What To Do In The Face Of Adversity

I’m often asked by friends and acquaintances how they should respond when facing adversity, one of the first things I want to encourage folks not to do, is to declare, “all is lost” or “this is the worst possible thing that could happen to me” - because it’s not and it isn’t. Don’t compare your hurts and pains to others, your pain is your pain, I’m not arguing that, but it doesn’t mean to throw in the towel and give up, the book of James, especially the 1st chapter is somewhere you should spend a great deal of time in study and meditation, 

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” 

- James‬ ‭1:2-4‬ ‭ESV‬‬

When we go through difficult times, trust in the Lord and allow your faith to grow and strengthen. God is not going to abandon you, God is not going to forsake you, don’t convince yourself that Jesus died for everyone else, that’s a lie, he died for you, and if had been for only you, he still would’ve gone to the cross. Whatever you are facing, whatever you are going through, let steadfastness have it’s full effect and you’ll lack for nothing. 

May God bless you and strengthen you as you navigate the challenging waters of adversity.

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Achievement Over Affirmation

Choose Achievement Over Affirmation 

(Leadership Blog)

Often times we get caught up getting caught up with people and what they are doing, if we just keep our eyes on Jesus we will get to where we are supposed to go. - June 6, 2018

"Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear." 
- 2 Timothy 4:3 (NIV)

If you want to make an impact during your lifetime, you have to trade the praise you could receive from others for the things of value that you can accomplish.

A friend once explained something to me that illustrates this concept very well. He told me that as people catch crabs, they'll toss the crustaceans into a basket. If you have only one crab in the basket you need a lid to keep it from crawling out, but if you've got two or more, you don't. When there are several crabs, they will drag one another down so that none of them can get away.

A lot of unsuccessful people act the same way. They'll do things to keep others from getting ahead. But the good news is that if you observe someone trying to do that, you don't have to buy into their belief system. You can get out and stay out of the basket by refusing to be a crab.

From "Your Road Map for Success"

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Awake: The Call to a Renewed Life

I hope to utilize my blog for the next few weeks to serve as the "Hub" for our small group study, "Awake". Below you'll find a link to take a survey that will help us gain perspective in our spiritual walk and where we might need to grow and focus. 
Click HERE to take the survey!

I've included some information from this series author, Pastor Ronnie Floyd - 
What These Six Weeks Will Look Like  - Don’t sleep through your spiritual life. Wake up! Nothing refreshes like a good’s night’s sleep. And who doesn’t enjoy the occasional afternoon nap? But when we are spiritually asleep, it is dangerous. It’s time to wake up! It’s time for our churches to wake up! 

Since our greatest need is to experience spiritual renewal from God, this study will help anyone do just that. Please consider taking your people through this study. This is what they will experience each session: 

Session 1: Return to God 
Session 2: Return to Your First Love 
Session 3: Return to Prayer 
Session 4: Return to God’s Word 
Session 5: Return to Unity 
Session 6: Return to the Task 

Join Me in This Journey and Movement When people have turned back to God throughout history, He has done extraordinary things and sparked great movements. Wouldn’t you like to see God do so again? Join me on the journey of asking God to bring about the next great movement of renewal and turning the nations back to Him.

If you'd like to subscribe to the blog while participating in this study, just follow the link below and enter your email address, you'll be notified anytime I post something for the class, don't worry, no SPAM, I promise!
Click HERE to Subscribe!

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Thoughts: Florida School Shooting

For Christians, this shooting is not another time for you to get hyped up on the gun control debate, this is not about politics. Let the politicians do what they do, Christians, this is a TRAGIC and SAD reminder of where we have once again failed. 

In the lives of young people like Nikolas Cruz, described as a weird, creepy, a loner, once again, where was the church, where were we? He was a troubled kid, his adoptive father had died, single adoptive mother left two raise him, expelled from school, on his own, and where is the church, where are those who are showing him and his family Love, Compassion, Service, Forgiveness, Prayer, Gentleness, Commitment, Patience, Guidance, Humility, where has the church been all this time? 

If we want to get hyped up about something as believers, let's get hyped up about answering our calling to go to the outcasts, the samaritans, the loners, the people that NOBODY else is reaching. You want to make a difference? Start in your own community and allow God to utilize you and have an impact on someone in a dark place, someone struggling with great hurt and pain, be a friend to somebody that has nobody and watch what the Lord will do in that person as well as you. 

If you think I sound stupid or passive, look up the name Nicky Cruz (similar, but not the shooter in Florida,) he was the leader of a New York City gang, he slapped David Wilkerson in the face on more than one occasion when he told him about Jesus, ultimately through the dedication and compassion of Wilkerson, Cruz came to know the Lord, attended Bible College, became an evangelist, converted gang members to Christ, served as the Director of Teen Challenge and continues to reach thousands of people for Christ! Do not discount the impact you can have on a life, get hyped about reaching those who others consider unreachable. 

“Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” 

- Matthew 9:37-38

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Blessings After the Struggle

I know each of us go through difficult and trying times, tragedy, frustration, anger, confusion and much more, these circumstances though should not get us down, cling to these verses from Romans 5

“3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

-Romans 5:3-5 (ESV)

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He's Been God A Long Time

Did you know that God has been God a lot longer than we’ve been “know it alls” - sometimes I forget that He really does know it all, and that there isn’t a place I’m headed that he isn’t already there waiting on me. Trust the Lord with each and every decision in your life and He will take care of it and you. 

8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

- Revelation 1:8 (NIV)

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