Tag: fear

God and Netflex

3 min
5 years ago

February 26, 2020

Tagged Bible, blessings, broken, daddymoment, dentist

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I really left youth so pumped and inspired last night. It was one of those lessons where I could see the teens getting it. I stressed that they go home and re-read the chapter and have more conversations with God. To often teenagers will make their only time with God at a youth service. Adults, before you say YES, we do the same thing! Admit it!

It’s like we treat God like we treat Netflix. We find a show, binge watch it and once it’s over, it is over. I did this with the show “Breaking Bad”. Three years ago, I think I watched the entire series in two weeks…wife, full time job, youth ministry, kids, and home repairs…that was dedication. I loved it so much. I had to watch the next episode! I was committed and excited every time I heard the dum-dum sound and when the red “Netflex” popped up on my TV! Unfortunately we do that with God when we go to church, outreach, camp, and retreats. We soak Him in, and then when it’s over it’s over. Back to the grind.

It doesn’t have to be like this friends. In fact Matthew 6:11 captures Jesus’ prayer: Give us TODAY our daily bread. The emphasis “Today” is in the Robbie translation.

Why do we stop binging on Gods voice for a season? Imagine waking up and having coffee with the creator, worship in the car on the way to work, break times is spent listening for his Word, and a fire sat chat with him that evening.

For those who like old school connections, here it is: Exodus 16:11-18. The Israelites were on a journey trying to figure out who they were, what they needed to do next, and living in fear (hmmm…sound familiar?). Moses advised that mana would be provided for the people…daily. They weren’t allowed to take more or less, but just enough for God to sustain them on their journey.

It’s time to take your daily mana. It’s time that you discover how much better He is than just at a service. Let the service be the catalyst, be the launching point for what He wants to share for the rest of the week.

Don’t binge watch God, his seasons are new every morning!

Ripped Tortillas

Uncategorized

3 min
5 years ago

February 25, 2020

Tagged blessings, broken, bullying, community, cystifibrosis

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Scars. We all have them. Some of us grew up in a divorced home. Some lost loved ones. Others got picked on because they looked different. Braces anyone?! Some got laid off instead of promoted. Some have teens in total rebellion. Some don’t have enough income to support their families tonight. Others didn’t get accepted to the university they’ve been dreaming of.

Let’s take it one more level deeper…some are dealing with terminal illnesses or have kids who are. Life isn’t fair at times!

You name it and it’s there. We are bruised and battered by life at times. I spoke to our teenage small group tonight and used tortillas as the illustration. It was an intense 45 minute discussion and it was amazing. I was able to share how God uses people with scars to do amazing things. They have made huge impacts throughout history. Name one hero that doesn’t have a scar at some point? They all do, even the comic book versions!

Know that you aren’t perfect. Know that life will rip at your spirit. Our bodies aren’t the Instagram/Tik Tok filtered versions we display online. Your heart has bruises starting from the classmate that didn’t check the YES box. Your best friend backstopped you. You may have missed that game winning shot, or maybe you didn’t….because you didn’t make the team.

Know this…God is love. He walks with you through all of that. Sure you may not be perfect, but He doesn’t see that. He sees the whole tortilla that He created with no rips, holes, or tears. Let him mend the broken pieces that living life has caused. Let Him put you back in the warmer and be renewed. Skip the temporary bandaids and let Him do open heart surgery. You don’t have to be broken anymore, let Him mend you today.

Let it Go

What can be, won’t be, until you let go of what could have been. -Pastor Greg Kennedy I joined hundreds of others online to watch the live Memorial Service for Pastor Greg at Open Door Church tonight. What a legacy. The service […]

Uncategorized

3 min
5 years ago

February 24, 2020

Tagged Bible, childrensministry, fear, goals, Heaven

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What can be, won’t be, until you let go of what could have been. -Pastor Greg Kennedy

I joined hundreds of others online to watch the live Memorial Service for Pastor Greg at Open Door Church tonight. What a legacy. The service was powerful. That’s where I heard his quote from a previous sermon he had gave. It made me think: how much do I hold back because of regrets?

I immediately think about Paul in the Bible. He is the one that was previously known as Saul who was the mover and shaker in attacking and bringing down the Christian movement. He was raised in the church and one of the leading Biblical scholars of his day. Christians feared him and they were right in doing so. He thought bringing the practicing Christians down would help save his religion of what God was supposed to be.

One day he was struck with blindness while working on this “holy” crusade. His associates all panicked and where deliberating on what was next. Even Saul didn’t know what to do. But God healed him and then God gave him a name change to Paul. The relationship became more important than the religion to Paul.

Paul then wrote 13 books of the Bible telling account after account of faith and testimonies of Christ! He was trying to stop the movement as Saul but his life flipped the script and became one of the biggest proponent of it as Paul.

He could have had his salvation moment with forgiveness but die inside from the massive amounts of guilt. Instead he asked for forgiveness, received it, and moved forward with his calling. Imagine if stayed in the land of regret? That would have been a tragedy!

That’s where Pastor Greg’s words come into action for me. We can’t move forward if we are holding on to regrets of what could have been. Think about it, you never see athletes running with a parachute bag around their chests in the Olympics because it would create drag and cost them a medal! Instead they run full throttle forward.

Pastor Greg thank you for reminding me to live with no regrets!

Sacred. Wait meant to type: Scared!

Have you ever been gripped in fear? I’m talking heart jumping out of your chest, head pounding, and cold sweats fear? Sorry I just sent half of you to a really dark place! But seriously we all deal with fear in our […]

Uncategorized

3 min
5 years ago

February 23, 2020

Tagged Bible, dentist, faith, fear, goals

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Have you ever been gripped in fear? I’m talking heart jumping out of your chest, head pounding, and cold sweats fear?

Sorry I just sent half of you to a really dark place! But seriously we all deal with fear in our own way…or we should be dealing with the fear!

My fear is the dentist. I’ve had so much dental craziness for the past ten years and it has been a real source of anxiety. I blame Bill Murray and Steve Martin from the Little Shop of Horrors movie I saw as a kid! It’s one of my favorite all time scenes and scariest scenes ever.

The past two years I have made some leaps and bounds dealing with it though. One of the reasons I do so much better is from the hygienist herself at Lee Dental. She doesn’t hold back reminding me the importance of flossing (sorry ma’am if you read this…I promise I’m flossing tonight!). But what she does do is make me feel like a person. I’m not a number or a payment. We actually have real conversations. I told her my stress points and she heard me out and even has helped me work through them. This week was so much easier than a year ago. Because she made me feel comfortable and we talked ministry and laughed about our families. While she was cleaning my teeth she was telling me about a Shane and Shane song while I was talking about Tobymac (attempting to talk with someone’s hand in your mouth is always fun!).

“Jesus said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’

Matthew 22:37-39 MSG

She lives out this verse the moment I walk in the door. In fact I had to bump my appointment up due to work scheduling. No problem, she got me in. This time last year I would have moved it back because of my fear!

Thank you Caroline! May we be the Caroline’s and help spread His peace to everyone we come into contact with. Think about it, to biggest commandments is to love God and love others. Can you imagine if our communities took that to heart?!

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