Trevor Michael Bailey

16 years ago, May 27th of 1996, my life and the lives of everyone in the Bailey family changed. My brother, Trevor Michael Bailey, went home to be with the Lord after a tragic accident late on Memorial Day. He was only 16 years old. Trevor was an incredible young man. He was in love with the Lord, loved his friends, loved football and was developing a love for the game of basketball. He was smart and was already developing strong leadership abilities. Trevor was also a typical 16-year-old working through typical 16-year-old issues and struggles. But at the end of every day, and I probably witness this more than anyone else, Trevor was just a normal human being and great friend. Trevor and I used to sit and talk at the end of every day. We would talk about life, family, football, and other young man topics. Trevor was a naturally curious person. Always wondering about life and God and people. His questions would always lead our conversations to fun and interesting places. Then he would break out is some sort of goofball mood and we would joke about anything we could think of. I’ll always remember our playful “put down” discussions. We’d playfully make fun of each other and make each other laugh. Trevor loved to laugh. When he and his friends got together that is all they did. It made me laugh just being around them. Even if I had no clue what it was that was making them all laugh. For all I know, I was the reason they were laughing. But I couldn’t help myself. He was infectious that way. Trevor loved the comic strip “Calvin and Hobbs”. He would always read them to me and there was one in particular that we would always crackup over. I used to say he chewed like a cow and so he cut one out that he found in the newspaper that showed one of the characters chewing like a cow. I still giggle to myself thinking of that. Trevor has now been gone for as long as he was alive. Actually, the official day that that occurs is not until November 2, 2012, 5 months and 6 days from now. But none-the-less, it is a strange day. I miss him dearly. He was with me during all of life’s hard times and we laughed all the way through them. My wife says I never cry. But if there is something that brings tears to my eyes it is the memory of my little brother. I’m not sure why he is gone but I am sure he is making Jesus and the angels laugh. There is probably some comic strip in the “Daily Heaven Times Newspaper” that has his attention and he is constantly showing them to Michael and Gabriel. When that is not happening he is probably beating Moses in a game of Chess (I’m not sure he ever lost at that game). Or he is shooting deep 3-pointers over Abraham in a game of basketball (that reminds me, darn kid was taller than me when he went home). I miss my brother as I know the rest of the Bailey family does. There are so many memories we didn’t get to have. So many conversations we never got to participate in. And I am pretty sure that he would have competed with me in who would have more children. That’s a number of nieces and nephews, grandchildren and cousins that the rest of the Bailey’s never got to meet. Not to mention a sister/daughter-in-law we never got to know. But we are not defeated in his passing so early. What Satan meant for harm God has turned into good. Satan comes to kill, steel and destroy but Jesus came to give us life and life to the full! We anticipate the day we will see him again. After giving Jesus a 300 year hug I will look for Trevor and give him a 300 year piggyback ride (inside joke – he knows what I am talking about). Until then I will wait and remember. I am also glad that God fixed that horrible Memorial Day when a life was lost. He changed my memory of Memorial Day by giving me a son. Joshua Gabriel Bailey was born on Memorial Day 2004, 8 years later. Though the date is different (Joshua was born on the 31st) the day was the same. God is great like that. He knows how to redeem everything. Trevor, if you can read blogs from Heaven, know that we miss you, we thank God that we had 16 years with you and we are looking forward to spending eternity with you. While you wait for us, eating with Jesus at the dinner table, do me a favor…chew with your mouth closed you goofball. Love you Bro!! Thank you Father for giving us Trevor even for the short time we had him! Love you Lord! Be glorified!

The Basic Principles of Having the Mind of Christ

This is my latest AllAboutGod.com article. It can be found at http://www.allaboutfollowingjesus.org/having-the-mind-of-christ-faq.htm

The basic principles on having the mind of Christ begin with the surrender of the heart. They also include loving Jesus with every ounce of being due to understanding the depth of Jesus’ love. Finally, having the mind of Christ requires faith, developing a mind set on the things of God through a working knowledge of scripture, and through an obedient and intimate connection with the Spirit of God.
Surrendering of the heart to Jesus requires relinquishing control over every area of life. Jesus said, in Luke 14:26 (NIV), that “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters-yes, even his own life-he cannot be my disciple.” Jesus was not advocating a lifestyle of hatred but simply teaching where priorities must lie. He was putting into perspective the life a believer must live. The believer must live for Him in everything they do, in every relationship they have, with every word they speak and with every breath they take.
Surrender is possible because of Jesus’ great love for His people. Jesus said in John 15:9 (NIV), “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.” Though plainly spoken this is only the tip of the iceberg as it relates to His love. Considering his love fully requires deliberate reflection on the richness of His ministry. Jesus left Heaven to live a sinless human life, was rejected by His own creation, was put to a brutal death and was denied by His own disciples while feeling forsaken by the Father (Mark 15:34). Hebrews 12:3 (NIV) says, “Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Capturing what it was Jesus did brings about a surrender and a love in the believers heart that fulfills the command found in Mark 12:30 (NIV), “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”
Knowing this great love and surrendering the heart develops within a believer a spiritual confidence that scripture calls faith. Hebrews 11:1 (NIV) says, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Faith is what propels a person of God to go beyond themselves and to lean not on their own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). Faith opens the eyes and ears of a believer to the Fathers heart and to every promise He has given. Faith gives the believer the ability to do and not just believe for as James 2:17 (NIV) says, “…faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”
Scripture teaches that Jesus is the author and perfecter of faith in a believer’s life (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus develops faith in a believer as they grow and they grow by operating in obedience. To operate in obedience the believer must have a working knowledge of scripture, God’s word. A working knowledge of God’s word allows believers to know the will of God as it unites the Spirit of God with their own. Doing this helps weed out of the believers heart and mind the things of the world that have poisoned their spiritual life. Without these poisons, the believer can dive into their relationship with God in a highly intimate manner. They develop the ability to listen to the voice of God and to have regular conversation with Him, which only strengthens the hunger to know him more and to be more like Him.
The basic principles of having the Mind of Christ begin with surrender and end with intimacy. In between these two things is faith in and obedience to God’s will. The believer develops a working knowledge of God’s will through the reading of scripture and the walking out of faith in the actions of daily life. In the end, the believer simply falls in love with a God who is already in love with them and thus practices a lifestyle that strengthens their relationship with their savior and they begin to think and act more like Jesus.

2012 Denver Broncos Offseason

Ok, so most of you may look at this and say who cares. Nevertheless, that is ok as this blog is about Faith, Family and Sports; three areas of great importance and interest in my life. Therefore, occasionally I will spend some time writing about something that interests me in the sports world.
If you know me very well then you know that I love football and I grew up an avid Denver Broncos fan. If you follow the game then you also know that for the first time in a long while I had something to cheer for this year. With the emergence of Tim Tebow at QB and the additions of John Elway as the team President of Football Operations and new Head Coach John Fox the team took a turn for the better this year and made life in the Mile High city (and everywhere else Broncos fans reside) fun again.
This offseason I have high hopes again. I feel last year, when John Elway was brought back to the team, John Fox was hired and the team retained Brian Xanders as the General Manager the team was able to spear head a very successful offseason that not only helped make this season fun but they began building toward the future as well. Therefore, I expect nothing but the same this year, to keep building on what they did last year and to help this team take the strides for even more success.
In some ways, I think this may be the most exciting part of the year for football, when every team is working to build their rosters and update their systems. This is when, in my opinion, championships are won. Then, when the season begins, it is about everything coming together and players staying healthy as they play through the week-to-week grind of the actual football season. If it all comes together then the likelihood of a team hoisting the Lombardi Trophy increases.
For the Broncos to have a successful offseason this year the three headed team of Elway, Xanders and Fox need to continue working together in unity, seeing as close to eye-to-eye on decisions as possible. They need to sign their own key free agents and bring in at least two other free agents from other teams and then land three to five players in the draft that can make immediate impacts in 2012. If they do this then they will have a great chance at building on the success of this past year.
I would say that if Denver can repeat what they did this year, meaning win their division and win at least one playoff game, then they would be able to call the 2012 season a success. This year one could say that they overachieved, and they probably did. Therefore, to repeat what they did in 2011 would keep them moving forward. If they can overachieve again, well, it will all be icing on the cake.
Here are some key moves that I think would be good for the Broncos this offseason...
Resign Kicker Matt Prater, Tight End Daniel Fells and Defensive Tackles Brodrick Bunkley and Marcus Thomas. If they can resign Wide Receiver Eddie Royal that would be a bonus as he adds depth to the offense and special teams play making ability. There are others to retain, but realistically they will not be able to as there are always a few players every team must let go of in order to keep building for the future.
In the free agent pool, outside of their current roster, it will all depend on who will be available. However, I think bringing in a couple of good-character guys who are in the prime of their careers who are also known as leaders on and off the field would be greatly beneficial. If they add a Defensive linemen, a Cornerback or maybe even a Wide Receiver or Offensive linemen it would be good.
In the draft I think they should target the best available player in one of seven positions with each pick they get; Running Back, Wide Receiver, Offensive Line, Defensive Line, Linebacker, Cornerback and Safety.
As always, it will be fun watching it all unfold. Well, at least for me :).
I hope everyone has an incredible year. Be blessed and…
Go Broncos!!