Send us a text Starbucks released a limited edition collectors item in a glass iced coffee bear cup. People went nuts over them, because each store only got a few each. But others saw this also as an opportunity to fool others, setting up fradulent sites to con others into purchasing what they thought was the real thing. We need to see the Kingdom and the Gospel in this way as well. We must search high and low and be willing to do anything to gain entrance into the Kingdom. Yet we also...
Send us a text I'm teaching my oldest daughter to ride a bike, and it is a lot harder than she expected. She keeps forgetting to pedal, so she stops moving forward, and that's when she tips over and falls. As Christians, our walk with Christ is much harder than many anticipate. But with God, all things are possible - we just have to keep moving forward. When we stop growing is when we will fall - we've got to remember to keep pressing on. #SetYourMindAbovePodcast
Send us a text I thought it was finally going to happen this year - the Mariners were only 9 outs from advancing to the World Series for the very first time. But in the end, they fell short once again. I guess I'll say what I've had to say ever year: there is always next season. But there is no next season with this life. We cannot fail to finish in our walk of faith. We must be faithful to the end to receive a crown of life. We must truly conquer, and to do so we have to finish the ra...
Send us a text We went on vacation to NC and took our two dogs with us. Our large puppy had never experienced stairs before, and I didn't realize that some dogs didn't know naturally how to go up and down them. He was terrified and I had to carry him before training him. It took a lot of patience and gentleness, but finally he figured it out over the course of the week. Those who are seasoned and mature Christians need to exercise the same patience and gentleness with new Christians. Th...
Send us a text We recently went to the Cincinatti zoo with some good friends, and one of the exhibits is for nocturnal animals. It was very dark, and at first the kids could not see a thing. Our friends reminded them to give it time, the longer they stayed in the dark the more comfortable their eyes would become. Unfortunately, we can become all to comfortable with darkness too. We can be like those Jeremiah warned about, who don't even know how to feel humiliation anymore. The longer ...
Send us a text I love chicken and tomatoes. I eat them every week, and they are in many of the meals that we make as a family. However, after getting allergy testing done, it turns out my love for them might be what has been fueling a lot of my health issues. I'm allergic to them both. Sin works that way in our lives too, doesn't it? Before we came to Christ, we participated in the flesh every day. Things we didn't know were wrong, things we didn't know were killing us spiritually. But...
Send us a text This week has been full of bloodshed and tragedy in the US - from school schootings, merciless and senseless murders, and assasination - hearts are heavy. How does the Christian respond to this? #SetYourMindAbovePodcast
Send us a text "You don't love me anymore" - these were the words of our soon to be 3 year old to her mother and me. Why? Because we told her that she had to eat her dinner. We had to laugh - kids can be so dramatic. The rules are there because we love you, kiddo. We're not all that different as the children of God. Sometimes we doubt God's love, because we don't get what we want, or because he restricts us in what we do. However, that is the very proof of God's love, becuase he discli...
Send us a text Fantasy Football is back! To draft a good team, you have to remember several things. One, you can't overload on one position - you need to cover all your bases, because each position is important. Second, you need depth - have compitent back ups ready to go. Third, you need to keep your eye on the waiver wire and expand your team. The church is not all that different. You can't focus on one person - each role is important in the body. Second, we need depth in the church ...
Send us a text Today is a special episode - my daughter Ava has been asking to help with the podcast for quite sometime. Today, she finally got that opportunity - and she even got to pick the topic. She wanted to discuss the dangers of vanity. Tune in to hear a discussion between my daughter and I about what we should pursue in this life, and remembering to hold things in their proper place so that they do not end up becoming vain. #SetYourMindAbovePodcast
Send us a text We had an unexpected life event last week, as my wife ended up in the hospital for a period of four days. Over those four days, we received an outpouring of love and support from our local church family. We needed help, and they responded. This is how God designed the church. It's not like a family, it is a family. Serving one another is never a burden, nor is there ever a limit to this. We love, we serve, and we fullfil the law of Christ as each member as they same care...
Send us a text As my grass started growing back in after a fresh cut, I noticed a distinct pattern to how entire strips of grass were longer than the sections next to it. As I looked at my mower, I discovered that one tire was going flat, and therefore it was unbalanced. It left my yard looking like a terrible haircut. Imbalance in our lives can lead to all kinds of problems - at home, with our children, our jobs, our diets. But perhaps most importantly, we need balance in how we teach...
Send us a text My good buddy Jacob Stout, who is a very talented golfer, was recenlty golfing with another friend of his. He hit a decent shot, but he wasn't pleased with it. When he got in the cart, his buddy goes, "You know you'll never be good, right? You'll only be better." Isnt' that the truth with our spiritual walk as well? There is only one who is good - Jesus Christ. We will never be perfectly good, there will always be something we must grow in and be more consistent with. Bu...
Send us a text My mind has been on the residents of Kerr County all week, after the flash flooding and mass devastation that has occured. 120 are confirmed dead with 170 still missing. I cannot imagine that kind of loss. My words can do little to help them or make things better...but I can direct my words to the One who can. God's words have power. He has the power to create and sustain. The power over nature, and even by his mere word he has the power over life and death. So please - ...
Send us a text We took the kids with their grandparents to the Lexington Children's Museum, and the big hit was the bubble room! Bubbles are a lot of fun, but they are for just a short moment and then their fragile shape pops and is gone. Then you forget them, and move on to another bubble or another room. Our lives are like the bubble room - here today and gone tomorrow. Short, fragile, and soon forgotten. But we have an opportunity to be remembered by our creator, and to live forever...
Send us a text The kids were enjoying making paper airplanes this afternoon, but Finley refused to throw hers. She kept a death grip on it. When I inquired why she wouldn't let it go, she responded that she had worked so hard on it. We have a hard time of letting go of things we have poured a lot of ourselves into. Our children, a church, our money, all kinds of things. And yet it is by God's design to remember they are not our own, we shouldn't have a death grip on them, and they are ...
Send us a text As we traveled back from camp, my friend Will and I were taken back by some signs being sold at Buc-ee's. They were mocking Scripture, particularly from the book of Joshua, and making light of the things God has said. It was startling, but not surprising. We are called to be holy, because God is holy. And a such, that means he should be honored as holy - and that includes his Word. Have we been set apart for him? Have we treated him as common, or holy? #SetYourMind...
Send us a text I was attacked by a swarm of cicadas while on the mower last night, and in trying to swat them away I knocked my earbud off into the grass. It was expensive, important, and very small. So I spent 20 minutes on my hands and knees until I finally found it! Do we realize that God values souls equally? He came to seek and save the lost. Like the parable of the lost sheep or the lost coin, we learn the lengths that God will go to find those who are lost and bring them home.&n...
Send us a text We had a tornado go through very close to us this morning, within about 5 miles, but we received no watch or warning notifications. The National Weather Service is having some updates that prevented us from being told - and I'm thankful that we are safe, but others were not so fortunate. Ezekiel is called a watchman for the house of Israel - to warn them of God's judgment if they did not turn from their sin. But the prophet was also given a warning - if he did not sound ...
Send us a text In life, we have full circle moments when things you once did are things you find yourself doing again - but as a parent. I had that this week, from t-ball with my son to reading them Calvin & Hobbes together, we had many full circle moments. As I tucked my kids in, my son said, "Dad, I'm just like you." And he will be - he watches my every move as all our children do. They will immitate the good and the bad. What kinds of things do our actions and habits teach them?...