I feel the love

I guess I have never felt such an outpouring of kindness and love as I have today- on my 47'th birthday. I don't usually do a lot about other people's birthday's and I don't really expect a lot for mine.

But today, I feel loved. Calls, cards, emails, notes, gifts, and kindnesses of every kind. Truly, God has put me in good places and allowed me to be around some of the nicest people in the world. I feel very privileged, very happy, and very blessed.

Today, 47 doesn't feel so bad.

Father, please bless these really kind and considerate people. Thanks for letting me be their Pastor, and doing the job I love so much. Help me serve them well, and honor you.

Perspective is a crazy thing

I was a little discouraged Saturday night. I just didn't feel like I communicated well. It's such a miserable feeling when you did your best but it feels flat. I left feeling like I was unclear, scattered, and messy.

But I watched in again just to try to identify where I missed it. To my surprise, it didn't seem as bad the second time.

I don't know if God covers up my messes, or if my perspective was off. But God is so kind to me, that I suspect that somewhere between delivery and watching it again, He made it better.

I know- it sounds crazy to you. But I like to think of it that way. He is so good to me, and He could easily do it, right?

Sunday morning, the 9:15 service seemed amazingly better! And at the 11:15, God did a special thing, where he turned that message into a salvation altar call, with more than a dozen responses. It was a very holy moment as I prayed with people who were confessing sin, turning from the past, and getting a fresh revelation of God. It was unbelievable and powerful.

South Hanover site

I am sitting in an exciting leadership meeting at our South Hanover location. This morning's attendance was 105. Weekly youth attendance is growing. We are praying about a new location, with more space. Kid's Ministries are badly out of space.

Most impressively, this leadership team was presented with the idea to add to their tithe so that Jeff could reduce his hours at the camp ground, and serve this body more. They got so excited about it, that some said they would start giving extra immediately! Very cool!

This is awesome.

Traction on Saturday ight

This week in the Power of Worship 5, we are talking about how being a worshipper makes you attractive. There are several examples in scripture where God Himself is attracted to worshippers- even puts Himself in the middle of it when it happens!

Crowds gather when people worship. People come to watch, they come to experience, and they come to participate.  Worship makes you incredibly attractive to the people around you. It's an often overlooked element of usefulness that God gave His people!

On Saturday nights...

Something very cool is happening to our Saturday services! Our numbers are growing, and real passion is coming. The lines for the meal are long, and lots of kids are happily playing in the bounce house. Kid's Ministries seem superb, and the preaching- well it's usually better than it was tonight.

I didn't feel like I did that well tonight. Hoefully tomrrow I can do better.

The best services for me so far this weekend, were the 24 hours prayer vigil that started Friday adn ended this morning. Those hours were the most awesome time I have had in the presence of God for some time. I was there at various times, and enjoyed every minute of it. Jeremiah and Charity really create an atmostphere where God shows Himself. What a pleasure it is to enjoy the presence of God like that!

an army of missionaries

God is just flooding me with vision lately. I have rarely -if ever- had a season like this.

Like today as I was combing through a raft of great ideas of shaping and maturing an army of leaders. Peter helped me see a better picture of what they do in their missions school, and how it affects their work in unreached people around the world.

Each missions student is ask for at least a six month commitment at one of their several missions bases around the world. Many of them come back then, work several jobs to save money- and go again for longer. Some are blessed with the ability to stay without even a season of coming back. Still others do their 6 months, and come back for good.

If I understood correctly, the missions bases are set up after a Signs and Wonders festival where 10 or more churches get planted. A seasoned missions leader is left behind to start a mother church that nurtures the other new churches, and trains leaders from it. A trusted leader is found out of the newly reached peoples. This leader will likely move into the house with the missions team leader, where he and his wife will be personally trained, nurtured and coached into the leader who will lead the works after the SOS leader is gone. The SOS leader stays on the ground at the missions base for about 5 years, establishing a strong, indigenous church that will perpetuate itself long after they are gone.

Every person who responded to a salvation call will get a visit from this team of young missionaries, be prayed with, given literature if possible, encouraged to get into a church, and coached toward jesus! One recent crusade involved 600 decisions for Christ and it took many months to visit them all! Meanwhile this y9oung missions team also holds additional outreaches, both to train new believers in outreach, and to reach more people for eternity!

I don't know if I explained it well, but it is an exciting idea in world missions. And also in developing and sending young people out for at least a 6 month period of exciting, world changing adventures in God!

I think we might have something here...

Could freedom Valley join them in targeting an unreached peoples group, planting 10 strong churches at a time, sending armies of young people out for adventures in God, and changing the world?

with some of my heroes

Johannes Amritzer, Ron Johnson, Peter Almquist, Jeff Leake, Steven Sybyala, David homas, Terry Broadwater, Brad Leache, Steve DeFrain, Joel Hunter, so many others...

These guys sharing their best ideas, along with my mighty men- Jason, Marvin, & Jeremiah. How can life get a whole lot better than that? I feel like I am walking with angels or something. These people cause me to dream bigger, breathe more deeply, and want to "do some crazy stuff for Jesus", as Johannes says. I love them and grow so much being around them.

We are at Jeff Leake's Leaders Roundtable. Just the ride out here with my guys was worth the price of admission for all the Kingdom talk we got in. It strengthens me so much.

Jocelyn's legacy

So last summer, when we lost our precious Jocelyn, her family (and all of us) ask for the consolation prize of 100 salvations. As of October, we are something over 150 I think. Rick (her dad) said recently that he decided to go ahead and ask for 1000 now. I'm with him.

I was sharing the Holy Spirit plan for those 1000 today with Tom Rees at Bootcamp. And I was selling the plan to plant 10 new churches out of the Signs and Wonders festival (and another 2000 salvations) with Johannes in 2010. I was deeply engrossed in trying to help Tom understand my little ideas, when I noticed something moving beside me. I looked up and suddenly realized that a large crowd of guys had gathered around and eyes were glistening with excitement and even a little emotion.

The ideas started flowing. "You really think this can work?" one guy sort of whispered behind me. I thought he was talking to me and started to answer when like 3 other people chimed in with comments like "you must not have been listening. Certainly this can work!"

One guys said, "I think we should get General Council to pay for this thing, giving all 10 churches away to other organizations, and showing that we are real Kingdom players." Pastor Brian Bolt chimed in at that point and said "Forget General Council- I want to help invest in something like this. I'm gonna go home and write you a check as fast as I can. I want in!"

It's a set of crazy ideas that seem to be catching on like wildfire. The ramifications are amazing! What could one county be like if the water level of spirituality came up 1% in a year, then 2 more percent in a subsequent year, with 10 new churches in place! 

Could we see God do crazy stuff like this in our day? I think He could and he MIGHT use these amazing churches in Adam's County to do it.

Tonight I was telling my two sons about this and they got SO excited they said they might not be able to sleep. They went to their bedrooms more to pray than sleep I bet.

best years ahead

This morning in my prayer time, the Holy Spirit told me very simple, but very powerful things:

1. This will nevertheless be the church's finest hour. We flourish when times are tough, and stand strong in the face of... well,... mockery, sin, and even our own death. Persecution only seems to make us stronger, and ill winds are still "worked together for good to those who love the Lord".

2. This will be our time to shine. Character, godliness, forgiveness, and joy will still be our strength. Our society may be going down, but the church is on the rise, and going to win.

Never has there been a better time for good people to rise up and be counted. Scarcity only makes us shine more!

last night's meeting

My heart is beyond full after last night's meeting. We gathered our leaders together and presented our plan to double our sanctuary space, along with the other space needs that this presents: storage, concourse, kid's playground, kid's theatre, Shining Stars arena.

It's a masisve plan that will require real and uncomfortable sacrifices from our people, starting with me. 

But our people so far, seem to eagerly reach for it. I am overwhelmed with their kind, sacrificial, and giving hearts. I am also overwhelmed with God's plan, and I feel it unfolding as fast as I can handle it. 

Power of Worship

We are journeying through the Power of Worship. I was hoping that in this series we would be able to help people get fresh appreciation for the body of Christ and what happens when we worship God together.

You can worship God by yourself, of course.

But something different happens when we worship together. I am stimulated, encouraged, and strengthened by the faith of others when I feel them put themselves into worship. It motivates me through my own weaknesses when someone who has had a tougher time than me, nevertheless gives God more. I benefit from their joy, and feed off of their energy, and it opens me up to relationship with them because we are connected by a common interest.

And then something else happens that gets my attention. In the early church of Acts 2, God adds to them. It's not their outreach, not their witnessing, and not their programs, that causes them to grow. It simply seems to be that God wants them to because of who they are!

Who they are, is a bunch of serious worshipers who put God first, and into, everything they do. They live for him, spend time with him, and give him (and each other) everything. God seems to not only enjoy hanging out with them, but also sending other people to hang out with them.

I want to be a church like that- where God enjoys being with us, and compels others to be with us.

Of course, in the next chapter, persecution begins BECAUSE they are growing so well and enjoying so much popularity. I guess I'd prefer that persecution doesn't follow effectiveness. But if it does, God help me get myself ready and stay true to Him, no matter what is ahead.