Duck

I'll be taking this next week off from blogging as I will be on a family vacation in Duck, North Carolina... I'm hoping to see some wild horses and to grow closer with my family and Jesus.

I hate it when people think that being on vacation think it means they aren't responsible to still offer each day completely to the Lord. Anyone who thinks they need a vacation from God does not understand what it is to know Him.

In fact, vacations are the perfect opportunity to spend a lot of time relaxing, reflecting, seeking, and receiving.

NOW

"Because God lives in an everlasting now, He has no past and no future."

A.W. Tozer

Interesting that He who we were made to be like only has now (according to Tozer) . Often we either store up all our hope or fear in the future or live in the highs and lows of the past, missing here and now. 

Tomorrow will never come because when it does it will be today... so if you do not do, say, change, love, forgive, or defeat whatever it is you need to today, you never will. 

Now thankfully God offers us seemingly never ending second chances so we need not despair... rather, choose now to live here and now, making the MOST of every opportunity given you. You CAN walk in the direction you desire to... do it NOW! 

I Hope You are Being Disciplined!

Today I read in Hebrews chapter 12, verses 7-8...

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.

I hope that you are in the process of being disciplined in some way by your heavenly Father. If not, you may not be His child. We often become angry, bitter, or full of accusation, and run away from God when enduring this discipline... when in fact, it should cause us to RECOGNIZE we are His children, REJOICE in it, and RUN even MORE into His arms! 

The real danger is if you feel no discipline from Him at all and begin to justify your sinful actions. If this is the case for you, then you need another shift from your thoughts about sin to His thoughts about sin... a true repentance that leads to an altered heart and altered actions. 

REJOICE in His discipline... child of God! 

MORE MORE MORE

Hebrews 2:1 reads "We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away."

We do not drift towards God, we drift away from Him. We do not drift towards holiness, but selfishness. We do not drift towards passion, but apathy. We not drift towards humility, but pride. We do not drift towards righteousness, but sinfulness.

This is why we are warned, pay MORE attention to what you have heard or you WILL drift away. Take notice of the word, "more." At first this closeness to Christ comes easy because it is brand new and revolutionary, but as normalcy creeps in (it is still brand new every day and revolutionary) but we must pay more attention to see it. 

How do we practically pay more attention to what we have heard... look at it, study it, read it, listen to it, memorize it, apply it, obey it, teach it, write it, hold it, speak it, more often and longer! 

Write it Down Sluggard

We had our second CLARITY meeting tonight and it was full of great surprises from the gifted and passionate team members! 

One such idea I have heard, but haven't practiced for years... Kyle said we should hand write chapters of the bible verse for verse like the scribes used to... and in doing so, we just may notice, learn, and retain more. I agree.

I say... anything that helps us deal with, handle, and fill ourselves more with the word is a good thing and worth the effort! We'll be starting with the book of mark...  

Weekend Mobile Shots

Some fun mobile shots I thought you may enjoy from our weekend in Ohio (In No Particular Order) Mama and Baby Elephant / JR Mahon and Family (Plus Personal Chef Ben :) / Talli MacDonald the Princess / ...a bonus of Josh's Half Hair Cut (not from Ohio)  

Wonderful Wonder

This a great article that I wanted to pass along from Graham Cooke's website...

Wonderful Wonder 

Jesus’ own sense of wonder surfaced whenever He saw others who walked in innocence and purity. One of the few times Jesus said “behold”—or, as we would term it, “wow”—was when He first met Nathanael, a man who later became one of His disciples. “Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!” Jesus exclaimed in John 1:47 (King James Version).

What did Jesus see in Nathanael? He saw a man without deceit. The Message version of the Bible translates Jesus as saying, “There's a real Israelite, not a false bone in his body.” Jesus saw his innocence and loved it.

Innocence is a quality we are born with and then slowly lose through the experiences of our life. Every time we have one of those bitter experiences, as we call them, a part of our purity erodes away. The way we think and perceive things in the spirit withers as we become guarded, wary, mistrustful, and suspicious. When another bitter experience occurs in our life, another layer of grime is placed on our sense of wonder. Given enough time, we become unsure that we were ever innocent. Meanwhile, we look at everyone around us and see the worst.

Read the rest of this article at grahamcooke.com under the May Newsletter 2009.  

Celebrate... don't Compete

We ought to always celebrate the gifts of our brothers and sisters in Christ. There can be no room for feeling threatened or in competition with them. If you can't sincerely rejoice in the success of others for the sake of the Kingdom than you actually have no part in the Kingdom at all... you only have the APPEARANCE of being a part of it, but lack the true power therein (2 Timothy 3:1-5).

I am determined that CLARITY will be a... "I am happy to see my brother or sister rise up to be so blessed, so talented, and truly successful far beyond me for the sake of the Kingdom and the glory of my Father kind of place!" 

That being said... here's a beautiful lyric that one of our team members wrote while in prayer about CLARITY...  

VERSE

Father, Holy Father, 

We’re learning to  trust in all your ways 

Jesus, precious Jesus, 

May we forget not, the price that you’ve paid

PRE-CHORUS

We’re coming back, Coming back to you

CHORUS

We’re running after you, In everything we do

Jesus take our lives, Make us new

We’re falling in your arms, We’re falling in your heart

Touching the Father, The spirit and the son

VERSE 2

Spirit, Holy Spirit, We’re learning again 

To follow after you, People, holy people 

Make loud the heart of the kingdom

Don't Come Out Until You Have Won

My wife and I just chased a huge fly around our bedroom for about 10 minutes trying to swat it with a newspaper and a maternity magazine. It was a crafty one that knew it was fighting for its life. At one point it flew into our walk-in closet, so I jumped in after it and shut the door behind me. I was determined not to come out until I had killed it. It took some time, demanded my best effort, and I walked out victorious. 

This is how we have to treat the nasty flies of offense, bitterness, and addiction. Lock yourself in the prayer closet and don't come out until you have won. Those pests are determined NOT to die and it comes down to either you... or them. Or should I say, the Spirit of God in you... or your sinful flesh. 

This is where the BATTLE of the spiritual realm is fought; in the ditches where you are wrongfully accused, on the grounds where you are cursed because of Christ, and in the caves where the pride of life, the lust of the eyes, and the lust of the flesh rear their seductive ugly head at you. DON'T COME OUT UNTIL YOU HAVE WON. Denounce all things that hold you back from Christ. 

2 Corinthians 10:4-5

Matthew 6:6 

Sound and Image

There are people in my life that greatly influenced me in very spiritually formative years... I will never forget them. Even their look and sound trigger my spiritual radar. 

If I happen to see a picture of them or hear their voice on a phone call, it reminds me that God is here, His Word is true, I can seek Him, I can find Him, and I can be found vibrant in His Spirit. Even their memory encourages me to be more disciplined, to want to turn away from every hint of sin, and to give my all in this very moment for the cause of the Kingdom. 

THANK GOD FOR THOSE PEOPLE AND THEIR PASSION...

So this leads me to the question... What are those around me walking away with? How will they be effected when they see me, hear me, and remember me? HOW ABOUT YOU... TODAY? 

WE CAN DO THIS BY BEING UMIXED IN OUR PASSION and OVERFLOWING WITH THE WORD OF GOD. 

In the Bathroom and on Stage

You never know where or how the preparation for effective ministry takes place... this is "Creative Team Building" at its best... more coming soon... thanks to Nick VanScoten for these shots... 

First Clarity Meeting and the Need for Discipline

Had our first Clarity meeting today with thirteen possible launch team members... it was ridiculously good! Details, pics, and vids coming soon... 

One of the more memorable things that arose (for me) was the need to heed the warning of Proverbs 13:4... "The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied." 

EVERYONE craves, but ONLY the diligent are fully satisfied. It's not as much about you needing great DESIRE, it's more about you needing great DISCIPLINE. All those who are effective in life and in the Kingdom are those of great discipline. So decide right now, will you be one of those? Only your actions can answer that question...

Last Sunday at Lighthouse

Preached three services this morning, lead worship for three services this morning, spoke my final words to LWPC, hugged about 10,000 people, almost lost my voice, watched the hilarious kidnapped video of Josh and I, the slideshow montage of Jessica and I, Tara and Patty the Puppet, listened to "California Preaching," Heather and Matt's "Nathan's Life Story" song, Double Trouble's original Hip Hop masterpiece just for us, received awesome prayer for the L.A. team, and ate my face on a chocolate cake... it's conclusive, I couldn't have had a better last day on staff at Lighthouse...

Photos and videos coming shortly... too tired right now. 

Thank you everyone for an absolutely AMAZING time!

Last Saturday Night Before a Sunday Morning at Lighthouse

Late Saturday nights have been habitually amazing times of prayer, revelation, and expectation as I prepare to minister the following Sunday morning at LWPC. I can recall many songs that were written and many tears that were shed. 

One of the most memorable was about three and a half years ago when I was at the church at 1 AM and had just finished my last minute preparations to the stage and the Song Show Plus presentation. I took great pleasure in everything being in order and ready for the morning, and then sat at the baby grand piano and just began singing "O that someone like You would love someone like me, O that someone like you would die to set me free, O that someone like You is there so faithfully, You're a selfless savior, and You're exactly what I need." Then the verses began to pour out just as fast. They were a desperate cry from a low place that I wasn't necessarily experiencing in that moment, but I felt it all the same. Turns out, when I sang it the next morning in service (just 8 hours later), God used it to FREE someone from serious suicidal thoughts and intentions! How amazing... they approached me weeping and felt the song was directly from God for them... which it was. 

I went on to record it, sing it to minister in many churches and services, and perform it at GMA's Music in the Rockies as a top three finalist for worship song of the year. 

... just one of the memories that is now bitter sweet as this season comes to a close. 

A Day of Miracles and How to Get the Right Perspective

Today I rested well, breathed in divine life before my feet hit the ground, awoke to my beautiful wife, spoke to my soon-to-be-born daughter, relaxed with my family, spent time with my heavenly Father, had a birthday dinner for my Mom's fiftieth (Happy Birthday Mom... you are sooo loved), had to do some work even though it was my day off, by God's grace was able to to allow the Spirit of God to bear fruit through me despite myself, was tempted but overcame it as God provided a way out (as He ALWAYS does), hung out with my mother-in-law and my twin sister's-in-law, and took in the beauty of sunshine and a rain storm within three hours of each other!

THIS DAY WAS FAR FROM SPECTACULAR TO MOST, BUT WITH THE RIGHT PERSPECTIVE IT WAS NOTHING BUT MIRACLE AFTER MIRACLE THAT COULD ONLY BE ORCHESTRATED AND DELIVERED BY GOD. 

I believe that life should be lived with eyes wide open to the wonder and adventure of following Jesus. It's so sad when I meet people who live with eyes sealed shut to anything and everything God has placed before them. You may need to BREAK THROUGH the things that are blocking your view. 

If you feel stale and blocked, here are three self-examination questions to help you break through to the right perspective (borrowed from Jeff Leake)...

1.  Is there a SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE that I need to renew or launch?  Maybe a fast?  Tackle a memorization challenge?  Commit to a Bible reading plan?  Establish a more consistent devotional time and place?

2.  Is there an EXPERIENCE I could pursue?  Have you been baptized in the Holy Spirit?  Have you participated in a Missions Trip?  Have you been prayed over lately?  Have you prayed for someone else?  Maybe you need to have an extended time of solitude?  A day to seek God?  

3.  Is there a RISK - a STEP OF FAITH that I need to take?  What has God asked you to do and you have not yet obeyed?  What promise do you need to declare in spite of what you see?  Where is Jesus calling you to follow?  A new adventure?  Sharing your faith?  Praying for the sick?  Stepping out as a Small Group Leader or a Volunteer?