I believe one of the reason most of Northern America doesn’t experience amazing signs and wonders and incredible moves of the Spirit is because our EXPECTATION is low. Most of us think and expect normal things to happen in a normal Christian life. We don’t expect crazy things to happen right in front of our eyes because they “never seem to happen”. Living outside of our comfort zone causes us to trust more. It causes us to press into God more. It causes us sacrifice. It causes us to give more. It causes a higher level of commitment.

Luke 12:48 says “…from everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” You want to see more amazing things happen?…increase your level of expectation. Increase your level of trust. Increase your level of sacrifice….whoa…that one might hut. Are you willing to increase expectation in order to experience more of Christ?

Don’t grow complacent. That’s the enemy of a life of power.

Expect!

Expect!

Expect!

M

Posted: July 30th, 2010 under Culture/Society, Leadership.
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Over the past couple of months I have been praying for the Holy Spirit to perform miracles, healings, signs and wonders at our church for God’s glory to be known and shown. I passionately want God to reveal himself to our church and I know maybe people that are simply doubters will know that He is truly God if they see His work in action. We’ve been praying over certain people for healing and I want to see the Holy Spirit show up and make His power known.

In the error of my ways, God revealed this to me….

Just imagine if my children constantly asked me for toys (which they do sometimes). Everywhere I went they asked for toys….toys…toys…toys. “I need you to get me some toys…I truly love them”. “Come on daddy, please buy me some new toys…!”

Now imagine that their hearts were more for the toys than pleasing my heart and listening to my instructions. That instead of coming to me and giving me a big “daddy hug” they continued to beg me for these toys without trying to hear my instructions and just simply loving and listening to me. Imagine if they NEEDED me to buy them these toys in order to truly love me. Imagine that my actions of giving them something actually then caused them to love me? Is that the kind of love I want to foster in my home? How soon before that latest toy got old or broken do they desire another one? Now I got to “earn” their love again by giving them something.

Would you consider that true love?

Wouldn’t that be a love based on performance?

Wouldn’t that be a love based on what you can give me?

That’s not true, passionate, full out LOVE! That’s not the kind of LOVE God deserves or wants.

Most of us (me included) have prayed for things to happen (healings, answers to prayers) and for God to show up. We passionately cry out to God for Him to do something amazing in our services. We want all the “toys” (blessings) He can give. We start to cry out for THAT more than we cry out for HIM.

See God doesn’t always show up the way we want. In fact He doesn’t always answer our prayers the way we think He should. That’s because He knows what’s best. When we cry out for His blessings more than we cry out for Him, we aren’t truly in right relationship with Him.

Let’s go back to the kid/toy example. When my kids truly show that they love me….when they listen to what I say, give me those big “daddy hugs” and tell me that they love me, I want to naturally bless them with gifts. It’s not a matter of them “performing” for my love (it’s not works that earn our love) it’s called relationship. When my kids are in right relationship with me, “toys” will be given naturally. (Matthew 7:11)

I know that if we, as a church, passionately cry out to God with love and obedience, the healings, miracles and deliverances will happen. (2 Chronicles 7: 14-15) As churches today, we need to stop seeking out the “toys” and start seeking out the Father.

M

Posted: June 24th, 2010 under Culture/Society, Leadership.
Comments: none

Join us Sunday afternoon (3-430pm) at Deer Run Retreat for our Baptism service. I love these times! We already have a good group of people getting involved. It’s definitely special for our family since my son, Aadyn, is getting baptized! How great is it that my wife and I get to baptize our son!!!

If you are wondering why you need to get baptized, check out this perfect explanation from Healing Place Church .

If you have already accepted Jesus into your heart, then you are ready to be baptized! Just like a wedding ceremony shows the public that a man and a woman have decided to pledge their life to each other, baptism shows the world that you have accepted Christ as your Savior and are now living for Him. Because Jesus instructed us to be baptized, it is an act of obedience. Jesus also set the example for us by being baptized by John. In Matthew 3:15, Jesus told John that He should be baptized to fulfill all righteousness. Though we do not believe it is a condition of salvation, it is a crucial part of our testimony. It signifies to the world that our old man is dead and gone and a new man is alive in Christ.

It’s truly an amazing day. Come join us as we cheer on those that are publicly confessing their faith!

M

Posted: June 23rd, 2010 under Church info, Leadership.
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Group prayer night are…not your “cup of tea”? Why is it that Prayer Nights are some of the least attended nights in churches? But on the same hand, why is it that those that come seem to get refreshed, encouraged and strengthened? Don’t you think something so powerful and life changing would be something everyone wanted a piece of?

I can honestly say each of our prayer nights are different. Last night was sooooo refreshing to me. We worshiped and prayed and I walked away knowing that I truly spent time in God’s presence. It was so needed.

So why aren’t people packing the house for nights like these? I have some thoughts on the matter:

1-…Inconvenient! (aka – The devil doesn’t want you to come) Tons of scripture back up the fact that the devil hates us and wants us to be separated, disconnected and disillusioned with the church and the power of corporate prayer. (1 Peter 5:8-9, Matthew 18:20). Ever wonder why prayer nights are always the nights when kids get sick, you feel extra tired, late nights at the office, last minute things pop up?….things that make you go hmmmmm. Plan ahead, know that every bone inside you might say it’s tired, but go anyway. Don’t allow the enemy to stop you from using one of the most important weapons that God has given us.

2-...SCARY! 1 simple word – FEAR! People are afraid they will have to pray out loud or share some amazing story to everyone. That’s not the case. In fact some people come and have yet to pray out loud at our gatherings. God just asks you to come and agree in prayer. Sure we would love for you to get involved but to have you there together with us agreeing with the prayers being spoken, it’s very effective.

3-…Not my THING! Oh man, I’ve heard this one used a lot. “I’m not a prayer guy/gal”. Lame excuse and 100% not Biblical. That’s like saying I love God but I’m not into believing that He really died for me. Prayer is so important to our day to day lives. Corporate prayer is through out the bible. For all the WWJD bracelet fans – Jesus prayed (John 17: 20-26). Pentecost was a direct result of people getting together to pray and seek God in unity (Acts 2). Guess what was the by product of Pentecost, THE HOLY SPIRIT. Seems like a great trade off, don’t you think?

4-…Not Important! Misplaced Priorities. This one might hurt…here we go….Prayer is more important than ….American Idol, LOST (r.i.p.), Glee, Modern Family, The Office, 30Rock….you get the idea. People are willing to put anything in front of prayer. Nothing does more for you, your family, your spirit and your future than what prayer can do. That’s one of the reason God created DVR recorders. Seriously. What else takes priority over prayer in your life? I guarantee it’s not that important!

5-…Too long! I can’t pray that long. There’s a new thing created to help with this one…it’s called a “door”. You can leave anytime. Come for 10minutes, 30minutes, 2 hours, doesn’t matter…just come. I guarantee the more you do it, the longer you will be able to pray and want to be part of it. Last night almost went 2 hours and it flew by. Some of you almost fainted when I said 2 hours of prayer. I used to be that way as well.

6-…For chumps, wusses, weaklings, dorks! New flash…You’re a Wimp! Whoa, what did you call me? Yup…if you don’t grasp the power of prayer you might as well give up now. Prayer is part of the reason why you have power to do anything effective in this life (James 5:16). If you like to continue to complain about the same issues over and over again and live a powerless life, then make prayer something you rarely do.

7-…Already taken care of at home! I Pray at home by myself. Ok, good one. I’m glad that you said that. That is important. Acts 2:42-47 explains all the amazing things that happened when believers got together and did things unified. Is prayer just as effective alone as it is together…Sure. I believe God hears it all and acts upon it. There is just something extra special when we do it together as it promotes a special bond of encouragement and unity you can’t get alone (John 17:22-23). It’s like being a solo musician. There is something so much cooler and exciting when you have a full back up band behind you. Much more power I say!

What’s your excuse? We all have them. Maybe I forgot to list yours. Trust me, I can find a ton of excuses to not do something. Sometime we spend more time making excuse when we should be just making it happen.

M

Posted: June 3rd, 2010 under Culture/Society, Leadership, Life Stuff.
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-First of all….I LOVE the Thomases (Clint & Jodi)….I knew when I invited Clint to speak with me he would drop some amazing truths. And of course I LOVE Jodi leading worship. I’m extremely blessed to call these people friends!!

-Can I just say that our worship makes me proud. Although we are small, we have a huge heart for worship and I absolutely love the talented and anointed musicians and singers God is bringing to SVCC. I feel spoiled.

-To see people come up for prayer to be freed from things that are holding them back is one of the things that makes being a pastor worth while. I love when people walk in freedom. I will work hard to continue to see that happen.

-I was amazed to see how many people raised their hands acknowledging that they know the way and the source of how the enemy is trying to attack them. Well, actually I’m not amazed because I believe God wants us to know our enemy so we can fight effectively against him. Knowing his tricks and tools really makes it easier to defeat him.

-I know there are some people walking in freedom this week!! Keep it up! Don’t let those negative voices from Satan stop you anymore.

-Can’t wait to continue this message on the 13th. I guess I should have figured two guys preaching together couldn’t be contained to one Sunday service. Part 2- we will talk about how to defeat and fight against these things that try to destroy you as well as talk about the gifts that the Holy Spirit gives us.

-Please bring a friend to Part 2. People need to know what they are up against and the freedom they can walk in. I believe most people walk in fear which robs them of truly living for Christ.

Nothing better than serving the one that died to set us free!

M

Posted: May 31st, 2010 under Church info, Leadership.
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