Christian Life
Finding God’s Love in the Midst of Suffering
I gotta tell you this story. A girl named Cecilia waited to talk to me one night after I finished speaking at a youth convention. She stood with arms crossed, sort of hugging herself like she was cold or afraid. I asked her if she wanted to talk. “I can’t love God,” She blurted out, like it had been welling...
4 Ways to Make Your Time With God More Effective
We all have a desire to leave our mark on this world. We want to our life to count for more than just taking up space on earth. We want families to love us, our friends to be impacted by a heritage and us to be left after our last breath. I'll never forget one of the greatest quotes I...
What Does It Mean to Live a Holy Life?
As an experiment, the great scientist Isaac Newton stared at the image of the Sun reflected in a mirror. The brightness burned into his retina, and he suffered temporary blindness. Even after he hid for three days behind closed shutters, still the bright spot would not fade from his vision. He said - "I used all means to divert...
Saul’s Conversion: Chief of Sinners Saved for You (Acts 9:1-19)
God saves His people from all sorts of things. Their past tells a story of redemption for God's glory that cannot be denied—this was certainly the case for Saul. In this message, Josh helps us see the Story of Saul's conversion in a way that reveals God's purposes for us today. Acts 9:1-19 make it clear that God sovereignly...
Finding Hope When All Else Fails (Acts 6:8-15)
We all long for peace, especially in times of turmoil. When our life is under pressure or upset in someway, we often do whatever we can in our own strength to gain control. In Acts 6:8-15 we see the early church member, Stephen, standing still in the face of death. From this passage, I strive to show how we...
Our Great Reward is God Himself (Acts 7:54-8:3)
Suffering is never something we desire, but to suffer well should be the desire of our heart. In this message we looked at the last seconds of Stephen's life in Acts 7:54-60. We discovered strategies for remaining faithful to God even when faithfulness to God doesn't make sense. Also, as we looked at Saul's persecution of the church, we understood...
6 Questions Every Accountability Partner Should Ask
What would a forest be if it were not packed with trees? Imagine a forest of only 10 trees… 5 trees… 2 trees… That’s not a forest at all. A forest is a good metaphor of what the Christian life is like. We don’t have to stand alone. In fact, God doesn’t want us too. He has even created a...
Honest to God (Sermon)
In this message I share the 6 roadblocks to why we are not honest with God. I believe that if we were totally transparent with God we would experience greater levels of transformation. My college professor once said, "Honesty is not an end in itself, but a means to our own transformation." In this sermon I shared various biblical...
Keeping Less So We Can Have More of Life
One of my new favorite pastimes is to get rid of things. Over the last few decades of life, I have managed to collect boxes of keepsakes, paraphernalia and "I might use that someday..." stuff. I have literally filled my basement with who-knows-what. If we had a flood, I would not be able to tell the insurance adjuster what...
The Beginning of Wisdom (Acts 5:1-11)
God takes our integrity very seriously. In this message we look at the story of Ananias and Sapphira found in Acts 5:1-11. While God was interested in their generosity, he was much more interested in their character. He wanted them to be on His mission and honest in every way. My main walk away was this: When we live in the...
The Secret to a Highly Productive Day
What side of the bed did you wake up on? Mornings are really important to me, so I guess you could say that even if I don’t wake up on the right side of the bed…I get there as soon as possible. I choose to start off the morning well because I have learned that it has a great impact...
How to Love God Even When You Don’t Feel Like It
Transcript: We all have dreams and desires. For example, I would love to travel most of Europe, see the Grand Canyon, Write a best selling book and raise a great family. I also have a deep desire to be close to God, but sometimes that desire gets pushed to the way side because of the other more tangible things in my...