The first time I ever made pancakes from scratch, they were the most terrible thing I had ever had for breakfast. Not only did they instantly taste horrible, there was a lingering putrid taste I couldn’t get out of mouth. I didn’t understand what went wrong. My friend Jess had sworn by this recipe.

Sometimes the wrong ingredient or the missing ingredient is a game changer. Without a doubt, the game changers for us as Catholics are our relationship with both Jesus and the Holy Spirit. We can’t do anything without them.

However, in the church world it’s as if we think the Holy Spirit is kind of like a giant crockpot or slow cooker where we just throw in a bunch of ingredients and some meat and at the end of the day you have some amazing meal. I like this kind of cooking, but it doesn’t work like this in the church world. You can put a quote from a saint or Pope Francis on a flyer, but if at the end of the day you are not willing to go beyond your comfort zone and share Jesus with people, you are ultimately going to fail.

We must be open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We must seek to grow in our relationship with Jesus Christ. Without a willingness to change personally, we can never make the change God is calling us to lead in our families, the Church, and in the world.

I am convinced people desperately need Jesus, but it’s because I know the reality that I desperately need Jesus in my life.

I am not quite sure where the past several months have gone, but it’s time to start thinking about what’s next for #ShareJesus and Redeemed Online.  I am getting ready to unveil our plans for #ShareJesus this year and launch a Kickstarter campaign in the next couple of weeks. I can’t wait to share with you the exciting things we have planned.

You’ve been a big part of what we have done and are doing with #ShareJesus and Redeemed Online. Will you join me again this year?

First and foremost, will join me in prayer.

Pray that we may continue to be open to the Holy Spirit and his guidance. Would you pray this Novena with me to St. John Paul II (click to download) starting Friday September 23? If you read this after that date, no worries. You can start this when you get this. St. John Paul II is a hero of mine – my wife and I had the privilege of having our marriage blessed by him in Rome at one of his Wednesday audiences.   St. John Paul II, pray for us.

Lastly, it’s been a while, but I want to wrap up everything from our last #ShareJesus campaign. There were a couple of hundred people who had expressed interest in purchasing DVDs of all the videos from our Advent 2015 – Lent 2016 series. We are producing a 4 DVD set of last year’s #ShareJesus videos that will contain all four months of videos that’s will be ready to ship the week of October 10.  The cost will be $30 and will include shipping within the United States. Any profits from the DVDs will go back in the work we are doing here at redeemedonline.com. It’s a limited run of them right now, so order yours today while supplies last.

Click here to order the DVD Set.

God bless you. Thanks for being awesome.