Category Archives: grow

6 Week Challenge

13 Thursday Aug 2020

Posted by in grow, Uncategorized

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The best things in life come through a commitment. One of my main goals in life is to help people get into the Word of God more and more. I’m confident in the power of the Word and I know how it has changed my life and I want more people to experience it as well.  That’s why I became a pastor, my life was changed because of the Word and I started seeing more and more people’s lives changed through the Word. Seeing lives changed has become an addiction of mine. 

Often times people ask, why doesn’t the Bible change some people’s lives? I believe there are a few reasons. It could be what I call the dilemma of difficulty. The Bible wasn’t originally written in English. If someone doesn’t understand the original languages, sometimes the meaning behind Scripture can get lost in translation. A lot of people give up in that moment and misunderstand who God says He is or how He’s called us to live. There’s also the factor of familiarity. Some people feel as if they’re familiar enough. Familiarity can breed contempt and cause us to check out or have a lukewarm faith. But perhaps one of the most common hurdles is the principle of priority. We live fast paced lives and our check lists are a mile long so we simply don’t make time in the Bible a priority.

Does your Bible time get pushed aside more often then you’d like? Let’s talk about how to get committed to making time with God’s Word a priority.

1. Crave. Think of something that you crave. You developed that craving over time and with consistency of use it became something you crave. That is the same idea Peter talks about in the Bible, “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation” 1 Peter 2:2.

Maybe you’re someone who’s new to the Christian faith or you just can’t get the idea of craving something so new to you.  This next point is for you …

2.Consistency.  Have you ever heard the saying, yard by yard it’s hard but inch by inch it’s a cinch? The best way to develop the craving for the Word is to experience God’s Word consistently! If you’re not a reader, that’s okay. You can listen to it or even watch it on the YouVersion App or our own Skyline Church App. But consistency is key. Whether it’s for 1, 5, 10, 60, or 100’s of minutes a day, getting into Scripture will absolutely change your life.

If you’re trying to figure out this whole Christianity thing, you’re not alone. “The Bereans examined the Word daily to see if what Paul was saying was true” Acts 17:11. Do what YOU CAN DO consistently.

3.Discuss it. Whether its your kids or friends, share what you’re reading and learn about what others are experiencing with the Word. When you discuss it, you’ll start to see the Bible becoming more real in your life. This step is transformational!

4. Go from Obligation to Habit. Many things that are a habit, start off as an obligation. We all started off brushing our teeth out of obligation. Over time, as we stayed committed it became a habit (at least for most people).  Sometimes things we have to start doing become things we want to keep doing. The same principle is true in the Word of God.

Maybe you start off feeling obligated, but as you dig in for your minute or 5 or 10 or more, consistently, the obligation becomes more and more of a habit that you can’t imagine doing without. It may be as little as a verse a day, or more like a chapter a day, or even a book of the Bible a day … your commitment to consistency is key. Philemon is only 25 verses. There are 31 Proverbs. That’s a Proverb for each day of the month. If you miss a day you can easily get right back on track the next day.

There are so many ways to incorporate this habit into your daily routine, but I want to encourage you to start today! Join me for the next six weeks in taking time, whether it’s a verse or more a day to read God’s Word. Read at home or watch our Today Matters devotional Monday – Friday. Simply go to our Skyline Church App. or visit YouTube/Today Matters and start your day off with a quick devotional from myself and other pastors at Skyline Church. Each day I’ll give you at least one verse that you will be able to apply to your life immediately.

You become what you’re committed to. Tell me your commitments and I’ll tell you where you’re going to be in 5 years. Trust me, one of the most powerful commitments you could ever make is to the Word of God. It changed my life and it will change yours.

Interested or Committed?

22 Wednesday Jul 2020

Posted by in comfort, grow, mission, Uncategorized, vision

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What are you expecting God to do in your life?

There’s a law that God has established … I call it “the law of expectation.” The fact is, we tend to get what we “expect” out of life. We often see what we expect to see, hear what we expect to hear, feel the way we expect to feel, and succeed at what we expect to succeed in. God says you get to choose! It’s actually “the law of faith,” because “according to your faith it will be done to you” (Matthew 9:29). 

In Luke 17:5, we see the apostles ask the Lord to increase their faith! They had no idea how difficult that would be for them. The problem with acquiring more faith is the process.  We all want more faith, but nobody likes what it takes to get there. 

“There is a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in something you do it only when it’s convenient. When you’re committed to something you accept no excuses, only results.” 

–– Ken Blanchard

During this time of Covid craziness you might be wondering what God is up to in all of this. How is He going to use this for good, how in the world is my faith supposed to grow through this time? Well, that depends. Are you interested or committed to growing your faith? The next natural question is how does God increase our faith? … He tests it!

Everyday we have faith building opportunities. And, these times of quarantine, open, close, reopen, do this, don’t do that, can drive any person crazy. But, we have to be committed to seeing these problems as faith building opportunities.

Unfortunately, most of us don’t recognize conflicts or hardships as opportunities. Instead, we let our circumstances push us away from God. I believe this time of quarantine is more than a season of conflict, hardship, and restrictions. It’s actually a faith building opportunity!

You see, faith is like a muscle. It has to be worked out, stretched, and pulled with resistance … consistently. Just like consistency is key in getting bigger and stronger muscles, consistency is key in working out your faith muscle! In fact, James 1:3-4 reminds us of this when it says “… the testing of your faith produces perseverance … so that you may be mature and complete …”

A faith that stretches is uncomfortable, but it’s also healthy! Look at your faith like a tree. It requires nurturing and ultimately we hope to produce delicious fruit. But fruits don’t arrive over night. It’s the wind, rain, and storms that challenge the tree’s roots to go deeper and stabilize the tree before the season of harvest returns. 

I want to encourage you to continue to follow Jesus and live out Colossians 2:6-7 which says, 

“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught and overflowing with thankfulness.” 

Let the roots of your faith grow deeper throughout this time of Covid, no matter how long it lasts. If you are committed, your faith WILL become stronger. I’m confident that this time of quarantine is an opportunity that will lead you to trust God more than you ever have before. Use this time to allow your roots of faith to ‘grow’ to a whole new level.

The reason that your faith needs testing is because God wants to increase it! God is never going to say “you’ve arrived,” “there’s nothing else for you,” or “that’s all I have to teach you” … He’s always going to want us to take that next step of faith!

So let me ask you again … What are you expecting God to do in your life? Are you interested in Him working in your life or committed? Can you hang in there a little longer, lean on Him a little more, and trust Him to come through? Will you do it with an expectant heart knowing that He has promised to move according to your committed faith?

I am believing that your faith is going to grow in new ways and we’re going to come out of this season stronger than ever! I’m committed to it, and I expect it!

Prescription for Change

09 Thursday Jul 2020

Posted by in comfort, grow, Uncategorized

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Did you know that in a typical year about 2,000 self-help books come out on the market? Advertisers know that everybody is interested in change. The thing about self-help books and even many of the self-help podcasts out there, is that they tell you to stop doing this and start doing that, which is usually good advice, but the problem is they don’t give you the power to change.

We all have areas that we wish we could change but we’ve just been unable to do it. It may be sexual desires, drinking, spending, eating, or our moodiness to name a few. You name it, and we’ve probably tried to change it. So, why do we do what we don’t want to do? It’s an old question that the Apostle Paul asked in the book of Romans. Today, we’re going address that question by looking at three things:

  1. The Problem: Why we do what we don’t want to do
  2. God’s Promise: Getting a true understanding to overcome the problem
  3. The Prescription (Hey, I’m a Doctor, I can do that): The HOW to live in God’s promises

Join me in Romans 7:15-25: Paul writes,

“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.”

 Let’s talk brass tacks … 

  1. The Problem is that we have a sinful nature in us. What does that mean exactly? It means there’s a civil war going on in us, a war of our flesh against our spirit (Matthew 26:41). This war draws us into a cycle of starting off with good intentions, but then we fail, which leads to guilt. And then it repeats … good intentions, failure, guilt. 
  2. God’s Promise is in John 8:32 , “… the truth will set you free.” The secret to personal change is not “will power.” It’s not a pill, a new year’s resolution, a vow, it’s not even something you say or do. Personal freedom is achieved through knowledge. It’s something you know! When you know the truth, the lies you’ve come to believe are exposed and you can break free from the problems that have held you back from the change you’re looking for. 
  3. When the Prescription is taken, we can live in God’s promise and purpose for our life. Here’s the prescription, take A,B,C,D every time you want to change something about yourself.

A: Acknowledge the root of the problem. 
B: Believe Jesus can change you. 
C: Confess your struggle to another person. 
D: Dedicate yourself completely to Jesus.

Each of these steps are very important. “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). Acknowledge the sin today. But don’t lose yourself in a cycle of good intentions, failure, and guilt. Believe that Jesus can change you. Romans 7:24-25 says, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Now, I understand, this next step can be hard, but we’re not meant to do life alone. “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (James 5:16). When you completely dedicate yourself to Jesus Christ, you’ll experience the one and only God that keeps His promises.  

You DO have the power to change through Jesus Christ. And you can start TODAY!

ABC’s for Loyalty

02 Thursday Jul 2020

Posted by in Church, comfort, grow, Uncategorized

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What a week! 

I’m on the road just outside San Francisco at a gathering of pastors for Convoy of Hope. This incredible ministry serves our local community and the poorest of the poor all around the world. I’m out here to learn more about them and looking into how we can partner with them in the near future. Stay tuned for more information on that!

I’m also thrilled to be with our Executive Team meeting with a group of great people in the city of Pacifica (near San Francisco) as we discuss our next campus “Skyline Pacifica.” You’ll be hearing more about that soon!

Today, I want to talk about “loyalty.” When conflict begins to heat up between those who are relationally close, it can be increasingly difficult to solve the problem. If a problem continues to go unsolved, the person you’re close to can begin to feel like an enemy.

If you’re not currently at odds, just make sure you’ve got these tools of loyalty ready to go because it’s never IF you have conflict, it’s always WHEN you have conflict, you’ll want to be prepared with these habits. 
It may seem impossible to affirm a loved one with loyalty during strenuous times, but today I want to encourage you with an easy way to remember practical keys to make this possible in your life. Use the ABC’s to remember 3 ways to affirm loyalty during conflict.

  1. Accept them! Part of loyalty is accepting each others differences. Acceptance doesn’t mean that you approve of everything they do, but it means that your love for them is not dependent upon them changing.
  2. Before you seek to be understood, seek to understand. It’s easy to all the sudden start focusing on the problem and to forget the value of the relationship. Pretty soon you start seeing yourselves as enemies. Remember, they’re NOT the enemy!
  3. Cloth yourself in Compassion. Colossians 3:12, reminds us that there’s an act of putting on compassion. Compassion is really defined as love IN action. 

Implement these habits of loyalty and when the fires of conflict begin to heat up, you’ll be able extinguish the flames before you get burned.

Controlling Your Tongue

24 Wednesday Jun 2020

Posted by in grow, patience, Uncategorized

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Shut up! Is that too harsh? I think it might be appropriate for some of the stuff that flows so freely across the thumbs of the most prolific social media “influencers” and shock jocks across our nation.

Our words can bite, can’t they? James 3:2 says that “if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.” Look closely at what he says … it starts with our mouths (or our thumbs as we type away on our phones)! From there, we can begin to grow and mature in EVERY way. What we say steers the direction of our lives.  We tend to move in the direction of our words. 

Let me be clear here. I’m not talking about the few buddies that you’ve known for a while and you joke around with each other from time to time. Some of that is the spice of life (unless the heart behind it is wrong). But today, I want to talk about this steering wheel of life … the tongue.
Here’s the deal, the average American will have 30 conversations per day.  In one year, you could fill 53 books that are 1,000 pages long. You’re going to spend 1/5 of your life talking!!

If you want to know where you’re headed, look at some of the recent conversations you’ve had with others and think about the self-talk you’ve had with yourself. Our words can both damage and destroy our life because that’s what has hold of life’s steering wheel. If you’re always putting yourself down you need to stop listening to yourself and start preaching to yourself the positive messages and words of affirmation that God has for you.

James 3:5-6 explains the power of our words. “The tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do. A great forest can be set on fire by one tiny spark. And the tongue is a flame of fire.” Your words will reveal what is really in your heart. And even a seemingly small careless word can start a fire that becomes a raging argument inferno.

Not too long ago in 2018, California experienced its worst fire season in history. Nearly two million acres were burned across our great state. It started in February, and the last fire was put out in November. You know how it started? One spark!

Some of the arguments you’ve gotten into were caused by one spark. Only you can control the sparks that come out of your mouth. Careless words can destroy an entire life. Don’t become a verbal arsonist. If you don’t work on it, it’s going to ruin all you have!

I imagine that many of you have mastered the problem of cussing, but perhaps you haven’t mastered the problem of cutting others down. In James 3:10, James talks about how out of the same mouth come both praises and curses. This shouldn’t be the case. I want to challenge you today, to really focus on taming your tongue. What are your words revealing about you?

A good question to ask yourself is what is the source of the things that come out of your mouth? At the end of the day, as Jesus said, “Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks…” Luke 6:45. The heart of the matter is a matter of the heart. Sometimes people will say, “I don’t know why I said that, that’s not like me.” Actually, it’s exactly like you, because it has been bubbling up inside you for a long time. If a loose tongue is a problem for you the reality is your heart is not healthy.

You need to deal with the heart issue. Get to the root of the problem and root it out. Is it anger, bitterness, envy, hurt, or anything else? Whatever it might be it will not get better until you have a change of heart. Thankfully, God specializes in heart transplants, “And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart” Ezekiel 36:26. Give your heart to Jesus Christ and watch him take the reins of your tongue and steer it toward peace.