Does the New Year Bring Anything New...

So does it?  Will 2020 really bring anything new to your life?  We celebrate New Year’s as if we are going to move forward into a new dimension of reality.  Often times though not much really changes.  People think that it is a fresh start and we emphasize it by stating we are forgetting the past year and make resolutions for a better year ahead.

Think about a bad driver purchasing a new car expecting to become a good driver by having that new car.  What has changed?  The driver that ran stop lights, sped, and cut people off in traffic in the old car is the exact same driver in the new car.  The new car is not going to make the bad driver a good driver just because the bad driver is in a new car.  Unless the bad driver decides to have a transformation of the mind, the new car feel will quickly wear off and the bad driving will continue.

As 2020 approaches, the same type of thing will happen to many people thinking the New Year will change everything within itself.  However, that will not be the case if they do not change the way they think.  Unless they change how they see life and how they see circumstances, they will continue having the same results in spite of the calendar change.  The question is, “Do you need a transformation in your thinking?”

The Bible, in Romans 12:2 (NLT), reads, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.  Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”  There comes a point that we stop saying we will start or stop something on Monday.  Stop saying the New Year will change everything and bring me better luck.  There is nothing magical about a change of the date on the calendar whether it is the day, the month, the year, or the next decade.

If you want real and lasting change to occur in your life, then take charge of it today!  Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.  How should you go about that?  Here are a few questions for you to ponder over the up coming days to ask yourself.  I will be pondering further these questions myself as I look to continue allowing God to change the way I think.

1.    Are you growing in your relationship with God?

a.    Do you weekly worship God at a Bible believing church?  

b.    Do you daily read/study/meditate on the Bible?

2.    What are you doing that draws you closer to God?

3.    What are you doing that pushes you farther away from God?

4.    Are you on mission for the Lord with your passion?

5.    What is your life verse?  What is your verse for 2020?

6.    Do you understand He has a purpose and a plan for your life?

7.    What do you want to achieve in 2020?

In Christ Alone and continuing in prayer, 

Chad

Do I Lack Faith?

Over the last year and a half I have walked through the darkest valley of my life with my daughter Katelyn’s inoperable brain tumor.  The greatness of so many people who have gone above and beyond during this time is overwhelming and we are oh so grateful.  

During this time, however, some have questioned my faith and why God would ‘do this’ to Katelyn.  Some have questioned why I haven’t believed enough for Katelyn to be healed.  People assume because she is not healed, that we obviously lack faith.  People still tell me today that God will heal Katelyn 100%; I just need ‘more faith!’  I have prayed and I know God is able!  It is not lack of faith!  Sometimes the miracle happens, most of the time it does not!  In both, the question of faith will always arise.

I know during the hardest moments of our lives that our faith is not ‘strengthened’ instantaneously; our faith is ‘released!’  I know during the hardest moments of our lives that our character is not instantaneously ‘built;’ our character is ‘revealed.’  AFTER, and only AFTER, some time has passed, then our faith will be strengthened and our character will be built; IF you allow it.  That faith strengthening and character building is preparation for the next circumstance of your life that you don’t yet see coming!

IF you are going through a difficult situation (financial, health, job, family, tragedy) that hasn’t gotten better, then know these four things: 1. God did not do this to you!  2. Have no fear if your circumstance does not change.  It does not prove you lack faith and it definitely does not prove that God does not love you!  3. When you realize that God is all you have, then you will realize that God is all you have ever needed! 4. Listen!  Slow down each day and listen for the whispers of God in your life!

Romans 8:35; 37–39 (NLT): Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love?  Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?... No, despite all these things,   overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In Christ Alone and continuing in prayer,

Chad

The Crossroads

There are so many crossroads in life that I can look back on and wonder what my life would be like if I would have turned a different direction.  My parents divorced when I was ten was an undesirable crossroads for my life.  Graduating high school provided a clear crossroads for my life that I chose the path to a degree in electronics for the money.  Later I went back to school for my Master of Divinity for the call of God and my passion.  Heather, my wife of 22 years now, was a crossroads.  Mitchell, my oldest son, was born with Down Syndrome was a crossroads.  Foster care was a crossroads in our life that has been tough and rewarding at the same time.  Adoption was another crossroads that has taught me more about the love of God than any other single event in my life.  Katelyn’s, my middle daughter, inoperable brain tumor is a crossroads. 

You see, there are many crossroads in our lives.  Some are choices we get to make for ourselves, and others take us down a path we neither desired or chose to happen.  The major problem with crossroads in life is that we either lean on our intellect or our emotion to decide the path we take.  We live in such a fast paced world that often times we just run right through the crossroads and never slow down to really ponder our next step.  We act as though we don’t have to make a decision if we don’t acknowledge it.  

I find a very intriguing verse in the Bible that talks about the crossroads of life.  In the upcoming weeks I will be preaching about this verse, and I hope it will become your verse and that you will actually use it to help move forward through the upcoming crossroads in your life.  Those crossroads you get to decide and those that crash into you unaware and uninvited!  My own intellect or my emotional outcry will never provide the best path for me to take.  At the end of the verse that I am using it reads, “But you reply, ‘No, that’s not the road we want!’”  I know this, if you want ‘rest for your souls,’ then you must “stop”, then “ask”, and then “travel its path!”

I don’t know what you have previously endured, what you are enduring, or what you will endure in the future.  However, I know Jesus loves you and has a purpose for your life despite the circumstances that hurt you in a real and lasting way.  God desires to give you “rest for your souls.”  Will you do it?  Will you “stop?”  Will you “ask?”  Will you “travel its path.”

The Bible reads in Jeremiah 6:11 (NLT), “This is what the Lord says: “Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls. But you reply, ‘No, that’s not the road we want!’”  Here is your next crossroads: Will you travel the path God is telling you to go?

In Christ Alone and continuing in prayer, 
Chad

40 Day Challenge

Most people love a good challenge.  That is why sports and games are so popular.  We want to see if we are better than all the rest.  For others, competition is not high on their priority list.  This week I want to give you 40 day challenge that I have personally done several times over the years.  You won’t get a congratulations or a trophy after it is all over.  Most people won’t even know you took the challenge or how well you did during the challenge.  However, I promise that if you set your mind to do it, that in 40 days you won’t be the same person before you started it.

The 40 day challenge is to set aside fifteen minutes every day and read Colossians 3:1-17.  Do this with a friend, with your family, or by yourself.  After reading the verses pick a phrase, a verse, or a few words that stick out to you that day.  Talk out loud about why those words are speaking differently or louder to you.  After that, spend time in prayer asking God for His guidance and blessings through that phrase that spoke to you.

I find that most people don’t read the Bible enough these days, and many that do only do it to accomplish a task.  This challenge is not to accomplish a task.  This challenge is to provide impact into our daily lives.  This challenge is to help families actually have a common theme in their lives to grow closer to God and closer to each other.  This challenge is to show that God’s Word is useful for our lives today.

We are so busy these days that if we are not careful we end up leaving God out of our lives.  Jesus loves you so much.  Your real purpose in life is found through Him.  So many of us have allowed our devices (TV, social media, phones) to get in the way of hearing Him.  When devices become our vices; we miss out on the blessings of God’s Word.  He wants to speak to you today.  

Take a moment to audibly accept the 40 Day Colossians 3:1-17 Challenge.  Ask God to use this time every day to impact your relationship with Him and in turn impact your relationships with your family and your friends.  Colossians 3:16a (NLT) reads, “Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives.”  The message (words) of Christ are found in the Bible.  

May we accept this challenge.  May we pray to Him every day asking Him to saturate our hearts and fill our minds with His will and His way.  May you, as Colossians 3:15a (NLT) reads, “Let (set free) the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts.”  This 40 Day Challenge can change a lot; if you would accept it and allow the “message about Christ” to “fill your lives.”

In Christ Alone and continuing in prayer,
Chad

Inoperable Brain Tumor (Part 2)

Almost 10 months to the day that I am writing this article, I heard the words inoperable brain tumor regarding my daughter Katelyn.  That July 11, 2018 day will never be forgotten for us.  She went through 6 weeks of Proton Radiation Therapy and all seemed as well as we could have hoped after the treatments were over.  We anticipated that she would be back on her feet and fully recovered from the effects of those treatments by Christmas.

Have you ever had hopes, dreams, or expectations that just didn’t meet with reality?  That is what has happened for her as the edema around her tumor worsened and the tumor, though showing deadening cells, continued expanding.  The side effects from the edema, the enlarging of the tumor, and the steroids regimen have been something to behold to say the least.  She is extremely swollen all over her body, she has lost most of her motor skills in her left arm, and is walking with a limp!

Have you ever had something happen where you thought things would improve, and yet they got worse?  Have you ever lived life with the fear of the next appointment or the next bad news coming your way?  Fear has the ability to take you hostage and to not let you enjoy the journey that is set before you!  Fear has the ability to rob you of your joy, peace, and contentment in this life.  Fear is a thief of today causing worry about the unknowns of tomorrow!

Her next MRI and her next set of doctor appointments are quickly approaching.  Is the edema down?  Did the tumor shrink or has it expanded even more?  We will soon find out, and I will admit it definitely weighs on my mind even more as that day approaches.  Fear can take you captive.  It can cause you to miss out on the moments set before you each day.  Fear can cause you to abandon family, abandon life, abandon your dreams, and abandon the God who loves you!  Has fear knocked on your door?  Did you allow it to move in with you?  What is your story?  What is causing you to not leave the house, to not live life to the fullest, to abandon that dream, or abandon that (and you fill in the blank)?

The what ifs in life and the fear that can take hold can be overwhelming.  Here is what I know; not just for my life, but all of our lives if we allow it.  I know that 1 John 4:16-18 (NLT) reads, “We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love…And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect…Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear.”  God’s love is perfect, no matter what the circumstances of this life are telling you.  

In Christ Alone and continuing in prayer,
Chad