Stress and anxiety are overrated. And sometimes it feels like peace is undervalued. Or maybe just taken for granted…? Or maybe it’s just that we haven’t deeply experienced the peace of God so we just don’t know how powerful it is. Jesus believed that peace was important enough for us to have that He gave His life for it. And just being real...it’s a way better option than anxiety or stress.

We’ve all faced challenges in the unexpected year of 2020. But the good news is that faith works in every type of circumstance. Faith isn’t dependent on what’s happening around us because it’s rooted in our unshakeable God who is seated far above it all. As we come to a close of this crazy year where fear has tried to dominate the airwaves, let’s take some time to invest in our faith.

We’ve all had times where our passion needed re-fueling. Apathy is defined as the absence or suppression of passion. Trials - when improperly responded to - work to steal our passion and leave us apathetic towards God and towards life. You may have just let busyness distract you and apathy is now knocking at your door. Or...maybe you’re just not “feeling it” ...lol. The good news is that it doesn’t have to stay that way. Regardless of how you feel, there’s a way to fuel your passion every single day.

I’ve heard it said many times that we need to get back to the Book of Acts and the impact of the early church with signs, wonders, and miracles. As I’ve been reading through Acts in recent days, it stood out to me how much action was documented - hence, the name - Book of Acts, or the Acts of the Apostles. I believe the amount of power the disciples walked in was directly connected to the amount of action they took for the gospel. After all, you only need as much power as you’re going to use.

We’ve been good at championing heaven coming to earth, and rightly so. But one thing we haven’t talked about nearly as much is the returning of Jesus Christ, our home in heaven, and living with an eternal perspective. I’m a big believer that hope for the future brings strength for today. I don’t understand end times, nor do I want to argue about it - but one thing I know, Jesus is coming back and it should massively impact the way I live my life now.

It’s obvious there’s a war over our praise - especially if you live in California. We know our war is ultimately not with flesh and blood, it’s with the enemy of our souls. He knows the power that’s within our praise to God! God has given us a powerful supernatural weapon of praise. Let’s be careful to not invert our praise into complaining and use the sword the wrong way. It’s not a time to be silent, it’s a time to raise your voice - in praise to God!

We all know what it’s like to face the battlefield of the mind. Whether it’s fear, anxiety, bitterness, guilt, shame, or other draining types of thoughts - we’re familiar with the battle that takes place in our minds. Especially in 2020 - we’ve got way too many reasons to be stressed out! But God has plenty of reasons for us to be full of peace and has keys for us to win the battlefield of the mind. We can live above the craziness going on in the world today!

I wrote my book “Carriers of the Ark” with millennials in mind (even though it applies to all ages). I am one! Yet, millennials have been labeled as entitled and lazy. I’m not saying that’s 100% correct, but we do have a chance to prove those stereotypes wrong. This generation is obviously looking for purpose and is passionate about living for a cause. With all the shaking in the world today, we need an entire generation to rise up and carry the life-giving Presence of God!

While I’m sure everyone is sick of (no pun intended) the effects of the coronavirus on society and are ready for it to end, the quarantine has actually allowed for some unintended innovation and upgrades to happen for the church. To be clear, I don’t believe that God caused the coronavirus, but I do believe that He works all things together for our good. As Americans, should we fight for our rights? Sure. But we also need to capitalize on this unique time in history. God is doing a new thing!

As you’re well aware, fear and anxiety have tried to grip the world in these last couple of months. Some have lost loved ones, some have lost jobs, and others have just dealt with adjusting to a new way of living. Regardless of where we find ourselves, we’ve all had reasons to battle fear - but fear does not have to grip your life! There is a way to live above fear, and even though you may feel it, you don’t have to give into it.

Watching the news, hearing reports of deaths, and being in a quarantine situation has affected all of us. It’s at these times where we have to pull on the greater reality of heaven - the place where our eternal citizenship lies. As the old saying goes, “We are in the world but not of the world.” The kingdom of heaven never wavers, is always stable and is rooting for us. How, then, do we stay connected to that greater reality in a world that is shaking all around us?

Blessing in Ancient Hebrew meant: anointed to win, empowered to overcome and impossible to curse! Especially in this time when people are freaking out over sickness, the news is perpetuating fear, public gatherings are being asked to shut down, and more...we need to walk in the blessing of the Lord!

As a worship leader who loves the breakthrough aspect of God’s nature, I love to lead people beyond their comfort zone into new places. Whenever I travel, I usually take the first few minutes to assess where the room is at, find their “borders”, and then see what I can do to push them over the line! I know what it’s like to be led across my limitations and experience new things in God, so I want to help people get there as well! The Hebrew language has some compelling things to say to us about praise that will launch us into new encounters with God.

Have you ever felt the joy that comes when God is moving in your life, only to be met by wave after wave of opposition? It feels like the old adage - two steps forward and three steps back. It’s tempting to “throw in the towel” in those moments, especially when they’ve lasted for quite some time. As simple as it sounds, the answer every time is: DON’T QUIT. DON’T GIVE UP. Keep moving forward. You have more in you than what you think. Take hold of relentless faith in an unshakeable God.

If you’re like me, you probably have a handful of books partially read sitting on your night stand collecting dust. Or maybe you’ve had some house projects halfway done that are nagging you to get them done before another year passes. Whatever it is, we all know the feeling of things needing to be finished. I believe there are some God given dreams that got put on the shelf in times past that God is asking us to pick up again in 2020. This is a year of fulfilled dreams.

Did you know passivity was the original sin of Adam? The account in Genesis said that as Eve took of the forbidden fruit she gave it to her husband who was standing NEARBY! That means he saw the whole thing go down and did nothing. Wow. Zeal, on the other hand, pushes forward into God and accomplishes things in the kingdom. It’s time to shake off the shackles of passivity and dance our way into zeal for the Lord and for our lives!

In our day, there’s all kinds of fuss about gluten, GMO’s, and all things bread related. Bread has been one of the most commonly consumed foods in the world for a long time. We obviously need food to live and bread has become a word that represents our sustenance. We get our nourishment from what we eat. You may be familiar with the old saying: “You are what you eat.” Well, in scripture, bread takes on a metaphor for what people feed on in their souls. 

Ever feel like the person sitting next to you at church has been baptized in lemon juice and vinegar? Lol. Maybe they have a legitimate reason for being down... Or have you been around super serious Christians? You know, the kind that treat everything spiritual as an intense act of warfare and to crack a smile would be irreverent and inappropriate? It’s time we loosen up, stop trying so hard, and get a glimpse of our God who sits in heaven and laughs!

Hope in the Bible is defined as an eager expectation that good is coming your way. However, many suffer from “hope deferred”...basically, your hope has been dashed. You may have stopped hoping in the promise of God, or the dream in your heart, or that things will work out in your favor. The answer isn’t in giving up and living a “que sera, sera” (whatever will be will be) lifestyle. It’s time to get your hopes up that God is about to breakthrough in your life!

God is a Healer! It’s His very nature (Ex. 15:26). If you are in need of healing or want to step into healing ministry, you’ve got to know that healing is what God wants to do! Regardless of bad experiences, seemingly unanswered prayers or just wrong theology, Jesus is still the same yesterday, today and forever. I want to stir your faith through scripture and testimonies to believe God for the miraculous!