A Blessing to Repentance

In the world today, many Christians and non-Christians, make the comparison of the Blessings of God with care free times.  I personally have to deal with the thought that if God blesses me then everything is a bright, cloud free day. Now, we all know we go through seasons. Winter is a season where there is death and little life, maybe even a hibernation period.  Then you have Spring, where the things that were once dead have come back to life.  Spring can often be associated with God’s Blessings. Right now it is hard for me to determine what season I am in.

Last night I laid on the floor and was talking with my wife.  In my body and in my spirit I just didn’t feel right.  She asked me what was wrong and this was my reply.  During the transition time of moving, God used awesome and faithful people to bless us and keep us.  Sometimes it is hard for me to receive a blessing even when I know it was from God.  Here is the thing, God will bless you so much, that it will bring you to a place of repentance. This was where I am at.  I felt so unworthy and unfaithful.  How could God do so much for me and in turn, me do so little for Him.  It is a humble place of learning and growth.  I know God is taking me to a place where my spiritual maturity and faith need to be at an all time high. I know these times are necessary.  So, I embrace the times of feeling unworthy, because I am.  But it is these times where we realize without God we are nothing. So, in my season of repentance, I search the areas of my life where I need to “step up my game”, so I can be the Man of God, to the fullest, God has called me to be.

God’s Servant,

Billy W Tisko

The Autobahn vs. Old Hancock Road

In this blog I want to compare two type of roads, The Autobahn and Old Hancock Rd, and how they help us understand following God’s voice.  First, one of Germany’s famous landmarks is the Autobahn.  The Autobahn is a freeway/motorway that boasts a speed limit of 80 mph, but locals will tell you there is no speed limit.  It is a wide open, pedal to the medal, ride with no road blocks. Then we have Old Hancock Road.  Old Hancock Road is an old,  dilapidated road that I used to travel down as I was a kid.  My siblings and I would travel this road all summer long on our bikes.  This road was uneven, full of pot holes, and over-grown with weeds, but we had to travel this road to explore places we have never gone.

Now, why in the world am I stating these two totally different ways of travel? Well, the reason is to combat the traditional belief that when you are doing the Will of God, the road will always be smooth and everything will go the way you hoped.  This is a belief I had to fight and struggle with during my transition period.  The transition has been tough and hard, it is not the Autobahn.  It is not smooth sailing or happening at blinding speeds.  It would be more compared to Old Hancock Road. Full of pot holes and uneven, but

Lets take a look at the life of Paul and his journey following God’s will.  Paul was a man of God. He understood and heard God’s voice.  In Acts 27, Paul knew it was God’s will for him to travel to Rome.  So let me breakdown what happened:

1. Set sail for Rome, but had to get a bigger ship because the winds were so strong.

2. The captain ignored Paul’s warning and set sail again and was caught in a Typhoon.

3. The crew lost hope, they were hungry, all the cargo was thrown over board, and they wanted to kill the prisoners.

4. The ship ran a ground a sand bar, began to break apart and had to brave the storm and swim to shore.

5. Once a shore, Paul was gathering fire wood and was bitten by a snake.

Paul was obeying God’s will and look what he went through.  Some people say, “It is not supposed to be like this.” or “It is supposed to be easy.” But the all of the people God used to do extra-ordinary things had to go through some stuff. But because Paul went through all this and the island of Malta heard to Life-Changing news of Jesus Christ. In my words, Paul had to travel down Old Hancock Road.

There is always one factor in following God, hearing his voice.  Paul would have never boarded the ship if he, by himself, wanted to go to Rome.  He knew God called him, and he knew God was going to take care of him no matter the situation. My advice, never go some where that God has not called you to go. Listen to Him and obey.

Do the hard things and watch God work!

Pastor Billy W Tisko

Who’s Your Daddy?

When we first moved to Gainesville, about 3 years ago, we rented an apartment and lived there for about a year.  It was a 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment and it fit a family of 4 tight, but on the upside it had a pool.  One day, as a family, we went for a swim.  It was a normal, hot, muggy, summer afternoon in Florida. Caden and Bayleigh would always play on the steps of the pool because they didn’t know how to swim.  I would always played right next to them.  All of sudden, Bayleigh, who was about 1 1/2 years old at the time, took a step off the steps.  She was fearless. Of course being elected Dad of the Year, I got the t-shirt, I was always there to keep her head above the water.  But that day was a little different.  As I kept her from going under the water, God spoke to my spirit. He said, “You need to learn from her.” At the time i didn’t know what it meant but now I know exactly.

See she was doing something she couldn’t do by herself.  Something she had never done before. I believe the reason she took that step in to deeper water because she knew her daddy was right next to her, ready to step in when needed. What if we trusted our Heavenly Father so much to do something we have never done before? As my family and I embark into deeper waters, we find ourselves doing something we have never done before.  It is scary? Yes. Do we have all the answers? No. But I know my Heavenly Daddy is right next to me ready to step in.  I challenge you to do whatever God is urging you to do.  It may be crazy. It may be something out of your comfort zone.  It may be something that is over your head.  But remember who your Daddy is and that He is always beside you!

Blessings,

Pastor BWT

It might be shaky, but it is a STEP!

Picture this:  Jesus, a storm, and Peter.  Peter is in the boat and Jesus is out on the water.  Nothing but air and opportunity between the two.  An opportunity to do something great, something that no one has ever done before, and it all begins with a step.  The moment Peter lifted his leg over the bow of the boat and he shifted his weight on to faith was a step into greatness.

Tonight, for the Tisko Nation, it was the first step.  At 7:00 pm EST, it was announced to Family Life COG that our last Sunday would be November 1st.  As it saddens my heart to leave such a great church, we are leaving an even better family.  The relationships and life lessons we have learned while here only prepared us for the road ahead.What is the road ahead?  The road ahead is Baypointe Church, Panama City, FL.  We are apart of a church plant team that is going to bring something to Panama City they have never seen or heard before.  Pastor Ben, Pastor Jeremy and my self, along with our families, will set out on a journey to win souls, and to be family.  Will we mess up? Sure.  Will we learn? Everyday.  Will we succeed? All for His Glory.  I can not wait to be amazed by God’s power.

So now the steps begin.  The road is filled with fear, but shall be overcome by faith.  We do this by remembering who has called us.  Just as Peter was taking those shaky steps on the turbulent water, what kept him going was the person he was walking too.  It is going to be rough road but when it is all said and done we will have taken a city, a state, a country, and the world by storm. All because of one STEP!

His Servant,

Billy W Tisko

A Duck, is a Duck!

Let us begin with a story,  I have these two certain friends of mine who have consulted me regard the issue of relationships.  Now I love these two people, but their situation got me thinking about our Christian walk.  See, if you were to go up to one of these individuals and ask if they are dating they would look at you like you were crazy and give you a solid “No!”  Now get this, these two talk everyday, text every hour, they always sit together, they hang out, and one even takes time out of the day to bring the other lunch.  Some of you may not agree with me on this one but in my opinion this is a relationship, that goes beyond a normal friend to friend relationship.  What I tried to relay to these two is you can say one thing but your actions say other.  It is like this, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, guess what it is a duck!

In life it is not your words that define who you are, but it is your actions.  Too many times, as Christians, we give God glorified “lip service”.  Lip service is nothing more than a front for good expectations.  The problem lies in that if you tell yourself  a lie enough times you will become the lie.  We promote Jesus with our lips but deny Him with our actions.  We say all the right things, which creates a good feeling of  ”Spirituality” but do nothing to back it up.  I am going to go out on a limb and say it is not totally the persons fault, it is their Christian friends.  You say, “what do they have to do with their situation?” What ever happen to Accountability? We have become soft as Christians and feel it is rude to keep someone accountable.  ”I don’t want to hurt their feelings?” Your true friends are the ones that are not afraid to keep you accountable, even if it hurts your feelings.

First, I challenge you today to take a look at yourself.  Have you lied to yourself about who you really are?  Look, you will never grow in your walk with Christ believing in a lie you created!  Find out who you really are. Next, if you have a true friend who has turned themselves into a lie.  Ask God to instruct you in a loving way to keep them accountable.  It is our duty as Christians.

A Student of Christ,

BWT

“Give me some Lovin’!!!”

One of my favorite sayings to my kids is ,”Give me some lovin’!” At the sound of that phrase they come running with arms open wide and embrace me with hugs and kisses.  In return I wrap my loving arms around them.  Isn’t it something to be in the arms of a Father. In the arms of a Father, there is peace, comfort, love, and safety. (Just to name a few)  Do you know God is calling to you today, “Give  Me some Lovin’!”  He longs for your embrace.  He longs to shadow you with His Love.

So I ask myself the question, “If all this comes from being in the arms of the Father, how come everyone is not willing to abide in that place?”  Here is what I came up with.  As a child growing up, knowingly and not knowingly, we learn a lot from our parents.  The first definition of Love you will ever learn is from your parents.  The first example of a father you will ever have is your dad.  The problems lies in the fact that we learn these perfect affections of God from imperfect people.  Your mom and dad may be great people, but they are not perfect.  So, if these imperfect definitions are not corrected, then we walk through out life holding an imperfect view of what a father is and what love is.  Then when we encounter God we automatically apply those imperfect definitions toward Him.  Let me give you some examples.  If a person had an abusive father, sometimes that person can view God as a being that waits for a chance for then to mess up so He can punish them. Or if a person grew up without a dad, they may view God as distant. Or if a person had a parent who only loved when times were good, then that person might view the love of God as a conditional love.

My challenge to you today is to examine yourself.  Examine your definitions of what love is and what a father is.  After that, compare them to the Word of God.  The Bible is the only dictionary that can give you the exact definition of love and a father.  Then, I want you to give God some lovin’.  Let God wrap His mighty arms around you, because in God’s arms is where we belong!

Pastor BWT

I am Human!!!

Over the Labor Day weekend, I had the privilege to play golf with my dad, brother, and good friend. When we arrived at the golf course it was 2 o’clock in the afternoon.  The sun was beating us like a drum and the humidity hit us in the face every chance it got. The first two holes were absolutely terrible.  Then on the third hole, I sunk a 30 foot putt to save par.  Things started looking up, until the 4th tee.  I had honors so I teed the ball up and let it fly, right in the water.  So frustrated, I pulled another ball out of my pocket and teed it up again, and it went 15 feet.  In an outrage I beat the ground with my club and then hurled it through the air.  It went right over my dad’s cart like a propellor on a BlackHawk helicopter.  My dad was furious, threatening to quit and have me find my own way home.  I didn’t say a word!   I usually stay in control, but this time my emotions got the best of me. Immediately the Holy Spirit hit me like a ton of bricks.  I walked off, got a hold of myself, apologized to my dad and asked God to forgive me!  The rest of the day we had a blast.

Through this event, I was reminded to “Never react out of your Emotions!”  As you read this you might be thinking to yourself, “I can’t believe he did that!”, or “He is supposed to be a preacher and he acted like a heathen!”  I will be the first one to admit, “I am human!”  I mess up and usually, it is because I react out of my emotions and the flesh gets the best of me.  Next time you are driving down the road and someone cuts you off, or someone says something hurtful to you, do not act in haste. “Be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to wrath!” Why, because you never know who is watching you.  Your actions could be deciding factor for someone to accept Christ or not!

“A hasty decision leads to poverty!” Proverbs 21:5

Peace Out!

Pastor BWT

Don’t Quit

I used to be an avid runner, but yesterday was my first time running in along time.  As I started the run, I felt great.  Even at the mile mark I was still going strong.  But when I reached the place where I could see my destination, something changed.  All of a sudden, the proverbial “Monkey” jumped on my back.  I was tired, my lungs were burning, and my legs were weak. The thoughts of giving up raced through my mine. And now the battle between flesh and determination was on.  I was faced with a choice, stop and be satisfy my flesh or push through the pain.  If I  would have stopped, it still would have been an accomplishment, but I would have settled for less.  But I pushed the pain and finished strong.

As I was cooling down the Lord began to speak to my Spirit.  In life we face trials and tribulations that are hard.  They make us tired and we are faced with a choice, Quit or Persevere.  See if you ever want to have more strength, physically or spiritually, you have to push through the pain.  You feel pain because to are taking your body/spirit to a place it has never been.  In turn, your body/spirit is strengthen.

I challenge you not to quit but push through hard things.  Don’t settle!  The world has deceived  us to think the HARD things are something bad.  Don’t be lazy, don’t be average.  God didn’t call you to be average, but ABOVE average.  Don’t Quit!

Pastor Billy W Tisko

Illumination

Illuminate – v. To expose to or reveal by light

Illuminate is an action word that simply means to expose. As a flash-light reveals the contents of a darken room or the sun rises to bring hope to a new day, we, as Christ Followers, are to do the same.  We are to illuminate Christ in every issue we face.  If we have financial or martial problems, our first reaction should be to expose the Power of Christ to the situation.  What this does is dispels the darkness of the matter.  Is the situation or issue tough? Yes.  Is the situation or issue hard? Yes.  But now we can face our problems in the light, instead of the dark.  Have you ever tried to navigate a road in the middle of the night with no headlights? This would be insane. But common senses tells us to turn our HI beams on and shed some light. Driving at night without your lights on is the same as living life without Christ.  I challenge you today to change to the way you approach your life by exposing Christ to your situations!

John 8:12, “²Jesus once again addressed them: “I am the world’s Light. No one who follows me stumbles around in the darkness. I provide plenty of light to live in.” (The Message)

Your Servant,

BWT