PODCAST - Grit & Glory, Songs & Stories

Last week, my friend Mike Foote shared how God dive-bombed his suicide plan and started him on a beautiful faith journey. Stay tuned for some gold nuggets from Mike as well the answer to last week’s Listener Challenge. (To hear the song, read the show notes or email Mark, visit the .) (Mark) Welcome back Mike! So tell us about one of the best pieces of advice that you've ever been given. Maybe how you applied that in your life. (Mike) You know, I guess the best piece of advice I've ever been given it, really relates back to what we were just talking about, which is just give it to God, you know? And I think that's for many of us, so much easier said than done. I also think there's many times we think we are, but we're not. Right? I'm giving everything to you, God. But then we realize, well, I was giving you everything except for this one thing that I really want. And you know, and it's a piece of advice that, and it wasn't just from people, I mean, it's in God's word. He tells us to do that. People through the years have told me to do that. And I just, I couldn't do it. I couldn't just fully humble myself, you know? And I think there's a lot of reasons for that. You know, I think there's the fact that, you know, we're all sinful. I'm sinful. Certainly there's the fact that, you know, like I said, and I don't wanna say that I didn't grow up with a dad. I have a stepdad and he's been my dad ever since I can remember. But, you know, there is definitely a level of distrust when it comes to relationships. I feel like when you have, especially with fathers, that kind of hurt, it's difficult to trust even to trust God. I found myself saying a lot, I know God loves me, but I don't think He likes me very much. Right? Like, I know He loves me, but He wouldn't wanna hang out with me like on a Sunday and watch football or something. So when I finally took the advice, which, and there was no, there was no thought, like, okay, I have to take that advice now. That didn't even come into my mind until later. It was just the final realization that I had to give up myself. You know, there's a pastor that I, I kind of follow on YouTube, and one of the things he likes to say is, you know, "God knocks us down so we look up" and God certainly knocked me down. I was down as far as I could be and still be alive. I mean, looking back on my life, there's so many times where I shouldn't be alive. Whether it be drug overdose, I mean, I should have been murdered, I'm sure more than once, been in some really dangerous places at dangerous times, doing really stupid things. But God, I know without a doubt that God had His hand on my life and He's had His hand on my life ever since. And that doesn't mean of course I'm gonna live forever. Doesn't even mean that I might live through tomorrow. But He had a plan for me, and He pursued me throughout all of it. And the best thing I could ever do was finally say, God, you are the God of my life.I've tried the job and I suck at it. I am gonna let you do that job from here on out. (Mark) And that's a daily decision. You know, when we can decide, okay, from this day going forward, right? But tomorrow you have to basically say the same thing from this day going forward, I'm going to, I'm gonna let You run my life. I'm gonna do my part, but I'm gonna let You run my life. (Mike) Yeah, you know my wife and I were just talking about that. And one thing that we have discovered is, you know, all of the big decisions are almost always followed by a ton of little ones. You know, you know this, right? Just to talk about a little, you know, personally, you know, I've always struggled getting in the word and praying on a daily basis, and you've been really encouraging to me to do that. And I don't know what it was you told me, I can't remember. It was something about start a new habit or something that really clicked in me. So I made the decision, I'm gonna get in the word and pray every day. Well, that was the big decision....

Recovery Beautiful (Part 2)-Episode 019

In this first episode, singer/songwriter, Mark Alewine, introduces himself and the podcast, explaining his passion for telling God-stories and encouraging you with a story of his own. Leave inspired to resist letting fear keep you from something amazing.

Why Grit & Glory, Songs & Stories-Ep 001

Transcript: Today let’s talk about the song What Are We Gonna Do? How many times have you asked yourself that question? When I finally quit asking the question rhetorically and really wanted to know, I found some helpful answers that I’d like to share with you in today’s podcast. The 2020 election insanity and the pandemic topped off by the divisiveness, violence, looting and burning in Mpls/St Paul put me over the edge. Even as a follower of Jesus, I had my moments of fear and I let fear get the best of me. Panic could easily take over if I let it. I knew if I didn’t keep my hope and faith anchored on what God says about who He is and what is yet to come, I would completely freak out or probably do something really stupid. So I did a lot of soul searching and questioning God that ultimately led to the writing of this song, What are We Gonna Do? You can hear the instrumental playing underneath this right now. First, we have to start with the right framework, with what God says about this life on earth (See footnote at end of the show notes for specific Bible references). The Bible says that the world lies in the power of the evil one1 and that our struggle is NOT against flesh and blood but against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the HEAVENLY places2. Jesus said in this world we would have tribulation3. Yep, I can believe that! The Bible also says we need to be prepared so we can resist4 and that God in us is greater than he who is in the world (talking about the devil).5&nbsp; It says, Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good6. Surely this must be possible if the Bible states it so clearly, right? I’m still asking God to help me believe, not just with my head, but with my heart and to be ready to act like I believe it! I believe this life is a test. A test of our faith and our ability to allow God to speak into our lives. I believe we, more than ever, have the ability to be the light of the world that is needed so desperately! So when the world is on fire, what is our response? What do we say or do that reflects the work that Jesus has done in our lives as believers, as HIS followers. Should we be angry at some of the things that we are seeing? Absolutely! Should we rile each other up as well? No…we are called to strongly encourage each other to do the right thing, living to the glory of God! That is truly loving one another! Should we speak the first thing that comes to our mind in response to those things? I’ve done that and usually those words weren’t reflective of the work that Jesus has done in my life. The Bible says “words kill or words give life, they’re either poison or fruit, you choose”7. That is incredibly powerful and hugely important. Throughout a lifetime of failures and apologies, I’ve come up with a process that I want to share with you that can help. You see, we have this super computer in our head that can play out scenarios with the words that we say and what that story is going to look like at the end. So this happens very quickly if we allow it. You can see the end of this particular moment and you can change your words based on that predicted outcome. Whether it’s to someone’s face or a text to someone or something on social media, you can see the end of that story pretty clearly and change what you are going to say or do. The real test is do we care enough about what pleases God to choose our response accordingly or do we give in to “feeling” justified in our words and actions regardless of how much pain it could cause; pain to ourselves, to others and to God Himself. I believe the more time we spend praying and the less time we spend giving our own personal commentary to people on what’s going on, the more the Holy Spirit works and the more receptive people are to God’s truth.&nbsp; I also believe that the more time we spend praying and the less time we spend worrying helps to bring peace to our own lives. Which would you rather spread?...

What are We Gonna Do-002

Do you ever wonder if personal peace is even possible in today’s world? For the next few minutes let’s stop, breathe and take a sweet little sip of peace. There’s something about coffee that takes me back. Something about it that helps me to stop and enjoy the moment. I don’t drink enough coffee to get addicted, but I do look forward to my morning coffee every day. I make it the night before and have it set so it comes on early and it’s nice and hot when we wake up. There’s just something about it. Coffee with friends is a huge part of my life. I love going into coffee shops and smelling what’s going on and even the noise of the coffee shop is pleasant for me. When I was worship pastor, I set up most of my meetings in coffee shops. I’ve been going to northern Minnesota every year for about 34 years fishing with my son and some friends. It’s a small group of about four of us. We stay in a very simple resort in a town called Orr Minnesota, a town of about 175 people. The north side of town is about a minute from the south side of town, meaning it’s pretty small. We fish on a lake called Pelican Lake, which is a huge lake. And the fishing is incredible. There’s this train. The train used to be a huge annoyance as we would get up there and the train would run through anywhere from 10 to probably 15 times a day all through the night and all through the day. The place we stay at is across the bay so as the crow flies probably a little over half a mile. The train would be very loud and you could hear it coming for what feels like miles away. It used to be very very frustrating. Somewhere along the way, my perspective changed. Now, I so look forward to hearing that train all through the night and all through the day. It’s a peaceful sound from a distance and echoes through those northern woods. It’s just part of the overall experience up there. It really is incredible. And now when I hear a train anywhere else, it takes me back to northern Minnesota. Each morning we wake up in our very primitive cabin and head on over to the TPatton Café for coffee and breakfast. I suppose we are considered regulars because we are there every year and sometimes twice a year. We know the owner, Tara, very well. She and her staff are wonderful people that know how to take care of their customers. They have a simple menu in a beautiful unique setting. The restaurant is an old train depot and when you walk in you take a few steps down to the dining area. The food is cooked upstairs. There’s about 15 to 18 steps to get upstairs so the servers really get a work out!&nbsp; The real workout is When the delivery truck comes and he has to make about eight trips with his two wheel dolly loaded up with Food going up the steps. One of the simplest things they serve is coffee. It’s not really a special kind of coffee. Nothing you would find in a coffee shop per se. Coffee shops as I said earlier, are a big deal for me and I have to show much restraint to not run into a coffee shop every day and buy coffee. But there’s something about coffee in northern Minnesota at T Patton Café.&nbsp; Believe it or not I still remember the first cup of coffee that I had there. And it’s something that I look forward to every year as we get ready to go. I even start thinking about this at the beginning of the year even though the trip happens around Memorial Day for a week. I’m sure it has something to do with getting away from the stress of the city life and enjoying the wild north of Minnesota with great friends over a cup of coffee (or 6 cups). I have a friend in Nashville and he and I discuss coffee and even though we can’t have a cup of coffee in the same room, we slow down and just chat as we sip coffee together sometimes, separately. Sometimes we were just chat and cut up. Other times we’ll talk about life’s deep struggles together. One day, the conversation was particularly pain filled. As we wrapped things up, I felt inspired,...

May Your Coffee Taste Much Sweeter-Ep 003

This week’s story is meant to help you anticipate the sweetness of life if you just keep hanging in there, giving God time and space to work in your life and relationships. I’ll also introduce you to my wife, Cindy, and the song she inspired called, My Lady. First let’s start with guitars. I own 2 Taylor guitars. The thing about owning a really nice guitar is after you’ve had them for some time, they seem to get sweeter and sweeter and their sound gets warmer, richer and more inviting. This is also true of other instruments. &nbsp;I’ve had one of my Taylor guitars for about 22 years now. I absolutely love it.&nbsp; And the sound has gotten more incredible as the years go by. That’s been the way it has been with me and Cindy. As the years go by, she just gets sweeter and sweeter. And I’m blown away to think that I have been married to this incredible woman for going on 41 years this June. As I share the story of today’s featured song, My Lady, I hope you’ll be inspired to take a different look at your life, your spouse (if you have one) and what sweetness God has for you as you keep on growing. Cindy and I got married when we were 19 and 21 years old. Needless to say, we both were quite immature and sometimes fought over very silly things. Thankfully we both loved Jesus and had great peer pressure to work things out. It wasn’t long before we had kids, grown up jobs and big life decisions. We didn’t know what we didn’t know - which was - that we both had hurts and hang-ups that impacted our relationship and that would knock us down in the near future. We loved each other as best we knew how and continued to grow little by little. Even as believers who loved God, we experienced disappointments, betrayals, heartbreaks, mental and physical breakdowns, financial challenges, trouble with kids, uncertainties with parents and so many “normal” but horrible things that seemed to push us apart but pull us together all at the same time. We loved each other as best we knew how and continued to grow a little at a time. I’ve always appreciated Cindy and her support but one night, while sitting at her father’s deathbed, I had a moment of amazing clarity and sweetness which inspired the song, My Lady. She left the room to take a break for a few minutes. As I watched her, I was suddenly overwhelmed with gratitude for her as my wife and for her selfless acts of kindness for her dad and for me and for anybody she comes in contact with. Words came to me very very quickly so I started to talk-texting as fast as I could. There was no melody yet, just words. It was as if the years flashed before me and these words were the culmination of years of struggle and growth together, sweeter than anything we’d experienced so far in our marriage. Aside from my relationship with Jesus, she is truly the most remarkable relationship that I have ever had in my life! I’m so so grateful. There’s nothing she wouldn’t do for me and honestly, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her. We are doing something together now that we did NOT do early on in marriage and I want to share it with you so you don’t miss out. We make the time virtually every morning just to talk about what God is doing in our lives and to pray together for the day. That has been one of the most impacting things that we have ever done. This has brought us even closer and closer together. This next part is no judgment on anybody else, no condemnation whatsoever. I realize that there are many people, many couples out there, that don’t pray together on a regular basis. I realize it may feel awkward. I would say just start with a quick prayer in the morning and then build on that. This is something that you will never regret and you’ll be surprised at how much you grow together as a couple. Remember that “music makes stuff stick”! So guys, use songs like My Lady to help you appreciate your wife, to soften your heart towards her. And gals, use songs...

Introducing "My Lady"-004

(Mark) Last week I introduced you to “My Lady”, Cindy Alewine who inspired the song “My Lady”. I promised to let you hear from her this week. Today’s story is how God took an unthinking comment Cindy made at a very low point in her life and brought about a powerful battle cry and victory song. I’ll let her tell you all about it. (Cindy) Hi everybody! I’m so glad you’re here and I’m excited to share this story with you. First of all, I’m an only child (and no I wasn’t spoiled). My mom passed away when I was 35 years old so my dad was on his own for many years.&nbsp; Since he lived in Georgia, It was challenging trying to help him when he started having all sorts of issues. Finally the time came for a change. He had undiagnosed Parkinson’s Disease and some other problems that made it impossible to continue to live on his own. So we moved him to Minnesota into our home. I quit my job to stay home with him full-time. Dad and I loved each other but I had lots of buttons for him to push and sometimes our relationship felt like oil and water. Still, I felt satisfied and even a bit noble. Mark here was a great help and we believed this was God’s will. Others helped us as well and Dad truly appreciated our love and care. Things were going great. After a while, though, over the next five and a half years, I let the mundane tasks, the hours of noisy TV and the 24/7 responsibility get to me. I often felt weary, sometimes I felt trapped. I definitely felt like a hostage to negative thoughts and feelings. My body was affected also and I had quite a bit of pain. Despite being loved and supported, I struggled with depression and felt hopeless. Out of necessity, I dug into to my relationship with God. So many beautiful things came when I would be still, listen and accept the opportunity to grow. I began recognizing the underlying choices I faced each day. Choices between easy, convenient and comfortable OR becoming like Jesus. If trials were a gift like the Bible says and if they could help me become mature in faith, then I wanted to accept them and embrace the growth. Of course, this was much easier said than done! I know this is a spiritual “DUH!” but I felt like God was prompting me to “start with praise”. Usually first thing in the morning I’d barge into His presence asking for this or that and sometimes leaving without really listening for a response. I started picking out one praise song to sing before I said anything else. That made a surprising difference! I still do that to this day and sometimes I wake up with a song I hadn’t thought of for years. I also made a 4 song playlist of high octane praise songs that I listened to over and over throughout the day using my headphones to help drown out the TV blaring in the background. Just hearing the first few measures of a song would often trigger a reset for me mentally. Wow! I know it’s true and it makes sense, but I still marvel how differently God’s presence, comfort, love and power are experienced when we settle into praise. I was staying close to God but my thoughts and feelings were very uncooperative!&nbsp; I found a sermon series by Craig Groeschel of Life Church called Winning the War in Your Mind. I listened and re-listened and re-listened to it, applying God‘s truth and finding hope. We also went through a series called Free Indeed by Robert Morris of Gateway Church and discovered some strongholds in my life that kept me spinning in some areas. (I highly recommend checking out these resources for yourself and you can find links at GGSSPodcast.com) Marinating in scripture was critical during this time. There’s a number of verses that I clung to. One of them was “Take every though captive to the obedience of Christ” from 2 Corinthians 10:5. I learned that the meaning was to take every thought captive as if by spear point. What a great mental picture! I had to choose whether to tolerate the loud, repetitive negative thoughts...

Unshaken-005

Each test of life prepares us for the next. And failure is only failure if we don’t learn from it. With that in mind, would you join me to revisit a global test of faith, and more importantly, reclaim spiritual ground and then reload for the next test of faith. Stick around to the end of the podcast to find out about a couple gifts for you.    REVISIT What is faith? Simple definition, trust and confidence in something or someone. Of course we are talking about faith in God, who He is and what He says. Would you agree that fear is not necessarily the lack of faith but definitely the enemy of faith? Faith and fear fight for our heart’s focus, our sanity, and our influence. Fear is basically focusing on circumstances rather than God. Faith is focusing on God in spite of circumstances. The Bible talks a lot about fear, the testing of our faith and the power of faith. And it’s possible to feel fear but still act in faith despite the feelings of fear. Good news is God desires for us to win this battle and gives us what we need to do so! One of the most noteable battles of faith and fear came under the label of Covid19. Many of my friends, myself included, found ourselves facing fear in a brand new way. We were already weary and agitated from the election chaos when this new test appeared. Think about where you were when you first heard about it. I was waiting for surgery when I heard about the first case in the United States. And I remember listening to news and all they could talk about was how terrible this virus was and that it was going to kill just about everybody it seemed. At the time, Cindy and I were recovering from something unfamiliar and wondered later if that wasn’t Covid19. Then things started shutting down and I couldn’t believe it. Colleges, businesses, schools, sports, churches. New ways of meeting and doing business evolved but isolation, loneliness and depression were huge side effects. Another surreal thing was the silence. Cindy and I live under some of the flight paths of the Minneapolis/St Paul airport. It was eerily quiet. Seemed no one was traveling anywhere. Rush-hour didn’t even exist. Here in Minneapolis, you could travel the freeways at any time of day or night and not have any traffic to speak of. Kinda felt like the rapture had happened. People were afraid to go out of their homes and go shopping. Do you remember? Many of the men I run with were wrestling with anxiety and fear. Seeing how it gripped them shook me to the core. I was both surprised at their reactions but also tempted to join in. RECLAIM I have a dear friend and we would have discussions and he would say things like, “my” anxiety is at a higher level. Or “my” anxiety is flaring up. The word “my” gives ownership to something. I began to recognize the impact of ownership in these statements. When you own something like anxiety and call it yours, it’s very very difficult to give it up. But when you see anxiety for what it is, something that plagues you, don’t own it. Wow what powerful lesson for me, for him, for us all! Let’s recognize it, confess it and pray against it. That has been one of the biggest helps for me. Don’t own things you don’t want. Don’t own things that are not from God! It’s a new mindset for sure but I love it! I remember having discussions with several of my friends about what a decent response would be to the Covid pandemic, what God would say about it. Thoughts were really all over the map. I did NOT want to live in fear and knew I needed to take action! I believe God was working in my heart a simple response. Inspired, I went into the studio, grabbed my guitar and wrote Nothin’ Changes That. I suppose this was my declaration, my stance, putting Jesus over all of this, over the fear and the divisiveness. You are life, nothing changes that You are peace, nothing changes that&nbsp; You are hope, nothing changes that You are Lord, nothing changes that I find panic is one of the...

Revisit, Reclaim, Reload-006

Does a noisy mind drive you crazy? I know I can definitely relate to that! In this week’s episode, I’ll be sharing a song that addresses the noise in our lives and minds as well as some tips that have helped me a lot in this area. Maybe they could help change things for you as well!    Life, with all its highs and lows, is the best inspiration that I have found for writing songs and it seems there’s always something to write about. I think many songwriters would say similar things. You’ll find that most, if not all, of the songs of Mark Alewine Music are simply a piece of someone’s story and how God and His truth figure into it. Of course some songs come out my personal life if I’m going through a particular situation whether good or bad. Some come from other peoples lives. I love to have conversations with people and hear their stories and then sit down and write about it. Doesn’t matter who it is. Here’s how one of the songs came about. I was on the worship team one Sunday morning. We got done with rehearsal and there were 8 or 9 of us sitting around a table waiting for church to start. Struggles were definitely the prevailing topic of conversation that day. I was listening intently and feeling what each person was going through. The phrase “noise of life” came up in conversation. Others around the table nodded their heads. I pulled out my phone and started writing as they were talking. The “noise” they talked about boiled down to stuff like the distractions and demands of life that kept them so busy and preoccupied; that kept them from feeling close to God or maybe their family. Unexpected, hard news was another thing they talked about, maybe in their own life but also disturbing stuff heard continually on the news. We prayed for each other and encouraged each other. Worship was a bit sweeter that day as a result of this “life” connection we’d had around the table. Cindy and I went camping right after church. The next morning, I was reminded about the “noise” conversation when I&nbsp; realized how “noisy” the birds were around us. We started talking about the “noise” of life, what were some of the causes in our own lives and what could we do about it.&nbsp; I shared with her the rough draft of the song idea I had started on my phone around that table on Sunday and we started working it into a song which would be titled, “You Calm the Noise”. I had my guitar with me and started messing around finding a melody for it in the midst of all the nature sounds. Along with the song came something else. As we brainstormed, so many things came to mind that had been either triggers or solutions for us in the past so we created a list of them, a “noise checklist” of sorts. We were encouraged to realize that there’s quite a bit we can do to eliminate the “noise” going on in our heads if given some thought, prayer and intentionality. I want to highlight three of those for you and give you a free download of the entire list if you’re interested. The first question on the checklist is, “As far as it’s up to me, are there any broken relationships in my life?” Broken relationships can take up much of our thoughts and perhaps even keeping us awake at night which makes us more vulnerable to the noise of life in general. Since you’re human, I’m pretty sure you’ve experienced this. Sometimes vain imaginations are to blame. These are nebulous things that create riffs between people. Here’s how it plays out with me… I think or perceive that someone is mad at me and, without talking to them, I allow that to keep our relationship at a distance. I even go to bed at night thinking, “why is this person mad at me?” Worry comes into play, sleep becomes difficult, functioning at work or even functioning at home can be difficult because of I’m always thinking about that broken relationship. I need to have an intentional conversation with that person that goes something like...

How to Quiet the Noise of Life-007

Need a boost today? God-stories do that for me. Today’s episode will hopefully spark expectancy and awareness of Jesus meeting up with you and encourage you to share your God-story with others.    I’ve admired Zach Williams since he came onto the scene several years back. I like the realness that he shows and, the rawness of his music is this something that I relate to so well. I’ve never met Zach, but he feels like a guy that I’ve known all my life. He’s got an incredible testimony of how God showed up at just the right time and helped him recover from drugs and alcohol. It’s amazing the transformation that has taken place and so encouraging, especially if you or someone you love has ever faced similar struggles. You can watch his story on GGSSPodcast.com. Remembering and recognizing are both very important if we want to grow in our relationship with God! Zach sings a song with Dolly Parton called “There Was Jesus”.&nbsp; This song means so much to me personally and that’s why it was the first cover song that I recorded. You can hear it on the streaming platforms and at , Episode 8. It’s a powerful song about recognizing Jesus at every twist and turn of our lives; the Jesus who is willing and waiting to help if we will just take His outstretched hand. I think all of us, if we really thought about it, could say this song, There was Jesus, was written specifically about them. That’s what I love about this song. It’s very relatable. So what’s your “There was Jesus” moment? Maybe&nbsp; you can think of a bunch of them. That’s great! When you and I share them with each other, expectancy and faith build so we can experience more of the fullness of life that God desires for us. I’ve had many of those moments and I want to have many, many more! If you’re game, I’ll share a couple of them with you today and I’d love to hear your stories as well! The first story is about the crazy way Jesus got through my thick head and totally changed my life. I traveled all over the world when my dad was in the Air Force for 20 years. The Air Force was our life and traveling was just something that we did. It was a good life for us and my dad loved serving in the military. He truly loved his country, and my dad truly loved his family. But traveling the world as a young kid also has some challenges that were very difficult to overcome. We moved around quite a bit. Sometimes we didn’t move super far from where we were living but it still meant yet another new school district. We moved to Japan when I was 6 weeks old and I spent the first four or five years of my life there. It was all I knew and I remember that I loved it. When we came back to the states, it was a very very difficult transition for me, even as a five-year-old.&nbsp; No joke, the first time I saw snow, I thought rice falling from the sky! And then we started moving around here in the states and I was always the new kid in school. Seven or eight different schools before high school. I’m not really whining; I’m just stating fact. Being the new kid had its drawbacks. My dad retired when I went into the ninth grade and we moved back to Georgia which is where we are all from. I was able to go to high school all in one school rather than traveling around every two or three years. I grew up in the church but had become a little indifferent to Christianity. I was not a God-hater, but I just didn’t care anything about God. I suppose deep down I didn’t know the consequences of a life without Jesus if I died. There was a youth revival that happened in the southeast back in the 70s and it’s swept through the Southeast in a most amazing way. It truly was Jesus showing up and people realizing it. Many of my friends got saved in high school and many of those friends were football players. One of these guys in particular would always tell me he loved me, which I thought was strange. But I had the upmost respect for this friend of mine. I looked up...

"There Was Jesus" Backstory-008

Who wants to work for the devil? I recently discovered I was helping him more than I realized. Today’s podcast is about a song that came out of that discovery as well as some helpful tips for winning our battles.  &gt;&gt;&gt; &gt;&gt;&gt;  “I’m so stupid!”, “What a dummy!”, “Here I go again!”, “I’m an idiot!” Any of this sound familiar? We give ourselves permission to berate ourselves with our horrible words. Somehow, we feel like that’s OK when we’re talking about ourselves, but we would never use that kind of language with our spouse or our children or our friends. Or at least we shouldn’t. So why do you think that is? Why do we give ourselves permission to beat ourselves up? Why is that OK? My wife Cindy and I have an agreement. When we hear the other one beating themselves up with words, we intervene, and we will say things like “Don’t you talk to my wife like that” or “Don’t you talk to my husband like that”. It’s just a reminder to us to give ourselves some grace, just like we would and should with others. A while back, Cindy and I sat on the back porch having coffee together and talking. We got on the topic of self-talk and how easy it is to beat ourselves up. The conversation later found its way into the studio into a song titled, “The Good Fight”. Verse one of the song says, What do I hear myself saying and why do I say it so much So many times I catch myself believing that lie How long has this been going on Dare I disagree It keeps coming back even if I try But here’s what I will believe Welcome to “the good fight”. That doesn’t sound very “good”, does it? Our enemy, the devil, likes to attack us using lies, accusations, and condemnation. These assaults can cripple us or even take us out of the fight. If we don’t recognize these tactics, we can fall into agreement with them and beat our own selves up. The devil must just sit back and laugh at us when we do. In essence we are doing HIS destructive work in our lives. Do you know what I’m talking about? I sure understand because I have been so guilty of this, but I am changing. Cindy helps me catch myself and that’s been huge! The good news, though, is we can be very effective in winning these battles is we are equipped and aware. The fight is worthwhile and good, and victory is sweet! The Bible says if we have received Jesus as our Savior that we are children of God! I wonder if we know how powerful that really is. You and I belong to Jesus. We are not trash or stupid or dumb, nor are we idiots. Life is a daily battle. It’s a battle for our mind and our hearts and our beliefs. If you have kids living in your home, the battle is even greater today than it’s ever been. So what are we teaching each other, our children, our family, our friends by the language that we use on ourselves? I think the first thing we must do is understand what God says about all this. The Bible helps us understand the history of the battle, who our enemy is and God’s overwhelming provision for us. It assures us that the war is not going to end well for Satan and his followers. Satan knows it as well. He’s not stupid by any means. So, he tries to drag us down to his level. He knows he can’t drag you and me to hell if we are children of God, but he can take us out of any fight if we give him a chance. Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:3, “God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places with Christ”. Jesus has given us His authority and the keys of the Kingdom of God. The devil knows what we are capable of; he knows what God can do in us and through us. So that’s why he’s 100% committed to making sure that we never reach that potential. Because I love Jesus, I look for ways to say the name “Jesus” in a conversation, especially with strangers. I’ll give you some examples. Most people who know me know that I love the game of golf. I usually play golf very early in the morning around 6 so I can...

Warrior-009

What ideas or dreams has God put in your heart to reflect His love and bring others into the Kingdom? Are you ready to give it everything you got? A dose of inspiration is coming your way. &nbsp;&nbsp;    Cindy and I were in Jacksonville Florida for medical reasons. While there, we had hopes of connecting with some songwriters who live in that area. Our plan did not work out BUT God set up some other meetings for us that had more impact than we could imagine.&nbsp; I’d had a song bouncing around in my head, but it just wasn’t coming together. I was feeling dry, wondering if inspiration had gone. I’d been discussing this with God. Sunday rolled around and off we went to a nearby church we found online called The Well. We discovered that the church had a wonderful love for homeless people and there were quite a few who attended worship there. One of the unique ways the church served the homeless was driving a semi-trailer retrofitted with showers, dressing rooms and fresh clothes to different areas of the city. Check the show notes to learn more. Worshiping along with homeless people was a remarkable and wonderful experience. Sharing communion and incredible conversation with them was humbling. These are regular people who have very little, but the ones we met had joy and a church family they called their own. The next morning, God answered my prayer (while I was blow drying my hair) and the song morphed and “snapped” into place. Everything I Got! was inspired by the way that Pastor Tone Benedict and The Well Church in Jacksonville Florida loved those who were homeless. &nbsp; Next, I’d like to introduce to someone else who practices what the song “Everything I Got” is all about. He’ll have some practical tips for you to help pursue those dreams and ideas God planted in your heart. I have a friend of mine, Dave Taylor, in the studio today. He's got a ministry called Acts of Friendship. I'm going to let Dave tell us a little bit more about that in just a second, but I want you just to know that Dave is somebody that I've known for several years. We're brothers in Christ. We got connected at church. It was primarily on Wednesday nights where we really got connected I think, right Dave? (Dave) Yes (Mark) And so, but I'm going to let Dave, in light of this song, Everything I Got, I'm going to let Dave tell you a little bit about his story here, coming up. So, Dave, I wanted to have you on the show today because you embody what the song, Everything I Got talks about. So why don't you tell us what you do and how it all got started? (Dave) Well, first off, thanks for having me, Mark, and man, I love your heart for Jesus and others. I love the song, Everything I Got. I listened to it quite a few times and it just blows me away. Very thankful that God put you into my life six years ago. Praise Him for that. Since being saved at the age of 40, 19 years ago, I have been embracing God doing a mighty work in and through me. I love Christ with all my heart, all my mind, all my soul and all my strength and I love others. So how I got going with this ministry called Acts of Friendship, I directed a ministry at Friendship Church where we met the needs of people and when we met the needs of people, we shared the gospel and encouraged discipleship. A few people along the way told me, Dave, this is way bigger than what you're doing. Everybody needs to hear about this. So after lots of prayer and a year and a half of setting up the ministry, we launched the ministry Acts or Friendship six weeks ago. Our mission statement for the ministry is, “We are dedicated to inspiring and equipping followers of Jesus Christ to live a lifestyle of disciples who make more disciples.” The three things that we're really passionate about are 1) serving others from first fruits, 2) sharing the gospel and making disciples, 3) discipleship and multiplying. And I want to just touch on those three for a second. We live very busy lives and we have...

Showers and Beyond-010

Have you ever been baited into an argument and you end up saying the wrong thing? Or perhaps you were the “baiter” saying the right thing but in the wrong way? Me too! Today I’ll share some tips I’ve learned in this area and I invite you to share your best tips with me!   &nbsp;  Whether it’s saying something destructive in the heat of an argument or saying the right thing but in the wrong way, we have to recognize “the bait”.&nbsp; We also need a plan to use God’s power to speak words that are fruit rather than poison like Proverbs 18:21 says so well:&nbsp;“Words kill, words give life; they’re either poison or fruit – you choose.” Our choice of words is so important for the sake of others but also for our own sake and for the sake of the Kingdom. I’ve been in Christian ministry full-time and part-time for over 40 years and I have seen the consequences of taking the bait in my life and others again and again and again. It happens to everybody. We get caught up&nbsp; making sure that people know exactly where we stand rather than being patient and helping them want to listen to us because we show them love, respect and kindness. It’s on the phone or face-to-face or even worse, on social media! The first tip is BE WISE ON SOCIAL MEDIA!!!!! It’s really tough to win an argument on there.&nbsp; Basically what we have are very loud voices screaming their opinions and hurling insults at others based on their opinions. It’s sad, it happens in the Christian world as well. I’m not sure how this benefits the kingdom. I think we can say with confidence that, really, it doesn’t. One particular friend of mine has been the inspiration for a few of my songs. He’s part of the music industry and lives in Nashville.&nbsp; He was experiencing scathing fallout from “taking the bait” on social media. The impact on him personally, emotionally and professionally was significant as well as needless.&nbsp;He wanted to get my feedback on his next steps. I pondered it for a little bit because deep down, I believed his opinion was valid, even correct and helpful, but I was trying to think of the possible consequences of further “conversation” aka argument. And as I started thinking about it a little bit more, it really didn’t have a lot of value because I think ultimately nobody wanted their mind changed. They only wanted the other person’s mind changed. In other words, “my way is the right way and your way is the wrong way, and that’s all there is to it.” As we discussed this a bit further, the words “don’t take the bait!” came out of my mouth,”. The power of these words stuck in my mind. And yes, a song was born. Around that same time, conversations were taking place with another friend on the verge of losing their marriage because of a war of words that got out of hand.&nbsp;Because their conversation made its way to friends on social media, a number of their friendships were destroyed as well. I think more times than not we are baited into an argument. Sometimes we are the baiter! Maybe we even baited someone else into an argument feeling that it was justified or righteous even. We’ve all seen families divided, really divided. Divided in such a way that a son or a daughter won’t even speak to their parents or the parents won’t speak to their children because they refused (or forgot) to think!; to think through their choice of words and the possible outcomes. That’s another basic but often overlooked tip, THINK it through; what will the benefit or consequences be of the words I choose to speak. Do I really want THAT outcome? Why is this important? Because the Bible says we will be held accountable for the words we speak. Even if we’re willing to apologize later for our poor reactions, is that really how we want to represent? Why not choose to think and respond rather than unthinkingly react. Our brains are super-computers. We can think through the scenarios and pretty well...

Don't Take the Bait-011

Do you ever find yourself begging God for something? Why is that? And how can you and I overcome this mentality? &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;    A WRONG PICTURE OF GOD Do you ever find yourself begging God for something? That could be begging for anything really. It could be begging for this new job, or it could be begging for healing for ourselves or somebody that we love, or could be begging for money because we’re broke. It could be anything really. During a time of incredible stress, I found myself begging God to hear me, begging him to be with me, even begging him to love me. Yes, begging God, the one who created me and everyone else, begging him to take care of me. Begging as if he were some kind of sick being that looked at me and said “Beg&nbsp; me a little bit more. You’re almost there but not quite.” When I recognized this horribly wrong image of God underneath my prayer, I had to stop and get myself re-aligned with truth! What a difference that made! Out of that experience came the words of the song I wrote called, This Much I Know. WHAT IS AN ACCURATE PICTURE OF GOD’S HEART TOWARD US? Jesus came to show us the Father and had quite a bit to say about His heart towards us. In Matthew 7:7-11 Jesus says, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.&nbsp;For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”&nbsp; Then He says, “or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone?&nbsp;Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he?&nbsp;If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him?” He also said in John 16:23–24 in the Message version, “This is what I want you to do. Ask the Father for whatever it is in keeping with the things I’ve revealed to you. Ask in my name, according to my will, and He’ll most certainly give it to you. Your joy will be a river overflowing its banks.“ Now that’s an amazing promise! Yes, God is the Most High and is to be revered. At the same time, He’s our loving, heavenly Father who delights in us, loves us enough to correct us and who welcomes us to be at home with Him. Think about the kids in your neighborhood. If they came barging through your front door, opened your fridge, made some sandwiches then sat down on the couch in your den, that would be weird, right! However, your own kids are most welcome to do just that!&nbsp; Why? Because they are your kids. There’s a different relationship there. They are at home with you, and you are at home with them. As redeemed children of God, that’s like it is with us and the Father. Yes, we always need to show Him respect and honor Him but also know that He wants us to be at home with Him and He with us. NOT A GENIE IN THE BOTTLE This relationship is not to be confused with the genie in the bottle mentality. You rub the lantern until the genie pops out and then the genie gives you three wishes. And I think sometimes I have been guilty of the genie mentality. But remember, the verse in John 16 says, “Ask in My name, according to My will.” HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT TO ASK? So how do we know what His will is? I think to know that, we must spend time with Him, learn more about Him through his word. What do you think that looks like? I think that might look like a dedicated time of the day to spend some time praising, reading the word of God and praying. Dedicated. Something specific and set aside. Often times, we wake up in the morning and we’re already running late, and we have to hit the shower and perhaps get the kids up and get them fed and off to school And then we have to hit the traffic and try to reach the office or wherever it is that you’re working usually, barely on time. You get through the day, and you head home exhausted, and you might...

No Begging Required-012

“At the end of your rope” can be a very scary place to be. However, it can also be a place of hope and peace and growth. Let’s talk about that.      THANKSGIVING TRADITION It was Thanksgiving time and we were getting ready to have the whole family over at our house. Most of them live in the Twin Cities, 12 total. This is something that we do every year. I don’t know what food your family likes to serve at your Thanksgiving celebration, but several years ago we decided to do something a little different for ours. We decided to do a Thanksgiving breakfast. So we would lay out a traditional southern breakfast spread for everybody just to give them something a little different rather than having to eat two big turkey dinners in one day. We would have scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, grits, biscuits and gravy and cantaloupe. It’s something that everybody looks forward to and spending time together is obviously a wonderful thing. INTERRUPTED But the virus that shall not be named had other plans for me and Cindy. A week before Thanksgiving, Cindy came down with symptoms and that changed all of our Thanksgiving plans. Cindy and I had it all figured out ahead of time what we would do if one of us got sick. We were going to mask, glove up and stay in separate parts of the house. Well…that plan only lasted about two minutes. Cindy got pretty sick pretty quick. There wasn’t a snowball’s chance in South Florida that I was going to leave her in a different part of the house in the condition she was in. So I was in full nurse mode if you will. I was attempting to be careful around her but at the same time to be fully attending to her, setting alarms throughout the night to check for fever and monitor her oxygen levels. One evening, she was especially in a bad way. She was in her recliner next to mine covered up under six blankets and she was still having mad chills. I had never seen her this sick before. I couldn’t take my eyes off her and 40 years of marriage went through my mind. Forty glorious, sometimes very difficult, years. We’ve been through so much together.&nbsp; EMOTION EXPRESSED THROUGH SONG It was right around that time that I started writing some words to the song, Have You Ever Felt. You think of David in the Psalms and how he would hit emotional points in his life and he would write the psalms or songs that ended up being psalms. You could hear his heart through these readings. I kind of felt like that. And I just poured my heart out as I wrote. The first verse says: Have you ever felt, the weight of the world on your shoulders Have you ever felt, the days just seem to get colder The nighttime seems longer, you don’t feel any stronger There’s only one way out This was November and certainly the days were getting colder and the darkness was longer than the daylight at this particular point so there were some natural occurrences happening. But the nights were very long for me as I was trying to sleep but concerned about Cindy and setting alarms and taking temperatures and giving medication and then trying to go back to sleep which was very difficult. But I needed to sleep because I needed to be attentive in the daytime. END OF MY ROPE I really was at the end of my rope and crying out to God knowing that He was my only way out. He was Cindy’s way out in this particular moment also. I don’t want to be overly dramatic and say that I thought Cindy was going to die because I didn’t, but I wondered if she needed more than I could give her at this particular point. We knew of a few people praying for us but decided to go ahead and send a prayer request to our Friendship Church family through the website. Within a few hours of sending that prayer request, Cindy started to improve. Sensing the power of prayer and experiencing the love and kindness of friends lifted us in an amazing way and we were able to press on. So here’s the chorus: I know where my help comes from I know who puts breath in these...

Hope at the End of Your Rope-013

Dark times, breaking points, can’t sleep, can’t breathe….sometimes hope seems impossible. However, I’m living proof that impossible is possible! Today I’ll share a very personal story and a song written out of those emotions.   Today’s a little usual in that the song we’ll be talking about hasn’t been yet released yet. Find out how you can hear it and other unreleased songs at , Episode 14. (There might even be a free download in it for you J.) Today’s featured song is called Impossible is Possible. It’s a collaboration with my friend Kathy Tschida. You’ll get to hear part of Kathy’s God-story in next week’s episode. Make sure you check it out! LIFE’S AMAZING TIMES You know, as I look back on my life, I’m amazed how God has worked in our lives. Right after we got married we moved to Minnesota and attended what is now called Bethany Global University.&nbsp; It was so much more than a school. I’m still inspired to this day by the work being done there and the community of believers that helped us grow up with in many ways. God used it to set a wonderfully firm foundation for me and Cindy as a newly married couple. When it was time to branch out to other heights that God had for us, I felt confident and ready. When I got my first full-time worship pastor position at Friendship Church in 1997, I was so excited and could see that God had his hand on it. HIDING IN PLAIN VIEW But times certainly weren’t always easy. We had to deal with family things like most people have to deal with. Don’t get me wrong, we have an incredible family, but there were some serious struggles for sure. We weren’t exempt just because we’re Christians and especially not as a pastor’s family. Unfortunately I tried to deal with those things in my own strength, and often made things worse. Does that sound familiar? I don’t know if it was fear of what people would think of us or pride or shame or because I was a pastor and not supposed to have problems, but&nbsp; we hid the majority of our pain and challenges. There were times when we, Cindy and I, felt like failures, very alone and very afraid. From this vantage point of life, however, I know that was the enemy’s plan for us and not the way God would have had it. I hope you can benefit from hearing about my mistakes and avoid a lot of needless suffering yourself. It’s still almost overwhelming these many years later, to reflect on the goodness of God to us during that time, how He stayed with us, carried us, sustained us and raised us up from a pretty dark place. ANOTHER ROUND OF DARKNESS Once things settled down a bit, another time of darkness came upon me personally. Even as a Christian, fear and identity issues were constant companions most of my life and showed up in my reactions to stress. Things grew increasingly worse over the years until I finally had to get help. I didn’t recall ever feeling helpless or hopeless before that time. Previously I would have “decided” that I could handle things myself. For me to say “yes” to getting help, was a difficult decision. However, despair had set in and I did not like it. I could not breathe. I could not sleep. I was embarrassed and ashamed that I actually needed help, but I, indeed, needed help.&nbsp; PRESS IN I shot up a flare and God answered. After 2 sessions with a counselor, she thought it would be best for me to see a colleague of hers. It was at that point that I knew something was truly going on inside me. To decide to walk into a counseling office again was huge. I knew that things would probably get worse before they got better. “Pressing in” was my first choice.&nbsp; It didn’t take long for the new therapist to confirm there was something deep inside and it would take some work to get to the core of it. I have to say, fear almost paralyzed me. It was hard to think about facing the unknown giant that was about to be exposed. But my reactions to stress were not healthy and without...

Impossible is Possible-014

Although we can’t opt-out of the spiritual battles we face each day, we can opt-into God’s amazing plan of victory that includes laughter and singing. Sound strange?... Keep listening.     Everyday battles turn into everyday conversations and often into song! In talking with many of my friends, I realize that I’m not the only one who experiences battles daily. Some days, the battles are more relentless than others. Then we go to bed and wake up the next day… And it starts all over. Can you relate? THE BATTLE IS NOT VOLUNTARY Whether you like it or not, you’re in a battle. There are 2 Kingdoms at war, God’s kingdom and the Kingdom of darkness. There’s no true middle ground like we would like to think and there’s no opt-out. If you don’t recognize the battle, maybe it’s because of spiritual blindness. It’s easy to recognize the battle when I’m tempted or when things are really hard. However, when things have been going really good for me, I often forget there’s a battle. I get lulled to sleep, grow slack and even indifferent to the battle raging in the heavenly realm. My focus tends to settle on me and the illusion of “my kingdom” rather than God’s kingdom. Today’s featured song is called Enough. The first verse starts out with… The enemy says THAT choice is no big deal Just do what you want, do what you feel LAUGHABLE &nbsp;And sometimes, it’s laughable the blatant tactics the enemy uses. Sometimes so predictable, so obvious, I just have to laugh. You can think of any particular situation that you want, something that you perhaps struggle with and you want to have a victory over it. So you pray and ask God for strength and then the enemy puts that thing right in your path, sometimes almost immediately, whatever you’re seeking to overcome. There’s times when I’ve actually had the laugh out loud and hopefully, right in the enemies face at the things that he’s trying to put in front of me that go against what God wants for me. I’m telling you, this happens all the time. And it’s just laughable when I recognize it. It’s not laughable when I fall for it. Well, the enemy is laughing for sure. NO BIG DEAL How many times have you heard that little voice saying things like, “other Christians are doing it”, “no one will get hurt” or “God understands” and you feel justified doing what you want, what you feel? &nbsp;How laughable that the same enemy who tells us “THAT choice is no big deal” is the same one that&nbsp;immediately condemns us for giving in, calling us losers and unworthy. What a weird cycle to keep falling into. DOES IT REALLY MATTER The verse continues: He says there’s nothing we can do or say that can change this world anyway and he says what a waste of time it is to pray. If we don’t fall for the “no big deal” trick, our enemy might try to disarm us by raising doubts about prayer. I love the quote by Samuel Chadwick that says, “Satan dreads nothing but prayer. His one concern is to keep the saints from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, he mocks our wisdom, but he trembles when we pray.” Sometimes we feel like praying and feel like prayer works; other times it’s an act of faith and obedience! But trust me, it works! The song continues… Then God reminds me of who I am! I say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! This is powerful! GOD REMINDS US OF WHO WE ARE We come to our senses when God reminds us of who we are. We need to wake up and say,&nbsp; “enough”! Many years ago, Cindy and I went with our kids, my sister and her two kids to Disney World. In the hotel lobby, we saw a sign about “free tickets to Epicot Center”. Considering our tight budget, that sounded awesome! All we had to do was attend a breakfast and short presentation about fabulous Florida vacations. Sounded like a no-brainer. Cindy, my sister and I made a pac we would NOT buy anything but just listen long...

Enough is Enough-016

Are you looking for a glimmer of hope during a dark time right now? You’re not alone!&nbsp; Kathy Tschida joins Mark to share with you some powerful, practical tips from her own God-story as well as the song that came about as a result. It could be just what you need today!     (Mark) Well, you remember last week that I told you that my friend Kathy Tschida and I wrote this song called Impossible is Possible, and I told you that next week she was going to be a guest on our show. And so she's here today and I'm so glad to have Kathy with us, Kathy. Welcome. I'm so glad you're here. (Kathy) Glad to be here. Thank you. (Mark) Absolutely. So we've written quite a few songs together already, and we've got another write scheduled and I'm really looking forward to that. I love writing with you. I just wanted to ask you a few questions about this particular song, Impossible as Possible. So if you wouldn't mind telling us a little bit about maybe an end of the rope story that you've got, do you have one? (Kathy) Okay. Yeah. So the, the one that came to mind was a little over a year ago, we went through what I like to call all the things at once. We had a situation, a legal situation with my daughter and her biological dad. My dog was attacked. I had a best friend stop being friends with me and my husband was going through job stuff. So like, it all happened at the same time. And it literally felt like it was the end of the rope. It felt impossible. It felt like only God could pull all this through. And He did. He completely did. He completely got us through it. And without Him, I don't know how I would've handled it all. Cause it was all the things at the same time, everything all at once. (Mark) That sounds terrible. So would you put that as one of the biggest challenges that you've had to overcome? Do you have others? (Kathy) Yes. I feel like I have quite a few of those. That was one, the divorce was another one that was quite a few years ago now. Cause it came out of nowhere. My dad passing away. That was a definitely a big challenge. I've had some current things that are really kind of hard to talk about, but definitely some of the biggest challenges. So I feel like you go through one big challenge and then somehow another one comes up and they kind of feel like they don't end sometimes. (Mark) Yeah. I, I can totally relate to that. You know, I think everybody, if they stop and think about it has had these end of the rope moments we hear. And I think it's important for us as believers to be able to share these with other people because somebody who knows maybe even right this minute might be going through an end of the rope moment. One of those impossible moments, you know, as I said in last week's episode, I had come to the point that I didn't wanna be here on earth anymore. And yes, I said that somebody might be at that particular point right now. So I think it's important for us to be able to share our stories with other people. And that's kind of the purpose of, of this podcast is to be able to give people hope and help. So let me ask you another question here. How did you overcome the fear and maybe that little voice in your head that said you couldn't do this or you couldn't do that or you get to the point that you're at today? How did you overcome all those things to get to where you are today? (Kathy) There was a lot of prayer, a lot of taking a specific Bible verse. Last year when I was going through all those things, I literally had a note in my phone with all sorts of Bible verses and I would go through them when those fear and the doubts and stuff would come. The other thing that really helped honestly, is counseling. Talking to someone who is a licensed therapist, who could help me figure out what was really bothering me, how to go through it. I went to a Christian so that they used the Word and stuff that was really important. And all of those things combined helped me change my thinking. And I think that's...

Impossible is Possible (Part 2)-015

Do you need a good laugh today (or at least a big smile)? Stay tuned for a fun song and some funny fishing stories.&nbsp;    Story #1 Back in the mid 80s I had a friend at college named Reed who loved to fish as much as I did.&nbsp; One day he told me about catfishing on the St. Croix River and how people were catching big ones all the time. He called it brainless fishing and he was so excited and he got me all pumped up for it. He closed out the conversation saying, “hurry man, they’re bitin.’”&nbsp; I was so excited!&nbsp; Big catfish aren’t good for eating but they are really really fun for catching because they’re super strong. The best time is in the evening after dark. Now being from the south, catfish was something that we caught all the time. Smaller catfish, 2 pounds or so, are pretty good to eat but this was strictly big catfish fishing we’re talking about now and we were gonna come back with some real tales.&nbsp; Reed and I bought some chicken livers and gizzards, because that’s what catfish like, and got to our fishing spot around 830pm. We were practically running from the car to the river to catch these big catfish. We were so excited and we were almost screaming with excitement like little kids on Christmas morning.&nbsp; We got down there and Baited our hooks and cast them as far as we could under this bridge on the Saint Croix, the perfect spot for big catfish. And we waited.&nbsp; Now, The stories that we had heard about these big catfish were pretty incredible. I can’t even remember where he heard the stories or read about them but we knew that they were coming. We talked and laughed and waited. We glanced at our rods that were propped up against our tackle boxes so that we could see the end of the rod tip move when we got a bite. And we talk some more and then we reeled in our lines because we knew that somehow the fish had taken off our bait.&nbsp; We were ready to bait our hooks again but when we had reeled all the way in, our liver and other chicken parts were still there. So we cast out again and put our rods up against the tackle boxes so the rod tip was high so we could see that rod tip move when the big fish hit. And we talked some more and glanced some more in reeled in&nbsp; again to make sure the fish hadn’t taken our bait. The bait was still there so we cast out again and talked and glanced and reeled in to check our bait. Two hours or so had past and we realized there were no fish to be caught tonight. We’d been skunked but at least no one was around to see us tuck our tails and go back home.&nbsp; Story #2 Fast forward several months and we are in Puerto Rico doing our internship together. Reed found a fishing charter somewhere off the East Coast which was only about 45 minutes away. He told me this charter catches the most and the biggest fish on this side of the island. It didn’t cost very much and all you had to do was bring your own rod. And then he said, “let’s hurry man, they’re bitin.’”&nbsp; We got everything lined up. I grabbed my rod and a little bit of tackle. I asked Reed if we needed to bring sinkers. He said they provided everything but the pole. I said “are you sure” and he said “Yep. Let’s go!”&nbsp; So off we went along with 2 other friends who were fluent in Spanish to the east side of the island. Seven guys were waiting for us there. One of our Spanish-speaking friends started talking with them in Spanish working out the details. We agreed on a price, gathered what little bit of stuff that we had brought and started walking to the boat. As we walked away, we heard these guys mumbling a little bit but Reed and I didn’t know what they were saying. We get down to the boat and now it’s just the Spanish-speaking captain of the boat and us 4. And off we went. And Reed and I were giggling like two elementary school kids on the last day of school.&nbsp; We drove for about 30 minutes. When we arrived at the spot, the captain brought...

Fishing Adventures with Mark-017

Most people think of “Imagine Beautiful” as a wedding song. However, for one man, it’s become the soundtrack to his life of recovery. Stay tuned for some interesting twists and turns as the story unfolds as well as a listening challenge. To hear the song, read the show notes or email Mark, visit the . Welcome to Grit &amp; Glory, Songs &amp; Stories. I'm so glad that you have decided to join us today. I’m here with a long-time friend of mine, Mike Foote. Mike has some amazing God-stories that should inspire faith and hope – for your own life or for a person you’ve been praying for during a difficult time in their life. Mike, welcome to the show. To start us off, would you tell us about a time you thought it was all over and how you were able to overcome. (Mike) Oh, it's great to be here. Thanks for having me. (Mike) Oh, well, unfortunately, I mean, for me, I guess I've got a couple of times I, I could choose from. But for me, the one that comes to mind the most, because it was the time that everything really changed was about, well, when we met almost 10 years ago now, I struggled with depression and anxiety my whole life due to some abuse that I suffered when I was a kid. There's some other issues, you know. My father left when I was about a year old, never to be seen again. And I think that when, you know, when a parent who you know, the people in the world who are supposed to love you the most, abandon you, I think that's pretty catastrophic. So there was that. Over the years, you know, I made a lot bad decisions. I got involved in drugs and alcohol, lots of other things, and tended to medicate quite a lot with whatever I could get my hands on. An equal opportunity abuser is how I used to describe myself. And over the years you just kind of go down a spiral. And there have been a couple of times where I, you know, it was a point where I didn't think I would make it past that, but then I would, and then I would. But then about nine and a half, 10 years ago, I was in the worst period of depression and anxiety of my life, which was really saying a lot beause I've been through some pretty, pretty rough times and I was planning my suicide. And just for some context, I’m married. I have a wife and two daughters. My daughters at the time were one and five years old. And I had convinced myself basically that they would be better off without me, or what I actually convinced myself was, I'm gonna die sometime and they're going to be mourning me. What difference does it make when that happens? You know, in hindsight, obviously that's extremely foolish. I mean, they're, especially at that age, they need a dad. But, so that's just kind of a lead up to I'm planning my suicide, I'm, I'm ready to do it. I'm thinking about how do I make it look like an accident, trying to think of a place, things like that. And I'm working all of that out. And at that time we hadn't been going to church for a while and we had gone to a couple of churches that had some really big issues. They had both split very acrimonious, and we kind of swore off Christians. And we started going to the church that we go to now here in Minnesota. And the second week I was there, met someone who told me about a recovery program that the church sponsors and went to the recovery program the following Monday night. This story about how that happened is also kind of crazy, but, and then I met you and it just, the first thing that happened was I finally was able to humble myself before God. I was, and that's kind what I had been missing all along was I had gotten to a point where I know I can't do this without God. I can't move forward on my own. I don't have the strength to do it. I'm ready to just give up. But God, at the last possible moment, as He likes to do, rescued me by introducing me to someone who told me about the recovery program and then walking in the door that night, I met you, who immediately grabbed me up and, Hey, what's your name? How are...

Recovery Beautiful-018

Hi I'm Mark, a Jesus-loving, singer/songwriter and podcaster. I release fun, relatable Jesus-music to inspire and encourage whoever will listen. The Grit & Glory, Songs & Stories Podcast features God-stories behind the lyrics of these songs.  I hope the music and the podcast will inspire and encourage you in your relationship with God!

PODCAST - Grit & Glory, Songs & Stories

Mark Alewine Music/GGSS Podcast