RoadTrip Parenting

Faith and family parenting

[bradmathias]

Seeing with the “eyes’ of Faith – a Covid-19 encouragement

[bradmathias]

When life doesn't turn out the way we thought...

When life doesn’t turn out the way we thought…

At fifty I have to admit that I’m well into my mid-life crisis. Three kids, all grown, two beautiful grandchildren, one wife. All in all…it’s been quite the mid-century moment to reflect on.

Life is sometimes spectacularly good and sometimes it is not. Both our gains and losses add up, they point us to something in-between satisfaction and shame. Family, career, and friends all enter our…

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[bradmathias]

Starting Over... a guide to renewing your mind.

Starting Over… a guide to renewing your mind.

Epiphany 1 – January 12, 2020 Sermon Notes:

Romans 12:1–5 (ESV): “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and…

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[bradmathias]

Understanding The Restlessness Within

Understanding The Restlessness Within

Learning to reject our ‘old’ identity and habits for our ‘new’ identity in Christ is an ongoing struggle for dominance in our Christian psyche.

Each heart that confesses the name of Christ and submits to His presence in their life as ‘Lord” and savior has activated a soul transforming process, catalyzed by the Holy Spirit. 

No one can experience the presence of Christ within one’s heart and mind…

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Hearing the 'whisper' of God.

Hearing the ‘whisper’ of God.

Elijah was a rock-star in the Old Testament. He was a prophet’s – prophet. No other prophetic life in the scriptures can compare to the astonishing events surrounding this man of deep faith. (see his story for yourself in 1 Kings 17 – 19 and 2 Kings 1-2)

He literally caused a three year drought, called fire from heaven, and never actually died on earth as he was taken to heaven in a fiery…

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[bradmathias]

Living as a Settled Soul

Living as a Settled Soul

I need to share honestly… and I know I’m not alone or unusual. My last five years have been full of struggle and discouragements, tragic loss, and setbacks. I’ve felt the harshness of life and the ridiculously hard path of what I thought was a  simple existence.

It seemed that everything and everyone was resisting me constantly, and the weariness from the exhaustion that comes from trying again…

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[bradmathias]

A Fellowship of Heroes & Saints

A Fellowship of Heroes & Saints

As believers in our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ, we have been invited into an Epic adventure.

Like the famous Lord of the Ringstrilogy, we have pledged ourselves to a “fellowship” of heroes and saints. We are well beyond the honeymoon phase of our adventure and the sunshine has faded and the mud and muck of our journey has obscured the brilliant beauty of our surroundings. The shine is off the…

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[bradmathias]

Transition with Provision

One of the greatest themes of the Old Testament is the ‘Exodus’. The focus on much of the first five books of the bible centers on a ‘transition with provision’ as the people of God move from one place and season to another. (Egypt to the Promised Land)

Photo by Al Butler from Pexels

The Torah lingers on the details of Israel’s release from the empire of Egypt.  Significant details are shared…

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[bradmathias]

Faith grows, One generation to the next.

Faith grows, One generation to the next.

“Preserving our Faith, one church, one family, one generation at a time” 

There are a variety of secular forces at work in our society that seek to undermine the Christian faith. Specifically, these voices criticize the authenticity and authority of Scripture as well as the incarnation / resurrection claims of Christ.

Educated voices are claiming the bible is full of antiquated teachings and…

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[bradmathias]

Why Liturgical Church matters for Families

Why Liturgical Church matters for Families

Raised in the evangelical world of Christianity, my background provided me with a firm set of church expectations and black and white beliefs.

Worship was a time to exuberantly worship and praise the Lord, thus each Sunday I was treated to a live worship band with hi-tech imaging, super amped energy, and a series of incredibly increasingly intense set of the latest worship songs.

I loved it until…

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[bradmathias]

Praying with Purpose

Do you struggle sometimes to trust God more than yourself? Do you wonder if He’s really going to ‘show’ up in your life when you need Him the most?  I mean the whole idea of God being engaged with my struggles and fears is laughable, He surely has bigger ‘fish to fry’ than my petty little anxieties and circumstances.

If you’re like me, you might find yourself praying around the edges of our life,…

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[bradmathias]

Fighting for our Lives

Fighting for our Lives

I was reminded recently that God takes ‘sin’ very seriously. Seems obvious, the entire landscape of the bible is rooted around this reality… but our culture seems to be overlooking the obvious.

I was sparked by a Instagram post of a Francis Chan quote. He mentions the two biggest lies of our culture, that God won’t punish sin because of His loving nature and the belief that we’re essential all…

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[bradmathias]

Slow Down. Please.

I can’t help but push a little more, I can’t stop the need to check one more item off the ‘to-do’ list of my life. It’s my nature to stay busy, to distract myself from tomorrow by filling my ‘today’.

Maybe you can relate? 

The world we live in doesn’t help. Our instant communication and remarkable technologies have opened up worlds of discovery and detail that compel us to discover and ‘do’ more…

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[bradmathias]

More than just another lakeside chat.

More than just another lakeside chat.

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

Luke 5

1 “On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, 2 and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught…

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[bradmathias]

When your about to give up and give in to despair... DON'T!

When your about to give up and give in to despair… DON’T!

We all know the struggle is real as a parent. The struggle to keep hope alive. To choose to ‘believe’ that God is up there and watching, engaged in our lives and actively seeking our good.

But there are days when that belief is strained to the breaking point.

There are dozens and dozens of days that I look back on and wonder how I made it through. How did I know just chuck it all and bail. How in…

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[bradmathias]

Teen Stress Today

Teen Stress: One Powerful Way to Help Your Child Stand Strong

Originally posted by Lori Schumaker in General Parenting

Today, I welcome Pastor Brad Mathias of Bema Media, Road Trip Parenting, and the Brilliantly Brave Parenting Podcast.  (You can catch my interview HERE!) His latest work, Storms of Life, is a study for students. And friends, it’s a tool we want and need in the hands of each of…

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[bradmathias]

Waiting, Resting... and other 'odd' requests.

Waiting, Resting… and other ‘odd’ requests.

The Christian life in our modern world is so convoluted with the secular it’s almost impossible to sort things out.

The way our world works seems normal to us. It seems logical, even wise… but it operates on principles foreign to the Holy Spirit.

The world is about self-preservation, promotion, accomplishment, and gain.

Christ led us by example into a new way, a Kingdom built out of…

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