It wasn’t long before God looked upon Adam and said “this isn’t good”. Not that Adam wasn’t good, or that his situation was sinful…it just wasn’t TOV. Tov is a Hebrew word which carries the idea of perfect goodness, of life as it should be…of the life lived out in community. We were designed for […]
Families are full of imperfect and flawed human beings. Because of this conflict is inevitable. Think about a toddler who doesn’t get what they want or whose expectations are not met. Now just add 10, 20, or 30 years to that same person. Still imperfect, still flawed, still full of unmet needs and desires living under the same roof. Conflict in families knows no age limit. However, did you know that God has a desire for you in all your disagreements? Did you know that God says anger is normal ? ...
A refuge. A safe harbor. A fortress that protects. This is who God is and it is also what he wants your family to be in the midst of the cultural tempest slamming into people. Family is the relational desire and core expression of God himself. He is a father with children and as our powerful guardian he will fight for and care for us in specific ways. He shows how to foster and fight for our own families. In Part 2 of FIGHT FOR THE FAM men's expert and pastor Kenny Luck unpacks how God feels abo...
Why is your family so important to God? The FAMILY unit forms people - it gives foundational experiences that we carry with us the rest of our lives and into the next generation. Moms, dads, brothers, and sisters were God's choice from the beginning to bless us and bless the world. The FAMILY is under siege in under attack by cultural forces today like no other time in history to thwart God's original mission of forming the next generation and blessing the world. The question for every man conne...
“The Ones Who Didn’t Miss It” Throughout this series, we’ve seen countless people….who missed it. They were distracted, fearful or had doubts too great to catch what it was Jesus was offering them. Some missed the truth of who Christ was, others missed out on the adventure of following Him fully. BUT….thank God that scripture […]
We’ve already seen that God’s man can miss the adventure that God has for him, as well as missing God’s heart of love towards him. Beyond that we can be tempted to miss specific truths that Jesus wants to reveal to us. How can we live in such a way that we don’t miss it?
Jesus Christ rescued us. Offering Himself in our place, restoring us to the Father and giving us new life! And yet….so many followers of Jesus are still…. missing it. Missing the adventure Christ invited them into, missing the excitement of learning to hear His voice, missing the joy of reading His word. Why? Simply put…we’re distracted. […]
We all know what it’s like….to miss it. To miss a joke everyone is laughing at, to miss a train or a flight, and then to be forced to deal with the consequences. In these scenarios we are either the brunt of a joke or we find ourselves in an airport for longer than we’d […]
God is RELATIONAL. We start a relationship by believing in the person and work His Son. We believe that Jesus is God and that He died for us on the cross. When we do that God responds by saving us from sin and death and we become a child of God. That is called “Salvation.” […]
On any given day, we have dozens of interactions and conversations. In fact, one recent study revealed that the average person has 27 conversations every day, lasting an average of 10 minutes each. Look at that number. Seems high? Not when you think about it. "Good morning" echanges. Work interactions. Coffees. Lunch. Workouts. Waiters. Friends. Family. Kids practices and coaches. Teachers. Parents of your kid's friends. Neighbors. Dog parks. Phew! The amazing thing about all these interactions ...
You are helping a buddy move. You test the weight of a box he has packed. You squat. You grab. You say to yourself, "I think I got this" and then you start to lift. You realize very quickly you don't have this! When something is heavy it is difficult to bear yourself. Here's the thing with men in particular - we want to do it alone. Gravity kicks in, makes you feel the real weight of things, and we still attempt to carry "it" alone. We tell ourselves: "We got this!" Until we don't, our pride win...
Life on earth will - at many points - make you feel alone in your circumstances. Maybe it is a physical condition we can't fix that afflicts and isolates us. Maybe it is on an emotional level caused by some form form of loss. Many of us know the pain of relational loss, distance, or despair. And if you follow and love God, you will know spiritual pain and suffering caused by sin creating distance with God. Whatever the cause, the common denominator is the pain isolates us. You feel ALONE in it. ...
You are not in charge in anymore. Everything changes now. There is a new normal, new status, and a new reality. Life as you were experiencing it has morphed. A stronger force has overtaken you and now controls you. People around you are asking: "What has gotten into you?" because they are seeking an explanation for the changes they see manifesting in you. Whatever it is, let's just hope it's a good thing or - better yet - a God thing. Jesus told his followers they would be OVERTAKEN and that thi...
What upsets you? What really makes your blood boil? We’d like to think it’s injustice, or sin or the oppression of the weak….but usually, when we’re honest…what bothers us most is whenever we’re inconvenienced. Whenever something doesn’t work out, I get overlooked….or something is just uncomfortable. The god of comfort desires our worship. He wants us to […]
During His life and ministry, Jesus made many outrageous claims. Incredible claims which were all proven true. Of everything He claimed to be, to do or know, of all the counter cultural truths he shared….none were as controversial as His claim in John 12. “I am the way, and the truth and the life.” No […]
We live in a culture that has elevated freedom, independence and self reliance to an unhealthy level. Above all, we desire to call the shots. We want to do what we choose when we choose it. We want the freedom to pursue our passions, the ability to decide for ourselves…..perhaps even to live for ourselves. […]
The wisest man who ever lived sought out to experience the “good things” in life. At the top of his list….was pleasure. Solomon denied himself no earthly thing… And yet he always came up empty. What can we learn from the life pursuits of Solomon? What promises does the ‘god of pleasure’ make that he […]
Who is it that we serve? Who do we worship? For the believer the answer sounds obvious…Jesus! Right?!!?! With our mouths we claim Christ, but what about our hearts? What consumes our thoughts? Our emotions? What are we most excited about? Most concerned about? Do our attitudes and actions prove that Christ is our greatest pursuit….or are there “idols” we are worshiping. Idols? As in small figures from far away pagan lands…yes, and no. Idols are much shinier, much more accepted, and far more comm...
A GAP is an unfilled space. Between teeth. Between people. Between where you are and where you want to be. Between knowing about something and really knowing it experientially. When it comes to God's love and your personal connection to Christ, God doesn't want a GAP. He wants a heart - not just a head - connection! There is a big gap between "I know a lot about God" and "I know him" by experiencing Him. It is the palpable difference between distance and detachment versus closeness and connectio...
Who is the real you? The Bible says the real you is not who others believe you to be, not who you perceive yourself to be, not what you do professionally, and not even your own self description (good or bad). The Bible says the real you is reflected best in the character of your truest thoughts and your truest motives. And because this is true there is an all out war for your mind and how you manage it in the spiritual world. Control the thoughts of a man and you control the actions of a man. Ou...
Why is it that men get such a bad rap in culture? Part of it has to do with choices men make that are selfish and inconsistent with their age. We can't overcome the boy inside - we want what we want, can't say no to ourselves, and, in the process, smash our relationships against the wall of our own immaturity. These poor choices make us feel small and when a man feels small he feels bad and when a man feels bad about himself he wants to "feel" better. At that point, WATCH OUT! So what do we do? ...
We call it "acting out of character" or we say "I don't know what I was thinking!" But the fact of the matter is that all of our choices and behavior come from somewhere and personal thoughts always drive personal actions. We DO know what we were thinking but the thought is so dark or selfish we don't want it to see the light of day! So what do we do? We rationalize, deflect, excuse, or worse, accuse others. It's all smoke. But like the old saying goes "the truth eventually comes out" and we hav...
The hidden you. It is the man that - humanly speaking - only you know, sort of. Only you know him because he exists in the shadows, thinking things and doing things you can't really celebrate in the open because you battle him privately. David had a shadow self. The Apostle Paul has one too. Every man has one and this shadow self sabotages your best intentions in your relationship with God and in your relationships with others. Your shadow self is a mystery to you and pulls you in wrong directio...
In our fourth and final session in Rhythm of Life….we pause. At the end of the day God’s man pauses and sets aside time to allow the Holy Spirit to “search him, and know him”….join us as we unpack the Rhythms of Rest and Reflection. Anything that lies unexamined and unprocessed, remains unknown and un-used and this includes our experiences. How do we look back, in order to look forward? Join us for our final session in Rhythm of Life.
We are not looking for more “rules”, rather we are searching for the “rhythms” that defined the life of Christ. What governed his emotions, thoughts and actions? We’ve already looked at the rhythms of daily connecting with what is true, and the rhythms of living that our in our places of work. Today, we turn towards the rhythms surrounding community. What does it look like to gather in deep and authentic community? Why do we avoid it? What fears surface in our hearts when we are close to becomin...
Most men see their work as either their ultimate goal or a necessary evil, but scripture paints a very different picture of work. We were certainly made to work, but not to worship it. How then does our faith and our work coexist? What was God’s original intent for work? What Rhythms of Life did Christ model for us, to live out from 9-5? Join us for session two in our brand new series Rhythm of Life.
Rhythm of Life: We often wrongly equate our discipleship with disciple. Effort = effectiveness. While it is not wrong to work towards our faith, we must remember that Christ invited us on a journey. An adventure. A “way” of living. Christ’s life wasn’t defined by a list of rules, or to-dos…bur rather of a beautiful series of life giving “rhythms”. In this brand new series we will unpack a day in the life of God’s man and the rhythms of connecting with God’s truth through the scripture, Being God...
