We wrapped up our series on ANGER MANAGEMENT yesterday and this week our topic was what to do about those “extra special” people in life - the ones that we really struggle to get along with.
These people make up about 5-10% of our total relationships but they probably consume to 90-95% of our emotional energy. What do we do with the people that push our buttons and we can’t seem to get along with.
Read MoreWe kicked off a brand new series yesterday and the topic is one that we all need a little help with: ANGER MANAGEMENT.
St. Paul teaches us to “Be angry and do not sin.” (Ephesians 4:26). How? Is that even possible? Is there a “right” way to get angry? If so, what would that be?
Join us as we journey along the path to discovering a God-honoring and God-pleasing strategy to deal with the inevitable bouts of anger that we all face.
Read MoreWe’re in Part 4 of our HAPPY series and this week we’re looking at Matthew 5:7, which says “Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.”
Unfortunately, too many people today are allowing their happiness to be held captive for former hurts. In doing so, we end up enslaving ourselves to our past. But Jesus offers a way out - that is FORGIVENESS. Forgiveness frees me from the torture of resentment and it allows me to experience true freedom and true happiness within.
Read More“Let all BITTERNESS, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.” Ephesians 4:31
We wrapped up our No Big Deal series by looking at one of the hardest “minor sins” to detect - a sin that lies far beneath the surface but can have a major impact on your life. The sin of BITTERNESS.
Bitterness may not seem like a big deal, but as we saw in this week’s message, it might be the most self-destructive thing you can do to yourself. By choosing to hold on to the past, you may be holding your future hostage.
Why? Because “when you forgive, you in no way change the past. But you sure do change the future."
Read MoreIn today’s world, “little sins” like criticism, complaining, gossip, or lying aren’t just shrugged off, but are sometimes encouraged or even celebrated. But in fact, these sins are just as deadly as any other. They destroy relationships, inhibit our ability to pray, and weaken our witness to the world.
In other words, these "acceptable sins" separate us from the life that God wants for us just as much as any other sin.
In this series, we’ll examine 5 “little sins” and develop a plan to avoid their deadly sting.
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In last week's post, I spoke about bitterness/anger of the heart and the damage it can do. I wrote “the most self-destructive thing you’ll ever do in life is to hold on bitterness. That is the quickest way to ensure that you live miserably and lonely for the rest of your life.”
So what’s the cure for bitterness? How do we get rid of it?
There’s only one way. You can try to ignore it (won’t work) or pretend it isn’t there (definitely won’t work) or convince yourself that you’re past it (YEAH RIGHT!). Our goal shouldn’t be to “get past” the bitterness, but rather to treat the bitterness and to heal it.
How? There’s only one way…FORGIVENESS!
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It’s there. You may not want to admit, but you know it's there. It’s inside you. It’s behind the excuses… behind the rationalizations… behind the self-deception… behind all the ways we may “spiritualize” it… but it’s definitely there. And like termites within your house or cancer within your body, if you allow it to live within you, it’s just a matter of time before it eats you up and destroys you completely.
"It" is no joke. "It" is BITTERNESS.
Read More"Anyone unwilling to forgive is usually thinking of what was done TO THEM vs FOR THEM."
It's easy to be kind to those whom we deem worthy of our kindness (loved ones, friends, family, etc.), but there's another category of kindness that we need to look at as well. And that is kindness to those who have hurt us.
In this week's message - Part 5 of The KIND that Breaks - we look at the subject of FORGIVENESS and how we can display "Kindness When It Matters Most."
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This is a guest post from Natasha Cklamovska – a psychology student at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia who is also a second degree taekwondo black belt (how’s that for an interesting combination). In today’s post, Natasha provides a simple yet beautiful reminder about the importance of friendship. If you too are interested in guest posting on my blog, please visit my Guest Post guidelines for more info.
"A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity." Proverbs 17:17
Throughout the Bible, we see many examples of "best friends", such as Elijah and Elisha:
2 Kings 2:2 - "And Elijah said to Elisha, 'Stay here, for the Lord has told me to go to Bethel.' But Elisha replied, 'As surely as the Lord lives and you yourself live, I will never leave you!' So they went down together to Bethel."
Read MoreOur journey has come to the end. For the past 4 weeks we've been looking at REdiscovering the God we thought we know - aka, Meeting (again) for the First Time. This week we looked at the false god that many of us grew up with, GUILT GOD - the god who loves you but doesn't like you.
Special thanks to my good friend Emmanuel Gergis, the academic dean for Holy Transfiguration College, for sharing his personal experience on the subject. If you struggle with guilt and forgiving yourself, YOU NEED to listen to the message above.
Read More“People almost invariably arrive at their beliefs not on the basis of proof but on the basis of what they find attractive.” Blaise Pascal
In this week's message - the Clear the Air finale - I presented what I believe is the REAL reason people walk away from God. And it isn't what people usually say/think it is. I believe there is something much deeper going on.
Don't believe me? Check out the message above and see for yourself.
Read MoreIf you think you know what LOVE means, you ain't seen nothing yet!
In this week's message, we take a look at two people - Jim and Elisabeth Elliot - whose genuine love and limitless acceptance was taken to an unfathomable level.
It's a story that everyone needs to hear. It's a reminder about the greatest and most powerful element in the entire universe... that is, LOVE. And where love is, God is as well.
Read More"GOD WON'T HEAL WHAT YOU DON'T ADMIT."
It's Week 3 in Spiritual Sweat II and this week we're talking about HONESTY - not honesty of the mouth, but honesty of the heart. We need to be honest about our true spiritual condition because - as Jacob saw when he wrestled with God - that's the only way to see God and revive our hearts.
So get ready. This week's message was a bit of a tough one and it isn't for the spiritually faint of heart. But if you're looking for revival, it might be just what the doctor ordered.
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“Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.” Luke 15:15-16
This Sunday – the third Sunday of Lent – we read one of the most well-known and beloved stories of the entire Bible: the parable of the Prodigal Son (see Luke 15:11-32 if you need a refresher).
Why do we love this story so much? What is it that makes this particular parable melt our hearts the way that it does?
It’s more than just the love of the father or the forgiveness he shows to his son; there’s more to it than that. There’s something in this story that stirs the heart of everyone who hears it or reads it.
What makes this story so touching? What jumps out to me is how LOW the boy had fallen and how HIGH he was lifted after that.
It’s the discrepancy or change from start to finish. At one point, he had sunk to the lowest of lows – the textbook definition of “rock bottom” – but by the end of the story, he had ascended to the highest of highs – the receipt of amazing grace and an incredible deliverance.
How deep had he sunk?
Read More“For me to be right, someone else has to be wrong.”
~ Somebody who is easily offended
Sorry for the delay; we were unable to get this sermon uploaded on Sunday (which seems to happen every year on Super Bowl Sunday), but we're good now. Part 4 of I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST ME is up and this week's topic is THE EASILY-OFFENDED.
Of all the insecurities, this is something that's a lot harder to see in the mirror than it is through a window. No one would label themselves as easily-offended or overly sensitive; it's always easier to say the problem is out there.
But maybe if we take a slightly deeper look, we'll see differently.
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A young lady once asked if she could take a selfie with me. After agreeing and getting ready for the picture, I noticed she was uncomfortable. I asked if she is ok and she replied “Can we swap sides because this is not my good side?” At first I thought she was joking, but quickly realized she wasn’t!
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A good friend and I once had a conversation about sin and temptation, and he said something to me that I will always find incredibly profound. He said, “If you deem yourself unworthy of God’s grace, then you are judging the just Judge.” That phrase hasn't left my mind ever since.
It's true. God sent His son to die on the cross so that we may all be able to live in paradise forever, so who am I to say that I am not worthy of this love? Yes, you do need to be humble and not act like you are more privileged, but at the same time, we need to understand that forgiveness and grace are GIFTS, and not RIGHTS. I feel many times people blame God because, in a terrible and twisted way, we feel entitled to His grace and love.
But we aren’t. We are gifted so greatly with His unconditional love.
Read MoreWait a minute...are you saying that I do NOT need to forget in order to forgive? That I can forgive someone even though I still feel hurt and pain?
Absolutely! Why? Because forgiving and forgetting are not the same thing!
Not only do I believe that you don't need to forget in order to forgive, I believe that in some cases, you CAN NOT forget no matter how hard you try! But that doesn't mean you can't forgive.
How? Check out Part 3 of Things Jesus Never Said and find out for yourself. If you struggle with forgiveness and resentment and anger, you MUST listen to this message.
"What the world needs now is love, sweet love it's the only thing that there's just too little of What the world needs now is love, sweet love,No not just for some, but for everyone."
Happy Valentine's Day everyone! We decided to take a break from our current series on Confronting Conflict and instead we talked about the subject that is on everyone's mind on the 14th day of February...LOVE
Read More“Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but BORN OF GOD.” (John 1:12-13)
Week 2 of IDENTITY CRISIS: The Search for Meand the first characteristic that we need to understand is what it means to be a CHILD of God - a son or daughter of the Creator/King of the universe.
The most important thing you need to know about being a child of God is this: my identity is based on who HE IS more than it is based on who I AM or what I DO.
What does that mean practically? Check out the video above and see for yourself. Trust me, of all the things you need to know about yourself and your identity, NONE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THIS. Enjoy!
