Set Your Mind Above

Send us Fan Mail I'm an old soul, and I've passed that on to my children. Recently I introduced them to the movie staring Danny Kaye, Hans Christian Andersen. They loved it. Who doesn't love a good storyteller?  The greatest storyteller was that of Jesus - as he taught us through parables. But they were not just to inspire, but to instruct us. We must sit at the foot of the teacher,...

Send us Fan Mail We capped off a very busy week with a big thunderstorm, which my son is afraid of. He came out and I picked him up, reminding him that I'm always here and that it's going to be okay. God is powerful, but he is good.  As children, we cry out to God when we are afraid as well. And as a loving Father, he holds us in his hands and reminds us that one day it's all going...

Send us Fan Mail We have had quite the week. The dryer broke. The car needed replaced. The carpet is being ripped up. All of these things were not worth trying to patch and fix - we needed something new.  Our spiritual journey right now is the same. We are stained and destroyed on account of sin. Jesus didn't come simply to patch us up - he came to rip out the old and make us new in him.  #Se...

Send us Fan Mail My three year old was trying to sneak a fast one on me and get a snack when I told her no. When she asked how I knew, I told her I had eyes in the back of my head. She lifted up her hair and asked if she had the same LOL! I told her maybe one day when she's a mommy she will.  Our kids can try to sneak stuff past us, but we can never hope for the same as children of God. He is...

Send us Fan Mail I have been trying to use the Alexa all week, but it never answers me anymore. I figured it was broken. That was until my wife informed me there is a reason it won't answer my calls anymore - the kids changed it's name. I've been calling out the wrong name.  Whose name are you calling on? If we call on any other name than the Lord, we will receive no reply, like tha...

Send us Fan Mail I have terrible vision, and I have had the worst luck over the years with glasses and contacts. All that is about to change, howeveer, as I have qualified and have a consultation for LASIK eye surgery this next week. Hopefully, in the next few weeks, I will permanently fix my vision.  We can be prone to spiritual blindness in our lives, and we are in desperate need of having the L...

Send us Fan Mail My kiddos now have a six-foot inflatable cow sprinkler in the back yard, but they use it for just about everything other than a sprinkler. To punch & kick, to jump on, anything other than its intended purpose.  Sometimes we can do the same as people with the gifts God has given to us. We reimagine God's designs, and destroy things like marriage, the church, or truth. We c...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back after an extended break! We had a wonderful and wonder filled past three weeks.  There are so many lessons I want to share wih you from our trip to California...but there is one in particular that you absolutely need to hear. It comes in the form of a note from a front desk of a hotel, and it reminds us that anyone who loves God and loves others can make a profound im...

Send us Fan Mail I wripped my hand good at the gym yesterday. I have callouses that have formed on my hands from the barbells etc. - and one of them tore open deep yesterday. It's painful, but in time it will heal.  Sometimes we can form callouses over our hearts, but God's Word has the power to cut us deep and expose that which is within. However, in doing so, God can bring us the heali...

Send us Fan Mail My everyday bible of seven years has fallen apart, and was in need of being rebound and brought back to life. So I sent it off to Orion Bibles, and they have done a complete transformation to it! I'm so thankful for its condition, and that I can use it once again.  One day we are all looking forward to our own transformation. Over the years our bodies fall apart, but in the r...

Send us Fan Mail As Finley, my three year old, and I were walking back up the driveway Wednesday night, we looked up to admire the stars. At that exact moment, a shooting star streaked across the night sky. It was a magical moment full of wonder.  We are like shooting stars. Ever breif, shinning through the darkness, and making a profound impact on those who see the light of Christ shinning in us....

Send us Fan Mail Chuck Norris is a legend larger than life. As the jokes would tell it, nothing could defeat him - except for death. Chuck Norris passed away today. Even someone as strong, healthy, and celebrated as he was cannot escape the fate of every man.  This is the simply reality - we're all gonna die. We don't know when, but it's going to happen to all of us. There is only o...

Send us Fan Mail My son turns six tomorrow, and I cannot beleive it. Where has time gone? We think that we have more time than we do with our children, but the fact is we don't.  Don't take your children for granted. Be present. Teach them. Enjoy every fleeting minute. You'll never get this wonderful time back.  #SetYourMindAbovePodcast

Send us Fan Mail We are planning a trip out west next month, and the highlight will be two very special national parks with 2000 year old trees we are showing the kids. How have they survived this long? Because of how their roots grow and interlock with one another, they never stand alone but stand strong together.  How are we to survive life's storms and the challenges to our faith? Not only...

Send us Fan Mail We have a new local celebrity here in Danville: a stuffed Elmo. He had been abandoned in a parking lot by accident, but some local resident has picked him up, cleaned him up, and started posting his great many new adventures. It's so wholesome and so fun.  Elmo's story is a lot like Israel's story and our story: abandoned, broken, forgotten, and lost. That is until...

Send us Fan Mail When we have an emergency, we call 911 here in America. Sometimes so many people can call that the dispatch centers can get overwhelmed in something called a call surge. That's when everyone is calling about the same event all at once.  We are called to flood heaven with a prayer surge. But the thing is God is never overwhelmed, he listens and acts, and the prayer of a righte...

Send us Fan Mail We all love a good fail video - it's innocent fun and when no one gets hurt, it can be quite comedic. We even laugh at our own expense, like I did when my neighbor caught me in 4k falling on my tush on the ice this past week.  However, while that's innocent, in this world sometimes people can take pleasure in the actual failure and fall of others. This is not a quality o...

Send us Fan Mail We didn't get the snow we had hoped for, not as much at least. Instead, we got a lot of ice. Ice is so hard to treat, and unless you have some salt to soften it up, you're going to be hard on luck to break it apart and clear a pathway.  We need to ensure two things for ourselves. First, we need to ensure that in humility we can soften our hearts so as to receive the trut...

Send us Fan Mail As we prepare for an incredible winter storm of historic measure, I have been to the store a few times to prep. Well, so has everyone else. It's been slammed, and yet people have been kind, sharing, and helpful as this little community has banded together to help each other endure a harsh weekend.  Preparation is not panic, in fact it's expected by God with many things....

Send us Fan Mail We started a challenge of writing out all of the New Testmanet + Psalms & Proverbs over this year with many of us here in Danville. It has proved to be so beneficial for my own growth as I slowly think about each word of Scripture. It's also led me to longer term goals to committ the Word to my memory.  We are to let the Word dwell richly in us. But that does not just hav...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back to a brand new season of the Set Your Mind Above Podcast! We got Ava a realistic baby doll for Christmas, the problem was it was damaged in shipping. We let her open it, but promised we could get her another one. She responded that she loved the doll just the way it was, because that's how God loves us - it doesnt matter how we look, all of us are special.  Today...

Send us Fan Mail I failed to reach many of my goals over this past year physically - and that was due to three reasons: setbacks, busyness, and lack of consistency.  Oftentimes these same three reasons keep us from attaining our spiritual goals. We must not give up despite setbacks. We must never be too busy for God's work. And we must strive to be diligent to stay consistent in our efforts t...

Send us Fan Mail One of my runs in a fantasy football league finally came to an end after 14 weeks. This is a "Chopped!" league - which means you win or you go home. If you lose even once by having the lowest score in the league, you're done for the season. No second chances. No next week. No chance for redemption.  How blessed are we that we do not serve a "one and done"...

Send us Fan Mail Our kids recently started doing the Elf on the Shelf tradition with me, and it has completely changed their mornings. They don't think about anything else first except for that little mischevious elf. They can't wait to wake up and see what new thing he has gotten into.  Their joy and excitement convicts me. What is my routine when I first wake up? Do I grab my phone? My...

Send us Fan Mail Our newest dog, Rusty, has grown far bigger than we ever dreamed. He also loves to go outside and get filthy, so bringing him back inside is always a process. If one of the kids lets him in before we can clean him up, he will track dirt all through the house and destroy the place in a matter of minutes.  The home is to be a sacred and safe place, according to Scripture. We must be...