Set Your Mind Above

Send us Fan Mail Starbucks released a limited edition collectors item in a glass iced coffee bear cup. People went nuts over them, because each store only got a few each. But others saw this also as an opportunity to fool others, setting up fradulent sites to con others into purchasing what they thought was the real thing.  We need to see the Kingdom and the Gospel in this way as well. We must sea...

Send us Fan Mail I'm teaching my oldest daughter to ride a bike, and it is a lot harder than she expected. She keeps forgetting to pedal, so she stops moving forward, and that's when she tips over and falls.  As Christians, our walk with Christ is much harder than many anticipate. But with God, all things are possible - we just have to keep moving forward. When we stop growing is when we...

Send us Fan Mail I thought it was finally going to happen this year - the Mariners were only 9 outs from advancing to the World Series for the very first time. But in the end, they fell short once again. I guess I'll say what I've had to say ever year: there is always next season.  But there is no next season with this life. We cannot fail to finish in our walk of faith. We must be faith...

Send us Fan Mail We went on vacation to NC and took our two dogs with us. Our large puppy had never experienced stairs before, and I didn't realize that some dogs didn't know naturally how to go up and down them. He was terrified and I had to carry him before training him. It took a lot of patience and gentleness, but finally he figured it out over the course of the week.  Those who are...

Send us Fan Mail We recently went to the Cincinatti zoo with some good friends, and one of the exhibits is for nocturnal animals. It was very dark, and at first the kids could not see a thing. Our friends reminded them to give it time, the longer they stayed in the dark the more comfortable their eyes would become.  Unfortunately, we can become all to comfortable with darkness too. We can be like...

Send us Fan Mail I love chicken and tomatoes. I eat them every week, and they are in many of the meals that we make as a family. However, after getting allergy testing done, it turns out my love for them might be what has been fueling a lot of my health issues. I'm allergic to them both.  Sin works that way in our lives too, doesn't it? Before we came to Christ, we participated in the fl...

Send us Fan Mail This week has been full of bloodshed and tragedy in the US - from school schootings, merciless and senseless murders, and assasination - hearts are heavy.  How does the Christian respond to this?  #SetYourMindAbovePodcast

Send us Fan Mail "You don't love me anymore" - these were the words of our soon to be 3 year old to her mother and me. Why? Because we told her that she had to eat her dinner. We had to laugh - kids can be so dramatic. The rules are there because we love you, kiddo.  We're not all that different as the children of God. Sometimes we doubt God's love, because we don't g...

Send us Fan Mail Fantasy Football is back! To draft a good team, you have to remember several things. One, you can't overload on one position - you need to cover all your bases, because each position is important. Second, you need depth - have compitent back ups ready to go. Third, you need to keep your eye on the waiver wire and expand your team.  The church is not all that different. You ca...

Send us Fan Mail Today is a special episode - my daughter Ava has been asking to help with the podcast for quite sometime. Today, she finally got that opportunity - and she even got to pick the topic. She wanted to discuss the dangers of vanity.  Tune in to hear a discussion between my daughter and I about what we should pursue in this life, and remembering to hold things in their proper place so...

Send us Fan Mail We had an unexpected life event last week, as my wife ended up in the hospital for a period of four days. Over those four days, we received an outpouring of love and support from our local church family. We needed help, and they responded.  This is how God designed the church. It's not like a family, it is a family. Serving one another is never a burden, nor is there ever a l...

Send us Fan Mail As my grass started growing back in after a fresh cut, I noticed a distinct pattern to how entire strips of grass were longer than the sections next to it. As I looked at my mower, I discovered that one tire was going flat, and therefore it was unbalanced. It left my yard looking like a terrible haircut.  Imbalance in our lives can lead to all kinds of problems - at home, with our...

Send us Fan Mail My good buddy Jacob Stout, who is a very talented golfer, was recenlty golfing with another friend of his. He hit a decent shot, but he wasn't pleased with it. When he got in the cart, his buddy goes, "You know you'll never be good, right? You'll only be better."  Isnt' that the truth with our spiritual walk as well? There is only one who is good - Je...

Send us Fan Mail My mind has been on the residents of Kerr County all week, after the flash flooding and mass devastation that has occured. 120 are confirmed dead with 170 still missing. I cannot imagine that kind of loss. My words can do little to help them or make things better...but I can direct my words to the One who can.  God's words have power. He has the power to create and sustain. T...

Send us Fan Mail We took the kids with their grandparents to the Lexington Children's Museum, and the big hit was the bubble room! Bubbles are a lot of fun, but they are for just a short moment and then their fragile shape pops and is gone. Then you forget them, and move on to another bubble or another room.  Our lives are like the bubble room - here today and gone tomorrow. Short, fragile, a...

Send us Fan Mail The kids were enjoying making paper airplanes this afternoon, but Finley refused to throw hers. She kept a death grip on it. When I inquired why she wouldn't let it go, she responded that she had worked so hard on it.  We have a hard time of letting go of things we have poured a lot of ourselves into. Our children, a church, our money, all kinds of things. And yet it is by Go...

Send us Fan Mail As we traveled back from camp, my friend Will and I were taken back by some signs being sold at Buc-ee's. They were mocking Scripture, particularly from the book of Joshua, and making light of the things God has said. It was startling, but not surprising.  We are called to be holy, because God is holy. And a such, that means he should be honored as holy - and that includes hi...

Send us Fan Mail I was attacked by a swarm of cicadas while on the mower last night, and in trying to swat them away I knocked my earbud off into the grass. It was expensive, important, and very small. So I spent 20 minutes on my hands and knees until I finally found it!  Do we realize that God values souls equally? He came to seek and save the lost. Like the parable of the lost sheep or the lost...

Send us Fan Mail We had a tornado go through very close to us this morning, within about 5 miles, but we received no watch or warning notifications. The National Weather Service is having some updates that prevented us from being told - and I'm thankful that we are safe, but others were not so fortunate.  Ezekiel is called a watchman for the house of Israel - to warn them of God's judgme...

Send us Fan Mail In life, we have full circle moments when things you once did are things you find yourself doing again - but as a parent. I had that this week, from t-ball with my son to reading them Calvin & Hobbes together, we had many full circle moments. As I tucked my kids in, my son said, "Dad, I'm just like you."  And he will be - he watches my every move as all our chil...

Send us Fan Mail Someone kept trying to deliver a package to us that we were supposed to pay for. We had no idea what this package was. After going into the post office, it turns out it was a fraud - a fairly common scam. They post officer workers are trained in what to look for, and therefore we promptly rejected it.  There are many fraudulent gospels floating around today too. False doctrine tha...

Send us Fan Mail I did my leg in, and I've been doing physical therapy as a result. You can't tell I have a problem looking at the surface, but deep underneath I really messed up my hamstring area. A lot of injuries are like that - and if left unchecked, can cause a lot of problems.  Internally, we all have things that perhaps others cannot see on the surface, but they are serious spirit...

Send us Fan Mail Our local pharmacy was robbed at gunpoint yesterday. Thankfully, no one was injured and later on the suspect was aprehended. This kind of thing just doesn't happen that often here in our small town, so it took us all by surpise. It was unexpected, and many were not prepared for it.  The Lord likens his return to a thief - because we will not know when he is coming, and when h...

Send us Fan Mail This week Kylie and I participated in the Passion WOD at CrossFit. 100 double-unders. 800m 95/65# barbell carry. 100 burpees. It was designed to remind us of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. It was a hard workout, but moreso because of how emotional it was.  Do we really understand just how much Jesus suffered for us? Today we explore the details of scourging, the car...

Send us Fan Mail A had the most horrid sound coming from my car, and after googling the car's symptoms I began to be worried it was going to be a huge fix. Turns out $40 it was something very small, literally. I guess that's the way it goes, usually the things we worry about don't ever happen.  Jesus teaches us not to worry, to not be anxious. Usually, the thing's were anxious...