From the Frying Pan to the Fire - 1 Peter 4What gives the cast iron skillet its enduring qualities? Simple... heat. It is formed out of molten metal and then given another high heat treatment after the finish work has been done to the metal and before it’s cooled, cleaned and packaged for sale. The life of a follower of Jesus in 2014 can be a lot like one of those skillets though. If we’re living a faith that’s active and obvious enough to permeate every arena and penetrate every conversation, there will inevitably be some cultural heat that follows us.

I doubt that it’s original to him but pastor and author Chuck Swindoll has said that “your attitude often determines your altitude,” meaning you’ll go further and accomplish more in life with a good attitude. Undoubtedly, often times, the difference between success and failure is attitude. Even doctors acknowledge that attitude affects our health in terms of recovery, healing, blood pressure, and, in general goes a long way in determining the quality of our overall health. Attitude affects our jobs, our families, our hobbies and life in general in a number of ways, either positively or negatively.A few years ago at a leadership conference, I asked, then Lady Vol basketball coach Pat Summit, about what her biggest failure in life was. I could see and hear the angst as she struggled to answer my question. I believe her struggle in answering was not so much with her own willingness to be transparent but with the concept of failure in general. It just wasn’t in her mental makeup. Her mindset, her attitude if you will, just never has a willingness to even entertain the concept of failure, and not just in basketball but in anything.Listen to this message, anf tell your friends if it resonates with you. _Tim Parker

An Empty Tomb & Stolen Promises - Easter SundayEver had anything stolen from you and felt the violation that comes with the knowledge that someone has something that should be in your possession? It’s bad enough when it’s something tangible but can be even worse when something like a promise or a trust is stolen away, especially if you learn that person never intended to honor what they said in the first place and you were lied to from the get go. Deception is indeed a slippery slope because when they have to continue to lie to keep the deception covered up, it can quickly become a lifestyle that doesn’t bother them anymore because they’ve been at it so long they’ve lost any sensitivity to the fact that it’s wrong. Consequently, the truth becomes harder and harder to locate through the clouds of deception. It becomes relative instead of absolute.One of the most ironic elements of the resurrection story is that the deceivers, the liars, aren’t the ordinary folk, the government types or even satan himself. It’s the religious guys, the church leaders, the ones a person would hope they could trust to tell the truth in any situation. You see, they heard the promise of His dying and being raised in three days and they were taking notes. So they’re making covert deals to try and keep it from happening and to try and cover it up after it does. Why, you ask? Simple really, they were losing or had lost their platform, their influence, and were doing literally anything to try and get it back.So that begs two questions; If you can’t trust the church leaders, who can you trust? Fair question and we should be able to trust the leaders God has put in place unequivocally. But the bigger question relates to all of us. How far will we go to make ourselves look good, look right, look like we’ve got it together? Far enough to head down perhaps a lifelong path of deception? How long can one keep the plates spinning overhead before it all comes crashing down? The resurrection really did occur and has solutions to those questions. Join us on Sunday as we take back life’s stolen promises.

As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:14-16 NIV)