This is from Pete Scazzero’s Emotionally Healthy Leader Podcast… EH LEADER PODCAST The 4 Christmas Killers Sadly, Advent is a low point spiritually for most Christian leaders. This was my experience for years. I was told Christmas was THE time to get as many people to the church as possible, to close the financial year strong, to thank all our leaders, and to model reaching out to our neighbors for Christ. The problem was that, in the process, . . . Read More »
Trusting, Hoping, and Loving Even When It Doesn’t Make Sense
You know last week was a really big deal to me. I felt like that subject really ramped the intensity level up in this series as we started to really dive into some very important thoughts. I don’t know about you but that talk and that subject really resonated with me. If you remember there were some foundational thoughts we needed on the front end of that talk. Mostly I needed you to recognize that we are opposed. That we do have an . . . Read More »
Let’s Get Real
So last week we started our brand new series ‘Sticks and Stones’ where we began a journey into some reading material on Emotionally Healthy Relationships. I think this series is an extremely big deal because let’s face it…whether you want to or not, we all deal with people. We all have relationships and we learned some really important things last week about our ability to love others well or not and how that reflects on our relationship with God. I think . . . Read More »
The Test
It’s amazing to think that we are starting a new series here at MRG today! I mean we have only ever done one series as a church, which was the big one that we finished last week called “Different.” I really enjoyed that one, but I have to tell you on the front end of this series, I’m very excited to jump into this with you, because it has a lot to do with you, your heart condition, . . . Read More »
I’m Fine, I Don’t Need that Book Stuff
Good morning! It’s been awhile since I’ve last been up here. We’re now at the end of this Emotionally Healthy Spirituality series and book, so my job today is to wrap it all up, to tie it all together. And if it’s ok with you, I’d like to be really open with you on my journey through this series, and then we’ll look at the big highlights of this series together. So, my wife Kim and I are . . . Read More »
If you aren’t looking for it, you won’t find it
The point of transformation is to grow up. Remember what Sam said last week? When someone tells us to ‘grow up,’ it almost feels like a slap in the face, kind of abrasive. And yet, scripture is filled with sections that tell us, ‘grow up!’ Jesus said, In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives . . . Read More »
The Three Points of Connection
Can I ask you something as we get started today? Have you ever noticed how many people you come across that have been hurt by someone they look at as a Christian or a church person? It’s amazing just how common it is to know someone who has felt the weight of judgement, the gut punch of religion from somewhere in there past and they seem stuck dealing with those hurts from someone they look at as a . . . Read More »
You Need a Snow Day
Today, I want you to pretend that you are in the deep end of a swimming pool. Do you have that in your mind? It’s the summer, it’s hot, you are at a party and you find yourself in the deep end of the pool. Now imagine that you can’t swim. You are in the deep end of the pool and you can’t swim. Think about that for a second. What do you think you would do in . . . Read More »
This Preaches Easier Than It Lives
Tuesday night I was bringing my daughter Sydney home from soccer practice. It was a pretty exciting night for her because her team was practicing under the lights for the first time…which is pretty cool if you are 9 years old. (It’s actually pretty cool if you’re a 40 year old dad too.) So we were talking about how cool practice was, I told her how much I love watching her play, and what a great job she . . . Read More »
#Blessed
The older I get, the more I realize, life is messy. Nothing is simple. Nothing is easy. When I was younger, I was very naïve. I thought the older you got in life, the easier it got. That couldn’t be further from the truth. The older you get; the messier life can become. When our three girls were younger, in diapers running around the house, I thought life was pretty hard. Looking back, I would love to have . . . Read More »