Archive for Personal
Prayer Requests July 1, 2009
Quite often people will ask me how they can pray for me…which always encourages the heck out of me! Today I wanted to share some things that you can be praying for if you feel led to do so.
#1 - My Walk With Christ!
I have never really struggled with having a quite time…I love to meet with Jesus every morning with a huge cup of coffee, a Bible and a pen. However…the desire of my heart is NOT to meet with Him in the morning but rather to walk with Him all day long! My prayer is that He will continually draw me closer to Himself.
#2 - My Relationship with ‘Cretia!
I desperately want to be a godly husband and not be the man I think she needs me to be…but to be the man Scripture commands me to be. I am praying that I will continually become a better listener and also continue to become intuative in regards to who she needs me to be.
#3 - My Relationship with Charisse!
I have NO IDEA how to be a dad…but I am LOVING the learning process. My prayer is that she will grow up loving Jesus, loving me & ‘Cretia and loving the church.
This past Sunday at our Anderson campus I let her watch people being baptized and I begged God for her salvation and for the privilege to one day baptize her! I want to be the type of dad that she respects and admires…not despises because I was so busy with other people that I neglected who was supposed to be more important.
#4 - My Leadership
God has been BLOWING MY MIND lately with thoughts and ideas. We are coming up on our 10 year anniversary here at NewSpring Church…and there is NO WAY that anyone would have ever predicted what has happened since we began with 15 people in a living room!
SO…if this is what He has done in the first ten years…and to whom much is given much is required…then what does He want out of us over the next 10 years. That thought causes me to be PUMPED UP…and also to pee my pants! I am BEGGING Jesus daily for His wisdom (James 1:5) and would appreciate it as well if you would ask the same for me.
#5 - My Book
Yes, I am writing a book…and it is a little frustrating. I’ve got the best agent in the country (in my opinion), I have publishers who are interested, I have an outline that I believe the Lord has given me and I have a desire to write…
It’s just that I can’t get started for some reason! I am trying like mad to write this thing…and I know that in order to do so I am going to have to make some adjustments to my schedule in order to get it done. I would appreciate the prayers so that I can make all of that happen!
That’s it for now–thanks!
Seven Questions I Am Asking Myself June 26, 2009
Seven questions I am asking myself…
#1 – Am I fully connected to Christ…or am I letting the connection become loose? (John 15:5)
#2 – Am I allowing anything to distract me, thus causing me to become less effective for Christ? (Nehemiah 6:1-4)
#3 – Does Jesus have my whole heart…or am I knowingly holding out on Him? (Matthew 22:36-40, Isaiah 29:13)
#4 – Am I more concerned with what Jesus wants or what others want? (Galatians 1:10)
#5 – What is possible when the church actually becomes obsessed with Jesus and HIS mission and begins to impact the world? (Matthew 16:18, Acts 1:8, Acts 2:41)
#6 – Am I dreaming big dreams…or am I obsessed with maintaining the status quo? (Ephesians 3:20)
#7 – What’s next? (Psalm 119:105)
Thoughts On My Birthday–Part One June 24, 2009
I’m 38 today…and that fact alone has my mind racing…because…I’m actually FEELING it. There is gray hair invading my head, my back is constantly sore and it takes me a lot longer to recover from a long run than it did just three years ago.
I am not sure how you approach birthdays…but this thought has hit me more than once this week, “I have most likely lived over half of my life. I seriously doubt I will make it to 74…so what adjustments will I need to make to have a strong second half and finish the game well?”
(BTW…Scripture says in Psalm 90:12 that we should number our days. For me this activity was not depressing. I refuse to ignore the obvious…that one day I will take a dirt nap and leave this place…that will happen and I cannot control it; however, I can control how I live until that point!)
#1 – I want to relentlessly pursue Jesus…and continually surrender to the fact that He is pursuing me.
I don’t want Jesus to be my hobby…or someone to help me get chills and feel emotional…
I want to be obsessed with Him! Obsessed…someone who is obsessed with Christ can’t quit talking about Him…will obey Him the first time He commands…continually understands His position in the universe as the Most High God and is willing to do WHATEVER He asks…WHENEVER He asks it.
#2 – I want to love Lucretia like Christ loves His church.
I have been thinking so much about Ephesians 5:25-33 lately. I want…
- To give myself up for her…
- To speak words to her that affirm her and leave her radiant
- Love her as I love myself
- Continually understand that we are one, we are in this together, we are a team!
- Be a man that she doesn’t have to work very hard to respect.
She is my wife…my best friend and the one God has called me to spend the rest of my life with. I don’t want her to ever have to guess whether or not I love her…I want her to know it!
#3 – To Be A Godly Father to My Little Girl.
She turns two on Saturday…TWO…where in the heck did those two years go?
I am realizing more and more that a call to parenthood is ALSO a calling to discipleship. (Deuteronomy 6:4-8.) I cannot pass off this responsibility to church or Lucretia…I MUST lead this charge.
AND…it is IMPOSSIBLE to disciple someone if I am not spending time with them.
I want her to have my very best…not my leftovers. I want to communicate to her through the way I spend my time with her that she is valued and not a burden.
I don’t want to use the lame line, “I show her I love her by providing for her.” Paychecks and purchases will not replace me tucking her into bed every night and singing “Amazing Grace” to her. (BTW…that’s her favorite song!)
She is my little girl…she always will be…and I want to love her with everything I’ve got…thus making it nearly impossible for some young punk to come along and steal her heart!
(I will let her date when she is 14; however, she cannot use toothpaste, soap or deodorant until she is 30!)
Dead Snakes And Screaming Like A Girl! June 22, 2009
Yesterday morning I went for a run and was on the last couple of miles when, well, something happened to me that I am REALLY glad wasn’t caught on camera!
I was in stride, had my ipod blaring and was enjoying the breeze while running up a hill. I happened to look down and my left foot was about to come down right on top of a snake.
(News flash…I hate snakes…they are freakin scary! In the Bible they are associated with satan so I think I have Biblical grounds to despise them!!!)
I screamed…out loud…like a girl! AND…I jumped up and down for a second before gaining composure. (I hate snakes as much as I hate spiders!) This thing had just about scared the crap out of me and made me look foolish…and I may have said something I needed to ask forgiveness for…
AND…I felt REALLY stupid when I discovered that it was dead! (This seriously would have made an excellent youtube video!)
As I continued my run I began thinking, “that’s the way that we, as Christians, respond to satan at times. He’s basically a ‘dead snake’ that has been robbed of the power he once had…and yet we choose to scream and dance around him because we perceive he can destroy us.”
I know this is true for me…I allow “a dead snake” to control me at times through fear of man, fear of uncertainty and fear of being disliked. (All of which come from the enemy!)
YET…the Bible tells me that The Most High God has put HIS Holy Spirit inside of me and has empowered me to live a life of victory! (Ephesians 1:13-14, II Peter 1:3, I Corinthians 15:55-57)
If we would spend more time focusing on who Jesus is and what He has done (I Corinthians 15:3-6) rather than fearing the one who will one day be ultimately destroyed (Revelation 20:10) I believe we, as followers of Jesus, would become unstoppable.
God’s Word is clear that no weapon formed against us will prevail. (Isaiah 54:17) However, I know my problem many times has been I fear the one who has been stripped of his power rather than the One who holds ALL power.
I am not sure who this post was written for…my guess is for me because it is SO tempting to allow the enemy to cause me to fear at times; however, Scripture says in I John 4:4 that the One who is in us is GREATER than the one who is in the world.
Let’s keep fixing our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-2) and stop letting “a dead snake” control what we think and how we act!
Two Facts About Spiritual Warfare–Part Two June 10, 2009
Continuing from yesterday’s thought…
#2 - The Enemy Will Always Come After The Leaders Family
Once again, take a look at I Samuel 31:1-3…and notice that the enemy first killed Saul’s sons before they got to him!
DANG!
Church leader…here is a fact…the enemy IS coming after your marriage!
- He wants you to take it for granted.
- He wants you to believe that God will make up the difference if you will just keep on ignoring your family.
- He wants you to have high expectation from them…but have them not expect anything from you.
- He wants you be completely spiritual at the church…but never really mention Jesus at home.
- He wants you to invest time in developing a great ministry…but invest ZERO time in establishing a great vision for your marriage.
AND…trust me…he WILL come after your spouse!
I can’t tell you the number of nights that Lucretia has had nighmares and cannot sleep. (Not to mention a variety of health issues she has dealt with in the past three years!) Your spouse is a target…and that is why we must LOVE THEM and LEAD THEM through this minefield! If we think our spouse is immune to this we are idiots! When we are married the two become one…period!
Question…what steps are you taking to SHOW your spouse that they are important to you…and you will do whatever it takes to love and protect them. (Date nights, back rubs with NO strings attached, conversations about what they are reading in Scripture, etc.)
AND…church leaders…the enemy is coming after your kids…
UNFORTUNATELY many pastors kids become “wild as hell” because he spends all of his time looking after every kid in the church except his own. (And when his kid does go crazy the church fires him because he is not leading his family well!!!)
My NUMBER ONE discipleship responsibility is Charisse! Yet the enemy will tempt me with…
- You’re tired…you can play with her tomorrow.
- Vacation time is coming, you can spend time with her then.
- You don’t understand her now…but when she gets older you will.
I could go on and on…but the reality is that she is a target…and I MUST do all that I can to protect her…not only as her pastor but as her father.
She’s only one (two on the 27th)…but we pray together every night! We have a date every Saturday morning. We read the Bible together (her favorite story is Jonah). I sing to her every night (her favorite song is “Amazing Grace!”)
Pastors…we MUST take our children seriously…the enemy does!!! He IS coming after them…and so we must raise them to love Jesus and walk in victory…and then they can grow up and kick satan in the nuts…just like we did!!!
Gary June 8, 2009
I’ve received quite a few calls/texts/emails about Gary Lamb and the news that was announced concerning him at Revolution Church yesterday…so let me be very clear about a few things…
I love Gary…he is my friend…Proverbs 17:17 says that a friend loves at ALL times–period. I will not be turning my back on him because he sinned. (I sort of think that is the way Jesus would want us to treat people…since He treats us the same way…unless we fail to repent, which is another issue.)
I, along with several other members on the board of Revolution Church, are in the process of putting together a process in which he will be able to be restored to the body of believers and we would all very much appreciate your prayers. (Galatians 6:1-2) Our goal as a board is NOT to beat him down…but to come along side of him and help pick him back up.
If you are one of those freakin idiots who halo is usually so tight that it causes you to lavish in your personal holiness and you want to throw rocks at him…just remember that it is BY GOD’S GRACE that you and I didn’t sin in the same way!!! And…if you are actually delighting in the fact that he sinned…I would say get used to the heat because hell is hot!!!
The best way to pray for Gary right now is for him to completely repent and seek the Lord with all of his heart. He has a long road ahead of him…he knows it and has communicated with me that he wants to do whatever it takes to make things right.
Yes, God is full of grace. Yes, God has forgiven Gary, but sin always brings about consequences. Saying that…please be in prayer for his wife, his children and the church that he served.
And pastors…church leaders…please don’t get mad at Gary about this but rather allow this tragedy to cause you to look in the mirror and ask yourself, “is there anything going on in my private life that, if it became public, would disqualify me from ministry?” Things like this should not cause us to force others away from the cross…but rather they should cause us to hold on to it tighter than we ever have!
Two Questions That Dominate Our Thinking… June 3, 2009
…and can ULTIMATELY destroy our walk with Jesus and what He wants to do in us.
I know that is a huge statement…but it’s true!
In my nearly 20 years of ministry (and almost 38 of life) I have seen these questions change people for the worse…heck…they’ve changed me for the worse many times…
They are…
#1 - What will people say about me?
#2 - What will people think about me?
Yep…being obsessed with what others say and think is one of the quickest ways to take our eyes off of Jesus!
Paul wrote in Galatians 1:10 that if we are trying to please others then we can’t be Jesus’ servant. And…we’re either serving “them” or serving “Him!”
Proverbs 29:25 says that fear of man is a snare…something that captures us (usually for the purpose of eventually destroying us!)
As followers of Jesus our mind and heart must be fixed on Him (Colossians 3:1-2)…which ISN’T EASY because so many times the voice of the crowd seems to trump the voice of Christ.
Truth be known…ALL of us want people to like us!
ALL of us want people to say nice things about us!
ALL of us want people, when they think of us, to have nice thoughts!
I would dare say that NO ONE woke up today thinking, “I REALLY hope people hate me today!”
And I would say there is nothing wrong with the things listed above…UNLESS we allow them to interfere with what Jesus wants for our lives.
When we trade in being obedient to Jesus for being liked by others…we break the first two commands and are on a pretty good pace to shatter the next eight!
I am praying personally that the question that will dominate my life is, “What now Jesus…” and when He answers that I will recklessly pursue all that He wants for me with no regards for anything except for pleasing Him!!! I am not there yet…but it is what I am striving for…and the closer I get the more freedom I feel to live and lead as He has called me to!!!