Nothing to Prove

We all want to live lives where we experience freedom, joy, peace and contentment on a daily basis, but instead many of us live lives marked by fear, worry and anxiety. Why? Humans have always lived in communities, and our communities are defined by culture. Our culture brings us joyful experiences like theatre, movies, music etc. but our culture also pushes us toward a set mold that we need to fit ourselves into. Our culture always tries to tell us what is wrong versus right. We are told how to dress, look, work, shop, do relationships, parenting etc. by culture. Culture tells us how to live, and we conform to it.


Most of us are fully aware of the pressures that our culture puts on us to look a certain way, to have a certain type of house, car, smartphone, career, relationship, clothing style etc. It's exhausting to try to measure up to all the different types of pressures and expectations that our culture puts on us. As we live our lives trying to measure up and please other people in our culture we lose our joy, contentment and freedom.


God never intended for us to live in this way, weighed down by the pressures and expectations of this world. When we choose to live for God's glory instead of our own glory we are suddenly free. We get to enjoy this life and experience gratitude for every new day we are given, instead of being weighed down by fear, worry, anxiety and pressure.

Why Am I Anxious?

Ever wonder why you’re so anxious? Wish you could experience more peace and less anxiety? The answer to your problems may not be found in what’s happening to you, but in how you’re thinking about it. Discover seven reasons for why you might be anxious.

Life With One Hand

Brandon Yap tells his story about what it was like to grow up with only one hand. Hearing others tell him he couldn't do things made Brandon develop insecurities growing up. Brandon's insecurities made him ashamed of who he was and made him want to hide his arm when meeting new people. Over time Brandon developed depression and anxiety. He worked hard trying to earn acceptance and approval from others for many years and when his family moved to another state things got worse. Brandon was bullied in his new school and started to believe the voices in his head who were telling him he was worthless.


One day Brandon's sister Jennie invited him to Skull Church and from then on Brandon's life started to change in a big way. God was teaching Brandon that his imperfections could be used as his platform. He decided to learn how to play some instruments and today he is using his gifts to serve God. I love what Brandon says in the video: "I once saw myself as a victim, but God has given me the heart of a victor."

A Response to National Pain

We live in tumultuous times and if we only look at what we see in the news this world can seem hopeless and scary. We face many different problems in our world; political problems, climate change, human trafficking, racism, natural disasters, war, terrorism etc. It’s easy to become so over-whelmed by these problems that we become fearful, worried, angry and start blaming and hating on each other. We look for quick explanations and someone to blame for all the disasters that we together as a human society have created. Finding someone to blame might make us feel better for a little while, but it won’t make the problems we face any smaller. Each one of us get to choose if we will be a part of the problem or a part of the solution. As Christ-followers we are called to be carriers of the answer, not carriers of anger, carriers of hate, carriers of prejudice or carriers of “I told you so.”

We all have very different opinions on the situation and the tremendous problems we face but in the end the only thing that matters is what God thinks. What does God ask us to do in times of trouble and despair? Judah Smith teaches a sermon about the racial injustice in America but this message can be applied to any problem we face because it all comes down to how we choose to live.

The first thing we need to know is that our pain matters to God, God is grieved by our pain, but God is not worried or fearful. God is the answer to our pain and He is totally and fully in control. The second thing we need to know is that how we choose to live our lives matters. When we look at our problems in the world it can be tempting to say: “God, how could you allow this to happen?” The answer is simple; from the beginning of time we have been given free will by God. We are where we are today, both in our personal lives and as a society, because of our choices. We all have free will and over history we have (and we continue) to put ourselves in these painful situations because we don’t choose God and His ways, we choose our own way. The Bible calls this pride.

Judah Smith talks about how although our political systems and experts are important in our societies we will end up in despair if we put our hope in them. God doesn’t call us to believe in people, because humans can not save this world. God calls us to put our hope in Him. If we look to our experts and politicians to save this world we will constantly be disappointed and let down because we are placing a burden on them that was never meant for them to carry. It's a burden too heavy for any human to carry. God sent Jesus to carry this burden for us, so that we wouldn’t have to carry it. Jesus didn’t come to Earth just to save us from the grip of evil, he came to save us from ourselves. We tend to be quite self-destructive in our ways sometimes. It’s not surprising that we continue to end up in trouble and despair when we insist on living our lives apart from God. Outside of God’s will the enemy is waiting and he will be quick to use our free will to steal, kill and destroy everything that is good in our lives and in our societies.

Every human-being, whether expert, politician or regular person is flawed, but God is flawless. As Christ-followers we put our hope in God, not in people. Humans don’t have what it takes to save the world. We need God. There is no hope for humanity without God because the enemy won’t stop fighting to have our souls. This truth is often one of the hardest truths for humans to accept because our pride is strong within us. We want to be able to say: “We’ve got this! We don’t need God.” I’ve been in situations like this many times, where I have been insisting on overcoming a struggle on my own without asking God for help or guidance. When we act like we don’t need God it feels like swimming upstream, you work hard but you get nowhere. Children can’t make it in this world alone, every child needs his/her parents, and in the same way we were created to need God. Our pride pushes God away and we don’t want him, but that doesn’t change the fact that we need him.

We all carry a responsibility on our shoulders to take good care of the world we live in, but if we exclude God and think that we will be able to save this world on our own we will become exhausted, hopeless and fearful. We were never meant to face these gigantic problems on our own, we have a God who loves us dearly and who is fighting for us every minute of our lives. Why do we fight against a God who loves us and wants good things for us? Pride is the answer. How many times have we experienced the same situation with our own children? We know what’s best for our children and we try to help them but they don’t want to listen to us.

For some of us, the first thing we need to do in the battle for a better world is to come to God on our knees and let him carry our troubles, to cast our cares on him. We were never meant to carry these burdens alone. When we seek God’s help in our troubles He will give us His peace, joy and strength. When we take on our battles in life with the protection, provision and guidance that God offers us the journey will look very different. It won’t be an easy life but we will no longer have to live weighed down by fear, worry and anxiety. God will make a way through every storm for those who seek Him and His will for their lives. I know these things to be true not just because I’ve read about them in The Bible but because I’ve seen God do amazing things in my own life. I get tears in my eyes as I write this because I am so humbled as I think about how great God’s love is for me. I don’t deserve this great love in any way but He keeps giving it to me anyway and I will make sure I’m always ready to receive it.

“Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.”

Psalm 55:22

“Commit your works to the LORD and your plans will be established.”

Proverbs 16:3

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

1 Peter 5:6-7

“Keep your guard up. You’re not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It’s the same with Christians all over the world. So keep a firm grip on the faith. The suffering won’t last forever. It won’t be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ – eternal and glorious plans they are! – will have you put together and on your feet for good. He gets the last word; yes, he does.”

1 Peter 5: 9-11

Jessica's Story

Jessica was over-weight as a teenager and struggled with depression, insecurity and low self-esteem. Jessica ended up basing her self-worth on what her friends thought about her. When she lost contact with a couple of her best friends a few years later her self-esteem got really bad. When Jessica started college she started looking for validation and acceptance in guys instead, but this strategy did not work out very well either and her depression continued to get worse.

Two years ago everything changed when Jessica went for coffee with a friend who asked her what she thought about God. Once Jessica switched her focus from being on herself to being about getting to know Jesus her depression started getting better and better. Today all of Jessica's depression and anxiety is gone. Life is neither perfect nor easy but Jessica has found a new way to live that makes her happy.

The Workout



When I was little I used to wish I could live like Pocahontas, I've always enjoyed spending time in nature. One of the many things my husband and I have in common is our love for the outdoors. Hiking is one of our favorite things to do together during fall weekends.

Last year I bought an amazing book called "Joyous Health" by Canadian author Joy McCarthy. Joy mentions in the book that studies have shown that exercising in a forest can lower our levels of stress and reduce anxiety. Spending time in the forest can also increase our immune system function. I wasn't surprised by what the research has discovered, every time I spend time in nature I can feel how my whole body, mind and soul gets rejuvenated.

The struggle with worry and anxiety

We all have two different voices in our head, one is for us and the other is against us. We describe the situation as having a little devil sitting on one of your shoulders telling us what to do, and on the other shoulder we have a small angel who tells us to do the right thing. Life is a constant struggle when we try to decide which voice we should listen to in each situation. The worse we feel, the louder the voice of that little devil gets. This voice tells us that we aren't good enough, that we might as well not even try because we are going to fail. This voice has the power to make us worried, fearful and filled with anxiety.


The good news is that we have the power to choose which voice we will listen to, which voice we will believe. We will never be able to push that little devil off our shoulder, but we can make the voice less loud. The louder the voice of that little angel gets, the less we will listen to the voice of the little devil. But how can we make that little angel's voice more powerful? We can seek out the truth and then intentionally feed ourselves the truth on a regular basis. Every time I struggle with worry and fear in life I know I have a choice. I can continue to listen to the voice in my head that tells me that I'm not good enough, or I can choose to listen to something else.


Every time I feel anxious and choose to listen to a church sermon I always feel better afterwards. Every time I lay in bed and feel worried and decide to get out of bed and listen to a few uplifting songs like "Cast my cares" by Tim Timmons I always feel better afterwards. The only problem is every time I feel hopeless and worried the last thing I want to do is listen to a sermon by some pastor. That little devil on my shoulder keeps telling me that it's a stupid idea. He tells me that God can't help me and that I'm all alone. He tells me that I should stay in bed and that there is no point in trying to feel better. Every time it's a battle. Will I do the right thing, or will I continue to listen to that negative voice in my head?

You were not created to live your life in fear

Our fears are fueled by worry. But what is really at the bottom of our worst fears? And is there any way to shift our fear to faith?

Steven Furtick gives us a great sermon on the topic of fear. We were not meant to live our lives in constant fear and worry. God wants us to be free from fear and live a life of joy and peace. Steven Furtick teaches us three things that we can do to get free from our fear, worries and anxiety.