More Than Bread

Send me a Text Message!Your story isn’t finished. You need a team. But if you’re not dead, God’s not done. He has a team for you and a team with you. And listen to me, make no mistake, there will be times when the life you want more than anything will be outside of your hands. Your story will not be written without some twists and turns and even a few seemingly dead-end moments. Our journey will not be finished without walking through the rubble of brokenness. In fact, you will face times so difficult, that you can't do it alone. But if you're not dead then He's not done and if he's not done, your story has a team. And God is writing a good, good, really good story! He's inviting you to be part of that story.

Send me a Text Message!When God gives us a mission, the call to sacrifice is not far behind. Feeling bad will not save the day. It requires action, sacrifice, even risk. A good idea isn't good enough, it requires good work. Has anyone ever asked you the question, "If youknew you couldn't fail, what would you try to accomplish for God?" Perhaps a better question is, "What do you care about so deeply, that even if you are bound to fail, you would still have to try?"Here's the deal. If you take on a mission like that...you can't do it alone!

Send me a Text Message!Your story is unfinished AND...your story has a team. You are not alone. It may feel that way, but it's not true. Your story has a team. Sometimes we know the people on the team and sometimes we don't. Some of them are people you never met, maybe even long gone, an author, a Biblical mentor, an inspiring example from history. Some of them were on your team for a moment, some joined your team before you were born, and some teammates haven't even been born yet, but yourstory has a team. Some you work with hand in hand, some were family and some became family. They encourage you or pray for you or speak hard truths straight to your heart. They might be people who care about your cause. You work together, play together, pray together and grow together. You seek God together.  In fact this week, begin to make a list that answers the question, "Who is on my team?"

Send me a Text Message!The unmet longings of your heart are not a flaw, they are a gps for your soul. If you let them, they will keep redirecting  your heart to God. But this is what amazes me, "you have captivated God's heart." And before Lynn and I talk about the longings of your heart, I just wanted that thought to be in your mind, God loves being with you. And with that thought in mind, let me give you this prayer of longing. David writes this prayer in Psalm 63:1-8. David writes, he prays..."God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you...I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I cling to you."This episode is the Mother's Day message from Lynn and I this last weekend! Hope you enjoy!

Send me a Text Message!Listen, when it comes to the story God is writing in your life, your story has a team. We need each other. No one rebuilds alone. Walking through the rubble and brokenness of life alone, leads to discouragement. If we want to rebuild broken places, renew hope, and revive people, we need a team. In fact courageous leaders understand that God gives us projects to develop people. So share your life. Share the work. You need a team of people committed to growing together and sharing life together!As a leader, Nehemiah accomplished great deeds. But his story had a team. He made a difference because he got connected. If you aren't connected, you are missing out on the heart of God's story. Your story has a team!

Send me a Text Message!If our story is hard, is God still in it? That's the question I ask and answer, more than once, in this episode. Throughout Nehemiah's story, the opposition grows. From death threats to picket lines to deception and betrayal, Nehemiah's story gets hard. So what we find is that just because God is writing the story doesn't mean there isn't groaning with the glory. So don't be surprised by opposition to the story God is writing in your life. One of the great mistakes we make, comes when we believe that as long as we know what God wants us to do, the rest is easy. If your story is hard, God is still in it!

Send me a Text Message!I don't know what's ahead of us, here at Calvary, or ahead of you wherever you live. I wish I did.  I wish I could tell you what God's going to do in your region and how He's going to do it. But I can't. All I can do is tell you I believe that globally He's doing something deep and profound. He's preparing us for His gracious hand. For years, people around State College (where I live) have dreamed, some have even prophesied about Beaver Stadium (home of Penn State football) being filled with God's people. 100,000 people. In the past, I thought it was unlikely at best, impossible at  worst. But for the last seven years, every time that stadium comes to my mind, I sense Jesus say, "ask me for more." So I'm asking him for more. And in this episode I hope to encourage you to do the same. Ask Him for more!

Send me a Text Message!In Nehemiah 2, Nehemiah makes this statement, "God's gracious hand was upon me." In other words, Nehemiah is saying, "This story was written by the hand of God. It wasn't my strategy, leadership or plan. It wasn't my resources, no it was the gracious hand of God." Isn't that the story we want written in our lives?  I don't know how God works with you, but often as I'm reading the Bible, whether it's my own time with God, or study time for a teaching, there will be a single line or thought that sticks with me.  Nehemiah's words here have stuck with me for well over a decade. They have become one of my most frequent prayers...God we need your gracious hand upon us. 

Send me a Text Message!If you have been following me for a bit, you know that the last few months, I've loaded my weekend message from Calvary on Monday's. Gives me a bit of a break and sometimes, it has fit right in with the current MTB podcast series.While this weekend's message, (and thus this episode) has absolutely no mention of Haggai or Nehemiah, I do talk about temples and sacred places. It's the concluding message in our "Homecoming" series that started in Palm Sunday, and it has a bit of a twist in the story. Instead of God welcoming us home...it's a challenge for us to welcome God home!Oh and for those who weren't able to be with us...it was an amazing Sunday. We baptized 14 people, prayed for college students, and worshipped our amazing Jesus! A good, good day!

Send me a Text Message!In the midst of all the rubble, all the pain, all the conflict, all the brokenness in our world, I am reminded of this. I am reminded that God is our Unwavering Certainty in the midst of uncertainty. He is our Loving Father who covers us in his love when we are prone to fear. He's our Overflowing Spirit when scarcity whispers, protectwhat is yours. He is our Sacrificial Savior when we are not sure what love does. He is our Almighty King, our Redeemer and in the end, when we see Him, what was lost will be found and what was broken will made whole. Glory is coming and I am filled with hope. If you need a breakthrough, that's not a bad place to start!

Send me a Text Message!Are we owning our rubble? That's the question that will end this episode. Remember the BLESS acronymn that gives us some rebuilding, story-writing, principles? B is for "Be Still." L is "Look for the rubble." Nehemiah allows his heart to be saturated by the brokenness of people and causes. He looked for the rubble. But he didn't just look for it. He owned it. And owning it led to a turn of the page. We live a culture that has a hard time seeing our own rubble. We can see it in others, the other side, the other team, the other person. But when I see it in me, when I own it, that leads to breakthrough.So are you owning your rubble?

Send me a Text Message!You won't find much written on travailing prayer today. If you want to read about travailing prayer you have to read old books, and listen to old sermons, sermons and books birthed in revival. And yet, the Bible's pages are filled with examples of people who wrestled with God, travailed, groaned and cried out in prayer to see God's purposes birthed in their lives and the lives of broken people around them. Nehemiah wept. He mourned and fasted and prayed because of the brokenness around him. Not just broken walls, but broken lives. Because of broken lives, Nehemiah prayed with a broken heart. I don't believe we will find our breakthrough if we aren't willing to allow the brokenness that leads to travailing prayer. So Nehemiah's question of us is, "What wrecks my heart and stirs my passion? And have I ever allowed that brokenness to lead me to travailing prayer?

Send me a Text Message!In this episode, I'll start with a question for you to ask yourself, "When I look around at a broken world, what grabs my heart? What is broken in the world, or who is broken in the world, that breaks my heart?" Another way to ask that question is, "What is my holy discontent?" Sometimes, some of us...myself  included...we want to medicate our hearts so that we don't feel the pain of a broken world. We put walls around our hearts. What we need are hearts without walls that reveal the heart of God to a world in need of love. At Calvary we say that we want to be living proof of a loving God! Perhaps that starts by asking the question, "What is my holy discontent?"