Archive for July, 2010
How To Make Sure You Destroy Your Marriage With An Affair! July 29, 2010
#1 – Take absolutely ZERO responsibility for the current condition of your marriage. Blame everything on your spouse and make sure that you tell only the side of the story to your friends that makes you look good so that they will side with you.
#2 – Speaking of your friends…make sure to surround yourself with people who tell you what you WANT to hear rather than what you NEED to hear. And if someone calls you out then you’ve GOT to accuse them of turning their back on you!
#3 – Think about having the affair A LOT…think about the other person all of the time and how much fun it would be to be with them. AND make sure not to EVER confess to your friends that you are struggling in your thought life…completely ignore II Corinthians 10:5!
#4 – Make sure you know all of the verse in the Bible that talk about the grace of God…but also to make sure to completely ignore the ones that command you to repent.
#5 – You’ve GOT to believe that you will be the exception, that there will be zero consequences, that your reputation will not be harmed, that your children will not be impacted and that God’s Kingdom will not receive another black eye.
#6 – Drop hints and flirt with the intended target of your affair…you must put all of your energy in pursuing the other person instead of trying as hard as you can to reconcile and make things right with your spouse. AND dismiss online flirting and provocative talk as “innocent” and “harmless!”
#7 – Believe the lie that when you get with “that other person” that life will be everything that you hoped it would be…that they will always be perfect and obey your every word and command. The grass may indeed be greener on the other side…but only because it happens to be over the septic tank!
Why I Believe You Can Do Exactly What God Has Called You To Do! July 28, 2010
I believe you can do exactly what God has called you to do!
We serve a God who is a MASTER at calling those who are not “qualified” to do things that seem “impossible!”
I believe that when a person becomes obsessed with the character of God by reading the Word of God and then gets empowered by the Spirit of God…that person is unstoppable and his/her potential is unlimited as long as they will dare to continually follow Jesus and refuse to play it safe! (See Zechariah 4:6-7)
(A quick note on this…you’ve GOT to make sure you’ve heard from God and are not simply getting ready to do something and then begging Him to work!)
I believe God puts dreams and visions in our hearts that are so HUGE that it causes great desperation for HIM and HIS power…thus leading to the world seeing what HE can do through us rather than what we can do “for Him!” (The bigger the revelation the greater the desperation!)
I believe we are all GIFTED to make an impact on the world and NOT simply sit and watch it pass us by.
I believe we are ALL EMPOWERED to make a difference…that fear and timidity does not come from Him, but the power and discipline to execute what He has called us to does. (II Timothy 1:7)
I believe that YOU are NOT an accident…that He created you with a divine design in mind…that His plans for your life are GREATER than you could imagine, and that by surrendering to HIS plans is the GREATEST freedom on the planet.
I believe that they KEY to discovering what it is that God wants for us is found in Proverbs 3:5-6, that we’ve got to trust Him with EVERYTHING…and if we “hold out on Him” we are actually holding out on ourselves.
I believe God’s plan for your life will not always be easy…but He will always be with you. (Isaiah 43:1-3)
So…what is it that God is calling you to do? OR…put another way, “What would you be willing to attempt for God if you knew you could not fail?” (I blogged about that here!)
Life is short…we should get to the end of it with NO REGRETS…so…GO FOR IT!!!
10 Reasons Why I Believe Leaders Flame Out! July 27, 2010
#1 – They feel like have something to prove…and so instead of becoming obsessed with God’s greatness they become obsessed with their own.
#2 – They have a hard time accepting Gods grace…thus throwing themselves into an achievement based mentality. They think the more they accomplish the more God loves them – despite what is written in Ephesians 2:8-9
#3 – They feel like rest is sin…despite the LONGEST command in the 10 commandments being the one on rest! (Leaders…Isaiah 30:15…READ IT NOW!!!)
#4 – They do not trust the leaders around them…thus they feel like they need to do it all. (We were not called to do life and ministry alone!)
#5 – They are unwilling to ask for help…thinking that doing so is a sign of weakness, when in actuality it is a sign of strength!
#6 – They fear man way more than they fear God…thus becoming obsessed with “their” expectations rather than HIS! (SEE Proverbs 29:25)
#7 – An unwillingness to repent of sin…instead of doing so they become obsessed with pointing out the sins of others!
#8 – They do not allow their identity to be established in Christ but rather in how many people they having attending/giving to their church/ministry.
#9 – They refuse to care for their own family and begin to recite the ridiculously stupid phrase, “I take care of the church and God will take care of my family.” Dude…the church is HIS bride, not yours!!!
#10 – They get consumed with fighting the wrong battles. Christian leaders fight over the most ridiculous things…and doing so ALWAYS drains the life out of them! We should fight for what Jesus fought for–period–and leave the rest alone.
Do We Want Comfort or Christ? July 26, 2010
I woke Charisse up from her nap the other day and asked her, “can daddy have a hug?”
“Nope,” she said.
“What,” I asked, “you are not going to give daddy a hug?”
“No-sir-ree” she replied.
“Why not,” I asked.
“Because to give you a hug I would have to get out from under my blanket and I am comfortable right now…so you’re going to have to wait,” she said.
I had this thought a few seconds later…I wonder how many times I’ve done the exact same thing to God.
He calls me to Him and I refuse to move because, well, I am comfortable…and moving would cause me to have to live out Luke 9:23-25. I can remember one of THE most uncomfortable things HE ever commanded me to do was start NewSpring Church!
- It did not make sense…
- It did not work out financially on paper…
- I had ZERO experience…
- I was 28 years old…
- I was engaged to be married and didn’t want us to start our marriage off homeless…
The list of reasons could go on and on…yet in my heart I knew that He was calling me to an uncomfortable step in order to conform me more and more to Himself.
So…quick question, what is it that He is calling you to lay aside that is a “comfort” for you in order that you may move closer to Him?
As my friend Pete said a few weeks ago…God has NEVER asked any of us to do anything that is easy! However, laying aside our comforts and taking up the cross He leads us to take ALWAYS leads to a victory that we could never even imagine.
Sunday Night Reflections… July 25, 2010
A few thoughts on a GREAT day at NewSpring Church…
- I had a BLAST today…our live Q & A was better than we anticipated!
- Most common asked questions had to to do with drinking alcohol, tattoos, inter-racial dating/marriage and homosexuality…AND predestination…WHAT a COMBO!
- In the 9:15 and 11:15 service I mentioned Carlos Whitaker’s tattoo…here is his website…he seriously has the best tat I’ve ever seen! (Hey LOS…why don’t you post a picture of it for us???)
- AND…in every service a question was asked in regards to God’s love…more specifically how does He love us if we continually do bad things – Romans 8:38-39 BLOWS ME AWAY every time I read it.
- We saw LOTS of salvations…and, as always, that NEVER gets old!
- One of the things that amazes me is how POWERFUL the WORD of GOD is…questions being asked today were answered THOUSANDS of years ago by a God who desperately wants us to know HIS ways…most often way more than we actually want to know them!
- Next week’s service…I cannot wait…seriously, I think it is going to be one of “those services” that we NEVER forget!
- Tomorrow we leave with 33 charter buses for Daytona Beach for our Youth Summer Camp…we are praying for and expecting HUGE things!
- People are STILL buzzing about the vision event we had at NewSpring on Thursday night…it seriously was one of the most electric environments I’ve EVER SEEN in my life.
- We begin “I Love The 80′s” in two weeks…I will start the whole thing off my rapping, “Ice, Ice Baby!”
- OK…I got a little excited…I will not be rapping!
- I really do love my church…and can’t WAIT to see what happens next!
Uh…one more thing…
Today we had something take place that has NEVER happened before on one of our campuses.
At the 11:15 service at our Anderson campus the engine to a Ford F-150 caught on fire…and, because it was windy this afternoon, the fire spread to other cars. Long story short…five cars were pretty much destroyed and six others were damaged. (A reporter asked me after the service if I had preached on hell, fire and brimstone!)
Several things to note…
#1 – No one was injured! The fire took place in the back section of one of our parking lots while the service was going on.
#2 – The local fire department was AWESOME…these guys responded in a matter of minutes and were able to quickly get the situation under control.
#3 – Our staff and volunteers were awesome as well and made sure everyone whose car had been destroyed and damaged were informed and taken care of.
#4 – Everyone I spoke to after the service whose car had been messed up had an amazing attitude! One lady literally told me, “Well, I have been asking God for a new car…He sure does answer in unique ways!”
#5 – It was one guys FIRST visit to NewSpring Church…wow…I hope he comes back!
Seriously…I am SO GLAD no one was hurt!!!
Have a GREAT WEEK…and once again please keep our youth group in prayer as we are at the beach this week…trust me, you will DEFINITELY be able to tell next week that God did something AMAZING!
Quick Thought On Politics And Leadership July 23, 2010
Show me a politician who genuinely cares more about the people that he/she leads rather than their own political careers and I will show you a difference maker…AND one who will get my vote.
The same can be said for leaders in the church…the difference makers are the ones who care more about the people they lead than they do themselves.
If people ever become a “hindrance” and a “bother” then we’ve lost our focus.
Just a quick thought I wanted to share since the elections are coming upon us!
12 Things Leaders Need To Realize July 22, 2010
It seems to be a week of lists…so I will keep on going! :-)
#1 – As long as we are listening to God…we will always have a word to speak! STOP worrying about the sermon!
#2 – Without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please Him…and it takes faith to make adjustments that He leads us to make, both personally and in the church. (Hebrews 11:6)
#3 – He saved us, called us and PROMISED to never leave us! HE IS WITH YOU…RIGHT NOW…TODAY (see Jeremiah 46:28!) If He is with us…what do we have to fear.
#4 – We should find our identity in Christ and NOT in our ministry! HE called, equipped and will sustain us!
#5 – NOTHING is too hard for Him (Jeremiah 32:27)
#6 – We should STRIVE to be the person that Isaiah 66:2 describes!!!
#7 – We should learn to rest and catch our breath instead of being compulsive and controlling…for in resting in Him our strength is renewed! (See Isaiah 30:15)
#8 – We’ve got to learn to follow the model of Jesus when we are unjustly attacked and criticized. (See I Peter 2:21-24!)
#9 – We’ve GOT to learn to receive the grace we so often tell others about…but secretly have a hard time receiving for ourselves. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
#10 – We’ve got to stop listening to the voices in our heads that are telling us that we suck, are no good and will never amount to anything! (Romans 8:1, II Corinthians 10:5)
#11 – We’ve GOT to keep going back to Joshua 1:9
#12 – We’ve GOT to have people around us who WILL speak TRUTH into our lives…even if it hurts. (Proverbs 27:6) We can’t listen to EVERYBODY…but if we listen to NOBODY then we (and the people we lead) are in trouble!