Stephen Kuhn's Blog, page 47

Dear Child: A Poetic Look at the Unfailing Love of God

Dear Child…

Dear child, can you trust me enough to finally let go?

Can you trust me even when your heart still bleeds

from the wounds your fears have left?

Can you trust me through your waves of pain?

As the tears begin to flow 
and your eyes turn dim,

can you trust me enough to listen then?

To bow your heart, and quiet your head…

I love you child. Will you trust my sovereign hand?

You see my book and think it’s only words. But if you will read it,

it will come to life 
within your heart… and your soul.

It will speak to your pain and quiet the screams inside your head.

If you will only reach out to me… Put your trust in me…

You may only see angry waves and the rolling tide,

but know that I AM the one who calms the raging storm.

Yes I—the One who called the mountains to be—am telling you that I love you.

You can trust in me. Not just with your words, but with your life.

You can trust me enough to hand me your fears—even the ones

that heap shame upon you from the hidden places in your heart.

I know of them already, and yet I still love you.

You cannot overcome your fears on your own.

But I can.

I love you, Dear Child…

God

Grover Cannon spent more than a decade running from God with his finger in the air, trying to find happiness through outlaw motorcycle gangs, strip clubs, and heavy drinking. He was contemplating pulling the trigger on his own life when God got ahold of him, showing him how much he was loved even in the midst of his rebellion. Today, Grover preaches the love of Christ to everyone he meets and has one of the most personal relationships with Jesus I’ve ever witnessed.

If you would like to contact Grover, you can reach him here.

Click the image below to download a printable PDF poster of this poem:

The post Dear Child: A Poetic Look at the Unfailing Love of God appeared first on Belt of Truth Ministries.

Weekly Web (W)roundup

Each week, I round up the best resources, articles, and videos I find that are relevant to finding freedom from porn addiction. Please note that by posting a link here it does not mean I agree with everything in the linked article. It just means I found it interesting enough to share.

Gospel Coalition: Ancient Wisdom for a Sexualized World

“In his new book The Mingling of Souls: God’s Design for Love, Marriage, Sex, and Redemption, Matt Chandler tackles an array of pertinent questions—both the ones we’re asking and the ones we should be. Working from Scripture’s erotic, covenantal love ballad The Song of Songs, Chandler helps us navigate landmine-laced terrain with timely wisdom and gospel grace.”

Desiring God: But God…

“’But God.’ These two words are overflowing with gospel. For sinners like you and me who were lost and completely unable to save ourselves from our dead-set rebellion against God, there may not be two more hopeful words that we could utter.”

Paul Robinson: Why Grace Means We are Free to Sin

“What if we truly believe that no matter what we do, that Grace is enough to set us free? That even if we spent everyday of our lives sinning over and over that we are still saved from sin? That no matter what we do we are still loved and always will be?”

Covenant Eyes: How to Raise a Porn Addict

“Now that the first of the Internet generation has entered adulthood, porn use has become more common than ever before. Old Internet filtering approaches aren’t enough anymore. Parents need to understand the problem and create an atmosphere of love and accountability in the home. The goal is not merely to keep kids safe online but train kids to become responsible adults.”

Macklemore: Starting Over

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What do we do with slip-ups? A conversation with Craig Gross, founder of xxxChurch

If I can be an example of getting sober

Then I can be an example of starting over

—Macklemore—

I recently called up Craig Gross to talk about a conversation that went down on xxxChurch.com a few month back—and the behind the scenes discussion that ensued as a result.

I think our conversation brought up some important questions that we all should be asking regarding God’s ultimate goal for our lives:

Is His goal for us sobriety, or is transformation?
Is it exclusively one or the other, or can it be both?
And what about keeping track of sobriety dates? Is it helpful, or can that lead to an unhealthy view of our transformation?

Give it a listen and let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Listen to the Interview here

Links mentioned in the show:

Craig’s original post: Are We Free To Screw Up?

Christianity Today article: Should there be room for Christians to mess up?

Join an x3Group

The post What do we do with slip-ups? A conversation with Craig Gross, founder of xxxChurch appeared first on Belt of Truth Ministries.

You are a child of God

But to all who believed him and accepted him, He gave the right to become children of God. (John 1:12)

You know what’s absolutely amazing? The God of the universe, Creator of Earth, the One who holds everything together, has adopted you as His child.

Think about that for a second and just try to comprehend what it means.

If you’re a parent, consider how much you love your kids. As much as you love them, though, it’s with an imperfect, human love.

God loves you even more than you love your kids, because He loves you with His holy, unconditional, and righteous God-love.

Jesus tells us an amazing story of God the Father’s love in the parable of the lost son (Luke 15:11–32). In the story, a rebellious son demands his inheritance from his father immediately. Culturally, this was the same as telling his father, “You’re dead to me now.” But rather than yelling at his son or punishing him, the father gives his son the money, lets him leave, and waits in anticipation for his return.

Every day the father looks off into the distance, hoping to see his son returning. When the son finally does return, the father doesn’t even give his boy a chance to grovel. He runs to him with open arms and tackle-hugs him at full speed! No matter how much the boy rejected or disobeyed His dad, there was nothing he could have done to make his father stop loving him.

Do you realize this is actually a story about God’s love for you? No matter how much you’ve messed up, He will always be standing there with His arms wide open—just like the father in the story—waiting for you to come home to Him. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done or where you’ve been. None of it will make any difference in how much He loves you.

I never understood the depth of a love like this until my daughter was born. I can say without a doubt that there is nothing my girl could ever do to make me stop loving her. No matter how many times she hits me as a toddler, yells at me as a teenager, or disowns me as an adult, I will always be there waiting for her with open arms. I simply cannot fathom living my life apart from my favorite girl no matter what she does. Honestly. I’m even getting a bit choked up now just typing these words and thinking about how much I love her.

But as much as my daughter means to me, you mean even more to God as His adopted son.

He loves you to the same extent that He loves Jesus.

The post You are a child of God appeared first on Belt of Truth Ministries.

Book Review: Seriously?!

I’ve been following Pastor Bob’s ministry for a few years now, mainly through his awesome YouTube channel: Pastor Bob Daily. So when he asked me to help him design his new book, Seriously?! Letters to Myself at 21, I immediately jumped on board.

The problem with trying to design a book like Seriously?! though, is I kept finding myself drawn into the words and stopping to read the book rather than merely formatting it.

Because Seriously?! is written as a collection of short letters, typically no longer than a paragraph or two, it ends up having the potato chip effect: “Just one more and then I’ll stop…”

But I couldn’t stop.

For example, check out this letter on sexuality and tell me you don’t want to read just one more:

“The most important sex organ you have is your brain. That’s where it all begins. There are so many messages being thrown at you these days. Society expects you to experiment sexually. You are expected to become self-educated by creating your own experiences. Naiveté is considered immature. But actually, it’s not. You will never have to be an expert in this field. Marriage is an excellent school. Marriage provides a great paradigm for exploring and experiencing with your sexuality. You can learn together with the person you love the most and have an emotional and mental connection with—your spouse. Inside the paradigm of marriage you have security, freedom, and trust.”

Pastor Bob writes in a style that makes you feel like you’re siting across the table from a wise, older sage as he shares with you the lessons he’s learned throughout his own life. Only this sage has truly been in the trenches and ran with some colorful characters—think Gandalf, but with more tattoos.

As an example, just look at a few of the folks endorsing his book:

“Pastor Bob is a man of the street. His wisdom, philosophies & theology are a tremendous ministry to those who have lived ‘outside the box’ themselves.”

David Ellefson, MEGADEATH

“As I reflect back over twenty-six years of marriage, twenty-six years of walking with JESUS and traveling to twenty-six countries I am full of gratitude for this undeserved adventure. Although many have contributed, there is one Pastor/teacher that had the biggest impact on where I am today: Pastor Bob Beeman”.

Tracy A. Ferrie, BOSTON

You can add my name to the list of folks endorsing Pastor Bob and Seriously?! as well.

So, even if you’re far past your 21st birthday, I think you will get a lot out of Pastor Bob’s new book, Seriously?!.

Purchase Seriously?! today on Amazon

 

Amazon Description: Seriously?! is a collection of letters from Pastor Bob to his 21-year-old self. Direct. Transparent. Personal. And deeply intimate.

What if you could go back in time and meet yourself face-to-face four decades earlier?

What would you tell your younger self?

“There are so many things I’d like you to know… So many mistakes I wish you didn’t have to make. And so much wisdom I wish you would have had at 21. I’m excited to write these letters to you. I’ve learned so much. I’ve come so far. And in many ways, I’m just beginning… You feel like you know everything. You don’t think there is much anyone can teach you. You look at people with more age and maturity as being somewhat uninformed and unenlightened. You have the world by the tail, or so you think. But you are not enlightened, you are ill-informed, and the world will begin to get very confusing. And that will be the beginning of wisdom.”

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Smart Quote: George Macdonald

Thoughts on this quote? Feel free to discuss them in the comments below.

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A Preview of My Upcoming Interview with Craig Gross on the ASI247 Podcast

Russ called me the other day to chat about my upcoming guest hosting gig on the ASI247 podcast. It’s a short interview, but we still managed cover quite a bit:

Why I’m interviewing Craig Gross (founder of xxxChurch.com), and what we’re going to talk about
How the only time a post I was involved in went viral was the one talking about a recent relapse of mine
Why the Seahawks are so flippin’ awesome

I think you’ll enjoy listening to the mini-show, even if you’re a Patriots fan.

And stay tuned for the full episode with Craig Gross to go live next week. I’ll post all the links and show notes here as usual, so be sure to subscribe if you haven’t done so already.

If you’ve got any questions or comments related to the show, just hit me up in the comments below.

The post A Preview of My Upcoming Interview with Craig Gross on the ASI247 Podcast appeared first on Belt of Truth Ministries.

Weekly Web (W)roundup

Each week, I round up the best resources, articles, and videos I find that are relevant to finding freedom from porn addiction. Please note that by posting a link here it does not mean I agree with everything in the linked article. It just means I found it interesting enough to share.

Rey Reynoso: Eleven Reminders for Dealing with Sin

“On this side of eternity we will sin. I’m not saying we must sin. Sin is not necessary to human life but it is part of human life. On this side of eternity we will struggle with it. We will sin.”

Sammy Adebiyi: How to Mute Inadequacy

“The temptation is to run to self-help in a search for a cure to our inadequacy but Jesus offers us something bigger and better. He offers us grace. Grace is God saying I’ll let you bat even though you just went 0 for 23596. Grace is unmerited favor. Grace is God saying I’m always FOR you in spite of you. Grace is throwing us a party after we return home from wasting our lives.”

CCEF: The Hopeless Marriage

“I hate that hopelessness. The choices are to persist in the relationship and see who dies first or to craft an independent life and try to pretend you don’t care. Either way, your soul withers. It is hard to have a vibrant life with God when your primary relationship is in the dumper.”

The Story of Love: John 3:16

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You are Delighted In

For the Lord your God is living among you.

    He is a mighty savior.

He will take delight in you with gladness.

    With his love, he will calm all your fears.

    He will rejoice over you with joyful songs” (Zephaniah 3:17).

I love my daughter.

Yeah, I know, she’s my kid so I kinda have to love her, right?

But I genuinely love her. I’m crazy about her. In fact, I’d rather spend time with her than anyone else. You might even say I delight in her.

Last weekend, we celebrated my birthday. And like any 34-year-old, I rented a bounce castle for the afternoon.

Did I actually want a bounce castle for my birthday?

Well, yeah, I kinda did.

But what I wanted even more was to see the smile on my daughter’s face as the castle began to inflate and take its shape. I wanted to hear her laughter and shouts of joy as she bounced for hours.

I delight in my daughter’s happiness because I delight in her. Her joy is my joy.

In the same way, God delights in you as His adopted son. Sometimes, He chooses to bless you for no other reason than to delight in your joy with you.

He did that for me at my party last Saturday. When all the kids ran inside to gorge on cupcakes, I stayed back to lie down in the middle of my little inflatable kingdom and rest for a few minutes. In that moment, engulfed in the warm sunshine and inflated vinyl, I heard the Lord speak to me:

“ The angels and I are having a great time up here watching you kids have fun. 

Oh, and I gave you this sunshine as a gift to show you my love.

Happy birthday, son.

You are my joy.

I delight in you.

Don’t ever forget it.”

This has been a repost from the archives.

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Smart Quote: Søren Kierkegaard

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Thoughts on this quote? Feel free to discuss them in the comments below.

The post Smart Quote: Søren Kierkegaard appeared first on Belt of Truth Ministries.