Family Friday 4/12: Huge Hands

Good morning, men!

Wednesday night, Derek was helping his mom with laundry and I put my youngest son, Jase, to bed by himself. We laid down to say prayers, and he grabbed my hand to hold it. He picked my hand up and said, “DANG DAD! YOUR HANDS ARE HUGE!” He was measuring his own hands to mine in length and width.

The funny thing about this story, for those who don’t know me, is the fact that I am 5’10”. I wear a size large glove, which is slightly bigger than my stature, but my hands are far from huge. The moment was so sweet and innocent, even though he was comically wrong, I wanted to bottle it forever.

Two things came to mind:

1. You never know until moments like these just how “big” you are to your small kids. They look to us as larger than life figures. What a great opportunity to point them towards Jesus while they still listen to us!

2. I had a moment where I was a tad jealous of Jase’s brain. He looked at my hands, was in awe of their size and power, and knew he was much smaller and weaker. Why in the world at 37 do I struggle with seeing God the same way at times?

As my family enters a period of tumult and major decision making, may I view God’s hands and their power the same way my son does mine.

Have a blessed day, men!

M.I.T.T. ~ Runyan

Spirit Led

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
Galatians 5:16 NIV

What are some of the desires of the flesh? Pleasure (sinful), happiness,  material possessions, etc.

Actually, this sounds just like what the world would tell us our lives should be centered around doesn’t it? These are sins in our lives that over promise and under deliver. The next best thing is always waiting in the wings and our satisfaction in life is never quenched. We experience no joy.

Ask the Spirit to come into your life and transform your heart.  How do we do this? Well, I’m not a pastor,  but I think one would say we have the food right in front of us if we are hungry. We can dig into the Bible and eat up the Word of God.  We can pray for all things, and we can ask for discernment. We can get connected to a local church, and we can surround ourselves with brothers and sisters in Christ who build us up daily!

Don’t for one second think it’s not true fellas, the same spirit that rose Jesus from the dead lives in you! Let it be your guide.

With love dlp

M.I.T.T.

A New Identity

Good morning, men!

This past Sunday we had a baptism service at our local church and we got to see 5 people commit their lives to Jesus. Listening to their testimonies about struggling with addiction, depression, and abuse gave me tears and made me so thankful for our new identity in Jesus!

Our pastor followed with a sermon from Acts, focusing specifically on Saul’s transformation to Paul and his conversion on the road to Damascus. I have heard this probably 100 times, but every time it resonates with me.

The most religious of the most religious….young and powerful….successful….thinking in his mind he was honoring God. All of those things describe Saul, and a couple would have described me in my early 30s. It wasn’t until he met Jesus that he realized his way wasn’t THE WAY.

Surrender to Christ offers us a new identity, a new community, a new heart, and a new future. All of those things should embolden us to go forward and spread the good news with those around us in the same way Paul did….well maybe not all over Asia Minor and the Mediterranean, but you catch my drift.

Have a blessed day, men!

M.I.T.T. ~ Runyan

Tony Bennett

What an amazing championship game last night! Wow! I just wanted to share this article about Tony Bennett, Virginia’s head coach. These were his foraf words after they won the national championship.

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/uva-coach-tony-bennetts-first-words-after-winning-schools-first-championship-im-humbled-lord

Prayers

Psalm 118:24 “This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

Good morning men. This is one of the most popular and quoted bible verses out there. Also, it’s a great scripture to live by. THIS is the day, the Lord has made. Today is the day that we have been given. Not tomorrow or the next day, but THIS day.

I’m asking for prayers men as my family goes through a difficult time. My maternal grandfather lost his las living sibling over the weekend and my grandparents also lost their oldest living son. While both have gone on to be with the Lord, we still hurt down here. Loss is never easy but they are both some of the strongest and God fearing people I have ever had the privilege to know.

But I say to you men, rejoice in this day because this is the one that we have. Tomorrow is not guaranteed. Slow down, smell the flowers. Be intentional in everything you do. Soak up the moments. Be there for someone who is in need.

1 Corinthians 13:13 “Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love–but the greatest of these is love.”

We are all ministers

This Sunday at church I got to witness Trevor Nelson, a humble, faithful, gifted brother in Christ, be ordained as a pastor/elder for our church. I am so thankful for those who are called to the office of ministry as pastor/elder.

Ephesians 4:11-13 (NIV): ¹¹ So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, ¹² to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³ until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

The sermon that followed the ordination was also a great reminder that we are all ministers. Everyone in the body of Christ is a minister of reconciliation, shining and sharing the good news of Jesus Christ and his love to those around us: our families, our friends, our neighbors, our coworkers, and whoever the Lord puts in our path.

2 Corinthians 5:14-21 (NIV): ¹⁴ For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. ¹⁵ And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.¹⁶ So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:^[a] The old has gone, the new is here! ¹⁸ All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹ that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰ We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. ²¹ God made him who had no sin to be sin^[b] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

So men make it a great Monday because we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to be ambassadors for Christ. Be intentional and attentive to hear from the Lord and allow the Lord to work through you. We are his messengers; God is the one who does the work.

I Corinthians 3:7-9 (NIV):⁷ So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. ⁸ The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. ⁹ For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

Rules to Live By

Pastors, use today to make a difference.

Men, we see “Rules to Live By” regularly. As an example, we see them on the highway with speed limits. We see signs like no pets, even prices at the store, the restaurant or the gas station are rules to live by.

I feel like the 10 Commandments are the main “Rules to Live By.” And remember, when we make a mistake, and we will, we can repent and be thankful that Jesus paid the price for our sins.

Make it a great week in the trenches. Be exceptional at being you.

Love,

Yancey

Two Sides to the Coin

 

Romans 12:15

¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.

Good Saturday,

The NCAA Tournament has provided a lot of entertainment so far. There have been some many good games. Each of those games have ended with one team rejoicing and one team mourning. As a former college coach, I have also been watching the coaching changes that have occurred. Rabid fan bases are so happy that they are getting the coach of their dreams that will lead them to new heights never before experienced.

This applies to us in everyday life, as well. We see it in the NFL every “Black Monday” when coaches lose their jobs. There are currently well over 100 head coaching jobs that have changed this year. That means over 100 families of the head coaches and over 100 families of the assistant coaches now have to deal with the uncertainty of the future. Andy said it Friday, in June either he or his partner will be looking for a job. Mourn with those who mourn.

On the other side of that exact same coin, over 100 families of new head coaches are now rejoicing (or will be after the stress of moving has subsided) at the opportunity to lead a program. Over 100 families of new assistant coaches are or will be rejoicing at a new opportunity. Rejoice with those who rejoice.

I can point to one job where a friend of mine got fired and another friend of mine got hired.

I encourage all of us to pray for families who are in transition one way or the other. I used coaching as an example, but even more to the point, hospitals have delivery rooms and hospitals have morgues. There are families that are rejoicing for a donated organ while another family is mourning the loss of the person who donated the organ.

As I continue to write, I feel that the main point here is to have appreciation for both sides of the equation. Understand that in life there are times we will rejoice and there are times we will mourn, as is the case for everyone. Be respectful of both.

Make it a great Saturday in the trenches. Be exceptional at being you.

Love,

Yancey

Family Friday 4/5: Lift Each Other Up

Good morning, men!

Wednesday afternoon I was a part of a conference call that included the news nobody in sales wants to hear. Layoffs are coming. Either my partner or I will be gone in June. Unfortunately, this is just part of the landscape in sales….but with a baby coming in the same month as cuts, it doesn’t make it any easier to swallow.

Within 48 hours of the news Sarah and I had multiple people from our church, MC family, and baseball team reach out to tell us that they would be in prayer for us and would help in any way possible. It is moments like this where, in the face of adversity, that I feel so thankful to be loved by Jesus and a strong community. I have stared joblessness in the face before and felt like I had NO ONE to support me in the secular realm. Although I know that all we need is God, that is a tough thing to process.

As I have stated multiple times before…. I am so thankful for all of you. If you aren’t plugged into a church body or a group of people who support each other in the name of Christ, please consider doing so this week! Pray for me and my family, but know that we are 100% confident in God’s perfect plan for us and baby Pippa.

Have a blessed day, men!

M.I.T.T. ~ Runyan