I was at the hotel gym this morning, running on the treadmill.

When I finished my mile, a guy not much older than myself said "When I grow up, I want to be like you."

I smiled and thanked him—it's nice to get complimented. But at the same time it made me think about only seeing the good stuff. He hadn't seen me not running but 1 other time this month. He hadn't seen me almost not get out of bed or how upset my stomach was the night before. He just saw the outside. He just saw me finish. 

I don't want everyone to see my battles, but sometimes people need to know that we have struggles. Sometimes we need to find help for our struggles.  We all have internal struggles that most people don't see. Sometimes those battles are worse then others. But I want to encourage you all: if your struggle is too much to bare find help! And yes, I find my help in Jesus—He always picks me up! But sometimes we also need counseling and that's good! It's better to find help, then fight through things alone.

You are not alone! Matthew 28:20 (NLT): And be sure of this:I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” 

Talk about it.

Just talking about it can be really helpful.

Everyone has struggles, and it's important to remind yourself that you're not alone. You should never feel like you have to hide your pain or pretend everything is okay when it's not. It's okay to ask for help! You can also talk to a counselor or someone you trust. Sometimes talking to someone who doesn't know the situation can be really helpful because they can give you an outsider’s point of view.

1 in 4 people in America are dealing with some form of depression. You are not alone. But the good news is there is help. 

And don't worry, I don't look that good on a treadmill. And I will plan on exercising tomorrow, but it may not happen, because the reality is I am not perfect. I don't always stick to my goals. But I am trying. Even if your not awesome, just keep trying. I believe you can do this.  

Phil 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. 

If you ever need help: There is a new number you can call for live help. call 211 or click the link below to start looking for help. 

https://www.211.org/get-help/mental-health

If you want to know more about how God can help you. send me an email and we can talk about how you can develop a relationship with the God who cares. 

​You've been a Christian for a while, and you feel like you're doing all the right things. You go to church, pray every day and read your Bible regularly. You even serve at your church! Yet you're still not seeing a change in your own life or in the lives of others.

Perhaps you feel like nothing is happeningJust this past week I came across someone who shall remain nameless. And they were stuck in the mud. 

I went over to see if I could help, and they had spun a hole in the mud, their tires were turning but they no longer had the ability to move out of that hole on their own. I tried pushing but that wasn’t enough.

So I drove over through the f-150 in 4x4 and like nothing, thanks to the power of my trusty ford, was able to pull them out. 

Sometimes we get stuck,

Sometimes we are just spinning our wheels like the church is spinning its wheels and going nowhere fast. How can we move the church forward? If things don't change, should we just leave? Here are some things to help you and your church move forward.

​Do you feel like the church is going nowhere?

Just this past week I came across someone who shall remain nameless, but they were stuck in the mud. I went over to see if I could help, and they had spun a hole in the mud; their tires were turning, but they no longer had the ability to move out of that hole on their own. I tried pushing, but that wasn’t enough.

So I drove over through the f-150 in 4x4 and, like nothing, thanks to the power of my trusty ford, was able to pull them out. 

Sometimes we get stuck, sometimes, we are just spinning our wheels

We look at the church, and we see slow to no forward progress. In fact it often feels like the church might actually be moving backward.  So what do we do?

​In a study conducted by Barna Group, 70% of young people age 18-35 said they had left their Christian faith. The main reasons for this were doctrinal disagreements, hypocritical church members, feeling judged by other Christians and boring sermons.

Change is not only inevitable, it's necessary. The world has changed and we need to change with it or get left behind. We can't keep doing things the way we always have, the world is not the same as it always has been.

I know when church people speak of change, it seems like wars break out. But this change doesn't have to mean destroying your churches. it may mean minor corrections rather than over corrections. 

The Bible tells us that two things are constant, Hebrews 13:8 - Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. NKJV. And that the truth of scripture is always constant. Truth doesn't change just because society's standards change.  

​If you feel like young adults are leaving your church, there is hope. You don't have to loose the truth, just change how you listen and love young people. Focus on empowering and equipping, and you might be shocked at what happens. I have seen conservative and contemporary churches grow younger when they listen and empower. Don't change the truth, let the truth change you. That kind of change is always good. 

As of writing this post it is Jan 7, 2023

We are 7 days into the new year.

How many of you have stuck with your resolutions and goals? If you are like most people, you have already broken your resolutions or goals. 

Why is it so hard to stick with our goals? It is because they are too vague and intangible.

Research by Strava says that nearly 80% of people quit their exercise goals by January 19 - They Call it quitters day. 

Quitter's day, how sad is that? 

If your goal is to be a better person, friend, Christian, father, husband, mother, or wife we have to approach change differently.

Honeslty its better to make small changes then big changes. but Either way we often fail at both. Why? because we are creates of habit. And habits are hard to break. Often we are not able to keep our goals not because we aren't serious, but because we don't know how to make habits that help us keep those goals. 

Do you want to become a new person?  If so, then let’s start by looking at some habits that might help us live the life God has planned for us.

​Old things are gone... You can’t change what you can’t see. If your goals are not on paper, then they will never become part of who you are and what you do. Write them down, share them with others and make plans to be where those goals need to happen.

If you are going to lose weight, than write it down and set a date when you will be at your goal weight. If you want to become a better person, then make sure that doing so is measurable. You can’t just say, "I am going to better person." without defining what that means for yourself. Don’t say “I want to be a better person.” Say instead, “I will read the Bible for at least 15 minutes every day.” And then write that down and put it somewhere where you can see it every day so you don’t forget. You need tangible steps that will help you become the person you want to be.

If you want to read the Bible, then try piggybacking that goal on something else you do every day. - For example, if you don’t spend time reading the Bible every day, but you spend time on social media, then make sure that one of your 15 minutes per day is spent reading the Bible so you can share a text via the Bible app on you page instead of doing something else.

​ Make space for the change that you need to make. If you want to read more, then make sure there is a place for your books. If you want to eat healthier, then make sure that there are vegetables in the fridge and that they aren’t buried behind other things. You can also think about how to change your environment, so it fits with what you want. I have a chair that I sit in when I do Spiritual things and Bible Study, and I don't do other things in that chair, like play video games; in fact, there is not a TV in view of that chair. that way, when I sit there. my mind is already engineered to think about Biblical things. 

Make a plan, write it down, mold that plan to a reality that works for your life. Small changes over time will make a great impact on you. If you wanna see change, if you're sick of doing the same things and quitting by Jan 19 then stop adding to quitters day. Make today success day. 

​The answer to this question is actually simple, but it can feel complex and out of reach. Salvation through Jesus Christ requires that you understand and believe that He is the only way to salvation. In order for you to be saved, you must be willing to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior and follow Him throughout your life (John 3:16; Acts 4:12).

Salvation is God’s gift of forgiveness for all our sins (Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 2:11-14). It involves both spiritual rebirth and baptism in water by immersion (Romans 6:1-4; Colossians 2:12). When we accept the Lord’s sacrifice on the cross at Calvary for our sins, we are forgiven by God and are declared righteous in His sight (Romans 10:9). Our commitment to God demonstrates our faith in Him so that others can also see our confidence in Him through His Son, Jesus Christ.

​If you feel like a failure, it's tempting to beat yourself up about it. But is failure that bad? Not always. Our society paints failure as the ultimate negative outcome, something to be avoided at all costs. But that's not always true, failure is just part of life; it's how we learn and grow and become more productive people.

We all have unrealistic standards that feel like a lot to live up to. But the truth is, it’s not just you. We all have our own set of unachievable expectations for ourselves—and for others.

But don't worry! It's not your fault or anyone else's either. It's just part of being human: we tend to forget that God created us in his image, which means we're supposed to be perfect (but we aren't). And even though we try our best to live up to these high standards, they can be overwhelming and exhausting--especially when they fall short of perfection (which is always).

But there's good news: God loves you! 

Check this Quote out. 
“ In dying, Christ has made it impossible for those who believe on Him to die eternally…”
​Ellen White, in Lift Him Up, a devotional book published in 1988. 

I hope this blog post helped you understand that everyone is broken, but we can still be restored by God. This may seem like a simple concept, but it’s one of the most powerful messages in the Bible. I know firsthand how hard it is to believe that God loves me when I feel so unworthy of His love and grace. But if we remember this teaching regularly—and follow its simple advice—we will begin to experience transformation in our lives. I invite you to take some time today and really think about your life from God’s perspective: what does it mean for Him to love us? How does knowing His unconditional love change how we live each day

​John 3:16-17
    “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 

Jesus knew what sacrifice was. He came to this world to give of himself so that others could have life. He knew that we were in need of help. He knew that we were lost without Him and His love.

In the Word of God, there is much truth, much guidance, and much about God.

But you can still know the Bible and be lost, you can still know the Bible and not know God. Does that mean that the Bible is bad? No by no means is the word of God bad. There are many that act as if they know the Word but do not know God.

As a man, we don't like to admit we are weak. But man I got my backside kicked this past Sunday. My beautiful wife gets up early every morning to faithfully workout. She is a Beachbody coach, and she pushes herself. She has been faithfully working out for probably 3 years now. I, on the other hand, am a half-hearted triathlete. Which means that her workouts are very different from mine.

Suffice it to say, she works out her entire body weekly, and I do very repetitious exercises for long durations to build endurance. She is strong. I am strong at three specific movements. At her pleading, I have tried to do more strength training, but it is very irregular. 

What good is a hospital, if sick people can't go to it to feel better?

What good is a church if people that make mistakes can't go to it to get the support, help and, love that they need?

A hospital was not made for healthy people.

A Church was not made for the perfect.

It says in Romans, none of us are perfect.

If a church was for the perfect it would do no good at all.

Some of the people I know that don't go to church just don't feel like it has any relevance. They don't feel like it would meet their needs. Church to them is not important.

Let me ask you this, have any of you ever been hurt by a church in the past, whether you have felt judged or unloved, or disowned, or unappreciated? Or like the church didn't care about you?

​I don’t know if you have ever seen a movie with a "first alien encounter” in it.  Those "first contact" moments are interesting because they are always the biggest thing to ever happen to the world. 

It's always something that could change everything. Something that could change the world.

Well, there is a being out there, and when we have a close encounter with Him it does change everything. It changes everything in our world. and it changes everything for the people that are encountered.

Matthew 9:36
Seeing the people, He (Jesus) felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. 

Lets put this passage in Context. Previously in Matthew is the sermon on the Mt. You will find that the gospel has cycles of teaching and healing this is one of them. Jesus was teaching the Sermon on the Mount. Then he has been healing. 

Right before this text, the Pharisees have accused Jesus of casting out demons by the ruler of demons. They are doubting him and looking at him with contempt. 

Then Matt 9:35 there is a bit of a transition, 
It says Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. 

Jesus is teaching and healing, He is preaching in the synagogues, He is looking out at the people of the crowds and He feels compassion for them. He has seen their situation and He feels compassion for them.

To understand what is going on here we must understand what this compassion means.