A soul-tie can be defined as two people linking to each other through shared emotional connections, shared experiences and similar shared values. God said that it is good we not be alone, but too many soul-ties (and especially soul ties that result from sin) will actually drive us away from God and cause Spiritual Sleepiness to get worse.

Note: The first five minutes of the podcast were not recorded.

Many of the factors which lead to a person having Spiritual Sleepiness result from bad choices. But there is one factor which doesn't seem to involve bad choices: An absent father. But the effect it has on a child regarding our relationship with God is a choice. Today we explore this contributing factor to some spiritual sleepiness.

In this series on Spiritual Sleepiness, we begin looking at the three primary causes of this type of spiritual problem. This first one is exemplified in the life of Samson.

This is the first message in an 8 part series focusing on the critical problem affecting Christians today called "Spiritual Sleepiness". In this message, we look at what this condition really is and how it looks from the inside out. Conditions such as not being able to hear God, not feeling his presence and not being able to connect with other believers are all manifestations of this deadly virus.

There is a proper way to read the end of a New Testament book and we will learn in this message how to do that. But more importantly, we focus on the meaning of the phrase 'Eternal Life' and what it offers to all men. At the end of the message at our October 18 service, 5 people received the Gift of Eternal Life.

There are many people who feel weighted down by their own mistakes, by life's difficulties and by the changes life often brings. Some people make those burdens worse...but there are some people who help to lift the burdens off others. When you learn to deal with your own loads, you can help the people who cannot get out from underneath.

Most Christians, when asked, assume that the reference to the "flesh" in the Bible refers to sin. But there is a lot to the flesh that may seem virtuous, godly and reverent...and still be in the flesh. This is a contrast study between the Flesh and the Spirit. Who will win?

We most often think of "service" jobs as the lowest rung on the corporate job ladder. But in God's Kingdom, service is the key to fulfillment and happiness. Though we may admit that the Bible says this, we often don't really believe it. This message focuses on how this is practically true and can be lived by all quite effectively.

The book of Galatians focuses on the dangers of adding laws and rules to the essentials of the Gospel message. But we also run the risk of allowing our freedom to head into territory that is unsafe, unwise and unhealthy. How can a believer find a balance between legalism and unsafe behavior? This message answers that question.

The energy we expend daily is running thin. Perhaps this is because too many things are now vying for a share of that energy. Not only that, but at the last minute, crises and calls for help can max out our energy resource pool. This message takes a look at how to start getting a handle on this crisis.

You'll hear it clearly through the story and the testimony from this service focused on serving: We don't need more people; we need more good people.

I say I can't find something in a drawer. My wife says "You look like a man"...meaning "You look through stuff like a man does". She goes over to the drawer and finds it in 4 seconds.

Erwin McManus in this clip explains why.

In a world obsessed with what they see on the "outside" of people, this Inside Edition is really going "inside" to see what can really change when our insides are rearranged.

The youth ministry of Gateway Fellowship is called "Flipt 180". In this 10 a.m. service, our message was a combination of some incredible testimonies and a dynamic spirit-filled message from Brian Jang, a Junior at Inderkum High School.

What do drinking, playing musical instruments in church, playing poker and working in a baseball stadium all have in common? At one time or another, all of these have been used as reasons to exclude people from Christianity. In this message from Galatians 3, we will look at the dangers of rules in church and the true meaning of God's Law. The Law was never meant to bring us to God - it was created to be our nanny. And because we have begun to grow up into Christ. We don't need that Nanny any longer. Goodbye Nanny.

Is there really a way to measure if you have enough faith for the future? In order to measure this, we must know what it is we're measuring. And to do that, we must understand how faith works in everyday life. It starts with trust and ends with blessing. This message in the Inductive Bible series on Galatians also teaches basic principles for individual bible study.

Perhaps you've heard the well-worn criticism: "The church is full of hypocrites". In this message, we're going to take a different look at hypocrisy and in the process discover two things: First, the existence of hypocrisy is actually an indication some good things are happening; and second, this still isn't a good reason to keep acting like one.

No one relishes church fights. There are some who see problems in the church and decide to leave because it is much easier than working them out. This message deals with the perfect solutions related to imperfect people.

This seminar gives five of the six settings for praying with authority. We have removed the parts of the session where people stop and pray. But you may want to stop the recording when you get to that part. Or, better yet, have a partner with you when you listen to this if you can.

In this message, we go through some of the processes involved with Interpreting Scripture.

This is the second message in a series of inductive studies in the book of Galatians. The purpose of the series is to teach skills of studying the Bible for personal benefit. The first half of the message is inductive study and the second half is a particular application that comes out of the passage.

Today's message concerns the boundaries that God likes to place around our life. To some, these limitations may seem hard to bear. But when we recognize and live out their value, they can be so peace-producing.

Every three  years, we cover the five basic skills that every Christian needs to perfect to live a pleasing and rewarding life in God. One of those five skills is the ability to read the Bible and learn from it yourself. This is the first message in a series titled "A Summer in the Good Book". The series goes through the Book of Galatians and covers the basic skills needed to do personal inductive Bible Study. This first message also looks at the True Gospel of Jesus Christ and the ways people try to change it.

Pastor Rick tried some new and innovative ideas in this message...including interaction with the congregation, allowing them also to talk to each other. Because of this, half of the message could not be recorded. But we have the essential aspect of it on this recording.

We begin the summer of study into how you can learn the Bible for yourself with effectiveness and joy. Before looking at "how" to do it, we will look this morning on how the Bible can benefit your life when you learn to learn from it properly.

This is the first of two pre-messages in our summer series "A Summer with the Good Book". Pastor Larry Yurk kicks this off with his message and Pastor Mike Phillips will continue next Sunday in getting us ready for the Book of Galatians.

Every two years, the Christian and Missionary Alliance (the Movement our church is part of) meets for vision, strategy and spiritual refreshing. This past week, we met in Louisville, KY for 6 days. I was honored to give the Thursday night message to Council. The theme for the week was "Jesus Only" and my message focuses on Intercessory Prayer.

How are Faith and Vision interrelated? This glimpse at the life of Abraham is the greatest and most profound example of how faith can radically change how we view and live out our personal vision in life. This is the last message in the series on Personal Vision. Next week, we start the new series of teachings on Personal Bible Study and Reflection.

One of the most dangerous moments in a man's life is that year after he retires. Many men actually do not survive three years after leaving employment. The reasons are many, but one stands out clearly: When a person does not have a vision for where their life is going it can often take all the life out of them. In this message, we look at someone who knew how to find an entire lifestyle of Visionary living.

When a train goes off the track, the cost to fix this disaster is often many times the value of the train itself. But the railways fixes the mess so that future shipments will not be impeded. In this message on Personal Vision, we look at what needs to happen to get a derailed vision back on track again.

Note: This is the second of a two-part message. The first part, we are sorry to say, did not record properly. Please do not email asking where the first part is that we reference in the message. It will just make us feel worse ;-)

All the Apollo spacecraft, right before re-entering the atmosphere, would make course adjustments to align them perfectly with the right angle to make it home safely. In the same way, only God knows the best route for each of us to make our way to his perfect will. In this message, we talk about the three stages that go into making course adjustments.

Our tendency is to treat our personal vision and life burdens alone. We are not inclined to assume that others would want to share those visions or to help us fulfill them. But God's plan is much different: rarely does he allow any of his children to seek out their personal vision without help.

This message begins with the reading of one of the world's most recognizable books on the human condition and ends with a recognition that we all live in the same place - we just don't live the same way. As we each seek that perfect path for our lives, how we approach the weirdest days will show us who we are when we get to the end of the road.

The difference between a great golf hit and a poor one is often less than a tenth of a second of timing on the wrist turn. That small of a timing problem can seem overwhelming. The same thing is true when we look at our personal vision and direction in life. Vision requires good timing to work. How can we roll with the timing of our vision when we have so much insecurity?

In the previous teaching, we examined what burdens can be to our lives; the building blocks of personal vision. The sad and sometimes frightening reality is that many people will never see the burdens give birth to vision. This is because they are missing one vital ingredient.

Where does personal vision really start? Do we have to find a road laid out in front of us, an overarching plan carved in marble? Are the beginnings of a vision humble or exotic? This message begins to find the nuts and bolts of developing personal vision for life.

The hero in an action adventure movie is approaching a police roadblock. What are the odds that he will slow down, stop or approach the barrier with caution? Exactly - next to none! We are taught that roadblocks in life are for overcoming. But what if God is the one putting up the roadblock? This is the second message in the series "Where Am I Supposed to Be?"

This sermon was given by Pastor Rick Gall and is based upon Haggai Chapter one.

Isaac newton said, "If I have seen farther than others, it was because I was standing on the shoulders of giants". In this, he exemplifies what it really means to have vision for life. But as we will learn in this message, even he couldn't live up to this ideal. Do you want to have clear vision for your life? This message will show you where to start.

Your friends are excited about it; but somehow you feel the opposite. Then there are things that really make your heart sing, and the people around you are not happy with those same things. In this case, it is not because you are strange, but because the values God instills in you cause different types of celebrations than other people. It's a good thing.

The longest running celebration in history is almost 2,000 years old and has been celebrated every day since. If you would like to know how and why to celebrate this meal with your friends, listen to this message.

The kid dreams about hitting the home run that wins the world series. The writer envisions the Pulitzer Prize. We all want to be honored by others. But with this sermon, we learn from Jesus that honoring others may be even more satisfying.

For those who are still having problems listening to the message, there are two options. First, click on the big blue "Q" beside the description. That should bring up  your Quicktime Player. If you don't have Quicktime, it is a free download to your browser (see "Tools" for doing that". Or you can download the file. Below the description is a file name (in small black letters). Right click on that and click "save link as" and then it will save to your computer. Remember where you save it.

The essential truth in this message centers on this: You cannot be grateful and have a sense of entitlement at the same time. It is impossible.

Love is both something to celebrate and the one thing that can make life truly worth celebrating. How does that work?

In this series on celebrating, most of what we have studied relates to good times. But how does one celebrate when life is bad? There is a secret to it all - and it must be a secret since so few people know it - and we learn it from what some people call "The most depressing book in the  Bible." Don't worry...I think this sermon will inspire you to celebrate life.

We often think that we give to bless someone else. But this message shows us that giving delivers us from fear and reveals our calling and character.

This is the second message in the series "The Art of Celebration". This message features the formation of a new holiday in the book of Esther and what that shows us about finding purpose in all our holidays and feasts.

A football quarterback named Gus Ferotte scored a touchdown several years ago and was extremely excited. To celebrate, he bashed his head (with the helmet on) against the wall in the endzone. He cracked his neck and gave himself a season-ending concussion. He didn't know  how to celebrate. In this message, some of heaven's main residents will show us how to celebrate a victory with joy and maturity.

Are you one of the people whose motto is "I went out to conquer the world and something shiny distracted me"? This message is all about distractions, something we all have to learn to get over. And life's major distraction is the existence of evil around us. Here's how to live successfully with evil in this world.