Purpose Driven Summit ‘08

 

I have really been soaking up what some of my favorite pastors and authors have been saying about the topics discussed at the Purpose Driven Summit ‘08 held at Saddleback Church in California.  I’ve been doing some HEAVY praying and scripture reading lately, trying to seek God about some things I see coming down the pike.  Even pastors need someone to speak into their life.  Over the next few days, I’m going to share with you the notes I have gathered from those that attended this conference.  I know they’ll encourage and help you just as much as they have me. 

 

If you want to check out the list of speakers, just CLICK HERE….Enjoy!

Spiritual Glasses

Vision is so important, even for those who are not involved in leadership.  Whether or not you know it, you have dreamt of the vision of your life before.  Without a vision, the Bible says you will perish.  God has been speaking to me about vision in a particular area of my life.  It gets me so pumped up when I begin  to hear what plans God has for me.  His plans are ALWAYS much greater than anything I can plan for myself.  The same is true for you too!

 

Now, I understand that life and other people who don’t believe in your vision have a way of kicking the vision right out of you.  Maybe, because of your circumstances, some of your dreams may be out of reach.  But here’s the thing you need to remember.  GOD HAS PLANS FOR YOU!  Plans to prosper you, to give you a hope, AND A FUTURE!  The best really is right ahead. 

 

The enemy would LOVE for you to give up, quit fighting, accept the status quo.  But God has made to for the battle.  He’s got your head covered with the helmet of salvation.  He’s given you the breastplate fo righteousness…you didn’t earn it, it was a gift!  He’s equipped you with the belt of truth.  He’s got your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.  He’s given you the sword of the spirit and the shield of faith (WHEREWITH YOU SHALL QUINCH ALL THE FIERY DARTS OF THE WICKED ONE!).  YOU WERE MADE FOR THE BATTLE!!!!

 

Every man or woman needs to know what they’re fighting for.  If you don’t have a vision today, begin to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal it to you.  Your life is STILL worth something…and the value of it is more than you have ever dreamed.

Learning To Shift Gears

 

I remember when I was a young boy on a farm learning how to drive a stick shift Chevy pickup.  Learning to corrdinate the clutch, brake, and gas proved to be pretty difficult at first.  I remember really reving up the engine to an outrageously loud roar before I would pop my foot off of the clutch only to kill the engine.

 

When it comes to shifting moments in life, it’s hard to be able to discern how hard to press ahead and  when to make the change.  The problem is, if I don’t press ahead hard enough, I may not gain the momentum necessary to take me to the next level.  If I press too hard, but put off making the actual change that is needed, frustration and stress could build to the point that my engine (my mind and body) give out.

 

Some people like to live life in 1st gear.  It’s slow.  It doesn’t require you to make any changes along the way.  But the problem with living life in granny-low is that it drastically slows you down and can keep you from getting to your life’s destination and purpose. 

 

If we’re going to be the people God created us to be, we need to realize that change is inevitable when new levels are desired to be reached.  Structures have to change.  Methods have to change.  Intellegence and work have to change.  Sometimes the very thing that took you into 2nd gear can be the very thing that hinders you from getting to 3rd gear.  How long has it been since you’ve had to implement change in your life just to shift into the next level?

 

Some hate to shift gears because of fear of the unknown.  Will I lose control?  Will I lose all of the momentum I had before if I can’t handle the next gear?  But God hasn’t given you the spirit of fear!  His Spirit can teach you how hard to press forward in life and when the appropriate time has come to initiate the shift needed.  Don’t be scared of change in your life.  It’s not intended to be a setback, but it is to help propel you into your next level!

God’s Army–Part 3

Endurance, Focus, Action, and Communication are all vital parts to being a part of this army.  They don’t come easy, and people aren’t born with it.  It takes work.  And so do the final two characteristics of a soldier in God’s Kingdom. 

 

#5 Education–2 Timothy 2:15 says, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”  People have REALLY ridden this horse into the ground when they make comments like, “I ain’t had no book learnin’ and don’t need none fer God to speak to me.”  No, you don’t need education for God to speak to you, but you need education if you plan on speaking to others about God’s Word.  Sometimes this can come through schooling, but the best education you can get is when you spend daily time in God’s Word and in books written by Godly men and women that have also been spending time with Him. 

 

Also, in the realm of education, stick to the stuff that really matters.  I’ve spent countless hours sitting in religious classes where people argued over the most pointless questions or issues.  Knowledge is not the end of a pursuit, but a tool used to draw more to the foot of the cross of Christ.

 

#6 Mentor–Mentoring is part of God’s design for the body of Christ.  Jesus showed us this through his relationships with his disciples. 

• FIND A MENTOR–It’s important to find someone that is where you want to be.  Watch them carefully from a distance first as you can measure things such as faithfulness.  A mentor is someone that will be pouring into you.  You want to make sure they’re full of the right stuff before you let them begin pouring into you.
• BE A MENTOR–It’s also important to be a mentor.  This means 1)  You need to live life worthy of such a position.  Being a pastor, or a mentor, for so many people have kept me from getting involved in sin that I would have otherwise given in to.  But because I knew that my fall would not just effect me, but all those who looked to me as a spiritual example, I chose righteousness.  2)  It helps give you purpose.  Everyone needs to feel that they have a place, a purpose, a reason for being.  Teach what you know.  Others are not on the level you are on yet, and they need someone to show them the way!

These qualities would all fall under the category of “discipline”.  That means it doesn’t come naturally.  But if you want to live in the SUPER-NATRUAL power of Christ, you must learn to work at each of these.  They will help you become the warrior Christ needs and designed you to be.

God’s Army–Part 2

#2 Action–A good soldier in God’s army realizes that talk is cheap.  The battle doesn’t belong to the guy that stays in the foxhole begging the enemy to cease fire.  Battles are won by the men that clench their weapon tightly (the Bible), swallow hard (put all fear behind), and go screaming like a banshee towards the enemy and take some ground (no embelleshment needed here)!

 

2 Timothy 2:5-6 says “if a man also competes in athletics, yet is he not crowned, except he competes.  The farmer that laboureth must be first partaker of the crops.”  Translation:  If you don’t fight, you don’t win.

#3  Communication–This characteristic of a good soldier in God’s army works two ways.

• Vertical Communication–You have to be on speaking terms daily with your commanding officer.  The Holy Spirit will warn you of the enemy’s movement.  He will tell you your strategy, speak to your heart to stir up your courage, and even get onto you when you’re not lining up or living up to be all you can be.
• Horizontal Communication–Here’s where the best directions from the commander can fall through the cracks.  Communicating the orders to those on your team is VITALLY IMPORTANT!  Sometimes, the hardest thing to do, is to share God’s Word with others with the same love, passion, zeal, and urgency that God revealed to you.  If God revealed a truth in his word to you, then He trusts that you will teach this to others using the personality he’s given you.  Communicate with others the best that you can.  Share it in a way that others will receive it and be encouraged to action!

God has an army and he wants YOU to be a part of it.  Endurance, focus, action, and communication are all important parts of being a good soldier in this army.  Next week, I’ll share the final two vital characteristics of a good soldier.  Have a great weekend, and may God visit your services in a powerful way!

God’s Army–Part 1

  There are several places in God’s Word where we are encouraged to be like soldier, to fight a good fight, etc.  This warrior-like metaphor raises some key points that we need to grasp so that we can be who God designed us to be.  Over the next few posts, I’m going to talk about 6 characteristics of a good soldier in God’s Army.

 

#1.  Endurance–Our life will be filled with various battles to fight.  Just because we win one battle, doesn’t mean that there isn’t another ambush by the enemy waiting just over the other side of this mountain top.  You may not win every battle, but our goal is to win the war. 

 

2 Timothy 2:3 tells us to “endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ”.  We know the attack is coming.  The question is, will you quickly surrender to the accusations, the gossip, the temptation?  Or will you endure this hardship with the heart that screams, “IT IS A JOY TO PARTAKE IN THE SUFFERINGS OF MY LORD!” 

 

To truly endure, you must be willing to answer this question:  “Is what I’m fighting for worth it?”  This takes us to our next quality of a soldier in God’s Army…

 

#2 Focus–In this war, it is easy to lose sight of what it is that we are fighting for.  Nothing other than fighting for the King of Kings is worth all of the opposition you will face as a Christian.  We’re fighting for a King that notices every time you do something in his name for another person.  He keeps record of every time you could have sinned and chose not to sin.  He is a God that rewards greatly in the end!

 

However, if we lose sight of the ends, our means will soon begin to deteriorate.  Soon, we will begin to cower under the strong fire of the enemy.  We’ll begin living life less like warriors and more like wimps.  If we lose our focus, it won’t be long before going AWOL appears very enticing. 

 

2 Timothy 2:4 says “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.”

 

It is every man’s desire to fight for a cause that is greater than himself.  God is literally trying to save the world and He has invited you to be a part of it!  It’s the greatest adventure of all time!!!  If you can endure the hardships and stay focused on the vision of winning the world for Christ, you will be well on your way to being a valuable solider in God’s Army.

 

Keep watching for more posts on this topic.

UNCOMFORTABLE!

  Marilyn is in the home stretch of her pregnancy.  Only about 8 weeks left until she’s full term (Praise God!).  At this point, I’ve read that the baby is increasing at a dramatic rate….the brain is becoming more complex and weight gain is about a half an ounce a day!  Just between me and you blog readers out there, she’s getting VERY UNCOMFORTABLE!  And when she gets uncomfortable, she gets grouchy.  Josiah likes to say, “Mommy wike a bear!”.  She’s getting really impatient and ready to give birth.

 

To be honest, what Marilyn is going through physically, I’m going through spiritually.  God has given me some promises, and given me glimpses into the next phase of the ministry.  I’m SO PUMPED about what the future holds, but until then I feel stuck….waiting on that part to arrive.  And it becomes so easy to get discouraged and sometimes even angry when I’m so uncomfortable.

 

I’ll soon give birth to that ministry God placed on the inside of me, but God doesn’t want to deliver it prematurely.  Only after it is fully developed and I’m fully ready will God give me the green light.  Until then, I’ve just got to deal with the uncomfortableness, try not to freak out when I don’t see things happening, and just trust that the work that God has began in me will be completed.

 

So how about it?  Are any of you feeling the same thing spiritually?  How are you handling it?  Please leave me a comment…I’m sure it will be more help than lamaze class!

Learning To Serve A Smaller Crowd For Bigger Impact

  When I try to summarize the main thing God has been trying to teach me lately, the title of this blog entry says it all.  When you know that you’re called to do big things for God with your life, it becomes easier to focus solely on what lies ahead.  This tends to build frustration, disappointment, and sometimes flat out anger when you take a look at your current situation and realize it’s nothing close to what you want.

 

Satan loves to trap us into an abyss of hopelessness.  He wants you to believe that you’ll never get to see what God has promised you.  But if Satan’s talking, YOU CAN KNOW HE’S LYING! 

 

Be reminded of Peter…Christ had called him out to where no man had ever walked before–the water.  Peter was making history until he began to get his eyes on his current situation and off of Christ.  Have you allowed yourself to stop looking at the Son of God? 

 

God has been teaching me to serve a smaller crowd for a bigger impact.  The crowd is much smaller than you may think…I serve an audience of ONE.  I am where I am, I do what I do, because God has seen fit to use me in such a manner.  When He changes the plan, He’ll let me know.  HE will open the door.  Until then, and forever more, I will be honored AND JOYFUL to serve my AUDIENCE OF ONE!

Knowing How To Answer

  I woke up early this morning and heard the Lord whisper to my heart, “If you listen closely, I’ll teach you something that will save you YEARS of experience.”  Well, obviously God had my attention.  I’m the type of guy that if I could learn from others to keep myself from a long, hard road, then I’m all ears…ESPECIALLY if that other person is God!

 

He took me to Acts 4:20.

“For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”

 

A short verse, but it’s packed full of truth and wisdom.  Someone called me the other day to ask me a question concerning what the Bible had to say about a certain topic.  If I were to mention what the topic was, more than likely, you would have a strong opinion about it.  That’s because we are so often conditioned to believe we should always have an answer for things.  However on this particular topic, as on many others, I have stopped just going by what I have been told.  At some point, we have to stop living out of the doctrine we’ve accumulated from other people!

 

Instead of giving this person a flat out answer, “Yes, this is biblical” or “No, this is not biblical”, I answered like this:  “Well, I was just this past week wondering that same question.  There is a pastor named ______ that talked in depth about that topic.  You might go listen to him on that subject.  Also, go and read what Paul and Timothy each had to say about it, but make sure that you also look at the situational and cultural context before coming to a conclusion.”

Now to some of you, that may have sounded like I was running for President and was trying to side-step the question.  However, I’m a firm believer in Acts 4:20.  I cannot answer anyone unless I have first experienced something OR been given a revelation of that thing by the Holy Spirit.  And plus, I wouldn’t be doing anyone any favors, or be helping them to mature spiritually if I could not show them in the Word of God where the answer to their question is.

 

This will require you to sacrifice on two parts:

1. Your Pride.  You must be willing to speak only what God speaks.  Not your opinion, not what you heard someone else say.  Understand that true wisdom is from heaven.  Everything else is just worldly babble.
2. Your Reputation.  God’s Word is not always easy to swallow.  Sometimes the things God asks you to say will scare you to death!  But if God wants to say something, and you KNOW he has given you the right spirit and insight to speak, then speak!  Your reputation is one of those things you must be willing to lay down, as you put on and wear the name of Christ.  But remember, it is now his reputation that you either help glorify or disgrace.

So spend time in prayer and study.  Be educated in God’s Word.  Submit more and more to the Holy Spirit and let His fruit become more and more evident in your life.  THEN, you’ll know how to answer!

Roosters and Reminders

Luke 22:61-61says:

“And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, ‘Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.’  And Peter went out and wept bitterly.”

 

Why did Jesus even bother to tell Peter that he was going to deny that he knew Jesus?

• To prove the vastness of His love.  If I give my love to someone only with the hope that they will in turn honor me, love me, and be faithful to me, I have just given them conditional love…A love that lasts only so long as certain conditions are met.  Jesus wanted Peter to see that his love was unconditional.  Peter didn’t have to prove anything, say the right words, or live a certain way to earn the love of the Son of God…AND NEITHER DO YOU!!!  He loves you just because you ARE you.

Why did Peter weep bitterly?

• Love like Christ has for you and me does not come from too many places.  At the moment the rooster crowed and Jesus looked into Peter’s eyes, Peter understood this love at a deeper level than he ever had before. 
• Jesus knew Peter would be tempted.  Even after telling him this, Jesus gave Peter two chances to prepare himself for the test.  In Luke 22:40,46 he told Peter to pray to avoid temptation.
• At this point in my life, it’s Christ’s love for me, not the threat of punishment, that keeps me living right.  I just don’t want to let Him down.  But if, and when I do, I know that unconditional love will be right there wating on me!

 

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!!