Brad Liebe

OK… I just finished a 3 hour field trip with my son and about 60 third graders to a local nature reserve and wetland and I am still alive to speak of the experience. I came away from this time together learning 2 extremely important things:

1. God Bless all teachers. I have no idea why you chose your occupation, but I am glad you did and I promise to pray for you more often!
2. It is unbelievable how these kids looked at ordinary things that we see every day.  Things like a fallen tree, a leaf, a pond, a bird’s nest… and find not only incredible joy, but also unlimited small interesting things in everything! I watched these children put muddy water under a microscope and sit amazed at tiny little bugs. What were previously hyperactive boys in a moment became still, almost paralyzed, by the wonder of all they had just found.

The reality that all around us there are wonderful and amazing opportunities and possibilities hit me yet again. But they are hidden. Not by camouflage, or paint, but they are hidden… disguised as the ordinary. For you to find the wonder of life today it will most likely not be found in the exotic… it will be found when you choose to intently look into what is already all around you. It is there! The goal today for you and I is to find it! And when we do, life comes alive.

Praying you look, and when you do, you will find!

My son Braxton and I have continued a tradition that started with my daughters. I say, “I love you”. He responds with, “I love you more”. Then I say… “nope I love you more”… and the game goes on, and on, and back and forth… until someone gives up. I love this dialogue!

The other day Braxton was falling asleep against my chest as we were laying on the couch watching TV. I was rubbing his hair and his breathing was becoming much more rhythmic. As the wonderful moment was unfolding I said, “Braxton, I love you” and he did something he, nor his sisters, had ever done before. He looked up at me with his big brown eyes and simply said, “It is closer than you think”.  My heart melted.

Sometimes in church we can get into this verbal, spiritual game of saying, “I love you, Jesus”. We then realize Jesus loves us more… and then we try to say we love Jesus more… and it turns into nothing more than words, repetition, and habit. What struck me to the core of who I am as a father that day holding my boy on the couch, was when Braxton said those words to me he really meant it. He really does love me.

Don’t try to win any games today of “how much” you love Jesus. Just mean it. Really love Him.

Opportunities are interesting things. Some opportunities seem to present themselves over and over. Getting up and going to work every day. Walking down the hallways at shool. Seeing your co-workers or neighbors on a regular basis. Watching your children get on the bus and go to school. All of those moments are opportunities to see people, impact people, talk to people…. any variety of things. But they are regular, they are ordinary, they are normal.

I think we all have a tendency to think of and hope for the major “opportunities” in life. The big break, the unexpected promotion, the chance meeting with the person of status or power… the big moment!

The truth is that the major opportunities of your life and my life are not the rare unexpected “once in a lifetime” moments, even though those moments do happen at times, and are exciting. The major opportunities of your life will be what you choose to do with the activities of your everyday life and how you choose to interact with the classmates, co-workers, family members and neighbors that God has placed all around you. Have you ever stopped to ask God to help you do a better job recognizing the opportunities that are everywhere? The ones that are masked in the most effective camouflage possible, the camouflage of the ordinary?

Don’t let the ordinary opportunities of your daily life pass you by this week without seeing the extraordinary opportunities and possibilities everywhere! When you begin to see the possibilities in the ordinary… life comes alive with opportunities!

God Bless,

Pastor Brad

As I walked outside early this morning a couple of very real things impacted my senses. It had rained and even in the early morning light the grass seemed to absolutely come alive. The greens were darker, the blades of grass seemed to have grown through the night hours and each blade was standing at attention. The birds were feeding on the wandering earth worms and the unlucky insects taking their morning stroll. The trees were filled with fresh buds, and geese were flying overhead. The reality is that the seasons have changed. Winter has left… and spring is in the air. How is it that just a few weeks ago it was cold and everything seemed to be dead, and now, just days later, everything seems to not only have come to life but is absolutely flourishing?

As we enter this season I can’t help but notice the similarities to the Easter story. The son of God, the Christ, was dead… and all hope was lost. Then just days later the word began to spread… He is risen! In that twinkling of an eye not only did everything change, but hope sprang! 

The Easter season is not just about the facts and the details of how Christ paid the price for your sins and mine. The Easter season also represents the fact that wherever you find yourself today, whatever hardship, turmoil, or difficulty you face, with Christ all things are possible! You will be surprised how quickly Jesus can turn things around. Just days ago the grass was brown, there were no flowers, and the birds were all gone. This morning everything looks different! 2,000 years ago the disciples watched Jesus die on the cross… and with His death all of their dreams died as well. Only 3 days later He was alive and everything was different! Wherever you are today, know that positive change is right around the corner, and can and will happen even more quickly than you might believe. The Easter season is all about life where there once was death! I am believing for a great life for you today!

The book of Hebrews says, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  We talk a ton about faith…as we should. To have faith in God, to have faith that God can do things in our lives, through our lives, and for others is so important.

But, have you ever stopped and thought about your “hopes?”  What is it you hope for?  Scripture says that faith is the substance of hope.  Could it be that there are times when it isn’t a faith issue?  We do believe God can do anything, but maybe we have lost sight of exactly what it is we want Him to do.  When Jesus asked the blind man what he wanted, it wasn’t because Jesus didn’t know that the man was blind.  So why did Jesus ask?  Why didn’t Jesus just heal him?  It seems that Jesus sincerely wanted to know, to hear the man say it was his hope and his desire to see. It was then that Jesus healed him. The man hoped he could see; he believed Jesus could do anything. It was the perfect moment where his hope and his faith met.

Maybe today as you read this blog you haven’t actually hoped for anything in a very long time. You have faith in Jesus and you believe God can do anything, but when is the last time you voiced a hope?  I don’t mean you hope your team wins or you hope the house is clean when you get home.  I’m speaking of a legitimate dream…a true heartfelt desire to witness what might seem impossible actually happen.  Why don’t you take a moment to really hope for something right now?  I know I am “hoping” for some big things!

Over the last weeks at Pathways Church we have talked about the concepts of “Renovate”. We have focused on the life of Nehemiah and the renovation of the wall around Jerusalem.  As I continue to have thoughts of Nehemiah on my mind it continues to strike me how fascinating it is that under Nehemiah’s leadership the wall was built in only 52 days. I am sure I will probably never understand what it took to do the physical labor in that day in such a short time. Greater than the physical elements of the task is the sheer fact that Nehemiah did all of this while people were trying to kill him and the people of God, trying to intimidate them, and trying to distract them. This task of building the wall was not done in the perfect environment, in the perfect situation with perfect people. The greatest miracle of the wall being re-built is that it happened in real life, with real trials and real difficulties.

Sometimes we can get real excited at church, during a worship service, during a time of prayer or having an encouraging conversation with a friend. We get motivated in these moments but then those moments end, and the reality of life hits. The hardships, the difficulties, and the accusations start to fly. The wall was built, and we speak of Nehemiah today not because everything was perfect for him. We speak of him because in the face of the imperfections he didn’t flinch. He simply kept working at what God called him to do.

I don’t ’t know what you are going through today as you read this blog. What I am fairly sure of is that wherever you are, you are reading this blog in the middle of “real life”.  As you “do life” today… Keep your eyes on the prize and don’t get distracted. When you keep your eyes on the prize, the walls in your life will get built and you will see the victory that God has for you!

Pastor Brad

Spring forward time change… I have to admit, I hate it!

The thought of losing an hour of sleep is NOT my idea of a good night!  I don’t understand why we need to do this… can’t we just leave it alone?? Decide when you want it to be and leave it.Why do we have to fall back, and then spring forward?? Is there some person somewhere that just likes to make us all reset our clocks?? Go through an hour of sleep deprivation?? Why can’t it just be left alone?!? Why does it have to change??

That is one of the things that I find in life that continues to be an issue for me… every time something seems to work out and I feel like I may in fact have things “under control”… things change! At the root of that issue is my desire to be “in control” and my desire to have things be the way “I think” they should be. And if I am completely honest, the reality is that the way I think things should be has a tendency to be the way I like them. Truth is that most of us need to learn to let some changes happen. God’s desires for you and for me are good desires. The problem is that most of His dreams and plans are on the other side of me accepting change and accepting that some things are just out of my control, and I may never understand the “whys”.

So this Sunday morning I will wake up an hour earlier than I want to. Someone else decided that the clocks will change. They didn’t ask for my advice! And to make matters worse, it doesn’t matter if I like it. It will happen either way.

What do I control? I control how I respond to it. Will I wake up happy or I will I wake up grumpy?  Change is inevitable. My attitudes and actions are MY choice. Either way Sunday will come an hour earlier. What I have to determine is whether the change ruins my day or gives me a 1 hour head start to a great day!