What I’m Focusing on this Lent

March 1, 2017

It’s here. It's now officially here. Put away those hamburgers and get that ice cream out of sight. It’s time to break out the veggie burgers and soy milk. Why? Because LENT IS HERE!

Every year at the start of Lent, I like to set a goal or focus. Instead of fasting aimlessly, I like to have a target that I'm aiming for. And this year, God convicted me that my focus is very similar to what it was two years ago. (I'm even going back and rereading the same book I was reading back then).

So I decided to dig up the old blog post from 2015 - which is equally applicable for me - and hopefully for you as well. Happy Lent everyone!

ENTHUSIASTS AND CONTEMPLATIVES - Finding Your Flavor Part 5

November 7, 2016

Only two weeks left in our FINDING YOUR FLAVOR journey and this week we looked at the two spiritual flavors that I know quite a bit about.

ENTHUSIASTS: connecting with God through expectancy (that's me)
CONTEMPLATIVES: connecting with God through adoration (that's my wife)

Christianity is all about a relationship with a supernatural God and so therefore we shouldn't be surprised if that God works in supernatural ways. Enthusiasts and Contemplatives are all about connecting with God through mystery and wonder.

TRADITIONALISTS AND ASCETICS - FINDING YOUR FLAVOR PART 3

October 24, 2016

"The goal of Christianity isn't just spiritual BIRTH; the goal is spiritual GROWTH."

And that's exactly why today's topic - Part 3 in our Finding Your Flavor series - is so important. While you may not by nature be a TRADITIONALIST (loving God through ritual) or an ASCETIC (loving God through self-denial), those are two aspects of spiritual growth that we all need to some degree. It may not be your "bread and butter", but it certainly needs to be part of your repertoire if you aim to grow towards spiritual maturity.

Why do I say that? Check out the video and see for yourself.

How Did Jesus Make Decisions?

May 25, 2016

Decisions, decisions, decisions. Should I accept this job? Should I marry this person? Should I listen to that person’s advice? How do I know what to do?

If I had a dollar for every time I get asked that question, I’d be a rich man. Young and old, rich and poor, married and single, spiritual and non-spiritual people – all struggle with the same question: how do I know the “right” thing to do in the situation I’m in?

Our Vending Machine Who Art in Heaven

May 11, 2016

Today’s post is a recap of the first half of this past Sunday’s message – which unfortunately failed to record. To get the full message, read the post below and then follow it up by watching the second half here.

Wait a minute…are you serious…Jesus never said that? Are you sure? You’re saying God doesn’t want me to be happy? He doesn’t want me to be fulfilled? Why would He give me a desire and then refuse to fulfill it???

You may not realize it, but we live in a world that worships happiness. Yep, you heard me right. We worship happiness and we have given ourselves permission to pursue it at all costs

The Missing Ingredient for Prayer

February 12, 2016

Recently, Fr. Anthony wrote a great post on why we don’t or can’t pray very well. Every word written there is true for me. It’s uncanny! Perhaps the same is true for you. I tried recording all the excuses we come up with to not pray… there’s too many… lack of concentration, laziness, I’m tired, no time…and the list goes on and on.

“God knows what I need. He knows my heart and my good intentions.”

“I talk to God all throughout the day. He’s with me everywhere.”

“I’ve had a long day. I deserve some rest. I don’t want to push too hard or else I’ll break.”

“Of course I pray! When I feel God’s Presence and my emotions well up more than ever, that is my prayer. And those are the most heartfelt and fervent prayers of all!”

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Who Am I?

January 22, 2016

I am a father’s child, a mother’s child, yet no one’s son...who am I?

It may only take a moment to solve this riddle. However, in times of loneliness, as a sense of defeat creeps upon us and we feel we are of diminishing value, invisible to others, we need to identify our personhood. We need to examine this question: who am I?

How to Worship in Spirit AND Truth

October 28, 2015

“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit AND truth.” (John 4:23-24)

What does it mean to worship in spirit AND truth? What's the difference between the two? And how do I properly address each?

When God Says No - INTO THE WAR ROOM Part 5

October 13, 2015

What do you do when God says NO?

We've all been there. We've all been in a situation (and probably many are there currently as well) where we've prayed about a certain situation and gotten a NO from God. Whether that's a broken relationship, a sick family member, a lost friend or anything else that has brought us to our knees in prayer.

What do you do when God says NO?

That was the topic of the finale of INTO THE WAR ROOM. We learned that our trust needs to be in the GIVER, not in the gift.

Surrendering to Win - INTO THE WAR ROOM Part 4

October 5, 2015

"Surrender isn't about WHAT; it's about WHOM."

Surrender. What does it mean? What does it look like? Is it just something that we talk about, and read about, and sing about? Or is it something that we actually do? And how do we know if we've done it or not? Is it possible to kinda surrender some things but not really surrender everything?

That was our topic in Part 4 of INTO THE WAR ROOM. We focused on the issue of surrender and saw how it might be the most important part of our prayer strategy.

As Miss Clara taught us in the War Room movie, "If you wanna win, you're gonna have to first learn to surrender."

My Morning Ritual

September 30, 2015

Rushed…unprepared…disconnected… that’s how most people admit they feel every morning when they begin their day. You know the feeling too don’t you?

It’s feeling like you’re behind before you’ve even started your day because you snoozed three times this morning. It’s feeling like you’re lacking energy because you skipped your morning workout and grabbed a donut for breakfast at work. And worst of all, it’s feeling like you didn’t really connect with God today and you can’t remember the last time you actually did.

To me, there’s nothing worse than starting off my day in a frenzy…feeling rushed, unsettled and unprepared before the day has even begun. THAT IS THE WORST!

Praying with Scripture - INTO THE WAR ROOM Part 3

September 29, 2015

Part 3 of INTO THE WAR ROOM gave me chance to talk about one of my favorite subjects and one of foundational principles of my spiritual progress: PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE.

You can't get far in any series on prayer without discussing the relationship between prayer and Scripture. They are two sides of the same coin and I believe you can't really do one (properly) without the other.

So check out the video above as I share why I believe that praying with Scripture can change your prayer life. I also share how I specifically use Scripture in my prayer routine and how that might help you get started in yours.

The Mystery of Answered Prayer

September 23, 2015

What’s the secret behind answered prayer? Why do some people get their prayers answered and others seem to get nothing? How come in the movie, The War Room, that lady prayed for 15 minutes (in movie time) and her whole life got fixed, while others pray for years and get absolutely no where?

Is there some secret that we're missing?

If we’re honest, we’ve all wondered about that at some point in our lives. It’s great to talk about the power of prayer and what prayer can do in our lives, but every one of us could tell at least one story of a prayer that never got answered… one that we prayed and prayed and prayed, yet every prayer only seemed to take us further and further from our desired result.

Developing a Battle Plan - INTO THE WAR ROOM, Part 1

September 14, 2015

"Why is there SO MUCH that we believe about prayer, but SO LITTLE that we do about it?"

The long-awaited INTO THE WAR ROOM series kicked off yesterday and it started with a bang! The goal of this series is to INSPIRE you to stronger and more vibrant prayer life, and also to EQUIP you with the tools you need to make it happen.

We got the ball rolling by talking about the importance of having a plan when it comes to prayer (as we do with just about every other area of our lives) and three essential characteristics that your plan must entail. I shared a little about my personal prayer plan and hopefully that encourages you to come up with your own.

Check out the video above and see for yourself. And then it's time to get working on your battle plan!

INTO THE WAR ROOM - Begins Sunday!

September 10, 2015

I’ve been waiting for this weekend for more than 6 months. Ever since I saw the movie, THE WAR ROOM, I’ve been telling everyone how great it is and the changes it brought into my life and how excited I am to see the impact it can make in our church and in our community.

And finally, the time has come for me to tell you why.

The War Room: GO SEE THIS MOVIE!

August 28, 2015

I have never been so inspired to pray as I am today. I have never felt so eager to wake up early and spend time with God as I did this morning. I have never felt so encouraged about the power of prayer as I do right now!

Why is that? What caused all of that? A spiritual book? A sermon? Some kind of catastrophe?

Nope. It's all because of a movie I saw last night.

"A Call to Prayer" by Ben Franklin

July 3, 2015

Below is an excerpt from a speech by Benjamin Franklin at the Constitutional Convention in July 1797. After struggling for several weeks and making little progress on the writing of the Constitution, 81 year old Benjamin Franklin rose and addressed the President (referred to as Sir) and the rest of the troubled and confused convention.

This is what he said:

Bad Living Means Bad Praying

June 18, 2015

The STSA month of prayer continues and each week, we’re focusing on a different aspect of prayer. The first week, we focused on “prayerless praying” – praying with one’s mouth but not with one’s heart. The second week we focused on “powerful praying” – reminding ourselves that the same God who parted the Red Sea and healed so many is the same God to whom we are praying today.

This week our focus is on “PRAYER AND CHARACTER.”

Prayerless Praying

June 4, 2015

“One of the first necessities of prayer is to get rid of “prayerless praying”. Prayerless praying is often beautiful in words and in execution; it has the drapery of prayer in rich and costly form, but it lacks the soul of praying. It has been said that prayerless praying is a heartless performance, a senseless routine, a dead habit, a hasty, careless performance. It has no life, gives no life, is dead, and breathes out death... Prayerless praying is insincere. It has no honesty in heart. We name in words what we do not want in heart.” On Prayer, E.M. Bounds

Have you ever heard of prayerless praying? Sounds like a contradiction in terms – something that shouldn’t exist...like foodless eating, or waterless showering. PrayING requires prayER; so how can there be prayerLESS praying?

LET'S GET TO WORK - The BodyShop Part 3

March 9, 2015

God gives power to the Church. The Church gives power to the members. The means by which this power is distributed is called LITURGY.

That was the main message in our 3rd message in The BodyShop series as we continue to look at the different markers that make a healthy member of the Body of Christ. This week's topic...LITURGY, our communal response to God.

We talked about WHAT liturgy means (much more than a just bunch of prayers said in a church building on Sunday mornings). We talked about WHY liturgy is something we should desire to be part of (it gets results, it brings joy, it prepares us for heaven). And at a very practical level, we discussed HOW we can get the most out of liturgy (hint: it requires more than just showing up).

So check out the message above and hopefully it'll open your eyes to a new level of worship and prayer as a member in Christ's Body.