BITTERNESS - No Big Deal? Part 6

November 19, 2018

“Let all BITTERNESS, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.” Ephesians 4:31

We wrapped up our No Big Deal series by looking at one of the hardest “minor sins” to detect - a sin that lies far beneath the surface but can have a major impact on your life. The sin of BITTERNESS.

Bitterness may not seem like a big deal, but as we saw in this week’s message, it might be the most self-destructive thing you can do to yourself. By choosing to hold on to the past, you may be holding your future hostage.

Why? Because “when you forgive, you in no way change the past. But you sure do change the future."

Uprooting Bitterness

September 12, 2018

In last week's post, I spoke about bitterness/anger of the heart and the damage it can do. I wrote “the most self-destructive thing you’ll ever do in life is to hold on bitterness. That is the quickest way to ensure that you live miserably and lonely for the rest of your life.”

So what’s the cure for bitterness? How do we get rid of it?

There’s only one way. You can try to ignore it (won’t work) or pretend it isn’t there (definitely won’t work) or convince yourself that you’re past it (YEAH RIGHT!). Our goal shouldn’t be to “get past” the bitterness, but rather to treat the bitterness and to heal it.

How? There’s only one way…FORGIVENESS!

Cancelling the Debt

September 5, 2018

It’s there. You may not want to admit, but you know it's there. It’s inside you. It’s behind the excuses… behind the rationalizations… behind the self-deception… behind all the ways we may “spiritualize” it… but it’s definitely there. And like termites within your house or cancer within your body, if you allow it to live within you, it’s just a matter of time before it eats you up and destroys you completely.

"It" is no joke. "It" is BITTERNESS.

Kindness When It Matters Most - The KIND that Breaks, Part 5

May 14, 2018

"Anyone unwilling to forgive is usually thinking of what was done TO THEM vs FOR THEM."

It's easy to be kind to those whom we deem worthy of our kindness (loved ones, friends, family, etc.), but there's another category of kindness that we need to look at as well. And that is kindness to those who have hurt us.

In this week's message - Part 5 of The KIND that Breaks - we look at the subject of FORGIVENESS and how we can display "Kindness When It Matters Most."

NIXING NEGATIVITY - The KIND that Breaks, Part 2

April 23, 2018

And we're off! The 30 day kindness challenge has begun and we kicked it off by discussing the first of three components: Say nothing negative, either TO your person or ABOUT them to someone else.

And before you say "That's easy; I'm not a negative person" - be sure to check out this message above. We discussed 4 different types of negativity and you might be surprised to find out what else falls under the negativity umbrella.

All that and more in part 2 of The KIND that Breaks.

The Value of a Friend

September 29, 2017

This is a guest post from Natasha Cklamovska – a psychology student at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia who is also a second degree taekwondo black belt (how’s that for an interesting combination). In today’s post, Natasha provides a simple yet beautiful reminder about the importance of friendship. If you too are interested in guest posting on my blog, please visit my Guest Post guidelines for more info.

"A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity." Proverbs 17:17

Throughout the Bible, we see many examples of "best friends", such as Elijah and Elisha:

2 Kings 2:2 - "And Elijah said to Elisha, 'Stay here, for the Lord has told me to go to Bethel.' But Elisha replied, 'As surely as the Lord lives and you yourself live, I will never leave you!' So they went down together to Bethel."

EASILY OFFENDED - I Thought It Was Just Me, Part 4

February 7, 2017

“For me to be right, someone else has to be wrong.”
~ Somebody who is easily offended

Sorry for the delay; we were unable to get this sermon uploaded on Sunday (which seems to happen every year on Super Bowl Sunday), but we're good now. Part 4 of I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST ME is up and this week's topic is THE EASILY-OFFENDED.

Of all the insecurities, this is something that's a lot harder to see in the mirror than it is through a window. No one would label themselves as easily-offended or overly sensitive; it's always easier to say the problem is out there.

But maybe if we take a slightly deeper look, we'll see differently.

WHEN YOU FORGIVE, YOU MUST FORGET - Things Jesus Never Said Part 3

May 23, 2016

Wait a minute...are you saying that I do NOT need to forget in order to forgive? That I can forgive someone even though I still feel hurt and pain?

Absolutely! Why? Because forgiving and forgetting are not the same thing!

Not only do I believe that you don't need to forget in order to forgive, I believe that in some cases, you CAN NOT forget no matter how hard you try! But that doesn't mean you can't forgive.

How? Check out Part 3 of Things Jesus Never Said and find out for yourself. If you struggle with forgiveness and resentment and anger, you MUST listen to this message.

BREAKING FREE FROM ANGER - God's Ethics Part 3

November 10, 2014

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment.” Matthew 5:21-22

Week 3 in our latest series at The Well, God's Ethics: Realigning Your Moral Compass and this week's topic is a MUST LISTEN for every single person (and I don't say that often).

The topic is anger and where it comes from and how we should deal with it. But realize that when Jesus speaks about anger, He isn't speaking only about losing your temper and going crazy. He's speaking about anger of the heart... the kind of anger that we often justify and excuse... bitterness, resentment, grudges, hatred.

Trust me, there isn't a person out there who isn't struggling with this kind of anger in some way and until we learn to deal with it, we are doing nothing except enslaving ourselves to a life of misery.

First Bitter, Then Sweet

May 2, 2014

“…looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2

One Saturday night, when I was 18, I went to visit some neighbors who recently moved to our area. I was actually going to apologize for a noisy party we were having at a friend's house next door. I thought they might be upset.

But to my surprise, they weren’t. In fact, when they opened the door, I saw a very thin, shy man and his equally thin, shy wife watching from afar. I was expecting them to be upset; but instead they invited me in for coffee!

Immediately I noticed something different about them. The wife brought out a tray from which the husband handed me what looked like a small bowl full of dark coffee. I didn't want to offend, so I hid my confusion and smiled and drank it all at once.

WHOA! I soon learned that the coffee, like my neighbors themselves, was Arabic in origin. Unlike my neighbors though, the coffee was extremely bitter! Very potent!

Soon after however, the wife brought out another tray – this time full of a sweet, rich pastry that our Lebanese neighbors call ‘baklava’. It wasn’t long before the level of honey in that dessert made me completely forget the bitter aftertaste from the coffee.

In the trials of life, in the confusing times, bitterness creeps up on us like a cup of my neighbor's coffee.

Letting Go of Your Past (video)

January 13, 2014

"I cannot REALIZE my future if I'm still REACTING to my past."

Ever tried to drive a car looking exclusively in the rear view mirror? Think you'd be able to get very far that way? I'd say that your chances of crashing are significantly higher than your chances of success. Right?

Well, that's how many of us are living today - especially when it comes to relationships with friends, family and loved ones. We think we moving forward but the truth is that we're just dragging the past with us. And it is SABOTAGING THE MOST IMPORTANT RELATIONSHIPS IN OUR LIVES!

That's why today's message at The Well is a must-listen. Listen to it prayerfully and with an open heart and God just might open your eyes to something that you've never seen before.

Forgiveness: What Lent Is All About

March 14, 2013

Two days ago I posed a question to my blog readers: what do you think God wants us/you to focus on during Lent?

If we are going to get the most out of Lent and we are going to reach the destination we are aiming for (remember Lent is a journey, not a season), then what do we need to take with us along the way?

We agreed already that fasting is a key element, but there is certainly more. Much more! God is always more focused on the attitudes of the heart more than on the actions of the body. As the Scripture says in 1 Samuel 16:7, “For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (see also Matthew 5:21-22 and 5:27-28).

So what heart attitude do we need to focus on at the start of this Lenten journey? Where should our emphasis lie?