The 2 Greatest

YES life throws us curveballs, sometimes knuckleballs--but it's NOT true that we can't prepare for them.  No we don't know the specifics or the severity of each situations but we can guard our hearts and minds.  We can put holy practices into our normal days that will help us on the hard days.

You all know the story of The Tower of Babel in Genesis 11.  But do you know the story of The Tower of Babel REVERSED?

It seems the church is going through a very rough patch right now.  And if we're not careful we might mistakenly think this is unique. But it's not.

Bibles...we've got LOTS of them.  But there was ONE guy who literally lost his life so we could read it in our language.  We should remember and give thanks for him.

I love stories.  We ALL do.  We watch them, read them, and tell them.  Jesus did too.  He had many famous stories with a point.   The key is to not MISS the point!

Are you "saved?"  Well....what does that mean?  It is salvation from sin and death because of Jesus sacrifice on the cross....but is it MORE than that?

That line come from the most famous Christian hymn of all time.  But do you know the MAN BEHIND that hymn.  Far from perfect, wretched, you might say--but a person of growing faith that finally won out and overtook the wretch that he was.  

We excuse it.  It's the "Christian sin." But it's still SIN.  We need a whole lot more Ephesians 4:29 in the church!

He hate them, avoid them, stress over them--but eventually have to have them.  Today let me share a simple four step process for how to have difficult conversations.

People have ALWAYS been fascinated with sea monsters, and we still are.  Lock Ness hunters are still a thing.  But YHWH is the one who has the final say on sea monsters--He's the one that puts them out to play!

We talk to ourselves all the time.  We have this internal, in our heads chat going on.  But what about PREACHING to ourselves?

Everyone seems to be crying about something else days.  But not all crying is negative.  What if we were the one's crying out GOOD NEWS?

Did you know there were TWO Jesus's in front of Pilate on that fateful day?  They each represented a way of salvation, but they are so radically different in every way.  Which way will it be for you Jesus of Nazareth or Jesus Barabbas?

We get overwhelmed trying to figure out what God wants from us.  So we DO this or DO that hoping that's it!  But our DOING comes from our BEING.  We have ONE Job.

There are several guys on the pages of the New Testament named Herod.  It can get confusing who's who.  But remember--they are ALL bad examples!

We are most familiar with the beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount.  But there are some OTHER beatitudes that are pretty amazing and encouraging for us in this crazy world!

It's not ways easy to discern if we are in the center of God's will.  Sometimes we rely TOO much of external circumstances to tell us.  But sometimes we ignore the signs God has put right in front of our faces.

Boundaries are NOT unloving.  They SHOW love--to yourself AND to others.  One of the best ways to love is to be clear about your boundaries.  When they are not observed, don't get MAD, get CLEAR--and follow through.

We are ALLLLLLL human.  We sin, we blow it, we mess up.  And SOMETIMES we may be hypocrites--pretenders--but the label often gets misapplied!