Which Chair Do You In?

I want to begin by recommending a book for you to read, "30 Days to Experiencing Spiritual Breakthroughs" by Bruce Wilkinson.

In this book he brings up in the book three types of chairs to describe our relationship with God.

The First Chair stands for Commitment. The person sitting in this chair has chosen to wholly love and serve God.

The Second Chair stands for Compromise. The person sitting in this chair has chosen to try to get for themselves the best that both God and the world have to offer.

The Third Chair stands for Conflict. The person sitting in this chair has chosen not to respond to God in any meaningful way, remaining at odds with eternal spiritual realities.

Let's look at the Third Chair first. God is trying to get our attention each and every minute of the day. I believe He uses the shows we watch, the music we listen to and the people we hang with to talk to us. Of course the number one way He talks to us is through the pages of the Bible. Having said that if a person is not reading the Bible then God has to use other methods to get their attention.

The person sitting in the Third Chair might seem to be doing okay but they are constantly facing conflict. God is trying to get their attention through the movies they watch, the music they listen to and the people they hang with. Usually the movies are not edifying or encouraging, the music they listen to are usually not a positive message and the people they hang with often are heavy drinkers, drug addicts or involved in illegal activities. As a result their life is full of conflict.

Now the person in the Second Chair attends Church now and then come Monday they fall back into their old ways. They look good one day and then the rest of the week they have to try to cover up how often they have their hand in the world's cookie jar. I call this person a CINO, Christian In Name Only.

I am going to focus the rest of this post on the person sitting in the First Chair which actually is made up of three different types of chairs.

There is the Easy Chair, the Straight Back Chair and the Stool.

The Easy Chair: The person sitting in this chair is a Christian but they are comfortable where they are. They do not see any reason to continue to grow and they believe they have overcome the world.

The Straight Back Chair: The person sitting in this chair is moving from being a Christian to becoming a Follower of Jesus. They often see that they need to make some changes and seek help in changing the things they struggle with.

The Stool: The person sitting on this chair has decided to commit their entire life to living a godly life. They are not always perfect but they every now and then they achieve perfection as described by Jesus in Sermon on the Mound found in Matthew. The Stool actually can be one of three different types.

The first stool represents the majority of Followers of Jesus. They are committed to Him and sit in an uncomfortable chair and are constantly examining their lives and making changes to overcome.

The Follower of Jesus that sits on this stool is similar to the one that sits on the first stool but this Follower is busy helping others.

The Follower of Jesus that sits on this chair is like the first two Followers but this person is ready to spring off of the stool at a moments notice to do the calling of Jesus. They completely trust in the Lord and do not rely on any other support except for God.

This post applies to every person who reads it. They are either non-responsive to God, responsive to God but straddling the fence, or they are committed to God and respond to each and every message from Him.

The question for us is "Which Chair do we sit in most often?" If we are honest we have to admit our goal is to sit on the one legged stool but more often than not we are sitting in one of the other chairs. The good news is God will patiently work with you to help you sit in a chair that is more committed to Him.

The Secret

A few years ago I received a copy of a book called, "The Secret" and I read it and as soon as I was done with it I dropped it into my trash can. Usually when I read a book and it does not appeal to me I put it in a garage sale or take it to the used book store but this one I placed it where it belongs.

You might be wondering why I am saying this and I hope to answer that for you in this post.

From the official website of The Secret:

One spring day towards the end of 2004, Rhonda Byrne discovered a secret - the secret laws and principles of the universe.

Almost immediately her life was transformed, as she began to put into practice what she had learned. And in that moment her greatest wish, and mission, was to share this knowledge with the world.

The secret describes the "Law of Attraction" and how you can harness the power of the universe to work for you so that you attract people into your life who will help you achieve your dreams and goals.

As I read the book I discovered there was one big piece missing in the writing, any reference to the creator "GOD" being involved in you having the "Law of Attraction". Many of the principles stated in the book are no doubt true and work but apart from them coming from our creator they are nothing more than the power given by the spiritual powers that battle against His involvement in our lives. That alone makes the trash can the appropriate place for this book.

There actually is a true but not secret law of attraction and the power behind it is none other than the creator of the universe which the book, "The Secret" does not recognize or credit for the power in the first place.

This book is none other than Satan's attitudes packaged in a "New Age" religious thought. It is not a book that glorifies our creator, gives credit to the Holy Spirit for any power that we have or acknowledges Jesus as the source for our connection to God. I have no doubt that real power results from practicing the teachings in this book. But where does this power come from? I am confident that it is not from the creator God.

If you want to receive the true gift of attraction take the time to study the topics of spirit and power within the pages of the Bible. You will find that God is willing to give you spiritual gifts and power that will bring Him glory. You can develop the fruits of the Spirit which will attract people to you. You will find that you can tap into the Holy Spirit who will cause divine appoints to occur with people He wants you to either touch or be touched by.

Here are the steps to receiving the true power of attraction:

1. Accept Jesus as your savior.

2. Surrender all to the ruleship of Jesus.

3. Discover the Spiritual gifts that the Holy Spirit gives you.

4. Utilize those gifts in serve to others.

If we deeply examine our lives we are either living for the Kingdom of God or we are living for the kingdom of a fallen world which has Satan as it's leader.

I have purposely not listed any scriptures so that you do the study with an attitude subject to the power of the Holy Spirit and prove for yourself that God is not behind the book, "The Secret". 

If you allow God to guide you, you will discover what I did: "The Secret" is none other than another attempt by Satan to mislead people and draw them to himself. If you open your Bible you will discover the lie that is packaged in this book and you will find the true source of the power of the universe.

Are You Frustrated and Ready to Give UP?

There have been days when I am so frustrated with the events in my life I feel like just withdrawing from continuing the battles. I do not mean taking my life but just wanting to quit trying to move forward with my dreams and the desires of my heart.

Then I see videos such as this one. 

God is always faithful and He promises to never leave or forsake you. Hebrews 13: 5-6 Don't be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God assured us, "I'll never let you down, never walk off and leave you," we can boldly quote, "God is there, ready to help; I'm fearless no matter what. Who or what can get to me?" (Message)

Hebrews 13: 5 Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, "I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU," (New American Standard)

Earlier in Hebrews Paul tells us to run the race with endurance: Hebrews 12: 1-3 Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!

Videos like the one above remind me that when the journey gets tough Jesus is right there ready to help me to the finish line. All I have to do is call upon the Holy Spirit and like the dad in the video He will help me as I move forward.

If you are struggling today with the fact that you are struggling then I encourage you to ask God to show you the truth about whose you are. Once you understand that you belong to Him and that He will not forsake or leave you then you will, with the Father's help do as the young man in this video did, finish the race.

I hope that you found the same encouragement in the above video as I did. I may not finish first but I will finish!

Here is one more video for you to listen to with your eyes closed and your mind open.

as Sung by: Michael W. Smith
Mentioned on the video - written by: Lana Holt

He accepts you at your worst,
when he is hoping for the best.

Jesus loves you.
Jesus loves you.

He will never ever leave
and he will never ever forsake.

Jesus loves you.
Jesus loves you.

He is proud of who you are
and he has faith in who you’ll become.

He’s not like us.
He loves you just because.

He’s not like us.
He loves you just because.

And brokenhearted,
do you want your healing?
Oh trust again there is love in his right hand.

And brokenhearted,
do you want your healing?
Oh trust again there is love in his right hand.

He believes that dreams are true
and what a plan he has for you.

And Jesus loves you.
And Jesus loves you.

When you want to walk away,
he is asking you to stay.

Jesus loves you.
Jesus loves you.

You will never be alone,
he’s made your heart his loving home.

He’s not like us.
He loves you just because.

He’s not like us.
He loves you just because.

And brokenhearted,
do you want your healing?
Oh trust again there is love in his right hand.

And brokenhearted,
do you want your healing?
Oh trust again there is love in his right hand.

Oh trust again there is love in his right hand.

Brokenhearted,
do you want your healing?
Oh trust again there is love in his right hand.

Brokenhearted,
do you want your healing?
Oh trust again there is love in his right hand.

Oh yeah, yeah, there is love in his right hand.

Its Not About Us!

   Several years ago I went through some training in Theophostic Ministry. Theo which means God and Phos which means light is a divinely powerful and thoroughly biblical approach in ministry. Emotionally hurting people from all walks of life, with all manner of emotional woundedness have experienced accelerated healing as truth replaces lies, freeing them from life long emotional pain. 

   What I like about this ministry is the fact that it relies entirely on the Holy Spirit revealing the lies that caused the woundedness and revealing the truth that replaces the lie thus leading to healing of the wound.

   To be honest I only went through the beginning training of this ministry and used the technique only once but with amazing results. With this post I want to share that experience. One day I received a call from a friend who had a friend who they knew was wounded and controlled by something from the past. I called the person (Art - not his real name) and arranged to meet with them. I also called a friend of mine (Zach - not his real name) who I was going through the Vineyard Leadership Institute classes with. Zach had hot gone through the training but I needed someone to take notes during the session which we would give to Art and also to witness whatever took place.

   The evening of the session I dropped by Zach's house and on the drive over to the house we were going to meet in I filled him in on what to expect. When we walked into the house and met Art we were sort of taken back because he was wheelchair bounded, bent over and barely looked at us. Zach had met Art before at the place Art worked but I had not met Art although I had seen him from a distance once or twice.

   The following is how the session went.

   The three of us sat facing each other. I began by telling Art that this would be a simple session and that I expected that the Holy Spirit would reveal truth and begin the process of healing.

   My first question was: "Art what brings us together this evening?" "Why are we here?"

Art responded that he wanted to find out why he seemed angry most of the time.

   My next question was: "Are you willing to turn over to God whatever we discover and let Him carry it?" Art answered hesitantly, yes.

   I explained to Art that what we would do three things: 1. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the source of his anger, 2. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal truth and 3. Ask the Holy Spirit to begin healing the wound.

   Then I asked Art and Zach to bow their heads as I prayed. My prayer went something like this: "Father, we come before you to ask you to reveal to Art the root of his anger. In Jesus name amen" I then just let Art hear from the Holy Spirit and after about five minutes Art asked if he could speak and I said yes. He bent his head to one side looking at us and said he knew exactly when he first got angry and what the source of his anger is. He then shared that with us.

   After he was done I asked him if he was willing to give that day over to God and forgive the person who caused him the wound? He answered yes.

   I asked him to bow his head and I said this prayer, "Father, we asked you to take this off of Art's shoulders and reveal to him the truth. In Jesus name amen."

   I again sat there silently letting the Holy Spirit speak to Art. This time the answer came almost immediately. Art began to weap and Zach and I were stunned as he straightened up in his wheelchair and looked us straight in the eyes and told us that the Holy Spirit revealed how much the Father loves him just as he is.

   Except for some passing comments that was our session. Today Art is still bound to a wheelchair but he sits up straighter and looks people in the eyes. He still gets angry at times but not like he use to and he has found purpose in the life that he has.

   Here is what I learned from this event:

   1. Bringing healing into another's life is not about me, it is about the Holy Spirit being involved          in their life.

   2. I do not reveal truth to others, the Holy Spirit does.

   3. We do not have to live by the lies that others have planted in our lives and if we are willing to        turn them over to God He will remove them from us.

   Are you being held captive by lies others have told you?

   Are you wounded from the events in your life?

   Would you like to be set free and have those lies replaced with the truth?

   If so the Holy Spirit is waiting to get involved with you and replace those lies with the truth and heal your wounds. Here is the good news: "It is not about you or some specialist working it out." It is all about God. He reveals the source of your woundedness, He reveals truth to you and He brings the healing. 

   God often uses another person in this process but He is not required to do that. The reason He uses other people is for relationships to be built. Although He already knows your wound the beginning of the process is to share it with Him. He will then either lead you to the person He wants you to build a relationship with or He will begin the process of healing. 

   It is all about God not us! 

Ask and You Shall Receive Wealth!

Luke 11: 9-13 "Don't bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This is not a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we're in. If your little boy asks for a serving of fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? If your little girl asks for an egg, do you trick her with a spider? As bad as you are, you wouldn't think of such a thing—you're at least decent to your own children. And don't you think the Father who conceived you in love will give the Holy Spirit when you ask him?"

Most pastors when giving a sermon using these verses focus on "Ask for what you need." They preach that God will give you whatever you ask. If you want a BMW then get to work and ask God to provide it. If you want a bigger house then start building and trust God to give you that 10,000 square foot house. If you want a yacht learn to navigate and ask God for it. The wealth touting group would use this scripture to convince you that if you just ask God for more and more stuff as you sow more and more seeds in their ministries you will get what you ask for. 

Mark Warner, the lead pastor at the Vineyard Church in Overland Park, KS, moved us into this scripture and focused on the end of the passages rather than the first. Getting stuff is not what this scripture is about. It is about getting the Holy Spirit, the true wealth of the Kingdom.

Mark explained that Jesus did nothing unless He asked the Holy Spirit to be involved. Every miracle and every healing came as a direct result of Jesus not because of Himself but of the power of the Holy Spirit. 

He encouraged us to seek more of that power and with that power working in our lives we could do the ministry of Jesus found in Luke 4: 16-21 He came to Nazareth where he had been reared. As he always did on the Sabbath, he went to the meeting place. When he stood up to read, he was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written, God's Spirit is on me; he's chosen me to preach the Message of good news to the poor, Sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, To set the burdened and battered free, to announce, "This is God's year to act!"

I believe that if you are a follower of Jesus you can be empowered by the Holy Spirit to preach the Gospel, or help release the captives, or bring healing to the sick or to help those burdened and battered.

What greater wealth could we ask for?

Going on a Treasure Hunt

Do you have a desire to be challenged and inspired to take risks and realize the Great Commission in an exciting way? Over the next few posts I will share with you some ideas on how to go on "The Ultimate Treasure Hunt." I will be sharing from a book with the same name written by Kevin Dedmon. Hopefully in the next few weeks you will be sharing with me stories of how the Holy Spirit led you to a specific person who He wanted to have an encounter with. If you take up this challenge you will not only be a part of life changing experiences but have fun doing so.

I encourage you to purchase your own copy of the book, "The Ultimate Treasure Hunt."

It is a guide to Supernatural Evangelism through Supernatural encounters. The Ultimate Treasure Hunt is about supernatural encounters. It is about learning to live a naturally supernatural Kingdom lifestyle, in which miracles, physical healing, the prophetic, and setting people free are normal occurrences, as we release the presence and power of the Kingdom of God to the people we know and meet every day.

As a pastor one of my key jobs is to equip, empower, and releasing believers to live a naturally supernatural lifestyle using their gifts in service to others. I will be using this book to share with you how you can engage the Holy Spirit in your life and touch the lives of people He wants to through you.

This book is not about arguing someone into confessing Jesus. It is not about coming up with the right answers to convince someone to agree with your particular doctrine. It is simple a tool to be used in helping you be the hands and feet of Jesus as He draws someone to the Father.

Skeptical?  You should be! If you are like me you have watched men and women stand on stages proclaiming that they are God's instruments of healing. This is not what we will be doing. We are going to simply ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us key things to look for in searching for the person (the Treasure) He wants to encounter. The important thing to remember is searching for the Treasure is not about you but about God and what He wants to do in someone else's life. If you have accepted Jesus as your savior and King then He wants to use you in touching the lives of others. IT IS NOT ABOUT YOU! IT IS ABOUT HIM!

If you are interested in being involved in finding lost treasure you will be involved in what Luke describes in Luke 15: 8-10 Or imagine a woman who has ten coins and loses one. Won't she light a lamp and scour the house, looking in every nook and cranny until she finds it? And when she finds it you can be sure she'll call her friends and neighbors: 'Celebrate with me! I found my lost coin!' Count on it—that's the kind of party God's angels throw every time one lost soul turns to God."

I encourage you to pray about this and ask the Holy Spirit to first show you if you should try this. I believe He will give you a supernatural answer through some form of encouragement. Come back several times this week and I will have new posts on getting started.

I am expecting God to move in a mighty way in your community because you risked being involved in the Great Commission. A Treasure is waiting for you to find it.

FREE Hot Dogs! - Real or A Gimmick

Let me share with you two accounts of an Evangelism event and you choose which is more like what happened in Mark 6: 33-43.

A crowd gathered as a group of people cooked and prepared to hand out hot dogs. A sign hung hear to the cook that read, "FREE Hot Dogs!" The people eagerly waited for the moment they would hold one of the freshly cooked dogs and taking that first bite. The crowd knew this event happened every year around the same date. They knew they would get a dog, chips and a drink and they could continue their way to the shopping center. They had heard from others how this group every year gave out free hot dogs and then would leave immediately afterwards. Each year the community read in the paper what this group did at the local shopping center.

Across town another group of people were cooking and preparing to hand out hot dogs to a crowed that had gathered in anticipation having read the sign "FREE Hot Dogs!" The people eagerly waited for the moment they would hold one of the freshly cooked dogs and taking that first bite. The crowd knew this event happened every year around the same date. They knew they would get a dog, chips and a drink but also a word of encouragement with an offer of prayer or they could continue their way to the shopping center. They had heard from others how this group every year gave out free hot dogs and stayed around to meet the needs of those that came for the dogs. Each year the community heard from the people who had experienced healing, or who had received counseling or who had heard an encouraging word about what this group did at the local shopping center.

Mark 6: 33-34 From the surrounding towns people went out on foot, running, and got there ahead of them. When Jesus arrived, he saw this huge crowd. At the sight of them, his heart broke—like sheep with no shepherd they were. He went right to work teaching them. 

Later in this chapter Jesus has the disciples feed the people. The example is food can draw the people but Evangelism is more that handing out a hot dog. It involves the hard work of dealing with life problems in a way that people know you are genuine and that you care more about them than them coming to your church. If they know that what you are doing is purely to grow the numbers at your worship services. They might come to services once because they feel obligated but they necessarily will not become committed unless they receive what they need that will draw them back.

The difference in the two groups described above is one meets the need of physical hunger but the other goes beyond meeting physical needs to meeting emotional and spiritual needs. The latter group is following Jesus' example and we see people responding as those who responded to the compassion of Christ.

If you are involved in a church that does evangelism I encourage you to take the time to meet the emotional, spiritual and physical needs of people and you will not have to worry about your numbers. People want to be a part of a group where they feel genuinely welcomed and cared for. People are drawn by the Natural Supernatural act of meeting needs and hearing the word in a natural way without churchy speak. 

Suggested Books:

"Gentle Persuasion" by Joseph C. Aldrich

"Naturally Supernatural" by Gary Best

"Without Walls" by Randy White

"Power Evangelism" by John Wimber Online

Small but it changed the World

Over the past few years I have had the opportunity to talk with pastors about their goals and dreams for their congregation. Each has had a dream of growing a spiritually stronger body and one that reached out to the broken hearted, the rejected and the lost. The ones that were actually doing growing spiritually healthy churches and had one thing in common. They relied on the Holy Spirit to do grow the body. When you look at the make up of their congregation it was full of flawed people who were not what most would say were the best at evangelism or the most talented people. What their congregations had in common was they relied on the power of the Holy Spirit to move through them.  From my talks with these servant leaders I found that the number one thing they did was to rely on the Holy Spirit to work through those they were leading. They did not look at the abilities or the knowledge of the people but instead stirred them to open themselves to being used by the Holy Spirit.

When we look at the physical we tend to limit what the Holy Spirit can do.  If leaders do not believe in the people they are leading they will see only the flaws or weaknesses in their lives and not the possibilities that the Holy Spirit can do through them.

In his book, "On the Anvil" Max Lucado describes a small church of 120 men that changed the world. Most were illiterate and poor, blue-collar workers, inexperienced and uncultured. They had no plan, no organization, noagreement on what the mission was. Their movement was demanding too much too fast. It lacked tact and was against tradition. On human terms it was doomed to fail.

Within 30 years of the beginning of this small band of men the message of Jesus Christ reached into every port, city, and courtyeard of the world. It was infectious. It was a growing organism. It not only succeeded but still exists today touching the hearts of the broken, the rejected, the addicted and the poor. It succeeded not because of great human leadership or talented men. It succeeded because it's leader believed in those He was leading. It succeeded because His Holy Spirit was active in the lives of those He released for service.

If you are a leader or desire to be a leader always remember it is not the skills of the people you lead that is important. What is most important is you allow the Holy Spirit that dwells in them to rise up. If you want a growing church then rely on the Holy Spirit to move them to serve the poor, the hurting, the broken, the rejected and the addicted. By doing so you will impact your community and beyond.

1 Corinthians 1: 26-31 Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don't see many of "the brightest and the best" among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn't it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these "nobodies" to expose the hollow pretensions of the "somebodies"? That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God. Everything that we have—right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start—comes from God by way of Jesus Christ. That's why we have the saying, "If you're going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God." 

Are you investing?

The Story About Investment
 
Matthew 25: 14-18 "It's also like a man going off on an extended trip. He called his servants together and delegated responsibilities. To one he gave five thousand dollars, to another two thousand, to a third one thousand, depending on their abilities. Then he left. Right off, the first servant went to work and doubled his master's investment. The second did the same. But the man with the single thousand dug a hole and carefully buried his master's money.

 19-21 "After a long absence, the master of those three servants came back and settled up with them. The one given five thousand dollars showed him how he had doubled his investment. His master commended him: 'Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.'

 22-23 "The servant with the two thousand showed how he also had doubled his master's investment. His master commended him: 'Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.'

 24-25 "The servant given one thousand said, 'Master, I know you have high standards and hate careless ways, that you demand the best and make no allowances for error. I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money. Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent.'

 26-27 "The master was furious. 'That's a terrible way to live! It's criminal to live cautiously like that! If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least? The least you could have done would have been to invest the sum with the bankers, where at least I would have gotten a little interest.

 28-30 " Take the thousand and give it to the one who risked the most. And get rid of this "play-it-safe" who won't go out on a limb. Throw him out into utter darkness.'

When we accept Jesus as our savior we receive gifts to be invested in the lives of others. Some have been given the ability to speak words of wisdom into the lives of others. Other gifts are words of knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment, tongues or interpretation of tongues (1 Corinthians 12: 8-10).

We are givien these gifts by the Holy Spirit according to His will and they are given us to be used for the glory of God. With salvation comes a responsibility to serve within and outside of the body of Christ (The Church).

Later in Matthew 25: 31-46 We find that when Christ returns he will separate people according to how they used their gifts. Those who got out of the pew and the walls of their church building and went out to the poor, the hungry, the hurting, the ones in prison will find a greater reward than those who comfortably sat on their gifts and responsibilites.

The question for you and me is, "What are we doing with the gifts and responsibilities we have been given? Are we investing them in the lives of others or have we safely buried them deep in our heart?" 

I want to encourage you to turn off the television one evening a week, get up off the couch and take a risk of using at least one of your gifts by investing in the life of another person. 

Got Problems?

What has God made you for? and How do you respond when the Holy Spirit says change directions?

Over the past 12 years God has moved me from using my spiritual gifts as a lay member to a pastoral student to an ordained pastor. He has given me a vision of what my purpose is and then opened some doors for me to pursue that purpose.

Yesterday as I sought some answers to some life issues I have been facing the last few months the Holy Spirit clearly spoke to me that I needed to make a short time change and wait for Him to make some changes in the situation. What I heard from the Holy Spirit was not what I expected or wanted to hear.

I could have approached this with an attitude that I would wait to make sure that what I heard the Holy Spirit say was confirmed by someone else. I could have ignored Him completely and continued full speed ahead along the journey because I am doing some of the things I want to do and believe I was made for. I could have neglected to act and hope that the situation would change on it's own.

What I did was to obey what the Holy Spirit informed me with the knowledge that He can restore whatever I gave up and heal relationships and make what He started even better. If I would have waited for confirmation, or ignored what I heard or neglected to act and hope things would change it would mean the Holy Spirit could not restore, heal and improve the things that are in need of His touch.

I encourage you to take time out and retreat from whatever you are facing and spend an afternoon, a day or a weekend seeking word from the Holy Spirit about whatever you are facing. You may not like what you hear but God always promises an answer to what you are seeking. It may be NO, or Yes, or even Not Now but He will give you an answer. The Yes is easy to deal with but No and Not Now are harder especially when you are living part of the dream and vision He has given you.

I woke this morning feeling assured that I did what the Holy Spirit revealed that I needed to do as a first step in healing, restoration and making better what I was asked to give up.

I encourage you to go before the Holy Spirit and spend some time sharing your heart and then listening to His response. Then take the action that needs to be done, remembering what He asks will never be in violation of God's law, and then work for healing and restoration. God will bring healing, He will restore and He will make what was even better.

Facing Overwhelming Odds

In my prior post, Prepare for Battle, I mentioned the battle between David vs Goliath found in 1 Samuel 17 which I would like to talk about in this post.

You may or may not remember the story of how David when he was in his teens went to visit his brothers carrying a care package from their father.  Here is a summary of the story I found at http://christianity.about.com/od/biblestorysummaries/p/davidandgoliath.htm:

The Philistine army had gathered for war against Israel. The two armies faced each other, camped for battle on opposite sides of a steep valley. A Philistine giant measuring over nine feet tall and wearing full armor came out each day for forty days, mocking and challenging the Israelites to fight. His name was Goliath. Saul, the King of Israel, and the whole army were terrified of Goliath.

One day David, the youngest son of Jesse, was sent to the battle lines by his father to bring back news of his brothers. David was probably just a young teenager at the time. While there, David heard Goliath shouting his daily defiance and he saw the great fear stirred within the men of Israel. David responded, "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of God?"

So David volunteered to fight Goliath. It took some persuasion, but King Saul finally agreed to let David fight against the giant. Dressed in his simple tunic, carrying his shepherd's staff, slingshot and a pouch full of stones, David approached Goliath. The giant cursed at him, hurling threats and insults.

David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied ... today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air ... and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel ... it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give all of you into our hands."

As Goliath moved in for the kill, David reached into his bag and slung one of his stones at Goliath's head. Finding a hole in the armor, the stone sank into the giant's forehead and he fell face down on the ground. David then took Goliath's sword, killed him and then cut off his head. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. So the Israelites pursued, chasing and killing them and plundering their camp.

Here is some additional information:

When David first went to Saul, Saul sort of laughed at him, but then gave in.  He offered David his personal sword and shield, which David found too cumbersome.  David chose instead weapons familar to him.

In researching this battle here is an interesting piece of information I found at ChristianAnswers.com for you to consider about David and his sling:

Surprisingly, a good slinger hurled a stone as far and accurately as a good archer. Roman military texts recommended archery target practice at about 200 yards (183 meters). Slingers are known to hurl their projectiles even farther, as much as 440 yards (402 meters) (a quarter of a mile / 0.40 km).

As for accuracy, one ancient writer noted that the best slingers "would wound not merely the heads of their enemies, but any part of the face at which they might have aimed." Experiments demonstrate that missiles leave a sling in excess of 60 miles per hour (97 km/h).

The best method of releasing a stone from a sling is by an underhand motion.

 I do not have any proof for what I have to say next but I can imagine from the scriptures that Goliath had his shield bearer go before him because he knew how accurate a warrior with a sling was.  I imagine that he would peek out from behind his shield and taunt David. Then with perfect timing given to David by the Holy Spirit he left go a stone and brought down the giant with one stone.

The stone that David used was probably about the size of a tennis or soft ball.  

While typical slingstones used by the Greek and Roman armies were the size of golf balls, different cultures liked different sizes. In fact, at some ancient Greek and Roman battle sites, archaeologists believe they can differentiate which slingstones were standard equipment for which army.

During all periods, it was important for an army's projectiles to be uniform in size and weight. Otherwise, a slinger would need to compensate with each toss. Each army standardized the size and shape for maximum accuracy, speed and distance.

This story about how a teenage boy, David, brought down a giant of a man, Goliath, is full of history and supernatural involvement by God.  To me it backs up my earlier post about 1. Know who your enemy is, 2. Know your weapons and 3. Know who has your back.  Our enemy is Satan and his team of fallen angels, our weapons are the word of God, the fruit and gifts of the spirit and those things found in Ephesians 6, and the one who has our back is the Holy Spirit.

I hope you found this informative, encouraging and helpful.

Freedom

Happy Birthday United States of America

The men who signed the Declaration of Independence knew that at the moment they put the pen to that document they were signing their death warrant.  They were willing to put everything on the line for the most important words since the first century AD.  The entire document is important but these words stand out:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Over 2000 years ago Jesus also made a declaration but it was a declaration of dependance.  He said in John 8: 32 that the truth would set you free.  The concept of being free was God's idea not man's.  

All men are truly created equal in the eyes of God and none are better than the other.  That is what God said through Paul by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and that is what the men who signed the Declaration of Independence believed. 

The problem is unless we are guided by and yielded to God's Holy Spirit treating each other equally is very difficult to do.

Today in America we celebrate freedom and each Sunday we should also celebrate our freedom found in Christ.

Let Freedom Ring.  It is not grant by men but given to man by God.  What man grants he can remove but what God gives never is taken away.

If you are looking for freedom leave me a comment and I will go deeper in how you can have the true freedom found only in Jesus.

My history with Spiritual Gifts.

In my last post I hope I stimulated you to want to find out what Spiritual Gifts the Holy Spirit has given you.  In this post I want to share my story and history with Spiritual Gifts.

From second grade on I was very shy and introverted.  When I was in the Navy I purposely did not move beyond E-3 because I knew I would have to be more responsible.   I did not begin to take on more responsibilities until I was 38 years old.  This was a full 6 years after I accepted Jesus as my savior and after I went through 5 years of a speech club called "Spokesman Club".  Even though the church I was attended did not believe in the gifts of the Spirit I began to grow by serving.  In 1991, 8 years after accepting Jesus and being baptized, I was ordained as a deacon.

For the next 10 years I served and then one day the Holy Spirit moved a pastor to have me lead some servers.  The more I served the more I found myself also leading.  Then one day I found out that a friend was in the hospital with a growth on his heart.  He was going to need surgery which had a 50/50 chance of success or death.  When I visited him in the hospital we talked and just before I left I asked him if I could pray for him.  I simply prayed this simple prayer, "Father, we come before you to ask for your will to be done and may the outcome glorify you. In Jesus name amen."  That was it.

An interesting part of this story is I had just lost my job and so I had the opportunity to visit my friend and then to be there the next morning to sit with his wife during the operation.  After about 45 minutes into the pre-time the doctor came out his face ash white and asked his wife for some private time.  Of course we all thought the worse.  After about 5 minutes they came out of the room and she came to us with tears in her eyes.  She stopped in front of us, smiled, and shared with us how they did a sonogram and found no trace of there having been a growth. There would be no need of an operation.

I believe God healed my friend.  That was four years ago and I have never experienced that happening again.  I believe that because I was obedient in using a gift the Holy Spirit gave me, service, He gave me a temporary gift of healing.  I look at gifts like this as situational gifts.  As i use my main gift the Holy Spirit brings in my life opportunities to use other gifts as He chooses to give. 1 Corinthians 12: 11 (Message) All these gifts have a common origin, but are handed out one by one by the one Spirit of God. He decides who gets what, and when.

I want to remind you that whatever your main Spiritual Gift is it is not your ministry.  Out of that one gift springs ministry.  For example with me: Out of my Spiritual Gift of serving sprang a "Moving Ministry, a Men's Ministry and a Men's Small Group".   

I will be the first to admit using the Spiritual Gifts God has given out is risky and sometimes gets me into sticky or uncomfortable situations.  I would not trade those experiences for anything. I encourage you to take the plunge and see what the Holy Spirit does in your life as you use your main gift in service of others and for the His glory.

I would love to hear your story about what God is doing in your life.

What's In Your Tool Box?

What’s in Your Tool Box?  What’s your favorite tool? 

I believe God gives us tools that we can use in our daily lives to touch the life of another person. and thereby fulfill the Great Commission we find in Matthew 28: 18-20 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Let's look at some scriptures about Spiritual Gifts.

1. 1 Corinthians 12: 1-11 Spiritual Gifts 
1-3 What I want to talk about now is the various ways God's Spirit gets worked into our lives. This is complex and often mis-understood, but I want you to be informed and knowledgeable. Remember how you were when you didn't know God, led from one phony god to another, never knowing what you were doing, just doing it because everybody else did it? It's different in this life. God wants us to use our intelligence, to seek to understand as well as we can. For instance, by using your heads, you know perfectly well that the Spirit of God would never prompt anyone to say "Jesus be damned!" Nor would anyone be inclined to say "Jesus is Master!" without the insight of the Holy Spirit. 

4-11 God's various gifts are handed out everywhere; but they all originate in God's Spirit. God's various ministries are carried out everywhere; but they all originate in God's Spirit. God's various expressions of power are in action everywhere; but God himself is behind it all. Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people! The variety is wonderful: 

 wise counsel 
 clear understanding 
 simple trust 
 healing the sick 
 miraculous acts 
 proclamation 
 distinguishing between spirits 
 tongues 
 interpretation of tongues. 

All these gifts have a common origin, but are handed out one by one by the one Spirit of God. He decides who gets what, and when.

2. Romans 12: 3-10 I'm speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it's important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him. 

 4-6 In this way we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we're talking about is Christ's body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn't amount to much, would we? So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ's body, let's just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren't. 

 6-8 If you preach, just preach God's Message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don't take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don't get bossy; if you're put in charge, don't manipulate; if you're called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don't let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face. 

 9-10 Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle. 

3. Ephesians 4: 11-12 But that doesn't mean you should all look and speak and act the same. Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift. The text for this is, 

  He climbed the high mountain, 
  He captured the enemy and seized the booty, 
  He handed it all out in gifts to the people.

Is it not true that the One who climbed up also climbed down, down to the valley of earth? And the One who climbed down is the One who climbed back up, up to highest heaven. He handed out gifts above and below, filled heaven with his gifts, filled earth with his gifts. He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christ's followers in skilled servant work, working within Christ's body, the church, until we're all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God's Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ.

So what are these scriptures telling us?  

If we look at the priesthood of the Old Testament it is different than what we see in most churches today or is it? Starting with Moses and Aaron the priesthood did the work in the temple. They did the teaching and leading. They communicated with God. The people sat, watched and listened.

If we take a serious look at the Spiritual Gifts and the instructions God gave the church in the New Testament leadership should be very different than what it was in the Old Testament.  We will find that God has chosen to take the gifts He gave to the leadership and priests and spread it among the body of Christ. Today some churches try to retain the old leadership style where the pastor is expected to do everything. But is that the model Jesus set for the church?

Let’s look at 1 Peter 4: 7-11 Everything in the world is about to be wrapped up, so take nothing for granted. Stay wide-awake in prayer. Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully. Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God's words; if help, let it be God's hearty help. That way, God's bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and he'll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything—encores to the end of time. Oh, yes!

Here are four key things for us to consider from these scriptures:

1. God has established positions of leadership in the church. Eph 4
2. God has given every member of the body Spiritual Gifts for service. 1 Cor 12
3. It is the duty of the pastor to equip and empower the body to use their Spiritual Gifts in acts of service.
4. It is your responsibility to exercise your Gift in ministry to others.

So when is a toolbox useful? What keeps us from using our Spiritual Gifts?
1. Some of us have never discovered our spiritual gift.
2. Sometimes we are afraid we will fail. FEAR = False Evidence Appearing Real
3. Some of us have never been inspired & empowered to use them.

Keep in mind that Spiritual Gifts are not your ministry, they are the tools you use in doing ministry.  

Your pastor is called to perform the duties of leading, preaching and teaching. You have been called to do the functions of ministry. A pastor is given Spiritual Gifts just as you but his or hers are to be used in the equipping of the body to minister. Let’s face a fact, your pastor does not have every Spiritual Gift and could never minister to more than 50-80 people. In order for the body of Christ to grow both physically and spiritually ministry will need to be done by more people.

I encourage you to take the time to get with your pastor and explore what your Spiritual Gift(s) are and how you could use them in serving.

What does it take for you to open your tool box? I believe it takes FAITH or a willingness to take a RISK.

The tools in your tool box are useful only when the box is opened and the tool taken out and used.  The same is true about your Spiritual Gift(s).  I encourage you to open your tool box and use the tool or tools that the Holy Spirit has given you and help the hurting, the lost, and grow the body of Jesus Christ.  

How did God speak to you through this post?

What is holding you back?

Have you ever been a member of a group of men who are studying God's word and found that your sharing never goes deeper than a superficial sharing?  Find that the discussion almost always shifts from digging deeper and to what we do for a living or the activities we like to do?

What will it take for your group to move to a deeper level of sharing?

The answer lies in the leader of your group.  You and the other men will only share at the level of the man who is leading the group.  This past weekend the Holy Spirit convicted me of this fact when anther man from our small group shared his desire to go deeper.

If you are desiring for your group of men to move to a deeper level of sharing and closeness to God then do what a friend of mine did and call your leader and put the spur in his saddle.  If a leader is transparent all it takes is for one man to have the desire and express it for him to open the door for a deeper experience to happen.

Our small group this week is going to take that next step.  Here is the plan:
1. Read the scriptures below
2. I will share, in 2 minutes, some thoughts (that will be a first)
3. We will then discuss these scriptures in a different way than we have before (cannot share that yet)
4. God’s word to you before Thursday, Joshua 1:9 (New American Standard Bible)  "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."

There are several key ideas in these verses.

Acts 10:38-44 (The Message)

 37-38 "You know the story of what happened in Judea. It began in Galilee after John preached a total life-change. Then Jesus arrived from Nazareth, anointed by God with the Holy Spirit, ready for action. He went through the country helping people and healing everyone who was beaten down by the Devil. He was able to do all this because God was with him. 

 39-43 "And we saw it, saw it all, everything he did in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem where they killed him, hung him from a cross. But in three days God had him up, alive, and out where he could be seen. Not everyone saw him—he wasn't put on public display. Witnesses had been carefully handpicked by God beforehand—us! We were the ones, there to eat and drink with him after he came back from the dead. He commissioned us to announce this in public, to bear solemn witness that he is in fact the One whom God destined as Judge of the living and dead. But we're not alone in this. Our witness that he is the means to forgiveness of sins is backed up by the witness of all the prophets." 

 44-46 No sooner were these words out of Peter's mouth than the Holy Spirit came on the listeners. The believing Jews who had come with Peter couldn't believe it, couldn't believe that the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out on "outsider" non-Jews, but there it was—they heard them speaking in tongues, heard them praising God.

2 Timothy 1:6-7 (The Message)

 5-7 That precious memory triggers another: your honest faith—and what a rich faith it is, handed down from your grandmother Lois to your mother Eunice, and now to you! And the special gift of ministry you received when I laid hands on you and prayed—keep that ablaze! God doesn't want us to be shy with his gifts, but bold and loving and sensible.

James 5:13-16 (The Message)

Prayer to Be Reckoned With
 13-15 Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you've sinned, you'll be forgiven—healed inside and out. 

 16-18 Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn't rain, and it didn't—not a drop for three and a half years. Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again.

Are you tired of sharing with the men who support you only on a superficial level?  Then either get with the leader of your group or become the leader by becoming transparent and sharing first.  If you do I believe that the Holy Spirit will show up in a dramatic way and you will experience a breakthrough.

So what is that one thing that is holding you back from moving forward?  Lust, Fear, Pride, Anger, Life Controlling Habit, SIN?  I encourage you to take the risk and trust another man and share it and experience the beginning of being free of the control of that one thing.

Note:    If you are looking for a group where you can finding healing, transparency and honesty go to www.vineyard.org or www.vineyardusa.org.  I share these websites because that is where I found groups that brought healing for the broken and understanding and encouragement instead of criticism and condemnation.

I couldn't sleep so I wrote this

The other day I was asked to install some paper towel containers on each support of the retail establishment I work at. The supports are steel so it took some drilling to make the holes to support the towel holders. Everything went well until I went to this one support pole and just could not get the drill bit to drill. After two hours of frustration and 2 broken drill bit I discovered I had accidently pushed the button to make the drill go in reverse instead of forward. Once the button was on the correct setting the job took less than a minute to do.

Men do you find yourself not being able to overcome that one thing that keeps you in bondage. It could be fear, greed, lust, pride, or you name it that keeps control over your life. You know that you could achieve so much more if you could only overcome that one thing.

I know the solution and it is kind of like that drill. Right now you have your life on self-control and not Jesus-control. I have found that once I switch the control button from me to Jesus I was able to overcome my lust, my fears, my pride. The Holy Spirit and another spiritual warrior provided me the support I needed to change.

Here is how it is done: John 15: 7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you."

I encourage you to surrender your control to God and find another warrior to keep you accountable as you move forward in overcoming that one thing.

What does God expect of you?

I believe that some church leaders give a false impression to those who are not followers of Jesus. In some sermons we are told that we must conquer sin to be saved and that is true. What is often left out is how we will conquer sin. I believe that we are to battle against the desires of the flesh but realistically we are powerless to win that battle without the help of the Holy Spirit.

For years I believed what they told me and I would repent of sin then move forward a couple of days and then fall back into old habits. I was in a constant battle of repenting then sinning, repenting and then sinning. I would become frustrated and discouraged at my inability to win the battle. Then I realized the truth on our own we will always stumble. Only God can conquer sin and make you perfect.

What then does God want from us? He wants our very best in everything that we do. He wants us to not give up and to keep fighting but reply on the Holy Spirit for the strength to overcome.

Ecclesiastes 9: 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.

Colossians 3: 23 Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men,

What we lack He will provide. He will encourage us to continue to fight against the desires of the flesh but in the end it is the power of His Holy Spirit that will win the battle.

You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. - Acts1:8.

Blessed by the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; 4 who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. - 2 Corinthians 1: 3-5

Here is a clip from "Facing Giants" that will help to create the picture of how the Holy Spirit will encourage you as you battle sin and discouragement when you find yourself weary from the war.

In this short clip I see the coach as Jesus with me being carried on the back of the Holy Spirit or we can view it as the coach being God with us the boy doing the death crawl as we struggle with the sins, the doubts and the wounds we carry. No matter how you view the clip: The Holy Spirit will encourage you and provide what you do not have as you don't quit while you give your best! Philippians 4: 13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Are You Living in Failed Potential?

Have you ever thought about what your potential is? Are you frustrated with certain habits you have developed that keep you from growing to your potential? I got the title for this post from Mark Warner, Senior Pastor of Vineyard Church.

I discovered several years ago that God had a purpose for my life which has its roots in all of the experiences I have had, the talents I have and the Spiritual Gifts I have been given by the Holy Spirit. At the same time I discovered my purpose I discovered there are habits I had developed that kept me from reaching my potential and live in my purpose.

Soon afterward I wrote a personal mission statement: "I am living my purpose as I grow to my potential by serving others." My purpose in life is to help others, especially men, by serving them. As I do this I will grow to my potential.

In Genesis we are told how Moses and the Israelites watched various miracles that God performed and yet they did not trust in Him. While in captivity they developed certain habits from trusting in their tasks masters to provide everything for them. Once set free from bondage of their captives they could not break free from the reliance of the easy life of letting someone else make all of their decisions. Their fear of the unknown kept caused them to wander in the desert for 40 years.

What life controlling habit(s) have you developed that keep you stranded in the wilderness and out of the promised land?

It could be a negative attitude. It could be reliance on drugs or alcohol. It could be addiction to pornography. Or it could be self-righteousness. It could be pride. It could be sin which includes all of the above. I encourage you to examine your life and discover what it is that keeps you from fully living a full life.

Do you want to break free and live a life that is full? I believe that only God can set you free from the life controlling habits you have developed but you have your part to do as well. I have four things for you to do to begin the process of breaking free from life controlling habits.

1st - You must acknowledge you have a life controlling habit and that you are powerless to overcome it on your own. James 5: 16
2nd - You must submit to the power of the Holy Spirit. James 4: 7
3rd - Everyday you must go before God in prayer through the name of Jesus Christ for strength to overcome. Matthew 21: 22
4th - You must replace your life controlling habit with service to others. Matthew 25: 34-40

Breaking free from life controlling habits is a process and an ongoing effort on your part but your strength will come from the Holy Spirit.

I challenge you do this for 90 days and see what God does in your life. If you do I believe you will find that you are no longer living a life of failed potential.

I would like the opportunity to pray for you over the next 90 days so please leave a comment describing your life controlling habit. I believe God will honor your desire to overcome and set you free of your life controlling habits.

5 challenges from God

I went to a church dedication the other day and several pastors from other churches spoke. Although all spoke of unity and welcomed the new church one in particular, Pastor John Wiley of
River Christian Fellowship, caught my attention.

He spoke of five things he felt God was calling the church to focus on in his community:

1. Pray for an out-pouring of God’s Holy Spirit in an unprecedented in the community.
2. Pray that the people of the community would see Jesus as He really is.
3. Pray that the people of the community would be healed of any wounds the church
has caused.
4. Pray for and guide the church to wake up to the needs of the community.
5. Pray for and guide the church to see God’s plan for the community.

I believe these five areas are things the church should focus on in every community. The world is moaning for an out pouring of God's Spirit. Most of the world has a wrong image of who Jesus is. The church has wounded many in the name of Jesus. The church often gets so involved in it's own needs that it can't see the needs of the people around them. The church often does not know what the plan God has for the community it lives in.

I want to encourage you to pray about the above five things and see how God moves you to make a difference in your community.