Are you attributing bad circumstances as an attack by Satan?” Here are some thoughts on spiritual warfare . Angels and demons are real entities. One serves God and the other rebels against him. The scripture would seem to indicate that angels and demons are at work all around us. However, does that mean that every bad circumstance is an attack from the enemy? Let me dig into this by asking four additional questions that your original question also implies: Is every unpleasant thing caused by a demon? What does it mean to be “under attack” by the enemy? Doesn’t fighting principalities and powers ( Ephesians 6:12 ) mean that there are demons everywhere? Can I order a demon to be bound? Now, let me make two disclaimers right off the bat. First, one of Satan’s tools in spiritual warfare is  possession . I have no experience in this realm, as far as I know. However, your question doesn’t deal with possession, per say, so I will leave that part of spiritual warfare for others to answer. Possession is beyond the scope of what I will deal with here. Second, I have only a small amount of experience in dealing directly with the demonic (two instances, to be precise). But my experience does not trump scripture. What we can firmly know about the demonic is written for us in scripture and it is to scripture that we must go to learn how to deal with the enemy. Now, let’s deal with your question. It’s most likely that you and I, and most people reading this, have probably never had an encounter with Satan himself. We are average people. We may encounter demons, but probably not Satan himself. If scripture is any indication, then Satan usually targets people whom God holds in high esteem or who play a significant role in redemptive history. In the Old Testament we see Satan attack King David ( I Chronicles 21:1 ), Job ( Job 1:6-2:9 ), and Joshua the High Priest (Zachariah 3:1). In the New Testament we see Satan attack Jesus ( Matthew 4:1-11 ) and Peter ( Luke 22:31 ). There is one instance where Satan moved Ananias and Sapphira to lie to the Holy Spirit ( Acts 5:3 ). Now, we don’t know if Peter was using Satan’s name specifically, or in a generic sense meaning a demon. But, even these two people were close to Peter, who was high up the scale in terms of people of influence and power in the church. All of this being said, are their demons around every corner, waiting to attack? The best answer that I can give you is that yes, there are demons wanting to mess with our lives. But, that does not mean that every bad thing that happens to us is a direct attack by a demon. In fact, I can find no place in scripture that tells us that every bad thing that happens comes from Satan, or a demon. In this sense, the thing to remember is that the secret to defeating demons is nothing simpler than obedience to scripture and the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Now, this does not mean that at every temptation you are casting down Satan, or uttering a prayer of rebuke, or some such thing. Do you want to make a demon flee? Then heed this word: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” ( James 4:7 ). Notice: Submit and resist. Obedience is the key to spiritual victory. It’s important to note that when it comes to dealing with demons directly, there is actually very little said in scripture. If we take the apostles as an indication, they didn’t deal directly with Satan like we see in the Gospels. It seems that if we look at their conduct as the model of spiritual warfare, that their obedience to Jesus was the primary way they defeated Satan and demons. Sometimes, God uses demons to accomplish his purposes. Look at these examples: “The Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab the king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one said one thing, and another said another. Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, saying, ‘I will entice him.’ And the Lord said to him, ‘By what means?’ And he said, ‘I will go out, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And he said, ‘You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do so.’” ( II Chronicles 18:19-21 ). Notice the tension in scripture between Satan moving David to number Israel ( I Chronicles 21:1 ), and God moving David ( II Samuel 24:1 ). These scriptures, at first look, might seem contradictory. But, in fact, they are not. They simply show us that God reserves the right to use anyone, even Satan, for his purposes. Of course, the best example of this principle is God’s willingness to use Satan himself to drive Jesus to the cross, where he died for us and fulfilled God’s plan of redemption ( Luke 22:3-6 ). The Questions Is every unpleasant thing caused by a demon? No, I don’t think so. Demons are involved in a great many things. But there is enough sin in the world though our own nature to bring us all the trouble we could want. In the coming millennial reign of Christ, Satan will be bound in the pit for 1,000 years. Yet, the scripture seems to indicate that during that time there will still be sin. Sin isn’t wiped out until much later. What does it mean to be “under attack” by the enemy? Very simply, the enemy wants you to disobey God. He desires for you to sin, and to make you ineffectual for the kingdom. Remember that Satan is motivated by one thing. He desires to replace God on his throne. “You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High “ ( Isaiah 14:13-14 ). This is Satan’s ultimate goal and everything he does is designed to accomplish this desire. By getting us to sin or to ignore God, or ignore scripture we effectually obey him rather than obeying God. Doesn’t fighting principalities and powers ( Ephesians 6:12 ) mean that there are demons everywhere? While there are demon around us, notice what the Apostle Paul said in Ephesians 6:12 . Look carefully. “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood…against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” This tells us that there is much more at stake than what we perceive or believe to be happening on the earth. Our battle is in the heavenly places. And how did Paul do battle? After explaining spiritual armor he says, “That words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel” ( Ephesians 6:19 ). There it is. The bottom line. The message of the Gospel, when shared, defeats Satan’s purposes, along with every other lower demon. Regarding the spiritual armor listed in Ephesians 6:14-18 , the armor of God is practical, not magical. Look at the armor: Belt of truth (declaration of the Gospel), breastplate of righteousness (right living in the power of the Holy Spirit), shoes of the Gospel of peace (taking the Gospel to the world), and prayer. These are practical everyday things we should be doing. And it is in these practical, everyday things that we can see our adversary defeated. Can I order a demon to be bound? You can’t bind demons. You don’t have that power. See this article on binding Satan for a deeper answer to this question.  https://guywithabible.com/2018/01/binding-satan-without-a-rope/ . Instead of trying to bind Satan, what you can do is to pray and obey. When you pray and obey, Satan will leave. I hope this helps you understand more about the practical, daily aspects of spiritual warfare. I also hope that it sets your mind at ease that you don’t have to be afraid of a demon around every corner. Even if there are, you have all of the power you need in Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit, to obey the Lord and see the enemy flee. Jesus told Peter that Satan demanded him to sift him like wheat. Then he told Peter, “After you have turned…” meaning that he let Satan go after him. Sometimes we must endure demonic attack and wait it out. Either way, the enemy is defeated, even if we stumble. guywithabible.com

If I could teach my children only one thing, it would be to worship God. For when they truly worship God, my children will by nature attend church, seek prayer, find sin repulsive, consider obedience a privilege and extend love as a reflex. What is worship? Who can experience it? How can I become a worshiper? The Hebrew word for worship means to bow low or prostrate oneself. Our worship involves bowing before the Lord, not only physically, but in our hearts. It involves a reverential fear of God. The Greek word for worship literally means to kiss the hand of one who is revered, and it is used 59 times in the New Testament. The English word for worship has Anglo-Saxon roots and denotes one who is worthy of honor and reverence. It is encouraging to know that for those who seek the Lord, He will be found. It is not necessarily those who study worship that enjoy His presence, but rather those who seek Him. The scope of worship seems to be both wide and narrow. We can consider prayer, giving, witnessing, Bible study, indeed any act of obedience initiated and led by the spirit of God, as worship. On the other hand, believers may consider worship to be one of those mystical events in which the supernatural is more than evident. I am inclined to acknowledge both. To a degree my works can express my worship of God, but there must come a point when God expresses himself to me in a personal, supernatural way. True worship always involves receiving from God, pouring His life into us. While praise and worship are wonderfully related, the ministry of praise and the experience of worship are uniquely different. 1. Praise is acknowledgment. Worship is relational. Praise is one-way communication, an affirmation of God’s power, authority, wisdom and worthiness. Worship, however, is not only our confession of God, but His response to us. 2. Praise usually precedes worship. Praise is a means of coming into God’s presence while worship is what we do when we get there. Unfortunately, we often stop at praise without entering into worship. Praise is a means to an end, not the end itself. God’s presence is where we want to be. 3. Praise is situational. Worship is focused on the eternal. Praise is often initiated and focused on our immediate situations. During worship, however, our circumstances become insignificant as God becomes the object of our worship. In praise we give to Him, but in worship we give to Him and receive from Him. (Rev. 3:20) Because of the reciprocal relationship in worship, the end result will always be a deeper commitment to God’s will and a renewed insight into His desires for our lives. God is concerned with our worship, and He doesn’t consider it to be optional in our daily life and practice. Don McMinn, Ph.D. (with Kimberly Spring) Executive Director of theiPlace.org Entering His Presence: Experiencing the joy of true worship

oday I am going to be answering some of the questions you have sent in regarding handling COVID-19 anxiety, and coping with social distancing and staying at home. Many of us thought that we had seen the last of this virus, but we now know there are still challenges ahead. I want to try to help you as much as I can, giving you tools to help you manage your mind in this crisis and stay strong, mentally and physically. 1. How do I talk to my children about the situation without scaring them, while making sure they are taking the right precautions like washing hands ? I don’t believe in pussyfooting around issues with children – they are smart and can read your body language. Remember,  50% of communication is non-verbal , and your children know when you are anxious or sad. Children between the ages of 2 to 10/11 don’t really have the language to express themselves either, so if you don’t help them express and process the anxiety they have picked up from you or others, they can embed it as toxic stress in their bodies— the more traumatized you become, the more they will become . I know that talking to them places huge responsibility on us as parents and guardians, and we definitely need to speak to them in the right way, but hey, that’s what we signed up for! So, my advice, based on 25 years of clinical practice and having four children of my own,  is to  be honest .  Explain what is going on at the level they are at, giving them just enough information (don’t go overboard) and tell them the adults are working on this. It may be a good idea to show them pictures of the virus, giving analogies that are age-appropriate. For example, “this virus is like a dangerous animal. You keep away from those as much as possible, and with the virus we have do that by washing our hands and staying indoors till they ‘catch it.’” 2. How do we deal with and help with anxiety and angry outbursts from kids?  Outbursts come from frustration, which comes from a lack of understanding and fear, so calm your children down by explaining what is going on, like I mentioned above.  But it is also important to remember that we are stuck together for longer than usual and this situation is new for everyone, so it is inevitable that we will get frustrated with each other. I recommend having different “spaces” in your home to deal with frustration and all the other emotions our children are dealing with right now—don’t be frightened or irriatted. This is actually a blessing in disguise because you have a  great opportunity to teach your kids to learn how to process through the issues in their life, a skill they will carry into adulthood ! Allocate an area of your kitchen, for example, where your children can express their frustration in a safe and non-judgmental space. You may not always like what you hear, but you may need to hear it to help them. Set some basic rules, like no-one is allowed to physically touch anyone else in that space, no-one hurts anyone or calls anyone bad names there. When they come out that space, and when they are ready, hug them and tell them you love them. This will calm them down and is great for the mental health. 3. What do you if you have been exposed to someone or know someone who has the virus? How do you cope, heal and manage your anxiety?  Knowledge is power, so, now that you know, follow the CDC and WHO guidelines. You can also listen to my latest  podcast  (episode #145) and  blog  with an epidemiologist on what to do if you are feeling ill. Most importantly, manage your mind! Don’t let your anxiety take over: grab that thought and  reconceptualize  (reimagine) it, before it takes over your thinking and puts you into toxic stress, which weakens your immune system (as I discussed on a recent  podcast ). Stop, tune into how you feel, listening to the physical warning signals your body is sending you, recognize how you feel and make the stress you are experiencing work for you: tell yourself this is preparing you for action! Tell yourself that your body is working to fight for you, breathe deeply, and tell yourself you got this. 4.  How do I deal with the loneliness of social distancing and home quarantine?  First,  reconceptualize    your loneliness—look at it differently . Take the time you now have on your hands to have more thinker moments, where you just switch off to the external and let your mind wander and daydream. These moments give the brain a rest and allow it to  reboot and heal , which increases your clarity of mind and ability to deal with a tough situation (which we all need right now!) So, be intentional about creating “thinker” breaks throughout your day by taking a few moments every day, or when you are feeling alone, to switch off and just daydream or meditate. You can also use this time as a chance to build and repair relationships by talking on the phone rather than just texting, spending time healing from “hurry sickness”, observing the world around you again, and become a good listener—we are all going through stuff, so take the time to call someone or connect. Just listen and support them, and be there for them. A massive cure for loneliness is to get over yourself and reaching out in love. This not only helps you feel less lonely, but it also  increases your chance of healing ! 5. How do I “turn my brain off” at night from worrying so I can sleep?  The quality and quantity of your sleep is largely affected by your state of mind, so mind management is critical if you want to sleep well at night, as I discussed in a recent  blog  and  podcast  (episode #97). Anxiety causes high beta activity,  but anxiety always has a cause,  so take the time to find the cause and you will help yourself switch into sleep mode at night. Embrace, process and reconceptualize your thoughts! During the course of the day,  you need to self-regulate your thinking  and choosing during the course of the day. Chaotic and toxic thoughts need to be embraced, acknowledged, isolated and compartmentalized in order to be processed and reconceptualized in a healthy fashion—they should never be ignored or suppressed. You can do this proactively by getting into a regular 7-15-minute mind detox routine. Just 7-15 minutes a day of detoxing your mind can improve your sleeping patterns because you are cleaning up the mental mess in your head and getting your mind right before bed, which helps your brain and body regenerate at night.  You control your mind : you can watch yourself, thinking about your thinking, and deciding not to allow a toxic thought to destroy your day. You are literally standing back and watching yourself thinking as if you were another person. Do not allow yourself to lie in bed panicking about not sleeping.  Instead, get excited and embrace the fact you are awake. Think that “this is going to be a nice, quiet time, where I am not bugged by texts, emails or people needing something. I am going to get that research done, finally read that book, watch that program on the Discovery Channel, tidy that closet or work uninterrupted on a project!” This excitement lowers your cortisol levels, balances the HPA axis (the “stress axis”) and makes stress work for you and not against you, activating your resilience and changing your genes in a good way. So, when you can’t sleep, develop a positive expectation mindset that this is a special time just for you, and you will use it wisely. This will help you get your panic under control and improve your health. A negative expectation mindset, however, is just going to damage your brain and make you feel worse—it’s not worth it! 6. What if you have to leave your children in a childcare setting so you can work during the pandemic? What if you feel guilty for leaving your child ? It is important to remember that guilt chains you, keeping you stuck in negative thinking patterns which can damage your brain and body and make you feel drained. Don’t allow the guilt to get a hold in your brain; reconceptualize this, telling yourself that this is your reality and it is only temporary. You control your mind.  Your mind is more powerful than the guilt ! Don’t allow your mind to go down that rabbit hole. Visualize it, grab hold of it, speak to it, acknowledge it and tell yourself that this is not a great situation but you are doing it for your family. 7. I’m struggling to sleeping and to concentrate . How do I find peace while expressing my feelings? I cannot say this enough:  thoughts are real things with information and emotions , and if you try to suppress them or shove them “under the rug”, they will explode, and can damage your mental and physical health—including your ability to sleep and concentrate. These thoughts will come As I said above, you need to acknowledge how you feel and reconceptualize it: see it from another angle or perspective. You can only redesign your thoughts when you have acknowledged them! 8. How can I help my young adult children in college deal with the negative media, toxic work loads and the loss of their social life ?    Talk it through with them, allow them to say “it sucks”. Like you, they also need to embrace, acknowledge and reconceptualize their thinking. Let them express all their negativity and anger— make sure they feel noticed and heard . First listen, then problem-solve together. Give advice only when they ask for it, because then they will be ready to hear it! There’s no one formula for dealing with loss, so be creative; for instance, plan for a future celebration or vacation! 9. How do I handle constant change?  Uncertainty and the unknown can be disorientating, but it is important to remember that  change is really the only constant in life.  Even your brain changes—every moment of every day! Accepting change, rather than always fighting it, helps us roll with it, making the most of change by seeing new possibilities in new situations. Broaden your mind: tell yourself you are designed to cope with change, and there are a thousand things to learn and ways to adapt to any given situation. The more you practice accepting change as normal, the better you will handle change! 10. How do I deal with the “I wish I would have taken care of my finances and relationships better before we got to this” feeling?  First, let me say I used to be the “if only” queen! It constantly stole my joy, leading me backwards and making me lose clarity and the ability to move on. One thing that helped me overcome this is telling myself that “it’s not what you did but what you are going to do” and thinking of ways to take action. If this is you, think of ways you can act  now . For example, listen to financial advice from experts, such as my recent  podcast  (episode #142) and  blog  with financial expert Chris Hogan, with a “planning for the future and learn from the past” mentality. Make the necessary changes, so that in the future you will be better prepared. 11.  I am young adult suffering from anxiety. There is no reason for me to be afraid, knowing my immune system would probably be able to fight the virus out if I do get it. But how do I manage my fear ?   fear impacts our immunity , so don’t let that thought run rampant in the brain! Grab the thought, as I mentioned above, depersonalize it and talk to it. Give it advice regarding the current crisis—talk to it as if a professional or epidemiologist were talking to you.  For more on Covid-19,  check out my latest  podcast (episode #145) and  blog  with epidemiologist Dr. Will Bulsiewicz. 12. I just want to know how I can stop these thoughts in my head and prevent myself from getting to the point that I start breaking down, which makes my insomnia worse . Remember,  you control your mind, so take charge ! The mind is like an infant it needs to be fed. After 90 seconds, if you are still thinking about something, you have chosen to stay there. But this can change! As I keep saying, acknowledge how you feel, then process and reconceptualize it; continuing to worry will only make it worse. Grab the worry and re-channel that toxic energy into something constructive, like thinking about helping others during this time or what steps you can take to protect yourself. 13. I’m stuck by my mom’s house, and it’s in a small town. I have had to deal with rude neighbors. What can I do to feel less stressed ? Always try be polite when you see them, which, over time, can neutralize rudeness and improve your neuroendocrine function! Remember, we all need grace during this time! 14.  Because of past trauma and chronic stress my body recently was triggered into uncontrollable shaking for 3 hours. How do I manage my body’s severe emotions and fight/flight mode ?    As I keep saying, your mind controls your brain, so work on regulating your thoughts and  reconceptualize past traumas. Acknowledge and process the root of your trauma, and reimagine it. Embrace bodily reactions as warning signals, telling you that you need to change your thinking! 15.  How do I deal with panic attacks ? See my  free panic attack guide podcast  (episode #140)! 16. How do we deal with the uncertainty since so much is unknown and the institutions we are supposed to trust don’t seem to have answers?  As I mentioned in my recent  podcast  (episode #122) on uncertainty, when we are going through a tough time, it’s natural to want to find the easiest route out of it.  We want to eliminate ambiguity and uncertainty. We want to know what works  up front – a formula that tells us what to  do  and guarantees that if we do this, we will succeed. However, any kind of successful “doing” has to be supported by facing the uncertainty in all its scariness, ambiguity and messiness.  Uncertainty stimulates us to rise to the challenge.  It compels us to look inward, accepting and embracing the discomfort of not knowing—it forces us to examine, wonder, ask, answer, discuss. Walking into uncertainty can be a very illuminating process because it helps facilitate the reconceptualization process. Our lives and routines have been shaken and we are all facing a time of extreme change. We can’t escape it, and we can’t fight it. Our “fight or flight” natural instincts are being hindered, which may be causing heightened levels of anxiety, stress, worry or depression. So, what do we do now? How do we learn to become comfortable with the uncomfortableness of uncertainty? How do we learn to feel secure in a time of insecurity? How do we find peace during this pandemic? In this live ZOOM webinar I am going to tell you about the science of why we avoid uncertainty, and what happens in our brains when we encounter insecurity and “scary” situations. I am then going to give you practical tips and strategies to help you navigate this difficult time, help your children, and find calm in the crisis. I’ll also be answering viewer’s questions and concerns during the live recording! 17. How do we deal with the lack of control, which is causing a lot of fear ? As I said above, embrace the uncertainty of the situation, because there are answers there,  and the one thing you always have control over is how you use your mind.  You can choose how you will respond in the next moment to the unknown. Inner peace comes when we reconceptualize our sense of control. drleaf.com .

There’s just nothing quite like a phone conversation with a grandchild. Something about hearing their voice on the other end of the line just makes a grandparent’s heart sing. Plus, there’s the added benefits of “hearing” voice and tone and mood that text messages just cannot provide. Nearly everyone has a cell phone nowadays. If your grandchild has one, call them directly. If not, call your grandchild’s parent and ask to speak with the child. Practical Tips for Phone Conversations Call each grandchild separately . Everyone loves being made to feel special. Check with your grandchild’s parents . Consider setting up a regular call schedule but be sure to check the details out first. You do not want to interfere with family routines. Make sure your grandchildren know they can call you  anytime (within reason). Think through what you are going to say BEFORE making the call . Write down a note or two if necessary. (See #5.) Keep a pencil and pad of paper nearby . Jot down notes as you talk with your grandchild. Keeping track of the little details will show them that you really care. Your notes will also be helpful in future conversations. Follow up on these things. Use them as conversation starters. Be armed with current information . Taking notes during phone conversations will help with this. Parents and social media accounts are also good sources. The one thing you don’t want to do is ask about “yesterday’s news!” Don’t waste time asking about the obvious . If it is the middle of summer in Florida where your grandchild lives, don’t ask if it’s hot. Dig deeper . Don’t just ask your grandchild about the details of an event. Follow up with questions that ask about their thoughts and feelings concerning the event. Avoid asking too many “yes” or “no” questions . The answers simply don’t lead anywhere. Learn to ask  dialogue questions  instead. Each time you talk with your grandchild,  tell them that you miss them and love them . They need to hear it often, from your own mouth. Devise your own unique way to end each phone conversation . BONUS TIPS FOR CONVERSING WITH OLDER GRANDCHILDREN When you call, start by asking if they have time to talk. If not, don’t let your disappointment show. Try to set up a time that will be convenient for them and call back. Keep conversations short. Better to leave them wanting more than to overstay your welcome. Focus on your grandchild. Find ways to make the conversation fun, interesting, and entertaining.

How to Discuss Racial Injustice In moments of crisis and conflict, we often wonder, “What can I do?” and, “How do we talk about this?” It can be hard to know where to start, and that can keep us from discussing conflict at all. We wanted to give you some tools to help you talk about the recent incidents of racial injustice in our country. Below you will find questions to discuss with your children and your small group. And we’ll share a few ideas of what you can do. As you think about having conversations about this, here are a few suggestions: Pray before you start.  Ask God for discernment, wisdom, and the ability to really listen. Prepare and be proactive at the beginning of the conversation.  Say something like, “Before we get started, I want to acknowledge the very difficult recent events in our communities and country and take a few minutes to talk about it as a group.” State the purpose.  Say something like, “Our purpose is to give ourselves an opportunity to air our feelings in a safe space.” Establish ground rules.  Say something like, “Before we talk, I ask that we are gentle and respectful with one another, since we may not all have the same experiences or see things the same way. It’s also okay if you don’t want to share.” Demonstrate empathy.  Try to understand each person’s point of view and feelings while acknowledging that theirs may be different than your own. Don’t have all the answers.  Don’t put the pressure on yourself to know everything (because, let’s face it, you don’t, but neither does anyone else!) Empathy, active listening, and a calm presence are enough. Start to Talk About It With Our Children How would you describe the recent incidents of violence and anger toward people of color in our country? Why do you think this is happening? Who do you know that has a different skin color than you? What can you do to be a good friend to them? How can you help make a difference? With Our Small Group Growing up, did you have friendships with people of different races? Was anything challenging about those friendships? If so, what? On a scale of 1-10, how comfortable are you in engaging in conversations about race and racism? What emotions did you feel as you witnessed recent examples of racial injustice in our nation, states, and cities? Do those emotions feel healthy or unhealthy? For you personally, what is the difference between healthy and unhealthy emotions? Is there a right way for us to respond as followers of Jesus? How do we respond as individuals? As a group? Read  Galatians 5:13-15  together. How does what Paul said to the Galatians sit with you right now? Pray together as a group. With Our Small Group Talk to someone who looks different than you. Ask questions. Be open and willing to listen. Learn about race and racism. Go somewhere where you are a minority. Discuss what you are learning with others (see resources below). Support organizations that are on the front lines of the fight for racial justice. Talk to your local police and inquire about racial justice education. Additional Resources Be the Bridge: 10 Things Every Racial Bridge-Builder Should Know  by Bethebridge.com How to Talk to Kids About Racism: An Age-by-Age Guide  by Alex Mlynek We Are a Salad, Not a Soup  by Jeff Jones

Looking Forward to Normal Steven Furtick But this is not normal. This is not normal. And we hear a phrase a lot, at least I do right now, and listen, since this is not a normal weekend, I'm not a normal preacher, this is not a normal church, you're not a normal person, either. Matter of fact, the only people that think you're normal are the people who don't know you. John Ortberg wrote a book called "Everybody's Normal Till You Get to Know Them". So anybody that you think is normal is somebody that you don't really know. "Everybody's normal", John Ortberg said, "till you get to know them". Your wife is weird. You didn't see the weirdness of your wife when you were dating her. Your wife was weird when you met her, you just didn't know her yet. And so, what we're looking at right now is a sentiment that a lot of people feel, and here's what I'm doing. I did not give them my title for the message, because I wanted to try something new today. Rather than put it up on the screen fancy, I wanted to do my own special effects today, 'cause I don't know what's gonna happen in the next weeks to come, but what if we can't put the title up anymore, and I still need to preach to people? Well, I'm gonna make my own title card, okay? I'm doing my own stunts today, and here's the phrase I've been hearing from a lot of people. I'm gonna show you this, get ready to zoom in on it once I write it, but I've heard this, oh, man, like, I've heard it at least 100 times, whether it's people on the news or people that I know, or our staff here at Elevation, and here's the phrase. This seems to be the goal. Let me shut up for a minute, so I can concentrate on writing. I'm not a very good multitasker. Don't wanna misspell anything. Oh, I love it, 'cause I've heard this a million times, and I've bet you said it a few times, too. Here's the phrase, I'm hearing this a lot. Can y'all see it? I can't see whether you can see it or not, because there's no, like, IMAG in the screen, 'cause there's nobody in the room that needs to see IMAG. It's just not normal. Normally, I would just look over here to my left or my right, and I would see if it's a tight shot, but can y'all see it? Is it a good shot? This is what I'm hearing a lot of people talk about right now, and this is just a piece of Elevation Church stationary, I just wrote it down, 'cause it's not a normal Sunday, so I didn't wanna preach a normal sermon, and throw it to a normal title. But I'm hearing this right now, like, oh, man, I just can't wait till things get back to normal. Okay, put that in the chat. If your thumbs still work, put it in the chat. "Getting Back to Normal". I'm hearing a lot of people talk about how long is it going to be before things get back to normal. And honestly, I'm ready for some normalcy in the Furtick zipcode as well. I really am, I'm ready for some normalcy to our schedules. I'm ready for some normalcy to date nights with my wife. I mean, I know that sounds, like, real fancy or frilly at a time when people are hurting so much, but, there's something nice about things just being normal. Even little things being normal, like, I don't even like sports that much, but I miss 'em. I don't even care about the outcome, I just like to have it in the background, 'cause it's normal. It's normal. Normal is nice. And you really don't realize how much you need normal until you are forced to live without it, 'cause I was talking to one of my friends about normal the other day, and I promise you I'm gonna preach from the Scripture in a moment, because my scriptures are Exodus 14:10-15 and Romans 12:1-2. So go ahead and turn to those two books, one in the Old Testament, one in the New. But I've been hearing this phrase so much, "Oh, man, I just can't wait till things get back to normal". But, something arrested my attention the other day, is that the person who was saying to me how much that she was waiting for stuff to get back to normal, had complained to me two months ago, before any of this global pandemic started, about how much she hated her life. And that was weird to me. Because, the normal that she had been complaining about two months ago was the normal that she would give anything to get back to right now. Some of us would give anything for normal right about now. Would give anything to get to deal with the annoying person that you work next to if you could get back to work. Oh, I would sit next to Teresa all day, and pretend like her stories were good, and funny, and interesting, and her breath didn't smell bad. I would love some normal right about now. It's like when you go to college, you know? If you went to college, and you hated your hometown, and then you get dropped off in the middle of a new world, and nothing is familiar, and you were complaining, "I just can't wait to leave Moncks Corner". Shout out Moncks Corner, we sent Convoy of Hope and Elevation Outreach resources and teams all week to help those who were devastated. You're gonna be seeing about that soon if you haven't already. But, man, I hated my hometown for a minute till I left it. And then, everything that felt small to me started to feel, I don't know, like instead of confining, it felt comforting. Here's what I'm trying to say, 'cause I think I'm being a little too vague for you, okay. Some of the stuff that you're praying for right now is the same stuff you were praying away two months ago. And isn't it weird how quick we can shift to where what we want to get back to is the same thing that we wanted to escape from? Y'all ain't helping the preacher a bit today. It's so, so easy in a moment like this for us to make our goal getting back to normal. But here's what the Lord showed me, this is where I need my hot pink Sharpie. I think red would've been better, but I couldn't find one, so I'm doing hot pink. And I want us to shift our mentality today, and this may be a whole teaching series, I don't know, because I'm hearing so many people say, "I wanna get back to normal", "I wanna get back to the way things were", "I wanna get back to", and the Lord posed a question to me this week. What if normal is something to look forward to? And what if the normal that we knew is not the normal that God is leading us into next? I'm about to throw my title card at you, Holly. This might be the most anointed message that I've ever preached in my life. It's called "Looking Forward to Normal". Why do we assume that normal is back there? Why would we, as Christians, who serve a God who is always moving forward, from glory to glory, from strength to strength, why would we serve a God like that, a God whose very essence is defined by resurrection, why would we serve a God who is defined by resurrection, new beginnings, and think that the whole goal is to get back to something that we knew before? And I hope that certain things are normal again. I hope, for God's sake, that my kids can go back to real school again. I hope, for God's sake, that certain things in our society change. I hope, for God's sake, that there's a time where, you know, these chairs can be full of people again, and even the obnoxious parking volunteers at Elevation, I missed 'em today. You know, the ones that do too much? You know, the extra parking volunteers, where you're like, it's 8:45, it don't take all that. Just wave me to my parking space, man. Just 'cause you got a baton doesn't mean you have to act like a clown. But I even miss the hyperactive parking volunteers. I even miss the people in the church who looked bored while I was preaching. The ones who looked like terrorists when I was preaching to 'em. I miss 'em. I want normal back. But God has been speaking to my spirit, e fam. God has been speaking to my spirit, Indonesia. God has been speaking to my spirit, and yours too, but you just didn't have the language for it. God said, "I'm bringing you into a new normal", because what you thought was normal wasn't really normal. It was just what you knew. And I'm gonna show you this from the Scripture. Turn in your Bible, or let's be honest, just wait for it to come on the screen. I'm acting like y'all got books spread out all over the coffee table. Fact of the matter is, you're probably stirring your oatmeal right now. But, turn in your Bible to Exodus 14, and let me show you how God's people have always been trying to go back to normal at the moments when God is trying to bring us into something new. Now, this message is for my business owners in the church, those of you who are hoping things go back to normal, but you know that they won't, but you don't know what to do. This message is for those in the church who are trying to deal with a level of uncertainty that was unprecedented in your life before, and you're just trying to even get a daily schedule figured out. This message is for you. This message is even for those who have lost something in this season that you will never get back again. And the question becomes, what is the new normal that God has known all along? What is the new normal that I should look forward to? Now, remember this and write it down, faith looks forward. Faith looks forward. And you'll see in Exodus 14, remember, a nation who has only known slavery in Egypt for 430 years. When that is all you've known, that's what is normal. On one hand, they hated it. They hated it, because not only was there no freedom in it, but there was frustration that was increasing, because the Egyptian taskmasters had begun to require more from the Israelites than they could reasonably do. I mean, they'd make 'em make bricks, but they wouldn't give 'em straw. Go fetch your own straw, and make the same number of bricks. So you still gotta fulfill your quota, but you're not gonna have enough to do it with. So now, listen, this is a generation of people who had gotten used to never having enough. I wonder for us, has never enough become our normal? Like, I'm not talking about last week, or the week before that, and I'm not talking about bank account. I think the spirit of this age is the spirit of never enough. We can never get enough information. We can never get enough what we call connection. It's not really connection, it's just the apparatus, it's just the illusion of connection that really keeps us more fragmented than ever before, so now, we call ourselves connected in the world because we have social media. I'm thinking about introducing a new trend, social distancing is catching on, we're practicing it right now, but how about social media distancing? That's when you can go more than five minutes without your phone. Y'all ain't saying nothing. Social media distancing, it's a thing, put it in the chat. Five minutes without your phone. See, to us now, it's just completely normal for us to be overloaded all the time, and just to have access to everything that's happening in the world, and then we wonder, why are we so fearful, why can't we feel? It's because we were intended to carry so much in our minds and in our hearts, but to us, it's just normal. We're used to making bricks without straw. Many of us are used to never really getting a good night's sleep. That's just normal. We're used to running around, this and that and the other. We're used to spending too much money, it's normal. Totally normal, it's what the neighbors do. It's what my dad did. It's what my dad's dad, so, what we're seeing in Exodus 14 isn't just God's people coming out of Egypt as a territory, they're coming out of what they've known as normal. So while it sounds sexy, open the grave, I'm coming out, I'm gonna live, but what if you've gotten so used to death that real life seems weird? Get back to normal, I'm not so sure. Now, this is how the Israelites expressed it. Y'all ready? Exodus 14:10. "As Pharaoh approached", wait, Pharaoh represents fear. Pharaoh represents the old. Got it? Pharaoh said eat, you eat. Pharaoh said make bricks, you make bricks. Pharaoh is the old boss, the old regime. Pharaoh is the old ruler, but he's also the one who fed you. So Pharaoh is the one who fed you and Pharaoh is the one that you fear. A lot of the things that we get used to meet certain needs in our life, and until we know a better way to meet that need, we will always depend on the wrong source. That's what addiction is. It meets a need. That's, for some of you, what that person that you keep running back to every three weeks that isn't good for you is. That's a form of Pharaoh. That's what certain thought patterns that we embrace are to us. See, they're familiar, and this is the principle that I wanna show you. When you are afraid, you reach for what's familiar. When you are afraid, you reach for what's familiar, and this is very explicit in Exodus 14:10. "As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians", the ones they were running from: "marching after them. They were", what does the next word say? "terrified", they were afraid. Put that right there on one side, they were afraid. They experienced fear: "They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, 'Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die"? The sarcasm is dripping in this statement. Egypt was famous for graves. Three-quarters of their land mass was set aside for graves. So when they say, "Were there no graves in Egypt"? it's like saying, were there no trees in Charlotte? It's like saying, was there no orange at Elevation? It's like saying, was there no electric guitar in Slash? I'm gonna try keep trying till I hit somebody. It's like, that's what Egypt was known for. It was known for graves. And watch this. When you feel afraid, you crave familiar, even if familiar is killing you. Egypt was killing them, and on one hand, they're crying out. "Get us outta here. We'll go anywhere, we'll do anything. God, just make it stop". Some of y'all were praying that three months ago. "God, I need a change". "God, this is not working". "God, I'm not happy". "God, I don't feel joy". Remember? Remember three months ago? When you were praying, "God, help me get my priorities". Remember your new year's resolutions? I know that was, like, BC, Before Corona. You're like, oh, well, I've gained 17 pounds since then, I'm just trying to breathe. That's my new new year's resolution, take another breath. But when you feel fear, you reach for familiar. When God showed me this, I realized why, to me, sometimes negative feels normal. A lot of times, when I'm feeling uncertain, unstable, little thing, big thing, I reach for something negative because negative is what I know. Not because I had horrible parents, I had great parents. But I will say this. My dad was not normal. His childhood was not normal, his dad killed himself when he was nine, on his ninth birthday. That was not normal. In fact, one of the last things that my dad said to me while he was alive, he said, "I only ever wanted to be normal". He was talking about how, through his upbringing, when he was sent to reform school, and just the different things that happened in his life, you know, blowing through two marriages before he met my mom and all of that, he was saying, "I just always wanted to be normal. I've never been normal. I've never been normal. I've never been normal". The Bible says that about Moses, who was leading the people out of Egypt. Did you know that? Says in Acts 7:20, that Moses was no ordinary child. Isn't that cool? So say this as a compliment to whoever you're sitting next to, and I hope this doesn't start an argument, tell 'em, "You're not normal". In fact, tell 'em stronger, say, "You've never been normal". There's nothing normal about you. Angie, look at Josh and just tell him, come on, say it in the Josh Blackson voice. "You've never been normal". Josh Blackson, the deepest voice in, the man from Michigan. You should've sang bass in a southern gospel quartet. Only problem is, you're tone deaf, but you got the range for it. You've never been normal. You were a boy scout, but you weren't normal. See, look. Normal is just a story that you've told yourself. And so, the Israelites, God helped them, they are standing at a Red Sea, which is a body of water that they have no context for, like us right now. We have no context for this crisis. We have no context for this challenge. We have no precedence for this global pandemic, because we've never lived through one. So when they fell terrified, watch what they did. They craved familiar. "Were there no graves in Egypt"? We'd rather be dead in Egypt than alive in uncertainty. They craved the grave over having to stand in front of something in an uncertain situation, and so do we. We do it all the time. We go back to places that kill us, people that kill us, patterns that kill us, routines that kills, bottles that kill us, pills that kill us, stations that kill us, feeds that kill us. Keep going? Websites that kill us, accounts that kill us, thoughts that kill us, 'cause it's normal, and normal is nice. Normal is nice. If you don't think so, you've never had a nice, old sweatshirt. It's nice 'cause it's normal. It's not nice 'cause it looks good, it looks terrible. You look homeless, but it's normal. "Oh, I like this. This is my good sweatshirt. These are my good underwear", with seven holes in it, but it's got seven holes, but it's normal. It feels familiar. So watch this. Oh, I'm anointed by the Spirit of God today, to help you see, normal is not all that. "I just want it to be the way it was". We wanna go back to Egypt. Take us back to Egypt. The place you were crying out to God to take you from? Now, you wanna go back? "Yeah, I wanna go back". I wanna go back to normal. God, I will never complain about my kid's teacher again, just as long as it doesn't have to be me. I'm going back to normal. Normal. I just want normal. Just normal. I just need something normal. That's why I wanted to come in the building to preach to you. I was like, do you wanna do it in a studio? I was like, no, no, no, no. Because I want people to get a little bit of normal. I think it'll help people. You know, all I'm trying to think about these days is not the normal that I wanna get back to, because I have a feeling, and I think you do too, let's just have the funeral right now, that we are not going back to normal. We're not. I was on a Zoom call this week with a department in our staff, and by the end of it, I was beating the desk, saying, "Y'all aren't getting it". Everything has changed. Y'all are having a normal meeting, this is not a normal time. People need the Gospel more than ever before, and y'all are talking about what happened ten days ago. And right now, for our ministry, we have to be in the moment, because people need this oxygen. This is not a normal time. This is not a normal church. And I hope in some ways, I hope this building is full again, but I hope we never just go back to normal, where we come in church and act like, you know, it's just our right to come in here. I hope we never go back to normal, where we just come in and we can't get the eye booger out of our eye until the fourth song, until they play our favorite song, and everything has to match our preference, and we just kinda yawn and wait for it to be over. I hope we never go back to normal. I'm never going back to normal. Just because something is normal to you, does not mean that it's normal to everyone. And that's very important for us to understand. Like, best example I can give you is with my kids. Are y'all getting something out of this so far? Okay, Abby said to me the other day, "What would you tell 9-year old Steven Furtick", 'cause she's nine, "if you could tell him anything"? So I was like, "I would tell him that one day, you're not gonna walk through Walmart looking at CDs, figuring out which one to buy. You are going to be able to instantly listen to any music in the history of the universe on a device that is the size of a notecard. I would tell him that video games are going to radically change because see, for us TEC Mobile was high tech". Now, when my kids are playing video games, they laugh at my video games. Because their normal was something that I didn't even know to imagine. Like, we didn't have, for instance Abby, we didn't have Roblox, "Flying Unicorn", neon unicorns, flying, driving, neon, exploding unicorns. We didn't have any of that. And once you bought the game, you didn't have to spend any more money on it. That's new. That's new. You bought it one dang time. One time. Now, you had to blow in it until you had a seizure to get it to work, but once you bought it, it was yours. And you didn't have to buy anything else for it. You didn't have to grind to get your team ready. My God. It's a video game. Not a job. But it's your normal. It's your normal that we put trolls on the video screen. Look at me sounding like an old man. It's your normal that we rented the movie, "The Trolls World Tour". And we didn't have to go. See back in the day, let me give you a history lesson, back in yonder years, back in the times of Jesus, Blockbuster Video reigned supreme. Come on, y'all don't know nothing about late fees. And I know you don't know anything about rewinding, or you pay an extra $0.99 cents. If you don't rewind the tape, I'm taking you back, that was normal. Not now. Not now. My daughter's never been in a Blockbuster in her life. Blockbuster, what's Blockbuster? Alright, so here's the question. I'm gonna go deep on you. Are you holding onto a Blockbuster blessing? Something that God is trying to put out of business in your life. Something that God is saying, "You know what? I'm taking you through something uncertain alright now". Who is this for? "I'm taking you through something right now that you've never seen before. But just because you've never seen it before, doesn't mean it's not normal". Thank you, Jesus. Just because I have never known it, doesn't mean it's not normal. You mean, it can be normal for me to have a heart that is at peace? Yes. Yes. That's how it's supposed to be. You are supposed to have peace in the middle of the storm. Jesus did. He's slept through stuff that we scramble about, because He's not from here. See, when you're from someone else, or somewhere else, it changes what you see as normal. Help me preach. Stand up and help me preach. Because I come from a different place. Because I am not from this world. Because it is not my home, I do not have to accept the patterns of this world as normal. I don't have to accept Egypt as normal. And what if God is trying to bring me into a new normal? But I'm so afraid that I reach for what's familiar? Can I tell you one new normal I think God is trying to give us right now? Better priorities. Because we are so toxic in the way we treat each other. What we say to each other. How we categorize and box each other. But we can't box each other like that anymore. Now, I need you, and you need me. And if we don't all do what we're supposed to do, we may not ever get out of this. God is making a nation. God is bringing the people through the Red Sea together. But not for them to go through. For them to get there, there's something they have to give up. Question. What is God calling you to give up to get there? What if there's a new normal? What if your true nature has been so buried and embedded in what Roman's 12 calls the patterns of this world. Can I show you this? Y'all sit down. I'm still feel like I'm just barely started this message. I'm gonna teach it again next week, but let me get as far as I can today before the time runs out. What time am I supposed to be done? Like ten minutes? Twelve minutes? How long? I don't even know what that clock means. How many of y'all kept stop looking at clocks and days of the week awhile ago? What month is this? I dunno. But here's what I wanna show you from Romans 12:1. Some of y'all have heard this scripture before, but let's put it in God's context, okay? Just like the children of Israel were going through the Red Sea, and remember all they've known as normal. All their parents knew as normal. All their parents' parents knew as normal. All their parents' parents' parents knew as normal. This is 430 years. Look how weird our world has gotten in just a few weeks. Okay, this is 430 years of you thinking you're never supposed to have enough. You'll never be free. This is what it's like to be in bondage. And some of you know this, cause you've been in bondage to depression. You've been in bondage to patterns of thought. And this is a chain breaking scripture in Romans 12:1. And I never saw it before, y'all. I never saw it before Rob, Debbie, Chelsea, Dawn, Lisa, Shaniqua, May, Sharon. I never saw it before. Somebody's name on here is Honey. That is not a normal name. I like it. If it's my message. My name is Honey. What's your name? My name is Honey. That's one way to get a date. Alright. My name is Honey, call me Honey. But watch the scripture in Romans 12:1. Are you ready? This revelation to me, I've read both of these scriptures a lot. They're both classic passages. The children of Israel are coming through the Red Sea. They wanna go back to Egypt. They wanna go back to what they've known. They wanna go back to what's familiar, because they are afraid. I'd rather go back to what is negative, even if it's not really normal. So we'll call negative normal, just because it's what we know. You see this? Some of the things that I've called normal my whole life aren't normal. And this scripture shows me just the full extent of it in Jesus Christ. Now let's put the gospel on this Old Testament passage. "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy", that's not normal. That's not normal. How many of you, in a relationship can just do wrong over and over and over and over, and over again, and the person fully accepts you? Only God. So, in view of that kind of mercy, and that's where we get used to things. We get used to things that we used to be grateful for, we've become entitled to. But remember, for this community that Paul is writing to, none of this is normal. They're used to relating to God through a sacrificial system. So when they come before God, they have to make offerings and spill blood in order to have their prayer request heard. In order to meet with God. In order to atone for sin. So this is not normal for Paul to be talking about mercy. Coming to God on the basis of grace. This is new. This is a new normal. And you know what their temptation was? To go back to the old way. So he's telling them, "No, no, no, no, no. In view of God's mercy, I urge you, I need you to, I'm begging you to stop trying to get back to normal. Stop thinking that there's something you could do to earn God's love, and realize that it's already been done through the gift of His Son Jesus Christ, that the blood has already been shed". Instead of getting back to normal, move forward into this new way of life, and instead of offering pigeons and turtle doves, and lambs, and goats, and rams, "offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is your true", true, your true, "and proper worship". This is your new normal. Your new normal is that you are forgiven and not condemned. Your new normal is that you are a child of the most high God. I am no ordinary child. I am a child of God. Me and Moses have Acts 7:20 in common. I am no ordinary child. I am a child of God. I am a royal priesthood. I am holy nation. I am set a part. I'm not trying to be normal. Normal is broken. Normal is broken. The culture is broken. The world is weird and it didn't just get weird when a virus was unleashed. The world has been weird for a long time. I'm gonna show you in the bible, Romans 12:2, this is way before coronavirus. You got it? Romans 12:2, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world", why not? Because the world is weird. "I don't know about Christians, they're weird". You know what's kinda cool about going through something really traumatic? What used to be weird now is the only thing that works. That's the only thing I'm excited about. I'm not excited about anybody being sick, anybody dying, anybody losing their job, anybody losing their company, anybody losing their life's work. I'm not excited about anybody having to work 20 hours days. I'm not excited about any of it. But what I am excited about is that our faith finally fits. See, the world always operates by logic, but now we've come to a Red Sea. And so the world is trying what it's always tried. Ah, more information. Ah, ah, ah. And none of it works. So now, there's room to do what Romans 12:1 says, and worship isn't weird anymore. It's not weird to worship now, is it? Because the only thing I can do now is call on God. People are praying right now who used to think praying was superstitious. It's not weird anymore. For once, we're not the weird ones. We're not weird. For just a minute, let's just take this moment. It's like we're a middle school boy who finally hit a growth spurt, and our voice isn't cracking, and we finally fit. The church finally fits. You could send this link to somebody today, and they wouldn't be annoyed that you invited them to church. They'd be excited. They are bored to death. They've got three ulcers. They've got ulcers in places where you don't even normally get ulcers. So, faith finally fits. This is our moment. This is our time. This is what we were born to do. I wasn't born to be normal. We fit. It's amazing moment. Finally, there's space for faith in your life. Long as everything's normal, there's no space for faith. Oh, I got this. I figured this out. Blah blah blah. Here's what I do. I take the kids here, and I take the kids there, and I take the kids there, and I take the kids there. The Lord said that in this season, He is helping people reset their schedule. And since you didn't want to do it manually, now as the whole thing is shut down, one of the new normals that God might bring us into, is that we have a different baseline for busy. Or a reordering or priorities. Think about this. Many of us worshipped soccer more than we worshipped the savior. I know that sounds like one of those clichés. I would normally do it in the country preacher voice. "Y'all worship soccer more than the savior". But it's the dang truth. And I don't have anything against soccer, other than I hate it. But listen to me, church. Listen. You listening to me right now? Sit up and listen to this. God said, "I'm not trying to get you back to the normal to where you worshipped your kid's activities and left no space for Me". Not trying to bring you back to that Egypt where you had to make bricks without straw. And you were just spending your money, and spending your time. And never full, and holes in your purses, and just running after this, and running after that. To impress people. So now you're going through a season where you can put on any clothes you want, and nobody is gonna see them. God's reordering some priorities because Romans 12:2, put it back on the screen, please. I feel this message. Y'all want another week of this next week? Thank you, Jesus. "Do not conform" anymore, "to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind". Why? The world was weird to begin with. It's not normal. And even the way you develop your construct of the world is important, right? If you get your construct of what the world is like from the news, you will not know normal. The news does not make money by showing you normal. The news makes money by showing you the most extreme example to keep you watching. You think the news is there to inform you? The news is not there to inform you. The news is there to engage you so you'll keep watching. So, you're getting your construct of the world right now from the news, the news, the news, the news. That's not normal. I'm not telling you not to check the news. I'm telling you not to watch it. Just all the time. It's not normal. That is not normal. You know how the world has these patterns. It's like all these patterns of the world where we overextend ourselves all the time. And we do all these things to impress people. That has never been normal. That's just been culturally accepted. That doesn't make it normal. What does God call normal? That's what I wanna know in this season. What does God call normal? I told Elijah the other day, I don't care if you like sports or don't like sports. If music is your thing. Cause I grew up with this, too. The kids who did sports were normal. The kids who liked music were weird. You know what? I'm 40 and I probably can't play sports anymore either, even if I was good at them at one time. But I can still make music. So, watch this. What was weird then is making ministry happen now. Can I preach? Do not be conformed. That's to be acted upon by the outside. That's conform. You can make it what you want it to be. That's what the world has done to us for so long. Your faith goes here. Don't talk about your faith. Your faith is just this. That's not normal. The world is weird. Faith is normal. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen. And now we get it. That the unseen is the most significant. I've been preaching this since the beginning of the year. But now we finally get it. That what is unseen is most significant. We get it because we're fighting a virus that we can't see. So now, we understand that the things which are seen were made of things which do not appear. Faith finally fits, because we are standing in front of the Red Sea, and we no longer understand. And we can't count on the things we used to count on. And in one sense, we want them back for comfort. But God cannot bring change while we hold to comfort. There is a new normal. There is a better you. A truer you. A real you. The patterns of this world are just pretend. It is not real. There is a peace that comes from above. There is a wisdom that whispers. And it doesn't shout. And God said, "I'm not trying to get you back to normal. I'm trying to bring you into it". I'm looking forward to normal. Somebody say it in the chat. I'm looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to God reinventing me. I'm looking forward to God increasing my capacity to connect with people for real. I'm looking forward to God. I prayed that God would help me with my gratitude. I'm looking forward to being able to put it into practice in the next season. I'm looking forward to normal. Not trying to get back to it. I left Egypt. I'm not trying to conform to the pattern of this world. I want God to transform me by the renewing of my mind. And that starts with what I thought was normal. What I thought was normal wasn't normal. It's just what I knew. I'm so glad my dad wasn't normal. I mean, at times, I wasn't. But, looking back, I got my passion to preach from the fact that he wasn't normal. I'm not trying to be normal. I found out that what the world calls normal, God calls broken. So when I pray for healing, understand I'm not just praying for bodies to be healed in this season. I'm not just talking about immune systems. I'm talking about belief systems. Do you hear this, preacher? I don't know. He looks kind of wild today. I am wild today. I'm ready. I'm ready to flip this thing upside down and what the world calls weird, God calls normal. Jesus was the only one on the boat who was normal. Everybody who was freaking out in fear, they were weird. So, I pray that God would bring us into, watch this, a new normal. There's nothing normal about faith. There was never meant to be. There's nothing normal, there was nothing normal about a shepherd boy fighting a giant with a slingshot. You thought that was normal? What was normal was all the boys with the heavy equipment who didn't know how to do anything with it. There was nothing normal about a virgin birth. You ever had one? Did you get here that way? Well if that's the way Jesus came into the world, what makes us think it's gonna be any different now? So when we pray for Him to show up, He's not gonna show up looking normal. There's nothing normal about stretching your staff over the sea. There's nothing normal. There's nothing normal about what we're going through right now. There's nothing normal about the panic. There's nothing normal about the fear. There's nothing normal about the order of things. There's nothing normal about the rules. I pulled up to a red light today on the way to church, and I was like, "Do we still stop for these? I don't know. Maybe we don't anymore". Nothing is normal. And yet maybe God is bringing us closer to what He wanted for us all along. Maybe. Maybe God is resetting and revealing. Resetting, revealing. Be not conformed outside in to the powers of the throne that be. Transform inside out. Transform inside out. Stuck in my house, but God transform my family. Transform my mind. Transform my habit. Give me new neural pathways. Give me, teach me new ways to trust You. I'm not trying to get back to normal. I'm moving forward into a new normal. That's what the kingdom of God is. It's a new normal. A new way of being. A new form of humanity. A new level of faith. Do it, God. That's what faith is. It's a new normal. "Blessed are the poor in spirit", Huh? That's weird. No, that's the way it is. We've just been weird for so long that we got it out of order. But God is bringing us into new normals. How long till we get back to normal? You keep waiting all you want. Or you can worship. You could keep resisting, or you can receive. I love what God told Moses. When the people were looking for someone to blame. You know how we do. Yeah, it was the bats. It was the lab. It was the, this. It was the, that. It was her that got. We always want somebody to blame. But blaming somebody doesn't bring you into what God is taking you into. And no sooner did they get to this uncertain place, till they start to say to Moses, "Didn't we say to you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone'", this is verse 12, Exodus 14, "'Let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!' Moses answered the people", Hear the word of the Lord. Hear the word of the Lord. "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again". What does that mean? You're never going back to normal. You're moving into a new freedom. I'll minister this to you like it was just us. I love it, cause it can just be like we're having a conversation right now. We're not in a big crowd right now. It's just me and you. And the Lord told me to tell you, you're never going back to normal. In fact, some of the stuff that you thought was normal, it wasn't really normal. It was just old. This is a season to embrace the new normal

I commonly hear Christians and non-Christians object to missions on the grounds that missionaries have sometimes been the tip of the spear for oppression and cultural subjugation. People cite the way Christian missions rode the wave of colonial domination in Africa and India, for example. The remedy, according to some, is that Christian missions be halted altogether or at least seriously re-examined. To be sure, there’s a place for re-examining mission practice. We need to learn from the history of cross-cultural gospel ministry, especially those painful and shameful aspects we do not wish to repeat. But it’s also important to note that some missionaries were valiant in the cause of justice. Where the gospel and the church have spread, so too has liberation and justice. Yesterday my missions pastor shared a tidbit from the life of William Carey that I did not know. It’s an excerpt from Ruth and Vishal Mangalwadi’s “Who (Really) Was William Carey?” in Ralph Winter and Stephen Hawthorne’s Perspectives on the World Christian Movement: A Reader, 3rd edition. The Mangalwadis write: Carey was the first man to stand against both the ruthless murders and the widespread oppression of women, virtually synonymous with Hinduism in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The male in India was crushing the female through polygamy, female infanticide, child marriage, widow-burning, euthanasia and forced female illiteracy, all sanctioned by religion. The British Government timidly accepted these evils as being an irreversible and intrinsic part of India’s religious mores. Carey began to conduct systematic sociological and scriptural research. He published his reports in order to raise public opinion and protest. . . . It was Carey’s persistent battle against sati for twenty-five years which finally led to Lord Bantinck’s famous Edict in 1829, banning one of the most abominable of all religious practices in the world: widow-burning. Carey’s pioneering work is known by nearly all Christians with a rudimentary knowledge of Christian missions history. Yet I wonder how many know of this aspect of Carey’s work—engaging the religious cultural practices and advocating for justice using the tools of both social science and the Bible? Carey wasn’t perfect—no Christian is. But we need more “Careys” not fewer. Perhaps then Christian missions will be associated with positive good rather than injustice, with not only freedom from sin but also freedom from oppression. May it be so. May the Lord be pleased to make it happen in our lifetimes! The Gospel Coalition. Reprinted.

Recently we were helping my mother-in-law look at properties. One of the first questions you need to know about a property is if it has water. There is some beautiful land not far from our home that can’t hook up to city water and whose wells have dried up. Unsurprisingly their value has plummeted. What use is a property with no water source? Not much. Many are living in a spiritual house with no water source. What do you draw from as your spiritual source? Most draw from many sources: their conscience, self-help gurus, counselors, friends, podcasts, and news sources. There is nothing wrong with any of these. But they are not  the source  that we depend on for truth. THIRSTY In Amos, God warned of a coming famine. “’Behold, the days are coming,’ declares the Lord God, ‘when I will send a famine on the land—not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord’” ( Amos 8:11 ). You don’t take a Coca-Cola on a hike. You don’t water your garden with saltwater. You don’t rehydrate with a glass of wine. We depend on fresh water. STREAMS OF PURE WATER In the first Psalm, we learn of the blessed man. We are told, “He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in season, and its leaf does not wither” ( Psalm 1:3 ). These pure streams of water were there in the Garden of Eden ( Genesis 2:10 ). Ezekiel prophesied that one day God would flood his land with these pure streams ( Ezekiel 47:1-12 ). And in John’s final revelation, we see that this crystalline river of life will take center stage in eternity, “flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city” ( Revelation 22:1 ). What is this source? What were we made to draw life from and always will depend on? This source of nourishment is our spiritual water and bread, it is the Word of God. thebeehive.live .

As you know, these are some of the most complex times in church leadership in decades. As churches reopen their in-person gatherings, there’s one particular trap to watch out for. The early indications are that in-person church attendance is lower than anyone expected. Most leaders I connect with who have reopened public worship say they are seeing between 10-40% of their former in-person attendance. Whether  that’s a temporary trend  or something more permanent remains to be seen (sadly, I suspect lower in-person attendance is a more permanent trend), the reality is that almost everyone’s expectations of a great return to church have been dashed. While so many leaders imagined that the first Sunday back would be like  Chris Farley’s famous entrance  on Letterman, that hope has given way to the tough reality of social distancing, the current inability to offer kids ministry, older or at-risk adults understandably staying away and a lot of people seeming to prefer digital church or non-attendance than in-person attendance. Which leads into very real trap that’s emerging for church leaders. Most churches are now doing both in-person and online services as they reopen. The trap: what if you end up doing neither well? Regardless of your church size, that’s a very real trap for at least three reasons. As hard as it is to acknowledge, in-person church attendance isn’t returning to pre-COVID levels any time soon.CLICK TO TWEET 1. COVID PROBABLY ACCELERATED TRENDS THAT HAVE BEEN HAPPENING FOR DECADES While the full story of what happened to church post-COVID has yet to play out, I suspect that the disruption has accelerated at least two trends we’ve seen for decades. First,  declining church attendance has been  intensifying for decades . Second,  even Christians who attend church are attending less often . So what does that mean? Maybe the low numbers of in-person worship attendance isn’t just COVID related. Perhaps it’s an acceleration of the non-attendance trends the church has seen for decades. Maybe the low numbers of in-person worship attendance isn’t just COVID related. Perhaps it’s an acceleration of the non-attendance trends the church has seen for decades.CLICK TO TWEET I certainly hope I’m wrong. In fact, I’d be delighted to be wrong. I also realize I’m stepping on sensitive ground for church leaders who are already tired. But wise leaders don’t let their fatigue make decisions for them. Whenever I suggest people won’t rush back to church, I get a string of comments and messages from church leaders who deny it, are angry about it, or argue incessantly that the church has always gathered and it will always gather. I understand. But denial isn’t a strategy. Or at least not a good one. Neither is anger. And if this is, in fact, an intensification of trends that have been happening for decades, perhaps it’s time for a new strategy. I outline some broad strokes for the future church in  this post where I outline 7 new disruptive church trends . Just know this (as hard as it is to admit): adopting a ‘they’re all going to come back just like before” mindset can land you right in the middle of the trap. Denial isn’t a strategy. Wise leaders don’t let their fatigue make decisions for them.CLICK TO TWEET 2. YOU’RE CURRENTLY STAFFED FOR WHERE YOU’RE SEEING LOW RETURNS If it’s actually the case that in-person attendance numbers will continue to be lower even after COVID is completely a non-issue (which could be months or years from now), then that creates a challenge. Namely, that many churches have the highest level of staff and budgets invested where they’re seeing the lowest returns. Many churches have the highest level of staff and budgets invested where they’re seeing the lowest returns.CLICK TO TWEET Sure, in-person worship and gathering isn’t going away. As long as there are people, people will want to gather in person. But in the same way almost  every CEO is rethinking  how much office space they really need in light of how well their teams are working from home, church leaders may want to rethink why they’re spending the vast majority of their time, budget and human resources at in-person services that very few people attend. If this is indeed an acceleration of in-person attendance trends that have been in play for decades, you could easily end up behaving like the CD salesperson in the age of Spotify or like  a mall owner in the age of Amazon . If your mission is to fill buildings, then keep going with your current strategy. But if your mission is to reach people, it might be time to rethink things. If your mission is to fill buildings, then keep going with your current strategy. But if your mission is to reach people, it might be time to rethink things.CLICK TO TWEET 3. YOU’RE DEEPLY UNDERSTAFFED FOR WHERE YOU’RE SEEING THE HIGHEST REACH The vast majority of churches pivoted to online quickly in March 2020 and saw a  large attendance spike over previous levels . After leaders figured out how to count more accurately and the novelty of online church sagged for leaders and congregants, most churches then saw a drop off in from their initial online attendance numbers (I share reasons as to  why that happened here ). Consequently, when the option of resuming in-person worship again became available,  many leaders put all their effort back into that. A few notes on this. First, it’s probably wise to see where you’re currently getting the highest reach. My guess is that for many re-opened churches, the higher reach remains online. Second, even if your in-person numbers are higher than your live-stream audience, take the time to add in the number of on-demand views you get for a message or service within the first week a service goes live. My guess is it at least matches your in-person attendance, and in most cases will be higher. What’s strange is that experiencing higher online attendance than in-person attendance has been true for many churches long before COVID hit. It’s just that nobody was really paying attention to the trend or knew what to do with it if they noticed it. Third, despite the fact that they’re reaching fewer people than ever in-person, many church leaders are pivoting back to putting 90-95% of their time and attention into in-person services. To make it even more complicated, the necessary requirements of disinfecting, social distancing, touch-free experiences and a highly safe and secure environment mean that unprecedented levels of effort are going into in-person worship. The big question is  if the future is digital, why the lop-sided investment?  Everyone you want to reach is online, and digital ministry scales in a way that physical ministry does not. Digital ministry scales in a way that physical ministry does not.CLICK TO TWEET Again, I think in-person worship is here to stay. I think it’s necessary both theologically and practically. And yes, your physical gatherings may still grow once all the dust settles. All that being true, in-person services will still likely be your smaller footprint moving forward. So…why invest the vast majority of your time, energy and money into the platform that has the lowest return and the lowest potential? You can invest for the past or invest for the future, but personally, I’d be investing for the future. Why invest the vast majority of your time, energy and money into the platform that has the lowest return and the lowest potential?CLICK TO TWEET YOUR DIGITAL MINISTRY IS JUST GETTING STARTED So what do you do? As much as you have dreams, hopes and prayers that seem infinite, you and I both live within the constraints of limited time, energy and resources. To really positions yourself well for the future, here are three suggestions. First, staff your online ministry like it is real, because it is. As I  outlined here  (long before COVID) it was probably wise to start investing 30% of your staff resources in online ministry. Today that’s even more pressing. You probably won’t have a big impact online when you spend 1% of your staffing resources on it. You probably won’t have a big impact online when you spend 1% of your staffing resources on it.CLICK TO TWEET Second, treat the people you’re reaching online as though they’re real people, because they are. Finally, some of the money you were going to put into physical ministry into better digital ministry.  (Hint, digital ministry doesn’t come even close to costing as much as physical ministry does.  Here’s why .) It’s not just new dollars that are needed. You can redeploy existing resources to have a better reach. Treat the people you’re reaching online as though they’re real people, because they are.CLICK TO TWEET So here’s the thing about online church and online ministry: You haven’t even really started yet. The ‘innovation’ that happened in the first few months of lockdown wasn’t really innovation. It was adaptation. The ‘innovation’ that happened in the first few months of lockdown wasn’t really innovation. It was adaptation.CLICK TO TWEET After a month of online church, a lot of church leaders settled into a pattern that would get them through the next few months and stopped experimenting. Which means the innovation hasn’t even started yet. If you’re really going to grow your mission, serve your people and reach new people, it’s going to take a lot of innovation and experimentation. Which means you’ll need to stay curious and agile. Positioning your church for strong digital ministry positions your church for the future. And if you really want to reach people, it’s the best strategy you have. POSITION YOURSELF TO THRIVE IN THE NEW NORMAL www.careynieuwhof.com .

Dear Roger, The problems that face our country are not going away. Division, violence, disease is everywhere. I’ve noticed that many of my friends and family members—many people I see on social media—have been frightened into praying like they’ve never prayed before. I think that anything that brings us closer to God is a good thing! But I want our prayers to really be effective and meaningful. Will you please share some guidelines for praying during the pandemic and thereafter? Samuel Hello Samuel, I’d be happy to help! Let me introduce you to the “Concert of Prayer,” one of my very favorite ways to pray. Concerts of Prayer, like musical concerts, involve the dynamics of a harmonious celebration—like a grand symphony—as people blend together their hearts, minds, souls and voices in earnest and passionate prayer. Imagine the participants submitting to the Holy Spirit who “orchestrates” each prayer meeting like a conductor with his/her orchestra. Picture smaller groups, when we pray with solos, duets, trios, quartets and as choirs over a variety of topics. Consider these musical groupings to be ensembles and symphonies of prayer. PREPARATION In the 1740’s, the Puritan leader Jonathan Edwards defined “Concerts of Prayer” in the title of a book he circulated to equip Christians for the prayer movement that undergirded what historians often call “The First Great Awakening.” Edwards used the term “Concert,” coming from the same root as “concerted.” He described people uniting in sustained commitment to the Lord, to one another, and to the answers they seek, until the kingdom of God comes on earth. Concerts of Prayer can be found throughout the Bible: Read Zechariah 8:20-23 for a picture of an Old Testament Concert of Prayer: This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Many peoples and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come, and the inhabitants of one city will go to another and say, ‘Let us go at once to entreat the Lord and seek the Lord Almighty. I myself am going.’ And many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the Lord Almighty and to entreat him.” This is what the Lord Almighty says: “In those days ten people from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, ‘Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.’” Acts 4:23-26, 29-31 records New Testament believers coming together to pray; On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: “‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one. … … Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. You can find other biblical Concerts of Prayer in Psalm 102:12-28; Joel 2:12-31; Ephesians 1:15-23; 3:16-21; 6:10-20; and Revelation 5:7-12; 8:3-4. My family religiously attended a church where “Concerts of Prayer” were practiced every Wednesday night. Mr. L.L Long could sustain a prayer longer than any person that I ever knew. As a child, I reasoned that his name was “Long” because he could pray longer prayers than anybody. His prayers seemed to go on and on and on forever. At the conclusion of each “Concert,” our pastor called on someone to pray the closing prayer. I recall sitting in the pew and praying earnestly, “Dear Lord, please don’t let the pastor call on Mr. Long.” When you’re nine years old, you want to get out of church as quickly as possible! Now that I’m older, I remember his prayers of emotion and passion. I’ll never forget him, nor some of the prayers that he prayed. Here’s a practical way to join with your congregation, neighbors, and friends in a Concert of Prayer: 1. GET ACQUAINTED Choose prayer partners. Visit for a few minutes about what’s going on in your lives. Groups of four seem to work best, giving each person time to pray for their own concerns and one another. 2. CELEBRATION “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise” (Psalm 100:1) by thanking God for specific things He’s done in your life. Small or big, He is intimately involved in our lives, and if we pay attention, we’ll see His hand at work! Choose a song or two to praise God for all He has done and experience the joy that can only come from thanking Him. Some of my favorite celebration songs include “Our God” by Chris Tomlin, “Forever,” sung by Kari Jobe, or an older chorus I love, “This Is the Day.” 3. DEDICATION Take a time of silent prayer for personal dedication. Think about what you want to see God do in your life? Pray for full surrender to Jesus Christ. Ask Him to make you a spiritual mother or father no matter the cost! Imagine yourself joining the multitudes on their knees dedicating their lives proclaiming, “Jesus Christ is Lord!” In Philippians 2:9-11, Paul declares; “Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the father!” As you pray, imagine Jesus kneeling beside you. He’s putting his arms around you as he says: “Well done, you good and faithful servant. I am so proud of you.” Those are words of grace. If you are not fully surrendered to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, now is a great time to consciously decide to follow Christ. Trust me; there’s nothing your prayer partners would rather pray for! Then join your voices together and sing a worship song you love. Some of my current favorites are “Behold the Lamb” by Kristian Stanfill, “Revelation Song “ by Phillips, Craig, and Dean, and always, the hymn “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus.” 4. PRAY FOR REVIVAL Start with a solo by praying for revival in your personal life. Is unconfessed sin or anything else hindering your relationship with Jesus? If so, pray 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful to forgive our sins, and to lead us into all righteousness.” If your heart is not on fire for Jesus as it once was, then pray through Jesus’ directions in Revelation 2:1-5: First, remember what it was like when you first fell in love with Jesus; Second, repent that it’s not that way; Third, repeat again the things you did when you first came to Jesus. Next, in duets or ensembles, confess your sins one to another and pray for each other, asking God to bring about personal revival for each other. Continue to pray in ensembles for revival and spiritual awakening in your church and in the Christian community. As an orchestra, pray for revival in discipleship, evangelism, and the full manifestation of the anointing and filling of the Holy Spirit for yourself, your friends, and your church. Then confess the sins of America. Pray for a return to godly, moral values, wisdom for our leaders, harmony among the races, and healing of division. Finally, as a final crescendo pray for worldwide revival! Sing songs like “Revive Us Again,” which is another of my favorite hymns, “Awakening” by Chris Tomlin, or “Forever Reign” sung by Shane & Shane. 5. SEEK THE FULFILLMENT OF THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST AMONG THE NATIONS Come together again in your ensembles, and pray for world evangelism, including your community, country, and throughout the world. Pray for the many missionaries and workers who are sharing the gospel around the world. Pray for their spiritual and physical protection and success in their ministries. Focus on the five billion people who are currently beyond the reach of the gospel, too. Focus on worldwide issues of hunger … justice … poverty … war … disease … immorality … drugs … pornography … racism … all of which are part of the battle against the Kingdom of Darkness. Perhaps you might invite everyone to pray at the same time—audibly—as they do in many parts of the world! It’s a thrilling experience to hear and join with a whole multitude praying simultaneously for the Kingdom of God to come on earth. In that moment, picture what prayer in heaven will be like; “Day and night they never stop saying, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come’” (Revelation 4:8). 6. PAUSE TO HEAR GOD SPEAK PERSONALLY One of the most powerful moments in every concert is silence. After the music rings and the instruments play, silence almost has its own sound … you know what I mean. In that moment of silence, turn your heart toward God and just listen. I think that’s what the psalmist meant when he said, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). It’s been my experience that God speaks to me most often in those precious moments of silence. 7. TESTIMONIES Did God speak to you during the Concert? Share testimonies about what God spoke to you, anything you learned or experienced, or encouragement you received during the Concert itself. Testimonies might also include confession, repentance, exhortation, Scripture reading, or call for revival. This is not a time for general sharing. Testimonies are to encourage the whole group. One or two sentences may suffice so that many have an opportunity to share. Be excited for each other! 8. GRAND FINALE Conclude the Concert of Prayer by singing several more songs of Worship and Praise to our Heavenly Father. Sam, I hope this gives you a helpful framework to hold your own Concert of Prayer. God promises to respond when His people pray! Love, Roger

How to Hit a Curveball Week 3 May 1/3, 2020 How to Hit a Curveball Week 3 Finding God’s Strength Ryan Leak How cool is that?! We all just learned how to throw a curve ball from a Major League pitcher! There are many things in life that are very difficult to navigate that we just didn’t see coming. A pandemic A divorce A separation An addiction A layoff A sickness And sometimes it’s a combination of all of the above. How do most of us navigate tough times? SLIDE_________________________) Special Sermon Slide Picture of Zoom (logo) SLIDE_________________________) Special Sermon Slide Comfort Food (Picture of junk food in a pantry) SLIDE______________________) Special Sermon Slide Netflix (Logo) SLIDE_________________________) Special Sermon Slide 1 How to Hit a Curveball Week 3 May 1/3, 2020 Online shopping (more logos) SLIDE_________________________) Special Sermon Slide Social Media (logos) And for some, alcohol is how they navigate tough times. Alcohol sales are up almost 300% during these quarantine days. For others, it might be drugs or pornography that is the pandemic navigator for them. SLIDE__________________________) Proverbs 18:10 “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.” A strong tower is an elevated tower. Could it be that it is it so elevated, as to be high, or inaccessible for capture? I do not think that it is a stretch to come to this conclusion. One of the uses for towers in the Old testament is that they were used as fortresses in times of war. We’ve all got a tower we run to. The question we have to ask ourselves today is what have they done for us lately? I want you to know today that there’s a name you can call on today that can absolutely change your life if you let Him. There are many people in scripture who had to hit a curve ball. I want to look at one man today who had to do that. And I believe there’s a lot we can learn from the adversity and trials he faced in his life. His name is Paul. Paul wrote a few letters to the church of Corinth. Two of them are present in our Bible. The first one he sent (1 Corinthians) was addressing the many problems the church was having but It was rejected by most based off what Paul says about and to them in 2 Corinthians. So, 2 Corinthians, technically what scholars believe is the 3rd letter to the church of Corinth, has 3 main parts. The first 7 chapters is Paul reconciling with the Corinthians. Chapters 8 and 9 Paul is encouraging them to be 2 How to Hit a Curveball Week 3 May 1/3, 2020 more generous. Chapters 10-13 Paul is challenging the remaining naysayers in Corinth who are still rejecting his teaching. These naysayers are very prideful and the word Paul uses frequently is boasting. So, Paul appeals to their ego and says… if you want to boast, we can play that game. The beginning of 2 Corinthians 12 Paul reveals to us that he had a heavenly vision where he himself didn’t know if he was taken up to heaven literally or just shown it, but in this letter he lets them know, hey, I was given revelations by God himself at His place. If anyone has bragging rights here, it’s me. And here’s what he says… SLIDE_____________________) 2 Corinthians 12:7-8 “So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.” We don’t know what this was. Sages of the ages have speculated what this thorn was. We have no idea. But we do know how he felt about it. It was painful enough and important enough for Paul to bring it up to God. It’s a rather interesting request Paul would make to God about this thorn when you compare and contrast it to what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 11 where he was in the middle of his challenge and argument against naysayers who were boastful. He says this…. SLIDE_________________________) 2 Corinthians 11:23-27 “Are they servants of Christ? I know I sound like a madman, but I have served him far more! I have worked harder, been put in prison more often, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again. Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. 3 How to Hit a Curveball Week 3 May 1/3, 2020 Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm.” And there are days when I think I have it rough. ha. No sir. Paul says if there’s anything he wants to boast about, it’s not going to be his accomplishments, but his weaknesses and his downfalls. He’s not laying this out for us to feel bad for him. He’s using it as a technique to illustrate humility. But when I see this list of things he endured, I think to myself… You were VERY specific about your persecution and what you’ve been through in chapter 11, but in chapter 12… it’s… “this”. What could be worst than what you just told us? Have you ever had a “this” that you’ve prayed about that you wouldn’t even tell your best friend about? Story of a friend who would pray at a tree and eventually stopped praying at the tree. I think God is inviting us all back to the tree. SLIDE___________________________) 2 Corinthians 12:8 “Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.” SLIDE_____________________) 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 “Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me 'My grace is sufficient for you…’” 4 Has God ever told you no? How to Hit a Curveball Week 3 May 1/3, 2020 Have you ever prayed for something and your request was denied? You prayed for an outcome financially, relationally, and God just said… nope. I think Paul would make the argument to God… hey have I not proven my love & loyalty to the gospel in chapter 11? There are Christians who never endure 10% of what I’ve gone through, so don’t we think that I could be more useful to you and your kingdom without this… thorn. SLIDE______________________) 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 “Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’” God’s response: how’d you get through chapter 11? How’d you make it through 39 lashes from the jews 5 times? How’d you endure prison? How’d you stand to your feet after being beaten with rods and stoned? How’d you make it adrift at sea for 24 hours? How’d you survive poverty? Hey Paul, what in the world sustained you when you had a sleepless night? Might you be encouraged today to know… It was the amazing power and grace of God that brought you through chapter 11 and that same amazing grace is sufficient for your thorn in chapter 12. His grace is sufficient for a quarantine. HIs grace is sufficient for a pandemic. His grace is sufficient for your darkest hour and your darkest day. SLIDE ________________________) 2 Corinthians 12:9 “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” 5 How to Hit a Curveball Week 3 May 1/3, 2020 SLIDE_________________________) 2 Corinthians 12:10 “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Paul had an approach to hitting curve balls that we should adopt. Paul saw dark times as an opportunity for God’s light to shine brightest. We all want to see God’s strength on display. We all would love to see signs, miracles, and wonders. But we don’t get to see any of that without going through something. I have a one point sermon today that answers one question. SLIDE____________________) How do we find strength in God? The answer is profound and will blow your mind. Invitation. SLIDE_______________________________) Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Whether I’m sitting with leaders & executives, students, young adults, married couples, or athletes, the biggest mistake I see people make is attempting to fix their own problems with their own understanding. One of the greatest spiritual disciplines we can have is fighting the “I got this” mentality. What if we don’t… got this? What if we invited an able and willing God to… help us. Have you invited God to give you His strength? Have you invited God to give you his perspective? Our prayer this week should go from…. 6 How to Hit a Curveball Week 3 May 1/3, 2020 Deliver me from this. Save me from this. Help me escape from this… To… Meet me in this. Give me strength in this. Make me better in this. I had a guy who’s heard me speak a lot see me at a Mavs game. In my mind, the Mavs won the NBA championship this year. But we’re all entitled to our opinion I guess. So I see this guy at a Mavs game and he stops me, and paid me a very high compliment. He said, I’ve heard you speak several times and I just really look up to you. I said, man that’s very kind of you. He said, no man, you don’t understand. I wish I had your strength. You seem like a strong man of God and I just wish I had your strength. I’m thinking my strength? Be not deceived my friend, I appreciate the compliment, but what you see standing before you is not a display of my own will and strength. I’m just a man who’s called on God when he was a boy when his dad had a stroke in 5th grade. Close with Story of the first time I remember finding God’s strength. When life gets turned upside down, we might try to solve our problems on our own or turn to food, shopping, or an addiction for comfort and strength. But those places never take us where we want to go. The best thing we can do is turn to a willing and able God who can strengthen us in ways we never imagined. Preached at Chase Oaks Church.

Enough of the Bad News! Craig Groeschel Well, I really don't wanna sound negative, but I'm getting sick and tired of all the negative talk going on in the world today. Does anybody else feel that way? Like, it's just getting almost overwhelming everywhere that you look, almost all the time. Anytime you turn on the news or read in the news app. And there is a lot of really difficult news. People are getting sick, people tragically dying, jobs are vanishing, the economy is struggling, the nation is divided. And it seems like the pervasive message in the world today, that is the end of the world as we know it. And it' so easy to get sucked into the negativity, and the fear, and the anxiety that seems to overwhelm so many people. And if I could just be transparent with you, there are so many different times when I find myself more emotionally on edge. I find myself getting easily angered. It's almost good that there's social distancing, because it doesn't take much to get me lit up right now. I find myself more easily discouraged, and often just kind of wake up feeling like, "Can we ever rebuild this? Can we ever go back to something that is meaningful"? So what I'm doing right now is I'm really, really asking God to help me to see the good in the middle of all the bad. I'm fighting to keep a perspective of faith and a very positive attitude. So I asked all of my children, my youngest, the baby, Joy, is in the house. And she's 15 and I asked little Joy, I said, "Hey, JoJo, what do you think when you grow older and your an adult, what do you think is something that's positive that's gonna come out of this whole pandemic? Is there anything in your life you think, because of this, something's gonna different and it's gonna be good"? And she thought for a minute, she said, "What's gonna be positive when I'm a grownup that came out of this season"? And she smiled really big. She said, "I know what it is". she said, "Whenever my kids ask me to do something and I tell them, no, you're not going anywhere". And the moment they start to whine at me, I'm gonna look at them say, "When I was your age, They locked us up in the house for three months and told us, if you go outside, you're gonna die. That's something positive that's gonna come out of it, I'm gonna tell my kids that". liked that, looking for something positive in the middle of all the bad news. So I've got some advice for you. Let's be wise, let's social distance, let's wash our hands, let's wear a mask if you're in public and someone might be vulnerable. And let's do everything within us to stay positive. To have an attitude of faith, to look for the good in the middle of the bad and believe that God is still on the throne, that He is still working, that He can be in this, and with us, and He's still for us. Stay positive, fight for faith. Because a negative outlook never, ever leads to a positive life. What I wanna do today, is I wanna show you why I am unshakably optimistic about the future. The title of today's message is, "Enough of the Bad News". With that, let's pray. Father, we thank you that your gospel is nothing bad good news for lost and broken people. We pray, God, that your living word would build our faith, to be optimistic about the future, because you are good, loving, and faithful God. Speak to our hearts, God, today, that we would be different in your presence. In Jesus' name we pray and everyone said... Amen. Go ahead and type that in the chat, wherever you're watching, online, just say it with us. You're with us today, type in amen and amen. Let's talk about optimism. And what I wanna do is, I wanna first tell you what optimism is not; so we can be very, very clear. And then, I wanna help try to define what optimism is. Let's start with what optimism is not. First of all, optimism is not a denial of reality. It's not putting our heads in the sand and acting like everything's okay, nothing's wrong, just have a positive attitude no matter what. Just deny reality, the reality is that we have very significant challenges all over the world. Optimism is not denial of reality. It's also not blind faith. It's not just naive, wishful thinking that everything's gonna work out if we don't do anything about it. It's not denial of reality. It's not blind faith. A definition online that I read, a very clear definition, is this. Optimism is simply confidence about the future or a successful outcome. It's a confidence, believing that something good is coming. Or an assurance, a belief that there's gonna be a positive or successful outcome. What I wanna do is, I wanna add some spiritual weight to a definition of optimism. This is my definition of what a faith-filled believer can be optimistic, here's why. What is optimism? Optimism is the unwavering expectation that our loving God is working every situation, for our future good. It's the unwavering expectation, is an assurance deep within our souls. That our loving God, He's involved, He's working in every situation for our future good. all things"? Type that in the chat, just type in, "All things". It might be your impossible boss, or your financial set back, or your annoying in-laws. Don't nudge them if they're with you at your house watching this, but you know what I'm talking about. It could be the challenges of home-educating your kids, or a painful break up. In all things, our God "works for the good of those who love Him, who've been called according to His purpose". In other words, even in a negative situation, it still holds the potential to produce a positive purpose, because we, as faith-filled believers, can live with the unwavering expectation that our loving God is working in every situation for our future good. I'm incredibly optimistic. So what I want you to do for a moment, is I want you to just kind of pause. And I want you to think about what you think about. I want you think about how your process your thoughts about the future. How do you see the future in your thought life? Because the reality is, if your thoughts are consumed with negativity, and fear, and worry, and anxiety, that's really, really bad news. Because what consumes your mind, tends to control your life. Whatever you think about tends to direct your life. In other words, the life that you have, is generally a reflection of the thoughts that you think. Proverbs tells us this, that as a man, or as a person thinks in his heart, so he becomes. Your life is generally moving in the direction of your strongest thoughts. And so if you tend to think the worlds is always in trouble and you can't trust anyone, and I hate my circumstances, you're probably not gonna get to the end of that day and go, "Wow, this was the best day ever". If you wake up with a bad attitude and a bad perspective and a bad filter, and you see everything through a pessimistic lens, what you think about tends to direct your life. What consumes your thoughts, controls your life. And that's why the quality of your life, will exceed the quality of your thoughts. What do you think about? This is one of the big problems with pessimism. Those who have a consistently, chronically negative attitude. Experts will tell us this about pessimists. Pessimists tend to view negative events as both personal and permanent. That they're personal. In other words, "It's my fault. This is happening to me because I'm bad, I'm no good, nothing ever goes my way. I'm incapable, I'm unworthy of anything good". And then, they tend to think that it's permanent. "This is always gonna be this way. I'm never gonna have a good life. We're always gonna struggle. Things are bad and they're only gonna get worse". nd before long, we start to live with a very real victim mentality. "The economy's bad, I'll never get the job that I wanted. The virus is unstoppable. We're gonna have to wear a mask for the rest of our life, everywhere we go, all the time. The world is never gonna be safe again". Here's what he has to recognize. That being content, being satisfied, being blessed, being optimistic, it isn't a state of affairs. It's a state of mind. What controls your mind, controls your life. What consumes your thoughts? I want you to think about what you think about. What consumes your thoughts? Are your thoughts typically drifting towards faith and God? And optimism and belief about His power and His goodness involved in your life? Or do they tend to drift toward the negative? "I'm just concerned, I'm worried. The whole world's falling apart". If you move toward the negative, and if I can be kind of honest with you, I have to fight for an attitude of faith, because by nature, I tend to be a realist, I tend to be concerned, I tend to drift toward the negative. If you find yourself there, what you wanna do is you wanna feed your faith and you wanna starve the negativity. Feed your faith and starve your fears. Why? Because whatever you feed tends to grow. And whatever you starve tends to die. What I wanna do, is I wanna starve the wrong voices that rob me of any potential joy, and I wanna feed the things that help me grow in faith. This doesn't mean I put my head in the sand. But for me, what I do to starve the fear, is I don't watch the news 24 hours a day. Because if I did, I wanna hop in a bathtub, fill it up, and make toast in the bathtub. It's just too much. And so what I do is, I do study the news every single day. 30 minutes max, one time a day. One time a day I wanna know, I wanna be very aware of what's going on in the world, but one time a day. I'm in focus for 30 minutes a day and then I'm out. If I've got negative voices all around me, what I'm gonna do is, I'm gonna distance myself from those who are only, "The world's falling apart". I'm gonna distance myself and I'm starving my fears. Then what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna try and feed the things that build my faith. And what I wanna do is I wanna show you exactly how I feed and build my faith. One of the most valuable things that I do, is I take a rich portion of scripture and I try to get into scripture so that scripture gets into me. I don't just read through it, but I'm going to live in it. I'm gonna focus on it, I'm gonna meditate, I'm gonna think about it, I'm gonna let it work and start to renew my mind. So I'm gonna give you an example. And since we're talking about Romans 8:28, the power of God that works in good things, I wanna show you how I would go through Romans 8. n order for me to feed my faith, I'll take a rich portion of scripture. And first of all, I wanna understand the context. Not just reading it, but I wanna know who wrote it, to whom was it written, why was it written, what's going on before the verses I'm reading? And so I know that the apostle Paul, was writing a very, very rich, meaty, weighty letter to the Romans. I know that Romans 8 comes after Romans 7. So I think about Romans 7. And in Romans 7, I love Romans 7, because Paul was just totally a mess. It makes me feel better about me whenever someone who's spiritual is like, just losing it. It makes me feel better whenever I'm losing it. And in Romans 7, he's going on this rant, like, "I don't understand myself". To put it in modern day language, he's kind of saying, "I'm just a screw up, the things that I wanna do, I don't do them, and things like I know I don't wanna do, I end up doing those, I'm such a mess". And then he shifts in Romans 8 and it's almost like he's talking himself out of his negativity and his disfunction and his sinfulness. In the very beginning he says, "Therefore now, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus". If you're in Christ, there's no judgment for your sins. Your sins have been forgiven. And he makes this hard turn as he starts to renew his mind. He talks about the mind that's on the flesh, that things about the things of the flesh. But the mind that's on the spirit lives for the things of the spirit. He says if you're led by the spirit, you're children of God. If you're focusing on the spirit, your mind will be at peace. And then I might just land in a portion of the text. Like Romans 8:18, where this is what Paul says. He says that, "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed in us". And I'm just gonna stop there and just read it, and read that, and let it read me, to feel it, when he says, "I consider that our present sufferings", all these things that we hate, that we're enduring, that are so incredibly painful, "our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us". So I remind myself, "Okay, the apostle Paul wrote this. How did he suffer"? Well, he was imprisoned multiple times, that's kind of worse than what I'm going through right now. Five times he was beaten with 40 lashes, that's pretty bitty bad. Three times he was beaten with rods, he was stoned, and not for entertainment purposes. I just felt like I should say that, I don't know. I mean, he was not, rocks were thrown at him. He was shipwrecked, he spent the night out at sea. I would hate that, hanging onto a log for his life or whatever. He was betrayed, he was beaten, the guy was left for dead on the side of the road, he didn't even look like he was alive. And this is the guy who said, our present sufferings are not worth comparing to the glory that is to come. I let that feed my faith. Our present sufferings aren't worth comparing to the glory that is to come. So I'd ask you, where are you hurting right now? What have you lost? Where are you experiencing a hardship that deeply grieves your soul. I know that so many of you , you're facing a job loss right now. And that's real suffering. Some of you are worried that you're sick. Some of you would be sick, or have relatives that are. Some are battling diseases like cancer and such. Some have relational challenges right now in their marriage or with your kids, or you had a friend betray you, or you're just dealing with the inconveniences of, "How do I work at home when there are kids crawling all over me"? Whatever it is, what I do is, I tell myself, as I'm reading this, what scripture teaches me, essentially, is that the struggle I'm in today, is producing the strength I need for tomorrow. It's not even worth comparing. This momentary trial, this momentary struggle, is not even worth comparing, to God's future blessings and the glory that will be revealed in us. I've got an unwavering expectation, that our loving God is working in every situation for our future good. So I starve my fears, I feed my faith. I let God's Word start to renew my mind, because my life is always moving in the directions of my strongest thoughts. So I read on, I get to Romans 8:26 and I stop there. Paul said, "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weaknesses". I need that, it's really good news. It's good news for me, it would be good news for some of you right now. Because I'm feeling incredibly incapable. I feel unsure all of the time. How do I lead through this? How do I preach the right message, at the right time, for the right spiritual response. I'm second guessing myself right and left, don't feel prepared for this at all. And then I tell myself, "He will never leave me. He will never forsake me, His spirit helps me when I'm weak, when I'm broken, His spirit, the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead, dwells within me". And I feed my faith. For those of you who are feeling weak, you feel overwhelmed, you feel discouraged you feel like you can't take anymore at all. People will tell you, "Well, God helps those who help themself". Bible doesn't say that. Bible says, "God helps those who need help". He helps those who are weak, He helps those who are broken, He helps those who crying out to him. He helps you when you are weak. So if you're hurting right now, who is God? He is your comfort. If you're confused, He is your guide. If you find yourself discouraged, He's your hope. If you're anxious, He's your peace. If you are weak, our God is your strength. So I feed my faith, I starve my fears. I feed my faith. Then I go to Romans 8:28 and I let it sink in. "We know that in all things", and all things, and all things, and all things, in the good things, and in the bad things, in the days that I love, and the days that I endure, and the heartbreaks, and the inconveniences. "In all things, God works for the good of those you love Him, who've been called according to His purpose". He is that good, He is that good, He's that involved. And I visualize the olive guy, there's an olive guy. I visualize, I literally, I call him the olive guy. Amy would remember this, 1995, I graduated from seminary. Before then, we were like poor seminarians. Before then, I think the nicest restaurant that we'd ever been to always started with a apple. Applebee's or Applewoods. I don't know why, but those were the places. Applewoods, apple fritters, glory to God, those were to the days. But when we graduated from seminary, we went to see a friend in California. And this guy, he took us to someplace we'd never been like it before. He took us to a Ritz-Carlton buffet to celebrate. Oh my goodness, gracious. It's like heaven descends upon food in a buffet. There's more food then I've ever seen. The most amazing buffet. And I was going through, we were nervous, because it was way above our pay grade. We didn't know which forks to use and how do you get this off the plate? So I was trying to act like I knew what I was doing, because I was a seminary grad. And I grabbed an olive-looking thing. It may not have been been an olive. It might have been like some foreign fruit. But I put it on my plate and when I put too many on there, one of them rolled off and it hit my foot. And the moment it hit my foot, it rolled across the Ritz-Carlton. I was devastated. Horrible mistake. It was a nice restaurant. And all the sudden, this server who worked there, jumped out of the curtains, Pastor, and it was the most amazing thing. He was dress in black, blending into the curtains. And he came out and scooped up that olive so fast, perfect in form and fashion and disappeared back into the curtains. It was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen. I was so excited by it I took another olive and I just rolled it off my plate. And sure enough, out of nowhere, he came and scooped it up and disappeared again. And this was the perfect visual of an invisible loving God, I mean, work with me, but this is what I honestly think, who I don't always see, but He's always there. And whenever I need him, He's working, in the middle of the situation, going in behind the scenes whenever our enemy means something for evil. Our God, He can still use it for good. This is how faithful our God is. You may not see Him, but He's always there, He never leaves. He's always good, He's always for you, and he's always with you. And I think about the olive guy. And I'm reminded of the goodness of God. So often, people will say things like this. "Here's the key to happiness, you want to be happy? You want to be fulfilled? Lower your expectations. Don't expect anything good. Then you're never gonna be disappointed. If you just lower your expectations and believe only bad things are gonna happen, then you're not gonna be crushed when they do happen". I would tell you this. As followers of Christ, don't lower your expectations. Raise your expectations in the goodness, the faithfulness, the power of our God. So many people say, "I just want life to get back to normal". I've got more faith than that. I'm looking at a lot of you who wanna go back to normal and I'm remembering you were complaining about your life about three months ago. You were whining about all you had to do, and now you wanna go back to that? I've got faith in God that we can go back to something better than normal. That He can do something in us. I may not like what I'm going through, but I appreciate what God will produce out of this present pain. God is working in all things, to bring about good. I believe by faith, that God can do exceedingly and abundantly more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power. I'm believing that going through this, there are some of you, you're gonna come out on the other side, and your marriage is going to be stronger. I am optimistic that some of you, your families will be closer, that your love is going to be deeper for one another, that your generosity is going to become greater, that there are Christians who are going to become bolder their faith, that the light of the church will shine brighter, and that the harvest is going to be bigger because we lift up the name of Jesus. I am optimistic in the goodness, and the faithfulness of God. During worship today, I had to leave the auditorium. This is our first time to gather in, what? 10, I don't even know how many weeks. It seemed like four years. And I was so emotional to have a small portion of my church family, distancing themselves to be back together. So emotional, because I realized there's nothing that's gonna stop the love of God through his church. His church always prevails, His word is always true. His presence never leaves us, He never, ever forsakes us. And so I feed my faith and I starve my fears, and I read in Romans 8:38-39 when Paul said, "For I am convinced there is an unshakable assurance, with everything in my soul I believe this to be true. For I am completely convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus of Lord". I tell myself no matter where I go, my God is there. No matter what I do, my God loves me. No matter what happens to me, my God is for me. And that's why I have an unwavering expectation, that our loving God is working in every situation for our future of good. Enough of the bad news. Enough of the bad news. Let's acknowledge it, we've got some problems. And we have a bigger God, we have a bigger God. I said we have a bigger God. A God to whom all things are possible. So rather than be consumed by fear and anxiety, I'm gonna believe that our present struggles are not even worth comparing, to the future glory of what God is gonna do in us and through us. Whenever I'm discourage and weak, I remind myself, His spirit, His spirit is perfect. In my weakness, His strength is perfect. He's working in all things to bring, I may not see Him, but He's still present, and He's still good, and even when our enemy means something for evil, our God can turn it into good. Because there's nothing, not a disease, not a sickness, not any fear that can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And so I know that what consumes my mind controls my life. My life is almost always moving in the direction of my strongest thoughts. That the life that I have, is a reflection of the thoughts that I think. My God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. So I starve my fears and I feed my faith. And I lift up my hands and tell you, I have an unwavering confidence that a very good, very involved, very loving God is working in every situation in your life right now, to bring about future good. All for His glory. Because that's how good our God is. So Father, today I pray, that because of the truth in your word, that you would build our faith, God, to stay positive, to be optimistic, God, not because of what we see, but because of what you say. God, renew our minds with truth that would change our perspectives. That we could reflect your goodness in all that we do. As we're praying today, those of you watching online, countries across the world, those of you social distancing in Life.Church locations who'd say, "I wanna be more full of faith and spiritual optimism", would you lift up your hands right now? Just lift them up. In that chat you can say, "Me, I wanna be more full of faith". Just type it in the chat right now, just type it in... Father, I thank you, that it's your word that builds our faith, that faith comes by hearing your word. And so God, as we experience your word, would it help it to renew our minds, God, that we could focus on your goodness, your power, your presence, knowing that our present sufferings, God, are not worth comparing to what you're gonna do in us, and through us, in this life and in eternity that You would be gloried. God, build our faith, help us to stay positive. Help us to be optimistic. Not putting our faith in our desired outcome, God, by putting our faith completely in you and your Goodness. God, build our faith. As you keep praying today in all of our churches the title of this message is, "Enough of the Bad News". Let me tell you some really good news. We call this the gospel, and the gospel is the best news ever. The bad news is, and there's a lot of bad news. The bad news is that we've all messed up. If you look at your life and if you're really honest, you'd probably say that there's a lot of things that you've done wrong that you're embarrassed about, you feel bad about, you feel guilty for. And the reason is, is because we've fallen short of God's standards. Scripture calls that sin, and the Bible's really clear. All of us have done it, we're all guilty, we've all sinned and we've fallen short of God's perfect standard. But there is really, really good news. And the good news is this, that our God loves us, even though we sinned. And while we were still sinners, scripture says, Jesus, the sinless son of God, died on a cross, and God raised Him from the dead, so that we could be forgiven. In other words, the way that you're made right with God, is not based on your religious efforts and not by you stopping doing bad and started doing good. The way that you're made right with God is by placing your faith in the perfect work of Jesus, the risen son of God. And when you call on Jesus, God hears your prayers and He forgive your sins and you're not just saved from eternal death, but you're saved for a life of joy and victory, reflecting His love on this earth. And all of our churches that are open and all over the world online, those of you who recognize you feel guilt and you feel the weight and you don't know where you stand with God, if you'll call on that name that is above every name, the name of Jesus, God hears your prayers. He forgives your sins. It's as if you've never, ever sinned and you become brand new, made right with God, because of the perfect work of Jesus. Those who say, "I need His grace, I want His forgiveness, I wanna put my trust in Him", at all of our churches and all over online, those who say, "Yes, I need His forgiveness today, I call on His name. I need, I want His forgiveness, I surrender my life. Jesus, I give my life to you". If that's your prayer today, just lift up your hands right now, at all of our churches, just lift them up, I see many hands going up right here. Type in the chat right now, "I need Jesus". Just type in the chat, "I need Jesus, I'm giving my life to Jesus". And as we have people all over the world crying out to Him, I would love it if you would just pray, right where you are, just pray: Heavenly Father, forgive my sins. Jesus, save me. Make me new. Fill me with your spirit, so I can follow you and show your love in all that I do. My life is not my own. I give it to you. In Jesus' name I pray.