Speak the Truth

Acts 20:26-27 NLT — I declare today that I have been faithful. If anyone suffers eternal death, it’s not my fault, for I didn’t shrink from declaring all that God wants you to know.

You want to know exactly what Paul is really saying here? No matter what, even when the world was deceived, even when the pressure of the opposition was fierce, even when my life was hanging in the balance due to persecution, even when it really really hurt and especially when it wasn’t easy…I spoke the truth in love, so that all souls could be saved and not perish.

How hard is it to be a Christian right now? More than likely, you have experienced a few of these situations. Men, the word of God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, we cannot change it. We cannot add to it and we cannot take away from it. As hard as it may seem right now, understand its all for the best cause ever. Continue to speak the truth in love. Continue to plant seeds and pray for a harvest. Continue to love others with a supernatural power that only comes from God. The world around you may seem to be crumbling, but you are a child of God, an heir to the Kingdom of Heaven, and adopted son!

with love, dlp

M.I.T.T.

Slow to Anger

I have rental properties, this weekend I had a call that didn’t start off well. Had a neighbor of one of my properties call and immediately start yelling at me about the dandelions in my yard. I started to get mad and was about to give her my opinion when a different tack came into my mind. After I talked to her very respectfully about the situation, she completely calmed down and concluded it wasn’t an issue at all. Had I got angry back with her the call would have gone an entirely different way. James gives us a great reminder of how we should interact with others.

James 1:19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,

Zach

Sufficient

Galatians 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

2 Corinthians 9:8 

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

Good morning men. I pray this message finds you all well. Short and simple this morning. When Christ is in us and we are searching after him we (hopefully) put off the fruits of the spirit to those around us. Secondly, when we have Christ, we have what we need. He is sufficient and sustains us. Regardless of what the world says when we have Christ that’s all we need.

Have a blessed day men.

Live today with this future in mind

With the broken and rapidly changing world we live in right now, here is something to give you hope and joy for now and for all eternity. You can count on this truth no matter what is going on.

For those who put their faith in Christ, the beauty and reward is more than we can hope to imagine. It is best depicted in the following passage in Rev. 21:1-7 (ESV)

The New Heaven and the New Earth

“1Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place^a of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people,^b and God himself will be with them as their God.^c 4He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

5And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.”

Thank you Lord Jesus!

Thankful For Each Moment

Pastors, let today’s message be it’s very best.

I don’t have a specific scripture today, just food for thought. Sometimes thing happen and I am reminded of how fragile we are and life is. Let’s be thankful for our time on earth. Let’s be thankful for the relationships we build. Let’s make sure that we make the most of the opportunities that we are presented with.

What can sometimes happen is that we wait for a tragedy to build a bridge or mend a fence. Be proactive, build bridges and mend fences because we should, not because we feel obligated, or worse, we might feel guilty that something took place too late.

I’m thankful for each of you on this message and it is entirely possible that I’ll never meet some of you. That doesn’t matter. We share in a relationship that allows for situations like this. Keep building bridges and mending fences.

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

Love,

Yancey

Hard to Resist

James 4:7
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Sometimes saying no it’s hard to do. Sometimes the wrong things are enjoyable and sometimes they can lead us down the wrong path. 

Today’s scripture is hopefully motivation or encouragement when you face any kind of temptation. We will all be tempted at some point and we will have decisions to make and it seems that when we make the wrong decision those way on us pretty heavily.

Being submissive is also not always easy or enjoyable. We feel like we have the right answers and everything should make sense perfectly to us. Being a Christian presents challenges to how we think things “ought to be.” 

Stay in the Word and stay in your faith. Make the devil flee from you. 

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

Love,

Yancey

Hard to Resist

James 4:7
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Sometimes saying no it’s hard to do. Sometimes the wrong things are enjoyable and sometimes they can lead us down the wrong path.

Today’s scripture is hopefully motivation or encouragement when you face any kind of temptation. We will all be tempted at some point and we will have decisions to make and it seems that when we make the wrong decision those way on us pretty heavily.

Being submissive is also not always easy or enjoyable. We feel like we have the right answers and everything should make sense perfectly to us. Being a Christian presents challenges to how we think things “ought to be.”

Stay in the Word and stay in your faith. Make the devil flee from you.

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

Love,

Yancey

Family Friday 4/23: Building Leaders

Good morning, men!

This week I took my 8 and 11 year old sons to watch a high school baseball game. Like most kids, they watched ball/ strike, safe/ out, and paid attention to the score.

Their old man…and I say old man because I feel like every day I am more distant from the current culture…watched things like body language, how teammates picked each other up, and hustle. As a former coach, those things were the most important in our program.

There was a noticeable gap between the two teams in my categories and it gave me an opportunity to speak into my sons.

“What matters at the end of the day isn’t the stats. It’s how you treat people and how hard you try. Effort and attitude.”

One of the things that I am realizing the older I get is this…upon judgment, God isn’t going to look at wins and losses. He is going to look at our relationship, how we glorified Him, and our effort. The tree will be known by the fruit.

Have a blessed day and a restful weekend!

M.I.T.T. ~ Runyan

Clothed in His Love!

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.Romans 8:38‭-‬39 ESV

I’ve recently gone through a shift in seasons; one that was really fruitful and overflowing to one that is barren and dry. It has been tough on me because I’m in a place I have never been in before – married, with two kids, working an 8-5 job where I am by myself most of the day, all while pondering big dreams in my heart.
When this transition in seasons first happened it hit me hard. I was overwhelmed with disappointment, crying to my wife at night, and very angry. I questioned God and fantasized about the perfect life, where I would feel fulfilled in every area.
But then, I got a wake up call – I was feeling this way, in this season, for a reason. God was using it to call my heart back to His, to see and understand His great love for me and to ultimately be entirely fulfilled by Him. I had been so caught up in all the things I thought I was lacking that I was missing the most important thing: love. And not only a love for others, but I was missing the immense, great, incredible, undeniable love that God has for me.
As I was reflecting on this yesterday morning, I was dressing my 9-month old daughter. I was putting her in a onesie and written all over it was the phrase “I love you”. The Lord immediately brought this to my attention and said that He wanted to clothe me in a similar outfit during the day. He wanted me to be clothed in His love.
He wants that for you as well. Just like Joseph’s colorful jacket, God wants to clothe you in His love so that you can go out in the world and feel different; be different. Different because you know who you are and who you belong to.
Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, be clothed in His love today and all days moving forward. God bless you, men!

matt spurlock