by Mark Poole Francis Chan makes a life changing statement in his book, Forgotten God. He states, “We focus on what God wants us to do and forget the kind of people He wants us to be.” This statement lingered in my mind long after I had finished the book. What could this mean? What is the connection between doing and becoming? It seems, we have become obsessed with doing. We feel and want to do something for God but often come up short. Whether it’s being unmotivated, busy, preoccupied with life, etc. We still have, at times, felt a ... Read More

by Marty Sloan The Word of God tells us in Genesis, that God had an intentional purpose for our existence on earth. His purpose is revealed in His original declaration of man; dominion. Nearly everything we cry out to see different in our lives is some form of better control over our lives. Ironically, we seek that which God gave us in the first place! Secondly, dominion was to be inclusive, which included man and all the earthly resources present at that time; meaning that everything man could see including himself was to be directed and ... Read More

post written by Craig Johnson When God Says NO Have you ever really wanted something? I mean REALLY wanted something?? You prepare yourself, anticipate what it would be like, the dream gets bigger and bigger… Then the let down: Ain’t gonna happen! I’ve found that the hardest times I’ve had serving the Lord is when things don’t go the way I want them to. Categorically there are four basic answers God gives us in prayer. 1. Yes 2. No 3. I will if you will. 4. Maybe When God says NO, you find out who you really are. ... Read More

Post written by Jon Morris Have you ever used this line before? Has anyone ever used this line on you before? Maybe it’s been years since you were in the dating world or maybe it’s been days. It’s somewhat odd to me that in a dating relationship we can be so quick to take the blame to avoid confrontation. I know, I know, the girl/boy you were dating was really weird or controlling and you needed out. So we take the high road and bow out gracefully trying not to stir the pot. If your attempts at this were anything like mine ... Read More

Post written by Kellie Patterson This week God has been teaching me through circumstances. Not the great circumstances, but the not-so-great ones. Here is the twist: He teaches me that the more thankful I am the stronger I am. Being thankful is like a spiritual weapon and an attitude charger. Until Jesus Himself comes back there will be “things” that just get on your last nerve. There will be people that get on your nerves too (not my friends just those “other” people…haha!).  But being thankful is a weapon against sorry ... Read More

Post written by Mark Rogers Almost everyone in any twentieth century generation has at one time or another played “connect the dots”. And if you played it quite a bit, sometimes the urge to connect the dots out of order, or to leave out some just to see what would show up would produce a distorted picture. When any dots were left out or connected out of order, it was clear that the picture turned out to be something that was not intended by the author of the game. A few years into my Christian journey and after having served God ... Read More

Post written by Deron Freeman As I write today, I’m being inspired by the devotional book that the entire worship department is reading (“Pure Praise” by Dwayne Moore). What do you think “praise” really is? I’ve heard a lot of definitions of the word over the last several years of ministry. Today’s devotional has put it in very simple terms for me. “Praise is that upward focus toward God.” Many times, we worship with our lives without even knowing it because it is an outflow of our hearts (Prov. 4:23). We ... Read More

Post written by Marty Sloan Without being self indulgent, I wanted to pass on to you how I love my wife. I share this with you as both a personal revelation and hopefully a motivation for you to discover and uncover how you love your wife. (Or if you’re the wife, it would be your husband. You get the point…) 1. I believe in marriage: Proverbs 18:22 (NIV) – “He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD.” Marriage is a gift from God, to value marriage is to value God’s gift! IT’S A ... Read More