Why Today?

October 31, 2008- Why do you celebrate Halloween? You know as Americans, we celebrate lots of things without knowing why. One such thing is Halloween. If you are a Christian, you shouldn't feel bad for celebrating this day, just know why you do. As a protestant, I partially celebrate it for the mere fact that on this very day in 1517 a man named Martin Luther posted

95 Theses on the door of the castle church in Wittenburg, Germany. This very day in 1517 started what we know as the Protestant Reformation. Now that's a reason to celebrate, plus I like the candy as well!!!

October 29, 2008- When we went to Catalyst we saw a huge variety of truly annointed and talented people who serve the kingdom of God. But I was absolutely blown away by the annointing on one particular worship leader. Aaron Keyes is great. God is truly using this young worship leader to touch the world. Check out one of his videos and see for yourself.

Issues Pt.2

October 28, 2008-

Another Huge issue is the election. I have no intention to even state my stance, but I did find a book that speaks directly to the issue. I really think our concern as believers should be this...

This is a good post with some great comments (Read more) , but I would suggest reading the book. Just click to order.

Issues

October 22, 2008- I think there are issues in the church that need to be addressed, but it seems that our mouths have been closed. Some of these are what one would call "hush- hush". Anyway, one of these issues is the fact that everyday hurting people come to us for help. What is our response? Well, a lot of times we respond by judging them. Oh, I know not you. But many of us followers of the Lord do judge people according to either their past or the condition of their life. How would you treat somebody if you knew they were a prostitute looking for a relationship with God? How would you treat someone who had stolen from the church in the past? How would you treat someone struggling with homosexuality? How would you treat someone who had robbed a poor innocent young lady? We, as a church must address this issue of how we really feel about people. You know, your friends know the real way you feel about people. In Luke 15 we find Jesus teaching parables concerning the lost. Was Jesus sitting with the elite of the city doing this teaching, he was living out His gospel. He was sitting among the very people He was ministering to(tax collectors, prostitutes, the dregs of society) when he was approached be the judgmental people.

He confronted the issue, and so should we.

Evangelism Accountability

October 24, 2008- I think a large percentage of followers of the Lord never share their faith with others. Why is that and what can we do to help? One thing is accountability. Just an idea, but we might try this...

Evangelism 101

October 22, 2008- What are the requirements to effectively proclaim the Gospel to people that don't know God. Better yet, how can one do it? I think there are a couple of steps that have to be part of the equation for it to be effective.

Step 1 - Speak the language. We must be able to speak directly to the issue that someone is dealing with and relate the grace and love of Christ to that issue. Jesus was the master of doing that. If you notice He didn't have a set plan of "Evangelism 101". He spoke to the specific issues of life and effectively gave wisdom that comes only from God.

Step 2- Keep it real. So many of us only tell of the blessings of salvation, but we leave out the most important part. Why do so many fall away from the faith they proclaim? Because nobody kept it real. In Matt. 19:16-29 Jesus is questioned about what it takes to have eternal life. Don't we want to know that? The young ruler kept the commandments, so what did he lack? Jesus said to him,"If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me". Wow! According to what the Lord says, we have to be candid with people also. You might have to lay down something that is important to you. You might have to give something up. Jesus kept it real and so should we.

Trunk-or-Treat

October 21, 2008- Just a few days til Halloween. Yes Halloween. We are having an event called Trunk-or Treat here at the church. It's a great way to offer a safe place for the community to enjoy a night so commonly thought of as bad. Here are a few links to help get the idea of what it is exactly.

• Trunk-or Treat ideas


• How to do Trunk-or-Treat


• Is Trunk-or-Treat relevant?

Well, Hope that helps. See you at Victory World Halloween night!!!

Community

October 20, 2008- I've been thinking a lot lately about building community. Not just any community but one that has momentum. I think my focus has been a little off track. My focus has been numbers(people of course). Numbers is the key focus to building community. If we gather the masses the momentum starts. That may be so but I am thinking on trying another route. This might be construed as laziness or a cop out but I think to effectively build community that creates momentum, we have to focus on small. The more simple you make something now, the easier it is for people to really catch the vision and that is what will effectively turn into a human snowball. It might not even work, but the concept is to rally a small core of like minded people and get them to grab the vision of lives being changed for the glory of God. I know that I can rally just a few people. The trick is to get them just as excited as I am and leave the increase to God. We are going to try this in our ministry of Celebrate Recovery and I believe that in one year we will see the fruits of a God vision.

Man Church

October 18, 2008- Today is a great day. I had a chance to attend a mens breakfast this morning in which we discussed the issue of our female oriented church. Very interesting thoughts on how to make church more masculine. As usual I mainly listened so as not to offend anyone, as is my nature. I do have one thought to share. We as men need to be more involved with the local church. Of course the church isn't going to be appealing to the unchurched(what an oxymoron) man if the only people who are doing the decorating and decision making is women. It only makes sense to have pastel walls when sister Jane picked out the colors. Just a thought. I'd like to hear yours as well. Have a wonderful day.

Exponential Curve

October 16, 2008-What is the next step to accomplish the great things God has called us for. Have you thought of that? Have you lost sleep over it? Probably yes on both accounts. Most of us have something we are trying, not only to accomplish, but to be the best at. But as time goes on I see that I can't do it with creativity alone. Creativity just makes it more efficient, not more effective. So that's not the answer. So I look at talent. Talent makes everything go so smooth. Talent makes it attractive, but it may or may not make it effective. Experience can't be it because doing the same thing today that I did yesterday no longer works. No longer is the status quo the answer. So, what is the answer? What is it that I need to go to that next level with what God would have me do? There is only one answer even though many people describe it in different ways. It is a Greek word called "Paracletus". The Holy Spirit puts the very breath of God into our plans and places His thumbprint on it. My prayer is God would fill our lives to overflowing with His spirit so His work would not only be creative, talented, experienced, but it would be effective as it was with the early apostles.

Catalyst '08

October 15, 2008- If you were unable to attend Catalyst, you missed some great speaking. Here are some links that you can check out and read what went on.

• Dave Ramsey via Chris Martin
• Franklin Graham via Tony Morgan
• Matt Chandler via Will Johnston
• Andy Stanley's closing Session via Tim Stevens

Also here are a couple of video links of Catalyst backstage with...

• Dino Rizzo on relief efforts and Healing Place Church
• Seth Godin with Pete Wilson and Jon Acuff
• Tim Stevens Goes POP
• Steven Furtick
• Perry Noble and Tony Morgan
• Worship clips

Doubting Thomas?

October 14, 2008- We had a great time at Catalyst and all the, well most of the speakers knocked it out of the park. I saw so much diversity in denominations that it blew me away. Even though an event like that is geared more towards the contemporary and emergent crowd, I was surprised to see alot of different " high spirit" brethren also. Sorry, but it's weird for me to see a man who looks like he came out of shooting a Buckle commercial with his wife having no make up and her hair in a bun, wearing a drape, yes a drape, not a dress. That just doesn't seem sanctified to me but rather unfair. Wow, I do ramble.
God showed me something at this conference. He showed me that He is God everywhere and in everyplace. It doesn't even matter if we recognize Him as God, He still is. He has given different visions to different places to accomplish the same goal. Why? Culture. The thing that most of us miss is we seem to label people with specific vision when it's the goal that they are drawn to. Ok. Example: We associate Thomas with what? Doubting right. Yeah, because John 20:24-25 but oh that we get the big picture of the goal. You see if we go back to John 11, when Lazarus had died and Jesus, wanting to go back even in the face of death, Thomas makes a statement. John 11:16"So Thomas, called the twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him". We associate Thomas as the doubter when he really got the big picture. We are better to die with Him than to live without Him!!!

Ok. No more. But this is for you Meg. These guys are called The Red Hot Chilli Pipers!

Off the Air

October 8, 2008- I will be shutting down for the next few days. I will be practicing the fine art of receiving only and at the same time trusting. Trusting in God and trusting in those who are the capable ones on our Celebrate Recovery Team. Anyway for the next few days all you will see on this site is....

Resilience

October 7, 2008- It is so easy to get knocked around and banged up by everyday life that we tend to think, "possibly that's what God intends for me" or " why do these things keep happening". If we are not careful we will subconsciously start to doubt God. I have to be the first to admit, things look less than appealing for me alot of the time. I do have doubts and fear and that is a major stumbling block for my faith. But I'm not going the route of doubting God. I have what one would call "covenant faith". That is, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, til death, well you know the rest. That's covenant faith and that is what life requires if we are to make the most out of it. Yesterday I made a few statements I thought were very relevant to the issue of time and today I was tested in those areas. I have come to the decision that no matter what comes my way I will hang on to the words of the patriarch Job, "though He slay me yet will I trust Him". You know that is saying alot. God does not slay us. He loves us. But if He sees something that I don't, then I will trust Him, and not my own understanding. If nothing else, I see a quality rising up through all this. A Resilience to stand in the fire and know Job 23:10, " But He knows the way that I take; when He has tried me, I shall come out as gold".

Time

October 6, 2008- I have been thinking about probably the most valuable
commodity in the world lately. Oh, I know most would say people are the
most valuable, but this is something that is the most valuable to people.
It is time. Time is something that we all take "for granted". To avoid sounding
nostalgic, or to sound nostalgic while not meaning to(I don't like nostalgic). One day we are all going to wake up and only have pictures to remind us of "the magic moments". Ok, I failed on not sounding, anyway! So, the thing I vow to try and do is to live this life with the most recorded" magic moments" possible.
I was reading James chapter 4 and this whole thing about time just got under my skin and I came up with a list of things to help make the most of this sand in our hourglass called life.
1. Spend time with God- The only way to make the most of our time is to give God His. Our daily time with God will expand our capacity to levels unthinkable. Time is a gift from God and if I've learned nothing else, I've learned to give God His first.
2. Manage time wisely- Each day we have a chance to live a John 10:10 life. The time we are given should be to make the most of our life. My time should be something that is constantly giving glory to the Lord. I know that sounds super- spiritual, but if we look at the life we are supposed to pattern ours after, we see that Jesus made the most of every second.
3. Be thoughtful- Life is not something to be spent dealing with guilt and regret. Think things through especially when dealing with others. Just thinking before we react will maximize our time tremendously.
4. Be a little crazy- To live life and be able to say you made the most of it,risks are going to have to be taken. The only thing about this is, the level of responsibility for taking them. The upside is that nothing is more rewarding than a successful risk venture.
5. Make an impact- Jesus gave us prime examples of how to live. Basically he changed things. My prayer is that in every situation I'm in that I'm able to change things. It might only be a small impact in most situations but it is an impact. Don't be scared to shake things up when they need it. Jesus in us will make the impact, and that will maximize our time.

Modern Church Historical

October 3, 2008- Check this out. This is a must see for church history in just minutes. Pretty funny anyway!!

Ready or not?

October 2, 2008- I'm really excited about tonight. We have put alot into this kick-off for the Celebrate Recovery here at Victory. My prayer, as of right now is that God will use this ministry to touch many lives with His restoration power. So many times we try to do all the work for Him and we Muck it up. But I need not worry about that! I've been so busy with the details( and you know that the devil is in the details) that I haven't spent any time preparing for my part in the service. Not Good! Well, now that we are down to just a couple of hours and everyone else is ready I must find a place and pray that the Lord will pull me out of this one. Thanks for all the prayers.

Embrace expansion

October 1, 2008- Life is a very funny thing. My experience has been that of plenty of stretching. Just months ago my capacity was very limited, to say the least. This hasn't changed so drastically that I can say I have arrived or anything, but through the guidance and leadership of very capable people my limited capacity has been maximized. This is not a fun process or one of comfort. And it is not something that has an arrival point. It continues, and as far as I can see will continue. The beauty of it is, that after every incident of discomfort or should I say, not thinking I can pull it off, God shows up as my comfort and strengthens me beyond my imagination. If you are living in a state of experiencing this, you know that it isn't fun, but after the fact your confidence steps up. It's not confidence in you but in God, the one who lives in you. Because, Greater is He that's in you than he that's in the world. So as a word of encouragement remember to always embrace expansion.