Conquering fears

The mountain goat feels perfectly at home on the precipice. He knows not fear. The heights are his friend, his defense against predators. There’s no need to fear heights.

Abandon the lowlands, and dare to scale the heights. Don’t fear the plan and destiny God has for you. Leave behind your “security.” Since predators prowl there, it’s not so secure after all. Your securest future is in God’s plan for you, so don’t “play it safe.”

Recently, my family and I stepped out of the boat and accepted the challenge to plant a new church in Van Nuys. We purposely left the “safe harbor” of our parent church, where the worship is quality and workers abound so much that I didn’t really have to do anything.

Learn to tell your fears that they are lies. Phobias are very real, but not everybody has the same ones, which shows them to be irrational and, consequently, conquerable. Take it from the Valley Boy Pastor: Embrace the future God has for you.

Get out of the campsite (and other life lessons from Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park)

If you never try in life, you will miss all the breath-taking views and the thrill of achievement.

1. Get out of the campsite. It represents playing it safe. No risk means no reward. Angel’s Landing hike info came with ample warnings: strenuous, dangerous, arduous. Plus, who knew if was even interesting. Had we hearkened to worry, we would have missed one of the best views in the world. A challenge beckons. Take a challenge.

The trail is chiseled into the sandstone up the cliff wall. Impressive and fun!

2. You never know how far you can go until you try. The hike in Zion National Park was too long. I told my family that when we get tired, we turn back. But we kept going, tantalized by the possibility of another spectacular view. And we made it to the very end. It’s called Angel’s landing because the narrow ledge is so high up and so remote, that it was said that only angels could alight there.

The trail follows the ridge to the left of Rob’s shoulder. It looks daunting but actually is not difficult if you just take one step at a time.

3. Keep your momentum going. Don’t get overwhelmed by the distance nor the elevation ahead. Just put one foot ahead of another. If you’re trying to get free from drugs or trying to establish a business, just do your best progress today. When you are working well, don’t slow. I breezed through the heart-breaking 21 switchbacks because I felt a second wind, and I just kept going.

4. Stick with you group. At some point, I left my wife behind because I thought she didn’t want to go the whole way. Oops! What a jerk I was. Because I left her behind, she got upset at me. Stay with those who have always stayed with you. Let your individual triumphs be group triumphs.

5. The spectacular is ahead. The view from Angel’s Landing was almost the best I’ve ever seen in the world (Yosemite tops it). Had I never tried, I would have never known. Too often we don’t even try something because we think it involves more effort than its worth.

Love’s the answer. What was the question?

This one is not my wisdom. It comes from http://justmebeingcurious.com/ So thanks for him for allowing me to share it here.

It certainly appears to me that another prominent religion is based on hate, but Christianity, whose adherents get killed around the world and then forgive, is based on love.

This is how you know that white supremacists are NOT Christian. They are in hate, not love. They reflect those who crucified Christ.

How do we reach a generation that gets further away from God by the day? Love. How do we Christians — not our secular government — respond to nations who send terrorists to wreak carnage? We send missionaries. We send love.

How do we face bitter accusing people in the church? Do we descend to their wickedness? No, we must respond with love.

Love is the answer. It is so much the totality of the answer that we can even forget the question.