To keep our relationships healthy and our community in phase is to keep our eyes fixed on the source of our hope and through love and good deeds encourage others to do the same.
As I look back on my life I find it interesting how seemingly small things – things we often don’t give much consideration such as musical preferences, hobbies, or even the routine or mundane moments of life—can alter the course of our very existence.
We all like things to be a certain way. We appreciate the predictability of having a formula: we plug in this number, these ingredients, we follow this map, and voilà! mission accomplished!
“God, I’m trying to do everything right, everything I believe I am supposed to, and yet disappointments and heartaches always seem to follow me.”
There are certainly absolute rights and wrongs, non-negotiable things, the "do not pass go & do not collect $200" sort of things in life, But not everything is cut and dried.
I recently had a dream that was short, but very vivid. In my dream I found myself entering heaven where, for the first time, I felt a total sense of love and peace. Then just as quickly as that reality hit me...
Everyone has hopes, dreams and what their perfect life would entail: the perfect house, job, car, family, friends. So, what stops them from living their perceived best life? What is it that knocks their desires out of phase?
Peace is something most of us long for. But, like the previous eighteen Out of Phase Blogs, peace is one more area of our life that can so easily get knocked out of phase. How is this possible? Because in our desire to avoid conflict we are all too willing to settle for a counterfeit peace.
Our story is the most powerful tool we have when it comes to sharing the Good News of Jesus with others. I remember hearing this in my early days of music ministry and thinking "I am not sure I want to tell my story, and I’m not sure anyone else wants to hear it either."
[An] equally destructive, out of phase response [to pain] is to seek to numb the pain through substance abuse, burying oneself in work or pleasure, or by chasing a constant need for accomplishment and approval. So, what is a healthy way to deal with pain? Head on.
