Broken to Bulletproof

August 7, 2021 admin
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Stories, Tony Wilcox (personal)

“The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.” Romans 13:12 I had everything. No, really – I did. I had the American dream. I had the wife, the kids, the house, the cars, the job, the income, the friends, the health, the looks, college education, good reputation, respect. I HAD it. And then one day I set off the grenade that blew it all to hell. The problem was, it was all a lie. I had been living a lie for a long, long time. I had just walked out of a two-hour meeting with my wife. Her best friend and my best friend were also in attendance for emotional support. After 22 years of marriage, I had confessed to them that I had been living a secret life that included a long-term addiction to pornography which had led to unfaithfulness along with the serious abuse of alcohol and prescription drugs. I had outlined every sordid detail of my addictions that I could remember since I was in high school. It was in a word; brutal.

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Don’t Despise Him

June 6, 2022 admin
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Spiritual Formation, Stories, Tony Wilcox (personal)

I recently saw an obviously homemade sign stuck to a fence near the offramp of the freeway I travel frequently that simply read in big, bold letters on cardboard, “JESUS.” Just a simple reminder to passersby of the one who gave his life so others could live eternally. Not offensive to me for any reason, but to the contrary, I whispered in agreement out loud as I drove past and said, “Yes. Thank you, Lord.” I’m more grateful for Jesus and what he did for me than ANYTHING in the world. I drove by the same sign a few days later and someone had used gray duct tape to completely cover over his name. WTH?

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The Bird

May 2, 2022 admin
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Stories, Tony Wilcox (personal)

I’m going to try to wrap surely insufficient words around one of those God moments that I wish I could just bottle up and put on the shelf so that I could re-live it again in the future. You see, I just dropped our youngest, our 18-year old daughter, off at church. It's a hot, Sunday summer afternoon and she's going off to camp for a week. That's something she’s been doing for a long, long time - going to church camp every summer. She’s been doing that for years. But this time, she's going as an adult…as a camp counselor with some responsibilities to watch over a group of kids. She’s not going this time as a camp attendee. Not as a student. Not as a little girl.

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The Power of Community

March 9, 2022 admin
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Stories, Tony Wilcox (personal)

I’m going to try to wrap surely insufficient words around one of those God moments that I wish I could just bottle up and put on the shelf so that I could re-live it again in the future. You see, I just dropped our youngest, our 18-year old daughter, off at church. It's a hot, Sunday summer afternoon and she's going off to camp for a week. That's something she’s been doing for a long, long time - going to church camp every summer. She’s been doing that for years. But this time, she's going as an adult…as a camp counselor with some responsibilities to watch over a group of kids. She’s not going this time as a camp attendee. Not as a student. Not as a little girl.

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Summer Camp Drop-off Surprise

August 8, 2021 admin
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Stories, Tony Wilcox (personal)

I’m going to try to wrap surely insufficient words around one of those God moments that I wish I could just bottle up and put on the shelf so that I could re-live it again in the future. You see, I just dropped our youngest, our 18-year old daughter, off at church. It's a hot, Sunday summer afternoon and she's going off to camp for a week. That's something she’s been doing for a long, long time - going to church camp every summer. She’s been doing that for years. But this time, she's going as an adult…as a camp counselor with some responsibilities to watch over a group of kids. She’s not going this time as a camp attendee. Not as a student. Not as a little girl.

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The Man You Were Designed to Be

August 8, 2021 admin
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Spiritual Formation

I want to introduce you to TWO different men. The first man is the man that is broken by sin. This man is not who he wants to be. His current state of existence resembles but little the true man that God originally designed him to be. He is in a constant state of unquenched desire, always wanting, yet never satisfied. His life is marked by fear, confusion, anxiety, shame and guilt. He uses physical solutions to try to solve spiritual problems and it doesn’t work. He spends much energy trying to fulfill legitimate needs in illegitimate ways.

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