attitude

Friends and Faith

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“Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently.  But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.  Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.  If anyone thinks his is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.  Each one should test his own actions.  Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load.

Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor.  Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked.  A man reaps what he sows.  The one who sows to please the sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.  Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.  Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”

Galatians 6:1-10

(This photo was taken in July of 2014 by my friend Matt while our families were spending time together at a lake place in central Minnesota)

Our Foundation

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“The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.  He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

Psalm 18:2

(This photo was taken while on a mission trip during the summer of 2015 near Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado.)

We All Have A Choice

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We can choose either side of every issue that comes before us in the world…we can use words to tear down others or we can choose to stay focused on the Son.  You have a choice…it comes down to your Attitude…

Attitude

by Charles Swindoll

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.  Attitude, to me, is more important than facts.  It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do.  It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill.  It will make or break a company … a church … a home.  The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.  We cannot change the inevitable.  The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude … I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me, and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you … we are in charge of our Attitudes.”

Peace be with you.

More than feelings…

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Your faith is based on more than just feelings…it is about connecting with the living God.  When we pursue faith based on feelings often times the good feelings go away after something changes for us; so typically we will quit or stop pursuing it because it doesn’t feel good anymore.

When you seek to connect and engage with the presence of God in your life and you continue to grow your faith in that way…you won’t stop when things don’t feel good in life.  In fact you will find yourself seeking your relationship with God in more ways and at more times than you ever have before.  I have found that growth in faith is strongest when I pursue something that makes me a little uncomfortable or is slightly outside of my comfort zone.  It takes courage and a willingness to open yourself up and trust that God who is right by your side will be with you no matter what happens.

“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be people of courage; be strong.  Do everything in love.”

                                                                                                1 Corinthians 16:13-14

I have also learned that to grow in faith it is important to connect with community.  Your community could be a few people that you gather with for a meal on a regular basis or it could be large gathering at worship service.   Maybe your community is in your neighborhood…the important thing is to find your communities of people that can help provide an environment that nurtures faith and walks the journey of faith in life with you.  Jesus said…

“For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”

                                                                                                Matthew 18:20

Your feelings are an important part of who you are, they are just not the only thing involved in developing your faith and relationship with God.  As I have said before we were never promised that life would be easy or free from pain.  Pain and suffering is present in the world because of sin and sin is present because we were promised free will.  In the end your faith and life come back to that…free will.  We have a God that loves us and wants to have a relationship with us…we just have to choose to pursue that relationship on a daily basis…using more than just our feelings.

May God’s peace be with you.

Perspective and Attitude – Mission Trip “The Beginning”

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We have ventured out again on a mission trip with senior high youth…this will be my third year of going on this adventure in faith.  This year is a new city, a new group of kids and some repeat participants.  The starting weekend we spend time “getting started” finalizing and adjusting logistics that can and can’t be controlled to the best of our ability and making our way to our destination.  It takes a shift is perspective and attitude to process through some of these issues.

As questions and issues arise you need to be solution oriented and trust that no matter what God will be holding you through it all.  As always, the opportunity to get away from the day to day concerns and issues of everyday life and just focus on your relationship with God and others gives me such a sense of peace.

The youth and adult leaders that I am blessed to be with on this trip are amazing individuals and I can’t imagine my life before these trips…I never knew what I was missing.  We can look at a situation like a traffic jam, which on an ordinary day would cause frustration and anxiety as we now knew we were going to be arriving late for our schedule but the shift in attitude and perspective the kids took was to make friends with people in the other cars on the road.  They were waving and yelling Hi out the window and few people rolled down the window and chatted with us about where we were going.

A positive attitude and a perspective that we are here to help and serve others in the community that is the way we are trying to live and hopefully we can bring that home with us when we return.

Please pray for us and our journey this week!

Peace be with you.

 

 

 

Let Your Light Shine

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Now is naturally a time to reflect on the past year of things that happened in your life and in the world…it may be a time to be thankful for your blessings of the past and hopeful for the coming New Year.  For some it will be a time to say “I’m glad that year is over, I hope the next one is better!”  What I have learned when I am reflecting on the past or looking towards what lies ahead is my feelings or perspective say quite a bit about my attitude.

If I am ‘I’ focused and only thinking about what happened to ‘Me’ during the year it is easy to get discouraged.  As an example, if someone only thinks about ‘I didn’t get that job I really thought would be great for me’ then sure they will not feel good about that…if they think about things that happened in the days and weeks after not getting that job maybe that would be memories of how a friend or family member said or did something great and unexpected to lift them up.  Or while discussing the rejection with someone a new opportunity presented itself for a job.  It is all about perspective.  If we choose to focus our thoughts on what was wrong, bad or frustrating then we are sure to feel that negative energy in everything.  If we make an effort to find what was right, good or hopeful about a situation then that renewing energy will go with us.

This is true for any situation…I grant you it is not always easy to do and I battle with it myself.  However, we are not meant to do this alone.  Every single person has been blessed with gifts and talents and when they choose to use those blessings the way God intended them to be used they will see and feel the good that surrounds their life.  I recently read the following analogy…

Every individual is a flashlight…if we try to show our light but do not have batteries inside, if we are empty, then we will not work…if we have our batteries inside but they are not being used correctly we will not work, our light will not shine…only when we are filled with good stuff and we use it correctly will our light shine…we need the love from Jesus in our hearts and when we use that gift to make the world better for even one person then our light will shine as God intended it to.

I pray that we all choose to “Let Our Light Shine” today and all throughout the New Year!

Peace and Happy New Year!

An Attitude of Gratitude

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Today is considered the day of giving Thanks.  Everyone has some sort of tradition for this holiday.  Whether it is the place you gather with family and friends, the food you eat or things you do on this day…or all of the above.  Some people will just have “another” day they will go to work…no matter how this day or your weekend is planned try to start a new tradition or continue with this if you already do it…give thanks to God…

Too often we spend hours focusing time and energy on what we don’t have or can’t do and don’t like…make a commitment today…be thankful to God for all he has done for you and your family or friends every day.  Have an attitude of gratitude today and continue it tomorrow and the next day and the next day…too make it easier think of 2-3 things you are thankful for every morning, write it down to help you remember, maybe even pray a prayer of thankfulness and praise.  God loves you and to show you his love he sent his Son into this world…he forgives you for all the sins you have done and he wants an opportunity to show you a new way to live…you just have to choose to believe in him…a great way to start is to look around you in your world where you are and find those things you are thankful for and tell him.

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

                                                                                                                Colossians 3:17

Peace to you and Happy Thanksgiving.

Attitude and Perspective

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The above picture taken by my wife shows four very important people in the history of our country.  They chose some incredible ways to respond to adversity and trouble in the world they lived in.

Today I want to share a poem by Charles Swindoll that sums up everything I could ever share about what everybody should focus their energy on while living in this world…

Attitude

by Charles Swindoll

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company … a church … a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude … I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me, and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you … we are in charge of our Attitudes.”

Indeed…we are all in charge of our Attitude towards every situation in life.  Life is not all about what happens to us…it is all about how we choose to respond to what has occurred in our lives.  How will you choose to respond?

Peace to you and yours.