Firm Foundation with Bryan Hudson

Fathers in 3D: Destiny, Design, & Duty

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Psalms 13:13, As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
Compassion is “love in action”
Proverbs 17:6, Children's children are the crown of old men, and the glory of children is their father.
Proverbs 1:8, My son, hear the instruction of your father, and do not forsake the law of your mother;
FATHERS IN 3D
1 - A Father’s Destiny (Purpose)
2 - A Father’s Design
3 - A Father’s Duty
Our responsibility to our Father is to:
Listen to him
Learn from him
Lean on him
Love him

God’s Excellent Ones (Scholars) - Go Beyond

Psalms 16:2-4, O my soul, you have said to the Lord, “You are my Lord, My goodness is nothing apart from You.” As for the saints who are on the earth, “They are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.”
 
Last Sunday, my wife and I recognized some young scholars as part of our church service called, Scholar's Sunday.Patricia had the idea to encourage students and graduates with a special recognition. Once again, we witnessed the power of encouragement. Included among the group of students advancing to higher grades where a high school graduate and a college graduate.
 
I shared a special sermon in their honor, we presented each scholar with certificates of recognition, and enjoyed refreshments afterwards. My wife noted that many students had missed out on in-person recognitions the past two years because of COVID, so this spring was a return to celebrations and commencements.
 
Their response to the recognitions confirmed in importance of empowering, recognizing, and giving words of wisdom to young people. In Psalms 16 God called His people, "Excellent Ones" and said that He delights in them. Excellent comes from the word, "Excel" which means "Go Beyond."
 
Some of the keys I shared to going beyond in commencing and advancing in education included.
 
1. Stand in your space. Earn and demand respect.
2. Commit Yourself to God: Proverbs 16:3 “Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.”
3. Trust the Lord more than your own understanding: Proverbs 3:5-10 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."
4. Work for God, not only for people: Colossians 3:23 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”
5. You were built for purpose: Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
 
Here is a link the entire message and video on Youtube.
 
Let's make it a point to encourage young people as life long learners and scholars. It goes a long way towards motivating them to Go Beyond.
 
God Bless and Be Encouraged!

”The Excellent Ones” - Scholars’ Sunday Message by Bryan Hudson, D.Min.

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Psalms 16:2-4, O my soul, you have said to the Lord, “You are my Lord, My goodness is nothing apart from You.” As for the saints who are on the earth, “They are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.”
Jeremiah 29:11-13, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” 
How to Commence and Advance 
1. Stand in your space. Earn and demand respect
1 Timothy 4:12  “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.”
2. Commit Yourself to God
Proverbs 16:3  “Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.”
3. Trust the Lord more than your own understanding. Honor the Lord
Proverbs 3:5-10  “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.”
4. Work for God, not only for people
Colossians 3:23  “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”
5. You were built for purpose
Ephesians 2:10  “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
2022 Graduates & Scholars
Congratulations!
Your college degree, high school diploma, or passing to a higher grade is evidence of learning.
Your college degree, high school diploma is neither a shortcut in life nor an emblem of privilege. You still have to become skillful in your field and earn the professional respect of people who know and do more than you.
Don’t settle. #GoForward

What Does Change & Transition Look Like? | Firm Foundation Inspiration Minute for June 8, 2022

This Saturday, June 11, I am one of the speakers at a leadership conference online. The link to the event is in this post, join us if you can. The theme is “Change and Transition.” (Conference info here)There are many ways to think about change and transition, but I want to offer an example from David's life. In Psalms 42:3 David spoke of change in the negative. He said: My tears have been my food day and night, While they continually say to me, “Where is your God?” The pain of what he was going through felt like having tears for food day and night. He also said that others mocking him in saying, “Where is your God?”I remember these words from a webinar that I was a part of a couple of years ago. Paul Scanlon said: 
• Change is in inevitable. Transition is intentional.• Change is an event. Transition is a process that we enter into.• Change is unchosen. Change happens to us. Transition is how we respond to change.David did not choose the negative change that happened to him, but his positive response became part of his transition out of the difficulty.He said in Psalms 42:4, When I remember these things, I pour out my soul within me. For I used to go with the multitude; I went with them to the house of God, With the voice of joy and praise, With a multitude that kept a holy feast.David spoke of pouring out his soul within himself, which is a reference to casting his care on the Lord and putting his trust in God. Then he spoke of going into the house of God with others. He understood that transition always involves God, and it also involves others––but not just anybody. David said he would go into the house of God with those who had “The voice of joy and praise."Notice when the negative changed happened to David, 1) he transitioned to a place of focusing on the Lord, 2) connected with encouraging people, and 3) found his voice of joy and praise.Following is a link to my message from Sunday on this topic: How Joy Comes -- Finding Your Voice of Joy & PraiseYour change might be unchosen, but you transition through it by what you decide to do.
God Bless and Be Encouraged!~ Pastor Bryan Hudson, D.Min.

How Joy Comes - Finding Your Voice of Joy

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Psalms 42:1 
1 As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, While they continually say to me, “Where is your God?” 4 When I remember these things, I pour out my soul within me. For I used to go with the multitude; I went with them to the house of God, With the voice of joy and praise, With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast. Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him For the help of His countenance.
Happiness is refreshing like lemonade
The Joy of the Lord is your strength
Joy is a fruit of the Spirit. 
Joy is an artifact.  
Joy is a result of something else.
Joy cannot be manufactured
Joy does not come by song, faith, or prayer
Joy is already present in the hearts of Christ Followers
Joy is a gift
Joy is inevitable (it has to come)
How Does Joy Come?
Joy is revealed through the Holy Spirit
Joy is revealed through favorable circumstances
Joy is revealed through encouraging people and encouraging environments
Philippians 4:4
Rejoice in the Lord always [at all times]. Again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus

Hear, Pay Attention, Create a Standard, and Increase | Firm Foundation Inspiration Minute for June 1, 2022

Mark 4:24 ESV, And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you.
Today, we don't lack information. We are literally flooded with all types of information as well as mis-information (which are inaccurate things), and even dis-information (which are things intended to mislead and deceive). 
One of the keys going forward in life is deciding what and who to pay attention to. Jesus indicated that the measure, or standard of attention, that we use, becomes the determining factor and standard of what we get out of life. When it comes to paying attention to the Lord, this is especially important for getting the most out of your walk with Christ.
We all know what happens when we hear, but don't pay attention. In this season of graduations and academic advancement, we know there is no progress, no good grades, and no graduation, without paying attention to subjects. The measure or standard that a student uses leads to a higher standard of performance. Long ago I realized that students who we call "smart," are people who pay attention and create a high standard for themselves. This is something we can do at any age, in any area of life. 
The reward of hearing, paying attention, and creating a standard for yourself, is living your life at a higher level.
In what ways do you need to go from hearing to paying attention? What measure or standards will you establish for yourself? As Jesus said, the outcome will be, "more will be added to you."

Prisoners of Hope

 
Zechariah 9: 2
Doom is certain for Hamath, near Damascus, and for the cities of Tyre and Sidon, though they are so clever. 11 “ As for you also, Because of the blood of your covenant,  I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.  12 Return to the stronghold, You prisoners of hope. Even today I declare That I will restore double to you. 
Everyone is a prisoner, So you may as well be a Prisoner of Hope.
In a world were many are defined by hopelessness, we are people defined by our hope.
Prisoners of hope never stop seeing the best. Prisoners of hope cannot be bound by prisons of this world or captive circumstances created by people.
Acts 16:24-26 
Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. 25 But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.
Prisoners of hope are believers in Jesus who recognize the limitation in their circumstances, but refuse to be limited in their expectations and actions. We have faith in a God who can do anything.
Too many people look at their circumstances and make the decision that they can do no more, or become no more than what they see. Like Jeremiah, those persons have to learn to “See well.”
Hebrews 6:19 
This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, 20 where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Jesus is our “forerunner,” going first where He expects us to follow.
Hebrews 6:19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, 20 where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
People of hope...
Focus on the promises of God more than focusing on the conditions and circumstances around us
Understand that the world is full of darkness, but know that they are full of light
Keep their love warm even in a cold world
Are not distracted from serving God by the pressures and activities of this world
Have high expectations of good things to come
Follow the example of our father of faith, Abraham, who hoped against hope and fulfilled God’s purpose in his life. Like Paul and Silas
Have hope as a refuge and anchor for our souls. We are steady and steadfast in all conditions because Jesus has already entered the presence of God for us.

No Longer a School Teacher, But an Educator for a Lifetime

This is a very special week in the life of my wife and best friend Patricia Ann Hudson. On yesterday, May 24, she said goodbye to her students for the school year. Every teacher knows that feeling.
 
Not only did she say goodbye to students she has educated since last August, she also said goodbye to a 41 year teaching career at Indianapolis Public Schools.
 
It occurred to me today that while she said goodbye to being a school teacher, I know she will continue to educate at one level or another. Educators are lifelong learners and communicators of knowledge and understanding.
 
This fruitful career was her journey, but Patricia did not travel alone. I was blessed to share in that four decade journey. We met and fell in love when she was an education student at Ball State University. We were married as 22 year olds and began to raise our first child, Michael.
 
Patricia's first teaching assignment was four grade at Henry W. Longfellow Middle School #28. At that time we lived in far Northwest Indianapolis and the school was in Southeast indianapolis. Every day, with one car in the early days, we made that long drive to take Patricia to her school, our son to his grandmother was babysitting, and I went to work. We reversed that journey every week day in the late afternoon.
 
41 years later, we are blessed to have four children, all through college and in careers, and three grandchildren. One of our children, Jonathan, is an educator. Patricia also has hundreds of other children that she has loved and nurtured one year at a time. God has been faithful to her and to our family!
 
The last two weeks have been full of tributes to my wife from educators, friends, family, New Covenant Church family, and students. It's very difficult to find the words to fully express the positive impact she's had on the lives of children and future educators she has mentored.
 
I've shared with family and friends photos and videos of Patricia's career and in person tributes from the past two weeks. These are now memories and a legacy that will live in the hearts of minds of students, many now all grown up, for a lifetime.
 
Well done Patricia and THANK YOU!
 
God Bless and be Encouraged!

Higher Thoughts. Higher Ways. – How Thinking Leads to Good and Tragic Outcomes

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Isaiah 55:8, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.”A lot of things, occasions, and holidays were designed to influence our thinking and actions. • Do you know why the National Anthem is sung at sporting events? 
• Do you know why “In God We Trust” is on our currency?
• Southern Baptist Convention was founded in 1845 in support of slave-owning church members. James Boyce, the SBC seminary’s first president and a slave owner. He was chaplain to the Confederate Army.
• The “Lost Cause” and Confederate Monuments were establish to re-cast Confederate defeat as a moral victory. 1,747 monuments erected to honor defeated Confederate rebels and portray them as heroes, affirming white supremacy.
• Anti-Critical Race Theory actions are another example of influencing thinking. People brand CRT as “Marxist” There is work to “sanitize” (re-write) history and ease “guilty” feelings.Critical Race Theory is an academic concept that is more than 40 years old. The core idea is that race is a social construct, and that racism is not merely the product of individual bias or prejudice, but also something embedded in legal systems and policies. https://alsoacarpenter.com/2021/06/06/crt-commonplaces/2 Peter 1:3, As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.The “knowledge of God” as a relationship opens all kinds of doors.  Things that pertain to “godliness,” come from relationship with God.Some Higher Thoughts (From The Obstacle Is the Way - by Ryan Holiday)
 
1. See the opportunity within your obstacle: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”2. Failure shows us the way—by showing us what isn’t the way. 3. Everything we do matters4. Think progress, not perfection. 5. Can we see that this “problem” presents an opportunity for a solution that we have long been waiting for? 6. Nothing can ever prevent you from trying. Ever.7. We don’t get to choose what happens to us, but we can always choose how we feel about itP8. ersistence is an action. Perseverance is a matter of will. One is energy. The other, endurance. And, of course, they work in conjunction with each other.

Sharpen Your Saw | Firm Foundation Inspiration Minute for May 18, 2022

Have you ever woke up feeling tired? Do you feel tired and tense over all?Ecclesiastes10:10 reads, "If the ax is dull, and one does not sharpen the edge, then he must use more strength; but wisdom brings success." Imagine if you needed to cut wood with an ax or a saw. A dull tool would make that task more difficult and tiring. We know what it is like to use a dull knife in the kitchen, which can be a little dangerous. There was a dialogue between two people that went like this: “How long you been sawing that tree?" "A long time!" "Why don’t you sharpen your saw?" "I’ve been too busy sawing!”Sharpening your saw, resting well, and taking care of yourself, is one of the best things you can do to overcome the feeling of tiredness and tenseness. As Solomon said, "If the ax is dull, then he must use more strength." What we need is the strength of better habits and God's grace helping. We read in Psalms, "He makes me lie down in green pastures." Think about this as an invitation, not something we have to do because of a crisis. As Solomon said, "Wisdom bring success." Sharpen your saw. Some things you can do to help yourself includes getting good rest and developing better habits. For your encouragement, I've included a link to my teaching entitled "Habit: The Faithful Servant - Seven Key Habits"