WHO SHOULD COME FOR HELP?

Who is it for? It is for all of us. All who would like something more than fluffy ideas, silhouettes on sunset backgrounds, and warm fuzzy feelings! If you do a Google image search for “spiritual” you will find a bunch of mystical, blurry-edged pictures of people in very pious poses, activities, and locations. There are symbols and typology galore, all with deep implications and transcendent meanings intended. If you like that sort of stuff you are all set. Not that any of that is bad, but to me it does not seem very helpful. Most of it is not very masculine either. But then, guys never ask for directions or help, right? Seriously, those over-spiritualized images make me want to gage! Let’s be honest, sometimes religion and Christianity seem more ethereal than tangible, more unreachable than accessible, more delicate and pretty than masculine and handy, and more distasteful and unhelpful then attractive, interesting, and useful! In the end, spirituality often seems like it is for someone other than me.

So who is who should consider coming to us? Well…

It is for all of us who are interested in learning how to Get Well, Live Well, and Give Well!

• It is for, first of all, anyone who cares to defend and deepen and protect the good life and relationships that they already have.
• It is for those who like to be proactive in other areas of life because they believe it is easier and smarter to prevent then it is to repair!
• It is for any who have hurt those around them and want to get to the bottom of the problem before they drive them away.
• It is for anyone who is stuck in all or part of their life, who wants something more (or different) from life, and are willing to get some coaching.
• It is for men and women who are tired of discipline that eventually runs out and gives way to the frustrating resurgence of old habits.
• All who are up to doing the work needed to remove barriers that restrict and contaminate their relationship with God, others, and self.
• It is for anyone unwilling to ignore any longer the truth that they cannot stop hurting, rejecting, and using the people they love.
• It is for those who admit they are their own worst enemy and are looking for someone to tell them the truth and not be complicit in their struggle.
• It is for folks who see that their responses have caused their problems and are ready to stop blaming and learn how to get out of their own way.
• It is for anyone ready for a breakthrough that leads to lasting change (transformation), and is willing to ask God for it.
• It is for people who want more than something different in their life, who want to make a difference with their lives.

It is for people who want more than something different in their life, who want to make a difference with their lives.

The Center is designed to build something new. If you want new — a complete renovation or just a slight overhaul — you want some coaching and/or counseling. The road to get where you want to go may require tearing down something old, renewing something lost, remodeling something outdated and unhelpful, improving something defective, and fixing what is broken (Isaiah 58:8-12, 61:1-4). Renovation always require the removal of the old and sweeping ups after the mess of demo before the new can be built. If you want a religion that is safe, that is designed to stay on the sidelines and out of your way until you need it, that is more heart-warming than life-altering, stay away from God and The Center! The Bible has no comfort for those who seek the easy road. Peace is not the same thing as the absence of storms but an unmovable calm when the wind and wave rage all around us.

If you want a religion that is safe, that is designed to stay out of your way, that is more heart-warming than life-altering, stay away from God and The Center!

Spiritual direction is for people coming from two different places:

Spiritual Tune-up (Life Coaching & Spiritual Direction) = For those who’s life is going well and are seeking a tune-up to make sure it stays that way. This is preventative coaching. It is like your annual inspection for your car or checkup for your physical health. Without them, deterioration and sickness can go on for some time undetected. As you can imagine, it is less costly in every way imaginable to prevent a mess than it is to clean it up afterward. Ever try putting toothpaste back in the tube? Athletes who are at the top of their game still have coaches to help them stay there and keep getting better. Peak performance requires tune ups… from those who’s job is to know how to help others get the most out of themselves physically, mentally, and in every way.

Spiritual Truth (Spiritual Counseling) = For those who’s life is not going so well and are seeking spiritual truth to make sure it does not stay that way! This is reparative coaching. Sometimes, even with your best intentions and efforts, things break. We make mistakes and bad decisions. We want what we know is not ultimately good for us but feels good in the moment… And we take it. We get selfish, protective, defensive…. We end up not just hurting ourselves, but others too, some who do not deserve it in the slightest. It harder to correct than prevent, but God is up for any challenge. Things may not go back to how they were, but he promises that he still has a perfect plan and still has our best interest in mind.

We help people – who want more from life and their faith – break through, lighten their load, and draw closer to Him. That is the way to a satisfying life. And it cannot help but improve you relationships in, and the quality of, your whole life! But remember that we do not magicians. We do not have powerful wands and incantations that will make everything better before you leave your first session! You will have to work. In fact, we do nothing for you. What we do is show you how to stop messing up your life and get out of your own way, and let God “reign and rule.”

The game plan is to show you how to get out of God’s way and let his will and plan for your life take hold and take off!

Here’s The Game Plan

The intention of spiritual coaching is to move you closer to God. We believe that everything you want for yourself and your life comes from relationship with him. If you do not get what you crave by building a close relational connection with God as your sovereign leader (Lord), you want something that will bring you nothing that is really good. Your loving leader (God) is protecting you from it. See, while we think the enemy is something or someone outside ourselves, our true adversary is our own heart. We are often our own worst enemy. You cannot change either the environment or people. They are external and outside of your power to predict or control.

Thankfully that means we are not responsible for either of them. What we can determine and are responsible for is our own actions. Nothing anyone ever did to you made you who you are today. Who we are owes its presence and character to our own internal responses to those external influences. The plan is to show people how to get out of God’s way and let his will and plan for our lives take hold and take off! That requires we bring some closure to the wounds and regrets of the past so they no longer seep into and pollute our present.

Remember that being satisfied and fulfilled in life is not equivalent to having no struggles or challenges or disappointments. Learning to live involves fighting, persistence, courage, and conviction. His plans are for a future full of hope and overflowing with incredible possibility that we never dreamed could be our experience. The end result is a life you have always craved. Now, it may look nothing like the one you dreamed, but in that event, your dreams were wrong or too small and God’s are perfect and too big. So big that we will have to live in constant vital connection with him believing that his dream for us is the one we really crave!