Grit & Glory, Songs & Stories

What ideas or dreams has God put in your heart to reflect His love and bring others into the Kingdom? Are you ready to give it everything you got? A dose of inspiration is coming your way.

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Showers for Homeless

Learn about Acts of Friendship

Cindy and I were in Jacksonville Florida for medical reasons. While there, we had hopes of connecting with some songwriters who live in that area. Our plan did not work out BUT God set up some other meetings for us that had more impact than we could imagine.

I'd had a song bouncing around in my head, but it just wasn't coming together. I was feeling dry, wondering if inspiration had gone. I'd been discussing this with God.

Sunday rolled around and off we went to a nearby church we found online called The Well. We discovered that the church had a wonderful love for homeless people and there were quite a few who attended worship there. One of the unique ways the church served the homeless was driving a semi-trailer retrofitted with showers, dressing rooms and fresh clothes to different areas of the city. Check the show notes to learn more.

Worshiping along with homeless people was a remarkable and wonderful experience. Sharing communion and incredible conversation with them was humbling. These are regular people who have very little, but the ones we met had joy and a church family they called their own.

The next morning, God answered my prayer (while I was blow drying my hair) and the song morphed and "snapped" into place. Everything I Got! was inspired by the way that Pastor Tone Benedict and The Well Church in Jacksonville Florida loved those who were homeless. You can hear it on the streaming platforms or at GGSSPodcast.com

Next, I'd like to introduce to someone else who practices what the song "Everything I Got" is all about. He'll have some practical tips for you to help pursue those dreams and ideas God planted in your heart.

I have a friend of mine, Dave Taylor, in the studio today. He's got a ministry called Acts of Friendship. I'm going to let Dave tell us a little bit more about that in just a second, but I want you just to know that Dave is somebody that I've known for several years. We're brothers in Christ. We got connected at church. It was primarily on Wednesday nights where we really got connected I think, right Dave?

(Dave) Yes

(Mark) And so, but I'm going to let Dave, in light of this song, Everything I Got, I'm going to let Dave tell you a little bit about his story here, coming up. So, Dave, I wanted to have you on the show today because you embody what the song, Everything I Got talks about.

So why don't you tell us what you do and how it all got started?

(Dave) Well, first off, thanks for having me, Mark, and man, I love your heart for Jesus and others. I love the song, Everything I Got. I listened to it quite a few times and it just blows me away. Very thankful that God put you into my life six years ago. Praise Him for that.

Since being saved at the age of 40, 19 years ago, I have been embracing God doing a mighty work in and through me. I love Christ with all my heart, all my mind, all my soul and all my strength and I love others. So how I got going with this ministry called Acts of Friendship, I directed a ministry at Friendship Church where we met the needs of people and when we met the needs of people, we shared the gospel and encouraged discipleship. A few people along the way told me, Dave, this is way bigger than what you're doing. Everybody needs to hear about this.

So after lots of prayer and a year and a half of setting up the ministry, we launched the ministry Acts or Friendship six weeks ago. Our mission statement for the ministry is, "We are dedicated to inspiring and equipping followers of Jesus Christ to live a lifestyle of disciples who make more disciples." The three things that we're really passionate about are 1) serving others from first fruits, 2) sharing the gospel and making disciples, 3) discipleship and multiplying. And I want to just touch on those three for a second.

We live very busy lives and we have the intention to serve others, but if we don't serve from first fruits, we may never serve anybody else. So that's serving others.

Then sharing the gospel, making disciples - we are all called to share the awesome news about Jesus, but something could be holding us back like fear, but we need to trust in the Holy Spirit.

Jesus died and then appeared to his disciples. They were all hanging out going, what are we going to do now? When Jesus appears to them and they are blown away. They're probably ready to go rock out again and hit it and do ministry again. But what does Jesus say to them in Acts 1:4? He says, "wait till I send you the Helper, the Holy Spirit"; Acts 1:8 "when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you'll tell people about me everywhere." Acts 2:4 at Pentecost the Holy Spirit comes on disciples. They preach to the multitude and 3000 come to Christ. And I love the end of Acts, more people come to Christ each day.

Not equipped is another reason people will hold back from engaging. We have the Holy Spirit and the word of God. So we are equipped to share the best news we know. Let's go. Right?

(Mark) Yeah right.

(Dave) And then discipleship, multiply. I want to share a verse, 2 Timothy 2:2, "And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses and trust to faithful men who will be able to teach others." We all need discipleship.

So my challenge is…I got three questions. When was the last time you served someone? When was the last time you shared the gospel with someone? Are you being disciples or are you discipling someone? Think about those three questions.

Acts of Friendship has some really cool platforms and tools. Do we love others? And do we use the tools and engage others in our everyday life? So we can have these cool tools, but if we're not using them, we're not reaching people. So let's get out there and reach people.

Main thing is to keep Christ at our center of our lives, not the ministry, but Christ is the center and the ministry happens from that. And then I love this verse, Hebrews 12:2, "keep our eyes on Jesus. He's the author and perfecter of our faith." As we go through one step at a time, one day at a time, walking out His call.

(Mark) That's awesome. I really, really appreciate you sharing that. So I'm sure over the years you've met some obstacles and some challenges. What was the biggest challenge? Not to bring this down, but I think it would be encouraging for people to realize that anything that when we do something for the kingdom sake, the enemy realizes this and he's going to throw things in our way and try to discourage us and try to keep us from accomplishing the goal that we believe God has for us. So what was some of the biggest challenges that you had to overcome?

(Dave) Yeah, for sure. A couple things that come to my mind, church culture can be very inward and compartmentalized. What I mean by that is we tend to serve, share the gospel and disciple in the church building and that is awesome. I love it, but we need to be living a lifestyle each day, no matter where we are with using the time, talent and treasure that comes from God. So we're pushing against culture a little bit. We need to shift that culture to in the church building AND in our everyday lifestyle.

And then patience and trusting and God's plan timing. Proverbs 16:9 says "the heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." It took one and a half years to put this ministry together. The whole way God was doing a mighty work in and through us. We embraced that and we stayed within His timing on this thing. As much as we wanted to launch it in six months, it took a year and a half and His timing is perfect.

(Mark) Love it. So what do you love most about what you're doing?

(Dave) For me? Just really, it's being obedient to God's call on my life. Since I got saved,

I want to walk out His call. I'm a new person in Christ, and He has a plan for us.

The other thing I love about it is meeting people where they are, loving them well and encouraging them to take the next step with their relationship with Jesus. It blows me away to watch somebody come to Christ and then watch them grow in Christ and then watch them actually go share with others. It's amazing how God does that work in each of us.

I lived life for the 40 years without Jesus as my Lord and Savior. No peace, no joy, no hope. Tried to fill it with worldly things. None of it filled it. I did not serve others. I put myself first in everything. After God saved me, I've been filled with peace, joy, and hope. No emptiness. I know for today, God's in control and I know where I'm going and I put others before myself.

(Mark) That's fantastic. So, what do you think has been most helpful for you in making Acts of Friendship a reality?

(Dave) First and foremost, prayer, always. Always be praying. Keeping Christ at the center of my life each day is huge.

God gave me a verse when He saved me 19 years ago, Ephesians 2:10, "for we are God's masterpiece" and other versions say "workmanship. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things He planned for us long ago." So we are His masterpiece, His workmanship. He gives us our identity, not this world, not myself and not other people. God had a plan for us before we were born. Discern the plan and run with it. God's will is the way. His will is going to happen. Trusting in this each day can be tricky. So just trusting in the Lord that He's gonna provide whatever's needed to run the race.

Trusting in the Holy Spirit each day that's dwelling in us, daily discernment in the Lord each step of the way. God may close one door, but He'll open another. Be alert to that. A closed door means probably don't go through it. An open door could mean go through it.

Patience is a big one for me especially. I pray for that every day, to have patience in God's timing. God puts people in our lives like my partner, pastor Brent, and a friend of mine, Ryan; we are called to do ministry together. Each of us are gifted differently. Romans 12:5 says, "so we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually members, one of another". We need each other.

(Mark) So I'm going to go off script just for a second here from some of the questions that we were talking about here and just say, tell me a little bit more about that patience thing that you were mentioning there.

(Dave) Yeah. I'm definitely a task-driven doer and I'm pedal to the model. When I first got saved, somebody called me a Coke-bottle-Christian cause I was exploding all over the place. So really having patience in God's timing knowing, His timing is perfect. So being patient with Him preparing the hearts of the people that you engage with and preparing you for what you need to do the work that He's called you to.

(Mark) So that's kind of a daily prayer because you don't really know who's coming in front of you or who you're going to come in front of. Cindy and I have people we pray for. We say, "Lord, we're looking for somebody to "bump" into them so they can "bump into Jesus." We have no idea who we're going to come in contact with. Sometimes it's just kind of praying for the day, unknown people that you're going to bump into and be able to say Jesus to and maybe be able to share the gospel with them.

(Dave) Oh, I love that. Yeah. Being in real time and having an open mind, open heart and not being in a big rush to engage these people that you come across in life. It's not by accident that we're seeing these people. So how can we best meet them where they are at, love them well and it's really pointing them to that next step for them wherever they're at, towards their relationship with Jesus?

(Mark) Love it. So what advice would you give somebody that has a big idea that would impact their world, so wherever they're at or the world, but isn't sure where to start or if they have what it takes?

(Dave) The starting place is always prayer and continue with prayer every day. Don't skip that. And there's a time for prayer and there's a time for action, but start with prayer, continue with prayer. And then when God gives you the green light, hit it and put it to action.

The other thing is, share your idea with some others that you trust and get their feedback, get their input. I get feedback from my good friends, from my wife, from my kids. I'll bounce stuff off of them. Getting that feedback is really big.

A lot of time when God calls us to do something, I'm going to tell you, it's way bigger than you could ever imagine, way bigger than you think you can handle, but nothing is too big for our awesome God. So trusting in Him that He's gonna provide, taking those steps of faith, that's big. You'll need to walk in faith each day with God's timing.

When you have clear discernment on what to do, do not hesitate. I encourage you to run, hammer it down. When you get clear direction, don't miss it. Sometimes it's full throttle. Sometimes it's one step at a time. You got a lamp in your hand and you can't see the next step until you take that one step of faith. That's slower moving, but take those steps of faith and it'll blow you away.

Be specific on what God is calling you to do. He's not calling you to save everybody. He's not calling you to engage everybody. What specifically is He calling you to do? We're all gifted differently. And we all have a calling. The calling in the Ephesians 2:10 verse was "before we were born". So what is that calling for you? Identify that and then really dive into it. And it'll probably match up with passions that you have too. Check your passions. Those passions aren't by accident. They've been given by God.

Stay true to the call even when running into challenges. You will run into challenges. Stay true to it. Just keep forging forward. Again, God's timing. He may be pulling you back with it, slowing you down a little bit. Or He may be saying, pick up the pace a little bit on this. Just follow him.

You have what it takes. You have the Holy Spirit. We are the vessels that God works through. So we're the vessel; God's doing the work. So you're just the willing vessel. And that's what He wants from us. He doesn't have to use us, but He chooses to use us.

(Mark) That's right.

(Dave) That blows my socks off. And it just blows me away.

Another thing, if you feel led, you can contact Acts of Friendship. We'll pray with you with this new venture that God might be calling you on. And we'll even walk with you the best we can. We're a 501-C3, faith-based nonprofit. We're all set up, we're insured. We did all that stuff. We know the ins and outs of putting all that together so we can walk with you in that.

(Mark) So if they want to get more involved with you, what's the best way for them to get involved with Acts of Friendship National?

(Dave) Yeah, for sure. Probably our website and our web address is AOFministries.com. Go there, check it out and you can contact us through the website.

We would love to connect with you and do what we call an inspirational brainstorm meeting. What these are…no one knows it all, but together we come together, we can bounce stuff off each other and we learn from you and you learn from us. Let's engage and let's get the church moving, right? Let's live a lifestyle of serving others from first fruits, sharing the gospel, making disciples and discipleship, multiplying all to God's glory.

(Mark) So you and I are the church. When you say get the church going, we're talking about people, we're talking about God's people, people that have given their lives to the Lord. When we say, get the church going, that's what we're doing.

I couldn't say that any more clear than you just said it, Dave. That's really awesome. Acts of Friendship, Dave Taylor, AOFministries.com. So you can check him out right there and find out a little bit more about this.

Thanks again, Dave. I really appreciate you showing up today, driving all the way over here to the studio and for us being able to chat together and share this with others. Thanks, man.

(Dave) Yeah. Thanks Mark. Love you guys. I have a saying that's on my voicemail, my phone, it's "be cool in Christ". So stay cool in Christ each day. Somebody asked me once, "what does it mean to be cool in Christ?" I said, "the best way I can say it is, love Christ with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and love others." I said, "if you roll that, you're being cool in Christ, right?"

(Mark) So I'm sure if you could see Dave right now, he's got this smile, that lights up a room. And so I told him whenever I talk to him on the phone and I can't see him, I can hear his smile. And I'm sure you guys can hear his smile too. Praise the Lord. So glad you're here. Thanks again, Dave.

(Dave) Yeah. Thanks Pastor Mark.

Who wants to work for the devil? I recently discovered I was helping him more than I realized. Today's podcast is about a song that came out of that discovery as well as some helpful tips for winning our battles.

LISTEN TO THE FEATURED SONG>>>

EPISODE #9 WEBPAGE>>>

JOIN FRIENDS GROUP>>>

CONTACT MARK>>>

"I'm so stupid!", "What a dummy!", "Here I go again!", "I'm an idiot!" Any of this sound familiar? We give ourselves permission to berate ourselves with our horrible words. Somehow, we feel like that's OK when we're talking about ourselves, but we would never use that kind of language with our spouse or our children or our friends. Or at least we shouldn't. So why do you think that is? Why do we give ourselves permission to beat ourselves up? Why is that OK?

My wife Cindy and I have an agreement. When we hear the other one beating themselves up with words, we intervene, and we will say things like "Don't you talk to my wife like that" or "Don't you talk to my husband like that". It's just a reminder to us to give ourselves some grace, just like we would and should with others.

A while back, Cindy and I sat on the back porch having coffee together and talking. We got on the topic of self-talk and how easy it is to beat ourselves up. The conversation later found its way into the studio into a song titled, "The Good Fight".

Verse one of the song says,

What do I hear myself saying and why do I say it so much

So many times I catch myself believing that lie

How long has this been going on

Dare I disagree

It keeps coming back even if I try

But here's what I will believe

Welcome to "the good fight". That doesn't sound very "good", does it? Our enemy, the devil, likes to attack us using lies, accusations, and condemnation. These assaults can cripple us or even take us out of the fight. If we don't recognize these tactics, we can fall into agreement with them and beat our own selves up. The devil must just sit back and laugh at us when we do. In essence we are doing HIS destructive work in our lives.

Do you know what I'm talking about? I sure understand because I have been so guilty of this, but I am changing. Cindy helps me catch myself and that's been huge! The good news, though, is we can be very effective in winning these battles is we are equipped and aware. The fight is worthwhile and good, and victory is sweet!

The Bible says if we have received Jesus as our Savior that we are children of God! I wonder if we know how powerful that really is. You and I belong to Jesus. We are not trash or stupid or dumb, nor are we idiots.

Life is a daily battle. It's a battle for our mind and our hearts and our beliefs. If you have kids living in your home, the battle is even greater today than it's ever been. So what are we teaching each other, our children, our family, our friends by the language that we use on ourselves?

I think the first thing we must do is understand what God says about all this. The Bible helps us understand the history of the battle, who our enemy is and God's overwhelming provision for us. It assures us that the war is not going to end well for Satan and his followers. Satan knows it as well. He's not stupid by any means. So, he tries to drag us down to his level. He knows he can't drag you and me to hell if we are children of God, but he can take us out of any fight if we give him a chance.

Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:3, "God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places with Christ". Jesus has given us His authority and the keys of the Kingdom of God. The devil knows what we are capable of; he knows what God can do in us and through us. So that's why he's 100% committed to making sure that we never reach that potential.

Because I love Jesus, I look for ways to say the name "Jesus" in a conversation, especially with strangers. I'll give you some examples. Most people who know me know that I love the game of golf. I usually play golf very early in the morning around 6 so I can have the whole day in front of me to get things done. Usually I get paired up with people I don't know.

It's pretty common for guys to start swearing when they hit a bad shot and getting mad at themselves. This might go on for eight or nine holes, but ultimately the conversation comes around to, "So what do you do for a living, Mark?" It used to be very awkward for me as a pastor because when I would say, "I'm a pastor" then suddenly the language would clean up perfectly. "Darn it!". "Shoot!". Now that's the words coming out of their mouth because suddenly they are around a pastor. Eventually I started responding, "I'll tell you what, you just be who you are and I will be who I am."

Now I take a little a different approach. I'm looking for an opportunity to say "Jesus". You never know what can happen when we say that name that we love so much. So I get to the point early and I ask the question. I'll even do it on the first hole as we're walking down the fairway off the T-Box, "So Bob, what do you do for a living?". He'll tell me and then he will ask me the same and this is my response, "I'm a Jesus-loving singer, songwriter and podcaster." I get the awkward stuff out of the way to begin with. I love doing this and have opportunities every day. They are right in front of me. I look for them and I take advantage of them. I have a business card that I can hand out, of course, and have had some people go check out the music and email me a comment about it. Some even call me up asking to play golf with them again. That's been pretty amazing actually. You just never know.

But here's the thing. If I'm constantly beating myself up with negative language, how can I be effective on the golf course talking to people that may not be believers? That's the fight I'm talking about. The enemy knows that this is not going to end well for him and so what he's trying to do is take as many people with him as he can. When he can take me out of the fight, that's just one more person perhaps that he gets to take with him. See how that works?

It's rare that I meet a stranger. I enjoy talking with people as I'm filling up the gas tank or if I'm in line at the grocery store or at Ace Hardware or wherever. I like to strike up a conversation and then look for that opportunity to say "Jesus".

Now I have a little advantage and I'm not necessarily saying everybody should do this, but I have the Mark Alewine Music logo tattooed on my right arm. It's 2 eighth notes tied together with a cross in the middle. It's a decent size that gets noticed and is a great conversation starter! That's one of the main reasons I got it and it really works. But it also keeps me on my toes. Who do I want to reflect in my reactions to people in general? Do I look and sound like anybody else in the world or do I look and sound like and reflect the one who saved me?

"My name is Mark and I am a Jesus-loving singer, songwriter and podcaster." You can think of a tagline like that too. "My name is Judy and I am a Jesus-loving computer software engineer." "My name is Dwight and I am a Jesus-loving retired bus driver." You don't have to mention the place that you work or anything like that.

"Jesus loving!" That's not hard to say. I can say it around three other guys on the golf course or one person in line at Aldi. But it is hard to do that when I have zero confidence in who I am as a follower of Christ. At that moment, if I'm believing I'm ineffective and that whatever I say is going to come out stupid, I just keep my mouth closed and go about my day. And the enemy just sits back and smiles because he has done his job on Mark Alewine.

One of the verses of "The Good Fight" says,

I'll keep fighting the good fight

But in Your strength, no not mine

I know You're always with me

Even when I'm blind

I'll let my words reflect Your work

I'll let Your word define my worth

The pathway's clear, no longer blurred

Here's what I believe…

The strength that we have is really supplied by the grace of God and He gives us all that we need to live the life to which He called us. It says in 2 Corinthians 10:3-4, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses."

You know, fighting this war against our enemy is way more than any resolve we can ever have. Spiritual warfare requires spiritual weapons. It's our responsibility to put on this armor of God which is described in Ephesians 6:13-17. "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…"

I found a wonderful resource explaining the Armor of God and spiritual warfare and would like to share it with you. Go to GGSSPodcast.com and look for Episode 9 to find the link. You can listen to the song there also!

When we tell ourselves we're stupid or dumb or idiots, we take off part of that armor and leave ourselves exposed and we're no good in the fight.

I hope this chorus gets stuck in your head!

It says:

I'll believe it before I feel it, I'll receive it before I see it

I'll read your word, I'll speak your words

I'll pray it, I'll think it, your truth is my truth

I'll keep fighting, and there will be no truce

Because I'm your warrior and that's what I believe

I hope this song energizes you about the battle and especially your self-talk.

Peace

Need a boost today? God-stories do that for me. Today's episode will hopefully spark expectancy and awareness of Jesus meeting up with you and encourage you to share your God-story with others.

LISTEN TO THE FEATURED SONG>>>

WATCH ZACH'S STORY>>>

SHARE YOUR STORY WITH MARK>>>

I've admired Zach Williams since he came onto the scene several years back. I like the realness that he shows and, the rawness of his music is this something that I relate to so well. I've never met Zach, but he feels like a guy that I've known all my life.

He's got an incredible testimony of how God showed up at just the right time and helped him recover from drugs and alcohol. It's amazing the transformation that has taken place and so encouraging, especially if you or someone you love has ever faced similar struggles. You can watch his story on GGSSPodcast.com.

Remembering and recognizing are both very important if we want to grow in our relationship with God! Zach sings a song with Dolly Parton called "There Was Jesus". This song means so much to me personally and that's why it was the first cover song that I recorded. You can hear it on the streaming platforms and at GGSSPodcast.com, Episode 8.

It's a powerful song about recognizing Jesus at every twist and turn of our lives; the Jesus who is willing and waiting to help if we will just take His outstretched hand. I think all of us, if we really thought about it, could say this song, There was Jesus, was written specifically about them. That's what I love about this song. It's very relatable.

So what's your "There was Jesus" moment? Maybe you can think of a bunch of them. That's great! When you and I share them with each other, expectancy and faith build so we can experience more of the fullness of life that God desires for us. I've had many of those moments and I want to have many, many more!

If you're game, I'll share a couple of them with you today and I'd love to hear your stories as well! The first story is about the crazy way Jesus got through my thick head and totally changed my life.

I traveled all over the world when my dad was in the Air Force for 20 years. The Air Force was our life and traveling was just something that we did. It was a good life for us and my dad loved serving in the military. He truly loved his country, and my dad truly loved his family.

But traveling the world as a young kid also has some challenges that were very difficult to overcome. We moved around quite a bit. Sometimes we didn't move super far from where we were living but it still meant yet another new school district.

We moved to Japan when I was 6 weeks old and I spent the first four or five years of my life there. It was all I knew and I remember that I loved it. When we came back to the states, it was a very very difficult transition for me, even as a five-year-old. No joke, the first time I saw snow, I thought rice falling from the sky!

And then we started moving around here in the states and I was always the new kid in school. Seven or eight different schools before high school. I'm not really whining; I'm just stating fact. Being the new kid had its drawbacks.

My dad retired when I went into the ninth grade and we moved back to Georgia which is where we are all from. I was able to go to high school all in one school rather than traveling around every two or three years.

I grew up in the church but had become a little indifferent to Christianity. I was not a God-hater, but I just didn't care anything about God. I suppose deep down I didn't know the consequences of a life without Jesus if I died.

There was a youth revival that happened in the southeast back in the 70s and it's swept through the Southeast in a most amazing way. It truly was Jesus showing up and people realizing it. Many of my friends got saved in high school and many of those friends were football players.

One of these guys in particular would always tell me he loved me, which I thought was strange. But I had the upmost respect for this friend of mine. I looked up to him in many ways. But it was apparent something happened that changed him. I couldn't put my finger on it but he was different for sure.

I played football with him in and in our junior year we had 4 Christian football coaches. One of those coaches was particularly vocal about his faith. His name was Coach Swails. At football camp the coaches had us doing this drill called Oklahoma. That's a drill where we use tackling dummys laid down about 5 feet apart and this particular Oklahoma drill was man-on-man. There was one ball carrier, me, and one tackler, this friend I'm talking to you about. There was nothing unusual about the drill or us being paired up for it.

Coach Swails told us, "Boys, if you love them, you'll hit them." Now what I think he was trying to say is that we didn't wanna go easy on each other because we needed this to be as real as if it were the Friday night football game. But there was something particularly strange about the way he said it, "If you love them, you'll hit them"!

I looked across and my friend had this big dumb grin on his face and I shook in my cleats. It's kind of funny to think about now but at the time it wasn't. The whistle blew and we ran for each other. I don't recall ever being hit as hard as I was at that particular moment.

And as I'm laying on my back and he's right above me, basically face mask to face mask, he still had that big dumb grin on his face and I was in pain. And I just remember saying to him, "OK OK, I believe you!"

Later, as the rest of the team was getting settled in for the night, he led me to the Lord. It wasn't anything spectacular that I can recall. It was relatively matter of fact. Here's what you need to do and here's why you need to do it. When I came to the realization that I was a sinful human being that needed a savior, I asked the Lord into my heart.

It was simple and peaceful and I knew at that moment that my life changed. There weren't fireworks or tears, but that day changed my life. That day Jesus showed up at football camp and used an Oklahoma football drill to help me realize my need for Him and His love for me. There was Jesus!

Another poignant "There was Jesus" moment was when death came to my family unexpectedly. I hope this story will be an encouragement to you…to find Jesus in that painful place, whether you've experienced it already or not yet.

I was living in Minnesota and my mom and my dad lived next door to my sister, Toni, in the woods in Northeast Georgia. They lived about 100 feet apart and my sister was very active in their lives. She was a nurse and saved each of their lives on at least on one occasion. She was an amazing person.

My dad just had pacemaker surgery to keep his heart regulated. My sister had been running him back-and-forth several times a week to the doctor for about a month. I took some time off to go down to Georgia to help out with appointments and to give her a break.

I got there on a Sunday. That night Toni and I played games with my mom and dad at their house. It was a very very special time. I couldn't remember just the four of us doing anything together since high school or so because of families and everything else. We got done playing and my sister walked over to her house to make some dinner for us.

She called and told me dinner was ready so I went over to pick up the meal. She met me on her patio and we chatted for a few minutes, just the two of us. The last couple of things she said to me were, "Everything's gonna be OK now right?" I said, "yes, everything's gonna be OK". We exchanged "I love yous" and I headed back off to my parent's house with dinner.

The next morning, we were expecting her for breakfast. When she didn't come over and didn't answer our phone calls, we went to check on her. We discovered that she had passed away there in her home. What a shock! Everything changed at that moment.

I came home on Sunday and on Tuesday I'm holding my sister's ashes in an urn. My family flew in the following Monday from Minnesota for the funeral on Wednesday. I remember putting my arm around my mom during the entire service. This was one of the most difficult times in our family's life and without Jesus, I don't know what we would've done.

Pastor Jason was the pastor of the church that my parents and Toni went to about 2 miles up the road out in the country. He was the perfect Jesus representative that my family and I needed that day.

He told everyone that Toni had started coming to church two months before. When the church was having revival meetings, she came to those as well. He said Toni had given her life to Jesus just one month ago. One month before she passed away!

And then Pastor Jason said something profound. He said, "it's a sad day but it's not a bad day". That's a phrase I will never forget. Think about it. It was very sad for my mom my dad, her son, her daughter, her grandchildren, her friends; incredibly sad to lose someone in their mid-50s with so much to look forward to here on earth. But it's not a bad day because she is in her eternal home after making her decision to ask Jesus into her life one month before she passed away.

There was Jesus! Jesus was there when I needed Him and Jesus was there when my sister needed Him and Jesus is there for all of us. Reality is we just need to open our spiritual eyes to see His hands stretched out to all of us wanting to give us help and hope; showing us love and compassion and direction! Let's keep reminding each other, not just There was Jesus!... but there IS Jesus!

The chorus says:

In the waiting, in the searching

In the healing, in the hurting

Like a blessing buried in the broken pieces

Every minute, every moment

Where I've been or where I'm going

Even when I didn't know it

Or couldn't see it

There was Jesus

So, what's one of your "There was Jesus" stories? Think about it, and then, please share it. Find a way to tell your story to others so they can be encouraged by what's happened in your life. And share it with me please. Go to GGSSPodcast.com and click the CONTACT MARK button. I'd love to hear from you.

And don't forget while you're there, you can see Zach's testimony and listen to my cover of "There Was Jesus".

Peace

Does a noisy mind drive you crazy? I know I can definitely relate to that! In this week's episode, I'll be sharing a song that addresses the noise in our lives and minds as well as some tips that have helped me a lot in this area. Maybe they could help change things for you as well!

LISTEN TO THE FEATURED SONG>>>

DOWNLOAD THE NOISE CHECKLIST>>>

CONTACT MARK>>>

Life, with all its highs and lows, is the best inspiration that I have found for writing songs and it seems there's always something to write about. I think many songwriters would say similar things.

You'll find that most, if not all, of the songs of Mark Alewine Music are simply a piece of someone's story and how God and His truth figure into it. Of course some songs come out my personal life if I'm going through a particular situation whether good or bad. Some come from other peoples lives. I love to have conversations with people and hear their stories and then sit down and write about it. Doesn't matter who it is.

Here's how one of the songs came about. I was on the worship team one Sunday morning. We got done with rehearsal and there were 8 or 9 of us sitting around a table waiting for church to start. Struggles were definitely the prevailing topic of conversation that day. I was listening intently and feeling what each person was going through.

The phrase "noise of life" came up in conversation. Others around the table nodded their heads. I pulled out my phone and started writing as they were talking. The "noise" they talked about boiled down to stuff like the distractions and demands of life that kept them so busy and preoccupied; that kept them from feeling close to God or maybe their family.

Unexpected, hard news was another thing they talked about, maybe in their own life but also disturbing stuff heard continually on the news.

We prayed for each other and encouraged each other. Worship was a bit sweeter that day as a result of this "life" connection we'd had around the table.

Cindy and I went camping right after church. The next morning, I was reminded about the "noise" conversation when I realized how "noisy" the birds were around us. We started talking about the "noise" of life, what were some of the causes in our own lives and what could we do about it.

I shared with her the rough draft of the song idea I had started on my phone around that table on Sunday and we started working it into a song which would be titled, "You Calm the Noise". I had my guitar with me and started messing around finding a melody for it in the midst of all the nature sounds.

Along with the song came something else. As we brainstormed, so many things came to mind that had been either triggers or solutions for us in the past so we created a list of them, a "noise checklist" of sorts. We were encouraged to realize that there's quite a bit we can do to eliminate the "noise" going on in our heads if given some thought, prayer and intentionality.

I want to highlight three of those for you and give you a free download of the entire list if you're interested.

The first question on the checklist is, "As far as it's up to me, are there any broken relationships in my life?" Broken relationships can take up much of our thoughts and perhaps even keeping us awake at night which makes us more vulnerable to the noise of life in general. Since you're human, I'm pretty sure you've experienced this.

Sometimes vain imaginations are to blame. These are nebulous things that create riffs between people. Here's how it plays out with me… I think or perceive that someone is mad at me and, without talking to them, I allow that to keep our relationship at a distance. I even go to bed at night thinking, "why is this person mad at me?" Worry comes into play, sleep becomes difficult, functioning at work or even functioning at home can be difficult because of I'm always thinking about that broken relationship.

I need to have an intentional conversation with that person that goes something like this, "I have this vain imagination that you're mad at me. Is that true?" Now, I have to be ready to listen, letting that person explain what's going on and either put that vain imagination to rest or to answer the question with a "yes I am mad, you jerk" (or whatever). Then at least you can talk about that part and fix the problem.

I have found this to be so incredibly helpful and I'm glad someone taught me about it years ago. Give it a try next time you are stewing over something that is likely just a vain imagination and share this tip with others!

On the other hand, we could also really have a problem with somebody and could go to them and say, "I know I did this to you" or "I said this" or "I shouldn't have done that. Would you forgive me?"

Now the ball is in their court because we've humbled ourselves in trying to fix the problem. The Bible says in Romans 12:18, "as far as it's up to you, be at peace with all men". Even if the other person won't forgive you, you can have peace and "quiet" knowing you have done your part, continuing to pray for them and letting God do His work in their heart. We are only responsible to "keep our side of the street clean" and leave the rest up to God.

This leads into the next question on the noise checklist that I'd like to talk about. Ask yourself,

"Is there anyone I refuse to forgive, even though God is present right now to help me through the process?" Have you ever found yourself on that end of not forgiving someone? Someone has done something so horrible in your mind that there's no way you could forgive them. You know what I mean.

Unforgiveness causes background noise in our lives and take much of our time, energy, thoughts and sometimes our health. Certainly, as followers of Christ, unforgiveness puts a divide between us and our Heavenly Father. That's what Jesus said in Matthew 6:14-15.

How would Jesus handle the particular situation you might be thinking of right now? Some offenses are truly more difficult to process. I know this first-hand. Sometimes the first step is to ask God to help us be willing to forgive. It is definitely a choice rather than something you feel like doing!

Forgiveness might be a daily choice or even a moment-by-moment choice. Sometimes it takes quite a bit of time but we should always work towards forgiving. Making progress in this area is HUGE to help quiet the noise in your life. As a result, we also become much more effective as husbands or wives or friends or bosses or workers or church goers…the list goes on and on. Quiet the noise of unforgiveness.

The third question to ask yourself from the noise checklist is, "Am I putting the Lord first in my life, in every area and spending time with Him consistently, not just when I feel like it or it's convenient?"

Spending time with the Lord every day, a regular time, is the most important thing that I do. For me it's in the morning first thing, the first fruits of my day. When I'm connected to the King of the Universe and when I'm right with him, I'm just better throughout the day. It's a lot easier for me to reflect Jesus to others when I'm connected on a regular basis.

When I'm trying to do life in my own strength, with my own words and my own humanistic actions, it's pretty disastrous. Now that's not to say that going through the day is going to be perfect and without any problems but it certainly puts me in a better frame of light to see the opportunities that the Lord has for me that day and to respond in a way that He would respond.

The noise of life can displace God's peace, joy and hope in our hearts and minds. Thankfully there are things we can do to quiet so much of the noise of life so we can hear from God and respond to situations in a calm manner that reflects Him.

Cindy and I had a beautiful time working on the song, You Calm the Noise, because we could both relate to what it's about!

The chorus of the song says:

There's so much noise I can't hear

So many things I could fear

But the peace and joy You bring

Help me through the day and I sing

And You calm the noise.

Can you relate also?

One of the verses says:

I'm convinced as each day passes by, life's a test,

That's truth, it ain't no lie.

Here's the secret, it's true, no lie

Stay connected to the One who gives us life

We know the secret! Connection with the true source of life is what gives the ability to experience peace and joy in the midst of life's struggles. That's what I'm talking about on a daily basis spending time with the Lord and reading the word of God.

The bridge says:

You still speak today, in so many ways

You still live today, live through me.

If we allow Jesus to live through us, can you imagine what our families would look like, what our neighborhoods would look like, what our workplaces would look like, what our churches would look like? Jesus living through us is an absolutely beautiful thing.

My hope and prayer for all of us is that we would do our part in quieting the noise of life. You can get a free download of The Noise Checklist that I referred to in this podcast at GGSSPodcast.com, Episode 7.

It's in a nice printable form that you can put up on your refrigerator or in your office or wherever the best place to be reminded of things that you can do to quiet the noise of life.

I hope you have a most amazing, noise free week coming up.

Peace

Each test of life prepares us for the next. And failure is only failure if we don't learn from it. With that in mind, would you join me to revisit a global test of faith, and more importantly, reclaim spiritual ground and then reload for the next test of faith. Stick around to the end of the podcast to find out about a couple gifts for you.

LISTEN TO TODAY'S FEATURED SONG>>

SHOW WEBPAGE>>

FACEBOOK GROUP>>

REVISIT

What is faith? Simple definition, trust and confidence in something or someone. Of course we are talking about faith in God, who He is and what He says.

Would you agree that fear is not necessarily the lack of faith but definitely the enemy of faith? Faith and fear fight for our heart's focus, our sanity, and our influence. Fear is basically focusing on circumstances rather than God. Faith is focusing on God in spite of circumstances. The Bible talks a lot about fear, the testing of our faith and the power of faith. And it's possible to feel fear but still act in faith despite the feelings of fear. Good news is God desires for us to win this battle and gives us what we need to do so!

One of the most noteable battles of faith and fear came under the label of Covid19. Many of my friends, myself included, found ourselves facing fear in a brand new way. We were already weary and agitated from the election chaos when this new test appeared.

Think about where you were when you first heard about it. I was waiting for surgery when I heard about the first case in the United States. And I remember listening to news and all they could talk about was how terrible this virus was and that it was going to kill just about everybody it seemed. At the time, Cindy and I were recovering from something unfamiliar and wondered later if that wasn't Covid19.

Then things started shutting down and I couldn't believe it. Colleges, businesses, schools, sports, churches. New ways of meeting and doing business evolved but isolation, loneliness and depression were huge side effects.

Another surreal thing was the silence. Cindy and I live under some of the flight paths of the Minneapolis/St Paul airport. It was eerily quiet. Seemed no one was traveling anywhere. Rush-hour didn't even exist. Here in Minneapolis, you could travel the freeways at any time of day or night and not have any traffic to speak of. Kinda felt like the rapture had happened.

People were afraid to go out of their homes and go shopping. Do you remember? Many of the men I run with were wrestling with anxiety and fear. Seeing how it gripped them shook me to the core. I was both surprised at their reactions but also tempted to join in.

RECLAIM

I have a dear friend and we would have discussions and he would say things like, "my" anxiety is at a higher level. Or "my" anxiety is flaring up. The word "my" gives ownership to something. I began to recognize the impact of ownership in these statements. When you own something like anxiety and call it yours, it's very very difficult to give it up. But when you see anxiety for what it is, something that plagues you, don't own it. Wow what powerful lesson for me, for him, for us all! Let's recognize it, confess it and pray against it. That has been one of the biggest helps for me. Don't own things you don't want. Don't own things that are not from God! It's a new mindset for sure but I love it!

I remember having discussions with several of my friends about what a decent response would be to the Covid pandemic, what God would say about it. Thoughts were really all over the map. I did NOT want to live in fear and knew I needed to take action! I believe God was working in my heart a simple response. Inspired, I went into the studio, grabbed my guitar and wrote Nothin' Changes That. I suppose this was my declaration, my stance, putting Jesus over all of this, over the fear and the divisiveness.

You are life, nothing changes that

You are peace, nothing changes that

You are hope, nothing changes that

You are Lord, nothing changes that

I find panic is one of the biggest deterrents to finding true peace in Jesus. I'm very familiar with panic. I've known what it's like to feel frozen in place. Almost as if you were at the bottom of the ocean chained to a weight and looking up with no hope. That's what I experienced in therapy when repressed memories suddenly came back. There seemed to be no way out and I felt frozen in place. I knew didn't want to stay there, though. Tragically, many people do stay there. If that's you, I'm begging you, don't stay there! There is hope and help out there.

During Covid, the whole world seemed frozen, emotional alarms were going off everywhere and panic was rampant! The good news is that our spiritual eyes and spiritual ears allow us to experience a different reality!

The chorus says this:

Cause when I panic You bring calm to me

When I'm blind, You open my eyes and set me free

And when I listen to the world, my mind starts racing

But when I listen to Your word, my heart starts beating for You

So when I go to the Lord with my panic, He brings me peace and when I say to Him, "Lord, I can't see; I'm too afraid," He opens my eyes to His answer and He sets me free.

And obviously it's much easier to know the truth when I saturate myself in the word of God and I spend time praying to the God of the universe. I find it true to this day that if all I listen to is the news, all they want me to hear is the fear. Fear brings ratings. And I…we… fall for it again and again and again. But when I spend time in the word and praying every morning, God brings a calm and a peace to me and I know He will for you also. He is the answer the world needs so desperately.

From Genesis to Revelation, "do not be afraid" is mentioned again and again and again. So why don't we, and I put myself in that category, listen to the Word of God more. I'm afraid we spend more time saturating ourselves in the news which as was said earlier, wants us to be afraid, rather than saturating ourselves in the word of God and putting on the armor of God everyday.

"Well, I'm only human!" That's the excuse that I hear from others and sometimes from my own lips. While that is true, we have an amazing God who is everywhere.

RELOAD

How did you grow (or fail) in faith under the "Covid test"? Are you preparing spiritually for the next test of faith that is sure to come along?

Obviously, there's lots of things we can't control but there are some that we CAN control. There's SUCH power in knowing the difference AND having a personal relationship with God who CAN handle what we can't!

Here's three key areas of control I've found to be super helpful:

1. Acceptance is POWERFUL! And it's possible to accept things you cannot control when you know God and reinforce His truth, His perspective moment by moment in your life; knowing He will handle what you can't. In Celebrate Recovery, we prayed the Serenity Prayer each meeting. It was a great reminder of the peace that comes from recognizing the difference between what we can control and what we can't. The place we give God in our life is something we can control.
2. The people we hang out with and listen to absolutely matters! Yes, relationships can be messy but we are much more prone to deception and defeat when we do life alone. The key is hanging out with the right people. They say your life will look like the average of the 5 people you hang out with. Be intentional who you allow to be in that group of 5. The Bible talks a lot about gathering together as believers and the power of unity. Jesus prayed for our unity and love for each other right before He was betrayed. Let's make community a priority and learn how to leverage this God-given resource. I believe this is the most underutilized secret weapon we have and am passionate to help God's people to connect with each other in community, life on life, in a powerful way. I like to think of it as the Jesus in me ganging up with the Jesus in you to stand our ground and wreak havoc on our adversary. Who we hang out with is something we can control.
3. What we feed our spirits matters. I heard a story many years ago about our lives being similar to a fight between a "good" dog and a "bad" dog? Both are very strong and constantly fighting without a clear winner. You desperately want the "good" dog to win. What might you do to help it defeat the "bad" dog? You could simply quit feeding the "bad" dog. It would eventually become weak enough to be overcome by the "good" dog. Kinda like Jesus said, if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off…(laugh)…in today's culture would He have said "talk radio" or "social media" or "the evening news". Just sayin. What we feed our spirit – this is something we can we can control.

Let's take control of what we can and, as the bridge of the song says,

I won't let my faith fade

No matter what they say

The world may turn away

But in you, that's where I'll stay

Jesus is Lord, God is good, He will never leave us or forsake us…NOTHIN' CHANGES THAT!

There's a couple gifts I'd like to give you related to this song - a phone wallpaper to help you remember this important truth and a printable copy of the Serenity Prayer. Check out this episode on GGSSPodcast.com to get your free downloads.

LISTEN TO FEATURED SONG>>

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES>>

(Mark) Last week I introduced you to "My Lady", Cindy Alewine who inspired the song "My Lady". I promised to let you hear from her this week. Today's story is how God took an unthinking comment Cindy made at a very low point in her life and brought about a powerful battle cry and victory song. I'll let her tell you all about it.

(Cindy) Hi everybody! I'm so glad you're here and I'm excited to share this story with you. First of all, I'm an only child (and no I wasn't spoiled). My mom passed away when I was 35 years old so my dad was on his own for many years.

Since he lived in Georgia, It was challenging trying to help him when he started having all sorts of issues. Finally the time came for a change. He had undiagnosed Parkinson's Disease and some other problems that made it impossible to continue to live on his own.

So we moved him to Minnesota into our home. I quit my job to stay home with him full-time. Dad and I loved each other but I had lots of buttons for him to push and sometimes our relationship felt like oil and water. Still, I felt satisfied and even a bit noble. Mark here was a great help and we believed this was God's will. Others helped us as well and Dad truly appreciated our love and care. Things were going great.

After a while, though, over the next five and a half years, I let the mundane tasks, the hours of noisy TV and the 24/7 responsibility get to me. I often felt weary, sometimes I felt trapped. I definitely felt like a hostage to negative thoughts and feelings. My body was affected also and I had quite a bit of pain. Despite being loved and supported, I struggled with depression and felt hopeless.

Out of necessity, I dug into to my relationship with God. So many beautiful things came when I would be still, listen and accept the opportunity to grow.

I began recognizing the underlying choices I faced each day. Choices between easy, convenient and comfortable OR becoming like Jesus. If trials were a gift like the Bible says and if they could help me become mature in faith, then I wanted to accept them and embrace the growth. Of course, this was much easier said than done!

I know this is a spiritual "DUH!" but I felt like God was prompting me to "start with praise". Usually first thing in the morning I'd barge into His presence asking for this or that and sometimes leaving without really listening for a response. I started picking out one praise song to sing before I said anything else. That made a surprising difference! I still do that to this day and sometimes I wake up with a song I hadn't thought of for years.

I also made a 4 song playlist of high octane praise songs that I listened to over and over throughout the day using my headphones to help drown out the TV blaring in the background. Just hearing the first few measures of a song would often trigger a reset for me mentally. Wow! I know it's true and it makes sense, but I still marvel how differently God's presence, comfort, love and power are experienced when we settle into praise.

I was staying close to God but my thoughts and feelings were very uncooperative! I found a sermon series by Craig Groeschel of Life Church called Winning the War in Your Mind. I listened and re-listened and re-listened to it, applying God's truth and finding hope. We also went through a series called Free Indeed by Robert Morris of Gateway Church and discovered some strongholds in my life that kept me spinning in some areas. (I highly recommend checking out these resources for yourself and you can find links at GGSSPodcast.com)

Marinating in scripture was critical during this time. There's a number of verses that I clung to. One of them was "Take every though captive to the obedience of Christ" from 2 Corinthians 10:5. I learned that the meaning was to take every thought captive as if by spear point. What a great mental picture! I had to choose whether to tolerate the loud, repetitive negative thoughts that resulted in undesirable feelings OR kick them out and refill that space with truth by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Another verse from Romans 12:11-13 MSG version says "Don't burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don't quit in hard times; pray all the harder." I learned that no one else was responsible for my emotional wellbeing. I was responsible for my own input, for taking in the good and keeping out the bad. I think Henry Cloud would call that boundaries!

One of the big challenges I faced was not feeling productive (you know-like the culture defines productive). It's amazing how God addresses even that! Hebrews 13:16 MSG version says…"God takes particular pleasure in acts of worship – a different kind of sacrifice – that take place in kitchen and workplace and on the streets." That meant a lot to me because I spent a lot of time in the kitchen.

So by now you have an idea of what was going on in my heart and head and why I might be crabby about not having much time or energy to dive into music stuff with Mark.

It was on Thursday. It had been a particularly frustrating day, my body was in pain and I was crabby. It was date night so we got things all settled for Dad at home so we can be away for a couple of hours. As we're driving down the road, Mark asks me, "so what do you want to do after get done eating"? I'm still trying to come out of my mental funk so sarcastically I said, "I want to write a song." Mark, you remember how your jaw dropped? We had a little bit of a discussion about it but I didn't think too much more of it.

We went out on our date and had a nice time. When we get back home, Mark heads off to the basement, ready to write a song. And I'm like, "Ooh, okay. He missed the sarcasm. I guess I better put some effort into this since I mentioned it!" I didn't know what to expect really because we'd never written a song together before.

Anyway Mark asked me, "so how are you feeling?" I told him, and he says, "well, what's God teaching you in all this? What's God speaking to you about?" And I said, "well, a lot of really good things. It's just that I'm having such a hard time getting it from my head to my heart." Then I started telling him all the good things that God was pouring into my life and showing me and everything. So Mark started strumming the guitar and words started coming to both of us based on this conversation that we just had. When we finished and gave it the title Unshaken, it was such a beautiful, holy moment! It was amazing!

Whatever your challenges and struggles might be, Mark and I hope you will dig deep into a relationship with God and that Unshaken will become your battle cry and your victory song as well! Thanks for listening.

(Mark) To hear the song and see the resources Cindy mentioned, check out Episode 5-UNSHAKEN on the website, GGSSPodcast.com.

Listen to Mark's Songs

Contact Mark

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This week's story is meant to help you anticipate the sweetness of life if you just keep hanging in there, giving God time and space to work in your life and relationships. I'll also introduce you to my wife, Cindy, and the song she inspired called, My Lady.

First let's start with guitars. I own 2 Taylor guitars. The thing about owning a really nice guitar is after you've had them for some time, they seem to get sweeter and sweeter and their sound gets warmer, richer and more inviting. This is also true of other instruments.

I've had one of my Taylor guitars for about 22 years now. I absolutely love it. And the sound has gotten more incredible as the years go by.

That's been the way it has been with me and Cindy. As the years go by, she just gets sweeter and sweeter. And I'm blown away to think that I have been married to this incredible woman for going on 41 years this June.

As I share the story of today's featured song, My Lady, I hope you'll be inspired to take a different look at your life, your spouse (if you have one) and what sweetness God has for you as you keep on growing.

Cindy and I got married when we were 19 and 21 years old. Needless to say, we both were quite immature and sometimes fought over very silly things. Thankfully we both loved Jesus and had great peer pressure to work things out.

It wasn't long before we had kids, grown up jobs and big life decisions. We didn't know what we didn't know - which was - that we both had hurts and hang-ups that impacted our relationship and that would knock us down in the near future. We loved each other as best we knew how and continued to grow little by little.

Even as believers who loved God, we experienced disappointments, betrayals, heartbreaks, mental and physical breakdowns, financial challenges, trouble with kids, uncertainties with parents and so many "normal" but horrible things that seemed to push us apart but pull us together all at the same time. We loved each other as best we knew how and continued to grow a little at a time.

I've always appreciated Cindy and her support but one night, while sitting at her father's deathbed, I had a moment of amazing clarity and sweetness which inspired the song, My Lady.

She left the room to take a break for a few minutes. As I watched her, I was suddenly overwhelmed with gratitude for her as my wife and for her selfless acts of kindness for her dad and for me and for anybody she comes in contact with.

Words came to me very very quickly so I started to talk-texting as fast as I could. There was no melody yet, just words.

It was as if the years flashed before me and these words were the culmination of years of struggle and growth together, sweeter than anything we'd experienced so far in our marriage.

Aside from my relationship with Jesus, she is truly the most remarkable relationship that I have ever had in my life! I'm so so grateful. There's nothing she wouldn't do for me and honestly, there's nothing I wouldn't do for her.

We are doing something together now that we did NOT do early on in marriage and I want to share it with you so you don't miss out.

We make the time virtually every morning just to talk about what God is doing in our lives and to pray together for the day. That has been one of the most impacting things that we have ever done. This has brought us even closer and closer together.

This next part is no judgment on anybody else, no condemnation whatsoever. I realize that there are many people, many couples out there, that don't pray together on a regular basis. I realize it may feel awkward. I would say just start with a quick prayer in the morning and then build on that. This is something that you will never regret and you'll be surprised at how much you grow together as a couple.

Remember that "music makes stuff stick"! So guys, use songs like My Lady to help you appreciate your wife, to soften your heart towards her. And gals, use songs like My Lady to bring out the very best in you.

Hey, as we wrap things up here, I invite you to listen to My Lady on your favorite streaming platform or at GGSSPodcast.com. And let me know what you think! I'd love to hear from you. Just send an email to [email protected]

Don't forget to join us next week when you'll hear from Cindy about one of the songs we wrote together during a particularly tough time in her life. It might just be what you need to stand strong when you're going through a tough time.

Do you ever wonder if personal peace is even possible in today's world? For the next few minutes let's stop, breathe and take a sweet little sip of peace.

There's something about coffee that takes me back. Something about it that helps me to stop and enjoy the moment. I don't drink enough coffee to get addicted, but I do look forward to my morning coffee every day. I make it the night before and have it set so it comes on early and it's nice and hot when we wake up. There's just something about it.

Coffee with friends is a huge part of my life. I love going into coffee shops and smelling what's going on and even the noise of the coffee shop is pleasant for me. When I was worship pastor, I set up most of my meetings in coffee shops.

I've been going to northern Minnesota every year for about 34 years fishing with my son and some friends. It's a small group of about four of us. We stay in a very simple resort in a town called Orr Minnesota, a town of about 175 people. The north side of town is about a minute from the south side of town, meaning it's pretty small. We fish on a lake called Pelican Lake, which is a huge lake. And the fishing is incredible.

There's this train. The train used to be a huge annoyance as we would get up there and the train would run through anywhere from 10 to probably 15 times a day all through the night and all through the day. The place we stay at is across the bay so as the crow flies probably a little over half a mile. The train would be very loud and you could hear it coming for what feels like miles away. It used to be very very frustrating. Somewhere along the way, my perspective changed. Now, I so look forward to hearing that train all through the night and all through the day. It's a peaceful sound from a distance and echoes through those northern woods. It's just part of the overall experience up there. It really is incredible. And now when I hear a train anywhere else, it takes me back to northern Minnesota.

Each morning we wake up in our very primitive cabin and head on over to the TPatton Café for coffee and breakfast. I suppose we are considered regulars because we are there every year and sometimes twice a year. We know the owner, Tara, very well. She and her staff are wonderful people that know how to take care of their customers.

They have a simple menu in a beautiful unique setting. The restaurant is an old train depot and when you walk in you take a few steps down to the dining area. The food is cooked upstairs. There's about 15 to 18 steps to get upstairs so the servers really get a work out! The real workout is When the delivery truck comes and he has to make about eight trips with his two wheel dolly loaded up with Food going up the steps.

One of the simplest things they serve is coffee. It's not really a special kind of coffee. Nothing you would find in a coffee shop per se. Coffee shops as I said earlier, are a big deal for me and I have to show much restraint to not run into a coffee shop every day and buy coffee. But there's something about coffee in northern Minnesota at T Patton Café. Believe it or not I still remember the first cup of coffee that I had there. And it's something that I look forward to every year as we get ready to go. I even start thinking about this at the beginning of the year even though the trip happens around Memorial Day for a week. I'm sure it has something to do with getting away from the stress of the city life and enjoying the wild north of Minnesota with great friends over a cup of coffee (or 6 cups).

I have a friend in Nashville and he and I discuss coffee and even though we can't have a cup of coffee in the same room, we slow down and just chat as we sip coffee together sometimes, separately. Sometimes we were just chat and cut up. Other times we'll talk about life's deep struggles together. One day, the conversation was particularly pain filled. As we wrapped things up, I felt inspired, went into the studio and wrote the first verse and the song started coming together. When you listen to my music, you'll realize that most, if not all of my songs, are written around life experiences.

The second verse came about as a result of a very awkward moment at church one Sunday several years back when I was leading worship. We had gone over everything with all the people that needed to know so that we could make sure everything ran smoothly and everyone knew what was going on. Everyone said they understood and so we went about our Sunday morning service.

Well…things did not go smoothly at all. One person had forgotten what we just talked about and created a really strange moment in the service. It was incredibly uncomfortable to say the least and there was nothing that I could do about it while it was happening. I was pretty upset, to be honest.

So if we fast forward to the end of the service I was backstage behind the curtain getting ready to come out and lead the last song after the sermon was done. I was fuming mad. I honestly had nothing to give because I was so focused on the problem that we had had earlier. I felt very inadequate to go out and lead this congregation in worship. And as the speaker was wrapping up his message, that's when the second verse hit me and I typed as fast as I could.

"When your anger rises at the smallest things and your spirit's raw and you've got nothing to bring, when you open your mouth but you cannot sing; When the worries high but the faith is low and you're at the point you don't know where to go, and you speak the words but you still don't know; I pray this prayer over you." It came so fast and it was very healing for me as I wrote those words down. It was right then that I asked the Lord's forgiveness and I was able to lead well in this closing song.

I finished writing the rest of the song when I get home that day, "May Your Coffee Taste Much Sweeter". It's a long title, but I think you get it.

The bridge says, "God knows your struggle, He knows how hard life can be. He's with you in your trouble, He'll calm your storming seas".

Most of us know that coffee itself doesn't taste sweet but there's something about coffee that sweetens the day for those of us who like it. If your drink is hot chocolate or hot tea or hot water, this song is for you too. I think this song will bring a smile to your face and a bounce to your step. God does indeed know all of our struggles and how hard this life is! He's reaching His hand out to me, to you, and all we have to do is reach back and grab His hand. Do it in your stressful times and do it in your peaceful times, but do it.

I hope that no matter what you're going through, no matter what your struggle or trial is right now, that you will tap into the source of life, the source of eternal life, Jesus Christ.

Here's the prayer:

May your coffee taste much sweeter than it did yesterday

May God's blessing overflow and make you dance

May the people that surround you touch your heart like never before

And help you fall in love with life all over again

Peace

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Transcript:

Today let's talk about the song What Are We Gonna Do? How many times have you asked yourself that question? When I finally quit asking the question rhetorically and really wanted to know, I found some helpful answers that I'd like to share with you in today's podcast.

The 2020 election insanity and the pandemic topped off by the divisiveness, violence, looting and burning in Mpls/St Paul put me over the edge. Even as a follower of Jesus, I had my moments of fear and I let fear get the best of me. Panic could easily take over if I let it. I knew if I didn't keep my hope and faith anchored on what God says about who He is and what is yet to come, I would completely freak out or probably do something really stupid. So I did a lot of soul searching and questioning God that ultimately led to the writing of this song, What are We Gonna Do? You can hear the instrumental playing underneath this right now.

First, we have to start with the right framework, with what God says about this life on earth (See footnote at end of the show notes for specific Bible references). The Bible says that the world lies in the power of the evil one1 and that our struggle is NOT against flesh and blood but against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the HEAVENLY places2. Jesus said in this world we would have tribulation3. Yep, I can believe that!

The Bible also says we need to be prepared so we can resist4 and that God in us is greater than he who is in the world (talking about the devil).5 It says, Don't be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good6. Surely this must be possible if the Bible states it so clearly, right? I'm still asking God to help me believe, not just with my head, but with my heart and to be ready to act like I believe it!

I believe this life is a test. A test of our faith and our ability to allow God to speak into our lives. I believe we, more than ever, have the ability to be the light of the world that is needed so desperately! So when the world is on fire, what is our response? What do we say or do that reflects the work that Jesus has done in our lives as believers, as HIS followers.

Should we be angry at some of the things that we are seeing? Absolutely! Should we rile each other up as well? No…we are called to strongly encourage each other to do the right thing, living to the glory of God! That is truly loving one another!

Should we speak the first thing that comes to our mind in response to those things? I've done that and usually those words weren't reflective of the work that Jesus has done in my life. The Bible says "words kill or words give life, they're either poison or fruit, you choose"7. That is incredibly powerful and hugely important.

Throughout a lifetime of failures and apologies, I've come up with a process that I want to share with you that can help. You see, we have this super computer in our head that can play out scenarios with the words that we say and what that story is going to look like at the end. So this happens very quickly if we allow it. You can see the end of this particular moment and you can change your words based on that predicted outcome. Whether it's to someone's face or a text to someone or something on social media, you can see the end of that story pretty clearly and change what you are going to say or do.

The real test is do we care enough about what pleases God to choose our response accordingly or do we give in to "feeling" justified in our words and actions regardless of how much pain it could cause; pain to ourselves, to others and to God Himself.

I believe the more time we spend praying and the less time we spend giving our own personal commentary to people on what's going on, the more the Holy Spirit works and the more receptive people are to God's truth. I also believe that the more time we spend praying and the less time we spend worrying helps to bring peace to our own lives. Which would you rather spread? Worry and panic or peace?

Friends, I need the same encouragement. I'm not exempt from panicking and worrying and flying off the handle with my words that can hurt someone in my circle, or can certainly hurt my Jesus-influence on those that are still seeking.

I do believe there is a time for action, don't get me wrong. But that action is going to reflect what the Word of God says or it's going to reflect Mark's personal opinion on whatever the situation is. Again, I would prefer my actions and my words to go through the filter of what the Bible says.

There's no condemnation in any of the things that I'm saying. This is an encouragement to us, those of us who love Jesus--do not let worldly influence affect how we live our lives for the Kingdom's sake.

The next test is do we act like we believe what God says about love and prayer in the context of a world on fire? I was surprised at how much the Bible had to say about this.

If ever there was a time to pray, it's now! The song, What are We Gonna Do, was written as a call to prayer in response to all the things going on in the world today. Jesus Himself tells us to pray, asking our Heavenly Father that HIS WILL would be done, here on this earth as it is in heaven8. Prayer changes things!

We are called to bless and pray for each other. It's easier said than done, but Jesus clearly includes our ENEMIES in that statement9.

We are called to pray for our governmental leaders10 at the federal level all the way down to the local levels. I had to ask myself, when's the last time I really really prayed for my governmental leaders, not from a selfish standpoint, but to pray that God would intervene in their lives the way he intervened in mine. The Bible describes it as coming to one's senses and escaping from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.11 We are to pray for all in authority SO THAT we may lead a tranquil and quiet life.12 Who doesn't want more of that!

We are called to pray for the church to shine in this incredibly dark time that we live in. By the way, for those of us who call ourselves Christ-followers, we are the church.

We're called to pray for our pastors13 that they would be strong and know what God wants them to say each Sunday in front of millions of people collectively. The church is truly the answer to the world's problems. Have you ever stopped to think about how many people are worshiping the God of the universe at any particular moment? We are part of that global worship. Isn't that staggering?

I don't go to church to make myself feel better; I used to though. Do you know what an encouragement it is on Sunday to see people gather together in the same room and the pour themselves out in worship? And when those same people join together in prayer, amazing things happen. I think we will be shocked in heaven when we see the playback reels of all the answers to prayer that we were not aware of; that were not reported on the news.

The chorus of this song says, let's turn our thoughts to heaven, to the one who is in control. To the one who truly loves and speaks life to our soul. Let's turn our thoughts to heaven and God will make a way! I say, let's pray"

Here's the prayer:

God turn our hearts

God make a move

God reveal what's true

We put our hope in YOU!

********************

Scripture references:

I 1 John 5:19

2 Ephesians 6:12

3 John 16:33

4 Ephesians 6:13

5 I John 4:4

6 Romans 12:21

7 Proverbs 18:21

8 Matthew 6:10

9 Matthew 5:44

10 I Timothy 2:2

11 II Timothy 2:26

12 I Timothy 2:2

13 Romans 15:30-32; Ephesians 6:19-20

In this first episode, singer/songwriter, Mark Alewine, introduces himself and the podcast, explaining his passion for telling God-stories and encouraging you with a story of his own. Leave inspired to resist letting fear keep you from something amazing.