Category Archives: Inspirational

Inspirational, Spiritual, The Bridge Church

Give Me Faith

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Give Me Faith-Elevation Worship
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gs5u0j0UUPc&feature=related

I need you to soften my heart
To break me apart
I need you to open my eyes
To see that You’re shaping my life

Pre-Chorus: 
All I am, I surrender

Chorus:  
Give me faith to trust what you say
 That you’re good and your love is great 
I’m broken inside, I give you my life

Verse 2:
I need you to soften my heart
To break me apart
I need you pierce through the dark 
And cleanse every part of me

Bridge:
I may be weakYour spirit strong in meMy flesh may failMy God you never will (repeat)

This week the Bridge Church Band will be doing a new song called “Give me Faith”. This song has literally been circulating through my head, heart, and spirit since the moment I heard it. The chorus and the Bridge are both catchy, and not in a showmanship kind of way. They are not catchy necessarily because of the beats, but because they speak into the places that everyone of us have been. I went to a funeral this week of an amazing man of God that impacted so many lives. His name was Pastor Robert Trapani and one of the main quotes I kept hearing people speak about him was a line from a sermon that he used often during counseling sessions, “Life is not fair, but our God is just.” Listening to those words just further stirred up in my Spirit the meaning of this song.


We can not see what God is doing from His vantage point. Not only are His ways infinitely higher than our ways and His thoughts enormously broader than our thoughts, but He has the advantage of seeing the full picture. He is the “I Am”. Before there was Moses, there was God. He has existed for all of eternity, and therefore has a view that we can’t comprehend. Trust is so hard sometimes, but resting in the knowledge of His all encompassing love and justice gives us hope. My hope is in the name of the Lord where my help comes from. Just like someone in an airplane has a view of our city and the advantage of seeing the planning and layout strategically engineered by teams of people that we can’t see while in a traffic jam, at some point, we trust that the highway we are on, even in bumper to bumper traffic, will lead us home. We know that some sort of city planning committee knew in advance that these jams would occur and planned for them accordingly. I don’t know about you, but I don’t place a huge amount of trust in the efficiency of highway systems all the time, but I do have hope and confidence that I can get from point A to point B anywhere in the United States of America because someone was there before me and planned the route in advance to accommodate my vehicle and a large amount of traffic. If I can place hope and faith in a political system to help direct my vehicle to get where it is going, I surely can trust God to be the engineer, driver, and architect of my life. I may get in some traffic jams a long the way. I may get in some head on collisions, but I have hope, faith, and trust that God will guide me where I’m supposed to go. 


My prayer for you today is the same prayer I have for the Bridge Church Worship experience tomorrow and the same prayer I’ve been sending up over my own life and the life of those in my community and church and that is that  we can all get a transfusion of faith in our lives. We need to be honest with ourselves and others when faith is waning. God isn’t fooled. He created us and knows the limitations of our finite mind and human nature. My prayer over my family is that God will give us a spiritual faith transfusion every day. We need a divine impartation of the mind of God at certain junctures in our lives. Sometimes it’s harder to see clearly than others. It is in those moments, that honesty with God, will catapult you to new levels in him. So, today God, I pray that you can give me the faith to trust what you say. I am weak, but with your Spirit in me, the failures of my flesh can be wiped out because you, God, never fail.


Be blessed today blogosphere!

Inspirational, Spiritual, The Bridge Church

Monday Morning Commentary

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Today I am going to post my “Monday Morning Commentary”. Sure, it’s Tuesday, but the whole spirit of the “Monday Morning Commentary” is that of an armchair quarterback. It doesn’t really matter when you rehash the plays and tout the victories, as long as its done before the next big game. At the Bridge Church, we are in the middle of, and nearing the end, of our 2012 kickoff series “Defining Moments”. Since most of us spend at least one moment contemplating the end of one year and the beginning of the next, what better time for the church to help us outline a plan for our year? We want 2012 to include defining moments that we can look back on and know that our lives were forever altered in those moments. In the Bible we find many defining moments, most of which ended with altars to God being erected as monuments to the greatness of our God.

The Bridge Church is still in it’s infancy. In fact, we don’t celebrate our 1st birthday until Sunday, May 20, 2012,  but we have had many defining moments already. One thing that I want to start on my blog is a testimonial section. God has done so many things in and through people associated with and connected to the Bridge Church that it would be a shame not to shout it from my blog. We have seen healings, job miracles, financial miracles, and many salvation stories. Too often it is easy to let these moments slip by without identifying them as the defining moment that they are because we get too busy, or we chalk things up to coincidence, or we convince ourselves that we are so good and so spiritual and so full of awesome works that we deserve the miraculous. We feel that God owes us something big because we show up on Sunday mornings. We don’t want that to ever be said of the Bridge Church. We are a church that honors God and honors people and that means we celebrate the miraculous moments. We celebrate the moments that may seem like coincidences to others, but that we know to be God. I think 21st century Americans are so stinking spoiled by all the material goods and information up for immediate grabs at our fingertips that we need God to always move in the “thunder” and in the “lightening”. We have forgotten how to hear that still small voice. My personal stamp on the “Defining Moments” series is to learn to recognize when God is bringing you a defining moment. Don’t let it be drown in the noise of selfishness, pride, busyness, or covetousness. Recognize when God moves.

The major themes of our series have been defining connections and defining transitions. This past Sunday we discussed “A Defining Attitude”. In an era where a bad, in your face attitude is touted as some sort of badge of honor, we, as people of God, need to give a lot of thought as to the attitude that we put on everyday. I hear a lot more “Talk to the face, not the hand” than I do “I’m sorry’s”. This sermon really spoke to me. Pastor chose two passages of scripture. One was found in the book of Daniel where we find that Daniel’s excellent attitude led to him getting promoted in the kingdom. What we fail to realize a lot of times is that Daniel lived in Babylon because his people were held captive. Even in the face of slavery and captivity, his work ethic and attitude separated him from everyone else. He then chose  Psalm 40:9-10 for us to learn from David. David was a psalmist and if you have ever met any true and really good musicians and song writers, you will know that they generally are weird. True musicians, not people that just chord and sing nice, but people like Taylor Swift that write great ballads resulting from break ups and failed relationships, generally glean their work from a place of pain and oftentimes depression. David probably struggled a lot with his attitude for numerous reasons. He was the overlooked younger brother sent to the hillside to watch sheep while his better looking, stronger, older brothers were favored. David leaves for us some great words in Psalms to help us “sing” our way out of a bad attitude.

Psalm 40:9-10

New International Version (NIV)
9 I proclaim your saving acts in the great assembly;
I do not seal my lips, LORD,
as you know.
10 I do not hide your righteousness in my heart;
I speak of your faithfulness and your saving help.
I do not conceal your love and your faithfulness
from the great assembly.

The best way to be identified as someone with an “Excellent Spirit” would be to determine today that the defining attitude you want for your life is an attitude worthy of someone who has been redeemed. Actions do speak louder than words, but I guarantee you that if your words are words of praise and proclamation to Jesus, your actions will catch up to your words. Do as David said and proclaim the saving power of God. Don’t seal your mouth when good things happen. Don’t hide the goodness, righteousness, and faithfulness of God in your heart. Stop carrying a concealed weapon. We have the Holy Spirit inside of us which is the greatest tool in Spiritual warfare. Don’t conceal that weapon. Don’t hide his love and faithfulness. Proclaim them. Nothing will set your day up better for success than focusing on the goodness of God.

Too often we settle for boring lives and boring Christianity. Why would anyone want to become a Christian when they see Christians with bad attitudes? Live your life out. Live a good attitude. Live bold. Live audacious, not boring.

My favorite analogy Pastor used was the analogy of cappuccino versus lattes. Too many Christians are cappucino’s. They are a lot of foam and very little substance. They are asking people to pay a high price for what they have (deny yourself, take up your cross, follow Christ), but offering little in return. The Bridge Church, on the other hand, wants to be a latte. A latte still has espresso and froth, but there is a lot of substance to the cup.

So, my defining conclusion to the sermon this past Sunday is this:

“Let your attitude be shaped by the faithfulness of God, not by the daily grind”.- Me. My original quote.

When I wake up, I’m not going to immediately hone in on all the things going wrong and all of the lists that need completed, but first I am going to speak of His faithfulness and saving help. The goal is not to ignore your circumstances and be oblivious to the problems in your life, but to learn how to let your attitude be shaped by the promises of God. This life is just the waiting room for the auditorium of eternity. Keep it in perspective.

In keeping with the Spirit of the “Armchair” Quarterback, I have to say that our Pastor has been throwing quite well.

Fitness, Inspirational

I am Tim Tebow

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It really never is too late to reinvent yourself. Every blog on this page is all about exploring the power that each of us has within us to go further, do more, push harder, and accomplish more than we ever could have dreamed. I also believe that if we have the Spirit of God in us, we can do things, even in our own physical bodies, that we wouldn’t otherwise be able to do. I guess you could call this the “Tim Tebow” theory of life. Sure, you don’t have to be a Christian or a Spiritual person to accomplish things in the business world or on the athletic field. We know this because the Bible tells us that it rains on the just and the unjust. That rain can be both the rain of blessing and the rain of sorrow. This just simply lets us know what we all already knew and that is that life isn’t always fair while we are in these mortal bodies. But, we do know that one of the key attributes of God is justice, so we can just let things slide and know that He will work it out someday. Sometimes things aren’t even worked out in our lifetime, but there is always a day of reckoning. The hope we have as believers is that when it is all worked out, and that day of reckoning comes, whether it is in this life or the next, it will be worked for our good. (Romans 8:28) The “Tim Tebow” theory of life is tied directly to that concept. We all know that even with all of his prayers and John 3:16’s, he still lost to the Patriots. However, he lives this scripture (to my knowledge and what I can see), and so should you.
 Colossians 3:17 “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.” (NIV)

Whatever that we do in every area of our life from the athletic, to the mundane, to the necessary, to the exciting, we need to dedicate to God. That being said, becoming as healthy and strong in your body as you can is very glorifying to God. It is telling God that you value the flesh that He gave you when He formed you in your mother’s womb. The Bible tells us that He lives in temples not made by hands, meaning you are the temple of the Holy Spirit. At my church, the Bridge Church, we live by the thought that a church is not a building or a denomination or a social club, but it is a body of believers being the hands and feet of God on this earth.  A church is the people. By that definition, I better keep my body as healthy as I can because I am a representative of God. I am the temple that the Holy Spirit dwells in. I saw a shirt once that said ” I have the body of a God……….Buddah. 🙂 Too many Christians could rock that shirt well.

 I came across a passage of scripture today that really convicted me in regards to a healthy lifestyle. I still don’t like to see scriptures like this because I don’t have it all under control yet. Sometimes I still eat way too much junk or spend far too much time thinking about food. Pastor Jentezen  Franklin calls this being ruled by “King Stomach”. No man can serve two masters. If you obsess about anything in life, it can become an idol to you. Dethrone King Stomach and King anything that occupies too much of your thought life and time.

Proverbs 23:1-3: “When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee: 2 And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite. 3 Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.”

The word of God says basically it is better to just die than be given over to your appetite. I think this is true of not only the literal physical appetite towards food, but all of the appetites that our flesh desires. The bible tells us that while almost everything is lawful, not everything is expedient. For example, while it isn’t a sin to read novels, if you read 8 novels a day and neglect your job, home, study of God’s word, and spiritual callings, it wouldn’t be expedient. Likewise, while it isn’t a sin to eat ice cream (Oh please tell me I’m right on this!!!!), it would be a sin to eat a gallon a day and steal, kill, and destroy for another ice cold milky fix.

Keep this in mind as you pursue the new you. Above and beyond anything else in this world, your spiritual health is the most important thing, and I feel that you can’t be spiritually healthy if you let yourself go physically. Therefore, spend some time this week finding balance in your mind, body, and spirit. Do everything you do for the glory of God and you will feel strength like you never have before. Be a little diet and fitness “Tim Tebow” this week. Let the world know that you are logging those running miles for the glory of God. You are strengthening your body like an athlete so you can better pursue His calling on your life. Don’t let your appetites rule you, and above all, every time you reach a milestone, give thanks to God. Daily when I run I can’t help but whisper “Thank you Jesus” for the strength I have in my body to run, for the breathe I have to breathe, and for the time to run outdoors and commune with the earth that He created. Everything we have and do is because of Him, so turn it around for His glory. If you have to, drop to your knees and “Tebow” as you exit the gym. It might be dramatic overkill, but at least you’ll remember who you belong to and why you do what you do.

Inspirational, Spiritual

What you pursue matters

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Romans 9

30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. 32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. 33 As it is written: “See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.”

        In keeping with my new pledge to blog things that I would’ve posted on Facebook, I wanted to share this scripture. God has really been dealing with me on some issues over the last couple of months. I mainly have a few themes echoing in my life and in my mind at the moment (some of which will be shared over the course of time) and one of them is based on the question asked to the apostles in the second chapter of Acts, “What meaneth this?” Basically it is saying that you can have all of your works of the Spirit and all of your demonstrations and you can say whatever eloquent words that you want to say(all of which was going on in Acts Chapter 2 like crazy), but the bottom line is, how in the world can I apply this to my life. I think that most people raised in evangelical Christianity have failed to ever sit and even ask themselves what it all means. Usually when you are raised “in church”, a majority of your relationships are with other “churched” people and you don’t rub shoulders much with those far from God or those who have never known God. You surround yourself with people that don’t ask questions about the meaning of God because asking questions is perceived as questioning faith. In fact, God wants you to ask questions because He wants to clarify for you how good He really is! He wants to empower you with His Spirit for a life you could never have imagined.
      As someone who was raised in the home of a Pentecostal preacher, I knew all the routines, rules, regulations, and rituals of Pentecostal Evangelical Christianity. I read my bible, indeed I even had and still have entire books of the Bible memorized, I prayed, and I was faithful to church. I even had the truths hidden in my own heart, however, until I bothered to ask what does this all mean, all I had was religion. Do most people that eat, chew, and digest whatever Biblical meal is being served up to them without seeking for themselves even realize all they have is religion? To that, I have to say no.
       Our LifeGroups are currently studying the book of Romans and these verses from Romans 9 are part of our study this week and my Observation/Application/ and Prayer (In keeping with our SOAP journal method) are that stumbling blocks are everywhere. Usually we like to blame people and circumstances on our trip ups, but in fact, our own attitudes, generally rooted in our pride, are what cause us to fall. Your view of God as a Grandfather punishing those who do wrong and so I’ll be the little girl in pigtails entertaining said granddaughter by following all the rules, is causing a major rift between you and experiencing all Christ has to offer. Those that are raw, real, honest, and relentless in their pursuit of the things of God and the mind of God are those that are attaining the goal. Take the pious mask off, quit looking at living for God merely as a list of rules and way to avoid hell, and, with the tenacity of a bull charge every good and perfect thing that he has for you. Live out your faith. Do not pursue rules, ritual, and religious tradition, but pursue Christ. The answer to the question of “What meaneth this” is Jesus. Everything that we say, do, and pursue should be to glorify and honor Jesus and point the way for others to find Him. When you are on the “Way” with Jesus, He will show you the truth and the Life. He is everything. Run this race with reckless abandon and as long as your faith is in His perfected work on the cross and nothing else, you’re not going to fall.

Inspirational, Spiritual

Don’t feed the animals

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Over the past couple of years I’ve noticed the growth of a hidden monster that has always lurked in the closets of people’s hearts and minds. This monster, “have to know”, or HTK, has always existed, but his growth has been fueled by the ready availability of social networking. While I actively participate in social networking in all of its various forms (texting, Facebook, Twitter, iPhone apps, etc.), I am finding it increasingly difficult to distance myself from HTK. This monster pops up on my newsfeed in all variety of forms and I’m longing for the day that my friend “Need to Know” or NTK will knock him out. This monster infects both speaker and listener. For whatever reason, lots of people feel you HTK about all details of their existence, and other people are ready and willing to listen because they HTK all about you. Lately a phrase my dad passed down to me and reiterated numerous times in my formative years is “I’d rather be naïve than cynical.” What dad knew all along and that he wanted me to grasp was that while gossip and HTK are attractive in the moment, the end result is cynicism and negativity. It’s so refreshing when you don’t have to carry the burden of everyone else’s failures, shortcomings, speculations, and bad attitudes.

I’ve always said I’m the last to know everything. This used to frustrate me until I realized what a virtue that was. Why would I want to carry someone else’s heavy burden if I wasn’t intended to carry it? My Christian background teaches me to take my burdens, and everyone else’s, to the Lord and leave them there. There are enough issues plaguing society from poverty to hunger to spiritual anorexia and atheism that the last thing I need on my plate is a daily diet of someone “speaking their mind”. I find that the whole topic of self-control is on the bottom of everybody’s list. Just because something is true doesn’t mean that it has to be said. If you look fat in a shirt, I’m not going to tell you that voluntarily without provocation. People that feel the need to speak all things are very contrary.

What causes this stalker to come out in us that we feel that we “have to know” every detail of everyone’s life or share every little opinion that runs through our head? The HTK monster loves this obsession that we have been feeding every hour of every single day. This obsession doesn’t even require the internet. Lots of gossips and HTK monsters have been adequately fed throughout the years in the form of “prayer requests”, conference calls, and cups of coffee shared. My personal favorite is when someone is veiling gossip by calling it a prayer request. Oftentimes you can tell in the spirit of that moment that no request for prayer is actually being made, they just wanted to share juicy information.

At times I have been guilty of oversharing. My personality is such that I’m an open book. I really have no secrets to hide. In a day and age where authenticity is the buzz word, I feel that I was authentic before it was even popular. I’m horrible at putting up fronts. What you see is what you get. I have embraced this part of myself wholeheartedly and in the maturity of adulthood have honed in on the more positive aspects of this personality trait and learned to successfully set aside the more crass and off putting parts of this personality. Another thing my dad always told me was to put a guard on my mouth because it would get me in trouble. I’m the type of person that thinks something and says it before I have even had a chance to process the end result of my commentaries. Thankfully, something called maturity, wisdom, and growth haven’t eluded me and I have grown in this area of my life. I’m still very real, authentic, and transparent, but I’ve allowed my brain and God to aid me in what things need to be broadcast and what things don’t. Trust me, these weren’t the easiest of lessons for me, but I’m so thankful I have learned them. I groan when certain explicit things show up on Facebook and mourn for marital relationships that are publically sabotaged via social networking. My heart aches for children who are the source of their parent’s consistent and vicious complaints and my soul grows weary watching people so proudly and so publically cast off restraint on the internet. At times I feel guilty of feeding the HTK monster because even I get sucked into the reality soap opera show that is people’s very public personal life.

I have adopted the approach in my life that I will only feed information that is NTK or “need to know”. As a pastor’s wife and Family/Marriage Education professional, I all too often know intimate details of people’s lives. I cherish being a confidante, friend, and confidential counselor to people who have invited me into the deep part of their lives. I count it an honor and a blessing to carry their burdens to the Lord with them and for them. It is a sacred task to stand in the gap for people who are too weak to continue to hold their own banner high. I wouldn’t trade my role as a go to person for anything. God has given me a NTK, but with the God given NTK comes an outlet, prayer and fasting. I also have confidential accountability partners in my life. Too many people are letting the voices of negativity and cynicism invade the private parts of their hearts and mind with no outlet for escape. I’m convinced this is why depression, anxiety, sleeping disorders, and many other mental and physical problems weight heavily on the world today.

I encourage you to rid your life of HTK. You really don’t Have To Know everything about everyone else’s life. Social networking, the internet, cell phones, and email are amazing, especially when you have many loved ones and friends that live far distances away and sharing with them what you ate for lunch, that your child’s tooth is loose, and that your kid is potty training is loads of fun and laughter. Posting pictures of dates, exercise logs, and commentary on politics is engaging. I enjoy all of these things as you’ve noticed if you follow me on social networking. I love to post encouraging quotes and scriptures as well, but what I won’t burden you with are the emotional weights of spiritual struggles, marital struggles, or child rearing difficulties. If God has placed you in my life as my NTK, I’m going to call you, email you, or meet you for coffee. It is not good to live alone, but to live in relationship. I will not cease to be transparent or authentic, but I do pledge to not feed HTK. He is the strength of gossipers.

Philippians 4:8 (King James Version) 8Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.