As churches slowly reopen their physical doors, church leaders are all asking the same question:  who will still be around ? It’s a great question. And not an easy one to answer. A lot of church leaders are nervous, uncertain and longing to get things back to something certain. With several months of online-only church, it can be hard to know how many new people have come on board, who’s still engaged, who’s left, and who may be drifting. And even as buildings re-open, it’s hard to get a gauge because of social distancing, limited capacity and, in almost all cases, no kids ministry (leaving families for the most part still at home). In this post, I’ll take a quick look at the numbers, offer some observations and some strategies that I hope will help your church not just maintain, but advance in the midst of all this uncertainty. CHURCH GOERS ARE…A LITTLE UNCERTAIN As a church leader texted me recently, opening is so much harder than closing. The Barna Group is doing  weekly polling  that, leading up to Easter, showed 49% and even 59% reported surging online attendance compared to their former in-person attendance. Since Easter, that’s dropped. Now, only 25% of churches are reporting an attendance surge above previous levels, and in talking to leaders every week, more are seeing their online numbers drop. So what about reopening? Who will be streaming back as doors open again? A recent related poll of thousands of church leaders facilitated by Gloo showed people have little consensus around when they feel ‘safe’ to gather again in public. Asked which other type of activity BEST signals to you that it is time to open in-person worship at the church, the most common answer was a  low community level of COVID cases (21.5%) Other responses included when: Social distancing and stay home guidelines are lifted: 17% Local businesses are open: 14% Local restaurant seating areas are open 8% Testing is widely available and utilized 6% Schools are open 4% Vaccine available 3% But the following results also speak volumes: 15% said they would only return when all the conditions are met (low cases, business open, restrictions lifted, vaccine available). 10% admitted they just weren’t sure. Essentially, 25% either aren’t sure or aren’t coming back for a long time. An additional 30% of respondents said they’d rather worship at home and only return when they can be mask-free at church. I know, that’s not encouraging, but it’s both real and understandable. If you’d like to poll  your  congregations on these questions (for free) and even add a few questions of your own,  you can do that here . So how do you put this all into perspective? Here are four thoughts that I hope can help guide you as you make some very pivotal decisions. After all, re-opening your church is so much more complex than closing it ever was. 1. BECOME A LOT MORE AGILE: NORMAL ISN’T COMING BACK ANY TIME SOON Church leaders who are waiting for things to get back to normal will be waiting a long time. It’s hard to go back to normal when normal disappeared. So much has changed, not just in terms of what’s legally allowed (or morally responsible) but, as the poll results suggest,  in terms of how people think. And to make it more personal, consider how  you  think. For example, even if you could, do you really want to get into a crowded restaurant right now? Would you want general admission floor tickets to hear your favorite band so you could crush in with everyone else? Probably not. At least I wouldn’t. The psychology of human behavior has an entirely new dynamic that leaders will have to deal with. Before you over-spiritualize it, it’s not a question of faith over fear. It’s a sign that this is a deeply confusing, changing time. People need to be led and cared for, they just need to be led and cared for differently. Instead, pivot into a  new  normal. Don’t be so focused on getting back to “normal” that you  step back into the past when you step back into your facility. To do that, you’ll have to become far more agile in the future than you have been in the past. In a culture of constant change and uncertainty, agility is ability, and flexibility is a superpower. If you’re curious as to how well-positioned you are to thrive in the new normal,  I have a new, short Agility Quiz  that can help you assess whether you’re likely to survive, thrive or struggle in the new normal. It’s just 14 question and results will be sent to you immediately.  Here’s the link . The bottom line is this: the more agile you are heading into the future, the better you’ll be able to realize (and even advance) your mission. 2. REMEMBER THAT YOU’VE ALREADY REACHED NEW PEOPLE The last few months haven’t been all loss. In fact, for many churches, that’s hardly the case. You’ve likely reached new people online, including many you haven’t yet met. The challenge with ministry online is a little like the challenge with new people who attend your church. It can be hard to get to know them. Even with physical attendance, countless churches have new people who attend, sit in the back row and don’t connect with anyone. Online just amplifies that, which is good and bad. You’re reaching new people…you just don’t know who. The key is to move toward engagement, encouraging online attenders to: Fill out an online welcome card or text their info in Like, comment or follow so you can connect more personally Take a step into an orientation group, small group or some kind of movement beyond attending service Join your email list Engagement is a sign of openness and a desire to connect. Just because you can’t see an online attender doesn’t mean they aren’t real. So don’t give up on the progress you’ve made. 3. REALIZE SOME ONLINE ATTENDERS WILL STAY ONLINE FOR A LONG TIME (AND THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH COVID) As we’ve already seen, even as your buildings reopen, not everyone will rush into church. Some of that is COVID related, but it’s actually much deeper than that. For years now,  the trend has been  for new people to watch online for weeks, months or even a year before they venture into a church’s physical building. That trend will not only continue, it will accelerate. Digital is the new default for our culture, and the current crisis only accelerated that. Church leaders who take all the resources they have been spending and investing in online church and move them back into physical ministry locations risk losing any online traction they’ve picked up as well as the audience that’s still watching. In the future, churches that have the largest impact will think of themselves as digital organizations with physical expressions rather than physical organizations with digital presences. So don’t let your foot off the digital pedal. 4. RESIST THE URGE TO MAKE ONLINE ATTENDERS OR NON-ATTENDERS SECOND-CLASS CITIZENS The church has enough dividing lines and judgmentalism already. We don’t need any more, and we should actively eliminate what we have. But it’s not that hard to imagine that both church leaders and church members would start to divide themselves into two categories The truly faithful, risk-taking, trusting, in-person attenders who are loyal and deeply Christian Everybody else That’s not just sinful, it’s stupid (as well as unstrategic). Church leaders, if you stand there with a scowl on your face every Sunday angry about empty seats, why would anyone want to sit in one? When you devalue people—curious people, frightened people, anxious people, cautious people, new people, hurt people—you sabotage the very mission you’re trying to accomplish. People can smell judgment a mile away. So, church leaders, stop judging. This is a very critical moment for the church moving forward. Church leaders who embrace infrequent attenders, online attenders and non-attenders will eventually have more attenders. Those who don’t, won’t. 5. BE LESS CONTROLLING: BEING CONTROLLING AND BEING EFFECTIVE ARE USUALLY MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE I know this sounds axiomatic, but the truth is God is still in control. Every leader is struggling with a loss of control. I am. The truth is you can’t control: The economy Whether people return to church When people return to church Your numbers Human behavior The future And that’s massively frightening for a lot of leaders. You had a system that worked…and now, it’s gone. But that’s okay. God is still in control. You aren’t. You never were. So what do you do? For starters, focus on what you can control, not on what you can’t. You and I can’t manipulate events or people, but you can respond to what’s happening and try to help people in the midst of it. Second, look for the opportunity instead of the obstacle. My favorite question to ask during the crisis is the simple question “What does this make possible?” The church has always been at its best when it’s under pressure. It’s one thing to preach that God is doing a new thing. It’s another thing to embrace it. I imagine that God is reforming and reshaping the church for the future. You resist that, or you can embrace it. Here’s a principle I’m reminding myself of these days: Being highly controlling and highly effective are mutually exclusive. In your desire to control things and get back to ‘normal,’ are you squeezing out new things God may want to do in you and through you? I don’t know the answer to that question, but I sense the question is important. I’m asking it personally. www.careynieuwhof.com .

NATIONAL COMMUNITY CHURCH Mountains Move: Enough is Enough Mark Batterson Welcome to all eight of our campuses. We were supposed to end the Mountains Move series last week but I wanted to wear this shirt one more time! Actually I want to share a testimony with you, a testimony that I believe has been in the making for 40 years. It would be a sin of omission for me not to share it. So I’m excited about this weekend but I want to tell you what’s happened in my life. I am a little bit at a loss for words, which is saying something for a preacher. Let me ask you a question. What is your earliest memory? That is the question that the famed psychologist Alfred Adler would ask every patient he counseled at their very first counseling session. Adler would listen as they shared their earliest memory and his response would be the same with every client every time. After they shared their earliest memory, Alfred Adler would say, ‘And so life is.’ Adler believed that our earliest memories leave a unique and powerful imprint on the soul that create a baseline in our lives. For better or for worse, those early memories become emotional and mental default settings, if you will. So let me share three of my earliest memories. I was five years old. I was at my grandparents’ home in Minnesota. I always had a blast at their house. They only had one rule and the rule was this. My grandfather was a professor of the University of Minnesota and one of his prized possessions was a fossil collection. So the rule was do not play with Grandpa’s fossils. Those fossils were the tree of the knowledge of good and evil! You can call me Adam because I remember picking it up with my five year old hands and I remember the fossil falling out of my hands and I remember it cracking on the ground and as it did, my heart cracked in two. My grandfather walked into the room and he assessed the situation. He didn’t scold me. He didn’t spank me. What he did I will remember for the rest of my life. He picked me up and held me close and gave me a bear hug. It was my first taste of grace. It was the first time I experienced an incarnation of grace. I was scared. I knew what I did was wrong but in that moment, that is my first definition of grace. We have a core value as a church, love people when they least expect it and least deserve it. It traces back to that one incident. And so life is. Let me go back a little further. When I was four years old, a neighbor friend rode his bike over to my house and made a little pronouncement. I had a habit of borrowing his bike whenever I wanted to and so evidently he got tired of it and he came down and told me I couldn’t ride his bike any longer because his dad took off the training wheels. And then he biked back to his house five doors down. Well I marched down to his house and I got on his bike and I rode his bike back to my house without training wheels. And I kicked the kickstand down in our driveway. Because I want to tell you something, if you want to get me to do something, tell me it can’t be done. I need a challenge. I have needed a challenge since I was four years old. And so life is. But neither of those are my earliest memory. My earliest memory would be this. I was three years old and I woke up in the middle of the night and I couldn’t breathe. And that sensation for a three old, scary experience. I walked into my parents’ room and woke them up and my Dad picked me up and carried me out to the car and drove me to the hospital where I got a shot of epinephrine and as that adrenaline began to flood my bloodstream, my lungs began to open back up and I could breathe again. We went back home and I went back to sleep. That routine was repeated night after night after night, week after week until finally we went and saw the doctor and the doctor diagnosed me with asthma and gave me an inhaler. And that inhaler became my best friend for the next 40 years. Every single day, I would take a puff of that inhaler multiple times. I never went anywhere without it. I was an athlete. I played basketball in high school and college. Everywhere I played, there would be an inhaler in my sock. I would exercise with it. I would sleep with it right next to my bedside. Hardly any nights that I wouldn’t wake up and have to take a puff. I would swim with it. You name it. I never go anywhere without my inhaler. Never. That is my earliest memory. And so life is. So let me ask you a question. What is your earliest memory? I want you to hold that thought and I want you to turn to Deuteronomy 1:6. Let’s stand as I read God’s Word. I think this is a good ending note for the Mountains Move series. 6 “The Lord our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying: ‘You have dwelt long enough at this mountain. 7 Turn and take your journey, and go to the mountains of the Amorites. You have stayed at this mountain long enough. Turn to your neighbor and say enough is enough. Enough is enough. If you are taking notes, jot this down. I think it is a framing thought. It is hard to imagine what you cannot remember. It is hard to imagine what you cannot remember. Let me explain what I mean. If you grew up without a father, or if you grew up with an abusive father, it is very hard for you to imagine a loving heavenly father because you don’t have a memory of a moment with an earthly father to give you a benchmark, a baseline in your life. Because you don’t have a memory, it is a little bit harder to imagine. I had a dad who had to take me to the hospital night after night after night and he would do it patiently and lovingly and willingly and I hadn’t really thought about it before this weekend but I think that memory of my dad taking me to the hospital helps me imagine a heavenly Father who is an ever-present help in time of need. It is hard to imagine what you cannot remember. What does that have to do with Deuteronomy 1:6? Everything. What was the earliest memory of the Israelites? Their earliest memory, their only memory was slavery. This is all they had known their entire lives. It was all they had known for 10 generations. It was their baseline. It is was their default setting. And so life is. It was hard for them to imagine freedom. What is that? It was hard for them to imagine a promised land, a destiny beyond slavery. It was hard for them to imagine victory. When you have a 400 year losing streak, it tends to create a defeatist mentality. Slavery was their status quo. Their memory was their mountain. And I think that’s true for many of us. Painful memories. Shameful memory. A memory of a mistake made. And the enemy starts playing games with us. God has forgiven it and God doesn’t just forgive, God forgets. But the enemy reminds us over and over and over. So my earliest memory is an asthma attack. It is all I can remember so it is very hard for me to imagine anything else. But something happened seven weeks ago. I’ve been waiting to tell you. We kicked off this series with a challenge. The challenge was this. What is the bravest prayer you can pray? Instead of me re-hashing it, let me go back and show you two minutes from that message and I will come back and show you what happened. [video clip] So what is the hardest thing that you can believe God for during this series? What is the bravest prayer that you could pray over the next seven weeks? All I know is that Joshua asked the sun to stand still and then Elijah asked an iron axe head to float. Oh and then Jesus asked his Father to raise a man who had been dead for four days. You can ask God to move that mountain. Let me be very transparent. Alright Pastor Mark, what is it for you? What is your mighty mountain? I’ve had asthma since I was three years old. I’ve been hospitalized more weeks than you can imagine. I’ve taken more puffs of inhalers than anyone could possibly count. It is frustrating. I have prayed every prayer and I’ve tried everything but I want you to know that I’m going to keep speaking to that mountain because I believe in a God who is able to heal. In the meantime, I’m able to tell you that I wouldn’t be who I am or where I am without that thorn in the flesh. God has used it and redeemed it in my life. There are certain things about my personality or about my character that I don’t think I could have learned any other way. So it is crazy, in one regard I am grateful. And I know that someday I’m going to go jogging on streets of gold and I will not grow weary and it won’t be my lungs that hold me back from what it is I’m trying to do. So two weeks ago at our prayer night, I issued that challenge. What is the bravest prayer that you could pray? So I asked some people to pray for me that the Lord would touch my lungs and heal my asthma. I want you to know that in the last couple of weeks, I’ve had to take my inhaler. You need to know that. But I also want you to know that I went four days without taking my inhaler. It has been years and years that I went four days. Then I hiked Cadillac Mountain without a single puff of my inhaler. So I’m not going to wait for 100 percent healing. I’m going to celebrate the improvement. I’m going to celebrate when I discern that God is moving. I’m not going to despise the day of small beginnings. I’m going to celebrate the little thing and I’m going to believe God for complete healing because I know that He is able. That may seem unreasonable to some people. So be it. [end video clip] And this is where a sermon becomes a testimony. Something happened that weekend that was unique. After I had preached that message at a few different campuses, one person came up to me and said it what their first time at NCC and they said the night before, they had had a dream and in that dream they were praying for someone who couldn’t breathe and in their dream, it was crazy, but they were laying hands on that person and praying in tongues and they said they just came to this church this morning and it may not be a coincidence. What would you think about me praying for you? I thought, well I’ve never tried that before, let’s give it a go! So we did what that person had dreamed. And then someone else came up to me and said that God had given them a picture and that in that picture, there was a snake wrapped around my neck. I almost hesitate sharing that because that sounds strange and scary but I can’t think of a better description of what I felt like my entire life. Something has constricted my breathing my entire life. They just issued a challenge and said you need to take an axe to the root of whatever it is. So long story short, I think as I preached that weekend, I think I actually believed what I preached. And I think I came to a point where I said enough is enough, I’ve stayed at this mountain long enough. Here’s the thing, you don’t get to tell God when and where and how the miracle happens, but there are moments when you can step out in faith and believe God. I don’t know why, so many times it seems like that prayer for healing has gone unanswered but a switch flipped 50 days ago. I want you to know I haven’t taken my inhaler between then and now. That is 50 days! If you add up all the days over 40 years that I haven’t taken a puff of my inhaler, it wouldn’t add up to 50. I want to be very careful this weekend because I don’t have the emotional capacity or the verbal ability to put into words because it is so unbelievable and so unexplainable to me. But that’s what a miracle is. So I want to try to carefully share this testimony and I want to share a biblical thought at the end and just believe that somehow God will get us where He wants us to go. Oswald Chambers said let God be as original with others as He was with you. When I read the gospels, I don’t see miracles happening the same way every time. They happen in different ways and crazy ways and I think the reason is because God knew that we would try to reduce it down to a formula. It is not a formula that results in healing and it is certainly now any combination of words formulated into the right prayer that becomes some kind of abracadabra. It is about our heart and about being in a posture of humility. It is about consecrating ourselves to God. It is not about telling God how to do, what to do and when to do what He does. It is just about letting God do something in your life. But I think there is a moment where enough is enough. So I share that because I want to be very careful in the way that I share this testimony. A couple of weeks ago, I took a trip up to New York City with our campus pastors for a conference and I didn’t take an inhaler with me. You have to understand, I’ve never in 40 plus years gone anywhere without my inhaler ever. Anywhere. Ever. I have one everywhere. It was scary but I felt like it was a step of faith that I needed to take. This is where I want to be careful. I believe that medicine is a miracle. I’m so grateful for doctors. My life has been saved so many times from emergency surgery for ruptured intestines to a code blue in the hospital when I was 13 to all those times when I have an asthma attack and I wouldn’t have survived without an inhaler or a shot of epinephrine. So I’m not suggesting that you go off your med! Do you hear me? But I felt like God said you’ve stayed at this mountain long enough, it is time to step out in faith. So here’s what I did. I think you have to pray like it depends on God and work like it depends on you. So when God healed my asthma, I didn’t immediately start smoking! I just think that would be at odds with God’s game plan for my lungs! So what I did was I set up an appointment with my doctor. Jesus said go and show yourself to the priest. So I went and saw my doctor and I asked him if we could do a pulmonary function test. I got my results on day 23 and I just want to be absolutely as transparent as I can be. I was a little discouraged when I got those results because it said a low level of bronchial spasm, or in other words, an underlying tendency towards asthma. At first I was discouraged for a couple minutes and then I thought to myself, wait, that is not asthma! That is just an underlying tendency toward asthma! Are you kidding me! That is a long way from where I was. It also was only 2.2 percentage points away from no tendency! It said no restrictive lung disease based on lung volumes and the diffusion capacity within my lungs is within a normal range. So I said to the doctor, can we schedule another pulmonary function test in three months? And I can’t wait! I think that only God can deliver you from certain things, but deliverance has to be coupled with due diligence. Deliverance has to be coupled with disciplines. God can do a miracle in your life. Like in the gospels where the man cleans out the house. But then if you don’t put it in order, the way you break a bad habit is you establish a good habit. You have to replace something in your life. So I felt like, let’s go to work on this thing. So I started reading books on breathing and I realized that I had breathed the wrong way my entire life. There is a wrong way to breath! How many of you know you ought to be breathing through your nose? And how many of you don’t know that? I didn’t know that. By the way, Genesis 2:7 is no coincidence, that God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. I won’t get into nitrate oxide or the over breathing part of breathing through your mouth but I realized I had been doing this wrong my entire life. So I’ve been doing breathing exercises. If you pass me on the street as I am walking to the office, you might see me gasping for breath because I’m doing breathing exercises everywhere I go. I’m seeing how many paces I can hold my breath. I do breathing exercises in the morning and all day. I see how long I can hold my breath. Then you and me are going to have a contest! I started researching different diets and supplements because what I realized is that because this memory was so old, it had become an assumption in my life. And I felt like there was nothing I could do about it. I began to realize that honestly, I don’t really watch what I eat like I could or should. I think much of what I eat causes some chronic inflammation which is part of the undercurrent of what causes asthma. So I decided to do some diet stuff and some supplement stuff. No supplement can compensate for bad diet, ok. But creation is pretty amazing and there are some things with some amazing properties, some of which I don’t think you should take, or smoke! But some of them have amazing healing properties and some of them anti-inflammatories. So here’s what I decided. I’m going to do anything and everything that is legal and biblical because I’m not tolerating anymore. I’m not going to submit to it and if I go down, I’m going to go down swinging. I’m not going to take it sitting down. Again, this came out of that message because I believed what I preached. What are you tolerating that is robbing God of his glory? What are you tolerating that is short changing the price that Jesus paid on the cross? What are you tolerating that is less than God’s good, perfect pleasing will? What are you tolerating that is acceptable but it is not beneficial and you know it? We have to stop tolerating those things. Then the last thing I did was go out and get a trainer. I have found the better cardio vascular shape I am in, the happy my lungs are. So I’m going to pray like it depends on God. I believe God healed me. God delivered me. And I’m going to back it up with some discipline. I’m going to work like it depends on me. So here we are. I went back and looked at my journal. I keep a gratitude journal and I number them. About every day, it really upped my total over the last fifty days! Every day, day six, no inhaler, day 12, no inhaler. To me it is 365 gratitudes a year. You have stayed at this mountain long enough. And this is says, let’s get back into the text here, you’ve stayed at this mountain long enough, then it is the next two words that are critical, break camp. It seems like a simple command but it is easier said than done and this is where I want to get in your business. Let me come at it from a different angle. How many of you have ever lost your salvation on your way to church? Let me see your hands? C’mon. How many of you have put your marriage in jeopardy and almost got divorced on the way to church? And then how many of you almost put your kids up for adoption on the way to church? I don’t know what it is, it seems like the enemy’s number one tactic is people going to church. He gets in our business. I have found that it is hard to get our family of five anywhere, anytime for anything. And I remember when we had babies! Good luck! You will never be on time for anything. When you go to the bathroom, there is a high chance they will be swimming in the toilet. It is ridiculous trying to get myself from here to there. It is harder with my wife and I. And with a family of five. Here’s my point. Try millions of people camped at Mount Sinai and God says break camp and advance into the hill country of the Amorites. They had babies. They had flocks and herds and animals. They rode donkeys. There was no air conditioning. How was anybody in a decent mood? Oh and then there was the tabernacle. The Levites were responsible for moving the tabernacle. There were three clans, 8,580 tabernacle movers must to move the tabernacle. What I’m saying is, I bet they were saying can’t we just stay here. Breaking camp is a big deal. But if you keep doing what you’ve always done, you are going to keep getting what you’ve always gotten. If you want God to do something new, you cannot stay camped out at that mountain. You can’t keep tolerating it. You have to stop tolerating and start dominating. That is God’s original commission to you. Genesis 1:28 God blessed them and said be fruitful and multiply and increase in number and subdue the earth. I like that word ‘subdue.’ The Greek word is kibosh. It’s a Batman fight word. Bam! Wham! Kibosh! It is a submission move in martial arts. It means to conquer, to thoroughly conquer. You have to take dominion over your attitude. You have to quit complaining. You have to quit making excuses. Quit playing the victim. You’ve stayed at this mountain long enough! You have to take dominion over your thoughts. Take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ. It is not easy. Is there another option? No, not biblically. You have to take dominion over your body. Paul was not exactly an Olympic athlete. He was probably a 100 pound weakling. That’s my guess. But I love his description in I Corinthians 9:27 I train my body like an athlete. The King James says I bring it into subjection. Don’t tolerate it. Take dominion over it. Some of you need to take dominion over your marriage. It starts with taking some action. I think a lot of people think that going to see a counselor is a sign of weakness, but no, it is a sign of strength. Very few people are strong enough and have enough courage to actually say I have an issue that I need help with. You have stayed at the mountain long enough. How is it working for you? If it is not working, then it may be time to break camp. That is what I want to challenge you to do. Let me close with this story. In 2007, JK Rowling was struggling to complete the last book in the Harry Potter series. She was feeling intense pressure and one day when she was in her home office, she said, ‘I was finishing Deathly Hallows, there came a day when the window cleaner came, the kids were at home, the dogs were barking,’ so she couldn’t finish because she couldn’t focus. So she checked into a hotel and she didn’t check out until she finished the manuscript. Georgetown professor wrote a great book, Deep Work, and he writes about this. He said Rowling’s decision to check into a luxurious hotel suite is an example of a curiosity but effective strategy in the world of deep work. The grand gesture. The Bible is filled with grand gestures. I would say that building as arc was a grand gesture. Confronting Pharaoh, let my people go, a grand gesture. How about the priest stepping into the Jordan River before God parted it? What about the Israelites circling Jericho for seven days? How about Elisha burning his plowing equipment? What about Elisha lying on his left side for 390 days? What about the wise men following a star? Peter getting out of the boat in the middle of the sea? I would say that Jesus hanging on a Roman cross was a grand gesture. I think there comes a moment where enough is enough. We are going to break camp and advance into the hill country. Let me be point blank, don’t do something dumb! There is dumb faith. There is stuff you can do that is just dumb. Let’s not do that! What I’m talking about is a prayerful approach. I’m talking about getting a word from God and when you get that word, you act on it. It is time to take that step. It is time to make a move. We started this series talking about Zachariah speaking to the mountain. I wonder if that was what was going through Jesus’ mind as we look at this last verse, Matthew 21:18 18 Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. 19 Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered. Yes, He was talking to a tree! An amazing miracle, one of my favorites. He cursed a barren fig tree. Most of the miracles bring things back to life but this one does the exact opposite. One of my mantras is thou shalt curse barren fig trees. What I mean is, what is not producing fruit in your life? Where are you wasting time, talent and treasure? That is another sermon for another day but at some point, you have to curse the barren fig tree. You have to speak to that part of your life. This isn’t the only instance. He spoke to wind and waves. Peace be still. And the storm went away. Remember Peter’s mother-in-law, he rebuked a fever. Then He took it one step further in this passage. 21 Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. 22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” Who speaks to inanimate objects? Maybe the One who created them? The One who has authority over them? If you have only been here one or two or seven weeks, I’m more concerned that you don’t take this message in the full context. If you have been around here, you know my heart and you know that I’m getting in your business this weekend. My faith is on fire and I have enough faith to believe that God can move the mountain in your life. I just don’t want you to keep tolerating it. But I also want to be careful to say you can’t just go around and rebuke this and rebuke that. Everybody can’t go in Monday and rebuke their boss. That’s not what we are talking about! This is not mind over matter. It is not a Jedi mind trick. It is authority over reality. The authority of God over reality. It has to be in the will of God and for the glory of God. I can’t tell you when or where or how but I do know this. God won’t answer 100 percent of the prayers you don’t pray. And the mountains you don’t speak to are going to stay right there. So there comes a moment, I think this is the moment I hit seven weeks ago, so ahead and talk to God about your mountain. But then at some point you have to fill the script and you have to start talking to your mountain about your God who is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine according to his power that is at work within us. You have stayed at this mountain long enough. Break camp and advance into the destiny that God has for you. Father, help this word take root and bear fruit in our hearts. Lord I know it is not my words, it is the Holy Spirit somewhere between my lips and people’s hearts. I believe that some people, there has been a faith that has risen within them this weekend, that during this series they have believed. Maybe it is an early memory, something that is hard to imagine. But God I believe that You are able and I pray that You give us the courage to ask and to believe one more time for that miracle in our lives. Not for us but for your glory, that God your kingdom would come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. God I pray would your kingdom come and invade the reality of our lives. Would we recognize by faith that reality is subject to your authority because You are the Creator. So we consecrate ourselves and offer ourselves and humble ourselves and say do it again God! In Jesus’ name, Amen. Transcribed by: Ministry Transcription margaretsalyers@gmail.com

Are you praying a lot for health these days? I am. How many of your prayers are for your or others’ health or safety? If we were to take every prayer prayed in America in my lifetime, I imagine a large percentage of those prayers would be for health and safety. And if you were to take every prayer prayed in the past two months the number of prayers prayed for health and safety would be staggering. God welcomes these prayers. And he hears them. We need only look to the Bible to see many prayers for health and welfare. Here are a few: [M]y God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior; you save me from violence. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. – 2 Samuel 22:3-4 But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;     let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them,     that those who love your name may exult in you. For you bless the righteous, O Lord;     you cover him with favor as with a shield. – Psalm 5:11-12 May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob protect you! – Psalm 20:1 Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;     preserve me from violent men,     who have planned to trip up my feet. – Psalm 140:4 So should we pray for health and safety? Certainly! Especially in these uncertain days, pray to God for your health and that God would halt the spread of COVID-19. But these prayers ought to lead us even deeper, to prayers for spiritual health and safety. In the past month, we’ve had the opportunity to preach on the demoniac ( Matthew 9 ) and on the first chapter of Job . In each of these passages, we get a glimpse into the spiritual realms that usually elude us. I’ve been sobered by the reality of how little I understand. I am easily duped by my over-reliance on what I see with my eyes. Paul has quite a different perspective. Paul tells us that what we don’t see is more significant than what we do see. The spiritual, unseen world is more real than the world we see. He concludes his letter to the church at Ephesus with an admonition to clothe oneself in spiritual armor because of this reality: Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. – Ephesians 6:11-12 Do my prayers mirror this perspective on what is the most real? Do I pray with as much (or more!) urgency for spiritual protection as I pray for physical protection? Consider these reminders and prayers: Because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay. You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. – Psalm 16:10-11 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble . – Psalm 46:1 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. –  Matthew 6:13 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one . – John 17:15 But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one . – 2 Thessalonians 3:3 These prayers do not devalue prayers for physical protection and care. More than anything, God wants us to cry out to him. He loves to hear and respond to our prayers for health and safety. But I think what God would love would be for those prayers to be springboards for us to continue deeper still and pray earnest prayers for spiritual safety. If our physical safety is as fragile as these past months have made us all realize it is, how much more fragile is our spiritual safety? God’s grip is secure. He will not lose any of his sheep. And yet, the enemy longs to unleash a spiritual pandemic that would ravage God’s flock. The enemy desires to see us in the grip of fear and addiction. The enemy would want nothing more than for us to believe that what we see is all there is. May we pray vigilantly against this spiritual robber who lurks on our doorstep. Cry out to God for your physical safety and health and for your loved ones. But may every prayer we pray for our physical protection be doubled by a prayer for our and our loved ones’ spiritual protection. www.thebeehive.live . Used by permission.

When I saw the movie Paul, Apostle of Christ, I was surprised at how dark it was, focusing almost exclusively on Rome’s brutal violence done against Christians and their children. Paul is suffering in prison nearly all the movie, and even the flashbacks are either him suffering or inflicting suffering on others. Of course, historically there was plenty of such violence, and we don’t want it whitewashed! That’s not my concern. But Paul’s life contained many events that were beautiful—including strong relationships, miracles, healings, demons cast out, and radical conversions with infusions of happiness. We wished for a few happy flashbacks of the joy he experienced knowing and serving Jesus, as seen throughout the book of Acts. (Given the good reviews I read, no doubt God is using the movie in some people’s lives. And if you’re among them, that’s great!) It also seemed odd to show the community of faith’s suffering endlessly without depicting their joy. In the movie, the believers in hiding are portrayed as divided and squabbling and nearly always distraught. I’m all for realistic portrayals of suffering and hardship (I’ve written three books on the problem of  evil and suffering ), and certainly first-century Christians experienced much heartbreak and persecution. But they also experienced happiness, celebration, and the abundant life in the midst of difficulty. Their lives were punctuated by feasting and singing and laughing and rejoicing. (It almost feels like there’s an underlying assumption in this movie that God has called His people to unhappiness in this life and that happiness is unspiritual. I address this issue  here .) I felt like the takeaway was, “Christians live miserable lives now, but in the end Heaven will make up for it.” Well, true, Heaven will more than make up for a miserable life, but the early Christians, while enduring some miseries to be sure, were characterized in this life  by a transcendent joy and hope and peace. The Early Church’s Happiness in Jesus We see the seeds of the early church’s happiness right away after Jesus ascended ( Luke 24:51-52 ): “While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great  joy .” The CEV says, “They returned to Jerusalem and were very  happy .” Because Jesus was alive, and because he promised to be with his followers always and return for them one day, their joy went deep and overflowed the banks of their lives. The early church enjoyed both the Lord’s Supper (breaking bread) and “love feasts” ( Jude 1:12 ).  Acts 2:46  describes the gatherings of the believers: “Day after day they met together in the temple. They broke bread together in different homes and shared their food  happily and freely ” (CEV). There’s an intriguing phrase in  Acts 2:47  that describes the church in Jerusalem as “having favor with all the people.” What exactly were these early Christians doing that brought them such esteem? The preceding verses tell us: “And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts” (v. 45-46). When unbelievers witnessed the generosity and joy of these believers, they saw how they loved one another, and many came to faith: “And the Lord added to their number day by day  those who were being saved”  ( Acts 2:47 , italics mine). Their open hands and genuine happiness demonstrated the life-changing power of the gospel. Athenian philosopher Aristides wrote to the Emperor Hadrian (c. 117-138 AD) and said this about the early church: Every morning and all hours on account of the goodness of God toward them, they render praise and laud Him over their food and their drink; they render Him thanks. And if any righteous person of their number passes away from this world, they rejoice and give thanks to God and they follow his body as though he were moving from one place to another. And when a child is born to them, they praise God, and if again it chances to die in its infancy, they praise God mightily, as for one who has passed through the world without sins. Supernatural Joy and Gladness in Persecution Scripture tells us something even more surprising. When believers in the early church faced persecution for following Jesus, this was their response: “They left the presence of the council,  rejoicing  that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name” ( Acts 5:41 ). The Contemporary English Version and five others translate it, “They were  happy .” How could anyone be happy in suffering? Because they found joy in being enough like Jesus to be treated as He had been. Note that they rejoiced  not  because they suffered (self-glorifying masochism) but because they were considered  worthy  to suffer for Jesus (God-glorifying grace). We see this same supernatural reality in other passages (see  Matthew 5:12 ;  Romans 5:3 ;  James 1:2-3 ;  1 Peter 4:13 ). It’s as if our eternal happiness works its way backward into the suffering of the present moment, washing over us as a foretaste of our imminent, unending joy. Consider what happened to Paul and Silas in Philippi: “The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison. . . . [The jailer] put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks” ( Acts 16:22-24 ). Sadly, God’s people have been treated this way throughout history, but the next verse is astonishing: “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them” (verse 25). Why were the prisoners listening? Because to sing hymns is to express praise and joy and focus on God, not oneself. Such actions speak powerfully to unbelievers. Words alone are cheap, but joy in suffering gets people’s attention—it demands a supernatural explanation! Countless believers have used their platform of suffering, combined with Christ-centered happiness, to attract people to the gospel. Paul’s Rejoicing in the Lord Paul’s joyful, peaceful response to imprisonment in Philippi was characteristic of his walk with Jesus, although yes, as a result of following Christ, he lost everything. He described his daily adversity, persecution, and nearness to death ( 2 Corinthians 4:7-12 ). Two chapters later Paul referred to his troubles, hardships, distresses, beatings, imprisonments, riots, sleepless nights, and hunger, as well as the experience of nearly dying, and being sorrowful and poor ( 2 Corinthians 6:3-10 ). And in chapter 11, he wrote an even more graphic portrayal of his hardships (v. 23-29). Ultimately, his imprisonment led to his death at Nero’s command. Yet this same Paul said he was “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” ( 2 Corinthians 6:10 ). Sorrow and joy can and do coexist, for now. Note that the “always” in this verse is applied to rejoicing, not being sorrowful. Sometimes sorrow and joy do battle; sometimes they coexist, but when our hearts and minds are on Christ, joy is never far away: “You changed my sorrow into dancing. You took away my clothes of sadness, and clothed me in happiness” ( Psalm 30:11, NCV ). Paul, writing from prison in Rome, calls on us to rejoice in the Lord not periodically, but always:  “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Philippian 4:4 ) . Surely, with the Holy Spirit’s help, he followed his own instructions! That word translated  rejoice  means to be glad, to be happy, to delight in, to find pleasure in. The Hebrew and Greek words that are translated  joy  are synonyms of happiness. This verse could just as easily be translated, “Be happy in the Lord; again I say be happy.” But notice what we’re to be happy in. We’re to be happy  in the Lord . Paul followed verse 4 with this encouragement: “The Lord is at hand,” which itself is a reason to rejoice. God is with us, never abandons us, and will deliver us soon, whether by death or by His return. Paul understood that those who know Christ can be happy in Him when every outward circumstance argues against being happy. This is what David experienced when he wrote, “When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul” ( Psalm 94:19 ). It’s what James and Peter were saying when they told believers to be glad when facing hardships (see  James 1:2 ;  1 Peter 4:13 ). Nowhere in Scripture is happiness reserved for when life seems to be going our way. Life’s dramas constantly conspire to rob us of joy. But these circumstances, and our short-comings, aren’t nearly as big or as permanent or as powerful as God and His happiness, which in His grace He offers His beloved children. And this offer is not just for “then and there,” after we die, but for “here and now,” while we still live in a fallen world, in and with and by the grace of a risen Jesus. The apostle Paul and the rest of the early church experienced this kind of supernatural happiness, and because the same Holy Spirit that indwelt them lives in us, so can we. By the way, if you’d like to study Paul’s life more, I recommend first reading or listening to the book of Acts and letters of Paul.  If you want a quick illustrated read on the apostle Paul see my graphic novel The Apostle . I spent a lot of time studying his life to write it, and chose many of the great action scenes in Acts and added some scenes to tie it together. Or if you want a serious biography,  The Apostle: A Life of Paul  is a classic.www.epm.org . Used by permission.

Have you lost your joy? Joylessness is not a respecter of grandparents. Even those who anticipate special occasions with great delight are susceptible to it. Allowing their focus and priorities to get out of whack in all the details of preparation and celebration, their joy wanes. So, what’s a grandparent to do when they feel robbed of their joy? Acknowledging the reality of their situation, our grandparent must decide to stand up and fight. And one way to fight is to establish some JOYFUL habits. It’s certainly not easy work, but it is JOYFUL work that is worth the effort. 10 Habits of Joyful Grandparents Keep God #1 Joyful grandparents establish priorities, keeping their eyes on God. True joy —joy that can’t be shaken when the days are gloomy and gray, exhaustion prevails from caring for your grandchildren, or you feel the ache of not being permitted to have any contact with them—is only found in God. Biblical Joy – a settled conviction in our soul, produced by the Holy Spirit as He causes us to see the beauty of Christ in the Word and in the world, even in the midst of our circumstances.* Kim Young, Joy Forevermore *Definition tweaked from,  John Piper  — “ Christian joy is a good feeling in the soul, produced by the Holy Spirit, as he causes us to see the beauty of Christ in the word and in the world. “ Do ALL things unto Christ Grandparents filled with joy don’t get caught up in what other people think – about their decision to invest their retirement years in their adult children and grandchildren rather than on their own pleasure or any of the other “grandparent-stuff.” They work for an Audience of One and realize the honor of serving Him by serving their family. ( Colossians 3:23 ) Keep an eternal focus Joyful grandparents are intentional with their time. They prayerfully examine their motives and evaluate their activity. ( 1 Corinthians 10:31 ) “Why am I spending time on this?” “Am I doing this for selfish reasons?” “Are my reasons for engaging in this Christ-honoring?” “Is this a frivolous use of time or does it bring glory to God?” Practice gratitude Joyful grandparents make a conscious effort to find things for which they are thankful. They train their minds to look for blessings, and they choose to focus their attention on these things. “Thanksgiving is the precursor to joy” –Kathy Keller Choose to be joyful Joyful grandparents choose joy. We can’t always control the things that happen to us… our teen grandchild turns from God. we aren’t permitted to talk about God with our grandchild. our adult child won’t allow us to have any contact with our grandchildren. health issues keep us from being as involved as we would like with our grands. we are raising our grandchildren. We can, however, control how we react. We can control whether we choose joy or bitterness, thanksgiving or anger, happiness or discontentment. Refuse to compare Comparison is a thief of joy! Joyful grandparents don’t compare their lives to the lives of other grandparents. They don’t compare bank accounts, energy levels, or proximity to grandchildren. Neither do they allow themselves to get caught in the vicious circle of trying to “out give” their grandchildren’s other grandparents. Instead, they realize there is no need for comparison as they are already seated at the table with Christ. “The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else’s highlight reel.” Steven Furtick Take care of their marriage As much as we’d like to believe the quality of our marriage doesn’t affect our grandparenting, for most of us at least, that’s just not the case. When my husband and I are at odds with one another, my attitude reflects the conflict—even if my husband isn’t home. When my marriage is not strong, my joy suffers. Take care of themselves Joyful grandparents take care of their bodies by staying active, eating relatively healthy meals, resting, getting away occasionally to be refreshed, and investing in things that bring them joy. (Of course, there are times when we should make sacrifices for our family, but that doesn’t mean we should always sacrifice, never taking care of ourselves.) Say “no” so they can say “yes” Joyful grandparents keep their priorities straight. They learn (sometimes with very great effort) to say “no” to the good, so they can say “yes” to the best. A habit of always saying, “Yes,” can fill our schedules so full, there is no room for the “best” when it comes along. This habit can also fill us with exhaustion and stress rather than joy.  Ask for help This one is tough. Joyful grandparents make themselves vulnerable by asking for help. When in doubt, they ask other grandparents for advice. They also ask for prayer and accountability. Joyful grandparents ask their adult children (the parents of their grandchildren) for their preferences (bedtime, snacks, routines, discipline, etc.) They also ask their grandchildren to help with chores, share needs and prayer requests, or even to help with technology. Asking is risky. What will our grandchildren think of us? Perhaps our children’s preferences will require some effort on our part. That other grandparent might turn down our request.  But if we never risk asking, we’ll never reap the benefits or experience the joy that can be ours in walking this journey with others. How do you fight for joy? www.deborahhaddix.com .

Dear Roger, For Mother’s Day, please tell me more about the “ideal woman and mother” in Proverbs 31. I see that it was written by King Lemuel, but who was he? I’d also like to know more about his description of his mother and what it means today. Thanks, Leticia Dear Leticia, Proverbs 31 is often taught—by a man—as a report card to see how well a woman measures up to certain standards. That’s a rotten shame! This proverb clearly shows us how to value and appreciate the things a wife and/or mother does for her family. Its author, King Lemuel, summarized his mother’s teaching and character in this echoing word of praise: “A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies” (Proverbs 31:10). First, it’s important to note that no one knows the identity of King Lemuel (mentioned in Proverbs 31:1). However, one thing seems clear, Solomon certainly was not the author of Proverbs 31. It’s hard to imagine this chapter being written by a man who had 700 wives and 300 concubines. In no way did Solomon exemplify a monogamous, godly husband and father. On the other hand, it’s clear that King Lemuel did. Advice Given by King Lemuel’s Mother (Proverbs 31:1-9) Allow me to summarize her advice: “Don’t consort, with prostitutes; they’ll decimate your life. Stay away from wine and never allow yourself to get drunk and thus forget decency and justice. Don’t pervert the rights of all the afflicted. Protect the rights of those left desolate. Maintain the rights of the poor and needy.” Now, let’s look at her qualities further and note how the “ideal” picture King Lemuel’s mom offers in the second section of the proverb may be putting undue pressure on moms. Best of all, let’s agree that no mom should be expected to be perfect, and that all are beloved. She Is Praised by Her Husband (Proverbs 31:11-27) The ideal woman is noticed and praised by her husband for her character, activities, and behaviors. I’ll summarize his praise for her: I have found: a “diamond in the rough.” She and I have a maturing partnership. She’s great at milling the grain, cooking, washing, making the meals, nursing the babies, and making the family’s clothes. She plans a garden and harvesters the grain. She seeks wool and flax, she and works with willing hands. She obtains food for our family at any cost. She gets up before dawn and makes breakfast. She buys real estate on which she cultivates and sells the crops for a profit. She works out to get strong muscles. She makes sure that all of her purchases are profitable. She cares for the children. She keeps her lights burning all night. She utilizes the spindle to make clothes for her family. The clothes that she makes are fine linen and purple. She gives to the poor and needy. There were no malls, no microwaves, and no TV dinners back in those days. Perhaps the equivalent today would be “Supermom”! But keep in mind that this is an ideal … it’s something perhaps to aspire to … but it’s not a chronicle of a real person. Her Children Rise Up and Call Her Blessed (Proverbs 31:28) Based on the rest of the chapter, I can imagine her children rolling out of bed without her needing a cattle prod. I can imagine her children actually dressing themselves and brushing their teeth without a reminder. Her children’s rooms are not a trash dumps, and they can actually get from the bed to the closet without needing a GPS. On the way to church, they happily jump into the car, telling mom how pretty she looks, and how glad they are that she was is their mom. Is this realistic? Think about what your family life is really like … Is It Too Much that She’s Mayor of the City? Probably! (Proverbs 31:28-31) In her day, women were just not given many opportunities. So, there’s absolutely no way she could have been mayor, dispensing wisdom and judgments at the city gates where important messages were read, disputes were settled, and prophets delivered their messages. Nevertheless, I can imagine that if she were alive today, the “Proverbs 31 Woman” could definitely be a Supreme Court justice! She obviously spent some time at the city gates because her husband talked often about what a great wife and mother she was. She was greatly praised. Everyone knew who she was. But Without a Doubt, She Is an Idealized Woman As I have considered this proverb over and over, I’ve realized that no woman is this perfect! She hardly ever slept or took a nap. That’s just impossible. Not even the Proverbs 31 woman has time to do all the things for which she is praised. Years ago, my wife, Julie, and I were attending a marriage conference. We were given a worksheet with a number of biblical injunctions describing how good or not-so-good our parents were as we grew up. When we were asked to exchange the analysis of our parents’ parenting styles, I realized I had idealized my mother. She was a great mom; however, she wasn’t perfect. As is the case for all of us as human beings, she did many things very well and some not so well. Lemuel’s mother was not perfect either. So, let’s keep our expectations in line with reality. When the expectations are too high, the pressure can be unbearable. Love Mom by Meeting Her Emotional Needs Listed below are the top ten emotional needs we all have, as surveyed by Great Commandment Ministries. Every one of us, whether we recognize it or not, has all of these needs and even more. Acceptance Affection Appreciation Approval Attention Comfort Encouragement Respect Security Support Think of some practical and creative ways that you could meet one or more of these top ten needs for your mother or wife. Maybe, you can plan one way every day to meet one of these ten needs for ten days. Or maybe you can prepare a basket of them at once. Let me give you an insight. Could you imagine that if you never received acceptance, affection, appreciation, or comfort, or whatever, from your parents, that they didn’t receive any of those things from their parents either? It’s hard to pass on what you have never received. Maybe you could work up the courage to meet some of those needs in your mom this Mother’s Day. One day she may reciprocate. Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all. Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate (Proverbs 30:29-31). Leticia, I hope my answer is helpful. Love, Roger

It would soon be Mother’s Day again, and I was dreading it. I wasn’t dreading the day for myself, but for my children who had lost their mother Cindy and two-year-old sister Katie after a traffic accident. Every Mother’s Day after my wife’s death had been shear torture for my family as in church services the congregation took out time from worship to honor the mothers, grandmothers and great grandmothers attending the service. I didn’t begrudge the families that special time honoring their mothers, but each Mother’s Day ceremony was just another reminder of the tremendous losses my family endured. I knew it was a painful flashback to my wife’s sudden and tragic death. But I still had my mother at the time, and I could only imagine how painful it was for my son and daughter as they watched a carefully crafted, loving collage of photos of other mothers and their children. To make it worse, the barrage of pictures had a soundtrack of “sappy” music meant to evoke an emotional response. My gut response was to grab my children and exit the church sanctuary, flee into the parking lot, load up the car and head for the shelter of our home, but I didn’t. I just endured the experience. Some Mother’s Days my family had just stayed at home to avoid the experience. I was tempted to play hooky from church again, but one Sunday before Mother’s Day something in me told me that I needed to let the church leadership know how I and my children felt on Mother’s Day without our family’s mother. Surely there were others who had lost their mother and felt the same way. Maybe we could honor mothers in a different way that was less distressing for those mourning the loss of a mother. I saw the minister walking to his office after the service, and I knew what I had to do. I stopped him and asked if I could request a favor. “This Sunday could we do something special for those who don’t have their mothers with them anymore?” I asked. The minister’s softened as he said, “Well, I don’t know, Larry. Let me talk with the staff and see what we can do.” The minister knew our story because he had spoken at Cindy and Katie’s double funeral I walked away feeling relieved that I had let someone know how I felt. Maybe things would change, and maybe they wouldn’t. At least I had made my needs known. On Mother’s Day much to my dismay the traditional college of pictures of mothers and children and the “sappy” music began. I have to admit that I was disappointed. The usual painful feelings and the hurt for my children returned. Maybe I had not given the minister and the church staff enough lead time to make a change in how we observed Mother’s Day. The pictures and the music seemed to go on forever. Then the pictures and music stopped. Before my family could get seated, the minister stepped up to the pulpit and said, “Now I would like to ask all those of you who no longer have your mother with you in this life to please stand as we say a prayer over you.” “Dear Father God,” the minister said as we and others around the sanctuary remained standing. “We thank you for the blessings of mothers in our lives. At this time though we pray a special blessing and care for those standing now who no longer have their mothers in their lives…..” As I began to cry, my knees buckled, but I made an extra special effort to remain standing in honor of my children’s mother and my wife. I looked over as my children’s heads were bowed in prayer. The minister continued, “Be with them today and watch over them. Let them remember the wonderful gifts that their loving, sacrificing mothers have given them. Fill their hearts with gratitude for their mother as they review the special memories of their mother’s life. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.” That was the best Mother’s Day I had experienced in a long time. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NIV Written by Larry M. Barber, LPC-S, CT author of the grief survival guide “Love Never Dies: Embracing Grief with Hope and Promise” available online at Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Christianbook.com. www.griefminister.com .

We are facing worldwide crises daily.  Many people are struggling with fear over the future. As followers of Jesus, what should our response be? One Chinese pastor wrote, “We are to seek peace for this city, seek peace for those who are afflicted with this illness, seek peace for the medical personnel struggling on the front lines, seek peace for every government official at every level, seek peace for all the people of Wuhan. And we can through online networks guide and comfort our friends and loved ones with the Gospel, reminding them that our lives are not in our own hands, and to entrust their lives to God who is faithful and true.” May the example of these Chinese believers inspire and encourage those of us in the West. Pastor Todd Wagner writes, “Worry is not our friend, and panic is not our way. Solomon reminds us, ‘If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small’ ( Prov. 24:10 ). May it never be said that God’s people are governed more by fear than faith. …In times of crisis, the world needs steady people who are strengthened by God’s grace and selfless by God’s power. ” Todd also quotes from Corrie ten Boom, who said, “Worry doesn’t empty tomorrow of its sorrows, it empties today of its strength.” A friend recently shared the following from Corrie, taken from the book  Reflections of God’s Glory , which is a collection of her transcribed radio broadcasts. What she had to say about worry and God’s provision is wonderfully applicable today: “Once, I had a burden that weighed heavily on me. I set it down and looked at it. Then I saw that everything about my burden was borrowed. One part belonged to the following day, one part to the next week. My burden was a huge, stupid mistake. I realized that worrying is carrying tomorrow’s burden with today’s strength. It’s carrying two days at once. It’s prematurely thinking of tomorrow. On the calendar, there is only one day for action, and that is today. Making plans is time-consuming. Time is necessary for making wise plans, but carrying them out belongs to only one day—today. We become concerned about the future—our financial concerns, our health. Where does this lead to? Nowhere. Nowhere that is worth the trouble because tension ruins things. It depletes the energy that you need to live today. The Holy Spirit does not give you a clear blueprint for your life, but He leads you from moment to moment. Live for today! The sun will shine on the problems that tomorrow brings. I read somewhere, “Why don’t we look for something that is easier than anxiety? Worried people are like tightrope walkers, trying to walk over a rope from the past to the future, balancing between hope and fear. In one hand they hold a bag with the disordered past, in the other bag, the feared future. Worrying does not take away tomorrow’s grief; it takes away today’s strength. It does not enable us to avoid evil, but it makes us incapable of dealing with it when it comes. ”I once heard a nice story, a kind of legend. A small clock, which had just been finished by its maker, was put on a shelf in his shop between two old clocks that were busily and loudly ticking away the seconds. “So,” said one of the old clocks to the newcomer, “you’ve just started this task. I feel sorry for you. You are bravely ticking now, but you’ll be very tired once you’ve ticked thirty-three million times.” “Thirty-three million ticks?” said the startled clock, “but I could never do that!” He immediately stopped in desperation. “Come on, stupid,” said the other clock. “Why do you listen to such talk? That’s not how things are. At each moment you only need to tick once. Isn’t that easy? And then again. That’s just as easy. Carry on like that.” “Oh, if that’s all,” the new clock cried, “then that’s easy enough. Off I go.” And he began to bravely tick each moment, without paying attention to the months and the millions of ticks. When the year was up, he had ticked thirty-three million times without realizing it. Yes, living for the moment, that’s what you need. The Lord’s prayer says, “Give us today our daily bread.” …A person does not fall so much because of the troubles of one day, but if tomorrow’s burden is added, this load can become very, very heavy. It is wonderfully easy to live just for the day. ”epm.org. Used by permission.

As the world slowly re-opens on the other side of COVID, a question for you today. Are churches behaving like malls in the age of Amazon, just hoping for people to shop again? The mall and retail industry, which, pre-COVID, already had its share of challenges and decline, is not in denial that whatever normal emerges from this post-pandemic world,   it will not be kind to retailers . Sometimes it feels to me like mid-pandemic church leaders are behaving like pre-pandemic retailers, banking everything on people returning once things are normal again. I’m surprised by the number of comments, messages and emails I get from leaders who assure me that people are just waiting to gather again and everything will be fine. Well, yes. But not so fast. And not so absolute. First, of course people are anxious to gather in person again. And yes, actual in-person gatherings and human connection are critical to human flourishing and the mission of the church. But they’re not the only way you can be the church. If you limit your future ministry to in-person gatherings, or over-focus on in-person gatherings, you’ll overinvest in a method and miss the bigger mission. Because crisis is an accelerator, it reveals and amplifies the weaknesses that were already there, and also accelerates trends that were emerging anyway. It’s amazing to me that despite the fact that virtually every thought leader and business leader I’ve read or have personally spoken to believes that the crisis is a disruption, not an interruption, a surprising number of church leaders still think of the current crisis as merely an interruption. When you consider what’s been set into motion during the pandemic: from working from home, the rush to digital,  a damaged economy, massive unemployment, the re-emergence of regional governance, deeply restricted travel, the instability of entire industries, and, of course, the virus itself,  to think that life is going to simply go back to the way it was is not a wise bet. Which brings us back to the question of this post: Are churches behaving like malls in the age of Amazon, just hoping for people to shop again? I hope not, but I fear so. Instead of seeing the obstacles ahead of the church, maybe it’s time to see the opportunities. As much as going fully digital was no one’s choice, we’re here now, and you have a digital presence. The best question to ask in a disruption is “What does this make possible?” So that we don’t behave like malls in the age of Amazon, here are 5 things the church can leverage right now to move toward a brighter future. Are churches behaving like malls in the age of Amazon, just hoping for people to shop again? 1. WHILE IN-PERSON GATHERINGS CAN DO THINGS ONLINE CAN’T, THE REVERSE IS ALSO TRUE There is no substitute for certain things that can only happen in person…and in many ways, no one should be able to out-relationship the local church. That now includes online. To pretend that the only valuable relationships happen in person is to resist both everything that’s happened in the last decade and everything that’s going to happen in the future. Relationships have gone digital, and so has content. No one should be able to out-relationship the local church. That now includes online. And, as  this Stanford research shows , people are often more honest online than they are in person. Why? Well, first, you can be fact-checked online in a way you won’t be in a conversation. If you’re lying, people will google you or your claim and are more likely to call you out. Second, people may feel safer about admitting their problems via a keyboard than they are in a face to face conversation. It’s harder to look people in the eye and tell them about your addiction or affair than it is to admit it online. Someone may confess to a struggle on line, which makes (where possible) in-person follow-up conversations in real life even more powerful. Think about it. You’ve told friends things by text or chat about stuff you don’t have the courage to talk about face to face. So, paradoxically, the very thing we claim works best in physical gatherings—relationship—perhaps works as well or at times, better, online. Again, I’m not arguing the church shouldn’t gather physically, but to dismiss digital is a mistake. And  when it comes to content, the church can become far more creative in the experiences and content we share online. From social, to short videos, to interactive services, to showing up every day rather than Sunday, the only limits on how the church can reach out online and do discipleship online are biblical faithfulness and human imagination. Rebroadcasting what happens in a room for an hour is just the beginning. It’s like the church has been given a blank canvass to paint on, but we’re afraid to even hold the brush. Or, we just paint the same picture over and over again (something I did when I was seven…but not a good adult strategy). Paradoxically, the very thing we claim works best in physical gatherings—relationship—perhaps works as well or at times, better, online. 2. EVERYONE YOU WANT TO REACH IS ONLINE I have heard from literally hundreds of church leaders who keep asking “What about all the people who aren’t online?” As much as I love the pastoral heart behind that, it’s the wrong focus. Yes, please call people who don’t have full internet access, or as things open up reach out to them personally in safe ways. But—don’t miss this—everyone you want to reach is online. The younger the demographic, the more true that is. If everyone you want to reach is online, why aren’t you investing more, not less, in online in the future? 3. YOU’VE ALREADY MADE PROGRESS YOU DON’T WANT TO ERASE Think about where you were in early March 2020. Now think about where you are today. And as much as it’s easy to focus on loss, take a moment to focus on what you’ve learned, how you’ve grown and what you’ve gained. It’s not all loss. The same conditions that are putting  troubled retailers like J. Crew  under are the conditions under which companies that were positioned for the future are thriving: Amazon, Netflix, and  DoorDash  are all growing. Crisis doesn’t  create  failure, it accelerates it. Crisis doesn’t  create  momentum, it accelerates the momentum that was already there. As hard as it is to admit, this crisis is just revealing what was already there. Outside of the grace and providence of God, external conditions don’t make or break organizations; leadership does. My guess is you’ve learned more since March 2020 than perhaps you’ve learned in the last two years combined, about yourself, about reaching people, about your team and about the mission. Keep building on that. You’re closer to the future than you think.   4. YOU HAVEN’T TRULY INNOVATED YET So you’ve made progress, which is awesome. I don’t want this next point to sound like an insult. It’s not. But think about it. In the last 8 weeks, what did you (and I) do?  You reacted to something you couldn’t control. Y ou get full marks for that. But the pivots you’ve made in the last two months aren’t really innovation yet. They’re simply a response to externally-imposed change. Sure, you’ve done some new things. Everyone has. But the real innovation curve is just about to get started. When you get some time to reflect, think, respond, pray, imagine and dream, that’s when the real future will open up. The problem two months into a crisis is that you’ve reacted, but you haven’t really innovated yet. Nobody has. So keep going. The real breakthroughs are ahead of you. Take all the learning and change you’ve experienced in the last few months and lean into it way harder. Lean into the future much harder. And when you do, you’ll see and often realize tremendous possibility. If you’re willing to further rethink your methods, you’ll further advance your mission. You’ve only really just started. 5. IT’S JUST NOT AS BINARY AS YOU THINK The debate that’s surfacing online about the digital future church is more binary than it needs to be. It’s not a question of whether church should be physical or digital, or whether digital is just a Band-Aid to get you back into your building. The future is both digital and physical. Retailers were having this debate two decades ago. Most lost. A few won. If you want an intriguing analysis of the war that’s been going on for decades between retail and e-commerce businesses, the  Amazon v. Walmart series on the Business Wars podcast  is a fascinating case study. The discussion and pivoting that shook e-commerce businesses and bricks and mortar business in the late 90s and early 2000s is finally coming to the church decades later. Interestingly enough, the retailers who have stayed ahead of trends quickly realized that clicks lead to bricks. In other words, the best way to keep their stores growing is to have a killer internet presence. And, conversely, Amazon is also embracing the ‘clicks lead to bricks’ trend in a fresh way  as they open retail locations . It’s just not binary. Clicks  So what does the future look like? Here’s my guess. I think in the future there will be more and more digital-only churches who as they grow will foster or open physical expressions. And the churches that are thriving five years from now will have powerful in-person expressions and meaningful, helpful and robust digital ministry. Church leaders, don’t make the physical ministry v. digital ministry discussion binary. It’s not.

Moms are often the unsung heroes. They work steadily, comfort endlessly and teach constantly. Deborah Haddix provides us with these verses that inspire us to honor the women we cherish: 13 Ways We Can Honor Mom Have Patience with Your Mom Patience isn’t something that comes naturally to most of us.  And it can be extremely difficult to summon it sometimes, especially when mom asks for the hundredth time how to program the DVR, can’t for the life of her figure out how to operate her cell phone, or seems to move slower than a tortoise.  During these moments it does us well to remember God’s great patience toward us, as well as the patience Mom needed while raising us. Yes, take a deep breath and continue on! Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Colossians 3:12-13 Forgive Her No, your mom is not perfect.  Yes, she made a few mistakes along the way. (She may have even made a lot of huge mistakes.) One of the best ways we can show honor to our mother is to choose to forgive her.  Make the determined choice not to “keep bringing her mistakes back up,” retaliate, or punish her.  Instead, CHOOSE to shower her with the grace of God that He so freely gives to each of us. Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Colossians 3:13 Show Appreciation It’s so easy to dwell on the mistakes.  We’re all pretty good at fault-finding.  But it shows love when we can look past the discomfort or the frustration and instead of complaining, find something to be thankful for. Show honor to your mom by building her up rather than tearing her down. Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 Keep Your Promises Do what you said you were going to do.  Following through on our promises declares to mom that she is a priority, and our demonstration of commitment and trustworthiness shows honor. I will not violate my covenant or alter the word that went forth from my lips. Psalm 89:34 Laugh with Her Ecclesiastes 3:4 says, “A time to weep, and a time to laugh.”  Don’t forget to laugh.  It does the heart good – both hers and yours! A  time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh;a time to mourn, and a time to dance . Ecclesiastes 3:2-4 Reminisce Make the time to share some fond memories with your mom.  It brings her joy to hear the things you remember – from your viewpoint! But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, as we long to see you— 1 Thessalonians 3:6 Ask Her Advice We honor our mom when we ask her advice.  The Bible constantly associates youth with folly and age with wisdom and tells us that those who have lived longer lives have generally accumulated greater wisdom.  We may not always follow it, but it’s smart to ask. The glory of young men is their strength, but the splendor of old men is their gray hair. Proverbs 20:29 Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in length of days. Job 12:12 Pray When you pray for your mother, you demonstrate love by communicating that her concerns are important to you.  Make that communication a little stronger, even, by asking how you can pray for her. First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people. 1 Timothy 2:1 Take Some Time to Talk with Her and Be Sure to Say, “I Love You” Never underestimate the power of those three little words.  Hearing those words from you brings comfort, peace, and joy to your mama’s heart. A nd may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you. 1 Thessalonians 3:12 And When You Are Talking with Her, Listen; Truly Listen Be present. We show honor by giving Mom our full attention which means listening intently without interrupting or thinking about how we will respond… or attending to other things like our phone. Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. James 1:19 Interact Spend time with mom – her agenda, not yours.  Enjoy an evening with her, go to lunch, involve her in your family activities, visit with her – whether she lives locally or miles away. Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete. 2 John 12 Contact Her Regularly Honor your mom with regular and consistent contact. Text her, email, call, use Facetime or Skype, send notes and cards.  These may be a minor inconvenience to us, but they mean a great deal to our mom. Take Special Note:  NOTHING, absolutely nothing, shows appreciation, love, or honor to your mother more than sitting down and taking the time to write out a letter – on paper! See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. Galatians 6:11 Esteem Her   Publicly and Privately This is a simple act that brings great joy and honor to your mom. Give her credit when and where you can.  In private say things like, “You know, Mom, I really appreciate that you taught me about putting people first,” or “… teaching me how to do laundry.”  And when in public, speak well of her.  As a special act of honor, you might want to refer back to #12 and esteem your mom by writing out a formal tribute, presenting it to her, and reading it aloud in her presence ( suggested by Dennis Rainey of Family Life). Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. Romans 13:7 Of course, I understand that living in a fallen world – full of fallen people –, not all of us had the happiest of experiences growing up. Maybe Mom, for whatever reason, failed miserably, and you found yourself thinking these ideas would be difficult or even impossible to implement. If this is you, may I encourage you to seek spiritual help from a pastor or trusted counselor? How we treat our Mom (parents) is a sign of our faith in Christ. It’s a gospel issue. Let’s pour a special little blessing on Mom this Mother’s Day. www.deborahhaddix.com .

If you were to list your top three most creative people, who would be on that list? Maybe Vincent van Gogh? Walt Disney? JK Rowling? Thomas Edison? Leonardo DaVinci? Marie Curie? What would the world be without creatives in our midst? Creativity takes the mundane and makes it special. Creativity solves seemingly intractable problems. Creativity causes smiles, surprise, and thinking. There was a time that Christians were those on the cutting edge of creativity. Take a look at a medieval cathedral and you can’t help but be impressed. Dig a little deeper at the imbedded symbolism and mathematic artistry in its design and your jaw will drop. Today’s church doesn’t have a great reputation for its creativity. That is partially its fault (the offerings of Christian movie makers and mainstream visual artists, for instance, have been, for the most part, weak in their creative merits). This is not as it should be. Christians’ thinking ought to be characterized not by its safety, nor by its sentimentality, nor by its predictability. Whoever tops your list of the most creative people in history is dramatically eclipsed by God. In the beginning, the source of all creativity was. And there was nothing else. And then, with a word, God formed electrons and stars and Loriciferans (look them up!) and Venus Flytraps and Baobab trees and Filbert Weevils and platypuses, and sunsets. Undoubtedly, part of the way in which we image our creator is in our creativity. While God creates ex nihilo, we create from God’s creation and within the parameters of his order. And it delights him when we do so. The church is often at her best in crisis. And I believe that the church has been at her creative best in the midst of this COVID-19 outbreak. On a micro level, I’ve sat back and marveled at how the creativity that has spilled out of our team. I honestly can’t keep up with the ways our team has pivoted on a dime and spun out great ideas, from do-it-at-home Easter activity packages, to zoom games to launching a Free Little Pantry, to our Sunday School teachers reading stories to their kids, to virtual communion, to breakout zoom face-to-face meetings where we can make personal connections with online worshipers, to interactive student ministry contests with pizza delivered as a prize. I’ve had the opportunity to be on dozens of zoom calls and webinars with other church leaders over the past couple of months. The creative ideas the church is coming up with make me smile. Some churches are doing their entire worship service via zoom, others have done worship and prayer services from their cars in hospital parking lots, Christian business owners are pivoting their businesses to meet medical equipment needs, others are hosting Easter parades in cars, others are hosting drive-in or drive-through church. I pray that this is the beginning of a new creative era of the church. Let’s reflect who God has made us to be: those whose creativity reflects our marvelous Creator. Where have you seen creativity since the COVID-19 pandemic started? www.thebeehive.live . Used by permission of the author.

So much of what’s on the news today truly feels like something we’d only see in a Hollywood movie — not real life. COVID-19 has not only spread across the world at record levels, but it’s also spread across our daily realities and changed so much for so many. Because of the life-threatening potential of the virus, social distancing and canceled gatherings are necessary precautions. We want to do what’s right, so we’re listening to officials and paying extra attention to updates and news conferences. While all of this is necessary, it’s also jarring. It’s like life just slammed on the brakes, and we’re all still reeling from the whiplash. Certainly, in the grand scheme of things, saving lives is most important. But there are emotions we need to be able to process in the midst of all these sudden changes. One of those is the very real feeling of disappointment. And right behind it is the worry that expressing our disappointment could make us look petty in the midst of the seriousness of this virus. Please know processing our disappointments is not only OK … it’s emotionally and spiritually necessary. You’re not making light of someone else’s serious pain when you process your pain to gain a better perspective. So, first, whatever you’re going through today, it’s worth taking to the Lord and asking for His help. And second, let’s give each other grace since we are all trying to navigate unexpected fears, hardships and disappointments. Social distancing doesn’t mean we distance ourselves from offering each other grace. With that as the anthem playing in the background … let’s process what we are facing. Within the last few weeks, I had to help a friend navigate canceling her wedding. That same day, my husband had to close the dining room of his restaurant. Other friends are trying to figure out how to make enough money to live since they’ve been told their workplace had to close. Those of us who don’t get paid when we can’t go to work are looking at scary financial realities. Schools are closed. Graduations and family gatherings are canceled. Businesses large and small are experiencing financial realities that some fear they won’t be able to overcome. Everything we thought we would be doing in this season looks vastly different than we expected, and the feelings of loss are real. So, what do we do with those? As Christians, how do we set our minds and hearts on things above when we are staring at startling realities? Here are some things I wrote in my journal that are helping me: 1. Frame the disappointment by remembering what you do have, so you don’t get consumed by what’s been taken. Many of you are having to cancel or postpone important life events right now and that’s very hard. It’s incredibly emotional when you’ve dreamed and planned and invested in what you thought would be a very normal expectation. But remember, fun has not been canceled. Love has not been canceled. Being good to other people has not been canceled. Learning and growing and maturing has not been canceled. Use this time to reframe what matters most and choose to celebrate in creative ways. I remember telling my daughters before their weddings: Expect the unexpected and realize you can’t control the uncontrollable. But you don’t have to spin out of control with the unexpected. You bring to your wedding day what you want for your marriage. You bring the love. You bring the beauty. You bring the fun. You bring the atmosphere of joy and peace. You bring lovely to your day, and it will be amazing. But if you bring fear and dread and epic loads of disappointment because things look different than you thought they would, you’ll fill your day with that. Your heart is much too beautiful a place for the enemy’s tactics to taint it. So don’t let him. This may be a delay. This may be a distraction. This may even be a devastation for a season. But this is not your final destination. Remember though COVID-19 has canceled many events, it has not canceled God’s goodness. Rest in that, rejoice in that, and be so very reassured. 2. Remember who God is, and use that to bring some gratitude into your disappointment. God is a protector: He is protecting you from something you can’t see. God is a provider: He is providing something if only you’ll look for it. Just because His provision is different doesn’t mean it’s not good. God is present: Even when others are absent. God does incredible things in the unseen. God is faithful: No matter what is being taken from you right now, place it in the hands of God. Give it to Him as your sacrifice. For whatever we willingly place in the hands of God, He will redeem. Martin Luther once said, “I have held many things in my hands and I have lost them all. But whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that I still possess.” 3. Disappointments often go hand in hand with fear of the future. It can be so easy to let today’s disappointments make you expect the absolute worst for tomorrow. I’m challenging myself not to mentally run too far into an unknown future. I just have to make the most responsible decisions I can for today and place the rest in God’s hands. My job is to obey God. God’s job is everything else. Therefore, I can feel afraid, but I don’t have to live afraid. Now is the time to feed your faith and fuel your healthy perspectives. Make the choice today what will rule in your hearts and proclaim out loud: “Disillusioning disappointments and blinding fear, you don’t get to be the boss of me … I am ruled by the peace of Christ, and I will use His Truth to frame all I see.” “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts”  ( Colossians 3:15-16 ). We know everything in life seems uncertain right now. In the midst of it all, we at Proverbs 31 Ministries want to offer you some free, practical ways to stay committed to studying God’s Word. Here are several resources we’ve put together to bring hope in uncertainty during these times. *  Download the introduction and first three chapters of my book ,  It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way: Finding Unexpected Strength when Disappointments Leave You Shattered , for FREE today. *  From Worry to Worship  – a free 7-day devotional to help you find peace when you are tempted to panic, fight fear when it wages war on your heart, and practice trusting God in the midst of uncertain circumstances. *  Connecting God’s Heart to Yours: 31 Personalized Scriptures For Each Day  free printable download! www.lysaterkeurst.com . Used by permission.