When you communicate the gospel message of restoration, do you first give thought to the heart condition of your audience? For example, Proverbs teaches of the dilemma that occurs when we attempt to argue with a fool (Proverbs 26:4-5). When doing so, we just can’t win. Solomon communicated that when attempting to connect with others, […]

Are you careless in the way you approach others with the gospel message of restoration? We often see careless words played out this way. A believing woman is married to an unbelieving husband. Over time, their marriage gets dinged and corroded, resulting from two people with totally different hearts being united in matrimony. The believing […]

One morning at a restaurant, I invited my waitress to our Wednesday evening gathering at church. She accepted and, before I left the restaurant, she had asked all of her co-workers to join her. Neither she nor I realized what God had in store. That evening, I asked a new believer to share his story […]

While praying with a young woman to surrender her life to Christ after a church service, her husband listened intently, but declined to surrender that same night. The Refiner’s fire must have been scorching because the following week her husband, who had lost his law practice due to his cocaine addiction, returned to our Wednesday […]

One Wednesday night, I was sitting in my church office wrestling with the Holy Spirit prompting me that I was supposed to go to that evening’s service and ask people to share the trials they had been experiencing. I interpreted this prompting as an indication that someone wanted to surrender his life to the Restorer. […]

One night, something amazing happened at a worship service where I was about to teach. It was the first in a chain reaction of events that taught me the ripple effect of a story that unfolded on Restoration Road. A couple sitting next to me stared blankly as I asked them the same question I […]

When I was volunteering full-time as a teaching pastor at Blackhawk Ministries, we started a Wednesday night service called, Common Ground. Each evening, after we were led in worship music, I would welcome everyone, reminding them of the four hallmarks of our gathering. First, we had all sinned and desired life apart from God, yet […]

Is focusing on your trying circumstances, resulting in you discouraging others? When we catch ourselves focusing on the negative at the expense of being thankful, we must ask God to realign our focus 360 degrees: the downside, upside, inside, and outside. Let’s focus on the outside. Regardless of our circumstances, we can encourage others. This […]

Are you trapped by perfectionism that is robbing you from being thankful? When we are imprisoned by perfectionism and tempted to be ungrateful, we must ask God to realign our focus 360 degrees: the downside, upside, inside, and outside. Let’s peer into the inside. We can ask the Holy Spirit to examine our hearts. This […]

When our lives are out of focus, and we are unthankful, we must ask God to realign our focus 360 degrees: the downside, upside, inside, and outside. Let’s consider the upside. In stormy circumstances, it can and will get better. This is foresight that is hopeful. While in prison, Paul called those in Christ to […]

Episode 161: Convinced Part 2 from mitchkrusetv on Vimeo.

Have you ever thought about how to be thankful? When we are tempted to be ungrateful, we must ask God to realign our focus 360 degrees: the downside, upside, inside, and outside. First, we must look at the downside. Regardless of our circumstances, it could be worse. This is hindsight that is mindful. In a […]

Are you anxious or thankful? The answer lies in the eyes of our hearts. An example of anxiety stemming from the focus of the eyes of the heart occurred with Jesus’ disciple Peter. During the late night as His disciples sailed on the Sea of Galilee to Gennesaret, Jesus had finished praying in solitude on […]

Do you ever focus on the negative at the expense of being thankful? The problem lies in the eyes of our hearts. Anxiety focuses on the negative, making it the antithesis of thanksgiving, which is a joyful attitude that occurs through prayer when our hearts are fully focused on God in Christ (Philippians 4:6). Anxiety […]

Are you an organized person? Are your DVD’s in alphabetical order? Are the clothes in your closet color coordinated in the different seasons? Are your house and car spotless? Is your desk free of clutter? Or do you seek all these things yet feel like a failure because you don’t measure up to your personal […]