Top 5 Posts of 2011 #2: when life doesn’t go according to plan

When Life doesn’t go According to Plan

Sometimes when you’re preparing to teach it has more to do with what God wants to do in you, than what He wants to do through you. This past week I had planned on diving into a teaching series about the life of Joseph. But instead of teaching about it, I find myself living it. Life just hasn’t necessarily gone according to plan this week. So maybe the teaching series will have to wait a little bit. But until then, here’s some of the stuff I’m living in the moment.

Is God being with me dependent upon my circumstances? For many of us I think our faith in God hinges upon the circumstances we find ourselves in. If our life is going good then God is good. But if our lives are in turmoil then God must be mad at us or absent.

But what if we’re wrong? What if the Bible is true? That God will never leave you or forsake you. That He’s an ever-present help in times of trouble. That He loves you. That He works all things, the good and the bad, together for the good of those who love Him. That there is nowhere you or I can run to that He’s not there in the thick of it with us. What if God really does have a greater story that He is writing and the plot is thicker than the one moment we find ourselves in right now? What if it’s just not about the circumstances that we happen to find ourselves in today, what if there is something bigger going on?

Below are just a few transferable principles that we can learn from Joseph’s life. (*To read Joseph’s story for yourself, check out Genesis 37, 39-47)

Posted in Family, Leadership, Spiritual Formation, Staffing

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Stupid Things Christians Say

A year ago my family moved to the Metro Atlanta area. We hadn’t lived in the house for 15 minutes before we met our new next door neighbors, the Abbate Family. We would quickly learn about the loss of their son Luke, who was a sophmore at Harrison High School when he passed away 5 years ago as the result of being a passenger in tragic car wreck.

Before moving to Atlanta, we spent the previous year walking with some dear friends as their 5 year old daughter battled for her life against cancer. In fact I have previously blogged about the ongoing story of Kate McRae and her family.

More recently my family has been going through our own little mini-crisis, as out of the blue we discovered that we were going to be transitioning and have been looking for new job. Hardly comparable to the thought of potentially losing one of my children.

Through all of these moments and more what has amazed me is how inept so many Christians seem to be at expressing real heartfelt love and concern. I mean of all people who should know how to walk with and care for the hurting and the suffering it should be Christians right? I’m not saying they don’t care. And I’m not saying there haven’t been moments of genuine and at times even extravagant expressions of love poured out. But the reality is a sad majority of Christians honestly just don’t know what to do when others around them are going through crisis, and so they do nothing. Or worse they say something stupid. Here are my top 5:

Posted in Family, Leadership, Spiritual Formation

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Hope

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Check out this teaser for a new series beginning this weekend at Sun Valley Community Church! We are all hoping for something at Christmas. As a child we hoped for that special gift… As adults we have bigger hopes and dreams… We all want purpose, peace and the promise of something better. So what are you hoping for THIS Christmas? Join us for a new series starting December 3rd & 4th on all three campuses Gilbert, Tempe, or Casa Grande! Get all the service time and location info on the campus that is closest to you here

Posted in Creative Arts, Spiritual Formation

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Thankful or Entitled?

Monday, November 28, 2011

Am I the only one who thinks it’s ironic that on one day we’re focusing on how thankful we are for everything we’ve been blessed with, and then less than 24 hrs later we’re fighting the crowds on Black Friday to get everything we don’t have that we want? This weekend we discussed the difference that Thanksgiving makes in our lives…and the difference is HUGE! You can check out the talk that I gave this weekend at the Sun Valley Gilbert Campus here, hope you find it encouraging!

Posted in Creative Arts, Spiritual Formation

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What are you hiding from?

Monday, October 17, 2011

It’s one thing when you’re stuck in the airport, in the wrong checkout line, or traffic; but it’s a completely other thing when your kids start making decisions that don’t reflect the values of your family and those decisions are leading them on a path towards an impending trainwreck. When that moment comes and you don’t know what to do next…your stuck in your parenting. When you get married and you think you’ve met Mr. or Mrs. Right and your headed towards eternal maritial bliss only to find out that their breath smells bad in the morning too, all of the sudden this marriage isn’t what you thought it was going to be…your stuck in your marriage. People are stuck in their singleness, their finances, in their carreers, even in their relationship with God. This past weekend we landed a series that we’ve been working through at Sun Valley called “Momentum.” In it we’ve been unpacking the life of Moses and the story of the Exodus…having a conversation about what to do when you feel stuck in life. Here’s the talk that I gave this weekend to land the series, hope you find it encouraging!