Abortion

I just want to start this week’s blog off by saying that Worship last night was absolutely amazing. Transit* Band is incredible!

Okay, back to business, week 3 of Elephant in the Room. The topic: Abortion. Fact is that there are 1,500,000 abortions that occur every year. That breaks down to an average of 3 abortions every minute. That number is insane. Please remember that as I talk about Travis’ message from last night, it is not his agenda, but God’s agenda. Breaking down the arguments to show how God feels about the issue.

The first argument that most pro-abortion/pro-choice is that life begins at birth. When reading Scripture, you will find that unborn or born it’s still a life in God’s eyes. An unborn child is never referred to as anything less than a human.  A baby is always considered distinct and separate from the mother.  God looks at people and sees someone not something, every time.

Second truth about abortion is that only God has the right to create and take life. To open the message, Travis gave the analogy of having a rich father who opens an account in your name that has all that you will ever need in your life. Someone then comes along and closes your account because they have the “right” to do so or you are too young to understand. God is the Father that has opened a FULL account for you in your name. Abortion is no different than someone closing the account on your behalf. 93% of abortions are for convenience, 3% for the child’s health, 3% for the mother’s health, and 1% for rape or incest. 0/4500 pregnancies are result of rape. So the argument that abortion is being used mostly for pregnancies due to rape is not necessarily valid. Rape is a violation of a person’s rights. Violation is forcing an action of someone without consent. In other words, abortion is violation. It is forcing an action (death) upon someone without consent.


There is no such thing as illegitimate children, just illegitimate parents. No matter what you have been told growing up, you are not an accident. Jeremiah 1:5 “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart….” You were an idea in God’s heart before you were ever an idea in your parents’ head. Each of us has a God given purpose and it is important to remember that.

What now?
• Remember that if you have had an abortion, you can be forgiven. Also, stop reminding God of a sin that He has already forgotten.


• Live on purpose. God created each of us with an individual purpose. Live like it. That’s what He intended.


Hope all is well and everyone has an incredible week. Remember:

You were created BY God and FOR God.

Kingdom or kingdom: Which do you serve?

Last night at The Well we talked about Elephant in the Room number two: politics. When talking about Church and politics we focus on Matthew 6:9-10 “This, then, is how you should pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”


The first of the two truths looked at: it’s about Kingdom, not kingdom. Yes the same word, but there is a difference. The Kingdom with a capital K is the Kingdom of God. The second kingdom with a lower case k is the one that we live in on earth. Jesus came to the kingdom, not to better it, but to create and entirely new Kingdom. He made it possible for us to get glimpses of heaven and to focus of God’s Kingdom. It is important to remember that when the kingdom, not the Kingdom, is the source of your happiness, it will also be your source of greatest pain when it’s lost. Throughout the political world, there are some things that pass and others that don’t and when something doesn’t go the way we want, it will all still be okay because this isn’t it. Focus on the right Kingdom.

The second truth is that it’s about action, not politics. Jesus, not politics, changes people. As followers of Christ, we should be focused on God’s Kingdom and bringing it to earth. We should be showing His love to those around us. God’s agenda is to care about others. Government created programs because the Church dropped the ball. We are called to serve our community. Do not wait for the kingdom to make changed, be a part of the Kingdom and be a part of the solution. Be set apart from the rest and show God’s love by serving the community around you.

Remember that whether the policy passes or doesn’t pass, be a part of the solution.

God is amazing. Hope everyone has a fantastic rest of the week.

The Week of Hope

What is The Week of Hope?? A week to focus on our community and their needs.

“If what we are doing inside the church walls is having no effect on the streets we travelled to get there, then maybe we’re missing the point?” -Joel Houston of Hillsong United

The Week of Hope was put together by The Image Project to meet some of the needs of our community outside of the church walls. The week was started with the video documentary called iHeart, put together by Hillsong United. Throughout the week there are opportunities to volunteer at Phoenix Rescue Mission. Wednesday at The Well a Stock the Shelter concert was set up to collect donations of food, clothing, and other items needed to stock the shelves of the shelter. The night consisted of four different performances, each unique in its own way. The first was an acoustic set done by the beautiful ladies Meghan and Olivia. Next was Radio Drive By.  Then Jim did an acoustic set. And finally a local Christian hip hop group called OP.EX. What a great night full of music. During their set, OP.EX called Pastor Travis down to freestyle. Bringing him back to the days when he rapped. For those who missed it, or just want to see it again, I have included the video below.

Yes the night was full of great music and time spent with friends, but it is important to remember the reason for it: to show God’s love to our community and to meet a need for others, that we often take for granted.

Hope that all is well and everyone has a fantastic remainder of the week.

Sexy Elephant

For the month of March at The Well, we will be in a series called “Elephant in the Room.” The topic: those things everyone is thinking but no one is will to talk about. Pastor Travis will tackle the four toughest and most controversial topics in church. Week one was probably the toughest of the four topics: homosexuality. Last night was perhaps the most intense sermon at The Well to date, in a good way. As pointed out last night, we live in a society that likes to argue about everything. And in order to make any impact at all, we have to stop the arguing and start talking. This goes for any topic, talk do not argue.


Travis covered four questions that come up when discussing homosexuality in regards to God and the church. The first question is “How does God view sexuality?” The answer: Sex is not just a good thing, it is a God thing. God created sex and commanded Adam and Eve to have sex. However, it is important that although sex is a legitimate need, meeting that need in an illegitimate way is a sin. God created sex and gave us a way to meet that need, marriage.

That leads to question number two “How does God view marriage?” To answer this we look at Genesis 2:24 “that is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.” We were given this not only in Genesis, but also in Matthew 19:5 and Mark 10:7. In the book of Leviticus, we are given our laws to follow. There were temporal and universal laws. One that is a universal is Leviticus 18:22 “Do not practice homosexuality, having sex with another man as a woman. It is a detestable sin.” There is argument that Jesus overturned the old law and that homosexuality is only discussed in the Old Testament. Both of these can be proven false through Scripture. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” Matthew 5:17. Yes, Jesus brought change to some laws, those that were temporal, but He came to put flesh to the laws. And as far as the argument of homosexuality being only in the Old Testament, read Romans 1:26-27 and 1 Timothy 1:10. Some homosexuals will say “I was born this way.” I, like Travis said last night, believe you. As with anything else, though, you may not have chosen the temptation but you can choose whether you allow it to rule your life. This last sentence is important for all of us to read and comprehend because it does not apply just to sexuality, but all sin and temptations.

The next question, “Does this mean God hates homosexuals?” is one that although is a legit question from someone who does not know Christ, I find it to be a silly question for a Christian to ask. God has an overwhelmingly unimaginable amount of love for each of His children. We are His children and not one of us to too far, too broken, or too dirty for His love. God hates sin, but He loves sinners. The well known verse John 3:16 talks about the whole world, there is no disclaimer that homosexuals are not loved.

The fourth and final question is an important one for Christ followers, “How should Christians respond?” First thing is first, stop trying to win arguments. Second of all, love. Love them like Jesus loves you. It is important to remember that the remedy for homosexuality is a relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus cleanses you. And it is not their sexuality, but the lack of knowing God that will keep homosexuals from spending eternity in His presence. Isaiah 1:18 “’Come now, let’s settle this,’ says the Lord. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them white as wool.’”

God is incredible and His love is greater than we know.

"Heaven is for Real"

I am probably going to regret the lack of sleep, but after reading Heaven is for Real, sleep is not in my foreseeable future. Yes, I realize that I probably should not have started the book at 11:00 at night. Especially for the simple fact that if I find a good read I will not put it down until I have finished it or have absolutely no choice but to put it down. Let me start here by saying that I believe there is a reason for everything. Today I received a text from a dear friend asking if I would like to meet up and shop. I, of course, said yes. I mean what girl would pass up a chance to shop and spend time with a friend. So we set our plans and met inside Barnes & Noble. I had gotten there first so I got a coffee from Starbucks and started browsing. One of the first things that caught my eye was a bright yellow book with the title of Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy’s Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back. I right away reached for the book and read the summary on the back. I was ready to start reading it right there. But instead I continued to browse and the first thing I did when my friend showed up, was led her to this book. She agreed that it looked to be a good read. So we headed out to the mall knowing that as we walk back through Barnes & Noble to leave, that book would be purchased. As soon as I got home and got things situated, I began my four hour reading session. (Like I said, I will not put a good book down until I finish it.) Heaven has always been one of those places that I am not too sure about. Yes, we are given descriptions of Heaven in the Bible but knowing that God’s power and grace is much greater than we can imagine leads me to assume that Heaven is also greater than we can imagine. In Colton’s story of his trip to Heaven, I got a little bit of a clearer image of what Heaven is like, although, I will never truly understand or picture it until I see it with my own two eyes. Colton Burpo was four years old when he had to go through an emergency appendectomy, and had come gravely close to dying. Without telling too much of the story, a few months after finally being able to leave the hospital, Colton and his family were on a trip to visit family when he shared the news of angels singing to him. This was the first thing that truly caught the attention of his parents. Other things that the young boy had said were brushed off as good Sunday school teaching (Todd Burpo is the pastor of Crossroads Wesleyan Church in Imperial, Nebraska) and the Bible stories read every night. Todd continues to share the information that his son had given that validated his trip to Heaven. The boy told of how he sat in Jesus’ lap and he described what Jesus looks like. This, for me, was incredible. There are so many different depictions of what Jesus looks like and Colton describes Him so human like. Because of his vivid detailing of Jesus, Todd and Sonja (Colton’s mom) asked Colton if different images of Jesus were accurate. It soon got to the point that instead of asking if the picture is correct, the question became, “What’s wrong with this one?” After sharing Colton’s story, Todd was emailed a link to a news video about a girl named Akiane Kramarik. Also at the age of four, the girl started sharing stories about her glimpse of Heaven. This young girl was growing up in a home that God was not present, His name was never spoken. Akiane started to sketch, paint, and write poetry soon after. Her paintings are incredible. At the age of 8, she painted a portrait of Jesus looking “straight at the camera” (as Todd put it). Todd saw the painting and brought Colton to the computer to find out “what’s wrong with this one.” Colton was silent and said that the picture is right. After finishing the book, I quickly got out my computer to search for a color copy of the painting (a black and  white copy is in the photo section of the book). Colton described His eyes as “so pretty.” I wanted to see what he had seen. And I am in awe of His beauty, and the simple fact that an 8 year old child created such a piece of art. Heaven used to be something that I wasn’t too sure about, and although I do not know exactly what it will be like, I am not afraid of it anymore. From what I read of Colton’s experience, Heaven is a place of beauty and is far greater than I could have ever dreamed it to be. God is absolutely amazing and brought me this book at just the right time. His love for each of His children is far more than I could ask for.

"Prince of Peace"