Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks!

Sponsors: 
Jon Cunningham, Owner, Cunningham Financial Group
Website:  www.cunninghamfinancialgroup.com   
Phone:  205-326-7364

Tyler Cain, Senior Loan Officer, Statewide Mortgage
Websites: https://statewidemortgage.com/
https://tylercain.floify.com/
Phone: 813-380-8487

I had the most amazing experience. I got to attend a graduation ceremony for the Hwy 80 Mission / Triumph Village rehabilitation program. 7 men were graduating the 10-12 month program. One of whom, Ike, is a member at our local work.

Adam Bradley was there. He is a deacon at our church, is 14 years sober himself, and is really the guy who got all of the things started we've been able to join into with the programs. Especially once a great catalyst, Kyle Berry, came to town.

Adam presented a lesson with this opening line "Addiction is addiction." It was AWESOME. Sobering, a little scary, but so on the nose, right to the heart, true that I wish all could hear it. I took notes as quickly as I could and want to share it with you. 

In summery, here are some bullet points to consider:
- Addiction is addiction not matter what you are facing.
- So you are not alone in the fight. 
- But you also must not exchange one addiction for another.
- There is one solution for all addiction: Jesus Christ. 
- But you have to admit the problem is internal. It is yours.
- Christ renovates hearts and mind, the inside, and then lives.
- He can do this for anyone who submits to HIm.
- But deliverance to freedom is the beginning, not the end.
- You MUST deepen your relationship with Christ daily and always.

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks!

Sponsors: 
Jon Cunningham, Owner, Cunningham Financial Group
Website:  www.cunninghamfinancialgroup.com   
Phone:  205-326-7364

Tyler Cain, Senior Loan Officer, Statewide Mortgage
Websites: https://statewidemortgage.com/
https://tylercain.floify.com/
Phone: 813-380-8487

Most of us know the story of David and Goliath really well. But can I open by asking: "Who is that story about?" And "What is the point of that story for your life?" I think it is a common take to suggest that we need to be like David and approach our own Goliaths with faith, courage and wisdom. I'd certainly agree with that! But have you noticed how hard that is. All of the sudden it hits us - our lives aren't really like David's life - and maybe we won't get the same outcome he got! 

Part of the shortfall here is maybe this story isn't about you and me, at least not at first. Maybe this event, like so many before and after it, are about Someone else, Someone grater. Not just greater than you, but even greater than David. Like, David's story is just a two dimensional shadow of the Man's life that overshadows all others. 

Once we find Jesus in the story first, we unlock a special connection. We ARE connected to Jesus, as disciples and as a people He saved by His valiant victory over Satan. Let's find Him, remember Him, and praise Him. Then, let's learn from Him. Let's live victorious lives because of Him, and let's be wise and different like He was, and continue to catch the enemy by surprise!

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks!

Sponsors: 
Jon Cunningham, Owner, Cunningham Financial Group
Website:  www.cunninghamfinancialgroup.com   
Phone:  205-326-7364

Tyler Cain, Senior Loan Officer, Statewide Mortgage
Websites: https://statewidemortgage.com/
https://tylercain.floify.com/
Phone: 813-380-8487

Notes: "Beware of the Leaven of the Pharisees" (Matthew 16:5-12)
Avoiding the False Teaching of Jesus's Day

Matthew 5:20-48 - 1) They made the Law Too Easy. Primarily External.
2) Law was Adjusted in the Direction of Less Mercy

Matthew 12:1-8 - 1) Their First Impulse is Rejection and Accusation. 
2) Interpretation of the Law became the Law to them.

Matthew 15:1-9 - 1) They turned their Traditions into the Law of God.
2) Loving Others was set aside in the Name of God.

Matthew 21:23-27 - 1) Deeply Conflicted between Hard Hearts and Fear.
2) They kept Missing Jesus as God's Authority over all.

Matthew 23 - Jesus is fed up and calls it like it is.
SELF RIGHTEOUSNESS (v5-7)
HYPOCRITICAL (v1-4)
LEGALISTIC (v23-24)
SUPERFICIAL (v25-28)
OBSTACLES (v13-18)

Jesus calls us to be different (the opposite of those above)
THE HUMBLE SERVANT
LIVING OUT YOUR FAITH
LED BY A God-LIKE HEART
HONEST ABOUT THE INSIDE
DRAWING PEOPLE TO CHRIST

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks!

Sponsors: 
Jon Cunningham, Owner, Cunningham Financial Group
Website:  www.cunninghamfinancialgroup.com   
Phone:  205-326-7364

Tyler Cain, Senior Loan Officer, Statewide Mortgage
Websites: https://statewidemortgage.com/
https://tylercain.floify.com/
Phone: 813-380-8487

Welcome to the Practical End of the book Practicing the Way. I've added some caveats and concerns about the book. But if you'd like a copy, you can get it HERE.

Today we talk about Vision and a Plan. Vision is the ability to see the better version of yourself and stay excited about it. The plan is the means by which you get from here to there. Both are awesome. But the second one is far more important than the first. God may already be taking you to places you can't even imaging! If you follow a great plan, you get to great places, whether you have vision for them or not. 

To get there, you need 9 things - In the episode we look at them in three pieces. Firstly, number five, the one in the middle. It is central. The first four lead us to a richer interaction with number 5, and the last four come from it. 

1) Sabbath
2) Solitude
3) Prayer
4) Fasting
5) SCRIPTURE
6) Community
7) Generosity
8) Service
9) Witness

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks!

Sponsors: 
Jon Cunningham, Owner, Cunningham Financial Group
Website:  www.cunninghamfinancialgroup.com   
Phone:  205-326-7364

Tyler Cain, Senior Loan Officer, Statewide Mortgage
Websites: https://statewidemortgage.com/
https://tylercain.floify.com/
Phone: 813-380-8487

We covered a lot today so I wanted to just provide an outline you can follow. Firstly, here is a link to John Mark Comer's book: Practicing The Way.

Today we covered the idea of "No Accidental Saints" - The path to greater discipleship, apprenticing under Christ, is a distinct and intentional one. But that doesn't mean the hardest working people are the ones who get there. It's about faith. 

We looked at three losing strategies:
1) Willpower (your own ability to try harder)
2) More Bible Study (if knowledge is all you get out of it)
3) The Zap from Heaven (expecting results without the struggle)

Why can't these things work? They seem good enough to get the job done. Well, there are many reasons. But here are two big ones:
1) Sin (mine, others, the world - there is just too much need for God's grace)
2) You (Ha. You being formed, shaped by habit and others into stories you believe)

So what do we do? Well, next week we will dig in on NINE amazing things. But for today, here are five words that represent A Working Theory of Change:
1) LEARN - Learn something. Get up everyday expecting to be changed.
2) PRACTICE - Be working on something. Have a daily focus of incremental change.
3) SHARE - That is, be around people and share with those who want all this too!

4/5) GOD and TIME - God is with you and at work on you and in you. You are not alone. Let faith in that sustain you. But God likes to use time. He likes it to take a while, so you can, you know, learn new practices. So relax a little. Don't expect or demand immediate change. God is at work in the struggle over time to greater things. 

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks!

Sponsor: 
Jon Cunningham, Owner, Cunningham Financial Group
Website:  www.cunninghamfinancialgroup.com   
Phone:  205-326-7364

Celebrate R.E.C.O.V.E.R.Y.

Realize I’m not God; I admit that I am powerless to control my tendency to do the wrong thing and that my life is unmanageable. (Step 1)
“Happy are those who know that they are spiritually poor.” Matthew 5:3a TEV

Earnestly believe that God exists, that I matter to Him and that He has the power to help me recover. (Step 2)
“Happy are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Matthew 5:4 TEV, NIV

Consciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ’s care and control. (Step 3)
“Happy are the meek.” Matthew 5:5a TEV

Openly examine and confess my faults to myself, to God, and to someone I trust. (Steps 4 and 5) “Happy are the pure in heart.” Matthew 5:8a TEV

Voluntarily submit to any and all changes God wants to make in my life and humbly ask Him to remove my character defects. (Steps 6 and 7)
“Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires” Matthew 5:6a TEV

Evaluate all my relationships. Offer forgiveness to those who have hurt me and make amends for harm I’ve done to others when possible, except when to do so would harm them or others. (Steps 8 and 9)
“Happy are the merciful.” Matthew 5:7a TEV; “Happy are the peacemakers” Matthew 5:9 TEV

Reserve a daily time with God for self-examination, Bible reading, and prayer in order to know God and His will for my life and to gain the power to follow His will. (Steps 10 and 11)

Yield myself to God to be used to bring this Good News to others, both by my example and my words. (Step 12)
“Happy are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires.” Matthew 5:10 TEV

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks!

Sponsor:  Jon Cunningham, Owner, Cunningham Financial Group
Website:  www.cunninghamfinancialgroup.com   Phone:  205-326-7364

A Manifesto for Myself on Social Media

1. I don’t have to comment on every post I disagree with. People will be okay without my input. I can walk away and move on to something else. 

 2. I need to give the benefit of any doubt when I first hear something instead of having knee-jerk reactions. 

 3. If I think someone should be cancelled because I disagree with something said, I don’t really believe in freedom of speech. I believe in freedom only insofar as I like it. 

 4. Trying to get people fired from a job because they differ with me is a form of bullying. This is especially true if the person I’m trying to oust is not even remotely part of my life. I’m trying to hurt someone who said something that affects nothing in my daily routine. This reveals a bitterness on my part and does not bode well for having any kind of open mindedness. 

 5. To promote inclusion and tolerance and then exclude those who believe something I don’t like is hypocrisy. “Inclusion” comes to mean “people who agree with me.” This is irrational and causes me to lose my credibility for reasonable discussion. In such cases I am not for freedom of speech or inclusion. 

 6. If I react to something without reading it in full or hearing it out first, I am being foolish. I need reminding of Proverbs 18:13. If I’m reacting to headlines and not carefully considering what was actually said or done, I do not deserve a place at the table of discussion until I back off and do my due diligence. I need to be able to consider the possibility that I am wrong about something and willing to change if the evidence warrants it. 

 7. If I see a shocking headline, I need to remind myself that there is a great deal of satire out there and I must not conflate these things with real news. This is one reason why reacting too quickly is a problem. I need to be careful about what I accept as true in the media and social media. If I get worked up about something that is not even true, I will have benefited no one. This hurts everyone. 

 8. If someone disagrees with me, I will not be morally outraged by it. I need to be willing to discuss calmly. I will make my arguments and try to persuade, but just getting mad because someone takes a view different from mine is neither rational nor conducive to understanding one another. It’s a form of arrogance on my part. 

 9. I will not engage in hurling insults at those who disagree with me. I need to be respectful and honorable. I want there to be peace, understanding, and mutual respect. This needs to start with me. And even if they insult me, I will refuse to reciprocate the ugly and inappropriate. Think about Jesus. 

 10. I will avoid passing on gossip about others. I don’t want to hurt someone just because I may not agree with them. I want to treat others as I would like to be treated. If I am truly concerned about a situation, I need to be willing to go to the person in question so as to minimize potential damage. 

 11. If I read a post like this and get angry because I am guilty of any of the above, I need to calm down, eat some fruit, then join in reasonable discussion without feeling scarred for life because someone differed with me. I need to quit taking things so personally, especially when those who differ with don’t even know I exist or care about my life. 

 12. Above all, and most importantly, I will seek to glorify God. I need to do all in the name of Christ and to the glory of God. I will rely on God’s word as the revealed standard from God and seek to please Him in all matters. I have failed, but I will not give up.

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks!

Sponsor: 
Jon Cunningham, Owner, Cunningham Financial Group
Website:  www.cunninghamfinancialgroup.com   
Phone:  205-326-7364

I saw a sign recently outside of a church: No Perfect People Allowed. What do you think about that sign? What does it mean? Would you be comfortable with it outside of the place where you worship? There is a powerful and needful message in that sign that should be demonstrated by us in as many ways as we can. It should be sending two messages: how the possible visitor sees themself, and how we see ourselves as the people of God. Are we prefect and they are not? 

Here's a distinction that matters. We are "perfected" and they are not! "Perfected for all time!" But that isn't about how good we are compared to them - that is about Jesus and how great and perfect and wonderful He is. Come along with me as we look at that sign and talk about it. And then look at church culture and aspects of three different but closely related words: Perfect, Perfected, and Perfection. 

- Are you more inclined to tell others about what you do that is right, or about Christ?

- If someone visited your church from the world, would they feel welcome?

- Would they feel like their imperfection is okay and that we are all in that same boat?

- How does reliance on Christ to perfect us bring us all together in humility and not pride?

- And how does striving to be perfect fit beautifully into all of this if it comes third in line?

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks!

Sponsor: 
Jon Cunningham, Owner, Cunningham Financial Group
Website:  www.cunninghamfinancialgroup.com   
Phone:  205-326-7364

NOTE - Two things below:
Passages from Philippians about the Gospel AND The Life-Saving Station

"In/Off the Gospel" -- I'd encourage you to make these phrases:
9 References: Phil 1:5,7,12,16, 27;   2:22;   4:3, 15

Life-Saving Station

On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur, there was once a little life-saving station. The building was primitive, and there was just one boat, but the members of the life-saving station were committed and kept a constant watch over the sea. When a ship went down, they unselfishly went out day or night to save the lost. Because so many lives were saved by that station, it became famous. 

Consequently, many people wanted to be associated with the station to give their time, talent, and money to support its important work. New boats were bought, new crews were recruited, a formal training session was offered. As the membership in the life-saving station grew, some of the members became unhappy that the building was so primitive and that the equipment was so outdated. They wanted a better place to welcome the survivors pulled from the sea. So they replaced the emergency cots with beds and put better furniture in the enlarged and newly decorated building. 

Now the life-saving station became a popular gathering place for its members. They met regularly and when they did, it was apparent how they loved one another. They greeted each other, hugged each other, and shared with one another the events that had been going on in their lives. But fewer members were now interested in going to sea on life-saving missions; so they hired lifeboat crews to do this for them.

About this time, a large ship was wrecked off of the coast, and the hired crews brought into the life-saving station boatloads of cold, wet, dirty, sick, and half-drowned people. Some of them had black skin, and some had yellow skin. Some could speak English well, and some could hardly speak it at all. Some were first-class cabin passengers of the ship, and some were the deck hands.

The beautiful meeting place became a place of chaos. The plush carpets got dirty. Some of the exquisite furniture got scratched. So the property committee immediately had a shower built outside the house where the victims of shipwreck could be cleaned up before coming inside.

At the next meeting there was rift in the membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the club’s life-saving activities, for they were unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal fellowship of the members. Other members insisted that life-saving was their primary purpose and pointed out that they were still called a life-saving station. But they were finally voted down and told that if they wanted to save the lives of all those various kinds of people who would be shipwrecked, they could begin their own life-saving station down the coast. And do you know what? That is what they did.

As the years passed, the new station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the old. It evolved into a place to meet regularly for fellowship, for committee meetings, and for special training sessions about their mission, but few went out to the drowning people. The drowning people were no longer welcomed in that new life-saving station. So another life-saving station was founded further down the coast. History continued to repeat itself. And if you visit that seacoast today, you will find a number of adequate meeting places with ample parking and plush carpeting. Shipwrecks are frequent in those waters, but most of the people drown. 

Thomas Wedel, “Ecumenical Review,” October, 1953, paraphrased in Heaven Bound Living, Knofel Stanton, Standard, 1989, pp. 99-101

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks!

Sponsor: 
Jon Cunningham, Owner, Cunningham Financial Group
Website:  www.cunninghamfinancialgroup.com   
Phone:  205-326-7364

12 Thinking Shifts Among Millennials/Gen Z Christians… 
(The Second Six) by Wilson Adams

Each generation brings unique changes and challenges. Sometimes older generations sweep them away with broad brushes to the point they are discouraged from even having an opinion. True, not all opinions are workable, but some are. For starters, no one knows how each generation thinks better than that generation. How to reach Millennials and Gen Zs? Sit down and have a conversation. 

7. A shift from affluence to sufficiency. Rather than being impressed by big churches with big budgets, Millennials and Gen Z have a more minimalist mindset: God gives us enough, so let’s use our God-gifts “as we have opportunity.” They see affluence leading toward less reliance upon God and more reliance on self (they are right). After all, if we have everything we need, why pray/surrender? Church affluence (big buildings, big debt, and giving to service the debt) is seen as opposite of Scripture-principle. 

8. A shift from large buildings to homes. Church buildings that once housed hundreds (some places) are down to dozens while sitting on expensive pieces of property. Millennials ask, “Why?” Sometimes wisdom behooves us to downsize, seek greater kingdom vision than property maintenance, and move forward in more intimate ways to facilitate growth. I know Millennials who open their homes to weeknight studies. FYI: many of them do not have big homes. 

9. A shift from “done for you” to “done with you.” Rather than looking at the back of heads, we may see more circle seating where worship is face-to-face. This translates historically -from long buildings of double aisles (50s-60s) to more rounded seating (70s-90s). It’s happening again. Younger generations seek more participation–less “spectation,” more activity–less passivity, more connection–less anonymity. Bottom line: they want to be used.

Changes in thinking don’t need to be unbiblical changes (auto default when questioning man-tradition). First, those with overseas travel experience know that brethren often do what God asks in expedient ways that work in their culture. Second, we obviously saw changes in a post-covid culture. Now, as culture changes more, will we notice and adapt (in biblical ways)?

10. A shift from going to church to being the church. Explain: Millennials hear “going to church” and equate with “going through the motions” and box-checking -because they've seen these attitudes displayed. They want more than ritual that doesn’t produce heart change. They want to be the church, live the gospel, and make disciples of those who look different than they do. Millennials and Gen Z do not care about race or socio-economic differences. 

11. A shift from big-names to no-names. Millennials and Gen Z don’t care about big name preachers -they have no idea who they are anyway. They seek meaningful lives with God, a way to introduce friends to Jesus, and invest in a Good News message that changes people. Some of the biggest influencers for the gospel in days to come may be names you’ve never heard of.

12. A shift from dogmatic to pragmatic. Dogmatic: we’re going to do what we’ve always done whether it works or not. Pragmatic: we’re going to look for ways to get the gospel out of a church building and into the public square. It’s one reason coffee shop studies are gaining momentum (and conversions). Pragmatic and practical optimizes the first two letters in “gospel” – GO!

We must be like those who “understood the times” (1 Chron.12:32).  Many Millennials and Gen Zs are active in standing for truth/sharing their faith. However, status quo is not a part of their vocabulary.