S7 Episode #3 - Justin Kendrick

THE ONE WITH Justin kendrick

This week we are excited to welcome pastor and author Justin Kendrick to the show! In this episode, Justin shares tools from his latest book, How to Quiet a Hurricane: Strategies for Christian Endurance in the Midst of Life’s Storms. Tune in for insight on how to develop the inner strength necessary to navigate life’s inevitable storms and move past your fears and anxieties into a life of real and enduring peace. We recorded this episode in early September, prior to the hurricanes that would devastate our country over the coming month. Justin’s message is more powerful than ever as millions of people recover from the literal hurricanes that hit their lives. Whether the hurricanes in your life are literal or figurative, Justin’s perspective on the goodness of God, a new type of safety and tackling doubt will challenge and inspire you. You don’t want to miss this one!

A Little more about Justin

Justin Kendrick is the author of Bury Your Ordinary and The Sacred Us. He is the lead pastor of Vox Church, which he founded in 2011 with a small group of friends on the doorstep of Yale University. The church has since grown to multiple locations across New England, with the dream of seeing the least-churched region of the US become the most spiritually vibrant place on earth. Justin and his wife, Chrisy, live with their four children in the New Haven area.

ABOUT THE BOOK

[From the press release] In today’s fast-paced society, marked by increasing anxiety, fear, and inner fragility, many are struggling to stay afloat. Life's challenges often leave people feeling exhausted, weakened, and overwhelmed.

Amidst these difficulties, the Christian faith offers a resilient and enduring framework, helping believers navigate and withstand troubles. Pastor and author Justin Kendrick outlines the foundation for that framework in his newest book, How to Quiet a Hurricane: Strategies for Christian Endurance in the Midst of Life’s Storms. In How to Quiet a Hurricane, Kendrick provides readers with the tools to develop the inner strength necessary to navigate life’s overwhelming, frustrating, and inevitable storms and empowers them to move past their fears and anxieties into a life of real and enduring peace.

“This book will explore the topic of Christian endurance and the promise found throughout the Bible of a life marked by supernatural power,” writes Kendrick. “In these pages, you won’t find ‘the ten steps to Christian endurance’ or ‘the five ways to stop worrying.’ Although these things may sound helpful, real spiritual endurance is rarely tidy or linear. We don’t need ten steps—we need a Swiss Army knife. We need one tool that can serve us in a thousand situations, enabling us to overcome the challenges we face. That’s why I’ve chosen to focus every chapter on the same centering goal: grow faith. With every chapter, you will be invited into a deeper understanding of your faith in Christ. It is my hope that the compound effect will be an inner life that can endure anything.”

Readers will discover:

  • Why weakness is the starting point for spiritual strength

  • How lasting endurance comes from understanding the love of God

  • Ways to apply God’s promises to your daily life

  • A freeing perspective on what it really means to be secure

  • Why faith rooted in Jesus can bring you through any trial

How to Quiet a Hurricane is more than just a book; it is a lifeline for those seeking to deepen their faith. 

LISTEN

WATCH

SHOW NOTES

SPIRITUAL FERVOR

Even when you are not looking for God, He is still looking for you. He has a plan for you. 

From the moment Justin came to know The LORD, he had a fervor.

Sometimes people lose their spiritual fire because they don’t understand grace. A lot of times, we think the message of the Bible is: “Jesus loves you so clean up your life and be a good person.” However, this is exhausting and incredibly deflating because we are much more broken than we thought. We are so broken that we cannot fix ourselves, but if we will put our life in the hands of Jesus and surrender to Him then He will put His life in us and there is a power for peace and hope that cannot be shaken by this world. But this only comes through the life of Jesus coming into us by His grace. This is the good news of the Gospel! 

Many people think that they must perform in order to be accepted, but actually the opposite is true. Through Christ, God has accepted you. So performance flows out of love for Him, rather than the need for acceptance. 

SPIRITUAL RESILIENCE 

Many people are facing a hurricane– a situation in life when something is not going right. We are confronting our own fragility. More and more followers of Jesus are asking God questions like, “Do you care? How could you let this happen to me?” 

We have a very oversimplified view of the goodness of God. If God is good, then why did x, y or z  happen. But God’s goodness is more complex than that. It may not be about seeing His goodness immediately, but rather about understanding His nature and trusting that His goodness will be revealed in the end. 

Spiritual resiliency is a personal revelation of God’s love for me. If you live with this revelation, then you can endure anything. 

THE WEAKNESS PARADOX 

Paul said, “When I am weak, then I am strong.” Therefore, all spiritual strength flows through an acknowledgement of our own weakness. 

If you want to know the strength of God, you must start where Jesus did in The Sermon on the Mount– “Blessed are the poor in spirit, I will give them the whole kingdom.” This means recognizing your own spiritual poverty– that you cannot fix yourself. To the degree that I know my own brokenness is the degree to which I can experience HIS strength. 

For the humble, there is no limit to the reservoir of God’s grace. God always has more grace! 

“God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 

Access to God’s power is limitless, but how aware are you of your need for Him? 

“Seek first the Kingdom and all else will be added unto you.” 

THE NEW SAFETY 

We are living in a time where people think their safety will come by controlling their circumstances. However there will always be a moment where our safety measures will fail us. So if you are trying to find safety in circumstances, you will never find peace. 

The “new safety” is the idea that we don’t find our safety in controlling every part of our environment, rather we find it in the deep conviction that God is working all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. This doesn’t mean that all things are already good, but that there is a sovereign hand that can be trusted. 

We have a lot of evidence for why God can be trusted. The more you explore the evidence, the more convinced you will become. Christians can live with a profound sense of safety because it is not tied to our circumstances, it’s tied to eternity. Even though things in this world are important, they are not all there is. So you can be sure that whatever storms come your way, God has a plan that He is working out for His glory and your good. 

DOUBTS

In church culture today, doubts are considered a “bad” thing. However this is not how Jesus handled doubts. He actually welcomed people to come to them with their doubts. He helps them process those doubts until they become convinced of His kindness. 

In order to trust God, we have to know who He is. 

We need each other. When we knit our lives to each other, there is a collective strength. God may put the strength that you need in the heart of your brother or sister. 

IN THE MIDDLE OF A DELAY

God’s timing is almost never our timing. He is not going to do it the way you think, but the essence of the Christian life is opening your hand and letting go of your situation. You must decide for yourself that HE is God and you are not. 

The delay is not a punishment or God not caring. Rather, in delays, we become more like the image of Jesus. This is the most important thing because it is the only thing we can take into eternity. 

Often we only see the delay, we don’t see all the work that God is doing behind the scenes on our behalf. 

A DEVOTED LIFE

Living a devoted life is worth it. There is nothing that you can give to Christ that wouldn’t be worth it in the end. 

The only logical response to what Christ did on the cross is to live a life devoted to Him. 

God was graciously willing to give up His own Son, so how much more willing will he be to freely give us all things? This is the center of God’s heart. 

God’s heart is for you. 

He gave up His Son for you, so there is nothing good that He would withhold. 

So how do we live a devoted life? 

“Love is spelled T-I-M-E.” 

Those who find God, find time. You must have a whole “seeking God” lifestyle. 

FINAL THOUGHTS

The storm is coming. Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble.” 

You may be in a storm, just coming out of a storm, or heading into a storm. Either way, they will come, so prepare yourself now. 

We don’t need to be afraid of the storms because Christ has overcome the world. We do not live in fear, but we can be proactive and be prepared.

NEXT STEPS

Here are a few action steps to help you dip deeper this week!

  1. Do the 30 day challenge that Justin described in the episode. Commit to the first 5 minutes of each day being dedicated to time with The Lord.

  2. Identify one area in your life that you need to release control to The Lord. What does surrender in that area look like? What practical step can you take today that will lead you to a place of greater surrender?

Thank you, as always, for listening! Please remember that everything we do is funded by those who benefit from our ministry. Our ministry a 501(c)3, so your contribution is tax-deductible.

 

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