Tucson, Arizona was experiencing flooding in October 1983. I was out riding my motorcycle in the rain looking for work every day but getting nothing. I hoped to work in radio, but had no experience or leads to break into the industry. Four months earlier I had been attacked at a bar and had my mouth wired shut for 7 weeks to repair a broken jaw. I had no education, no practical experience in much of anything, to put it mildly, I had no hope that I had a future. But one thing kept getting my attention. Every day as I rode out to look for work I would pass by a large church on the corner of Ina and La Cholla, Casas Adobes Baptist Church. I had no church background. I didn’t know what it was all about. All I knew about church was that it was open on Sundays and that was it. Every day I passed by that church and the parking lot was filled with cars. “What in the world are cars doing at church on a Monday?” I wondered. Some people complain about a church with a big parking lot. But it was a parking lot that piqued my curiosity about Christianity. On a Tuesday as I prepared to make a left on Ina to look for work again, a police officer pulled up on my right. I was in trouble. I had no license plate on my motorcycle and I certainly couldn’t afford a ticket. I actually prayed. “God, if you want me to go to church, don’t let him give me a ticket.” The police officer rolled down his window and got my attention. “Son!” He yelled. “Yes officer?” I said. “Do you have a license for that thing?” He asked. He was referring to my license plate. I slapped my hand on my wallet in my back pocket and said, “Yes sir, right here.” I was such a smart alec. “Well, put it on,” he said, and drove away. I was shocked he didn’t ticket me. So, I turned left and headed for church. Pulling into the parking lot I had no problem finding a space because on that Tuesday there was only one car in the parking lot. One.  Where are all the cars , I wondered. I wandered around the sanctuary and saw no one. I walked around the property and saw no one. Then I made my way into a building which turned out to be a school. There was a woman sitting at her desk. She was the principal of the school. Her name was Stephanie. I walked in and she greeted me. Not knowing what to say, I asked, “How do you join this church?” “To join our church,” she said, “you have to be a Christian. Are you a Christian?” My response? “Uh, yeah, sure.” That was Stephanie’s cue. She opened a drawer in her desk, pulling out a Bible. Inviting me to sit, she started talking to me about Jesus. After a while she had me talk with another guy in the office named, Max. Max was straight to the point, showing me in the Bible why I needed Jesus in my life. He pulled no punches, then asked me to get on my knees to ask Jesus in my life. We prayed and in an instant, as I confessed my sins, something changed. Suddenly, my life seemed different. I crossed a line into a whole new world. Max talked with me further then gave me my first Bible. By the time we were done talking it was late and he invited me to join him in the revival service the church was having that night. We walked into the sanctuary and sat down in the back. The service was actually about to end. There were two twin evangelists on stage who asked people to come up and share a testimony about how God has changed their lives that week. Max leaned over to me and said, “Why don’t you go up there and tell people what happened to you.” Sure. Why not?  I thought. So I made my way to the front. I was the last guy in line. Ahead of me was a man, a strong, burly guy, weeping at the microphone because of the terrible direction his life had taken—so he committed himself to Jesus. Just then, one of the twins put his arm around me and asked, “Brother, would you please pray for this man?” “Sure.”  Why not?  I stepped up to the mic and prayed. “Uh, God. Uhm. This guy is really hurting. So, uhm. Could you help him? Cool. Amen.” I opened my eyes and looked upon the crowd. Everyone was looking right at me with a look of, “Oh no. Who is this guy?” The twin evangelist standing next to me looked at me as if he realized he just made a huge mistake. I opened my mouth and said, “I ain’t never prayed before. But I got saved about an hour ago and I feel great!” The room exploded in laughter. Pastor Roger Barrier, sitting on the first row, was beet red from laughter. After a moment of prayer, Roger led me downstairs to talk with me more about beginning my walk with Christ. I went home. I was so excited about my new faith that I forgot about looking for work. Every morning I rolled out of bed, hit the floor to pray, and then read my Bible. I read all day. I consumed every page in that first month. Then in my second month I did it again. Every chance to go to church was a decision of joy. Sunday school was fantastic. I wanted to know everything I could about what it meant to follow Jesus. But while I began to grow in my faith I actually had no one to disciple me. So I drive down the road to a bookstore and found a copy of  Handbook of Christian Maturity  by Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ. A few months later I got a job with KVOI radio and began my Christian broadcasting career, which continues to this day as I work on broadcast projects with Campus Crusade. The Lord even let me work for five years with Bill Bright on his radio and Internet projects in the late 90s. Every day with Jesus has had its up and downs, but it’s been an adventure. I’ve endured troubles, struggled with sin, learned more and more about Jesus, and as time has gone by, I fell in love with Jesus, the supreme affection of my life. I married a gal who laughed with everyone about my salvation, had three daughters with her who have grown to know Christ, and I’ve served the Lord in the US, Turkey, Mongolia, and now the Middle East. I was once offered a million dollars to go work for a media company as a signing bonus. But I would have had to give up my ministry. Why would I give up my ministry for something as small as money? Today, I’m privileged to write with Roger and Julie Barrier for PreachItTeachIt. My career in broadcasting is in its 36th year. My ministry with Crusade continues in its 25th year. My marriage is in its 35th year. And I look with anticipation at what God will do with my life next. I know it isn’t all joy. As I’ve experienced great trouble in my ministry in the past, I know there could be great trouble ahead. But no matter what happens, whether I win or lose, experience joy or pain, live or die, I have Jesus. And I want you to have Jesus too. He can begin the new story of your life. guywithabible.com

Like many other believers, I’ve always sought to have a time of devotion and prayer every morning. And like most other believers I have found it to be a struggle to be consistent. Imagine my surprise when I came across a place in John Calvin’s  Institutes  where he argued that when it comes to daily prayer, once is not enough. Calvin points to the exhortation to “pray without ceasing” ( 1 Thessalonians 5:17 ) and says that, of course, every Christian should aspire to pray to God constantly through the day. But, he adds, “since our weakness is such that it has to be supported by many aids, and our sluggishness such that it needs to be goaded, it is fitting each one of us should set apart certain hours for this exercise.” Calvin taught that we should designate set times during the day that, though brief, “during them all the devotion of the heart should be completely engaged.” He proposed five times — when we wake in the morning, before we begin work, at mid-day meal, after the meal (or after the day’s work), and when we are getting ready for bed at night. He immediately adds “this must not be any superstitious observance of hours … as if paying our debt to God” and forcing him to hear us. ( Institutes  3.20.50, See John Calvin,  Institutes of the Christian Religion  & 2, ed. John T. McNeill, trans. Ford Lewis Battles, vol. 1, 917-918.) I had known about this exhortation years ago, but only more recently I learned that Calvin prepared five prayers for these various times of day and they had been included in his 1542/45  Geneva Catechism.  They were meant to be examples for individuals and families to use. This encouraged me to use his prayers as a foundation for composing my own. I would encourage others to do the same thing I did with Calvin — take these as examples and use them to compose your own. I’ve found that having something written, which I can read and in my heart use as a basis for prayer to God — and taking only 1 minute for each of them — has been extremely helpful for remembering the presence of God and the truths I had learned that morning in Bible reading. It ‘frames’ the entire day with God and the gospel. Below are the prayers I use. Again — use them as the basis for crafting your own. Prayer upon rising:  For love Father -- thank you for the grace that preserved my life to this moment. Now give me enough love for this day — a sense of love from you (so I’m not scared or driven), a welling up of love for you (so I’m not proud or selfish), and a resulting love for others (so I am not cold or distracted). Let your Spirit illumine my mind and enlarge my heart for that. And because it means nothing to begin well if one does not persevere, I ask that you would continue and increase your grace in me until you have led me into full communion with your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, that I may see his beautiful and great glory. And as I lay down in sleep and rose this morning only by your grace, keep me in a joyful, lively remembrance that whatever happens, I will someday know my final rising — the resurrection — because Jesus Christ lay down in death for me, and rose for my justification.  In Jesus’ name. Prayer before workday:  For perseverance Lord, all day may you give me an awareness of you and your presence, fruitfulness yet patience with your appointments, wisdom and compassion in my dealings, and your fatherly protection against dangers and adversities. Let me accept whatever degree of success or difficulty in my work you give me this day, and especially make me compassionate and ready to be interrupted to do good to others.  In Jesus’ name. Prayer at Mid-day:  For presence and recollection O Lord God, thank you for sustaining my physical life through food and shelter; for giving me new life through the gospel; for the assurance that my bad things will turn out for good, my good things cannot be taken from me, and for the certainty of the best and perfect life which is yet to come. Now give me a joyful sense of your presence, and freedom from my charateristic sins of perfectionistic works-rightness, fear of criticism, and self-comfort. Don’t allow my affections to be tangled in inordinate desires for the things of this world, but let me set my heart on things above, where Christ, my life, is seated at your right hand.  In Jesus’ name.  (Recollect AM Bible insights) Prayer at end of workday:  For people I’ve met or dealt with today Lord, send down your blessings, temporal and spiritual, on my family, friends, and neighbors. Bless those who have done us good today, and pardon all those who have done or wished us ill, and give them repentance and better minds. Be merciful to those who are in any trouble or suffering; and minister to them according to their needs. Do this for the sake of the one who went about doing good, the man of sorrows, your Son our Savior Jesus Christ.  In his name. Prayer upon sleep:   For rest O Lord defend us from all dangers and also from the fear of them tonight. Grant us grace, not only to rest my body, but to have spiritual repose, in soul and conscience, in your grace and love, so we might be comforted and eased in all ways. And since no day passes that I do not sin in so many ways, please bury all my offenses in your mercy, that I might not lose your Presence. Forgive me for Jesus’ sake. Finally, grant us grace always to live in such a state that we may never be afraid to die; so that, living and dying, we may be yours, through the merits and satisfaction of thy Son Christ Jesus, in whose Name we offer up these our imperfect prayers.  Amen. Beyond the Daily Devotional. www.timothykeller.com .

Fresh Life Church | Becoming Antifragile | Pastor Levi Lusko | Not Quickly Broken, pt. 4 Grab your Bibles if you brought one or if you have an app that can get you on to God's word. And we're going to be this week beginning in Ecclesiastes Chapter 4. There is no shame if you have to use the table of contents to get to the book of Ecclesiastes. That's in the Old Testament. And I'm giving this message this weekend the title "Becoming Anti-fragile." I want to talk to you about how to become anti-fragile. Ecclesiastes 4, verse 12, says this, "Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is-- say it with me-- not quickly broken," which, of course, is what we've taken as the title for this collection of messages. The devil would have you to be quickly broken, easily broken. The devil would, if he can't talk you out of having faith, wants you to have a fragile faith, a weak faith, a fickle faith, a fair weather faith, the kind of faith that would have you rushing out to the store to buy a 49ers jersey, right? You're all of a sudden just gung-ho. Oh, I've always been-- I've always been a big Chiefs fan, right? It's like wait, weren't you a big Packers fan last week? No. Is that a Green Bay Packers tattoo on your arm? No, no. Bit 49ers fan. Always loved that Jerry Rice, right? It's like, hmm. He hasn't played for a while. But they're winning. So got to jump on that bandwagon. And the enemy would love for you to be the kind of a follower of Jesus, the kind of a Christian, that is only in it for what you can get out of it. And so long as God's blessing you, great, I'm on team Jesus, y'all, right? But the moment it gets tough, the moment it gets difficult, the moment there is any pushback, or difficulty, or opposition, then it's like, for real? I follow you, and this is how you treat me? The enemy would love for you to wake up every day and basically give God a trial, a hearing. All right, this is a trial to see if you get to continue to be my God. What have you done for me lately? That would be what the enemy would love. And he nags at us. He just-- he digs in with these little lies, like if God loved you, would he really let you suffer? How can there be a God when you face this kind of hard-- you're right, you say. There must not be-- and we throw up our hands and go, I guess there must not be a God, or if there is a God, he must not be loving. Or if he is loving, he must not be all powerful. And we walk away. And Satan's like, yes. Because his agenda would be for you to be fragile, fickle, fair weather, in your faith. God want you to have a faith that's rooted and grounded, a faith that's established, a faith that's robust, a faith that's mature, a faith that's, to put it succinctly, is not quickly broken. Nassim Taleb wrote a book. And he called it Antifragile. I came across it and just loved it. I was like, I just need to know everything about this. And to be completely honest with you, he's a lot smarter than I will ever be. And so much of the book, I didn't understand. But what I did take away, as he talked about economics and things that are way above my pay grade, was this concept of fragility on one end, anti-fragility on the other end, and something that's robust in the middle. He explains it this way. If you're fragile and life hits you hard, you break. If you're resilient and life hits you hard, you withstand more and then you eventually break. Being antifragile, on the other hand, means when life hits you hard, you actually get stronger. A wind extinguishes a candle but fuels a fire. When you're antifragile, y'all, you know that a crisis is a terrible thing to waste. So you're not throwing up your hands and walking out on God, assuming he isn't there or doesn't care. On the other opposite end of that spectrum, you're not just surviving through it. You're, on the other hand, getting something out of it, growing better in the midst of it-- antifragile. He can huff and he can puff all he wants. He ain't blowing this house down. He's turning my bonfire into a forest fire, my faith into a raging inferno of dedication. The more he tries to blow me down, the more I turn that into fuel. Y'all, I'm using the opposition I'm getting. I'm popping it into my mouth as though it were a power bar or a Larabar, the Daniel diet approved snack. I'm turning it into a carrot stick and a bell pepper with some hummus on it in Jesus' name. And I just want a Diet Coke. That's all I want. I know they're bad for me. I love this idea because I think sometimes we settle for far less than God wants for us, or we just hope to survive. We just sort of accept that hanging in there is enough. Like, well, I haven't been destroyed. I'm not an atheist. That's, I guess, a starting place every time I say that. I do want to say if you're here and you are an atheist or you would identify as agnostic, thanks for being here. We're not ostracizing you with that language or in any way trying to infer or insinuate that we're better than you. But to say that we as Jesus' followers, when we go through hardship, are simply surviving, I think is much less than what God has for you. For he doesn't want you to simply survive. He really does want you to thrive. He doesn't want you to be fragile, hanging on by a thread, just one bad day away from failure, because that's not strength. That's not power. The Greek playwright in the year 400 BC, Euripides, put it this way. He says, "How can you call yourself a great man, or think yourself a great man, when the first accident that comes along can wipe you out completely." God doesn't want you to be fragile. He wants you to be antifragile. He wants you to not just be robust but to actually be able to get hit and become better, to become stronger, experience more glory, more power, to be like Joseph, get put in the pit but come out as the prime minister, believe in God, the whole way through, never compromising. You can sell me as a slave. You can lie about me. You can forget about me. I'm going to still trust God, still love people, still do my best, still have a sweet spirit, still hanging onto the dream, never get jaded, never think that I stand as God's judge. But far from it, the other way around, the classic example of something that's antifragile, of course, would be the mythical hydra. You cut one of its heads off. What does it do? It grows two in response. It just gets better, just gets bigger. I found a more contemporary example, one I came across a while back, a story of a football coach who was meeting with the recruiter who was going to be going around the country, going to different schools and events, and looking at candidates they had come across. And the coach was just kind of going over it with him, who he wanted him to be focusing in on, you know, what he wanted to round out the team. And the coach said to the recruiter, you know the kind of player who gets hit and gets knocked down on the football field and doesn't get up? Once they're knocked down, it's like, I'm out. [INAUDIBLE] ice bath, right? He goes, yeah, yeah. I know. He goes, I don't want-- I don't want a player like that. He goes, got it. Got it. You don't want a player who gets knocked down and can't get back up. And the coach continued and said, well, you know the player who gets knocked down, gets back up. But if they get hit again, then they're down. They're down for the count. He goes, yeah. I know that. He goes, you don't want that kind of player either, do you? He goes, no. The coach continued and said, well, you know the kind of player who gets knocked down and can get back up, and then they can get knocked, they can smash mouth it, they can get back up again? And they can get knocked down another time, and they'll still get back up. And the recruiter stopped him. He cut him off. He said, I get it. I understand. You want the kind of player who no matter how many times they get knocked down, blood, sweat, tears, they'll get back up. And the coach said, no. I want you to find me whoever this guy is who's knocking everybody down. That's what he said. Come on, that's what God wants for you. He wants you to not only survive the hits that you take. He wants you to make some damage on the enemy's territory. He doesn't want you just to hold your ground. He wants you to take some ground. And I think so often, we just are in this defensive mode, where we're down-- I'm just coping. I'm just hanging in there. But God wants you to actually go start knocking some stuff down in Jesus' name. And when you get hit, to grow in the midst of it and to become more powerful as a result of it. I see this in Paul's life, Paul the Apostle, who wrote to the Romans. And he said, in chapter 8, that I'm persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities-- you know this passage-- nor things present, nor even things to come. These are the things that we either worry about or obsess over-- anxieties because of what's to come, guilt, and fear, and shame over what's in the past. Nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Is that not resilience? None of those things can take us out-- resilience. But he didn't stop there. He also, in verse 28, said, "And we know that all things-- what things? Height, depth, angels, demons, fears, insecurity, shames, all the stuff that comes at us-- life, death, all that stuff-- all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. You see, we're not just going to be resilient. We're going to become antifragile so that the roaring wind actually increases the power of our flame. He said the same thing to the Corinthian church when in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 he talked about verse 8 and 9 how we're hard-pressed. We don't get crushed. We're perplexed because, man, crazy crap happens. But we're not in despair. We're persecuted. But we're not forsaken, struck down. We're not destroyed. What is he describing? He's describing resilience. And listen, you can't get to antifragility without resilience. So there has to be that. That's a crucial step. You, of course, can't be wiped out by the enemy who seeks to come against you, to lie to you, to steal from you, to essentially murder you. All of those things have to be in place with resilience. But Paul didn't stop there. He continued in verse 17. Our light affliction, all that hard stuff, which is just for a moment, when you compare it to eternity, is actually working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Not only are we able to be pushed on every side but not crushed, knocked down but not destroyed, to be perplexed, but to not be in despair. But every one of those hard things, every one of those dark days, every one of those brutal acts actually serves to help us understand more of God. I am more of a weight of glory. I actually am better because of it. I would never have picked to go through it. But because God allowed it, I faced it with worship, I faced it with perspective. And on the other side of it, I'm actually better. I'm actually fitter. I'm actually faster. I actually know more of God's grace. He has revealed himself to me in the midst of the fiery trial. This is how we can do what James said that seemed so bizarre when he said it. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall in the various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. Wait. What? My brethren, count it all joy when your life falls to pieces. Now, that doesn't make sense unless you know that the testing of your faith produces patience and all of these great things that cascade out as a result of having patience. The point is, when trials come, our nature would be to go, that's terrible. Hate that. Where are you, God? Ah! And instead, we're to go, I can't get stronger without weight being stacked on it. I can't build up muscle without my muscle being torn down. If God allowed it, I'll praise Him in the midst of it. He's got a plan, and I'll be better on the back end of it. So where Job's wife said, when his life fell to pieces, curse God and die, He clearly has abandoned you, he instead bowed his knee and said, you give and you take away, but blessed be the name of the Lord. Though you slay me, I will follow you. I will trust you all the way to the end. If you allowed it, I don't know why, you got a plan in the midst of it. So I'm going to trust you. I'm going to follow you. I'm going to worship you. Come on, I want to be the kind of Christian in 2020 that no matter what God allows my way, I'm going to worship, even when it confuses me, confounds me, even when it runs contrary to what I think God's character should be like. I'm going to trust that He's doing a good job running the universe and that when I get to heaven, I'm going to say, you did all things well. Yeah, I wouldn't have changed a thing. Wouldn't have changed one thing. Because you are God in heaven. I'm here on Earth. What do I know? What do I know? You have perspective. And you have a proven track record of bringing goodness out of bad things. You're like, what do you mean? I mean the cross. The cross is where Jesus' life ended so ours could begin. And if he, on that bad day, could bring about the salvation of my soul, the forgiveness of my sin, and do the same for you through the death of His son, He would bring many sons and daughters to glory, then how can I face any bad thing in my life and not quickly assume God's going to bring good out of this? He's got a plan. He's going to bring good out of my bad. So when I face bad, I have a robust theology of suffering. It's not just, well, God is good. God is good all the time. All the time, God is good. All right, where's the goodness? Where's the jelly beans and Skittles? And then I do believe in a God of favor. I do believe in a God who wants to bless us. But when we face difficulty as we follow Him, we're not quick to assume He must not be good. We're going to assume He wants to bring good out of what's bad presently and that He is doing it right now. So what does this look like, becoming antifragile? Well, it looks a whole lot like developing a root system. A root system. Things that don't have root get scorched by the sun. And that, according to Jesus' parable of the sower and the seeds, is one of the outcomes the devil would love to see in your life. He loves emotional commitments that are not followed by an understanding of God's character and the depth of what He is doing that would lead to a mature trust in him, a faith that's not skittish, a faith that's not always feeling like I need to bolt or I need to run, a faith that learns to have the relaxed confidence that comes when you know God's in charge and He's doing a really good job running the universe. And when you have that confidence that comes from the cross, the scripture says, how would we think that God, who did not hold back His son but freely gave His son to us, would not then freely give us all things? There is nothing more precious in the universe than Jesus. Come on, Mom. Come on, Dad. Your son, your son. He gave his son for you and for me. If He gave His son, then anything else we face is of less value than the son. So we can trust him in that. So when we have that kind of a faith, we don't have to be uptight as we follow him. We don't have to be fear based as we follow him. We get to just be like, yeah, Dad. You got this. Hey, Father, you know best. So like, if you're not worried, I'm not worried. Look at him. He seems all right. All right, we're good. We're good? Jesus is like, yeah, I'm still King. I still reign. Like, the psalms says he sat at the flood. That's the worst time on this Earth. But he was seated. He never stood up. It wasn't like, oh, no. If he's good, I'm good, and we're good. So what is becoming antifragile like? It's putting roots down into God's character, roots down into his revelation, roots down into who he is, roots down into the essence of Christ. That's foundational. Jesus put it this way in Matthew chapter 7. This was a story of two families. And they both built houses. Verse 24, "Everyone who hears my teaching and applies it to his life can be compared to a wise man who built his house on an unshakable foundation. When the rain fell and the flood came, with fierce winds beating on his house, it stood firm because of its strong foundation. But everyone who hears my teaching and does not apply it to his life can be compared to a foolish man who built his house on sand. When it rained and rained and the flood came, with wind and waves beating upon his house, it collapsed and was swept away." These two families, both living in beautiful houses. And from the outside, you wouldn't know the difference between them. And they both had the Chip and Joanna Gaines chip lap everywhere. It was just, oh, what is this, Magnolia? This is great. Best thing I've ever seen in my life. And yet the foundation that you couldn't see, because this, by the way, was spoken in the area surrounding the Sea of Galilee. And in the reading I've done, I've uncovered something interesting about the sand around the Sea of Galilee, that during times of drought, it would harden and almost look like rock. So if you were new to the area, you could be foolish enough and deceived enough into thinking this was rock, because it was hard hardened sand. So you might build a house there that would look beautiful until moisture came, until rain cycles came. And as water returned, this erosion took place. And all of a sudden, it was revealed, you were not on rock. You were built on something flimsy. You were built on something that couldn't hold the weight of your life. And so now the fall and now the crash. And now that the tide has gone out, we find out who is swimming with no bathing suit, as Warren Buffett once put it. To think about all of a sudden, now this house collapsing and the devastation of it. That contrasted to the man and his family who had the same beautiful home but built on the rock. And the winds came, and the rain came. But they were strong and robust and made it through it. That's what God wants for us, to have a root system, to have strength to us, that we were not knocked over easily. And that comes only from following Christ, not just hearing his word. Both men, Jesus said, that were likened unto these families heard God's word. The man whose house fell over heard the word, i.e. went to church, i.e. knew some verses, i.e. was a casual, cultural follower. I love God. But He said this man heard the teaching and didn't apply it, didn't do anything about it. The power is never in the hearing. The power always is in the doing. It's not just knowing, it's applying. You can't just know about God. You got to know God. It's got to affect your heart. It's got to leak into your life and bleed and spill over into the essence of your soul. That's a root system that can bring you through the worst life can throw at you. And not only are you not crushed, you become better in the midst of it because God shows you things in the fire that you wouldn't have been able to discover any other way. Because he is near to those who are broken-hearted. He comes close. And that's why in this-- every time I've ever said it, it almost sounds insensitive, especially if you're going through something. But hear this from someone who's gone through hardship and has experienced this firsthand. It is an incredible honor to be trusted with pain. And as I think about the hard days my family's walked through and all that, and all that God has revealed to us, and the ways he's been near to us and proven his nearness to us in the midst of those hard days, I would want everything God did in our hearts through that. If I could have it any other way, I would want those things. But I know that there is no way to know what God has shown to us, the grace he's given to us in the midst of our worst nightmares, except by walking through those things and seeing God right there with us every single step of the way. All right, so root system. How do you get a root system? Well, you've got to put some key measures into place in your life. I'm just going to give you a couple with the time that remains. I actually wrote out a list of, like, 15, 15 ways to unlock. Maybe there should be a whole series on the system. I don't know if that will ever happen. But let me give you a couple of ways to make sure you have a good root system in your life. Jot this down. Buddy system. You can build your root system by improving your buddy system and utilizing the buddy system. Remember field trips? Teacher can't keep track of 80 of you. It's like, who's your buddy? Your buddy is this person over here. All right, you keep track of each other. All right, everyone got their buddy? Who doesn't have their buddy? Billy. Right? Billy's like, I don't know. Johnny was here a minute ago. Now he's gone. But someone to report to the teacher. Billy was gone. You need Johnny to be able to speak up for Billy. Otherwise, Billy's gone, but no one's looking for him. Because she's doing this headcount. And we know how that went in Home Alone, you know. It's like the next door neighbor was undoing the yo-yo. And it messed everything up, you know? And so we need to rely on the buddy system. God wants your life to have the benefit of other people looking for you. More eyes on your soul than just your own. Ever since Jesus rose-- this is heavy-- ever since he rose, his followers have known we come together in large groups for corporate worship, and the power of the congregation, and the I'm not alone factor. Sometimes you can feel alone at work or at school following Jesus. And you come together with other people. Oh, there's other people that love Jesus too. That's cool. And he's uniquely present in the midst of a gathering like this in a way that-- you could experience him on your own in your devotional time, or scripture reading time, or prayer time. It's special and powerful and should not be missed out on. But is not there something about a moment like this where it's like, man, I just sense God here. He's in our midst. He's doing something. It's beautiful. It's unmistakable. What is it? It's the glory of God and the face of Jesus Christ reflected through his body, through his bride. And that's great. But guess what? It's not enough. Because the church, ever since Jesus rose from the dead, didn't just gather in settings like this. They also got together in smaller groups, in homes, usually, in public places sometimes. And they would do life together. And the chance that you have to have a group of 6 people, 8 people, 12 people-- we saw it in the video-- just sitting in the living room, looking at your notes from the weekend. All right, how's it going for you in this, and what stuck out to you, and how can I pray for you, and what's hard right now? Actually, I'm really struggling, and I'm really angry, and I'm really crazy. He's like, bro, me too. Ah, ugly cry. Right? And just that chance to get a text that week-- hey, you were telling me this. And I just want to pray for you. God put you on my heart. Here's a word from God. Here's a verse I came across. I got your back. As you're going into that conversation with your spouse asking for forgiveness, I am praying for you. I specifically had a thought. You came to my mind. Do you have that in your life? Are there people in position? Who knows your garage code? Who, if the worst happened, could be in your house and get the thing you need to bring it to the hospital because all of a sudden, this happened? You need that in your life. You need people praying for you, caring. You need to rely on the buddy system. It will help you build a root system that'll bring you through a trial. One person, you do a big attack from the devil, you might get taken out. Having a friend that's got your back-- that good. But how about two? How about 10? How about 12? How about you get you in a Fresh Life group and have people around you? Finances are hard. Marriage is crazy. Having kids and raising them-- ah, right? All the stuff, and all the just normal junk of being human. And to have people around you is so very important. The buddy system. The New York Times recently published the "Shocking Impact of Loneliness." They said that people are 50% more likely to die prematurely if they live lonely, as opposed to those who are in healthy social relationships. But in this digital age, where all of our connections are on Facebook, and a mile wide and an inch deep, and we're all trying to impress each other with here's my life on LinkedIn, here's my life on Facebook, here's my life on Instagram-- good Lord, if I see one more Dolly Parton challenge. But to be real, and to be vulnerable, and to be able to have the buddy system. Secondly, sound system. You want you a root system, you've got to crank up your sound system. It can be Sonos. It can be Bose. It can be whatever you want. You just need to make sure it's turned up to 10 when you need it. And what I'm talking about, of course, is there being a soundtrack in your life of praise and worship that you, like the Bible says, are singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord. It's powerful. We, in week two of this series, talked about how Jehoshaphat, this king, he had an enemy coming at him. It was three armies coming together as this evil mutant army, like in Ninja Turtles, these gross, creepy animals coming out. And what did he do? He said, yeah, we're going to get the soldiers doing their thing. But you know what? We're going to give ourselves over to fasting and prayer. And we're going to send out some singers ahead of the soldiers. We want a worship song going out before us. We want praise to go before us. Why? Because he knew what you need to know, praise unlocks power. God works through altering and shifting the atmosphere by the song of praise, by the exalting of the Lord Jesus Christ. When we praise God in heaven, it changes things on Earth. Not always your circumstances, but always your heart. Always you. You become a different version of yourself. You might go back to your situation. It looks exactly the same. But you're different. So now you're seeing things differently. Paul knew this. Acts chapter 16, this Paul, who developed resilience, this Paul, who became antifragile. You hit him, you cut a head off. Boing, boing. He's got more heads. Unbelievable. This Paul and his friend Silas are preaching, and healing, and helping. And they get arrested for no good reason. They get beaten. They get thrown into a dungeon. They get locked up in the stocks. And what does it say they did? Verse 25, "But at midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God." Hey, does your back hurt? My back hurts too. Sing a little louder. They raised up a hallelujah in that prison cell. And what happened? God answered. He obviously liked their praise. The other prisoners were listening too, by the way. When you praise God in your situation, when you come to church ready to worship, when you don't have your hands in your pockets but you're really ready to give your all to God, it changes the atmosphere for those sitting beside you, sitting behind you. And what happened? The earthquake happened, and it unlocked the doors and opened them up. The foundations of the prison were shaking. Verse 26, "And everyone's chains were loosed." It was so powerful of a worship service, it unlocked defeat of people who weren't even singing, they just were in the vicinity. I'm telling you what God could do if we unleash the sound of praise. God will break stuff off the people near you. It'll have to be like at Seaworld. We'll have to have a sign around you that says Soak Zone. You get up in here, you're going to get free. You get up in here, you're going to get happy. You get up in here, you're going to get blessed. It's just going to ricochet praise. It's going to-- it's like collateral damage. It's just it wasn't even intended. It's like, God, I feel free. Because I got next to you. And you are singing such praise, I just got a lift from your spirit. Isn't it amazing when just the Holy Spirit's upon your life, and there's just this habit, this attitude, and altering the trajectory of your day by inserting praise in it intentionally, singing and making melodies in your hearts to God, incorporating worship into your devotional time, being intentional on a stress-filled day that you get you some Fresh Life worship on Spotify, that you're cranking up some Hillsong when you need it, that you know, man, I'm going to this crazy one. I need me some hot mess praise. Like, you know that one song? Right? It's like, yeah, it could be whatever you need it to be. I put my son to bed. I sing to him one of my favorite worship songs from the 1980s. I sing "Lord, I Lift Your Name on High." You came from heaven to Earth to show the way from the Earth to the cross. My debt to pay. From the cross to the grave. I mean, a couple times through it, he's out. And maybe just out of sympathy, or pity, or something. But I'm telling you, I want that sound of praise so thick in his room. I want Christ to be exalted in my home. I just-- I know I need it. Oh, you're so strong. Actually, I know how weak I am. That's why I need God's praise altering the atmosphere in my selfish, little, easily worried, easily frightened heart. Something happens when you unlock worship. Something happens when you learn to give God praise no matter what you're facing. It changes who you are. Get you a sound system. Maybe you need just a bigger woofer. Feel that bass. It'll build you a great root system. Jesus, the night He was arrested, before He went to the garden of Gethsemane but after He left the upper room, the Bible says, along with His disciples, He led them in a hymn. How precious that is. Did Jesus need it? I don't know. Maybe He was just modeling it, teaching us how to respond. He was about to go to death. We know He was agitated in His humanity, so much so that He was about to sweat great drops of blood. But He got great comfort from singing a hymn to God. And so will you. When you have God's song in your mouth, it will put steel inside your spine. It'll cause the wolf to rise up inside of you that God wants there to be. If you want a root system, you've got to tap into the buddy system and install a sound system-- and then we'll close here-- see your whole life as a part of a solar system. A solar system. A solar system is fundamentally objects that are in orbit around a greater heavenly body. Come on. That's what God wants your life to be like. Let's be objects in orbit around a greater heavenly body. That is to say that we're not the sun. You're not the sun. I'm not the sun. None of us are the brightest thing around. None of us are the biggest thing around. We're not the most important thing. What am I trying to say when I say let's be a part of a solar system? I'm trying to say that Jesus Christ is the one who's glorious. He's the one who should be given all fame, all power, all majesty. Everyone will bow their knee at the mentioning at the last day of the name of Jesus Christ. His name is power. His name can save. It's the only name given. And so it's the name that we celebrate and we say I'm glad to be a planet. I'm happy to be a moon. I'm an object in motion around something that develops gravity. I'm an object in motion about something that keeps everything spinning. Thank you, God, for doing a great job running the universe. I'm happy to be a planet. I'm happy just to be a little moon going around, a little ring around this thing. Because you are the one in the center. You are the one who Colossians says is the image of the invisible God. You are the firstborn Jesus over all creation. By you all things were created in heaven and stuff on earth too, things that are visible and things that are invisible. If there's a throne, if there's dominion, if there is principality or power, it was created through you and for you. Through you with your power, but also for you to bring you praise. I'm saying every planet, every sunset, every whale, every Grand Canyon-- I'm telling you, it's all for the majesty and the renown of Jesus Christ. You were created to bring God glory. You were created to reflect his fame. You were built to worship. It's in you. And that's why you resonate with music, all music. Because the Bible says, as God created the world, the angels sang. It's almost as though God was humming. He was whistling while he worked. Why do we respond so viscerally to music? Why is there such an emotional reaction? It's a part of our past. It's baked into the essence of how God made this world. And the praise that will extend and unfurl on into eternity in heaven will be unending. The question is, right now, will we join the ultimate symphony? Will we take our reed instrument, or our wind instrument, or our brass instrument? Will we take part in the ultimate masterpiece production that is the ceaseless praise God receives from all of his creation, that even now is bringing Him glory and declaring His majesty? Day unto day, they utter His name. They give Him glory. They praise His name. He is, verse 17, before all things. And in Him, all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning. He's the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. The key to having a solid root system is seeing yourself as a part of a solar system, existing to spin around a heavenly body whose name is Jesus. And in all things, whether you eat-- 1 Corinthians chapter 10-- whether you drink, or whether for 21 days, you're not eating as much and not drinking, the same things. In all of these things, whatever you do. Are you a carpenter? Are you a mason? Are you an EMT? Are you a stockbroker? Are you a science teacher? Whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God. There is liberation. There is power. There is stability. If I suffer, if I bleed, if I pastor, if I leave, I live and breathe to bring glory to Jesus. So whether I live or die, all I want is Him to be glorified. Whether I have 10 more minutes or 20 more years, I just want to bring awareness to who Jesus is, and how great He is, and what He's done for me. And when you see it that way, when you look at it that way, far from being taken out by your hardship, you, in your hard times, will discover that they are making you stronger. So what's needed? What's needed is that tenacity. What's needed is that spirit that says, hold on a second. I'm not going to just keep getting knocked down and getting back up. I'm going to start knocking some stuff down. I've been given authority. I've been given power. I'm not going to hide. I'm not afraid anymore. I'm not going to cower. Nothing that's formed against me can prosper. I've been given the name above every name. My name is written on His hands. My name is on a table setting in heavenly places. I've got power. I've got authority. I can put my foot down in His name and take some [? ground. ?] I can start knocking some stuff down. In the 1930s, our nation faced something called the Dust Bowl. And during the 10 years of the Dust Bowl, this has been called a period that was the greatest environmental disaster ever faced in this country that was entirely man made, a man-made environmental disaster. And I could and maybe should preach a whole message on the Dust Bowl. And I did, actually. And it's on YouTube. So I won't go into all that. But one thing when I preached that message that I didn't get to talk about was that there was a group of people who resolved to not give up on the area they lived in, the area affected by the Dust Bowl. Now, this is a period where 46 out of 48 states were in the worst drought in our nation's history. There was only 48 states back then because we didn't have Hawaii yet. Otherwise, that would've been a solid place to go during the Dust Bowl. But 46 out of 48 states were devastated by drought. So a lot of people were leaving to go to other places, finding no work there. Oh, because we were also in the Great Depression. So there's that. One out of four Americans were out of work. 50% of African Americans were out of work. It was a devastating time. But there was a group of people. And they said, we made our home here. We made our life here. Even though we were a part of what made it difficult to live here, we're not giving up on this area. We're not giving up on the Great Plains. It was once America's breadbasket. And perhaps it could rise from the ashes. And when it does, we'll be here. We're not quitting. We're not giving up. And they called themselves the Last Man Club. Last Man. People can leave. We're going to be the last ones standing. We're not giving up. We're going to knock some stuff down, not get knocked down. Now, the guy who founded the club ended up leaving. So the story breaks down on some levels. But what I love, as I was doing the research, in preparation for writing the message that I preach-- and if you want to Google it, you can Google passion 2020, and the talk I gave is there. But they had a slogan that was on the wall at all their meetings. And when I came across it, I was like bang. Root system. Bang. Sound system. Bang. I'm going to show it to you. This is their slogan. Grab a root and growl. We're not going anywhere. We're going to be the last man here. We're not going-- How do we have that kind of tenacity? Come on, you've got to be rooted. You've got to be established. Come on, let's grab a root and growl. Come on, is there a growl inside of you, a holy roar, the sound of God's praise, the anthem of the fame of the name of Jesus, in whatever you face, in every dark day? Come on, let's grab a root and growl! So what’s needed to have stronger faith, the faith of Paul? What’s needed is that tenacity. What’s needed is that spirit that says, hold on a second. I’m not going to just keep getting knocked down and getting back up. I’m going to start living on the offensive. I’ve been given authority. I’ve been given power. I’m not going to hide. I’m not afraid anymore. I’m not going to cower. So whether I live or die, all I want is Him to be glorified. Whether I have 10 more minutes or 20 more years, I just want to bring awareness to who Jesus is, and how great He is, and what He’s done for me. And when you see it that way, when you look at it that way, far from being taken out by your hardship, you, in your hard times, will discover that they are making you stronger. Preached at Fresh Life Church. Used by permission.

How can I possibly wait on God? Why do you call it “Wait Time”?   Once I was visiting with a friend about the time we spend waiting on God, and I thought I would try to be more efficient with my words, so, I started calling it ‘wait time’. But, this only confused her, and she stopped me and said, “Jan, I don’t know what ‘wait time’ is?” So, I apologized and gave her a full definition of what I mean when I use the term ‘wait time’.   Wait time: the time we spend waiting on God to do what he promised he would do.   Sometimes our wait time is short and sometimes it can be extremely long. Theologians often refer to this principle as, “the already, but not yet”. Jesus has said it will happen and it will, but it is not completely here yet. So, it is the already, but not yet. Waiting on God will call for us to exercise our faith.   In Luke 19:11-26 Jesus tells the crowd a parable about our wait time. He tells the parable because they are making some crazy assumptions based on their desires. They supposed Jesus was going to Jerusalem to become a political Messiah who would overthrow Rome and set up an earthly kingdom in Israel. Unfortunately, what they wanted to happen in Jerusalem was not what God had planned. Look at Luke 19:11 .   11) As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately.     ESV   While waiting on God we can learn his thoughts are not always our thoughts.   What Jesus had planned in Jerusalem was greater than him overthrowing Rome. It was greater than him making Israel a military power house again. It was greater than him being crowned an earthly king at that very moment. Jesus’ plan was to reconcile the world unto himself.   In Isaiah 55:8-9 God says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”       ESV   One of the most valuable things we might learn during our own wait time is that God has a completely different agenda than we do. When we can embrace this truth, our timeout can become truly productive.   Let’s start looking at this parable he told in Luke 19:12-26 as it explains the importance of our wait time.            12) He said therefore, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself  a kingdom and then return. 13) Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten  minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come.’ 14) But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to     reign over us.’ 15) When he returned, having received the kingdom, he ordered     these servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him, that he might  know what they had gained by doing business.               ESV   There are two separate groups of people revealed in this passage, the citizens of community and his working servants. The nobleman is Jesus, but the citizens do not want Jesus to be their king. The servants in the parable represents the Christ followers who have chosen Jesus to be their ruler.   While waiting on God we can learn to value what he grows in us.   Wait time will transform us if we allow it to. How so? The Bible says that faith the size of a mustard seed is all we need to move a mountain. While Jesus lingers our tiny faith often germinates, enlarging and expanding our vision. As an example, in this time of waiting through this deadly Covid 19, the necessity of social distancing or quarantining might even quiet us and activate our ability to hear God speak. Jesus will never waste a moment we spend desiring his return.   Our own impatience will never shorten this season, and it might make us squander our many opportunities to spiritually grow. God cares about how we experience this time, not in some harsh way. He loves us and is on our side. He wants us to taste of his goodness. Are we ready to grow to a new level?   Before we return to the parable in Luke 19 I need to make some observations. It is important to remember that in this parable the 10 servants are given the exact same amount of money, one mina. What sets these servants apart from each other is how they think about God. This parable is often called the parable of the ten minas. At the time of Christ a mina was the wage a laborer could earn in three months of employment. For example, the current minimum wage in Tucson, Arizona is set at $12.00 an hour. So, today in Tucson, before taxes, a mina would be worth about $5,760. As we can see while this is not a small sum of money, it isn’t a huge amount either. Ironically, it is how the servants view God’s character that will determine the usefulness of their wait time.            16) The first came before him, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made ten minas  more.’ 17) And he said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! Because    you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’    18) And the second came saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made five minas.’ 19)   And he said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ 20) Then another came,         saying, ‘Lord here is your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief; 21) for I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man. You take what you did not  deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’ 22) He said to him, ‘I will condemn you        with your own words, you wicked servant! You knew that I was a severe man,  taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? 23) Why then did    you not put my money in the bank, and at my coming I might have collected it    with interest?” And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and  give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ 25) And they said to him, “Lord, he has  ten minas!’ 26) ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.’”    ESV   Have we been tempted, like the third servant, to believe God is asking something from us that is just too hard? This attitude is a slippery slope and something Jesus wanted to protect us from. While waiting on God we can learn he is not harsh or severe.   This parable in Luke 19 links how we view God with the success of our wait time. Remember the definition of ‘wait time’ is the time we spend waiting on God to accomplish what he promises he will do. How do we use that time? Do we accuse God of being harsh or mean? Can we still believe he is good while we wait on his promises?   Sadly, while the third servant in this parable was a believer and he never took part in any rebellion against Jesus’ rule, he did not know the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. And, so he was reproved by his own viewpoint of God. Jesus is not a harsh or a severe ruler. Instead, he is vividly illustrating how our thoughts about God will eventually play out.   How do we respond to life’s ups and downs? Do we accuse God of being unfair when something happens we don’t understand? To multiply our minas’ we must be servants who will believe in the certainty of God’s goodness. This truth will allow us to adjust our reasoning quickly even when the circumstances are not to our liking or something we had planned on. Our God is holy and righteous. Do we know this?   Take a moment now and consider what might change in our lives if we agreed with God about how he wants to use our wait time. Here are four questions to ponder to help apply these three principles.            What might be some keys to making the most of our wait time?   Trust is a big deal, with eternal benefits. In Psalm 116:5-7 the Psalmist wrote,   Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful. The Lord preserves  the simple; when I was brought low, he saved me. Return, O my soul to your rest;   for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.   ESV   When we simply accept God’s plans he promises to preserve us. It is important and okay to be honest with God about how we are feeling, but we mustn’t continue to climb up on some merry-go-round of self-pity. God works bountifully in our lives when we humbly accept his rights over us as our ruler. Interestingly, in Hebrews 10:12-13 we find that Jesus is a savior who has personal knowledge of how hard it is to wait.   But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at  the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a  footstool for his feet.   ESV   Jesus has great empathy for us while we wait because he is waiting, too. He longs for the day his enemies will be made his footstool.            What are you waiting for that is causing you the most distress today?            Can you give that desire to Jesus?             Can you seek fellowship with Jesus now as both you and him wait for his      second coming?

So all of a sudden you’re online like you’ve never been before. And now there’s a long road ahead. While no one knows exactly where all of this lands post-pandemic, the future looks more digital than ever. It’s almost certain that the future holds more remote teams and ministry, more people looking for spiritual solutions online, and more people choosing digital church as an option or as their preferred option. Plus, the shift is well underway to take the focus off Sunday and place it firmly into a church’s online presence 7 days a week. Which means you’ll be producing digital content for a long time to come. Right now, church leaders are throwing a lot of digital spaghetti at the wall. For the most part that’s great, because eventually you’ll see what sticks and what doesn’t. It’s also helpful to get some guiding principles that can help you discern the kind of content that will help people and as a result, get noticed online. Knowing what works is a little more tricky than figuring out what doesn’t work. So, to save you some time, here are seven things that don’t work, seven reasons that, if you keep doing them, make people ignore the online content you produce. YOU FOCUS ON THE NUMBER OF VIEWS AND IGNORE ENGAGEMENT Attendance is like crack to pastors, and the number of views are the new attendance. Over the last month, I’ve heard a lot of pastors boasting about how many streams, views and likes they’ve gotten on their videos, services or posts. And for sure, I am deeply encouraged that half of all churches are seeing digital attendance growth over their former physical attendance numbers. That’s amazing, and I’m the last one to throw shade on that or deconstruct the numbers so they end up meaning nothing But one sure way to get diminishing views over time is to focus on views. In the same way church leaders who used to focus on attendance patterns only saw declining attendance, church leaders who only focus on views will see declining numbers of views. Don’t get me wrong. Views matter because people matter, but views are way less valuable than  engagement. In the physical church, people engaged the mission when they got involved in the mission. They started serving, giving, practicing personal spiritual disciplines, inviting their friends and engaging this faith they were exploring or embracing. In the new digital church, engagement is still the key. Some ideas: Get your viewers to leave comments. Have your team respond to comments to build relationships. Get viewers to fill out a digital welcome card and follow up with them personally. Invite people to make a faith decision and follow up with them personally. Capture email addresses and build a more personal relationship. Challenge people to do something in response to the message, not just watch something on their screens. The goal of online ministry should be to help viewers become  engagers . Viewers will eventually walk away. And in the process, you become easier to ignore than ever. Just think of any blog post or article you’ve clicked on to scan quickly and never to return again. In fact, you don’t even remember what site you were on.  You got what you needed for five seconds and moved on. Engagers  are for more likely to return and dig deep. So in your next meeting, focus less on the number of views you got an instead focus on how to get viewers to become engagers. YOU SAY PREDICTABLE THINGS IN A PREDICTABLE WAY So let’s say you have something of value to say. It still doesn’t mean people will engage it. The internet is populated with well-meaning leaders who have meaningful things to say, but they say them in a boring way. I had a conversation with an editor a few years ago who appreciated my content, and I asked him why. He told me something I’ll never forget: “You say familiar things in an unfamiliar way.” I don’t always do that, but he’s correct: I try. It’s intentional. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve clicked over to an article online I think is going to help me, and click off seconds later because everything the author wrote seems cliche and predictable. Let’s say the post is called “5 Keys To Building a Winning Team.” Here’s the boring way to headline the post: Be Committed Build Trust Cooperate Empower Your Team Contribute I know, you’re already asleep. It sounds like every vanilla seminar delivered in a beige room you’ve ever been to.  The fact that content might be helpful is irrelevant if the messaging anesthetizes you. The key is to same the same thing in a far less predictable way. Try this instead: Demonstrate Radical Commitment Kill Distrust Challenge Selfish Behavior Build Leaders, Not Doers Get Off Your Butt While this may not be perfect, it surprises you. Which makes you want to read. Which increases engagement and actually helps your audience learn. The challenge of course is that most of us don’t have  truly  unique things to say. I write on leadership. Hardly an unpopulated space. I also preach, which means I’m trying to say things that have been said millions of times over thousands of years, and it’s unfaithful to change the message. But if you think about messaging for faith, saying ‘love more’ or ‘be kind’ or ‘repent’ hardly engages people’s hearts and mind. If you want to get more traction online, say familiar things in an unfamiliar way. YOU TALK ABOUT YOURSELF A LOT Here’s another way to get people to ignore you online: Talk about yourself a lot. Sure, people want to know you and  taking them behind the scenes into your life is a great idea  from time to time. When it comes to online video, personal is the new polished. But….I have to tell myself this every day: nobody cares about me. No, that’s not some weird therapy thing, it’s just true. Nobody cares about me. Nobody cares about you. People care about  themselves.  The top mistake I see church leaders and other leaders make on social media is they talk about themselves and their church ad nauseum. You know what you should be talking about? Your viewers/ listeners/readers. Which is why I start almost every blog post/email/message with the word ‘you’ in the first line. Consider for a second how this post opened:  so all of a sudden you’re online like you’ve never been before. Dissect that a little further: First of all, it was about you (not me). Second, it names a challenge you’re facing. Maybe you said something to yourself like:  Oh my goodness. I AM online all the time now. He gets it. He gets me.  Third, it makes a subtle promise that this might help you, because it named a problem and included you. I could have said “Hey leaders, people read my content a million times a month and I’ve been writing for decades so let me give you some tips” and you would have thought “this guys’s a totally self-absorbed, arrogant little train wreck” (which in my bad moments, I am). All this time I hear leaders saying: Hey X Church, this weekend I’m going to be talking about… We have this exciting new event coming up… We’re behind on our budget… I have an amazing opportunity… It’s better to start for the listener/reader’s point of you. So maybe open with something like: Maybe you’re wondering what God is doing in the middle of the Coronavirus crisis? If you’ve ever wondered how to meet new people… Any chance you’re asking how you can make a difference right now when there’s so much need… If you’ve watched Tiger King three times and everything else on Netflix, then…. The way to get into the hearts of the people you’re speaking to is to get into their heads. If you can name what people are struggling with, they’ll trust you to provide an answer. YOU OFFER NO REAL VALUE Posting for the sake of posting doesn’t really help anyone. Value doesn’t have to be serious. You can post something funny, something interesting or something different. And of course you can offer something practical, profound, inspirational or helpful. Just make sure that you post things people will be grateful they saw, heard or learned from. Even though your content is free, people paid with their time, something that unlike money, they can never get back. If you end up wasting their time, you become an easy unfollow. There’s a lot of noise online. Value cuts through the noise. YOU KEEP IGNORING YOUR EMAIL LIST I talk about this regularly and routinely get dismissed, but I’ll try it again. Don’t ignore your email list. Email isn’t sexy, interesting and doesn’t get a lot of attention online, but if you want to actually connect with people email is one of your best strategies. Why am I so passionate about email? Email is one of the few things NOT controlled by an algorithm these days (unlike all social, which is completely algorithmic and beyond your control). Men, who tend to be less active on social media, open and read emails. Email is a great format for writing short, helpful copy that links to anything you want to link to. I have open rates in the last few weeks of 30-33% on a list of 61K leaders. Sub-lists push a 70% open rate. Social doesn’t come close to touching those numbers. But go ahead and keep posting to Instagram for 13 likes. Your email list is where the real connection is, and, as indicated above, it can push to your social, videos blogs and other helpful content. YOU GET SO WORRIED ABOUT MAKING IT PERFECT YOU NEVER POST ANYTHING If you really want to get ignored online, worry about whether your post is good enough. Again and again. Obsess over whether your content is beautiful enough, smart enough, well-designed enough or well-edited enough to post. I know so many people who talk about launching a podcast but say they don’t have the right gear, or the right guests, or the right website, or the right show art. I also know a lot of leaders who have great ideas but can tell you 75 reasons why they can’t execute on any of them right now because they still need to work on it. If you really want to get ignored online, worry about whether your post is good enough. Again and again. CLICK TO TWEET Have an artistic streak that demands things be great? As Steve Jobs used to say, real artists ship. He’s right. Still scared your ideas aren’t good enough or polished enough? Honestly, just stop reading this post and  go download Seth Godin’s Ship It Journal . It’s free. Print it off. Fill it out. Then ship your work. Perfectionism is the enemy of progress.   YOU TRY TO BE SOMEONE ELSE You have leaders you admire. Leaders who you think are better than you, funnier than you, more gifted than you, more articulate than you. Same. The problem with trying to like them is you have a very short shelf life. You’ll spend all your days trying to be someone you’re not because, well, you’re scared your voice isn’t good enough. The other problem with trying to be someone else is it’s exhausting. You burn so much more energy trying to manufacture an appearance or voice or style that honestly, just doesn’t flow from within you. So you won’t last. This is a long game. A very long game. As in this is probably the future. That’s a long time. I don’t always like everything I write or everything I shoot or the way things come out, but it’s me. And that means every day, as inadequate as that feels some time, I get to roll out of bed and bring the message that’s been building inside of me to people. And if you do that enough, over time, you get better at it. If you need some inspiration, just go back and read some posts from 2013 on my blog. They’re here if you dig. Some are okay. Some, well, not so much. But it was a start. And it was me. Whether Oscar Wilde actually said it or not, this quote is still apt:

I was walking into a grocery store the other day, and while dutifully using the antiseptic wipes provided for me at the front door, I began wiping the handrail on the cart. An older gentleman walked up next to me and began doing the same thing to his cart. I looked over at him and smiled, to which he said, “It’s a new world, isn’t it?” I kind of laughed a little and replied, “It will be back to normal before you know it.” I started to walk away, but not before hearing him mutter under his breath, “I don’t know about that.” I stopped and looked back at him. He looked at me, and what I saw there wasn’t belligerence or rebellion. What I saw was uncertainty and fear. I smiled again and said, “God is still God. Things will be fine.” But my words didn’t comfort him. He simply smiled wanly back and walked into the store, the same look of fear plastered across his weathered face. His face has plagued me these last couple of weeks. It’s the same face I see on every news broadcast, every special report, and all across social media. There’s no doubt that what I’m seeing is the face of fear, but I don’t think it’s necessarily fear of a virus or a pandemic or any kind of impending disaster. I think this fear has come because the rug has been pulled out from underneath humanity’s illusion of control. For the first time in many, many years, people are unsure of their futures. They are traversing through unknown waters, and it is that unsurety that has left them reeling, not necessarily some virus that they might catch. What will tomorrow look like? Will this end? What will happen to us in the aftermath? These are the questions haunting society right now, and the not knowing is driving some to despair and depression, wondering what kind of future lay in wait for them. Sadly, even many who profess to be believers in Jesus Christ have fallen prey to this illusory loss of control. They’ve reacted to this sudden change in our circumstances like a child does when someone unexpected snatches away his security blanket. They’re looking around in bewilderment, wondering what will happen now that the blanket is gone. Brothers and sisters, you never had a security blanket about your future on this side of eternity. In truth, every single day we breathe on this earth is a walk through the unknown. Every step you take, before, during, and after a disaster is a step that reeks of unsurety. You could be walking next to an old building and a random, loose brick fall out of it and onto your head, and bam! You’re walking the Golden Streets! This is true of all of us—believer and unbeliever alike—but we who know the Savior have a greater anchor on which to hold during the unknown of every second of our lives on this earth. We have a hope that transcends our circumstances. We have a peace that surpasses human understanding. And we do have surety in this unsure life. We have Jesus. We have a Father who never once falls off of His throne and who is always in control. So all the world from east to west will know that there is no other God. I am the Lord, and there is no other. I am the One who creates the light and makes the darkness. I am the One who sends good times and bad times. I, the Lord, am the One who does these things. (Isaiah 45:6-7, NLT) And with that knowledge, God also tells us “I’ve commanded you to be strong and brave. Don’t ever be afraid or discouraged! I am the LORD, your God, and I will be there to help you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9, CEV) You see, that very lack of control that we think we are experiencing is actually a constant state of reality for all of humanity. But we belong to the only One in all of the universe who actually has that control! And this is the very One who loves us with a love that is enduring and everlasting and triumphant. “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.” (Jeremiah 31:3, NLT) “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on the earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33, NLT) There is a peace that goes far beyond our circumstances. It extends well past what the world can understand. That peace is in the knowledge that even though every single second of our lives is unknown, we are loved by a God who not only knows them, but ordains them for our good and His glory. (Romans 8:28) We are cherished by a Father who shelters us during the storm and who never takes His loving eyes off of us. (Psalm 91:1-16) And we are protected and covered by our Lord who delivers us from every storm. (Psalm 27:1-14) I am often reminded of an old adage I read a long time ago: “Once upon a time, a woman asked a wise, old man, ‘Should we pray about the big and the little things, or just the big things?’ The old man smiled and answered, ‘Madam, do you think that there is actually anything that God considers big?’” Believer, during these times of struggle with what tomorrow might hold, we who know the Hope and Deliverer of all futures should remain calm and at peace. God does not fail; he cannot. After all, God is either God over everything, or He’s not really God at all. And there is no doubt: He is God. So take a deep breath. Drink in the peace that is available only to those who know it really will work out. And it will, you know. That’s a promise. debwaterbury.com . Used by permission.

We are facing so many different challenges right now. Nothing seems certain, but everyone is experiencing loss. One may argue, “Our world is decaying. We should be mad.” Yes, but we can be angry yet still not sin ( Eph. 4:26 ). Of course, I feel anger that the underpinnings of our culture are being dismantled by unprincipled men. Remember, we do have an invisible enemy. Our souls should be vexed at the darkening cloud of demonic attack upon us, causing us to question God’s goodness and sovereignty. If we don’t take a stand, the advance of evil ultimately means more people will die without Christ. So, if we are angry, it does not necessarily mean we have sinned. It can simply mean we care. I am not surprised by the increased anger. My concern is that, unless this anger regenerates into something more redemptive, more Christlike, we will not see our cities renewed. Indeed, anger that does not awaken in us redemptive action ultimately degrades into bitterness and unbelief. A Two-Pronged Attack While hell advances into our world on many levels, I want to discuss two primary areas. The first manifestation is brazen, widespread and alarming. For example, when disaster breaks out; or it might be that decisions that affect people’s lives and well-being,. It’s on the news and people are talking about it. The shock waves behind the scenes caused by this demonic intrusion smash against the sensibilities of our hearts: we’re disappointed, offended, stunned and, often, outraged. In this state of mind, hell launches the second area of attack. There is no newscast dragging our attention to this next stage of warfare. On this front, the devil does not come flaunting himself. In seething whispers he stirs the pot of our discontent until it boils. Ultimately, where once the heart of the Christian was full of faith and love, now bitterness, hatred and malice churn in the souls of God’s people. This is the second prong of the attack: the hardening of our hearts in reaction to evil. So while we must fight the spiritual wars of our times, we must not compromise our capacity to love if we will actually  win  our war. We must remember we are not fighting against “flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world” ( Eph. 6:12 KJV ). Sadly, I have heard many people say recently that they’ve lost their vision for America. What they actually lost was not their vision, but their love. For love believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things. Love never fails ( 1 Cor. 13:7-8 ). The Goal of God I believe that if the Almighty’s highest plan was to end evil on Earth, He could do so in a flash. Why does He wait?  He desires to bring believers to Christlike maturity.  In a moment evil would be gone, as it was with Sodom and Gomorrah.   We must never forget: Jesus did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. God is waiting for our spiritual maturity. Our Father desires to bring many sons and daughters to glory, and this world, even with all its evil, is the perfect setting for God to accomplish His eternal purpose. Yes, we should be angry about what’s wrong, but we must be Christlike in making things right. We cannot just be political or worldly; we must be spiritual. Rightly there are times when we must defend the helpless among us, but concerning ourselves, let us consider again what Jesus commanded: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in Heaven” ( Matt. 5:43-45 ). To see our nation transformed, we must be transformed. We cannot become those whose hearts are given over to anger. Otherwise, we will risk becoming Christian hypocrites: angry that the world is not Christian but untroubled that we are not Christlike. www.frangipane.org .

By now you’ve realized that the Coronavirus pandemic is not an interruption nearly as much as it’s a disruption. And as you move more deeply through this crisis, the question of what kind of world will emerge beyond the crisis is probably also starting to occupy your mind. Mine too. It’s pretty clear by now that the shuttering of business, churches and restrictions on movement and gatherings will be measured in months rather than weeks. It’s also becoming far more likely that when things do re-open, it won’t be an overnight return to wide-open gatherings and travel. To make things more challenging, the return to travel and gatherings the way they were might be measured in years, not months. Perhaps it will never be quite the same again. As upsetting and frustrating as that may be (and I hope I’m wrong), your job is a leader isn’t to fight reality, it’s to cooperate with it and leverage it.  Fools deny reality, kicking against it to make it do what they hope it will do. The wise co-operate with it, leveraging it for new opportunities. So let’s start here: the new world will be a  different  place. In some ways deeply recognizable, but in some profound ways, different as well. And, as a result, the church will be a different place—same mission, just some very new methods. As much as you may want everything to go back to normal, you can’t go back to normal when normal changed forever. The future isn’t kind to the unprepared, so prepare. Please hear the promise in change though: leaders who have the energy, passion and agility to change now will end up  advancing  their mission in the future. And of course, leaders who don’t, won’t. They may not even survive. 5 PREDICTIONS ABOUT THE FUTURE CHURCH WHILE EVERYTHING’S STILL UNKNOWN So, with all that said. What does the future look like? While it’s impossible to know where this will all land, how it will land or what things will look like, and while two months from now this might be an entirely different post,  you can begin to see the trends. Here are some trends I’m watching very closely and would put time and energy into resourcing in the midst of the crisis. DIGITAL CHURCH IS HERE TO STAY As much as many churches went online for the first time and everyone made digital their default, the long debate about whether online church is ‘real’ or not is settled. And even if it’s not settled theologically (a few still have questions and objections and always will), it is settled practically. Of course physical gatherings will return with joy as restrictions lift (don’t ignore the probability that the restrictions will lift partially and gradually), but to think that the world will suddenly go back to 100% physical when people have experienced digital is highly unlikely for a number of reasons. First, because digital church is the only option now, churches have poured a ton of time and energy into making it better, experimenting with different formats and opportunities and really connecting with people. Many are doing a great job and it’s only likely to get better in the upcoming months as smaller churches come online and all churches keep innovating. Second, sometimes the digital connections have been as or more meaningful than the in-person connections. I realize there will be many who push back against this, but it’s foolish to ignore the fact that people connect more easily online and often admit the truth more readily online than they do in person (That might not be right, but it is true). Third, most of the churches who are online now are experiencing  growth . Again, the critics will question how to count the online numbers for real and raise 100 other objections, but it’s unmistakable that people who were unaware or disengaged with church a month ago are leaning in now. I have people in my own life who have attended a service now who never came to a building before. Our church has seen a 500% Sunday ‘attendance’ spike since the pandemic grew. And yes, people are texting in their decision to follow Jesus and we’re opening up digital discipleship pathways and groups for more people than we’ve ever connected before. What about the argument that some of this won’t stick? Let me take you back to the analog days for a minute: everyone who attended your church in person didn’t ‘stick’ either. Unprecedented challenges provide unprecedented opportunities. And what we’re seeing in these early days of digital church is a huge spike in engagement and interest. To put digital church back on the shelf in the new normal is to ignore the greatest opportunity the church today has to reach people. And it also ignores the fact that many will want digital to be at least an option, if not a preferred method of engagement where geography and other barriers prevent access. Will we go back to in-person and physical gatherings and services? Absolutely. But digital isn’t going away. It will continue to grow and advance. In the future church, if you care about people, you’ll care about digital church. 2. VIRTUAL AND FLEXIBLE STAFF TEAMS WILL BE THE NEW NORMAL In the same way church went digital overnight, staff teams for churches and corporations did too. I talked to a number of CEOs over the last week (who tend to be far more bottom-line driven than church leaders) who said as hard as the adjustment was for their teams to become virtual overnight, they’re not going back to the way it was before. Some may close their offices and become entirely remote. Others will simply scale back things like square footage and travel along with the instance that everyone come in every day. One CEO working from his home told me that what would have been a four day trip to the East Coast turned into a 5-hour virtual factory tour. When you calculate the dollars saved, the staff time and the opportunity cost involved (3 additional days to try new things), even when travel becomes an option again, it makes no sense to fly there anymore. Another CEO who works in staffing said that prior to the disruption, even Fortune 100 companies looked at flexible and virtual work options as options. He believes that when things re-open, remote work and flexible work (some days in the office, some days out) will become a requirement for any company serious about attracting and keeping the best talent. Translate that for church leaders. As inefficient as working from home might seem now (kids hanging off you, everyone signing into Slack for the first time and not quite sure how Asana works), one day the kids will be back in school and novel tools will be normal tools, and then the real efficiency of flexible and remote work will start to kick in. Prior to the disruption, there was already an emerging trend that saw your most talented young employees asking for the most flexibility: to work from home, coffee shops or to flex their hours. That will only accelerate. The future workplace for churches and businesses will flexible workplaces: with an array of in-person and remote teams. Again, move ahead five months and begin to think about hiring the ideal Exec Pastor you’ve been wanting to hire for a long time who doesn’t want to move. Bringing him or her on board as staff and flying them in a few times a year suddenly looks far more feasible than it did even a month ago. And with Zoom and video calls normalized now, you won’t feel nearly as distant as you would have earlier in having team members join meetings remotely. On future teams, insisting that everyone show up in person will become a competitive  disadvantage . 8-4 stopped working years ago. Now it’s broken beyond repair. The future workplace is the flexible workplace. 3. CHURCHES WILL SHIFT THEIR FOCUS FROM SUNDAY TO EVERY DAY One of the most exciting trends to emerge so far is to see churches focus on everyday ministry, not just Sunday ministry. For years, the fun part of social media, online live events and even email marketing is that it allows you to show up in people’s lives every day, not just on Sundays. But most church leaders were so Sunday-focused that they were totally absent in people’s lives by Monday, not to mention the other five days of the week. That’s changing, and that can only be a good thing. When it comes to discipleship and evangelism, every day is more important than Sunday. Tens of thousands of church leaders are showing up online on every imaginable social media platform almost daily. Not all that digital spaghetti will stick to the wall. Some leaders are already tiring of daily messaging. Others realize daily content is proving to be challenging (you have to have a lot to say). And the initial enthusiasm of viewers will wane as the internet settles down into some new rhythm. BUT…and this is big…the idea that we can go back to Sunday worship with a few midweek (group) meetings and the odd inspiring quote on Instagram is already a thing of the past. Sundays will continue to be really significant gathering and worship days for churches, but it can no longer stop there. If people live every day in need of hope and resources to live out their faith (or to find faith) every day, church leaders have to start coming alongside people every day. Like many are doing right now. In the future, churches will shift their focus from Sunday to every day, because people need to find faith and live out their faith every day. 4. LEADERS WILL START TO RETHINK MULTISITE  This one takes us out on a bit of a ledge, so bear with me. Like I said, everything could be different in two months. But I’m wondering how the disruption will fare for the multisite movement that’s been part of our landscape for the last three decades, with growing churches planting numerous physical locations. Here’s what the current crisis has done so far. Overnight, every multisite church became a single site church, that single site being the internet. And, as already discussed, church leaders are also discovering that digital church scales in a way that physical church doesn’t. I have no idea what will happen to multisite churches when locations are allowed to reopen. Perhaps more people will flock back to church in person. There are rattlings already that this could be the end for many malls, theatres and even restaurants. That could mean that real estate, being cheaper than ever, could be snapped up cheaply by church leaders wanting to expand. Or it could mean that you’re trying to be Blockbuster in the age of Netflix, AppleTV and Disney+. If digital breaks down physical barriers, what will happen to physical locations? Right now I think this is simply a question to be asked rather than anything to be acted on. But again, asking the question now gets you ready for an answer then. 5. THE SERMON WILL BE REBORN Even in these early weeks of the disruption, church leaders and rethinking and reinventing the sermon. For decades/centuries, the standard method of delivery has been a 30-40 minute monologue by a preacher based around scripture. To be clear, I’m almost at the point where I think preaching could be a sacrament. I take it very seriously and believe it gets used powerfully by God to change lives through the preaching of his word. (Side note: It’s weird to me how many denominations restrict the presiding over communion to clergy but let anyone preach. Way more damage has been done through awful sermons than from misdistributing communion). So how will the sermon be reborn? In many ways, but the key is to experiment. Many sermons are getting shorter. Speaking into a camera takes a unique skill set, and most leaders are choosing to go shorter rather than longer. You can easily make messages interactive. Having live-chat during sermons can allow your hosts to engage with people, and at the very end of the service on Sunday I took live questions from people about the message. You can start to film in advance and make the messages more creative, almost taking a cinematic approach to it. Some sermons might get longer and more intellectual. Online isn’t just video or social media. It’s also audio.  In this post , which I wrote a few years ago, I argued one way that the Sermon 2.0 could take shape was through long, off-Sunday content. Shorter isn’t always better.  Long-form content has a role. I realize there’s no consistent pattern here. That’s the point. There will perhaps always be a role for the 40-minute message on a Sunday morning, but for the church to become far more creative than only has an upside. Crisis is a cradle for innovation. So when it comes the sermon, innovate. www.careynieuwhof.com . Explore Carey’s new series on How to Lead Through Crisis.

I was asked a few days ago three questions related to our finances and needed perspective during these challenging times with the COVID-19 (coronavirus) crisis. Honestly, our needs as Christ followers right now are the same as they are in times of ease, plenty, and comfort. But suffering and difficulty can make our calling and purpose much clearer. Puritan Thomas Watson said, “God takes away the world, that the heart may cleave more to Him in sincerity.” Let’s not waste this difficult season, but instead use it to study and learn and grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior ( 2 Peter 3:18 ). The grace that saves us is also the grace that sanctifies and empowers us. God’s power isn’t needed just by unbelievers to be converted. It’s needed by believers to be obedient and joyful. This is the grace Jesus offers you today, and every day, as you seek to follow Him faithfully. What do we need to know? We need to know who our God is and that He has many attributes, and not just love. (I highly recommend J. I. Packer’s book  Knowing God , as well as Wayne Grudem’s large  Systematic Theology  and also his abridged  Bible Doctrine .) We need to know all that’s true about Him, including His sovereignty, justice, love, grace, wrath, happiness, mercy, patience, unchangeableness (immutability), and His providential workings to bring about His eternal plan. A central part of that plan is using adversity to topple our idols, including the idols of health and wealth, and to make us more Christlike, and thereby more faithful representatives of the Jesus we proclaim. This will result in people being drawn toward faith in Him. “WE KNOW [not wish or hope] that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” ( Romans 8:28 ). “Now this is eternal life: THAT THEY KNOW YOU, the only true God, AND JESUS CHRIST, whom you have sent” ( John 17:3 ). We need to know that the people of God will truly live happily ever after with Jesus and each other on the New Earth, a redeemed world that is our true country and our eternal home. This is not wishful thinking, but the blood-bought promise of the risen King Jesus. Meanwhile we are pilgrims, strangers, and aliens in this fallen world, and we should never expect anything in it to meet our deepest needs, which can only be met in Him ( Hebrews 11:13-17 ). What do we need to be? We need to be disciples who bear Christ’s likeness, including integrity, trust, and faithfulness to God. We need to be trusting children who believe the promises of God, not the promises of American pop culture and celebrities and financial cheerleaders, including Christian ones, who are convinced America’s long-term prosperity is a given, somehow guaranteed. (Where do you find that in the Bible?) We need to be people who realize our dependence on our Savior and King, and that apart from Him all we do amounts to nothing: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” ( John 15:5 ). We need to be Christ’s ambassadors ( 2 Corinthians 5:20 ), meaning that we accurately and unapologetically represent who He is, what He believes, and what He says is true. Our job isn’t to be His make-up artists, speech writers, or PR staff who go before Him, but His servants who follow behind Him and faithfully convey His true agenda, whether or not others like it or we’re comfortable doing it. We need to be children who understand “God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness” and “no discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it” ( Hebrews 12:10-11 ). Richard Sibbes said, “When we grow careless of keeping our souls, God recovers our taste of good things by sharp crosses.” So we should be people who see that “our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” ( 2 Corinthians 4:17 ). What do we need to do? We need to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strength.  We need to love our neighbors as ourselves, caring not only about our children but all children. We need to ask God for wisdom and seek to act wisely ( James 1:5 ) but also lovingly, which sometimes means taking great personal risks for the good of others who need our help. “What does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” ( Micah 6:8 ). We need to understand that some things are far worse than death, and failing to walk with Him and obey Him and be willing to die for Him are among them. “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it” ( Luke 9:23-24 ). We need to store up our treasures in Heaven, not on Earth, knowing that they are never safe when stored up on earth, but only when placed in the hands of our God in Heaven ( Matthew 6:19-21 ;  1 Timothy 6:17-19 ). We need to happily serve Him in a spirit of continuous prayer, overflowing with joy and gratitude: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” ( 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ). We need to adopt an eternal perspective, and “fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” ( 2 Corinthians 4:18 ). Knowing our Lord went to Hell for us on the cross so we could live with Him forever in Heaven, even in hard times we should fix our eyes on Him and “sing” and “shout for joy” and “be happy and rejoice with all our hearts” ( Zephaniah 3:14, NCV ). www.epm.org ,  Used by permission.

Spring 2020? It’s time for a deep breath, a steady resolve and a few decisions. I’m thinking of three essential, emotional tools. Gratitude. Collect your blessings. Catalog God’s kindnesses. Assemble your reasons for gratitude and recite them. “Always be joyful,” the Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Thessalonians. “Pray continually, and give thanks whatever happens. That is what God wants for you in Christ Jesus.” Look at the totality of those terms. Always be joyful. Pray continually. Give thanks whatever happens. Gratitude is always an option. Matthew Henry made it his. When the 18th-century British minister and scholar was accosted by thieves and robbed of his purse, he wrote in his diary, “Let me be thankful, first because I was never robbed before; second, because, although they took my purse they did not take my life, third, because although they took my all, it was not much; and, fourth, because it was I who was robbed, not I who robbed.” Quarry some gratitude. And, be kind to others. Be the family member who offers to wash the dishes. Be the colleague who reaches out to check on the team. Be the neighbor who mows the grass of the elderly couple. You’ll be better because of it. Research bears this out. Studies have shown that giving to help others triggers dopamine. (New fundraising slogan, perhaps?) When volunteers wearing a functional MRI scanner were told they would be giving money to charity, the areas of their brains associated with pleasure — like food and sex — lit up like Christmas trees. Seeking joy? Do good for someone else. It really is better to give than receive. It’s time for gratitude. It’s time to serve others and it’s time for determination. Good, old-fashioned grit, a resolve that says, “I’m not giving in to fear. I’m not caving in to despair. With God as my helper, I’m going to weather this storm.” Some years ago, I had the honor of meeting an American hero, Gen. Robbie Risner. For seven and a half years, North Vietnamese soldiers held him and dozens of other soldiers in the Zoo, a POW camp in Hanoi. Misery came standard issue. Solitary confinement, starvation, tortures and beatings were routine. Interrogators twisted broken legs, sliced skin with bayonets, crammed sticks up nostrils, and paper in mouths. Screams echoed throughout the camp, chilling the blood of other prisoners. Listen to Risner’s description: “Everything was sad and dismal. It was almost the essence of despair. If you could have squeezed the feeling out of the word despair it would have come out gray, dull and lead-colored, dingy and dirty … ” How do you survive seven and a half years in such a hole? Cut off from family. No news from the U.S. What do you do? Here is what Risner did. He stared at a blade of grass. Several days into his incarceration, he wrestled the grate off a floor vent, stretched out on his belly, lowered his head into the opening, and peered through a pencil-sized hole in the brick and mortar at a singular blade of grass. Aside from this stem, his world had no color. So, he began his days, head in vent, heart in prayer, staring at the green blade of grass. He called it a “blood transfusion for the soul.” You don’t have to go Hanoi to face a “gray, dull and lead-colored, dingy and dirty” existence. A pandemic will do just fine. Do what Risner did. Go on a search. Crowbar the grate from your place of isolation, and stick your head out. Fix your eyes on hope. Gratitude. Others. Determination. G-O-D. He is still in charge. He is still Emmanuel, God with us. Heaven still awaits. The tomb of Christ is still vacant. Children still laugh and grass still turns green in April. Find a blade and set your gaze on it. It’s not the month we wanted, but it is the month we’ve been given. And we will get through it. Excerpt from Surviving April. www.maxlucado.com.

Many people, including many readers of this blog, are facing some level of financial uncertainty right now because of the coronavirus crisis. These are challenging times, and you may find yourself worrying, and wondering what the future might hold. I believe one of the best things we can do to find encouragement and perspective in times like these is to start by remembering God’s ownership. He Owns It All From beginning to end, Scripture repeatedly emphasizes God’s ownership of everything: “To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it” ( Deuteronomy 10:14 ).“The land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants” ( Leviticus 25:23 ).“Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things” ( 1 Chronicles 29:11-12 ).“Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me” ( Job 41:11 ).“The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters” ( Psalm 24:1-2 ).“For every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine. If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it” ( Psalm 50:10-12 ).“‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty” ( Haggai 2:8 ). Not only does God own everything, but He grants us our money-making skills and determines how much of His wealth He will entrust to us: “Remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth” ( Deuteronomy 8:18, NIV ).“The Lord makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up” ( 1 Samuel 2:7, NKJV ). In my books  Money, Possessions, and Eternity   and  Managing God’s Money , I share how a distraught man furiously rode his horse up to John Wesley, shouting, “Mr. Wesley, Mr. Wesley, something terrible has happened. Your house has burned to the ground!” Weighing the news for the moment, Wesley replied, “No. The Lord’s house burned to the ground. That means one less responsibility for me.” Wesley’s response wasn’t the sanctimonious reply of someone who thought I’d be quoting his words hundreds of years later. We might say, “Get real,” but his reaction didn’t stem from a denial of reality. Rather, it sprang from life’s most basic reality—that God is the owner of all things, and we are simply His stewards. When we realize our possessions belong to God and not us, it removes from us the burden of worry or despair. What we value most, the treasures we will enjoy for eternity, are in Heaven, not on earth. Will We Trust Him? In  Reflections of God’s Glory , Corrie ten Boom, who traveled the world speaking and sharing about God’s love, said, “My finances are always in the realm of God’s miracles. He is my heavenly treasurer. When I need money—and I often do—I say to Him, ‘Father in Heaven, in the Bible it says that you have cattle on a thousand hills. That’s quite a lot. Will you sell Your cows and give me the money?’ He always does so.” If we believe that God can create us, redeem us, and bring us through death to spend eternity with Him, why can’t we take Him at His word when He says He’ll provide for our material needs? “The Lord is my shepherd; I have what I need” ( Psalm 23:1, CSB ). (God wants an opportunity either to provide for our needs  or  to show us that they aren’t really needs.) Jesus said,  “ Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things [what you eat, drink, and wear] will be given to you as well” ( Matthew 6:33 ). Unlike the pagans who “run after all these things” and “worry about tomorrow,” believers are told to follow Christ, live a radical life of faith, and trust God to provide ( Matthew 6:25-34 ). In this passage, Jesus says that God cares for the birds. Yet birds aren’t created in God’s image. Christ didn’t die for birds. The Holy Spirit doesn’t indwell birds. Birds won’t reign with Christ. But we will! So Christ asks His disciples, “Are you not much more valuable than they?” ( Matthew 6:26 ). If He takes care of the less valuable creatures, will He not take care of us, who are far more valuable? If God calls on you today to share your resources with another, you must not say, “I can’t, Lord, because I don’t know where my own provisions are coming from.” Yes, you  do  know where they’re coming from. They’re coming from God, the owner of all. You may not know the form this provision will take, but you do know the Source. Like the poor widow who had no cash reserves, you know that God will take care of you, even if there are no visible resources. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you won’t face hardship, including financial difficulties and pressures. It  does  mean that you can trust Him. Where Is Our Hope? Financial concerns can help us evaluate what our real hope is in. All of us trust in something. The more dependable the object of our trust and hope, the less we need to worry. The stock market isn’t God, the  Wall Street Journal  isn’t the Bible, your asset manager isn’t your pastor, and financial experts aren’t prophets. (Prophets were put to death when their prophecies didn’t come true!) That doesn’t mean the stock market is bad, but it does mean it’s not trustworthy. It may do well for a day, a month, a year, or even a few decades. But because the stock market is uncertain, it can only produce anxiety when it becomes the object of our trust. God is the only totally trustworthy object. Therefore, He’s the only one who cannot betray our trust. The Apostle Paul says that the rich should not “put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but . . . in God, who richly provides” ( 1 Timothy 6:17 ). The one whose greatest riches are deposited in the bank will be destroyed when the banks fail, as will the farmer whose greatest asset is in crops when the crops fail or when the commodity markets fall. In contrast, the one whose hope is in God will be devastated only if God fails—and He never does. Elliot Clark writes in  Evangelism as Exiles: Life on Mission as Strangers in Our Land , Hope for the Christian isn’t just confidence in a certain, glorious future. It’s hope in a present providence. It’s hope that God’s plans can’t be thwarted by local authorities or irate mobs, by unfriendly bosses or unbelieving husbands, by Supreme Court rulings or the next election. The Christian hope is that God’s purposes are so unassailable that a great thunderstorm of events can’t drive them off course. Even when we’re wave-tossed and lost at sea, Jesus remains the captain of the ship and the commander of the storm. Consider these verses from the Psalms, reminding us to put our hope in God:  “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you” ( Psalm 39:7 ). “For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken. … For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him” ( Psalm 62:1-2 ,  5 ). “The LORD upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing. The LORD is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them” ( Psalm 145:14-19 ). May the truth of God’s ownership of all, His providence over everything, and His promise to provide for His children’s needs help you completely put your hope in Him, whatever the coming days, weeks, and months may bring. epm.org . Used by permission.

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! To view the entire free collection of Hope in Uncertainty resources available from Proverbs 31 Ministries, click  HERE . Stay well friends, I’m praying for you! www.lysaterkeurst.com