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Starting with Heart

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! "How do we raise faithful kids?" I have asked that many times and been asked that many times. We often answer with environmental factors. We need to raise them in a Christian home. We need to surround them with Christian people. We need to give them a daily serving of the Word of God. All of these are great. They are major factors, but they do not determine the salvation of yourself, nor your children. There have been people with all of those aids who did not love God. And there have been people with none of those benefit

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The Gestalt Effect

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! I really hope you enjoy this investigation of the Gestalt Effect. The triangle image for the episode is a practical example of how the eye fills in the details. I first came upon this while reading an excellent book on modesty. I'll share a link for that book: Secret Keeper by Dannah Gresh The word Gestalt simply means seeing things as a whole, as a full picture. The mind takes in pieces of information and instantly tries to fill in something common and make a judgment. Different principles dictate this almost instantaneo

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Podcast

Pride Prevents Promise

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Israel was baptized through the Red Sea. They sang a song of victory and rejoiced in the grace of God. But... most of those celebrating that day did not make it home to the promised land. Why not? Pride. They began to feel entitled, and that caused them to turn attention from God to themselves. Part of our episode today will investigate the mistakes of Israel in I Corinthians 10. How can we be less like them, more dependent on God, and beautifully humble? We will also list 8 things from Kevin Deyoung's book, Crazy Busy. T

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Podcast

Eliminating "Crazy Busy"

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Crazy Busy Book Let's turn our attention back to planning through the end of the year and preparing for an amazing 2023. Part of this is spacing out your goals to avoid being "crazy busy." That is not a compliment. Crazy busy people make unneeded sacrifices and end up not enjoying the journey nor the destination. Let's examine how to be more like Jesus. Part of that is knowing your limitations, finding humility, and being ready to be what God wants you to be. 7 Thoughts from Crazy Busy: Calming the Crazy Man Inside (pg. 4

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Podcast

The [Adjective] Baptism

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! "Denominational" Baptism. "Church of Christ" Baptism. We come up with lots of adjectives before the word baptism that are not found in Scripture. This often leads us away from the simple truth of the Gospel. It leads to labeling, party system, and sectarianism. The temptation to implement our judgments on a person's baptism is strong among God's people. We want to know who baptized them. We want to know who the teacher was. What church they were in. And other factors to decide if they are like us. All of those are factors

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Podcast

Reverse Bucket List

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! We are getting down to the last couple of months in 2022. This is an outstanding time to evaluate the year and start working on plans for 2023. I don't like waking up in January jumping in to something new. I want to work on it, plan it, and get it set up now... so the New Year starts with excitement and structure. A fun way to get into this way of thinking is The Bucket List. So let's spend some time on that. But there is a really cool, perhaps even better, list to examine: the reverse bucket list. What if we look backwa

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Podcast

Where's the Grace?

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! "Where's the beef? - Do you remember the old Wendy's commercials from the '80's? An older lady sees a tiny patty and asks where is the rest of it!? Sometimes people say that about grace, when referencing the preaching, teaching and Christianity they grew up with. But maybe that isn't a fair judgment. Grace can be preached without mentioning the word. In fact, the substance of grace is not found in a word, but in a story: the story of Jesus. Let's explore the depth of the nature of grace and how we can know it well and be

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Podcast

The Wedding Sermon

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Today is wedding day for some great friends of ours: Beau Barnes and Hannah Holt. I have been asked to officiate and I'm up here at the building practicing! Right in the middle I thought - Hey I want to share this with all my friends! So, here's my wedding sermon. First and foremost, we need much more optimism! God's picture of marriage is very good, a great reward and the answer for loneliness! If this isn't your marriage - all I can say is that it was designed to be and has the potential in it somewhere. But we need to

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Podcast

Loving Your Enemy

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Perfect Prayer Plan I have attached a file so that you can print out the perfect prayer plan. This has been a fruitful staple in my life for a decade now. I commend it to you. All of it comes straight from the life of Jesus. Remember, #5,#6 and #7 are crucial for your own life - but also the exact things you should be praying into the lives of your enemies. The topic of today's podcast relates to how you deal with your enemies. But I have lots of questions. What in the world is an enemy in our time? Can I identify an enem

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Podcast

Living "In Need"

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! University Oaks church of Christ (October 16-19, 2022) Sunday 9:30 / 10:30 / 5:00pm. Mon-Wed 7:30pm. Please take a moment to watch the YouTube video of the recording of "In Need" In need of grace, in need of love In need of mercy raining down from high above In need of strength, in need of peace In need of things that only You can give to me In need of Christ, the perfect Lamb My refuge strong, the great I Am This is my song, my humble plea I am Your child, I am in need In need of grace, in need of love In need of mercy r

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Podcast

The Infinite Game

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Ooh, I'm excited to talk about this today! Simon Sinek has been a help to me in many ways over the years. His work on "Always Speak Last" and "Start With Why" continue to affect the way I think and live. One of his newer books, "The Infinite Game" shares ideas that have become immediately relevant in decision making, relationship... handling, and general understanding of my purpose. I hope you find this powerful in assessing if the things you struggle with in this life are about winning, or about keeping going and growing

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Podcast

World Gratitude Day

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Did you know that September 21st was the 56th annual World Gratitude Day? I most certainly did not know that. I read about it. It has spiritual roots but has now been stripped of God's presence and recognition for the most part. However, it triggers the need in us all to give thanks. That is a good thing, the giving of thanks, the expression of gratitude. But what is that without God? How strong is thanks if it is not directed to One who has the power to give and restore gifts? I go through Level 3 Gratitude every single

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Podcast

Start Right Here

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! West Aurora church of Christ (Aurora, ILL) Friday, Sept. 30th 2022 7pm Saturday, Oct. 1st, 2pm and 3pm Sunday, Oct. 2nd 9:30am and 10:30am Start Right Here (Casting Crowns) We want our coffee in the lobby We watch our worship on a screen We got a Rockstar preacher Who won't wake us from our dreams We want out blessings in our pocket We keep our missions overseas But for the hurting in our cities Would we even cross the street? Huh but we wanna see the heart set free and the tyrants kneel The walls fall down and our land b

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Podcast

Salvation by Grace

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Salvation by Grace by Matt Bassford Matt's article is accessible through the link above. Have you had experiences like I had on the plane last week? How do you explain that Grace of God to people who question your faith in it? Have you let Romans 1-6 become a template for explaining salvation by Grace through faith? Are you Rahab? Or is she someone beneath or behind you in faith and life? Has the greatness of God's grace convinced you to give your whole life over to Him?

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Podcast

Wrestling with God

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Six observations from Jacob wrestling with God in Genesis 32: 1) Jacob is a flawed but very faithful man. (Gen. 31:3, 41-43: 32:1-2) 2) Jacob is in a stressful and uncertain situation. (Gen. 32:3-8, 9-12) 3) God initiates this encounter for Jacob's benefit. (Gen. 32:22-24, 28, 30) 4) Jacob does not try to escape but holds on until God blesses him. (Gen. 32:24-26; Hosea 12:4) 5) God conceded defeat to Jacob in a moment of grace and transformation. (Gen. 32:26-29) 6) Jacob proceeds from the encounter physically worse and sp

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Podcast

Your Golden Years

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! I apologize for the cover picture. I was googling "the golden years" and this photo jumped out at me. This man is later in his life, with life still yet to live, sitting in a chair, by himself, waiting. What is he waiting for? We don't know. But it doesn't look that life stage was as exciting as he thought it would be. What about you? How do you envision the last vibrant season of your life here on this earth? How does this fortune cookie hit you: "Your Golden Years Will Be Happy And Fulfilling"? It is a literal fortune c

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Podcast

In Jesus Name

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! West End Church of Christ - Bowling Green, KY www.westendchurch.com Sunday Sept. 11th - 16th 2022 Come and visit! Song: In Jesus Name (God of Possible) I speak the name of Jesus over you In your hurting, in your sorrow I will ask my God to move I speak the name 'cause it's all that I can do In desperation, I'll seek Heaven And pray this for you I pray for your healing That circumstances would change I pray that the fear inside would flee in Jesus name I pray that a breakthrough would happen today I pray miracles over your

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Podcast

Calling All Mentors

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! This is a call to every believer. God has work for you to do. That work will be personal. It is a one-on-one connection with someone in your life who needs help. God is calling us all, as a part of sound doctrine, to become a mentor (and experienced and trusted adviser). Older people, especially, and certainly parents, are called to help and guide, to lead with an honest life and assist others in making their way through in faith. The Citizen of Heaven podcast by Hal Hammons - I did an interview with Terry Francis recentl

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Podcast

Tell No One

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! I am an oversharer. I talk too much and listen too little. The issue with this is I read the reactions to that sharing and hang too much of my happiness on the response, the likes, the affirmations. There is certainly room in life to tell people things and read their feedback. But I am learning to "tell no one." I am learning that social media has programmed my brain to post and hang my joy on the reactions. But with the help of Captain America, Bradley Cooper, and Joe Burrow, I am learning to keep more to myself. I am le

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Podcast

Crying "Abba Father"

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Have you ever cried out "Abba Father" in prayer? It is found three times in Scripture. Jesus did it in Mark 14:36. Jesus seems to be doing it through us in Galatians 4:6. And we are all, having been adopted by God, to cry this out to the Lord in Romans 8:15. There is this cool progression from Jesus, to Jesus in us, to us. Credit to Ryan Goodwin for sharing these great thoughts recently. You can find his sermons on our church YouTube channel. But what does it mean? How are we crying "abba" which represents a child-like ad

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Podcast

Kindness is Powerful

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Everybody knows that love is the most crucial spirit of God needed today. No one denies its's intense value. But kindness deserves some attention as well. In fact, you might categorize being kind as the way you express love in a transaction, interpersonal way. Kindness, from tiny little choices, to deep conversations, proves love. It shares love with others. Kindness is love. In that way, kindness is extremely powerful. It changes outcomes from a near fender bender to a 40 year marriage. Today's episode explores the defin

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Podcast

Start With Jesus

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Jesus has earned the right to be first in every single thing. He should be first in our hearts every morning, the first Person we consider, and the King we seek to follow and honor and love in all that we do. To the extent that we do that, our lives are infused with purpose and peace and steeped in His amazing promises. But if you are like me, not every day is like that. We can go long stretches with Jesus on the side. Maybe we aren't praying much, reading much, or saying his name in the world in which we live. But it is

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Podcast

"This Isn't Gossip"

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Okay, I'm not really sure what gossip is. I think that is true for most of us. We say things like "this isn't gossip" or "this might be gossip" right before we share information about people who are not in the room. Most of us think if we don't mean any harm then there is no harm done. Of course, that is not always true. Today we will dig in on what we know about gossip. But more practically, I want to share a few things that have helped me guard my tongue much more effectively. A simple statement can change a lot about h

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Podcast

Where You Are

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Today I want to ask you about the life you are living right now. Are you happy with where you are right now? When you look at your life, do you see God, hope and purpose? And if you look back at the major events that got you where you are, what is your emotion about those things? Accepting where we are is crucial to making the most out of today and tomorrow. Sure, we all want to grow. We want to get better. But not because we are not good now. God is good and so are we if we live in Him. What we need is a full glass of gr

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Podcast

Popping the Me-Bubble

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Have you ever watched two me bubblers have a conversation? It is funny to watch. One talks about themself. Then the other one talks about themself. The cycle just goes back and forth until someone loses interest. I'm not sure why we are like that, but I've been there. What if one of us shows interest in the other person and asks a follow up question? What if we gave entire attention to one when they needed it? What if I didn't feel the need to make it about me to make it worth while? These questions mean a lot in my life.

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