These blogs consist of relevant topics that revolve around physical, emotional, spiritual, relational and financial seasons of life that we are called to manage to further God's Kingdom. 

Valentine’s Week Special
Questions Young Adults are Asking:
By: Micah Kennealy
February 11, 2020

How do you manage/kill sexual drive while single and not in a place to pursue a serious relationship?
 This is a great question that I believe both male and females wrestle with. I can only speak into personal experience. Here are three things that I personally did and found helpful: 

 1.    Pray Bible verses over your life and over your future spouse’s life. 

2.    Pray that God would tame and transform your heart and any desires that try to arise out of flesh verses spirit. 

3.    Dedicate your purity, mind, body and soul to God daily. 

 Romans 12:2, NIV: "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will." ... Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."

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God’s Grand Adventure
By: Micah Kennealy
April 4, 2019

If you are anything like me and find yourself wondering if God is a God of rules, regulations and boredom… than you are not alone. I use to believe that same lie! The truth is we serve a God who is faithful, loving, kind and longs for us to embark upon an adventure with Him. My prayer is that you become an individual who fully believes and receives all that God has for you.

We all have an opportunity to grow into someone who no longer is a “bored” believer. In order to get out of a personal rut, we need to “GET REAL,” that means getting real with ourselves, getting real with God and getting real with others.

Four ways to Get REAL and step into God’s Grand Adventure

A willing and surrender heart changes the trajectory of our lives forever. Isaiah 6:8 is our hearts desire for wanting more of what God has, “Lord, here I am send me.”

R - Relationship with GOD 
In order to live out God’s Grand Adventure we need to invite Him on the adventure and have a personal relationship with Him.

Ephesians 2:8-10 says, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

E - Empty yourself out to GOD 

We need to fully rely on God in all areas of our life, even when it doesn’t make sense. Emptying ourselves out to God means, we are recognizing that we cannot do anything without Him. 

John 15:4-6 says, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.”

A - Ask GOD (ask God to take you on a grand adventure) 

We get to ask God what He wants us to do and where He wants us to go, it is called prayer. God hears our prayers and is longing to bless us as His children.

Jeremiah 29:11-12 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.”

L - Live for GOD

Living out loud for God can be challenging in our workplaces, friend circles and even in our family at times. We serve a God who never forces us to do anything. Everything we do is our choice, but it is important to remember that we will always be a work in progress. One thing I have learned is that we don’t have to live for God, we GET to live for God. Everything we do should bring honor and glory to him. 

1 Peter 2: 9 Says,  “…for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests,[a] a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.”

The Challenge: Take some time and reflect on your personal relationship with Christ. Where have you been holding back? What fears are preventing you from trusting God? Surrender everything to God and ask Him to show Himself to you.

*If you are bored with God, you may be in the wrong adventure. Have you gotten REAL WITH GOD?

How To Find Great Friends
By: Micah Kennealy
March 19, 2019

If you live to be 100, I hope I live to be 100 minus 1 day, so I never have to live without you. -Winnie the Pooh

The number one question I receive on college campuses is “how do I make friends”?

Friendships are some of the most important relationships in life, aside from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and perhaps a spouse.

Friendship is truly a gift from God. Moses had Aaron, David had Jonathan, and Ruth had Naomi. But how many of us have an amazing group of friends that we trust, love, and can confide in? Who is in your corner? Who has your back through thick and thin? When tragedy strikes, who is holding you up in prayer? Who plans surprise parties for you and your family? Who asks you challenging and tough questions? Who sharpens your personal relationship with Christ?

A famous and healthy friendship demonstrated in the Bible is the friendship of Ruth and Naomi. They were not only friends, but family. Naomi was Ruth’s mother-in-law, and even after the death of both of their husbands, they remained close. Throughout their story, Ruth and Naomi demonstrate four pillars of friendship:

1. Where You Go I Will Go

“…where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God” (Ruth 1:16)

Where have I been looking for friendships? If you have been looking for friendships in the nightlife of bars and clubs, you may regret what you find. I would encourage you to begin praying and looking for a Bible-preaching church that would expose you to more faith-filled friendships. Friendships determine your destination and direction of life. Pastor Josh Skjoldal says, “Show me your friends and I will show you your future.” Pray for a group of friends that you get to do life with, and you’ll find that where they go to church is where you go to church.

2. Where You Stay I Will Stay

A friend in Christ will be a positive influence in your life, offer prayer, and provide godly wisdom throughout your friendship. There are multiple female friendships that have taught me the importance of entering into the presence of God through prayer and worship. I have learned that when you worship God with friends, you cannot help but desire to stay in his presence. Friends will teach you how to remain in God’s presence.

3. Your People Will Be My People

In solid friendships, there is always room for more people. There have been several times when I have opened my friendship circle and come to find a lifelong friendship waiting to be established just beyond the circle. Having a group of faith-filled friends allows opportunities to witness and lead others to the Lord. When we open our friendship circle, we have the potential to invite or to be invited into a group of people. You may have the opportunity to be “adopted” into a friend group just like people are adopted into the family of God. Your friend circle will be my friend circle.

4. Your God My God

When friends are mutually walking alongside Christ, you both will naturally thrive in your personal relationships with God. One of the greatest joy in life is leading a friend into relationship with Jesus Christ. Your God becomes their God.

There is nothing more beautiful than finding healthy friendships. True friends will sharpen your walk with the Lord, challenge you to make wise decisions in life, and point you to the heart of Christ. If you find yourself longing for true friendships, I would encourage you to start praying that God would provide those individuals. We serve a Father who provides and knows what we need. If you already find yourself in healthy friendships, I would encourage you to open your friendship circle today to the possibility of more.

You can read the book of Ruth to unpack the full story and see God’s faithfulness of providing friends.

When V-Day Feels like D-Day
By: Micah Kennealy
February 11, 2019

With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, it does not stop the fact that singleness is challenging. In my season of singleness I despised Valentine’s Day because it was a constant reminder that I did not have a boyfriend, a marriage, or anyone pursuing me!

In my broken hearted singleness, I called Valentine’s Day, D Day. Obviously my pity party of singleness was no comparison to the actual D Day, but for some reason this particular February holiday was like an invasion from the enemy. It felt like bombs being dropped on my soul.

Every bomb exploding in my heart, was a representation of a lie I believed about myself or an insecurity the enemy was attacking. It was like the bomb would go off and blind my heart and eyes to the fact that God was trying to expose his love to me. I couldn’t see past blinding state of singleness. 

God was trying to bring me back to my first love, Him. Somewhere along the way I lost sight of my maker and wrapped my identity around a relationship status. 

Isaiah 54:5 says, “For your Maker is your husband—the Lord Almighty is his name—the Holy One of Israel is you're Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth.”

Past mistakes and decisions impact the present, and have the ability to hijack the future. Insecurities, unforgiveness, and an unwillingness to surrender our dreams to the Lord is what gets us in trouble. I encourage you to allow God to enter into the present circumstances of your life. When we surrender everything, He can not help but love us and guide us. 

Isaiah 1:18 says, “Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”

Once I surrendered all to God and asked him to invade my life…Valentine’s Day later became a day of victory, a constant reminder of what is to come. God does not place dreams of marriage in our heart to tease us. He is a good Father wants more of us than we do at times. In 1 Thessalonians 5:24 it says, “The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.” If God said it, He will do it. 

I pray that you allow God to LOVE you in your current state and that HE invades your heart with pure love, joy, and anticipation for more of Him. 

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Three Things for Parents: Teaching Daughters about Worth the Wait
By: Micah Kennealy
January 26, 2019

“Train up a child in the way they should go, And when they are old they will not depart from it.” -Proverbs 22:6

According to the Bible, parents play a significant role and have a tremendous responsibility to teach their child in the way they should go. If parents do not raise their children, someone else will. That is why it is important that parents take every opportunity to pour into their children and truthfully answer questions that are being asked.

Do you remember your parents having “the talk” with you? Maybe your parents did not talk about anything, and if they did it may have sounded something like this… “Mess with the bull, you get the horns” or “no drugs, no sex, no alcohol…see you at curfew.” 

Even if you did experience an open home with great communication, I guarantee you still had questions that went unanswered. In 2017, a new statistic found that 85% of “christian” dating couples are having premarital sex. That means that only 15% of Christians are living out true New Testament beliefs regarding boundaries and the sanctity of marriage. 

Here are three things parents can begin to do:

1. Provide open Biblical communication about love, boundaries, sex and dating

      - Provide a safe place where your child can open up about anything
- Share filtered chapters of you life as you see fit
- Reassure them that there are NO stupid questions
- Answer their questions honestly 
- Point them back to Christ and the Biblical sanctity of marriage as a covenant  

2. Start putting monthly Father/Daughter dates on the calendar (OR Grandpa/Daughter dates)

- Fathers, demonstrate how a gentleman and man of God should pursue your daughter
- Fathers, you set that bar and standard of a gentleman 
- Ask her where she wants to go and take take her to her favorite place OR if she likes surprise, surprise her
- Get dressed up, pick her up at the door, bring her flowers, open all doors, pull out chairs, take her coat, pay for the bill
- Put away cell phones
- This is an opportunity for your to ask open ended questions
- Listen about her day and life, do not be intimidated 
- We all love stories, tell her appropriate stories about you

3. Begin to PRAY! 

-Parents start a new family tradition of daily prayer
- Pray with your daughter about her future spouse 
- Pray for purity and God’s hand of provision upon her and the future
- If you don’t PRAY, start practicing! 

(I am not a parent yet, but I do believe the three things listed above would have been helpful for me as an early teen. I did not have parents who understood the importance of having these awkward conversations, but I wish I had. I knew I could talk to my parents about anything, but I did not know or feel comfortable asking them! I only share these three simple things because I believe they have the power to change the trajectory of future decisions).

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The Gift of Singleness
By:Micah Kennealy 

To be single or not to be single. The apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 7:7, “Sometimes I wish everyone were single like me—a simpler life in many ways! But celibacy is not for everyone any more than marriage is. God gives the gift of the single life to some, the gift of the married life to others.”

Paul is essentially saying that singleness is a gift from God, and marriage is a gift from God. God does not put dreams and desires in our hearts to tease us. If God has given you the desire to be married, then he will bring that person into your life in his timing. And if singleness is what God has called you to, then you can still become the best you!

What can we do in our season of singleness to prepare for marriage? How do we enjoy this season? How do we become the individual God has designed us to be? 

Four things you can begin today while becoming the best you in the process. 

• Invite God to the center of your life.

With God at the center of your life you will have the opportunity to understand that identity and wholeness can only be found in Jesus Christ. God is the only one who completes and restores. There is nothing and no one on this earth that will completely satisfy our souls like a relationship with Christ. 

• Begin to pray daily for yourself and your future spouse even before you meet them.

Prayer is a gift from God and draws us closer to his heart each day. When we invite the Holy Spirit into our singleness we remove our self from the driver’s seat and put our trust in him. You have an opportunity to pray for your future relationship before you even get in one. There is power in prayer. 

• Find and surround yourself with God filled friendships and community. 

There is nothing more exciting than doing life with friends you love and friends that love Christ! They are the ones that call out greatness, encourage when you don’t believe in yourself, cry with you, and point you to Christ. These are the friends and community that are praying for you and doing life with you each week. (Read Acts 2) By finding an Acts 2 community you will hopefully find a group of friends you can call family, get plugged into a Bible preaching church and start attending a weekly Bible study. 

• Become a lifelong learner and find accountability partners. 

Accountability partners are people who ask the “hard questions”. These people are God filled, prayer warriors, older than you, a chapter or two ahead of you in life, and have your best interested at heart. You need to respect and admire these people because they should be asking about your faith journey, devotion to the Lord, your purity, and even more! These are the cheerleaders in your life that want to see you succeed and make wise choices in life and relationships. 
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Time is of the Essence
By: Micah Kennealy

The moment you look in the mirror and realize you are no longer twenty, but the most discouraging aspect is the fact that you do not even recognize yourself. Who am I apart from every title, relationship, friendship, and responsibility? How did i obtain these wrinkles? Are the laugh lines and hung my lips, crows feet that frame my eyes or are they sign of worry and stress mapping their route of wrinkles upon my face.

Those extra pounds that have attached to my hips and booty that I use to be able to run off overnight. A heart that used to be so full of hope, adventure, and excitement have evolved into stress, worry and anxiety. Where is that child like spirit and trust? The word time management and a life of balance have become gray and blur together. So, how do we as humans balance life while recognizing time is of the essence?

First, I believe it is important to remember that we are not on this year for ourselves. We are here to further God's Kingdom and love like Christ loves. Secondly, we are on this earth for such a short amount of time, a vapor, "You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." James 4:14.

I  don't know about you, but I want to be a vapor that leaves behind a title wave after life. A title wave honoring and pleasing to God. An individual who influenced and impacted individuals, someone who challenged and sharpened the faith of brothers and sisters, one who took time for those in need, and loved the Lord with every ounce possible.