Dan Gould

Author: dgould77

  • B2S Retreat Video

    We have set up a youtube account to start posting our video since more of our students are blogging now.  Our hope are that you will post them on your blog also!  This is the latest one from our B2S Retreat all of them can be found under the user name: thefsmshow enjoy

  • Luke 16:1-18

    “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. 11 And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? 12 And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own?

    13 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” v. 10-13

    In this passage Jesus addresses how we handle our money.  If you remember, Jesus was betrayed for money.  How you use and manage money is important.  Please note that I am not an expert at this and if you look at our life you will see we don’t do this very well.  However, we desire to be in a place that Jesus describes here.  We are making plans and doing the hard things so we can be people that are living wisely here and storing up treasures there, in Heaven!

    The NLT Life Application Study Bible has this to say in its notes,

    Money can easily take Gods place in your life.  It can become your master.  How can you tell if you are a slave to money?  Ask yourself: Do I worry about it frequently?  Do I give up what I should do or would like to do in order to make more money?  Do I spend a great deal of my time caring for my possessions?  Is it hard for me to give money away?  Am I in debt?

    Money is a hard and deceptive master.  Wealth promises power and control, but often it cannot deliver.  Great fortunes can be made – and lost – overnight, and no amount of money can provide health, happiness, or eternal life.  How much better it is to let God be your master.  His servants have peace of mind and security, both now and forever.

    Many of us want to see God do big things in us and through us, duh!  But these words today are piercing.  Jesus say that its through our faithfulness in the small things that bigger responsibilities come.  That means every detail of your life is a responsibility.  What little things could you begin to practice today that could open bigger things later.  Will you join me in praying this today,

    Lord help me to be faithful in the little things, so you can use me to do greater things in the future!

  • Another Long Night

    Josiah decided to spend the night throwing up almost like clock work every 20 minutes from 11:30-3ish.  Jackson did the same thing Monday Night and seems to be fine.  I hope it over for Josiah that fast also!  On another note, I am feeling sick now and hoping that its not my turn next!

  • Small Groups

    Tonight, we officially started small groups for grades 6-10th.  I have the privilege of being the 9th grade coach.  Tonight we had 15 ninth graders at our host home.  Here are their pictures as they walked in.

    What a good night!  The topic was Guilt.  Guilt is a hard topic to talk about and makes us feel uncomfortable because it hinges on actually having to share our faults with others.  We asked these three questions in Small Groups

    • How do you deal with guilt?
    • Are there signs that you are ignoring?
    • Have you asked God for forgiveness?

    Doug Fields shared two things about guilt that I think are pivotal to overcoming it.  If we aren’t proactive in temptation we will live our life being reactive toward guilt and situations.  Here are some steps to take.

    • Go to God with the situation. (confession)
    • Go to others with the situation. (accountability)

    If you will do these things you will be able to experience freedom from your current situation!

  • Luke 15:11-32

    “We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.” v. 23-24

    What a picture of unfailing love the Father shows his son.  It’s easy for me to relate to that and want to implement that in my life  and I really try to do that. The cool part is that the Father gave the son a new start.  Our Heavenly Father does the same for us.

    When others come to Christ do you celebrate, or do you think of all the things they have done and begin to be skeptical?  Are you more like the Father, or the Brother?

    Today, lets rejoice and be thankful for the things God has done for us, and when we see others come to Christ, lets let them know how excited we are for them and what God is doing in them!

  • Invasion

    My office has been invaded by my youngest son Jackson.  Right now it looks more like a daycare than and office.  Jackson spends from 12:30-2:00pm with me Mon-Thurs until Josiah gets out of school.  Here is what he is doing right now!

    I am not used to the quiet!

    Join the conversation – Have you ever had to take your kids to work?

  • Weekend Review – B2S Retreat

    What a great Weekend!  Yes we had some challenges but everything seemed to work out.  Ken Freeman and Nick Thurmond kicked us off in a great way.  Here are some Highlights:

    • 6 student accepted Christ Friday Night
    • Ken Freeman really did a great job connecting with all of us and challenging us to be evangelistic.
    • Nick Thurmond led us in great worship.
    • Host Homes – Awesome!  This weekend couldn’t have happened with out them
    • Small Group Teams – Coaches and Small Groups leaders did an awesome job on not a lot of sleep!
    • Great discussions in homes and then at the church
    • The Game – fun, tiring, stressful, glad to see the 11th and 12th graders win finally!
    • The Food – Lasagna for dinner Saturday and a full breakfast Sunday Morning, how can you go wrong with that.
    • The first – Tyler leading worship for the first time with our group, Josh and Lisa both speaking for the first time to a large group!!  Major highlights for me
      • Don’t forget the Friendship Evangelism Challenge!!!
        • Reveal you are a Christian!
        • Extend and invitation to church or event!
        • Ask if you can share your story!
        • Communicate how/why you became a Christian!
        • Help them to know Christ!
    • Lastly, seeing the student building full!

    This truly was a great weekend but lets not let it be something we look back to as and event but as a start to a great journey of reaching our friends for Christ!

  • It’s Finished . . .

    The boxes from Ikea are empty and the stuff is put together!!!  It only took me until 4:00am to get it all done.

    No I haven’t lost my mind.  Jackson was throwing up last night (6 times in less than an hour) thanks to Long John Silvers and we were watching his fever to make sure he was ok.  Therefore, today I am paying for it!

    Here are the pics.

  • Luke 15:1-10

    “Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach.  This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them!” v. 1-2

    This past weekend our student ministry held a B2S Retreat where we focused on Evangelism all weekend!  Sometimes, who am I kidding, many times evangelism can be scary.  One of the things I notice as I read through the scriptures and study the life of Jesus, rarely do you see Him hanging out with the religious people of the day.  He always drew a crowd and wasn’t afraid to be with people that others might condemn.  He loved them the way they were but challenged to become all that God wanted them to be.

    This resonates with me so much.  Jesus wants each of us to follow His example and share His love with everyone, not just some.  I love what the NLT Study Bible says about Jesus in the notes today,

    Jesus came to offer salvation to sinners and to show that God loves them. Jesus didn’t worry about the accusations.  Instead, he continued going to those who needed him, regardless of the effect these rejected people might have on his reputation.

    Jesus saw everyone the way they were intended to be not the way they were! For that, I am thankful . . . aren’t you? When you look at others what do you see? How do you respond?

    “In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!” v. 7

  • We went to Ikea . . .

    Now I have to put the contents in these boxes together before I go to bed.  It’s 8:45pm now . . . PRAY!