Obey the Word

Luke 11:28

28 He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

Says a lot right there. I am of the opinion that we strive for perfection and learn from failure. 

Share today’s scripture with anyone who will listen. I have and have had several friends who are not Christians, nor religious in any way. When I would ask them how they knew how to act or how they knew when something was wrong, their answers were usually not specific. 

That’s because our moral compass comes from God. Our scope on how to act and what/who to emulate is written for us in the Word. Share that with people who don’t wish to or want to admit to themselves that their actions are governed by our God. 

However, you must accompany that with the message of grace. Being a Christian means you accepted the gift of eternal life in heaven and you’re using your time here to grow the kingdom. It doesn’t mean you think you’re perfect here on earth. Share the word and obey it. Share grace and practice it. 

Be exceptional at being you today. Have a great Saturday in the trenches. 

Love,

Yancey 

Family Friday 9/29: Courage in Family

Good morning, men!

First of all, I would like to thank Chance Hill for referring me to the Village Church app. I have listened to a few of the sermons by Matt Chandler and they have been a blessing to me on long days on the road.

Today I was listening to a sermon about the history of “Christendom” and how the church began in a place of no power and persecution. In the 4th century, when Roman emperor Theodosius made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire, it shifted the church into a position of power and authority (which Chandler argues is not all so great.) At the end of the history lesson, he discussed how the Enlightenment set forth a series of events that would exhalt the secular world and slowly push the church back to the fringe, which is where we are today.

One Christian ideal that is under attack in the United States particularly is the biblical definition of a family. There are multiple passages (that I will let you look up if you like) that define marriage as between a woman and a man, with them leaving their parents, and serving one another. Men……as Christians in 2017 it is totally acceptable for us to hold on to this Biblical truth, despite what our current culture tells us. Not only that, there is over 4,000 years of scientific support that the biblical definition of family works perfectly well.

However…..(yes there’s a however)…..we CAN NOT in my humble opinion, allow this truth to serve as a wall between our community and those who disagree with that stance. I know for a fact that I have attended worship services in the past in which there were homosexual couples present. Though I disagree with their lifestyle (just like I disagree with my own anger issues and pride), I was so blessed by the fact that they were in church and searching for God and his grace. 

I know this is a touchy subject. I know it ruffles feathers. We can have convictions and opinions based on the Bible and God’s word. We can also love others who sin differently than we do without treating them like they are outcasts and not welcome in our community. Head into your weekend today with a courageous heart, rooted in Biblical principal….but also full of love and grace for others, as we all are desperate for the forgiveness of our Father.

Have a blessed day!

M.I.T.T. ~ Runyan

No Pain No Gain

“Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭12:7-11‬ ‭NIV‬‬

We discussed this yesterday morning in our men’s bible study.  I really love this verse for a lot of reasons.  As sons, fathers, athletes, coaches, and today work professionals we should know a lot about discipline and disciplining.  But, all too often we take God’s discipline so wrong.

1. He disciplines us because He loves us and wants to see us grow.  He wants us to spend eternity with Him and while we are on earth help grow His kingdom so that others may as well.

2. Discipline makes you a legitimate son. I remember as a coach there were those kids we disciplined because we knew their potential and we knew they could handle it.  They would take that discipline and turn it into a learning and growth opportunity, and they would serve as an example of how we discipline kids and how kids are to handle that discipline.  Then there was the other side, some of you remember a coach saying “you should be concerned if we have stopped trying to coach you and discipline you.”  Those are the ones with no faith, they cannot handle the discipline and they are not good for the team.  So understand God’s discipline makes you a legitimate son!

3.  I feel like I could have points 1-100 on this verse, but I promise 3 is my last.  No pain no gain.  We learn and grow from the difficult times.  Imagine Dragons recently put out a song that says this very well (and yes, they are Christian, and yes they are singing about their faith):

You made me a, you made me a believer, believer
(Pain, pain)
You break me down, you built me up, believer, believer
(Pain)
I let the bullets fly, oh let them rain
My luck, my love, my God, they came from
(Pain)
You made me a, you made me a believer, believer

Endure the pain, appreciation God’s discipline,  grow yourself spiritually and help Grow His kingdom!

M.I.T.T.

 

DLP

Quick, Slow, and Slow

Good morning, men!

James: 19-20 says:

19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.

Woooooooooooo, buddy! I read this last night (not for the first time, mind you) and it hit me like a ton of bricks. Y’all this. Is. So. Hard. For. Me. First of all, listening. For someone who is supposed to listen to what doctors say every day and use that as clues to either help or persuade them, I pretty well suck at listening. Getting better. Still suck. My listening skills continue to expose my ego, simply by letting me (and sometimes you) know that whatever I am ABOUT to say is way more important than what you are currently saying.

Slow to speak? Horrible. I constantly want to blurt out corrections, guidance, advice, instructions, help, opinion……you name it. Anger? The above picture was a selfie I took after reading the news last night (all serious credit to Inside Out). I literally get mad at people getting mad sometimes.

So, other than just beating myself up…..why am I sharing this with you? Mainly, because I opened the word last night, read some stuff that made me squirm a bit, and realized I’m not quite Jesus (heavy sarcasm) and don’t have this thing anywhere near figured out. Take time this week to read through James and see what, if anything, that book is poking at. 

Have a blessed day, men!

M.I.T.T. ~ Runyan

Humbly Serve

Men I want to share how powerful this message is and how it has related to my own life. We talk very often about how we should emulate Christ and be here to serve and not to be served. How pride gets in our way. (Thank you Andy for that message.)

My wife has recently started working full time as a teacher and I have taken on a new job myself in running her family’s business. I have more time at home due to the flexibility and along with her taking on a job, my share of the work load at home has increased. The other day I caught myself grumbling about how I have to do so much more than my wife (or feel like I do, in all honesty I probably do not) and that I wasn’t getting the recognition I thought I deserved. Prideful, arrogant, selfish. Then as I was washing dishes I thought back to this message and of the scripture 

Matthew 20:28 “Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Now I don’t know that I’ll be giving my life as a ransom as Christ did, but if the son of God came to serve, surely I can serve others too. Especially my wife and family and be unselfish about it. I prayed as I had those feelings come over and prayed over this message. I asked the Lord to humble me and help me to be less prideful and to serve my wife GLADLY and let me tell you, the sense of peace I felt after that was indescribable. Men we are not perfect and we will never will be on this earth. With the help of Christ and this message, we can all be better men of God and for that I am extremely grateful. Spread the word and the news men. Have a blessed day. 

Vision

I am very thankful today for what the Lord led our family to be involved with over 10 years ago. Our church cast the vision for launching a church plant near I-70 & 291 (Independence, MO).  My wife and I both felt led to go. It has been a lot of work, with up and down times, but the church is the Lord’s, not ours. The Lord’s plans are perfect and our plans are not. In 2012 our church plant was struggling and our pastors cried out for the Lord’s vision. And the Lord brought to mind three prayers:

Prayer #1: That we would become true worshipers of Christ

• Colossians 1:9-14: And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; 12giving thanks^d to the Father, who has qualified you^e to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
• Romans 12:1-2:  1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers,^a by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.^b 2Do not be conformed to this world,^c but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.^d

Prayer #2: That the Lord would continue to do an awesome work in us in the area of community.

• Hebrews 10:23-25: Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Prayer #3: That we would be a missional church that loves Jesus & the people of Kansas City

• John 17, Ephesians 3

These 3 prayers are what the Lord revealed for our churches vision and core principles:  (WORSHIP, COMMUNITY, MISSION). It is all centered on the gospel, the person and work of Jesus Christ. And the Lord has been at work. Today we are a 10 year old church looking to plant again. Recently, I have been struggling with my prayer life so I went back to praying over prayers in scripture and it is opening my heart more to what the Lord is doing and His desire for all men to be saved. Hearing our vision recast was just what I needed this weekend.

Our church is part of Acts 29, a church planting organization of over 600 churches around the globe.  To best sum it up I encourage you to check out this video.

http://www.acts29.com/acts-29-vision-video-2016/

 

Pray Right Through It

Philippians 4:6-7

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 3:20

20 Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,

Pastors, today is the first Sunday of fall. Be thankful for your opportunity to give the message today and be exceptional at being the you that God put in that place. 

Today I want to talk about prayer. I can speak from personal experience. There are times that all there is to do is take yourself (joys, frustrations, fears, etc.) to God in prayer. 

What I want you to see in the scriptures above is that we are expected to go to God in prayer. I have experienced the peace that transcends our understanding when people have prayed for me or I have prayed. 

Men, we need to remember to get out of our own way when we pray. He is able to do more that we can ask or imagine. PRAY men … ask for the right reason, but PRAY!

Regardless what happens, you’re relationship with God will grow and that Is a GREAT thing. 

Have a great week in the trenches and be exceptional at being you. 

Love,

Yancey

Fear Not

Isaiah 41:10

10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:10New International Version (NIV)

Good morning to you all. It is 1990s rewind day. Do you remember those shirts from the 90s that said NO FEAR? Where I grew up, they were pretty popular. All the “cool” kids wore them and no, I did not have one.

However, I did have a shirt that played off that slogan that said FEAR NOT, followed by (I believe) this scripture. 

Men, I prayed to write the perfect message this morning for all of us. We all have fear. We all have something we are concerned about right now. I pray that that scripture is a comfort to us all. Times will be tough and times will be less tough. We can rest in knowing that we are with the One with no equal. He is in our side. Fear not, men and have a great Saturday. 

Love,

Yancey 

Family Friday 9/22: Going Home

Good morning, men!

I’m writing this morning with mixed emotions. I have been in training for two weeks in Dallas, TX and have seen my family very little in the last 12 days. I am traveling back to them this afternoon and can’t wait to kiss my wife and see my boys crazy, smiling faces. 

Today would have been my dad’s 65th birthday, also. So along with the excitement of going home, I am still struggling with the enormous hole his loss has left in our lives.

Overall, I woke up extremely thankful this morning. Thankful for healthy kids and a loving wife. Thankful to have a good job, particularly after massive layoffs. Thankful that I was blessed with a dad that I loved deeply and had so many good times with. 

Hold those close to you tight this weekend. Make time to pray with them, love them, forgive them and just be present. Our Heavenly Father has created those relationships, and though they may be imperfect, they are there by his perfect design and entrusted to us to cultivate.

Have a blessed day, men!

M.I.T.T. ~ Runyan