DISCIPLE NOW

We had a fantastic weekend at DNOW! God is so Good! We talked about WORSHIP in the lives of David, Job and Daniel. Dan Stockum preached for our group and Aletheia (from Boyce College) lead in worship. In the face of suffering, WORSHIP should always be our response to God! May all of us "YEARN" to burn with Passion for Christ!

SEIZE YOUR OPPORTUNITY

“Make the most of every opportunity…” “DO IT FOR JESUS!”

I love the book of Colossians! This passage of scripture has always intrigued me. This scripture doesn’t specify how many or how few opportunities. It doesn’t quantify how small or how big the opportunity. It just tells us that we simply must make the most out of every opportunity. Opportunity in the Greek is “kairos” which is a serendipitous window of opportunity. The English word opportunity comes from the Latin phrase – ob portu. In the days before modern harbors, ships had to wait until the flood tide to make it to the port. Ob portu referred to the time when the tide would turn. The captain and crew would wait for that one moment (that opportunity) and they knew if they missed it then they would have to wait for another tide to come in.

Opportunities must be seized! I truly believe that seeing and seizing opportunities is an underappreciated dimension of spiritual maturity. We are surrounded by God ordained opportunities to live…to laugh…to give…to learn…to serve! Seeing and seizing opportunities is at the heart of what it means to follow Christ and be filled with the Spirit!

Maybe it’s time for you to seize an opportunity! Don’t wait for another tide to come in! Maybe it’s time to apply for your dream job…admit your addiction…reconcile a relationship…trust someone…ask her out…take the test…mentor someone…add a stamp to your Passport…go on a mission trip…start a business….WOW. The list goes on!

Praise to our Lord and Savior who provides us with these opportunities!

More on the Catalyst Conference

Craig Groeschel - Practical Atheism
Here is a brief overview from one of my favorite sessions at Catalyst.

...Hello, my name is Craig Groeschel and I’m a practical atheist. At least, I’m in recovery from being one. The way I was doing the work of God was destroying the work of God in me. My outward show looked like a pastor, but my heart was far from God. Sermon preparation became a replacement for my personal time with God. I told people I would pray, but I was lying. My prayer life was what I did from the pulpit or did in a moment of pastoral counseling. I became full-time pastor, and a part-time follower of Christ.

Practical atheism: here’s how it affects us.
1. We start to believe our effort is better than God’s power. We would never say this, but our ministry reflects it.
2. We believe that our private life doesn’t affect our public ministry.
3. We believe that we must please people more than we must please God.

WOW. Aren't those three points great? We are made to PLEASE God and we must act according to the power of God that is at work within us! Another statement that really spoke to me was..."There’s far too much preaching coming as a response to culture rather than coming from God’s Word and being spoken into the culture." This past Wednesday night I told our High School students that they need to KNOW the Bible. It might not always apply directly to their life at that moment but Christians need to KNOW God's Word so that they can speak it into culture. I'm tired of Christianity being known for what it is "against" rather than what it is "for."

GET WITH GOD'S AGENDA!

““If you want God’s anointing then you need to get with God’s agenda and not your agenda.” This is a quote from Rick Warren at the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta, GA. Rick Warren founded Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA in 1980 with one family. Today it is an evangelical congregation of 22,000 weekly attendees. Rick is passionate about attacking what he calls the five “Global Goliaths”: spiritual emptiness, egocentric leadership, extreme poverty, pandemic disease and illiteracy/poor education. Rick didn’t make this quote just to be making a quote. This is a quote that I truly feel Rick believes and lives! This is the one quote (out of many quotes) that has played over and over in my heart and mind during the past week. As a minister of the gospel, I am pushed to have my goals and my agendas each year when I meet with the personnel committee. Many times I have been guilty of making my own goals and agendas without even seeking God to see what His agenda is. The reason why I haven’t sought God’s agenda on every occasion is because it is HARD WORK! Praying and seeking the Lord as commanded in Matthew 6:33 takes perseverance and strength. Since the conference I have made a personal commitment to become an ADVOCATE for Compassion International. We have sponsored “Shukuru” (a child from Tanzania) for two years now and I believe Compassion is totally committed to releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ Name! Next year, I am committed to taking a group of students/adults to impoverished areas in Costa Rica to share PURE WATER and PURE LIFE in an effort to relieve one of Rick’s global giants – poverty. It is time for all of us to step out and “BE” the church and not just “go” to church!

REVERB - CATALYST CONFERENCE

WOW. I've had a very interesting day. God is doing something fascinating in my heart. The day has been very intense for me as I have sat in a room with 11,000 people worshiping and studying God's word. Andy Stanley brought a very powerful message this morning. He used the passage out of John where Jesus washes the disciples' feet. The main question Andy proposed was..."What are you going to do when you discover that you are the most powerful person in the room?" Jesus leveraged his power to serve others. He took off his symbols of power and showed the FULL EXTENT of HIS LOVE. Francis Chan spoke of his Love for Lost People until he entered the church. (joke) Chan challenged the church leaders to get it right...Love God and Love People. Chan also shared his testimony on how he has challenged his church to give away 50% of their budget. Rick Warren gracefully closed out the day. He spoke of the importance of training up the next generation and of educating the next generation about the things that break the heart of God. Rick spoke of the story where God instructed Moses to lay down his staff and when he laid it down, it became a snake. Rick used this story to illustrate that when we lay down our "stuff" God brings it alive!

I cannot do justice to what I felt from God today. I pray that God continue to work in my heart to bring God's Light to a Dark World.

RICH OR POOR

The past two Wednesday nights during Student Impact, we have talked about the Rich Young Ruler in Luke 18 and the verses in 1 Timothy 6 that speak of the "love of money." I was very impressed with our high schoolers last night during our discussion on these verses. The rich young ruler is a story that has always been hard for me to fully comprehend. I challenge each of you to really think about what you need to get rid of or leave behind to become a fully devoted follower of Christ.

Does Jesus really expect us to sell everything we have in order to follow him?

Where's Jesus in our house?

Tonight Max asked me "where is Jesus in our house?" I then looked at Wally and suggested that he answer that question. Wally said that Jesus is everywhere. Max said, "no he's not," "he's in the bed when we say our prayers." Then as we talked, Max said, "I love you Daddy, I love you Mommy but I don't love everybody." Max is pretty funny!

This past Wednesday night the youth talked about the "least of these." There are so many powerful verses in scripture that command Christians to minister to the poor. I asked the youth if they consider themselves "rich" or "poor"? I also posed the question, "is it a sin to live in excess?" Each of us MUST examine the scriptures to see how Matthew 25:34-40 or 2 Corinthians 8:9 applies to our lives. This is a big struggle for me! Last year our family began adopting a Compassion International Child. This has been a big blessing. I encourage EVERYONE to do it. It's $42 a month and the money supplies Shukuru education, clothes, food and most importantly she has the opportunity to learn about Jesus. Please continue wrestling with the scriptures that TELL us to go out and minister among the poor.

GO KENTUCKY WILDCATS!

I am so excited that the Kentucky Wildcats won against the University of Louisville last Saturday. UK is finally in the top 25!