Podcasts

Being An Asset

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! In the financial world, all goods are divided into two categories: assets and liabilities. Both can be good and bad, have highs and lows, and bring value and sorrow. But time tends to cause a serious divergence. Over time, liabilities start taking value away, and costing more than they are worth. But assets actually grow in value, giving much more than they take! So it is wise to fill you life with as many assets as possible! Today, I want to ask you some questions. Not about assets your have, but about what kind of an as

Managing Your Soundtrack

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Let's talk about that soundtrack playing in your head. You know what I'm talking about, that set of thoughts that are always there. These constant reminders about who you are. They can encourage you and tell you that great things are coming... or... they can sabotage growth by playing failures over and over again. When left unattended, unmanaged, they will usually do that second thing. We've gotta put a stop to that! Today we look at the first half of a tremendous book, "Soundtracks" by Jon Acuff. I highly recommend it. H

Posture in Prayer

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Two things have value in and of themselves: posture in communication, and prayer in your daily life. Posture makes us a good communicator. It makes lengthy, needful conversations possible. Aligning mind and body can change a marriage, and can mend a broken friendship. Prayer is the process of talking with God. It should be a time of great focus and emotion. But many of us struggle to stay focused. I am so, so easily distracted. Sometimes it is dumb things, like notifications on my phone. Other times I am trying really har

Doubling the Five

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! BONUS THURSDAY EPISODE - The second one ever. Yeah, I dropped the ball on this. But thanks to the constant pestering of a certain friend named Jim Kirby, I'm committed to rolling a few of these out in the coming months. Let's take 10 minutes and learn how to make every day more rich. In particular, find things you really love, short little moments of joy in your day. Can you identify a few of those? Now what if you doubled the amount of time they were getting? What if you weren't rushed to wrap that up and get to the next

Living With Purpose

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! The devil is always at work. Most of us are aware of the tools he uses, though we will brush up on those today. And Jesus can help us see how to refute them. But the most important think Jesus shows us is the power of mission orientations. Jesus was living with purpose. He knew why He was here and what He was growing into and becoming. To let the devil in, would not just be sin, it would be sabotage, and Jesus wasn't interested in that at all. For you and me, the greatest strength we have to keep from going the direction

The Russian Judge

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Okay, I really put this one off. It feels off brand to talk about downers in our lives. However, they are a reality in our lives. There are people who just seem to be negative, who don't believe in us, and who render judgments against us that simply are not fair. The truth is, in such cases, there is something not well in them. I hope that it triggers missions of mercy on our part, instead of anger. But also, you can't take their word and let it change you. - Who is "The Russian Judge"? - Why are negative people the way t

The Miracle Morning

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Hal Elrod has become an important influence in my life. I came across a presentation he gave several years ago. This led to reading his book, The Miracle Morning, and making important changes in my life by making important changes every morning. It is my pleasure to detail his system, S.A.V.E.R.S. to you today. As I have always said, great men in the world can show us great things, but they get even greater when we add God to the mix. So we will look at how to put God in the center of each and every miracle morning. Which

God's Great Reach

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! God's hand is mighty and amazing. He reaches farther than we can imagine, and can also handle the smallest, most intricate of problems. He is present always and always active. These are the kinds of things we believe by faith. We lean into these truths when life is hard. We understand there is no success in life without God's hand at work.

Valley of Disappointment

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Well, here we are - 2022! Also, this starts seasons 4 of the ESM podcast! Thank you so much for your support. It has been fun. And I have high expectations for this year. Do you? I pray you have goals, aspirations, direction, and optimism. Today we will talk about the power of New Year's Resolutions if they are set up well and pursued with perspective and endurance. Let's talk about the valley of disappointment. Are you familiar with that? You are, I'm 100% sure of that. But have you identified it? Let's talk about what t

Missions of Mercy

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! I need to appeal to your heart. Both your love for Christ and the nature of Christ's love within you. Jesus loves people so much. He loves those who are His and those who are not. Those who have left Him hurt Him and He wants nothing more than to find them and bring them home. But what does that have to do with you and me? We are His instruments of redemption. It is Christ's will that you go on Missions of Mercy to show kindness and Christ to people who are weak, people who have drifted, people Jesus yearns to have back.

The Juggling Act

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Okay, how is that core value, that circle of importance, coming along? Have you identified and been vocal about who, or what, matters most in your life? Ranking your focus and values can give you clarity on what to do next and how. But... balance is tough! There are multiple things competing for your attention in any given week, day or even moment. This week we will look at Pat Gelsinger's book, "The Juggling Act." It is tremendous! This is less of a review, and more of a synopsis, but I hope you find yourself reading thi

Circles of Importance

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! To me, there is nothing more important I could share with you right now than these circles of importance. 2021 is almost over, but it is not over yet. This is an amazing time to asses our priority and value system and then see how we've done this year with our words and actions. But we can also start making efforts, changes, today and start the New Year in stride! If you were asked to write do the four most important things in the world to you, in order, what would that look like. I don't mean what people say you should w

Winning In Mind

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Lanny Bassham was an olympic gold medalist in rifle shooting. He holds tons of records and is a National champion. Throughout his life, he has interviewed and studied winners. He sought to unlock the mentality within those who reached their goals. The results are a book called "With Winning In Mind." I highly recommend this book, especially for athletes. As we explore it today, there is one idea that stands above the rest: process not outcome. We will dig in on that, and apply it to long term goals as well as game day per

Bull Named Fumanchu

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! A friend of mine just learned that he has terminal cancer. He wrote a letter to his church friends and it was tremendous. He doesn't regret what he didn't do. He's only sad that he cannot continue doing what he has chosen for his life. That is powerful to me. Would it be that way for me? How about you? If you knew this was your last weeks on this earth, what would you do? This episode explores that important territory: how to live like you were dying. Maybe I would ride a bull named Fu Manchu... probably not. But I would

Early, Often, Less

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

The Zebra Stripes

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! What's the deal with zebra stripes? They stand out in their environment. So why haven't the lions eaten them all. The answer is important for Christians. We too stand out in the world, at least we should. And the lion is seeking someone to devour - and that means you and me! So what is our best defense against him. Let's look back at the idea of "taking the stairs" and consider the influence of other is our walk, in the steps we take. Can you do it alone? Are you strong enough to fight the devil by your self? And will dig

Take The Stairs (pt. 2)

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Let's keep talking about those stairs! This week we dive back in on the concept of personal discipline. Did you pick a quality and apply it last week? If you did, maybe you noticed how hard it was, or how many staircases were around every corning. I want to share a conversation I had with a friend who tried this last week. He found it harder than he thought, but almost immediately rewards. I saw God at work in his life. But look, you can't do this alone. You need help. Are you willing to acknowledge that? So let's look at

Take The Stairs (pt. 1)

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Are you the kind of person who takes the stairs? Or have you been the kind of person who doesn't even think about how important they are? Is the easy way the best way in all things? The world is full of people looking for shortcuts. The problem is, they are shortcuts to nowhere. They don't achieve what they want. They don't get to where they want to go, because they weren't willing to do the little things. They only did what they wanted, so they didn't get where they wanted to be. We can do better. We must. With some simp

Surprising Self Confidence

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Self Confidence is defined as a feeling of trust in one's abilities, qualities, and judgment. Each of us have a measure of self confidence, and I would argue that it is designed by God to be good. But it is not always good. Sometimes it is driven by pride and built upon the wrong idea, high self estimation. This does all kinds of damage. But when self confidence is built on something else, something amazing from God, then everything about it is wonderful. And you can have more of it, in the name of Jesus, than ever before

Make Evangelism Easy

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Why is evangelism so hard for so many of us? And why have so many churches failed to create a culture of evangelism? God has a plan for His people - to spread the Word through us. But another sermon telling people to do it won't amount to anything. We need to show people how to make it easy, make it automatic, and make it doable by everyone, not just a few. Today we will look at Jesus interacting with the woman at the well. Here are seven wonderful tips on evangelism that anyone can do, shown to us by our Savior and King.

No What Ifs

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! People seem to be afraid of everything! Some things are dangerous, but why in the world would we add the Fear Of Missing Out? How much is there to fear I am afraid of everything in the world I am not doing? Wow. God has a better plan. He wants you to live a life of joy and purpose, where you aren't burdened by "What If?" God directs us to pick holy paths and make them as great as possible in the short time we have here. - What is the FOMO? - Why are people afraid of paths not taken? - What does that do to the life you are

"Leave Things Better"

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Credit to Don Truex for today's title. He was reflecting recently on the passing of his father. His dad taught him to make things better in every circumstance. And to leave things better than when he found them. This is something that should shine in the life of every believer. Let's look at what it means to make things better, and then fold in the idea of how leaving often complicates things. But leaving is part of life, even the best of lives. - What is your purpose in every relationship you have? - What does it mean to

"Life Is Easier..."

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! "Life is easier when you know what you want." I love this line by James Clear. He goes on to note that few people have taken the time to figure out what they want. Maybe family or culture decide that for them. Maybe they just do things in hopes of finding purpose. We can do much better than that. You owe it to yourself to take some private time and decide what you believe is worth while in your life. What do you really want? When you do this, a few really cool things happen. These things will bring a smile to your face an

Three Saving Buckets

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Everybody knows we should be saving at least a small portion of money. If you are spending everything you make, you know the stress of that. I won't focus on that today. But if you are able to save anything, even the smallest amount, what you are doing with it? Are you excited for what that means? Today let's look at three separate, and I do mean separate, categories of saving. The first isn't exciting but it matters the most! The second is a little technical but will help you very soon. And the third is fun and risky, bu

Taming Your Elephant

Kris Emerson · Excel Still More

Reach Out: Please include your email and I will get back to you. Thanks! Did you know that elephants are the most dangerous animal in the world? They are responsible for 500 human deaths every year. And yet, throughout history, mankind has continue trying to tame this animal. Why? Because they are so strong, powerful and useful! The process by which they are controlled is grueling and cruel, but it is necessary to break them down so that they might be built up differently, under control. I am in no way supporting such a process. I think we should just leave them alone. But it takes what it tak