As Pastor was speaking, he listed things that happen to us when we fail to go forward in our walk with God.  The first thing he mentioned was “When we fail to go forward we walk in fear instead of faith”.  As I thought about this statement several things came to mind.  It turned into a discussion last week in the student ministry and I’d like to share them with you and hopefully encourage you to push past your fear and into God’s plan for you in 2012.

There are a few types of fear that we encounter as we live our lives – each with different origins, symptoms and results. As a precursor, let me just say that I don’t believe all fear is bad. For example, a fear of playing in traffic will save you money in medical bills.  Likewise, a fear of walking down a dark alley in a shady part of town will greatly reduce your chances of getting mugged.  Although these seem like drastic examples, I think you can see that healthy fear, or respect, leads to wisdom and ultimately good decision making (Proverbs 9:10).  There is, however, fear that hinders, cripples, and paralyzes us in our walk with God. Here are some examples.

1.) The Fear of Failure.  We’ve all been there right? Wanting, wishing, hoping to do something for ourselves, our family, or our church.  Having a desire to really try something, start something, or maybe stop something.  How often do we fail to follow through because we are afraid we might not succeed?  If we are honest, it’s more times than we care to admit.  The truth is, we will all fail.  But, if we never try we’ve failed before we ever begin.  Michael Jordan (you may have heard of him) said it this way, “I can accept failure.  Everybody fails at something.  I cannot accept not trying”.  Sometimes our greatest successes come on the heels of our greatest failures.

2.) The Fear of Success.  Although this may sound a little odd it’s more common than you might think.  Working with people, you have an opportunity to observe talented, gifted, charismatic individuals that seem to sabotage themselves like it’s going out of style.  I’m not a psychologist, but I believe that this is partly because of what they’ve seen and how they see themselves.  Think about Joshua, Caleb and the other 10 men as Moses sent them to scope out Canaan (Numbers 13).  Even after seeing how great the land was and much better it would be, the only response the 10 spies could offer was “We can’t attack them; they’re stronger than we are.  We are like grasshoppers in their sight”.  In their own hearts and minds, they could never overcome those giants – they were too small.  Are you sabotaging what God wants to do in your life because you see yourself as too small or insignificant?  Be encouraged that you serve a BIG God that has BIG plan for you!

3.) Fear of the Unknown.    We like to know, see and understand how everything is going to work out.  Information brings us security.  The thing about that is, with God, you don’t always see all the pieces to the puzzle.  Truthfully, we’ll never see the entire puzzle.  If we did, we wouldn’t need faith and we wouldn’t have to rely on God.  With uncertainty, fear is often present, but so is the opportunity to trust fully in and rely on God (Proverbs 3:5-6).  A scripture that I often rehearse to myself is Psalm 119:105 “Your Word is a lamp unto my feet and light unto my path”.  I may not see around the corner, but I have the assurance that He will light my next step.  When I’m tempted to fear or doubt, God’s Word reminds me that as I put one foot in front of the other in pursuit of God’s plan for my life, He will show me the way.

Have you been struggling with fear? Be encouraged that God is faithful and can be trusted! His track record is stellar!

May 2012 be your best year yet!

The last few weeks have been eye-opening for me as we have have had candid discussions and exercises in our Wednesday classes.  We’ve heard story after story of students that feel alone, out of touch, disconnected, and isolated.  Isn’t that one of the most crippling feelings? When you feel alone. When you truly believe that you are misunderstood and disconnected.  I’ve witnessed it on many occasions in action in the lives of young people.  Their general perception is that they are different, weird, alone.  That they are the only one that is struggling, or fighting, or hurt.  This is a tactic that our enemy knows all too well.  He knows that if we become isolated, we become weak – an easy target.  Why are suicide rates so high? Why are pastors leaving the ministry at an alarming rate? ISOLATION. If you don’t believe me, take a look around at our society.  Why are social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter EXPLODING?  Facebook alone has over 500 MILLION active users.  People want to connect!!  We are desperate to connect with people, to know that we aren’t alone.  The saying is true,  ”No man is an island”. We are not created to be completely independent. Check this out:

Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.  Hebrews 10:24-25

See, the church is a family, not a building.  It is people that love and trust God doing life together – a community of faith!  We are to encourage and love one another.  When one hurts, we all hurt!  This is the church!!!  You are not alone in the battles you fight.  We are standing with you.  We are on your side! When we come together, we encourage, strengthen and sharpen each other.  We help bear the load of those that are weak or struggling and we celebrate the victories of those who have overcome.  We are the FAMILY of God.

I realize life can be busy, but may God give us the grace to not schedule ourselves out of community and into isolation! 

Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important. Galatians 6:2-3

Hope you enjoy!

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Many think we have Steve Jobs (CEO, Apple Inc.) to thank for this amazing concept, but it actually dates back much farther.  In fact, we can trace it all the way back to a shepherd on the backside of Mt. Horeb in the wilderness named Moses.  Here Moses was just chillin’ with Jethro’s sheep and out of nowhere he sees a burning bush…and it’s calling to him, “Moses”! He doesn’t run, he doesn’t freak out.  In true man-form, he simply replies, “Yes, I am here” and proceeds to have a conversation with God Almighty that changed his life forever.

In that conversation, God revealed himself to Moses as “I AM THAT I AM”!  Wow, what a powerful statement!  God was asking Moses, a fugitive from Egypt , to step up to the plate and lead the children of Israel out of Egyptian slavery.  To Moses, this seemed impossible at the very least.  I believe God was telling Moses, “Listen, what you are about to do will be hard.  You will face great opposition, you will get discouraged, the people will complain, it may seem easier to give up somedays, but  I will be with you.  I am on your side. I will lead you THROUGH this! I AM THAT I AM!”.  God was saying to Moses, ” Everything you will ever need is found in Me…in My name”.

Those words still ring true thousands of  years later as we face the every day battles of our lives!! Your days may seem FULL of troubles, but “I AM THAT I AM” is with you.  As believers, we have the assurance that no matter what comes our way, He is with us and will never leave us.  Proverbs 18:10 (NLT) says, ” The name of the Lord is a strong fortress; the godly run to Him and are safe“.  What name do you need to apply today?

If you need:

• Peace – He is Jehovah Shalom
• Provision – He’s Jehovah Jireh – Our Provider
• Healing – He’s Jehovah Rapha – The Lord who heals
• Guidance – He’s Jehovah Rohi – Our Shepherd
• When you feel that you’re not good enough – He’s Jehovah Tsidkenu – Our Righteousness
• When you’re all alone – He’s Jehovah Shammah – The God Who’s There

Be encouraged today! Your situation ISN’T completely hopeless, your kids are NOT too far gone, your finances CAN recover because “I AM THAT I AM” is with you!

So if you need peace, healing, strength or joy…There’s an App for that!

Those insurance commercials have to be some of my favorite partly because they’re absolutely hilarious and partly because they illustrate a great point. I’ve been pondering lately (highly recommended…not as intense as meditating, but not as loosey-goosey as say thinking) the fact that Cassie and I are the proud parents of not just one, but TWO beautiful children (post-birth conehead excluded).  The thought that I, Brian Mullins, am a father of two blows my mind.  Mostly because I still FEEL young.

I can vividly remember high school, break dancing when it was cool the first time, and the tight-rolled jeans we all sported with great pride and confidence…I still FEEL young.  But truth be told, I’m rapidly nearing the beginning of my 4th decade of life (No, I’m not 40, I said 4th decade) and with each passing day I’m becoming more aware of how fast life moves.  James 4 says it this way ”How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.” This verse sparked a question in my heart that I’ve wrestled with for some time now and I try to keep in the forefront of my consciousness - how I am spending my life?