oday on Freedom Friday with Perry and Shawna, author and pastor Dustin Crowe helps us relive the beauty of the gospel.  Dustin is author of The Grumblers Guide To Giving Thanks and Finding Satisfaction in Christ, a devotional on the book of Colossians.  First Perry admits to a weakness, falling into obsessing about his past sins and Dustin shares how to break free from that.  Then, if you’re tired and worn out from trying hard to get God’s love, there is freedom in the gospel as you break free from religion!  Then Perry and Dustin explore the depths of our forgiveness in Jesus—all our sins were listed on a scroll.  Then the nails driven through Jesus’ hands went into the scroll, then into the wood of the cross.  And in that moment the debt for our sin was forever paid in full! 

Next, Dustin shares that he has most learned the beauty of the gospel when he fails.  He’s learning that he doesn’t have to beat himself up to get back on God’s good side, he just needs to bring his raw and real self to the Lord who freely forgives and cleanses.  And with this we talk about how confessing our sins goes off the rails when we make it a work to earn God’s favor.  And finally, if there’s “nothing we can do to make God love us more, or nothing we can do to make him love us less,” then why obey, why not just go crazy with sin?  Experience the power of the gospel again and then share this show with someone who needs to experience that same power.

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Caris Snider joins the team to talk about how gratitude frees us from anxiety.  Caris shares the hope of Jesus through speaking, writing, and leading worship. She’s the author of Anxiety Elephants 31 Day Devotional.  Caris loves to share how Jesus is freeing her from depression and anxiety. 

Caris first realized that giving thanks heals anxiety as she spoke in school assemblies, asking kids to shout out their thanks.  Then watching the kids become like a calm sea. 

Then 2020 has been hard right?  Caris has found the grace in 2020 of going for walks and looking for things to give thanks for, like how every sunrise is different or how massive the heavens are.  Next, Perry and Shawna have just way to much fun with this:  What’s you’re favorite way to be thanked. 

Then Caris talks about moving from “What if” to “What is” thinking.  This is what that looks like:  Caris’ daughter is being trained to be an equestrian rider.  When she drops her off at practice she may think “What if my daughter dies??”  Then she things about what is true:  God angels are watching over my daughter, she has the talent to do this, she has great coaches, she’s learning to ride correctly.  Try moving to “What is true” thinking! 

Then find out how gratitude rewires our brains (in a good way).  Then Caris has learned in 2020 the beauty of seeing the good in the hard.  For her family they have discovered the joy of slowing down, playing cards and the gift of laughter. Caris shares a beautiful freeze frame moment from her family. 

And finally, if you’re overwhelmed by fear and anxiety, Caris has words of hope for you:  God is creating in you a story of hope that you’ll be able to share the other side of your hard season.  Please share today’s show!

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The gospel has the power to create an explosion of thanksgiving! First, Perry is so thankful that Jesus understands his humanity, his weaknesses, his struggles with depression, shame and fear, his struggles against sin. He understands us because he’s one of us. Yahweh of Israel became the gentle babe in a manger. The God who created everything took on our skin. And not only does he intimately understand us, he’s able to help us because he’s the living God. With this Perry shares an unplugged version of a new song: Tears This Side of Eden. Then Shawna doesn’t want to be perceived as dependent. She can take care of herself, thank you very much! She hates the idea of ever being the “damsel in distress.” But even though she cringes at the thought of needing to be rescued, she’s so grateful that God has rescued her. It’s a conversation about how we desperately need rescuing, about how needy we really are. Then we have a conversation about this incredible promise from 2 Corinthians 2:14: “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.” And finally, the cry for hope in the world is perhaps greater than at any other time in our lives. People are afraid. One million 2 hundred and sixty thousand people have died from Covid 19. That’s a lot of grief, a lot of weeping. It’s created this space that can only be filled by hope. And we are hope’s messengers. Our message? “Jesus has crushed death, if you believe you will rise, and Jesus right now resurrection power will fill you with hope!” Preach the resurrection! So many are now ready to hear!

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Today on Perry and Shawna Mornings, Susie Larson joins the team to talk about her book Growing Grateful Kids. Susie is host of her radio show Susie Larson Live as well as the author of a number of books including: Growing Grateful Kids—Teaching Them To Appreciate An Extraordinary God In Ordinary Places. So first Susie shares that as a young mom, bedridden with Lyme’s disease and living on very little, she learned gratefulness and taught it to her kids with one huge pancake! Then Susie shares how two childhood traumas caused her to question God’s love for her. She learned to accept her belovedness and also learned that she could never teach her kids that God loved them if she didn’t believe it herself. Then we talk about one of the greatest enemies of gratitude: Comparison. With this Susie shares about the day her 6’3,” 260 lb. husband fell through the floor of the entryway of their run down house and in that moment learned a massive lesson about gratitude. Next, Susie shares the we need to teach ourselves and our kids self-restraint—to learn to say “no” to ourselves and learn to deal with it. Thankfulness is opposite of the attitude that what I have is “mine, mine, mine!” Next compassion is linked with gratitude—We need to help our kids think: “Who needs what I have?” It could be as simple as having gift bags ready to share with the homeless. And finally Susie prays a blessing over our families. If this encourages you, please share!

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First Shawna shares that for most of 2020 the word “enough” keeps finding her.  She never feels like she is enough.  Not ready enough or experienced enough or smart enough or worthy enough.  It’s as though God is correcting her thoughts on the matter.   Find out how Psalm 23 has been a big part of Shawna realizing that no matter what she lacks, she already has everything she needs in the good Shepherd.    

Then back in the day when Perry was in pre-season training for basketball at Olivet College, he had to run the mile in less than 5:30.  He trained like crazy for that and was able to hit the mark.  But it was all on him!  He had to achieve it or his place on the team would have been jeopardized.  Not so with being in God’s family.  Give thanks that being in God’s family isn’t based on our qualifications.  The Lord has qualified us to be in his family forever.  We have a conversation about the beauty of the gospel from Ephesians 1:13-14. 

Finally at one time in Shawna’s life it was her nemesis:  Laundry!  She was homeschooling 4 children, leading a women’s ministry and a worship ministry while running a home based business.  Laundry was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Find out how Shawna moved from grumpy to thankful for laundry.  It’s all about how thankfulness can turn the most mundane task into an act of heartfelt worship.

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Today on Freedom Friday with Perry and Shawna we celebrate another wonder of God in the Muslim world. We get an invitation to let God do the heavy lifting for us. We explore some amazing words of hope from the bible. And we talk about how Jesus frees us from living life in the courtroom. First, Boutros and Youssef felt compelled to share Jesus in a town in north Africa known for Islamic extremism. But once there Boutros got cold feet and wanted to leave. But then Youssef had a dream, and the next night fearful Boutros had the same dream: The Spirit said in their dreams: “Stay!” They found out why when a high ranking Islamic leader showed up at their door saying: “I’ve had a dream.” Next Shawna admits: “I’m weary, I’ve got nothing left in the tank.” This week has been the perfect storm of work deadlines, the needs of family, getting ready for the holiday, not to mention the stress of the election and a pandemic. If you’ve felt that weight on your shoulders this week, you’re probably carrying, as Shawna admits herself, a burden that’s not meant for you. This is an invitation to “Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.” Then Perry and Shawna share their thoughts on the incredible words of God in Isaiah 61:1-3. Finally, maybe you’re living life in the courtroom. Trying to get the verdict that you’re a good person through your own efforts. But that’s religion, trying to get the verdict from our performance. We’ll never get it that way because we never fully live up to our highest standards. But Jesus can take you out of the courtroom and give you the verdict you’ve been striving for all your life.

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We’re in beatitudes this week on Perry and Shawna mornings.  The “Blesseds” at the beginning of Matthew 5.  The beatitudes show us how to become a follower of Jesus and then they show us what a follower of Jesus looks like.  They really show us the kind of person that changes the world.  So first Perry shares about being in a little Pentecostal church in Cheboygan and during that service reflecting on all the ways he had tried to fill the emptiness in his life during his teenage years:  Sex, fame, applause, achievement, approval from his parents, the “It’s all about me life.”  And that morning Jesus filled his emptiness with Himself! 

Then Grand Rapids bible teacher and pastor, Rod VanSolkema breaks down each one of the beatitudes, what each mean, and how being poor in Spirit is the hinge on which all the other beatitudes rest.  Then we have a conversation about, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”  Shawna shares honestly that as much she longs to wholeheartedly live for Jesus, she sometimes gives in to the tasty treats of the world.   She can fall into thinking that we can enjoy them while loving God, not realizing that they pull our affection away from the One who died for us.  It’s a call to take a hard look inside and to ask Jesus to cleanse us again. 

Next we laser focus on what it means to be poor in heart.  It has to do with seeing ourselves as beggars who need only bring our desperation to God.  The beggars are the ones who get God!  Then when we become the beatitudes, then and only then do we have something to offer the world, something that will change the world—We're not called to be relevant, we’re called to be like Jesus.  And finally, the beatitudes show us how to live an ecstatically happy life.  It comes from putting King Jesus and his Kingdom first!

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The Beatitudes…what exactly are they? And what does the word “beatitude” actually mean? Good questions! Glad you asked. This week we are talking about the first set of teachings Jesus gave in His infamous “Sermon on the Mount”. It wasn’t actually a sermon, the way you and I would think of a sermon. Jesus had been teaching in the synagogues and healing the sick all around the Sea of Galilee. Word spread about the amazing things that were happening and people were coming from all the surrounding areas to experience Jesus for themselves. One day, he sat down on a hill, and his disciples gathered around him. They just wanted to be near him. That’s what Christ followers do! Jesus began to speak to them and explain the scriptures to them! The Word(Jesus) was explaining the word to them! Can you imagine?!!! When he began to speak what he said first is a series of statements about the life of one who lives for God. They’ve become known as “The Beatitudes”. We’re going to look at each statement Jesus made, throughout this week on Perry and Shawna Mornings. Today we explain what the word “beatitudes” means and look at 3 of them. Blessed are the poor in spirit, the meek, and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Listen to the show each day this week to hear them all & to be challenged to live them out and receive God’s blessing. Enjoy!

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It’s Freedom Friday.  We celebrate the compelling reality that life in not on our shoulders, but on God’s!  First, “The Lord is my shepherd. I have everything I need.”  This is healing to Shawna’s soul because most days she feels like she’s not enough.  In fact her first thoughts of the day can be:  “I didn’t get enough sleep. I won’t have the clarity of mind to do my job well today. I’m gonna tank before the day ends. I don’t have the capacity to handle anything unexpected with grace. I need a nap.” Maybe you can relate.  So Psalm 23:1 “The Lord is my shepherd. I have everything I need,” reminds us that what we lack is the perfect portal for God’s provision. What we need, He provides. What we need, He is.  Hear God gently whispering to you...”I am all you need, exactly when you need it.” 

Then, Perry admits that he can fall into obsessing about his past sins.  Ancient sins, decades ago.  And because that’s his reality (and maybe yours), he’s learned to practice self-forgiveness.   Self-forgiveness is choosing to accept what God has already declared to be true about us.  It’s a way to experience the power of the gospel when you get stuck looking in the rear view mirror.  And finally, you may very well feel it:  There’s a growing anxiety in our country with Covid cases on the rise, events being canceled, greater restrictions, hostility, division.  It can tempt us to think:  “What if everything gets worse?”  When we’re tempted to freak out we need to move from “What if,” to “Even if.”  Even if the worst happens, God is in control and we can trust him

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Today on Perry and Shawna Mornings, what to do when life doesn’t make sense.  Joseph suffered so much injustice:  His brothers hate him and sell him into slavery.  He ends up in Egypt and as a slave; he’s accused of a crime he didn’t commit.  He spends years in prison though he’s innocent.  But over the years God’s unseen hand is connecting the dots for Joseph to be used in God’s plan to save the world (Gen. 37-50).  So first, bible teacher Dr. Tony Evans helps us see how you and I can keep moving forward when life doesn’t make sense:  We trust that God is with us and that he’s connecting the dots especially when we can’t see how! 

Then Joseph’s technicolor dreamcoat was given to him because his father loved him and favored him.  And we too have been given a coat by our Father in heaven who adores us.  It’s actually a robe.  Though we don’t deserve it, we wear the righteous robe of Jesus that covers all our sin and shame!  Next we talk about how Joseph’s brothers really didn’t believe that he had forgiven them for selling him into slavery.  Because, when their father Jacob died, they were sure Joseph would take them out.  It’s a conversation about forgiving ourselves, that is, choosing to really believe and accept that has God forgiven us. 

And finally Joseph could have easily gotten stuck in bitterness and unforgiveness because of the injustice inflicted on him by his brothers.  He could have ended up a bitter, unforgiving man who died in prison.  But Joseph instead chose to trust God when his life made no sense at all; he chose to trust that God would connect the dots, even though he couldn’t see it.  But that’s Joseph’s story.  Maybe your story is that you are stuck in unforgiveness and the injustices of life.  There is a way out.  Tony Evan shares that way.  Please share this if it encourages you!

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