Five Things I Want To Share With You About Relationships

Hey CenterPointe, here are five things I want to share with you about being faithful with your relationships,

#1 It’s Not About An Affair—remaining faithful in your relationships is important, but I’m talking about being faithful with your relationships. That’s right. How can you and I be good stewards with our relationships? I talked briefly on being faithful with our FINANCES and HEALTH the past few days (click the links to read’em in case you missed’em).

#2 Forgiveness—this word makes my stomach feel queasy. We are quick to receive forgiveness, but don’t ask us to give forgiveness. Is it just more fun to hold on to unforgiveness? Is revenge really that attractive? We cling to unforgiveness like it’s an emergency supply of oxygen. When the plane starts spiraling out of control we know we can grab our unforgiveness to keep us safe… right. Unforgiveness is not and will not keep you alive. In fact, it does the exact OPPOSITE and slowly kills you from the inside out. It’s like a cancer spreading throughout your entire body until you’re hardly recognizable. Your attitude changes. Your appearance changes. Your relationships vanish. And it’s all because you couldn’t say, “I forgive you” (which, by the way, Jesus said to us while he was dying on a cross… HELLO!). If you want to be faithful with your relationships, you gotta be willing to forgive. Who’s first on your list?

#3 Serving Others—I like to be served. I like it when someone takes my order. I like it when someone brings me my food. I like it when someone washes my car. I like it when someone… you get the picture. I can’t be the only one. Just look at all the cars stuffed into the parking lot of Cracker Barrel on any given night of the week. Just look at all the people stuffed into their seats at church on any given Sunday. We naturally want to be served. We want to relax. We want to be treated well. It feels good. The problem with this is that our relationships quickly become a one-way street. We want someone to always be doing something for us and we completely neglect them. Jesus once knelt on the floor to wash the dirty, disgusting feet of the disciples. Their response, “What?!? Jesus, you can’t do this! It should be us cleaning your feet!” But Jesus insisted. And when it was all said and done he left them with this remark, “I came to serve not be served. In serving others we have the opportunity to make them feel important, to make them feel loved, to make them feel a little bit better about themselves (all the things we want for ourselves). Jesus said “serve”… are you?

#4 Keep The Main Thing The Main Thing—if you’re going to be faithful with your relationships then you need to make sure they remain a priority. Work is good, but it shouldn’t get in the way. Football is good, but it shouldn’t get in the way. Church is good, but it shouldn’t get in the way. How much of your time is divided between _____ and your family? How much of your time is divided between _____ and your friends? For some reason we’ll spend more time at work than with our kids. For some reason we’ll spend more time at church than with our spouse. Then, when we’re all tired and worn out, we’ll go home and serve our families a nice helping of bad attitude and grumpiness. We give our jobs and ministry our BEST and our families get the LEFTOVERS. Something’s not right. Our priorities are out of whack. It’s time to sit down and look at your schedule. It’s time to reprioritize your life. Who or what is getting your best? Who or what is getting the most face time with you? Who or what is the main thing in your life? People matter. Are you living like you believe that?

#5 You’re Only As Sick As Your Secrets—it’s true. The end. What’s keeping you from letting people know the real you? What are you afraid of? Are you afraid they won’t like you? Are you afraid they’ll no longer trust you to be around their kids? Their spouse? Their finances? What’s up? What are you holding on to? It takes so much MORE work to live a lie. Jesus died for you AS YOU ARE. He didn’t wait until your life was in order. He didn’t wait until you somehow cleaned up the mess of your life. He accepted you as you are and if JESUS can accept you as you are I think PEOPLE can as well (and if they don’t, that’s their issue not yours). Be honest. Open up. Let your secrets loose and experience the healing that comes from it and the friendships that grow from it. If you want to be faithful with your relationships you need to be HONEST.

Three Things I Want To Share With You About Your Health

Hey CenterPointe, here’s 3 things I want to share with you about being faithful with our health…

#1 Examined By A Doctor—no thanks! As I shared on Sunday, my dad died of a heart attack at the age of 39. That’s TOO young! I was in high school at the time and became determined to live a “healthy” life so I could live to see at least 40. Well, if by “healthy” I meant pollute my body with drugs, alcohol, and copious amounts of fast food… then I’ve succeeded! The truth is none of us really know how we’re doing INSIDE until we checked by a doctor. I know, nobody wants to sit through a bunch of tests being poked and prodded and pricked, but if it means the difference between you dying NOW and living until LATER—I’d say it’s worth it. Go to the doctor. Find out what’s going on with your body. It’s called PREVENTATIVE medicine for a reason.

#2 Eat Right—why? I still don’t know what this means. I had convinced myself that eating right meant I was using silverware and thanks “please” and “thank you.” Unfortunately, it means more than that. America might not be the fattest country in the world anymore (one of the few times you’ll ever cheer about coming in second place), but being #2 isn’t so great. And if you live in West Virginia… well… we’re the fattest state in the US. Why? Is it because we continue stuffing our faces with processed sugars? Food plays a MAJOR part in it. I remember hearing a story from a lady who had recently returned from Italy. She said while there a server at a restaurant said he could always tell the Americans apart from all other countries simply by looking at our portion sizes. YES! Food matters! Maybe not so much WHAT you’re eating but HOW MUCH of it you’re consuming! Slow down. Eat less. Don’t get that fifth plate at China City Buffet… in fact, DON’T GO to the buffet! Don’t worry, after being examined by your doctor, hopefully they’ll give you a word of advice on your eating habits (that goes for the skinny-fat people too!). Take a few minutes to check out http://www.danielplan.com and, if you have some time, watch the movie Fat, Sick, And Nearly Dead.

#3 Exercise—break out those Richard Simmon’s videos and let’s get to work! Seriously, it’s time to add a little exercise to your life. I’m not saying train for a Tough Mudder. That might be a bit much. But it might be time to add a brisk walk or some push-ups or a few classes at Gold’s Gym to your daily routine. Exercise isn’t about getting BUFF, it’s about getting IN SHAPE. We look at magazines and think I need to get slim and trim, but exercising is about being able to run with your kids without feeling like you’re going to DIE! Hey, for that matter, running with your GRANDKIDS! Adding just a little bit of movement, just a little bit of get up and go can and will benefit you mentally, emotionally, as well as physically! You actually start to FEEL better about yourself as you start to FEEL better (imagine that). Check it out, if God says we are His temple, let’s sweep it up, dust out the cobwebs, throw out all the crap we’ve been hording, and get it looking good. Make sure you consult your physician before adding exercise to your routine (see #1).

Four Things I Want To Share About Financial Freedom

Hey CenterPointe, here are 4 things I want to share with you about being faithful with your finances,

#1 Tithe—yuck. Who wants to talk about this? I can’t imagine very many people raising their hands for this question. God is the source of EVERTHING we have. We came into this world with NOTHING. Our pockets were EMPTY (well, if you were born with pockets we definitely need to talk, just work with me). God gave us LIFE. God gave us GIFTS and TALENTS. God BLESSES us—this isn’t just for a select few; this is for EVERYONE. God entrusts us with a little (some more than others) and all He asks is that we GIVE BACK 10% (emphasis on “give back” because before God we had nothing). That means for every 10 we GET, we GIVE BACK 1. He doesn’t say check your bank account and see if you CAN, He says trust Me. He doesn’t say create a budget and see if you CAN squeeze Me in, He says trust Me. It’s not about CAN; it’s about TRUST. Chances are you’ll NEVER feel like you can afford to tithe, but the truth is you can’t afford NOT TO. The first step is simply to tithe.

#2 Create A Budget—how much money is coming in? How much money is going out? Where is your money going? How are you spending it? Can you actually afford your lifestyle? The first step to being faithful with your finances is start tithing. The second step is to create a budget AROUND tithing. A budget isn’t used to determine whether or not you can afford tithing, it’s used to determine if you can afford everything else you’re doing and allocate funds accordingly. How much money can you afford to spend each week? How much are you spending on gas? How much can you afford to spend on groceries? If you’re not a numbers person find someone who is. If you need help creating a budget, email: info@centerpointe.tv and someone will be in touch with you to further discuss creating a budget.

#3 Get Out Of Debt—if you’re IN debt, it’s time to get OUT of debt. You’re living on BORROWED money. That means the money you’re spending isn’t even YOURS! You can’t live generously while in debt because you’re just giving away someone else’s money. It’s time to sit down and figure out how much debt you have. Start with the SMALLEST bills and work toward the BIGGEST. Dave Ramsey talks about implementing a DEBT SNOWBALL (which radically change our finances and get rid of debt after debt). The debt snowball knocks out your smaller debts first, rolling their payments into the next debt. It works because we have a tendency to look at a debt going away as money being FREED UP, but it’s not… it still belongs to someone else! Trust me when I say you CAN get out of debt! It IS possible!

#4 Save, Save, Save—think of your net income. Find that number. Write it down. Take 10% out for tithe. Now, using that same number, take out another 10% for saving. That’s right—your tithe and your saving are equal. 10% to tithe, 10% to savings. God wants us to be smart about our finances. We live in a crazy world where bad things sometimes happen. The tire blows on the car. The kid(s) need a visit to the emergency room. We lose our job. It’s not a matter of IF bad things will happen, but WHEN will they happen and when they happen will you be READY? Saving is preparing. Saving doesn’t show a lack of trust in God’s ability to provide; saving shows you’re a good steward with what He’s entrusted you with.

A Letter To CenterPointe

What’s up CenterPointe? Here are four things I want to share with you…

#1 Jesus Offers You A Life Of Abundance—too many times I’ve struggled to SEE what God has ALREADY given me. I want MORE. I want BIGGER. And then I want some MORE again! I have more clothes than I know what to do with. I have more food than I can possibly eat. I have more than I could possibly NEED and yet there’s this sick, selfish part of me that wants MORE. Jesus isn’t merely talking about the THINGS we have (or want). When Jesus talks about an ABUNDANT life he’s not talking about our bank accounts. He’s talking about LIFE. He’s talking about our health, our relationships, and our finances. Jesus offers us the things we NEED and they don’t often line up with the things we WANT. We pray and ask for more STUFF while Jesus wants our neighbor SAVED. Jesus offers us more grace, forgiveness, mercy, and love than we can dream of or imagine… THAT’S an abundant life! It’s time to pray and ask for a new set of eyes—eyes that will SEE all that Jesus has done and is doing and can see ahead to the best that is yet to come!

#2 Satan Offers You A Life Of Slavery—oh dang. This dude wants to steal, kill, and destroy every part of your life that has anything to do with following Jesus. I don’t believe Satan wants you to experience pain or suffering or hardship—because it’s usually in those moments we TURN TO God. I’d like to suggest Satan will do whatever he can to keep you HAPPY because our HAPPINESS will distract us from God’s RIGHTEOUSNESS. We’ll settle for the things we WANT (food, cars, clothes, promotions, affairs, and everything else) in exchange for the things we NEED (presence of God). Satan will steal, kill, and destroy your MINISTRY and get you so off track that you’ll forget you were every following Jesus to begin with. He’ll put shackles on your feet and you’ll THANK HIM FOR IT! Satan will tempt you with a life that APPEARS to be abundant, but it’s just full of STUFF. You have a choice. It’s up to you. Who will you follow?

#3 If You’re Not Faithful With It, You Won’t See An Abundance Of It—God has already given you EVERYTHING you need to do EVERYTHING He wants you to do. That statement sounds nice… unless it doesn’t (how’s that for stating the obvious?). When you’re struggling, when there are bills to be paid, when food is running low, when you’ve gotta decide whether or not to pay the mortgage or the electric bill it can be really REALLY hard to see that God has already given you everything you need. The question isn’t whether or not God HAS given it (because we know that He has), the question is HAVE I BEEN FAITHFUL WITH IT? Ouch. Who wants to answer that question? Have you been faithful with your finances (tithe)? Have you been faithful with your health (eat right + exercise)? Have you been faithful with your relationships (offering forgiveness, serving others, showing grace)? Put it this way: if you haven’t been faithful with it, why would you expect God to entrust you with MORE of it?

#4 Team Time—the fourth weekend of every month our creative teams get together for a time of teaching, laughing, growing, and just having fun. The topic of yesterday’s team time was “Connecting with the Congregation through Conversation.” We covered the three E’s of speaking

• Engage
• Enthusiasm
• Prepare (work with it… it ends with an E)

Speaking to people is an AMAZING opportunity that shouldn’t be taken lightly. I was VERY encouraged watching and listening to everyone take to the stage and speak like a bunch of champs! If you’re interested in join the creative team, email: serving@centerpointe.tv

Being Something For Someone

Paul said he became ALL THINGS to ALL PEOPLE.

I have trouble being SOMETHING for SOMEONE.

That’s not an excuse, that’s a sad truth.

But just because it’s true TODAY,

Doesn’t mean it has to be true TOMORROW.

Maybe there’s something you know,

Someone you see,

Someone you pass by,

Talk to,

Wave to,

All the time and you’ve wanted to say something,

But still haven’t.

Eventually that WANT TO becomes WANTED TO.

Defeat becomes the norm and victory a fantasy.

It doesn’t have to stay that way.

You don’t have to settle for less than.

Jesus promises ABUNDANCE.

An abundance of life.

An abundance of grace

An abundance of love.

An abundance of forgiveness.

An abundance of strength.

An abundance of victory… ETERNAL victory!

Paul said he became ALL THINGS to ALL PEOPLE.

You’re struggling to find ONE THING,

You know the ONE PERSON.

Grab hold of the victory that’s been PROMISED.

Grab hold of the life that’s been GIVEN.

Changing the world is too much pressure.

Do for ONE what you wish you could do for ALL.

Remember,

As long as you’re waiting for TOMORROW

You’ll miss out on TODAY.