God given world that surround me. I am so blessed.
I am taking charge and taking control of my thoughts and my attention. Thoughts of Mom will not leave me… They will help me harness control of things and stay laser focused.
Mom always wanted to have everything that she could offer to my brother, sister, and me. She never had desires of being successful in business or have accolades plastered on her wall. Although, she was an accomplished business woman which always drove me to want to be my own boss.
Her accomplishments were us…her babies. That is all she ever wanted to be was a Mommy, and there is no question she was one of the best to have ever walked the planet. I only hope I am a fraction of the amazing parent that she was. Everyone knew how amazing she was…growing up, all our close friends just called her Mom…because that’s how she treated them. She would give them anything they needed; she fed our friends, cared for them, helped them, guided and counseled with them. She was an amazing Mom and friend to everyone she met.
She was proud of our success and wanted us to be successful. We were her success.
I am not going to fall short or fail her now… I know she would never see anything I do as a failure. She would see it as nothing more than a setback… or as my Pastor always says, “a setup” for God’s next big thing. She always thought that way…similar to Pastor. My Pastor Poncho sees all of life’s obstacles as new opportunities for God to Wow His children and show us His love and endless grace and mercy. Mom was the same way…she was a child of God and beyond convinced of her children’s abilities and knew that God was with her babies, and they were going to be great at whatever they did in life.
I know my brother is thriving more now than he has in years, and Mom is his inspiration. I want to be the same way. I want to allow her to continue to encourage me and be my strength. This distraction that I have had lately is done…no more will I allow my own head to get in my way.
Mom, I love you…Thank you for all the inspiration and guidance…you have not even begun to stop teaching me. I am so blessed and thankful that you were my Mommy.
To all who have continued to follow me and stay tuned even amongst the last couple of weeks in which I have had a little drought; I say thank you… You will be glad you have stayed tuned in as I have great new content coming. That is my commitment to you.
For those who have yet to click that button on the left to Follow don’t forget to do it now.
Corey B. is with you all the way. Let’s Get Cocky.