Hitting the Bulls Eye

In recent days I have been pondering on this image of the "Bulls Eye". I believe there are some great spiritual applications that we can gain from this image. Here are a few thoughts:
I heard a story of a man in the Olympics a few years ago whose sport was target shooting. This man was destroying the competition. He had hit the 'bulls eye' on every target. As he came to the last target of the Olympics, he was so far ahead of the competition that all he had to do to win the Gold was hit the target. He lifted his gun, focused in on the target and...'BULLS EYE'. He was filled with such excitement & accomplishment only to discover that he had shot the wrong target. Instead of winning the Gold, he placed 6th. What a tragic story. After hearing this, I realized how easy it could be to shoot at the wrong target, to aim at the wrong things in life.
When I play darts or shoot the bow & arrow, I always aim for the 'bulls eye'. I don't have to think about it, I just focus in on the red dot in the middle. Though I usually miss, my every intent is to hit the mark. On the other hand, just hitting the target is pretty simple and doesn't take much effort. The more I try to hit the 'bulls eye', the more successful I will be. I believe the presence of the Lord is the 'Bulls Eye' for us spiritually, by means of the Holy Spirit. There is a big target with lots of great and wonderful things to accomplish, but they are not at the center, they are not the 'Bulls Eye'! Do I focus/fix my eyes on the Lord like I do the 'bulls eye', or am I content with just hitting the target? Honestly, much of the time I'm content with just hitting the target. I am convinced though that if I will focus on my relationship with the Lord and hit the 'Bulls Eye', all the things on the target will be taken care of.
So, as we live out this journey with the Lord, let's make sure we're shooting at the right target and then shoot to hit the 'Bulls Eye'.

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

In recent days I have had some interesting discussions & heard some encouraging & disturbing statements in regards to this terrible conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. I am in no way, shape or form an expert on this dilemma, but I do have some thoughts that I would like to share.
First: Both Carolina and I are very saddened by the conflict and the lives that have been lost as a result. War is a terrible thing and we hope there will be a truce soon.
One of the comments I have heard recently is that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians. That has to be one of the most ridiculous statements I have ever heard. Consider this:
1. If Israel was trying to commit “genocide” against the Palestinians, why have they been trying to send in relief convoys/trucks with water, food, generators for electricity, medicine, etc into Gaza to help the people there??? FACT
2. If Israel was trying to commit “genocide” against the Palestinians, why have they always opened their hospitals to Palestinians who are in need of care??? FACT
3. Why does Hamas, a recognized terroist organization, elected by the people who happens to hold the majority of the parliamentary seats in their government, continue to hinder the Israeli convoy trucks from entering with supplies to help the injured Palestinians (men, women & children) in Gaza??? FACT
(Hamas obviously hates Israel more than they love/care about their own people.)
Could it be possible that Hamas is trying to gain support from the Islamic countries, who by the way want to commit genocide against Israel (FACT!!!); and for that reason will not receive aid from Israel?
In another article I read it made a big deal about the “bomb shelters” that the Israelis have and the Palestinians have none. Take a moment to ask yourself why they have bomb shelters?? Could it be because the threat from Hamas is the least of their worries? They are surrounded by countries that want to destroy them. At any given moment they know they could be heavily attacked. Israel doesn’t want to fight against the Palestinians, but what choice do they have if they are continually attacked by Hamas. Listen, both Israel and the Palestinian government have made bad decisions along the way, no one argues that. But this all started because of a secret tunnel that was being built from Gaza into Israel and 6 Hamas gunmen were killed. Do you realize close to 100 rockets were fired in response into Israel before Israel launched Operation Oferet Yetzuka ("Cast Lead'). I would say they were asking for a fight. The Palestinian people should hold Hamas, their elected officials, responsible for all that has taken place. The fact that there are 1.5 million+ people in Gaza means there will be un-targeted casualties, but Hamas brought this upon their own people. Israel is not the enemy, it is Hamas. They don’t love/care about their people. They allow their women and children to suffer because of their hatred. They are so driven by hate that all they care about is destroying Israel. When hate is the predominant force in any person or society it eliminates the possibility of having a sound mind. Love is not even possible.
I encourage us all to pray for the Palestinians & Israelis through this difficult time, even Hamas. God loves them all, as should we. Let us pray that the love of Jesus would somehow be manifested to them, change/fill their hearts and allow them to live in peace and love once and for all...after all, the love of Jesus is their only hope/answer.