Grit & Glory, Songs & Stories

Is your life going way too fast? You need to hear today's story from Chris Gallagher. There is hope!

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Last week, my friend Mike Foote shared how God dive-bombed his suicide plan and started him on a beautiful faith journey. Stay tuned for some gold nuggets from Mike as well the answer to last week's Listener Challenge.

(To hear the song, read the show notes or email Mark, visit the Episode Webpage.)

(Mark) Welcome back Mike! So tell us about one of the best pieces of advice that you've ever been given. Maybe how you applied that in your life.

(Mike) You know, I guess the best piece of advice I've ever been given it, really relates back to what we were just talking about, which is just give it to God, you know? And I think that's for many of us, so much easier said than done. I also think there's many times we think we are, but we're not. Right? I'm giving everything to you, God. But then we realize, well, I was giving you everything except for this one thing that I really want. And you know, and it's a piece of advice that, and it wasn't just from people, I mean, it's in God's word. He tells us to do that. People through the years have told me to do that. And I just, I couldn't do it. I couldn't just fully humble myself, you know? And I think there's a lot of reasons for that. You know, I think there's the fact that, you know, we're all sinful. I'm sinful. Certainly there's the fact that, you know, like I said, and I don't wanna say that I didn't grow up with a dad. I have a stepdad and he's been my dad ever since I can remember. But, you know, there is definitely a level of distrust when it comes to relationships. I feel like when you have, especially with fathers, that kind of hurt, it's difficult to trust even to trust God. I found myself saying a lot, I know God loves me, but I don't think He likes me very much. Right? Like, I know He loves me, but He wouldn't wanna hang out with me like on a Sunday and watch football or something. So when I finally took the advice, which, and there was no, there was no thought, like, okay, I have to take that advice now. That didn't even come into my mind until later. It was just the final realization that I had to give up myself. You know, there's a pastor that I, I kind of follow on YouTube, and one of the things he likes to say is, you know, "God knocks us down so we look up" and God certainly knocked me down. I was down as far as I could be and still be alive. I mean, looking back on my life, there's so many times where I shouldn't be alive. Whether it be drug overdose, I mean, I should have been murdered, I'm sure more than once, been in some really dangerous places at dangerous times, doing really stupid things. But God, I know without a doubt that God had His hand on my life and He's had His hand on my life ever since. And that doesn't mean of course I'm gonna live forever. Doesn't even mean that I might live through tomorrow. But He had a plan for me, and He pursued me throughout all of it. And the best thing I could ever do was finally say, God, you are the God of my life.I've tried the job and I suck at it. I am gonna let you do that job from here on out.

(Mark) And that's a daily decision. You know, when we can decide, okay, from this day going forward, right? But tomorrow you have to basically say the same thing from this day going forward, I'm going to, I'm gonna let You run my life. I'm gonna do my part, but I'm gonna let You run my life.

(Mike) Yeah, you know my wife and I were just talking about that. And one thing that we have discovered is, you know, all of the big decisions are almost always followed by a ton of little ones. You know, you know this, right? Just to talk about a little, you know, personally, you know, I've always struggled getting in the word and praying on a daily basis, and you've been really encouraging to me to do that. And I don't know what it was you told me, I can't remember. It was something about start a new habit or something that really clicked in me. So I made the decision, I'm gonna get in the word and pray every day. Well, that was the big decision. The little decision is getting up every day. First thing I do, I come downstairs, I start the coffee, I've got my Bible, and I pray I have a prayer list now. I pray through every day. And I get into the word, even if it's just for a little bit. So the big decisions are great, but you have to follow them up with the little ones.

(Mark) That's right. And that's been a, that's been a new habit for you. And it became a new habit for me, something that I, again, I, make a decision to do every day. I set my clock accordingly. Right? So that's just something that we do. And I love to see that in you. Well, you know, most everybody that's listened to our podcast realizes that Grit & Glory, Songs & Stories was started because somebody said, I love your music, Mark, but I want to hear the stories behind the music. Well, we tell the stories behind the music, but I also like to find how a song applies to somebody's life. And, and today we're kind of featuring the song Imagine Beautiful. And I, I let you kinda listen to all my songs and then you picked this one, Imagine Beautiful. And I would love, to know, and I'd love our listener to know, this song, How does it fit into your story? Imagine Beautiful. How does it fit into your story today?

(Mike) Well, what I thought of when I started listening to it was, you know, what we started talking about, which was that time, about nine and a half years ago, when things were over for me, or at least, so I thought, and I couldn't imagine anything beautiful. It was so dark around me. The way I've always described it is like everything was in shadow. And even the faces of my wife and children would look sinister just because of how dark everything was. And I couldn't imagine anything.

I mean, the best I could think of was, can I just not be in pain for a little bit? But you know, as I'm listening to your song, it just occurred to me that I can, I can imagine now and well not even, I can look back and see all of the beauty that God was doing in my life. And now I can imagine walking with Him, being with Him, working with Him on a daily basis and seeing things I never thought I would see. I mean, imagine beautiful. Imagine watching my daughter walk down the aisle. I mean, I was probably days away from never experiencing that. And for them not having me there, and just the ability to see, the ability to see beauty at all was really not possible for me at the time. And it took a really long time for me to, to really be able to, to kind of get outside of myself and be able to, I don't just look around and see other people for who they were, which were, you know, these are also God's children. I mean, for me, in my life, for years, people were either objects for me to use for one thing or another, or you know, with my horrible self-confidence and people pleasing, I would use them to feel better, try and make them like me, things like that. But Imagine Beautiful, you know, in the line "all the things that we could do". I just see myself walking hand in hand with the Lord with that. And just seeing, and it's not just, I mean, imagining our ultimate destination, you know, being with Jesus and the Lord in heaven, but imagine the beauty of suffering in this life for Him that's a beautiful thing as well. And there just knowing that when you're walking with the Lord, there's beauty in everything because He promises us that all things work together for the good of those who love Him. So, I mean, I feel like there's just so many things I could say about it. And one thing I would say too is I, I love it because I think, I hope people who listen to it, you're not, to me, I didn't feel like, you know, you listen to songs that tell a story and they're great. I love those old singer songwriters, but this one, I immediately knew the story and it was my story.

(Mark) Yeah I was surprised when you first told me that connection you have with Imagine Beautiful but I see it now.

Last week's Listener Challenge was to find the "What's Different" in the song. If you have yet listened to Imagine Beautiful, you can hear it on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music…or GGSSPodcast.com if that's easier. Here's the hint I gave last week: "it's in the chorus"

And here's the answer:

The 1st chorus of Imagine Beautiful goes like this:

Imagine beautiful, all the things that we could do

Imagine beautiful, on the journey with you

Imagine beautiful, we are stronger than before

Don't know where we're going

But there's so much more

Imagine Beautiful

In the 2nd chorus, instead of "Don't know where we're going", it says:

Who knows where we're going, and there's so much more

Then in the 3rd chorus it says:

God knows where we're going and there's so much more. Imagine Beautiful

Did you catch it? Maybe you need that little bit of hope today. Whatever chorus fits your life best right now, there's so much more! So let the music help you connect with God right where you're at and truly to allow yourself to imagine beautiful in your own life!

I hope Mike's story will reach many, many people that that might be desperate for something else. And we know what that is. That's a touch from the Lord and a new life.

(Mike) You know, I just wanna say one thing real quick. It's just that, you know, the enemy wants to convince us all that we're alone. We're the only ones that have gone through this, we're the only ones that have struggled with this. I was sexually abused when I was a child. That's not something I never wanted to talk about, but I did. And I can tell you that was when I first came to Celebrate Recovery, one of the first things I was finally able to talk about. And that was the start of the healing for me. So whoever's listening, you know, you've, whatever you've gone through, there are people who have gone through it and have come out the other side of it. And that's what it was for me, sitting around a table with a bunch of people, you know, a bunch of guys who had been through and were going through what I'd been through at least something similar. And they had somehow made it through with God's help. So please talk to somebody. Know that you are not alone, that God is with you, that He grieved when that happened to you, whatever that was. And He is ready if you are. I'm telling you, if you are ready to give up control of your life and say, God, your will be done. He is ready right now to connect you with a ton of different people who can help you and to shower you with just amazing blessings to get you through each and every day. And it's not gonna be a cake walk necessarily, but you're gonna be so amazingly glad you did it.

(Mark) Right on. That's fantastic. Well, thank you so much, Mike. I really appreciate you taking the time here late at night to be able to do this with us. It means a lot to me personally and I'm sure it means a lot to our listeners as well.

If you're listening today and can relate to Mike's story or you want to know how you can experience a new life with God too, I'd love to hear from you. You are not alone. Shoot me an email at [email protected] or through the GGSSPodcast website. Imagine beautiful is for you as well!

Most people think of "Imagine Beautiful" as a wedding song. However, for one man, it's become the soundtrack to his life of recovery. Stay tuned for some interesting twists and turns as the story unfolds as well as a listening challenge.

To hear the song, read the show notes or email Mark, visit the episode webpage.

Welcome to Grit & Glory, Songs & Stories. I'm so glad that you have decided to join us today.

I'm here with a long-time friend of mine, Mike Foote.

Mike has some amazing God-stories that should inspire faith and hope – for your own life or for a person you've been praying for during a difficult time in their life.

Mike, welcome to the show. To start us off, would you tell us about a time you thought it was all over and how you were able to overcome.

(Mike) Oh, it's great to be here. Thanks for having me.

(Mike) Oh, well, unfortunately, I mean, for me, I guess I've got a couple of times I, I could choose from. But for me, the one that comes to mind the most, because it was the time that everything really changed was about, well, when we met almost 10 years ago now, I struggled with depression and anxiety my whole life due to some abuse that I suffered when I was a kid. There's some other issues, you know. My father left when I was about a year old, never to be seen again. And I think that when, you know, when a parent who you know, the people in the world who are supposed to love you the most, abandon you, I think that's pretty catastrophic. So there was that. Over the years, you know, I made a lot bad decisions. I got involved in drugs and alcohol, lots of other things, and tended to medicate quite a lot with whatever I could get my hands on. An equal opportunity abuser is how I used to describe myself. And over the years you just kind of go down a spiral. And there have been a couple of times where I, you know, it was a point where I didn't think I would make it past that, but then I would, and then I would. But then about nine and a half, 10 years ago, I was in the worst period of depression and anxiety of my life, which was really saying a lot beause I've been through some pretty, pretty rough times and I was planning my suicide. And just for some context, I'm married. I have a wife and two daughters. My daughters at the time were one and five years old. And I had convinced myself basically that they would be better off without me, or what I actually convinced myself was, I'm gonna die sometime and they're going to be mourning me. What difference does it make when that happens?

You know, in hindsight, obviously that's extremely foolish. I mean, they're, especially at that age, they need a dad. But, so that's just kind of a lead up to I'm planning my suicide, I'm, I'm ready to do it. I'm thinking about how do I make it look like an accident, trying to think of a place, things like that. And I'm working all of that out. And at that time we hadn't been going to church for a while and we had gone to a couple of churches that had some really big issues. They had both split very acrimonious, and we kind of swore off Christians. And we started going to the church that we go to now here in Minnesota. And the second week I was there, met someone who told me about a recovery program that the church sponsors and went to the recovery program the following Monday night. This story about how that happened is also kind of crazy, but, and then I met you and it just, the first thing that happened was I finally was able to humble myself before God. I was, and that's kind what I had been missing all along was I had gotten to a point where I know I can't do this without God. I can't move forward on my own. I don't have the strength to do it. I'm ready to just give up. But God, at the last possible moment, as He likes to do, rescued me by introducing me to someone who told me about the recovery program and then walking in the door that night, I met you, who immediately grabbed me up and, Hey, what's your name? How are you? What's going on? We did the meeting and we chatted afterwards. And, you know, looking back on that, my life didn't change in that moment, in as much as everything's different, oh my gosh, you know, everything's gonna be, you know, peaches and roses from here on out. But what happened was, I got just enough hope to put things off. And that was from me finally giving up what I thought was control and just handing it over to God. And when that happened, He just connected me immediately with a bunch of different people you included, who were able to help me to help me get through that. And it's been a, it's been a long process, I can tell you that I'm completely different now in so many ways. And I think you can attest to that.

(Mark) Absolutely.

(Mike) Than I was, you know, when I walked in there. I still struggle. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's not like I, I don't struggle at all. I still do, but it's to me more normal struggles rather than this awful crushing weight of anxiety and depression. I will say that everything, every good thing that's ever happened to me in life happened because of a relationship. And the first relationship is with Jesus. And out of that has sprung so many others and He just has tended to show up, you know, when I need Him. And like, it just happened again recently. I won't go into that story, but it's at the last possible minute, God showed up and saved me from what might have been a pretty, pretty awful set of circumstances. So I guess for me it, it was all about giving up control, humbling myself and just realizing and admitting that I can't do it, and God, I need you. I'm done without you. And I think that was how II got through that time and that was, that was a watershed moment. It was a game changer because I think once you do that, you, at least for me, I find it extremely difficult to back to the old way of just trying to be, not that I don't from time to time, but I never go back to completely, I can do this, I'm fine. I can white knuckle this because I know I can't. I know where that road leads and God's been faithful ever since.

(Mark) I love your story so much. I think I, I would like to rabbit trail just a little bit. It's more than a rabbit trail really, because the story of how you ran into this person that told you about this recovery ministry is worth talking about just for a couple of minutes here. I think it's, actually key to your story honestly. So if you don't mind, would you tell us a little bit about that?

(Mike) Sure. So as I said, we, we hadn't even really been looking for a church, but we had been encouraged by some family members who were really getting frustrated with us, to be honest. And you guys need to get to a church, you haven't gone in a long time. And I said, fine, okay. So I went to our church, what has been our church home ever since. And by myself one weekend. Didn't like it, thought, I don't know, the music's not that great and the preaching's not that great. And I wasn't in the mood to like anything at that point.

Well the following week I decided to bring my family, my wife and daughters, and we went to the service and afterwards they were having what they called a meet the pastor Sunday, basically saying, you know, hey, if you haven't met the pastor here, come on out and get in line and he would love to chat with you for a couple of minutes. So we said, Oh, well yeah, we'll go meet the pastor. So we go up and we're standing in line and there's a woman there named Lori and she said, you know he's chatting with this other couple, if you don't mind, can you just wait a moment, you know, while you're here, can you please fill out this form just so we can kind of get to know you and maybe contact you and pray for you and things like that.

So I'm filling out this form and I give it to her and she saw my last name and she said, Oh, that's an interesting last name. You know, my sister dated someone with this last name all through high school and I don't have a super common last name. And I said, Well that's really only applicable to me if you're from eastern Iowa. Now, keep in mind that we're hundreds and hundreds of miles away from there right now. And I said, you know, a little town called Dewitt. And she said, I am from Dewitt. And I said, Oh, When we found out that yes, her sister had dated my brother all through high school, I know her sister very well, and I had, I had never met her because she had, I don't know why I hadn't met her, I left to join the Army. But anyway, it was just one of those wild "coincidences" that God throws at you. And so the following week was the week that things were kind of coming to a head for me. And I was walking through the foyer, coming back from getting coffee or something and I saw her and she's like, Hey Mike, how are you? And I said, Oh, you know, I'm actually not doing that great. And I don't know why I was honest at that point. And she said, Oh, what's going on? And I just kind of told her briefly, you know, I've been struggling. And she goes, you know, we have this thing called Celebrate Recovery and it meets on Monday nights and it's tomorrow night because it was Sunday, obviously we're at church. And she said, You should go. So I did. And that was the beginning. You know, it's just amazing to me the way God weaves our lives together. Because one of the reasons, there's no doubt in my mind that that Lori came to Minnesota was to meet me. There's no doubt about it. I mean, many other reasons. Certainly she's an amazing person, but that was certainly one of them. And God meant it to save my life and it did. So I don't know, I mean, I've got, there's so many things that have happened to me that are just like that, that are impossible really without God's intervention. And you can say yes, coincidence, but I mean, at that moment, at that time, picking that church, it's just, it's an awful lot of coincidences if you ask me.

(Mark) It really is. And you know, that, the interesting thing about that too is because--I was on staff too, I was the worship pastor at the time--and, we bounced from campus to campus. So the fact that she was there the day that you ran into her was kind of a critical thing because she bounced from campus to campus as well. And so that's what, you know, there's that such a time as this, you know, it was that moment and I've loved the transformation that's gone on in your life. It's, it's been something else to behold and to walk alongside you and, and to see your family. And, and it's been a beautiful, beautiful piece. I'm so happy about that, Mike.

OK, now that we've heard the backdrop of Mike's Imagine Beautiful story, we're gonna hit pause for time-sake.

But next week, Mike will be back to share a couple gold nuggets that you don't want to miss. You'll see why Imagine Beautiful truly is Mike's story and how it can be yours as well.

In the meantime, I have a challenge for you as a GGSSPodcast listener – a "What's Different" challenge.

Go find the song Imagine Beautiful on Spotify, YouTube, Apple or on GGSSPodcast.com if that's easier and see if you can hear the 3 differences within the song.

Let me give you a hint…it's in the chorus. Shoot me and email and let me know what you discover.

I'll reveal the answer next week when we dig a little deeper into Mike's story.

Do you need a good laugh today (or at least a big smile)? Stay tuned for a fun song and some funny fishing stories.

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Story #1

Back in the mid 80s I had a friend at college named Reed who loved to fish as much as I did. One day he told me about catfishing on the St. Croix River and how people were catching big ones all the time. He called it brainless fishing and he was so excited and he got me all pumped up for it. He closed out the conversation saying, "hurry man, they're bitin.'" I was so excited!

Big catfish aren't good for eating but they are really really fun for catching because they're super strong. The best time is in the evening after dark. Now being from the south, catfish was something that we caught all the time. Smaller catfish, 2 pounds or so, are pretty good to eat but this was strictly big catfish fishing we're talking about now and we were gonna come back with some real tales.

Reed and I bought some chicken livers and gizzards, because that's what catfish like, and got to our fishing spot around 830pm. We were practically running from the car to the river to catch these big catfish. We were so excited and we were almost screaming with excitement like little kids on Christmas morning.

We got down there and Baited our hooks and cast them as far as we could under this bridge on the Saint Croix, the perfect spot for big catfish. And we waited.

Now, The stories that we had heard about these big catfish were pretty incredible. I can't even remember where he heard the stories or read about them but we knew that they were coming. We talked and laughed and waited. We glanced at our rods that were propped up against our tackle boxes so that we could see the end of the rod tip move when we got a bite. And we talk some more and then we reeled in our lines because we knew that somehow the fish had taken off our bait.

We were ready to bait our hooks again but when we had reeled all the way in, our liver and other chicken parts were still there. So we cast out again and put our rods up against the tackle boxes so the rod tip was high so we could see that rod tip move when the big fish hit. And we talked some more and glanced some more in reeled in again to make sure the fish hadn't taken our bait. The bait was still there so we cast out again and talked and glanced and reeled in to check our bait. Two hours or so had past and we realized there were no fish to be caught tonight. We'd been skunked but at least no one was around to see us tuck our tails and go back home.

Story #2

Fast forward several months and we are in Puerto Rico doing our internship together. Reed found a fishing charter somewhere off the East Coast which was only about 45 minutes away. He told me this charter catches the most and the biggest fish on this side of the island. It didn't cost very much and all you had to do was bring your own rod. And then he said, "let's hurry man, they're bitin.'"

We got everything lined up. I grabbed my rod and a little bit of tackle. I asked Reed if we needed to bring sinkers. He said they provided everything but the pole. I said "are you sure" and he said "Yep. Let's go!"

So off we went along with 2 other friends who were fluent in Spanish to the east side of the island. Seven guys were waiting for us there. One of our Spanish-speaking friends started talking with them in Spanish working out the details. We agreed on a price, gathered what little bit of stuff that we had brought and started walking to the boat. As we walked away, we heard these guys mumbling a little bit but Reed and I didn't know what they were saying. We get down to the boat and now it's just the Spanish-speaking captain of the boat and us 4. And off we went. And Reed and I were giggling like two elementary school kids on the last day of school.

We drove for about 30 minutes. When we arrived at the spot, the captain brought the bait to us and we baited our hooks. And I said to Reed, "Can you ask the captain for the sinkers?" Reed turned to our Spanish-speaking friend Nichas and asked him to ask the captain and so he did. And the captain looked at us and he said words that I will never forget, "Sin Plomo? No Lead? Impossible!"

I think he realized he was basically ending the trip by saying "impossible" and quickly backtracked saying "possible, maybe possible". Well, it wasn't. We cast our line but the bait just floated on top of the water. We were in about 100 feet of water and, of course, the fish were down at the bottom. I looked at Reed and he gulped and said he was sorry. We tell the captain we want to go back to the dock. As we are traveling, I'm sitting on the side of the boat staring at the water and I said, "those guys are gonna crack up laughing when they see us coming back in so early". I said to Reed, "I'm not even gonna look at them. I'm just gonna look the other way."

We started pulling into the small marina and one of the guys in the group yells out, "Que Paso?" (What's happening?) And our captain yells back to them that dreaded phrase, "Sin Plomo." And these seven guys crack up laughing. They are beside themselves with laughter and our captain starts laughing and I and my buddy and our other two friends were as embarrassed as we could be.

Getting off the boat, we have to walk right by these seven guys and they are still laughing and I remember turning my head the opposite direction as I walked by them because I was so embarrassed. I was practically running to the car. One of our friends negotiated a reduced price because of our inability to bring what we needed. And we got in the car and left the area as quickly as we could. We were so embarrassed that we could hardly talk to each other.

As we're driving home, we go around the curve in a little run-down neighborhood only going about 20 miles an hour or so and right then we had to stop quickly because there was this little old lady, I'm going to put her around 90 years old, crossing the street, this dirt road really, right in front of us and she was smoking the biggest cigar I have ever seen in my life. And it struck all of us in such a funny way that we started laughing harder and harder. It was exactly what we needed that particular moment. I'm sure she didn't know but man that was hilarious.

Ever have those kind of stories? I'm sure you do. We all do.

Story #3

Despite fishing disappointments and embarrassment, I still love it and learn valuable lessons along the way! Back in 1988, my friend Paul and I decided to take our two 6-year-old boys fishing up north for a few days. We had found an article in a fishing magazine talking about Pelican Lake in Orr Minnesota. That's about 50 miles south of Canada up in an area of Minnesota called the Iron Range. It's absolutely stunning up there. And it's a good long drive, about 4 1/2 hours or so. It was an area that we had never been to and we're pretty excited about it. We borrowed a 14-foot fishing boat with a six horse motor, packed up all of our fishing gear and off we went. We also borrowed a small pop-up camper as we were going to be up there for three days.

We soon realized that Pelican Lake's Orr Bay was bigger than most lakes close to where we lived even though it was a very small part of Pelican Lake itself. We never really got out of that little bay the whole time because the boat and motor were too small for 4 people on such a big lake. But we had an incredible time.

We were fishing one morning and my son was doing something and he accidentally bumped his rod and it fell into the water. Inside I was so mad but I remember getting down on one knee and looking at him and saying, "Steve, you just need to be more careful." I said it very calmly and lovingly and he felt bad and I didn't want him to feel bad. Stuff happens, right?

Fast forward another year and we decide to go fishing again. We had so much fun the year before but we also thought that maybe we could take a little bigger boat and get out on the lake a little bit more. So we borrowed a larger boat which was a 16 foot with a 20 horse motor. Since the boys had such a great time the year before, it was quite exciting to do this again.

The bigger boat was certainly the ticket. We went up to the north side of Orr Bay (where we had fished the previous year), turned left and went out into the big part of the lake. Pelican lake is about 10 miles wide and about 6 miles north to south. It's a very large lake. As we turned the corner to go into the bigger part of the lake away from Orr Bay, we saw an island on the right and decided to fish right there. We were in about 15 feet of water and I had a swivel seat as I was driving the boat. The motor was a tiller style so it had a long handle coming off the motor and that's how you steered.

Steve came and asked me for some help with something. I put my rod down beside me and I swiveled my seat to face him. Steve said, "dad something fell in the water". I looked back and realized that I knocked my rod into the water as I swiveled in the seat. 15 feet of water. This was in May. Ice was out about two weeks before and the water was somewhere around 55°. I wasn't going in after the rod. But instantly, my mind went back to the year before when Steve had dropped his rod in the water and I tried to remember my reaction and I just remember taking a deep breath and being grateful that I didn't act like a jerk to my six-year-old son over him dropping his rod in the water when I turned around and did the same thing in essence the next year.

And we've had some good laughs over that. As a matter of fact, we even changed the name of the island. The island had a name, Bailey Island. We re-named it Berkeley Island because Berkeley was the manufacturer of the rod I lost there, right in front of the island.

Steve and I have been doing this fishing trip every year now for the last 34 years and we still call the island Berkeley Island. Good memories.

Funny or not so funny…that's not the only island that's been re-named due to a lost rod or two over the years! Stuff happens but we can make good memories anyway, right?

Why am I telling you these stories? I love to laugh and make others laugh. Fish and fishing are mentioned quite a bit in the Bible as well. Jonah and the Whale is one of the most famous fish stories of all time. I'm telling you fishing Stories while listening to a instrumental of a song about Jonah and the whale. Makes sense to me :-)

If you haven't read the book of Jonah in a while, I highly recommend you open up the Old Testament in the Bible and read it. It's only four chapters but it's quite gripping! It's a favorite with kids but also has a powerful message for us all! The instrumental you're hearing in the background is from a song I co-wrote for a sermon series on the book of Jonah called Belly of the Beast. It's a fun song with an important message. The chorus says:

When we say no, we say no to God's best

We gotta know, that this life is just a test

When we call out for refuge, He give us His hand

He'll never leave us; He'll take us to dry land

In a nutshell, Jonah was a prophet who was sent to warn the people of Nineveh of their impending doom. Instead of doing as he was told by God, Jonah ran away and boarded a ship headed the opposite direction. The ship was caught in a storm and Jonah was thrown overboard. He was swallowed by a whale and spent three days and nights inside its stomach. After he prayed for forgiveness, the whale vomited him out on the shore and he completed the work God told him to do.

Can you imagine. You know the things that we've seen in cartoons and otherwise, someone being swallowed by a whale and they're in like this big cave and they can talk and move around inside there. Obviously that's not a true representation. Can you imagine being that confined with all the slime and everything else that's going on inside a whales belly? How Scary would that be? But it says, "in deep trouble I prayed to God and he answered me. From the belly of the grave I cried, help! You heard my cry!" You can read the rest of that prayer in Jonah chapter 2. It's absolutely beautiful.

So it makes me think, how have I been running from what God wants me to do in my life? That's a good question for all of us I think.

I was in a conversation with someone last evening about the experiences that we've had throughout our lifetime and the mistakes we've made along the way. Some of the experiences and consequences were really really rough but we learned from them and grew as a result. How we wish we could explain this to the younger generation so that they wouldn't have to go through the same things that we went through. It seems like most everybody has to have their experiences however.

Do I think God is going to cause a whale to swallow us? I don't know. As for Myself, I do want to learn from the story of Jonah. I do want to listen and obey and I want to do that with all my heart and energy. How bout you?

Music makes stuff stick so I encourage you to listen to Belly of the Beast at markalewinemusic.com, Spotify, YouTube or most any other streaming platform.

Thanks for listening to this episode. I hope it made you smile today. Peace

Although we can't opt-out of the spiritual battles we face each day, we can opt-into God's amazing plan of victory that includes laughter and singing. Sound strange?... Keep listening.

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Everyday battles turn into everyday conversations and often into song! In talking with many of my friends, I realize that I'm not the only one who experiences battles daily. Some days, the battles are more relentless than others. Then we go to bed and wake up the next day… And it starts all over. Can you relate?

THE BATTLE IS NOT VOLUNTARY

Whether you like it or not, you're in a battle. There are 2 Kingdoms at war, God's kingdom and the Kingdom of darkness. There's no true middle ground like we would like to think and there's no opt-out. If you don't recognize the battle, maybe it's because of spiritual blindness. It's easy to recognize the battle when I'm tempted or when things are really hard. However, when things have been going really good for me, I often forget there's a battle. I get lulled to sleep, grow slack and even indifferent to the battle raging in the heavenly realm. My focus tends to settle on me and the illusion of "my kingdom" rather than God's kingdom.

Today's featured song is called Enough. The first verse starts out with…

The enemy says THAT choice is no big deal

Just do what you want, do what you feel

LAUGHABLE

And sometimes, it's laughable the blatant tactics the enemy uses. Sometimes so predictable, so obvious, I just have to laugh. You can think of any particular situation that you want, something that you perhaps struggle with and you want to have a victory over it. So you pray and ask God for strength and then the enemy puts that thing right in your path, sometimes almost immediately, whatever you're seeking to overcome. There's times when I've actually had the laugh out loud and hopefully, right in the enemies face at the things that he's trying to put in front of me that go against what God wants for me. I'm telling you, this happens all the time. And it's just laughable when I recognize it. It's not laughable when I fall for it. Well, the enemy is laughing for sure.

NO BIG DEAL

How many times have you heard that little voice saying things like, "other Christians are doing it", "no one will get hurt" or "God understands" and you feel justified doing what you want, what you feel? How laughable that the same enemy who tells us "THAT choice is no big deal" is the same one that immediately condemns us for giving in, calling us losers and unworthy. What a weird cycle to keep falling into.

DOES IT REALLY MATTER

The verse continues:

He says there's nothing we can do or say that can change this world anyway and he says what a waste of time it is to pray.

If we don't fall for the "no big deal" trick, our enemy might try to disarm us by raising doubts about prayer. I love the quote by Samuel Chadwick that says, "Satan dreads nothing but prayer. His one concern is to keep the saints from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, he mocks our wisdom, but he trembles when we pray."

Sometimes we feel like praying and feel like prayer works; other times it's an act of faith and obedience! But trust me, it works!

The song continues…

Then God reminds me of who I am! I say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

This is powerful!

GOD REMINDS US OF WHO WE ARE

We come to our senses when God reminds us of who we are. We need to wake up and say, "enough"!

Many years ago, Cindy and I went with our kids, my sister and her two kids to Disney World. In the hotel lobby, we saw a sign about "free tickets to Epicot Center". Considering our tight budget, that sounded awesome! All we had to do was attend a breakfast and short presentation about fabulous Florida vacations. Sounded like a no-brainer. Cindy, my sister and I made a pac we would NOT buy anything but just listen long enough to get the free tickets. So we left the 4 kids alone in the hotel room with breakfast, cartoons and strict orders to stay put.

We arrived at the ballroom and quick ate our breakfast to the blare of festive party music. As we listened to the sales pitch, we started nodding our heads, talking about what a nice gift it would be for our parents. We were slowly loosing touch with our previous resolution. The sales person rambled down a long list of benefits saving the most important one for last. Guess what it was? According to the sales person, "THE SAFETY OF YOUR CHILDREN" was the #1 reason for choosing to stay in the resort rather than any ol' hotel room in Florida. Flares went off in our heads! We came to our senses and the three of us got out of there as quickly as possible and raced upstairs to the hotel room and the kids. What a life lesson! In essence we remembered who we were as parents and said ENOUGH! It's important to stay close to the Lord, have His word in recent memory so if you start getting lulled into a wrong direction, He can remind you of who you are and you can snap out of it!

ENOUGH

There's a lot at stake if we don't say ENOUGH. We might do the enemy's work for him and beat ourselves up. Or we waste time and strength struggling to believe that God still loves us or that things will ever change. When the enemy makes us feel like failures, I believe it effectively takes us out of any battle. It makes us feel weak and hopeless and we certainly aren't very effective in our daily struggles. And then we become less effective warriors for the kingdom. We don't have to allow this. The Lord promises to give us strength and hope and He tells us how to live it out.

ARMOR OF GOD

The power to say ENOUGH and live out God's promises comes from essential spiritual habits. One of those is putting on the whole armor of God as described in Ephesians 6. Let me read this to you from the English standard version starting at verse 10 of Ephesians 6.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breast plate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish All the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints

My pastor told me about a friend of his who symbolically puts on the whole armor of God first thing in the morning starting when he puts his feet down on the floor to get out of bed. He puts on each of the pieces of armor symbolically and then goes about his day. Now that may sound a little silly but it's actually a very practical application of what this means. It's making yourself ready, being aware mentally and spiritually for the battles of the day. And you know, there's gonna be battles virtually every day. I encourage you to dig deeper in the Armor of God. Check out a wonderful resource by Dr Tony Evans at GGSSPodcast.com Episode 16.

OTHER ESSENTIAL HABITS

I've mentioned this a few times in the past that spending time in the word of God and praying first thing in the morning are key components of your spiritual success for the day. Giving God your first fruits of the day, the first 15 minutes or so before you do anything else, is honoring to Him and prepares you spiritually. Right along these lines, this is when the enemy usually starts his attack, when we first open up our eyes and our mind gets going. Sometimes it's "what's the use…" thinking, or, "I'm soo tired" or "I'm just too busy" lines that the enemy feeds us and we buy into it. That is when we need to draw the line in the sand and start the day with the Lord. It is a deliberate, intentional act to stand against the enemy and to stand with the Lord. It's a deliberate intentional act to put on the whole armor of God and to use the word of God in the situations that come throughout our day. And the only way we can use the Word of God against the enemy is to study the Word of God and to pray and be connected to the Lord of the universe.

DIFFERENT DAY, SAME OLD STUFF

God is faithful to remind me of who I am. But am I listening? Sometimes. Other times I'm preoccupied. Preoccupied with grief or stress or something fun. Sometimes I'm preoccupied with a cycle of failure, repeating the same behaviors but surprised when I don't get different results. Sometimes, like the song says, "It's a different day, but the same old stuff." Does any of this sound familiar?

NEW HABITS

I heard these people talking one day about Celebrate Recovery. It was on social media I believe. People were talking about the great experience that they had with Celebrate Recovery. But one guy weighed in and he said this, "Celebrate Recovery works for some people but I attended for a whole year and yet I still drink." He was effectively blaming Celebrate Recovery for his continued drinking problem rather than his own actions.

Knowing the truth is important! Being with people heading in the direction you want to go is powerful! Nothing can take the place, though, of a close personal relationship with the Lord, your life source, and consistently taking actions of trust and obedience, day after day after day. It takes practice till new habits are formed and cycles of failure break down; habits like spending time with the Lord, praising, reading the Word, praying and listening throughout our day, doing life with believers who will care enough to call you out, speak into your life and expect you to do the same for them. With new habits comes a new awareness and new results. I'm not saying perfect but new results.

The bridge of the song says this:

I'll lift my head up, I'll put my armor on

I'll join the battle and we'll be singing your song

Of your greatness and your victory

Of your redemption for the world to see

LIFT YOUR HEAD UP

This simple act can make such a difference. No matter how you feel at a particular moment, refuse to walk around with your head down acting as if defeat is inevitable. It's an act of faith, agreeing with how God sees us.

PUT YOUR ARMOR ON

Put on the whole armor of God daily, not just when we feel weak. We must do our part in preparing for the battle each day!

JOIN THE BATTLE

Like I mentioned earlier, the battle is not something we can opt out of. It is a fact of life. It's not something we do alone as a lone ranger either. Sometimes pride sneaks in and we think we can tackle the world, just us and God. Nope! We are meant to love, serve, do battle, and stand strong alongside fellow believers. They remind us of who we are and who God is when we need it, and we do the same for them.

SING

Join others in the battle and for heaven sake, sing! You might say, "Mark, you've never heard me sing before."

That may be true but you're not singing for me, you're singing for the Lord of the universe. And He loves your voice and He loves your choice to sing glory and praise to Him.

Throughout the Bible are numerous passages about singing. When you and I sing to the Lord, we are being obedient, we are making war, strengthening our spirits, opening ourselves up to His joy, digging our roots deeper in the Word and building up others in a group setting. You can see scripture references for each of these at GGSSPodcast.com Episode 16.

The song, Enough, has an amazing groove that's driving and I guess I would look at it as sort of, decisive, if that's possible in music. I think you'll like the feel of this song and I think the words will ring true as you listen.

You can listen to Enough on most streaming platforms or at GGSSPodcast.com Episode 16. That's where you'll also find a great resource to better understand the armor of God from Dr. Tony Evans.

Thanks for listening. Peace

Are you looking for a glimmer of hope during a dark time right now? You're not alone! Kathy Tschida joins Mark to share with you some powerful, practical tips from her own God-story as well as the song that came about as a result. It could be just what you need today!

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(Mark) Well, you remember last week that I told you that my friend Kathy Tschida and I wrote this song called Impossible is Possible, and I told you that next week she was going to be a guest on our show.

And so she's here today and I'm so glad to have Kathy with us, Kathy. Welcome. I'm so glad you're here.

(Kathy) Glad to be here. Thank you.

(Mark) Absolutely. So we've written quite a few songs together already, and we've got another write scheduled and I'm really looking forward to that. I love writing with you.

I just wanted to ask you a few questions about this particular song, Impossible as Possible. So if you wouldn't mind telling us a little bit about maybe an end of the rope story that you've got, do you have one?

(Kathy) Okay. Yeah. So the, the one that came to mind was a little over a year ago, we went through what I like to call all the things at once.

We had a situation, a legal situation with my daughter and her biological dad. My dog was attacked. I had a best friend stop being friends with me and my husband was going through job stuff. So like, it all happened at the same time. And it literally felt like it was the end of the rope. It felt impossible.

It felt like only God could pull all this through. And He did. He completely did. He completely got us through it. And without Him, I don't know how I would've handled it all. Cause it was all the things at the same time, everything all at once.

(Mark) That sounds terrible. So would you put that as one of the biggest challenges that you've had to overcome?

Do you have others?

(Kathy) Yes. I feel like I have quite a few of those. That was one, the divorce was another one that was quite a few years ago now. Cause it came out of nowhere. My dad passing away. That was a definitely a big challenge. I've had some current things that are really kind of hard to talk about, but definitely some of the biggest challenges. So I feel like you go through one big challenge and then somehow another one comes up and they kind of feel like they don't end sometimes.

(Mark) Yeah. I, I can totally relate to that. You know, I think everybody, if they stop and think about it has had these end of the rope moments we hear.

And I think it's important for us as believers to be able to share these with other people because somebody who knows maybe even right this minute might be going through an end of the rope moment. One of those impossible moments, you know, as I said in last week's episode, I had come to the point that I didn't wanna be here on earth anymore.

And yes, I said that somebody might be at that particular point right now. So I think it's important for us to be able to share our stories with other people. And that's kind of the purpose of, of this podcast is to be able to give people hope and help. So let me ask you another question here. How did you overcome the fear and maybe that little voice in your head that said you couldn't do this or you couldn't do that or you get to the point that you're at today?

How did you overcome all those things to get to where you are today?

(Kathy) There was a lot of prayer, a lot of taking a specific Bible verse. Last year when I was going through all those things, I literally had a note in my phone with all sorts of Bible verses and I would go through them when those fear and the doubts and stuff would come.

The other thing that really helped honestly, is counseling. Talking to someone who is a licensed therapist, who could help me figure out what was really bothering me, how to go through it. I went to a Christian so that they used the Word and stuff that was really important. And all of those things combined helped me change my thinking. And I think that's really what it is,

is like you have to change your thinking from fear to what God says. And that's where it's simple. Like put a, you know, put a verse in the memo of your phone so you can look at it. You don't have to memorize it. Just look at it every time that thought comes, it's like, nope, God didn't give me a spirit of fear.

That was one I used a lot. God did not give me a spirit of fear, but power love and a sound mind. I could cast all my anxieties on Him because He never leaves me. Yeah. Those kind of things and put them where you can see them. And so you don't have to try to rely on your own mind to come up with them.

You have a tool, we all carry it around in our pocket. So use the tool that's there. And that honestly really helped me. So that little tool is my phone. Yeah. The Bible app and others. There you go. Memos your notes, those voice memos you can leave yourself, those things you have with you.

And you know, I mean, obviously you can talk to Jesus. You can pray at any moment of the day and He's there. You can reach out to people. And I have all sorts of people that I can reach out to. And they'll pray for me when they get the text message. But there are things that I have to do. Like God, can't put the thought in my head for me. I have to, you know, I have to take the word and I have to chew on it and I have to put it in my head and that over and over again, changes the fear and makes it less and less until it's not your first reaction anymore. You know, I think, I think a lot of people think that we as Christians don't have any fear whatsoever.

And I would say that I still struggle a little bit with some fear, but I don't want to have happen. And you probably feel the same way. I don't want that fear to dictate the path that I'm gonna take. So I want to do the right thing, despite the fear that might be there because the enemy, all the enemy wants to do is put something up in front of us.

(Mark) And you know, 90% of the things that we worry about don't even come true. They just don't even happen 90% of them. And so they're like, as my wife says, they're like a paper wall. So we have a wall up in front of us. That's really just paper in the enemy says, "you can't do this.

You can't do that." Then you just kind of poke your finger through the paper and you realize that you can, it's just a matter of acting, doing the right thing, despite the fear. And then like you said, the fear becomes less and less, less and less direction in her own lives. Would you agree with all that?

(Kathy) Yes, I would.

And I would, I would call it what Joyce Meyer calls it, "doing it afraid". That's what she calls it. The feeling is still there. That's what courage is - doing it in the face of fear. It doesn't mean the fear went away. Courage is just, "Nope, I'm gonna do it". Even though I feel afraid I'm gonna walk through these hard things and I will get to the other side, even though I feel afraid, even though I'm not sure how it's gonna turn out, even all of those things, I can still keep going. God is on the other side of it. He's here with me too. So I can keep going. Even though the fear, the feeling wants to tell me I can't.

(Mark) So you know, about 11 years ago now when I had repressed memories and those all came back in a flood of some sexual abuse that had happened to me as a child, by an extended member of the family, nobody in my immediate family. And it went on for quite some time. And when those came back, it, it came back in such a fashion that it felt like it just happened to me.

I didn't know that I had all the memories exact as they were some 40 years later, but, but they were pretty vivid and fear became a big part of my life where I didn't even want to go out the door. And so I too got some counseling and I found that the Christian counselor that I went to gave me a number of tasks that I had to do to be able to push past the fear.

You know what I mean? "So you need to tell your wife what happened". "No, I'm not gonna tell my wife what happened". And then I walk out and I went and told my wife what happened. And, and so it goes on like that. But every time she gave me a task and I said, my initial thought was no, but then I went on and did it, despite the fear, I found that it got easier. And that's what I'm hearing from you is that just the more that we push through these particular things, and I don't know how we can encourage other people in the same fashion, you know, to not let fear guide their lives. The only way I know how to do that is to tell these stories.

(Kathy) Yeah, exactly. And we all have moments where we feel terrified. I love the Bible cause it makes all of these things, very real. Job went through all of the things that he was terrified, whatever happened. And he survived. There are so many that went through so many things. God doesn't tell us to never feel anything.

(Mark) That's right. He does tell us to keep going.

(Kathy) And he does tell us he will be with us while we keep going. So I don't want people to think that they have to deny what they're feeling. The first step you can really take is honestly just tell someone you trust that person. You know, you can tell anything to that. They're not gonna judge you. That's the person you go talk to.

Whether that's a counselor, whether that's your best friend, whoever that is, talk to them. Because what happens is when you tell someone the fear loses its power. Yeah, it does. Because now you have someone to stand with you and now you're not alone. That's the biggest fear everyone has anyway is that, I'm the only one I've been through this.

No one's gonna understand how I feel with all the crazy stuff that I've been through in my life. I'm still surprised at how many people are like, yeah, I've been through that. I know somebody's been through that. Wow. I'm so glad you said something cause now I realize that I'm not alone in it. You know? So we need to stop listening to the lie that we're the only one going through it and that no one can relate to how we're feeling.

So my encouragement would just be tell somebody, even if it's just that one person, like I said, even if it's nobody else call a pastor, they legally can't say anything. A counselor can't either like, if you're scared about it, coming out, talk to one of those kind of people who who know they have to legally even keep your secrets.

(Mark) That's right.

(Kathy) So just to, and the fear will lose its power in your life, but you have to take those steps. And I know it's scary. We've all been through it. It's super scary to say it out loud, but you will feel better if you do.

(Mark) Did you have some people in your life that had gone through some heavy things that gave you encouragement that gave you that support that said, you know, it's, it's just paper. You can push through it. You can do this. Did you have people in your life that did that for you?

(Kathy) Oh, definitely. When I went through the divorce, I had people that came right alongside me who had been through divorces, the counselor I went to at my church at the time she had been divorced and she helped me walk through it and say,

Hey, you know what? There is life on the other side of it. I know this is hard right now. You know, some of the things we're walking through right now with my daughter, it's amazing how many people have come up to me and said, "yep, I'm going through something similar with my so-and-so family member" or whatever. And that kind of thing.

Seeing how much further they along in their journey really helps. And I really think that's why some of these Bible stories are there like Job, like, you know, I mean, Joseph look at all the crazy stuff he went through, you know, he went through prison and Potifer and all that crazy stuff. Right. He kept going and those kind of stories give you hope that your life isn't over just because something bad happens to you.

So yeah, there are definitely people I know licensed counselors really helped me a lot. That has been a great tool to just be able to process my emotions and you know, they can share things in their counseling sessions that they might not share in public, but they'll share with you because it helps you. So yeah, there are definitely people. My husband's been through a lot of stuff too, and he has been amazing to walk by my side and just be with me through all of it and prayer and faith and he's, he's a rock. He's awesome. That's awesome. Yeah. So how did you find your counselor? Okay. Well initially I found my church. I am blessed to be part of a church that actually has licensed counselors on staff.

They, if they can't see us, they actually have a list of people. So a lot of pastors will have a list of counselors. So if you can reach out to a pastor, I know there's plenty of websites, Christian counseling websites, licensed Christian counselors. I know, Focus on the Family has some resources. That's the one that really comes to mind.

I think that they, I know they have counselors that you can call and they have referrals and all sorts of stuff like that. So there are plenty of ways to find someone and yeah, like I said, even if it's just a pastor, you know, call them, they will help you definitely help is available.

(Mark) Yeah. And you know, the counselor that I used, I used her for years. As a matter of fact, it was the therapy sessions were lengthy and took some time to get me past the past. That point of almost no return for me, but I had to do that hard work, but then she ended up moving out of state, but she still does sessions for people via zoom in the state that she's in, she'll do 'em from here. And so I find it that recommendations from people like you, people like me are also big helps for people. So as, as folks are going through some tough stuff, they can just ask people. They can certainly reach out to you. And, and we'll towards the end of the show here.

We'll let people know how they can get ahold of you. And they know how to get ahold of me at gsspodcast.com. And so I'm happy to share any of the stuff that I've been through and some of the people that I've used to help with that. So when you look at the song itself, do you have a favorite verse or a favorite part of the song itself?

(Kathy) Hmm. I love the line. Your word fills my mind gives me life, gives me hope, gives me truth. Even in the dark of night, I rest in you. I love that part of the chorus because I feel like that's so much how I've had to do life. I have to put His word in my mind and that is what keeps me going.

That's what gives me hope. It gives me life even in the dark of night. Oh, I don't know how many moments I've had like that. Even just waking up at 2:00 AM, 3:00 AM, you know, all those thoughts come gracing through your head. And you're like, you know, you pull that one phrase from the Bible that you read that morning, that you remember, it's all it takes. One phrase. I read a lot of the Psalms because David is David and the Psalmist are so honest about their feelings. They don't usually leave it there. They turn to him. And just remembering that in and of itself, even if it's not a specific Bible verse, that concept has helped me a lot.

And so I just love that His word needs to fill my mind, not my own thoughts. And that's what keeps me going. And honestly, that's what gives me rest, real rest.

(Mark) And so there's an active part on, on your end to spend time with the Lord to spend time in the word of God to spend time praying. Not just to treat Him like the genie in the bottle and rub the magic lantern and get three wishes because that's not who He is.

My favorite part of the song and it feels like a Psalm-It's interesting that you mentioned that it feels like a Psalm- is the bridge. So the bridge says Your word never fails. Your peace conquers fear. Impossible is possible. You see my pain, your love overcomes impossible is possible. That feels like something right out of the heart of Psalms.

To me, it feels like a, a modern day Psalm bridge. And I just love it.

(Kathy) Yeah. It reminds me of the verse in, I think it's first John, that talks about how perfect love, casts out fear and that when we cast our anxiety on the Lord, he gives us peace beyond under all understanding that's in Philippians. So those two concepts are very biblical anyway.

And that's what God does. We give him our fear. He gives us love. That's not an even trade. Not by any means, not even close. However, that's how good he is. And that's why you can give it to him. Cause He's only gonna give you good stuff. That's right. Gonna Give you good things.

(Mark) So verse one says,

I think about your goodness, God, how you sustained me, how You've carried me. This is an active remembering of where we were and where we are. Even when I thought I was alone. I know you walked with me though. Worries, swelled and fear thrived. And the end seemed unknown, but You knew the end from the start.

I think this was such a heartfelt writing on mine and your part. I, I absolutely love it. I played this for a couple of other people and they have fallen in love with the song. It's just one of these easy listening, easy to absorb truth-filled, Word-filled songs. Verse two says, I hear You calling my name, giving me strength, even carrying me. I know I'm not alone. I know you walk with me. The worry, cease and fear leaves, but still the end seems unknown. Cause we don't know the end. We have no idea what the end is, but you know, my end from the start, there's a certain level of confidence in who God is and who we are.

I think written in this song. Do you have any other thoughts about that?

(Kathy) I just love the honesty about it. I think too, you know, God is really the one who's been carrying us. Even through the hard stuff we've been walking through lately. Yeah. We have unbelievers watching us go through all this and they're even amazed. I'm like well without Jesus, I couldn't do it. And I don't know how people do it without him. Honestly. He's the reason I can keep going cause I know he knows the end. Even if the end is not what I wanted it to be. That's right. He still knows the end and can help me through even that because eventually the end is,

and eventually the end is good. Life is hard. Even Jesus said, so you're gonna have problems. You're gonna have troubles. However, He is the peace. He is the reason we can keep going. Cause He is always good. He's always good. And if it's not good, just keep going. Cause it will be, it will be.

He promises that.

(Mark) So our chorus says this God is so good. God is so kind only God can do what God can do. Your word fills. My mind gives me life, gives me hope, gives me truth. Even in the dark of night, I rest in you. We, we had the title originally. I rest in you and it could still be that. But the impossible is possible. Seems to be a landing point for at least me on this particular song. And, and I love that only God can do what God can do. Well, Kathy, I cannot thank you enough for joining us today on the show here. I love our friendship. I love you and Paul.

Cindy and I would like to get together with you guys very soon. Once we can work out the details of that, but I hope you guys are continuing to, to move forward and trusting in the Lord and, and you can let us know if you guys need anything. Can you tell our folks how to get ahold of you?

(Kathy) Yes, I am on YouTube at Kathy Tschida.

You can find me there. I also have a website, KathyTschida.com. Also make sure to spell my last name correctly. And I do have a Facebook, a public Facebook page, KathyTschidaMusic. So you can find me on all those places. Eventually I will be releasing some stuff onto places like Spotify and some of the other streaming services. So keep your eyes out for that. On my website, there's a way to contact me. You can also subscribe to emails. I write a blog so you can get all of that stuff to find out about all my music and all of that other things. So love to hear everybody.

(Mark) Okay, well thank you again. And I look forward to our next time together and thanks folks for listening in with us. Hope you have a great week. Peace.

Dark times, breaking points, can't sleep, can't breathe….sometimes hope seems impossible. However, I'm living proof that impossible is possible! Today I'll share a very personal story and a song written out of those emotions.

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Today's a little usual in that the song we'll be talking about hasn't been yet released yet. Find out how you can hear it and other unreleased songs at GGSSPodcast.com, Episode 14. (There might even be a free download in it for you J.)

Today's featured song is called Impossible is Possible. It's a collaboration with my friend Kathy Tschida. You'll get to hear part of Kathy's God-story in next week's episode. Make sure you check it out!

LIFE'S AMAZING TIMES

You know, as I look back on my life, I'm amazed how God has worked in our lives.

Right after we got married we moved to Minnesota and attended what is now called Bethany Global University. It was so much more than a school. I'm still inspired to this day by the work being done there and the community of believers that helped us grow up with in many ways. God used it to set a wonderfully firm foundation for me and Cindy as a newly married couple.

When it was time to branch out to other heights that God had for us, I felt confident and ready. When I got my first full-time worship pastor position at Friendship Church in 1997, I was so excited and could see that God had his hand on it.

HIDING IN PLAIN VIEW

But times certainly weren't always easy. We had to deal with family things like most people have to deal with. Don't get me wrong, we have an incredible family, but there were some serious struggles for sure. We weren't exempt just because we're Christians and especially not as a pastor's family. Unfortunately I tried to deal with those things in my own strength, and often made things worse. Does that sound familiar?

I don't know if it was fear of what people would think of us or pride or shame or because I was a pastor and not supposed to have problems, but we hid the majority of our pain and challenges. There were times when we, Cindy and I, felt like failures, very alone and very afraid.

From this vantage point of life, however, I know that was the enemy's plan for us and not the way God would have had it. I hope you can benefit from hearing about my mistakes and avoid a lot of needless suffering yourself.

It's still almost overwhelming these many years later, to reflect on the goodness of God to us during that time, how He stayed with us, carried us, sustained us and raised us up from a pretty dark place.

ANOTHER ROUND OF DARKNESS

Once things settled down a bit, another time of darkness came upon me personally. Even as a Christian, fear and identity issues were constant companions most of my life and showed up in my reactions to stress. Things grew increasingly worse over the years until I finally had to get help.

I didn't recall ever feeling helpless or hopeless before that time. Previously I would have "decided" that I could handle things myself. For me to say "yes" to getting help, was a difficult decision. However, despair had set in and I did not like it. I could not breathe. I could not sleep. I was embarrassed and ashamed that I actually needed help, but I, indeed, needed help.

PRESS IN

I shot up a flare and God answered. After 2 sessions with a counselor, she thought it would be best for me to see a colleague of hers. It was at that point that I knew something was truly going on inside me.

To decide to walk into a counseling office again was huge. I knew that things would probably get worse before they got better. "Pressing in" was my first choice.

It didn't take long for the new therapist to confirm there was something deep inside and it would take some work to get to the core of it. I have to say, fear almost paralyzed me. It was hard to think about facing the unknown giant that was about to be exposed. But my reactions to stress were not healthy and without exposing truth, there was no way to get better, to function normally again.

In my gut I had an inkling of what it might be, but I did not want it to be that! With each session, more and more memories came to the surface. How could something like this could be hidden in my mind? How? Each week I had to consciously decide to go back for another session and expose more of the hurtful past.

It was about a two-month process to get all these nightmarish memories out to the forefront. There it was, now, the truth in all its ugliness and awfulness, memories as fresh as if they had just happened to me. I won't go into detail here and it wasn't from my immediate family, but it was terrible. There were some real moments that I thought not being here would be better than living with this. I felt ashamed even though I had no fault in this as an 8 year old.

I was also MAD! Were the memories better hidden away? The answer is a resounding "NO". They were not better hidden, but I had to figure out a way to deal with them and move on.

PRESS ON

Recovery was a very lengthy process. Thank God for a therapist who loves Jesus and could help me "press on". Her kindness and wisdom were absolutely incredible. As I did my difficult but healing homework, we began to see slow progress. Each day I was able to "press on" a little more. My whole family was so supportive and kind and gentle. I am so blessed! My wife was (and is) a rock star! I could not have done this without her!

Fast forward over 10 years now. The things that happened to me in my past do not define me. Yes, they happened, but God controls my future if I allow Him. I chose to press on. I chose to do the very difficult work of recovery. I had a therapist (and some meds that I needed at the time). I joined a Celebrate Recovery group. Celebrate Recovery is an amazing ministry that helps people deal with all sorts of life struggles like sexual abuse, codependency issues, loss of a spouse, drugs and alcohol addictions, pornography addictions and the list goes on. I leaned in to the help that was available and spent time with those further along in the recovery journey.

God saw the flare I shot up, came to me and threw me the life line! Beautiful.

PASS IT ALONG

Most of us in this "category" think you cannot and should not talk about it. My therapist told me, "Mark, I want you to tell your wife about this experience." I said "No."

I told her anyway. It was very hard to even utter the words, but I pressed on and told her. My therapist was happy about that.

Then she said, "I want you to tell your kids." I said, "No."

I told them anyway. Really hard! But they were so comforting and reassuring. There! I did what she asked me to do. Surely that would be all.

Then she told me, "Mark, I want you to tell your pastor." I said "No."

I told him anyway. He was amazing. He cried with me. He walked with me through so much! My therapist was happy.

Then she said, "I want you to give your testimony at Celebrate Recovery." I promptly said, "No!"

I told them anyway as part of my testimony. It was so healing and so freeing. People lined up afterwards and said, "That happened to me also. I didn't know you could talk about it." My therapist was very happy about that.

Then she had the gall, the audacity to tell me, "Mark, I want you to give your testimony in church." In CHURCH? In front of all those people? People that know me? I said to her, "Are you crazy?!" (I really did.) She chuckled and reassured me that this was part of the process. I told her "this process sucks." I was firm in my NO.

I gave my testimony anyway. I stammered through. I cried on stage. People cried in the congregation. I gave glory to God for walking with me through this. And they clapped. They stood up and clapped! Not for me, but for what God did for me. And guess what happened after? Yup, people lined up and said, "I didn't know you could talk about that. That happened to me also." I was able to meet with so many people, to give encouragement and direct them to help and hope.

CAN YOU RELATE?

I've had two really really dark times in my life. Yes there's been some other moments that have been hard, but the dark moments were different. I'm sure even as you are listening to this, you can think about a dark moment or two - when it all seemed hopeless and you felt helpless and alone. And yet here we are today. You might even be going through one of those dark moments right now. I want you to know from experience, there is hope and help and as I said in Episode 12, we don't have to beg God for that. We need to listen for His voice because He's talking through His Word even right now. We need to reach out and grab his hand. And think of people in your life that are godly, people that have been through some tough things in their lives, reach out to them and ask for help. Don't give the enemy any more room in your life. The enemy is a liar and a thief. He will tell you that there is no hope and that you are not worth any help. But friends, the Word of God says otherwise.

PRECIOUS IN HIS SIGHT

In Luke 15:4–7 in the Message version it says this,

"Suppose one of you had 100 sheep and lost one. Wouldn't you leave the 99 in the wilderness and go after the one lost until you found it? When found, you can be sure you would put it across your shoulders, rejoicing, and when you got home calling your friends and neighbors, saying, celebrate with me! I found my lost sheep! Count on it – there's more joy in heaven over one sinner's rescued life then over 99 good people in no need of rescue."

In Matthew 11:28–29 in the Message version it says, "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me-watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't let anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

REMEMBERING GOD'S GOODNESS

I know you might be saying, Mark, you don't know what I've been through. And that's true. But I can only tell you, the things that I've been through have been the darkest that I can imagine, to the point of not wanting to be here on earth anymore. Yes, I just said that. I'm not here trying to compare what I went through with what you went through. I'm just saying there is hope.

After hearing this God-story, I'm sure you can feel the emotion behind these lyrics. The first verse of Impossible is Possible says this-

I think about your goodness God

How you sustained me, how you've carried me

Even when I thought I was alone, I know you walked with me

Though worries swelled and fear thrived

And the end seemed unknown

But you knew the end from the start

The chorus says:

God is so good, God is so kind

Only God can do what God can do

His word fills my mind gives me life gives me hope gives me truth

Even in the dark of night, I rest in You

This verse is a personal declaration of God's goodness in the midst of our dark times, past, present and future.

HIS COMFORT

I saw this video a while back of this young child probably two- or three-years old crying in a crowded place. And her daddy walked up to her and got down on his knees and looked at her and said some very comforting words and she stopped crying and he gave her a hug and she hugged him back and then she was fine. She just needed the comfort and assurance that her daddy was nearby. That was a beautiful thing to see. And we can experience that with our heavenly father. Certainly, we need to spend time in the word of God and praying and praising on a regular basis for this to become a true reality in our life.

The title comes from the bridge of the song which says:

Your word never fails, your peace conquers fear

Impossible is possible

You see my pain, your love overcomes

Impossible is possible

Feels like a Psalm to me :-)

HOW CAN WE PRAISE AT A TIME LIKE THIS?

Is it possible to praise God and to love God in the midst of the darkest moments in our life? It is! But it's a choice. And when we hang out with people that point us to the word of God, that pray for us, that give us godly counsel, this becomes more of a normal response for us. Who are you hanging out with? Are they giving you godly words of wisdom or are they feeding your anger and fear and hurt?

MUSIC MAKES STUFF STICK

And what are you listening to? I'm not suggesting that all secular music is bad. I'm not saying that at all. But I've listened to a fair amount of much of the music of the day and I'm fairly shocked in the hopelessness and sometimes even the evil that is in our music that we listen to.

We've said again & again & again that music makes stuff stick. It can make the good, positive, godly things stick or it can make the hopeless and helpless and evil things stick as well. That's just truth! Practice listening to good, Jesus-pointing music. Practice praising at the beginning of your day. Practice praising in the midst of your storms.

REACH OUT

If you're going through some serious dark times right now, I encourage you to please reach out to your pastor or a friend who will point you to Jesus, who will pray for you and walk with you. And if you want me to pray for you, you can reach me ON ggsspodcast.com. I would be honored to pray for you in whatever you are going through.

NEXT WEEK

I hope Impossible is Possible will encourage your spirit and inspire fresh hope! Find out how you can hear it and get a free download at GGSSPodcast.com Episode 14.

Also, remember to listen in next week for a God-story shared by Kathy Tschida, the co-writer of Impossible is Possible. I'm really looking forward to it!

Peace

"At the end of your rope" can be a very scary place to be. However, it can also be a place of hope and peace and growth. Let's talk about that.

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THANKSGIVING TRADITION

It was Thanksgiving time and we were getting ready to have the whole family over at our house. Most of them live in the Twin Cities, 12 total. This is something that we do every year.

I don't know what food your family likes to serve at your Thanksgiving celebration, but several years ago we decided to do something a little different for ours. We decided to do a Thanksgiving breakfast. So we would lay out a traditional southern breakfast spread for everybody just to give them something a little different rather than having to eat two big turkey dinners in one day. We would have scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, grits, biscuits and gravy and cantaloupe. It's something that everybody looks forward to and spending time together is obviously a wonderful thing.

INTERRUPTED

But the virus that shall not be named had other plans for me and Cindy. A week before Thanksgiving, Cindy came down with symptoms and that changed all of our Thanksgiving plans.

Cindy and I had it all figured out ahead of time what we would do if one of us got sick. We were going to mask, glove up and stay in separate parts of the house. Well…that plan only lasted about two minutes.

Cindy got pretty sick pretty quick. There wasn't a snowball's chance in South Florida that I was going to leave her in a different part of the house in the condition she was in. So I was in full nurse mode if you will. I was attempting to be careful around her but at the same time to be fully attending to her, setting alarms throughout the night to check for fever and monitor her oxygen levels.

One evening, she was especially in a bad way. She was in her recliner next to mine covered up under six blankets and she was still having mad chills. I had never seen her this sick before. I couldn't take my eyes off her and 40 years of marriage went through my mind. Forty glorious, sometimes very difficult, years. We've been through so much together.

EMOTION EXPRESSED THROUGH SONG

It was right around that time that I started writing some words to the song, Have You Ever Felt. You think of David in the Psalms and how he would hit emotional points in his life and he would write the psalms or songs that ended up being psalms. You could hear his heart through these readings. I kind of felt like that. And I just poured my heart out as I wrote.

The first verse says:

Have you ever felt, the weight of the world on your shoulders

Have you ever felt, the days just seem to get colder

The nighttime seems longer, you don't feel any stronger

There's only one way out

This was November and certainly the days were getting colder and the darkness was longer than the daylight at this particular point so there were some natural occurrences happening. But the nights were very long for me as I was trying to sleep but concerned about Cindy and setting alarms and taking temperatures and giving medication and then trying to go back to sleep which was very difficult. But I needed to sleep because I needed to be attentive in the daytime.

END OF MY ROPE

I really was at the end of my rope and crying out to God knowing that He was my only way out. He was Cindy's way out in this particular moment also. I don't want to be overly dramatic and say that I thought Cindy was going to die because I didn't, but I wondered if she needed more than I could give her at this particular point.

We knew of a few people praying for us but decided to go ahead and send a prayer request to our Friendship Church family through the website. Within a few hours of sending that prayer request, Cindy started to improve. Sensing the power of prayer and experiencing the love and kindness of friends lifted us in an amazing way and we were able to press on.

So here's the chorus:

I know where my help comes from

I know who puts breath in these lungs

I know the one who calls me by name

Who breaks all my chains

Meets me in my pain

I know You, I know You

Psalms 121:1-2 in the New Living Translation says:

"I look up to the mountains— does my help come from there? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth!"

I truly was crying out to God for help. Even though we started to see some improvement, I had never ever seen my wife this sick before. And there I was, looking at her and continuing to pray and asking the Lord for help.

This might be a rhetorical question for you but have you ever been at the end of your rope and needed God so desperately to answer you and give you help? I once heard it said that "God's address is at the end of our rope."

AMAZING PEACE

I'm not going to be able to explain it but I will try to put it into words. This amazing peace came over me as I was looking at my wife and writing these words. Even as I was putting a melody to it and recording that on my phone so I wouldn't forget, there was an incredible amount of peace that came into the room. And then I started thinking, I think everybody has felt this way before. In some form or fashion, we have all been at this place in our lives. Probably several times as a matter of fact.

It's good to reflect on these things and to talk about these times so that we can know and experience the goodness of God and be reminded of the goodness of God in our own lives as well as the lives of other believers. Sharing these testimonies is a huge thing and we want to celebrate what God is doing.

RENEWAL

The bridge of this song is fairly simple but it was just a continued part of the whole cry of the song.

Oh God my deliverer

All my trust is in you

I'll renew my mind

And let your spirit move

Romans 12:2 says in the English Standard Version:

"Do not be conformed to this world, 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."

Romans 12:2 ESV

The renewal of my mind! Allowing God to work in my mind. I have to say yes to that. So I did and I do. So I let His spirit move in our situation. It's so interesting that when you practice this, it gets easier and easier and more natural to renew your mind in whatever the situation is. Philippians 4:8 in the Message version says "It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life." That's renewal for sure!

PRACTICE

Isn't that something? We have to practice spiritual principles in order to experience more of what God wants for us. So we have to practice spending regular time with God every day, undistracted. We have to practice applying scripture to our lives on a daily basis in all situations. We have to practice walking like Jesus walked and talking like Jesus talked and doing the things that Jesus did and sharing life with other believers. And the more we practice spiritual principles, the more real they become in our lives! What a great motivator to start now, dig deeper now before the next tough thing happens!

NEED PRAYER?

So my question for you today is, have you ever felt the weight of the world on your shoulders? Have you ever felt that there's no way out? Have you ever felt that you're at the end of your rope?

I have most wonderful news for you and for me! Our help comes from the Lord! That is incredible news! It's in Scripture and I want to live this out with you. If you have something specific that I can pray with you about or if you'd to share your end of the rope story with me, please contact me through Ggsspodcast.com.

I pray this song will remind you of God's seen and unseen presence in your life and that you realize where your help comes from in a fresh, new way. You can hear the song at GGSSPodcast.com or any of the streaming platforms.

END NOTE

Cindy and I are so grateful to be healthy again! We acknowledge that the situation could've turned out differently; that all those prayers might not have been answered exactly like we wanted. We all know praying people who have lost loved ones. We hope this song will help them trust deeply in God's love and goodness in the midst of that pain.

Do you ever find yourself begging God for something? Why is that? And how can you and I overcome this mentality?

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A WRONG PICTURE OF GOD

Do you ever find yourself begging God for something? That could be begging for anything really. It could be begging for this new job, or it could be begging for healing for ourselves or somebody that we love, or could be begging for money because we're broke. It could be anything really.

During a time of incredible stress, I found myself begging God to hear me, begging him to be with me, even begging him to love me. Yes, begging God, the one who created me and everyone else, begging him to take care of me. Begging as if he were some kind of sick being that looked at me and said "Beg me a little bit more. You're almost there but not quite."

When I recognized this horribly wrong image of God underneath my prayer, I had to stop and get myself re-aligned with truth! What a difference that made! Out of that experience came the words of the song I wrote called, This Much I Know.

WHAT IS AN ACCURATE PICTURE OF GOD'S HEART TOWARD US?

Jesus came to show us the Father and had quite a bit to say about His heart towards us.

In Matthew 7:7-11 Jesus says,

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened."

Then He says, "or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him?"

He also said in John 16:23–24 in the Message version, "This is what I want you to do. Ask the Father for whatever it is in keeping with the things I've revealed to you. Ask in my name, according to my will, and He'll most certainly give it to you. Your joy will be a river overflowing its banks." Now that's an amazing promise!

Yes, God is the Most High and is to be revered. At the same time, He's our loving, heavenly Father who delights in us, loves us enough to correct us and who welcomes us to be at home with Him. Think about the kids in your neighborhood. If they came barging through your front door, opened your fridge, made some sandwiches then sat down on the couch in your den, that would be weird, right!

However, your own kids are most welcome to do just that! Why? Because they are your kids. There's a different relationship there. They are at home with you, and you are at home with them. As redeemed children of God, that's like it is with us and the Father. Yes, we always need to show Him respect and honor Him but also know that He wants us to be at home with Him and He with us.

NOT A GENIE IN THE BOTTLE

This relationship is not to be confused with the genie in the bottle mentality. You rub the lantern until the genie pops out and then the genie gives you three wishes. And I think sometimes I have been guilty of the genie mentality. But remember, the verse in John 16 says, "Ask in My name, according to My will."

HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT TO ASK?

So how do we know what His will is? I think to know that, we must spend time with Him, learn more about Him through his word. What do you think that looks like? I think that might look like a dedicated time of the day to spend some time praising, reading the word of God and praying. Dedicated. Something specific and set aside. Often times, we wake up in the morning and we're already running late, and we have to hit the shower and perhaps get the kids up and get them fed and off to school And then we have to hit the traffic and try to reach the office or wherever it is that you're working usually, barely on time. You get through the day, and you head home exhausted, and you might have a wife or a husband and children to spend time with and get the trash out and get the grass cut with the driveway cleared or go to this appointment or that appointment. Finally, you lay your head down around whatever time you normally go to bed, and you think "oh I haven't spent any time with God. I think I'll pray right now" and you fall asleep. Or you open up your Bible and you fall asleep. Does that sound familiar? That's certainly the way I used to do it. I've talked to lots of people over the years and they have great intentions with no execution.

FIRST FRUITS

If we want to know more of what God wants for our lives and if we want to live more in line with what God wants for us on a daily basis, we have to spend time with him on a daily basis. First fruits are usually the best. Let me rephrase that, first fruits are the best. The phrase first fruits is mentioned numerous times in the Bible. God told the Israelites to give Him the first of their crops and the first-born of their animals. It was an act of obedience, trust (that more fruit would come) and honor. The first fruits of your day are the best. So if you set aside 15 minutes first thing in the morning and start with that. A few minutes focused on praising God, reading the word of God and a few minutes praying and then you can expand on that time as that becomes more normal for you.

Some Things have to happen in order for that to happen. You might need to get in bed earlier and then you'll have to get up earlier. But we are followers of Christ. We're not followers of Christ just with our lips but with our actions. So first fruits are really, really huge, those first few minutes of the day with the one who gives you life in breath and hope. It starts there.

SOMETIMES SPIRITUAL WARFARE

As we are praying and asking God for this or for that, according to His will (and that's huge), sometimes we can get a quick answer and He says, "here you go, there's your answer." But sometimes there are spiritual battles that need to happen and that's where a lot of people think that begging is what we should do. But remember God is not some sick being up there laughing at you or me and relishing in the fact that we are begging. Sometimes the spiritual battles that take place are intense! So for instance, if we are praying for someone's salvation, what we're really praying for is an awakening within that person to finally realize that they need a Savior. But they have to make that decision. There is the spiritual battle because the enemy does not want that person joining forces with the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. So I'm praying for ways that that person can bump into Jesus to a connection with another Jesus follower. That's how I came to the Lord. Think about how you came to know the Lord. But also we have to realize that these people have to make their own choice. So the spiritual battle ensues. That's not begging, that's praying through! That's recognizing that there's a battle going on.

There's an amazing book that was written many years ago called, Piercing the Darkness AND another one called, This Present Darkness. I highly recommend both of those. I can't remember which one came first but they're sequels and they are incredible and give you a real glimpse of the spiritual battle. It's a fictitious story based on spiritual principles that I think will open your eyes like it did mine. The spiritual battle is really really amazing and that's where we're praying and perhaps fasting, but not begging. We need to keep this in mind.

SOMETIMES NO

We're all adults here, correct? You may or may not have kids or grandkids. But my grandkids will ask me something and then they will start begging me for an answer and then the negotiation starts of course. But sometimes, the answer is no. My grandkids call me Pops. I love that! They might ask me if they can ride their bikes in the street. Unless I'm out there watching them, the answer is "no". That's a loving answer. The word "no" is actually very beautiful. Sometimes it's for our own good and we need to accept that. But even as adults, it's hard to accept. You know what I'm talking about. I'm not pointing fingers at anybody because I find myself doing the same thing and not liking the answer. How many times has the answer been, "no", and you start begging? More times for me than I'd like to actually admit.

MATURE PRAYER

I can't stress enough how important it is to be connected on a regular daily, set-aside basis. This helps us mature and then we find ourselves praying mature prayers in faith and knowledge that He hears us.

Did you catch that? Mature prayers in faith. When we are tuned in to the source of life, Jesus, it changes a lot of things in us and it changes our selfish desires or at least, we can keep them in check.

The first verse says,

"This much I know, I don't have to beg you to talk to me

This much I know, I don't have to beg you to walk with me

This much I know I don't have to beg you again and again to lead me Lord

I just need to listen when you speak to me"

That takes us right back to spending time with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords on a regular, daily basis. When we're praising, reading the word and praying, we can hear from God.

The second verse says

"This much I know, I don't have to beg you to teach me

Give me patience to wait for you as you answer me

This much I know, I don't have to beg you again and again to show your love

Just let me look through your eyes "

I just want to see through the eyes of Jesus, how He loves me and how He loves you. We have to develop our spiritual eyes and ears. That's my motivation each day to spend time with Him so that I can see like He sees. Does that make sense?

PRAISE

The bridge of this song is more of just a praise break. I just wanted to honor God and praise Him right in the middle of this song. It says this,

"Such a gift You've given to me

By Your grace I am set free

I'm amazed, I stand in awe

Of the great Creator, the most high God "

A praise break! That's kind of a cool thing when you think about it. Take a praise break right in the middle of your day just like I did right in the middle of this song. Praise is often considered optional but really, it's powerful; whether it's acknowledging God's awesomeness in prayer or singing a song before the Lord or letting a praise song move your heart in love for the Father, praise is extremely helpful to see and hear God. Psalm 22:3 says that God "inhabits the praises of His people". Psalms 100:4 says "Enter His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise".

It's quite a praise-worthy moment when we realize (or remind ourselves again) that we don't have to beg God for anything! He is our loving Father who delights in giving us good gifts; who desires to be with us and bless us. We just need to be in touch and in tune with Him and we do that by spending time with Him every day.

I had a ton of fun not only writing this song but producing it. There are some really cool production elements that I think add to the sparkle and meaning. You can hear it on Spotify, Apple, YouTube and other streaming platforms or at GGSSPodcast.com Episode 12. And would you do me a favor, if this podcast episode or the song is helpful to you, would you share them with someone? You can share them both from the Episode 12 webpage.

Peace

Have you ever been baited into an argument and you end up saying the wrong thing? Or perhaps you were the "baiter" saying the right thing but in the wrong way? Me too! Today I'll share some tips I've learned in this area and I invite you to share your best tips with me!

Listen to the song

Tip #3 - Watch the Facebook Clip

Buy the T-shirt

Episode Webpage

Whether it's saying something destructive in the heat of an argument or saying the right thing but in the wrong way, we have to recognize "the bait". We also need a plan to use God's power to speak words that are fruit rather than poison like Proverbs 18:21 says so well: "Words kill, words give life; they're either poison or fruit – you choose." Our choice of words is so important for the sake of others but also for our own sake and for the sake of the Kingdom.

I've been in Christian ministry full-time and part-time for over 40 years and I have seen the consequences of taking the bait in my life and others again and again and again. It happens to everybody. We get caught up making sure that people know exactly where we stand rather than being patient and helping them want to listen to us because we show them love, respect and kindness.

It's on the phone or face-to-face or even worse, on social media! The first tip is BE WISE ON SOCIAL MEDIA!!!!! It's really tough to win an argument on there. Basically what we have are very loud voices screaming their opinions and hurling insults at others based on their opinions. It's sad, it happens in the Christian world as well. I'm not sure how this benefits the kingdom. I think we can say with confidence that, really, it doesn't.

One particular friend of mine has been the inspiration for a few of my songs. He's part of the music industry and lives in Nashville. He was experiencing scathing fallout from "taking the bait" on social media. The impact on him personally, emotionally and professionally was significant as well as needless. He wanted to get my feedback on his next steps.

I pondered it for a little bit because deep down, I believed his opinion was valid, even correct and helpful, but I was trying to think of the possible consequences of further "conversation" aka argument. And as I started thinking about it a little bit more, it really didn't have a lot of value because I think ultimately nobody wanted their mind changed. They only wanted the other person's mind changed. In other words, "my way is the right way and your way is the wrong way, and that's all there is to it." As we discussed this a bit further, the words "don't take the bait!" came out of my mouth,". The power of these words stuck in my mind. And yes, a song was born.

Around that same time, conversations were taking place with another friend on the verge of losing their marriage because of a war of words that got out of hand. Because their conversation made its way to friends on social media, a number of their friendships were destroyed as well.

I think more times than not we are baited into an argument. Sometimes we are the baiter! Maybe we even baited someone else into an argument feeling that it was justified or righteous even. We've all seen families divided, really divided. Divided in such a way that a son or a daughter won't even speak to their parents or the parents won't speak to their children because they refused (or forgot) to think!; to think through their choice of words and the possible outcomes.

That's another basic but often overlooked tip, THINK it through; what will the benefit or consequences be of the words I choose to speak. Do I really want THAT outcome?

Why is this important? Because the Bible says we will be held accountable for the words we speak. Even if we're willing to apologize later for our poor reactions, is that really how we want to represent? Why not choose to think and respond rather than unthinkingly react. Our brains are super-computers. We can think through the scenarios and pretty well predict how things are going to turn out. Isn't it better to prevent the damage in the first place?

The next tip is how to think it through. Here it is…Pause. Take a breathe before you respond. I recently saw a clip on Facebook about reacting vs responding from a neuroscience perspective. Evidently when you get triggered and take the bait, an electrical current goes from your brain down your spine and that's why you react so quickly, outside of your brain space. You can stop that current by pressing pause, by taking a breath. The electrical current goes back up to your brain and now you can use your brain to think through how you want to respond.

If we stop and think about it, agreeing to disagree is a much better conclusion than the usual consequences of taking the bait, right? Like most things that go against our selfish, human nature, it's very difficult to do, but remember God is just waiting to help us if we come to Him for help in this area. Agreeing to disagree doesn't necessarily change our stance nor our prayers nor our action steps. It does offer more ability to live well together.

A fabulous example of this is Ronald Reagan and Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill who were on the opposite sides of the political fence. They found ways to work together which was quite remarkable but, more than anything, these guys were real life friends even though they did not agree politically for the most part. After Ronald Reagan was shot in an assassination attempt, Tip O'Neill was one of the first ones that Ronald Reagan allowed in to see him. So how can this be? How can a president of the republican party and the speaker of the house from the democratic party learn to work together for solutions and be real life friends? Wouldn't that be awesome if there was more of this willingness today?

Of course, we've seen the consequences of taking the bait not only at the highest levels of government but, unfortunately, we even see it in churches. That's a really sad place for that to happen. It can be fixed but it will take humility, repentance, intentional thought, and lots of practice.

That's the next tip: PRACTICE! Being respectful while in disagreement is quite an art! It's something that we all have to practice. Isn't that the case with most things?

Most people know that I love the game of golf. If I want to get better at the game of golf, I have to practice the game of golf and practice doing things the correct way. Getting out and making 100 swings at the driving range won't help me a bit if it's 100 swings that are wrong. I have to practice doing things the right way. Think of whatever it is that you really enjoy doing and you want to get better at, it takes practice it takes repetition.

So why do we give ourselves a pass when it comes to our words and not only our words but the way we say those words? I mentioned earlier that we can say the right thing in the wrong way. Think about what I just said there. Think about tone and facial expressions and what's really behind those expressions. I think if we look deeper, we'll see that pride plays a big part. And the opposite of pride is humility. We have to practice humility.

No I'm not talking about rolling over and just agreeing with somebody to keep the peace. But I do know that truth spoken in love has a much better chance of winning than truth delivered in a hateful or arrogant or prideful way. We need to practice peaceful disagreeing conversations. Ultimately, what we have to show is love for each other even when we don't agree. We should practice praying for each other and continually lifting each other up before the Lord. And then we should always ask the Lord what is the right thing to say or do or even believe?

Another tip is to be wise about your news consumption. I know many many people that are news junkies and I've got some opinions about that but I won't share here :-) Here's a challenge for you and me- let's run the news that we listen to through the filter of Philippians 4:8-9. "You'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, nobel, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious-the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse".

What are our minds wired for? Can we change our wiring through intentional, daily practice? Can we find the good in a Monday rather than the typical negative talk of the beginning of the work week? When our minds are thinking negatively on a consistent basis, it's easier to get angry at things, opinions, and people around us. But when we practice thinking positive, godly thoughts and spend more time praying rather than complaining, I believe we can be changed from the inside out.

When I'm talking to someone whose opinion is different than mine, I find that intentionally caring for them and thinking the best of them changes the conversation in an amazing way!

The bridge of the song, Don't Take the Bait, says this:

I know it's hard to do the right thing,

to turn it all over to you

But help us Lord even as we sing

To do what we say we will do

So we recognize that this life is difficult. We start our day in prayer and might tell the Lord that we turn our lives over to Christ, all of our lives, including our tongue. And then we ask for help to do the very thing we just said we would do!

So who do you represent? Who do I represent? I have the Mark Alewine Music logo tattooed on my right arm. It's 2 eighth notes tied together with a cross right in the middle. I think it's pretty apparent who I say I represent by the tattoo on my arm but do the words that come out of my mouth and the way they come out of my mouth reflect that?

Back when I was younger in Athens Georgia, I was driving downtown and there was a guy in front of me that had a "honk if you love Jesus" bumper sticker on his car. We were at a red light so I honked. He rolled his window down and flipped me off. Now that sounds kind of funny but at the same time it's not funny. Do we represent who we say we represent?

Friends, I used to be one of the biggest hot heads that you can imagine. It was my identity and I owned it proudly. I was quick to give my opinion and bait others into an arguments or get baited into an argument, making sure that everybody knew exactly where I stood. It was often invigorating, like an athletic competition. And I didn't mind walking off in a huff just to put an exclamation point on the conversation. I had to make sure they knew exactly how I felt about it and maybe they would go home, think about it and change their minds. That was the arrogant, prideful Mark. Every now and then, that old man wants to peak up his head and I have to put him in place.

Now, if someone asks me my opinion about a particular subject, I will give my informed opinion of that subject (not on social media however!). But I no longer wish to belittle that person's beliefs.

The chorus of the song says:

Keep your eyes on the prize

And your heart turn to the sky

The son of God is always ready

We need to make the choice

And be wise of the enemy's ploys

And we will walk sure and steady

You can listen to Don't Take the Bait on the streaming platforms or at GGSSPodcast.com Episode 10. You can also find the Facebook clip, a t-shirt and some other resources there.

Remember, don't take the bait! And here's some tips to do that:

• Be wise on social media
• Think before you speak
• Take a breath/pause
• Practice

I'd love to hear your best tips in in this area? You can contact me on GGSSPodcast.com

May God bless all of our steps and our lips and our actions as we go out into this world to represent Christ and the change that he's made in our lives.

Peace