It's That Simple: Faith, Love, Family

Smart Phones.  They could be the greatest invention of the 21st century, but they are also the worst.  Yes.  I said it.  They are the fight that many parents, spouses, friends, and family members have many times a year.  If families and friends aren’t fighting about them, it could be that they aren’t talking because they are glued to them. This is not an old man's diatribe about how bad smart...

Have you ever had that day that just wasn’t going right and then all of a sudden God showed up?  Maybe it was because you stopped to pray or get into the Word.  Maybe it was that you finally noticed Him there.  No matter the reason, it is amazing how He shows up in moments that we don’t expect to remind us how AWESOME He is! Scripture - 1 Peter 4:1-11  SPOTIFY - https://open.spotify.com/show/2sv4l...

e are so blessed to have such an amazing God who loves us and desires to have a relationship with us!  All he desires is our hearts and faith.  The best way we can show that is to live a life that honors Him and worship Him with our entire self.  Doing so will show Him how appreciative we are of His sacrificial love and how much we love Him back as our Creator, Sustainer, and Father.  So, let’s PR...

I often take for granted my freedom, as I am sure most of us do.  I am able to walk out my door, say what I want to say, believe what I want to believe, and live the life I desire to live.  Many will say it is solely because I live in America.  While I do believe living in America is a large part of that, I will also say that I have found many more freedoms when I have given up living in the world...

I make mistakes.  You make mistakes.  We all make mistakes.  Inevitably, we will all mess up in our lifetime.  The mistake is not the true test of our character.   What we do after making a mistake reveals our true nature.  Do we own up and apologize?  Do we push the blame elsewhere?  Do we flat out lie?  The choice is ours….how we react reveals more about us to others than most other things we wi...

Life isn’t easy.  Days and weeks and years can seem to drag on at times.  As life goes on, we have many experiences and challenges.  A lot of those can bring added stress to our lives.  Sometimes we are aware of that, but many times we aren’t aware of the stress or even anxiety that they bring until it is too late.  We are going to experience those crashes that inevitably come in life…but, what we...

So often, curveballs are thrown our way in life.  We might lose a job, a friend, something might break down, or someone might leave our life.  In those moments we are hurting, we are lost for words, we can even be angry.  What is easy to say, but hard to do, is to step back, pray, lean into God, family, and Christian brothers and sisters with the knowledge that God uses ALL things for GOOD.  It is...

Have you ever walked into a room and felt totally unwelcome?  It is a terrible feeling that is not a feeling any of us want to have.  With that knowledge, we need to be aware that people walk into our lives each and every day feeling like an unwelcome outcast.  As representatives of Christ we need to be extra aware of those people, and all people to be honest, showing Jesus’ love and grace to ever...

God gifted us with this amazing world.  In this world there's light and there’s darkness. As people, we have a choice. Are we gonna live in the light? Or are we going to live in the darkness? We also have the choice of ‘are we gonna be the light?’ Or ‘are we gonna be the darkness?’ I don't know about you, but that choice is pretty simple: BE THE LIGHT! Scripture - Matthew 5:13-15 , Romans...

People in this world can fall into two categories:  They can be rushing through life, running by and ignoring those around, even running over people to get where they need to be.  OR  They are stopping and sitting still, letting the world decide when they move or not going anywhere.  Sadly, many Christians fall into those two categories with their faith.  What we really need to do is slow down and...

Am I making a difference?  Do the words I say really matter?  What if I decide not to do this or that, who would notice?  Those questions can float through all our minds.  We can wonder if simple parts of our lives really matter or are even necessary.  Guess what?  EVERY moment of your life has meaning.  It can be used for good or it can be used for the opposite.  Each action we make can affect ou...

We need community!  Community is the lifeblood of the Christian experience!  It will help us grow closer to God and keep up healthier on this side of heaven.  In this special episode of the It’s That Simple Podcast, Adam shares a message he was able to give to the Park Valley Church Men’s Breakfast about getting out of isolation and into community.  (It was at a men’s breakfast, but the message is...

There are so many leaders in the world.  Leader of countries, cities, organizations, clubs, and so forth.  Why are they leaders?  Do they deserve to be called leaders?  Sadly, some push their way into the position while others work hard to exemplify leadership within whatever group has given them the honor of leading.  Jesus is the greatest leader in history.  Most of the leaders mentioned earlier...

You can’t do it.  You are not worthy.  Someone else is better.  Who wants to listen to you?  Why would someone want to be around you?  Those are just a few of the many doubts that creep into our heads every day.  They slow us down.  They prevent us from stepping out in faith.  Thing is, they are just lies that are being whispered into our ears.  We need to stop listening to those whispers and trus...

Easter is the celebration of the single most amazing and important moment in the history of the world, the RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST!  It is celebrated by many Christians around the world in remembrance of the fact that Jesus conquered death on the cross and He did it for us!  Unfortunately, there are many who will say that it is all a fairy tale or that there is no magic guy in the sky.  To th...

We are going to encounter many people in this world.  Some people are going to be pleasing and joyful.  Some are not.  When we encounter people, whether pleasant or not, we need to remember that everything we do is for and in the name of Jesus.  As followers of Jesus, we are His ambassadors to the world and the world will see and decide whether they follow Jesus based upon what they see in us. Scr...

Life is such that there are times when we experience the highest highs, and there are times we will inevitably experience the lowest lows. Both of those times can be dangerous. When we are at the high point, we can become overconfident and forget that it was God who got us to that point. That overconfidence can also cause us to let down our guard against the enemy. When we are at the lowest point,...

We all have passions.  We all have those things we can talk about for hours.  They are our hobbies.  They are our talents.  They are our sports teams.  They could even be our family.  We speak about them with excitement and can do so for hours.  BUT…do we have that same energy and excitement to talk about Jesus?  I think we should. Scripture - Luke 8: 26-39  SPOTIFY - https://open.spotify.com/show...

We have an amazing, powerful God!  He loves us and provides undeserved grace to all who call upon His name.  If we live in Jesus, we will live a life of joy, hope, and love.   The other side of that same coin is that the enemy knows this.  As Jesus said, the enemy comes to “steal and kill and destroy”.  We need to be aware and alert to the fact that whenever we are feeling strong in our faith or a...

If you turn on the news or read certain Christian media, you will assume that all teachers are anti-Jesus, parent-hating monsters.  I am here to tell you that is not true.  Education is like all walks of life, there are people who may speak directly against Jesus.  BUT, there are many who love Him and live life with the joy that only comes from that love.  We are known by our fruit, that is….how w...

Why are people leaving the church in droves or not even coming in the doors?  That is a question that I often ponder.  There are many reasons from hurts to not wanting to give up certain habits or ways of life.  There are people who think the church is a place of perfect people and they are still messed up.  BUT, I think a big reason that people are avoiding the church is because of the way we tre...

If you go to a track meet you will see many different types of runners.  You will see sprinters who are flying down the track at an unsustainable pace.  You see distance runners who are running at a pace so that they can complete their selected distance.  Then, there are runners at all those distances in between.  In order to run each of those races, each runner must train to work at the selected...

God is good….NO, GOD IS GREAT!  He is doing great things in this world through and for us!  We just have to be aware of what is around us.  He is using us to be the light in this world.  We are so small in the number of the world, but our lives and words can make changes that are felt for eternity!  As Jesus said in John’s gospel, “In this world you will have trouble”, which isn’t too appealing bu...

 Each day we encounter many people.  When we see someone, whether they are friend, family, or a total strangers, there are many choices we can make: will we look in their direction or walk by them, will we talk with them or be silent, will be greet them or just go on our way.  When they see us in the world do they see just another person going throug the motions or do they see a representative of...

God gives us a gift that allows us to be  in conversation with Him.  That gift is prayer.  Prayer has become something that is lightly left to children and meals.  It is so much more than that!  It is the ability to talk with the Creator!  The power of prayer is that if you truly believe what you are saying, amazing things can happen!  God is power!  God has power!  That power is unlocked in focus...