LifeLift

Life is full of interruptions. In fact, if it wasn’t for the constant nips and tugs at us, most of us could be far more productive. 

Or so we think.

When you look through the Gospels, though, you realize that MANY of the great things Jesus did happened in the unplanned pauses of His day— in those interruptions. 

Look at His story. 

And remember, if anyone would SEEM like they needed to hurry, it would be Him. He had about 3 years to full-time ministry to not only change the world— literally— but to alter the course of all of eternity.

If you think that you’re being held back from making progress because of the stuff that keeps crowding your day, take heart… 

… God is still in control. And, often, He delivers some of the best stuff in those unplanned, spontaneous moments of unexpected interruption. 

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Where you are isn’t who you are. It’s your location, for sure, but it’s not your identity. 

We often confuse our place in life with our personhood— for good and bad. When things are going great, we tend to think too highly of ourselves. The opposite is true, as well. When things are crummy, we thing we’re a disaster… 

Turns out, where you are is just your location. Nothing less, nothing more.

And, whereas we may have done something to get us to where we are (it’s not always true— other people play parts in our stories, too), we can always move. We can change. We can step forward.

But…

The first step in moving forward is to first own where you are— because that IS the place you must begin…

Listen in… 

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Adam and I wrap our series of 3 talks here, landing on the premise that “all things work together at all times for your good” (Romans 8:28).

Notably, Paul— the author of the verse— didn’t say that—

❌ all things are good

❌ all things are caused by God

❌ God only works the things together for the good in which it wasn’t your fault, that you had not part to play…

Saint Augustine referenced this verse centuries ago and said, “If God works everything together for the good, that means He even transforms my sin into something good…”

Yes, grace is that big.

In this talk Adam and I discuss a few ideas that are important to hold onto…

⭐️ Transparency vs privacy

When he walked out his restoration (and when I walked out my redemption), we chose to be completely transparent with a FEW people— but we were very private.

In our culture we get the two mixed up and assume that we should share everything with everyone.

Consequently, we over-share with the masses, but keep the people who should be up close at a distance…

👉 Transparency means that we are fully known… by the people who need to know.

👉 Privacy means that people who don’t need to know… well, they don’t have access.

These two ideas CAN and SHOULD co-exist, especially when you’re “bouncing back” from a tough season.

⭐️ You can’t fill the void

A new help won’t heal an old hurt. The “voids” you feel must be felt and then HEALED, not simply “filled” with something new…

If you artificially “fill’ a hole, you will give power OVER future relationships to the one in the past who hurt you.

Don’t FILL a hurt; HEAL a hurt…



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The Soul Wholeness audiobook for $10 (regularly $25) = https://www.jenkins.tv/offers/PXGzusQN 

Take the free Emotional Wholeness / PTSD Self-check at www.Jenkins.tv/PTSD 

See the t-shirt, “All Things, All Times, All for Good” = https://www.thehilltop.shop/product-page/all-things-t-shirt 

Adam’s book, Pain Not Wasted = https://amzn.to/393yM8X  

In the previous talk Adam and I discussed the first thing to do when you face trauma— recognize where you are and choose to feel it…

We’re promised that Jesus meets us “in the fire,” and the truth is that we’re going to go through the pain…

As Adam says, “It’s better to go through it WITH Jesus than it is to endure it without Jesus.”

That leads us to the point of talk #2 in a series of 3: Self-development in your disaster.

You see, there are things you can acquire in a trial + trauma + tribulation which can’t be collected in any other way.

A few years ago when I was walking through my own “disaster,” my friend Les told me, “We don’t know the outcome. We’re praying for it, but we don’t’ know…”

He continued, telling me to focus, during that time, on two things…

👉 Jesus

👉 The kids

That twas it. Those were the only two things promised.

And, of course, both of those areas GREW massively…

Here’s the deal…

Adam reminds us that if you focus on developing during the disaster, there are things you’ll gain, too, and you’ll emerge on the other side BETTER.

If you don’t focus there, you’ll continue feeling the pain and speaking through— and living out of— unprocessed pain— well into the future.

It will cloud all future relationships.

It will clutter all future opportunities.

It will taint the blessings that are waiting for you just ahead…

Adam says that one of the things which helped him the most was the right voices…

“The right voices lead to the right choices,” he says.

The right voices are people who—

✅ Love Jesus

✅ Love you

✅ Love the offender, as well.

By the way, we discuss the “victim mentality” in this talk, too. We decide that you MUST acknowledge that you were the victim, when you were…

… because that IS ACTUALLY part of the story.

Now, you don’t get to “stay there,” that is, you don’t get to set up shop as that being your IDENTITY.

But, you must own that—

♥️ you were hurt by what someone else did, and

♥️ you have hurt others in the past, too, even if not in this instance

♥️ sometimes, the reality is that we DID have a part to play in this instance…

In the end, it goes back to what my friend Les said— you can’t control what the other person does, but you can control what’s in front of you.

Start there.

Trust God and the promises of Romans 8:28 with what you CANNOT control, but be sure to manage the things which you can…

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The Soul Wholeness audiobook for $10 (regularly $25) = https://www.jenkins.tv/offers/PXGzusQN 

Take the free Emotional Wholeness / PTSD Self-check at www.Jenkins.tv/PTSD 

Adam’s book, Pain Not Wasted = https://amzn.to/393yM8X 

Last year I met my friend Adam Hicks, a pastor at Desperation Church, in the Green Room at a church facility dedication.

We have similar stories…

👉 happily married

👉 doing what you feel like you’re called to do

👉 things have never looked better

👉 the rug is pulled out from under you when the wife taps out

Ohh….

👉 you don’t necessarily get to go through it without others watching in and weighing in…

Notably, I met him when we were BOTH on the other side of the pain.

✅ married— and experiencing a depth and partnership we didn’t know possible

✅ doing more of what we were called to do

In other words, we’ve both rebuilt— and are rebuilding….

We kept up with each other after that initial meeting… and, I’ve learned from Adam and his story (it’s all in a book, BTW— the link is below).

I asked him to sit down and share some of his story with me, and record it, so I could share it with you.

Here’s where he began…

👉 You can feel it now or later.

That is, when trials come our way, we can push the feelings off (and people even tell you TO do that— “just keep yourself busy!”) OR we can, as we talk about in the “emotional wholeness checklist” that’s part of the Soul Wholeness book:

✅ Recognize our feelings

✅ Read what they’re saying to us (even if it’s not “good”)

✅ Respond in a healthy way (even if it takes time)

Note: if you don’t deal with the pain now, you’ll continue dealing with it in subtle ways until you choose to handle it…

We learned, too (both of us), that the circumstances you’re praying for MIGHT NOT change in the way you want them to…

… you might not get pot of gold at the end the rainbow that YOU were hoping for….

… you might not get a redemption story that looks like a “cleaned up” version of the old story…

But you are guaranteed that God will meet you “in the fire,” as Adam says.

And, when that happens, hope is present and healing can happen.

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The Soul Wholeness audiobook for $10 (regularly $25) = https://www.jenkins.tv/offers/PXGzusQN 

Take the free Emotional Wholeness / PTSD Self-check at www.Jenkins.tv/PTSD 

Adam’s book, Pain Not Wasted = https://amzn.to/393yM8X  

If we took and poll and asked people what prayer is, most of them would say, “Prayer is when I talk to God…”

But maybe it’s more about the PRESENCE than it is the words we say.

(Especially when we realize that He already knows what we need before as ask, that He’s already promised to work all things together for the good, and that He’s told us nothing can separate us from His love.)

If you’re struggling to find the words…

… or if you FIND the words but then feel like they’re hitting the ceiling and bouncing back to you…

… then listen in.

Prayer is far less about those words and far more about the living relationship.

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Download the free eBook at www.Jenkins.tv/R 

Or, purchase the “old” version of the paperback here for just $5 = www.Jenkins.tv/redemption5 

Sure, you can grab the updated (new cover) version if you prefer: https://www.thehilltop.shop/product-page/redemption 

ometimes it’s not what you say, it’s what you do…

And that’s especially true when you live through something. When you exhibit a hope that defies that odds, a disposition that makes no (human and logical) sense yet seems steady, people take notice.

And that’s a better explanation of your faith than the words you can spout from a book theology or even recite from Scripture.

Sure, the words help. But they merely explain what’s already true— and what’s seen— your living faith.

⭐️

Over a decade ago a staff member at the nonprofit where I was working got shot.

From just a few feet away.

And he was hit.

I asked him to share the stage with me as we explained this concept one evening— about hope amidst trying circumstances, demonstrating how it opens doors that were once closed, and how people’s hearts connect in those tough trenches in ways they don’t in other moments.

⭐️

1 Peter 3:15 tells us, “Always be able to give an answer for the hope that is in you…”

Hebrews 12:2 tell us that Jesus endured the Cross, all while “despising its shame” because of the “joy that was set before Him.”

These verses don’t suggest tough things never happen. In fact, they acknowledge and affirm the opposite.

Stuff hits the fan.

And when it does, it reveals the kind of shovel you have in your hand.

And that has everything to do with faith…

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Download the free eBook at www.Jenkins.tv/R 

Or, purchase the “old” version of the paperback here for just $5 = www.Jenkins.tv/redemption5 

Sure, you can grab the updated (new cover) version if you prefer: https://www.thehilltop.shop/product-page/redemption 

We’re always looking for the next big thing, it seems— a project, a place, or even a person that will help grant us our identity and value.

But the “big,” Biblically speaking, often comes through the small.

In fact, the extraordinary— and supernatural— often breaks through the moments of ordinary and natural.

In the Old Testament we meet King David, the man who established Israel as a dynasty.

But before he was the king, he was the shepherd boy.

And it was during that season he did the one thing he’s perhaps the most famous four. He slayed Goliath.

Here’s what’s interesting about that story, though. David didn’t go looking for a fight. In fact, he was going to deliver bread and cheese to his brothers, to make sure they— the “real” soldiers— had enough food and supplies.

It was amidst the minutia of doing THAT task that the door opened to something massive, something that propelled him to centerstage.

Think about it.

The big moment— or breakthrough— you’re looking for may not come through a big platform or stage or any other thing.

It may— and most often does— come through faithfulness where you are, by doing the SMALL thing you’ve been entrusted to do.

And by doing it well.

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Download the free eBook at www.Jenkins.tv/R 

Or, purchase the “old” version of the paperback here for just $5 = www.Jenkins.tv/redemption5 

Sure, you can grab the updated (new cover) version if you prefer: https://www.thehilltop.shop/product-page/redemption 

Last week, I shared the first talk from a small group I co-led over a decade ago. This week, let’s continue…

The second week of the “Simple Christianity” series at the Birmingham Dream Center (during our small group that ran from January 2011 through August 2011), we talked about this reality:

Faith is more about LIFE TRANSFORMATION than it is amassing INTELLECTUAL INFORMATION.

That sounds like a no-brainer, I know.

🤷‍♂️

But how many times have you heard people say they’re leaving one church for another because “I’m not being fed” at my old church?

What do they mean by that?

Quite simply, I wish the pastor was teaching information at what that person seems to be a mentally superior level than what they’ve heard.

Here’s another example:

How many times have you thought that you were disconnected from God because you hadn’t read enough pages of the Bible or didn’t complete a certain checklist of action items (generally something to do with a book study)?

🤷‍♂️

I’m not against “meaty” sermons or Bible reading or book studies. In fact, we could probably all use MORE of each of them.

But those aren’t the measures God uses when evaluating our spiritual growth.

And, they’re not the measures we should use, either.

🤷‍♂️

Here’s what I think: Jesus prefers to be encountered, not merely explained.

Or, to say it another way: God prefers you…

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Download the free eBook at www.Jenkins.tv/R 

Or, purchase the “old” version of the paperback here for just $5 = www.Jenkins.tv/redemption5 

Sure, you can grab the updated (new cover) version if you prefer: https://www.thehilltop.shop/product-page/redemption 

11 years ago I co-led a small group at the Birmingham Dream Center with three friends. It began small, but then grew…

… and continued growing.

In fact, within two months, we had 100 people attending our “small group.” Then, three months later, there were over 250.

Here’s what makes it all the more strange…

We held the group in the middle of the inner city (in an area that, particularly at that time, wasn’t known for being safe).

At night.

And it grew throughout the summer.

🤩

The first few weeks we talked about the Cross— about everything Jesus achieved for us. I remember it well, because this was the season when I received an overdose of grace myself, effectively teaching in real time what I was receiving myself.

(The result of those 6 weeks studying the Cross became the book Redemption which you can download free below— or, purchase the paperback at full price— or the previous edition for just $5.)

We baptized dozens of those attenders, that Spring, outside of the renovated fire station.

We even gave them t-shirts with a special design that one of our co-leaders (my friend Rob, who led music for these gatherings each week) created.

💦

What was the secret sauce?

I dunno.

Some people think it was because we fed everyone.

We initially fired-up the grill every Tuesday around 5pm. We fed everyone and started our group at 6:15.

In other words, we didn’t make people “sit through a Bible study” in order to eat. They were free to eat and leave. Or grab food and take it to family, grandparents, neighbors… anyone they thought needed it.

Others point to other factors.

My thought is this:

From the beginning, the four of us who launched the group agreed on two criteria: Jesus has to be elevated, and the event has to be fun. Both were important.

And, it was…

(In fact, the only thing that could kill it was a church— which is precisely what happened. But that’s a different story for a completely other time and place.)

😁

After the first teaching series on the Cross, our team decided we needed to NOW teach people how to walk out their faith— many of them were new to this thing called Christianity.

So, we taught them THIS talk, as well as the next few I’ll share.

I’ll be honest: I haven’t reviewed these 5 recordings in YEARS. In fact, they’re a DECADE old.

But, as I was looking back, I thought, “I think it’s time to share these…”

👉 This was a season when I was overwhelmed by grace

👉 This was a season when I think I learned to teach complex things in simple ways

👉 This was a season that, despite the stress and strain of other factors outside my control, I had a great time doing the work of ministry

And, even if it was for just a short chapter, one I believed— and still do— closed all too soon, it was STILL an amazing ride.

In the words of The Cat in the Hat, “Don’t be sad it ended, be glad it ever happened at all.”

💙

The first message of this introduces the basic idea that YOU AND I HAVE STRUGGLED. Things haven’t always gone our way.

To that, Jesus comes and simply beckons, “Just let me in your boat.”

That is, “Invite me into whatever space you think I can’t to something about.”

For Peter, it was a fishing debacle (see Luke 5). For you and me, it could be family or finance or fitness or friends or any other thing.

Then, after letting Him in, He challenges us with something like this: “Trust Me with something small, something tangible. An action that may not make sense but you clearly know is from Me. And let’s just see what happens.”

🤔

Listen in.

This talk took me back to so many solid memories, all while encouraging me in the here and now, too.

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Be sure to grab the free eBook at www.Jenkins.tv/R 

Or, purchase the “old” version of the paperback here for just $5 = www.Jenkins.tv/redemption5 

Sure, you can grab the updated (new cover) version if you prefer: https://www.thehilltop.shop/product-page/redemption