“Now is the time to cast off and throw away all these rotten garments of  anger , hatred, cursing, and dirty language.” Colossians 3:8 NLT So much is changing so quickly in our culture. One of the things that is changing quickly is how deeply we seem to hate each other. I wish I could say Christians were exempt from this trend. We’re not. In fact, there are a good number of Christians who are fuelling it. A few years back, my social feeds felt a lot more fun than they are now. Some days the feed is so bad I just give up…it seems like an endless drone of suspicion that fuels anger that spawns outrage that powers division. It’s almost as though if you’re not outraged, you can’t have an opinion. I’ve stopped following some people I used to follow because, well, it’s just wearying. Sometimes it feels like the outrage just waits to jump on whatever issue seems easiest to follow. It’s a parasite looking for the next animal to suck dry. So what’s going on? How did we end up this way? And is there anything that you and I can do about it? Well, start here. Even though some days it might feel like everybody’s angry, it’s not everyone. Like other authors and thinkers, I’m trying to carve out a space for the good people to hang out on the internet. A space where reasonable people can honestly share opinions and not jump all over each other. While that’s what I’m committed to, it’s not always that simple. IT’S IN MOST OF US The problem, of course, is more nuanced than simply blaming other people and walking away. Because I feel the spirit of the age inside me at times too. On my good days I want to save the world. On my bad days, left to my worst instincts, there are bodies flying everywhere. I feel the spirit of anger rising up in me, too. As Aleksander Solzhenitsyn wrote: If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being.  All of which leads me to ask why. Why are we all a little (or a lot) angrier? Is this inevitable? There are some surprising things that fuel anger a lot of us might be unaware of. Knowing why all of this is in the air can help us to filter it out of our lives. At least understanding the conditions that can amplify the anger we all feel helps me manage mine. So why are most of us angrier than we used to be? Why is there so much hate? There are more than a few reasons that anger is the new epidemic. 1. YOU’RE NATURALLY MORE AGGRESSIVE ONLINE THAN YOU ARE IN PERSON People say and do things online they aren’t comfortable doing in real life. Not only do you try to manicure your image so you look better than you do,  but unless you work hard at it, you’re more naturally aggressive, more divisive and more hostile than you are person to person. The question is why? The answer?  Because you’re kind of anonymous.  Even if you use a real profile pic and your user name isn’t something like truth, you still don’t feel the closeness you do in real life. Distance between people desensitizes people. Generals have known this for millennia. That’s why soldiers wear uniforms and wear war paint. It not only identifies you, but it disguises your humanity. It’s easier to shoot you when I can’t see you. Before you judge soldiers, think of how you behave in your car. Chance are, you’re naturally more aggressive there too—occasionally cutting people off, tailgating, honking your horn, and not caring nearly as much as you normally do. Every wonder why? Because you’re in a 3000-pound armored vehicle. You don’t see the guy bothering you as a person. You see him as a problem. So you get way more aggressive. Think about it. Even in the supermarket, you’re ruder when you have a shopping cart in your hands than when you don’t. The same dynamic is at work in social media and our life online. When you’re online and you can’t see the whites of someone’s eyes, it’s just easier to shoot. Because the internet is dehumanizing, it’s easy to mistreat other humans. Bottom line? It’s never been easier to be known and hide simultaneously than it is online. 2. HATE GENERATES MORE CLICKS THAN LOVE Hate generates more clicks than love. Long before the endless fake-news arguments of today, TV news and newspaper editors figured out that bad news sells. They learned how to play into our anxiety and fear to get ratings. The 24-hour news cycle and explosion of new media have accelerated those attention-grabbing tendencies. Social media has put that tendency on steroids. Tristan Harris  makes a compelling argument  that algorithms Facebook, Google and other social media agencies us intentionally prioritize outrage, because, as Harris argues, the major social and tech companies have figured out that outrage spreads faster than something that’s not outrage. Here’s what’s sadly true about human nature, or at least human nature in the 21st century: hate generates more clicks than love. I’ve struggled with this as a writer. I’m committed to making this blog and my podcast places of hope, help and encouragement. But I’ve also realized that if I title things positively, nobody reads it. For example, I could have called this post “Love Each Other More. Our World Needs It.” But “Why Do We Hate Each Other So Much? (5 Reasons Anger is the New Epidemic)” is a much more compelling headline. I’ve experimented with titles enough to know that this phenomenon is sadly true. So I use a little negative to generate far more positive. When I title things, I avoid hate, outrage and (I hope) sensationalism, and I  always  try to write positive pieces, but the insight and the irony aren’t lost on me that leading with a negative title gets a positive piece read. My usual structure is that I lead with the problem most people feel or experience, describe it, and move toward a solution or a few solutions. Hope, followed by help. 3. ANY ATTENTION CAN FEEL BETTER THAN NO ATTENTION There’s an inverse trend happening around us: thanks to technology, we’ve never been more connected than we are today, and we’ve never felt more alone. In 2018,  the British government launched the first ever loneliness strategy , appointing a minister for loneliness to deal with the deep isolation millions of people feel. While this isn’t always true, sometimes lonely people will settle for any attention they can get. When you feel nothing, a click, a like or a comment can make you feel something, even if it’s not nearly as satisfying as a real conversation, a real connection or true intimacy. Sometimes I wonder if the trolls who leave angry tirades are honestly just lonely. Just hoping someone notices them. The next time you’re hoping to get noticed online, put your device down and grab coffee with a friend instead. And if you struggle with friendship, make a friend. Most people are as lonely as you are. So be the first to reach out. 4. YOU KNOW ENOUGH TO MAKE YOUR WORLD FEEL DARK One of the challenges everyone is navigating is the flood of information that hits us every day. From your social media feeds to breaking news flashes to the minute by minute invasion of notifications, buzzes, rings and haptics that disrupt our day, we’re processing more information than any humans who have ever lived. This is not good. If you flip back a few generations, you’ll notice that your great-great-grandparents really only processed the information they needed to know and could act on. You only knew so many people, and when someone died, you knew them and could help by bringing the family food, attending the funeral and being part of the community that could support them. Now, you get told several times a day about mass shootings, plane crashes, typhoons and wars that kill thousands…but you don’t know anyone involved and are mostly powerless to help except to give a few dollars to relief efforts or the latest GoFundMe campaign. Ditto with new, emails, status updates. You are bombarded every day with information you can barely process, let alone do anything about. You know what that’s doing to you? It’s making you cynical. The media runs bad news, and when your friends post about their latest trip, awesome parties, or fantastic dinner, it generates bad feelings (jealousy and resentment and loneliness are profound issues associated with social media). Cynicism roots itself in knowledge. The more you know, the more cynical you become. The reason you were so happy when you were younger is you and I were kind of stupid. Ignorance is bliss. But now, every single day, you see how poorly we treat each other as humans. You see that you weren’t invited to the party, didn’t get to hang with your friends, aren’t moving into that gorgeous dream house your college roommate is and that 200 people died in a plane crash…and it leaves you sad. Your character actually needs a lot of refinement and you need to deepen your spiritual maturity to use social media and navigate the news these days. Or at least I do. I wrote about how to overcome cynicism and discouragement  here . But at least this explains why you feel the way you feel so many days. 5. ANGER CAN GET YOU HEARD, EVEN WHEN YOU HAVE NOTHING TO SAY Many people would say the opposite of love isn’t hate. It’s indifference. I think that’s true. And when it feels like the world is indifferent to you and you’re unloved, anger can be a way to get someone’s attention. Sadly, anger can get you heard, even when you have nothing to say. The next time you feel the urge to rage, remember, you’re not alone. You are loved. SO WHAT DO YOU DO? The future can be dark, or it can be different. Personally, I’m putting my heart behind different. And better. Here are four questions to ask next time you post, write, blog, podcast, or shoot that email or text. What’s my real motive? Am I trying to help, hurt, or just get noticed? Are people better off, or worse off, for having read what I posted?  Am I calling out the worst in people, or attempting to bring out the best? If the person I’m writing to was in the room looking me in the eye, would I say the same thing in the same way?  I don’t always get that right, but I’ve found these questions really help me filter my emotions and help me process what I’m feeling. Speaking of which, what do you do with the junk you feel—the loneliness, the anger, the outrage? Here’s the best thing I know how to do: Process privately. Help publicly. Processing privately can be as simple as praying about it and waiting 24 hours before you do a thing. Often that’s enough. Sometimes you’ll need to talk to a friend. Other times you may need to go see a counselor. I highly recommend that. After all, the gravitational pull is toward unhealthy, not health. Healthy doesn’t happen on its own. You and I need help. Trust me, the world doesn’t need your immediate opinion or my immediate opinion on everything. Twitter and Instagram can wait a day too. No one will die if you don’t respond right away. Strangely, though, they might die a little if you continue to assassinate them in the heat of the moment. And often if you sleep on it and pray about, or even discuss it with another person, you won’t feel the same way about whatever was making you mad. It’s shocking how often you will just let it go, or create an emotionally healthy response instead. Then run everything you can through what I call a ‘helpful filter’. If it’s not helpful–not constructive—don’t write it. Don’t send it. Critique is different than criticism. A critique aims to build up, not to tear down. So it’s not like you can never say anything negative. But what you have to say should help people get better and feel better. If you can’t figure out how to do that, you’re not ready to post. FIND THE TIME TO PROCESS (AND GET YOUR LIFE BACK)   One of the reasons all of this is hard is because we’re so constantly bombarded we never slow down to think, rest or even reflect.   Isaiah 35:15 For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” ESV https://careynieuwhof.com/the-top-10-most-read-blog-posts-of-2019/

I know a few jerks who have made it pretty far in life. To pretend otherwise would be a lie. Jerks occasionally win. They make lots of money. They get famous. They accomplish lots and lots of things. They succeed in a million different ways, but, there’s a catch. Jerks who win, only win temporarily. The people around them are just biding their time. They’re waiting until they get brave enough to leave, have a slightly better option or life catches up with the jerk and they finally lose. When any of the above three happens, people will abandon ship as fast as they can, because no one healthy likes a long-term journey with a jerk. Being nice is a much better long-term plan. Not only does it allow you to build something really amazing with really amazing people, it feels a whole lot better, too. Being a jerk is always an experience that empties you out. It might gift you with outward success, but inwardly, being mean, cruel or dismissive to other people hollows you internally. Nice works better. So how you do you be nice? I will give you 7 simple words that will completely change your ability to be nice. Ready? Here they are: “Pretend you live in a small town.” When you live in a small town, you are not anonymous. People know you. Those people will see you again. You can’t burn bridges because small towns don’t have many. You might disagree with someone, but when you realize you’ll probably see them at the grocery store, the elementary school, church and the movie theater, you have greater incentive to be nice. When you’re anonymous, it’s a whole lot easier to be a jerk. (See the Internet.) The worst of you can come out because you don’t think you’ll see those people again anyway. Who cares? Say the passive aggressive statement. Cut off the stranger. Climb over someone because they were just in the way. Maybe right now you live in New York City and think this is the silliest idea you’ve ever heard. You don’t live in a small town. There are millions of people flowing through that city every day. Fair enough, but keep this in mind, every industry is a small town. You will work with the same people again. You will see the same people again. You will run into the same people again. I got a speaking engagement at a company recently that has 100,000 employees. It’s one of the most valuable companies in the world. The person who booked me said, “One of my coworkers worked with you 20 years ago. He’d love to say ‘hi’ when you’re in town.” I shared an office with this person at the first real job I ever had in 1999. Did I think I would see him again? Did I think we’d both change cities and industries multiple times only to cross paths two decades later? Of course not. Thank goodness I wasn’t a jerk to him. That’s not always been the case. I’ve burned some bridges. Some out of necessity, some out of immaturity and arrogance, a dangerous cocktail. I wish I’d been nice. I think you’ll wish you had been, too. Nice wins long term, for you and everyone around you. Pretend you’re in a small town, because you are. Every industry is smaller than you think. Don’t be a jerk. P.S. This is the nicest piece of paper you will ever see and you will love what it helps you do. www.acuff.me/ “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” Ephesians 4:32

1.      Forgive Quickly.  The Bible speaks of keeping “short accounts.” In other words, don’t hold on to anger. Keep your marriage “current” instead of bottling up past issues, only to release them one day in an angry volley. “… be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.”  ( Ephesians 4:32 ) 2.      Commit Freely.  Live up to your vows. Be committed to each other and to the Lord. And be committed to working through any issues that arise—even if you need to get help. Eliminate the thought of divorce as an option. “Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you.”  ( Psalm 37:5 (NLT) ) 3.      Share Values.  It’s important to be on the same page with the things that are really important, especially in your spiritual lives. Pray together. Serve together. Be active in church together. Pull on the “same end of the rope.” “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up.”  ( Ecclesiastes 4:9 (NIV) ) 4.      Grow Up.  You’re not at Mom’s or Dad’s anymore. You are committed to the grown up relationship of marriage, so act like it! Be responsible with your money and time and work and each other. This includes the critical need to be self-less with your spouse. It’s a matter of personal maturity. “Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you .” ( 2 Corinthians 13:11 (NLT) ) 5.      Live the “Love Passage”  of 1 Corinthians 13 . “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”  ( 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NLT) ) 6.      Practice Healthy Communication.  Speak to each other. Share your feelings. Intimacy will grow as you develop the habits and skills of healthy communications. If you don’t know how, then learn how. Read a book. Watch a teaching video on how to communicate. Take a look at our “ inTENtionals for Marriage Communication ”. “Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love .” ( Ephesians 4:15-16 (NLT) ) 7.      Hold Realistic Expectations.  Anytime Expectations are greater than Reality, Disappointment is the result. Mathematically illustrated: E > R = D. Keep your expectations realistic. Maybe you can’t change reality, but you can change your expectations. “Always continue to fear the Lord. You will be rewarded for this; your hope will not be disappointed. My child, listen and be wise: Keep your heart on the right course .” ( Proverbs 27:17-19 (NLT) ) 8.      Have Fun.  You live with enough stressors in your life. Be sure you enjoy one another in playful, fun ways. Find shared interests and make time to share in those activities. “Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.”  ( Proverbs 5:18 (NLT) ) 9.      Anticipate something Together.  Have something to look forward to: maybe an upcoming church event, a date night or a day trip. Perhaps a vacation or simply a movie and popcorn at home. “And I am praying that you will put into action the generosity that comes from your faith as you understand and experience all the good things we have in Christ .” ( Philemon 1:6 (NLT) ) 10.   Leave and Cleave.  You are in this marriage TOGETHER. The TWO of you have become ONE. Depend on each other, as you depend on God to hold you together. As you each grow closer to Jesus, you will also grow closer to each other. “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh”  ( Genesis 2:24 (KJV) © 2017 by Randy Carlson  www.theintentionallife.com .

Countless American families hastily evacuated their homes due to fires, floods or hurricanes. The stories of their frantic retreats are remarkably similar. They rescue two things as they rush out the door: treasured photos and the family pet. Forget the paintings and the jewelry! Fido and photos come first. We love our pets! This past weekend, I took my daughter and her Doberman Roo to the “Darling Dachshund” races. You heard me. Little weiner dogs burst out of their teeny-tiny starting gates and frantically sprint toward doting owners holding squeaky toys at the finish line. Hysterical! Americans spend $70 billion per year on their pets. There are 2 million cat videos on YouTube. (Why? I’m not a cat person…) My daughter frequently chats with her pet-loving friends around the globe on Instagram. Viagen Pets cite 10 reasons why folks love dogs: loyalty, friendship, therapy, health, unconditional love, protection, selflessness, exercise, forgiveness and happiness. My Mom had mid-stage Alzheimer’s. We always brought Penny, our cocker spaniel, to visit her. My Dad passed away three years ago. Last week she confided, “I love when Penny sleeps with me. My bed doesn’t feel so empty without Ralph (my Dad). “ I pondered this passion we have for all things furry (and scaly, as the case may be). God must have placed in us a desire to bond with animals. Does the Bible broach the subject? Yes. God has a lot to say about our intertwined relationships with animals in His Word. God had Adam name the animals. He commanded Noah to protect and care for the animals in the ark. He had the Jews keep Passover lambs in the house with the family. Nathan decried David’s adultery with Bathsheba by telling a story of a poor man who had one little ewe lamb he loved. Uriah was the poor man. Bathsheba was the beloved little lamb: “The poor man owned nothing but one little lamb he had bought. He raised that little lamb, and it grew up with his children. It ate from the man’s own plate and drank from his cup. He cuddled it in his arms like a baby daughter 2 Samuel 12: God knows when a little sparrow (or Budgie the parakeet) falls, and is concerned: “What is the price of five sparrows-two copper coins? But God does not forget a single one of them. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.” Luke 12:6-7 God gives us a window to observe the unspoken relationship between a man and his animal in the book of Numbers. The Jewish prophet Balaam was on his way to help Balak, a pagan king, curse Israel. God sent an angel with a flaming sword to stop him. His donkey saw the angel. The rebellious prophet did not. Balaam’s donkey spoke to her master. In Numbers 22:26-28, we hear a unique conversation: Then God gave speech to the donkey. She said to Balaam: “What have I ever done to you that you have beat me these three times?” Balaam said, “Because you’ve been playing games with me! If I had a sword I would have killed you by now.” The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your trusty donkey on whom you’ve ridden for years right up until now? Have I ever done anything like this to you before? Have I?” He said, “No.” Even Balaam’s donkey spoke of the relationship they shared! Isaiah reveals another passage about the connection between man and his animals: “Even an ox knows its owner, and a donkey recognizes its master’s care— but Israel doesn’t know its master. My people don’t recognize my care for them.” Isaiah 1:3. God carefully teaches us to understand our relationship with Him from Bible passages about animals. The Lord used animals to show us our need for forgiveness of sin. When Adam and Eve fell, the first act of God was to sacrifice an animal and cover their nakedness in Genesis 3:21. Blood sacrifices and atonement fill the pages of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Christ was the Lamb of God who would provide the ultimate way for man to connect with God: “And they sang in a mighty chorus: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered— to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.” Revelation 5:12 Our Heavenly Father controls animals to teach us lessons. He directed a whale and a worm to teach rebellious Jonah. He showed Elijah His care by dispatching ravens to feed him during a drought. The Lord judged wicked Jezebel by dispatching dogs to eat her corpse. He shut the mouths of lions to protect Daniel and to reveal His power to a pagan king. The highest moment of Christ’s ministry involved multiplying fish to feed the masses. God created animals to need us to provide and care for them. We need them, too! How many lessons do your children learn from your pets? 1. They learn responsibility. Someone has to feed, walk and wash the pooch. Hopefully your child learns these invaluable life skills. Solomon observed in Proverbs 12:10: “The godly care for their animals, but the wicked are always cruel.” What a great nugget of wisdom for your son or daughter! 2. They learn unconditional love. No matter how many times your little one pulls their fur, chases them or tries to “ride them around the house,” your canine runs to the bedside of your kid every morning with a tail wag and a lick. 3. They learn faithfulness. My daughter Brie is chronically ill. Her toy havanese Wicket never leaves her side. She depends on Wicket. He makes her laugh and cuddles her when she cries. Jesus demonstrated the love between man and his animals in the Gospel of John. Christ’s words are so powerful and precious, I will share all of them: “The one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep… the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep.” What a beautiful picture! Jesus knows us, His little sheep, and we know and trust Him. Penny, my pup, lies quietly at my feet while I write to you. I feel warm and calm and comforted. I think I’ll get up, scratch her warm belly and give her a treat. Or maybe I’ll get a treat too! P.S. My husband Roger wrote a wonderful article entitled “Are Dogs Religious? Do Dogs Go to Heaven?”

Need Meeters: Philippians 4 Steven Furtick Philippians 4 and I want to link this message with the other messages from Philippians 1. I'm not gonna be dragging anybody across the stage in a chain this week. I figured it's a bad pattern. But I do want to go to this great passage of scripture that was originally like the P.S. that Paul put in his letter to the Philippian church. He just kind of tagged it on at the end to thank them for the gift that they sent to help him with his legal defense. From a prison cell he writes and he's like full of joy which is counterintuitive that you'd be in jail and have joy or lose your job and still trust God and call Him your provider or be single but still know that you're not alone or maybe be wrong but know that God is even using that to ultimately bless your life and to use you. All of this is taught in the book of Philippians but I find myself coming back to this section which is like a P.S. Not only a postscript, to use an old letter writing term, but also it's a perspective shift. So we're gonna see the power of a perspective shift today. Phillippians 4:10-19. "I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last, you renewed your concern for me". I was laughing when I read that. He's like thanks I got your gift. It's about time. I didn't think that was very good thank you note etiquette. I got the gift. Finally! But then he clarifies. "Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances". Just touch the person next to you and say I'm good I promise. "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content..". I wasn't born this way. I was born screaming my head off. I was selfish when I was two but I'm maturing and I have learned to be content. I've learned that you can complain but it won't do any good and people won't like you. So I'm learning, amen, to be content whatever the circumstances. 'Cause I know what it is to be in need. I know what it is to have plenty. I've "...learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength". I call that the international bench press verse. Where you see these posters in every Christian school weight room all over the world. But it's got a little deeper meaning than that. It's about the sufficiency of God's Spirit in every situation. I just feel good today. I feel relaxed and happy about this message. Verse 14. "Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only..". You were there for me. You were there for me and I won't forget it. "...for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid more than once when I was in need". It's kinda confusing 'cause he keeps going back and forth like I don't need anything yet thank you for meeting my needs. But I don't need anything. I'm like well Paul if you don't need it can we have it back 'cause we need it. Look, "Not that I desire your gifts; what I desire is that more be credited to your account. I have received full payment and have more than enough. I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs..". I wonder if Paul was just saying this to the church at Phillipi or will he say it to Elevation Balyntyne today too. And Elevation Toronto. In fact, I wonder would you say this to the person next to you. My God will meet all your needs. This part is important. "...according to the riches of his glory in Christ". 'Cause I don't have what you need. I can't always be what you need 'cause I got my own needs. That's why I'm tired all the time is because people want me to meet their needs and I've got so many of my own. If you only knew how much I've needed you would leave me alone. How many want to say this to your kids every once and a while. Not me. I love my kids. They're delightful. But I think that's the most misunderstood verse in the whole book of Phillippians and I want to spend some time with it today. "My God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus". See if we can get a fresh hearing for this verse in Paul's presence. I want to speak to you today about need meters. Some things you learn about your spouse very quickly after marriage. Some things you know going in. Some things you find out progressively. I will never forget on our honeymoon I learned a lot about Holly on our honeymoon. Yeah. But in church, the thing that I learned about her that I wanted to tell you about today is we have very opposite vacation personalities. When she gets relaxed she gets quiet and boring. When I get relaxed I get playful, some would say silly, some would say obnoxious, but I say playful. The reason I knew this was gonna be interesting in our relationship is 'cause I thought she was mad. I thought she didn't like the cruise ship. I was like I know I couldn't afford the balcony room but at least it's a Princess Cruise. I was proud of it. Proud of the Princess Cruise. But she was happy. She said something to me I just remembered it when I was preparing this message. When I saw jumping up and down on the bed in that little room that they give you on the cruise ship. Jumping up and down on the bed maybe wanting to arm wrestle and making animal noises. She looked at me and I've heard her say this to our kids but this was the first time I heard her say it. She said do you need attention? You know what I wanna say publicly, Holly, yes! Yes, I need your attention, your affection, your tender mercies. I need it all! All of it! Anything. I need it all. I don't know what I need. That's one thing I know at age 38 that I didn't know earlier on. I don't even know what I need. I don't. She wants to be a doctor. So she's like well where does it hurt? And I don't know. It just hurts. She'll ask me this. What kind of headache? The kind that hurts. She wants to know what do you need? What do you need? The frustrating thing about it is somebody can really love you and want to meet your needs but two things. One. If you don't even know what you really need how in the world would they know what you need and meet your needs that you don't even really know? I can see we've got some work to do today. Because some of us want to act like we have no needs. I almost thought that's where Paul was going. I don't need it but thanks. But I mean I don't need it! Some people you can't even compliment 'em real good. It's terrible to try to compliment certain people. They'll make you feel so awkward especially in church. Good sermon. It was God! Wow. It wasn't that good Pastor. It was just OK. When we come to Christ there's often unrealistic expectation that He's going to take away our needs and He doesn't. In fact, if you are a Christian you still have the same needs now that you did before you met Jesus. The same needs but they are now met in a different way. In other words, you still have the same need for approval. But now instead of trying to get it from another human who doesn't even fully like themselves, you are getting it from the all-sufficient, all knowing, all-seeing, ever-present, ever-living God who gives you breath and who intricately knit you together in your mother's womb. So it's not that I don't have needs. It's not that I don't have wants. The Lord is my Shepard. I shall not want. That doesn't mean I never want anything, never need anything. It doesn't mean my appetite went away. It just means I go to a different buffet now. Amen. That means I eat off a different menu now. Sometimes we are so focused on people's behaviors that we can't discern the needs that drive the behaviors. A lot of Christian teaching and preaching is focused on condemning behaviors without understanding the need. There is no need that you are currently meeting in your life that is an evil need or a bad need. Many of us who have various addictions need to hear this exact point and maybe you can even leave after I say this 'cause this may be the whole reason God brought you here. You're not meeting the wrong need. You're just meeting it with the wrong means. This applies to overspending, overeating, overtalking, overbragging, and yes I hear you Facebook — oversharing. It applies to every sexual addiction. There's a certain shame that comes with sexual addiction but there shouldn't be because all the addiction is a valid need trying to express itself. It's a need for connection which is very good and very God. It is not good for man to be alone. But loneliness if left untreated becomes lust. That's all lust is the need for connection being met through something that has no ability to satisfy the need that it is trying to meet. So it becomes more and more and more and more and more. Paul says my God shall supply all your needs or meet all of your needs not according to your resources but according to His. I'm glad about it. I'm glad that the only one who has what I need happens to be the only one who knows what I need. How many are glad about that? Let's give God five seconds of praise for knowing what we need and for being what we need. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life of whom shall I be afraid? Listen, Blakeney, when the wicked even mine enemies came upon me even they stumbled and fell. He prepares a table for me in the presence of my enemy. No, He doesn't take the need away. He becomes what I need. He meets my need. Some of us are waiting for God to remove the need. But if He removed the need He would remove the means by which He meets the need to remind you that He is what I need. He not only gives it, He is it. Let's back up a little bit and let's talk about your need meter. Spell it different. If we spelled it like this: Not that meet-ers but the other one. Need meter. Like how needy are you? Like what's your meter read? If we could read the meter on your need today if it was right there on your forehead when you came in the house of God what would we see if we could read your meter? What if we could read your joy meter today? Not your happy meter. Happy meter might be just caffeine. Starbucks can make you happy. Yet there's this joy, this contentment, it's described in the scripture. Don't let people's smile confuse you. Because some people's bone structure is just arranged in their face. They look like they're smiling, OK? Some people just have, you know, Resting Blessed Face. They just look happy but it's covering up a lot of stuff. Don't worry about that. I'm saying like the thing that we can't see if we could see it. If you had a peace meter on your forehead today and we could see your peace meter would it be like... or would it be like the gas gage of a 16-year-old who fills up $5 at a time? You know filling up $5 at a time, a click at a time, a like at a time, a comment at a time. Because here's what I've learned about this. When joy is low usually it's because entitlement is high. That's why the most joyful book in the Bible according to many was written in a prison cell because Paul has come to the point where he says I don't need it. I don't need it. He really means it. It's not like the one preacher who got up "I don't preach for the praise of men! Amen? Amen? Amen"!? He's really found a place of freedom from what he thinks he deserves. Once he's set free from he thinks he deserves and what he expected it to be... Oh that's good. That's good. God just gave me that for this particular worship experience. I didn't say it any other time. Once he's set free from what he expected he can receive what he needs. Sometimes what blocks us from receiving what we need is what we expected we would get. When it doesn't show up like we expected we can't receive what we need. Can I move a little deeper into this teaching? You good? OK. Find Acts 16 if you can find it in your Bible or if you wanna look it up on your phone. I always have a backup plan on the screen for you. Just in case it was hectic getting out of the house. It'll come up on the screen. But we're flowing with last week's message and we're linking that message of how sometimes God uses a no in our life. I know yes sounds better but sometimes the no is more important. Sometimes what God doesn't give you and what God won't allow is just as important as what He has given you and what He does give you permission to do. That was a really, really interesting message. Even I could feel it as I was preaching it. This resistance to receive God's no with this same faith that you praise Him for His yes. When we get too married to our plans we can miss God's purpose. So God does something unusual in Acts 16 as Paul is taking the gospel out and you have to understand that Paul isn't writing the principles in Philippians in a vacuum. He's writing them in the context of historical relationship with people in the church and he loved 'em. He's writing saying thanks. Got the gift. Gonna use it. Don't need it. What I'm excited about is how God is going to use your gift to bless you. That's what He's saying. It goes all the way back to how He met them to begin with. How many would say that some people in your life right now don't understand you properly because they don't know your background? They expect you to be further along in certain areas but you're like if you only knew how good I'm doing to even be as far along as I am. I mean I still cuss but I used to beat people. Why I think we really do. Phillippians 4:19. A disservice is because we strip it of its context so I want to take you through something. Hopefully, it won't be boring. But one thing I love about you is you let me lay a foundation when I teach. I don't feel the pressure to perform antics to keep you engaged. I thought we needed to look at this real quick to understand the stuff we shout over. My God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches! And I'm sad but that verse sounds great so I'm gonna shout over top of my sadness. It's because we don't understand the means. We don't understand the means. So, let's go back several years earlier. Paul is trying to get somewhere, verse 7, when they came to the border of Mysia. He's got Timothy with him. They tried to enter Bithynia but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. Wouldn't allow them to what? Wouldn't allow them to preach about Jesus. Jesus stopped his own PR campaign. That's very, very, very unusual. Very difficult for me to get my mind around until I get to the next verses. Sometimes you do not understand at all what God is doing in the moment. Graham is so funny. We were coming to church today and a lot of our staff kids went to camp last week. And Graham got to play Joseph in a skit in a small group at camp. So he had the story of the Old Testament Joseph on his mind and they sent me a video of him down on the ground when Potiphar's wife is accusing Joseph. Potiphar's wife is called Hot iphar. She was accusing him of trying to make advances and Graham was on the ground saying no I didn't do it. But Graham asked me something. He said. Do you think when the Bible says God was with Joseph you think Joseph felt that way at the time? I don't know. It doesn't say how he felt. It states the fact after the fact. But you can't really know what God is doing until He's done it. You don't really know what you need until you get what you want and find out it isn't even what you thought it was. So Paul wants to go to Asia. Blocked. Paul wants to go to Mysia. Blocked. He does something that you gotta learn to do when you don't know what to do. Instead of going home, he goes into the place of active waiting. It means God I'm not just waiting for you to do something I'm waiting on you. Like we used to not call them servers. It was waiters. I'm waiting on you. God, what would you like me to do in this season? So I'm praying for a new job but I'm being nice at this one. Y'all don't wanna help me preach. I'm praying for my kids' behavior to improve but I'm not gonna exemplify the exact behavior that I'm trying to correct by going off on them and demonstrating anger while I'm trying to correct anger. I'm actively waiting. This place is called Troas. Bible says that since they couldn't get into Mysia they went down to Troas. This is a place of transition. It's a port city. Asia-minor one side. Europe on the other. Where are we going? What's God doing? I don't know but I'm not going home. I don't know but I'm not giving up. I don't know but I'm not losing sight. I don't know but I'm not gonna go into despair. I don't know. I don't know. I mean, I thought it was God and I thought it was this and I moved to Charlotte or I moved to Raleigh or I moved to Winston and I had this idea and I had this plan. But God's purpose is greater than my plan. So I am in the place, I'm positioned, to hear God's voice. God speaks to Paul in that place. I believe He's gonna speak to somebody here today too. During the night, verse 9, not in the daytime when everything is pretty and you can see what you're doing. During the night — This is a theme in scripture. Some of the greatest stuff God will show you will be when you can't see with your eyes, and when you can't feel with your emotions, and you can't understand with your mind. During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia, this big region in Europe, with people who were not yet reached by the gospel. There were a lot of Jewish people in Macedonia but not many believers yet and certainly no church. Now I understand why God told Paul no. Because God knew the real need. The plans of a man are in his heart but his steps are ordered by the Lord. God has a purpose and you have a plan and sometimes He has to do away with one to get to the other. I'm preaching right to your heart today, trying to get you to see this vision that Paul saw. It was a man of Macedonia. A what of Macedonia? "A man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us". Paul was looking for an opportunity, God showed him a need. Could it be possible that you've been asking God for an opportunity, and God is showing it to you in the form of your greatest need? Would you be willing to receive that maybe the way God is speaking to you in this season is not by what you feel, and not by what you think, and not even by what you want when you try to figure out your life, and how others should act, and how it needs to be? Have you got to the place, like Paul, where you say, I don't know what I really need, I need you to lead me, God? Somebody say, "Lead me, Lord". I don't want to lean on my own understanding. I need God to lead me. I don't need to lean on what I think I need, because I'll think I need one thing when I really need another. That's how I gained weight when we got married. I thought I needed an Oreo, and I really needed exercise. Sometimes we think we need food, we really need a nap. Sometimes we think we need another person. What we really need to do is pray and ask God to get our minds right. Sometimes we think we need people to treat us different, when what we really need is to see people, not as trees for us to pick the fruit from, but for soil for us to sow in. And God speaks to Paul and says, "You want an opportunity? Here it is". And it's in the form of a need. God is trying to lead you through your need, and my God will meet all your needs. How? With a need. God is God. He meets needs with needs. He's better than Christian Mingle. God is a matchmaker. He's better than Farmers Only, and Christian Farmers Only, and God is in the business of meeting needs with needs. Has your joy been low lately? Has your focus been off? Is your meter reading need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need? And maybe God is gonna show you a need that you can meet, so that you can see what you had all along that you have not been using. The plot thickens now. Paul's like, God, give me an opportunity. God, give me wisdom. God give me, God give me... You know the prayers we pray. God, gimme, God, gimme, God, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, God. Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme. God, gimme, gimme, gimme, Give me grace, give me mercy, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme. Give me chill bumps, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme. I don't like this song. God, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme... And Paul, there's no evidence that he's praying that, but I'm just, I'm imposing what I would be doing on Paul. I'd praying, God, gimme, gimme, gimme. Give me direction. Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme. And God gives him a need of a man standing and begging him, "Come over and help us". Paul needs help. So, God helped Paul, and the way God helps Paul is by showing him someone who needs help. Y'all are quiet. Y'all want me to get back to, "And my God will meet all your needs"? Paul wasn't saying that about himself. Paul was in prison, thinking about somebody else's needs, because he knew, "If I focus on my needs right now, I'm gonna be depressed, because I am going to shrink my spirit to the size of my situation. So God, instead of focusing on what I need, what I think, what I want, what I don't, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme. I'm changing my prayer. Show me, show me, show me, show me, show me, show me, show me, show me. Show me what You're doing in the world. Show me what You put in my kids. Show me what You're calling me to be in this season that I'm in. Show me who I can bless. Show me who I can encourage. Show me 10 people I can text and tell 'em, 'You got this.' 'Cause I'm waitin' on somebody to tell me, 'You got this', but maybe the way I'm gonna get it, is to give it". "Give and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over". If you want joy, rejoice. If you want purpose, give praise. Give it, if you want it. And I don't mean to holler at you, sit down. I was caught up in the moment. Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme. And the man came in the dream, and then it makes an interesting turn. How many of you love the little details that we slow down and point out in the Bible? When you read this thing slow and stop skimming, you'll be amazed at how it'll come alive. You can't read this like BuzzFeed. The Bible is not BuzzFeed. When you treat it like that, you miss the blessing of it. Slow down and watch what's happening here. Watch what's happening here. Verse 7, "When they came to the border of Mysia..". that's where they wanted to go. Look at Verse 10. "After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready". Why did he shift from "they" to "we"? This is when Luke, who wrote the Book of Acts, got on board with the mission, when Paul saw the vision. And what got me was it took faith for Paul to go out on a mission after seeing a vision. How much more faith did it take for the people who didn't even see the vision Paul saw to go with him? Sometimes it's hard to follow something that you can't see for yourself. And Luke's like, "Paul said he saw a man in Macedonia, so we packed up and went. We didn't debate". How many of you would've at least asked God for one confirmation before you got back out on the sea? "Paul, you had a dream..". And, I think there's a blessing in immediate obedience when we set straight out and just give. I don't understand people who, I'll meet them and they'll go, "I've been coming to the church four years". "Do you serve"? "No". "You in a group"? "No". "You invite your friends"? "No". I don't usually ask them if they give, that's a little too personal. You know, that's a weird thing to ask, isn't it? But then they'll say, "Let me know if you ever need anything". And I'm like, "Do you come? Do you see the people that God is bringing each week? Do you see how some of them come in with a look in their eyes, like they might not make it? Do you see how God is unifying this church from so many different backgrounds, not just skin color, but even belief system, ideology? And how God is centering us on Christ in a culture that has never been more divided? Do you not see the need? The harvest is here and the laborers are few. What do you mean, if I need anything? It's right in front of you. Let's go. Let's do this. Let's build a church". Have you brought a friend with you in the last couple months? Invited somebody to come with you, to share it with you? God's not gonna meet your needs independent of you. He's gonna meet your needs through your willingness to meet someone else's. I want to spend the rest of my life preaching like this, to help us see that "My God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches". Paul said that after he thanked the Philippians for meeting his needs. He said, "Now that you've met somebody else's needs, God is gonna meet yours". And I just couldn't get over it, how they had the faith to go out to Macedonia. There's like 300, 000 people in Macedonia, and Paul saw one man in a vision. He's like, let's go. Let's go find that man that I saw in my vision. How tall was he? I don't know. What was his eye color? I don't know. God'll show us when we get there. So, they go. So, they go. And Verse 11 describes it. "From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went to Neapolis". Side note: God doesn't take you there all at once. It's little stops along the way. Is this it? Is this it? Is this it? Is this it? Is this it? How many can testify God doesn't just take you there all at once, and He doesn't meet every need all at once, because then He knows you'd start thinking you didn't need Him. So what He does is He leads you step by step, little bit of light. "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet". Watch me walk. "And a light unto my path". Next step, next step, next step, next step. I'm gonna bend down and buckle my shoe back, 'cause that's gonna annoy me and it's probably been driving somebody crazy on the front row. It's just the little things, and God speaks through the little things and He meets big needs, watch this, through small acts of obedience. We went here, we went there. What you lookin' for, Paul? I saw a man in Macedonia and I'm lookin' for him. And they end up, watch this. "From there," Verse 12, "we traveled to Philippi". Philippians, that's the city, that's the place, that's where the first church in Europe, or the western world, was started. This is how it started, this right here, through someone you've never even heard of. I know you've heard of Paul. I'm really not here to preach about Paul today. I'm gonna show you somebody who doesn't get listed: Samson. All he ever did is get a haircut, and we preach about him all the time. No, I want to introduce you to a woman. Let's hear it from the women. This is like the ultimate women's Bible... Holly, write a Bible study about this. Because the Bible says that they traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony where a lot of the Roman generals would go to retire. About 20.000 to 30.000 people lived in this one city, and then there's four districts of Macedonia, so Paul's really looking for a needle in the haystack. And there's not a lot of Christians. If there are any believers here, they're hiding, and there's not that many Jews, either. I'll show you how I know that in a moment. But he gets there, and God uses a need to lead him there. Lead me, Lord. How did God lead? With a need. How is God gonna lead you into what He has next for your life? With a need. How is God going to choose who He uses for the people who are broken? He can't meet a need through someone who doesn't have a need, and He will often use you to alleviate the same pain that you yourself are experiencing, 'cause God leads with need. God is leading me. What do you mean when you say that? You mean you feel good about it? Jesus didn't get to the cross feeling good about it. In fact, He prayed, "Father, if it's possible, take this cup from me". I don't want to do it. I don't feel like doing it, but lead me, Lord. If this is what they need to be redeemed, then let's do it. If You need me in Philippi, I wanted to go to Mysia, I wanted to go to Asia, I wanted to be married, I didn't want to be in this situation, I don't even like this right now. But God, lead me. Show me the need, and lead me through the valley of the shadow of death. God being my leader doesn't mean I won't go through anything. It means He won't leave me alone, and there's a reason I'm going through what I'm going through. God knows what I need. And so he says, we ended up in Philippi, "the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days". And he doesn't talk about what they did over those couple days, and I wonder, you know, what do you do when you get to Philippi? It's 20.000, 30, 000 people in the town and you saw one man in a vision. Do you walk around looking for him? Like, hey, I saw a man. Are you him? What do you do? One time, me and Buck went on a mission trip, and Buck's on staff now. He's been on staff, God, I guess about, coming up on eight years on staff, but we've been friends since college. We were on this mission trip and Buck's a funny guy, but he doesn't like to show it a lot. He reminded me of this guy that we went on a mission trip with. This dude was country. Oh, no, I don't mean like Moncks Corner country. This dude was from Louisiana, and he was big country. And he would walk up and talk to anybody, and he had these little country sayings that I still don't know what they mean. We'd be getting ready in the morning and it'd be like, you ready? And he'd say, "If you're waitin' on me, you're backin' up". And the first part was understanding what he actually said. Like, please say that again. And then he'd say what he said. "If you're waitin' on me, you're backin' up". And I still wouldn't know what it meant, even though I understood what he said. But, I had this flashback preparing this message. We were at a gas station, and there was another guy named Clint that was on the team, and he was from Australia, but he wasn't with us at the time. They were somewhere else. And a van full of people rolled up, and this guy, I'm gonna call him Bob in case he watches. He's a pastor now. And, Bob just walked up and talked to anybody and they didn't understand a word he was saying, but he just walked up and talked to anybody. And he's walking up to 'em. "Where are y'all from"? And they said, "Australia, mate". And he liked that. To him that was exotic, you know, a van full of foreigners. I just got back from Australia, so that's the best accent I can do. If you want to do an Australian accent, just leave off random syllables all the time. They just leave crap off all the time and shorten everything. "Australia, mate". He said, "Australia? Hey, Australia? Y'all know a guy named Clint from Australia"? And the poor guy driving the van goes, "Australia's a pretty big place, mate". Like, there's more than one Clint. So, Macedonia's a big place, you know? Paul sees this vision, but he's not exactly sure. You ever notice how many times you're not exactly sure? Like, you've sensed God is leading you to do something, but it's a needle, ooh, a need, a needle in a haystack. So I'm here, but I don't know what I'm looking for. I'm raising these kids, but I don't know if I'm doing it right. I'm trying to discipline them and be their friend, and sometimes I don't know which one to be at which time, and I want them to love me, but I need them to fear me, so I don't know which one to be right now. And, I'm trying to be patient but I'm also trying to be proactive, I don't know what's waiting on God and pushing ahead, 'cause I hear both. I hear stay in the boat, and I don't know what to do with the boat, and I don't even have a boat, and I don't even like the water. So, you gotta look for a synagogue, right? That's where Paul would always start his preaching. And to have a synagogue, you need ten men at least, but there's not ten Jewish men to form a synagogue in Philippi. That's how desperate the city is for what Paul had, and that's why God had to tell him no about Mysia and no about Asia, because there was a more desperate need somewhere else. I wonder if God told you no for a reason. I wonder if God left you there for a reason. Paul's looking. You seen Clint? Clint? It's a big place, mate. I saw a man in a vision. And they go out one Sabbath, and watch this. Since they knew that there wasn't a synagogue, Verse 13, "On the Sabbath we stayed outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer". You'll find what you're looking for, by the way. If you look for a place God is working, you will find it in every situation. Ask Lanny if God will show up in a hospital room. Ask him if God will show up in a desperate situation. Oh, yeah, God'll show up at a custody hearing. Oh, yeah, God'll show up in a bankruptcy. God will show up in a divorce. God will show up in a broken heart. God will show up in a season of despondency. God will show up in a crisis. God will show up in national turmoil. God is here, I'm just looking for Him. So Paul says I didn't find what I expected, and I didn't get what I wanted, but my God will meet all my needs. Now, here's what God knew. I've been waiting all week to show you this, so please be merciful if I'm too excited and you don't like my level of energy, 'cause I've had all week to get ready for this! There was a woman — let's hear it for the women one more time. Who was what the Old Testament called a God-fearer. Now, a God-fearer is a Gentile who believes in the Jewish God. So, she's ready to receive the message about Jesus Christ, the Messiah, but she needs somebody to explain it to her! Well, good news! There's somebody in Philippi who needs somebody to preach to! So, somebody who needed the message, got together with somebody who needed a congregation! God is a need meeter! God is a matchmaker! God knows how to put you where you need to be to release what He gave you to carry! Don't leave yet, I'm not done! And some of you needed this word today, and that's why you almost didn't get to church. That's why you were almost... well, no, I could catch it online. No, you needed this word, so you got in your car, and you got to this church, because you have a need. Well, God gave me the word and He gave you the need. And I declare that my God shall supply all your needs. Tearin' up my stuff. And so, it said that, "We expected to find a place of prayer.."., but I bet they didn't expect this: "We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there". What did Paul see in his vision? A man from Macedonia. What did he see when he got to his assignment? A woman. God's not gonna do it how you thought He was. It's not gonna feel like you thought it would feel. He's not gonna do it through the people that you wanted Him to do it through, because then you'd worship them, not Him. No synagogue, let's find a place of prayer. That's where they could gather informally, and they would do it by the river. Let's go to the river. Let's go to the place. We didn't find what we wanted, but God's gonna give us what we need. Can I do a Bible study with J.J. real quick? I want you to preach the sequel to this. Next time you're in the pulpit, do it from 1 Kings 17. Do it from the widow of Zarephath. Elijah needs food, she needs food. He sends somebody with a need to somebody with a need. When he gets there, he says to the widow, meet my need. She said, no, you meet mine. And then Elijah says something that we can learn from: when you meet my need, God will meet your needs. Doesn't that sound like Philippians 4 and my God? I got what you sent. I got what you supplied. And now, my God is gonna meet your needs because you stopped thinking so much about your needs and focused on somebody else's. My God will meet all your needs. And there's one woman, and we need to put her in the list, you know? Good for Daniel, good for Noah, that old drunk, boat-building drunk. But let's put Lydia in the list, because one of the people listening, there's always somebody listening. You never know who's listening. You see how I'm preaching today, like I'm fighting something, or like, you see? Because I never know who's listening. I never know who's listening. And this week, somebody very famous was texting me about a message that I preached, and one of my kids was like, how cool is that? I was like, it's really cool. You never know who's listening. But it might not be a celebrity that God wants to speak to the most today. It might be somebody. I'm not gonna ask you to raise your hand, but if I did, 90% of this church has never heard a sermon about Lydia. And yet if it weren't for her, there would have been no church in Philippi. It was just as important who was listening as it was who was preaching. And we've got to do away with the celebrity culture where God only uses people who have a certain number of followers or who have reached an elevated status in the world's eyes. We are not all Paul. I'm not Paul, you're not Paul, but there was a woman named Lydia, and God was showing me this week in my study, you've got a church full of Lydias. Some men, some women, but they're unlikely people who see themselves as unlikely, but they are the missing link. And when they begin to see themselves as a vessel and not just a receptacle, and when they begin to see themselves as the conduit through which I want to bless the people around them, the earth will not be able to contain the increase of the measure of the glory of the Lord. God is looking for Lydia. God shut down a whole apostolic tour, 'cause He was looking for Lydia. Paul didn't know her name, but he went where he thought he was supposed to go, 'cause sometimes all you can do is obey the best you know how. Let that set you free. Paul didn't even know what he was looking for, but he was doing his best to be obedient. Are you? 'Cause if you will, you'll always find a Lydia. Lydia was a woman, Verse 14, from the city of Thyatira, formerly known as the kingdom of Lydia. So her name probably wasn't Lydia, but that's where she was from, and that's how they often referred to women in those days. "And she was a dealer in purple cloth". So? Purple's the expensive stuff. If you deal purple cloth, you make bank. And I know it's cringey, what I just said, Elijah. I don't even need to hear about it after the sermon. Lydia didn't need money, she needed a message. Paul had the message, she had the money. And when his need and her need met, the church in the west was born. Because God is a need meeter, but God does not meet needs independently of His people. He uses us. There's a tendency in a church this size to look around and go, I don't think they need me here. So then you get all focused on yourself, you know? How was the sermon today? Ah, a little long. It was all right. What'd he talk about? Some guy named Philip. Think his name... Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme. Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme. But there's a perspective shift, there's a P.S., Paul said, "My God will meet all of your needs". He said I didn't even need the money, And so, Paul shows up, Lydia's sitting down. He saw a man in the vision, but he sees a woman by the river. And God shows up how He wants to show up — through disappointment, sometimes through what seems to be a setback, sometimes through unexpected people. A dealer in purple cloth, she was a worshipper of God, or a God-fearer. She was close. You know, there's people in your life who are close the kingdom, and they're waiting on somebody who would have the willingness. There are people in your circle who need the presence of God, and God put you in their life. And you're part of a church, at many of our locations we have so many seats available, everybody could bring somebody next weekend. We'd be full if everybody found one person who needed Jesus last week. Our church would double in one week. And not even thinking about the impact of our E-fam that's watching online. I mean, we use social media to spread everything. Why not the message of the only name that saves? Why would you sit on a message? Why would you sit on something that has the power to save? Paul took the message across the sea, and sometimes I'm burdened that we just come to get our needs met. And we don't get 'em met, 'cause God doesn't meet your needs through thinking about your needs. You've got to get outside of yourself, and outside of your customs, and outside of your traditions, and outside of your expectations, and outside of your entitlement. Paul said it's not even about me. And this woman, Lydia, I don't know a whole lot about her except for I'm thankful for her. And I feel like there are many Lydias watching me today whose names may never be known, but whose purpose is important. And watch what happened when Paul's need to preach met her need to hear. This woman, who was sitting by the river, it says, "The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message". That means she decided to become a follower of Christ. "And when she and the members of her household..". See, it's never just about you. It's not just about you. The first thing she did when she was touched by the power of God was to think about somebody else. God, who have You connected me to that needs You, that needs hope, that needs Jesus? And I love the language. It says, "After those who were in her household were baptized..". The people closest to her: "she invited us to her home. "If you consider me a believer in the Lord," she said, 'come and stay at my house,' and she persuaded us". And the Lord told me like this. He said, "I opened her heart and she opened her house. And some of the people that you've preached to, I've opened their heart and I've blessed them, but they haven't opened their house yet". And they're in this big church just thinking about me and my needs, and it's so easy to do, and I do it all the time. And so we sing about breakthroughs, and blessings, and it's good, it's good, it's good. I promise, man! I helped write the song. I know a breakthrough is comin'! By faith... God told me to tell you, be the breakthrough. Be the breakthrough. Be the breakthrough. Be the breakthrough. Be the breakthrough for somebody else, and watch how God will breakthrough for you! Be the breakthrough for someone else. It's time to turn the pain — you've been rehearsing it over and over again. It's time to release it and ask God to use it. God lets you go through that for something. God didn't just keep you through all of that so you could just be a survivor! You are to be an agent of change and the world needs what we have, but we've gotta give it! God knows your need (and He’s the only one who can meet it). Instead of focusing on what I need, what I think, what I want, I’m changing my prayer. Show me. Show me who I can bless. Show me who I can encourage. “Give and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over.” If you want joy, rejoice. If you want purpose, give praise. Preached at Elevation Church. Used by permission.

"Max Lucado teaches that God never gave us leftovers. He gave us His best! ""Suppose I were to drop by your house holding a foil-covered saucer. “Hello, friend,” I say. “A few days back Denalyn made a strawberry cake. It was so good. It came out of the oven hot, moist, and sweet. I wish you could have tasted it. Today, as I was eating the last piece, I thought of you. Just before I took the final bite, I put my fork down and thought, I’m taking these crumbs to my friend.” How would you feel? Contrast that emotion with the one you feel if I were to knock at your door holding a cake pan with oven mitts. “Denalyn pulled this out of the oven a few minutes ago. It’s still hot. No one has touched it. I got here as fast as I could. I want you to have the first piece. I want you to have the whole cake (although I did bring my fork in case you want to share).” How would that invitation make you feel? Or, better asked, how does that make you feel? God offers you the whole cake. You do not receive crumbs or leftovers. You have received his best. Why? Because he loves you based on the “Principle of Firsts.” Since this is the first day of a new year, it’s appropriate to re-visit the theme of “firsts” in the Bible. Open a concordance to the word and prepare yourself for an avalanche of entries. First. Firstborn. Firstbegotten. Firstfruit. Firstling. First-ripe. My concordance contains seven columns of tiny-fonted words and verses. Apparently, “first” is a big theme in scripture and a big thing to God! Is it possible, with all these references, to reduce them to a single message? I think so. God went first. We love because he first loved us (I John. 4:19). God made the first move. God took the first step. God placed the first call. We did nothing and do nothing that wasn’t and isn’t prompted by God. He went first. He not only went first, he gave his firstborn son. The Bible calls Jesus “the firstborn among the brethren” (Romans 8:29). In the great, expansive, innumerable family of God, there is a firstborn: Jesus Christ. What did God do with his firstborn Son? He sent him as a sacrifice. He didn’t redeem us with apostles, angels, prophets or preachers. He gave the best gift. Jesus is not only the firstborn, he is the first fruit. “But now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (I Corinthians 15:20 NKJV). First-fruit is an agricultural term used to describe the initial harvest. The farmer would take the best portion of his harvest to market and tell the customer, “Taste and enjoy. There is more to come.” Jesus is the first fruit of God’s eternal harvest. He will do with his children what he did with Jesus: he will call us out of the grave. How do we know? Jesus is the firstfruit. In addition, God gives us the “firstfruits of the Spirit” (Rom.8:23). Love, joy, peace, patience…all the fruits of the Spirit are ours because God gives, not leftovers but firstfruits. These are foretastes, samplings of the full harvest that awaits us in heaven. God gives us firstborn Son and the firstfruit of the Spirit. We have received his best. Let’s follow his lead. Go first to God with your problems. Don’t take your problems to the bar. Don’t numb your fears with narcotics. Don’t hide from or deny the existence of struggles. No, go first to Christ. Jesus tells us, rather bluntly, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will put on” (Matthew 6:25 NKJV). He then gives two commands: “look at the birds” (vs. 26) and “consider the lilies” (vs. 28). If God cares for the birds and the grass, won’t he care for us? For that reason, he commands: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you” (Mathew 6:33). Would you like a word of advice that will save a thousand headaches and heartaches in 2017? The moment a problem surfaces is the moment you take it to God. Take it to him first. Honor God with the firstfruits of your income. In the thirteenth chapter of Exodus, God unveiled a beautiful, yet challenging principle. “Consecrate to me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and beast; it is mine” (Exodus 13:2). The firstborn lamb belongs to God. The firstborn donkey belongs to God. The firstborn child belongs to God. This was true, not just with flocks and family, but with harvest and salary. “The first of your firstfruits of your land you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God” (Exodus 23:19). If a farmer has an apple tree that bears ten baskets of apples, he sets aside the first basket as holy, belonging to God. “All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or the fruit of the tree, it is the Lord’s, it is holy to the Lord” (Leviticus 27:30). Nine-tenths of the farmer’s harvest was common. But the first tenth, or the tithe, was holy. It was unique; set apart for a special purpose. Our relationship with God is built on firsts. He loved us first. We love him first. No crumbs. No leftovers. No Sirree. Let this be the year that you excel in this grace of giving. And, one more, let’s Gather on the first day of the week with God’s people. Let six days be used for work and acquisition. But set one aside for spiritual and physical restoration. “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy” (Exodus 20:8). Under the older covenant, this day was Saturday. As Christians, we set aside Sunday, though many Christians still observe a Saturday Sabbath. The day of the observance matters less than the message of the observance: God wants us to worship and to rest. He designates the first day of every week as holy. This was the practice of the New Testament Christians (see Acts 20:7). Would you like God to bless your six days? Then give him the first day. Make it your aim to gather with God’s people in God’s house for corporate worship. Why? God has something to say to you. He may say it through a hymn, through a friend, through a prayer, or through a passage. God has something to say through you. The story is told is told of a west Texas rancher who attended the same church for decades. Even in his later years, when he was half blind and hard of hearing, he sat on the front row. One day a young man asked him: “You can hardly hear and scarcely see; why do you keep coming to church?” The old rancher replied, “I don’t come for me; I come for you.” What if your church attendance is less about what you receive and more about who you can encourage? I want to be crystal clear: we are under the new covenant, not the old. We are saved by grace, not by works. No tithe or attendance will ever add one iota to the finished work of Christ on the cross. These disciplines are part of God’s plan to keep us from drifting. “Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it” (Hebrews 2:1 ESV). Most people who grow cold in their faith do so incrementally, gradually, inch by inch over a period of time. These disciplines of the firstfruits recalibrate us day by day, week by week. I hope you will consider them. I have a feeling that someone is groaning inside. “Max, my life is already burdened. So many obligations. So much work. And now you talk to me about firstfruits and first days of the week. I can’t take another load.” If those are your thoughts, I must have underemphasized the promise of Jesus. He said, “Seek first the kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33 NIV). If you find this message to be burdensome, I must have failed to share God’s promise from Malachi 3:10-11: “Bring your full tithe to the Temple treasury so there will be ample provisions in my Temple. Test me in this and see if I don’t open up heaven itself to you and pour out blessings beyond your wildest dreams” (Malachi 3:10 MSG). If this teaching on firsts weighs you down, I must have forgotten to tell you about this verse. “Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine” (Proverbs 3:9-10 NIV). When God’s people put God first, God’s blessings began to flow. God gave you his firstborn Son. Jesus is the firstfruit of the resurrection. The Holy Spirit gives you the firstfruits of heaven. Let’s make this the year that we respond in kind. ©Max Lucado, January 1, 2017"

Worship through singing is our response to God’s glory, love and holiness. In the story of David dancing before the Ark of the Covenant, we learn that Michal, his wife, despised his worship. From her story, we learn the three things keep us from worshipping God: our personal preferences, our personal struggles, and our personal pain. As we surrender to God and obey Him by singing His praises, we find victory, forgiveness and peace.

"I’ve decided that my verse for the new year is Jeremiah 29:11-13. I’m usually not one to post about the new year. However, the lessons I’ve learned from studying these verses were ones I feel I need to share. “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:11-13 We often approach this verse (especially verse 11) out of context, using it as the “security blanket” of God has a plan for me, so whatever trial I’m in will end soon, then I can grow. However, one of my favorite authors Mary DeMuth addresses it in a way that has stuck with me. The heart of the verse is “not that we would escape our lot, but that we would learn to thrive” during it. The Jewish people had disobeyed God in every way imaginable. They traded Him for evil gods, and God exiled them to Babylon as a result of their disobedience. Along comes a false prophet who prophesied peace and told them they would be back in Jerusalem soon. He told them all was well. However, that wasn’t the case. Jeremiah confronts him, calling out his lie, and states the promise that is Jeremiah 29:11. It is true God does have a good plan for the Israelites (and us,) a plan that will give them (and us) hope and a prospering future. But Jeremiah also gave them a directive from God in Jeremiah 29:7 which isn’t even close to what they wanted to hear. They wanted to be told they would be home soon, that their suffering was going to end. But, God’s plan was for them to stay there for 70 years (Jeremiah 29:10) and help the nation and that once enslaved them. So as we begin the new year, let us cling to the promises we find in these verses. Remember that God knows the plan He has for us and it will ultimately lead to a wonderful future. However, growth comes from persevering through trials, not escaping them. We find out how to learn to persevere, leaning on the Lord in times of difficulty, in verses 12 and 13. God hears our prayers, and when we seek Him, He will make Himself known. When we learn perseverance and trust God and His plan for our lives, we can find true joy, even in the midst of our struggles."

’ve decided that my verse for the new year is Jeremiah 29:11-13. I’m usually not one to post about the new year. However, the lessons I’ve learned from studying these verses were ones I feel I need to share. “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:11-13 We often approach this verse (especially verse 11) out of context, using it as the “security blanket” of God has a plan for me, so whatever trial I’m in will end soon, then I can grow. However, one of my favorite authors (Mary DeMuth) addresses it in a way that has stuck with me. The heart of the verse is “not that we would escape our lot, but that we would learn to thrive” during it. The Jewish people had disobeyed God in every way imaginable. They traded Him for evil gods, and God exiled them to Babylon as a result of their disobedience. Along comes a false prophet who prophesied peace and told them they would be back in Jerusalem soon. He told them all was well. However, that wasn’t the case. Jeremiah confronts him, calling out his lie, and states the promise that is Jeremiah 29:11. It is true God does have a good plan for the Israelites (and us,) a plan that will give them (and us) hope and a prospering future? But Jeremiah also gave them a directive from God in Jeremiah 29:7 which isn’t even close to what they wanted to hear. They wanted to be told they would be home soon, that their suffering was going to end. But, God’s plan was for them to stay there for 70 years (Jeremiah 29:10) and help the nation and that once enslaved them. So as we begin the new year, let us cling to the promises we find in these verses. Remember that God knows the plan He has for us and it will ultimately lead to a wonderful future. However, growth comes from persevering through trials, not escaping them. We find out how to learn to persevere, leaning on the Lord in times of difficulty, in verses 12 and 13. God hears our prayers, and when we seek Him, He will make Himself known. When we learn perseverance and trust God and His plan for our lives, we can find true joy, even in the midst of our struggles.

Our emotional lives are driven by what we think. There is plenty of scripture instructing us how to think – taking captive every thought out of obedience to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). Many times in scripture, we are reminded our head has to be in alignment with God’s intentions for our lives. If you want to have freedom from hijacked emotions, then it’s important to understand a secret in these five bold moves that are important for your emotional life. Decide who is in charge of your emotions. As Christians, it’s important to understand anger, fear, guilt and other negative emotions are common to humanity. We all experience them, but we can only be truly free from hijacked emotions if we are willing to ask who is in charge of our emotions, and then make the decision to be in charge of them. Your emotions are a choice. You can decide what emotions to have. When emotions occur, you can decide to change them. The first step to freedom from hijacked emotions is to decide who is in charge of your emotions. Declare who is in charge of your emotions. If you really wrestle with managing your emotions, declare who is in charge of your emotions. It’s important to hear yourself say aloud, “God, I choose today, with your help, to take ownership for what I’m feeling. It is not anyone else’s fault. Whatever I choose to feel today, I’m declaring ownership of it. I am responsible for it.” The Bible says, Whatever things are true, whatever things are right, whatever things are admirable, whatever things are of good report to think on those things (Philippians 4:8). Develop a plan. If you have an emotional challenge and you know your emotions sometimes get hijacked, have a plan. Declutter your emotions. Our emotions can become cluttered with so much stuff, carrying all these feelings around. We become raw, and it’s easy for us to see that these emotions start to overtake our lives. Hijacked emotions begin like emotional ooze. As you shove all your feelings inside, that emotional ooze starts to come out, and eventually, it will explode. If you have buried emotions, it’s vital to deal with them, otherwise they can become destructive. Act on it. Do something. Ask yourself, “What one thing could I do with my emotional life over the next 30 days that would make the single biggest difference in my relationships, marriage or health. If you are at the extreme end of bearing your emotions, I really encourage you to begin to make these five bold moves toward freedom from hijacked emotions today. As adults, many of us struggle with emotions today because we grew up in homes where we did not learn how to deal with our emotions. We were not taught how to express them. We did not learn how to manage them. We did not know how to handle life when our emotions were hijacked. When you were feeling something, you may have been told to be quiet, go to your room or maybe in some other way encouraged to shut down whatever you were experiencing at that moment. God’s intention is not only for us to know how we feel, but also to understand how we are thinking, and to be able to take that and move it in a direction that could be transformational in our lives. Here are three things to do to help you develop a plan to declutter your emotional life. Identify your emotional triggers. What are the things that can set you off emotionally? Here are emotional triggers others have identified: People make an appointment with you but don’t show up. A lack of common sense. Things you don’t have control over. We live in a world where we focus on things we have no control over instead of focusing on the things we do have control over. Become aware of your emotions. Can you label what you feel? Do you know the range of emotions that you experience? Emotions are given to us to drive change in our lives. I believe that is what Paul is saying – Be angry; do something, but don’t be sinful in the process (Ephesians 4:26 paraphrase). What happens to many of us, especially those of us who tend to live more in our heads, we tend to take the range of potential emotions we are experiencing and label them under one emotion, like frustration or anger. For some of us, it’s not acceptable for us to say, “I’m really fearful or anxious,” so we become angry instead. So, it’s important in a healthy way, to be able to identify our feelings and then develop a way to take that emotional fuel and drive change in our lives. Change your thinking. Proverbs 23:7 says, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he” (NKJV). And if you and I continue to think in ways that our emotions are driving us to think, that is how we will become. As you bring your thinking into alignment with God’s intention to know how we feel, and understand how you’re thinking, He will help you experience His transformational power in your life. www.theintentonallife.com . Used by permission of the author.

My first college class was Music Theory. It started at eight in the morning every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Dr. Lia was the professor. His daily uniform consisted of thick black glasses, a striped tie, and a gray sweater-vest. On the first day of class, I remember him storming into the room, running to the piano, and hammering out a series of chords as loudly and quickly as he could. Then he looked at the class and asked with enthusiasm, “Who’s was that? Who’s was it? Beethoven? Brahms? Who?” Before we could answer, he jumped to his feet and yelled in celebration, “It was Doctor Lia! Ha ha ha ha ha!” He began every class this way. Our first test was three weeks into the semester. Being anxious about acing my first college exam, I studied hard the night before. Sometime after midnight, I fell asleep at my desk with my face in my theory book. I forgot to set my alarm. One of my roommates woke me up at eight-o-five. After clearing my head, I saw the time on my clock and panicked. I ran from my room in the clothes I had on and sprinted across campus as fast as I could. Sweaty, huffing, and exhausted, I arrived at the classroom and tried the door handle. It was locked. Pressing my hands against the small rectangular window, I peered in. Dr. Lia was sitting behind his desk watching the class. He made eye contact with me and smiled. Then he waved, pointed at his watch, wagged his finger “no,” and laughed. Defeated, I pressed my back against the wall, sat down in the hallway, and waited. One by one my classmates exited the room and asked me what happened. Each time, my story grew more dramatic. I’d studied late into the night mulling over the problems of the theory book. My alarm clock had clearly broken because there was no way I had forgotten to set it. And my roommates were complete ogres who had waited until the last minute to wake me up, probably on purpose. Each one of my classmates offered the appropriate amount of sympathy and condolences. Dr. Lai was the final person to exit the classroom. He didn’t stop to ask me what had happened. Rather, he continued on to his office, calling over his shoulder, “Follow me. Follow me.” I stood and chased after him, struggling to keep up with his brisk pace. He entered his office without speaking a word to me. It was a small room covered in jammed packed bookcases with a paper-cluttered desk in the middle that faced the door. Dr. Lai sat in the chair behind the desk and began shuffling through one of the many piles of papers. Not waiting for his acknowledgment, I launched into my explanation. “I’m so sorry… I was studying really hard last night… My alarm… My stupid roommates… I lost track of time… I promise I was studying… I’m really sorry… I was just five minutes late… Is it common practice to lock the door on a test day? Did I say I was sorry? I know you have another class at ten. Is there any way I could take the test with them?” My last question caught his attention. He looked up from the pile of paper he was shuffling through and said with a smile, “Oh no. You failed.” My heart sank. Tears formed in my eyes. I was crushed and confused. “But I’ve never failed a test,” I said. “I can’t get an F in my first class.” “Oh, don’t worry,” he said beaming. “There are more tests. You won’t fail the class.” “Oh thank you, Dr. Lia,” I said, backing out of his office. “Thank you so much. I promise I’ll do better next time.” “Yeah,” he called. “You’re okay.” Then he added with enthusiasm, “Unless you fail again! Ha ha ha ha ha!” The lesson I learned: Failure happens. Just try not to make a habit of it. If you enjoyed this piece and want to follow my writing, I’d be honored if you would subscribe to my free newsletter. Each subscriber gets a free urban fantasy novella. Click here to subscribe. http://eepurl.com/DfGer https://medium.com/@jffelkins/

How do you handle anger? I drive a little manual 2005 Scion xB that just eclipsed 195,000 miles. I love that little car. It’s fuel-efficient and requires minimal maintenance. And it’s close to the least powerful car on the road. I’m pretty sure on its specs next to 0-60mph it says, “Eventually!” Unless I’m lined up against someone from a nearby retirement community (sorry, some stereotypes are true), I’m going to be the last car to reach the speed limit coming off a stoplight. Temptation Unsurprisingly, more aggressive drivers with more powerful vehicles tend to treat my little Scion like a safety cone in the road, they treat me more like an obstacle than a fellow traveler. They zip past me and cut me off as they speed to their destination. More than I would care to admit, my sense of justice and frustration with unsafe drivers slides into sinful anger. There have been more than a few times I have been tempted to cut off a driver in retaliation. But I don’t. Sometimes that is because I am pricked with quick repentance and shift a posture of mercy. Sometimes that is because I drive a Scion xB. Temptation and Power Even if I wanted to retaliate, I don’t have the means to retaliate. My little four-cylinder can’t chase down those high-powered vehicles. I’m so grateful for my under-powered Scion. It has protected me from my own sin on more than a few occasions. It is the same in life. When I was young I longed for a bigger platform and more opportunities. Called to vocational ministry when I was ten years old, I didn’t become a pastor until I was 27 and I didn’t become a lead pastor until this year, right after I turned 40. It was easy to be jealous of those who had opportunities, to think about what it would be like to be a church planter, or a lead pastor, or receive speaking engagements at conferences and seminars. It’s been startling over the past few years to see several pastors that I had (sinfully) envied in the past for their platforms have their ministries unravel as issues have imploded their personal lives and churches. The Grace of Four-Cylinder Power When my personal life imploded six and a half years ago, I was an associate pastor at the time and the ripples of the fallout felt massive. The impact of my sin and my wife’s sin was overwhelming. I don’t doubt that there are those it has still negatively impacted. And while we’ve tried to faithfully walk out a reconciliation and restoration process, we recognize that we can’t undo the damage we caused. I sometimes think of what would have happened if I would have gotten the platform I wanted. My heart sinks to think of how many more would have been hurt by me. I’m so grateful for the Scion xB sized platform he’s granted me. Four cylinders of power aren’t always such a bad thing. Whatever power I’ve been given, I pray that I humbly steward it, recognizing it’s more than I deserve and more than I can handle on my own. God is gracious when he gives us an xB’s worth of power and gracious when he gives us Ferrari’s worth of power. And whatever he offers us, may it make us trust him and his transforming power within us. www.thebeehive.live . Used by permission.