Relationships are risky and unpredictable because the possibility exists that something bad or unpleasant will happen as opposed to what is hoped for happening. That is true in any relationship - even your relationship with God. But when you take risks in your relationship with God he rewards them and, over time, you begin to find courage to start risking in the second most important dimension of life - your personal relationships. But what are the things Jesus will ask you to trust him with and...
Jul 21, 20230
In the bible Jesus said to the men at the shoreline, “Let’s go to the other side.”. He doesn’t tell them what is going to happen, but He challenges them to get in the boat. He invited every man on the shoreline to go on THE NEXT ADVENTURE. And for those men who risked a yes for the next adventure with Jesus, they witnessed and experienced things they never did before, and it changed them forever. There is a next adventure for you in your relationship with God. There’s a next adventure, next leve...
Jul 14, 20230
Life is short and every moment is crucial. When faced with adversity, will you seize the opportunity to make the most of your life? It’s in the darkest hours that our desperate need for a Savior becomes crystal clear. While not everyone experiences a deathbed conversion or a miraculous awakening in their lowest moments, by the grace of God, we are given another opportunity to witness the profound essence of humility in leadership through an unlikely and unworthy antagonist. Join me as we unravel...
Jul 07, 20230
Everyone knows the names of hero’s and what they’ve done—it’s virtually impossible to conceal their name and fame. Rarely would anyone disagree that credit is due to the man who earned it, yet how do you reconcile the countless hero’s that exist in the shadows and go about doing good works without recognition of name or deed? Can a man find contentment without the reciprocation of deserved recognition? Scripture reveals on multiple occasions how our Lord Jesus Christ withdrew from the spotlight ...
Jun 30, 20230
Now that we’ve seen leadership through the lens of two different men with power and authority, let’s consider what godly leadership looks like when activated by trust and obedience. Interestingly, there are no average guys in the kingdom of God, and leadership is not an optional characteristic for those who overcompensate sacrifice for obedience. If it weren’t for difficult times—would you pray? If it wasn’t for uncomfortable circumstances—would you ever listen to or pray for others? Brace yours...
Jun 23, 20230
Join me as we continue our journey by taking a deeper dive into the essence of true leadership. As men, we often seek the easiest path for growth and success, but what if we redirected our focus to the blessing of godly leadership, drawn even from our adversaries? Can we learn valuable life lessons from those we disdain? Do our enemies exist as irritants solely for defeat? Discover the extraordinary revelation that awaits us in unrealized territories, where God unveils His presence through our l...
Jun 16, 20230
Everything in life stands or falls on leadership, which begs the question, “What is leadership and what exactly does it look like?” As men, we are continually becoming something greater, lesser, or comfortable in our response to God’s directives in life. Let’s review the lives of five uniquely different men throughout Scripture, and consider what leadership, character, and integrity looks like as applied to our own lives. https://egyptspeaks.com
Jun 09, 20230
“This week we finish the book of James with a final encouragement and challenge. Will we be men who hope in our wealth? Who place our trust and faith in the things we’ve amassed, storing them up until they begin to rot and even condemn us? Or will we be men who trust fully in Christ? Allowing Him to direct our very lives?”
Jun 02, 20230
As Gods men we often find ourselves living in “tension”. We have two competing sets of desires that vie for control of our hearts: the desires of our flesh….and the desire to please the Father. Which one will win? The one we feed! In James chapter 4 we’ll unpack what a life lived in the Spirit looks like, as we continue to develop a Faith That Works.
May 26, 20230
“The speed at which words are shared in todays culture is dizzying. We tweet, text, snap and fire off emotional responses without giving them a second thought. Today our words go further, and last longer, than ever before. What encouragement does James have for how God’s Man should use his words? What impact can they have? How do we become men who use our words to build up, rather than tear down? Join us for week 3 of our walk through the book of James.”
May 19, 20230
Our culture makes snap decisions based on appearance. Are you like me? Can you do something for me? The Bible calls this sin “partiality” and James has a lot for us to unpack about it in chapter 2. We’ll also dive into our core passage for the series this week, as we seek to understand how our faith and our works dance together. While scripture is clear that our works don’t ever earn our faith, it is equally clear that our works REVEAL our faith. What kind of faith will we display as God’s men? ...
May 12, 20230
“With a front row seat to his life, James had a unique perspective of Jesus. For most of his own life he didn’t believe Christ was who He claimed to be….until he encountered the resurrected King! He then penned this encouraging letter to the believers scattered throughout the empire, and there is perhaps no book that more properly encourages and informs the Christian life. How do we live amongst those who don’t share our beliefs? How do we put real faith on display? Not faith OR works, but rathe...
May 05, 20230
A never before heard phrase that burst into our everyday lives as a result of the global pandemic was the term "social distancing." To defeat an invisible foe we had to create space between each other and we learned through structured enforcement by Federal, State, and local governments to keep our "distance." Do you remember that? This inculturated behavior combined with the separating nature of digital smartphone habits dealt a huge blow to something we simply cannot live healthy lives without...
Apr 28, 20230
Behind the faces we see every day a battle rages within. All the questions life raises relentlessly nip and bite at our resolve, self confidence, and self perception. Do I have what it takes? Did I do the right thing? Does anybody care how hard I am working? Am I cut out for this? When will life not be a struggle? Not another obstacle...seriously? Why is this taking so long to close? Without answers or perspective your hope can be set adrift. More time passes, without resolution, and a man can e...
Apr 21, 20230
Many hands make light work. Sounds good right? But most people don't want to appear weak, are too proud to ask, or have been under the weight of life so long they have become numb to real help. The fact of the matter is that every person you know is burdened by something. At a minimum, they are living on planet earth and there's the literal emotional and physical gravities of that. A broken planet, imperfect and selfish people, and limited resources add up BURDENS we all carry in some form or an...
Apr 14, 20230
Ever felt alone in your circumstances? Life has a way of making us feel like we are the only ones in the world going through stuff at times. Things happen to us that don't happen to others. Others hurt us while others have great life-giving relationships. We seem to suffer losses disproportionately than all of our Instagram friends. Then an insidious thing happens in our isolation and confusion - we start comparing how we are feeling on the inside with how we perceive others are doing on the out...
Apr 07, 20230
Every man has his Egypts. These are the symbolic seasons of life and circumstances where you felt involuntarily controlled by some thing, some person, or some situation that made you feel trapped and powerless. We have all been there in one way or another. Some Egypts even appeared fun at first until they weren't and they became places of self destruction. In a broken world no one makes it through this life unscathed by losses and setbacks. "Egypts" disable your spirit and mess with your self pe...
Mar 31, 20230
How do you answer the question: where are you from? Usually, we will give a city or town and a state. "Trabuco Canyon, California," is how I would answer that question and then I would feel compelled to mention the nearest larger city and say: "On the east side of Mission Viejo." You do that to or, in some cases, if you live in a large metropolitan city you just say "New York." What is your connection to your city? These are just places to most people but to God, your particular place matters. Y...
Mar 24, 20230
On a planet of 7 billion people it is easy to feel...well... forgotten. So often circumstances, things done to us, choices we have made, sickness, or the simple realities of pressing responsibilities isolate us emotionally. This experience is universal - feelings turn into facts and we become vulnerable to lies about everything ...including God. He knew we would feel overwhelmed at times, lonely at others, and, in the process, become afraid that he had abandoned them. He also didn't leave it the...
Mar 17, 20230
Is there such a thing as healthy fear? Think about it. Without a healthy fear of fire, you can get third burns. Without a healthy fear of lions, you can become lunch. Without a healthy fear of electrical wires, you can be lit up like a Christmas Tree. Is there such a thing as a healthy fear of God? Young Lucy in C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia is curious about the Lion named Aslan and queries Mr. Beaver who is educating her on this great leader of Narnia. “Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy. “Safe?...
Mar 10, 20230
It is human nature to create a narrative or rationale to get what you want or live the way you want. My kids were legend at creating narratives, invoking the quetionable, and using like words like "everybody" or "all" to convince themselves and me that they needed the latest and greatest thing to fulfill their purpose for living. They took liberties with the truth because their desire trumped the truth. And like most dads would, I saw through it. In fact, when people use words to create energy o...
Mar 03, 20230
Expectations are the unseen killer of relationships. Differing expectations litters a relationship with misinterpretations and massive frustration. When someone says "This shouldn't be so hard" when referring to a relationship they have, what they are really saying is "I had different expectations for it." Clear and communicated expectations, on the other hand, are a liberating and empowering force for any relationship. Why? They eliminate guessing and foster connecting in meaningful ways that m...
Feb 24, 20230
DRIVING FORCES in our lives fuel the thinking and living of every man. These forces become the axis for our decision-making. A good example? Men will work hard to provide for their families - being a husband and father has power or force necessary to make a man work hard. By contrast, a DOMINANT FORCE in a man's life subsumes all driving forces into it, informs them, and shapes them. A powerful example? Anger. Say no more right? All men know how anger can pollute every driving force in our lives...
Feb 17, 20230
We call it multi-tasking. It means that you are able to do more than one thing at a time. Culture encourages it and it can work in some instances. We talk and drive at the same time. We BBQ and sip a beer at the same time. We hold our kids and eat at the same time and so on. But at some point our capacity to take on more things exceeds our physical ability to do them all at once. The same is true with our beliefs and priorities. Something has got to give and we have to decide. To have great rela...
Feb 10, 20230
We work hard - really hard. To rest we divert from our work lives. We do family, collect friends, go to church, vacation, go out to eat, stream shows, do podcasts, socialize around craft whiskey, stay up on sports, become fantasy general managers, do our hobbies, and accumulate gear to do those hobbies - lots of it! It's a lot of output. It's a lot of energy. All that effort to get relief and rest but the fact of the matter is that we are still restless. Our plates are full, full, full but we go...
Feb 03, 20230
The modern world is a noisy one. The most immediate consequence of a lot of noise is that you can't communicate with anyone in its presence. The immediate solution is equally simple if you want to connect with, hear what someone is saying, and advance the relationship. You remove the noise by removing yourself from it. Every one of us has done this. Think of being in a noisy environment and someone important is calling you. What do you do? You remove yourself from the noise because you care abou...
Jan 27, 20230
We live in a culture addicted to speed. We can't wait - or if we have to - an inner irritation cycle starts boiling inside. As a practice, we drive over the speed limit and don't give it a second thought. We see people texting while they are driving. We hunt the shortest check-out line at the grocery store. We are trained multi-taskers. We eat and email and keep eating with people. We glance and keep glancing at our phones. We don't want to miss something. Our butt vibrates and we reach for our ...
Jan 20, 20230
When seeking to win a war, the first efforts of an attacking force wherever possible is to kill the communications capacity of your enemy. Separating a man or group of men from its strategic commanders and voices limits, isolates, and ultimately destroys their effectiveness. In your spiritual journey, your ability to hear from God is essential to living in God and for God effectively in your context as a man, dad, husband, friend, coworker, and human being! The problem is very few, if any, of us...
Jan 13, 20230
Dec 02, 20220
There are a couple of ways you can evaluate the insides of a man. One way is how he handles adversity and defeat. The other way is how he handles success, blessing and abundance. The Bible says there is a right and a wrong way to process success - one is through the lens of self and the other is through the lens of God's grace and presence. In a world that stresses making your failures opaque and your successes ultra visible, God's man has a challenge on his hands. The key to handling earth's su...
Nov 18, 20220
