DAN GOULD

FROM THE INSIDE OUT

Category: Dan Gould

  • 5 Gauges for Health – (part 1)

    Over the next couple of days I am going to share with you 5 things I always look at as I head into a new year and evaluate as I look back on the past year. I hope that you will find this helpful as you take on 2012. The first gauge I look at as I begin to evaluate the past year and look forward to the  new year is my own SPIRITUAL HEALTH!

    Believe it or not but God has given each of us spiritual needs. We have all been hardwired by God to know the Creator of the Universe, God Himself. Now please understand that many people say that they are spiritual. However,  many of them are simply trying to fill a God sized hole by religious acts or good works, and it is leaving them feeling empty instead. (I’ve been here have you?) This happens when we try to fill this void with anything other than Jesus Christ. It’s like trying to put a square peg in a round hole, we try and try and try until we give up saying it’s impossible.   Jesus Christ is the only thing that can and will fill this void or God size hole that you have been created with. When we resolve to know Christ as Lord and Savior, by confessing & repenting of our sin and putting our faith in His life, death, and resurrection, The Bible says that we become new,

    “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT)

    Now, like any relationship, for it to be a healthy relationship it requires quality time, strong commitment, and open and consistent communication. Your relationship with Christ is the same way.

    When we understand our Spiritual Needs, we will begin to have a better understanding of all of the other needs we have  as well. Why, because we are going to understand more about how and why we were created! Look what the Bible says,

    “Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation.” 1 Peter 2:2 (NLT)

    So, in 2012, will you resolve to be spiritually healthy? Here are some questions that will allow you to see how well you are doing in this area.

    Click here to take survey

    Now that you have thought through and/or thinking about your Spiritual Health, I encourage you to take some time to write down some goals to work towards in 2012.

    My Spiritual Health Goals for 2012

    1. Develop a Deeper Prayer Life by keeping a prayer journal

    2. Work through all of the MasterLife workbooks

    3. Memorize Scripture

    4. Lead by being with Jesus not just doing the things of Jesus.

  • Happy New Year!

    For me, the New Year is a time when I reflect on the past year, both the good and the bad, and make resolutions for the New Year.  Yesterday I spent some time evaluating a lot the things that make my life what it is today. Maybe you’ve spent some time thinking about your own life also.  Like no other time in the year, The New Year allows us to start over.  When I think of starting over there are two passages of Scripture that really challenge and encourage me. Check them out,

    “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” 
     2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)

     “I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” Philippians 3:12-14 (NLT)

    What will you focus on or commit to in 2012? If I asked you the question, “Are you healthy?” How would you answer it? I’m not talking about making the usual New Years Resolution of losing weight or hitting the gym, I’m talking about overall health. Health produces Growth and Growth only happens when something or someone is healthy.  So this year I want to encourage you to think about being healthy!

    But how do we measure that?  Health and growth are both hard to measure when you look at them as a whole, so over the next five days I am going to post five areas in my life I always evaluate when I begin a New Year.  These five areas can serve as a gauge for us to see how healthy we really are and help us to see if we are truly growing like we think we are.  So, I hope you will take some time to think about who you are, and who you are becoming. Then ask the hard question, “Does this match up to the person I really want to be?”

  • The Power of Your Story

    Earlier this week I was asked to pray for a friend who had a student pass away Christmas Night. On the Facebook post it included a video that was made by the student just a week before he passed away. If you haven’t seen it, take a watch:


    The video hit close to home for me with all the things we deal with on a regular basis with our youngest son Jackson. It reminded me just how precious every moment we have is, how short life can be and how powerful our story can be when we share them.

    I have always believed in the power of a story. One of the things I love about my job is that I get to hear people’s stories on a regular basis. The Bible says,

    “And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.” Revelation 12:11 (NLT)

    Whether you are a Christian or not, you have a story that needs to be told. So the question isn’t whether you have a story or not, the question is will you share the story you have?

  • “I’m a Guru” – Gurus 2011 Rap

  • Losing a Teen to Suicide

    Losing a loved one is never easy, especially if it’s a child or teenager, let a lone a suicide.  A lot of questions come up around someone taking their own life. But for those that know Christ, we can cling to the promise found in Romans 8:31-38 which says,

    “What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.
     35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

    38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:31-39 (NLT)

    Sometimes we want to put suicide in a category all by itself.  However, suicide is included in the word nothing. If someone is in Christ, nothing can separate them for His love.

    With that being said, we need to remember that  …

    Sorrow and Grief are never easy!
    When we lose someone we love it is difficult to let go and say goodbye.  Even Jesus, who was fully God and fully man, was filled with sorrow and grief when his friend Lazarus had passed away.  The Bible says in John 11:35 that “Jesus Wept.”

    Now I understand that each of us grieve in different ways.  Some of us need to get away and spend some time alone while others need the company of friends. Whichever the case, I encourage you to allow yourself to grieve.

    I believe God is a God of Comfort and He is willing to comfort those who ask for His help in this grief process. As you grieve I would encourage you to allow God to comfort you.  His Word says,

    “He heals the brokenhearted, binding up their wounds.” Psalm 147:3

    Jesus said in Matthew 5:4,

    “God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Matthew 5:4 (NLT)

    As you continue to grieve allow God to comfort you as His Word promises He will do, and allow yourself to cry, to laugh, and to share stories that you remember about that loved one.  This can help bring healing to yourself and those around you.

    The loss of a loved one causes us to realize how fragile and short life can be!
     None of us know exactly how long we have to live.  We are not promised another year, another month, or another day.  Each day is a gift from God.

    The Bible reminds us just how short life is:
    In Job 9:25 it says, “Mans days are swifter than a runner.”
          James 4:14 says, “Our life is like the morning fog – it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.”

    The loss of a loved one causes us to search for answers!
    When we loose something we try to find it.  When we experience a loss of life we try to find life.  This process causes us to look for answers about God, about life, about death, and about eternity.  Maybe you have asked yourself some of these questions.  The Bible has much to say about each of these,

    About God
    1 John 4:8 says, “God is love.”

    Now it is easy to say God is Love when things are going well, but to be honest, it can be difficult to believe “God is love” when things go wrong or not the way we expected them too.  But the truth is, that even though the circumstances change, Gods love for you and for me never changes.

    The passage goes on and says,

    “God showed how much he loved us by sending his only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him.  This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.” 1 John 4:9-10 (NLT)

    Jesus talks about life and says in John 10:10,

    “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10 (NIV)

    John 3:16 says,

    “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, and whosoever believes in Him should not parish, but have everlasting life.”

    In John 14:6, Jesus says,

    “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.”

    You see this life that Jesus is talking about can’t be earned, bought, or taken away.  It is simply a gift from God.  It is the gift of salvation that He wants each one of us to have.  It doesn’t matter what we have done or where we have been God offers this gift to each one of us, all we have to do accept the gift.

    Romans 10:13 says,

    “For ‘Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”

    As you search for answers, have you found the answers you have been looking for?  If not, I would encourage you to ask God to reveal those answers to you and to help you understand the things, you don’t know.

    Jeremiah 33:3 God says,

    “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”

    The loss of a loved one causes us to live life differently!
     Upon receiving the news of losing a loved one, life as we knew it changed.  No matter how hard we try we cannot change the past, the only thing we can change is the future.  God has a future for each and every one of us.  He says in Jeremiah 29:11

    “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”

    This is the promise that we can live on.  It is a promise of hope and a future that can be ours through Jesus Christ. Even when our world seems to fall apart or we don’t understand why things happen, God is near.  He is willing to help, He is willing to comfort, and He is willing to heal.  Will you trust Him today and ask for His help?

  • Bible Challenge – Matthew 21

    “You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.” v.22 (NLT)

    Really? Will God answer any prayer I pray? The fact is, this verse is not a guarantee that we can get anything we want simply asking Jesus for it believing He will do it, and closing our prayer in His Name.  God does not grant requests that would hurt us or others or that would violate his own nature or will. Jesus’ statement is not a blank check. To be fulfilled, our requests must be in harmony with the principles of God’s Kingdom. The stronger our belief, the more likely our prayers will be in line with God’s will, and then God will be happy to grant them.

    Today, do your prayers align with the heart of God and His Character? If so, a prayer offered in faith is very powerful! Spend sometime today praying and seeking the Lord.

  • Humbled – My Resignation Letter

    Dear Friends,

    It is with a humble heart that I write this letter. For the past three almost four years our family has been blessed beyond measure to serve with and be loved by the people of Grace Community Church. Many of you have prayed with us, cried with us, and laughed with us also, as we learned how to raise two boys; one of them with health issues. We have seen God do miraculous things in our time here and feel that we have made friends for life with many of you. We have also seen God do many things in the life of our Student Ministry. A ministry that has seen students come to know Christ, grow in Christ, and share Christ with their friends. God has truly blessed this ministry in ways that can be seen and in ways that we may not know until we are gathered together as The Church in Heaven. We have great volunteers that truly love God and want to see students love Him also.

    God is definitely moving within Fusion, but He is also moving in my heart. For the last 5 months Stephanie and I have been praying about a new venture we believe God is calling us to pursue. In October, I was asked to pray about joining the staff at First Baptist Church in Harvester Missouri serving as their Community Pastor. This past weekend, my family and I visited FBC Harvester, meeting with staff, lay leaders and church members and on Sunday the church voted to call us to serve with them as they reach the St. Charles area for Christ.

    Therefore, I am resigning as the Student Pastor of Grace Community Church and am accepting this position as Community Pastor at First Baptist Church Harvester. My last day at Grace will be Sunday, March 13, 2011. On the 13th we will have a Baptism Celebration at the home of Gary and Kim Riddell at 1pm.  If you are a believer and have never publically identified yourself with Christ, I would be honored if you would allow me, or another pastor, to baptize you on that Sunday.

    Our staff and team will be working through a transition plan that I believe is rock solid.  However, I also know that this time of transition will be difficult. There will times of laughter and times of tears, but I hope you all know that our family truly loves you and are truly thankful for the investment you have made in our lives!

    Sincerely (Keep Running),

    Dan

  • Oh To Be A Kid

    Today I took Josiah to the dentist! In between appointments we grabbed a quick bite to eat at McDonald’s. Watching Joe play with a huge smile on his face was the highlight of the morning!

    As I sat at the dentist office, that mental picture of Joe looking down at me saying, “Daddy” with a huge smile on his face will forever be etched in my memory and on my heart!

    It made me think back to when I was a kid. Life was much easier. As a kid the biggest stress-or in my life were rainy days that kept me from playing outside or my friends not being able to play outside with me!

    Life is much different now! Even though kids are expensive (if it’s not the hospital with one, it’s the dentist with the other) they are well worth it. Everyday my boys remind me of the important things in life. They seem to always find something to make themselves happy or make us laugh. They trust and give so much not expecting anything in return. They get excited by the small things that many times are overlooked! They don’t know a stranger and are so accepting of others!

    Oh to be a kid again! Wouldn’t it be nice?

  • Praying Hands

    For the last couple of weeks we have been letting, (should say begging) Josiah to pray and thank God for our meal each night as we sit together as a family.  Typically Jackson is already way ahead of us and has to stop eating to pray.  This past week as we were waiting for Josiah to make it to the table Jackson said “we pray” and put his hands together and started praying.  The only thing I could understand was Amen at the end! Ever since then, now when we sit down to eat, both boys pray.  Jackson prays in tongues and Joe prays in English, but God know what both of them are saying, and Stephanie and I delight that the boys are eager to talk with God! What a blessing!!!

  • Merry Christmas from the Gould’s

    Here some family fun for Black Friday! Christmas will be here before you know it!!

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