Discerning Whitewater

If you are searching for how to deal with the turmoil in the world right now…. I want to address that here, right now.

It has been six weeks since my last blog post here at Discerning Whitewater…. obviously way too long. I actually have a lot of thoughts and a lot to write. The last six weeks have definitely been very interesting, and not always in a good manner….. I feel the need to pray for those about to lose their jobs due to vaccine mandates. Certainly sounds like this is going to escalate dramatically and quickly. I will write more about this in a future post.

In the past, here, I have posted sermons that I have enjoyed. I have about a dozen different men and women that I jump around, back and forth, listening to their word. These are not (by the numbers), my most popular posts 🙂 . Steven Furtick of Elevation Church talked about Simon Peter and his transformation and how Jesus used him. I love Furtick’s style. I was very inspired by this:

If you give it a listen, let me know your thoughts.

But anyways………………………………………

If you are from Whitewater, and you know me, there is a pretty good chance we have met in the last eighteen months, despite living here since 2011. Thru the blog (and local politics), as well as activities via the kids and even activities with my dog, I have literally gotten to know dozens of people personally. It has been on my heart for a long time, and I have been recently prompted, to start a small/impact group, focused on Christ, here in Whitewater.

If you know me, or if you don’t know me ….. you are invited. I plan on having the first meeting sooner rather than later.

Some thoughts or goals of the group:

• Learning about Christ. Jesus lived ~2000 years ago. He showed us how to live our lives in joy and peace. This man (the Son of God) was raised from the dead. If you have never learned about Jesus and are the slightest bit curious… I am offering to you a chance to learn together.
• My immediate plan to learn about Christ is a book study of The Purpose Driven Life. No homework. We get together once per week and read a chapter and discuss. Easy peazy lemon squeezy. The book can be bought for a few bucks used at Amazon or Goodwill (usually has multiple copies). I will have copies on hand.
• Fellowship of like minded people. God wants us in fellowship. Probably meals as well. Men and women, all ages, all backgrounds.
• Impact. Together we will take on small projects to impact Whitewater; whether that be supporting local businesses, or the police and fire departments.

One final thought on this…… if you know me, you know I am a very cynical, pragmatic guy 🙂 . I am certainly not going to do something for the sake of doing it. I see value in fellowship. I see value in learning about Christ, whether that be sharing stories or reading the Bible. Christ has changed my life, 100% for the better.

The Apostle Paul writes in Galatians 5:22,

“²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

This is very real. Even in these turbulent times, you can have patience (forbearance), joy, peace… and even self-control.

So below I have my contact form. I encourage you to reach out to me as we get started here.

-mike