Set Your Mind Above

Send us Fan Mail

The spiders are terrible this year, it seems like everytime I turn around outside or inside there is one there. Well today it turned out that the kids got a show put on for them. They got to watch a jumping spider pounce on a stink bug that was on the outside of the window. It never saw it coming, it was a sudden aggresive attack. Well...Satan works this same way often in our lives. Sometimes it's not a lie we believe, but a bold faced sudden attack where we least expect it. Are we on guard? Are we ready and able to withstand him always? 

#SetYourMindAbovePodcast

Send us Fan Mail

Last night we were under a tornado warning, not a watch, a warning as the storm came closing in on us. As the sirens blared, I was thankful to be downstairs in the cement walled basement of our house of worship as we were attending midweek classes.  As I stayed up late tracking the storm, I found myself thinking how we desperately need a storm shelter in the future as a part of our home. Well...where do we turn to in our lives for shelter? Often people turn to the wrong things, and end up making things worse. I think about David, who despite the chaos around him, always found peace and refuge in the Lord our God. 

#SetYourMindAbovePodcast

Send us Fan Mail

I was given a suggested artist to listen to today, but as soon as he started singing I recognized his voice as the lead singer of another band. Apparently this was his solo work, completely separate from his work with the band he started with. Lot's of mucisians do this, becauase there is more freedom as a solo artist & those lines are not blured between individual efforts & the bands mission. Well...the same goes for the church as a collective local body and the individuals who are a part of them. There needs to be a separation of church and saint, not bluring the lines of the mission of the church and what we have the freedoms to do as individuals. 

#SetYourMindAbovePodcast

Send us Fan Mail

Maybe it happened to you just like it did to me yesterday. You picked up your phone to open Facebook or Instagram...and nothing worked. In a rare, still unexplained event, these social media platforms went down globally! But you know what? For one whole day, no one was fighting with each other on Facebook. Well...whether it's up and running or not, Christians are called not to be quarrelsome. We are to distance ourselves from foolish, ingorant controversies. I think we all must strive to do better with how we engage on social media. 

#SetYourMindAbovePodcast

Send us Fan Mail

I was so pleased to see the Hub Coffee Shop here in Danville partnering with a local organization to raise awareness for having good mental health. In addition to free coffee, as you walked in you were able to put a note up telling others what helped to bring you good mental health. To quote the Hub, "Your mental health is just as important as your physical." Well...so is your spiritual health, above all. Jesus grew in every way - in wisdom (intillectual), in stature (physical) and in favor with God (spiritual) and man (social). We must strive to not neglect any of these - because when we do, they all impact one another. 

#SetYourMindAbovePodcast

Send us Fan Mail

Over the past week we have seen countless instances where other people here that are a part of our church family have shown tremendous love to our children. When others love our kids, it makes us feel so loved ourselves. And that's the way it should be - would anyone beleive you if you said you loved them but hurt their children? Well...don't you think God feels the same way? How can we claim to love God while we treat one another with hatred, malice, and contempt? The greatest commandments are these: love God and love people. You cannot do one without the other. 

#SetYourMindAbovePodcast

Send us Fan Mail

I spent the day building cabinets again, which I found very rewarding. At the end of the day, we got to sit back and see all that we had accomplished over a few days. Instead of boxes stacked on boxes, there were dozens of cabinets we had constructed and worked hard to build. It's nice to work hard on something and see immediate results. Well...in our Kingdom work, it doesn't always go that way. Fruit is not born in a day, either in others or ourselves. Sometimes you work hard, but do not get to see the fruit of your labor immediately or even at all. Be patient, stick at it, and know God is working through you and on you through it all. 

#SetYourMindAbovePodcast

Send us Fan Mail

Is there such thing as too much of a good thing? I found out today that certain is the case. We were putting together cabinets at the Leber's new home and I was supposed to lay down a thin layer of wood glue in the grooves before fastening the cabinets together. Well, I wen't a little overboard and made a huge mess. Less is more when it comes to glue. Well...self-control is not just about learning to stay away from bad things, but learning to limit the good things. Food is a good thing, but too much is a sin called gluttony. Alcohol has great medicinal benefits to the body, but too much is a sin called drunkenness. Rest is a good thing, but too much leads to slothfulness. Too much of a good thing really is not good at all. 

#SetYourMindAbovePodcast

Send us Fan Mail

I had the pleasure today of sitting down with Earl & Lu Adams, long time members of our congregation. They were married at the age of 21 - and are now in their mid 90s. They have been married for 75 years, which is the second longest marriage I have ever known! How have they made it work? Well...marriage from the beginning was designed by God to be one man and one woman for life. God joins two together in a marriage in such a way that they are never to separate. Divorce is man's invention. Lifelong commitment to your covenant is God's design. 

#SetYourMindAbovePodcast

Send us Fan Mail

Fall is here! The weather was well under 70 degrees, and I've broken out my flannel and sweatshirts. I love fall and winter, they are my favorite seasons. No matter what your favorite is, you can bank on the fact that seasons will always change. Can you imagine if things that don't change suddenly did though? Such as the force of gravity? Or the freezing point? It would result in chaos. Well...God does not change, and for that we should be grateful. If his promises changed, if our hope changed, all would be chaos. As it is, though he brings change to this world, he remains unchanged in his love, mercy, and grace forevermore. 

#SetYourMindAbovePodcast