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 […]

My daughter texted me from college after her volleyball practice inquiring why she was so emotionally linked to her mistakes on the court. Here is what I shared. “Emotions are a function of expectations, or beliefs. You enjoy the game, and you have trained heavily, so you take a high level of ownership. That torches […]

The one thing we are guaranteed on the journey down Restoration Road is change. Each of us has been locked in pride’s prison of pretense from separating the vertical from the horizontal, our relationship with God from our relationship with others. It often looks like this. We maintain a legalistic stone heart on Sunday and […]

March 10, 2002 was a defining marker for me on Restoration Road. Pastor Kelly Byrd had invited me to preach at Blackhawk on Sunday morning, since he would be traveling back to his California hometown for his birthday. I jumped at the chance to communicate what God had done with my life up to that […]

Are you hindered from becoming active in your local church due to your past sins? Restoration Road can include a few speed bumps: stone and sand. When I sold my business to pursue my Masters and Doctorate degrees in Theology, the reactions of stone hearts, like the older brother in Jesus’ trilogy, hampered me from […]

AUTHENTIC CHURCH When attempting to make my business a ministry, I was deeply impacted by a Bible teacher, and local church leader, who talked openly about his liabilities. I had listened to every one of his messages for almost seven years. He opened me to the idea of the continual process of restoration — that […]