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Brandon Liebe

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So you’re saved… now what?

Peter lays out the life of a christian pretty clearly in just three verses, 2 Peter 1:5-7.  So you believe, thats called faith.  Now stop stealing cheating, lying, and do what’s right… that’s called being good. After that, while being good, read and get to know God’s word, also known as gaining knowledge.  Once you start gaining knowledge, put it into practice (self-control).  But just knowing and doing doesn’t mean temptation is going to go away, so you must persevere through temptations and hardships.  Once you can put together faith, knowledge, self-control, and perseverance, you will begin to understand what godliness truly is. He overcame ALL while we struggle to persevere and we start to have higher respect and understanding of God and begin to align our hearts with His… Godliness. As we struggle through our own attempt at godliness it forces us to appreciate other’s stories and struggles and extend kindness to them.  This teaches us to love the way we should, the way Jesus tells us people will know us by (John 13:35).

Then repeat. Continue reading “So you’re saved… now what?” →

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Find Your Boldness

Galatians 1:1 ” Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead…” Continue reading “Find Your Boldness” →

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Your Lord or Your Lucky Rabbits Foot?

This morning I dove into the book of 1 Samuel.  I believe God gave me an idea into his character, but also a stern warning against the way many of us live today.  That warning was this; God is not our Lucky Rabbits foot.  We don’t just get out of jail free whenever we “pull the God-card” and expect him to show up.  The fact is that He does have great plans for our life, but that doesn’t mean we get to do whatever we want and it’s His responsibility to make it great. Continue reading “Your Lord or Your Lucky Rabbits Foot?” →

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Battle-Ready

This weekend I had the wonderful privilege to be able to preach here at Pathways Church.  Not to be redundant, but the final point on prayer is worth taking some time to think about today so that it doesn’t just become words but translates into each of our lives.  It comes from Ephesians 6:12, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

So often we find verses in scripture that we can quote, but until they change they way we live they are not serving their intended purpose. Continue reading “Battle-Ready” →

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Lifestyle, not Event

One of the biggest reasons people say that they don’t pray is because they “don’t have the time.” This then leads to guilt because they don’t pray, which leads to separation from God because they feel that they haven’t prayed in so long that when they pray this time God will wonder where they have been. Truth is, prayer is so much simpler than that! Actually, if you don’t already have a set devotional or prayer time my recommendation may surprise you. Its this: Don’t set a time… Yet. Continue reading “Lifestyle, not Event” →

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The Prayer Basics

Last week in our church we launched a men’s ministry and I loved that so many men wanted to dive into deeper discussion on the topic of prayer.  The truth is prayer has been written off by many for a number of reasons.  Either people don’t understand how to pray or feel like they get distracted and have nothing to say.  Some, I believe, even question if prayer even works.  The truth is that prayer isn’t as mystical as we sometimes try to make it.  What worries me is that we now have a generation that believes in God but have no real relationship with him.

And prayer, at its basics, is communication with God.  A relationship. Continue reading “The Prayer Basics” →

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Time with Jesus

Over the last few weeks God has really been working on me with something, and as He usually does, He has lead me to his word and more specifically to Luke 10:38-42.  It’s the story of Jesus at the house of Martha and Mary.  As many of you may know, Martha was running around the house making sure all the preparations were perfect because Jesus was in her home.  Everything had to be perfect for the King of Kings, right?!?  Meanwhile, Mary, who was called to help with the preparations, sat in the living room with Jesus instead of helping out while Martha’s frustrations mounted.

 

This is a story that I continually have to come back to in my life.  If you know the end of the story you know that after Martha cries out for help Jesus informs her that what is actually the best option is for her to join Mary in spending time with Him.  The point of the story (which I will admit is SUPER convicting for me, and I think for many of us during this time of year) is that we can get so busy working FOR Jesus that we forget he wants us to work WITH Him.

 

The number one thing you can do in your life is to be a disciple of Christ.  This doesn’t go away when your schedule gets busy; as a matter of fact it increases!  As a pastor, a large portion of my week is spent in God’s word, but that doesn’t mean its devotional time.  As a part of the Production Team here at Pathways Church I’m working to find supporting scriptures to where Pastor Brad is going with messages.  As a part of the marketing team I’m working to put out the next quarter’s Elevate Prayer Journal to keep everyone reading through the Bible and finding passages that can be highlighted as devotional points.  Even as one on the rotation of writing blogs for the Pulse, I’m constantly working on different writings and teachings.  But notice the common word? Working… not studying the word, not applying.

 

During this season where there can be so much added to your “to-do” list, please remember that the most important thing you have to do each day is to spend time with Jesus Christ.  Even this blog, although hopefully a good reminder, doesn’t count as your God-time.  Your preparations are great.  You should put your best foot forward in everything.  But don’t allow it to distract you (the word “distract” taken directly from verse 40) from what is better (vs. 42).  What is better is to make sure you are spending time with Jesus.

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Use the Past to Attack your Future

Today I find myself reflecting on the amazing opportunity I had this weekend to preach to the wonderful people of Pathways Church. The topic was to live a lifestyle of gratitude; to take Thanksgiving from a holiday or event, and realize that we should be thankful for everything we have, and have endured up to this point, and allow it to motivate us to do big things for the Kingdom of God.

As I sit here and think, my mind wandered to a missions trip I took as a youth pastor to Northern Ireland. I had no idea the real (and spiritual) battle that happened between “Catholics” and “Protestants” in that country until I witnessed it first hand. Yet, it was amazing to meet the people of Pillar Christian Church in Portadown who lived through the struggles. What was amazing is that they lived out a life of gratitude! They did not keep the residue of their countries past, but allowed it to motivate them to run straight into the “taboos” for the purpose of showing Christ’s love! Every day they were breaking down cultural barriers as they pushed forward to lift Christ up. This is a perfect example of not letting your past hold you back, but allowing it to motivate you.
While touring the city of Belfast (by the way it was cold and raining and I was on the top of an open top, double-decker tour bus…) we drove past a pub called, The Garrick (pictured). On the side of the building were inscribed the words:

“A nation that keeps one eye on the past is wise,
A nation that keeps two eyes on the past is blind.”

The message: When you stay focused on your past you can’t move forward, but when you recognize it while pushing on, it becomes motivation to do great things.

God has given you a gift; it’s called your testimony. None of us deserve it, but all of us should use it do advance the cause of Christ.

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Sometimes you have to make sacrifices…

I may have discovered the meaning Ephesians 6:4 is tonight. It’s the one that says, “Fathers, do not exasperate your sons…” Because at first glance you would think, ” What kind of dad would purposefully be mean to his kid? What a jerk.” Then tonight happened and I didn’t even realize it. Let me explain…

I’m a HUGE basketball fan and ESPN has an incredible lineup tonight of college games. Most importantly one that involved my beloved Duke Blue Devils and that other blue team from Kentucky who still holds a grudge because of a 15 foot turnaround jumper from 1992! Anyway, tonight is also the night that Amber has her women’s bible study so I have both boys all to myself. You can see my predicament already… A 1 and 3 year old require attention that should be directed solely to basketball!
Continue reading “Sometimes you have to make sacrifices…” →

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