Dan Gould

  • Bible Challenge – James 5

    “Confess your sins to each other & pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power & produces wonderful results.” James 5:16

    Confess your sins to each other …. But what if they ________  ….. I can do this on my own no-one else needs to know, after all, I’m probably the only one that deals with this …. I don’t have close enough friends to share this type of stuff with.  Sound familiar? Have you caught yourself thinking any of these thoughts when it comes to confessing your sin to another person?  I know I have said all of these plus some.

    Let’s face it, there is a big risk we take when we expose the things we try to hide and confess the sin that we are ashamed of and many times addicted to, to other people. However, when we humble ourselves and confess our sin to God and to others, we take a new stance against the sin that we try to hide, that tends to keep us controlled and trapped no matter how many times we have prayed the prayer telling God we’ll never do it again.  We will take a new stance against the sin that we know is keeping God at distance.

    Is it scary … YES! Is it necessary …. YES! Sin is serious, and its time that we take it serious and stop trying to fight against it in our own power! We have to stop believing the lies that Satan has caused us to believe, and we have to believe that when we live by God’s Word, we will experience the power and promise found in Gods Word.

    When we confess our sin to others, it engages them in the battle with us.   It allows them to stand with us, pray for us, and hold us accountable. The Bible says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” (Pr 27:17) The Truth is, we need each other! Let’s stop trying to battle sin alone. Let’s be honest, it hasn’t worked that well for us so far has it!?!

    Father, help me not just read this verse and focus on the promise at the end of the verse. Help me to face my fears by stepping out in faith and taking the risk by confessing my sins (not just the easy ones but the difficult ones) to others.

  • Bible Challenge – James 4

    “So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. 9 Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.” James 4:7-10

    The word humble literally means to not be proud or arrogant. It means having a feeling of insignificance, inferiority, subservience. It’s simply understanding that we honestly aren’t as good as we pretend to be. In fact, being humble is the realization that even when we are at our best, it’s still not good enough.

    When we humble ourselves before God it means that we realize that when compared to His standards, we don’t match up! That even on our best day, it’s still not good enough because we live in a sinful world. In fact Isaiah said it like this “We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags.” (Is 64:5)

    Ouch right! When we truly are humbled in Gods presence we will see who we really are and how much we need Him. Being Humble is a deep word that many times is easy to say but difficult to truly live out. However, when we are truly humbled it causes us to be broken of our sin and challenges us to deal with temptation differently. When we get to this point of realizing our continual need for God, the Bible says we will be lifted up to a place of honor. Now, we may never experience this honor here on this earth in this kingdom, but one day, when we are with Jesus in His Eternal Kingdom, we will be lifted up and honored.

    Here are some questions that I am asking myself today:
    1. Am I truly humbled by the presence of God, or has it become a routine?
    2. What sin in my life is keeping God at a distance?
    3. Were is my heart divided, part worldy/part godly?

    Father, help me to have a humble heart so I can truly see who I really am, what is keeping me from having a deeper, stronger relationship with you, break my heart for the things that break yours and let me live in a way that pleases you and encourages others to know you in deeper ways!

  • Bible Challenge – James 3

    “Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.” James 3:2

    Growing up as a teenager, I could cuss with the best of them! There was a time I would have been proud of that statement. But now, I work hard to control what I say. I wish I could say that I do this well all the time, but sometimes things slip, or I say things I shouldn’t, or I simply say to much.

    But I don’t think I am the only one, I think maybe you have the same struggle when it comes to the words you use, how you use them, and where you use them. Words are powerful and the Bible says that “the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. it can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.” (v.6)

    What you say and what you don’t say is important. Controlling your tongue isn’t just a matter of saying, writing, updating your facebook status, with the right words at the right time, but it’s also a matter of knowing when or what you shouldn’t say, write, or update your facebook status with.

    James talks about a tamed tongue and an untamed tongue. One is controlled, one is careless. One is wise, one is foolish. One is helpful, one is hurtful. One is humble, one is boastful. One speaks Truth, one speaks Lies. One is positive, one is negative. Our words are powerful! Our words are important. How you choose to use your words says a lot about you and your relationship with Christ. How will you use your words today?

    Father, today, help us control our tongue so that you can be glorified in all things today. Help us to think before we speak or write so we can use words of life instead of the careless words of this world. Help us to be wise in this area so it can begin to transforms the other areas of our life and our witness to our family, friends, and strangers. Let others see a difference in us by the things we say! In Jesus Name, Amen


  • Posting to Facebook Wall test!

    I just found out my RSS feed wasn’t updating therefore my blog wasn’t posting to the right places! Frustrating, but the Battle belongs to the Lord!!!

  • Bible Challenge – James 2

    “What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that faith save anyone?” James 2:14

    Don’t talk about IT, BE about IT! This has been a phrase that has been piercing my heart all summer.  Let’s face it, it’s easy to say that we are Christians, but it a whole different thing when we try to live out the things we say we believe.

    Growing up as a kid, I was taught this phrase, “Actions speak louder than words.” If we were to pause for a moment and think about what our actions are saying, it might scare us. Many times, good or bad, we are labeled by our actions. When our words and actions align these labels tend to be positive. However, if our words and our actions conflict, these labels tend to be negative.

    I’m wrestling with this thought but I think there is a lot of truth to it, many times our words reveal the intentions of our heart, but our actions reveal the meditation of our heart! It’s a powerful thing when our words and our actions actions align with our Faith in Christ Jesus. Don’t be fooled, people are watching! They are comparing the things we say with the way we live and they are more likely to listen to us when they see our words and actions don’t conflict.

    So here is the challenge for today, let’s put our faith in action.  Let’s show the people around us what it means to have a relationship with Christ not just by the things we say, but by things we do. Don’t just talk about IT, BE about IT!

    Father today, help us to live out the things we say we believe. When the temptation comes to do something that is in opposition of what we believe, empower us to resist that temptation. Let our actions speak louder than our words so that you can receive all the glory and others can see the difference you are making in our lives.

    “Preach the gospel always, If necessary use words.” ~ St. Francis of Assisi.

  • Bible Challenge – James 1

    “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.” James 1:22 (NLT)

    I was 18 the first time I read this verse. My youth pastor had been challenging me to begin reading the Bible, and each time he challenged me I gave some lame excuse. Finally one night, I remember climbing in bed, picking up my Bible and thumbing through the page trying to find a place to start reading. To be honest, I was skeptical and at the time didn’t really understand why or how reading the Bible daily would change anything.

    That night, I decided to read one chapter each night for at least a week.  Since the book of James was only 5 chapters, I decided to start there. As I started reading, God began to work in my heart. It was as if this letter was written directly to me because I was going through these things. I was going through some serious trials where I was searching for who I really was and what I was going to do now that I had graduated from High School.  I was dealing with a ton of temptation. Sometimes I’d give in and sometimes I wouldn’t.

    But then I read these words, “But don’t just listen to God’s Word. You must do what it says.” Those words pierced my heart! I was convicted because I grew up in Church and I had heard God’s Word being taught on several occasions, but I wasn’t doing anything to apply the things I was hearing, I was just going through the motions.

    I remember, thinking to myself, how come no-one ever showed me this verse before. I mean come-on, I’ve been in and out of Church since I was a baby, my parents were Sunday School teachers, my grandfather was a pastor, and I am just now reading this.

    God really used that verse to get my attention. Today, as I read this, I’m reminded of how important it is to be TOTALLY PRESENT when I am hearing or reading the Word of God. Sometimes it’s easy to sit down to read and glance over what I am reading because 1) I’ve read it before or 2) because my mind is a million and one other places at that moment. However, being Totally Present means that I am reading or listening with an expectation that God is going to speak to me through what I am reading or hearing. It means that I’m not only going though the motions, but motions are going through me. (that sounds cheesy but I think that’s a really deep statement). Bottom line, it means that I begin to adjust my life, no matter how easy or difficult it may be, to align with the things God says in His Word.

    Today, my prayer is that God would speak to each of us through His Word and that we would begin to adjust and align or lives around His Word. That when we read it, when we hear it that we would be Totally Present and allow His Word to change us from the inside out!

    Father help us to not only hear your Word, but help us apply and do the things we hear and read so that our life will align with your Word!

  • Bible Challenge – Starts 9.13.10

    On Sunday, September 12, 2010 I role out a reading plan for Fusion that I believe will help students and adults engage in a daily reading plan that will take their walk with Christ to a deeper level. Because of this vision, I’ve created a reading plan that will help all of us to stay on track. I would love it if you picked one up and started it on Monday with the students. I’m challenging all of us to read one chapter a day, five days a week starting in the book of James. Very doable! If you need a Tri-Fold pick one up in the student center. If you are following this blog, just check here daily to see where we are going. This leads me to my next point!

    On Monday, September 13, 2010 I am going to start blogging right here what I have read each day. It follows along with the reading plan and I am doing it in hopes that this blog can be a source of encouragement and a place where students, leaders, and others can post comments about what they gained from the daily reading. Here is what the post will look like from me each day.

    1. I will write out the verse or passage that spoke to me from the daily reading.
    2. I will write an application as to how I will apply that verse/verses
    3. I will write a prayer asking God to give me the courage and power to apply this truth to my daily life.

    But that’s not all, I am challenging you to begin to journal your thoughts in a Journal, or here in a comment. Could you imagine how our ministry would look if all of our students and leaders took this serious and began to get in their Bibles in this way. Could you imagine the resource that could be created if we posted our learning’s on this blog page? It could inspire and challenge others to get into Gods Word. I don’t know about you, but this EXCITES ME!!!!

    Here is where I need your help … will you join me? Will you do this yourself, get your leaders in your group to do this, and encourage students to get involved in creating the Habit of spending time with God daily by reading His Word. I hope you will stack hands with me and be an active participant in this vision of getting people in the Word this year!!!

    Remember our challenge this year – BE the LEADER you want your students to BE!

    It’s going to be exciting! Are you IN?

  • Session #6.2 – Daniel Pink – What Motivates us: … (Leadership Summit 2010)

    WHAT MOTIVATES US: NOT WHAT YOU THINK

    Humans have 3 drives

    BIOLOGICAL DRIVE
    REWARD AND PUNISHMENT DRIVE
    INTEREST DRIVE

    *management leads to compliance
    *management doesn’t lead to engagement

    3 THINGS THAT HELP AN ORGANIZATION TO BE SUCCESSFUL

    AUTONOMY
    *These are the big 4 things you need to leverage
    *time
    *team
    *task
    *technique

    Fed-x Day – 20% time
    *allowing the team to work on something outside there focus to present to the whole organization

    MASTERY
    *Biggest motivator at work was making progress
    *we need to help people see their progress
    *HOW: flow is when you get caught in the moment of what you are doing
    *we need to try to create moments where people can get in the flow of what they are doing
    *collect feedback – beyond the annual review, it needs to be an authentic conversations
    *encourage people take into their own hands
    *send out goals at the beginning of the month at the end of the month you call yourself into the office to talk about the goals and how you are doing?

    PURPOSE
    *Give them something to see that is larger than themselves
    *What language do you use?
    *we vs they – what pronoun do you tend to use?

  • Session #6.1 – Terri Kelly – When Leaders Emerge (Leadership Summit 2010)

    WHEN LEADERS EMERGE
    *Power of small groups – how do people not feel like a number but a active part of the organization
    *Work collectively together – their job is to make everyone else work better not just as an individual but as a team.
    *Create an environment where the leader changes with where the knowledge is for that moment or project is for that team.
    *When you join, you by-in to the common values
    *power of small teams
    *we’re all in the same boat
    *take a long term view
    *are we involved in our community?
    *are we being innovative?
    *More Coaching then Bossing
    *Leaders should coach others in the organization

    *As leaders we have to learn how to divide in order to multiply!
    *You are only a leaders if people want to follow you.

  • Session #5 – Jeff Manion – The Land Between (Leadership Summit 2010)

    THE LAND BETWEEN
    *In the Land Between we use the term “For Now”
    *For now I’m living with my parents
    *For now I’m working at McDonald’s

    *The land between is where many of us find ourselves today, you don;t know how you got there or how you are going to to get out of it. You feel like you are in the Desert.

    *God says Ill take you out of the land of Egypt into the land of promise – it doesn’t talk about the land in-between. But we know that the Israelite’s wandered for 40 years in the desert. they were in THE LAND BETWEEN.

    THE LAND BETWEEN …

    Numbers 11:4 read with a whining voice
    IS FERTILE GROUND FOR COMPLAINT
    *they didn’t complain about their condition they complained and thought that they are better off without God.
    *QUESTION – How is God going to meet his servant Moses?

    Numbers 11:11-14
    IS FERTILE GROUND FOR MELTDOWNS
    *v. 15 Kill me now – It’s too heavy I can’t carry it any more!
    *QUESTION: Who’s voice do you hear more?
    *Many times we are prepared for days of disappointment but rarely are we ready for long stints of disappointment.

    Numbers 11:16-17
    IS FERTILE GROUND FOR US 2 SEE GODS PROVISION
    *God provides for our need
    *What if we cried out to God and He provided?
    *This can be different, and sometimes different then what we expect.
    *God loves to provide … It’s what He does!

    Numbers 11:18-20
    IS FERTILE GROUND FOR GODS DISCIPLINE
    *V 23 – Is the Lords are to short?
    *Is God to weak to handle your need?
    *Discipline is inflicting pain for redemptive purposes
    *Warning – We tend to think we are immune from Gods discipline

    IS FERTILE GROUND FOR TRANSFORMATIONAL GROWTH
    *it one of the best places to learn to trust the Lord
    *the between is an opportunity to transform you into the person God has created you to be
    *its here that we learn to pray
    *its hear that we learn to depend

    HOWEVER, it doesn’t happen automatically
    *when you travel through this land your heart is in danger
    *its the best place for growth but its also the place people go to die.
    *complaint arrives as an uninvited quest.
    *complaint resist eviction
    *TRUST however evicts complaint

    THE SPACE BETWEEN IS SOME OF THE RICHEST SOIL WHERE GOD DOES HIS DEEPEST WORK!