Are You Holding Back?
Is there anyone who really knows you, who has experienced the big events of your life with you, who knows your feelings and perspectives? You may have a few people who have shared in some (or even most) of the significant happenings of your life, but no one has really been there with you through them all. Even the people who have been with you haven’t really seen and experienced what you have. They have seen things from their own unique perspective. They may have experienced many things with you, but not inside you. Only God knows you like that!  Every memory that you have can be shared with God. He was there, not just with you but WITH you. He is the only One with whom you will ever really, really, really be able to share your life. He knows you inside out (literally and figuratively), and He wants to share your life with you.
So, why do we so often keep God at a distance, only sharing “our religious lives” with Him? Is it because we think that if we hide some aspects of our lives, ...
Can We Talk?
Many people in our country believe that faith is a personal thing – that it’s not something to talk about or share with others. To believe this, however, is to believe that there is no real, solid, true faith that we must all consider.
The Bible uses the expression “the faith” to describe a solid belief in Jesus Christ that impacts and informs all aspects of life. People are to be strengthened in the faith, encouraged to stand strong in the faith, to examine themselves to make sure they are in the faith, to grow in the unity of the faith and to experience joy in the faith together. Faith is personal.  Faith is also corporate.  We need to be discuss it so we can grow and progress in our understanding, application and practice of “the faith.”
In Ephesians 4:15 we are instructed to “speak the truth in love” to each other. This is what we all need spiritually and relationally. We need to receive both love and truth, and we need to express love and truth others.
The apostle Paul urges...
Are You Prepared for What's Next?
When you consider your future, what do you think will happen?
Do you picture good things coming your way, or does the future feel somewhat bleak?Â
No one really knows the future. God rarely gives detailed insights into what is coming next. It seems that He wants us to rely on Him and not to become fixated on what will or won’t happen. This can feel disconcerting – and some become so concerned with knowing the future that they involve themselves in the occult, seeking dark powers for information about their future as if that will bring them security and comfort.
God’s Kingdom approach is quite different. He promises to be with us always; to never leave us or forsake us. His character is such that He can be trusted with our future, even though we don’t know what that future will hold.
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28 NIV)  Â
Rather than showing us the future, God calls us to be prepared...
A Simple Step to Release God's Kingdom as you Go!
When Jesus walked the earth, He declared that the Kingdom of God was at hand. He could do this because He was living under the rule and reign of His Father in Heaven. He said,
 “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” (John 5:19)
Jesus lived, died, rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. He purchased for us the same kind of relationship He had with His Father in heaven. He opened the door to life in the Holy Spirit in a way that had never been understood or experienced before. So now, wherever you go, you can also declare that the Kingdom is at hand – if you know Jesus. His rule, resources and insights are with you – God Himself is with you!
The next time you go to work, you can declare, “The Kingdom of God has arrived, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against its advance through me.” Once you have made such a prayerful declaration and believed it you...
An Invitation to God's Healing, Deepening and New Direction - Podcast
Click Here to Tune in to hear this astounding and inspiring story of redemption, healing and hope.
It was a delight to sit with Joe Fornear, a long-time friend of mine from high school days. I KNOW that you, too, will be encouraged to hear what he has to share.
In this podcast, you will hear some of Joe's honest reflections on
- Â life lived as a self-professed "racecar that needed a steering wheel".
- Â his own mental health struggles
- relational struggles with profound effects
- God's interventions and "glorious salvation"
- the impactful gifts of those who invested in him
- his diagnosis of Late Stage Metastatic Melanoma
- an oncologist's shocking "death sentence" when no more could be doneÂ
- God's MIRACULOUSÂ healing
- how God is moving in and through him today in an amazing and inspiring ministry
Really...You do not want to miss this one!
~ Coach Tom
Are You Living Into Your Exchanged Life?
The Exchanged Life
How are you doing in your soul?  What is the condition of your spirit – the deepest part of you?  It may take a moment to access your inner state, but it is good to check-in with yourself from time-to-time.
The apostle Paul said the Kingdom of God is a matter of “Righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 14:17) This is what the Life of Christ looks like in us. Jesus described His life as restful, rightly fit for us and light. (Matthew 11:28-30) Deep down within yourself, do you sense righteousness, peace, joy, rest and lightness? Or do you feel cluttered and weighed down on the inside?
At the core of the Christian life is a death and resurrection.  Jesus’ crucifixion is a payment for our sin-saturated lives and a release from sin’s strangle-hold. His resurrection demonstrates the power of the Holy Spirit and is a picture of new, supernatural life. This inner life of Christ is accessed through faith.  Jesus’ death and resurrection are both applied ...
What To Do When Life Gets Rough
He wants to break you out of the prison of a closed-system mindset, freeing you toperceive and rely upon the resources of heaven. This is often a painful and scaryprocess, and it seems new and insurmountable each time it occurs. The faith-fruit, however, that grows through such trials is incredible and expansive.  Paul wanted the believers in Corinth to know just how stretching such an experience was for him, and how prayer and partnership play a crucial role in heavenly faith breakthrough. He wrote,“We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had r...
How to be a Good Human
Click Here for the 4-Minute Video
What does it mean to be a good human?
It relates to our identity as image-bearers of God.
We were created in the image of God. Being in God's image points to our ability to connect with and commune with God.
We understand and receive our identity from being with God. In that way we need to be Human Beings - humans, being with God.
We exercise our identities in God by exercising/expressing God's will/intent/perspective in our roles and life spheres. We express our unique identities through our unique offerings to the world.
What do you have to offer the world? ... that is your unique Human doing.
To be a Good Human is to be a Human Being - with God and a Human Doing - through God's enablement and power.
At this point in your life, might God be encouraging you to grow on the Being or the Doing side?
We need both to be Good Humans!
If you'd like to go a little deeper on this, you may want to check out my 1--minute podcast on this topic. Go...
