YOU Podcast

There are two types of artists:

No one would pay for a painting from me, not even at a garage sale. There are others, however, who have a reputation for their art. People seek them out and pay them to paint something specific. Michelangelo was one such artist. He was commissioned in 1508 to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. He saw himself as a sculptor, not a painter. Michelangelo’s reputation was such that, even though he had never painted a single fresco, others were confident he could do it. Five hundred years later, we are still in awe of what he painted.

We are to put on display the beautiful work of Christ in our lives. God took our sin-filled lives and made us His masterpiece. The commission we’ve received is to tell others what God has done in our lives and invite them to experience the same transformation. We bring glory to Him when we live out this purpose.”

We have a commission too, and it’s related to a work of art. We are to put on display the beautiful work of Christ in our lives. God took our sin-filled lives and made us His masterpiece. The commission we’ve received is to tell others what God has done in our lives and invite them to experience the same transformation. We bring glory to Him when we live out this purpose.

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If you’re a Baby Boomer, you are a part of what was called “the Me generation.” Boomers were considered narcissistic and self-focused. However, a while back, Time magazine labeled Millennials as the ME ME ME generation.

This self-centered focus Millennials inherited from the earlier generations is prevalent throughout our society. It’s not limited to one generation. We’re seeing this all around us, and what we’re losing in this shift is a focus on the community. We don’t think about others. In the past twenty-five years:

This self-centered focus Millennials inherited from the earlier generations is prevalent throughout our society. It’s not limited to one generation. We’re seeing this all around us, and what we’re losing in this shift is a focus on the community. There’s a greater way to live. When we stop looking to ourselves to make us happy and look to Jesus, life becomes more than about self. It leads us to see others, to love others, and to be involved in their lives.”

There’s a greater way to live. When we stop looking to ourselves to make us happy and look to Jesus, life becomes more than about self. It leads us to see others, to love others, and to be involved in their lives.

The post THRIVE: LIVING ON PURPOSE- Purpose Expressed (YOU-Fall’24, Study 1, Session 5) appeared first on YOU.

In 1901, oil was discovered in Texas, right at the time America would begin craving oil. Prior to this, oil was used chiefly for kerosene lamps. The dawn of the 20th century brought with it the invention of the internal combustion engine. Cars, airplanes, and the neighbor’s kid’s noisy little motorbike soon followed. Suddenly, we had a great need for lots of oil.

A lot of Texans were just seeking out an existence until oil was discovered. Great wealth lay under people’s land in Beaumont, but it wasn’t doing them any good. It wasn’t until a mining engineer named Anthony Lucas drilled a well that sent oil gushing up 1,000 feet in the air. With the oil, came prosperity for so many.

Most of us live our lives like it’s 1900 in Beaumont, Texas. In 1901, oil was discovered in there, but we’re getting by without ever realizing the great potential that resides within us. If you are a follower of Christ, He has placed His Holy Spirit in you. The same God who brought this universe into existence and raised Jesus from the dead is living in You!”

Most of us live our lives like it’s 1900 in Beaumont, Texas. We’re getting by without ever realizing the great potential that resides within us. If you are a follower of Christ, He has placed His Holy Spirit in you. The same God who brought this universe into existence and raised Jesus from the dead is living in You!

The post THRIVE: LIVING ON PURPOSE- Purpose Lived (YOU-Fall’24, Study 1, Session 4) appeared first on YOU.

Paint doesn’t last. It fades. It cracks. It peels. Live in a house long enough, and you will find yourself needing to repaint any exterior wood. I’ve had to do that twice over the years.

When I paint, though, I’m only dealing with one color. Wash the wall, scrape away anything that’s peeling, and slap on a new coat. That process is manageable. However, dealing with hundreds of colors that have faded and been covered with years of grime is something altogether different. Art restoration is a monumental task best not left to people like me. Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper, the fresco painted on a wall at the refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie began to deteriorate shortly after da Vinci put his brushes away. Since its completion in 1498, the painting has undergone seven attempts at restoration, and the last one took twenty years.

Paint doesn’t last. It fades. It cracks. It peels. Live in a house long enough, and you will find yourself needing to repaint any exterior wood. I’ve had to do that twice over the years. We need restoration too. We’ve lost our way, wandered from God, and painted over the abundant life and purpose for which God created with the dull color of self and the grime of sin. No DIY effort will do. We need the Master Restorer.”

We need restoration too. We’ve lost our way, wandered from God, and painted over the abundant life and purpose for which God created with the dull color of self and the grime of sin. No DIY effort will do. We need the Master Restorer.

The post THRIVE: LIVING ON PURPOSE- Purpose Restored (YOU-Fall’24, Study 1, Session 3) appeared first on YOU.

A few years ago, I was given a grand piano. It didn’t cost me anything except the lunch I bought for the men who helped me get it home. While I love to play, I had no intention of playing this piano. A local church wanted it gone because its soundboard was cracked and would no longer stay in tune.

Over the next several months, this grand piano resided in my garage as I slowly worked on it and gave it new life—as a bookcase. With nothing more than another free meal, more men helped me haul this piano bookcase to my office where it resides next to my lamp—which was once a clarinet.

I love my bookcase made from a piano, but there is something far greater I’d rather have done with it. I wish I could’ve played the piano. That’s the purpose for which it was built. It’s the same with us. We’ve lost the purpose for which God created us, but instead of returning to Him to regain that purpose, we settle for something less in our lives—something far less.”

I love my piano bookcase, but there is something far greater I’d rather have done with it. I wish I could’ve played it. That’s the purpose for which it was built. It’s the same with us. We’ve lost the purpose for which God created us, but instead of returning to Him to regain that purpose, we settle for something less in our lives—something far less.

The post THRIVE: LIVING ON PURPOSE- Purpose Abandoned (YOU-Fall’24, Study 1, Session 2) appeared first on YOU.

Life can often feel like a hamster in a wheel.

Do this long enough, and you might gravitate to that one question that’s a perennial favorite among three-year-olds: “Why?” While the kid directs his question to everyone else, as adults, we often ask that question of ourselves. “Why am I doing this? What’s it all for?” You can come to the end of your life with that three-year-old’s “why” still reverberating in your head.

The whirl of the hamster wheel can blur your vision to the fact that your life has purpose, but that purpose is only realized when you look to the One who gave you that purpose. As Solomon discovered, looking anywhere else for your purpose is meaningless.”

The whirl of the hamster wheel can blur your vision to the fact that your life has purpose, but that purpose is only realized when you look to the One who gave you that purpose. As Solomon discovered, looking anywhere else for your purpose is meaningless.

The post THRIVE: LIVING ON PURPOSE- Purpose Questioned (YOU-Fall’24, Study 1, Session 1) appeared first on YOU.

In the song “Evidence”, Josh Baldwin sings about the faithfulness of God. Who, throughout his entire history, has walked beside him in the winter storms, in the spring, in every season of life. In surveying God’s goodness, he asks God to help him remember that in times of weakness and fear, God would still lead him to victory, because God is his strength and always will be. The ultimate evidence of God’s endless faithfulness is the cross and an empty grave, and because of Jesus, all Baldwin’s sins have been rolled away.

In Lamentations 3:22-23, Jeremiah declares, “Because of the Lord’s faithful love, we do not perish, for his mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness!”

Baldwin’s song and Baruch’s story reminds us that God keeps His promise to never leave us, nor abandon us (Heb. 13:5), and even in the difficult seasons of life, God remains faithful. In Lamentations 3:22-23, Jeremiah declares, “Because of the Lord’s faithful love, we do not perish, for his mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness!” The bible also says that “without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Heb. 11:6). Baruch’s story reminds us that a faithful God also rewards faithfulness.

The post MORE THAN A SIDEKICK, Serving Alongside Others: Baruch (YOU-Sum’24, Study 2, Session 6) appeared first on YOU.

He fought his way into the hearts of millions. But some of his most famous moments were not his moves in the ring but his words outside the ring. “Float like a butterfly; sting like a bee. You can’t hit what your eyes can’t see.” “I am the greatest. I said that even before I knew I was. I figured that if I said it enough, I would convince the world that I was really the greatest.” By the 1990’s, Muhammad Ali’s wife was using the term “Greatest of All Time” and shortening it as an acronym, G.O.A.T. Today many people use the term to refer to sports icons and musicians. Some people call themselves, The G.O.A.T.

Today, we accept pride as an ego-booster and confidence-builder. Even trash- talking the opposing team before the game is acceptable and not frowned upon.

The Bible still reminds us that: “Pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall” (Prov. 16:18).”

But the Bible still reminds us that: “Pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall” (Prov. 16:18). Yes, we need a refresher course from Haman that in whatever we do, we should do it with humility.

The post MORE THAN A SIDEKICK, Serving Alongside Others: Haman (YOU-Sum’24, Study 2, Session 5) appeared first on YOU.

African Americans have often felt pressured, not only from their own communities to meet the culture’s expectations of what it means to be Black, but to refute the wider culture’s often negative stereotypes of African Americans, while wrestling with their own unique callings and identities. African Americans are not monolithic. There are various political, social, economic, and religious views that exist among Blacks.

While there is this sense of responsibility to represent our culture positively and accurately, what helps us not to be confined to both color and cultural expectations is being followers of Jesus Christ.

It is being led by both the Spirit and the Scriptures that help us to transcend social expectations, which will often put us at odds within our own culture and the culture at large.”

It is being led by both the Spirit and the Scriptures that help us to transcend social expectations (Ro. 12:1-2), which will often put us at odds within our own culture and the culture at large. There is a song by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, “Order my Steps.” It says, “The world is ever changing, but You are still the same. If You order my steps, I’ll praise your name.” We honor God, not by meeting cultural expectations, but by submitting to the Spirit and ordering our steps in His word (Ps. 119:105).

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Charles Richard Drew (June 3, 1904) is considered by many to be one of the unsung, under-appreciated heroes of history. He was an African American surgeon, researcher, and the first Medical Director of the American Red Cross Blood Services. Drew spoke against the U.S. Navy’s policy of blood separated by race and his groundbreaking plasma research helped save thousands of lives during World War II. Dr. Drew resigned from the Red Cross to teach at Howard University and to train Black students for American Board certification and to become surgeons. He advocated for African American doctors to be admitted into the American Medical Association (AMA) because the AMA had never admitted a Black doctor.

After his premature death in an auto accident, his work and advocacy continued to inspire many, and 18 years after his death, the AMA ended its policy of racial discrimination. Dr. Drew’s research and work is still used today.

Even before he was king, David served with excellence though King Saul, his boss, hated him. Our service may seem menial to some, but to God it really matters.”

Even before he was king, David served with excellence though King Saul, his boss, hated him. Our service may seem menial to some, but to God it really matters.

The post MORE THAN A SIDEKICK, Serving Alongside Others: David (YOU-Sum’24, Study 2, Session 3) appeared first on YOU.