Free Gas for Your Think Tank — Short Reflections, Lasting Encouragement

Whatever we let eclipse the Son causes us to walk in darkness. An eclipse is never meant to be permanent. Don’t stay in the darkness! We all need God to kneed us. The question is, will we let Him?

Align your life with the Lion of Light & cry out hope. We all need God to kneed us. The question is, will we let Him?

If your life is bogged down, perhaps you’ve jumped off God’s track for your life. There’s nothing like sharing your heart with a group of people who listen attentively and compassionately to you.

To follow & obey Jesus once in a while falls far short of biblical Christianity. Bible knowledge turns to frost in cold hearts; but it burns like fire in those who are hungry for God.

Pain, anger, and disappointment are bad counselors. Seek out & listen to love instead. When people open their hearts to God & to one another, they grow & heal!

When people are listened to, they begin to heal. In ekklesia we listen to one another. Ekklesia lifts the veil of performance & respectability & allows people to connect heart to heart!

Ekklesia creates a space where people can take off their masks & be real. Before humans invented therapy and support groups. God invented ekklesia.

To avoid vulnerability is to quench the Holy Spirit. Perhaps we like for church to be programmed because that protects us from vulnerability to God and to one another.

Where there’s humility, vulnerability, and authenticity, God shows up! To commemorate Christ in the past but miss His reality in the present is unfortunate.

When we no longer need to be powerful, we can experience Jesus in amazing ways. Words passed from head to head lack the impact of words shared from heart to heart.

Spirit-led, open sharing is healing. Not allowing people to speak can hinder their healing. How can Christians “bear one another’s burdens” if we meet in passive formality & act like we have no burdens? Perhaps church could allow people to unburden themselves & to open their hearts to one another.

Connection & community happen when people feel heard, not when they are lectured.

I’m not perfect & I’m not enough. Without the risen Jesus, I’d fall apart.

Many people are breaking down under the weight of untold stories. They need people to compassionately listen to them. Hurt often masquerades as anger. Mad people are hurting real bad!

You can’t teach a plant to grow. You cultivate & nurture it. People are like that. Is it possible that a contrived & controlled worship environment confines people’s capacity to connect with God?

When someone voluntarily becomes vulnerable in a group, authenticity breaks out! People who are courageous enough to be vulnerable inspire others to open up. It’s powerful when God uses one person to minister. It’s even more so when He uses a room full of people to minister to one another.

One person doesn’t have to lead church all by himself. 1 Corinthians 14:26 shows another way we can do church.

Listen to your Creator, not your critics. If you listen to & obey God when He whispers, you won’t need to hear Him scream. Read the Bible daily. To kneel, be real, & humbly appeal to God; will heal you! Try it & see how you feel.

Need counseling? Quietly read the Bible listening to the Holy Spirit as you do. The feeling of breaking down is the first step
toward breaking through. (“Blessed are the poor in spirit.” –Jesus)

Negative, unkind, & vulgar words have that kind of impact on the speaker & the hearer. Why trash yourself & others with words? How can “mature language” and “potty talk” mean the same thing? After all, what’s “adult” about abrasive or vulgar language?

To repent is to repair your wrongful words, thoughts, attitudes, & behaviors so that you no longer continually repeat them. To accept ideas unconditionally is to blindly surrender yourself to their influence. Ask, “Do I want to be shaped by this idea?”

When I’m wrestling & resisting worry because I refuse to wallow in it. Take your worry, twist it, and turn it into trust in God!

Forget who you want people to think you are. Who are you?

Last week as Ernie and I struggled with discouragement, hurt, and anger, we went to a mountain top in Ridgecrest, NC and saw an amazing view. Ernie began to read aloud this Scripture that was on a wooden sign to our left. “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.” As she was reading, this rainbow suddenly appeared in front of our eyes! We were so amazed and blessed that we began to cry.