Set Your Mind Above BJ Sipe

We're back after a delay for a few weeks - and that occured with the passing of my grandmother Jackie Sipe, who we called Gigi. Her funeral was beautiful, and I was thankful to get to be a part of it. After the funeral, one of the women from the church told me something special after someone had expressed their sympathy for my loss. She said, "You know...nothing is lost if you know where it is." Well...I do know where she is, and all those in Christ do not grieve as others who have no hope. Jesus has won the victory over death, and through his resurrection we have great hope! To die is gain, because it means we get to go home, to our true eternal home, forever with the Lord. 
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A few weeks ago my wife and I attended a fundraising event to support the adoption agency Sacred Selections. I had hoped to win a beutiful bracelet for my wife in the silent auction, but I kept getting outbid by someone all night. After a while, I realized something hilarious - my wife and I had been unknowingly bidding against each other! Needless to say, we didn't leave with the bracelet. Well...as funny as that might be, do we realize that a house divided against itself cannot stand when it comes to any kingdom? That includes when we bite and devour each other as the church. We are called to love one another, not compete with each other. We cannot forget that we're all on the same team with the same mission, and we are called to work together, not against each other. 
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We are getting ready for our road trip to North Carolina for Thanksgiving, and that means making sure the car is ready for the voyage. We're not just going down the road, we're going up into hard mountain roads that twist and turn all the way. We've got to make sure we're ready for that kind of journey. Well...how do you view your journey of faith? Jesus says that this is a serious commitment, and we need to make sure we are prepared - or else we'll end up stranded in the middle of our voyage. This is a hard road, but what is waiting for us at the end is worth every mile. 
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Hey! I'm alive! Thanks for being so patient with us - we've had everything from family issues to sickness going on the last few weeks. On top of all of that, while my wife was caring for three sick kids and her sick husband, she hit her foot and broke her toe. Now you would think, it's just a little toe, no big deal right? Wrong. It impacts everything. Well...that's exactly the way it is with the body of Christ too. How important do you see your role in the church? If you don't think it's indispensible like Paul says it is, it will directly impact your motivation to fulfill your role. 
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We ordered some new bibles for some of our newest converts, and one of the bibles had a unique issue with it. The entire text had been bound and printed completely upside down. It's unlike any other issue I have ever seen with a bible. I had to life at the irony of it all, because, well...the Word of God is the thing that turns the world upside down. Everything about Jesus' ministry challenged what the world thought it knew about love, power, hope, etc. And to this day, Jesus continues to turn the world upside down but setting his disciples right side up again. 
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My wife and I celebrated 9 years of marriage yesterday, and I am blown away at how much has changed since the day we said "I Do". We have moved three times, had three children, and worked with three churches. But the biggest differences come in our relationship: how much deeper we love, fuller we know, and intimately we understand each other. Well...marriage teaches us about our relationship to God, so we need to ask ourselves: has our relationship with God grown over the years in this way? Do I love him deeper, know him fuller, and understand him more intimately than the day I obeyed the gospel? 
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