Second Stage Ministries

Waiting is hard. Do you like waiting? I don't like waiting. But...... Are you in a season of waiting? What are you waiting for? Someone? Something? Answers? God? Take time to read the lyrics below to a song that rocked my soul the first time I heard it. I find myself in a season of waiting and this song spoke to me. I also feel this song speaks for itself. Go ahead give the lyrics a read. (If would rather you can listen to the song "Take Courage" Video ). ---------------------------- Slow down, take time Breath in He said He'd reveal what's to come The thoughts in His mind Always higher than mine He'll reveal all to come Take courage my heart Stay steadfast my soul He's in the waiting He's in the waiting Hold onto your hope As your triumph unfolds He's never failing He's never failing Sing praise my soul Find strength in joy Let His Words lead you on Do not forget His great fai

This post comes from a portion of my lesson that I taught the 4th and 5th graders at my church. The lesson was on kindness and I used the story of the woman at the well found in John 4. If you are not familiar with the story here is a brief summary: The woman goes to the well to draw water. She's going at a time when she could be alone and away from people. She has been mistreated by the people of the town because of the mistakes that she has made in the past. So you can imagine her surprise when she gets to the well and finds Jesus sitting there (although she didn’t know that it was Jesus). But she gets something different from Jesus that she had not gotten in a while - kindness, compassion and love. Jesus does bring forth her mistakes, but He does it in a way that wasn't condemning. So because of this she went back into town and most of the town came to see Jesus. This let to great revival in the town. [1] But I want to draw your attention to the objection to kindness

There are some songs that just meet you where you are. They just come on radio or on the playlist that you are playing and it's almost like the song is playing for you. I'm not just talking about Christian/worship music, but secular music as well. Over the course of this series of posts (that will continue on and off over the course of the year) I want to look at songs that have helped me in this season of my life. So, with today being Valentine's Day, I thought I would be cool to look at a portion of a song by Jesus Culture called "Fierce". Let's look at the lyrics below together and then I will share some thoughts with you: Like a tidal wave Crashing over me Rushing in to meet me here Your love is fierce Like a hurricane That I can't escape Tearing through the atmosphere Your love is fierce [1] LIKE A TIDAL WAVE I love the picture of the love of God in these four words. I just picture a gigantic wave coming in and just drownin

This short little post that I want to share with you today comes from a verse in the Bible that I heard referenced in a recent message I listened to. In the verses before, we see Jacob laying down for a rest from traveling and he has a dream (Genesis 28:1-15). He wakes up from his dream: “When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, 'Surely the Lord is in this place , and I was not aware of it.' He was afraid and said, ' How awesome is this place!' " - Genesis 28:16-17 a, NIV The two lines I underlined just jumped off the screen at me. As the message that I was watching went on, I got to thinking more and more and more about those words - the Lord is in ‘this place’ and that makes 'this place' awesome! I don't know what 'this place' is for you – maybe it is: the divorce place the depression place the anxiety place the jobless place the wayward child place the sick place the lonely place the abandoned place th