Recognize the Change

Look, I am about to do something new. Now it begins to happen! Do you not recognize it? Yes, I will make a road in the desert and paths in the wilderness.

Isaiah 43:19 (NET)

I can't tell you how many times in my life that I thought that I was so comfortable that I didn't want to change anything, my house, my job, my church, you know that if something changed, life wouldn't be as good as it is right now. You probably don't think this now, but that kind of thinking will get you stale and burned out. God will continue to make changes in your life so that you will grow and grow and grow to be more like Him and what He wants you to be. The key is recognizing when God is trying to make a change. For example, I had a band in North Dakota called Atone, and we were doing pretty good. Then suddenly I lost passion for my band. Now I could've done one of two things, continued on with my band...without passion...and it would have become a curse rather than the blessing that it had been. Or I could've recognized that God was getting me ready to make a change. I had enough experience with Him at that point in my life to know that He was getting me ready for a change, so instead of fighting Him, I chose to go with His flow. Five months later my house was up for sale and I was moving to Atlanta. We never know when God is going to start getting us ready to make a change in our lives, but we must always be ready and willing to go with His flow. To tell Him "no, I like it this way" will keep you in the same place...forever...with out any growth, and eventually what you are doing will become stale and a curse instead of a blessing.


Take Away...
Don't be so comfortable in life that you won't recognize when God is getting ready to make a change in your life. Be ready AND willing to make that change when you see it happening.

Worship Song of the Week...

Touch the Sky by Hillsong

Racing, Confusing and Rest

Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Matthew 11:29 (NET)

I know I've talked about this before,but apparently I need to hear it again, and if I need to hear it again, some of you probably do, especially since we are approaching the holiday season which means dinner engagements, Christmas parties, New Years Eve gatherings, family to see, etc. Life just gets much much busier in December and you still have your normal routine to do each day as well. For Tammy and I, it is just not additional things to do along with our normal routine, but we are getting ready to start a church in January. So as you can imagine, my mind has been racing, and over the past few days it has been racing faster and faster. And as my mind has raced faster and faster, the sleep has become less and less, my mind is going in about a thousand different directions, all at the same time...yada yada yada CONFUSION! Jesus finally said, "Kent, stop it. Your mind is racing so much that now you have a hard time hearing My voice. You need to just stop...and rest in me." I then got this picture of Jesus sitting down, having a cup of coffee and just relaxing. Jesus wants to take all of our burdens, all of the "junk" we are going through so that we can rest in Him. That's what it means to rest in Him...give Him all your "stuff" you are mulling around in your mind thereby getting more and more confused and stressed...just give it to Him...and then rest! This means once you handyour "stuff" over to Him, you don't think about it any more, you don't try to make things happen so that you can accomplish a goal that you most likely set for yourself, you just stop, sit and rest trusting in Him that He is taking care of it. This is different than being passive or ignoring things. How? If you are passive about something or ignoring something, then it is still not being taken care of and the "thing" is still there when you are done resting, and honestly you aren't really resting. But when you give it to Jesus, He is taking care of it while you are resting so that when you are done resting, He has taken care of it! 

Take Away: instead of allowing your mind to race, thinking on how to take care of a hundred things at one time, give it to Him...and then rest!

Worship Song of the Week...

Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) by Hillsong

Do It Scared

Now may the God of peace who by the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep, our Lord Jesus Christ, equip you with every good thing to do his will...

Hebrews 13:20-21

Okay, so you are sitting comfortable where you are, you have a nice home, good job, you play on the worship team at church, great friends around you, an incredible wife...life is good and comfortable. Then God says, "okay, its time to make a change, you are going to start a church." What is your first reaction? Is it, "oh, that can't be God, that must be the devil!" Is it, "that's impossible God, I don't have any of the skills to do that," or "right God, stop joking, You know I have a hard to speaking to my co-workers much less speaking to a group of people." Kind of sounds like Moses when God called Him out to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, but Moses finally said yes...and the rest is history. God doesn't care about your ability, He doesn't care if you have this degree or that degree, He doesn't care if you have experience in a particular area, what He is looking for is someone who will say "God, whatever it is You are asking me to do, I'll do it!" According to Hebrews, God will give you what you need to accomplish His will, all you have to do is have faith that He will do it, and then step out in faith as He directs you. If you are scared to do it, like I was, then do it scared. If God is telling you to do something, He will not tell you to do it just to have you fall flat on your face. He is telling you because He wants to accomplish His will through you...and that is an awesome thing!

Take Away...when God calls you to step out into something that is totally out of your comfort zone, respond to God with "God, I know I don't have the skills to do what You are calling me to do and I am a little scared, but You are God and You are so much bigger than me, so lets do it, even if I have to do it scared Lord, let go!"

Worship Song of the Week...

Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) by Hillsong

The Next Place

For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, but when what is perfect comes, the partial will be set aside.

1 Corinthians 13:9-10

Many years ago I was in a band called Atone and I thought that was my final calling. I could've bet my house on that at the time! But during those Atone years, God told me that Atone would be a small part of something very big in my life. Well, a lot of water has passed under that proverbial bridge, and looking back on the last 25 years, I can definitely see how my band was a small part of what God was calling me to. Sometimes we think that what we are doing now is it, its the final, its the "I've made it," but we are only seeing what is here and now. We are not seeing the big picture, and by doing so, we are limiting ourselves. What I mean by that is that when you are doing something that you think is the final call, your final ministry or whatever, and then God says, "okay, now lets move on to something different," we risk either not hearing His voice or we say "that can't be God, because what I am doing now is 'it'." You've got to take what you are doing now, enjoy that time, learn what you can during that time, and at the same time keep your mind open to hear where He is going to take you next...because He WILL take you to the next place, there's no question about that! You are never at your final ministry or calling, there is always "the next place" He wants to take you to!

Take Away: enjoy where you are at, but don't think it is "it." Be open and ready to move when God says, "okay, here is where we are going next."

Worship Song of the Week...

Oceans (where feet may fail) by Hillsong

What's It To You

Jesus replied, “If I want him to live until I come back,what concern is that of yours? You follow me!”

John 21:21

Have you ever prayed for something, and you have been praying and praying, and then one of your friends calls you up and says that he just got what you have been praying for? When I was a lot younger I prayed and prayed and prayed for a new car. I told God this is the type of car I want, a blue Monte Carlo SS.  I can't tell you how long I prayed for that car. Then out of the blue, a friend of mine called me up and said "you got to come over and see my new car." Yep, you guessed it, it was the car I had been praying for. Of course I said the Christian thing..."well praise God, God is certainly blessing you, that is awesome." But what I really wanted to say was "God!!!! That was suppose to be my car, not his!" After I had my little tantrum, God said "Me blessing him has nothing to do with you, its not about you Kent, its all about Me and Me wanting to bless him." After that sunk in, I realize how I was "me" centered and all concerned about me and me getting the blessing and making me happy...me Me ME! We don't see the big picture, but God does. We don't know the steps someone else has been walking, but God does. So when God does something in someone's life, it has nothing to do with us, it has everything to do with God blessing someone other than us. And if we get angry or upset or frustrated with God (or even the person that is getting blessed), that should be a red flag going up that something inside of us needs to be worked on. If that happens, you need to go to God and confess to Him your anger and frustration and ask Him to show you why you reacted that way. God doesn't bless someone else to make you angry, or to say ha ha, look what I did for someone and not you. That is not how God operates. He operates in love and He wants the best for everyone.

Take Away...don't be concerned with how God is blessing someone else because it has nothing to do with you. Be happy for the person and at the same time keep God as your focus.

Worship Song of the Week

Here With You by Hillsong

Second Chances

The Lord said to Jonah a second time

Jonah 3:1 (NET)

At this point in the story of Jonah, God had already told Jonah to go to Nineveh, but he refused, was swallowed by the fish, repented and the fish threw him up on the beach. Now we are at Jonah 3:1 where God tells Jonah...AGAIN...to go to Nineveh. I remember something similar to this when I was disobedient to God when I was in Orlando staying at a hotel. There was this guy at the concierge that drew my attention. On one evening I was sitting down in my room getting ready to watch TV and God said, "Go down and talk to that guy." I said, "but God, my favorite TV show is coming on in a few minutes." This went back and forth several times. Finally I said, "God, I know you are not going to give up, so I'm going to go down and talk to him." The end result was that this guy had just graduated from Bible college was going through a really rough time in his life, in fact he was going through what I had just been through. I was able to share how God brought me through it. When God tells us to do something, and we don't do it, that is disobedience, and there are consequences to that. In Jonah's case he was swallowed by a fish. Well I can't say I was swallowed by a fish, but my disobedience did produce a consequence. But did you notice in Jonah 3:1, God gave Jonah a second chance. God is a god of second, third, fourth, etc chances. If you think you have failed Him because you were disobedient and didn't do what He asked, God WILL give you another chance. His plan is still His plan, just because you were disobedient doesn't mean His plan has changed. His plan is still the same, what you need to do is repent of your disobedience and get on board with what He is telling you to do.

Take Away: God is a god of many chances. Don't despair and think you missed it because you said no the first, second, third, umteen times...repent and jump on board with His plan!

Worship Song of the Week...

Here With You by Hillsong 

What Are You Thinking?

We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.

2 Corinthians 10:5

Ever get thoughts inside your mind and wonder "where did that come from?" And you passively dismiss it. But it comes again, and then again and again until its at the front of just about everything you are thinking about? We need to be mindful of what these thoughts are because thoughts will eventually lead into action. Thats why the Apostle Paul said we need to take every thought we have and take it to Jesus. Whatever we are thinking about, we need to see if it lines up with the word of God. Thats why it is so important to know the word, to know God, to know Jesus, because when you do, you know if that thought is from God or not. If the thought is from God, then you should continue to think about it, pray about it, and see what God wants to do with it. However, if the thought you are thinking does not line up with God, then you need to dismiss it immediately, and don't do it nonchalantly. You need to be purposeful in dismissing that thought. For example, say you're heading to a meeting and you are already late, then on your way you are hitting every red traffic light. Then these thoughts start coming "you're going to miss the meeting, you're not really that important so they wont wait on you, why don't you just go home 'cause you're already late" and so on and so on. Now you have a choice, you could continue to think those thoughts while you sit in traffic and allow them to produce either frustration, anger, and eventually the act of going home and missing the meeting. OR you could say "No! I am not going to listen to these thoughts. My God says that ALL things work out for good for those who love Him, so bless God I am going to the meeting even if I am there for the last 5 minutes!" Never be passive about thoughts, take them to Jesus!

Take Away...thoughts will eventually produce action. Make sure you take every thought to Jesus, and if it is not from God, then rebuke it with His word.

Worship Song of the Week

Here With You by Hillsong

Moving Forward

In fact, if they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.

Hebrews 11:15 (NET)

Changes happen every day of our lives, some are pretty small and we don't even notice them. But then there are the big changes, like a change of jobs, a change of location, a change of church, a change in the family dynamics...ie getting married or a death in the family. If we don't embrace these changes and we continue to live in the past, we will get stuck in the past and won't be able to make the right decisions that God wants us to make so that we can move forward in our lives. I had a good position with my job in Bismarck, North Dakota for many years, I had many friends, a band that was just beginning to be successful, suffice to say I had a lot going for me there. Then God said I want you to move. Now I could have said God, my band is just beginning to get successful and NOW you want me to move, and God, don't you know I have friends up here that I love and care about, don't you see this!!!!! Honestly there may have been a time or two I not only thought that, but may have said it as well. But in the end, I chose to trust God, stop thinking about how good things are where I am, and said, "God, where do you want me to go?" In just a few months, I was moving to Atlanta, Georgia. Now if I had chose to continue to think about how great things were where I was, I would never have moved to Atlanta, I would never have learned all that I learned that God wanted me to learn, and I would never be where I am at now so that God can move me to where He wants me to be. God is not stupid, in fact it is us who are short sighted. We see only whats going on around us, where God see the entire picture. We've got to trust Him to the point that when He wants to move us into a new job, new location, new this, new that, we've got to say, "I know where I am it is nice, but God, I choose what You are getting ready to do in my life, lets go!"

Take Away...when you hear God saying its time to make a change, embrace that change and move forward. Its okay to remember the past with fond memories, but its not okay to live in the past with fond memories...that will keep you from moving forward.

Worship Song of the Week...

The Other Person

Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself.

Philippians 2:3 (NET)

Today's culture sure has changed over the very recent years. Some might say this change has been taking place for a few decades, but we are really just seeing the manifestation of what has been happening over the years. We are living in a culture that is focused on ME, what is good for ME, how are you going to make ME happy, what can you do for ME, how is this going to affect ME...ME, ME, ME! God showed Joyce Meyers that we look like little robots going around saying "what about me, what about me, what about me." Even the commercials we see on television support the "what about me" society. This whole way of thinking is contrary to the way God wants us to think. He does not want us to think about ourselves, but of the other person. Yes, we have needs and wants, but He already said He would take care of them (Philippians 4:19), so why do I have to go around and be concerned about me when God already said He would take care of me? He wants us to be concerned for the other person, our friends, our colleagues at work, the person behind the counter processing your order, the person on the other end of the phone when a telemarketer calls (I know I just struck a nerve there), the policeman who is placing his life on the line for you...we are to be concern with them and in addition treat them as more important than yourself. I'll say it again, we are to treat others as more important than ourself! Yep, this is a total contradiction to our current culture, but if we want to see changes in our lives, we have got to get rid of our selfishness and focus on what God wants, and He wants us to treat others as more important than ourself. 

Take Away: when you encounter someone, anyone, the person behind the cash register at Walmart, the driver in front of you, your best friend, your spouse, your pastor...make a change and start thinking of them as more important than yourself. 

Worship Song of the Week...

Here Now by Hillsong

Decisions with Many Options

Direct my steps by your word!
Do not let any sin dominate me!

Psalm 119:133 (NET)

Several times over my life I've had to make some major decisions, which I'm sure all of you have had to do the same thing. Sometimes the decisions are easy, but others, well, not so easy. It seems that I have more of those type of decisions to make than the easy ones. When I have to make a difficult decision, I hear in my mind about every option possible as to what to decision to make. I will think about it during the day, and man, what a distraction, eh? Then just when I'm laying down to go to bed, my head hits the pillow and then every possible scenario plays in my mind over and over and over...and the next thing I know, 3 hours have passed by and I now have only 3 hours before I have to wake up. One thing I have learned is that God is always there, wanting to direct me in the right path. King David even told God to direct his steps by His word. That is what we need to do in those situations. We need to stop what we are doing, tell God "God, I am driving myself crazy trying to figure out what to do, I need You to guide me!" Then you stop thinking! Yes, you stop thinking and start letting God guide you, and you know how He does this? By guiding you by His word, which says "the peace of God will guard your heart "(Philippians 4:7). When I have to make a decision and there are many options to choose from, I ask God to guide me down the right path. Then I wait for the proverbial "dust to settle" and for me, that can be anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks. The decision that brings peace over me is the decision that God is wanting me to make. We can't make decisions when our emotions are all over the place. We've got to settle down and allow God's peace to direct us.

Take Away: don't make rash decisions, allow the dust to settle and follow the peace of God. 

Worship Song of the Week

Take a Moment by Will Reagan

Its All About Him

But above all pursue his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Matthew 6:33

When Jesus said "above all," He didn't mean only when it is convenient. He also didn't mean above most or a few things. He said above ALL things. All things is everything, all things is ALL things. We all have wants and desires. We all have what we think are needs and stuff that we think we have to have. But Jesus negated all of those wants and needs by saying pursue Him. "But Kent, you don't know whats going on in my life, I have things that have to get done, I have to pay my mortgage, put food on the table, take the kids to soccer practice. I have this and that." You know, we must think God is stupid. We must think that God doesn't now whats going on in our lives. You say, "How dare He say seek Him first, doesn't He know all the things I have to deal with." In the verses preceding verse 33, Jesus is telling us that He knows all our needs, He is fully aware of whats going on in our lives. That's why in verse 33 He says if you pursue Jesus (His kingdom), all those things, the needs and etc will be given to you...but you MUST pursue Him first! When you do that, the way He fulfills your needs is so much better than if you do it yourself...AND there is no worry and stress involved in it. To pursue Jesus and His kingdom is to pursue everything that Jesus is. That means you pursue joy, peace, patience, kindness, and you put down your selfish desires. It means that when someone wrongs you, you don't turn around and wrong them. It means that when someone is rude to you, you show them love. It means that when you see someone who is in need of something, you go over and help them and not turn and look the other way. This is pursuing Him and His kingdom!

Take Away...if you will seek Jesus first in your life and put down your wants and needs, He will take care of everything! Start pursuing Him today, let it be a day that is all about Jesus and not about you!

Worship Song of the Week...

Take A Moment by Will Reagon

What Do You Really Believe?

For she kept saying to herself, “If only I touch his cloak, I will be healed.”

Matthew 9:21

What do you really believe about Jesus? If your back was against the wall, what would you believe that God could do to help you? If you were facing a giant of a problem, what would be your response to God? I think we would all like to think that we would say "God, You're awesome! God, You're almighty! God, You can do anything!" But what would our actions be right after we said that? The woman who had been bleeding for years believed that Jesus could heal her. She had absolutely no doubt about this, and she believed that Jesus could heal her so much that she thought that if only she'd touch His clothes, that would be enough for Him to heal her. I have faced many giants in my life, many brick walls, obstacles if you will, that seemed to just swallow me up if I let them. I have to admit there were times I would look at a situation in front of me and say, God I know You are almighty, but I just can't do this! Then, when I would find myself right back at that situation (and that will always happen), I would call out to God again and say "God, I know this situation is bigger than I am. I know this situation goes well beyond what I can do, but I know You are bigger than anything. You are the One Who parted the Red Sea, You are the One Who brought down the walls of Jericho, You are the One Who raised Jesus from the dead, and if you can do all of those things and more, then you can bring down this wall thats in front of me." Sometimes it took many times saying that, but I did not give up, I kept at it and in the end, God WAS and IS almighty! We think that if we don't get the result we want right away, that God wasn't there helping us. In reality He was, it is just that He knew where our faith was, it was us who just didn't know...but we found out!

Take Away: what you do, your actions, will reveal where your faith is. If you find you are lacking in faith, ask God to strengthen your faith, ask Him to reveal more of Himself to you. If you ask, He will respond!

Worship Song of the Week...

Take a Moment by Will Reagan

God is Holy, really?

but, like the Holy One who called you, become holy yourselves in all of your conduct

1 Peter 1:15

We sing it, we repeat, we read it, but in all the singing, repeating and reading, do we really understand what it means when we say God is Holy? I think if we really knew what "God is Holy" means, our whole behavior would change. Each day we go about our business, making decisions, thinking thoughts, acting a certain way, responding to situations without giving one thought to God being Holy. What does "God being Holy" mean? It means that He can not stand sin in His presence, it means that He is pure, it means He is perfect in every way. In essence, it means that He demands respect for who He is. Now remember that you are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19), so the Holy One is living inside of you. Knowing this, how are you going to start thinking about what you are thinking about? How are you going to start conducting your life and the way you respond to situations? You're probably saying "Kent, this is a real downer?" Sometimes we need a wake up call because we get complacent about who God is in our lives. We've got to remember we have the Holy One living in us, and that He is Holy. When we really understand this, we will start conducting ourselves in a manner that is in line with the word of God. For example, knowing that the Holy One is living in you and that He is Holy, how are you going to respond the next time someone cuts you off in traffic, or the next time someone is rude to you on the phone, or one of your children has been screaming for the past hour? When we respect God for who He is in our lives, we can start living the life He wants us to live.

Take Away: Knowing that God IS Holy and that He is living in you, you can conduct yourselves in a manner that is in line with the Word of God and living the life that God has for you.

Worship Song of the Week...

Take A Moment by Will Regan

People Can Change

But Ananias replied, “Lord, I have heard from many people about this man, how much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem

Acts 9:13 (NET)

The Apostle Paul, before he was Apostle Paul, was Saul who had a loathing for people that followed Jesus. However on the road to Damascus, Saul had an encounter with Jesus that changed his life forever. In fact after this encounter, he was called Paul and went on to write nearly two thirds of the New Testament. Why am I writing this? Look at what Ananias said to God. Ananias heard about Saul's reputation, but fortunately for Ananias, Ananias believed God could change people. Ananias believed people can change. I hear a lot of people commenting about others that "oh, they'll never change" or "people don't change." Well, if I believed that, then I wouldn't believe in what Jesus could and did do in my own life. Jesus changed me, and if you are reading this, Jesus has changed you as well. So if Jesus can change me and if He can change you, don't you think He can change others? Jesus is STILL changing me, He is renewing my mind, and He is changing my behavior. I am not the same person I was 20 years ago, 10 years ago, even 1 year ago because the changing continues. The same goes for others. Just because someone acted a certain way 10 years ago, 5 years ago, even yesterday, doesn't mean they can't change. Now you can't change that person, no more than I or anyone else can change a person, but God can! Give people the benefit of change and give them a second, third, forth chance. God has given you and I many chances, we need to extend that grace to others.

Take Away: just because someone acted a certain way years ago, believe the God can change them, and then give them another chance!

Worship Song of the Week...

Take a Moment - Will Reagan

The Right Reason

It is dangerous to be concerned with what others think of you, but if you trust the Lord, you are safe.

Proverbs 29:25 (GNT)

It seems I go around this mountain way too many times. I am one of those who had (and sometimes still do have) a performance based behavior. I will get into that mode where I feel that if I do something good or if I look a certain way or I dress a certain way, then people will like me. I've been going to the gym for over 10 years and when I first started I was going for health reasons. Then I started seeing results, I.E. muscle, and I started to like what I was seeing. But somehow, over the course of the 10 years my reasons for going to the gym changed to where I was going because I wanted to grow more muscle BECAUSE I wanted people to be impressed with me. The more muscle I would see, the more I would want to build more muscle, and yes, some people were impressed. But you know, that is not the reason I should go to the gym. In fact if you or I do anything with the purpose to gain the approval or acceptance or respect of others, then we have crossed over into a performance based behavior and into a dangerous area. Why? Because if we do gain their approval and acceptance, then we have to continue whatever we are doing forever in order to maintain their approval and acceptance...and over time that will wear us out. The writer of Proverbs 29:25 knew where we should look for acceptance and approval, and that is the Lord. It doesn't matter what we do, His approval and acceptance is always there and it will never end. I'm not saying to stop doing things, but you should do those things because you want to do them, not because you are trying to impress someone. God is already impressed with you, you don't have to perform for Him to accept you...He already has!

Take Away: Stop trying to gain people's respect and approval. Look to God for your acceptance and approval and Him alone. Ask Him to help you get out of that performance based behavior.

Worship Song of the Week...

End of Days by Hillsong Young and Free