What I Learned From NFL Flag This Year I
Ok, my son played NFL Flag football this year. Although my son’s team practiced every week, when Saturday rolled around, they got pummeled. It was hard to watch as a father and a football fan. I learned a lot from watching them play every week and took away some leadership and team principles from the things that they did right and wrong.
1) Never Give Up on the Play or the Game- Every time the other team scored their first touchdown (which usually happened before my son’s team), you could see the very life just leave the team.
Discouragement is the product of a fallen world. Due to the curse upon this world, we have to work hard for everything, and even though we work hard it’s not a guarantee of anything. Discouragement will cause you to give up the game when we are on the goaline ready to score! I think of what could have happened if the team didn’t give up and continued to play like nothing happened. At least the possibility of a win would still be there. How many of us give up on God’s promises to us and we are at the goaline ready to walk into the things God has for us! We get discouraged and we give into fear and hopelessness. What if we would have refused to give in for just a few more minutes, hours, or days. What if we put our head down, squared up our shoulders and with determination decided to plow through the crud that is keeping us from what God has for us? What if we got mad and did something instead of rolling into the fetal position with our disappointments and past failures!
What if we had the mindset that if we quit, we die?!!
Kevin
Just Enough? (Questions I Am Asking Myself)
Here are some questions I have been asking myself lately:
1) Am I doing just enough in my areas of ministry to keep others from noticing the areas that they need a lot of improvement?
2) Am I doing just enough to fool myself into thinking my relationship with God is where it should be?
3) Am I doing just enough to help meet my spouses’ heart-felt needs that she isn’t totally miserable being with me?
4) Am I doing just enough to make sure that my children know I exist?
5) Am I doing just enough on my job to make sure i don’t get fired?
6) Am I giving just enough to look generous or sacrificially giving?
Just enough is not good enough in any of these areas when we look at what Christ did for us. Are we fooling ourselves? Are we taking things we shouldn’t for granted?
Food for thought
Kevin
Toxic People
This isn’t really a bible teaching, but I just wanted to share some wisdom God has given me. Hopefully it will help you.
A couple of years ago, I went through a painful situation(disagreement) with someone. I struggled for a while with the feelings of hurt, rejection, and separation from this person. I wanted their support during a very happy time in my life and they chose not to. I still have not had any communication with this person since. I hope one day that God will restore that relationship.
God has been bringing to my rememberance many experiences, many not so pleasant, to reveal why I had to go through these situations. Many were experiences of rejection by those I wanted to have relationship with. After all, we all want to be liked. We all want to have friends. We want to have people that we can celebrate our accomplishments and triumphs with us. The desire was innately put into us by our creator. We can’t help it.
The problem is when the people whom we want that from are toxic. They keep at arms length. They laugh at you in your failures. They make it their mission in life to steal the joy that God has placed within you. Their criticism is not constructive. They will never be happy with anything you do. For many that may be a spouse, parent or a realitive. For some, maybe a pastor, teacher, mentor, coach, etc.
In my case, I had to make a very hard decision. I had to stop pursuing that person’s relationship. There are those that may not agree with that. The Bible does say: Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.(Hebrews 12:14). This does not mean that you have to continue to be around people that do not have your best intentions at heart.
What I have found is that God has brought many people into my life that have been an encouragement to me. He has blessed me with great people in my life who have helped me grow more than I have most of my adult life!
No matter how hard we try, there will be those who will never act the way you would like them to. That’s why it is important to surround yourself with those who care about you, and will support you despite what the nay sayers say. We may not be able to get all of those people out of our life but we can surround ourselves with people who can counter those toxic people and speak good things in your life.
K
PS: One small thing I do want to say is that I am not saying that if your spouse is toxic you should go out and get a divorce. You need to find a Christian counselor that you can both trust, who will be objective. Nothing I have said in this post should be construed as me telling anyone to go out and get a divorce.
Just Wanted to Say Hi
Hi everyone. I’m sure you’ve noticed that I haven’t been writing a whole lot lately. Since January God has just been dealing with me on so many things that it is hard to even write sometimes. When God is refining and correcting things in you, it’s not always pleasant. I have been challenged in every area of my life this year, both personal and ministry.
I know that God is getting ready to do things in me and in our church that are way bigger and more powerful than we can imagine. God has to prepare our hearts and minds for what lies ahead. Sometimes those things are hard to even put into words or describe. I wish I could, but I can’t. He wants to reveal Himself in ways that we have never seen before and in ways that we haven’t seen in a long time.
God love us the way we are, but He didn’t die to leave us the way we are. He wants us to change, and He wants to help us to make those changes. He sent His Holy Spirit to show us the things we need to change and give us the power to change. What a great promise!
I hope God will help me communicate the things He is doing in me at some point. What does God want you to change?
Kevin
Do We Mean It?
At Journey yesterday. We sang a powerful song called “God of Justice“. We have sang this song before, but yesterday and today, it has really messed me up in a good way. I had to ask myself a hard question: Do I mean what I am singing? Do I care about the hurting, the afflicted, those who are far away from God? And if I can answer yes to that, what am I going to do about it? How am I going to do it? If I am doing it, how can I do it more effectively to reach even more?
I know, lot’s of questions but are you asking yourself these questions? If you are like most churchfolk, probably not. Churchfolk like to talk a lot, but they don’t like to be confronted by their own selfishness and mediocrity. They like to sound spiritual, but only if it brings them attention. They might feed a homeless person if it’s in front of people or so they can run and tell everyone about it.
It’s a condition of the heart. The problem is that there are a lot of people who think they are saved but their actions speak totally different thing. They talk about Jesus but they do not know Him! They do things in His name and don’t have His heart. They don’t hurt for those who are waiting to be saved from damnation’s door! They don’t mind hearing a challenging message as long as they aren’t held accountable for it. They judge others but don’t realize they have already been judged and found lacking.
Do we mean it? Do we want to feed the hungry? Do we want to reach hurting people? Do we want to act justly? Do we want to serve and not be served? Are we truly Christ-Followers?
Kevin
The Wilderness Cycle
Here are the notes from Friday Night Source Group. Enjoy.
Numbers 14 (English Standard Version)
28) Say to them, ‘As I live, declares the LORD, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: 29) your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, 30) not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. 31) But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have rejected. 32) But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. 33) And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. 34) According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.’ 35) I, the LORD, have spoken. Surely this will I do to all this wicked congregation who are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die.”
You might read this and say “Dude, God was pretty harsh”. Here is a picture I get in my mind. Ok, you have all these young people standing around with their eye on the last person, the very last person that according to God is the reason they were not in the promise land to begin with! Thousands upon thousand of Israelites waiting and watching as the very last person of that wicked generation is gasping for their last breath! I wonder if for the Israelites they weren’t waiting with the party favors and streamers! The very last person, the last barrier, that stands between them and entering into the land that was promised to them 40 years ago! I know the death of anyone is a sad thing, but I can’t help but think there was an enormous celebration that day!
I want to share a principle with you that will hopefully change some mindsets you may have about our walk with God. These scriptures above are the foundation on which I will build.
There are times in everyone’s walk with God that we are more aware of what He is doing in our lives and even hear God more clearly and distinctly. These periods of time can last a quite a while. Sometimes they are brief. We can feel God drawing us into the Bible and prayer and these times are wonderful and “seem” very productive. Your purpose for why you are created is never more clear. Our worship is full of emotion and passion for Him and you can almost hear the angels singing with you! You have the faith to move mountains and there is no request too small for our God!
Then all of a sudden “WAM!” you are in the wilderness
During these periods of time, it can be hard to hear His voice. We are not always so sure what way we are supposed to go. Our Bible does not yield the once abundant revelation of who He is. You may be frustrated cause you think you are spinning your wheels and getting nowhere! Your worship seems to become a sernade for the ceiling tiles and the faith you had dwindles and you don’t even know if He gives a crap about you! Yes, this is a wilderness!
The twisted thing that our minds cannot get wrapped around is the fact that the wilderness times in our lives are ordained by God! There are many who think that we go through these times in our lives because we have sinned. This can be true (not usually) but this is not what I am talking about. Wilderness times are potentially a time of great growth or a time of great decline in our walk with God. It’s easier not to sin when it feels like our heavenly Father is standing over our shoulder but when He seems so far away, this is the time our true character is revealed! Look at the example of the Israelites, their selfishness, their rebellious spirit, and what God they truly served was revealed! This is what happens when we go through these wilderness times. The things that we hide deep in our hearts, those things we don’t want people to know about are revealed and brought to the surface to be seen so they can be dealt with.
Here is the crux of the matter. We have a choice on how we react to these times of testing, drought, despair. Most Christians do not use these times to draw closer to Him. Actually the reaction is quite the opposite in most cases. Because we don’t understand that He is trying to build our character, we rebel against what He is doing. We stop praying, we stop reading the Word, and we definately don’t worship Him! Think about that! How selfish does that sound? I understand when all hell is breaking loose the last thing we want to do sometimes is to pray or worship, but guess what? That is exactly what He wants! He wants us to be like Jesus! He wants us to die! He wants our attitudes and rebellion to die! He wants our selfishness to die! He wants us to reflect His Christ-like character!
The sad part is we will go through the same ole junk over and over and over again until we are willing to bow our knee and submit to His correction and surrender those areas in our lives that need to be brought under His Lordship.
This is HUGE! What I did many times was give up. I stopped praying. I stopped reading. And you know what? God wanted just the opposite!
He wanted me to read in the dry times so that no matter what I faced, I would have His Word in my heart and it would direct my decisions . He wanted me to pray cause even when I did not pray, He was speaking to me. It shows faithfulness and devotion. He wants us to cry out and bear our heart to Him. Check out Psalms sometime. David was extremely passionate about God but there are Psalms when he is crying out to God and it seems like He doesn’t hear. You are not the first or last to experience this.
I say this with the greatest conviction of ANYTHING you ever hear me say: DO NOT STOP!! DO NOT STOP! DO NOT STOP!! I say this from the experience of a man who did this over, and over, over again! I was angry with God cause He wasn’t doing what I wanted Him to! I acted like a spoiled brat! I never realized that He wanted HIS will for my life! Not mine! I plead with you! DO NOT STOP! You too will wander in the desert of your stubborness and pride until you die to your flesh and your pride and your stiff neck! You will never enter into what God has for you until you bow your knee to His Lordship in your life!
This is a little heavier than most of what we talk about in Source Group but necessary. Hope this speaks to someone out here in the great WWW. God is good.
Kevin
Looking Back At 2008
2008 was a great year! I would say without a doubt that it has been one of the greatest years of growth for me personally. I have been involved in a leadership class for the past year with Pastor Michael that has rocked my world! I have learned so much and have been able to apply those principles I have learned. There are times in your life where growth is slow and sometimes it doesn’t look like you are going anywhere. This year has been just the opposite! I knew there things I needed to do to grow, but sometimes there is just a little something missing and you can’t quite put your finger on. Well, the class really hit those spots in my life that needed God’s touch in order for me to go to the next level that God had for me!
I have learned a lot from the source group we started this year. It’s been amazing to see how God has moved in the lives of those attending! We have formed relationships that would not have been forged if not for source groups! We have laughed, cried, ate, and had lots of fun together. I wouldn’t trade the experiences I have had and the valuable lessons I have learned for anything! 2009 is going to be interesting as we enter some uncharted waters and do some things different, but as long as we stay focused on Him, and listen when He speaks, we will have a spectacular year!
I need God to move in my life in 2009 more than He did in 2008! I need His strength, wisdom, and discrenment more than ever. God is taking me to new levels but with those new levels come bigger challenges and tests. I am ready to face them. Are you?
Kevin
Root of Bitterness Part 2
Hebrews 12:15) See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled
There are many circumstances that can plant the seed of bitterness. For brevity sake, I will only list a couple. I want to focus on the subtle more than the obvious.
- Abuse (mental, physical, sexual)
- Unmet needs and expectations (big)
- Past hurts
Sometimes the smallest comment or the most innocent action can be taken as an offense and thus begins a process that ultimately leads you far from God and you didn’t even know how you got there. Maybe your husband didn’t do something you wanted him to do and it goes from a moment of laziness to a characterization that your husband is a lazy bum. This is an example of how a bad decision on the husband’ s part can cause division and strife if an offense is allowed to take root. A stupid remark from a wife who is innocently joking about her husband leads to bitterness, rejection and an affair. This may seem extreme but if the root of bitterness is left to grow, these things can happen. If you were to ask couples who were divorced, if you could get to where the problems all began, you would find that it started with something very small, and it grew to ginormous proportions! There are people in church that do ignorant things sometimes too. Someone says something that hurt someone else’s feelings which leads to a split in the church and more people than original offended and offendee become affected. This is the nature of bitterness. It starts small in many cases and becomes something that it never should have become.
This is the nature of our enemy. How do you combat it? How do we make our hearts “bad ground” for the seed of bitterness to flourish and grow?
1) Self- Examination- we need to ask ourselves the questions we don’t want to answer. It’s not easy but an honest self-exam will keep the things we need to work on in front of us so they don’t sneak up on us from behind.
2) Prayer- If we have a relationship with God, He will give us the strength and vision to see those things and bring those hurts and offenses to Him before they have a chance to take root. The Lord’s prayer says to “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us” .
3) Be Accountable- If there is a Godly person you can trust, stay accountable for the things that are going on in your life. They can help you stay on the path away from bitterness.
If you have let the root of bitterness creep into your life or if you need prayer, I would be glad to pray with you. Don’t let bitterness destroy your life. Be mindful and guard your heart.
Kevin
Root of Bitterness
Galatians 5:19) Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20) idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21) envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
I did a series recently called “Who is Pulling the Strings?”. It was essentially about spiritual warfare. I talked about the works of the flesh and how when we continue to practice those things, we open a door for the demonic to come in and take control of our lives. The root of bitterness is such an important issue that I felt like it almost warranted it’s own series by itself, but i will try to put it one post. Let’s take a quick look at a passage from the book of Hebrews. It is a book in the New Testament for those of you who may not know where to look:
Hebrews 12:15) See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled
The problem with roots is that you cannot see them. How many of you have sat and watched a seed fall from a weed, fall to the ground, get covered by dirt, and grow roots? I would venture to say none of you have. It is a a very unnoticable process. You don’t know you have a weed until the plant has taken root and has grown to a point that it is noticable and troublsome.
This is the same with bitterness. The offense is not always as “in your face” as someone just coming out and wronging you to your face. In many, if not most cases, bitterness creeps in and you don’t know it’s there until it has been nutured to a point it manifests itself outwardly.
To Be Continued…..
Kevin
Studying the Bible
I had a buddy ask me recently about how I study the Bible. As I shared with him, it made me reflect and think of how the way and the why I study has changed tremendously!
I was raised in church, but it wasn’t till I was about 17 years old that I truly made the decision that I was going to follow Christ. Not for my parents, or anyone else but I truly made the decision that I wanted to live my life for God and He revealed to me that He wanted to have a relationship with me.
This began my journey into God’s Word. I wanted to know God so bad I devoured the Bible. I mean I read through the whole thing a few times, I listened to tapes, and I read books out the wazoo. I could quote scripture better than many twice my age. I could tell you where to find almost anything in the Bible. I am not exaggerating.
You might think that is incredible. Looking back it was. I had incredible knowledge beyond my years, but that knowledge didn’t bring the spiritual transformation and maturity I so greatly lacked. The knowledge led to spiritual pride. I thought I knew it all. I thought I knew what I needed. What I really needed was a good, swift kick in my toosh! It took many years of humbling situations to bring me to the point that I am at now. I thought I needed to be fed. What I really needed was someone to say “I can see that God has His hand on you. Let me help show you the path. It won’t be easy. You might not like everything I have to say, but I will do everything I can to help.” and be willing to listen (Something I wouldn’t have been willing to do years ago)
My study used to be what I could learn from the Bible. It has become more of a “what is God saying to me through these scriptures?” My Bible learning has become more of a part of my relationship with Him, rather than another opportunity to gain more knowledge. It has taken time and experiences to get the Word that I had in my brain to get to my heart. I actually took a break from the Bible to work on my relationship with God. (I don’t recommend this for everyone) I knew what the Bible said about Him but I didn’t know Him like I really wanted to. Each new day I understand more and less about Him.
As I have gotten older, I realize the things that I thought were important are not so important anymore. I used to argue doctrine and scripture. I don’t have the time or energy to fight with folks about it. It’s a waste of the precious time we have to minister to the gospel to those who will hear it. If you don’t like what I say or want to argue don’t bother. People are going to hell while Christians waste time fighting about the stupidest crap I have ever heard. You want to argue about the rapture? I could care less. I am here, right now, with a comission to reach those whom He has called me to reach with the gospel. You can take your petty arguments and put em where the sun don’t shine!
Let’s all start our Bible study with “Love the Lord with all your heart, mind, and strength” and “Love your neighbor as yourself” . When we have that down, maybe we are ready to learn the “deeper” things of God. I don’t know about you but I am still working on those those two.
Kevin
Are You Trying to Pull the Strings?
I just finished a series called “Who is Pulling the Strings?” After finishing the series, and after Sunday’s message at Journey, I pose this question: Are you trying to pull the strings? Have you set yourself as god of your life? I am talking to Christians here. There are many who may not be manipulated by demonic forces but just as dangerous is when we as Christ-Followers put our desires, needs and agendas before Christ. It’s called idolatry.
There are those who preach a prosperity gospel that is so insulting to the magnificence that is God Almighty. There are those who would preach that God is someone we can manipulate into doing our will. If we push the right buttons, we can get God to cough up our every wish because “He wants to bless us.” I am not saying He doesn’t want to bless us. What I am saying is if we serve Him to get something from Him, we are in a bad place. God is not mocked. He is Holy. He will reward everyone according to thier deeds. You better remember that He sees the heart. He sees the motive.
He may give you want because you bug Him constantly, but it may not be what He wanted to give you. This is why we need to check the motivation of our hearts. There are things that I wish I never would’ve asked for! I got them all right! It was a mess!
Are you trying to pull the strings? It is time to let God be the Lord of your life. It is time to place your life in His hands and let Him mold you into what He has called you to be. Humble your hearts before the Lord and He will raise you up, He will bless you, and He will give you the desires of your heart and it will be so much more than you could ever make happen. Trust Him.
Kevin
Who is Pulling the Strings? Part 6
Influence: the act or power of producing an effect without apparent exertion of force or direct exercise of command.
Manipulation: to control or play upon by artful, unfair, or insidious means especially to one’s own advantage.
Ephesians 4:22) You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23)to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24) and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. 25) Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26) “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27) and do not give the devil a foothold.
Ok, so you have been reading these posts and have come to realize that maybe you haven’t been “pulling the strings.” Maybe you have come to understand that you need to make some changes in your life. “How do I get free from this crap?” you may ask.
1) Like the scripture says, you have to “not give the devil a foothold.” If you want to stop waking up in some stranger’s bed after being out partying and getting drunk, you need to stop going to the bar. You may need to find some new friends. You may even have family that are encouraging you to do things that are wrong. You have to remove yourself from places, situations, or people that encourage the behavior you do not want to exhibit.
2) You need to replace the activities that you were doing with things that will encourage your spiritual growth. Reading the bible is the most powerful weapon against the influence of evil people and the manipulation of the devil. It is part of what is called “renewing your mind”. You are replacing the crud that has filled your mind and influenced your actions so God can speak to you and help you make good decisions. People think you have to run around rebuking the devil. No, just try filling your mind with the bible and what God says and you will begin to see a change in your life!
3) Find people that you can be open and honest with and they can be open and honest with you. Accountability is a great way to keep you on the right path. I don’t know where I would be if I didn’t have people that could speak the truth to me. Having people to encourage and push me to grow in my faith has helped me grow more than in the times I didn’t have anyone.
These are some basic ways of combatting the devil. Not quite as “spiritually deep” as I’m sure most people would like to hear, but there are folks who want to hear deep teaching that can’t even do these things. So chew on this for a while, you might find it will impact your life more than teachings on angel feathers and gold dust.
Peace,
Kevin
Thanksgiving and other Thoughts
-Exhausting, holidays are not relaxing.
-Doing Thanksgiving again tomorrow at Dawn’s Grandparent’s house. I’m gonna be hating turkey after this weekend!
-It was my year to have my girls for Thanksgiving. Yeah!!
-The turkey came out great! Juiciest bird I ever cooked!
-Lots of forward looking to next year. It’s gonna be crazy!!
-Had my interview for a new position at work. Had to do a presentation in front of all the managers in the deptartment as part of my interview. I think it went pretty well! Should hear something in the next week or two.
-My brain is already trying to map out some things that need to happen and how to accomplish them if I get this position. Starting something new requires vision, planning and preparation. Lots to do in a short period of time. If I don’t get the position, I will be paying close attention to how they accomplish what needs to be done so maybe I can learn something.
-As you can tell, the position is on my mind a bit huh?
-I am sharing my vision for our source group for the coming year tonight. Great stuff! Only have one more meeting after this one before the holiday break. Kinda bummed about it but with everything that will be happening at the church, we will see each other just as much. Great folks! Maybe we’ll get invited over to spend some one on one time with some of our families! (Hint, Hint)
-I have a wonderful wife and great kids!
-God is awesome!
That’s all for now,
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!
Kevin
Who is Pulling the Strings?
Influence: the act or power of producing an effect without apparent exertion of force or direct exercise of command.
Manipulation: to control or play upon by artful, unfair, or insidious means especially to one’s own advantage.
I believe in spiritual warfare. You won’t find me casting demons out of closets or looking for evil spirits behind bushes. More often than not, the enemy doesn’t come in the form of hideous monsters with sharp fangs and bat-like wings (Although I have seen them before). Many, unfortunately, come in the two-legged fashion. Some even carry bibles and can quote scripture. Yes I am talking about people. You may say “I thought spiritual warfare was fighting against evil spirits and demons?” Yes I know the scriptures that talk about how we wrestle not against flesh and blood (Eph 6:12), but if God works through His children, then it would be absolutely rediculous to deny that evil spirits, demons, or the devil work through people too. Duh!
I’m going somewhere with this. This is just part of the introduction. Stay tuned for the rest.
Kevin
Being Deliberate
I have to say for myself that it can be so easy to go into cruise mode with life and even my relationship with God. (Boo!) God has been trying to raise my awareness of this. How many of you have said something like this: ” I read my bible yesterday, I’m good for today.” ” One day without praying is ok. “
I’m not talking about a religious ritual for the sake of not making God mad. I am talking about making God a priority in your life. You know you can’t put your marriage on cruise control why would you do that with your relationship with God?
We have to be deliberate in our relationship with God. Leaders, you need to be deliberate in your ministry decisions. Just because you have people going to your church on a regular basis doesn’t mean you can go into cruise mode. There is a world that needs to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have to evaluate what we are doing on a regular basis and be deliberate about what we are doing, even if it is something that we do on a regular basis. It should be done deliberately cause you may come to realize one day that something you are doing is lame and needs to be scrapped. We can’t assume what we have always done is always going to be effective or something we should do all the time. I will give an example:
A few weeks ago, in our source group, we had a prayer time and most of the people felt a very strong, very tangible, sense of God’s presence. There are some church folk that would say that we need to do things just like we did that night every time we get together. This couldn’t be more wrong. His presence was felt that night because I was being obedient to what God told me to do. This is not something we will do or happen every single meeting. It was a special moment and I would never try to manufacture something like that. I have seen people try to do that before and it never turns out good. ( I could tell some stories but maybe another post one day)
In conclusion, I have two questions to ask:
1) Is your relationship being motivated out of your love for Him or is it just in cruise mode?
2) Are you leading on cruise control or are you taking deliberate steps and seeking God’s direction in what and how you are ministering?
Thanks For Reading,
Kevin
Holy Anticipation
I just wanted to share an exerpt of something that hit me that I read from Mark Batterson. Here is a link to the whole post. I want to share posts that I read that help inspire me. So check it:
Moses has been tending sheep for 40 years. That’s 480 months, 2,080 weeks, or 14,560 days. He has had the same daily routine for 40 years, day in, day out, and I think that Moses must feel like he has been put out to pasture, and part of me wonders if Moses at this point is a little bit disappointed with his life. He has so much potential. For instance, Egypt, and I’ve got to think at this point, he’s gotten feel a little bit like an underachiever. Every day, he stares at the backsides of sheep. Not real exciting. I would suggest that 40 years later, Moses is caught in this cage of routine, but I love the first two words of this chapter, they are such hopeful words to me. One day. One day. I think, to me, it epitomizes what a relationship with Christ is about. When you are in relationship with Christ, all bets are off. You never know what you’re doing to do, where you’re going to go, who you are going to meet. You never know when or where or how God could invade the reality of your life and turn your life inside out and upside down in a single day. He can show up anyplace, anytime, and turn your life into a wild goose chase. For me, that fills me with holy anticipation. How I live my life. I can’t wait to see what God is going to do next. Now, I don’t want to paint a prettier picture than it is, cause I live in that daily routine too and I get caught in that cage, and sometimes life seems pretty monotonous. My days don’t start real glamorous, I get up, I walk Mickey, and I pick up his poop. That’s how my day starts. But I do live with this deep-seeded holy anticipation of what God is going to do because you never know how He can invade the reality of your life.
Thats some truth right there.
Kevin
I’m Still Alive!!
Today was one of the most stressful days of my life!! I had an issue that I had to go to court for. Not fun at all!! There were some tolls that I thought were paid that were not. The fear of the unknown was terrifying. I didn’t know what was going to happen. I talked to some folks about what happened. It’s amazing how much of a fine they will hit you with for not paying one. Believe me, that will never ever happen again! I haven’t had a ticket in like 10 years so this experience was terrifying!
I had some great brothers in my source group praying for God to move on my behalf and I believe that He did! They may not have thrown out everything and I didn’t have to pay nothing, and I have no idea where I am going to get the money to pay what I have to pay, but it could have been a lot worse. So what I have I learned from this experience? I have learned that I would rather pay at a toll booth than use some high tech gadget, but more importantly I have learned to see the blessings in the midst of our tribulations. We all make mistakes but I would suggest that we don’t always get the full consequences of what we deserve. We need to be thankful for the countless messes that God gets us out of that we don’t even realize!
We didn’t deserve His mercy but He gave it and continues to give it. Even when it looks like He wasn’t so gracious. It could always be worse if not for His grace. I need Him to provide more than ever, and I know He will. I’m still alive and kicking! I’m still just as excited with what He is doing in my life! He has a great purpose plan for my life. Just like you!
Kevin
Please Pray for Me
I have something pretty stressful I have to do tommorrow, and I would appreciate your prayers. I don’t want to get into specifics here but I am doing pretty good at the moment, but I would ask you to pray for His peace to rest upon me and in Me. I am glad it will be over (hopefully). God is in control. Just need to get my body brain to believe it.
It’s funny how you can know that God has our lives in our hands, yet we still fret about things. I trust God but my body still has that nervous feeling and my brain wants to think of every possible scenerio that could happen. It’s quite irritating. Many would say “You think you trust Him but you don’t”. I would tell you that you don’t know what you are talking about. You can’t tell me that Stephen had no fear as the people took him out to be stoned. Jesus suffered from so much stress in Gethsamane that his sweat became great drops of blood (Luke 22:44). Our spirit rests in the hands of our Heavenly Father, but our bodies are corrupted and self-preservation is its top priority. Anything perceived as a threat to it’s well being will bring on the fight-flight reaction. I believe that is why we can be stressed and still know our lives rest in His hands. I have heard of many accounts of people who faced life threatening situations and stood in perfect peace. I believe that this is a supernatural event cause this does not happen normally. It is not natural for people to respond this way. This is an expception, not a rule and I think it has led to an undue amount of condemnation for believers.
Got on a tangent. Oh well.
God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, love and self-control (2 Timothy 1:7)
And let the God of peace rule in your hearts, to indeed you were called in one body (Colossians 3:15)
Peace out
Kevin
How Bad Do You Need Him?
The older I get, the more I realize I need Him. Leave me to do it my way, and I will mess it up in some way, shape, or form. I don’t say this so you will not have confidence in me. I say it because I know that I need Him like I need no other. I am not afraid to say it. I am not afraid of what you think. Cause I know the truth already. He has given me the life that I have for a reason. He has given you yours for a purpose. I am not prideful enough to believe that I don’t need His direction, protection, and provision. I would be a fool to think otherwise. In these times we live in, we need Him more than ever. We His children need to get a revelation of this in our hearts, cause there is a world that is looking for hope, peace and love. We need to learn to live this in our own lives so we can attest to the hope, love, peace that we have in the midst of all of our crap and all the stuff going on around us. I need Him today so much! Do you?
I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord;
No tender voice like Thine can peace afford.
I need Thee, O I need Thee;
Every hour I need Thee;
O bless me now, my Savior,
I come to Thee.
One of His (Kevin)
Feel the Heat?
I’ve been feeling the heat in every area of my life right now. Work, home, ministry, everything. I’m not a dumb person but I’ve been feeling pretty stupid. There are things that are going on that I don’t know how to fix or what to do and it is driving me nuts! I am feeling the heat.
How many of you are facing things in your life that you just don’t know how it’s gonna work out? How many of you feel powerless against some of the things you are facing?
The apostle Peter in 1 Peter 5:7 says that we should cast our anxiety upon the Lord because He cares for us. It says to cast. It’s no wonder that Peter used a fishing term considering he was once a fisherman. Casting is an action word. There is a movement involved. If you have ever heard of Neuro-Linguistic Programming, there are people who have learned to associate movement with certain actions. There are people who can get other people to relax by tapping a pencil rapidly and slowing the pace ever so gradually and the person doesn’t even realize they have been reprogrammed. To bring this back to the God and the bible, words must be followed by action. “By what action? I don’t know what to do!” you may say. I am trying to work that part out too.
I remember the story of Naaman in the book of 2 Kings 5. This guy was a tough guy. He was a general but he was also a leper. He was so desperate he went to the land of his enemies to find Elisha and ask for healing of his disease. This was the hard part. Elisha tells him to bathe in the Jordan river 3 times and he will be healed. At first he refused until his servant talked some sense into him. Naaman wanted to be healed, but he had to do something.
I don’t know what it is for you, or me for that matter right now. But let’s you and I seek Him and find out what that is ok? Alrighty then.
One of His (Kevin)
Change
Like I have said before, I work for a major financial institution. The last 2 weeks have been nonstop work! I hope to post more soon. Let me leave you with a thought:
The only constant in this world is change. You can bet on change. Change on your own terms is a lot sweeter than someone else’s. Most of the time. We need to be listening to God so we can be ready to move when the winds of change begin to blow.
Discuss among yourselves. Peace Out!!
One of His (Kevin)
What a week!
What a week! It has been insane! I work for a major financial institution and man has it been crazy! I have talked to more clients and bankers in the last week than I have in the last 2 months! People are nervous about their investments more than ever! I don’t blame them. I watched my 401K get pimp slapped the last few days. Not cool.
I guess I would ask you: Have you invested enough in your relationship with God to make it through this time of trouble and turmoil? Is your portfolio full of the Word of God? Is money what you have been leaning on? I know those who never had a money care in the world for years now wonder if they are going to be ok. I’ve been broke a lot (most of bad decisions I made) but I have to say that I have had to trust Him more than you can imagine. The stock I put in Him is more solid than GE or Wal-Mart or Goldman Sachs. I don’t have a lot that I can say is mine, but I know that no matter how little or much I have is not the issue. My faith in God and His supply is what will keep me in the hardest of times.
One of His
Some Thoughts
-Got stuck in a HUGE traffic jam on I-75 North yesterday. A trip that normally takes about an hour and 15 mins turned into a 4 HOUR ordeal! Nothing worse than 5 hungry people in the same vehicle for 4 hours.
-I’m so pumped to see my daughter Jubilee and my brother-in-law Ryan get baptized! Words can’t describe the joy in my heart! It’s really amazing to see God doing things within your own family.
-Looking forward to source group Friday. I love these folks! We have been having some really awesome discussions!
-Really excited about the fact that Don Frazier will be sharing at the source group after this one. He has come a long way and i am really proud of him!
-The two Vision services we had were tight! It’s a great problem when you start running out of chairs and juice for communion
-Working for a major financial company and watching the market dive like it did yesterday is disturbing , but just reemphasizes that fact God has to be our provider.
-Can the freaking presidential candidates start talking about how they are going to fix the mess they were both responsible for making instead of all the worthless, fear-mongering, cutting, attacks? They are too busy making people scared of the other candidate to address the issues that America wants to hear about. SHEESH!!
- Anyone have an X-Box 360 they want to give me? Lol! Seriously! I want one!
-What picture of God do you have? We will talk about that Friday night at 7.
Peace
One of His (Kevin)
My “Journey” During My CFAN Days II
This is a continuation of yesterday’s post. If you haven’t read it. Read it first.
So Dawn and I went for our first time to CFAN and the one thing I was impressed by is how friendly the people were. We were attending a larger church that you just didn’t get that friendly vibe from the greeters, but I told myself that most church folk will be nice to you until they get to know you a little better. Then they rank you in their brains as far as how spiritual or rich or how messed up you are and decide whether they will have anything to do with you. That is what church folk do. Don’t get defensive. Everyone in church has done it or does do it. It’s a defensive mechanism. I knew after coming a couple of weeks, that CFAN is where we needed to be. Anyway, worship had the black gospel feel which was fine. I can worship to most music styles. I’ve heard it all for the most part. The worship leader at the time was in your face quite a bit and during the first month or two he just downright ticked me off. I stood defiant to his constant prodding us to worship, to shout, to get excited about God.
It was a matter of a few weeks, but there were things that Pastor Michael was saying when he would come up to speak during transition moments in worship that started to break me down. He started talking about how God loved us no matter where we were in our relationship with Him. He talked about how it was time to move on from where we were to where He wanted to take us. I knew it was God speaking to me. I knew that God was saying it was time to get back into the game. That His plans were not disturbed by what had happened in my life. That if we are willing, He will fulfill His purpose and plan in our lives no matter what the circumstances we were in.
I realized I was no longer resisting what I thought was an annoying worship leader. I was resisting what God was trying to do in my life. I knew that I had to change.
To be continued…
One of His (Kevin)
