Second Stage Ministries

“When I felt like the burden was more than I could hold When the whispers of worry overwhelmed my soul You never left me alone You were there all along I was down to the wire hoping You would come through And You stepped in the fire like You always do How I'm convinced of Your love You are more than enough”[1] As I heard this song for the first time last month, I was reminded again of Job. A few weeks ago we looked at part of Job’s story in a post called “The Middle” (part 2 of this series). Job experienced a sudden storm in his life and it came out of nowhere. Have you ever experienced one of life’s storms that come out of nowhere? I know I have. It’s one of those situations that totally blindside us and we are left in shock. Job loss Death of a family member Death of a friend Cancer Divorce Storms - they can just come up and leave us asking “well, what now?” or “hey God don’t you care?” This is illustrated in a story in the New Testa

We often talk about our weaknesses when it comes to something that we need to do or that God calls us to do. I am reminded of a part in Moses’ story where this is evident in his life. Moses had just fled Egypt after he murdered an Egyptian who was abusing a Hebrew slave. He had a good reason though because Pharaoh was trying to kill him for killing the Egyptian. So he found himself in Midian where he became a shepherd for his father-in-law. This is where God came looking for him. (Exodus 2:11-3:1). God spoke to him from a burning bush - that had to be a sight to see - and told him that he needed to go back to Egypt and save the Hebrew people. But Moses came up with every excuse he could come up with not to go. God even gave him sign after sign that he was going to be ok (Exodus 4). Moses finally goes and leads the people to freedom. I tell you part of that story because maybe you can relate to Moses there. But Moses forgot where his strength came from. I thought about t

Everyone thinks that an echo is pretty cool. I can remember the joy of being able to hear a sound echo back for the first time. Then I can remember trying to find different places that would produce an echo. So naturally I found myself in some trouble from time to time because I would randomly shout out at different times and place if I thought an echo might be possible. Everyone know this kind of echo. The echo you can hear in a big empty room. The echo you can hear in a valley. These echoes are awesome and fun. But what about the echo in your head. This echo can be very dangerous. Most of us know the definition of the word echo, but what about this definition: “a close parallel or repetition of an idea, feeling, style, or event.”[1] After looking at that definition we can see where the wrong kind of echo in our head can be very bad. I was recently sent a message from a friend of mine who did not even know what I was planning for this post. Talk about a God moment! But her

Are you anxious? Stressed? Worried? Uneasy? Nervous? Overwhelmed? What a silly group of questions. I know I can be. I know you can be. Did you know that Jesus was a little stressed? He had the weight of the entire world on His shoulders. Talk about a stressing moment. We read about that moment in Jesus' life in the Gospels of Mark and Luke: “And being in anguish , he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,’”- Luke 22:44 + Mark 14:34a NIV Jesus knew what was going to happen to Him (John 18:4). He knew of the pain to come and it was weighing heavy on Him. He was greatly overwhelmed. He was human after all. While Jesus was under this great pressure, He had His eyes up and He went and prayed to God: “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” - Luke 22:42 NIV Now God didn't take away the pain that Jesus w

The middle as defined by Merriam-Webster is “the position of being among or in the midst of something”. Tell me have you ever been in the middle. In the middle of your siblings. In the middle of a fight. In the middle of a crowd. In the middle of traffic. In the middle of a storm. In middle school. In the middle of a test. In the middle of the school year. In the middle of the work day. In the middle of raising your kids. In the middle of a job change. In the middle of a divorce. In the middle of a healing process. In the middle of life. In the middle of a season. Just in the middle. Being in the middle sucks. Being the middle child. Being caught in the middle of something that you shouldn’t have been in. Being in the middle of an argument. We all I think have been in the middle. We know what the beginning was. We know where we have been. We know what was. But now we are in the middle. In the middle of what was and what is to come. In

“...where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord.... Psalm 121:1-2 NIV The topic of this post will be found in the following verses from Matthew: “Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.” - Matthew 18:21-22 NKJV Peter is trying to figure out how much forgiveness is too much. He figured that forgiving someone seven times would be more than enough. But Jesus quickly turns Peter’s thoughts of forgiveness upside down when He responds with 490 times. Peter’s jaw probably hit the dirt after hearing this astronomical number that came for the mouth of Jesus. 490 times! Wow! Peter probably even said to Jesus “You’re joking right?” or “You can’t be serious!” I can bet that Jesus just looked at his strong-willed disciple and said “Oh, you bet I’m serious! Just watch!” But this got me to

This special series is based on the recent Elevation Worship album “Hallelujah Here Below”. In this series of posts, after listening to the album, there were some things that came out at me and I wanted to share them with you. Used to express praise, joy, or thanks, the word hallelujah is used by many.[1] Hallelujah, I found a job! Hallelujah, I got an A on that math test! Hallelujah, for that extra money! Hallelujah, I woke up this morning! Hallelujah, I survived that car accident! Hallelujah, I am cancer free! Hallelujah, I survived that crisis! Hallelujah, God has come to my rescue again! Hallelujah, God is still by my side! Another way people express hallelujah is with “praise the Lord” or “thank God”. We all have used one or more of these phrases before. But I was shown a different way to think of the word. In one of the new songs of the recently released album, one of the verses says: “Ten thousand angels surround Your throne To bring You praise that will nev