Celebration Church Podcast

Happy New Year! Doesn’t that sound so nice to say and to hear this year? Happy NEW Year.   Aren’t we all ready to turn the page on 2020? We are all hoping, praying, and wishing for 2021 to be so much better than what we have experienced this past year.  Like a six-year-old racing to the lighted tree on Christmas morning to see her presents, we eagerly toss 2020 aside and sprint into 2021.  But bef...

Did you know that your Christmas tree may reveal something about your personality?  Consider all the choices you make when it comes to choosing and decorating your tree.  First of all:  real or artificial?  If artificial:  pre-lit or strings of lights you place every year? Or how about the color of the tree?  Every year as a child we brought home a fresh cut Fraser fir for our Christmas tree.  I r...

Do you find yourself needing to take either a suitcase or a garbage can with you to the mailbox each day?  It is surely a busy time of year for the mail carrier. Stuffed in my mailbox are bills that remind me that most of my paycheck has already been spent, tons of advertisements from restaurants and stores hoping the Christmas season will bring them some financial relief, and piles of political a...

Martin Luther King Jr once challenged listeners with these words, “If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”  This year has been one where moving forward has been quite a challenge.  There have been many days where I’ve wanted to curl up in ball and just stay on the sofa.  Or as another friend bemoaned...

Will your Thanksgiving Day and dinner be different this year? I’m not suggesting you’re forgoing the turkey or replacing that delicious dressing…you know the one which the recipe has been passed down through generations… we don’t dare substitute store bought lumpy stuffing for great great grandmas famous dressing. … But with the Covid numbers spiking maybe you’ve altered your guest list.

It’s Covid’s fault. Have you found yourself blaming something that doesn’t go right on Covid? Or – when something goes awry, “Chalk that up to covid” or “Yep, it’s Covid 2020.” Leigh Anne and I spent time last week in South Florida along with hurricane Eta.  Every November, we try to spend a week soaking up the sun and relaxing before the holiday rush.  This year we saw more rain and wind than sun...

Do you wear a Fitbit? I remember when the Fitbit first came out and people began wearing them to know how many steps they took in a day.  Over and over I heard people say, “I just got in my 10,000 steps” or sometimes it was “I’ve got to walk around the room a few more times to get my steps in.” Fitbits and smartwatches can do so much more than count my steps today. We now have devices that can mon...

Have you received a sportsmanship trophy lately? In my mom’s attic, I recently came across my baseball cap from when I played pee wee baseball at Glenwood Hills park in Decatur, GA.  At the age of 7, I played rec league for the first time. I was on the White Sox.   We didn’t have a very good team and lost most of our games.  But at the end of the year, the coach presented us with a trophy from the...

This coming Sunday, November 1st, is Fall Back Sunday.  We move our clocks back one hour. For most of us this time change is celebrated by either staying up an extra hour on Saturday night or gaining an extra hour of sleep on Sunday morning. What happens as we move back to standard time is the sunrise initially starts earlier but we also find the day closing quicker with the sun setting before 6:0...

Have you experienced that awkwardness lately when you encounter a close friend? How do we greet one another? In the past we would naturally extend the hand for a handshake or give a quick friendly hug.  Now a days, we find ourselves teetering between how we used to live life pre-covid and how we now live with certain health precautions for ourselves and for those we meet. In the spring and summer,...

Disappointment Have you had enough disappointment this year? It would be a mild understatement to say that this year has not gone as planned. Trips canceled Celebrations postponed Jobs lost Funerals and weddings by zoom Loved ones sick and dying As I heard stories of people’s disappointments, I began asking, what causes disappointment?

I have your back.  Have you ever told someone you had their back? Has anyone ever told you that he or she had your back? This phrase, “I have your back,” expresses a pledge to be there for a person not only in good times but most definitely in challenging situations, when the attacks are coming. You see it’s easy to say these words during the peaceful, calm days of life, but it’s much more difficu...

Have you noticed how looking at something from a different angle can give an entirely fresh perspective? I experience the same new and freshness when I read a familiar bible passage from a different translation.

Did you know that Monday, September 21st was the International Day of Peace? I didn’t realize every year September 21st is set aside as the International Day of Peace.  This past Monday, September 21st, I was invited to give the prayer at a Peace and Unity meeting of Georgia Rotarians in Lawrenceville.   As I prepared to give this prayer, I reflected on the current happenings in our country:  Covi...

I took my mom to her doctor’s appointment yesterday.  Over the past couple of years her health has declined along with her memory.  Over and over she comments about her frustration of not being able to remember things as well as she did a few years ago. So, at this doctor’s appointment, we mentioned mom’s concern about memory loss.  In response, the doctor pulled out a one sheet quick memory asses...

New Song! Sing to the Lord a new song! Several times the psalmist calls for us to sing a new song to the Lord.   Why not just sing a song or sing an old familiar song? Why this emphasis on singing a new song to the Lord? 

We need a superhero.   We need someone to intervene, to bring relief, to bring unity to our cities, states and country.

Last week I asked you to consider silence … To step away from the noise and distractions that fill every waking minute of our lives. Have you noticed that even our spiritual life is filled with noise?

Stop – I want you to find a few minutes today to stop…. Look back over the past few days.   Do you see how much of your life is routine?  Whether you intended or not, you and I have established habits that shape what we do, what we accomplish, how we live our lives. Some of these habits have helped move us forward and some of them have left us stuck in a quicksand of sameness.

When’s the last time you sat in silence for at least 10 minutes?....and just listened? For most of us, we give very little emphasis to attentive listening.  Our day is filled with noise.  In fact, we live in a time when most of us have filled any void with noise...

Are you taking care of yourself? Are you taking care of your soul? It seems everyone is on edge now a days. Our boiling point is just beneath the surface or already bubbling over.

There’s nothing in our lives that says we’re supposed to be here forever.  I’m going to embrace every minute that I can. These are the words of a thirty-seven-year-old man who was recently diagnosed with ALS, or what you may know as Lou Gehrig disease. 

Mike Day interviews Greenwood, SC Chief of Police Gerald Brooks and Pastor Michael Butler. July 2020