An Epic Journey » Life

Chill – finding a liveable pace at Christmas

epic — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:25:12 +0000

Our December message series is “Chill”, I’m excited about trying to help people find some margin in their life at the Holidays. It seems like our lives are already busy, basketball practice to drop kids off at, games to go to, meetings for work that run late, Doctors appointments, homework, finals, and a million other things that occupy our attention. The problem is, if you are trying to follow Jesus but all of your time is consumed by other things – it’s easy to forget and leave behind God. This Christmas, that’s all changing!

A Few Follow Up Tips From Sunday

epic — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:47:59 +0000

Yesterday we talked about how to get right side up with our finances. I laid out a simple strategy of Deciding to do away with debt, Starting to specifically set aside savings, and to Purposefully plan.
I have a few side notes that I want to leave with you – just a couple of tips.

1. When you begin to pay off credit cards or loans you will pay them off much faster if you begin with smaller ones and focus your excess income on paying just one credit card or loan off first. Jenni and I did this and as we would pay one off, we would transfer the money we were already used to paying on that credit card to the next – it was like a snowball effect.

2. Get rid of services you don’t need. Ask yourself tough questions. Do you need a home phone? If so, could you go a creative route like using a Magic Jack – $40 one time fee and then $20/YEAR for phone service.

Do you need cable? Jenni and I use an antenna on our house, and receive 20 channels in HD (most people don’t realize that HD is being sent over antenna’s for free) and we save bundles every month. Most TV’s also allow you to hook your computer up to them now and most TV networks are putting their shows online (www.Fancast.com is a great place to catch up on your shows for free, with less commercials and when YOU want to watch them)!

3. Plan ahead for meals. One thing Jenni and I are doing to try and cut back on how much we eat out is to plan out a monthly calendar. This helps us curb how much we spend eating out monthly and also helps cut down the grocery bill by not wasting food (if we are buying a head of lettuce for tacos one night we might do a salad the next).

4. Be sure to check out Epic Churches Budget resource by visiting epic4life.com/budget. This will be very helpful to you as you try to plan!

these are simple ideas that could help you cut several hundred dollars out of your monthly expenses right away! You can do it, it just takes some discipline! Can’t wait to hear the creative ways you are finding to cut costs, save money, pay off debt and use your money to fund the Kingdom of God!

Today is a Good Day!

epic — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:42:46 +0000

Today is the day that I celebrate the joining with the most important person in my life! Today is Jenni and I’s anniversary.

BEWARE: Below is a personal note to Jenni – if you don’t like the mushy gushy stuff, read a different post…

Jenni, I love you so much! It seems like my love for you grows every day and in new places in my heart that I didn’t know existed. Thank you for being such a great mom for our children, such a patient wife for your husband, and such a spiritual inspiration when life has sucked it all out of me! I hope you know how much of a treasure you are to me and I can’t wait to grow old with you and in your arms! I love you so much!

and PS – I love that you want to go to a Thunders game for our Anniversary – seriously the coolest wife ever!!!

Love you baby,
You ever grateful and enduring husband,
-Kent

Garage Sale Fun

epic — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 22:47:18 +0000

Jenni and I are having a garage sale today and tomorrow (if you need any little boy clothes from newborn to 4T – don’t look anywhere else). Anyway, it makes me think of all the stuff in my life that is just junking it up and how badly I need a good spring (or fall) cleaning. Pastors have just as many issues as normal people, we are just good at hiding them! Hah. My hope is to not hide but to expose and to clean house. I want to know Christ better than I do, I want to get rid of my anger and hurtful attitudes. I want to really follow Jesus wholeheartedly.

PS – if you want to stop by and see Jenni and I we would love to have some visitors, here’s the directions to our house:

Go North on Andover Rd. just past 21st Street (Look for signs). There is a new housing addition called Cornerstone. You turn Left into this entrance (if you go past it you’ll be on your way into the country). Turn right when you see the model homes (They have white fence in front of them), stay on this road, it will wind and curve, it will eventually turn into Slate St. Our house is towards the end on the right (802 W. Slate, Andover, KS. 67002).

Jenni’s B-Day!!!

epic — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:56:48 +0000

In life I generally have an unlucky streak. If I was walking down a hill and a group of people were watching me, I would inevitably sprain my ankle. I learned to use this unlucky streak to my advantage in life, if in a doctors office and the wait was getting to long, I would pick up a magazine, begin reading and find that the moment I became truly interested, I would be called to the window (that’s a long sentence).

Well, I have been lucky once in my life, and that was the day Jenni (at the time) Fitzgerald said yes to marry me! She is so perfect for me and I am so proud to be her husband and to stand beside her!

I love you Jenni, happy birthday baby!

PS – Jenni loves chocolate (you should shower her with some)!

How Now Brown Cow – iTunes & Podcast

epic — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:39:59 +0000

You now can check Epic out on iTunes by downloading our podcast, click here to give it a looksy! You can also listen any time via our website by clicking here.

Isn’t it nice to know you never have to miss another week of what God is doing at Epic! It’s our prayer that God would use these messages to drastically alter your life as you learn to follow christ!

I heard a funny Yoke…

epic — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 18:52:15 +0000

Ever heard the bible talk about a “Yoke”? This is one way a Yoke is designed. The idea is that two animals (oxen, horse, donkey) would be interlocked side by side in order to perform a task together. The beauty of the design is that both animals work together and in unison. No one is doing all the work by themselves.
When the bible refers to a “Yoke” this is what it refers to.
A “Yoke of oxen” refers to two oxen and an acre was originally the amount of land that a “Yoke of oxen” could plow in a day…

Where’s God in The Mess

epic — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:04:53 +0000

All September long, Epic Church, is going to be taking a look at “Where’s God in The Mess”! We will explore this basic question that keeps people disconnected from God and look at where God is in the midst of life’s trials.

Come in September and you can get help with your mess! Epic Church is giving away 6 months of free maid service – and you could win BIG!!!!

Each week you will have a chance to enter into the drawing and get your house clean – don’t miss it! The drawing will be on October 4th – you must be present to win….

Where’s your Worth?

epic — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 01:59:46 +0000

I’ve been thinking lately about where we get our self worth. The honest truth is my self worth can be knocked around by all kinds of things – how well I perform my job, how I am treated by those close to me, whether or not I get a grape crush when I need one (ok, maybe it doesn’t do much to my self worth, but it tastes “ohhhhh soooo good!”). The question I’ve been wrestling with is, how good can it be for a person to let their self worth ride on the waves of outside, uncontrollable elements. The truth is the only place I should find my self worth is in my relationship to Christ – He is the only one I should be listening to on this issue. If you find yourself being beaten by the waves of life, then maybe you need to ask yourself the question why you are listening so much to the voices of the world and not that of Christ. I find myself asking “what is wrong in my relationship with Christ that I am willing to listen to this crap rather than what Christ says about me”

Want to read some things that Christ says about you? Click on the heading link for this blog post and check out the comments…

Study Time…

epic — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 03:43:45 +0000

I’ve been studying for my sermon this weekend and researching into Nebuchadnezzar – you may remember hearing that name before in Sunday School when you were little. I came across this little quip in the Harper’s Bible Dictionary (pg 691),

“Amel-Marduk (Evil-Merodach), Nebuchadnezzar’s son, ruled from 562 to 560 b.c. According to accounts in 2 Kings 25:27-30 and Jer. 52:31-34 he recognized King Jehoiachin and allocated an allowance for him ‘all the days of his life.’ Babylonian clay tablets mentioning the disbursement of oil to Jehoiachin, five sons of the king of Judea and other Judeans confirm in a dramatic manner this Scriptural statement. “

I love studying history and finding places where the bible and history match up, there are so many – but for some reason we hardly ever talk about it. The bible is a great history book!
But don’t take my word for it, read the book! (duhn duhn duhn… – All credit for the “duhn duhn duhn” should go to reading rainbow.)